*kring~kring
The gentle chime of the temple wind bells swayed softly in the night breeze.
In front of the temple’s sacred water basin, Shinobu and Rin rinsed their hands with wooden ladles under the quiet guidance of a shrine maiden.
The two of them then stepped up to the main altar, pressed their palms together in front of their chests, and closed their eyes in sincere prayer.
*May the gods always keep Shinobu safe and healthy.*
Once she finished her silent prayer, Rin, who had been curled up in the woven basket, slowly opened her eyes.
Right at that moment, she caught Shinobu already done praying and now staring at her with that annoying, mischievous grin.
“Look at how devout our Princess Rin is. What exactly did you wish for from the gods, hm?”
“Don’t ask. A wish won’t come true if you say it out loud.”
Using her only functional right hand, Rin pushed her fox mask up onto her forehead.
Her pair of eyes stared flatly at Shinobu.
“Besides, stop looking at me with that weird grin. It’s disgusting.”
On any normal day, Rin would never have spoken so bluntly.
But tonight was different.
Under Shinobu’s constant influence of dragging her out of her comfort zone, Rin—who had decided to shed the stiff responsibilities of the castle—was slowly revealing her true self: a teenage girl who could get irritated and speak her mind plainly.
“Heeey~ I didn’t know you actually believed in gods and spirits, Rin.”
“I believe because the gods’ power is real.”
The calm image of her older brother, Yoriichi, suddenly flashed through Rin’s mind, making her voice sound utterly certain.
Her older brother was the most absolute proof in this world that miracles from the heavens truly existed.
“Yeah, yeah, whatever you say…”
Shinobu chose not to drag out the theological debate.
She pointed toward the giant *ema* display board in the corner of the temple grounds, covered with wooden plaques from countless visitors.
“How about we write some prayer plaques together? Maybe it’ll increase our chances of the gods granting our wishes.”
“Sure.” Rin nodded after a brief pause.
“But just so you know, the proper name for those wooden prayer plaques is *ema*.”
“They originated from the ancient tradition of offering live horses to the gods as a form of worship. Over time, that custom was simplified into paintings, small statues, or wooden plaques with horse motifs like we have now…”
“Alright, alright, Miss Know-It-All, please stop lecturing me…”
Shinobu let out a long sigh as she accepted two wooden plaques and a brush from the shrine maiden.
She handed one to Rin, then trudged over to a stone bench beneath a large tree and plopped herself down.
“My ears are burning from your history lecture all night. I’m seriously exhausted…”
“Ha?!”
Hearing that mutter, Rin immediately straightened her back, gripping the edge of the woven basket with a clenched jaw.
“Who was the one who dragged me out here saying we were going to have fun? I only explained a little history and you’re already calling me annoying?!”
“Ha?!!”
Intentionally raising her voice to match Rin’s challenge, Shinobu quickly lowered the woven basket from her shoulder to the ground.
She shot to her feet, planted her hands on her hips, and glared sharply at Rin.
“Little Rin, which one of your ears heard me say you’re annoying, huh?!”
“You didn’t say it with your mouth, but your attitude and that face of yours made it obvious!”
“Oh, wonderful! So that’s how you see it?! Fine, let’s settle all our scores tonight!”
“Who’s scared?! Bring it on!”
“Um… Ladies, please don’t fight in the…”
“Step aside! We’ll talk later!” Shinobu waved her hand dismissively, shooing away the frightened shrine maiden who tried to intervene.
Shinobu then planted one foot on the stone bench, striking an aggressive pose as she faced Rin, who was still in the basket.
She began counting on her fingers, listing her friend’s offenses one by one.
“First! During the goldfish scooping game earlier, we were just one fish away from beating the top boy’s record. But you suddenly let the last goldfish go because your ‘hand slipped’! What was that about, huh?!”
“Tell me the truth! You let it go on purpose because you felt sorry for that crying kid, didn’t you?!”
Hearing Shinobu bring up the goldfish stall incident, Rin’s face flushed bright red with pure irritation.
“You have two perfectly healthy hands, but they were shaking like leaves in the wind and couldn’t scoop a single fish! In the end, you asked for help from me—a paralyzed patient who can only move one arm! Shinobu, don’t you have any shame?!”
While shouting, Rin used her right hand to lift her stiff left arm and swung it forward in a weak, mock punch toward the air in front of Shinobu.
“Enough! Stop talking about the goldfish already!”
Shinobu quickly folded down her second finger, changing the subject before her pride took any more damage.
“Next, let me ask about that haiku relay game afterward! Your first few lines were actually pretty good, Rin. So why did you suddenly stop halfway and just accept defeat?!” Follow the newest chapters on g.com.
“You really think I’m some great poet who knows everything, huh?!” Rin roared back in frustration, once again moving her paralyzed left arm with the help of her right.
“Those two middle-aged men we faced were obviously hired poets working for the stall owner! They came fully prepared to scam the visitors! How was I supposed to win against a bunch of cheaters?!”
“Besides, that game was supposed to be played as a pair! Shinobu, why did you just stand behind me and leave me to face them alone?!”
“Because I never received any formal education! I don’t know anything about poetry!” Shinobu answered with her chin held high, loud and full of misplaced confidence.
Rin nearly choked on the brutally honest reply.
Her eyes blinked rapidly as it took her a few seconds to find her voice again.
“You… you’re actually proud of your ignorance?!”
Feeling Rin’s piercing stare, a faint blush crept across Shinobu’s cheeks.
She cleared her throat loudly to cover her embarrassment and continued in a high-pitched voice.
“Is that not allowed?! The Doctor Shinobu standing before you only read boring medical books since she was little! I don’t understand all those complicated scholarly things like you people! Does that embarrass you to have a friend like me, Princess?!”
“I never said anything like that!”
“You didn’t say it, but your eyes were clearly judging me!”
“Stop making things up!” Rin cut in quickly before Shinobu could twist the facts, then aggressively switched topics.
“Now it’s my turn! In the ring toss game earlier, I gave you very careful spatial instructions about the angle and power! So why did your throw still go way off target?!”
“Who could understand those complicated instructions of yours?! You kept yelling ‘shift left one point, shift right one point,’ or ‘add a little more power’! Who the hell knows exactly how much ‘one point’ is, Miss?!”
“One point is just one inch! One inch! Ah! My explanation was perfectly clear! The guy I helped at the ring toss stall before even understood it on the first try!”
“That’s because that guy’s brain is just as abnormal as yours, Little Rin!” Shinobu shot back with wide eyes, her breathing growing heavier.
“And what about the last arrow in the archery contest?! Tell me, you missed on purpose, didn’t you?!”
“What do you mean missed! I told you to turn the bow slightly to the left, but not too much!”
“See?! Who knows exactly how much ‘not too much’ is?! Just admit you can’t give proper pipelines!”
“So now you’re blaming everything on me?!”
“Of course it’s all your fault!”
After the exhausting burst of arguments, both of them suddenly fell silent.
They stood frozen in the temple courtyard, staring at each other with wide eyes while catching their breath from all the shouting.