Chapter Text
Whoever said that Yokai would avoid the daylight sun was a liar. Or it just was another aspect of him not fitting most Yokai standards. In any case, he enjoyed laying sprawled out on the rooftop of the inn, hidden enough so it was unlikely he would be spotted and still be able to soak in all of the sun. The busy sounds of the town provided a nice, relaxing background ambient. It was a nice change to the always quiet forest sounds.
Occasionally he would look for Momo's aura, just to check what she was up to. Not out of worry or anything. She kept to the center of the town which was probably the market, given the amount of other auras bustling around. There was a part of him, bigger than he would like to admit, that would have liked to go with her for some shopping. Doing something very mundane with his new friend.
His heart swelled whenever he reminded himself that Momo was indeed his friend now. His first friend in....ever! There was a giddiness in him he had probably never felt before. He was even giggling to himself for Kami's sake! But Momo was just so nice to him, asking for extra food and futon for him and actually wanting to give him a name. He couldn't help himself. He relished those wonderful feelings. It certainly was better than what he had to deal with in the past decades on his own.
The sun moved past its highest point and the Yokai took it as his signal to get moving. He did want to snoop around after all. His knowledge about Lord Kato's nature had only been conversations from the workers he had eavesdropped on outside, so he wanted to see for himself how the town was faring. It was already suspicious to him that despite the amount of priests he could detect, that there was no barrier around the town. Usually he would've not been able to enter any other settlement with that amount of spiritual people around.
Stretching his aura sense to see were the least people where located, he mapped a route in his mind to the mansion in the north. And in the blink of an eye he was gone.
Furious.
That's how he felt when he returned to the inn room.
As he had expected, this town had it's fair share of problems, all caused by Kato. Sure, the market and the street of inns they were in gave the impression of wealth and independence. But behind the counters and in the back-alleys he was able to hear and see how the people really fared. Many of the woman took up work that was hard on them, but it was either that or working at Kato's mansion. Which only the desperate ones did. Merchants were hand-picked by the Lord and followed the prices he dictated to them. Anyone who was not physically able to work on his fields had to live of scraps in the dark corners of the town.
He also got his explanation for why there was no ward around the town: All priests answered to Kato directly and he charged the people for any kind of blessing. That man cared more about filling his pockets than to the well-being of the people who depend on him.
The Yokai had hoped that Momo would've been in the room. She would've been such a welcome distraction, but he seemed to have just missed her. Traces of her aura and scent were still in the room and he spotted her Miko attire in the corner. She probably went for her anticipated bath.
Not dwelling on that particular fact for any longer, he went around the room again. Just making sure that none of those little pesky Yokai or spirit had nested themselves in here since last time. Momo's aura was very potent and he imagined that she could attract unwanted leeches in this unprotected town.
When he walked past the table, he noticed a little paper sachet on it. A note was on top of it. Curious, he sat down at the table and took the note to read.
'For my friend' was written in a hasty manner, together with a poorly rendition of some kind of fruit. He stared at the note for a few minutes, before he took in a shaky breath. His eyes started to feel wet.
Maybe it was silly. But the fact that Momo got him something from her little trip without him asking for it? And writing it down that he is indeed her friend? It meant so much to him, more than he had realized, even with his childish giddiness this morning. The concept of just...receiving something, with no prompt or expectation of repayment? He didn't know how to deal with the warm, fuzzy feeling this caused in his insides.
Definitely not by crying. He might be a Yokai, but he was also a man!
He let out the shaky breath and wiped the wetness out of his eyes before the first tear could fall.
Now eager to see what Momo had gotten him, he opened the sachet, to find a bunch of pink colored mochi in them. They were still warm and when he picked one up, he could feel how squishy it was. Oh, how long has it been that he got to eat actual fresh mochi? Whenever he had been able to get his hands on some, they were several days old, dry and had lost most of their taste.
Excited to have a full bag of this snack to himself, he threw the first mochi in his maw, chewing it in delight. When the full taste of the sweet and soft treat hit him, he let out a sound between a laugh and a wet choke.
Peach flavored.
Now it made sense. The little fruit on her note was supposed to be a peach.
He didn't know her for longer than a day, but he could already tell that this was so typical Momo: A very kind gesture, with a touch of teasing on top.
Covering his eyes with his hands, he leaned on the table, stuck between chuckles and hiccups. Teardrops fell down. A pang of nostalgia that he could not remember turned him into an even bigger mess.
He stopped to think about when the last time he felt like....this. Happy. Grateful. Because he could not remember at all. It was wonderful to experience those feelings in peace. Momo would have probably made fun of him, not that he could've faulted her. He was probably overreacting.
Footsteps outside suddenly alerted him. He tensed up to flee any second, but the steps walked past. Relaxing again, he shook his head. He needed to be careful not to be found, so he stretched his aura sensing out into the corridor before the room. Should someone come closer, he would know in time.
With that precaution in place, he focused back on the wonderful treat he had received from his amazing friend. He savored every single mochi, his new favorite sweet.
Half of the sachet had been consumed, when he felt someone coming closer to the room. The Yokai stopped and just turned his head slightly, trying to discern who it was. As soon as his aura brushed against the other, he realized it was Momo. With a way to high pitched squeak, he retreated his aura quickly. Surely she had felt that and while he hadn't invaded her space, he still felt like a hypocrite after all the times he had chided her for it.
Feeling her aura looking at him, he tried to calm himself down. To play it cool and not let her know that he had a meltdown earlier. He turned around to throw another mochi into his maw when she entered, only partial acknowledging her presence and casually throwing that nickname at her that he somehow had adapted for her. Very smooth, he thought with a wince at her displeased reaction.
When he turned around to look at her properly, he was glad he had already swallowed the mochi. He probably would have choked on it with how surprised he got. She wore a teal yukata and had her hair open. It was long enough to brush over her shoulders. The bath must have helped her a lot to appear so clean and relaxed.
She looked utterly beautiful.
Of course she looked beautiful before, but this look was just...new to him. Unable to stop himself, he drank in her appearance, noticing the fact that her cheeks tinted to a slight pink. They looked like peaches.
He was an absolute doomed man.