Here we are Chapter 8 of rebirth, and wow the last chapter was definitely a hitter, but besides that I am going to let you know that things will ride on the lighter side for a good bit as we swing into the next arc after this with deep blood as the main duo reforge their bond.

5ad0wHand: Sadist author eh, do list off the things from chapter 7 that warrant that:)

Kurt930: glad you liked the last chapter, I wanted the memory loss to have a lot of weight to it.

Godzillahero3: Interesting idea, that is if I bring a Nasu character in as a servant cause with Tamamo she is fully alive so the cycle of dreams won't apply.

Index/Fate belong to Kamachi and Nasu respectively. Onto the story.

Chapter 8: A New Beginning

'Are you not afraid of the fact that I'm not human?'

'Is this punishment?'

'Why would I be afraid of you…'

'Is this what I deserve?'

'No matter what happens I can never forget about you!'

"Hello…"

'I'm just as glad to spend time with you like the old days, they are memories I'll treasure forever.'

"Hey are you alright?!"

'I'm afraid Kamijou has lost his memories.'

'Why did it have to be like this?'

'No, I don't remember you, I'm sorry."

"Hey wake up!!"

Tamamo was jolted awake by a voice calling to her, she didn't know how long she was out for, however that didn't change her current mood one bit.

Her vision was hazy as she slowly got up from the spot she was at and set herself in a sitting position, her vision began to clear as she could just make out the shape of someone, it looked like a girl, after a bit things became more clear she got a better look at the person before her, she looked around middle school age, had black hair that went to her upper back, a flower clip pinned on the side of her head, a white sailor style uniform shirt, a black skirt that went just passed her knees, white knee high leggings and brown shoes.

"Oh thank goodness you seem to be ok, wait you look really sad like you were crying." The girl said.

Tamamo didn't say anything, she was just too dejected to do so, the concerned girl looked even more worried, so she offered a hand to her wanting to help her up.

"My name is Ruiko Saten, it's nice to meet you what's your name?" Ruiko asked introducing herself.

Tamamo gently took it as Ruiko helped pull her to her feet, she stumbled a bit but found her balance quickly.

"My name is Tamamo Koyanskaya." Tamamo said in a quiet tone.

"Are you ok Ms. Koyanskaya? I've never seen someone look so heartbroken before." Ruiko said gently.

"I…I don't feel like explaining, it's too personal." Tamamo responded.

"I see, well I won't pry, but if you need someone to talk too I can lend an ear if you want." Ruiko offered.

Tamamo didn't respond to that statement, she never really opened up to anyone outside of Touma, she knew he would always comfort her when she needed to get something off her chest, then it hit her the fact that before Touma lost his memories he was still not knowing of anything about her, she never worked up the courage to lay out everything to him even with their deep bond of friendship, and now she was an absolute stranger to him, it hurt so much.

"Hey you're crying! Ms. Koyanskaya what happened?! You look like you could really use someone to talk to."

Tamamo started wiping her eyes but her crying didn't stop, utter depression rooted itself in the deep reaches of her mind, she couldn't think clearly, she just barely noticed Ruiko take her hand and began walking in a random direction.

"I know a good spot to make things more comfortable for you, I can't just stand by and let you despair out here in the city streets."

Eventually the duo sat down at a park bench next to a snow cone vendor, Ruiko bought a snow cone for Tamamo and herself.

"Thank you Ruiko." Tamamo said.

"No problem, so let's have a bit of a chat, I know we just met but you can count on me to try and mitigate some of the pain you're feeling, oh by the way I hope you like strawberry."

Tamamo began to start on her snow cone, it was good, a sweet strawberry flavor, she was mulling over Ruiko's words, she seemed really nice and was willing to help cheer Tamamo up, it reminded her of the kind heart of Touma a bit, maybe she could open up just a little bit.

"How about this, let's get to know each other better, what would you like to know about me?" Ruiko asked trying to break the ice.

Tamamo thought over any questions she could ask her and eventually spoke.

"Are you an esper Ruiko?"

"Yep, though sadly I'm a level zero, I don't have any special power or anything like my friends do, heck one of them is just a level 1, more than I can ever reach, however that didn't stop any of us from forming a tight knit friendship I could never trade for the world, and they've helped me on more then one occasion." Ruiko said with a joyful expression on her face.

"I know someone whose also a level zero, though he is a rather strange one I will say." Tamamo said with a ghost of a smile.

"Oh really?! Is he a close friend of yours or is he your boyfriend?" Ruiko asked sounding sly towards the end.

Tamamo lightly blushed at the boyfriend comment but responded to her question nonetheless.

"I've known him for a long time, he's someone very precious to me." Tamamo stated, as her eyes glistened ready to emit more tears.

Saten noticed this and felt she was hitting a key point, and immediately began to take advantage of the moment to reach the root of it.

"Did anything happen between the two of you? From what I'm hearing you two have a special bond, so if it's anything to do with that, he didn't hurt you recently right?!" Saten asked feeling worried for Tamamo's emotional and physical safety.

Tamamo only proceeded to giggle lightly at that question.

"No Ruiko, Touma would never hurt me, he's of the most kind hearted person I've ever known."

"So his names Touma eh? Well if he would never do you harm then did something happen to him?" Ruiko asked gently.

Tamamo became crestfallen, she couldn't just explain the whole of what happened to Ruiko, she wouldn't understand and the knowledge was dangerous of itself, so she gave a summary of recent events that left all detail ambiguous, she then dropped a question onto the middle schooler.

"Ruiko, how would you feel if someone precious to you ended up loosing all their memories of you?" Tamamo said softly.

Ruiko's eyes went wide and her expression turned solemn, guess this was deeper then she expected.

"If that was the case, I guess I would be sad myself, but I know that despite that I can just make new memories with that precious someone." Ruiko said.

"New memories." Tamamo parroted those words.

"Yeah, I mean he is still up and kicking right so it's not the end of the world." Ruiko reassured.

Tamamo was running her words through her head but the ache in her heart wasn't leaving, the idea of making new memories with Touma was appealing but she had to think about the fact that he had basically been reborn as of today, would he be different to how he was before, he didn't freak out when she revealed her fox features to him which was good, however she still took her secrets into account and needless to say the old fear of him hating or being scared of her doubled in its mental attack, she began to shake.

"Ms. Koyanskaya?" Ruiko called to her in concern.

"If…despite the fact that you had a strong bond with your precious someone, yet you kept them in the dark about things regarding your past out of fear…before that someone…became…a blank…slate." Tamamo began to sniffle again as once more tears began to fall from her eyes.

Ruiko was speechless, this was worse then she expected, she had to tread lightly now as she began to see just how emotionally damaged Ms. Koyanskaya actually was.

"A, hey I'm sorry if I ended up hitting sore spot, I didn't think this was that bad, now I feel like I only opened the wound up further."

"No, it's not your fault you were only trying to make me feel better, I appreciate it, really I do, I just…"

"Hey, look I believe that you just need to reforge the bond you share once more, and when you finally work up the courage then tell him what needs to be said then see what goes from there, it seems you two cared about one another greatly, I'm sure he won't feel betrayed." Ruiko stated.

Tamamo considered her words a bit, she thought about the times Touma told her he would always listen to her problems, maybe his nature never changed, but the only way to find out was to confront him directly, only then can she know for sure.

"You want me to walk with you back to your home Ms. Koyanskaya?" Ruiko offered.

Tamamo gave a light nod to Ruiko as the two of them walked their way to the dorm she stayed at, it should be fixed by now.

As they walked Tamamo indulged in idol chatter with Ruiko, she was a pleasant girl to talk too as she explained one of her ventures with her friends like the level upper incident, Tamamo found herself interested in the concept of a monster made from collective AIM fields.

Eventually the two of them made it too the dorm Tamamo stayed at with Touma and bid her new friend goodbye, she then tapped her ID card to the auto lock system and opened the door, no one was inside meaning Touma wasn't let out of the hospital just yet.

Feeling drained she sprawled herself out on the bed with her left arm over her forehead as she soaked in some much needed peace and quiet.

'I gotta say, I've never seen you look so broken before OG, not even being betrayed and killed by the humans when you were courtesan to Toba rung you out this bad.' Cat voiced.

'You seem to be the more talkative of the other 7 towards me Cat.' Tamamo responded.

'Well I am one of the more reasonable ones, and I carry the aspect of your sincerity, though from recent events that could really use an overhaul.'

'Are you trying to be my therapist or are you just looking to insult me? Cause I will tell you now I'm not having it.' Tamamo voiced her hostility.

'Lighten up a sec, I'm not not trying to insult you, just making a point, and besides I actually feel really bad for you, believe or not Vitch actually seemed to pity you a bit.'

'Yeah I don't believe it. Vitch? Showing pity? Next thing you know she and her counterparts actually find out how it feels to fall in love.' Tamamo spat.

'I would actually eat my own tail if that turned out to be the case, but for some reason I can't seem to see it as an impossibility, I mean get this, have you noticed Amaterasu seems to act a bit more, subdued lately, normally she is all high and mighty ego, and won't hesitate to incinerate a lower being from boredom alone, but after she met that spiky cutie face to face she seemed a bit off, like something actually humbled her.' Cat stated.

Tamamo couldn't make heads or tails of this, it just didn't sound like something that could happen, so many things going on in this new wacky life of hers, she needed to try and make sense of it all.

'Sudden unlikely personality changes aside it's just been so difficult, I can only imagine this is what I get for hiding from telling Touma all he deserved to know, I'm the worst.' Tamamo responded dejectedly as she got up and went to the kitchen to get herself some water.

'Now you're starting to make me depressed, you should heed that Saten girl's words and just re bond with Touma, it shouldn't be to hard.' Cat stated.

'Hm, you may have a point Cat, alright, now leave me be, I need time to think.'

'Ok, just take it easy.' Cat responded.

Tamamo was then left with calm quiet as she collected her thoughts, she had a lot that she needed to work out.

'Hey OG?' Cat called once more.

'*Sigh*…What is it Cat?' Tamamo asked in annoyance.

'Remember when you were utterly drunk from 3 days of downing sake?'

'I wish I didn't, why?'

'Well not only were you hit hard by what Amaterasu pulled but so were the rest of the members of the 9.'

'Collective spill over, I'm not surprised.' Tamamo said with an eye roll.

'Apparently Vitch, Koyanskaya of the Light and Koyanskaya of the Darkness had a drunken three way that time.'

'PFFFFFFT!!!' Tamamo was in the midst of drinking her water when she heard that.

'Huh?!'

'I know right it was crazy, the rest of us couldn't help but watch for some reason, it's one thing to love yourself it's another to make love to yourself, you know now that I think about it we are all versions of ourselves so would that mean we watched ourselves fuck or…'

'CAT!! WHY THE FUCK IS THIS A CONVERSATION?!!!!!!' Tamamo snapped.

'I'm bored!!' Cat yelled back.

'So why tell me this out of boredom?!'

'Cause fuck you that's why!!"

Later:

Tamamo was sound asleep when she was roused by the sound of the door beginning to open, she got out of bed and fixed herself up a little when the door fully opened to reveal Touma Kamijou, only he wasn't alone, Behind him was the young nun Index who followed him inside, and they both paused when they noticed Tamamo standing before them as Touma's eyes went wide.

"Hey Tamamo!" Index greeted happily.

Tamamo didn't respond as she was to busy staring at Touma who stared back, neither side saying a word to each other to Index's confusion.

"Index." Tamamo called to the nun.

"Yes?"

"Could you step out for a moment, give us some privacy."

Index only nodded and stepped out leaving the two oldest occupants alone, no words were spoken for a bit but as if thinking on the same wavelength they both got comfy by sitting on the edge of the bed, and finally Touma broke the silence.

"Um…I guess since you know me I don't have to introduce myself, but, what's your name if I may ask?" Touma started nervously.

"My name is Tamamo no Mae, though my card has me registered with the last name Koyanskaya." Tamamo said.

"Tamamo no Mae." Touma whispered, he then noticed her fox features.

"Are your ears and tail real?" He followed up.

Tamamo noticed a bit of deja vu, as well as the tone in his question, it was innocent, it reminded her of her of the day they first met, it brought a small smile to her face as she presented her tail to Touma who looked surprised.

"Are you sure?" He asked hesitant.

Tamamo gave a silent nod as Touma reached his hand and began petting her tail, like before he was gentle and put a lot of care into every stroke, he was so transfixed he didn't know he had the goofiest smile on his face, he eventually noticed Tamamo staring at him with a bit of pink dusting her cheeks as she gave him a smile laced with a bit of affection, he immediately looked away with a small blush of his own but he didn't know why, he then looked back at her as he intended to continue the conversation with her.

"I know you have many questions, I promise you I will answer them Touma." Tamamo said.

"The only one I have to ask is this, who am I to you?"

Upon being asked that question Tamamo became sullen as she let those words resonate in her head, she loved Touma greatly but it's not like she could bring herself to put it out there to him as things are, so she had to put those feelings aside for the time being and answered him.

"You're someone very precious to me who I've known a long time." Tamamo said with a small smile.

Touma was quiet as he digested the words, but the fact that he was someone precious to her gave him an odd feeling of happiness but he didn't know why.

"If it's not to much to ask, can you tell me about our history together, what the old me was like." Touma asked.

Tamamo tilted her head slightly at the question before she started giggling to Touma's confusion, but she indulges him.

"Honestly you don't seem that different from the you prior to your memory loss, you still seem like the kind hearted man I always knew, and seeing that alone warms this fox's heart." Tamamo said as she sported a beautiful big smile that showed her adorable canine teeth.

Ba bump

Touma felt a thump in his chest seeing that smile, and it would be burned into his memory forever as he really noticed just how gorgeous Tamamo is, and while his mind may not remember her, the deep recesses of his heart certainly did.

"Well…I think it's safe to say it's nice to officially meet you again Tamamo." Touma said as he stood up and offered a hand shake.

It bugged Tamamo of the fact that she no longer was being called by her shorter nickname but that was something to earn back in due time, so she stood up and took Touma's hand as the two shook formally igniting a renewed friendship, it was then that Tamamo noticed the chain around his neck, Touma noticed and pulled out none other then the fox necklace Tamamo gave him 10 years ago, the only proof of the close bond the two once had that she continued to hold close to her heart, and from the remains of the old one a new one would be forged to carry on the legacy of it.

A knock would be heard from the door as the two were so distracted they almost forgot the third party to their home.

"Guys can I come in yet?" Index called.

"Alright Index, well Tamamo, do you think it's fine if Index stays here?" Touma asked.

"I may need an explanation on what is going on but I'm fine with it, Index is nice, um does she know about your memory loss?"

"She doesn't, I had to lie to her just so I wouldn't see her sad like at the hospital."

Tamamo flicked him on the head to his confusion before speaking.

"You can't hide it forever, your gonna have to tell her eventually among others, especially your parents." Tamamo reprimanded, but she then realized the hypocrisy of her statement as she still had things she hid from him and felt awful, but she didn't show it.

Touma had an unsure look on his face, he hated seeing someone sad, like Index and especially from seeing the pain Tamamo held, but at the end of all she was right, but it was still going to be a long difficult road.

"We should let Index in now before she gets antsy, then I'll explain what's going on, it's a strange situation." Touma stated.

And so with the addition of a third person the two began to start forging on to make new memories and face whatever life had to throw their way, and as long as Touma was alive and well, Tamamo still held hope in her heart.

Somewhere off the Japanese coast:

A boat was floating out in the sea a ways away off the coast of Japan, there appeared to be divers just coming up from the water as they made their way on deck with what appeared to be undersea artifacts.

"Mark Space, sir, we managed to find some items that may hold proof of the lost continent of Mu." One of the divers gave their report.

"Excellent, make sure to stow your findings and I'll let the boss know." Mark Space responded.

"There will be know need for that, since I'm out here anyway I can just look at them personally right now."

A young blond girl around 12 years old wearing white fancy blouse, a matching skirt and leggings, and she had a wand in her hand. She wore a calculating look on her face as she walked up and began to look at the items spread about.

Her eyes then fell upon a peculiar item, what appeared to be a golden serpentine dragon necklace that looked to be in spectacular condition, the only thing she noted was it looked too recently made to be an artifact, and it seemed to be laced with a protective divine magic that kept it pristine.

"Well isn't this something, I wonder what poor sap lost this, oh well, a necklace this pretty is something I'm going to hold onto."

AN: And that does it for Chapter 8, hope you all enjoyed the read and I will see you in the next one.

Next chapter: The Fox and the Deep Blood