The full moon rose like a blessing.
Its light spilled across the shrine in slow, silvery waves, brushing every surface with a soft glow. At its center, where the moonstone pulsed faintly beneath the cedar arch, the veil began to shift.
It didn't open like a door. It breathed.
With a shimmer and a hush, the world thinned, and the spirits began to leave.
Yuzume stood in the middle of it all, trying not to panic.
The farewell ceremony was sacred. Precise. It marked the passage of souls who had lingered too long, those who had found peace or grown tired, those ready to cross. It was a night of graceful endings, not chaos.
Tonight was her first time handling it alone.
And it was chaos.
Spirits gathered in larger numbers than she'd expected. Dozens, maybe more, drifting like silk across the stones, crowding near the river, humming near the peach blossoms. They needed guidance. They needed peace. They needed her.
And she was trying. She really was.
"The lanterns are lit," she muttered to herself, breath catching as she ran across the courtyard. "The incense... no wait, I forgot the fourth tier. It's fine, I'll do it on the way back. Has anyone seen the hymn bell?!"
A spirit brushed past her shoulder without so much as a glance. Another flickered through the offering tray and up into the night.
"Wait!" she called after them. "You forgot your... oh, never mind..."
She'd practiced. She had it memorized. And still it was slipping through her fingers.
She chanted with the wrong hand. She mixed up the river stones. She stepped on a charm scroll and had to apologize to the soil spirit three times before it stopped glaring at her.
By the time the second wave of spirits arrived, she'd already broken two candles, spilled the tea, and apologized to the moon.
"This is fine," she whispered, adjusting her sash. "I'm fine. The shrine is fine. The spirits are probably just... confused."
Then she noticed something strange.
A crowd had formed near the peach blossom tree.
That wasn't unusual by itself, many spirits liked to pause there, especially before passing on, but they weren't preparing to leave. They weren't whispering their final prayers.
They were just watching.
Standing still.
She frowned, adjusting her sleeves and heading toward them.
"What's going on?" she asked softly, weaving through the floating forms. "Is someone crossing early? Did I forget the final blessing again? I swear, if it's the koi spirit being dramatic..."
But the spirits weren't facing the veil.
They were facing the ground.
Yuzume's breath caught as she saw what they surrounded.
A figure. Slumped in the grass. Chest rising and falling in slow, steady rhythm.
A human.
Lying unconscious inside the veil.
Her heart flipped in her chest. "No. No no no. That's not... that can't be..."
She rushed forward, kneeling beside the body, eyes wide.
A boy. Maybe her age. Pale from the cold, covered in dirt and moonlight, as if he'd fallen straight out of the sky. His hand was curled near his chest, fingers twitching faintly. A stray charm paper had stuck to his sleeve.
"How did he?" she breathed, panic bubbling in her throat. "The veil doesn't let people in. Not on full moon. Tonight is for leaving. This... this isn't right."
She looked around at the spirits. None spoke. None moved.
She pressed her hands to her mouth, mind spiraling. What would Sensei have done? What had he told her about veil-breachings? Had he ever told her anything like this?
No.
Because this was impossible.
He stirred.
Yuzume yelped and nearly fell backward into the incense tray.
The boy groaned softly, shifting under the blossoms, eyes fluttering open with a bleary confusion that settled somewhere between fear and exhaustion.
They locked eyes.
Yuzume froze.
He didn't look dangerous. Just… lost. His breath fogged softly in the cool night air, chest rising and falling like he was still halfway in a dream.
Then she remembered.
Be kind first. Questions later.
That was what Sensei would have said.
With a trembling breath, she tucked a blossom behind her ear, smoothed her sleeves, and knelt beside him.
He blinked up at her, still dazed.
She hesitated… then smiled.
"My name is..."
Her voice wavered. Just a little.
"...Yuzume."