listen to you when you tried to tell
her you were seeing things.”
He nodded.
“Probably.”
I shifted the
bat. It felt comfortable in my hand, though I’d never been much for sports.
“So you think it’s like, your mission to find these things and destroy them
now?”
He took my free hand,
the way he always did when he was feeling unsure. “There has to be a reason,
right? I’ve always thought that I drew this stuff to me- but maybe it’s the
same everywhere? These cursed objects; they make people’s lives miserable.
Yours was bad, but it wasn’t the worst I’ve seen.” His dark eyes were brooding,
and I decided not to ask. If it was worse than losing your mind and being
locked away for three years, then I really didn’t want to know. Besides, I thought
it might have something to do with his parents, and I couldn’t stand to make
him talk about it.
“Okay,” I said
finally. “Okay, I’ll try. But you know there’s no reason why I should be able
to help you. I don’t have any Miko in my family tree.”
He laughed and held
up my hand, as if searching for something that I couldn’t see. “No, probably
not,” he said with a wry laugh.
I shook my
head. “Why could I blow that thing up when you couldn’t? Is it just because I
was cursed for so long?”
He shrugged and
looked at the sky. “Could be.”
For some reason
I got the feeling that wasn’t the same thing as if he’d said yes.
*****
I watched Ryuu
as he fiddled with the little Gundam model, moving the robot’s arms up into a
boxing position. We had decided to study at his house after our visit to the
temple, but I had more important things on my mind than math. “So,” I said
tiredly. “I’m listening now. Tell me again so that I understand it. What
happened…you know, after?”
He didn’t look
up at me, keeping his dark eyes focused on the toy. “Well they took you to the
hospital, of course. It looked like you had a seizure.” He sighed. “I knew
what had happened, but I knew no one would listen to me. I thought to pick up
the book- otherwise it probably would have made its way back to the library.”
He shrugged. “I thought I might need it.”
I swallowed.
Talk of me seizing was still a little bit hard to digest. “Then what?
The hospital said I’d had some kind of mental episode, right?”
He nodded, flicking a fingernail over the little guy’s helmet. “Lots of
theories. One doctor said it was probably some sort of virus or something that
caused your brain to swell.” He rolled his eyes. “One of the psychologists
insisted that it was repressed stress- something about you not having a mom.”
“Wow.” And that
whole time, he’d known what was wrong but couldn’t get anyone to listen.
He laughed
without humor. “They put you on a ton of medication- psychiatric stuff to keep
you calm and even. None of it worked. Didn’t even faze you.” His eyes went
distant. “You would pace and scream and babble for hours on end, then just
pass out like your strings were cut. I think the kami in you burned through
all of your energy and then you just fell asleep on the spot.” Anger tinged
his smooth voice.
“They did
finally find a medication that worked, and you would calm down. I tried to
tell them that it was no good, but no one would listen to me.” He shrugged. “All
the medicine did was sedate you so the kami could take over- you were
more calm, but that’s because you weren’t fighting it anymore.”
I blinked at
him. “Really?” Babbling and screaming ? I remembered none of this.
He pulled the
model apart and then started putting it back together again. It was rare to
see him fidget. “You always reacted the worst to me. I think the kami got
really angry when I was around.” He shrugged. “Anyway, I could only be around
you when you were sleeping. So I spent the rest of the time trying
her you were seeing things.”
He nodded.
“Probably.”
I shifted the
bat. It felt comfortable in my hand, though I’d never been much for sports.
“So you think it’s like, your mission to find these things and destroy them
now?”
He took my free hand,
the way he always did when he was feeling unsure. “There has to be a reason,
right? I’ve always thought that I drew this stuff to me- but maybe it’s the
same everywhere? These cursed objects; they make people’s lives miserable.
Yours was bad, but it wasn’t the worst I’ve seen.” His dark eyes were brooding,
and I decided not to ask. If it was worse than losing your mind and being
locked away for three years, then I really didn’t want to know. Besides, I thought
it might have something to do with his parents, and I couldn’t stand to make
him talk about it.
“Okay,” I said
finally. “Okay, I’ll try. But you know there’s no reason why I should be able
to help you. I don’t have any Miko in my family tree.”
He laughed and held
up my hand, as if searching for something that I couldn’t see. “No, probably
not,” he said with a wry laugh.
I shook my
head. “Why could I blow that thing up when you couldn’t? Is it just because I
was cursed for so long?”
He shrugged and
looked at the sky. “Could be.”
For some reason
I got the feeling that wasn’t the same thing as if he’d said yes.
*****
I watched Ryuu
as he fiddled with the little Gundam model, moving the robot’s arms up into a
boxing position. We had decided to study at his house after our visit to the
temple, but I had more important things on my mind than math. “So,” I said
tiredly. “I’m listening now. Tell me again so that I understand it. What
happened…you know, after?”
He didn’t look
up at me, keeping his dark eyes focused on the toy. “Well they took you to the
hospital, of course. It looked like you had a seizure.” He sighed. “I knew
what had happened, but I knew no one would listen to me. I thought to pick up
the book- otherwise it probably would have made its way back to the library.”
He shrugged. “I thought I might need it.”
I swallowed.
Talk of me seizing was still a little bit hard to digest. “Then what?
The hospital said I’d had some kind of mental episode, right?”
He nodded, flicking a fingernail over the little guy’s helmet. “Lots of
theories. One doctor said it was probably some sort of virus or something that
caused your brain to swell.” He rolled his eyes. “One of the psychologists
insisted that it was repressed stress- something about you not having a mom.”
“Wow.” And that
whole time, he’d known what was wrong but couldn’t get anyone to listen.
He laughed
without humor. “They put you on a ton of medication- psychiatric stuff to keep
you calm and even. None of it worked. Didn’t even faze you.” His eyes went
distant. “You would pace and scream and babble for hours on end, then just
pass out like your strings were cut. I think the kami in you burned through
all of your energy and then you just fell asleep on the spot.” Anger tinged
his smooth voice.
“They did
finally find a medication that worked, and you would calm down. I tried to
tell them that it was no good, but no one would listen to me.” He shrugged. “All
the medicine did was sedate you so the kami could take over- you were
more calm, but that’s because you weren’t fighting it anymore.”
I blinked at
him. “Really?” Babbling and screaming ? I remembered none of this.
He pulled the
model apart and then started putting it back together again. It was rare to
see him fidget. “You always reacted the worst to me. I think the kami got
really angry when I was around.” He shrugged. “Anyway, I could only be around
you when you were sleeping. So I spent the rest of the time trying
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