The sunlight passes through the sparse branches and leaves and falls on the quiet stone steps, reflecting spots.
It's clear after the snow. Although it is located near Kyoto University, this unpopular shrine hidden in the mountains is very quiet. You can't see many people after walking around.
"Akane?"
Kirino Akane came to her senses and followed her parents in front of her.
"Here we come."
"Is there anything there?"
Kirino Keiko looked at the place where her daughter was in a daze. There was only a stone lantern hidden among the trees.
After thousands of years of wind and rain, the upright stone lantern has long been mottled and its surface is covered with moss.
"squirrel?"
"Eh? No, there's nothing." Kirino Akane also looked back, "I just think the style of that stone lantern is rare, and I'm a little curious."
"Yeah."
"Does Akane like stone lanterns? At Kasuga Taisha Shrine over in Nara, there are two thousand stone lanterns of various kinds along the mountain path. During the Beginning of Spring and the Bon Festival, there will also be a Ten Thousand Lantern Festival."
"Really? It's amazing..."
As the Kirino family walked further and further away along the stone steps, a palm-sized figure suddenly emerged from the chamber of the stone lantern, looking thoughtfully at the place where they disappeared.
"Is he a 'visible' person?"
The stone stairs are steep, the landscape plants on both sides are covered with white snow, and no matter how long the corridor is, there is an end. Passing through the vermilion torii gate, Kirino Akane followed her parents and left Yoshida Shrine.
"The weather is so nice, but there aren't many people here. It's really a deserted place."
“But it’s also really effective.”
"But the one I drew is Sueji, which always feels a bit subtle. If you are not good enough, you will fail the ranking if you are not careful..."
"Bah, bah, bah!"
Kirino Keiko raised her eyebrows and interrupted her daughter, "You can't say the word 'failed'!"
"Mom will tell you now."
"..."
Kirino Hiroyuki, who had been silent until now, came out to smooth things over.
"It's getting late. I have something to do in the afternoon. Let's go back."
"What's going on?" Kirino Akane asked.
"There is a problem with a supplier, and I need to go over and talk about it."
The izakaya run by the Kirino family requires a large amount of ingredients every day, and these come from stable supplies from long-term cooperative stores.
"Is mom going to go too?"
"Yes, that's my mother's acquaintance over there."
"but……"
She turned around and looked at the deserted shrine and Kyoto University not far away, "I want to hang out in Kyoto for a while longer."
The Kirino couple looked at each other and quickly made up their minds.
"In this case... Hongxin should go back first, I will stay with Qian."
"Um."
Akane Kirino had other ideas, "I'll be fine alone!"
"oh?"
Kirino Keiko crossed her hips and asked, "Did Akane plan this just now?"
"Hehe." She didn't deny it.
"Where do you want to go Akane?"
She actually just wanted to take a stroll, but wandering without a purpose would make her parents unable to truly relax, so they casually mentioned a destination.
"I want to sit by the Kamogawa River for a while."
"Kamogawa...then let dad drive Akane there."
"It's very close. I can just walk there by myself."
"Is there enough money?"
"Not necessarily enough..."
The couple discussed briefly, nodded in agreement, and gave her 5,000 yen as expenses before leaving.
"Keep your phone on and remember to come back early."
"Uh-huh."
Separated from her parents, middle school student Kirino Akane stood for a while outside the small front entrance of Kyoto University;
In the confusion of having nowhere to go, she suddenly understood the truth behind casual words.
"Then let's go to Kamogawa and have a look..."
...
From the main entrance of Kyoto University to Kamogawa, there is only one road to the end, no turning required.
At the end of February, at the end of winter and the beginning of spring, the grass on both sides of the Kamogawa River was no longer green, the trees were not hanging leaves, and it was still a desolate scene.
There are quite a few people coming and going.
The water is turbulent, and the rocks in the middle of the river are covered with a thick layer of ice cream. Not too far upstream is the Kamogawa Delta. Kirino Akane didn't plan to go too far, so she returned when she got tired of sitting by the river.
Home.
"When the time comes, let's go to Demachiyanagi Station and take the train back." She thought to herself, "We can also go to the Delta to see it."
Withdrawing her gaze from the distance, she found a bench and sat down, looking towards the opposite river bank.
"Eh?"
On the sidewalk by the river, there was a very familiar figure hurriedly walking.
Kirino Akane didn't think her memory was that good, but it was definitely not bad. At least she could still remember the clothes she personally selected a few days ago.
That was the coat that Sogu bought when she went to a nearby shopping mall with him after he got his first week's salary - he couldn't keep wearing those old-fashioned and ill-fitting old clothes left by his uncle.
It was because of this familiar outfit that she stared at the figure hurriedly passing by on the other side of the Kamogawa River.
Although she couldn't see his face clearly due to her slight myopia, she could still tell from the way he walked that he was Soya.
"Hey, why..."
Kirino Akane still remembered that when she proposed to come to Kyoto together in the morning, there was a flash of resistance on Soya's face, as if there was something terrible here. She didn't expect to see him by the Kamogawa River in the afternoon.
"Soya——"
She shouted, but unfortunately Sogu on the other side didn't hear her.
The bridge connecting the two sides of the Kamogawa River is still far away. You just want to cross the river, not necessarily the bridge.
Stepping down the river bank and arriving at the water's edge, you will see a neatly laid stone path connecting the other side.
At this time of year, the flow of the Kamogawa River is gentle and not turbulent. The huge rocks are very stable, and the snow on them has been cleaned up by people who came earlier, but Akane Kirino is still a little nervous.
However, she noticed that Zonggu was missing and seemed to have left the river bank. She no longer cared about her fear, and with a rush of energy, she jumped from the rocks to the other side like a dragonfly.
"It's amazing, little girl."
"Where, where..."
Perhaps because she was too focused, Kirino Akane didn't notice that there were other people here. When she followed the sound, she saw a figure floating in the air half a meter above the ground.
"Hey." He floated over, leaving no trace on the snow under his feet, "You can really see me, right?"
"Can't see, can't see!"
Kirino Akane was so frightened that she had no time to rest, so she climbed onto the river bank without looking back, and then went down the other side.
"ha……"
The girl panted heavily and kept walking.
What's going on...
The same goes for Yoshida Shrine, the same goes for Kamogawa... Why are there so many wandering spirits here in Kyoto?
She ran for a while, left the Kamogawa River, and plunged into the intricate alleys along the river bank.
The dazzling signs and lanterns on both sides quickly made her lose her direction; if she stopped again, she no longer knew where she was.
"...where is this?"
Although she had been to Kyoto many times since she was a child, Akane Kirino was not familiar with it, especially the alleys lined with bars, izakayas and restaurants, also known as flower streets.
There were many pedestrians in the alley, shoulder to shoulder, walking their own way. The chaos on both sides was like a bizarre dream, and she couldn't help but follow the flow of people forward.
The road is getting narrower and narrower, and there are fewer and fewer shops on both sides, but there is still a huge flow of people around her without stopping.
At a certain moment, Akane Kirino suddenly stopped, and everyone in the alley also stopped.
Neatly, the sound of the last footsteps is surprisingly consistent.
"..."
She immediately felt something was wrong, and before she had time to think about it, the passerby closest to her suddenly turned to look at her.
"joyous."
Almost at the same moment, another person next to him also turned around.
"welcome."
Another one.
"Come."
Another one...
"arrive."
Their faces, from their facial expressions to their expressions, and even the weird curves at the corners of their mouths, were as if they were printed from the same mold, with no difference at all.
Faces turned around one after another, and the announcement word by word continued.
"Beijing."
"All."
"high!"
"sky!"
"Original!"
The next moment, hundreds of thousands of identical faces in the entire alley looked towards her.
"Gao! Tian! Yuan!"
"..."
Without any hesitation, Akane Kirino turned around and ran away.