Sano Ichiro 6 Black Lotus (2001)

by Laura Joh Rowland

  It was Anraku who'd repaid Miwa's customers, Anraku who met him outside the prison gate.

  "Why did you do this?" Dr. Miwa said, distrusting the priest's good looks, and motives.

  Anraku smiled. "You are a physician of great genius. I value your talents as the world cannot."

  The words were a healing elixir to Miwa's wounded pride. Grateful, yet still suspicious, he said, "How do you know about me?"

  "I see all. I know all." Anraku spoke with convincing simplicity; his one-eyed gaze pierced Miwa's spirit.

  "What do you want from me in return?" Miwa said, beginning to fall under the priest's spell.

  "My temple requires a physician. I have chosen you." ,

  Anraku had taken Dr. Miwa to the Black Lotus Temple, newly constructed at that time, nine years ago. He gave Dr. Miwa a hospital, nurses, and authority over the medical treatment of the temple's growing population. The post brought Dr. Miwa the respect and recognition long denied him. He worshipped Anraku as his god. However, medical training had taught him the skill of scientific observation, and soon he understood the inner workings of the kingdom his god had created.

  He believed in Anraku's supernatural vision, but he learned that the high priest had many spies conveying knowledge to him. These spies were followers and paid informers throughout Japan. They had reported on Miwa and identified him as potentially useful to the sect. Miwa discovered that he wasn't the only person recruited this way. Anraku scouted society's criminals and had found Kumashiro, Junketsu-in, and many of his senior priests among them. Dr. Miwa also learned how Anraku bound these wayward individuals to him.

  They, like Miwa, were in desperate straits. Anraku determined what each person desired, then provided it in exchange for loyal obedience. These recruits became dependent upon him. He was all things to all people --- guide, father, lover, tyrant, son, judge, savior. Because the Black Lotus Sutra said there was an infinite number of paths to enlightenment, elite disciples such as Dr. Miwa could pursue destiny however they liked. Not until they'd severed all ties with normal society and morality did they discover the dark side of their paradise: Anraku's intolerance toward anyone who didn't perform the duties he expected of his disciples.

  Within two years of his arrival at the temple, Dr. Miwa was dividing his time between the hospital and the subterranean laboratory. Above-ground, he treated the sick; below, he worked on experiments for the Black Lotus's day of destiny and tortured disobedient sect members. He found that causing pain aroused him sexually. He could never return to normal life because the temple was the only place where he could have everything he needed. But now the specter of the monk Pious Truth shadowed his memory. Dr. Miwa knew he was not exempt from similar treatment, should he displease Anraku. He watched the novices, all of them healthy and robust, and he couldn't bear to wait and see if the second formula worked.

  "I shall test the last formula now," he said.

  Under the daunting scrutiny of his colleagues, Dr. Miwa mixed the potion and took it to the third novice. He was fifteen years old, plump with baby fat. He drained the cup, exclaiming, "Praise the glory of the Black Lotus!"

  Suddenly his face flushed crimson. His eyes became wide and blank; he swayed. His words blurred into an incoherent babble.

  "The formula is working," Dr. Miwa said, filled with relief and jubilation.

  The novice began shaking violently. While his comrades chanted, he retched, vomiting bile. Its sour stench tainted the air. He collapsed in a fit of convulsions.

  "I see the Buddha. I see the truth," he murmured. Awe veiled his gaze. He gave a final shudder, then lay still. Dr. Miwa crouched, examined the novice, and looked up at Anraku. "He's dead."

  Anraku beamed, illuminating the room as if the sun had penetrated the earth. "Good work," he said. Kumashiro nodded in grudging approval; jealousy narrowed Junketsu-in's eyes. "We shall be well prepared to meet our destiny."

  Anraku glided soundlessly from the laboratory. At Dr. Miwa's orders, flie surviving novices carried the corpse away to the crematorium. Their chanting faded down the tunnel. Kumashiro and Junketsu-in lingered.

  "Congratulations," Kumashiro said to Dr. Miwa in a sardonic voice. "It seems you're good for something besides gratifying yourself with other people's pain."

  How like Kumashiro to spoil his triumph, Miwa thought bitterly as the priest left the room. Kumashiro was like Commander Oyama. The commander had been another arrogant, forceful man who enjoyed tormenting the weak. He'd come to the temple seeking a spiritual remedy for stomach pains, and Dr. Miwa had cured him, but Oyama gave the credit to Anraku while mocking Miwa and treating him as a mere lackey. Miwa rejoiced that Oyama had been punished for his cruel ingratitude. If only Kumashiro would die, too.

  Abbess Junketsu-in said snidely, "Lucky for you that the formula worked. Anraku-san told me yesterday that after what happened in Shin-agawa, he would give you one more chance, and if you failed again…"

  Arching her painted brows, she let the unspoken threat hang in the air. Dr. Miwa gazed at her in helpless fury. She always flaunted her intimacy with Anraku and aggravated Miwa's insecurities. He despised her even more than he did Kumashiro because he wanted her so badly.

  "Shinagawa was just an experiment," Dr. Miwa huffed. "Trial and error are necessary to scientific progress." He busied himself arranging jars of chemicals on his workbench. "You will please leave. I have things to do."

  "Indeed. Your other formulas aren't working out very well, are they? Especially the one that exploded accidentally and destroyed Anraku's temple in Shinagawa." Junketsu-in laughed, then sidled near Dr. Miwa. "Why do you pretend you don't like me when we both know better?"

  He smelled her musky perfume, felt the warmth of her body. Hot, unwelcome desire suffused him. Memories of other times like this roiled in his mind. Working day after day with Nurse Chie, he'd longed for her even as he saw revulsion in her eyes. She, like Junketsu-in, had aroused him without any intention of satisfying his longings. Now

  Junketsu-in raised her hand to his face and brushed her sleeve against his check.

  "Be nice to me, and maybe I'll put in a good word for you with Anraku-san," she said, tittering.

  She wouldn't touch her bare skin to him, not even to tease! The insult enraged Miwa. Chie hadn't wanted physical contact with him, either; she'd repelled his advances. She'd also threatened him and the whole sect. She, like Oyama, had deserved to die. Dr. Miwa's anger exploded.

  "Leave me alone!" he shouted, lashing out his arm and knocking Junketsu-in aside. His breath hissed furiously as he picked up a jar from the workbench. "Go away, or I'll throw this acid in your face. You'll be uglier than I, and Anraku won't want you anymore. If you don't stop tormenting me, I'll tell the sōsakan-sama that you hated Chie and killed her."

  The fear in Junketsu-in's eyes gratified him. She fled the laboratory, and Dr. Miwa clutched the edge of his workbench, breathing hard, trying to calm his temper. To succeed in his task and keep the position and respect he'd worked so hard to gain, he must control himself. He could not, and would not, fail again.

  * * *

  26

  He of the true, clear gaze,

  The gaze of great and perfect understanding,

  Is a sun of wisdom dispelling all darkness.

  He shall quell the wind of misfortune,

  And everywhere bring pure light.

  -----FROM THE BLACK LOTUS SUTRA

  Reiko sat in the round, sunken tub in the bathchamber, submerged up to her neck. She'd opened the window and lit lamps around the room; the hot water steamed in the cool breeze and reflected wavering flames. Sick horror still knotted her stomach, though hours had passed since she'd seen the corpses of the Fugatami; her mind continuously revisited the bloody scene. When Sano entered the chamber, she looked up at him with eyes swollen and sore from weeping.

  "I keep thinking about Hiroko and Minister Fugatami," she said in a ragged voice. "This is the third bath I've taken since I left that house, but I still don't
feel clean."

  "I understand," Sano said gently. "The aura of death always lingers."

  He stripped off his clothes. Crouching on the slatted wooden floor, he poured a bucket of water over himself, then washed his body with a bag of rice-bran soap. His vigorous scrubbing bespoke his own desire for purification.

  "This afternoon I went to tell Hiroko's father what happened." Sorrow welled inside Reiko as she remembered how the dignified old man had tried to hide his grief over Hiroko's death and his anxiety about his missing grandsons. She wondered guiltily whether her contact with Minister Fugatami had somehow triggered the murders.

  "Thank you for sparing me the task," Sano said, his expression bleak and strained as he washed his hair.

  "What happened with the shogun?" Reiko asked.

  "He refused to shut down the sect. He ordered me to stay away from the temple."

  "Oh, no. What are you going to do?"

  "What can I do but obey orders?" Sano said unhappily. He rinsed himself, then climbed into the tub. The water shifted and rose around Reiko as he sat opposite her. "I'll look for evidence outside the temple that will convince the shogun to change his mind. And I've sent a message to Chamberlain Yanagisawa, explaining the situation and asking him to come back to Edo. I think he'll consider the Black Lotus problem serious enough to deserve his attention."

  Reiko was both glad and alarmed that Sano had taken the major step of summoning Yanagisawa, but feared that the chamberlain might not return in time to prevent a disaster. "At least some good has come of Minister Fugatami's death," she said. "You finally believe he was right about the Black Lotus." That she and Sano were at last on the same side comforted Reiko. "And Haru can be released from jail," Reiko added, now more certain than ever that the sect was guilty, which argued in favor of the girl's innocence. "She can't go back to the temple, so we'll have to find a place for her to live."

  Then Reiko noticed a disturbed look on Sano's face. "What's wrong?" she said.

  "Haru isn't going anywhere." Sano's tone was cautious yet decisive. "She's staying right where she is."

  "But you can't keep her locked up when the case against her has weakened so much." Reiko couldn't believe she'd heard him right.

  Sano shook his head. He inhaled deeply as if mustering the energy for an argument he'd hoped to avoid. "What happened today doesn't clear Haru."

  "You agree that the sect killed Minister Fugatami and attacked people in Shinagawa. Isn't it logical that they also killed Commander Oyama, Chie, and the child?"

  "Logical," Sano said, "but not certain. That the Black Lotus is evil doesn't necessarily mean Haru is good. Whatever the sect has done, my case against Haru remains the same."

  "Then you're still sure she's guilty?" Incredulity jolted Reiko. "You still intend that she should be tried for the crimes?"

  "I do," Sano said.

  His expression was regretful, but Reiko heard the finality in his voice. The steaming water around them seemed to grow cold as she realized that she and Sano weren't on the same side after all. He was still in danger of condemning the wrong person, ruining his honor, and letting killers escape justice.

  "Minister Fugatami probably died because he knew too much about the Black Lotus and was a danger to the sect," Reiko said. "I think the same conditions apply to Haru, Commander Oyama, and Nurse Chie. They must have seen and heard things inside the temple. High Priest Anraku decided he couldn't trust them to keep his secrets. He had Oyama and Chie murdered, then framed Haru so she would die too."

  "I understand how much you want to believe that," Sano said, "but there's no proof."

  Reiko perceived obstinacy beneath his gentle tone. She drew up her knees, avoiding contact with him. "Have you asked Haru what she knows of the sect's business?" When Sano shook his head, Reiko said, "Neither have I, because I didn't have the chance. Maybe if we go to the jail and ask her now, she'll give us information that will clear her and persuade the shogun to let you investigate the Black Lotus."

  A current rippled the water as Sano folded his arms. "I'll not give Haru another opportunity to invent tales about other people or pretend she doesn't know what she did the night before the fire. I don't trust her to tell the truth about the Black Lotus, so I won't bother asking."

  "That's unfair," Reiko said, angry now. "Haru deserves a chance to save herself, especially since the Fugatami murder is evidence in her favor."

  Temper flared in Sano's eyes. "She's had plenty of chances to tell a better story about what happened to her. She'll get another chance at her trial. And I've been more than fair to her --- and to you --- at my own expense. I put off arresting Haru so I could check out all the possible leads. My hesitancy gave Senior Elder Makino the means to destroy my reputation. I've also delayed Haru's trial so I could hear Minister Fugatami's report on the Black Lotus, as you wished. The shogun has ordered me to convene the trial, and I intend to do so before he can punish me for disobedience. Haru is guilty, ancM; shall welcome her conviction."

  Discord seemed to saturate the water like foul poison. Suddenly Reiko could no longer bear to stay near Sano. Rising, she climbed out of the tub in a cascade of dripping water.

  "Reiko-san, wait," Sano said.

  She heard anguish in his voice but ignored his plea. There was nothing more to say that would alter his opinion or hers. Reiko snatched a cloth from a shelf and swathed her wet body. She hurried out of the room and down the hall to her chamber. Shivering with cold and agitation, she dried herself and donned a dressing gown. Then she knelt by the charcoal brazier and tried to think how to find the Fugatami children and thwart the Black Lotus's schemes before the trial, when the machinery of the law would claim Haru. Now that neither she nor Sano could go back to the Black Lotus Temple, they had no way to see into the sect.

  The thought stimulated Reiko's memory of Midori proposing to spy on the temple. Reiko suddenly realized that she hadn't seen or heard from her friend all day. Disturbed to think Midori was so offended that she was avoiding contact, Reiko decided she must seek out Midori first thing tomorrow and try to repair their friendship.

  At the Black Lotus Temple, nuns herded a hundred novices through the precinct. The young women, dressed in white robes, their long hair loose, marched in pairs past dark, silent buildings. Their eager faces shone in the fitful light from lanterns carried by the nuns. No one spoke. The only noises were their rapid breaths, the scuff of sandals on the gravel path, and the whine of cicadas in the shrubbery. In the middle of the line, Midori walked beside Toshiko. Excitement permeated the group like an invisible force. Midori trembled with anticipation, sure that tonight she would learn something of major importance about the Black Lotus.

  After she'd been accepted into the temple, she had expected the nuns to assign her the menial chores that novices usually performed at temples. She'd thought she could look around and talk with sect members; however, that hadn't happened. Instead, Midori had spent the day closed up in the nunnery with the other novices. An elderly priest had taught them verses from the Black Lotus Sutra. All speech except chanting the verses had been forbidden. Nuns armed with wooden paddles rapped the heads of anyone who talked during meals. Still, whispers buzzed among the novices. Toshiko had sat beside Midori and passed on gossip: "Enemies are slaughtering our kind."

  "All the nuns and priests and Black Lotus followers have been ordered to come to the temple. No one is allowed to leave."

  "The temple is closed to outsiders."

  "It will happen soon!"

  "What are they talking about?" Midori whispered to Toshiko.

  A paddle rapped their heads, silencing them. Through the window bars Midori saw nuns and priests hurrying by, carrying bundles. A sense of secret purpose pervaded the atmosphere. Midori longed to explore and find out what was going on, but the nuns watched her constantly; they even accompanied the novices to the privy. Then, at the evening meal, Abbess Junketsu-in had addressed the novices.

  "High Priest Anraku has declared that our day of
destiny is near, and we must prepare ourselves," she said. "All novices shall be initiated at a ceremony tonight."

  Now, as the novices marched through the precinct, the main hall loomed ahead. The nuns led the novices up the stairs, and sudden fear came over Midori because no one had explained what would happen at the initiation ceremony. She hung back, but Toshiko pulled her along with the other girls. Priests opened the doors. Smoky golden light spilled outward, welcoming the novices inside.

  There, flames leapt in brass lanterns that hung from the high, beamed ceiling. Young priests stood like an army of black-robed, shaven-headed soldiers along walls covered with ornate lacquer friezes. Mirrors above these reflected and expanded the large room. A gleaming, polished cypress floor fronted the altar, a high platform that spanned the entire back wall and held golden Buddha statues, thousands of glowing candles, and incense burners that filled the air with sweet, pungent smoke. Beyond these, a gigantic mural depicted a black lotus. Midori gasped in awe.

  The nuns arranged the novices in ten rows facing the altar. Midori and Toshiko stood together in the second row.

  "Praise the glory of the Black Lotus," chanted the priests.

  Suddenly, smoke erupted from the altar's center, billowing in a thick column to the ceiling. Surprised exclamations burst from Midori and the other novices. Up through the smoke rose a human figure. It was a tall man who wore a black patch over his left eye, and a sparkling, multicolored brocade robe.

  "Bow down before Honorable High Priest Anraku," ordered the nuns.

  As she and her comrades dropped to their knees, pressed their foreheads to the floor, and extended their arms, Midori tried to still her body's panicky trembling and be brave. She wished Hirata and Reiko were here with her.