Yukarin repeatedly slammed her head against the desk, and groaned loudly. "We have found out NOTHING! What are we going to do…" She sighed, stopping her self-inflicted pain for a while. Minoriko looked at her, thinking.
"Well, we could always simply put the guardians back in their training…it's bound to happen again if we act normal, right?" Minoriko nodded at her own suggestion.
"…I suppose. We'll do it…but we'll be extra careful—" Extra…that word brought a plan to mind. Yukarin's smile turned a little devilish…And she began rubbing her hands together. "Ahaha, this'll be perfect for the test~" She cooed to herself. With that, she slammed her hands on the table, laughing to herself. "MEETING DISMISSED!" She yelled, twirling around, having forgotten of the Eientei incident and flailing over her own plan. Minoriko sighed, shaking her head, and began to walk off when Yukarin handed her a note. She took it, and promised to deliver it.
Meanwhile, up on the Youkai Mountain, Shizuha was out of breath, and collapsed in front of Aya's house. "S-Stupid…kid…" She grumbled. Tsuna, Gokudera, and Yamamoto had all followed. Yamamoto, being the excellent athlete he was, was the only one to have energy to spare.
"Aha! We should do that again sometime! It was really energizing!" He smiled brightly, and if Gokudera had the energy, he would have kicked him. Yamamoto, of course, knocked on the door right afterwards, still smiling. A small girl with a sword and shield, complete with wolf appendages came to the door.
"Who are you, and what business do you have with Miss Shameimaru?" She asked, quickly. Her sword was already at his throat. She was growling, too. "I, Momijji, guardian of this mountain, will not let you pass until you say so!" Yamamoto just smiled nonchalantly.
"You see, some crow lady came down to the river and took a kid we really, really need to get back! Can we—" At that moment, from the very top of the mountain, by the shrine, something flew through Aya's roof, and several screams were heard.
"MY SCOOP!"
"H-HELP!"
"KEROOOO!"
Everyone blinked at the scene, and before they could respond, whatever crashed through the roof crashed through the other side and bounded towards the shrine, Fuuta in stow. Shizuha, still collapsed on the ground, got up, and looked at the shrine nervously. "…M-Moriya…" She stuttered. This was something very unusual to her. Her entire face became a blush, and she began to dust herself off frantically.
"H-How do I look? Is my hair okay? Are the leaves straight? O-Oh god!" Shizuha flailed, spinning around.
"Tch. What the Hell's the big deal about the shrine? We go in there, ask for the kid, and get him back. Simple." Gokudera huffed, thinking he'd really like a smoke right about now.
Shizuha flailed even more at the suggestion. "G-GO IN THERE? ARE YOU CRAZY? We can't just BARGE in there! Ohhh, Lady Moriya and Lady Yasaka would be so angry!" She screamed, flailing. "Q-Quick! I just want this over with!" She said, and began to run towards the shrine.
"H-Hey! Grr….stupid leaf lady…" Gokudera immediately followed her, and Yamamoto came not too long after. Tsuna, still catching his breath, looked up, and something—no, SOMEONE, popped their head out of the clouds, and waved at him. It was a girl with a peach hat and blue hair…And just as quickly as she was there, she was gone.
"…I think I need more sleep…" The boy sighed. "If I'm starting to see people pop out of clouds…" He shook his head, and continued on.
Down at the bottom of the mountain, near the Aki household, Hina had come to help take care of the children…Yet even with Bianchi, Chrome, and her, they were failing miserably.
"AHAHA! This sweet potato is Lambo-san's!"
"That's Ipin's sweet potato! Give it back, Lambo!"
"Would you both just SHUT UP, kora?!"
All of them looked at eachother, and each grabbed a child immediately. Bianchi took Lambo, Chrome took Ipin, and Hina, after getting smacked in the face with a rifle, took Colonello. They all sighed.
"How in the world are we going to keep these three under control…?" Hina said, shaking her head.
"If they really are this whiny, maybe they would like some of my cooking…"
All of them went silent.
Shizuha politely knocked on the door of the shrine, biting her fingernails as she waited. Within seconds, it opened, and a girl with bright green hair was there. "Hello, welcome to the Moriya shrine. My name is Sanae Kochiya and I—"
"Where's the kid?" Gokudera huffed, looking at the girl with obvious malicious intent , tell her if she said 'Hell if I know', she'd be dead by morning.
"Ah, jeeze, all the commotion over the kid…He's in the back yard, playing with Lady Moriya." Sure enough, giggles could be heard from the back yard, as well as frog croaks. "Here, let me walk you through…" She sighed, leading them…but hallway, a lady with blue hair and a red dress stopped them.
"Sanae, who are these people?" The woman looked rather irritated. "I thought I told you there were to be no parties until the next event!" She tapped her foot impaitiently, and before anyone else could say anything, Tsuna stepped forward.
"W-Well, we came looking for Fuuta! H-He was down in the forest, and then he kept getting kidnapped again and again, until he ended up here! We don't mean to intrude; we just want him back…" His face was flushed, and the woman blinked in surprise.
"Kanako. Kanako Yasaka." She extended her hand, which Tsuna nervously shook. "For a minute there, I thought you'd be EXACTLY like those people from the outside world…rude, uncaring…But you have a heart, I can tell." She smiled warmly at the small boy. "I'm the goddess of this shrine. The goddess of sky, is you were wondering…" This was slightly ironic to the brunette. Sky flames, sky goddesses… "The frog girl out back in the former goddess, although she receives faith too."
Tsuna just blinked. "…A-A goddess? Well, we've already seen a few…B-But thank you, I'll be right out to retrieve him!" He ran off, blushing without another word to the woman. Kanako turned her attention to the angsty-looking Gokudera and smiling Yamamoto.
"…So, you're from the outside world, I presume?" She smiled, holding up a copy of the bunbunmaru. "Word gets around fast, here, especially with Aya at the press." She laughed a bit, showing them the headlines:
WIMPY BOY, IDIOT, AND ANGSTY TEENAGER TRAVEL WITH LONELY GODDESS TO RETRIEVE THEIR FRIEND.
Gokudera twitched. "W-What? I am not angsty!" He growled. Kanako giggled softly.
"You're right, I'd say you're more the idiot."
"You aiming to pick a fight, you old hag?!" He growled.
"I would, but you would cut your wrists before I could land a hit!" She laughed even louder before Sanae slammed the broom on the floor.
"I just spent hours cleaning this place! I would honestly appreciate it if all my hard work wouldn't go to waste!" She yelled, pouting.
Outside, 'Lady Moriya' had introduced herself to Fuuta as 'Suwako', the frog goddess. Fuuta had immediately gotten rather confused, and so, she was busy trying to explain the concept of Gensokyo to him, aided with chalk and a board that came from nowhere.
"Thousands of years ago, Gensokyo was sealed off from the outside world…" She began, which eventually ended as. "AND THAT! Is why frogs are clearly better than snakes!" Tsuna had been listening for half the lecture now, and honestly wondered how it came to that.
"E-Excuse me, miss…" He stuttered, stepping forward. Fuuta immediately diverted his attention and clung to Tsuna.
"T-Tsuna-nii!" He cried, clinging to him all the more tight. "I-I was so scared! And then that lady with a rive r! And then NEWSPAPER! But then frogs! Andandand—" Tsuna patted his head, laughing a little.
"Calm down!" He said, returning the hug a bit. "A-Ah, forgive me, miss…?" He turned to the girl with the frog hat.
"Moriya! But just call me Suwako! The goddess of frogs!" She smiled, flailing around a bit. The girl was obviously energetic.
"Alright then…Suwako." Tsuna smiled a bit, though he heard yelling inside. Suddenly, it came to a halt.
"HEY!" A voice boomed from inside the shrine. "SUWAKO! LETTER!" Suwako's face lit up with glee, dashing inside.
"W-wait for us!" Tsuna called after, and ran inside with her. Minoriko was standing there, and smiled at her student, handing Suwako a blank envelope. The girl stares at it before proceeding to rip it open, and read the letter cheerfully.
"Oh, sure! Tell her I accept! I love doing this!" She exclaimed, and trotted off to her room. Tsuna smiled back at Minoriko, walking towards her.
"S-So, is it alright if we head back home now?" He said, and Minoriko smiled and nodded.
"Lady Yasaka, many apologies for coming in and leaving, but I simply have to leave." She stated, giving a small bow. The woman nodded and gave her a 'shoo' motion with her hand. Minoriko politely walked out, everyone else sighing and following. "Thank you~" She called after her, and with that, lead everyone down the mountain.
Arriving home, most flopped right back on their beds, and their tutors came over one by one to pick them up.
"Yamamoto, come here. It's time to go~" Ran cooed across the house, and Chen stood there, to nervous to ask for Chrome. She came anyways, and pet Chen's ears as well.
"Extreme, ze!" Marisa called. This was her new little nickname for Ryohei, who met her with a highfive at the door. They'd gotten to know eachother pretty well, actually.
"…Kyoya. Mugenkan. Now." Yuka said, very firmly. Hibari gave her a short glare, and walked ahead of her, not caring.
Gokudera and Lambo were left, of course. As was Colonello, who seemed to slowly be getting used to Shizuha's attitude.
"…Finally. Everyone is gone…" Minoriko sighed, finishing washing the dishes. "They'll need their rest. I head something's happening in two days…something big. We're doing lots of training tomorrow, Tsuna. You better be up early, before the first squash flower blooms!" She laughed, and went back to cleaning. Of course…
She honestly meant it.
