Chapter Text
The sun beats down in relentless surges today, in tandem with the shrill cries of cicada. Everything seems to be shimmering above the baked earth. A lone cloud drifts overhead but it offers no shade, instead choosing to drift westward and away from the sun, a mockery to those left toiling in the fields as summer strikes its peak.
Seiran supposes she could have picked a better day to set up shop.
As if reading her thoughts, Ringo asks, “You couldn’t have done this at the end of summer?”
Seiran wipes sweat off her forehead as she stubbornly pulls her cart along, wheels rattling over the uneven ground. She has half a mind to snap at Ringo for not helping out, but then again, Ringo probably knows that offering a hand would only wound what little pride Seiran has for herself despite what she’d otherwise insist. This is probably the best idea Seiran has had in a while. It’s the only idea she’s had in a while. Ringo might think she’s just getting desperate.
“Man… it sure is hot, though,” Ringo continues on, unbothered by Seiran’s silence. She removes her cap and fans herself with it, tousling away strands of hair that had become matted to her forehead by sweat. “I kind of like it. It really makes you feel alive, even when you’re on the brink of burning to death.”
“Could you not say such morbid things?” Seiran mumbles.
“Heh. Sorry, sorry.”
The two rabbits continue their slow procession down the beaten dirt road until they’re nearly at the end of the rice fields. There are no more humans working around here. Up ahead would be the trail leading to the base of Youkai Mountain. Seiran pulls her cart to the side of the path and finally releases it with a soft sigh, wiping her sweaty palms on her dress.
“This is it? You won’t see much foot traffic around here. It’s too far from the village.”
“So what?” Seiran says, taking a moment to catch her breath and stare down at her feet. “I’ll find different customers out here.”
“… Oh, Seiran,” Ringo sighs. “You’re planning to sell dango to youkai. I knew it.”
Ringo definitely thinks she’s desperate. Seiran begins to wonder if she’s right after all. She keeps her eyes trained on the ground, refusing to look up and acknowledge her. There was no way she would ever stand a chance against Ringo’s shop in the village. It’s been a couple years and the only reason Seiran could still keep selling right alongside her was because of her own damn obstinance. She’d been trying everything— new flavors, new ingredients, and hell, she’d even once allowed a tengu to interview her for a magazine article, but that never amounted to anything when the publication was cancelled without warning. Nothing ever works.
Then, she happened to see an odd bird youkai selling food out of a cart late at night, and…
Some clattering breaks Seiran out of her thoughts. Ringo is setting up her yatai, fixing up the awning and pulling out the bench and rummaging through the cabinet for the display cases and rings of woven straw.
“H-Hey, cut that out,” Seiran weakly says. “Go back to your own shop.”
“I came all the way out here with you, so I might as well make myself useful,” Ringo says matter-of-factly. “Besides, I already sold all my stock this morning. I’m just taking a break before I go make some more dango.”
“I don’t need your pity!”
“Wow, you’re annoying.” But Ringo smiles as she shakes her head, unwrapping the dango that Seiran had already prepared. She carefully sticks them upright in the straw rings, protected from the sun’s harsh gaze by the awning. “There!”
Seiran’s face is burning, and she can’t quite tell if it’s because of the heat anymore. She wants to get angry, and yell at Ringo and chase her off, but all she can do is stare at the neat array of dango that had been so thoughtfully placed. Her dango.
What is she supposed to say? Thanks? Get lost? She doesn’t dislike Ringo, far from it, but she could never truly admit to a friendship either. It’s… a camaraderie, at the very least. They’ve always done things together ever since they decided to stay on Earth, just because they had no one else to turn to and a trusted ally was reassuring to have when starting a new life in an unfamiliar land.
Or, that’s how Seiran felt. She had always assumed Ringo thought the same, but now an uneasiness begins to flutter in her stomach.
“Ringo—“
—And something large crashes to the ground only a stone’s throw away, rattling the cart. Debris bursts from the impact, gravel and dust flying in every direction, some of it stinging Seiran’s eyes.
The two rabbits swiftly ready themselves by pure reflex and instinct, prepared to shoot. Ringo slightly crouches behind Seiran.
Silence. More silence. Then, at last, a girl emerges from the dust, coughing and brushing herself off as if she hadn’t just hurtled from the sky and left a small crater in her wake. She straightens her hat and smooths out her dress, making a very displeased face. She doesn’t seem to take notice of the rabbits, speaking out loud to no one in particular.
“I see! So my exile is still… hmph! As if I yearn for such tedium, you fools!” She raises her fist to the sky, shouting. “Fine, then! I’ll try again in a hundred days!”
“Tenshiiiiii!” A specter— no, an entirely different presence is coming this way, feet gliding over the shimmering ground. Seiran’s ears flatten against her head and she glances back to Ringo, whose pupils had dilated. No doubt she senses that foul aura as well, far more impure than anything either of them had ever laid eyes upon. Should they run? But it’s like they’re invisible to these strange people. Well, that’s no surprise. No one ever bothers glancing at common rabbits on the side of the road.
“Ah, Shion!” The one called Tenshi receives her with open arms, engulfing her in an embrace of billowing cloth. “I suppose I ought to apologize. I wasn’t able to fetch those peaches for you.”
“No no no, forget about that!” Shion shakes her head so fast that it’s a wonder her bow doesn’t fly away. “I should apologize, because you went through all that trouble and all they did was throw you back down. A-and I thought…!”
“Ahahaha! Though my landing may have been… less graceful than I intended, such a fall could never harm a marvelous Celestial such as myself! See? Not even a scrape.” Tenshi smiles more gently now, cupping Shion’s face. “I only wish I could have shared the tastes of Heaven with you.”
“T-Tenshiiiiiii…!!”
Ringo clears her throat rather sharply, making Seiran jump. Those two finally turn to stare at the rabbits. Tenshi appears nearly affronted, like Ringo and Seiran had intruded on a private moment.
Well, maybe.
But also, no.
“What’s this? Rabbits?” Tenshi disentangles herself from Shion to approach the cart, fists planted on her hips. “Oh— dango? I see. You must be those dango merchants from the Human Village. How quaint! I didn’t expect to run into you two out here in the boonies.”
“Dango…” Shion murmurs, gliding over and holding onto Tenshi’s shoulders.
Seiran starts, “Um, I’m still trying to set things up, so if you could…”
“—Welcome, customers!” Ringo elbows her aside. “Just in time for the grand opening of Seiran’s Roadside Dango!”
“That’s not what I’m calling it! Please stop interfering!” Seiran snaps, trying to jostle Ringo in turn. They grapple for a moment but Ringo is stronger, she’d always been stronger, and Seiran begins to suspect that Ringo’s only putting half her strength into holding her at bay. They only stop because Tenshi begins to guffaw and clap as if they’d meant to put on a routine. Behind her, Shion softly applauds as well.
“Wonderful! One cannot help but admire the liveliness of Earth beasts!”
“We’re not—“
Again, Ringo elbows her. Seiran falls silent.
“You’ve won me over! I shall purchase your wares, as a gesture of respect for your efforts,” Tenshi says, pointing her nose up to the sky with a self-satisfied grin. “By the way, I am Tenshi Hinanawi, scion of Heaven! You would do well to commit my name to memory! And my gloomy companion here is Shion. I expect only the sweetest treat for my… sweet treat. Make haste, rabbit!”
“How can she call her friend gloomy and sweet at the same time?” Ringo mutters, leaning back against the cart as Seiran rushes behind the counter, too frazzled to think too hard about it. A Celestial fell down from Heaven right in front of her yatai, sure. She’s accompanied by a strange being with the filthiest atmosphere around her, sure. They want to buy dango, sure.
A customer is a customer, Seiran supposes.
“Which ones…?” she hesitantly asks. Seiran tries not to cringe when Shion leans over Tenshi’s shoulder to get a closer look at the dango on display. That person surely isn’t a human, or an ascended human, not like Tenshi.
“Do you have peach dango?” Shion asks.
“… I don’t,” Seiran says, hanging her head. “Sorry.”
Shion gently smiles, but that does little to offset the impurities dripping off of her. “That’s fine. The other dango looks good, too. Is it okay, Tenshi?”
“Naturally!” Tenshi waves a hand; several coins shower upon Seiran. Did this Celestial just throw money at her? “Four. No— make that six. Actually, just count out the Mon to see how much that covers. I’ll buy your entire stock if that would please my dear Shion! Ahaha!”
“I-it’s enough for six,” Seiran says, still caught in some state of disbelief. Her hands are shaking as she gathers and sorts out the coins, for some reason. She doesn’t bother snapping at Ringo when she sidles over and picks out the dango to hand over to Tenshi and Shion, and Ringo doesn’t say anything either.
She’d never sold so much dango at once. Or maybe she’s still rattled by Shion’s presence.
“Hm! Be grateful, for my presence as a Celestial has surely brought good fortune to your little shop. I expect you shall see many more customers in the coming days. Blessings to you, humble rabbits!”
Seiran manages to bow and thank the two in a clumsy stutter, but by then, they’re already strolling down the path toward the village, arm in arm. She carefully watches them as they bite into the dango. Tenshi doesn’t react at all, like she’s drinking tepid water, but Shion… Shion just about glows with joy, hungrily yanking the dango off their skewers with her teeth until her face had rounded out. It’s only then that Tenshi’s face brightens as well, delighted by Shion’s happiness rather than the dango.
Tenshi leans over and plants a chaste kiss on Shion’s sticky lips. Seiran looks away, though she doubts Tenshi would have cared about a lowly rabbit observing her.
“Whew,” Ringo exhales once they’re well out of earshot, folding her arms behind her head. “What a load of nonsense.”
“H-Huh?”
“I mean, the last thing she said. About her bringing good fortune to your shop?” Ringo raises a brow at Seiran. “There’s no way she actually could have blessed you, not with that poverty god lurking by her side. Don’t tell me you didn’t notice, Seiran.”
“That’s what she was…?” Somehow, it’s more of a relief to know than wondering what kind of malicious spirit Shion was. She was just a poverty god. That’s all. Seiran isn’t sure if she should laugh or what; impurities like that shouldn’t even bother her anymore. Stupid, paranoid rabbit. It would likely be some time before she could fully release those irrationalities that had been drilled into her on the Moon.
“Well, it should probably be fine,” Ringo says. “I bet that Celestial’s natural luck cancels out the poverty god’s misfortune. They make a good match, don’t they? Anyway, if you don’t want me to call your place ‘Seiran’s Roadside Dango’, you should come up with something by yourself.”
Seiran slumps over the counter and manages something resembling a nod. It hasn’t even been an hour and she already misses the bustle of the Human Village. Sure, they may have ignored her in favor of crowding around Ringo’s stall, but she at least didn’t have to wallow in the deafening silence of her own thoughts.
But she’d already made up her mind. Besides, selling off six skewers of dango is surely an auspicious start.
“Alright,” she sighs, pressing her forehead against her arm. “I’ll think it over.”
“Good luck. See you later, Seiran.” Ringo lifts a hand as she trots off.
“… See you later, Ringo.”
Seiran is left with only the buzzing cicadas to keep her company, waiting for her next customer to pass by.
