A Toast to Victory

  The mountain trail glittered with soft frost in the tender afternoon light.

  “Can we keep him?!” Lu begged.

  “It's not a pet,” Marcel said, adamant.

  The tanuki had been following the group at a close distance, hiding behind a tree, or diving into bushes whenever they took a break, or even so much as looked at him; though they could always tell where he was because of his fluffy tail, which never seemed to follow him. Inês had felt an odd kinship with the creature and she thought he might have felt the same.

  “I do wonder, though…” started Jin, looking back. “Why are his snowballs so… jumbo?”

  Inês swiftly placed her hands over Lu's ears.

  “Jin!” she called out in shock.

  When they finally got back to the House of Still Waters, the sun was setting already, and the sight that greeted them at the door was unsettling: a dozen or so people were waiting for them, bowed at a ninety degree angle, unmoving. There was a joint hesitation. Then, after a few seconds of a hair-rising stillness, Marcel advanced, Jin by his right side; Lu slowed down somewhat, and Inês stopped abruptly; the tanuki, who had kept on their tracks, didn't halt on time, and bounced on the girl's legs like a soft beach ball.

  “Sentai,” said an old man at the head of the group. “You saved our village today. Thank you. We are in your debt.”

  “You did it, team!” yelped Debuu. “I knew you had it in ya!”

  The bug whirred toward them from inside the ryokan, looping upside down as it did.

  The villagers surrounded Marcel and Jin, introducing themselves. There were rice farmers, fishermen, a seamstress… Inês made a note to later ask Marcel about Japanese introductions, and why it was that they disclosed their trades in lieu of names, but the boy was too occupied for an anthropological discussion right then. She excused herself and entered the inn.

********

  The crowd roared with thunderous applause. Lu, dressed in her crimson sentai suit, had been in the center of the dinner room, putting on a show for her fellow team, as well as all of the villagers who had stayed with them for supper that very night. Contorting herself and doing cartwheels and aerials, throwing her mallets in the air and catching them at exactly the right time, always with buzzing, fiery sparks. For the grand finale, she did several roundoffs and finished in the splits, holding her two mallets up high, sending out shock-waves of bright, orange energy.

  “Bravo!” Inês clapped enthusiastically.

  The living room was bustling with spirit. Anyone without Lu's agility could hardly walk two steps and not bump into someone. Marcel and Lu were mingling with their visitors, and even Jin seemed to have let his guard down somewhat, serving sake to the villager men and laughing at something he had heard. Inês would share pleasantries and interact when spoken to, but she wasn't much of a social butterfly that evening. Among the noise, there was a clinking sound. It was Marcel, trying to get the crowd's attention.

  “Everyone,” he said solemnly. “Thank you. I just wanted to say a quick word. First, to you Jin,” a beat. “Lu, Inês. We came here as strangers. We went through trials and tribulations. We were lost and we had our doubts… but we came through. And tonight, we finally understand: we came here for a reason; not just because we love Japan, not just because we deserve to live in it, but because it deserves to have us protect it. So that we can defend the people who can't fight for themselves. Because that's what it means to have this power, right?” he turned to the villagers, genteel. “So, if you'll have us, we'll stand with your village, and we'll stand with this country. No matter how long until the storm passes. We'll be your light in the eye of it. That's a promise.”

  Marcel held his sake cup high in front of himself and emptied it in one fell gulp. There was a slight silence, then, the crowd erupted in cheers. Jin, who was sitting by him gave his friend's legs a one-harmed hug as the boy was still standing up. Lu giggled and tried a little sake herself. Inês didn't see the point of it: although the sake did have a quick effect on her, it tasted just like water, so she had only given it one go.

  She got up with a plate of grilled fish and tofu skins; she wanted to see if her new companion might want to partake in the delicacies of the feast. She herself hadn't really been in the mood to eat. As she zigzagged between the seated guests, she found herself in front of a small alcove in the corner of the room. She had never paid much attention to it. It had a delicate ikebana flower arrangement in muted shades of peach, yellow, purple, and white blossoms. Above it, there was a kakemono scroll she had seen before. She remembered the serene winter scene, but she could have sworn it was the first time that she had seen the feminine figure at the center of it; she was turned away, but half looking back at her. Inês inspected her closely. She felt drawn, not to the scenery, but to the woman. As she gazed into the maiden's eyes, she felt that the maiden gazed back into hers. Then, Inês heard a commotion. She looked around and stepped out into the hallway. It had come from outside, she thought, right by the onsen. She decided to go see for herself. Carefully, she opened the rice paper door. Immediately, she felt a sense of relief: it was only her friend, the tanuki; agitated and in a state of panic, he seemed glad to see her. She heard a loud, clangorous bark, like that of a rabid dog; it seemed to be coming from everywhere and nowhere all at once. She kneeled on the deck.

  “Did someone get scared?” she asked, lightheartedly teasing the shuddering tanuki with a pat on the head.

  She gave him the food and stayed as he ate it, watching him clasp it enthusiastically with his little paws; he was too happy to gobble it up. When he was done, she petted him once more and waved him good night.

  “Find a warm place to rest, alright?” she said. “Sleep well.”

  She breathed in the cool night air and, following a potent wave of saudade, Inês reentered the relative warmth of the ryokan, heartsick and longing.

  "Oh, here you are!" Marcel exclaimed with a maladroit smile.

  The boy was standing in the hallway, acting as if he had just happened upon her by chance, but, even before she had opened the rice paper door, Inês had seen his silhouette outlined by the candle's uncertain flame, waiting for her. Still, she kept silent.

  "How have you been enjoying the evening?" he asked. "It's nice to see that what we do in this world actually matters."

  "What we do…" she repeated voicelessly.

  Marcel looked around awkwardly, shifting his weight from one leg to the other and crossing his arms.

  "You know, I just wanted to say that today was really stressful for all of us…" he started.

  Inês looked at him in the eye, or she tried to; Marcel was evading her stare, only looking down and around the dim, candlelit hallway, as if he were searching for his next words. There was a lull in the conversation. Marcel sighed.

  "And I hope I didn't come off as too… keen."

  Inês nodded, not really knowing what to say.

  "It's OK," she said. "Spirits were running high, I guess."

  "Exactly! And you did so well despite… Well, you know."

  "Right," answered Inês. "Good night, then, I'm going to bed."

  As she was making her way to the bedroom, Marcel grabbed her sleeve.

  "Wait!" he pleaded wearily. "I just wanted to say. Hum, until you get your powers, if you want, I could teach you a thing or two. I mean, I've been learning fencing since I was a small kid, maybe that could come in handy."

  "I don't know," responded Inês. "I'm not much of a fighter, I don't think."

  "Oh, come on! You're a sentai, now!" he exclaimed. "Or you're gonna be…"

  "Maybe," she answered with half a smile. "But not tonight; I'm spent, really. Good night, Marcel."

  "You too. Sleep Well."

********

  That night, there was darkness. Inês dreamed that the snow was falling upward. She was standing in the shrine, alone. Bathed in moonlight, she saw a reflection staring back at her in the gleaming mirror; she couldn't tell who the woman was, but it wasn't her. “When the ice shatters, so will the mask,” she heard her say. And with a gust of wind, the scene in the mirror changed to a snowy glade; a serene winter scene she remembered well.