Snippet #1860091

Hoshiko only nodded lightly in response to Dominic's remark.

If the shrine maiden noticed Kenji staring, she gave no hint. Her left hand was already closing around her staff though she made no move to draw it, yet. Whatever happened, if they so much as nicked one of the antique statues or injured one of the many flowers she had raised from seedlings, she just might second the swordsman's notion.

Outwardly, she offered the same gesture to Kenji, already taking up a defensive stance, briefly closing her eyes. She knew the layout better than the back of her hand, and even as she motioned with her right hand, slender digit poking through a finger hole in her glove, she was drawing from memory every vulnerable area in the temple blocked from their immediate view.

"They can flank us from the east and west, but if they leave a gap in their defense, we may have an advantage from there." she pointed toward the small koi pond. "They sometimes arrive in numbers, but their attacks are predictable."

...

Hoshi's grandfather stopped trimming long enough to look up and see what was going on inside. He shrugged and clipped another branch, continuing with his task.