So this is a new story. It's kinda based loosely on the series InuKami with the same general idea, but not the same story line. But I hope you enjoy.

The Tale of a Tamer and His Dog God

Ch,1 – Tamer-in-Training No Longer

-

Four guys walk out of an old brick building, backpacks slung over their shoulders. They just finished another afternoon of classes, welcoming the sunshine of the summer after hours of being cooped up. "Yo Kenshin. We're going to head over to the arcade while we still have the chance to. You wanna come?" asks one of the guys, rather talk with spiky brown hair and a red headband, gnawing on a toothpick. The redhead with purple eyes walking ahead, looks back towards his friend.

"Sorry guys. I gotta get to the shrine."

"Again? Every time you go there you just come back depressed. What's going to make this time any different?" asks the brown haired guy again.

"I just have a feeling. I'll talk to you later," the redhead says, waving to his friends as he runs down the road.

-

"What makes you think you're ready to be a tamer?" an older man, long brown hair tied at the nape of his neck asks, another man with blue hair dressed in trench coat sitting beside the older man in one of the rooms of the temple. Kenshin sits a few feet away from them, a sword hilt on the ground in front.

"I've been practicing and training for a long time and lots of people have their partners already. I'm ready Uncle Hiko."

"You are far from ready. When you're ready, your partner will show himself." The man takes a sip of his tea, freshly poured by his companion, eyes looking at the cup's contents rather than at the boy.

"If I wait too much longer, I'll probably be the oldest person ever to get a partner. Or I may not even get one at all."

"You shouldn't worry Kenshin. Sometimes, it the very last blossom that shows the most potential. You just need to be patient," the blue haired man says, sitting completely still and no emotion crossing his face.

"Alright. I'll wait. While I'm here, would it be okay if I did some training in the back?"

"Go ahead. You do need the work." Kenshin stands to his feet, taking his weapon with him.

"Alright. Goodbye Uncle. Goodbye Aoshi." He bows to each man before taking his leave.

"You should be nicer with him Master. He is after all going to have a rough time with his partner." Aoshi says, taking some tea for himself.

"All the more reason to toughen him up."

-

"I'm never going to get a partner at this rate. I feel ready. I meditate. I practice. I do everything I'm supposed to do and still nothing. This is hopeless. Maybe I should rethink all this work," Kenshin says out loud, practicing his swordsmanship with a glowing blade connected to the once stump of a hilt. He swings towards the pond in front, watching as it makes waves on the down stroke.

"You're off," a voice says. Kenshin suddenly stops his swings, bringing it to his side and looking for the voice.

"Who's there?" he asks the air.

"Your movement is off. You pause at the beginning slightly so it's not a completely smooth move." He looks out in front of him to see a woman sitting atop of a statue in the middle of the pond.

"And how do you know that?"

"I know a lot of things. Plus, I've seen plenty of skilled swordsmen over the years and they don't pause," she says, looking at her reflection in the water and swishing her feet back and forth.

"Who are you?"

"Who are you?"

"I'm Kenshin. I'm a tamer." The woman stands up and floats towards the guy, now letting him see her fully. The girl has a heart shaped face, surrounded by black, almost blue hair that went to the small of her back and bright blue eyes that seemed like mirrors, dressed in an elaborate kimono of many layers and many colors.

"If you're a tamer, then where's your partner? I don't see one," she says floating around looking as Kenshin follows.

"I haven't chosen one yet." She stops in front of him, looking straight at him.

"Aren't they supposed to choose you?"

"You never told me what your name is." She floats back over the water, making sure he gets a full view.

"I'm Kaoru and I am a dog god. See? A tail and ears," she says, pointing to a pair of black ears and a tail that starts black at the base and gradually becomes white.

"You're a dog god?"

"Hello? Tail. Ears," she says, pointing to the appendages once again as she floats around him in circles.

"You're a dog god and you appeared to me. That must mean you're my partner. It's a bit unconventional but you did appear to me. You're not anyone's partner are you?" She stops mid air, and puts a finger to her chin, tapping in thought.

"I don't think so."

"Great. Then you must be mine. Alright, I think we have to trade now."

"Who said I'm your dog god? I don't belong to anyone," she says, finding a nice branch to perch on, looking down below her.

"But dog gods don't appear in our world unless they are someone's partner or are appearing to theirs."

"Maybe I'm special then. Anyways, I'm only willing to be the dog god of someone who's powerful and honestly you don't look to powerful. In fact, I thought you were a girl before I head you talking. Even then it was difficult to tell."

"Well look at you. You look like a , a , a raccoon more than a dog god," he says, pointing a finger at her in frustration.

"A raccoon huh? Well then, I guess you wouldn't want a raccoon as your dog god then." She lifts herself up from her branch and starts to float up. Realizing what he has said, he runs over to the tree and watches her.

"No. Wait. I'm sorry, please just don't leave. It's just that it seems like I'm never going to get a partner." He waits as he watches her disappear before appearing back in front of him.

"How about we make a deal then?"

"A deal?"

"I see why some think you're hopeless," she says, tapping his head for emphasis.

"What's the deal?"

"I will be your dog god partner and do the whole trade, destroying evil spirits and demons thing. But I don't do the whole chores, errands, cooking things unless I feel like it and I get to go out when I want of course staying relatively close by just in case and I get dessert everyday no matter what."

"That's a lot of demands for a dog god."

"Well I'm not the one who needs a partner." She watches the boy hang his head before a loud sigh is heard from his lips.

"Alright. I agree."

"Now for that traded thingy you were talking about."

"Right, we need things to make the pact. Let's see. What do I have?" Kenshin goes over to his bag a few feet away and starts looking through it as Kaoru waits in the background. After finding nothing, he closes his bag, spotting a silver sword keychain hanging from a zipper. "I guess this will do. It's a keychain my parents gave to me the first day of school. Now to find something to tie it with." He looks around and looks at Kaoru, realizing all the different ribbons decorating her kimono. He takes one of them, weaving it through the key ring then giving it to Kaoru. "A necklace." He gives it to and she puts it on with some hesitation.

"Now I give you something, right?"

"Right."

"Um…oh, I know," she says, digging through her many layers of clothing, to find a small pouch, which she opens and empties its contents into her hand. She holds the item in between her index and thumb, displaying to Kenshin.

"It's a fang. Is it yours?"

"Not mine. But it's missing something." Bringing the fang to her mouth, she gives it a kiss . "Poof." The fang disappears as Kenshin feels something suddenly on his neck. Looking into the pond, he sees the fang attached to a dark brown dog collar around his neck. He lifts his hand, feeling it between his fingers.

"A dog collar?"

"I think it looks good."

"Well, I guess that's it then," Kenshin says, walking away from the pond to collect his things.

"Now what?" Kaoru asks, following.

"Now, we go see Uncle Hiko."

-

"Uncle Hiko," Kenshin says, sliding the door to the temple room he was in a few hours ago. His uncle and Aoshi are sitting quietly, playing a game of Go.

"Finished with training already?" Hiko says, making his next move.

"I found her. I found my partner."

"You found a dog god?" Hiko says, suddenly losing interest in the game and more focused on this turn of events.

"I was practicing and she found me."

"She?" Aoshi says.

"Yeah. This is my partner Kaoru," he says moving out of the doorway in hopes of showing his partner.

"I don't see anyone Kenshin," Hiko says, a bit upset that he stopped his game. Kenshin sticks his head outside, looking back and forth searching for her.

"But I told her to wait right here." Suddenly, her form appear upside as she hangs off the roof right in front of Kenshin, sending him to his rear and he falls back in surprise.

"Hey. Did you get your uncle?" She says, looking in to see two older males looking at her with an odd expression covering their faces.

"He's right there," Kenshin says, getting up from the floor. Kaoru leaves her perch, landing gracefully next to Kenshin, her tail wagging around.

"Uncle Hiko. Aoshi. This is Kaoru."

"Kaoru? I've never heard of a dog god named Kaoru," Hiko says, looking her up and down.

"There are many a gods that are not listed under the registry because they are meant only for certain people or they just wish not to be among the others."

"But those usually have immense powers and because of that their partners are powerful, so why would you choose Kenshin?" Hiko asks.

"Because he's cute," she says, attaching herself onto Kenshin's arm and rubbing her cheek against him. Kenshin looks around trying to think of how to get out of the uncomfortable situation and decides to pet her on the head.

"Aoshi?" Hiko asks his partner.

"I don't see any problems. I sense no evil and she does have dog god qualities," Aoshi says, perking Kaoru's interest and detaching herself from Kenshin's arm.

"You think you're ready for this Kenshin? I mean, usually one's partner is the same sex as the tamer so one can see this is a strange."

"I can do it. I promise I won't let you down Uncle," Kenshin says bowing, Kaoru following after seeing what Kenshin does. As they rise back up, Hiko extends one hand towards Aoshi, who makes an envelope appear in Hiko's hand. He then extends the envelope to Kenshin who takes it and looks inside.

"Here's an extra allowance. You'll need to go by your partner some human clothes and supplies. You'll also get a monthly allowance to cover any missions."

"Thank you so much. So, when's my first mission?"

"When I give it to you. Now, why don't you go and get some supplies since the stored will be closing soon," he says, going back towards the interrupted game.

"Of course uncle. Come on Kaoru." He grabs Kaoru's wrist and takes her out.

"Right. Bye." She waves until they are out of sight and floats so that she is front of Kenshin. "So what happens now?"

"First, you need to stop flying like that. You can only do that when no one is around or if we're fighting." Kaoru stops and puts both feet on the ground.

"Check. Now what?" she says, walking by Kenshin's side.

"Well, I guess we should go shopping for you. Maybe I can call Megumi?

"Megumi?"

"Yeah. She's a friend of mine. She has a dog god as well so it might work out well since they're both all about how they look."

-

Kenshin and Kaoru stand by the mall entrance, waiting for Megumi and her partner. As people pass, they all look at Kaoru, confused as to why a woman was dressed in such traditional clothing. "Kenshin, I heard you finally got a dog god. Took you long enough. Now let me see him. Is he cute?" A tall girl with long, dark green hair and brown eyes comes running down the street in a short summer dress, a purple haired girl with and brown eyes following right after, dressed in shorts and a shirt.

"Megumi, Kamatari, this is Kaoru. Kaoru, this is Megumi and her partner Kamatari." They both stare at the girl next to Kenshin, Kamatari breaking the silence.

"Your partner is a girl?" Kamatari asks, inspecting her like a piece of meat.

"She looks more like a raccoon," Megumi says, laughing behind her hand. Kenshin looks towards Kaoru as he sees her form starting to shake.

"Why you…" She stops her shaking and instead, puts her index finger up to mouth and kisses it, then holding out to Megumi. "Poof," she says, Megumi giving her a weird look. Kenshin and Kamatari look at the girl while Kaoru tries to hold her laughter in.

"What was that for?"

"Uh Megumi, you better look at your head. There's two little things up there," Kamatari says, pointing to her head. Megumi lifts her hands to her head and starts feeling around, soon coming to two small triangles on her head.

"What do you…what are on my head?" she asks Kaoru, now holding her sides in laughter.

"If I'm a raccoon, you're a fox."

"Kenshin, don't you have your partner under control?" Megumi says, covering her new years with her hands. Kenshin bows his head again and sighs.

"It doesn't look like it." He turns towards Kaoru, who is still laughing. "Kaoru, please turn her back. She was only joking." Kaoru starts to calm and soon speaks.

"Fine. But next time she's getting a tail to match." Kaoru snaps her fingers and the fox ears disappear.

"I'm sorry Megumi. I really am," Kenshin says, giving a little bow as an apology.

"Don't worry about it. But it looks like you got a partner with some spunk. Maybe she'll help you grow a spine. So what's the favor you need?"

"Kaoru needs clothes and stuff and I thought it was probably better if a girl went with her to shop. So, do you have the time do maybe do some shopping with us? I'm paying of course," he says, showing the envelope.

"I guess. I mean, I do have to do some shopping of my own," Megumi says, looking at Kamatari.

"Oh, let me play dress up with her, please Megumi?" Kamatari begs, jumping up and down and clapping her hands like a little girl.

"Alright Kamatari. Kaoru is all yours," Megumi says, taking the envelope from Kenshin and looking inside.

"Should I be scared?" Kaoru asks Kenshin as Megumi tucks away the envelope, the two now staring at her.

"I don't think so."

-