Week 9 Story - The Trials of Tachibana Chiho

 There is something about the woman that glows.

A golden glitter to her skin (makeup perhaps), and an almost unnatural sheen to her banged bob as her hair reflects light like the black lacquer of a jewelry box. But it's her eyes that ultimately betray her inhumanity as she lowers her sunglasses at the man taking a seat across from her. The woman's irises are gold with no pupil and they shine with an inner light.

"Brother." Amaterasu's tone is cool, clipped, and laced with irritation.

"Sister." Somehow Susanoo manages to make the word smear -- like unwanted fat left to cool too long. This, perhaps, is another sign of how their relationship has congealed thick, never quite clotting the old wounds they'd inflicted on each other through millennia. His eyes in contrast to Amaterasu are a deep blue, almost black and they swirl like the whirlpools after an earthquake.

Outside the window the humans scuttle through Shibuya crossing, and the crowd tangles before thinning as the light changes. They look like ants, and the siblings pay them as little attention as they would bugs. Faced with each other -- they forget themselves a moment. What is time to ancient gods? So nearly an hour passes in silence and lack of movement until their waitress shyly asks them for their order. L'OCCITANE Cafe is known for its view as well as its confections, and Amaterasu orders a set of cakes while Susanoo settles for green tea, cooled and on ice.

"I assume you have a good reason for calling me here." The goddess of the sun spoons then takes a bite of the creme brulee, not wasting time with pretenses.

"So frigid, sister. Shouldn't we catch up first? I haven't seen you in two centuries." The searing glare Amaterasu fires his way makes Susanoo burst into laughter. The sound ripples through the cafe. Several drinks spill over as the god of the sea forgets himself in his mirth. "Always straight to business! I love that about you."

Susanoo falls quiet as he finishes his tea. Amaterasu takes another bite of cake.

"I was thinking." Susanoo chews on the ice. "It's been a while since we let a mortal warm the hilt of our sword."

"MY sword, dear brother."

"Of course, of course. Everything under the sun is yours, isn't it?" Susanoo's tone is bitter as the matcha clumping on his tongue. "But don't you think we should challenge that diluted bloodline of yours?"

Amaterasu's face is calm. There are no swells of emotion to give her thoughts away. However the goddess is old, and with age comes boredom. Her brother has caught her interest, so she replies, "I have many ancestors."

"There's the one."

"The one?"

"The girl who looks like you."

Amaterasu knows to whom Susanoo refers to. "Chiho is only fifteen."

"Yamato was younger."

"So we give her the sword." Amaterasu dabs her mouth with a paper napkin. The plate in front of her is empty. Not even a single crumb left. "Then what?"

"We test our blood. It's been quite some time, hasn't it? Since we've had a human prove they're worthy of keeping it on land instead of the heavens?"

It's another hour, another plate of cakes and a glass of cold tea until Amaterasu sighs, "Before I agree -- let's define the challenges."

A young girl crosses the street in her uniform that very moment, as if preordained. Both gods look down at Chiho and decide her fate. 

Schoolgirl with Sword
Source: Tomoko Hoshi (twitter)

Author's Note:

After reading the Japanese Mythology stories, especially the ones about Yamato Takeru, I felt that the gods clearly were dragging the humans into their games. Despite giving the Sacred Sword to his sister, Amaterasu, as a peace offering -- he sought to take it from Yamato Takeru who was a human from Amaterasu's bloodline. Through the manipulations of Susanoo and the ocean god's daughter, as well as Yamato's own personality flaws, he faced many challenging trials and even lost his wife to the sea. I felt that Susanoo's relationship with the Sacred Sword of Japan was personal, and his relationship with his sister was volatile. So this story is a modern take of another one of their games involving the sword and another human from Amaterasu's bloodline -- the young woman named Chiho. It hints at her having to mirror the trials Yamato Takeru had to undertake in current day Japan.

Story: Japanese Mythology
Author: E. W. Champney and F. Champney