I might overhear what visitors say when they come to pay a visit to Professor Kizu, but that'll just mean I've got one more unedited videotape in my memory."
What Ms. Asuka said struck Kizu as logical. Ikuo seemed to think so too. Ms. Asuka's words meant that whenever she was in the house taking care of Kizu, any guests should feel free to say what they wanted. She wasn't going to abuse her position.
Indeed, as Kizu continued his painting during his recuperation, one visitor after another came to see him. When he told them how Ms. Asuka, who was waiting in the next room, had come up with this metaphor about people being unedited videos, everyone had a good laugh, which loosened them up.
The first visitor was Dr. Koga, who questioned his patient and checked his vital signs and then pulled the desk chair over near the bed and sat himself down far enough away that he and Kizu could study each other as they spoke.
"Were you aware that Ikuo's been visiting the Technicians and the Quiet Women a lot," Dr. Koga began, "and carrying out an ideological inquiry of sorts?"
"I know the Young Fireflies have been questioning him," Kizu replied, "and he said he'd have to explain to them about the various sects in the church.
Most of all I think he wants to clarify things for himself."
"I can see that. There are things about the Technicians that even some- body like me who's known them for years can't understand, and that goes double for the Quiet Women.
"When I went to the monastery to have lunch, Ikuo cornered me to ask me about the Technicians. 'Why are they deemphasizing religious matters?' he asked. Not that they seem to be pushing forward with some social agenda like they did in the old days, but he doesn't think the repentant radical fac- tion-the men responsible for killing Guide-will remain in the shadows forever. He wanted to know what direction I see them trying to nudge Patron in.
"I told him that since he was so close to them I'd like to hear his opin- ion. I wasn't trying to sidestep his question but just to let him know he's much more aware than I am of what the Technicians are up to."
"What about the Quiet Women?" Kizu asked.
"Ikuo and I view them in about the same way," Dr. Koga said. "The Technicians are certainly sly old foxes as far as faith is concerned, but the really formidable ones are the Quiet Women. The Technicians are trying to incor- porate Patron in their own strategies, but there the Quiet Women beat them hands down. They've always been using Patron for their own purposes- before the Somersault and afterward.
"This idea of falling into hell is something Patron originally came up with, but the Quiet Women made it out as Patron's atonement for every- one, and they've repositioned Patron and Guide at the center of their faith.
Depending on how you look at it, it's been the Quiet Women who've kept Patron and Guide tied down. I would imagine that these past ten years it's the Quiet Women who were their heaviest burden."
"I think Ikuo's sensed this too," Kizu said. "He's formed ties with the Technicians-cooperating with them is another way of putting it, I suppose- to keep an eye on them so they don't go off on their own. But he's also been attending the Quiet Women's prayer meetings along with the Fireflies.
"Dancer went so far as to ask him whether he's been spying on the Quiet Women for the Technicians, but what he's really trying to pin down is what the Quiet Women are all about. Where they're coming from, so to speak.
Patron is very important to Ikuo. And he figures that the Quiet Women's faith may be the path that will lead him to Patron."
"I agree with you there," Dr. Koga said. "Ikuo has his own individual feelings about the transcendental, as you've said. As someone who's been driven by inevitable circumstances to be with Patron, I can certainly under- stand that.
"But a part of Ikuo still hasn't decided whether Patron's the one he seeks.
As things stand now, parading Patron around all over the place may not get you anywhere. Ikuo's keeping an eye on both the Technicians and the Quiet Women to make sure they don't try something like that. Favoring the Young Fireflies may be his way of introducing a third force into the equation."
"I have no doubt that Ikuo views Patron as the person who can mediate for him with the Almighty," Kizu said, "and he has an urgent reason for doing so, something I didn't know about until recently."
Dr. Koga looked questioningly at Kizu, who didn't go on. Sensing his reluctance, Dr. Koga changed the subject, though to something still related to Ikuo. "Ikuo told me once that Patron's teachings before the Somersault had a strong Christian element, especially in the personalized view of the divine- though now the notion of the antichrist has appeared. Ikuo said that when he attended the Quiet Women's prayer meeting there was an even stronger feeling of Christianity present. He wondered what that meant.
"The Quiet Women were able to make it on their own for ten years because they got deeper into their own special doctrine of faith. After the Somersault, people from Protestant churches who specialize in deprogram- ming mind-controlled cult members approached them, but the women held firm. In other words, the doctrine they'd been taught by Patron was stronger than mainstream Christianity.
"And now they've joined forces with the church Patron's going to found here. They have no particular problems with Patron, even though he hasn't withdrawn his Somersault, but I'm left wondering whether at some point in the near future they might not try to drag him back into this faith-minus- the-Somersault. To truly save Patron from hell."
"Do you think this upcoming summer conference Ikuo's involved in will bring about any great changes?" Kizu asked.
"I'm sure the Technicians, the Quiet Women, and the Fireflies all have their agendas," Dr. Koga said, "which means that the office staff, too, who are at Patron's beck and call, aren't just sitting on their hands either… And among the followers coming for the summer conference, the people from the Kansai headquarters already have a clear-cut idea of what they want: namely, that this first-ever national conference will clarify what direction the new church will be moving in."
Ms. Asuka appeared at the door of Kizu's bedroom, dressed in a jersey dress with a broad neckline. A set of headphones hung on her bare shoulder blades as if to underscore to Kizu and Dr. Koga that she'd been listening to classical music on the radio while they were talking, instead of eavesdropping.
Dr. Koga welcomed her cheerfully, for all the world like some still-youthful urban boy. As usual, Ms. Asuka had a faint neutral smile on her face, and her words were brusque.
"I know I shouldn't be saying this to a doctor," she said, "but maybe visiting hours are about over?"
"You're very lucky, Professor Kizu," Dr. Koga said, "to have such inde- pendent, thoughtful people helping you. I include Ikuo in this as well. Who is this?"
"This is Ms. Asuka. She usually works in film production," Kizu said, "and is going to be videotaping the summer conference."
2
The next person to visit was Asa-san, wife of the former junior high school principal, who had helped Kizu with the aborted art school project.