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Himeko was used to spending most of her time aboard the Astral Express, between allowing the youngsters to take care of most of the fieldwork and her having to deal with her own responsibilities aboard, the chances for her to leave the express were limited.
But due to a recent invitation issued to the astral space crew from Bronya, Himeko would finally have a chance to explore a new place.
To put it simply, the newly appointed Supreme Guardian was inviting them to a festival that would be celebrated in Belobog, as a way to allow the people of the underworld and overworld to have some well-deserved fun and relaxation after the hazards with the stellaron.
Since the astral crew had played an important part in dealing with the crisis on Jarilo VI, Bronya felt it was only fair to extend an invitation for them, not only because of what they had done but also because they had established friendships with some of the people there, Bronya included and as such, it was only fair to want to see them again.
March was the one that showed the most enthusiasm over the idea of visiting Jarilo again followed by Stelle and even if he didn't show it much, it was evident Dan heng was also looking forward to going back and since they were currently free from any big responsibilities, Welt and Himeko didn't see a problem on accepting Bronya’s offer but while Himeko had assumed only March, Dan heng and Stelle would leave, Welt seemed to have other ideas.
"Why don't you go with them?" Welt inquired after only he and Himeko remained in the parlor car.
"To Jarilo?"
"Yes, you haven't left this place for a while, even I had the chance to do so when we were at the Xianzhou, so I think it's only fair for you to be able to leave too"
Himeko took a moment to consider his words "It sounds tempting but I can't do that, my presence it's needed here"
Welt sighed "There is no mission for us to take care of at the moment and you would only be away for a few days, so I think it's safe to say there will be no problems if you leave"
Welt knew he was right on what he was saying but Himeko didn't seem to be convinced yet, so he pressed on.
"The express won't be abandoned, I will be here and If anything were to happen you know I'm more than capable of handling it. We don't know when we will be able to have an opportunity like this again, so I suggest you think about it"
And think about it she did, she had her reservations, that was for sure but if she was honest with herself she couldn't deny she wanted to take the opportunity that was presented to her, and if Welt had kindly offered to take care of everything on her absence, then there was no reason for her to say no.
Making up her mind, all there was left for Himeko to do was to communicate her decision to the others, starting with Welt, who was without a doubt happy that she had decided to accept his offer.
When she told March Dan Heng and Stelle they were surprised but not at all displeased with knowing she would be tagging along, as March had even started to enthusiastically talk about all the spots they needed to take Himeko to and the people she had to meet.
The festival was supposed to last three days but the crew had agreed to arrive in Jarilo two days before its start to have a little extra time for themselves.
As soon as they landed on the outskirts of Belobog, they were greeted by a group of guards led by Gepard who had been instructed to escort them in.
Once Inside the city, they immediately went to meet Bronya at the Qliphoth Fort, and after a heartfelt reunion and an exchange of pleasantries between her and Himeko, the astral express crew abandoned the building in favor of starting exploring the city.
Between going sightseeing and meeting with friends the time passed by quicker than anyone had anticipated and once the first day of the festival had come to an end, Himeko decided she wanted to have some fun on her own.
Don't get her wrong, she was enjoying getting to know Belobog and its people but they had only wandered by the overworld and underworld and had not yet ventured outside the city.
She knew there was not much to see outside, besides the damage caused by the stellaron but she still wanted to get a look for herself and on the morning of the second day of the festival, she informed her companions that she wished to go outside the city and that she wanted to go alone.
It's not like she didn't want them to go with her, far from it actually, as she would have loved for them to accompany her but knowing they probably wanted to continue enjoying the festival and spending time with their friends, it was only fair for her to allow them to have their own fun too.
Despite her desires, the youngsters were unsure of letting her go alone at first, as they were worried something would happen to her but since they trusted her and knew how capable she was of taking care of herself, they ultimately ended up being fine with her leaving on her own.
After having breakfast they all went their separate ways as Stelle, March, and Dan Heng headed out to the festival while Himeko returned to her room so she could change into more appropriate clothes, and once she was done, she left the hotel and started making her way outside the city.
To be fair, Himeko wasn't expecting to find anything that would awe her as she knew all she would see was snow and more snow, maybe some abandoned constructions, and if she was lucky, she would spot the ice-like statues of past Silvermane guards that had perished to the stellaron.
But despite the lack of amazing sights, Himeko had to admit walking through the snow was rather calming, so much so that she had walked farther than what she had intended, which to her dismay was about to become a problem.
Slowly so, Himeko noticed how the weather around her started to change, first, the skies darkened with clouds and then, the wind began to increase its intensity from a gentle breeze to a full-on gale.
Those changes certainly signaled that a storm was coming and not the downpour kind but the Blizzard kind and that only meant one thing…Himeko needed to return to the city and she had to do it fast.
But soon enough it became evident that she wouldn't make it back to the city, if she had some sort of vehicle perhaps she could but being on foot, she knew she wouldn't make it in time, so she had to quickly change her plans, from returning to the city to find somewhere she could take refuge from the storm.
Moving through the snow became harder by the second, as the wind was making it hard to walk and see but almost like a beacon of light, Himeko could make out a cabin that despite not being in the best conditions seemed to be the only thing that could save her, so without thinking it twice, she walked to it, barging in through the door which she struggled to close but once she managed to do so, she felt like she could finally breathe again.
"Do you usually enter people's houses like that?"
Himeko's heart dropped to her stomach, not only because she had been spooked but also because she was sure she recognized who that voice belonged to.
Fastly turning around she confirmed her suspicion as just a few feet away from her sitting on a busted couch was Kafka.
In front of her was a small table and atop it rested a lighted oil lamp which was the only source of light in the cabin. A few tarot cards were also scattered on the table while others were being held by Kafka.
"What are you doing here?"
Kafka scoffed, putting her cards down before crossing her arms "The same as you, I'm sheltering from the storm"
"You know I'm not wondering that, I mean, what are you doing here in Belobog?"
"Oh that" she laughed "Well, I'm just passing by"
Sure, passing by, there was no way Himeko would believe that as she was sure the woman never did stuff randomly.
"You don't believe me, do you? It's a shame since I have no reasons to lie but if you want to think I'm in Jarilo because of some inner motives, then so be it" Having said her piece, Kafka reached for her cards to continue doing whatever she was doing with them before.
Now that she wasn't being talked to anymore, Himeko took the chance to analyze her situation.
She could hear the storm only getting stronger by the second which meant she couldn't just get out and continue her journey, so her second best option was to try to contact someone to ask for help but upon checking her cellphone, she saw she had no signal which was a true let down and to add to everything, her battery was lower of what she expected, so she had no other choice but to turn her phone down as to save as much battery as she could.
Well, judging by how things were, it looked like she would have to stay at the cabin till she could either leave or contact anyone, which wouldn't bother her if she wasn't forced to spend time with Kafka.
Against all odds, this was actually the first time they were in the presence of each other and before this, they had only spoken once when Kafka had appeared as a hologram on the express.
Despite their lack of interactions they certainly knew who the other was with Kafka being an infamous criminal and Himeko being the navigator of the astral express, they were bound to be aware of the other existence but there wasn't much they knew about each other, especially in regards to Kafka. She was an enigma, as little was known about her besides the fact she was dangerous, so Himeko didn't know what to make of her.
"Are you going to just stay there watching me for as long as the storm lasts?" Kafka asked without taking her eyes off her cards.
Himeko hadn't noticed she had been staring at Kafka till she spoke but as she heard her question, she had to admit she was seriously considering doing just that.
The woman couldn't be trusted so she wasn't going to lower her guard with her. Keeping a watchful gaze on her while also remaining distant didn't seem like a bad plan, and yet, for some reason, Himeko found herself walking closer to her till she ended up sitting on the other side of the couch.
Now that she was by her side, Kafka looked at her and as their eyes met, she leaned forward which made Himeko tense. That reaction didn't go unnoticed by Kafka who just grinned before moving back.
"Relax, if I wanted to hurt you I would have done so by now"
Her words did nothing to appease Himeko's weariness as there were no guarantees she wouldn't try to do something later but she chose to remain silent, hoping the storm would pass fast so she could get the hell away from there.
But as it had been proven earlier, luck didn't seem to be on Himeko's side that day. The hours kept on passing and the storm wasn't giving any signals of wanting to stop and to add to the already bad situation, the oil lamp decided now was a good time to run out of oil, which submerged them in complete darkness.
"Well, there went my fun" Himeko heard Kafka saying as she presumably threw her cards on the table judging by the sound she heard.
"Want to talk?" Kafka asked.
"Seriously?" Himeko rolled her eyes which was a gesture that went unnoticed by Kafka since neither could see anything.
"It's not like we have something better to do, or do you suggest we remain in this awkward silence"
"I prefer the silence rather than talking to you," Himeko harshly said.
"So hostile, what have I done to you to deserve such a treatment?"
This woman, she was really getting on Himeko's nerves.
"You are not funny"
Kafka sighed "Neither are you it seems"
Answering her would only light up the fire, so Himeko chose to continue with her tactic of simply ignoring her but it seemed like Kafka was firm on getting her to talk.
"How is she?" There was only one person she could be referring to.
"Didn't you see her not long ago?"
"I did but I wish we had more time to talk, the circumstances weren't the best"
"And whose fault was that?"
"Not mine, as I'm sure you know, I had nothing to do with the crisis at the Luofu, the interrogation said so"
Himeko was well aware of what had transpired when Kafka had been captured but she didn't believe she was as innocent as it seemed, regardless of the proof saying otherwise.
"Whatever you say and to answer your inquiry, she is fine"
Did Kafka deserve an answer? Not really but Himeko still provided her with one even if she kept her answer short.
Their small exchange seemed to be enough for Kafka since she didn't say anything else after that.
Soon enough Himeko started to notice how hard it was becoming to keep her eyes open. At first, she tried to fight against the tiredness since the last thing she wanted was to fall asleep beside such a criminal but she could fight against her body's desires for so long before they won the battle, so even if she didn't want to, she knew she was going to fall asleep at any second, or she would have if Kafka hadn't started fidgeting in her seat.
Himeko could barely make out the shape of her body but she could tell she was moving by the ruffling of her clothes and to add to that, she was also groaning from time to time.
"Why are you so agitated?"
"It's…too cold," she said in a quivering voice.
Now it made sense why she was acting the way she was. Unlike Kafka, Himeko's affinity to fire protected her from the cold temperatures, which is why even though she could feel the cold slipping through her clothes, she wasn't truly affected by it but it was clear the same couldn't be said about Kafka, who despite also having some protection from the extreme temperatures, it was not the same as hers.
Knowing she was probably experiencing the cold three times more than she did, Himeko couldn't help but feel sympathetic for the woman even if she knew she shouldn't feel that way.
With a sigh, Himeko removed her coat before sliding closer to Kafka and in a swift move she dropped it over her shoulders.
"Why?" Kafka asked as her shaky hands reached for the coat to properly wrap it around herself.
"Because I want to sleep and I won't be able to do so if you keep making noises and moving" She had not been completely truthful with her reasoning but Kafka didn't need to know that.
"And here it thought you…" a shudder interrupted her "were worried about me"
Himeko didn't respond and since she had already done what she intended to, she was going to return to her previous spot but before she could move, she felt a sudden pressure in her shoulder as Kafka had decided to lay her head there.
Her first instinct was to move right away but despite the signals of warning her brain was sending her, Himeko stayed in place as it was clear Kafka didn't present a threat at the moment and as such, there was no reason for her to react strongly and even if she felt her body going rigid, she did her best to relax and not worry too much about what was happening.
Now that Kafka was more protected from the cold thanks to Himeko's coat and the closeness of her body –which irradiated quite the heat– she should be able to deal with the low temperature better and yet, her shaking didn't seem to want to stop at any time, if anything, it was getting worse as even her teeth were chattering now.
A dilemma presented itself in front of Himeko, she knew she had already offered Kafka more kindness than what she deserved by giving her her coat and allowing her to rest on her, so she could simply pretend not to notice the obvious fact that the woman was about to or was already suffering from hypothermia.
But as much as that was a valid option, it didn't feel right to ignore what was happening to her.
Yes, Kafka was a criminal who would most likely not give a damn about her state if the roles were reversed but even if Himeko was well aware of this, she was different from her, so she would help her.
With how tricky their situation was, it wasn't easy to think of a way in which she could heat her up, there were no heaters, no way for her to light up a fire and they certainly didn't have any kind of blankets around, so her options were limited to say the least.
And with all the obvious alternatives out of the equation, there was only one last resource Himeko knew she had, which to be fair was the last thing she wanted to do but as things were, she either did this or let Kafka perish to the cold.
"Kafka"
Himeko didn't get an immediate response, so she reached for Kafka's face and when her hand made contact with her skin, she could feel how cold it was even if she was wearing gloves.
Not wanting to move abruptly as that could be bad for the woman, Himeko gently lifted Kafka's head from her shoulder and after making sure she was supported by the back of the couch she got up and knelt in front of her.
"Kafka, if you can hear me I need you to show me you do"
Himeko waited for the woman to give her any sign which she did in the form of a low hum.
"Alright, I will tell you what I'm going to do. I need to heat you up and the only way I can do that is by providing you that heat myself, so I will get rid of my clothes and then I will get rid of yours, is that okay?"
She knew that what she had said could be misinterpreted but she really didn't have the time to properly explain what she meant since she needed to act fast.
After a few moments of silence, Kafka let out another hum which Himeko took as an affirmative response.
With no time to lose, Himeko was fast to strip until she was only wearing her underwear and with her done it was time to undress Kafka.
Knowing her state she had to be more careful with her, which only complicated the task since it was already hard to properly undress her without seeing what she was doing but in the end, Himeko was able to leave Kafka in the same state as her, with only her underwear on.
With both stripped down, Himeko moved towards the armrest of the couch so she could lay against it and once she was in a comfortable position, she guided Kafka to lay atop her.
Himeko had to hold back the need to shudder as soon as Kafka's cold skin made contact with her hot one but as much as the sensation was uncomfortable, it should eventually fade away once the woman heated up, so as to get right on with that task, Himeko grabbed their coats and shirts to carefully wrap them around Kafka, forming a sort of cocoon and once she was secured, Himeko hugged her close to her.
Kafka continued shivering and shouldering for a while but once she started to feel the heat she tried to chase it, pressing her body even closer to Himeko's and burying her face in her neck.
It should have scared Himeko how unfazed she seemed to be by her closeness, knowing she had previously been on edge at just being in the same place as Kafka but she just convinced herself she wasn't reacting negatively just because the woman was in a vulnerable state and nothing more.
Eventually, Kafka stopped showing signs of being affected by the cold and once she felt good enough to talk again, without moving her head away from Himeko's neck she said.
"Should you really be doing all this for a lunatic like me?"
Himeko had been asking herself the same question throughout the night and no matter how much she tried, she could not answer it.
"Just go to sleep, Kafka"
Maybe it was because she could sense the exhaustion in her voice or maybe it was because she herself was tired, whatever the reason was Kafka chose not to say anything more, giving them both the chance to rest.
The first thing Himeko noticed when she woke up was the ache in her body. Her shoulders and neck were hurting and she wasn't sure why but once the sleepiness started fading away, the memories of the day before flowed through her mind, explaining why she could feel such pain.
Wanting to relieve some of the pain in her muscle, Himeko attempted to stretch as much as she could and once she felt satisfied she scanned her surroundings.
Two things became evident right away, one, the storm had passed and two there didn't seem to be traces of Kafka anywhere. Himeko had no way of telling when she had left but she assumed she must have taken her leave once she woke and noticed there was not a storm anymore.
Not seeing Kafka wasn't truly surprising, with her being such a high-profile criminal it was expected for her to not want to be seen and fairly Himeko was glad she wasn't there.
Knowing there wasn't anything else Himeko could do at the cabin, it was time for her to return to the city to reunite with the youngsters and speaking of which…
Himeko searched for her phone and once she located it she turned it on. She was glad to discover she had a signal again but her relief was quickly replaced by horror upon seeing the number of lost calls and messages she had from everyone, so as to reassure them she was okay, she sent them a quick text hoping that would appease some of their nerves.
Once she returned to the city she would properly explain to them what had happened but it was best to keep things brief for now.
Would she tell them about Kafka? That was something she had yet to decide but she had the whole walk back to think about what she was going to do.
All dressed now, Himeko was ready to abandon the place but before doing so, she noticed something peeking from under the lamp oil, and upon lifting it up she found out the “something” was actually a card facing downwards.
The card clearly belonged to Kafka but what was it doing there? had the woman forgotten it? or had she left it deliberately? Those questions she couldn't answer but since she felt curious she picked it up and once it was in her hands she turned it around only to find the words "thank you" written in red lipstick.
Himeko hadn't expected to see a message addressed to her, let alone one of gratitude so she couldn't help but shake her head, and now that her curiosity had been satiated, she knew she could just leave the card there but after a few seconds of uncertainty, for whatever reason it was, she ended up putting it in one of her pockets.