A/N: My entry for Eremika Genre Week! Day 1's prompts are fantasy or mythology. I decided to pick mythology. Mikasa is an ameonna in this fic, a rain spirit from Japanese mythology. The story is partially inspirited by xxxHolic (chapter 59). Hope you enjoy!
Working at a wish granting factory is tough. Well, it's really a wish granting shop but the number of customers that visit makes it seem more like the former. Not that he minds. Working at Rivaille's shop gives Eren an opportunity to work with people that he probably never would have come into contact with such interesting clients. Of course, it also helps him get used to seeing spirits but Rivaille still think he's crap with his powers. He's tried to protest that a walkthrough would work better than a hands-on approach, but Rivaille only scoffs at him and tells him he's not a babysitter every time Eren suggests a different method.
Still, he admires his mentor's abilities to handle his job so well, no matter how dark the request. Although Eren still believes that Rivaille should be a bit more polite when running the business.
"Get the door, Eren," he says absentmindedly after hearing a knock.
"Shouldn't you get it?" Eren asks even though he knows full well that he's going to be the one that ends up answering the door anyway. Perhaps if he stalls enough he'll be able to solve this math problem…
"You have legs, Eren," Rivaille growls, not budging. "Get it. Now."
The poor high school student drops his pencil and gets up, making his way towards the door. "You have legs too," he mutters under his breath, but he makes sure to say it once he's out of earshot. He's already had one too many scoldings from that grumpy, old man.
Opening the door, Eren is suddenly aware that is raining rather heavily outside. He wonders how he didn't hear the raindrops pounding against the roof. Maybe he was too concentrated on his schoolwork to notice. Standing on the front steps was a girl about his age. She had a large black umbrella open, even whilst standing within the shelter of the porch, and was dressed in a simple black dress that didn't look all that warm. Blinking at him with large grey eyes, she spoke. "You're not Rivaille," she says.
"Erm, no," he says, fidgeting a bit. There's something about her intense gaze that makes him nervous. "Would you like to come inside? He's not doing anything currently, so I'm sure he could assist you with whatever wish you need granted."
The girl frowns at Eren and replies, "No, I don't think that would be a good idea. Please call him out."
As if called by magic, Rivaille appears at Eren's side before Eren can even open his mouth and the man shrugs at Eren's surprised look. "You were taking too long," he says to Eren before turning back to the girl, nodding at her in acknowledgement. "Mikasa. What brings you here?"
She turns her attention to the short man. "I need you to retrieve something for me," she answers.
Eren expects Rivaille to prompt her further for her request but is surprised when the man simply stands there and turns to his pupil. "This one is yours," he says to Eren. He glances back at Mikasa. "Don't worry. He's not as stupid as he looks. He'll help you out. You can discuss the payment with me after everything's done."
"Eh?" Eren exclaims, looking frantically between the girl and Rivaille.
"Everything you need is in the storage room, Eren," Rivaille says, waving a hand but not looking back. He's already walking back to his bedroom to do god knows what.
"I-" He realizes he's being rude to the new customer and returns his attention back to her. "Er, how may I help you?"
The girl – Mikasa, Rivaille called her – looks at him in amusement for a second before she responds. "There's water in a well that I want."
i.
She shows him a well behind an abandoned mansion that always gave him the creeps when he was younger because of the kids in his neighborhood would spread rumors about the ghosts that lived inside. The ghost stories didn't scare him anymore. He's seen real ghosts and they were far more haunting than the screaming banshees or mischievous poltergeists.
The girl doesn't say much as she accompanies him to the well but she does invite him under her umbrella. He still doesn't know exactly why she wants him to get the water from the well but he knows that he shouldn't pry. It's more than just being polite and staying out of people's business. After working under Rivaille so long, he had learned that it's sometimes best not to ask questions. Still, it's hard not to wonder…
Standing so close to her, Eren can't help but breathe in her scent and is surprised that she smells just like fresh rain on asphalt after a dry spell; petrichor, he thinks it's called. It's strange because he's sure perfumes smell like flowers or various types of foods. He thinks that maybe that it's the smell of rain on her clothing but not even a drop seems to have landed on her. She must have noticed him staring at her because she gives him a sideways glance and tilts her head.
Eren can feel his face flush after being caught staring and, in an attempt to make things less awkward, he blurts, "I'm sorry for staring. I haven't seen you around before. Do you go to a different school?"
A ghost of a smile hovers on her lips. "Ameonna don't typically go to school," she responds although not unkindly. He hadn't noticed during their initial meeting, but her voice has a soothing quality to it. It's quiet and melodic, like a lullaby. "Rain spirits, you might call us if the other term doesn't roll off your tongue that easily. Did Rivaille really not tell you about me?"
"Er, no. He just told me where I could find the glass jars and told me I'd probably have to make repeat visits," Eren says sheepishly.
To his surprise, she laughs, hiding her smile beneath a black-gloved hand. "How very like him," she says in amusement. "I'm afraid that's why it'll always be raining around here until my wish is fulfilled."
"I don't mind," he says, opening the rusty gate for her to walk through. "My mom's ecstatic because this means she doesn't need to water the flowers outside. She runs a flower shop. I help out sometimes if Rivaille gives me a day off."
"That sounds lovely," she says. "I never really get to see the flowers all that much. I just water everything and find that I need to make it rain somewhere else."
"That sucks. Maybe you can visit my mom's shop if you ever get a day off," he suggests.
He wonders if he's being too casual towards the customer, but she gives him a charming smile and he finds himself smiling back. She's pretty when she smiles, he thinks. He likes the way her eyes soften when the corners of her mouth turn upwards. Are all rain spirits this cute? Most of the other spirits he meets either want to kill him or treat him like dirt for being a human. The ameonna is one of the first spirits to be genuinely nice to him. He shakes his head before his thoughts can wander anymore. Rivaille would kill him if he thought about dating a client.
The ameonna leads him to the back of the mansion. The trees are overgrown and the foliage is so thick that the grass is hardly wet. At the center of the yard is a well that looks as old at the earth. It's made of stone and covered in numerous vines. A little wooden roof covers the top of the well with a matching bucket hanging from the rod in the middle. Eren curiously peers in, but all he sees is darkness.
Looking at the girl, he raises an eyebrow. "Are you sure there's water in here?"
She nods patiently. "My source is rarely ever wrong. Listen." Mikasa sits down next to the well and puts her ear close to the well, gesturing for him to do the same.
He follows suit, wondering what he should be listening to. He opens his mouth to ask but he sees her with her eyes closed and listening deeply. Frowning, he closes his eyes too and tries his hardest to ignore the pattering of the rain. And then he hears it. It's the distant sound of waves crashing against the shore. As he focuses more and more, the sound of waves grows louder and louder and he almost believes he's standing on the beach watching the water pulling in and out of the shore. When he finally sits back up, he finds Mikasa watching him and he suddenly feels embarrassed for taking so long. Rivaille isn't paying him to sit there and observe every little magical thing that happens on the job. (Not that he's paying him very much at all.)
"Sorry!" he says, hurriedly getting up to get the bucket. In his rush, the bucket slips from his hand and falls into the well. He yelps, snatching the rope before all of it can roll off the rod, making sure that he'd never get the water. He breathes a sigh of relief. It'd be terrible to get return to the wish shop only to tell Rivaille he failed his first ever independent job.
She's giggling now, attempting to stifle her laughter so he wouldn't feel as embarrassed. "It's fine," she tells him. "Relax a little. Rivaille isn't here. You should take as much time to revel the things in the spirit world as much as possible."
He lets out a nervous laugh at that. "How long have you known each other?" he asks. She seems familiar enough with the shop owner to poke fun of his grumpiness and other peculiar habits.
"We do business together," the water spirit says, shrugging like it's not that big of a deal. It probably isn't. A lot of spirits come to Rivaille's shop to get wishes granted. They visit far more than humans do. "He never mentioned anything about an assistant though."
Eren snorts as he pulls the bucket from out of the well and lifts it out. "I'm not surprised. Rivaille thinks I'm a fuck up." He unscrews the cap of the spherical container and pours the water in. To his surprise, the water completely fills the jar to the top. He probably shouldn't find this all that amazing after working at a wish shop for a year.
"I don't think that's true," Mikasa says as she watches him screw the cap back on. "Rivaille's easily irritated. If he hasn't fired you by now, he probably thinks you're tolerable and somewhat competent. Besides, I think you're doing a wonderful job."
His cheeks grow warm and he ducks his head so she doesn't see the blush creeping across his face. He tries to banish thoughts about how nice she is on the walk back but he can't help but think about how pretty she is whenever he glances at her from the corner of his eye.
ii.
He notices that it only drizzles around him and the ameonna. Everywhere else the rain pounds the pavement and drums against the rooftops. It hasn't stopped raining since the ameonna first arrived. "You can control all of this?" he asks her on their way back.
She looks at him questioningly.
"The rain, I mean," he clarifies. He would use his arms to gesture but he's carrying the water and doesn't want to hold it with one arm and risk shattering the jar. Rivaille already looks like he wants to kill Eren half of the time for being an incompetent buffoon.
"I can," she says. It suddenly rains harder for a brief second before returning to a lazy drizzle. "But I can't make it stop raining. Rain follows me wherever I go. You humans refer to it as my 'curse.'"
"I don't think it's a curse!" Eren blurts out. His cheeks are red, flustered for having shouted out so passionately, and he tries to elaborate with the hopes that it would make him appear less of an idiot. "Rain's good. I know most people associate rain with doom and gloom, but it's necessary for life, isn't it? I know it's cheesy, but you can't have a rainbow without the rain. Flowers don't bloom without it. And it…it feels good against your skin. Pleasant." His cheeks are even more aflame after that last pathetic sentence and he wishes he hadn't spoken at all.
She giggles but it's not an unkind laugh. "I suppose you're right."
He finds that she's relatively easy to talk to. She explains to him that she doesn't normally associate with humans other than Rivaille. ("And he's not even really human," she tells him. "He's lived too long. Humans aren't supposed to live as long as he has.") Between her work and the fact that human didn't necessarily appreciate the rain, she never finds the time or the reason to. She's curious about him though. She likes to ask him about his mother's flower shop and his favorite flowers. He even tells her about school. It's a mundane subject but she seems genuinely interested in what he tells her.
He also finds that he likes talking to her. It's only when he goes home that he realizes that he never asks her about herself and knows little about her beyond the fact that she's a rain spirit. A feeling of shame washes over him and he hopes that she doesn't think him too rude. Maybe he'll be able to ask her about herself tomorrow.
iii.
"This is the third day you've carried water for me," Mikasa says, watching Eren fill up the glass container, "and you haven't asked me what they were for. Aren't you the least bit curious?"
Eren swivels the top of the container shut and grunts as he lifts it up. "A bit but not enough to ask you," he replies. He hates how these stupid jars are spherical with the exception of the flat bottom so it could stand on its own. It made it so hard to grip. It's pretty characteristic of Rivaille to have such cumbersome things though. The shop owner likes to make things much more difficult than they need to be. "I've learned from previous experiences to just keep my curiosity unsatisfied."
She smiles and he swears that the weather just got a little less gloomy. "I promise that the answer is harmless."
"Okay then…what's the water for?" he asks.
"Drink the water," she says.
"Drink it?" he repeats, looking from her to the container in his hands. "I don't think Rivaille would approve of that."
Mikasa rolls her eyes. "It's fine. He's not here and this is technically my water." She stops walking and Eren follows suit. The ameonna unscrews the cap of the jar and dips her hand in and pulls it out, a pool of the well water in the palm of her hand. "Open your mouth."
"I-" But she already has her hand up against his mouth and is tipping the water she's cupping in her palm into his open mouth and some of it dribbles down his chin and onto his shirt. He hardly notices this though because he's so focused on how the water tastes.
It tastes like water but something else as well. There's an earthy hint to it. It's not like dirt. It's older than that, ancient, from a world that existed even before humans walked the earth. He can feel the pure liquid traveling through his veins, coursing through his whole body, and his whole being feels as if it has been purified. He's speechless when he finally opens his eyes. The world seems brighter than before even in this gloomy weather. "I've never had water like this," he croaks.
That beautiful smile settles on her lips again. "I told you it wouldn't hurt you," she says, putting the cap back on the jar. "It's some of the oldest water left in the world, untouched by humans. If used correctly, it has really incredible healing powers. A few friends of mine have ideas about restoring lakes and rivers in more inhabited areas."
"That's pretty cool!" Eren exclaims, a wide grin on his face. "You know, Rivaille never really lets me converse with the other clients. I didn't know spirits did stuff like this."
"I could tell you about it if you want," she says shyly.
"That'd be really cool!" Eren says ecstatically.
"Well," she says, tucking a lock of her thick black hair behind her ear. She gives Eren a mischievous grin. "I can help you brush up your knowledge on mountain spirits. Rivaille is particularly fond of one…"
iv.
He's sick on the fourth day. He really should have worn more layers under his raincoat, but he hated feeling that big and bulky. His mother almost made him stay at home that morning except Eren made up an excuse about having an important exam at school. Besides, it was just a little cold and nothing to be frightened about.
She must notice because she glances at him with a hint of concern from time to time. She won't ask him about it though, how his voice is a little raspy or why he's wearing an extra layer of clothes, probably because she's so polite.
"I'm sick," he tells her while they're walking back.
"Sick?" she repeats. Her brow is furrowed and he thinks that even when she's worried she looks cute. "It's my fault, isn't it? This weather's no good."
"No, no," he says hurriedly. He immediately feels like an idiot for making her feel like it was her fault. "It's my fault for not bundling up more. And my immune system sucks anyway. Don't worry about it!"
She doesn't say anything more about it and he changes the subject, not wanting to make her anymore uncomfortable than he did before.
He notices as he walks home that the rain is just a light drizzle that gently taps the ground. It tickles when it falls on his face. He has a feeling that the sudden change in how hard the rain is falling is the ameonna's doing. He'll keep in mind to thank her when he sees her tomorrow.
v.
Rivaille leans against the doorway as they walk in, Eren hauling the water in his arms. He lifts the thin kiseru pipe from his lips and blows out a trail of smoke from his lips. "Five jars of pure water," he says, looking idly at the glass container in Eren's arms. "Were you satisfied with doing business with us?"
"Very." Eren swears that she glances at him as she says this and this makes a blush creep up his cheeks. When he blinks, she's looking back at Rivaille. "I believe you'll be wanting your payment now."
Rivaille takes another puff from his cigarette and shrugs. "Discuss it with Eren," he says. "I'm sure he'll find a reasonable price." He takes his leave, leaving the door open behind him, and a trail of smoke follows behind him.
Eren's a little bit too frustrated at this point to even protest. He sets down the container and wipes his brow. "Sorry," he says to the rain spirit. Even if she's familiar with Rivaille's service, he's still embarrassed at his mentor's rude behavior. "I suppose we'll be negotiating a price now."
"Name your price," she says. "Be quick about it though. I've stayed at your town long enough. I'm sure all of your friends and family are sick of the rain."
"Take my scarf," he says suddenly, unraveling the cloth around his neck and quickly wrapping it around her. "Your price. You have to remember me."
She looks surprised but the corners of her mouth turn upwards and she touches the scarf gently with her free hand. "It's warm," she says. Mikasa looks up at him, a small smile on her lips. "But that's just another gift from you to me. That's two wishes and no payment at all. Rivaille is going to have a fit if he hears about this."
"It's enough," Eren insists.
"Close your eyes," she tells him.
He does what she tells him although he doesn't know why. It's only when he feels her pressing her lips against his that he understands what's happening. He's so surprised that he almost pulls away, but her lips taste like rain and they're softer than he though they would be. When she pulls away he's still too stunned to speak and she gives him a quick peck on the cheek.
"That one's for the scarf," she says to him. "Tell Rivaille that my sprites will pick everything up tomorrow morning."
"O-okay," Eren stutters.
"I'll see you around, Eren." She grants him one last smile before she disappears into the rain. It seems like all of the rain falls down at once, obscuring her from view, and then it suddenly stops. The clouds part and the sun is able to shine again for the first time in a full week. There's no trace of her at all. He stands there for a bit and tries to find the ameonna's figure in the distance but is disappointed to find that she's not there at all. Giving up, he decides go in the shop and find Rivaille so he could give a report on his work for the ameonna.
He barely walks back into the room when Rivaille speaks.
"Did she kiss you?"
The question shocks Eren and he finds himself blurting, "Pervert!" before he can stop himself. Rivaille shoots him an annoyed look and Eren clears his throat, remembering whom he's talking to. "Er, yes. How did you know?"
Rivaille, in typical Rivaille-fashion, ignores the question. "Ameonna kisses have special properties." He blows a puff of smoke from his pipe and watches it dissipate as it unfurls into the air. "Now you never have to worry about dying of pneumonia."
"No one dies from pneumonia in this day and age," Eren points out.
"How's your cold?" Rivaille asks.
"It's-" He didn't notice until now that his throat isn't sore at all and he doesn't feel the least bit sniffly. "It's gone."
"You'll never get a cold either," Rivaille says.
Eren raises his fingers to his lips, remembering the feeling of the ameonna's lips on his, her scent, her taste. "Will I ever see her again?" he asks.
Rivaille shrugs. "You know what spirits are like. They come. They go." He gives Eren an amused look when he notices the crestfallen look on his apprentice's face. "I have a feeling she'll be back. Of course, if you want to make a wish…"
Eren gives his master a wry smile before looking out the window. There's a rainbow outside and he wonders if the ameonna ever takes the time to notice what happens after she makes it rain. "I know better than to make deals with you," he says. "But I might have to take you up on that offer."
A/N: Thanks for reading! I have a couple of other fics written for Eremika Genre Week, but I don't know if I'll do all of the prompts. School's pretty busy. Hopefully I'll have another fic up in a couple of days if I don't post another by tomorrow!
