In the silence of the night, with only the silver moon and the stars as witnesses, a beautifully ornamented carriage pulled by two pairs of horses races through the darkness.
At its sides, in perfect coordination and formation, several riders carrying banners can be seen, making it clear that whoever travels inside is extremely important—likely some local noble.
"Do you have to do this even when we're away from home, Nami?"
Puffing out her cheeks like an angry child, a young woman with fair skin, dark hair, and dressed in a delicate kimono speaks to the one who can only be considered her servant.
Nami does not respond immediately. Instead, she uses the dim light from the carriage lanterns to finish combing her lady's long hair before finally speaking.
"You mustn't think that way, miss. You are a lady of the Usume family. You represent all of us, whether the servants or your distinguished father."
"Umm, you're too rigid, Nami!"
"And you are too childish, my beautiful lady. Look, you're ready now—you look truly dignified."
Setting the wooden comb aside inside the spacious carriage, Nami opens a small carved wooden chest nearby and takes out a mirror, handing it to her lady.
Accustomed to such things as someone from high society, the lady takes the mirror and looks into its glass. There, a beautiful young woman is reflected back at her, feeding her ego so much that she fails to notice the strange movements of what should only be a reflection—thus sealing her fate.
"Ahhh!"
Terrified, reluctant, and slightly surprised is the scream that suddenly bursts from inside the large carriage, causing everyone nearby to stop.
"Miss!"
"Protect the miss!"
Shouting, jumping down, and running toward the carriage doors, the burly men quickly break the door down, revealing the now-dark interior.
Elegant garments made of fine fabrics are scattered all over the floor. The carriage lanterns are broken, and a red liquid stains every corner and crevice, as if someone had been thrown into a lidless blender.
"She's… she's dead! The miss is dead!"
"This can't be… We're already far from the city. Why does this keep happening?"
"Damn it!"
Panicking—whether from the supernatural nature of the event, from fear of losing their heads when they return with this terrible news, or from collective hysteria—the soldiers overlook a shiny object lying inside the carriage.
That object is a beautiful silver mirror with an elegantly carved frame, perfectly reflective and stained with blood, making it look more like a macabre work of art than something meant for daily use.
…
Under the bright midday sunlight, unobstructed by the completely clear sky, two solitary travelers can be seen walking along a long dirt road.
"So visiting Akemi is going to be a special chapter, huh?"
Kicking a small stone that doesn't seem to have been properly flattened by passing carriages or human traffic, a young man with golden hair and blue eyes speaks in a strange set of words, drawing the attention of his companion.
"I understand the words separately, but not all together. What does that even mean?"
Doubting her own grasp of idioms, the young woman with long black hair tied with a white ribbon and adorned with a rose dodges the flying stone and keeps walking.
"Well, it could be me talking about the future through a weird metaphor, or maybe I'm breaking the fourth wall… Anyway, how much farther, Kikyo?"
Walking a little faster to pass Kikyo, he turns around and starts walking backward as he talks.
Such childish behavior draws no reaction from her. Instead, she briefly closes her brown eyes and looks ahead as if calculating something.
"Actually, not at all. It's right up ahead."
"The carriage?"
"No, something inside it."
They share a second of silence—during which Asahiko wonders whether to make fun of her words and Kikyo seems to notice nothing strange about his—and in the end they ignore it and approach.
The carriage stands without horses, destroyed, and gives off an unmistakable metallic smell, forcing both of them to raise their guard against any possible trouble.
"I go in front and you cover me?"
"Yes."
Ending that brief exchange, they draw their respective weapons—Clouded Fang and the longbow—and take position. Asahiko goes first, and after swallowing nervously, he extends his free hand and pushes the door open in one quick motion.
Inside it is dark. The air is still, and a disgusting stench fills everything, making him wrinkle his nose because of his heightened senses. But that doesn't stop him from noticing the strangest thing of all.
"It's empty… Okay, I really think you need to start sleeping. Now even your radar's failing."
"Move aside. I can still feel it in there."
"Sure, sure."
Giving little importance to Kikyo's words but still stepping inward rather than outward, Asahiko pinches his nose and carefully avoids the bloodstains before taking a guarded stance as Kikyo enters.
She scans the entire carriage with a sharp gaze, without looking away or frowning for even a second, showing that such a deadly scene doesn't affect her at all. Once done, her confident steps lead her to a piece of fabric sticky with blood. She moves it aside without blinking and pulls out an elegant mirror from beneath.
"I have it."
"So it wasn't a carriage, but a mirror? Well, not that— Kikyo, doesn't your reflection look a little strange?"
Standing behind Kikyo's back like a gossip, Asahiko easily sees the mirror thanks to his greater height, and quickly notices how the reflected Kikyo has small differences.
"Does it?"
"Yes, yes. Look at those stray hairs on your forehead, when you always keep your hair neat. And your brown eyes don't have that hidden warmth—they're more like—"
"Stop. I think now you're the one who needs to start sleeping."
"Honestly, yeah. But I feel weird knowing there's someone possibly watching me right beside me… Ahem, let me show you."
Taking the mirror from Kikyo's hands as he passes by her—since she simply remains silent and does not resist—Asahiko holds it up in front of him.
Strangely, the mirror remains empty for a few seconds, until a white mist twists inside it and begins trying to take shape.
Surprisingly, before it can, the white mist starts to boil and bubble uncontrollably, ending in a single unexpected result.
Crack!
Broken. In an instant, it goes from whole to fractured into dozens of pieces, so suddenly that Asahiko instinctively throws it to the ground while stepping back.
"I didn't do anything! Seriously, it broke by itself!"
"I know, I saw everything. I suppose that Ungaikyo tried to reflect your true form and killed itself… Or rather, the reflection of it that lived inside this mirror killed itself."
"Uh… life question, Kikyo. What's an Ungaikyo?"
Picking up one of the broken mirror fragments from the ground just like she does, Asahiko brings it to his eyes, taps it with his finger, and even talks to it, but it doesn't react at all.
Knowing he's not the most knowledgeable about Shintoism—barely remembering the names of a few important gods like Susanoo and Amaterasu—he turns to the nearby expert.
"It's a special type of yokai, an enlightened object. That means it has existed for more than a hundred years, gaining power and its own personality."
"Yeah, I think I'd heard something about that—how after existing long enough, an ordinary object could become something more in Shinto mythology."
"Shinto mythology?"
"Nothing important, just rambling. Still, what does an Ungaikyo do? And from what I remember, weren't these… enlightened objects supposed to be weak and cause few problems?"
Tossing the mirror shard away, Asahiko ignores Kikyo's doubt and asks another question, drawing her attention again.
"Normally they are. But those that feed on people's worship or curses are much stronger… And this one seems to have a jewel fragment."
"I see…"
"Their abilities are… strange and varied. There are very few records of Ungaikyo or enlightened objects in general, so I really can't tell you anything for certain."
Finishing her explanation in an even tone despite her uncertainty, Kikyo gathers all the mirror pieces and looks at Asahiko.
He thinks for a second—which in his enhanced mind feels like minutes—then snaps his fingers and transforms a nearby garment into a soft cloth.
"Thanks."
"Sure, it's nothing. Though why are you taking those things?"
"To track the Ungaikyo's location through the small connection that still remains between them, though it's fading faster than expected… The main body must be quite far away."
"You're truly amazing, Kikyo. Though if you can do that with glass pieces… can you also do it with that rose?"
Pointing to the dark purple rose adorning Kikyo's hair along with the white ribbon, Asahiko steps out of the carriage first and waits for her outside by the door.
"Afraid of what I could do to you?"
"No, not at all. But if you could, wouldn't that mean we'd never lose each other? I can kind of track that rose since it's made of my energy, but I'm not very confident if we get too far apart."
Dismissing her words with a wave of his hand, Asahiko speaks half-jokingly, then strokes his chin and seriously explains what had sounded like a joke.
That makes Kikyo stare at him—perhaps because of the overexplanation, though likely also to hide the small beat she felt inside.
Of course, that faint feeling—if it can even be called that—does not crack the impenetrable wall around her. She puts on a somewhat cold smile that hides more than usual and replies in the same half-joking tone.
"That's dangerous, Asahiko. Always together? Aren't you afraid I might drag you to hell for saying that?"
"Meh, no fear of success. Besides, I've got Clouded Fang, so I could get out easily—and pull you out too if you ever decided to go alone to— Shall we go?"
"Yes…"
Breaking the shared gaze as the strangeness of the atmosphere settles in, both fall silent and simply continue walking forward, leaving the abandoned carriage behind.