A Prayer Woven in Summer's Afterglow

There's a ritual called chinowa kuguri, where you pass through a large ring woven from plants. It's performed during the summer purification ceremony to cleanse away impurities and wish for good health. In a sense, it's a ceremony of crossing a boundary—the ring—to be reborn as a pure, new person.

I was given a sunflower wreath by a miko from a certain village. I hesitated a moment before putting it on, and the faint scent of summer tickled my nose. It sparked a bit of nostalgia, but nothing more. It was made with wishes for health and safety, yet I couldn't feel any special power from it.

That's okay, I told myself. The important part isn't a magical effect, but the feelings behind it and the act itself. I've received the miko's feelings, and that's all the meaning it needs. Yes, that should be all...

And yet, when I placed the wreath on the floor, milk and fairies appeared.