The iron door was heavy. With a metallic clang, the rooftop door swung open. The orange light of early evening flooded in all at once. "Oh... there's someone sitting here." The figure that appeared was a young man, barely past high school age. He had a backpack slung over his shoulder, a convenience store fried chicken stick in one hand, another one in his mouth, and he was observing 穂乃果 with the kind of gaze one might give to a pebble noticed on the roadside. 穂乃果, still hugging her knees, glared at him with golden eyes. An eight-hundred-year-old deity had just been told "there's someone sitting here" by a young man with a fried chicken stick in his mouth. "...Can you see me?" When she asked with intensity in her golden eyes, the man answered while chewing, "Yeah, I can see you. You're kind of see-through though." See-through. That wasn't the point. That wasn't the point at all. The fact that an eight-hundred-year-old deity was sitting on a rooftop in semi-transparent form wasn't something to be dismissed with a single phrase like that. 穂乃果 felt an intense urge to collapse internally—though the fact that she was semi-transparent meant she couldn't physically do so, which made it even more infuriating. "Is this cosplay?" "It's not!" "Projection mapping?" "No, no!" The man tilted his head with an "hmm." He bit into his fried chicken stick and spoke as casually as if discussing the weather. "AR, maybe?" "I am a god!!" The moment she snapped with full force, her divine energy consumed an extra 0.3 units. 穂乃果's outline became just slightly fainter. "Oh, you got more see-through." "Don't say that now!!" The man said "sorry" while continuing to chew the fried chicken stick in his mouth with absolutely no apologetic expression. He was apparently just off a shift at Daily Port Mikagegaoka—the convenience store on the first floor of Sunveil—and still had his name tag attached to his polo shirt. It read: 榊原一真. An eight-hundred-year-old deity's first contact with humanity beginning with AR. It was a historical disgrace of the highest order. 穂乃果 took a deep breath. Well, technically, being semi-transparent meant the air didn't move much. "I'll say it again. I am a god. A proper deity of grain abundance, the Hoshigami. Eight hundred years ago, I had twelve hundred parishioners in this land—" "Can I pray then?" 穂乃果 froze. 一真 set down his backpack and naturally stood in front of the shrine. He put his hands together. He closed his eyes. 穂乃果 couldn't move, just uttering "Huh?" 　　＊ The moment 一真 put his hands together, he murmured as if remembering something. "...My grandma used to say she asked the god of that shrine for help." His voice was quiet. It was almost like talking to himself. Rather than speaking to 穂乃果, it seemed like the words just naturally came out of his mouth. He reflexively remembered his grandmother's words and reflexively put his hands together—just that, an unconscious act. But it was enough. 穂乃果's outline suddenly became clear, just for a moment. Her pale silver hair became vivid, and the embroidery on her white robe regained its golden shimmer. It lasted only about two seconds, but 穂乃果 stared intently at her own palms. Her fingertips existed. Properly. The air conditioning unit wasn't showing through. "...Why?" Her voice wavered slightly. Realizing this, she hurriedly tried to cover it up, saying "Well... it's like miso soup or something, I suppose." It was a completely nonsensical comment, but her mouth moved without her even understanding what she was saying. "What do you mean by miso soup?" "Never mind! Forget it!" 一真 finished his prayer and pulled out his smartphone. While operating the screen, he casually said: "Since we're at it, why don't we take a photo? For a profile picture. If we appeal to the god on SNS, maybe we can increase believers... I mean, parishioners." "Hmm." 穂乃果 thought for a moment. A strategy to gather faith—that was certainly what 穂乃果 needed most right now. Her divine energy was at eighty units. It was decreasing by about two units per day. If she did nothing, eventually her divine energy would reach zero and she would dissipate—the natural law of divine extinction. "...Very well. Take the photo." "Okay, let me adjust your position a bit." 一真 held up his smartphone and reached out to adjust 穂乃果's right shoulder position. His hand touched her shoulder. 穂乃果's right shoulder—the moment 一真's fingertips gently touched the thin white robe's sleeve, just that spot became tangible. The warmth transmitted through his palm was definitely lower than human body temperature, yet it was unmistakably present. Through the thin fabric of the white robe, he could feel the smooth curve of her shoulder. The sun was tilting westward. Orange light streamed into 穂乃果's semi-transparent skin, passing through and out the other side—hair like silver that had absorbed light, a form existing on the boundary between appearance and fading. "...Ah." A small voice escaped. Her silver hair trembled. Both of them froze. Three seconds. "I touched your shoulder." "...I know." "Sorry." "Don't apologize, it makes it weirder." She said it in a low voice while looking away, gazing toward some distant point in the evening sky. Something was spreading slowly in her chest. Something that couldn't quite be put into words—like quiet ripples. Had being touched by someone always felt like this?—When she tried to remember from eight hundred years ago, the memories were hazy. But now, the warmth transmitted through his fingertips was not hazy. It was clear, being carved into her chest. (Why... is it like this?) 穂乃果 couldn't quite grasp her own emotions and shook her head slightly. 一真, meanwhile, swallowed hard and averted his gaze, pretending to look at his smartphone screen. Then 穂乃果 let out a small sneeze. "....." 穂乃果's outline vanished completely. She became entirely transparent. She was there, but invisible. "I can only hear your voice!?" "I-I'm right here!!" Only her voice could be heard from somewhere. 一真 looked around frantically. "God, where are you?" "I'm in front of the shrine! I'm here, just invisible right now!!" "...Um, left or right?" "A bit more to the right! No, left! Not there!!" 一真 ran back and forth. 穂乃果's angry shouts echoed across the rooftop. Three crows flew away from the power line. But the warmth from that moment of contact remained—quietly, right there inside 穂乃果. 　　＊ A few minutes later, when 穂乃果's divine energy had recovered slightly and she became faintly visible again, 一真 declared: "If we gather believers on SNS, your divine energy will increase! Let's attack with photos and videos!" "Yes! I'm counting on you!!" The SNS strategy began between them. First, the profile photo strategy. 穂乃果 struck the most godly pose she could manage, remembering the rituals from eight hundred years ago. Both hands raised to the heavens, golden eyes opened with dignity, the sleeves of her white robe billowing in the wind. In simple terms, it was a pose that perfectly embodied the word "solemn." "Got it." "How is it!?" 一真 showed her the smartphone screen. The shrine and evening sky were beautifully captured. 穂乃果 was not in the photo. It was a perfect miss. "...I'm a god, you know? I'm a god??" "But you're not in it." "...I'm not in it?" Quiet despair hung for three seconds. They tried again. This time 一真 stepped closer, changed angles, and searched for a position where 穂乃果's outline would barely be visible. He took many shots. It was the thirteenth photo when 一真 said "Oh, this one." "How is it!!" "It's godly, I guess?" 一真 showed her the screen. Only her upper half appeared as a white haze. It was a perfect ghost photo. The kind that would make you scream if you saw it on a dark road. "It's godly, isn't it!!" "It's a ghost photo." "I absolutely deny it!!" "But it's a ghost photo." "I absolutely—absolutely—!!" 穂乃果 ran out of words and pressed her temples. Regrouping. Next was the video strategy. 一真 held up his smartphone and started recording. 穂乃果 took a deep breath—this time. This time she would show real divine power. The 穂乃果 of the Kamakura period could summon heavy rains. With blessings of abundance, rice in five provinces ripened overnight. The current 穂乃果 couldn't do that, but she should be able to make a single dandelion glow. She concentrated her divine energy. On that dutiful dandelion in front of the shrine. "...Appear, light of abundance!" The dandelion in front of the shrine blazed with golden light. "Whoa!?" It really glowed. Divine manifestation—a supernatural phenomenon caused by consuming divine energy—succeeded for the first time in a while. Each petal of the dandelion flower took on light, shining in clear gold even in the orange evening sun. It lasted only 0.5 seconds, but it definitely glowed. The next moment, 穂乃果 slowly tilted forward. She had used up all her divine energy. She gently fell forward—or rather, she landed softly on the stone steps and then made cute little sounds as she rolled onto her side. Her eyes closed. Her silver hair spread across the steps. 穂乃果 began to breathe softly in sleep. "...Huh?" 一真 froze. The recording continued. He checked the battery indicator in the top right of the screen. Three percent remaining. 一真 set the smartphone down where it was. "Well... I have a charger in my backpack anyway," he murmured. A live stream of the god's nap began quietly. Real-time viewers: two. Someone commented, "Is this a cat?" For twenty-six minutes, no one stopped it. 　　＊ As the sun tilted and the sky took on a slight purple hue. 穂乃果 was sleeping. On the stone steps, knees slightly bent, silver hair spread out, defenseless. 一真 sat beside her, confirmed that his smartphone's battery was dead, then leaned his backpack against the wall as a backrest. And he looked at 穂乃果's sleeping profile. The orange of the sunset melted into her semi-transparent cheek. It was as if her skin was made of light itself, softly transparent. Her silver hair spread quietly across the stone steps, its ends swaying slightly in the breeze. Her sleeping face with closed eyes looked less like a god and more like just a sleeping child—no, there was something far more poignant about it than "just a child." 一真 couldn't move for a while. "...You're beautiful." The words came out, and he came back to himself. (What am I saying to a god?) He hurriedly shook his head. But the dead smartphone still held that twenty-six-minute recording—and one of the two viewers was taking a screenshot at that very moment, something 一真 didn't yet know. 　　＊ Thirty minutes later. 穂乃果 slowly opened her eyes. The pale purple sky. The sound of the air conditioning unit. And 一真's face, still there. "...You're still here?" "I can't get my stuff anyway, so I thought I'd wait until you woke up." 穂乃果 sat up and gave a small "I see" in response. She couldn't find better words. For some reason, her chest felt warm and heavy. She pulled herself together and checked her divine energy. The morning measurement had been eighty units. Calculating today's consumption— "...It increased by one unit." "Really?" "Really." Eighty-one units. It had increased. The SNS strategy had been a complete disaster. A ghost photo was created, a twenty-six-minute god nap stream aired, and there were two viewers. Yet her divine energy had increased. 穂乃果 looked at 一真. 一真 looked at 穂乃果. "...Was it my prayer?" "...I don't know." She looked away. She didn't know the answer herself. Or maybe she vaguely understood, but acknowledging it would blur the boundary of something precious—unable to sort it out, 穂乃果 looked up at the evening sky. Faith and something else. The boundary between them seemed like it would become harder to see from today onward. "...Will you come here again tomorrow?" She was a little surprised at herself for asking. Bu