The Bath House

18th day of Aluvard (approx)

The old man took me to a building they called a hospital, which was smaller than my foggy memory of this world had led me to imagine. It was little more than a small office with a waiting room, filled with other old people who looked at us with mild interest as we barged in.

Seeing the state we were in, a nurse quickly took us to see the doctor, who was much younger than the wizened old healers who used to take care of my injuries in Impalia. The old man had put his shirt back on at some point (maybe out of deference?). He explained what had happened again, while I sat mutely, looking about the office at the colorful pictures hung on the walls. They looked as though they had been painted by children. Did this healer have so little money he was reduced to commissioning the local children for art? I resolved to be kind to this poor man.

After hearing the story of dogs (wraiths), the doctor carefully unwrapped my arm to take a look at my wound. By then my healing had already started working, so the wounds were noticeably smaller than they had been before, but he still frowned and carefully cleaned them with various ointments before wrapping them again in fresh bandages.

He asked if I had my "health care card", which caused me a brief panic until some residual part of Aiko's memories recalled a small blue piece of paper stored carefully in one of her drawers. Why can I remember such trivial things, while other information evades me so entirely? Are these the things that were important to Aiko? Or is there no meaning behind it at all? In any case, I wasn't carrying it at the time, so he asked me to come back with it later.

The police officer from before showed up as we were leaving. He said he rode his bicycle up and down the river but couldn't find any trace of any dogs. Good. He asked me if I had seen where they went. I briefly considered telling him more about the demons but decided against it. Such a conversation would go nowhere, so instead I told him they must have run off somewhere.

Where did those demons come from? I have been thinking about it ever since. When I came through the Infinity Mirror I was certain that it closed behind me. That was the whole point of going through it in the first place. Does it continue to operate? Were my actions truly futile after all? Have I brought something else with me into this world?

This warrants greater investigation.

---

Aiko stared down at her own writing, the small tight lines of Vandian etched neatly across the page of her notebook. She had too many questions, and had no idea where she should start looking to answer them.

Her arm itched where the bandage was still wrapped. Carefully, she unwound the bandages and peered at her arm. As expected, the bite was entirely healed. She prodded at the skin with her finger but it was as though she'd never run into the wraiths at all. This was the power of her third blessing at work. Back in Impalia, the healers had figured out they could leave her half dead and she would eventually come back to life on her own. Because of this, they had gradually stopped paying any attention to her at all. It really had been a waste of that doctor's ointments. She would have to apologize later.

Aiko shuffled uncomfortably. Her body smelled of sweat. She wanted to clean herself, but there was no bath in this little apartment. She would just have to go further afield.

Aiko searched her apartment until she found what she was looking for. It was a small towel that had been washed once, a long time ago, then thrown into a corner of her bedroom. It didn't smell very clean, but at the very least it smelled better than her hair. She carefully folded the towel and put it under one arm, then headed out of her apartment. She'd barely closed the door when she heard a cheerful voice from behind her.

"Little Aiko! What are you doing out at this hour?"

Lady Nomura was walking up the stairs to the second floor, wearing the neatly trimmed clothing she always wore when she got home, and holding two bulging plastic bags. Seeing the towel under Aiko's arm, her eyebrows shot up.

"Going to the bath house, dear?"

"No. River," Aiko said, shaking her head.

"Ri..." Lady Nomura's face twisted. "A-Absolutely not!"

Aiko frowned. "My hair smells bad," she complained.

"Aiko! A young woman must maintain a sense of decorum! You absolutely are forbidden from bathing in the river! Even if I overlook the most obvious problem, the water in there is filthy! And you only just got better!"

"But-"

"But nothing! And look at you! Where are your shoes? Don't tell me you've been walking about barefoot?"

"I-"

"Well! It's perfect timing anyway, I was just thinking about going to the bath house. You wait here, little Aiko."

"Y-Yes ma'am."

Aiko waited obediently while Lady Nomura entered her apartment. It was summer, so the days lasted longer, but it was already quite dark. A small cloud of moths circled about one of the orange lights fixed to the side of the building. It wasn't a terribly large building, not compared to the giant castles on the other side of the river, but it was still large enough to hold four separate homes. Aiko and Lady Nomura lived on the second floor. There were two people living below them, too, though Aiko had not yet met them.

Finally, Lady Nomura appeared again. She had changed out of the smart skirt and jacket, and was dressed much more casually. She had brought with her a small bucket filled with cheerfully colored bottles, and two large towels. She took the ratty cloth Aiko had been holding, and pushed one of the fluffy towels into her hands.

"Here, dear. Let's trade. This thing certainly has seen a lot of use, hasn't it?" Lady Nomura took the old towel and put it gently back inside her room before locking the door. "Did you lock your door, Aiko dear?"

Aiko shook her head.

Lady Nomura sighed, and locked the door using one of her keys. "You really must be more careful with security, dear. It's dangerous for a young woman like you to be living alone. There are all sorts of strange men out there, you know? Look, I'll open it up again when we get back. Here, you put these on."

The older woman dropped a pair of thin pink sandals on the floor in front of Aiko. They were the type with a loop for your big toe to go in, though Aiko couldn't remember exactly what they were called. Aiko looked up at Lady Nomura.

"Go on, you can keep those, they're an old pair anyway. But I can't have you walking about barefoot. What would you do if you stepped on broken glass?"

Aiko wasn't sure what the problem was. Walking barefoot made it easier to fight, and if she did step on glass her feet would knit themselves back together quickly enough. But it didn't seem as though Lady Nomura would listen to something like that, so she meekly slid her feet into the sandals. They felt soft and spongy.

"Come on, let's go before it gets even later."

Aiko followed Lady Nomura downstairs, then through the well-lit streets. Although it was late, there were still plenty of small restaurants open, and more than a few people walking to and fro, minding their own business. They passed the convenience store Aiko usually went to, and kept walking until Aiko could smell something like soap.

It was a moderately sized building. The walls were all made of glass, and inside she could see people lounging about in long blue robes. Lady Nomura led Aiko inside, and guided her toward a small row of lockers where they stored their footwear.

Then they headed to the reception area, and Aiko suddenly felt a small stab of annoyance as she saw the blond-haired woman who was manning the counter.

The receptionist, for her part, perked up and smiled broadly as soon as she noticed Aiko.

"Aiko!" she said. "It's me! Koharu!"