The warm afternoon breeze rustled through the shrine grounds, stirring fallen leaves and sending a few drifting zily through the air. The red tate stood solemnly before us, its paint faded and chipped but still carrying an undeniable presence. Beyond it, the stohway led toward the shrine’s closed wooden doors, aged with time and covered in vihat had begun reg the structure.

  I hesitated for a moment, staring at the path ahead before voig the obvious question. “Should we… go inside?”

  As if nature itself wao ahe birds irees chirped cheerfully, and a few flowers by the shrine’s entrance seemed to bloom just a little brighter. A ce? Maybe. But givehing that had happened so far, I wasn’t so sure.

  Yuzu shuffled on her feet, her fox ears twitg nervously. “Yuzu… scawed, but Yuzu bery agree with Mashiro.”

  Catherianding beside her, had a flicted expression on her face, her crimson eyes sing the shrine’s entrah suspieanwhile, Yuki, who had been her usual zy self, seemed uncharacteristically quiet, her white cat ears flig slightly as if pig up on something unseen. Was she… worried?

  Nope. She yawned. Loudly.

  “I don't know about this,” Catherine finally said, adjusting the brim of her witch hat. “Are you sure you two will be okay going alone?”

  Before I could answer, Yuki, looking pletely unbothered, flopped onto the grass and sprawled out like she was about to take a nap. She stretched out her arms, zily pawing at the air. “Just tell me when you’re done, meow.”

  I stared at her, utterly baffled. “You two… aren’t ing?”

  Catherine sighed, tilting her head toward me like I had just asked if fire was hot. “Mashiro… I’m a witch.”

  Still lying on the ground, Yuki rolled onto her back, holding up her hands like little cat paws. “And I’m a cat, meow~!”

  I bli them. “…That expins nothing.”

  The wind whispered through the trees, rustling the leaves in a way that made the shrine feel even more eerily quiet. The red tate loomed over us, and beyond it, the shrine's doors remained shut, their weathered wood barely holding back the mysteries inside.

  “Okay, think about this.” Catheriuro me, adjusting her grip oaff. “If you see an abandoned witch's ir in the wild, would you go inside?”

  “No…?” I answered hesitantly. In truth, I had no idea what a witch’s ir even looked like, but it sounded ominous enough. Then again, gacha games had taught me that anything dangerous was both dangerous and worth expl. But this wasn’t a gacha game, and I didn’t have a guaranteed pity system for my survival.

  “Exactly,” Catherine nodded. “A witch like me might be tempted to go inside and gather remaining tomes, potions, and research that might be lying around. However, if you’re not well-versed in magid witchcraft, you could easily die if you enter carelessly.”

  Her voice softened slightly, the usual sharpness giving way to something… lonelier. “After all, a witch is a lone creature. We have to be prepared for anything when someoers our territory.”

  Her words hung in the air, mixing with the whispering wind that wove through the shrine grounds. The way Catherine spoke, so matter-of-fact yet strangely distant, made me wonder just how much of her warning came from experieher than mere caution.

  I g the tate again, then at the abandoned shrine beyond it. The pce was old, fotten, but not dead. It still pulsed with something unseen, something that made the air feel heavier the closer we got.

  “I get what you’re saying,” I admitted, rubbing the bay neck. “But this isn’t a witch’s ir… it’s a shrine, right?”

  Yuki, who had remained sprawled on the grass the eime, let out another long yawn, stretg like a cat basking in the sun. “Mmm, meow~. Then again, danger’s just another word for ‘adventure,’ isn’t it?” Her snow-white eyes peeked open slightly, glinting with something unreadable.

  Catherine sighed, pressing two fio her temple like she was already regretting this versation. “That’s exactly the problem with cat-kin logic. You all just waltz into trouble like it’s a game.”

  Yuki’s zy smile widened. “A, somehow, we always nd on our feet.”

  Catherine gave her a ft look. “Not if I push you off a cliff.”

  “Meow~.”

  I shook my head, exhaling as I turned back to the shrine’s entrahe heavy wooden doors stood tall, worn by time and the elements, but still standing strong. If this pce really was important to the fox-kin, then maybe Catherine was right to be cautious. But…

  I stepped forward.

  The wind picked up for just a moment, rustling the trees more violently before settling bato an eerie stillness.

  “…We’re going in,” I decided.

  Catherine busied herself by pulling supplies from her seemingly endless bag, spreading out a thick cloth as the base for the tent. The clearing where we stood was surprisingly soft with patches of grass and wildflowers, making it a fortable enough pce to rest. A small stream trickled nearby, its gentle babbling adding to the sere eerie atmosphere of the fotten shrine.

  “Um… I don’t think it would take that long…? I just wao check the inside.” I said, shifting my gaze between the shrine and Catherine’s growing campsite. “Besides, didn’t you say that we should be resting at the vilge over today?”

  Catherine looked up briefly, the sun glinting off her crimson eyes. “Mashiro, this is your journey’s home. It’s your call.” She turned her gaze toward the shrine again, as if measuring its significe. “If I were to find a witch’s ir, it would take me weeks to researd figure out all kinds of witchcraft inside.”

  “Nyaw… I saw myself sleeping here…” Yuki mumbled suddenly, rolling onto her side on the grass. Her fluffy white cat ears twitched as she stretched zily uhe warm sunlight, her tail flig idly.

  “Is that one of your cat premonition things?” Catherine asked while she tinued assembling the tent, driving a stake into the ground with a practiced motion.

  “Nyo….” Yuki replied, her voice barely above a whisper. “I just feel sleepy.”

  Catherine’s eyes twitched. “Stop being zy and help me!”

  Yuki let out a soft, drawn-out purr before snuggling into the grass, pletely ign Catherine’s outburst. Yuzu, meanwhile, was crouched he shrine’s entrance, ears perked up as she studied the worn wooden doors with an air of both curiosity and caution.

  The worn wooden steps creaked softly beh my feet as I approached the shrine’s entrahe st of old wood and faint inse lingered in the air, a reminder of the prayers once offered here. The tate behind us framed the world outside. A warm, sunlit forest bathed in golden hues while the shrine ahead stood in the quiet shade, untouched by time yet seemingly waiting for something… or someone.

  As I took aep forward, Ai suddenly wriggled free from my arms, nding gracefully on the ground. She let out a small, triumphant yip! and trotted beside me, her tiny paws moving with newfound purpose. It was as if she had been waiting for this moment, for us to finally step inside.

  “Oki! Yuzu would bery protect Mashiro!” Yuzu decred proudly, stepping up beside me. Without hesitation, she grabbed my hand, her grip surprisingly firm.

  “Um… Yuzu?” I blinked, caught off guard.

  Yuzu, ever nont, simply nodded, her bck fox ears twitg as she stared straight ahead. “Yuzu o bery hold Mashiro’s hand to bery protect Mashiro!”

  Her words were so serious, so matter-of-fact, that I couldn’t argue. I could only sigh, feeling the warmth of her small hand in mine as we faced the shriogether. The soft rustling of the wind irees seemed to quiet as we stood before the doors, the weight of the momeling in.

  With Yuzu holding onto me and Ai trotting ahead excitedly, we were ready to step into the unknown.

  “Open sesame!” I yelled, as I opehe door.

  The heavy wooden droaned in protest as I pushed them open, their hinges creaking with age. Dust swirled iernoon light as the inside of the shrine revealed itself, a vast, dimly lit hall lined with faded paper nterns and wooden pilrs ed in old, tattered charms. The st of a wood and lingering inse filled the air, a quiet reminder of the tless prayers once offered here.

  Ai let out aed yip! and darted ahead, her fluffy tails swaying as she trotted deeper inside. Yuzu, still clutg my hand, took a hesitant step forward, her fox ears twitg as if listening for something unseen.

  The light from the open doors spilled across the wooden floor, casting long shadows that stretched into the depths of the shrine. Everything was eerily silent, no wind, no is, just the sound of our own footsteps eg softly against the walls.

  “Bery spooky…” Yuzu whispered, tightening her grip on my hand.

  I nodded. “Yeah… but it doesn’t feel… bad?”

  Despite the shrine’s abaate, there was a strange sense of warmth lingering in the air, as if the pce itself was watg, waiting.

  Yuki’s voice called zily from outside, “Nyaw… be careful in there… or don’t. Either way, I’m napping.”

  Catherine sighed as she finished setting up camp, shaking her head. “If anything tries to eat you, scream loudly so I start setting things on fire.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Thanks for the support.”