Chapter 36 - Jōkyō 3 (1686), Part Seven

The next morning, they ate breakfast at the inn and immediately crossed by boat to Yamazaki, then headed northwest along the foot of the Nishiyama mountains. The road through the mountains was cool, and the three of them walked while nibbling azuki-bean rice cakes they had bought at the inn after being told they were a local specialty.

After passing through several settlements, they finally caught sight of their destination near midday. Shōjiji Temple, also known as the “Temple of Flowers,” apparently drew large crowds from far away during the spring blossom-viewing season, but there were probably few visitors at this time of year. No one else could be seen on the steps leading up to the temple, and the place was deserted.

At the top of the stairs stood a somewhat faded vermilion building.

“This temple was completely burned down during the earlier war—the Ōnin War—and rebuilt afterward, but the Niō Gate you can see up there escaped the flames, so it remains as it was back then.”

Kisuke explained this while looking up the steps, and Kohiru listened with admiration.

“Father, you know a lot.”

“It’s a temple connected to Kamo no En no Kimi. I’ve been here once before.”

“Well then, shall we go?” Kisuke said as he started up the stairs, but Kohiru stopped him.

“Um, this is far enough. I couldn’t possibly trouble you any further…”

Both Kisuke and Tomonobu were surprised by that. They had intended to accompany her all the way to the grave. But Kohiru stubbornly declined, so in the end they parted there.

Kisuke was still worried about her journey afterward, but she told him she would visit an acquaintance who lived nearby once she had finished paying her respects, and that she could ask someone at the temple for directions. Though reluctant, he finally accepted her explanation.

Even so, Tomonobu remained concerned. After they had walked some distance, he looked back and saw Kohiru still standing at the foot of the steps watching them leave. Something about her reluctant posture bothered him, so after another few steps he turned around once more. This time, he saw her slowly climbing the stairs.

(Maybe she didn’t want anyone to intrude…)

Tomonobu had begun to suspect that Kohiru’s feelings for Akitaka had gone beyond those of a servant toward her master. If so, it would explain why she had wandered for a hundred years with nothing but memories of him.

Perhaps noticing Tomonobu walking along in gloomy thought, Kisuke suggested that they stop to rest at the next settlement.

Fortunately, there was a small teahouse there. They ordered eggplant dengaku, advertised as a local specialty, along with tea. While they filled their stomachs and quenched their thirst, Kisuke said nothing and asked no questions. Tomonobu was grateful for that.

Before long, they set out again, but by then midday had already passed, and the sun beat down fiercely. Even so, they still had a considerable distance to walk before reaching Hachijō, where the Tsuchimikado estate stood. From there on, the two continued walking in silence. Thanks to that, they managed to arrive in front of the Tsuchimikado estate by the seventh hour of evening.

“Then I’ll take my leave here.”

“Yes. You’ve done well.”

Kisuke said he would stay that night at an inn he knew and set out for home early the next morning. Tomonobu watched his departing figure for a while, then bowed to the familiar gatekeeper and entered the estate alone.

The moment Tomonobu returned to his own room after so long away, he sighed at the difference between it and the room in the manor where he had stayed until the previous morning. However—

“Thank you for everything, Tomo-san. I’ll definitely come see you again soon.”

Remembering the words Kohiru had whispered into his ear when they parted, hope that he might become her master lightened his heart.

(And if I become the master of a divine messenger, then at the very least they ought to treat me as well as a trainee…)

He had heard that a trainee’s room was two ken square and even had a chest of drawers. On top of that, although the servant was shared among several people, trainees had one assigned to them, meaning they no longer had to handle minor chores themselves.

A larger room than his current one, better treatment, and above all, the thought of himself as master of a marked divine messenger made Tomonobu’s heart soar.

But after two or three days, Tomonobu gradually grew restless. By the fifth day, he was fidgeting and constantly glancing toward the estate gate, and by the tenth, he had begun to think that perhaps he should go to Fushimi Inari himself the very next day.

(No. If I do that, she’ll think I don’t trust her. I have to believe in her and wait!)

He forced himself to stay put. Then, two more days later, in the evening, while Tomonobu was still waiting impatiently, one of the gardeners came to tell him that a woman calling herself Kohiru had arrived asking for him.

Someone merely visiting a prospective trainee would ordinarily not be allowed inside the estate and would be made to wait outside the gate. Tomonobu hurried out at a run, and there Kohiru stood just outside.

When she saw him, she smiled and bowed her head.

“I’m sorry to trouble you when you’re busy, Tomonobu-sama. Thanks to you, I was granted an audience with Lady Akomachi. She said I can return my former name. It will still be some time before that happens, but if you don’t mind, could you think of a new name for me?”

Tomonobu gripped Kohiru’s hands and was so overwhelmed with joy that he could not find the words to speak. All he could do was nod again and again as he listened.

According to Kohiru, she would have to spend several months in the Immortal Realm to cleanse herself of the impurities of the mundane world.

“I think it will take some time. Will you wait for me?”

Kohiru asked this with a slightly worried expression.

“Of course!”

Tomonobu answered with a radiant smile.

Twelfth Month

The end of the year already brought more dangerous incidents than usual every year, but this year had seen an additional string of bizarre occurrences: the carp in the pond at Nijō Castle had vanished overnight, and a horse that had been selected as an offering to Kifune Shrine had been stolen.

Because of that, a policy was issued that the year-end Great Purification Ceremony was to be conducted on a grand scale, and the Tsuchimikado family was kept busy preparing for it.

This Great Purification Ceremony would not be held in the Omima chambers used for annual observances, but in the southern courtyard before the Shishinden Hall. As a result, far more people would be participating, and they said that even preparing the human-shaped purification effigies for the ritual was a major undertaking.

Still, Princess Kana and those around her were more concerned about the condition of her mother, Chino. Although Chino herself smiled and insisted she was fine, she had been spending a great deal of time lying down over the past month, and the sound of thunder had been heard unusually often.

(Could the cold be taking its toll on Mother?)

Because of that, reciting prayers for a safe childbirth every morning and evening had recently become part of the princess’s daily routine. And in doing so, she came to a new realization.

“…May Mother’s body know no sickness, may the infant know no suffering, and may both together grow in beauty and health, prospering without mishap—I humbly, humbly pray.”

(By reciting it every day, I draw closer to the gods, and by putting my feelings into the words, they gain power as kotodama. Perhaps this is what it means to put one’s heart into a norito…)

Tomonobu repeatedly took a note from inside his robe and gazed at it.

Every time he did, a smile softened his cheeks.

It was something a maidservant who had gone out on an errand the previous day had brought back, saying it had been handed to her in front of the estate.

—To Kōtokui Tomonobu-sama

I would like to visit you at the sixth hour of evening on New Year’s Eve, five days from now.

Kohiru—

That was all it said, but to Tomonobu it was a treasure: a symbol of the joy of finally seeing Kohiru again, and of his hope that he would become the master of a divine messenger.

Then came New Year’s Eve.

Perhaps because many of the onmyōji had gone out early in the morning for the Great Purification Ceremony, Tomonobu felt that the Tsuchimikado estate was quieter than usual.

Of course, the servants were busy preparing for the New Year, but there was little need for anyone to come near the rooms of the prospective trainees, so there was almost no foot traffic and the area remained quiet.

Tomonobu cleaned his room more thoroughly than usual, and once he had nothing left to do, he had already grown restless by shortly after noon.

He had informed the onmyōji supervising the prospective trainees in advance that an acquaintance would be visiting him and that he wished to bring her to his room, and he had already obtained permission.

When he sat still, time seemed to crawl. He repeatedly stood up and sat down again in agitation. Once the seventh hour had passed, he could no longer bear it. He went outside the gate despite the light snow and began pacing around outside the estate, but even then the appointed time seemed unwilling to arrive.

At last, the bell for the sixth hour of evening rang. As Tomonobu waited anxiously in front of the gate, he saw Kohiru approaching at a brisk pace. The moment she spotted him, she hurried over with a broad smile.

“Tomonobu-sama! Lady Akomachi has given her permission. Once the New Year’s period is over, she says we may perform the naming ceremony.”

“Really?! Then I can become your master, Kohiru!”

“Yes. And since we also have to perform the ritual to return my former name, I wanted to speak with you about that. Um… would it be all right if I came inside the estate?”

“Yes, it’s fine. I’ve already received permission. This way.”

Tomonobu beckoned for Kohiru to follow him and passed through the service gate.

He had taken only three steps when he heard a voice behind him.

“Ahh… finally, I’m inside…”

It was horribly hoarse.

(Huh?)

Tomonobu spun around in surprise.

What he saw were long, sharp claws extending from hairy fingers.

Behind the thing, which looked ready to pierce Tomonobu’s left eye at any moment, was Kohiru’s smiling face.

He had no idea what was happening, but the core of his body went cold all at once. His heart throbbed painfully as though someone had seized it, and cold sweat poured from him.

(What… is…)

The only thing he understood was that whatever stood before him now was something entirely different from the Kohiru he knew.

Beyond that, terror and shock left his mind unable to work. His whole body trembled, and the only thought that came crashing over him again and again was whether he had made some terrible mistake.

The thing wearing Kohiru’s face stretched its lips into a grin, and a grating, hoarse voice came from it.

“Boy, I suppose I should thank you for inviting me in. Unfortunately, it seems there are other barriers here as well. I’d love to devour you right now, but I think I’ll have you guide me a little farther first.”

(No… that’s not…)

Only then did Tomonobu finally manage to force out his voice through his trembling.

“Ko… Kohiru… What did you do to Kohiru…?”

“That pitiful fox? Her…? I ate her.”

Before Tomonobu could even comprehend the meaning of those words, the thing lowered its finger slightly.

Prick.

It pierced Tomonobu’s cheek.

“Gh!”

More fear crashed over him along with the pain. He grabbed the finger with both hands and desperately tried to pull it out, but it did not budge.

Worse still, the thing seemed amused and ground its finger deeper into him.

His wound burned with pain while the words from moments earlier repeated endlessly in his mind.

“I ate her.”

His chest hurt as though it might collapse, and tears welled in his eyes.

“You… ate her…? Kohi…ru…? No…”

The thing chuckled as it watched Tomonobu stare in disbelief.

“Yes. I ate her. Heh heh. But…”

Its laughter grew louder and more delighted.

“That was more than fifty years ago.”

(What…?)

Those words blew every thought from Tomonobu’s mind.

His thinking stopped completely.

The thing watched his blank expression with obvious amusement.

“When I found that one, she was wandering the human world, plotting to resurrect a dead man and searching for someone suitable to serve as his vessel. She had lost her power as a divine messenger and was eating snakes to gain what little yōkai power she could.”

As the thing spoke, its forehead and skull split apart with a wet tearing sound.

Something covered in hair pushed its way out.

Eight eyes of different sizes rolled independently in every direction, while a fanged mouth made a horrible clicking noise.

(A… spider… monster…)

The finger embedded in Tomonobu’s cheek was pulled free.

Blood spurted from his cheek and both palms, and with nothing left to support him, his body collapsed to the ground.

“So I ate her. But her feelings for her master were stronger than I expected, and I ended up bound to that place for a very long time. Fortunately, you appeared at just the right moment. Thanks to you, I was finally able to leave—and now you’ve even brought me inside a place filled with such a feast.”

Kohiru’s face peeled away.

Her shoulders split open, and several hairy legs burst through her breasts and abdomen.

“Then… Kohiru is…”

“Gone. From the very beginning, the one standing before you was me, wearing her memories and her skin. At first, I intended to eat you during your journey, but then I discovered there was even better prey here. So I merely decided to keep you alive until I could devour that instead.”

“…Prey…?”

“The Tsuchimikado infant. Boy, you’re going to lead me to it.”