The Kappa and the Wolf
Yo! Twintix here!
This is my second Touhou fanfic, and I decided to write a few short stories about the shy kappa and the wolf tengu, since I figured that everyone needs a good crackpairing sometimes. Even if there surely is NitoMomi floating around across the Internet, I haven't seen anyone write fanfiction about that particular pairing. It seems like I have a thing for underdogs. (Get it? Dogs? Momiji? Ahaha-*stabbed*)
Horrible and inaccurate puns aside, I hope you enjoy!
Oh, and I'm not English, so I might've messed up somewhere...
DISCLAIMER: Touhou Project and the characters in this fanfiction belong to ZUN/Team Shanghai Alice.
First Story: A peaceful game of shogi
-DAMN IT! I lost again! I howled and slammed my fist into the hard mountain side. Not a very good idea, since it sent waves of pain through my hand.
As I struggled to sit up, I brushed my sleeves from dust and thoughtfully bit my own finger. My clothes were dirty, all the bruises I had gained stang, and I noticed that I was bleeding from a wound on my left cheek. I thought about her, and furiously bit my finger even harder, causing it to bleed, as well.
- Next time..., I mumbled. Next time, I'm gonna beat her for sure!
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I had been in a fight again. With her, of course. That cocky, arrogant crow who thinks she's better than everyone else and that insists on coming to me only to criticize my hard work. At least I have some spell cards to fend her of with, but she just keeps winning over me! Every single time!
Hmph! That's only because she's a coward. She uses her speed to her advantage instead of taking me on, fair and square! And what does she say after she's beaten me? Every time she has defeated me?
- In battle, everything's allowed, you sore loser. Get that in your thick skull, Momiji, and you just might be successful in your job.
Arrogant, arrogant bitch! She always insults me, always treats me like I'm no good!
I'm not gonna lie: I hate her, I really, really do. I simply can't see why Lord Tenma has taken such a liking to her. There's nothing about her that's likeable. I'd never tell the Lord about this, of course. The last thing I'd like to happen to me would be getting a bust from my patrol job.
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I signed off for the day at our headquarters and slowly wandered down the mountain. It's unbelievable how quickly a day can pass: It was a wonderful cool summer evening, and the sunset made Gensokyo look extraordinarily beautiful. Not that I gave that too much thought: I was still thinking, and I was still mad. But I had calmed down a little and I felt more relaxed, since my work shift was over. Now, I could look forward to something much nicer. I even managed to smile as I made my way down the steep mountain slope towards the river.
- Momiji! Over here!
As I thought: There she was, sitting on a cliff right next to the river, smiling and waving at me. The orange glow from the sunset made her look extremely pretty. (If you wonder how I could see that from the slope, you've forgotten about my ability to see great distances)
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Nitori. Probably the kindest girl I have ever met in my entire life, and my best friend in the world. She's always so calm and warm towards me. She's almost always smiling, and rarely ever seen upset. I'm not sure why, but every time I see her, my heart flutters. I really wonder what that's all about...If only she wasn't so shy, she'd be surrounded with friends all the time. Oh well, more of her to keep for myself, then. Hehehe...
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I waved back and started skipping down the slope. A great thing about being a tengu is having fantastic balance, so I didn't fall. When I got down, I walked up to her, dropped my sword and shield and sat down in front of her.
- Hi, Nitori! I greeted her.
- Good evening, Momiji, Nitori giggled. So you're off duty now?
I nodded and smiled at her. She smiled back, but as she examined my face, she looked a little concerned.
- You're bleeding again! She exclaimed. And you're full of bruises! Have you been in a fight with Aya today again?
I blushed, looking a little guilty, and scratched the back of my head.
- Well...yes, I mumbled as my facial expression changed from guilt to annoyance. But she always insults me! I don't understand why she bothers coming around if all she's going to do is badmouth me!
- You need to be less aggressive, Nitori stated. Maybe she keeps coming back because she likes that you get angry and provokes you to satisfy herself.
This comment made it feel like someone dropped a boulder over my head, mainly because I knew that she was right. Frustrated, I pulled my hair and swore inside of my mind.
Apparently I looked funny, since Nitori started to laugh. Normally, I dislike it when people laugh at me, but if I make her happy, it doesn't feel so bad.
- Now now, let's not be like that, Momiji, she chuckled. You've worked hard today, so let's relax with a game of shogi!
As she said this, she picked out a shogi board out of her backpack. When I saw her do that, I shone up and wagged my tail. Shogi happens to be my favorite pasttime.
- Yes! I've been waiting for this the entire day! I exclaimed enthusiastically and klutched my fists. Beware, Nitori, because I'm thirsty for victory, and I'm going to win today!
- We'll see about that! Nitori grinned and confidently adjusted her cap. Compared to me, you've not won too many rounds, have you?
- Watch it! I laughed. I'm on fire today!
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A few turns later, I had proven myself to be correct: It seemed like it went better for me than it ever had before. I had captured six of Nitori's nine pawns, one of her knights, one of her silver generals and one of her gold generals. I was closing in on her last silver general and I gave her a confident grin.
- I told you I'd win today! I chuckled and crossed my arms over my chest.
Nitori looked like she was thinking hard. She nodded thoughtfully and sighed.
- Why, you've become much better than last time, she said. Are you practicing in secret?
- Are you gonna make your move soon? Your time is running out.
We don't do timed games in our shogi games, but I couldn't help but tease her, since I was so confident in my victory. Nitori looked at the board.
- Soon, she mumbled. Hang on, I'd like to get a better view of this...I need to survey this from...above...
She slowly bent her head over the shogi board. At first, I didn't notice that she bent more and more over the board. When I finally noticed, she almost had her entire upper body over on my side. Seeing how close she was to me, I freaked out.
- Ah, wait! What are you...,I exclaimed, blushing like crazy.
- Surveying..., Nitori whispered, getting her head closer and closer to mine.
- Surveying wha-, I started.
Before I could say anything else, she placed a hand on the back of my head and kissed my forehead. Not being able to make a sound, I blushed harder and harder. My heart was racing as her soft lips moved down my face. Over my nose, closer and closer to my mouth...
Suddenly, she stopped. Her lips left my face and she smirked.
- ōte~, she whispered.
When I realised what she meant by that, I snapped out of my confused condition and quickly got up as Nitori sat on her side of the board again. I saw a small arm behind her back before it disappeared into her backpack. When I looked at the board, I almost groaned in agony.
While she had come so close to me, she had moved her bishop so that it was perfectly lined up with my king, meaning that I had no choice but to move my king piece. But if I moved my king to the left side, it would line up with her rook, and if I moved it to my right side, it would line up with her knight. It was a dead end.
- Are you going to make your move soon? Nitori giggled. Your time is running out.
I stared at the board, being filled with frustration once again. There was no way out: I had lost.
- N-nnn...NO FAIR! I yelled, waving my arms in a frustrated manner. You...you just did that thing to distract me!
- You only have yourself to blame. If you hadn't been so focused on your "victory", you would've noticed, Nitori replied with a polite smile. Sorry about that, but it's just so amusing to tease you.
I looked away, still blushing. Once again, she was right.
- But, Momiji, Nitori continued as she stuffed the shogi board back in her backpack, you actually have become much better. Honestly, I thought that you were going to win for a while.
I looked surprised as I scratched my cheek.
- ...Thanks! I replied.
- Same time tomorrow? Nitori asked as she stood up.
- You bet! I grinned. After my shift tomorrow, I'm going to win for sure!
- We'll see, Nitori smiled. For now, go home and sleep. And wash your clothes! They're all dusty!
- Yes, Mom~, I laughed. Good night, Nitori!
- Good night, Momiji, she replied as she jumped into the river and swam away.
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As I made my way home over the mountain, I thought about the day: The ordinary day with no intruders, the fight with the crow, meeting Nitori and...
When I thought about the incident again, my heart started beating again. Every time I met her, it started. Really, why did it always do that? Oh well, I didn't mind it anyway. At least she made my days fun instead of reminding me of my losses to the crow...
- That sure was a cunning way of tricking me, I mumbled. Kappa are not to be underestimated.
Aaaand that's the end of the first story. I hope you liked it.
The next one is going to be from Nitori's perspective. I'm going to alter them like that, so the next one is Nitori, the one after that is Momiji again etc.
Thank you for reading!