最後の修業

"Good afternoon... Is anyone there?"
Mai Aihara had come to visit Mahjong Soul Shrine today, and she was instantly taken aback by Ichihime's enthusiasm after the doors opened.
"Nyaa? Mai is in high spirits today, nyaa!"
Mai almost dropped the gifts in her hand to the ground. Meanwhile, Ichihime's ears move happily when she smelt the fragrance from the package. "Nyaa? I smell cookies! Are they for Ichihime, nyaa? Thanks, nyaa!"
"I'm the one that should be thanking you guys..." Mai had come to express her thanks today. Her grandfather had passed away due to illness a week ago, and she nearly broke down from the grief of a loved one's death and the stress from arranging his funeral matters. Fortunately, the old man had come to ask for their help at the Mahjong Soul Shrine before his passing as the encouragement and help of Ichihime helped Mai cheer up and face the world.
"We're just having a cup of tea. Mai, come join us, nyaa!"
Mai was pulled into the living room by Ichihime, where she saw Wanjirou and Kaguyahime sitting opposite each other. The kettle on the stove started screeching as if in greeting. When Wanjirou saw Mai entering, he raised his hand to greet her while making tea at the same time. "You're here at just the right time. Sit down and have a cup of tea with us, woof."
"Mai brought us some cookies, nyaa! Since the stupid rabbit brought tea, I'll let you have some cookies too."
"Hehe! Should I thank you then, midget?"
Mai wasn't used to the relaxed vibe of the room. She had never been this relaxed since her grandfather passed away.
Even so, other than thanking them, Mai also wanted Ichihime and the others to help her with something. When she was tidying the old man's room yesterday, she found a note under his pillow. The writing was too messy for her to read, but she didn't think it was his will. However, she believed it must have some special meaning since it was his last message.
"Um... I need your help with something. I found this note under my grandpa's pillow. Can you all take a look at it for me?" Mai took out the note halfway through the gathering and asked her friends for their opinion.
"This looks like the character for ‘Wan' in my name."
"No, I think this looks like a string of symbols."
They started discussing the contents heatedly for a while when Ichihime's eyes suddenly lit up. She shook her head and shouted: "A bell! It's the bell above Ichihime's head, nyaa!"
"Stop fooling around, midget! There's no way these words look like a bell... Huh? Hold on..."
"... C-Could it be... the Kagura bell?"
Now that Ichihime mentioned it, Mai suddenly realized that the drawing on the note really did look like a hastily drawn Kagura bell. She then recalled that a Kagura bell was passed down from generation to generation at the Temple of Moons and figured this note was probably a reminder about it.
"I'll be on my way then..." Mai was a little disappointed after solving the mystery. In the end, the old man still cared about his mission the most.
She bid the others farewell and started to return home. Mai and her grandfather had walked on this road many times, but now she would walk on it alone...
After returning home, she found the wooden box the Kagura bell was stored in inside a drawer in her grandfather's room. The box was placed very conspicuously, so she would have found it eventually while sorting through his belongings if she wasn't in such a rush to solve the mystery of the note.
"This is a... letter?"
In the box with the Kagura bell was a letter left by her grandfather addressed to Mai Aihara. The handwriting was neat and tidy, so it was probably written before he became seriously ill.
"He probably wanted to remind me to never forget the shrine's mission." Mai thought to herself as she opened the letter. However...
"To my dearest granddaughter, Mai." The letter was full of sincere words that the old man rarely spoke in his life. "I want to apologize for all the pain I have caused you. I have made many mistakes in my life, but the thing I feel saddest about is that I didn't take good care of you and your mother..."
Mai remembered bits and pieces of her life with her grandfather as she read through the letter. Her childhood wasn't easy, but there were more than just bitter memories. Now, the old man's care and scolding had both disappeared, leaving only the words in the letter... Mai continued to read it with tears in her eyes.
"Mai, I have never dared to tell you why your mother left..." She soon read the truth about her mother's departure.
"Mai, I wanted you and Ichihime to become friends for the mission of the shrine. The priestess of the Temple of Moons must be a 'limiter' to Mahjong Soul Shrine..." After reading this, Mai also understood the responsibilities that the Aihara family shouldered from generation to generation.
Mai was not surprised. She had noticed many clues since her childhood and had a premonition that her family was far from ordinary. What surprised her was the final warning in the letter.
"... Mai, the Kagura bell is now yours to use, but you must decide whether to use it yourself... I was overly harsh to you because I once regarded the mission we inherited as everything, but your life is yours to live... If you are willing to inherit our mission, I want you to do so because you think it is meaningful instead of just a responsibility..."
The letter was very short and only took ten minutes to read, but it filled Mai with deeper questions. She thought her life was like a well-written catalog with a foretold ending, but now she was told she had the right to choose. She felt like a flower that had escaped a greenhouse and didn't know where to go.
"Will I really be able to understand the significance of the mission?"
Mai looked at the Kagura bell distressed and only made up her mind after a long time. She felt this must be a final trial left by her strict grandfather, and she needed to find the answer in her upcoming training.