Section 3. A Mysterious Mystery at the Shrine.
Fuyuka was ready to fall to her knees in frustration. She could not believe to have been invited to an uninhabited shrine.
“So this is what they call a yukai-han, eh…”1
The scenery is resplendent in its architecture; however, in spite of the day-off, say nothing of worshippers and tourists, not even Shinto priests or other shrine workers could be spotted. This fact had plainly apprised her that no exorcism was practised there.
“Seriously—, I’ve been deceived, huh… Aha-ha…”
She could but laugh at her pathetic situation, brought on by all the misfortunes she was having until now. Still, there was no helping it, and therefore, after dutifully cleansing her hands, Fuyuka flung five yen into offertory box, and put her palms together.
(I won’t aim too high, but I hope my luck would improve at least a bit… Or rather, let me just return to my normal life, please~…)
Since she was basically lured to this shrine, it was questionable whether her prayer would be heard. However, rather than head home without doing anything, she thought it is better to throw some monetary offer.
“Haa—, now home…”
So she murmured to herself, closing her prayers and slumping her shoulders.
She cannot squander any more of her precious weekend time. Even heading home now she is going to be back only by noon, but she is still seemingly left with leeway to have a nap at the least.
The very moment she thought so——
“Ah? Er… Impossible.”
In response to sensation of water droplets falling down on her skin, Fuyuka reflexively raised her eyes up at the sky: Quietly, it began to rain.
The sky was cloudless, azure far and wide. Of course, the sun rays were also aptly reaching the ground. Realising that this was the phenomenon of a sun shower, she dropped her shoulders in such disheartening as never before.
“Rain… just after my prayer… What’s up with this.”
The weather forecast said it will be clear, and there was no indication of rain just before she was leaving home, she brought no umbrella with her.
She was quite a distance to the station, and getting on the train all soaked would be least desirable, so she could not but stay at the place and wait it out.
“What the deuce~… I must be the most miserable in the whole Japan…”
Taking a seat down upon the roofed stairs leading to offertory box, she then, at last, curling up her knees, lowered her head in despair.
“I mean, honestly, how have I ended up like this.”
—Ding.
The vocabulary of resignation passed from her lips was not addressing only to presently falling sun shower.
It was towards all the happenings that took a place so far—from parting with the girl whom she regarded dearly, to misfortunes at her work and her daily life.
—Ding.
In human luck there are passim its ups and downs, indeed. To be human is not to ever experience nice events, as though to reside in the middle of Kingdom of Heaven, but, at times, also to taste suffer, being as though at the very bed of the hell. She acknowledges that this is the true charm of life, yet Fuyuka cannot help feeling that only she was undergoing so constant a distress. This, too, is the thought which continuously assaulted by misery human eventually falls into.
—Ding.
For this reason, upon an hour like this precisely, even when something big and nice also happens…
—Ding-dong.
“Now, come on—! So noisy—! You’ve been ringing and ringing and ringing!”
Drowning amid her negative thought, Fuyuka could hear beauteous bell-esque tones, which she would normally listen to, but as of today, feeling an innermost exasperation, she raised her face and cried out.
“Eh?”
Her countenance of indignation, however, froze in an instant.
“Where… have this…?”
Today, she came to the designated shrine—the Shinto shrine with the large torii gates, chozuya, and a neat main building.
She should have come. And yet, whoosh, the sight changed completely.
Instead of the large torii, series of small ones was lined up like a tunnel. Environs caught her unawares by a profound woodland. And the main shrine in rear have turned even larger and even more austere than before.
Ching-a-ling: ring out a sound. It was con-similar to the bell tone earlier. This time, however, it was loud enough to clearly ring in her ear. In the face of warm weather, Fuyuka felt goose bumps on her skin.
“… Hh.”
Being terrified as she was, Fuyuka turned speechless, and might have neglected her breathing, too, if she were to let her guard down for a moment. She was under the terror of one who fails to escape, ensnared in a grip of apparition.
Ching-a-ling, sound echoed once anew. Considerably nearer this time, what enlightened her that it was drawing closer from the heart of the train of torii gates.
But even thought of a flight was beyond Fuyuka. In the first place, she was embedded in a dense thicket, and but corridor of lined up torii gates could have served as the path to her escape.
Ching-a-ling!
Sound blared across the grounds of the shrine, making Fuyuka start and stare ahead. Then, Eep, she gasped at the sight.
Obviously, instrument would produce no sound unless someone intentionally rings it. She could realise that someone was behind a bell-esque chimes before, but now, once she caught sight of the figure, Fuyuka felt like fleeing into the thicket.
It was a group. They tread slowly. Lined up. Evenly spaced. Their figures covered miko2 garments of white underlying tone. Their faces all covered fox masks, owing to which they carried an otherworldly horror.
“E-e-ek…”
Intuition assures her not to get involved. Recalling horror stories and urban legends—wherein is often said if one were to follow such a group, they would inevitably end up spirited away to the other world—dread seized her all the more.
Little by little, women in miko garments were advancing frontward, whilst chiming kagura suzu3 which they bore in their hands. The rain had not ceased even as the space shifted, but none of them have held up an umbrella.
“Um?”
No. Not none.
Amidst the group, at the centre, there she saw a single umbrella of blooming red and white4 flowers. As they neared themselves, Fuyuka discerned that from the rainfall an umbrella kept maiden enveloped in white kimono.
The maiden behind an umbrella, although had her face obscured by a silk floss headdress, was not of lofty stature. There could not be much a mistake to say that perhaps about a height of a middle school student.
Whilst lady had herself absorbed in spectacle, the group proceed along the middle of the approach, finally making its way up to the steps leading to the main hall’s… offertory box, where Fuyuka had her seat.
“…”
With women halted, shin-shin,5 only the sound of the rain that kept outpouring itself on the ground was reaching the ear. Fuyuka, of course, could afford no room to even perceive the sound, she could but wait for the next move, while stay petrified.
Fuyuka had a very vague idea of the span of elapsed time, but not before the entire group formed up a line in front of her only the child clad in white kimino stepped out to her—the child who was followed by maintaining an umbrella sole priestess.
Not sooner than the child in white kimono walked up to Fuyuka, joining her feet together, she made a bow politely and beautifully. Fuyuka was uncertain whether it was a greeting, but unconsciously returned a nod of her own.
Thus, at last, Fuyuka had a chance to take a look at the face of a maiden in white. What reflected Fuyuka’s eyes were round and big and clear pupils, along with small and soft and juicy as cherry lips. The features were predictably those of a child, but appearance of the sweet smile, doki, sent shiver through Fuyuka’s heart.
(Wh-what!? What should I do now!?)
Following her wonder of “What in the world is going on, might this be some bizarre dream?” the voice of a child in pure white kimono gently filled the air:
“Nice to meet you. I am Ohana.”
“… Yes?”
“I’ve come here to you to become your wife, my Lady. I may be inexperienced when it comes to it, but I look forward to spending with you many years to come.”
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