Where the Wild Ladies Are

those on their way up from those going down, the castle corridors had been divided with cones and poles in red and green to indicate which routes the visitors should take, and there were separate staircases depending on whether you were ascending or descending, all of which effectively prevented any one spot becoming mobbed with tourists and—well, there was no denying that it had all been carefully thought out, but Tomihime refused to feel impressed in the slightest. Men and women, young and old, from all across the globe, speaking in myriad different languages, would praise the vista from the viewing deck of Tomihime’s keep in the same way, take the same kinds of photos, then promptly disappear. Even after all that effort they had put into climbing the steep flight of stairs, they turned around and went padding back down almost immediately. Not a single person stopped to appreciate the fact that real people had once lived real lives in this place. Now even Tomihime found all of that hard to recall with any clarity. Was there any meaning to her still being here? Couldn’t this lot be left to shuffle shuffle shuffle around on their own? In her heart of hearts, Tomihime felt like going and getting blind drunk.

Around closing time, when the numbers of visitors had eased considerably, a suited young man came up the stairs. Wearing a suit was clearly something he was not used to doing, and with everyone else around him dressed like tourists, he stuck out. Occasionally, there would be visitors who came to Himeji on business and had decided to stop by to look at the castle, but that didn’t seem to be the case with this guy. When he caught sight of Tomihime sitting on the floor and leaning back against one of the columns in a manner not befitting a princess at all, he bowed and walked toward her.

Well, thought Tomihime, this is one for the books. It had been a long time since anyone had been able to see her.

The young man stopped short in front of Tomihime.

“Hello, my name is Shigeru Himekawa. I’ve recently taken over from Mr. Tei as the regional supervisor for this district, so I thought I’d stop by and introduce myself.”

“Himekawa?” Tomihime stared at the man. In former times, men had wriggled and squirmed when Tomihime pinned them with her piercing gaze, but this young man showed no signs of doing so. Instead, he sat down very neatly beside Tomihime’s outstretched legs and, with rather unseasoned movements, took out a business card and handed it to her.

Tomihime accepted it, although she really couldn’t see the point in these white slips of paper. This would be the second one she owned now, the first having been given to her by Himekawa’s predecessor, Mr. Tei. Tomihime had liked Mr. Tei. He was a pleasantly unmanly sort of man. Tomihime had always been drawn to men who stood out from the pack, with that dewy gleam in their eyes. Zushonosuke had been that type, too.

“Another guy with that name came up here, once, some time ago now. But it’s just your name that’s the same. You’re not like him at all.”

The young man’s suit had clearly been purchased from a mass retailer, and it was on the cusp of being the wrong size. Something about the innocuousness of his attire gave him a shabby air. Poor guy, thought Tomihime.

“Really?” He cocked his head.

“Yeah, that guy risked his life to come up here. They all did, back then. They were petrified of us. I say ‘us,’ though, of course, there’s only me now. Earlier, there were a few of us women here, and boy, were we something to see! We were unbeatable! Ach, those were the times. Those were my days of glory! You don’t see guys staking their lives to climb up here now, that’s for sure. They all put on those silly slipper things and come shuffling by. Do you know what I’m talking about? They’re so loud, those slippers.”

Seeing the disdain on Tomihime’s face, the young man frowned. “Should I have risked my life to come up here? I think that could definitely be arranged, at least in terms of mental preparation. I’ll remember that for next time.”

Tomihime snorted. “Don’t worry about it. It’s just that everything felt really new back then, you know? We felt like we were special. I mean, we actually were special, and that felt great, but I’m over that now. Just come up normally, via the stairs. To be perfectly honest, I couldn’t care less.”

The young man winced. “You’re still special, even now, Miss Tomihime. Mr. Tei has also been concerned that your morale has been low of late.”

Tomihime eyed this new Himekawa sullenly. What had she done to deserve a visit from such a total dork? And when the old Himekawa had been so dreamy, too. If only they were in an open field right now, Tomihime thought, she would rip up a fistful of grass and throw it in this man’s face.

“I wish you’d shut up! I’m still performing fine, okay? It’s no easy task, you know, protecting a whole castle. And tell me, will you, what’s the point of it? These days it’s nothing more than a tourist attraction, pure and simple. I’m absolutely unnecessary, aren’t I?”

At Tomihime’s outburst, the young man frowned once more, directing his eyes up to the ceiling like a little boy posed with an impossible demand. Then he looked again at Tomihime.

“You’re absolutely needed. The role of maintaining balance in a place, keeping things running smoothly, is an absolutely crucial one. Before making my way over here, I took a stroll around Himeji and what struck me was this: wherever you are in this town, you have a view of this castle. Whenever you go, you can look up and see it towering so beautifully above you. It’s a most reassuring presence. In other words, Miss Tomihime, it’s as if