The Shrine

Toshima Ward, Sugamo Town.

The ward lay in the northwestern part of Tokyo.

Its name came from the old name for Toshima District in Musashi Province, before the feudal domains were abolished and replaced with prefectures.

When Tokyo expanded its administrative boundaries, four towns that had once belonged to North Toshima District were incorporated into the city and given the name Toshima Ward.

Hundreds of years ago, this area had been home to many temples and shrines. Today, it was crowded with traditional little shops and all kinds of specialty stores; you could find every sort of handicraft here.

The shops on both sides of the street sold nothing but things for the elderly.

Their bestsellers included thermal underwear, hearing aids, and health socks. The street was lined with old-fashioned pharmacies, and there were even two funeral homes and a karaoke bar straight out of the seventies.

"This place feels like it's from another era."

Class Monitor Nao pushed up her glasses and started a conversation.

"Yeah, it's like we've traveled back in time. Who knows how long these shops have been here?"

They had gone from Bunkyo Ward, where schools stood everywhere and young people filled the streets, to a road that had kept its traditional feel. Surrounded by elderly men and women in traditional clothes, all ambling along at their own pace, Akihi Yu couldn't help rubbing his chin.

"Amame, do you work around here?"

"Hee-hee-hee~~"

"It gets even older than this."

The petite, lively Amame Ei greeted the elderly people approaching them, then pointed ahead.

"We still have about a thousand meters to go."

"In that case, I'll wait here."

When she heard they still had another thousand meters to walk, Akiyu Sora stopped in her tracks.

She had always been in poor health, had the temperament of a shut-in, and now had the annoying Ai Nao beside her. She had no motivation at all.

"I could carry you."

Akihi Yu wasn't comfortable leaving Akiyu Sora here by herself.

"Huh?"

"I'm not a little kid."

"Then give me your backpack. I'll carry it for you."

Faced with her brother's outstretched hand, Akiyu Sora finally handed him her backpack.

"Do you want me to—"

"No need, Yu."

"Hee-hee-hee~~ I don't need help either."

Class Monitor Nao and the petite Amame Ei both refused Akihi Yu's offer to carry their backpacks. One was a key member of the school swim team, and the other walked this route every day; neither had any trouble with stamina.

Twenty minutes later,

"Sora, are you all right?"

The four of them reached the foot of a small hill. Akihi Yu looked up at the long flight of steps, then turned around.

"I—"

"I'll push Sora along."

Before Akiyu Sora could say anything, the energetic Amame Ei began pushing her from behind and leading her up the steps.

Sora, your stamina really is terrible.

Wondering whether he should give Akiyu Sora a little spiritual power, Akihi Yu followed the others up the forest path. A little over ten minutes later, they reached the top of the hill.

A vermilion torii marked with the character "open" stood at the end of the steps. They passed through it, and a small shrine came into view.

"Sora, we're here~~"

Amame Ei moved to the front and spun around to present the place.

"Welcome to Inari Shrine."

It was a tiny shrine, with a few meters of approach and just two stone lanterns.

The little Main Hall, Haiden, Chozuya, and ema—all of it together was smaller than a basketball court.

Though it was also called Inari Shrine, it had absolutely nothing to do with Fushimi Inari Taisha. Its endless rows of vermilion Senbon torii gates were among Kyoto's most iconic sights.

Since the Inari God was worshipped as a god of agriculture and commerce, the deity was widely revered, and there were more than nine thousand Inari Shrines throughout Japan!

"Is it just you here, Amame?"

Class Monitor Nao looked around, surprised.

This shrine stood on a hill, with nothing else nearby.

It was a lovely place to visit, but as a place to live? Alone here in the dead of night?

Just imagining it sent a chill through Class Monitor Nao.

"Of course."

"My grandpa used to live here with me, too."

"Ever since he passed away, I've been taking care of the place by myself."

After speaking, Amame Ei first invited everyone to wash their hands at the Chozuya, then led them to sit in the Shamusho beside it. She slid open a wooden door and went into the room inside.

"Ta-da! Shrine Maiden Ei is here~~"

A few minutes later, the girl emerged in a white top and red hakama, brimming with energy.

"Come on, I'll show you around the shrine."

"This is the Haiden."

The tiny Haiden stood in front of the Main Hall. It was where people came to pray and make wishes.

They tossed in five-yen coins, symbols of good fortune, clapped twice, then pressed their palms together. Class Monitor Nao and Akiyu Sora bowed their heads and thought of what they wanted to pray for.

I hope Sora can accept me.

I hope that wicked woman leaves my brother.

After making opposite wishes in their hearts, the two casually turned their heads away from each other.

"Ahem. Next, would you like to write an ema?"

"They're free."

Shrine Maiden Amame Ei suggested it.

Ema—literally, "horse pictures"—were wooden plaques painted with horses.

That was only their original form, though. Over time, the designs grew more varied. At Inari Shrines, for example, the ema were decorated with foxes. People wrote their wishes on these wooden plaques, about fifteen centimeters long and ten centimeters tall, then offered them at the shrine, praying for the gods' protection.

"Oh, that's too much trouble—"

"Don't worry, I made them myself."

Class Monitor Nao declined out of habit, but Amame Ei answered without a moment's hesitation.

"You made all of these yourself, Amame?"

Class Monitor Nao took the ema the lively girl handed her and examined it closely, impressed.

"They're so finely made."

"Hee-hee-hee~~ My grandpa taught me how."

Amame Ei gave one ema each to Class Monitor Nao and Akiyu Sora, but Akihi Yu didn't take one. At the girl's puzzled look, he smiled faintly.

"My wish?"

"The Inari God probably couldn't grant it."

?

"Brother."

"Yu, you can't say things like that at a shrine."

Class Monitor Nao and his younger sister probably didn't believe there were gods in the world.

But saying something like that at a shrine—and one where their classmate Amame Ei worked—was a little inappropriate.

"Sorry, Amame."

"I didn't mean to be disrespectful. It's just—"

As someone who would one day plant the Divine Tree and travel the cosmos in his own body, Akihi Yu didn't think there was anything in this world worthy of his worship.

"It's all right. A shrine is just a place people turn to for spiritual comfort."

"Praying for a good harvest, a thriving business, and the safety of one's family—all of those are just people's hopes for a better life."

And to make those wishes come true, what mattered more was taking action.

As an abandoned child, Amame Ei had understood that from an early age.

"Well said!"

Akihi Yu gave the girl a thumbs-up and nodded.

"Heaven moves with vigor; the noble-minded strive constantly for self-improvement. Amame, you're the one who knows how to live freely!"

"I'm not nearly as amazing as you make me sound."

After the group finished looking around the tiny shrine, they started cleaning it. This was usually part of Amame Ei and Nagisa Kazuha's routine. That was right: the Young Lady came here every day to help Amame Ei take care of the shrine, unless something came up.

"Amame,"

Akihi Yu chatted with the girl as they swept up fallen leaves.

"If there really were a god, what kind of wish would you want granted?"

"Yu, didn't you say you don't believe in gods?"

The shrine maiden in white and red tapped her chin and thought for a moment.

"I'm happy with my life now. But if I had to pick a wish, I'd want to finish high school and university with Kazuha, then watch her walk down the aisle~~"

"What kind of old-lady thing is that to say?"

As he teased her, Akihi Yu flicked a finger.

A sheet of paper drifted silently through the crack in the closed Main Hall doors and slipped inside.

The Main Hall was empty; there was no "god statue" inside.

That was a feature of Shinto:

It did not worship idols.

According to Shinto beliefs in Japan, all things had spirits, but the gods were formless and lived in a different world from humans. A shrine was merely a place where a god might rest. Passing through a shrine's torii meant entering the domain of the gods, but there was no guarantee that a god would be there.

Although shrines did not keep statues of the gods in their halls, some housed a sacred object, such as a mirror, a tomoe, or a long sword, to represent the deity.

The sacred object enshrined in the Main Hall of this Inari Shrine was a fox mask.

The paper flew over and covered the mask.

The next moment,

The mask suddenly came to life.