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It was a delightfully sunny day, although Sayu wouldn’t know that, as her being in Chinju Forest meant that she couldn’t tell what the weather was elsewhere because of the unexplained everlasting night in the forest.
Luckily for Sayu, everlasting night provided a great atmosphere for taking a nice and relaxing nap.
Unfortunately, everlasting night also meant that the forest was very cold, and her Mujina attire wasn’t very good at shielding her from the cold.
Ergo, she was having trouble sleeping.
When she was finally beginning to drift off, she heard footsteps and a loud, booming voice nearing her location. At first she thought it was a Shrine Maiden, but after hearing the voice, she knew it couldn’t be that.
“Ugh…I lost again! I lost for the 657th time!” The man yelled. However, it didn’t seem like he was talking to someone.
Was he…
Was he talking to himself?
“Oh look, a Tanuki!” He exclaimed, kneeling down to match her height.
Uh oh.
“I’m not a Tanuki!!” Sayu shrieked, although she said it louder than she intended to.
The pair sat in silence for a moment, observing each other.
The man had long, white hair with red horns sticking out. Sayu was pretty sure he was an Oni.
Much to Sayu’s surprise, the man wasn’t even wearing a shirt. He was just wearing a jacket-like outfit, and even though Sayu had only heard him saying two sentences, she had the feeling that he had less IQ than the average person.
“Are you cold?” He asked, his confused expression turning into a concerned one.
“Well…yes…” Sayu muttered.
“Awh, poor thing!”
“I’m not-“
Before Sayu could finish her sentence, the man threw a hoodie onto her lap, the hood resembling the top of a Tanuki and the bottom part resembling her current Mujina attire.
“I won this from a competition, and I mean, it’s way too small for me, plus it looks like you really need it, soo…”
Sayu looked at the hoodie, then touched it.
Oh wow, it’s really fluffy.
This would certainly be able to keep her warm.
“Thank you, sir.” Sayu replied, hugging the hoodie.
“No problem-o! And please, call me Itto! No need for formalities, little one! Although, since I am older than you- I am older than you, right? Because I’ve heard legends of immortal Tanuki and-“ Itto talked and talked and talked, but he stopped there when he noticed Sayu’s annoyed expression.
Still, she didn’t want to upset the man who had just given her a hoodie.
So, she changed her expression once again, allowing Itto to continue.
“As I was saying, you can also call me big brother Itto, because you know, I’m kinda like a big brother to ya! Know what I’m sayin’?” Itto exclaimed, patting Sayu’s head and ruffling her hair.
“H-Hey! Don’t pat me!!”
“Huh? Why not?”
“Because I’m trying to get taller, and I won’t get taller if you pat me on the head!!”
Itto looked kind of confused for a moment, as if he himself wasn’t sure if what Sayu was saying was true or not.
“Okay then. If you say so.” He replied. “I gotta go now, I’ll see you around, uh- wait, what’s your name again?”
“Sayu.”
“Alrighty. Bye, Sayu!!” Itto got up and waved goodbye to her before turning to the opposite direction to leave.
Sayu thought of saying something, but by the time she even got to say it, Itto was already gone. Still, she hoped the winds of the forest would bring either her words or just a good feeling in general to him.
“Bye bye, big brother Itto.”