A suggestion of cerulean ahead would usually have meant nothing more than a gap in the sea of clouds. However, even if Iku hadn't half expected to see this particular shade of blue, the sudden gathering of rain clouds where there had previously been nothing but portents of sunny weather told her everything she needed know.
Swimming closer revealed a rainbow shimmer moments before Tenshi became recognisable. She stood on a keystone just large enough for her wide stance, holding her hand up ahead of her. Her hair swept in a wide arc as she turned to face Iku.
"You took your time," she said brightly, confirming Iku's suspicions that she had hoped to be found. "I'm making rainbows."
Iku squinted at the object in Tenshi's hand. She didn't recognise the azure jewel that looked like it had been hewn out of deep blue ice, but she could make an educated guess as to its origins. "Have you taken another sacred treasure, Eldest Daughter?"
"It's just a trinket." Tenshi shook the jewel as if to prove her point. A smattering of blue mist erupted into the air around her, coalescing into miniature clouds. "See? It's useless."
Iku sighed. For the past eighteen months following the Scarlet Weather incident, Tenshi had spent uncommon amounts of time within the clouds, often seeking out Iku primarily to serve as an audience for her antics. It was clear that following their clash, the Eldest Daughter of the Hinanawi clan had made it a point to remember Iku. Equally obvious was her desire for a rematch.
At least, it had been obvious. There was no bloodlust in the atmosphere radiating from Tenshi that afternoon, and, now that Iku thought back on it, it hadn't been prominent in quite a while. Today, Tenshi was mostly at peace with her surroundings, coupled with a strange undercurrent of nervousness that was almost foreign to the Celestial.
Odd, but likely fortunate. Iku was not in a mood for a fight, but neither could she ignore Tenshi's most recent trespass. "Eldest Daughter, you know as well as I do that if you continue taking things in this manner without permission, it will inevitably come to a bad end."
Tenshi rolled her eyes. "No-one cares. Even if they did, what's the point of living if all you ever do is cower in a corner avoiding everything that might be risky? Anyway, I don't need this stone." She pocketed the jewel and drew the Sword of Hisou, giving rise to a surge of excitement in the atmosphere. "Now that you're here, I can easily make it rain!"
Without a word, Iku turned around and began swimming in the opposite direction.
The flash of regret that permeated the atmosphere was new, even if it soon gave way to more customary frustration.
"Come back, Iku. It was a joke." Tenshi kept the sword in hand, but she at least had the good grace to point it away. "I need to ask you something."
Iku swam back to the keystone, sliding into a matching mood. Impatient, hesitant. Curious. "I am all ears."
"When is the next natural rainbow going to appear in Gensokyo?"
The question was simple enough, and all the stranger for it. "You will have a prime opportunity to witness one early in the evening tomorrow. There will be periods of heavy drizzle from the afternoon until sunfall covering the entirety of Gensokyo. The odds of a rainbow manifesting are roughly eighty-four percent."
Tenshi grimaced. "And today?"
"I would say it is very unlikely. However..." Iku frowned. "Did I not give you this precise weather report only two days prior to today?"
I don't remember was the expected response, Instead, Tenshi shrugged. "The weather could have changed. I don't want to go to the surface for nothing."
"I am sure you can find things to enjoy in Gensokyo besides rainbows." Preferably non-destructively, but saying that would only add fuel to any potential flames.
Tenshi nodded, more to herself than to Iku. She stashed away the sword and turned to stand face-to-face with Iku. "So it will rain tomorrow?"
The sudden and inexplicable rise in tension rang in Iku's ears like a mounting cyclone. "That is correct, Eldest Daughter."
"And it won't rain today?"
"Indeed."
"How much longer do you have to work?"
"For another hour still."
"Can you leave early?"
It was an eminently tempting proposition. "Why do you ask?"
"Because I want you to come to Gensokyo with me."
The words rang loudly in the troposphere.
Iku could only blink. "...With you? Today?"
"That's what I said!" The apotheosis of the tension dissipated as Tenshi breathed in, then began mounting again when Iku said nothing further. "I get tired of having no-one but earth-crawlers around me while I'm down there."
"They still don't accept me," was the unspoken sentiment rippling close to the surface. In a worse mood, Iku might have pointed them out. She was, however, not in a bad mood, and was further softened by Tenshi's continuation: "Besides, there are things in Gensokyo I'd like to show you."
"Indeed?"
"Would I say so otherwise?" Tenshi's expression was haughty, but the atmosphere emanating from her was not. The previous nervousness had taken a stranglehold on it.
Iku observed her in silence and found a previously unacknowledged thought drifting through her mind.
If she didn't return here, I would miss her.
It was a strange revelation, but it made smiling at Tenshi simplicity itself. "I cannot leave my work unattended, but I would be happy to accompany you in an hour or so."
The cyclone gave way to sunshine. Tenshi's smile, although unusually bright, wasn't a surprise. What was a surprise was her leaning forward and placing her hands on Iku's shoulders. Even more surprising was the quick kiss she suddenly landed on Iku's cheek.
Before Iku could muster any response beyond shock, Tenshi had already straightened up, looking exceptionally smug. "It's a date, then." She kicked herself off the keystone and flew upwards. "Come pick me up in an hour! Don't dare to be late!"
Iku stared after her long after she had melted into the azure of the skies above.
So. Her day had taken a rather unexpected turn. A turn that was unlikely to have far-reaching consequences, but which still might. How had she failed to read any signs of this beforehand?
She tried to recall any unclear portents that this revelation might clarify in retrospect. Instead, her thoughts kept drifting back to Tenshi's final smile. Triumphant, with the thinnest shred of vulnerability.
What a selfish girl.
Even so, Iku found herself smiling as she swam on to make her final rounds.