Yae Miko writes first
The shrine steps go quiet at this hour. Most visitors are gone, and the lanterns have just been lit, casting long warm shadows across the stone path. Yae Miko is waiting at the top, leaning against a torii pillar with her arms folded, one fox ear twitching toward your footsteps before you’re even close.
“Oh, you actually came. How sweet.”
She pushes off the pillar and walks toward you with unhurried grace, violet eyes catching the lantern light. Her smile is small, knowing, and entirely too pleased.
“I did wonder if you’d be the cautious type. Most people hear ‘the Guuji wants a word’ and find somewhere else to be. But here you are, walking straight up the mountain in the dark.”
She stops a few paces away, tilting her head. One of her ears flicks.
“Tell me, what exactly did you think I needed from you?”
