Brave Story - Miyuki Miyabe [389]
Goodbye.
Just then, Mr. Daimatsu turned around and spoke to someone behind him. Whoever it was stood just right so that Wataru couldn’t see who it was.
“No need to be shy,” Mr. Daimatsu was saying. He smiled broadly and put his arm around the person’s shoulder, pulling her around to face Wataru. “This is Wataru…Wataru Mitani. You’ve met him before, though you probably don’t remember.”
It was Kaori Daimatsu.
She wasn’t sitting in a wheelchair anymore. She wore a knee-length sleeveless white dress that fell down over her slender legs. Her skin was dazzlingly white, and her lustrous black hair was tied in a ponytail that gleamed in the hot summer sun.
“My daughter’s gotten much better recently,” Mr. Daimatsu said, rubbing her shoulder as delicately as if she were precious jewel. “She came out for a walk and a little fresh air today. Well, Kaori, aren’t you going to say hello?”
The girl was staring at Wataru, as though captivated. The look in her dark eyes said that she knew she had met him somewhere, but couldn’t remember where. They had spoken, but she didn’t know what had been said. I can’t remember how, but I know that I know you.
Even for Wataru, the memory was fading.
Her soul is back. Her soul was returned.
“I…” Wataru stammered.
The little white bird on my shoulder.
“I once snuck inside this building,” he managed at last, “and I tripped and fell. Mr. Daimatsu took care of me.”
Once he started talking, Wataru couldn’t stop. His voice sounded strange in his own ears.
Mr. Daimatsu laughed out loud. “That’s right, I remember that.”
Wataru was staring at Kaori. She returned the stare. “Hello,” she said quietly.
Give me your sword, the Demon’s Bane…It was the same voice. Those graceful hands stretched out to Wataru. Those arms that had comforted him in his sorrow at leaving Vision behind. That warm embrace had taken the pain away.
I’ll never forget that moment. Never.
You don’t remember me, but I remember you.
You were the Goddess of my destiny.
“Well now, you’ve met again for the first time,” Mr. Daimatsu said cheerfully. Kaori Daimatsu looked up at her father and smiled. Wataru thought her smile must have been brighter than the summer sun high in the sky above, the way it lit up her father’s face.
“Nice to meet you,” said Wataru.
Vesna esta holicia.
Until you shine again.
Into Vision, into the real world.
Though a child of man knows time, life itself is eternal.
Miyuki Miyabe was born in Tokyo and graduated from Sumidagawa High School. After working in law offices and other places, her 1987 debut title, Warera ga Rinjin no Hanzai (Crimes of our Neighbors), won the All Yomimono Newcomer Award for Crime Fiction.
Miyabe went on to win the 45th Mystery Writers of Japan Award, for Ryu wa Nemuru (The Dragon Sleeps) and the 13th Yoshikawa Eiji Newcomer Prize for Honjo Fukagawa Fushigi Zoshi (Mysterious Tales of Hon-jo-Fukagawa) in 1992.
Her other literary awards include the 6th Yamamoto Shugoro Prize in 1993 for Kasha (All She was Worth), the 18th Nihon SF Taisho Award in 1997 for the Gamoutei Jiken (Case of the Gamou Residence), the 120th Naoki Prize in 1999 for Riyuu (The Reason), the Mainichi Shuppan Culture Award Special Prize in 2001 for Mohou-han (Copycat Killer), and the 6th Shiba Ryotaro Prize and the 52nd Minister of Education Award for Fine Arts in Literature in 2002, also for Mohou-han.
In 2007, her Na mo Naki Doku (Nameless Poison) won the 41st Yoshikawa Eiji Literature Prize. The newest edition of Na mo Naki Doku is currently available in Japan.