[story]
Even in the early morning, the summer sun shone hot and bright. Ran frowned, keeping her eyes closed. Let it steal inside the bamboo shutters of her room. She could stay a moment longer, savouring the warmth of it on her face, the too brief morning quiet--
As if on cue a snore rudely pierced the quiet. Ran held herself resolutely still but it was no use. The magic of the early morning was broken and she could no longer pretend to herself to be asleep. Gathering her under-kimono about her, she slipped out of the futon, into the rough kimono that was her usual garb.
The vague smell of smoke remained, but the kitchen fire had long since burnt out. Ran stepped over her father, his futon spread out on the matted portion of the kitchen floor. He'd kicked his blanket off and sprawled with gracelessness unbecoming a once-respected samurai, and she gave him a fond smile, even as she stooped to gather up the sake bottles surrounding him. All empty ... he must have been up late. Shinichi too, Ran thought, stepping down onto the dirt floor beside the fire.
It was here the third member of their small household slept, mat pulled in front of the door in a gesture that Ran suspected had more to do with a desire to catch the cooling night breezes rather than any instinct to protect the household from intrusion. "Well, if nothing else, he makes a good door stop," Ran grumbled, gathering up the sake bottles surrounding the apprentice. The smooth white pottery slipped through her fingers, colliding disproportionately loud in the quiet kitchen and Ran glanced hastily down to see if her slip had woken him.
The sight of Shinichi's sleeping face arrested her attention, and she paused studying the familiar features. The morning light that stole through the cracks of the bamboo screens covering the windows were kind, giving the stubbornness of his mouth the gentleness of a child's pout, and turning his habitual serious expression into something serene and calm. Shinichi never looked as good as he did when he slept, and despite herself, Ran couldn't help reaching out to brush the hair from his eyes. The touch turned into a caress, Ran leaning in as she ran her fingers down the curve of his cheek, lingering at his jaw. She felt nervous somehow, like a child discovering a present left out ahead of time, and she held her breath as she felt the warmth of his breath on his fingers.
Shinichi--
Strange how someone so familiar, whose face she had seen every day of the last three years might still have the power to make her feel as new and shy as if she met him for the first time, Ran thought, withdrawing her hand as she stood. Pity that all changed when he opened his mouth--
A hand caught the sleeve of her kimono, stopping her from leaving. "Ran."
She just managed to muffle her exclamation. He'd been awake all that time? "If you're awake, you could be fetching the water," she scolded, keeping her voice a whisper. "Instead of lazing in bed--"
Shinichi yawned and sat up. The movement caused the loose yukata he slept in to slip down his shoulder, and Ran's eye followed the expanse of skin down before realising she was in dangerous territory. "What's the hurry?" He smirked, deliberately catching her eye and Ran felt her cheeks heat, knowing he'd caught the direction of her gaze. "There's a lot more one can do in bed ..."
"Idiot." Ran's foot connected squarely with Shinichi's chest, the kick propelling him through the kitchen door. She tossed his futon after him. "Water!" she commanded. "And don't be too long about it." She took a deep breath in the kitchen, willing her composure back. The momentary, unbidden glimpse she'd had, the two of them together--
No point thinking like that when there was work to be done, Ran thought firmly, kneeling to sweep the spent embers from the fire prior to laying new wood. Still, even once the fire was lit and their rough kitchen floor swept, her cheeks were warmer than such exercise might warrant.
Kitchen swept and a fire blazing merrily in the hearth, Ran lifted her futon outside to take full advantage of the sun. Surprisingly, Shinichi had thought to do the same, his futon already hanging over the outside line.
Ran laid hers out next to his thinking again that she must talk to her father about getting it replaced. What had been fine for a child was not so fitting for an apprentice, even so hopelessly distracted an apprentice as Shinichi. Where was the water she’d sent him to fetch? Ran followed the path of raised stones around the garden wall to the well they shared with Agasa.
The well was placed beneath a thick cluster of bamboo, their maze of twining branches usually a turmoil of excited bird activity, even this early in the morning. Ran dimly registered the silence as unusual, even as her senses responded to the shade and restful stillness, feeling almost as though she'd stepped into a dream. There was an unreal quality about the morning--
The hand that caught hers was very real.
Ran barely had time to gather her breath as Shinichi pulled her close to him. A glance at his expression quelled her protest. Ran followed his gaze to the well, felt a shiver thrill down her spine, drawing closer to Shinichi.
Two foxes stood at the well, one drinking from the wooden bucket, the other looking about with wide luminous eyes. Ran looked away before those eyes could meet hers; there was something too sharp, too knowing in that inhuman gaze. She reached for the comforting weight of Shinichi's arm. "Are they--?"
"Spirits," Shinichi said just as quietly. "See that white fur?" He shifted his arm to accommodate Ran at his side, watching from the relative safety of the underhang. "It's all right so long as we don't anger them. Don't meet their eyes."
Ran obediently bowed her head.
There was simply quiet, Ran unable even to hear the soft sound of water, or anything further than Shinichi's breathing, comfortingly steady. Suddenly, with a sigh like waves breaking, the bamboo moved in the wind and the spell was broken.
"Gone."
Ran shivered, feeling the chill anew as Shinichi left her to approach the well. "What does it mean? They weren't ... angered?"
"I think not," Shinichi said glancing over the well. "But we must be sure no one uses the bucket until we can take it to the temple."
"Eh? We can't use the bucket?"
"I'll borrow Agasa's. He won't mind; I've already done his water." Shinichi glanced back, catching Ran's worried expression. He grinned. "Be glad they didn't drink from the well."