Brave Story - Miyuki Miyabe [295]
“Not you. That,” she said, pointing a finger at the Blood Star hanging in the northern sky. “Shining all pretty up there like a jewel. Too high up for anyone to grab and put in its place.”
Wataru smiled. “I bet your whip might just be able to reach it.”
“I’ve got half a mind to try,” Kutz said, her hand going down to the hilt of the whip quelled at her belt. Then she grinned and looked at Wataru.
Her eyes weren’t smiling. They were frighteningly serious. The smile faded from Wataru’s face.
“Are you sure you’re ready for this?” she said, making it sound like less of a question and more of a confirmation. I know how you’ll answer, I’m just making sure.
“Yeah…I think.”
“You give up easy.”
Wataru shrugged. “I guess I feel like there’s nothing I can do, so why bother?” Wataru hunched his shoulders, thrusting his hands in his pockets. His fingers brushed the edge of the wyrmflute. “On the road back to Gasara I was tempted a few times to call Jozo and try my chances at following after Mitsuru. I could get to the north if I was riding on a dragon. But even if I did catch up with Mitsuru, I don’t think I could beat him. His magic is too powerful.”
And Wataru was one gemstone behind.
“In any case, I’m too late. I have to accept my fate—and not worry about it so much.”
Kutz stood with her arms folded in front of her. Her leather vest bulged out above her arms. Wataru stared, then blushed, and hurriedly continued, “I’m not one of many, like whoever the sacrifice from Vision is to be. I’m only one of two. I guess that makes it easier to accept.”
Kutz said nothing. Pulling a cigarette from her vest pocket, she lit it with a match, puffing in the twilight.
“Also…I don’t think I’ve told anyone this before, but the whole reason I came here to Vision in the first place was thanks to my friend—the other Traveler, Mitsuru. That’s not all. If he hadn’t come to save me, I would’ve died. Twice—once in the real world and once in Vision. He saved my life.”
When Mom turned the gas on in the apartment and when I was being dragged to the guillotine at Triankha Hospital. “I owe him a debt. Maybe this is how I can repay that debt.”
Kutz took a drag on her cigarette and blew out a long plume of smoke. Then she stabbed it out on the railing, twirling the butt between her fingers. “You know,” she said, her tone suddenly changing. She was staring out over the grasslands. “I don’t care to hear your excuses.”
It’s not excuses, that’s how I really feel. Wataru was going to protest, but something in Kutz’s voice made him hold back.
“I won’t ask if you’re scared of being sacrificed. I don’t care if you’re fine leaving Kee Keema and Meena to mourn, or if you’re happy not meeting the Goddess. You came here to Vision to change your fate. If you become the sacrifice, you won’t be able to do that. I won’t stand here and ask you if you’re okay with that.”
Her words were strong and she spoke with no hesitation. “You left your mother in the real world when you came here. You won’t ever be able to see her again. Right now, she’s worried to death, and she’ll never know what happened to you. She’ll wait for you and waste the rest of her life in loneliness. But I won’t ask how you can stand to do such a thing to your mother.”
You are asking. Pain stabbed at Wataru’s heart.
“You’re a smart kid. Brave too.” Kutz praised him in angry tones. “That’s why I’m sure you’ll have a suitable answer no matter what I ask. I’m sure your answers will be satisfactory. After all, you’ve had plenty of time to convince yourself. You’ve had lots of practice.”
Wataru was silent. He felt like she was expecting him to say something, but he couldn’t find anything worth saying.
Darkness slid over dusk, and the brightness in the sky gave way to the deepening violet of night. Whereas moments before the only light in the sky had been the Blood Star, now other stars appeared around it.
Her back to the starry sky, Kutz faced Wataru and looked him straight in the eye. “There is one question I would have your answer to.”
Wataru swallowed and took a step back.
“Are you just