Sally
Fujishima's Estate
Noon – 12:20
As they came back to the house, Sally took notice that there was an outdoor lunch just by the beautiful landscape by the front of the dance ritual rehearsal room where she stopped by and saw Mikage dance.
"We always do this gathering whenever there was going to be a newly anoint shrine maiden within the family." Shinichiro informed Sally as they went closer to the spot where everyone was already enjoying their meals.
"Then I have to excuse myself then." Sally did not want to intrude on their family gathering since she was an outsider and have no right to join them.
"I insist." Shinichiro forced Sally as he grabbed her wrist and pulled her alongside him. Sally could not do anything or to be more precise that she does not want to cause any petty ruckus around and just let the head of the family take her with him.
Sally removed her hood that revealed her pure white half-cat's mask that was covering her eyes and only showed her lips. She does that to pay respect to the food and the family around the table and even though they wanted to ask her about it they did not. They could sense something around Sally was extremely dangerous if they knew who the person lies beneath that mask was, so they did not bother. Yet, the curious cat like Mikage was staring at her which Sally sensed and met her gaze. Mikage snapped from staring when Shinichiro let themselves take their seats and joined them. As they were starting to have decent lunch, Shinichiro speak directly to Sally about something. He jumped into another serious conversation with Sally as he did not mind that his family could hear them clearly. But it was not just any other conversation as it was something more like an invitation.
"Remember when you guessed my answer was based on my experience and it's true." Shinichiro started their conversation which made some of the family members start listening to whatever they were going to talk about.
"I could sense what you've been through when you answered me about that but you're aiming at?" Sally answered but she was being blunt to the head of the family as she didn't care if there were some were started to get irritated with that attitude of her. Shinichiro already had a heads-up from Ice regarding the attitude of Sally. That's why he did not care on how blunt and straightforward Sally's words could be and he also knew that Sally doesn't express her emotion much to her face but it doesn't mean that she was not feeling anything. She just lost it when a big disaster came into her life and mold her into who she was now.
"Well, I want you to be Mikage's maiden assistant." Shinichiro smiled as he dropped what he was really after shocked everyone in the family around the outdoor table. He never or personally invited anyone to be a maiden's assistant, particularly in front of his family.
"WHAT?!!!!" the siblings reacted while Mikage choked her food and made her mother beside her help her out.
"Granddad, we just met her, and why she's assisting my baby sister?" Toshi shoots his glare at Sally who wasn't affected by it and eats her meal in front of her.
"Toshi, she more capable of doing that and I don't see anything harm about it." Shinichiro answered that made their father and his son interject about the topic.
"But don't you think it was too soon?" Hiroshi interjected but he noticed his wife just gave him a look that made him a bit confused.
"Sally, before you answer, hear me out first about the Maiden's Assistant." Shinichiro ignored and did not answer his son but he turned his attention to Sally once again. He wanted to explain things first to her before she could make an answer which Sally nod at.
All of the family members can't be joined since some of them were at their security post and some were doing the rounds around the household's perimeters. But to those who were with them already, they ate their lunch quietly and listen to the head of the family, Shinichiro.
"Okay, the Maiden's Assistant was the thing that I built to assist the maiden whenever they were out there doing their jobs. I was not around when something happened before that almost killed my sister who was being appointed here and ever since I heard it, I decided to leave the quarters which in those times, Ice was still in her mid-twenties and my subordinated that I'm training with. But due to it, I was forced to answer my calling and since then, I never left her side. I started assisting my sister and protecting her from any beasts who were trying to stop her from cleansing. From that idea alone, built the Maiden's Assistant bond and I became the first Maiden's Assistant." Shinichiro started explaining to Sally what's the Maiden's Assistant was and she was listening very carefully about it.
"It assists the maiden that he or she's partnering with and it was easy compared to the wolf pack between the alpha and the beta. It was the second in command whenever there was something to deal with alongside the maiden." He continued on explaining while Sally was already sensing where it was going to end and at the same time she could understand why it was being offered after what Shinichiro just witnessed around the warehouse.
"My son and the husband of Sawako that you've already met earlier was the one who's assisting the maiden in charge in the Fujishima household. He's providing the security and protection of the maiden and the whole family they were appointed to serve." Sally glanced over Hiroshi who flexed his muscles as he was proud of what he was doing. She just ignored it as she was digesting what the family heard aiming after.
"So you want me to be there with your granddaughter whenever she's doing her job at the shrine while I make sure that she's safe and the place that she's being appointed to, did I understand right what you're telling me?" Sally was being considerate first when she analyzed what Shinichiro was telling her.
"Yes, you can think about it and remember what it told you that's why I made a lot of thought of it." Shinichiro smiled as he made Sally recall what the soul beast just told her and she took it into consideration.
"Understood but let's see if she really needed my protection and I have to talk to my team as well as my boss regarding the matter." Sally stared at Mikage who was trying to eat her food as if she was not listening to their conversation and just went into her own world. But Sally could tell that Mikage was totally nervous from what she just heard in their conversation there.
"Fair enough, I will also send that invitation to her after this." Shinichiro smiled as his offer and invitation were being considered which made him relax a little. He just wanted to focus on protecting the family and not just one member of the family which he could not do alone. He knew that one-day Mikage will be needing somebody to aid her and understand her thoroughly.
"Be my guess then." Sally nonchalantly said as she finished her food since she only ate what she could eat.
"Just consider it." Shinichiro insisted that made Sally sigh and nod.
"I'll keep that in mind. But if you excuse me, I'll meet my team and start checking the perimeter." Sally politely excused herself to the head of the family and the rest to which Hiroshi get up as well.
"I'll join you." Hiroshi joined Sally as he was the perfect candidate for checking the estate's perimeter for tonight's ritual that their family was about to do. Then they leave them be.
Mikage
Mikage was totally speechless at what her grandfather asked Sally to be her maiden's assistant. Sally just came to their estate to work and to aid them from whatever might occur during the summoning ritual that she was about to perform tonight and not that one. She did not see that coming at all and she does not understand what was running inside the mind of her grandfather at that moment.
"She'll be a lovely assistant of yours." Mikage's ears began to twitch when she heard her brother's comment regarding the offer of their grandfather who rarely does it to anyone who's coming into their estate.
"Why do I hear some tease along with it?" Mikage knotted her eyebrows as there was wondered in her sarcastic tone.
"Well, you're stubborn and always not in time yet, I still can't believe that you're ascending already." Toshi still commented to tease his little sister who was trying to enjoy her mocha desert.
"Hey! I still earn it." Mikage whined like a little kid before she munched her mocha and drank her green tea.
"Yes you do but Mikage, I wonder what kind of maiden you'll turn into if Sally became your maiden assistant." Mikage heard her elder sister Yumiko's curious voice as she thought of Sally aiding Mikage personally.
"Why do you keep insisting on me having an assistant? Am I not capable of being alone?" Mikage kept whining as she did not get why her siblings wanted Sally to be their little sister's assistant.
"No." both answered Mikage in choro that made her roll her eyes away.
"It's so great to have siblings like you two." Mikage just groaned as her siblings laughed at her defeated sigh. Her two elder siblings love on teasing Mikage whenever there's a fun time for them to do it with each other. The three of them might look like a bickering cat and dog but they were so much closer than everyone could ever imagine because Mikage's elder siblings totally overprotected her. They sometimes spoil her when Mikage needs them.
"Enough of it and rest before you go back to your rehearsal." Sawako clapped her hands to stop the siblings' teasing moment as Mikage needed to go back to her rehearsal and as for Toshi and Yumiko, they have to return to the shrine and teach the next generation maiden.
Mikage got up from her seat and went back inside the rehearsal room she didn't do anything first but there was something that began to alarm her. She turned to the garden and saw the rest of the family begin on cleaning their outdoor dining table. She sigh as she thought someone was watching her from the same spot but there was none. She just proceeds on getting inside when she sensed it again but it was more telling her to look but she tried to ignore it yet, it has a different effect on her. Heaviness began to push her down like the whole gravity of heaven sudden fall onto her shoulders and head. She fell down onto her knees which made her groan in pain and it was not because of her sudden collapse on the wooden flooring but the gravity suddenly fell onto her shoulders and head. Her family heard it but before any one of them could help her, Sally was already there.
"Are you okay? Can you stand?" Sally might look blank and even her tone was totally empty but when she touched Mikage, there was a feeling that Mikage definitely could feel; light and warm.
"How? Never mind and thank you." Mikage was about to ask Sally on how she does that but she didn't and she just let Sally help her on getting up.
Some members of the family who did not like Sally were about to hinder what was going on between the two of them when Sawako halted them and finish cleaning up. They wanted to reason and argue but Sawako looked very intensely at them and could not do anything but comply. As for her daughter, she was having an internal thought of finding Sally mysteriously attracting and it was making her blush from that thought.
"You're clouded." Sally just said that made Mikage wonder what the strange huntress telling her out of the blue.
"Clouded by what?" Mikage was being curious about what Sally was saying to her.
Sally did not say anything but she started humming something, some melody before she let her middle finger gently touch Mikage's center at her forehead. Mikage suddenly feels the rush in her veins and she began to feel ecstatic then flashing blood and monsters kept rushing into her mind frightens her.
"Sorry, I did not mean to." Sally quickly dropped and pulled Mikage into her arms as she apologized for what she did.
"Wha…what was that? Are they your memories? Tell me are they yours?" Mikage was panting as she pushed Sally lightly before she stared deeply into the deep orbs of Sally.
"You tell me because I just touch your clouds." Sally just answered her and Mikage went into her thoughts.
"So it's mine?" she wondered in fright that Sally could really see that made her hold her hand that was already shaken up from seeing those flashes.
"I am not sure if it's the past, present, or the future." Sally just told her with a shrugged of shoulders before looking up to the clear noon sky.
"Stay with me. I mean, help me on preventing it…I…" Mikage quickly dropped that making Sally snap to look confused at her.
"Breath. You're a maiden since birth…" Sally noticed that Mikage was losing her breath which made her tighten up on holding her hand.
"I am not…" when Mikage heard that, she didn't believe her.
"I think nobody told you how golden your energy is." Sally released a deep sigh as she informed her what she could see. Sally has the ability to see the energy flow of a person that's why she could see things lurking around Mikage or even into the whole estate.
"Gold? My energy is gold?" Mikage couldn't believe that it was the color of her aura.
"Hm, from what I could see, it was gold but not entirely. Yet the brightness of it illuminates things like a sun glow or a morning star. It gives warmness, life, and light. I love it as it calms me like I was being cradled delicately at serene night." Sally informed her before slightly smiling though it was a sad smile but to Mikage, it was a start. She likes those smiles to see more often on the lips of Sally.