Summary:

Work smarter, work harder was a saying Nanami identifies with well. She would have to with a part time job, full time school, and juggling an irresponsible father longer than she could remember. A completely new society and culture revealed to her just because some guy kissed her forehead takes the cake. Now she is a part of this new world, and she's determined to not screw this up by rushing in like an idiot.

Kiss Kiss

Chapter 11

Nanami studied Tomoe's hands carefully as they did a weird twist at the wrist, and a flex of the fingers. She looked down at the formless blob stuck to her hands, and sighed ruefully. She could make rice cakes with ease, but a ball of rice? Apparently not.

She dunked her hands in the bowl of water -and other things Tomoe had mixed in- and brushed the rice off to try again. The Land God stared at her hands resolutely as she made another nigiri roll. Her head was bowed when she had to clean her hands off again.

"Here." She felt his presence at her back, around her shoulders, above her head. His body heat mingled with the bonfire aura he exuded, and she was sure that the heat in her face was resulting in that ugly blush she had always been bullied for. "Like this." Tomoe guided her hands to gather another portion of rice. Entranced, she watched her hands press the rice into shape, smear a speck of wasabi, cut and place a slice of tuna over it, and lay it next to Tomoe's rows of finished sushi.

Tomoe had backed away to where he had been before, already adding another tuna nigiri to the platter. Nanami took a deep breath to calm herself down. She had become hyper aware of the fox demon ever since she met him in the past, and she didn't like it. Especially when she blushed. She looked horrible when she blushed. The Land God poked at the one Tomoe helped her make.

Was it just her, or did the one made with her hands look different than the others? It almost seemed like there was a light exuding from it.

She blinked at the thought. "Tomoe?" He hummed in response. "Does this one look any different than the others?"

The fox demon did a cursory glance over it. "No. It looks fine."

Then it was just her? Or was it something only she could see? At least there was an easy way to find out. "Mizuki!" She called out to the hallway. He appeared at the doorway almost faster than the agitated pulse she felt from Tomoe's aura. "Do you have that stone I gave you the other night?" He nodded happily, pulling the small rock from his sleeve with a flourish. "Can you see if there's a difference?" She pointed at the sushi she had been looking at before.

Mizuki hummed, peering closer at it, tossing the rock in the air and catching it without looking away. "I think you're leaking, Nanami." He shot a superior look at the other demon in the room. "You've got so much power now, it's everywhere. I'm surprised you haven't noticed before. Then again, you haven't turned off whatever it is that you've got going on."

Nanami opened her mouth to retort, but Tomoe was faster. "Leaking? What do you mean, 'whatever it is you've got going on'? Explain. Now."

Nanami and Mizuki exchanged looks. Oh boy.

"There, there." Nanami patted Mizuki's head as he cried. The fox demon didn't seem to be the least bit bothered, more interested in poking his nose into everything with his new stone in hand. "I'll figure out how to make another for you, don't worry."

The Land God held back the sigh she really wanted to release. She'd been so busy lately with her shrine duties. Her studies with Ethan were taking up the rest of her free time, so her sleeping hours were the only time she had to relax. Flying over the city with Mizuki was one of the most relaxing things she had done since she became the Land God of the Mikage Shrine. She looked out the kitchen window to see the sun starting to set, and she patted herself down. Sure enough, she felt a lump near her elbow, and pulled a piece of obsidian from her sleeve.

With a deep breath, and holding the stone under her chin inside her closed hand, Nanami concentrated. It felt like something and nothing between her hands. Like, whatever it was she was trying to accomplish, was at the cusp of happening, was happening at that moment, and had already passed. She frowned, and her brow furrowed for a second and forever, then she opened her eyes to look down at the stone sitting innocently in her palm.

Did it work?

Mizuki snatched it from her hand and crowed happily. That answered that question.

She leaned back, feeling a little tired after whatever she had just done, but it passed a moment later. Her eyes automatically drifted to where she could feel comforting heat radiating out. Tomoe was watching her. She squeaked, ducking her head to hide her ugly blush behind the curtain her hair created.

The Land God felt arms wrap around her middle, and she blinked as she was spun around. "Let's go! Let's go!" Mizuki cheered, and whisked her outside and onto his conjured snake, before she could even swat him upside the head for manhandling her. They were already taking off when she was pulling back her hand. The snake demon was rubbed a spot behind his ear with a pout.

She turned when she heard an interesting sound above the whistling wind, and watched Tomoe match the snake's pace in the air on an… upside down umbrella?

Nanami shook her head. Why was she even surprised anymore? She looked down over the edge of the snake to watch the nightlife of the city come to life in the dying sunlight. She watched how the fading light merged with those different colors and added a warmth to the starlight that she didn't know why she liked. The Land God looked up to study Tomoe's face, and the way he stared unblinkingly down at the human city.

She had a feeling that Tomoe might join them on their nightly flights over the city.

Mizuki had volunteered (actually volunteered, instead of offering on the condition that she ordered him) to teach her after she watched Tomoe fly out of sight. She thought it was a great idea. If the Land God could control her own transportation, she wouldn't have to rely on the other demons. And, she inwardly hoped, she wouldn't freak out when she suddenly gained altitude.

And this was where it led to. Her standing on an umbrella. Mizuki was looking at her like he was expecting her to take off any second, but all she felt was stupidity.

She gave the umbrella a considering glance. Maybe she was going about it the wrong way? She stepped off and let it hang from her hand. She knew, from all her experience with the other , that intent controlled everything. Pure, focused, and precise intent always got the best results when she wrote her White Talismans. So that was exactly what she was going to try to accomplish here.

The hand holding the umbrella was held close to her chest, the same way she had done with the stone she had given Mizuki. The yearning of freedom. The feeling of wind breezing through her hair. The smallness she always felt when she looked down at the pinpricks of people going about their daily lives.

She felt like a second (but at the same time an eternity) had passed before her eyes -that she hadn't realized closed- opened. Instinct, or whatever was encouraging her movements, had her tossing the umbrella a little ways away so it would land upside down. It didn't make a sound as it bobbed in the air above the ground. She spun to face Mizuki. He cheered from his spot a little ways away.

Right. Now what?

She huffed a breath. Now she had to stand on it, and with her balance… This wasn't going to end well. She gathered up her courage, and lifted one foot onto the spines. It didn't break when she lifted her other foot onto it, which was a relief. And now she was stuck hovering over the ground. Nanami didn't even want to think about what a disaster dismounting was going to be.

She wanted Mizuki to be a bit closer in case she fell, but he had been adamant at the distance between them. Her hands were white from her grip on the handle to steady herself as the umbrella floated towards the snake familiar…

Wait. What?

She glanced at the ground passing below her before smiling up at Mizuki. He was holding out his arms like he was expecting a hug. He was also cheering praise, but he was speaking so fast it mostly sounded like gibberish.

It wasn't long before the umbrella bumped against Mizuki's knees and he gathered her up in his arms happily.

"Good for you Nanami! That was really impressive for your first try! Do you want to practice height next?" The snake demon asked as he lapped the shrine grounds once, twice, three times.

At the question, all Nanami could think about was falling whatever distance to the hard, unforgiving ground. "I'm not really comfortable with that. Falling could be really bad news for my body."

"Nonsense!" Mizuki chirped as he jumped up onto a branch of the plum blossom tree at the back of the shrine. "Your umbrella will catch you! See?" And he tossed her into the air.

She barely had enough time to start a scream before realizing she was standing upright. "Huh?" She looked down at her feet to see the familiar spines of her umbrella. Her hand automatically went out to hold the handle, but she was more focused on the view she was seeing by her own power. Right. Intent.

She laughed, letting the umbrella move upwards with the wind as it twisted slowly for her to look around.

"That was a horrible thing you did, by the way." She flatly informed Mizuki later. "You could have at least warned me."

"But it was more fun this way!" Was his cheeky reply, as he circled around her in the air on his conjured snake.

She didn't disagree. It wasn't the best way to find out she wouldn't have to worry about falling with her umbrella nearby, but at least she didn't have to spend too much time worrying about it. "I'm going home. I think I deserve something sweet after today." How long had they been flying? The sun was close to setting, and she had the feeling that she was forgetting something important.

So, as it turned out, she had forgotten that Himemiko was visiting that night, and she only remembered when the Queen of the Tatara Swamp greeted her, right as she was figuring out how to get off of her umbrella. Suffice to say, her landing was less than graceful.

It could have been worse, if Tomoe hadn't been around to wrap an arm under her waist, she would have face planted. Which, of course, started a fight between him and Mizuki.

Nanami sighed, but let them get it out of their system. They would fight every time her back was turned, if she stopped them. She turned to her guests, and smiled. "Sorry, they're always like this."

Himemiko nodded understandably, but Kotaro watched the small battle with a weary eye. "Shall we go then?" The Queen asked leadingly, gesturing back down the stairs.

The Land God patted herself down, making sure that she had everything in her kimono, and nodded. "Mizuki," she called, not even surprised that they hadn't stopped as she spoke, "I'm going on ahead. You're welcome to join us too, Tomoe."

Of course, her good luck had to run out sometime. She had been doing so well too.

She couldn't stop smiling at everything. The way down to Himemiko's palace was beautiful; the water was clear and the light from the full moon lit everything with an ethereal glow. And then, remembering what Mizuki had said before, she turned to see that, where she had walked, glowed. She blinked when a foot blocked her sight, and Nanami looked up to see an annoyed Tomoe. There was a flash of heat, and when he continued on, the glow was gone.

"Sorry," she murmured, trying to focus as she took another step. Checking, she turned again, and it might be glowing a little less? Maybe? Tomoe stomped onto it and extinguished the glow. The Land God wilted.

"At least I don't have to deal with those carp princesses." He spat out venomously as he followed after her.

And, of course, Mizuki found out that Tomoe had volunteered to be her partner for the moon-viewing festival somehow, and charged at the fox demon at that moment, yelling something along the lines of him having first dibs of escorting her. Or something. It was hard to tell over all the noise their battle was making.

She sighed at them, before looking away for something else to do. The Land God caught sight of Himemiko waving her closer, and she followed when the Queen of the Tatara Swamp turned a corner. She didn't turn to look back when the ruckus of the fight behind her grew, with the addition of Aotake shouting something else.

Nanami fell into step with her, and they spent some time wandering past the stalls set up for the festival.

It was rather fun to act normal. She may have cheated a little with a White Talisman beneath her clothes, which hid her status. And man, did it annoy her that, she hadn't thought of it before just then. She got a couple stones in her pocket, along with the ones that Tomoe and Mizuki had, and commissioned them into a few different bracelets. Himemiko had noticed her eyes lingering on a simple pocket mirror, and bought it for her. For helping to bring them -her and Kotaro- together.

Nanami was determined that she would repay her for the round mirror, but for now she would give in.

Then Kotaro finished whatever errands he had to do and walked up to them, dressed in a beautiful hakama set. She followed them through the crowd of the festival as they gravitated around each other. Nanami watched them walk away, and couldn't help but think that they made a great couple.

Then, she waved them off, not wanting to be the third wheel, and spun on her heel to go check on her commission.

And immediately bumped into someone, the moment she wasn't paying attention.

((A/N: Special thanks to FuocoBaisse on Ao3 for chatting with me and being my lovely Slytherin beta! She's put up with me bugging her quite a bit, and she's been working hard. Everyone give her a round of applause and encouragement.

So, thank you FuocoBaisse!

And we had a thought. How are Shiki eggs made? Are they found somewhere, inert then activated with a process? Are they created in a process or ceremony? If the last scenario is true, would Shiki made from different materials be different type of Shiki? would there be regional Shiki?

Share what you think, or what kind of materials/process do you think it would take to make one? Share in the comments!))