The next day, after sleeping in quite a bit due to both jet-lag and all the drinking Gabe, Daiki and herself had gotten up to, Laura got out of bed rather slowly. Stretching as much as the limited space in her room allowed, she grabbed a new change of clothes as well as her toiletries and then made her way to the bathrooms to get ready for the little hiking trip she had been looking forward to ever since she realized how close the town was to the mountains yesterday.
A decent while later, she returned to her room to pack her new backpack for the trip, mostly first aid supplies in case anything happens as well as a jacket and a second set of pants, just in case something caught in and ripped the jeans she wore right now, or if she stepped or fell into a spring or small stream. Taking her hiking boots with her, the German student made her way to the exit of the dormitory, where she put on her boots, and made her way of Campus, whistling a happy tune to herself.
As she left campus, Laura heard a rustle of leaves behind her, and turning around she spotted a little Tanuki that seemed to be watching her, with a pair of strange eyes, seemingly missing a pupil. But before she could give the animal a closer look it had rushed away, leaving her to shrug and make her way towards town, two stops in mind before she would continue to the mountain.
The first of these was at the grocery store, where she bought a bento and two bottles of water for the break she planned to take, before heading through town to find the little bakery Daiki showed them.
It took Laura a while to find her way around the seemingly identical homes along the route Daiki showed them, but after politely asking a passerby for directions, she found it soon enough.
"Hello there, Lara was it?" Akiko greated her from behind the counter. "What can I do for you today?"
"Laura actually, and I wanted to get a couple of anpan for breakfast." Laura said as she walked up to the counter. "Before I head out of town for a hike."
"Ah that sounds lovely, there even is an old route up the mountains not far from here, just head out of town along the street before the shop and you can't miss the signs for it." the heavy set woman explained as she packed the two rolls Laura asked for in a brown paper bag.
"Thank you for that tip." Laura responded as she pays for her purchase.
"No problem young lady, just poke your head in on your way back so I know everything went alright." Akiko demanded with a firm but friendly tone, which Laura answered with a nod before she stepped out of the store, where she saw a racoon dog digging through some trash cans.
Walking past it towards the path that had been suggested to her, she didn't pay it any mind, nor the clatter of metal as it presumably left its perch after having found some food.
The road she walked on quickly turned into a dirt path once she had left the last homes behind, and a hilled sea of grass was to either side, slowly giving way to the forest covering most of the mountain. As she stepped into the shade offered by the trees, Laura quickly spotted the first sign showing the path up the mountain. What surprised her was the Tanuki sitting beneath the sign, looking an awful lot as if it had been waiting here for her.
"Don't be silly, it's just an animal" Laura mumbled to herself as she started her ascend of the mountain, the little animal following after her at a small distance.
Taking her time, she enjoyed the view whenever she could glimpse a sight of the valley from between the trees, otherwise occupying herself with just enjoying all this nature she was in the middle of. The small birds setting up their nests in the trees, the squirrels chasing one another up and down trees, as well as the small flowers that were in bloom this time of spring.
As she passed a small creek, Laura knelt down before it, enjoying the sight of the clear water rushing down the mountainside and taking a small sip of the cold and refreshing liquid. Sadly that tranquility was broken when the selfsame tanuki form earlier fell into it, splashing some water on her, and would have fully drenched her if she had not taken a step back immediately.
After a couple of hours, Laura came across a somewhat clear plateau, with what looked like an old wooden hut built on it. As she probably wouldn't find a better spot for it anyways, she sat down on one of the benches in the open hut, and took out her bento, offering a piece of fried chicken to the little Tanuki that just wouldn't stop following her.
"Thank you." the animal responded, the voice the same one she heard when she had entered Yamatanuki's Campus for the first time.
"And yes I did just speak before you ask the obvious." the little animal preempted the question she was indeed going to ask.
"I'm going crazy aren't I" Laura asked aloud with a nervous chuckle.
"Not at all." The little Tanuki said as he hopped onto the bench and sat down next to Laura, munching on the piece of food as its voice continued. "I'm Takeko, and somewhat of an ambassador of the spirits of the valley due to not being too obvious or out of place in the human world."
"Ookay, but then why reveal yourself to me?" Laura inquired confused and suspicious.
"Because Lady Onyu asked me to make sure you found your way to her, and you can't run away on your own now." The brown furred spirit said,a s it waved it's paw towards the outside, where instead of an empty plateau in the midday sun, Laura saw the center plaza of what seemed to be a medieval japanese village shrouded in twilight. "Welcome to Kami-Mura young Rosenthal."