Chapter Fifty-One Souls and Skin
Chapter Fifty-one
Souls and Skin
Twenty-one years ago
The infant boy’s cry filled the Horishi’s home just as Toshio’s month-old daughter’s wail had done earlier that day. When Toshio laid Hana over the Horishi’s table, he had not given a single thought to how she would feel when her fate was carved into her small body. His blinding focus from the moment she was born had been to give her a soul. But when the first of countless needles pierced his little girl’s skin and made her cry, Hana’s pain became his own. That’s how he knew that the mother of the crying boy was suffering too. But he also knew that her pain far exceeded his. And that it was all his fault.
Toshio knelt on the ground with his head touching the floor, prostrating himself at Masako’s feet. The weight of his failure crushed him, pushing him deeper into the Horishi’s mat. He stayed silent. There were no words that could ever atone for the choice he had lost, the choice that was meant to be Masako’s son’s soul.
“Stand up,” Masako said, cradling her wailing baby. “I want you to look at my son and tell him how you have cursed him. Stand up!”
Toshio slowly pushed himself to his feet. “I…I am deeply sorry. My wife did not mean to—”
“Your wife has already paid for her crime. She is dead. You are not. Tell me, what is your punishment for failing to keep Haruto’s soul safe? Who must I see for my revenge?” Masako wept, her tears falling on Haruto’s face. “You and your daughter will go on with your lives as though nothing has happened, but I will have to live the rest of my life knowing that you killed my son. You have taken everything from me.” She hurled herself at Toshio and pounded her fist against his chest.
Toshio braced himself, accepting every blow. Though it was Chiyo who had stolen the choice, it had been his responsibility to keep it safe. He deserved worse than Masako’s fists.
“It is time.” The Horishi approached them. “Give me the creature.”
Masako staggered back, clutching Haruto. “I won’t let you take him. He isn’t a monster. He is my son. His father is dead. Haruto is all I have left.”
“It does not belong to you.” The Horishi moved closer to Masako.
“No.” Masako backed into a wall. “Stay away.”
Toshio blocked the Horishi’s path. “Stop. Do not make yourself a liar.”
The Horishi paused. “I never lie.”
“You will, if you take Haruto,” Toshio said. “It rained when I brought Hana home from here. I saw the name you wrote on her skin. Haruto is Hana’s fate.”
Masako gasped. “Is this true, Horishi-san?”
“I do not control what the ink writes. Neither do I know the reasons behind the direction it chooses to steer my hand. I merely hold the needle through which it flows.” The Horishi turned to Haruto. “And collect that which has no soul.”
“I will find another soul for Haruto,” Toshio said. “I just need more time.”
“Every choice is promised as soon as it is pawned,” the Horishi said. “You cannot steal from one child to give to another.”
Thoughts swirled inside Toshio’s head. “What if I did not have to steal it?”
“What do you mean?” Masako held a crying Haruto tight. “Where would you get the soul?”
“From me.”
—
Toshio lay on his back on the Horishi’s table and bit down on the piece of wood the Horishi had given him.
“Are you certain that you want to do this?” the Horishi said.
Toshio nodded. If he spoke, he was afraid he was going to change his mind.
“I can give you something for the pain. This will not be swift.” The Horishi sharpened a blade.
Toshio shook his head. He wanted to feel every slice the Horishi made into him. This, he convinced himself, was the reason Haruto’s name was on Hana’s skin. Haruto was his daughter’s fate. And the sentence for his crime. Giving up his soul to ensure that Hana did not stray from her inked path seemed more than a fitting punishment for his failures.
“Masuda-sama does not wish me to take all of it,” the Horishi said.
Toshio spat out the bit and sat up. “What? Why? You will need every drop of ink that you can get from my skin to map Haruto’s fate.”
“She is a mother.” The Horishi heated the knife over a candle. “Her rage has not blinded her to your daughter’s well-being. Hana has already lost her mother. Masuda-sama does not wish to take her father from her too.”
“But…”
“I will take enough from you to give Haruto a good life, and you will have enough left to raise Hana until she is ready to take over the pawnshop when you retire.”
“How much time will Haruto have?”
“His fate is tied to yours. Unless his life is cut short by illness or mishap, he will have one year with Hana.”
“Hana will not be alone after I’m gone…”
“Masuda-sama will have her son, and Hana will have her husband,” the Horishi said. “And her father. For a while.”
Toshio gripped the edge of the table.
“Do you wish to proceed?” the Horishi asked.
Toshio placed the bit in his mouth and lay down. He squeezed his eyes shut, not wanting to scream when the Horishi took his skin.