Mizuki laid down to dream, her pillow not as soft as it could be, but then again it never was when something was quite pressing on her mind.
She finally drifted into the realm of sleep, and dreamt of many strange, yet familiar thingsā¦
Mizuki sat on a throne near a wooded clearing that much resembled where she was currently living. In her hand she held piece of rice paper with many dates and symbols on it.
She waited a very long time near the mouth of a river, watching it as though expecting someone to cross it at any moment. After what seemed like eternity, she spotted an ox trudging slowly through the current.
A handsome rat was on his back, hopping off as soon as he reached the shore. The rat ran up to Mizuki, bowing low and claiming first place in the competition. The ox came shortly after him, grabbing second place.
A tiger suddenly emerged from the river, panting and soaking wet, shivering with the cold. She stepped up to Mizuki, bowing and taking the third spot of the race.
The tiger was soon followed by the rabbit, the dragon, the snake, and the horse. They had all helped or cheated each other in some way, but Mizuki could not figure out which one had done what. She shook her head in a confused sort of way.
The ram, the monkey, and the rooster, however, had joined forces together in order to make it across the river, and they all finished the race in successive order.
The dog and the boar were the last ones to reach Mizuki, grateful that they had made it in time. In fact, any later, and they might have forfeited their place in the zodiac to the cat.
The cat crawled through the grass, quite wet and ill-tempered. He arrived too late and Mizuki hadn't the heart to tell him he'd made it too late.
The rice paper in Mizuki's hand suddenly lit up with pictures and titles next to the symbols and dates. All the animals of the zodiac had been chosen, and the calendar was ironclad.
Mizuki did not have to tell the cat he had lost. He noticed it soon enough on the calendar in Mizuki's hands. He vowed revenge on the rat, the only animal he blamed for his misfortunes.
And in some strange way, Mizuki knew he blamed her as well.
