Episode 41: Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto's Silence and the Solitary Silver Light

Prologue

When the sun's heat recedes and the world sinks into a deep ultramarine, the realm he governs quietly raises its curtain.

"Yoru no Osukuni" (The Realm of Night).

A domain of absolute silence and tranquility, standing in stark contrast to the daylight world filled with light and clamor.

At the center of that pitch-black veil, a single deity stood upon a water mirror without a single ripple.

Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto.

Born from the water that washed the right eye of his father, Izanagi, this god possessed a terribly androgynous and mystical beauty, distinct from his older sister Amaterasu Omikami and younger brother Takehaya Susanoo-no-Mikoto.

His skin was like translucent white porcelain, and a cool, heatless silver light continuously spilled from his being.

"...Today, again, Sister's light was terribly strong."

Gazing at his own face reflected on the water's surface, Tsukuyomi faintly lowered his eyes.

His voice was as quiet as an autumn night breeze, carrying a somewhat sorrowful resonance.

Chapter 1: The Destiny as a Shadow

From the very moment of his birth, Tsukuyomi perfectly understood his role.

If his sister Amaterasu was the "Light" that nurtured all creation and illuminated the world, then he was the "Shadow" that brought rest to the world.

If only the sunlight existed in this world, the earth would dry up, and all living things would be forced into eternal activity, eventually going mad and dying off.

Absolute stillness to cool the heated world and grant peaceful slumber to life.

That was the very mission entrusted to him by his father Izanagi as the ruler of the Realm of Night.

(I am a shadow meant to accentuate Sister's light. And that is fine.)

There was absolutely no discontent or ambition in Tsukuyomi's heart.

He knew that his own silver light could neither make flowers bloom nor bear fruit like the sun.

His light could only serve as a guidepost for those who feared the dark, quietly staying by their side.

Yet, that unassuming, heatless kindness was the very pride of the God of Night.

Chapter 2: Non-Intersecting Orbits

Tsukuyomi lifted his face from the water's surface and looked up at the endlessly expanding starry sky.

In Takamagahara, there were eight million gods, constantly bustling around his sister.

But in this world of night, only he and the silently twinkling stars existed.

"Sister... How much pressure are you enduring right now?"

Tsukuyomi's piercing gaze seemed to see right through to the distant throne of Takamagahara.

He sensitively perceived that his sister was forcing herself to be the "perfect sun" by suppressing her own emotions.

A light that is too strong casts a deep shadow. Only he, the God of Night, painfully understood the shadow of loneliness that had fallen upon his sister's heart.

(I wish I could take your place. If only I could shoulder even a fraction of that burden...)

However, that was an unfulfillable wish.

The sun and the moon. Day and night.

The two deities were never permitted to stand together in the same sky.

If one rises, the other must set.

A cruel destiny to forever circle the front and back of the world, unable to catch up to or touch one another.

Tsukuyomi stared at his fingertips.

He felt frustrated by these cold hands, unable to touch his sister's warmth or embrace his brother's raging waves.

Chapter 3: Lack and Harmony

"Lord Tsukuyomi..."

Suddenly, a faint voice echoed on the night breeze.

It was the peaceful sighs of the lives falling asleep on the earth below.

There was no "heat" in the world governed by Tsukuyomi.

No passion, no fierce love or hatred.

There was only gentle harmony and death-like silence.

At times, he felt an emptiness in his heart, wondering if "something is definitively missing."

Was his existence—never flying into a rage, never raising his voice to cry out—the correct way for a god to be?

He walked slowly along the water's edge.

The silver sand faintly crunched beneath his feet.

(I possess neither overwhelming love like my sister nor fierce craving like Susanoo. I am simply as quiet as a calm sea.)

That emptiness was the true nature of the "solitude" he bore. A cold, beautiful, eternal stagnation where he never clashed fiercely with anyone, but also never connected deeply with anyone either.

Chapter 4: Ripples from the Distant Ocean

It was at that moment.

A faint but unmistakable ripple ran across the water mirror at Tsukuyomi's feet.

"...?"

He directed his gaze toward the distant lower world, in the direction of the dark ocean.

That was the world of the raging sea entrusted to his youngest brother, Takehaya Susanoo-no-Mikoto.

The ripples gradually grew larger, transmitting to Tsukuyomi's feet as heavy, agonizing vibrations that seemed to shake the silence of the night.

(Susanoo... are you weeping?)

Tsukuyomi's beautiful eyebrows furrowed slightly.

What emanated from his brother's ocean was not the anger of a wild god.

It was the presence of a "despair" so pure, deep, and bottomlessly dark, much like a lost child separated from its mother.

A sister bearing the heavy pressure of the sun, binding herself with a light too strong.

A brother suffering from an unquenchable starvation, screaming in the dark sea.

And the shadow brother, unable to interfere with either, who could only watch from afar.

Chapter:5 The Watching Silver Light

"...Under what a cruel star we Three Noble Children were born."

Tsukuyomi quietly closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh.

His white breath scattered like sparkling silver snow in the night air, before fading away.

A storm is coming.

When his sister's strained light and his brother's endless despair collide, this world will be struck by an unprecedented calamity.

As the king of the night world, he could see that future as clearly as if it were reflected on the water's surface.

Even so, there was only one thing he could do.

Tsukuyomi quietly stood upon the water mirror once again and began to emit his silver light toward the world.

"I shall protect the night.

No matter how much the world is hurt and broken, the darkness where the wounded can hide themselves and sleep peacefully... I shall maintain it for eternity."

That was his own form of "love"—devoid of heat—for his siblings, and for the world.

Unlike the blinding light of Takamagahara or the raging waves of the ocean, today, too, Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto remained alone, praised by no one, continuing to emit his beautiful silver light amidst endless solitude.

(KAMIYO Episode 41: "Tsukuyomi's Silence and the Solitary Silver Light" - End)