Yui and Yurika walked out of their dorms in their school uniform, as they got to the gate a gush of wind swirled around them before taking off into the air, they looked up to see grey clouds in the sky.
"Hey Yousei-san, Lily-san" Apollon greeted as he and Badler walked to the girls.
"Apollon-san, Balder-san…"
"Yo!"
"Good Morning" Balder greeted them
"Good Morning Yousei-san, Lily-san"
"Good Morning" Yui greeted them.
"You two are up early today" Yurika pointed out as they walked along the path to the school entrance
"Well we're watching the Moon tonight" Apollon said "Aren't you excited? Aren't you?" Yui giggled at Apollon's excitement
"Hai"
"Did Totsuka-san agree to make the Moon-viewing preparations himself?" Badler asked
"Yep" Yurika answered "He said he's make our viewing perfect"
"He seems very excited" Yui said happily, they then noticed a crowd of students at the front entrance of the school.
"What is this?" Balder asked as they walked behind the crowd.
"Why are there so many people here?" Apollon asked as he looked around
"What's happening this early in the morning?" Loki asked as he walked up with Thor, Hades and Dionysus.
"At this rate we won't be able to get in" Thor said as he looked at the number of students crowded outside of the school.
"Does this mean we the day off? Lucky!" Dionysos cheered, Balder looked back on the crowd and his eyes widened.
"That's…"
"Tsukito-san" Tsukito noticed them and walked over to them.
"Good morning, Kusanagi Yui"
"Tsukito-san, what is all of this?" she asked him
"Thoth Caduceus ordered me to enforce discipline among the students" he answered her
"Wait, you handling all these people alone?" Yurika said shocked, well anyone would be shocked to see a man having to enforce discipline on every student.
"'Discipline'?" Apollon said confused and turned to Yui "What does enforcing discipline mean?"
"Ah it means cracking down on belongings and clothing inappropriate for school" she explained to him.
"Things inappropriate for school?" Balder repeated, also confused. As they were talking, Hades snuck passed them quietly to get inside of the school quickly without been seen, that however backfired.
"Hades Aidoneus" he stopped as Tsukito called his name and turned to him shyly.
"Na-Nani?" he said, holding his school bag tightly to his chest.
Tsukito turned to him "Please show me your belongings" he commanded as he walked up to him
"Stop" he said "If you approach me, misfortune will-" As Hades tried to get Tsukito away from him a bag filled with rice cakes fell out of his bag. Hades stood in shock as Tsukito picked up the bag.
"What is this?" Hades turned to the Moon god.
"That is my lunch"
"Huh? Hades-san, you eat rice cakes for lunch?" Yui asked in shock.
"Is it appropriate for a god to lie?" Tsukito asked Hades, Hades turned his head away in shame.
"Gomen" Tsukito put the bag of rice cakes in a big beige back he had that also contained inappropriate items from other students.
"Aww, too bad for you" Loki smirked as he walked to the school entrance.
"Loki Laevatein, you too...show me your belongings"
Loki turned to Tsukito "Gomen but I don't carry a bag"
"No, your carrying prohibited items, i can tell by the wrinkled in your clothing"
"Damn" Loki then began to empty out his pockets that were filled with all kind of fun stuff like playing cards, candy, rubix cube and so on.
"Are you fucking kidding? All of this" Yurika, along with the rest, had no idea how Loki could fit those many stuff in his uniform.
"I'm confiscating all of it" Tsukito announced he then looked at the others "Shimizu Yurika, your next" signing (making Yui giggle) Yurika stood in front of Tsukito as he checked her, his eyes went to her tie which was loosely done "Your tie isn't done neatly" he said as he did it for her, making her feel embarrassed and blushed.
"H-Hey!"
"There" he said "Kusanagi Yui, your next"
"Hai" Yurika moved out of the way for Tsukito to inspect Yui.
"Hair, check. Belongings, check. Clothes…"Tsukito bend down and grabbed her skirt, making her blush.
"Hey Tsuki-Tsuki!" Apollon yelled as he and Balder ran over, he grabbed Tsukito's arms and gently pulled him away
" You shouldn't pull at girls skirts" Balder scolded him, Tsukito pulled out the student handbook and looked at it.
"But the handbook says I should measure the distance between the hem and knees"
"M-Measuring the distance isn't a problem" Yui said sweat dropping " But I'm not sure that you should grab someone's skirt so suddenly"
"I see" Tsukito said, now understanding what they meant "Very well, I will be careful in-" his face then became a mix of pain as he bent down.
"Tsuki-Tsuki?"
"Totsuka-san?"
"Are you alright?" asked Yui worriedly "You don't look well"
"I'm f-fine, it's nothing…" his vision blurred and Apollon caught his body as he fell.
"Tsuki-Tsuki!"
"Tsukito-san?" The four rushed to Tsukito's side, Takeru was walking through the crowd and saw his brother unconscious in Apollon's arms.
"Brother!" He rushed over to him "I wondered why I didn't see him, what happened?"
"Let's take him to the infirmary" Apollon hurriedly said, not answering Takeru's question. Takeru helped Apollon carry his brother to the infirmary and placed him on the bed, they took off his blazer and tie and undid the top three buttons on his shirt. Tsukito woke up 10 minutes later, when his brother asked where he was this morning his reply shocked them.
"Nani?! You've been standing there since five this morning?" Yui repeated in shock
"Hai"
"Why did you get up so early" Yurika asked him as she handed him a cup of water which he thanked her for, he took a sip before answering her question.
"I was anticipating the unexpected" he simply said "I can't assume no one will arrive early in the morning"
"Sure, but that's too much early" Yui said
"Sides, no student is ever going to get up at five or earlier in the morning just to go to school" Yurika told him
"And lately you've been staying up all night preparing for the Moon-viewing" Takeru mentioned
"It appears your lack of sleep caught up to you" Balder explained, Tsukito looked at him confused.
"Lack of sleep?"
"Sheesh, human bodies are so inconvenient" Takeru said, his brother having a body as a human isn't good when it's near Moon viewing. The school bell rang, signaling everyone to get to class.
"I must go" Tsukito said as he sat up to get out of bed.
"No, you need to rest" Yui stopped him by holding his shoulders before he could get out of bed.
"That's right Brother, don't push yourself"
"No, I failed to compete my duty as a disciplinary officer. I cannot skip class in addition"
"But…"
"Until I graduate, attending class is my very important mission"
"Your mission, huh?" Everyone turned to see Thoth standing in the doorway of the infirmary
"Thoth-sama!"
"I heard you collapsed while performing your duties as the disciplinary officer, imbecile. You essentially abandoned your post, you can't do anything properly. I'm sure you realize it, but you won't be able to graduate this way"
"I shall make the Moon-viewing a success" Tsukito promised "This mission, I shall carry out to perfection"
"That's why your an imbecile" Thoth said before he walked away, leaving a stunned Tsukito.
The gods, Yui and Yurika stand around Tsukito who sat at his desk "I can't graduate…"
"Brother…"
"It'll be alright, I'm sure there's a way" Yui reassured him, Tsukito didn't respond to her.
"What am I doing wrong? Or is there something I'm lacking?"
Loki giggled and stood up from his desk "It must be love"
"Love?" Tsukito repeated confused
"Hey Loki.." Thor warned.
"How can I understand love then?" Tsukito asked the redhead
"I'm talking about romantic attachment of course" Loki said "Hold on.." Loki began to go through his pockets once again "Where is it...Let's see" Loki put the unwanted items on the floor and kept searching through his clothes.
"You still had all of that?" Yurika said sweat dropping at the god.
"Ah here it is" he said in triumph and held it high with his hand "Ta-da" Lovers rings!" He walked over to Tsukito and put one on his finger "Just put these on" He then went over to Yui and put the other one on her "Like this…"
The rings glowed red and before the two knew it, the rings on Tsukito and Yui were stuck together.
"Wh-What is this? How did they do that" Yui tried to pull her hand away but it wouldn't budge "N-No way...They won't come apart!" Loki giggled as they two struggled to pull their hands apart.
"Loki Laevatein, remove these at once" Tsukito demanded
"No can do" Loki smirked, waving his hand "After all…"
"Yui-chan!"
"Brother!" Takeru and Yurika went to pull them apart, but as they touched their hands an electric shocked hit them, making them yelp.
"Wait until I've finished talking" Loki giggled "Those are lover's rings, they're magic rings that keep two people joined at all times, making them a couple instantly"
"Joined at all times? No…" Yui touched her hand, but as the same with Takeru and Yurika, an electric shock went through her, making her yelp in pain. She fell into Apollon, which the shock transferred to, making him scream and fall into Hades, who fell onto Dionysus, who fell on Thor, who feel on a student.
Hades held his head and looked behind him to see the students had fainted from the shock "I brought misfortune"
"Gomen gomen!" Yui quickly apologized.
"Loki, take them off" Balder asked his friend who turned to him.
"Even if you ask me to I can't" Loki told him "Once they're on not even I can remove them, not until they tacitly understood one another"
"But that's-"
"Very well" Tsukito said as he stood up from his chair. Making Yui look at him confused.
"Eh?"
"This is the new mission given to me, I accept"
"Nani?!" Yui couldn't believe what she was hearing, was Tsukito actually going through with this?!
"By the way, what is a couple?" he asked the God of Fire "I'm having difficulty understanding all of this"
"Then I'll teach you how to fall in love" Loki replied "Start by going through the motions, kiss her"
"Ki-"
"What is a kiss?" Tsukito asked, completely confused
"Ano, hold on…"
"A kiss is how a couple communicates by pressing their lips together" Loki replied, putting two fingers on his lips.
"'How a couple communicates'..." Tsukito jotted down in his handbook, and closed his book when he finished "I understand" He then looked at Yui "Kusanagi Yui, please kiss me?"
"Huh?" Tsukito then stepped closer to her, their lips almost touched. But…
Takeru, Apollon, Balder and Yurika yelled and pulled them away from each other, causing them to get zapped once again.
"Loki-san!"
"Loki-Loki!"
"Loki!"
"Loki!"
Loki laughed as they shouted at him, Hades, Thor and Dionysos looked at him, not liking what he had just done. Thoth came in and everyone went to their seats, Tsukito and Yui had to put their desks together which caught his attention. He asked an explanation, to which Tsukito answered with "Don't mind us, please continue the lesson" Thoth did just that, surprisingly it wasn't difficult to write down notes. When writing, Yui accidently knocked the lid of her pen off the desk, she leaned down to get it but because with her hand attached to Tsukito's, he leaned as well with her and they fell from their chairs.
Thoth called them out into the hallway to know what was happening "You can't separate your hands?"
"Hai"
"Unbelievable" Thoth signed as he rubbed the back of his neck "More trouble" He went to walked away but Yui called out for him, making him stop.
"Thoth-sama, can't you-"
"Why should I clean up your mess?" he looked at her with the corner of his eye.
"But…"
"It isn't a problem" Tsukito told him, Thoth humped and looked away.
"Class is over for today" he announced "Tell the others" he walked away, not wanting to stopped again.
Yui turned to Tsukito "Are you sure?"
"Being a couple with you is my mission" he told her, making her slightly blush "I'm going to prepare for the moon viewing"
"I'll help you"
"No, thank you" Tsukito kindly told her "Please watch my back"
"Your back" Yui questioned
"Hai, I read in a book that a working man's back sets a woman's heart aflutter" He pulled out a magazine from his blazer pocket and held it front of Yui, the book wasn't what Yui expected it to be. The cover was a man with his arms around a women, they were only in shirts which were unbuttoned.
"This is…"
"Loki Laevatein lent it to me, there are all kinds of things in here I don't now, it's quite informative"
"Eto, that book…" Yui didn't know what to say to Tsukito, how as she suppose to tell him that he's reading a love magazine, which was not as innocent as the other ones out there.
"So you don't need to worry about me" he said "I am trying to become a capable man"
"Ehhh!" Yui sweatdropped at him, once again not believing what came out of Tsukito's mouth.
Tsukito hit nail with a hammer on a fairly big piece of wood, it was the finishing touch to the product. He sighed and wiped his forehead, getting rid of the sweat "It done"
"Good work, Tsukito-san" Yui praised with a smile "I can't believe you even made a bench"
"This is my duty" he told her, she still smiled.
You also made a lot of mistakes Yui mentally said as she looked at the pile of pieces of wood with damaged nails.
"Well? Is your heart pounding?" he asked her urgently
"Eh? No, um…" Yui replied while blushing, how could he ask something like that so straightforward.
"That's odd" he picked up the magazine and looked at a page "The book said women are weak to a man's sweat, perhaps I did not sweat enough" like Apollon he proceeded to read a passage from the book "'For an extra push, create a contrast between sweating and wearing glasses'" Yui bit her lips as he read and looked at him not blinking, she honestly couldn't believe that Tsukito was taking this prank Loki caused on them very seriously "I see, glasses huh?" Yui chuckled nervously at him, hoping to calm herself down.
Behind them, Yurika and the rest of the gods watched. Yurika long with Loki, Takeru, Apollon and Balder hid in the bushes while Hades, Dionysos and Thor peeked out from a pillar behind them. They all watched with intense.
"Hey aren't they kinda close?" Apollon said in a worried tone "Are they growing closer?"
"Now now" Balder said "It's because of the rings, they can't help it"
"Right, it's because of the rings, they can't help it" Takeru repeated, trying to convince himself.
"They're already so close they might as well kiss-"
"Loki!/Loki-Loki/Loki-san!" You can guess which four shouted at him. At the pillar, Hades turned to look at Dionysos and Thor.
"What are you doing here?"
"How about you?" Dionysos retorted back as he kept his eyes on Yui and Tsukito.
Yurika jumped and leaned forward "They're moving" They followed the two quietly as they walked and ended up in Takeru's and Tsukito's dorm. They hid behind the plants and watched Yui and Tsukito in the kitchen. On the kitchen counter was a chopping board, mixing bowl and the ingredients. There was also a big pot half filled with water on the stove that was built into the counter.
"Your also making the dumpling yourself?" said a stunned Yui, she began to wonder if there was going to be anything at the Moon-viewing that Tsukito didn't do.
"Of course" He did say that he was going to do everything, he bend down to get the right temperature to boil the dumplings in.
"I'll help you" Yui insisted, sensing that something bad was going to happen.
"That's all right, please rest" he said to her "I can do it perfectly well myself"
"Tsukito-san, are you good at cooking?" Yui asked him as he stood up and looked at her.
"It's my first time"
"Eh"
"There's no problem, I've done my research" Was he trying to make her relax or inform her that he knows what he is doing? "First, you boil water in a pot" He used one hand and managed to lift the pot, only for it to slip out of his hands and fall onto the floor, making the water spill.
"I'll help you, please let me help you!" Tsukito finally let Yui help him, they half filled the pot once again and put on the stove, Yui helped Tsukito with the temperature. As the water boiled they mixed the ingredients together and broke it apart, Yui put it on the chopping board and used her hand to made them round.
"They're done!" she smiled as she finished the last dumpling, the bell then rang, getting her attention. She looked at Tsukito "Tsukito-san, once we're done with this let's take a break…" Yui stopped talking as she saw how focused Tsukito was as he began to make some dumplings himself.
He's so focused… Flashes of today's events events went through Yui's mind.
"This mission i shall carry out to perfection"
"This is my duty"
Why is Tsukito-san so- Her thoughts broke as a grumbling sound broke out which made the young girl blush. Tsukito's focused broke and he looked up from his work.
"What was that?"
"D-Don't worry about it! Just forget it!" she begged Why does he only seem to notice this sort of thing? The girl was so embarrassed she looked down and closed her eyes, Tsukito looked at Yui for a moment before putting three dumplings on a plate with a fork and lifted it to her.
"Here" Yui opened her eyes and looked up to see him offering her food.
"Huh? But…"
"Gomen, when I'm focused I lose sight of my surroundings" he apologized "Please, have these" Yui smiled as his kind offering.
"Arigato" Yui used the fork to pick up a dumpling and put it in her mouth, after chewing and swallowing it her smile grew "Delicious! They're really good Tsukito-san!"
"That's good" he said in relief as he put the plate down on the counter "Then, is your heart pounding yet?"
"Huh?"
"I was so focused I almost forgot to come onto you" he explained as he read the magazine again "The book says that women like to taste and take little bites of food, statically speaking they are also weak to phrases like 'just one bite' or just for you"
He wasn't being considerate because I was hungry nevertheless Yui smiled and once again used the fork to pick up a dumpling from the plate and held it infront of Tsukito.
"Is something wrong?" he looked at her confused as he put down the magazine .
"Here" she offered "You should have some too"
"No, I-"
"You haven't eaten lunch either" she reminded him "Go head" He looked at her a bit surprised before giving in.
"Arigato" He opened his mouth and leaned to the fork, eating the dumpling. For they could not hear it, Apollon, Takeru and Balder whined in jealously.
"No fair! That's not fair" Apollon pouted "I want Yousei-san to feed me too!"
"Let's see how many dumplings Totsuka-san can fit in his mouth" Balder said with an evil smile
"No Bal-Bal, Tsuki-Tsuki will suffocate!"
"Why don't I hear you complaining" Takeru said to Yurika who was on his left.
"Yui-chan has fed me many times, why should I get jealous if she's only feeding him once?" she replied with a shrug, Takeru then looked back at the scene and saw Usamaro, who caught the other gods attention as well
"Usamaro!" he quickly ran and picked up the animal and hid behind the boxes which were a few feet from Yurika and the others "You can go hear him now Usamaro, you'll get zapped"
Loki giggled "Then we'd have a whole roast rabbit"
"Loki!/Loki!/Loki-san!/Loki-Loki!" he laughed at them but stopped as Dionysos got their attention.
"Huh? They disappeared somewhere" Takeru's eyes widen as he looked over from the boxes to find that they had indeed gone.
"There we go" Yui said as they pulled some pampas grass from the field "We picked too much pampas grass"
"You're right" Tsukito agreed "Shall we return to the academy"
"Hai" They gathered the pampas grass they got in their arms and started to walk back, as they walked Yui failed to notice a small rock in her path and almost tripped, Tsukito quickly grabbed her hand since they were locked together by the rings. "A-Arigato" Yui stood up but Tsukito didn't let go of her hand. Instead he held her hand probably and laced their fingers together.
"It's dangerous, let's return like this" Yui didn't answer and he pulled her into walking with him.
"A-Ano, was this also in your book?" she asked him nervously as he was holding her hand, he turned to her confused "N-Never mind, it's nothing" she quickly said "By the way, did you go Moon-viewing often before you came here?"
"As the god of Tsukuyomi, gazing upon the moon was my mission, but this is my first time viewing the Moon as part of a school function" he replied "Aside from Moon-viewing I'd never do anything resembling a school function prior to coming here"
"You haven't? Not at all?" she asked surprised
"No, not at all" he confirmed
"I see...I guess that will make today your first Moon-viewing" she said "We'll have to make sure you enjoy it"
"Enjoy it?" he asked in a shocked voice, Yui looked at him, shocked.
"Huh? You aren't excited? Even though you've worked so hard to prepare for it?"
"No, I'm not interested in how enjoyable it will be, this was simply a mission given to me"
"A mission?"
"Performing my missions gives value to my existence, in contrast, my existence would be meaningless if I didn't fulfill them"
"That isn't true! Your missions have nothing to do with it" Yui told him "You are who you are, there's no value or reason to existence. Eating good food each day and laughing when you have fun are all you need to do, so you don't…"
Tsukito stopped walking, making Yui stop too "I don't understand" he said "Does food taste good? Do you laugh when you have fun? I don't understand" he looked at the ground with a confused and sad face "I am the god of Tsukuyomi" he then looked up "Since my birth I have spent all my time looking at the moon, I know nothing else, and I have no intention of learning. I'm not interested"
Wind hit them and made some pampas grass flow out of their hands, they watched them fly away.
"Are you sure you aren't interested? Are you sure you don't enjoy anything at all?" they looked at each other, Tsukito blank and Yui seriously "But while I was preparing for the Moon-viewing with you today I had fun the whole time, it was really, really fun" she held Tsukito;s hand tighter and he looked at her shocked.
Everyone whistled at what Tsukito and Yui had done for the moon-viewing. They were on a roof with a large and long table with different foods on as well as drinks. They were all dressed in kimonos.
Thor wore a dark brown one while Hades wore a black one, Loki's was black with purple diamonds on the ends and his left sleeve and Dionysos wore a white one which fades into purple at the middle. Takeru wore a blue one with dark blue wave patterns at the bottom and Balder wore a gold one which faded into white near the end. Apollon wore a dark blue on with darker patterns and Yurika wore a dark red with gold flower patterns in the middle and had her hair in a braid.
"This is pretty nice" Loki commented
"How extravagant" Hades said with a smile.
"Red bean paste, soy flour, sweet glaze, sesame, green soybean" Dionysos looked at the different flavored dumplings "I wonder which would go with wine…"
"Way to go Brother! This is amazing!" Takeru praised
"Yui-chan you look so cute!" Yurika gushed as Yui wore a dark purple kimono, her hair was up in a bun and held a red flower clip.
"You look beautiful in a kimono Yousei-san! You look fantastic!"
"A-Arigato" Yui blushed at the wonderful comments she received.
"This is splendid Totsuka-san" Balder said to Tsukito with a smile "This must be Japanese wasabi" he said mentioning the green dumplings.
"Wasabi?" Apollon, Yui, Yurika and Takeru questioned.
"Balder Hringhorni, do you mean the Japanese concept of 'wabi-sabi'" Tsukito corrected.
"Oh right, it's called wabi-sabi isn't it?" Badler said
"Yeah Bal-Bal, I'm pretty sure wasabi is a spicy Japanese-"
"So spicy!" They turned to see Dionysus holding a green dumpling, holding his neck with tears in the corners of his eyes "It's so spicy! Someone bring me water, no alcohol!" he fell on his knees with his hand on the table as he couched, Takeru walked over to him and leaned over.
"That's not green soybean flavour, it's wasabi!" he exclaimed with a sweatdrop
"Have I caused misfortune again?" Hades asked as he leaned over to Dionysus, Loki who was a few feet away from them giggled.
"Jackpot"
"Loki…"
"Wasabi-flavoured dumplings? Agana Belea let's try these as well" Balder smiled as he went behind Apollon and started to push him to the table of flavoured dumplings.
"N-No way, I don't like spicy food, I don't like spicy food!"
"Come on…"
As the Moon-viewing went on. Tsukito and Yui sat on the bench Tsukito had made behind the table of flavoured dumplings and other foods and drinks. They turned to each other after a few minutes of silence.
"Ano-"
"Ano-"
"Oh, go ahead"
"Oh go head"
They repeated the same thing at the same time as they tried to talk to each other.
"You first" Yui managed to say.
"No, you first" Tsukito kindly said.
"No, you first" Yui then giggled "There's no end to this is there?" Tsukito then turned away from the girl and looked at the moon.
"Kusanagi Yui"
"H-Hai"
"Earlier you asked me if I truly don't enjoy anything"
"Hai…"
"When you asked I didn't understand what you were saying, I still don't truly understand. However.." he said as he turned to look behind her, Yui followed his and saw everyone having fun. Loki had Apollon trapped by grabbing his arms from behind while Balder tried to get him to eat wasabi dumplings, the rest were sat on another bench eating the dumplings and enjoying some juice. They turned and looked back at the moon "I feel the moon is more beautiful now that I have ever seen it"
Tsukito then smiled, Yui gasped and blushed "I agree!" she happily said with a smile, their rings then glowed red, releasing the hold and breaking apart their hands, the rings crumbled and fell off their fingers. "The rings.." Yui lifted up her hand to see them off "Why?"
"Maybe because you experienced a heartfelt connection?" Loki said, popping his head over the wall to look at them.
"B-But we aren't a couple" Yui looked up at him.
"A couple? What do you mean? I told you they'd come off once you reached a tacit understanding"
"You mean-"
"Hey Loki! Have some wasabi dumplings!" Dionysos shouted as he recovered from his attack
"Oh crap" Loki hurriedly ran off smiling as Dionysos ran after him.
"W-Wait!" Sadly Yui's shot didn't get heard as he kept running.
"It seems Loki Laevatein played a trick on us" Tsukito summed up, Yui nervously smiled at him.
"Yousei-san!"
"Brother!" Takeru, Apollon, Balder and Yurika ran over to them
"The rings came off?" Yurika asked as she noticed them without their rings.
"If the rings came off d-does that mean you're a c-couple?!" Apollon asked worried at Yui.
"No, that was a lie-"
"Is it true, Brother?!" Takeru asked his brother as well worriedly, his and Apollon's face showed how displeased they were "No...No!"
Balder then walked to Tsukito and leaned down "I'd like to have a chat with you later, Totsuka-san" he smiled which hid his displeased feeling. While the gods whined, Yui and Tsukito smiled at each other.
"Yousei-san!"
"Is it true, are you a couple?!"
"What am I supposed to do about this? Someone tell me!"