After exchanging names with him, I looked up at the moon.
To be honest, I didn't really understand what Master just said.
But since I've found my answer in my own way, it doesn't matter.
So then.
"Then why did you entrust me with caring for Koyuki's condition, Uncle Keijo? And why did you show me your martial art?"
A second question.
Perhaps it was more of a mutter than an actual question.
I tossed the question at him as casually as if it were nothing.
I wondered what kind of answer he would give this time.
With a hint of anticipation, I gently tossed a stone into the pond.
The stone that fell …
"That's something you must discover for yourself."
What?
The stone bounced off the water without causing a ripple.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Not that I really expected a straight answer.
I looked at him with an incredulous expression I couldn't suppress.
"If you learn everything from the start, there's no fun in it. Life's delight is in uncovering unknowns one by one as you live."
I watched him gazing at the moon and thought.
This man surely knew exactly what Uncle Keijo was thinking.
So why does he refuse to tell me?
"That's cheap."
I muttered and looked back up at the moon.
Not even half a koku had passed.
"Hakuji."
He suddenly spoke.
"Why?"
"Close your eyes."
He told me to close my eyes out of the blue?
"Why?"
"Just close them once."
What on earth is he up to?
I closed my eyes as he said.
What greeted me was …
Darkness, as expected.
Absolute blackness that even moonlight couldn't penetrate.
An empty void where nothing could be seen.
What exactly is he thinking?
"What do you see?"
What could I see …
"Of course I see nothing."
He replied with an odd tone to my sharp retort.
"Look more closely."
He answered with a strange request.
How can I see more closely when my eyes are closed?
I wondered what he was trying to tell me …
Then it happened.
Something began to appear in that pitch darkness.
It was …
Faint, barely more than a silhouette, but unmistakable.
"Hakuji."
Father?
"Did you see it?"
He spoke as if he already knew what I was witnessing in the darkness and threw another stone into my heart.
When I opened my eyes, Father and the darkness had vanished, and moonlight filled Uncle's dojo room.
"You will live on from here."
Another stone rippled through my mind from him.
"Keep living, and one day close your eyes again. Then look."
Silently, I stared at his face.
"At what you will see then, and what Uncle Keijo's thoughts truly were."
He gave me the second answer with a smile.
"You'll know, even if I don't say it."
@@@
The promise to prevent Koyuki from dying like my father seemed almost hollow compared to the potency of the medicine the doctor brewed.
After taking the doctor's concoction, Koyuki's health steadily improved.
In about fifteen days, she was well enough to live normally without needing my aid.
I thought that if we'd met them sooner, perhaps I might have saved my father … but it was a futile "what if."
So I decided not to dwell on it any longer.
There was no reason left for me to stay here.
Koyuki no longer needed my help.
She had stopped apologizing to me altogether.
Once her treatment was complete, I intended to leave the dojo as well.
However …
"I've decided otherwise. You're my son. Whether you're here to care for illness or not, you're both my son and my disciple. I'll never abandon you."
Uncle Keijo opposed my departure.
He called me his son and his disciple.
Son.
Hearing those words from him, I couldn't help but shed tears.
I had lost my father and lived aimlessly, swinging my fists.
Stained by a mark that made it impossible to uphold my father's dying wish, I'd led a pitiful life as a wanderer.
I could hardly imagine a future for someone branded a criminal.
Let alone a future where someone would love and rely on me.
I thought I could not fulfill my father's final command to live honestly and earnestly.
But Uncle came to me when I had nowhere to turn, gave me purpose, and now even offered me a family.
I still didn't know why he chose to accept me as his son and student.
Even if it was only half a month and I did not understand why he cared for a criminal like me so much …
His words saved me.
A person with the mark of a criminal could do nothing else …
Yet at last I could live the honest, sincere life my father had wished for.
Another fifteen days passed.
It had been about a month since I arrived at the [Soryu] dojo.
Koyuki, now fully recovered, had become almost unrecognizable from the girl I first met.
Rather than lying in bed, she could now run and do everything on her own.
She could even walk to the place where we'd watched the fireworks.
I too had regained peace of mind as I learned [Soryu] from Uncle, and my wounds were gradually healing.
But Koyuki's recovery also meant bidding farewell to the Master and his doctor companion.
The day arrived, and on a pitch-black night we saw them off at the dojo gate.
The doctor gave Uncle a supply of medicine to use if Koyuki's condition ever worsened again.
I stood facing Master.
He was the first to speak.
"Hakuji, have you arrived at an answer for that assignment?"
An assignment.
What do you see when you close your eyes?
What were Uncle Keijo's thoughts?
I had glimpsed something faint, but I still didn't truly know.
When I shook my head, he continued with a smile.
"A month is far too short to solve that. Life is long. Take your time. It might even be more enjoyable that way. And …"
And then …
His smile faded, and his expression hardened as he leaned close and whispered in my ear.
I had seen him serious before, but never so grave.
"Hakuji, do not take your eyes off Koyuki, if you can avoid it."
I had heard advice, but never a warning like that.
Why, about Koyuki?
"Something unfavorable happened to her when you and Keijo were absent. Koyuki must have been unaware."
An ominous warning.
What had happened to Koyuki?
"I almost thought of cutting off a hand, but I settled for a light warning. But if she retains her wits, it will remain a parable—yet malice can spring from anywhere, in any direction."
Cut off a hand.
It was the first chilling thing to ever pass his lips.
Perhaps because he spoke of cutting off a hand, the words struck me with greater force.
Seeing his hardened expression deliver such grim words for the first time made it all the more chilling.
"This is your second assignment, Hakuji. You must protect her."
He spoke as he watched the doctor speaking with Koyuki.
"I will protect her."
He was the daughter of the man who gave me a place to live—my family—and I vowed to protect her no matter what.
Yet Master was strong and Koyuki was healthy …
Then …
"Ah, so that's it. The 'Haku' in Hakuji is that, isn't it? You're like the kōmā-inu that guards a shrine; I understand."
His crimson eyes met mine, and a memory sprang to mind.
The first time Uncle learned my name.
He heard my name and likened me to the kōmā-inu that guards a shrine as he spoke.
"You're indeed like me in some way. You can't go without something to guard. You're like the kōmā-inu that watches over the shrine."
He laughed as he scooped water from the well and drank, though I didn't quite understand why it amused him then.
Master had also said something similar.
"Because people grow stronger for the sake of others."
Then he added a cryptic remark.
"You may not understand now, but perhaps you will in time."
In time …?
Instinctively, I looked at Koyuki.
Seeing her smiling face, I suddenly grasped the meaning behind Master's words.
My cheeks flushed without my realizing it.
No, that's not it!
I shook my head and gave him a playful punch.
"Oi, you! Your fist packs quite a punch."
Master pretended to limp back with an exaggerated groan when my fist connected.
His solemn expression returned to its usual look.
"That really stings."
It had no effect at all.
Chiding me for my ineffective attack, he placed a hand on my shoulder and spoke.
"If you've decided to protect her, then protect her without fail."
Protect her.
With those final words, he left the dojo with the doctor.
@@@
Three years have already passed since Master departed.
I am eighteen, and Koyuki is sixteen.
I remain the only disciple at this [Soryu] dojo …
But through my training here and countless talks with Koyuki, my heart has been wholly saved.
The assignment Master gave me three years ago—I feel I could solve it now.
Then one day …
"Hakuji, come here a moment."
Uncle Keijo called me.