Chapter Text
When Mimori got home from school, she was surprised to find a stranger talking to her mother. The stranger wore the white robes and white mask of the Taisha, so the only thing Mimori could tell was that the stranger was a woman because she had a hood instead of the funny hat that the men wore.
The Taisha were the people who worshipped Shinju, the Divine Tree. All other religions had been lost when the Calamity occurred, along with the rest of the world outside of the island of Shikoku. Everyone she knew was a member, including her mother. She had never met her father but he probably was too. That was just how things were.
With what she knew, it was very strange for someone to show up wearing the robes and mask. They usually only wore those for important ceremonies.
"Tougou Mimori?" the masked woman asked.
Mimori nodded.
"You have been chosen for a special duty. Your mother has already given permission for you to participate," the woman declared, "Rejoice, this is a rare opportunity for you to serve the Divine Tree."
Somehow, Mimori was reminded of her teacher assigning chores at school. The man always went on about how important those tasks were, how they built character and were essential to the school's operations, but they were really just chores like sweeping the floor and wiping the chalkboard. Things that nobody wanted to do. Mimori glanced over at her mother, who nodded solemnly.
"What do I need to do?" Mimori asked, resigning herself to her fate.
"You will be briefed on your duties in two days' time," the masked woman replied, "Please report to the Sanuki Temple at three in the afternoon. Do you need to be excused from any after-school activities?"
She didn't, so Mimori shook her head.
"Very well, please do not be late." Saying so, the woman turned and left.
Two days later, Mimori made her way to the Sanuki Temple after school. To her surprise, there was a girl wearing miko attire standing near the entrance. She had a sign beside her with three names written on it in large characters.
TOUGOU MIMORI
NOGI SONOKO
MINOWA GIN
Mimori walked over.
"Hello?" she ventured, "I'm Tougou Mimori."
"I'm Kamiko Jinki," the girl replied, "Sorry, but you'll need to wait until the other two show up before I start the briefing. There's a lot to explain and I don't want to repeat myself."
"You're the one giving the briefing?" Mimori blurted out before she could stop herself. The other girl didn't look any older than she was!
Jinki shrugged.
"I wasn't the one who decided that," she said blandly.
Mimori wasn't sure how to feel about that. After everything the masked woman had said, she had been expecting something more serious and formal. But this duty, whatever it was, was feeling more and more like a chore that no one else wanted to do.
Still, it wasn't like getting upset would accomplish anything. There was no way her mother would let her turn this down after all. Plus, Jinki wasn't even the one responsible, her superiors were, so venting on her was definitely wrong. Mimori didn't want to bother Jinki further, so she picked a spot next to her and they continued waiting in silence.
At exactly five minutes to three, a girl arrived at the temple, escorted by a pair of burly men. Despite her best efforts, Mimori found herself staring rudely at the newcomer as she thanked the pair and sent them off. Who was this girl?
Just then, the girl turned and waved enthusiastically at them.
"Hello!" she called out, "I'm Nogi Sonoko! It's nice to meet you!"
Jinki waved back. Seeing this, Mimori hesitated briefly, then followed suit.
Once Sonoko had joined them under the eaves, Mimori and Jinki introduced themselves and Jinki repeated her earlier statement.
"Sure!" Sonoko replied, "Hey Jinki, you're a miko right? What's it like? I heard that miko receive oracles from the Divine Tree, is it true?"
Jinki tilted her head to the side slightly.
"Well, I get dreams, and these dreams show me things," she said slowly, "That's about it really. I mean, you have dreams too right? Mine just have more meaning than most other people's."
"But what are they like?" Sonoko pressed.
Jinki smiled wryly and shook her head.
"Sorry, but I'm not supposed to tell my dreams to just anybody," she apologised.
"Oh," Sonoko said. She wilted slightly, but perked up again almost immediately. "What about school? What school do you go to?"
It was at this point that Mimori started to get a bad feeling about Sonoko. She was one of those people, wasn't she? The kind that acted cheerful all the time and kept bothering people who wanted to be left alone.
"Officially, I'm an eighth grade student at Shinju-kan's middle school section," Jinki said.
"Me too! How come I've never seen you around?" Sonoko gasped.
"I don't go for class," Jinki explained, "I just take the exams."
"You can do that?" Sonoko demanded, "No fair!"
Mimori was shocked too. Shinju-kan Religious Academy was the most prestigious school in Shikoku! If Jinki could keep up her studies by herself, that meant that she was really smart!
"Hey, it's not like I'm skipping for fun," Jinki pointed out, "It's because I have stuff to do here, that's why I can't go to school."
Sonoko pouted.
"But school's so boring!" she complained, "It took me so long to convince my parents to get me high school textbooks because I already finished the middle school ones!"
Mimori did her best to hide her unease. She was confident in her own studies, but the other two girls were on a completely different level. Assuming they weren't lying or exaggerating anyway. That was always a possibility.
"Well, if you really do decide to sign up you could probably get permission to skip class if you say it interferes with your duties," Jinki suggested.
"If? I thought we agreed already?" Sonoko queried.
Jinki shook her head firmly.
"You can't agree until you know what you're supposed to be doing," she declared, "Anything you said before doesn't count. Shinju doesn't want unwilling servants."
At this point, Mimori really, really, wanted to ask what they were supposed to be doing, except Jinki had already made it clear that she wasn't going to start until everyone had arrived.
"What about you, Mimori?" Sonoko suddenly asked her, causing her to jump.
"Eh? Me?" she asked.
"Your school! Which school do you go to?" Sonoko asked again, "What grade are you in?"
"Sanuki Middle, eighth grade," Mimori answered.
"Eh? Wow! So we're in all the same grade!" Sonoko exclaimed.
"Minowa Gin is also in eighth grade," Jinki added.
"Really? What else do you know about us?" Sonoko asked.
"I know your names, ages, and a general idea of what you all look like," Jinki replied, "I've also seen all your school reports."
"What? Why those?" Sonoko laughed.
"One of the Taisha brought them to me. I think they wanted to give me a general idea of what you three were like," Jinki replied.
"I see! Hey Mimori, what foods do you like?" Sonoko suddenly spun and asked Mimori.
Under Sonoko's relentless curiosity, Mimori ended up talking a whole lot more than she ususally did. Jinki wasn't spared either, although Sonoko seemed less sure about things to ask since her life was so much different.
It was ten minutes past three when another girl finally arrived, panting and severely out of breath.
"I-I'm sorry!" she apologised profusely.
Sonoko glanced at Jinki, who shrugged. Mimori really wanted to scold her for making them wait, but she kept quiet since neither Jinki nor Sonoko seemed that bothered. She didn't want to be the only one making a fuss.
"It's fine," the miko told the newcomer, "I know you're new to these parts. Assuming you are actually Minowa Gin?"
"Yeah, that's me. I actually got here yesterday so I could be early, but then I got lost on the way here," Gin replied with a nervous laugh.
Mimori felt her anger drain away in an instant. Inwardly, she chastised herself: she had jumped to conclusions, assumed the worst about this girl she had just met and almost ruined their first meeting!
"I see, that's understandable." Jinki replied. She then turned to address all three of them.
"Alright. Since we're all here, we can begin," she declared. Saying so, she turned to face the temple, placed her palms together, bowed deeply, and began to speak.
"Divine Tree Shinju,
Foundation of Shikoku,
Guardian and steward."
A strange stillness fell over the world and Mimori found herself trying to breathe as slowly and quietly as possible.
"Bring us to your realm,
the sacred place where you dwell,
that we may meet you."
Something was here with them. A presence. She hadn't felt it arrive because it had always been present. Watching. Listening.
"This we ask humbly,
with all due sincerity,
reverence and awe."
Something moved. Something touched her, wrapped around her, and the world disappeared under a wave of multicolored light.
When she could see again, Mimori immediately noticed that they were no longer on the hill in front of the Sanuki temple. They were still on a hill of some sort, except it was formed from a mound of absolutely massive roots. The roots sprawled everywhere she could see, vibrant and varicolored, so dense and thick that the ground underneath couldn't be seen.
There were no buildings or trees or anything else, just an enormous expanse of roots forming an undulating plain encircled by massive walls formed from the same roots. And at the center of it all was an incomprehensibly large tree, so tall it seemed to touch the heavens, its leaves and branches covering the entire patch of sky above Shikoku.
Strangely enough, the air was heavy with the scent of flowers in bloom despite there not being any flowers around as far as Mimori could see.
"Where are we?" she heard Gin gasp.
"This is the Jukai, the place where the Divine Tree dwells," Jinki replied, "Don't worry, we are expected."
"We- wait, you mean I, I kept the Divine Tree waiting?" Gin wailed, her voice rising higher and higher as she spoke.
"I suppose so?" Jinki said with a shrug.
"I'm dead. I'm so dead," Gin moaned, face buried in her hands.
A sudden thought struck Mimori.
"Hey Jinki," she started, choosing her words carefully, "Who was the one who told you to wait for us?"
"Hmm? The Divine Tree of course, who else?" Jinki answered.
"The Divine Tree called us here? Just what is the duty we are supposed to be doing?" Sonoko demanded, finally speaking up. Her placid, cheerful expression had disappeared, and her eyes were intent as she spoke.
Jinki inhaled and exhaled slowly.
"Okay. It's a long story, so bear with me," she replied, "It all started, as you might expect, with the Calamity that happened three hundred years ago."
Suddenly, the ground started to shake. Mimori stared, astonished, as the section of roots they were standing on lifted up and started to move, carrying them away with it towards the enormous tree in the distance. Jinki simply continued speaking, seemingly unfazed.
"Three hundred years ago, the celestial gods pronounced a judgement upon humanity, declaring us unworthy of continued existence. They forged the Vertex from the essence of stars and sent them to eradicate humanity. However, the terrestrial gods opposed this judgement and created sanctuaries for humans all over the world. They also bestowed blessings on certain humans so they could fight back and protect these sanctuaries. They were the first heroes, and what you know as the Divine Tree is actually the collective manifestation of the terrestrial gods."
"This is the truth of the Calamity, known only to the inner circle of the Taisha. The rest you already know. Despite the efforts of the heroes, humanity was driven to the brink of extinction, and now only Shikoku remains."