Chapter 14: The Bloom Beneath the Moon

Someone, or something, was watching us.

None of us said it, but we felt it.

None of us turned around.

The feeling clung to our skin, like invisible eyes brushing the back of our necks, soft as breath. It wasn’t hostile. Just… there.

Present.
Quiet.

The torii gates behind us stretched long in the moonlight, casting shadows like teeth across the path.

We passed through the last gate.

Something shifted in the air. Heavy. Sharp.

A second later, pain shot through my hand.

“Shit—!” I flinched, grabbing it.

It stabbed through the back of my right hand like a hot nail driving straight into bone. I staggered, knees locking.

“Mio?!” Lunaria rushed over.

“What happened?!” Reina’s voice cracked behind me.

I turned my hand over.

No blood.

Just a glow.

A pale pink light bloomed across my skin, petal by petal, until the shape formed clearly: a flower. Five Sakurasou petals, curled like soft parchment. Glowing.

Lunaria gasped, ears twitching. “Wh-What just happened?! Did it hurt?!”

I looked at my hand.

“Hold on—is that a curse mark?!” Reina rushed over and grabbed my wrist.

I blinked. “A curse? Nah. Probably not. It’s too cute.”

Reina stared at me.

Then at the mark.

Then back at me.

“…Are you sure you’re not cursed?” she said, already yanking open her pouch searching for an emergency curse-lifting charm. “Let me double-check to make sure. There could be a delayed hex. A cursed delay. A cursed delay hex.”

Lunaria leaned closer. “Should I growl at it? Would that help?”

They both looked entirely serious.

I blinked at them. My hand. The shrine behind us.

“…Let’s just go home,” I said.

xXx

We didn’t talk much on the walk back.

Reina was still clutching her pouch like it was a first-aid kit. Lunaria hovered close, glancing at me every few steps, like I might suddenly crumble into dust.

By the time we stepped into the apartment building, the only thing I wanted was my bed.

Instead, we got Chester.

He stood in the lobby by the front desk like a well-dressed piece of furniture that had been waiting there for hours. He held a silver tray with three teacups, steam rising into the air.

“Welcome home, Mistress Mio,” he said with a bow, voice as calm as the tea was warm. “A long evening?”

Reina blinked. “Wait, were you just standing there the whole time?”

“I find it's better to assume the worst and prepare accordingly.”

Lunaria took her cup with both hands and sipped immediately. “Mmm… it tastes warm and safe. Like pancakes, but in tea form!"

Reina took hers with a small nod. “Thanks, Chester. Honestly… I needed this.”

Chester’s gaze shifted to me last.

He glanced at my right hand.

Just once.

Then said nothing and handed me my cup.

It was warm. Calming. That was enough.

Reina and I took a sip.

The warmth settled in my chest slowly and steadily, like we’d finally stepped out of something cold.

No one said anything for a while.

We didn’t have to.

Eventually, Lunaria leaned her shoulder into mine.

“You’re okay… right?”

I didn’t answer immediately.

My fingers curled around the cup.

“…Yeah,” I said. “Just tired.”

We finished our tea in silence.

xXx

I didn’t remember going to bed. Just the weight of the blanket.

My fingers brushed over the mark on the back of my hand one last time before my eyes closed.

And then—

Sunlight.

Wind.

Children’s laughter.

I was small. Barefoot. My feet were covered in dirt and crushed flowers. I was running through tall grass. The sky was wide and blue above me.

Other kids raced beside me, giggling.

And ahead of us...

A fox.

She danced between the trees with fur like a soft pink cloud. Not red. Not gold.

Pink.

She wasn’t scared of us. She played with us, nudged our hands, rolled in flower crowns, let us braid sakura blossoms into her tail.

I approached her tiptoeing while holding a messy flower garland.

“Hana! C’mere!”

She trotted over, ears perked. I slipped the crown onto her head, and she leaned against my cheek.

She was warm.

The adults liked her too. They left bowls of fruit by the edge of the trees. Sometimes rice. Sometimes grilled fish wrapped in leaves.

She never stole. Never begged.

If someone dropped something on the road, she’d nudge it back with her nose.

When the old ladies washed laundry at the river, she sat beside them like a quiet guard, her tail gently sweeping the dirt.

I watched her pad across the village, light on her feet, carrying a small sandal in her mouth. A toddler wobbled ahead of her, crying.

She brought the sandal straight to him.

No one told her to.

She just knew.

The whole village loved her.

She never stayed the whole day.
She'd return to the forest when the sun dipped low and the wind grew quiet.

But every morning, without fail—
She came back.

As the children woke and birds began to sing.
She’d skipped into the village, tail swaying, ready to play.
We’d chase her between the trees, braid flowers into her fur, and giggle as she rolled in the grass with us.

She was part of our everyday life.

It's like she’d always be there.

Like she belonged to us, and we belonged to her.

And then—

The warmth faded.

The light shifted.

Like time had skipped ahead, dragging me somewhere I didn’t want to go.

Clouds rolled in fast, thick, and heavy.

Thunder clamored high above in the sky, deep and wild.

Then came the flood.

Water surged down from the mountains, ripping trees from the ground like they were nothing.

Someone screamed.

I slipped. Fell.

The water dragged me down. Cold. Loud. Blinding.

I reached up, gasping for air.

But the current caught me again. Pulled harder. Spun me sideways like I weighed nothing.

I couldn’t scream. Couldn’t see. Just sinking, choking, fading...

Then—

A shape burst through the water towards me. Fast. Familiar. Desperate.

She swam through the current, teeth gently gripping the back of my clothes, paddling hard.

She shoved me onto the shore with the last of her strength.
I turned to grab her—
But the current dragged her away before I could move.

xXx

I didn’t understand at first.
I just sat there, staring at the water.
Waiting for her to come back.

“Over here!”

A man’s voice.

I turned my head. Someone was wading into the river, yelling for help.

They found her.

I heard the shouting and ran as fast as I could toward the adults.

But what I saw—

Was the limp body of the fox, which I thought would always come back.

Hana.

The adults decided to bury her up on the hill, where the sun reached first and the river couldn’t touch.

Someone picked me up.
I kicked. I struggled.

But they carried me away.

I couldn’t stop crying.

xXx

We built her a shrine on top of the hill.

We left flowers. Prayed.

Hoped.

The seasons changed.

Spring came. Then summer. Then snow.

Year after year, we climbed the hill with offerings — rice, fruit, hand-folded charms.

No one told us to.

We just kept going.

We lit candles when the nights were long.
We braided new garlands every spring.
We called out to her and hoped she could hear us.

And perhaps it was magic.

Perhaps it was the universe itself.

Or perhaps it was simply the unbreakable bond between a kind soul and those she loved.

One night, under a full moon—

The shrine doors opened.

And the fox returned.

Not just as a fox, but something brighter. Diviner.

A soft figure appeared from the shrine — woven from moonlight and petals, nine tails sweeping behind her.

She stepped out into the night.

The villagers froze.

And then—

Cheers. Tears. People dropped to their knees.

Some called out to her. Others simply wept.

She spoke with a voice like a gentle, soft breeze.

Calm. Steady.

“You welcomed me without fear. You offered love without condition.”

“I exist because of you. And in return, I will protect this land from flood, from ruin, from sorrow.”

Her gaze turned upward, past the villagers, to the shrine behind her.

“Before I returned, I saw nothing. Only darkness.”

“But then... a voice reached me. Gentle. Clear.”

‘You are not finished.’

‘You have another name.’

She placed a hand over her heart.

“Tamamo.”

“It means purity. Not just mine — but yours, too.”

“The purity of hearts that gave without asking, and loved without reason.”

A hush fell over the crowd.

Then she turned to me.

Her steps were light, barely touching the ground.

She knelt.

Her soft hand brushed against my cheek — warm, gentle, like a promise.

I looked up into her eyes.

She smiled.

“Mio...”

“Your heart shines brighter, purer, than I have ever seen.”

“You are destined for something greater.”

“Be kind.”

“Bestow unto those you meet the gift of kindness.”

“For kindness... returns in ways unseen.”

xXx

I opened my eyes.

The room was quiet.

Soft lighting glowed from the corner.
The air was still, like everything had paused just for me.

I sat up. My body felt heavy, like I’d carried something out of the dream with me.

I looked at my hand.

The mark glowed faint and soft for just a moment.

Then it faded.

Gone.

I touched the mark again, but nothing stirred.

“…What was that?”