Chapter 62
Chapter 62
The God Who Is There
It was raining in Tokyo.
Large raindrops clung to the window of the countermeasure headquarters room, condensing the people and cars moving along the street within the droplets.
I hate summer rain. It's August, and yet it's freezing cold—it feels like I got ambushed.
I thought about having some coffee, but I don't even know where the pot is. I'm the only one here today. Feels like I'm house-sitting someone else's home.
"Even after working this much, I'm still an outsider...?"
Saying it out loud only made me feel more alienated. I couldn't get those words out of my head.
The surname Uyuu doesn't exist. I can't believe my parents used fake names. Then what does that mean?
Without even knocking, the door opened and Kirima appeared.
"You were here."
"I'm the only one here. What's everyone else doing?"
"Who knows. Probably another shady scheme using a god."
Kirima shrugged. Seems like he really doesn't get along with the higher-ups.
Kirima muttered, "It's cold," and pulled out a red and black floral-patterned pot. I figured it must be Ryoko's taste.
The countermeasure headquarters room became hazy like mist from the gentle steam rising from the pot.
Kirima was the same as always. It had only been a few days since he fled after witnessing the madness in his hometown village. I rested my cheek on my hand and murmured.
"That was rough the other day."
"Same for both of us."
"What about Reizei?"
"I sent her to the hospital, but they said there's no issue. She'll be here soon."
"Was it Esato who helped us escape?"
"Safe. Escaped without the villagers finding out, and apparently staying in Tokyo now through a friend's connection."
"That person has friends?"
"That's not something you should say, even if you think it."
A curt reply, but I could tell he was suppressing a lot of inner conflict.
I sat on a folding chair and looked out the window. It was the chair I sat in during my interrogation.
Since coming here at the start of summer, everything has changed. Most of it was stuff I didn't want to know, but not all of it was bad.
The pot began to boil.
"Hey... Is it true that my surname doesn't exist?"
Kirima averted his eyes.
Just then, the door opened and Reizei entered, carrying a stack of documents.
"Tense mood, huh. Am I interrupting?"
Reizei looked healthy and didn't seem affected at all by what happened in the village.
"Come in. We were just talking about that."
Kirima gestured with his chin at the documents Reizei was holding in both hands.
On the desk sat an ashtray, a steaming mug of coffee, and a pile of books ranging from ancient tomes to binders.
Reizei sat across from Kirima and me. I remembered that during my interrogation, I was in Reizei's current position.
"Alright, this is about Mr. Uyuu. I looked into it again, but as expected, the surname Uyuu doesn't exist. You knew that too, didn't you, Mr. Kirima?"
"Seriously?"
Kirima crossed his arms and nodded.
"I found out when I looked into your family register before. I didn't say anything because it would just cause confusion."
"Why were you looking into it? I don't have any more crimes."
Kirima looked exasperated.
Reizei let out a small laugh.
"Didn't he tell you? Mr. Uyuu was trying to either buy back or recreate the family register he sold off."
"...Why?"
Kirima let out a deep breath.
"Without a family register, you can't get a proper job. You're still young. Once you're free from here, try to live a decent life."
I looked down at my reflection in the coffee, my mouth hanging open like an idiot.
I never thought I could live a decent life, or that anyone would help me for free.
Kirima was thinking about that?
"...Thanks."
I gave a slight nod, and Kirima kicked me in the shin. I couldn't tell what emotion that was.
Reizei took a sip of coffee, then dumped in milk and sugar. The sound of the spoon scraping the bottom of the cup echoed dramatically.
"Back to the main topic. So, why did you use a surname that doesn't exist?"
Reizei raised a finger.
"It might not be that it never existed, but that it was erased even though it once did."
I heard Kirima gasp.
"What do you mean...?"
Reizei pulled out a fragile, thread-bound old book from the pile on the desk.
"There were only two documents where the surname Uyuu appeared. They're records of local folklore. According to them, Uyuu was a clan of wandering shrine maidens."
"Wandering shrine maidens?"
"Shrine maidens who don't belong to a specific shrine and travel to perform rituals or spirit mediumship—more like traveling performers. But the Uyuu family eventually settled in a certain place during the late Edo period and began worshipping a god."
Reizei opened the book to show us, but the writing, like earthworms, was completely illegible.
"That god was the concerned god worshipped by the wandering shrine maidens."
The folding chair creaked as Kirima leaned forward.
"Kirima, do you know something?"
"...Before I joined, the countermeasure headquarters had already contained the Territorial Divine Offenses. It had the ability to foresee the future."
Ryoko's story flashed back in my mind.
The countermeasure headquarters is already using gods. Was it a god connected to me?
Reizei pulled out a cigarette and lit it.
"The upper echelons of the countermeasure headquarters are using several gods to discover and contain the Territorial Divine Offenses. Kirima and I have always opposed it. The concerned god is one of them."
"Huh..."
I pulled a cigarette from the box. Reizei gave me a reproachful look.
"You owe me one, remember?"
"You sure are bold to say that after hearing all this..."
Kirima furrowed his brow.
Suddenly, I remembered the question Ryoko had dodged back then.
"Where is that god now...?"
"The concerned god began making increasingly incomprehensible prophecies, and they deemed it useless. It's probably being kept alive pointlessly now."
"What kind of incomprehensible prophecies?"
"A prophecy that Japan will perish in World War III."
The story was so outlandish I couldn't say anything. Kirima bit down on his cigarette.
"Given the current escalation of the Cold War, it's not entirely delusional."
"Indeed."
Reizei smiled briefly, then immediately dismissed it and pulled a binder toward her.
"This is the other document."
What Reizei held up was a stack of papers labeled Territorial Divine Offenses Countermeasure Headquarters. A red stamp marked 'Strictly Confidential' was pressed over the gothic font.
Kirima furrowed his brow.
"Isn't it bad to take that out?"
"It is. If Ryoko finds out, we're done for. So keep this between us."
"It's that bad, huh?"
"It's that bad."
I couldn't bring myself to ask if it was the document or Ryoko that was dangerous.
Reizei opened the document. This time, I could read it too.
A long fingernail pointed to the page about the concerned god.
With the cooperation of countermeasure headquarters member, Hakurou Uyuu, the use for the purpose of containing the Territorial Divine Offenses was approved.
"Uyuu..."
Someone from my family was part of the countermeasure headquarters? I followed the next section with my eyes.
Following this, opposition rose within the Uyuu family, and the operation was abandoned. Human measures were taken against the Uyuu family.
"What does this 'human measure' mean?"
Reizei and Kirima shook their heads at the same time.
"We don't know. But judging from this, someone with the surname Uyuu definitely existed. It might be related to the fact that he doesn't exist anymore."
My head felt like it was about to explode. What the hell happened in my family?
I forced the words out.
"Am I in seriously deep trouble or what?"
"You are."
"Can you guys be a little more serious?"
Reizei turned to face Kirima, who was tapping ash off his cigarette on the edge of the ashtray.
"You're in deep trouble too, Kirima-san."
"What?"
Reizei pulled out a sheet of paper.
"Your registered name is still your old surname. I checked your family registry too, and you're listed as single. Did you file the marriage paperwork properly?"
Kirima widened his eyes, then after a long pause said,
"My wife's father submitted it to the ward office..."
In the stillness where everything came to a halt, only the smoke drifted.
With problems still piled up, we left the countermeasure headquarters.
The rain was still falling.
Reizei opened her umbrella.
"This is as far as I can investigate. The rest is up to you."
"Yeah, thanks."
Reizei threw something. I caught it in a hurry—it was a box of cigarettes.
"Thank you as well for the cigarettes. Well then, goodbye."
The rain flowing down the vinyl umbrella blurred Reizei's waving figure like a mist.
I stared at the cigarette package.
"She smokes some heavy stuff. She really is a weird woman."
Kirima was watching Reizei's retreating figure. Just as I was about to steal a random umbrella from the stand without being noticed, Kirima spotted me and gave me a jab.
"I told you to live properly, didn't I?"
Kirima opened a black umbrella and tilted it halfway toward me. I ducked under it. The sound of the heavy rain echoed like a beating drum.
"You're the one who should live properly."
Walking more slowly than usual, I muttered.
"Aren't we just being used by the Miyaki family? Like they can throw us away whenever they want."
"Maybe."
Kirima's profile was the same as when he was carrying his daughter. He'd probably say again that it's fine that way.
We stopped at the intersection, and a wave of people spilled over from the station across the street. Kirima muttered.
"Heaven is ruled by the gods. All is peaceful in the world, huh?"
"What's that?"
"It means the gods are here, and today too, nothing happened."
"You're just convincing yourself nothing happened."
"Or maybe I'm just trying to believe it."
Rain soaked my shoulder sticking out from under the umbrella. The indigo sky stretched over the unchanging Tokyo.
It was raining again the next morning.
When I entered the countermeasure headquarters room, Kirima was already seated.
"You're early. Where's Reizei?"
Kirima looked puzzled.
"What?"
"Don't 'what' me. Isn't Reizei coming?"
"...Who are you talking about?"
I stared back at Kirima. He didn't seem to be joking.
A cold sweat ran down my back.
"Reizei! She came here yesterday, talked about my surname and how you're in a common-law marriage and all that!"
"We did talk, but... wasn't it just the two of us?"
"You think I could find that stuff out on my own?"
Kirima had a confused look on his face.
The image of Reizei from yesterday flashed through my mind. It was like she gave me those cigarettes to settle a debt before dying.
I couldn't clearly remember her face, blurred by the rain.
"Kirima-san, we..."
"You went and looked into all that, huh?"
At the familiar voice, I turned around instinctively. Beyond the half-open door stood Ryoko.
Kirima stood up.
"Ryoko-san, what did you do?"
"Taking out documents under strict protection... You two really are troublesome."
Ryoko smiled. But there was no light in her eyes behind the glasses.
"Will you both come with me?"
Behind Ryoko, several unfamiliar figures loomed.