"And you, as well." With that, she transformed and flew off into the forest.

Yukika smiled and reached into her kimono sleeve, taking out one of her feathers and handing it to him. "You with have this in Ningen-do when you wake. Keep it with you as a sign of your promise."

She rose. "I will head off now, to seek your information."

"Marriage," she replied simply. "If you cannot for some reason, then to one of those of your Clan."

She nodded a little bit, considering. "Yes, I will go seek their wisdom for you."

A long pause passed before she said, "I will ask a heavy price, commensurate to the weight of knowledge you seek, and the trials I will have to pass to gain it."

"... Would you like me to travel deeper into Chikushudo to ask my elders?" She asked after a moment's silence. "It would take me a few days."

"Ah, I see." "Hmmm... It could be, but it's hard to say. Jigoku is often a... blunt instrument. Subtlety isn't it's forte that I've ever been able to tell, or that those older than me discuss. Jigoku and Ningen-do have always been in opposition, but if the balance has shifted... I wonder if somethin...

"Hmm..." She considered the question, "That presumes there is a substantial difference between a normal animal and a spirit animal. Any of us who live long enough may fully come to awareness of ourselves and our abilities. She may be close, she has lived a long time and is very smart, but her awaren...

"No, nothing major has changed... There is a... difference in the air, but it is subtle. I do not know what to make of it yet," she replied with a small frown.

As he closes his eyes, he sees movement of white feathers out of the corner of his eye. When he opened them again in Chikushudo, Yukika is before him, standing slightly in the river itself, her tall shoes keeping her out of the water itself. Her umbrella was gone this time. "We've gone quite far afi...