"What you save may one day be what destroys you."
---
The next morning, the world felt off.
The crows were too quiet. The incense at the foot of Miya-zaki Shrine burned sideways, against the wind. And Reiko could still feel the weight of Reina's tears on her chest, like a memory that refused to wash off.
Shin Kazumi lay in the infirmary, wrapped in bandages, eyes fluttering behind closed lids. He hadn't spoken since she returned with him slumped over her shoulder, barely alive. The priest had tried cleansing him with salt and mantras, but it wasn't that kind of wound.
Reiko hadn't told them what really happened. Not Kino. Not Otaki. Not even Shin.
Because the truth would make them fear her. And worse—she was starting to fear herself.
---
That night, Kino arrived with a thermos of ginger porridge and her usual high ponytail bobbing with every step. "He hasn't moved?"
Reiko shook her head. She hadn't eaten all day.
Kino set the thermos down, gently taking Reiko's hand. "He will wake up. You saved him. Don't act like you broke him."
Reiko tried to smile. It was the kind of smile you wear for others, not yourself.
Then Shin stirred.
A twitch. A breath.
His eyes opened slowly—not brown anymore, but deep amber, tinged with red.
Kino gasped. Reiko stood immediately.
"Shin…?" she whispered.
He looked at her. And smiled. But not like Shin.
---
Two days passed.
Shin spoke like himself. He walked like himself. He even remembered things.
But Reiko noticed the small things. How he looked at shadows too long. How his smile lingered after she cried. How, once, he whispered Reina's name in his sleep.
Reiko began seeing strange things again.
A girl's voice in the shrine pond. Red flowers blooming out of dead wood. And every mirror she passed fogged without heat—as if something watched from the other side.
---
It was on the fourth night that everything cracked.
She was alone in her room, reading Reina's diary again— Trying to find closure. Trying to feel like she had done something good.
But the final pages were different.
They had changed.
The handwriting was no longer Reina's.
It was hers.
"You shouldn't have taken her place. You can't contain it. You are the Vessel now."
Reiko dropped the book.
A pulse surged through her body. Her fingers twisted unnaturally, then snapped back into place. Her eyes blurred. Blood dripped from her nose.
And she saw it.
The Shrine. In fire. Her friends, dead. Shin, holding her as she laughed.
No—not her.
Something wearing her skin.
---
She awoke hours later, fingernails broken, mouth dry. Kino sat beside her, shaking.
"Reiko…you were speaking in tongues. You said her name over and over. Reina. Reina."
Reiko pushed herself up. "We have to leave the shrine. Now. Tell Otaki. Shin too."
"Reiko, what's going on?"
Reiko grabbed Kino's hands. "I didn't save Shin. I traded for him. I made a pact. The curse needed a vessel. I said yes."
Kino shook her head slowly. "No. You wouldn't."
"I didn't know what I was doing! I just wanted him to live!"
---
That night, Reiko returned to the Miya-zaki Shrine. Alone.
The wind had stopped. The bell had cracked completely in half.
And at the altar, waiting, was herself.
But not.
The thing wore her face. But her eyes were completely black. And her smile was stitched.
"We're not so different, Reiko," it said. "You wanted to save a boy. I wanted to be remembered."
Reiko trembled. "I won't let you hurt anyone."
The thing laughed. "Then stop me. Deny me. Cast me out."
Reiko stepped forward. Her hands lit with the cleansing charm. Her voice cracked.
"In the name of the goddess above, I break the link—"
She stopped.
Her arm wouldn't move.
Blood seeped from her wrists.
The Vessel laughed.
"You already gave me permission."
Then it opened its mouth.
And Reiko saw all her memories—rewritten. Shin was laughing as he stabbed Kino. Otaki burned alive, praying. And Reiko stood among it all, smiling, dress soaked in blood.
The future was a funeral.
And she was the priest.
---
Reiko dropped to her knees, screaming.
But far above the shrine—a bell began ringing.
Soft. Gentle. A lullaby?
No. It was Shin.
He had come.
Holding the charm she gave him before she passed out.
His hand touched her shoulder.
"Let's face this. Together."
---
TO BE CONTINUED