# Chapter 3: Akebi's House
# Chapter 3: Akebi's House
After Master vanished, Witch Enaga ended up spending a few days at the home of her best friend, Akebi.
*— The two of them are about to start a cozy, heartwarming little life together!!!*
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**Akebi's House**
Outside the window, dusk was creeping in. Enaga sat in a chair, staring down at the magic spear — Master's keepsake — a dark, hollow look on her face.
"...Master. In the end, I never even got to say 'thank you.' What kind of clumsy, useless disciple was I..."
A shadow crept up behind her. It was Akebi, holding a tray, grinning like an idiot.
**Akebi** *(whispering)*
"...Heh heh heh. Time to cheer up our moping little witch with a nice, uplifting surprise prank! Three, two, one—"
*(right in Enaga's ear)*
"WITCH ENAGA! MASTER'S GHOST HAS APPEARED!!!"
Enaga's shoulders shot up in a full-body flinch, and her hand snapped to her staff on pure reflex.
**"— First Annihilation Spell, activate!!**
**>>>> GUREN VORTEX <<<< !!!"**
**KA-BOOOOOOM!!!!**
A scream rang out through the black smoke.
"GYAAAAAAH! MY FACE! IT'S BEING FLAME-GRILLED!!"
Charred head to toe, Akebi went sprawling, sending the tray — and the melt-in-your-mouth red bean daifuku he'd made especially because they were Master's favorite — flying everywhere.
Enaga snapped back to her senses.
"...oh. Akebi? Oh, it's just you... Don't do stupid stuff like that, you almost got vaporized on reflex."
**Akebi** *(still smoking slightly)*
"Not 'almost' — I'm already HALF vaporized, thank you very much. And here I went and made daifuku just to cheer you up..."
"Daifuku... hmph. Your cooking's always way too sweet, it's not even to my taste."
*(That said, she picked up a fallen daifuku off the floor and popped it into her mouth, looking just a little bit pleased.)*
"HEY! I rolled those by hand, one by one! ...Oh, right, Witch Enaga! Look, look!"
*(Inside a sloppily-made cardboard box sat a tiny, plump little bird, completely jet black, plopped down like a lump of coal.)*
"My mom found him hurt near the road by the inn! We took him in and put him in a box!"
"A bird...? ...Pfft. Ahahaha, he's so fat and cute, wwww"
"You laughed! See, I knew it — this little guy's a good luck charm! wwww"
"Alright! Today I made my special carbonara! I upped the cheese and pepper ratio more than usual!"
*The nameless black bird (thoughts): ...This kid's got taste when it comes to food, at least. ...Wonder if I could get seconds...*
And so began the small, happy little life of two people — and one bird? — under the same roof.
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**Author's Note:** Man, now I really want some red bean daifuku... lol
