The name "Mikuni" meant "three countries," a gift from her grandfather who swore she had been conceived under a lunar eclipse that bridged the human realm, the spirit realm, and the realm of the deep sea. "Maisaki" was her mother’s family name, meaning "the edge of the dance"—a liminal space where movement ends and magic begins.

“The rain isn’t your enemy,” Sato-san said. “Stopping it is. You’re not just a shipwright’s daughter or a shrine maiden, Mikuni Maisaki. You’re the place where the dance ends. That means you decide what happens at the edge.”

And as her feet traced the edge of the deck, the world exhaled.