Like most of the past few years, Toya was standing in one of the Sumo rings. In his usual Shrine Maiden disguise he performed a short and simple purification for the visitors that wanted to attend the procession starting any moment. In between visitors, he glanced back to their home, where Eva was basically grounded until the evening, while Yukiko was getting dressed with the help of two older ladies.
Looking across the grounds, there were a few familiar faces in the crowd already gathered. On the far end of the area was the young couple Mr. Mori employed as Assistants in his shop. They had had to make up for their boss’s absence this week, seeing as he had been told to not handle things like dead fish, but still seemed rather enthusiastic as they prepared the small cooking area. They didn’t have much to do yet, as everything that would be cooked for the people that helped them out over the week was to be collected as the procession passed by local businesses.
In the midst of the crowds, Karasuza was doing her best to direct all the people to where they should be. The young Tanuki had hoped she’d be able to assist him blessing and cleansing people wishing for it. But sadly she’d shown little aptitude at quickly memorizing the relevant rituals. ‘If only Eva could have helped out.’ Toya thought to himself as he took care of the next visitor. ‘If her being a foreigner is such an issue, I am sure she could have transformed into a more local looking person.’ His thoughts continued mulling over this annoyance, unclear on why the old Treespirit had confined the young Kitsune to her room until further notice. But that all came to a halt when Yukiko stepped outside, looking absolutely stunning in Mumei’s ceremonial Kimono. As she made her way to the bridge, taking slow measured steps, the crowd slowly parted around the half dozen volunteers escorting her.
Soon after she and her entourage had reached the other side of the stream cutting through the grounds, the sound of drums reverberated through the air. Toya didn’t much care for the ritual, not nearly as much as those in the crowd listening intently to the rhythm of the drums. After all, the shrine’s Kami was in her room, probably angry at being grounded. The whole bit where Komaki waves around a mask and chants a prayer was just for keeping up appearances after all. He doubted that, even if she had the power to bring fire and misfortune upon them, Eva would figure out how to use them for such purpose on her own, let alone care about the silly human rituals.
Shortly after the drums fell silent, Everyone involved in the ritual at the Honden returned, with Yukiko now wearing a finely crafted fox mask. Once she’d sat down, dozens of people worked together to lift up the palanquin she now occupied. Watching them fitting the whole construct, and everyone carrying it, through the Torii was always interesting to watch. While Karasuza fell in line behind Komaki as the procession moved into the streets, Toya decided to stay behind and prepare the Sumo rings. He had seen the procession often enough, and people struggling to place trays full of food, sake and other offerings onto a palanquin carried and surrounded by a noticeable crowd lost its charm after a couple of times.
Instead Toya directed the few helpers that stayed back with him into preparing stuff for when the procession returned in the afternoon. The small wooden bucket with the salt for the sumo fights was brought out. A pair of tables were set up flanking the ornate chair Yukiko would spend most of the evening in. After they had time for a short break, the students that were selected to participate in the Kyudo and Sumo showcases arrived and needed some directions towards the rooms set aside for them to change in.
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By the time the procession returned, the six Kyudoka had taken positions alongside the path Yukiko would take to reach her seat. Once she had passed between them, they bowed and began their showcase, the twing of their bowstrings filled the air for the next few minutes as people watched them fill the targets with arrows. Once they had finished, peoples' attention was directed towards the Sumo showcase, which was over surprisingly quickly, considering these two were presumably the best, at least in their school.
Next, while the final rays of sun were still illuminating the scene, Toya moved to assist Komaki with the divination ritual that would mark the end of the day’s official rites. When Komaki carried the mask back to the Honden to ‘consult with the Kami’, who was probably still grumbling in her room as far as Toya knew, he checked in with the teachers and students that now oversaw the people trying their hands at Kyudo and Sumo.
A few minutes later Eva stumbled across the shrine grounds to join in the evening’s celebrations. Her eyes were a bit reddened, as if she’d spent some time actually crying over not being included. Instead of the usual Miko outfit she wore while working, the young Kitsune was wrapped in a simple, dark green Kimono, printed with stylized maple leaves. Toya stifled a giggle when he recalled how Yukiko had insisted on teaching Eva what a young lady should wear to a festival, and how to put on a Kimono. At least good enough that it’d be fine for less formal occasions.
As Toya looked around, he noticed Komaki returning across the bridge and began to move closer. The older spirit would be handing over the Foxmask to this year’s lucky volunteer. And those reactions were always interesting to observe.
It quickly became clear they were headed for Mr. Mori and Ms. Unagi. The two regular visitors were currently standing a bit off from the bigger crowds, enjoying some of the Sake handed out to the volunteering firefighters. While he couldn’t move close enough to listen in, Toya still managed to get a clear view of Komaki handing the mask over to Mr. Mori. Which brought a wide grin to the man’s face as he took the wooden piece of art from the priest.
What he did next though, came as quite a surprise to everyone, most of all his female companion. Falling to one knee, he held the mask out towards the office woman, something metal glinting inside it now. As the shop owner began to talk, Ms. Unagi’s face went through a surprising series of expressions. Starting from startled surprise, her lips slowly drew up into a broad smile, while her eyes began to gleam. She immediately brought her hands up, one to wipe what threatened to become tears from her eyes. The other to shily hide her stupidly wide grin. With a quick nod, she brought the hand from her eyes down before Mr. Mori’s hands. The moment the ring had been slipped onto her finger, she seemed to fall into a hug with her now fiancé. He meanwhile did his best to keep his grip on the wooden mask, and tied it to the side of her head before quickly returning the hug.
Ignoring the grumpy mumbling from an older lady nearby, Toya decided to walk up to the couple to congratulate them.