My Childhood Friend And The First Shrine Visit

According to my childhood friend:

“You know how some shrines have the proper way to worship written out for you? It’s basically the same everywhere, but every so often you get a shrine that does things differently, and that’s kind of a pain, isn’t it.”

…Or so it goes.

Well, I can see her point. If the gods themselves are different, then the etiquette around them would naturally change too… but since they’re all Japanese gods, part of me can’t help wishing some higher-up would just go and standardize the whole business. Which is, I’ll admit, a fairly self-serving thing to want.

That said, even the manners of grown-up working life seem to sprout fresh rules by the day. And when we humans can’t manage a definitive rulebook for etiquette among ourselves, the notion of marching up to the gods (our betters, no less) and announcing, “From here on, worship at every last shrine shall be standardized!”… well, obviously that could never happen. Or so I also figure.

I can well imagine there’s some venerable history behind those differences… and yet Sakura Ayuri, the very childhood friend who, a moment ago, so airily voiced that faintly self-serving line, is, at present…

◆◆◆

“So — how do you do a regular prayer again, exactly?”
“‘Two bows, two claps, one bow’ is the basic~”
“Thanks, Hina-chan!”
“Anytime~”

The five of us walk the shrine grounds, dramatically emptier now than on that first day. Back then it was so packed that…

‘Where in the world do this many people come from, out in a backwater as middling as this?’

…or so I’d grumbled to myself, feeling, in one corner of my heart, a small pang of guilt toward the brother I’d dragged along. Compared to then, well, there’s still a fair number of people about, but no queue snaking up to the worship hall, and the charm stall doesn’t look especially mobbed either.

“What’s that thing called again — the hand-washing spot?”
“That’s the chōzuya~”
“You really know your stuff, Hina-chan!”
“Not really~”

Ayu keeps firing off “What’s this one called?” one after another like a little kid, while Hina fields each with a proud little flourish. Honestly, these are the sort of names you’d never know unless your family has Shinto ties or you go digging for them yourself, so Hina’s positively glowing with the joy of being useful.

“Okay, okay — then do you know where that shrine with the different worship etiquette we brought up earlier actually is? Two bows, two claps, one bow is the basic, right?”
“That’s… um… specifically… I’m not really sure, actually~”
“Yeah, guess that was an unfair thing to spring on you, huh.”

Well, that’s a different matter from common-sense manners or names. Knowing that a different sort of shrine exists is one thing; knowing where it is or what it’s called is another thing entirely.

“…I’m pretty sure Izumo Taisha or somewhere was different, wasn’t it?”
“Hotaru-chan! …Is that right?”
“Probably. Umm… yeah, I was right. Over there it’s ‘two salutations, four claps, one salutation,’ apparently — the two-clap version’s the etiquette that got standardized back in the Meiji era, and further back it was done this way. Says so on their website.”
“Huh, isn’t that worded a little differently, though?”
“The motion’s the same, so it’s fine.”
“…You really are well-informed~, Hotaru-senpai.”
“That’s ‘cause I’ve actually been there.”
“Even if you’ve been, whether you’d actually remember it is another matter, isn’t it?”

Ooh, ooh, sparks flying… no, this is just Hina getting sore all on her own. And here I’d thought Sumire-san had gone quiet, but there she is nodding along at the whole exchange, same as ever. New year or not, not one of us has really changed, huh.

◆◆◆

— Clap, clap.

“…”

I toss in my offering and bring my hands together. Since I’m back to worship again so soon after last time, part of me wonders whether it’s really all right to pray for something completely different this time… but Ayu did make it home safe, so I owe some proper thanks for that granted wish, and I figure there’s no harm in tossing up a prayer or two while I’m at it. Besides, there’s a certain senpai right beside me praying up an absolute storm.

“What did everyone wish for? Me, I—”
“Ah! Ayu-chan, you can’t~”
“They do say if you tell people, it won’t come true…”
“Ahh, right, that’s a thing… okay, secret it is.”

…Though a certain senpai, not moments ago, went and told me the exact contents of hers, so is that really fine, I wonder…? It’s probably fine. Knowing her, she’ll just make it come true under her own power anyway.

“Right then! Now that we’ve paid our respects, it’s finally time for the main content!”
“Don’t call what you do at a shrine ‘content.’”
“What are we doing?”
“That, of course… is omikuji!”
“Knew it.”

With the praying done, I’d assumed the plan was to draw a few omikuji, buy some charms, and then wander around enjoying ourselves. No sooner had the thought crossed my mind than Ayu came out with this. However you slice it, the whole point of a first shrine visit is the praying, surely… She really is rude to the gods in every sense of the word, this one.

“Alright, Gin-chan — let’s make it a contest!”
“Huh, a contest? With omikuji?”
“I really think you’re better off not~”
“Mm-hm, mm-hm.”
“That’s genuinely reckless, Ayu-chan.”
“There’s no way you’re beating me — quit while you’re ahead.”
“Couldn’t at least one of you root for me?”
“I mean, come on~?”

There’s simply no way Ayu beats me when it comes to luck. And I mean that in the sense of her spectacular lack of it where draws are concerned.

“No, no! What I’d like here is a little credit for the good sense not to challenge Hina-chan or Hotaru-chan! My odds are plenty good!”
“Nope.”
“Don’t think so~”
“Nope~”
“You can do it, Ayu-chan!”
“Two to three… a decent enough ratio!”
“Little Miss Super-Positive over here.”

I mean, even Hotaru-senpai only cheered her on; she never actually said Ayu would win… Still, Ayu had just let slip something I couldn’t quite let slide. Namely:

‘She won’t go up against Hina-chan or Hotaru-chan.’

That.

Flipped around, that statement is nothing short of a declaration that ‘I can’t win against those two, but I can beat Gin-chan.’

In truth, when it comes to the luck stat, I’d rank those two above me as well… but knowing a thing yourself is one matter, and having it thrown in your face quite another. It gets under your skin a little. Such is human nature. So, as for what I intend to do about it…

“Fine, I’ll bite — the winner gets treated to ice cream on the way home.”
“In this cold…?”
“You’re on! I’ll take Häagen-Dazs strawberry!”
“Then I’ll go with a Baskin-Robbins cup.”
“That’s a subtly high-maintenance request~”

Not many shops carry it, and it’s on the pricey side, so it’s not something I can buy all that often. With our terms duly set, Ayu and I head off side by side to draw our omikuji.

Beside us, Hotaru-senpai was going…

“Shrine-maiden outfits are pretty great too…”

…muttering away to herself, but Ayu and I ignored her outright, paid the shrine maiden the fee, and took the fortune-drawing cylinder.

“It’d be pretty funny if I pulled a Great Blessing right here, wouldn’t it?”
“What’s with that character voice… There’s no way, obviously — it’s you we’re talking about, Ayu.”
“But — it’d be funny if I pulled it, wouldn’t it?”

Ayu shakes the cylinder, and it goes rattle-rattle. True, it might be funny if Ayu, written off by everyone this whole time, actually pulled it off… but, well, no chance, surely.

“There! …Forty-six!”
“Then mine’s… twelve.”

Once you’ve shaken the cylinder, you tip it over, and the number’s there on the stick that pokes out. The shrine maiden checked ours, opened the matching-numbered drawer from the shelf in back, and handed each of us the slip of paper tucked inside. The moment we step away from the stall, we’re straight to opening them.

“Here goes — ready, set!… Blessing!”
“Welp, Great Blessing.”
“I looost!!”

Just as expected, really. Or rather, I pulled a Great Blessing clean out of nowhere… I’m honestly pretty pleased.

Leaving the boisterous Ayu to one side, the others, who’d drawn their own omikuji by now, came gathering round. From the fact that nobody bothers to ask how the contest went, they’ve clearly all worked out the result from the state of Ayu.

“Ayu-chan, what did the ‘Awaited One’ entry say for you?”
“I wanna hear too~”
“Uhh, let’s see…”

Why fixate on that, of all things… Wedged between Hotaru-senpai and Hina, Ayu hunts for the section they named. …I suppose I’ll give my own slip a look too… “Awaited One: comes, but late,” is it… Hmm.

“Mine says… ‘Awaited One: comes.’ Simple, huh.”
“Ohh~…”
“Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.”
“…”

…It’s not as though the “Awaited One” points to any one fixed thing; there are all sorts of readings, and what you make of that little string of words comes down to each person’s own interpretation. The difference between what my slip says and what Ayu’s says just means the timing at which each of our “Awaited Ones” turns up is different, that’s all… It’s not… well, I did catch myself thinking it’d be kind of nice if the two of us turned out to be each other’s awaited person, but then again, it’s not as if that’s been ruled out either.

“Ayu.”
“Hm? What’s up, Gin-chan?”
“Baskin-Robbins is basically double scoop, right?”
“For you, Gin-chan, it is.”
“So make my cup ice cream a double too, then, if you’d be so kind.”
“That’s so unreasonable!”

So no, this isn’t me taking my frustration out on her. I simply want to eat a whole lot of ice cream.