𝖧𝗂𝗇𝖺 𝖲𝖺𝗌𝖺𝗄𝗂◈ female ◈ 23 years ◈ swordsman ◈ location: unknown ◈ mentioned: Yuki ◈ tagged: Ryu ◈━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━There was something so refreshing about being back home. Hina had been gone for four years because of school and had not been able to travel back to visit on her breaks. Even so, the pulse of the city was the same as when she had left. Living abroad in another country on her own had been an amazing experience. It had given her the chance to live with and learn about a new culture and make friends with people she would never otherwise have met. Hina knew after her second year of study, however, that she wanted to return to Japan after she graduated. She had felt homesick for her entire degree and missed her friends and family more than she would openly admit to anyone at school. Hina barely slept her first night home. A combination of her jet lag and the birds singing their songs, which Hina had not heard for four years, just as she was about to doze off. The birdsongs weren't the only things that were different between school and her home. Even the air smelled different but in a good way. Hina had moved back in with her parents a week ago, and while some may be unhappy with those arrangements, Hina was just grateful she could spend time with her family again. Her neighbours had been warm and welcoming when she moved back, happy to see her again even after four years of being gone. Their daily routine hadn't changed, waking up early to feed to birds and watch the sunrise, then work in their garden before leaving for work at the same time Hina used to leave for school. Now, she had a different schedule. Hina taught Kendo classes three times a week and had morning practice six days a week. Even though she was still searching for a job in her field, Hina was fortunate enough to be able to continue to train and compete in Kendo while she looked for work and caught up with her friends and family. Today, though, was the day Hina had been looking forward to the most. She had arranged this meeting before she had even told her parents the date she was supposed to arrive. One of the hardest parts of being so far from home was only being to write to and call her best friend, Yuki. It had been nice to talk and Hina was thankful that they had stayed in touch, but she couldn't wait to give her friend a real hug and talk face to face with her. They had agreed to meet at noon which gave Hina enough time after her morning practice to change, but not drop her equipment off at home. She normally left her armour and uniform in a locker, but Hina needed to wash her uniform and since tomorrow was her day off, it was the only chance she had to wash and dry everything.
Packing everything into her bag after practice, Hina slipped the straps over her shoulders and picked up the smaller bag she had brought with her from home that contained her gift for Yuki. Hina had always ordered gifts for her friend's birthday, but she had never been able to deliver them in person. Fortunately, the cafe she and Yuki had agreed to meet at wasn't too far from the gym, so Hina only had about fifteen minutes of walking. The weather had looked promising when she left her house that morning, but the forecast had mentioned a chance of showers later in the afternoon and Hina wanted to avoid the rain if possible. As she arrived at the café, she saw the Yuki wasn't inside yet; Hina checked the time on her phone. She was a couple of minutes early, Yuki would probably show up soon. After nearly fifteen minutes and some texts and even one call that went to voicemail, Hina started to worry. It wasn't like Yuki to not be early and definitely not like her to be late without saying anything. She set off down the sidewalk towards where Yuki would have come from. It wasn't long until she saw a phone lying on the ground. It was Yuki's phone. The most surprising thing to Hina was that Yuki still had the exact same phone from five years ago. Scatterbrained wasn't the right word, but it was close in describing Yuki. The screen lit up and showed all the notifications from Hina over the last quarter of an hour. She hadn't even changed the contact name for Hina since high school: "Cutie #1". The name was one that made people raise their eyebrows, much to Yuki's and Hina's amusement. To be fair, Hina had also kept Yuki's nickname on her phone over the years "Cutie <3". That also confused people since Hina was, and always had been, single. She hadn't had much time for relationships between school studying, and kendo.
Okay, so where did you go, Yuki? As her mind tried to figure out where her friend would be, without her phone, Hina caught sight of a small path, tucked almost out of sight. The mossy stones and overgrown plant life screamed "Yuki attractant". Her heartbeat calmed down with the new possibility. It wasn't unusual for Yuki to wander off, but that never stopped Hina from worrying. Her best bet at finding Yuki was to follow the trail and see where she ended up. The trees acted as a filter to the midday sun, but also made it more difficult for Hina to navigate the path with her kendo equipment. The aged stone stairs were wethered and mossy, making them slippery, especially in the shade the trees provided. Being careful not to slip, Hina continued up the incline, the familiar sounds of the city fading behind her. Just as she had felt a sense of familiarity and comfort from returning to Japan, Hina felt the same rush as she climbed the stairs. Something about the air in her lungs and the old rocks under feet. Just as she became fully aware of her isolation, the rooftop of a shrine poked out from the crest of the hill. Hina had not expected a shrine in this part of the town but judging by the state it was in, it had fallen out of use and was abandoned, though the front door was slid open. She set her two bags on the ground before she walked around the exterior, looking for signs of Yuki. As she came back around to the front and grabbed her bags, Hina heard voices from inside the shrine. Maybe they had seen Yuki. She looked through the door, but couldn't see anything it was so dark inside. "Excuse me" She called as she stepped in, but her foot didn't land on flooring as Hina had expected. Instead, she fell forward, into an empty void. It was a strange sensation, falling without end. Then, it felt like she was being righted and set back up on her feet. Then she was standing in a small room, though it was larger than she had expected of such a small shrine. Maybe I just felt light-headed after all the climbing? That was the only reason Hina could think of as to why she would have felt like she was falling and then not. Fainting spells weren't something she had ever experienced, so that seemed like an unlikely reason. The light coming down was brighter than Hina had expected, and she could see small dust particles drifting through the light. Before she had a chance to really get her bearings, noise from the other room caught her attention. Peeking through the door into another room, she saw a young man with dark hair performing some kind of ceremony, as expected for a place like a shrine. Not wanting to interrupt him, Hina stayed where she was and watched. Odd, Hina thought as she waited for the stranger to finish, The shrine did not look this big from the outside. Once he was done, Hina cleared her throat as she stepped into the room. "Excuse me. I'm sorry for intruding, but I'm looking my friend. I thought maybe you would have seen her." He had a surprised look on his face, and before she could be told to leave him alone, Hina hurried on. "She's a little taller than me, has long black hair, violet eyes, and overly trusting- even of strangers." Unfortunately, Hina didn't know what clothes Yuki was wearing, so she would have to hope that she had given a good enough description.
