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Far from the main towns and the cities of the land, there lies a small village. The village is small, surrounded by large fields that keep the village close together. It is the kind of place in which rumours may spread easily, word of mouth spreading faster than any kind of news paper.
Aoi did not want to come here. She had wanted to stay back in her hometown, where she was at least more familiar with the place. Her brother however, had been the one to move them. He claimed that it would be better for both of them, but she wasn’t so sure of that.
Quiet cautions are given to them when they first arrive. Their neighbours seem rather merry, giving them small welcoming gifts, but when it comes to the rumour they are quiet.
“Whatever you do, you should avoid the house on the outskirts of the town.” They say in hushed whispers, their expressions grave. “Not so long ago, there was a fire that had begun in the town square. They never found anything, but we all know that it was that witch and her family that lived there.”
Witches were something that she had only heard stories about, so to hear one that was so close, intrigued her more than anything. Instead of feeling afraid, she felt more intrigue than anything - why had a witch set fire to the town square?
“She hates this town. It’s why she and her family keeps to herself most days. They hate all those that can’t do magic.”
Her brother is the one to take this warning seriously. His face is grave as he listens and even when the conversation moves to lighter things, he is the one to remind Aoi not to go there. This was meant to be a new chance for the both of them, and as such, he did not want to risk any of that.
The reality of the situation is that when you are in such a small village, you can not help but run into the thing you have been told to avoid. Leaning over the school she attends to, is the house in question. It is rather large, having a dark green roof and dark grey walls to add to it’s ominous nature. There is a path, she discovers, that is close to the one that leads to the school. She can tell it is this, because, there are several signs that have been placed there to go away.
She finds her mind continuously going back to it whenever she is at school. The building is always at the corner of her eye, distracting her from her school work. Aoi doesn’t enjoy the new school that she is in. Her fellow classmates are not as friendly as those from the village, looking towards her as though she is an outsider. She doesn’t want to make friends with them either.
When she walks home from school, she is still used to walking by herself. She doesn’t really pay attention to where she is going, often stuck in her head. Maybe this is why it is only when she hears the sound of a twig snapping that she brings her attention upwards.
There, stood right in front of her was a wolf. It looks towards her with a rather hungry look in it’s eye. A low growl escapes from it’s mouth and almost immediately, she begins to panic. She is well past the school now and even past the strange house. Looking past her options, she sees a small gap in the bushes. Without even thinking, she runs towards them, getting as far away from the creature as possible.
What she did not expect however, is the amount of thorns that would be in her path. She is only able to take a couple more steps before she inevitably falls, feeling the thorns cut into her hands and legs as she does so.
“Are you okay?!” A rather concerned voice says to her as she tries to make sense of her bearings. Where she had fallen was a small clearing, the leaves from the trees above covering the ground. As she raises her head, she is quick to notice her saviours - a girl with brown hair.
“Y-yeah, I’m fine.” Placing a hand to her head, she can feel something wet on the side of her head. Frowning, she looks towards her hand. “I mean, I - I think so.”
“You're cut all other.” The girl murmurs, before guiding Aoi to the nearest Rock. She begins to dig through her bag, pulling out some bandages. “Let me look at them.”
Overall, Aoi manages to leave the fall without any major injuries. When she had fallen it had felt as though she had injured herself quite a bit, but when looking at her injuries, she was surprised that it was far from the case.
“Thank you for that.” Says Aoi, standing up from the rock. She looks behind her, finding her bag behind her. “I saw a wolf and got rather...startled.”
“Oh yeah, there are a couple of them around.” The girl is able to smile then, her enthusiasm catching. “I’m Miyu. It’s nice to meet you!”
The formality surprises Aoi, unsure of how to take it. This is the firsst time in a long time that anyone in the village has been nice to her. Now that she is standing up, she can see the girl more clearly and is quick to notice that she is not wearing any school uniform. Unlike her, she is wearing a long black dress.
“I’m Aoi.” Replies Aoi, somehow finding herself smiling as well. “I go to school nearby.”
“That’s cool.” Responds Miyu, turning around. “I’m guessing you were heading back home, right? I can show you the way if you want.”
Initially, Aoi wants to decline. She already feels as though she is indebted enough to this girl and does not want to bother her more. Looking around though, she is quick to notice how different this part of the forest is from the path she usually takes. There is no clear path out of this clearing, covered by the sea of leaves on the floor. Behind her, she can't even tell where exactly she fell from.
“Maybe it would be better if you were to lead me out of the woods?”
Miyu once again smiles, a factor that feels almost unusual to her. At the back of her mind she wonders if she is an inhabitant of the house on the other side of the hill, one of the many witches that the village would often talk about.
“It isn’t very often that we get people coming towards the woods in this time of year.” Begins Miyu as she is lead through the woods. “And whenever people do, it’s always accidentally.”
“Accidentally?”
“Well, you know - the woods here are kind of big.” Miyu explains. “It’s easy to get lost if you don’t know it.”
It is evident that Miyu knows where she is going, an aura of confidence surrounding her as she walks through the village. To Aoi, everything here looks as though it is the same, that it wouldn’t surprise her if she was just in the same place before.
“How do you know it so well?” In the distance, she can see the faint outline of a path, realising that she had not strayed so far from it in her fall.
“I live round here.” There is a level of confidence in her voice, evident that she is proud of that fact. “Just like you probably know your village better than me.”
“I don’t actually.” Aoi frowns slightly. Truthfully with all the work that school has been giving her, she hasn’t even had the proper time to explore. “If anything, you would know better than me. I’ve only just moved here.”
“You’ve just moved here?” At that, her voice piques in interest. “Where from?”
The walk to the path is a lot shorter than she had anticipated. It isn’t long until she can recognise the familiar bend leading up towards the village, a fact she almost feels disappointed with.
“If you just follow this path right, you should be able to go back to your village.” There is a slight hesitation to her voice, pausing. “If your ever in these parts of the woods at anytime, let me know. I always study here.”
Once again, Miyu catches Aoi off guard. She had not expected her to ask that, of all things.
“I go to school here, so I’m sure I will see you again.” Aoi says, before giving the young girl a smile. “Thank you again for taking me back to the path and looking after me.”
It was from there that Aoi had made her way back to the village. When she looked back the way she had came, Miyu was still there, waving and smiling. She had felt reluctant to go back, curious about the girl that had saved her.
When she finally arrived back to her house, she checked her injuries in the mirror. With what had been several cuts were now healed entirely.
It is only a couple of days and she runs into Aoi again. This time, instead of being accidental, it is deliberate. She decides to bring the girl some of the chocolate that her brother had brought to her, as a thank you.
“Is this some chocolate?” Her smile is soft, an action that causes Aoi’s heart to stutter and to feel a surge of her own happiness. “Thank you!”
After this, it isn’t long until a friendship begins to form between the two of them. What becomes the occasional visit then becomes a more frequent one. Aoi finds her attention shifting further and further away from the curious building on top of the hill, and more towards the girl in the woods.
“Do you think you can sneak out in the evening at some point?”
The question comes across one weekday, when they had explored a lake that was close to her. Both of them had packed a lunch and were eating it, looking at the wildlife that was on the lake.
“Why?”
Taking another bite of her food, she looks towards her.
“There’s an important event coming up.” Explained Miyu. “I was going to celebrate it with my family, but I thought it would be more fun to do it together.”
In the time that Aoi has met Miyu, neither of their families have come up. Conversation often centred around how their days had been or a piece of nature that Miyu wanted to show Aoi. The rumours of witches still echoed at the back of her mind, but she never wanted to address it.
“I think I would be able to come.” Her brother is rarely home anyway, so it wasn’t as though he would notice that she would be gone. “What do you plan to do?”
Her grin switches into something more play full, placing a finger to her mouth.
“It’s a secret.”
The woods feel more different in the dark. The grass which is normally bright in the sunlight is now a dark blue, the only thing illuminating the forest was the bright moon above. In the distance she can hear the gentle murmur of bugs in the background louder than she had ever heard them before.
“You arrived!”
Aoi notices that her clothing is slightly different now. Her hair that is usually loose is tied up, wearing a black hat that is on her head. She quickly grabs hold of Aoi’s hand, leaning her back towards the clearing that they would usually go to.
The clearing, which was usually barren, is now filled with candles. In the centre there is a various number of different kinds of food and a blanket to sit on.
“Take a seat!” An offer that Aoi takes, taking a place next to her on the mat. She sits down next other, carefully examining her surroundings. There were a number of candles that stood on the outside of the rug, as well as some decorations of some kind.
“What is this holiday about?” Asks Aoi slowly, looking towards the candle that surround her.
“A number of things!” There is an enthusiasm rolls off of Miyu, as she goes into more detail. “It’s the day in which we remember the dead and honour the spirits of those that have passed.”
Immediately, Aoi’s mid goes back to her own parents, those who are now gone.
“I wanted to invite you because, you never seem to ask many questions about me.” Explains Miyu. “You’ve probably heard the rumours about me and my family.”
It is here that Aoi notices how sheepish Miyu appears, her rather positive atmosphere seeming to fall slightly.
“I have, but I don’t necessarily think that they are true.” In the time that she has known Miyu, the rumours seemed to slowly increase - blaming the smallest of things on the mysterious family that overlooked the village. “I don’t even know if you are a witch.”
“I am one!” She laughs, sounding relieved. “Although, I can’t show you any of my magic - my mum says that it’s dangerous to do it near those that don't practise it here.”
Miyu says nothing as she turns to look towards Aoi, smiling as she does so.
“I’m so glad that you don’t mind, Aoi.” Once again, Miyu hesitates. She looks away, before grabbing hold of her hand. Aoi is surprised, but allows her to take hold of them. “And that isn’t the only thing I wanted to tell you about today.”
“What is it?” Despite the question however, Aoi can feel her heart tighten, evident that she knows what it really is.
“I, uh - I really like you Aoi.” She sputters, closing her eyes. “I mean, more than a friend but as a - “
“I like you too.” The words come out quickly, surprising even herself. “I really enjoy talking to you and I feel a sense of peace that I can not feel around nobody else.”
“Aoi…” Miyu voice falters, but she leans over towards her. She is light and she can feel the breathing of her chest, rising up and down. Aoi allows her to rest as they watch the small fire in front of them.