Chapter 7
When Sayaka was free of the alley, she paused next to a house to catch her breath. She revealed the Goodness charm from her belt and turned it over several times in her hands. She couldn’t possibly be a good person. She couldn’t do anything right and even laughed at the misfortune of others. We must all be evil, she thought, even the priests who sent critical stares toward her, when they were suppose to embody inner peace and tranquility. Did they really see what happened? How could they be angry?
As Sayaka cast one last look at the scene she escaped from, a flash of a pink parasol from the crowd captured her gaze. It was the same girl from before, who kindly returned Sayaka’s coins to her. She stood amongst the other villagers helping the old man to his feet. If there was ever a good person in this world, it would have to be her. Sayaka even lingered to watch her hang the festival decorations, replacing the damaged lamps with colorful banners. She looked so perfect, her brown hair spilling down her back; her pale and willowy frame.
She wasn’t making any mistakes, prompting a glowering stare from Sayaka. Her gut felt pulled tight along with her ribs. Her heartbeat quickened. All Sayaka could do was turn from the advantage this girl held over her and stalk away, shoving the charm into her belt.
As she made her way down the street away from the festival, she passed the flower shop which was owned by an old widow and her son. Sayaka was reminded of her mother’s words in needing new flowers for her father’s altar. But it couldn’t be any flowers — they had to be spider lilies, a blood-red flower associated with the grave.
Sayaka entered the shop to be accosted with the fragrant aroma of various blooms. The heady aroma stalled her for a moment.
“Welcome to our store!” came the cheerful greeting and bow from behind the counter. He was a younger man in his mid-twenties, short black hair and a wispy mustache.
Sayaka bowed. “Konnichi wa.”
“Konnichi wa. How can I help you?”
“Are there any spider lilies?”
He made an unpleasant face. “Ah, I’m so sorry, but we are sold out. May I recommend something else?”
“Well, I need some flowers for my father’s altar, and —”
“Oh, I remember you… Haruka’s daughter…”
“Hai.”
“Sayaka, right?”
“Hai.”
“You always buy the same flowers…”
Sayaka shifted her weight and crossed her arms. “Normally your mother is here… where is she?”
“Ah, she has been very sick lately…”
Sayaka looked concerned. “Oh, I’m very sorry to hear that. Have you taken her to the shrine?”
The young man shook his head. “The shrine is understaffed as it is. There’s no room for her. We have wounded soldiers coming in daily from the war. The shrine needs new initiates…”
Which is why I applied, Sayaka wanted to say, but she held her tongue. She wasn’t in the mood to trust someone with that information. But the shrine needed her more than ever! She would strive to help everyone, no matter how crowded it got. Sayaka just smiled. “Well, tell her I said hello and that I hope she gets better soon.”
“I will. And sorry about the flowers,” he said.
Sayaka gave another fake smile and bowed, and left the shop.
Her stomach growled. It was already mid-afternoon. She had a couple coins she could buy some lunch, and the scent of ramen noodles from a nearby stall was too delicious to resist. Her mouth watering, she headed for it.
“Hey, demon!” came a shout from the opposite direction. Before she registered the source of the voice, a rock hit her in the head. She cried out in pain as she held the injured spot. It would bruise for certain. Another rock sailed her way, but she managed to sidestep. A trio of older boys came into view, each with stones in their hands.
“Nande? (What the hell?)” Sayaka said.
“You think you can get away with what you did?” the center one said. He was obviously the leader.
“What? What did I do?”
“Don’t play dumb. Ayase told us you ripped her prayer off the board at the shrine. We also saw what happened with that old man and the lamps.” The horror dawned on Sayaka. She had been found out after all. “You really are a little demon, and so we can’t let you live.”
He flashed a wicked grin, tossing the rock in his hand and catching it.
“Look, I’m sorry what happened with the old man. I thought I had secured the rope!” Sayaka said. “But Ayase was being rude to me for no reason! She deserved it!”
The elder boy smirked. “Well then I guess you deserve what’s coming to you as well. Be gone, demon!”
And the boys all threw their payloads at Sayaka, hitting her hard as she fought to shield herself. She screamed at each stinging stone and tried to run away.
“After her! Kill the demon!”
The boys snatched their stones off the ground and chased her down the street, throwing rocks at her back, each one leaving a sore welt.
“Yametete! Yametete!” she cried. "Chotto yamete!" (C'mon, stop it!)
Yet the stones kept coming. Yet more people she couldn’t trust, hardening her heart against the world. If only she could reach her home, yet she was still far away. She could fight back with her father’s sword. Or even Hayato-san would defend her. If he saw these boys throwing rocks at his step-daughter, he would cut them all down in a heartbeat with his razor-sharp blade.
Her vision blurred with tears, in her painful sobbing she sought the only refuge she could find: the dark forest that surrounded the village. They wouldn’t think twice about following her there. Sayaka reached the edge of the woods and tore through the underbrush, running as fast as she could over fallen logs, twisted roots, and branches that scratched her like demonic claws all their own.
Sayaka slowed her pace when she was sure the boys wouldn’t follow. They stood at the edge of the woods, peering at her with rocks still in hand. One of them even looked afraid for her.
“Hey, you don’t want to go in there! People get lost and ended up taking their own lives!” he said.
“There’s spirits in there, too!” said another.
“Better in here than with you!” she shouted back. Before waiting for their response, Sayaka took off deeper into the woods, the leaves crunching beneath her sandals.
Chapter 8
Sayaka’s body ached, the soreness from the stones hitting her seeped into her muscles like a poison. She dabbed her fingers at the bloody wound on her forehead. The boys were so cruel. A revulsion for the human race welled up within her. At least they couldn’t get her in here.
She wandered through the underbrush, the forest growing darker, until her footfalls became blind stumbling. The bark on the trees was so dark it was almost black. Her breathing became short and ragged, her heart thudding in her chest.
Sayaka had been walking for hours and the darkness seemed to be getting deeper and more oppressive the farther she went. Her feet felt like lead, her legs like rubber. Her ears were filled with eerie hoots, inhuman sobbing, and other unnatural sounds. At the edges of her vision were uninvited shadows that seemed to move with her. The presence of the Seishin surrounded her.
The trees loomed large and threatening, their branches reaching out like skeletal fingers. The air was thick with the smell of rotting vegetation and fungus. Sayaka’s eyes widened as she heard a low, rumbling growl. She felt a chill run down her spine as her heart raced.
Sayaka had no idea where she was or where she was going. All she knew was that she had to keep moving, to get away from whatever was out there. To make her way back home. She had no grasp of how long she had been walking or if she was getting any closer to safety.
The boy’s haunting words returned to her. Would she get lost in these woods and have to commit suicide? The thought repulsed her, though she could understand how someone could be so driven to such disparaged depths.
And yet, at her feet were the same mushrooms, white as a skull, clustered near the roots of a tree. Death caps. Dark thoughts filled Sayaka’s mind at what she could do with them. Maybe the Seishin wanted her to find them. She bent and selected a few them, placing them in her coin pouch.
The bushes rustled. Sayaka froze, unable to move or breathe. The rustling continued, getting louder and louder, until it stopped.
She held her breath, her heart pounding. She could feel something watching her, a presence that seemed to be filling the woods with a fearful energy. She didn’t know what it was, but she knew it wasn’t friendly. Or human.
She wanted desperately to run, but something told her that would be a bad idea. The day had bled into night and she couldn’t tell if the covering of the canopy overhead was the sky or densely woven tree branches blocking out the light.
There was a voice, low like a whisper, but Sayaka couldn’t make out the words. All she knew was the voice was close.
Sayaka felt a chill run down her spine as she listened to the voice. It sounded like a warning. She had no idea what was out there, but whatever it was, her stomach roiled at the thought of it.
She backed away slowly, her eyes darting around as she searched for a way out. But the darkness seemed to deepen with each step she took.
A howl split the night, chilling Sayaka’s blood. She was paralyzed with fear, unable to move or even scream. The howl seemed to last forever, but it faded away until silence. Sayaka felt as if she had been holding her breath the entire time. She forced herself to take a deep breath, her eyes widening in shock.
She was surrounded. Everywhere she looked there were eyes glowing in the darkness, staring at her with an eerie intensity. Sayaka felt like she was being watched by something out of a nightmare. She was filled with a fear so intense she couldn’t move.
As quickly as they had appeared, the eyes disappeared and the night became silent once more. Sayaka felt relieved, but she still trembled. She had no idea what was out there or where she was going. All she knew was that she had to keep moving, to get away from whatever had been watching her.
Sayaka stumbled forward, her feet crunching in the fallen leaves and twigs. She kept her eyes forward, not daring to look back. All she could think about was getting out of the woods alive.
She picked her way through the bushes until she broke into a clearing, where she fell headlong into a pool of water. She found her footing quickly enough, but the splash was loud enough to alert anything that might be lurking nearby. Sayaka coughed and sputtered when she surfaced, the chill of the pool soaking through her garments.
She felt as though the darkness of the forest was seeping into her every pore, and she shuddered at the thought of being so far from help.
She thrashed about in the pool, trying to stay afloat, but the water seemed to be constantly rising, and it seemed as though her efforts were in vain. She screamed out for help, but the only reply was the sound of the wind rustling through the trees.
There was a faint rustling from behind the trees, and a cluster of glowing red eyes peeked from the darkness. Sayaka was frozen in fear as she watched the eyes draw closer and closer. As they emerged from the shadows, she saw that they belonged to a group of goblins, clad in silk, black night-suits, their heads covered by hooded masks. Their bony hands reached out, weapons in hand, their cold, sinister gaze piercing her soul.
The goblins slowly circled the pool, and Sayaka felt her heart beating faster in her chest. They seemed to be debating amongst themselves, and she knew that they were considering whether or not to take her life. She wanted to run away, but the pool seemed to hold her in place and she was too scared to even try. A few of the goblins seemed to be coming to an agreement, and Sayaka braced herself for whatever was about to happen.
As one of them leapt for her, a kunai knife in hand, the blade caught the glistening of the feeble moonlight penetrating the branches before the goblin was struck from the air by a shuriken in its neck. It plummeted into the water, splashing Sayaka as she shrieked and shielded herself from the water.
The other goblins panicked, their eyes hunting for the source of the attack. One by one, they dropped dead to the ground, more shuriken protruding from their necks. Sayaka’s stomach heaved as her breathing became difficult. She just wished time would speed up to when she could be freed of this encounter.
A rope splashed into the water next to Sayaka. At first, her numb fingers trembled too much to grasp it, but she forced her limbs to respond. She took hold of the rope while someone on the other end gently pulled her to safety. Shivering, she crawled onto the bank of the pond.
“Go to the village!” a voice said.
Sayaka’s teeth chattered and she hugged herself to keep warm, but to no avail.
“To the village!” it said again.
At length Sayaka found her own voice. “H-how? I’ve lost my way!”
“Follow the wind! The spirits shall guide you!”
The voice came from the branches overhead which were obscured.
“Wind? What wind?” Sayaka said.
Thereafter a strong wind blew at her back, the branches parting in front of her. With fear and trembling Sayaka willed her uncooperative feet to take one step at a time, allowing the wind to push her through the entangling trees, as though guided by unseen hands.
After walking for an untold time, the last of the trees parted in front of Sayaka, revealing the familiar streets and alleys of the village with its cream-colored houses and dark gabled roofs. The crescent moon hung like a threshing sickle between ragged clouds, the wind at her back ceasing. All that remained was for her to get home.
She made her way to her doorstep and quietly slid the screen door to one side. The house was illuminated with lanterns casting a warm golden light.
Hayato and Haruka emerged from their bedroom at the sound of Sayaka entering, dressed in their evening robes.
“Sayaka! Why are you so late? What happened!?” her mother demanded.
“What happened to your face?” Hayato asked.
Sayaka broke into tears and rushed into her mother’s arms. Sobbing, she explained everything that happened, from the shrine to the incident at the festival grounds, the boys hitting her with rocks and being chased into the forest where she got lost and was almost killed by goblins.
Hayato covered his mouth. “Wait a minute. You said boys did this to you?” he said after inspecting Sayaka’s bruises. She nodded.
“I’ll kill them,” he growled.
“No, please, it’s alright,” Sayaka said. “Please don’t do anything.”
“They have to be punished somehow.”
“Wait, you said you almost killed by goblins?” Haruka asked, shocked.
“Yeah… I somehow fell into a pool of water in the forest after it got dark and I got lost,” Sayaka said, wiping her tears and sniffling. “They surrounded me, but… someone killed them from behind with shuriken…”
Sayaka’s parents looked at each other.
“Ninja…” Hayato muttered.
“Oh, Sayaka, I’m so sorry,” Haruka said, hugging her tight. “We made you dinner and set it aside for you… but now it’s all cold. You must be starving.”
“I haven’t eaten since this morning…”
Her stomach growling, her limbs faint with hunger, Sayaka went to her meal, a serving of broiled fish, cooked vegetables and rice. She didn’t care how cold it was — she snatched up her chopsticks and devoured it.
“I’m glad you’re safe, Sayaka… hopefully you can see now why we need to move,” Hayato said. “There are ninja practically at our doorstep! They could break in at any moment!”
The tension in the home sizzled.
“Not now, Hayato-san,” Haruka said. “Let’s just get some rest.”
Sayaka sent him an angry look as she took her plate and bowl into her room. Nothing was going to keep her from working at the shrine, not even goblin ninja. The one who saved her though… who was that? And how could she repay the saving of her life?
In the darkness of her room, she lit a small candle and returned her pouch to its hidden compartment. She lay on her flat, square mattress, plotting revenge against her attackers.
Chapter 9
“Hey, Saya-chan! Wake up! Are you gonna sleep till noon?” came Hayato’s call into her room. Sayaka groggily opened her eyes, brushing the messy strands of hair away form her face as she groaned.
“Is it almost noon already?”
“I know you had a rough day yesterday, but I thought you’d be interested in knowing they’re announcing the new initiates at the shrine.”
Sayaka’s eyes widened like she was doused with cold water. She uttered a mild shriek as she leapt from her bed to her closet. Hayato closed the door to her room as Sayaka threw on a blue summer yukata with red cloud and floral prints that hung past her knees. She squeezed her feet into her sandals and was about to race out the front door when Haruka stopped her.
“Wait, Saya-chan… if you’re going out can you get some spider lilies for your father’s altar?”
Sayaka made a face. “Ahhh, I tried yesterday but they were sold out. The old widow is actually sick and dying and can’t even get treatment at the shrine. It’s no wonder they need more healers!”
Hayato crossed his arms. “It’s just as well. Sometimes I think Haruka loves her dead husband more than me. When we move to the capital, that altar isn’t coming with us.”
Haruka sent him a scornful look while Sayaka flushed in anger. “You’re moving to the capital? Fine! But I’m not going either!”
She raced out the front door before Haruka could so much as call her name. Sayaka charged as fast as she could towards the shrine, bumping into people in the crowded streets and even knocking into a fruit cart sending choice melons flying.
“Gomen nasai!” Sayaka called over her shoulder as she didn’t even break stride, villagers shouting and waving their fists at her. She couldn’t let anything stop her. This was the day of all days that would decide her fate in this village. If she was rejected now, she might as well go to the capital and abandon all hope of finding a friend.
Halfway to the shrine and she was out of breath, her yukata soaked with sweat, as she stood panting on the side of the road. Too exhausted to maintain a sprint, she wiped her brow and jogged the rest of the way. When she reached the stone steps that marked the final ascension to the temple grounds, she was reminded of the chilling sight she saw the day before: a bluish ghost passing through the Mora gate.
The commotion from the temple grounds reached Sayaka’s ears even from this distance. It seemed crowds had gathered to see the results as well, mostly hopeful youth and their parents. It pained Sayaka that her own parents didn’t take an interest in her hopes and dreams, but nonetheless, she climbed the hundreds of steps, half dead from fatigue, to the shrine entrance.
At the top, she fell to her hands and knees, too faint to continue. As she suspected, a large crowd had formed in front of the board, with several people cheering and congratulating each other. What Sayaka wouldn’t give to have her own parents witness her acceptance and express joy over her as well.
Sweat fell in large drops to the flagstone grounds as she panted in the morning heat, cicadas chirping in the trees. A priest walked right past her carrying two jugs of water on a bowed beam on his shoulders.
“O-mizu kudasai…” Sayaka groaned, reaching for the water. The priest glanced her way and set the water down, ladling several cups into her mouth. He smiled at her as she thanked him with a heartfelt bow, water flowing from her chin. She knew then beyond anything in the world that her place was at this shrine, for only here could any semblance of good be found. Would someone in the capital show her such kindness? She doubted it.
Once she was refreshed, Sayaka made her way behind the crowd which choked her access to the board. She tried squeezing through the outer layer of that human onion but to no avail. People were too engrossed to notice her.
“Suimasen… suimasen…” she said. Her efforts to excuse herself were rewarded as a few people allowed her through. As she got closer to the board, the bullies from yesterday as well as Ayase came into view, being congratulated by priest and villager alike. Even Aya-chan’s father was there, beaming with pride.
Sayaka didn’t want them to see her, so she tried to make herself as small and invisible as possible, crouching low and ducking behind townsfolk as she came within view of the acceptance board. A long scroll was nailed to it, with people being able to find their names. Sayaka scanned down the list, one name at a time, tinges of horror gripping her heart as name after name, her own was absent. Her mouth went dry, tightness forming at the back of her throat.
After completing the list, she had once again failed to be accepted to the shrine. In a stunned stupor she extricated herself from the crowd, wandering away from the board, her shoulders slumped, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. She wiped them away, hoping no one noticed. A heaviness formed in her chest that threatened to bring her to the ground. She bit her lip to keep from sobbing.
Thoughts raced through her mind of having to move to the capital and working at the palace, being trained as a courtesan until someone decided to marry her. Her mouth turned sour as she wanted to vomit, wiping her sweat and tears.
“No!” she thought. “I refuse to do so! I’ll run away from the village! I’ll forage and scrounge in the woods for survival if I have to! And if I get eaten by a wild animal or goblins so be it!”
That was it. Her mind as made up. But first she would need her father’s sword. It would provide some protection even if she didn’t know how to use it. She’d have to take it without being seen. Maybe she should run away at night? But then she’d need some food for her journey. She’d spend the rest of her money on food and survive as long as she could. First buy food, stow it away so as to not arouse suspicion, then take the sword.
And after that, who knows?
She nodded, clenching a resolute fist and gazing wistfully into the pale blue sky, the faded crescent moon glaring back at her. She was about to turn around to make her way towards home, to set her plan in motion when the mysterious shrine maiden stood before her, her light brown eyes meeting hers, her parasol resting on her shoulder.
“Konnichi wa,” she said with a bow. “My name is Yukari. What’s yours?”
