Hello everyone, this is my first fanfic and pretty much first time I write a story of any sort, so please do review if you have any suggestions for this story or possibly future ones! Have a good read~

Tomoe was pulling the weeds from the garden when he heard it. A faint clanging, followed by furious cursing. He stood up, stretching his back, and heard it again. It definitely came from within the shrine. Sighing, he cleaned his hands of the dirt in a nearby pond, summoning a curious fish, and went inside to see if his goddess needed any help.

It was indeed Nanami fidgeting around in the kitchen. There was batter everywhere, including a few dollops decorating the goddess's head, and she was enthusiastically stirring a bowl with the remainder of the dough. Tomoe sighed and walked in. "Calm down, Nanami. You're too wild." She froze up and slowly turned around. "T-Tomoe! What are you doing here?!" "I heard you making a mess from the garden. I've come to analyze and minimize the damage to the kitchen." Grumbling, she let him past and took a step back from the mess she'd made. She took a look at the kitchen's state and visibly paled when she saw the result of her attempt at baking.

With another sigh, Tomoe leaned forwards to grab a cloth from one of the upper cabinets. He held it under the faucet so he could use it to clean the kitchen. Nanami decided she'd help out too and also reached for a towel. Nanami would however not be Nanami if she didn't manage to find one of the stray globs of dough on the floor with her foot and slipped on it. Tomoe was already turning around to catch his goddess, and her hand, still stretched out towards the cloths cabinet, landed on his head.

Both of them froze. Tomoe quickly pulled away, steadying her and getting her hand away from his head. She numbly stared at it, and back at Tomoe, whose face was by now decorated with a light blush. Blinking a few times, she reached out again. Tomoe was quick to dodge, and continued preparing the cloth, as far away from her as he could. He handed it to her when he was done and said he had to complete his work in the garden still, and rushed off. Nanami stared at the door he'd hurried out of, and looked back at her hand. How were his ears so inexplicably soft?!

The next morning, at breakfast, Nanami was staring into the distance. When Tomoe asked her what was wrong, she merely broke off her staring to redirect her endless gaze towards him. Pulling up one eyebrow, he stared right back at her.

"How are your ears so soft?"

"You're still thinking about that?!"

She reached her hand towards the two fluffy triangles, before being dodged swiftly by the fox. "Your bento for today is on the counter." And with a flurry of white he was gone. Nanami squinted at the doorway his tail had disappeared through. Why didn't he want her to touch his ears? And why were they so temptingly soft?!

After school, Kei and Ami had wanted to hang out, so when Nanami had finally gotten back to the shrine, it was already dark out. She was afraid Tomoe would scold her for being back so late, but when she opened the door, the delicious scent of hamburgers was there to greet her. It seemed Tomoe had already started on dinner, and decided to make her favourite food. She inhaled the scent happily, scouting the air for a trace of the dreaded shiitakes her fox familiar liked to hide in her dinner. She had found one in her bento today, cleverly hidden in a rice ball, and was not about to be deceived twice on one day.

Suddenly, the gears in her brain started working. If Tomoe's preparing dinner, that means he'll be distracted... I can pay him back for that shiitake this noon! Okay, I gotta be really quiet..

He had heard the door open and someone entering the shrine, but did not bother to look. The unelegant stomping steps could only be Nanami. He could hear her sneaking around, and entering the kitchen on her toes. The hamburgers were almost done, so he couldn't look away. Nanami kept creeping closer, and when Tomoe decided the food was ready, he swiftly grabbed the pan with his right hand, swirling away from the stove and catching Nanami with his left arm. She huffed as her breath was knocked out of her.

"How did you notice me?!"

"These ears aren't just decoration, kamisama. Be glad I caught you, else you would have gotten some nasty burns from that hot fire."

Grumbling, she let him serve her the hamburgers and carefully picked out the mushroom that was well-hidden within the meat.

Tomoe usually fell asleep rather fast. Lately, however, he'd been laying awake longer and longer.

What the hell is wrong with me?! She just accidentally touched my ears, and it's enough that she's obsessing over it... I don't have to too! But what if I would let her... No, I would never. It did feel sort of nice... But I must never let her do it again!

On and on the thoughts and doubts went, and back and forth he turned and tossed, until he finally fell asleep.

After this last attempt, Nanami had nearly given up on her quest. Tomoe's reflexes were to fast, his senses too keen. She could never catch him off-guard. With a sudden clap, she closed the book she had been studying from and took it outside. Ami had told her about studying in the park, how the sounds from birds and the wind rustling through the leaves calmed one down and raised concentration. Maybe it could help her get her mind off Tomoe and back to her English if she sat in the shrine's gardens for a while.

It was late afternoon, and the sun was already setting, so she had brought a lamp to illuminate the text she was trying to decypher. She stepped outside and paused for a minute, enjoying the view.

Part of her view, as she realized seconds later, was a certain fox familiar, who had fallen fast asleep while weeding the garden. She stared at him blankly. It wasn't like Tomoe to fall asleep during work. Maybe he was sick?

Nanami rushed towards him, sitting down next to him and carefully putting down her book so it wouldn't wake him up. She raised her hand to feel his forehead, but his temperature was normal, as was his breathing. She suddenly realized how close she was to his face and almost jumped back. That thought however was immediately followed by a mischievous idea. This was the perfect opportunity.

She slowly lifted her hand up from where it had been hovering in front of Tomoe's face, and gently touched his ears. They're just as soft as I remember! Encouraged by Tomoe's lack of reaction, she stroked one from the base upwards. Suddenly, she noticed Tomoe's breathing had stopped entirely. Not sure what to do and about to break into a panic, she started falling backwards.

One slit, violet eye opened and a clawed hand snatched her wrist faster than Nanami could see, stopping her from toppling. She stared into his eye with a mixture of panic, fear and surprise. He released her from his grasp and closed his eye again, seemingly asleep again. His breathing hadn't returned to normal yet though: his chest went up and down way faster than normal.

Hesitant, she pet the soft, furry triangles, again and again, until he was breathing really slow. Then, she heard a strange, new noise: it sounded like a cat's purr and was rapidly growing louder. Tomoe was actually purring! He was also swishing his tail dangerously close to her hands, and it wasn't any less soft than his ears.

Hours later, Tomoe woke up with a fuzzy feeling in his stomach. The sun had set and the moon was gently lighting up the shrine's gardens. He tried to stand up to go inside, but was instantly reminded of why he had fallen asleep outside in the first place. He had been practically lying in Nanami's lap, and she was still cradling his head. Sighing, he decided he could stay outside for a little while longer.