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Another dream?
You are standing in the crowded courtyard of a Hachiman Jinja Shrine. It's snowing but the temple ground has a roaring braziers of fire to keep the parishioners warm and good cheer is everywhere. You look about the crowd trying to find a familiar face but only end up getting unnerved. Every individual in the crowd has no face; there is only smooth flat mask of skin with no holes.
Noppera bou, faceless ghosts.
That is the first thing that pops in your head.
"What are you doing Haruka? It'll be our turn soon, get over here."
Your father calls you over from somewhere in the crowd. Probably at the temple itself if you go by dream logic. Elsewhere the Buddhist temples are ringing their bells 108 times to ward off evil, the long deep reverberation shaking the air despite the long distance away from the Shinto shrine.
You push through the crowd of faceless merrymakers and come upon your family standing before the shrine. The faces of your family are intact which eerily makes them all the more unnatural given that the crowd is faceless. Touma and Sakura cast their coins; it noisily clatters into the offering box while they clasp their hands in prayer.
"Your turn, Haruka." Your mother hands you a five yen coin to throw.
Other than the faceless Noppera bou everywhere creeping you out, this isn't a bad dream. Nothing dangerous has happened yet. You are on your guard for anything suspicious even if it's just a dream. You go up and take your turn to toss your coin with the crowd.
Behind the coin box is strangest sight you've ever seen. A gigantic kotatsu table with thick quilted cloth placed on the landing where worshippers are to pray at the god Hachiman takes up all the space. And on top of that kotatsu, beaming with delight, is Lady Kizaemon of the Kuroda Family. Her tail twitches as she surveys the dream crowd of humans bowing and clapping hands in worship.
Somehow the tension and paranoia that held its grip on you loosens. Honestly, it's a bit like a balloon deflating in a rush. The sight of it so utterly silly.
"This is a dream. My dream. How did you get in here?"
"I am a cat, I go wherever I want and all places are alike to me. Toss thy coin and worship me!"
Kizaemon stretches and curls up on the kotatsu table. Contented purrs rumble out of her. It as though she's inside a warm house and not exposed in the open air on the veranda of the temple. She must be pleased to be the object of worship, as the dream people clap their hands and pray for the New Year trough her.
"Are you going to explain anything?"
"Hmph, no."
