Chapter 112

4. The God of Nation-Bearing

A bullet fired from the void pierced Uyuu's white shirt at the abdomen, and bright red blood splattered. Everything seemed to freeze.

The sight of Uyuu collapsing overlapped with the vision shown by the Slumbering God. In the same chapel, her father collapsed, bleeding from the stomach.

"Uyuu!"

I caught him in my arms. His weight and body heat pressed against me. Lukewarm blood seeped out.

Where had the bullet come from? Grandfather remained seated, unmoving. No one else was alive. The flame in the cursed god's eye sockets twisted. I realized it was laughing.

It was him.

"Miyaki!"

Katagishi rushed over and slung Uyuu's arm over his shoulder. Akitsu took the other arm, and together they lifted him. Uyuu let out a hoarse voice. Blood spilling from the corner of his lips drew a thread like a string of beads.

"Rei-chan, your grandfather..."

I turned around. Grandfather's eyes and mouth twisted into the same grin as the cursed god. That god was moving in response to his prayers.

Grandfather muttered like in a delirium.

"Rei, entrust yourself to the god."

"Grandpa, what are you hoping to achieve by believing in something like this!"

"The god of the nation's birth promised me. That someday, she would return Kyoko to me."

Kyoko—my grandmother who died before I was born. He had done all this to bring his wife back to life. I felt the smoldering burn of anger.

A gun had fallen at my feet.

Katagishi and Akitsu dragged Uyuu forward. Umemura was calling us from the doorway. The concerned god, burned all over, was writhing.

I picked up the gun and pointed it at Grandfather.

"Stop the cursed god. If you get in our way, I'll shoot. You don't want to die before seeing Grandma again, do you?"

"Rei..."

"Gods aren't omnipotent. I'll prove it to you now."

Grandfather returned a vacant gaze. I couldn't bring myself to call his wish foolish. I had seen many people cling to gods and do unbelievable things. Grandfather wasn't good or evil—just a weak human.

We exited the chapel. The blood-soaked scent clinging to us was washed away by the spring night breeze the moment we stepped outside.

Katagishi and the others laid Uyuu down on the stone steps. Umemura looked pale.

"That wound... are you stupid!"

"You just noticed? Took you long enough."

Uyuu laughed like a mischievous kid and groaned, pressing his stomach.

"Being here brought it all back. A gun showing up... who'd have thought."

Now I understood. Back then, in the blood-drenched chapel, the young man trying to save her father was Uyuu. The cursed god embodies the defilement of death, which people abhor. Because Uyuu feared the bullet that struck her father, the cursed god manifested the bullet.

Umemura probed Uyuu's stomach and shook his head gloomily.

"If we descend the mountain now and take him to a hospital... will it be in time?"

Katagishi wiped off the splattered blood.

"Rokuhara and Esato are also in bad shape. We've got to do something."

"Even if you say that..."

"I'll wish upon the Unseen God and erase the cursed god. After that, Miyaki and Akitsu will entrust things to the God Who Is There. Can we last till then?"

"You had a plan like that... Honestly, we won't last."

I realized Akitsu was staring at me. I knew what I had to do. In the end, we'd repeat the same mistake.

I nodded.

"Everyone who's injured now will be erased by the Unseen God."

"Miyaki?"

Katagishi's eyes widened.

"If they're taken before dying, their lives can be saved. Isn't that right, Uyuu?"

Uyuu trembled and nodded as if resigned.

I crouched in front of him and met his gaze.

"I'm sorry for not knowing anything. About my father, and how you've helped us all this time—thank you."

The moonlight reflected in his eyes shimmered like ripples on a lake.

"Sorry, I should've done better. I'm an idiot. In the end, I couldn't even bring Kirima back."

"I'll do it in your place. Of course, I'll bring you back too, Uyuu."

Uyuu closed his eyes. He must have made the same promise. Even if it might never come true, humans still pray.

Umemura sighed.

"I'll be the one to erase Uyuu and the others."

"Umemura..."

"If I get greedy and wish for too much, it might not be granted. Katagishi will erase the god, and I'll erase the humans. That's fair, right?"

He looked down at the stone steps brushed by the night wind.

"Twenty years ago, I was just crouching down there. By the time I realized it, everything was over. This is a good chance to do it over."

Umemura and Katagishi turned on their heels and looked up at the mountain peak. A crudely carved white statue stood there.

"Well then, let's go."

Katagishi halted his step and turned to me.

"Miyaki."

"Yes."

"See you."

He grinned, showing his teeth. I nodded like I was praying.

"You better keep that promise!"

The two of them crossed the chapel and began walking toward the misty green peak. A particularly strong wind blew.

The soft early spring wind blurred my vision, and a field of lotus flowers spread before me. I couldn't believe my eyes.

A petite woman stood among the flowers. The teardrop-shaped mole under her eye resembled Rokuhara.

"I told you we'd meet again."

"...Idiot."

The woman smiled in exasperation. It was a gentle, happy, love-filled smile.

The wind blew, and the field of lotus flowers vanished.

Katagishi and Umemura had also disappeared. Only the serene night forest remained.

Uyuu was still sitting on the stone steps. His bangs, once styled like in the photo with her father, now fell over his forehead, highlighting the youthful features of a young man.

"Guess I've got a little more time left..."

With trembling hands, he searched his pocket, but his arm dropped limply. Akitsu approached and pulled something from his chest pocket.

It was a heavy foreign cigarette and a paper matchbook like the ones handed out at business hotels.

Akitsu took out a cigarette and placed it in his mouth, then struck a match.

"Sorry, I'm bad at lighting these. I always felt like I'd waste them, so I never really got to smoke..."

Uyuu inhaled deeply, then choked on blood and coughed. Groaning in pain, he brought the cigarette to his lips again as if to confirm it and smiled faintly.

"I don't feel like I ever lived properly, but if I'm going out the same as Kirima, maybe I lived a little right in the end..."

The dropped cigarette bounced on the stone steps. Uyuu was gone.

The sweet-smelling purple smoke rose into the night sky and fluttered in the wind.

***

A peaceful mountain path bathed in gentle afternoon light stretched ahead.

I touched my stomach. No wound. The pain was gone too.

"I just started smoking... what a waste."

The fact that this was the first thing I thought of proved I was still an idiot. Even after twenty years, nothing had changed.

I looked around. Beyond the trees, a pink lotus field peeked through. Mud-covered farm tools and a washed-out hemp kimono hung from the branches. It looked like an ancient farming village.

I began climbing the mountain path, dragging legs that no longer hurt.

Up ahead were my ancestors, erased long ago.

Reizei would surely be there too. Since Umemura went ahead, they might be meeting now. He's older now, with a wife and kids. Imagining how he'd feel seeing the woman he once confessed to made me laugh.

The countermeasure headquarters members we erased that night would be there too. I wondered if Ryoko would be there. It was hard to picture that woman living a laid-back rural life. Meeting Reizei and the others she erased—what kind of situation would that be? Thinking about running into Ryoko, I realized I had no right to laugh at Umemura.

The brush parted. It was the middle of the mountain where the chapel once stood. As I stepped into the sunlight, a shadow fell before me.

I gasped. Seeing the real person after so long, I realized I looked nothing like the version I mimicked in the mirror every day.

It was a face I hadn't forgotten for twenty years.

"Kirima..."

Like a puppet with its strings cut, I collapsed on the spot. Everything I had held back came pouring out. A tangled mass of words spilled from my throat.

"I'm sorry, I never lived properly, Kirima. I dragged Rei-chan into this too, and I couldn't bring you back. Rei-chan's way more reliable than me, and I dumped all the cleanup on her. I'm really sorry... even though I took your name..."

Kirima lightly kicked my calf. That pain too was from twenty years ago.

Kirima's fingers reached into the chest pocket of my shirt. The cigarette and matches fell to the ground. Kirima pulled out the last one and lit it. Purple smoke drifted across my face.

"Kirima...?"

"It's been a while since I smoked. There's no tobacco shop around here."

"I see..."

"It was rough until you got here. Want to hear how Reizei and Ryoko were at first?"

"Not really..."

"So, what's with that outfit?"

I couldn't answer. Kirima looked exasperated, his dusky face showing it clearly. His firm, hot hand gripped my shoulder tightly.

"I heard most of the story from the special investigation division guys who came here. Can't say it was a decent life, but you did well. Uyuu."

It was an awkward smile, just barely lifting the corners of his mouth. I hadn't seen it in twenty years. It was also the first time I cried out loud since that night.