A Miko's Resolve (II)

The next day, Han woke blissfully beneath the familiar, warm bedding. After lingering under the covers for a long while, she finally got up and pushed open the paper window, letting the gentle winter sunlight spill into the room. The whole room brightened at once.

Han took a deep breath of Kiyomori Temple's distinctive air. It smelled entirely different from the mountain forests. Beyond the natural fragrance of plants and flowers, there was a uniquely human presence: the faint scent of wood and a barely perceptible sweetness of rice. It was not as fresh as forest air, but it held a beauty and warmth that belonged to people alone.

"You're up early, Han." Gardenia sat up in her bedding and covered her lips with a small yawn.

"Yes! Today's the last day of the year!" Han said happily. "It's called Ōmisoka, right, Sister Gardenia?"

"Yes, yes, yes." Gardenia smiled as she folded and put away her bedding. Then she looked at the clear sky and brilliant sunlight outside and decided to air out the quilts on the last day of the old year. That way, they could wake up beneath comfortable covers on the first day of the new year. Just thinking about it made her happy.

"Are you going to air out the quilts? I'll come too." Han, who had been enjoying the lovely morning by the window, hurried to gather up her own quilt.

"Of course." Gardenia affectionately ruffled her hair.

Chatting and laughing, the two walked out to the place where they aired their quilts, spread them over the bamboo poles, then went to find the other girls and hurry along with the New Year preparations.

Because of the holiday, Master had told them to suspend their training and enjoy the New Year properly. Those with families might go home, but for many of the girls, becoming a miko had been a choice forced upon them by the loss of their families. Spending the New Year here together was its own kind of happiness-they had found one another only after great hardship, and their bonds went beyond even those of family. On the first day of the new year, they would also welcome the villagers who came to worship at the shrine.

"Yuika, Han, could I trouble you to gather some pine and bamboo branches from the mountain behind us?" Standing in the middle of the courtyard, Ran surveyed the flustered mikos and addressed Han, who was pounding rice cakes with Sister Gardenia. Ran was the oldest girl and had been at Kiyomori Temple the longest. Ordinarily, she would have gone herself, but she handled the temple's everyday affairs. With everyone preparing for the New Year under her direction, she could not leave now.

"Yes, that's fine with me." Yuika had just finished scrubbing the corridor floor and had some time to spare.

"Me too." Han put down the wooden mallet, wiped the light sweat from her forehead, and stood up.

The mountain behind Kiyomori Temple was actually called Wall Mountain. It was a sizable peak that almost entirely enclosed the temple's western and northern sides, so the west and north gates led almost directly onto its slopes.

The forest on the mountain was quite old. Although no one could say for certain that dangerous beasts lived there, the mikos seldom visited it. Yuika's late father had been a hunter in those mountains, however, so she was accustomed to traveling through them. Han, too, had spent most of her travels over the past several months in mountain forests.

More importantly, Han was one of the few girls at Kiyomori Temple who had fought monsters and wild beasts. Though she still looked young and innocent, she possessed a composure rare for her age.

"If it's the mountain, let Yuika and me go instead," said Gardenia, who had been pounding rice cakes with Han. She had always regarded Han as her closest family and cared for her devotedly, so she could not bear to send her into the dangerous mountain forest.

"It's all right, Sister Gardenia. Sister Yuika and I can go." Han declined with a smile. "Besides, it'll give me a little break. My hands and arms are so sore from pounding rice cakes." She shook out her arms, pretending they ached badly.

"All right, then. Be careful in the mountains." Gardenia tenderly rubbed Han's arms.

"Yes, yes!" Han winked at Gardenia mischievously.

Although the mikos were all friendly and gentle with one another, their personalities did differ a little. Ran, for instance, was gentle as water, attentive and dependable. Gardenia had a resilience beneath her gentleness. And beneath Yuika's gentle exterior lay the fearless courage of a hunter.

Han and Yuika arrived at the mountain carrying bamboo baskets on their backs.

"Ah, home at last." Yuika spread her arms wide and happily spun around among the trees, her expression relaxed and content.

"Huh? Isn't Kiyomori Temple home?" Han's eyes widened in surprise.

People of this era had an instinctive fear of mountain forests. Terrifying monsters often lurked there, and even without monsters, fierce beasts were enough to frighten ordinary people away. Most avoided such places entirely. Only a handful of powerful warriors, or mikos and spellcasters with an innate ability to counter monsters, could stand against them.

"Well, how should I put it?" Yuika rested her chin in her hand and thought for a moment. "My father actually found me and took me home. Maybe my birth parents couldn't afford to raise a child." Her tone was casual, as though being abandoned did not trouble her at all.

Looking at Yuika's apparent indifference, Han felt a faint ache of sorrow. Leaving a child in a mountain forest, at the mercy of beasts and monsters, was little different from murder...

"Hey, don't look so sad. I'm not sad myself." Yuika patted Han's shoulder, her smile entirely unforced. "Father was very good to me. Those were probably the happiest days of my life." Yet by the end, a wistful note still crept into her voice.

"Yes, your father must have been a wonderful person." Han nodded. Anyone who had raised Yuika to be so gentle and brave must have been remarkable, and must have loved her deeply.

"He was the best hunter! Whenever wild boars or foxes showed up in the nearby villages, everyone asked him to catch them." Yuika spoke earnestly. "Oh, and Han, you should call me Sister Yuika. Just using my name isn't affectionate enough!" She reached over and pinched Han's cheek.

"Ah, yes, yes, yes." Han covered the cheek Yuika had just pinched and feigned an aggrieved look.

"Pfft." Sure enough, Yuika was amused and covered her mouth as she laughed helplessly.

The two walked deeper into the mountains, chatting and laughing as they searched for pine trees.

Before long, they reached a large pine.

They quickly gathered plenty of pine branches and put them into the baskets on their backs.

As they gathered, Han suddenly stopped and caught Yuika's sleeve. "Wait."

"What's wrong?" Yuika asked in confusion.

"There's demonic energy. Very strong demonic energy," Han said gravely. "It's all mixed together. There are lots of monsters, and they're coming this way!"

Cold sweat broke out across her back. "Run!" Han immediately dropped her basket and took Yuika's hand, trying to retreat.

Yuika acted just as decisively, dropping her basket and retreating at once.

After running back some distance, they realized the monsters had not followed them. Yet the demonic energy had definitely been moving in this direction at first. It was as if something was blocking the monsters-or attracting them. Humans, for instance!

Han suddenly stopped.

"Sister Yuika, go back and tell everyone there are lots of monsters on the mountain. Ask them to come help! Make sure you tell Master!"

"What? What about you?" Watching Han take the bow off her back and hold it in her hand, Yuika immediately grew anxious.

"I'll go see what's happening. If someone up ahead needs help..."

"What! By yourself?! Come back with me!" Yuika said angrily. How could she let a child younger than herself stay here to fight monsters? "If anyone's leaving, it's you. I'm older."

Han bit her lip. Seeing Yuika's stubborn expression, she said helplessly, "All right, then come with me, Sister Yuika." Then she addressed the little rabbit on her shoulder. "Yunai, listen! Tell everyone about the monsters, including Master. Ask them to come as quickly as possible!"

Even if no humans were trapped, mikos had a duty to destroy evil monsters. That was a conviction they all shared.

"Okay!" Over the past several months, Han and Yunai had developed a strong understanding. Yunai also knew that fetching help was the best course of action now, since it was utterly useless in a fight. "Be sure to stay safe, Han."

"I will. You stay safe too, Yunai!" Han stroked Yunai. There had been no monsters along the way here, so Yunai should be all right.

Yunai Rabbit nuzzled Han one last time, then quickly ran off. Its tiny figure drew almost no attention in the forest.

"Let's go too," Han said to Yuika.

"All right."

The two hurried toward the demonic energy. A moment's delay could mean another life slaughtered by monsters.

As they drew closer to the source of the demonic energy, even Yuika realized there was something unusual about these monsters.

Even before they got close, they could see monsters swarming like a tide. From the air, they repeatedly dove at the people below, often leaving horrific wounds. But the people fleeing ahead were not helpless either. They occasionally stopped, and their weapons dealt heavy blows to the monsters. As the two girls drew closer, they suddenly realized that the people ahead were the Yokai Exterminators who had always maintained friendly ties with Kiyomori Temple!

Beneath the bright sky, the screams of monsters and humans mingled. The air was thick with blood, seeming to stain the sky above a foul purplish red.

Without further hesitation, they exchanged a glance and drew arrows from their quivers in unison. Their bowstrings quivered softly, and Purification Arrows shot toward the monsters. Wherever the arrows passed, monsters twisted in silent screams and vanished into the air.

Taking advantage of the monsters' brief hesitation, Yuika gave Han a meaningful look.

Han nodded in understanding, then cautiously approached the Yokai Exterminators who had run over to them.

"Is everyone all right?" Han asked anxiously. The two people beside her were supporting each other and covered in blood. She could not tell whether it was their own, their companions', or the monsters'.

"Everyone's still alive for now, Lady Miko," said a Yokai Exterminator with a wound on his face.

"That's good. Is everyone here?"

"Yes."

Once they heard that all the Yokai Exterminators were accounted for, Yuika and Han stopped holding back and did everything they could to annihilate the monsters.

But there were simply too many.

Whenever it seemed they had nearly wiped the monsters out, more came pouring in without end.

At the sight, both girls frowned.

"Fall back!" they said together, then exchanged a smile.

"Everyone! Keep fighting as you retreat!" Yuika shouted to the Yokai Exterminators still battling the monsters ahead. "There are too many monsters. Something's very wrong! Let's return to the shrine first. Master's there!"

"Yes, Lady Miko!" Replies came one after another from up ahead, and the Yokai Exterminators slowly gathered around them.

Yuika and Han did not retreat a single step. They merely tightened their grips on their longbows, their arrows streaking like shooting stars, carrying their unwavering resolve as they protected the Yokai Exterminators' fighting retreat.

Once the Yokai Exterminators had confirmed that everyone was wounded but no one had died, they swiftly fell back.

Though some lesser monsters kept charging blindly forward, more of them held back under the combined attacks of the Yokai Exterminators and mikos, giving both sides a moment to breathe.

Because Yuika and Han had kept their distance from the monsters throughout, they were mentally exhausted but at least physically unharmed. Many of the Yokai Exterminators, however, fought at close quarters. Although some used weapons such as the Chain Sickle or Hiraikotsu, which could strike from farther away, many of their weapons had been damaged, leaving them to fend off the monsters with ordinary blades carried for protection.

"Yuika!" "Han!"

The faint voices of the mikos came from behind them.

The two turned around. Sure enough, everyone had arrived. At their head stood Master, her expression solemn!