Chapter 32

Both Kaede and Yurika’s hair billowed behind them, as they ascended the serpentine stairs of the shrine once more.

Yurika’s idea had involved the two of them using their hair ties to mark their location and to systematically count every torii they passed on their ascent, until that count reached 108, the number of gates that should envelope the stairs. If they were just going in a circle, they’d return to the spot and find their ties waiting. If not, well, it only confirmed that something else was amiss.

They had also tied them in two separate spots, Kaede’s going around the bamboo just off the path and Yurika’s around the outside pillar of the torii.

“Care to explain why we tied them that way, Yurika-chan?” Kaede said between gasps as they had passed their seventieth gate.

“The idea was to make sure we marked the path, so if one got loose and drifted off, we still had the other.” Yurika was also gasping for air, all the previous stairs finally catching up to her. “It could also tell us if the stairs are the only place being manipulated or if it extends beyond here.”

“Manipulated?”

Yurika nodded, her mental torii count hitting eighty-one as they made another turn. Her feet already felt heavy, she was not looking forward to the descent down these stairs (or the mountain pass) after they finally reached their destination.

“Considering the other oddities from earlier, I get the feeling that something is trying to hinder us. Or someone.”

“Like The Hound?”

Yurika stopped for a moment, her left foot already on the next stair, as if she was trying to decide how to answer. “It’s possible it could be The Hound.”

“I don’t think it is.” Kaede’s words were full of conviction, as she stepped past Yurika. “If he wanted to stop us, I don’t think he would’ve saved me back there.”

That statement gave Yurika pause. Kaede was right, it wouldn’t make sense to not only let them go, but to have saved the oiran, only to play deceptive games when they got to the shrine.

“Besides…” Kaede had stopped a few steps ahead of Yurika, her eyes looking further up the stairs, but her gaze clearly elsewhere. “...The Hound is a noble, tragic hero, who had some bad luck.”

Yurika tilted her head, a visible look of confusion on her face. “What?”

Kaede turned back to face her friend, with her own confused expression. “The Hound was the guardian of the princess and he tried to stop the thief but was tricked and that led to his banishment from the moon. Is The Hound of Tsuiraku not the one from the story?”

That statement only made Yurika more confused. “The story I’m familiar with has no suc-”

“Stories tend to change with the tides, their details lost or forgotten to history, though all of that falls upon the scribe who keeps record of them.” The now familiar voice of The Hound cut off Yurika’s reply as both girls turned to look up the stairs. The shrouded figure standing underneath the torii before the next curve of the spiral.

Yurika’s hand went to her kodachi as Kaede tensed up, staring up at the dog-faced being before them.

“Why are you here!?” The island girl called out to the shadowy figure. The Hound didn’t seem to be threatened by her blade.

“Once again, you turn to your weapons, instead of words.”

“If you hadn’t accosted us back on the slope, I might be a little more inclined to use them.” Yurika snarled back, starting to unsheathe her blade.

Kaede placed her hand on Yurika’s forearm, causing the island girl to stop. “Why are you stopping me!?”

“I’m going to ask the same thing as Yurika-chan. Why are you here?” Kaede’s gaze was focused on The Hound who seemed to have let his guard down from their previous encounter. “Why are you trying to stop me?”

“Allow me to ask you something, young Kaede, before I answer your questions: Why are you pushing yourself to do this for a person, and for reasons that you don’t know? What makes you certain that you aren’t being led astray? What do you hope to gain by pursuing this further, when you don’t have to?”

Kaede stood there, quiet for a moment, her vibrant green eyes staring down the being with an odd sort of calm. She opened her mouth to speak, but hesitated for another moment or two, before starting:
“Why am I doing this, when I don’t know the reason? I was asked, by a lovely woman with the saddest, yet kindest eyes to do it. I don’t feel I need any more reason than that. I saw her scared and trembling as she asked for me to free someone from shackles they don’t deserve. I can’t just believe someone who is worried about others, while trapped and scared themselves, could possibly be leading me astray.

“Why do I have to gain something when I’m helping another? But if you want an answer to that question,” Kaede clenched her fists tightly, a fiery intensity blazing in her eyes. “...I want to do something that only I can. Kagura-chan came to me, asking me for help. Someone who is more like a sheltered naive princess, someone who has never stepped foot outside the place she was born. That lonely, sad, kind princess said that hope still remains, with it falling into my hands and that I don’t know my own worth. I don’t yet know if she was right, but I want to try and help her and…”

Kaede brought her hands together in front of her chest. “...maybe I can choose to believe in something other than my family’s name and legacy! Something that belongs to me alone!”

“Kaede-chan…” Yurika was awestruck, seeing the oiran not retract from The Hound’s questions.

The Hound stood brooding for a few moments as a quiet breeze swirled around them, sending his cloak dancing in the wind.

“That’s not the answer I was expecting to hear, young Kaede.” The Hound glanced at Yurika, her hand still on her weapon and raised his hands up as if to surrender. “You can stow your blade, young maiden. I do not want to harm either of you.”

Yurika begrudgingly released her grip from her kodachi but gripped tightly the sheath in her other hand, as if showing The Hound she would draw at a moment’s notice. The shrouded figure stepped over to the torii and placed his open palm against it, his gaze traveling heavensward.

“This illusion is a pretty tricky one, no wonder it was able to ensnare the two of you.”
““Illusion?”” Both Kaede and Yurika looked at each other before hesitantly ascending the stairs, bridging the gap between themselves and The Hound.

The being knocked on the wood and no audible sound could be heard. There was a slight rippling effect in the air around his knuckles as they rapped on the pillar once more, both girls staring at it.
“You there, sword girl.” The Hound pointed at Yurika and at first she pointed at herself before correcting him.

“Yurika. My name is Yurika, dog-boy.” Her voice was filled with disdain.

“...Yurika. Instead of using that sword to threaten me, why don’t you try to cut this gate?”

“Are you trying to get me struck down for blasphemy!? Cutting down a torii for the gods!?”

Kaede eyed The Hound suspiciously as she nodded with Yurika. He placed a hand over his mask, as if exasperated.

“The exalted beings do not care about damage to a human made object. You aren’t going to be struck down for trying to escape an illusion.”

Yurika cautiously unsheathed her kodachi and approached the gate. Kaede followed closely, staying behind her friend, still eyeing The Hound with doubt.

“You don’t have to glare, young Kaede.”

“I’m still not sure I can trust you after what you did to Gakkun!”

“The boy attacked me, knowing the consequences and he chose to step onto that path in spite of the dangers he would face.”

“Your kick is what landed him there...” Yurika said, glancing over at The Hound as she pointed the blade at the gate.

“...my apologies.” The Hound seemed sincere, but that didn’t change the harm he caused, as the girls continued to maintain some distance. “That boy seemed tough, he most likely survived that fall.”

“Gakkun better be okay or you’ll have to answer to someone besides the two of us…” Kaede replied.

The Hound made a cough, clearing his throat as if trying to get them focused on the task at hand. “Lady Yurika, if you’d pl-”

“‘Lady Yurika’?” The island girl had raised an eyebrow, an amused smile playing across her lips.

“...Yurika. If you’d please strike the wood as hard as you can, you might be able to shatter the illusion. Any sort of strike would be sufficient.”

Yurika nodded her head for Kaede to take a step back before she got into the common hitoden pose once more, her left arm tucked firmly against her back as she pointed the tip of the blade forward. She took a deep breath, closing her eyes, before releasing it and lunged forward, thrusting the blade into the torii with a loud “Hyah!”

Her blade seemed to sink into the wood, but the rippling effect from when The Hound knocked on the gate engulfed the blade, warping around it in all directions. The gate she had tried to stab seemed to disappear, another one just beyond the warped space.

Yurika yanked the blade out, gasping as Kaede stared at the spot wide-eyed. Both girls couldn’t believe their eyes as the distortion sealed up.

“A dimensional illusion,” The Hound stated, as if realizing something. He turned around, glancing up the stairs, his unseen eyes narrowing as if trying to locate something.

“Young Kaede.” He pivoted back to face the young oiran before sticking his hand, palm up, out towards her. “Would you be willing to put your trust in me for a few moments?”

Kaede glanced from his hand to his masked face and back again, wondering what he could be offering. She glanced at Yurika, who shrugged her shoulders, resigning herself to trust in whatever Kaede decided.

Kaede turned her eyes back to The Hound’s unseen one, her green eyes reflecting her earnestness, before she gave an emphatic nod.

“I believe I can, sir Hound. What is your request?”