The sudden voice coming from the building startled them. Quickly they turned away from the statue to see an old man standing in the doorway.
The man was wearing traditional looking clothes, but unrecognizable to the four of them. Long, white, straight pants with some letters going down both sides and a dark blue shirt, worn like a typical top part of a male kimono. Though Souta didn't look at his face to see, he was also wearing a hairpiece, circlet-like simple silver ring going around his head.
Ryuo stepped up.
"Good sir, we are childhood friends of Ryuo. Does he still happen to live here?"
"Come closer so I can see you."
The four of them hesitated.
"Come, come. I won't bite."
With Ryuo leading them, the group started to make their way to the porch. It was made of giant boulders, ground down to perfection, almost looking like part of the natural environment. Out of fear and respect, they stopped at the bottom of the stairs leading up.
"So, what are your names, young friends?"
More hesitation.
"I'm Ryuo Fujisawa. This well-read girl here is Miyuki Takahashi, and on this side, Airi Minase.
Ryuo turned around to see Souta hiding behind him.
"And this boy here is Souta Aokawa. He isn't rude, just shy."
"Aokawa…come here boy."
Why is it always me.
Slowly, Souta walked up from behind Ryuo.
"Look at me."
I've seen countless faces, surely I can stay calm and pretend it's fine.
Souta lifted his gaze slowly, fully prepared to see the usual bodily horrors.
Huh.
HUH!
It was unlike anything he'd seen before. There had been faces before with no features, just pale skin. This was the same, nothing, not even a single bump, just pale, smooth skin without facial features. There was however something else. Carved with spectacular precision, a deep circle carved into his skin surrounded his face. The dark edges of the cut were perfectly healed, with no signs of any scars or rough edges.
Well isn't that creepy. But…I can somewhat stand looking at it. It's not...disturbing in the usual sense.
"Aokawa…"
The man seemed deep in thought.
"Your name…it holds two meanings…"
"I'm sorry?"
What does he care about my name.
"Yess…yess…aokawa…blue river. But as below there is a river rushing with water, so above is a reflection, a river filled with stars. It's a beautiful name, my boy. It belongs here, in this village."
"Kugyou, is someone there?"
A woman's voice rang from inside the temple house.
"Ah, that's my wife. Yes, come outside! There are younglings, wanting to meet our boy. Childhood friends they call themselves."
A warmly smiling woman, also dressed in similar traditional clothing, came to the door. Souta quickly slipped away, but before he managed he could see the woman also had a similar circle on her face.
"Ah, you must be the son of Mr. And Mrs. Fujisawa. They told me that their son had dyed his hair "radically pink". Come in, come in, I'll call Kaito to come down. Hopefully my husband didn't scare you to death."
"No, not at all Mrs…"
"Hoshino."
"Ah thank you. It's been a long time. Your husband seems like a well learned man. "
"He is, but sometimes his rants go a bit off the rails."
They walked into the house. Thankfully the inside was not made of stone, but instead dark oak, which slightly bent under their steps.
"Kaito come down! You have visitors!"
Souta looked around the hallway they were in.
From the outside you'd almost believe that this is a shrine but from the inside…almost looks like a normal house. Perhaps they've converted an old shrine into a home.
Silent footsteps slowly descended down the stairs.
"Who is it?"
A gentle voice, almost fragile.
"Kaito! It's us! Remember, your childhood friends!"
"A-Airi? And the others too. Even Miyuki?"
"You remember us!"
"It would be hard to forget some of you. What made you come all the way here?"
I wonder if he looks the same as the others.
Souta looked to the direction of the voice. There, standing at the end of the stairs was a boy, about the same height as him. He had long, light grey hair, neatly tied into a half up. He had straight black trousers, and a dark blue cardigan, with a beautiful silver necklace laying on top. And as expected, grey mist was swirling in front of his face.
I was a bit afraid that the…circle had also…got him?
Better not think about this stuff too much. I can't understand it anyways.
"We want you to come to the festival with us! It's in three days, and it would be so nice to have the whole group together once more."
"That's a lovely idea! You should go with them, Kaito." His mother said.
Kaito turned to his father.
"Is it okay for me to go?"
"As long as you dress properly for the day of the festival, it's good to respect the traditions."
"I will. I promise."
"Yes! This'll be fun!"
"Oh but I'm sorry. I haven't eaten a thing today. Would it be okay for me to quickly grab something if you still want to head somewhere today?"
"Why don't your friends stay to eat as well. At that age they need food to grow into adults."
"I'm sure they don't wan-"
"Of course we can! As long as it isn't too much work."
"Of course not my dear. Come this way you all, I'll bring the food shortly."
They walked through the hallway, into another one.
"Wow, is that an inner courtyard?"
Indeed, in the middle of the house, there was a big courtyard, with the hallway circling it. They could see that on the upper floor there also was a hallway that you could see the courtyard from.
"Yes, this used to be an old temple that we've renovated to be more livable. There is an ancient shrine in the middle there."
Suddenly Miyuki spoke up.
"This might be the coolest house I've ever been in."
"See Miyuki! It's good that you came with us!"
"I guess so."
"Have you guys been hanging out recently?" Kaito asked. Airi quickly recounted to him the last two days and how they happened to meet.
"Ah, I see."
Kaito opened a door along the hallway, which led to a room with a beautifully decorated tatami on the ground. In the middle a huge kotatsu waited for them.
"That must be so nice during winters!"
"Yes, it's very warm."
They all settled around the table, with everyone choosing a side to sit on. Left with a choice, Kaito decided to sit next to Airi.
That's the safe choice. Who wouldn't feel comfortable with her.
"Guys, remember what we used to call our group when we were kids? Airi suddenly asked.
"Yeah we had a name! But what was it…"
"It was named after a constellation right. But which one. I read a book about them once but I also can't seem to recall."
"Kaito, do you remember? she asked with a bright smile.
"It was…Cassiopeia right?"
"Yes! I'm glad even one of you remembers! The five stars of cassiopeia!
That's true, I remember too now that he said it... We used to hold meetings in the treehouse…wait didn't we also have a phrase to open the meetings with…what was it again…
thinking back, that's kind of embarrassing. And I think we copied the phrase from some book because it sounded cool. Oh right.
Without really thinking about it, Souta opened his mouth.
"When the golden king sleeps."
The others looked at him in surprise.
"A lone light watches over the night."
Airi had joined him.
"Like fireflies chasing a flame"
The rest had also caught on.
"So do the endless stars follow the maiden."