Can we...restart?

Fallen Sword - Chapter 9

She always said to herself that the universe always liked to prove her wrong. It still does.

It was just midst of September. The autumn breeze still fresh in the air. Laughter still rang in her ears. She could still smell the faint scent of their freshly made dinner. Their smiles were still etched onto her mind.

Then came the next day. Noon hasn't even hit when she heard faint sobbing from one of the rooms. She was worried at first, she knew whose sounds those were from and she hasn't heard her cry in years. She just prayed that nothing bad had truly happened.

There are so many possibilities what could've happened behind those doors. It was the one she hated the most.

It was Kagaya's bloodied haori that she first saw. Amane comforting his mother was the next. And his broken blade was the last. Then it all came crashing down. They had sent him to the Final Selection with the full confidence of him coming back alive.

He didn't. It was his barely recognizable corpse that greeted them.

None of them could even look at his coffin before it was buried. Not even the Demon Doctor herself. She was expressionless the whole time. Or rather, she was numb. Frantic voices asking them who would be the next head of the Corps became background noises for her. She couldn't even raise her hand to comfort anyone. If she does...then she's acknowledging that Kagaya had truly died.

But no.

She doesn't want to. She might as well been the one who sent him to his death. It was her fault. And she has to fix this. He wasn't supposed to die, he doesn't even deserved to in the first place. He was just a fucking child who wanted to help everyone. But how could she fix all of this? She doesn't even know how the poor boy had died.

Time Travel? Can she trigger that again? Who's death can trigger it? Kagaya's?

If the Flame Pillar's death in the next few years caused her to restart, then maybe his death can cause it again. So why hasn't she gone back? It has been a day or two since he was buried. It has been a day of grieving before the elders came to bother his mother. What does she need to do?

Where did he die? What was the cause? How can you prevent it?

Answer all this questions and the time will restart. Don't disappoint us.

It has been a long time since those voices had made their presence known. But at least they said something other than showing her nightmares every night. She only has to figure out those three answers? Then she will. She'll bring back Kagaya alive. She'll make things right. She has to.

In the midst of all chaos in the Ubuyashiki Household, she left for Mt Fujikasane.

She walked past the beautiful Wisteria trees and past the entrance. The Kakushi guarding had recognized her and let her in. It's a wonder how the poison no longer affects her nor Yushiro. But she kept on moving, there was no time to linger around. The mountain's forest was dark with only the moon's light shining down.

It was too quiet. Eerie even. Nothing was making any sound. No crickets nor insects. No demons making their presence known. It's just her in an endless maze littered with countless lost souls. Was...was this what Kagaya had went through? This...sense of dread and loneliness? That feeling that the ground will swallow you mercilessly.

A place where you can only depend on yourself. It's terrifying, she could almost hear their blood curdling screams as she walked through the same paths they once did.

Oh but where would she even start looking? There are nothing but trees and paths everywhere she set her eyes on. She was lost, so to say, the sun still hasn't risen to point her in the right direction. Did Kagaya also felt lost? Did he sleep in one of these trees while also being fearing of what might come if he even dares to close his eyes?