by Funa
Still smiling, the girl spoke a few words in response, then turned around and left the room. Yes! She understood me! I hope...
But Mitsuha had no reason to worry. After a few minutes, the girl returned with a woman Mitsuha presumed to be her mother, if their matching features were anything to go by. They brought with them a pitcher of water and two cups, one empty and the other full of some sort of porridge. With a hasty gesture of thanks, Mitsuha took the water and gulped it down.
“Phew! I feel alive again!” She sighed in relief, then turned to her hosts and bowed her head. “Thank you so much for saving me.” While they might not have understood her words, Mitsuha felt her body language sufficient to convey her gratitude. The girl’s mother appeared shocked for a moment, likely because of the foreign tongue, but her face then eased into a warm smile.
All right, got the thanks outta the way... Now it’s chow time! Mitsuha reached for the food. It seemed to be chunks of bread immersed in boiled, diluted milk—bread porridge, so to speak. While the food was simple, it would be nutritious and easy to digest, which was precisely what Mitsuha needed. Going by its warmth and how quickly they’d brought it to her, it was clear they had it prepared for when she woke up.
What a couple of good Samaritans! I’ll have to thank them properly when I get back. They saved my life! Mitsuha decided while she ate.
Once she’d been fed, she felt drowsiness overtake her. Her earlier fainting spell and subsequent unconsciousness was far from actual rest. Nourished and relaxed, she closed her eyes once more and finally drifted off into the sleep she deserved.
◇ ◇ ◇
“I do recognize this ceiling,” Mitsuha murmured. Of course, it was the same grainy ceiling she’d seen last time she’d woken up. The biggest difference between then and now was that she felt refreshed.
Just gotta ignore the cuts I’ve got all over, my twisted ankle, and my overworked thighs and calves. No big deal. Now, how can I make sense of this situation? she pondered.
Mitsuha had found herself in an unsophisticated building adjacent to the massive forest she’d traversed. She had initially assumed the crude building was some sort of mountain hut, but it seemed to be a pretty standard house for the area. This led her to conclude she was in a very rural village.
Seems like I’ve gotta get to a bigger town and contact the embassy. I sure hope they’ve got phones there.
As she mulled over her thoughts, the door opened, and in walked the silver-haired girl from before. She probably came to check on me ’cause she felt me wake up. This little wood nymph’s got some sharp senses! Upon seeing that Mitsuha was awake, the girl beamed, charged at the bed, and leapt toward her. Her silver-topped head barreled straight into Mitsuha’s stomach.
“GUHHH! I GIVE UP! UNCLE, UNCLE!” Mitsuha struggled to break free of the bear hug that followed, which grew dangerously close to snapping her small frame. “MY SPINE! YOU’RE GONNA BREAK MY SPIIINE!” After a few taps on the shoulder, the girl let Mitsuha free from her vise. As Mitsuha fell back into the bed and writhed in pain, her adorable assailant tilted her head in confusion.
So that was just an expression of affection—a local greeting, probably. And it was this intense coming from a little munchkin. An adult would probably crush me! Mitsuha made a mental note to dodge if she sensed incoming danger.
After recovering from the lethal hug, she sat on the bed with the girl and the two began to communicate. Words proved fruitless, of course, but given enough time, Mitsuha felt she could get the information she sought from mere gestures and expressions. It turned out that this girl was the one who had found Mitsuha after she fainted on the path and called for her parents to take her in. The girl then showed Mitsuha around the house, which happened to be empty at present.
Her parents must be out working. Or maybe now that I’ve woken up, they went to tell someone about me.
The pair had to go outside when Mitsuha expressed a desire to use the bathroom. Outside, really? Damn, we really are out in the boonies. She had already deduced that much, but this was far beyond what she’d imagined. There was nothing in the area besides a few other cabins—houses, rather—made of barely processed wooden logs.
If I had to guess where the term “the sticks” came from, this would be it, she mused to herself. Also, umm, where are all the street lights and utility poles? Oh, I get it, they’re keeping the place looking scenic and homey by using underground cables, right? Ugh, as if! It looked as though she had to find a way to the nearest town, after all.
After they went back inside, Mitsuha resumed her attempts at communication. The “conversation” was slow and awkward, but she was surprised by how much she was able to learn. It was possible she was missing the mark on some details, but she hoped she wasn’t too far off.
If she’d understood correctly, this girl—Colette was her name—was an only child who lived in this house with just her parents. This village was almost completely self-sufficient, surviving on simple industries like agriculture, forestry, and hunting. And as she’d said before, Colette was the one who’d discovered Mitsuha unconscious on the trail and called for her rescue. After that, Colette had looked after her, wiping her sweat, keeping her hydrated, and…
Wait, so she’s literally my lifesaver! Mitsuha realized, and impulsively pulled the younger girl into a tight hug. Colette giggled a bit and reached out to hug her back. Sensing danger, however, Mitsuha reflexively pushed her away. She had always been quick on the uptake, especially when it was a matter of life and death. As she sat there, feeling somehow victorious, Colette’s shocked expression began to scrunch up with tears.
Oh, no! Mitsuha desperately tried to apologize and put her back in a good mood. Colette eventually forgave her, even if she looked a bit sulky as she did. Good going, Mitsuha! You really messed up! she cursed internally. But by the time Colette’s parents returned, she was back to normal. She’s as much of a child as she looks, huh?
Now that her parents were home, Mitsuha sought to communicate with them instead. After all, there was only so much one could learn from an eight-year-old girl. Yes, she had been mistaken about Colette’s age; she’d thought the girl to be ten at first, but found out she was two years off. It came as a surprise to her, and she felt the girl was rather mature for someone her age. That’s my lifesaver for you!
Unfortunately, Mitsuha’s attempts to pull additional information from Colette’s parents resulted in disappointment. They had apparently been out working on their farm, not off telling someone about her. It wasn’t as though they were villains keeping her captive; they simply hadn’t even considered reporting her to the authorities.
Either way, Mitsuha was more than grateful for the food and hospitality they had provided. In worse company, she could’ve been sold to human traffickers and handled like a slave. All things considered, she felt her hosts were good people, and they had treated her favorably. What really disappointed her, though, was that she didn’t learn any more from them than she had from their daughter.
While there was the language barrier to consider, Mitsuha had advanced her methods from gesturing to drawing pictures. Yet all she learned in the end was that the couple’s intelligence was likely on the same level as Colette’s. Was the girl some sort of prodigy, or were her parents a bit unfortunate in that regard?
Mitsuha had drawn a simple world map and tried asking them to point out their location, but it appeared as though they couldn’t even read the map. I’m not that bad at drawing, am I? she worried. She had then pretended to use a phone, but they’d only tilted their heads in confusion. Mitsuha assumed they were stuck in a more primitive era, one deprived of push-button devices, so she dialed back her impression to a rotary phone, funny sounds and all. She was certainly putting in her best effort. Wait, what’s with the applause?! I’m not a mime, damn it!
And just like that, she gave up. Mitsuha decided to stay with Colette’s family, helping out around the house until she completely recovered. She would then pack som
e rations and set off for town. I’ll send them my thanks when I get back to Japan. I have no other options here!
Chapter 2: The Beast Must Die
And so, a few years passed.
Well, it was actually just three days. Through bouts of intense pantomiming, Mitsuha had somehow been able to get Colette’s parents to understand what she wanted. At least, she hoped so. First, she’d asked them for permission to stay in exchange for helping around the house. She had also informed them of her plans to travel to the nearest town and requested a supply of food and water for the journey. Lastly, in a flurry of motions, she’d asked for directions to get there.
Mitsuha had long since given up on learning their language. She couldn’t learn a great deal in just a few days, anyway. Mitsuha felt that as long as the larger town had citizens who spoke Japanese—or at least English—she could get her hands on a phone to call the embassy or someone in Japan. Then she would have no problem getting home, and once she returned, she’d never be in another situation where the local language was useful. She would send thanks to her benefactors, of course, but only with the help of a translator.
Another thing Mitsuha grasped from her talks with the family was that they thought she was a child. It was utterly unsurprising, especially considering she appeared underage by Japanese standards. In their eyes, she was only ten years old, or twelve at best.
You know what? I’m fine with that. For the most part, anyway. It’s convenient for me, so I’ll play along! If Colette’s eight, I don’t mind being her twelve-year-old friend.
As it turned out, it was a local custom for families to take in orphans or disowned children. It wasn’t uncommon for these boys and girls to end up marrying the adoptive parents’ real children once they grew up, and it would always be considered an auspicious occasion. “Now you are truly our child!” and whatnot. The majority married into other families, of course, but still treated their adopters as their real parents.
Then again, it was a small village, so everyone here was like family to begin with. The mentality behind this practice could be summed up as, “It’s better to just look after orphans and lost children instead of handing them over to the authorities. Why waste time looking for parents who are either long gone or have abandoned their children?” Now it made sense as to why Colette’s parents were so kind to Mitsuha and didn’t seem to consider her presence a big deal. Well, she would be leaving soon anyway, so it didn’t matter all that much to her.
With that in mind, why did Colette spend half a day telling me all this? Waving her arms like crazy, drawing her family tree with some sticks... What’s the big deal? A girl on some branch of the family tree had lost her parents and been taken in by a family that had a son. She eventually married him, and now they both took care of their elderly parents and... Hold on, wh-why are you staring at me like that?!
If you ignored the discomfiting pressure from Colette, Mitsuha’s next few days had been pretty peaceful. She helped around the cabin in various ways, one of which was cooking. Even though the family had no spices or modern appliances, Mitsuha had learned to cook from her mother from the time she was in elementary school and knew enough to get by. The resulting dishes were so good that Erene, the lady of the house, was visibly irked.
Wood-splitting was an entirely different story. Does it even count as housework? Isn’t this something the dad’s supposed to do by himself? After muttering such complaints, Mitsuha quickly learned that preparing firewood was in fact Erene’s and Colette’s job. As she struggled to help them out, Mitsuha found the hatchet heavy and hard to use; she often missed her target. Even when she didn’t, the blade wedged itself snugly into the wood, and she failed to pull it free so she could finish the job.
Eventually, her skin began to peel, and her muscles started to ache. She was short of breath, and her legs wobbled beneath her. It didn’t take long until she was instructed to do something else. Why is Colette so good at this? Look at her go! Those logs are flying…
The next day, Mitsuha and Colette went out to the woods to forage. They had each been given a basket, but Mitsuha ended up holding them both. Not because she was confident in her foraging skills, but because it made it easier for Colette to move around and work her “child of the wild” magic. An undoubtedly clever idea.
Wait, this is the forest I was wandering in, isn’t it? Mitsuha realized. So this is how Colette found me. I gotta make it up to her since I wasted her foraging session! She fired herself up to gather as many plants as possible. Colette had shown her samples of what she had to look for, so there wouldn’t be any problems... or so she thought. It turned out that they only grew in specific places, and you needed to know where to look. She had no luck finding any without Colette’s assistance. Oh well, it’s not like I’m gonna make a career out of this. It’s okay as long as I can help out a little.
Right about when the baskets were one-third full, Colette suddenly stopped. Mitsuha looked at her. The younger girl had gone pale. She gestured to Mitsuha to put the baskets down, and she did just that, even though she had no idea why. Colette slowly backed up a step and whispered, “Kel kolore, maltoneis...”
Oh, that’s one of the phrases they made sure I learned. While Mitsuha had determined she wouldn’t learn the language, she had memorized a few words to make communication a bit easier. After all, it was nearly impossible to get by without the bare bones of “yes”, “no”, “water”, “food”, “hungry”, “give me that”, and so on. Colette’s words had something to do with a dangerous beast being close, which meant…
Wait, WHAT?! But they told me beasts were rare around these parts! Colette literally drew me a picture to tell me that! Mitsuha felt herself panicking. Oh, yeah, “rare” doesn’t necessarily mean they won’t ever show up. Silly me. The two silently backed away, leaving the baskets behind. Mitsuha assumed they would come pick them up once the beast either left or was hunted down.
Shame there’s no saving what we collected. The stuff won’t dry properly under these conditions, so it’ll all be ruined by the time we come back. Whatever. Life’s way more important than a couple of plants. We just gotta sneak away, and... Wait, we’re going upwind here! This is real bad!
But hold on a sec. As superhuman as she is, there’s no way Colette could’ve noticed the beast before it noticed us, so there’s no point in sneaking around. Then why isn’t it coming after us? Is it not hungry? Is it chasing some other prey? Is it an herbivore? Yeah, right—we’re dealing with a real primetime thriller here. What is it waiting for, then? Think... Think! Come on, brain, you’re a PC stuffed with random knowledge!
Done. I got three possibilities.
One: It’s taking its time to make sure we don’t escape. But it doesn’t really need to do that for small, slow humans like us, right?
Two: It sees us as playthings and is toying with us just for fun. In that case, it’d have shown itself to try to scare us.
Three: It’s using us as practice hunting targets for its young.
Two girls running on foot were relatively slow, so they would be unable to escape; additionally, the beast wouldn’t have to worry about its young being hurt by some kind of counterattack. Yep, human girls are just perfect for the babies’ first hunt. Though one of us isn’t really a “girl” anymore at this point, but let’s keep that a secret. It was just a guess on Mitsuha’s part, but regardless, it was clear they were in danger.
Mitsuha racked her brain for the best way out. Should they buy time? She had no idea how late it would have to get for the villagers to come searching for them. Maybe at nightfall? Would they come then? Colette’s parents obviously would, but others might find it too dangerous. Not to mention, the two of them probably wouldn’t hold out long enough.
Mitsuha turned around and spotted a few creatures lurking between the trees. One large wolf-like thing and a few smaller ones... I was right. They can’t climb trees, can they? she wondered, rapidly scanning the area for any trees with low branches. The wolves geared
up to make a move, so she settled on the first one she saw instead.
“Colette!” she yelled, then grabbed the girl’s hand and pulled her closer. The tree’s limbs were out of reach, too difficult for beasts to climb, and despite their thinness would be stable enough to support Colette. Mitsuha clutched her by the armpits, lifted her off the ground, and shoved her into the tree.
“Mitsuha!” Colette cried her name and babbled out some other words she couldn’t understand. Ignoring her, Mitsuha moved her hands from her armpits to her feet and pushed her up. She quickly understood what Mitsuha was doing and began climbing the tree on her own. Once she reached the first branch, she pulled herself onto it. “Mitsuha!” she called out again, and reached her small hand as far down as she could muster.
“Sorry.” Mitsuha smiled and shook her head. “I’m not good at climbing trees, and that one probably won’t hold us both. Bye-bye, sweet pea!” The beasts slowly began to approach—with their prey staying in place, they may have thought it was giving up. Confirming what Mitsuha had glimpsed earlier, one adult beast emerged alongside three of its offspring. They were extremely wolf-like, so she chose to assume they were actual wolves.
She threw a stick at them as a distraction. It didn’t hit, but they understood it was a sign of aggression, and their lips curled into a series of snarls. Good. That raised me from “weak and easy prey” to “prey that resists”. I got their aggro on me, so all I have to do now is lead them away! She ran as fast as she could from where Colette sat wailing, “Mitsuha, Mitsuha, Mitsuhaaaaaaa!”
It didn’t take long for her to start panting. I always wake up early, since I have tons of things to do in the morning. And I run out of energy real quick, since there were tons of things I never did. Besides gym class, my only workouts were airsoft matches my brother dragged me into, so I’m as weak as I look. I have good reflexes, but I’d be awful in a marathon.
The forest’s terrain was unfriendly to a human sprinter, too, so the beast easily caught up to her. It didn’t appear to be trying very hard, either; Mitsuha figured it was just toying with her in preparation for the kill. Only the big one’s chasing me. Good thing, too, since the little ones definitely can’t climb up Colette’s tree. It wasn’t as though the larger one could, but Mitsuha wished she could’ve made sure by taking out one of its legs.