The night had grown old, and the first signs of dawn were already threatening to spill over the horizon. Accordingly, the bustle around Mystia's cart had long since petered out.
As it happened, Mystia had rung the bell to announce she was closing over half an hour ago, but still two customers remained. She sincerely hoped they weren't planning to dine and dash — between them, they had ordered enough food and drink for eight.
She wiped the counters again, neatly dodging around Kyouko as she entered the cart to escape the bugs outside. It was her policy to keep serving until the very last customer paid up, and she wasn't quite bored enough to revoke that policy just yet. She could wait for as long as it took. Or for at least another fifteen minutes.
She hummed under her breath as she worked, replaying sections of her new song in her mind over and over. She had it almost right by now. She couldn't wait to surprise Kyouko with it.
"How long are they gonna take?" Kyouko kept tapping her foot while simultaneously idly banging her tray against her leg. "Soon I won't make it back to the temple before I need to start sweeping the courtyard."
"You can go. I can handle two customers alone."
Kyouko paused in her fidgeting to shake her head. "It's okay, really. I wanna see how much our total for the night is."
"I've already estimated it." Mystia grinned. "We just might have enough."
Kyouko's ears perked up. She was at least as excited as Mystia was that they just might be able to buy the extremely cool Outside World guitar with its even cooler flame decals in time for their next concert. When she resumed drumming her leg, she did so with a song on her lips.
Mystia paused and listened to her closely. The tune sounded good. And completely unfamiliar.
"...Duelling new songs?" she finally asked, tilting her head.
The surprise on Kyouko's face quickly morphed into delight. "Just wait till you hear mine! It's gonna wake up everyone in Gensokyo when we play it!"
They were grinning at each other, already picturing the roaring smash concert, when there was a heavy thump against the cart. Mystia jumped without meaning to as they turned their heads just in time to see a clawed hand latch onto the door frame.
The person who dragged herself into view was a kamaitachi not much larger than Mystia and Kyouko. She was unsteady on her feet, and the corners of her lips were shiny with the grease. "I wanna isshue a complaint."
Mystia resisted the urge to sigh. "If you could first move to the front of the cart, dear customer. Then I'll be happy to hear your complaints."
The kamaitachi didn't budge. She swayed in the doorway like a reed in heavy wind before rising to her full, still not particularly impressive, height. "The food here'sh dishgracheful."
Now that was just plain rude. "I'm sorry to hear that, b—"
"The menu'sh all wrong," the kamaitachi lamented as though she was beginning a long tale of woe. "There ain't anything shweet on it to go with my drinksh."
Mystia and Kyouko exchanged looks.
"I will keep that in mind the next time I revise it," said Mystia. "If you want something sweet now, I could try making you a peach sa—"
"And another thing!" The kamaitachi interrupted. "Where'sh all the chicken?!"
It had been a while since Mystia had last been asked about the lack of poultry on the menu. She hadn't missed it at all. "We don't serve bird meat here. How about some grilled lam—"
"I already had lamprey!" The kamaitachi said in a voice halfway between a growl and a whine. "'Shnot the shame at all! I want chicken! Or shome other bird, at leasht."
Mystia had heard it said that the customer was always right. She suspected whoever had coined the phrase had never dealt with a drunk customer only a few moments away from suggesting she could go for some grilled shop owner.
She glanced at Kyouko again. The situation wasn't necessarily dangerous yet — she could still play her ace in the hole and offer a free drink — but with the kamaitachi so firmly blocking the only way out, she was starting to have a less than great feeling about this.
As it happened, Kyouko looked just about ready to shout. Knowing that would definitely start a fight, Mystia hurried to speak. "Dear customer, how about we—"
Before she could finish, the kamaitachi yelped as she was swept away from the door. A spray of red and yellow bullets shot into the night after her.
"She told you there's no chicken," a voice rang from without, chirpy but almost rivalling Kyouko's bellows in resonance. "Let it go!"
"What'sh the big idea?" The kamaitachi stumbled back into view, more startled than angry. "I ain't looking for trouble. I jusht wanna eat chicken! Even ya musht...er..."
With a look of dawning horror, the kamaitachi vanished into the night.
Mystia stirred as she heard running footsteps heading away from the cart and rushed outside. "Hey! You can't leave without paying!"
The kamaitachi didn't even slow down. There was a tinkling of coins as she threw something haphazardly onto the grass. "I'll pay the resht later!"
"...Oh no." Mystia already knew she would never see the rest of the money. She could eat the loss, but it was situations like these which made her wish she had higher profit margins.
"...I'll go see what she left behind." Kyouko had hurried over to Mystia's side and now scurried into the shadows.
Before Mystia could follow after her, the lone remaining customer seated herself by the bar. The small chick dozing off in the soft confines of her hair accessory opened its eyes and made a small peep.
"Go back to sleep." The mysterious customer stroked the chick gently with her index finger as she gave Mystia an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry I ended up causing you trouble. I didn't mean to."
As nettled as Mystia was, she found herself sighing. "No, I understand why you spoke up. I really do."
The customer nodded with the same solemnity as Wriggle did whenever she and Mystia got together to lament the challenges faced by insects and small birds respectively. "I'd like to make up for it anyway."
"That's very generous of you, Miss..."
"You can call me Kutaka!"
Just then, Kyouko stumbled back into the cart, cupping her hands. "I think I got all of it. The grass is pretty tall so I can't be sure, but..."
Mystia studied the miscellaneous small coins on Kyouko's palms. While she still couldn't make heads or tails of written language, she had always been quick at counting. "It's better than nothing." She peered closer. "And the bits of coloured glass?"
"Maybe they're supposed to pass for jewels?" Kyouko took one of the smooth-edged glass drops between thumb and forefinger and brought it closer to the nearest lantern. It shone like a ruby in the light. "I don't think even fairies would fall for these, but they're still pretty."
"By how much did she leave you short?" Kutaka asked, leaning across the bar.
"Only a little." Mystia said, giving Kutaka a resigned smile. "You don't have to worry about it."
"I want to take care of it! I need to pay now anyway."
Mystia could have continued to demur, of course, but it would have felt churlish. Besides, fancy guitars didn't pay for themselves. "In that case, thank you."
Kutaka smiled as she paid, almost as if she loved using money. "Thanks and goodbye!"
Just like that, she was back on her feet and gone with a cheery wave.
"Um..." Kyouko blinked like someone waking up from a dream, then gave Mystia a worried look. "Is it enough?"
Mystia laid the money on the bar so that Kyouko could see it for herself, then remembered she wouldn't know the total. "It's enough."
Kyouko's ears rose. "So that means..."
Mystia grinned. "The guitar's ours."
"YES!" While nowhere near her maximum volume, Kyouko's cry of joy rang out far and wide. Without further warning, she threw her arms around Mystia and squeezed her tight. "Can we go buy it tomorrow?"
Mystia hugged her back, laughing. "Of course! And then we'll practise our new songs!"
"The next concert's gonna be the best one ever!"
They kept laughing for a long while. Only after they pulled apart did Mystia notice something strange. "Hold on. Where did the tray go?"
"Oh no!" Kyouko stared into the night, then dashed out of the cart. "I'll be right back!"
By the time the tray was found and Mystia and Kyouko had hauled the cart to its usual spot at the edge of the clearing, Mystia could taste daylight in the air. "I'm going to be so tired tomorrow."
"Me too." Even as she said it, Kyouko was smiling. "It's gonna be worth it."
They parted ways with a wave and a promise to meet up again as soon as possible.
Mystia watched Kyouko vanish down the path before turning towards her home. As she walked, she tossed the glass jewels Kyouko had graciously left in her care in her hand. She smiled at them, wondering if real rubies, emeralds, and sapphires would actually be a disappointment in comparison.
Just as she thought that, the shadows shifted by the tree to her right. She jerked back, immediately regretting she hadn't been holding a spell card instead. Her horror diminished as she saw pale wings and an earnest smile. "Miss Kutaka? I thought you'd gone home."
Kutaka beamed. "I was waiting for you."
"Um... why?"
"Actually..." Kutaka tilted her head to the side rapidly as if trying to dislodge something stuck to the side of her head. "I forget why. I know there was a reason, but..." Eventually, she simply shrugged. "Since I'm here anyway, how about we walk together?"
Mystia hesitated. But then, why not? Kutaka didn't seem like someone who was simply biding her time to mug Mystia. "I'm not going far, but I'd be glad for the company."
Kutaka joined her side. For a few minutes, they simply walked without speaking. The silence lasted long enough for Mystia to start feeling awkward, and to allay the feeling, she focused on the chick in Kutaka's hair. It was fast asleep now and looked very cosy as it bounced up and down with Kutaka's steps. Mystia envied it a little.
Kutaka noticed Mystia's stare and smiled again. "I gave it some morsels from my dish. I've never seen a chick peck at anything so eagerly before."
"I'm happy to hear it."
"You're a wonderful cook! The noodles were so tasty."
"Um, thank you." Mystia peered at Kutaka in confusion. Maybe instead of a mugger, she was a confidence trickster. Even with that suspicion, Mystia saw nothing but sincerity in her expression. "I think it'd be even better with some seaweed powder in the sauce, but that's hard to come by."
"I see." Kutaka stared up at the pale dawn. "If I ever see some, I'll keep you in mind!"
"You don't have to."
"It's selfish of me, really. I want to know what your sauce will taste like with it!"
Mystia found some of the tension she had been unknowingly carrying in her body evaporate. "If I find some myself, I'll make sure to save it until your next visit."
"It's a promise!"
They continued talking for the remainder of the short trip, soon finding a rhythm of conversation that suited them both. In fact, by the time they parted, Mystia found herself with too much left to say.
"I hope to see you again soon!" she said quickly, hoping it wasn't too weird.
Based on the jaunty wave Kutaka gave her, it wasn't. "I don't have a lot of spare time, but I'll do my best! Take care!"
Mystia watched Kutaka go, then flew up to her house. As long as the night had been, it had been a good one. The next day would be phenomenal.
She got ready for bed in record time and was soon dozing off, thinking drowsily about food and music and having fun with her friends.
Oh, that's right. I forgot to invite Kutaka to the concert. But that could wait until another day and another closing time. For now, it was time for night sparrows to sleep.