Taking over the Abyss

47- Dango Milk and Apologies

"(Name)!" Paimon called your name loudly, waving both of her arms around to try and catch your attention. Jogging up to her and Aether, you met them both a smile.

"Hey," you gave them both a small wave, "Did I make you wait long?"

"No, not at all," Aether shook his head, looking somewhat relieved to see you, "I'm glad you're okay. There was this huge explosion a while ago, so I got worried."

Ah, that big explosion you caused while trying to intimidate Signora. You did your best not show any outward signs of being guilty. You should've figured that such a massive blast would've caught people's attention. Feigning ignorance, you frowned lightly, "Oh, is that so?"

"Yeah, it was huge!" Paimon seemed to think it was awesome, mostly because it was something she wasn't personally involved in. As you and Aether began the walk towards the Tenshukaku, Paimon did her best to fill you in on the details, all the while you pretended you had absolutely no clue about what happened.

Most of the civilians didn't seem too bothered by the massive explosion, due in part to it being covered by Mt. Yougou. They continued on with their lives, taking more interest in you and Aether's appearance rather than anything else. The dirt road turned to stone pavement and staircases, all of which had some sort of pile of sakura blooms towards the end. They really were a slipping hazard.

As you strolled past the Yae Publishing House you were stopped by the familiar voice of a certain kitsune, "Would you look at that? My, it's been a while since we've all last seen each other, hasn't it?"

Feeling somewhat exhausted all of a sudden, you glanced over to see Yae Miko sitting on the front counter with a mischievous smile on her face. Aether seemed unsurprised to see her here, commenting dryly, "Oh, it's Yae."

"What's with that reaction?" Yae questioned, closing the book she was reading and placed it down on the counter, getting up and strolling towards the three of you. "I would've figured that you'd be a little more pleased to see me than that."

"What're you doing here, Yae?" Paimon asked curiously, unable to comprehend why Yae would be here at the Yae Publishing House, for some reason, "Shouldn't you be at the shrine?"

"Oh, I could be," she said, before her eyes fell onto you, "But I happened to hear you and that blond companion of yours talking about how you wanted to take a certain somebody to have Ei apologize, and I figured that I wanted to see what would happen."

"So you want to eavesdrop?" Aether sounded unimpressed when he said it, crossing his arms over his chest in disapproval. Yae laughed at how blatant he was with his objection over the idea.

"Don't worry, I won't interfere much," Yae promised quickly, the kitsune ear not weighed down by her vision flicking lightly, "It's just that the chance to see Ei sincerely apologize to somebody is exceedingly rare, so I want to make sure I don't miss it."

Aether looked to you, entrusting you with the final say. You looked Yae up and down, before shrugging, "Sure, I don't see why not."

"Good," Yae smiled at you, "Then let's not delay any further."

With Yae added to your party, the four of you continued through the streets of Inazuma. Some groups of people stopped to stare, wondering what in the world Yae Miko was doing here with the rest of you. Ultimately, with just one look from Yae, they decided better of it and focused their attention elsewhere. The rest of the way to Tenshukaku was short and uninterrupted, save for Katheryne's lingering on your group for just a second longer than normal.

The man standing guard at the front of Tenshukaku managed to miss Yae standing around your group, stamping the bottom of his polearm against the ground and declaring, "No visitors will be allowed into Tenshukaku at this time!"