Chapter 35 : Hatsuhinode

Kyoto's streets were full of revellers and each temple brimmed with

worshippers. The entrances to every house were decorated with pine

boughs, bamboo stalks and plum-tree sprigs as an invitation to the

protecting spirit toshigami to bless the home; while the doors had been

hung with plaited ropes festooned with strips of white paper to keep away

evil spirits.

Jack spotted Akiko stumbling down the street. Although conscious of

the monk's warning to respect his friend's privacy, he was more concerned

at this moment about where she was going in such a sickly state. Pushing

through the crowds, Jack tried to catch up with Akiko, following her down

a side alley, across a market square and into a large tree-lined courtyard

thronged with people. A group of drunken samurai bumped into Jack and he

lost sight of Akiko among the mass of worshippers.

'Get out my way!' slurred one of the samurai, grabbing Jack by the

lapel of his kimono.

The samurai lent close, his breath reeking sharply of saké.

'A gaijin,' he spat into Jack's face. 'What you doing here? This isn't

your country.'

'You'd best leave him be,' advised another in the group, who pointed

an unsteady finger at the phoenix kamon on Jack's kimono. 'He's

Masamoto's. You know, the young gaijin samurai.'

The drunken man let go as if Jack's clothing were on fire.

'I'll be glad when daimyo Kamakura cleanses Kyoto, like he's doing in

Edo,' snarled the samurai before staggering off into the crowd with his

friends.

Jack was shaken by the encounter. Until now, he hadn't truly realized

the danger he'd put himself in, wandering alone through Kyoto's

backstreets. He was comparatively safe within the school grounds. Outside

it was only Masamoto's reputation that protected him and he couldn't rely

on everyone recognizing his guardian's family crest. He needed to find

Akiko before he got himself into even more trouble.

Jack looked around nervously, but the majority of revellers were too

wrapped up in their celebrations to give him more than a cursory glance.

Then he recognized where he was. In front of him were the stone steps and

arched green roof of the Temple of the Peaceful Dragon.

'Why are you following me?'

Jack spun round.

Akiko's ashen face stared at him out of the crowd.

'Kiku said you were sick…' replied Jack.

'Jack, I can look after myself. I've just drunk something that didn't

agree with me, that's all.' She studied him severely. 'Anyway, you've

followed me here before, haven't you?'

Jack nodded, feeling like a criminal caught red-handed.

'I appreciate your concern,' continued Akiko, though there was no

warmth in her voice, 'but if I had wanted you to know where I was going, I

would have told you.'

Jack realized that he'd lost Akiko's trust in him. 'I'm… so sorry,

Akiko,' he stammered. 'I didn't mean to. It's just…'

Words failed him and he found himself staring at his own feet to avoid

her gaze.

'It's just what?' she persisted.

'I… care for you and was worried.' The words blurted out of him

without warning, then his feelings for her spilled over. 'Ever since I've been

stranded here, all you've ever done is look after me. You've been my only

true friend. But what have I ever done for you in return? I'm sorry for

following you, but you were sick and I thought you might need my help.

Can't I watch out for you too sometimes?'

The coldness in Akiko's eyes thawed and the icy distance that had

come between them melted.

'Do you really want to know where I was going?' asked Akiko softly.

'Not if you don't want to tell me,' replied Jack, and he turned to leave.

'But I should tell you. You need to know,' insisted Akiko, laying a

hand upon his arm to stop him going. 'It's my baby brother's birthday

today.'

'You mean Jiro?' said Jack, surprised, remembering the cheerful little

boy he had befriended in Toba over a year ago.

'No, I have another brother. His name is Kiyoshi.' Her eyes misted at

the mention of his name. 'Sadly he's no longer with us, so I was going to

the shrine to pray for him. He would be eight today.'

The same age as Jess, thought Jack, and he felt a pang of anguish in his

heart for his sister.

'I've missed him greatly this past year,' Akiko went on, 'so I've been

seeking spiritual comfort from a priest, one of the monks at the Temple of

the Peaceful Dragon.'

Jack now felt doubly guilty. This was the real reason behind her

mysterious disappearances. She was mourning her baby brother.

'I'm sorry… I didn't know –'

'Don't be, Jack,' she interrupted, motioning with a nod of her head for

him to follow her up the entrance steps of the temple. 'Why not come with

me now to the shrine and make a blessing for my brother? Then we can

climb Mount Hiei together in time for hatsuhinode.'

Akiko huddled closer to Jack for warmth.

They sat alone, in the shelter of a ruined temple wall at the edge of

Enryakuji, overlooking Kyoto, which was hidden by early morning mist in

the valley below. The frigid mountain air made them both shiver, but inside

Jack was feeling a warm glow.

They had visited the little shrine within the Temple of the Peaceful

Dragon. Akiko had briefly spoken with the monk in private and then

together they had made their peace offerings and prayers to Kiyoshi. This

shared experience was the first time Jack had felt included in Akiko's

personal life. It was as if a screen had been pulled back to reveal a delicate

tapestry that once seen would never be forgotten.

With Akiko's night excursions now explained, Jack felt at ease with

her again. The monk with the knife-like hands seemed an unusual choice

for a comforting priest, but who was he to question her choice. Jack still

wondered at Akiko's inexplicable tree-scaling skills, but perhaps she had

been telling the truth and had always been good at climbing. Whatever the

explanation, Jack was just content to be feeling close to Akiko again.

Having wound their way up the steep mountain slopes of Mount Hiei,

they now waited for hatsuhinode, the first sunrise of the year.

'New Year's Day is the key to unlocking the year,' Akiko explained

dreamily, her breath fogging in the chilly air. 'It's a time of new beginnings.

We think about the past year, bury the bad and remember the good, then

make our resolutions for the New Year. We always pay special attention to

the first time something is done, whether it's the first visit to a temple, the

first sunrise or the first dream.'

'What's so important about your first dream?' Jack asked.

'It foretells your luck for the forthcoming year.'

Akiko looked up at Jack, her eyes sleepy, and yawned, the tiredness

from staying up all night finally taking hold. Her face, though still pale, had

lost its deathly pallor since visiting the monk, and her health appeared to be

returning with the onset of a brand-new day.

'Dream well tonight,' she whispered.

Akiko drew closer to him and soon fell asleep on his shoulder.

Jack sat in silence, listening to the dawn chorus, as the first rays of the

New Year sun began to warm them both.