Try Again, Sangonomiya Kokomi

Chapter Two: Miko-Kagura Gone Wrong

From my research, the Miko-Kagura is a traditional ceremonial dance. It is the dance Ganyu referred to in the previous chapter.

TW: Swearing

        "Hina!" Kokomi greeted with a wide smile, hugging her best friend as she met her outside the Arataki residence. 

           "Have a good day at school, Pup!" Itto called, still clad in a rubber pink apron, much to the embarrassment of his daughter. He and his husband had adopted a son and a daughter years and years ago, practically just out of high school, and to say that most people were surprised he made a good parent would be an understatement. "I love you!"

            "Ok, bye dad!" Hina said with a massive blush painted over her face. 'Pup' was a nickname she'd earned as a child. Before she'd gotten braces in middle school, Hina had very prominent, almost vampiric, canine teeth.

              "Aww, say it back!" Whined Itto, blocking his daughter's path.

               "Dad, seriously?" Hina huffed, crossing her arms.

               "Yes, I want to hear it. 'I love you dad'!" Itto grinned widely. For a moment, Kokomi forgot who the child was here.

              "Fine. I love you, Dad." Hina said with a soft shake of her head, enveloped by her dad's sudden bear hug.

               "That's my Daddy's Girl!" Itto Beamed, squeezing Hina one last time before setting her back on the ground. He reached into his apron pocket and took out a pale green chopstick case. "Oh, and give this to your brother. He was so busy rushing out with Kazuha this morning, he forgot his bento utensils."

              Kokomi held back a laugh as Hina's blush deepened when her father mentioned Kazuha. Itto left to go back into the house, completely oblivious that his daughter had a crush on Kazuha. If he did know, it was safe to say the white-haired boy wouldn't be allowed to be in the same house with her. Hina's brother, Heizou, knew this, as well as her crush on his bandmate, and was more than happy to keep Kazuha as far from his sister as possible.

               "C'mon, Hina! We've got to go or we'll be late!" Kokomi called to Hina, beginning to hasten her pace as the other girl followed. 

***

            "Kokomi, darling, can you please take out the trash? The shrine must be spotless for the Miko-Kagura tonight, alright?" Yae Miko purred, ordering her employees around. "Hina, finish sweeping. Miyuki, where is that sister of yours?"

            Kokomi's hearing of the group faded as she carried the bag of rubbish to the bin, careful not to dirty her red pants on the concrete outside the shrine. She was about to close the bin when a bottle fell out, quickly picked up by one of Guuji Yae's various strays. In all reality, they belonged to her son, Kunikuzushi, not that he'd ever admit to having a soft spot for the 'fur balls'.

           "Hey, give me that!" Kokomi moved to take the bottle from the cat, who ran off. 

            Kokomi groaned and chased after the cat, who leapt off across the road and into the dense foresting that was the park near Narukami shrine. It was riddled with hiking paths and bike trails, so why did the damn cat go down the thickest possible route?! Wait, where was she? When  she had time off of duties, she and Xiao came here all the time. She should know this place. It took more than a little setting sun to deter her. Where had that cat gone? It was a ginger tabby, so it was nearly impossible to lose amongst the vibrant green leaves of spring.

            Kokomi saw a flash of hair out of the corner of her eye and let out a groan. Was Tomo, Kazuha's older brother, trying to scare people again? His pranks were really getting obnoxious. Kokomi went in the direction she though she'd seen Tomo go, seeing as it couldn't hurt to ask if he'd seen the cat.

             It was like chasing lightning. A brief flash that you were irrationally trying to track. She came to a forest clearing, where she saw not Tomo, but a very odd creature. It was short and levitating in a shield of some sort. The 'hair' Kokomi thought she'd seen was really its dark cape of fur and she really wasn't sure how she'd mistaken it for Tomo's hair in the first place. Maybe her blood sugar was low; she'd have to eat something before the Miko-Kagura tonight. The creature seemed to dance mid-air, waving a wand and warbling out some gibberish. Kokomi blinked. This was a hallucination, surely.

          The creature danced gleefully and waved its wand at Kokomi, sending a ludicrously large bubble at the girl. Kokomi fell trapped in the bubble, black dancing across her vision. She felt the bubble pop and drop her to the ground as the wind left her lungs and the forest went black.

***

       "Your Excellency? Are you alright?"