Part 9

And then that old raccoon ran into the middle of the road, and you were so bloated with rage, you kicked out at it too.

I… what are you saying?

You kicked it, and it bit you. Ha! You forgot all about me. Off you went, screaming after it, limping across the road, through the clearing, and into the woods.

No. That’s not what…

I followed you, Hachirou – dear Hachirou, sweetheart Hachirou – oh how I detest your name. You were so single-minded that, despite your limp, you caught up with that raccoon, cornered it in its hollow, and stomped the poor thing to death.

No. I… I saw it four times. And, for my sins, it was you I killed in those woods. For which I am truly sorry, Yasuko.

You weren’t even aware I had followed you, such was your fury. And you were still holding that damn beer box full of my dolls – apart from this one, my last kokeshi doll, which had fallen out onto the road during the scuffle. You kicked that poor animal to death, a fate it did not deserve. It was I who lost control at that point, for the very first time in my married life. I said to you, Hachirou, do you know why my lover bought me this doll?

Lover?

Because it opens… like so… and it conceals this.

A knife?

And before you had even caught your breath, I placed this knife between your shoulder blades. You dropped, clawing at the branches, but even they denied you the right to place your hands on them. You fell forward onto your front.

But it was I who… who killed you.

Perhaps you planned to. I don’t doubt it. Who will ever know? You are so full of self-deception, dearest. I knelt beside you. Your face was turned to the side, going purple. You were struggling for breath, and I wanted the final thing you saw to be that last kokeshi doll, the one my lover bought, so you would remember it forever in the afterlife.

Really, I might have known you would try to haunt me if you could. You always demanded the last word. But they say a revenant only lingers when it has not resolved the mystery of its death. So I apologize, Hachirou. Knifing you while your back was turned was convenient for me, I confess, but it seems to have thrown you off a bit.

Still, I’m glad to have been of assistance in clearing things up for you.

Now get out of here, former husband, for I am quite tired, and since you passed, I am getting used to a good night’s sleep – protected by all my dolls. Stay, go, do whatever; it really does not matter, for, Hachirou, you no longer haunt me in life.