Chapter 10: Mist & Morning Tea

Soft rain from the night before had kissed every surface, leaving the world slick with dew and a silvery fog. The shrine’s wooden walkway creaked faintly under Anastasya’s bare feet as she stepped into the early morning, a shawl wrapped loosely around her shoulders.

She had woken before the shrine did, before the whispers, the shifting blankets, the possessed bathtub. Her soul felt quieter, steadier. Maybe it was the spell. Or maybe it was Haruki’s hand lingering a little too long when he tucked her in.

Anastasya: "I’m still in a shrine. I’m still married to a cursed boy. I still don’t know what day it is."

But for once, she wasn’t irritated.

The mist curled around the courtyard like a sleeping animal. The rain had stopped, but the air was cool and damp, and the trees dripped rhythmically onto stone tiles. Birds called from unseen branches, their cries echoing like spirits announcing dawn.

A table, round, carved from dark wood and glinting with charm-etched symbols stood under a pagoda at the edge of the courtyard. Steam rose gently from a porcelain teapot. A single white flower had bloomed overnight in a bowl of water at the center.

Aurelya hovered nearby, brushing Anastasya’s silvery hair with a miniature comb made of light.

Aurelya: "You slept through a banshee storm. Impressive."

Anastasya: Sips tea. "Haruki drugged me with magic."

Aurelya: "Consent is complex in dreamspace."

Anastasya arched an eyebrow but didn’t argue. The tea was warm. Earthy. Comforting. She took a piece of mochi from a plate shaped like a lotus leaf and bit into it slowly, savoring the soft sweetness.

A distant bell chimed once. Then again. The shrine sighed awake behind her, the runes glimmering, the floorboards humming faintly beneath the stone foundation. She could feel its pulse now. Like her own heartbeat, but distant. Echoed.

From behind a column, Haruki appeared, of course.

Haruki: "You’re up early. Thought I’d find you tangled in blankets again, grumbling about your haunted pillow."

Anastasya: "The pillow behaved. The bathtub, however, tried to show me a portal to the underworld."

Haruki: "I might’ve forgotten to seal that one. My bad."

He sat across from her, his hair still damp from the fog, yukata loose and tied lazily at his waist. He poured himself tea like they were ancient aristocrats having breakfast in a dream.

Haruki: "You look peaceful out here. The shrine likes it when you’re calm."

Anastasya: "I’m not calm. I’m processing. There’s a difference."

Haruki: "Whatever it is, it’s working. You even let Aurelya brush your hair without swatting her."

Anastasya: "I’m conserving energy. You’re exhausting enough."

Haruki: "So you’re admitting I drain you?"

Anastasya: "Like a mosquito."

He laughed, low and honest, the sound drifting up into the trees like smoke. A breeze stirred the flower in the bowl between them.

They sat like that for a long time, sipping, teasing, listening to the quiet breath of the world around them. The shrine didn’t creak. The fog didn’t press too hard. Even the sky seemed to hesitate, hanging in that in-between moment before morning truly bloomed.

And in that stillness, Anastasya realized: she wasn’t just waking up in the shrine.

She was waking up to it.

...

The first rays of sunlight filtered through the gauzy curtains of Anastasya’s bedroom window, casting pale gold across her desk and dresser. Her hair was slightly damp from the shrine’s morning fog, her school uniform still folded neatly on her desk chair.

She appeared in her bed with a small pop of displaced air and a faint shimmer of pale violet light, Haruki’s magic still clinging to her like a protective mist.

Anastasya sat up slowly, listening.

Footsteps? No. Her parents were still asleep.

She slipped out of bed and padded silently across the room, peeking into the hallway. Her father’s snoring rumbled faintly behind his door. Her mother’s bedside radio was playing the morning news softly. No one had noticed her missing.

Anastasya: "Just a regular schoolgirl. No shrine. No deity. No ghost-boy husband."

She closed the door gently behind her, changed into her school uniform, dark blazer, crisp white blouse, pleated skirt, thigh-high socks and brushed out her silver hair until it fell in smooth, shimmery waves. She dabbed her wrists with a lavender perfume and tucked her marriage ribbon beneath her sleeve… mostly.

But the ribbon, stubborn and alive with faint magic, refused to hide completely. A soft shimmer of crimson and silver peeked out from her wrist, glinting like fresh ink. No matter how many times she adjusted her cuff, it slipped back into view.

...

The school courtyard buzzed with energy. Students crowded around vending machines, groups lounged beneath sakura trees just beginning to bud, and laughter echoed faintly from the gymnasium. Anastasya walked with her usual quiet grace, but something in her eyes shimmered, unseen by all but the supernatural.

A puff of gold mist trailed behind her heels like pollen in the wind. A whisper of runes danced along her shadow. Whenever she blinked, she could almost see the shimmer of the shrine's boundary, like she hadn’t quite left.

Tanya: Jumps in front of Anastasya. "Oi! You disappear for one night and come back looking like a princess. What the hell did you do?"

Darya: "Don’t act like she doesn’t always look like that. Though she is glowing weirdly today."

Sasha: "What’s with the ribbon? You didn’t wear that yesterday."

Anastasya subtly tugged her sleeve down again, but it shimmered stubbornly.

Anastasya: "It’s just… something I found at the shrine. A charm, maybe. Nothing serious."

Tanya: "Wait, you actually went again?"

Darya: "Did that boy become your boyfriend?"

Sasha: "Did he propose to you under a blood moon?"

Anastasya’s face twitched slightly.

Anastasya: "No. It was boring. Abandoned. Dusty. I left a coin and went home. End of story."

The girls exchanged knowing looks.

Tanya: "Uh huh. And the magic fog that followed you all morning? Totally boring."

Anastasya: "Anyway, did you hear about the history quiz being moved? Mr. Petrov had a migraine. Lucky us."

Darya: "You always deflect when you don’t want to talk about something."

Sasha: "I still think she’s secretly dating a ghost."

They let it go. For now.

As the bell rang and the girls filed back into class, Anastasya caught a flicker in the window glass: Haruki’s silhouette, faint and smirking, standing where no one else was. A breeze touched her wrist. The ribbon tightened ever so slightly, like a reminder.

Even here… the shrine hadn’t let go.

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