"During a time where the kami and divine spirits were still roaming around in our realm, the line between what's earthly and heavenly was far more delicate. In those times, in the lunar kingdom, a young princess was born, beautiful and loved by everyone. Her beauty was unmatched, but so was her desire for love. It was an unquenchable thirst for affection, which no one knew how to satisfy. Her parents were worried about their daughter who was unable to understand true genuine love. No scholar could teach her the meaning of this passion.
So, with burdened hearts they sent the princess to the earthly realm where she inevitably had to fulfil two tasks to understand the proper way of loving someone. She wouldn't be able to return to the lunar kingdom until completing her duty. Despite wanting their daughter to be more understanding of this distinguished emotion, having to let her go, the two parents weeped. Their tears would bring disorder to the earthly realm with each passing day their beloved daughter was gone. In order to sooth her parents' sadness, the princess sent letters to the lunar kingdom during every full moon, where she was able to assign her letter to be delivered by the moon spirits residing in a pond. Until she was able to complete her tasks, she would continue to wander the earthly realm. A century has passed and whilst living with the humans, she learned many other things like human compassion, foolishness and ambition.
On one particular full moon night, the moon spirits passed the princess a message from her parents: during the first weeping storms of disorder, the tool which was supposed to help her complete the tasks to understand true love, was lost.
Since then, the princess was in endless search of this tool. But with no clear indication on what this tool looks like, the princess grew more and more tired. Soon, she laid to rest near the pond, awaiting another letter of her parents."
"Did the princess ever find the tool?" Chiye looked up from her drawing of a rabbit.
"This hasn't been told in any other story so far." Grandma tilted her head to ponder a little more on Chiye's question.
"I hope she will return home." She continued to colour the background in light greenish.
I open my eyes and blink against the sun rays coming through the window blinds.
Grandma often told us this story of the lost lunar princess. While Chiye enjoyed it, I didn't like the open ending. It's rather sad for this princess to be banned from her home, having to fulfil impossible tasks. I turn around to face my desk. A lot of Chiye's old drawings are on the wall above it. The drawing of the rabbit from my memory is also there. It's a white rabbit on a grass field looking up to the moon.
"Yuu-chan are you awake yet? Let's have breakfast." Grandma knocks lightly on my bedroom door and I can hear her slowly walking away.
"I will visit Chiye later at the temple, do you want to come too?"
I tried to visit Grandma as much as possible during my studies, but looking at her now as she's rummaging in the kitchen fills me with sentiment. It's difficult to watch the one closest to you get older and more fragile.
"I can't, I will join a community meeting later. But you can bring this over for her parents." She hands me a box with her signature miso butter cookies.
"Yes, of course. Is there anything else that I could help you with?"
She comes over to me and holds both of her hands out. I bend down and place my head between her palms, just like in the past. "Your happiness is what helps me the most." She smiles at me fondly. I smile back at her. "Your happiness for me as well."
"You should hurry and take an umbrella with you. I have the feeling that it's going to rain."
"Will they pick you up for the meeting?"
"Grandpa Satoshi will pick us all up, don't worry."
"Alright."
As I ascend the stairs towards the temple the faint rumble of a thunderstorm can be heard. Looking back and beyond the town's roofs the dark grey clouds are approaching in the distance.
An ominous feeling is creeping up on me, but I try to shake it off. It's just a storm, what's so foreboding about it.
"Thank you for bringing the cookies. Please let your grandmother know that we are very grateful." Chiye's mother, who is the priestess of this temple, takes the box that I hand over to her. "Everyone is very proud of you. You did well studying and finding a good company."
"It was all thanks to my family's efforts that I was able to focus on doing the right thing."
"This might be partly true, but in the end it was all your own doing. You shouldn't worry too much about wanting to do the right thing. Sometimes even the right decisions can feel wrong."
I nod my head unsure on how to respond to that.
"Chiye is somewhere behind the main building picking flowers. Please go get her, we should enjoy the cookies with some tea."
The temple is surrounded by a forest covering the hill. We used to play a lot there, since it's not dangerously dense. Somewhere behind the main building is a small lake where we even built a tiny hut out of loose branches and leaves, which is where I'm headed first.
"Chiye? Are you there?" I call for her as I approach the lake.
"Over here!" Her voice comes from the directions of our hut.
Wearing her miko garment Chiye kneels down on the grass bent over something.
I look over her shoulder and spot a white rabbit lying unconscious on the ground. Chiye has her hands protectively over the tiny animal. We spotted wild rabbits before here around this lake, it must've been separated from its family.
"I wanted to look for some flowers and saw this poor thing just lying here."
"We can bring it over to the house and take a better look at its condition." I pull out a handkerchief from my pocket and bend down to wrap the rabbit in it.
Suddenly everything turns white and a tremendously loud thunder echoes over our heads. The water of the lake splashes everywhere. The blaring sound of cracking wood resonates through the forest. Instinctively, I throw myself on Chiye pushing her down to the ground. The lightning must have hit a tree close by.
While the rumble still rings in my ears I try to take a look at Chiye who's below me. Her eyes are closed and her body feels limp. She fainted. A shudder runs through my entire body.
"Chiye? Chiye, wake up." I pat her cheek lightly.
No reaction.
The thunderstorm must be exactly above us. But there is no wind. It's dark, almost as if the sun has already set.
Single raindrops trickle down followed by a sudden pour.
The trees protect us from most of the rain, but the massive downpour still manages to drench us shortly.
Chiye remains unconscious, so I stand up carrying her in my arms.
The sky rumbles again, another lightning zipping through the clouds, illuminating the forest for a short instant.
As I take the first step to rush out of the forest, Chiye's cold hand touches my cheek from below. I look down in her open eyes. Are those tears or raindrops?
"Stay, I will carry you back to your house." My voice is drowned by an ear splitting thunder.
Her teary eyes shimmer as another lightning flashes.
"At last, I have found you."
She only breathes that sentence, but I can hear it clearly as if we were inside a room.
Her lips form a faint smile of relief as she closes her eyes and loses consciousness once again.
"Good thing that you were with her at that moment, Yuzuru. It must've been the shock from the sudden thunder, so don't worry too much. She will wake up soon." Chiye's mother tucks her under the blanket and stands up. "Drink this tea and try to rest a little. We have prepared the guest room for you." She hands me a cup and leaves the room.
Chiye's room hasn't changed much since high school. My drawings are still above her desk. They aren't as refined as hers, but she insisted on exchanging them as a keepsake. This teases a slight grin out of me, but I turn my head to look at Chiye. A rhythmic breathing moves her chest lightly up and downwards. It's like she's peacefully sleeping.
For a split second when I saw Chiye unconsciously in my arms, I felt an overwhelming sense of fear. The fear that I have lost her. Hundreds of scenarios played in my head trying to figure out why she had fainted. All the while feeling helpless. It was unbearably frustrating.
Hopefully, there is never a moment that makes me feel like that ever again.
"Yuzuru."
I jolt as I open my eyes. I must've dozed off while sitting by Chiye's bedside.
She's sitting upright on the bed and looks at me with a warm expression.
"How are you?" I reach over to gently touch her forehead. No fever.
"I'm fine."
"Let me go tell your parents that you are awake now." Her hand suddenly grabs my arm as I get up from the chair.
"Stay." Her voice is calm but her tone is assertive.
I take my seat again, a little surprised by her straightforwardness. I glance down to her hand that grabs mine now. Maybe she is still a little bit in shock, so I squeeze her hand in reassurance.
The rain hits the window from the outside.
There is not much light coming in since it's still cloudy due to the storm.
"Is everything alright?"
"Certainly, now it is." She squeezes my hand back and gives me a delightful smile.
"What do you mean?"
"When you are with me, everything is alright." As she answers she firmly maintains eye contact as though to give her words more earnestness.
I'm puzzled, almost taken aback. What's with her sudden change? She has never been that frank before. Nevertheless, her words send a warm feeling through my body.
I break eye contact to glance at her ears. Although it is not bright in here, I can still make out that they are not flushed. Usually, she would at least blush a little bit.
"I'll always be with you." I can feel how my cheeks get hot, but I try to firmly look into her eyes.
Her face lights up joyfully. It sends a prickling feeling down my back.
I don't want to evade or talk down on what is on my mind anymore. The prior incident made it clear that there is no point in trying to play safe.
"Your words fill me with bliss." She laughs happily and leans towards me. She releases my hand and instead grabs both sides of the chair back, slowly approaching me.
I'm too stunned to react so I just let her continue, nervously blinking as I observe her every move.
Chiye sits down on my lap, her arms brushing my ears whilst still holding onto the chair back. I can feel my muscles stiffen up as I clench both hands in a firm fist. I'm unsure on where to look so I try to look up to her face.
She quietly moves her arms and embraces my face between her two hands moving upwards. I can hear the thumping of my heart in my ears. We lock eyes and she caresses my cheeks with her fingertips.
She chuckles.
"Tell me how much you love me." She whispers with an uncanny eagerness.
I frown at this unfamiliar tone.
She pouts and grazes along my forehead with her right thumb.
"Yuzuru." She leans downwards, next to my face. Her lips brush my left ear. "Tell me that you love me."
Her sweet demanding voice is too close and sends shivers down my back.
A thunder roars outside and I push her away with both of my arms.
"Who are you?"
"What do you mean? I'm Chiye. Your Chiye."
"Who.Are.You."
I hold onto her shoulders to maintain the distance.
Her playful expression changes.
Another thunder.
Chiye's face turns into a disappointed, almost annoyed grimace.
"How boring." She sighs and rolls her eyes.
"Answer me. Who are you?"
She looks down on me from above and lightning illuminates the room for a moment.
"My name is Airi, I have been wandering this earth for many centuries already and until a few hours ago I was resting by the pond. I have long lost my human form, but now I'm in this body."
"Human form?" I'm perplexed.
"I'm not quite sure but this child must possess some strong spiritual power." She looks at her hands.
"Where is Chiye?" Slight panic arises within me.
"She is still in here but I can feel her drift towards the heavenly realm."
"Heavenly realm? Is she dying?" I tighten the grip around her shoulders. My voice came out almost choking.
"I'm afraid that I don't have an answer to that. This is beyond my knowledge."
I can tell by her eyes that she is sincere.
The overwhelming feeling of fear having lost Chiye creeps up on me again.
"The only thing certain is that you are the one that I have been waiting for all this time."
I look at her questioning, unable to speak.
"You are the tool that I shall receive from my dear parents in order to complete my tasks."
"Wh-what are you talking about?"
"You can see them, right?" She grazes her thumbs over my eyes. "You possess the eyes to see the red threads of fate." She swirls with her empty left pinky finger between our faces.
"How did you know?" Until now, there was a small possibility that this was all just a bad joke from Chiye. But I have never told her about my ability before and I was cautious to create no indications on it as well. There is simply no way Chiye would know about it.
Therefore, despite my every hair bristling against the thought, this Airi is telling the truth.
"I was right." She chuckles.
"Again, who are you and how can I get Chiye back?" I'm standing, leaning against her desk.
Chiye, or rather Airi, sits on the bed on the opposite side of the room.
"Didn't the humans pass my unfortunate tale throughout the centuries? I was born in the lunar kingdom, far from this place high above in the sky. Banned and obligated to wander this earthly realm to fulfil my two tasks." She sighs loudly. "I was in agony. I was never given the tool to fulfil these tasks, you see." Abruptly she points her finger at me. "But now that I have found you, my agony shall come to an end. Help me with my tasks and I shall speak with my parents to bring Chiye back."
My rationality finds it absurd, but given the fact that she knows about my ability, it makes the most sense. That Chiye's body was taken over by the lunar princess from her favourite tale is so ironic that it pains me.
"Two weeks. We will fulfil your tasks in thirteen days until the spring festival."
"The quicker, the better." She smiles triumphantly.
Sun rays shine through the window and bathe the room in a warm light. The raindrops on the glass are glistening. The storm must have passed.