Chapter 64

The quartet finally exited the starscape, and the Secluded Shrine, not long after the discovery that the Hare had mysteriously vanished. Despite the Hound’s concerns with the safety of a broken man wandering around unaccounted for, Kaede seemed relatively at ease with the outcome. 

The Hare was as much a victim in Inari’s schemes as anyone else.

 Rounding the last corner of the stairs as the sun started to dip beyond the horizon, Masters Isshin and Ieyasu stood waiting, with Umie and Iori in tow. Kaede, her bundle now containing the two mirrors and all three bells, rushed over to the two older monks. She introduced herself to Iori before thanking her for taking care of Gakuto and the young priestess was caught off-guard by the sincere smile of the oiran.

 Umie approached Kaede, carrying a full red an white miko outfit in her arms as she stared up at the oiran.

 “Do you still think it was a mistake, Kaede?” The white-haired girl asked quietly. 

Kaede’s eyes met Umie’s and for a few moments, she wasn’t sure how to respond before she crouched down, taking the clothes from the young girl. “I’m still not sure I was the right choice, but I promised to see this through.” She stood back up, turning to face Gakuto and Yurika, her arms overflowing from the two bundles.

 “Gakkun, Yurika-chan…” She smiled softly at the two of them. “Let’s go free the Serpent and Kagura-chan!”

 Both of them returned her smile before nodding. 

 Iori stepped over to Kaede and placed her hand under the girl’s chin. “First, though, we should really take care of that wound.” Her eyes fell upon Kaede’s disheveled hair and clothes. “As well as get you cleaned up and changed. Can’t have the promised maiden looking like a mess for a sacred ritual.”

 Before Kaede could object, Iori dragged the oiran up the slope, with Umie following close behind her. The young white-haired girl turned and pointed at the Hound.

 “She’s still missing one more thing, Hound.” The Hound tilted his head, stunned by the young girl’s lack of fear. “The dizi should be back at Nagato. Go fetch it for her.”

 The Hound grumbled before reluctantly disappearing into the shadows. Yurika burst out laughing and Gakuto chuckled along, amused that the Hound was reduced to the small, mysterious girl’s errand boy. 

 Masters Isshin and Ieyasu approached the two of them, before grabbing them and guiding them up the slope after Kaede and the others.

 “You two have a role to play yet.” Ieyasu said to a confused Gakuto. “After all, if not for you two, Kaede-chan wouldn’t have succeeded.”

 Isshin grunted in agreement with Ieyasu before looking over at Yurika. “If someone told me that Yurika would be a part of a grand ceremony at the Princess Shrine, I would’ve asked how much they had to drink.”

 The island girl stuck her tongue out at the old monk, before grinning. “You misjudged me, Master Isshin!”

 Isshin reluctantly nodded.
 Two chimes later, Kaede was standing under the torii of the Princess Shrine, wearing the white robe and red hakama of a shrine maiden. Her hair was tied in braided loops, one on each side of her head, with the silver bell tied around the right loop. The bronze altar bell was attached to her left wrist and the golden handbell was tucked away in a pouch on her right hip, along with the dizi. Inari’s necklace was affixed to her neck, the glass bell glimmering in the moonlight and she had a large bandage on her left cheek, covering the scratches from the fox. She held a plain white kinusan in her hand and she was opening and closing it nervously with her left thumb.

 Yurika patted Kaede’s shoulder reassuringly, herself also dressed in the red and white garb of a miko. Her hair was up in the same fashion as Kaede’s but she had no bell tied into her hair. Instead, in her hand, was a set of crotal bells in a pyramid shape, attached to a wooden handle that jingled every time she moved.

 Gakuto was in a white robe with dark blue hakama, standing opposite of Yurika. He held a small taiko under his left arm with a wooden stick in his right hand. Umie and Iori stood across the courtyard, both holding bells similar to the one Yurika held, standing near a pair of stone lanterns and next to a small set of stairs that led down to the lower half of the shrine’s grounds.

 The lower courtyard was surrounded by a vibrant vermillion fence, the same color of the torii. It was covered in stone blocks, surrounded by a small perimeter of grass. The three mirrors, one from each shrine, were on platforms, angled to catch the moon’s light, though only the one from the Princess Shrine itself had any glass left to reflect it. 

 Masters Isshin and Ieyasu sat on opposite corners of this lower platform, both holding a shamisen in their laps. The Hound stood over a larger taiko, in between the two monks, a pair of wooden sticks in his hands. He was dressed in a similar outfit to Gakuto, but he and the two older monks wore white and red obijime around their waists. 

Kaede glanced back at Gakuto and then to Yurika, a nervous smile on her lips before taking a few small steps forward. The two matched her pace as the trio followed the stone walkway down to the stairs. She stopped, briefly, her eyes going up to the full moon looming overhead, before closing them, taking a deep breath.

 Iori and Umie turned to face her, the miko bowing deeply to the oiran. Kaede opened her eyes, flicking the kinusan open and closed three times, before giving both of them a soft smile. She took one last deep breath before she slowly descended the stairs, Gakuto falling in place directly behind her and Yurika bringing up the rear.

 The soft echo of the taiko reached Kaede’s ears as the Hound started to set the tempo for her, as well as the other musicians and she stopped, meeting the dog-mask’s gaze over the mirror with the waning half-moon glass, before bowing deeply to him and as well as Kagura, trapped in the mirror. 

The Hound stopped his drumming as Kaede stepped into the middle of the three mirrors, the shuffling of her sandals the only sound you could hear in the quiet night on Mt. Ochiru’s peak. There was a quiet tension in the air as she reached the middle of the courtyard, her gaze locked onto the mirror that still had reflective glass. She saw one of her own green eyes reflect back at her before closing it, taking a deep breath.

When she opened her eyes, the crimson gaze Kagura’s eye met her own, the princess’ beautiful face half-obscured by the ruined glass. She gave Kaede a reassuring smile before bowing her head slightly and the anxiety in Kaede seemed to melt away.

The oiran extended her left foot forward slightly, the soft echo of straw on stone surrounding the courtyard as her eclectic audience waited with bated breath. She held that position for what seemed like ages, before she snapped the kinusan open suddenly, her eyes taking on a fiery intensity.

Everyone besides Gakuto and Umie gasped in surprise before the oiran started to take small, deliberate steps, waving her kinusan across her body and to the sky. The Hound was the first to focus back in, both him and Gakuto giving a steady beat on their respective taiko. Yurika, Iori and Umie started bouncing their bells up and down, the chimes adding to the rhythm.

Kaede moved with grace and elegance, her gaze not landing in any one spot for very long as her years of training kicked in. She took a few steps towards each mirror, flapping her fan in the warm summer breeze as she danced in the moonlight, the various bells attached to her starting to chime in harmony with her steps.

The patchwork performers that surrounded the trio of mirrors and the young oiran started to play in rhythm with the two taiko, breaking out of their hypnotic stupor from watching the exquisite, effortless movement of Kaede’s dance. She ended with a flourish, standing directly in front of the mirror housing Kagura, before slowly stepping back to the center, in a bid to catch her breath. 

The cacophony of inexperienced musicians surrounding her somehow relaxed her further as she began a second dance, this one much more energetic and enticing to the audience. Gakuto grinned seeing the mesmerized stares of the rest of the performers, though he also found himself staring, once again reminded of Kaede’s hard work. 

The oiran twirled from each of the mirrors, in gentle, soothing loops before reaching into the pouch at her waist, pulling out a second fan. She reversed course, visiting the trio of ancient relics in succession once more, the two kinusan flapping and fluttering from her wrist movements as she lost herself in a dance she had practiced countless times. She folded the second fan, tucking it away and grabbed the handbell, swinging it gently back and forth as if it was an extension of herself. 

The bells on her wrists and in her hair seemed to echo in response to their golden sister and she moved with much more deliberate moves, slowing to match the rhythm of the odd orchestra backing her up.

After a few moments, she tucked the bell back into the pouch, folding the original kinusan and placing it alongside both the golden handbell and its partner. She twirled around quickly, taking her place back in the exact center of the mirrors, while pulling the dizi from the pouch in one swift motion. She took a deep breath, closing her eyes as she brought the flute to her lips.

The procession went quiet as they, too, collectively held their breath. Gakuto braced himself for the discordant bleating of the flute.

But it never came.

Kaede’s fingers moved across the holes of the flute with the prowess that would make Hinoki pause. She kept her eyes closed as she ran through the notes of a song that she wasn’t sure she had heard before, let alone knew how to play.

Yet, for the first time in the oiran’s life, every note came out flawlessly. She swayed back and forth with poise and grace, as the lyrical tune enveloped the eight people at the shrine on the mountain’s peak.

Kaede’s eyes remained closed as her fingers danced through the octave as she continued into another song, this one vaguely familiar. Her resplendent rhythm began to resonate with the relics and they all began to glow. The accompanying musicians halted their playing as they stared at the mirrors glowed intermittently in a luminescent light. 

Kaede continued to play, the melody of the dizi echoed back and embraced her as the oscillating glow surrounding the mirrors subsided before three incredibly bright beams of light shone out into the sky, making Mt. Ochiru’s peak into a glorified lighthouse that any vessel out on the Xuicurian Sea could easily follow.

A distant buzz could be heard from the village below as the sky was as bright as midday, but the oiran was too lost in her playing to notice and her companions were busy shading their eyes from the radiant glow surrounding them. 

Kaede played on, the song echoing louder and louder in crescendo as her fingers moved faster, approaching the apex of the song that was flowing through her. As the melody engulfed her once more, she snapped her eyes open, seemingly unbothered by the luster, approaching its zenith that surrounded her and the shrine. The ground beneath their feet started to rumble and shake as the mirrors glow dissipated in suddenly. The two monks braced themselves against the fence as Iori pounced on Umie, protecting her. Gakuto rushed over to Yurika and guided her to the edge of the platform as Kaede brought the dizi down from her lips, glancing around from the mirrors. The Hound called out to her and she turned towards his voice, her back to the mirror that Gakuto had found.

Before Kaede could take a single step however, the rumbling stopped and everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief as they started to stand. 

Then, a loud roar echoed into the sky, with everyone, except for Kaede, diving into cover.