Love Live!: SHATTER [PART 9]

WISHES:

A/N: Trigger warning in this chapter

*THE NEXT DAY*

*ARATATE SHRINE - TAKACHIHO - MIYAZAKI PREFECTURE - KYUSHU*

I wake up to the sound of crows cawing outside the window, the misty hills of Takachiho stretching out like a dream.

My body aches from yesterday's endless hill climbs, but it's a good ache... The kind that reminds me I'm getting stronger.

That was a pretty rough night, sirens were sounding for hours. But thanks to the news, at least I know the reason why...

Turns out they found a body in a cave, a doctor missing for almost 16 years. Poor bastard. If there's family out there, they must be shattered, but at least they have closure now.

Poor bastard...

To work your whole life training to be in that field of work, only to bite the dust and go missing. It really makes you think about how fragile life can be.

Plus when you put it into context with what Fenix said at that girl's grave yesterday, it does make a guy think about how life treats people...

I guess everybody dies. A lot of people say it's how you go out that matters, but personally, I think it's about what you do BEFORE that which means the most. And what you leave behind.

Crazy how something like that happens in a town this quiet. One day it's all peaceful shrines and misty paths, the next it's a 16-year-old mystery solved in the worst way.

It's sad, but... As cold as it sounds, I've got my own battles to fight today.

Namely, 'The Shine Hour' and my guest appearance on the show.

For context, 'The Shine Hour' is the biggest talk show to feature up and coming talent. To be given an invitation to the show is the equivalent of telling someone they've been noticed, and that it's time to take the next step.

Kira Kamijiro is the veteran host of the show, from what started off as a radio show twenty-five years ago, has now become a nationwide phenomenon. From what I hear, it really helped put Takachiho on the map.

Though, Fenix gets a little shifty whenever I mention the show. I guess he's not a fan...

A famous talk show isn't the only thing Takachiho is known for. Turns out this place is known for its ties to Shintoism.

Personally, I'm not very religious. I don't believe in the supernatural either, no matter how many bad dreams of moon bunnies I have.

Doesn't mean that a lot of people don't believe in that stuff though, and think that it'll bring them good fortune. Entertainers especially, they make pilgrimages here to pray at the Aratate Shrine.

The shrine to Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto, the goddess of song, dance, and entertainment. Legend has it that when the goddess of the sun, Amaterasu locked herself away in a cave, Ame-no-Uzume danced to bring her back.

Hey, if Ame-no-Uzume's real, maybe she'll throw me a bone. I'm desperate enough to ask. I'll take any chance I can get to have the advantage over Katsuo at the School Idol Festival.

What is a King to a God, right?

The air's crisp, the path to the Takachiho Shrine winding through ancient cedars. The path curves, the torii gate looming ahead through the cold mist. I noticed that at the shrine someone was gazing blankly into space all alone.