ALWAYS USE THE RESOURCE EFFICIENTLY

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Disclaimer: Fukigen na Mononokean belongs to Wazawa Kiri and Iron Man belongs to Marn vel

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Genre: Humor

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Warning: Typo is my most loyal fan. Spelling mistakes because English is not my mother language. Possibly OOC. Fluff. NOT BETA so beware of grammar mistakes

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Summary: Tony found another teleport. Hanae agreed. Haruitsuki is not happy.

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(A/N): It'll be a little repetitive though, with Tony trying to explain why the Mistress of Death hanging around him. So bear with me TwT

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"Abeno-san, can I borrow the Mononokean? Fushi is waiting for me at the riverbank. We wanna go fishing! You coming?"

"Abeno-san, I'm late! Please let me borrow the Mononokean!"

"Abeno-san!There's this bargain in the nearest supermarket! Can I use the Mononokean?"

"Abeno-san! Abeno-san! Abeno-san!"

"MONONOKEAN IS NOT YOUR PRIVATE TAXI GODDAMMIT!"

Today is a nice day; the sun is shining, birds are singing and clouds are swimming on the bright, blue sky. Ashiya Hanae was hiding behind the cowering Moja-Moja, silently apologized to the fluffy Youkai that he used him as a shield to take the brunt of Abeno Haruitsuki's anger. The blond-haired teenager himself was seething, hands folded in front of his broad chest. Hanae thought he saw a figure of a demon from hell growing menacingly behind his back.

Maybe Hanae took advantage of Mononokean too much. The Youkai himself never complain though, so he didn't think it was that much of a hassle to him (he was actually amused, the Mononokean will tell him someday, whenever Haruitsuki called him, bringing Hanae over just to drop him to whatever place he wanted to visit. Haruitsuki always regarded the Tatami room as a mighty Youkai, an important place for a leader to meet with a client and finished their humble request. So, watching Hanae used him as a mere shortcut was a fresh change of pace. And Haruitsuki's wrinkled face was also hilarious).

It's Friday after school, they're walking along the quiet market; there were only a couple of housewife walking around. Another Youkai decided to seek for Mononokean's help. The creature assumed a look of a gingerbread, with three black holes as his eyes and mouth. He said he lost his necklace as he flew around the throng of buyers near the market; it shaped like a magatama, the color is green but it'll turn blue when you shine it on the sun. Because it's not metal, they couldn't count on Hanae's ability to finished this request easily.

He saw Haruitsuki ducked to the side of the building, looking through the darken alleyway then he shook his head in negative. Nothing. Hanae himself peered inside the trash can before he promptly shut it back, closing his nose to prevent himself from inhaling the nasty smell, "Fuzzy, can you search over there?" he asked the Ayakashi, pointing his index finger to the far corner, "it's a junction. Maybe Poltergeist-san dropped it when he accidentally bumped into someone."

The fluffy Youkai who was looking around from Hanae's head point vantage nodded, he jumped off and ran to the pointed area, looking happy despite the sun shining heatedly in the middle of summer; maybe he was just happy he can run around the street, he's an ex-Dog after all.

But as he saw him vanished from his sight, a chill suddenly went down his back. Dread overwhelmed him. And even Abeno-san, he glanced from his peripheral, stood ram right and eyes widened in panic. Fuzzy, who was gone for a couple minutes, was back; expression panic and ran at full speed before he crashed into Hanae who was ready for the hug.

"A-Abeno-san?" he stuttered, the blonde scooched over to him, trying to shield him from something though he didn't know what, "what...what was that?"

Because this feeling is familiar yet foreign; the same feeling when he met the Executive (he shudder at the mere memory of it) but worse. And he couldn't think of anything that could even be more terrifying than the executive himself. Granted, he never met anyone scarier than the Executive but—

He saw Abeno-san let out another flinched. And Hanae finally saw the cause, as he unconsciously put his guard up.

There, at the junction he pointed Fuzzy to look for, was a man wearing a black suit. He looks like he was lost, judging from how he keeps swiveling his head right and left. Hanae will help him right away, as a nice person he was, but Haruitsuki outstretched hand kept him rooted. He didn't want to move either, the moment he saw where was that dread he felt a moment ago coming from. The uncomfortable feeling was still there, trickling and crawling along his skin like another layer of sweat.

Because that man was possessed. Just like he did when he first met Fuzzy. The difference was, Fluffy is cute. This Youkai though—

—Is beautiful, but terrifying. A skeleton, covered in a black veil, floating behind the man's shoulder, poking his cheek like she was trying to get his attention.

"It's the Mistress of Death," Haruitsuki whispered, horror crept into his usually bland tone. He saw him tremble slightly. And that showed that this Youkai is a big thing if even the stubborn Abeno-san took a step back, "she's the Mistress of all the Death Reaper. Why is she here and not in her realm?"

Basically, she's a shinigami.

Hanae was startled. D-Does that mean that man...is he going to die? Someone is going to die, right in front of his face? He couldn't save him? Because the shinigami was already here and was ready to reap his soul the moment they shifted their attention away?

Maybe he felt them staring because in the next second, the man was looking right back at them; they involuntarily took another step backward. He let out a relieved sigh and the smile widened. With a skip, he approached them, pulling off his black sunglasses off from its perch, "hey, kids. Can you help me?" he said, didn't realize how their face turn whiter. The ghost still floating lazily, looking amused, "I've never been around this area so I'm lost. I forget to bring my phone too—J and Takashi-chan gonna be sooo mad at me—so can you point me to the nearest station?"

Haruitsuki didn't look like he'll answer soon, with how that golden eyes still focused solely on the God. So Hanae—gulped—started talking, "oh, it's actually two blocks from here. You need to take on the bus to reach it. Which prefecture you want to go?"

"Kumamoto."

"But this is Fukuoka! Did you get off the wrong station?!" Hanae shouted in disbelief while the man laughed sheepishly. He remembered the presence of the Ghost and leaned back though, trying to put a distance on them, "it's almost evening, though. I don't know if they still sell the ticket for Kumamoto..."

Yes, as he realized, the sky started to turn orange at the very far west; they didn't realize that they were searching for the necklace this long. And they still haven't found it too. Poltergeist-san going to be sad.

"Aw, man. I should go find an inn to rest then," he scratched his head, "thanks for your help. By the way, what's your name?"

"Ashiya Hanae," he waved at the still agitated blonde, "And this is Abeno Haruitsuki."

"Nice to meet you, Hanae-chan, Itsuki-chan" ("chan?!", "Pfft!", "Ashiiyaa..", "I'm sorry!"), "My name's Tony Stark. You can just call me Tony~"

"Oh," Hanae bowed, "it's nice to meet you too Tony...san..."

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"EEEEEHHHHHH?!"

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They uncovered their ears and blinked, surprised at the sudden screech. Haruitsuki was pissed, "what was that for, stupid Ashiya?"

"Wa—you didn't realize, Abeno-san?!" he pointed at the grinning Tony, waving cheekily at the stunned teenagers, "it's Tony Stark! The Iron Man! That Iron Man!"

"Huh?" Haruitsuki took another look, didn't look convinced. But recognition slowly crept onto that golden eyes and he let out a low whistle. Tony chuckled.

"But if you're Iron Man, why don't you just fly back to your destination?" Hanae asked, confused, "it's still Japan. So you'll not violate an international law for trespassing another country."

"Oh, that was because I didn't bring any armor with me right now," he showed them his empty hands, "I'm here because of an...unfortunate incident anyway. That's why I'm not prepared."

Hanae's mouth formed an O shape, the reason was understandable enough. Unfortunate incident, though? What kind of unfortunate incident?

"Anyway, what's wrong with your friend?" he asked the dark-blue haired teen after a couple seconds of silent, head tilted to Haruitsuki, who straightened again when the hidden awe for meeting a real-life hero passed, "he looks so tense! Did I do something wrong? I'm not a bad person. I'm Tony Stark!"

"Eh? Oh...umm..." Hanae himself could only stutter, orbs flinging back and forth at the brunette and the blonde. They...couldn't really say that there's a Shinigami on his shoulder and that he's going to die soon right? (and now that they know he's Iron Man, the scenario get worse and worse. What if he dies because of a villain attack? When he tried to save the helpless civilian but failed and it claims his life? He knew it'll not be his fault, but Ashiya will still feel guilty for not giving him any warning at all even though he knew something bad going to happen). And Abeno-san warned him not to carelessly speak about Youkai existence too, said that not everyone was not as understanding as the nice grandma they gave the lost ring back before.

And her presence, Hanae gulped. It cranked up to the max, for the lack of better word. Hanae started to have a difficulty breathing, even Abeno was sweating bullet. Why? Did they offend her? She looks double scary all of a sudden. But they didn't do anything besides glaring (Haruitsuki) and cowering (Hanae). Will she curse them now? Will she also claim their soul after she claims Tony's? Oh no, he didn't want to leave his mother and sister behind they will be so sad Fuzzy will be so lonely—

"Oh!" and Tony's sudden voice startled him from his dangerous thought. He perked up like he realized something, "I'm sorry, gimme a minute..."

SMACK

They blinked when the billionaire slapped the Mistress' head, tried to scowl but looked like a pout, "I told you not to do that! Are you going to do this everytime we meet with other people who can see you? You've done this to Takashi-chan too!"

"But I just want to give them a small warning~"

"That's not a small warning, that's threatening!"

The teenagers could only gape in disbelief as they saw the adult and the God bickering with each other like a child. Before their mind faltered into a sudden halt as the reality sunk in.

"W-Wait. You can see her?" Haruitsuki, after being so silent the whole meeting, finally asked. The orbs still shone with distrust (it's the God of Death after all. Of course, he was wary) but now covered with interest; visible enough, the Mistress smiled in response.

"Hm? Oh yeah, I can." He grinned, not understanding the reason for their pale face yet, "she's been with me for a year."

"A YEAR?!" Hanae shouted, it caused Haruitsuki to covered his ears again; his voice just turn an octave higher when he screamed his lung out, after all, it hurt, "b-but...She's a shinigami! Aaargh! I'm sorry Mistress, I didn't mean to offend you!"

"Whoa whoa, calm down kid!" Tony gestured, looking innocently puzzled by Hanae's act, "no need to bow. You've done nothing wrong. The one who should apologize is this woman." He pulled the floating ghost to the attention—they recoiled, "nothing to worry about. She's here not to reap anyone's soul, honest. She's just hanging out~"

"Hanging...out?"

That sounded...strange.

"Yup," he said, popping the 'p', "long story short, I almost died twice. You know that news when I was kidnapped in Afghanistan and had a palladium poisoning?" Haruitsuki hummed while Hanae weakly nodded (how could he be so blase about it, he shuddered. Hanae was having a nightmare when he first met the Executive and he didn't want to feel that horrifying aura again in the near future. And here, Tony Stark, said that he almost died, not once but twice? Like it was just another day for him? Like saying the sky is blue and the grass is green. Yes, he's a superhero. He's basically a soldier even though him without his suit was considered as another civilian by the government. But—), "I cheated those deaths spectacularly and handsomely. And the Mistress here is impressed with me. So she decided to give me the ability to see the Youkai and stalking me around as her past time."

"And to see him finally die with my own eyes."

"Can you please not?" Tony sighed, he pinched the bridge of his nose tiredly, "your twisted love is hard to understand for a kid. Don't ruin them."

Okay, that was...understandable. Still balked at the mere idea of a God hanging around a human just because she can; she's a leader of all the dead spirit too. Hanae thought Tony should be a little more careful, however. She's a shinigami after all.

"Is this the reason why you didn't want to just...teleport me to Takashi-chan's house? You're the one who brought me here anyway," the genius asked, "because you want me to meet another one of them? I'm sure there are a lot of people out there who can see Youkai now after Takashi-chan told me about the existence of an exorcist, but why them precisely?"

"Because..." the Mistress slyly smirk, she shifted her blank, black eye socket to Haruitsuki, "I want you to meet the Master of the Mononokean~"

He tensed.

"Master of Mono-what?"

"Abeno Haruitsuki," The Mistress ignored the questioning look as she spoke. Her voice coalesced, like thousands of beings spoke at the same time, "I already spoke with the Legislator. He said 'use your Mononokean to bring Tony Stark to the place he wants to be. It's a rule'"

Silent.

"You threatened him?!" Haruitsuki almost shouted, disbelief written on his milky face.

"Threatened?!" Well...the Mistress sure can be intimidating, his mind reminded him of the terror the apparition spilled all over the street. And she said it was just a small warning too!

"Of course not~"

Liar!

"My gosh, I couldn't leave you alone just for a mere second, huh. Don't cause trouble for other people, woman!" Tony huffed. The Mistress turned her head away, didn't want to see the glare the Iron Man threw at her. He gave an apologetic gaze at the blonde teen, who still couldn't wrap his head around the fact that someone just threatened the Legislator!, "you didn't have to do that, kid. I can just ride the train tomorrow."

"No, uh...it's okay," Haruitsuki finally said, "the Legislator already said it's a rule. I couldn't break it." He sighed, "why am I working with a selfish boss again?"

The Mistress has the gall to giggle. The nerve of that God!

Tony's brown eyes sparkled with childish glee, Hanae swears he could literally saw the stars on it. He took the sudden appearance of Mononokean with just one yelp before he went inside with as much vigor as a child in a sugar rush. The excitement went through the roof when the Mononokean's bell rang and he started speaking.

"Oh my God, an AI?! A Youkai version of AI?! Or are you just a big Youkai in a form of a tatami room? But still, that counted as an AI! This is awesome! Are you one of a kind, Mononokean-chan? Or you have other siblings, but maybe larger and more sophisticated? Like, maybe your sister took an appearance of a princess room? Or your brother took an appearance of medieval era room? Is your scroll the only way for you to speak? Or maybe you can write in every piece of paper as long as you put it up on the wall? Ne, Mononokean—"

The said Youkai was bewildered by the tirade of questions, Hanae felt bad at him. But, from the news he heard about Tony Stark, you couldn't really stop him when he was in one of his tech geek binges. Surprisingly, Fushi was like that when he talked about his photography club. And he was such a calm guy too.

With Haruitsuki giving the direction of Tony's destination to the Mononokean, the door behind the brunette change into a shoji door; the stars on Tony's eyes was back with full force. He inspected it till the nook and cranny, mumbling something that was too fast for Ashiya to follow. He chuckled. Tony in person was actually just like a kid himself. An overgrown kid. It was cute.

(Then Abeno-san will grumble and say pot calling kettle black)

"This is just like a teleportation device, but bigger and cozier," he smugly grinned, "do you always use this to go to school, Itsuki-chan? I mean...it's easier and you didn't have to pay the bus fee with this~"

"No, I'm not!"

"Yes, I am."

Hanae slapped his mouth as Haruitsuki glared at him. He looked like he was ready to strangle him right at that second, "ooh...so that's your reason..."

Hanae frantically shook his head, darted behind Tony's large shoulder to hide himself from another bout of his boss's wrath; forgetting the presence of the Mistress he was scared about half an hour ago entirely (but Tony said she's nice. And he saw her joking around with the billionaire, so he'll trust him for that). Tony chuckled, playfully messing Hanae's lock, "don't worry, kid. I understand that. I want to use the Mistress skill too if I can. Unfortunately, hers was too flamboyant. And as much as I love the attention, me suddenly appeared out of nowhere like Harry Potter's magic will be going to cause an uproar. People will create a conspiracy theory that I'm a magician and like I said, it's a conspiracy!"

"But a Youkai is a conspiracy itself..."

"Oh, hush you." He pushed Hanae forward, grinning when Haruitsuki's calm exterior was back into a piercing, glaring-with-murder-intent one when he saw his friend's anxious face. He fished out a pen from his breast pocket and snatched Ashiya's palm before he wrote his phone number on it, "here. As people that can see this weird creature, we have to keep in touch. I'll introduce you to Takashi-chan someday. He can see too. And he has a Youkai's pet just like yours, Hanae-chan. It's a cat though, I hope Fuzzy can get along with him. He's a lil bit bossy"

Fuzzy wiggled his butt and closed his eyes, blushing and nodding.

"And one more thing," he put another thing on Hanae's open palm. It's—

"The necklace!" he exclaimed, a large smile blossomed like a flower in the spring, "how do you know we're searching for this?"

"Mistress found it. She said I should hold onto it because we will find the owner soon. I guess it's yours," he grasped the door handle and opened it, "hey, Itsuki-chan. Can I used Mononokean for a quick trip sometimes?"

"He's not a taxi"

"I'll pay you, honest! What do you think, Mononokean?"

"Sure \(^v^)/"

"Do I have to pay too?"

"You can pay me by working for Itsuki more diligently, Hanae-chan :D"

"Oh, okay then. I can do that."

"I TOLD YOU MONONOKEAN IS NOT A TAXI!"

OMAKE

"Thank you for the ride~" Tony waved at them as he stepped out from the tatami's room, "I'll call you some...time..."

"TO..."

"NY..."

"SAAAANNNN!"

Tony shut the door close.

What...what was that? Hanae thought he saw a human. But he has horns. And darkness surrounded him like a black flame; the same phenomenon he saw when Abeno was mad at him.

Tony turned around, laughed sheepishly and said, "on second thought, can I stay overnight?"

"My name's Natsume Takashi. I'm sorry for Tony-san," Takashi bowed, hand on Tony's head and forced him to join the apology, "I hope he's not troubling you."

He ignored the whined of the brunette about it was not his fault and this woman was the one who suddenly teleported me into some unknown place, believe me Takashi-chan! Haruitsuki just blinked and nodded, albeit hesitantly, "it's okay. I'm just doing my job."

"Thank you, you're too nice. Nyanko-sensei!" the fat cat suddenly stopped from chasing Fuzzy, Ashiya was not far from them and was ready to catch the frightened ball of fur, "stop harassing Ashiya's pet!"

"But, Natsume! This insolent brat said that he's cuter than me!" Nyanko pouted, paws folded in front of his round tummy, "of course I have to show him how false that was!"

"What are you talking about?" Takashi tilted his head, looking confused, "of course Fuzzy is way cuter than you."

"See? Even Natsume agree. You agree too, right Abeno-san?!"

"Uh..yeah."

"INSOLENT BRATS!"

Takashi and Tony were finally gone—after the Mononokean insisted that Haruitsuki served the platinum-blonde teen a tea because he's a guest and you have to be polite to a guest, Itsuki. The door shut with a sharp click.

"...at least Tony helped us find the necklace?"

"Yeah..."

"I pity you, Abeno-san."

"Don't. Your pity will curse me."

"It's not the Legislator's fault though..."

;;;

"Legislator..." Justice spoke, voice monotone. He tried to pull the trembling man away . Yet the clutch was too strong, he could do nothing but let him hung around the crook of his neck, "you're choking me..."

"Death is a scary woman. I don't wanna see her agaaaaiiin!"

END

(A/N): Natsume really lives in Kumamoto, as the mangaka used Kumamoto places as her references so the reader assumed Natsume also lived in that place. Idk about Hanae and Haruitsuki, though. The mangaka hasn't said anything. I just assumed as Fukuoka is, not the nearest but not too far either, place for Tony to easily lie that he was just lost and not teleported by a God of Death :'D

Reviews are appreciated

Best Regards

Akabane Kazama