I took a glance at Tsunan who was sitting against the Fudan Sakura, talking to Hatsu and Heihachi, a small distance away.
When the blond and dark-haired males moved away, I went up to Tsunan and sitting down on my legs, I took a quick glance over my shoulder at the others- who were sitting on the cloth I had laid on the grass and eating and chatting with one another- before I took out the three Sakura-mochi I had wrapped up in a paper cloth and put apart for the doctor earlier.
'Here! This is for you!' I told him, cheerily, holding them out to him.
He looked at the Sakura-mochi, then back at me.
'I have put them aside for you earlier.'
He smiled. 'You shouldn't have!'
'I had specially prepared them for this picnic. It was out of the question that you don't have right to it.'
The Sakura-mochi had been the very first to go. And inevitably, Tsunan hadn't had the chance to taste one.
He took the Sakura-mochi from me and picked two up. He brought one to his mouth and offered me the other.
'You didn't get to taste one either, did you?'
'No,' I chuckled, accepting the Sakura-mochi he was offering me and turning to face the others, I bit into it.
I watched Master Kagami and Tsunan's grand-father who were sitting across of each other with their chopsticks ready in their hands. There was only one Onigiri left in the food container lying in-between them and their eyebrows were furrowed in deep concentration.
The Onigiri would go to either one of them.
Their chopsticks went for it and it was the master who caught the Onigiri first. He didn't hesitate to swallow it down in two.
'Kagami! You, selfish little beast!' shouted Sekien Hitachiin, peevishly and he threw his empty cup of tea at the younger male's head.
The latter skipped it, making as if nothing.
'Have you no shame to do this to the old man that I am! Have you no respect for your senior?!'
'You take consideration of your age only when it suits you, huh?' retorted the master and they started to bicker all over again.
I chuckled at the scene.
Shirane, who was sitting next to them, held his forehead, exhaling sharply. 'It's so desolating to see that! They're becoming geriatric!' He got to his feet then, muttering, 'I'll go buy some food at the supermarket and be back!'
There was nothing left of the food Yama-san and I had brought anymore.
Cho got to her feet too at that moment, asking him, 'Can I come with you?'
The red-haired boy's surprise was clear on his face.
'Uh, ye-yes, okay!' he stuttered, and they left together.
'My grand-father seems to appreciate your cooking a lot!' Tsunan told me, and I met his gaze.
Blushing a little, I lowered my eyes and smiled. 'Yes, it's true!'
'Is that Shuda over there talking to Yama-san?' he asked, then, and I followed his eyes onto the spiky-haired male who had approached Yama-san by the river a good distance away. The latter was watching over Gakkuri and Natsuhiko; the two kids running around, playfully.
I shared Tsunan's astonishment. Yama-san seemed to be as astonished to find Shuda speaking to her too. We watched them for a few minutes, the conversation between the two seeming to be going on well.
I glanced at Gakkuri then.
'Gakkuri is doing better than I had expected,' I whispered, reassured.
I had gone to visit her in the early morning.
The rendezvous with her mom yesterday seemed to be a distant souvenir for her already and it was all thanks to Yama-san and Master Kagami for giving her the warmth and security of a home.
Shuko called for me to join her at that moment and excusing myself from Tsunan, I moved up to her.
'What are you going to do with all these hand fans?' I asked the teenaged girl, as she showed me her bag which was full of them.
The foldable fans were made of paper and were of different colors, with beautiful designs on them.
When we had come across of Ayame and Shuko earlier, she was coming out of a shop that sold such items.
'The girls of my class have been chosen to do dancing for the school festival. And since I've learnt traditional Japanese fan dancing, I'll be their coach and it's me who is supposed to take care of everything.'
I was deeply impressed by her that she knew traditional fan dancing. I had always had a great liking for that kind of dance.
'Say, would you like me to teach you some moves?' she proposed, grinning eagerly. 'Please, say yes!'
I bobbed my head up and down, enthusiastically. 'Okay!'
***
Later, on the other side...
'I'm sorry, Shirane,' said Cho, as they came out of the supermarket in Shiratori neighborhood. 'I asked to accompany you but I can't even help you carry the bags.'
The red-haired boy looked at the ginger-haired girl walking next to him.
'It's okay. It's not like it weighs a ton. All that matters to me is to have you by my side!'
He bit his tongue the moment that last part was out. What took over him to tell her that? It wasn't that he didn't really think what he said, but saying this to Cho… If only he had bit off his tongue before that last part had come out.
Blenching away, he covered his head with his hands, his eyes drawing shut as he cried out, 'Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! I should have kept that for myself!'
When the slap of her harisen never came upon him, he risked his eyes open and gave Cho a bewildered look as he found the latter smiling.
'Relax! I'm not going to hit you; not when I might break my face on the ground.'
She made a small sign with her crutches.
The redheaded boy swallowed hard. He'd never curse his fate ever again.
'Hey, Cho!' called a familiar voice, out of the blue, and they both looked around at the two girls who were making their way towards them.
'Agasa! Yanagi!' exclaimed the ginger-haired girl in surprise. She had been with them the entire morning and it was when she had parted ways with them that she had ran into Master Kagami.
Her two friends' eyes shifted from Shirane and her.
'What are you two doing together?' asked Agasa, with a suspicious look, Yanagi's expression matching hers.
Shirane showed them his bags full of foods and drinks. 'We've ran out of food on the picnic. I never knew that Master Kagami and Tsunan's grand-father are such big eaters.'
'A picnic?' they said, giving Cho a look.
Shirane glanced at the latter. She didn't inform them?
'Is Shun Shutsuki with you?' they asked, tersely, speaking only to their friend with the cerulean blue eyes.
'Well, I believe that it was her plan and that of Tsunan's at the beginning and everyone have crashed in…' Cho answered, lowering her eyes, feeling uncomfortable.
'You could join us!' Shirane offered to Agasa and Yanagi, very quickly, but they didn't answer at first, staring at Cho with an accusative look, and when they finally looked at him, they forced themselves to smile despite their obvious disappointment, saying no.
Turning around, they strode away.
Shirane looked at Cho again who had her head hung, her expression dejected. 'They're upset with me now!'
'It'll be fine!' he reassured her.
She gave him a grim smile and they set back to Kuribayashi together.
***
'Am I doing it right?' I asked Shuko, performing the moves she had taught me.
'Yes! You're so gracious, Shun!'
'You think?'
Suddenly, my eyes fell onto Tsunan in the distance and I realized that he was watching us.
I went still, my eyes widening at him for a second, before I looked away and smiled shyly, blushing hard.
***
The day was about to come to a close when everyone parted ways.
'We had a lot of fun today, didn't we?' I said to Tsunan, joyously, as we were walking our way back home, finding ourselves alone with each other.
A smile appeared on his lips. 'Yes. I've never seen you laughing this loud ever before.'
'That's true. I laughed so much that I still have tears in my eyes!' I giggled, brushing my finger over the wetness at the corner of my left eye.
He plunged his hand into the inside pocket of his coat then and took out a small gift box, holding it out to me.
'Here! It's a gift for you! I wanted to give it to you earlier, but I didn't find the right occasion to do it.'
I paused down to stare at him.
He paused down too.
Holding my breath, I took the small box from him and opened it slowly.
It contained a lipstick of the color red!
'It's of the brand that my mother used.'
I gazed at him, utterly moved.
'Thank you so much. I'll keep it preciously and wear it on special occasions,' I whispered, smiling at him warmly.
He returned the smile.
***
Meanwhile…
'Say, Shirane, will you walk me home?'
The redheaded boy stared at Cho in puzzlement. They were the only one left by the river; everyone had already left.
'I thought that you found it macho?!'
'It's not the case!'
He stood there for a minute without moving nor speaking.
'So, are you walking me home or not?' she asked him and he broke out of his trance-like state.
'Ye-Yes!'
He watched after her for a few seconds as she began to walk away, before he ran up to her, catching up with her.
***
Tsunan had just left for work in the morning of the following day when I heard the doorbell rang and I went to answer it.
I was totally surprised to see the person holding herself there, on the other side of the door when I opened it.
'Ameonna, is that you?'
'Shun!' she exclaimed, in a coo, throwing her arms around me in a tight hug. 'I'm so happy to see you!'
'Me too!' I said, happily returning the hug. 'How come you're in Toda?' I asked her when we pulled away from each other.
'Oh, I met this little guy here during my voyage and I had the want to see you!'
She glanced towards Natsuhiko.
'Well, now that you know where she lives, I'll leave you!' said the latter and he left.
'He's a bit sarcastic but he's very cute when he wants it.'
I chuckled, agreeing with her.
'Please, come in!' I told her, moving out of the way to let her in.
I noticed that she had bangs now and her hair was shorter than before. When I had first met her, they were at waist-length and now they were at flip-level. She was clothed in a yellow dress that came off just slightly above her knees, a pair of sandals and a hat; and she was carrying a small backpack.
I felt warm at her cheerfulness.
We took a tea together, before I decided to show her around Toda a little. She told me about all the places she had visited while I told her about the missions I had undertaken and some of the events I had known ever since we had parted with each other.
'This world is very beautiful and at the same time, very scary,' she murmured, as we took our lunch together, sitting on a bench in the public park in Shiratori.
Something occurred to me, suddenly.
'Say, Ameonna, I never really thought about it, but how do you manage to make a living?'
'Oh, I get paid for making it rain,' she shrugged. 'This is how I've been able to acquire money for my voyages!'
My mouth went slightly agape.
She's decided to use her ability to influence the weather through her emotions to become a rain woman?!
'I'm glad to know that this ability of mine can serve to help others,' she said, thoughtfully, smiling to herself.
It brought a smile onto my lips equally. I was happy for her.
'But say, you need to cry every time you want to make it rain, ne?'
'Yep. It doesn't appear to be evident but it's not hard at all. All I have to do is watch one episode of those romantic TV dramas for me to become all mushy!'
I stared at her, dumb-founded for a minute, before we both broke into laughter.
'I love those romantic TV dramas too!' I admitted.
'I think that only love can make me want to stay at a single place now!' she sighed. Then, looking at me, she asked, 'Do you think that it's too early for me to think of falling in love again?'
Looking back ahead of her, she told me, 'I think of Seishi and the people of Iwaki Village very often. But I try to move on. I believe that we shouldn't allow the tragedies we have known, prevent us from living the rest of our lives. I think that life is way too precious and way to short for that. It'd be an offense to life itself.'
'Yes. You're right,' I murmured.
Suddenly, I heard someone call out my name and looking up, I caught sight of Yosunori who was striding his way up to us.
'Hello, Shun!' he greeted. 'Your eyes seem to have completely recovered!'
'Yes,' I replied, before I presented Ameonna to him and vice-versa.
'Yosunori? Like the Yosunori from one of your missions you've told me earlier?' she asked me, and I nodded.
'And you, how did you meet each other?' inquired the dark-haired male, and Ameonna began to tell him about it, while he sat down with us to have his meal.
We were busy talking to one another when, unexpectedly, my eyes zeroed onto a certain young man who was passing by us, his face looking very familiar to me.
'Wouldn't he be-' Ameonna and I spoke together, exchanging a look before we jerked to our feet, and the female spirit called out to him, 'Ryūto Takamura?!'
The young man came to halt, turning to face us, his expression nonchalant.
'It's me, Ameonna. We've met sometimes ago when I came to present my thanks to the god of rain, you remember?'
The young man, or rather, the dragon, was none other than the secretary of the god of rain.
'Ah, yes, I remember!' he told her, before his eyes shifted onto me and he said, 'And you, you're the human girl I wished I'd never see again!'
My expression turned awkward.
'And you are?' he demanded at Yosunori, then, cocking an eyebrow up at him.
The latter sprung to his feet, begging him pardon for not having presented himself, doing it immediately.
'What brings you to Toda?' I asked him, timidly.
'I'm on the search of a friend. She might be in danger. Finally, you're going to be useful to me! You can show me the way. She's headed for a small village close-by named Kuroki. I would have arrived there directly, but there's no river that flows in that village.'
'You-You came through the river in Kuribayashi rowing a boat?' I stuttered, remembering how rivers were connected to the realm of the Gods. 'You must not have gone unnoticed!' I giggled, awkwardly, trying to imagine the expression of anyone who had witnessed the scene.
'That friend of yours, is she your fiancée?' Ameonna asked him.
'Don't talk nonsense! I'm just grateful towards her!' he muttered at her with a glare; a blush appearing on his cheeks though. Clearing his throat, he explained to us, 'Sometimes ago, I've met her in this realm, while I was wounded after a ferocious combat. She found me in the forest and she took me to her house to treat my injuries; she took care of me until I was back to feet.'
The blush on his cheeks deepened.
Ameonna and I exchanged a look.
Yeah! He's fallen in love with her even if he doesn't want to admit it!
'You told us that she might be in danger. How is that?'
'I took the habit of visiting her from time to time, after our first encounter. This morning, I went to visit her again but she wasn't at home. Her little brother told me that some thieves have stolen the Hoshi-no-Tama that they guarded. This, contains some reserves of the kitsune powers. I believe that the thieves hope to sell it to earn money out of it. She's gone after them to recover the Hoshi-no-Tama.'
'We're grateful towards you for the help you have brought us in the past. We're going to help you!' declared Ameonna.
'That's true,' I seconded. 'Let us bring you our help! It'll be our way of thanking you.'
'Well, if Shun is ready to help you, so am I,' stated Yosunori. Turning to me, he said, 'By joining you to help him, it'll be my way of showing you my gratitude for what you did for my siblings and I.'
The three of us looked at Ryūto Takamura, waiting for his response.
'Well, if you insist! But I won't be held responsible for any injuries or death on your part, got it?'
We went pale, breaking into cold sweat.
He made it sound as if we were enrolling for a battle in the army.
'Give me two minutes!' I told then, and I moved slightly away to phone Master Kagami to ask him the permission to leave town, while Yosunori called up his boss to tell the latter that he was taking the rest of his day off.
After the master granted me the permission, I sent Tsunan a text message to inform him where I was going, and the four of us set off for the village of Kuroki.
Thank you for reading!
Glossary
Mochi - Japanese rice cake