Chapter 11: "Alma" — Episode 534
Chapter 11: "Alma" — Episode 534 It was an afternoon in late spring, before the rains came. Fujiko-han was walking along the foothills of Aso when she noticed a white figure at the edge of the road. At first she thought it was a heron. As she drew closer, she saw it was a young woman in a habit. Sitting in the grass, both hands resting on her belly. It might have looked like prayer. But to Fujiko-han, it didn't. It was simply the posture of someone who had placed their hands there. "Sister." The woman slowly raised her face. Still young. Her eyes were dry, but around her mouth was the particular color of someone who had been holding something back for a very long time. Fujiko-han said nothing. She sat down beside her. They looked together in the same direction. Across the grassland, beneath a sky the color of pewter, the ridgeline of Aso dissolved into haze. After a while, the woman spoke. "Are you angry with me?" "About what?" ...