>"We need to see what she's up to after we left."
>Oh, that's what you meant.>Momiji ponders, then nods. "You have a point. There's no harm in seeing at least that much more."
>You return to Tsubaki after you left her exalted company. The woman aims her superior smirk after you, then returns her attention to the book in front of her, the one regarding the Yakumos. She studies this for another few minutes, before laying it aside, leaning back in Aya's chair. She spends a minute gently massaging the frame of her right wing.
>"Dai-tengu do that sometimes." Momiji informs you. "Evidently it relieves tension."
>Once she stops, she pulls another text from the pile resting at her right hand. This one is just a bit different from the Yakumo article. It's a historical record, written five hundred and thirty years ago, by a Yamabushi-tengu explorer who took it upon himself to explore natural and supernatural equines, their history in the outside world and Gensokyo, and all things associated with them. Horse youkai, pegasi, unicorns, pooka, nightmares, kirin... the details contained within the book are copious, and frankly a little disturbing. Plainly you can see the author's obsession. Tsubaki reads over this book for no more than four minutes, afterwards she massages her temples for a moment. Momiji doesn't really need to translate that gesture, and you wonder yourself just why Aya would have a book like that in the first place, never mind why a Dai-tengu like Tsubaki would look at it.
>There is but one book left in Tsubaki's pile after that, a register of Tengu marriages spanning the eleventh century of Gensokyo. A perfectly ordinary record of matrimonial facts, which Tsubaki peruses for seven and a half minutes. Her sneer darkens as she nears the end of the ledger, betraying a hint of frustration, before she closes the book, rather sharply. Once again, she leans back in Aya's chair, her arrogant face contemplative.
