Reunion | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Kanji | 再会 | ||||
Romaji | Saikai | ||||
English | Reunion | ||||
Information | |||||
Volume | 1 | ||||
Chapter | 4 | ||||
Release Date | Japanese - April 30, 2020 | ||||
Navigation | |||||
Previous | Next | ||||
← Those Left Behind | Wishing for Your Return → | ||||
Reunion (再会 Saikai?) is the fourth chapter of Uesato Hinata is a Miko.
Translation[]
I stood amidst the scattering crimson flowers.
Red spider lily. The flower she wreathed herself in when fighting. Crimson like flame, poisonous inside yet somehow still frail... A beautiful flower.
I stood there, up to the waist in the red spider lily. And in my arms I held the calm sleeping face of the person I loved.
It must've been a happy sight. Or maybe a sorrowful one? I did not know.
---
When I woke up, I saw the ceiling.
I usually slept on the bottom bunk, so the first thing I saw in the morning was normally the bottom of the top bunk. And from there I could normally hear Aki-senpai's breathing, or sometimes snoring.
But for the past few days, the first thing to greet me in the morning was the room's ceiling. Because I slept on a normal bed. I couldn't hear neither Aki-senpai's breathing nor her snoring.
For the past few days, I hadn't been living in my usual dorm room, but in a different building instead. The reason was my attempt to escape the Taisha. I was under arrest to find out the reason why I tried to escape.
Shortly after I woke up, a knock on the door came.
I opened the door and Karasuma-sensei came in, bringing breakfast with her.
"How about it, Hanamoto? Living here all alone must be tough. Why don't you tell us the reason you tried to escape the Taisha and go back to your old room? You must be lonely without Aki."
"No, absolutely not", - I responded immediately.
"There's absolutely nothing tough about living alone. I don't have to do all that annoying Miko training either, so I'd say this is even more comfortable than before."
Arrested though I might have been, my room wasn't a prison cell. There was an AC, three meals a day, I could go outside if accompanied by a priest and take baths, too. The absence of a TV was just about the only inconvenience.
"Haah..." - Karasuma-sensei let out a sigh.
It's unlikely that it was a sigh of exasperation at how stubborn I was. What she was feeling must've been: "I'm sick of hearing the same thing over and over. This is a pain."
"Did you try to escape because that argument with the priest made you hate being in the Taisha?"
I didn't answer Karasuma-sensei's question and silently started my breakfast.
"Yeah, no way. You're not that much of a kid. And if you wanted to show your opposition to the Taisha, you would've done so more clearly. There's no point in being rebellious if you don't show it."
"In ethics..." - I stopped my chopsticks and began talking: "There's a thought experiment called the trolley problem."
"...Yeah, the famous one. A trolley goes out of control, unable to stop. Ahead on the tracks there are five workers, and if the trolley keeps going it'll run them over. But if you pull the lever immediately, the trolley will go down a different set of tracks and the five people will be saved. But down that other set of tracks is one worker who'll be ran over if you switch the tracks. Will you pull the lever?"
"If you don't pull the lever, the death of the five will be a mere accident, though there will be the bitter aftertaste of not saving them when you could've. If you do pull the lever, only one person will die, but you will have killed them with your own hands. The experiment is set the way that they'll die for certain if you do."
"..."
"The Taisha is of the "pull the lever" opinion, I see. Your stance is to sacrifice the Heroes... to sacrifice Koori-sama in order to save as many people as possible. But how about this? What if I killed the five people on the original set of tracks in the problem? If there's nobody to save by pulling the lever, there's no need to do that anymore, right?"
"That's..." - indifferently began Karasuma-sensei: "ignoring the premise of the trolley problem, but whatever. Did you run away from the Taisha to do that?"
She didn't sound like she was trying to find faults in what I said, but simply confirming the facts.
"No. I'm just saying that it's a possible answer."
After hearing my answer, Karasuma-sensei let out a small laugh.
"I don't hate that way of thinking, you know. The other priests said not to tell you, but I guess I'll tell you after all... Koori Chikage committed an act of violence, apparently."
"Violence...?"
"During her homecoming she used her Hero powers to attack an ordinary citizen. And tried to kill Nogi Wakaba who came to stop her, too."
The moment I heard those words, blood came rushing to my head. I almost instinctively grabbed Karasuma-sensei.
"I knew this would happen! This is why I was against sending Koori-sama home!"
The next moment she grabbed my arm, locked my joint and pressed me against the wall. Pressed against the wall and joint-locked, I was unable to move.
"Urgh..."
Did Karasuma-sensei practice self-defence? Those were the moves of a martial artist.
"What do you mean "you knew"?"
Her voice was the same as ever despite having me in a hold, and I answered with frustration.
"...I know the family situation, surroundings and environment of Koori-sama's life way better than you Taisha people. I know the grades of the girls from Koori-sama's hometown, where they go on weekends, how much allowance they get, where their family members work, their salary, what hospitals they go to, even what illnesses they have."
"...How?"
For the first time ever, Karasuma-sensei looked slightly disturbed.
"You know how I got information about Koori-sama from Uesato-san, right?"
"Yeah. The Mikos know, so do the priests. But Uesato should only know things related to Koori in Marugame. She shouldn't know anything about her hometown."
"I..." - I said with self-derision: "am a daughter of a head priest, even if our shrine is small. There are people who'll do some favours if I ask them to."
"..."
"I'm still in contact with some of the shrine employees I was on good terms with before I entered the Taisha. They regularly visit Koori-sama's hometown and ask the citizens around to collect information. I also keep in contact with some friends from elementary school and ask them things about Koori-sama's hometown everry now and then. It's in walking distance from my home, which makes all this possible. Plus, in tiny countryside villages like mine and Koori-sama's, information about others' lives is virtually common knowledge. It's amazing how detailed the information you can get is once you get the people's trust."
"...Not the kind of data collection the Taisha can pull off. The difference between the information someone who has boots on the ground has and someone who doesn't has is startling."
Karasuma-sensei said with exasperation and released my arm. My arm was no longer bound, but the pain remained.
"The air in that village was festering with blame for Koori-sama. Her family was hated by the other villagers in the first place. When Koori-sama was picked to be a hero they began to be praised, but only because of that."
Doi-sama and Iyojima-sama were dead, and the situation looked anything but good. Damage began to show up in Shikoku itself, too.
And some people in Shikoku changed their tune and began to blame the Heroes.
Koori-sama's village, too, stopped praising the Heroes and began to drown her in insults, calling her "useless" and "good-for-nothing". Many villagers must've been irritated about having had to treat the much-hated Koori family with respect, so the hate for them grew even stronger than before as a reaction.
No, "hate" doesn't do it justice. The Koori family became the scapegoat and was relentlessly harassed.
In small closed communities, the moment people who endured a lot of stress find a target for their attacks is when those attacks become outrageous. People lose all of their human reason and common sense and sink their fangs into their target like beasts. Unthinkable from an outside perspective, the abuse is seen as completely normal in the community. They often don't even feel any guilt about it.
A small countryside village is an example of a closed community.
The villagers were under strong stress, with the frustration and uncertainty of the warlike situation pressing on them.
And there was a Hero from the much-hated Koori family, who couldn't protect the people of Shikoku despite its being her duty.
Regrettably, oh so regrettably, all the factors were in place.
"You Taisha didn't even remotely understand how badly that village treated Koori-sama's family, did you!? That's why you could come up with something like sending her home! How could she not attempt the worst when just being in that village hurt Koori-sama!?"
"...It's true, the Taisha's grasp of the situation surrounding Koori's family was inadequate."
"I told the priests about Koori-sama's family situation. But they didn't believe me. Everyone though that getting abused by the entire village was impossible in the modern society, that it was a thing of the past!"
Someone who never lived in a hell where ostracism and severe bullying were possible could not understand why they happened, nor could they sympathise.
But when the specifics of a community and the social situation aligned just the wrong way, they could happen all too easily.
"I wanted to go to Koori-sama's village to try and improve the situation somehow before she was sent back home..."
I thought to go to her village and try to dispel at least some of the malice the people there had for the Koori family. If it came to that, I was even ready to forcibly remove those who would slander Koori-sama. That's why I ran away from the Taisha.
"...Everything involving Koori was a clear mistake on our part."
I glared at Karasuma-sensei, but it really wasn't her fault. I didn't tell all of the priests about Koori-sama's family situation. Karasuma-sensei was absent, so I never told her.
I... should've probably told a lot more people about Koori-sama's family situation.
But it was so deeply personal that I hesitated to reveal it to others.
And the means I gained that information through were anything but commendable. If I told the others, those who helped me by collecting the information would've been put in a bad spot.
Even so... Had I told more people, would the results have been different?
"Please, don't push Koori-sama any further... Send her away from her family, remove her from the front lines... Please, I'm begging you..."
I grabbed the hem of Karasuma-sensei and begged.
What did Koori-sama ever do wrong?
Why must she be the only one to constantly get hurt?
She was constantly hurt and driven into the corner ever since she was born...
"Because of Koori's violent act, her Hero System's been taken away. So she won't be standing on the front lines anymore."
"Thank... goodness..."
Karasuma-sensei's words brought me relief. Koori-sama wouldn't have to fight anymore.
"As for her place to live, that's under Taisha consideration right now. She can't be very well left in that village."
Karasuma-sensei looked out in the window as she said that. The sky was getting dark. Rain was likely.
"Hanamoto, one more question."
"What is it?"
"Doi and Iyojima's deaths haven't been revealed to the public, yet there's word on the internet. Did you leak that?"
I shook my head. I wouldn't have done that. But I had an idea who would.
"It must've been a Miko that leaked it. In protest against the Taisha. Though it can't have been Aki-senpai. She wouldn't use Doi-sama and Iyojima-sama's deaths as tools for a protest."
"...You've got a surprising amount of trust in Aki."
"She might act crude, but she's actually an extremely sensitive softie. Still, a Miko leaking confidential Taisha information as a form of protest can't be taken lightly. Hiding Doi-sama and Iyojima-sama's deaths was a bad thing to do. It only makes sense that the Mikos would feel like they're being disdained and want to revolt. The Taisha isn't capable of commanding the Mikos anymore."
"That might be true."
Karasuma-sensei admitted without pause.
Shortly afterwards, I was allowed to go back to my dorm.
"Ah, Hanamoto-chan, you're back. And here I was enjoying my spacious room alone, guess it's gonna get cramped again. Still, I'm glad you're back."
"Aki-senpai, what's with the tsundere act... It doesn't fit you at all."
"Way to diss me as the first thing out of your mouth when you return, junior! Ugh, Hanamoto-chan, I was actually really worried about you!"
"You're still annoying even when honest..."
"Well what am I supposed to do then!?"
The short time me and Aki-senpai spent apart from each other changed absolutely nothing between us.
Koori-sama was taken off the front lines.
There shouldn't have been any reason for her to get hurt anymore.
I decided to finally go and meet her once it was decided where she would be living.
Even with her Hero qualifications gone, my respect for Koori-sama wouldn't change. I would stay by her side and continue being her Miko. That was everything to me.
It wasn't long before I was informed that Koori-sama fell in battle.
That day it was raining hard from early in the morning. Uesato-san came to the Taisha from Marugame, and I was sitting in her room.
"The disasters happening in Shikoku lately..." - said Uesato-san while looking outside the window: "might be caused by the effects of the Vertex invasions. Some Vertexes have the power to erode the Jukai. And that causes feedback to Shikoku in form of accidents and natural disasters."
Just as she said, earthquakes and tornadoes have had been occurring in Shikoku as of late. So those were all caused by the Vertexes.
"...So, is the downpour that's been going on since yesterday the same?"
"That might be the case..."
The conversation was short, and silence had drowned the room.
Uesato-san seemed lost for words. I broke the silence.
"Why... did Koori-sama fall in battle? She was supposed to have had her Hero qualifications taken away. She was supposed to have been removed from the frontlines..."
"...Chikage-san asked to be put back on the battlefield herself... Wakaba-chan's strength alone wasn't enough, so the Taisha thought she could be of some help... And allowed her to fight as a Hero again..."
"...Uuuuuaaaaaaargh!"
I let our a roar and hit the floor with my fist. Again. And again.
"Why!? Why did they let her fight!? Bullshit! This is bullshit! Aaaaaaaaaargh! Who's the one that gave her permission!? I'll kill them! I swear I'll kill them! Uuuuuuuugh!"
Tears were streaming down my face, falling onto the floor.
But no amount of my grief or anger could bring Koori-sama back. Yet I didn't know where to direct this anger.
Uesato-san hugged the weeping me.
"Uesato-san..."
When I raised my head, I saw tears in Uesato-san's eyes as well.
"I'm sorry... I'm supposed to be overseeing the Heroes, but I couldn't save her..."
"Uesato-san, it's not your fault... I should be sorry for bawling like this..."
"It's okay. Go ahead and cry. You are Chikage-san's Miko, after all."
"Uuugh... Uuuugh..."
As I continued crying, Uesato-san continued gently stroking my head.
The warmth of her hands was my one and only salvation.
How long did I cry for?
After a long time spent crying, I finally regained myself.
I wiped off my tears and faced Uesato-san.
What I was about to say was both a curse and my revenge against the Taisha. I would plant a seed that would overturn the Taisha from their very roots. Whether it would sprout or not, I did not know.
"Uesato-san... I think the Taisha is a crooked organisation. And the reason for that is because the ones at the top, the ones in control are outsides and laymen."
"Laymen... You say."
"That's right. The Taisha priests aren't the ones who receive Shinju's oracles. They aren't the ones who fight the Vertexes. The Mikos and Heroes do that. Most of them are just former clergy... Ordinary people who just happen to be a bit knowledgeable about gods. They have no special powers, no combat experience, and most of them have no leader qualities either. I'm sure a lot of them find it a pain as well. "Why must complete laymen like us have to take command of a war like this?""
A lot of the common clergymen who became Taisha members must've thought this way. Much like my father.
"That's..."
Uesato-san was troubled and lost for words.
"And those laymen, those outsides are the ones holding the Heroes' lives in their hands. This is wrong. The ones at the top of the Taisha should be either the leader of the Heroes who fights the Vertexes herself - Nogi-sama, or the one loved the most by the Shinju - Uesato-san. I don't think Nogi-sama is suited for this role, so I think you're the best fit, Uesato-san."
Uesato-san looked shocked.
"Me...?"
"In reality..." - I stared into her eyes, dead serious: "this is how it should've been from the start. The gods came back, messengers from the heavens are trying to destroy humanity - it's like our world has reverted back to how it was in the ancient legends. And in antiquity, those who led people were always either loved by the gods or capable of communicating with them. Uesato-san, the one in that position in Shikoku right now is you."
"But I'm not capable of leading an organisation..."
"That might be true. It might be difficult for a child like us to stand on top of an organisation. However... You are a Miko, and you walked side by side with the Heroes. Uesato-san, you can make choices far more considerate of the Heroes than the outsiders and laymen in the Taisha. Neither the people in the Taisha nor children like us are capable of managing an organisation well. So someone like you, capable of making decisions that would protect the Heroes, would be the best choice."
Uesato-san was silent, her gaze cast downwards.
"...Uesato-san, you'll have to do it at some point regardless."
"Eh..."
"You won't be able to protect Nogi-sama otherwise. She'll become a victim of the Taisha's mistaken commands eventually. Just like Koori-sama. Now that Koori-sama is gone, I don't care what happens to the Heroes, the Taisha or even the world itself. But that's not the same for you, is it? Someone precious to you is still alive."
Uesato-san always prioritised others before herself. Someone like that wouldn't even think of leading an organisation. They wouldn't even be able to imagine it.
But... She was now presented with a new, previously non-existent choice.
Whether she took it or not was up to Uesato-san. Knowing her personality, the possibility of her making that choice was minuscule. But it was not zero.
I just turned a possibility that was zero into one percent.
After Uesato-san left back to Marugame, Karasuma-sensei called me into her room.
"The Taisha will not be holding a funeral for Koori Chikage. She's not being recognised as a Hero... That's the Taisha's consensus. Because she attacked Nogi and ordinary citizens."
"I see."
I answered indifferently. I no longer cared what the Taisha decided. It was enough if I was the only one who recognised Koori-sama as a Hero.
Karasuma-sensei told me a certain address in Marugame.
"That's where Koori lived the last of her days. After living in her hometown became impossible, she got moved to Marugame along with her parents."
So they forced Koori-sama to live with her parents until the very end. There must've been some idiot high up in the Taisha with a fixed idea that "children are happier living with their parents" and "parents couldn't possibly hurt their children". They ignored Koori-sama in favour of the so-called common sense.
"What about Koori-sama's remains?"
"The Taisha won't be holding a funeral, so they were given to the her relatives. The Kooris will be holding their own personal funeral."
"...Understood", - I answered with a blank expression.
I came back to my room and changed into clothes that were easy to move in and put my phone and wallet in my pockets.
Aki-senpai looked at me suspiciously.
"Huh? Are you going somewhere?"
"Yes."
"In this rain? That's dangerous."
"There's a place I have to visit immediately."
The public transport was still working. If I didn't make a move before it stopped because of the rain, I'd lose my means of getting there.
"...Right."
Aki-senpai didn't try to stop me anymore. She didn't even ask where I was going. She must've guessed something from my voice and how I was acting.
When I took the umbrella we had in the middle of the room, Aki-senpai spoke.
"Wait, an umbrella is useless in rain this heavy. Use this instead."
She gave me a sturdy raincoat and rain boots.
"Aki-senpai, why do you have these?"
"A friend gave me these a good while back", - she said with a slightly sad look: "She was into the outdoors, so the quality should be good."
I guessed who she was talking about, and silently bowed my head.
"Thank you very much."
"Will you be back before dinner?"
"No, I won't."
"...Right. I'll distract everyone for a while then, you slip away in the meanwhile. But don't push yourself too hard. Got it?"
"...Yeah."
"Then we're good."
Saying that, my senior I spent four years in the same room hit me on the shoulder.
"Aki-senpai, I thought against telling you this because it'd be annoying if you let it go to your head... But I guess I will say it after all. You were a great senior. With my personality, I would've gotten isolated from the other Mikos if I wasn't sharing a room with you."
"No way. You're a good girl, Hanamoto-chan", - smiled Aki-senpai.
"But I'm happy to hear you say that. Well, I'll gather all the Mikos and priests at the dorm in the cafeteria, so make sure not to pass by there."
Having said that, she began to send out messages on her phone.
Aki-senpai called all the Mikos to the cafeteria and suddenly declared that they'd be boycotting all their work until the day after and holding a mahjong tournament. Some Mikos were confused, some played along and some got angry - the cafeteria was in turmoil. Having heard the noise, the priests also gathered in the cafeteria. Aki-senpai passionately talked about how wonderful mahjong was, started a rule explanation class and at some point, virtually everyone in the dorm was gathered in the cafeteria.
Using that chance, I slipped away from the dorm using a route away from the cafeteria.
A downpour was pummeling my body. True enough, an umbrella would be worthless in that kind of weather. I was grateful to Aki-senpai and her friend for lending me the raincoat and boots.
The distance between the Taisha dormitory and the nearest bus stop was quite long.
"Haah, haah..."
Walking in the rain was sapping my stamina away. And I wasn't physically strong in the first place.
But I had to go.
I had to see her, because I would never get to meet Koori-sama again otherwise.
"Uuuurgh..."
Tears welled up in my eyes as I was walking through the rain.
I wanted to meet Koori-sama, even if... even if in her last moments.
The skies were dim because of the weather even during the day, but by the time I got to the bus station it was dark as night.
"Haah, haah..."
The one saving grace was the warm June weather. If it was winter, I would've collapsed from the cold before even reaching the bus stop.
I looked at the timetable.
The buses were infrequent in the first place, so the last bus was already gone by the time I arrived.
"Walking from here to the station... Would be unrealistic, wouldn't it..."
The station was far away, who knows how many hours it would take to walk to it. Even assuming I had the stamina to get there on foot, getting to Marugame that day would be difficult if you considered time in transit and when the last train ran.
I wanted to move as soon as possible, since I had no idea how long I'd be able to keep the Taisha fooled. It was unlikely I'd happen upon a place to spend the night at, and sleeping outside in that kind of weather would be too dangerous.
I brought money with me just in case. Mikos spent most of the year in the dorm, so we didn't get a lot of opportunities to spend money. I even still had my New Year's money remaining.
I looked how much a taxi from where I stood to Marugame would cost me. The price was far beyond the money I had on hand.
When I was pulling my wallet out of the pocket... I noticed what felt like bits of paper in the raincoat's inner pocket. What I found there was a paper note and some bills. The note read "Allowance from your senior. Put it to use. Masuzu."
She was constantly looking out for me...
I called the taxi company to pick me up. The driver seemed very suspicious of the fact a child would call a long-distance taxi this late at night. He asked me what I was doing at this kind of time.
I showed him the money to assure him I could pay the price, and gave him the risky answer.
"I'm a Taisha Miko. There's an urgent need for me to go to Marugame, where one of the esteemed Heroes is. Feel free to confirm this with the Taisha later if you're not convinced. But there's no time right now, so please hurry to Marugame."
The Heroes lived in Marugame and Mikos were young girls - those facts were common knowledge. The logic of my trying to get to Marugame checked out.
If he really decided to contact the Taisha then, I would've been done for. But luckily, the driver didn't ask me anything else and let me get in. Maybe he decided that delving deep into Taisha matters was too much trouble.
I got in the taxi and rode to Marugame. I was so worn out from the walking that I dozed off in the car...
When I woke up, the taxi had stopped. The clock showed that it was already deep into the night. The rain had also stopped.
"Why did we stop? Did something happen?"
The driver made a troubled expression at my question and then began to explain.
According to him, we were close to Marugame, but a part of the city was flooded and the roads were impassable.
When I brought up Koori-sama's address, I was told that the area was in was surrounded by the flood and we couldn't get there. The surroundings of the river that passed though Marugame seemed to have been flooded quite extensively.
I looked at the taximeter and realised the fare was already high enough that I could barely cover it even with Aki-senpai's money. I couldn't ask for the driver to try and drive around to find a passable place.
"Let me get off here, please."
I got out of the taxi, looked up Koori-sama's address on my smartphone map and began to walk.
I stopped very soon.
The road was sunk underwater and was impassable. It must've been the flooded area the driver mentioned.
"Any other roads...?"
I looked for a different route on the map.
However...
I couldn't find one.
I stood in front of the flooded road, stupefied.
I walked around several different roads, looking at the map and trying to find a way to Koori-sama's house, but all of them were flooded. Her house was on the other side of the river, so any path there would be in the flooded region.
I was tired of walking and my breathing became rough.
"What do I do..."
I was in despair.
Should I have waited until the water went away? The rain had stopped, so the water level would fall eventually. But I had no idea how long that would take, plus the possibility of the rain resuming was there too.
Should I have taken a bigger detour and looked for another road? No, any road in the flooded region would likely be impassable, and covering a lot of ground on foot would be impossible as well.
Koori-sama's place was so close, yet I had no way to get there.
No way.
"Uuuurgh!"
There was one... Just one realistic method of getting there that I kept averting my eyes from. It wasn't a difficult one. Anyone but me could easily do it.
That is - to walk through the water.
You see it all the time on TV when there are news of a flood: pedestrians walking through the water. Some people even walk through water that's up to their waist.
"Haah, haah..."
The rain had stopped, the water was still. It would be like walking through a pool. If I was careful, going through it would be possible.
But... I couldn't even go inside a pool. Because of my aquaphobia, I couldn't go inside any water deeper than knee-high.
"Uuuuurgh!"
I tried putting my foot in the water. Slowly, almost like I was putting my foot in the cauldron in hell.
The water was up to my ankles. I could handle this kind of depth.
"Haah, haah..."
Slowly, step by step, I advanced. And as I did, the water grew deeper. The area must've been slanted downwards, rather than flat.
"Haah, haah..."
The water soon was up to my calves, growing even deeper.
And finally, it covered my knees. It would only be deeper from this point onwards.
"Hah, hah, hah, hah..."
My legs were shaking.
No way. I couldn't go any further.
"Uuuurgh!"
But there was no other way. Going through the water here was my only way of meeting Koori-sama.
"Uuuuuurgh!"
It was fine. I managed to come this far. There shouldn't have been any trouble going further. It wasn't like the sea where I almost drowned, since there was no flow, and the water was just up to my knees, much more shallow than the sea. If I just moved my foot forward, I could advance.
"Uuuuurgh!"
If I just moved my foot forward.
Moved my food forward.
Moved my foot forward!
"Uuugh! *sob* *sniff* Uugh..."
Tears were streaming down my face. I stood alone in the water, crying.
No way. Scary. It was too scary. I couldn't move even a step further. I knew I could keep going if I just paid attention to where I was stepping. I understood that fact with my mind. But my body was trembling and wouldn't move.
"I'm sorry, Koori-sama... I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry... *sob* I... I can't go any further... *sob* Sorry, I'm sorry..."
It was impossible after all. I couldn't go any further. I had to go back.
I turned around to return where I came from.
I turned my back on Koori-sama.
"...AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
I couldn't do that. Not under any circumstances. If I turned my back on her, I'd have been the same as the Taisha. The same as the people who kept blaming her without knowing a thing. I... I would never turn my back on Koori-sama!
"I am Koori-sama's Miko! I'm the person who'll save her!"
Koori-sama was removed from being a Hero. Her very existence was denied and she was thrown away the moment she died and stopped being useful.
The Taisha, Koori-sama's parents, the citizens Koori-sama protected... How many people would even grieve for her? How many people would recognise her deeds in battle and be thankful that she ever lived!?
There was at least one! And that was me!
I had to tell her she did a great job, that she lived an admirable life as a Hero, and I had to do that right next to her!
I looked towards Koori-sama's house again.
One step.
Just moving my foot forward filled me with so much fear I felt like I would die. So why not!? If I died, I'd be able to be together with Koori-sama's soul, so what was there to be afraid of!?
"Urgh, urk..."
I threw up. My brain was trying to stop my body. I knew that. But whether I threw up or died, I had to keep going.
All this time I've kept hesitating about meeting Koori-sama. And I didn't meet her even once, until the very end. It was all because of my cowardice. I wasn't very sociable, and thought that Koori-sama would hate me even if we met... That fear kept holding me back.
But I would hesitate no longer.
Her body was simply laid to rest in a dirty futon. She was in something like a sleeping bag and only her face was visible. She had burial makeup on and it had only been two days since her death, so her face was still beautiful.
And in the same room as her body, a drunken man was lying on the table.
The entrance to the house was unlocked, so getting in was easy.
The man on the table noticed my coming in and woke up, bewildered. He must've been Koori-sama's father.
"Huh... Who are you?"
"Haah, haah..."
Because I was walking through the water, everything below my waist was drenched. Dripping water all over the floor, I approached the sleeping Koori-sama.
"I'm asking who the hell you are!"
The man yelled at me, but I paid no attention.
I sat down next to Koori-sama's body seiza-style and deeply bowed.
"I'm deeply sorry for being so late. Koori-sama, I've come to meet you. Please forgive my disgraceful look."
"Hey, what are you doing!?"
"I've heard many tales of your great work at the Taisha, Koori-sama. Thanks to your fighting as a Hero, the lives of many people were saved. Your deeds are all undeniable facts. May you rest in peace..."
"Hey!"
"Shut up", - I glared at the man: "How dare you raise your voice next to the resting Koori-sama? What insolence. And what of Koori-sama's funeral?"
I looked around the room. I could see empty beer cans,sake bottles and trash scattered around the room, but nothing else. Not even a funeral altar.
"Huh? How should I know!?" - said the man with irritation.
"...You're even bigger garbage than I've heard you were."
So he wasn't even planning on a funeral.
Alive she had to get hurt fighting monsters, and dead she wouldn't even get a funeral... Just how much disdain did Koori-sama have to endure?
I tried to lift her body and the bag it was in. When I touched her, I realised that a piece of her body near the waist was torn off. It must've hurt. It must've been so painful.
"I'll take Koori-sama. I will give her a proper funeral."
The next moment the man hit me.
My mind went blank for a moment and I collapsed onto the floor. The man got on top of me and began to yell: "You're one of those Taisha people! It's all your fault! Like that brat could do something like be a Hero!", hitting me more.
I didn't feel any pain from the punches. All I felt was regret for causing such an unsightly scene right next to Koori-sama.
As he continued to hit me, I picked up a nearby bottle and hit him on the head with it.
The man let out a scream and fell.
The sight of his writhing in pain reminded me of a dying caterpillar.
I steadied my breathing and lifted Koori-sama's body up.
"...If I was in your position, everything would've been different..."
I spat on the man writhing on the floor and went towards the exit with Koori-sama's body.
When I walked out of the house, I was at a slight loss about what to do.
I wasn't strong, so walking a long distance while carrying Koori-sama was out of the question.
That moment, a blinding light entered my field of view.
The headlights of a car.
A red car stopped in front of me and Karasuma-sensei came out of it.
"You know how much trouble it was to get here? Finding a road that wasn't flooded was a serious pain."
"...Did you come here to bring me back?"
"Nope", - she said indifferently: "You need a ride, right? I'll take you where you need to."
I sat down in the rear seat of Karasuma-sensei's car, together with Koori-sama.
I fixed her body with a seatbelt so that she wouldn't fall over. I kept supporting her with my hands through the entire ride just in case.
"I have no intention of coming back to the Taisha even after burying Koori-sama.
Karasuma-sensei on the driver seat showed neither surprise nor anger when she heard that.
"Right. It's fine, do whatever you want. I didn't come here to bring you back. I'm not under Taisha orders. Actually, I was planning to take you to Koori's place after all other priests went to sleep in the first place. But then you had to rush things and do it all on your own", - she said with exasperation.
"...Sorry..."
"Must've been tough. Impressive though, you managed to rescue Koori all by yourself. You really are Koori Chikage's Miko.
"Yes..."
Karasuma-sensei's words almost made me cry.
In the very end... Did I really manage to rescue Koori-sama?
But it was already far too late.
"Sensei... Why are you letting me get away with all these selfish actions?"
"Because it's entertaining", - she said with a sarcastic tone: "Just imagine the look on the priests' faces when they realise you're gone next morning. Hilarious, right?"
"...I've known you for four years, Sensei, but I still don't understand a thing about you."
A smile appeared on her face.
"Heh, that so? I'm the same. I've known you for four years and I still don't understand. Why are you so taken in with Koori? Why do you have so much love for a person you've pretty much never talked to or met?"
"A reason, huh..." - I answered, touching Koori-sama's cheek: "I think that any answer you give when asked about why you love someone is just something you tack on post-factum. "Because they're kind", "because they're cool" - all of those are just excuses you forcibly come up with to give your emotions a rational explanation. When you really fall in love with someone, you don't have any reason for it."
"I see. So it was love at first sight, huh."
With that statement, Karasuma-sensei began to hum a vaguely familiar song to herself.
"Reminds me of the old times", - she stopped for a moment and muttered: "when Yuuna got into the car and we were driving just like this."
Having said that, she began to hum again.
Then I finally remembered. It was Dvorak's "Going Home".
---
I'm on the grounds of my family's shrine. Part of the ground is covered with countless red spider lilies I've planted.
And amongst them there's just one white spider lily. Beneath them lies Koori Chikage.
"I will always be on your side, Koori-sama. For all eternity, that will never change..."
Summary[]
Yoshika talks about how Taisha is not on a right route and they act without deeply understanding subjects they're in contact with, causing tragedies, as Karasuma Kumiko inform her the incident related to Koori Chikage at her hometown. Yoshika get discharged from custody, and was being notified that Chikage will be withdrawn from the frontline which assured Yoshika but shortly after it came the news that Chikage died from battle. As Hinata visits her and mention the details, Yoshika became outraged and cried over Chikage being approved to join battle due to lack of manpower, and Yoshika told Hinata how she's a better person to lead the Taisha than those ill-fitted randoms on the top of it now. Karasuma informed Yoshika that Chikage's body have been sent to her home. With the help of Hinata's distraction of Taisha personnel by proposing a miko work sabotage in form of playing Mahjong and Aki's lending of gear gifted by Doi Tamako in the face of vertex-corruption-caused heavy rain, Yoshika escaped Taisha's dorm and went all the way to Chikage's hometown, however the entire area have been flooded. Despite her steps being stopped by panic attack due to her aquaphobia, she's still moving steps by steps to Chikage's home. Yoshika met Chikage's body at her home, encountered Chikage's father and invoked a fight. As Yoshika took Chikage's body out of her home after fighting of Chikage's father and wonder how she's going to transport it, Karasuma arrived with her car to help. Yoshika mentioned they won't be going back to Taisha even after all these are over. As Karamasu asked Yoshika why she loves Chikage so much, she answered there are no reason and Karasuma concluded it's love at first sight and hum Dvorak's "Going Home". Chikage is being buried within Yoshika home's shrine's territory, where there are countless red spider lilies, beneath the sole white lily in-between. "I will always be on your side, Koori-sama. For all eternity, that will never change..."
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- The one white spider lily has several meanings. First, the white spider lily is a marker of where Chikage's body is buried. Secondly, the red spider lily is the flower that symbolizes Chikage, and the white spider lily symbolizes Yoshika, meaning that Yoshika is with Chikage. It also has a meaning related to the language of flowers. In Japan, the flower language of the white spider lily is You are the only one I have feelings for. Other than that, this white spider lily has a hidden meaning.[1][2]