When the miko walked out of the main hall, her long scarlet hair dragged across the moss-covered stone slabs, making a very slight rustling sound.
In her spiritual vision, she carefully identified the breaths of Suzuko and Ukitake, the black Shihakushō, and the Zanpakutō at the waist. This kind of attire was not unfamiliar to her, because Honda has lived here for several years. According to the former shrine maiden, in fact, such a person has been living here for hundreds of years since the shrine was built.
"Are you... Mr. Honda's colleagues?" The witch tilted her head, and a glimmer of understanding flashed in her big eyes.
Suzuko and Ukitake looked at each other. Before leaving, Lieutenant of Thirteenth Division did tell them that Soul Reaper, who was stationed before Kagamino City, was a senior with considerable experience, whose surname was Honda.
"Are you talking about senior Honda?" Suzuko spoke first, with a crisp voice that spread in the quiet courtyard.
The witch heard this and nodded slightly.
"He is on vacation due to family matters. The two of us are here to cover for him and will probably stay here for three months."
Suzuko pointed with his thumb at Ukitake beside him, and then pointed at himself. "My name is Takeda Suzuko, his name is Jūshirō Ukitake, please give me some advice."
"On vacation..."
The miko blinked, her clear eyes reflecting the afterglow of the setting sun. She seemed to have spent some time digesting the words "vacation", "substitute" and "three months". In the time scale of mortals, three months is a long time, but in the eyes of priests and ghosts, three months may be just a cycle in which the ginkgo leaves turn from green to yellow, and then all fall away.
She bent down, took the bamboo broom leaning on the mottled wooden pillar back into her arms, and breathed a long sigh of relief:
"That's it, you can just call me Kagura"
Suzuko looked at this ancient shrine, and was about to say, "We can just live in the wing room," but Kagura had already turned around, and the hem of his clothes moved slightly:
"Follow me, this way."
Behind the door is a narrow wooden corridor. Because it has not been exposed to sunlight for many years, the wooden boards show a simple dark brown color. Kagura stepped on it with his feet wearing straw sandals and did not make much sound. However, Suzuko, who was a little anxious, stepped on it, and the wooden boards made a "squeak" sound, which echoed behind the empty main hall.
At the end of the corridor, there is a sliding door newly covered with snow-white Japanese paper.
Kagura stretched out his slender fingers and gently slid the sliding door to one side.
The room was not big, about the size of six stacks, and the air was filled with a faint aroma of dried lamp grass, which was the unique smell of tatami. The south-facing lattice window was open, and the slanting sunset dyed the entire room a warm orange-gold color, warming the tatami.
In the corner, there is a small niche
There is an old hanging scroll hanging in the niche. The ink on it is somewhat withered, but one word is written vigorously.
[quiet]
"This is my room. Miss Takeda, please live with me."
Suzuko stood at the door and looked in, looking at the clean bedding that was spread in the center of the room and exuding the smell of sunshine. He tugged at the corner of Shihakushō's clothes with some embarrassment. "Well... Miss Kagura, this is your boudoir. Is it inconvenient for me to live here? I can actually go to the wing outside to lay a floor..."
"Nothing inconvenient."
Kagura turned his face, and a trace of warmth appeared on his usually cold and taciturn face. "There are usually very few people here. Everyone usually likes to worship Master Tenjin and Master Inari. There is also an extra set of clean bedding in the cabinet. You can sleep with me."
"Hey? Is it really possible?" Suzuko opened his eyes wide in surprise, and then hugged Kagura's arm with excitement.
"That's great! Thank you, Kagura!"
Kagura was slightly stiffened by her sudden intimacy, and a faint blush appeared on her fair cheeks. She coughed unnaturally, looked away, and pointed to a room on the other side of the corridor.
"As for Mr. Ukitake, please stay in Mr. Honda's original room next door. Mr. Honda is a very clean person. He washed and dried everything in it before leaving."
Ukitake walked forward, looked at the old but spotless room, and solemnly bowed to Kagura and performed the courtesy of Soul Reaper:
"Sorry to bother you, Miss Kagura, I have been staying here for the past three months."
"You're welcome, Mr. Honda also helped Hachiman Shrine a lot when he was here," Kagura responded calmly.
After setting up our luggage, the late autumn sunset had completely sunk behind the mountains, leaving only a dark purple sunset glow on the horizon.
The temperature on the mountain dropped rapidly, and the wind blew through the treetops, bringing a bone-chilling chill.
Dinner was prepared by Kagura, a very simple meal World of the Living, a pot of warm tofu and vegetable miso soup, served with several bowls of hot white rice, and a small plate of pickled sweet and sour yellow radish.
In the tea room on the side of the Hachiman Shrine main hall, three people sat down around a low wooden table.
Because Soul Reaper has a spiritual body and spiritual power, although World of the Living does not need three meals a day like humans, souls with high spiritual power will also feel hungry and can eat World of the Living warm food, which is a novel experience for Suzuko and Ukitake.
"Ha... so warm!"
Suzuko held a large porcelain bowl and took a sip of hot soup in an unladylike manner. He breathed out from the hot steam and his whole face was flushed red by the hot steam.
Ukitake was much more gentle. He held the bowl and looked at Kagura opposite who was slowly sipping the soup. He asked curiously:
"Miss Kagura, I would like to ask... have you been guarding this Hachiman Shrine by yourself? After all, few residents of Kagamino City would climb such a high mountain road to come here to worship."
Kagura The hand holding the chopsticks paused slightly.
She looked out the window at the pitch-black courtyard, with only the shadows of the ginkgo trees swaying in the wind. Her voice seemed a little ethereal in the night:
"Originally... there was a priest, but many years ago, a big disaster occurred at the foot of the mountain. In order to protect everyone, the priest fought against the 'monsters' that Mr. Honda had been cleaning up, and he did not come back in the end."
"From then on, I was the only one left here."
Hearing "disaster" and "monster", Ukitake's eyes froze slightly
"Sorry for bringing up your sadness."
Ukitake was keenly aware of the change in the atmosphere, and took the initiative to interrupt the silence, smiling gently, "But starting from today, in these three months, Miss Kagura will not be alone. Just leave those 'monsters' to us to deal with."
Kagura raised his head and looked at Ukitake's white hair that was glowing softly under the oil lamp, and then at Suzuko who was full of energy and chewing yellow radish next to him.
"Hmm"
The miko pursed her lips lightly
"Then... for the next three months, I'll leave it to these two 'ghost gentlemen'"