[X] That theatre boy she met on her first day knew Kai Kazuya, she could ask him.
"Okay, you two, if you're going to attempt anything along the lines of a heart-thawing, here's a reminder of how it works," Koyomi told the two non-Hanazakari from her past and present, "First, you do both know what a Heart Leech is?"
"Ooh, I do. Those are those parasites the Frost Fair create, they suck up the warmth of your heart and give it back to them," Miyako rushed to respond.
"Bit elaborate of a way to say 'drain your emotions', but yes," Koyomi said, then smirked, "Good to hear what the after-frost generation's been taught still gets the basics right."
"Oh, I remember," Asahi said while looking downcast, "You had to pull several off Tsukasa and I back in the day."
Koyomi turned quiet hearing that, but then explained, "I… suppose all those times must've blurred together for me."
"It happened a lot, so I can see how it would've for you," Asahi said, trying to keep a pleasant tone.
Thinking back, it then occurred to her, "Wait, those Heart Leeches were in Tsukasa and I about a day most, while Kai Kazuya would've had his in him for decades."
"Good, you're starting to see the problem. If his Heart Leech has survived this long, you won't be dealing with a normal specimen," Koyomi said, before she went on.
"Okay, so you'll also know there's four methods of purification, each used by the four genera of Hanazakari. Which are?" She then looked at Miyako to await her answer.
"Swords, Pentacles, Wands, and Cups!" Miyako said, then kept on answering, "With the roles of offence, defence, utility, and inventory, they thaw hearts by attacking the Leech or Frostfarer, defending the victim, saying the right incantation, or combining their emotions back together-"
Before Miyako could turn into a ceaseless fountain of Hanazakari facts, Koyomi stepped in to say, "Well, those are the standardised names RUNE uses. Anyway, the point is, and how do you plan to recreate any of those with Shinto rites?"
"Hinodeharu Jinja indeed houses both ritual weapons and chanted scripture. I believe we are well-prepared, on top of Shinto purification having continued for centuries," Asahi stated. "We'll do fine."
At that, Koyomi nodded and began to walk off, turning back to only say, "Good luck tonight, then."
"Wait," Miyako picked up on, "Does that mean… you're not gonna help us?"
Koyomi sighed out. "Nozawa… listen, I haven't transformed in decades. I'm too long out of practice to be trying to thaw anyone's heart," she said downcast, then glanced at Asahi, "Besides, you've said 'we'll do fine' and have millennium-old purification rites, sounds like you don't need me."
"Arisugawa-sama, wait, it's not like that!" Miyako tried to say, but already Koyomi had left.
Miyako then stared dejectedly into the distance, before she turned to look at Asahi and asked, "You knew her back in school, so… was she always like this?"
Asahi said:
[ ] "No. It's been more than twenty years, people change a lot in that time. Koyomi most of all."
[ ] "Koyomi could act like that back then, but the years must've taken their toll on her."
[ ] "Yes, Koyomi's the same as she ever was, I fear."
[ ] Write-in
With Koyomi now far out of earshot, Asahi on a dime gritted her teeth and fumed, "How dare she say 'You do not want to be a Hanazakari'. The Hanazakari could actually do something, fight back, not be completely powerless against the Frost Fair." Then she started to chuckle, "Now after all these years I can show her, I'll purify a Heart Leech without her having to come save me."
"Er, you alright, Higashi-sama?" Miyako asked, tugging at her collar.
"Oh, my apologies. I'm alright, Nozawa-chan. Just decades of pent-up frustration coming out, that's all," Asahi said, having to bite her lower lip.
Breathing in and out, she told her potential employee, "Well, we'll see to Kai the moment we have time to, assuming his family will let us. But we have shrine duties for now, and let's start your audition off easy, shall we? Sweeping the floors and selling souvenirs, that sound good?"
"Yes, ma'am!" Miyako said, dramatically bowing and saluting again. "I won't let you down!"
Well, not until it comes to having to dance…
The sunlight poured down from the open sky upon the Hinodeharu Shrine courtyard, a welcome change from the mere slivers that poked through on the forest path. The air tasted fresh and clean too, easier for a countryside shrine to accomplish than an urban one, Miyako figured. And though the shrine was old, Asahi and her husband before her had put significant work into its upkeep, meaning unlike Casa Arisugawa it never got Miyako fearing it could crumble at any moment.
With no visitors yet and Asahi's son Hayato busy elsewhere, to Miyako's disappointment, it was just her, the head priestess, the stone lion-dogs, and the enshrined kami for quite some time.
Said kami being:
[ ] Inari, the genderfluid deity of rice and a ton of other things, you could tell by the white stone foxes around.
[ ] Hachiman the war god, whose blessing might come in handy against that leech.
[ ] Tenjin, god of studies and natural disasters. Helpful for Miyako reapplying to college, and venting if she flunked again.
[ ] Amaterasu, which made Miyako's eyes widen. That'd put them on no less than the Ise circuit!
[ ] Write-in
Oh, along with a swarm of dust motes of course, Miyako single-mindedly at work sweeping the courtyard. Whenever they did get visitors though, she raced over to the souvenir stand and began hawking ofuda, omamori, and several other objects she'd blanked on when Asahi had described them.
"Hey, did I tell you I'm gonna be a journalist?" Miyako said to Asahi when she had time, "'Cause I could put in a good word for you if I do an article on shrines."
Asahi had to wince. "Sounds me to like you're already cozying up to the boss," she said. "And wouldn't journalism have standards against bias?"
Miyako could've melted then and there from shame. "I'm so sorry, I didn't know I was coming off that way…" she mumbled increasingly incoherently, at which Asahi had to giggle at.
At the end of the shift, Asahi summed up Miyako's first trial run day with, "Well, you may have gotten over-eager at the souvenir stand, plus your one journalism comment, but you undeniably bring a real enthusiasm to being a miko."
"Oh thank you, thank you, thank you," Miyako said as if to confirm. Calming down a bit, she then said, "Guess being a miko's like one of the closest things you can get nowadays to… being a Hanazakari."
She froze a little, wondering if she'd touched a nerve with Asahi, like she'd inadvertently revealed her boss' own reason for her job all those years ago.
To Miyako's relief, Asahi just nodded before moving onto the other reason the girl had come here. "Now, to the purification of the elder Kai brother. I would presume he's either at his parents' manor or somewhere around town."
Miyako was nearly blown off her feet. While the Kai had sounded prestigious, to think Kazuya could live in a mansion. Though her elation sputtered out when she realised that'd just make it harder to get in and find him. Unless…
"If he's not around town, I think I already know a guy who can get us in contact with Kazuya, or tell us more about his deal anyway," Miyako said, before she grew embarrassed to admit, "Don't know his name, but he came up to me the day I arrived here. He was picking on Arisugawa-sama, so that's not cool, but he did mention Kai Kazuya by name. Think this guy's at the theatre, he also namedropped the place."
"I believe the Yuuki family's in charge of the local theatre, it's possible the Kai could've patronised them," Asahi said, "Suppose it wouldn't hurt to ask them."
"Great, I'll be right back!" Miyako said and took off, then quickly ran back "Er, sorry, which way's the theatre again?"
Turned out the town theatre was on any other street, and would even look like any other building if not for a rickety sign and Miyako being told otherwise. From some reason she doubted this place was patronised by the likes of the Kai.
The sign did say that actors and scripters were wanted, well it said pretty much every theatre position was wanted, but those two stood out the most to Miyako.
I do have an old Hanazakari fanfic if they're interested, I could even star! Forgetting for a second she was already applying for a journalism major, was still trying out for miko, and had a Heart Leech case to settle.
The door open, she slowly entered to find herself in a pitch-black auditorium. Suddenly a lone spotlight appeared on stage, illuminating a brunette boy clad in a beret and checkered capelet. "Friends, Japanese, countrymen, ah, who'd also be Japanese! Past this point you have left behind the world of reality and entered a dimension where the only rules we play by are our own! Our heroes the most heroic, our villains the vilest, our tragedies the most tearjerking! Here, nothing is as it seems!" his voice boomed. Despite the megaphone, Miyako still recognised it as belonging to the very guy she'd met while Koyomi bought firewood.
Though since she'd just walked in on him in rehearsal, well she took it that's what this was anyway, that raised the question of how to reintroduce herself.
[ ] Bring up the last meeting. "Hi, I'm Nozawa Miyako, we met on the hill, remember?"
[ ] Cut through with the point. "You know Kai Kazuya, right? I wanted to talk about him."
[ ] Join in with his theatrics. "Yes, a spellbinding adventure awaits! Gods, heroes, princesses, cute boys!"
[ ] Hone that journalism. "Hi, I was interested in writing an article on this theatre."
[ ] Write-in
QM's Note: Since we've got three votes, I'd like to request Plan Voting this time around
