Flower Spelling - Chapter 9.2
Chapter 9 – The Ghost’s Lost Property Part II
Sogetsu and Hanabishi had gone, leaving the men alone in the tatami room, where Shido was drinking and whining.
“What’s with that woman? So bent out of shape. With such a short temper, how could she be a geisha?”
“She’s still in her apprenticeship… Besides, you don’t have the right to say that about her when you are hot-tempered yourself.”
“I am getting more and more hated by her…”
When he saw Ito hanging his head down, Shido felt bad and patted him on the shoulder to cheer him up.
“Shunsuke, don’t lose faith. I will aid you and Hanabishi to be alone together. From the looks of it, there is a chance that she has romantic interest for you.”
“Do you really think so?”
“My eye for women certainly is spot on… Still, it’s late. How long is she planning on getting bent out of shape?”
Just as Shido swept his gaze down the corridor, the bloody landlady burst in, gasping for breath.
“Oh, no! Hanabishi and her companion have been kidnapped!”
“… Ha?”
For a fleeting moment, all three were dumbfounded, but once they registered what the landlady had said, each of them spewed out a mouthful of sake.
“??What did you say!”
“Hanabishi’s room has been ransacked and someone has seen a suspicious figure fleeing the premises. I’ve sent my men to search for them…”
“Do you have any idea which way he went!?”
“Up north, I suppose.”
“To the north!??I’m sorry, landlady, but you’ll need to wait a little while before we bring you to the guardhouse. We’ll definitely come back for you!”
With Takasugi in the lead, the three of them stormed out of the shop before even heeding her reply.
??
??Cold.
Sogetsu’s consciousness gradually awoke to the sensation of the chilly floor. When she struggled to sit up, every part of her body shrieked, no doubt affected by the strained posture she had been forced to lie in. Simultaneously, the dull ache in her midsection returned.
Yes, I was struck down… Where is this place? It’s quite dusty. I can’t view anything since it’s pitch black.
A wave of trepidation coursed through her body, making her feel as if she was trapped at the bottom of a well. Moving aimlessly in the dark, her fingers unexpectedly brushed against the soft fabric.
Ohana!
Grabbing what she assumed to be her shoulder, she shook her up.
“… Sou?”
Fortunately, no severe injuries were sustained on Hanabishi. However, the real challenge lies ahead.
Hanabishi with a keen eye for the dark discovered that the two were in an abandoned temple or some kind of hall.
“Oh, no, Sou. It must be the work of the people who have recently been lurking around me. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to drag you into this, but what should I do now…?”
“Calm down, Ohana. We don’t know what’s going on, but we have to escape!… Is there a door on that side that leads to outside?”
“Wait… um, there it is, this one.”
Hanabishi placed her hand on what she suspected to be a door and gently pushed it, but after the slightest movement, the door mercilessly shut. Despite repeated attempts with great effort, it still won’t budge.
“It’s not working, it’s bolted.”
As Hanabishi shook her head, a clatter of something being detached from outside startled them, causing them to back away.
With a squeaking sound, three unfamiliar men entered the room. Judging from the atmosphere, the man in the middle was likely to be the leader of the group. The light from the lanterns held by the men across both sides of the room illuminated Sogetsu and Hanabishi, who were huddled tightly in the depths of the room.
“You’re awake at last. What a pain in the ass.”
“What’s the deal with you people? What do you want with Ohana?”
“We have no business with her. What we want is the netsuke she found.”
“Netsuke?”
Do they mean the lion netsuke?
“Well, looking at your face, it seems that I am right. Now hand it over to me. If you do as you were told, I won’t do anything bad.”
Even if you say so…
That thing remained in Takasugi’s possession. If they find out that Hanabishi doesn’t carry it, what will happen…?
Through their clasped shoulders, she can sense Hanabishi’s quivering.
I have to cover it up somehow. But how??
Her hand, clenched in front of her chest, made contact with something solid.
??That’s right.
Determined to succeed, Sogetsu fixed her gaze upon the man.
“The netsuke, it’s with me.”
“Eh?”
Disregarding Hanabishi’s low voice, Sogetsu proceeded.
“If I pass it to you, will you really let us go?”
“Yeah, I promise.”
“Okay. Hang on, I’ll pull it out.”
Without lifting her attention from the man, she slowly slipped her hand into her pocket. Needless to probe, the hand smoothly made its way to a familiar metal plate – a mobile device.
Please… switch on.
After a beat of tension, a beam of light filtered through her bosom. In the background, an audible gasp can be detected.
“… W-What the hell is that! Is that a demon fire!?”
The light fell off from the dismayed man’s palm.
In an immersive moment, the room was enveloped in darkness, with only the light from the inorganic LCD screen of Sogetsu’s device flickering ominously. This doubled the men’s fear.
“??Ohana! Now, while we can!”
Slipping aside the panic-stricken men, Sogetsu pulled Hanabishi by the arm and scurried away at once.
Even if they didn’t know where they were, they could aid themselves by getting to a spot where there were other people.
The stone lanterns had been knocked over, and the weeds had grown to such an extent that their footsteps were sluggish under the moonlight. The pebbles pricked at her bare feet. Hanabishi, who had been lagging behind, accidentally stumbled and lost her footing.
“Ohana! Are you okay?”
“Uh, I am okay.”
She didn’t fall, but apparently, she sprained her foot.
“Take it easy… Sit here for now.”
They hid in the bushes in the vicinity.
“I am sorry, Sou… Don’t worry about me, just escape by yourself.”
“What are you talking about? I can’t possibly leave you alone! Don’t worry, I’m sure the people in the shop and Mr. Takasugi are on the way looking for us. I only wish there is some way to send a signal??”
“… Ah! Hey, Sou, what’s that?”
Hanabishi pointed to the shape of a belfry, which shone distinctly under the moonlight.
“Right, if I ring that bell??! Alright, I’ll go. Ohana, you hide here.”
Sogetsu handed over her mobile device, saying that if the men showed up, she would give them this, and made her way towards the bell tower. Up close, it seemed older and more worn than she had expected, and it was a miracle that the strings on the bell tower had not been snapped.
Please, somebody notice this??!
Sogetsu pulled the string with all her strength, pinning a ray of hope on it.
Ding… Ding… Ding…
The low tolling of the bell pierced through the silence of the night. No sooner had the lingering sound subsided that Sogetsu promptly hopped down from the bell tower.
Anyone that listens to this, please come…!
However, the hope was short-lived when she was abruptly twisted up by one arm with tremendous force. Sogetsu screamed uncontrollably and her face was covered with warm breath.
“You bastard, what do you think you’re doing?” The leader of the gang was glaring down at her, his face contorted in rage.
“There’s no point in doing this now! There will be people coming over here once they have heard the noise. You’d better get out of here before that happens.”
“Sorry to disappoint you. This place is in a remote area, far from the town. People don’t come here that often! I’ll break your arm!”
“??Aah!”
Just as she let out an inarticulate scream, a pale light crossed the corner of her eye.
“Ohana!”
A limping Hanabishi glowered at the man, raising the mobile device as if it were a talisman to ward off evil.
“??!”
When the man was spooked momentarily, Sogetsu delivered an elbow strike with all her might and rushed to Hanabishi’s side.
“Ugh! Oh, no, not that again. What the hell is that? Are you guys some sort of monster?”
“Monster…? Yes, that’s right! We are… the servants of Inari at Tomioka Hachiman Shrine! If you misbehave anymore, you will be punished by the gods!”
“What nonsense??”
As he started to speak, the man’s figure was suddenly blown off to the side.
Eh? No way, there’s really heaven’s punishment!?
At that moment, she half-heartedly thought.
“… You’re a real piece of work.”
The voice was a mixture of dismay and admiration.
It took her a couple of seconds to recognize that Takasugi had struck the man down.
“Such a big attitude. You’re as reckless as ever.”
“I had no choice! If I had bothered to wait for help, I would have been killed already!” She retorted forcefully, otherwise, she would have inadvertently burst into tears of relief.
Ito and Shido, who soon joined them, told her that the rest of the men had been captured.
“Thank you so much. I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t all come…”
Together with Hanabishi, they bowed profoundly.
“But how did you find this place?”
“It was all Shunsuke’s credit. When he heard the sound of the bell, he immediately thought of the abandoned temple. It would have taken me and Monta a lot longer.”
“Oh, wow, Mr. Ito!”
“Hehe, I’m not exactly running around all over the place either! Even Mr. Katsura’s rough handling proved to be useful in unexpected ways.”
“Well, who are these people, by the way? I suppose they were after the netsuke I picked up…”
“Netsuke?”
“Which one, let me have a look.”
Shido grabbed it from Takasugi, holding it up to the light of Ito’s lantern, and examined it. After a while, he muttered, “Hmmm,” and looked up with a grin.
“This is stolen goods.”
“Stolen goods!?”
“Huh, how can you tell that just by looking?”
“Look closely. At first glance, it looks like just another netsuke, but it’s in fact worth a fortune. The inscription is by a well-known netsuke maker and it is made of rare unicorne. So I’d say it’s worth at least five ryo.”
Five ryo! They all exclaimed in unison.
“This is what they have been desperately seeking. It’s only logical to infer that it was stolen. Probably the man who was killed under the willow was a fellow thief, and they got into a fight over his share and killed him. This netsuke must have been dropped at that time.”
“So, that’s why they were investigating Ohana’s background and targeting her.”
This may be the basis of the ghost stories that have been circulating recently.
Even so…
To think that she was confronted with such a hazardous person who had committed a murder. Even after all this time, her legs were still trembling.
For the thieves, they decided to tie them up and roll them into the street along with the netsuke. In the morning, somebody would find them.
“Hanabishi, get on my back!”
For the sake of Hanabishi, who could not walk, Ito crouched down with his back to her.
“No, thank you! I can walk by myself.”
“Don’t be silly. You can’t walk on that leg. It’ll only make it worse.”
Sogetsu poked the red-faced Hanabishi on the shoulder, thinking that she had seen this scene somewhere before.
“Why don’t you let him carry you? Otherwise, Mr. Takasugi will carry you like a rice bale.”
Hanabishi stared at Takasugi in puzzlement, then nodded reluctantly.
?
Roll, roll, roll.
The geta, borrowed from Takasugi, made a gentle sound.
A little behind him, Sogetsu stealthily observed Ito’s face as he carried Hanabishi gleefully on his back.
“Aren’t they quite good together? I wonder what they’re talking about.”
Unaware that Sogetsu was saying this, Ito felt the warmth on his back and couldn’t be happier.
About home, about work, about childhood pranks.
At first, Hanabishi was stubbornly stiff, but as Ito continued to engage in idle chatter, she became increasingly receptive, occasionally even laughing out loud.
And so it was when Hanabishi’s shop was approaching.
Ito asked with determination.
“Hey, can you tell me your name?”
“My name, you already know it though.”
“Not that… Your, real name.”
Through their backs brushing against each other, he can feel Hanabishi’s breath catching in his throat. For a woman in the Hanamachi district, revealing her real name means entrusting her heart to that person.
There was no reply, and time drifted on.
Was she upset by this?
Just as he managed to get her to smile.
At that moment he hung his head inwardly. Hanabishi’s arm around his neck grew firmer.
The sound of a hairpin swinging.
And then??
A soft breath of air caught in Ito’s ear as he paused for breath.