On the way back, Tsugikuni Yoriichi carried the water buckets with an incredibly steady gait.
I couldn’t help but sigh as I watched him. Normally, I would be completely doubled over, lugging the water home half-dead, and still having other chores to finish afterward. Carrying water was, without a doubt, one of the most painful parts of my daily life.
I spoke as we walked, “The communal well in our village is very far from my house. I’m not particularly strong, so I have to keep stopping along the way; it takes me ages to get home. But since I don’t have the money to dig my own well, I just endure it day after day.”
I didn’t say this to complain about how difficult my life was.
“But after a while, I slowly got used to it. Then one day, I was sitting in front of Mrs. Tomoda’s house to rest. She opened the door, and I thought she was going to chase me away, but when she saw me, she covered her mouth and said, ‘What a pitiful child!’ Then she smiled and told me, ‘Don’t walk such a long way anymore; just come to my house to get water.'”
“That is how my connection with Mrs. Tomoda was formed,” I said, clasping my hands behind my back and giving him a playful wink.
“And Mr. Tomoda is also a very kind man. They have always taken such good care of me…”
He was a good listener. My words were never rudely interrupted, and he didn’t mind that I was chatty, even if I was just rambling about mundane daily life.
After I finished spinning my endless yarn, I said, “By the way…”
I was still thinking about what he hadn’t finished saying last night.
“What was it that happened after you left home? I fell asleep and didn’t hear it…”
“I’m truly sorry. Um, would you mind telling me again?” I asked with a hint of pleading and anticipation. In truth, I wasn’t even sure if he had said anything at all—it was highly likely he hadn’t.
But perhaps spurred on by my enthusiasm, he became more talkative. “I left home and ran very, very far away… I felt… very free.”
I nodded frantically. “Mmhmm, and then?”
He said he arrived at a temple and lived there for a while.
“I told a monk that he had a tumor in his brain, which was the cause of his headaches, but he told me to shut up immediately and not to say such alarmist things…”
“Later, that monk died. The others thought it was my curse, so they expelled me from the temple.” His tone was calm, devoid of any resentment.
Even so, I couldn’t help but get a little angry. “How ignorant! Any doctor could have diagnosed that! It was clearly just an excuse to alienate you; it had nothing to do with that incident at all! To harbor such malice even after becoming a monk they won’t even see the Buddha in the afterlife!”
I waved my fist as I spoke, but accidentally bumped my injury.
“Ah, ow, ow, ow…”
“You don’t have to be angry,” he said, sounding hesitant. “Does it really require a doctor to know such things?”
Wait, was he completely unaware of his own uniqueness?
I clutched my hand. “Last night, you said my heartbeat was fast. How did you know?”
“Because I can see the frequency at which your heart beats,” he replied earnestly, telling the blunt truth.
“I see.” I twitched the corner of my mouth, stifling the urge to retort, and pretended as if I had just realized it.
“Actually, most people can only see the surface of the skin, like hair, skin, or eyes… they can’t see flesh or bones. That’s why that monk didn’t believe you, though he had his own problems too!”
“Others can’t see it,” he suddenly stopped walking. “My older brother said the same, so I am indeed a freak.”
He looked into the distance, lost and unfocused. “So that was how it was, then?”
“No!” I interrupted immediately.
“Being able to do things others can’t is super cool, you know! This must be a talent bestowed upon you by the gods, and it has a meaning! Look, you could become a future fighting power… er, I mean, an excellent doctor!”
I nearly bit my tongue.
I gave him a thumbs-up. “Saving lives and healing the wounded is super convenient—just think how amazing that is! As long as you don’t use it to harm people, what can’t you do?”
Under my persuasion, he seemed to have thought it through a bit. “Although I am not capable of becoming anyone great, if I can be of even a little use, I think Mother would be happy for me. Thank you, Miss Megumi.”
For the first time ever, he flashed me a smile that was incredibly brilliant, like the rising sun.
I couldn’t help but be a little dazed.
Even though he possessed talent that far exceeded everyone else’s, he was humble to a frightening degree.
“Ah…” I came back to my senses and hid my hands behind my back, not knowing where to put them. “It’s… nothing to thank me for. I just said what everyone already knows.”
Oh no, I think I’ve started acting as strangely as he is.
His curved crimson eyes rippled like a sun halo. “You are the first person to ever say such things to me.”
My face felt like it was starting to radiate heat again on its own.
“It’s nothing…” I muttered, turning my head away, only to realize that my house was already right in front of us.
Huh? Could the path that used to feel infinitely long actually become so short?