The garden was flanked by the Estate’s other two main buildings, creating a kind of open-ended square. When he had first arrived, Yukiko had shown David the dojo and workshop. She had explained that the Matsumotos were both sword makers and masters of kendo—the Japanese martial art focusing the use of swords. The Estate also contained a few other odd buildings, sheds, and mysteries David had yet to explore.
He spent hours of his free time sitting among the garden’s trees, trying not to worry about his little sister and father. Jessica was probably busy keeping their eccentric father from blowing himself up with his latest experiment.
‘But I’m not there to keep her out of trouble. Maybe that’s why I swung at that bastard Koji.’ David thought as the gate’s doors closed behind him.
As the car pulled around the front of the house, the old man David knew only as Grandpa came out to meet them. He stood tall despite his advanced age. His jet-black hair lightly streaked with gray, Grandpa had a ready smile and an energy that made him seem far younger than his eighty-five years. When they had first met, David had thought him only in his early fifties. It had taken him nearly two weeks to figure out that ojiisan was not a title or even his name. It was Grandpa in Japanese. The old man smiled, radiating gentleness and a deep but secret wisdom as he walked forward to meet the car.
“よかった、おじいさんは ちょうど 準備が終わったところだ,” Masao said in his usual fast Japanese. As usual, David struggled and failed to comprehend a word. Masao tended to be clipped and direct, his words aimed with precision, especially when at his children. To David’s surprise, Masao turned around again in his seat and stared at David. Beside him, the twins froze. “ダビッド君は日本のこと分からないな. 明日か ら 手ほどきしよう.”
Luckily, Yukiko was nearly always ready to interpret. As a nurse and she had been required to study foreign languages and her English was impeccable. She was constantly trying to make David feel more comfortable. After a few more words between her and Masao, she turned to David.
“David, do you want to see something special tomorrow?” Yukiko asked.
“Sure,” he answered. It was not often that the Matsumotos extended invitations to him, and he had noticed extra work going on around the Estate the last few days.
“Grandpa has just finished his preparations to begin a new sword. As part of that process, tomorrow morning we will have a ceremony at the Matsumoto shrine. Please come.” Yukiko smiled as warmly as ever. “It’s nice to be able to invite you to a family event few outsiders have ever seen.”
David smiled. The pain from his hand and bruises momentarily forgotten, he looked out at the lively old man. David never knew if Grandpa understood him. He always stared until David broke down and attempted Japanese. Although he had only known him for a short time, and did not speak the same language, Grandpa made him feel like part of the family.
“とても 面白いですよ. 君はこの儀式を見る初めての外国人だよ,” Takumi said. Takumi occasionally tried to use the English he had picked up during his first year of junior high, but normally just settled for speaking his usual quick Japanese. When David gave one of his usual stares of incomprehension, Takumi added a lot of gesturing. Rie was a bit more helpful as she generally tried to speak more slowly.
“ダビッド君、 いっしょに 行こうか,” Rie added, opening the car door. The twins were interesting. Unfortunately, the language and cultural barriers had kept David from getting to know them. As they got out of the car, David felt another twinge of loneliness. He missed having his sister around. She was two years younger and often annoying, but Jessica knew him better than anyone else did.
Rie reminded him of her a little bit. Shorter than David, she was thin and willowy, yet had a grace and strength born from constant competition with Takumi in both martial arts and school. With long black hair and deep brown eyes, Rie had her mother’s looks and poise, yet giggled at the strangest moments. Takumi, with jagged short black hair and wearing a badminton shirt, looked like he had just stepped out of a sports wear commercial. Strongly muscled yet still lean and lithe, Takumi was a study in contradictions. Serious at the Estate, he remained confident and driven at school, but was also as entertaining as any of their classmates.
David slowly slid out behind Takumi. He was taller and wider than the twins, with skin that had never tanned since he had preferred staying indoors in Arizona. In school and town, his skin, hair, and lack of Japanese were all obvious signs that singled him out as a gaijin, a foreigner. In Japan, being a gaijin literally meant you were an “outside person.” It was not only David’s looks that set him apart. David hated how he seemed to lumber along, his lack of coordination all the more apparent next to the twins.
As heirs to the Matsumoto name and Estate, Rie and Takumi both practiced kendo every morning. As junior high school students in Japan, they were expected to participate in afterschool activities as well. Since Nakano was a relatively small town that meant sports. Both Rie and Takumi played on the school badminton team. The confidence and ability they possessed from their martial arts and sports activities came out in every step they took. Takumi had invited David to both activities, but David preferred sleeping in as late as possible.
After a week of David replying, “Maybe tomorrow,” Takumi had given up. Rie had more luck, introducing David to badminton with an almost grim determination on weekend afternoons. With plenty of time to sleep in, David was far more willing to go outside and hit a shuttle around behind the dojo.
“ちょっと待ってダビッド君,” Rie called from the car as David limped for the house. His own name at least, though “Japanized” David understood. Stopping to think, Rie screwed up her face into a mask of concentration, until, giving up she turned to her mother. Yukiko hefted her shopping bag and a quick stream of Japanese flowed between them before an elegant pivot of her head brought him back into their conversation.
“The day before a ceremony, Rie and Takumi must help prepare,” Yukiko said. “Unfortunately, only the Matsumotos and their apprentices may do these things. Rie says she is sorry that they were unable to stop the students who hurt you. Shall we go have a better look at your wounds before I start dinner?”
Guiding David to the main door, Yukiko stopped to give an elegantly low bow to Grandpa. Smiling warmly, Grandpa seemed to ignore David’s disheveled state as he slapped his shoulder, jostling David’s hand. With a laugh as David blinked through the pain, Grandpa joined Masao and the twins as they walked around the left side of the house for the workshop.
That night David lay awake for a long time. He looked around his darkened room, considering his life.
‘I can’t believe how strange the Matsumoto’s reactions always are,’ he thought as sleep eluded him. ‘They all but ignored the fight. I wasn’t grounded or in any trouble. Back in the States, I probably would have been expelled.’
Anger surged again within him. David had recovered his picture, but it was dirty and scratched. Koji would pay for that.
‘Not with my family,’ he thought. Even as his rage solidified into a hard knot of determination in his chest, the shame of his injury froze it to a brittle shell.
Alone in the back corner of the main house, David was in the only four-walled bedroom. His refuge and island of western culture now seemed an isolated prison cell.
‘And the twins would probably rather die than be seen with me,’ he thought as sleep finally claimed him.
The Shrine
April,
Is it not funny how connected existence is with anticipation? If you do not know about something, if it does not exist for you, then there is no anticipation. Yet