Chapter 321: Meiji Jingu

December 27th, Yoyogi Shrine, Shibuya Ward, Tokyo, Meiji Jingu.

Meiji Jingu began in 1920, built during the Taisho Era to enshrine Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken. As an important site for Japanese Shinto, its grounds cover a vast forest (man-made) of 700,000 square meters, hailed as the "Green Lung of Tokyo." The shrine architecture is primarily in the simple and solemn "Gongen-style" of the Edo Period. The number of annual New Year visitors consistently ranks first in Japan. Its cultural significance lies not only in religious activities but also as a symbol of Japan's modernization and coexistence with nature.

Within this, a nostalgia for "Taisho Romanticism" and "Taisho Democracy" is still preserved among the Japanese people.

As everyone knows, an important node in Japanese history is the "Black Ships" and the "Restoration of Imperial Rule." With the beginning of the abolition of the han system and the establishment of prefectures, Japanese politics entered the modern era of domain cliques. Among the four domains that overthrew the shogunate, especially the Satsuma Domain and Choshu Domain, a large number of modernized talents emerged, beginning to move toward a new era.

The Meiji Restoration is a major historical event that even textbooks in the Celestial Empire emphasize.

After that came the Taisho Era.

The Taisho Era is a romantic era that Japanese people still miss to this day, and the main reason is—Taisho was a moronic idiot.

Often, doing nothing is the best way to govern, and doing nothing at all is a great achievement.

It was also in this era that a massive influx of new Western humanistic thoughts and new artistic aesthetic logic occurred, reacting violently with indigenous Japanese culture, making the entire society of that time appear vibrant and full of life, leading countless people to miss it to this day.

Of course, so-called Taisho Romanticism and Taisho Democracy were actually limited to the upper-middle class of Japanese society at the time; it was just that the tolerant and peaceful social atmosphere of the time was particularly missed by the Japanese.

We certainly know that, let alone Taisho, the Japanese were already invading others during the Meiji period. However, this was directed outward. At least during the Meiji period, and especially during the Taisho period, the degree of internal control and restriction by the Japanese was relatively loose. As for what happened in the next era, there is naturally no need to say more. The Special Higher Police were arresting designated "non-nationals" everywhere, and internal bloody suppression and slaughter of dissidents began. Things like "Eight Corners of the World Under One Roof," "Seven Lives for the Nation," "One Hundred Million Die Together," and the LeMay firebombings only served to make the Taisho years seem all the more beautiful by contrast.

Democracy! For Super Earth!

"I heard from Ashūshū that you were injured?"

Uesugi Muneyuki followed Senior Mai as they walked inside the empty Meiji Jingu, speaking with some concern.

Today was the day they had agreed to perform Dual Cultivation, and Uesugi Muneyuki had arrived at Meiji Jingu as promised to meet Senior Mai.

It had just snowed in Tokyo last night. The winter morning light swept obliquely across the vermilion torii gate. The century-old camphor trees on both sides of the approach had shed their autumn colors, their vigorous branches covered in a thin layer of frost, resembling ink wash brushstrokes. Senior Mai, dressed in a red and white Shrine Maiden outfit, stepped over the un-swept snow, her wooden clogs tapping out a lonely echo on the frozen earth: "Hmm, it's fine, the injury isn't heavy... Let's wash our hands first."

Senior Mai picked up the bamboo bundle at the water purification pavilion, which was covered in ice crystals, and scooped up a ladle of cold water for Uesugi Muneyuki to cleanse his hands; the chill pierced straight to his heart.

"It's good that you're okay." Uesugi Muneyuki nodded. He was very busy at the end of the year, and Senior Mai was also very busy at the end of the year.

It seemed the appointed time had arrived, and there was a slight awkwardness between the two. They both knew what was going to happen next. In the icy air, a secret, unspoken palpitation floated. The wooden votive plaques newly hung under the corridor still carried the scent of pine, and the "Passing" and "Health" written in ink that had not yet dried contrasted with the cold sparrows huddled in the corners.

"It's not heavy, but it's not completely fine!" Senior Mai suddenly turned back, her cheeks slightly puffed out as she raised her left hand and held her right hand like a hand-blade. With a "crack" sound, she chopped toward the base of her index finger and sneered: "The shameless junior who, while his senior is away, secretly gets engaged to the daughter of the Superintendent General just to keep climbing up, is only concerned about his injured senior at a time like this, right?"

"Hiss~" Uesugi Muneyuki only felt a chill in his crotch and said somewhat awkwardly: "Isn't this what you requested? You don't care about this part of the Outer World? We are partners in the Inner World?"

"Tsk! Just because I requested it doesn't mean I like seeing you get engaged to some Face of the Metropolitan Police Department!" Senior Mai raised her voice and said very unhappily: "That level of Watanabe Minami... she's just responsible for sitting in an office; you'd better protect her well."

"I know." Uesugi Muneyuki nodded with a smile: "Isn't that why I still have you?"

"I knew it!" Senior Mai put her right hand on her hip and slightly puffed out her cheeks: "I'm starting to regret it."

In front of the Kagura Hall, the white clothes fluttering under the vermilion torii were even more dazzling than the accumulated snow. When Shirakawa Mai stepped onto the stone steps of the approach, the slender waist cinched by the red hakama belt looked like a boundary line between ice and fire. Above were the rounded curves that the fluffy white clothes could not hide, and below were the clean white tabi and wooden clogs appearing and disappearing in the snow—the cold white of those ankles startled Uesugi Muneyuki, as if he had caught a glimpse of mutton-fat jade carved from the altar before the gods.

Senior Mai was different from everyone else. There was a celestial aura about her, an absolute otherworldly air, as if she were ethereal and distant, not meant to exist in this world—she was indeed an Inner World person by nature, and the Outer World was just her disguise, which is why other actresses in the entertainment industry could not act out her unique fairy-like temperament.

The National Goddess raised her hand to tuck her hair behind her ear, the movement lifting waves of sleeves and revealing the inner side of her wrist, which glowed with the pale blue luster of crushed first snow. Her skin was truly white, so white it seemed permeated by the light of the snow. Standing on the stone steps, the Senior in her red and white Shrine Maiden outfit was like a plum blossom fallen into a snowfield, its fragrance coming from the bitter cold, blooming alone in the severe winter.

"Shall we start now?" Uesugi Muneyuki, in a suit overcoat and three-piece suit, followed behind her, looking around: "It must take a lot of energy to make the entire Meiji Jingu stop operating for a whole day, right?"

"What of it? Every shrine closes for a period of time before the year ends for repairs to facilitate New Year visits."

Senior Mai signaled for him to be quiet. She held Uesugi Muneyuki's hand tightly and took small, quick steps. Their thin shadows stretched out into a long line on the morning after the snow. This feeling of sneaking off to do something bad together made both Uesugi Muneyuki and Senior Mai feel a surge of excitement.

Walking together on the snow-covered stairs, hand in hand, their Spirit Power intermingled. Uesugi Muneyuki could clearly feel that the Spirit Power reaction in Senior Mai was much weaker. Their Seven Wheels and three meridians were active simultaneously, and a joy of water and milk blending rushed into his heart, which also gave Uesugi Muneyuki a somewhat strange feeling.

He understood why Senior Mai could not adapt to both the Outer and Inner Worlds at the same time, because the transition between the two was indeed a bit strange.

"What do you think about Asuka?" Senior Mai suddenly asked.

"What do you mean, what do I think?" Uesugi Muneyuki asked, confused.

"Why haven't you touched her?" Senior Mai said with amusement: "Do you know she especially likes to use your shirts, bed sheets, and pillows?"

"Ah?!" Uesugi Muneyuki was stunned, and only then did he understand what Senior Mai meant: "Uh, didn't you say that if I dared to touch her, you would kill me?"

"That's because Nanami told me to take good care of her sister!" Senior Mai said, laughing in anger: "But I was very busy, so I let you take care of her. I wasn't sure what kind of person you were at the time! If you dared to touch Asuka, then you would be a beast! You'd deserve to die!"

"So thank you, Senior, for not killing me, but I didn't touch Asuka?" Uesugi Muneyuki still looked confused: "How is that wrong too?"

"You really are worse than a beast!" Senior Mai said unreasonably: "Bringing different women home every day but not touching Asuka, you might as well just die!"

"Regarding Asuka, I really haven't thought it through yet. First of all, she is under eighteen, which is the most important thing." Uesugi Muneyuki said seriously: "Secondly, I will give her a chance to choose."

"A chance?"

"Yes, as I said before, I will support her through high school... Now I have the ability to support her through university. This is an obligation I will fulfill. Of course, I know what Asuka is thinking, but considering she is under eighteen and does not have full capacity for civil conduct, I will wait until she is eighteen. If she still wants to stay by my side when she is eighteen, then I will not object." Uesugi Muneyuki said in a low voice: "Before that, I will not touch her."

"Tsk tsk tsk, acting like a gentleman again at a time like this." Senior Mai glanced at him, wanting to mock him a few times, but couldn't find the point. As for the fact that the girl had already vaguely awakened Inner World abilities, she didn't want Uesugi Muneyuki to know so soon, so she took the initiative to change the subject: "Anyway, you are not allowed to drive Asuka away. Besides entrusting her to you, Nanami also entrusted her to me."

"I know."

The two continued forward. Unknowingly, it began to snow again. The new snow quietly covered the paper streamers used to exorcise evil among Senior Mai's black hair, and the white mist exhaled by the red and white Shrine Maiden and the air breathed out by Uesugi Muneyuki had merged into the same color of mist as the snow pellets that had been falling in Meiji Jingu for a hundred years.

The two passed through several halls and finally arrived at the place where the main event would take place today. As the shrine gate closed, Senior Mai turned her back to Uesugi Muneyuki, nervously standing on tiptoe, her shoulders trembling with excitement. Just as she was about to signal Uesugi Muneyuki to do something, Uesugi Muneyuki had already pressed her shoulders and "swished" her body under the Shrine Maiden outfit around. While pressing her back against the pillar, he kissed her directly.

"Mmph!!!"