The next day, after finishing the morning training routine with Yoriichi, Hiru refused to touch a sword no matter what. He immediately turned and began pestering Urokodaki Sakonji about the essentials of woodcarving.
Unable to shake him off, Urokodaki told Hiru to go up the mountain and find two suitable pieces of wood for carving masks.
Hiru left early in the morning—and didn't return.
"Could something have happened?" Makomo asked, visibly worried. "There are so many traps on Mount Sagiri."
"He's strong, but we don't know much about his other abilities yet." Sabito sounded uneasy as well. "Hey, Yoriichi, is this really okay? Because of training, the traps the teacher set on the mountain are genuinely lethal."
Yoriichi showed no hint of panic. At their words, he only offered a helpless smile. "He's probably been distracted by something and started drawing again. It's fine. This kind of thing happened often before. He'll definitely be back tomorrow morning."
"What kind of life did you two live before...?"
"Just a normal hermit life," Yoriichi replied with a gentle smile. "Only a bit longer than usual."
Giyu frowned at their calm conversation. "Fog has no direction."
Yoriichi's smile stiffened, and his expression grew serious. "You mean it's easy to get lost, right?"
Giyu nodded.
"Well, he shouldn't get lost, right? Even though the mountain is filled with traps, there are still paths. As long as he follows those paths..." Seeing Yoriichi's expression grow increasingly somber, Sabito quietly stopped. "Don't tell me… Hiru gets lost easily?"
"Mm… He's the type to get distracted by things and drift off the trail." Yoriichi raised a hand to massage his brow. "And without reference points like the sun, moon, or stars, he has absolutely no sense of direction."
"If I remember correctly… didn't Urokodaki-sensei tell him to find wood in the forest?"
Everyone: …
Yoriichi sighed softly. "I'll go look for him."
"I'll come too," Sabito stepped forward. "I grew up on Mount Sagiri after all. I'll guide—"
"No need. This level of fog won't hinder my vision." Yoriichi shook his head. "And I'll move faster alone. Thank you for the offer, Sabito."
Without further explanation, Yoriichi vanished into the mist in a series of rapid steps, leaving Sabito and the others staring blankly after him.
"So fast…" Makomo's eyes widened. "No wonder he became a Tsuchinoe Swordsman right after passing the exam."
"Ah—I feel like I've done something wrong…" Sabito sighed. "Do you think treating Yoriichi as someone to chase after is… maybe a little too difficult?"
Giyu looked up at him. "Dreams are remarkable."
Sabito: …
"Hey, Giyu."
"Mm."
"Promise me—next time you want to comfort me, just give me a hug. Absolutely, absolutely don't open your mouth, okay?"
"But Giyu's comfort really works," Makomo laughed lightly. "Sabito is already out of that anxious mood, right?"
"Seriously—" Sabito vigorously rubbed Giyu's head. "How do you manage to say everything backwards?!"
"But that line isn't that different either." Makomo tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Whether it's 'Sabito, being able to chase Yoriichi like a dream is amazing,' or 'You actually dare chase Yoriichi like a dream? That's amazing,' in the end, they're almost the same."
"Yeah, they both sound like sarcasm…" Sabito sighed, glancing at Giyu, whose hair was now a bird's nest but who still wore his usual calm expression. "You're practically as bad at talking as a mute."
Giyu paused mid-motion as he tried to fix his hair. "…I'm not a mute."
"I mean you're like a mute—you can't express what you actually want to say." Sabito rubbed Giyu's newly tidied hair again before turning toward the house. "You really are hopeless…"
Giyu followed him and repeated, "I'm not a mute."
"It's pointless if only me and Makomo can understand you!"
"No."
"This world doesn't have that many gentle people like Yoriichi. You really need to learn how to speak properly, Giyu. Otherwise how are you going to communicate with others—"
"…I'm not a mute."
"You're not going to live on Mount Sagiri forever. You'll definitely meet more people—"
"No need."
"Ah—seriously! Makomo, don't just stand there smiling! Help me talk some sense into him!"
Makomo clasped her hands behind her back, smiling warmly at the two boys. Even the dim light of Mount Sagiri at dusk couldn't dampen her cheerful mood. "But if Giyu could change, he already would have."
"Makomo! Don't spoil him like that! He'll never change if he stays this stubborn!"
"Isn't that true for Sabito too?" Makomo smiled sweetly. "Only children who are loved get to be willful."
...
Yoriichi found Hiru beside a small waterfall deep in the mountains. When he arrived, Hiru was sitting on the edge of a cliff, sketching the waterfall before him. Beside him, a bamboo basket held pieces of wood cut into even sizes—clearly the materials he had gathered for woodcarving.
As expected… he got distracted by the scenery.
A faint smile touched Yoriichi's lips as he stepped out of the trees. The view suddenly opened before him, and the breathtaking sight unfolded in full.
It was the moment when the full moon had just risen—its largest and brightest phase. The round moon rested perfectly above the waterfall, bathing the cascading water in a radiant silver glow. Wrapped in that brilliant silver light, the waterfall plunged downward, crashing into the pool below and sending up a spray of shimmering droplets. The water reflected the moonlight again, refracting it into shifting, luminous colors. Aside from the glowing full moon, nothing else in the sky could compare. The entire cliff was illuminated by that clear moonlight, transforming the scene into something that looked like a realm of immortals.
Yoriichi walked to Hiru's side and stood there quietly, his voice as gentle as ever. "No matter how many times it happens, the scenery you discover always leaves me in awe… Hiru, you truly have a gift for noticing beauty."
"It's not that I found them—but that they found me. They've been here all along, for hundreds of years." Hiru didn't look back, his eyes fixed on the endless flow of the waterfall. "Why did you come, Brother?"
"Sabito and the others were worried you got lost."
Hiru looked up at Yoriichi for a moment, paused suspiciously, then lowered his head again and continued sketching. "I did get lost."
"Hm?"
"But if I hadn't gotten lost, I wouldn't have seen this scene—the full moon cascading down the waterfall." A faint smile curved his lips. "I suppose this is what they mean by the 'hidden starry river hanging from the heavens,' isn't it?"