Reimu paused abruptly in front of two large pines. "Can you hear them?"
As soon as Sanae stilled, the chittering of small birds became impossible to ignore. "They're near!"
"Hold out your hand." Reimu opened the small red pouch she had taken with her from the shrine.
Sanae felt a familiar spark of thrill as Reimu grabbed her wrist to steady her hand and poured a helping of sunflower seeds onto her waiting palm. By the time she let go, Sanae's pulse was singing a familiar tune at a fever pitch.
She's my girlfriend! She's my girlfriend! She's my girlfriend!
Instead of just going out to see Reimu, she went out to see her girlfriend. She drank tea with her girlfriend. She had arguments with her girlfriend. And a couple of times, she had even kissed her girlfriend. Just thinking about it gave rise to a giddy, sparkling fizziness inside her, like drunkenness without the nausea and loss of control and the hangover the day after.
She was smiling widely as she watched Reimu take a handful of seeds for herself and tie the pouch around her wrist for safekeeping. In fact, she was so lost in thinking about her that it took her a moment to realise Reimu was staring at her, clearly expecting a response to some comment.
"Okay," she said, hoping the answer was sufficient. She tried to shake off enough of her awe to focus. "I've never actually done this before."
"The key's to be calm and steady. Hold the seeds where they can see them and stay still."
"Okay." Sanae scoped out the pines and bushes. Yes, she could keep still, but she would like to see at least one bird before choosing where—
And there it was. A little mottled ball of fluff sat on a branch a few feet above Sanae's head, its beak cocked towards the sky. It jerked its gaze downwards as it heard Sanae moving closer, but it didn't fly away.
"Hello, little bird." It occurred to Sanae that birds were unlikely to understand human expressions, but she smiled all the same as she held out her seed-laden hand. "These are for you."
The bird leaned forward on its perch, eyeing the treats on Sanae's palm. It fluttered to a lower, thinner branch and paused to watch, clearly considering whether to move in or not.
Several slow moments passed as the bird continued to weigh its options. A few times, it looked like it was about to take off, but then settled down again.
Sanae breathed in quietly through her nose, her heart jumping a little with each false start. Already her arm was beginning to ache — she shouldn't have stretched it out quite so far — but she didn't want to startle the little bird by retracting it, not when it looked like it might actually come to her if she gave it a bit longer. So she persisted.
And then it happened. The beating of the bird's tiny wings suddenly became an audible buzz in her ears. The small talons closing around her index finger were surprisingly painful, but she managed not to flinch. In fact, she barely breathed, amazed by the sheer weightlessness of the living creature on her hand.
The bird took its time studying the selection of seeds. Meanwhile, Sanae studied the bird, admiring its small black and white head and beady eyes, its fluffy deep orange body with white chest feathers, and especially the beautiful, delicate wings, half grey, half pinstriped. She resisted an overwhelming urge to brush her finger across the white stripe on the back of the bird's head, held back only by the knowledge the bird would never trust her again.
And then it was over. With another hummingbird-like flutter, the bird retreated back to the tree with a seed clutched in its beak. It settled down onto a thin branch, finagled the seed between its feet and began to peck at it.
Sanae smiled at it longingly, convinced a part of her heart had flown to the tree with it. She then turned towards Reimu. "Reimu, did you see—"
Reimu turned her head ever so slightly to look at her, so minutely the birds which had flocked to her were undisturbed. There were three perched on her shoulders, another on her arm, two vying for the seeds on her palm, and a particularly self-satisfied-looking youngling clung to her bow. Several more birds made swoops close to her as though she was a bird-calling beacon, clearly looking for suitable places to land. In the moment she turned, she was smiling in that soft way of hers Sanae had only seen on her face when she thought no-one was looking.
Sanae felt a small stab of envy. She buried it by reminding herself of the obvious. Yes, the birds liked Reimu. But Reimu liked Sanae.
Reimu noticed the look on Sanae's face. The secret smile lingered for a moment longer. "What?"
"Nothing." Sanae watched as another bird tried to nestle itself into the crook of Reimu's arm. "You've tamed them."
"They should learn to leave me alone." Reimu chose that exact moment to smile at a bird which landed on her hand and flew off again with a seed in its beak. She gave Sanae the side-eye. "Why are you smiling like that?"
"Because I like looking at you."
The amazing thing was that Reimu didn't seem to mind hearing that. Sure, she looked away, but she didn't say anything rude to deflate the mood. In fact, she looked like she was holding back another smile. "Come chase these off for me."
All it took was taking a single step towards Reimu. With one exception, the flock of the birds dispersed in a flurry of feathers, reconvening in the trees to chirp about the indignity of their snack time being so rudely interrupted. The remaining bird hopped on the ground, perhaps searching for a seed Reimu had dropped, indifferent to the human gazes observing it.
"Little pests," Reimu said fondly.
Sanae clapped her hands together as an epiphany struck her, accidentally sending the final bird flying. "I know! I figured out why birds love you!"
"You did?"
"One of your ancestors must have been a bird. That's why they're so at ease with you." Sanae's hands fell. "But that doesn't explain why other animals are so calm around you as well."
"And most birds don't get along with each other. So don't try to make me out to be a birdbrain." Despite her words, Reimu didn't actually seem offended.
By then, the birds had ceased calling out their protests and were back to their usual chittering. Sanae's bird was still where she had last seen it, its head tilted ever so slightly to the side as it listened to the others with the half-eaten seed in its talons.
"Want to keep going?" Reimu asked.
"Sure!" Sanae wouldn't have minded staying where they were, listening to the wind and wondering when rain would next fall to soothe the dry land, but Reimu seemed eager to move on, and Sanae was eager to see Reimu happy.
Reimu scattered the seeds in the her hand onto the ground. "You know, maybe your theory wasn't complete nonsense."
"Really?"
"You're obviously a goddess of wind. So it only makes sense someone with bird blood would like you." Almost as soon as Reimu had said the words, she blinked and looked away in disgust. "I can't believe I said that."
"...I'm glad you did." Sanae couldn't have kept her smile from spreading even if she had tried her hardest. "It was like something out of shoujo manga."
Usually, Reimu would have taken the opportunity to grouse about how she didn't understand half the things Sanae talked about. This time, she simply shook her head. "Let's keep going."
"Do you have somewhere special in mind?"
"I just want to keep moving." Reimu's gaze returned to the branches. "We could find some other birds to feed."
"Sounds like a plan!"
They returned to the path and walked onwards in companionable silence, until Sanae, her mind still half on birds and half on Reimu, thought of something. "You know, I'm a little surprised."
"About what?"
"Since you get along with those birds so well, I would've expected you to use them for drawing sacred lots. It can gather a pretty big crowd. In your case, you probably wouldn't even have to train them."
"..."
"But I understand. You don't want to always mix pleasure with busin—" Sanae stopped talking. The familiar glint of greed in Reimu's eyes was unmistakable. "...Or you just hadn't thought of it before."
"How does it work exactly? I'll figure it out even if you won't tell me, so you might as well."
"...Guess I need to talk to Lady Kanako and Lady Suwako about finding some birds for our shrine first."
Reimu grinned. And, in spite of the new battle on the horizon, when Sanae held out her hand, she took it without hesitation.