With and Without You (AetherxAyaka)

Chapter 34 : The Calm Before... (No Comic!)

Finding Tsubaki.

Such a simple thing to say, yet...

...so difficult to actually do.

Sure, Tsubaki might be a fox envoy and not some normal person, but that didn't change the fact that this "Tsubaki" was well hidden. It was as if this person didn't want to be found.

Or rather that was the conclusion Aether had originally come to. It was better than the other rational belief, that Tsubaki no longer roamed this world. 

The only lead either Ayaka or Aether had, came from Ayaka's mother. Specifically from her mother's journal.

Given that clue, Aether had roamed across the shorelines below Inazuma City for quite some time. He looked for any sign that would suggest that of a habitat or shelter.

Ideally, fox envoy or not, this Tsubaki would need a safe place to sleep. Something that shelters one from the rain, the cold, and the dangerous.

If not for that clue in the journal, Tsubaki could of been anywhere in all of Inazuma. But luckily they have managed to narrow it down to a designated area.

It was just a matter of finding-

Aether stopped his mental trance immediately upon finding more promising terrain.

He waved Ayaka and Paimon to his position. And at first he could see their visible confusion, but that would change.

He had hoped this cave beneath the Shogun's domain would contain what they were looking for.

It matched the journal's description afterall.

Water flooded into the muddied cave floors, separated between mounds or dirt, grass, and rock. Despite the high ceiling blocking off the sun; Grass, bushes, and even saplings have grown here. 

Rock pillars rose high, from his feet to well above his own height. The natural deformation  suggested some form of erosion, but the cave still held up well.

Ayaka glanced at the journal before closing it with a smile. 

She had feared they wouldn't find anything on their own, up until now.

Originally Aether had the idea of contacting Yae Miko. She was fox envoy and clever, she would be useful for finding Tsubaki.

But, Ayaka had immediately denied the idea moments ago.

She didn't dislike Yae Miko, especially from an official standpoint. Miko worked quite often with Ayaka considering both of their lines of duty involve ceremonial events.

Although they often have changed a few words when it came to work, Ayaka wasn't very social with any one. Especially her.

Respectfully, in the nicest way, Ayaka avoids any social interaction with Yae Miko at all times.

The women, for some reason, has an obsession with teasing people. And with all the time she's had to do that teasing, calling Yae Miko an expert would be an insult.

No. She much more than any expert at teasing.

Add on Yae Miko's unsurpassed skill with people, and Miko would have Ayaka figured out in seconds.

She couldn't bare being teased by Yae Miko in the presence of Aether. Ayaka knew that would end in a terribly embarrassing situation, one that would leave her a blushing mess.

However it currently seemed unlikely that would be the case, given that the terrain Aether presented in front of her matched some of the terrain mention in her mother's journal.