>You are Byakuren Hijiri, 18 years old, resident of the city of Mayoiga, caretaker (owner) of Rin Kaenbyou, resident of the Moonside apartments, and third year student of Mayoiga High. A few days ago, you were the most popular girl in school, one of the most well-known and liked girls around town. And then you touched a strange doll, and saw a world not your own. That was the day that everything changed, and you became Magical Lotus, the Hero of the Heart.
>At the start of the day, you had still been plagued by your battle with the yellow-skinned creature called a youma, and the fear that you had killed a living creature, and the guilt. Today those fears and guilts were allayed during your visit to the shrine of the Metal Tiger on the west side of town. As well as your fear that you might be alone in your fight. While at the shrine, you and part-timer Lily White were paid a visit by the Metal Tiger himself, who gave you both what insight He could into the enemy of the world, and the battle you now face, along with warnings that the head miko of His shrine, Satori Komeji, is not to be trusted, and that the strange doll you met after your fight with the youkai is your ally. Or at least, is not your enemy.
>Shortly after this meeting, you learned of one of your newfound powers: the ability to 'meld' your heart with that of another, and you joined your heart to Lily White's, in an attempt to remove an interdiction in her mind, keeping her from speaking the truth about a matter. This intimate contact left you with some lingering feelings of the light-hearted joy that you felt in Lilly's heart, and she reported having some influence from your heart, as well. Further consequences, if any, have not revealed themselves. The ring you acquired from the evil doll, and purified during your inner battle, produced another ring, one meant for Lily White, who accepted the duty of defending the earth very easily, and she became
the first member of your harem the Hero of Spring.
>While sharing lunch with Lily and
a member of her own harem another miko at the shrine, you met a young woman named Asuka Nagashima, who prefers to be known as Eagle. She is a member of the Manari, a four-member gang of no-goodnicks that had got themselves in trouble with the law, and was serving community service at the shrine. Seeing an opportunity, you have commissioned her into helping you locate a missing pendant, belonging to one Chen Yakumo, in exchange for a few strands of your hair, a picture of the both of you together, and a yet-to-be determined amount of money. Payment remains outstanding at this point.
>During your negotiations, the Eagle pointed out a glow in your pocket. Moments later, the gold ring that had been the youma you thought you had murdered transmogrified into a true youkai, free of the taint of the darkness and free to live the life she chose. According to her, it was the connection between your heart and Lily's that triggered this emergence. How this can be, you're not sure. She regards you and Lily both as her mothers, while is a source of some embarrassment, but not a bad kind.
>After you and Eagle entertained the shrine maidens of the Metal Tiger shrine with a song, and having a somewhat unpleasant exchange with a higher ranked, rather uptight, miko named Kiku, you and Eagle departed the shrine to find Chie's pendant, while Lily brought the newborn youkai, whom you have named Marigold, to the Center for the Recently Ascended, to help her adjust to her new existence. Despite numerous warnings about the Eagle being nothing but trouble, you've found her to be fairly good company, and have reason to believe she's not entirely happy with her life. Criminal though she may be, you suspect she has her reasons.
>Your investigation has taken you first to a little store called Kourin-dou, which is only slightly less organized than Nitori's shed. That is to say, it's a mess and a half. Your homeroom and history teacher, Keine Kamishirasawa, is present as well. The owner, Rinnosuke Morichika, appears to be boiling something sweet in the back room. The Eagle has gone to lunch. The time is now 5:56 PM.
>"I do."
>Try to get an idea what that tarped object is, without touching it.
>You make your way closer to the large tarp, picking your way across the detritus on the floor without stepping on things. The object has a circular base made of some sort of stone, a dark grey, with a circumference of about three and a half feet. It stands approximately seven feet tall. You can't make out any sort of plaque or inscription on the visible parts of the base. It has a distinctly 'statue' feel about it, but if it is, you're not quite sure what it's of, beyond the impression that it is most likely a humanoid figure of some sort. A glance around the store reveals no obvious way an object this large could have gotten inside the place, let alone behind the counter. But then, there's a fair amount of the place obscured behind copious amounts of merchandise.
>The boiling sound get even louder, and you hear Rinnosuke mutter something else out loud before a loud POP, accompanied by the sound of glass shattering, rings out through the place. The sickly sweet smell grows stronger, and a puff of white smoke billows out from the back room. Rinnosuke coughs, sounding more surprised than anything. "That's not gone well. *kaff kaff*"
