Eitsu's Nine Lives (永津の九生) [yuri/GL yokai reincarnation story]

17 - Sansaku

CW: NSFW, death

*

No time to stop.

Eitsu came to with a gasp, clutching her chest, but she would think about it later. She dropped the fifth pelt back into the box and seized the sixth.

*

She was born in a temple, the only one of her siblings to be patterned with the lucky colours of red, black and white. The kannushi and miko gave thanks to the kami of the shrine for this auspicious sign and presented the kitten as the official shrine cat in a day-long ceremony. The kami of the shrine was Benzaiten, Goddess of That Which Flows. A miko claimed that the goddess had come to her in a dream and given the kitten a name: Sansaku. No one was entirely sure how this was supposed to be written. Perhaps the kitten would grow up to like wandering? Eventually, the kannushi and miko decided that the goddess must have meant that the tri-coloured patches on the cat's fur resembled blossoms, and so she was named Sansaku, To Bloom Three Times.

In the shrine, she grew quickly and safely, fed well and often found happily asleep in the arms of Benzaiten's statue. Worshippers hoped that on the days they arrived, they would be lucky enough to see the three-colours cat held by the goddess.

One day, the butterflies arrived.

At first, it was only one or two. Even this was enough to cause a sensation – maidens would visit the temple in droves, as it was whispered that a white butterfly would show one their true love. As spring drew on, it became said that there were as many butterflies as cherry blossoms drifting through the blue skies.

If one was extra lucky, they would find Sansaku peacefully asleep in Benzaiten's arms, with seven white butterflies perched softly on her fur. Those who did would have good luck for the rest of their lives.

In her dreams, Sansaku would hear tiny, silvery voices calling to her, calling her true name.

[Eitsu... Eitsu..."]

She would wake and see the butterflies, their wings languorously flapping, as if waiting.

"What do you want?"

["There's someone waiting."]

"Someone?"

A year passed. The butterflies left and came again the next spring. And then they left again, and Eitsu went with them.

Her paws hit the ground outside the torii(6), and a dark wind descended upon her, sweeping aside the butterflies and tossing them into the air. Before she could react, a second breeze, this time rushing out through the torii behind her, blowing away the dark air.

["Hurry, child."]

Across the countryside she ran, following the butterflies, days becoming months, following the glowing insects through strange paths that sometimes did not seem to be connected to the tangible world. She moved like a ghost.

They came to a town.

The butterflies drifted along the streets to a large building, slipping into the crack made by a door left slightly ajar. Eitsu trotted inside.

It seemed to be an anteroom, containing only a few boxes. She leapt up on top of one, and the butterflies, glowing softly white, settled around her.

"So what is it you wanted to show me?"

The butterflies, of course, said nothing. She felt a kind of itch, all inside of her, as if something were about to happen.

For the first time in that life, she flowed into a human form, long hair falling orange-black-white around her bare shoulders. There were pale patches on the darker background of her skin, and she examined her human hands with intense curiosity.