A low groan startled her, and a burst of hope made her heart flutter. Swallowing her wails and unable to believe her eyes, Lana watched as Honda stirred and pushed himself up, hand cradling his head, pain twisting his face.

  “You’re not dead! Oh, thank goodness! Are you all right? What did this thing do?”

  With a slow head shake, Honda worked his jaw before reaching out with shaky hands to release her from her binds. Lana didn’t even wait for him to free her ankles; she flung her arms around his neck, not bothering to repress her sobs of relief. Then she pushed him back and rained her fists on his chest.

  “Don’t do this to me ever again! Don’t you go all dead like that on me!”

  With a tired chuckle, he grabbed her hands, and embraced her. “Well, now you know what Yuki and I went through tonight…” He kissed the top of her head before cupping her jaw. “I have no idea what happened, though. Only… incredible, acute pain that made me lose consciousness. As if it had broken some bone inside my head, only to take it out.”

  Struck by realization, her trembling fingers brushed his neck. She recoiled in shock, hands flying to her mouth.

  “Your scar!”

  Honda gaped at her. She took his hand to bring it to his neck: his skin was perfectly smooth. As if he had touched a high-voltage fence, he jolted away from her before crumbling down on his back, face in hands and wracked by heavy sobs.

  Crying openly in relief and disbelief, Lana placed a soft kiss on his bow before rolling on her back to stare up at the ceiling. She didn’t dare touch him any more than that, lest she violate his profound need for privacy right when his world tumbled upside down once again. Instead, she attempted to get herself back in control, and retreated inward.

  Where the screams of the cursed fox used to resonate, only silence greeted her. Where the burning pain of her wounds had grated on her nerves, and challenged her resilience, only tingling soreness in all the right places remained. Where acute anxiety had twisted her guts, only an incredible feeling of peace filled her.

  Her hands massaged her belly. Oh, my little one, my baby, it’s over… it’s finally over… your daddy and mamma are free… Everything is going to be fine, the four of us together…

  A large smile blossomed on her lips. Exhaustion caught up with her; it was so tempting to fall asleep.

  “Lana san…” Her husband’s raspy voice roused her from her slumber. Both of them laid on their backs, staring at the ceiling. His fingers brushed her hand, but he didn’t move any closer. “Are you all right? How do you feel?”

  “I am…” She stopped and blinked. Fine would be the understatement of the year. “I don’t think I’ve ever felt so good. Or at least not for as long as I can remember. For example, that low-buzz headache when we came in? It’s gone. But not only that. Something deeper. I… it’s hard to find the right words, my apologies, not just in Japanese.”

  There was a lengthy silence, followed by a heavy sigh. “I am going through the same experience. It is not only the lack of physical pain… I… Is this what being… normal means?” The wonder and pain in his voice brought fresh tears to her eyes and left her speechless.

  After another pause, Honda groaned and straightened up, before collecting his outdoor clothes.

  “I know you are tired, but there are still things we must do before the night is over.” He brought her clothes. “Please put them back on.”

  Her brain was so muddy with relief and exhaustion, it was hard to focus and to her embarrassment, she fumbled with her leggings and turtleneck. He helped her back on her feet but kept her at arm’s length.

  “Come with me, we must show proper gratitude for this incredible gift.”

  She nodded solemnly, then hesitated. “Do you know why...?”

  Face drawn, lips pinched, Honda glanced away. “I cannot say, I dare not guess. Trust me, I prayed. I prayed for so many years for this. And to be finally granted relief, to be healed and freed today, here, with you… while we were trying to sort out your predicament…”

  Lana leaned against his chest and cupped his face to make him look at her. “I choose to believe it was to recognize your devotion toward me, your fulfillment of duty and protection. Your sacrifice and willingness to stand up against that monster. Even when fury devoured you, this time you transformed your urges to help me just when I was about to be ripped away. And I am so grateful for it.”

  Lana kissed him softly, then chuckled and let him go, attempting to put some order back in her tangled and messy hair.

  “Oh well. That’s just my interpretation. What do I know about Japanese gods and their idea of absolution.”

  Honda stared at her for a long while. “There is no such thing, no… purification of sin granted by divine intervention. But yes, redemption exists. One must achieve it through their own actions, following their own path. Maybe, indeed, I did finally something right today, for once I was not rooted in my awful selfishness, and I earned some reprieve for it.”

  “And maybe… it was written somewhere that it had to end like it begun: on the same day, at the same time,” Lana mused aloud. Honda nodded grimly.

  He went to the window to turn on the lamp, and then led Lana to the altar by the elbow. “Follow my lead, do as I do. Your prayers are your own but try to mimic my gestures.”

  They kneeled in front of the main wall, and Lana followed her companion’s example, first clapping her hands twice – thus calling for the deities’ attention – and then kneeling to prostrate herself in the most formal and humble way. It was impossible to go as low as Honda, but she made sure to project as much humble gratitude as she could. If they did have the power to read her heart and mind, she wasn’t afraid of what they would find there. Only elated joy and utter relief.

  They remained like that until noise from the entrance announced they were no longer alone.

  “Son! Are you finally well?” Lana almost grinned at the matriarch’s hesitation and stern tone.

  Honda faced his mother. Yuki and Hiromi were behind her, and all three observed him, careful and tense. Lana gasped: they had brought various sorts of weapons – katana, naginata and spears. The night was far from being over.

  “Yes, I am, okaa sama. Maybe never better in fact.” A large smile bloomed on his lips, and the four women around him blinked and gasped at the unusual sight. “I… we have been healed. Both of us have been set free from our curses. It is a miracle.” He opened his collar to show the smooth skin of his neck to his mother.

  Natsuko and Hiromi exclaimed in surprise and hurried inside to see for themselves. Then the elder turned to Lana, eyes wide with amazement, and cupped her face.

  “You too! Only faint, white lines! Does it still hurt?”

  Overwhelmed again by emotions, but this time of the good kind, Lana could only shake her head, not trusting her voice. The next second, she was deep in Yuki’s embrace and could hide her flowing tears in her coat.

  “This is truly wonderful, you must have done something exceptional to receive such help,” Natsuko whispered, in awe.

  “Naruhito, what is this?” Hiromi called out, puzzled.

  Lana glanced over Yuki’s shoulder. Honda’s sister was pointing at the black, shapeless thing that had been extracted from her. When Yuki exclaimed in disgust, Lana realized that it was visible to everyone.

  “We don’t know. It was taken out from Lana’s stomach and doing so broke her curse.”

  Natsuko grunted and approached the object.

  “This could have been how you were bound to that devil in the first place, Lana san. Something apparently normal that you were given to eat, dipped in poison or cursed by incantation. Like a tumor, it festered and grew, and with it, whatever ailed you did, too.”

  Relief and joy evaporated. Lana heaved and almost vomited again. “That year, that summer… She said I needed to lose weight. The only breakfast I was allowed were some nuts.”

  Yuki’s embrace increased, and Lana held to her wife with all her strength to remain grounded in her surroundings and not allow another round of traumatic memories to flood her.

  The matriarch gave her a somber nod. “Well, from what I see, the ritual couldn’t be completed, so it is likely she was supposed to give you more of those to bind you fully to him. You wouldn’t have been able to escape him for so many years otherwise.”

  “Still… I came to Japan, didn’t I? It was an interest of mine when I was younger, but I could have gone elsewhere later on, and yet, I didn’t. Our paths met once more. He said that…” Lana threw a sidelong glance at Honda, who looked grim again. “Forget it,” she hastened to add. “It doesn’t matter anymore.”

  “No, finish your thought,” Natsuko admonished. “Even now, it is important that we get a picture as clear as possible, and anything he told you is relevant.”

  “Goshujin sama, he said that us starting our… particular relationship put me back on his radar, so to speak. As if two live wires crossed, sending jolts along a line, waking up some dormant link.”

  Honda’s face darkened, and his usual tension flared again. “So, it is what I feared… I put you in danger. I exposed you to my folly, my curse, and on top of it, to him.”

  Lana softly disentangled herself from Yuki’s arms and walked up to him. She wouldn’t embarrass him in front of his mother and sister, but the temptation to throw herself in his arms was powerful. She went with a hand resting on his wrist.

  “Maybe, but who knows? Maybe all of this would still have happened to me if I had ended up with anyone else, and tapped into those drives, those desires of mine. Don’t forget that our connection began twenty years ago. I couldn’t have gotten rid of him without you. And maybe, you wouldn’t have freed yourself without me. So I prefer to say that you didn’t expose me. You saved me. Please, don’t torture yourself.”

  His dark and tempestuous look told her that her plea hit a dead wall. She sighed and glanced at his mother, at a loss for arguments. Natsuko shook her head, not bothering to hide her own frustration at her son.

  “Naruhito, it is this kind of stubborn attitude that made you keep silence all these years, brought you nowhere, and led us to the brink of complete destruction. Listen to...” She sighed and glanced up at the ceiling. “I must be getting soft and senile with old age. Son, listen to your wife. Both of them,” she added with a curt head shake, as if she couldn’t believe her own words.

  Honda bowed, a faint – and to Lana, adorable – blush reddening his cheeks and ears. Yuki and Lana traded a side glance, both struggling to keep a straight face at what amounted to a double peace offer. As one, they also bowed low to the matriarch who huffed, and threw them a stern glare. Cold peace. They wouldn’t chat over tea anytime soon.

  “Now, we have to go out there, reach out to O-Inari sama, and dispose of those dangerous artefacts,” Natsuko said. “The two of you need to eat something: have some tea, and a couple of those onigiri and egg sandwiches.” Lana and Honda accepted the food with gratitude.

  “We go heavily armed, okaa sama,” Honda pointed at the weapons with a frown. “Could this not be counter-productive to our efforts?”

  “There is no way we walk into that forest where that cursed fox might still be, waiting for us, without a way to defend ourselves. All of these weapons have been blessed and carry protective charms. I have no doubt as of his intentions if and when we confront it. Yuki san, you will stay here. You cannot see them, or at least not so clearly. You would be a liability.”

  Blanching, Yuki opened her mouth, outrage painted all over her face, but Honda and Lana reached out to her at the same time.

  “Please, Yuki sama…”

  “Yuki san, it is for the best. If nothing goes well and we don’t make it back, someone has to call for help. Otherwise, we could all vanish without a trace.”

  “What? And this is supposed to appease me?” Yuki uttered, furious and barely holding it. “I can fight!”

  “Yuki sama, amore mio, please…” Lana whispered, glad that they could share sweet names in Italian. “Don’t tumble down into this hole. Someone has to remain sane and… free from any scar. And if anything happens, Gabriella has to know.”

  Defeated, struggling with her emotions, Yuki lowered her head in acceptance. “When we are all back home, I swear that…” She stopped mid-sentence, inhaled deeply, and looked at her spouses. “I don’t need to ask you to watch each other’s back, you have been doing it for a year now. But make sure that you both come back to me. No… senseless sacrifice, or useless act of bravery.”

  Lana noted the nuance. Of course, sacrifice and bravery were expected.

  “You!” Yuki pointed at Lana. “You promised me we would raise a child together. As for you...” She stared at her husband for a few heartbeats. “You owe me already too many apologies, so don’t think you can escape our little chat by dying, or something as easy like that. I’ll hunt you down to the lower circles of Hell if need be.”

  Her companions couldn’t help a smile and gave her a solemn nod. It took Lana all of her fragile self-control to not give her a hard kiss. But decorum was primordial.

  “Yuki san, you wait here, inside the shrine, and keep watch over the forest line. If we are not back at dawn, then rouse the family and call this number. This lady will understand the situation. But nobody should go and look for us as long as the sun is not out. It would be much too hazardous, understood?” Yuki bowed, clutching the piece of paper.

  “All right then. Put on warm clothes, and let’s go. Son, you take this katana. Lana san… do you have any weapon training that can be useful?”

  “Only training with a bokken and a jo, Honda sama.” At the stern look she received, she quickly amended. “Okaa sama.”

  “But you wielded a real blade not so long ago,” Honda piped in. Memories of their steamy night in their reading room flashed in front of Lana’s eyes. “It is not much, but this katana will have to do. I will take the spear and you will remain behind me. This should only be used as a last resort.”

  “On our way, now,” Natsuko said. “Let’s not waste this chance.”

  Carrying torch lights and their weapons, the party of four left the propriety grounds and headed for the forest, walking in line behind Natsuko, followed closely by her son. It wasn’t a difficult trek; the snow wasn’t deep, and Lana made sure to walk in the footsteps of her companions.

  Her skin tingled because of the cold, crisp air; it helped her fight a furious desire to sleep despite her tumultuous state of mind. Nervousness, excitation, anguish warred with relief, joy and gratitude, all related to the knowledge their lives were about to change, for the better. Still, danger loomed and the idea of facing that creature again made her sick to the stomach.

  She rubbed her belly and was rewarded by a series of kicks to her pelvis that made her grimace in discomfort, but also smile in happiness at this proof of health and energy. Her baby operated under a precise clock.

  “Goshujin sama…” she called in a low voice, staring at the ground to not miss his footsteps. Her husband let out a small grunt. “Have you thought about a name?” They almost collided when he stopped to face her.

  “Are you thinking about this now?”

  She met his incredulous glare with a quirked eyebrow. “Better that than images of death, torture and horror, thank you very much. But more seriously, yes. I… would like us to agree on a name. Now.”

  He didn’t reply right away and resumed walking to catch up with Natsuko who had continued ahead. “No, I haven’t given it a thought yet.”

  “It’s going to be hard for me to choose one appropriate for your family name, the number of brush strokes required, and those kind of issues. But please, find one where there is ‘strength’ in it. Because this is one strong baby.”

  Honda glanced at her over his shoulder and nodded. “As strong and powerful as his mother.” A rush of pleasure made her cheeks burn despite the cold.

  “Isao,” Hiromi called from behind Lana. She and Honda turned toward her. “Isao would be a perfect fit.”

  “Ah yes. The one meaning ‘honor’ using the radical ‘strength’, correct?” Honda said, signing the character in his palm. Hiromi nodded. “I approve. What do you think, Lana san?”

  Lana let the name roll on her tongue before smiling. “I love everything about it: the name, the character and its meaning. Thank you very much, Hiromi san,” she gave the older woman a deep bow.

  “Hm, I am curious to meet this little one. If he has only one tenth of his father’s easy-going personality…” Hiromi threw an amused glance at her brother’s back. Honda didn’t bother to reply, but his low growl was plain to hear.

  Lana did her best not to snort. This was passive-aggressive sibling bashing at his best. “To be fair, it will not be easy either if he takes it from me. Here’s to hoping Yuki sama will have enough influence to save us all…”

  If Honda reacted, Lana missed it. Natsuko had reached the tree line and was waiting impatiently for them to catch up. They hurried to join her, the mood turning somber again.

  “Not a word, now. We will head for the Inari shrine. You will let me speak, unless someone asks you a direct question. This applies to all of you.”

  To Lana’s relief, they didn’t head toward the clearing where she had met her nemesis. But under the canopy, without the help of the moon, their trek became more challenging. The torch lights could only do so much and there was next to no trail among the trees.

  After she had tripped twice over roots she had missed and nearly fell face down, Honda slowed down. Over her protestations, he held her steady by grabbing her elbow and they continued their walk in silence. After about fifteen minutes, the forest thinned out and the dark shapes of a shrine and several torii appeared. The lights made their lacquered vermillion color flash brightly.

  “There’s nobody here,” Lana whispered to Honda. Have we come all this way for nothing?

  Her companion squeezed her arm, reminding her to keep quiet.

  Natsuko and Hiromi approached the front side of the dark building and lit up several candles that Honda’s sister took from her bag. Long minutes went by as they sent their prayers, and Lana began to shiver with cold and exhaustion. With no further comment, his intense look fixed on his mother and sister, Honda pressed her against his larger frame. It was hard to repress a purr as she closed her eyes and rested her head on his shoulder.

 

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