Three days... three days are nothing, and an eternity. So what about five years?

Five years are a straight line without any bumps, a line with no end in sight. Behind, there are only similar days, left to pile up and merge. I walk along this long avenue, briskly, without stopping, rarely looking back, in good company... if I dare say :

Hinami's cheeks are red. She's out of breath, her eyes shining with mischief.

- I won! You're paying the takoyaki tomorrow!

I don't answer, out of energy. We've raced to the top of the elevation, I can now look down at the town cuddling to the mountain side, at the bottom of the stairs. What a climb. Her proposal caught me off guard, and before I could retort, this cheat was already about twenty steps ahead. Her challenges always worked to her advantage. It's her opportunistic and prankster side, but I like her too much to hold it against her.

- Is this what you call a shortcut?

- I assure you it's better than going the way round, look: we're going down this side. To go to school, I used to come up here, then down to the station where we arrived this morning. Everybody takes the road now. Nobody uses this passage any more. It's disappearing, slowly. You can't even notice it from the village...

I take a good look at the panorama, which the surrounding vegetation devours for the most part. However, we can still make out the peak that rises on our right, and the shallow valley that cuts into its sides. The village of Hinami lies against the foothills on one side. On the other, I know that the railway and the county road share the banks of the river. We are on an island of nature, wedged between the marks of our civilisation. The steep slopes, the heights that reach for the sky, are the elevated corners of the country that still breathe, that the tarmac has not yet had the audacity to invade. I notice:

- The stairs are in bad shape.

- The Chinjusha is no longer being looked after. My grandmother was the last one who found the courage to come up here to clean the little god's hotel.

She walks towards the wooden hut in question with restrained impatience. The boards are worm-eaten, tiles are missing, the walls are sagging and the pillars supporting the structure are being swallowed by the weeds. This small temple has been forgotten, people no longer come to pray there, they no longer worship its tutelary kami. The lack of nursing makes it mysterious. Men abandoned it. The temple is sinking into the shadows of the grove, echoes their whispers. It becomes disembodied, metamorphoses. This place is calm, serene, far from the tumult of the streets, the hustle and bustle of the cities. The house lets live pass by, breathes in silence, does not care about the years that numb it and take it away from our memories.

- Hinami?

- Hmmm?

- Did you come here often?

- With my grandmother, yes. This was our sanctuary, our secret garden, a garden full of attentive ears. The village's chinjugami sleeps here, when we come to see him, he peers at us and listens to our thoughts, to pass them on to those we miss the most.

Her eyes scatter around as much as she talks. Hinami seems to be looking for something. She then gives up and closes her eyes in resignation. She claps her hands three times before joining them and bowing.

- Chinjugami-sama, it's been a long time since I last came to see you. Obaa-san left almost two years ago now. She was always worried about me, asking me if I was eating my meals properly, if I had enough of everything. She still worries I think, so if you could tell her... I'm doing well at school, I eat well, laugh a lot, also cry, sometimes. I like the orphanage. Well, it's not fun every day, and I had to do a lot of efforts of good conduct to be allowed to come here today. Because, as you know, Obaa-san, I'm not very sensible. I'm too talkative, too restless, too assertive, too stubborn, reckless, a bit silly... Always too much. It's rare for our supervisors to not have something to say about me… but I'm never alone. I have good friends, Chihiro never leaves my side. So don't worry, Obaa-san, and keep looking after me, just a little bit, please.

She stands up and bows one last time.

- Thank you so much, Chinjugami-sama!

I stand still, staring pensively into the distance. She leans in front of me, pulling me out of my reverie.

- And thank you, for accompanying me!

I answer her with a smile and a nod. She pouts, and continues.

- And… what about you?

A little confused, I repeat:

- What about me?

- Yes, you. Don't you want to send a message to your parents? The chinjugami delivers our words...

I hesitate, questioning her with a raised eyebrow. Faced with her approving look, I give in, clap my palms twice and join them in turn. I try to concentrate, to come up with something that would feel important, then lose track of my thoughts. I find it odd to pray, when I am sure that the kami are indeed there to hear me. No sound passes my lips, no idea crosses my mind. I remain motionless and mute.

A bit less than three years ago, my parents died in a car accident. My father was convinced that he had absolute control over everything, the road especially...

I miss them both very much. The first few months, I was devastated, inconsolable, listless. I have no close relatives, no one to look after me. The solution presented itself when a distant friend of my mother's showed up at the funeral, presented herself as the co-director of a youth centre in my old town.

I can feel Hinami's gaze on the back of my neck. Impatience is her greatest fault, she ends up breathing in my ear.

- What's taking you so long? Do you want us to miss the train?

- Hinami...

- It's not that complicated, is it? Besides, I said everything out loud, I have the right to listen to you too, don't I?

She crosses her arms, sulking. I shake my head, defeated by her childishness and my indecision.

- I don't know Hinami, I don't know what to say to them.

I'm embarrassed to admit it. I wring my hands and stare at my feet, a poor smile stuck at the corners of my lips.

- I really don't know.

When I decide to look her in the face, she spreads her eyelids wide, her eyebrows disappear under her fringes, then her astonishment is followed by exasperation. She grabs my hand and we turn towards the temple.

- Chinjugami-sama! One last favour please!

She almost screams, still inflating her lungs.

- I have a message for Chihiro's parents : she's doing fine!

Her grip tightens around my fingers, I listen, surprised.

- She's fine, and I'm watching over her, as she watches over me. She's fine, but watch over us all the same! We are not well-behaved children!

She gives me a big mischievous smile, before pulling me behind her at a run.

- We'll miss the train now! Let's hurry!

- Don't run, it's dang...

Too late, she has taken us across the esplanade and we are at the top of the second ruined staircase. My own misgivings vanish and I let myself be led down a perilous slide. Our hands still clasped, we tumble down the stairs. Our legs, weighing down from the climb, are completely out of control. I don't even feel them anymore, I can't distinguish the uncertain support of my feet. I slip, Hinami catches me. I don't dare breathe for fear that my exhale may break my balance. The speed makes my hair fly. The dirt path that leads to the road is zooming in, too fast. The wind whistles in my ears, a scream stays stuck in my throat. On the last few steps, only luck saves us from a painful crash. Once at the bottom I am unable to slow down and stumble. I hit into my friend's shoulder, we crash together. The shock is brutal, I catch myself with my arms, not far from Hinami.

My knees and wrists are scraped, but the worst has been avoided. We catch our breath, face down, and at the first exchange of glances, we burst out laughing. The tension suddenly relieved.

It's good to be alive, and to share it with others, with friends. If Mum and Dad are looking after me, I think I've just given them a good sweat.

We stand up, finally calmed down, and stare at each other again: dishevelled, and incorrigible, but in one piece.

Hinami takes one last look behind her, a nostalgic gleam in her eye.

- My grandmother used to say that it is the visits that keep the chinjusha alive, that our stares at it legitimize its presence in this world, that our prayers allow it to keep a connection with people. She asked me to maintain this connection once she was gone, not to forget where I came from. I didn't want to keep it just for myself, and have it disappear. As she shared it with me, I wanted you to discover it, so that the kami would feel a little less alone, a little less abandoned.

- It's sad that you say it that way.

I pause.

- I'm sure your grandmother is keeping him company. He's not alone.

I smile.

- She must have been happy to see you. I'm glad I came.

- SYeah, right, she must be! Come on, let's go, there's no time left.

We join the road, then leap down to the station, when the train arrives, we get on board. I take a sit to the window, and Hinami takes the one right next to me.

Let's go home.