影見

After trying to take the Nie no Chi for his own, Nushi-sama was sealed away by En no Gyouja and the Moongazer Tribe.

I heard in the capitol, just after a story about a princess of a wealthy family in a bamboo thicket bearing the Nie no Chi, that he was sealed by them.

And then I------

---was left all alone.

Even when I returned to his place of rest, I saw no one there.

For a time, unable to believe it, I merely decided to continue living as before.

Because it was normal for there not to be an answer.

A while after that, I made an attempt to venture into that place.

Headed off by a strong power, I was unable to approach the pillar of the seal.

I was mortified.

At the height of my spite, I continued to speak out within the bamboo forest.

Naturally, there was no answer in return.

Much the same as it was when Nushi-sama was there.

But as it continued at length, I began to feel a measure of loneliness, and tried to answer by myself.

...merely answering occasionally with uninspired banter.

I felt that the loneliness had ebbed away slightly.

How long had that continued, I wonder------?

---when suddenly, I had a feeling that I was being watched.

The stare is coming from within Ryougetsu.

When I gaze into it, my eyes meet with those of the girl inside.

She looks just like me------ although... did I always have such a boring expression on my face?

It could be that I made a face like this once, back in the time when I was still human------

---then maybe this is------

I'm sure... this is my younger sister's face.

No doubt it is the face of my younger sister, as she still would appear as a human.

It was a face I loathed and loathed more than I could say in the past, but now, I feel it better just to have a face nearby, even one such as this.

Better though it may be, I am in no mood to hold her dear, and find myself taking on a crabby mood.

As I spit curse after curse in her direction, her face wilts into a forlorn expression.

Now that I mention it, I recall reading in my scrolls that mirrors were used in the past as sorcerous implements to view distant locales.

Although, could my sister, loved by all among flowers and butterflies for her smile, truly be making a face like this?

Ahh, I see------

Much in the way I was before.

It makes me feel like I'm looking at myself, of times past...

So that's it? My sister has been tossed aside by our father, and taken the same path as I?

And if she's also come to possess Ryougetsu------

If that's true, then it's only natural that I would sense someone staring at me.

Even so, it feels as if Mikage has always been looking my way.