Afterward, in Maple Town, Kikyō Castle, the six tiers of torii cast neat vermillion shadows in the light of the setting sun.
When Shinji stepped onto the stone steps of the approach, the first thing he heard came from the rear courtyard,
"Lady Midoriko is so amazing!"
"Sister Momiji, look, look, she just casually drew a shikigami, and that shikigami actually moved!?"
"That's the strongest miko of the Heian era from centuries ago, all right... Her drawing shikigami and us drawing shikigami are completely different concepts!"
"She's so gentle, too, she just taught me how to fold a paper crane—"
"That's shikigami folding technique, Botan. Not for you to play with."
"Anyway, she's amazing!"
"Speaking of which, does this mean Lord Shinji has brought back another new miko?"
"What do you mean 'another'? Lady Midoriko is the artifact-spirit of the Shikon no Tama. She's always been enshrined in the shrine."
"But she feels so similar to Lady Kikyō. Even though they look different... oh, no, she's older than Lady Kikyō, and her chest is also—"
"BOTAN!"
Momiji's voice suddenly pitched high. Then quickly dropped again.
"Keep your voice down, what if they hear you..."
Too late.
Shinji was already standing at the entrance to the rear courtyard. A few leaves from Mount Azusa still clung to his gray robe. His crimson demon eyes regarded the two little miko crouched beneath the persimmon tree, staring at each other.
Momiji's face instantly flushed crimson. Botan buried her face in her knees.
"...You two, go on. I'm just passing through."
Shinji walked past without changing expression.
Behind him came another burst of commotion, probably Momiji chasing after Botan to hit her.
Those two girls hadn't been of much use so far, but they were good for lightening the mood. Shinji thought.
By the time he reached the entrance of the main hall, Midoriko was already standing beside the offering table, waiting for him.
Her white miko robes were immaculate. The Shikon no Tama rested upon the silk cushion on the offering table, its white light flowing steadily. Kirara, shrunk to housecat form, was curled up in a corner of the offering table, dozing.
Midoriko's brown irises looked at Shinji as he entered. She revealed a faint smile.
"You're back, Shinji."
"Mn."
He sat down across from the offering table and glanced at the Shikon no Tama. The white light was steady. The Magatsuhi was pinned down tight.
Guarding it was indeed much easier for Midoriko, even easier than for Kikyō.
Kikyō, after all, had to periodically suppress the Magatsuhi within the Shikon no Tama at set times. Midoriko could do something similar at every moment.
Or rather, her very existence was the suppression of the Magatsuhi.
The next second, Shinji's gaze was drawn to something else.
On the side of the offering table, that string of Tahōtō miko prayer beads lay upon a silk cushion...
A faint spiritual light floated upon the surface of the beads. The light trembled.
As though... something within was shaking.
Shinji stared at the prayer beads for two seconds.
"Come out."
The spiritual light on the beads abruptly shrank.
No response.
"Tsubaki."
He called the name.
The light on the beads trembled even more violently.
Midoriko stood beside him. Her brown irises looked at the beads, then at Shinji. The smile at the corner of her lips grew more pronounced.
"She hid the moment you returned."
Midoriko's voice was utterly unsparing.
"I told her, Shinji is back. But she said she absolutely would not come out. Then I said, the first thing you'd do upon returning would definitely be to check the prayer beads. She started trembling."
The spiritual light on the beads leaped violently.
As though the existence within was experiencing social death.
"...Stop talking."
A woman's voice came from deep within the beads. Hoarse. Suppressed. Carrying a tremor on the verge of collapse.
It was indeed Tsubaki's voice.
The materialized remnant soul of the dark miko from the max-Affection Tahōtō miko prayer beads, the "remnant" of the Tsubaki who had once opposed Kikyō in life, who had lured demon blood to attack Kaede's Village in the night.
"How long do you plan to hide?"
He was not surprised at all by Tsubaki's successful materialization. In fact, the Affection of these prayer beads had already quietly risen to the nineties before this, and in the past few days it had shot straight to the maximum, unlocking the max-Affection Talent—
A mental domain absolute defense barrier called Fudō Myōshin.
Any non-conceptual mental interference that touched the boundary of his consciousness would be automatically reflected. This Talent had already fused into his Human Soul system, becoming the core of his mental defense.
Very useful.
Tsubaki herself had contributed no small amount to him.
But, what was the meaning of Tsubaki running the moment she saw him after materializing?
Though it was not entirely incomprehensible.
Max-Affection absolute loyalty colliding with the shame of her former hostile cognition, left her current mental state comparable to that old joke from Shinji's previous life: writing your dark history into your resume and then having the interviewer read it aloud in public.
"I'm not... I'm not hiding!"
Tsubaki's voice emerged from the prayer beads again, squeezing through her teeth with awkwardness.
"Just... temporarily not coming out!"
"This isn't hiding. This is..."
"Tactical retreat?"
Midoriko supplied the words for her.
The spiritual light on the beads exploded, as though a sore spot had been struck.
"Lady Midoriko!"
Without a doubt, though their interaction had been brief, Tsubaki had already learned the identity of this great miko materialized from the Shikon no Tama, and held a degree of respect for her.
What a pity, it seemed that respect would be difficult to sustain.
Truly regrettable.
"Hehe."
Midoriko's laugh was exceedingly light, yet carried a composure that made one's scalp tingle.
The strongest miko of centuries past teasing a junior's remnant soul, paired with the white light dancing beside the Shikon no Tama, the hysterical golden light on the prayer beads, and Kirara in the corner turning over to continue dozing,
It had an inexplicable... sense of peace.
Very peaceful.
"All right."
Shinji rose to his feet.
"Come out when you want to. No forcing."
The spiritual light on the beads quieted.
But in the instant he turned and walked toward the hall doors, an exceedingly faint, nearly inaudible sound emerged from deep within the beads—
"...Thank you."
Two words.
So small only Midoriko and Shinji heard them.
Midoriko glanced at the prayer beads. Gentleness surfaced in her brown irises.
But her mouth gave no quarter at all.
"If you keep being this tsundere, be careful he doesn't toss you into hot water to soak. Little Tsubaki."
"...!!!"
At the same time.
Shinji walked out of the main hall, and again nearly bumped into Momiji and Botan, crouched at the door eavesdropping.
The two little miko leaped up like they'd been launched.
"W-We weren't eavesdropping!"
Momiji's face flushed red.
"Just passing by... passing by!?"
Botan nodded furiously.
These two girls truly never learned.
Shinji glanced at them.
"About Midoriko, as you two just said yourselves, she is the artifact-spirit of the Shikon no Tama. Not some 'new miko.' And Tsubaki... well, your Senior Sister Tsubaki, though she's no longer the same person, let's call her that for now. Leave her alone for the time being. Let her adapt on her own."
Momiji and Botan nodded in unison, like two woodpeckers being held down by the head.
Only after watching him walk away did the two little miko crouch back beneath the persimmon tree and exchange glances.
"...That thing in the prayer beads, is it really not the Senior Sister Tsubaki from before?"
"Probably not... After all, it's Lord Shinji's prayer beads now."
"Prayer beads can turn into Senior Sister Tsubaki? So amazing."
"Mn."
"But... more than that."
Botan's round face leaned in, her big eyes full of gossipy light.
"Senior Momiji, how many miko do you think there are among Lord Shinji's artifacts?"
"Lady Midoriko. Lady Tsubaki—"
Hearing Botan's words, Momiji's expression became deeply troubled.
"...Let's not discuss this."
"Why not?"
"Think carefully. The more miko there are in the shrine, the more useless we become, aren't we?"
"Eh? EHHHH!?"
"Forget it. Never mind. Now, go back to sleep!"
"Tomorrow's lessons..."
"Sleep."
Upon the approach, moonlight spilled down between the torii. The gilded bells chimed softly in the night wind.
Kikyō Castle's first night without Kikyō presiding, passed just like that.
Peaceful.
Stable.
Upon the offering table in the main hall, the Shikon no Tama's white light was serene. Midoriko sat in guard. The golden light on the prayer beads had finally subsided. Tsubaki was probably asleep. Kirara curled upon Midoriko's lap.
Beyond the six tiers of torii, the Sacred Tree's branches and leaves rustled gently in the moonlight.
Everything as usual.
But everything, could not remain as usual forever.
However, before that, three months of leisure could still be squeezed out.