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 14
Such a beautiful night. The moon was full, casting its soft light down with clouds banked around the horizon. The cicadas chirped their rattling noise, calling to their kin after so long underground. The wind whistled between the branches.
"All set, let's start testing the little girl." Otohiko grinned, pulling a corked vial out of the purse slung over his shoulder. "This should work!" He chirped, and pulled the stopper free to let the dark miasma free. A cloud, dark in color, lazily floated out from the mouth of the vial under the soft light of a full moon. It stretched forward into a thin tendril, the rest of the cloud caught up a moment later and bunched up. Almost like a caterpillar. If it weren't so nasty, he would have called it cute.
Surely Mikage would forgive him for a little damage to his shrine, right? The miasma wasn't even that corrosive, but it should be strong enough to give the human trouble.
The Wind God watched on, urging the miasma to latch itself onto the Mikage grounds and taint it.
Only, it didn't get that far. A branch from one of the thicker trees waved in a way that wasn't with the breeze, and purified the miasma to something more neutral before it was released. He hadn't expected that, blinking blankly at what was supposed to be his test for the little girl.
Otohiko also didn't expect to be forcefully ejected from the shrine grounds. A supple branch, decorated with delicate cherry blossoms, wrapped around his ankle, pulling him down to the tree's trunk, then catapulting him when the tree resumed its previous position in the space of a second.
…
Well then.
Mikage never mentioned there were security measures on the shrine. Maybe he should ask his fellow God about that, just in case he was about to trip something truly violent?
Nanami was finally lucid enough for Mizuki to let her slip into the past while her body recovered, and was not really sure of what she had just been dropped into.
She was at the entrance to the shrine? Everything looked the same, from the stone stairs, to the Torii Gate, and to the shrine itself. But wait, the extra building was missing, so the Land God was sometime between when she met Choji, and her first time following a crudely drawn map to find a home of her own. That was a lot of time.
"Lady Mikage!" A voice called, followed by different shouts of surprise. She turned towards the source, and almost froze at what she saw. Almost, because tripping over her two left feet didn't count. It was her kind of luck she toppled towards the stairs.
Hands stopped her, and she looked up to familiar round glasses and platinum blond hair.
Oh.
Oh.
Onikiri and Kotetsu hovered over Mikage's shoulders, exactly the way she had seen them that morning. Something clicked in her head, and Nanami wasn't sure if she wanted to be right or not.
"Choji?" She asked hesitantly.
"Yes?" A very well matured Choji answered. What was up with her luck that all the men around her were really attractive?! "Though I admit to using your name around visitors. Sorry I didn't ask first, but it just kinda happened." He admitted with a shrug of a shoulder.
Nanami was tugged back to her feet, and she couldn't help the commiserating laughter that bubbled up her throat. "Yeah, that tends to happen." She glanced up at him again, this time noticing the faint glow around him. Nanami didn't want to know when Choji attained Godhood, so she didn't comment. Instead, she leaned in with a grin. "So, how are Onikiri and Kotetsu behaving?"
There were two offended shouts coming from inside the tiny shrine, and the two shared a grin.
"They're doing fine. How did you know their names?" Choji, and also -most likely- the same Mikage who gave her the Land God Mark and showed her the way to her home. This was going to get confusing, Nanami decided right off the bat.
She smiled, not showing her thoughts on her face. "They told me."
Choji's confused face when he asked, "They did? When?" almost had her explaining the whole time traveling thing. Almost.
Nanami didn't know how telling Choji the future would affect the past. What if something she did altered her present to the point that she never became the Land God? How would that affect everyone at the shrine in her time?
Choji probably saw something in her expression, and leaned back with a soft smile and a change of topic. "So, how are things for you, any romantic problems? That happens to be my specialty, you know!" He waggled his eyebrows suggestively, and Nanami giggled.
"Well," she trailed off, not sure how to word it, or if she even should. Why not? It wasn't like she could ask others back home how to handle her feelings. "There's this guy…"
Choji hummed around the lip of his cup. They had retreated inside the shrine, and the Wisps had provided tea and snacks. They tasted a little odd to Nanami, but she figured the times affected the evolution of recipes. "I think I get the situation." He took a noisy sip and sighed with a satisfied smile. "You're worried his natural Kitsune charm is affecting your feelings for him?" He waited for her to nod in confirmation. "Then you just need to think of your situation out of context. Is it logical? If so, then it's probably genuine." He pulled a ball of dango off the stick, and chewed.
Nanami, her plate already empty by the time she finished explaining, nodded along. She didn't mention that her only personal experience with romance were the novels she checked out at the school library.
"I usually recommend a kiss to see if there's a spark, but I can see how that would be a problem in your situation. You could talk to him about how you feel. -Ah, but I shouldn't push what I would do on you. You don't have to act on it, if you don't want to. Remember it's not your whole life, and no one can make you change until you're ready." He grinned at her, and she responded with a grateful smile. "Now, you mentioned something about- ah, what was the word? Flubbing? You were flubbing the steps to the Kagura dance? Care to elaborate?"
Later that night, with the supernatural starlight not nearly as grand as it would be in her time, and hours of practicing the movements of the dance, Nanami slipped out to the front of the shrine to give her thanks for all of Choji's help and support. She tossed in a couple hundred yen (inwardly hoping they weren't too different from the standard of the time, but still wanting to give something back for the kindness she had been given), clapped, and prayed her thanks and appreciation.
She got a warm smile when she returned inside, but outside of that, the residents of the Mikage Shrine didn't comment.
Choji -Mikage- was very kind.
The next morning started out wonderfully with Lady Mikage insisting on cooking breakfast, and it all tasted delicious, all the way to the roasted fish. He had been worried, since her hands were wrapped to the tips of her fingers with white bandage, but as he watched her move deftly around the kitchen, chopping a cucumber into wafer-thin portions and maneuvering the pan without a flinch, he felt relieved. She looked much better than the day before, her shoulders were no longer hunched around her neck like she was bracing for something, and Choji was glad that he could help the person who freely gave him sanctuary, just because he needed it.
He learned that she was a Land God- who knew that they could wander from their shrine grounds?- from the two Wisps once they materialized. He learned much more from them, about the other, about the demons and how to deal with them, of the Kings and Queens of the surrounding territories and the proper ways to interact with them.
Then a town sprouted near the base of the mountain, and people started to trek up the steep slope for guidance or luck or thanks, and he barely noticed his own ascension into Godhood.
That was when he noticed a tiny seed of power that didn't belong to him; the mark of a Land God.
No wonder Otohiko had misunderstood in their first (and very memorable) meeting. Choji was a Matchmaking God, but the mark was closer to the surface, so that was what the Wind God saw. Otohiko never did believe him when he tried to clear up the misunderstanding.
Choji had nudged at the seed a couple times after he realized its existence, curious to see what abilities it would give him, but the mark never unfurled for him. He didn't know exactly when Lady Mikage had given him the mark, or how she managed it with the light still bright on her forehead. But he had a few ideas that he was hesitant to verbalize in case it was true.
After the filling breakfast, he insisted on relaxing for a bit before returning to practice. It wouldn't do for Lady Mikage to get nauseous by exercising with a full stomach.
He watched as she rung invisible bells, her opposite arm low for contrast. The stances were clean and graceful, and it was clear that she knew them well. The problem came during the transitio- a tumbling crash brought Choji back to the moment to see Lady Mikage groaning in a heap on the ground.
Just as well that they weren't using the bells, he had a feeling that they wouldn't survive practice unscathed.
The Matchmaking God opened his mouth to explain that locking her knees wasn't the way to make that spin, when a desperate shout from outside cut him off.
"Mikage! Help! A demon! A demon's attacking the town!"
Well, there went his morning.
Choji slid back on the ground, curled forward to keep his balance, and his fan smoking from the damage it just deflected. He panted, struggling for breath. A glance to his side revealed that Lady Mikage was worse off than he was. With a hand braced on the ground, and the bells chiming where they landed a distance away, she was clutching her side.
He only had that much time before the Tsuchigumo was upon them again. A clawed hand slammed into the ground between them, throwing up dust and debris. He heard Lady Mikage yelp in surprise, but Choji couldn't see anything through the cloud of dust.
Choji purified the outstretched limb before it could be pulled back, only scorching the surface- to his disatisfaction. The attack only seemed to make the spider demon angrier, and even more miasma poured out of its mouth.
The Matchmaking God knew he would be alright, and so would Lady Mikage, but the villagers and their crops wouldn't be so lucky.
If they could seal it away, and bring it back to the shrine, the demon would slowly be weakened by the ambient purity. Only problem was they had to weaken it first. Choji huffed a laugh despite the situation.
Easier said than done.
"Right." He heard Lady Mikage whisper from behind him, followed soon by a chime of the bells.
Purity followed on the heels of the sound, and the feeling washed over Choji like a cool breeze on a hot and humid day. A second chime pushed the miasma further back from his senses.
Choji looked around, the dust was settling, and he was almost surprised that the grass beneath his feet was rejuvenated from its dead state. The villagers were stumbling into the dome of purity, hacking and coughing through the fabrics over their mouths, and healed within seconds.
Everything seemed to pause, like the world was holding its breath, waiting to see what would happen next.
Another chime, and now that he could see, Choji watched as an ark of purity flew from Lady Mikage's movement towards the Tsuchigumo. It staggered back from the attack, clicking and hissing with its many hands scrabbling over the injury across its body.
The bells chimed more quickly, like the tempo to the silent song increased.
Wait, the song wasn't as silent as he had thought. It was also a bit strange to his ears, like it was slightly out of tune. Then Choji realized that it was humming- that it was Lady Mikage humming with her eyes closed in concentration, and he couldn't look away. She hadn't danced like this earlier that morning, what changed?
He felt like he was in a trance, mesmerized, and he watched her make the turn that had been tripping her up since the night before with pride pounding in his chest. Right up until her knees locked up, and she fell over again, and the spell was broken. The protective dome of purity wavered under the Tsuchigumo's miasma, and collapsed.
Choji knew he had to pick up the slack, at least until Lady Mikage had her feet under her again. He hoped that would happen soon, as he unleashed a swarm of butterflies to distract the demon as he flared his presence wide to keep the miasma from the villagers. He was a Matchmaking God, and his skills laid outside of battle.
"Onikiri! Kotetsu! A chest!" He called out to the Wisps he knew were waiting in the wings. It was always easier to seal demons away when he didn't have to split his attention with fighting and creating a suitable container. He didn't have the luxury this time.
The Tsuchigumo was fast, and it caught his butterflies in a web that hadn't existed a moment earlier. That wasn't good; his best offense was useless, and his other attacks barely scratched the demon's tough exterior.
"Are you okay?" Choji asked without looking away from the demon. It didn't move very often, but when it did, it struck like lightning. He could see from the corner of his eye Lady Mikage nodding with a straight back, and already he could feel the purity she was exuding in their bubble of safety. Good she was centered again. "You were doing really well until that turn. Don't tense up your knees when you pivot on the ball of your foot." He could sense the Wisps returning along with a tiny blip that he recognized as the seals he had traded for at the last Summit. Lady Mikage nodded again from the edge of his vision, and he let her take center stage.
He had to prepare the sealing of a much stronger demon, and his energy was already flagging after projecting his aura out over such a large area. Something to practice in the future.
Choji didn't let himself get distracted when the chimes started, or by the following sounds of pain from the Tsuchigumo. He had his own task, and he had to be ready when the opportunity showed itself.
Later, much later, Choji led a half-asleep Mikage around the battlegrounds. If either looked back, they would have seen their path glowing brightly in the tall grass. He felt a bit strange, funneling Lady Mikage's energy into the ground. The hand guiding the Land God tingled and prickled, like a strange mix of lightning and pins and needles. If she couldn't purify the area of the remaining miasma, then the duty fell to him.
Which would have been done much sooner if the Land God hadn't insisted on doing the job herself despite the drain on her reserves and her lack of knowledge.
He smiled down at her, feeling a full feeling in his chest when he recalled how she had finally managed a perfect Kagura dance at the end. The performance was beautiful even if he hadn't been watching. Her glowing silhouette moved gracefully every time he closed his eyes during the battle. It was hard to stay focused. He had helped her, she had taken his advice to heart, and she did well. Better than well.
They completed their circuit, an awkward shape for sure, but there weren't any nearby eyes that could judge. He had to tug a little at the golden path, just to make sure it finished its job. It spread inwards easily even though a majority of the purity came from someone else, and the area was cleansed.
Which meant it was time for rest and recuperation. And the next day could be for partying!
Tomoe didn't know what he was doing back at the shrine so soon. He didn't know why he had visited so early. His body had moved without his noticing, and he was there after a long night of drinking and lazing about. The fox debated turning on his heel and leaving, but something in him didn't want to go.
"Tomoe?" He glanced over to see the idiot land on his conjured snake. Mizuki looked pitiful, and it was obvious that he had been crying. "I'm going to be in big trouble, can you help me?"
Tomoe sighed. The Familiar was always in trouble, taking on too many tasks in the shrine, and never able to complete any of them. And the snake was still shocked when he was scolded time and time again. "What is it this time?" He asked, suddenly tired even though he hadn't done anything strenuous all night.
Mizuki mumbled something under his breath, and the fox demon felt his ear twitch. "Come again."
"I spent all of Lady Nanami's money."
Tomoe blinked. At first, he was sure he heard wrong. Logic stated that that was impossible unless the Familiar got his hands on Nanami's bank account information. "All of it? Really?"
The snake nodded tearfully, showing the sake bottle that Nanami used to store the spare change. It was empty, and Tomoe smothered the urge to grin. Mizuki looked so distressed, he looked like he was going to cry. "We won't be able to go to aquariums- or buy food from stalls- or buy headphones- or ride in taxis- or- or-"
"What did you spend it on?" Tomoe cut him off. He didn't want to listen to panicked rambling for the rest of the day, even if it was amusing how the snake only listed frivolous things. Mizuki shrunk into himself, and something shined from his pocket. He snatched it while the Familiar radiated guilt, and stared. A… sticker?
It was suddenly not in his hand anymore, and he saw Mizuki clutching at it like it was something priceless. Oh no. "All of it for that?" He asked, even though he knew the answer.
Mizuki got scammed.
Tomoe didn't bother waiting for a response, or holding back the laughter bubbling up from his stomach. Mizuki was shouting something, but he didn't care. That had to be one of the funniest things he had seen in a long while. He hunched over, clutching his sides. When was the last time he laughed? When was the last time he had been comfortable enough to do so? Gasping for breath, Tomoe straightened. His stomach hurt from laughing, and his cheeks from smiling. Mizuki seemed aware of just how badly he had been tricked, and if there was one thing Tomoe could appreciate, it would be a trick.
They shared a moment staring at the other, and what started as commiserating smiles changed to chuckles then laughter.
"I guess you're not too bad." Mizuki admitted around a saucer of sake. He had run off to get a few bottles during one of the calmer moments.
"And you might have a reason for being so inept in this age." Tomoe shared. Really, had no one noticed that Mizuki had insulated himself from the world in his bubble of make-believe for centuries? Nanami, maybe. Still, "You won't have that excuse for long, hurry up and learn before you really cause problems for the shrine instead of spending one of the caches of spare change Nanami has floating around."
Mizuki gaped at him, then understanding flooded his expression followed quickly by anger. "You knew?! I've been freaking out since yesterday afternoon, and you let me think I spent all of Lady Nanami's money?! You complete and total as-"
"Your handwriting's gotten worse" Nanami looked up from the White Talisman she was rushing to finish to see Tomoe lifting a finished one precariously between his fingers like its existence offended him. It would have looked like illegible scribbles if she didn't remember writing 'Road Safety' on it a few minutes previous. A check on the one she was working on showed it was turning out to be the same.
The Land God sighed, putting down her brush. The festival was in two days, and her illness had set her back from making charms and talismans. The rush to have everything ready made everything around her feel like it was a blur. At least this batch was meant to become Omamori, so the appearance wouldn't matter as long as they worked. "Sorry." She considered the fox, who rolled his eyes, and splayed out on the floor. Nanami picked up the brush, and continued to make as many talismans as possible before Ethan spirited her away for lessons.
The silence stretched comfortably after that, and Nanami settled lower into her position, like she had released a tension she didn't know of before it was gone. The merry bonfire against her side a constant in the rush and blur of the preparations.
There was one day left before the festival, and it felt like the only one scrambling was Nanami. Even Mizuki was taking it slow after he had examined all of the wares he was in charge of selling. Though Ethan had a feeling that the demon's level-headedness came more from the bottom of a bottle than any confidence in his ability. The beings that had been sent by the King of Dragons (seriously, how was this his life?) were putting the finishing touches on the stalls and moving onwards to stringing up the lights, starting at the base of the stairs and going up. Tomoe had magicked up a performance stage in the time it took the human to get himself a drink. The Wisps were trailing after Nanami, folding or tucking talismans into their final forms. The twins and himself had been set to carry the goods from storage to be shown in the stalls the next day.
He bumped into one of the chests as he reached for one of the higher boxes, and the ornamental thing wobbled before falling to the ground. Ethan held back a curse, unsure if doing so in the shrine grounds would have repercussions. He picked it up gently, frowning at the scuffed sides.
The Italian debated showing it to Nanami to make sure he hadn't broken something priceless. On one hand, she should know. On the other, she was swamped catching up after finally getting over that fever.
In the end, Ethan decided to wait until after the festival to bring it up. What was the worst that could happen? He lifted the chest back to its place, and carried out another box of merchandise.
Two more days until things went back to normal. He couldn't wait.
Nanami was pulling her hair up into an elaborate bun when she felt it. The sensation of something as soft as a cloud blurring past her elbow, the cool touch of rocks worn smooth on the bottom of her feet, herbs recently cut wafted to her nose. It was a demon, certainly, and it was a strong one for how clear she could identify the sense of their presence. They felt different, but she remembered meeting them just the other day.
Outside, the Land God's eyes landed on one of the few visitors wandering between the empty stalls. The man had his hair pulled back into something messy. He turned, and Nanami stared back at a face she didn't know with clouds at her sides and stones under her feet.
"Did you receive the gift I left you?" The demon asked like it was a greeting, pairing the question with a shallow bow. His eyes gave away a humor like he was the only one privy to the end of a joke. His smile looked kind, but it reminded Nanami of the form hidden behind the shape of a human. "Lady Mikage?"
OMAKE
"Honestly, Mikage." Otohiko simpered, rolling about on his cloud to get his fellow God's attention. "Why didn't you tell me that your shrine's defenses were so brutal?" Usually, shrines prevented entry to anyone with hostile intent; those who got inside would be ejected by an invisible force, and that was that. That he had been ejected by a tree -A TREE!- meant that the power imbued into the land was potent enough to spread into the plant life. The Land God had done that, and Otohiko was personally insulted that some human was faking at Godhood, when the position belonged to Mikage.
The platinum blond hummed, his round glasses (that he knew he didn't need) flashed in the sunlight. "Really? I haven't ever seen them react strongly to anything before." There was a pause, the silence filled with birds crying overhead and the crashing of the waves nearby. "What did you do?"
"What did I do?" Otohiko pressed a hand to his chest, and brought out his most innocent look. "What makes you think I did anything?"
Mikage's blank look showed just how unimpressed he was with the act.
The Wind God pouted. "I wanted to test the girl." He admitted grudgingly. "And I had this bottle of miasma-"
"I'm going to stop you there." Mikage interrupted with a raised hand. "You didn't expect to get kicked out with whatever plan you had?"
"I thought it might not happen with you gone, but I didn't expect to get tossed away by a tree!" Mikage burst out laughing from his chair in the shade. Affronted, Otohiko rolled to his feet, the sand was warm between his toes, but it did nothing for his mood. "I don't have to listen to you!" He cried, and launched himself into the ocean.
After a moment, he poked his head above the surface, and blew bubbles as he glared at his friend. His friend who was still wearing that ridiculous disguise even after being invited to a trip to the beach.
Otohiko blinked, and Mikage was suddenly wearing almost nothing (if that super-thong counted as something). He scrambled out of the water for his phone, and managed a shot from behind before the Land God dived into the water.
The Wind God cuddled his phone close. Gods bless technology.
((A/N: Sorry for the wait! And a warm thank you to my Slythrin Beta along with apologies for me bugging you so often. Everybody give FuocoBaisse a round of applause!
Only one chapter left! Anyone want to guess who our mysterious character is? Care to guess how the last chapter is going to go? I'd really like to know what you guys think is happening.))