Chapter 29

The gouge in the mountain path didn’t make the entire road impassable, but Kaede and Yurika had taken every precaution to cross over to the opposite side. The oiran was now gazing down the cliff face, hoping to see some sign of Gakuto below but the trees and bamboo obscured the view at the bottom.

Yurika had retrieved his jian, wrapping the blade in the cloth Kaede had been using to transport the bells, as she looked on at the oiran’s futile search.

“I’m sure he’s just fine.” Yurika said, her words not sounding as convincing as she’d like. “He seems like he could take a bit of a beating.”

Kaede nodded slightly, her hands trembling as she continued to peer over the edge. “This is all my fault…”

“You can’t blame yourself for this. We couldn’t have known that The Hound would attack us here, of all places, Kaede-chan.”

“It’s my fault that we were even here! If I hadn’t chased after the girl at the matsuri, Gakkun wouldn’t have had to get hurt!” Kaede fell to her hands and knees, tears streaming down her face. “I didn’t listen to him about heading back to meet with Sumire and Jiro and I got caught up in searching for the mirrors that might not even exist! So don’t tell me it isn’t my fault, Yurika-chan!”
Yurika wrapped her arms around Kaede tightly. “You didn’t know that any of that would happen. I know you feel like you have to blame yourself, but this wasn’t your fault. Gakuto wouldn’t want you to blame yourself, I don’t want you to either.” The island girl glanced out over the cliff, the forest’s shadow giving no clear view of its floor. “Besides, we can’t just assume the worst case right away. Rockslides are common after storms here and the village is already aware. Their first steps will be locating the rubble and searching it along with coming up here to see the damage.”

Yurika glanced back at the path behind them. “I’m kind of surprised we haven’t seen anyone up here yet, from either the shrines or the village…”

Kaede choked back her cries as she pulled back from Yurika, wiping her tears away. Yurika laughed slightly, pulling a handkerchief from her hakamashita, before wiping Kaede’s face.

“Your face is a wreck, Kaede-chan! I bet you’ve never had so much dirt on it before.” Kaede gave a small smile, as Yurika tried to clean her up.

“You’re one to talk, Yurika-chan! I bet your mother would be rolling around laughing if she saw how dirty your hair and clothes are!”

“I’m an island girl, there’s a lot of things here that gets us dirty! But I’m pretty sure that someone in the palace would faint from shock if they saw you right now!”

They grinned at each other as Yurika helped Kaede up. The oiran gave another glance down the cliff and then slapped both of her cheeks firmly, much to Yurika’s bewilderment.

“Gakkun is definitely alright and he wouldn’t want me acting all depressed!” Kaede declared, as she leaned down picking up the silk carrying the bells and tied it diagonally across her torso tightly as she gazed up at the line of torii gates leading to the shrine. Yurika slung the cloth, bound around Gakuto’s jian, over her shoulder, tying it tightly over her right shoulder.

“I guess that means we should continue up to the shrine?” Both of the girls glanced down over the edge of the path before nodding at each other before continuing up the slope.

The Shrine of the Banished was the most unique of the three shrines of Tsuiraku, in terms of appearance. It was partially built into Mt. Ochiru itself, with the main shrine hall completely sheltered, carved out into the mountain’s face. Its grounds were also considerably smaller than The Shrine of the Celestial Snake, but this shrine was a place of remembrance not of reverence.

Unlike its two sister shrines, it had multiple torii gates, snaking up the winding stone steps carved into the mountain, guiding all worshipers up to the proper grounds. The mountain trail continued to the right of the entrance, where there were an abundance of sotoba, wooden memorial markers, marking this shrine as a place dedicated to last rites.

Kaede stopped, reading some of the names on the boards before bringing her hands together, praying that their souls had found solace. Yurika felt a little uneasy, her memories of laying her father to rest here replaying in her head.

Once the oiran finished paying her respects, Yurika led her over to the first torii. There was a slab of smooth stone, the base of the steps up to the shrine, in direct contrast to the natural trail of the mountain’s pass.

Kaede shifted the bundle on her back, taking a deep breath, feeling more anxious about their reasons for being here than she had just a few chimes before. Both her and Yurika slowly stepped beneath the towering red gate.

As they gazed up at the steep steps, shaded by the abundant torii gates enclosing the stone steps, there was an odd sense of quiet to the area. Even before the rumble of the rockslide, the mountain path, while tranquil, had an ambient buzz of noise that made them feel like the world was abuzz with life.

The disquieting silence as they progressed to the next step up only seemed to add to their post-Hound anxiety and they stuck very close to one another, the long sleeves of their hakamashita touching as they crossed through the next few looming vermillion red gates. Only the sound of their quiet breathing and their footsteps echoed back in the canopy of worship gates that cloaked the lonely stone staircase from the sun.

They reached the first point where the stairs wound back towards the mountain, before the serpentine steps reversed course, taking worshipers even higher up the slope before repeating in a steep, twisted spiral. All the while, the countless red gates surged overhead as if it was a great maw trying to devour all the sorrow from any mourners traversing to the shrine.

The confines of the multitude of gates didn’t help with Kaede’s anxiety, giving her a feeling as if she was being constricted and suffocated by the path itself. She felt Yurika’s hand grab hers, giving it a gentle squeeze, despite the island girl’s hand shaking and it provided a little bit of solace as the two girls slowly continued to ascend along the coiling stairs.