Kei: Fui~... break is over. Probably just a bit more.
I shut the cap of the mini tea bottle, stow it in my backpack and readjust the load.
It releases a watery swish and a plop. *chapon*
From where I stand, I can't see any foot-padded paths of note.
There was a normal path, shortly after I started hiking, but that also narrowed, like an animal trail, and soon disappeared entirely.
Even so, I press on confidently.
Forgetting completely my anxiety over being stranded, I press on.
Like a wad of silk floss, the unreliable touch of deja vu seems to spin into shape...
It must be a premonition, the thread end that will draw out my buried memories...
Much like the exaltation and immersion of a good book that drowns out the need of food or rest.
Together with the hands that turn the page in search of the story's continuation, my feet carry me forward, forward.
Though they're untrained legs, and I carefully pinch in moments of rest, my feelings say only "forward, forward."
Overlaying the scenery before my eyes with the landscape of my dream, I proceed forward.
Even though you will eventually reach the end of the thread, if you keep pulling it...
Perhaps, like the himokuji (TN: rope lottery) in branch stores, you might have misses, or it might be cut before you finish.
I only hope it's a "hit."
It has to be.
After all, it's so close.
I soon realize that the sounds of cicadas have long since ceased.
The sounds of my feet parting the grass grow distant.
Zaa, zaa, zaa, zaa!
Zaaa---
And my field of vision opens wide.
Probably halfway up the mountain.
Stretching as high as I can see stands a--
Kei: ......I knew it.
A great, ancient tree was stands there, letting bloom countless tiny white flowers.
With years upon innumerable years of age piled on the central trunk, comparing it to the person standing at its base makes the width clear at a glance.
Kei: ......What?
There, I finally notice the existence of a preceding visitor.
A boy lingers there, seemingly about the same age, pressing at the trunk with his outstretched palm.
Zaaa---
The wind carries itself from here to where he stands.
As if it had carried my voice, he raises his face.
His slightly long, soft looking hair sways in the wind, in tandem with the flower petals as they drop from the branches.
Kei: ......What?
Thus the same word passes my lips twice.
I've seen this person somewhere before.
But I have no acquaintances here, and even if he's not from here I wouldn't know a boy---
---Ah, Uzuki-san's missing person.
Boy from Picture: Is there something wrong with my face?
Kei: ...!?
My heart makes a giant leap.
I know I couldn't sit still with a stranger staring at me; I'd want to say a thing or two, so you reap what you sow, but...
Kei: Ah, umm, well......
Boy from Picture: Not that I've a place to say, but it's rare for people to come here, you know.
His tone of voice is calm and gentle, allowing my nerves to recover. For a boy, the key is a bit high, perhaps a bit easy-going.
As he closes to an easy speaking distance, his height is quite befitting of a boy. Considering his voice and face, it seems to forge an equilibrium.
Still, perhaps it's the slender form of his hands and legs, but I don't feel the fright that would normally compel me to hide my eyes from him.
To put it briefly, he seems like someone I could easily talk to without feeling anxious.
Boy from Picture: By any chance, are you lost?
Kei: No, nothing like that...
Even though relying on a dream was a bit dangerous, I found my destination just fine.
Kei: Umm, would you be from this area?
Boy from Picture: Right - or rather, I lived here in the past, but not now. And who are you, asking me this?
Kei: I'm also from out of town.
Boy from Picture: I see. In that case, did you know? There's a regional festival happening soon.
Kei: Ah, yes, I heard from the hostess at the hotel I'm staying at.
Boy from Picture: I've come with regard to that.
If he's connected with the festival... I guess that means he's Uzuki-san's acquaintance, then?
Kei: Umm, this might not make much sense but, do you know Senba Uzuki-san?
Boy from Picture: Senba......
That's a strange response.
Could it be... was giving out Uzuki-san's name a mistake? Did I just do something incredibly careless?
When a detective's chasing a criminal, obviously it's more advantageous if they don't know they're being chased.
In traveling detective dramas, criminals tired of living on the run often return to their hometown out of nostalgia for a local festival, or at least, developments like that are really common...
But no, Uzuki-san is connected to the festival, and she's a student, not a detective, okay?
Ah, but still...
I should have at least asked if it's okay to give Uzuki-san's name... probably.
Regret always comes too late. I'm so useless. What's the point of trying to help if you're only being a burden? Dummy.
Kei: Uuu......
Boy from Picture: ......Something wrong?
Kei: That question just now, could you forget it, please?
Boy from Picture: That would be difficult. That display just now made the impression all the deeper, after all.
Kei: I guess so......
Boy from Picture: If faking it is good enough, though, I can.
Kei: Uuu, just, nevermind......
Boy from Picture: It's okay, then?
Kei: Yes......
A brief silence.
The white flower petals shudder, and a pleasant wind carries them away.
Even so, perhaps he's paying me sympathy, but as I stand, unable to gather myself again, he speaks.
Boy from Picture: Actually, regarding that question just now...
Kei: Ah, Yes?
Boy from Picture: In your case, would you mind telling me what relation you are to this Senba Uzuki-san?
Kei: You mean...... me?
Boy from Picture: Seeing as you gave her first name, I couldn't imagine you having no relation.
Kei: Well, more than "relation," I was just with her a few times since we stayed at the same hotel......
Boy from Picture: A few times?
Kei: You know, there don't seem to be many places to stay around here, right? And there aren't many people our age, so......
Boy from Picture: So that means, you aren't anyone from the Senba Clan, then.
"Senba" is well and good, but "clan"? It's not like they're some group of bandits that appear in period dramas...
So... wow, my face is really easy to read, I bet.
Boy from Picture: Ah, "Senba" is also a place, you see. At any rate, most of the people who live there call themselves "Senba," actually.
Kei: Hmm...
Boy from Picture: Simply put, I'm also connected by a relative, you see. Not close enough for you to say our names in the same breath, but I'm distantly related to her.
Kei: Umm...... in other words, you're also a Senba-san?
Boy from Picture: Hahaha, My name's Kei.
Kei: What?
(Kei): Hm? Is my name that strange?
Kei: No, I'm also a Kei, actually.
(Kei): ......That's a coincidence.
Kei: It is, isn't it...? I'm Hatou Kei.
I laugh softly and bow.
(Kei): Hatou... Kei...!?
Kei: Ah, yes. From the surname almost as widespread as Yamada, take off the "sa" from Satou and put it together with the "ba" from Senba and it's Hatou.
(Kei): ......
Kei: Kei is the same "Kei" from the Keiba (Knight) in Shougi (Japanese chess)--- but, what? Is something wrong?
(Kei): No, it's nothing......
He speaks thus while his face indicates the exact opposite.
Maybe it was presumptuous to describe it putting the two surnames together, but I really liked the idea. (TN: She's talking about putting Sen'ba' and Ha'tou' together. Isn't that cute?)
The strange atmosphere between us is stolen away by a wind, mixed with a sweet scent.
As if plucked by the breeze, the sacred tree's white petals rise in a dance.
Kei: Wah, they look like cabbage butterflies......
(Kei): The "enju" flower petals often resemble butterflies, don't they?
Kei: ......Enju?
(Kei): Written with the radicals "oni" and "tree," Enju. It's the name of this tree.
Kei: Oni...... even though it's so pretty?
(Kei): Probably
because it's this tree.
The petals continue dancing as they flutter down.
(Kei): Agehachou - not just the swallowtail butterfly used in family crests as people use the word now, and I heard that any winged butterfly fell under that name in the past - but Agehachou has a different name, Oniguruma (TN: Oni carriage), you see.
(Kei): Probably because they're sometimes regarded as a vehicle for souls. In China, the Oni character is read "ki," and refers to the souls of the dead.
The oni's tree.
A tree for the souls of the dead.
Kei: A white flower... a carriage for souls in the shape of a butterfly......
The petals dance, fluttering.
From the national language class, it was Zhuang Zi, wasn't it? I remember the words from the famous story, "Butterfly Dreamer."
I dreamt I was a butterfly.
I forgot I was myself and flew.
But when I awoke, I was myself.
Did I dream I became a butterfly?
Did the butterfly dream it became me?
Nobody knows the answer, but I think I see why it was about a butterfly.
That is because... butterflies...
(Kei): The people who live in the north, also, have a legend that you become a butterfly
when you die. To ward against evil, they used the Enju as a grave marker.
Kei: So the spirits would become a butterfly...... without losing their way?
(Kei): Can't say. But this sacred tree, in particular, was planted with that exact reason in mind.
(Kei): Even now it works to scatter a soul that won't pass on, in the form of butterflies.
Kei: Ah......
Inside of me, something gears into motion.
Kei: That's it, that dream......
(Kei): Dream?
Those butterflies, shining pale blue, like moonlight.
The faint, sweet fragrance of Enju flowers.
That person appeared after that dream.
It was after that red dream, of myself when I was small, pulled by someone's hand to this place.
Kei: I saw it in a dream. I see... that's it. She's the Ohashirasama......
Hashira-sama.
Hashira-sama. (TN: The kanji are "wing" and "white" respectively.")
With white wings...
The butterflies with white wings, dancing.
(Kei): You saw it......
He speaks, as if in resignation.
(Kei): You saw...... a dream, then?
Kei: She told me to forget... the dream of me coming here when I was younger.
(Kei): ............
Kei: I don't have any memory of that time. So the memory of that dream is all I know about my past, and she told me to forget it......
Did something happen here?
Something that I've forgotten.
Something---
My head is hammered from the inside.
An image tries to take form, sloppily churning in my head, tempest, cyclone, vortex, vertigo.
*Gurari*--- (Onomatopoeia: sound of a person swaying dizzily)
Unto the distortion, as it breaches my vision, I lose my equilibrium and stagger.
(Kei): Hold it.
Strong hands reach out, and steady me before I fall.
(Kei): Are you okay?
Kei: Ah...... thank you very much. I'm fine.
(Kei):Perhaps we talked for too long. It could be heat exhaustion.
Kei: But it's not......
(Kei): If not - it'd be best not to think on it too much.
Kei: Eh!?
(Kei): If she told you to forget, then it's something you don't need to remember.
So he speaks, as if he knows the nature of my attack of vertigo.
(Kei): Oblivion is one of the blessings bestowed on humankind. You would be happiest if you accepted that. It's not a good idea to go poking in the bush when you might find a snake.
Though their faces aren't at all alike, his words and his gaze are reminiscent of Uzuki-san.
(Kei): At any rate, it's best not to overdo it trying to remember something you've forgotten. You can't know what'll come of it. Rather---
The words he likely tried to swallow, somehow, I hear quite clearly.
(Kei): An oni, a snake, perhaps even both.
Kei: ---Eh?
(Kei): So, let's leave it at that.
As if applauding - he claps his hands together, heralding the end, and smiles.
(Kei): That really was a long conversation. You'd best head back down.
Kei: Is something about to happen?
(Kei): The mountain weather changes easily, after all. Particularly in recent evenings, it's been strong enough nearly to wash the sacred tree away.
Kei: Hah, that's quite strong.
(Kei): The path's dangerous enough as it is. People not used to it would find it best to move in more favorable conditions, don't you think?
Like he says, my folding umbrella is in a big bag back at the hotel, so it'd be a problem if it rained.
No, even if I had it, using an umbrella on a mountain path is reckless at best. It doesn't change the fact that rain would be trouble.
Kei: But, for "favorable conditions," don't you think that's a bit much? Evening is still a while, yet.
(Kei): I think not. This place is sacred ground, you understand.
Kei: Ah......
Now that I remember, Kei-san - though he's in my age range so, Kei-kun? - came to prepare for the festival, and in contrast, I'm just a layperson.
Kei: Ah, right, I'm sorry for intruding!
(Kei): I'm not thinking of it that way, though.
Kei: No, I'll go now.
Kei-kun, also, probably has things he wants finish and return before it rains.
Kei: In that case, Kei-kun, I apologize for interrupting. And please, do your best with the festival preparations.
With a *pekori* I give a bow, and withdraw from the sacred ground of the Ohashirasama.
Continue...