Tale of the Moon Waiting for the Night - Chapter 1 (pt. 2)

After a thirty-minute bike ride, Yohana returned home.

Yohana lives with her grandmother in an old, single-story wooden house.

Her father passed away in an accident shortly after Yohana entered elementary school, and her mother, who had lived with her, also passed away from illness two years ago. It was her paternal grandmother, living alone in this house, who took Yohana in.

Incidentally, the Yashiro family connection comes through Yohana’s deceased paternal grandfather, her grandmother’s late husband.

“I’m home.”

Opening the sliding door at the entrance, Yohana stepped inside.

The old house, filled with the smell of daily life, carried a musty warmth that pricked her nose. Though she’d lived here for two years, there was still an underlying feeling of awkwardness, as if she were intruding in someone else’s home.

Carrying her bags, Yohana passed through the living room and slid open the door to the back room, which led to the Buddhist altar room.

“Grandma, I’m back.”

A grand Buddhist altar was set against the wall of the altar room, with thin smoke rising from the incense sticks.

Her grandmother, Tsuruko Sakaki, sat a step away from the altar, hunched over with her small frame curled, sitting quietly on a floor cushion.

When Tsuruko turned slowly toward her, she responded in a raspy voice, “Oh, you’re back.”

“…Yeah. I’ll be in my room, then.”

Though her grandmother was seventy, she had a sturdy vitality, with eyes that held a cold, sharp gleam.

As Yohana tried to close the sliding door, Tsuruko called out, “Wait,” in a tone that allowed no resistance.

“Yohana.”

“…Wh-what?”

“Tomorrow, you’re going to the Yashiro family’s main estate.”

“Huh?”

Had she misheard? Yohana furrowed her brow. Noticing her reaction, Tsuruko, with a touch of irritation, repeated herself.

“Tomorrow morning, you’ll go to the Yashiro estate. What are you dawdling for?”

This was how her grandmother always spoke—hostile and biting, a tone unchanged since her mother’s lifetime.

Annoyed, Yohana shot back.

“Huh? What are you talking about? Tomorrow’s Thursday, a weekday. I have school. It’s impossible for me to go to the Yashiro estate in the morning. Besides, why do I even have to go there?”

“Tomorrow night, there’s a very important gathering at the Yashiro estate for people in their ranks. They need help with menial tasks. They can’t allow random outsiders in the mansion, so they’re calling together women with distant family ties.”

“If the party’s at night, I don’t need to be there in the morning. Like I said, I have school.”

“Fool. Of course preparations are needed in the morning. Can’t you figure out something that simple? Skipping school won’t trouble anyone.”

The disdainful, belittling tone of Tsuruko’s words only aggravated Yohana further, stirring a thick, sticky resentment within her.

“It’s not that simple…”

“What? Got complaints? Serving the Yashiro family is more important than school. After all, you’re already a useless slowpoke.”

She couldn’t believe it—who could still downplay the importance of education this much in this day and age?

Stunned by her grandmother’s words, Yohana was left speechless.

“If you had any talent, you’d be ranked within the Yashiro family and could join the gathering instead of doing chores. But since you lack talent, you should at least go to the mansion, even if it’s just for chores, and meet a ranked man.”

She was aiming for Yohana to meet one of the men ranked within the Yashiro family at the gathering, build a connection, and potentially start receiving the Yashiro family’s benefits.

She had always been like this. Tsuruko had an obsession with the Yashiro family.

She wanted to be part of that prestigious family so much that she married Yohana’s grandfather, who was connected to the Yashiro family, hoping to rank her son and granddaughter among the family’s practitioners. However, neither Yohana’s father nor Yohana herself could sense the supernatural, which must have been a bitter disappointment to her.

That’s why she constantly berates Yohana as a “failure.”

When her mother was alive, Tsuruko treated her with the same nagging contempt, blaming her lack of spirit for Yohana’s failures.

As her anger peaked, Yohana found herself cooling down, letting out a deep breath.

“Does any normal person tell a high schooler to meet a man? It’s ridiculous.”

“Don’t talk back. I can throw you out of this house whenever I want, you know.”

“……”

Yohana bit her lip. Using her home as leverage…

Though her mother’s life insurance existed, it wasn’t at Yohana’s disposal as a minor, and even with a part-time job, she was far from being able to live on her own. With no other relatives to rely on, this was the only place she had to stay.

(…So unfair.)

She didn’t feel entirely ungrateful toward her grandmother.

If Tsuruko hadn’t taken her in, Yohana’s life might have been far different; she might not even be in high school now. But still, Yohana had her own heart and will.

(I want to leave here as soon as possible.)

Letting her frustration show openly, Yohana turned away without a reply.

“You don’t have the right to refuse, Yohana. Get ready to leave by seven tomorrow morning. I’ll be calling the main family to make sure you arrived, so don’t bother trying to escape.”

Without waiting to hear Tsuruko’s parting words, Yohana slammed the door to the altar room shut.

She didn’t want to cry, but her eyes grew hot.

“Yohana, stay strong, okay? But don’t push yourself too hard. You’re smart and a good kid, so you probably try harder than you need to, but it’s okay to rely on someone else if you’re struggling.”

She remembered her mother, bedridden, patting her head with those gentle words.

When her mother was alive, she’d been happy. Just the two of them, a small family, with the occasional clash, but her mother’s love was always there.

But Tsuruko… Tsuruko seemed to think of Yohana as nothing more than a tool to gain favor with the Yashiro family.

With a heavy step, Yohana headed to the Japanese-style room assigned to her.

On the other side of the sliding door were a cheap folding table, a futon, an old chest of drawers, and a pile of unpacked boxes from two years ago.

She had her own room, food every day, and the chance to attend school. For an orphaned girl like her, wanting more might seem selfish.

But still, the place was unbearably uncomfortable.

“Oh, just forget it! Saying ‘idiot’ makes you the idiot! Grandma’s the idiot!”

Yohana threw her bags onto the tatami and flung herself down on the folding table with a frustrated shout.