This story is part of the Wanderer series.
With an annoyed click, she marched past Nozomi and into the cluttered room. Grabbing the bucket under the drying rack, then the bucket under the table, Rin marched right back out. She did not bother to open the windows here. Transferring one of the bail handles to the other hand to free it up, she briefly glanced at the pink-haired girl as she strode past her again, who was still fanning herself. The metal buckets clattered against each other as her arms swung.
“Come out with me,” she curtly commanded. “I’m going to the well.”
Nozomi straightened her eyes and looked at Rin as if she did not quite understand. “Huh?”
Walking up to the back door, she abruptly stopped as she reached out with her free hand. Then, pivoting around, she reached for the key on the table, snatching it. Inserting it into the lock and turning twice to the left, she chucked the key onto the sink counter and forcefully slid open the rightside metal bar door, which screeched even louder than the glass one. Nozomi flinched from its cry, her shoulders jumping and her hands drawing up to her ears. Rin, on the other hand, ignored it and squatted down to the sandals on the floor, picking up two pairs and tossing them out onto the deck.
“Here,” she snapped as she hastily slipped into hers. “Wear those.”
The pink-haired girl’s eyes widened as she felt the impetus to move outweigh her confusion. “Where are we going?”
Distributing the handles to both hands again, Rin jumped off the deck into the tallgrass and sprinted off with the buckets swinging wildly with her arms. “Keep up!”
“Wha— Whaaaaa?”
Yuka was making her way back to the cottage from the stable, navigating the wide alleys between the colossal tree trunks, the tall verdant strands of grass blanketing the forest floor giving way as she waded through. Carrying a tall basket with the crook of an elbow, she glanced up with slight surprise as she saw Rin sprint at full speed away from the cottage.
“Rin?” she uttered, sounding a little worried something had happened.
“We’re going to the well!” Rin shouted without glancing back.
Blinking, Yuka did not follow up, instead turning her gaze to the stumbling pink-haired girl attempting to follow close behind, wailing after the speeding girl.
“W-wait!”