Hikari and Arisa didn't pay attention to the looks from the people around them, and instead walked around the shrine together for a bit.
Arisa was very happy and curious about this, looking around everywhere.
She even imitated the surrounding villagers and joined the line of people waiting to pray.
First she went to the shrine's temizuya(water basin), which was a small pool of water, used a long-handled wooden ladle to purify her hands, then walked to the shrine's worship hall with its eaves curved upward and tossed some loose change into the offertory box with the wooden slats.
Then she clapped her hands a few times, pulled the rope connected to the bell above the offertory box, and made the wind chimes on the hemp rope ring.
After that she pressed her palms together, prayed, and made a wish.
While making her wish, Arisa kept sneaking glances at Hikari, and no one knew what she wished for.
But unlike the very excited Arisa, Hikari didn't have much interest in the shrine itself and couldn't be bothered to pray.
His attention was mainly on the villagers who had come to the shrine to worship.
He found that quite a lot of villagers had come to Ino Shrine to pray, people coming and going, and all of them looked sincerely devoted, very respectful toward Ino Shrine and the miko in charge inside.
All of this showed that Ino Shrine held a very high status in Ino Village.
And the family that controlled Ino Shrine was the well-known Jinno family of Ino Village.
The Jinno family's power in Ino Village was probably enormous.
Just as Hikari stood to the side waiting for Arisa to finish praying.
Two figures suddenly walked out of the shrine.
Seeing these two figures, the miko who were originally being respected by the villagers immediately greeted them reverently, and the villagers beside them also looked at the two figures with awe.
"High Priestess!"
"Miss Ai!"
Several miko greeted the two women with respectful voices.
Hearing the title the miko used, Hikari immediately understood why the villagers and the miko were so respectful toward these two women.
In Shinto in Japan, the position of high priest was extremely elevated. They were considered the representatives of the gods, mediators between the gods and humans.
Before Japan's Peace Constitution was established, Shinto high priests were actually part of the civil service class, and their ranks were clearly defined.
Although the status of high priests wasn't as dazzling as during the era when Japan had a theocratic government, they still held no small social standing, and those who served as high priests were very likely from prominent local families, or people with high local prestige, or both.
And high priests were originally the ones responsible for managing shrine affairs, so it wasn't strange that the miko were so respectful.
What caught Hikari a little off guard was the high priest herself.
The person holding that prestigious position was a woman, more precisely, a sharp-eyed, short-haired icy beauty who seemed able to see through everything.
She looked about thirty or so, with delicate, cool, alluring features. Just her face alone was enough to make her an extremely charming beauty.
But her figure didn't lose in the slightest to that stunningly beautiful face.
For the sake of elegance and solemnity, miko robes were usually designed very loose, so the red-and-white outfit would typically hide most of a woman's natural charms.
The miko on the side were exactly like this.
But the mature beauty who served as the high priest had a full and proud figure that couldn't be hidden even by the wide, elegant miko outfit.
Her ample and striking bust pushed the red-trimmed neckline outward, creating an astonishing curve.
And with such a proud and high bustline, her already slender waist looked even more delicate and small.
Her long, beautiful legs were fully hidden under the wide red skirt, but her full and rounded hips still lifted upward elegantly.
In short, the high priestly beauty of Ino Shrine had looks and a figure that were in no way inferior to Miyuri or Sayako, and her noble aura even surpassed them.
Beside the high priestly beauty was a young girl, probably about fourteen to sixteen, the age of a high school student.
She wore a light blue JK uniform, her smooth long hair falling to her waist, and a pair of thin-framed glasses resting on her nose.
Though she wore glasses, they did nothing to diminish her youthful beauty.
The girl's features were somewhat similar to the high priestly beauty beside her, both delicate, so they were probably mother and daughter.
And the girl's figure clearly followed her mother's line. She had curves where she should and softness where she should.
Although because of her age she couldn't compare to her mother yet, she was still impressive compared to most her age.
The reason Hikari took such a close look at the shrine's mother-and-daughter high priest duo wasn't only their striking looks and noble status, but also because they looked a bit familiar.
Since their status was noble, the villagers didn't dare look at them directly. Because of that, Hikari, who wasn't hiding his gaze at all, stood out a bit.
And perhaps noticing Hikari's gaze.
The high priestly beauty who was talking to the miko suddenly turned her head toward him and shot him a cold glance.
That look seemed to see straight through him and was quite frightening.
Hikari shifted his eyes slightly, not meeting her gaze. It wasn't that he was scared like the villagers, but staring at someone too long just wasn't very polite.
But just as he was about to look away, he suddenly noticed that the young girl beside the high priestly beauty, the beautiful girl who was probably her daughter, was staring at him with wide eyes.
Behind those lenses, her pretty eyes held some surprise, and perhaps even a faint hint of joy.
Hikari saw the young girl point at him while speaking to the high priestly beauty beside her. After the high priestly beauty gave a cool, slight nod, the glasses-wearing beauty walked toward him with a face full of excitement.
———
"Hikari-kun?"
"Is that Hikari Nii-san?"
Hurrying to his side, Jinno Ai looked at him with surprised delight.
"You are… Ai-chan?" Hikari looked at the long-haired glasses-wearing beautiful girl in front of him and vaguely remembered who she was.
"Yes! It's me! Ai-chan, Jinno Ai!", Jinno Ai nodded repeatedly, then excitedly grabbed his hand, "Hikari-kun, it's been so long!"
"Yeah, long time no see, Ai-chan," Seeing Jinno Ai happily gripping his wrist, Hikari didn't pull away but smiled.
Because the two really did know each other. His familiarity with this mother-and-daughter pair of the shrine wasn't baseless, and Jinno Ai's excitement had reason behind it.
Hikari and Jinno Ai had actually been childhood playmates for a period.
Kids liked gathering to play. When Hikari visited Ino Village while young, Jinno Ai would often drag him around to play and would call him Nii-san.
Back then they were very young, close in age, and always played together, like catching crabs in the river, building sandcastles on the beach, even playing house. In short, they got along very well as children.
But maybe because her father ran off early and she lacked fatherly love, whenever they played house, Jinno Ai didn't like playing the role of his wife or his little sister, but preferred playing his daughter and making Hikari act as her father. [T/N: Dad*y Issues]
And the childhood friends he had in Ino Village included not only Jinno Ai but also Suiren and Aoi from Aunt Touka house.
The four of them often played together and got along well.
But later, when Hikari began living in the city long-term with Miss Mira, and when Jinno Ai was sent to a girls' academy in the city by her mother, who was the cold-faced high priestly beauty Jinno Sumire, they didn't see each other for a long time.
But Jinno Ai clearly still remembered that friendship and seemed to miss the childhood memories she shared with him.
So now, seeing each other again, Jinno Ai, now a high schooler, still looked thrilled and happy.
"Hikari-kun, you've been away from Ino Village for years, right? I haven't seen you for so long," Jinno Ai said, joyful with a touch of complaint.
"It's true, I haven't come back for a few years," Hikari nodded.
"Hikari-kun, you got so tall. We used to be about the same height, but now you're so much taller than me. I almost didn't recognize you," Jinno Ai looked up at him, now a head taller and someone she had to tilt her head to look at, a bit amazed.
Hikari smiled, "Ai-chan, you've grown and become prettier too. And you wear glasses now. I almost didn't recognize you either."
Jinno Ai gave him a glare, pretending to be annoyed, "Just because I wear glasses you can't recognize me anymore?"
Hikari smiled, "It's not only the glasses. Mostly because now you're the Jinno heiress, so noble and important. I was afraid if I went to say hi, you wouldn't respond."
"Nonsense!", Jinno Ai slapped his shoulder, "How could I ignore Hikari-kun! I would never ignore Hikari-kun! And what heiress? You're making fun of me again!"
Seeing Jinno Ai, now tall and elegant, still joking with him like when they were children, Hikari smiled and patted her head.
"All right, all right, I believe you."
Hearing this, Jinno Ai smiled slightly, her two tiny sharp canine teeth making her look especially cute.
"Hikari-kun, I'll take you to say hello to my mom," Jinno Ai said.
"Okay," Hikari nodded.
Under the surprised gazes of the villagers, Jinno Ai brought him up onto the solemn platform inside the shrine hall.
"Mom, Hikari-kun came back to town," Jinno Ai told her mother, the high priest Jinno Sumire.
Hikari politely greeted the cool and dignified Jinno Sumire, "Hello Aunt Sumire."
"Oh, it's Hikari-kun? Hello. When you go back, help me say hello to Mira," Jinno Sumire responded with impeccable politeness from an elder's standpoint, then didn't look at him again, continuing her serious conversation with the miko about shrine matters.
From beginning to end, Jinno Sumire carried herself with a noble, dignified demeanor that inspired both fear and respect.
But before she turned away, Hikari noticed she gave him a faint glance. Combined with her lukewarm attitude, although she didn't say it outright, he sensed a subtle hostility. Probably related to Jinno Ai.
Jinno Sumire doted on her daughter a lot, and Jinno Ai acted extremely close to Hikari.
Maybe she was worried her daughter might start dating early, so she seemed to be subtly warning him to keep a distance.
And Jinno Ai seemed to vaguely notice her mother's coldness too.
After they exchanged greetings, she immediately pulled Hikari to a side hall and happily continued chatting.
The two reminisced about childhood memories.
When Jinno Ai kept getting amused by every little thing he said, Hikari casually asked her, "By the way, Ai-chan, now that I'm back in town, I noticed Aoi and the others seem to have moved. Do you know where Aoi and Suiren moved?"
He knew the Jinno family had considerable influence in Ino Town, so when he saw Jinno Ai and Jinno Sumire, he intended to ask them.
Hearing his question, Jinno Ai thought for a moment.
After some thought, she shook her head, "I vaguely remember they did move, but I'm not sure where. Because halfway through elementary school, my mom sent me to that elite girls' academy in the city, so I rarely kept in touch with Aoi and Suiren after that."
Hearing her answer, Hikari nodded in thought.
Seeing this, Jinno Ai smiled, "I'm curious too about where Aoi and Suiren went. How about this, later I'll ask my mom or look into the records. If I find anything, I'll tell you."
Hikari nodded, "Okay."
After that they chatted for quite a while. Jinno Ai even took out her phone to exchange email and LINE contact info with him before she finally let him leave.
Just as Hikari walked out of the side hall, Jinno Sumire happened to walk in.
Jinno Ai immediately trotted up to her and asked in a spoiled tone, "Mom, do you know where Aunt Touka's family moved?"
The cool-faced Jinno Sumire shook her head, "I handle so many things for the shrine and the town every day. How could I remember such trivial matters."
Jinno Ai giggled, "Mom is so amazing, how could you not know? Even if you don't know now, I'm sure you could easily find out. So I'll leave finding Aoi and Suiren's info to you."
After saying that, Jinno Ai hopped off cheerfully.
Watching her lively daughter, Jinno Sumire shook her head helplessly, but despite herself, a faint smile appeared on her cool face. In just a few words her daughter had assigned her a task as high priest. She really spoiled her too much.
But Jinno Ai wasn't entirely wrong. The role of high priest in Ino Village was passed down within the Jinno family, and ever since Jinno Sumire took the position, Ino Shrine's prosperity had reached the most flourishing level in recent generations.
She really did have strong management ability, and the old man at home had praised her many times.
But the moment she thought of that old man, the smile faded noticeably from her face.
Because that old man was just… annoying.
The Jinno family had been rooted in Ino Village for a long time, and continued to grow when Ino Village expanded into Ino Town.
So the Jinno family's power in Ino Town was extremely strong, and the family had many businesses. Ino Shrine was only one part of Jinno family territory.
They were involved in things like construction and restaurants, and had considerable influence.
But despite Jinno Sumire showing ability beyond many past generations of the family, the current head of the Jinno family, Jinno Ai's grandfather and Jinno Sumire's father, was willing to give her control only over the shrine and a few related businesses.
Most of the other businesses he kept firmly in his own hands, saying he would only hand them over if there were a male heir and that Jinno Sumire must give birth to a boy.
Giving birth to a boy. A demand that might sound ordinary to other women was, for Jinno Sumire, extremely troublesome.
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