Disclaimer: CLAMP School Paranormal Investigators belongs to CLAMP and Tomiyuki Matsumoto. I'm just trying to keep it alive.

Day 2: Historical AU

Kan'ei 19 (1642)

It was the third month of Mifuyu's warrior pilgrimage, and she was hungry. It wasn't unusual. Mifuyu had a bad habit of never noticing she needed to eat until she was too hungry to move. Lately she'd been eating maybe once a day, and it really wasn't enough. She'd collapsed by the side of the road, and was currently trying to decide if any of the plants within her reach were edible.

"Um," said a voice. "Excuse me, but . . . are you alright?"

Mifuyu raised her head to see a girl standing above her, in the white kimono and red hakama of a shrine maiden. "Yeah, i'm just hungry."

"If it's alright, i have a bun you could have . . ."

Mifuyu shot upright. "Thank you, you're a lifesaver!" she exclaimed, wolfing the bun down. "But you really surprised me!" she added between bites. "I didn't expect to see anyone. Is there a shrine near here?"

"Yes!" the girl said. "Or, near enough. I'm actually going – oh, i'm so sorry, where are my manners? My name is Rion."

"Mifuyu," Mifuyu said. "So, you're going somewhere too?" She tried to think of where a shrine maiden might have as a destination. "Making a house call?"

"Yes," Rion admitted, sinking down beside her. "There's a house on the other side of the mountain that's been having some trouble with spirits, so they asked our shrine to do an exorcism."

"Oh, i see. Does that sort of thing happen often?"

"Not around here," Rion said pensively. "I'm hoping that whatever is happening can be settled peacefully, but . . ."

Mifuyu made up her mind as she licked her fingers clean. "I'll go with you!"

Rion was taken aback. "Oh, no! I can take care of it myself. And you said you were going somewhere as well, didn't you? I couldn't interrupt your travels."

Mifuyu patted the hilt of her sword. "I'm on a training journey. I don't have anywhere i have to be. And i need to pay you back for the bun." She flashed a bright smile.

Rion opened her mouth, hesitated. "But still, this is more than i could ask, even as a return for the favor. I meant the bun to be a gift."

Mifuyu shook her head. "It just doesn't sit right with me, not doing something to repay you. Besides, i don't know what's been happening at this house, but you might want to have a samurai around."

"I might," Rion admitted. "They say they've had a great deal of trouble."

Mifuyu wiped her hand on her hip and offered it to Rion as she stood up. "It's settled, then."

Rion accepted Mifuyu's hand and let her pull her to her feet. "I suppose it is. I'll leave myself in your care, then."

Mifuyu grinned. "Likewise."

A/N: What, another series for this same event? Yes, i kill myself with my constant need to overdo things. This one's starting with Day 2 since i couldn't come up with anything for the "role reversal" prompt in time. In fact, this pairing i had a lot of trouble meeting the prompts orz . . . My original plan was to show this whole Edo-period haunted house incident from start to finish, but it turned out to be way too long, and i was already overwhelmed from the way i decided to overdo this week, so i ultimately decided that just the beginning worked for the needs of the event. I hope to write the whole thing someday, but it probably won't be for a while.