EDIT: Minor naming mistake. Possible edits in the future. Will probably rewrite in the distant (read: 10 years later) future. Sorry it's not an actual update.
One moment, she had been in the vast sea of unconsciousness. The next, she found herself soaking wet and on the muddy shores of a briskly flowing river.
"Ye, with no place to go and no place to return, I grant thou a place to belong. I am called Kōgyo-no-Ishikawa-no-Kami. Bearing a posthumous name, thou shalt remain here. With this name, I make thee mine servant. Using this name and its alternate form, I make thee a Shinki. Thou art Michi, as a shinki, Dō! Come, Dōki!"
The newly named spirit felt rather than saw a very warm, very bright light.
"Ooh, a bubble blower! Cool! I wanna make a huge bubble!"
"Young master, what are you doing!? That is no way to be treating a new member of your household!"
"... What is happening?..."
"Ah, right. Revert, Michi!"
A mildly disgruntled coal-haired girl appeared before the young master wearing a plain white yukata and matching socks and sandals.
"I am your master now, and your name is Michiko! Pretty cool, right?" A small boy dressed in a drab blue grinned back at her, pearly whites shimmering with the afternoon sun. An older woman, currently fussing with the front of the boy's robes, sighed quietly and reprimanded him.
"Manners?"
"But she's my friend now! I want her to be my friend!"
'Michiko' addressed the older woman. "May I ask what happened? I can't seem to recall anything."
The woman turned to fully face Michiko, as the boy stepped away to pick pebbles from under the clear running water.
"Well, you probably know that you are dead."
"... That may be so."
"Souls of the dead that are chosen by a god," she glanced at the little boy a little sadly, "are given a second chance to live. On the condition, of course, that you serve him as he gave you a name with his sacred life. My name is Gingko."
Gingko then briefly explained a little about what her relationship with the child-god was to be, with a little bit of duties in the house and whatnot. Michiko was a little overwhelmed, and requested for some time to let the information settle. Agreeing in her master's place, Gingko dragged her master home, with Michiko trailing a little behind.
"Young master, I am asking to resign."
"No! You can't! You're my lead shinki! You-"
"Young master, you know I am not and never will be a true shinki. It was pleasant, but my father calls for me. Besides, you have Michiko. One shinki is enough to protect you. She will be better than I ever was."
Kōgyo-no-Kami tensed at this, and curled his hands into fists. A long standoff between a master and servant began.
"... I see. A little trout god is too little for you. Do you wish for more fame? A better kimono? I am sorry that my wealth is not enough to satisfy your desires. Go, and take whatever you wish to take with you."
Gingko bravely held back her watery eyes, and bowed for the last time to her master.
Michiko sat across the bocchan in the small raft next to the stone shrine. Entombed inside of a great oak, the villagers would take a day's hike into the forest to leave offerings to their own god. It was because of the 'little lucky trout' that they had good river fish, and that the rice paddies would always fill with water. And every year, at the start of spring, offerings and lucky items were placed inside the hollow of the tree.
Michiko would always go with the young god to pick them up. Since Gingko left, he seemed to want to keep a closer eye on her. Even though she already explained that Gingko was a tree spirit, and that their river fathers would tell them to come back, he would always look for her. Michiko supposed that Gingko was someone very dear to him, and didn't want to be left alone.
"Young master. I'll stay by your side forever."
He crinkled his brow.
"What are you saying all of a sudden?"
Pleased with his reaction, she abruptly stood up, scooping his hand in hers, and half-carried the fish god onshore.
"Hey! Don't do that so suddenly!"
"Please remember to use polite language. Young master, your offerings are waiting for you."
"We're you even listening!?"
"You know, I was really happy when you turned out to be a bubble blower."
"Really, now? You did not wish for a fishing rod or net, or maybe even a big sword like Bishamonten?"
"Nah, all I ever really wanted was to float along. Being carefree, and just... Drifting."
"... Although I am glad you like this mode of transportation, are you telling me that you are trying to skimp duties right now?"
Kōgyo-no-Kami paled so fast, Michiko thought he could've been one of the strange lizards from the West.
"... I thought so."
Immediately, Michiko's temper made her bubble less buoyant, and while drifting to the ground, popped it. Her master grunted at the rough landing, and immediately reverted her to her human form when she threatened to spill her soapy contents on his robes. She began to harangue her master into reading the wishes the humans would send in, while she cleaned the shrine they had built for her little master.
The shrine was little more than a room, a nine-tatami floor with a small stove. Over the years, her master's contributions toward the villagers' land grew, and the villagers' admiration grew with it. Eventually, the shrine was built, and every month, a village elder would come and pass on the wishes his people. Still, others came on random occasions, to ask for help or advice from a local god. Whenever a passing stranger came through, they would ask for a little blessing and luck along the way.
Kōgyo-no-Ishikawa-no-Kami was not remembered however, when the young folk of the rice-paddy village began to leave.
The only residents left in the shadows of the valley were the old and the sick, and even they began to forget. The ayakashi became more and more abundant as the ones left behind wept for the ones that left. Despite the trout god's best abilities, the darkness encroached upon the sick, fed upon the creaking limbs of those too tired, too weak.
And for all of Michiko's bubbles, she could not stop the greedy humans of the filth-ridden city from destroying the forest, river and shrine with it.
...
"Hey. Will you remember me?"
...
"I will never leave you."
...
"Who are you?"
Okaaaay. I am not pleased with this. This is not how it was supposed to go, but here we are. I must be a terrible writer, making new stories when I barely start my other ones. Anyhow, please let me know what you think of a start like this, was it too fast or maybe uninformative, not useful? If you got here, thank for taking the time to read this. Future chapters will hopefully be longer.
Also may include triggers for RAPE/NON-CON, SELF-HARM, DISORDERED EATING, AND BODY DYSPHORIA, but purely NON-GRAPHIC. Oooh, I'm such a dark writer. *sarcasm intended* I'll do my best to portray these situations and effects (of psychological disorders) correctly, but please help me if it doesn't seem right to you.
*ladybun out