Aoi Shiro web novel

Over two thousand years ago, an island floating at the southern edge of Japan, which passed by a peninsula was occupied by a group of oni.

Oh, it was regrettable. Though it wasn't a big island, it was granted to us by the God Izanagi and the Goddess Izanami. It was our possession, our land from the gods. It was unthinkable to give this land to foreign oni.

The feudal lord that was reponsible for the island and the surrounding lands immediately formed an expedition of soldiers and crossed over the rough, white-crested waves to Onigashima. They were going to reconquer the island.

However, the opponent was not a man, but an oni. He was not only robust, and possessed herculean strength, but also used sorcery. As the oni lord mumbled his spells, an unearthly aura suddenly arose and turned into dark clouds. The resulting strong rains and winds turned the seas stormy.

Not only the island, but the surrounding area was quickly enveloped in difficult tides which bore into the ship's bottoms and towards the reefs and the sea became very difficult to travel across. In addition, there was an explosive storm. However, that was not all that accumulated. It was like an unconquerable oni with an iron club. The feudal lord who lead the troops couldn't even lay a finger on the oni.

Moreover, whether it was the curse of the evil eye, or maybe it was the oni's counterattack, but a plague appeared and spread across the land. Hand in hand with the plague came famine and natural disasters such as earthquakes, typhoons, and drought. The situation had almost gone beyond an onitaiji (demon extermination).

After enduring for two years, circumstances finally took a turn for the better.

When these trials and tribulations had caused the population to be cut in half, the Great King of Time appeared before the princess and related a divine revelation from Ryuujin, the Dragon God of the sea. If the princess followed the divine revelation, the Dragon God would cure the pestilence. However, after a period of time, the problem persisted.

As usual, the island was occupied by the group of oni and because of the storm their general had summoned, no one could approach the island.

The princess prayed day and night, pushing her body, and continued to pray wholeheartedly. She prayed to the Dragon God to please cure the disease and to appease the storm that protected the island Onigashima.

She prayed to summon the god that lights the sea for 3 years and finally, the god answered her prayers.
The sea turned the color of lapis lazuli and the youki that surrounded the island in clouds all disappeared and was swallowed by the ocean. The sea turned calm and the storm cleared.

The ships could sail again and this time, they could drive out the oni.

The soldiers who were watching the island got excited and immediately gathered their ships and an expedition of soldiers was reorganized, but...
On the other hand, the princess who used up her last drop of life, had her glossy black hair turn pure white, and quietly took a breath and passed away.

Her death roused her younger brother and he was appointed the leader of the soldiers in place of the feudal lord. He used the ships gathered at the port as a decoy and with only a retinue of 3 people snuck over to the island.

Only once a year, on a certain day and a certain time, a secret path to the island will appear.
That way, the group could sneak over to the island without being seen, but after that, a fierce battle broke out.

Leaving the rank and file soldiers to his companions, the shogun headed towards the great leader of the oni and with a heave, drew out his bow. Against, the arrows of the shogun, the Oni King looked to the strangely shaped, craggy rocks, and grabbed and threw them, and grabbed and threw them, raining rocks down.

Would the arrows run out first, or would the rocks strike their target first? Both parties would not back down in the battle until after 5 minutes, the shogun completely changed his tactics.

Firing two arrows at once! The shogun let the arrow fly and it struck the Oni King's eye!

It hurts! It hurts! How dare you! Holding his crushed left eye, his remaining right eye seething, the Oni King began a spell.

Along with the spray of blood, the black, rotten miasma roiled and with the clouds and fog, the rising youki blocked out the light and enveloped the Oni King!

That was not all! That was not all!

With an undaunted rumbling in the ground, the youki expanded and the density of the youki became thicker. The clear wind blew and...
Darker than darkness, a beast in the shape of an ox appeared. The ox beast was the size of a small mountain and had the ferocity of a tiger. Its muddy yellow eye glowed and it flung its sharpened horns around and with an air or revenge, and kicked the ground.

A normal soldier would have gritted his teeth and given up without a struggle. However, this was a great shogun and not a normal soldier. He was the leader of the four who stormed the island and had a lot of guts and was a warrior with courage. Without fear, he quickly drew his bow and 1 arrow, 2 arrows, 3 arrows, were fired. The target never changing, an arrow flew, an arrow flew, striking the desired spot. However before receiving an injury, the quiver of arrows was empty.

In addition, the oni was not an ordinary oni. It was a king of oni with divine blood and was an Oni God. Then logically, of course, the arrow of a human would not harm the oni, but also logically, against a divine sword, the oni should fall. The shogun who faced the ox-shaped oni threw away his sword and in its place shone...

Dragon God, Ocean King, lend me your power! Show me a miracle and cleave this oni's head!
The rushing of a sword, the sound of the wind being cleaved, the definite feeling of slicing through, and the tumbling of the ox's head.
And so, the oni who lost their king fled like spiderlets and the subjugated people gave their allegience to the shogun.

"And so, Onigashima was taken back from the oni. And everyone lived happily ever after."

Though I was wrapped up in the story-telling, in the end, it had a cliche ending like a fairy tale. When the applause had died down, a slight sound reached my ears.
The sound rose above the incessant vibration and the source of the sound was the engine hitting a rough patch of road. The box-shaped bus was the same shape as a train but the sound was more intermittent than the sound of a train traveling over gaps in the rails.
In the afternoon, we were in a train like that, but we changed to bus quite a while ago.

"And that's the end of the story of the onitaiji of Unasaka..."

The person telling the fairy tale was at the front of the bus and gave a bow.

Though this wasn't a charter bus, it would not be strange to have a bus guide, but...
The woman wearing glasses with the mike in one hand was wearing a rough jersey and didn't look like a bus guide.
That much was certain.

"Hai! Haihai! Aoi-sensei!"

"Yes, what is it?"

Since she was called by the title of teacher, her livelihood was that of a high school teacher. She was a first year novice teacher at our Seijou High School Girls Academy and graduated from a professional teaching school.

Her storytelling ability rivaled that of a guide. As an expert in classics, she was also well-versed in fairy tales it seems.
Classics and fairy tales? Collecting a compilation of fairy tale stories from famous places was a different field of study, I thought.

Anyways, it was not a coincidence for a teacher and students to be on the same bus. Normally there would be a reason like a summer-training camp and the teacer was the advisor. And that happened to be our reason too.

Momoko: "The place of our training camp, Unasaka, had such a legend!?"

Today was the start of our training camp and we were on a road traveling south.

"Could it be that the ultimate onitaiji kenpo (oni extermination sword skills) was also passed down and we're going to learn it from a mysterious old man!?"

"Hmm...who knows? "

"What kind of answer was that?"

"I can't stand this situation, Osa-sempai!"

Rising from the seat behind me and peaking over was first year student, Akita Momoko.

She was the person with the smallest stature in our club and on top of that, her hair was tied in pigtails which gave her a childish look. However, she had an impressive athletic ability and there was a lot expected of the novice.

"Yes, yes, I'm sure that's true"

Talking with her increases my tension and she's the type to make me extremely tired.

"What's with that roundabout, apathetic response?"

"Because it's the truth."

"Eh...you should listen carefully to what your younger classmates are saying"

She was a forward girl and not bashful, but maybe that was good. And the way she addressed me "Osa", those two characters were taken from my name, Osanai Syouko. The person who gave me that nickname was the former captain. When I was sponsored into the club, my name was established like that.
So we were talking about the onitaiji kenpo skills.

"...Anyways, if something like that was so powerful, it would be weird for it not to be known, wouldn't it?"

The fairy tale would've been embraced and promoted and have appeared on a billboard or something.

"That might be true, but we're talking about the ultimate kenpo skills."

"So you're saying it wouldn't be leaked to outsiders?"

"In order to protect the skills, it would only be taught to a chosen successor"

"..."

"...Look. The prevalence of kenpo was due to the last stage of the civil wars during the Edo Period. Before that, there was the legend of Minamoto no Yoshitsune being taught sword skills by tengu in the mountains."

Usually, onitaiji fairy tales would go in that direction, and our club was a kendo club. Anyways, due to Momoko's interests and due to my grandmother's love of reading sword fighting novels, I can't say the story didn't have any effect on me at all.

"Aoi-sensei. How long ago did the onitaiji story take place?"

Momoko: "It took place a long time ago. A long, long time ago"

"You should also pay more attention to what the teacher is saying."

What a vague answer.

"Syouko-san. As I recall, it was 2000 years ago."

A kind voice replied from the seat next to me and was like a life boat. Like her voice, she had a pretty face and long, luxurious black hair. Maybe it was because of her appearance that the previous captain gave her the nickname "Hime" (princess). Different from my nickname, Sakurai Ayashiro's nickname didn't use a single character from her actual name. However, her generous behavior really did make her worthy of the title princess.

"Ayashiro..."

Well, I didn't normally use her nickname but still called her by her real name.

"So this story took place eras ago?"

"Yes, so it's a fake."

Momoko: "Eh? Why is that?"

"Swords from an era ago and swords used for kenpo were totally different."

Just like you couldn't wave your sleeves if your shirt didn't have them, you couldn't wave a sword that didn't exist.

"Ah, I see."

"...By the way Momoko, is Yasumi sleeping?"

"Zawacchi? I don't think so."

The name Zawacchi that Momoko used is created from Yasumi's last name, using the part zawa from Aizawa. Aizawa Yasumi and Akita Momoko are in the same class in seats one and two. They are friends that live in the same dorm and are actually roommates. They are with each other 24 hours a day and are like sisters to each other.

"Oi! Zawacchi!"

Normally if Momoko was making such a ruckus, Yasumi would've said something. And also, in the previous stituation, it would be Yasumi and not Ayashiro who would be the life boat, which is the normal pattern. Though it was strange, it could be due to the unfamiliar environment. Either the forced march-like traveling since the morning, and the teacher's speech acting like a lullaby, it wouldn't be a problem to fall asleep but...

"....."

But if that wasn't the case, it was essential to deal with it now.

"Yasumi, are you awake?"

Momoko: "...yes? Did Zawacchi do something?"

"It's the opposite. I'm a bit worried."

"Hmm?"

Looking down diagonally, Zawacchi checked the seat next to her.

"Zawacchi? Are you asleep? Are you awake?"

Sitting next to Momoko and in the seat directly behind me was a girl with wavy, long hair that was loosely braided and was the person Momoko called "Zawacchi," Aizawa Yasumi. With a slender figure all around, she didn't look like she could wield a bamboo sword and was the club's first member who was a manager-only.

"Teya!"

Momoko stopped her fluttering hand and flicked Yasumi on the forehead. Yasumi's unsteady eyes focused on the finger floating in front of her face.

"...Eh?"

It looks like she probably wasn't sleeping.

When you're focusing intensely, then background noise and scenery is excluded from your mind, but that I didn't think that was the case.

"You said 'Eh' Zawacchi. What's wrong?"

"What do you mean? There's nothing wrong."

"That's not true. Compared to your normal face, you don't look so good."

"That's not true..."

"There's definitely something wrong. Right, Osa-sempai."

Like a person looking for reinforcement, Momoko urged me to do something. I couldn't make an apathetic response so I stared at Yasumi's face

"Yasumi"

"Y...yes?"

"We've been sitting in the bus a long time. Are you feeling ok?"

"I...I'm ok."

"It's a little sudden, but Zawacchi, do you want to switch seats with me?"

"It's not like I have car sickness. I'm fine, Momo-chan."

Though she said she didn't have car sickness, her face was a little strange.

"Yasumi, stretch your arm out a bit."

"Yes?"

As she asked her question, I took hold of Yasumi's slim, stretched out arm. I could see the muscles on the inside of her wrist and a few inches towards the direction of her elbow, I pressed down.

"Th...that's a pressure point isn't it? I'm really not car sick. I'm really fine!"

"Oh, you already knew this."

"I thought massage would be useful so I read about it in a book."

"Then you might already know this but that point affects the whole body."

And I had learned about it from my grandfather's job, though in the past, I thought the knowledge passed down from elders was annoying.

Syouko: "Hmmm...."

"What...what is it?"

"Nothing."

After continually staring at her face, my face got a little red. It was like how the sun that was setting in the west was slowly spreading its color.

"You were spaced out a while ago. Do you have something like a fever?"

"I...I'm really fine!?"

"We've just started so you shouldn't push yourself."

"That's right! If Zawacchi collapses, our training camp meals will be in a big pinch!"

"A big pinch? It's not like we couldn't cook if Yasumi weren't there."

My grandmother, who died a long time ago liked to travel.
Unfamiliar places.
Unfamiliar people.
She really liked encountering things she didn't know about.

Just like the saying, that if you're raised in a place with a tall ceiling you'll grow tall.
If the world's things become larger, people become larger.

And then, in the summer of the 2nd year of high school, I went on a long trip.
Though it was a training camp for school, it was no different than a trip.

Traveling by train then by bus,
With my sword and equipment in my bag, we traveled to the southern sea...

Syouko: "Mmm...that was long."

Ayashiro: "Though we weren't kneeling in seiza position, sitting all day is still tiring."

"Mmm...though not as tired as the driver would be."

When the summer sun which traveled slowly through the sky was completely headed down, we arrived at our destination. With a sound peculiar to our bus, the door opened and we walked down the stairs of the of the old-style bus. The cool air of the bus's air conditioner and the hot air outside mixed together in a free-for-all fight and cutting through there...

"Yo! Number one!"

Syouko: "Hey! Momoko"

Yasumi: "Momo-chan! Your bag, your bag!"

Aoi-sensei: "Everyone, make sure not to forget anything."

Ayashiro: "Driver-san, thank you everything today."

Though we were still in Japan, the southern area's environment felt different. In the past, the strait marked the boundary between another country so there was a distinction between the land here and the land there. The asphalt on the bottom of my shoes felt warm and the air wavered in front of my eyes.

"....."

My chest, filled, the atmosphere was hot

What a heavy filling, the density of the air here was surely different. The smell of the waves heated and expanded and was a different feeling than I was used to. Every breath I took felt as though it were pressuring my lungs. In truth, it was a little hard to breathe.

"Ha..."

As I gave a sigh, Yasumi also gave a sigh and our eyes met. Then...

Momoko: "I've arrived! It's hot! The summer sea!"

A cry like a wild beast reached our ears and we both gave a pained smile.

Yasumi: "Momo-chan is very genki."

"That's true."

Maybe it was because I quickly got used to the surroundings, but I smiled and the mysterious pressure on my chest vanished. I took a look at my surroundings. The incessant sound of waves was coming from my left and between the breakwaters and the sandy beach, the vast ocean spread out. A few kilometers ahead was an island and past that was ocean as far as I could see...

To my field of vision, comparing the land to the beach, the beach's sky looked wider. The setting sun that was facing the land was reflected gloriously on the water's surface, glittering among the waves. The reflected light that didn't light up the island's shadow, which was a dark shadow in the twilight was a pity. To an observer, that shadow which looked like a black ink painting would've interested them, but to me, who had no such refined artistic tastes, the surroundings filled with color were more to my liking.

"....."

Yasumi might've also had the same feeling since she gave a long sigh after a period of silence. I didn't think she'd be that disappointed, but everyone had different tastes. The mixture of red and black colors doesn't make a good impression at times either. And also standing out over there was...

Momoko: "I see. So that's Onigashima."

I had just heard that island referred to by a different name. Having an island so close be occupied and without warning, being subjected to attacks day and night would've added a substantial amount of stress. With that past experience it's not without reason that there would be another nickname for the island...

Momoko: "Yo!"

Over the breakwaters, and with a hand blocking the sun, Momoko jumped down. The sound of footsteps, and then a voice.

"Of course it is, but it's just a normal island, yah?"

Syouko: "It seems that way."

Looking around, she checked just to make sure.

"I said this on the bus too, but if it weren't that case, this would be a big tourist attraction."

Momoko: "I see. There's no big billboards, or souvenirs, or food stands, or anything like that."

Syouko: "Alright."

Back to the main topic. I stretched my body that was stuck in a sitting position for a while.

"Why don't we head over to the inn since this a place that doesn't even sell gas?"

Ayashiro: "That's true. We're a little over our scheduled arrival time."

Looking down at the LCD display on her cell phone to check the time, Ayashiro looked a little worried.

Ayashiro: "They should've contacted them earlier, so we should also be on our way."

Syouko: "We've been traveling for half a day and the latter half of that on a bus, so there's bound to be some calculaton errors."

The training camp reservation ticket had only a vague reservation time 'About' written on it.

Syouko: "Sensei, what should we do?"

"It's ok, don't worry about the small details."

Momoko: "I saw on TV that people in the South are fairly loose with their sense of time."

It seems that people from Okinawa were known to be up to 2 hours late for appointments. That television show was pointing out an extreme case though.

Aoi-sensei: "I think it would be ok if we relaxed a bit more but..."

Aoi-sensei wiped off the sweat gathered on her brow and fanned the neckline of her shirt to let the wind in.

Aoi-sensei: "If we're going to relax, we might as well leave the luggage and change into a more comfortable mode of dress."

Syouko: "Sensei's already in a comfortable mode of dress."

If she got any more comfortable, it'd be a problem.

Ayashiro: "But I agree with that idea."

Aoi-sensei: "Then let's put a little more effort and then we can rest."

Everyone: "Okay!"

That's what we said, but it looks like it was going to more than a little bit of effort. The sun, which was traveling from the southwest sea towards the northeast shone along a road which had a mountain filled with lush vegetation on the side. The round mountain wasn't that big but it was definitely a mountain with its up and down sides. To get to the troublesome inn, we were going to have to climb up the small mountain.

Ayashiro: "Ah! So these are the stairs."

We quickly discovered the stone steps that thrust their way through the overgrown vegetation. The steps looked like they were made from antique materials and went diagonally up the mountain. I looked up the steps we would have to climb.

Momoko: "Wah! There's a lot of steps."

That was true. Just looking ahead I couldn't see the end of the stairs, so I had to raise my head. It would be good exercise to just go up and down the stairs a few times. At the end of the stairs was an old gate. Though it was far away, I could tell it was a grand gate though it would look out of place at a private home. The white plaster wall that surrounded the place was long and tall and tile-roofing was used.

Momoko: "And it's rundown!"

True, it was rundown. The wind and rain that continually assaulted the place had faded the colors, and the bits of plaster that had fallen off emphasized that too.

And also, the stone steps didn't have their gutters cleaned in places too.

Ayashiro: ".....Well, I suppose you could say it has a certain elegance."

Syouko: "It's ok to be frank."

"Then I agree with Momoko-chan."

"You mean it's rundown."

"Eh..."

She gave me a weak smile.

"I guess it is."

She gave a little sign 'Ha' and lowered her eyebrows with a weak look on her face.

Ayashiro: "It's ok if the gate is rundown, but I wonder if the buildings inside are ok."

"What do you mean?"

"If rain pours in, it'll be a problem."

Momoko: "Hime-sempai, you're too naive. You've underestimated the effect nature has on houses in the countryside."

"Eh?"

"Of course there will be holes in the shoji sliding doors and screens and spider webs in the ceilings are just the start. When you step on the tatami mats, you'll sink down and at night, the rats will have a great athletic festival... Eeeee! It's so scary! Just thinking about it is scary!"

"Is it going to be that terrible?"

Syouko: "Even if you ask me, I wouldn't know, but I don't think it's as bad as Momoko says. Sensei, how is the area around here?"

"I think it'll be ok. There are dilapidated houses, but Suzuki-san lives around here."

"Suzuki...Yuukai-san was it?"

"Yes, he's a friend of my father's and we both asking him about having training camp here."

Well, the characters in his name could also be read 'Tasuku' which means willing to help so that's fitting. His name sounded weird, as if it wasn't his real name and he took his favorite motto and made a name change. But then again, my grandmother who passed away had a name that was written 'Akiyoshi' but pronounced as 'Shuuhou' and had a classical Chinese feel to the name.

Momoko: "I hope the monk didn't say something like: 'Gugugu...I don't know if this place can stand such cute kids from the city' or something like that"

Ayashiro: "It's a monk so I don't think he'd say something like that."

The person called Suzuki Yuukai was a Buddhist monk in the area.

Aoi-sensei: "....."

Momoko: "Wah! What's with that silence?"

Aoi-sensei: "Suzuki-san is a good person. The other obou-san (monk) might be a bit of a problem though..."

That obou-san lived at this place which didn't look like it had an inn.

Yes...without a doubt, our training camp was staying at a temple. Looking again at the building, it did have an appropriate bearing and a mysterious effect on the heart. Like all matter is void, everything is constantly changing, human life is fleeting. No, there was a more famous phrase used to describe this nolstalgic feeling.

Syouko: "The sound of the bell at the Jetavana Monastary..."

Voice that followed mine: "has the sound that all worldly things are transitory."

The voice that continued my mutterings echoed at the temple gate. As if that phrase were a magic phrase, there was an answering sound of a metal bell ringing

An unknown voice: "The color of the sal tree, the prosperous must decay and logic will appear."

Coinciding with the sound of the bell to leave an impression, the voice that recited that was not sensei or Ayashiro, or any other club member. To determine the owner of the voice, I turned around.

Facing the opposite as the mountain was the calm sea we saw earlier. The setting sun partly sunk below the horizon and bathed the surface of the ocean in red. Though the sky was getting darker, because of the height we were at, I had to squint my eyes in order to shade them from the light.

An unknown voice: "A haughty person doesn't last long, the same as a dream in a spring sky, a fierce person will also die, and before the wind is the same as a speck of dust."

I confirmed the owner of the voice who was standing in a good place behind us. Though I knew from the voice, the sillohuette was a girl's. She was rather tall and her limbs long. It was obvious from her form-fitting dress that she was stylish. From her face, she looked like she was from the south and the elements of her features, her eyes, mouth, ears, and nose had a good balance to them. In other words, no one would argue that she was a stunning person but...

Unknown person: "Hmmm...Suddenly reciting the Heike Monogatari. That's quite an appropriate hobby.
Hello, everyone. I just want to confirm, but are you from Seijou Girl's Academy's kendo club?"

Syouko: "That's correct."

"Then welcome to Shoushinji Temple!"

Facing us, her eyes shone and my impression of her changed. Outwardly, she looks like a pretty girl, but her speech and conduct give the impression that she likes to play pranks. If that's true, then she's the type that I have bit of a hard time dealing with.

Person that Syouko is weak against: "Ah! You over there. Don't glare at me like that. It's not like I'm a suspicious person approaching high school girls to do some nampa (flirting)."

Momoko: I wasn't glaring.

Yasumi: Me...neither...

Syouko: Do you perhaps mean me?

Person that Syouko is weak against: Yes, yes, the girl with the jet-black bobbed hair

Since a type of person I have trouble dealing with appeared, I might have unknowingly tightened my gaze.

Syouko: I wasn't glaring either.

Considering the circumstance, that wasn't the least bit likely.

Person that Syouko is weak against: Really?

The girl turned around and looked at me over her shoulder. Namely, she clearly met my gaze.

Person that Syouko is weak against: I see. The setting sun was irritating your eyes.

She found a reasonable explanation.

Person that Syouko is weak against: Che-- And I thought you might've been dazzled by my beauty and burning with flames of jealousy

Syouko: ...

Person that Syouko is weak against: And I even hid myself and strained my ears to carefully time my entrance

Syouko: ...

Person that Syouko is weak against: Oh? Is the sun shining in your eyes again?

Syouko: No, not really. That's enough.

As I thought, a hard to handle type of person. It's not that I don't like her, she's just hard to deal with. Even if I got past this hard to deal with sense, there would still be a suspicious feeling remaining.

Ayashiro: Excuse me, but are you from Shoushinji?

"Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Migiwa. Kyan Migiwa"

She pointed her hand at her ample chest. That was quite a weird name.

"The characters are the character for joy (yorokobu 喜ぶ), the first character of store (yagou 屋号), and the first character of warrior (bushi 武士), Kyan (喜屋武)"

Syouko: As I recall, there's a place in Okinawa with that name.

"Yes, yes, that's the Kyan I mean. My home is around there."

"Huh..."

"The character for Migiwa is combining the three dot water radical with the even number character (hinoto 丁) like the 10 calendar signs or the 12 zodiac signs."

Syouko: Hinoto?

"It's also the 'tei' character from kou otsu hei tei (first, second, third, fourth place 甲乙丙丁), but saying it this way makes it seem like I have bad grades so I don't like to say it."

Syouko: "Is it the character chou from knife (houchou 包丁) or 1-chome ?"

"That's the one! It's the 'chou' from eloquent (kuchi hacchou 口八丁 or te hacchou 手八丁) combined with the radical for water and its meaning..."

She turned around to face the beach and pointed to the boundary between the sea and beach were the waves were crashing.

"Like it sounds, it means the water's edge."

Kyan Migiwa (喜屋武汀), she was a little relentless. Momoko, who was tracing characters in the palm of her hand thoughts were...

Momoko: "If you line up the characters like this and use only the first two characters of your last name then the rest of your name looks like a name too."

I suppose that is a carefree way of saying it.

Syouko: How would you pronounce that?

Momoko: How about 'buchou'?

Migiwa: That's not good, it'll have a conflict.

Syouko: Eh?

Migiwa: Well, buchou (Momoko's reading 武汀) and buchou (captain 部長) would conflict.

She pointed at me and then she pointed at herself.

Syouko: "...Did I say I was the captain?"

I didn't say that or even tell her my name. My gaze tightened again.

"Oh! Scary!"

Looking at me frankly, she gave a big shrug and looked down at me. She was about 5 to 6 centimeters taller than me.

"I can tell whose the boss just by looking. Plus the girls were calling you 'Osa, osa'"

Momoko: That's true, Osa-sempai.

Syouko: .....

Yasumi: ...Syouko-sempai?

I guess that was true, but it's annoying to just admit it.

Syouko: You've got it wrong.

Migiwa: ?

"It's not the 'osa' which means the head of an organization. It's my last name."

"Eh? Osa-san? Osa-what-san?

"Osanai. Osanai Syouko (小山内梢子)."

Migiwa: "Osanai uses the characters, small (ko 小), mountain (yama 山), interior (uchi 内). Unfortunately, there's not character for 'top'(長) there.

One question led to another answer. Normally you would also give your first name, but introducing myself like that would make me seem too close to her. We're going to be under the care of the temple so it wouldn't be good to have any weird relations with someone from the temple. We should act mature.

Migiwa: "....."

She seemed like she was waiting for me to continue.

"Like you said, I suddenly became captain for the summer."

Normally, one wouldn't say "Starting tomorrow, you're captain," but the former captain did as she liked. And she also colluded with sensei to have our training camp here.

Syouko: Ah

Migiwa: Ah?

Syouko: It's nothing.

"Really? It's nothing?"

That was close. That was close. If I get angry, then my gaze is going to look hard again. She was looking closely at me.

Migiwa: Hmm?

"What is it?"

"It's nothing..."

She looked away from the mountain and Shoushinji and walked away from me.

Migiwa: Ok, everyone! Let's go!

Momoko: Ok!

We should've just left from the beginning. We followed her to the stone steps.

On either side of the stairs was a low barrier. The trees that were standing like a wall across the boundary stretched their branches over the border of the barrier.

Ayashiro: Also...

Though it was true that the lush vegetation was characteristic of Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples, but...

Ayashiro: Shoushinji has a lot of flowers

It was amazing to have only one type of tree and flowers blooming along the path. The green leaves that cast shadows and the light of the setting sun didn't block out the pure-white color of the flowers. This overwhelming scenery at the stairs surely separated the everyday world from the world of the temple.

Migiwa: Ah! It's even more impressive in the morning and afternoon.

Momoko: It's not impressive in the evening?

Ayashiro: It does seem that a lot of flowers have fallen

Migiwa: They bloom in the morning and wilt in the evening. It feels like 'the prosperous must decay' type of sal tree, doesn't it?

Syouko: This is a sal tree (pronounced 'sara' in Japanese)?

Aoi-sensei: Ara? Osanai-san, didn't you just recite that poem because you knew about this?

"No...I didn't know that..."

I didn't know the white flowers the poem was referring to were these. It must've been a coincidence. That happens at times.

Syouko: This is a sal tree?

Aoi-sensei: That's true. Should it be something else?

The answer was a little vague.

Aoi-sensei: The true sal tree was from India. It can only bloom in warm places so before the spread of greenhouses there weren't any in Japan. But in the past, a monk thought that Japan should have them, so he went around looking for them. The result were these trees with white-flowers blooming. In Japan, summer tsubaki (camellias) have become the sal trees here.

Momoko: Heh...

Aoi-sensei: So because of the origin of the tree, it's not uncommon to have it blooming in Buddhist temples, but to bloom so thorougly is a bit uncommon.

Ayashiro: It is magnificent

Migiwa: The top is even better. It's like a forest of sal.

Pushing my back, a strong gust of wind blew. The strong wind might have been because there were no obstructions between the sea and here and had a salty smell. The white flowers that were blown held their flowery shape though and fell from the branches to the ground. The short, one-day life of the flowers were reaped by the wind...

Falling...

The white, transitory summer flowers melted into the setting sun...

Crimson light...

Dark shadows...

Dazzling, my eyelids closing...

Opening them again, there was...

That crimson color was not the color of the setting sun, but the color of the tsubaki?

Yasumi: Syouko-sempai? What's wrong?

"Eh?"

"It looked like you were spacing out."

Looking around it was only me and Yasumi and all the others were several steps ahead of us.

"Were you entranced by the flowers?"

"No, that's not exactly it..."

What stole my heart was not the flowers here. What was that vision?

No...

I took a deep breath to calm my feelings

Syouko: It was perceptive of you to notice I was behind.

"I'm still the manager you know."

Yasumi stuck out her chest and held that pose for a few seconds.

Yasumi: That would be a lie though. It's because of my anemia.

As if she were embarrassed about her condition, for a moment, the color of her skin matched the setting sun.

Yasumi: The stairs were a little steep so I was going to rest a moment and I noticed sempai

Normally, it's the club members who have to carry their heavy equipment that have problems, but at this training camp, it looks like it will be hard on the manager instead.

Syouko: .....

Yasumi: Syouko-sempai?

In a situation like this I could ask if she were ok, or something like that but...
Maybe it was because of my grandfather who lacked courtesy, but I stared at her without saying a word as if asking about her condition. I should soften the expression on my face but then it would look coerced.

"Syouko-sempai? What's wrong?"

Anyways, we were just a manger and captain. Her smile which wasn't timid urged me to answer. Since I was being asked, I should just honestly answer.

"Please pass me your luggage"

I wanted to prevent a vicious circle of having Yasumi aware of her weaknesses and her manners would hide them. I couldn't just say 'Hand me your luggage'. I held out my hand to the bag which contained the first-aid kit and other equipment.

"Eh? I'm fine."

"If you fall down the stairs it'll be dangerous"

"But..."

She stood her ground. Though she didn't look it, she could be stubborn and once she decided on something would accomplish it to the very end, which is what worries me.

Momoko: Oh!

Momoko's voice from the stairs above cut through us and I took the luggage from Yasumi.

Syouko: Everyone's waiting up there.

"Ah! Syouko-sempai! Wait a minute!"