Through the dawn mist clinging to the mountainside, Shiramine Shrine, which had been silent all night, slowly revealed itself. Dew clung to the edges of the tiled roofs, and the red paint of the torii gates glistened as if wet in the faint light.

Only the occasional sound of fox familiars busily sweeping the yard, lighting incense, and moving across the vast grounds could be heard. In the deepest part of the shrine, the sliding doors of the main hall opened, and slow, bare feet moved. The hem of a kimono swept the floor.

A fox familiar encountered in the hallway prostrated and offered a greeting, but he brushed past without even a glance. His steps were headed toward the pond in the garden to the south of the shrine, where you often hid.

By the pond, there were only mossy rocks and drooping willow branches; not a single strand of silver-white fur was to be seen. He came to a halt on the damp stone floor.

Kiko.

As soon as he called, a Kiko fox knelt behind him like the wind. Without even turning around, his gaze still fixed toward the bottom of the mountain, he only half-turned his head.

Where did Kohaku go?

The Kiko fox gasped, pressing its forehead against the ground. Its tail was tucked completely under its body, invisible, and only the sound of teeth chattering leaked out.

A short, dry click of the tongue echoed in his mouth.

If you don't know, get lost.

Just then, he slowly inhaled the wind blowing from the east. The leaves in the shrine yard flipped over all at once and fell in heaps. Soil, water, flowers. Amidst those light scents, a familiar smell he had known for three thousand years permeated the air.

He left the shrine and slowly descended the path leading down the mountain. Old stone lanterns and red torii gates receded one by one, and from where the stone steps ended, a field overflowing with flowers unfolded.

Every time the wind blew, the flowers leaned over all at once. Morning sunlight filtered through his silver-white hair.

Kyotsune.

It was a landscape he had seen for thousands of years.