Lesson 1: Diligence
Furijo Shrine, Mie Prefecture, Japan

Misao stands by one of the Shisa statues that sat at the entrance to the old summer home of the sun goddess, her hair in twintails bound by leopard print bows and as the early morning sunlight graced her sweatpants and crop top, lazy wear for rushing through work she didn't want to do yesterday. Her tyrannical grandmother had been working as hard as possible to make herself the largest nuisance possible in Misao's life now that she was the "Princess of Fire", some ancestral title handed down to the youngest female member of the Furijo family.
If only she was born a man, then her mom would have been saddled with this bullshit. Might get her to finally realize that her 16 hour call center shifts aren't an "honor" to work. Instead, Misao now is having her now eternal youth and beauty wasted on petty chores her grandma could jsut pay a college kid do. She even had to transfer away from all the boyfriends in Yokohama, so she had no money to just run off!
As she wipes the ugly stone lions down with disinfecting spray, her grandmother comes out in her shrine maiden's outfit despite the fact she was 40 years too old to bring any worshippers in:
"Misao, I'll have the most important priestess of amaterasu this generation has be seen as some lazy high schooler!" she says as she grabs the girls collar. "You still haven't even learned the transformation chant to do your job!"
"But that doesn't EXIST! I think someone would have seen this "Overcity" place by and posted a fucking picture of it by now if it wasn't your senile fantasy!" Misao yells louder than she intended, earning a slap from her grandmother.
"Amaterasu looks down on vulgar girls: She could choose to make your life a living hell should you choose to keep acting like a child" the old woman says sternly to a scowling Misao.
Misao goes to her room, deciding to wear her shrine maiden's costume over a pair of daisy dukes and a cute top with a low neckline incase her grandmother took a nap or got in a three hour conversation with one of the people from the neighborhood ascociation.
As she steps out to eat breakfast, a tastless meal of rice porridge with beans mixed in it, Grandmother sits down across from her and looks at her expectently.
Misao sighs: "Thank you for the food" she says, the phrase sounding dirty in her mouth given the quality of food she's been given. Grandmother's expression softens a bit as they eat with the chirps of the birds and the clonk of the Sozu being their background noise.
"Misao: I have to run some errands today. Along side your usual studies, I want a you draw up some sacred lots for the coming school year. You'll find the appropriate materials in the shrine interior, though be quick about retrieving them: Amaterasu is in quite a foul mood today" The old woman says
The now-eternal sixteen year old rolls her eyes: "Fine" she says in a disrepectful tone as her grandmother cleans out of her bowl and sets it near the wash basin: "And take care of the dishes before I get back" she says while grabbing her pouch and heading out.
It takes all of 5 minutes for Misao to shed her traditional trappings and start looking up hangouts for soon-to-be students in the local high schools: She needed a boytoy for the day.
Misao hangs off the arm of a handsome Halfu in jeans and a red shirt, her own heeled sandals clacjing against the sidewalk as he plays with her long black hair: "..So Ken-san, I was wondering if your caligraphy is any good" She asks the boy, having played to his tune long enough in her mind.
"I'm pretty well practiced" he says with a smile, prompting the expression to be returned by Misao: "Then can you help me with a club thing I've been having trouble with? I have to make Sacred lots for the first day of school to advertise out club and its so much work..." she says, not having to feign any of the frustration ascociated with the task.
"How many?" Ken asks
"..150"
The boy moves closer to her: "I'd be happy to, Furijo-chan"
Misao giggles: It felt good to be valued, and especially good to know she could get his help.
The two pop into a Dennis's Family Resturaunt, with Ken of course pay for refreshments and snacks for the both of them as they worked with the divine materials to make fortunes for the masses.
After 2 hours of hard work, with most of the work being shuffled onto Ken, Misao leans back with a sigh of relief and the Sacred Lots safely secured in her bag. Ken pays for the both of them and they exchange numbers.
"Oh, Ken-chan! Its porbably not a good idea to come by my place. My grandma lives with us and she is really bitchy, has some bad alzheimer's and senility too. Not very romantic, no?"
"Y-Yeah.. but.." Ken says, faltering a bit odd amount of spite in her voice where pity should be. She stifles this with a quick kiss to the cheek while nobody is looking.
Well, no human is looking.
Misao bits her lips as it feels like someone tried to stab her ankle with a screw, only to see a little Chicken plush laying by her ankle. Ken looks at her wierd and starts to walk off. She gives him a demure smile and a wave then turns her attention toward the abandoned plushie, about to kick it over before an instict kicks in: It wasn't just some cute chicken plushie, it was something... else. She picks it up and rushes to a ladies room where can investigate it without looking very stupid.
As she leans on the wall to large bathroom stall, the door locked, the plush starts to move! Misao drops it out of fear as it starts walking around, its cute eyes and rosy cheeks staying a moment as it seems ot adjust itself to moving.
"Finally! I couldn't stand to see you keep acting so improperly! Lady Amaterasu was right, you need a more direct hand than even your grandmother!" it says in a posh and refined tone, clearly a feminine pitch as it turns it beak up at the more modern girl.
"W-What? I.. Ken maust have laced those soda's with something.." Misao says in shock.
"No wonder you haven't even transformed yet.... I am Chieka, an attendent of Amaterasu and your current keeper until you learn to do your job well"
"No... theres NO WAY grandma's crazy stories about demons and evil spirits are right!"
"They are, mostly. Now-" The chicken starts before a shadow starts creeping along the floor, Misao's insticnts kicking as she flees from its touch with a yelp. It forms into shadow woman, snatchting the bag of Omikuji from its hook after pushing Chieka aside, cackling as it escapes under the other stalls, following the shadows of the bathroom and beneath the other women's notice.
Chieka gets her composure before Misao: "Well get after it! It'll get to the overcity any second now!"
"What the hell am I supposed to do to it?!"
"Burn its corruption away with purifying flame in the other world! Now get a move on!"
In her state of shock, Misao nods. If nothing else, she was going to get a severe punishment from Grandma if she didn't get those lots back! She rushes after the shadows, down a dark alley, before it disappears through a dark portal. Through the haze of adreniniline and desperation, Misao speaks the chant she had been studying to transform into a true avater of the Sun Goddess:
"In Bleakest storm and Thickest night, The rays of Amaterasu arise to cleanse corruption!" Misao says. She feels her clothing get replaced in an oddly warm feeling, her tank top becoming a white and red kimono, her shoes becomign traditionally styled sandals, her hair being put up in a high ponytail, and a long puryfying rod in her hands. She goes off her instincts, trying to "pry" the portal open with her own powers, the rays of the sun seeming to open the way as she leaps in after the shadow monster.
She falls face first into shopping plaza, lit up and stocked, but empty of people. The thick shadow moves along the brick work, carrying her pink messenger bag just above the pavement as it cackles madly.
"Amaterasu! Grant me light!" Misao says while pointing her gohei forward like a magic wand: Fire spews out and sets the shrubbery alight, thinning the shadowed path the monster can move along. The honorary priestess tries to focus herself, allowing fire globs of sunlight to be set on the ground and detonate to further damage or corall the beast of darkness with embers. She was glad her bag was leather as embers licked it in ana attempt to find self-sustaining fuel.
The shadow maifests into its humanoid form as it tries to close distance with Misao, the girl swingin her stick of purity into it like a girl afraid of a baseball in gym class. The weapon sets alight for a moment, burning away some of its body and leaving it screeching and terrified for a moment.
As she covers her ears, a phrase comes to mind, a spell to put down corruption that caught her eye when she was glancing at her scrolls this morning:
"Go with dignity! PURE LAND OF AMATERASU!" she shouts, a zone of burning sunlight appearing under the shadow and leaving it nowhere to run, the holy fire burning it away with a loud screech as her bag falls to the ground, some of the Omikuji slipping out of the bag.
Misao takes in the scene for a moment: the grass and trees burning and smoking, the scarred stonework, and the fact that crcackling and burning were the only things she could hear. She steadies her breathign as best she can, retreiving the bag and it conetns and clasping it shut. No part of her was damaged, even her hair was perfect despite the fall she took coming in.
She found the portal gone, and did the only thing she could guess to make her way back home: "Amaterasu, please grant me passage home.. I'll be better for now on.. please.. I'm sorry for before.."
A ray of sunlight comes down, opening a portal back to the ally, where Chieka awaits with crossed wings and a smug smile.
Misao's Grandmother pours tea for the sentient chicken plush and her grandaughter, the former giving the ost graceful bow a chicken can to the woman and the latter still in shock from the battle against the shadow monster.
"Misao. As you can see, your duties will not leave you alone, so wheather in the form of a divine familiar or a attacks on our shrines possessions and power you must be prepared to face your duty with grace and diligence" she says, trying to treat her bratty granddaughter like an adult.
Misao nods: "I.. How often will that happen? You expect me to go to school with demons and monsters after me?"
Both Grandma and Chieka nod: Misao looks away with a sigh, her worst fears confirmed.
"You need not do this alone though" Chieka adds
"You, the princess of fire, have allies about, perhaps over vast distance but that can be navigated easily in the overcity. For larger threats, we will need their powers and talents"
"Larger threats?!" Misao says
"Yes. The beasts could have had any amount of uses for divine materials of Amaterasu, and many innocents would have been hurt if you failed to retireve them and dispatch their thief. They will be back for more, with stronger fighters, more devious schemes, and greater magic. If you want to stand a chance against them, and saving this world the other princesses will need to be found and your powers honed liked a perfectly polished mirror.
The chicken toy and the old woman look at the girl as she nods, scared out of her wits. Their was no going back now: She wasn't just a magical girl like the kinds which she used to watch on TV, but a Divinely Ordained Princess of Fire whom this city had no choice but to trust.
Of course Misao was afraid, of course this was all way too real for the serial slacker. If she wanted to have the peace to enjoy the luxuries of this world, she would need earn it for once.