Something was going on, I knew it. Something had to be going on that wasn't supposed to.
The Local Kami should have stepped in and stopped the Yokai from kidnapping my Grandfather, But he didn't.
My vacation here won't last forever, I had one week to figure out what's wrong with the Local Kami.
But I can't also spend my entire vacation on this mission, Grandma is still teaching me her Fan Dance, and Grandpa still wants to spend time with me. I still want to- No, I need to spend time with them in return, but I also need to solve this mystery.
I can't leave Kumamioso while my grandparents might still be in danger.
"This vacation is going to be a headache..." I whispered to myself as I stared at the pile of equipment.
When I told the Tengu I wanted my gear, I expected him to bring me the generic Shin-Corp equipment. Not for my own tools to be brought to me.
There was my Shin-Corp outfit, my Sword, my holder of Talismans, and even the magic calligraphy brush that never runs out of ink.
"Good luck on your spontaneous solo mission, I'm rooting for you Ken-Chan!" I read the note that lay on top of all my stuff, groaning at the small cartoon drawing of Susanoo winking at me.
"...Why can't I just live a normal life?"
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Outside of the few locally owned Onsens, the Kumamioso Shrine is the only point of interest someone who isn't a local might have with the small farming village.
Located a bit outside south of the village in the midst of a forest on top of a hill, the Kumamioso Shrine is located inside a wooden temple, built to house the Priests who are tasked with taking care of the shrine.
According to a brief history summary from Susanoo, The shrine has been under the care of the Benri Clan for the last 400 years.
That was all he wrote, I am not joking when I said the history summary was brief.
But it doesn't matter, If anyone knows what might be going on with the Kami, it's the Benri clan.
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"Ken-Chan, how was your day with Grandpa?" My Grandmother, Motohama Chiyo, asked me as we stood in the empty room of the house we decided would be used for dance lessons.
"It was fine..." I answered, "We went to dip our feet in the Kikuchi." I moved my legs slowly, trying to imitate Chiyo's movements, the pair of fans in my hand spinning in hypnotic patterns as I tried to dance.
"That's nice, Not like this, here, hold your hand out like that, yes, perfect, Now let's try again ~" We continued like that for another hour, My grandma asking me a question about my life, me answering it while doing her Fan Dance, Grandma pointing out where I need to fix things in the dance, rinse and repeat until the sunset.
"That'll be it for the day," Grandma said as she took the fans from my hand and placed them inside a small box, "Tomorrow we'll go and take your measurements for the Yukata~"
"We're getting it costume-made?" I ask my Grandma as I move to open the sliding door leading outside, opening it to reveal the starry night sky starting to creep up over the purple twilight.
"Of course, We don't want some common cheap Yukata, We'll go visit Hanamura-San, He made clothes for a living," Motohama Chiyo told me, "You'll look so good with a brand new Yukata, All the girls will swoon over you~"
"Obaa-Chan!" I squirmed in her grasp as she pulled me into a hug.
"Come on, Hirosuke told me you have a girlfriend already, Oops, sorry~ A Girl who's also a friend~" She chuckled as she let go of me, "We'll keep this training up tomorrow, You'll get the dance down by the end of your visit~ Now go to sleep." She said as she slapped the top of my head with a fan.
"Yeah yeah," I waved her off, trying my best to hide the smile on my face, "Goodnight Obaa-Chan."
"Good night Ken-Chan~"
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I opened my eyes in the middle of the night, only having gotten three hours of sleep before the alarm I set on my phone triggered.
It was one in the morning, everybody in the house was asleep. I need to be careful not to wake anyone up...
As quietly as I could, I changed into my Shin-Corp uniform and packed up my gear before sliding the door open to reveal the garden outside. I placed a pair of Evil Spirit Repelling Talismans at each side of the door inside my room, just to make sure nothing supernatural tries to go inside while I'm gone, before I closed the door almost all the way, leaving a small crack open so I could get back inside once I'm back.
I tip-toed as quietly as I could on the walkway outside as I made my way to the entrance of the house, away from the garden, and away from the bedrooms.
One I was finally out of the house, I stopped for a minute to listen, to make sure I didn't accidentally wake anybody up, before releasing a sigh of relief as the house remained quiet.
I walked a few more meters away from the house before I took out my phone and called one of my few supernatural contacts.
Seeing as I only had Susanoo and Shin-Corp as Supernatural contacts, You could probably guess who I called for.
"Yo, Kiddo, Taking on a mission like this on your own so early in your career? Impressive~" Susanoo-no-Mikoto's voice sounded from the other side of the phone, the god of storms and lightning speaking casually as if I wasn't calling him in the middle of the night.
"I wouldn't need to be taking a mission like this if the local Kami did his job," I complained quietly, whisper shouting to make myself both loud enough so the Deity could know I was mad, and also quiet enough so my family doesn't wake up, "Now what do I need to do?"
"Straight to the point? Fine~ Right now the mission is in its investigation phase, you need to find out why the Kami isn't dealing with the troublesome Yokai and Spirits in the area. Once you figure out what's going on, you'll call me back and update me on your findings. I'll send Connla over to help you once you figure out so you can plan the next step." Susanoo said, I could almost hear the sound of waves hitting the beach from his side of the phone.
"And what do I need to look out for? How do I know what's going on?" I asked, reminding the god that I was only part of the Supernatural world for a little over two and a half months.
"It could be anything. The local priests might be neglecting the Kami, Could be an Evil Spirit took over the shrine and is impersonating the Kami, could even simply be that the Kami grew a lazy bone and Is simply refusing to work, Any one of these things could be happening. Be on the lookout for anything, It could be a simple issue like the Kami having grown weaker, making his territory of protection smaller, or it could be something sinister instead."
"Sinister like how?" I asked.
"You'll know when you see, that's all I'm gonna' say." Susanoo said, "Good luck Agent Motohama, I'll be keeping an eye on you from afar, don't die." And with those final words, Susanoo hung up on me, leaving me alone in the middle of the night, wearing a Shin Corp Uniform, a pack of Talismans on my belt, with a sword at my hip.
"No use just standing around..." I whispered to myself as I looked south, watching the sleepy village of Kumamioso spread out down the hill below me, ending in the distance with another tree-covered hill on the other side of the village, the edges of wall surrounding the shrine could almost be seen peaking through the woods.
With the moon high above my head, I started to make my way towards the Local Shinto Shrine.
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And so, on July 23rd, 2005, Motohama Ken Began his second official mission as an Agent of the Shinto Faction.