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“You’re really not afraid of heights at all?” She stared at you with her big, red eyes, seemingly amazed at your statement, her mouth slightly open.
“Nope! Flying’s no big deal for me, I do it all the time.”
You were acting a little cocksure, mostly at the kinds of technology you had in the outside world. But Aya, being a resident of Gensokyo, had no idea that you meant you were talking about airplanes. Her surprised expression soon faded, now with a hint of a smug smile. As a crow Tengu, she was pretty much the fastest and best flier around.
“Well, why don’t you prove it? C'mon, let’s go!”
“Huh? What are you- eek..!”
She grabbed your wrist as she ran off, pulling you just a few steps from where the two of you sat; the nearest cliff.
“Hold on tight, okay? Reimu would be pretty mad if I let another one fall, eheheh ♪”
She directed your wrist around her waist, and then your other arm followed soon after. But before you were ready, before you could even comprehend what was happening, you were up in the air.
What should’ve been magical was instead the complete opposite. You had plenty of experience flying while you were safely protected by the hard metal exterior of a plane. But this wasn’t that at all. This was like hang gliding but worse, and you had never done that before, in fact, you were much too scared to.
Your feet left the ground, leaving you no choice but to cling onto Aya for support. The only thing that was keeping you from certain death was the grip you had around her waist.
“Ahhh… it’s so lovely up here. The wind in your ears, mmm, I feel so free! How are you doing down there?”
But it was hard to hear her, your ears filled with nothing but the roar of the wind. You clung for dear life, your face pressed into her back as stains from your tears started to form on her shirt.
She flew even higher, picking up speed as well as height, her wings flapping much harder now, the wind beating on your back. She, of course, could feel your grip tightening around your waist. And maybe she wanted to prove you wrong, that a human could never be on the same level of a Tengu. Or she just wanted to tease you a bit, have that cockiness of yours blow up in your face.
”Oh c'mon now, don’t be such a scaredy cat. I thought you liked flying!” She giggled, her voice somehow able to reach your ears despite the bellowing of the wind. You tried to speak but failed utterly, your voice only coming out as a pathetic croak.
“It’s not that bad once you get used to it. Maybe looking down at Gensokyo would help ease your fears? It’d be better than just burying your face in my shirt, I can feel you back there, you know ♪”
You relent, despite all rational thought telling you not to, and take a peak. You opened your eyes for the first time since the two of you lifted off and what you saw was truly breathtaking. You can see everything from up here, Youkai Mountain, the Human Village, the Hakurei shrine, the Moriya shrine. It’s all so beautiful. If you weren't so paralyzed with fear, you would be amazed. You could even see tiny little dots in the village! Were those supposed to be people? The sudden realization is dizzying and you almost faint, but for some reason you didn’t. Maybe it was the amount of adrenaline in your veins. You couldn’t say anything, your voice refusing to work. Your only reaction was to grip onto her tighter.
“Juuuust a little bit more, you can do that, can’t you? Then we’ll go back down and you’ll be right as rain. I can’t let a human like you upstage a tengu, Momiji would never let me hear the end of it ♪”
You feel her start to ascend, the scenery below you getting smaller and smaller, the people dots vanish entirely as you’re too high to even see them now. Your hands clam up, adrenaline pulsing through your body, your heart beating out of your chest. Your grip is slipping, your clammy hands far too sweaty to hold onto anything for very long. Your heart stops as you start to panic, your legs kicking out from underneath you, trying so desperately to find the ground but only finding air. The ground is miles below the two of you. Your eyes widen in terror and you try to cling onto Aya’s waist even tighter, but you fail every time, you just couldn’t get a good grip.
This is it. This is how you’ll die.
Aya must’ve felt you slipping because she caught you just as your fingers had lost their grip. Her own, warm hands held onto your wrists, keeping you from falling, keeping you safe. You weren’t going to die today, but you weren’t escaping this scot free either.
Something in your mind snapped.
Her strong grip that she held your wrists with kept you from falling to your doom. The soothing warmth you felt as you smothered your face into the small of her back, crying and whimpering. Her shirt was stained almost beyond repair with tears and snot. The soft scent that consumed your senses. She smelled both of spring and autumn, of the prevailing winds, of tengu, of birds, and most importantly, of a cute girl who just saved your life.
Sure, Aya did this to you, she’s the reason why all of this happened. She brought you up this high, and this whole thing was her idea. But she’s also the only thing preventing you from dying a horrible, terrifying death. Your mind focused hard on that fact as you whimpered and cried into her until your psyche was irreparably changed.
She.. she saved you, right? It was her, and her alone. Would any of the others have saved you? Would Reimu? Would Sanae? Would Youmu? Could they even save you? Would they even try? Your heart started to beat faster as your thoughts dialed in onto Aya. For the first time since she grabbed your wrist, you felt a sense of safety. You didn’t feel completely safe but… Aya wouldn’t just let you fall would she? She wouldn’t do that, she couldn’t.
As long as she was around, maybe things didn’t seem so scary. Your thoughts were damaged beyond repair.
“Okay okay, I’ll put you down, you baby ♪”
Finally, you feel her start to slow down. Her wings were gliding instead of flapping, as you no longer felt the wind beating on your back as much.
“We’re almost back on solid ground, okay? You can open your eyes now.”
But you don’t. You don’t want to see anything other than Aya, and so you buried your face into her back as much as you could. The two of you landed without much fanfare, Aya landing on her feet and you… were on the ground at least.
“There! That wasn’t so bad, was it? Just some Tengu-teasing, eheheh ♪”
But you don’t answer, or maybe you just couldn’t. The moment her hands let go of your wrists, you felt that same fear as before, where your hands slipped, where you were so sure that you were going to die. Panicking, you wrapped your arms around her waist again despite being set on the ground next to her. You didn’t want to let go, or maybe you were unable to let go, fear returning the moment your grip loosened. You were still whimpering and crying, your face now pressed against her hip.
“Hey, uh,”
She looked around awkwardly, hoping no other Tengu would see her. There’d be plenty of gossip if someone were to see her in such a compromising position.
“We’re safe, you can let go… Look, we’re on the ground now.” She tried to pull away but you didn’t let go, you only clung onto her tighter. That same fear spiking as you felt your grip around her slipping. You could only whimper and cry.
“Hey look, I’m sorry, I uh...” First she felt uncomfortable, but then she began to realize how badly you must’ve been scared. She helped you to your feet, your legs trembling so much that you couldn’t stand. You had to use her as support.
“Um… you uh, you can stay over, okay? Hopefully you’ll feel better in the morning.”
And maybe you would. After all, Aya was there with you.