No one knew why Kiyoni woke up as excitedly as she did the following Sunday, but she did and she didn't care what anyone thought. Yes, Sunday was church Sunday, but she's not going for service. In spite of that, Kiyoni decided to dress conservatively again, going with a simple black tracksuit.

Oh, shit! I don't know what time to be there!

Divine company must've heard Kiyoni for the answer to her question came in the form of a text from Shuuichi. "Who the hell is this?"

"Good morning, Kiyoni," Shuuichi greeted with a sunrise and smiling emoji.

"New phone. Who dis?"

"Oh this isn't Kiyoni?"

"It is. Who is this?"

"Sorry. Shuuichi. Miss Juri gave me your number after your performance."

Thank you, Juri. You're a real one. I owe you big time.

"Oh okay. Ra's salutations to you."

"You don't mind?"

"No, not at all. I'm glad you texted me. What [clock emoji] should I be at the [church emoji]?"

"Noon is best. Maybe 1230. You don't even have to be at the front door."

"Where am I supposed to go then?"

Shuuichi sent Kiyoni a picture of the back entrance of the church, "There. When you approach the [building emoji] you're going to go to the right side of the building. Wait for me there to let you in."

"Come to church, head to the back. Got it."

Shuuichi's response came in the form of a grinning and thumbs up emoji, "See you then."

Kiyoni placed her phone down to finish getting ready, You better not put me on some bullshit, Shuuichi.

Meanwhile, Shuuichi had to figure out how to handle the upcoming meeting to a point where both Shinobu and Kiyoni can be satisfied. Shinobu was told that Kiyoni would be attending mass today. However, Kiyoni will be coming after service. What's a deacon to do?

"Good morning, Deacon Shuuichi," Yukina greeted during service preparations.

"Sister Yukina, a pleasant morning to you. Have you seen Father Shinobu?"

"Oh, he's in his office, I think. Probably going over today's sermon."

"Thank you. Bless you."

"You're welcome. Will we be seeing your friend today?"

That placed a pause in Shuuichi's stride, "My friend?"

"Yes. The one with the hair."

"Ohhhhh. Her. She...said she would be here. Her name is Kiyoni by the way."

"Oh, right. Kiyoni. I look forward to seeing her again. She's quite spirited."

"...That she is. I have to go. Excuse me."

Yukina noticed everything about Shuuichi upon talking about Kiyoni. His mannerisms were completely different than usual; as if he was excited to see Kiyoni. Was it possible that he's found a companion?

"Excuse me. Father?" Shuuichi spoke after knocking.

"Yes," Shinobu responded, "Oh, Deacon Shuuichi. Enter."

"Finishing today's sermon?"

"Indeed. Is Miss Ikeda here?"

"Actually, that's what I wanted to talk to you about. I don't think she's coming."

"Why not?"

Shuuichi knew not to lie in the house of God so he said, "I told her not to."

"Why would you do that?"

"Well, after returning home last night, I thought it wouldn't be right to make someone feel uncomfortable in a situation such as this. She made it perfectly clear to me that she was uncomfortable here last week so…"

"So you lied to me?"

"No. No, I didn't. She said, on her own, that she was coming but I texted her this morning telling her not to. If she wanted to come, it would've been of her own free will. Not because I compelled her to."

"I see. Still riding the 'free will' wave. Very well. Perhaps next time."

"Yes. Perhaps. I'll...meet you out front."

"Indeed." Shinobu was disappointed and Shuuichi knew it. However, Shuuichi didn't care because Shinobu gave Shuuichi the task of recruiting more members of the church. Nothing was ever said as to how to do it, so Shuuichi had free reign. And Shuuichi was going to accomplish that goal. One soul at a time, on his time.

Kiyoni had arrived at the church with five minutes to spare. It was good timing considering the last of the congregation was exiting the building. Okay. He said go to the building and go to the right.

Meanwhile, Shuuichi made a beeline for the back door only to be stopped by Yukina again. "Sister Yukina," he acknowledged.

"Hello, deacon. You look busy."

"Actually, I am. Did you need something?"

"Shuuichi... what's going on?"

"Excuse me?"

"I've noticed. Between last week and today... you're... you're more animated. Like you're... showing some general interest. More interest than usual."

Shuuichi consoled Yukina by placing his gentle hands on her shoulders, "Let's just say...I've been blessed lately. More than I can imagine. I'm just doing some good with it. Nothing further."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Now, if you'll excuse me…" Shuuichi headed outside just as Kiyoni made her way towards the back, "Good afternoon!" His presence was similar to that of an overly welcoming next door neighbor.

Okay, Shuuichi! Turn it down a notch. "Hey," Kiyoni waved, "So where is it?"

"I'm sorry?"

"Did you forget that quickly? This supposedly better quality green you promised me?"

"Ah, that. Yes, I did say that, didn't I?"

"I hope it wasn't a BS excuse to get me to come back here."

"It's not. I swear to you, it's not. In fact, you can follow me."

Reluctantly, Kiyoni followed, "Not like I have a choice. I smoked all I had before coming here."

Shuuichi walked Kiyoni through an area of the church campus created for residents. It was set up like a two-story residential apartment complex complete with an open field and playground equipment for the children and pet parents and laundry lines for clothing during the warmer months.

"Uh, what is this," Kiyoni looked around, "A secret college campus?"

"Haha. Sort of. This area is open to refugees, orphans, the homeless, and us."

"Us?"

"Yes. Clergymen such as myself and brother Touya and sister Yukina."

"Oh, that's...commendable."

"It is. This is also where we host our annual food drive for the holidays."

"Let me guess. Rent free?"

"Yes but I don't see why that's something to consider."

"Compared to what I pay for my apartment, it is. Lucky bastard."

"Sorry to hear that," Shuuichi revealed a set of keys as he approached an assumed storage door, "Here we are."

"And here is…?"

"The surprise I promised you."

One look inside the staircase corridor and Kiyoni is immediately concerned, "Are you some sort of sick pervert or something?! I'm not going down there! Do you not see how dimly lit it is?"

"There you go assuming again. I swear that is such a character flaw of yours. Just follow me."

"Just so you know, if you try anything, and I mean anything, I do have a knife on me."

"Noted," Shuuichi flipped a couple of light switches on the way downstairs to reveal his surprise, "Ta-da! Welcome to my ministry."

"Holy…" Kiyoni marveled at the impressive scene.

Within the vines, ivy, and forested walls lived an indoor garden that took Kiyoni's breath away. Spider plants, peace lilies, and stalks of aloe vera mingled with the likes of snake plants, porthos, and dracaena. Avocado and lemon trees grew in harmony providing much needed nutrition for the upcoming cold and flu season with tangerines growing nearby for that extra Vitamin C kick. Rows of garlic, tomato, and scallions were aligned perfectly and will make for great soups some day along with chives, cilantro, mint, and rosemary. Because of the changing weather, most of the plants that were lively during the spring and summer months had to be taken inside to wait out the fall and winter. Flowers such as hibiscus, chrysanthemum, carmelia, and peonies.

It seemed Shuuichi's garden didn't skip out on any details as every need was provided for. An adequate irrigation system from the church's water supply coming from the ceiling of the greenhouse for proper watering, UV lighting with each plant receiving their own, specific amount of lighting, a customized ventilation system with oscillating fans for circulation, and an average room temperature of anywhere between 75 to 80°F. In other words, this greenhouse was a live, vibrant, lush, rainforest-like house of worship.

"This is your ministry?"

"My ministry, my sanctuary. Whatever you want to call it. I tend to this garden and to this garden alone."

"Minamino Shuuichi, minister of botany."

"Mm. Not bad. I like it."

"What made you go this route?"

"A few things. The burning bush as described in the bible for starters. The garden of Eden, of course. Genesis one, verse 29 says:

"Behold, I have given you every seed-bearing grass, which is on the earth, to produce seed, and every tree, which has in itself the fruit of the seed that it has produced-it will be food for you.

"It's something I hold near and dear to me. If I want the world to be a better place, I believe it has to start with using the gifts God gave us. Do you agree?"

"Sure," Kiyoni answered, "I believe Geb would be most pleased with this among others."

"Geb?"

"Yes. God of the earth. You know how the world basically believes in Father Time and Mother Earth?"

"It's not the same in your faith?"

"No. It's more like Father Geb (earth) and Mother Nuit (sky). They did the horizontal tango to create the world we live in now."

"Who were the others? You said there were others."

"Oh, well... there's Shu, the god of the air we breathe. Tefnut, the goddess of water. Renenutet, the goddess of the harvest. Sobek, the god of the Nile...or the river bank. Then, there's Taweret, the hippo goddess of fertility and pregnancy. Oh, and you have Ra, the god of the sun."

"Sounds like a lot."

Kiyoni shrugged, "It's a polytheistic religion. What can you do? Christianity has it's polytheistic... traits as well."

"How so?"

"Think about it. You have this one, big, sky daddy god who rules Heaven along with his angels with some of them his chosen saints? Saints that followers worship like gods, themselves."

"The difference and flaw in that logic is that we all believe that there is one god and one god only."

"And yes, there's the contradiction."

Shuuichi nodded, "Sorry if I was offensive."

"Don't worry about it. Were there other inspirations?"

Shuuichi quietly chuckled, "Yes. Don't laugh but my biggest inspiration came from a movie I watched when I was growing up. Romeo and Juliet."

"Who?"

Shuuichi couldn't believe the response, "Romeo and Juliet? Came out in the 1990s? Has Leonardo DiCaprio in it? A young Leonardo DiCaprio."

Kiyoni simply and slowly shook her head, "Never seen or heard of it."

Oh, dear God. Take the wheel. "I can't believe...what I'm hearing. You've never seen that movie?"

"Nope."

"It's a...take on the classic play by William Shakespeare. If you don't know who that is, then I seriously question your upbringing. Anyway, there's a character who's a priest, a well-respected priest, who has his own greenhouse garden within the church of Verona. He uses that garden to make medicines and special concoctions including the one that Juliet takes to pretend she died of poisoning. I'll leave it at that as to not spoil things for you.

"So, as a child, I watched that movie and immediately became inspired to be just like him. I talked to the higher ups of the church about it and they gave me an assignment, raising a daisy from seedling to maturity. So, I did. I studied, did some research, and practiced what I learned. I only had one seed and one chance to make things right. After a month...I failed. It never grew due to overwatering. However, I wasn't scolded for it. I was encouraged. If the earth managed to bounce back from it's forty days and nights of flooding, then so can I with my garden. After some time, I grew random flowers and plants. By my teenage years, I tried my hands on fruits and vegetables. Now...all of this."

"Interesting. This does look like a lot of work."

"It is. Whenever I'm not in service or doing volunteer work, I'm right here. Planting, observing, harvesting, researching. I even managed to sell some of my work at nearby farmer's markets. That's when I was introduced to what you came here for."

Kiyoni perked up with applause, "About time! I have to see this."

"Right this way."

A back area of the greenhouse contained nothing but marijuana lined up in strain-based rows with the same systems set up in the front. "Keep in mind," Shuuichi warned, "I haven't been raising this for long. However, I do believe the strains I produce will give you the high you're looking for."

"Then why did you say the weed I smoked was weak if you're not too confident about yours?"

Deadpanned, Shuuichi responded, "Because I smoke mine from time to time and I take great pride in my green."

Kiyoni grimaced, "Sorry, I asked."

Shuuichi activated the light that hovered over a small desk where a few of his harvested strains sat shelved in jars waiting to be used, "Any strains you're looking for in particular?"

"You don't sell any of this, do you?"

"At times. It's how I'm able to afford the garden I have now."

"You know that's illegal, right?"

"Illegal to share my gospel?"

Shuuichi had a point according to Kiyoni, "Well…"

"Besides. I don't sell for recreational use. It's mostly for medicinal or culinary purposes. Tinctures, oils, lotions and creams. Butters with very little, hardly noticeable amounts of green. I've yet to receive any backlash."

"Medicinal use, huh? What all do you have?"

Shuuichi looked back at Kiyoni as she was checking out his botanical inventory, "For you? Don't come for my head but... how's your cycle?"

"Excuse me?"

"Succubi. They have menstrual cycles, right?"

Kiyoni scrutinized Shuuichi's question, "Not that it's any of your business but yes."

"That includes menstrual cramps, yes?"

"Yeah…"

Informed, Shuuichi opened up a cabinet filled with topical items, "I think I may have something for that. Oils, massage creams…"

"Got any edibles?"

"Hm?"

"Edibles? Like candy bars or cookies?"

"Ehhh. Haven't actually made stuff like that and, as I've said, the ingredients contain very small amounts of green."

"That won't do."

"I want to put my product out there just not enough to where the law is involved due to multiple cases of hospital visits."

"Fair point."

"So it's flowers for you?"

"If I want to get as high as I want to be, yes."

"What are we looking at? Mind high, body high, or both?"

"Let's see. I wanna get high enough to tolerate the work I do while not interfering with the work I do and since you talked about menstrual cycles, I want to get high enough to where my cramps and headaches are a thing of the past. Got anything for that?"

"Hmm. Hybrids for the former and indica for the latter," Shuuichi took notes, "Okay. What about flavor?"

"Flavor?"

"Yes. Sour, sweet, spicy, bitter, and savory. If you smoke at home, I suggest not going with anything bitter as it might irritate your neighbors."

"Uh, I tend to go for...sweet? Sour, maybe?"

"Excellent. You may want to try something savory for that smooth effect just to be safe."

"Okay. Now you sound like you know what you're doing."

"Can't be a minister of botany if I'm clueless about it. Okay, so we got indica and hybrids that have a sweet, sour, or savory taste. Let's see what I have."

"While you're searching, Mr. Google-for-green-thumbs, how did you come about growing weed anyway?"

"You honestly want to know?"

"YoU hOnEsTlY wAnT tO kNoW? Yes, silly. I'm genuinely interested. Never known a priest-person of God to smoke marijuana, much less, grow it."

"Again, you'd be surprised."

Shuuichi told his story which involved meeting with a yokai at a farmers market who paid for their take with seeds brought in from the Netherlands. Curiously, he started with one seed and raised it successfully. Inspired, he grew the other two seeds he received. That led to him wanting more so he returned to the farmers market. From there he researched and began breeding the strains he already had. A few months later, he returned to the farmers market again to not only sell the plants and foods he grew but to sell his stash. The same yokai that met with the upcoming priest inspected the harvest and was impressed, establishing a trade deal between the two parties. It worked well for a while until the yokai was tragically taken down leaving Shuuichi on his own. It didn't matter for Shuuichi had enough green to work independently anyway. He had been on his own green path ever since.

"Wooooooow," Kiyoni listened, "That must've taken some balls."

"Indeed. An officer was at the market the third time I went there. I was definitely nervous but was able to pull it off."

"What happened to your pusher?"

"Word on the street was that he was killed before coming back to the city. I said a prayer for him."

"Aww."

"Alright. I managed to pick out some strains based on your criteria. Feel free to inspect them, smell them, feel them out. Tell me what you think."

Kiyoni smirked, "I have a better idea. Why don't we...pick one...and have a smoke session? You're not busy, are you?"

"Uh," Shuuichi flusteredly looked away, "I don't...I don't think so." The way Kiyoni charmingly looked at Shuuichi made him blush.

Kiyoni randomly picked up a jar without ever turning her eyes away from Shuuichi, "I choose this one."

"Banana Kush. Good choice. Hybrid. Fruity smell and flavor…"

"Right up my alley."

"Indeed."

Fortunately for the pair, Kiyoni brought everything needed for the session. Rolling papers, lighters, and a skewer stick to pack in the green.

"I never knew how to do that," Shuuichi admitted.

"What? Roll a joint? Really? How do you smoke it?"

"With this." A handheld, rose pink-colored smoking bowl is pulled from Shuuichi's pocket.

"Ooooooh. Pretty. I can see the rose petals."

"I made it myself. The petals are real."

"Ooh, make me one! Please make me one. I like purple."

Shuuichi flirted in his own way, "Like your eyes?"

"...Yeah. Like my eyes." Kiyoni blushed.

"I'll see what I can do. What's your favorite flower?"

"Favorite flower," Kiyoni repeated just before she lit the joint, "Um...good question. Never thought of it."

"I see. I have my work cut out for me then."

"Sorry." One hit and Kiyoni was impressed, "Ooh, that is fruity."

"Haha. Told you. Just wait until it kicks in."

Kiyoni took one more hit before passing it over and relaxing on the only piece of furniture, a couch, "So...did you enjoy my performance last night?"

Shuuichi joined her, "It was...enticing...to say the least. And that's every night?"

"No. I'm a waitress/hostess or dominatrix during the week and a dancer on the weekends. That's just one of my sources of income."

"There's more? No, I won't judge."

"I'm also a content creator. Instagram, OnlyFans, that type of thing."

"Wait. I heard OnlyFans was-"

"I'm not a pornstar, Shuuichi, and I thought you said you weren't going to judge me."

"You're right, I apologize. Judge not lest ye be judged."

"Right. I'm also on Facebook, Snapchat, and TikTok but those are my lighthearted and personal accounts. I like to dance and have fun and be social...just...live life, you know."

"Understandable. As you should."

"You?"

"Haha. Just Facebook and Instagram for now. I mainly use the latter to post pics of my garden or the church."

"Well, I guess you're not completely out of the loop."

"Nope."

Round three and Kiyoni is feeling it, "Mm. There it is. That didn't take long at all."

"It's kicking in?"

"Yes...and I like it. I definitely have to smoke this after work. Shit, maybe during my period too."

"So…?"

"Hm?"

"Have I convinced you to...join my ministry?"

Kiyoni laughed, "Nice. That's a good one. Really, it is. If your ministry vibes like this, I'll give it a shot. This is a trial run for now."

"A trial run. I can accept that."

"You know...since this is my second time coming here, that means you have to come see me again."

"Is that an invitation?"

"It can be."

"I don't know. I'm not knocking you for your employment status but a place like that...is too much."

"Okay. So, how about somewhere neutral?"

"Like where we met?"

"Hm?"

"Shibuya train station. I never told this to anyone but, I like to spend my nights riding the trains. Strange, I know but it gives me a sense of adventure without straying too far. You're welcome to join me."

"You're right. That is strange," Kiyoni leaned on the armrest, ''but it kinda sounds like fun. Think you can make time for me?"

"Could you? You have my number."

"And you have mine."

"I would like for you to join me," Shuuichi breathed, looking like a red-headed dragon, "I find you interesting."

"I find you interesting." Kiyoni confessed after taking another hit, "I'll join you. Just tell me when."

"Wednesday night after rush hour."

"It's a date."

"A date?"

"Yeah, I said it. A date."

Even though Shuuichi was stoned, it didn't stop him from blushing again. A date with a succubus? Risky but possibly rewarding and exciting.

"Deal."

Achieving the high she wanted, Kiyoni left the compound with a smile on her face and some good quality bud on her person. She just scored a date with a man of the cloth. That's one step closer towards full-on seduction...or is it?