Chapter 19

Moments later, Gakuto and Yurika were in Kaede’s room as she regaled the two of them with the interaction with Kagura the day before. They both listened wordlessly, Yurika sitting on the edge of Kaede’s bed and Gakuto in a chair by the window. She explained about the cryptic message from the alleged moon princess, purposefully obscuring the bells, saving their reveal for when she got what happened after dinner the night before.

Upon reaching the moment she opened the bundle Kaede stepped aside, revealing the trio of bells, all brilliantly shimmering on the sun filtering from the window. Both of them lunged from their seats to get a closer look, confirming to Kaede she had made the right choice in keeping them hidden until that moment.

“These are incredibly well crafted!” Yurika exclaimed, cautiously picking up the crotal bell and hearing its clear, beautiful clink echo within the room. The silver thread gleamed brightly as she pinched it between her thumb and middle finger carefully. “This one sounds so melodic and majestic, I find it hard to believe it would just be attached to a sleigh or something.”

Kaede nodded slightly, smiling slightly. “Isn’t it though? Its sound is simply mesmerizing! It must’ve been attached to something quite special!”

Gakuto had picked up the golden handbell, enamoured by the sheen. “Outside of the material and shine, I could mistake this for just a normal handbell…”

“That’s exactly what I thought but when you swing it…”

Gakuto lifted it above his hand and brought it down quickly. The chime resonated out across the room before delightfully embracing the trio in its heavenly melody. He rang it a few more times as they all closed their eyes to better savor the sound.

“Sublime…” Yurika whispered, her eyes remained closed as Kaede nodded vehemently. “It’s almost like I can see the moon princess, from just this sound.”

Gakuto grunted his agreement as he gently ran his fingers along the smooth surface of the bell. “If everything is true, this is definitely the bell this Kagura rang.”

“Her face came to mind when I rang it last night and when you rang it just now, Gakkun.” Kaede was reaching for the oddly shaped bronze bell, gripping its handle in her fist gently, as she spoke.

“Oh, that looks like the type of bell the monks use at the altar during the Great Serpent Ceremony!” Yurika said, almost casually. Kaede glanced at it curiously and then back at Yurika.

“Is that so? Am I holding it correctly?”

Yurika furrowed her brow before nodding. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure that’s how they hold it. I don’t think it really matters though. With that many bells, surely any position will make a sound, right?”

Kaede laughed nervously, twisting her wrist back and forth in a deliberate motion. No sound came out. She lifted it up and down, flicking her wrist forward and back vigorously and… nothing. Lastly, she gripped it firmly and moved her hand back and forth in all sorts of directions, trying to make it elicit the tiniest fraction of a sound to no avail.

Both Gakuto and Yurika stared almost skeptically before he reached over, taking the bell from Kaede’s grip.

“Wow, Kaede’s musical ineptitude can even stop bells from chiming!”

Kaede glared at him and stomped her foot firmly. “I’ll have you know, the other two made the exact same sounds just now as they did last night in my hands, Gakkun!”

Gakuto didn’t hear her rebuttal as he mimicked her motions and… nothing.

“See! This one doesn’t ring for some reason!” Kaede shouted at Gakuto as he lifted it above his head, looking at the underside.

“The ringers are intact, so that’s odd…” He brought it down and vigorously shook it, no sound emanating from any of the six bronze bells anchored to the ring.

Yurika snatched the bell out of his hand and slid the palm of her hand between the handle and the ring, hooking her thumb against the handle. She tilted it up, showing the bottom of the bells to the other two. “I guess I shouldn’t expect much musical talent from a soldier.”

“The handbell made a sound just fine in my hands!”

Yurika ignored Gakuto’s gripe as she gently swung her arm back and forth, from her hip up to above her shoulder and back down the dull sound of air whistling in the gaps between the bells.

Taking that like a slight against her, Yurika repeated every action both Kaede and Gakuto had tried before looking at the underside of the bell for any absent ringers. “Well…” She looked directly at both of them as if she had discovered something after her examination.

“...this sucker doesn’t work.”

Kaede and Gakuto nearly fell over at Yurika’s casual admission.

“That’s what we were saying, Yurika-chan!”

“Are all island girls this dense?”

Yurika glared at Gakuto before yelling, “I don’t want to hear that from you, Gakkun!”