Page 37 of Water Moon
Chapter Thirty-seven
A Punishment to Fit the Crime
Hana lay next to Haruto and watched him sleep. He drew uneven breaths, a furrow etched between his brows. Hana got up from the futon and walked over to the window. The village’s work twinkled in the sky.
“Hana?” Haruto rubbed his eyes with the back of his bandaged hand.
“You crossed the bridge early. It isn’t morning yet.”
“I didn’t have any dreams to keep me.” He sat up. “Why are you still here?”
“I wanted to be here in case you needed anything.”
“I told you. I can take care of myself.”
“All right. I’ll go.” Hana headed to the room Masako had prepared for her.
“Wait. I’m sorry. Stay…if you want to.”
Hana sat on the futon next to him. “When did you know?”
“When did I know what?”
“When did you know that what you felt about me was more than just friendship?”
He shook his head. “There is no need to talk about this. I know that you don’t feel the same way about me.”
“I want to know,” Hana said. “I need to.”
“I don’t think that I have an answer to your question. It was not a specific day or an exact moment. I did not wake up and suddenly feel that I loved you. The only answer I can give you is that it happened gradually. Slowly, and unnoticed, the way the ocean turns rocks into sand. And you are an ocean, Hana. Gentle and quiet, yet powerful enough to sweep away any man or ship. I drowned in you a long time ago and I did not even know it.”
“What if…what if it is the same with me? What if I loved you and did not realize it?”
“I can help you find an answer to that, but I must ask you a question first.” Haruto leaned closer, his eyes asking his question before his lips did. They could never hide anything from Hana. They gave away the subtlest shifts inside him, telling her exactly when he was feeling awkward, shy, fearful, sad, happy, or surprised. Tonight, in no uncertain terms, they told her that he wanted to kiss her.
“Yes,” Hana said.
“Yes?”
“You are going to ask me if you can kiss me. My answer is yes.”
“Are you sure that this is what you want?”
Hana looked into his eyes and saw the boy who enjoyed nothing more than to fold paper into flowers for her and the man who had sacrificed his hands to keep her safe. She closed her eyes and waited to feel Haruto’s lips on hers, to finally know if she could be the wife that he deserved. “I am.”
“I hope you find what you are looking for, Hana.” Haruto’s lips teased her mouth open.
Hana’s heart pounded against her ribs, growing so loud that she was sure that Haruto could hear it too. A loud rapping on the door thundered over her heartbeat. Hana jolted back. “Shiikuin,” she said, scrambling to her feet.
“Hana?” a man called from behind the door. “Haruto?”
“Keishin?” Hana hurried to the door.
Keishin clutched his sides, breathing hard. “Fumiko…” he said, trying to catch his breath. “She…knows…”
“What does she know?” Hana asked.
“She knows what it’s like to have something that you desperately want.” Keishin wiped the sweat dripping into his eyes. “Knowing full well that it’s not what it seems.”
“What are you going on about?” Haruto said.
“I think I know what kind of punishment the Shiikuin had in mind for Hana’s mother, what torture would be worse than death. The Shiikuin don’t care about justice.” Keishin’s eyes fell on Haruto’s broken hands. “They care about causing the most amount of pain. And what greater pain is there than being so excruciatingly close to something you long for,” he said, shifting his gaze to Hana, “but that you know isn’t really yours?”
“I don’t understand,” Hana said.
“The Shiikuin saw how desperately your mother wanted to hold you. They knew how much she loved you,” Keishin said. “Death would have torn you from her, but that punishment wasn’t enough. The Shiikuin wanted her to suffer.”
“How?” Haruto said.
“By giving her a life sentence,” Keishin said. “By letting her live out her days in a place where she would be constantly reminded of the daughter she left behind.”
Haruto shook his head. “Even if you are right, where exactly are we supposed to look for her? Are you planning on searching every prison in our world?”
“You may not have to.” Masako walked into the room.
Haruto turned to his mother. “What do you mean?”
“I believe the outsider is right. Exiling Chiyo to the other world would have erased her and her pain. But exiling her to a place where she would be surrounded by something she wanted but could never have would be crueler than death. What better punishment for someone who took something that wasn’t hers? As a mother, I can think of only one prison that would inflict such torture.”
“What prison is this?” Haruto said. “Where is it?”
“I do not know where it is, but I have heard whispers of it at the Night Market. They say that it is a place where children who are not really children dwell. Children who spend endless days and nights crying for a mother.”
Keishin frowned. “What do you mean by ‘children who are not really children’?”
“If you need more answers, you will have to get them for yourself,” Masako said.
“Then we should go to the Night Market as soon as possible,” Haruto said.
“Keishin and I will go to the Night Market,” Hana said. “You need to stay here.”
“Hana is right,” Masako said. “You are not well enough to travel. You would only slow them down. If you are truly concerned about Hana’s safety, the best thing that you can do for her is to stay here.”
Haruto hung his head, heaving a sigh.
“We need to make one stop before we go to the Night Market,” Hana said.
“Where?” Haruto asked.
“It is better if you do not know.”
“I agree,” Masako said.
Hana turned to her. “I know that I have already asked for too much, but there is one last thing I will need to ask of you before we go.”
“If it will make you leave sooner, then I am happy to provide you with whatever assistance you require.”