Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-6192846-20151223075113/@comment-6192846-20160123160348

Chapter 1: Act 4: Scene 3


 * At the hill the day before Mei's corpse was discovered.
 * Kayo was heading down the hill toward the Soba shop. It was to deliver the goods she was requested to make.
 * That same day, the sakura trees along the hill had bloomed beautiful flowers, I remember them well.
 * Over the Twin Mirror Bridge, Kayo saw the figure of a man coming along the middle of the road.
 * It was the master of the Miroku shop, Kai.
 * He wasn't alone there. There was a woman right there alongside him, looking nice in her red kimono.
 * It was his wife, Mei.
 * Maybe the two were on some errand? Or maybe this was their leisure time between jobs? At any rate, the couple being together wasn't anything strange.
 * --But, that didn't seem to be the case for Kayo.
 * As soon as she saw Kai walking side by side with her, she stood there as if paralyzed.
 * After being stunned for a little while, she turned around and ran off.
 * Kayo's expression at that moment...... can't be well described with my poor vocabulary.
 * She wasn't shedding tears per say, but I feel it was a little different from simple anger. Of course, she wasn't smiling either.
 * If I were to dare say...... could I even say...... it was "demon"-esque?
 * It was the first time I'd ever seen Kayo with that face.
 * The thing with Kayo was disturbing but I wanted to observe the Miroku couple a little more.
 * Since that time I'd seen him before, I feel I may have unexpectedly glimpsed a bit of the true nature of the man named Kai.
 * The couple walked down the middle of the road together. They were going the opposite direction to the Miroku shop.
 * Away from the center of town, where the pedestriation traffic was low, Mei spoke with Kai.
 * Mei: "...... Your hand's still scarred."
 * Mei's eyes were looking at the burn marks on Kai's left hand.
 * Kai: "Mhhm. That's right...... what about it? Too late now."
 * Mei: "No, it can still heal properly and get better, he said. You've been without my father's care."
 * Kai: "No need to bother Dad (pronounced "chichiue" a polite term used by samurai families prior to the Meiji era but also includes the kanji for "foster father" [Youfu-jou] as well). I can even move my fingers without a problem, like this."
 * Kai showed his left hand to Mei, opening and closing it.
 * Kai: "[Stuff]."
 * Mei: "But......"
 * Kai: "A lot of people died in that huge fire. We should thank God that it's only this bad."
 * Mei: "...... Four years ago."
 * Kai: "Hm?"
 * While looking a little frightened, Mei lokoed up at Kai's face.
 * Mei: "Why did you walk outside only on that night......? Even though you were someone who walsy locked himself up in his shop doing work--"
 * Kai: "I don't know why. Being cooped up there, I get the feeling I want to see the scenerey outside once in a while. But I'm hopeless with places with lots of people. So I went out at night when there was less pedestrian traffic...... Well ten I staggered up the hill and that translated to me getting caught up in the fire."
 * Mei: "......"
 * Kai: "Well, you, Miku, and Rin were safe due to staying at home. Fortunately, the fire didn't cross the river. That intself was a good thing."
 * Mei: "...... But, a lot of people died."
 * Kai: "--Your' complexion's looking bad, Mei. It's gotten a lot warmer but it's still chilly after sunset...... Shall we return home?"
 * As Kai said such, he turned around.
 * But Mei said to his back this.
 * Mei: "Oh, no...... there's somewhere I have to be after this......"
 * Kai: "...... The foreign trading house as usual? That tiny older woman still screaming about mermaids?"
 * Mei: "Oh my, how do you know about that?"
 * Kai: "I went over there in your place once when you were sick. I heard about it then...... surely this doesn't mean even you would be helping look for a mermaid?"
 * Mei: "Heheheh, that's not the reason why, now is it? I'm going to take an order for the day."
 * Kai: "In that case, alright...... forgive me. For making you deal with a foreigner partner."
 * Mei: "No...... it doesn't really bother me at all."
 * Evidently, Kai disliked people like Perrie who didn't have any Jakokuese blood flowing through them. Based on his blue hair, there was foreign blood flowing through him too so it was strange.
 * The two returned to Twin Mirror Bridge and bid each other farewell. Kai went back to the Miroku shop and Mei went up the hill toward the Freezis Trading House.