Smoke rose to the ceiling, as the graceful woman took yet another whiff from her pipe. In the darkness, it was difficult to spot the imperfections on Tsukuyomi's being. Yet they were there. Exhausted eyes, with bags underneath them. Her hair and clothes were messy and wrinkled, an absolute contrast to her perfection she presented to the Sanjouno clan. And instead of a polite mask, she was visibly snarling as she raised her cup and downed the sake in one go. With a sigh, she shook her head, tapping the table in front of her with her pipe.
"That damn fool... "
What an utter mess. It all started innocently enough. Information from her moles, that the Sanjouno clan, and thus the Neutral Faction, had access to the temporary level ups of Haruhime. Of course she knew Hachiman. He wasn't one to make use of such an ability whatsoever. It was because of that that Tsukuyomi sent out a strict observation only order for everyone involved. While such a thing was a game changer, acting overly hasty was foolish. The amount of effort to get rid of Haruhime, lethal or non lethally aside, if something were to happen, the Storm Faction was the number one culprit. Thus, she wrote up plans, in case they were needed. That was the key word. In case. Yet her foolish hound, the Crimson Moon, wanted to taste blood. He took her half finished plans, perverted them with his own idiocy and now they were all in this mess, where she had to bow down to a lowly mortal and Amaterasu! Amaterasu, the small brat that just everybody loved! What was so good about being so warm and cuddly all the time anyway?! She had no class whatso-
"Are you certain about this?"
The voice shook her out of her own thoughts. She realized that her pipe was beginning to crack. With a deep breath, she shook her head, relaxing her clenched hands.
Ah, how unfortunate. She was about to go into a rage, thinking about that Child of the Sun. Thankfully her dear captain was here to calm her down... if only with her own nagging. As always, she hid her features completely, hidden behind her hood and veil. Not that she minded. She knew what she looked like and a part of Tsukuyomi didn't want to share that beauty with anyone. Still, she had to roll her eyes when her child stood up, indignation clear in the way her fists were at her side.
"The costs-"
"I am well aware of the costs!" Tsukuyomi snapped. The girl flinched, lowering her head. Rubbing her temples, the goddess sat back down, leaning against the wall. "But if it calms their idiotic souls, we will have to. We can't afford a frontal war. Especially not with that Dragon."
Contrary to popular belief, Tsukuyomi was not"evil". Not in the sense of Evilus. Her heartfelt belief was that chaos was not productive whatsoever. Destruction of order, ruin for ruin's sake. What absolute nonsense. While her fellow partner loved his fair share of discord, he wasn't a savage beast either. A brute yes, but even he recognized that starting a far in the Far East was counterproductive. He cared too much for his own children after all. So at the very least, for now, the balance was maintained. At the cost of a lot of money and territory that Tsukuyomi had to hand over.
She grit her teeth at the thought. Stupid mortal. So high and mighty of himself, just because he was given power the gods allowed. The Sanjouno didn't even bother pretending, instead just beating them down with all sorts of sanctions, not caring that by itself could've escalated things. She took another whiff before shaking her head with a wry smile.
"Besides... " Her eyes seemed to glow with malice as she shot her hidden captain a smile. "Selling a level four makes up for our momentary losses."
The perks of having backup plans. The fact that the Crimson Moon was a loose cannon meant taking down two birds with one stone. The losses didn't hurt as much and she got rid of that animal. Still her smile was flat. Fragile. An ugly feeling dwelled up in her heart but she tried her best to suppress it. Unfortunately, her captain had to be the voice of reason today.
"...I do not approve of this."
"He was a liability in the end. He cost us much. The least he can do is get us some money back," Tsukuyomi countered, waving her hand dismissively. Yet her captain shook her head.
"Goddess. You know about the rumors. Of what the Night Queen does." Her voice sounded haunted as she stared at the ground. "If he isn't dead by now, he'll wish he was."
Tsukuyomi bit her lip. The ugly feeling rose up again. The feeling of disgust. Perhaps even a tiny bit of guilt. Not for getting rid of the guy himself, but for making her captain look over the transfer. For making a deal with the devil. She sighed, before standing up. Gently, she patted her child's head, a wry smile on her face.
"My dear. I hate her as much as you do. The way they do things... is inhuman."
"But?"
"But giving them... products means resources. And it avoids their attention. Better to sacrifice those that deserve it then letting the hyenas invade us."
She turned around and opened up the door to the balcony. Stepping out, allowing the smoke to flush out of the room, she took in the beautiful gem that was her city. Gently lying down her pipe, she folded her hands in front of her, closing her eyes with a somber expression. As long as she kept those utter lunatics off her home, Tsukuyomi would do anything. Even if it meant damning other souls.
/
"Hmph. You certainly grew bold while I was gone."
The biscuit stopped right in front of Amaterasu's mouth, which was about to bite into it. Narrowing her eyes, she pouted before munching on her food. In front of him, a man was sitting with crossed legs, perfectly still as he seemed to mediate, with his fingertips touching. Or it was more accurate to call him a mountain of muscle. Easily dwarfing Amaterasu, his pecs strained against the black dougi he wore. His frown gained an even heavier presence with his black facial hair. A beard that surrounded the entire of his mouth, connecting to his short hair. It gave him the appearance of a bear in a way. Suffice to say, if anyone but Amaterasu would be in front of him, she'd have difficulty to breathe as he exuded a suffocating aura as he made his displeasure known.
Leader of the Neutral Faction, God of Combat, Hachiman. She huffed, shaking her head as she put her knuckles on her hips, unfazed by his presence.
"Hey, don't make it sound like it's my fault, Hachi!"
To the man's credit, his eyebrow twitched for an instance. If it weren't for her trained eye, she would've missed it entirely. Still, her smug smile disappeared when he gave her a pointed look.
"Your children were at the center of this whole mess with the Sanjouno clan."
"They were helping!" Amaterasu shouted, shooting up from her pillow seat and throwing her arms up in irritation. Sure, Ryoma acted a bit too much on his own there and Oryou went totally overboard in terms of property damage, which thankfully was paid by stuck up 'I'm older than you' Tsukuyomi. But so what? All good at the end and Haruhime had some excitement in her life instead of being an over glorified puppet of that old fart! But at her emotional outburst, Hachiman just closed his eyes, exhaling slowly as he recentered himself.
"And the kidnapping?" He asked in a neutral tone. In response, Amaterasu bristled up.
"It's called liberating! You know as much as-"
Hachiman snapped his eyes open, silencing her immediately as she pressed her lips together.
"It is none of our business. As long as she is a Sanjouno, we have our duties."
Amaterasu raised her finger, waving it a few times before deflating with a sigh, slumping down on her seat.
"Y'know, sometimes your honor bound nature is a pain," she muttered to herself. Hachiman in response nodded.
"Principles must be kept." He separated his hands and rested them on his knees. "I do agree that the head is a fool. But I do not desire to be a tyrant." He raised an eyebrow at her. "Do you?"
"Of course not," Amaterasu said immediately. She remembered all too well. Where she and the other gods arrived in this infertile land, ridden with disease. Ridden with chaos, where clans tried to murder each other for every scrap. So in the end, they supported and allowed one clan to "reign supreme", devoid of divine influence after that little push. Sometimes she wished they had chosen another clan, for the Sanjouno certainly grew arrogant with their power. Yet it was cemented already in the eyes of the people. Taking away that status was taking away the symbol of order. In the end, unless they were willing for another age of chaos, they would have to accept the power they have given them. It certainly didn't mean she had to like it though.
Suddenly rapid footsteps sounded from the outside. The two gods turned to the door that was shoved to the side, revealing a rather nervous looking cat man, ears twitching a lot.
"L-Lord Hachiman. You have a visitor... "
"Who is it?" The god asked calmly, eyes narrowed as his child gulped and tugged at his own collar.
"It's... It's Lady Haruhime."
Their eyes widened. In an instance, Hachiman snapped towards Amaterasu who immediately raised her hands, stepping back.
"Not my fault! So not my fault!"
The man sighed, holding the nose of his bridge. Then he nodded at the child, who nodded before walking off. It felt agonizing, waiting for her to arrive. But it was only a few minutes when she entered. Amaterasu's eyes widened when she spotted her entering the room, while Hachiman had his arms crossed, having patiently waiting for her.
She seemed to have better days. Dirt that would never be allowed stuck to her wrinkled kimono. There were bags under her eyes, red from her own tears. Her hair was honestly a mess, a lazily thrown together ponytail stuck to her head. Yet for some reason her smile seemed genuine. Even relaxed. It was a paradoxical appearance. Hachiman didn't show any confusion, instead bowing politely.
"Young San-"
"It's just Haruhime now."
Wide eyes met her wry smile. It wasn't forced at all. She genuinely seemed happy. Yet the pain was clear. It was only natural after all, Amaterasu thought numbly. If her words meant what she thought they meant... any child would be hurt, no matter how much they'd want to pretend otherwise.
"What... ?" The goddess muttered, unwilling to believe it. But in the end, it was the Renard who shook her head in resignation, revealing the truth at last.
"Father disowned me." A mix between a scoff and a sniff escaped her as she rubbed her eyes, wincing at the worn out skin underneath them. "To quote him, 'if you want to leave so badly, then leave'. I feel some pity for my mother, having to-
Amaterasu had heard enough. With a growl she quickly stepped towards the exit, rolling up her sleeves.
"Okay, I'll kick his damn ass and fix this! I knew Oryou went too far!"
But before she could take another foot towards the exit, Hachiman extended his arm, easily shoving her back. At the same time, Haruhime shook her head as she raised her hand.
"Please don't." She let out a shivering breath before closing her eyes. "In a way... I wanted this."
"You wanted to be disowned?" Amaterasu asked in an incredulous tone, causing her to nod.
"They never cared in the first place... This way I can actually do what I want now."
"And what is it that you want now?" Hachiman asked calmly, keeping a solid hold on Amaterasu who visibly began to steam. No child should ever say that after getting disowned! She underestimated how callous that damn family could be! But when the girl she saw grow up meekly steps forward, she exhaled the heat, trying her best to calm down in order to listen to her.
"I am weak. In body and in spirit," she muttered as she stopped in front of the gods, not meeting their eyes. "In the past, my greatest desire was to be saved. A shining hero that could take me away from my own cage." She shook her head, weakly laughing at herself. "But that's just exchanging one prison for another, isn't it? I would still remain the same. Never changing."
She took a deep breath and her hands formed into fists.
"I have decided... enough is enough." She bared her teeth before looking the divine straight in the eye, frustration filling her features as she cut the air in front of her. "A boy that wasn't blessed risked his life to protect me! The one who should've protected him!" She pointed at herself as her voice grew hoarse. "I... I'm sick of being afraid! To be a defenseless princess that needs others to guard her in a gilded cage! I can't stand by his side, if I remain like this!"
For a moment Amaterasu thought she collapsed when she went to the ground. But instead, she was pressing her forehead against the ground, kneeling at them. No, at Hachiman.
"Please... Lord Hachiman, train me!" She pleaded, sobs sounding in the room. "Please help me change!"
The goddess immediately turned to Hachiman, who unlike her, tearing up as well, maintained a stone like face. It felt like an eternity as he stared at the mortal, begging him. Then he closed his eyes and turned his back to her. Amaterasu was about to snap, when the god glanced back at Haruhime.
"If you excel, you shall have my personal attention. Until then, you will be just another student."
The girl shot up, her wide smile filled with hope. Immediately she straightened up her back and bowed.
"Understood!"
"Training begins at sunrise. They will show you a room, Haruhime."
Two women entered, gently escorting the crying girl as she weeped tears of joy. Amatearsu sniffed, wiping her own tears. She could only smile at her fellow god. Maybe a joke was appropriate, how Hachiman nabbed such a cutie for himself. But in the end, she didn't have the heart for it. So instead, she decided to be honest as she looked at the retreating back of Haruhime.
"I can just never get tired of them."
For the first time, Hachiman cracked a smile, nodding with approval as he crossed his arms.
"Indeed. Seeing one breaking their limits, mentally and physically, is always a sight to behold."
Amaterasu sighed wistfully, resting her cheek against her hand as she laughed to herself.
"Things sure are gonna get busy again, hm?"
This was going to be the start of another legend, that would be sung about for eons to come. But that story was a story for another time.
