The God Receives a Flirtatious Visitor

by kokorohino

Nanami's final exams are over and she is supposed to be focusing on growing her Divine Power. But the shrine receives a beautiful visitor intent on mischief. Who is this mysterious lady and why does she keep flirting with Tomoe?

Part One

Nanami was sprawled in sunshine.
The day was too beautiful to stay indoors. Onikiri and Kotetsu had spread colourful blankets on the open grass behind the shrine and the five of them had spent the morning relaxing and warming themselves in the sun.
Nanami relieved to be over with her final exams ("You passed your math exam". Tomoe had told her acidly. "Barely.") had brought out her white talismans, ink, paintbrush and the Tome of Spells in the hopes of devoting some time to her Divine Studies. So far she had not managed to accomplish much.
Tomoe and Mizuki had descended into a full blown argument over a game of cards. The will-o-the-wisps had zoomed around their heads accusing Mizuki of cheating, to which he protested loudly. All in all it wasn't the most peaceful environment for study, but Nanami was too busy enjoying herself to care.
At the moment, however, things were quiet. The four of them had trooped back inside to prepare lunch, Tomoe leading Mizuki by the ear threatening him with a never ending supply of vegetables to peel. Nanami was left alone. The quiet had lulled her into a doze whilst the gentle breeze scattered white talismans in every direction.
The Tome of Spells, which lay closed beside Nanami's sleeping head flipped open of it's own accord.
The pages ruffled furiously finally coming to a stop on spell which read: Threshold Spell: Banish Unwelcome Visitors.
"Oh don't be such a spoil sport." An amused voice sounded from high above.
A figure floated down, it's shadow falling across the sleeping Nanami who was snoring gently.
The book riffled furiously once more, this time landing on a spell which read: Banish Unwelcome Attention. Spell to Discourage Unwanted Admirers.
"That is quite enough out of you!" The voice spoke again. It was a woman's voice rich with mischief. A long white hand extended and shut the book with a snap.
"Now hush." She said patting the book absently. She turned to study the sleeping Land God. "So this is the famous Miss Momozono..."
The wind had teased some of Nanami's hair out of it's pins. The woman gently tucked away loose strands behind Nanami's ear and whispered:
"This is going to be fun."

Nanami woke up and stared into large purple eyes. Purple iris' flecked with gold, accompanied by long fluttering lashes. She could see all these details very clearly as they were no more than a hands breath away from her face.
There was someone sitting on top of her.
"Ack!" She cried immediately trying to scoot backwards and shove the person off. The woman sitting atop her didn't budge. "Hey! What do you think you are doing?" Nanami asked very aware she could feel the woman's breath on her lips.
"That is a very good question." Tomoe's dry voice called "Nanami why is this woman straddling you?"
At the sound of Tomoe's voice the woman smiled, revealing perfect white teeth. She leaned in a little closer to Nanami, who shrieked, before leaping away. Defying gravity she flipped over in midair, allowing Nanami a view of Tomoe, Mizuki and the shrine spirit's stunned faces. The woman landed gracefully on her feet.
She was beautiful, her long black hair fell far below her waist. She wore a pink and gold kimono that perfectly matched the unusual color of eyes, the cloth was made of the richest silk. Nanami noticed it had been cut to reveal the woman's shapely thighs and ample bosom. The woman grinned wickedly at Nanami before she turned to address Tomoe.
"My darling Tomoe!" She cried with an air of old familiarity "It has been much too long."
"Darling Tomoe?" Nanami repeated under her breath with a scowl. The scowl deepened when she saw the woman all but leap into Tomoe's arms.
"Master Tomoe!" Onikiri cried rushing forward to help Nanami to her feet. "You know this lady?"
"She should treat the Lady Nanami with more respect. Lady Nanami is the Land God of this shrine." Kotetsu added.
"Oh… this is the Land God of this shrine? I had no idea." The woman lied.
"You know this lady then?" Nanami repeated as she stared at the embracing couple. To his credit Tomoe, stiff with shock, was not returning the enveloping hug. Instead he untangled himself from the woman's grip and held her at arm's length.
"Hm... from her dress I wouldn't say she is much of a lady." Mizuki commented under his breath. The woman pretended she did hear.
"Of course he knows me. We were very... close." She said. "We've known each other for a very, very long time."
"What we were is of no consequence now." Tomoe's voice sharpened. "Keriel what are you doing here?"
"Aren't you happy to see me? You could at least pretend to be pleased." Keriel answered with a pout.
"Considering what happened the last time I saw you, no. I am not pleased. Go away."
"But that was over two hundred years ago! You must have forgiven me by now?"
Tomoe glared at her in a manner which clearly said all was not forgiven. Mizuki took the opportunity to antagonize the fox by asking:
"When you said you two were close, how close are we talking?"
"Why… as close as a two people can be. Tomoe and I used to be-"
"OKAY!" Nanami shouted, she had heard about enough.
Clearly Tomoe and Keriel had shared some colorful past but Nanami was in no hurry to find out exactly what had happened between them. "I'm starving! Lunch? We were going to have lunch right? What happened to lunch. Tomoe, lunch?"
Blushing furiously because she knew she was rambling, Nanami tried to look anywhere but at Keriel. Tomoe tried to catch her gaze but she purposefully avoided it.
"Lunch? Oh I love lunch. Let's eat!" Kriel cried with enthusiasm.
"You were not invited." Tomoe pointed out coldly. Keriel's expression fell.
"No Tomoe. If she's a friend of yours of course she can stay. It sounds like you haven't seen each other for a long time." Nanami offered kindly. Keriel's gazed immediately brightened.
"Oh yes!" Mizuki added green eyes dancing wickedly. "Let's catch up. I would love to hear what the Lady Keriel has to say."
The only thing that saved the snake familiar from a beating was the fact that Keriel had thrown herself at the fox once more, pinning Tomoe's arms to his sides.

Part Two

They decided to take their meal outdoors.
Kiriel made indecent moans of pleasure as Tomoe and Mizuki laid out a sumptous feast. She waited for Tomoe to sit down before leaping to take a seat beside him. For the next half an hour Keriel proceeded to try and feed Tomoe from her own chopsticks. Nanami pretended not to notice.
Halfway through the meal Tomoe lost his patience and moved to sit as far away from Keriel as possible, beside Nanami. Nanami stiffened visibly as he sat down. When he asked her what was wrong she said nothing but began shovelling food into her mouth in earnest. A faint blush spread across her cheeks.
"So... so what are you?" Nanami asked ignoring Tomoe who offered her a bowl of grilled shiitake mushrooms.
"Lady Keriel is a han-yo." Tomoe explained "Her father was a mortal, her mother was a particularly troublesome succubus."
"My father was one of the greatest warlords this country has ever scene." Keriel corrected. "As for my mother... Tomoe is right. She can be quite the pain."
"Oh." Nanami said. She didn't know what to say.
"I know!" Keriel said tossing back a sheet shinning sheet of black hair. "I'm pretty amazing." She added misinterpreting Nanami's silence. Tomoe scowled.
"What happened between you and Lord Tomoe?" Kotetsu asked.
"Why is my lord so mad at you?" Onikiri wanted to know.
"Ah... that." Kiriel started. Nanami noticed she was playing prettily with the sash of her obi. Mizuki was all but drooling, completely enamoured with the beautiful half demon. "I convinced him to give me a magic mirror..."
"No. What you did was lie to me, have me steal a magic mirror and then tried to enchant me against my will."
"Mirror?" Nanami asked unsure of who he meant.
"Magic Mirror." Mizuki corrected. "Some of the lesser love deities use them to reveal the face of a person's true love."
"But that's not the only thing it can be used for." Tomoe added his eyes cold and flat.
"Yes... Like Lord Foxy-fox said these mirrors can be used to enchant people against their will. You could very easily use one of these mirrors to make someone utterly obsessed with you ." Mizuki paused, considered then continued. "Come to think of it having one of those mirrors wouldn't be the worst thing in the world."
His eyes narrowed in Nanami's direction. Tomoe hissed and threw a cup at Mizuki's head.
"I don't like where you are going with that thought snake."
"Ow... Nanami! He hurt me!" Mizuki cried.
"Tomoe! Don't throw things at Mizuki!"
"You know... it's funny you should say that Mizuki." Keriel said ignoring his wails.
She reached inside her kimono and for a moment Nanami thought she would begin to undress. Instead she withdrew a round silver mirror. It glittered in the sunshine as she laid it down on the blanket. "I just happen to have one! Imagine the fun we can have with this thing?"

No one said anything for the longest time.
They were all staring at the glittering mirror. Nanami frowning, Mizuki looking rapt, Keriel pouting, only Onikiri and Kotetsu's faces were the same as they always.
"Where. Did. You. Get. That. Thing?" Tomoe whispered the words falling from his lips, one by one, like chunks of ice.
"Oh this old thing?" Keriel smiled looking sheepish "I didn't steal it if that's what you're asking.""
Tomoe snorted. "That's a first."
"Well how did you get it? Can I get one?" Mizuki yowelled.
"It was give to me." Keriel answered.
"Given to you?" Nanami asked. "Why?"
"Long story. I kind of, maybe, happened to steal a Love God's boyfriend." Keriel muttered staring into her lap. Then she amended quickly. "But only for a little while. Like... two weeks. Any way, she gets all jealous puts this curse on me and then gives me the mirror. Strange huh?"
"Curse on you?" Nanami asked horrified. "What did she do?"
"It's horrible..."Keriel sobbed dramatically, her eyes instantly brimming with crocodile tears. "The Love God cursed me by... making me fall in love!"
"WHAT?" They all cried in unison.
"Yes. With the most unglamorous man." Keriel put an elegant finger on her lips. "Although he's not entirely bad looking. He's actually quite handsome. Kind. Strong. He's loved me for quite a while. At least two hundred years, I'd say." The smugness in Kiriel's voice was unmistakable.
"Oh. Sounds dreadful." Nanami said flatly. "Being cursed to love a handsome, strong, kind, man who loves you back."
"Oh but it is!" Keriel cried "I don't want to be in love with one man. I want to be in love with everyone!"
"You are ridiculous." Tomoe told the half demon. "I have grown tired of you. Come Nanami, let's go."
"No! She can't go!" Keriel cried.
"Why?" Nanami asked. "What do you want from me?"
"You have to help me! My mother told me I had to come see you. She told me that the Land God of the Mikage Shrine would help me see what I wanted to see in the mirror!"
"I don't understand."
"Gods. It's not that complicated!" She rolled her eyes at Nanami. "It means you can break the spell! So here take it." She thrust the mirror into Nanami's hands. "I would like the spell removed please. Right away. I have places to go and people to-"
Nanami wasn't listening she had caught the mirror before it could tumble to the floor. There was a flash and then, reflected in the mirror's surface she saw...
"Tomoe! Make her help me. Please." Keriel whined. Tomoe wasn't paying attention.
He too was looking into the mirror transfixed. A light rose tint was spreading across his face.
Nanami looked up at him. Was Tomoe blushing? She thought.
"Nanami..." He murmured then seemed to snap back into reality. His blush deepened then his gaze sparked with rage. "Nanami let's go. Leave this ridiculous creature to her fate. Gods all know she could probably use a husband to grow up a little."
"You are so mean..." Keriel hiccuped. Then broke down into real tears.

Part Three

The half demon was having a full blown melt down. For the first time Keriel was no longer beautiful.
Her pale face had become blotchy. Her hair, after clutching it in despair, had become tangled. Her eyes streamed in a river of never ending tears and her small nose, now red and swollen, streamed also.
But worse, way worse, was the noise she made when she cried.
Her voice, which was normally honey rich, deep and seductive, had adopted a high pitched shrill that was incredibly painful. Not to mention annoying. Amidst blubbering and hiccuping the creature had been screeching, non-stop, for what felt like hours.
"It's like a fire alarm we can't turn off!" Mizuki yelled. But no one heard.
Nanami had led the half demon inside in an attempt to calm her. This hadn't worked. Instead the creature was now sprawled on Nanami's bed, quite at home, but still making the dreadful noise.
In a further attempt to calm the woman, or at least halt the assault on their ears, Mizuki had brought his strongest sake, Kotetsu and Onikiri hot tea. All of these were ignored. Tomoe had vanished, refusing to take part.
In truth he was sitting on top of the Tori Gate, fingers stuffed in his ears, waiting for the situation to fix itself. When it was obvious that the shrieking was no closer to abating, he appeared at Nanami's side. Mizuki and the willo-the-wisps pushing past him as they ran out out of the room, pillows thrust against ears.
"Nanami." Tomoe yelled. "If you don't do something about this wretched noise I will end up strangling her. It will be momentarily sad, but she will be silent for ever. A blessing in the long run."
"Why me?" Nanami yelled back. "She's your old girlfriend!"
Tomoe gave her a soul chilling look, his beautiful eyes sparking.
"You are the Land God of this shrine. She came to see you. Now get your butt in there and figure something out!"
With his last words he thrust Nanami forwards, pressing a white talisman and inked paintbrush into her hands, then slamming the door closed behind her. Nanami looked at the miserable creature for a split second before she made up her mind.
Ink droplets flew in every direction as she scribbled characters then, with a steel-like glint in her eye, she raised the talisman and brought it down on Keriel's head with a smack.
The talisman read "Silence" and, true to it's word, quiet descended upon the shrine like a tone of bricks. Keriel's mouth moved but no sound came out.
Nanami sighed in relief despite the fact her ears were still ringing.
"Now... do you think we can talk about this calmly?"

Nanami had coaxed the still silent Keriel onto the porch.
The charm was still firmly in place, but for the most part it had appeared as if Keriel had stopped crying. She was staring at Nanami, large purple eyes wide open and bone dry. In fact Keriel looked quite pretty again. Nanami sighed in irritation.
"If I take this off, do you promise not to start crying again?"
Keriel nodded. Nanami tugged the talisman off her forehead.
"It's all this mirror's fault!" Keriel whispered.
Nanami silently disagreed. Technically, she thought, it's your fault for stealing some Love God's boyfriend.
"Every time I look at it... I see... I see him! Before I could see whomever I wanted but now... it's only him."
"Then why do you keep looking at it?"
"The Love God gave it to me as a reminder that I could not escape my fate."
Clever. Nanami thought. But again said nothing.
"But you said he was a kind man. A handsome one. Why are you fighting this so hard?" Nanami asked.
"Why?" Keriel threw up her hands in despair. "I am a succubus. I am not meant to love only one person."
"Technically you are half a succubus."
"Whatever."
"No. Not whatever. You are half human. I think that's important."
"Why?"
"A succubus may not need to love anyone, but I think the human part of you does. Humans... we need love. We need love so we can grow."
"Grow?"
"Yes grow. In your case, grow up I think." Nanami said with a small smile. "You can't keep going around stealing people's boyfriends."
"... what about people's girl friends?" Keriel asked sneakily.
"No! Neither. Haven't you stopped to consider how selfish it is? Haven't you considered the pain you cause?"
"No..."
"Well you should. I mean... I could almost forgive you if you had fallen in love with the boyfriend you stole. But I don't think that was the case."
"No. I did not love him."
"Then why did you steal him away from the love God?"
"Because I could. Because I wanted to... It's what I do."
"Those seem like very selfish reasons to me." Nanami said sadly. "And I don't think it's what you 'do'. I think it's what you have always chosen to do. And it doesn't seem to working out very well for you."
Keriel said nothing, but the blush of shame was spreading across her face.
"You need to learn that can't play around with other people's affections like that! I think that's why the Love God cursed you."
"I don't understand." Keriel muttered mutinously.
"I think the God wanted you to learn to respect love... until you're in it, you probably don't realise it's a very powerful thing."
Keriel stared up at the darkening sky then at Nanami.
"Have you ever been in love?"
"I am in love." Nanami whispered, taking care to avoid looking in the mirror.
"Does it frighten you?"
"Yes... but it also fills me with other things."
"What?"
"Hope. Courage. Strength."
"The succubus in me doesn't need those things."
"But the human in you could do wonderful things with hope, courage and strength."
"I never thought of it that way. I guess that doesn't sound too bad..."
"No." Nanami answered. "It doesn't."

Keriel leaned her head against Nanami's shoulder and together both the girls sat and watched the stars come out.
Up on the roof Tomoe had been listening, arms crossed behind his head. A smile spread across his face and his eyes burned as he whispered one word into the night:
"Nanami."

END