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It was minutes before 11pm.
Soon the gates would open, and everyone woke up from their naps to take a bath to clean their bodies, and change into new underwear…and Kou stared at the robes enshrined in front of her.

*…I never thought during my last New Year’s shrine visit that I would end up wearing this the next time.*

The strange realization that she was no longer opposed to wearing feminine clothes settled in as she began putting those clothes on…trying to follow the example she had been shown earlier that day.
It all started with wearing tabis, as the older shrine maidens explained that the cold always entered through the feet, so having proper socks to keep them warm was important.
That was followed with a layer of HeatTech of an inconspicuous color, followed by a thin robe, after which she had to put on another robe with red stripes on the cuffs, and which reached down to her ankles, fastened with a belt.
After all that, it was finally time to wear the scarlet skirt, which would come to mind first whenever someone mentioned a shrine maiden, and reached just under one’s chest. That skirt had a rather tight fit, so it naturally made the wearer stand up straight, but Kou would have to bear with that.

“Kou, let me do your hair.”
“Ah, sure, thank you.”

Hijiri was already done putting on her outfit, so she went to help comb Kou’s white hair, tying it behind her head.

“And Miyuki?”
“She was hard at work with Hinagiku during the day, so they’re probably fast asleep by now. Even though they said they wanted to wake up and do their own shrine visit…”

Hijiri believed they would stay asleep, and as they spoke about that, Kou’s hair was ready.

“Okay, time to get Kasumi’s hair done now!”
“Sure, thank you!”

There was a slight pattering sound as Hijiri trotted over to Kasumi, who was struggling with keeping her hair in order.
Meanwhile Kou thanked her and opened an app on her NLD that had been in stand-by.
A moment later Rouge popped into existence, also wearing a proper shrine maiden outfit.

*”Good morning, sister!”*
“Good morning, Rouge. Do you think you’ll be up to it?”
*”Definitely, leave it to me! I’ll explain everything perfectly!”*

She clasped her hands, looking fully motivated. She had also been asked to help by the shrine, and would be sitting next to Kou in the Amulet Office, guiding the visitors as well.
It was hard not to become entranced by her lovely smile, but Kou also had work to do, so she lightly clapped her own cheeks and finished putting on her sandals.
Now they were all ready for their next battle…the shrine at midnight on New Year’s Eve.

…And so they headed to the Amulet Office.

“Aww…Mitsuki looks so beautiful and divine as a shrine maiden…”
“Ahah…ahahah…you’re exaggerating, prez…”

As Kasumi stared at Kou mesmerized, Kou could only laugh nervously while trying to brush her aside.

“Oh? You didn’t know? In the past, albinos were believed to be messengers from the gods, and venerated as such. She’s not exaggerating at all.”
“Not Kikyo too…”
“Heheh, sorry about that. But I think everyone feels the same way, right?”

Saying that, Kikyo looked around for confirmation, and the dozen or so shrine maidens there (with the exception of Kou) all nodded profusely, leaving Kou speechless.

“Even Hijiri…”
“Ahahah, but it’s true. She’s just too cute, right Subaru?”
“I plead no contest.”

Subaru had just finished his shift at the parking lot, and was there with a paper cup of warm sweet half sake.
Hijiri teasingly turned the conversation his way, and he tried to act distracted, looking away in a random direction. He did not want to get involved with that.
But…

“She’s positively adorable!”
“Her father must be the luckiest man alive…”
“Could I please hug you later, just once, please..!”

The other helpers (some of which were also older girls) did not hesitate to voice their opinion, also nodding like the shrine maidens…and Kou could no longer handle having so much attention on herself, pushing her to attempt hiding behind Hijiri.
…Everyone there also found that act to be cute, and only Kou remained oblivious to that fact.

It took a while…but Kou finally gave up and creeped out from Hijiri’s back, asking Kikyo about something she heard.

“Is it true that wor- helper maidens in the past did not get to wear things like chihayas?”

She looked at the thin outer robe that reached her ankles, which was called chihaya, as she asked that question.
Those were considered expensive and delicate pieces of clothing, traditionally only worn by shrine maidens during Shinto dances, but all of those present had them now. The only difference was that the novices and part time maidens wore plain white ones, while the “full-time” shrine maidens wore ones with various patterns like cranes.
And in response, Kikyo said…

“You see, that’s because the visitors are way more into it that way.”

*You fiend.*

Kou somehow managed to bite her tongue and stop herself from shouting in protest.

“Sorry sorry, I was joking.”

After chuckling seeing Kou’s reaction, Kikyo apologized for her teasing remark before replying in earnest.

“I’m sure you know how clothes nowadays are all produced by automatic machines in big factories?”
“Ah…and traditional clothes are almost impossible to find anymore.”
“Yes, exactly. They don’t even produce them in the first place.”

With the population decline, and the resulting shortage of workers, many industries had become completely automated, while seamstresses and weavers were essentially extinct.
Nowadays they just had to input a design, material, and quantity, and some AI would automatically handle the rest.
That meant that it was impossible to order only a small batch of specialized clothes, such orders were considered not profitable or high priority enough for the factories.
Especially something as specific as shrine maiden robes, scantly used anywhere else, would never be produced by a factory.
The only option was to find one of the very few workplaces ran by people, and place orders there.

“But even those are hard to find, many switch jobs since there isn’t much work left for them. So I choose to order as much as I can from them, to support their business…and it’s a shame to let their work collect dust in a closet somewhere, so I let everyone wear them.”
“I see…”

It turned out to be a more harsh reason than Kou expected.
At the same time, it was something that kept happening with all types of crafts with the advent of technology.
A more comfortable life always came with many sacrifices. The sudden realization made Kou and the rest look down solemnly, not having expected to hear that here.

“You’re all good kids.”

Saying that, Kikyo patted the heads of Kou and the rest.
As they looked up, they saw Kikyo smiling at them.

“Let’s leave the doom and gloom for later… Go now, your posts are waiting. In half an hour we’ll be flooded with visitors.”

Still smiling, she seamlessly switched into boss mode, sending everyone away.
Somehow it was high time for them to be at their spots, so Kou and the other shrine maidens rushed out.