#I just learned that apparently canon!Aira thinks of his family as “so normal it's boring” but I'm attached now

[enstarsurbanfantasy]

Mikagura - POV Hiiro

[Mikagura: a ritual dance performed at the imperial court and various important Shinto shrines. It consists of welcoming, entertaining and greeting the deities with humorous or poetic syllabic songs.]

Hiiro hears the singing before he sees the source.

He's strolling through one of the side gardens, thinking over one of his homework questions, when he's alerted to the distant sound of instruments. Music isn't uncommon in Ensemble Square, but it's mostly the music that the idol units are making. The music now vaguely resembles Akatsuki's songs, but it's slower and doesn't have modern instruments.

Hiiro turns a corner, curious about what's going on.

Water floats around Aira, ribbons swirling around his arms and legs as he steps back and forth with a string of bells in hand. He's dancing to the music, chanting with his eyes closed and moving as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Hiiro can see the kamuy dancing with him, water, storm, and war caressing his cheek like a mother to her child.

The music ends. With a sweep of his hand, the water surrounding Aira comes together in one long stream, and it funnels into the water bottle by the door. The spirits settle around Aira's shoulders like a winter cloak. Finished, Aira bows (to the kamuy?), opens his eyes and--

He is surprised, but the realization is... slow. His unitmate is settled, possibly in that floaty feeling Hiiro gets after finishing prayers, when his mind is more in the spritual realm than the human one. There is also something... other. Something playful and tricky and entirely inhuman.

Hiiro's throat is bone dry, and he swallows, opening his mouth to say... something.

But nothing comes out, because Aira places a finger to his mouth in a gesture for quiet. In fact, he seems to be physically unable to say anything. Aira gives a high pitched laugh, beams at him uncharacteristically, and blinks.

Aira shakes his head, and he's suddenly back to his usual countenance.

"Sorry," he says. "Ame-no-Uzume is a bit of a trickster."

"Ame... no Uzume?"

"You don't know a lot about Shinto gods, do you?" Aira remarks drily.

"Nope!" He'd like to learn more, if possible. The part of him that was trained to protect Nii-san rises, seeing all the possibilities of danger from such casual possession.

Aira takes a breath, exhales, and recites a story like he's heard it a thousand times before. "The sun goddess, Amaterasu, once quarreled with her brother, Susanoo, the god of sea and storms. After coming together to produce children, Susanoo vandalized her rice fields, flayed a horse and threw it at her loom, and brutally killed one of her maidservants. Amaterasu, furious, forfeited her divinity and retreated to a cave. As a result, the world was plunged into eternal night.

"The other gods came together to confer on the situation. In a bid to draw her out, Ame no Uzume placed a mirror by the cave's entrance, leapt upon an upturned tub, and proceeded to dance while tearing off her clothes. The other gods, stunned, started to laugh.

"Amaterasu heard the laughter and wondered how they could be happy in a world of eternal night. She looked out, and upon seeing her beautiful face in the mirror, went to take a closer look. As Amaterasu left the cave, the other gods threw a sacred rope across the cave entrance, preventing her from returning. Amaterasu agreed to rejoin the divine, and light was restored to the world.

And thus Ame no Uzume became known as the Heavenly Alarming Female."

Aira smiles, expression showing that he's still bit out of it. "Ame no Uzume is the goddess of revelry and the arts. I was praying for a good result in the MDM." he considers, and continues, "A sacred dance opens up your heart and mind to outside forces. Usually the gods have better things to do than to possess a random human, but Ame no Uzume likes to have a little fun."

"So it's like a send-off ritual," Hiiro murmurs.

Aira shrugs. "I... guess? I don't know much about your traditions."

Hiiro glances at Aira, just in time to see him sway concerningly. Hiiro slings an arm over Aira's shoulder to steady him, and Aira rests his head on his shoulder. "How long have you been praying?"

" 's the shorter ritual.. six hours?" Aira slurs.

Hiiro presses his lips together and declares, "I'm going to carry you back to the dorm."

Aira, already half asleep, doesn't do more than hum an assent.