I am extremely bored…. Which works out for everyone reading this because my boredness made me update faster.
Fidgeting with the hem of one of Himemiko's kimonos Ashi sighed. Really she hated dressing up for anything there was no reason to get all dolled up for Tomoe, the fox had seen her in her PJ's for heaven's sake and he even did the laundry on odd days when she was too busy practicing her Deity Duties as she called them. Following after the little catfish demon she laughed seeing Tomoe try to sneak away from the Carp princesses failing horribly. "Little Carps please be quieter, you are being rude to our guests." Spinning to snarl at Ashi for leaving him to the fishes the kitsune sucked in a breath only for it to whoosh back out taking in the black and teal swirled kimono that his goddess had changed into. Midnight black hair had been combed and styled to tumble down in silky ringlets and lipstick colored her ruby lips. Tugging his sleeves free of the fish youkai's fins he stepped closer tracing a claw through her hair. It did feel as silky as it looked.
"Ashi…." Smiling up at the silver fox she blushed having never seen this particular expression cross his face before.
"So how do I look, Foxy?" Being shoved back by the carp demons the human huffed crossing her arms before heading back over to Himemiko to finish the Moon viewing party. Seeing her teal eyed friend moving towards her the catfish frowned.
"Did your fox not like the change?" Shaking her head the goddess smiled.
"He liked it very much Princess. But it would be rude to just leave the little Carps after spending the first half of the party with them. I hope you don't mind if I accompany you tonight." Smiling the demon looked past the raven for a second catching the look the wild fox kept casting towards his master. Knowing she had gotten the point across she nodded.
"Not at all Ashi. I enjoy your company." Slowly setting beside the catfish Ashi sighed leaning back on her hands trying not to ruffle the nice material of the barrowed kimono. Not thirty minutes later Tomoe stomped over dragging three protesting carps behind him. Raising her eyebrow at the unusual scene the deity nearly snorted.
"As much as I enjoyed tonight I must make sure my master is taken care of. It is almost her bedtime." Resisting the urge to tap her chin as she debated whether or not to rescue the fox or not she smiled at Himemiko before standing up.
"Tomoe is right being human I must rest before morning. Princess would it be okay if I send the Kimono back tomorrow with my familiar?" Nodding the catfish princess grinned.
"That's fine." Waving she caught the kitsune's hand pulling him behind her out the door in to the hallway. Stopping the demon growled.
"How could you leave me to put up with the little fish princesses?" Smirking she turned.
"Well I figured that you would want to be fused over by demonesses. Really the only girls you see are me and the raccoon dogs in the red light district. I'm not much to look at and from what I've seen the Tanuki girls only want you for your body which is probably why the carps want you to but it was a change." Frowning she tried to tug the clips out of her hair. Patting her hands away Tomoe smiled fixing it.
"Leave them just a little longer, they look nice on you." The Catfish knew how to pick gems; these were the same shade of aqua as his goddess's eyes. Ashi really was beautiful in the moonlight. Blinking at his own thoughts the silver fox shook his head leading the land god back home.
Having changed out of the formal dress as soon as they had gotten home Ashi set patiently in front of the low dining room table as Tomoe removed all the hair accessories Himemiko had insisted upon. Reaching behind her to pick up his tail she ran her fingers through it before freezing and letting it go. "Sorry." Stopping in his playing with her hair, which was really what he was doing it would take him three minutes to remove the pins, he frowned down at her.
"What are you apologizing for?" Fumbling for words she waved her hands around.
"Well you know, for touching your tail. I didn't know they were that special to foxes or I would have never played with it." Laughing he waved it in front of her face before letting it rest in her lap.
"Ashi you have been playing with my tail and ears for over three months now. If I were going to stop you I would have done it sooner. Kitsune are protective of their tails, it's one of our prides at how well groomed our animal attributes are. I do not mind when you pet it because I know you, and you will not do anything to damage it." Blushing she ran a hand through the soft silver fur reaching up to tweak his ear too.
"Thank you foxy." Seeing the look on his face she grinned. "What? Oh did you think because you let me pet you that I was going to tell you were your pipe is?" Seeing him frown she laughed. "Nope, you have to find that by yourself." Feeling the custom move behind her she looked over her shoulder watching him disappear into the hall. "Oi, Foxy finish taking the hair clips out first! Tomoe!"
Staring out the window Ashi smiled watching the rain fall. Leaning back in her chair she twiddled her thumbs waiting for lunch to be over. "Ah! Snake!" Setting her chair down she rolled her eyes seeing her blond friend grab a broom attempting to swipe the snake away or play with it she really couldn't tell. Peeking over another classmates shoulder she frowned seeing the small reptile slither into a corner. Pushing her way through the crowd she caught the broom handle just as it was about to hit the scaled animal.
"Leave the poor little thing alone will ya?" Double checking to make sure it wasn't poisonous she picked it up rubbing the back of its head with a finger. Walking back into the classroom she grinned down at it as it wrapped its body around her arm before flicking its tongue out. "You really lost your way little guy." Opening the window she leaned out letting the snake crawl down her arm to the ground below. "Stay out of the school; I wouldn't want to have to save you again." Shutting the window she rolled her eyes seeing most of the girls staring at her like she was crazy. "Whatever…"
Jogging up the shrine steps she stopped at the top to catch her breath, and after her chest loosened continued on into the screen pausing briefly to watch Yoshi hop around in the rain. "Ashi- sama you're back!" Smiling at the fire children she nodded.
"Yep. Say do you two know where Tomoe is I need to ask him something about a funny mark on my arm?" Onikiri nodded pointing towards the back of the shrine.
"Tomoe-dono is getting his hair cut." Dropping her bag the deity dashed away throwing open the shoji door with more force than needed.
"Stop! Don't cut it!" Completely ignoring the compromising scene in front of her Ashi gave a pitiful cry falling to her knees beside the three demons reaching out to pick up some of the moon kissed hair on the ground. "Nooo…. Oh hair how I will miss thee." Raising an eyebrow Tomoe pushed the raccoon dog away.
"What are you doing?" Sniffing more for effect than anything the goddess looked up pouting.
"Mourning your hair." Gathering it all she hugged it to her chest before standing and walking back inside. Knowing the Tanuki girls would leave when he lost interest in them the kitsune followed the teen back into the temple.
"Why are you mourning my hair? It gets in the way during my chores." Turning a corner with a huff she continued on pretending the fox wasn't following her. Stopping in front of the trash can she sighed, dropping it all. "Ashi?"
"May you rest in peace beautiful silver hair, I shall never love again." Giving a mock salute she wiped her eye. Tomoe snarled seeing a faintly glowing mark that wrapped around her arm from wrist to elbow. Jerking her hand towards him his claws lengthened pricking her skin. And when he finally regained enough sense to talk it was more growl than anything else.
"Why do you have a Hebi mating mark?" Gulping she tried to back away only for him to tighten his grip pulling her closer.
"A what? I haven't been around any demons today." Catching her chin with his other hand he guided her face up at stare into her eyes.
"Now is a time to be absolutely honest Ashi. Where did you get the mark?" Each word was pronounced slowly and with a promise of death to whoever was responsible.
Yay another chapter. I'm sorry it probably sucks I have good writing days and bad ones.