"I'm sorry, I didn't hear you properly," Takae said with a shocked look.
It mirrored the same expression the others wore.
"It seems hard to believe," Ayako said, drawing their attention to her, "but it's the truth."
"It happened three months ago," she continued. "I found him by a stream down in the forest."
She looked down as she continued. "I rushed him back, and Kanami and I took him to a physician the next morning."
"When he woke up, all he could remember was his name."
"Not even where he came from?" Yuriko asked.
"No, nothing," she replied.
Then she turned to the three of them and said, "When I heard your last name, I thought there might be some kind of connection between you. That is why I asked you to stay with us for the night."
"I'm sorry for deceiving you," she said with a bow.
"It's fine," Izumi replied.
"So, is there anything you know that might help me?" Hyogo asked.
"Well, if I'm being honest, we do know of someone with that same streak of white hair," he replied.
"Who is he?" Hyogo asked.
Izumi hesitated for a second as he turned to Yuriko and Takae before saying, "It is a man who goes by the name Tsushiro Yamada."
Ayako turned to Hyogo and asked, "Does it ring any bells?"
He scratched his head, trying to think of something, but in the end he just shook it.
"To be honest, we were also hoping to learn something from him too," Takae said.
"Well, you see, following a series of events, he vanished, and we've been searching for him ever since. We don't even know whether he's alive or not."
"Who is he to you?" Kanami asked.
They hesitated, but eventually Yuriko said, "He is our father, and we have to find him no matter what."
"I'm sorry to hear that," Kanami replied.
There was a chilling silence for a moment before Ayako asked, "Is there something else that you can tell us about him that might help?"
"Like his past?"
"His past..." Izumi mumbled. "Now that I think about it, we didn't really know much about him."
"He never mentioned anything, so we just assumed that he was an ordinary villager his entire life," Takae added. "But the more we look, the more unsettling things we find."
"That is why we want to find him," Yuriko continued, "so that he can tell us the truth about himself—and about us."
"I'm sorry," Ayako said. "It seems my questions are only making things harder for you."
"No, we're sorry that we couldn't help him out more," Takae replied. "But we'll be sure to tell you if we think of anything remotely related to him."
"Thank you so much," Hyogo said while bowing, "and we'll be sure not to pry any more than we need to."
Kanami looked around before saying, "Now that that's settled, why don't we have some dinner before it gets too late?"
She stood to leave the room, the final rays of the setting sun at her back as she disappeared down the hallway.
Ayako lit some paper lanterns, and the group waited as the two sisters returned with dinner.
It was a simple helping of rice divided among them. Since there were so many of them, the portions they received were meagre.
They didn't complain, though, and ate in silence. Takae watched as Ayako only took a few bites before giving the rest to Kanami. Hyogo did the same, but neither of them said anything about it.
Once they had finished, Kanami took the dishes and instructed Hyogo and Ayako to set up the rooms.
The boys followed Hyogo into one room, and the girls followed Ayako into another.
In the girls' room, she set them up with some old bedding before leaving. They took off their brown cloaks and set them aside in a corner.
Ayako came back shortly afterwards with her own bedding and laid it near the corner of the room.
Once they were all settled, they sat in silence for a moment.
"So..." Yuriko said in a low tone, "why don't you tell us about yourself?"
"You want to know about me?" Ayako asked, confused.
"Yeah," Miyuki replied. "Like, what do you do?"
"I noticed dust on your robe before," Takae added. "Is it related to what you do?"
"It is, actually," she replied.
"So what is it?" Yuriko asked.
"Well, I can do a lot of things," she replied, "so it wouldn't be correct to narrow it down to just one."
"Like what?" Miyuki asked, resting her hands on her cheeks.
"Let's see," she said while thinking. "I can sculpt, paint, do embroidery, whittle, draw portraits, make pots, sow, just to name a few."
"Wow," Yuriko exclaimed. "How did you learn all of that when you're so young?"
"Yeah," Takae added. "You seem like you're about the same age as us, and you can do all that while Yuriko can barely draw a circle with a stick."
"What the hell, Takae!" Yuriko yelled, embarrassed. "You said you would never tell anyone."
She turned to Miyuki, who was laughing.
"What's so funny?!"
Miyuki immediately turned away, but Yuriko could still see her chuckling.
When she looked back at Ayako, she was chuckling too.
"Not you too."
"I didn't mean it," Ayako said defensively. "I won't tell anyone, I promise."
"I hope you'll keep your promise," Yuriko replied before turning to Takae. "Not like some people here."
Once they had calmed down, Miyuki asked, "So how did you learn to do all of that?"
Ayako hesitated for a second before answering.
"Well, my mother died when we were young, so we were basically raised in our father's workshop."
"I learned most of what I know by watching him and practicing on my own," she continued, "but whenever I struggled, he would help me out until I got the hang of it."
The faint smile she wore vanished as she said, "I didn't have much fun as a kid playing with the other children because I spent most of my time in the workshop with him."
"That was until he died a year ago."
"I'm sorry for your loss," Takae said, and Yuriko and Miyuki nodded.
"It's fine," she replied, lifting her head. "It happened a long time ago."
She curled herself up and said, "Now that I look back, I don't regret spending all my time there."
She ran her thumb over her hardened fingers.
"It's because I have all these skills that I can support my big sister."
"Did she also learn to become an artisan too?" Yuriko asked.
"She did," Ayako replied. "I'd say she's even better than me, but she can't work. Well, for now at least."
"What's wrong?" Takae asked. "Is she sick?"
"She might come off that way, but it's something else," Ayako replied.
"It's a bit too early to tell," she continued, "but she's pregnant."