Shou was a klutz, that was for sure. Losing the jeweled pagoda not once, but twice? Now that's two more times than acceptable. The first time was fine, it was the first mistake she had ever made after all. However, people, yes even youkai, should learn from their mistakes and definitely not repeat them.

"Do you hear me Shou?" Nazrin called out to her dejected charge. "Not one more time, you hear me?"

"Yes ma'am." The aforementioned tiger youkai replied.

"Seriously, what would you do without me?" It was true, Nazrin's ability made her the perfect person to find any and all lost items. She had to have a complete image of the item in her mind however, for her ability to actually work. Thankfully, she had become rather familiar with it over the millennia that she had served its master.

Said master was still utterly useless without her though. At first, Nazrin was apprehensive about keeping watch over some youkai, even if Bishamonten himself was the one that chose her, but then the mouse youkai gradually warmed to the tiger, mostly because of Shou's gentleness and the passion she hid within herself. A passion reserved for protecting and serving the ones she loved. Nazrin remembered thinking 'What a beautiful conviction.' And wanting to somehow be one of those people that Shou cared for.

Being the servant of a god is not easy, sure Nazrin loved her job, the prestige that came with it, and Bishamonten himself, but did her god really care for her at all? She had devoted much of her life to her deity but had he even noticed her? Servants are expected to stay loyal to their master but was that really true the other way around?

"Ah!" Nazrin squeaked "I think I found it! Around, here?" She found the spot where the pagoda was! Except it's not here? The only thing under the rods was a patch of grass and a small puddle. Well, weirder things happen in Gensokyo, so.

"Um, Naz, are you sure it's here?" The tiger half-inquired, half-complained. "It doesn't look like anything's here."

"Yes I'm sure, are you doubting me?" Nazrin just stared down at her considerably taller partner, so really it should be 'stared up at' instead.

"No, I trust you, it just means that we have to dig or something." The avatar of bishamonten fell to her knees and started digging on he ground. What a sorry sight.

"I guess we do." Nazrin followed suit. "You owe me dinner after this or something."

"Ah, you don't have to help Naz," Shou just looked over her longtime friend and closest confidant. "I made a mistake, you helping me find the pagoda is enough, you don't need to help me dig too."

Ah. Shou was remorseful. Maybe a bit too remorseful. "Just because you made a mistake doesn't mean I'm mad, you know," Nazrin was starting to feel bad. "I'm just a bit annoyed that you lost it is all, feels like I'm raising an overgrown child."

Nazrin pat Shou's head, which was a bit awkward given the height difference. "But I'm not totally averse to that, it makes me feel like a grown up sometimes."

"Naz…" Shou started to tear up before throwing herself at the little mouse youkai. "Thanks, Naz, I know you have my back."

That was true. More than anything, it was her job. She was supposed to keep watch over the tiger youkai to make sure she ended up being a proper avatar of Bishamonten, and was assign this post by Bishamonten herself. At first, all she had cared about was the fact that she managed to get a personal assignment from her god, and took the chance to brag about it. For a few years that was all she cared about, not the job itself, but the fact that she actually received one. So for those few years, Shou was but an afterthought to her. She was glad that changed.

"Yeah, yeah, maybe kneel before me and say 'Thank you Nazrin-sama' and I'll forgive you." The mouse teased. It wasn't meant to be taken literally.

And yet Shou did just that. "Thank you Nazrin-sama!" She said while doing a dogeza.

"Pfft, yeah yeah thanks for the ego boost." Shou was such a goofball, despite the usual aura of calm maturity she exudes, she really was just like a hyperactive tiger.

"As long as I feed your ego you'll help me do whatever right?" Shou teased while starting to dig again. A cheeky tiger too apparently. Nazrin just pinched her cheek.

Their dynamic had grown from stern teacher who disciplined their rowdy house cat, to a friendlier relationship where both had each other's back. It took a few years, but eventually, Nazrin saw Shou as not just a proper master that she could serve without questioning, but also as a good friend who she could joke and play around with. Something she didn't get to experience while serving her previous master.

"Don't get ahead of yourself master, you need to keep some semblance of dignity after all. What would you have done if the others heard you bawling 'Please help me Nazrin! I can't find it!' back at the temple earlier?"

"Ehehe you're right, but I'll do anything necessary in order to find the pagoda again! Even if it means embarrassing myself. It was entrusted to me after all."

Nazrin was almost touched at her sense of responsibility. Almost. "If you embarrass yourself you embarrass Bishamonten-sama too you know."

Shou was silent for a while, but kept digging. "Oh right, I forgot about that."

Shou didn't really understand her religious duties at first, especially what being the avatar of a god entailed exactly. But she worked hard, to make Hijiri proud of the youkai she rescued, and to a lesser extent, to make Nazrin proud of her as someone who recorded her progress as well.

Nazrin sighed, but it wasn't a tired one. "You're such a ditz sometimes you know," She decided to pat Shou again. "Don't worry, as long as you're in trouble, I'll always be there to help."

"Naz~"

"But mark my words if the pagoda ever gets lost again!"

Author's Notes: I love Nazrin too. To be honest, I just love smug characters. With this one the prompt was 'treasure' so it was obvious who I was going to choose, and so I chose her. This one ended up being much shorter than the others (300 words less than the Kosuzu/Akyuu one) but I was in a hurry to finish the fic, even though I was already so late. This one also didn't have much romance in it, and I settled for the 'good friends' route and I'm pretty happy about that. I made Naz pat Shou's head cuz I thought it was cute mhehe. Does that mean I fulfilled the 'soft' prompt too?