The Crossing

Heisei era, the Japanese Archipelago, Kanto region, Tokyo.

Along the shores of Tokyo Bay, upon this once-barren land, the natural wilderness had been completely reshaped by industrial might. The rugged earth was forcibly leveled and paved, and a forest of steel and concrete rose from the ground. A massive population, unimaginable in ancient times, gathered here, living busy and crowded lives within this modern megacity.

In a residential area of Tokyo, far from the bustling commercial centers, a rare sense of tranquility for a large city enveloped the neighborhood. The blazing sun beat down mercilessly, scorching the concrete ground. Summer cicadas on the tree trunks shrieked loudly; the mere sound seemed to raise the already unbearable temperature by several degrees.

By a quiet alleyway, a girl with long green hair, wearing a high school sailor uniform, stood before a vending machine. Her head tilted back, she held a can of Coke, gulping it down. In moments, she had drained nearly the entire can.

"Phew~ I’m saved!!"

Holding the empty can, the green-haired girl named Sanae spoke with a refreshed expression. It was clear she had been parched, and this vending machine had been her savior.

"Though my thirst is quenched for now... there's nothing to be done about this weather. I won't be able to walk far before I'm thirsty again..." Sanae said slowly, tossing the empty can into a nearby bin and shielding her eyes with her hand as she squinted at the fierce sun.

"I didn't expect Tokyo to be this hot. I really miss the cool breeze by the lake..." Sanae grumbled slightly. On a typical summer day back home, she would have been enjoying the cool air blowing off Lake Suwa under the shade of a tree.

Compared to her family home at the shrine in Nagano, Sanae felt she still couldn't adapt to a place like Tokyo. In this moment of homesickness, she couldn't help but reflect on why she was even here.

"Sigh... come to think of it, I didn't plan on being an exchange student at first. It was Lady Suwako who kept egging me on, saying I should go see the world... what kind of 'world' is there to see in Tokyo anyway..."

Sanae muttered her complaints. Suddenly, she felt a chill at her side. Turning her head, she saw a grotesque, blood-soaked middle-aged man crawling along a nearby wall. His eyes were wide and bulging as he moaned, a kitchen knife buried in his head.

"I haven't seen much of the 'world,' but I've certainly seen plenty of bizarre vengeful spirits. Is this what a big city is like? So many people dying with lingering regrets..."

Closing her spiritual vision to put the sight out of mind, Sanae ignored the spirit. She dropped another coin into the vending machine and bought another can of Coke, planning to drink it as she walked.

Just as Sanae was about to pull the tab, a panicked female voice suddenly came from behind her.

"Ahhh! Get out of the way!"

Startled, Sanae froze for a second before immediately spinning around. She saw a black-haired girl, also in a sailor uniform, carrying a large backpack and riding a wobbling bicycle toward her at high speed. Her face was full of panic.

Sanae dodged decisively. The out-of-control bicycle brushed past her before losing its balance entirely and crashing to the ground. The girl fell with it, and the contents of her large backpack spilled everywhere—a heap of snacks, medicine, bandages, stationery, textbooks, and exercise books.

'Wait, that looks like the uniform of the high school I'm attending as an exchange student...' Sanae thought as she watched the girl struggle to pick herself up. She prepared to ask if the girl was hurt.

"Hey, are you..."

"Are you okay? Did you get hurt? I'm so sorry, I didn't handle that downhill stretch well!"

Sanae had just started to speak, but to her surprise, the black-haired girl on the ground was faster. Rubbing her hip as she sat up, she immediately turned the concern back on Sanae.

"Uh... I'm fine, of course. You didn't hit me. But are you okay?" Sanae asked, feeling a bit sheepish at the girl's apology.

"Ah, as long as you're okay. I'm used to these bumps and bruises, it's no big deal... ow..." The black-haired girl stood up while clutching her side. Her gaze then swept over the various items scattered on the ground.

"Phew... they all spilled out. Honestly..."

Seeing the mess, the black-haired girl let out a helpless sigh and began gathering her things. Seeing this, Sanae sighed as well and started helping her pick them up.

"Ah... thank you!"

"No need for thanks, it's just a small favor. But I have to ask, are you going on a hike with all this stuff?" Sanae asked as she helped.

"Eh... a hike? I guess you could call it that... a very, very long hike..." the black-haired girl answered after a slight hesitation.

"You're quite dedicated to your studies then. Bringing so many textbooks and exercise books even on a hike." Sanae commented as she tucked a math textbook into the large backpack. The black-haired girl laughed.

"Ahaha... well, I am a student. Studying is my primary duty..."

"That's true... Hm? You need to feed a dog on your hike?" Sanae asked with a hint of curiosity after picking up a can of dog food.

"Um... something like that. He's a wild stray; I don't even know if he'll like this." The black-haired girl said, choosing her words carefully. Her behavior struck Sanae as a bit odd.

Finally, everything was packed back into the backpack. The black-haired girl swung it onto her back and climbed back onto her bicycle. Seeing how much the backpack had bulged, Sanae couldn't help but worry for the bicycle.

"Thank you so much for your help! Here, keep this bag of chips as a thank-you. I'm in a hurry, so I'll be going now!" With that, the black-haired girl waved and pedaled away urgently. Sanae stood there watching her receding back.

"Strange person..."

As she spoke, Sanae looked down at the "chips" the girl had just handed her. It was actually an exercise book.

"And a scatterbrain too..." Sanae slapped her forehead in exasperation, then looked at the name on the exercise book.

"Kagome Higurashi...? Hey! Higurashi-san! You forgot something!" Sanae waved her arms and shouted loudly, but the black-haired girl was already far away. She didn't seem to hear Sanae's cry and disappeared around a corner.

Sanae sighed, then broke into a light jog, hoping to catch up and try calling out again. When she reached the corner where the girl had vanished and turned it herself, she froze for a moment.

Ahead of her stood a shrine.

"Higurashi... Shrine? Does her family run a shrine too?" Sanae murmured, looking at the stone monument before the torii. She peered deeper into the shrine grounds up the stone steps and caught sight of the black-haired girl parking her bicycle and entering the honden.

'Taking a bicycle into the honden? What kind of move is that? Is the goal of her hike inside this shrine?'

Thinking this, Sanae clutched the exercise book and hurried toward the building. Along the way, she passed a massive, towering tree.

"What a huge Goshinboku..."

After a brief moment of admiration, Sanae arrived at the front of the honden. Out of politeness, she stood outside and called out.

"Higurashi-san! You dropped something!"

Sanae waited quietly after her shout, but there was no response. Her brow furrowed; if the girl was inside, there was no way she hadn't heard.

Growing alert, Sanae drew two charms and held them between her fingers. She then slowly stepped into the empty, quiet honden.

"Excuse me..."

Entering the honden, Sanae looked around but found no sign of anyone. Her heart tightened.

"That's not right. I clearly saw her come in... how did she disappear..." Sanae whispered. Just as she was wondering if an evil spirit was at work, her gaze fell upon the center of the inner hall. There, surrounded by a wooden railing, was a square ancient well.

'A well... is the goshintai enshrined in this shrine a well?'

Maintaining her guard, Sanae slowly approached the ancient well. Standing at its edge, she looked down into the pitch-black depths.

"It's so dark. Who would dig a well in a place like this?"

Leaning her hands against the wooden railing, Sanae peered into the well, wondering if the girl with the bicycle was down there.

Crack!

Suddenly, the wooden railing Sanae was leaning on snapped, likely due to rot. Her center of gravity shifted, and she tumbled into the well...

"Whoa!"

Sanae fell, but just before hitting the bottom, she summoned a gust of wind to buoy herself, softening the impact.

"Ouch, that's not good. I actually fell in..."

Sitting on the ground at the bottom of the narrow well, Sanae prepared to stand up. As she did, her hand brushed against something on the floor. After fumbling for a moment, she held the object up to her eyes.

It was a small bone fragment. Seeing it, Sanae was struck with shock.

"This... this is Lady Suwako's aura..."

Just as Sanae was reeling from the discovery, a sudden change occurred. The pitch-black bottom of the well began to shimmer with brilliant colors, and Sanae felt herself plummeting even further down.

"W-What is this..."

Panic seized Sanae, but as she prepared to escape, she realized she was no longer in the dry well. The space around her had become entirely different.

And so, in an endless descent, Sanae passed through to the other side of time and space.