Autumn leaves kept falling on the shrine grounds as a light and chilling breeze blew through the trees. The morning sun had just risen, the air was fresh and slightly humid after the previous night's short rain. But the weather was bound to grow colder as winter drew closer. In roughly six weeks the Kamiari festival would take place at the Izumo Grand Shrine. Both Sayo and her priest friends had agreed to hold their own discreet festivity at the Musashi Shrine as well. It was believed that during the third week of November the gods descended on Earth to convene and discuss the fates of their followers. Their festival was fairly somber, as humans were not allowed to dance or party in the vicinity of the Izumo Grand Shrine during this period. As she swiped the leaves off the sacred shrine grounds, Sayo recalled that in previous years she did feel a strong divine presence emanating from that particular area of Japan, which meant that whatever divinities resided in the entirety of those Shinto shrines must have indeed been gathering as soon as their followers invoked them. But perhaps more importantly to her, in a week's time there was another festival to look forward to - Sagakin's own historic festival which over the years became more secularized and detached from its shrines despite its origin being in Shinto. Considering Shishima's reign of terror, she began to wonder if the people were even capable of holding festivities or celebrating anything anymore.
While pushing the pile of leaves down the garbage disposal, Sayo recalled how humbling and warming the welcome which she received was. Yoichi and Mikio had dined and partied with her as if they were still young teenagers. When together behind four walls they could all drop the formality that was expected of clergy and simply display the friendship they had nurtured for almost four decades. While drinking sake with them, she discovered that they were more than happy to have her once more among their ranks since her popularity in Japan as an exorcist and key helper of Hajime Shirayama against Shishima was sure to increase the number of shrine visitors. And in a strange twist of irony, the past three days had indeed been nothing but that - people flocking to the shrine not to pray to their deity but to meet Sayo. Most wanted her to guess their fortune or bless their lives, but there were also the few odd cases who came seeking help, claiming their house was haunted or a loved one had been possessed, in which case she took their phone numbers and visited them later that evening to offer her help.
Exorcising evil spirits was an easy task for her. Dealing with evil humans was much harder by comparison. Similar to how the Spawns all came to Shishima for worship, it seemed the shrine visitors came to her for the same purpose. If she wanted to, Nekohana could have easily built her own cult and thrived off mortal belief. Her powers would have been at their peak in that mortal world where magic was anything but a regular occurrence. But she had no desires of being revered as a goddess or taking advantage of humans in order to achieve her goals as she had done in the past. She wanted to believe she had grown into a better person. Unlike the path of evil which could easily be maintained by doing a single heinous deed, the path of good not only required repentance, but also constant work to maintain said goodness lest it be corrupted by any kind of misdeed.
Sayo sat on a wooden bench and took a deep breath, allowing herself to relax. She had already prepared breakfast, washed everyone's clothes and performed the mandatory ritual prayers in the early hours of the morning. The duty of attending visitors could be left over to her young apprentices Aiko and Minako. She glanced over to the souvenir stand where the two of them were trying to explain what lucky charms they were selling and attempting to guess the buyer's fortune. Since her return she had taken the role of overseeing their basic Shinto training from Mikio and the girls could not be more delighted. Not only was another priestess around, but she had proven so much more friendly and informal in her approach that it seemed she may have stirred an actual interest in Shinto for the two college students who were simply looking for a minimum wage job to sustain themselves.
Sayo then shifted her attention to the surrounding trees and wondered if she could use her magic by the coming of spring to grow new kinds of plants and diversify the shrine's flora in order to make its gardens much more appealing. She immediately discarded that idea, fearing that using youkai magic on sacred ground would offend the gods. What truly mattered was that the Twilight Kingdom had finally been left behind and her beloved Shishima was no longer an unhinged monster. Now she could allow herself to have a normal life as an ordinary priestess. Compared to the trials they both had faced back at their former home, the obstacles of fighting the Spawns of Shishima and exorcising random evil spirits were but a walk in the park. Deep inside, Nekohana felt accomplished for the first time in millennia. Seeing how the visitors were still rare at that early hour, she decided to put her 'alone time' to good use and fetched her flute, immediately beginning to play a relaxing tune and making sure it was not too loud as to not drag any attention.
A few minutes passed and then she was surprised to see Aiko walk up to her, dressed in the same red hakama and white kimono as her, but with her black hair flowing freely and no longer wrapped in a hime cut.
"Um, Sayo-sempai, excuse me if I'm bothering..." she shyly began, "...but do you mind if I recorded your little song? I heard your flute playing when I was checking the gardens yesterday and thought it sounded cute."
"It's not a problem at all. Go ahead and record!" Sayo said with a friendly smile and resumed her playing, this time with Aiko's cell phone camera on her. Once she was done and the recording stopped, she got up and hid the flute in her pocket. "I must admit that I am not too skilled when it comes to phones, even if I have one myself. I never understood why people find the need to take these so-called 'selfies'."
"It's because selfies are fun and we can do plenty of things with one. Here, let me show you!" Aiko turned her back to Sayo and got closer to her. She set the camera to portrait mode and continued, "Smile and say 'cheese'!" Both did so and made the peace sign as a photo was snapped. "There, now that that's taken care of, let me show you what can be done with selfies." Thus she started applying different filters to the picture, changing the lighting and even adding silly elements like cat ears on their heads and cartoon-like blushing on their cheeks.
"We look so ridiculous now, I love it!" Sayo laughed.
"And once we're done, this will be good for posting on social media. I'm sure we'll get plenty of likes when people see how ridiculously cute we both are!"
"Isn't it kind of a waste to use social media like that, Aiko-chan? I always use all my accounts purely for business purposes. Whenever someone requires my services, I usually encourage them to contact me online."
"Sayo-sempai, the internet is for more then just business. You can use it to make friends as well! Not everything has to be work-related, you know!"
"My apologies for seeming rather old-fashioned. I must confess that the last twenty years of travel and not settling down in one place have left me rather out of touch."
"Don't worry, I understand very well since you're the most popular priestess Japan has had since ever. It's an honor to not only meet you but also work under you!" Aiko then turned her gaze to the souvenir stand. "It seems Minako's being clumsy again. She always forgets what each lucky charm represents. I better go help her out."
"Before you do, I wanted to ask you something." Aiko turned to regard Sayo. "Would you like to hang out after we finish the shrine schedule?"
"Oh, sure thing! We can go out shopping at the mall this evening if you'd like!"
Sayo nodded in response and said, "Sounds like a plan." Left alone once again, she noticed that her heartbeats had increased. Was that warm feeling she was experiencing a new kind of happiness? For the first time in decades she was striking a new friendship with another human and there were no strings attached either. Truly she had found a place where she could belong.
Before they all knew it, the day had already passed, and soon Sayo found herself in an elevator next to both Aiko and Minako, the young girls now out of their priestess attire and wearing colorful shirts, blue jeans and high heels. She herself was wearing her blue yukata with pictures of multicolored flowers and the usual wooden sandals. Although on the outside she appeared calm and collected, in truth she was more than excited to experience something different from her usual routine. The elevator's doors opened and they found themselves at the mall's highest level. As soon as they stepped out, Aiko offered Minako her cell phone and ran to Sayo, turning her around and wrapping an arm around her, smiling for another picture.
While wandering around, Sayo tried her best to make sense from the cacophony of lights and noisy crowds. One would have expected such a place to be fairly empty at 8 PM on a Thursday. She took out her own phone and looked up what items she wished to purchase. Going through the mall's online shops, her eyes were caught by a couple of perfumed candles, incense sticks, rice bags and salt bags. Those would have definitely helped her with new purifying rituals, especially since her own stock was beginning to run low.
"Sayo-sempai, excuse me if I'm indiscreet, but isn't that yukata more suited for festivals?" asked Minako while playing with her ponytail. "We're both dressed in regular clothes, shouldn't you have done the same?"
"Oh, my sincere apologies for this. Unfortunately I don't really own any regular clothes. I've grown up at the Musashi Shrine and I've spent most of my life in a religious environment with fellow priests and priestesses."
Both girls gasped and looked at each other for a moment, giggling intently.
"Then we must go look for some new clothes for our sempai!" Minako suggested.
"But first things first, I'm starving. Let's go get dinner," Aiko said while looking at a nearby fast foot restaurant. "Say, Sayo-sempai, have you ever tried a double cheeseburger?"
Sayo blinked in utter confusion. "I haven't ever eaten a hamburger since I heard they're not very good for one's health."
"I beg to differ. You'll have to try one with us now!"
The two girls playfully grabbed her by the arms and pulled her into the restaurant, laughing all the while.
Half an hour later, they entered a clothes shop and looked around.
"That small apple pie dessert and frappe drink were indeed great. Better than that 'cheeseburger', I'd say. I definitely need to try those again!" Sayo remarked.
"I told you it was worth it!" Aiko replied. "Oh look, what do have here?" She ran to a coat hanger and pulled off a pink blouse with a small seagull picture on the front, bringing it to her friends. "You should try this one, Sayo-sempai! It's so cute, I sure hope it is your size!"
"I'll give it a try." She nodded and took the blouse. "Where's the dressing room?"
"Over there." Minako pointed. "I must say, for someone who is in her forties, you look very good."
"That's true, you look very much our age!" Aiko added.
Thankfully, Sayo had expected this subject to arise, and unlike previous times she had a convincing excuse ready. "This is what happens when you stick to a healthy diet. Anyway, I'll try this on and be right back."
After what seemed like an eternity of trying different clothing articles, in the end they all walked out with two large shopping bags. Now Sayo finally owned modern pants, shirts, jackets and even lingerie. Although a part of her felt uneasy being pulled this much out of her comfort zone when it came to fashion, in the end this was overshadowed by the fact that she was partaking in what was believed to be regular human activities. The sense of normalcy for which she had longed so much was what had brightened the whole experience.
"I never thought I would look this good with a jean miniskirt on," Sayo admitted.
"You have the face to pull off a biker girl look," Minako giggled. "Just get some goth cross earrings and some dark lipstick and you'd be able to pick up biker guys like no tomorrow!"
"We should go buy some makeup too!" Aiko intervened and motioned towards a nearby store, only to be disappointed upon seeing it closed. "Don't tell me it's already past 10..."
"It's actually 10:30," Sayo said as she checked her phone. "We ought to head home before the mall closes."
"Which reminds me! Tomorrow unfortunately we can't come to the shrine since we have courses early in the morning. But we can in the weekend if we're needed!"
"Speak for yourself, Aiko! I'm trying to score a date for the weekend here-"
"Girls, let's save this discussion for later," Sayo interrupted Minako before the two would erupt in a full blown argument. "I must also take my leave in the weekend, so we most likely will see each other on Monday at the shrine. Still, to show my gratitude for this amazing experience, I will call you both rides home." She immediately started dialing the number to order a taxi.
"That's very generous of you, sempai!" exclaimed Aiko. "But won't you also join us in the taxi?"
"Unlike you girls and the high priests, my home is the shrine. I unfortunately have no living relatives to return to, that's one of the reasons I grew up at the Musashi Shrine."
Minako reached and patted Sayo on the shoulder, saying, "I'm so sorry to hear that. It must've been lonely just spending all your time at the shrine."
They all stepped into the elevator and pressed a button to descend to the lowest floor.
"It's okay. You two helped break my schedule, and for that I must thank you both from the bottom of my heart," Sayo spoke in her softest and most caring voice. "It's been ages since I've felt this free from my duties, and I must say that this experience has left me very happy!"
"I never expected the famous Lady Sayo to be this much of an outgoing person, but I'm glad to see this side of yours!" Aiko confessed.
"Let's come back here again sometime next week!" Minako suggested, earning nods from both companions.
In a matter of minutes, Sayo found herself alone on the sidewalk with a large shopping bag in her hands, staring longingly at the two taxis which departed. She was still in disbelief that she had actually spent a day not just pretending to be a normal human, but actually feeling like one. There were no ulterior motives or manipulations involved in their relationship and both girls even accepted her for the human she wanted to be. At that point she was more than certain that she could and would live a normal life. Humming to herself, she began to slowly walk back to the Musashi Shrine where she would get a well-deserved good night's sleep. Friday would bring another work day and on Saturday morning she would be aboard a train on her way to Sagakin to spend some time with her beloved count as well.
For the moment all that mattered was her own happiness. Shishima and his games were a worry that would be dealt with at a later date.