Ren watches with amusement as Silver staggers back to the table and flops onto her side with a heavy sigh, clearly exhausted by all the play that Snowball had insisted on; Shadow and Silver lasted longer than Ren expected — more proof that the two aren’t normal wolves — but it’s obvious that neither of them have Snowball’s goddess-born stamina.

Shadow gives Snowball one last shoulder-shove to disentangle the two of them and then follows his mate over, collapsing on the floor with his back pressed against Silver’s, his tongue lolling out and his sides heaving. Silver whuffs in response and wriggles a bit away, tucking her head under the low table as she does, clearly disinclined to interact with anyone for the moment.

“Leave them be,” Mami declares as she leans over the table and wags her finger in Amaterasu’s face. “You’ve exhausted both of them, now let them rest.”

Amaterasu whines, ears drooping and tail stilling, but when Mami just arches an eyebrow at her, the wolf-formed goddess huffs and darts over to her plate to eat the sakura mochi sitting on it.

“Did you two have fun?” Ren asks while reaching over to save Silver and Shadow’s sakura mochi from Amaterasu; already the goddess is giving the extra sakura mochi covetous looks, despite still working on her own. “You’ve had plenty, and these are for Shadow and Silver,” they tell her sternly, ignoring Amaterasu’s attempt at puppy eyes. “Maybe if you ask nicely, Mrs. Plum will make more after dinner.”

Shadow cracks an eye open when Ren is finished talking and gives them the best exasperated look he can while laying flat on his side, then snorts and lifts a paw to drape it over his eyes.

Ren isn’t sure whether to take that as an answer to their question or a reaction to Amaterasu’s thieving ways, but it’s not like they really expected much else; until Issai arrives, they can’t do anything but muddle along to the best of their abilities. What they can do, however, is make sure Amaterasu has no chance to steal from Shadow and Silver: when Mrs. Plum hands them a bowl, they murmur their thanks, set the two sakura mochi in it, and immediately hand it back.

Temptation removed, Amaterasu huffs and lays down with her chin on her paws, her gaze darting between the four of them pleadingly.

“It’ll be a bit longer before Issai arrives,” Mami reminds Amaterasu, much to the goddess’ clear annoyance. “Well you’re the one who showed up early this year,” she continues tartly, the corners of her lips twitching as she resists a smile. “I appreciate the new friends, but if you didn’t want to wait before you set out on your tour of the country, you should have found a way to let us know.”

Amaterasu whines and rolls onto her side, head stretched out and eyes wide: the perfect picture of fake innocence.

Ren doesn’t buy it for a moment.

“Speaking of your new friends,” Ren starts, voice as dry as they can make it. “I do hope you didn’t kidnap them from somewhere.”

Amaterasu — in full Snowball mode — rolls entirely onto her back and gives Ren a cheerful canine grin.

(Great.)

(She absolutely kidnapped Shadow and Silver somehow.)

(Ren is certain of it now.)

Ren tilts their head back to stare at the ceiling in exasperation. There’s precious little they can do about it at this point, but it’s something to keep in mind. Whoever Silver and Shadow are, they seem content to play along for the moment, which is a hopeful sign.

On the other hand…

“Is there anyone who’s going to be searching for you?” Ren asks the two wolves; it’s a question they wouldn’t attempt if they thought the two were natural animals, but with so much evidence otherwise, they might as well try.

(And besides, it’s best to be forewarned.)

Shadow slides the paw from his face and cracks an eye open to give them a thoughtful look, and Silver shuffles enough to pull her head out from under the table. The two wolves appear to contemplate the question for a moment, before turning towards each other and sharing a brief, silent conversation made up entirely of tiny physical gestures and a strange ebb-and-flow of power between them, before Silver turns back towards them and nods sharply.

Ren purses their lips at the confirmation, wondering what to do with it—

“Well, then we’ll just have to send someone out to fetch them,” Mr. Plum declares firmly, stroking his long beard as he does. “Wouldn’t do to make someone worry when you’re both right here and fine.” At Silver’s startled look, he chuckles and leans back, saying, “We’re a difficult village to find, but that doesn’t mean we’re true isolationists. You wouldn’t have found us if you were here to cause trouble, nor would Snowball have allowed you to remain, so I have no problem helping your companions find the way.”

“I can do it,” Ren says, already knowing that Mr. Plum would have chosen them to go anyway; they are the most familiar with the nearby area, after all, and the most likely to be able to survive potentially-belligerent outsiders.

(They’re quite adept at dodging after the various adventures that Snowball has dragged them on.)

Mr. Plum strokes his beard again, staring at them thoughtfully, then nods gravely and says, “That sounds like a wonderful plan, Ren-kun. Why don’t you take Snowball with you?”

Amaterasu perks up at Mr. Plum’s suggestion and rolls back upright, giving Ren the biggest, most cheerful — and most mischievous — canine grin possible.

Ren rather distrusts it.

Shadow jerks himself up, eyes wide enough for Ren to see the whites, and barks sharply, pulling everyone’s attention to him. He snorts, gives Amaterasu a sidelong look, and forces himself to his feet despite how tired he still seems, clearly intending to go with them.

“You can sit right back down,” Mrs. Plum tells him sternly from her spot next to the little kitchen counter. “You’re exhausted and in no state to keep up with Ren-kun and Snowball.”

“I have a map of the area at home, you can come over and show me where your people are likely to be,” Ren suggests before Shadow can get too riled by Mrs. Plum’s words. Shadow wavers at their words, ears twitching and tail held awkwardly stiff, and Ren adds, “I can’t promise to keep Snowball out of trouble, because it’s Snowball and she’s a literal force of nature, but I can promise to make sure your people aren’t injured.”

Shadow exchanges glances with Silver, then heaves a sigh, bobs his muzzle in a rough nod, and stalks towards the door, waiting next to it expectantly.

Ren chuckles and leans over to brush a kiss against Mami’s cheek, then pushes themself to their feet and slings their sword back in place. “Alright, alright. C’mon, Ammy, let’s get moving,” they say as they start walking around the table towards the door.

Amaterasu scrambles to her feet with an excited bark and darts to the door, nearly bowling Shadow over in the process. Shadow just snorts and steps aside, casually brushing Amaterasu’s power from his body once again.

(That’s something Ren will need to mention to Shadow at some point.)

(The poor guy is just making Amaterasu more interested in him by doing that, not less.)

(Better to just play along until Ammy finally gets tired, honestly.)

“Have fun!” Mami calls after them.

Ren casts a grin and a small wave over their shoulder, then pushes the door open and shoos Amaterasu out first, before following the excitable goddess outside.

Time to find and meet the new (old?) neighbors.

They can’t wait.