A Stone's Love Trial

Finding You

After I finished tying up various loose ends in the underworld, Aizawa personally placed three seals on the back of my neck, each representing one lifetime in the human world. Once the three seals disappeared, I must return to the underworld and stand guard by the River of Oblivion once again.

In the envious eyes of other spiritual beings, I donned a white cotton dress and left for the human world. The human world I had previously known through books was much livelier than I had imagined it to be, and also more interesting, and also... more dangerous.

On my third day on Earth, on the way looking for Katsuki, I passed by a temple and discovered that it was dedicated to the God of Heaven, Mirio. I went in, thinking of offering my hopes to find Katsuki. I had only dropped to my knees, yet to finish bowing, when an old yet nimble priest suddenly stepped forth with a razor in hand.

He smiled amiably at me: "Hello, penitent, knowing to mend your wrongs by seeking the Lord is doing the world a good deed."

Huh? I hadn't had time to ponder over the meaning behind his words when his razor flew straight for my hair.

I was a stone – the Deku Stone. From head to toe, the most difficult ability for me was to grow my hair. I stared at the moss on my stone for a thousand years before it finally made a little improvement, yet this old wrinkled donkey had the nerve to try and shave me! I huffed and kicked him away. Unexpectedly, this priest was actually skilled. He easily dodged my attack.

He withdrew the genial smile from his face. "What are you intending to do?"

"Old man, I should ask you the same question," I replied dubiously.

He sneered. "Demon, I thought you had wanted to follow the Lord's way to atone for your sins. It turns out you had come here to stir trouble!"

"Demon?" I blinked. "You're mistaken, I'm not..."

"Hmph, I've detected the mustiness of darkness lurking in you from three miles away. Don't try to slink your way out of this!" He brandished the razor at me again

I sniffed myself left and right, but couldn't really sense any dankness on my body. The fish in the River of Oblivion were much mustier than I was! But this geezer did not bother to listen to my explanation. His razor relentlessly came after me, forcing me to dodge and evade his movements. My desire to kill began to rise, but Aizawa's endless reminders that I must never harm anyone suddenly came to mind.

I withdrew my magic, turned, and made a run for it.

That priest kept chasing after me all around the entire mountain, forcing me to run till I was out of breath. I just wanted to give the wrinkled donkey a punch and send him to an eternal sleep. Alas, Aizawa wouldn't be very pleased with me if I did.

All of a sudden, a burst of fragrance drifted to my nose. I had never smelled such a wonderful fragrance in the underworld. My attention was instantly lured away. As I drew near, a red sea of flowers came into sight, my feet crunching into the cold white ground beneath me.

The humans called this season 'winter', and they called that glistening, chilling substance covering the red petals 'snow'. But I didn't yet know the name of these red flowers. After I passed through the sea of scented boughs, I discovered a small courtyard quietly standing on the other side.

Curious, I opened the gate and went inside. After barely stepping into the courtyard, the golden rune Katsuki left on my wrist suddenly glowed. My heart drummed as I approached the main house inside the yard. Suddenly, I heard a low female voice humming: "Hush-a-by baby, on the tree top, when the wind blows, the cradle will rock."

I gently pushed the door ajar and quietly peered inside. A young woman was sitting in bed with a baby in her arms. Upon a closer look, I smiled. That face, that nose, and those lips, wasn't this a meatball version of Katsuki?!