Page 58 of Water Moon

Chapter Fifty-eight

A Choice Named Hana

The waves of the tiny ocean inside the pearl grew still. The orb dimmed but continued to hold the three people seated around it in its grasp. Keishin was the first to break away. “Hana…” he stammered, trying to remember how to speak.

Hana’s eyes flooded with tears. “This can’t be true.”

Keishin clasped her hand. Hana clung to him just as tightly.

“I understand now,” Haruto said quietly.

“Understand what?” Hana lifted her head.

“Why you chose him. ”

Hana let go of Keishin’s hand. “Haruto…”

“I think that this is a conversation that the two of you should have on your own.” Keishin stood up. “I’ll be outside if you need me,” he said, gently touching Hana’s shoulder before he left the room.

“You and he are the same, Hana.” Haruto’s fingers flitted over the spot where the Horishi had tattooed Hana’s name on his arm. “Your name is on my skin, but greater gods have carved your fates into your bones. You and I were never meant to be. In truth, I did not require your mother’s memory to know this. I needed it only to help me find the will to admit it to myself. I did not make a mistake when I agreed to pay the price for healing my hands.”

“What did you pay them, Haruto?”

“Nothing. Yet. I negotiated for the payment to be collected after the cranes brought you back. I needed to see you one last time.”

“Last time?” Hana gripped Haruto’s sleeve. “What are you talking about? What have you done?”

“I did what I needed to do. My hands were shattered. Without them, I was less than nothing. I had no purpose or duty. I had no life. The vendor at the healing stall told me that he could fix my hands, but at great expense. I possessed only one thing that precious. My memories of you. After you leave, I will return to the Night Market and surrender all of them.”

The color drained from Hana’s face. “I cannot let you do this.”

“Why not? The ink the Horishi took from your father was not enough to write a full life for me. Your father told you that I only have one year left. Let me live what remains of it without longing for something I cannot have. If you cannot give me your love, then at least allow me to find peace.”

Piercing shrieks cut through the paper walls of Haruto’s home.

Haruto jumped to his feet. “Shiikuin.”

Keishin ran through the door. “They’re here.”

“How many are there?” Hana said.

“Too many.” Keishin bolted the paper door. “We need to get out of here. They’ll rip through these walls.”

“My paper is stronger than you think,” Haruto said. “And they will not have to rip through any walls if you let them in. Open the door, Keishin.”

“Open the door? Have you lost your mind?” Keishin said.

“When I give you the signal, run through that door,” Haruto said.

“What door?” Keishin said.

Haruto waved his hand at the wall facing the cliff. The paper ripped and folded into a door. “That one.”

“There’s a hundred-foot drop behind that door,” Keishin said.

“Trust me,” Haruto said. “You won’t fall.”

“You?” Hana said. “Aren’t you coming with us?”

Haruto took her in his arms and kissed the top of her head. “Neither of you belongs in this world. You should not have to die here.”

“What are you saying?” Hana pulled away from him.

“I’m saying that I changed my mind. Dying while I remember you is better than living a day without knowing your name.” Haruto pulled the front door open.

Seven Shiikuin burst into his home.

“Now, Hana!” Haruto flicked his wrist at the door facing the cliff. It folded open, revealing a sheer drop.

“No!” Hana screamed as the Shiikuin closed in.

Keishin tackled her by the waist, hurling them through the door and into thin air.

—

A sea of cranes broke their fall. They carried Keishin and Hana on their backs past the cliff’s edge and up to the sky. Hana scrambled to the edge of the cranes, scanning the ground for Haruto’s home. The paper house shook and began to fold itself. The Shiikuin shrieked from inside it.

“No!” Hana screamed as the house shrank with every fold. “What is he doing?”

Keishin pulled her back from the edge. “Keeping you safe.”

Hana trembled as she watched the house fold, over and over again, until all that remained was an empty cliff and the memory of the paper home and the man who used to live in it.