It had only been a week, just one week, and already Haruka was regretting ever purchasing this little home. Certainly the scenery was lovely, being off in the countryside. The home itself was surrounded by cherry blossom trees, which weren't in bloom yet, but still stood tall and beautifully just outside her window. There was even a stream nearby and a path that led down to it. The home itself was small, but modern for the most part, and a bit westernized. In truth, when looking at the home and the area, Haruka had nothing to complain about. Even the weather had been perfect throughout her stay. The only things that made her nervous were the strange occurrences at night. She would wake up with small scratch marks on her arms, hear odd noises just outside, and even find things broken. Now being logical, she brushed it all off as her imagination, but just this evening, she was greeted by more than just scratches or sounds. 

Just walking up the steps to her house after working into the evening, Haruka notices a strange figure out of the corner of her eye. Upon closer inspection, they looked close to human, but when the creature faced her, it had no face at all, only a mouth and it's entire body was pitch black. In a panic, Haruka ran to the house and shut herself up inside, heart racing within her chest. Never had she seen anything like that. Maybe the villagers were right after all... 
Being curious as ever, the girl ended up asking around the village just a mile off where she worked. Nearly every person she asked knew exactly what she was talking about, claiming that angered spirits roamed the area. They spoke of a shrine that sat upon the hill where she lived, nearly a hundred years ago. The only way to calm them is to build another shrine, but nobody wants to put in the effort and no one is willing to be the priest or priestess within the shrine. 

At first, they all sounded crazy, but after running into the dark spirit, Haruka felt that every word of it was true. She wanted nothing more than to do something about it too. If she could ease these spirits somehow, as insane as that sounded, then maybe she could go back to her normal life. Unsure of how to do such a thing, Haruka knelt down on her futon and did the only thing she could; pray. It may not change anything, but it might help her sleep, so in a soft voice, she prayed out loud. 

"Please, please ease these unsettled spirits. Send something that may calm them, someone that might calm them. Bring the shrine back if you must, please, anything to put them at ease." 

It wasn't much of a prayer, but Haruka had never really prayed like that before. No matter. Now that she'd put that off her chest, she could finally relax. The petite girl rested her head on the pillow and pulled her blanket up over her shoulders after turning out the lights. In no time at all, sleep came for her and unlike the other nights she spent in this little home, nothing awoke her from her slumber.