A Winding River

[Hana Sasaki]

Saturday — 9/14/2019 — Zama Shrine

Being the weekend, Yuina was out of uniform and enjoying it. Her faded old band t-shirt and snug fitting black workout pants were a step between pure casual comfort and delinquent style, accompanied by the low ankle height pointy boots she wore laced up. She had some spring back in her step as she climbed the shrine steps, the night of good sleep thanks to the pill from Kiyomi having helped recover her from her emotional week. At the gate she paused to wash her hands and shoes with some water from the dipper, even cleaning out her mouth before continuing into the grounds heading toward Hana and Yuki's house to find her cousin for their arranged meeting.

Though obscured thanks to the way the walls had curved to allow some privacy for the shrine maiden and her wife, the sliding doors of the house which faced the direction of the shrine had been opened. The rabbits were nestled within, most likely taking their break from the long weekend activities and visitors that came to the shrine; and while the shrine itself had been a little busy here and there with visitors, it looked to be more so for prayer than to see the rabbits for the time being. Hana sat out at the porch just outside the house with two glasses atop a plate at the right of her, while on the left sat a long box wrapped in black cloth and kept tied by thin and twisted ropes. When Hana spotted her cousin she'd raise a hand to wave at her.

Yuina kept heading toward the house, eyes on the lookout for Hana, and then there she spotted her and hurried her steps a little toward the porch and open door. She smiled as she saw the shrine miko's wave to her and lifted her own hand to sway back and forth while she was still approaching. As she got the porch her eyes left her cousin long enough to see the rabbits huddled in through the sliding door, then lingered with a curious blink at the plate and glasses and cloth-wrapped box. She moved up to the porch but didn't sit down yet. "Hey" she greeted. "Is Yuki here too?"

"Yuki's helping her sister right now. It's pretty hot though, so I thought you might be thirsty." There were soda inside the glasses, and the kind that Yuina liked! Most likely due to the girl leaving a few bottles behind during her suspension. Hana then gestured. "Sit down, we need to talk about something."

The drinks brought out a smile, and she sat down at last when she heard the offer of drinks and the need for a talk. She didn't look nervous today, confident that she hadn't done anything to get her in trouble with her cousin lately. Once she was seated in a seiza pose across from Hana, she took up and poured a drink for the shrine maiden first as proper for her being the younger and handed it over in both hands before pouring one for herself. "Okay" she said, seeming calmer than she had for days, settled in to talk.

She took the glass from Yuina as she asked her the question, "Before I start.. Did Okaasan ever tell you about the Shinigami?" Yuina and Hana may be cousins, but Hana's mother was a shrine maiden as well — and though they saw each other off and on, there had been an hour or so of distance between the two of them while they grew up. She wasn't quite sure how much information her aunt had given to Yuina, or if she had given her any information at all.. Yuina was a special case, after all. While Hana showed early signs of their lineage, Yuina hadn't ⁠— at least not until after her accident.

It was a warm day, and after Hana had sipped from her drink Yuina followed suit. Her eyes watched as Hana asked her question before she replied at once. "Yes, she told me what they are and what they do. And she told me that I have to be very careful about ornyou places because a sensitivity runs in the family" she answered.

".. We're Shinigami.. or, part of us are." Hana explained while looking out across the shrine. She brought the soda to her lips once more for another sip, held it there to enjoy the feeling of the cool liquid against her lips, then finally lowered the glass to say, ".. it runs in our blood, our mothers have it in theirs, and their mother came from the realm of the dead to look after and judge the spirits within her boundary.. She fell in love with our grandfather, and that's how our line started." When she said grandfather, this was many - many years out.. Hana had never even known him, because he had passed thirty years before she was even born. Their mothers, with their shinigami blood, had a longer life than normal humans; and while this history could sound recent to some, in honesty it stretched for some time.

".. Okaasan and Mama thought it passed you by.. that the Shinigami blood was light and you'd be able to live a normal life.." She then looked back to Yuina. ".. and we know that isn't the case.."

Yuina slowly sipped her soda, her mind mostly and firmly on her cousin's explanation of their family. She thought, picturing her mother and aunt, and frowning as she thought about not having been told the full story when she was younger. "After my accident?" she asked hesitantly. "I really don't remember anything. The whole day is gone and I didn't know anything that happened until I woke up here in Rhydin." she told Hana, having not really ever shared what she experienced of her severe injury.

"You almost died.. and though that, your spirit had a shift.. I think, by being so near death, your shinigami half awakened." Hana offered Yuina a soft smile. ".. I've always been able to see ghosts, Mama told me it was a gift.. I'd stay up at night hiding beneath the covers because a little boy would look at me through the window.. It wasn't until I was thirteen that I found out he wanted me to play with him.. and when I did, he was able to pass over — happy.. It was just ghosts at first, and I thought it was because Mama saw them, and that it's something shrine maidens did.. and I would become one too, but then; I didn't want to be.. I didn't want a boring life, I wanted excitement and to be able to have all the freedom I wanted..

"So I joined the Mazoku, and then when Senpai said the new horizon was here, I followed them.. Three years I spent with them, but Senpai said her time was over and she wanted to become a wife — and a mother.. and she wanted me to take her spot.. I didn't want it, but she told me I'd grow into it.." Hana then looked back out to the shrine grounds. "I wasn't the only one who thought I shouldn't have it.. and I was left on the roadside.. I almost died," She explained. This was something even her wife didn't know about.

"But there was a little girl who asked me if I was okay.. and, even though it hurt to breathe and my arm was broken, she guided me to a diner.. They took care of me until the ambulance came.. I went back a month later to ask the owner if the little girl who helped me was there, and he said I came in alone.." Hana looked back to Yuina. "I saw the girl on the road on the way back, next to a cross.. she died in a hit a run accident.." Hana leaned in some. ".. It's why I decided that Mama was right, and that it's the role of the shinigami to bring absolution and rest for the spirits that linger, and judgement to the evil and damned..

"I took the little girls hand and walked with her across the street, where the ball she died chasing after for waited, old and dirty.. She smiled at me," To this Hana smiled as well. "She said, thank you.. and faded away.. Yuina, your gift is small now.. but I felt the spiritual pressure you gave off down there in the basement, and it's only a matter of time before it grows to become more."

Yuina took small sips of her favoite soda as she listened, though her brow furrowed and her eyes got that worried look at the story of her cousin's near death at the hands of the mazoku. It was tempered a bit with some of the usual pride at how tough Hana had been within the group. Though it was clear that she was considering her own place, in the way that it might be her duty now since her own terrible accident awakened her shinigami side, at the resolution of the story of the little girl - the unexpected happened and Yuina burst into tears. She swiped furiously at her face, knowing it was not becoming of either a Kabuki delinquent or a shrine helper. Once she had composed herself she nodded. "Will you help me? I don't know what to do. So far I can only see blurry things, like auras" she explained.

"I cried too." She said with a soft laugh. She looked up then, a hand rose to shield her eyes from the sun; even though clouds looked to be rolling in with a tell-tale sign of lightning streaking off in the distance. The weatherman did say it would rain, so Hana hadn't been surprised. "You're my cousin, so of course I'll help you.. But it's something that will come to you gradually," She then reached over to slide the box next to her closer -- before lifting it up to set it atop her lap. Hana carefully untied the strings before parting the cloth here and there to expose a black wooden box. The top taken hold and with a soft tug, she'd open and set it off to the side.

Within the box sat a sword, one which looked like Hana's own — though the difference was in the guard. A design of moving waves with leaves floating across from them was the scene that played upon the tsuba. Hana ran a finger across it. ".. The design signifies the journey between life and death.. the leaves fall from trees as they wither to winter, and travel among the waves to find their final resting place.. and though they fade away, the tree will bring rebirth in spring.. The journey of the soul." Hana then took hold of the sheathed blade and lifts it from the box. "Yuina. This sword, it's your mothers.. Made by our grandmother from the essence of her soul blade.. This is the twin to mine." She smiled then. "It's yours.. and with this you will be able to learn to control your power," She held it out to Yuina then.

Yuina knew that crying was a bit of a loss of face, and had a hard time often with her very soft and big heart as it were. So it was a tremendous relief that Hana admitted crying as well. Enough so that she even laughed in relief as well. The relief was all the more profound for the assurance of help.

The box she had noticed earlier, though as usual for Yuina the sodas had drawn the bulk of her attention at first. While her eyes went wide in admiration at the sword revealed, they fixted on the tsuba pattern. "Oh" she said in a soft voice of wonder. "The twin blade!" she exclaimed. "Thanks Hana! I'm so happy!"

"Take out the blade." Hana said in a soft tone.

Once Yuina took the blade, Hana was standing. A smile on her face while she looked ahead of herself toward the walkway that led to the house. Hana said, "Sorry to keep you waiting.. She's new," somewhat jovially. Her tone, her words, they hadn't been meant for Yuina.. and perhaps if Yuina looked up, she'd see a distortion in the air a few feet in front of the two of them.

The feeling from the lingering aura, the distortion, was not one of anger or sadness — it was of happiness, of a person with a smile on their face.

Yuina took out the blade when Hana directed her, seeming comfortable in the motion of drawing from the saya in spite of never having used such a sword in any of her fighting classes. Her head tilted as she heard Hana speak to someone, and soon enough with the sword in hand she focused on the distortion of the air before them. Determined to do her best this first time, her eyes settled as she gave a bow slowly at the waist. "I am here to help you move on" she declared, taking great care to keep the sadness at the prospect from her voice.

"Never say goodbye, Yuina." She said, still smiling. "This is only a journey.. and one day, we will see each other again." She then moved behind her cousin, with both hands settled against her shoulders she leaned in to whisper in her ear, "Ki o tsukete.." A soft murmur to tell her what to say next before hands would glide down Yuina's arms so that she could have the girl to take a two-handed hold of her blade before slowly lifting it.. The distortion came closer then, and a whisper could be heard...

Arigatou..! — the voice of a teenage girl. Though through the tone tears could be felt, they are tears of happiness.

Hana would release Yuina's hands then and leave the girl to swing.

"Sou desu ne" Yuina said in a slightly teary voice. The hopefulness of the assurance gave her some strength, and her short height looked more upright as her shoulders squared to her task. "Ki o tsukete.." she said after hearing Hana's murmur. Her shoulders were square and her slender back straight as she raised the sword high with the help of Hana's guidance.

When she heard the whisper her eyes opened wide, showing a bit of that unnatural gleam for a moment. In spite of the emotion of the tears in the tone and her still adamant sadness over the loss, the happy tone seemed to give her some strength and her tears dried as she did what came naturally making the swing with a confident and dignified precision.

And with that swing — the aura was no more, it drifted away upon a breeze of fading summers wind.

Hana would wait and allow Yuina to soak in what just happened. It wouldn't be until a few minutes pass before she said, "It's okay to be sad.." while setting a hand to her cousins shoulder. "The life you will lead will be full of sadness, but.. Look at your sword.. and remember this feeling, how she felt when you guided her down the river. Happiness."

Yuina looked at her sword, and her slender fingers traced over the design on the tsuba for a moment in wonder. The way the aura had faded seemed to conflict her emotions, sadness and a sense of tranquil happiness warring on her expression. When her eyes looked back up at her cousin she nodded. "I feel a little of both. Still more sad. But I feel that maybe I'll be able to feel the happiness more with time. I guess its our human part maybe? I'm sad that girl is gone. I wish that she could have lived a little while more. But.. she did feel happy" she had to concede.

Something seemed to occur to her mind as she studied the sword. "What about when it's scary though? Like those at the school? How do you not be overwhelmed by your fear?"

It's then that Hana began to feel the soft pitter-patter of rain drops from the heavens. She drew in a breath through her nose while lifting her chin. The rain began to fall onto her face as she stood there relaxed with her arms at her side. ".. You have to understand." Her eyes opened as she stared up at the darkened sky. "Those spirits are clinging to what they once had, to the feelings of anger and sadness that keep them chained to this world.. I get scared, don't misunderstand, I'm not only scared for myself and the people I want to protect — but for them as well.. if they continue to linger, if their sorrow and anger festers.. they can become something more, and that something may never be able to redeem itself." Her face lowered and she looked down to the stone ground as it became painted more and more with rain.

For a brief moment she seemed to be in thought, at least until she cut a look across her shoulder at Yuina. "Look to death and not away from it.. and if you can, smile. The last thing a spirit should see before it passes is a smile on your face."

Hana's expression, which at first had been relaxed within the soft shower of rain, grew a smile then. "Smile, Yuina."

Yuina listened close, chin tilted up so she could watch Hana's posture as she explained it to her. "Like that aura I can see around some of the people here.." she guessed. Though who she was talking about specifically it was hard to say, or how her untrained and primitive sight might even interpret an aura that was heavily mingled with oni, with tengu, or perhaps even one of a human spirit fused with a onryou curse.

She gave herself a moment to swallow audibly when she heard of the importance of a smile. Then she put on her best, lips curved to make her distinctive and charming one.