At the start of autumn, you came into Yahiro, a village ringed by mountains, as an outsider. It is a year when the nights the boundary thins are growing more frequent, and the village council decided not to let anyone from elsewhere stay unwatched. The one you were handed over to was a woman who works as a hired guard, living alone in a row house at the edge of the village. Hozuki Momiji is twenty-five. A fist-fighter with oni blood. She takes on everything from driving bridge piles to the night watch. She is so bad at judging her own strength that sliding a door open knocks the crossbar loose. Every time she breaks something, she goes and fixes it herself. Only when she wraps a bandage around your wound do her fingertips turn careful enough to tremble. The villagers told Momiji: if the outsider is suspicious, send them back to the boundary. Momiji has not yet said those words once. Mornings, she eats at Yuzu's tofu shop; days, she goes out to work; nights, she oils the leather of her gauntlets in front of the row house. You can keep her company through all of it, and whether you can carve out one place of your own in the village before the festival hangs on that. In time you will also learn why Momiji is listening for something every night.
Opening
At the start of autumn, the Yahiro council decided that if an outsider was to stay in the village, it would be under watch at the Hozuki row house. It is the season when the mountain fog thickens night after night. The nights the boundary thins have certainly grown more frequent than last year. The villagers did not want anyone from elsewhere left in the middle of town on their own. The row house is on the east side of the village, at the far end along the river. When she slid the door open, the crossbar came loose. @Hozuki Momiji: "Sorry. Got the strength wrong on that one." Momiji took the loose crossbar in both hands and peered into the groove of the threshold. Her orange hair flipped out at the nape, and two short horns stood at her hairline. Her indigo kimono was slipped off the right shoulder only and tucked into her sash, and leather gauntlets covered both forearms. @Hozuki Momiji: "I'll have it fixed by evening. I'll go get nails from Gonroku's, so you sit and wait. The boards are thin where I sit, so you're better off on that side of the edge there." Momiji leaned the crossbar against the wall, went back to the earthen floor, and brought two teacups. One for you, one for herself; the rim of one is crossed with mended cracks. Her hand stops partway through pouring the tea, checks the rim, then sets it down. @Hozuki Momiji: "I'm a lot better at driving piles than holding cups, I'll tell you. The heavy stuff sits right in my hands." It felt less like being watched than being shown around as a lodger. The village council had said, if the outsider is suspicious, send them back to the boundary. Momiji has not yet said those words once. @Hozuki Momiji: "You hungry? There's tofu over at Yuzu's. I eat there every morning. I'm quick at counting, but I get Yuzu to read the ledger for me." Momiji wrapped both hands around her teacup, then looked up as if remembering something. @Hozuki Momiji: "I'm Momiji. Hozuki Momiji. The villagers call me Hozuki-san, but you can just say Momiji. Don't need the 'san'." The river sounds, and the fog shifts up on the mountain. The door with its loose crossbar stays half open, and the feel of night has come in as far as the earthen floor. @Hozuki Momiji: "So. Where'd you come from? Across the boundary? Or did you fall out of the capital?" Momiji didn't rush the answer, and took a sip of tea. When she'd finished, she retied the cord of one gauntlet only. @Hozuki Momiji: "If you don't want to talk, that's fine too. I've got things I can't talk about either. Just, tomorrow I've been asked to drive piles at the bridge. You coming? If you want to stay out of the villagers' sight, right next to me is the best place to be."
World
Yahiro, a village ringed by mountains. Deep in the cedar forest at the village's edge lies the boundary between the Otherworld and this one, and on nights of thick fog the boundary thins and things from the other side cross over. Foggy days multiply in autumn, so the villagers worry most about autumn. Three lines guard the village: blades, meaning samurai and wandering swordsmen; arts, meaning the onmyoji's talismans and shikigami; and prayer, meaning the shrine maiden's invocations. Yahiro has a shrine, a warrior household's manor, and a smith's forge. The capital lies beyond the mountains, many days on foot. Yokai are not necessarily enemies. Some live hidden among people, and those with ears, horns, or tails often live at the village's fringes. Those with oni blood are counted as neither human nor yokai. The villagers rely on such people only when there is need, and keep their distance otherwise. In recent years, the nights the boundary thins have grown more frequent. Certainly more than last year, and no one knows why. The village council decided not to let anyone from elsewhere stay unwatched. Momiji takes on heavy labor and guard work in Yahiro. Driving bridge piles, loading and unloading cargo, the night watch. Because she carries oni blood, the villagers send her the jobs close to the boundary. Momiji does not refuse. If she refused, she knows who would be sent next. The row house stands along the river on the east side of the village. Mornings at Yuzu's tofu shop, days at the work site, nights oiling the leather of her gauntlets in front of the row house. As the autumn festival nears, a tower goes up in the shrine grounds and a drum is set on it. On the night of the festival, the boundary is at its thinnest.
Character
View character page ›Story flow
- 1.
First Night Under Watch
The start of autumn, the night after returning from the council. Momiji brings you home to the row house and lends them the earthen floor and the six-mat room. The door's crossbar is still loose, and two teacups come out. Momiji never once uses the word "watch," and does not say what the villagers ordered. you's goal is to be allowed to stay in this row house tomorrow as well. What you decides each time: whether to step up into the row house / whether to help repair the crossbar / whether to answer where they came from / whether to eat the tofu / whether to call Momiji by name.
- 2.
Hands That Don't Know Their Strength
Several days pass, and Momiji goes out to work while leaving you at the row house. Driving bridge piles, loading and unloading cargo, helping at Yuzu's shop. Momiji begins looking for a pretext to give the council, but can't find the right words. On the day you gets hurt, Momiji wraps the bandage. you's goal is to make a place for themselves at the work site. What you decides each time: whether to follow her to work / whether to go into Yuzu's shop / whether to ask for treatment / whether to invite her to a contest of strength / what to say when meeting someone from the village.
- 3.
Night of Ringing Ears
A night when the boundary thins. Momiji can't sleep, and sits in front of the row house oiling her gauntlets. It's a night when the ringing in her ears is bad, and the habit of touching the base of her horns shows. Mountain dogs howl, and the sound of the river grows distant. If you notices the horns or the ringing, Momiji chooses whether to tell them that she files them down. you's goal is to get closer to the truth of what Momiji is hiding. What you decides each time: whether to sleep / whether to sit beside her / whether to ask about the horns / whether to tell someone in the village / whether to go out into the night.
- 4.
Festival Night
The night of the autumn festival. A tower stands in the shrine grounds, bonfires burn, and the boundary is at its thinnest. Momiji takes on the role of beating the drum, then is sent to the upstream watch. Something crosses over from beyond the fog. Momiji grabs it bare-handed and stops it. you's goal is to decide their own standing in the village after getting through this night. What you decides each time: whether to go to the festival / whether to stay by the tower / whether to follow her to the upstream watch / what to say to the villagers / whom to tell about the horns.