Prologue

She came every day.

Always at the same time, ten minutes into lunch break, always with a little paper bag tucked beneath her arm and a distant look in her eyes. The path to the old shrine was overgrown, hidden behind the back wing of the school where no one really went anymore. No one except her.

Who is she? Yukino Shirakawa.

With her silver hair pulled into a loose side ponytail, uniform perfectly pressed, and a very bored expression, she looked like the kind of girl who had better things to do. But there she was, every day, slipping behind the storage shed, past the rusted fence, and through the trees… until she stood before the crumbling shrine barely taller than she was.

She never prayed though.

She just sat on the stone step, unwrapped her dango, and started to eat.

Sometimes, she’d leave one stick on the altar. Just one.

"Out of politeness," she once muttered to herself, licking a smear of red bean paste from her thumb. "Or in case there's a spirit around. Like feeding the cats."

But today felt different.

She was savoring the sweet, warm dumplings when she heard the faint sound of voices—laughter and footsteps approaching from the school grounds. Yukino froze. She wasn’t supposed to be here. Not today.

The students had probably decided to take a shortcut, or maybe one of the teachers was going to check the forgotten corners of the school grounds. Her stomach twisted at the thought of getting caught.

I can’t be here when they come by.

She quickly shoved the last dango into her mouth and scrambled to stand up, glancing around frantically. The path she’d come down was narrow and difficult to navigate in a rush.

The voices grew louder, closer.

Her eyes darted back to the shrine. I have to get out of here fast.

She grabbed her bag and started toward the trees, but just as she was about to step into the thick bushes, a strange sensation washed over her. It was as though the ground beneath her feet hummed, faintly vibrating in the air.

What the—

Yukino paused, her heart skipping a beat. Something was wrong. The shrine was glowing.

A soft, ethereal light began to pulse from the stone altar, the cracks in the weathered stones shimmering as if some unseen force had suddenly come to life. The glow was faint at first, but it grew brighter by the second, casting long shadows in the underbrush.

The voices were even closer now, and Yukino's eyes widened in panic.

No, no, no.

She turned toward the glow, instinctively stepping forward. The light illuminated her face as she took a hesitant step back, almost as if drawn to it.

What is this? she thought, her heartbeat quickening.

Her fingers tingled, an odd pull in her chest, but before she could fully process what was happening, the sound of footsteps came rushing around the corner. Yukino’s eyes widened in horror as she whipped around to make her escape.

The light from the shrine flared, just as the voices came into view—a group of students walking by, chatting casually. Yukino's pulse raced, and she glanced back one last time.

But the shrine… it was no longer just glowing. It was pulsing, almost alive.

Her breath caught in her throat as she rushed toward the trees, the voices of her classmates fading into the distance behind her. She ran, her thoughts whirling. I need to get away…

But as she fled, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she wasn’t running away from something. No… she was running toward something.