Vol 6 Chapter 4 (1/2)
Chapter 4: Message from the Mirror
Tachibana Yoshi+aki’s fai Prefecture
Their faen Teations in the city
Asaoka Maiko alighted from her taxi and was ih she had heard about it froe This was certainly not the tiny building tucked snugly away into a corner of the residential district she had ih to be a park and had the structures to nificent tile roofing of the littering in the suht as she rode into town on the electric train
The children of the neighborhood catching cicadas aiant caround Maiko, looking over at the family quarters, hesitated
(I’m probably a bit early)
She had arrived around twenty minutes early The temple’s schedule was probably packed with memorial services and the like, so it would be more polite to wait until her appointment—except she didn’t quite have the willpower to stand around outside in the summer heat Maiko resolutely headed for the family quarters
“Excusethe doorbell
She could hear sutra chanting from the main temple—she must have arrived in the middle of a memorial service No one appeared to be home, and Maiko stood there uncertainly for a moment
Two or three ant traditional japanese robes appeared at the sliding door
“Thank you very ”
“Aah, er, excuse me Good afternoon, o”
After a pause, the wonized Maiko’s name “The niece of Asaoka from the second district, I believe? Yes, of course Yoshi+aki mentioned your call Please come in Ah, it sounds like the service is not yet finished You may have to wait for a little bit”
“No, that’s fine I’m actually early, so”
“Here, co you some cold barley tea”
Maiko bowed her head gratefully “I’m sorry for the bother”
As Mrs Tachibana welcoant lady was probably laboring under so of a misconception
“Really, I just don’t knohat to do with hiht! Everyone wants to help hiood match, but he doesn’t see hi her home and let us meet her”
“Ah”
“Well, I’es, but please look after him?”
Mrs Tachibana had apparently irlfriend of this Yoshi+aki—heWell, this is aard, she thought, s noncommittally Anyway, thewhen he turned up
She had actually only talked to hio He was, in fact, a coer to her Her aunt, a parishi+oner of this temple, was the one who had introduced him to her
Incredible as it(though about ten years ago now) It had gotten so out of hand that the family, at their wits’ end, had come to consult with the abbot of the teh only aat the ti had settled right down
And he‘d gone about it in the oddest way There was no cedar-stick burning rite or sutra-chanting; he only examined the spirit for a moment, then suddenly called out ’Bishamonten!’ in invocation Since her aunt couldn’t see spirits, she couldn’t tell whether or not the ghost had truly disappeared per Yoshi+aki’s clai afterwards, she concluded that he must have exorcised it The whole process hadn’t taken more than three minutes
When asked, Yoshi+aki had explained that ascroll in the alcove, which had recently been purchased in an antique store and was very, very old
“Shady,” had been Maiko’s first thought when she had heard the story from her aunt
After all, this was exactly how religious cults preyed on people’s gullibility to pull theood impression on her It didn’t matter how many times Maiko told her aunt how silly it was—she seemed to have become a believer in Tachibana Yoshi+aki Besides, he had refused all payhost She was only an ordinary temple parishi+oner now—she was just seduced by his character, her aunt had laughed
If she hadn’t been touched by the supernatural herself, Maiko would probably never have believed her aunt’s story
That Maiko illing to bend her own beliefs so far as to pay a visit to Yoshi+aki attested to her desperation
“I’ wait”
She had been there for about thirty ht was a surprise, his fine-featured face and serene eyes even more so If someone had told her he was an actor, she would have believed it His gentle bearing and calht years
The memorial service had apparently run late, and he was still wearing his ceremonial robes Despite his youth, the traditional japanese robes becaure in the jikitotsu and gojou-kesa It eruous serenity evenintimidated
Maiko thought she could understand nohat her aunt hadhim for the first time, Maiko felt dazzled for a moment
“I apologize for my appearance We started a little late—it appears the family had a flat on their way over, and it took a little while to change the tire” he explained, s He had apparently sensed her nervousness at their firstto put her at her ease What a wonderful person, Maiko thought
“My my my What is this, Yoshi+aki-san? Dressed like that, you’ll make the entire room smell of incense”
Mrs Tachibana entered carrying tea pastries Maiko noted the look of trepidation that flashed across Yoshi+aki’s face
“Mother, we are in a temple It probably smells of incense everywhere”
“What are you talking about? Show a little ht live in temple, it would certainly not do to have the smell of incense everywhere It is a matter of delicacy Don’t tell me you haven’t even considered that”
Yoshi+aki, evidently, was no est of the Tachibana family’s four children Teruhiro, the eldest, was a realtor; both Yoshi+aki and his older brother Yoshi+hiro worked for their father in the temple (their sister, Saeko, was rounds with his fa, while the second son, as about to be married in the autumn, would become heir to the teh he himself seemed completely unconcerned about that fact
He appeared to be feeling a rather strong push from his family, however
“You see? This is why things are always broken off as soon as you start getting soh he was always the one to break things off Even so, Yoshi+aki didn’t seem to want to defy his mother carelessly
“I understand, Mother Please rest inside so we can talk”
“Well! Are you not even going to introduce your future wife to me?”
“Mother”
Yoshi+aki pressed a hand against his forehead as his shoulders slumped in exhaustion
“How has your brother been?” Tachibana Yoshi+aki—or rather Naoe nobutsuna finally got to the purpose for her visit after Mrs Tachibana had left
At his question, Maiko shook her head despondently “He’s still unconscious It’s like he’s in a vegetative state, and thehim alive”
A shadow darkened Maiko’s face
“The doctor said that there isn’tto consciousness Words to that effect, anyway My faive up yet”
“And you?”
“Me?” Maiko lifted her eyes sharply “How could I give up after those dreams?!”
“Thenyou’re still drea about him?”
Maiko nodded, and her gaze fell back to the low table
“And the reflection in the mirror?”
Maiko nodded again and covered her face with her hands
She had told hio This hy Maiko, who didn’t believe in psychic phenomenon, had come to ask for Tachibana Yoshi+aki’s help
Her brother, Asaoka shi+nya, had been rushed to the hospital after a car accident left hio The Asaoka family ran a japanese inn on the banks of Lake Chuuzenji, and her brother had been taking sootten his license, and should probably not have been driving the Iroha Hill Road at night He had uardrail Fortunately, his passengers had not suffered any serious injuries; shi+nya, however, had needed an ah there were no signs of external physical trauma, and he only seemed to have hit his head
A little while later, he began appearing in Maiko’s dreams
She had that strange dreaht that they were caused by her worry for her brother, but for some reason, the dream was always the same
Her brother was in what looked like a forest He was naked, and weirdly, his lower half was e trunk of a japanese cedar tree
“Help et out of his tree Help me, Nee-san”
His pleas were so vivid in her ht after night, endlessly
A little while later, one of the students who had been riding in her brother’s car told her a strange story: shi+nya hadn’t gotten into the accident because he’d h they didn’t knohat it was They only knew that right before it happened, shi+nya had given a blood-curdling scream, terror on his face That hen he had wrenched the wheel around and hit the guardrail
Maiko had been convinced of the strangeness of the incident a week ago, when she had seen shi+nya’s reflection from the mirror in her empty room Only half of shi+nya appeared in the reflection—the rest was simply not there Thereafter, Maiko saw her brother whenever she looked at herself in the mirror or at any reflective surface Shaken by these freakish events, Maiko had gone crying to the one who sees spirit-related: her aunt
Which was how she had ended up seated in front of Naoe
“This is a difficult case,” Naoe said, face gri of you brother are probablywell, I suppose so You can think of thee from him”
“Does that mean that my brother is conscious? That he’s not dead?”
“It’s alain consciousness but cannot That is probably why he’s asking for your help But this reflection in the mirror”
Maiko peered at Naoe’s dubious expression
“It’s strange, isn’t it In cases like this, we can consider two scenarios Both have to do with vengeful spirits”
“‘Vengeful spirits?’” Maiko shuddered at the words
Naoe continued, “There are two kinds of what are coeful spirits The characters that foreful spirit’ can also be interpreted as ‘living spirit,’ and the first type is exactly that: ghosts that are alive In other words, spirits separated fro fro person, created so that they can appear in front of someone far away and somehow harm them It’s also called astral projection”
“”
“In your case, the former sounds more likely Your brother’s soul has been separated from his body It has come to you, and you are able to see it in mirrors Or perhaps”
“”
“Theyour brother’s uess it’s one of the two Why your brother is asking for your help, what circumstances prompted it—in order to answer these questions, we ,” Naoe explained He looked calmly into Maiko’s eyes “I do not see any trace of your brother’s soul around you”
“Wh—”
Maiko sat up abruptly and looked around, a chill running through her Could he really see things like that? she wondered
“You can still see your brother every tied?”