Chapter 58
New Year
In the distance, temple bells rang the New Year to welcome early visitors.
Elyna drew her wool coat tighter, watching her breath curl in the crisp air.
Kazuki pulled her along the stone path, far less winded than she was from the steep ascent that led to Atago Jinja shrine.
They said the very first Shōgun had it built on the tallest hill of Tōkyo, centuries in the past; the numerous steps were high and wide, revealing a lush environment that stood out in the sea of grey buildings.
Kazuki’s full attention rested upon her. If only to tell her that blowing her nose in public was considered rude, to which she retorted that their sniffling habit was so freaking worse. He only grinned, looking so unfairly handsome underneath the cedar trees, frost still caught on their needles.
They passed under large torii gates, opening a path lined with stone lanterns draped with rope and white paper streamers.
“In the Edo period,” Kazuki told her, “people became one year older on New Year’s Day.” Elyna nodded, she’d heard of the concept, but it still felt strange.
“So it was like … a collective birthday?”
“Hai, something like that,” he mused, pausing at the temple’s entrance.
They approached purification basins where Kazuki rinsed his hands. Then he cupped the running water to wash his mouth before spitting discreetly to the side. Elyna followed suit, gasping when the icy liquid touched her palms.
To share this ancient ritual with him was another intimate experience.
The queue of visitors trickled slowly until the elderly woman ahead of them reached the offering box and bowed reverently. Elyna fumbled in her pocket for coins. “Five yen is traditional,” Kazuki murmured, his breath warm against her ear. “Go-en for good connections.”
She only understood the joke when she found five yen—go.
And they say Japanese is bad for wordplay.
Elyna dropped her coin into the wooden box, hoping for new possibilities. She pulled the thick rope, and the bronze bell’s deep tone reverberated through her chest. Two respectful bows. Two sharp claps. Then silence.
Please allow me to stay here, with him. Please let us build something beautiful together. The wish left her chest, taking flight in the morning sun. Somewhere deep down, danced another truth not yet acknowledged. I want to make Japan my home.
When Elyna’s eyes opened, Kazuki was watching her with an unreadable expression. As if he, too, had dived into the confines of his heart to unearth his deepest secrets. He moved forward to take his turn, concentration set upon his features as he bowed, clapped, and then stood in silent prayer.
What could he be asking for?
The morning light caressed his hair, revealing the russet tones she loved. He rang the bell once, then joined her, thoughtful. Her lover gave her a long searching look, one that took her breath away.
Yet, he said nothing and only pulled her further into the temple grounds. They wandered idly, still lost in the spell’s significance as visitors parted like water around stones. Anchored to Kazuki, she allowed him to lead her around the small wooden stalls selling New Year’s charms.
An elderly shrine maiden—a miko—was arranging colourful omamori in neat rows. Red ones for love, blue for safety, white for academic success. Elyna’s eyes lingered on a small charm decorated with delicate cherry blossoms.
Kazuki picked up a simple one as he returned his old, frayed wooden charm. She knew from past conversations that he wasn’t a fierce believer, but traditions were traditions. “For what do you hope this year?” he asked quietly,
“Strength,” she blurted out. The strength to stand up to my mother, and make my own path. “What about you?”
His eyebrows waggled suggestively. “Patience.”
Elyna covered her laugh with her sleeve like a proper lady. Then she paid the shrine maiden for their charms. Kazuki allowed her this little gesture, tucking his own in a pocket as she attached hers to her handbag.
Only one ritual left now. The drawing of fortunes papers.
Deeper into the temple grounds dwelt the Omikuji display.
The woman who held the stall looked like she’d just stepped out from the Sengoku era; white kimono top and red hakama, looking pristine in the morning light.
Ribbons kept her heavy tresses from dancing in the breeze.
Kazuki drew a folded paper from the wooden box. Elyna remained sceptical about the practice, but she would never shy away from folklore. And if her companion indulged, why not follow the flow?
“Good fortune,” he smiled. Elyna’s own was rougher; her heart sank when she realised her lack of faith was probably being called out by the Kami. “Not so good.”
What if the fortune paper was right? What if? A warm hand landed on her shoulder; Kazuki’s countenance was serene, his smile discrete. “Let us ask Kami-sama to turn your fate, then.”
Well, why give me this in the first place, then?
Pouting, Elyna felt Kazuki’s hand at the small of her back, steering her away from the increasing crowd when a Western man caught her attention; he towered over most visitors by a good head. His features were elegant, hair peppered with grey that only emphasised his charisma.
Beside him stood a girl about Elyna’s own height, with short dark tresses that sported a defiant streak of green dye at the front. She was almost swallowed in an oversized jacket, as if hiding.
In her hand, a folded paper similar to hers; her dark eyebrows were knitted in both disappointment and concentration, as if the fortune was a puzzle to be solved. Her father waited by her side; they both looked a tad lost.
Elyna recognised some French; she understood just enough to perceive the disappointment in the girl’s voice. Gathering her bravado, she tugged on Kazuki’s hand to approach the foreign visitors.
“Not so good?” she stuttered something that oscillated between French and Italian, tone lagging as she hesitated where to put the emphasis.
The man’s eyebrows rose, the private smile he’d bestowed upon his daughter turning into an interrogative glance. “Ah. Sorry, my French is not good,” Elyna smiled, feeling exposed under that assessing gaze. “English?”
“English is fine,” he responded with the hint of an American accent.
By her side, Kazuki nodded to the stranger, looking a little put off by her impromptu accosting—a definite no-no in Japan.
Even though her lover was nearly six feet tall, he still had to crane his neck to meet the other man's eyes.
“If fortune is not good, you must tie on a pine tree,” he explained in English, showing the rows of white paper dancing in the breeze like silk ribbons.
“Kami-sama will help transform it into good luck,” Elyna added.
The girl’s face betrayed her scepticism, but she had the grace to purse her lips. A diplomat. Yet, her eyes lingered mournfully on the omikuji, as if it embodied her worst fears.
“Nora has been working too much those past months, her school program is very demanding,” her father explained, his large hand settling naturally on his daughter’s shoulder, a gesture born of habit.
“Yeah, I was hoping for better luck this year,” she murmured, her accent barely detectable. For a moment, Elyna wondered if they should both trash the omen paper altogether. Instead, Nora just sighed. Then her expression morphed into something determined, eyes flashing with intent.
“Can you show me how to do it?” she asked.
Elated, Elyna dragged her temporary companion to the pine tree, while the men followed at a more sedate pace, voices mingling in a light conversation. Amongst that sea of dark hair, she and Nora stuck out like sore thumbs.
“Hey, we’re on the same boat,” Elyna teased, flashing her bad omen to the younger girl.
Nora just grinned when she gestured for her to go first. The tree was already laden with hundreds of omikuji, a manifestation of fears and disappointment meant to be transcended.
The sea of papers rustled in the wind like prayers, inviting them to add their own in their midst.
Elyna discreetly eyed Nora as she watched the display.
For a long time, she remained perfectly still, eyes glazed with awe, until her expression sharpened.
The girl reached for a higher branch, stretching on her toes, only for her father to catch the swaying limb and lower it just a notch.
Those last five centimetres that made everything possible.
The gesture was small, almost unconscious, but heavy with symbolism; the way he curved his impressive frame over her like a living shelter, creating a protective arc around the most precious gift he’d received in his world.
Nora murmured quiet thanks for his steadying hand and carefully tied her omikuji to the branch, working with such determination that the paper ended up thoroughly crumpled. But the ritual was complete.
Nora pouted for a moment, eyes watching the hundreds of bad omens fluttering in the breeze. “So we’re leaving our bad luck here? Like … dropping it off and walking away without it?”
Kazuki seemed enchanted to face such a receptive student. Once a teacher, always a teacher.
“Exactly. Your fortune is what you make of it,” he emphasised, as if talking to one of his charges. “Even if what you want now doesn’t happen, it can be right. It opens another path.”
Nora brushed a strand of green hair behind her ear as she processed his words. “You mean like … sometimes getting what we want isn’t as important as finding out what we actually need?”
Elyna’s breath caught; that was incredibly astute. Her father chuckled. “Nora always had a knack for understanding concepts that escape others…”
Silence stretched between them for a moment, the contemplative kind that infused into hearts, bringing a sliver of peace in its wake.
Her father stepped closer then, eyes sparkling with both amusement and gratitude. “Thank you both, truly,” he said, his own bow more reminiscent of the old-world nobility than Japanese-style, but courteous all the same. “You make a beautiful couple.”
Elyna’s heart stuttered at the praise; here were strangers, fellow foreigners who looked at them and didn’t see impropriety, but simply two people who belonged together. Without judgement about age difference or professional boundaries, just acceptance.
It felt wonderful see Karma at work; she’d offered a small kindness, and had received one in return in the most unexpected way.
“Arigatō gozaimasu,” Nora added in Japanese before they both turned to leave.
As they walked away, the young woman tucked that rebellious strand behind her ear one last time, laughing at something her father said.
Their retreating figures melted through the shrine visitors, although she could spot the man until they finally descended the steps.
“They’re so cute,” she breathed.
Kazuki’s fingers slid in between hers, warmth seeping through her gloves. Elyna stole a glance at her lover, finding his expression wistful, gaze distant. “I hope I’ll be as good a father as he is,” he mused quietly.
The words hung in the air between them, heavy with unspoken possibilities.
Heat flooded her cheeks as images flashed through her mind.
Kazuki’s gentle hands holding a baby, his patient voice reading bedtime stories, that same protective curve of his body sheltering their daughter from the world’s harshness.
A little girl with russet hair and storm-blue eyes, or perhaps lighter hair and golden-brown eyes that sparkled with mischief.
Their daughter.
Her heart stuttered. Instead of dread, the idea filled her with a yearning so intense it made her dizzy. Suddenly, she remembered the bad omen she had yet to shed and turned back to the ancient pine. Despite the early hour, the branches were already laden.
Rising up on her toes, Elyna extended her arm to discard the offending piece of fortune. Kazuki’s hands pressed on her lower back to steady her, a reassuring touch through her wool coat.
“You really move like a dancer,” he said softly as she secured the knot. When Elyna settled back on her heels, she felt unburdened. As if leaving the piece of paper up there had opened a new path for the New Year. What happens must happen, and we will pull through.
“What did you wish for?” she asked softly. Kazuki’s eyes met hers; for a moment she thought he might actually respond. Instead, he gave her a private smile. “If I tell you, it won’t come true.”
Judging by the longing painted on his face, his wish might not be so different from hers. And so they started the little trek back to civilisation, floating into the foggy wisps that still clung to the hill.
“Oh by the way, the man we just met…”, Kazuki trailed off, holding on to her hand as they reached the steep descent to dive back into the grey skies of Tōkyō.
“Yeah?” Elyna breathed out, minding her steps. Her lover paused for dramatic effect, his eyes glinting with his natural mischievous streak. “He told me he sings metal!”
“No waaaaayyyy!”
Elyna: Happy New Year, dolt. Still angry?
Aksel: No, it’s too boring. Having a good time being all gooey lovey-dovey?
Elyna: There are no words to describe it. ??
Aksel: ?? No X-rated stuff please!