Love Blooms

- extra 1 -

when tighnari met with yae miko

"this should be the place," tighnari mumbled, looking at the written instructions ayato had given him.

"hello there," a shrine maiden said. "are you lost?"

"i was wondering if this is the grand narukami shrine?"

"yes! you've come to the right place. how may i help you?"

"i'm here to see miss guuji yae on behalf of the yashiro commissioner. is there any way that she'd be able to meet with me?"

"but of course," another voice chimed. the shrine maiden bowed and took her leave.

tighnari looked and saw a pink-haired woman with fox ears walking down from a platform facing a large violet tree. so this must be her.

"i'd be more than willing to talk to you. after all, i've heard a lot about you," yae miko walked up to him, looking down at his finger that had a ring on it. "you must be here because of Y/N, aren't you tighnari?"

"well yes-"

"my my, what soft ears you have," yae miko said, gently touching his ears. tighnari flinched, not used to the contact. "and a tail! what beautiful fur!"

"please don't touch them," he said, moving his tail out of her reach and stepping back. "i never allowed you to."

"hmm? oh what a pity. such soft fur and you won't let anyone go near it."

well would you like me to pull at your ears without notice, tighnari thought. probably shouldn't say that to Y/N's boss though. maybe a similar thing happened to that dog-guy that they told me about before. gorou was it?

"anyways, what's so important that you traveled from sumeru to here?"

"i was going to request that you allow Y/N to move to sumeru. permanently."

"permanently? and what makes you think i'd be so willing to give up one of my favorite and best writers?"

"you don't need to give them up," tighnari said firmly. "Y/N still wants to write for you. however they want to live a life in sumeru. it's a place with a lot of inspiration."

"i see your point," yae miko said. "but why take them all the way to sumeru, hmm?"

"w-well," tighnari thought for a moment. i shouldn't bring up personal details, she's most definitely the type to use that against Y/N. "they're from sumeru and have expressed their desire to come back."

"so it's for no other reason," yae miko giggled.

tighnari bit the inside of his cheek to contain his blush, subconsciously moving his hand behind his back. "i don't believe they need a an additional reason."

"if you say so," yae said with a small sigh, grabbing an envelope and handing it to him. "this has my written approval. feel free to hand it to Y/N."

"when did you-"

"i sent Y/N there for a reason," yae said with a smirk, then leaned over and whispered. "don't blow your chance."