"Hana, I have some things to take care of today, so you go on ahead without me."
"What is it?"
"I want to go to the library to look up some books on shrine maidens. I've started getting interested in that lately," Miko said, using the excuse she had prepared.
It wasn't exactly a lie; she really did want to find out what a shrine maiden's duties entailed. It was a way to kill two birds with one stone.
At the mention of the library, Hana immediately shook her head. "Sorry, Miko. I get sleepy the moment I step into a library. I can't join you."
"That's okay. Go home on your own and be safe on the way."
"Got it! Do you take me for a child?"
After Hana left, Miko packed her things and headed to the library.
"Shrines, shrine maidens..." Miko muttered under her breath while searching for her target books.
"Found it!" She pulled a volume from the shelf. "History of Japanese Miko... is this a bit too serious?"
She grabbed several similar books before finding an empty seat to sit down. After browsing for a while, Miko gained a deeper understanding of the role.
"When I used to go with Mom to pray, I never realized it was such a complex job."
Handling the rituals and the cleaning was tedious enough, but having to help people ward off calamities and solve grievances? How was she supposed to do that?
"Some even require learning dances to please the gods. I wonder if Aosora-sama has those."
"Of course I do."
Aomori spoke suddenly from behind her, giving Miko a massive fright.
"Aosora-sama! When did you get here?"
"I've been here for a while. You looked so focused I didn't want to disturb you." Aomori had come alone. The little fox, Nibi, had been in a deep sleep since leaving the shrine, so he had sent it back to the shrine to recover.
"Ah." Miko realized it was almost dark, and she was the only person left in the library.
"Let's get started, then." If she went home too late, her mother would worry.
"Alright."
The two went down to the edge of the school's sports field. Aomori confirmed with her, "Miko, are you clear on your mission?"
Miko nodded and answered seriously, "I'm very clear." During classes, she had mentally prepared herself ten times over. She was ready.
Seeing her confidence, Aomori didn't say much more and simply gave her a thumbs up. "Good luck!"
"Yeah! I'm going!"
Miko held her head high and, with a look of grim determination, bid farewell to Aomori and set off alone.
By now, night had fallen, and the school was shrouded in darkness.
It's so dark. After walking a short distance, her courage began to ebb. She felt as though countless malevolent eyes were peering at her from the shadows.
Taking a deep breath, Miko stepped into the darkness and, as expected, found a big-headed evil spirit.
It stared at Miko, muttering to itself, "Study... I love studying... Come study with me..."
Miko's pupils shrank. Reflexively, she froze, her right hand clutching her skirt.
Miko, it's okay. You have Kami-sama protecting you. You are safe! Be brave. Face it. Look it in the eye!
After repeating this several times and visualizing Aomori's face, her courage returned. She took a sharp breath and shouted at the big-headed spirit, "I can see you! But I really don't want anything to do with you! Please stay far away from me in the future!"
Ah, I finally said it. Miko felt a sudden wave of relief wash over her.
But before she could celebrate, the spirit became excited.
"You can see? You can see me!"
The big-headed spirit began charging toward Miko with a bizarre, jerky gait. The horrifying sight immediately caused Miko to squeeze her eyes shut in fear.
"Aaagh!" The spirit let out a cry of pain. Its hand had been scorched by the white shield enveloping Miko, sending up curls of blue smoke.
Miko slowly opened her eyes and found that Kami-sama's protective spell had blocked the spirit. She breathed a sigh of relief.
Seeing the spirit hesitating, she remembered the task Aomori had assigned her. She quickly provoked it: "Ghost-san, come and get me! I'm not afraid of a failing student like you!"
"Failing student? I am not a failing student!" That term was clearly its sore spot. It flew into a rage, ignoring the pain as it tried to kill the human before it.
Having successfully baited the spirit, Miko didn't dare slack off and immediately bolted. Whenever she encountered other spirits during her run, she would provoke them as well.
In this manner, Miko completed a lap around the school and returned to Aomori, with a massive swarm of clawing evil spirits right behind her.
Seeing this, Aomori lightly raised his right hand. A single blast of Holy Light purified them all instantly.
"Ha... saved." Miko slumped to the ground, exhausted. It wasn't just her body; her mind was spent. The sight of those grotesque spirits lunging at her was too much. Even though she knew she wouldn't be hurt, she couldn't help being terrified to the point of tears.
Sitting like that in a skirt... won't her bottom get cold?
Aomori, possessing high emotional intelligence, naturally kept that thought to himself. He helped the near-limit Miko up and funneled a bit of Holy Light into her. Miko's complexion improved instantly.
Don't doubt it. Holy Light is universal. Like hot water, it cures all ailments.
Speaking of hot water, Aomori remembered he had once pulled some from a gacha. He rummaged through his system inventory, took it out, and handed it to Miko. "Here. Drink some hot water."
"Oh, thank you." Miko was used to the deity's strange antics. Despite her curiosity, she didn't ask where the cup of hot water came from.
"Miko, you were great!" Aomori gave her another deity-certified thumbs up. "The 'Decoy Plan' was a success. There are still many areas left. Let's keep it up and clear them all out."
Hearing Aomori's praise, her physical and mental exhaustion seemed like nothing. Miko nodded happily and cheered herself on. "Yeah! Let's do it!"
And so, Miko acted as the bait, gathering the spirits together for Aomori to harvest. The operation felt remarkably like pulling mobs in an MMO. Aomori could almost hear the voice in his head shouting, "LEEROY JENKINS!"
After a few rounds, Miko became desensitized. Her fear upon seeing spirits faded, replaced by a slight urge to laugh.
Finally, while Aomori was destroying a spirit, she asked him, "Can I destroy evil spirits like you do? It looks kind of cool."
"Of course you can."
According to Aomori's personal detection, the spiritual power in Miko's body was quite high and rising steadily. That was why she could see spirits so clearly. One could say she was true protagonist material. With her potential, her raw spiritual power would likely surpass Natsume's soon.
"Then... can you teach me?" Even in the dark, Miko's golden eyes sparkled.
"I can, but this isn't part of our previous contract. If you want me to teach you, you must agree to do one more thing for me."
"Eh? We're being that formal?"
Aomori wagged a finger. "Giving for free breeds greed. That is the conclusion of my years of experience, so I set rules for myself. That rule is 'Equivalent Exchange.' If you want me to help fulfill a wish, you must pay an equal price."
"Alright, that makes sense." Miko thought for a moment and then nodded resolutely. "Fine, I agree. Please teach me how to exorcise spirits. I'm willing to pay the price. After all, Aosora-sama definitely won't harm me."
If she mastered exorcism, she wouldn't feel so helpless against spirits, and she could protect Hana and her special physique. Any way she looked at it, it was a win.
"Naturally. I am a respectable deity." Aomori smiled happily.
After successfully resolving the issues at the school, Aomori and Miko headed home. However, upon reaching her doorstep, Aomori didn't go in. He said his goodbyes to Miko.
"You're leaving? Why?"
"Miko is a girl. It wouldn't be very convenient for me to stay in your bedroom all the time."
"It's not inconvenient."
"Heh." Aomori patted her head. "Besides, I have my own things to do. If you miss me, come find me at the shrine. Don't forget, you still have your shrine maiden duties."
"Okay. Saturday—no, Sunday. I'll go on Sunday." Miko remembered her plans with Hana and Yulia for Saturday and quickly corrected herself.
"That works. I'll teach you about exorcism then."
After waving goodbye to Kami-sama, Miko returned home. She saw her mother, her brother, and the spirit of her recently deceased father.
"Dad..." Miko didn't continue. Her lips moved, but she ultimately kept quiet.
Forget it. Let Dad stay with Mom a bit longer. Later, I'll ask Kami-sama to help him pass on to the next life.
She went up to the second floor, paused at the door handle, and then turned it. The room was quiet, its layout familiar, yet it felt as if something was missing.
"Miko, come down to eat once you've changed!" her mother called from downstairs.
"I'm coming!" Miko shook the stray thoughts from her head, changed quickly, and went down for dinner.
Late at night, Miko lay in bed but couldn't sleep. After tossing and turning, she suddenly sat up, turned on the bedside lamp, and patted her shadow on the floor. "Nightmare-sama, are you there?"
Darkrai poked its head out of the shadow, giving her a questioning look.
Miko waved her hand. "It's nothing. I just wanted to say goodnight to you."
Darkrai nodded and, like Aomori, patted her head. Miko immediately felt a wave of sleepiness. Once she was out, Darkrai emerged from the shadow, glanced at her, and left. Without Aomori there, its presence would cause them to have nightmares.
Goodnight, Miko.
It was dreamless night.
The next morning, Miko woke up feeling more rested than ever before. She smiled as she opened the curtains to the morning glow, starting her new life.
At the same time, Aomori was bringing Kogoro Mori to inspect the house. Since Aomori couldn't be seen by ordinary people, it had taken quite a lot of effort to get everything settled.
"Sigh, I still have too few people I share a bond with."
He desperately needed a mature, steady person to handle his chores. But such people weren't easy to come by.
The property Aomori had purchased was a two-story commercial building. The first floor was for living quarters, while the second was converted into an office.
"I'll have Kayaba spend some money on ads to get the name of the Mori Paranormal Detective Agency out there."
Next, Shinichi Kudo had to handle enrollment procedures. This time, Aomori didn't want to go with him. The school only had a middle school division, but that didn't matter; middle and high school were similar enough.
To prevent Ditto from causing any trouble, Aomori warned it: "Find the principal first. Speak little, keep your expression cold, and just nod to whatever they say. Don't worry, we've thrown a lot of money at this. You can even be a bit arrogant if necessary."
"I got it. Don't worry."
Ditto transformed into Shinichi Kudo, put on the designer clothes Kayaba Akihiko had bought, slung on a backpack, and headed out with its ID and money. Holding a smartphone, it had learned how to use GPS navigation under Aomori's guidance the previous night.
If an old lady could do it, Ditto certainly could.
"Too easy. I'm a genius." Listening to the voice prompts, Ditto's body blurred as it zipped through the streets at high speed, leaving pedestrians stunned. If the GPS didn't need time to react, it would have been even faster, so fast that no one would have noticed it.
Five minutes later, Ditto successfully arrived at the school gates.
It was peak morning hours, and the gates were swarming with students. Following its own aesthetic, Ditto stopped a pure-looking girl with long black hair. Remembering Aomori's instructions, Ditto's expression became icy. It released a surge of killing intent and said menacingly, "Hey. I'm looking for your principal."
The girl, Hiyori Iki, had two friends with her. Terrified by the killing intent, they shrank behind her. "Hiyori, is he here to pick a fight? Let's ignore him and go!"
"It's fine," Hiyori comforted them before asking Ditto, "Why are you looking for the principal? If you're here for trouble, I can't tell you."
Ditto knew what that meant. It was about to say it wasn't there for trouble, but then it remembered Aomori's advice. Trusting Aomori implicitly, Ditto simply nodded without a word.
"Ah! I knew it! Hiyori, let's get out of here!"
Hiyori was scared too, but she braced herself and said, "I suggest you don't try anything. There are many security guards in the school."
Seeing the handsome boy still staring coldly at her, Hiyori finally backed down. But when she tried to walk around him, he blocked her path again.
By now, many people had noticed the commotion and gathered around. Even the school guards came out. The crowd surrounded Ditto, their expressions heated.
"Is someone from another school looking for trouble?"
"Probably another guy trying to confess to Hiyori-chan."
"No way! Iki-san belongs to me!"
"I heard he's looking for the principal?"
"What? Is the principal's secret love child here to settle a score?"
The rumors grew more absurd by the second. In the crowd, Hiyori rolled her eyes, not wanting to deal with them. The noise made Ditto very uncomfortable.
"You can even be a bit arrogant if necessary."
Recalling Aomori's words, Ditto looked at the crowd with eyes full of disdain and said, "So noisy. You pieces of trash, get out of my way!"
"??!" The boys' eyes turned red with anger.
Seeing things about to turn ugly, Hiyori was worried and was about to intervene when she heard a loud BOOM.
Ditto had lightly stomped its foot, and a massive crater cracked open in the ground.
The scene instantly fell into a dead silence.