Yukari continued to grasp her wrist while groaning in pain. Kumiko watched in silence, unsure of whether to apologize or explain herself. She turned her attention to the switchblade on the table and gave Tsutomu a nervous glance.

His lips tightened as she reached for it, only to freeze when Yukari screeched in protest. "Don't you dare touch that! It's mine!"

Kumiko stopped and slowly withdrew her hand. Although it was tempting, she also knew there was little honor in taking someone's weapon when they were so disadvantaged.

She looked back at the now wincing Yukari. "How much does it hurt? Should I take you to a hospital?"

Yukari sucked her breath in before responding. "No. I'll be fine..."

"Are you sure? Let me take a look..." Kumiko shuffled forward and beckoned for Yukari to show her the damage, but the latter resisted by sliding away.

"It's nothing! Just a bruise!"

A barely audible hiss sounded. Yukari stared down at her hands, then back up at Kumiko as a puff of steam emanated from her skin and quickly dissipated. Behind them, Tsutomu gasped.

"Well, shit..." Yukari muttered before separating her hands and letting them drop by her sides with hardly any effort at all. "You've caught me too."

Such fast recovery and nonchalance confused Kumiko, to say the least. She eyed Yukari's wrists, and as far as she could see, there was nothing to indicate dislocated or broken bones. As for the puff of steam, she felt sure that it had been a trick of the light.

"Kumiko, I'm sorry. There's something I've been hiding from you," Tsutomu spoke up, bringing doubt to her assumption.

"What do you mean?" she asked while Yukari grimaced.

He sighed after several seconds of silence. "It's not just her. I... I can also heal like that."

Despite all that had happened in her life, Kumiko found such a thing too farfetched to be true. "Tsutomu, tell me you're joking."

"I'm not," he insisted. "I can show you." He grabbed the switchblade off the table and, much to Kumiko's horror, aimed it at his hand just as Yukari had attempted to do earlier.

"Stop!" she cried, but her plea went ignored. Tsutomu pressed the sharp tip hard against his skin, then, with a pained grunt, dragged it along for a few centimeters. Crimson blood oozed out of the wound at a sickeningly slow speed before the unexpected happened.

The cut on Tsutomu's hand began to seal shut on its own. An already familiar hiss reached Kumiko's ears, and she could only watch with rapt attention as it faded completely, leaving behind little more than a reddish smudge.

"My God..." She turned to face Yukari, feeling as if her understanding of the world had been taken for granted. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I thought you already knew. You guys are trying to use him, aren't you?"

Kumiko glanced at Tsutomu with guilt since she was indeed taking advantage of his help to get Ichiro back. Nevertheless, it wouldn't be wise to admit to such a thing now, so she went ahead and pretended her intentions were noble.

"No, we aren't. That much is true."

Yukari leaned forward intently. "If that's the case, then what does Futoshi have to do with all of this? Hm?"

The first thing to come to Kumiko's mind was the difference in their physical ages. "He's my father," she replied, hoping that this answer would suffice. "And we can't get married until he gives his approval... as well as some money for the wedding."

"That's right!" Tsutomu added with a worrying level of enthusiasm. "The man's a tough nut to crack, but I know I'll gain his trust someday!"

Yukari's expression became one of disgust as she retreated. "So, you really are lovebirds. Gross."

"Is that a problem?" Kumiko asked in order to keep up the ruse. "Don't you think we're suited for each other?"

"Maybe, but I still don't believe everything you've said. So whether you like it or not, I'm sticking around until you prove that you can be trusted."

Kumiko suddenly felt as if she'd been doomed to a slow and painful death. She wanted to defy Yukari's wishes, yet also knew that doing so would draw more suspicion to herself.

Her hands were tied, and it seemed like her only choice would be to hope, improbable as it was, that Yukari would remain oblivious to all other supernatural goings-on.

******

Kumiko sought to ease her turmoil by turning on Futoshi's television and watching whatever engaged her the most. After sitting through an optimistic weather forecast, she switched the channel to one that was rerunning a bright and boldly colored cartoon titled Elves of the Forest.

A little girl with blonde pigtails and a pointy red hat frolicked through the snow to meet her fellow elves. Tsutomu looked away from the screen in disappointment. "Why are we watching this? We're adults."

"I know," Kumiko replied, despite her slight embarrassment. "But look at those little beings. They're so cute and innocent, just like I was when-"

"Cartoons these days look so stupid," Yukari interrupted from the other end of the couch. "Give me one of the old classics any day."

"You mean like The White Snake Enchantress?" Tsutomu suggested, naming the animated film that had been released in the late 1950s.

"No. I'm talking about Chikara to Onna no Yo no Naka. I saw it in a theater when I was eighteen."

Kumiko had a vague memory of watching that, and she smiled in amusement until a realization struck her. Yukari didn't look much older than twenty-five, so she couldn't have been around to enjoy one of the first talkie cartoons in 1933.

Unless... "Wait, how old are you?" Kumiko asked while hoping that she had just misunderstood what Yukari had said.

Yukari made intense eye contact. "Why don't you guess?"

"Uh..."

"She's seventy," Tsutomu confessed as Yukari jumped from the couch in shock. "She would have been born in 1915."

"What?" Kumiko shifted in her seat, finding this new information hard to accept. "That's impossible..."

"I would have thought the same thing once upon a time. But, now I'm here with you and-"

Yukari's smacked her forearm against the back of his head, causing him to lurch forward. "You idiot! How could you tell her that?!"

Tsutomu managed to shove her away as he straightened up and rubbed the spot of impact. "It's for the best..." He turned back towards Kumiko. "I'm not joking. She isn't much different from you, and as far as I know, that may also be true with me."

"What are you talking about? You're human."

"Not anymore. It seems I've become something different since that... strange ritual you conducted."

Kumiko remembered the night during which she'd set her bathtub on fire. Putting two and two together, she realized that if Tsutomu was impervious to age and injury, so was Ichiro.

Happiness welled up inside of her at the thought that she might never have to worry about outliving him again. They could spend as much time together as they wanted, and even if they parted again, there would always be another chance to set things right.

She faced Tsutomu, preparing herself to ask a question that she knew he'd find confronting.

"Tsutomu, how badly do you want to live?"

"Very much. Why do you ask?"

"No big reason," Kumiko lied while noticing the frown Yukari sent her way. "I just want to make sure you're at peace."

"Well, you needn't worry," Tsutomu said with a smile. "I don't intend to give up anytime soon."

"Oh. I'm glad."

The truth was that she was feeling anything but and having difficulty hiding it. She excused herself from the living room and retired into her landlord's kitchen to mull over her constantly changing fortune.

Perhaps the gods or the universe itself didn't want her to be happy. It was a sobering thought, and she wondered if there was any way to turn things around. Although she had done plenty of regrettable things in the past, she'd believed that they had been atoned for already. Was there some other lousy deed that she had forgotten about? And, if so, how much more would it take to redeem herself in the eyes of those who reigned above?

She reflected on her activities during the last war. Should I have saved more people back then? It wasn't easy finding them, but maybe I just wasn't trying hard enough...

The creak of a door sounded through the wall. Kumiko turned away from the kitchen bench, figuring that Futoshi had returned, as she straightened up and went back to pretending like she had always done.

******

"By the way, I saw this in the local convenience store and decided to buy an issue," Futoshi announced, breaking the moment of silence that had followed her telling him about what had happened earlier. "Thought it would help you out a bit."

He laid an edition of the teen magazine Junon on the bench, and her eyes widened in response to the airbrushed cover photo. It depicted a male pop idol whose glossy skin, blinding white teeth, and impeccably coiffed hair made him appear a little uncanny, so she took a step back in discomfort.

"Futoshi, is this really what young girls like these days? It's creepy..."

"Well, the store assistant told me that he's super popular. And besides, your Ichiro looks like this too!"

Kumiko approached the kitchen bench again, but she failed to see the resemblance. "I don't know what you're talking about. Ichiro is much more handsome."

"Suit yourself. I still think you should look through this for guidance." Futoshi shoved the magazine closer towards her body, so she accepted it with reluctance.

"One more question, Futoshi."

"Yes?"

"How do you know about my plan?"

He placed a hand to his chest and chuckled. "I overheard you on the phone. It wasn't hard to piece together the details."

"I see," Kumiko replied, though she couldn't help but wonder if he'd been reading her mind. After all, she wanted to believe that she had been discreet when discussing such things with Tsutomu.

"Are you sure? Tsutomu didn't tell you anything?"

"No. Nothing at all."

"Well, okay..." She took the magazine and made for the door before Futoshi sought her attention once more.

"Wait, don't go just yet!"

Kumiko turned back with a sigh. "What is it now?"

"Beware of Yukari," Futoshi whispered. "She's going to keep sticking around, so if you're not careful, she might catch wind of everything."

"Well, thanks a lot. It's not as if I haven't figured that out already..."

She passed through the door and returned to the living room, feeling offended that Futoshi would choose now of all times to treat her like a fool.

Ignoring Yukari and Tsutomu as they continued to watch Elves of the Forest, she sat on the floor and spread Junon across her lap to begin seeking inspiration. Whatever it took, she was going to prove yet again how wrong it was to underestimate her.

******

Notes: 

- Two films and one television series are referenced in this chapter. 'The White Snake Enchantress' was an adaptation of a Chinese legend and was released in 1958 as the first color anime feature.

- 'Chikara to Onna no Yo no Naka' was an anime short from 1933. It is now considered to be a lost film.

- 'Elves of the Forest' was a Christmas-themed show broadcast in Japan during late 1984 and early 1985. It followed the adventures of Elisa, a little girl who was supposed to be the granddaughter of Santa Claus.