Normalcy: Chapter Three

Religion




"Kagome-sama, may I ask you a question?"

Turning to the young ward, the woman in question nodded, her arms wrapped tightly around the napping fox kit that rested with her head on her shoulder, hand curled at her chin.

The trip down the steps to the shrine had been an adventure alone, with the child and Rin running down, then back up. Once in a while, Miyo would dash around a tree, pointing out anything that caught her attention in silent questions, in which the teen would answer, teaching her which mushroom she could eat, or which plant to put on a cut to heal it faster.

When they had finally made it down to the small shrine, the little girl had already been starting to rub her eyes tiredly.

Rin smiled at the scene, reaching out to pet Miyo's sleek red tail. "How is it that the youkai are able to visit this shrine, but others are harmful to them?"

Kagome hummed, thinking about it. "Well, I really don't know. I guess even youkai have the rite to worship."

"Do you believe that the human and youkai gods are separate then?" asked Rin this time, a tilt to her head in curiosity.

Kagome couldn't help but huff. When Rin looked at her with confusion, she sighed. "In my era…religion is strongly debated. We are lucky, because shinbutsu shūgō gives us the freedoms of believing in both the Kami and the earth. At least now we do. At first, it was 'The kami of our land will be offended if we worship a foreign kami'. That changed because they combined them."

Pausing, she turned her head to the shrine from her seat on the stone bench across from the entrance. "In other countries, there are great wars over religion. The saddest part is that in the end, all the religions relate to each other. They are just told through different eyes."

They sat in silence for a brief moment until finally Kagome shook her head. "So no, I don't believe that the Kami are separate between the youkai and humans."

The brunette smiled again, looking up at the sky where there was a patch of blue sky peeking out. High above, a white-tailed eagle hunted the woods around them, stalking its prey as it glide across the air currents with practiced ease. Rin watched it circle, pursing her lips while she thought. "Once Sesshoumaru-sama talked about the Kami," she started, still watching the bird. "He told me that nobody ruled over us, not even those above, or below."

'We are left to create our own paths in life, Rin. There are no Gods to decide for us. It is by our own will what we do. Be it wasting our time worshiping an absent being or by doing something useful to survive.'

She shook her head. "And yet he told me to never put down someone else's beliefs."

Raising a brow, Kagome rolled the words around her head. "That's…a very Sesshoumaru thing to say." She chuckled, "But he does have a point. It is for us to decide what we want. If someone wants to pray, then it is in their right to do so."

Rin nodded in understanding. "So it is the different telling in youkai and humans beliefs that the youkai are repelled by the human shrines. If both embraced that thought like you do, they could walk amongst the priests unharmed, because there would be no clashes of the faith?"

"That's a thought, yeah. I know for a fact that some demons aren't harmed by the barriers of a shrine. Demons like Sesshoumaru that don't pick sides. It is what it is with them. Yes, the holy powers do affect them to some point, but it doesn't destroy them." Looking down at the tiny child, she had another thought. "Shippo is unharmed by most holy powers as well. That kind of proves that innocence and ignorance to that so called rift between the races protects some from harm."

A cold breeze curled around the girls, Miyo snuggling closer into Kagome's warmth. Rin crossed her arms and rubbed her shoulders for warmth. "What a cold wind!"

The eagle had since flown away, and the sky had darkened considerably. Cobalt eyes stared suspiciously at the clouds, "I think it's time we went back, before those clouds open up and dump snow on our heads."

With that, the trio climbed the stairs, heading back to the warmth of the house.

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