AnimeKiwi369: Kiwi-chan omnibus salutem plurimam dicit! Kiwi-chan is experiencing several emotions right now, and it has sent her into talking about herself in the third person. Kiwi-chan will keep this short.

Thanks This Week Go To The Following FanFiction Members for Reviewing: ilovefonandalaude and LilweenGalatrass.

No anonymies this week. Kiwi-chan wishes to give a special shout out to LilweenGalatrass for reviewing when Kiwi-chan asked.

Kiwi-chan does not own Kamigami no Asobi: Ludere Deorum, nor does she own the characters. Kiwi-chan, however, owns the plot and half-owns her "OCs", as they are based off mythology.

Gustate fabulam!


Back in Session

Chapter 6: Strained Relations

After talking with Melissa for a while about her feelings on the situation, Yui silently made her way over to the Student Council Room, per Thor's and everyone's request. She still wasn't completely sure why they wanted to talk. The only thing she could chalk it up to was to discuss the current situation and the relationships they had with the goddesses. It was the most obvious answer she could think of. She did wish, though, that the discussion could wait. She was exhausted, and there was another long day ahead of her. Between setting up for the entrance ceremony and getting the goddesses to participate. And possibly some of the gods.

She knew them well enough but now that a few of them weren't fond of being told what to do. The brown-eyed girl couldn't shake the feeling that at least a couple of them would rebel and refuse to participate because they didn't want to be trapped in Zeus's garden again. She could understand why. The human girl still wasn't super thrilled with this repeated situation because of how her life had been going. However, she had decided to accept this again. It would be simple enough. Also, now that she had the memories of her mistakes in the garden, she could fix them. This time might go smoother, because she could draw on her memories of last year to help her and everyone through.

As Yui made her way towards the Student Council Room, she found herself thinking about one of the last times she was in the garden. She smiled at the fun memories she had created with everyone, like studying for midterm exams. She tried to remember the last time everyone was gathered together in the Student Council Room before the play. She thought it was the study session. Only for everyone to completely forget about the exams when Apollon when through his Cassandra ordeal.

Yet, they still did relatively well enough to earn the reward of putting on the play. The violet-haired girl still couldn't believe that Anubis had been the source of all that craziness. Well, the craziness that happened while Loki tried carrying out his coup d'état. Then again, being only allowed three days to prepare was insane in itself. That first day when everyone argued about who would be prince should have been her first clue that things were going to have disastrous results. Thinking about how all of them wanted to be the character opposite her almost made her want to blush. Did they all see her in that kind of light?

Yui shook the idea off, not wanting to get another headache from the subject of love. Even if she did love all of them. The brown-eyed girl tried to will away her thoughts about it, but only found herself drawn back in. Apollon had given her a confession of love before. …Twice… And Loki did kiss her when she came to help him get through to Balder. Even if it was only on the forehead, it was more than just a friendly kiss. The violet-haired girl knew that the gods loved her. Were in love with her to some extent or another. That she was special to all of them.

She felt the same about all of them, but was she in love with any of them? The human girl stopped in her tracks and placed a hand over her heart. Part of her said that "yes" she was in love with all of them, but the other part said that "not exactly". If part of Zeus's plans this time was for the gods to find love, would she be able to choose without feeling horribly guilty about letting the others down? Could she choose? At this point in time she didn't think so. They were all just too wonderful to choose from; each god had his own set of pros and cons and unique personality.

The Japanese girl couldn't help but wonder if she shouldn't try to get some of the others to fall for their fellow goddesses, even if it wasn't a part of the Greek God of the Heavens' plan. She made a mental note to think about making that her own secret mission while they were there as she finished making her way to her rendezvous with her friends. Yui quietly walked into the large Student Council Room where they had spent their time studying together for midterms and where she, Apollon, Tsukito, Balder, and Dionysus had planned school events, like the seaside school.

All the guys were waiting in there, silent. Each god seemed to be in his own little world. Both the Japanese Gods were sitting by the small coffee table. Tsukito's expression was relatively blank as he sat on his knees, but she knew by now that he wasn't as bored as he appeared to be as he held Usamaro in his arms. Takeru had his legs crossed and had one of his elbows resting on his knees, his face resting in his hand; he looked irritated and was pouting slightly. Loki sat on the coffee table, twirling his hair between his fingers, a concerned look replacing his normally mischievous expression. Dionysus rested in a chair closest to the red-haired Norse God. He didn't look overly concerned, but his face read a little more bored than usual.

Thor stood behind the Greek, his arms crossed over his chest, his normal serious expression present. Hades sat on the couch, his arms also over his chest. While he did look concerned, he looked like he was deep in thought. Most likely about his brother summoning him once more to the tabletop garden. Balder was next to him, near Dionysus, his left elbow resting on the armrest of the couch, his hand under his chin. The blue-eyed god looked towards the wall, his face a mixture of concern and endearment, as if he was reminiscing about something. Apollon sat off to his uncle's right, in a chair that was across from Dionysus. He still had that worried and nervous expression from earlier, and Yui couldn't help but worry a little. It was strange to see such a disposition in the blonde god.

The brown-eyed human watched the gods closely as she came closer to them. They didn't look up as she entered, too engrossed in their thoughts. She sat down in front of the coffee table, waiting for someone to break the stony silence. She didn't think she had ever seen all of her friends in such unrest all at once before. After several minutes of no discussion, it was clear she was going to have start things off.

Yui cleared her throat a little to get their attention, "You guys wanted to talk about something?"

"We thought it might be a good idea to tell you of the relationships we have previously had with the goddesses, Kusanagi Yui," Tsukito spoke up, looking over at her.

"I figured about that much," she responded with a faint smile, trying to lighten the tense mood any way she could. "I have to admit, I'm curious as to how you know them and what they're like."

She looked around the room, hoping one of them would start off. None looked too eager. Just when she thought she was going to have to choose one of them, Takeru spoke up.

"Ame-no-Uzume grew up with us," he told her. He scowled a little, "And our older brother, Akira."

She stared at him a little startled. The two of them hadn't mentioned they had another brother before. She stayed silent for either him or his brother to continue.

"She's closer with Akira," the blue-haired god continued.

"As goddess of the Dawn, she has had to work closely with our brother, Amaterasu-Omikami, God of the Sun," Tsukito told her.

Takeru let out a frustrated sigh, "At least she isn't completely like Akira."

"What do you mean by that, Takeru-san?" Yui asked, confused.

"Akira is always harsh on Ani and dotes on me," he said. "But Uzume is the exact opposite. She's always had a soft spot for Ani and been at odds with me."

"I see," she responded, putting her hand on her chin. "So that must be the relationship you have to mend."

Tsukito merely shrugged, while his younger brother sighed again, looking away.

"What about with Kushinadahime-san?" She asked.

"Totsuka Takeru once saved her from an eight-headed serpent," the lavender-haired god commented.

"That was when were much younger, and I doubt she even remembers who I am," his brother retorted. "She doesn't seem like she wants to even look at us gods."

Yui scowled, "So you think that getting her to remember you and become friends with you is the bond she's missing?"

Takeru shrugged, "Who knows? Let someone else talk, Weed."

She frowned a little at his tone, but looked around to see if anyone else wanted to talk about the goddesses.

"Well," Dionysus started, looking from her to Apollon, "Aphrodite is our half-sister." That made sense to the violet-haired girl. She had the exact shade of green eyes the blonde and red-haired Greek Gods had. She looked softly at the Greek brothers as the wine-loving god continued, "Artemis is one of our sisters, as well."

"It should fun to have your sisters here, even if Artemis-san doesn't want to participate," she commented, but the green-eyed blonde only frowned.

"It would be Kusanagi-san," the God of Fertility replied. "However…"

"Arte-Arte hates me," Apollon sighed. "She hates me, Yousei-san."

Yui's eyes widened, "Surely that's not true, Apollon-san."

"She can't simply just hate you, Agana Belea," Balder said.

"You had to have done something to make her angry at you, A-fool-on," Loki added looking back at them.

"So what did you do?" Takeru asked.

The blonde shook his head, "We haven't gotten along for a long time. I don't even know what I did. I don't know."

"Both Artemis and Apollon were inseparable when they were younger," Hades told her. "But Apollon is right. Despite being twins, Artemis doesn't want anything to do with him now."

"Apollon-san!" The violet-haired girl exclaimed, surprised, "You and Artemis-san are twins?!"

The God of the Sun gave a slight smile, "Yes, we are. Arte-Arte and I are twins."

"She's the older one, though," Dionysus added.

"They're also one of the few siblings who are fully blood related," Hades put in. "Artemis and Apollon's mother is different from Dionysus or Aphrodite's mothers."

"All…right," she responded slowly. It was strange for her to think that Zeus could have so many different wives. Then again, they were from another country. Greek Gods had a different culture.

"Artemis doesn't just hate me, though," Apollon said with another sigh. "She doesn't hate me alone."

"Huh?"

"While Artemis doesn't want anything to do with Apollon," the blonde's half-brother told her, "she doesn't want anything to do with the rest of us, either."

"She just stopped speaking to all of us one day," their uncle put in. "And since she mostly resides in among the humans and in the forest, it's only helped her to distance herself from us."

"I've tried to get close to her again," The blonde Greek commented, "but she won't let me. She won't let me."

"So that's why she was brought here," Yui said. "Because she has no bond with you anymore." She watched the three of them nod. Tentatively, she asked, "Aphrodite-san and Persephone-chan are different, though?"

Apollon's face lit up a little, "Di-Di is easy to get along with. She's easy to be around."

"I'm honestly not sure why Zeus would bring her here, Kusanagi-san," Dionysus told her with a shrug. He smiled softly, "But Apollon is right." He winked playfully, "She's kind of like me."

"Persephone is different, though," Hades commented.

The brown-eyed girl tilted her head, "How so, Hades-san?"

"For one, she's not related to us," he answered. "Her mother, Demeter, watched over many of us as we grew up, so she's like a sister to me and Zeus. But she's very strict and overprotective towards Persephone, and Demeter doesn't like how Persephone is so curious on everything. Especially about the Underworld."

Yui looked down, "So that's what she meant when she said she didn't have to be worried about getting in trouble."

"Persephone doesn't really know us all that well either, Yousei-san," Apollon said.

"You're saying she doesn't really have her own bonds with the other Greek Gods?" The girl questioned.

"I think the only one she actually knows relatively well is Aphrodite," Dionysus told her.

"That must be why Zeus brought her here. It must be," the blonde continued, slightly excited.

Yui nodded, silent for a minute, letting the new information about the Greeks set in, "Okay. I think I get why they were brought here." She looked at the Norse Gods, "What about Nanna-san and the other Norse Goddesses?"

"Like with Totsuka-san and Takeru-san," Balder started, "they grew up with us."

"More like around us," Loki said.

The human girl furrowed her brow, "There must be more than that, Loki-san."

"There is," Thor replied. "He's doesn't want to say it."

"Say what?" Yui prodded.

"Eir wants to kill him," The blue-eyed god told her, though his light tone didn't match his words.

Her eyes widened again, "What?!"

"Loki has played one too many tricks on her," the turquoise-green-haired god added.

"She doesn't actually want to kill me, koneko-chan," the redhead informed her with a casual grin. "She just likes to try and put me in a headlock whenever she sees me as payback for what I did to her when we were kids."

The violet-haired girl was still skeptical, "What exactly did you do to her, Loki-san?"

"Just a few pranks," he said, that familiar catlike grin on his lips.

"He also never listened to her about taking care of himself," Balder put in. "She's the Goddess of Healing and knows the best way to treat wounds."

"Loki would brush her off and not listen to her. Or let her try to treat him," Thor finished his friend's thought.

"So whenever he doesn't listen, she tries to put him in a headlock," the blonde Norse boy continued.

"Eir's yet to get me in one, though," Loki grinned at her again.

She took a deep breath and shook her head, "Loki-san." She looked back at them, "You're who she needs to strengthen her bond with."

"I'm not the only one," he retorted, looking at his fellow Norse Gods.

Balder chuckled, "At least Thor and I are on better terms with her than you are, Loki."

"Is there anything else I should know about Eir-san or Nanna-san and Sigyn-san?" Yui asked.

"Nanna's father is good friends with my mother," the blonde Norse boy told her. "We saw each other more often than Loki says. Also…" His demeanor dropped slightly, and he sighed, "Don't tell her I told you this, Yui-san, or any of you." He looked around at his friends, "But it might be important later."

"What is it, Bal-Bal?" Apollon asked.

"Nanna's mother died during childbirth," Thor informed them.

The Japanese girl frowned a little, feeling bad about the Norse girl's situation. If Nanna had never had a motherly figure around, then she was missing a critical bond in her life. That might have affected her ability to form certain connections with some of her fellow gods.

Yui bit her lip, "That's so sad." She looked at Balder, "Is there anything else, Balder-san?"

The God of Light shook his head, "I don't think so." He noticed the concerned look that still rested on the girl's face, and he offered a small smile, "Don't worry, Yui-san. Nanna doesn't dwell on it. She's doesn't let it affect her. And Sigyn's always watching out for her."

The brown-eyed girl nodded again, "All right." She stood up, "If that's all you guys wanted to tell me about the goddesses, I'll get going."

"Well…" Loki drawled, "There is something I may have forgotten to mention."

"Loki?" Balder inquired, "What else is there? We told Yui-san everything she wanted to know."

"The thing is, Balder, I didn't," he told his friend. He looked away from everyone as he played with his hair again.

The violet-haired girl blinked at the God of Fire, "What didn't you mention, Loki-san?"

"Well…" He repeated, "I may or may not have promised Sigyn I'd marry her..."

"What?!" Yui and all the other gods exclaimed.

"Oi, Loki," Thor said.

"You never said anything," the blue-eyed god commented, finishing up the other god's train of thought.

"Loki Laevatein, why would you propose marriage?" Tsukito asked, a slight inflection in his voice as he did so.

"What?" The blue-gray-eyed god asked, as if he did nothing wrong, "It's not as if I meant it. We were kids and half-asleep."

The brown-eyed girl gave an exasperated sigh and put her head in her hand, "Loki-san, you know that could be why she's here, don't you? That you might be the one she's lost her connection to?"

The redhead grinned, "I doubt she even remembers. She was almost asleep when I said that. And, Kusanagi, have you already forgotten?"

She blinked, confused again, "Forgotten what?"

Loki leaned his head back to the human girl and grinned at her, winking, "I am a huge liar, you know?"

"Loki-san!" Yui exclaimed, earning a loud laugh from the Norse boy.

"Loki, that wasn't very funny," Balder commented.

The Japanese girl sighed again and looked at the others as she started to walk towards the door, "If that's it, I'll see you all tomorrow."

"Kusanagi, about that," Thor stopped her. "You might not."

"Thor-san, what do you mean?" She inquired, "Is it about this situation?"

Hades answered for him, "Yes."

"About being back here, Weed…" Takeru trailed off.

"It sucks," Loki stated bluntly.

Yui felt her demeanor drop, and she suddenly felt overwhelming exhaustion. She knew this had been coming, but she hadn't wanted to believe it just yet. She didn't want to deal with this just yet. The brown-eyed girl looked blankly at them and gave a forced smile. She felt like she might snap any minute. Even if it was only their first day back in Zeus's garden, she had come to accept this. She had come to like the idea of spending another year in the garden. Why couldn't they just accept it, too? Didn't they know these would be their last precious months together? If they did, this wouldn't be as hard on her… Now she was going to have to work even harder to get them back into classes.

"You don't want to be here," she stated, her voice devoid of emotion. She looked down, taking a few steps back. She could feel her lips tremble and frustrated tears in her eyes. The entire day and the whirlwind of emotions she had had throughout the day came crashing down on her.

"Yousei-san?" Apollon asked, sensing something wrong.

Yui opened her mouth to lie and say she was fine, but she closed it. She didn't trust herself to speak anymore. She hated feeling like this. Letting her emotions catch up to her. She tried to convince herself that she was just tired. This was nothing more than exhaustion, and it was controlling how she felt. And her fears about having to convince her friends to return to school becoming reality was the trigger.

"Kusanagi Yui?" Tsukito inquired when she stayed silent.

She didn't answer; she just took another step back. Yui couldn't bring herself to look at them. Not when she felt like this. She didn't want them to know how frustrated she was. With this situation. With everything. Even if she had come to terms with this new scenario. She was still frustrated. She was only human after all.

"What's wrong, Yui-san?" Balder questioned as the Japanese girl continued to back out of the room.

The brown-eyed girl shook her head, biting her lip. She didn't want to face them right now. She needed to calm down before she could. She needed to clear her head. This day had been too long. She had received too much information. She just wanted to rest.

Yui stole one last glance at the gods before she turned on her heels and ran from the Student Council Room back to her dorm.


AnimeKiwi369: *Sigh*. Sorry for that earlier. I needed to be a little childish to let off some frustration. I was sad that the last chapter only got two reviews, but I understand that you guys are probably just very busy. The fact I didn't get my tea in the boxes they come in and that the internet connection decided to crash sent me to talk in the third person. But I'm okay now. ^^"

So, I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter. We got some incite into how the gods know the goddesses! Poor Yui, though! :( Oh, I decided to have Persephone not be related to others to avoid weirdness in the future. So, that deviates from mythology, and I apologize for anyone that's bothered by that. There will be a one or two other deviations, as well.

I hope we all have the goddesses down by now. In case you don't, here they are again:


Greek:

-Artemis~Goddess of the Hunt

-Persephone~Goddess of Vegetation

-Aphrodite~Goddess of Love

Japanese:

Ame-no-Uzume~Goddess of the Dawn

Kushinadahime~Earth Deity

Norse:

Nanna~Goddess of Joy

Sigyn~Goddess of Fidelity

Eir~Goddess of Healing

Egyptian:

Iabet~Goddess of the East

Seshat~Goddess of Knowledge


AnimeKiwi369: Anyway, I hope you're all anxious for the next chapter! Until next time! Please be kind and please review! Valete! :3