You Illuminate My Path

Chapter 13: Hints

(Y/n)'s P.O.V

I stare helplessly at the bright red envelope in the paws of the rabbit. In my mind it's the same as a red alarm; it's dangerous and is not meant to be taken for nothing.

I glance at his face. His shiny eyes flicker around nervously, doing whatever not to get any direct eye contact with anything.

Nanami stares at the fuzzy animal bewildered.
She sets down the green bowls she has in her hands, not taking her eyes of the rabbit.

"Can we help you?" she asks, playing with the tip of her beige shirt.

"Miss (Y/n)?" the rabbit says, it's voice nervous and yet stern.

I gulp, promising myself not run away and hide. And even if I do, I won't be able to avoid reading that letter forever. I take a deep breath, calming down my heart that is beating irregularly.

"Yes..."

"There's news," says the rabbit, disappearing shortly after giving the letter to me with a sincere look on his face.

There I stand, envelope in hand. My mind tells me to throw it away, whereas my heart tells me to open it. I have to know what is going on.

As I just stare at the red color of the envelope, I can't help but think about what is written within it.

My mind even goes on to assume weird stuff, such as: Are they lost? Were they summoned to a meeting place with other shrine spirits?

And I even dare to think: Are they dead?

I sigh heavily, reminding myself that it's just a silly thought. Of course they're not dead.
But when the red color hits my eyes I can't help but think that it could be true.

Nanami's asking Tomoe billions of questions, but Tomoe tells her to ask me, instead of him. Although I am busy with the envelope, I have a second to damn Tomoe.

He seems somewhat careless about the situation. As if he knows what's up, what's going to happen. As if he had been through this before. I glare at him. How come he isn't giving a reaction?

"(Y/n)," Tomoe says. "Open the envelope."
I don't react immediately, because I'm searching for a glimpse of worry in his eyes, but in the end I have to give it up.
My fingers fumble to get the envelope open.
I hold my breath, and start to read out loud:

"Greetings to the Goddesses of the Mikage shrine.
The council has been notified that your shrine spirits are missing.
We sadly do not know where they are at the moment, but we are trying our best to figure it out.

We will report back to you once we've found something out. Until then, all you can do is wait. We ask you to trust us as much as possible.

-The Council."

By the time I look up, the rabbit's gone and Tomoe has already done the dishes.
I go over the letter once more, reading it to myself.
The part that says: "We ask you to trust us as much as possible" makes me frown. I don't trust them the slightest. Before I believe, I need to see. I want to see who these people are, before I lay the lives of my shrine spirits in their hands.

My blood boils. My eye twitches. My hands shake. The letter feels like a piece of hot iron between my fingers. I throw it away.
I hate them— the council. How dare they? How the heck can they write such things to a person in need?! My freaking shrine spirits are missing and all they can say is: Take it easy, we'll find them! Blah, blah, blah..