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[indent]It was still dark when Mio stepped out of the house, small box in hand. She had been quiet, surreptitious, so as not to wake her parents, but as she shut the door behind her, she realized she was not alone on the porch. 

Her father sat in an old chair, pipe between his lips. The frayed awning cast him in shadows, but when he puffed, the tiny flare of embers showed his eyes. They were tired, and unkind, and looked away before the scant light vanished. He didn’t hide from her like her mother did; sometimes he would even put himself in her way, like now, as if to prove that he was not afraid of his own daughter. She hoped he was convinced. 

“[color=f26522]Good morning,[/color]” she said, like he was still asleep and she was still trying not to wake him. 

“[i]What is that?[/i]” he asked, gesturing to the little box she held. 

“[color=f26522]An offering.[/color]”

He puffed again, the glint saw his eyes downcast. “[i]Why?[/i]”

The solemnity in his tone was biting. Sometimes, when he was feeling particularly brave, he could wind himself saying things he knew would hurt her—it wasn’t a very difficult task. Today though, all he did was say what was on her own mind, and it was enough. [i]Why, indeed.[/i]

She set the box down on the porch and left for town without saying goodbye.

[hr]
The smithy smelled like booze, and looked like how she imagined the Crane’s Roost did after a busy night. Master Tetsu must have gone a little deeper into the bottle than usual, or perhaps he was just particularly happy about something. Either way, it wasn’t the first time, or the worst. 

Mio picked a cup off the ground, shook it, sniffed it, and reeled from strong stench of the sake left over. She tossed its contents into the forge, and the fire drank it gratefully. She shrugged her coat off and got to work while budding warmth spread throughout the room. It wasn’t unusual for her to be this early, cleaning the shop and prepping the forge before Tsubasa and—if sobriety was in season—master Tetsu arrived. 

When it was done, and the smithy smelled more like fire than spirit, she turned her attention to the tasks of the day. The forge was usually very communal, nothing segregated or cordoned off to any of them. Even still, Mio tended to work in the back, out of sight. It was stuffier and the soot clung to her more readily, but, it was for the best. 

An assortment of items lay on the table, some large as farm tools, some small as door hinges, all broken in some fashion or another. Layovers from the previous days—things seemed to break so much more often this time of year. She’d Mend as many as she could before Tsubasa arrived, so he could focus on the real work. There was no shame in repairs of course, in fact, she found a sort of calmness in putting things back together, but Tsubasa was such a helpful sort and she knew if he saw a pile like this he’d throw himself at it with her, then he wouldn’t get to spend nearly as much time [i]making[/i] things. He was quite good at that.

So she worked diligently until the sun was up, and when Tsubasa did finally arrive, the broken things were, for the most part, now fixed things. He got to work almost immediately. It was nice having him in; he worked right up front with the forge, in the open air, and passersby seemed happy for it. He was popular, and no one thought twice about entrusting him with their orders. She smiled whenever she heard him talking to someone—the conversations were always pleasant and if she closed her eyes, she could imagine she was part of them. 

Today, of course, was different. 

“[color=#814b46]You lookin' for someone, pretty boy?[/color]”

Mio reflexively began counting down from ten. She shirked into the dusty darkness as she heard Keiko hop onto the table, and said a silent prayer to the kami that she’d gone unnoticed. Then, because the kami were evidently insulted that she’d reached out, they were soon joined by [i]Takamori’s niece[/i], Fumiko. Perhaps the village master himself would make an appearance, and she’d finally find the resolve to throw herself into the forge. 

She didn’t understand most of what they said, ears clogged with the sounds of the fire, mind an anxious haze. However, she did catch that Tsubasa was being beckoned away. Guiltily, she was relieved—so long as he took the girls with him. She had no place being anywhere near the Takamori family, and Keiko made her feel spiritually unwell. 

No one was likely to bring by any new orders with only Mio there, but, on the bright side, at least that meant Tsubasa wouldn’t be missing anything. She saw the work he’d left by the forge, maybe she could help him out with that while he was gone.[/indent]