Wolf Children: Ame & Yuki

by Mamoru Hosoda

  Ame was now old enough to attend elementary school, so Hana added another desk to the study. Unlike Yuki, however, he didn’t want to go. More precisely, he didn’t understand why he had to. In the mornings, he would leave the house with Yuki, only to turn toward the mountains at the end of the driveway.

  “School’s this way!” Yuki would say, pulling his hand. Even getting him to school was a struggle.

  Ame didn’t fit in. During class, he gazed dreamily out the window instead of paying attention. Soon, the other children were whispering about him. Sometimes older students would come into the classroom just to tease him, poking his shoulder or pushing him, and Yuki had to come to his rescue and chase them away. Starting his second year, he spent more time in the library than the classroom. He would pass the whole day quietly paging through illustrated books about plants and animals. In his third year, he began staying home from school often. His teacher asked Hana again and again to make sure he came every day, but she didn’t want to force him.

  Instead, she took Ame to work with her. He sat next to her in the used Jimny mini SUV she’d taken out a loan to buy, staring out the window. Mr. Tendo was quite understanding.

  “Hey, Ame. Got the day off?”

  “Nuh-uh,” Ame said with a happy-go-lucky shake of his head.

  “Playing hooky, then?”

  “Yup.” He gave another, equally carefree nod.

  “Well, you’re always welcome here.” Mr. Tendo ruffled Ame’s hair.

  It was May, and the nature preserve was packed. A long line of people waiting for a tour had formed inside the center.

  “This is the Observation Pool. If you take a look, you’ll see tadpoles that still have their tails… Hana, can you help me for a minute?”

  “Coming!”

  Hana and the other staff were scrambling to take care of the milling crowds.

  Meanwhile, Ame spent most of his time in the animal house.

  The timber wolf slowly made his way to the bars of his cage, stuck his nose through, and looked down at Ame. Ame looked up at the aging wolf as if he were about to receive an important lecture.

  After that, he started taking frequent walks up the mountain by himself.

  By her fourth year of school, Yuki had grown nearly a foot compared to when she started. As she got taller and taller, Hana adjusted the blue dress to fit. It showed off Yuki’s glossy black hair and long, limber arms and legs very nicely.

  Her external appearance wasn’t the only thing that had changed; the former wild child was now a calm, ladylike student who preferred quietly reading books to running cheerfully around the playground. This was partly due to the influence of her close friend Shino and partly a decision Yuki had made to help carve out a place for herself within the social world of the school. The plan had worked. During the past four years, she had kept her secret perfectly concealed.

  One morning, as usual, Yuki was reading a book she’d borrowed from the library.

  “Listen up, everyone!” Mr. Tanabe, her teacher, stepped into the noisy classroom a few minutes late. “I’d like to introduce you to a new classmate.”

  Yuki looked up to see a boy in a T-shirt standing next to the teacher, his backpack slung over his shoulders.

  “This is Souhei Fujii… Here, say hello to everyone.”

  While Mr. Tanabe was writing his name on the blackboard, the boy bowed slightly.

  “I’m Fujii. Pleased to meet you.”

  A thrill of excitement ran through the room; he was the first student to transfer into the class in four years. The teacher told him to sit behind Yuki, next to the window.

  “Hey, do you have a dog or something?” he asked out of the blue as he sat down.

  “Huh? Why?”

  “It’s just—you smell like an animal.”

  “—!”

  Yuki’s mind went blank. She racked her brain for an answer, but she couldn’t come up with anything to say. Not a single thing.

  “…I don’t have a dog.” The simple reply took all her energy.

  “Really? That’s weird. I was sure you had one,” Souhei said, sniffing around.

  Yuki felt as though she had turned to stone.

  “What’s up?” Shino, who sat next to Yuki, craned her neck over toward them.

  “Huh? Oh, nothing, just that smell,” Souhei said.

  “What smell?” Shino asked.

  “…Maybe I’m imagining it.”

  Yuki shrank into her seat and waited for the conversation to end.

  At recess, she went to the girl’s bathroom and meticulously washed her hands, then carefully dried them with her handkerchief. She sniffed her body, but she couldn’t smell anything.

  Of course she didn’t smell funny. But that boy had definitely said she did—like an animal. Maybe he noticed because he’d come from another school. After all, no one else had ever said that to her. But it was true—she must have a scent that was very slightly different from other people. Would her secret be revealed now, after four peaceful years at school?

  She looked at her anxious face in the mirror and tried very hard to calm herself down. It’s okay. Everything will be okay. She breathed deeply. After a while, she began to feel calmer. She looked in the mirror again and saw an anxious girl, ready to start crying at any moment.

  When she got back to the classroom, Souhei was playing Old Maid with the other students.

  “Hmm, which one? I’ll take…this one! Aw, come on! You gotta be kidding me!”

  Everyone was cracking up at Souhei’s clownish performance. Yuki stood in the doorway, watching. Shino noticed her and gestured for her to join them.

  “Hey, Yuki! Come over here! Souhei’s really funny.”

  “—”

  There was no way she was going anywhere near him. She abruptly became very interested in her library book.

  “Oh, right, I have to return my book,” she commented, loudly enough for everyone to hear, then turned away.

  Her odd behavior seemed to bother Souhei.

  “…What’s with her?” he asked.

  “She’s not usually like that,” Shino answered with a frown, trying to ease the tension.

  After that, Yuki tried not to go near Souhei. Instead of playing with the other children, she spent her time reading in a corner of the library. But the more she avoided him, the more he tried to approach her.

  “Hey, Yuki…”

  “…!”

  Yuki closed the book she was reading and walked off, trying to escape.

  When it was time to clean the classroom, Souhei followed her around.

  “Yuki…so, um—”

  “……!”

  “Yuki, hey…”

  She ran circles around the room to get away from him, sweeping the floor as she went.

  She thought it would be best to spend as little time as possible in the classroom, so she took refuge in the library during every break. But Souhei pursued her relentlessly.

  “Yuki…”

  “………!”

  “…Come on, Yuki!”

  She ran out of the library.

  Souhei chased after her, and halfway down the wide staircase, he shouted at her loudly. “Tell me the truth!”

  Yuki stopped short. Her anxious face stared back at her from the mirror on the landing, and she tried to force a calm expression as she looked up at Souhei.

  “…About what?”

  “Did I do something to upset you?” His voice sounded weak, and his worry was plain in his expression.

  “No, you didn’t.”

  “Yes, I did.”

  “You didn’t.”

  “Then you just don’t like me ’cause I’m new? Is that it?”

  He was jumping to conclusions. Before she knew it, Yuki was yelling at him. “I said no!”

  “Then why do you keep running away?”

  “I’m not running away!”

  She ended the exchange by sprinting down the last flight of stairs. Something in her heart was beginni
ng to spin out of control. She wanted to be alone. In the darkness below the staircase, she tapped her chest and softly recited the spell.

  “Three presents, three octopuses. Three presents, three octopuses…”

  She could hear Souhei approaching. “Hey, wait!”

  She had to get away. But where else could she go?

  Where could she go to escape this horrible feeling?

  She ran down the first-floor hallway just to get somewhere else, anywhere else. That something in her chest was about to explode now as she desperately tried to push it down.

  Three presents, three octopuses. Three presents, three octopuses…

  This had never happened before. She had no idea, no idea at all what to do. She flung open the outside door and burst out of the school. Morning glories were lined up in pots.

  Still Souhei pursued her.

  She ran along the school building until she reached another door. She put her hand on the knob, planning to go back inside.

  But it was locked, and the knob wouldn’t turn.

  Three presents, three octopuses.

  Souhei was coming.

  Three presents…

  Nowhere left to run.

  Her back pressed against a corner of the building, she shouted hoarsely, “Get away!!!” She was surprised by how ugly her voice sounded.

  “…!”

  Souhei gave a start and reached toward her worriedly.

  “Hey…”

  “Get away from me!!!”

  Without meaning to, she found herself shoving at him. The explosive thing in her chest was trying to break free. She had to keep it inside.

  “…What are you doing?”

  “Don’t touch me!!!”

  “Hey, Yuki! Yuki!!”

  Souhei tried to grab her flailing arms.

  And the thing in her chest finally split open.

  Hadn’t she said not to touch her?

  She felt like every ounce of blood in her body had reached a boil.

  The howl of a wild animal echoed through the school, and an instant later, sharp claws tore through Souhei’s ear. He squatted, pressing his hand to the side of his head. Blood spattered the concrete.

  “Huff…huff…!”

  Struggling for breath, Yuki looked at her left hand and saw wolf claws stained red.

  It took her a minute to realize they were hers.

  The school called Hana at work and asked her to come in. That had never happened before. The person on the phone said Yuki had injured one of her classmates. Although Hana hated to impose on her coworkers, she asked to leave work early and sped to the school in her Jimny.

  When she got there, she nervously opened the door to the principal’s office.

  “Sorry to call you at work.”

  Mr. Tanabe came to the door to greet her. The principal just looked at her, hands clasped behind his back.

  The tension was so thick, it was hard to breathe. Hana saw Yuki sitting at one end of the guest sofa, her back turned. At the end of another sofa, a boy was looking down as he sat next to his mother. His head was wrapped in a bandage.

  Hana felt faint.

  The mother stood, pulling the boy up by his armpit, and glared at Hana.

  “Do you have any idea how much that gash on his head was bleeding?”

  “It was my ear,” the boy said, shaking off his mother’s hand.

  Hana walked over to Yuki, kneeled down, and peered into her face.

  “Yuki.”

  Yuki did not meet her eyes. Her hair was a mess and her downturned face haggard.

  Mr. Tanabe put his hand on the sofa. “She wouldn’t answer any of my questions.”

  “Did you really hurt him?” Hana asked.

  “—”

  “Did you say you’re sorry?”

  “—”

  Yuki bit her lip and turned away. She clearly had not apologized.

  “Say you’re sorry,” Hana said softly.

  “—”

  “Apologize, right now,” Hana instructed, gently but firmly, and stood up.

  Yuki got to her feet, too, as if resigned to her fate.

  “…I’m sorry,” she said, barely above a whisper.

  Now that the apology had been said, Hana turned back to the other mother and bowed her head deeply.

  “I am extremely sorry.” The principal turned toward the woman as well. “Well, now that that’s done, and the medical treatment will be covered by the school’s insurance—”

  The woman, however, was still glaring at Hana. She hadn’t moved an inch. “You don’t honestly believe a simple apology is enough for this, do you?”

  A chill descended on the room. Hana kept her head bowed as the woman continued.

  “What if he loses his hearing? What do you intend to do then? You’re a parent; you’re responsible for your child’s actions. Would you take out a loan to compensate us? Would you sell your house?”

  Her anger had taken over, and she was shouting now.

  “Now, now, let’s all remember where we are,” the principal said, attempting to stave off a fight.

  “I need to know what that woman plans to do about this.”

  Souhei had been listening with downcast eyes, and suddenly he mumbled, “It was a wolf.”

  “What?” she asked.

  “A wolf did it,” he said, staring at the floor.

  Hana nearly jumped. Yuki stood silently, her face averted.

  “It was a wolf that did it,” Souhei said very clearly to everyone in the room.

  “Souhei? What are you talking about?” His mother shook his shoulder, confused. His gaze remained fixed on the ground.

  “…!!!”

  Hana couldn’t even lift her head.

  The fourth-grade classroom was in a pandemonium.

  “What’s taking them so long?”

  “I heard they bandaged up his head.”

  “No way! Really?”

  “Stop it.”

  “Would Yuki really do that?”

  When Yuki entered the room with Mr. Tanabe, silence descended. The children returned to their seats, waiting with bated breath to learn the truth of what happened. Yuki shambled toward her seat with her hair in a tangled mess, like a ghost out and about in broad daylight. Some of the glances sent her way were curious; others were full of pity.

  “What happened to Souhei?” one of the students asked Mr. Tanabe.

  “He went home early.”

  “Why?”

  “He was injured.”

  “How?”

  “I can’t tell you the details.”

  “Did someone hurt him?”

  “Um…”

  “—!”

  Yuki had finally made it to her seat, but once she was there, she could not bear to stay. She sprang up and fled the classroom.

  Once again, the class was in an uproar.

  “Quiet! Everyone be quiet!!”

  Mr. Tanabe tried to regain control of the din, but he was unsuccessful.

  Hana waited for Yuki in her parked car.

  She was supposed to be retrieving her backpack from the classroom, but when she slipped into the passenger seat, she had nothing in her hands. She didn’t say a word. Hana remained silent, too. She simply waited there in the parking lot. The only sound was the idling engine. After a few minutes, Yuki opened her mouth.

  “It didn’t work.”

  “—”

  “The spell. I tried it over and over, but it didn’t work.”

  “—”

  “Am I gonna get kicked out of school?”

  Hana looked at her daughter.

  “…I’m sorry,” Yuki said. Her face was stained with tears and snot. “I’m sorry, Mom. I’m so sorry.”

  As Yuki sobbed out her apology, Hana reached over from the driver’s seat and hugged her tight. “It’s okay; don’t cry. Everything is okay now. It’s okay, it’s okay.”

  She held her close until Yuki calmed down. Once again, she thought to herself that only
she could protect them. She would do it even if the whole world shunned them for it.

  For a long time, the red Jimny stayed parked in the bleak school parking lot.

  After that, Yuki refused to go to school. She stayed huddled in her futon all day, wouldn’t even poke her head out when Hana came in, and ate very little. Hana decided to let her do as she wished.

  She remembered what the boy had said.

  It was a wolf that did it.

  Hana had secretly been steeling herself for something like this. Now that it had finally happened, it seemed like a miracle that Yuki had done so well for so long. Perhaps it was impossible for wolf children to fit into human society after all.

  Four years had passed. They were finally used to living here, and Hana finally felt secure at work. Now she might have to think about moving again. But where could they go? Is there nowhere we can live without worry? she wondered.

  One day not so long after that, Hana came home from work to find someone looking at the house—a boy with his head wrapped in a bandage.

  It was Souhei.

  When he noticed Hana, he gave a start and ran off.

  “Souhei?”

  Hana hurried down the road in her car, but all she could do was watch him disappear.

  He had left something in the entryway—a worksheet from class. Hana pushed open the sliding door to the bedroom and showed it to Yuki.

  “A worksheet. From Souhei.”

  Yuki crawled silently under the covers.

  After that, a piece of bread from a school lunch or a mandarin orange or some other little present appeared in the entryway every day. Hana showed each one to Yuki.

  “From Souhei,” she would add.

  Yuki never said a word. She just sat there under the table or the sewing machine, her arms wrapped around her knees.

  One day, when Hana had the day off work and was working in the vegetable garden, she saw Souhei walking on the far side of the bank.

  “Souhei.”

  Startled, he looked up at Hana. The bandage around his head had been replaced by a piece of gauze over his ear.

  “She’s gone to play at Shino’s house today.”

  “Oh.”

  “Hey, wait a second.”

  With that, she invited him into the house.

  Souhei sat nervously at the dining table, peering around curiously.

  “It’s a long trip out here, isn’t it?” Hana set a glass of juice in front of Souhei. “Thank you for coming out every day.”