“The girl who found you…”
Hana frowned. “What about her?”
“She is back.”
“Are we in danger?” Keishin said. “I thought that you could control them.”
“She is not here to harm you. She came to warn us. The Shiikuin are in the tunnels.”
—
Keishin and Hana flew down the steps of the pawnshop. The young girl who had led Toshio to them in the garden sobbed against Chiyo’s breast. But something about her was different. She had aged.
“Is that the same girl?” Hana stared at her face. “She looks like she’s ten years old now.”
“Time goes by differently for the children here,” Toshio said.
“Hush.” Chiyo stroked the girl’s cheek and gently re-tucked a loose pink flower into her hair bun. “Hush. Don’t cry. Your brothers did not mean to scare you. Thank you for coming here to tell me that they have arrived. They hardly ever visit. I will make some tea for all of us.”
“Brothers? Tea?”Hana said. “What is she talking about?”
“There is no time for this now,” Toshio said. “You need to leave before they get here.”
“Enough. I’m done with lies and secrets. I am not going anywhere until you tell me what’s going on.”
“It is difficult to explain,” Toshio said.
“The Shiikuin are my children.” Chiyo held the girl’s hand.
Hana froze. “What did you say?”
“The children have no souls, Hana,” Toshio said. “They grow up but can never die. In time, parts of their bodies will wear out and they will have to…replace them.”
“With metal parts…” Keishin said.
“Chiyo revealed the truth she had learned about the Shiikuin when I found her,” Toshio said. “But the Shiikuin are different from the children. They have forgotten everything about being human. They must not find you here. You must go.”
“What about you?” Hana said.
Toshio put his arm around his wife. “I will stay here.”
“Otou-san, please listen to me. This woman…she is not my mother. She is not your wife. She’s a monster. Leave her.”
“You do not understand, Hana.”
“I understand that the Shiikuin will kill you if you stay.”
“I am dead either way. Let me at least die saving you. There is no life for me to return to. I stole a choice just as your mother did. The Shiikuin will hunt me down until the end of my days.”
“They won’t. Not if…” Hana swallowed hard. “You give them back what they are really after.”
“What are you talking about?” Toshio said.
“They would forgive you if you returned the choice you stole.”
“I cannot return it. I set it free.”
“That is why…” Tears quivered in the rims of Hana’s eyes. “I brought it with me.”
