Breeza stood on the hill over-looking Shinshu field and the wind whipped at her hair, cold as a knife. She could see the cherry blossom tree from there. It was a relative of the Guardian Tree in Kamiki Village.
She sat down and began to eat her sandwich. It was the last of her travel food. It didn't matter though because she was only twenty-five minutes from Kamiki now. She finished her sandwich and walked down the hill.
As she crossed bridge at the mouth of the river she thought about why she was returning. She knew she ought not to be returning at all, it would just make it harder to tell them she would never be coming back. She was of course back to see the people of the village; kind and old Mr. and Mrs. Orange, young and lively Mushi and his mama, strong and entertaining Susano and soft and gentle Kushi. She was looking forward to seeing them but really, she was back to see her parents' shrines one last time.
She glanced up and saw something speeding towards her. It's Breeza's old closest friend, Ida.
It made Breeza sad to see Ida coming because she knew he was the delivery boy and wouldn't stop for a second. Letters wait for no one was one of his favourite phrases. He's always running about and is proudly known as Shinshu's Number 1. As he approached he waved happily and to Breeza's utmost surprise, drew to a stop.
"Hello darling! Welcome back" He cried. He picked her up in a big hug that almost broke her ribs. "Wow… How long's it been? Six months? A year? It's nice to see you. Oh! I've just remembered. I'm always running about so it kind of passed me by but… I heard Kamiki's been hit by terrible storms recently. I hope all the villagers are all right… But I haven't been to deliver any letters there in a while…"
"I didn't think you'd stop!" Breeza smiled extremely pleased to see him.
"Not stop? For my good friend? Ridiculous! Unheard of!" He cried in mock offence. "But actually… you're right. I do have places to be. I'm so sorry... But we'll definitely hang out later, yeah?" He said sadly.
Breeza nodded and tried not to look too upset. She knew full well that Ida was one of the most important people in Southern Nippon. After all, letters are the only form of long-distance communication.
She decided to jog the rest of the way to Kamiki. She passed the Guardian Sapling and slowed to make an offering but then decided not to since the actual Guardian Spirit Tree, Konohana, is in Kamiki anyway. So she decided she'd make an offering later in Kamiki. For a while she was lost in thought about Gods, her parents and Ida.
Suddenly she was at the village entrance. She could see Susano's house. She walked past it and sure enough, there he was, asleep in his garden, as usual. She walked on to the bridge and looked over at the little islands that float in the loch. She turned at the sound of barking and a dog ran up to her, barking wildly, tail wagging. Behind him a small boy with tousled black hair approaches. It was Mushi.
"B-Breeza? Is that you?" He says, unsure of his own eyes.
"Yes…Yes it's me Mushi. I've come back!" Breeza replied grinning happily. Mushi ran up and hugged her for a minute then pulled away and tried to act "cool" and grown up.
"Yes, well…As you can see I've grown a lot since you've been gone!" He said proudly. "I'm going to become a big, strong man. Like Susano"
"Yeah… Maybe that will stop you digging up your Mamas' turnips!" Breeza laughed.
Within minutes the whole village was gathered around her. There was much crying and shouts of "My how you've grown!" and Breeza basked in their affection.
They all sat down next to Mrs. Orange's washing pole and had a picnic. While Mrs. Orange was trying to force-feed her delicious home-made cherry cakes, Susano woke up and wandered over.
When he saw Breeza he smiled. "Well, if it isn't Breeza. You've grown! … Hardly at all since we last met." Breeza grinned. Before, Susano had always made jokes about her height.
Kushi quietly asked if Breeza needed some where to stay. Breeza said only for a few nights so they agreed that Breeza would help Kushi in the paddy fields and sake brewing house in return for her room
Breeza found out that Ida was right and Kamiki had been hit by violent storms and a few things had been broken. Most of it had been fixed though: Mrs. Oranges' washing pole, Kushis' water wheel and even the clover on top of Mushis' house.
After staying for a socially acceptable amount of time, Breeza managed to get away. She headed up the hill. She stopped to visit the town monk, Komuso. When he saw her he smiled in welcome. He bowed politely and she bowed lower.
"Welcome back, Breeza. May the Enlightenment of Buddha await you." He said slowly. She nodded and walked away up the hill. Komuso looked indecisive when she was almost out of sight he called out to her "You're not going to see your parents' shrines are you."
Breeza nodded but didn't stop to listen to what he had to say. She was getting impatient. She was almost at the sacred tree, Konohana, where her parents' shrines were when she began to notice odd things. There was debris everywhere. Bits of wood, rock sediment and broken tree branches scattered everywhere.
She went over to Konohana and made offerings of hand-painted vases and onigiri. When she finished her prayer she glanced around and gasped and jumped up. There were meant to be two statues here, One of the ancient hero Nagi and one of his canine warrior-brother Shiranui.
The one of Nagi was there, dirty and moss-covered, but there. The one of Shiranui, however, was nowhere to be found. She ran around the tree her sense of urgency growing.
She got to the back of the tree. This was where her parents' shrines were meant to be. She glanced around wildly but she already knew the truth.
There was nothing here…
Nothing. Her parents' shrines were gone.
Gone. Nothing. Empty.
Lonely…
Komuso came up behind her. "I'm sorry… I wanted to tell you but I didn't know how. The whole village was devastated when they were destroyed by the storms. We wanted to rebuild them… but it didn't seem right. I mean, it was you who built them the first time so… we felt it wouldn't be as heartfelt as when you built them."
Breeza understood. She had spent a night and a day building them. She had wanted to do it on her own and had refused any help.
The whole village appeared in twos and threes. There was much patting Breeza in the back and everyone said "I'm sorry" at least once. Why should they apologise for things outwith their control!?
The worst bit was: she had no one to blame. In times like these you just want to hurt someone, make it someone else's fault. But Breeza could only blame the Goddesses. Gods like Gekigami and Hachigami, Gods of thunder and wind, were the only ones left to blame.
But Gods are abstract things. It's hard to blame something you can't see or feel.
Breeza stood up suddenly "I…I want to be alone now…" She whispered. "Don't anyone come after me." Then she ran in the direction of the village boundaries. She bolted through the corridor of trees. Not even stopping to admire the gorgeous cherry blossoms, which usually she couldn't help doing.
Breeza ran blindly through Shinshu Field, she ran and ran and ran until she could run no more. She tripped just past the old cat statue and just lay there, crying. She knew she should be doing something instead of just lying, crying and feeling sorry for herself. She just couldn't help it.
After what could have been two minutes or could have been two hours, Breeza really didn't know, she heard the sound of something very swift coming towards her.
She looked up and there, running full speed towards her was him. The one she really needed right then. The one who she could always rely on. The one who was coming to save her from herself:
Ida