Windborne wanderers / kazuscara

6

"hey kuni, wanna go wandering together again?"

"hehe, yeah! i can understand why you'd think that."

"the view here is amazing, mind accompanying me a bit here?"

"you seem a bit lonely... is there anything i can do to help?"

kunikuzushi stayed up all night thinking about these sentences that nobody has ever said to him before.

"what is wrong with me?! we didn't even start talking that long ago! it's been what, seven days? how did i manage to spout all that shit without second thought when we've been friends for a mere fucking week? no, i can't let these feelings trick me..."

then, a notification hit his phone.

"it's saturday tomorrow, want to go study that weird well we found in araumi?"

his eyes lit up at the sight of the sender.

"sure."

——

"you're here!" kazuha exclaimed as he saw kunikuzushi approaching their meeting spot.

"i'm not late, am i?"

"no, no, i'm just early. did you eat properly?"

"what are you, my mom? yes, i did. i'm not about to die of hunger in some random cave."

"great! ready when you are."

"let's go."

the duo figured out a way to hop into that huge well without breaking any limbs. the method they used looked... questionable, but hey, at least nobody broke anything yet.

upon entering, the both of them froze in amazement. there were ancient scriptures hidden in every corner of the cave-like place, in front of them there were old kitsune sculptures that seemed to be perserved well, and behind them was a rather beat-up looking torii. the whole place was built of layers upon layers of stone, and there was a rather majestic air around the place. there were glowing flowers of purple and pink hues, and the occassional lamp or two that helped with their vision. that was JUST what they saw in hindsight. there was so much more to be explored and the both of them could sense it.

their faces screamed excitement.

----

as they ventuered deeper into the cave, they found a puzzle that should lower the water levels below them so the place is explorable. that puzzle was tough.

"kazuha, kazuha! kick this one once more!"

"that's just going to mess up the work we've done so far!"

"naaah, give it a try! if it doesn't work i'll solve it all over again myself."

"deal!!"

they were laughing and smiling so much even while struggling to think of anything. to kunikuzushi, this moment was absolutely magical. he pulled his phone out, and took a selfie of him with kazuha racking his brains in the background. it's been a long time since he was ever this motivated to take pictures of himself, let alone with other people.

"told you it works!"

"heh, my bad. wanna jump down?"

"yeah...!"

he hopped down and landed on a steep body of water, which got his clothes wet as it splashed all over him. kazuha just chuckled at that.

after they were both down safe, they started exploring the area carefully.

there were stone structures that made the place look like a prison, and some dead plants lying around.

the whole place felt really off and kazuha wanted to leave. but he stayed, for the sake of kunikuzushi.

little did he know, kunikuzushi was also feeling weird and wanted to leave, and was staying because he thought kazuha would want to go further.

they acted tough and acted like they both wanted it so they continued to proceed.

how stupid he was, kunikuzushi thought. because after that, something happened that proved their gut feelings correct.