Chapter 6: There Was a God of Love
There Was a God of Love
There is a memory that refuses to leave my mind.
It happened when I was in third grade, on a day when I was playing with my childhood friend Shima-chan. I had often been sick when I was little, but by then my body had grown much stronger. I could finally play outside, and that day Shima-chan and I went to the mountain behind the school.
“Are you ready yet?”
“Not yet!”
I answered Shima-chan while looking around the animal trail. There were plenty of bushes, so finding a hiding spot was not hard. But if I chose one that was too easy, Shima-chan would find me right away.
“Are you ready yet?”
“N-not yet, I said!”
His voice sounded like he was trying to hurry me. I had to hide fast. I pushed into a bush, but something sharp like a thorn pierced my arm. I jumped in surprise, lost my balance, and rolled down the slope toward the valley.
“Kyaa!”
“Akari!?”
I tumbled like a rice ball from a storybook. A branch snapped with a loud crack, and a rock hit me with a heavy thud. At some point the fear vanished and I could only surrender to gravity. I eventually blacked out, and when I opened my eyes I found myself leaning against what looked like an old shack.
“Ouch…”
It seemed none of my bones were broken, but my body ached everywhere. Then the rain began to fall, and my clothes were covered in mud. I would be scolded for sure once I got home. That was when I realized I did not even know where I was.
A wave of anxiety washed over me, and I looked around for Shima-chan. There was no sign of him. The only thing there was the shabby little shack. Wait. When I focused my eyes, I noticed something near it. Pulling my aching body through the rain, I approached it. What I found was a very small torii gate.
“Is this a shrine…?”
It was so tiny that even a child could not pass through it, yet it was unmistakably a torii. The building that had looked like a shack now felt like a small shrine when viewed from afar. With the dark clouds overhead, the place gave off an eerie feeling. It was only a small shrine, yet it felt as if it might come alive and attack me.
“Shima-chan…”
I stood there, on the verge of tears. Shima-chan had always helped me since we were young. I was too shy to talk to others, but with him I could talk about anything. And he once told me he would protect me.
The rain grew heavier, only adding to my fear. Thunder rumbled, and large puddles formed at my feet. Staying here might be dangerous, but I did not know where to go. I stepped back without thinking, and my foot slipped in the mud. I nearly fell again.
“Kyaa!”
“Akari!”
Someone grabbed my left arm. When I turned around, there was Shima-chan, his face covered in mud. His shirt was torn and his knee was scraped.
“Sh-Shima-chan…!?”
“Sorry I am late. Are you hurt?”
Even though he was the one injured, he worried about me. Maybe he was only pretending to be fine, but it made me feel genuinely relieved.
“I am okay. It only hurts a little. But Shima-chan, your knee is bleeding…”
“Do not worry about it. Come on, let’s go home.”
“Okay…”
He pulled my arm and helped me stand. While I caught my breath, Shima-chan looked curiously at the little shrine.
“Hey, what is this place?”
“I do not know. I think it is a shrine…”
“A shrine, huh.”
Shima-chan stood before the small shrine, put his hands together, and closed his eyes as if praying. Then he opened his eyes and looked at me.
“Shima-chan…?”
“It is nothing. I just felt glad we were both safe.”
“I-I see.”
The eerie feeling still lingered in me, so I could not bring myself to put my hands together. Shima-chan seemed to know the way home, so he took my arm and began walking.
“My mom is definitely going to get mad when we get back.”
“If I am with you, it will be fine.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
We walked through the muddy ground, hand in hand. Right before leaving the shrine grounds, I looked once more at the torii gate and noticed some old writing on it. I could not read all of it from that distance, but there was one character I understood.
The character for love that I saw that day is still carved into my memory.