My Extraordinary Childhood Friend (#Wattys2016)

7 - Shrinemaiden

June 27, 2005
Izanagi Shrine, Tokyo, Japan

Akihiko's POV:

"Umm...ni-nice to me-meet you. I'm Azusa Otosaka...umm...I hope tha-that we will be friends..."

I stared blankly at Azusa in shock. I never thought that she will be the next chief shrine maiden of this temple! I never seen her train about the responsibilities that she will about to carry!

"Umm...Akihiko-kun..." Azusa wheeled herself closer to me. "Please help me..."

"Excuse me but...there is a lot of things you are required to learn to become a chief shrine maiden." I quickly replied. "By the way, how did you get here?"

"Well...your mother discovered my magic and recommended me to become a shrine maiden to tune up more on my skills." Azusa whispered her reply. "But...I'm afraid of spirits and ghosts..."

"...pffft...hehehe!!! You're so weak! You cannot be a shrine maiden! Hehehe!!!" Azusa blushed when I laughed on her weakness. "Anyway...I will help you on that. Don't worry!"

"Really? Umm...thank you." Only she had to do is smile on my offer.

I began a quick crash course of her on how to become a shrine maiden: helping tourists in offering sacrifices, cleaning the temple's surroundings, and the most important function: to guide the spirits, living and the dead, towards its righteous places by offering rituals and sacred dances for them. The last function is complicated...especially that she is paralyzed from her waist down...

"Umm...Azusa-chan...you need to perform a dance to guide the spirits..." So I asked her... "So will it be okay for you to just dance with your hands. It might be little bit difficu-"

"If that's the case..." She then pulls out her wand from her kimono. "But...is magic allowed here? Your mother tells me so."

"Yeah...sure..."

She then closed her eyes then...

"Vetita Novae Caesareae Carmen Ascia...Alio Pupa Musca!!!"

Slowly, Azusa began to be lifted from her wheelchair and stand in front of me, though she floats in mid-air.

"Here! How's that? Hehehe!!!" Azusa giggled while she shows up her move.

I smiled back at her and I began to train her about that sacred dance. Little did I noticed that she has master it easily...though she visibly used magic to move her lifeless legs...that when she demonstrated it for herself, all of us in the shrine are amazed. Nothing else other than my mom that have demonstrated the sacred dance almost perfectly...until Azusa did it.

When the dance concluded, Azusa's magic spell expired so she starts to fall. Good thing that I run towards her to catch her.

"...huff...huff...how did I fared in the dance...huff...Akihiko-kun?" Visibly exhausted, Azusa asked me for remarks.

"Well...awesome!" I quickly replied with a smile on my face.

"Hehehe! Thanks!" Azusa quickly smiled back at me as I carry her back to her wheelchair. By my remarks, she is motivated to do her responsibilities as our chief shrine maiden...actually...the youngest chief shrine maiden of our temple. Yes, I observed that she has done some mistakes on her job this first day, like forgetting to clean the altar and misstepped some parts of the sacred dance (she is forgetful by the way), but she always wears a smile on her face no matter what.

So on our way home...

"Umm...Azusa-chan...can I ask you something?"

"Oh, sure! What is it?" She answered back at me, still wearing that smile on her face.