Chapter Text
“Hmm, should I go with the Ginjō… or Umeshu?”
Stuck amidst the aisles of the local konbini, your eyes oscillating between the two ample bottles. Each bottle accompanied by a brutal price. Your eyes continually darted between the two, the choice seemingly making your head tear in two…
“Thank you so much!” The cashier chimed as you exited the automatic door into the evening streets. The bag on your shoulder emitted a chinking noise as the two bottles kept bumped against each other with every brisk step you took.
“She’d want both anyway, right?”
You hugged the bag close to your body and let out a relaxed sigh. In a few minutes you would be in heaven - to you, heaven was a small little shop tucked into the unused lot between two large skyscrapers. Within that small slice of land lived the most enigmatic and eccentric woman you’ve ever met. People regarded her with trepidation, calling her a witch, an enchantress, a fox - but all you could ever see in her was the otherworldly beauty and grace of an angel. Every Time you laid eyes on her, you found yourself wondering if you’d somehow escaped the land of the living as only someone as divine as her would reside in the skies above.
She was Ichihara Yuuko, the wish-granting swallowtail-winged angel.
The street lights directed you closer and closer to that special heaven like a moth to a flame. As your excitement grew you felt almost delirious, what were those two men doing standing on the rooftops two blocks away? But you never stopped to question any of that, even the student riding his bicycle towards that same area never registered in your mind for more than a second. They didn’t matter, you didn’t matter, nothing else mattered.
All that mattered was her
Finally you found yourself at that familiar empty lot once again. The dimly lit windows of that shop that housed your angel within greeted you in that familiar empty lot. You walked in, opening the doors, the texture of its intricate carvings felt welcoming on your palms, making you nostalgic for the days you first felt it. It felt comfortably warm.
Your pace quickened down the ornate hall of the shop, the checkered floor patterns dancing beneath the soles of your shoes until you stopped just before one final shōji, painted intricately with butterflies.
“You came”
A voice rang outside behind the shōji. A beautiful, melodious sound, one that you so desperately longed to hear again. It was like a drug to you and you’d already begun to relapse.
The butterflies seemed to flutter to life as the shōji magically slid open, and just there sat the angel who held a tight grasp over your heart. She sat comfortably yet elegantly on her luxurious chaise longue, her slender legs covered to just below her knees by a scarlet cheongsam embroidered with gold, with a white fur coat draped over her shoulders. She looked into a pocket mirror she held in her left hand, while applying red lipstick with her right. She spoke without even looking at you.
“You came a little earlier than I had anticipated, my apologies for not being punctual”
Shewithdrew the lipstick bullet into its casing and set it aside. Her usual gold-filigree kiseru replaced it in her hand. As she set it alight, a familiar smell enveloped the room, you couldn’t help but breathe it in deeply and sigh adoringly only to double over coughing. You did just inhale smoke, after all.
Bemused, Yuuko covered her chuckle with her hand as the corners of her eyes creased. She then looked right into yours, stretching out her hand and beckoning.
“Ginjō and Umeshu, is it? Give it here”
“How did you-?” You sputtered before she replied back with a soft wave of her hand.
“It was inevitable, every choice, every outcome…all preordained” she gracefully rose to her feet and took the bag from you before lightly rapping the top of your head with her knuckles. “I could see through the bag you big dummy”
You could see her poised elegance slightly crack as she took a bottle out of the bag and examined it closely, her eyes taking in the colors of the liquid as the room’s soft light filtered through it.
“Watanuki’s been so strict about sake lately, such a cruel employee. I knew I could count on you! You’re too good for me.” Yuuko gleefully clutched her newly-acquired treasures. You began to think that maybe the reason she asked to see you so often lately was just to smuggle her booze.
“I’d never deprive you of your needs Yuuko-sama” You replied eagerly, taking a step closer to her. Part of you wanted to reach out and cling to her like she was your lifeline, but you were still full of uncertainty. It had been ages since you last saw her, would she reciprocate?
“I didn’t get dolled up for nothing, dear”
Yuuko’s voice cuts through the inner ramblings of your head, snapping you back to reality.
“Right, of course, shall we go?” You spoke quietly, opening the front door for her. Yuuko gave a huff of approval as you followed her outside the door of the shop. Walking onto the street you take one last look at the mysterious shop and all its eerie beauty. A window in the top floor was still lit, two young girls, one with blue hair, the other pink, gazed down at you while a black furry ball of sorts that you couldn’t entirely make out bounded around them wildly. You turned your attention back to the woman beside you. She was more of a work of art than a human being, was she even human? It didn’t matter, she was a comforting and exciting presence in your life, all that was important was that you happened to share the same time of existence with her.