The last leg of their trip wound through the mountains, and it was three a.m. when they stopped before a gate. Hikaru hurried to open the door for them. Maeko led them inside and up a path to a long, single story house that looked like it had fallen out of a period Japanese movie. A misty fog gave the cold, dark countryside an eerie air that was complemented by the loud, echoing clink of what turned out to be a bamboo fountain.

Lights shone in a few of the windows, and Maeko ...