Chapter 21 - Shards (cont.)

That seemed faster than I expected but then we weren’t back at Mecchen yet. The area around the cab seemed vaguely familiar. I glanced around a few times 'til I realized where I recognized it from.

I remarked, “This area looks just like the Ishida family home from the records Shioriko found for us.” Jamie raised his head and looked around a few times before giving a nervous nod and drawing Tara’s plushie closer to himself. Keiko confirmed this as well.

Hitomi walked along the curb as the cab zipped off. “In a way. It’s based on my memories. And a bit of imagination.” She gestured for us to follow.

I had a weird sensation as we walked. It felt like a scenery strip from an old cartoon. The same set of houses repeated with one styled like the Ishida house in the middle.

Jamie coughed. “Imagination, huh?”

Hitomi waved her hand. “I paid less attention to small areas I didn’t expect the three of you to visit. So, I just filled them in with little reminders of our past.”

Keiko rubbed her hands. “So, you never expected us to visit Nina?”

“Not until now.” She paused and turned into a driveway. We followed her up to the door and she gave a hard knock.

Silence save the slow flow of the wind followed ‘til a lock turned inside, and the door cautiously opened out. Nina poked forth her head, and her eyes caught sight of Hitomi. With a sudden push, she sailed out the doorway and into Hitomi’s arms, hugging her profusely.

“You’re back! Thank you again!”

Akiko darted away. Bewilderment flowed between us as we exchanged looks. By the nervous expression I saw on Hitomi’s face, I figured she hadn’t entirely expected this as well.

She cleared her throat. “You don’t have to thank me. I just… uh… did what I had to.”  

Nina backed away carefully. “I can’t even imagine the words to thank you.”

Hitomi twitched a little. “It was just a side effect. I wanted to keep everyone in line and happy.”

Nina blushed, and her nose twitched. “You really didn’t have to… it’s such an honor that you did.”

Jamie sighed. “What in the heck is going on here?”

Hitomi declined an invitation of Nina’s to come inside. I had to ask Nina, “Do you recognize us?”

She gave a little nod. “Of course, and I especially remember your beautiful sister, Hitomi.” While she didn’t seem entirely normal, her memory certainly seemed unbothered.

Hitomi sat down and grumbled a bit. “Stop that. I didn’t do anything deserving of praise.”

Nina bowed again and offered us tea, which Hitomi also declined.

“You turned me into a girl. I don’t know how I can repay you!”

“You don’t.”

“But I must! I’ve always lived with a fear and reverence of women which bound my life. What you’ve done has freed me. I am in your debt.” Akiko stuck her nose out at Nina.

After rubbing her forehead a little, Hitomi said, “I was going to do something else to you today.”

Nina smiled. “You gave me this life. If you saw fit to take it away then…” Her nose twitched again and she looked at Akiko. They both regarded one another with their noses out, like an impromptu smell-off.

Akiko turned away first to explore a bit of curb with faded grass growing from it.

Hitomi took a few, long breaths. “But I did do something to you.”

Nina gave her a nod back. “I know, I could feel it when the others seemed to recede from me. I can only sense them in little snippets now.”

Keiko scooted closer to Hitomi. “What do you mean ‘the others’?”

Nina seemed to reach for something atop her head and looked surprised and alarmed when she found nothing. Her head dashed around for a moment before she seemed to remember where she was. “Why the voices and memories in my head. The white room where I once saw the sad little boy who reminded me of how I used to be. The… bars… no, that’s the same place. No, it’s somewhere else.”

Her eyes narrowed and her voice took on a sultry tone. “Hm. It doesn’t matter. All that matters is power. The power to take little boys and make cute, quivering girls out of them. Katsumi’s will, plus my inspiration will ravage this world in the embrace of loving darkness…”

As soon as that voice came, it passed, and something more resembling the normal Nina emerged. She crouched and tried fruitlessly to hide behind the open door. She brought her hands together. “I’m sorry. I don’t know why that one came out right then.”

Hitomi leaned against the wall as a projection of wind flicked at her hair. “It’s the others trying to reconnect with you…”

She turned to us. “Literal explanations would pass over the three of you right now. Instead, think of a plant spread across a vast, underground area. It projects upwards here and there, but you can’t see the intimate ties between each of the projections.” She fanned her hands. “One being, one spirit, but confined by many smaller existences with only brief glimpses of the whole.”

Jamie fiddled with one of his hair clamps, Keiko kept rapt attention, and I tried to visualize such a plant in my mind. Hitomi brought her hands together. “Again, a human name for them would be inadequate. Think of them instead as shards of a mirror, reflecting one another but shining on their own. Little pieces of a single existence.”

Nina hid her face behind the door, and Akiko took a keen interest in her.

Jamie pressed on his forehead near his eyes, creasing his skin. “Fair enough. Wouldn’t be the oddest thing. So then what did you do to her, if not blow away her memories?”

Nina peered out with those large, brown eyes. Akiko crept nearer, as though she were trying to hunt her. Nina made a squeaking noise and dashed behind the door. Akiko blinked but held her ground.

Hitomi flexed her wrist. “If she were any normal person with a connection to the three of you, I could have easily muddled her memories to make sure I limited her… ‘lumpiness’. But because each piece is distributed, I needed to take more direct measures.”

She fingered the wind charm on her neck with a frown. I wasn’t sure if I liked where this was going. Keiko seemed unsure what to say next, and Jamie glared at Hitomi. Akiko was still creeping her ways towards Nina. She kept a tenuous hold on me as well, though she was at the limit of her reach.

Hitomi stood beside Nina, who looked up with concern, and put a hand on her shoulder. “I saturated her roots. It wasn’t my first choice, but it had the most benefits for me.”

Nina’s nose twitched again. Eventually letting go, Akiko snuck beside the open door. Jamie rubbed the plush and asked, “Which means?”

Before Hitomi could answer, Nina leapt at her as Akiko made her move. Akiko clung to the wall and watched Nina hug Hitomi tight.

With a sigh, Hitomi replied, “It means she’ll be confused for long enough.”

The wind suddenly picked up and the rain started again. Keiko scooted closer to Hitomi and asked, “Will she be okay?”

Nina answered for her. “I’m fine. My thoughts are a little woozy, but I’m so happy I could thank the one responsible for healing my life.” She stepped away from her embrace of Hitomi with her head bowed and cheeks dusted with red. “Whatever time you’ve given me, I feel honored for every moment, and I will treasure them all my life.”

Hitomi looked away from her. I thought I saw her face give a little spasm. She took a ragged breath and said, “Go inside. Stay in the center of the house, away from anything heavy, and keep yourself safe.”

Nina nodded quickly. “I promise.”

Hitomi pressed her hand against the wall. “We… have to go.”

Nina added a little smile to her next nod. “It has been an honor. See you!”

Hitomi dashed to the street.

I tugged on Akiko. It took a great effort to separate her from the porch. Hitomi was doubled-over and standing in the street. Her eyes trembled like when I first met her. She panted.

Keiko touched her on the shoulder. The rain seemed slower but heavier. Jamie held the plushie Yumeko over his head ‘til it seemed clear it didn’t block the rain, and he returned it to hiding. He used his free hand instead and occasionally brushed off a stray droplet. Nina snuck back inside and shut the door.

Hitomi raised herself up.

“It’s not a memory. It doesn’t matter.”

Jamie rumbled a loud sigh. “Start making sense!”

Hitomi looked down the street. “Soon… it’ll all make sense… soon.” And she said something softly into the wind and spray which sounded like, “I hope…”

We caught another cab.

-----

The driver seemed identical to the last one. He had no brightly-colored hair like the cab driver yesterday, nor did he seem to possess any sort of personality. A Johnny Cab would’ve seemed more human.

We sat in the same positions as the last cab trip, only Akiko had a little more room because Keiko sat closer to Hitomi. She gazed out, as Jamie did. Her eyes still trembled a bit.

I gave Jamie’s shoulder a nudge. He coughed. “Why are we doing this?” Keiko turned her ear to listen.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

He shut his eyes. “We didn’t leave Mecchen when things got weird. We didn’t get out of town. We didn’t fight this. We’re still not fighting this…”

Hitomi turned. Her eyes had calmed. “Do you think you ever had a choice?”

“Of course we did. Everyone does.”

It seemed like Hitomi wanted to say something else. Instead, she just turned back to the window. Keiko put her hand on Hitomi’s shoulder.

Akiko curled up near me and pressed her face into the softest part of my arm. She shut her crimson eyes and seemed to sleep, but only for a moment before flashing them open again and jerking her head around. She soon settled again, only to do the same.

I felt warm feelings of aggravation and confusion about Akiko. It felt nice that she was here. At times, her presence just became a routine reality. But I kept reminding myself that she was the reason Ami was gone. If I didn’t, then it felt like Ami never existed at all. I also reminded myself, no matter the joy Nina expressed, that the face leaning against the far window was Nana’s face.

But I didn’t feel angry, same as I didn’t feel angry for what she had done to the ‘lumps’. I felt regret at revealing so much to Shioriko. She only seemed distressed in the end, especially compared with Carolyn. Nina seemed so joyful as well, despite her supposedly disrupted connection to the rest of her distributed ‘spirit’.

I stroked Akiko’s hair, and she pressed against the warmth of my hand. I didn’t look to see if Hitomi was watching, I figured she knew what I was doing.

The windshield wipers scuffed once.

The cab slowed and the brakes squeaked.

We were back.

-----

The cab sped off as we stood near the steps leading up to Mecchen House. The driver again asked for no fee.

The rain seemed heavier. Keiko huddled near Hitomi. The wind swirled a bit.

I thought I could hear far off thunder.

Hitomi turned around.

“It is time, my sisters.”

The wind pressed us towards the steps.

Jamie leaned back. “No! Why? What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to free you from your confinement.”

My heart seemed to flow with warm, pulsating sweat despite the cold, damp wind. I asked, “How?”

“In the way I learned.” Hitomi took the first step.

Keiko took the same step a moment later. Jamie and I held to the curb.

Jamie yelled through the wind, “THIS IS WRONG!”

Hitomi spoke softly against the wind, her words even clearer. “It was my plan from the beginning. It’s why I created this place, why I crafted Mecchen House, and all those who dwell within it.”

A phantom calm came over all things.

I could feel only my heart pushing warmth through my body.

I looked at Jamie. He panted, his head twitching a little.

Akiko squeezed my arm to the point of numbness.

Keiko’s question, spoken with gentle serenity, came next, “What do you mean?”

On the second step, Hitomi spoke again, her words resonated as though she were right next to my ear.

“I made the girls of Mecchen House into what they are. I traced Toki’s original… illuminations… in places, but I did what I had to do. And now… all of them will serve the purpose for which they were intended…”

Jamie screamed, clutched his plushie, and burst up the steps like a fissure in the ground itself. He launched past Keiko and Hitomi and out of sight. I rushed after him, Akiko tugging against me as I ran.

She whimpered in my ear and grunted again and again. I felt her hand slip out for a moment, but I looked back and seized her by the wrist.

Jamie shut the door just as we made our way to the top. I slammed it open again and neglected to remove my shoes on the way in. I slipped a few times against the floor and staggered around ‘til I came to the living room. All the girls were gathered there, and Tara held the dress that was once Ami in her lap. Tarps and storage boxes covered a few areas.

A breeze filled the room.

Tara looked right at me. She bowed her head. “I’m so sorry…”

The rest seemed to be in a trance.

Hitomi walked in with Keiko right behind her. She went up to Tara and gave her a pat on the shoulder. “Are you ready?”

Tara shut her eyes. “No. My regrets feel so heavy.”

She smiled at Tara. “You made all this possible, Aaron. Thank you.”

Tara shook her head. She seemed much older. “I made a mistake. I took pity on you. You reminded me of my daughter… so long ago.”

Hitomi pressed her lips. The breeze blew around the room. “Well… it doesn’t matter. I don’t need you to help me anymore. I just need you for Kimi.”

Tara curled her hand around a bit of her shirt and looked at Kimi. “Do what you wish to me. My life has already ended once. I am not afraid.”

Jamie took a step away. He, like I, seemed dumbstruck.

Keiko tugged on Hitomi’s arm. “I want to help you, but I don’t want anyone to get hurt. I just… I just don’t want there to be any more suffering.”

Hitomi gave only a faint smile and said, “I made all this for you and our sisters. Each girl in Mecchen House was specially-placed. This is their purpose. This is their destiny… And yours.”

Keiko squeezed her arm and gave a little nod to herself. “Alright… sister.”

Jamie shook his head with such force the clamps tumbled from his hair.

“NO!”

Keiko blinked. “What’s wrong?”

“All of this! Everything!” I held Jamie’s shoulder as he staggered.

I looked at Hitomi. My flame inside rose upwards. Mami shimmered a bit from her place on the couch. Her color flickered.

Jamie stared at Tara, who dipped her head low.

I held back the flame, but Mami’s color still seemed eager to flow towards me. It felt like fuel that my flame was eager to engulf.

Hitomi gestured upwards. “Yes, sister. She is meant for you. I saved those random scraps of paper that day. I saved them so they could be kindling for your brilliance.” She held her hands high.

The air tingled. The walls shuddered, as though breathing.

“It is time to serve my recipe to my sisters, so they may be nourished and awaken to their true selves!”