| | Keiko knelt on the sand in the seiza position with her ankles tucked under her, motionless, watching the moon rise over the water and the torches from the cormorant fishers' boats flicker in the bay. Although romantic, there were more practical ways to fish and Keiko had once pointed this out to her mother. Her mother, she remembered, slapped her across the face and told her to clean the floor in the sukiya with the little brush before she went to bed that night, hoping she'd then have more respect for tradition. Keiko learned from the exchange not any more respect for tradition, but to keep her opinions to herself. Debasing tradition was highly frowned upon and a cause for shame, especially when the debaser is a young girl who should know better than to have opinions.
She'd been there for the better part of an hour and her ankles were aching. People walked along the beach below her, back and forth, back and forth...almost as hypnotic as the waves themselves. Off to the north twinkled the lights of Kominutsu, the skyscrapers bold and bright. If she listened closely, she could almost hear the noise of its abundant night life even as far away as this...or was that just the sound of the ocean?
An insistent beep interrupted her musings. She broke her position and looked at her chronometer. It was late, and she needed to get home and be in bed asleep before he came back from his business meeting—he would be more likely to leave her alone then and just stumble drunkenly to his own futon. Let her mother deal with him.
Keiko sighed and whispered goodbye to the full moon. She stood up and brushed white sand from her pants. That was when she noticed a man standing about ten meters away regarding her with interest.
To stare at one so—especially an unescorted young woman—was not socially acceptable and caused Keiko to pause, unsure of what to do in such an unfamiliar social situation. She decided to be bold back, since he had already broken custom himself. She bowed. "Konban wa. May I help you with something? Perhaps you are lost, and seek directions?"
The man was rail thin and tall, wan in a lingering, persistent way, as if he were weathered from within like a piece of leather. His long brown hair fluttered in the evening breeze, wisps crossing his long face and obscuring his eyes. He wore the shapeless coat so many of the men of the day favored, but by his height and the shape of his head she sensed that there was something different about him... Then the moon caught his face, just briefly, and she instantly recognized that he was gaijin—outsider. Her eyes widened in surprise.
"Hai," he said, softly. He let his arms fall to his sides. His right arm was wrapped from elbow to wrist in black cloth, a black glove on his hand. His left hand held a scrap of paper, which he raised up. "Kore wa nan desu ka Miyu?" He sounded tired and let the paper flutter in the breeze as he stood there, motionless.
Keiko blinked. Miyu was her mother’s name. How would a gaijin know Mother? She bowed again, falling back on social custom. "If you're refering to my mother, sir, she is at home, awaiting the return of her husband from business in the city."
He nodded and lowered the paper. "I see," he whispered, barely audible. The breeze whipped around him and tore the paper from his hand, carrying it out over the water where it vanished into the dark.
She watched the paper flutter away, curious and disturbed. It looked like a handwritten letter.
"Would you take me to her?” he asked. “We are..friends. Friends from long ago. It would be a..favor."
Keiko looked back him and paused, considering things, then answered, "Hai." She bowed, turned away, and started walking. Home was about a kilometer away. She glanced back once at the stranger during her walk, curious if he was still there. He followed wordlessly, hands thrust deep into his pockets.
They reached her mother's husband's house and Keiko gestured to a waiting area. "You may take your rest here. I will inform my mother as to your request." She bowed again—a half-bow, courteous and respectful, without being too submissive, proper for an occassion when the other person's rank was unknown. He returned the bow, saying nothing.
With one last glance in his direction, Keiko left for her mother’s room, her head swimming with this unexpected turn of events. She found Mother seated at her desk, writing a letter. She looked up when Keiko entered, and Keiko was suddenly struck by how old her mother appeared, as if the cares and worries of life had begun their final, inexorable assault on her youth.
"Kiki! Where have you been?" she asked, smiling as she replaced her pen.
Keiko bowed. "Watching the moon at the beach. Mother, a man, a gaijin, is requesting to see you. He says he is an old friend. He is waiting inside." She watched her mother’s reaction closely. There was surprise at first, then two looks crossed her mother’s face in rapid succession. Excitement, then, as she lowered her eyes, a look of grief.
Keiko narrowed her own eyes. This whole situation was irregular to the extreme, from a man requesting to see a married woman alone without addressing the husband first, to this same man being a foreigner, to this same man calling at such a late hour. Everyone knew that the proper time to receive visitors was during the late afternoon hours. Would Mother see him? Would she ask her to be a chaperone, for surely she won't agree to see the man alone? What will happen if her husband, the hihi, the baboon (Keiko refused to name him, even in her thoughts) came home before the stranger left? So many questions.
Mother stood and walked over to her, slowly taking Keiko in her arms and giving her a long hug. "It is because I love you, Kiki. I want you to have what is yours," she whispered.
Mother released her, but retained ahold of her hand as she led her back to the entryway. She gazed at the door and said, "Leave us, Kiki."
Keiko was too surprised to even ask, "What is mine?" She stared at her mother puzzedly.
Mother squeezed her hand, then released it. She passed through the shoji wall and saw the man. The stranger looked up as Mother entered and their eyes met. Without a word, Mother glided into the room and sat opposite the man.
As Keiko slid the shoji screen shut, she saw a remarkable thing which caused her to pause. The man, seated in ansa, rolled back on his ankles into seiza. He bowed to Mother, his arms stretched out before him on the floor. She watched him do this and remained completely still, then tentatively reached out to touch his hair. Feeling like she was witnessing something very private, Keiko finished sliding the screen shut. She thought about retiring to her own room, but instead went back to her mother’s room, intent upon waiting for her and questioning her once the gaijin had left.
She had been sitting in her mother's room for over an hour when she heard the outer door opening. The tell-tale sound of her mother’s husband, the hihi, echoed throughout the house as he entered. Keiko could immediately tell that he was drunk, and she knew that in mere seconds he'd be entering the outer chamber where she’d left her mother and the man.
Against her better judgment she ran through the house and intercepted him. She bowed, prostrating herself on the ground in front of him, her forehead touching the floor. "Konban wa," she said. "Welcome home. May I get you sake, or tea?"
Mother and the man sat where they were, not moving. Mother had before her a bone scroll, sealed with wax, the sigil of a stylized chrysanthemum clearly visible. The seal of the Taiko.
Hihi stumbled, then belched. "Get out of my way, wretched..girl..WIFE..why is my supper not ready? Hmm? And who is this gaijin? Do you take in anything, eh? Unclean..BEASTS?"
Keiko rolled out of the way and onto her feet.
Hihi shuffled over and poked the stranger hard in the shoulder. The man did not react, or even attempt to avoid him. Nor did he meet mother’s husband’s gaze, choosing to look over at Mother instead. This only angered Hihi.
"Eh? Are you dumb? Are you..STUPID? It’s late..you've prevented my wife from seeing to my supper..eh? EH?"
The gaijin said nothing. Keiko said nothing.
Mother, however, took up the scroll. She bowed and offered it to her husband. He snatched the scroll from her hand and tucked it into his kimono. Then Hihi lurched away, cracking the slender, wooden shoji frame as he passed. Keiko heard him stumbling around inside the house.
The gaijin bowed and Mother returned it. Then he stood and looked directly at Keiko. Distracted by all that had happened, Keiko forgot protocol and returned his gaze and met his eyes. He seemed utterly calm, his eyes flat and without emotion. A pause, and then he turned and left the house.
Mother stood, very slowly. She turned to follow her husband, then decided against it and turned back to face her daughter. "Kiki..please go. I do not wish for you to suffer what will come of this night. The man..he..he is waiting. He will..explain. Please.." she said, a choking sound rising in her throat.
"Mother...I...It's..." Keiko took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a brief moment, struggling to regain control of herself. Her face a neutral mask once again, she opened her eyes and looked at her mother. "What is the scroll? And who was that man?"
Her mother’s husband, the hihi, roared, followed closely by the sound of breakingwood.
Mother said quickly, "You..have been summoned..by the Taiko. To school.Military school."
"Military school?!?" The calm she just spent time achieving was gone.
"The gaijin..the man..brought the appointment. Honor him, Kiki..and forgivemyhusband. This was the only way..now go!"
"But...!"
Mother hurried back into the house. There were more sounds of breaking wood,and the gulping sounds of a man struggling between screams and sobs.
Keiko took a few hesitant steps toward the house. She stared at the door hermother had passed through, her fists balled at her sides, listening to the commotionwithin. Despite the fact that she feared for her mother's safety, Keiko had nodesire to enter that house while the hihi raged...but what could she do aboutit? Suddenly an idea came to her. She would go to the gaijin. He seemed fondof her mother. Maybe she could convince him to come back and help. She turnedand sprinted down the path, looking for the stranger.
She found him seated on a rock about a hundred yards away. He was watching thehouse, his coat pulled tightly around his shoulders and turned up at the collar.When he saw her approach he slid off the rock and began to walk along the roadin a direction away from the house. He said nothing.
In the distance Keiko heard the sound of breaking glass, but still the man walkedon. She stopped, turned back toward her home, then back toward the man. "Please..." shecalled to his back. "Help my mother...please."
He turned, and she felt his eyes boring into her. His face remained impassive,but in the moonlight she saw the edges of his mouth move, as if he were clenchinghis jaw, just so briefly.
"I am," he replied finally, and turned around to continue walking. "Don'tfall behind," he added, his voice floating above the sound of the wind, “oryou will get lost."
Keiko stayed where she was, staring at his back, her face a study in conflictingemotions and desires. Most inappropriate for one fifteen-years-old. She feltshame and lowered her head lest the man turn and see her loss of control. Honoris most important. Honor your mother’s request and follw the man. Headstill bowed, Keiko followed silently.
The path turned to the south, the evening stars winking above. The land was atfirst familiar, but then subtly different, as if one small detail was changed,then another, the landscape shifting slightly as they continued to walk the path,so gently as to almost be imperceptable. The way one feature glided into anotherseemed elegant, almost gentle somehow. Utterly patient in its tranformation.
Keiko heard the trees rustling, a harsh sound of raspy leaves, dry and roughenedby an autumn sun. But...but it’s summer...! There was a tang of smoke andthen it was gone. The dirt underfoot gave way to a road of pressed stone, theland on either side sloped away, and the grasses turned long and wispy in theivory moonlight.
And still the man walked, purposefully, in silence, occasionally looking up atthe stars or taking a handful of dirt and letting it fall through his fingers.As a second moon appeared on the rolling horizon, he looked back at Keiko andwaitedfor her to join him.
Keiko stopped staring at the double moons and approached. She bowed her head,trembling.
"This road continues for seven miles,” he stated. “You mightas well walk with me. We should be there before dawn, and there is little timeto stop."
Keiko looked up at him askance.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a green, plastic-wrapped bar of somesort. "Here," he said, holding it out to her. His voice remained asit was, matter-of-fact.
Keiko took it distractedly. "Are..Forgive me, but...are you kami?" Kami...spirit...
The man actually smiled and Keiko decided it didn’t look good on him.
"No, Keiko, I am not. Are you?"
The question caught her by surprise. There was that strange time she changedshape when she was angry. But he wouldn’t know about that...would he? Howcould he? She told no one, not even Mother. "No...”
He looked down at her, eyes piercing.
“...I don't know," she stammered.
He nodded. "That is a good answer."
They walked in silence a few moments. Keiko tore at the green wrapper. The barinside reminded her of granola, but had an exotic flavor to it she couldn’tidentify.
"Mother said I was summoned by the Taiko," she ventured, having finishedthe food.
The man produced a silvery canteen from another pocket and handed it to her.
"Are you taking me to military school? She indicated that you would explain." Keikoopened the canteen and took a drink. It was water.
"Your mother asks much, then," he said, looking down at the road.Then helooked over at her, his hair in his eyes. "I wanted to allow her to saveface, and an appointment from the Taiko seemed suitable. The reality, however..."
He reached down and plucked a flowering weed from the road, a willowy daisy withyellow petals.
"The reality is I cannot spare the assets to watch Nippon, and she wouldnot come.But she wanted to spare you, and demanded," a brief smile creased his face, "thatI come to take you. It was my duty, she said."
Within a moment or two the flower withered, turning to dust, and he let it fallfrom his hand. Keiko watched, disturbed.
"She understands duty very well,” he continued. “She alwaysdid. Tomy shame."
They walked in silence a while longer. The landscape didn’t appear to changeanymore to Keiko, though the air began to taste more of iron, and the wind beganto blow a little colder.
The man spoke again. "When she said you were to attend school, she was correct.But it will not be with the Taiko, it will be with me."
Keiko looked up at him sharply.
“Where you can be of some use,” he continued, “and I can..." Helooked back at her, his expression troubled, "..see that your mother's wishesare followed."
Her brow furrowed as Keiko gazed at the man. After a moment she asked softly, "Whatis to happen to me?"
"You? What do you want to happen to you?"
Keiko paused before answering. "No one has ever asked me what I wanted," shereplied. I want to be free of my mother’s husband, I want to be happy,I want to know who and what I really am... "I don't know," she answeredfinally, bowing her head.
"That,” he said, "is not a good answer." The man paused,thencontinued, "But a forgivable one." He folded his hands behind his backand picked up the pace. "Come. Time is short."
They walked and the two moons turned the road into a mottled ribbon of grey.Keikoasked no more questions, afraid of the answers.
The moons travelled overhead, hour after hour, until they set one after the otherand the sky turned from black to soft pink. Tired, Keiko stumbled as she walkedbeside the man, drowsing on her feet. The man made no indication he noticed herfatigue.
Ahead she noticed the road they walked led to a walled villa. Behind its stuccowalls she saw hills lined with vines, green and brown against grey stone, everythingquiet and peaceful in the dawn light.
Keiko struggled to wake up fully, pulling herself out of the monotonous fog ofwalking, walking, walking. They approached the villa and at the gate she sawa littleman in a brown smock. He was a very little man, perhaps no more thanfour feet tall. He was very old-looking, strands of white hair dottinga parchment-colored head over a face that looked like aged dough. He whistleda tune Keiko didn't recognize.
The man beside her began to speak, softly.
“So the darkness shall be the light, and the stillness the dancing.
Whisper of running streams, and winter lightning.
The wild thyme unseen and the wild strawberry,
The laughter in the garden, echoed ecstasy
Not lost, but requiring, pointing to the agony
Of death and rebirth."
He stopped when he came to the gate. He once again wrapped himself in his coat,arms thrust deep into his pockets, the same as he did when walking from the beachto her home. When he spoke to her it had the sound of dust.
"Here you are. I will be back for you. In the meantime, learn what you aretaught.That is the agreement your mother made with me." He took one hand from hispocket and passed Keiko an envelope. The expression on his face as she took itwas one of...regret? "When you have reached the end, open this. Look hardon what you find within."
"I won't disappoint you—or my mother," Keiko declared in a softvoice.She bowed deeply.
"She said as much..when we last spoke."
He did not bow, but he did look satisfied. It was enough.
Then he turned and walked back the way that they had come. Keiko watched fora moment, then heard behind her the sound of a throat clearing. She turned, andthere was the old man appraising her.
"So you're the one? Hrm. You don't look like much of a gardener to me."
The old man opened the gate for Keiko and waddled into the villa, indicatingto her that she should follow.
Keiko glanced back at the retreating man, wondering where he was going...andwhen he would return. She gripped the envelope he’d given her firmly inher hand and followed the wizened old man through the gate and into the villa.She knew nothing about gardening. She supposed she was about to learn.
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