Unselfish Wish

In Kisuki town (now Unnan), Shimane, Japan  Tachibana Fumiko age 6..... A small, chubby girl is running and crying, her dress dirtied although clearly a quality garment. She is not really paying attention to where she is running, and it's clear that she is very upset. There are children ahead of her and some chasing behind. Seeing a small, rather hidden path, she darts down it, surprisingly agile for someone with extra bulk. She hides behind a tree, holding her breath as the chasers pass by. She waits for them to leave before releasing her breath. She then looks around and realizes that she's on a path she never noticed before. "I wonder where this goes?" she says out loud. There is a sudden sound of a shrine bell. "Hmm? A shrine?" She continues up the path, which is largely overgrown, now hiccupping sobs. Her head begins to droop as she thinks about why she found the path to begin with. "I only want to be friends....I wonder why they always treat me that way. I haven't done anything wrong. Well, I guess I'm a bit fat.." she looks down at herself. "Even so, chasing me like that wasn't necessary." She stopped as a small and extremely neglected shrine appeared before her. Despite its disorder, it was beautiful, with soft filtered sunlight shining down on its mossy roof. She dug in her pocket, searching for a five yen coin. "Aha, found it!" she then tossed the coin, rang the bell and clapped (as expected when properly visiting a shrine). That completed, she fell to her knees, head bowed. Then the tears began. "Kind god, please bless my classmates. Let them find the path that leads to happiness so that they no longer need to hurt others for joy. I know they are good kids underneath. And please, let me pour my effort and love into this place, as my refuge from sadness. I hope that they will one day accept me, but I know that I create my own happiness with my own hands. Oh, my name is Tachibana Fumiko. Thank you." Since she was looking down, she did not see the pair of silver eyes watching her from the dark corner of the shrine. Ugh, and I thought I could continue my solitude here. This human child could be troublesome, he thought. But, she has an interesting expression and what she said could be entertaining. I suppose it's fine, so long as it's only her. He eyed her, curious. Rising, she bowed from the waist, then walked away. To the god in the shadows, she seemed to almost glow as she went down the path. Odd. That almost looks like divine light coming from her. Well, she can do as she likes. If I'm interested I will consider granting her wish. He closed his eyes. I will rest until night and then find this girl. I get the feeling I will need to watch her closely. Fumiko trudged home, coming in as the sun began to set. "I'm home." she called out. "Welcome back, Fumi-chan." Her mother, Aiko, called. "We were beginning to worry-" She stopped short as she looked at Fumiko, whose knees were scraped and dirty. "Oh dear, what happened?" "Oh, I fell down. It's nothing to worry about mother." "If you say so. Well, let's get you cleaned up and disinfected before dinner, okay?" "Or course." They then proceeded upstairs to get changed, bathe, and treat her wounds. Fumiko's father, Fumio, arrived in that time and also marveled at her scraped up knees. "My lovely daughter, you should be more careful." "Yes father, I'm sorry that I ruined my clothes." "It's not that- I worry about you. Be more careful with your body. Nobody is giving you a hard time, right? Papa will lecture them severely if they do-" He paused, seeing the determined yet somehow gentle look in her eyes. "Papa, thank you, but I must never blame others. I will make my own happiness with my own hands." Her chin jutted out, revealing her determination. "So mature for a six-year-old! How did this Papa get so lucky?" He kissed her lightly on the cheek, then quickly turned toward the window. Aiko, noticing his attention change, looked in the same direction. Their eyes met and they nodded. "Hmm, it could be nothing, but I felt as though I was being watched. Oh well, probably my imagination." Rather, he hoped. They had avoided supernatural attention for so long, it was not something he wanted. Outside, the god from the shrine hid himself. "Ah, so they have a bit of divine power then. Otherwise, they would not sense me at all. But what an interesting family. So different from my own. Amaterasu, my sister, I do miss you and Susano'o sometimes. But it really is much more peaceful on my own." He looked back at the house, seeing the family enjoying their meal, all smiling happily. How could a girl that looked so very unhappy be that much at peace? He returned to his shrine, sure that by tomorrow she would have completely forgotten about her promise. Besides, could he really hold a six-year-old to that? The next day.... Fumiko goes to school like normal. The other kids tease her about her weight, her family (rich girl), and her serious but naive nature. There is no change, and she gets teased again when she says, "It must take time for my prayers for your happiness to work." They then call her weird and avoid her the rest of the day. All of this was observed by the god- Tsukiyomi by name- who became increasingly annoyed by the unmannered brats being so rude to someone who clearly cared about them, regardless of how she was treated. Every once in a while, she seems to sense him, looking his way, but never directly. "As I thought, she does carry a divine aura. I wonder how strong it is." He decides it may be best to hide from direct line of sight so that he can avoid potential detection. School ends, and the chasing begins. Now Tsukiyomi is truly angered. "As if they weren't mean enough already, they want to chase her? Especially since she's chubby and it looks like her backpack is really full today... Geez!" He decides to help her out, using his power to misdirect them (similar to a mirror). She continues to run, and he follows. She doesn't stop until she reaches the shrine. First, she properly pays her respects, then sets down her pack, opening it to pull out a package of green tea mochi. "Good, no damage. I hope you like green tea mochi- I picked them because they're my favorite." She then placed them on the shrine. Ah, dammit. Now I have to wait until she leaves! They're my favorite too, you angelic girl! If only you'd brought some sake, but that's too much for a six-year-old. I'd settle for green tea. He floated above her, looking down. Maybe this isn't so bad after all. She continued to pull things from her pack, apparently tools. She set to work tidying the shrine area, cleaning very carefully. After about 2 hours, the sun had started to shift, and she sighed happily as she observed her handiwork with her hands on her hips. "Nothing so satisfying as a job well done! It looks almost as good as new. Now I just need to get Papa to fix the roof." she packed everything back into her bag, then kneeled before the shrine. "Thank you for listening to me, God. I am still working on being accepted. I think I have a long way to go, but I still hope that someday my classmates will reward my efforts. Please bless them with the power to find their happiness. I will create mine with my own hands. I will return again." With that, she set back down the path, once again towards home. "Ah, delicious!" He said as he ate the mochi. And she did include a green tea! In a can, so not as lovely as home-brewed, but tasty all the same. "What a sweet child. So concerned for everyone else. But what about herself? I don't understand how she can be so caring towards people who are being so deliberately cruel." After eating, he once again visited her home, this time staying to watch her sleep. "How can a being so tiny carry so much love?" He looked at her beautiful sleeping face. "And really, how can these i***t classmates not see how much of a gem you are?"