After that, she followed Heizou out of Chinju Forest and returned to the eastern beach where Akitsu Yuugei had previously taken place. According to him, he already knew the truth, and the evidence should be somewhere along the beach. Judging from his tone, he was extremely certain.
"If my guess is correct, there should be a patch of soil around here that looks different from the rest."
Walking ahead of her, Heizou held his chin as his gaze swept repeatedly across the sand beneath his feet.
"..."
She did not reply, simply following him in silence while deliberately searching with her eyes as well.
'This boy seems rather excited.'
During this time, Ei spoke to her.
'Indeed. After all, deducing the truth through the intellect he takes such pride in must be something a detective looks forward to immensely. Perhaps it would be more appropriate to describe it as "sacred."'
She nodded slightly as she answered.
Just as Yoimiya had once said, for someone who made fireworks, watching them rise into the sky with her own eyes was a sacred ritual. The same was true for the young man before her, Shikanoin Heizou.
However—
She deliberately looked toward the distant sea, where gentle waves occasionally rolled across the surface. Or rather, she should have been looking at the Akitsu Yuugei stretching across the water.
At some point, numerous ghostly paper lanterns had appeared suspended in midair, surrounding the open space on all sides as though deliberately creating a particular atmosphere. This must have been that woman's doing as well, right?
Not long afterward, she followed him to a corner beneath a cliff...
"...!"
The moment Heizou spotted something, he hurried over, crouched down, and picked it up. Looking over, the Shogun discovered that it was actually a pair of old hagoita. The patterns on their surfaces had already faded, and from their appearance alone, they clearly had quite some age to them.
"These are... hagoita?"
She could not help murmuring.
And traces of youkai power still lingered on the pair of hagoita... Could it be—
"That's right... These are the cause of everything."
Heizou smiled at her. It was the delighted expression of a detective unveiling the truth.
"Haa, I knew it... You really did find your way here after all."
At that moment, a woman's voice came from behind them. Heizou immediately rose and turned around, while the Shogun did not do so at once. For some reason, the voice sounded familiar, as though she had heard it somewhere before.
'That voice...'
As expected, Ei noticed it as well...
She finally turned around and looked at the person who had arrived. Standing before her was a black-haired woman dressed in a traditional black kimono patterned with red, with a red flower ornament over her left eye. That was right. She was the very same woman who had called herself a "tourist" when the Shogun and Ei had seen her beside Akitsu Yuugei before.
So that's how it is... No wonder she hid herself so well. What a coincidence.
'So it really was her... How surprising.'
Ei sighed with emotion.
"It's you..."
The Shogun spoke as well.
"Hm? Shogun-sama, have you met this person before?"
Heizou immediately asked with keen interest upon hearing her.
"You could say that. When I was nearby before, I happened to encounter her. At the time, she claimed to be a visiting tourist."
She folded her arms and briefly explained.
"I see. What a curious encounter. To run straight into Shogun-sama while committing the act itself... Should I say you were lucky or unlucky?"
Heizou teasingly asked the woman.
"I too have heard of the noble standing of the Narukami. When I met you in person, even I was overwhelmed by your unique presence. I cannot interfere in your affairs, but... that does not mean I am willing to give up."
Chizuru slowly turned and glanced at the Shogun before directing her sharp gaze toward Heizou. At this moment, she had no intention of using her pitifully limited youkai power, because she knew it would be pointless. Leaving the young man aside, with the Narukami herself standing here, she could no longer act recklessly. She understood that much.
"You... who exactly are you? Are you a youkai?"
The Shogun did not intend to intimidate the woman before her. Instead, she instinctively asked in a gentle voice.
"I was born from an object. Outside my original form, I gradually evolved into a human shape. My youkai power is limited. I can only use a little of it when I'm near my true body. If I stray too far away, it weakens, and I become no different from an ordinary human."
Chizuru answered her. Perhaps influenced by the Shogun's gentle tone, her own voice gradually became calmer as well.
"Just as I thought. In other words, if your true body is destroyed, you'll disappear completely too, correct?"
Heizou cut in.
"Haa. Why ask when you already know?"
Chizuru smiled indifferently.
"Then should I call you an 'object spirit'... or a 'tsukumogami'?"
Heizou gestured toward the hagoita in his hands.
"There's no need to make it so complicated. I have my own name. My name is Hanyuda Chizuru."
Chizuru sighed and told him her name, though she was clearly introducing herself to the Shogun as well.
"Hanyuda... Would it be all right if this body called you Chizuru?"
The Shogun asked.
"As long as the Narukami is willing, you may call me whatever you please."
Chizuru nodded without objection. By now, she was no longer the nervous woman they had first met. Perhaps that nervousness had been an act from the beginning, or perhaps she had simply grown accustomed to the situation.
"Chizuru... why did you go to such lengths? Was it merely to drive away the tourists who came here to enjoy themselves?"
The Shogun asked.
"..."
Hearing this, Chizuru instinctively lowered her head. Her expression turned complicated as she pressed her lips together without speaking.
"You're a youkai too. Since you were born from this pair of hagoita, that means... you know that story as well, don't you?"
She took the aged pair of hagoita from Heizou and ran her fingertips over them before raising her eyes toward the woman.
That story—
The story of a youkai and a human.
"That's exactly why..."
"...?"
The woman's sudden words caused her to stop speaking.
"Exactly because... I know it, I... wanted to do all this."
Chizuru clenched her hand and stared at the ground as she spoke sorrowfully.
"...What do you mean?"
The Shogun asked in confusion.
"Haa... You know the story of Mr. Kamai and the human samurai, don't you?"
Chizuru began to explain.
"Indeed..."
She nodded.
"Actually, that story did not end there. There was a continuation that few people know."
Chizuru said with a sorrowful expression.
"...?"
A continuation no one knew about?
She froze inwardly, then instinctively asked Ei.
'Do you know about it, Ei?'
'Unfortunately, I don't. I only know the beginning of the story.'
Ei shook her head as well, indicating that she did not know. After all, she had not attended the Mikawa Flower Festival every time, and not long afterward, the disaster of Khaenri'ah had erupted. She never had another chance.
'I see...'
She understood and returned her attention to Chizuru, listening as the woman continued—
Although their meeting had been a beautiful thing, matters did not remain beautiful forever. When they first met at the festival, the human samurai was around twenty-five years old.
Ten years later, they met again as promised, and once again hit it off immediately.
They drank together, traveled together, and sparred... Perhaps when they first met, they had merely admired each other's skill, but by then, they had truly come to regard one another as dear friends.
Another ten years passed... The human samurai had reached the pinnacle of swordsmanship and actually gained a slight advantage in their duel.
Kamai was deeply shocked. From then on, he gave up drinking and devoted himself to training, determined to fight another match ten years later... However—
The next ten years passed without the samurai appearing. War had broken out in the south, and the samurai had gone to defend the frontier. Kamai did not mind. After all, to a youkai, ten years passed in the blink of an eye. If he could not meet him this year, he would simply wait another ten.
But when they finally met again ten years later, Kamai hardly dared to recognize him. By then, the human samurai was already in his sixties, his body covered in scars and his hair completely white...
"Can you still hold a sword?" Kamai asked.
"Alas... I cannot. I'm old now. I came this time to say goodbye," the human samurai replied.
"I see. In that case, how about one final game of Akitsu Haneasobi with me?" Kamai asked as he took out the pair of hagoita.
"...All right," the human samurai replied.
And so, after many years apart, the two played Akitsu Haneasobi together once more. But the human samurai had grown old and weak, and his strength failed him. He was eliminated early because his body could no longer keep up.
"...What a... shame."
Looking at the exhausted human samurai, Kamai could not help letting out a long sigh.
"..."
The Shogun's eyes were complicated now. Her delicate lips pressed together slightly, as though the story had reminded her of something.
'...'
Ei instinctively began worrying about her daughter. She knew that matters of lifespan were an extremely sensitive subject for the Shogun as she was now. Perhaps this, too, was an example of her daughter's remaining immaturity.
Cherish the present...
Her sister had once told her the same thing.