3

I awoke in an unfamiliar room. The ceiling was white. I tried to look around me, and a sharp pain shot through my entire body.

"Ouchie..."

"Toru!" Something about Mari's voice caused a wave of nostalgia to wash over me. "Thank goodness! You're awake! Doctor! Doctor!"

A nurse, hearing Mari's shout, hurried over and peered at my face. Was I in a hospital?

"...Thank goodness... I thought you might die or something..."

Mari looked down at me with red eyes, as if she'd been crying her eyes out.

"...Thank goodness... I'm so relieved..."

"'Die'?"

I finally began to recover a fuzzy recollection of what had happened. That's right; we'd gone to Sokomushi Village, where we'd eaten bagmoths... No, not bagmoths, pears. The forbidden fruit. Huh? But why? I didn't really understand the reason for it, but we'd been eating fruit, and then... Then we fell from the cliff. What happened after that? I didn't know. My memory ground to a total halt there.

Mari wiped away her tears, took my hand in hers, and sat down beside my bed.

"Don't you remember? Well... With how badly injured you were, I guess it makes sense. We fell from the cliff. But we only fell about ten metres before landing on a ledge. If not for that, we'd probably both be dead. And since I landed on top of you, I got away with nothing worse than a few scratches, although I did get knocked out for a while. If Mr. Mikimoto hadn't heard us scream and come to help as quickly as he did, you would've been a goner for sure. Your bones are broken in a few places, and you hit your head hard. You were lucky that Abiko Town had a helicopter to carry you in, too. They came for you right away, and brought you here to the hospital for emergency surgery."

"...What for...?"

"The biggest danger was the bleeding on your brain. It took all night. The doctor said the operation was a success, but you wouldn't wake up. He said there was a chance you might never wake up... If you didn't, I..."

"You were that worried about me?"

In response to me stating my honest feelings, Mari's face stiffened.

"Of course I was! If you'd... died... because of me... If you'd ended up as a human vegetable, I... I'd never be able to forgive myself..."

I'd had no idea that Mari cared about me that much. Even if I had sustained some sort of terrible injury, it didn't hurt all that much so long as I didn't try to move―if anything, I felt like the winner in this situation. Mari squeezed my hand tightly, tears rolling down her cheeks, and a doctor who appeared to be in charge of my care came into the room. He was a bearded, trustworthy-seeming man of about fifty.

"How are you feeling?"

"U-uh... My body hurts all over if I try to move."

"Any nausea or dizziness?"

"No... Not really."

"What about your memory?"

This last question appeared to be directed at both me and Mari.

"It seems pretty okay, I think."

"Would you move your right hand for me?"

I held my right arm vertically as instructed.

"And your fingers? Try lifting and bending them all, one at a time, as if you're counting."

I raised each of my fingers in order, beginning with my pinky, and bent them again once they were all extended without difficulty. Next, I did the same thing with my left hand.

"...I see. Everything seems to be well at the moment. I'll need to perform a more thorough examination, but I am satisfied with your current condition."

The doctor patted Mari on the shoulder with a smile and left, leaving us alone together once more. Mari didn't release her tight grip on my hand, and I didn't appear to be at risk for any long-term effects of my injuries―everything seemed to be coming up roses.

"What's that dumb grin for? You almost died. Do you get that?"

"...I get it. I'm just so happy that you were so worried about me."

Mari opened her mouth as if to object, but closed it again looking a little bit sulky. For a while, the air was silent, but warm.

"Actually, come to think of it," I said, suddenly remembering something, "I had a crazy long dream. It was so clear, it almost felt real."

"...Of the Sanzu River or something?"

I wasn't sure whether she was joking or not.

"No. I don't mean a near-death experience. I dreamt about Sokomushi Village. I'm not sure what time period it took place in. The Edo Period... maybe during the Kan'ei famine. It was terrifying... I saw the village being wiped out."

Mari's brow furrowed, but she didn't say anything.

"In the dream, they called those pears 'bagmoths'. It was a type of fruit that even the villagers who made them weren't allowed to eat. They were for gifting to the shogun or something. Anyway, anyone who ate the fruit got kicked out of the village. They were super valuable. Thanks to the fruit, the village managed to survive the famine."

"...That dream of yours might actually line up with the truth."

Mr. Mikimoto's voice suddenly interjected. I raised my face slightly, and saw him leaning against the doorway.

"Mr. Mikimoto! You came with me, too?"

He came inside the room, pulled up a chair, and sat down near my feet.

"Nah. I was having someone look into something for me. They finished their report."

"Looking into something...?"

"When you were rescued, Mari was in a state of confusion and babbling nonsense. She was acting too weirdly to just have been in a panic. I'd think she was about to deliver an almighty punch to my face, only for her to flop against me and act kind of strange."

Noticing the faint flush of Mari's cheeks, I wondered just what he meant by her 'acting kind of strange'.

"There were fruits you didn't recognise, right? Once I realised you two had eaten them, I had a connection at this hospital look into them for me. The results were pretty surprising."

"Surprising...?"

"Yeah. Just as you guessed, they're a type of pear. I'm not sure what they were crossbred from, but this type of pear can't be found anywhere else in the world."

"Wow. If we sold them, I bet they'd be a huge hit. They taste so good."

Mr. Mikimoto shook his head, his face grim. "You can't sell those. They're not something you should be eating."

"Don't be silly. They're so sweet and fragrant―they're amazing. Right?" Mari said, agreeing with me.

"Yeah!"

"The fruits you ate were special. There was an unusual sort of mould growing on them. Only the mouldy fruits taste as incredibly as you describe."

"Mould...?"

Did he mean to say that we'd been eating mouldy fruit? I recoiled for a moment, but upon further consideration, I realised that since we have no issue with eating Camembert cheese or natto, surely it was no big deal.

"Then let's just sell the mould-covered ones. Like grapes with noble rot."

"That... is the problem."

"...?"

"Have you heard of a poison known as ergot alkaloid, that's produced when a special type of mould finds its way onto an ear of wheat?"

We both shook our heads.

"It's famous for its capability to induce intense hallucinations, and a drug called LSD―which I'm sure you've heard of―is made from it."

"LSD!?" we said, loudly, in unison.

"Yeah. While the mould gives their pears an unbelievable taste, it also creates an alkaloid extremely similar to ergot alkaloid. It's an incredibly dangerous drug which can cause intense hallucinations, and even death. Not only that, but it's an especially nasty alkaloid which is one of the few substances that can reach the brain, and causes addiction."

Intense hallucinations and addiction... Leading to death... And both Mari and I had eaten several of them...

"Don't worry. I've had both of your blood tested, and there's not enough in it to kill you. You might need treatment for it, though, in case you experience side effects from withdrawal."

"...So my dream was a hallucination caused by that poison?"

"Might be. You were unconscious for ages, so I'm not really sure if it could be called a hallucination. I guess you'd have to call it a dream."

"...What was it you were saying before about his dream lining up with the truth?" asked Mari.

"It's an unmistakable fact that the 'bagmoths' referred to in the children's song are talking about those pears. I guessed that maybe they might have named the fruit after an insect in reference to the mould. What if it was telling people not to eat the mould-covered fruits? Maybe the 'you'll be trapped in a living hell' part represented the sight of someone tortured by withdrawal side effects. No one like that could be allowed to stay in the village, of course, so they had to be dragged far away from the fruit."

"...But why would the people of Sokomushi Village cultivate such a dangerous fruit?"

"They were likely being tasked with growing them by a government official―maybe the Edo shogunate, maybe the area's feudal lord, I don't know. The poison could of course be turned into a drug, as well as used as a weapon. Just like how the British made a fortune selling opium to the Chinese, they plotted to make themselves some cash by selling drugs―or maybe they really were doing it. If you think about it like that, it all makes sense: what a village was doing in an inconvenient area like this, with such poor conditions for growing crops. They gathered together a bunch of tight-lipped people, trapped them in the middle of nowhere, and put them to work growing fruit. In exchange for a hefty reward, they lived under threat of being killed if they let the secret out. It was safest for them not to tell the villagers what the fruit truly was, naturally.

"I thought it was weird. If they weren't living off of their own crops, they couldn't have been wiped out by a famine. If they were fishers, they would've built their village near the harbour. What was a village doing so far inland, surrounded by sheer cliffs?"

I was dumbfounded. Everything Mr. Mikimoto was saying matched up with my dream. Did that mean that it wasn't just a dream or a hallucination, but actually real life―actual history?

A fruit that allowed you to travel back in time... I remembered the woman in the dream named Osayo describing it as such to Seiju. It was a ridiculous idea. The phenomena from the dream could be explained away by taking them as hallucinations Seiju had experienced. Of course you couldn't travel back in time. What reason did I have to try to apply logic to events from a dream, anyway?

"You said you dreamt of the village being wiped out, right?"

"Y-... Yeah. That's right."

I told the others as much as I could remember of what the man named Seiju had done. That he'd probably seen the villagers as onis due to a hallucination. That he'd set fire to the village and killed them all one by one.

"...Huh. I did see evidence suggesting that several of the buildings had been set on fire."

"So, do you think what I saw was actually true after all...?"

Mr. Mikimoto smiled dryly. "Come on. Don't be stupid. Think of it like this. You'd heard the song, and you realised the truth about the 'bagmoths' after actually eating some yourselves. You'd seen vague traces of burnt-down houses, too. Your dream put all of those pieces together, and turned them into a coherent story. That would explain it. If I took a closer look, I bet your story would be full of holes that don't match with the time period, stuff like that. If your knowledge of history is wrong, your dreams probably get it wrong, too."

"I... see."

...Of course. How could there be any such thing as a fruit or drug that could turn back time?

"...Anyway, I'm gonna have a chat with the doctor about the alkaloid issue. Make sure you get treated too, Mari."

"...I will," Mari said, nodding meekly.

After Mr. Mikimoto left, Mari sat staring at the floor as if deep in thought.

"...You okay?"

"...Huh? Oh, yeah... I'm fine..."

"...Hmm..."

Mari looked up, her face serious. "Hey... Uh... Did that Seiju guy have a wife?"

"Yeah... She died, though."

"...Because she'd had a baby?"

"Yeah. ...Huh?"

I stared back at Mari, startled.

"...I... Actually... It wasn't much of a dream... Or should I say hallucination...? But I had one, too. It was about this poor woman. She'd married the man she loved and had a baby, but she got sick and died. Her name was Osayo. What was the woman in your dream called?"

There was no way. I couldn't speak. Mari looked straight at me, seeming as if she knew the answer from the look in my eyes.

"...I thought so. Seiju and Osayo are still there, even now. Maybe the fruit doesn't have the power to turn back time, but it does have the power to let you hear their voices. I heard Osayo, and you heard Seiju."

"...Right... Maybe you're right..."

I didn't exactly believe it entirely―but for some reason, I wanted to. I didn't want to think of such a tragic event as having been real, but if it actually did happen, it seemed too sad if there wasn't someone―or two someones―to listen to their voices.

"You must be right," I said, as we both squeezed each other's hands tightly once more.