Birdsong wakes you. You open your eyes to find the light of day streaming through the open window.

A few moments later you remember last night and a great weight is lifted from your shoulders: you can see again! You jerk up in bed and look around. The bare walls of your humble little room have never looked so beautiful.

Kyouko is there, asleep in the chair she placed next to your bed last night. You lean forward to wake her up, but hesitate. She just looks so peaceful sleeping there. Thinking she doesn't get much rest from her acolyte duties at the temple, you decide to leave her sleep.

Kyouko. The name sets your heart racing now. She's such a tiny little thing, and with her floppy ears and energetic tufted tail she's more than adorable. Your eyes scan her face, from the unruly teal-coloured hair to her snub nose and small mouth, her lips slightly parted to reveal the whiteness of her teeth as she breathes the deep rhythm of sleep.

You've never really noticed before, but she has rather pronounced canines. Well, it's just another thing that makes her seem dog-like. Did beautiful creatures like her ever really hunt and kill humans to eat? You try to imagine Kyouko calling out to a lost traveller, leading him deeper and deeper in the wilderness, finally falling silent to leap upon him from behind a tree and tear him limb-from-limb...

The image is much more disturbing than you expected.

You're still looking at her and wondering when Kyouko stirs and opens her eyes. A bright smile appears on her face.

"You can see again!" she says.

You nod, embarrassed that you were caught looking at her. You quickly thank her for taking such good care of you, but apologise that she had to sleep in a chair.

Kyouko, still smiling, shakes her head, her ears flapping about. "Oh no, I had a wonderful sleep."

You tell her that next time she visits you'll have to insist she sleep in your bed. The words are out of your mouth before you realise what it sounds like. Kyouko blushes hot and you start babbling an explanation, but then she laughs and says that she knows what you meant.

Her blush doesn't leave her face though.

The little yamabiko stretches and yawns lustily. "What time is it?" she asks.

You're not sure, since your room doesn't have a clock - they're rare here in the human village - but it's has to be a few hours after daybreak.

The effect on Kyouko is immediate. She leaps out of the chair, her face a mask of horror.

"I have to be at the temple!" she cries. "Lady Byakuren expects me to begin my cleaning duty at daybreak. Oh, she'll be furious!"

You're out of bed in a second, asking her if there's anything you can do.

Kyouko shakes her head. "No, please... it's not your fault. I'm the one who overslept. I'll just explain what happened. The Lady Byakuren will understand."

She rushes to the door and grabs the handle, but then she drops it, runs back and throws her arms around you and kisses you on the cheek.

"Thank you so much for coming last night. I had a wonderful time." She holds you for a great deal longer than a usual hug requires and when she finally slips her arms from around you she's blushing. "If... if you're not doing anything tonight, would you maybe like to meet me at Mystia's stand again? That is, if you're not busy and if you're not sick of grilled lamprey and..." Her voice dies away. You tell her you'd love to.

Again that beaming smile of innocent happiness. Kyouko claps her hands, but then she frowns. "I'd have to go. See you tonight!"

You wave goodbye as the little creature runs off down the lane. At the end of the lane she stops and waves again, then she's gone.

You return inside, your heart beating a mile a minute. You can still feel Kyouko's embrace, smell that wholesome scent that is uniquely hers. After pulling the chair back into its usual spot, you sit in it and feel the residual warmth of her body.

It's an odd thing to do, but somehow it calms your raging heart.

Everything smells like her.

The day can't go quickly enough. You spend it doing the jobs that earn you your keep here in the tailor's home, but you can't stop thinking about her and hoping she didn't get into too much trouble.

That afternoon, just after lunchtime, as you're walking with the tailor's daughter Eri back from the village's little schoolhouse, the sky turns pearl-grey with cloud and the temperature drops. You hurry home, expecting it to start snowing at any moment. The first flakes come down just as you arrive.

You play with Eri inside for a while and help her with her homework as the snow starts to fall heavier. When her father returns, you make your excuses and leave. It's already starting to get dark and even though it's not too far to Mystia's stand you don't want to leave Kyouko waiting.

As you walk along the path the snow becomes heavier, enough for a thin crust to spread across the ground and crunch beneath your feet. The trees glow dully with a light covering of powdered crystal.

When you arrive at the stand Mystia is already cooking lamprey, and she rubs her hands over the grill to warm them. As soon as she sees you, she smiles mischievously.

"Came back for more so soon? My lamprey does that? Or maybe it's the shochu you're after, or maybe..." Her eyes glitter. "... a date?"

You start to shake your head, but stop. Wait. It is a date, isn't it? Organising to meet a girl at a place for drinks - that's the definition of date, after all.

You shrug your shoulders instead and sit down. Mystia offers you some hot tea.

"Looks like we're in for a bit of a flurry tonight," she says, sighing. "The cold is always good for the grilled-lamprey business, but not if it snows too heavy."

You sit there, chatting with her as it grows darker. She puts out the lanterns and lights them. Now and then someone appears on the road, rugged up against the cold, and time and time again you think it's Kyouko, but it never is. After a while you start to wonder where she is.

Mystia is troubled too. "She might have been held up at the temple for some reason," she says. Then she stares at you. "What are you waiting for? Go and get her. You don't want to sit here and listen to me explain how to catch lampreys again, do you?"

You laugh and thank her, promising to be back soon. You get up and trudge your way down the road in the direction of the temple as the snow begins to set in.

In that thick silence that always seems to settle upon the earth whenever it snows, you finally reach the temple. The buildings seem even stranger in the eerie half-glow of night-time snow, and you feel like an interloper as you make your way to where you met Kyouko the first time. You don't really expect her to be there, but since you have no idea about the layout of the Myouren temple you decide it's as good a place as any to start looking for her.

The temple grounds are deserted and the steadily falling snow deadens every sound as you pick your way through the graveyard. It's only small, given that the temple is only a few years old, but it's still nerve-wracking. And so when you hear someone cough, you almost jump out of your skin.

It came from over there, from the porch of the main temple building. From where you are, you can only see the edge of it, so you move closer. Your heart is pumping in your chest. What if it's one of the other monks? What explanation are you going to give them? That you got lost in the snow? Well, it makes sense, but if it's Lady Byakuren herself, you wonder if she won't suspect that you're up to something, given how close you and Kyouko seemed at the concert.

Another cough. You reach the corner of the building and climb the steps up to the porch carefully, given they're slippery with fallen snow. You duck your head around the corner and see someone kneeling further along the porch in front of tiny brazier flickering with a yellow-red flame. In the dark and with flurries of snow being blown onto the porch itself, you find it hard to make out who it is. But the smallness of their body makes you suspect it's Kyouko.

Then the little figure coughs, and you make out in the mixture of firelight and shadow a tail and what are probably ears. You leave your hiding-place and hurry over to her.

Hearing the slap of your shoes on the wood she turns in surprise. It is her.

"Kyouko?"

Her eyes go wide, but instead of the smile and greeting you were expecting she just looks panicked. She makes no move to stand up but raises her hand and gestures for you to stop, which you do.

"You have to go," she whispers at you hoarsely. "If Lady Byakuren catches me talking to you, then..."

You tell her that when she didn't come to Mystia's stand you were worried that something had happened to her.

Sadness scores the little yamabiko's face. "I... I'm sorry I stood you up. When I arrived late for my duties this morning, Lady Byakuren scolded me and asked me why she should keep me on as an acolyte if I don't take my responsibilities seriously. I tried to explain what happened, but she said it wasn't important."

You ask her if that's why she's sitting there now, whether it's punishment.

Kyouko shakes her head. "Lady Byakuren told me that she'd keep me on as an acolyte if I could prove to her that I was really serious about it. So she gave me the duty of guarding the temple tonight."

But it's snowing, you protest. Surely she can't seriously expect her to...

Kyouko's face takes on that determined look that you saw before. "To follow the dharma, you have to learn to ignore minor things like the discomfort of the body..."

It sounds like Kyouko is just repeating one of Byakuren's teachings, and you flare with anger. Seeing Kyouko here, shivering in the cold with only a tiny brazier to keep her warm while Byakuren is no doubt comfortable inside the temple... You angrily start to protest about Byakuren's hypocrisy, and how Kyouko needs to find the courage to stand up to her.

Your outburst is cut off by a loud "No!" from Kyouko. You step back, horrified by the look of angry hurt on the little creature's face. "You're just like Mystia. You don't understand. Neither of you do! I'm not doing this because Lady Byakuren is telling me to. I'm doing it because I want to!" Tears start to flow down her cheeks and she wipes at them angrily with the sleeves of her dress. "No one thinks I can do anything without someone telling me to. That I'm weak and useless." Her eyes, red and swollen, flash at you. "Well, I'm not! That's why I'm doing this. I have to prove it to myself as well, that I can do it, that I'm not just playing around." She turns away. "Please go. I... thank you for being so kind to me. But I don't need people feeling sorry for me anymore."

You stand there, shocked by her words. You start to say something, but then you just turn and walk away. When you reach the edge of the porch and climb down the steps, you chance a glance back. Kyouko is still kneeling there, staring down at the little brazier. You watch her for a few moments, but she makes no move to look in your direction.

You slink away, burning with shame and frustration at how badly you've screwed things up. You find the path leading back into the forest and take a few steps along it, but find you can't walk any farther. You slump against the trunk of one of the cedar trees and press your head against the bark, feeling your eyes growing hot. Then the tears start flowing and you stand there, not feeling the cold or wetness of the snow and wind, just the painful brokenness of your heart.

After a while you feel stronger, hollow but stronger, and you wipe at your eyes with your hands. You look at the snow-covered path leading into the forest and realise that this time, when it takes you back to the human village, you'll never see Kyouko again. The pain of that thought is just too much to bear. You double back, following the edge of the temple precinct. You just want to see her again. You know it's over between you, over before it even began, but you need to look at her, one last time, so that you can remember her differently from that final look of anger and hurt.

You skirt the main buildings, slipping from tree to tree. You realise your behaviour is that little different from that of a stalker, but with your heart in the fragile state it is you can't be shaken from your resolve.

You soon find a spot on the edge of the forest where you have a clear view of the main temple building. You're far away enough not to be seen, but you can make out a little flickering pinpoint of light and a tiny shadow behind it: Kyouko.

You shiver as the darkness deepens and the snow grows heavier. Even your overcoat is not enough to keep warm. But you make no move to leave. As you stare at the tiny flickering flame of the brazier, you wonder if what you're doing there isn't just your own form of penance. Kyouko is right. You really did think of her as weak, needing to be protected. And yet, she's the one who has been protecting you: first when she saved you from being lost in the forest and then when she looked after you after being struck blind by Mystia's song.

You've been standing there in your vigil for you don't know how long when you hear a sound above you. A mass of snow falls down from the tree you're leaning against and you look up to see Mystia perched high in the branches. For a second you wonder how she got there, and then you remember she can fly.

She spreads her wings and steps off the branch and comes gliding down to land beside you. She doesn't say anything, merely looks out towards the temple following your gaze.

She sighs. "So that's how it is, huh? When you didn't come back I figured something like this must have happened." She looks at you. Maybe your eyes are still red, or maybe you just look depressed, but Mystia places a hand on your shoulder.

"Sharing her vigil, huh. Well, don't beat yourself up about whatever happened. Kyouko may be cute and tiny, but don't let that fool you. Like I said last night, there's a lot of frustrated energy in that chest of hers."

Mystia's words don't make you feel any better. You return to staring at the little brazier.

Mystia sighs a second time. Then she reaches into the heavy overcoat she's wearing and takes out a beanie and some mittens. "Here, you should wear these if you're going to be out here all night. I don't have a brazier in her anywhere, unfortunately, but I do have this." She brings out a little bottle and shoves it in your hands.

It's shochu.

Mystia laughs at the look on your face. "Ah, love!" she says. "It sucks sometimes, doesn't it? Well, I'll leave you to it. Try not to freeze to death out here." She pats you on the back and then with a few strong flaps of her wings she lifts into the air and vanishes behind the tops of the trees.

After Mystia leaves, time stops having any meaning. The light of the brazier flickers, the trees shiver in the wind, the snow continues to fall, the darkness deepens. And then it begins to brighten. Colour slowly returns to the world. For a while you wonder what the hell is happening, but then you realise it's the dawn.

The dawn? You've been standing there all night?

You struggle to move. Every part of you is aching. How did time pass so quickly? You're pretty certain you didn't fall asleep. Maybe you were in that strange meditative state between waking and sleeping the whole time.

You stretch, muttering at the pain in your muscles, and look out towards the temple in the pale light.

You can see Kyouko clearly now. She's still sitting before the little brazier. Then someone comes out onto the porch from the inside of the shrine.

It's Byakuren.

She puts her hand on Kyouko's shoulder and talks to her. You see the little yamabiko nodding. Then Byakuren helps her to her feet and goes and brings her her broom. Kyouko bows and as Byakuren leaves you see her stretch and hop up and down in the coldness of the morning air.

Then she gets to work sweeping the porch with her broom. You hear her humming, the hum slowly shifting into murmured, half-sung words:

"Gyatei gyatei haragyatei harasougyatei boji sowaka..."

You exhale deeply. She seems happy. You look down at the bottle of shochu in your hand. You didn't touch it all night, but you think you can have a swig now.

The burning liquor flows through you in an instant. You take another swig, and then another. You feel life returning to your frozen limbs.

And yet...

And yet it does nothing for the ice still encrusted around your heart.

It's a few days later. Time, they say, heals all things, but your heart is still heavy from all that happened between you and Kyouko. The snow didn't set in, and with the sun having returned to the sky the snow-covered forest is a glittering cave of glistening jewels.

You came here to walk in silence and collect your thoughts, looking for some peace, but despite the forest's beauty you find it hard to escape the pain of your failure.

The silence deadens its somewhat, though. The crunch-crunch-crunch of your footsteps, the soft murmur of the breeze setting the branches of the cedars shimmering. If you're going to suffer, better to suffer here, you decide.

You're deep in the forest when you hear a strange sound. With every step you take, the crunch of your feet in the snow seems to double.

Crunch...crunch.

Crunch...crunch.

Someone is out there in the forest, just off the path, shadowing you.

Crunch...crunch.

Crunch...crunch.

"Hello?" you cry out.

"Hello!" comes a voice in return, from far off.

You shiver. Another human? Or a youkai. You start walking again, and this time there's no mistaking the mirroring of your sharp footfalls.

You stop. "Who are you?" you shout.

"You?" returns the voice.

The voice was closer that time, and you realise it wasn't an echo. The voice was feminine, and you feel hope surge up in your chest.

"Kyouko?" you call out.

"Oh?" responds the voice.

"Come here!" you shout.

"Here!" the voice replies.

You step off the path. You walk quickly, eagerly. The crunching of your footfalls is echoed, but the closer you get to the source, the further away it seems to be.

"Kyouko, where are going?"

"Going!"

"Wait for me!"

"Me?"

You're surrounded by trees now. You glance at the ground. There are footprints here, but they're confused, like someone has tried to mask them by walking back and forth. You look around. Every tree looks the same.

In a sudden panic you realise you don't know the way back to the path.

Then you spot something lying against a nearby tree.

It's a broom.

You hurry up to it. It's made of bamboo, the same kind Kyouko uses.

"Kyouko?"

"Kyouko!"

You grab up the broom and follow her voice. It leads you a merry dance throughout the forest, always at a distance, but from the loudness of the echo you decide you must be catching up with her.

You stop again and look around. There, hanging on a low-lying branch, is a large piece of pink material shifting slightly in the wind.

You pull it down. It's a pink dress. From the teal-coloured flower-buttons, it can only be Kyouko's dress.

Her dress? What the hell is she doing?

You fold it over your arm and keep going.

"Ya-ho!" you cry.

"Ya-ho!" comes the cry in return, closer still this time.

And there, hanging on a branch.

It's a white under-dress.

You carefully pull it down. It's still warm, and there's the unmistakeable fragrance of Kyouko coming from it. Your face flushing, you add it to the dress hanging over your arm and hurry on, your heart beating rapidly.

"Ya-ho!"

"Ya-ho!"

Her voice is much louder now. You look about, but you don't see anything. There is utter silence here, deep in the forest. It's just the snow and the cedars and the wind and you.

Suddenly, your heart jumps. You remember the time you imagined what it must have been like in the old days, when yamabiko lured humans into the wilderness to devour them. Is she lurking out there, somewhere, hiding? Does she hate you after your falling out, and has led you here so she can take her revenge?

Those pronounced canines...

"Ya-ho?" you call out, your heart racing.

"Ya-ho!"

It's from right behind you. You whirl around.

There's no one there.

But on that branch, swaying in the wind, hard to make out amongst all the snow hanging on the other branches nearby...

White material. A bra, and panties.

You stand there, wondering whether or not you should reach up and pull them down and feeling like a complete idiot, when you catch movement from the corner of your eye.

Just a flicker, from behind that tree.

And again.

This time you caught it. The tip of a tufted brown tail.

There it is again, and again. Appearing from behind that tree, wagging in and out of sight.

You glance at the ground, hiding the smile that's appeared on your face. Then you take a few steps in the wrong direction and call out "Ya-ho!"

"Ya-ho!" comes the echo, but from the opposite direction to the tree with its wagging tail.

So she wanted to creep up behind you and surprise you. You decide to turn the tables.

You wander about as though lost and confused, moving closer to the tree with each step. Then, when you're right next to it, you call out "Ya-ho!" one last time.

"Ya-ohhh!" You catch Kyouko mid-cry as you swing around the tree and grab hold of her. She's stark naked.

She gasps and starts to struggle, but you hold onto her, sliding your arms around her waist and pulling her soft, warm body against yours.

"Aren't you cold?" you ask her.

"A-a little," she says, blushing furiously.

"Let me warm you up," you tell her, leaning forward to kiss her.

As your lips touch hers, Kyouko stops struggling and melts into your arms with a sigh. Her tongue comes to meet yours, shyly, tentatively, and your heart aches as you kiss her deeply.

The little minx. You don't know what's going on, but right now you don't care. With her slight body pressed against yours, her small breasts squeezed between you, the rich fragrance of her hair and body everywhere, the delicious heat of her mouth melding with yours, all the suffering of the past few days dissolves away.

You break the kiss, gasping for air, and look at Kyouko with questioning eyes.

The little creature is blushing even deeper than usual. She meets your gaze briefly then buries her face in your chest.

"You stayed out there all night," she says. "Even after I was so mean to you. You waited with me, even though it was so cold."

"You saw me?" You're ashamed of having spied on her, but Kyouko doesn't seem to care.

She shakes her head, her little ears flicking about. "No, I heard you." She reaches up and tugs one of her floppy ears. "These things aren't just for show, you know."

You reach up and stroke them, the top of her head as well. You've been dying to do so ever since you first met her. You're not disappointed. Her ears are warm and fuzzy, and she murmurs in delight at your touch, her tail wagging.

"So you don't hate me?" you ask her.

She shakes her head. "No-o," she replies. She gazes up at you. "I- I really like you."

You kiss her again, harder this time. Then you start to take off your overcoat.

Kyouko's teal eyes go wide, but when you swing it about her shoulders she cuddles even closer against you.

"It's cold out here," you say.

Kyouko nods. "But I don't feel cold here with you."

She closes her eyes and lifts her face. You don't need to be told twice. You lean down and kiss her. This time, Kyouko is less shy and she explores your mouth with a questing tongue. Her hands reach in between you and start to unbutton your shirt.

"Hey, what are you doing?" you ask in mock-protest.

"Don't you think it's unfair for me to be the only one naked?"

Even though she was one who stripped all her clothes off, you decide not to argue with her logic. Soon her hands have slipped inside and she strokes your chest with her fingertips, muttering happily.

"Boys' bodies are firmer than girls', aren't they?"

You take hold of her hands and lower them to your waist. She doesn't need to be told twice, and after a bit of fumbling she's undone your belt and helps you out of your pants.

You guide her onto the ground, laying her down so that the overcoat acts like a blanket, making a nice warm barrier between the snowy ground and yourselves. As you lean over her, you take the chance to let your eyes roam over her body.

Kyouko closes her eyes and turns her face away, the flush on her face deepening. It spreads down her neck to the top of her chest and onto her tiny breasts. They're about the size of rice-bowls and utterly adorable, and you attack them with your mouth, making Kyouko squirm beneath you.

"No, no," she murmurs. "They're... they're too sensitive!"

You decide to be a gentleman and cease your attack, instead letting your kisses and licking tongue slip down over her flat stomach. You pause to dip it into her bellybutton for a moment, making her gasp, and then you're kissing the inside of her thighs.

Soon Kyouko starts to pant and her tail, trapped between her body and the overcoat, struggles to wag. It's a problem you'd never have to deal with with a human girl. You grip her gently around the shoulders and flip her onto all fours so that her tail can wag free.

After all, Nature in its wisdom has already created the perfect position for just this situation.

The view from behind her is so strange and so beautiful. Her rounded buttocks and slim waist, the slender, pale length of her back leading to her narrow shoulders and the graceful arch of her neck are all indistinguishable from a human girl's, and yet there are the delightful additions of her floppy ears that move whenever she turns her head and of course her tail: that adorable tufted tail that betrayed her so nicely before when she was trying to ambush you. It's wagging happily as you slide your hands down the length of her body, making her moan, and when you reach it, you run it through your hand.

Kyouko gasps and wiggles her hips. "Please," she whispers. "Please don't tease me!"

Who can resist such a humble request?

As you enter her Kyouko cries out, and the sound is surprisingly loud, although utterly adorable.

"I'm... sorry...uhh!" she pants. "I... I'm very...loud. I... uhh! That's why I wanted... uh, to make love here I the forest, where no- oh! -one could hear us..."

The lean down over her and whisper in one of her floppy ears that you love the way she sounds. Her voice is beautiful when making love, too.

Kyouko gasps and turns her head to kiss you. As your tongues intertwine in a blaze of heat and wetness, she starts to move her hips back harder and faster. She's obviously no longer content with your slow strokes and has decided to up the ante.

With her tongue sliding against yours, exploring your teeth and palate, her still-wagging tail trapped between the two of you, you lose all control. You start slamming into her and Kyouko cries out over and over, her voice getting louder and louder.

"I.. ah!.. I.. ah! I.. love.. you!"

It's too much for you. Even if you'd wanted to, there's no way you could stop yourself now. You careen right over the edge and cry out as your head splits in two with the intensity of the pleasure exploding throughout your body. There's nothing else, then, but wave after wave of insane delight spreading through you, and above it all Kyouko's high, desperate cries as she climaxes together with you. She collapses forward from exhaustion and you slump on top out of her. The two of you lie there catching your breath, your minds struggling to remember who and where you are.

At last you roll off and reach out for her, still half-blinded by the intensity of your orgasm. You find her arms and slip your own underneath them and around her chest, pulling her tiny body against you. Her head finds the space between your neck and collar and nestles in it, one ear flopping over your shoulder, the other brushing against your lips. You take it into your mouth and nibble it, and Kyouko gasps and slaps gently at your back.

"No, d-don't! I'm... I'm too... I'm too sense... sense..."

Her voice trails away. You guess it's a bit of an accomplishment, rendering a yamabiko speechless.

But you don't have long to feel proud of yourself, for you feel the languor of your limbs spread over your whole body and you yawn, her ear slipping from your mouth, and then you're asleep.

You're not asleep for long, of course. As soon as the heat of your lovemaking has bled from your bodies in the early winter air you wake up, shivering. Kyouko stirs as you get up and she blinks up at you, confused. Then her mouth opens in an O of surprise and she pulls the corner of your overcoat over her to cover her breast and thighs.

You smile down at her as you quickly retrieve your underwear and slip them on. Then you recover the rest of both of your clothes, handing her her underwear along with the dress and underdress that she'd used to play that wonderful hide-and-seek game with you.

Soon the two of you are clothed again and you sweep her up in your arms. Kyouko still says nothing and just looks up at you, her eyes brimming. You lean down and kiss her gently and she shivers in your embrace.

"Lost your voice?" you ask.

"I'm just too happy," she murmurs against your chest.

You glance down at your overcoat. It's going to need some vigorous cleaning if you're ever going to wear it again, you realise. You'll probably never get Kyouko's smell out of it.

Maybe that's not such a bad thing, after all.

Silence hangs over the crystallised forest as the two of you stand there, hugging, not caring about anything else but each other. But then a drift of snow falls from a nearby cedar with a soft flumph and you both turn to see Mystia standing on a branch high up the tree.

"Hey," she says.

Kyouko gasps and turns on her, her face going red. "Mystia! You... don't tell me you were peeping?"

Mystia looks hurt. "Oh, come on Kyouko. I'm a night sparrow, not a tengu. I didn't see anything, although even a fairy could guess what happened." She looks at you and winks, giving you a thumbs-up. "Good job!"

Then it's your turn to blush. You pick up your overcoat and roll it up as Mystia glides down to join you.

"I guess you two could do with some hot tea... and a hot shower, I'm guessing." She grins at Kyouko, who gasps and blushes an even deeper red. "Come back to my place. You'll have to share the hot water, though, since there's not that much of it."

She doesn't need to make the offer twice. The two of you follow her as she leads you through the sparkling, crystalline halls that the snow has transformed the forest into. Kyouko clings to you, her head on your shoulder the whole way.

"Cold?" you ask her.

"No," she says, snuggling closer to you.

You whisper into her ear. "Kyouko?"

She looks up at you. "Yes?"

"Nothing. I just wanted to say your name."

Kyouko smiles and says yours. You repeat it back to her.

"Think I'd make a good yamabiko?" you ask.

Mystia turns around and shakes her head. "Nah, you're not a big enough loudmouth."

"Hey!" cries Kyouko.

Mystia laughs. "And don't get any funny ideas! There's only room in the band for two people. It's Dance of Bird and Beast, right? No space for a human." She looks you over. "He can be a groupie, though. Think you're finally ready for the big time, Kyouko?"

The yamabiko nods, and for the third time you see that look of determination on her face.

Mystia is right. There is a fiery spirit inside that little chest of hers.

And you can't wait to see more of it.

The End

Next in the Touhou Waifu Series: The Love of Your Life with Sukuna Shinmyoumaru.