The day after Mitsuri arrived back at the shrine found her and Yumeko scouring the mountain in search of a patch of herbs that Yumeko claimed should have grown back already. She had told Mitsuri about a system she had in place; there were hundreds of herb patches over the mountain, and anytime Yumeko picked one, she would replace it with some seeds she had either bought or collected.
"There are times when the herbs run out. It's a big mountain, but there's only so much space, and some patches just don't grow at all. Luckily, I have a small garden behind the shrine for that purpose." Yumeko admits. Mitsuri frowns slightly. She wants to say something about the unfair conditions that Yumeko has been given, but the girl seems happy in this environment. The only reason she worried about money in the first place was because of her grandmother. It leaves Mitsuri feeling conflicted, she wants to point out the unfairness of it all, but there's a chance Yumeko doesn't see it as unfair and would get upset.
"I'd love to see the garden when we get back," Mitsuri says instead, giving Yumeko a small smile to try and hide her internal struggle.
"Mm!" Yumeko hums back. She looks at peace, walking through the forest, bending down to care for a few growing patches along the way. Mitsuri is almost taken aback by it all, a slight blush grows on her face as she watches, and she quickly turns away, hoping the other girl didn't catch her staring.
"We should be nearing the patch now," Yumeko informs, and Mitsuri turns back to her with a nod, following along as Yumeko brushes past a few bushes and turns sharply to the left. When she stops, Mitsuri glances down at the herbs.
"Ah, I recognize these," Mitsuri states, pointing down to a plant with sharp-looking leaves and bright white flower petals.
"They're known as yamato toki; the root extract can be used for all different kinds of conditions if one knows how to make them. I bet I could make something out of this." Mitsuri explains.
"Great! You take those back to the shrine then, and I'll bring the rest down to sell." Yumeko states, Mitsuri nods in agreement, and soon, they're digging and placing the herbs into the two baskets Yumeko brought.
When they're done, Mitsuri follows Yumeko back to the shrine and waves goodbye as she leaves to sell everything. Mitsuri heads over to the room and rummages through her suitcase before finding what she needed, it was a book on refining herbs that she had brought for this very situation.
She had thought of the idea in Sapporo and quickly went to the bookstore to get everything she needed. She rifled through the book for a bit before finding the page she wanted. It stated that to get the root extract, she would need to dry them, slice them up, and then steep them in water first. It seemed easy enough, so she quickly found a place to set them up to dry.
With time to waste while Yumeko is away, Mitsuri finds herself heading to Satsuki's room. While she had grown very close to Yumeko in their time together, she had also grown quite close to Satsuki. She provided plenty of good conversations and had a charming wit that kept Mitsuri on her toes whenever she spoke with the woman.
"How nice of you to come visit me, Mitsuri. I had thought for a second you'd forgotten me with how smitten you are with my granddaughter." The woman cackles, and Mitsuri fights a blush that had already begun to form.
"I am not smitten, and of course I didn't forget you, who do you think I'm here to care for?" She questions, moving down to kneel by her side.
"Well, I'd hoped it was me, but now I'm not too sure." Satsuki smirks, and Mitsuri can only sigh. What had she gotten herself into?
"If you don't want to talk about anything, I can leave right now." She huffs, already moving to stand and leave.
"Now, now, calm down, I'm only having a bit of fun. How is Yumeko doing?" Satsuki asks, making a placating movement with her hand as Mitsuri kneels back down again.
"Good, she seems to like being out in the mountains," Mitsuri notes with a touch of humor in her tone.
"Haha, always a wild one that child. I would let her out during the day, telling her to be back by night. She always had something new to tell, and she was always covered in dirt and mud." Satsuki laughs at the fond memory, and Mitsuri can almost picture it.
"I tried to keep her inside at one point, didn't want her to go get herself killed like that, but she looked like a depressed puppy, and I couldn't do that to her." Satsuki continued, and Mitsuri was happy to let the woman continue with her stories. Mitsuri doesn't want to interrupt, but she has a burning question, and even if Satsuki can't answer it, hopefully she can point Mitsuri in the right direction.
"Is there…a reason that she came to live with you? I mean, I'm sorry if this is impolite, I guess I'm just curious." Mitsuri says, rubbing the back of her head in embarrassment.
"Ah, this is something you'll have to ask Yumeko herself, but I suppose I can tell you a bit," Satsuki replies, and a frown appears on her face as she closes her eyes to think.
"Yumeko's parents…weren't the best. I partially blame myself for that; I was too relaxed with my idiot son. My own parents were strict, so I strived to be…well, not them. But I went too far in the other direction; I wasn't there for him when he needed me, so he strived to be the opposite of me. When I went to visit and saw what they were doing to Yumeko, I couldn't stand it. The poor girl was a shell of herself. I stepped in, they agreed, and now she's here." Satsuki finishes.
They sit there in silence for a bit before Mitsuri excuses herself. The knowledge gives her a lot to think about as she waits for Yumeko to return.