THAT evening, Tsukushi walked the path approaching Kashii Shrine from Kashii Station.
Without warning, a shadow plummeted with a rustle of leaves from one of the roadside trees. As Tsukushi dodged out of the way, the shadow spun and blocked her path. The shadow—a slender nekomata—hissed at her, his fur bristling. “What did you do to my master?” he demanded.
“You mean Kaede?” Tsukushi shrugged theatrically. “I’m merely giving her a normal life. A simple, human existence free of danger.”
The cat had lived with humans for hundreds of years. Although modern humans rarely interacted with ayakashi, he should understand how things worked on the Near Shore.
“Please don’t worry,” Tsukushi said. “I won’t seal your memories. You’re too weak to stabilize your spiritual energy without Kaede, no? It would leave a bad taste in my mouth if I nullified your contract and you died.”
She walked past the black cat without sparing him a second glance. He hissed at her back, but the sound soon vanished from her consciousness. She had no time to waste on a cat. After all, she had something much better to look forward to at home.
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TSUKUSHI stopped in front of a forest near Mount Tachibana and raised a hand toward the dense trees. A square outline expanded from her alabaster palm, tracing an opening into a shadowy magical barrier. A samurai estate, bathed in faint light, stood amid the darkness. Stepping through the barrier, she walked past the gate and entered the villa, then continued down a long corridor, the floorboards creaking beneath her feet.
A vast, rectangular room unfolded in the middle of the deserted manor. Her little brother hung from a straw rope above the many tatami mats.
“Is that you, Tsukushi?” he asked, glowering at her with dark, exhausted eyes.
“I’m home,” she replied. “Were you a good boy while I was gone?”
“You strung me from the ceiling and left me to rot. What do you take me for—a dried persimmon?”
“My, my, you’re much livelier than I expected.”
“Yeah,” Shino grumbled sarcastically. “I owe it all to you.”
Tsukushi channeled spiritual energy through the ropes binding him. She was healing him; he owed his liveliness to her. After stripping off his suit and cleansing his body, she’d dressed him in a hakama and suspended him from the beams above. She wanted to release him as soon as possible, but severing his contract with Kaede had rendered his spiritual energy unstable.
“You haven’t harmed her, have you?” growled Shino.
Tsukushi shook her head. “Of course not. I’m merely sealing the memories of ayakashi who interacted with her and adjusting her memory for consistency. I’ve had to cause sun shower after sun shower. Every little thing seems to jog her memory.”
“That much rain must be inconveniencing the people of Tenjin.”
“Indeed. A lot of them have started carrying umbrellas even when the forecast is clear.”
He frowned. “You make it sound like someone else’s problem.”
“True. It’s your fault for ever meeting Kaede.”
Shino fell silent, averting his gaze. He’d closed his heart to her. Yet he was as attached to Kaede as ever, evidently.
“Shino,” Tsukushi said, cupping her brother’s handsome face in her palm.
Physically, her brother had grown into a splendid male. From Tsukushi’s perspective, however, he remained the same adorable pup he’d been centuries previous. Back when they’d been two lonesome furballs.
“Don’t worry,” she said. “I’ll stay here until your work on the Near Shore is done. Likewise, I’ll release you once the seal on Kaede’s memory is stabilized.”
Shino sorted. “I’d prefer you release me sooner rather than later. You’ve left all the work to Hainuzuka, haven’t you?”
“Princess Hainu, you mean?” Tsukushi remembered the woman’s knowing smirk from earlier that afternoon. She had to force herself to smile at Shino to dispel the gloomy haze in her chest.
“I plan to stay on the Near Shore, posing as Kaede’s best friend, for a little while longer,” she said. “We’ll have roughly eighty short years to rekindle our sibling bond.” She embraced her silent brother and kissed his forehead lovingly. “Oh, Shino…”
His impassive expression twisted into a glare. “Don’t call me by my old name.”
“Rai Shinozaki is just an alias, no? A counterfeit name.”
Shino didn’t respond at first. Then his eyes widened as though he’d remembered something. “You still go by Tsukushi, don’t you?”
“…Yes,” she replied. “Is there something wrong with that?”
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✦ ✦ ✦
I was in terrible shape. My boss had sent me home early because my complexion was so poor. “My deepest apologies,” I murmured on my way out.
I stumbled through Tenjin’s underground mall toward the station. The crowd, mostly tourists and shoppers, was somewhat sparser in the afternoon compared to morning and evening. Yet the simple act of not bumping into people required my full concentration.
I need to make an appointment at the hospital. I’ve been doing everything right. Going to bed on time to wake up early, eating healthy meals, even exercising. So what gives?
“This is too much,” I said to myself. “I’ll stop by the pharmacy for some nutritional supplements before heading home.”
I beelined for the underground drugstore in an attempt to rally my spirits. Just as I passed beneath Solaria Stage, my phone chimed.
“Is it the office?” I wondered aloud.
The screen displayed a name in Gothic font. “Mr. Takahashi…?”
When saving people’s contact information, I used nicknames for my friends and family. For work associates, I typed their full name and included notes about our relationship. I hardly ever saved anyone as “Mr.” or “Mrs.” In any case, he had to be an acquaintance since it wasn’t an unknown number.
“Hello,” I said, answering warily. “This is Kikui.”
“Greetings, Lady Kaede!” a man responded in a cheerful voice.
Lady Kaede? I froze in confusion. No one had ever addressed me as lady before. Furthermore, he’d used my given name rather than Kikui.
“U-Um…” I stammered.
He didn’t seem to mind my bewilderment. “I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to reach you,” he said happily. “What a relief.”
I crouched in a corner of the underground mall. A wave of unease surged through me as I listened to his cheery, gentlemanly voice. My head pounded as though I were hungover. Even so, my intuition urged me not to flee the pain. Don’t take Tsukushi’s medicine.
“Mr. Takahashi, you’re…” I closed my eyes and pressed my hand to my forehead, struggling to overcome the ache. “You’re the samurai I met in Dazaifu, right?”
Muffled laughter echoed from the other end. “Indeed,” he said. “Your memories of me haven’t been tampered with, just as I suspected.”
I’d met Mr. Takahashi in a café in Dazaifu. The younger samurai had called him “milord.” Though his birth name was Shigetane Takahashi, historical records often referred to him by his dharma name: Jōun Takahashi. He was the father of Muneshige Tachibana and the father-in-law of Lady Ginchiyo.
“First things first, let’s meet and talk this over,” he said. “Are you free right now?”
“Yes. I’m in Tenjin Underground Mall.”
“I’m in front of the giant screen at the station. I just arrived in Tenjin a little while ago.”
“Understood. I’ll be there in ten minutes.”
While some of my memories were returning, I didn’t remember everything. As I spoke to Mr. Takahashi on the phone, my headache grew increasingly intense. “Ignorance is bliss!” the pounding in my skull shouted at me. After hanging up, I exited the underground mall, my racing pulse urging me onward.
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✦ ✦ ✦
A straight-backed man in a full-length coat stood in front of a florist shop beside the giant screen. Flowers bloomed in profusion behind the glass.
“Lady Kaede,” he said, turning to face me.
As soon as our eyes met, the veneer concealing my memories shattered with an audible crack.
“Mr. Takahashi,” I said. “It’s been too long. I remember everything now—all my memories as Kaede, at least.”
“Excellent.” The tall, handsome gentleman smiled, his eyes piercing straight into my soul. “I’ll be blunt. Do you want to see Shino again, Lady Kaede?”
“Am I not too late?”
“Let me ask another question.” His tone was serious. “Are you prepared to spend the rest of your life with Shino? Sealing your memories is your only chance of returning to your existence as a normal young lady. On the other hand, if you choose to pursue Shino, you will be forever entangled with the supernatural.” His words were harsh yet filled with compassion. “If you wish to return to your normal life, I’ll make you forget everything about ayakashi once more.”
“Thank you for looking out for me.”
Why was an ancient samurai showing me so much kindness? We’d hardly interacted during our one and only meeting. I took a deep breath, warmth filling my chest.
“Mr. Takahashi,” I said. “I want to see Shino and Tsukushi again. I don’t want to pretend our relationship never existed.”
“Excellent,” he said again with a firm nod.
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