Inari Shrine, Where We First Met

The bells on the door rang behind Satsuki as she closed the door to the coffee shop. She kept her bike in the shed behind the cafe. As she walked the pebble stone path around the store she thought to herself, "If I walk I can make a day trip and spend the day out in the city. On second thought! Do I really want to be stuck walking?" She shook her head vigorously. "Enough of that, plus I still need to pack my lunch." She concluded.

Satsuki pulled the shed open and pulled out her bike. It was a light blue Huffy, Nel Lusso Classic Cruiser, with a laced white basket. Her father gifted it to her on her birthday earlier in the month. Satsuki ran her hand across the handle bars, some dust had settled since storing it last week. She closed the shed and clicked the lock. Suddenly Hinata appeared.

"Sorry I wont be joining you Satsu. To make it up to you I packed you a bento box for lunch. Please make sure you eat it all. You will need all your strength for your trip back." Hinata smiled.

Satsuki took the lunch and hugged Hinata tightly with a giggle and said, "Thank you sis."

***

The trail to Inari Shrine was a wondrous sight. Satsuki slowly peddled through the forest path that led to the city. The grass gleamed with the morning dew. The trees waved with the wind and their brown and orange leaves fell below and crunched under the bikes wheels. Satsuki focused on the trail and cut through the streets, finally reaching her destination. Exhausted, Satsuki breaked her bike and reached for her water to drink.

Satsuki slowly unmounted and began to walk toward the bike rack. She reached into her basket to retrieve her lock and locked her bike safely in place. Satsuki pulled out her bento box. Hinata had neatly wrapped it for her in a burgundy colored furoshiki. Satsuki slid the sack into her backpack and began her trek towards the red gate.

"Why is it always tourist season in Kyoto?" Satsuki complained as she reached the gate. There were tourists taking pictures of their arrival to the shrine. Satsuki rolled her eyes and continued her path. Up the steps she went.

It was a promise she had made to walk through the gates the first day of each autumn that passed. The promise was made to her mother whom had passed 3 years ago. . .

***

"Why Father? Why now?!"

"Satsu, please calm down-."

"How can I calm down?! Why are you calm? You should be angry too Father! He took her... he killed mom!"

It was a car accident... the other driver had been drinking and hit her mother head on as he passed a red light. The emergency personnel informed Mr. Saitō that she had died instantly, as though it would be of any comfort. . .

The driver was a CEO of a Marketing Company. Mr. Saitō settled out of court, and the money was used to build their home and cafe. Satsuki sadly had blamed herself just as much as the driver. She had been planning to go to Inari Shrine with her mother that day. Her mother, Akane, had work that same day. Yet, to keep Satsuki's promise she decided to leave early to meet up with her and enjoy a trip to the shrine. Who would have known that it would be her last day of life. . .

Satsuki promised her mother that she would walk through the gates every first day of autumn and ask for her forgiveness. With tears rolling down her cheeks, Satsuki promised at her mothers wake, "Im sorry mom, Im so sorry. I - I love you, and Im sorry. You didn't have to leave work for me. I would have been okay. . . Mom. . . Mom! This is all my fault! Im sorry, I will make it up to you. I swear. I swear I will make it up to you." That is when she decided. "Every Autumn mother, I will be there. I will wait for you at the shrine. Please forgive me. . ."

***

An hour had passed. Satsuki saw an empty rest area and decided to take a break. It was colder than Satsuki had imagined it would be. Unfortunately, her sweater was not up to the coldness of the air. Satsuki shivered with each blow of the wind. Satsuki pulled her backpack off and sat it gently next to her on the bench. She took out her bento box, "I know it's early, but I am already hungry Hinata."

The furoshiki was wrapped tightly around the bento box, Satsuki struggled to open it. "Ooo Hinata you do love me!" Satsuki gleamed over the bento box, her sister Hinata had packed her two separate boxes, each with two layers of delicious food. Satsuki opened the first box on top, the smell of white rice filled the air, there sat 4 delicately wrapped salmon onigiri, Satsuki's favorite. Satsuki lifted the top off to see the bottom section, it revealed left over omelet, salmon, pickled radishes and some orange slices from breakfast earlier that day. Satsuki started with the onigiri and ate slowly savoring each bite and ate till her heart's content. Satsuki began to tightly wrap the furoshiki back up, suddenly, she heard a strange sound.

It was a buzzing sound, Satsuki turned to look towards the noise but could not see anything. She looked up the steps and did not see anyone coming, she also looked down and didn't see anyone either. "How weird, I could of sworn it would be packed with tourists." Satsuki pondered for a minute. Since she started, she had not seen a single person walk through. The buzzing noise got louder. Satsuki placed her bento box back inside her backpack and threw it over her shoulder. She began to walk towards the noise. "What could it be?" She thought to herself.

Satsuki walked between the pilars of two gates in the hopes of solving the mystery of the buzzing sound. It was quite a feat, she pushed her backpack through first and then she thought her chest would burst trying to squeeze between the pillars. Satsuki had made it, and she was quite pleased with herself. It was a first for her to even attempt such a thing as squeezing between the pillars of the gates. Satsuki turned her head to face the route ahead.

***

Satsuki had only been walking 5 minutes when she suddenly realized she had forgotten her water on the bench. She turned around to trace her steps back but... the red gates were gone! Satsuki stepped back bewildered and scared. "Only 5 minutes had passed. Where did the red gates go?! What is going on?" Satsuki exclaimed. Suddenly, Satsuki felt as though she was stepping on something. She looked down towards her feet. It was a hand. "Oh my gosh, I am so sorry! Wait. What are you doing here?" It was a boy and he wasn't moving. He didn't respond to Satsuki either. Satsuki's face went pale, she stepped further away and clenched the straps on her backpack. 'What in the world is going on?' Satsuki thought to herself.