Lila was tucked up in Luka's bed with a cold compress on her forehead to help combat the fever as she slept soundly.
"She's turned into quite the cute little thing hasn't she?" Luka smirked. He leaned over her with narrowed eyes.
Nathanael knelt beside the bed using a towel to dry his hair "I'm sorry to impose on you like this, what with you being sick yourself"
Luka raised an eyebrow "what?" and then recognition dawned on his face "Oh that, yeah I lied just didn't want to go to school" he smirked "Our school isn't quite sympathetic to the plight of this talented musician…I'm sure it's just because they've never had someone quite as famous as me attend before"
"Hey, you're a tengu yokai, right?" Nathanael said.
Luka glowered at the red-haired boy "Look I've spent years convincing everyone I'm a fallen angel so why bring that up?"
"Because I wanted to find a yokai doctor for Lila" Nathanael looked upon the sleeping kitsune kit. She was still breathing heavily and her face was flushed red from fever. Luka sat on the end of the bed and his forehead creased "I'm afraid that won't help much" Nathanael bit his lip at Luka's words.
"She's been regressed in body only so her original yokai powers can't settle in, they're out of her control and that's what's causing her fever" Luka explained, being mature and serious for once.
"So is their anyway to help her get better?" Nathanael asked, his eyes flickered with worry.
Luka smiled ruefully "The only way to make her better is to restore her to her original size"
Nathanael's forehead furrowed as he looked towards the ground and pressed his lips together at Luka's words. It was exactly as he had feared.
Then Luka stood up and went towards his cupboards and started rummaging through them until he came across a small black box. "This solution is only temporary but it'll give you time to come up with a plan"
"huh?" Nathanael tilted his head slightly.
"This secret remedy has been passed down through my family for generations"
Nathanael smiled "It'll help her, right?"
"Yeah," Luka said as he walked towards the bed. He took out one of the red pills "Here you go, be warned they're bitter as hell, oh and try to be a little grateful I'm doing this for you, fox"
Lila peeked open a green eye and then she bit down with her sharp canines on Luka's fingers.
"AHHH!" the Tengu screamed.
Nathanael winced 'Great, she's going to get us kicked out'
Nathanael changed the cold compress on Lila's forehead to a new one and smiled slightly 'She seems to be resting easier after she finally took that pill' Nathanael lay his head down on one of the pillows on the double bed as fatigue washed over him. 'Please let her get better' he thought as his eyelids drooped.
Lila awoke from her feverish sleep and felt a little better. She could at least think properly now and she didn't feel quite so hot. She glanced to her side and saw Nathanael was fast asleep on her other side.
Nathanael woke up and once his sight wasn't blurry he saw Lila had woken up. "Lila!" he exclaimed with a grin. He brought Lila into a tight hug. The kitsune was unable to protest.
"You are finally awake, I was so worried!" Then he placed her back on the bed to sit and looked at her with round eyes "Are you thirsty, is there anything I can get you?"
Lila went silent for a moment, her eyes glazing over before muttering "Bamboo leaf rice cake-I would like one"
Nathanael grinned "Great, I can make those!" he went rushing out of the bedroom and into Luka's living room where the rockstar currently was asleep on the sofa.
"Luka!" he shouted, shocking the Tengu awake.
"I need to borrow your kitchen and some money" Nathanael declared.
"Money!" Luka cried.
"So you're telling me you actually know how to make bamboo leaf rice cake" Luka said as he leaned against the kitchen wall.
Nathanael carefully worked to prepare the meal for Lila using the ingredients Luka had kindly gone out and got for him. "My mother used to make these all the time when I was a kid…I'm honoured, she's never asked me for anything before, I couldn't be happier to make it"
Nathanael went back into the bedroom with a plate of Bamboo leaf rice cakes. Lila reached out and took one from the plate. She nibbled on it and Nathanael waited anxiously. "I hope you like it, I made it just for you!"
Lila finished it and looked at Nathanael with tired eyes "they're barely Average" she declared.
Nathanael glowered 'She may look all cute and innocent now but she's still the same rude fox inside' He turned to leave when Lila called out: "Nathanael" He glanced over his shoulder at her and she managed a small smile as she said "I am grateful"
Nathanael smiled and his cheeks turned pink "it's no problem, you're welcome"
Meanwhile, Luka was in the other room on his phone "Yeah, I think I have a virus" he faked a cough "so I won't be coming in today"
"It is raining!" Pollen cried as she rushed around placing buckets under the holes on the roof. Rainwater dripped through the shrine which had returned to its wrecked and desolate state now that Lila was no longer there to care for it.
Chloe sat on her golden throne she had moved to the shrine. Her eyebrows furrowed in annoyance "What kind of pathetic shrine is this?!" she yelled and a lightning bolt struck outside the shrine.
Duusu and Nooroo trembled in fear as they stayed in the corner with their heads bowed.
"I am awfully sorry Lady Chloe," Nooroo said a shake to his voice
"Lady Lila had been maintaining the shrine with her powers but now she has left it the shrine is back to its original state" Duusu explained.
Chloe stood up "of course" she sighed "I was foolish to think that fox would come running back she is too stubborn for her own good" she clicked her fingers "Pollen I want you to go and get me Lila and be quick about it"
"Of course, Lady Chloe" the bee spirit was then gone in a flash of golden light.
'What is this?' Nathanael thought as he stroked something soft. He was still half asleep with his eyes closed 'It's fuzzy but tickles at the same time' he opened his eyes just as a phone began to ring. His eyes widened and he gasped when he realised it had been Luka's wings he had felt.
"Luka, why the hell are you sleeping beside me?" Nathanael yelled, scrambling away.
Luka woke up and grabbed his phone "who the hell is calling at this time?" he complained.
Then Nathanael froze as he remembered what had happened.
"I'm not going to not sleep in my own bed so if you don't like that, sleep somewhere else," Luka said, arms crossed as he glared at Nathanael.
"So Lila can still sleep on the bed then?" Nathanael asked, holding the Kitsune Kit in his arms.
Luka grimaced "like hell she can" he grabbed Lila by the collar of her kimono and tossed her to the floor "Damn Fox, she can sleep on the floor!" he snarled
Nathanael shrieked in fear of Lila's safety.
Luka smirked and cupped Nathanael's face in his hands, much to the other boys dislike. "You're a different story I don't mind you in my bed" he winks.
Before Nathanael could tell Luka to piss off. Lila threw one of her special leaves at the Tengu and it pierced him in the head "Get your dirty hands away from him!" she growled.
Luka glared and started to kick Lila "I will Kill you, Fox!"
"Stop it!" Nathanael cried, he grabbed a pillow and whacked it at the tengu "Leave her alone!"
Nathanael paled and put his face in his hands 'I think we just fell asleep after that!"
Luka got up to take the Phone call.
"Remember he is a yokai" Nathanael turned to see Lila standing up on the bed.
"Lila, how do you feel?" he reached out to feel her temperature. Lila slapped his hand away and his forehead creased in worry. "Try to be on your guard a little" she scolded and looked to Luka with narrowed eyes.
Luka, now done with the phone call came over smirking and grabbed at one of Lila's ears "What did you say about me, fox?" Lila glowered as Luka laughed. "Oh, is the wittle girl going wakey-wakey already?" he teased and roughly played with hair as he grabbed at it pushing her head around "Looks like your teething fever hasn't gone down yet either!"
Nathanael grabbed Lila and held her close to him as he glared at Luka "Don't be so rough with her, okay"
Luka just smirked "Damn you've got it bad"
"Excuse me?" Nathanael said.
Luka laughed "Nothing, just remember Lila the only reason Nathanael is in my house is because of you"
Lila's eyes narrowed 'He has the right off it…what pains me is not the fever…ugh, this is so irritating'
Nathanael was eating breakfast in the kitchen while Luka prepared to go out. "We've got to find a way to get Lila back to her regular size"
"If it was lucky mallet that made her that way, the only thing to return her to her proper size is the mallet then," Luka said. He stood up and fixed his Jacket "You will have to find a way to get your hands on that mallet"
Nathanael brightened "Do you think you can get Lady Chloe to give it to you?"
"Oh wow look at the time" Luka pretended to look at his watch "I better get going"
"Where are you going?" Nathanael asked.
"Rehearsal for a live performance," Luka said.
"Oh," Nathanael pouted.
"Well, someone looks awfully forlorn" Luka smirked.
"What? No, I don't, I look fine" Nathanael looked away from the tengu's gaze.
Luka rolled his eyes "Here's the spare key to my house, along with my phone number and some money" he held out the keys and a small brown package.
Nathanael looked up at him with wide eyes "Seriously? Thank you!"
Lila had got fed up of lying in the bed all this time and had clambered out of it and headed to the window. She stared down at the street as she watched Luka leave.
"Lila, I'm going to run some errands is there anything you want me to pick up?" Nathanael shouted from the room over.
The tengu paused and glanced up to the window Lila was staring out of. He smirked and mouthed:
"useless good-for-nothing"
Lila felt her hair stand on edge as her eyes widened. 'Once I get my regular size back I am going to kill that crow'
Nathanael came to stand in the doorway "Lila, did you hear me?"
Lila sighed. 'I don't like being useless…that tengu knows exactly how to wind me up…I'll prove him wrong!'
"I will go with you"
Nathanael raised an eyebrow.
"I feel fine now," Lila said.
"Well, if you're sure that you feel fine then let's go" Nathanael smiled.
'The reason I feel most annoyed is because of this body…I can do nothing…'
Nathanael and Lila walked along the street into town. Passing by an empty park. The trees swayed in the light breeze creating a quiet atmosphere.
"What about your school?" Lila questioned, staring ahead.
Nathanael glanced down at her "Oh, it's Saturday so there's no school today" Nathanael smiled "Getting you back to normal is more important anyway" Lila stopped walking causing Nathanael's eyes to widen.
"You should think about yourself, I shall take of my own problems," Lila said.
Nathanael smirked and knelt down close to her. "You shall?" he reached out a hand to pat her head "I don't see how you can your way too tiny!"
Lila snarled and slapped his hand away causing Nathanael to gasp. "You have been restored to your human-self you should go and live as one!" Her voice was cold as she looked at Nathanael with a hard gaze "I can and will live as I please" she turned away from the boy in annoyance.
'Lila? Is she planning on going to Chloe?' Nathanael pondered, feeling upset at the thought. Then Lila collapsed causing Nathanael to shriek and panic. "Lila!" he took the kitsune in his arms "Your fever has gotten worse!"
"Lady Lila!" a voice called.
Nathanael looked up to a golden light swirling around them. "I have come to escort you back, Lady Lila"
Nathanael's eyes focused and he saw the Bee spirit which bowed to them. "Lady Chloe is concerned for your well-being and is waiting for you at the shrine"
Nathanael's eyebrows furrowed and his mouth set in a hard line. "After what she did to Lila she has some nerve to say she is concerned!" Nathanael exclaimed "Lila and I are like family and we have been driven away from our home together"
Lila's ear twitched as she heard Nathanael's words.
"I don't care if I am just a human and she is a yokai, I'll find a way to take care of her!"
Pollen blinked shocked by the brave words of the boy.
Lila had heard enough, she used the lasting strength she had to summon one of her magic leaves and leap out of Nathanael's arms flinging it on his back. The magic in it caused him to collapse on the pavement, unable to move. His eyes widened at what Lila had done.
"There is no way I am allowing that to happen!" Lila said. "You are incapable of doing anything, face it!"
Nathanael slowly turned his head to look at Lila. Shocked and hurt by her words. "Lila" he muttered
"To live life burdening you…the thought of it angers me" Lila muttered, she turned away from the red-haired boy and walked towards Pollen. "You there, Bee spirit, take me to the shrine"
"You're leaving, seriously?!" Nathanael cried.
'I think what annoys me more than anything is being seen by him while I am in this pathetic state"
Lila glanced over her shoulder at the distraught Nathanael one last time. She managed a small smile as she said: "Goodbye, Nathanael" The magic in the leaf that was holding Nathanael down vanished and allowed the boy to get up but it was too late as Lila vanished in the golden light along with Pollen.
Nathanael gasped and tears shone in his eyes as he looked heavenward "Lila, you are such a jerk!" he yelled.
High on up in a tree near where Lila and Nathanael had been sat a girl with white hair in curled pigtails. She swung her legs and smirked "Oh dear, they split right on up how tragic" she looked to the girl beside her "What Now?"
"Oh, Lila!" Chloe grabbed the Kitsune Kit in a tight hug "I knew you would soon come back to me!" Lila didn't feel well already but Chloe's hugging and handling her like she was a doll just made the kitsune feel worse.
Chloe set her down on the spread out white mattress and laughed "After all you had nowhere else to go but this shrine!"
Lila stared with vacant eyes at the wall of the shrine and remembered the words Lady Rose had said when they had first met.
"If you have nowhere else to go, you can stay with me in my shrine"
"Now offer up your whole life to me!" Chloe declared "Isn't it exciting you get to be my personal possession" she looked to where Lila lay and gasped when she saw the Kitsune had disappeared.
"Lila!" she screamed, "Are you mocking me?"
Nathanael sat on a small grey stone wall. It had gotten late and the stars twinkled in the sky as a large round moon shone down upon the boy. He looked down at the ground his hair falling in front of his face and hiding his red swollen eyes from passer-by's. A single white butterfly glittered in the moonlight as it fluttered down and rested upon the boy's shoulder. He did not notice.
"Nathanael?"
He glanced up with swollen tired eyes to see Luka approaching.
"Well, well, you've got quite the honour guard here for you"
"huh?" he raised an eyebrow.
Luka smiled "Forget about it, anyway what are you doing out here alone?"
Nathanael stood up "I was waiting for you" he held out the spare keys "Here I don't need them anymore…Lila went back to be Chloe's familiar, I tried but I couldn't stop her" "You are incapable of doing anything!" Lila's voice rung through his mind. He sniffed fresh tears welling in his eyes "I-I couldn't do anyth-"
"Oh stop!" Luka snapped "There's no point crying over a little thing like that"
"Hey! I am not crying!" Nathanael lied, rubbing at his eyes. "What do you mean by a little thing?"
"Alright" Luka sighed and then he spread his arms as in a flash his tengu wings appeared. "Here's a parting gift for you seeing as you've gone back to being human" he held out a black feather he had plucked from his wing.
"By having a physical piece of a yokai you can see all of the things that are invisible to the human eye that you might be missing" Nathanael reached out and took the feather "Like what?" then he gasped as he realised Nooroo and Duusu had been clinging to him weeping all this time.
"Lord Nathanael!" they cried.
"Nooroo, Duusu!" Nathanael said, "Since when did you get here?"
Luka folded his arms and made his wings disappear. "They've both been crying next to you this whole time," he said.
"We are in great trouble!" Nooroo wept "Lady Lila has angered Lady Chloe and hidden somewhere in the shrine"
"She is ready to destroy us and the shrine!" Duusu shrieked "Please help us, Lord Nathanael, we need you!"
"You are incapable of doing anything, face it!" Nathanael's eyes narrowed and his fists tightened "Okay, let's go!"
'I'll show that fox not to underestimate me'
Nooroo and Duusu smiled. "We have the night fog carriage waiting" they chorused. They lead him to the carriage and he clambered up.
"I am dreadfully sorry, Lady Chloe, but she is nowhere to be found," Pollen said.
Chloe sat on a cloud holding an umbrella to protect herself against the pouring rain. "Very well if she wishes to mock me I shall just burn the whole shrine to the ground!" she growled raising her hands to cause a thunder strike.
"Hey God lady!"
She looked to see Nathanael standing in the night fog carriage. His hair whipped against his face in the harsh wind. "What kind of twisted God goes out to destroy their own shrine?"
"Eugh, what are you doing here?" Chloe whined "If you're looking for Lila she has taken to hiding"
"Oh yeah well…" Nathanael smirked "If you let me I could find her easily but that is up to you"
Chloe frowned "You are a mere human you couldn't possibly find her!"
"Maybe, but let's say that I do…you would have to swear to me that you would turn her back to normal" Nathanael said.
Chloe glared "alright I swear"
Nathanael narrowed his eyes, a determined fire inside them "Then sit back and I'll find her"
Nathanael collapsed on his knees clutching his head in his hands as he cried: "I can't find her!"
Nooroo and Duusu looked at each other anxiously they had helped Nathanael look everywhere in the shrine and Lila was nowhere to be seen.
'Poor Lila if she still has that fever she may be passed out somewhere' Nathanael blew the hair out of his eye.
The white butterfly that had all this time sat quietly on his shoulder now slowly flapped its wings and took to the air. Nathanael finally noticed it and gasped. He felt like it wanted him to follow it. He stood up and chased after it.
"Lord Nathanael?" Duusu called as she and Nooroo followed the boy.
The butterfly leads him to a room he had never been in before and it flew straight to the desk landing on a mirror. Nathanael walked up and looked down at the small mirror that sat on a pile of books. "In here?"
"Oh, that is Lady Rose's pocket mirror," Duusu said.
Nathanael reached out and gently grasped it in his hands. 'I can feel her energy from inside the mirror'
"Lila"
Inside the mirror's blank land Lila lay breathing heavily her eyes closed. The fever had left her with no power. Her ears twitched when she heard a familiar voice calling her name.
She slowly blinked open an eye and looked for who had called her. She saw Nathanael and gasped eyes rounding.
"Lila, let's go home" He smiled and held out a hand.
Lila cautiously reached out and took his hand in hers. Tears filled the kitsune eyes and then she felt Nathanael wrap his arms around her in a hug.
Outside Chloe sat on the cloud as Pollen held the umbrella over her. She scoffed "Hiding within a silly mirror of the previous land God…that is quite the show of loyalty" She sighed 'If you will not be mine I do not want you, farewell'
"Good for you!" Pollen cheered "The shrine was in such a bad condition she did not want it!"
Nathanael and Lila sat both with angry expressions on their faces.
"So it is up to me to give back the landmark and the lucky mallet" Pollen Grinned.
Nathanael growled "Cut the Bullcrap! Why couldn't she face us herself?"
"Anyway I shall return the mark," Pollen said. She flew over and pressed the mark back on Nathanael's forehead. His body glowed golden as his powers restored themselves.
"Now Lord Nathanael" Pollen said as she picked up the cushion holding the golden Mallet "Swing this mallet at Lila please and at the same time say to her grow bigger"
Nathanael cautiously picked up the mallet and stood up "okay" he turned to Lila and swung the mallet "Grow bigger, Lila!"
There was a golden flash and a burst of smoke that caused Nathanael to wince and cover his eyes. The smoke cleared and Nathanael's eyes widened as he took in Lila. She was tall again and looked like herself again apart from the fact her hair had grown even longer, it grew way past her knees and nearly flooded the whole room.
"I am restored!" Lila grinned.
Nathanael's face reddened and his heart thumped in his chest.
"It appears your hair has grown longer too," Nooroo stated.
Lila looked to Nathanael with a concerned gaze "what is wrong?"
Nathanael gasped "Nothing! Nothing at all!" he looked away from her gaze 'Why am I feeling this way for her?' He turned his back and looked out the window "Oh wow! Looks like the rain let up! It totally let up!" He rambled.
"It seems I owe you," Lila said.
Nathanael's eyes widened and he turned back around to face her "That's right you do!"
"You have my thanks," Lila said and then she walked closer and grabbed his shirt pulling him into a kiss. Nathanael froze as his eyes widened and his face flushed by her unexpected action. Lila pulled away from the kiss and Nathanael continued to look shocked.
"The contract between us is resealed" Lila explained.
Nathanael blinked 'Right the contract…that's why she kissed me...'