Thunder and rain filled the skies across Youkai Mountain, as a frighteningly fierce storm rocked the landscape. With a boom and a bright flash ringing in the air every few seconds, even the kinds of youkai who lacked common sense knew to spend that day under shelter and away from the heavy downpour. Thus, there was not a single living being to be seen outdoors.
With the exception of Hatate, who was frantically flying at a low altitude, holding her hands over her head and chiding herself repeatedly. "I'm never going outside again. I'm never going outside again. I'm never going outside again ...!"
Today happened to be one of the few days where Hatate found the motivation to travel out of her home in order to look for newsworthy stories. She had left in the afternoon, and when she later saw the dark clouds that gathered in the skies, she greatly underestimated how fast and how heavy the oncoming weather would be. Already drenched by rain, Hatate desperately tried to get home as fast as possible.
Another flash of lightning appeared, distressingly close to Hatate, who let out a shriek as she realised that continuing to fly would prove incredibly hazardous. She immediately descended to the ground and started running. However, the strong winds were picking up even more, and they felt like they might just blow the crow tengu's light body entirely away.
"This suuuucks!" Hatate shouted in protest to the heavens, before ducking under the first decently big tree she found. It provided admittedly little reprieve, as the heavy rain went right through the branches and right on her head, and it even looked like the wind might snatch the tree away, but Hatate chose to take a breather there anyway.
With a miserable grimace, Hatate looked to the sky and realised another unfortunate fact. In her scramble to find shelter, she had rushed into a part of the mountain that was unfamiliar to her, and she was no longer sure which direction she came from ever since she started moving on foot. "Great… I'm soaked, and I'm lost! Could this get any worse?!"
Hatate lowered her head, resigned to just let the skies pour on her. The thunder was too loud and distracting for her to think any optimistic thoughts ...That may have also been why Hatate did not realise there was someone approaching her, until they were right behind her.
Sensing something all of a sudden, Hatate looked over her shoulder, and barely made out a tall silhouette, staring down at her with piercing red eyes.
Before Hatate could react, the figure swiftly picked her up by the waist and slung her over their shoulder, and the crow tengu let out a surprised shriek. "Aaaah! What's going on?! Put me down...!"
Hatate shouted repeatedly, and her panic rose even higher when whoever had picked her up started running off with her in tow, carrying her into parts unknown. Her limbs flailed in every direction, but whoever had grabbed her didn't slow down at all.
"Nooo! Someone! Help me! Heeeeelp…!" She screamed herself hoarse the whole way, only stopping when she suddenly heard the figure respond to her.
"Calm down, alright? My house is just up that hill."
"Huh?" Hatate only barely managed to hear the voice over the sound of thunder and heavy pouring. Once she took an actual good look, she realised she was being carried by a yamanba, a species of isolated youkai that lives among the mountain. When she noticed the huge cleaver in the yamanba's hand though, her panic rekindled tenfold. "No no no, nooooo! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to trespass…!"
It was by chance that Sakata Nemuno, in the middle of setting up boards for her house to keep out the rain, had spotted Hatate along the mountain path below where her home was. She had wasted no time swooping down to pick up the crow tengu who was pitifully standing out in the open during such terrible weather.
From the way Hatate was screaming her lungs out at the moment, Nemuno thought she might have been in pain, and so she picked up her pace, hurrying up the hill.
Hatate tired herself out by the time they reached Nemuno's home. Said home was a modest shack that the yamanba built over the years along the cliffside. The interior was made of equal parts natural rock and assorted woods, filled with unmatching furniture that Nemuno either built or collected over the years.
As soon as they were inside and out of the rain, Nemuno shut the door behind her and gently lowered Hatate. Still a bit stunned and lightheaded from the collective ordeals of the last several minutes, Hatate's legs threatened to give way from under her, and so she leaned her back against the wall, sliding down until she was sitting on the floor.
Hatate slowly stared up at Nemuno, feeling her blood run even cold, even beyond how she was freezing from being exposed to the rain. "So… what now?"
"Whatcha' mean?" Nemuno asked, wringing some of the water out of her clothes and hair.
"I mean… Is this the part where you chop me up and add me to your food preserves?" Hatate tentatively asked, and her eyes glanced at the door, trying to calculate her chances of success if she made a run for it.
"What? Why would I…" Nemuno glanced at the cleaver in her hand, and then back to Hatate. "Oh, this? She ain't for you, silly! I carry her for security, never know what might happen when you step outside."
"That blade is a 'she'?" Hatate raised an eyebrow, though she supposed that the ribbon on the handle was somewhat feminine, if such a thing could be attributed to a metal blade.
"Anyways, you hurt? You sounded like you were in a lotta pain just now?" Nemuno kneeled down beside Hatate, examining her for any visible injuries.
"Oh, um… No, I'm fine." Hatate rubbed her neck, suddenly feeling embarrassed as she recalled her extended reaction a few minutes prior. The only thing that possibly hurt other than her pride, was her throat. "I was just surprised. ...Really, really surprised."
"In that case…" Nemuno stood back up, then regarded Hatate with a strict expression. "You know no tengu should be waltz'n into my territory like this, right?"
"Oh, no, no, no, I wasn't 'waltzing' anywhere, I swear!" Hatate hastily said. The thought of her breaking the tengu's nonaggression pact was almost as scary as getting chopped up. "I was trying to get out of the rain, so I didn't look where I was stopping! I can leave right now…"
"Forget that." Nemuno dismissed Hatate's suggestion without a second thought. "If you dropped by here without meaning to, then it's fine. Long as you leave once the weather is cleared up."
Nemuno headed deeper into her house, in order to get some heat prepared at her makeshift fireplace. Hatate meanwhile, just continued to stare in confusion at the very casual suggestion to stay. "...You're okay with me being here? You're not going to drive me out or anything?"
"Not like either of us have a choice." Nemuno casually explained as she lit a spark with some stones. "You can't go out there with all that rain pourin', and it ain't my nature to turn away someone so helpless."
"Helpless?! Hey, I'm just having a low point, is all." Hatate instantly felt inclined to get to her feet and straighten her posture. She did also feel like getting closer to get warmed up by the fire as well. "...But thanks, by the way. Sorry if I hit you with my flailing before."
"I've wrangled chickens with more muscle than you." Nemuno offhandedly remarked, and after being satisfied with the size of the fire, stood back up again. "You sit tight then. I'll have dinner ready in a bit."
"Huh? Dinner…?" Hatate asked, as if there was some other meaning to the word she might not have been aware of.
"Yeah? You telling me you brought your own food?" Nemuno incredulously asked in turn, before heading into the part of her shack she designated as the kitchen.
"I guess not…" Hatate muttered as she turned back to the fire, greatly appreciating its warmth. "How in the world did things turn out like this…?"
Nemuno busied herself in the kitchen, the subtle aroma of different ingredients filled the air and out the nearby window. If the heavy rain provided any positives, Nemuno would say that the sound was quite relaxing from inside her home.
After getting decently dry, Hatate slowly came into the kitchen, to Nemuno's surprise. "Hey, I said you should sit tight. I'll be done soon."
"I know, but…" There was a hint of uncertainty on Hatate's face on whether or not she should be there, but now that Nemuno addressed her, the crow tengu decided to commit to her action. "Look, even if you say it's fine, I don't feel good about just taking up space while you cook for me. So, I'm here to lend a hand."
Not only that, but Hatate was perhaps still a little irritated about the 'helpless' comment.
"I usually prepare my own meals too, so I'd feel weird otherwise." Hatate approached the counter where various ingredients were laid out. Nemuno was currently chopping up her homegrown vegetables on a board, with a knife that also had a small ribbon on its handle.
"I doubt my kitchen has any of the fancy cuisine that you tengu are used to feasting on." Nemuno dismissively said, without taking her eyes off her cutting board. "You probably won't know what to do with some of these."
"Hey, crow tengu don't exactly eat out of a silver spoon." Hatate wanted to say more, but explaining the nuances of tengu hierarchy then and there didn't seem worth the effort. Instead, she focused her efforts on the selection of peppers in front of her, and gathered some. "And I've picked up a lot from years of research, so I probably know just as well as you do. Maybe even more!"
"That a fact?" There was an unmistakably smug tinge to Nemuno's question, and Hatate could tell that the yamanba was clearly skeptical of her claim.
"Just give me a moment and I'll show you!" With her pride as an independent and self-sufficient tengu challenged, Hatate picked out some cutely-accessorised utensils of her own and went to work.
"As long as you don't ruin our dinner…" Nemuno considered stopping Hatate, but as she watched the crow tengu heatedly begin chopping, she was admittedly curious as to how it'd turn out.
The two of them proceeded to cook mostly in silence, focused on their own individual dishes save for the times where each would curiously peek at the other's progress without either noticing. All the while, Nemuno remained confident that Hatate was just talking big, while Hatate was certain that her palette and knowledge would blow the comparatively closed-off Nemuno away.
They finished at roughly the same time, with a variety of dishes prepared and laid out on the kitchen counter.
"Huh." Nemuno was the first to comment. "Nothing looks bad, suppose."
"Were you really expecting me to prepare sludge or something…?" Hatate was indignant, although when she looked at the surprising care that went into Nemuno's own dishes, she started to feel a little insecure about all her earlier boasting.
"Maybe. But what matters is how it tastes." With that, Nemuno picked up some chopsticks and a bowl of seasoned rice prepared by Hatate, before taking on a meticulous mouthful. "Hmm…"
"Urk! Well… It's not like you're claiming to be some amazing gourmet either!" Preemptively defensive, Hatate picked out a plate of cooked vegetables that Nemuno had prepared, and gingerly took a taste as well.
Both of them chewed in silence for several long seconds, and remained silent even after swallowing. Neither wanted to be the first to admit what they were thinking, but Hatate eventually spoke up.
"It's… surprisingly flavourful. Like, I didn't even know veggies could taste like this." Hatate deigned to admit with a small smile.
"Personal recipe of mine, so course you wouldn't." Nemuno smirked in satisfaction. "But… I can tell you didn't just slap the seasoning on this rice willy-nilly. It's pretty good."
Another second passed, with both of them unsure what to say after that. But whatever arbitrary tension was in the air faded when they both broke into a fit of brief laughter.
After moving all the dishes to a table, Hatate and Nemuno sat down to eat. Although Hatate expected to feel more awkward about it, at last knowing that she contributed to the dishes helped make her feel less like she was simply intruding.
As Hatate stuffed herself with food though, her eyes wandered all around Nemuno's living space. That didn't go unnoticed by the yamanba, who commented curiously on that. "You've been gawking all over the place. Somethin' about my house look strange to you?"
"No, that's not it. ...Well, maybe a little bit. I was just thinking about those." Hatate pointed her chopsticks towards a display in the distance, where several colourful fabrics and cushions were set up on a rack. "I sorta had a feeling, with how you like tying ribbons on so many things but… You really like cute things, huh?"
"So I like collecting some things, what's wrong with that?" Nemuno defensively pointed her own chopsticks at Hatate. "You got ribbons too, like in your hair!"
"I wasn't making fun or anything!" Hatate also thought tying her hair was not remotely the same thing as placing ribbons on all her tools, but decided not to linger on that point. "Everyone has a hobby. I was just a little surprised at yours, is all."
"Who doesn't like collecting things that make them smile?" Nemuno stated, assured in herself. "What about you then? You got any hobbies outside of whatever tengu business you do?"
"Me? Well…" When Hatate thought about it though, she realised that all the things she liked to do had something or another to do with her newspaper. "I guess my work is my hobby? Although sometimes I spend a lot of time looking at images on my camera."
"Oh, so you go out taking photos a lot of the time?"
"Not quite! Thanks to my thoughtography, I can obtain images in an instant, from within the convenience of my home!" Hatate boasted with a proud smile, but Nemuno didn't seem impressed.
"...If that's your 'hobby', then that's a bit sad to be honest. Sounds like you just stay cooped up in your house all day."
"Wha-" Hatate's jaw dropped. She was already called a shut-in by just about all the people she knew, but somehow hearing the same from a yamanba was a whole new level of insulting. "I got out of my house today, didn't I?! And look what happened, I got caught in a storm!"
"Well, chalk that up to your lack of experience."
"What does experience have to do with anything?!" Not willing to take that lying down, Hatate wiggled her chopsticks accusingly at Nemuno. "What about you, huh? You're like, way more of a shut-in than I am."
Nemuno chuckled at the assertion, more amused than offended. "Yeah, yamanba strike out on their own, and that's all they ever need. I wouldn't have it any other way, and I know I won't get nothin' out of 'socialising' like you tengu do. ...Or other tengu do, I dunno about you."
"I do socialise too, at my own pace! ...But something I've learned is that even if you don't 'need' to do any of that, it could still be really good, or even fun." Hatate explained with fondness for her experiences. ...before she recalled her day so far. "I mean, as long as you're not getting caught in any thunderstorms."
"Eh… Even so, I'm comfortable where I'm at, and I doubt I'll ever find any motivation to go out and 'mingle' like other youkai do." Nemuro gave a shrug of her shoulders.
"Motivation, huh?" Upon hearing that, Hatate thought of something she could do for the yamanba, in return for the shelter and warmth she had received if nothing else. "Well, maybe that could change with this?"
Hatate pulled out her purse, which had fortunately kept her essentials such as her camera protected from the rain. Among the contents inside included a white envelope, which she pulled out and presented to Nemuno, who in turn took it into her hand. "What's this…?"
"It's a letter, but one with special properties. I got it from a goddess so my source is credible." Hatate said with a confident smile. "The gist of it is that as long as you have that letter on you, I think you'll feel compelled to go out and find someone else to pass it on to. It's like… a helpful curse, that makes you want to make connections."
"That sounds annoying!" Nemuno did not like the sound of some cursed object forcing her to do things. "Maybe I'll just burn it..."
"What?! Please don't do that!" Hatate almost started climbing over the table to stop Nemuno. "I'm pretty sure part of my soul is in it, or something! That's what the goddess said, anyway..."
"Fine. It'll go unburned for now." Nemuno narrowed her eyes at the letter specifically, as if warning it not to try and mess with her, before returning to her meal.
It had been expected by both Hatate and Nemuno that the storm would, if not subside, then at least lighten somewhat by nighttime. One look out the window however, revealed that the weather might have only gotten worse. There was no doubt it would last overnight now.
Hatate peeked out the door, before turning to Nemuno. "Okay, I think I know roughly which way tengu society is. So I'll just fly in a straight line towards it as fast as-"
"Don't be dense. You can't go out there." Nemuno dismissed the idea before Hatate even finished. "...I've got some clean clothes you can change into. I doubt you want to sleep in those, right?"
"Uh, right…" Hatate naturally wanted to protest more, but she knew Nemuno would insist she spend the night instead of throwing herself out into the storm. Not only that, the unshakable fact was that Hatate really did not want to step back out into that weather again, and the yamanba's house had been really nice.
As soon as she was able, Hatate got changed in a corner, leaving her still-damp clothes in a basket. She came out feeling just a little odd, though. The clothes Nemuno had lent Hatate were similar to what the yanbanma was already wearing, different colours sewn together and with a lot of white trim, with patterns of holes along the edges. Possibly the only she felt decently warm in them was because they were a little too big for her, and so covered more of her than they would Nemuno.
Regardless, Nemuno smiled in satisfaction when she saw Hatate. "I'm glad it fits. The bed's over there if you're tired."
"I think 'fits' might be too generous, but… thanks again for this." Hatate stretched a bit, and concluded that the fabric was certainly comfortable, more than suitable to sleep in. She was certainly looking forward to it, after such an exhausting day.
She headed to the bed that Nemuno pointed to, and the sheets were made up of pleasant colours with a homemade trim. Hatate couldn't help but smile, thinking how she could tell from a glance that the bed was something made by the yamanba. She took out the ribbons in her hair, letting it fall out behind her head. Just as she was about to climb onto the bed to get a feel for it though, she suddenly realised an obvious fact.
"...Wait a second. This is the only bed, isn't it? Then where are you sleeping?" Hatate turned around as she asked, and saw Nemuno was setting a rug down on the floor. "What? Is that you're sleeping on?"
"Huh? Oh, well… If it works, ya know?" Nemuno shrugged towards the rug. "It's been a long time since anyone but me slept in my house, and I didn't think I'd have to prepare for any surprise guests. So this'll make do just for tonight."
"Well then, I'll take the rug." Hatate may have decided to stay the night, but this was something she was going to put her foot down on. She continued with her hands on her hips. "No way am I gonna take your bed, after everything else you've done for me today. I won't have it."
"No chance." Nemuno responded just as stubbornly, her arms crossed. "My guests don't take the floor. Ain't proper whatsoever, so I won't have it either."
"Then we have a problem, don't we?" The two were locked in an intense staredown. With neither having any intention to budge on their position, they appeared to be at a stalemate.
Hatate wasn't even sure which of them had suggested this 'compromise'. Surely one of them must have, but both Nemuno and herself seemed rather reticent about it at the time. Regardless of how it happened, she was currently not only borrowing the yamanba's clothes, but sharing a bed with her.
It was a bit awkward, to say the least. The bed was just big enough for two people, but only if Hatate kept perfectly prone with her limbs straight. Since this whole situation was born from Hatate not wanting to bother Nemuno, she would have been especially embarrassed if she accidentally pushed her generous host off her own bed.
She assumed the situation was similarly awkward for Nemuno, who had only offered a blunt 'Goodnight' before assuming her own stiff position paralleling the tengu's. She wondered if this was really any better for Nemuno than the rug on the floor would have been.
"Sorry about this. Maybe I was being stubborn for no reason…" Hatate said in an apologetic tone.
There was no response, and Hatate assumed that Nemuno was silently annoyed at her. ...Until Hatate glanced to her side, and was able to tell even in the relative darkness, that Nemuno was already fast asleep.
"Oh…" Hatate watched Nemuno for a few seconds in surprise, peaceful slumbering with relaxed breaths. A soft chuckle escaped Hatate. She closed her eyes and whispered one last thing. "If you're fine enough to sleep like this, then I won't worry about it either. Goodnight…"
Sunlight poured into the house, and Nemuno's eyes slowly fluttered open. Her first coherent thought was that yesterday must have been more tiring than she realised, because she slept like a rock, and even recalled a pleasant dream or two. She let out a yawn, and couldn't help but close her eyes again. Despite usually being an early rise, she was heavily tempted to just sleep in for however longer she felt, considering how exceptionally warm and cozy her thick bed sheets felt.
Her eyes opened once more, when she remembered that she hadn't pulled her sheets over her the previous night. In fact, it wasn't so much that there was something 'oh' her, but more like her arms were wrapped around something.
Nemuno glanced down at herself, and realised that Hatate was still in the bed with her, and still soundly asleep. At some point during the night, they had moved towards embracing one another, and Hatate's head was currently resting right on top of Nemuno's chest.
A low, squeak got caught in Nemuno's throat, as if she wanted to shout from the shock but it didn't quite manage to come out. Whatever warmth Nemuno already felt was nothing compared to how hot her face became at that moment.
Nemuno turned her face away, desperately choosing to focus on anything else, and she decided to lock her gaze on a window at the far end of her house. The weather that morning was perfectly clear, no sign of the harsh storm from the previous night whatsoever. At this point, it was certainly within her right to ask Hatate to leave, or even just throw her out.
However, when she dared to glance back at Hatate, seeing her face still peacefully asleep against her chest despite Nemuno's racing heartbeat… She realised perhaps there was no reason to be hasty.
"...If you're fine like that, then I won't fuss about it either." Nemuno whispered in a resigned tone, before closing her eyes, and choosing to rest comfortably with her company for a little longer.