>"A sensible idea. I am in no hurry to cause an accident, certainly. I suppose I shall give the matter some more thought."
>Onward to the shrine!
>The sky darkens completely as you make your way towards the north shrine, as the sun, already hidden beneath the scuddy sky, sinks below the western horizon. The heavily residential zone in this part of town is densely populated by tall trees, almost more of the latter than there is the former. Here and there, you can see the white and red ceremonial clothing of a miko of Suika's shrine about town. You see them all over town as it is, but the population of them is denser closer to their home base, as one might expect.
>The Tortoise shrine does not require walking up a long flight of stairs, as the Tiger shrine does, so Reisen is able to drive you and Rin all the way up the sloping hill leading to the shrine. The shrine's parking lot is filled with more cars than you would have thought for after dark, and is occupied by a trio of teenagers watching a red and white-clad miko with auburn hair a reptilian tail show off her skills on a skateboard.
>A small pond stands in front of the grounds of the shrine itself, a trio of bridges connecting the grass on this side to the grounds on the other. Older-style dark brown wood planks and metal handrails and supports, painted a dark cherry red, comprise the bridge construction. Oil lamps line the bridge, well illuminating the sacred grounds. A pair of shrine maidens are walking down the left-hand bridge lighting the lamps.
>The grounds themselves are lively as well, fully a dozen children running around a rather large playground, easily twice as big as the one at the Tiger shrine, overseen by a middle aged couple and a tall shrine maiden. A pair of fairies, and a shorter shrine maiden with long orange hair and a pair of horns, seem to have joined the youngsters in their game. The fairies, you don't recognize, but the oni in miko's clothes can only be Miko Miko Suika herself. The grounds themselves are composed of a grassy field, as opposed to the stone of the other Shrines, with a pair of small trickling streams of water framing a cobblestone path leading to the shrine itself.
