Catherine let out a long, tired breath, her shoulders sagging under the weight of the ongoing chaos. With a sharp sigh, she crossed her arms, clearly fed up with Yuki's antics. "So, someone as ancient as you should definitely know what those NONO things are, right?" Her crimson eyes flickered toward the roof of the abandoned shrine, the very spot where the portal had opened, the one that had let those three cockroaches through. "Tell us about them."
Yuki simply shrugged, her snow-white eyes drifting lazily toward the roof, as if the answer to the greatest mystery of the moment was as insignificant as a cloud in the sky.
"Nnai, what hab catto lazy ben bery doing all this tim?" Yuzu asked, her black fox ears twitching in suspicion. She narrowed her eyes at Yuki, her tone dripping with distrust.
Yuki, looking utterly unfazed, yawned and stretched her arms. "Sleeping?" she replied nonchalantly, her voice the picture of indifference.
Catherine's patience, which had been thin to begin with, visibly cracked. Her crimson eyes began to glow ominously, the telltale sign that she was activating one of her skills. "Stop pretending to be clueless," she demanded, her voice sharp. "My identification skill says you're over a millennium old."
"Yuzu agree," Yuzu chimed in, her jet-black eyes suddenly glowing with an eerie light blue. The air around her seemed to shimmer with the intensity of her gaze. "Catto bery sus."
Yuki blinked at them, utterly unphased by the combined pressure of Catherine and Yuzu. She pulled her hands up to her cheeks in a dramatic, exaggerated gesture, as if realizing something for the first time. "Oh my. I'm over a millennium old?" she said, her voice sweet and almost innocent.
I stared at her, completely baffled. "You... didn't know that?"
Yuki tilted her head slightly, her snow-white hair cascading around her face. "Nope. I lost almost all of my memories," she replied in a tone so casual it was as if she were talking about forgetting her lunch.
I blinked a few times, still processing what she said. Lost her memories? That explained a lot, but... still, it didn't seem like she was all that concerned about it.
"So, you're telling me you've forgotten everything?" I asked, trying to clarify.
Yuki gave me a lazy grin, her snow-white eyes glinting. "Pretty much. So, let's move on to something more fun, shall we?"
The complete nonchalance of her answer was enough to make Catherine growl in frustration. "I swear, I'm going to lose my mind dealing with you," she muttered under her breath, her crimson eyes still glowing faintly with barely-contained exasperation. Catherine's fingers twitched around her staff, the strain of holding onto her patience palpable. "So you're telling me, you lost your memories?" Her voice was dangerously quiet, like the calm before a storm.
Yuki, sitting on the worn wooden steps of the shrine, stretched her arms with a lazy yawn. "Mhm. All gone~" She tilted her head up, eyes half-lidded, watching the leaves dance in the warm breeze.
Yuzu, standing beside me, narrowed her eyes suspiciously. Her black fox ears twitched as she tapped a foot against the moss-covered stone tiles. "Bery notto trust! Catto lying! Catto always lying!" she declared, her tail puffing up slightly.
Yuki, completely unfazed, simply sighed dramatically. "I wish I was. But nope. No memories, no ancient wisdom, no secret world-ending knowledge. Just me, my instincts, and an unreasonable love for naps." She flopped backward onto the wooden platform, letting her arms dangle lazily off the edge.
Catherine's eyes twitched violently. "So you're telling me, despite being over a millennium old, you conveniently don't remember anything about the NONO creatures?"
"Yup," Yuki replied, her tone so casual it almost sounded rehearsed. She reached up, plucking a fallen maple leaf from her silver hair before flicking it away.
Catherine visibly steeled herself, inhaling deeply through her nose. The air around her grew heavier as her staff crackled with gathering magic, sparks dancing along the surface like embers waiting to ignite. "That's it. I'm setting you on fire."
A soft gust of wind rustled through the trees as I quickly stepped between them, raising my hands in a desperate attempt to keep Catherine from actually committing arson. "Whoa, whoa, let's not burn anyone just yet!"
Yuki blinked at me, her snow-white eyes narrowing slightly before her lips curled into a teasing smile. "Aww, Mashiro~ You do care." She tilted her head, her cat ears twitching playfully.
I rubbed my temple, feeling an oncoming headache. "I don't even know how to process you right now."
Yuzu huffed, crossing her arms so tightly it looked like she was physically restraining herself. "Fine! But catto still bery sus. No one forgets a whole thousand years!"
Yuki hummed thoughtfully, resting her chin in her palm. "Well, I did." Then, as if deciding to cause more trouble, she leaned in closer to Yuzu, her voice dropping into a low, playful whisper. "Though~ if you wanna help me remember… maybe bite a little harder next time?"
"NYWAAA!!" Yuzu screeched, her face turning a bright crimson as she practically leaped backward as though she'd been burned. "Weird! Catto bery weird!!"
A flock of birds took off from the treetops at the sound of her outburst, their wings flapping noisily as they disappeared into the sky. I sighed. Catherine groaned. And Yuki? Yuki just smirked, looking utterly satisfied with herself, her tail swishing lazily against the wooden floor, clearly enjoying every second of her chaos.
"Ah… but there's this feeling inside me that tells me to wait here. For you." Yuki suddenly turned her head toward me, her sleepy snow-white eyes briefly sharpening before flicking toward the abandoned shrine. "Or at least, that thing." Then, her gaze shifted once more—this time to the nine-tailed fox resting comfortably on top of my head. "And that cutie."
The golden afternoon sun cast long, dappled shadows across the abandoned Inari shrine, its presence both tranquil and eerily mysterious. The shrine itself stood in quiet solitude, its once-vibrant red torii gates now faded and chipped, the sacred kanji inscriptions barely legible against the worn wood. Stone fox statues, their features softened by time, lined the entrance, their silent gazes seeming to watch over us. The scent of damp moss and fallen leaves filled the air, mingling with the faint traces of old incense that still lingered from rituals long past.
The shrine grounds were covered in a thin layer of fallen leaves, some dancing in the occasional breeze. The wooden steps leading up to the shrine creaked under even the slightest touch, as if groaning under the weight of forgotten prayers. Beyond the shrine, the thick forest loomed, the towering cedar trees swaying gently, whispering secrets only the wind could understand. Despite the warm glow of the sun filtering through the canopy, the shrine itself carried a lingering chill, as though something unseen was watching from the shadows.
"Ai?" I asked, gently lifting Ai from my head to get a better look at her. Her tiny eyes blinked up at me, and as if responding to my call, she let out an adorable Yip!
"Ai…" Yuki muttered, her voice unusually soft. "So that's what her name is…"
There was something unreadable in her expression, something that made me pause. She wasn't just repeating Ai's name, there was a quiet sense of recognition, almost like she was recalling something from deep within the fragments of her lost memories.
Catherine, still standing with her arms crossed, furrowed her brow. "What do you mean the shrine is calling for… Mashiro?"
Yuki simply shrugged, stretching her arms above her head before pointing lazily toward me and Yuzu. "No idea, meow. Why don't you ask the actual fox girls themselves?"
Yuzu, who had been uncharacteristically silent for the past few moments, met Yuki's gaze with an unusual seriousness. Then, slowly, she turned her attention toward the shrine, her black fox ears twitching as if picking up something unseen.
"Inari Shrine…" Yuzu muttered, her voice lacking its usual playful lilt. "Bery important place. It a place for bery fox-kin to pray, and…" She hesitated, her blue-black eyes narrowing slightly. "Bery place to teleport."
A gust of wind rustled the trees, sending a flurry of golden leaves swirling around us like tiny messengers of fate. The shrine, old and weathered as it was, suddenly felt alive, as if it had been listening to our conversation, waiting for someone to speak those very words.
Catherine raised an eyebrow. "Teleport? You mean like a portal?"
Yuzu nodded, her black fox ears twitching as she looked around the abandoned shrine with a newfound seriousness. "Bery fox-kin use shrine to go different place. But… this one, bery broken." She frowned, tilting her head slightly. "It feel… weird. Not like usual."
I glanced back at the worn torii gate and the crumbling shrine structure. Now that Yuzu mentioned it, there was something strange about the place. The air felt heavy, like something unseen was pressing down on us. The wind that had been gently rustling through the trees had gone still, leaving behind an eerie silence.
Yuki, still lazily sprawled on the shrine's wooden floor, traced a finger along one of the old beams, her snow-white eyes flickering with something almost thoughtful. "Maybe it's broken, maybe it's not. Maybe it's waiting."
"Waiting for what?" I asked, gripping Ai a little tighter.
Yuki grinned. "Dunno. But whatever it is, I bet it's gonna be fun~"
Catherine groaned. "That is not reassuring."
Yuzu, still staring at the shrine, muttered under her breath, "Bery feel like… something coming."
A chill ran down my spine. Ai yipped softly in my arms, pressing herself closer to me.
And then, just as if to prove Yuzu's point, the wind suddenly roared back to life, swirling around us like an invisible force had been awakened. The abandoned shrine, silent for who knows how long, seemed to breathe.