Story:

The living quarters stood at the end of a covered walkway and two pairs of sandals sat neatly beside the sliding door.

Peach slid it open.

Ai and Mai looked up at the same moment. "Aunty Shiro!"

"I can't stay," Peach said, crouching as they crossed the room. "I have school tomorrow, and a home I have to explain myself to."

Their faces fell. It was a small change, but it hurt more than she had expected.

"I'll come every day after school," she said into Mai's hair. "Every single one. You'll be sick of me."

"Never," Ai muttered.

"We'll tell you everything we learn," Mai added.

"Even the boring parts."

"Especially the boring parts. And you two will keep adapting to this place, at your own pace. Nobody is timing you."

A sharp cough came from the doorway.

Shiki stood with her arms folded and her chin lifted. Her posture was crisp, though a pink tinge had crept across her ears.

"I am their teacher," she announced. "Within a few years, they will be the finest battle miko this shrine has produced."

"Within a few years," Ai repeated, grinning. "She said that last week too, only it was a few months."

"Quiet, Ai."

Peach laughed and wiped her eye with a knuckle.

"Do you have mobile phones yet?"

The twins looked at each other.

"Mobile…?" Mai tried.

"Phone?" Ai said, with the care of someone handling an unfamiliar object. "Like the thing Shiki-san keeps tapping?"

"That's the one." Peach smiled. "This weekend, we're going shopping. Phones, clothes, shoes, whatever you need to live in my world. I'll pay."

Both girls went still. Then they squealed together and grabbed her hands.

From the corridor, two heads leaned in. Violet's neck was stretched at a suspiciously casual angle, and Butterfly stood directly beneath her with the same expression.

Peach looked at them.

She sighed, and the sigh broke into laughter halfway out.

"Fine. You're both coming too."