A Fox's Whisper

23: Ҝ卂乙ㄩ卄卂

"Kazuha," Inari said. "Come up here, will you? I want to talk."

I looked up to where she was sitting in a tall sakura tree. I'd been leaning against the trunk, listening to the wind rustle through the air and enjoying the scent of flowers and sunshine. It was by mere happenstance that we two were by each other. We hadn't said anything up until then. I had merely enjoyed being there with the knowledge of her right above me.

We'd been three days at the Shrine. I seldom saw or talked to anyone who'd previously been in our traveling party. Haru and Sora were often together, but it was rare that I encountered them. Legion had all but become a wraith. Haru said it was because he wanted to stay in his room, to which I had no objection. As for Inari...well, I got the distinct impression that she wanted to be alone for a while to sort out her thoughts. I figured that if she wanted to talk to me, she would. And so it would seem that my patience had reaped its reward.

I pulled myself up through the branches of the tree until I reached Inari. She'd chosen a limb that stretched so far out over the cliffside that should she fall, she wouldn't greet the ground until she hit the base of the mountain. An unnerving thought to be sure, but either it hadn't crossed her mind or she didn't believe it would happen from the carefree way she was situated.

I sat beside her, legs dangling over the branch into open air. I could see why she liked sitting in the trees so high up. It was like climbing into a new petal-filled world that accepted you as you were. It was quiet and unassuming.

Inari studied me silently for a while before looking down at her hands folded into her lap. "Um...I wanted to thank you for...for trying to protect me that night," she said quietly. "You didn't have to."

I smiled gently at her. "There's no need to thank me. I wouldn't have wanted to do anything otherwise, although in the end, it wasn't I who did much."

She flushed. "Yeah...anyway. Sora apologized to me yesterday. So...there's that." She struggled to think of something else to say, but she couldn't seem to think of anything.

"Did she now?"

"Mm. She said she was wrong about me and hoped that I could forgive her. I said I did."

I nodded.

"But then she said this still didn't mean she liked me very much," Inari tacked on half sheepishly. She rubbed the back of her neck. "Which I suppose is to be expected, I mean...I've lived a lot of my life being generally disliked, so it's not as if it's a novelty." Clearing her throat she added, "Haru tried saying he knew what I was all along. He just didn't say anything because he didn't want to embarrass me or something. I suppose that's as close to an apology from him as I'll get."

I laughed. "Really, I'm surprised he said that much. Apologies aren't his strong suit. They scare him."

"That explains a lot."

"It does."

There was an abrupt pause. I could feel the nervous waves of tension roll off Inari. "I'm...sorry you haven't seen much of me lately," she mumbled. "I just--"

"I understand," I said. "Solitude matters. For some, it is the breath one takes in between the reckless happenings of life."

She nodded, crossing her ankles and slowly swinging her legs back and forth. Then she sighed, rubbing her eyes with her hands. "Oh, I wish Miko would come back..."

Instead of revisiting the topic of what to do about Dorobo, Lady Yae had left for Inazuma City the following morning of our arrival on what she claimed was "business that couldn't be helped." She'd promised to return soon, but now that nearly two days had gone by, the chances of her returning as soon as she'd promised were increasingly slimmer than before.