The ritual is tomorrow, and tonight I must purify my mind and body to purge all the evils inside me. But I am uneasy.
Father was irritated when he visited me this morning. Yukiko’s father had come to him and wanted to search for his daughter outside the village. It seems he has been having dreams about her and is convinced that is an omen that something terrible has happened to Yukiko. He would not stop until Father showed him the path she took out of the village. And now there will be a slight delay in my ceremony because of that.
Tomeo came to visit again this afternoon, and he was angry too. He said Father lied about the ritual but that he wants to find proof before confronting him.
I told him Father has been performing the ritual for many years, and each one has been successful, but now I am anxious. Tomeo promised to return, but night has come, and he isn’t here. The tea Father gave me is getting cold, so I have set it aside. I will wait for Tomeo. I hope nothing has happened.
The entries all appear to contradict Kazuhiko Kino’s assertions that sacrifices were being made as part of some pagan ritual. If this girl was one of the chosen maidens, nothing in the diary indicates anything out of the ordinary. If you consider ritualized marriages “ordinary” anyway.
Just to make sure I’ve read everything of importance, I steal out of my room and head back to Kagura’s. I rummage through her trunk again and am rewarded when I spot a small, rolled-up parchment that is a strange reddish color. The edges look like it was once rescued from a fire. I bring the scroll back to my room, and Okiku sits beside me, peering over my shoulder. I’d been hoping for a drawing or at least something that would transcend my basic understanding of Japanese, but all I see is six lines of undecipherable text.
Kagura was right. This does not resemble Kazuhiko Kino’s writing at all. From the faded ink, it doesn’t even look like it was written during this century.
“This is pointless,” I mutter.
“The maiden and the boy must be willing.”
I turn to look at Okiku. Her eyes are trained on the parchment.
“All girls eight through twelve shall bring their hanayome ningyō, each in their likeness. When the door closes, the sun shall die. When it is reborn anew, she whose doll is honored shall be chosen, and she must be willing.
“For three years, she must keep with no one but the boy for company. And then she shall be clothed and bound and honored, and she shall become unto fireflies.”
The quiet stretches on as we both stare at the text, trying to come to grips with what Okiku has just read. This could easily be the incoherent ramblings of a madman who’d imbibed one too many cups of sake. But I have seen many, many girls turn into fireflies, and there’s only one unfortunate requirement for them to make that transformation.
“Okiku, what’s a hanayome ningyō?”
“A bridal doll.”
I reach for Kagura’s notes and quickly find the passage I’m looking for.
Bridal dolls were used to represent young girls during special wedding ceremonies.
“Okiku, this refers to a sacrifice, doesn’t it?” I continue reading from Kagura’s notes:
“To live forever, one must rule the Gate. To rule the Gate, one must be sacrificed. To be sacrificed, one must be willing.”
I pause. “None of the girls must have known what was about to happen to them. Did these people seriously kill girls in some obscure ritual, expecting to reveal a hell’s gate?” I feel awful for the girl who’d written that diary with such high hopes for her future. What had happened to her?
Okiku says nothing, but I know her answer. There’s a strange light in her eyes. This ritual is sounding more and more like the World Cup for serial killers, and she’s just itching to intervene. I’m not as enthusiastic about it.
“Tark? You still awake?” Callie peeks in from outside and frowns when she sees the books strewn about. “Tark, you need some rest, remember? Tomorrow’s gonna be hectic enough as it is without the jet lag.”
“I was just looking through a few things.” I can’t tell Callie what I’ve found. She’s already worried, and anything more would freak her out. “Doesn’t that also apply to you? What are you doing up this late, Callie?”
“I can’t sleep,” she admits. “My mind’s going a mile a minute. I’m concerned about Kagura, and I’m concerned about all this…research. It sounds pretty fantastic to me.”
“You would have said the same thing two years ago.”
“Ugh. Don’t remind me.” Callie spots Okiku and gives her a small smile. “I was talking with Auntie after you left. Do you really think Kagura’s father could have found a village inside Aokigahara like he claimed?”
“It’s hard to believe that no one’s seen it before.”
“According to Auntie, he claimed to have proof, but it could never be substantiated by another independent source. Apparently, he said he was going to find more evidence—to find someone—but he never returned. That was ten years ago.”