You woke from his sleep.
He groggily grabbed his phone from beside the pillow. The large numbers “8:20” on the screen instantly jolted him awake.
You jumped up from the tatami mat in one motion.
‘Wasn’t it agreed that we’d start curse technique practice at 7? It’s already over an hour late! Oh no, I’m this late—Chihaya is definitely going to be mad.’
As he quickly dressed and thought, he couldn’t help feeling confused.
‘Why didn’t anyone come to wake me?’
Having dressed, he walked out of the bedroom with a hint of guilt and entered the living room.
The girls were already sitting around the table, chatting. When they heard the sound of the sliding door, they all looked up at once.
Chihaya’s gaze landed on him first, watching him intently.
“Divine Child, did you sleep well last night?”
Her voice was still cool and pleasant. Despite being a gentle inquiry, it made You feel an inexplicable pressure bearing down on him.
You broke out in a cold sweat, inwardly shouting that he couldn’t handle it.
‘So this is a heavy woman? Terrifying.’
He immediately bowed his head in apology, his tone sincere.
“I’m sorry, I was terribly rude.”
Upon hearing his apology, the pressure around Chihaya receded somewhat. She gave a slight nod, her tone softening.
“Sleep is also important. But You, punctuality is crucial. As the Divine Child, you should set an example.”
You nodded repeatedly.
Futaba cut in with a smile.
“We got here before seven.”
She tilted her head and twirled the fan in her hand.
“I was planning to go wake you up, but Chihaya stopped me, saying it was more important for you to rest.”
Futaba’s tone was airy, but her eyes were fixed on Chihaya, watching her reaction.
Chihaya’s expression didn’t change, but the tips of her ears turned a little red.
‘Satisfied, Futaba saw right through Chihaya’s intentions.’
‘She was both angry at You for being late and reluctant to wake him and disturb his sleep.’
‘That move at the end was really clever—without a single word of reproach, she made You apologize on his own.’
‘Chihaya, you’re pretty amazing.’
At that thought, she herself paused.
‘Why, why am I starting to care so much about what goes on between them?’
‘And since when did I start calling him “You” in my head?’
‘Could it be…’
Futaba didn’t dare think further. Her face still wore a bright smile, but she had folded her fan, her knuckles turning white from gripping it.
Mai also nodded.
“Mm-hmm, after Sister and I woke up, Sister waited and waited for You to wake up.”
She looked at You, then at her sister, her mind full of other thoughts.
‘Sister is amazing. With just a few words, she made You bow his head and apologize.’
‘I remember when she scolds me, I don’t even dare to breathe.’
‘But Sister is also—she clearly wanted You to sleep a little longer herself, but she pretends to be all about punctuality.’
Thinking that, she stole a glance at Chihaya’s ears. They were red.
‘Mai sighed inwardly, feeling a bit down, and hugged the cushion tighter to herself.’
‘You always looks at Sister first, then Sister Futaba, then Sister Hitomi, and finally me.’
‘When will he ever see me first?’
She lowered her head and drew circles on her thigh with her finger.
Hitomi smiled gently.
“Miss Chihaya is very gentle. But You, waking up late really isn’t good—you did agree yesterday.”
Hitomi watched Chihaya and You, feeling that this scene was really interesting.
‘She admitted she did have a bit of a crush on the Divine Child, but not nearly to the extent of Chihaya and Mai.’
‘As a newcomer, she was still observing—what kind of person Chihaya was, what kind of person Futaba was, what kind of person Mai was, and what kind of person You was.’
‘Chihaya actually has a side like this, really unexpected. She’s usually so dignified. Maybe this is the bearing of the main wife?’
She picked up her teacup, took a sip, and hid the smile at the corner of her lips.
Chihaya, upon hearing the others’ good-natured teasing, couldn’t quite keep her composure. Although she tried to maintain her dignified expression, the redness from her ears had spread to her cheeks.
You watched this scene, feeling a warmth in his heart. These girls were all willing to wait for him to get up. This feeling was really nice.
“Then… are we still learning today?”
Chihaya glanced at him.
“We’ll learn. We’ll start after breakfast.”
“Okay.”
You sat down and picked up the bowl in front of him. Miso soup, grilled fish, pickled vegetables, white rice. The same spread as the past few days. He picked up a piece of grilled fish, chewed a couple of times, and then took a mouthful of rice.
“What are we learning today?”
His mouth still full of rice, his voice was a bit muffled.
Chihaya frowned.
“You, don’t talk with food in your mouth. It’s very rude. We’ll talk after you finish eating.”
Good-natured laughter came from beside him. You said “oh” and lowered his head to focus on eating.
***
After the meal, the group moved to the corridor in the garden.
The bamboo in the yard swayed gently in the wind, the leaves rustling. The hydrangea bush beside the stone lantern was in full bloom, dew still clinging to its blue petals.
Chihaya sat down across from You, her back perfectly straight.
Chihaya’s voice reverted to its usual, matter-of-fact tone.
“The first step of training—sensing spiritual power.”
“Sensing spiritual power?”
“Yes. Spiritual power is the energy that flows through all things. The power used by deities, shrine maidens, and onmyoji are essentially the same. You have the blood of Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto in you, so theoretically you should have spiritual power. But you’ve never used it, so you need to first sense its existence.”
“What do I need to do?”
You asked seriously.
“Close your eyes, take a deep breath, and now—imagine yourself becoming one with the deity. You will gradually sense the spiritual power.”
You was taken aback by her words.
‘What the hell? Imagine becoming one with a deity? My dear Chihaya, this is really pushing it.’
‘Does she expect me to imagine being one with my own father? I really can’t do that.’
Just as You was about to speak up and express his opinion, Hitomi spoke softly.
“Miss Chihaya, there’s something I need to remind you. The Divine Child may not be suited for our shrine maiden’s basic training method. For us shrine maidens, the first step in sensing spiritual power is indeed to harmonize our body and mind with the deity we serve. But if the Divine Child does the same, given his blood connection with Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto, the process of sensing spiritual power will be immediately detected by Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto.”
Upon hearing this, Chihaya’s face—rarely—showed embarrassment. She stood up and bowed to Hitomi in thanks.
“If you hadn’t warned me, I would have made a serious mistake.”
Then she apologized to You.
“I’m sorry, You. I didn’t think it through.”
You was taken aback and quickly comforted her.
“It’s okay, it’s not your fault.”
Hitomi also smiled and said,
“Chihaya, you’re just too close to the situation. If it were me, I might have made the same mistake.”
The girls were all at a loss. For a shrine maiden to sense spiritual power, the first step is to become one with the deity in body and mind. This step in Shinto is called “Purify the Heart and Become One with the God.”
For shrine maidens, it’s a matter of course and the first hurdle of training. But You absolutely couldn’t do that, because it would attract the attention of Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto.
You listened to their explanation, closed his eyes and thought for a moment, then sat down cross-legged on the corridor. The girls were curious about what he was going to do, but seeing his serious expression, they silently watched from the sidelines, not daring to disturb him.
After about half an hour, the girls were starting to get impatient and were about to wake You up when a faint but unmistakable ripple spread around You’s body. It was spiritual power—genuine spiritual power. The girls almost cried out in unison,
“That’s impossible!”
You opened his eyes and gave a faint smile.
“Looks like it wasn’t as hard as I thought.”