Kikyo held Saku's hand and walked at the very front of the group.
The dark purple sky was turning blue again bit by bit, like a piece of cloth soaked through with dirty water being scrubbed over and over.
Though it was not completely clean yet, the light seeping through from behind the clouds could already be seen.
She did not walk quickly. Her steps were even a little slower than before.
Her other hand, the one clutching the Charm, stayed pressed to her chest, as if she feared something might fly out of her palm.
Saku let Kikyo hold her hand and looked up at her face from time to time.
Big Sister Kikyo's face was still cold, but it was different from before.
That coldness before had been like stone in winter, freezing to the touch, jarring to strike, so cold it had no warmth and no emotion.
The coldness now was like snow in winter.
Snow was cold too, but when it landed in your palm, it melted into water.
"I was seven back then..."
As Kikyo began to speak, everyone seemed to return to ten years ago.
At seven, Kikyo was already the most outstanding successor among the Miko of this generation.
She could memorize the drawing methods for thirty-six talismans in the time it took an incense stick to burn, could hit a target the size of a copper coin with a bow and arrow from fifty paces away, and could enter the rear mountain alone to drive out ordinary demons.
Her mother had been the previous generation's Miko, and had died when Kikyo was four.
She had died from the backlash of a seal.
Before she died, her mother had grabbed her hand and said one sentence.
"Kikyo, you must protect the seal. This