Chapter 8: Yuka’s Paranormal Talk — Test of Courage

The “test of courage” handed down in the tengu village used to be a coming-of-age rite performed on the night of one’s birthday.
These days, it has become a ritual that anyone who wishes to challenge may undertake at their own risk.
And there is a rule that a witness must always accompany them in case something happens.

Midnight. Yuka stood at the site of the test of courage with the witness beside her.
The preparations had been finished earlier in the day. What she had to do was simple.

She would pick up one stone from among those scattered across the section where the ominous rock was enshrined—Mitamaza—and write her name on it.
Then she would place it on the offering stand in front of the rock. That was all.

In the actual attempt, she would use no light and take the stone back with her.That was supposed to be all.

Taking a deep breath, Yuka told the witness only, “I’m going,” and stepped through the four-pillared torii.
Beyond it, Mitamaza was waiting in silence.

The moment she took a single step inside, the air changed.
Humidity clinging to her skin. Footsteps growing heavy.

The moon was out, and yet it was unusually dark.
Even so, she put on a smile and walked along the straight, extended stone path.
It was about twenty meters from the torii to the offering stand.

Taking the stone marked with her own name, she let out a quiet breath.

“Alright, now I just have to head back.”

It happened then. She felt as if the wind had moved.
When she looked up, a pitch-black serpent was coiled atop the rock.
Its head raised like a sickle, staring down at her in silence.

—Gotta run.

She spun on her heel, only to find that the stone path that should have been there had vanished, replaced by a narrow trail into the deep forest.
There was no time to hesitate. She could only run.

She had no idea how far she had run. Beyond the break in the trees—there was a cliff.

When she reached the edge, Yuka turned back.
There, the serpent had appeared in silence, coiled as if blocking the forest’s exit, fixing her with a cold stare.

—A dead end.

In the moment her spine froze, a voice came at her ear.

“If you fall, you might survive.”

Before she realized it, her mother was standing between her and the serpent.
Beside her mother stood Yuka’s father and younger sister, who had appeared before she knew it.

And they whispered, one after another.

“Fall.” “Fall already.” “Unwanted child.”

Her legs froze for a moment, and she stepped back. The cliff’s edge. Nothing behind her.
In front of her, her family murmuring curses. And from behind them, the serpent’s gaze piercing into her.

Tears traced down Yuka’s cheek.

She remembered. Parents who doted only on her younger sister.
A sister who blamed her over trivial things.
And that day—when everything fell apart.

Since the night she ran out of the house, she no longer had a place to return to.

“Someone like me… it’d be better if I just disappeared…”

Her tears wouldn’t stop.
She closed her eyes and gripped the stone tight.

And then—she threw herself over the edge.

When she came to, she was lying on a soft futon.
A cold cloth rested on her forehead. Beside her, the female tengu who had served as the witness sat in silence.

“…Did I… jump off… the cliff…?”

“Yes. You made it back—well done. And since you brought the stone back, it’s a fine success.”
Smiling, the female tengu continued.

“The ‘test of courage’ shows you things you don’t want to see.
Things you fear, things you’re not good with, old wounds… but you did get past them.”

Yuka asked on a whim.
“I was cornered by the serpent and my family and jumped off the cliff… but if I hadn’t jumped, I wonder what would have happened?”

“No one can know that. Only that—if things had gone badly, you might have lost your life.”

‘It’s good that you succeeded.’
Her gentle smile was telling her that.