Chapter 78: A Secret Rendezvous Begins at Kiyomizu-dera (Part 3)
After passing a T-junction, they came upon a faded wooden sign nailed to a mottled earthen wall.
Four brush-written characters were painted across it:
Ishibe-koji Alley.
Beside the sign, a cluster of white moonflowers poked through a crack in the wall, standing out vividly in the dim light.
Utaha stared at the flowers for several seconds.
"You know, Jinnai-kun..."
Her voice was softer than before.
"Being somewhere like Kyoto, surrounded by places with a thousand years of history, gives you this strange illusion that time itself can be folded."
She didn't wait for him to respond.
"Kinkaku-ji was rebuilt. The timber at Kiyomizu-dera has been replaced over time. These stone steps have been walked on by countless people until their edges became smooth."
"Nothing we see now is exactly what it originally was."
"It's all the result of layer after layer of time being placed on top of what came before."
She paused.
"In the face of time, every one of us is only passing through."
Saku said nothing.
He simply followed her gaze toward the moonflowers.
Silence settled over the alley for several seconds.
Then Utaha turned toward him.
Her expression was gentler than usual.
The familiar confident smile that always made it seem as though she had everything under control was gone, but she didn't look sad or melancholy either.
It was difficult to describe.
Almost as though, for one brief moment, she'd lowered every defense she normally kept around herself.
"It's a strange feeling."
Utaha looked directly at him.
"Out of all the countless people who have ever passed through this place..."
"You're the only one standing beside me at this exact moment."
The alley fell so quiet that only the rustling of wind through the pine branches remained.
Saku felt his heart skip once.
Then the next beat came noticeably harder.
'As expected of someone cultured.'
Even when Utaha said something romantic, she could make an entire philosophy out of it.
Saku was nothing like that.
He was a simple man.
At best, he knew a few painfully cheesy pickup lines.
Things like:
'I'm sick, but forget the IV drip. What I really need is a dose of missing you tonight.'
That sort of nonsense.
"...Senpai."
Saku looked at her.
"If you keep talking like that, I'm seriously going to want to kiss you."
Utaha blinked.
Then the familiar curve slowly returned to her lips.
"That won't do."
"Not yet."
Her tone had regained its usual composure.
But when she turned away and started walking again, Saku clearly saw a faint pink flush spreading across the tips of her ears.
...
After leaving Ishibe-koji Alley, they crossed Maruyama Park and eventually reached Yasaka Shrine.
The vermilion West Gate shone almost painfully bright beneath the midday sun, forming a striking contrast with the dim, tranquil alley they'd just left behind.
There were noticeably more people here.
A traditional Japanese wedding was taking place at the shrine's dance stage.
The bride wore a pure white shiromuku and stood surrounded by family members, her expression reserved yet unmistakably happy.
Utaha stopped some distance away and quietly watched.
Her wine-red eyes were unusually focused.
There was none of her normal teasing in them.
Instead, she looked almost as though she were carefully examining the scene.
"What are you thinking about?"
"The changing symbolism of the shiromuku in literature."
Utaha rested a hand beneath her chin.
"From traditional marriage narratives to modern ideas of personal choice, you could probably write an entire paper about how shifting gender expectations are reflected through it."
"...I thought you were imagining what it'd feel like to be the bride."
Saku looked toward the ceremony.
"A traditional wedding does have a different kind of charm from a Western one. There's more history behind it."
"...Fine."
Utaha's voice suddenly became quieter.
"I was thinking about that too..."
The last part was so soft that even Saku, standing beside her, failed to catch it.
Utaha shot him a sidelong glance, a trace of embarrassment flashing across her face.
"What are you staring at?"
"Even I think about things like that sometimes. Is that so strange?"
She immediately turned and walked deeper into the shrine, her pace noticeably faster than before.
After circling past the main hall, they found a temizuya tucked away in a quieter corner.
Utaha stepped up to the stone basin, used the long-handled ladle to scoop up clear water, washed her left hand, then her right, and finally rinsed her mouth according to proper shrine etiquette.
Her movements were so precise that it looked as though she'd researched the ritual beforehand.
Saku simply copied her.
By the time they left the shrine, it was already noon.
The sun shone almost directly overhead, casting dark, sharp shadows across the stone pavement.
Near Gion, they found an inconspicuous soba shop.
A noren swayed gently over the entrance, and inside, only two elderly customers sat quietly eating at the counter.
Utaha ordered zaru soba.
Saku went with tempura soba.
While they waited for their food, Utaha took out her phone and checked her step count before turning the screen toward him.
"Twelve thousand steps."
She sighed.
"And almost all of them were stairs."
"Tired?"
"I'm fine."
Utaha casually rotated one ankle.
"If you're with me, I don't really feel tired."
Even though Saku already understood what Utaha was trying to do today, the relentless assault on his heart was becoming difficult to withstand.
It was exactly these casual little remarks that hit hardest.
His heart felt as though someone had lightly scratched at it, leaving an itch that instinctively made him want to move closer to her.
"...Let me ask you something, Senpai."
Saku narrowed his eyes.
"How many guys have you said things like that to?"
Their food arrived just then.
Utaha lifted a small bundle of soba, dipped it lightly into the sauce, then suddenly stopped.
"So far?"
She glanced at him.
"Only you."
"Are you satisfied now?"
"Very."
Saku had no idea whether it was true.
But even if it wasn't, he was still happy.
At the very least, Utaha had clearly put genuine effort into today.
When a girl was willing to go out of her way for you, that alone was a kind of recognition.
"Next time..."
Utaha stared down at her bowl as though speaking casually.
"Let's try another soba place together."
"I know somewhere better."
She took another bite.
"The dipping sauce here is too salty."
'Next time?'
Saku didn't respond.
He simply lowered his head and continued eating.
Utaha also fell silent, concentrating entirely on her noodles as though she'd truly made the suggestion without thinking.
...
Their afternoon destination was the Philosopher's Path.
And no, this wasn't referring to any of those bizarre internet "philosophy" memes.
The walking trail followed the Lake Biwa Canal and had gained its name because Kyoto University philosopher Nishida Kitaro was said to have walked there while meditating.
The cherry trees lining both sides were covered only in dense green leaves now.
There was none of spring's sea of pink blossoms.
Yet the thick shade blocked much of the afternoon sunlight, while the constant murmur of water in the canal gave the trail an even quieter atmosphere than it would've had during cherry-blossom season.
Utaha walked a short distance ahead of Saku.
Her pace was relaxed, and the hem of her long skirt swayed gently with every step.
Occasionally, she'd stop and crouch beside a patch of wildflowers to watch a butterfly.
Other times, she'd pause before some nameless stone monument and trace the weathered characters that time had almost completely erased.
"What are you looking at?"
"The marks time leaves behind."
Utaha withdrew her fingers from the stone.
"In another few decades, these words probably won't be readable at all."
"By then, the person who wrote them, the person who carved them, and everyone who still remembers what they meant will all be gone."
She looked at the monument.
"Only the stone will remain."
"And it won't be able to tell anyone anything."
"You're unusually sentimental today."
Saku was a little surprised.
Was this something all literary girls did?
Or had Kyoto's atmosphere simply awakened Utaha's sense of mono no aware?
Utaha stood and brushed the dust from her fingers.
"Maybe it's because we don't get many chances to be alone like this."
She didn't deny it.
"Once we go back..."
Her voice softened.
"You won't belong to just me anymore."
…