dakishimetai | denji

二十四

"See that path over there?" Ame asks, pointing at the five hundred meter path with pine tree rows.

"Yeah I see it" Denji says, looking at where Ame is pointing at. "But what about it?"

"That path's called god's road, the kami no michi. On the other end of the road is a shrine where I heard has my mother's statue!" Ame informs him, chuckling softly until she felt Denji's hand on her upper arm, dragging her to walk down the path.

"Why didn't you tell me your mother's there?" Denji asks, the tone of his voice bright and happy. "Come on, let's meet your mother! I want to introduce myself!"

Following Denji from behind, Ame couldn't help but stifle a laugh. "But it's just a statue!" She reminds him, "My mother's long dead, killed by the unknown devil." She adds.

Despite groaning and grumbling to himself, Denji kept on walking, leading the way for him and Ame to the other end of the path. "Damn that devil. I could've met your mother and we'd get along so well! Your mother would be so happy that you met a guy like me!"

Hearing his words made Ame's eyes widen in surprise, blinking twice. "How can you be so sure of that?" She asks him. "Men and having boys as children are frowned upon in my family. So when my mother gave birth to me, the male servants didn't hesitate to kill my father."

Denji was silent for a moment before taking a quick glance at Ame. "So...you all are only females and hate men? That's so cool!" He beams to her, picking up his pace by jogging to get to the end of the road.

True to Ame's words, a wooden shrine was what met the two at the end of the road. A piece of wood was placed on the entrance, prohibiting visitors from entering inside any further. But despite the distance, Ame quickly spotted a small statue of her mother, happily pointing at it to Denji.

"Look! That's my mother!" Ame beams happily. "She doesn't look like that because she had black hair. Kind of weird because everyone in the Takajo lineage had black hair and then there's me with golden hair." she chuckles softly before turning to face her right side, noticing how Denji wasn't in fact besides her.

"Denji?" Ame asks, blinking her eyes before turning around and turning her head both left and right. "Where did that guy went to?" She asks herself.

On the left side, Denji appeared and held what seemed to be about twenty orange blossom lit up incense, smiling widely as he walks back to Ame's side. "I got this as offering!" He tells her, standing in front of the shrine with both of his hands holding onto the twenty lit incense.

"Got anything unique information about this place?" He asks her

With Ame's lips pursed into a thin line, she thought about it hard, racking her brain for any information she has heard of this shrine. "I only know one. This shrine has the deity of marriage and happiness...so, if you pray to that deity, it'll come true." She says, shrugging afterwards.

Denji thought about what Ame said for a second before shooting her with another question. "What's your mother's name?"

"Seriously?" Ame chuckles, when she saw Denji's serious face, she cleared her throat. "Her name's Tsuchi."

Taking a deep breath, Denji closes his eyes and slightly lifts the incense sticks above his head. "Tsuchi san, thank you for giving birth to Ame." Denji begins to say, causing Ame to cover her mouth with her hand as she hears his prayers. "Ame is a kind and nice girl, the prettiest angel I have ever met. Please don't worry about her, Ame is healthy. I know so because her breasts are-" before Denji could finish his sentence, Ame slapped his upper arm.

"Stop embarrassing me." Ame hisses, her face flushed pink in color.

"Sorry." Denji mumbles, chuckling afterwards before returning to his prayer. "I'm a guy so please don't murder me in my sleep. I do not want to follow the footsteps of your husband, or partner, if not married. I still have to kill the devil that took Ame's kimono." And with that, Denji placed the twenty lit incense sticks on a clear vase by the entrance.

"Do you think your mother heard me and will grant me a wish?" He asks

"I'm literally a wish angel standing besides you, don't you think granting your wish is my job?" Ame deadpans

"I actually wished for something else to your mother too!" He happily tells her, "I just didn't want to voice it out loud since it's confidential!"

Ame wondered what could he have wished for that she couldn't know. Respecting his wishes of not wanting to say it, she just nodded her head. "I'm sure she's heard you." was all Ame said before taking a hold of Denji's wrist. "Let's go! I wanna try the sashimi nearby!"

. . . . . . . . . . ♡

"I heard this place is famous because it has the Miho Beach painting of Hiroshige." Ame informs him, her eyes wandering around the restaurant, looking for the painting she wanted to show Denji. However, Denji on the other hand, was a bit scared for his life because of the many alcoholic bottled on display. He was a bit scared that Ame would want to take a sip and then eventually like it and then drink the whole bottle or more to herself. Scared that she would smack him in the head again.

"There it is!" Ame says, pulling Denji out of his thoughts. The girl was pointing at the painting on top of the kitchen. "I remember when that painting was released for the whole of Japan to see. It was really marveled by everyone!" Ame adds, letting out a satisfied sigh afterwards.

Denji admired the painting pasted on the wall, slowly nodding his head to her words. "When did that painting released?"

"Back in the eighteen hundreds." Ame answered, causing Denji to be struck in horror. "It's one of Hiroshige's original woodblock prints. So for this restaurant to have it must mean the owner is probably rich..." Ame speculates, pursing her lips a little.

"I don't mean to ask" Denji begins to say, looking at Ame while he sat in front of her on a two person table. "But are you really eighteen?"

Ame blinked before showing him a smile. "Yes I am" she answered, however Denji's response caught her off guard.

"Liar." Denji responded. "How come you know this painting back in the eighteen hundreds? Have you even seen this Hiroshige painter?"

Ame happily nodded her head. "He's just a small guy who carries a blank canvas, paint and brushes with him! And he's a bald guy! But he's a genius!"

Scratching the back of his head, Denji asks. "What year were you born?"

Ame smiled at him again. "Seven hundred seventy six. Nara period." Her smile then slowly faltered, her eyes still on him. "Are you going to think of me any less? I've been eighteen for a thousand years already."

Denji shook his head while sipping on his white marble cup filled with green tea. The waiter arrives to serve them a plateful of sashimi along with tempura as side dish. "To live for over a thousand years? It just means you're doing a lot of good deeds in this world. Not a lot of people are like you." Denji tells her as soon as the waiter leaves their table.

Hearing his words brought a genuine smile on her lips. Taking a hold on her wooden chopsticks, Ame picks up a salmon sashimi before leaning it close to Denji's lips.

"Say Ah!" She says, chuckling as she sees him blushing before feeding it to him. "You're really cute. I'm glad that my first date is with you."

Denji, who's mouth is busy chewing on the salmon sashimi that Ame fed him, took the same on his chopsticks before feeding it to her. "I should be telling you that." He tells her, not missing the pink tint on her cheeks.

"Do you want to try the shizuoka wine? I heard it's great to pair it with sashimi!"

"My fear has arrived"