Setting
A relatively new looking shrine with an ancient history, the Hakurei shrine is most well-known for being the residence of the Hakurei shrine maiden. It sits alone, quite high above the village, and isn’t easy to access thanks to rough terrain and the threat of Youkai, but it sits right on the link between Gensokyo and the world outside at the easternmost edge. Supposedly, you can see all of Gensokyo from here. The area is also renowned for having the most beautiful cherry blossoms.
The Hakurei clan was never reputed to be all that big, and thus, the shrine never grew big. Not many remember the name of the God whom this shrine houses, but it is said that his blessing gives the Hakurei, and those who worship him, the strength to combat the Youkai. This shrine has definitely been targeted many times by the Youkai. Thus, it’s got a reputation for its destructions and reconstructions. No unextraordinary Youkai would dare draw close if they had a death wish. A barrier set up by the Hakurei shrine maiden prevents most weaker Youkai from entering its grounds anyway.
Minimap
northwest |
north |
northeast |
west |
You are here. |
east |
southwest |
south |
southeast |
Hakurei Shrine is a part of 
Gensokyo.
"Hold... and up... Reika, straighten up! Chou, fix your fan dear... Out, and down... Reika, your knees! Bend your knees, not your back! Up to level position... Very good, Chou. Bow, stand. Leg up. Too quick, Reika! Leg down again. Close your fan. You got it Chou. Crouch, out, up and- Reika! Fix yourself!" Reika tensed up and brought her fan to a level position with her eyes. "Now open. Too slow, Reika! Bring it up! Higher! Wrong way, Reika! Chou, dear, your fan's backwards again... Turn, down, now face to the left. Reika!" Chiyoko got up and approached Reika and snatched the fan out of her hand. "Look here, Reika. This is how you turn." Chiyoko did a gentle sweeping motion with her arm as she turned. "Notice the feet. You have to sli~ide your feet, you don't raise the knees. You're waist needs to be level." She closed the fan and whacked Reika's hip with it. "Level!" Reika pursed her lips.
"Alright," Chiyoko handed her fan back with a dissatisfied expression and returned to her seat upon the deck of the shrine, "Let's go back from the top, this'll be the last time. We have to get going soon." Reika glanced at the sun, and indeed, it was high noon. The Hakureis had spent the entirety of the morning going over their dance routine for their Kagura dance presentation of which they were going to preform at the festival within the village. The Hakureis didn't usually preform publicly, much less at the village, but with all the festivities occurring, it seemed to be the best way to receive of a lot of attention, and with attention came donations. They were going to perform multiple times, once for every day of the festivities (of which, starting that day, would occur for a week) and they would be performing in front of potentially large audiences, which would almost guarantee that they would receive generous donations. Donations were their main source of income, after all.
Reika's mother used to perform Kagura dances quite often during festivals at the shrine. Reika would remember watching her mother and her aunt dance gracefully together when she was younger, dressed in patterned robes and decorated crowns. The grounds used to be absolutely filled with people, more people than one would imagine the relatively small clearing to handle. Those huge events, however, didn't exactly occur too often anymore. Now, the shrine only hosted small events such as marriages or Miyamairi. However, every now and then, the Hakureis be called to participate within festivals that occurred within the village, such as this one.
Chiyoko watched the two girls dressed in red and white, Reika and her daughter, as they went over the whole dance routine. Miko Kagura was a very slow and controlled dance, filled with gentle, graceful movements with a lack of any form of theatrics. Dances often included various tools, which in this case consisted of fans and bells. This particular dance began with the two presenting their fans and waving them around in controlled, synchronized movements, opening and closing them constantly, and in the middle of it, they switched their fans for wands covered in bells. The movements were very careful and slow, as even the slightest noises created by the bells were part of the routine and needed to be controlled. The purpose of this dance, at least in ancient times, was to call upon the gods within the bodies of the dancers to convince them to dance along. However...
"It'll do," Chiyoko said, although she was clearly unsatisfied, looking at Reika. Reika wasn't all that happy either, for different reasons.
"Did we do good?" Chou asked in her sweet little voice of a wind chime. She couldn't help but rattle the bells in her hand, now that she had the opportunity to do so freely.
"You were great, Chou," Reika said, putting her hand over her head. "Great?" Chiyoko pitched in, "She was beautiful, dear. Chou's a natural at this. Her movements are perfect and her balance is just as expected of a Hakurei. Chou, you nearly brought a tear to my eye." Chiyoko brought her finger up to her eyelid to wipe off invisible tears. Chou giggled and ran into her grandmother's lap. "Your mother," Chiyoko's eyes darted to Reika, "could learn a lot from you. Reika, what ever happened to everything I've taught you as a child, about balance. You're movements are much too erratic, you've no sense of pace."
"I understand," Reika said, crossing her arms and mustering up a stoic expression. Her mother was always right, after all. Reika always had difficulty mustering up that sense of balance that everyone else in her family seems to be born with. Her mother's sense of balance must have been even more extraordinary, seeing as she was great at detecting imbalances. "Chi-Chi needs to train you harder," Chou teased. Chiyoko nodded in agreement. Reika couldn't help but grin. "Chou, when I was your age, Chi-Chi used to train me in this dance routine in the middle of the night, in winter, under a waterfall, while I was naked." Chou broke into a giggling fit.
"That was to train your focus," Chiyoko responded, "and that was your aunts idea. Mine was for you to do it over hot coals. Your father thought her idea was cheaper, though..." Chiyoko seemed to be considering something, hopefully not over the current viability of that sort of training. "Well, the level you're at right now should be alright for the festival, but we need to perfect you're ability to dance if we're going to move onto the next phase of your training; to be able to channel the gods at any time." Reika bowed in acknowledgement. Chiyoko began to stretch.
"Well, I'd say we better head off to the village now," she said, "A half an hour walk means, if we walk now, we should still be at least an hour ahead of time, and it would be best if we all got there together." Chiyoko glanced at Reika, who was stretching her shoulders. "As long as we don't run into any problems," Reika responded cryptically to a hidden question. Chiyoko patted Chou's shoulder. "Chou, dear, why don't you go get the snacks we packed," Chiyoko asked, "Your mother and I will be waiting out here ready to go with the things." Chou nodded in compliance and gave Chiyoko her bells before heading into the shrine's main building. Reika gave her own bells to Chiyoko before picking up both their fans off the ground and placing them within the breast of her kimono.
"When are you going to start teaching her about Youkai extermination?" Chiyoko asked this question very suddenly, it caused Reika to flinch for a split second. "I'd rather she grew a little first," Reika responded with her arms crossed. "What's wrong? She's at about the same age as you were when you caught your first Tanuki Youkai. She may not have your power, but she's got a talent for focus that even I didn't have. Why, when she gets older, she might even outsmart a Satori. In fact, it might just be possible for her to handle old Genji's power."
Reika shook her head. "That's absurd. The power of flight? For a human? Unthinkable. Not even a machine could do it. And besides," she lowered her voice, "I'd rather she have nothing to do with Youkai extermination until she's mature enough to handle it." "Mature enough!?" Chiyoko raised her voice more than she meant to. She spoke in a more controlled tone, "How does she need to be mature? You were able to handle it just fine, even eager to. It's not like she's a, a sympathizer." Chiyoko had trouble with the word, as if it was even taboo to say out loud.
"That's... not what I meant. It's not that I'm worried about whether she can handle doing it. It's just..." I don't want her to become like me, is what she felt like saying, but she couldn't muster up the courage to say so in front of her mother. "... I don't want her to become distant from people. She already has lived with us all her life, away from other children her age. I just feel... I feel she'll lose sight of what's important if, if she doesn't quite understand it yet."
"Rei," Chiyoko said in a serious tone, "I understand that you may think this kind of training will be too difficult for her, but if she doesn't begin anytime soon, her true powers may never blossom. She's got so much potential that is only found in one of a million. With the right training, she could be the most talented Hakurei Shrine maiden that ever lived and a great Youkai exterminator. Yet every day that she is unprepared to combat the Youkai is another day where she is in danger. She might become a huge target for enemies both infamous to us and unknown. There may come a time where her life will be in danger and neither of us are there for her, possibly soon, possibly never. As difficult as you may think this is, it will be easier for her than it ever was for you, and it will be for her own good. We trained you at such a young age for this very reason."
Reika stood in silent consideration. "You need to consider what's best for her," Chiyoko concluded. They both sat in silence as they took a few seconds to think as they waited for Chou.
"Chou," Reika called, "What's taking so long? Let's go!"
"Alright," Chiyoko handed her fan back with a dissatisfied expression and returned to her seat upon the deck of the shrine, "Let's go back from the top, this'll be the last time. We have to get going soon." Reika glanced at the sun, and indeed, it was high noon. The Hakureis had spent the entirety of the morning going over their dance routine for their Kagura dance presentation of which they were going to preform at the festival within the village. The Hakureis didn't usually preform publicly, much less at the village, but with all the festivities occurring, it seemed to be the best way to receive of a lot of attention, and with attention came donations. They were going to perform multiple times, once for every day of the festivities (of which, starting that day, would occur for a week) and they would be performing in front of potentially large audiences, which would almost guarantee that they would receive generous donations. Donations were their main source of income, after all.
Reika's mother used to perform Kagura dances quite often during festivals at the shrine. Reika would remember watching her mother and her aunt dance gracefully together when she was younger, dressed in patterned robes and decorated crowns. The grounds used to be absolutely filled with people, more people than one would imagine the relatively small clearing to handle. Those huge events, however, didn't exactly occur too often anymore. Now, the shrine only hosted small events such as marriages or Miyamairi. However, every now and then, the Hakureis be called to participate within festivals that occurred within the village, such as this one.
Chiyoko watched the two girls dressed in red and white, Reika and her daughter, as they went over the whole dance routine. Miko Kagura was a very slow and controlled dance, filled with gentle, graceful movements with a lack of any form of theatrics. Dances often included various tools, which in this case consisted of fans and bells. This particular dance began with the two presenting their fans and waving them around in controlled, synchronized movements, opening and closing them constantly, and in the middle of it, they switched their fans for wands covered in bells. The movements were very careful and slow, as even the slightest noises created by the bells were part of the routine and needed to be controlled. The purpose of this dance, at least in ancient times, was to call upon the gods within the bodies of the dancers to convince them to dance along. However...
"It'll do," Chiyoko said, although she was clearly unsatisfied, looking at Reika. Reika wasn't all that happy either, for different reasons.
"Did we do good?" Chou asked in her sweet little voice of a wind chime. She couldn't help but rattle the bells in her hand, now that she had the opportunity to do so freely.
"You were great, Chou," Reika said, putting her hand over her head. "Great?" Chiyoko pitched in, "She was beautiful, dear. Chou's a natural at this. Her movements are perfect and her balance is just as expected of a Hakurei. Chou, you nearly brought a tear to my eye." Chiyoko brought her finger up to her eyelid to wipe off invisible tears. Chou giggled and ran into her grandmother's lap. "Your mother," Chiyoko's eyes darted to Reika, "could learn a lot from you. Reika, what ever happened to everything I've taught you as a child, about balance. You're movements are much too erratic, you've no sense of pace."
"I understand," Reika said, crossing her arms and mustering up a stoic expression. Her mother was always right, after all. Reika always had difficulty mustering up that sense of balance that everyone else in her family seems to be born with. Her mother's sense of balance must have been even more extraordinary, seeing as she was great at detecting imbalances. "Chi-Chi needs to train you harder," Chou teased. Chiyoko nodded in agreement. Reika couldn't help but grin. "Chou, when I was your age, Chi-Chi used to train me in this dance routine in the middle of the night, in winter, under a waterfall, while I was naked." Chou broke into a giggling fit.
"That was to train your focus," Chiyoko responded, "and that was your aunts idea. Mine was for you to do it over hot coals. Your father thought her idea was cheaper, though..." Chiyoko seemed to be considering something, hopefully not over the current viability of that sort of training. "Well, the level you're at right now should be alright for the festival, but we need to perfect you're ability to dance if we're going to move onto the next phase of your training; to be able to channel the gods at any time." Reika bowed in acknowledgement. Chiyoko began to stretch.
"Well, I'd say we better head off to the village now," she said, "A half an hour walk means, if we walk now, we should still be at least an hour ahead of time, and it would be best if we all got there together." Chiyoko glanced at Reika, who was stretching her shoulders. "As long as we don't run into any problems," Reika responded cryptically to a hidden question. Chiyoko patted Chou's shoulder. "Chou, dear, why don't you go get the snacks we packed," Chiyoko asked, "Your mother and I will be waiting out here ready to go with the things." Chou nodded in compliance and gave Chiyoko her bells before heading into the shrine's main building. Reika gave her own bells to Chiyoko before picking up both their fans off the ground and placing them within the breast of her kimono.
"When are you going to start teaching her about Youkai extermination?" Chiyoko asked this question very suddenly, it caused Reika to flinch for a split second. "I'd rather she grew a little first," Reika responded with her arms crossed. "What's wrong? She's at about the same age as you were when you caught your first Tanuki Youkai. She may not have your power, but she's got a talent for focus that even I didn't have. Why, when she gets older, she might even outsmart a Satori. In fact, it might just be possible for her to handle old Genji's power."
Reika shook her head. "That's absurd. The power of flight? For a human? Unthinkable. Not even a machine could do it. And besides," she lowered her voice, "I'd rather she have nothing to do with Youkai extermination until she's mature enough to handle it." "Mature enough!?" Chiyoko raised her voice more than she meant to. She spoke in a more controlled tone, "How does she need to be mature? You were able to handle it just fine, even eager to. It's not like she's a, a sympathizer." Chiyoko had trouble with the word, as if it was even taboo to say out loud.
"That's... not what I meant. It's not that I'm worried about whether she can handle doing it. It's just..." I don't want her to become like me, is what she felt like saying, but she couldn't muster up the courage to say so in front of her mother. "... I don't want her to become distant from people. She already has lived with us all her life, away from other children her age. I just feel... I feel she'll lose sight of what's important if, if she doesn't quite understand it yet."
"Rei," Chiyoko said in a serious tone, "I understand that you may think this kind of training will be too difficult for her, but if she doesn't begin anytime soon, her true powers may never blossom. She's got so much potential that is only found in one of a million. With the right training, she could be the most talented Hakurei Shrine maiden that ever lived and a great Youkai exterminator. Yet every day that she is unprepared to combat the Youkai is another day where she is in danger. She might become a huge target for enemies both infamous to us and unknown. There may come a time where her life will be in danger and neither of us are there for her, possibly soon, possibly never. As difficult as you may think this is, it will be easier for her than it ever was for you, and it will be for her own good. We trained you at such a young age for this very reason."
Reika stood in silent consideration. "You need to consider what's best for her," Chiyoko concluded. They both sat in silence as they took a few seconds to think as they waited for Chou.
"Chou," Reika called, "What's taking so long? Let's go!"
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