Girls' Wishing Tree

"Ah... Grandpa..." Gao Mu quickly stood up and patted the hem of his miko's uniform: "I discovered this beautiful shrine yesterday and accidentally fell asleep here."

"Don't do this next time. It's very cold now, and there's heavy dew here at night. You look like a high school student, right? Go to class quickly. There's nothing you can't talk about with your family, and hiding out overnight won't solve any problems." The old man looked at Gao Mu with some concern.

"Uh..." Gao Mu didn't expect that the old man would mistake her for a JK who had run away from home.

If I explain now without causing any trouble, it would seem that I am being stubborn.

All she could utter was, "I... really like this shrine."

The old priest had not expected the girl to say that, and his expression softened. "If you like, you can come and play anytime, but don't sleep under the tree anymore."

"Well, okay, thank you, Grandpa. Are you a staff member here?" Gao Mu decided to get along with the old man, so she asked in a cute way, even though she knew the answer. She would have to appear at the shrine many times in the future, and getting along with the old man would save her from a lot of trouble.

Looking at the girl in front of him who looked like a cherry blossom fairy, slightly tilting her head and asking in a childish voice if he was a staff member, the old man couldn't help but think of what his granddaughter looked like when she was a child.

No, my granddaughter wasn’t this cute when she was a child.

He had seen many girls wearing shrine maiden costumes in his life. The students in the shrine maiden department of the girls' school had changed one after another, but there was an indescribable sense of incongruity when they wore shrine maiden costumes. It was obvious at a glance that they were "playing" the role of a shrine maiden.

And the girl in front of him, wearing a fitting shrine maiden costume, looked really... perfect.

It was as if she should be the shrine maiden of this shrine.

"Staff... that's a strange term. I'm a priest of this shrine."

"Then can I be a shrine maiden here?" Gao Mu bowed to the old man: "I really like this shrine!"

"Okay, I'm old now and can't come here often." The old man agreed easily without knowing why. "It's very simple. I just sweep the fallen leaves and other things to the roadside and wipe the money box and the shrine. If anyone comes to worship, I can chat with them and offer some advice if they have any misfortunes."

"Well, sure, I can come every one or two days." Gao Mu walked a few steps in the shrine's courtyard, like a kitten patrolling its territory, and finally put his hand on the cherry tree: "Then I will be the shrine maiden of this shrine!"

The old priest was amused. "Okay, you are the miko here. Can you tell me your name?"

"My name is... Takagi... Sakura." Gao Mu made up a name at random.

I am a tree, and my name in my previous life was Gao Mu, so there is no problem with using the surname Gao Mu. As a cherry tree, there is even less problem with being called Ying.

The old priest was stunned for a moment. "Sakura" was a very common female name in Japan, but this "common" only applied to people from the Showa era. Among his former classmates, there were quite a few named "Sakura" or "Sakurako," but the number of young women using this name was indeed decreasing.

"Ms. Gao Mu, these two keys are for you." The old priest handed the two keys hanging on his waist to Gao Mu: "The smaller one is the key to the coin box, and the larger one is the key to the shrine warehouse. Except for these two places, the other places in the shrine are not locked. You can take the money in the coin box as a reward, and the shrine warehouse contains the items needed for the ceremony."

"Ah, that won't do. I just want to come here and be a witch!" Gao Mu didn't expect the old man to give him the key directly, so he declined.

"It's okay, you are the first resident shrine maiden in this shrine in forty years." Seeing that Gao Mu didn't take it, the old priest put the key directly in her hand and turned to walk out of the torii.

Gao Mu found that his figure was not as straight as before, and his legs were shaking violently.

The physical functions of the elderly will indeed decline in winter. This old priest was born shortly after World War II and is now in his seventies. It is normal for him to need a young person to help him manage the shrine.

Gao Mu accepted the key. Since he already had a human form, it would be no problem for him to help take care of the shrine.

Chapter 12: Dryad, Live and Music Girl: 12. An Audience Member's Performance

No electronics allowed outside the shrine.

Gao Mu felt like he was simply "serving jail time".

After the freshness of regaining her body wore off, she felt no different from when she was a tree - there was not even a book in the shrine, and apart from counting the more than 10,000 yen she took out from the cash box, she could only stand under the tree and play the violin.

She was even so bored that she tried to climb up her own tree branch, but she had short arms and legs and no ladder, so she ended up failing.

After playing in the shrine for half a day, Gao Mu tried to return to the cherry tree. Fortunately, this was not a difficult task.

As long as she stretched out her hand towards the cherry tree and silently said "return" in her heart, her body would dissipate in a short time, and her consciousness would return to the cherry tree. Her clothes and belongings would be stored in a small space, and she could retrieve them by coming out of the tree again.

Gao Mu returned to the tree and just happened to hear the piano playing by Miyazono Kaoru.

She met Kaoru Miyazono's eyes, and Kaoru Miyazono saw her appearance for the first time.

The people who had studied piano with her before were shrouded in mystery and could not be seen clearly at all. This was the first time that she had seen the shadow of a student.

In Miyazono Kaoru's eyes, the shrine maiden holding the violin had a somewhat timid expression, and her whole body was as pink as a porcelain doll. She had big eyes with a slightly evasive look, and her long eyelashes trembled as her pupils moved. Although she was a little hunched, the immature curves of her body still supported the fabric on the chest of the shrine maiden's costume. Her legs were together, as if she was hesitating which direction to point her toes.

"Oh, so I'm teaching such a lovely girl? Perhaps only such a lovely girl can gain the favor of the gods?"

Gao Mu felt a little uncomfortable when he heard what Gong Yuanxun said.

If I hadn't coveted those few points from Mibori...

If I could finish the character creation faster...

But she would not say this to Miyazono Kaoru. She just put the violin on her shoulder and got into a playing position: "Thank you for teaching me to play."

"I want to thank the God for giving me the opportunity to relieve my loneliness and practice my musical skills in my hospital bed," said Kaoru Miyazono seriously. "You should be able to tell the God that my illness has improved a lot, right? The doctor said all my physical indicators are normal, but I only wake up for a short time every day."

"Are you... okay?" Gao Mu said with a guilty conscience.

"I can only wake up every day to eat a little, take care of my hygiene, and then go back to sleep. The doctor said that my nervous system has not fully recovered, and it is a self-protective sleepiness. I was told to go home and recuperate slowly after being discharged from the hospital." Speaking of this, Miyazono Kaoru blinked: "But, I am already very happy to be alive. Kousei came to see me yesterday, and I told him that the God allowed me to practice the piano while I sleep, and when I am better, I can play with him. Ah... Actually, I am asleep now, and I accidentally said a little too much, please forgive me."

"Please teach me a little more about the violin. There are a few things I don't understand yesterday. Please help me correct them." Gao Mu asked Xun for advice on violin playing techniques.

"You're making rapid progress." Xun said seriously.

At first she didn't think Gao Mu had a high musical talent, but later she found that Gao Mu's playing proficiency was increasing at an abnormally fast rate. Even if she deliberately arranged more content, Gao Mu could master it more proficiently.

She really didn't expect that Gao Mu would play the piano for 20 hours every day.

"Thank you for the compliment. I still need your guidance."

Life after gaining a human form was not much different from before. Every morning, Gao Mu would sweep the courtyard with a broom, dusting the money box and the shrine. If he got tired of practicing the piano, he would come out from under the cherry tree to bask in the sun.

A few days later, Gao Mu happened to meet an acquaintance while basking in the sun.

It's Aya Maruyama.

She looked much better than before and put two thousand yen into the prize box as soon as she came.

Maruyama Aya stood in front of the shrine: "Everyone in the band can now play the songs prepared by the agency. Although the bass can only play the root notes and the guitar solo part needs to be simplified, the performance is still good. God, if PasPale keeps up like this, he will be resurrected soon!"

When Gao Mu heard what Maruyama Aya said, he didn't quite agree with it.

For a band that has already been exposed in a lip-syncing scandal, it will be difficult to restore the audience's impression even if it undergoes some forced training.

The sooner you give up this band, the sooner you can extract the points that Maruyama Aya can provide.

Gao Mu spoke to Maruyama Aya through the dialog box: "Do you know what sunk costs are? Little girl, sometimes giving up is for better progress."

Maruyama Aya was a very smart girl. After a little thought, she understood what Gao Mu meant.

To Gao Mu's surprise, she didn't seriously consider his opinion. Instead, she shook her head and said firmly, "My Lord God, I will not give up on PasPale. Qiansheng and the others are still working hard. I have no reason to give up!"

Alas, he is still a stubborn person who won’t turn back until he hits the wall.

Gao Mu sighed softly, stood up and walked to Maruyama Cai: "Do you need help?"

"Wow! What a cute little shrine maiden!" Maruyama Aya then noticed Gao Mu who had been sitting on the steps behind the shrine.

"You seem to be in some distress. If you feel unwell, I can talk to you." Gao Mu extended his hand towards Maruyama Aya.

"No, every day now is better than the day before. I just came here to thank God. Our PasPale will definitely become a successful idol band!"

"It's a good thing to have confidence in what you believe in." Gao Mu reminded him from the side: "But an idol like you can be very popular even without being in an idol band, right?"

"Since we lip-synced in front of tens of thousands of spectators, we have an obligation to let them see us stand up after the fall. If we can't do that, it's like Eve said, it's not in line with the spirit of a samurai." Maruyama Aya showed no signs of wavering, and directly told the shrine maiden, whom she didn't know, about PasPale's failure.

"...I wish you all the best." Faced with Maruyama Aya who was so stubborn, Gao Mu had no way to persuade her anymore.

"Let me sing a song for you?" Maruyama Cai lowered her head and begged Gao Mu: "I want the gods to see that I can sing well!"

"Uh……"

Before Gao Mu could give a meaningful answer, Maruyama Aya started singing to herself.

There was no accompaniment, no microphone, and Gao Mu was the only one in the audience.

But this situation just happens to show off the timbre of Maruyama Aya's voice.

Her voice is lively and contagious, and her body movements are not very big, but when combined with her singing, it gives people the feeling that she is the protagonist wherever she sings.

To put it a little more exaggeratedly, the word "idol" seems to be born for her.

In the first few lines, Maruyama Aya sang a little stiffly, but after the chorus, she completely let go and accompanied her singing with energetic dance steps.

Gao Mu was a little confused as to why Maruyama Aya suddenly sang to her, but when the singing stopped and Maruyama Aya posed for a deep breath, she still acknowledged this a cappella song with applause.

Chapter 13: Dryad, Live and Music Girl: 13, Unexpected Option

After singing a song, Maruyama Aya realized that her behavior was a bit rude.

She quickly apologized to Gao Mu: "I'm sorry, I was just communicating with the Lord God and was a little emotional for a while."

"It doesn't matter." Gao Mu gave Maruyama Aya a thumbs up: "Your song is very nice."

"Excuse me, are you the shrine maiden of this shrine?" Maruyama Aya and Gao Mu were less than one meter apart. The more she looked at the girl in the shrine maiden's costume in front of her, the more she thought she was cute.

“I come to help every day.”

"Can we add each other on Line?" Maruyama Aya took out her cell phone.

Gao Mu wanted to add it, but she couldn't run out to buy a mobile phone, so she had to find an excuse: "I want to separate my life as a shrine maiden from my life outside of it, so I don't use electronic products when I'm a shrine maiden. Please forgive me."

"Oh? Is that so? What a pity." Maruyama Aya took a step forward: "Can I hug you?"

"Yeah." Gao Mu did not refuse.

Maruyama Cai carefully hugged Gao Mu into her arms and patted her on the back: "I will invite you to watch the next performance."

Gao Mu was in a "downtime" state at this time - in her two lives, this was the first time she hugged a young girl.

So soft and tender, with a light fragrance.

"Ah...well...let's talk about it later!" Gao Mu, who had finally regained consciousness, took two steps back with a red face.

Maruyama Cai just thought Gao Mu was shy and smiled at her: "What's your name? I will come to see you next time."

"...Takagi Sakura." Gao Mu threw out the name he used to deal with the old priest.

"Then I will call you Sakura, see you later!" Maruyama Aya waved and turned away without waiting for Gao Mu to speak.

"Xiaoying..." Gao Mu repeated the name silently, feeling that it was a little too feminine, but when she lowered her head, she saw a slightly larger little rabbit.

That's fine.

Gao Mu was still feeling melancholy over the loss of 18 meters and 18 centimeters when the "culprit" walked in.

However, Oyama Minari did not come in alone. Behind her, there was a lolita in sportswear. The girl she brought was only about 1.4 meters tall, with a tuft of unruly alopecia on the top of her long hair, and her face was full of a look of despair.

I guess the person that Minari dragged to the shrine must be her brother.

As a victim of the potion, he can increase his height to the system limit of 155, but Minori's brother has really become a "loli" in the traditional sense.

"Wow! There are not only aliens here, but also cute shrine maidens!" Meiboli let go of her brother's hand and ran towards Gao Mu.

Although she didn't know why the cute miko looked so unhappy, Minori still smiled at her: "Hehe, can you talk to my...sister for a few minutes? She doesn't like going out!"

Gao Mu immediately realized that his chance for revenge had come.

She glanced at Minori's brother and found that a dialog box had appeared next to her, so she entered what she thought was a "secret" into the dialog box.

Your transformation into a girl was not an accident, but your sister Oyama Miharu drugged you.

“Hmm?” After being reminded, Meibori’s brother did not show the reaction that Lingmengmeng夢首★発Gao Mu expected, but instead looked for the source of the sound like a frightened animal.

"Hey, did you hear the alien talking too?" Meibori noticed her brother's reaction and patted her shoulder.

"I know, it's okay." Meibori's brother suddenly spoke.

Gao Mu won’t be able to deal with it this time.

Are all of you in the family divine?

The younger sister gave her brother a drug that could turn him into a loli. The brother drank the drug and found out it was the younger sister who did it. Wouldn’t he be angry with her?

She decided to add fuel to the fire for the two men.

Gao Mu walked up to Meibori's brother and said, "Hello, I'm the shrine maiden of this shrine. I know some fortune-telling skills, and I see your fortune has been fluctuating a bit these past few days. Do you need me to take a closer look?"

Mibori patted her brother again and said, "Let the miko-san take a look at this shrine. It's very effective."

Gao Mu pretended to think: "I can see that this lady's surname is Xushan, but the name is a little... hard to understand."

Meiboli pushed her brother away from Gao Mu and pointed at herself: "What's my name?"

"You should be a family. Your name is Oyama Miharu." Gao Mu frowned: "But I can't tell which one of you is the older sister."

"I'm the older sister." A glint flashed in Minari's eyes, and she pulled Mahiro back: "She is my sister, Oyama Mahiro. Please help her."

Zhenxun was a little nervous when he was pulled in front of Gao Mu, and his eyes were almost fixed on the hem of Gao Mu's shrine maiden costume.