Kanae asked Kiyo Terauchi to bring some food. Then the two of them looked into each other's eyes... For a while, neither spoke.
They felt they could keep looking at each other until the end of time.
They would never tire of it, never grow weary.
At last, Kanae broke the silence. "Aren't you going to ask me anything?"
Tetsu no Sosuke was quiet for a moment, then asked, "Did I scare you?"
An emotion he couldn't quite name flickered in Kanae's eyes as she gently smoothed the furrow in his brow.
"You went out perfectly fine, then came back covered in blood. One of you was unconscious, and the other couldn't even stand... Yes, I was scared."
Kanae rested his hand on her lap. "But you're both still here. That's what matters."
"That girl's injuries..."
"Were less severe than yours, and she held up better, too," Kanae said. "She woke after three days. Her recovery's been slow, though, and she can only just get out of bed and move around a little. But I'm here. She'll be all right."
"That's good." Tetsu no Sosuke nodded.
While they talked, Kiyo Terauchi brought over a bowl of plain rice porridge.
Tetsu no Sosuke was wrapped in bandages like a mummy and couldn't feed himself, so Kanae fed him a little at a time.
As she did, she asked what had happened.
Tetsu no Sosuke thought it over carefully, then told her the whole story.
Kanae listened in silence. He skimmed over much of what had happened without going into detail.
After all, severed hands and feet weren't things he wanted to describe to his wife.
When he finished, Kanae gave him a helpless look. "You make it sound so ordinary. But if it was ordinary, how did you end up like