Natsuno got off of the bus and went straight onto the village road. He could see Kaori and Akira at the corner of the public hall's grounds.
"Nii-chan!"
The one calling right out to him was Akira. Natsuno nodded. There were no signs of people on the grounds as evening fell. It was the same over by where the bench and jungle gym were. Natsuno threw down his bag onto the bench. Akira came over and took a seat beside it.
"Naa, what'll we do, did you think of anything?"
"No," Natsuno answered shortly. "But it's fine."
"Fine? What?"
"I tried going this morning," Natsuno said. Akira looked to Kaori. Natsuno nodded at nobody in particular.
He was entirely unable to calm down. More than anything, the sensation in his hands when the tip of his shovel had hit the unidentified man was a sensation he couldn't forget.
If he thought about it calmly, the situation was clear enough he had thought. If somebody had caught sight in passing of Natsuno and the others disturbing the grave, they'd ask who they were before attacking them. Even if the might have mistaken Natsuno for a full-bodied adult, one of them was a little girl and the other was a child. It was only natural someone would call out to them first, and even if they hurried to them that was different from lunging at them.
But there was no denying that the man did come lunging at Kaori. No matter how one thought about it, he was attacking Kaori, and he felt that what he did there in eliminating that man was correct. There was no room for doubt that the man had already been long cold. In the first place, no matter how bad of a spot he had hit him in, he couldn't think that the man had died that quickly with one blow. The man was dead from before.
---But, the sensation in his hands defied that kind of reasoning. Natsuno clearly raised the considerably, weighty weapon over head with the intent to convey harm and as a result the man fell over. The man who fell over ceased to move. He didn't raise and indicate that he was all right to them.
Thinking of that, he couldn't stop his terrified shivers. He did something he couldn't take back. He'd strayed, done an act one must absolutely never do, he had thought. What scared him was that "sin" in itself. That he couldn't run from his awareness of his own sin. he couldn't run from the belief that a punishment would be dealt in relation to that sin. Right and wrong was something deeply engrained into Natsuno's personality, a psychological underpinning he had been tinged with. It transcended reason. No matter how he might try to rephrase it, he couldn't escape from the sense that that was an unforgivable deed.
Unable to sleep, unable to even rest, late into the night he went to that graveyard, thinking to confirm once more time that the man was dead. What held him back was that what Natsuno wanted to have confirmed was not that "the man is dead" but that "the man is alive." If he could confirm that the man wasn't dead, Natsuno could escape his consciousness and that sin. Unable to cast off the expectation of such a discovery, wanting to prove it to himself at any cost, he couldn't stop himself from rushing out and up the hill to that grave spot. But in doing that he might have confirmed that it was the case that the man was dead. That scared him. That was why he was just barely able to reign it in, the urge to head out.
But that was only until dawn, and as soon as the sun's rays shone he could no longer hold it in. Hurrying out of the house, he rode his bicycle towards the village road towards the Motohashi family gravesite. ---He couldn't not do it.
"...Nii-chan?" Akira pushed. Natsuno sighed.
"He wasn't there."
Eh, Akira and Kaori let out.
"Then.... That guy wasn't dead, after all."
Natsuno shook his head. "I don't know. The grave was put back."
"That's--what do you mean?"
"Like I said, the grave was back like it was. The mound was made and the sotoba was stood up again. There was no sign of him. I don't know if he was buried with her or if he started moving again after that and left."
"But who'd do that?"
"Who knows? But it's obvious they did it at night. It couldn't have been the Motohashi lady's family. I can't really see them as going grave visiting in the middle of the night. Much less on the night of the burial."
Akira nodded. "It was them?"
"I don't know that either. Anyway, I tried stabbing down with a pole and it didn't seem like there was a dead body right under the mound. I can't be completely sure, but."
"Then, the old Motohashi lady might've Risen?"
"Might've. Anyway, I left it so that if the mound was broken I'd know. I left some pebbles and markers around there. If the old lady rises up and rebuilds the mound, even if it's reburied again, I'll know by looking."
Akira nodded meekly, and then peered at Natsuno's face. "Naa, what'll we do from now on? Should we dig up the Motohashi's Baa-chan's grave one more time?"
Motohashi Tsuruko's dead body was untouched. If they wanted to stop the dam from breaking so to speak they couldn't just leave her like that. That's what Akira was thinking but Natsuno shook his head with a strange disinterest.
"Hey... Akira, yesterday, were you scared?"
"Not really."
So Akira said but of course this was a lie. He was too scared to sleep. Kaori made some noise, came in saying she would sleep in his room. If she hadn't, Akira himself might have been the one running into Kaori's room.
"Aren't you brave," Natsuno said with a smile that saw through Akira's false courage. ".....I was scared."
"No way."
"I was. Going to the grave again, confirming her dead body's there, stabbing a stake in to make sure she doesn't rise. ---I don't know if I can do that."
"But, .... we'll do it, right?"
"We've gotta." Natsuno's voice cracked low.
Yuuki turned his head towards the voice at the entryway that called out "Excuse me."
It was already dark outside the windows. Azusa was making preparations for dinner in the kitchen. So Yuuki himself rose to answer it.
When he opened the entryway door, a girl who looked to be in gradeschool stood there. Something about her gave him the impression of being hardened. That may have been because of her dark expression that didn't suit a child.
"Yes?"
"This is the Yuuki-san residence?"
"Yes it is. And you are?"
"Shizuka," was all the girl said. "Is Onii-chan here?"
Yuuki tilted his head. "Onii-chan---You mean Natsuno?"
The little girl nodded.
"Natsuno hasn't come home from school yet. Did you need him for something?"
The little girl again nodded. "It is something very important, so may I wait?"
The girl spoke looking up as if taking a peek at Yuuki. To put it honestly, what Yuuki felt was a faint revulsion. Maybe it was because the little girl's words were said in a monotone voice as if scripted, because of the feeling of something rotting away coiling about her. There was the feeling that she wasn't a child particularly looking to be friendly with his son.
"What did you need from him?" Yuuki asked but the girl shook her head. "Is it something that's that important right now? It's already dinner time. How about trying tomorrow?"
"No," the little girl said shortly. "I have important business so I'll wait."
Yuuki was bewildered. "But I don't know what time Natsuno will be back. Where are you from? Naka-Sotoba?"
"Monzen."
"What's your last name?"
"Matsuo. Matsuo Shizuka."
"Matsuo, is it---- Where from in Monzen?"
"At the border of Kami-Sotoba. SakaiMatsu."
Yuuki didn't know if it was a regional name or a shop name. Having the feeling he should have known who the little girl was with that, Yuuki wouldn't know it even if he were told, for example, who lived next door or any such. "That's pretty far, isn't it? It's already dark out, it might be better to go back home for tonight, don't you think? I'll tell him that you came, though."
"I'll wait."
"Really, I don't know when he'll be back. Sometimes he stops on the way and he doesn't come home until pretty late and all."
"It's very important so I'll wait," the little girl repeated with a glare meant to put him in place. Yuuki sighed.
"I see..."
Yuuki looked around. Nowhere along the dark streets did he see any sign of his son. The little girl stared fixedly at him. There was something expressed there in her upturned eyes. Yuuki felt some unexpressed disatisfaction therein, something irritating.
"Are you a friend of Natsuno's?"
The girl nodded. She repeated "I have important business" in a childish tone that grated on his nerves.
I get it, Yuuki said finally worn to the end of his patience as he opened the door. "Then for now you can wait inside."
Without a word of thanks to him the little girl slid into the entryway. She went right past Yuuki and into the house itself.
"Wait, you."
The little girl turned around. Even seeing her in the light, there was nothing special about her, there were countless girls just like her in the village.
"I'm waiting for Onii-chan. Can't I go to his room?"
At once Yuuki felt unease. He knew that all that was happening was that a child would be waiting in Natsuno's room but there was something he found too overbearing about it. That wasn't all. It was also making him uneasy not to know the reason. Yuuki didn't like this girl. If Natsuno were to be close with her, he realized that it would be questionable as to why. The little girl was strange, in some way that deviated from Yuuki's common sense, something sinister he couldn't put into words.
"I can, right? Which one?" The girl spoke as if irritated, as if about to stomp her feet. No, now that's enough, Yuuki wanted to say, but he endured.
Something about the little girl was tainted. It was as if she were psychologically damaged in some way. The untarnished truth was that she was disgusting. --But that was all the more reason Yuuki couldn't refuse her. He himself did not want to embrace any discomfort or disgust just by what this little girl looked like.
"It's down the hall, the one furthest at the left."
The little girl turned her back as if on a pivot. Heading directly down the hall, she stopped and turned at the corner as if remembering something. "Onii-chan is coming here after me. May he?"
Yuuki vaguely nodded. "Sure. By all means."
The little girl nodded. With a 'ku' sound at last she laughed. That smile was dark, and indeed Yuuki didn't like it. Closing the entryway, he casually headed down the hallway. Once he turned the corner, he saw Natsuno's door was closed.
"What was with that girl?" came a voice behind him. It was Azusa."....She's an eerie one, isn't she?"
"Don't say things like that," Yuuki said but the voice inside of himself was only saying the same.
When Azua at least thought to bring her some tea, the room was dark and the child was sitting alone, sullenly.
Azusa kept her unease in check and turned on the lights. With a deliberately cheerful voice she asked if she wasn't afraid of the dark, if she'd like some tea, to stay for dinner, but the child just sat in silence. She showed a sharp smile but she gave no particular response and showed no signs of wanting to converse with Azusa. There were several things she'd wanted to ask but feeling perplexed, Azusa left.
"What could be the matter with that child..." she said to Yuuki, but Yuuki only gave a half-hearted response.
"There are kids like that, even in this village. It's like, she leaves a very uncharacteristic impression, for a place like this."
"---How so?"
"I mean, I thought it was a place with scenic charms, tranquil, but I realized it's really not. Sotoba comes from the word sotoba doesn't it, if I remember. It really does feel like that too."
Azusa had tried to say but Yuuki offered no response. They were expecting something different when they'd moved. But when they'd tried moving in, after one year of not being able to really become a part of the village society, upon finally trying to take part, they were just being rounded up to take part in unfortunate ceremonies. Azusa at last understood how incorrigible the village society was.
As she let out a sigh, there was the sound of the entryway opening. Peering down the hall, she saw that Natsuno had finally come home.
"Welcome back. Natsuno-kun has a visitor."
"---A visitor? Tamocchan?"
Azusa shook her head and came to see him. She kept her voice low. "A little girl. Who is she?"
"A girl? No idea."
"She's someone who knows you isn't she? She said she was some girl from Monzen. Something like Matsuo Shizuka she said."
Natsuno gave a dubious expression. "Who's that?"
"Who---well. She came to visit you! She said she had business with you so she'd wait," Azusa said, turning to face Yuuki who was coming as well. "Didn't she?"
Yuuki nodded. "It might not have been her but her brother who had business with you though."
"Matsuo--I don't remember anyone like that."
"I tried to suggest she wait until tomorrow but she kept saying it was important and wouldn't listen. She asked if 'Onii-san' could come too but it seems like he hasn't come yet."
Natsuno tilted his head. "Where?"
"In your room."
Natsuno looked at Yuuki as if displeased. "Don't just let people in my room."
"That girl was the one who said she'd wait in your room. She asked if she could, I can't very well just turn her down cold can I?" Yuuki said, Natsuno's eyes suddenly opening wide. In an instant, Yuuki could feel a sense of terror in Natsuno.
"What is that girl?"
"Like I said, I don't know," Natsuno said hurrying down the hall. He all but threw open the door. And then he stayed standing there in the hall.
"---natsuno?"
"You said there was a little girl? ---So, what kind of girl?"
Yuuki tilted his head. "What kind?" he started to say when he came to stand before his room, peering inside. His mouth dropped.
There was nobody inside of the room. The window was open, the wind blowing through. The tea that Azusa had brought was on the floor, cooling and looking untouched.
"That's..."
Natsuno peered out the window.
"She said she was Matsuo Shizuka from Monzen. She had something important she she wanted to wait---in your room, she said?"
"What kind of girl?"
"Even if you ask what kind of girl... She was kind of a creepy child you could say, but."
I see, Natsuno said, his voice low.
".... She said her brother was coming?"
"She did say that. Was it all right if her brother comes too, she said."
Natsuno turned his now oddly pale face towards Natsuno. "How'd you answer?"
"Well," Yuuki said haltingly. He didn't know why, but he had the feeling he had terribly mismanaged something. "I couldn't exactly refuse, so I said that it was all right."
I see, his son said, voice all the more low.
"Akira, telephone."
Akira set his chopsticks down as his mother called for him. He went into the hallway and picked up the phone. "Got it!"
"---This Akira?" It was Natsuno's voice. "When you got home did any visitors come?"
"No? Not really."
I see, Natsuno murmured. "You listening? Ask your mom and dad. If someone comes to visit you or your sister, tell them definitely not to let them in the house."
".....What's this about?"
"Just do it. Think of a good reason. Even if they say it's important, even if they say they want to wait at the house, tell them to send them away for you. Absolutely do not let them into the house. Got it?"
"Y... Yeah." Akira nodded for the time being. Natsuno once again stressed the idea and then hung up. Akira stared at the receiver for a time, thinking on what Natsuno could be getting at, suddenly make such a phone call.