The strange little incident, noticeable only to Kagura, didn't impact the rest of their shrine visit. That earlier supernatural encounter hadn't left any lingering effects, other than making Kagura, who'd been feeling sleepy, a bit more awake.
"Kagura, you've been looking tired all morning. Did you stay up late last night?"
After hanging her ema, Rudolf noticed Kagura dazedly holding her own wish plaque, so she walked back over, gently cupping Kagura's cheeks and giving them a rub, fully waking her again.
"Ah…Ojou-sama, I stayed up till past one last night, playing with the young ladies at the Mejiro estate... and then got up around five. I'm having trouble staying awake…"
"You silly girl. You're way too young to handle that kind of schedule. If you're really tired, should I carry you or give you a piggyback ride?"
Rudolf frowned upon hearing Kagura's unhealthy schedule. Forget Kagura—Rudolf herself wouldn't be able to keep up with that.
"It's fine, Ojou-sama... Aren't we almost done here anyway? I'll go back and sleep later."
"You..."
Rudolf sighed, realizing Kagura wasn't exactly wrong, but there wasn't much else she could do besides sigh.
——Are you really going to hang your ema just like that?
As Kagura approached the ema wall, she heard Eclipse-san's voice gently in her ear. She felt a slight tugging sensation at her shoulder, as if Eclipse-san were trying to stop her.
Hmm? What's wrong? Is there something wrong with my wish?
——Everything on there is someone else's wish. None of them are yours, are they? What about you?
Eclipse-san had obviously read Kagura's ema. She'd written plenty of wishes, but none of them were actually about herself—they were all prayers for others.
What wish would I even have...? I feel like my life is pretty good right now.
——I don't care. You have to at least write down one wish of your own. Who makes wishes like that?
Eh…?
After a moment of hesitation, Kagura scribbled at the very end: "I wish to reach honkaku this year."
——What kind of ridiculous wish is that?! Who prays to grow up faster!? Didn't you used to wish for career success or something like that in your previous life?
As expected, seeing that wish triggered Eclipse-san's nagging again.
Wait… Eclipse-san, when you were young, didn't you ever wish to grow up faster?
Thinking about it carefully, Kagura realized she had indeed never prayed for career success in her previous life. If anything, after spending so much time in hospitals, surrounded by grief and crying, she'd rather have a career with no work to do—meaning fewer sick people. That would be wonderful.
——That's completely different! Honestly, you… Oh, never mind. Just hang it up. It's good you don't rely too heavily on divine intervention. Regardless of what you pray for, don't forget that wishes only come true through your own effort.
Eclipse-san's voice was tinged with resignation.
Kagura hung up the ema filled with others' wishes. She felt Eclipse-san gently rubbing her head again.
"Oh! Kagura-chan? You're here visiting the shrine too?"
"Eh?"
As soon as Kagura lowered her hands, she heard a familiar voice coming from her right. Turning her head, she spotted Mr. C.B.-san in tourist-like clothing, complete with sunglasses and a sunhat, holding an ema herself. It seemed she'd just finished her prayers as well.
"Ah, Mr. C.B.-senpai! Happy New Year!"
"Happy New Year, Kagura-chan! I didn't expect to meet you here. I thought you'd all go to that shrine closer to the Symboli estate."
Mr. C.B. stepped forward cheerfully and patted Kagura's shoulder, casually hanging up her own ema as she spoke:
"Kagura-chan, did you write down a wish too? Mind if I take a peek?"
"No way! Didn't they say it won't come true if someone else reads it?!"
Seeing Mr. C.B. curiously scanning for her ema, Kagura hurriedly grabbed her hand and pulled her back.
"Oh, you're right… So why are you here, anyway? And this outfit of yours—are you this shrine's head miko?"
"No matter how you look at it, that's obviously not me. Isn't the head miko performing kagura dance right over there?"
Kagura shook her head, pointing sideways toward the shrine maiden gracefully dancing near the main hall.
"So which shrine are you from? Give me the address. Tomorrow I'll stop by and toss some saisen (donation money) your way."
"Wait! I appreciate your kindness, senpai, but you really don't need to give me money!"
Kagura waved her hands frantically, politely refusing. She definitely wasn't comfortable receiving such unearned favors.
"Well, it's mainly because you look so beautiful dressed like this, Kagura-chan. I thought you'd look amazing doing a kagura dance, so I want to see it! Just think of my donation as an entry ticket fee~"
"Eh? Uh, no… I'm terrible at dancing! Totally hopeless!"
Startled by Mr. C.B.'s blunt request, Kagura hastily shook her head, firmly rejecting the suggestion.
"Oh, really now?"
Mr. C.B. leaned down suddenly, pressing her face close to Kagura's, making Kagura flinch slightly as she stared mischievously.
"Really! I haven't danced once since entering school! You can ask Ojou-sama if you don't believe me!"
"Hm? Kagura, were you calling me?"
On the opposite side of the ema rack, Rudolf overheard Kagura's commotion and curiously poked her head out.
"Oh! Rudolf! You're here too!"
Mr. C.B. stood up straight and waved cheerfully to Rudolf. Rudolf stepped out from behind the rack. Speed-sama, hearing the commotion, also approached curiously.
"My, who might this be…?"
Speed-sama paused when she saw Mr. C.B., clearly recognizing the young Uma Musume.
"Yo, Obaa-sama! I'm Rudolf's classmate, Mr. C.B. Nice to meet you!"
"It's an honor to meet the Triple Crown winner herself. I'm Symboli Speed. What a pleasant surprise seeing you here. By the way, were you chatting with Kagura just now?"
"Yes, indeed! Kagura-chan looked so lovely dressed like this, so I said I wanted to see her kagura dance. But then she said she couldn't dance at all. I was just about to ask Rudolf if she had any information to share?"
Mr. C.B. effortlessly redirected the conversation back to Kagura, making Kagura—who had just breathed a sigh of relief—tense up again.
"Hmm… I actually haven't seen Kagura dance at all. Since she enrolled, she's always been busy with work and never seemed to practice such things…"
Rudolf thought carefully before giving her uncertain answer.
See! I've never danced before! Kagura sighed internally, assuming the matter was finally settled.
"…Although, I remember seeing Principal Akikawa's evaluation a while ago. She said Kagura's movements were elegant and graceful, her form extremely flexible—a natural-born dancer—and asked me to pay attention to possibly getting her some proper training, so her talent wouldn't go to waste… But I honestly don't know, since I've never seen it myself."
"Huh?" "Oh~?"
Kagura froze, uttering a puzzled sound, while Mr. C.B. looked at Rudolf with great interest, then turned back to Kagura.
"Kagura-chan… do you disagree with the principal's evaluation?"
"Of course I do! I've never danced before—how could the principal know? She must've just guessed!"
"Hehe~ Let's just leave it at that for now~"
Seeing Kagura still unwilling to admit it, Mr. C.B. stopped teasing her. Smiling warmly, she reached out to gently rub Kagura's head:
"I'll stop teasing you. I've still got some business today, so I'll head off first. Remember to tell me your shrine's location sometime later~!"
With those words, Mr. C.B. dashed off swiftly, vanishing as quickly and mysteriously as she'd appeared.
"Mr. C.B.-senpai always comes and goes like the wind… Kagura, we've finished our prayers, so let's head home now."
Rudolf stepped forward and gently patted Kagura, whose ears drooped in exhaustion. Kagura nodded weakly, responding in a soft, exhausted voice:
"Okay…"