Hanabi

Chapter 36: Tensions

When Sojobou said his goodbyes to all of them three days later and left through the gates on his way back to the mountain, Rina didn’t feel like she was the only one relieved. In fact, Tomomi seemed to be the only one who wasn’t holding herself not to throw a party on the occasion. Sojobou was providing them some invaluable help, of course he was, he wished them good luck and seemed to genuinely hope that things would go well for Mami; but that didn’t mean they had forgotten about his dangerous little game back in Mount Kurama.

Tomomi and Mami thanked him countless times before he left, way more than the other girls. Tomoko didn’t seem to bother much with any of that, and both Rina and Haruna kept their distance from the tengu as much as possible while still being polite. Rina could see it written all over Haruna that she had not forgiven him for almost cutting off her face. Completely understandable in Rina’s opinion.

Showing a level of cheerfulness that could only come from her, Tomomi was now explaining to Haruna how she managed to convince Sojobou to play the whole song for her once so she could record it for additional reference. She seemed very proud of that, holding her phone between them with a big smile on her face and playing the melody for the shorter girl to hear. Haruna was giving her an approving look, making one or two comments about how she’d never understand how people could make those sounds using bamboo.

It was good to see that, it made Rina feel at ease. Haruna had been so harsh and unforgiving most of the time that it was great to watch her being nice to Tomomi like that. It was a remarkable change that had been happening gradually, and it was more noticeable those last few days. Now Haruna seemed to limit her insane arguing fits to Tomoko, and that was something Rina suspected would never change. Not that Tomoko was innocent, the nekomata absolutely loved to feed the fire.

About Tomoko, Rina wasn’t sure if she could stop worrying. She wasn’t sure if the nekomata was supposed to be drinking alcohol while she was supposedly on medication; she didn’t know how that kind of thing could affect a youkai and the kind of medicine that had been made for her. Her knowledge on those things came from watching humans only.

With Sojobou gone, they were all in the backyard since the sunset hadn’t come yet. There was Tomoko sitting at the edge of the hallway with a small cup and her bottle of sake after giving Mami a few more hours of pain, trying to get the blonde to drink with no success. Rina was sitting at a small distance from Tomoko, and the other two were still talking about the song, standing next to where Mami was currently lying on the grass.

The kitsune hadn’t allowed herself to stop worrying for a second since this whole thing started, and that hadn’t changed a bit now.

Tomomi came to talk to her after that tense dinner the other day, and the moment Rina laid eyes on her she knew that Mami had told her about the idea.

What surprised her was that the brunette didn’t seem appalled like Haruna or offended like Mami. Surprisingly, she seemed to be seriously considering the option. They didn’t talk for long, but Tomomi made sure to say she understood Rina’s idea and, considering the options, she also believed that was the best path to follow. That left the kitsune shocked to say the least.

Later that same night she was passing by the hallway and heard the couple arguing quite loudly from Mami’s room, and felt terribly guilty. Mami didn’t really have a point or another plan to trump Rina’s idea, she just kept repeating that she wasn’t going to let that happen. While she said that she wouldn’t let Tomomi do something so dangerous, the brunette argued back saying it was her choice to make.