Tale of the Moon Waiting for the Night - Chapter 1 (pt. 1)

There are certain days one cannot forget, even if they try.

For Yohana Sakaki, that day was in July of her second year in high school.

During the height of the rainy season, with gray rain clouds overhead, though it wasn’t raining, the air was thick and humid—it was July 4th.

On that day, an important ritual, “The Rite of Inheritance,” which determines the heir to the Yashiro Family—a family Yohana would become deeply involved with later—was held for the first time in twenty-four years.

—

The day before, July 3rd.

Looking back, Yohana’s misfortune began on this day.

The final bell of the day rang.

Inside the classroom, there was a lazy, peaceful air. Summer vacation was a little over two weeks away, and there were no tests in the near future.

The teacher standing at the podium seemed fed up with these relaxed students. “We’ll stop here today. Make sure to review without slacking,” he said, closed his textbook, and left the classroom quickly.

“Hey, Yohana, let’s go somewhere together during summer vacation,”

Yohana, who had started packing her bag, paused when her friend Chika, who sat next to her, spoke up.

“Already talking about summer vacation, Chika? Isn’t it a bit early?”

“Oh, come on! Let’s go somewhere fun together. Like the beach!”

“The beach… sounds nice. Though it depends on my work shifts.”

Yohana tried to recall her shift schedule for the month from memory.

“When are you putting in your shift request for next month?”

“I haven’t yet. So, if we’re going, I’d like to plan it early.”

“Right. Let’s decide on the place later, but let’s first pick a date that works.”

Nodding in agreement to Chika’s suggestion, Yohana replied, “Yeah, let’s do that.”

Just a casual conversation between friends. Suddenly, someone nearby let out a little snicker.

Yohana and Chika turned in the direction of the sound. They already knew who it was, and Chika gave a sharp look as she asked,

“Is something wrong, Takubo?”

“Oh, no. It’s just that, while you’re busy with studies and work, Sakaki, I thought it must be tough for someone of Yashiro blood, even if distantly related.”

Kyona Takubo, sitting diagonally behind them, answered with a composed tone, looking down at them. With her hair in a half-updo, she looked every bit the refined lady, though there was a faint arrogance in her expression.

“I’m used to it, so it’s not that hard. But for someone like you, already ranked in the Yashiro family, I suppose you wouldn’t need to get used to such things.”

Yohana was already accustomed to Kyona’s barbs. She resumed packing her things, giving a casual response.

“True. As fourteenth in the Yashiro rankings, I wouldn’t know anything about that world.”

“You’d really say that yourself?”

With an exaggerated gesture and a prim face, Kyona’s display made Chika sigh beside her.

Kyona was indeed from a distinguished family, and any further argument would be pointless. Yohana and Chika exchanged a look and stood up.

In the hallway, the students were already bustling on their way home.

“Don’t let that spoiled princess get to you. You’re doing great, Yohana, even your grades.”

Chika’s words of encouragement brought a smile to Yohana’s face.

“Thanks, but I’m not really bothered. …My goal is to become independent and make a living as soon as possible.”

“Oh, that’s right. Well, let’s just leave the ‘princess’ behind and head home.”

“Yeah.”

Just as she nodded, Yohana felt someone’s gaze on her from behind and turned around.

She locked eyes with one of the students still in the classroom. But the other person quickly looked away, as if nothing had happened, and lowered her eyes to her bag.

(Kosumi-san?)

With shoulder-length dark brown hair, almost black, Kosumi’s appearance was plain, without any makeup. Her looks could be described as calm, though some might call her dull. She was a quiet and reserved classmate who didn’t talk much.

Recently, Yohana had often noticed her looking over.

“Something wrong?”

When Chika asked curiously, Yohana shook her head.

“No, nothing.”

Just at the end of last month, in an extracurricular class, she and Kosumi had both ended up falling into a lake. Going further back, they had attended the same kindergarten. But they hadn’t been particularly close.

(Is there something she wants to say? Though I don’t really have any business with her.)

Talking to someone you’re barely acquainted with felt a bit daunting. Even though their eyes met often, Yohana thought it might just be her imagination.

Exiting the school building, she stopped by the bike rack. Parting with Chika at the front gate, Yohana mounted her bike and started pedaling slowly.

It was just before four in the afternoon.

With her light-colored long hair and skirt hem fluttering, she rode her bike.

Even though the summer solstice had passed, the days were still long, and the summer sun blazed down from the bright sky without mercy.

A warm wind blew against her cheek, and she felt sweat forming under her sailor uniform.

After cutting through the familiar asphalt streets of the residential area, the scenery opened up slightly, with mountains visible in the distance. Fields and sparse houses lined the sides of the road, with utility poles spaced evenly along the way.

This is Sakai-gafuchi City, a special place where the renowned Yashiro family holds absolute authority.

The Yashiro family is the lineage of the Kamutsukasa.

Kamutsukasa are responsible for sometimes exorcising, sometimes preserving, managing, and even conducting rituals to allow coexistence with strange beings like spirits, monsters, and gods. The Yashiro family has undertaken this role for generations.

They are like shamans or spiritualists by trade.

Today, few people actually believe in such beings or in practitioners of mystic arts.

However, the Yashiro family’s history is long, and the family holds vast wealth and power accumulated over centuries.

In this region, the Yashiro name is known as an absolute authority.

Kyona’s pride was largely due to her connection to the Yashiro family.

(Though I’m distantly related to the Yashiro family, my blood is quite diluted.)

Yohana chuckled to herself while pedaling.

“I mean, I can’t even see spirits.”

Yohana had no ability to see such strange beings. She was entirely unconnected to any spiritual abilities.

The Yashiro family has an important system known as the ‘Rankings,’ which ranks young spiritual practitioners as candidates for the next head.

However, as Yohana couldn’t even see spirits, she didn’t meet the requirements to enter the rankings.

Kyona, on the other hand, who was in the same grade as Yohana, had entered the rankings.

Though they both had Yashiro blood, Kyona possessed the talent of a spiritual practitioner, while Yohana was just a regular high school girl.

(Takubo-san and the Yashiro practitioners… they live in a different world.)

Luckily, Yohana was so distantly related that she had been treated differently since birth, so it didn’t bother her anymore.

She just planned to focus on her studies, find a normal job, and live independently. Most people in the world live entirely apart from spirits and spiritual practitioners.

“Choose now. Will you drink or won’t you?”

Yohana, who couldn’t see spirits, had only one mysterious experience—just the other day in that dream.