Chapter Two- Mayoi Snail
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If one wishes to pay Hachikuji Mayoi a visit, one must ready themselves for the hardiest of ascents. This isn’t so much about the mountain’s altitude, but about that trail that twists and turns like a snake on fire, one which dents the determination of any who climbs it.
Like the trail of a snake – no.
Like the spiral of a snail’s shell.
And if one does trek this meandering, dangerous path, with no signboards to navigate with and no spot to take a break on, it is inevitable that one should see a brand new torii gate, so new that it’s a complete mismatch with its surroundings, that being the gate towards the Kitashirahebi Shrine; her abode.
Still, if one were to imagine Hachikuji Mayoi bouncing out the shrine eagerly welcoming you, that’d be wishful thinking.
She is, after all, a little year five primary school girl who enjoys the great outdoors, so the shrine is unattended for a lot of the time…guess one has to be patient if she’s not there. It goes without saying that heading back down the mountain and searching for her around town would be an alternative option, though there is a great likelihood that one would go home exhausted and empty-handed.
In any case, even if one gets to meet her, it would be impudent to directly see eye-to-eye with this ten-year-old young girl – because Hachikuji Mayoi is, and I say this with fearful respect, the god this shrine worships.
An oddity born from a lost cow.
A ghost of a little girl.
A god, newly crowned.
Which is to say if one wished to meet her, the clever way to go about it would be to stay and pray believing that she’s already there – but if one were stupid, as stupid as I am, and wished to see her no matter what, then there is an easy, completely simple way of going about it.
Pick a road, any road.
Any road you can think of, and be lost.
She is, after all, a god of lost children.
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