#Airisu: The Crow and the Witch

Mikaeri Zaka/Look Back Ridge (Sumika POV) Post 25
#Wss366 Swear #MastoPrompt Slam

As we hiked to Mikaeri Zaka, I began wondering if this was a good idea. I’d never done a test of courage before, but I wanted to do one before leaving Japan. Now I was scared. The trail was gloomy in the evening light, and once off the main path, the brush seemed to reach out to grab me.

I also remembered why I didn’t like Sis’s friend, Mori-san.

“They say there’s a woman with her head on backwards here,” Mori-san said, trying to sound spooky. “And there's an old man. If he calls your name, don’t turn around or he’ll cut your head off!”

I clutched my blankets tightly to my chest and grabbed my sister’s hand. “What if it’s true?” I thought.

“I #swear, you’re such a baby, Sumi-chan,” my sister said. “Those are just stories made up because it’s called ‘Mikaeri Zaka’ (Look Back Ridge). If people found headless bodies up here, it would be on TV.”

“Wow!” I thought. “High school kids are so smart.”

“Here we are,” Sis announced. “We can camp behind those bushes. If anyone comes, they won’t see us there.” She pointed to a thicket just beyond a ginkgo grove where the tread almost petered out.

Having company seemed unlikely to me. The branch trail we had followed was barely more than an overgrown animal track. More than once, we’d scrambled over or around fallen trees.

The image of an oni or tengu using the path came to me unbidden. This was just the kind of place where tengu would love to hide.

One thought led to another, and before long, I found myself worrying whether I was still small enough for a tengu to carry me away or leave me stranded in a treetop.

The “shrine” itself was in the ginkgo trees. In their shade were the rotting remains of a shrine box. At least, I assumed that’s what it was. A single board protruding from the loam was all that remained. There certainly wasn’t a bell or any offerings.

However, there was a weed-choked spring nearby, so I rinsed my mouth and hands in the water. I was a good girl and knew what to do when visiting a shrine.

The ginkgo grove was cool and made my skin tingle oddly when I entered. I faced the board, clapped, and sprinkled the rice I’d brought on the ground in front of it.

Behind me, Mori-san snickered. “It’s just some old, abandoned kami. No one cares about it.”

I ignored her. Even a forgotten deity deserved respect. That’s what I thought.

“You should wish for a husband as dumb as you are,” Mori-san continued, #slamming me again.

I placed my mom's money on the board and picked up a golden ginkgo leaf that caught my eye. It would be my charm. I clapped again and bowed.

“Maybe when I grow up, I’ll be your miko and dance for you,” I whispered and then joined the others in our little camp.

#TootFic #MicroFiction #NMFic #Crows #Otherkin #Fantasy #UrbanFantasy #SlowBurn #Yuri

#Airisu: The Crow and the Witch

Not Easy For a Modern Witch (Airisu POV) Post 23 – 2 of 2
#Wss366 Kit #MastoPrompt Gum

[Continued from previous post]

“Dōken-shin called you a reincarnated samayō miko. That’s a wandering shrine maiden. He said you used to bind spirits—now it’s your turn. Tell me about this book.”

“Book? Oh, you must mean the book I found at the bookstore.”

Sumika proceeded to relate how she had become a witch and found the Grimoire Obscuriea.

When she finished, I said, “You really are a nob. A grimoire is a book of magic, like a madousho.”

“Oh, is that why the name on the cover changed to Madousho Mōrō?”

“And that didn’t tell you there was something weird about the book?”

“It did. I’m not stupid,” she said.

I wondered, though.

“Besides,” she resumed, “a spell to summon a creature that would be bound to me had appeared in it. It would be a devoted friend and companion.”

“Sounds like a boyfriend.”

I heard her mutter, “I don’t like boys.”

“A girlfriend then, and you’ve got me. I’m a girl who likes girls.”

“You’re a crow! A rude, obnoxious bird!”

“Details, details, details.”

“Okay, back on topic,” I said. “Why did you come to Mikaeri Zaka?”

“It’s said to be a power spot and was one of the few places where I knew I wouldn’t be observed. Besides, it just seemed right.”

“I see. It called to you. So, tell me about the shrine.”

#TootFic #MicroFiction #NMFic #Crows #Otherkin #Fantasy #UrbanFantasy #SlowBurn #Yuri

#Airisu: The Crow and the Witch

Not Easy For a Modern Witch (Airisu POV) Post 23 – 1 of 2
#Wss366 Kit #MastoPrompt Gum

It turns out riding in the belly of the beast was every bit as terrifying as I’d imagined. The constant motion was compounded by a chaos of noise. I foolishly looked out a window and shrieked.

“Stop thrashing,” Sumika chided. “You’ll hurt yourself.”

I dug my claws into the seat and closed my eyes, which only made things worse as the vehicle lurched like a tree in a storm.

My eyes flew open. “I’m going to be sick,” I cawed.

“Just settle down and tell me what happened back there.” As she spoke, she touched the wound on her neck, then glanced at me reproachfully.

“Cruel, cruel mistress. Have some sympathy for your poor familiar.”

She touched her neck again, and I hurried on. “I only did it because you were going to give away the whole #kit and caboodle to that greedy kami. That would really #gum up the works. Ack…”

A glare shut down my cackle midstream, and I resumed. “Dōken-shin would have bound you in his service as a vassal. He’s not the kind of boss you want.”

“I’m a little fuzzy on what happened, so could you be more specific?” Sumika asked.

“As you command, oh great and powerful mistress. Ack, ack, ack! Mind you, this is only speculation, but Arakawa Dōken is a forgotten Edo kami who was deified to appease his ghost. ‘Hearing its voice is the time indeed when Autumn is saddest.’—ack, ack, ack—by Sarumaru Tayu from Hyakunin’shu.”

“Whatever,” she responded—no sense of poetry.

“He claims to have given you a book and now wants repayment. I merely did what any loyal servant would do. At enormous risk to my life, I came to your aid when he ensorcelled you.”

“You’re kind of rude, you know, but thank you, I guess. But why did he pick me?”

#TootFic #MicroFiction #NMFic #Crows #Otherkin #Fantasy #UrbanFantasy #SlowBurn #Yuri