Setsuko pulled her roller bag next to me. “Terrific. If the ryokan is that close, it means we are staying in the old worn-down part of town.”
With Setsuko’s optimistic words of wisdom, our wayward group stood by the door waiting in anticipation for the trademark whoosh of the automatic doors of the Shinkansen. We glided into the station exactly on time. The Kyoto train master could live another day. Whoosh went the door and we poured out onto the platform. I wasn’t looking forward to hiking to the ryokan with the backpack so heavy.
Setsuko pointed to the city as we made our way out of the sleek train station. “What do you think of Kyoto so far?”
I had to pretend I was seeing it for the first time. “Looks like a Japanese city to me.”
Setsuko sighed. “Exactly. I was so disappointed the first time I came. I had all these romantic illusions of what the ancient capital of Japan would look like. They were blown out of the water the second I set foot out of the train station.”
I guess Setsuko was a purist like me. Mr. Shinji led the way out onto the street with Kenzo not far behind. The usual Harem groupies tagged along next to their rocker tour guide idol.
The rest of us followed along like we were a bunch of little ducklings chasing after their mother. A few locals glanced our way even though they must have seen quite a lot of foreigners in Kyoto. But probably not so many walking down the main drag at one time.
Setsuko eyed the streets as they went by. “I hope this is a decent ryokan. Some of the older ones are totally infested with cockroaches. If I see one, I am out of there.”
The thought of cockroaches never occurred to me after the first-class places I stayed in with Ren. Yet, Kyoto was a very old city they’ve probably had a cockroach problem for hundreds of years. I didn’t think Setsuko had anything to worry about though. Mr. Shinji was very fastidious. I bet if he and Setsuko spotted a cockroach at the same time, Mr. Shinji would be the first one out the front door.
After trudging about ten blocks we finally came to a street that looked promising. The block had a series of older but well-maintained two-story buildings that looked like they had been there ages. Each home had their own little walled garden. Mr. Shinji stopped in front of a very nicely kept traditional ryokan. The building’s striking red and black color scheme begged for us to enter. A very nice old lady dressed in a black kimono with white blossoms splashed across the front greeted us at the door. She seemed undaunted by the student invasion as we filed into the entryway of the inn. She pointed to the shoe rack on one side of the entryway and the slipper rack on the other wall. The woman didn’t have to worry about us. We were all shoe changing, house slipper-wearing veterans.
The inn was simply furnished with tatami mat floors and low to the floor wood furniture surrounded by green embroidered cushions. The old lady led us down a narrow hallway to a series of rooms. I gave her a double take.
Did she just wink at me?
Mr. Shinji clapped his hands. “I want you to pick a room, use the facilities, and then be back in the lobby in ten minutes. We have two places to see before the sun sets.” Mr. Shinji signaled to the right side of the inn. “Boys, you will take the four rooms at the end of the hall. Girls, you will take all seven rooms on the left. I am sorry, but in two of the rooms there are going to have to be four girls instead of two.”
The Harem almost knocked over Kenzo as they dashed down the hall to stake out their rooms. I never saw Setsuko move so fast as she sped to the room next to the one and only bathroom. I figured she must know something, so I raced after her.
Two more girls dove in through the door and Setsuko pushed them back with more force than I ever imagined. “That’s it. We are full up.”
Impressed by Setsuko’s assertiveness, I followed her over to the main part of the room. It had a pretty takemono alcove where a picture scroll of mums hung on the wall and a pretty ikebana flower arrangement sat at the base of the alcove. I pulled my small backpack out of my roller bag and tossed in my camera and a chocolate bar. I had all the essentials to go temple hopping. With a Cheshire cat grin Setsuko showed off her little mini digital camera about the size of a matchbox. She tossed the camera in her shirt pocket and we were off. A large bus pulled up in front of the ryokan and we trudged onboard.
Mr. Shinji greeted us with a scowl. “All right, we are already ten minutes behind schedule. Pick your seats and settle down.”
We dutifully obeyed. The doors to the bus closed just as Kenzo hopped on board with one of the Harem stragglers.
With a blast from the tailpipe, we were off to our first Kyoto temple. Mr. Shinji announced, “Sawada, will hand out the itinerary for our trip. As you will see, we are packing a lot into two days. We need to stay on schedule in order to see everything. When you hear me say times up, you better be back on the bus pronto. Don’t forget to take lots of pictures. Have fun!”
I just loved how Mr. Shinji sounded like a parent in the beginning of his speeches but ended up the cheerleader. I admit he’d won me over since he gave me an A in my independent study Japanese class.
Setsuko cruised the handout. “I see our first stop is Higashi Honganji. It has a very nice garden. Too bad the tranquility of the garden is broken by the expressway nearby. Be sure to get a nice picture of the Kyoto radio tower framed by the trees.”
Poor Setsuko. Progress really irritated her.
The way the bus driver sped through the narrow streets, it didn’t take long for us to get to the temple. One thing stood out as we pulled into the parking lot, the temple complex sure had a lot of pigeons on the prowl.
Kenzo stood at the front of the bus. “We have about forty minutes to view the complex. FYI the temple was built in 1591 so cut it some slack for being a bit worn down.”
Kenzo didn’t steer us wrong. The wooden buildings seemed to befall the common neglect often seen in downtown city temples.
Setsuko rushed through the main gate. “Come on Erin, we have a lot to see.”
I gave Kenzo a knowing smile as I followed after the pink-clad Setsuko. As we wandered through the complex, there seemed to be a theme. Each large building housed a different style of altar. The buildings all were surrounded with impressive verandas’. Suspended from the veranda’s ceilings like bats, hung a series of pagoda-style lanterns. It was the perfect spot to wait out a rainstorm.
Setsuko signaled me at the base of the steps. “Follow me. There is a really nice altar this way.”
I dutifully followed my self-appointed tour guide. I’d rather have Kenzo, but he was busy with a group of students. Guess he hadn’t sensed any danger so far.
“Isn’t it nice?” Setsuko said, pointing to a dark room accented by a splash of glistening gold. My arms prickled when I realized the glow radiated out straight toward me. The gold glistened in the low light of the room. The Sun Goddess presence filled me with warmth. Was I the only one who could see her? “Setsuko, that’s one flashy altar. A bit of Beverly Hills in Kyoto.”
Her brows knitted together. “What are you talking about? The altar is only lit by those bronze lotus shaped lights.”
The Buddha on the altar gazed off into the distance as if it knew my secret but refused to tell.
Setsuko wandered over to a beautiful gold screen painted with scenes of ancient Kyoto. “Are you talking about the screen?”
“Yes. The sun must have hit it just right.” I took a quick photo as my tour guide was already walking off to her next destination. Out of the corner of my eye I spied a short man in a blue shirt with a strange heap of ash at his feet. A puff of smoke drifted up toward the man’s face as he smiled at me.
My skin prickled and ever nerve in my body sizzled. I raced to catch up with Setsuko. Trying not to show how out of breath I was, I said, “Hey, tour guide, where are you going?”
She huffed. “This temple is run down and boring. The best part about the complex is the garden. If you can forget about its surroundings.”
Kenzo had caught up with us as I followed Setsuko i
nto the garden. “We are entering Shosei-en. It was first laid out in the ninth century.”
Setsuko ignored Kenzo and continued walking at a brisk pace. She seemed to be taking Mr. Shinji’s time constraint a bit too seriously. I hung back with Kenzo. “I’m glad you finally showed up. Something is going on. Amaterasu just revealed herself right in front of Setsuko.”
“Really?” Kenzo stopped dead. “Setsuko actually saw her?”
“Well, no. But I did. Is something up?”
He sighed. “Death has been busy since we arrived. Ren has stopped two attempts on your life already.”
My heart beat faster. “When? Wait… I haven’t seen Ren. Not here or at the ryokan.”
He smiled. “Actually, you have. You remember the old lady at the ryokan?”
“So that’s why she winked at me.”
“Do you recognize that male tourist in the blue shirt?” Kenzo glanced over his shoulder. “She’s over there.”
“Right, I keep forgetting Ren’s a shifter.”
“And a good thing she is.”
I clutched onto my necklace. “Why didn’t my necklace warn me?”
A soft breeze ruffled Kenzo’s hair. “I told you not to rely on the necklace. It has no power for scoping out demons.”
I swallowed hard. “Great. They are after me too?”
Setsuko appeared out of nowhere. “Who’s after you?” She swatted the air. “One of these nasty mosquitoes?”
Kenzo laughed. “It is that time of year.” He led us over to a lovely pond covered in lilies. “Such beauty does come at a cost.” Setsuko scrunched up her nose. “I’m going to head back to the safety of the bus. It’s almost time to leave anyway.”
I gazed over at a lovely Chinese-style bridge that had the cutest little pagoda shaped roof. “We’ll be there in a sec. I need to get a picture of the bridge. It’s lovely.”
A blur of pink fled up the pathway chased by a small swarm of mosquitos.
Kenzo chuckled. “Someone should have warned her insects are attracted to bright colors.”
I whipped out my camera and took a nice shot of the bridge’s mirrored reflection in the lake.
With Setsuko gone Ren moved next to us. It blew my mind that my friend was inside the short, bespectacled man before me.
Ren sighed. “This is going to be a rough two days. Death is really stepping up his game.”
Pagoda Envy
Same Day 1:00PM
After a quick fifteen-minute roadside noodle lunch, we are back on the bus and off to our next historic sight—Toji Pagoda. Normally I’d be totally over being stuck on a bus with my fellow students by now, but after Ren’s warning I realized the students were just as much my bodyguards as Ren and Kenzo. Gazing out the window, we could see the spire top of the pagoda long before we entered the temple grounds. Once again, modern Kyoto clashed with the old.
As the bus pulled into the parking lot, Kenzo stood up and greeted us with a smile “I wanted to give you a quick background on Toji pagoda. It is the tallest pagoda in Japan and was erected in seven hundred and ninety-four.”
The dates of buildings in Japan still blew me away. If I read a house had been built in 1620 in America, I was impressed. Compared to the dates of the ancient structures in Japan, the sixteen-hundreds were a joke.
It took us no time to get to Toji Pagoda. We exited the bus and were immediately surrounded by sidewalk vendors. Mr. Shinji herded us along past all the great stalls filled with fun trinkets and through the wooden entrance gate to the grounds. After all, we had a schedule to keep.
Setsuko stuck out her lower lip. “Mr. Shinji is no fun. Look at all the great vendors here.”
I knew which one she had her eye on. T-shirts and handbags in the stall were various shades of pink.
Unlike the colorful vendors, the pagoda itself had no color at all as the cedar wood remained natural and unfinished. Still, its five stories jutting up towards the sky made a formidable impression. I wiped out my camera and zoomed in noticing bells were attached to the very tips of each of the corners of the five roofs. The spire on the top looked like an enormous lighting rod with a stylized lotus flower on top.
Kenzo moved the group toward the main part of the grounds. “As you can see there are several temple buildings in the compound. The largest is to your left. Kondo Hall was built in fourteen hundred and eighty-six. Inside are some very nice Bodhisattva and a fairly large healing Buddha. You have forty-five minutes to wander the grounds. Let’s meet back here at five o’clock.”
Mr. Shinji held up his hand to stop us. “Please do not spend most of your time at the vendors. This complex holds some very nice examples of statuary from Shingon Buddhism.”
With that pronouncement we student tourists took off in all directions. Setsuko stood her ground. “I’m tempted to race right over to the vendors. I got straight A’s. Not like Mr. Shinji can take them away.”
Spoken like the defiant class president I know and learned to love. “Well, I’m going to take a peak in the Kondo Hall and then head back to the pagoda and the garden. They deserve at least fifty shots.”
Setsuko gave me her famous eye roll. “Alright, I’ll go with you. I know my parents would be disappointed if I missed such a historic site opportunity. They had to pay enough money for it.”
Interesting. I never heard her say much about money. But by the way she dressed in the latest Teen Vogue outfits, I kind of figured her parents had a lot of money.
As we walked through the large paved courtyard to the even larger hall, I wondered exactly how much this trip cost the PSIA.
We entered the main hall and I was immediately struck by the dimness of the natural light. The faded red painted roof supports and beams had seen better days.
Setsuko pointed to the gold Buddha in the center of a large dais. It sat cross-legged with an intricately detailed peacock-tail shaped fan silhouetting its body. “This is called the medicine or healing Buddha. People pray to it to relieve their pain.”
“Thanks for filling me in.”
Something about the dim light made me nervous. Even though my necklace mirror remained clear, that didn’t mean demons weren’t nearby. I scanned the temple full of other tourists. Which one was Ren? She had to be watching over me, didn’t she?
I pulled out my camera and took a quick shot of the Buddha and his guardian bodhisattva that flanked either side of the dais, then quickly headed toward the entrance.
Setsuko scurried after me. “Hey, what’s up?”
“Sorry, something about the place gives me the creeps. Let’s head to the garden.”
She didn’t argue for once, just marched in lockstep right behind me. I turned back to see if anyone unusual lingered nearby, but just other Seda students followed us out. Could one be Ren?
Not waiting to find out, I walked at a brisk pace toward the pagoda. Setsuko’s Mary Janes crunched on the gravel pathway behind me. “Erin, you don’t have to walk so fast. We still have twenty minutes left.”
I gave her a weak smile. “Just wanted to give myself enough time to take some pictures.” I pointed to the ball-shaped shrubs framing the small, reflective pond. “For some reason these shrubs remind me of oompa loompas. They are so cute.”
The Setsuko eye roll was accompanied by a laugh. “Whatever floats your boat.” The pagoda’s reflection in the pond screamed out for at least eight shots. Something caught my eye in the water, and I raced over to the edge of the pond to capture a group of bright orange koi nibbling on a leaf. A turtle popped his head out of the water, and I zoomed in for a close-up. Nothing like the distraction of taking nature pictures to take my mind off my underlying feeling of dread.
Setsuko wandered over closer to the pagoda and I worked my way to the far side of the pond to capture the pagoda with the shrubs framing the base like fringe. A branch rustled in the maple trees near an outcropping of rocks. A flicker of a tail and a flash of grey and white fur stood out against the bright green maple trees draped over the reflective
pond. Yuki chattered up in the tree trying to get my attention. Crap. I had to distract Setsuko. I called after her. “Setsuko, you enjoy the view. I have to hit the restroom real quick.”
Before she could say anything, I darted past her and snuck around the backside of the garden. Crouching down by the maple tree branch, I watched as Yuki sat nervously chewing on her tail. With several people nearby, I whispered, “What are you doing here? Do you have a message from Amaterasu?”
Yuki jumped onto my shoulder. “Yes. She wanted me to inform you that she is planning a surprise assault on Shinigami and his demons at Ise Shrine. She wants you and the PSIA agents there at sundown tomorrow.”
I shivered at the sudden reality of her words even though it was a pleasant seventy degrees in the garden. “Right. I will tell Ren and Kenzo.”
A flash of pink appeared next to me. “What the heck are you doing with a tiny animal on your shoulder?” Setsuko threw her hands on her hips. “Better yet—why are you talking to a squirrel?”
Chapter 11
The Tipping Point
May 30th 9:00 AM
The sound of Mr. Shinji’s commanding voice in the hallway caused my eyelids to bolt open. “Let’s get moving to the dining hall for breakfast, gang. It’s going to be an action-packed day!”
A shadowy figure clad in rose from head to toe hovered over me. “If you think you are going to pull another talking to animals stunt on me today, you are mistaken. I don’t take kindly to being made fun of.”
Ugh. Setsuko wasn’t going to let me forget the incident in the garden. “Look, I’m sorry. I had a Doctor Doolittle moment. But I am glad Kenzo scared the squirrel away. It might have had rabies or something.” If only she knew it wasn’t Kenzo she saw—but Ren.
Setsuko picked up her purse like it was a weapon. “Just don’t do it again.”
She huffed out the door, but I didn’t hear it close because someone else slipped in—Ren. I still found it hard to believe the grey haired crinkly-faced old lady sitting next to me had a young and vibrant woman inside her. “Erin, I’m sorry about yesterday, but I didn’t know what else to do to distract Setsuko. Yuki should have been more careful.”
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