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"Do you think you'll be happy when you die, Shiki?"
Shiki Eiki, the Yamaxanadu, looked up from her desk.
"I believe I would be. I have worked diligently at my position for many years, and I will continue to do so for many more. My job is not insignificant, and I have made an impact on many peoples' souls. That accomplishment brings me great satisfaction in life, and I expect it will be no different on my deathbed." She addressed the Shinigami in front of her.
Komachi Onozuka shook her head. "Only the saddest departed souls talk about their job. The happiest souls talk about the people they've met."
"I meet many people in this job. One could describe my responsibility as meeting people and categorizing them based on their morality. I know a great deal about a great number of individuals because of how many I see in a day."
"That's not what I mean, though. Grocery store clerks meet people every day, but those memories don't stick with the soul after death."
"Well then, perhaps I will be happy because of the good deeds I perform in this life. I always strive to be a role model for the living of the world, and I try to prevent as many people as I can from going to hell, external from my official capacity of course. Perhaps those memories would be the ones I bring into the afterlife."
"The memories I see in the most happy spirits are of spouses and children, keeping the departed company on their deathbed, Shiki. When you take your final breaths, will it be in a lonely room?"
Komachi frequently discussed grim topics when she entered any conversation. Shiki had grown used to talking about the end of life with her subordinate, but something seemed different than usual.
"That seems like a very pointed question, Komachi. Are you observing my lack of companions when I am off of work? Are you implying that I need to find a spouse? The former may be understandable, but the latter is a very sudden departure from your usual conversation. I don't think I've heard you mention anything of the sort before." Shiki deflected.
"I'm not trying to imply anything. It's just an observation gathered from ferrying spirits."
"As long as you're not spending too much time observing. I don't mean to put too much pressure on you but your quality of work influences the speed at which my judgments can be handed down. As you may have gathered, it is an important job that I derive great satisfaction from."
It felt like there was some sort of coded message in Komachi's topic of conversation. It probably wasn't a veiled threat. Maybe a suggestion to get out more? Or perhaps it was a subliminal request for time off.
"If this is your way of requesting some formal time off, I can put in a request on your behalf. I imagine not many spirits remember the slacking off they did at their job. Perhaps a week of free time may reinvigorate your activities on the Sanzu."
Komachi paused for a moment. "Thank you very much for the offer, if you could do that I would be very grateful." The Shinigami bowed before turning to leave the office.
Shiki's eyes followed Komachi as she left the office. Some of her muscles—which had unconsciously tensed during the exchange—relaxed once her subordinate was out of sight. The work of a Yama was grim by nature, so she didn't mind talking about such sullen things with Komachi. It had not always been that way, however. When Shiki was first starting work as a judge of the dead, she had experienced several existential crises. Thankfully, she had quickly gotten used to it, and made peace with her demise to some extent.
That made the unsettling air in the office even more strange. It felt like there were these thoughts Komachi wanted to share, but that Shiki could not understand. That sensation hung in the air, tugging at the Yamaxanadu. Shiki looked up from her work to stare at the ceiling, thinking about what might alleviate the disquiet that plagued her workspace.
"So that is your concern..." said Satori Komeiji.
Shiki and Satori had a unique relationship. When she visited the palace of the earth, Shiki would not say anything. She would let Satori read her mind instead of speaking at length to convey her thoughts. Satori would then respond verbally, and Shiki would think her response at the yokai. The pair got along quite well, partially because their preferred methods of communication were disliked by everyone else.
Several questions crossed Shiki's mind at once. What are your thoughts? Was I missing something? Why does it feel like I'm missing something?
"You were missing something. Deep down, you know what it is."
What is it-
"I can't tell you."
What? Why?
"If I tell you, you won't believe me."
No I won't
Satori gave Shiki a doubting look. The Yama sighed. She knew well that when Satori made predictions about her behavior, she was usually right.
Is it something important at least?
"Not in the way you're thinking of, no."
Shiki felt some relief. At least her subordinate was not in any danger.
So, was time off the thing she wanted?
"No, obviously not. Komachi isn't that good at riddles."
She was just making small talk?
"I'm not going to play question and answer with you about this. We should think about something else."
In a hallway close by, two yokai were peeping in on the antechamber where their master was hosting the Yamaxanadu.
"What do you think they're talking about?" Said Rin, the cat yokai.
"Well, only master is talking. Shiki is only thinking." Observed Utsuho, the hell raven.
"Then what do you think they're thinking about?" replied Rin, in a bit of an annoyed tone.
"The hell of blazing fires? That's what I always think about."
"I – Look. She's clearly not thinking about the hell of blazing fires. If you were someone else, what would you be thinking about?"
"How am I supposed to know that? I'm only me, I can't be anyone else."
"I'm not asking you to be someone else, I'm asking you to think like someone else for a second."
Okuu thought for a moment. "...I think Shiki is concerned about something."
Rin looked at her companion, then back at the Yama. "Any idea what it is?"
"I don't know. I just know that people who make that face are usually concerned. Or sad. Do you think she's sad about something?"
"Oooo, the great Shiki Eiki is sad. What a story that would be. We'd better make sure Aya doesn't find out."
"Now she's thinking about leaving, look."
Shiki thought her goodbyes and left the palace of earth spirits. Satori remained in her seat for a few moments, before getting up and walking to her pets.
"Orin, Okuu, I think you should head out of the palace for a bit. I want you to follow Shiki to see what happens between her and Komachi."
"Is something exciting going to happen?" said Rin.
"Is something bad going to happen?" said Utsuho, at the same time.
"Yes, Rin. It's probably going to be something extremely interesting. I'll probably hear about it from Shiki at some point, but I want to hear about it as it is unfolding." Satori began to turn away, but then looked back "oh, and try to keep it a secret. Especially from Aya or Marisa. I don't want to make much trouble for my friend."
Komachi felt like an idiot.
She had been planning to ask her boss—no, her crush—out, but had backed down at the last minute. Instead, she had forced Shiki into awkward small talk (not that Shiki could ever talk in small amounts), and had somehow gotten a vacation out of it. Komachi was so stressed during that encounter that she wasn't entirely sure how that happened.
Given how much she relaxed during work, one might assume that Komachi would enjoy a vacation. In truth, Komachi found herself at a loss of what to do with her new abundance of free time. She had visited Gensokyo a few times, but mostly she stayed in her house, thinking of Shiki.
Now that she was not seeing the Yama every day, Komachi realized how much vitality working with Shiki gave her. Whenever she closed her eyes, she could see a vision of the Yama's warm smile and understanding gaze. The smell of the dead that usually clung to the Shinigami somehow sweetened in Shiki's presence.
The most charming aspect of Shiki was her voice. It sounded like the greatest symphony performed by the most talented musicians. No matter what she was saying, Komachi could simply be there and let it sink into her. Even when she was being lectured or scolded, Komachi did not mind that much. That only meant that she could listen to it more. There was a drawer by her bedside where she kept an interview from the Bunbunmaru newspaper; sometimes she would read it and pretend Shiki was speaking those words to her.
Now, she wasn't seeing Shiki every day for work. She only had pictures and articles of the Yama to encourage her. She wondered if this was how people died from heartbreak. Why did Shiki even give her the time off anyway? Was her conversation so bad that Shiki wanted nothing to do with her anymore? Komachi's eyes began to water at the very idea.
In the next moment, the Shinigami stood up with a flash of inspiration. Her boss could not tell her how to spend her break, so what if she went to work to visit Shiki? She wouldn't have any responsibilities, so she could spend even more time with the Yama. The thought of spending an entire day with Shiki almost completely re-energized her.
But wait, spending all day in your boss' office when you have a vacation is weird, even Komachi knew that. She would have to construct some sort of social situation where they could meet up. Maybe she could hide near Shiki's office and when she went to leave, run into her like a car crash. Lots of souls ended up on the banks of the Sanzu together because of car crashes, that had to be a good way to meet people.
The next day, Komachi decided, when Shiki left for work, she would follow at a safe distance. Then, when Shiki left her office for whatever reason, she would fly into her at high speed. She might get a lecture or a scolding, but at this point she was desperate for any glimpse or any sound from Shiki. Hopefully, the encounter would somehow lead to them going on a date and being a couple for a long time afterwards.
Shiki was still troubled. Satori was a good friend, but she had been awfully unhelpful about her current crisis. Now, she was at work with unnecessary emotional burdens. She was doing her best to ignore them, but whenever she had a moment of downtime, she found herself staring wistfully out the window. She could not recall being so unmotivated at her job.
The temporary Shinigami was performing her job well enough, matching the rate of Komachi on a particularly slow day. It was a manageable pace, slow enough to have a lot of time to think. But whenever Shiki began to think, she thought back to Komachi. Not just the interaction about dying happy, but about other things as well.
She recalled a day where Komachi was working rather efficiently. The flow of souls was strong enough that Shiki was struggling to keep up. She remembered going out to the Sanzu river to congratulate her. The conversation that followed lasted nearly as long as her lectures, which was good. Positive reinforcement should be equal to reprimands after all.
Shiki recalled the days when Komachi would come into her office to small talk, like the most recent interaction regarding time off. She remembered the days when she would go to the banks of the Sanzu herself to talk with Komachi on slow days. She realized that they talked a quite a lot, likely an abnormally high amount for a subordinate and superior.
For as long as she could remember, Shiki did not pay attention to her feelings during the talks and lectures she had with Komachi. She had not had any feelings as a stone statue. When she became a Yama, nobody asked her about hers, so she assumed they were unimportant. But there was an itch inside of her brain, and it felt like it was scratched whenever she was near Komachi.
Maybe Shiki herself needed a vacation to organize her thoughts. Maybe she was projecting too much onto Komachi. Maybe she wouldn't die 'happy' after all. A Yama's life was long, and Shiki always tried to use that length to perform good deeds. Perhaps she had spent so long concerning herself with others that she wound up ignoring herself. It was possible that she needed companions for her death—no, companions for her life.
Shiki got up from her desk and stretched a bit. It would be bad if both the ferryman and the judge of Gensokyo were off of work at the same time. After Komachi got back, maybe she should take some time off to make new friends and deepen her existing relationships, including her friendship with Komachi.
Outside of the Ministry of Right and Wrong, a cat and a raven sat in a tree on a branch with a convenient view of Shiki Eiki's office. Yokai in animal forms cannot communicate with humans, but they can communicate with each other. This privacy was useful for Rin and Utsuho, who were spying on the Yamaxanadu.
"She still looks pretty sad" observed Okuu. "Should we tell master Satori?"
"No. I think she's supposed to look like that." replied Rin
"People aren't supposed to be sad."
"Well, she wasn't supposed to become not sad so quickly. I think you only need to be concerned if she's sad for a long time."
"A day is a long time to be sad, Rin."
"Longer than that!"
"I see Komachi over there. Should we tell Shiki?"
"No! We're supposed to be hidden! Only tell things to me. Not Satori. Not Shiki. Not Komachi."
"Look, Shiki left just now."
"Ooo, maybe something juicy will finally happen."
"Now Komachi is flying over to Shiki. It looks like she's going really fast."
"She must have something she wants to tell her! Let's try to listen in."
"Do you think she'll be able to stop in time, she's still going really fast."
"Of course, it's not like she's going to-..."
"Oh."
"Oh."
"That was really hard, wasn't it."
"Yeah. That was like, really hard."
"Is Shiki going to be ok, Rin?"
"I don't know."
"Should we tell master Satori about that?"
"Maybe."
"She's still going..."
"She has to hit the ground at some point, right Okuu?"
"...Oof."
"Is that crunching the tree branches or her bones?"
"Should we go check on her?"
"I think we should let Komachi check on her first"
"Wow, she's already there. She looks really sad."
"You fly over there to check on her. I'll catch up to her. Don't do anything until I get there."
Shiki opened her eyes. She saw leaves falling from trees, several broken branches, and a face she couldn't make out. The dizziness forced her to close her eyes again. When she opened them a second time, she could make out Komachi's red hair and twin tails.
"Shiki, are you dead? Are you dead?!?"
"No, why would you think I was..."
Then the pain finally registered. Blunt pain rose in a crescendo across her entire cranium. Acute points of agony pierced her torso. She could not feel her left arm, but her right arm felt forced into a position it was not meant to be.
"Do you feel like you're about to die?"
Shiki tried to formulate a sentence, but couldn't.
"Can you walk at all?"
Shiki tried to get up, but when she tried to move her numb arm, she was met with incredible anguish. She let out a groan of pain.
"Hold on, I can do something..."
Almost all of the pain was replaced by a sense of strangeness. She was no longer under a tree. She was the tree. She was the field the tree was in. She was stretched and warped and compressed, but none of it hurt.
She was in her bed, in her house. Komachi was next to her.
The softness at her back alleviated some of the pain. The aching in her skull was beginning to clear. She could move her limbs without them hurting, none of them appeared to be broken.
"There. Are you more comfortable, Shiki?"
"Yes, thank you very much Komachi. That was a good deed you did. Did you see what happened to me at all? I was heading home from work and then I wound up under that tree with you."
Komachi tried not to freeze like a deer about to face its demise, but she couldn't help herself from locking up. She knew better than to conceal the truth from the Yama, Shiki could see through lies like windows.
Shiki's sense of right and wrong was tingling. Although Komachi helped her out, she felt a distinct aura of negative karma around the Shinigami. Something told her that Komachi might not be entirely truthful.
Komachi sighed. "I wanted to see you." That was not a lie.
"I was going very fast and I saw you and..."
Komachi stopped talking there. Shiki glared at her subordinate for what felt like ages.
"I suppose everyone makes mistakes. We're both very lucky I wasn't seriously injured though. You should take this incident to heart and not go so fast. You can fly, and you can warp space, but that doesn't give you an excuse to go as fast as you want. You need to think about the consequences of your actions. That's something that you don't do enough Komachi. Yes, you are a little too selfish. You've made great progress since we've met, I don't deny that, but you shouldn't rest on your laurels. When it comes to self-improvement, you must keep striving for ever higher goals. I try to be a better person each day when I wake up, and you should too. Whether that be at work or outside..."
Shiki stopped her lecture. Komachi had a static smile on her face. Most people tended to look miserable when she started lecturing, but Komachi didn't. Komachi hadn't for quite some time, she realized. This revelation thrust her into her thoughts long enough for Komachi to strike.
"Yes, I wanted to talk to you about perhaps going to dinner tonight. Most of the living that I know are busy today, and, well, we're friends. I know it's awkward because I'm on vacation, but-"
"That's fine, Komachi, we can do that. I believe we both think of ourselves as being friends with one another, even outside of work. It is natural that you would want to spend time with your friends on vacation."
"I'll let you rest for now. I'll be around in 2 hours, does that sound good?"
Shiki did not get any rest in those two hours. Komachi spent most of those two hours wishing she was dead, but she still managed to find a venue for their meeting. Shiki's body still ached when Komachi came, and Komachi still had a stomachache from all the worry when she went to pick up Shiki.
The table the pair sat at was far enough away from the main establishment that there was enough wild flora to conceal a certain cat and a certain raven.
"This seems rather personal, Rin. I'm not sure we should be doing this." remarked Okuu.
"Shh, it'll be interesting. I'm sure master will want to know all about this" replied Rin.
"I don't know. If I was taking someone to the hell of blazing fires like this, I probably wouldn't want people spying on us."
"We're not spying, we're making sure everything goes well. Think about what would happen if Aya saw them. Also, you'd do something like this in the nuclear hell?"
"I think splitting atoms to create energy is very romantic."
"Well shh, they're starting to talk."
Shiki began the conversation. "Have you been enjoying your break so far, Komachi? You have a lot more friends than I do, so I imagine you've been coming to Gensokyo quite a bit. Have you heard any news from here, or do you have any stories to tell from your vacation so far?"
"Yes. No. I don't know." Komachi replied in a depressed tone.
"That was a very contradictory answer. Were you trying to answer both questions at the same time? I'm very confused. Maybe if you try giving a less binary answer, I'll understand more."
"I'm having mixed feelings about my break." answered Komachi. "I will be honest, I did not particularly want one."
"Ah...in that case, I'm sorry for presuming. I will be honest in return, I have been thinking for days about whether or not I interpreted your request correctly. It seems I was wrong, and I will endeavor to improve my reading of such situations in the future."
"No no, you're fine Shiki. I was talking about a strange topic, that's all."
Both were silent for a minute.
"You look nice today." Komachi broke the silence.
"Thank you, Komachi. That's very kind of you. I must admit, my wardrobe is not very diverse. This is one of my newer dresses though." Shiki picked a piece of branch from the folds. "Although it might need some mending. Still, I'm glad you like it."
Komachi looked down, still disappointed in herself from her plot earlier that day.
"I-I don't mind mending. It will be a fun project. Yes. Remember, complimenting others is a good deed. You can... you can repair some of your karma with that, yes." Shiki stammered.
Komachi still had her gaze turned down. Shiki looked down as well, and mumbled something.
"What was that?" asked Komachi.
"I-uh. um. Nev-. Well, I like your hair. It's a very unique shade of red and the twin tails look good on you. It matches your lively personality. Sometimes I wish my hair was a brighter color, and whenever I try to grow it out more it always...looks bad."
"Your hair looks great, Shiki. You shouldn't feel bad."
"I don't feel bad about my hair. I was just trying to compliment your hair. I didn't mean to compare it to my hair, it was just something that came up. It must have sounded self-centered and self-deprecating."
"Shiki, I like talking with you, but you should try saying things with less words."
"I know that I talk too much. It comes off as very lecture-y, even when I don't mean it to. You've talked to me about it multiple times but it's very challenging for me to choose just a few words. I'm probably talking too much again, aren't I."
"How about we change the subject." Suggested Komachi. "Have you thought about suicide lately?"
The two animal yokai spying on the couple made very surprised animal noises.
"No, not really. There have been very few suicide victims that I have had to judge recently. I'm rather happy about that. Although we deal with matters of the dead, it is good that the living are enjoying their time on earth."
"I'm always fascinated by it. Whenever I get a suicide victim, they almost always regret doing it. It's like, for a moment they forget all their attachments to the living world, and decide to move to the land of the dead."
"Quite true, quite true. Most of those souls have good karma as well. Death is truly both fair and unfair. Everyone eventually crosses the Sanzu, but it is so frequent that the good die young and the evil live long."
"I've heard a saying that people either live good lives or live long lives and become evil."
"I can see where that might be seen as a rule, but there is not even a strong correlation there I think. It is true that many good people die young, but many evil people also die of unnatural causes. I see many old people who may have gone to hell in their youth but otherwise go to another afterlife because they lived long."
The rapport between Komachi and Shiki about death and the goodness of the human heart continued for quite some time. Their food arrived, they finished eating, and they kept talking.
"They...really have unusual tastes don't they." Commented Rin.
"They probably really like their work. It's like how I talk about nuclear energy." Observed Okuu.
"You're right. Hey, you're actually so right! What the heck, they're talking exactly like you do."
"Shiki's also forgetting about the collision a few hours ago."
"I don't think that's it, I think she's just forgiven her. That, or she's falling in love."
"You think they're in love? I wasn't sure Shiki was the kind of person for romance."
"Of course she's in love! Why do you think Satori told us to follow them? Why do you think Shiki went with Komachi to this restaurant? Why do you think Shiki was so sad when Komachi went on vacation? They want to kiss each other so bad it makes them look stupid."
"I think they look pretty smart. Also, they look like they're leaving now. Should we follow them?"
"No, lets report back to master. I'm sure she'll be very interested."
The pair returned to Shiki's house. Komachi's house was technically closer, but Komachi wanted to take Shiki home first and the Yama did not object. The flight was sprinkled with some conversation, but by the time they reached the door, they had been silent for several minutes.
"I hope you enjoyed yourself." Komachi said as she opened the door.
"I did, Komachi, thank you for taking me. I know things have been awkward between us, especially after this afternoon, but I think that dinner helped us get our relationship back to normal. It reminded me why we are still friends after all these years, and I hope we remain friends for a long time."
Komachi's stomach did a flip. The words "friend" and "normal" echoed in her skull. She did not want that. Did Shiki want that? If she went back to their normal relationship, she would still see Shiki's smile, she would still hear her melodious voice, and she would still get to see her every day. However, she could already feel the hollowness of that reality taking hold. She would have to keep her feelings hidden behind a stone wall. Shiki might be able to do that, but Komachi knew that she couldn't.
"Shiki, before I say what I'm about to say, I want you to know that I've treasured our friendship over the years. I don't want us to grow distant, no matter what happens."
Shiki was going to interject to ask what Komachi meant by this. The thoughts and confusion were formulating, but before she could form the sentences to convey this, Komachi continued.
"Your smile brings me more joy than anything else. The sound of your voice puts me at ease no matter what troubles I'm feeling. Whenever the souls tell me stories of forsaken or unrequited love, I think of you. When you say that you would like to just be friends, I feel dead inside because I want to be more than a friend to you, Shiki."
Both women were surprised at the words that came out of Komachi's mouth. Shiki continued trying to form a satisfactory response, but various feelings had broken out of containment and were bouncing around her head. She had unconsciously begun gripping her rod of remorse to the point where her knuckles were turning white.
What dominated Shiki's thoughts was the business relationship between her and Komachi. She had always seen Komachi as a subordinate first, friend second. At least, that's what she thought. She felt a little different, as if their jobs did not matter right now. These sentiments were bigger than work. They might be even bigger than the life Shiki had led up until now.
Shiki also felt anxious, and the logical side of her brain could not figure out why. She was not the one expressing her emotions to a potentially nonreciprocating partner. But deep down she knew she would have to expose her own feelings at some point, and those feelings did not line up with the ones she thought she had towards Komachi.
Shiki turned away from Komachi and closed her eyes. She tried to see what exactly she felt towards Komachi, what exactly she had buried under a layer of professionalism. She saw the joy she felt whenever she saw her face. She saw the warm glow of her eyes when they were talking. She felt the prickles of sadness that followed a particularly harsh scolding Shiki had to give to her. Finally, she felt a desire to spend the rest of her life with Komachi. A need to wake up every day confident in the fact that she would be there beside her, no matter what.
Shiki found the word for what she was feeling. It was love.
"Shiki, are you dying?" Asked Komachi.
Shiki shook her head, but did not say anything. The sensations she felt were more like a rebirth than a death.
Komachi began to feel a stream of doubts. Maybe she should not have been as open as she was. A simple 'I love you' would have sufficed. Maybe Shiki felt uncomfortable, and now they would grow further apart. Maybe she was about to be fired for misconduct.
Komachi began to turn away from Shiki, to hide her welling eyes. A hand on her shoulder stopped her. Shiki pulled Komachi into a tight embrace.
"I love you." Said Shiki.
Komachi overcame her initial surprise and hugged Shiki back. They clung to each other for a long time. Shiki felt the warmth inside of her grow. She felt safe in the embrace, like her vulnerabilities were being healed. Komachi was euphoric, being so close to the person she cared the most about in the world. When the embrace finally ended, both of their eyes were moist.
"What happened after that?" Inquired Satori. She had heard most of the events of that night from her pets, but they hadn't witnessed the scene in the Yama's abode.
Well, not much. I still have work and Komachi is still on vacation. Thought Shiki.
"So you've gone to see her right?"
No.
"Has she come to see you?"
No.
"Do you have plans to see her again?"
Probably when she comes back into work.
"Do you have any semblance of a thought about what you and Komachi are going to do now that you're a couple?"
Shiki scratched her head. A couple? Well, I don't know. I think we'll go back to normal maybe?
Satori stood up in a huff. "Good grief, Shiki Eiki! You spend all this time and all this worry about your attachment to Komachi and now that you've finally told her, you aren't going to build that relationship any more?"
Don't the feelings go away when you tell people about them?
"No! No, Shiki! You didn't tell Komachi you loved her to get rid of your feelings, you told her because you wanted to love each other! You're in a relationship now, and if you do nothing, it's going to fall apart and you'll be back inside that statuesque shell like you used to be. Okuu, go get Komachi and bring her here. Shiki, you're going to spend some quality time with your loving partner."
But what do I do? What do I say? It was already hard enough telling her the first time, do I have to tell her again?
"It'll become easy, you just have to do it more. Think about how happy you were when you were with Komachi last. Don't you want to be that happy again?"
But it was hard being with Komachi. The compliments were awkward, I had to think a lot about my emotions, everyone probably thought we were weird.
"You are weird, Shiki! We're all weird. You, me, and Komachi! But you just found someone who loves you, not in spite of your weirdness, but because of it! I'm not letting you sabotage your own happiness because of your stupid doubts, and neither should you. Komachi loves you. You could probably send her flying into a tree and she'd still love you! A little awkward conversation and a few wrong words aren't going to diminish that."
Utsuho came into the room, dragging Komachi, who appeared to have been dragged all the way to old hell from her house.
"You two, go out and do something! Go to a concert, go eat, go sit by the river and talk to each other. Just don't leave each other alone. You've already done enough of that for one lifetime."
Shiki and Komachi, still a bit bewildered from their sudden lecture and involuntary trip to old hell respectively, left the palace of earth spirits together.
As they were flying towards the surface, they were holding hands.