Domicile

Miyori hadn't known what to expect when she followed the address that had been in Noa's bag. All she knew was that it had come from the fae, and would lead her to a place where she could talk with one. 

If she'd tried to guess beforehand, though, she wouldn't have chosen a house in the suburbs outside town. 

It took about an hour just to travel to the nearest station, which, according to the maps, wasn't very close to the neighborhood they needed. Their trip was sped up by being able to fly directly there, over the streets instead of on them, but even then it was a long and tiring flight. 

Miyori didn't appreciate living downtown enough, she reflected. In the middle of the city, there were more places to land as she went about her day. 

Still, they eventually reached the address. It was…a fairly normal-looking house, all things considered. There was a large roofed wall around the premises, and a well-kept garden just visible beyond, with impeccably shaped shrubs and pines. It looked like it could been a catalog listing for a real estate firm. 

Kenshin looked nervous. "Are you sure this is right? We're not about to knock on some random rich guy's door?" 

Miyori shrugged, and held up the pixie-sized scrap of paper she was holding. "You saw me copy it over. Besides, even if it's wrong, we've come too far not to try it now." 

He shook his head. "I can't believe I'm doing this." 

Before he could work himself up into more of a panic, Miyori stepped up to the gate. There was a bell beside it, so she took a deep breath and tugged the string. 

She thought she might have heard the faintest sound of a bell, inside the house beyond the gate, but she couldn't be certain. 

Miyori and Kenshin watched the door, waiting. 

Miyori was wondering if she should ring it again when there came the distant sound of a door rattling open. 

"Sorry to keep you waiting," a figure called from the house. There was the sound of a door sliding shut, and then the slap and scrabbling of sandals on crushed stone. 

Then the gate opened. 

"Well!" said the human on the other side. He was an older man in a worn-looking hanten with a white collared shirt underneath, wearing outdoor slippers. "I have to admit, I wasn't expecting a pair of pixies today. And so young, too! I don't believe you two have an appointment?" 

"Not exactly," Miyori said. "But there's an urgent matter we'd like to discuss with you, if you'll allow us."

The man smiled. "I would hope it's urgent! This address is so far out for a reason. If people aren't willing to waste their own time getting out here, they shouldn't get to waste mine." He stepped back, and they walked through the gate before he shut and locked it behind them. 

"By the way," he added, "give this address out to anyone, and you'll regret it. Just in case my son didn't mention that part." 

He said it with the same gently cheerful tone he'd used so far. Miyori gulped and nodded, not daring to speak. Noa hadn't given this address to her, exactly…and she had come for just about the same reason he would. So hopefully this much was okay. 

He led them down the path and up the stairs to the raised porch, pulling open the front door. "Come in, come in. Shoes off at the door, please—yes, for pixies too—and if you have any weapons on you, my wards will know, so be aware of that." 

Miyori shot Kenshin a look. He made a gesture back at her which she took to mean that whatever jobs he'd taken from the fae so far, carrying weapons wasn't involved. 

"We're unarmed," she said, and entered, flying low to line up her shoes. They were comically tiny against the lip of the full-sized genkan, but she made sure they were placed neatly anyway. 

The man led them into a small, finely furnished room with a low table and a stack of finely upholstered zabuton in the corner. He stepped towards the zabuton, stopped, chuckled, and changed course, reaching for a small closet to the side instead.

From there, he pulled out a couple of pixie-sized zabuton and laid them out with a flourish on top of the table before laying out a zabuton on the tatami for himself. 

"Now," the man said, turning around, "I'll ask my men to pour us some tea, and we can have a conversation." 

And he left them waiting there. 

They settled onto the zabuton. Miyori sat in a proper seiza and glared at Kenshin until he uncrossed his legs and did the same. 

"My legs are going to fall asleep," he hissed. 

"Deal with it," she muttered back. "We don't need them to fly, anyway." 

Wanting to distract herself from the discomfort in her own feet, she looked around the small room. It was finely furnished, with sliding doors and traditional art prints on the walls. In the corner was a tokonoma with a single orchid and a bonsai framing a long, detailed scroll of calligraphy so old and fine that she couldn't quite make out the characters at a distance. 

The man returned, and Miyori straightened, thanking him politely as he set a small tray in front of them. It had cups and a teapot on a pixie scale—a rare sight, in a human-sized house—along with a small pile of senbei that was only a little too large for them to hold comfortably. 

"Thank you very much for your hospitality," Miyori said formally, bowing. "You didn't need to go to so much trouble." Then she reached forward and poured the tea for Kenshin and herself. 

The man gave her a fond smile and took a long sip from his own teacup. "It's good to see they're still teaching young people  manners these days," he said. "You're a student, dear?" 

Her uniform made that much obvious. "Yes, sir." 

"And your friend?" 

"My cousin, sir." 

"Kenshin Ogimura, sir." Kenshin bowed with passably good form. "I've had the pleasure of working with Masa Kusumoto-san in the past."

"Hmm, yes. I believe I've seen your name before." His gaze returned to Miyori. "But not yours...?" 

"I'm Miyori Ogimura, sir." 

"We're aware of the Ogimuras, of course," the man said. "They're a fixture of the town, have been for centuries. Your neighborhood isn't the only one, though it's one of the oldest." He fixed them with a look. "They don't usually get involved with human business, much less with my family. Kenshin-kun, as I understand it, was a bit of an exception—helping out a young man who'd gone astray." He fixed them both with eyes that had gone dark. "It wasn't an invitation." 

"I kn-know that, sir," Kenshin managed. "Again, we're very sorry to intrude. But I didn't invite Miyori here. She asked me to come with her." 

"I didn't think either of you were invited, actually," the man said matter-of-factly, but some of the threat had faded from his expression. "The invitation was for your young friend Takasu-kun. Or that was what was written in my boy's report." 

"They took him," Miyori said, trying to keep her voice even. "I was investigating with him, and he was caught by some sort of spell. I haven't heard from him since." She threw herself down into a full bow, both hands on the table and head low. "Please. I'll make a deal, or do whatever it takes, but I need your help to find him."