Chapter 46

The Hound landed at the peak of Mt. Ochiru, just outside the torii of the Princess Shrine. He lowered the rabbit to the ground, before walking through the gate, Kaede still flailing in his grasp.

“Let me down, Hound!” Kaede cried out and he merely shook his head.

“Not until you calm down.”

“I can’t stay calm! That man… Kitsuya… he killed Jiro!” Kaede broke out in tears, having finally verbalized the source of her rage. “A-and, Ryu-ryuta… that was Gakkun’s f-father!” She was bawling now while the Hound carried her like a piece of luggage.

“I know why you’re upset. I’m not telling you to not be! I need you to calm down, Kaede. You are Kagura-sama’s avatar, and if you were to die to scum like that man…” The Hound trailed off, staring over at the shrine dedicated to the princess. The mirror’s glass, covering just half of the right side, shimmered in the sunlight.

“What’s all this?” An old, balding man ducked out from behind the shrine. “I can’t believe someone is even here so ear–, oh, Cana!”

Kaede’s tears were still flowing but she turned to look up at The Hound. The young rabbit was also staring up at him.

“Cana?”
The Hound tensed up slightly before responding to the old man: “Good morning, Master Ieyasu.”

“It’s been a few weeks, Cana.” Ieyasu, the elderly monk, smiled brightly at the Hound. “Who are these two young ladies?”

Kaede, still sniffling, wiped her eyes as The Hound finally released his hold on her. She bowed, her eyes puffy and red. “Y-Yumekawa Kaede, a pleasure, Master Ieyasu.”
“Ah! You’re the girl from Isshin’s message! I’ve been waiting for your arriv–” Ieyasu, seeing the crying oiran, changed gears. “Oh, my dear, what’s the matter? Did Cana do or say something to upset you?”

“Why do you assume I did something, Master Ieyasu?”

“He was very rough with Kaede, dragging her up the mountain.” The rabbit said quietly.

“Oh, is that right? How about I get both of you young ladies something sweet?” Ieyasu turned to Kaede, still wiping her eyes. “Sweets always make me feel better.”

Both Kaede and the rabbit followed after Ieyasu, while The Hound started to head back towards the torii.

“You’re doing well to protect the young maiden.”

The Hound stopped in his tracks. “Kagura-sama!?”

“You’ve also done well watching over me, Hound.”

“Where are you!?”

“I’m where I’ve always been. I just haven’t had the strength to talk.” The Hound looked out at the decaying trees and dead grass surrounding the shrine.

“Are your powers at their end, princess?”

“Not quite, but they are waning. I had to prioritize the seal…”

The Hound looked at a large pale, lifeless tree, creaking in the wind just beyond the torii. “They’re just plants. I just wanted to make your shrine look nicer. It was the best I could do…”
“It is long past time for you to forgive yourself, my noble guardian. You did what you could, but when they severed his reins…” Kagura’s voice trailed off. “...my destiny was sealed.”

“Kagura-sama, I’m…”

“Don’t apologize. Stop making yourself guilty. You being there gives us a chance to undo all of this. I want you to make sure Kaede succeeds. For both of us…”

“Yes, my princess.” The Hound said after a few moments. He had many more things he wanted to say to his liege but this was neither the time nor place.

“That’s my noble Hound.” There was a gentleness to her voice that gave his unseen visage a small smile.

“Protect her. Let her free him. I know you can.” Kagura’s voice faded, as if carried away by the wind.

Kaede and the rabbit were eating skewers with sticky dango in their hands when The Hound came back to the living quarters behind the shrine. The Hound couldn’t read the expression on the rabbit’s face but Kaede did seem to be feeling a little better.

“Can you tell me why someone from the moon is here?” The Hound said, startling Kaede and Ieyasu. The rabbit continued to eat her sweet, completely unfazed.

“Actually, I’ve been looking for you as well, um…”

“...Umie.” The rabbit said quietly, before biting the last dango from her skewer, her red irises turning towards Kaede.

“Umie-chan. You dropped something at the matsuri…”
“I know.” Umie blinked once. “It was very kind of you to try to return it to me, but it doesn’t belong to me. It never did.”

“I know, you were meant to deliver to someone in particular… but that someone wasn’t me…” Kaede trailed off, as the young white-haired girl was staring her down.

“That doesn’t matter anymore, Kaede. You should know that. Kagura should’ve already told you…”
Kaede removed the bundle and thrust it out to the young girl. “You all made a mistake! I’m not the one that should have these, so take them to their proper owner and they can solve this!”

The rabbit blinked a few times, before her eyes went from the bundle to Kaede and back. The Hound stood wordlessly behind Kaede and Master Ieyasu, unsure of what was going on, seemed troubled by the two girls.

Slowly, Umie raised her hand and Kaede let out a sigh, as if the girl was taking the bundle.

But the white-haired girl with red irises merely pointed at Kaede, her unblinking gaze focused on the oiran. “It’s you. When I dropped it at the matsuri and you picked it up, you became the bearer.”

“I reject it!”

“You can’t.” Umie remained unblinking. “There’s hardly any time left, no one else on Tsuiraku has even a remote chance of succeeding. Aside from you, Kaede. That’s why I dropped it.”

“How can you make such a decision like that!? Without even asking me!?” Kaede stomped her foot in frustration as she clenched her fists.

“You didn’t have to pick it up. That would’ve been the end of it.”

Kaede stared down at the smaller girl, the oiran seeing her reflection in those unblinking red irises. She slowly released the tension from her body, before looking up at The Hound, meekly.

“Does it have to be me?”

The Hound turned his face away, unable to answer. Ieyasu, still puzzled by all of this, stepped towards Kaede as if going to console the girl when Umie spoke up.

“It could only ever have been you or Jiro. And unfortunately, even though Kitsuya’s arrogance prevented him from delivering the finishing blow, Jiro is neither here nor in condition to do it.”

Kaede glanced down at the girl, as if trying to make sense of her statement.

“What did you say?”

Umie, the young girl from the moon blinked once before saying:

“Old man Jiro is alive.”