Sengatake Village After Two Years
Hinami Sakuradani has returned to Sengatake Village.
It's been about two years since she last returned home. The tranquil scenery of Sengatake Village hasn't changed in the slightest. Left behind by the rapid economic growth, there's a murky atmosphere from the early Showa period.
The city of Tokyo changed in just one year. Urban development is progressing at a dizzying pace. In the mountain village of Sengatake, the flow of time is stagnant.
The prewar buildings are still in use. Wooden utility poles, rusty iron signs, and dirt gravel roads. There are no outside lights installed, and the village is plunged into darkness once the sun sets.
"What's Mother's condition...? Why...? Is it an accident? What on earth happened? Since when hasn't she regained consciousness...!?"
In the middle of the night on February 24, 1975, Hinami took the semi-express train [Yamabiko] and a shuttle service, and finally arrived at [Sakuradani-kan] in Sengatake Village, where her mother, who was in critical condition, was sleeping.
The Tohoku Shinkansen bullet train line opened six years later in 1972. At that time, Kakuei Tanaka, who had advocated remodeling the Japanese archipelago, was disgraced in a political scandal, and the plan for a railroad network connecting the capital and the provinces was under a cloud. The project to extend the line from Ueno, Tokyo would have had to wait until 1985.
A huge journey that took more than a day from Ueno, Tokyo. It was even more difficult than returning to Japan from Germany, where she was studying abroad.
"Mother...! Wake up...! It's me! I'm back in Japan! Open your eyes! Mother...!!"
Hinami tragically reunites with her sleeping mother in the [detached building] where she spent her childhood.
Her mother, whom she met for the first time in two years, is as motionless as a corpse. Hinami, who was running towards her, was stopped by a servant girl.
"Please calm down...! Please, Hinami Ojousama! The proprietress' condition is stable...! The doctor will give you an explanation first."
Ran, an apprentice, is a lovely twelve-year-old girl who looks good in a crimson kimono.
Just two months before Hinami entered a girls' school in Tokyo, she started working at the hot spring inn. Since then, she has been working as a live-in worker for two years. She switched places with Hinami, who had left the village. She wouldn't tell her the details, but she was a runaway girl who didn't go to school for a reason.
"I'm sorry... I had no idea that something like this would happen...! I... I was worried that I didn't get a reply from Mother, but... this is...!"
Ran, who gently comforts the extremely distraught Hinami, is a girl about four or five years younger than her. Just as her tears were drying, Hinami looked down in embarrassment.
"It's not your fault, Ojousama...! Please raise your head!!"
She has no intention of showing off her education. However, Ran, who was engaged in simple labor at an inn in a rural village, is more mature than her, who gained experience studying abroad.
Her own worthlessness is infuriating. Hinami bit her lower lip and remained silent.
"I totally understand how you feel. Yukiko-san is the only immediate family member that Hinami-chan has. It's understandable if you received such a telegram. I should have chosen my words better. I'm sorry."
Reiko Misaki, a young female doctor who works at a clinic in Sengatake Village, narrows her eyes apologetically. It was she who sent the telegram to Hinami.
(My mother is my only immediate family... That's right. My father is no longer here... I should have understood that my father died in the fire, but I never really realized it until now.)
It was a few months after Hinami entered a boarding school for girls and left Japan to study in Germany. On July 7, 1974, Saemon Sakuradani was burned to death in a forest fire.
When Hinami learned of her father's death in a letter, she tried to rush back to Japan, but her mother stopped her, saying it was unnecessary.
(After all, I haven't even given incense yet, let alone at my father's funeral. It's already been two years since my father died in a fire...)
There is a small mountain at the back of [Sakuradani-kan], which was built along the valley. There is an old shrine called Oni Tengu Shrine at the top of the mountain. She has been told that it has been managed by the Sakuradani family for a long time.
(That old shrine also burned down. It was because of a forest fire caused by the construction company's clumsiness... But it's better to stop saying bad things about the people who died. Even if you keep it to yourself...)
The cause of the forest fire that killed Saemon was the carpenters he commissioned to repair the shrine. It was blamed on an old lawn mower, but it was rumored that it was actually littered with cigarette butts. In other words, it's a misfire.
The flames spread in the blink of an eye, burning down the wooden Oni Tengu Shrine, burning not only Saemon but also the carpenters to death.
The great tragedy that occurred on July 7th two years ago. However, the public's attention was focused on the damage caused by the [Tanabata heavy rains] that hit central Honshu, and the fires in the countryside were treated as little more than a corner of local newspapers.
Hinami's heart ached when she thought of her mother, who was the only one left behind.
Yukiko and Saemon's marital relationship was good. Even as a daughter, she thought with a smile that the term [Oshidori couple] refers to exactly those two people.
In order to comfort her mother, who was probably depressed, Hinami sent many letters from Germany. At first, she got a reply which made her feel relieved. However, about six months ago, she stopped receiving letters about her mother's current status.
"It was exactly a week ago that she fell into a coma. It was the day that Hinami-chan returned to Japan. The employee on cleaning duty found her collapsed in the open-air bath. She seemed to be not feeling well lately. So I guess she thought Yukiko-san had developed anemia. But even after she let her rest, she never woke up, so I was called in."
"And Mother hasn't woken up this whole time?"
"We took her to the village clinic and examined her, but... there was no trauma to her body that would put her in a coma... An apprentice is taking care of her in the detached room.''
"Why? Shouldn't we take her to a big hospital for a thorough examination?"
"A thorough examination was conducted at my clinic. There were no external injuries to Yukiko-san's body. No abnormalities were found. It was caused by external factors such as slipping and hitting her head. That doesn't seem to be the case. In other words, it may be due to mental shock or anxiety."
"...? Mental shock or anxiety? In other words, is it a mental illness?"
Reiko's gaze wanders around, as if she's worried about how to tell Hinami. She feels like she is being reluctant to give an answer, and she feels very anxious.
"Yukiko-san collapsed in the open-air bath... So, the apprentices who work at Sakuradani-kan already know about it. Ran-chan, too, of course."
From Reiko's words, it seems that Ran also knows the situation. Hinami felt like she was the only one treated like a child.
"As a doctor, I will tell Hinami-chan because you are family. Could you please take a look at Yukiko-san's body first?"
As she said that, Reiko pulled up the sleeping Yukiko's blanket. She was wearing an undershirt and a traditional Japanese-style nightgown. There was nothing out of the ordinary about her.
"Um...? Reiko-san?"
The bloated chest area remains the same as before. Although she is tall with long legs, the bulge in her kimono makes Yukiko look fat.
"When she wears clothes like this, it doesn't really stand out, but I wonder if you can tell to some extent... Her stomach area is swollen, right? Yuiko-san is pregnant."
"Eh...? Yes?"
She only notices it when it's pointed out to her. Now that she mentions it, there's a bulge in her lower abdomen. She went out of her way to warm it up with a belly wrap.
"Yukiko-san is pregnant. Would you understand if I told you that she has Hinami-chan's sibling in her stomach?"
"Mother is pregnant...!? But... ehh?"
"Ran-chan noticed that her lower abdomen was swollen when she was dressing Yukiko-san. I didn't think it would happen, but we did a test at the clinic, so it wasn't a misdiagnosis. I listened to the fetal heartbeat with a stethoscope. There is a baby in Yukiko-san's womb."
"That's... Mother is...! That's absolutely impossible. After all, Father died in a forest fire two years ago...!!"
"Yeah... I know. That's why everyone is so surprised. The baby in Yukiko-san's belly is not Saemon-san's child. There's no way she is pregnant with the child of someone who died two years ago. It's impossible to do that due to the timing. Yukiko-san got pregnant last year. Considering the growth of the fetus, she's about five to six months pregnant."
"That's a lie! It's impossible for Mother to be pregnant...!"
The comatose mother was pregnant. She was told a shocking truth and Hinami was left speechless.
Even the maiden Hinami knows how to have children. She ends up staring at her mother's abdomen, where she is pregnant.
(Mother is pregnant...!? Is that possible? But who...? Who is it? Mother is having a baby with a man other than Father...? I can't imagine it! But... she didn't reply to my letters... is it for that reason...?)
It was exactly six months ago that she stopped hearing from her mother. The timing is right around the time she got pregnant. Hinami didn't want to believe it, but if 2 years had passed since her father died, it was possible that she would meet someone to marry again.
(Mother is 34 years old this year... She's not young, but that doesn't mean she can't. After all, Father died in a forest fire. My single mother is with a new man...?)
The feeling swirling inside Hinami was the thought of [That mother who was so in love with Father...]. She doesn't call it betrayal or anything, but she is distressed by the fact that she became pregnant with a different man's child. She felt like venting her resentment, thinking that she should have at least told her daughter herself.
"Hinami-chan. Are you alright? Have you calmed down?"
"Who's baby is it…? Mother's baby, whose is it?"
"I see. Hinami-chan really doesn't have any idea either. You have no idea how Yukiko-san got pregnant. The apprentices working at the inn hadn't noticed at all. Ran-chan was so surprised that even she was shocked."
"I didn't know she was pregnant until I saw her belly when she collapsed in the open-air bath. I think she hid it from us. To me... to Hinami Ojousama..."
"I want to ask her who the child is with, but Yukiko-san is in this state, and she shows no sign of waking up. We should wait for him to come forward. Rumors of Yukiko’s collapse have spread throughout the village. Sengatake Village is a small village. I’m sure the father is someone in the village"
"...Um, Reiko-san. Can't you do some medical research?"
"With current technology, it's almost impossible. We can narrow it down based on blood type, but that won't be possible until after the child is born."
In the 1970s, it was known that the human genetic structure, that is, DNA, was a double helix. Dr. James Watson and Dr. Francis Crick, who discovered this fact, were awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1967. However, there was no established method to identify individuals or blood relatives using DNA.
The paper on DNA fingerprinting was published in 1984, and we have to wait for Dr. Alec Jeffries' groundbreaking discovery. Subsequently, it was not until 1985 that DNA typing was put to practical use by the Japanese police.
Reiko's words were correct. There was no technology to diagnose it before birth, and even with the most advanced medical technology, it was unclear whose child Yukiko was pregnant with.
The population of Sengatake Village is approximately 500 people. The candidate would be one of the men living in the village. If not, he must be a guest at the hot spring inn, Sakuradani-kan.
[Introduction of characters]
▼ Yukiko Sakuradani
The young proprietress of Sakuradani-kan, a long-established hot spring inn.
She lost her husband and became a widow. She is raped by someone from Sengatake Village and she becomes pregnant.
▼ Saemon Sakuradani (deceased)
Yukiko's late husband. Burn to death in a fire.
▼ Hinami Sakuradani
Yukiko and Saemon's only daughter. She left Sengatake Village and entered a girls' school in Tokyo. Until recently, she was studying abroad.
She reunites with her mother for the first time in two years and is told that she is pregnant.
▼ Misaki Reiko
A female doctor who works at a clinic in Sengatake Village. She diagnoses that Yukiko is pregnant.
▼ Ran
An apprentice who works at Sakuradani-kan. She is a twelve-year-old girl, but she does not go to school.
[Records of Sengatake Village]
▽ 1974
July 7th: Saemon Sakuradani dies in a fire.
▽ 1975
A certain day in September: Yukiko Sakuradani becomes pregnant due to the rape demon's seed.
▽ 1976
February 24th: Hinami returns home and is told that her mother, Yukiko, is pregnant.
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