When her eyes next fluttered open, the last crimson tendrils of twilight were on the verge of being swallowed by dark clouds. The distant sky was a deepening red, as if flames raged within the clouds themselves.
“Shion-san, you’re finally awake! Are you—are you alright?”
A fuzzy golden blur filled her vision, accompanied by a voice, laced with concern and urgency, that reached her ears.
‘Huh? What—’ Shion’s eyes finally focused, and the scene before her began to sharpen. Iori Shigure was crouching directly in front of her, her gaze brimming with anxiety. However, the moment Shion fully regained consciousness, Shigure let out a profound sigh of relief, as if a great weight had finally been lifted from her heart.
“Shion-san, how do you feel? Are you alright?” Iori Shigure gently ruffled Shion’s hair, pressing her back down as she tried to force herself upright. “Shion-san, please tell me first if you feel uncomfortable anywhere!”
Iori Shigure’s voice was laced with an uncontainable urgency, and the young girl, who usually resembled a soft marshmallow, had adopted a rare, firm demeanor. Shion could only shake her head, not directly sensing any particular discomfort in her body.
‘This is a ‘blessing,’ not a ‘curse,’ you know.’
The white-haired girl’s words still seemed to echo in her ears. Yet, Shion found herself unable to recall who had uttered them. The scene on the screen remained vivid in her memory, but she couldn’t remember who had been sitting beside her, watching the movie. Only a faint impression of white lingered.
‘Never mind that. In any case, there’s now a solution for the Iori family’s curse!’
“Oh, Iori-san, what about those… those evil spirits from just now?”
When Iori Shigure heard the question, her expression turned troubled. She took Shion’s right hand and pointed to her wrist. Beneath the red and white braided cord was a deep, dark gray mark. Though small in area, appearing no larger than a birthmark, this gray imprint gave the unsettling impression of a black heart pulsating beneath the skin.
Shion pressed at it with her fingers, but the gray mark was like an indelible brand on her skin; it certainly wouldn’t scratch off. She then attempted to gather her innate power and direct it towards the mark. However, the moment her white aura tried to eradicate it, a searing pain immediately coursed through her entire body. While not quite agonizing, it was enough for Shion to grasp the situation: if she wished to exorcise the evil spirits now entrenched within her, she would have to endure this intense agony.
“Shion-san, are you alright? You looked like you were in so much pain just now!” Iori Shigure was on the verge of tears.
Shion took a deep breath, then raised a hand to gently stroke Iori Shigure’s hair. “Iori-san, I’m fine. And, I know how to make your grandma better, you know.”
“Really?!” Iori Shigure’s mouth gaped open in astonishment. But, being astute, she instantly grasped the implications. Her initial expression of delight quickly faded.
“Shion-san, are you saying you’ll absorb all those curses onto yourself, just like you did just now?” Iori Shigure’s tone grew remarkably serious. “Even a few evil spirits made me feel so terrible, and you absorbed so many, Shion-san…”
“I am a Miko of the Hoshimori Shrine, the guardian of this town, after all. Besides, Iori-san, you just saw, didn’t you? I have a way to deal with them. Don’t worry, just leave it to me, alright?” Shion forced a confident smile.
Pushing her hands firmly against the ground, she rose to her feet. “It’s already quite late. For every extra day the evil spirits linger in Iori Grandma, it will become that much harder to completely cleanse them. Let’s go, Iori-san…”
Shion was about to turn, but before her words could fully fade, a pair of arms wrapped tightly around her.
“Iori-san?”
Shion was slightly surprised, but the arms embracing her held such fierce strength, as if their very grip conveyed a profound reluctance to let her go.
Iori Shigure’s head rested against Shion’s shoulder, her golden short hair brushing against Shion’s ear. Shion felt that the outer fabric of her autumn school uniform had become damp.
From behind her, Iori Shigure was softly sobbing.
Shion raised her hand and gently stroked Iori Shigure’s golden hair. “It’s going to be alright, Iori-san. Trust me.”
“Shion-san always says that…”
Though Iori Shigure’s voice was faint, and she continued to weep softly, her words unequivocally reached Shion’s ears.
“I suppose I have no reason to refuse. After all, Shion-san is doing this to help my grandma, to help the only family I have left. I have no right to refuse Shion-san on my grandma’s behalf, and I truly, truly wish for my grandma to recover… but, still…”
“I’m so scared… what if, because you absorb too many evil spirits, Shion-san, you get hurt? I truly don’t want you to take this risk. I don’t want to lose you…”
Iori Shigure’s voice grew softer and softer, until, in the end, it dissolved into uncontrollable sobs.
Shion remained silent, simply extending her hand to gently stroke Iori Shigure’s hair.
The sky, which had been a blue-gray from the recently set sun, had transformed, now almost entirely shrouded by a black curtain. Yet, the scattered pinpricks of starlight and the rising moon offered a faint, silvery luminescence.
It wasn’t until Iori Shigure finally cried herself into exhaustion that she loosened her embrace of Shion. Even then, one hand remained tightly clasped around Shion’s, utterly unwilling to let go.
Shion turned, returning Iori Shigure’s embrace with a warm, comforting hug of her own.
Iori Shigure was caught somewhat off guard by the sudden embrace. However, the night was so profoundly dark that the blush spreading across her face beneath the shroud of night was almost imperceptible.
“I… I think I can understand your worries, Iori-san. But you see, protecting everyone in this town from the harassment of these evil spirits is my duty as a shrine Miko.” Shion offered a confident smile. “Besides, Iori-san, you already saw that I can exorcise these evil spirits. I simply didn’t have my proper weapon with me today; otherwise, those evil spirits wouldn’t have been able to touch you at all.”
“Really?…” Iori Shigure lifted her head, wiping away the lingering tears from the rims of her reddened eyes.
“Of course it’s true!” Shion declared, patting her chest. “Don’t worry, I’ll be perfectly fine.”
Iori Shigure stepped forward, cupping Shion’s face between her hands. Her eyes were still red-rimmed, but now she regarded Shion with an utterly serious expression.
“Shion-san, listen closely.”
Iori Shigure spoke slowly, enunciating each word.
Faced with such a serious Iori Shigure, Shion quickly took a deep breath. “Alright, I’m listening.”
“Shion-san, if, in saving me or my grandma today, you absorb too many evil spirits and something… something happens to you—”
“I will absolutely, unequivocally never forgive you. Not in this lifetime.”