The fireflies glow like a million little stars around him. They flutter all around him, and even though he keeps turning around and around, he can never see all of them with just one glance. Their shine is intriguing, somehow inviting. They call him, and he curiously follows.
It’s almost like they’re speaking to him, even though he doesn’t understand their language. He answers anyway, though he isn’t sure if they can hear him over the roar of the heavy rain that just started outside of the cave.
The air in the cave is damp and cool, but somehow he isn’t cold at all. Do fireflies create warmth too, and not just light?
The ceiling of the cave is high, but the walls are close to each other, and he only walks a short while until he meets the end of the cave. The narrow walls glimmer pale green with the twinkling firefly lights.
Some fireflies land on his shoulders, and their glow seems to get even more intense. Somehow, he feels the glow seeping into his chest. The light settles somewhere around his heart, like it has found a home within him. He doesn’t mind it staying at all. It feels like a gift from the fireflies.
When the hum of the rain stops, the fireflies are gone in an instant, leaving him into the dark. It doesn’t matter. The way out is as clear to him as if he was walking in a bright daylight. And when he reaches the mouth of the cave, he meets the first rays of the rising sun.
* * *
"Juri? JURI! Where have you been? "
There is agony in his mother's voice when she screams, and tears in her eyes when she scrambles to him across the yard of the shrine and falls to her knees on the muddy ground, pulling him into her arms. Juri hugs her back and frowns. Why is she so upset? And why are her clothes wet? It’s not raining anymore.
Across his mother’s shoulder Juri sees more people appearing at the yard, too. His brother Hyoga, dragging along a reluctant Subaru by the wrist like a child-sized sack of rice, and the two old priests from yesterday, Mitani and Sakanoue. The priests exchange a meaningful look, and for a moment one of them stares into the space with glassy eyes, like he’s seeing things no-one else can.
“Mum? What’s wrong?”
She squeezes him harder. "We've got to get a word to your brothers and father, they've been looking for you the whole night," she says, but it doesn’t really sound like she’s talking to him.
Juri's eyes widen. "But I was only gone for a moment? I woke up and went to do my business, and then I saw the fireflies."
"Dad and Koki and Kazu left hours ago," Hyoga says, shaking his head in disbelief. “How’s your sense of time so bad?”
“I want to see fireflies too,” Subaru complains, trying in vain to pull himself free.
“You’re not going anywhere,” Hyoga snaps, “It’s enough that one of you brats made mum worry.”
“The fireflies went away already. They showed me the cave when it started raining and kept me company, but they left when the rain stopped,” Juri says to Subaru, frowning at Hyoga at the same time. “Was I really gone that long? I didn’t notice at all. The cave was so nice and warm.”
“What cave are you talking about?” his mother asks, finally pulling back, but still holding on to his arms as she looks up into his eyes. “It’s dangerous to go into caves without a lantern! There could have been wild animals in there, or you could have stumbled into rocks or fall into a deep!”
Juri squirms in her grasp. She’s not hurting him, but her hold on his arms is still uncomfortably tight.
“I’m not afraid of the dark, mum.”
“Of course you’re not,” says the priest who just stared weirdly into the air earlier. He smiles gently as he crosses the front yard as well. “You’ll never need to fear darkness. You’ve got the light inside you.”
Raising his brow, Juri looks at the old man. How does the man know some of the fireflies gave their lights to him?
* * *
Before long, Juri’s father and two oldest brothers return, and even though they are soggy and cold, by some miracle nobody scolds him too much. They all seem to think Juri’s been in a great danger, and their relief is tangible when they find him safe and sound. Juri hugs them back tightly and decides not to insist he really was safe this whole time. They can believe whatever they want.
Even still, Juri is trapped inside the house for the rest of the day. His mother wraps him into warm blankets and makes him eat bowls of rice porridge until he’s so full, he can’t take one more spoonful.
“I’m not sick!” Juri repeats several times, but no-one will listen to him.
“And you won’t be either, if I have any say in that,” his mother says briskly, back to her usual no-nonsense self. “Finish your tea.”
At some point in the afternoon, when Juri is trying to take a nap just to pass the time even though he’s not sleepy at all, the sliding door opens. Bored out of his mind, Juri listlessly glances across his shoulder to see who came in. He springs up when he recognizes the two priests. Sensing that the men want to talk with him, Juri waits patiently despite feeling terribly confused and excited at the same time.
"I take it you'd rather be outside playing with your younger brother," Sakanoue says, eyes twinkling like he knows exactly how hard it is for Juri to stay still in bed.
"We were supposed to go home today," Juri says, making a gloomy face. "And I wanted to show the cave to Subaru before leaving."
The priests sit down by Juri's bed, comfortably cross-legged, and suddenly they both look wistful and a bit sad.
"It's a pity Tachibana passed away this winter," Mitani says out of nowhere, looking at Juri thoughtfully. "He would have loved to meet you."
"I'm sorry," Juri says, like he knows he's supposed to, when someone has died. Then, unable to hide his curiosity, he adds, "Why would he wanted to meet me?"
The priests smile again. They seem to do a lot of that; listening to people talk and smiling at their words like they constantly know something more about the topic at hand.
"He was the guardian of light," Mitani finally says quietly. "And so are you."
Juri frowns at them, and they laugh at his expression. Then, Mitani raises his hand. With a gentle flourish of two fingers he conjures a dozen beautiful, see-through bubbles that hang in the air in front of the three of them. Curious, Juri pokes one of the bubbles with a forefinger. It breaks down to his lap with a cold splash, startling him.
"It's water!" he gasps, and the both priests smile. Sakanoue waves his hand at him, and suddenly a gust of wind makes a mess of Juri's hair. In a room with all doors and windows closed. He feels his mouth open and eyes widen at the realization. The priests made it happen. They have magic!
“If I'm like your friend, can I do something like that, too?” he asks eagerly, looking curiously at his own palms.
“Maybe some day,” Mitani says, “but you’ll have to grow up first.”
Sighing, Juri lets his hands fall to his lap. Why must one always grow up before all the fun stuff?
“I have a message for you,” Sakanoue says. “From Tachibana.”
“How can he have sent me a word if he’s dead?” Juri asks before he can stop himself.
There's that quiet, knowing smile again. “He didn’t know it was you exactly, but he had a message, and you are the child I’m supposed to deliver it to. Earlier, I said you’d never have to fear darkness. But the other half of it is, you don’t have to fear light either.”
That’s it? The profound words meant for him. Juri raises a brow, trying to hide his disappointment. What does that even mean? “Why would I be afraid at daytime, anyway?”
Sakanoue shifts, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees. He catches Juri’s eyes and somehow Juri can’t look away.
“Many people think day is good because it’s bright and they can see around. Similarly, they think night is scary or bad because they can’t see what might be hiding in the dark.” He waits for Juri’s nod before he goes on. “But the sharp sunlight could also make you go blind, especially in winter. And-“
“And sometimes darkness is warm and cozy, like summer nights at the veranda of my home,” Juri finishes Sakanoue’s sentence, and the old man raises his brows, eyes widening.
“He gets it.”
Sakanoue and Mitani exchange a long look that Juri can’t read at all. It’s like they’re having a wordless conversation, when one raises his brows and nods like he is asking something, and the other nods slowly like he is answering.
“Juri,” Mitani starts, sounding so serious, Juri straightens up at his bed. “This might be sudden, but we would like you to stay here. We could teach you to become a priest and a guardian like us. We have already discussed with your parents. They said they would let you decide.“
Juri’s stomach drops uncomfortably as he processes Mitani’s words. “Stay? You mean…to live here?”
“Yes. Of course we cannot force you and we don’t want to, either, but it would be wise of you to stay. There are others like you as well, other children around your age who live in this village, and we think it’s about the time to start training you.”
To stay here? Without his family? It’s not a long way to his home village but it’s not exactly a short walk, either. He wouldn't be able to play with Subaru anymore. The thought of leaving his family is terrifying. He has always lived with them. Even when his two oldest brothers got married, they still stayed at home with their wives. What will his nieces and nephews say, when he won’t come home with the rest of the family?
All his familiar places are at home, too, and he’s got nothing here. Well, of course there is the cave. He'd like to see the cave again, to properly explore it. And the shrine is beautiful and clean. He already likes the sound that the wind chimes make outside. And the other children, who are supposed to be like him? Around his age, too. Wonder what they are like.
“Can I still visit home sometimes?” He tries to sound brave about it, but his voice is tiny when the words come out.
Sakanoue looks at him gently. “Of course. It’s a shrine, not a prison.”
Juri swallows. His skin raises on goose bumps and he grasps his hands together.
“Alright. I’ll stay.”