Arata's departure slowly cooled the mood outside the shrine. Even the perpetually cheerful, silly goddess was touched by the sudden sadness of parting.
But as the host, Enmusubi immediately forced herself out of that mood and prepared to lighten the atmosphere with remarks like, "He'll be back soon," and, "With this goddess's token protecting him, nothing will happen to him."
Before she could voice the words she had prepared, however, Kasumi moved first.
Jingle.
The Kagura Bell scattered crisp notes as she began to dance at the edge of the mountain path.
Her pure white shrine maiden's skirt rippled, her long black hair swept aside the darkness, and her delicate white hands brushed the starlight around her.
At that moment, she was the focus of everything beneath the sky.
Even Enmusubi's gaze lingered on her, unable to look away.
She knew this was no dance to pray to a deity, but a farewell dance born of the girl's own heart. There were no prescribed steps, no restraints—only a beating heart that longed to pour out every emotion.
Could it be that you...
*...*
Suddenly, Enmusubi belatedly realized something. Her divine power stirred, and a red thread visible only to her began to extend from Kasumi's right wrist
into the air.
It was a sign that a bond could be formed.
Yet the person toward whom that red thread reached was... Enmusubi's gaze gradually filled with sympathy.
The red thread hung motionless in the air, unable to advance, signifying that Kasumi had no destined bond with him.
Unlike Kasumi's silent farewell, the little fox watched the young onmyoji, who was already halfway down the mountain path, and chased him down several dozen steps. Then she cupped her hands around her mouth and called out to his retreating back, "I will!"
"Next