After his training and sets of morning classes, Eiji met up with Rei and the two of them once again made their way to the nearby ruins they had been working on. Having arrived early in the afternoon, the two of them were well underway transcribing the final three rooms remaining in the forgotten Temple. On one side of the bottom floor, Rei sat in a dark room, dimly lit by the glowing Ki crystal in his hand. The white crystal, which had been attached to a short metal handle, gave off a soft light that illuminated the wall around him just enough to see, and across the ruins in another small room, Eiji had been doing the same with the light of a small flame torch. Something that constantly reminded him of his own shortcomings like being unable to use a Ki stone for light. 'Decreed in 14,898… Temple Horai…', read the dusty and preserved scripts along the wall as Rei recorded them in his journal. Unlike their normal days of exploration, filled with amazement and a few jokes between friends, today had been rather somber. Rei could tell that as they crept closer to finishing their work, Eiji was becoming more and more distraught, and even though it would bring them to the end of their project a bit sooner, Rei had decided to give Eiji some space as they explored.
They had already finished one of the rooms, and now that they were working on the final two, there was little room for hope of any major discoveries. "Well that's something at least, we had yet to figure out what year this temple was built." Rei thought to himself. "Hmm, 14,898… only five years after The Great Migration." Rei shifted to follow the text on the wall, only to find it appeared to have been covered over with a thin layer of some kind of plaster that was now chipping and easily falling away. Rei stared at the section of wall curiously, They hadn't encountered anything else in the temple that had been covered up in such a manner. Reaching into his pocket and pulling out a delicate brush, he began carefully exposing the covered-over text. After a few minutes of work, Rei stepped back and let the light illuminate the portion of the wall he had worked to uncover. Built atop his former shrine… Temple Horai's construction was the last decree of… 'Okuninushi The Balancer'... Rei's eyes went wide as he read the words. "That name… 'Okuninushi'... That's the name of a Kami!" He whispered under his breath as he dropped the light he was holding and ran to find his partner.
"Eiji! Get over here!" Rei yelled as he rushed across the Temple floor, almost tripping and falling in the process. Eiji quickly appeared in the doorway of the room he had been working on. "What?? Are you okay?" He asked with concern as he watched his friend recover from the near-fall with a look of shock painted across his face. As Rei scrambled to his feet, he grabbed Eiji by the collar of his shirt and pointed to the room from which he had come running. "Eiji!… Okuninushi!… That room mentions Okuninushi!" Rei said through ragged breaths as he tugged on Eiji's collar.
Eiji almost didn't believe his friend as the words echoed off the barren stone walls around them. "D-don't mess around Rei," Eiji said as he pulled his hand away from his collar and took a step back, "It's not funny…" Eiji muttered as he began to turn back around and go back to his work. "Eiji, I'm not messing around!" Rei cried as he grabbed Eiji's shoulder and spun him back to face him. For just a second, the two of them locked eyes, and it was all Eiji needed to see to know that Rei was being serious. Like lightning, the two of them took off for the room Rei had come from. Rei quickly picked up the crystal torch he had dropped before and shined it against the wall. "Here, right here! It says this entire Temple was built on top of his former shrine, and right here it mentions him by name!" Rei said excitedly as he dragged his finger underneath the inscriptions. Eiji's breath hitched in his throat as his eyes scanned the words on the wall. His mind was all but frozen with the reality that his theory might have been correct. Eiji slowly reached out and brushed his fingers over the name of the forgotten Kami, one of the powerful and enigmatic beings who helped craft the Sentoki way of life over eleven thousand years in the past.
"I don't understand… The Kami supposedly chose not to settle in Kamikochi with the Sentoki. So why would there be a shrine from before the Sentoki arrived, and why was this temple built on top of it?" Eiji whispered as he fixated on their discovery. "Who cares? We found it! We found the Kami temple, Eiji! You were right!" Rei exclaimed as he danced around Eiji in celebration, but while Rei rejoiced, the wheels in Eiji's head began to turn, connecting the dots of the truth that had been revealed to him on the ancient wall. "Eiji's eyes pushed open wide as he spun around and grabbed Rei by the shoulders. "Rei, this isn't it! I get it now!" he said as he started pacing around the room, still stringing his theory together and mumbling to himself. Startled and confused, Rei wondered why Eiji didn't seem as elated as he did. "What do you mean this isn't it? The name is inscribed right there; this has to be the kami temple!" Rei contested, but Eiji had already worked out his theory.
"No, Rei, listen. When the Sentoki gathered in Kamikochi after the Great Migration, it's a known fact that the Kami chose not to join us here, so why would there be a Kami Temple here?" Eiji said, holding up his finger in deduction. "Yet despite this, we can see a number of vague historical references toward a Kami Temple existing here in the early days of our people's arrival. This is what first formed my theory that a Kami Temple might be hidden somewhere on the Island. Yet it still doesn't make sense as to why it would be here if the Kami weren't, unless…" Eiji stopped his pacing and turned to face his friend, his face lighting up as he explained his theory. "Unless A Kami lived in Kamikochi before the Sentoki had arrived, and chose to depart shortly afterwards! And just like the wall says, this Temple was built on top of the previous one! It all lines up! And that's why all of the references to the Older temple are all vague and untraceable because for some reason, it was supposed to be covered up!" Eiji exclaimed with a thrill in his eyes like Rei had never seen.
Eiji was ecstatic at his brilliant discovery and newfound theory, and Rei, despite being an almost equal scholar to Eiji, couldn't find any holes in his train of thought. "So that means… This is just an old Sentoki Temple that we're standing in, and the Temple we've been looking for…" Eiji's mood seemed to shift as he worked through his latest thought. "Is below us." Eiji said more somberly as Rei just listened in amazement. "...But what that really means is that the special excavation team will be the ones to discover it…" Eiji muttered as he walked out of the small, dimly lit room and into the main chamber with Rei chasing after him. Eiji stopped in the middle of the chamber and faced the small, dark door frame that led to the room deemed too unsafe to explore. "You get it right? We can't go in that room because it's probably the one spot in the whole temple that has access to the true temple below, making it structurally unsafe," Eiji said with none of the excitement he had before. His voice dragged across his words with pain as he pointed towards the mystery that was just out of reach. As Rei heard his words, his eyes seemed to glaze over for a second, and his body language changed as he crossed his arms and looked toward his friend. "But if we could just get down there first…" Eiji muttered as he furrowed his brow and dropped his hand. "I know what you're about to ask… I wasn't even going to try and let you convince Rei, he'd probably fold…" said Eiji's closest friend. "Rei couldn't do it anyway… His element is water… I'd need you to help me get down there… Ren." Eiji said in a low and foreboding voice as he looked back over his shoulder.
"Absolutely not! We were explicitly told not to enter that room, there's no way we can do something that risky!" Ren said firmly, trying to shut down Eiji's ideas. "It's just excavation… you helped the team get this far with it! I don't get why we can't go farther!" Eiji pleaded, his somber and depressing tone had quickly turned to one of desperation. "Eiji… Rei would never say something like this to you, but I will… you don't get it because you don't have a Mesukiro… I can't go exploring that room knowing that my ability to keep us safe is in question! You might say it's simple excavation, but think about it… say a tunnel or a room collapses… Do you really think I could keep the weight off of us for long? Are you willing to die just to discover the truth?" Ren said with a low, harsh tone. He had always been the strong-willed brother between him and Rei, and had been forced to be the one to give Eiji any bad news in the past.
Once again, Eiji's brow darkened as his head dropped in defeat. He knew there was no point in trying to argue with Ren. "Tch, so that's how it is, huh?… the guy without a Mesukiro just doesn't get it," Eiji said as he began walking away and slowly gathering his things. "That's not gonna work on me. You know that's not how I meant it." Ren said, maintaining his stern demeanor as Eiji packed his tools and scripts from the table behind them. "No, you're right, Ren… I don't get it, which leaves me literally and figuratively powerless," Eiji added, shoving his things into his bag with anger that accentuated his words. "What are you packing up for?" Ren demanded, "We still have to finish the last room," He added. "What's the point? If we have to stop just out of reach of what we came here for? Why keep going? I give up," Eiji said with determined conviction and an expressionless face. "You can't be serious!" Ren contested as Eiji began to walk away, but before he made it more than a few steps, his anger had boiled over, and just like the other day he whipped around to let his emotions spill out. Eiji's eyes met Ren's, and like a wave of realization, his anger subsided just as quickly as it had arisen. "You know what… you wouldn't get it." He said with succinct expression before turning back around and storming out of the ruins and leaving Ren behind.
The brisk evening air hit Eiji's face as he began his final trek for the day after his afternoon in the ruins and physical training. As he walked away and onto the path that would lead him home, the glow and hum of both Do'Kobu city atop the plateau and Kaika Temple below, could be seen and heard in the distance from where he was walking. It was like a separate life that was mocking him, regardless of how many others lived in the city without having their Mesukiro. Even for those without open eyes, life and everything else in Kamikochi revolved around the Sentoki and Ki. It wasn't long before Eiji had made his way back to his family home which sat just a few miles outside of the city. As Eiji approached his home, he could hear the clamoring of pots and pans and the murmur of voices coming from past the glow of the windows. He could tell everybody was home, something that seemed rare lately with everything that was going on. Eiji opened the door and was greeted by the warm and familiar smells of his Father's cooking that filled the air and at the table sat his two older siblings, Hikari and Taiyo.
Is that you, Eiji? You made it home just in time for dinner!" rang out a voice from the kitchen as Gado peeked his head out to see his youngest Son walking in. "Ah, it is you, good! I was hoping we would all get the chance to eat together," Gado said cheerily as Eiji took a seat at the table between his siblings. "I'll have dinner ready shortly! Kyuen and Hiro should be here soon as well!" said their Father as his voice trailed off back into the kitchen.
As Gado retreated into the kitchen to continue preparing the meal, the front door to the house flung open almost on que. "Hello Nephews and Nieces!" Bellowed a deep and booming voice as another overwhelmingly tall man stepped inside. With short ruffled grey hair, a scratchy grey beard and almost matching grey eyes, a man who seemed to have the same staggering family physique as Gado stepped inside. Headmaster Hiro Umitasora. Donned in fitting grey and light blue robes and with a large scar across the left of his face, the often unserious and noisy Headmaster stepped inside. Despite his more aged appearance, Hiro was in fact the younger brother of Gado by about three years. Hiro's face beamed with cheer as he walked into the house and greeted the family. "Where's your Father? I brought him some new shy-fruit ale from the pub to try," Hiro asked as he pulled a bottle from a small wooden case he had in his hands and passed one over Taiyo's shoulder. Taiyo took the bottle reluctantly with a bit of a glare as he looked back at his Uncle. "He's in the kitchen…" Taiyo said with a disgruntled tone as he cracked off the lid of the bottle and took a swig. Hiro scrunched his face at the way his Nephew had taken the drink and responded, "whats gotten into you, huh?" Hiro snorted as he walked into the kitchen.
"Still fighting with your dad?" said Kyuen's voice from just outside the door as she followed in behind Hiro. "He wouldn't shut up about his stupid new ale the whole way here," Kyuen scoffed as she snatched the bottle from Taiyo's hand and took a swig. "Hey!-" Taiyo tried to object but she had already passed the drink back to him before he could argue. "Ugh, it tastes just like the last one that he said was 'the best batch so far'," Kyuen said unimpressed. Taiyo rolled his eyes and took another sip, turning to his younger sister whose face was buried in one of her study books. "So how's your prep for the placement exams coming?" he asked. "She's improving. But we still have work to do," Kyuen answered before Hikari could reply. "Glad she's training her and not us ," Taiyo leaned over to his other side and whispered to Eiji, who only responded with a meek smile.
Before Taiyo could ask his younger Brother what was wrong, the bottle had been snatched from his hand once again, and this time Kyuen proceeded to drink the entire thing as she glared at him. "Comon!" Taiyo exclaimed as he tried to grab the bottle from her but was only able to grab at the air. From over his shoulder another bottle appeared, as both Hiro and gado emerged from the kitchen. Hiro passed his Nephew who glared at Kyuen another drink, while also tossing one to her as well. "So I hear you don't wanna train with the family any more, is that true?" Hiro asked Taiyo somewhat ominously as he cracked open a bottle of his own. Gado walked up from behind and placed a large pot of brazed meat on the dining room table, staring at his son with authority as he did before returning to the kitchen again. "That's not how it is…" Taiyo mumbled as he opened his drink and took another sip. "So explain it then." Hiro said as he took a seat at the table and kicked his feet up. "I don't have to explain anything…" Taiyo replied in a childish and pouty manner.
"Well it has been a while since you trained with me," Hikari interjected without so much as looking up from behind the book she had been glued to. "Who's side are you on?" Taiyo retorted with a scoff. "Uhh, neither, I was just saying," Hikari replied as she raised her eyebrows a bit and shrugged her shoulders. "Well, how about you come train with me?" Hiro chimed in as he leaned over the table and gave his Nephew a look of both determination and challenge. Taiyo swallowed a bit at his Uncle's proposal. Despite feeling as though he had surpassed his Father, he was not so foolish as to think he had surpassed someone like the Headmaster quite yet. "Uhh, I mean… That's okay Uncle Hiro, I'm sure you're too busy with work to spend time training with me," Taiyo said nervously as he rubbed the back of his head. "Whats the matter? If you won't take your Father seriously then why not come fight someone stronger," Hiro continued to taunt. "Stronger? Don't get ahead of yourself now," said Gado's voice once again as he came back into the room. This time holding a plate of salad and bread. "You've always had more tricks up your sleeve, but I'm still the stronger brother," Gado said in a low and guttural tone as he met Hiro's gaze. Between the two of them the air almost sparked with aggression as each of their eyes quickly flashed with the strength of their Mesukiro, Gado's blue, and Hiro's a deep purple. "That's enough boys," Kyuen's voice cut through the tension as she pulled the tray from Gado's hands and set it on the table. "Stop acting like you're not both old men," she added mockingly as she sat back down, making Taiyo accidentally laugh a bit before quickly shutting himself up.
Gado took his seat at the table in between Hikari and Kyuen, playfully pulling the book from Hikari's hands as he did. "Dad I-" "Join us for dinner, alright?" Gado interrupted his daughter's protest with a warm smile as he shut the book and placed it below her chair. "How's your studying and training coming Hikari?" Hiro asked as he began to serve himself a plate of food. "She's improving. But we still have work to do," Kyuen repeated herself once again before Hikari could reply. "Oh? Is that so?" Hiro answered curiously as he watched his niece slump in her chair just a bit. "I'm sure your Father has already said this, but don't listen to a word Kyuen says," Hiro said with a smile. "You're the first in your class, you don't have anything to worry about," Hiro finished adding, trying to ignore the daggers he could feel Kyuen staring at him from across the table.
Hikari smiled a little as she stood up from her chair a bit and began serving herself a plate alongside the others. Despite the weight she was feeling, it was somewhat reassuring to hear such words coming from the Headmaster of the school. "And what about you Eiji? You don't quite seem like yourself?" Gado said as he looked at his youngest son who had remained quiet so far. "Oh umm…" Eiji began to respond as he stared down into his lap for a second. "Hows your training going? And your project at the ruins?" Kyuen added curiously as the rest of the table turned their heads to him and waited for an answer. "Nothing really new on my end!" Eiji managed to say almost cheerfully, forcing himself to put on a smile so that his family didn't pry. "I've just been getting ready for the end of the year and staying on top of my studies," he added as he grabbed himself a plate and hoped they all would move on in the conversation.
While the rest of the table continued to eat and discuss, Eiji could feel the same kind of distance he felt when looking at the city and temple begin to wash over him as he sat at the table. The sensation that something so close and so familiar, like his family or his hometown, somehow also felt so separated from him at the same time. As he watched his Uncle and Brother race to see who could eat and drink faster, and his Aunt and Father continue to support his Sister in their own ways, all of the rage and frustration that he had tried to suppress came creeping back up his spine. He wanted to yell. He wanted to scream at them all how far away he felt, but despite his feelings, Eiji wasn't quite that immature. He knew his family didn't deserve one bit of the frustration he felt towards them at times, each one of them had given as much as they could over the years in helping him with his struggles. "It's better to just let them have their moment," Eiji thought to himself as he stood from the table and grabbed his plate, heading to the kitchen to put it in the sink.
Just before he had left the dining room, his Uncle's voice cut through the chatter. "Oh, Eiji, before I forget, some of the teachers have been working on a new training regimen. I thought you might like to be the first to try it out." Eiji paused. His Brother's little spat with his Father, his Sister's upcoming exams, the talk about his Brother's strength and skill, and his fight with Ren & Rei earlier, were all weighing on his mind too much for him to ignore. "Actually…" Eiji began to say as he turned back toward his family, "I've been thinking… of backing off my training… and focusing more on finishing the ruins and… other things." The room fell silent as Eiji spoke. They all knew how much he had struggled to try to open his eyes and what his words really meant. Hikari and Taiyo looked at their brother and then their Father, unsure of what to say. Gado stood up from the table and walked over to his youngest Son, placing his hand on his shoulder as a comforting smile grew across his face, "Whatever you choose to do with your life Eiji, we all support you." He tried to say with a warm smile in order to comfort his Son. Behind his Father, Eiji could see that the stares of his family had all turned to warm smiles as well, but unfortunately he couldn't see anything more than pity written across their faces. "I had a long day… I think I'm gonna turn in," Eiji replied, almost ignoring his Father's remark as he continued on into the kitchen and left his plate before quietly heading upstairs.
He knew that they would talk about him. About how they could be sensitive to his situation, how they could try not to make him feel less than, and it made him sick. Not that his family was trying to protect his feelings, but how utterly weak it made him feel. For years now, they had all danced around the subject of Eiji and his Mesukiro, making sure not to make him feel ostracized. Taiyo had opened his eyes at age thirteen, and Hikari was even younger at age twelve, but both of those years came and went for Eiji with no such awakening. For the first two years, it was fine, plenty of people opened their eyes slightly later, so it was never a big deal, but in the last two years… it had changed. Eiji's thoughts began to consume his mind as he headed towards his room on the second floor; everything negative he had ever thought about himself came rushing forward in a wave of self-defeat. Eiji crashed into his bed, the weight of his shame pushing down on him as he tried to close his eyes and shut it all out. He tried to slow his breathing as his body reacted to the stress and anxiety. At that moment, he felt as though he wanted to crawl out of his own skin and leave his entire life behind, to forget about the burden of living in what felt like a separate world from everyone he loved. In time he eventually calmed himself just enough to begin slowly drifting off to sleep, still able to hear the chatter and clamor of his family on the floor below as they finished up their night, but as he slowly drifted off he was once again met with the burning image of the mysterious room sitting at the bottom of the temple ruins, as if it were calling out to him.