While his fundamental grasp of Ikuo was still imperfect, just being able to spend the rest of his life alongside the young man made him feel deeply privi- leged. Just the thought made him blush.
But would painting this picture of Ikuo be enough to let him inside the young man's inner being? For over ten years he'd abandoned the achievements he had diligently attained. Kizu felt a helplessness come over him, and once again this brought on a deep sadness, an emotion not unconnected to his can- cer. Even though he might slump dejectedly in his chair before his painting, when Ikuo returned to model for him Kizu got so energetic it made him a little self-conscious.
In addition to Ikuo there was one other person who didn't hesitate to come into his studio to talk with him while he was working-Mayumi, the dyer, who was living with Gii. Kizu saw her as an artistic colleague, not a competi- tor, and welcomed her visits.
Mayumi came about once every three days and told him, among other things, how she came to be a friend of Gii's mother. When she was still living with her husband, a photographer and instructor in dyeing, Mayumi got to know Satchan, who at the time had some problems with the activities of the Church of the Flaming Green Tree and had temporarily left. Mayumi soon had troubles of her own and went abroad to escape from her husband. Dye- ing, though, was something she couldn't abandon.
Before long Mayumi heard that the Church of the Flaming Green Tree was dissolved, Satchan had a child and was taking care of other children too, as she took over the management of the Farm, and Mayumi decided to help.
She turned out to be more of a burden than a help, though, and settled into a house on the outskirts of the Farm that she converted into her dyeing studio.
She got to know Gii as he helped her collect materials to use in her dyeing, and before very long they formed a relationship.
Mayumi had Ikuo pick up some coffee beans and a drip filter coffeemaker, which pleased Kizu no end. Sensing he was in a good mood for the first time, Mayumi broached the real purpose for her coming to visit the studio, her concerns about Gii. While he was painting, Kizu couldn't face her as she spoke, but when he took a break he sat down at the dining table across from her; she did all the talking, a worried look and a tiredness befitting her age etched on her dark face.
"Gii often talks about what he heard from his mother, a line from the sermon given by one of the followers of the Church of the Flaming Green Tree at the time it broke up. Something said by the head priest of the Fushoku temple, a happy-go-lucky sort of fellow. Wherever each of you ends up, aim to be like a drop of water soaked up by the ground is what he said. Another line is something the Former Gii said: Become a flash flood of concentrated hate.
"The Former Gii started the Base Movement here and worked to improve production and living standards in this region. He's the one who built this dam and gathered all the water to make the lake. But he didn't get along with the local people, and the people from the Old Town at the lower reaches of the river were directly opposed to him.
"What happened was, in the rainy season when the lake was full of water, he claimed the water was blackish and smelled bad and announced that he was going to blow up the dam and ride the ensuing flash flood him- self. The Former Gii was an amateur expert on Dante, believer in a love that would change the world, yet in the end he became the exact opposite, a flash flood of concentrated hate.
"The local people thought this was getting too dangerous, so on a night when it was raining hard and the dam looked about to split open and flood the Old Town, they murdered him and dumped his body in the Hollow.
"If Gii formed his band of Fireflies here based on that first line, I find it a little too mysterious. These days, though, when the Fireflies gather in my house it's the second line that he brings up. This worries me. Since Ikuo is a Fireflies sympathizer and particularly favors Gii, I wonder if he's been tell- ing you the truth about those kids. That's why I wanted to talk with you. I hope you'll make it clear to Ikuo in no uncertain terms that he has to avoid getting the Fireflies too worked up."
"Young Gii is really quite a leader in his own right," Kizu replied, "so even if they do include Ikuo in their activities I don't think they'd be incited by anything he did."
"Gii may not be the type who's easily flattered, but you have to realize that a boy that age is bound to look up to Ikuo, since he's older and open to their ideas."
"I have to admit Ikuo seems more youthful after being with the Fire- flies," Kizu said. "Today, for instance, he's having them help out at the Farm.
The Technicians are moving things along there so they can use the facilities as part of their future plans, but I imagine that for Ikuo it's more fun to work with the Fireflies than those older guys."
"I've met a few of the Technicians myself," Mayumi said, "and find them a bit eccentric. They're usually much quieter than Ikuo and just concentrate on the work at hand. They could be doing something really significant, but here they are doing these little piddling jobs in the middle of nowhere."
"Some people insist there's a special power in this place," Kizu said. "I have to tell you I find it a bit eccentric, too, that a young city woman like your- self would come to live way out here in the country."
"Maybe," Mayumi said, "but ever since I arrived here I've been excited, as if something amazing is about to happen. Which makes it a bit contradic- tory for me, I realize, to tell you church members not to respond if Gii throws up a challenge."
4
Once the design for the picture of Jonah in the belly of the whale was finished, Ikuo brought around Gii, Isamu, and five or six of the older mem- bers of the Fireflies, ones who were attending high school. Kizu had called ahead to the dining hall to order a lunch of sandwiches and milk for the young- sters. They stopped by the dining hall to pick up their lunch boxes before climbing the northern slope of the Hollow.
The boys were quite boisterous until they entered Kizu's studio, but once inside they were quieter than any students Kizu had had in an art classroom on either side of the Pacific; they stood behind him, silently gazing at the easel, their eyes fixed on his palette, shining like a mirror in its center where Kizu had mixed in turpentine and, using his own special technique, resin as well.
The first one to break the silence was, naturally, Gii, the boss who held the kids in order. Gii seemed to find the model for the painting, Ikuo, much more important than the painting itself.
"This really is Ikuo all right! It makes me want to call him Yonah."
"You're right about that," Kizu agreed, approving his use of the Japa- nese pronunciation.
"Ikuo told us that you were still wondering how to depict Jonah in the third panel of the triptych, Professor," Isamu said, "but from the looks of it I'd say you've already reached a conclusion."
"What kind of conclusion?"
"The one that Ikuo's had from the beginning."
"Ikuo hasn't said anything to me about it," Kizu said.
"But Ikuo as Jonah wouldn't obey God's suggestion that the people of Nineveh be spared," Isamu said. "Didn't Ikuo tell us it's possible Jonah wasn't convinced by the parable of the vine?"
"If he's already reached a conclusion, he wouldn't have brought us here,"
Gii said. "Didn't he tell us he wanted us to take a good look at the first and second panels and give our opinion about how the third one should go? He wants us kids to help figure out the conclusion he's been pondering."
"Which is why I just gave my opinion about the first panel," Isamu said.