Chapter 39

Gakuto stood in awe as he took in the sight of the tiny shrine in front of him.

Or, rather, the sight of the mirror.

“There’s no way…”

The breeze blustered in from the other end of the corridor and caused the shide to flap in the resulting gust. The howl of the wind echoed across the carved shrine area, enveloping the cave with a loud roar that sounded almost like a cry from a large beast.

Gakuto covered his ears, wincing slightly as the sound engulfed him before the wind subsided, and with it, the roar. He brought his hands down and stepped cautiously through the torii, his eyes still focused on the glassless mirror on the dais.

“Why don’t you just take it?” A young girl’s voice came from behind Gakuto and he turned, drawing and pointing his dagger, at the source, in shock.

A small, white-haired girl with red irises stood before him, in a yukata covered with rabbits. She was gazing up at Gakuto, unafraid of a weapon in her face.

“You’re the girl Kaede chased at the matsuri!” Gakuto exclaimed, pulling the dagger back but not sheathing it. “Where have you been all this time?”

“I have been where I was supposed to be.” The girl said, cryptically, her eyes still wide open as she looked up at the young guardsman.

Gakuto stowed the dagger, crouching down to the girl’s level. “I’m not sure what you mean by that, but you have caused a lot of problems. Where are your parents?” He glanced around as if realizing something. “How did you even get down here?”

“I can go wherever I need to go.” Her voice was emotionless as she kept her gaze with Gakuto’s. “Are you not able to do the same?”

Gakuto didn’t know how to respond to that.

“Though, I guess if you’re here, you are exactly where you need to be.”

Gakuto narrowed his eyes, before placing his hands on the young girl’s shoulders. “What do you mean by that!? I almost died earlier, there’s no way this is where I was supposed to be!”

“You didn’t though.” She remained unblinking as her gaze shifted to the dagger on Gakuto’s hip. “Setsuna made sure of that.”

He tightened his grip on the young girl’s shoulders, gritting his teeth. “How do you know that name!? Who are you!?”

The girl’s eyes met Gakuto’s gaze once more and he released his grip on her, as he saw his reflection in them. “I know that name because I’ve known Setsuna a long time, Gakuto. Longer than you can even fathom.”

Gakuto jumped up and took a few steps back, bumping into the dais and knocking the mirror, face down, out of its stand. He found himself unable to doubt the young girl’s words.

“Who. Are. You?” Gakuto asked, more desperately this time, as he maintained his distance.

“I have no name to give you, Gakuto. I am merely a messenger for the princess.”

Hearing her say ‘princess’ relaxed Gakuto a bit as he glanced back at the fallen mirror. “Why are you here, messenger?” He said, turning his eyes back on her.

“To make sure that you take that.” She pointed at the mirror. Her eyes remained unblinking as she spoke. “There are many branches where you refuse to touch the mirror. We simply cannot have that.”

“What does that mean!? ‘Branches’!?”

The small girl looked up at him, expressionless, before blinking once. “For we have seen it many times. How you refuse to grab the mirror. How Kaede fails to stop the Fox. How the Hound dies.” Her eyes met Gakuto’s once more, as she continued.

“How your master is killed.”

“What does Master Jiro have to do with this!?” He stepped closer to the girl, who remained anchored in one spot outside the torii.

“In several branches, he was the one to receive the bells. He was the one to end up on Tsuiraku. He was the one to free our princess.” The young girl’s red eyes seemed to surround Gakuto as she spoke and he began to feel suffocated. “Yet, in as many realities where he succeeded, he failed and the moon still fell. The same amount of realities exist where you never grab that mirror and Kaede also cannot prevent it.”

“What do you mean by the moon falling!?” Gakuto was crouched down again, staring into the girl’s eyes, ignoring the feeling of being smothered by her gaze. “That’s impossible, the moon can’t fall!”

“It can. And, indeed, it will.” The emotionless way the girl said that paralyzed Gakuto with fear. “If Kaede cannot stop the Fox, then the moon, without the Serpent to guide it, will crash into the sea, killing everyone.” She reached up and placed her hand on Gakuto’s cheek.

“That’s why I am here. To make sure you help her stop that.” Gakuto stared at the small girl wanting to shake her off in disbelief, but finding that impossible.

Gakuto gulped before asking: “What makes you so sure that we can do that?”

“In all the realities that we have seen, there are only a handful where Kaede succeeds.” She pulled her hand back, her eyes remaining fixated on Gakuto without blinking.

“And those are the ones where you leave this cave holding onto that very mirror.” She pointed past Gakuto at the mirror, staring at it.

Gakuto glanced at the mirror, then at the girl, and then back to the dais once more. He steeled himself, before standing up and turning back to face the shrine. He stepped towards the dais, said a quick mental apology to the deity of the shrine for snatching its treasure before grabbing the mirror and tucking it into his hakamashita.
“I have the mirror. What else can you tell me to help Kae–?”

Gakuto had turned to find the young girl had disappeared. The wind howled down the corridor once more, but died before reaching the shrine. He turned once more and bowed his head in apology before rushing out of the cave.

The moon was starting to rise behind the island, obscuring the opening in shadow but Gakuto could hear the roar of waves as he stood on the edge of a steep cliff. He glanced around and saw a narrow path heading down towards the dark waters.

With the only other path being the long stairs back up and with no guarantee he could climb back into the upper cave in his current state, Gakuto reluctantly shuffled along the cliff wall down to the sea. He reached a small, secluded beach surrounded by the roaring waves. He glanced around, looking for any other path to the tide pools or even up Mt. Ochiru, but to no avail.

Gakuto sighed deeply, pulling out the ancient mirror before sliding the top part of his hakamashita down. “Sorry for ruining borrowed clothes, Yukiko-san…” He muttered before ripping the cloth apart at his waist. He cautiously placed the mirror, the pouch with the tiny glass piece and Setsuna in the torn clothing before tying it up tightly. He took the belt that he had used to attach the dagger to his waist and threaded it through the bundle before tying a tight knot around it, reattaching it securely to his waist.

He slowly stepped to the waters edge before wading a few feet out until it was about thigh deep. Thankfully, the water was warmer than he had expected before he mentally scolded himself for taking yet another risk in direct antithesis to his training.

“You’ve already come this far, Gakkun…” He muttered to himself before taking a deep breath and diving into the water, heading towards the tidepools.