And here we are, finally. FINALLY! The most important part of the first part of this fic, the FALL FESTIVAL!

Geez, it has been quite a while since I have been planning this, too much stress in the last months it will worth all that effort xD

ANYWAY!

Thanks guy´s for your PM´s and Reviews, I hope you enjoy this as much I did writing it, share and comment what do you think about the new updates, I have a lot to say, but lets talk at the end of the chapter.

SHIDESU!

OUT!


Chapter 24: The Fall Festival!


"Weeeeeeeeeeeeelcomeeeeeeee! Everyone!" An Anna wearing a red yukata with golden details greeted everyone at the entrance of the plaza, smiling and waving with energetic enthusiasm. "We welcome you to the grand opening of the Fall Festival! Enjoy our food stalls! Wanna test your skills?! We have our training grounds and power tests at the right, so you can impress that special lady or boy! Wanna show off?! We have our games at the back of the festival, win that plushy she or he always wanted, don't be shy!" Anna signalized as she got over a big wooden beam with a square at the top so she could sit and talk, as other Annas supported the base of it, wearing similar yukatas to the one greeting the people, just small differences in the ornaments, as different hairstyles. Kamui looked around as the people laughed and greeted in return that over energetic Anna, kids on their parent's shoulders with apples, peaches, strawberries, or other fruits he couldn't recognize skewered in sticks. Toothy smiles as the couples were walking side by side. There were other platforms at the side of the entrance were some men and women were making music with giant drums, only using a small yukata and some kind of ribbon on their heads as other people were dancing.

It was weird to see four Annas at the entrance of the Plaza, then another five or six at the sides in their stalls offering goods and food, Kamui tried to see them, maybe the Anna that sold that ornaments to Hinoka would be there? He got discouraged as with the time he knew how to recognize his Anna, and none of them was his.

"Look, Kamui!" Hinoka took him out of his thoughts as he bought a small map from one of the stalls. "This is what we can do at this hour. It's a little early, but maybe we can see if there´s any shows here," Hinoka signalized a part of the map. He had to say, it was an impressive work, the entrance of the plaza at the doors of the Palace, how the drawings showed that it wasn't just a small place, but that the stalls, games, activities where placed almost all around the front part of the Palace, at the right side was the streets teachers, and where Hinoka pointed was just about the edge of the corner. "There are some Noh and Kabuki at this hour, aaahh….. there is also the adventures of princess Kaguya…." Hinoka eyes gleamed with excitement. Oboro coughed taking the princess out of her own trance.

"Well….I think we should go with the play of Princess Kaguya, after all, he´s not quite familiar with Noh and Kabuki, and what if he needs to ´´talk´´ with someone?" Oboro commented.

"We can always say that he has a cough, and that he doesn't want to waste energy, it worked with the guards."

"And it will work with them?" Oboro pointed as Hinoka and Kamui followed her gaze, at the corner there were some noble girls that were talking to each other, as some other men, Hinoka recognized the men as possible suitors for her and Sakura. Oboro recognized the nobles as some noisy girls who tried to confess their eternal love for Kamui.

"Dammit….." Hinoka frowned. "What if we go around the entrance, maybe we can dodge them?"

"Well… that´s an option, but I really don't want to risk it, we have lost enough time trying to enter, just to be overwhelmed with those guys."

"…you have a point…" Hinoka sighed looking at the map. "What about some games?"

"Well, it can be some normal games, nothing too physical…..but we need money," Oboro commented checking her purse, not much for the salary of a soldier. Hinoka smiled as she proudly showed her purse in form of a wing, filled with coins.

"Well, I saved for this day, so I think I could help with that, oh! Maybe some gifts? I want something from Ka- ejem*" she gave them some golden coins. "I mean, we can go and get something for Sakura, and maybe…..for someone else?" Hinoka looked shyly at Kamui that just stared at the 10,000 yen in his palm, then he looked at Hinoka and waved his hand in denial. "What?"

"You think it´s too much?" Oboro asked as Kamui nodded. "Well… I agree, I don't think I can take this much from you, Lady Hinoka, so maybe Kamui can humor us and buy something?" she handed another 5000 yen to him, he tried to return the money but Oboro took it and shoved it inside his pocket. "Now! We can go to see the stalls?" she took his left arm, Hinoka by instinct took his right, to prevent him from doing something unnecessary.

"C´mon Kamui! Let´s ghooooo!" The moment the girls embraced his arms, he quickly withdrew and took both girls, pinching them for some moments.

"You´re so mean!" Oboro said rubbing with her hand her cheek. "We just want to do something with you."

Kamui groaned, or at least something similar. Taking too much time would make it harder to find his Anna, and with the people increasing in number, it would be more difficult with the time. He rolled his eyes for a moment before taking their hands and walking to the stalls, Hinoka sighed as Oboro smiled.

"Heeeeeeeeeey handosme! Want to try?" One Anna asked as they got inside the games area, a simple stall with a rack filled with prizes. "500 yens for three balls, what´d you say?" Kamui looked at the Anna, freckles all over her face, deep red eyes, almost brown, and a bang covering her forehead. It wasn't his Anna. He tossed the 500 yens as Anna giggled in excitement. "O~K~ just three shots then! And if I might suggest, go for the Pegasus plushie!" Kamui looked at her for a moment, then he tried one time, just to hit the beam at the right "Easy there handsome! More to the left" a second one, and he hit a small plussie of a Pegasus, just below "Aaahhh such a shame, you should….oh?" Hinoka took the ball and rolling up her sleeve, she threw the ball with all her might, hitting the small Pegasus doll, falling as she smiled. "We have a winner! Nice shot, Your Highness!" Anna cheered as Oboro sighed, seeing how the people around them noticed the princess.

"And there she goes…" Oboro sighed, shaking her head. Hinoka on her part smiled, seeing the small prize she won.

"Ptsss! Lord Kamui" the albino looked to his right, as the Anna handed him a pair of gloves whispering. "I don't want to pry, buuuut, using a replica in the games is a no-no, I assume that you´re too busy to be here in person and you don't want to cheat, sooooo I´ll let it slide this time," she winked leaving the albino dumbfounded. "Oh! Don't worry, I won't tell anyone that you´re a replica, just….be careful, it would be troublesome for the business."

"Oh right, I forgot," Oboro said hitting her palm with her own fist. "Lord Kamui, it will be better if you just let us play this kind of games, you aren't used to skills tests, and it is quite…..bad to do so with a replica." She whispered the last part.

"Uh? why? I never heard of something like that," Hinoka asked with her new doll in her hands while Kamui was putting on his new gloves.

"Well, it´s a law between the owners of the stalls, using a replica that doesn't get tired or fatigued with the games, it´s somewhat a killjoy, so most of them ban their use. Good thing that Kamui´s replica is too similar to his original body, and the only bad thing about it is the joints of the hands," she said, looking at his hands, she had only one question in her mind, why Anna went so far to make such a gift? They weren´t fancy but it was too convenient.

"Well, let´s just get away from the stalls and….." Hinoka was talking but her gaze was trapped in one of the small stalls, Kamui followed her sight and she strangely was looking a comb, with the form of a wing, he rolled his eyes and walked to the stall. "H-Hey! Kamui! Where are you going?"

"Hey friend, ar-a-ah! L-Lord Kamui! Wh-what can I do for you?" the old man asked as the albino pointed at the comb. "Ah! You have a good eye sir, these are quite special items you see," he said looking at his stock. It was filled with personal belongings, and even if Kamui wasn't the brightest mind in fashion, he knew when something was fancy. "It´s my pleasure to bring these, so the people here can have a…oh?" he looked at the albino who showed his money, the man laughed. "No my friend, you´re quite wrong, they´re not on sale, you must win them, this is a treasure hunting game, if you want something from here, then you must earn it, one ticket to try it cost 1500 yens, want to try?" the man handed over a parchment, and as he expected, he couldn't read what was on the paper, he was about to give it back, but Oboro joined and hander her share.

"Two please, it´s look like fun!" she smiled taking both parchments "Time limit?"

"Until the 5pm, young lady, if you can get at least one of these items, then you can certainly have one of these, ha ha ha!"

"Thanks! We´ll see you later then," Oboro bowed and pulled Kamui out of the man sight, Hinoka followed them as they got to sit in a bench at the side of the road, unfolding the parchments she was humming happily seeing its contents. "Let´s see…..mmm… for what Kamui wants it's….geez…."

"What? What he wants?" Hinoka looked at the parchment and read it with a frown "What? And where are we going t-oh?" Kamui shook her shoulder. "Oh! S-sorry, I think we just lost our money Kamui, he ask for a Heracles beetle, a big white pearl or a kitsune hair…." She sighed "Well, it's one of the fanciest thing on the list, so I'm not surprised that he ask for that."

"Well….what I want it much easier to get, but what Lord Kamui wants….." she looked at the albino, and for what she could see, he was frustrated. "…..sigh* look, we can try, but with just a couple of hours…."

"Hey! We can´t give up yet!" Hinoka nodded, giving her doll to Kamui. "Maybe with some luck we can succeed! We can always look in the royal garden for some pearl, and the forest beside the castle is filled with bugs, so there must be a way to get what Kamui wants."

"…." Kamui faceplamed, he stood and looked at the map Hinoka handed him in her little speech.

"Hey! Are you sure about this?" Oboro whispered the princess. "We can always do something else, and I'm pretty sure that he wants the comb for you."

"I know it´s a little selfish, but…" Hinoka looked at the albino who was trying to figure out where he was. "Maybe this is what he needs to unwind? He´s been trapped in the castle for so long, and without Yukimura or other distractions, maybe he can have real fun for the first time in months? And we can alwa-"

"Big sister! Watch out!" Sakura's voice could be heard as Kamui looked back, he instinctively tried to grab his sword, just to realize that there was air in his palm. Not that he needed it for what happened, just a couple of men who was laughing, and for what he could see, Sakura was on a chair, supported on several beams that the men were carrying.

"Gh-Ghaah! N-not now! W-w-wait a minute!"Hinoka tried to complain as the men pulled her to sit in a similar chair, the men cheered as one of them was hitting his drum. Hinoka was raised at the same level as her sister while the men and women were entranced in a kind of dance of some sort. Oboro deadpanned as Kamui just stared at the odd situation unfolding in front of him, they were in their own world, Sakura chuckled, scratching her cheek. "S-Sakura? Why it is happening so early?!"

"I-I'm sorry, sister," she sighed, "its looks like the Noh play had some issues….and well…..th-they were….persistent about it."

"A-And Hana and Tsubaki?!"

"We´re here, Lady Hinoka!" They looked behind Sakura's chair, both Hana and Tsubaki supporting the beams as Hana was frowning, Tsubaki was laughing. "There´s no way that we would let Lady Sakura suffer this alone, so I'm here to show how to celebrate perfectly."

"….Not helping Tsubaki…b-but hey! I can't leave his side! N-not like this! KAMUUUUUUUIIIIIIIIIIIII!" Hinoka pleaded as the group started to dance away taking both princesses, Kamui and Oboro had to take some minutes seeing that scene.

"…..I guess since she is going to celebrate that…thing in the royal garden, we can always look in the forest," Oboro commented, looking at the albino, his face showing his confusion. "Oh! Sorry, every year we have a little event at the temple inside the royal garden. For that event they take the shrine maidens and any other girl related to royalty," she sighed scratching her head. "I guess we have a couple of hours…..maybe she can look at the lake if by any chance there is a pearl. Come on, lord Kamui, let's search for your beetle," she took his hand with a soft smile, Kamui followed her, perhaps with only her at his side, he could look around for his Anna.


Kamui leaned on his knees, it has been an hour since Oboro and he were in the nearby forest. She was too focused on her task of finding that stupid bug that it happened, for some strange reason he was lost in the forest.

Facepalming and sitting among the roots of a cherry tree, he looked at the parchment. How did he get lost in the first place?

Maybe they should have listened the Anna at the entrance of the forest. Perhaps if she followed the signs that showed the path, or maybe if in her rush she didn't push the wrong branch that hit him straight on the face, making them fall from a small drift, when he recovered his "awareness" he was alone.

For minutes he tried to make sound, hitting the branches of the trees to make noise, but the sounds of the forest were absolute.

Curious, maybe he fell too far away of the castle, for the first time in weeks he was "alone." Perhaps he could run to find help or try to cross the border, but without direction or a guide it would be futile, and if he had to guess, Kagero or the other ninjas would be in his tracks, if they weren't already. So he just looked at the parchment, waiting to hear anything from the lancer.

At least it was refreshing for him, no noise from them, no stupid task, or routines. 'Maybe if Hinoka or Oboro were here…' He shook his head, 'Wait, did I….miss them?' he rolled his eyes with his left hand massaging his temples, then he noticed the gloves. 'Why did that Anna gave me this? Maybe if there was a commotion at the festival, the Anna would gather,' he hit the tree with the back of his head, and as he expected, it hurt, he let go the parchment with his hand on the zone. 'Stupid idea,' he frowned. 'Why can't I stop thinking about them? I should be focusing in Elise! For gods' sake, on Camilla, on the others! Azura and….uh?' he was thinking as a pair of feet got his attention, a hand appeared to take the parchment, he looked up to see a girl in front of him.

"My~ My~, I could never have guessed that you like this…." The girl spoke, his vision was blurred for a moment, long golden hair, slim figure with a yukata filled with colors, red and blue mostly, a curious nose that twitched, porcelain skin, clear eyes filled with curiosity. She looked at him with the same interest "….but I guess it´s normal, lord Kamui," the girl sat in front of him. "Maybe I can help? What are you looking for?" her eyes gleamed with passion as he just stared dumbfounded for some moments before pointing at the first words of the parchment. "Uhh….well…..that explains why you are in the forest…but, aren't the beetles out of season? This is mean!" she puffed her cheeks, tilting her head to the right as the parchment moved to her left. "This is….this must be that old man's doing! He always do this to the people, it´s not the first time we complained about him," she frowned, tilting her head to her left. "….mmm….. well…I guess that…oh? Lord Kamui? What´s wrong?"

Kamui blinked a couple of times, she was too tall, and for her figure, Elise was humbler, but her expression were just like hers. He shook his head, standing up and taking the parchment from her hands. He was really getting mad, he couldn't just be infatuated by some random girl, maybe it was Yukimura's scheme? Or perhaps something from Miyu? He tried to walk, passing from her right, just a few steps before he was stopped by her, pulling his arm.

"Wait, if you want to return to the festival, you need to go that way," she pointed at the opposite direction, he looked at her with some incredulity. "What? You don't believe me? Have you tried climbing a tree to see the Palace?"

He opened his mouth, forgetting that he couldn't speak, and that he could do that, her curl on her lips was all what he needed to know she got him. He just took a few step back after she released his arm, looking at the girl for a moment he started to climb the tallest tree that was near, until he was on the top he could see that the girl was right. The Palace was in sight on the direction she said, hitting his head a couple of times against the branch of the tree, he couldn't help but think that some of Miyu's stupidity had rubbed off on him.

Landing with a single jump, he could at least prove the good work on that replica, the ones used to train were more fragile, at least that doofus of a ninja could do something good.

"Woaaaah! That was great, Lord Kamui!" the girl giggled with her arms above her head. "It´s not a good as the original Lord Kamui, but is still good!" he looked at her confused. "I know you´re not Lord Kamui….well, not Kamui Kamui, just a dake Kamui?" the girl wondered with crossed arms and her hand on her cheek. "mmm…. How that girl said it? Repleca? Ruplica?" Kamui tried to deny it, shaking his head "Uh? Well, you're not talking, and that noise inside you, it´s sound like a grandfather clock when you move! And….." she cautiously approached, circling him and stopping in front of him, sniffing the right side of his head. "you…..doesn't smell like the you in the palace, why are you using a fake you?"

He gently pushed the girl and walked away. She huffed, following him, was that girl nuts? He couldn't believe that from all people, just a random girl found him out. A lot of people greeted him early in the day, and none of them noticed, or at least seem to mind it, so why that girl notice? After some minutes walking in silence he glanced in her direction. From her movements she was entranced by her surroundings, looking at her sides to every little thing on the forest, always with a smile, not walking, almost hopping from side to side excited with everything. Looking back at the path he sighed, or tried to, thinking hard, it was the first time than anyone spent so much time beside him, maybe she wanted to get points? Or his good side? Certainly she was chatty back there, and all of sudden she got quiet? Glancing again in her direction he noticed how she was playing with a little leaf, and when her eyes meet with his, she smiled further with a faint blush trying to 'hide' behind the small leaf, in respond he broke the contact and tried to concentrate.

'No…no, no, no, no, NO, FUCKING HELL NO!' He thought. 'There is no fucking way I thought that she looked cute, not in this lifetime, get it together,' he frowned walking and taking deep breaths, or what was breaths in that body, closing his eyes he tried to gather his thoughts 'just try to say thanks, and let the others handle her, she has nothing to do with you' he repeated himself a couple of times, hearing the sound of the forest '…..wait…..' he looked back again as the girl jumped from side to side again, even if she was curious and having fun, why was she so silent? Looking at her feet he noticed her sandals, or what the hoshidians called sandals, other than that, her movements were as stealth as Miyu or Rin 'Maybe another ninja? Sh-arrg!' he couldn't finish his thought as she jumped to him.

"W-Wait! L-Lord Kamui! I got it!" she happily said as she was on top of him, fidgeting on the spot with a curious face on her face. "I know what I can do….. b-but you need to be quiet, and to say nothing about it," she nodded "Yes, Lord Kamui is kind enough to understand, until we see again, I know you won't tell anyone, I have been a really good girl, b-but, I want something in return" she smiled "I know that the people see me with short hair, but when I heard that Lord Kamui likes long hair, I couldn't hide any longer, and I know that Lord Kamui will like it as well," she looked down at him "….I can make you win that prize."

Kamui widened his eyes, he tried to stand again but she pushed his shoulders down.

"B-B-B-B-BUT! You need to….. be quiet…..about….it," Kamui couldn't react on time as she got closer to him, he could feel her breath and before he could understand what was happening.

'No, not another Camilla, please, I can't deal wi-uh?' instead of a kiss, she just embraced him as tight as she could, with her nose sniffing his neck as she fidgeted on the spot.

"I know it´s not the real Lord Kamui… but it´s just as I remember… even if you are sad….you´re still warm….." she smiled and stayed in that position for minutes, Kamui just rolled his eyes, even if he didn't want to, the girl had what he needed, at least everyone would be winning if he was willing to wait for some minutes for a hug.


"Aaaahhh…..aahh! sorry!" she jumped off his torso, brushing away the dirt he stood up. "I'm sorry, I…I have a tendency to do that," she showed her tongue, then looked away to her left. "….I…. I cant follow you….not yet, Lord Kamui" the albino followed her sight, seeing that the plaza was about five minutes away, even with the dense forest, he could see the shadows of the people moving at the distance "Here…." He looked back at the girl, in her finger was a pair of her longest strands of hair, Kamui looked at it not knowing what she meant "…just take it already!" she blushed shoving it on his chest, looking away with her hands on her face "just….don't tell anyone, please, and have fun… until we meet again!" and with a final look she ran to the other way, he tried to grab her arm but he wasn't quick enough, with just her golden hair on his hand and dumbfounded for what happened, he could swear that he had the longest sigh in his life, cleaning the makeup she left in his lips he walked to the plaza, at least if he could find Oboro, he could be done with the treasure hunting.

"I'M SO SORRY!" Oboro said with her hands in front of him, Hinoka a little upset with crossed arms, Tsubaki at her side as she was seeing and checking Kamui´s body.

"How could you lose him for almost an hour?!" Hinoka frowned, seeing Oboro´s clothes, other clothes, different, she looked at the albino that expression was blank. "What were you doing?!"

"Well, Lord Kamui´s body is a little damaged on the sides," Tsubaki said, seeing the small scratches "…..Lord Kamui…..were you and Oboro doing things in the woods?" that comment made Oboro blush and slap his head.

"That´s enough!" Hinoka frowned, massaging her temples with both hands. It was already bad that Kamui was lost, worse when a guard brought him to the shrine where she was with Sakura like a lost child. There was something more that made her mad, she was pretty sure that Kamui didn't had that mark on the side of his lips. It wasn't her lipstick, and certainly it wasn't Oboro´s, so then, did somebody assault him? Her heart hurt thinking about that, the fact that someone was with him, and that he wasn't willing to say who it was. She sighed tired their shenanigans "Look, let´s just enjoy our time, Tsubaki, is he ok?"

"Certainly! I'm not used to repairing replicas, but there is nothing wrong with him," he wiped his forehead as Kamui moved from side to side his left arm, "so you can continue with your date," Hinoka blushed looking away for a moment, Oboro did the same until they reacted at the same time and looked each other, who was Tsubaki referring to? "Well, I can't let Lady Sakura wait for too long, have fun!" he said, walking away, leaving the trio behind. Oboro sighed as Kamui stood up.

"Now what?" Oboro asked as Kamui waved the parchment. "Uh? oh!...well….. I couldn't…. find any beetle…."

"Neither a pearl at the lake…." Hinoka commented a little discouraged "B-but maybe we can get a consolation prize?"

"Sounds good enough," Oboro chuckled, taking Kamui´s arm. "Maybe a dango? Or some curry? Maybe something for the night?" she spoke walking beside Hinoka. The princess frowned and took his other arm.

"We can always go to see other things, like the harvest competition, or other stalls, or the events around the castle to visit important spots! Maybe Sakura can join after the purification ritual in the main shrine! We can….."

Kamui stopped listening as he looked at the stalls. The previous girl was too distracting, and he spent too much time with her and Oboro in the morning, looking at the Anna´s around, he tried to figure out if his Anna was there, seeing their figures around, seeing their differences as everyone just saw the same face.

One too slim to be his, another too tall, too short, step after step he tried to locate what he was looking for, different smiles, how the left side of her curl was too high, other that didn't smiled with the same energy. One Anna with her child and a toothy smile, an Anna with yellow extensions, other´s with different ponytails, or hairstyles, basically in the next minutes walking through the crown he could see the people around him with a shade of grey, as every Anna as a red dot in his vision, taking a grey shade when he knew it wasn't his Anna.

Voices came to his ears but he ignored them. Oboro and Hinoka's expression that were lost as every time he took another step he had to discard another merchant, the minutes passed as he tried to find her 'Too small, to tall, to many freckles, too little' he thought with each Anna that was almost as her. Just before arriving to the stall, almost everyone around turned gray, no one of the Anna´s was his.

'….It was stupid for me to think that…..she would be here, or stay here,' he thought, maybe it was that body, but he could tell that he became tense, discouraged even, to try for a long shot, perhaps he was too late? Or he wasn't right in the first place?

"Here we are, Lord Kamui," Oboro's voice took him out of his thoughts, as the world returned to it´s original colors, he shook his head a couple of times, standing in front of the stall, greeting the man who smile was wide for the amount of parchments unsuccessful at his left.

"Crappy man," Hinoka muttered.

"Oh? Your Highness, you´re back? Welcome! Any luck?" The man bowed as he took Oboro's parchment.

"None, your treasures are too hard to find!" Oboro huffed. "It´s almost a scam!"

"Nonsense, little girl! You can still hear the sound of the crickets and beetles on the air," he laughed, handing a small bag, as Oboro thought, it was just filled with cheap candies. "Better luck next time! And you? Oh?" he looked at the parchment that Kamui handed "Golden hair? Are you pulling my leg, Lord Kamui?" the man frowned looking at the strands. "This is average hair!"

"How do you know?" Hinoka asked.

"Simple, Your Highness, I have a little glyph here," the merchant said as he placed a small scroll in front of them "I place a strand here, if it´s human then nothing happens, but the magic imbued in the kitsune´s turn the black color of the glyph …into….blue…" the merchant´s jaw dropped as Oboro and Hinoka were bewildered, the color shifted to a radiant blue, in that moment Kamui took the strands of hair form the merchant, shortly after that he grabbed him from his collar pulling him upwards. "WHERE DID YOU FIND THAT?!"

"KNOCK IT OFF / LEAVE HIM ALONE" Hinoka and Oboro said at the same time, making the man shiver from their cold glare, for their posture, both girls were about to draw her weapons, if there was any, he quickly released the albino rubbing his own hands.

"S-Sorry, I don't know what happened there…..b-but Lord Kamui, wh-where did you find that?" he looked at the albino, looking with his eyes up for a moment, he shrugged. "Uh? y-you don't know? D-don't play dumb please, I-I just want to know…. If the hair i-is good."

"It´s good enough for you, that´s all," Hinoka said crossing her arms. "And honestly, I don't feel like handing the strands anymore, let´s go," he frowned taking Kamui from his hand. "I´ll report this to my brother!" with that said, the trio left the stall as some of the tourist watched the whole scene.

"Now what?" Oboro asked looking at the albino who was focusing on the strands, she huffed 'Lord Kamui…..where on earth you find those?' she thought.

"First of all, I need to report that one of the vendors is harassing the people of the festival, so we need to….ugg…..go back to the main shrine," Hinoka commented with a defeated look.

"You don't seem too happy about it."

"Well….there might be some issues, Sakura can handle all the paperwork, but I don't want to be part of the parade, that would mean losing almost all the afternoon…."

"….wait….hold on" Oboro curl appeared seeing the strands on Kamui hands "that merchant said that these are kitsune hair, right?"

"Uh? y-yeah, so?"

"Well….. why don't we make a good use of it? If I remember, Kitsune´s are worshiped for some folks as local deities, so maybe if we go to the shrine, they give us something for these?"

"Let me be clear, I won't let you stay with him, and I don't want to go either," Hinoka crossed her arms.

"You know….Lady Hinoka," Oboro whispered with her arm around the princess, covering her mouth so she could only hear. "They say that with some quality goods, they can make some good talismans, and who knows, maybe since we couldn't get that comb, we could get something else? After all, it was his idea to get you a gift, with something from the festival, it would be easier to bond with him.'

Hinoka lips quivered a little looking up, trying to imagine that Kamui would be glad, or even happy was too much for her, she shook her head slapping her cheeks. "Kamui, let's go to the shrine!"

'Too easy' Oboro snickered 'if I didn't know better, I could say that she has a crush on him, maybe we can take this to another level?' Oboro tought following them as Hinoka pulled Kamui´s arm. 'Thank you mysterious-not-girl thing of the woods.'


"Tchuuu!" A girl on the top of a tree sneezed, cleaning her nose with a sleeve she looked at the people having fun at the festival.

"LADY AKEMI! AGAIN WITH THAT OUTFIT?" The girl looked down, seeing her retainer mad at her, again, and for some reason, that vein in his forehead was bigger. "WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF SOMEONE FINDS OUT?!"

"I'm sure it´s not big deal," the girl leaped out of the tree, landing a few inches away of the boy, her ears moved up and down a couple of times, her fox ears as she felt her tail being restrained on her rear. "are you sure this is what they use? I don't feel too comfortable."

"Taking someone clothes is not the best option, Lady Akemi."

"Please, I let enough money behind, so I'm sure they wont miss this."

"And I'm pretty sure that the rightful owner wasn't a kitsune with a weird crush on a dragon, either," his feet moved up and down as the girl showed her tongue looking away. "What about the plan? In the first place, what were you thinking? Those guys should arrive soon, and you want to sc-"

"I don't know, Haru…." She looked somewhat crestfallen "…..Jun said that she suddenly felt….sad…..and I felt something similar too…maybe…..we need to hurry up with the plan…"


HELLO EVERYONE! WELCOME BACK!

Phew, this was a long one, sorry for the delay, I hope you liked this one.

Now, with the current schedule and time I have in this month, I should be able to have a steady update rate, and for some fics that are almost dead, have some minor/mediums updates, any in particular you want to see? Let me know, leave your review, as always your comments are welcome!

Well, without more to say, hope you have a great week and a good start of the month!

SHIDESU!

OUT!