Chapter 12

Seeking an Explanation

During the three years elapsed since Sen and Chihiro began to become mutually aware of each other, the Ogino household became increasingly concerned about the wonderful and sometimes frightening things happening to Chihiro. The license plate incident was the first of several instances making it appear that Chihiro was developing supernatural abilities.

Sen, on the other hand, considered the connection in a completely positive light. For Sen, it was an opportunity to do something few spirits in the world could do: learn to think and read with her host's comprehension. During those three years, Sen began to be able to think in complete Japanese sentences and read everything Chihiro could read--and more. While Chihiro might be looking for a particular entry in a character dictionary, Sen could observe the entire page and absorb much of it. Sen could even think in the foreign languages--English and German--Chihiro learned in school. Though not anywhere nearly as strong, the communication path did work the other way. Sen could transmit her thoughts to Chihiro in subtle ways, mostly when Chihiro was both awake and relaxed, but the hairband really helped open things up.

On most days when the weather permitted, Chihiro and Sen would venture around the neighborhood. Sen would be able to interact with other spirits: human, animal, vegetable, and occasional inanimate objects. Chihiro wasn't aware of what she was doing, but Sen was influencing her to help the spirits achieve calm. She might water a thirsty plant, turn a forlorn rock 90 degrees counterclockwise, or scratch the neighbor's dog behind his ear at just the right place. They were little things, but her corner of the world was just a bit more contented than it would have been without her.

In the meantime, Hideki and Haku were having a totally different experience. Both were fully and mutually aware of each other ever since the incident on the bridge at Ochanomizu. As he was the first-ever fusion of river spirit and human, their mutual capabilities were unique. Haku, however, did have a limitation. His river sensibilities were goal-oriented, so he never allowed himself or Hideki the opportunity to relax. Hideki set out to be the best at everything, so he could overcome the black scuff mark his father left on him and his family name. He was determined to succeed in life and win the hand of Chihiro when the time was right. Haku was determined to help Hideki toward that end, because it also meant Sen would be able to rejoin him.

Shortly after her 18th birthday, Chihiro experienced her first truly disturbing spirit encounter. She was playing with the neighbor's male Samoyed named Taro. She knew Taro since she moved in and was very fond of him. Sen interacted with Taro's spirit as well, preferring him to any other spirit in the 20 or 30 meter radius of interaction. On this day, Sen immediately became aware that something was terribly wrong. [Taro! Where is Taro?] Suddenly Sen cried out [Taro is DEAD! Taro is DEAD!]. Taro's spirit, for some reason unknown to Sen, had died. Chihiro felt depressed suddenly, but didn't know why. She went into her house.

"Tadaima" (I'm home) Chihiro announced automatically.

"O Kaeri" (Welcome home) her mother replied automatically, without looking up from the newspaper. "How was your evening walk?"

"Taro is dead," Chihiro replied automatically.

"WHAT!!?? The Yamadas' dog is dead?

Chihiro snapped out of her depressed glaze. "Huh? No--he's fine. I just petted him a minute ago."

"What did you just mean when you said Taro was dead?"

Chihiro, confused, asked "Did I say that?"

"Very clearly."

The incident was forgotten for the moment, but over the next few weeks Taro appeared increasingly listless. Chihiro asked the neighbor about Taro. Mr. Yamada was concerned about Taro's lack of appetite and loss of interest in taking walks around the neighborhood. Barely another month had passed before Taro died quietly in his sleep. He just seemed to lose the will to continue living.

Chihiro was both devastated at the loss and terrified of the implications. Did she wish Taro dead? Did she have some precognitive power? In her efforts to put together a plausible reason, things began to click together. She remembered the opening lines of Professor Natori's lecture years ago: "All living creatures are born with a spirit. When the spirit dies, the host usually loses the will to live and death soon follows."

Chihiro needed to get more information about Professor Natori's philosophies and theories. After doing a bit of research, Chihiro learned quite a bit about the old Professor--but nothing further on the topic of spirits. She learned from an old issue of Women's Friend that 'Mrs. Yukiko Natori' was neither her birth nor married name, that she never married as she often claimed, and that it was a mystery whether she had a twin sister or not. She also learned that Professor Natori was a renowned expert on primitive sociology, but there was a massive dichotomy between her speaking and her published works. Everything Chihiro found with Professor Natori as the author was in professional journals. She never wrote anything for lay publications nor did she have a particularly interesting literary style. What she found written by others about Professor Natori's speaking engagements was amazing. Those people who wrote as members of the audience used glowing terms for her 'brilliance' and 'charisma.' Those who wrote as reviewers of recordings or transcriptions (both were forbidden, but it went on anyway) used less glowing terms--though they generally described her talks as 'interesting' and 'substantive.' Even when she found an Internet site that held the bootleg transcripts of nearly all of her speaking engagements, the one Chihiro attended was the only lecture where she dwelled on the topic of spirits. Chihiro had to try to get a personal session with Professor Natori...