Kiyono Raimei lifted his sleeve to his nose and sniffed. There was still a faint trace of tobacco.
Should be... fine, right?
He furrowed his brow.
The color of his eyes shifted once more — like a clear pool infused with wisteria slowly losing its hue, the purple-aster pupils dissipating rapidly.
Spring departed, autumn came and went, until at last it was the dusk of deep winter. The purple pool within his eyes slowly frosted over with silver, gradually turning to an almost silver-grey.
"Cough."
He coughed softly. Cough.
Cough. Cough, cough.
Cough!
The weakness in his lungs, the stiffness in his limbs — the vivid breath of life drained from him swiftly—
He had become, once again, the man on the verge of passing.
Or rather, this was who he had always been.
The dusk of a bitter winter, stepping into twilight.
"Coming."
He picked up the kimono from the floor, draped it over himself, and slid open the door.
The moment the door opened, what entered first was the wind and snow.
The snow of Inazuma was not like elsewhere — not vast and sweeping, but fine and scattered, drifting through the air like clusters upon clusters of white cherry blossoms.
It landed on the skin, and it was cold all the same.
After the flurry passed, the first thing that caught his eye was a pair of wooden clogs on the ground.
White tabi socks stepping in clogs, yet her legs were bare beneath, the red-and-white furisode sleeves of a miko's garment hanging naturally beside slender ankles.
Yae Miko — the Guuji who presided over the Grand Narukami Shrine — was a fox.
It was snowing outside, and her fluffy ears drooped naturally, a dusting of white snow piled atop them, making them look like little balls of white fluff.
"Brr. So cold!"
Seeing the wooden door finally open, Miss Yae shook her ears, shaking off the snow.
She bent down, deftly slipped off her clogs, and ducked into the room with practiced ease — as though coming home. Her white-socked feet padded across the tatami, making light, cheerful thump-thump sounds.
Not until she had burrowed her way to the hearth and slipped her pale, slender legs under the kotatsu did Miss Fox finally let out a sigh of relief, making a sound of pure comfort. Color slowly returned to her cheeks, and her eyes narrowed into crescent moons: "Ahh, this great Guuji was freezing to death!"
"Why did it take you so long to open the door? Old man?"
She warmed herself while looking up at Kiyono, her gaze tinged with reproach.
"Ah... sounds like someone's asking for a beating."
Kiyono sat down across from Miss Fox and slipped his own feet under the kotatsu. Their legs brushed lightly together beneath it.
"You think you can take this great Guuji, old man~?"
Yae Miko raised her sleeve, revealing half of a pale, jade-like arm — clearly showing off her strength.
She looked like a little cat flexing to prove how mighty she was.
"Hey, I'm plenty strong, you know!"
But Kiyono felt another cough coming on. His lungs twitched faintly, and a sweetness rose in his throat. He paused, picked up the cup of tea warming on the hearth, and drank.
What he swallowed along with the warm tea was blood, carrying a faint taste of rust.
She must not know.
"One punch and I could knock a little fox like you dead. I'm strong as an ox — good for a few hundred more years, I'd say!"
He swallowed the blood and broke into a smile.
— And then he laughed at Yae Miko, an open, hearty laugh. Bold and generous — the laugh that belonged to the Grand Pillar alone. A smile that rallied the spirit. On the battlefield, the warriors of Inazuma, upon seeing that smile, would always feel a surge of incomparable courage.
The Grand Pillar would never fall.
Kiyono always had this talent — the talent for lying. He could always make both enemies and friends believe that he would never fall.
And clearly, he was very good at it.
Miss Fox remained cheerful, remained languid. She straightened up, her sleeves trailing across the tatami, and snatched the cup right out of Kiyono's hands.
Having seized the teacup, she flashed a faintly sly smile — the look of a prank successfully pulled off.
"Mine~"
She brewed herself a cup of tea as well.
When Miss Yae drank her tea, she cradled the cup in both hands, sipped with a light, quick motion, and looked thoroughly pleased with herself.
Hah...
Kiyono let out a helpless sigh.
The look of a man who simply couldn't do a thing about her.
The Grand Pillar had carried his dignity for a lifetime. From the Shogunate above to the common folk below, there was not a soul who did not revere him.
And yet he simply could not keep this fox in line.
"Oh my, your collar." Yae said suddenly. "It's come loose."
By the time Kiyono realized what was happening, Miss Miko had already leaned over toward him.
One pale, delicate hand braced against the desk, while the other pressed lightly against Kiyono's chest, pulling the loose lapels together, covering the skin that had been exposed to the cold.
They were very close.
Kiyono could even smell the sandalwood fragrance drifting from that pink hair.
"Do you really think you're still a young man? In weather this cold, old man?"
Her tone carried a hint of scolding, quite displeased.
"Ah, I told you, I'm perfectly strong..." Kiyono protested.
"Old man."
"You promised you'd stay strong for a few hundred years — so you'd better keep your word to this great Guuji — and the first step to staying strong, old man, is dressing properly in winter!"
Miss Fox lifted her head, drawing close to Kiyono's face, and spoke in a tone that brooked no argument.
Her purple eyes stared stubbornly into Kiyono's.
Only in this moment did she resemble the one who stood beneath one alone and above all others — the "Guuji" who presided over every shrine in Inazuma.
...Kiyono admitted defeat and turned his face aside:
"Too close."
It was indeed too close.
Miss Yae realized it too.
They had already been sitting quite near each other, and now that she had looked up, their breaths nearly mingled.
Thin, warm breaths condensed into tiny wisps of mist in the cold air — two little clouds of vapor merging together, then slowly dissolving into nothing.
Outside the window, snow lay heavy on the pines and cypresses, catching the rare winter sunlight.
"Th-then so what... nosy."
She too turned her face aside, settled back onto her cushion, and muttered under her breath, "This great Guuji... you useless old thing."
Kiyono noticed that the side of her face had flushed slightly.
Like the snow outside the window, and like the sunlight reflected off that snow.
Was the hearth too warm?
He couldn't tell.
Still — when did this girl's tongue get so sharp?
"Hey." Kiyono was somewhat indignant. "You should learn to show some respect..."
"You were smoking again just now. I could smell it on the lining of your sleeve."
Miss Fox propped her cheek on one delicate hand, staring at Kiyono with a blank expression.
"I smelled tobacco just now."
"...I wasn't!"
"Hand over the tobacco pouch."
"I said I wasn't, and I wasn't!" The dignified Grand Pillar argued his case with conviction, fighting valiantly for his tobacco pouch!
"A fox's nose."
She tapped her dainty nose and held out her palm. "Is very keen~ It can sniff out any secret~!"
...The dignified Grand Pillar truly, genuinely could not keep this wretched fox in line.
Helplessly, he drew the stash of tobacco hidden in the inner pocket of his kimono and placed it in Yae Miko's hand.
"Now then — this great Guuji shall teach you the second step to longevity."
Miss Fox smiled softly again — and it was a smile that belonged to Miss Fox alone.
Faintly sly, a touch mischievous, with a dash of languor, a pinch of petty willfulness, and above all, thoroughly self-satisfied — like the little clump of snow on the eaves, slowly, slowly melting away—
"Step two of longevity: no smoking!"
"You still have to be this great Guuji's personal chef for a few hundred more years, you know."
Ha...
Honestly.
Longevity, huh...
Longevity.
Looking at her, listening to her words, Kiyono paused — and then smiled, helplessly.
What difference would one more drag make?
What difference would one less drag make?
For him, at least, it made no difference at all anymore.
You say that fox nose of yours can sniff out anything — and yet this is the one secret you cannot smell.
"So,"
Kiyono watched the snow outside the window slowly melting in the sunlight. "Are you hungry? That 'Kitsune Udon' you mentioned earlier — what was it again?"
"Fried tofu with udon. Serve it up~"
"Let me study the recipe first."
"Step three of longevity — eat your meals properly."
"...Careful you don't turn into a ball."