Mis. Fortune

Chapter 5

Her alarm was a gradual, growing in volume, type as it chimed next to the bed. Groggily, she rolled over and fumbled for it, cursing when she knocked it to the ground before rolling out and grabbing it. She rubbed her eyes tiredly with a yawn before stumbling to her bag to change. She yanked through her mess of hair and threw it up into a braided bun before opening the door to see it wasn't quite light out.

"Wait." She looked at her phone to see it hadn't been her phone going off but a call she had declined. "You've got to be kidding me." She closed the door and flopped onto the bed, head narrowly missing the Maine coon as it peaked an eye open and shifted into a more comfy position. Or what would have been one had Natsumi not grabbed it for cuddling purposes.

"I hate random calls." She grumbled, snuggling into the maine coons fur as it simply accepted being her face pillow. Her actual alarm went off a couple hours later with sunlight as a confirmation. She stretched freely as the cat hopped down and made a Beeline for the door where the old man waited. 

"Thank you for letting me stay the night sir."

"It's no problem. Breakfast is ready if you'd care to join me." She made her way to his side and made idle chatter about his home and wanting to properly clean it. "You wouldn't mind if I visited again to clean the courtyard would you?" She asked. Cleaning was a hobby of hers among other odd activities.

"If it pleases you. It has been some time since the gardens have been tended to. My old bones just can't keep up with it any more." The kitchen was a mess and the dining hall dusty but Natsumi didn't mind as she nibbled on her fish and rice. It was small but filled her unlike before.

"I'll be back after school." He waved her off, eyes unfocused as they looked more at the sky than her. To her surprise and his bad luck, Matsuri slung an arm around Natsumi with a grin at her. Her anger at his absence flashed suddenly and she slammed her elbow into his stomach resulting in the male to drop. "Good to see you too Natsumi." He groaned as she stood over him with her hands on her hips. "Where were you yesterday? No phone call, no text, no random note in my mailbox. I checked." She glared as he grimaced. 

"Ah about that, I was sick." He said but she raised a brow as he felt sweat trickle down his neck. 

"you never get sick." 

"I got food poisoning."

"That usually lasts longer."

"I still have a stomach ache." She squinted her eyes at him with suspicion before pulling out the notes she had copied while she ate. "Here. I'm not sure how accurate these ones are since I got them from someone else but they should be fine." He beamed and pulled her into a tight hug, "Thank you Natsumi." She patted his back before pulling away as people began to stare and resuming the walk to school.

"Let's go doofus."

"Hey!" She smirked as he complained next to her. She had missed him even if it was one day.

When lunch rolled around she handed him the extra curry. "Its cold but I figured you'd enjoy it nonetheless." He happily took it before watching her as she simply looked out over the school grounds.

"Aren't you going to eat?"

"Not hungry."

He huffed before setting down the cold curry and leaving the roof. "Matsuri? Hey Matsuri!" She called in slight shock as the door slammed close. "Did that really upset him that much?" She thought about following him but thought better. It's not like she was starving herself on purpose, she just wasn't hungry. That and she didn't pack a bento for herself. 

The door slammed back open before he shoved something into her mouth, "Eat." She pulled it out in surprise to see it was a Taiyaki fish. He rummaged into his bag before fishing out a spoon and shoveling the curry in as he watched her with a pointed look. 

She looked at the fish before shrugging and biting its head off. "I get a stomach ache from eating when I wasn't hungry, I'm so taking it out on you." She waved the body at him before leaning back to watch the clouds above.

"Do you have work after school?"

"No. The manager gave me a few days off to rest up." He gave her a concerned look, "Is it the stalkers?"

"At this point I'm just assuming its a demon." She held her hand to her face as she tried to brush past the emotions. A sob involuntarily escaped her as tears dripped from her eyes. "I'm so tired Matsuri." She looked at him as his eyes widened. "Why is this happening to me?" He pulled her in and held her for the rest of lunch as she sobbed her pent up emotions out.

"Let me walk you home." He pleaded with her at the gate but she shook her head, "I'm fine now. As long as i'm inside before nightfall." He still looked hesitant as she cracked a grin that looked more like a smirk, "Besides I've come into possession of tiny protectors."

"Tiny protectors?" He questioned as she started to head towards the bus station, "I'm a disney princess." His confused look got even worse as she continued on her way without a proper explanation. Her eyes were still slightly red from her heavy crying session but she felt lighter as she recounted to him everything she had witnessed and felt. Asking if she was going crazy since nothing was wrong with her home and animals were leading her. Wild animals. When he said no, she was perfectly sane a large weight had been lifted off of her and practically disappeared when she arrived back at the shrine and took in the sight of the older man waiting for her with two cups of green tea.

The maine coon mewed at her as she approached and she gently patted it before sitting and talking with the older man. She enjoyed the tea before deciding to do work on the garden. She returned to the shed and found the needed supplies. With her hair wrapped up securely, hedge clippers, a shovel, a basket, and a dusty watering can she made her way to the inner garden and set to work.

The Tanuki joined her half way through and played in the flower beds as the cat lounged on a cracked stone bench. Birds chirped from their position on the trees resulting in a sort of peaceful atmosphere that soothed Natsumi as she worked away as she pulled the weeds, clipped back the smaller tree branches and bushes. She dug up the extra saplings and prickle plants, the rubber gloves she found coming in handy for those ones as well as the poison ivy and oak that made its home along the trunk of the cherry blossom.

She had finished a section of the garden before she finally decided to stop as the stars began to dot the sky. She decided to leave the items in the garden since she would need them the next time and instead picked up the cat as the Tanuki jumped onto her shoulders and settled down. She searched around the house before finding the old man in the dining area with a table for two set up.

"There's a natural hot springs further in the back if you'd like to use it." He commented making her smell herself. "I've been back there before though. Did I miss it?"

"It's past the shed. If you pass the torii gate you went too far but it's back there."  He assured and so after she helped clean up their dinner, she grabbed her clothes and headed back there with a lantern he had provided her. It took a bit of searching but eventually she found it. Steam rose from the warm waters as a grove of trees provided a natural covering. 

Hesitantly, she stripped of her clothes before slipping into the waters and sinking down with a sigh. Crickets were the only sound as she soaked her muscles for a little while before she made to leave. She had already stood and walked to the edge when the snapping of a stick had her freezing. She tuned into her hearing as she quickly began to dry off and slip on her night clothes.

She played it off as another animal and turned around right into a large chest. She quickly tried to pull away and put some distance when an object was slammed over her head and she collapsed to the ground, unconscious.