| 幽婚 (yuukon)

even after 2 years after y/n died, to kazuha that memory is still fresh off of her mind, like a time loop that keeps bringing her back to that exact moment she lost the only person she had in her life. there was no truth behind y/n's death, one day in kazuha's sleep she dreamed of y/n entering a abandoned house in a mountain and never coming out ever again. kazuha felt the need to find her, when she woke up; kazuha hurried to look for y/n but there were no traces of her, she wasn't answering either.

kazuha consulted a antique shop owner who also works for people to find a missing item or a person, she hoped that y/n will be found again.

yet that hoped shattered into pieces when the owner reported that y/n might be gone... forever, her traces were no longer found and she was forever spirited away in the forest. it bothered kazuha whenever she was awake, asleep or even daydreaming. kazuha felt like she was in a neverending time loop where she keeps looking for y/n, in the same mountain where lots of people disappeared, where she first met y/n and where she lost her too.

it's a shame, kazuha barely remembered anything about y/n anymore because she's stuck on her death. she met y/n in a shrine in that mountain, the shrine hidden behind a thick forest, kazuha was once lost too but y/n took her back to the entrance of the mountain and she was back home safely.

kazuha figured at that time y/n might have lived in the inn near the shrine, the mountain was tourists spot after all. but after y/n disappeared, one year after her death, a landslide hit the mountain causing the deaths of people and the inn was forever destroyed, the shrine was flooded.

no one came back to that mountain ever again.

except for kazuha.

it's almost like a ritual, she comes back, hopes for something and leaves empty handed, she does that again... and again and again.

today too, kazuha finds herself seated at an empty train, old and rusty but still works well when you know how to play with the controls like a toy, she found out about it when she was once going around the station and entered the control room.

something had always bothered kazuha, she can see ghosts, hear and feel them, whenever she goes to the bustling streets of tokyo— it gets very overwhelming overtime as she passes through crowds of people, the dead and the alive.

right now, from her seat, in the window she spots a heavily burnt man, looking at her from afar, then she ignores.

the train stops, kazuha stood up and walked out of the bus but was greeted by a spirit of a woman who looked at her, kazuha figured she might be one of those who died at the landslide one year ago, but again, she proceeds to walk away. kazuha entered the mountain from the back, walking past multiple temples and statues which were also flooded, she also brought purifying embers with her.

"be careful staying in the mountain for too long, that place is flooded now with the black water, the more wet you are with that water, the more violent spirits will be."

that's what ms. miyawaki told her, that's why she always brings purifying embers with her to dry her off.

after using the embers, kazuha steps a foot in one of the shrines in the mountain, there was a long path in this shrine, one that turns right and one that goes straight to the huge shrine. kazuha decided to continue walking inside the big shrine first, there really wasn't something interesting there, just a large altar with a mirror in the center and a maze-like structure of wooden doors.

kazuha shook her head and went to one of the doors, leading her to the underground part of the shrine, she walks past bamboo windows and cages inside of the shrine and after walking past different hallways she was met with a very large wooden door, with no hesitation kazuha opened it.

she was greeted with hall that is very huge, with four stairs each side and doors each corner of the room, a big pool of black water below the stairs and in the middle of that water is a big box, on top of the box is a bright light coming from the same altar she saw earlier.

"what... is this?" kazuha was lucky she was tall enough, when she stepped into the water, it only reached above her knees, usually people her age would have that amount water surrounding her right now would reach above their waist, but she had it easy this time.

kazuha moved forward and climbed up the stairs to the box, looking over it, the texture is rough, made out of wood, designed with flowers and dolls carved on it, the corners were sealed with metal as if it was meant to be locked closed and tightly.

kazuha carefully and hastily reached for it, feeling her hands quiver in anticipation.

she reached for the handle and pulled the covers up, and inside the box was filled with black water, a girl laying down with her body curled, she was hugging her knees. kazuha leaned to take a good look and man was she sure that the girl was y/n, from head to toe, even from the shrine maiden dress she used to wear.

"y/n!" she shouted and reached for the girl, shaking her to wake up, after a few seconds, y/n opened her eyes slowly, looking up to see kazuha, the bright light from the ceiling almost blinding her eyes but kazuha's shadow stabilizes her sight. "kazuha..." she muttered. y/n felt kazuha's big hands on her slender shoulders, tightly wrapped against her as if not wanting to ever let her go.

there was fear in kazuha's eyes, locked with y/n's weak ones, kazuha's eyes shakes, not wanting to believe what she's seeing right now.

it's y/n! it really is her now! right?

"you're alive..." kazuha's lips were trembling as she leaned closer to the box, hands finding its way to y/n's pale cheeks, so pale that y/n looked so weak and almost lifeless, probably from being soaked in the water for too long. "kazuha... where am i?" y/n whimpered, leaning her cold cheeks against kazuha's warm palms. "you're here with me, you're safe now..." kazuha whispered.

as if their space between each other was still too big, kazuha leaned her upper body weight to the wooden box, y/n held kazuha's arm, their faces a few inches away from each other, kazuha held y/n's arms too.

but something she had not expected came to happen, y/n pulls her inside the box and the cover closes violently, with kazuha's head hitting the wooden walls of the box, she loses her consciousness.

×

"y/n!" kazuha shouted, so loud that it was heard over the other rooms of the miyawaki house, with the walls of each room being too thin because of the japanese style architecture it had, kazuha heard that ms. miyawaki enjoyed it that way.

kazuha shot her eyes wide open, and she found herself inside of the storage room of the miyawaki house, her hair was wet and droplets of sweat continued to roll down her face, her skin felt so sticky and her heartbeat's just thumping so loudly inside of her chest. "y/n..."

the room was dim, with the light on the ceiling not giving much of the light to cover the entire room, she sat up on the bed, looking around the very familiar place, the smell of coffee and antique items engulfing her nose. the door opens and there stood ms. miyawaki with her assistant named chaewon, her face looked a little too concerned, with how loud kazuha's voice was whatever she was dreaming might have been too bad for any person's standards. "kazuha? are you okay? did something bad happened?" ms. miyawaki asked, walking towards kazuha and crouching down to her eye level.

kazuha stripped her eyes away from ms. miyawaki's, looking somewhere but her eyes. "y/n... i saw her today in that shrine behind the mountain." kazuha muttered under her breath. ms. miyawaki's eyes locked with chaewon's, they were alarmed and confused, kazuha might be having one of those nightmares once again.

"but kazuha... i saw you earlier in the cave under the doll shrine, you were inside one of those reliquary boxes." chaewon stated, walking towards the bed. kazuha looked at chaewon, before shaking her head as if denying what chaewon had saw. "no! i'm sure i saw her! she was— she was inside a box with black water! then she pulled me inside, i hit my head on the wood and lost my consciousness!" kazuha retorted.

"the box... it's the reliquary box that chaewon is talking about, maybe you did get inside of those, but you were in a different place, far from the shrine behind the mountain, y/n's spirit must have led you under the cave." ms. miyawaki responded, her voice filled with concern and she stood up to look at chaewon. kazuha shook her head once again. "no... i'm pretty sure i went in that shrine myself." she grumbled.

"alright, but kazuha... pls take a rest and don't leave for a while, it's dangerous out there, we'll be back after we close the shop." chaewon stated before they exited the room and left kazuha all to herself.

after a few minutes, the footsteps outside were now far away, kazuha stood up and exited the room before going downstairs to find the exit at the back of the house.

kazuha finds herself in the same path again, the cemented long path that leads to the shrine, kazuha ran inside again, took what she remembered was the path to that big hall, but when she reached the big wooden door, it was locked by a strong force.

kazuha backed up, sighing and breathing heavily. "shit." she grumbled before going back to the altar and exiting out of the shrine from the entrance.

kazuha saw the other way from the path, facing the entrance of the shrine the other way is on right but if you turn your back from the shrine's entrance the other way is on the left, so kazuha went to that way, after passing through some trees and a maze-like form of statues, she reached a small house, a small sign near the entrance carved the name "結ノ家" (house of joining).

sounds like a place to get married.

she remembers that in her dream, y/n entered a house similar to this and never came out, but what does it have to do with marriage?

kazuha still doesn't get it.

just as what she expected, she entered the house and saw a small altar, filled with pictures of couples joined together enshrined, designed with flowers and effigy dolls, in front of the altar were two pillows side by side, they were quite far away from each other but not too far. kazuha turned to the other door, opened it and was met by what she thinks is the dining hall, with six small lacquer tables and twelve small pillows to sit at, two each table.

there was another door to the right side of the dining room, she slid open that door to the path and was greeted with a small hallway, a door to the right and another door to the end of the hallway at the left.

kazuha went to the first room, there was a paper wall that blocks 1/3 of the room, there are kimono's hanging from the paper walls, she assumed is what the bride and groom wears for the wedding. there was a small space from the two paper wall and she tried to peek at that space but found it hard to bend over, so she sighed and left the room.

kazuha walked to the room at the end of the hallway and she opened the door to be greeted with a rather huge room but an empty one, only to see four caskets on the other side of the room, while in the left side, there was a wall that is being kept under big white covers. kazuha looked around to try and catch some things she might miss, she walked over past the caskets and realized that the wall behind those caskets can be opened, she slid one of the doors and saw a small pond with fishes, what she thinks is a garden with plants, big bushes, small tree and red spider lilies, she walked backwards and slid the door close before leaving the room and hearing some shuffling from the first room in the hallway.

kazuha walked carefully, trying not to make any foul sounds that may give off an intruder feeling to someone that's inside the changing room of the house, she took a peek outside of the door, seeing someone inside the paper walls walking with what she assumes is the kimono for bride, kazuha steps further, holding her breath.

there still was the space between two paper walls, she peeked and she saw a woman, facing backwards.

kazuha spots the uchikake, the white kimono for a bride and the headdress but she couldn't see the woman wearing it.

due to being so indulged over the mysterious bride, kazuha accidentally bumps with a small wooden box, causing it to fall and tip over, kazuha hisses to which the bride heard.

kazuha moves to the side and hid to the other paper wall, the two paper walls open and the bride steps out, fixes the box before heading out to the room with the four caskets, kazuha looked back at the bride, then decided to head back to the main altar of the house of joining.

kazuha stood over the altar, looking over the altar, pictures of couples that are enshrined are hanged over and even framed, there also flowers that surrounded the altar with effigies. although not much were seen, it was a lot to take in for kazuha, there's something that's building up in the bottom of her heart and she couldn't understand what that feeling was.

"you're finally here, we've been waiting for you since the dusk before the ritual starts." kazuha turned around to see an old woman with her own kimono, looking at her expectantly. kazuha was confused but she bowed and stood straight.

"what do you mean by that?" kazuha asked.

"you've been led in this place with a purpose, you are invited to a ritual called ghost marriage, come i'll show you something." the old woman slid the door open to the dining hall, leading kazuha to the other hallway until they reached the room in the end of the hallway, kazuha continued to follow as the old woman opened the door and they entered.

kazuha looked to the left and saw paintings of shrine maidens, she recalled that the wall was covered with some quilt before when she came. the old woman called her. "nakamura kazuha."

kazuha turned her head to the old woman, who proceeds to explain the so called ghost marriage ritual she was invited to.

"this house and the netherworld are connected to each other, the shrine maidens who have fulfilled their duties are placed inside the caskets, living through their pain and death, stuck between the rift of life and death, before all if it are washed away by the black water. to fulfill their duties as pillars and relived their loneliness, they must be married to someone, binded together in death."

kazuha felt goosebumps all over her body, she shivered for a bit before biting the bottom of her lip, looking down at the wooden floor as she thinks.

"those who are invited to the ritual are led to this place and will enter the house." the old woman continued.

kazuha nodded, she watched as the woman approached the paintings, kazuha looks over them before she glanced back at the old woman even before she can see all of the paintings. "you should think properly when choosing your bride, after you choose your bride, for that time only they will come back to the world of the living. if the match is successful, your soul will remain in the casket with hers, if it is a fail, you will be put in your own reliquary and will be placed in the forbidden alley, not mourned."

for some reason, that information didn't spook out kazuha the way she thinks it would, there is a hidden complacent feeling under her chest, she breathes in and out before roaming her eyes again in the row of paintings, in the last painting she sees a very familiar face.

"y/n?" kazuha walks towards the painting, it really is her.

"oh, y/n... i remember her, she was a part of the black water ritual that happened two years ago." the old woman stated.

"what..? but i remember dreaming of her entering a house just like this before she never came out again, then she went missing!" kazuha responded, her voice hoarse and there was a hint of anger and frustration lingering in each word. the old woman nodded. "it must be an invitation, she chose you over many people."

"kazuha, it's time for you to choose your bride, will you accept it or back away?" the old woman stated, kazuha hesitated, concerns of what her life would be after this is lingering in the back of her mind, but all she could focus as is the truth behind y/n's death and to see her once again.

"i accept, i'll marry y/n." she answered, before stretching her arms to reach for y/n's portrait.

"come, she must be waiting for you in the altar."

×

kazuha kneeled on the left pillow, her hands placed on her thighs, looking down at the tatami mats as she waits for y/n to arrive, she closed her eyes for a bit before hearing the soft ringing of the bell, she opened her eyes and looked beside her to see y/n, dressed in uchikake with the headdress in her, was she the girl from before?

kazuha can't figure it out, but it's time for their vows.

after they gave their short vows, kazuha closed her eyes tightly, waiting for something to happen to seal their marriage, is it a perfect match or no?

she hoped it is, because there's nothing left for her but y/n's soul and her memories of them together.

when kazuha opened her eyes she was met with a dark sky, she was in a water, reaching up to her thighs, she looks up and saw the dark sky, in her possession is an antique camera, something she must've seen inside ms. miyawaki's antique store.

she hears the sound of the water, walked pass her is y/n, in her shrine maiden clothing, kazuha watched her continue walking, when she was away for only a few meters, kazuha raised the camera and took a picture of y/n's back.

kazuha lowered the camera to be blinded by the sunset, after blinking a few times she started walking, catching up to y/n and she realized that around them is pair of souls that have reunited and to cross the netherworld.

"y/n." she called, y/n stops from her tracks and looked at kazuha before smiling apologetic.

kazuha walks beside her, feeling scared all of a sudden. "why did you leave me?" she asked, and they started walking again, closer to the sunset as it gets brighter.

"i didn't leave you, of all those times you thought you were alone, i was watching you in your dreams everyday." y/n replied, her voice mellow and soft, like a lullaby in kazuha's ears. "what happened to you? why... why did you disappear just like that? i was looking for you everyday." kazuha whimpered.

"i didn't disappear, i just had a duty to fulfill for the shrine and the mountain, i didn't know if i did it right but i was very determined to give my all, i'm so sorry for not telling you earlier, i'm afraid you might not get it." y/n answered, looking at her feet as they continued to walk.

"what... kind of duty?" kazuha asked.

"i was placed in the reliquary with black water, left there until the water drowns me inside the box, the ritual is for the water in the mountain to be more alive, to keep the mountain stable but... the water must've overflowed so much it caused a landslide and flooded this mountain, left to crumble slowly and for people to take their lives here. i didn't mean it to happen." y/n explained, it's all clear now for kazuha, that box from the big shrine, that must've been the reliquary y/n was placed before.

"i was upset with you for over 2 years, i couldn't cope up with your disappearance, i kept dreaming of you 2 years straight; everyday. i thought you left me for good, but now... i get it. i don't want you to go no more, please— stay with me." kazuha muttered, the walk feels like endless, but she felt at ease being able to converse with y/n once again, just like this, just the two of them.

"you don't have to worry anymore, i won't go; i'm not going anywhere. you have me now, we can be together after death, forever and eternally and we'll cross the afterlife with each other." y/n stated, stopping from her tracks and holding kazuha's hand with hers.

"promise?" kazuha whispered.

"more than a promise, i swear. we are binded together now after all..." y/n stated, before leaning towards kazuha, she leaves a kiss on kazuha's lips before laying her head on kazuha's shoulder as they watch the sunset together.

kazuha felt happy, it's just her and y/n, under the sunset, their heart and mind at ease, no one to separate them apart.

she wishes she won't wake up anymore... if this was a dream.