#01: The Bridge People No Longer Cross


– "It's so late... I'm getting sleepy."

The heavy-eyed college student covered an exaggerated yawn with the palm of her hand.

Her companion in black tilted her head toward the star-studded night sky.

– "2:16 and 42 seconds. Come on, Merry, we've been out later than this before!"

Renko Usami and Maribel Hearn (Merry) had embarked on yet another Secret Sealing Club investigation along the fringes of Kyoto. Their feet were presently planted on a rickety bridge, once a well-traveled crossroads by people of ancient days, long since out of service.

– "I know. I was sleepy then, too."

– "It can't be helped. The hours of the ox are between 1 o'clock and 3. According to my research, the greatest activity happens now."

Lagging behind, Merry lifted the edges of her violet dress to take careful steps across the splintered planks. However, she was interrupted by a rustling sound coming from her left.

– "Oh my. What is this little bird doing out so long after nightfall?"

Renko turned around to see the commotion. Her partner was gazing with concern at the side rails of the bridge. Stuck in the crooked woodwork, a small sparrow let out a mournful chirp.

– "Poor thing! Let's help it get free."

With a simple nudge of the fencing, they created just enough space for the bird to wriggle free. They watched it flap its wings and begin to fly, taking off in the same direction as the girls were heading.

– "There it goes."

– "Too bad. No thank-you present this time."

She recalled the classic folk tale of the Tongue-Cut Sparrow, wherein an old man showed kindness to a bird that his wife had abused. Upon parting, he was allowed to choose a reward.

– "If it offered one, would you choose the large box or the small box?"

– "The small one."

– "How humble of you."

– "Well, to take the large box, you'd have to be not only greedy but also not very smart. Something can have high volume but low mass. Moreover, something can have high mass but low value."

– "Good answer. A setup like that is a clear test any way you look at it."

– "See, I'm not as dense as I look. Still, while meeting a youkai bird would be a reward in itself, it sure would be nice to find a rare item inside the box."

– "Perhaps it could lay a cowrie shell for you? No, that would have to be a swallow."

Feeling proud of their good deed, the two continued their journey to the end of the bridge and into a quiet neighborhood, across two blocks of paved street. The area was surprisingly urban, but clearly deserted. A silent wind blew specks of dust across the beams of streetlights.

At last they arrived at their destination in front of a rusty iron gate.

– "Here we are."

– "So this is the Hashihime Shrine."

Merry, the club member whose senses were more attuned to spiritual phenomena, could not perceive anything particularly powerful about the place - yet.

– "This shrine used to be dedicated to the bridge princess of Uji, who was consumed by jealousy and turned herself into a demon to get revenge."

– "I feel sorry for her, but that's an awfully extreme way to hold a grudge."

– "Right? You would think she understands the concept of 'water under the bridge.'"

– "Anyway, Renko, you told me you've already been here alone before. Why do you think today will be different?"

– "I don't know. Something interesting always happens when you're around, Merry!"

– "Interesting, huh..."

After an incident so interesting that it had left Merry recovering in a sanatorium, she never knew what to expect. Tonight's excursion was only intended to collect information, but still a hint of anxiety rose in her throat.

Renko straightened her hat with one hand and extended the other to her partner.

– "Shall we?"

The gate creaked open, and the two maidens made their entrance.