“Nothing could be less true. I’m seeing more now than I ever saw when I spent my days viewing the world through telescopes and blinking screens.”
“And what do you see, Kei? Another experiment like the pond? An oddity you might find some use for in your world? Or perhaps a monster covered in wretched blue scars?”
“You’re not a monster.”
“The countless clients who have walked through the pawnshop’s door would disagree with you. They have all wanted one thing. To be clean. Unblemished. Generations of my family have done nothing but mend, buff, and polish our clients’ stains,dents, and cracks away.” A blue kite circled Hana’s forearm. Hana gritted her teeth. “Porcelain perfection.”
“Scars don’t make you any less than what you are. They are simply stories, just like this scroll. You may not see mine, but I have my fair share.”
“Not like these.” Hana turned her cheek, exposing blue lotus flowers blossoming behind her ear. “Your scars tell you where you’ve been. Mine tell me where I am going. All children are brought to the Horishi to learn their path. The rain reminds us that what is fated can never be washed away.” Hana tugged her collar to the side. The rain fell onto her chest, revealing the glowing vault door that stood guard over her heart. Unlike her other tattoos that coiled and fluttered, the door remained locked. “Can you tell me that you do not see this grotesque map of skin and ink?”
“What I see isyou,Hana. I see your courage. Your determination…”
“Determination?” A dry laugh cut her lips. “Do you mean stubbornness?”
“Well, that too.” Keishin smiled. “And there is nothing ugly or revolting about what I see that would make me want to look away. I’m still here. Standing in a scroll. In the rain. Not lying to you.”
A driverless rickshaw came to a stop in front of them. Hana hurriedly adjusted her collar and climbed aboard. “Come. This will take us to the Horishi.”
“I should be surprised, but somehow in a town painted over a scroll, a driverless rickshaw almost makes perfect sense.” Keishin settled next to Hana and realized how narrow the seat was. No matter which way he shifted, there was no way to keep their bodies apart. “It’s a tight squeeze. I’m sorry.”
“It’s all right. It is a short ride to the Horishi’s house. Nothing inside a scroll is far away.”
Keishin pulled off his coat and held it over Hana’s head, shielding her from the rain. The map on her skin faded away. A smile, tentative at first, settled over her lips. “Thank you.”
Keishin let the rain drip over his lashes. He should have felt cold, but Hana’s body warmed him through his clothes. That and her smile. Though it was fleeting, Keishin was aware that it had been the first to touch her lips since they met. It invited him to meander over the rest of her face, to explore it as one would study a star-filled sky. Her features were as carefully curated and assembled as any constellation, but more fascinating. Stars were interesting but did not hold his attention. In life, as in science, he was more drawn to the unseen. And he had never met a person with more secrets than Hana. He didn’t mind that she kept them. He was used to it. The universe was like that too. It hid its most compelling secrets behind clouds of nothing and noise.
Keishin adjusted his coat over Hana’s head, making sure that she stayed dry. He didn’t know if Hana believed what he said about seeing through her scars. He was about to ask her when she relaxed against his ribs and he realized that he didn’t need an answer. Hana fit next to him perfectly, a complement of angles and curves. Had he believed in destiny, Keishin might have allowed himself to think that their bodies had been carved exactly for this moment, for this one rickshaw ride in the rain. But as he did not, Keishin kept his eyes forward, away from Hana’s face and the memory of her smile.
—
The Horishi’s house was located in the center of the town, indistinct from the narrow wooden townhouses Keishin hadseenalong the way. He stepped off the rickshaw and offered Hana his hand.
Hana took it and climbed down. She glanced up at him, thanked him with a small smile, and let go.
“It…uh…must be difficult for you to be back here after what the Horishi did to you,” Keishin said, finding it hard to form words with the warmth from Hana’s small hand still lingering in his palm.
“It was the Horishi’s duty. We all have our roles to play.”
A wooden gate swung open, inviting them in. They followed a paved path shaded by a cherry tree waiting to bloom. A breeze blew through its painted branches, rattling the empty birdcages hanging from them.
“Where are all the birds?” Keishin asked.
Hana paused beneath an empty cage. “Kei, listen to me. Do not concern yourself with anything except for what I am about to tell you. When we meet the Horishi, you must remain absolutely quiet. Do not make a sound. Do not utter a single word. Do you understand?”
“Why?”
“The Horishi only speaks when spoken to, and there may be things you do not wish to hear.”
“Like what?”
“Your future.”
—
Keishin had lost count of the number of fusuma that had slid open and closed as they made their way through the Horishi’s house. The silk-covered sliding screens moved on their own, ushering them through what felt like endless rooms. If he paused to think, Keishin would have questioned how the maze could have possibly fit into a townhouse of that size.
But Keishin had time to entertain only one thought. That thought grew with every step he took, rolling around in his head and tumbling over everything else. He had never been the sort of person who spent time pondering what his future would be. It was an unknowable thing and a waste of his time. But now he stood under the same roof as someone who might tell him if, at the end of his lifelong hunt to find the missing puzzle pieces of the universe, he would finally find his place in the world. All he had to do was ask.
