Chapter 9

Disembarking from the ferry had taken a bit longer than the pair had anticipated. The thrall of people, sluggish from the boat journey after a festival, didn’t move with any particular sense of urgency. That was further complicated by most of the passengers, no doubt, being residents of the island.

After paying their part of the toll, Kaede and Gakuto stepped off the path near the dockhouse as the cascade of people flowed past. The moon was still in the sky, dropping slowly behind the horizon as dawn’s first light appeared in the east.

The various deckhands who had completed their checks and had gotten everyone safely offboard, tiredly shuffled off towards the village. Kaede had reluctantly approached one of the workers, with one of her politest bows.

“Excuse me, sir?”

“Hm?”

Kaede straightened up from her bow, with a radiant smile plastered on her face. “Can you tell me what time the next ferry to the mainland is?”

The exhausted deckhand rubbed the back of his neck. “Young lady, you’re not from Tsuiraku, are you?”

Kaede shook her head slightly.

He sighed, glancing up at the rising sun. “This ferry only runs to the mainland once a week.”

Kaede’s smile lost some of its shine as she felt the tension inside her rise. “P-Pardon me, sir?”

“A week. Seven cycles of the sun and moon.”

“Surely, you jest, sir!” Kaede said, her voice becoming a higher pitch, desperation suddenly setting in.

“I would never joke with a young maiden.” The deckhand said, giving a slight apologetic bow before shuffling off.

Kaede’s head turned slowly towards Gakuto, panic plastered across her face. She was about on the verge of tears as he walked over to the dockhouse. Not a single candle was lit inside, hardly surprising given it was just after dawn. He considered knocking but thought better of it, not wanting to deal with an irate dock master so close to the day’s first chime.
Kaede fell to her knees, as Gakuto returned to her side.

“Gakkun! Gakkun!” She looked up at him, her bottom lip quivering. “It will be a week before we can go back!”

Kaede started to cry and Gakuto awkwardly looked around before crouching down. He was never good at dealing with a girl’s tears, no matter how many times he experienced them. He gently placed his hand on her head, rubbing it gently.

She cried for a few moments before sniffling, her puffy red eyes meeting his, wiping tears away.

“Gakkun… It’s terrible…”

Gakuto patted her head sheepishly as she rubbed her eye and nose softly.

“Are… are you all better now?” He asked, hesitantly as she nodded slightly, her gaze on the ground.

“What are we going to do for a week, Gakkun?”

“I’m sure there’s some place we can stay on this island. If the ferry only comes once a week, surely there’s a resthouse or something.”

“A… rest…house?” Kaede’s unfamiliarity with the term came out as an unsure question.

“It’s a place for travelers to stay in, away from their own home.”

“People do that?” Kaede blinked, looking up at Gakuto as he stood to full height, offering his hand to her.

Gakuto reminded himself that she had only ever known the palace and that her family, as Imperial entertainers, would never stay where the common folk did. She grabbed his hand and he helped her to her feet, as she leaned down, brushing the dirt off of her yukata.

“Only when they are traveling to already settled areas, unless they have family there.”

Kaede brought her hands together nervously, fidgeting slightly at the thought of staying in a stranger’s residence.

“Do they really have one here on the island, Gakkun?”

“I can’t be sure, but it’s worth a shot to go and check!”

Gakuto started to walk down the path towards the village, with a sense of purpose. Kaede picked up the discarded box with the dizi in it and brought it to her chest, before hurrying after him.

“Wait for me, Gakkun!”

In the distance, the first chime of the day resounded across Tsuiraku, signaling Kaede’s first week outside the palace walls.