船乗りの妻
*** The Sailor’s Wife (Tomo POV) ***
船乗りの妻
The woman’s voice from Chinmoku Izumi Temple wasn’t loud, but it rang in my eyes.
I took a deep breath. My heart felt like it would explode. What if they refused to help? After all, it appeared Ume had stood them up, and we were being a lot of bother. My self-confidence had taken a beating after my encounter with Hanayome-shin.
“Moshi moshi, I’m Shizo Tomo; I’m Ume Fumiko’s husband. She was supposed to meet…”
Yabai. I didn’t remember the priest’s name!
In my haste to read the priest’s card, I fumbled and dropped it. It drifted to the floor and slid under the bed where I couldn’t reach it.
“…one of your priests in Gunma. She… Ume… My wife has disappeared.”
“At least,” I thought, “I think she has disappeared. Hanayome-shin thought she was in trouble and the phone call surely meant something had happened.”
“Just a second,” the woman said in a calm voice, as if calls like this were an everyday occurrence.
It was a long second before a more mature male voice came on the line, “Am I speaking to Shizo-san? I’m Satoshi, Mikito-san’s son. Is this about Ume-san?”
“Yes, I’m Shizo-san. Is Ume alright? I got a garbled message from her, and I’m worried…and… and…” My words came tumbling out.
“Take a breath, Shizo-san.”
“Slow down,” I thought, and I started over.
“I’m Shizo Tomo, and I’m Ume’s husband. She was on the way to meet your father and I think she disappeared.”
“I am glad to hear from you, Shizo-san. Mikito-san called, concerned. He received a bizarre message from Ume-san, who never arrived. Mikito asked us to do what we could. Unfortunately, I had no way of contacting you.”
“Oh, I was hoping you had heard from her or knew what was going on.”
“That is understandable. We have been doing what we could, though. I did a divination, which showed that Ume has a powerful guardian. She should be okay for the moment.”
“Hanayome-shin,” I thought as relief washed over me. “Ume was okay.”
I replied, “Thank goodness. I was so worried. What can I do?”
“Not much, I’m afraid. She isn’t anywhere we can reach her easily and her guardian will look after her. What I’m worried about is you. Can you get here? The divination indicated those associated with her are at risk. That would be you and the woman with her, right?”
There it was again, the havoc that woman had brought into our lives. But it was my fault for letting it get this far. Still, how could I throw Shiomi out after seeing that goofy look Umi got looking at Shiomi? She’d gushed day after day about the cute girl at the konbini.
It was now moot anyway, so I addressed the issue at hand and replied, “I don’t have a car; Ume has it. I’m not sure how safe it would be for me to take a bus. Both times Ume has traveled anywhere things got weird. Ume mentioned it wasn’t safe to take buses. Mikawa tried killing me a little while ago, and I don’t want to make myself an easy target.”
“Then perhaps you should take shelter in a local temple or shrine. The more powerful, the better. If you tell me where you are, I can make a recommendation and call them, so they take you seriously.”
“I think I am safe here. The local priest warded our house, which has kept Mikawa at bay so far. She tries to convince us to let her in at night, but so far she hasn’t gained entry.” I had neglected to mention the phone call, but if I was careful, that shouldn’t happen again.
“Was that Kawanami-san, the priest that died?”
“Yeah, he killed himself.”
“I’ll send someone over there then. Miyazaki Kaori is an excellent shaman and exorcist. Do what she says, even if it might seem strange. She will call when she arrives. But if she can’t reach you and has to knock, she’s a tall woman with long lavender-tipped black hair. There’s no mistaking her. In the meantime, avoid reflections, especially mirrors.”
I gave the man my address and started cleaning the house. The vomit was the first to go and then the scattered offerings. Hanayome-shin’s box was now closed, and I carefully replaced the silk wrapper without touching the box. I figured I was beyond the “don’t look” stage at this point. The screen was too heavy to lift because of my bad back, so it remained lying on the floor.
Usually, cleaning helps steady my nerves, but not this time. I kept checking my phone till I noticed the reflection in the cracked surface, and then I forced myself to put it down.
From the living room, I moved to the kitchen. I generally feel more comfortable there. It’s my territory. But I still felt antsy. I finally opened another beer and then left it barely tasted on the counter.
Next, I tried writing poetry. Instead of burying my emotions, I let them flow out onto paper. It wasn’t good poetry, but I thought no one would ever see it.
Unseen storms
What haunted lands?
Wanders my love
Like a sailor’s wife,
Awaiting your return
When the phone rang, I jumped and almost dropped the cigarette I had started while tweaking my tanka. I rapidly snuffed the cigarette out and looked at the cracked display, afraid it might be more gibberish or worse.
I didn’t recognize the number, but I wouldn’t, would I? With trepidation, I answered, “Moshi moshi, who is this?”
“Miyazaki and my partner, am I speaking to Shizo-san?”
“Yes, Yes.”
“We’ll be there in a second.”
A few minutes later, I opened the door to two young women. They looked to be in their early to mid-twenties. I could tell the taller of the two was Miyazaki. There was no mistaking her hair cut in a double hime with lavender tips, which she accented with an all-black outfit of leather coat, T, jeans, and nails. If I’d any doubt about her profession, the mixture of Christian, Buddhist, and Shinto charms around her neck would have dispelled it. Except for her age, she was what I pictured a freelance spiritualist looked like.
Next, I looked at her partner, who entered a step behind her. She also appeared college-aged, on the short side with a cute face, and dyed pink hair in neat twin-tails ties with ribbons. She wore a pastel coral pink blazer over a matching pink sweater. The effect was one of cuteness, not what I expected from a professional spiritualist. I think I had imagined one of those wild-haired women that sometimes appear on TV.
I glanced at her partner, who almost fit that part, but her hair was neatly and expensively groomed and there wasn’t the faintest hint of wildness in her eyes.
My attention shifted back to the shorter one, and I took in a few more details. In fact, she looked very much like a stylish young businesswoman. But instead of a briefcase, she had a large bag that didn’t match her outfit. I would later learn it contained a drum, schoolhouse handbell, herb bundles, a collection of charms, and other paraphernalia of their profession.
The taller one, Miyazaki-san, glanced around the room. If I was expecting a polite introduction or talk, I was mistaken. After her brief cursory inspection, Miyazaki-san turned to me, saying, “May I inspect closer? At first glance, your prior priest did a good job.”
I nodded yes, and she began prowling the house.
“Can Kan-chan lay out our stuff?” she asked as she poked her head into the kitchen. “We are going to have to do a thorough cleansing.”
Cleansing, I thought, like when Kawanami had sprinkled Ume with sake and made her eat salt. “Sure,” I responded. “Do whatever you need to do. There’s no need to ask.”
Next, she looked at the upset shrine screen. “What happened here?”
“It’s complicated. Ume’s guardian kami got upset about something Mikawa was doing. She did it to get my attention.” It slipped my mind that Miyazaki might not know about Hanayome-shin.
“I see,” she said in a tone that indicated she didn’t. “Why don’t we sit down, and you can tell me the story from the beginning? We have an hour before dark, so we have time.”
“Sure. Can I offer you some tea or anything?”
“Tea would be nice. — Kan-chan, could you help him? If that is alright with you, Shizu-san.”
The other woman smiled at me and finally spoke. “I’m Miyazaki Kanoko. If you show me where things are, I can fetch you more tea later while you talk.”
“Yeah, that would be fine,” I said, surprised by their casual manner.
Kanoko turned from me and addressed her partner, “Should I make him milk tea?”
Miyazaki-san chuckled, “No, if he doesn’t settle down, we can resort to that later.”
I didn’t get the reference, but their informal take-charge manner helped calm me. If they could be so casual, then they must feel they had the situation well under control.
Once in the kitchen, I showed Kanoko where things were and asked, “What type of tea would you like?”
“Kao prefers black. Oh, you have some hojicha, bet she would like that. It’s been a while since we had roasted.”
I started to put the tea packet on the counter and found a hand on my arm. “Don’t be put off by Kao. She’s good, the best. And you can call me Kan-chan. I prefer that.”
“Thanks and I’m Tomo.”
“Hello Tomo. Let me finish this. You go start filling Kao in. We want to be ready before nightfall. Things may get interesting then.”
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Note:
Kaori and Kan-chan are interesting people, with quite a backstory. Unlike Tomo, you can read about their earlier adventures in “My Girlfriend Almost Got Me Killed, So We Had Wild Sex.” Unlike this story, it gets very spicy.
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Story by Nara Moore
Twitter/X:@nara_moore
Mastodon: sakurajima.moe
WordPress: Josei Yuri and Paranormal Romance
Art by Mai-sensei
Twitter: @Maiisheree
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