Chapter 2: The Great Tengu of Mount Kurama

Chapter 2:
The Great Tengu of Mount Kurama

 

THE SKY OF THE SPIRIT REALM changed to a vibrant maroon purple.

At long last, autumn had come to the world of perpetual night. Autumn was the season when crops became ripe. It was also the season when preparations for winter began.

Once the mountains took on warmer autumn colors, carts full of vegetables and grains harvested from every corner of the spirit realm would flock to town. The sight of these travelers, lit by glimmerflies caged in lanterns affixed to the edge of carts and to large knapsacks, was iconic enough to be considered characteristic of the season itself.

Vendors on the main street switched out their usual wares for ones meant to fight the winter cold. Hawkers walked about with buckets of vegetables attached to a pole slung over their shoulders, searching for buyers. A number of stalls set up shop along the roadside, filling the main street with a motley spread of items. A large fish swayed in the air, tied up and slung across the back of a spirit carrying a bale of salt.

The kappa, the baka-danuki, the oni, even the ochimusha—absolutely everyone busied themselves with winter preparations. The echoing din of people haggling over goods, while not quite comparable to the bustle of summer festivals, was indicative of a strong, healthy economy.

Dried vegetables and fish hung from the eaves of buildings, every free inch and moment dedicated to the coming winter. Yet everyone moved about with cheery expressions. The joy of harvest, the delicacies of autumn, the comfortable and gentle climate—all those pleasures showed on their faces.

Summer was special, that I cannot deny. But autumn, too, was special in its own way. Its world of warm colors gave us a moment’s respite before the harsh season that followed.

 

As the spirits busied themselves with winter preparations, our store readied itself for its own annual event.

“Whew, there we go.” I carried a stack of books over to a rush mat laid out in front of the store. I say books, but that really meant all kinds of things: paperbacks, hardcovers, magazines, encyclopedias, you name it. Carefully, I lined them up on the mat. I took in the view and keenly felt that autumn had, indeed, arrived.

Just then, the young neighboring housewife (an Oni who had married two hundred years ago, if that’s still considered young) happened to be walking by and called out to me. “Oh, Kaori-chan. Getting ready to air out the books? You’re sure getting a good sweat in.”

“Ha ha, yeah. It’s a real hassle every year with how much we have to go through.”

“Well, why don’t I bring over some persimmons later? Enough for everyone.”

“Really? That’d be great!”

I watched as she entered her house, then wiped the sweat off my brow. The wind was cool and pleasant now that it was autumn. I felt a bit emotional at the fact that I could wipe sweat away and not still feel sticky all over, unlike in the humid summer. It might have just been my imagination, but the glimmerflies felt more energetic than usual, as though they were overjoyed to be free of the summer heat as well.

Suimei appeared, holding books in his arms.

“Where do you want these?” he said gruffly.

“O-oh, there please. Sorry, are they heavy?”

“It’s fine.” He nodded, obediently carried the books to where I indicated, and then made for the store again. That was when I realized he wasn’t joined by that usual little bundle of energy.

“Where’s Kuro?” I asked.

Suimei made a face like his heart had been torn in two and looked toward the back of the store. “He’s…not feeling so great right now.”

Shocked, I followed his gaze and saw a black lump lying in a corner. It was Kuro, quietly whining like he was in pain. His long body was limply curled into the shape of a bagel, and his breaths were shallow.

“Is he okay?” I asked.

“Totally fine. He just ate too much because it’s autumn. I already gave him some medicine.”

“O-oh.” Well that’s…a bit lame for an Inugami.

I took another look at Kuro. Not too long ago, he and Suimei had worked as exorcists to hunt down spirits. Not a trace of that former life could be seen now, however. Kuro would probably deny it himself, but he honestly acted just like any other ordinary dog.

Suimei grinned wryly and shrugged. “It seems life’s been nothing but fun for him lately. Maybe a bit too fun.” His eyes softened some, and he continued with a gentle tone. “Maybe it’s because he doesn’t have to hurt anyone anymore… Which is a good thing, I guess.”

As exorcists, their days had been spent chasing spirits. The peace they had now was still somewhat new to them. New enough to, say, get carried away and end up with a tummy ache.

I smiled, finding myself agreeing with Suimei’s words. “Are you not going to look after him?”

“He’ll be fine. And this is just me repaying what I owe you. Don’t worry about it.” With that, he went inside to get more books.

“Awoo!”

I heard Kuro yelp and worriedly looked over. Standing atop him was Nyaa-san, walking all over him like it were her god-given right.

“Nyaa…” I began to say something out of worry for Kuro, but the sight was so strange that I just shut my mouth instead.

“What? Are you not going to run away today?” Nyaa-san spat with a hint of disappointment, before sitting down and curling up into a ball right on top of Kuro. She often tormented him by chasing him around, amongst other things, but I knew deep down that she cared for him.

The sourpuss of a black cat let out a tremendous yawn and closed her eyes. Her three tails swayed above Kuro’s body as though she was petting him.

Oh, Nyaa-san…

As a faint smile rose to my lips, I spun one of my tired, heavy arms in a circle. My arms were spent from carrying books all morning. Our goal for the day was to get out all the books on the bottom row of the first floor’s shelves, but…could we really manage it?

Still a bit worried, I followed Suimei into the store.

 

For bookstores, autumn was the season for airing out books.

If left alone too long, books could become infested with insects. One such book-infecting insect is the silverfish, perhaps better known as the bookworm; they eat the glue and the paper in books for their starch. Older books are at a higher risk of infestation, so our bookstore had a particular need to air out our wares.

We also took the opportunity to clean the shop and do any maintenance on books that needed it, so things got pretty busy. We had to brush away all the dust, wipe all the dirty book covers, and set aside any books in need of repairs. All in all, everything usually took around a whole month.

“Whew… Finally done.” I let out a tired sigh. It had taken a few hours, but we had finally managed to set out all the bottom row books on the first floor.

I pulled out a nearby chair, sat in it, and looked inside the store, feeling impressed yet again by just how many books there were. Our home was a two-story wooden building that looked a bit older than the surrounding structures. The bookstore portion took up part of the first floor and didn’t look that big from the outside, but everything changed once you went in. Bookshelves that stretched so high, their tops couldn’t be seen lined the walls of the small shop, which was only sixteen meters square. Each shelf was crammed with books Shinonome-san had spent many, many hours collecting.

The only lighting inside was the dim light of hanging glimmerfly lamps that swayed with every beat of glimmerfly wings. Installed against the endlessly continuing bookshelves were several time-worn, pockmarked ladders that allowed access to the books higher up.

Ah… That brings back memories. I looked at the ladders and affectionately thought back to my childhood. Those ladders had instilled such wonder in me then. I’d thought an adventure like the ones I had read of in books awaited me at the top, so I secretly climbed them together with young Kinme and Ginme countless times. Those grand adventures had always ended in Shinonome-san’s scolding, however.

I smiled at the memory and began wiping the now empty shelves.

There were many strange things about this bookstore. The unnaturally tall bookshelves never filled up no matter how many books were placed on their shelves. The shelves on the ground could be moved, revealing more shelves behind them, or even, if moved in a certain order, a set of stairs leading to a basement.

The well-hidden basement was for Shinonome-san’s exclusive use and kept off limits to everyone, including me. At this point, I figured it probably contained a library of valuable books that needed to be kept away from clumsy hands, but the younger me hadn’t thought the same.

I mean, it was a secret room nobody was allowed to enter. It had practically begged to be explored by a younger Kaori.

I hadn’t snuck in lately, being an adult, but when I was a kid, I’d gone all the time with Nyaa-san whenever Shinonome-san wasn’t around.

I wonder if that’s still there… A thought crossed my mind, and I began to walk. Shinonome-san was out of the house today…so surely it’d be all right if I took a small peek inside?

“Oooh…” I moved the bookshelves and peered down into the basement. There were lamps, but they lacked glimmerflies, so it was dark. I could barely make out a wooden shelf filled with scrolls and other ancient-looking books occupying the small room.

The curious spirit of my youth seemed to make a resurgence. …Should I go in?

“What’re you slacking off for?”

“Eeek!” My heart leapt out my chest, and I quickly turned around. Standing there was a displeased-looking Suimei. Oh, shoot!

My mind immediately tried to come up with an excuse, but I soon realized there was an even better option. I could make him my co-conspirator.

“Hello there, young man. Say, how about you and I go on a little adventure?” Smiling, I grabbed a nearby lamp and hugged one of his arms.

He gave me a weary frown. “Don’t be stupid. We still have so much—”

“Ha ha ha, what’re you saying, young’un?” I interrupted and began pulling him toward the basement. “If now’s not the time for adventure, when will it be?”

“You’re only three years older than me…” He resisted some, a frown still on his face, but he quickly relented and descended with me.

It was chilly at the bottom of the stairs. The air was humid and slightly tinged with the scent of mold. Melted wax adhered to the bottom of a candle stand attached to the stone wall. On the ceiling, I could see a small spider on a web.

“So, what’s this place then?” Suimei asked.

“It’s where rare books and really old documents are kept,” I answered. “There’s even some things here that aren’t in the human world. It’s usually off limits to anyone other than Shinonome-san, but there’s something weird in the back I wanted to see.”

“Something weird…?”

I moved quietly, making sure my footsteps made no sound, and proceeded farther into the basement. I reached the back in no time at all, as it really wasn’t that big.

“I-It’s still here…” Before me was a door sealed by countless talismans. The door was coated in red paint, and the talismans had some incomprehensible spell written on them in yellow ink. I’d known about the door since I was a child, but I’d never once seen what was beyond it.

“I’ve always wanted to know what was past this thing,” I said while staring at the mysterious door.

“What’s this?” Suimei asked, his curiosity piqued by the talismans despite being so against coming down just moments prior. “I don’t think I’ve seen these kinds of talismans before. They’re clearly meant to seal away something… Is this Chinese? At the very least, it’s obvious these weren’t placed recently. I can tell they’re strong too; there’s no way weak spirits could approach this.”

“Is it really that strong?”

“Yeah. There’s not much effect on humans, but it’d repel most spirits. What’s something like this doing in the basement of a bookstore?”

Even Suimei, a former exorcist, was stumped. I was beginning to get suspicious.

“Just what could you have that you’d hide from everyone, even your own adoptive daughter?” I wondered out loud.

“Dunno.”

It had to be something important to be worth putting sturdy seals upon. Unless…

“If it’s his porn or something, I’d really rather not know…” I said.

“Kaori? What’re you doing here?”

“Eeek!”

Just then, a voice—one a bit deep for a woman yet still dripping with allure—called out, making me jump. I timidly looked back at the entrance of the basement to see Noname, the spirit who’d raised me in place of a mother, standing there.

 

“We’ve told you many times not to enter that room, haven’t we?”

“I’m sorry…” What had a twenty-year-old woman like me been thinking, anyway?

We had left the basement and moved to the living room. I slumped my shoulders, ashamed for acting like a child.

Noname squinted her amber eyes and giggled. “I’m not mad, dear. But you should really get Shinonome’s permission before you go down there.”

“Noname…” I was moved to tears by her sweetness.

“More importantly, that young housewife from next door brought over some persimmons. I peeled them for you, so eat up.”

“Oh, they look delicious.” I bounced back in an instant and cheerfully sat down at the low table. The ripe persimmons oozed juices when pierced with a fork. I put a piece in my mouth and let the sweetness wash away my fatigue. Despite being fruits, they were as sweet as desserts. They were soft enough to practically melt away in my mouth as I bit into them, sliding down my throat with ease.

“It’s really autumn…” That flavor definitely drove home the fact that autumn had arrived. I felt so happy that I thought I might just melt away together with the persimmons.

That was when Suimei, sitting next to me and also eating, mumbled out, “So, what’s next? We brought the books outside, but…aren’t you usually supposed to air them out under the sun?”

He looked out the window. The sky of the spirit realm was perfectly clear, the stars beaming beautifully. But there was no sunlight to be had in this world of perpetual night, so airing out the books would do nothing to rid them of any pests they might have between their pages.

The solution was simple: bring them to a sunny place.

“It’s fine, it’s fine,” I said. “Those books will—”

“Be taken to our place,” a familiar voice suddenly said. I turned around to face the source.

“Are those persimmons? Gimme some too!”

“Hello, everyone. Ginme, where’s your greeting?”

The Raven Tengu twins Kinme and Ginme had arrived.

 

***

 

Amongst all Tengu legends across Japan, there was one location more famous than any other—Mount Kurama, located in Kyoto Prefecture and a former site of ascetic Buddhist training.

There exists a theory that in the olden days, the mountain was called Mount Kurabu, meaning “dark place.” Sure enough, the forest of cedar and cypress covering the mountain didn’t leave much room for light. The lack of broadleaf trees also meant autumn didn’t bring about much change of color; the vigorous hue of the evergreen trees blanketed the mountainsides year-round. This gave the area an air of solemnity, one that lived up to its reputation as a sacred mountain.

The famous Minamoto no Yoshitsune was said to have learned swordsmanship there from Kurama Sojobo, the Great Tengu of Kurama. A giant Tengu face was installed in front of Eizan Electric Railway’s Kurama Station to pay homage to the mountain’s Tengu legend.

It was a mountain visited by many people, and yet it remained a headquarters for the Tengu. That included the Raven Tengu Kinme and Ginme as well.

“We’re home, Gramps!”

“We’ve returned, Sojobo-sama.”

“Mm-hmm. Welcome back.”

Halfway up the mountain, hidden by a forest of cedars, was the desolate ruins of a temple. This was where the twins made their home in the human world. They didn’t live here alone but with the man awaiting our arrival from atop a broken stone lantern—Kurama Sojobo. He looked exactly how one would expect a Tengu to look, having a red face and a long nose over a mustache. He wore a monk’s robe with a black base that had golden-yellow puffs on it. On his forehead was the sort of small cap that mountain ascetics wore, and on his feet were long, lacquered wooden geta.

Sojobo was a powerful Tengu who lived on Mount Kurama and was one of the forty-eight great Tengu of Japan listed in the secret Tengu-Kyo Buddhist prayer sutra. He was also a regular of our bookstore and the spirit who looked after the twin baby birds I’d found when I was five, Kinme and Ginme.

This abandoned temple was where our bookstore would do its airing out. We needed a slightly dim place like this, as strong sunlight could cause the colors of the book covers to fade. The temple grounds were also just the right size to spread out the entirety of our collection, so Sojobo let us use the place every year. I should also mention that hauling the books back was a challenge in its own right, so we planned to stay the night there.

“Thank you for letting us use your temple again this year, Sojobo-sama.”

“Is that you, Kaori? Well now, you’ve grown into a splendid young woman.”

“Really? Ehe heh…”

“If your breasts and ass grew just a bit more, you’d be perfect.”

“You gotta be kidding me.” I gave him a nasty look, to which he laughed heartily. The way he acted like an insensitive old man at times was just so annoying.

“Wow, your hair’s all white!” a cute voice said.

“Are you a white bird, Mister?” another asked.

“I’m not a white bird.”

“Then what bird are you?” the two voices chorused.

“I’m not a bird.”

A pair of twin boys, somewhere around three years old, gazed up at Suimei with eyes full of wonder. They looked like miniature versions of Kinme and Ginme. Suimei seemed unsure of how to deal with small children and kept his answers brief. That was when Kinme and Ginme noticed the two and called out to them.

“Oh, Sora, Umi! Were you waiting for us too?” Ginme asked.

“Hello, there. Want me to carry you in my arms?” Kinme offered.

“Kin-chan, Gin-chan!” The children beamed as they hugged the older twins. They wrapped their small hands around Ginme’s and Kinme’s neck and affectionately pressed their cheeks against theirs. “Welcome home!”

Sora and Umi were Raven Tengu being raised by Sojobo. In a sense, they were Kinme and Ginme’s younger pupils under the same master, as even at their young age, they were undergoing daily training to become upstanding Tengu.

“Kao-chan, welcome! Is it time to air out the books?”

“We’ll help!”

The twins’ pudgy cheeks tinted red as they happily offered their help. When I accepted it, they giggled with their small toddler hands over their mouths.

“Gramps says he’ll give us mochi if we do a good job.”

“Mochi is yummy! You should eat some too, Kao-chan.”

So the snacks were what they were really after… Regardless, having such cute helpers made me smile. “Mochi sounds nice; I’m looking forward to it. Shall we begin?”

“Yeah!” they declared.

I rolled up my sleeves and psyched myself up.

“Wait.” But Suimei immediately put a damper on things.

“What’s up?”

“Well…” He frowned, then pointed ahead. “How exactly are you going to air out your books with all that?”

“Oh…” I looked to where he pointed and saw the temple grounds were overgrown with weeds. A bit of the stone paving could be faintly seen peeking out from under it, but most of the stone was hidden underneath the greenery. It looked like one of those empty lots for sale that no one had been looking after and was clearly not ready for the books.

Sojobo let out a hearty laugh. “Sorry, Kaori! I told Kinme and Ginme to weed the place by today, but it looks like something came up!” He shot a sharp look toward the twins and in a low voice said, “Care to explain, boys?”

The two paled and ran to Suimei.

“I-It’s okay, Gramps! We’ll do it right away!”

“We weren’t slacking off; we just never found the right time to get to it… But Suimei’s here today, so we can get it done super fast.”

“What—hey! What’s the meaning of this?” Suimei complained.

“You’ll help us, right, Suimei? We’re friends, right?!” The twins pleaded with Suimei, their eyes moist.

Suimei seemed reluctant for a moment, but he soon let out a defeated sigh. “…Fine.”

“Awww yeah, I knew you would help us, Suimei! You’re a man among men, nothing like that old fart!”

“Thank you, Suimei. I’m less scared of that monster of a grandfather with you here.”

“Did you say something, you brats?” Sojobo said.

The twins quickly straightened their backs and shouted, “Nope, not a thing!” before scurrying over to the overgrown temple grounds.

“Those two sure get along well,” I commented.

“As idiots tend to do.”

Sojobo and I shared a look and smiled. I then began getting the books ready for airing out.

 

The process for airing out books was simple. You first put on some gloves and flipped through the pages wildly to make sure any bugs fell out. Then you stood the book up vertically, leaving it open slightly so the wind could breeze through it. Finally, you let it stay like that for a while.

Humidity was the mortal enemy of books. Mold damaged every part of them and even coaxed bugs into pages. We tried to take measures against mold, but in a world of perpetual darkness, humidity was unavoidable. That was why we had to air out the books every year. It was difficult with so many to go through, but I was ready to do anything for the precious books we lent to our customers.

I set about my work on the areas that had been weeded.

Some time passed, and the trees rustled as the wind swept through them. Suimei silently plucked the weeds, before abruptly shouting, “There’s just no end to these things!”

He sat down and looked up at the sky. The autumn sky of the human world was perfectly clear. The cheeps of a small bird could be heard. The humidity was low enough to make one want to take a nap. Sadly, none of those things made the endless weeding any less tiresome. He flopped onto his back.

“You all right?” I asked, sitting next to him with a thermos and a towel. Inside the thermos was cold tea with a bit of honey mixed in for sweetness.

He sat himself up, took the thermos, and drank vigorously from it. With a bit of bitterness, he looked over at Sojobo. “Can’t you use some Tengu ability to weed the place in seconds?”

“Ba ha ha! This is training, sonny. Training for your endurance, grip strength, and concentration.”

“I don’t need any such training. I’m an apothecary.”

Sojobo smiled boldly. “Whether you’re an apothecary or an exorcist, endurance and concentration are both important, no?”

Suimei’s expression turned grim. He clearly hadn’t expected Sojobo to know about his exorcist past. His expression soon softened though, once the voices of the older twins noisily weeding beside Umi and Sora drifted toward us. “…Right,” Suimei murmured. “You’re their master.”

“Those two report everything back to me, so naturally, I’ve heard a great deal about you!”

Suimei sighed and gazed out at the temple grounds, still overrun with weeds. “This place is a mess. Those fancy temples elsewhere on the mountain draw in tourists looking for Tengu, right? Why not put some effort in and do the same?”

Sojobo let out another hearty laugh—before abruptly turning stony-faced. “Well… This place is in such a mess because humans have decided we spirits don’t exist.”

Confused, Suimei met his eyes. Sojobo gave him a wide, toothy grin before continuing. “Hear me out now. There probably aren’t many in Japan who don’t know what spirits are. We’ve been by each other’s sides for all these years, after all.”

“Spirits do often appear in anime and manga, yeah,” Suimei said.

“Right,” I agreed. “The more famous spirits are recognizable to children and adults alike.”

“That’s the kind of stuff that killed us,” Sojobo said, pointing at us two. “Not just those anime and manga things, but those books you’re working so hard to air out as well. Even that TV whatnot.”

“Huh…?” I was speechless.

He continued without pause. “We spirits used to live in the gaps of reality and imagination. We existed to those who believed we did, and we didn’t to those who didn’t believe.”

I didn’t know what to do with that word, “exist.” Did spirits qualify? Maybe they did—but spirits had a kind of vague existence.

The people of long, long ago had felt presences in the darkness beyond. They attributed sounds they couldn’t place and phenomena they couldn’t understand to those presences. But with the advent of media and science, spirits had been declared nonexistent. The darkness they dwelled in was cleared away, and they were dragged into the world of light.

“Humans declared us creations, products of the imagination, unrealistic, things that never existed from the start. That thing called, er…science? It cleared away any mysteries surrounding us. In the past, we lived together with those who believed we existed. They would have cleaned these grounds up right away, and we’d have repaid them in kind. Things were fun back then…” Sojobo said with a sad smile. “But those times are over now. The ones who truly believed we existed are gone, and most of the spirits that lived in the human world have moved to the spirit realm. It’s a bit sad, but really, what’s so unusual about the relics of the past being weeded away?”

Books had killed the spirits of the human world. The same books I loved so dearly.

I looked down at the books that were airing out. Most were fiction stories, many featuring spirits. I had been oh so happy to read them, even thrilled to see spirits I knew appear within them. But those same stories were the very reason they had lost their place in the world…

I paled. My body began to chill, starting from my extremities, and it became difficult for me to even stand.

That was when Sojobo grinned wryly. “It ain’t anything you need to feel bad about, Kaori. It’s just nature running its course. The world changes. It’s not anybody’s fault. Not even the books.” He scratched his beard, still reminiscing. “Come to think of it, I had this conversation with someone else recently… I think it was with…Shinonome?”

“Huh? With Shinonome-san?” I said, surprised. That was the last name I’d expected to hear.

Sojobo smacked his fist against his palm. “Oh, that’s right, that’s right. Said he was collecting data, he did. Asked me a bunch of weird questions too.”

“Oh really?”

“Anyway, you needn’t feel bad about anything. It’s not like you directly caused this yourself.” He tousled my hair with his large hands and laughed heartily. “Besides, it’s not like it really matters if humans stop believing in us. Sure, I’m a bit sad I won’t be able to meet an interesting fellow like Yoshitsune again, but at the end of the day, humans and spirits have always been separate. We just happened to be sharing the same space for a while, that’s all.”

But that’s…so sad. I averted my gaze from Sojobo’s smile and clenched my fist.

 

We succeeded in airing out all the books we brought that day. We then gathered them up and bundled them together. Now all we had to do was wait for Nyaa-san to come pick us up the next day.

Evening neared. The distant sky began to take on a rose madder-red glow as birds returned to their beds and chirped from nearby. As one would expect, weeding the grounds of an entire temple was exhausting. Suimei was fast asleep on the abandoned temple’s open veranda, and I sat next to him, vacantly watching the clouds drift across the sky.

“Yo, Kaori!”

“Kao-chan, you finished!”

Ginme and Sora appeared. Ginme had done the same weeding work as Suimei but was still somehow full of life. He was even giving Sora a ride on his shoulders. Perhaps it was because of his daily training that he still had so much energy. He sat down next to me and peered at me with his cheery eyes. “Ready for something nice?”

“Huh?”

“Heh heh… Sora.”

“Here you go, Kao-chan!” Sora pulled out a Japanese sweet. I beamed with delight the instant I saw it, for it was nothing other than my favorite sweet in the whole wide world.

“For me?” I asked.

“Yup. You worked hard today, right? Let’s eat it together.” Ginme scanned the area and double-checked Suimei was asleep before bringing his pointer finger to his lips and saying, “Let’s keep this a secret between us, though. There ain’t any for Suimei.”

“Ha ha, all right. I’m surprised you managed to get your hands on these,” I said.

He had brought a set of mochi that was anecdotally associated with Minamoto no Yoshitsune, a famous historical figure who had lived on Mount Kurama for a time. They could only be bought at the confectionery in front of the Kurama Temple gate and were filled with chestnuts and sweet bean paste. The mochi was stretchy, and the sweet bean paste was strained and well-salted, making for the perfect treat. Not too sweet and just the right size. The product was popular enough to be sold out before noon on some days.

“Gin-chan woke up super early to get these because you were coming today! Even though he’s always sleeping in!” Sora proudly shared.

“Wha—Sora?! I said don’t tell her! Here, this one’s yours. Now leave.”

“Yaaay! Sweets!” Sora accepted his piece and trotted off, his feet going pitter-patter against the wood.

Ginme averted his gaze out of embarrassment. I thanked him, causing his cheeks to flush red. “It’s whatever,” he curtly replied.

“Mmm! So good! These are perfect after a day’s work…”

“Right? Man, I shoulda bought more…”

The two of us tore through the mochi in no time and were left with a sad, empty container. My throat felt a bit dry, so I poured us some tea out of the thermos.

“Thanks, Kaori. Oh, this is good.”

“Isn’t it? This be some of our finest, my dear sir.”

“Nothing strange mixed in, is there…?”

“I make no promises!”

The two of us joked around and laughed like we always did.

Then, out of the blue, Ginme looked truly relieved. “Thank goodness. I was worried that earlier stuff was weighing on your mind.”

“Oh…” In an instant, Sojobo’s words returned to me and my mood crumbled. I shut my eyes tight, trying not to cry.

Ginme grew flustered. “Whoa, uh, did I make you remember?! My bad… Dang! Why am I always like this?!” He roughly rubbed my head, making a mess of my hair.

“Stop it! You’re messing up my hair!”

“Huh? Oh… Was that too strong? Weird… You also chin up when Shinonome does it.”

“What are you talking about? Maybe when I was a child, sure.”

“Hmm… Really?”

I couldn’t help but smile at how awkwardly Ginme was trying to cheer me up. He smiled too, a bit abashed. He had succeeded some.

“Thank you. I feel a bit better now,” I said.

“…That’s good.”

I looked up at the rose madder sky and gradually began to open up. “Maybe what I’m doing is horrible, lending spirits the very things that are harming them. Or maybe Sojobo is right, and I shouldn’t worry about it… I don’t know.”

Ginme frowned. “I was listening earlier, but… Well, to be honest, I don’t really get that kind of complicated stuff one bit. But I do know the only ones who care about those kinds of things are people like Gramps and Shinonome; most spirits don’t think about that kind of stuff at all.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Why else would they be borrowing books in the first place?”

“But…” Sojobo’s words made sense. I’d noticed myself that the number of spirits living in the human world was decreasing. The gap between the two worlds was widening.

Ginme suddenly smacked his fist against his palm. “I got it!” He looked at me and said, “Make sure you’re free tonight. Oh, and let’s get Nyaa in on this too. This is going to be good!”

“What?” I asked, bewildered.

Ginme gave me the most refreshing smile. “I got something nice to show you!”

 

***

 

“Think you could give some notice next time, instead of waiting until the last moment to invite me?” Nyaa-san asked.

“Oh, don’t be like that,” I replied. “Ginme says he has something nice to show us!”

“I had plans to sleep all day.”

“I said I was sorry!”

Suimei, a disgruntled Nyaa-san, and I met up and went to the cedar tree Ginme had told me that he would be waiting at. Our surroundings had just begun to darken, as it was around six in the evening.

Once we met him, Ginme led us to a certain place.

“W-wait, should we be doing this?!” I asked.

“It’ll be fine! The humans won’t see us!” he reassured me.

“A-are you sure?!”

Ginme descended the mountain at an alarming speed, running across treetops and temple roofs with deft steps, just barely out of sight of the temple-goers offering worship. On his back was me, utterly floored by his speed.

“You better not drop Kaori, Ginme!” Nyaa-san, following shortly behind us, shot a sharp glare at him. He had offered to carry me in place of her today, saying he had someplace he wanted to show me personally.

Ginme looked back at her and nodded deeply, then, with a little worry in his voice, said, “I know! You should be more worried about Suimei—he’s about to fall off!”

“It’s fine. He’s a former exorcist; he’ll manage even if he falls,” she replied.

“I-It’s not f-f-fine at all!” Suimei cried, hanging on for dear life to Nyaa-san’s back. She showed no care whatsoever for this particular rider. Perhaps only I got special treatment?

“What’d I tell you? You should have let me carry you,” said Kinme.

“No, let us carry the white one!” Sora said.

“That sounds fun! We can zip and whoosh through the air together!” Umi said.

“Ab-so-lutely not!” Suimei fiercely shook his head as he turned down their offers. Maybe it was something to do with his pride as a man? …Well, I would also have refused the two small ones, if I were being honest.

After some more back and forth, we eventually reached our destination: a village at the base of the mountain, sandwiched between Mount Kurama and the Kurama River. Many ancient buildings that looked full of history stood in rows, proof that the street they were on had once flourished with activity. It had been one of ancient Japan’s numbered highways, connecting the former provinces of Tanba and Wakasa. Ginme stopped on the roof of one building, let me down, and began surveying the area. I surveyed it as well, checking out just where he’d brought me to.

“There’s a lot of people for some reason,” I commented.

“Wonder why,” Nyaa-san mused, having landed behind me.

The sky there was already beginning to dim, yet locals and tourists filled the streets, moving to and fro. When I looked at the second-floor windows of shops and ryokan inns, I saw hordes of people clustered against them. Everyone eagerly awaited something. Even though it was night, nobody made any efforts to leave—far from it, more and more people appeared as I watched.

What was more, a strange object was placed here and there along the line of buildings. It looked like a club made out of bundled wood, and it was huge, far larger than a single person could hope to carry.

“Is there some event going on?” I asked with some elation, getting the impression that something special was happening.

Ginme grinned. “Today’s the Kurama Fire Festival!”

 

“The Kurama-what-now?”

The instant I asked that, a loud voice thundered from the direction of the local head temple, Kurama-dera. “Let the ceremony begin!”

As though waiting for those words, fires began to light up all across the village.

“The fires are lit!” Kinme said happily. “Look, Suimei, look!”

“What’s going on? Explain,” Suimei demanded of the twins.

The ones to answer, however, were the children.

“The torches go on fire!”

“The kids go first!”

“The kids what? What do you—”

Before Suimei could finish, Sora and Umi jumped off the roof and glided down. They approached a group of children walking while holding up a giant torch and, to my surprise, joined them.

I was worried their Tengu appearance would cause alarm, but such worries proved unnecessary as they both seemed to go unnoticed by normal humans, blending in naturally.

“Yay!”

“It’s hot!”

They smiled and waved at us.

After watching all that unfold, and seeing how we became quite confused in the process, Ginme decided to give us a proper explanation. “The festival starts with small torches being held by kids, with bigger torches appearing as it continues. The final torch needs tons of adults to carry.”

“Oh… I see. Isn’t it dangerous for kids to hold torches, though?”

“Their parents are with them, so it should be fine.”

He pointed to a few other places in the village and began explaining some things about the Kurama Fire Festival. It occurred annually every October 22nd and was considered one of Kyoto’s Three Great Strange Festivals. The tradition was thought to have started in the third year of the Tengyo era (the year 940 by the Gregorian calendar) when the Yuki Daimyojin deity, previously enshrined in the imperial palace in ancient Kyoto, was moved to Kurama.

“This festival’s amazing. We come out every year to watch it.”

“Is that so?”

“It all started with some people long ago who were impressed by the procession for the moving of the Yuki Daimyojin, and they’ve kept it up since. It’s incredible.” Ginme wore a faint smile as he watched a mother help a few children carry a small torch.

Eventually, the children all walked past, and a line of men carrying large, long objects that resembled giant bludgeons took their place. Those were torches too, apparently. Each required multiple people to support, their hot flames flaking wildly as the men continued along.

“Saireya, Sairyou!” The men chanted what equated to “festival, festival” as they vigorously and imposingly made their way through the village. They wore sendo-gote over their arms—a type of clothing typically worn by ferrymen to emphasize arm strength—as well as zori and hanten, thonged sandals and short winter coats. The tourists watched, spellbound, and directed their cameras toward them.

After some time, the rhythmic pounding of taiko drums played by women began to reverberate through the town, and the festival took on a whole new fervor. Areas were blockaded as police officers arrived to guide a group of people wearing a style of dress seldom seen.

“Whoa! Look at that!” I said.

The people wore hakama adorned with family crests, as well as full plate armor, and walked in line with the ones holding the torches. It was as though I were being given a glimpse of the past.

“It’s like Kyoto’s Festival of the Ages… Whoa, h-hey!”

Ginme abruptly picked me up.

“Wh-what are you doing?!”

“The main event’s about to begin! We’re moving to get a better view!”

“W-wait, at least let me ride piggyback—aaah!”

He ignored me and rose into the air with a gust of his wings, leaping across the rooftops. The sudden up and down motions dizzied me, until eventually I got fed up and said, “Wait, wait, wait! What about Umi and Sora?! Are we just leaving them?!”

“They’ll come on their own later. Nyaa, Kinme, don’t fall behind!” Carrying me under his arm, Ginme ran like the wind. Nyaa-san and Kinme fell farther and farther behind, eventually falling out of sight completely.

“Ginme, you’re going too fast for everyone!” I warned.

“Don’t worry, Kinme knows where we’re going. They won’t get lost.”

“Okay, but at least put me on your back—eeeek!” I shrieked as he kicked hard off a rooftop. It would have been nice if he changed how he was carrying me, but a certain youthful gleam in his eyes told me there was no way he was going to notice my distress anytime soon. Even since way back, he had often been carried away and become oblivious to his surroundings in just this manner.

I abandoned all hope of being moved to a more comfortable position and instead tried to at least find out where we were headed. “Where are we going?!”

“Hm? To where all the torches are being gathered!” He made another big leap off a rooftop.

“Ugh.” I kept my mouth shut so I wouldn’t bite my tongue and resigned myself to just watching the surroundings pass me by. The ancient village looked beautiful, illuminated by torches; it had a certain charm that was missing from the spirit realm’s perpetual night.

The light of the flickering flames was utterly different from the selfish, immediate glow of the glimmerflies. The flames were powerful and captivating. One couldn’t help but stare, blinding though they were.

It’s beautiful, I thought to myself. Humans really know how to live it up. Entranced by this world, so completely different from my own, I found myself forgetting that I too was a human. I watched the people celebrating their peculiar tradition with beaming smiles and thought to myself that they too were blinding.

“Saireya, Sairyou!”

As I listened to the chants of the procession, a terribly familiar figure entered my view.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! I shook my head in disbelief. This wasn’t the spirit realm. I must have mistaken what I saw for something else…

“Saireya, Sairyou!” Chanting alongside the torch-carrying men was a monstrously huge one-eyed oni. He was at least three times taller than the humans walking alongside him. With each step he took, I worried he might crush somebody.

“Wh-wh-what, why…?” Flustered, I scanned the area, at which point I was taken aback by all I had failed to notice earlier.

“Bwa ha ha ha! Saireya, Sairyou!”

“Ha ha, look at that human! He looks so funny!”

The ancient streets of Kurama Village were brimming with excitement—so much so that nobody noticed the spirits mixed in with the spectators here and there. An Onibaba sipped sake from a wooden shoe box as she stood between two humans watching the event while hunched over their second-story window. An Okuri Suzume bird spirit rhythmically hopped atop a taiko drum. Looking up, I saw a giant shadow looking down over the town—an Onyudo. They all smiled, watching the fire festival happily together with the locals and tourists.

Where could all these spirits have popped out from? Didn’t most of them move to the spirit realm…?

That was when it hit me: They had returned just to see this festival. I felt my face soften into a smile. As the times changed, spirits did leave; but that didn’t mean they’d forgotten the human world.

It’s like a visit home for the holidays, I thought. Something about that made me a little happy…and a little envious.

“Is this their place to return to?” I whispered my thoughts. I felt a tinge of sadness as I watched the scene fade into the distance behind me.

 

We eventually reached our destination, the main temple gate of Kurama-dera.

The temple gate, usually a solemn place, was brimming with excitement. A shimenawa rope cordoning off consecrated ground was stretched out. A group of men holding torches crowded together while another group of men watched as they chanted and clapped their hands in rhythm.

“Saireya, Sairyou… Saireya, Sairyou…”

The torches lit up the night, making it as bright as midday. Sparks fell like rain onto the men holding the torches, and for a moment I worried they were too hot. But even hotter yet was everyone’s zeal, so much so that I couldn’t help but utter, “Amazing…”

“Right?” Ginme said.

The zeal of the people, the brilliance of the flames, the billowing white smoke—the beauty of this scene, which could simply never be recreated in daytime, was like something pulled from another world.

The fervor reached its peak as all the torches were grouped into one pile. Cheers echoed as each torch added caused the licks of flames to stretch higher. Each and every person present watched the fire, enthralled.

“Looks like it’s my time to shine,” Ginme said.

“Huh…?”

He grinned, then moved me so I was carried in both of his arms. “Sorry, being carried like that must’ve been scary.”

“So you did notice! …Wait, more importantly, what are you trying to do now? I said wait!”

Without paying me any mind, he spread his pitch-black wings and flapped them, lifting off into the air and flying toward the giant bonfire.

“Wait—aaaaaaaaaah!”

“’Scuse me, Tengu coming through!” He stopped just before the bonfire and started flying around it in circles, close enough to touch the flames. The crackling fire began to rise abnormally high; the embers swirled as though alive.

Everyone’s jaw dropped. Not a single gust of wind blew through the area, yet the flames were being stoked. It was a mystery to behold.

Ginme got increasingly carried away and began spinning even faster. “Aha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! How’s that?!”

“Aaaaah!” I clung for dear life to Ginme, shutting my eyes and hoping he would hurry up and finish whatever he was trying to do.

Eventually, after some more flying in circles, he did finish, landing below. He let me go, and I fell to the ground, knees weak. He paid me no mind and looked up at the pillar of fire reaching up to the heavens with a satisfied look on his face.

I heard voices begin murmuring nearby. “Incredible. But why’d it grow so suddenly? Did someone toss in gasoline or something?”

“No way. Nobody’d be that stupid…”

They all tried to reason out why the flames had strengthened so suddenly, suggesting that maybe someone had put something in the torches, or a localized whirlwind had occurred, but nobody could produce a satisfying explanation. That was, until a person said, “Hey… You think this might be the work of one of Mount Kurama’s Tengu?”

I looked at Ginme in shock. He smiled a toothy smile at me and made the peace sign. This had been his plan all along.

With some excitement, more and more people gradually came to agree with the idea.

“Yeah, that just might be it! This is the land of the Tengu, after all!”

“Oh, so it was the Tengu, huh?”

“Maybe… Yeah.”

The idea gradually seeped through the crowd, until even the people that gave more scientific reasonings had come to agree. Before long, one man said, “The Tengu’s telling us that he’s enjoying the festival too! All right, people! Let’s liven things up!”

“Yeah!”

The men began with renewed vigor, chanting, “Saireya, Sairyou,” and clapping their hands loudly as though trying to show off to whatever Tengu might be watching.

Then it happened. The flames grew in intensity, without Ginme doing anything. The people cheered as their excitement was amped up even further. I watched everything unfold with blank astonishment.

“Heh heh. Relics of the past? Forgotten by humans?” Ginme suddenly began. “What a load of bull. There’s no doubt in my mind that the Tengu exist to these people here and now.”

He bumped his fist atop my head. “Sure, some of us spirits have disappeared, but just look at this festival. It all started years ago, yet people still keep it going to this day. What will remain, will remain, and what won’t, won’t. That’s all there is to it. And it’s not like what’s gone is gone forever either… Who knows; those forgotten spirits might return someday.”

Feeling like I might cry, I clamped my lips shut tight. Seeing this, he looked down at me gently and said, “It’s all right. It’s nothing you need to worry about.”

“Yeah…” I quickly tried to wipe away the tears welling up in my eyes. “I want to help spirits read more. There’s so many good books out there.”

“I know.”

“So, I’m going to keep trying. It’s…okay if I keep trying, right?”

“Of course. I’ll be there to help you.”

I sniffed. “Thank you, Ginme.”

He showed me another toothy smile and extended his hand. “The festival has only just begun. They’re going to carry out the mikoshi next, let’s go watch!”

“Yeah!”

“They carry these guys in fundoshi with their legs spread open like a ‘V’ alongside the mikoshi. It’s pretty cool.”

“Th-they do what?! No way.”

“I’m serious. It’s called choppen. Apparently, it’s an old coming-of-age ceremony. Crazy, huh?” Saying that, Ginme carried me—piggyback this time, thank goodness—and flew off.

Sure enough, there was a crowd formed over by the stone steps. It had been a while since I’d seen a mikoshi, a portable shrine carried by a group of people, so seeing one now made me a bit excited.

That was when Nyaa-san and the others finally caught up. “Jeez! Where were you two?!” she said.

“My bad, my bad,” Ginme said. “But Kinme, you should’ve known the route. Why didn’t you lead them to us?”

“Well… I didn’t want to get in the way of your moment.”

I ignored the three fussing back and forth and called out to Suimei, limply sprawled out on Nyaa-san’s back. “Still not good with flying, I take it?” I asked.

“Shut it. You’d have to be nuts to be okay with this. Even roller coasters come with safety bars,” he complained.

“Aha ha! Let’s take it easy after the festival then. It’s been a busy day.”

“Humph…”

Just then, I felt someone’s eyes watching me. I looked to see Ginme watching Suimei and I talk. “Ginme? What’s up?” I asked.

“Naw, it’s nothing.” He lightly shook his head. “All right! This festival’s just getting started!” he crowed before rising even higher into the air.

 

***

 

The Kurama Fire Festival went until midnight.

We stayed until the very end, only then returning to the abandoned temple, dead tired. I dove into bed and slept like a log, ignoring the smell of smoke clinging to my body.

The next morning, I helped out with cleaning around the temple and ate a nice helping of Kyoto-style pickled foods for breakfast. I finished off by taking a dip in the hot springs at Kurama Onsen to rest my body and soul.

A festival, good food, and a hot spring. I thought I had come to air out books, but here I was acting like any old tourist. Oh well. It was a good two days.

I went to say farewell to Kinme and Ginme. “Thanks for all the help, you two. Can you give Sojobo my thanks for me?”

“Will do, Kaori!” Ginme said.

“Is it all right if I come again the next time I need to air the books out?” I asked.

“Of course,” Kinme confirmed. “We’ll try to keep the temple grounds clear for you for real this time.”

I turned to leave when Ginme suddenly called after me. “Hey, Kaori?”

“Yes?” I asked.

He pulled me a short distance away and mumbled, “Uh, are you and uh… Are you and Suimei, uh…” He averted his eyes awkwardly.

“What’s up?”

“W-well…” He hemmed and hawed. “N-nothing. Yeah, nothing. Don’t worry about it,” he said unconvincingly, waving his hands.

Worried, I asked, “Is something wrong?”

“Well, not quite wrong, but…” He hesitated again.

I stood on my toes and stretched to rub the top of his head. Humored by how much he’d outgrown me, I smiled. “It’s all right, Ginme. You can tell me anything. We’re practically family.”

“Right, family…” he said before letting out a deep sigh. It wasn’t like him to sigh, what with how upbeat he was all the time. But just when I thought something might be wrong, he immediately cheered up and declared, “Oh, fine! I’ve just got to get out of the family-zone first!”

“The family-zone? What’s that?” I asked.

“Don’t worry about it!” He roared with laughter, slapping me hard on the back.

Krik—a sharp, loud sound echoed throughout the mountain.

With tears in my eyes, I glared up at Ginme. “What was that for?!”