by Otsuichi
The doctor tried to calm Masayoshi, but the writer stood up and shook his tightly clenched fists.
“It was fate. A cursed destiny passed down from one generation to the next. Revenge of the Torigoe line! There’s nothing I can do. I fear that the person who killed Yuko was me, the descendant of those who made a deal with the devil! No, not just Yuko! My first wife . . . Kiyone—I am the root of all their misfortune!”
Masayoshi looked up at the ceiling and screamed, and as the tears streamed from his eyes, he didn’t wipe them away. The doctor sat, his eyes closed and his brow creased, silently waiting for Masayoshi’s tears to dry.
*
Was it inevitable?
His eyes upon the black berries, unaware that he was standing now, he quietly spoke, his heart stripped of all color.
“Had all this been decided from the moment that mother and her child with the devil’s flower began their act at the gates of Torigoe Manor?”
The doctor was quiet for a time, but when Masayoshi wrapped his handkerchief back around the berries on the table and started to lift them, he grabbed the writer’s hand. Masayoshi could feel the doctor’s hand tremble.
“Burn them immediately,” said the doctor. “Not just these berries, but all of the belladonna growing on your land. And then, come to get her. I will cure her. No, even if I can’t cure her, you will come to get her. Aren’t the two of you alone now? Once your heart has calmed, have a long talk with her. I know it will be tough, for both you and Kiyone, but in time you will need to find acceptance. End this curse, and everything else with it, with your generation.”
The doctor released the belladonna berries, and Masayoshi gripped them tightly and slumped down to his knees. Even after the doctor quietly slipped from the room, Masayoshi’s sobs could be heard inside.
*
Somewhere far off inside the hospital, a baby cried.
Hey, Father, aren’t you listening? I’ve found someone I like. A fine person. You like him too.
Kiyone was talking to a doll, her father’s, that sat beside her in her bed. Bright sunlight shone in through the open window, casting its gentle rays upon her, and the white hospital curtains billowing in the breeze seemed to beckon to her.
Father, it’s warm out today. When we get back home, I’ll have to hang his laundry outside to dry.
But when the doll didn’t talk back to her, Kiyone tilted her head.
She felt a little lonely.
Glossary
tatami: Traditional Japanese floor covering made of woven straw; one mat measures approximately three feet by six feet, and a six-mat room measures about 108 square feet.
kotatsu: A low wooden table with a heat source underneath.
towelket: Lightweight terrycloth blanket.
yukata: Casual summer kimono, usually made from cotton.
kanji: Japanese alphabet based on Chinese characters, part of the Japanese writing system, along with katakana, hiragana, and the Latin alphabet (Romaji).
hiragana: Japanese syllable alphabet, part of the Japanese writing system, along with katakana, kanji, and the Latin alphabet (Romaji).
goumi: Round or oval red fruit with an acidic taste.
seiza: Formal seated posture, with knees bent and the legs under the thighs.
About the Author
Otsuichi won the sixth annual Jump Novel and Nonfiction prize with his debut novel Summer, Fireworks, and My Corpse when he was seventeen (he was sixteen when he wrote it). He writes horror novels and short stories as well as novels for young adults, and he is also a filmmaker. Major works include the novel Goth, which was made into a manga as well as a feature film, and his collection Zoo, which was also made into a film. Works available in English include Summer, Fireworks, My Corpse; Zoo; and Black Fairy Tale.
Born Hirotaka Adachi in 1978 in Fukuoka prefecture, Otsuichi graduated from Kurume Industrial College and Toyohashi University of Technology with a degree in ecological engineering. He also took part in the university science fiction club. He enjoys playing American video games, watching movies, reading, and spending time with his children.
About the Cover Artist
Norio Kozima was born in Kumamoto in 1968, raised in a coal-mining town in Fukuoka, and now lives in Tama Ward, Tokyo. He studied oil paintings at the Art Department at the Tokyo Zokei University and the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music. After various job experiences, he has worked as an illustrator since about the turn of the century.
He loves rock 'n' roll, bookshops, fishing, guitar, and booze, but he hates nuclear power and fascists.
