A certain psychic girl’s confession

Stop that!

It’s you, right? Are you asking me to do the opening speech again?

But something…seems different…how you look…how you sound…

It doesn’t reach all the way here, but I can feel the waves of a familiar spiritual presence trying to exert their influence.

How should I put it…it feels pure and ominous at the same time.

Inside shrine grounds? I see images of water.

If people’s memories are flowing water, then these are…stagnant fragments in that flow…forgotten things?

I suppose you’re looking at the residue of memories.

Quite distasteful, I’d say.

Everyone has things in their past that they want to keep to themselves.

But I suppose I’m not really in a position to lecture you about that.

Well, whatever.

I’m not going to show you my memories, or even tell you what you really want to know, but I see no harm in talking a bit about myself.

Amateru Mika - I assume you’ve heard of this name?

Oh, you want to know my real name?

Then perhaps you should first tell me yours before I return the favor.

Maybe I should’ve called myself a ‘psychic member’.

I don’t want to go too deep into my family, but I am the only one out of several siblings to be born with this power.

I can see and hear things that should not be seen or heard.

But I’m not exactly leading a happy life.

Maybe people who yearn to be ‘special’ would be jealous of my powers.

But this is what I think - you are better off not knowing certain things. Don’t overstep your boundaries as a human; smile at ordinary things, cry at ordinary things, and live out your ordinary life. I think that is the best kind of happiness for a human.

I’m well-aware that I’m speaking in abstractions here, but let me put it out there - I’m not here to discuss the definition of ‘ordinary’.

This is simply how I feel.

And what if I told you I could see the true form of this world? That I could hear messages from beings above humans - beings we call gods - in the form of song? That I could see multiple lines in parallel, going along the horizon until the ends of time? Or would that be too cringe?

Hehe, I couldn’t help myself there.

But you’re not cringing. I suppose you’re also an extremely bizarre existence yourself.

I don’t get it. What’s up with that mask? That looks outright demonic.

Where’s your main consciousness located?

Whoever’s behind you should’ve been…

Alright, alright! I get it!

I’m not going to probe, so stop those waves!

I guess we’re even now. I have pretty bad taste myself, hehe.

“What a scary woman, I bet nobody wants to marry her”, I can almost hear you thinking.

But sorry to break it to you, I do have a fiance.

Well, he thinks of me as no more than a childhood friend.

It is one of those pesky arranged marriages between families, after all.

If a more charming gentleman were to fall for me, then I wouldn’t hesitate to call off that arrangement.

Well, I’m not really that fussed about marriage.

Whatever happens will happen.

There’s not really two ways about it.

I’ve seen the fates of plenty of other people, but I’m not privy to my own. What an inconvenient power.

Worst case, I have no problem living alone. Plus, I do have a single, precious friend.

We’ll grow old together and enjoy our last years.

I said I wasn’t exactly happy, but I suppose that depends on how I’ll live out the rest of my life.

I do think that being born with this power means that I have a duty to fulfill.

Speaking of duties, I don’t know from which horizon you’ve come from, but you’re really pushing your luck here.

Relocating a person is one thing, but you’ve moved the entire shrine? Is that even possible?

And you do this once…every how many years?

15? Or is 18 more appropriate? Maybe even 20…that’s probably not impossible?

What? You’re using the “Around” system, so you can afford a bit of margin of error?

You’ve got to be kidding me!

What kind of shrine is this?!

But you have an unbelievable amount of spiritual power.

Won’t you need a considerable number of followers to achieve this with a shrine system?

Prologue Edition? Starting over from a shrine? Grand shrine? Jingu?

What are you even talking about?

But I guess you need a good amount of time to gain such a large following.

Even then, you’re definitely pushing your luck.

You could’ve just as easily fallen into the darkness between horizons.

But you seem rather unfazed at the idea of disappearing.

There’s something you want to do, no matter what.

Wait! Don’t worry, I’m not going to ask!

Let me be straight with you, you’re evil. But underneath that mask, I do feel the presence of something pure.

Something innocent, like a mother’s prayer, or an infant’s cries.

That’s why I’m still talking to you.

I have no intention of interfering with your shrine.

So please, leave me alone as well.

Hm? What do you mean it’s not win-win?

You want me to advertise your shrine on my social media?

Okay, but what part of this is win-win? What am I winning?

Just what are you?

I really can’t get a good read on you, whether you’re pure or greedy.

I suppose I can if I ever feel like it - and if the stars align.

Don’t expect too much.

So then, farewell.