The Late Bird's Tale: A Tale of the Floating World

Part 2 || 2 | Sakura | Four Spies, A Strange Visit I

Written on 1/29/23. Winter Season, January 2023 edition (1st scene).
Written on 2/2/23. Winter Season, February 2023 edition (2nd scene).
Sakura Yume (picture reference).

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Part 2 || 2 | Sakura

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A Tale of Four Spies

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Within the bulb of the Riddell Court cul-de-sac, the trio of muse officers appeared standing over three five-pointed seals on the sidewalk in front of Grace Ransom's house. Momo pointed out said house, and Sakura and Ryder looked up at their target's friend's house, a two-story residential with a gabled roof over the garage. And sure enough, the Muse Inspector's observations were proven true when Sakura heard the cacophony of the four Jacks commenting on the Jack of Diamonds' taste in older women, which the Jack of Diamonds denied.

"Ugh, they're here," Sskura deadpanned.

Momo also deadpanned, adding, "And they're noisy."

"Yep," Sakura said, wondering how Judy and her friend hadn't thrown those four Jacks out of the house yet. "Let's get out of here. We're too exposed."

So Momo walked over the gravel of someone's front yard towards a mesquite tree, manifested a blank omamori charm in her hand, placed it against the trunk, and said, "Give us shelter, oh tree spirit," and she disappeared from view.

Ryder said, "What the . . ."

"Hey, sis!" Sakura added. "Where'd you go?"

("I'm close by," Momo said in her mind. "Head over to the mesquite tree in front of you."

Sakura traded looks with Ryder and said, "Are you talking to the tree spirit?"

"Yep. Come on over," Momo said.)

So Sakura and Ryder went over to the tree and stepped into a small thatched pavilion beneath it. There they saw Momo talking with a female spirit sporting a pair of long braided twin tails over her shoulders, who also wore a headband, a buckskin dress over blue jeans, and moccasins.

Both girls were sitting cross-legged and waving them over, and the tree spirit said, "Have a seat, girls."

So Sakura and Ryder took their seats next to Momo.

"My name is Pamahas," the tree spirit said. "You said you wanna stay here for a bit?"

"Yep," Momo said. "Will you let us?"

"I can," Pamahas said, "but why here of all places?"

"We're keeping tabs on a girl named Judy Windermere," Momo said. "Do you know who I'm talking about?"

Pamahas paused, then said, "That dreamer girl?"

"Yeah, that's the one," Momo said. "We're on a case from the Muse Bureau involving Judy's whereabouts during a week of entrance exams. She kept disappearing for a few hours during exams, and after a week of this happening, the Muse Chief wanted us to investigate where Judy went. We're here, because Judy's at her friend's house," and she pointed it out.

"I see," Pamahas said. "I saw a girl running to that house this morning, followed by three rambunctious men."

"You saw the Jacks?" Sakura said.

"I did," Pamahas said.

"Did you see the fourth one?"

"The fourth one," Pamahas said, "opened the door when Judy arrived. I thought they were having a party."