The air was thick with mist as Reiko stood on the cliffside, overlooking a shimmering sea of clouds. The wind carried no sound, only the distant chime of bells, as though calling her deeper into the dream. But this place—this twilight world between memory and spirit—felt more real than anything she had ever known.
Beside her stood Miwa.
Not the ghostly, tortured visage from her nightmares, but a living, breathing woman—her long dark hair bound with red thread, her shrine maiden robes fluttering in the wind. Her eyes, once filled with sorrow, now held something gentler. Peace. Longing.
They said nothing, but Reiko could feel their hearts beating as one, their blood calling across generations.
"You remember this place?" Miwa asked softly.
Reiko nodded. "It was in the vision. Before I woke. This is where it all began… isn't it?"
Miwa turned to face her. "Yes. And where something else begins too."
From the mists, a figure approached.
He was tall, with silver streaks in his hair and a kind face marked by time. His robe was simple, ceremonial, with faded motifs of the moon and plum blossoms. Reiko did not know him, and yet—she did.
The man bowed slightly. "Miwa. Reiko."
Miwa's eyes softened with a pain Reiko hadn't seen since the curse had lifted. "It's him," Miwa whispered. "He was… the one I loved. Before they took everything from me. And he…"
Reiko's heart pounded. "He looks at me like he knows me."
The man stepped forward, his voice calm, resonant. "In another life, you were both bound to me. As priestess and protector… as friend and beloved." His eyes shimmered with unshed tears. "Miwa, your love gave me purpose. And Reiko… even now, my soul is drawn to you. Across lives. Across time."
Reiko felt dizzy. "This is a dream."
"No," Miwa said. "This is the truth you buried. A connection older than blood."
Miwa reached out and took Reiko's hand, then the man's. "We are echoes. Repeating. Merging. Shifting. But this time, we are allowed to remember."
The man looked at them both. "I loved you both… in different ways. And I still do."
Miwa leaned into him, placing a hand on his chest. "You were the only one who ever saw me as more than a vessel."
He turned to Reiko, brushing a strand of hair from her cheek. "You are different… and yet, the same. I see her in you. And something more."
Reiko swallowed, her voice barely above a whisper. "Do you… love me?"
"I have always loved you," he said. "In every version."
And then—he kissed her.
It was slow, delicate. Miwa stood to the side, watching, not with jealousy but acceptance. Reiko felt herself sinking into it, her heart fluttering, overwhelmed by the strange warmth. Their spirits, so entangled across lives, were now fused in one moment of truth.
But as the kiss deepened, the mist around them darkened. Thunder rolled in the skies above. The ground trembled.
Miwa pulled back, alarmed. "Something's wrong."
Reiko's body jerked—and she gasped.
---
She awoke with a violent start.
The world snapped into focus: the walls of an old inn room, lit by morning light. Her breath came fast, her body drenched in sweat. The pendant around her neck throbbed with heat.
"Miwa?" she whispered, reaching out into the empty air.
But it was not Miwa who was there.
It was Shin.
He sat beside her bed, his arms crossed, his expression unreadable—but his eyes were storming.
"You talk in your sleep," he said.
Reiko's lips were dry. "How long have you been watching?"
"Long enough to hear you moaning another man's name," Shin said, his voice low.
Reiko opened her mouth to explain, but Shin stood and stepped closer. "Tell me. Who is he? Is he even real?"
"It was a dream," she said. "A memory… maybe something from another life. I don't know."
"Doesn't matter," Shin snapped. "Because I'm real. I'm the one who saved you. Again and again."
His voice cracked at the end.
Reiko stared at him, caught off guard by the intensity in his gaze. She had never seen him like this—vulnerable, angry, desperate.
He stepped closer, so close she could feel his breath.
"I don't care if he was a priest from a thousand years ago or your spirit husband from a past life," Shin said, voice shaking. "You're mine."
Reiko blinked. "What…?"
And then he kissed her.
It wasn't gentle. It was rough, unrelenting, desperate. His hand cupped her face, another gripping her wrist as if afraid she'd vanish again.
Reiko gasped into his mouth, stunned, but something inside her—something buried—responded.
She kissed him back.
For a moment.
Then, she broke away, eyes wide, panting. "Shin—what the hell was that?!"
"I love you!" he shouted, his voice breaking. "I've loved you since the first moment you stood against that cursed spirit and didn't flinch. Since you bled for others. Since you looked at me with those eyes and saw me."
Reiko stared at him, heart hammering.
He stepped back, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "I know I shouldn't have done that. But I couldn't… I couldn't keep watching you fall into someone else's arms, even in dreams."
Silence fell between them.
Reiko reached up, touching her lips, still tingling from his kiss.
"I'm sorry," Shin muttered. "I just… I thought I lost you. Again."
Reiko looked at him—really looked.
The boy who had saved her. The one who had seen her at her worst and stayed. Who had fought spirits, defied fate, bled beside her. The one who was always there, even in the shadows of her past lives.
"You're real," she whispered. "And… you love me."
Shin gave a bitter laugh. "Unfortunately."
Reiko stood slowly, walking toward him. "Then don't run."
Shin blinked. "What?"
"I need time," she said. "To sort out what I saw. What I felt. But I want you near me when I do."
He exhaled, shoulders sagging.
Reiko touched his cheek. "You're not second to anyone. Not to dreams. Not to ghosts. You're the only one who's walked with me through the fire."
Shin grabbed her hand, squeezing it hard.
Outside, the morning sun broke through the clouds, casting golden light on the worn tatami mats. The pendant at Reiko's neck pulsed once, faintly.
Miwa's curse was broken.
But the bonds of the heart—old, new, tangled—were just beginning to reveal their truth.
---
To Be Continued