SAI SHINU
The rocking of the chariot finally lulled me into sleep.
At first, the dream felt calm. Empty, almost. But then—just like always—it came.
The crack of a pistol. The sound split the air, deafening, merciless.
My father fell again. His chest burst red, his hand reaching for me before his body struck the ground. And I felt it—not as a memory, but as if the bullet had torn through my own heart. My lungs burned, my ribs shattered, my soul ripped apart.
I woke with a sharp gasp, clutching my chest. The cursed mark seared faintly under my skin, glowing like it had been fed. I ripped my shirt aside, staring at it.
It wasn't the same anymore.
The full moon—once fractured—had shifted again. Only a third remained.
"Yosuke…" My voice was hoarse.
He was already watching me. Calm, though his eyes held something heavier. "It happened again."
I nodded, shivering with the echo of pain. "I lived it. My father's death… like I was there all over again. And now… the mark changed." I pointed at the brand, the crescent burning faint against my skin.
Yosuke's expression darkened. He leaned forward, studying the mark with quiet intensity. "When your mother died… that's when it shifted. From two-thirds to one-third."
The words sat heavy between us.
I stared down at my chest, the faint glow pulsing with every beat of my heart. "So both of them… tied to this curse. My father. My mother. Each death carved into me."
The chariot creaked as it rolled, the night pressing cold against the windows. My hands clenched. "Every night I've had to see it. His death. Feel it. But… these last days, it stopped. And now I know why. Because she's gone too."
Yosuke didn't speak right away. When he finally did, his voice was quiet, steady, almost reluctant.
"This curse isn't just a mark. It's a chain. It forces you to carry them. To bleed for them, again and again."
I let the silence linger, staring at the fractured moon etched on my chest. A mark of what I had lost. Of what I could never get back.
Still… even with the weight crushing me, I breathed deep, forcing the words out.
"I'll carry it. Whatever this curse demands, I'll bear it. But it won't decide who I am. Or what I protect."
After that I fell asleep again.
I woke to the creak of wheels grinding over stone and dirt. The night had grown quiet, almost suffocating. When I sat up, my body felt heavy — the echo of the dream still gnawed at me like a phantom wound. Six hours had passed.
I rubbed my eyes, letting them adjust to the dim lanternlight inside the chariot. Yosuke sat opposite me, arms folded, gaze fixed outside. He hadn't slept — not even for a moment. His golden eyes flickered briefly toward me when I stirred, sharp and alert as ever.
"We're about an hour out," he said evenly.
I nodded, leaning back, my hand pressing against my chest without thinking. The mark still faintly glowed beneath my skin — the cursed third of the moon. I felt it there, steady, pulsing with every beat of my heart like it was alive.
For a moment, neither of us spoke. The rhythm of hooves and wheels filled the silence. But then I asked the question gnawing at me since I'd woken.
"Yosuke… if the dreams stopped after my mother's death, then why did it return now? Why… tonight of all nights?"
He didn't answer right away. He tilted his head, watching the dark horizon through the narrow window. "Because the curse doesn't sleep. It waits. And when it decides… it reminds you what you've lost. It makes sure you never forget."
His words cut deep, though part of me had already known. I sighed and pressed my palms into my face. "So it's not over. Not by a long shot."
"No." Yosuke's tone was final. "It won't end until…" He hesitated, his voice dropping almost reluctantly, "…until you do."
I lowered my hands slowly, staring at him. My throat tightened. "So death really is the only way out."
I leaned back against the wooden frame of the chariot and let out a breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding. The lanternlight flickered, shadows crawling across the walls. "Then I'll keep living with it. If this curse wants to crush me, it'll have to wait. I'm not done yet."
Yosuke smirked faintly, though the sadness lingered behind it. "That sounds like you."
We both fell silent again. The night pressed in, broken only by the rhythm of hooves carrying us closer to home. An hour. Just one more hour.