Fireworks

But Princess Kaguya, slumped over the table, could no longer hear him clearly.

His reply seemed to scatter on the wind.

"This song isn't nice at all. Ye'er, will you sing one for me..."

Princess Kaguya suddenly stirred and sat up again.

"All right."

Yuya answered.

He stepped onto the stage.

The band respectfully withdrew, leaving the stage to Yuya.

All the stage lights shone on him alone.

He looked at the one person below the stage

and began to sing softly:

"Sway, sway, fifteen sways, past the spring equinox to Grandma's bridge

Wait, wait, calling sweetly, Grandma, Grandma

Clamor, clamor, puffed rice candy at the corners of our mouths, never enough to eat

Lovely, lovely, little feet swinging high upon the bridge

..."

As Yuya softly sang, the sorrowful melody

echoed throughout the bar.

Under the gathered lights, he looked impossibly perfect.

Princess Kaguya propped her chin in her hands, watching Yuya sing quietly onstage.

He wore white, his face exquisite and flawless,

looking alternately bright and dim beneath the lights.

As she listened and watched,

her gaze gradually grew hazy, glistening with something.

Her body swayed; she was utterly drunk.

Unconsciously, she began humming softly along with Yuya.

She never blinked, as though the person onstage was all that remained of the world.

When the song ended, everyone remained lost in its sorrow.

For a long time, no one came back to their senses.

After Yuya stepped off the stage,

Princess Kaguya suddenly threw herself at him.

He felt softness against his lips.

Accompanied by an overpowering smell of alcohol,

Princess Kaguya kissed Yuya in her drunken daze.

When Yuya came back to his senses,

she cried:

"Can I please not die..."

"I don't want to die..."

She was as helpless as a child.

At that moment, her crystalline tears spilled without restraint.

They streamed down her cheeks and fell to the floor.

Wood grain like a tree's spread across her face once more.

She was drunk, and had even forgotten to suppress the changes in her body.

She trembled, her expression sorrowful and helpless.

Her body rapidly withered.

At that moment, she resembled an old woman on the verge of death.

Her eyes were full of pleading, her face covered in wrinkles.

She looked helplessly at Yuya, then helplessly around her.

Like a panicked child, she was terrified... so she had been terrified all along...

Yuya gathered her into his arms. He wanted to speak, but no words came.

He stroked Princess Kaguya's back again and again,

holding her tight.

Princess Kaguya's body stopped trembling.

She grew calm.

Slowly, she fell asleep in Yuya's arms.

The hall fell silent.

Those around them scarcely dared to breathe.

Everyone lowered their heads at that moment.

Yet every one of them began trembling, afraid to look at those two figures.

Princess Kaguya's body had become grotesque and terrifying.

Now, she looked just like a monster.

Yuya ignored the frightened, uneasy looks around him

and lifted Princess Kaguya onto his back.

Her soft body had grown stiff.

But Yuya seemed not to notice.

With Princess Kaguya on his back, he crossed the hall,

left the bar,

and passed through streets and alleys.

All his subordinates appeared, watching their pavilion master with complicated expressions,

clearing the way for Yuya.

The evening breeze blew softly,

stirring Princess Kaguya's silver hair.

The night sky glittered brilliantly with stars.

Their faint light shone down,

draping Princess Kaguya in a veil of silver.

Tonight, Princess Kaguya had seemed like an entirely different person.

So... she liked fluffy toys too.

Fear could make her jump like a young girl.

She could be happy, and she could be smug.

She could also get utterly drunk... and sob aloud...

She was so afraid of monsters...

How was she supposed to face turning into one, little by little?

She was so afraid of monstrous creatures...

Yet why had she chosen a little monster doll to hold?

Perhaps, in her eyes,

she herself was that little monster...

She had always buried these feelings deep inside, never showing them to anyone,

not even Yuya.

Her happiness, her pride, her sorrow, and her helplessness.

So, beneath the powerful exterior of an Ōtsutsuki,

she was merely an ordinary little girl.

She had all the emotions ordinary people had.

As death drew closer, little by little, she too was afraid...

But she was an Ōtsutsuki.

Her identity, her power, and the shackles she bore

prevented her from revealing even a trace of those emotions.

But why... couldn't she simply be an ordinary girl?

Yuya looked at the vast, brilliant starry sky, then at the dirt-and-stone path stretching beneath his feet,

yet found no answer.

Some outcomes were destined from the very beginning.

"If she lived in my world... she would probably be very happy..."

Just like tonight...

Still carrying Princess Kaguya on his back, Yuya reached the riverbank.

A boat was already waiting there for them.

Yuya boarded with Princess Kaguya on his back.

He gently set her down at the bow, letting her lean against his shoulder.

With gentle strokes of the boatman's oar,

the boat began to move.

No houses blocked the view along the broad riverbank.

They could see the lights of countless homes in the Land of Ancestors,

the ripples spreading across the calm river,

and, in the water, the reflection of Princess Kaguya leaning quietly against Yuya's shoulder.

Everything was as beautiful as a poem or a painting.

Boom!

A firework shot into the air and burst in the night sky.

Brilliant, colorful light scattered in all directions, illuminating the entire sky,

firing the first shot of the night.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Fireworks soared skyward, one after another.

Their vivid light shone on Princess Kaguya's face.

The markings on her body began to recede. Sensing something, Princess Kaguya gradually woke.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Dazzling fireworks filled the starry sky, their sparks drifting in every direction,

like countless falling stars, fiery trees blooming with silver flowers, shimmering with color.

Their beauty took the breath away.

"So beautiful..."

Princess Kaguya murmured, leaning quietly against Yuya's shoulder.