by Yuya Sato
“I’m going to follow my beliefs. You can follow yours.”
“Then I will. I’ll let the rest of you take care of the three in the storehouse.”
Kayu Saitoh returned to the storehouse, but she decided to keep quiet about the new victims. Beside one of the fire baskets, she joined Hyoh Hamamura, who told her that nothing new had transpired. No further reaction had come from the storehouse, and the safety of the four women who’d been trapped inside remained unknown. If there had been anything that could be called progress, it was that Inui Makabe’s body had been moved aside.
Meanwhile, Mei Mitsuya had collected herself and was holding a discussion, this time speaking quietly so as not to be overheard by their enemies. The topic was what to do with the women trapped inside—Chinu Nitta, Tai Komaki, Guri Togawa, and Naki Sokabe—assuming they still lived. Two possibilities were discussed: either they were allies to be rescued, or they were potentially dangerous plague-carriers to be cast aside. In short order, the women unanimously picked the latter. They were exhausted, and nothing remained in their thoughts aside from self-preservation. Like that, the night passed, and none of them had slept when the new dawn came.
3
Even when daylight shone upon Dendera, the situation remained unchanged. Wearied, the old women waited with listless anger and frustration. Kayu Saitoh gave one displeased yawn after another, each leaving her with the dreadful, bitter taste of quiescence; the dreadful, bitter taste of unending starvation, without battle—even defeat—in sight. Of the women, only Mei Mitsuya maintained her zeal.
She commanded the women to go with her to chop down another fir tree, but none gave even the hint of a response.
“One single failure, and this is how you become? Fine. I’ll do it myself!”
Mei Mitsuya gave them a look of unbridled contempt, then disappeared off somewhere. The other women again paid her no attention and went on doing nothing aside from placing wood in the fire baskets.
Kayu Saitoh didn’t react either. She kept turning thoughts over in her mind—Soh Kiriyama’s decision; Ire Tachibana and Kushi Tachibana’s undisclosed contagion; her discussion with Hono Ishizuka; herself, as a villain—but she couldn’t transfer any of it into concrete actions. All she could do was cling to the bear cub pelt around her neck. She opened her hand and looked down at her fingers. In the glare of the morning light, her fingers appeared mere twigs.
In this stasis, only time marched diligently ahead, and at some point, the sun had moved, shining down on them from directly overhead. But the women didn’t move from the fires. Starvation coursed through their bodies, draining them of the strength needed to make any judgments, let alone to take any action that might create progress. Kayu Saitoh noticed a close similarity between this experience and the Climb. But this wasn’t the Mountain; this was Dendera. This wasn’t the Mountain, which existed for death; this was Dendera, which existed for life. For this reason, death in Dendera wouldn’t lead to Paradise. Kayu Saitoh clutched her empty stomach and let out a pitiful moan as far removed from pride and passion as could be, while the other women trembled by the fire baskets, their expressions stripped of all dignity.
But not everyone could remain idle forever. The world wasn’t shaped by only those who stagnate and surrender. Some held on to dignity and pride, and through their actions do events advance.
In Dendera, this was the three women inside the storehouse.
Kayu Saitoh felt a surge of heat. She looked up, stretching the wrinkled sags of her neck. The fire baskets were burning the same as they had been. But Kayu Saitoh felt a crackling warmth spread across the front of her body. Someone shouted. The storehouse had ignited. Distinctly visible even in the midday sun, thick, lapping flames crossed the rooftop. By the time Kayu Saitoh saw the fire, more than half of the roof was ablaze. Black smoke arose belatedly and climbed into the sky. The walls creaked and squealed as the fire evaporated the moisture within them. The flames embracing the outer walls were nearly transparent, their intensity imparted by the savage heat.
The silent storehouse’s sudden and violent proclamation sent the women into chaos. None of them, Kayu Saitoh included, had seen the first moment of ignition.
“Fire! There’s a fire!” Hyoh Hamamura shouted, her expression stiff. “Who did it? Who started it? Who acted too soon?”
“No one did it,” Kotei Hoshii said. “None of us would do such a—Oh!” the woman exclaimed. “They started the fire themselves!”
Heedless of the panicking women, the flames strengthened and blazed. The black smoke expanded with impossible speed, completely blocking any view of the storehouse.
Suddenly, a mass of flames erupted.
The flames crashed into Hyoh Hamamura. She caught fire, and screaming she fell to the ground and into the black, billowing smoke. She struggled in anguish, but soon her movements turned clumsy, and then stopped, and then she just burned. Kayu Saitoh peered into the smoke and the fire. Her eyes found the mass of flames that had incinerated Hyoh Hamamura. It had a face, smoldering, and it belonged to Tai Komaki. Kayu Saitoh realized what was happening.
“Run!” she shouted reflexively.
But just then, more masses of flame burst out from the blaze one after another. They were Chinu Nitta, Guri Togawa, and Naki Sokabe, alive and enveloped in flames. Due in part to Kayu Saitoh’s warning, the other women managed to dodge the fiery masses. But the next one out proved more trouble. The burning woman pursued them relentlessly, screaming incoherently. She crashed into Koto Onodera from behind. The woman’s body erupted in flames, and she rolled to the ground. The stench of burning flesh spread in the air. The mass of flame chose Kayu Saitoh for her next target and charged, pushing through the smoke. And then, suddenly, she was sent tumbling in a different direction. Holding a spear, Itsuru Obuchi emerged from the smoke.
“Are you all right?” Itsuru Obuchi asked, her lips trembling. “What the hell is happening?”
The mass of flames writhed about on the ground, then went lifeless. Kayu Saitoh kicked snow to put out the remaining flames, and could finally—and barely—tell it had been Somo Izumi. Where her face used to be, red flesh popped and hissed between the cracks in her charred skin, and blood, expanding from the heat, oozed out.
“They set themselves on fire and charged us,” Kayu Saitoh said, heaving her shoulders. “This is their last stand!”
“They’ve gone mad,” Itsuru Obuchi said, gazing down at Somo Izumi’s blackened corpse. “They got the plague, they were going to be killed by their friends, and they went mad.”
Mei Mitsuya’s voice boomed, “Don’t let your guards down!” The chief had returned. “This isn’t over yet. Pick up your weapons.”
Her call didn’t impel the women’s spirits into battle but rather gave their defensive natures a push. They began searching the smoke-covered ground for their weapons. Many of them seemed lost in confusion.
Right away, Itsuru Obuchi asked, “Mei, where were you?”
“I was looking for Hono Ishizuka.” Mei Mitsuya bared her teeth. “It’s over. Dendera is finished.”
Kayu Saitoh wondered if Mei Mitsuya had found out about Ire Tachibana and Kushi Tachibana’s acquisition of the plague, but she couldn’t find out. Two more masses of flames leaped from the burning storehouse. The fires enveloping them prevented Kayu Saitoh from being able to discern which was which, but they had to have been Soh Kiriyama and Makura Katsuragawa. As the fireballs came in chase, the women tossed aside the weapons they’d only just now found and ran around in search of escape. In truth, they wouldn’t have been able to do anything even had they held on to their weapons. Their opponents were bathed in flames; to be touched by them was to die, and taking them out meant letting them get into close range, which in turn meant risking death. Red-faced, Mei Mitsuya howled, “Fight!” but no one listened. As panic heaped upon panic, the women made a frantic attempt to flee a scene that had lost all r
eason and sense.
One fiery mass clung to Kan Tominaga’s back. The woman’s face contorted, her eyeballs nearly popping out of their sockets, and she screamed, “Let me go let me go!” But quickly the flames covered her. The burning heat made her lose her senses, and she ran about uncontrollably, weaving toward Kayu Saitoh, Itsuru Obuchi, and Mei Mitsuya. Mei Mitsuya shouted, “You fool!” and planted her spear into the flaming mass that was Kan Tominaga. But then the fiery mass that had first set Kan Tominaga alight screamed, “Help me, help me!” and rushed toward Kayu Saitoh. The voice belonged to Makura Katsuragawa, and it slowed Kayu Saitoh’s reaction. She assessed the threat a second late and took too long before she started running. Makura Katsuragawa’s flaming arms reached for her, igniting the fur around her neck and the cloth bandage over her head. Kayu Saitoh discarded both just as Mei Mitsuya stabbed Makura Katsuragawa with her spear.
“You’re another fool!” Mei Mitsuya screamed. “Fools! Fools! Fools! Fools fools fools fools!”
Makura Katsuragawa had fallen, but she grasped the spear protruding from her stomach and again shrieked, “Help me!”
Despite the flames spreading to the wooden spear, Mei Mitsuya drove it farther into Makura Katsuragawa’s stomach. Makura Katsuragawa died, but the flames of course didn’t. The fire climbed the spear and ignited the chief’s white robes. With a bwoom sound, Mei Mitsuya’s body was swallowed by bright red flames.
She flailed in agony, and Kayu Saitoh hurriedly flung snow to put out her fire, but another mass of flames appeared and dove on top of the chief. For a split second Kayu Saitoh saw Soh Kiriyama’s burned and blistered face through the flames. Soh Kiriyama went limp, becoming one with Mei Mitsuya’s burning body. Kayu Saitoh kept on hurling as much snow onto them as she could, but the fire blazed unabated.
“Mei Mitsuya!” Kayu Saitoh shouted at the fire, within which nothing moved, not even a twitch. “Come on, what are you doing? You can’t die like this. Not as pointlessly as this!”
She started to reach for the chief, but Itsuru Obuchi grabbed Kayu Saitoh under her arms and restrained her.
“What are you doing?” Itsuru Obuchi said. “Stop it! It’s finished … It’s finished.”
Her words rang true. Though the fire and smoke continued to rule over the area, the incident had come to a complete end. Nothing was left but for the numerous charred bodies to release their embers. The survivors, their expressions vacant, had sunk to the smoke-covered ground.
Kayu Saitoh gnashed her teeth and muttered, “We’re finished.”
Just then, the storehouse rumbled and collapsed. The rush of hot air dispersed the surrounding black smoke and, aside from the numerous charred corpses and the burned-out ruin of the storehouse, the view of Dendera remained mostly unchanged from its earlier state.
Kayu Saitoh heard two pairs of footsteps approaching.
One was an old woman whose white hair covered the left half of her face. A gust of wind tossed her bangs to the side and revealed a pool of darkness inhabiting the place where her left eye should have been.
It was Masari Shiina.
Hono Ishizuka walked behind her.
Masari Shiina stood with dignity before the women. Her right eye’s commanding gaze swept across them.
She opened by announcing, “The plague has been completely consumed by the fire.” Then she added, “However, so has our storehouse—and our food. But be at ease. The Doves have a food reserve. We’ll distribute it to you all. First, fill your stomachs. Eat something warm.”
Her right eye swept over them again. “The plague has been consumed by the fire, but the cost was great. First, we survivors must rebuild Dendera. For that reason, as of today, the Hawks are disbanded. Mei Mitsuya is dead. Dendera’s leader is dead. The head of the Hawks is dead. And many others are dead. In these circumstances, attacking the Village is impossible. We must live on. We will rebuild Dendera. We Doves will command this work. The plague is no more. Safety has returned. But strengthening our safety is a necessity. And the Doves’ efforts are a necessity. I—the Doves—have food. Eat as much as you wish. We will accept you. We don’t want to be your enemy. All we want is to live with a single, shared sentiment. I understand your ill will toward the Village, but now isn’t the time for such things. Warring against the Village is not everything. For now, you don’t have to understand what I’m saying. Today, you all fought, you toiled, and you triumphed. You’ve won the right to take rest; you’ve earned the right to take nourishment. And those things I can provide you. We accept you.”
Listening to Masari Shiina’s speech, Kayu Saitoh felt hunger and exhaustion coursing through her body. At the same time, some part of her, proper and shining in gold, cried out in earnest, This woman is lying. This woman, Masari Shiina, the Dove, is lying. The plague isn’t over. The bear meat wasn’t responsible for the plague. I saw Ire Tachibana and Kushi Tachibana dying, and they hadn’t eaten the stew. Masari Shiina and Hono Ishizuka know this. But now they conceal the truth and spin honeyed words to sway women weary from starvation, exhaustion, and fear. They’re trying to make you submit. They’re trying to make you theirs. They’re trying to make you forget Mei Mitsuya. Well, I won’t accept it. I will not accept their plan. Rejection, denial, and rebellion are a flame inside me that won’t be extinguished. This has nothing to do with the Village and Dendera, or the Hawks and the Doves—I will not accept this shameful scheme. I will never permit it.
The shining, golden part of her shouted for all to hear, but as Kayu Saitoh savored thoughts of sleeping with a full stomach, her throat produced only an empty vibration.
Winter went on as it had before; though the season had seen many events begin and end, in terms of stage and scene—to put it in somewhat grandiose terms—one fact stood out in sharp relief: not a single thing had changed.
Thirty years had passed since Dendera was founded, and thirty days had passed since Kayu Saitoh came to Dendera. Dendera remained in existence and so did Kayu Saitoh.
Kayu Saitoh was sifting through the burned-out remains of the storehouse in search of useable charcoal. The sun was glaring, the morning blinding, while a chilling wind blew down from the Mountain, and a head cold burned in her throat, which twitched like that of a cat trying not to regurgitate, but despite all this, she remained focused on her work. She did so not out of a desire to make herself forget anything but rather to hew to reality. The season marched on, and the coldness had grown more bitter over the past few days. More charcoal was necessary.
In air so cold it seemed to freeze each breath as soon as she exhaled it, Kayu Saitoh continued her work. Charcoal was smeared across her entire body, including her scraped-up hand and the scar of her mostly healed head wound, while her white robes, caked with soot and dirt and dried blood, couldn’t have been more filthy. Anyone looking at her would have seen not a woman but a black mass. And this black mass was thinking of the fiery masses that had appeared nine days before, and of the women who had perished to them, but her hands didn’t rest from their work.
2
Though neither the stage nor scene had changed, the events had greatly reduced Dendera’s population from fifty to nineteen. Two of the huts and the two storehouses were no longer fit to be used; all food aside from the Doves’ stockpile had been incinerated; Mei Mitsuya had died to the flames; the Hawks had lost their authority along with many of their number, while the Doves had lost many but gained influence and absorbed the Hawks; and Masari Shiina was now the chief of Dendera.
The new chief’s first move was to offer the women ample food and rest. Next, she ordered several projects intended to redirect the women away from their desire to attack the Village and toward Dendera’s recovery. Within days, Dendera was back on a solid foundation, and after the incident at the storehouse, the plague hadn’t returned. The women regained a peaceful existence. Yet food was scarce, and all were fatigued from the continuous work. Moreover, with their numbers re
duced to only nineteen, each woman’s statements and convictions now stood out. But Masari Shiina maintained her command with enticements of food, and the women devoted their efforts to Dendera’s reconstruction.
Such was the current situation.
On her way home after having finished her work, Kayu Saitoh saw several figures gathered behind the manor, formerly home to Mei Mitsuya, currently occupied by Masari Shiina. Three women were having a discussion. Each had Climbed the Mountain five years before: Hogi Takamiya, Shijira Iikubo, and Maru Kusachi. Kayu Saitoh didn’t know them well, and she didn’t think well of them. Even when Mei Mitsuya lived, they had hardly helped with any of the work, idling by without enthusiasm either for attacking the Village or for sustaining Dendera. Their behavior had been similar back when they lived in the Village.
Noticing Kayu Saitoh, Hogi Takamiya said, “Well look at you—you’re completely black. How terribly filthy you are. And you did that to yourself all for the sake of others.”
“Are you mocking me?” Kayu Saitoh replied, ready for a fight.
“Not at all, not at all,” Hogi Takamiya needlessly repeated. “I only wanted to say how noble it is for you to work yourself until you’re completely black.”
“And what are you three doing? We’re supposed to be building a new storehouse and constructing the trap.”
“We finished our tasks.”
“Then help with another.”
Hogi Takamiya smirked. “We’re not interested in slaving away over some trap for the bear to destroy.”
Masari Shiina believed that the bear, still alive, would again attack Dendera. Despite the efforts required to rebuild Dendera, the new chief had set half of the women to work constructing a trap to kill the creature. The so-called trap was really only a small hut, but Masari Shiina, inspired by Soh Kiriyama’s rebellion nine days prior, intended to incorporate powerful fire into the trap. Her idea was to shut the bear inside and burn it alive. Having experienced the mayhem firsthand, the other women thought it an effective plan, and Kayu Saitoh agreed. When she heard the plan, she touched at the scar running across her head and reasoned that charging the bear with a single flimsy weapon—one that might or might not even pierce one of its beady eyes—wouldn’t yield a result that was worth the risk.