The Lone Shrine Maiden's Wish

Chapter 7: Revelation

Author's Note: Hi

-----

The faint memory of the days events now past lingered in Reimu's head as she laid alone in her bed. 

As warm as she was, it couldn't match the warmth she had from Yukari earlier.

When Reimu had a bit of an emotional breakdown and began crying from the hug, Yukari comforted her. The gentle, truly caring embrace provided by Yukari for...comfort. Reimu knew this time, there was no doubt in her mind that Yukari did it to comfort her. Why? Who knows, but her motive was to comfort, and she did.

Reimu stared up at the ceiling, struggling to sleep as her mind was still bouncing the events through her head, no matter what she tries to think about instead, it always comes back to Yukari.

"She's just so...wonderful. When she wants to be." Reimu said to herself, not truly knowing if she understood that herself.

The hug ended with Yukari and Reimu sharing a slight stare, Yukari smiling down as if to tell Reimu everything would be fine, and Reimu unconsciously looking for that exact confirmation. The shrine maiden gently thanked Yukari and got up, leaving Yukari to excuse herself afterwards. The rest of Reimu's day was spent beating herself in her mind over the events, up until bedtime.

Yukari herself left with an odd sense of satisfaction. As if she fulfilled a goal she never knew she had.

"Feeling good about helping Reimu feel better...I never thought I'd find myself truly caring for how a human feels." Yukari would think to herself, giggling.

Of course, not able to help herself she would occasionally poke her head through a gap to see how Reimu was sleeping. It did seem that after bouts of tossing and turning, she exhausted her body enough to actually fall asleep. That was Yukari's cue that she too could rest. And so she did, feeling happy with today's events.

-----

A brand new day. 

And as usual, Reimu begins slowly and tends to the shrine.

Meanwhile, Yukari is sitting at a table, sipping tea with with a blonde woman in a dress similar to Yukari's, but with a long blue ribbon down the center as opposed to the purple one on Yukari's outside. Another notable feature is how this woman had nine tails and two fox ears.

"...And, after I began to hug her gently, Reimu began to let loose a flurry of emotions, hugging me back and sobbing against my dress. It was perfectly fine for her to do that, of course." Yukari said to the fox woman.

"Oooh, interesting. You always told me how stiff she was, how dishonest she was about feelings and such, mistress. It is good to see such progress with her. Better yet, it's very nice of you to treat a human with such kindness. A rarity among Youkai-kind. You-kind." She joked.

"...Ran." Yukari stated, staring at the fox-girl. Also named a Kitsune.

Ran Yukumo, servant of Yukari Yakumo, giggled in response.

"You understand anyway. Humans are emotional creatures that sometimes struggle with understanding themselves. Continue having patience for her, mistress, and she will open up further to you, I guarantee." Ran sipped her tea, her nine tails swaying gently in idle activity.

"Of course. To train a pet one must have patience. But..." Yukari paused to sip her tea further. "I am beginning to think this human is more than just a play-thing or an opponent for some reason."

That caught Ran's attention.

"Is that so? What sort of feelings do you find yourself having, mistress?" The kitsune asked, piqued interest in how someone may have left a mark on Yukari.