The Eye of the Kami

When Yuki returned to the house, there was a strange commotion coming from Udea’s room. There was a large gathering of young women there. All of them appeared to be eyes. They were all shouting excitedly at one another. Some were hollering loudly, while others were screaming and stomping with rage.

“What is going on?” she wondered.

Just then, Ueda stepped up in front of her. She could now understand how he used to be a wrestler, for when he was upright, he was indeed tall and sturdy, like a tower of stone. He smiled down at her with an unusual gleam in his eye.

“Just in time little one, just in time!”

“Just in time for what, Ueda-san?” she asked nervously.

“Janken!” he replied.

“Janken?”

His eyebrows furrowed with surprise. “Have you never heard of janken?” He lifted his right hand and made the signs for rock, paper, and scissors.

“Ah!” Yuki exclaimed, now understanding the game. She surveyed the mass of girls, each of them repeating the well-known phrase, “Saisho wa gu! Janken, pon!” Upon the last word, each revealed a hand signal, either rock, paper, or scissors. Rock of course beat scissors, scissors beat paper, and paper beat rock. The winners were the ones hollering with ecstasy, while the losers stomped or threw their heads back with anger.

“There is to be a very special event held in the district tomorrow night!” Udea explained. “The arrangements have long been made, but we are still missing a Ceremonial Eye. I told the other eyes that we would have a janken tournament, and the winner would gain the right to attend.”

Yuki, who had no intention of being in this tournament, proceeded towards the stairs. But Udea saw her and called out for her. “Your imouto would be greatly honored if her eye were chosen for this event. Greatly honored! Indeed, your whole family would be honored! It would be the talk of Ishihara!”

She thought of Misasa, who had shown her so much kindness over the first few weeks of her new life here. She also thought of Rin and imagined what she would say if she won. “I’ll try,” she thought to herself. “I'll try to win for them.”

Yuki turned around just as Ueda was giving the final instructions. “Those were just for practice!” he said, his deep voice booming over the rest. “Now, we start the real thing!”

He had all the eyes divide into new pairs. There were many eyes, several dozen, so they had to use nearly all the space in his crowded room. When all was finally prepared, it grew quiet with anticipation.

“Are you ready?” Ueda shouted, lifting his thick, flabby arm. “Go!”

The room exploded with the words, “Saisho wa gu! Janken, pon!”

Yuki chose rock, and her opponent, a flat-faced entertainer, chose scissors.

“I won!” she thought and smiled.

After the noise had died down and each of the matches had finished, the losers were escorted to the edges of the room. The winners were pushed towards the middle.

“Next round!” Udea cried, his face flushed with exertion. “Ready? Go!”

“Saisho wa gu! Janken, pon!”

Yuki threw out scissors this time, and her opponent threw out paper. Another win! Yuki laughed out loud. “I can't believe it!” she cried. She had not expected to win two in a row. Yet, she had a strange feeling come over her just as she was about to choose. It was a mysterious confidence, almost as if she knew what was coming next. But that could not be it. This was a simple game of chance after all. “I'm sure I’ll lose the next one,” she thought.

However, she did not lose the next round. Yuki won the third round, and then the fourth. She could hardly believe it. Now she was standing across from the last girl, one victory away from winning it all. Surrounding them was a massive crowd of not only eyes but other girls who had heard the commotion and had come to watch. Ueda was sweating profusely, but there was elation in his eyes. He loved the thrill of competition.

Yuki stood across from her last opponent, a small eye who must have been a flower.

“The final round!” Ueda roared. “Ready? Go!”

“Saisho wa gu! Janken, pon!” Yuki threw out a paper, but to her surprise, so did her opponent. “Aiko desho!” they repeated, as was the custom in case of a tie. Rock and rock! “Aiko desho!” they screamed. Paper and paper. “Aiko desho!” Scissor and scissors! Yuki focused hard, squeezing her left hand, her offhand while preparing her right for the next skirmish. Her mind was humming, she was unable to think, just feel. “AIKO DESHO!”

Her opponent through rock. Yuki threw paper.

The room erupted with cheers, and all the other girls rushed in to surround Yukiana. For a lowly eye, such a thing was so rare it could be considered a miracle.

Misasa was there, and she pushed her way to the middle where Yuki was.

“You did it! You did it!” There was a smile on her face so wide and so pure that it made her glad that she had joined the competition after all.

Eventually, the cheering calmed down, and people dispersed, leaving Yuki and the other musicians to stay and celebrate.

“I really can't believe it!” Yuki repeated as she was showered with congratulations.

Just then, Ueda barged in, clapping his hands, reducing the cheers to silence.

“Well done!” he commended, his belly shaking with each step. “Very well done! Now, I am sure your sisters here will have you adequately prepared for tomorrow night. She is to be dressed to the hilt and nothing less! Tomorrow, the best of Ishihara will be summoned, and even the Lady herself will be there. For an eye, it should not be too hard but let me just warn you to be on your best behavior. The consequences of a mistake, even one so minor, would be disastrous for you all.” With that he lumbered away, headed towards his private chambers, cooling himself with an elaborate folding fan.

Yukiana nodded, the gravity of what she had just earned settling upon her. “At last,” she thought. Excitement mingled with fear, and it was growing inside of her. “I will finally get to meet her…”

The next twenty-four hours went by like a blur. She barely slept that night, and the following morning, her entire family had come to her room. Even the most renowned masters visited from their personal residences, all to make sure she was well prepared for the event. She quickly learned that whenever an important event was held within Ishihara, a Ceremonial Eye was always invited. It had always been this way. The reason for this was not made clear, but one of the masters seemed to think that Lady Ishihara herself had once been an observer of sorts and found the position particularly important.

“Some say she was a lowly street prostitute,” an onē-san said with a distasteful look. “Worked her way up to the top by seeing those who others turned away at.”

“Most say that she was born into nobility,” Misasa offered, rebuffing the prior notion with the tone of her voice. “She bought the district and made it what it is.”

“I heard that she is really a witch,” Rin interposed, and at this, the other voices in the room quieted for a moment. “She casts spells on her lovers and then takes their purses. That’s how she became so powerful so quickly.”

“It doesn't matter how she became the Lady,” said Misasa, as Yuki’s face showed signs of obvious fear, “What matters right now, my dear, is you. You must become the loveliest eye this district has ever seen! None here can remember the last time the musicians have produced a Ceremonial Eye. All the other families must remember that our brilliance is not found only in our fingers.”

Yuki learned that even though the Ceremonial Eye could not speak or perform any functions during the event, she did serve a significant role. She, being unable to say anything, must allow her appearance to speak for her. She was to be an example to others of the magnificence and beauty of Ishihara. Therefore, she was to be the most decadent and appealing figure in the room, second only to the Lady herself if she chose to attend. All the resources of Ishihara were suddenly available to her, including the storehouses stocked with the most beautiful and expensive clothes and jewelry money could buy. Other privileges, which were usually forbidden for an eye, were also made available on this special day.

She had spent the first half of the day taking a thorough bath. She was allowed into the sento bathhouses of Ishihara, a place usually reserved for masters or highly considered elder sisters. Misasa, being her caretaker, was also allowed to join. Both enjoyed the exquisite relaxation that the hot water provided, even though Misasa thought it necessary to give her apprentice a deep scrub down before they left.

“This is for your own good!” she said, holding back laughter as Yuki squirmed.

“But no one is going to even see my naked back!”

“It does not matter! If you feel clean, you will feel beautiful, and that beauty will radiate from every part of you that they can see!”

Despite the painful scrub, Yuki was glad she had spent time relaxing, as the process of dressing took several hours, and she had not been able to sit down once.

She had to stand still, arms outstretched, while her sisters measured, folded, tucked, and finally dressed her in the myriad of layers that made up the formal kimono. She would wear a furisode, which was a type of kimono distinguished by the long sleeves which draped down almost to the floor. It was elegant and subtly sensual. While several sisters were busy dressing her, others brushed, trimmed, and styled her hair. Still, others painted her white face white, the creases around her eyes black, and her lips a strong crimson. Time was quickly approaching, and they needed every hand that could be offered. They crowded around her like a swarm of bees.

Misasa stood by, watching the process unfold. For being a younger sister, she was enjoying the respect that came with having her apprentice receive such a high honor. She shouted directions over the din and even the masters had to abide by her word. It was she who chose the final and most important layer of Yukiana’s dress. It was a stunning silk kimono, dyed a deep violet, with the pattern of the glittering night sky etched into it.

“They will remember this night!” she said, staring at Yuki with approval. “If only because they saw you!”

The girls tied her obi and then had her slip into okobo, wooden shoes that were distinctively tall, adding several inches to her height. They had her practice walking around in them until she was well-balanced.

“Don’t worry!” Misasa said encouragingly, as Yuki gingerly took one step after another. “Once you are inside, you will leave them at the entrance, and slip into indoor geta, which are much easier.”

Yuki smiled with relief. “All right,” she said, exhaling slowly. “I suppose I am ready.”

Up until that point she had not been able to see herself in the mirror. Her sisters forbade it, saying that it was bad luck to look upon oneself until fully dressed.

“Wait!” Misasa commanded. “One last thing!” She strode up to her apprentice and then leaned forward clasping a thin chain around her neck. Yuki looked down. It was a large pearl on a silver necklace. It reminded her of her mother’s magatama which she had lost when Kondo had taken her. The thought made her want to cry, though she held down the impulse.

“May it bring you all the luck you need tonight!” Misasa said proudly, standing back to admire her apprentice one last time. “All right. Show her!”

A few of the girls turned the full-length mirror with a whirl so that Yukiana was finally able to see herself. What she saw caused her to step back.

“Is that really me?” she whispered, as she took herself in. She appeared so changed that it was almost frightening. They had made her utterly beautiful, so beautiful that it bordered on terrible. She could barely recognize herself. She was as tall and lean as a spear. Her face was a milky white and her hair a shimmering jet black, like the deep ocean at night. Her eyes were like onyx gemstones, set inside smooth porcelain, and her lips as red as fresh blood, but painted as delicately as from a calligrapher. Her flowing kimono made her seem unearthly, like an angelic being. If she had seen herself in a hall full of people, there was not a chance her eyes would have noticed anything else. She had become the embodiment of all the girls’ collective beauty, and yet, she was still herself.

“She is still missing something...” Misasa murmured, rubbing her chin anxiously.

“I have it,” one of the masters said, stepping forward from the back. She held in her hands her own shamisen. She stepped forward and offered it to Yuki with a bow. It was the most beautiful shamisen Yuki had ever seen. It was crafted out of dark polished oak with a long, sensuous neck. The pegs were made of ivory, and the skin over the body was taught and freshly waxed so that it gleamed in the candlelight. She also was given the fan-like plectrum, or bachi as it was called, and it too was made of white ivory.

“I cannot accept this,” Yukiana contested, attempting to refuse these weighty gifts.

“Nonsense,” the master replied, who was three times her senior. “You may not have to play it, but you represent us. Let them know a musician was among the lords of the Islands tonight.”

“Lords?” Yuki asked, her voice cracking with panic.

“Don’t worry,” Misasa chimed in hurriedly. She wore a guilty look on her face.

“What do you mean, don't worry?” Yuki cried, growing angry. If there were going to be daimyō in attendance this evening, she wanted to at least be prepared for it.

“You shouldn't worry about who will be in attendance tonight...”

“But I want to know! I have a right to know!”

Misasa seemed nervous, and her eyes darted to her superiors and then back to Yuki.

“Tell her then. It may be better to know in advance than be surprised,” the master who had given Yuki the shamisen said calmly.

“We do not know for sure,” Misasa prefaced, “But rumor has it that…”

Yuki nodded anxiously, trying to prompt her mentor to finally tell her.

“All of the great daimyō are supposed to be there tonight.” Misasa looked ill as she finally got it out. “It is to be a Council of Lords.”

Yuki nearly shrieked. “All of the great daimyō will be there tonight?”

Misasa’s eyes told her that there was something else.

“What? Don’t tell me the Shōgun is supposed to come too?”

She winced.

Yuki’s jaw dropped. “It can’t be…”

“These are just rumors,” her mentor repeated, “We still cannot say for certain.”

Yukiana felt faint. Her other sisters noticed this and rushed to support her. She was able to recline in their arms, but her mind was spinning.

Misasa stepped forward, her face hard. “It matters not who attends tonight. You are the Ceremonial Eye! You will observe it! Do you understand?”

Yuki had not heard Misasa speak this harshly since the night of her first observation. She summoned her strength and stood up once again. “I will observe it,” she forced herself to say. At this, all her other sisters in the room bowed to her simultaneously. From that moment on, there was no turning back.