"Those of us in the inner circle of the church are eagerly anticipating Patron's sermon, which will be the climax of the conference. We have the deepest gratitude and respect for Patron for undergoing the emotional and physical strain involved in concentrating as deeply as he is now. This intense concentration every day makes his eyes overly sensitive to light, thus the dark glasses. Despite this sensitivity, Patron has been kind enough to join us here today. He's doing this because there are two points he'd like to make clear to you. They are as follows: "Item one is that our church is not being threatened by any opposing groups. I'm sure all of you have read this in the newspapers and elsewhere, but a combative stance by a radical faction over certain issues led to the sacri- fice of a person very dear to us, Guide; these issues, however, have been partly resolved.
"The so-called former radical faction, people who were at the Izu Re- search Institute, are here now, devoting themselves to building our new church. Dr. Koga is one of these people, which should give you an idea of the sort of group we're talking about. So rest assured there's no danger of any attack by an opposing group that will throw the summer conference into confusion. Nevertheless, we do want to take precautions regarding security. In this regard we're receiving help from a local organization called the Fireflies.
"Item two is that we do not intend to use the summer conference as the opportunity to proselytize or expand our church. The members who attend from all over Japan will not be remaining here after the conference.
"Now I'd like to turn things over to Dr. Koga, who will handle the question-and-answer session."
"I've been working with the church's farm production and Maki Town special products to come up with a plan to sell our goods in Matsuyama and the Kansai region," said the first person to stand up and ask a question, a man Kizu had seen visiting the church. He owned a sake brewery and had par- ticipated in the movement of the Fireflies to restore the natural environment along the banks of the Kame and Maki rivers. "I've talked to quite a few people in the church, and I get the feeling that I can work with them. It felt like a regular church, with the Fireflies that were just mentioned often attending.
Some parents were concerned about this and came to discuss it with me, so I checked things out. The conclusion I reached was that the Fireflies and the church are two independent groups that have an amicable relationship. My opinion of the Fireflies went way up, in fact, and we're actually considering some joint projects.
"What I'm hearing now, though, is that the church is solidifying itself around its existing core. Doesn't this mean that it will exclude outsiders? And if that's true, won't this cause difficulties between the Farm and all of us?
Instead of being cut off from their present loose connection with the church, our hearts is also part of God's design. And through this we can actively par- ticipate in the end of the world. That is true repentance.
"After Patron's Somersault, we Quiet Women were struggling to find a way in which we could participate. We've been able to meet up with Patron again and live under his guidance, which has borne fruit in this new Church of the New Man. We feel blessed to be included in this official launch of the new church at the upcoming summer conference."
Mrs. Shigeno gave a charming little gesture, and a burst of applause followed. The applause came from the floor, from a group of interested local residents, but several of the church members sitting across from them also joined in, including Kizu. Dr. Koga, who didn't join in the applause, leaned over to Kizu and said in a low voice, "Let's not forget that the Quiet Women were also one of the sects that drove Patron to do the Somersault."
Dr. Koga then turned to face the audience and said, more loudly, "Our meeting here to discuss the upcoming summer conference of the Church of the New Man is now concluded." He ignored a few raised hands from the reporters. "Details of the program for the conference are as stated in the handout.
"Next on our schedule is a visit to the basement hot-springs pool, which had been closed and is now reopened for the use of our guests. It's just been cleaned, and we've been invited to try it out today. Getting a little carried away, perhaps, we'd like you to see for yourselves Professor Kizu's miraculous re- covery that I know you're all interested in. As a special favor to the TV crews, we've arranged to have Professor Kizu swim in the pool.
"One other point. During the conference, the triptych that Professor Kizu painted of Patron's Sacred Wound will be on public view in the chapel, and we encourage you to visit it."
Kizu preceded the participants, who had begun to get up, down to the basement. The pumped-up feeling he got he took as another sign of his re- covery. As he was changing into his swimming suit, Ms. Tachibana came in, dressed like a woman swim-team member of a generation ago. She was guid- ing Morio. Unusually for her, she was telling him to get a move on. As Kizu scrutinized the scars from his two operations in the mirror, Ms. Tachibana said encouragingly, "If you keep a towel wrapped around your shoulders until you get in the pool, you'll have nothing to worry about. You're not planning on doing the backstroke, are you?"
As he came out of the changing room and walked across the concrete floor where the shower nozzles were lined up on one side, Kizu recalled how the first thing he did when he came to stay in Japan was join an ath- letic club, and how it was at the drying room of the club that he had run across Ikuo again. So much had begun right there-and brought him here, to this point.
The pool was in the basement, but since the lodge was on a slope the five lanes of the pool looked out a window to a stand of trees, and the cloudy sky still let in a lot of sunshine. Dr. Koga was already at poolside, having passed through the shower and the small pool one rinsed off in first; he carried a portable blood pressure monitor with him. Kizu wiped his dripping chest with his bath towel and Dr. Koga measured his blood pressure and heart rate. A long narrow row of seats along the mezzanine was filled with reporters and curious onlookers.
After Dr. Koga reported that all the readouts were within normal range, Kizu did a few warm-up exercises and got in the pool. The water was warmer than he was used to, either in the on-campus pool in America he'd used for many years, or the pool in the Nakano athletic club. He adjusted his goggles and started doing the crawl, and though at the first turn he stopped momen- tarily, resting his hand on the edge before turning, his body took it all in stride and at the end of the next lap he changed to a quick flip turn.
Kizu swam up and down in his lane. With a twinge of nostalgia he re- called how the term flip turn was actually an Americanism, something in keeping with the American character, he mused, while in French the same move was called saut périlleux-in other words, a somersault. Kizu was tak- ing Patron's place, performing one somersault after another to entertain the crowd, but he didn't mind.
On his way back, as he turned to breathe he caught sight of the crowd of onlookers and Dr. Koga talking with the leader of the TV crew, who was leaning forward from the railing. He looked around for a moment at Kizu, then looked up again and shook his head decisively. The TV crew reacted casually to that and started to pack up to leave, though the rest of the crowd, including the young editor of the local bulletin, remained behind.
Beside the pool Ms. Tachibana was still running Morio, palely chubby like a sweet rice cake, through some warm-up exercises. Kizu could tell that Ms. Tachibana had been on the swim team in both junior and senior high school, but actually what she ended up doing, after leisurely getting Morio in the water up to his shoulders and instructing him to walk up and down the lane, was begin swimming the breaststroke herself in the nearer lane, her form and powerful strokes impressive.