The Technicians' body language, too, showed how close they felt to Ikuo, and they politely acknowledged Kizu as they departed. Thanking them, Kizu could tell-compared to before he'd gone into the hospital-that Ikuo had come to play a much more vital role in running the church.
Dancer appeared, accompanied by Ogi and Ms. Tachibana. The people already there, and these newcomers, all gathered in front of the turpentine- redolent triptych. Kizu was worried about how people would react to the first work he'd done after being discharged from the hospital, the two portraits in the foreground of the central panel. The screech of cicadas, which he'd for- gotten about while Ikuo played the piano, now came back in full force.
Dancer gazed up at the painting. "If you look carefully you'll see that Jonah and Patron are not really facing each other directly. I was expecting them to be questioning each other, trying to persuade each other."
"Maybe they've been debating but haven't arrived at a resolution, so they're looking off to one side and thinking things over," Ms. Tachibana commented.
Kizu had been waiting for Dancer or Ms. Tachibana, who knew about Patron's side being healed, to say something about his portrayal of the wound. But neither one of them seemed about to touch on it. Before long Ms. Tachibana spoke up.
"The piano a while ago was simply lovely," she said to Morio.
"There weren't any echoes at all," Morio replied.
"At the summer conference we'll use a microphone and play it over speakers, but when we play it like this without any amplification, can people really hear it all over the Hollow?" Ikuo asked.
"We were in the office," Dancer said, "with the windows on the lake side open, and we could hear it echo off the north shore."
"At first we played with the windows shut," Morio said, "but then we opened them."
"So we must have heard the last half," Dancer said.
"The Quiet Women requested that at the morning meetings we just let the piano sound all over the Hollow, without using any speakers," Ikuo said.
"Morio, why don't you go back to Patron's place with your sister and tell him the acoustics in the chapel are fine. And then take a rest; you've worked hard today."
"Can I take back all the sheet music?" Morio asked.
"Of course. And thank you."
2
After Ms. Tachibana and her brother left, the others all sat down around Kizu, who'd stayed rooted to his chair, and gazed up again at the triptych.
Kizu could feel them holding back any comments on the painting. A faint whiff of turpentine wafted toward them.
Dancer was the first to speak.
"In the right part of the painting, in the upper right corner, do you see that strangely balanced girl wearing tights? I think Ogi's the only one I need to explain this to, but this young lady-young girl, really-is modeled on me.
That's how old I was when I met Professor Kizu and Ikuo. If I hadn't en- countered Ikuo, and Professor Kizu hadn't observed it all, I wouldn't be here with you today.
"The events of that day long ago threw me off track of being a normal girl, so I didn't care anymore that I wasn't a quote-unquote average Japanese.
Which makes me all the happier that that memorable day has become part of the painting."
Ikuo sat there in a depressed silence. Ogi naturally couldn't grasp the whole context, so Kizu explained.
"Dancer, in tights there," he said, "and Ikuo, when he was a young boy, had a bit of a collision that I witnessed. A long time after that, when I met Ikuo, I remembered what had happened, and that led to our getting in touch with Dancer. Through this we got to know Patron and finally ended up moving here."
"Ogi needs a little more explanation than that," Dancer said. "There was an awards ceremony sponsored by a newspaper, and as one of the attractions I was hired to dance while a children's choir sang. I put on my costume and was about to appear onstage when I got entangled in one of Ikuo's creations.
He was one of the candidates for an award. It went right up inside my little skirt, so I was sort of hanging there in midair, hurt and embarrassed, and the boy glared at me with his puppy-dog eyes and I wondered how angry he'd be if the model was wrecked.
"The way I was standing was quite bizarre, a much harder pose to hold than a plié, but child though I was I decided to tough it out. We were back- stage, but it made me wish we were out on stage, under the spotlights.
"This painful yet wonderful situation was resolved when Ikuo threw his model on the floor and destroyed it, but I was left with regrets. Someday, I thought, I'd like to reenact that scene in front of an audience. I think that was the reason I continued dancing even after we moved to Hokkaido.
"After I moved to Tokyo, and Patron and Guide began looking after me, I had the feeling that eccentric people like them would understand my idea. That's the reason I continued working in Patron's office. When Profes- sor Kizu showed up with Ikuo I was certainly surprised, but happy too. I felt sure that my premonition was entirely correct-that being with Patron and Guide would open up a path for me. With Guide by his side helping out, Patron's power had made my dreams come true… And now in this trip- tych Professor Kizu has painted the day it all began."
Dancer stopped speaking and held her left hand, as if pushing against something heavy, out toward the small painting on the right side of the trip- tych. Everyone's eyes were drawn upward. Only Ikuo, after looking, turned his large, sunken eyes toward the nearby window and the trembling oak leaves with the sun shining through them.
"I'd heard from the young boy what that day meant to him," Kizu said, "but this is the first time I've heard what was going on in the young girl's mind.
I was just an outside observer, but it really was a special event, wasn't it… You've been able to meet again with Ikuo, but what do you think-would we be able to prepare a stage for you to use to finally express yourself the way you'd like?"
"I think you and Ikuo have already begun to do this for me," Dancer replied. "I'm an adult now, and I don't fantasize about being in the spotlight anymore. I just want to walk, once more, toward that great light I saw as a child.
"Now that you've recovered from your illness, Professor, I know you're doing everything you can to move in that direction-the summer conference, that is, that Ikuo's working so hard for. I have a feeling that Ikuo's going to make that event into something quite incredible. Patron's anticipating this, trying to figure out exactly where he stands. I don't think Ikuo's plans for the conference are entirely set, but they'll definitely include the Fireflies, right?
And won't the Quiet Women and the Technicians be in the mix as well?
"Even with the way you've built up the Fireflies, Ikuo, I don't think you'll be able to redo the Church of the New Man according to your own color scheme. Which means we have something quite extraordinary to look for- ward to, but what it is no one can say. So there's something I'd like to say to you, Ikuo, in front of everybody here.
"Ogi and I and the church office will do whatever we can to help you carry out your plans for the summer conference. We're in charge of taking care of all those who'll be attending, which includes staying in close touch with the Kansai headquarters, dealing with the media, negotiating with the town, consulting with the police about security-we're handling all of that. So even with the Fireflies on your side you won't succeed without our help. If Patron asks us to oppose your unilateral activities, we already have enough partici- pants that you'll be expelled from the Church of the New Man. As long as you understand this, we'll help you."