The sun has almost set. I watch as the figure of a woman emerging from the gap. Her long, blonde hair is tucked under her mob cap, and she dons a long-sleeved purple and pink dress. As the soles of her feet hit the cobblestone pathway, she opens a decorative parasol above her head. The gap closes and disappears, as if it wasn't there in the first place. I pick up the sleeping child, turn around, and bow.
"Yukari-sama. I have accompanied the daughter of Hakurei no Kannushi as you have requested."
Yukari twirls her parasol idly as she eyes the little girl in my arms. "You got her to sleep, at least. It would have been a pain dealing with her if she was awake," she muses, and takes the girl from me with one arm. She cradles the child against her body, and I wonder briefly how many powerful beings this girl has been held by.
Yukari smiles at the girl fondly, and then turns to me with a much colder expression. "You are free to go."
Without another word, I bow to Yukari again and take to the skies. There's no reason for me to stay here, now that my mistress has come. Besides, I have business at home.
"Ran-samaaa! Welcome back!"
I have barely stepped into the house when I hear pattering footsteps. A girl with short, dark brown hair and earthy-colored eyes come running down the hallway, holding a workbook. Her forked cat tail flickers in excitement as she skids to a halt in front of me. She holds the workbook in front of her as if it were the Holy Grail itself.
"Hello, Chen, what's that you've got there?"
"It's my homework!" Chen says. "Yukari-sama has assigned me some math problems, so will you help me?" She flashes a sheepish grin. I smile right back at her. Chen's strong suite isn't math, but I know she's a smart girl. After all, she wouldn't ask me for help if she were learning new kanji.
"Of course. What's it on tonight?" I ask as I slip off my shoes.
"The multiples of twelve. If I don't get it right this time, I'm dead!" When she says this, I can't help but wonder what she had been told. When it comes to Yukari, I can never shake the fear of not knowing whether or not her threats are baseless.
When I follow Chen into the living room, I see that there are still dishes on the table from the dinner I had prepared Chen before heading out. I raise an eyebrow. "Chen, didn't I tell you to clean up after eating?" I ask sternly.
Chen's cat ears perk up, and she laughs nervously. I can't help but sigh. "Well, clean it up, then. I'll help you on your homework after that." I pause. "But only half of it, since you forgot to clean up."
Chen gapes at me. "No fair!" She starts to stack the dishes on the table. "Ran-sama, you're meeeaan~"
I play along, chuckling at her. Chen has no idea how lucky she is. Her biggest problems are chores and math.
In the end, I take back what I said and help her with all of her homework.
"Ran."
Chen has long since fallen asleep on my tails, and I have long since moved her to her own bed. When Yukari calls out to me, I am sitting on the porch with a cup of tea. I look up to see her hanging out of a gap. She looks tired. I wonder if that child woke up after I left?
"I'm visiting Yuyuko tomorrow with Chen, so I'm leaving the little Hakurei to you. Oh, and take this to Kourindou."
"Understood."
Yukari throws me a small box and disappears into the gap, presumably to go to sleep.
This was supposed to be a oneshot what is this second chapter doing here aaagghhh
I was debating whether or not to keep going with first person present tense or third person omniscient past tense...um, that sounds kind of confusing, doesn't it. In the end, though, it's meant to be short and sweet, so I focus more on content than length. I'm not sure where I'm going with this, but I'm know I'm going to have fun with it~
Also, a heads up: this story will not be told through Ran's point of view exclusively.
