The library was coloured crimson by the setting sun. Perhaps because the summer holidays were close at hand and end-of-term exams were coming up, the place was uncharacteristically busy, some students still lingering there even at this hour. Some studied; others searched the shelves, everyone passing the time in whichever way they pleased.
Amidst all of this, the pair hid themselves within the darkness enclosed by bookshelves, avoiding the gaze of the other students.
"Do the kagura again?"
Nodding at Tomoe's words, Marie continued scouring the shelves. The section, labelled TRADITIONS, contained a collection of books pertaining to histories of peoples and local areas.
"Yeah. We do it properly, and through 'til the end."
Properly, until the end. Marie was talking about the Rogetsu Kagura that they had both been part of.
Marie grabbed a book titled Folklore as Seen through Disease. The book was especially relevant to the two of them; Tomoe had scanned it herself a few times. It discussed a variety of cases in which humanity had confronted disease by employing incantations and prayer.
"I think it's the only way. We reenact that day and get our memories back."
"Yeah..."
Tomoe had heard the story, too, from her grandmother. That day, there had been an incident during the kagura, and it was stopped. And Marie guesses that something bad happened to us because of it.
Tomoe didn't remember much from back then, either, though she agreed that Marie's thinking made some kind of sense, but her response was evasive.
They'd spent all this time looking into it together. They gathered up articles about Rogetsu Isle from the time of the kagura, researched each other's families, and investigated the role that masks played in the dance. The work required a great deal of effort, like untangling fine threads, but Tomoe privately enjoyed feeling as though they shared their own little secret just between the two of them.
It had been after they'd started high school that she and Marie had been reunited. Perhaps their reunion after having been set on separate paths following their departure from Rogetsu Isle had been a coincidence... Or maybe it had been fate.
It was, of course, Marie who had approached her first, saying that her familiar-sounding name had piqued her interest. As two people who shared the same troubles, they got on like a house on fire immediately. It was only natural for them to grow closer as they both investigated Moonlight Syndrome together, lingering like a bad aftertaste in their hearts.
That was how their investigation had begun, and thus it concluded. The answer Marie found gave Tomoe a hunch that the end was near.
Yes. The end.
Right now, they were bound together by Moonlight Syndrome. But what would happen if they were cured? Had her and Marie's relationship reached its end, too?
"I got Madoka to look into it for me. Remember how she said Misaki's house was full of literature and stuff?"
Based on the information she had gathered, Marie listed off the elements required as part of the kagura: the kagura music, the dancer, and the mask.
She'd asked Ruka to help her with getting the music ready. Ruka hadn't seemed particularly willing at first, but after several letters and correspondences, she had agreed to send them a tape with the music recorded on it.
Marie was to play the role of the dancer. She would recreate that scene that slumbered at the bottom of her heart. Marie believed that it was a duty she had to fulfil. But then...
"Then, there's just the issue of the mask..."
The mask was the only thing they lacked. Naturally, they had been unable to locate a single photograph of the actual mask; all they had managed to find was a document that touched briefly upon the masks of Rogetsu Isle. Did it only exist within their memories, then...?
Tomoe stared down at the floor, obscuring her face.
"Tomoe...?"
At that moment, the bell announcing the end of the school day rang out. The students who had been studying gathered up their things and headed out of the library.
As if spurred on by it, Tomoe looked up, staring straight back at Marie, and spoke.
"We have the mask. We have it."