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Just as everyone had expected, the shrine became overwhelmingly crowded just moments before midnight.

“…A charm and amulet for good academic results, please.”
“Ah, sure!”

A college aged young man was next…who for some reason blushed and averted his gaze when seeing Kou, and she lightly tilted her head in confusion while checking the items he requested.

“That comes to…a tithe of 2400 yen please!”

She quickly checked that her mental calculation matched with the number produced by her NLD, and once she knew she was right, she read it out aloud to the young man.

“Okay…here you go.”
“That is 2400 yen exactly, thank you. Here are your charm and amulet.”
“Th-Thank you.”
“Thank you for your faithful visit.”

She sent him away with a cheerful smile.
…Thanks to her experience on live streams and at the school festival, smiling like that was second nature to her.
His heart fluttered as he walked away, but Kou barely had any time to rest, there was still a long line of visitors waiting.

“And next…”
*”Sister, below, below!”*

There was an old man in front of the line, standing a bit too far away, so Kou looked down as Rouge called to her.
A young girl, likely still in kindergarten or early elementary school, was looking up at Kou and Rouge with sparkling eyes.
…Kou was reminded of how uncommon of a sight a shrine maiden with white hair accompanied by a fairy was, but she kept those thoughts to herself as she smiled and spoke to the girl.

“What would you like to get?”
“Ah..!”

The girl quickly snapped out of it, awkwardly explaining her situation to Kou.

“Umm, it’s my mommy, she’s in the hospital… So I want to get her a charm! Grandpa said that would make her happy.”

As she spoke, the girl quickly glanced at an elderly couple, watching attentively from a distance.

“May I ask what happened to her?”
“Umm, I’m getting a little brother or a sister!”

Kou nodded understanding, then picked up one of the charms nearby, holding it up for the little girl to see.

“In that case I would suggest this safe and easy delivery charm.”

It was a charm priced on the lower end, with a really cute design meant for children to offer to their parents.

“Yes, I’d like that one!”
“Alright, that will be 500 yen then.”

She watched with a smile as the little girl rummaged through her purse for the money, and held it up in her tiny hand.
Kou could only imagine that this girl had used a part of her precious New Year’s money to buy something for her mom…and that thought also made her feel warm and fuzzy inside.

“Thank you, white lady!”
“Thank *you* for your faithful visit. I’m sure your mother will be happy too.”
“Mhm!”

The girl waved happily as she ran back to her grandparents.
That whole interaction gave her a burning desire to see Juna and George again, but for now she had to focus on the old man who was next in line, clearly also delighted after watching that little girl.
The visitors came up one after another, barely giving Kou any time to breathe in between, but seeing everyone leave happy and satisfied was surprisingly fun…so combined with how busy she was kept, time seemed to fly by.

Before she realized…it was already 2am.

“Alright, that’s it for all the high school students. Tomorrow the Amulet Office opens at 9am, so make sure you get enough sleep.”

With Kikyo’s announcement, Kou and her friends were driven out from the Amulet Office.
Their work for the night was over, and they headed back to their rooms.
At first they were worried that all the excitement from a new experience would keep them up…but especially for Kou who had not been able to nap earlier, they were all exhausted so as soon as they got changed and hit their pillows, they all fell right asleep.

…And then Kou was rustled awake, still in the midst of darkness.

“…Hm?”

She could hear something moving around nearby.
Wondering what it was, she slowly got up and saw through her drowsiness…

“Ah…sorry Kou, did I wake you up?”
“…Hijiri? What are you…”
“Mm I was supposed to just check if you were asleep or not, but I guess it’s fine if you woke up…”

With that, Hijiri held out her hand to the sleepy Kou, continuing to say…

“Hinagiku was looking for us for the first sunrise of the year. Do you want to watch with us too?”

The east window showed that the sky was slowly turning blue, and since sunlight was Kou’s natural enemy, she ideally wanted to keep sleeping, but…

“…I’ll go.”

She firmly took Hijiri’s hand.
Her desire to spend that time with her dear friends was stronger than her sleepiness, so before she realized she had already agreed to go.

Shuffling around, she slowly fit into her school issued tracksuit, and a coat on top for extra protection from the cold. She almost dozed off multiple times through that process, but Hijiri’s hand still firmly held her, finally bringing her outside to the shrine grounds…where many visitors had already gathered, all facing the east side, cameras in hand eagerly awaiting the first sunrise of the year.

“Oh, Kou. You got up after all?”
“Mitsuki, are you okay?”

Subaru and Kasumi were there already, wearing similar clothes as Kou. And just as they were greeting her, behind Kou…

“Unghh…I’m sleepyy…”
“You’ve got this, keep going Miyuki.”

…Came Miyuki, rubbing her eyes being just as sleepy as Kou, with Hinagiku leading her by the hand.

“Ahahah, somehow we got all the core members of Lua Cheia together for this.”
“Ah… You’re right, I hadn’t noticed.”

The adults of the guild like Ryunosuke were also there, the newest member Yukina who was quickly gaining a main spot as well… But overall, everyone there had been with Lua Cheia for a long time.
As they discussed that…suddenly everything around them became much brighter, and while Kou desperately tried to get up a sunshade, the other visitors all began cheering.
Her friends also began to cheer…and then Kou realized something she had completely forgotten about with all the work she had, so she turned to all her friends and raised her voice.

“Umm…Everyone, Happy New Year! Let’s have another great year together.”
“Happy New Year! And I’m sure we will.”
“I mean…we’ll always be childhood friends hahah.”
“Heheh, Happy New Year to you too! Let’s hang out a lot this year too!”
“Yes, I’m looking forward to this year too!”
“Happy New Year, everyone!”

That busy and hectic year was finally over…and a new one was starting.
The first rays of sunlight raced across the mountains, announcing that from across the horizon…and Kou and her friends all exchanged smiles and good wishes…