Book 15 Prologue 夜渡の火祭り

From Chinese translations by Hinako.

Draft: Version 1 - final
Notes:
PS: do not distribute this without my permission

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--It seems like something disastrous will happen during the 'Yodo' this year.

The youngster overheard the adults discuss about this.
The second semester of school had just begun. The holiday mood from the summer vacation had yet to fade away completely.
The adults, who were the shrine parishioners, deliberated inside the shrine. This place was the youngster's playground, but upon the nearing of this occasion, play would no longer be allowed in this area as a result of the shinji.

--Let's take a peep inside the Hitaki hall.

His friend urged him in this way. A space that served to enclose a person, this sort of thing seemed especially capable of arousing the curiosity of young children. The youngster was interested as well thus they they stole into the shrine's compounds together. However, they did not get a chance to peer inside in the end. On the way home, the youngster heard the words of the adults that passed by.

Disastrous event...?

What was that? The youngster inclined his head and pondered.
Every year, with the advent of this period, the Shimomiya would conduct an ancient festival known as the Hitaki Shinji. In this celebration, the Shimomiya had been designated as the shrine of the 'Shimo Daijin' of the heavenly gods. The youngster had heard that this festival was held to protect the heavenly gods from the cold and the rice ears that have yet to fructify from the early frost. For this reason, fires would be continuously maintained to warm the heavenly gods.

The topic of discussion among the adults, was the Yodo matsuri to be held on the last day of the festival.

--Something disastrous will happen.

Just what on earth will happen? In the end, that disastrous event would be...

The youngster's heart felt vexed because of this, he could not even sleep peacefully.

Will it be okay?

He was worried for his sister.
They were twins. This summer, both of them would be 12. The youngster's sister had been chosen as the bonfire maiden for this year's shinji.
The so-called bonfire maiden, referred to the maiden who would be 'sealed' inside the hall of the Shimomiya Hitaki for 59 days and ensured that the fires for the heavenly gods were continuously burning. This year, his sister had been selected as the bonfire maiden.

The shinji commenced around mid-August. On August 19th, the Shimomiya goshintai was shifted to the gojinza of the Hitaki hall at dusk. The bonfire began that day.
The maiden would keep the flames alive under the jinza for 59 days during her enclosure in the Hitaki hall, prohibited from taking a single step out of the shrine.

It has been nearly a month since his sister was 'sealed'. She was permitted to skip school now that the summer vacation was over, this made the youngster a little envious. Their primary school classmates shared his sentiment. But to be forbidden from going outside for two months, this was truly an unbearable torture in the youngster's opinion.

As night fell, the youngster together with his paternal grandmother looked out at the Hitaki hall, thinking of his sister inside that building.

--Kihachi-sama seems fairly happy this year.

His grandmother smiled as she spoke.

--No sign of any chills, we had an abundant harvest this year.

Although his grandmother smiled, the rest of the adults seemed out of sorts, the youngster was extremely bothered by this. The youngster was subtly aware that the adults were growing more uneasy with each passing day.


--The number of strange occurrences in the Hitaki hall have increased.

When October came, the youngster heard of such rumors.

--Something disastrous will definitely happen in the Yodo this year.

Standing in the wind of the paddy fields that blew against the golden-yellow ears of the rice, the youngster ignorantly listened to the discussion amongst the adults.


The Kangyo festival had finally arrived. 59 days had passed. The bonfire maiden would extinguish the lighted fires and finally be allowed to leave the Hitaki hall. Then the 'Shimo Daijin' would be transported back to Shimomiya on a holy palanquin.
The Yodo matsuri would be held on the day after the Kangyo festival. On this night of the Yodo matsuri, known as the Mikagura Festival of Fire, many of the residents from the nearby vicinities would come to pay their respects.

His younger sister was dressed in a set of clean, beautiful robes, entering together with the Kagura dancers.

Huh...

Seeing her appearance, the people present could not help but gasp. Even the youngster himself could not believe that this person was his own sister for a split second.
There was a bonfire that burned the night sky in a raging manner.
Illuminated by that crimson blaze, his younger sister looked like another person. The youngster stood there astounded. That figure was simply like a true emissary of god, divine and beautiful.

So pretty...

The sound of a great drum came from the Kaguraden.
Then a curious tune was played on a flute.
The Kagura dancers shook the small bell, dancing in front of the flames.
Everyone looked on in fascination, absorbed by it. As though they were watching a scene from the ancient age of the gods.
The youngster also stood there speechlessly.
The autumn midnight.
As though the ringing of the bell swayed the ice-cold atmosphere.
A distinctly pure sound.
Beautiful dancers.
Standing to one side was the bonfire maiden attired in clean clothes.
The flames burned the night sky of Aso.
The moment approached, the bonfire was extinguished, the blocks of charcoal with lingering sparks of fire were scattered on the ground. The Kagura dancers led the bonfire maiden by hand, as they danced barefoot.
The white ankles of the bonfire maiden stepped into the sacred flames.
In that moment.
All of a sudden, the residual flames burned once again with an astonishing intensity.
The worshippers cried out. The Shinto priests stared as though they were exclaiming 'Ah'. The youngster's parents yelled as well.
The red lotus blaze that erupted unexpectedly attacked the maiden.
It seemed that way.

Huh...

The youngster widened his eyes.
In the center of the flames, the bonfire maiden did not move.
The fire did not burn the maiden. The crimson flames coiled around her body like a large dragon, wrapping around the maiden as though protecting her.
Everybody was in an uproar. An incredible sight.
But this was not the end.
At this moment, the flames really transformed into the figure of an orochi.
Everyone gasped loudly.
The orochi coiled its body around the maiden. The maiden did not show any sign of panic, she calmly lowered her eyes.
Then the heads of the orochi lifted up towards the heavens. In the next instant, it leaped into the night sky dragging its long fiery tail along.
Every single person involved in the ceremony witnessed it with their own eyes.
The fire orochi dashed to the nocturnal peaks of the Aso mountain range.
For a long period of time, the youngster stood gaping at the sky, then he came back to his senses and looked at his sister.
His younger sister's eyes were wide open with a hallowed essence, gazing fixedly at the night sky.
Staring at what had disappeared into the deep darkness of the night at Aso --
A single bundle of flames.

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Original fiction © Kuwabara Mizuna.