A/N: ZareEraz here! On my gosh you guys! This is the last chapter! Ahhhhhh! I started this story almost six years ago and it's been so much fun to write! I can't believe that it's over, but I'm so glad that it happened. I hope that you all enjoyed reading something that I enjoyed creating and I hope that you come back to read it again whenever you feel like you need a little XxxHolic :3 I'll be around in other stories, but this one will always have a special place in my heart. Once again, thank you for reading and supporting me!
Chapter Twenty: The Thank You and The End
It was a lovely autumn evening: the sun was golden as it began to sink behind the skyscrapers and buildings of Tokyo, the breeze was crisp but not too freezing and all the leaves on the trees were changing into fiery reds, vibrant yellows and deep browns, with the odd green leaf still hanging onto its summer color. It was on evenings like this that everyone was outside, enjoying the weather while they walked the streets of the city. Couples visited cafés, families strolled in the parks and a trio of quite unusual teens was relishing their time together. Well…"relishing" might be too strong of a word, due to one of the teens being a glutton and irking another teen who was easily set off and the last who just chuckled at everything the other two did, whether or not they were joking.
"Watanuki, do you have work today?" Wari asked as the trio walked out of the sweet shop that they liked to frequent. Doumeki had eaten his weight in macaroons and had attempted to take bits of Watanuki's cheese cake multiple times before he got a fork to the hand. They turned the corner and walked towards a grocery store, the two boys following on the heels of the girl.
"Yeeeaaaaahhh…" the girl sighed as the automatic doors opened to let them in. "As usual, Yuko loves to abuse me." She yanked a shopping list out of her school bag. "She's asked me to get these ingredients for tonight and of course there completely different from anything that I have at the shop! She makes me get new ingredients every night!" The girl was caught between a whining tone and a ranting tone, but somehow she pulled off both without sounding too whiney or too ranty.
"It's that normal?" Doumeki asked, figuring that each meal needed new and/or different ingredients each time you went to cook.
"I just want to cook something for her in advance so that I can have some free time, or have a little more time to complete her endless list of tasks and cleaning without having to be so rushed and stressed!" She growled, her face screwing up in annoyance. "You have no common sense, you Doumeki!"
"What does that mean?" Doumeki shot back in his monotone, disliking how Kimihiro used his last name on him when she was mad at him. It really irked him because he knew that she did it pointedly when she wanted to be mean, since she'd been calling him by his first name for quite some time. The girl kept complaining while they walked around the store but, the shopping was done in short order and the trio left the store and waited at a crosswalk for the stoplight to change.
"Since it's you, Watanuki," Wari started with a smile, "I'm sure you could make lots of delicious things whenever you wanted, with or without advance notice."
"Of course! Especially if it's for you!" Watanuki grinned, blushing at the compliment. She then felt and intense gaze boring in the back of her head. Wari chuckled as he saw the raven stiffen under the intense gaze of her boyfriend.
"And there's none for you this time! You're being a nosy ass!" Watanuki whipped around the wave her shopping at the archer teasingly, but Doumeki completely threw her off by spouting off random trivia.
"Someone came up with nikujaga when they were trying to make beef stew."
"Listen to what people are saying!" Watanuki raged, having been thwarted in her teasing. The light changed and the friends began to walk across the street, starting their journey home. Wari was the first to peel off as they made it to the residential neighborhoods. He gave his friends a big smile and waved as he turned a corner and disappeared. Kimihiro kept waving for a few moments even after he was out of sight. She had felt so relieved every time that Wari visited with her, having almost lost her friendship with the boy just a short while ago. He seems to be doing a lot better now, she thought, a small smile gracing her face. When her hand dropped to her side, Shizuka immediately took it up, his large hand warming up her chilled fingers. The sun was really setting now, the navies and purples of dusk stretching out over the sky. With the light diminishing, the air around them was cooling down rapidly, and the girl was grateful that Shizuka was with her.
"Are you okay?" The archer asked his question while pulling the raven close to him, wrapping his free arm around her shoulders. She leaned into his warmth, closing the embrace by linking her arms around him for a moment.
"Mn, yeah," she replied. She knew that he was asking about more that the cold. Her body had healed quite nicely after her last accident, but she did feel discomfort and achiness in her bones and joints when she was on her feet for too long. Yuko said that it would ease with time since she'd needed such drastic mending after falling two stories, and apparently it hadn't been enough time yet.
"All good?" Came the follow-up question, and Kimihiro rolled her eyes as a gentle hand patted her shoulders, waist and hips. What is he? The TSA? He doesn't look like the type, but he can be such a worrywart!
"I said I was fine already." She grumbled as the arm when back around her shoulders. She went to give him a exasperated look, but Shizuka was already kissing her. Softly. Gently. When they parted, she huffed. "You didn't need to check my lips, they're fine."
"I wanted too." If he was one of those open flirts, the girl would've definitely seen a smug smile on the archer's face, but since he was not, she saw the warmth in his eyes instead. The seer rolled her eyes at him and pulled out of their hug, but still kept his hand.
"Come on. We can walk together for a little while longer." The couple continued on their way, tranquil in the moments that they spent together. Since the accident, Kimihiro had been a little less crabby, a little less quick to anger, but she would always be herself of course. And in turn, Shizuka was a more observant than he'd ever been (which was amazing because he noticed pretty much everything) and made it his mission to not let the raven push herself more than was necessary. He didn't baby her, but when she was on hour three of cleaning at the shop, he made her sit down and drink a cup of tea before letting her get back to work. Yuko seemed to think that his behavior was cute and funny, and encouraged them to be more "lovey-dovey," to which Kimihiro would throw a pillow or a spatula at her face, whichever was closer. When it was time to go their separate ways, the archer held onto the seer's hand longer than was strictly necessary, but she allowed it, of course. And then, she was alone for the rest of the walk to Yuko's shop.
"Seriously, what am I going to do?" Kimihiro mumbled to herself, her thoughts turning back to the dinner she had to prepare. She kept the hand that hadn't been holding groceries close to her chest, trying to keep the warmth that her boyfriend had left there. She sneezed, already missing his body heat. I'll need to start wearing a coat if I'm going to be walking at night from now on. "I've already cooked every kind of Japanese, Chinese and Western food for Yuko that I can think of…" She thought to herself, trying to come up with new ideas and failing. "Although…on a day like today, that would really be great." She imagined the most delicious thing that she'd ever tasted, and the memory was so vivid that she could even smell the Fox Oden in the air. And then she sniffed…and sniffed again. She wasn't imagining that smell! She could really smell oden!
The girl looked around excitedly, and followed the delectable fragrance into a shadowy park, dancing with anticipation and joy. "Oh my god, it smells so delicious!" She spun and twirled towards the source of the delicious smell (and if anyone had seen her, they'd think that she was off her rocker for dancing like that through a park). She reached the tree line in record time and skidded to a halt when she saw a disembodied hand holding out a carrying cloth in the shadows. She was so startled that she screamed.
"A hand! A hand! It's floating!" She stumbled backwards into a bench and began to scramble away.
"I'm sorry for startling you!" A young voice called out, echoing in the evening air. The girl stopped her screaming and squirming and turned to look back at the floating hand.
"I know this voice…" The image of the little oden fox popped into her head. "Hey! You're the Oden Master's son!" She said brightly. The hand seemed to be happy at being recognized (if it was even possible for a hand to seem like that).
"You remembered me!" The hand and the carrying cloth filled with boxes bounced happily.
"Of course I did!" The seer smiled, also happy to see her little friend. Or…see what she could see anyway. "But why can I only see your hand?"
"My power is still weak, so I can't send my whole body over to the human world. My dad helps me when we're over here.
"Oh, really?" That was kind of fascinating. But before the raven had time to think about it more, the little fox spoke up again.
"Um, thank you for the balloon!" It took a second, but then Kimihiro remembered that she'd asked the Dream Buyer to give one of the balloons she'd traded to the little oden fox. She'd done it as a thanks for helping her during the whole Demon Parade debacle.
"I remember that too!" The girl's smile got bigger.
"Um, so, I made you some oden," the little fox continued, his echoing voice sounding bashful.
"You did?" Of course he did, you idiot! That explains the smell!
"Yeah, as a thank you for the balloon!"
"But that was a thank you to you in the first place," Kimihiro's smile became abused at the turn of events as she blushed. Suddenly, the little fox's hand became transparent and the bundle stated to slip out of his paw. "Whoa!" The seer caught it just in time, cradling the precious food to her chest with the rest of her groceries. She glanced up at her friend's appendage and it was starting to disappear, leaving behind wisps of smoke as it waved goodbye.
"I truly am grateful." And then he was gone. The raven smiled, warmth blooming in her chest at the thoughtful gesture. She stood up and looked into the shadows of the trees for a moment longer before walking back to the street. She hardly felt the cold at all after that, making her way to Yuko's shop with the biggest smile on her face.
She was greeted most cheerfully when she finally walked into the shop.
"Oden!" Maru cried as Kimihiro took her spoils to the kitchen and put on her apron.
"Oden!" Echoed Moro as Kimihiro took out bowls and utensils for dinner and then went to put on her apron and head covering.
"Fox Oden!" Mokona crooned, lifting the lid off the mood-decorated pot. The irresistible smell of oden flooded the room and everyone took a big whiff. The twins began giggling and dancing around and the seer had to remind them to be careful around the stove while she reheated the food. She picked up her cooking chopsticks and plucked out of piece of tofu to taste and popped it in her mouth.
Too hot! She gasped and yelped, trying to blow some of the heat out of her mouth as her tongue sparked in pain. She danced around while trying to cool her mouth and the twins giggled again, this time joined by Mokona.
"Watanuki!~ Watanuki!~ Distraction is the worst enemy!~" They chanted and cheered teasingly (and Mokona even produced a microphone out of somewhere and sang into it, making the teasing even louder than it already was).
After half of her mouth had burned, the seer finished up preparations and took the meal into Yuko so that everyone could eat. Watanuki ate very gingerly, nursing her tongue, but still enjoyed the masterful flavors and textures of the famous fox oden.
"Mmmmmm! Delicious!" Yuko crooned over her dinner, making very satisfied faces as she gobbled up the oden. Tonight, she was wearing traditional (more Chinese than Japanese, but whatever) garb that perfectly complimented their meal, including kanzashi pinned into her bun. In between happy munching sounds and coos of delight, Watanuki relayed what had happened with the little fox in the park.
"That balloon I gave him was supposed to be a thank you present, so getting a gift back in return is…well…" She didn't really know how to describe it. It was odd, but it was still a good thing and the seer felt happy that the little fox liked her enough to continue the gift-giving.
"It just shows you how happy you made the little fox," the witch commented, taking another bite. "Now eat up! Oden is best when it' hot!"
"Oh boy, do I know about hot oden," Watanuki sighed, rubbing her burned tongue on the roof of her mouth, drawing a giggle from her employer. Yuko sent Mokona across the floor with another bowl for the girl, the little pork bun chanting "steady, steady, steady!" as it made its way over like a little train.
"Here!" The rabbit-like creature announced and the raven took the bowl off of its hands. She took a spoonful of fish cake and blew on it, making sure that it was cool enough to not burn her tongue again and made a Yuko sound as the food hit her tongue.
"Delicious!" The twins giggled at her delight and started singing a song about "floating fish cake" while they ate.
Once the girl finished her bowl, she set it down on the tatami mats and got a serious look on her face. "Yuko…I have a favor to ask." Her mismatched eyes gazed directly into the witch's cranberry orbs. The woman smiled, delighted to grant any request given her.
"I'll grant it, as long as you pay me appropriate compensation," came the reply. Despite knowing exactly what she was getting into at this point, the seer still swallowed hard, dreading that Yuko would make her do something horrible to have her wish granted.
And she kind of did…because Yuko dragged her to an appliance store the next day.
"Even though I asked for it…" she growled under her breath, "You want me to carry around your shopping bags?!" Watanuki's forehead veins popped out due to her irritation. Yuko looked so smug in her fancy ruffled hat and her fancy ruffled and magenta dress and with her fancy ruffled boots…like she'd dressed up for the occasion of tormenting the poor girl. It wasn't just shopping that she was going to make the raven carry…it was the shopping.
"Now then, which one should I choose?" She delightfully glanced around, admiring all the microwaves lined up in neat rows around the store. She placed a delicately gloved finger to her chin and ignored her snarling slave for a moment. And then she dashed off around a corner, leaving Watanuki to run desperately after her through the store. "Nope! Not that way!" She raced around another corned and started running back in the direction they'd come, but down a different aisle. The witch only stopped once she'd reached her prize, a puffing and panting Watanuki slogging behind her.
"By chance," pant, pant, "is the thing that you wanted," pant, pant, "isn't one of these, is it?!" The girl pointed to one of many refrigerators in the forest of appliances, a both fearful and angry look on her face. The one she was pointing at was a 748,000 yen fridge and it came up to her shoulders…not something that she wanted to carry…but since it was Yuko…
"Yep, a fridge!~" She grinned, sidling up to a gray fridge that was several inches taller than the witch's already considerable height. "Ours has been on the fritz lately, right?" Then she popped over to the next fridge which was white but was the same size as the gray one. "This one of great, isn't it?!" She asked excitedly.
"As if I could carry that!" Watanuki's cross-veins came back as the realized that her unreasonable boss was on the verge of being too unreasonable. She had to put the kibosh on that quick. She spotted a much smaller fridge behind her selling at 430,000 yen and pointed to that one. "At least make it something like this!" Yuko's jovial mood evaporated instantly, her dimensional witch persona taking its place.
"That one is no good," she intoned seriously. Watanuki was taken aback at the abrupt change.
"Well, I know it's small," she started to reply, but Yuko cut her off.
"No, not that. That one won't cool stuff." She paused before continuing. "In slang, it's what we call a 'lemon.' You get them sometimes, right?" The woman glanced back at her charge and Watanuki took a look at the small fridge. "They're the ones that don't seem out of the ordinary when you buy them…but they malfunction right from the beginning and always break down right away."
"Yeah…actually, I always tend to end up buying ones like that," the raven interjected. "But its not something that you can tell by looking."
"Really? You can't tell?" Yuko asked pointedly. "Look closely. Doesn't it feel slightly different from the others?" Something strange began to happen…Watanuki started to hear some sort of static or white noise buzzing in between her ears…she started to feel off…like the world was tipping and focusing in on the fridge and the noise until that was the only thing she could focus on. The girl's brain started to get fuzzy, as if bees were dancing with the static noise, and her stomach started to twist uncomfortably. The longer the seer looked at it, the more uncomfortable everything became. Then, black shadows sprouted from underneath the fridge and coiled up the sides, rippling and waving like smoky, black flames. A gray hand peeked out from behind the fridge, it's skeletal fingers slowing flexing and wrapping around the side, one…finger…at…a…time. It was horrifying, and was made even more so when a sloppy, gloopy sound started coming from the fridge, like someone was walking through a muddy swamp. Then, a flat gray face-like blob followed the gray hand, peeking out from behind the fridge and staring the girl right in the eye. Watanuki gasped and blinked harshly, the image instantly disappearing.
Yuko smiled, knowing exactly what had happened. Her voice was laced with a malicious sort of delight at the girl's discomfort as she spoke, "See, it's a dud, right?" Then her innocent face made its appearance. "Do you want to buy it?" She asked, still sidled up to the huge white fridge when Watanuki finally looked back at her.
Sweat dripped down the raven's neck at the thought of buying such an appliance and she quickly said no. "I'll pass on it." The witch's smile became more benevolent as she looked at her little grown-up girl with pride. She's come such a long way.
"The old Watanuki would've definitely bought it," she commented.
"Huh?" The girl looked confused, but that was nothing new.
"It means that the effect of sharing that right eye wasn't only improving your eyesight." Almost without thinking, the raven's hand came up to cup her right eye over her glasses, the bronze color peeking out from in between her fingers. The significance of the change in Watanuki and the events that led up to her changes hung in the air for a moment, before Yuko caused it to come crashing back down.
"In any case, let's go with this fridge!" She cheered, rubbing her cheek on the huge gray fridge lovingly.
"Wait! That one's too big!"
But that didn't stop her anyway.
"Mr. Sales Person!" The woman called, getting the attention of a store associate.
"Good afternoon." A dark-haired man in a green vest and white button-up shirt approached the pair. Watanuki's rant of "It's too much, I'm telling you!" and "I can't carry that!" and "Are you even listening?!" went unheard by both adults.
"We'll take this one back with us!~" Yuko declared.
"We'll wrap that up for you," he gave a little bow.
"I'll help you," another light-haired associate carrying some boxes called out. Watanuki rage was now being ignored by three adults.
"YUKO YOU'RE SO IMPOSSIBLE!"
After getting told to go get some drinks, Watanuki was riding up the escalator with two cartons of milk (one strawberry and one regular (take a guess at who get which one)) sighing very dejectedly. "I'm telling her it's too big." She stepped off the escalator and started to walk back towards the fridge. As she passed the weight scales and the TVs, a spark of electricity ran through the machines, arching through the devices like a blue snake. Then, something yellow and red and blue flew past the girl's face. She made a surprised sound and spotted very odd (and that was saying something because just about everything was odd in Watanuki's world). It flew past a washing machine and bounced into an aisle of shelves. Watanuki looked around, trying to find whatever it was and ducked around corners as she saw flashes of light. Then it seemed to get stuck, because the girl found it sparking and crackling behind a row of dryers. She set her milks down and leaned over the appliances, finding the strange thing wedged in between two large shelf displays. It looked like one of those Matryoshka dolls, the nesting dolls, with an oval shape excluding the elf-like ears that stuck up on either side of its head. It also looked like a baby swaddled in a yellow onesie with a pinkish-red hood on its head. The little thing's beady black eyes were staring right at Watanuki as it continued to spark blue electricity. The girl stared back, neither saying a word for a long moment.
"Huh?" The raven made a noise, still not quite comprehending what she was looking at. "What the hell is this? Is it one of the shop's products?"
"Like that could even be possible," the thing huffed. Its voice was kind of raspy, but kind of squeaky and childish without being too squeaky and childish. It was really hard to describe, but Watanuki was too busy jumping in surprise to pay much attention to how it sounded.
"Did you just talk?!"
The little creature poked its cheek. "Yep, that was me."
"You have that kind of voice with that getup?!" She snapped, still not believing her ears and eyes.
"I'll throw that remark right back at you!" The creature shot back, insulting the girl just as she had insulted him. The girl collapsed onto the row of dryers and started crying.
"Oh god, another weird thing showed up!" I can't take anymore weirdness in my life! I have too much of it! This comment seemed to upset whatever it was, and as such, took it upon itself to electrocute the rude girl in front of it. Electricity gathered and condensed around both the creature and Watanuki and the seer screamed as pain rippled through her body. She crashed to the floor after a short shock, her body smelling like burnt and her clothes smoking a bit.
"You insolent dolt." The thing called out, pleased with its torture of the raven.
Knowing that the screams and yelps were coming from her little servant, Yuko waltzed around the corner momentarily. "What are you getting all worked up about?" She found her worker prone on the ground, smoking like she'd just put her finger into an electrical socket. Then she spotted the cause of the smoking. "Oh, it's you! It's been a while!" The witch hopped over to what appeared to be her acquaintance and popped a squat right on top of Watanuki's back. The girl yelped and squirmed under the weight, but Yuko ignored her.
"So, that insolent dolt is an acquaintance of yours." The creature noted, talking to Yuko like an old friend.
"She's my part-timer!"
"So she's that rumored…If she's one of your employees, you have to teach her some manners!"
Watanuki pried her face of the ground and gave a tortured look to her employer. "Please don't speak badly about someone right in front of them…" she wheezed through her many types of pain.
"This child treated me like some kind of weird thing," the creature went on, ignoring the squished girl.
"You're plenty weird," came the snarky reply. Watanuki couldn't see it, but the creature's small eyes narrowed even more, the shadow of death passing over his face. Yuko quickly hopped off of her doormat as lightning streaked towards the raven, zapping her into the air and then letting her crash back down to the floor. The second she hit the tile, Yuko hopped back on, crushing the girl's spine once again.
"Fool! I am the one who presides over lightning!" The creature explained in a haughty tone. "People call me the Thunder Beast, Raiju. All that came to Watanuki's mind was the terrifying, monster-like visage of the terrifying god Raiju with his Taiko drums and hammers…not this little shrimp.
"I've seen Raiju in book and he had more of a dignified presence, or something. At any rate, it wasn't like some kind of happy meal toy like you," the seer waved an indifferent hand at the creature. This time the cross-veins were on Raiju's head and Watanuki got shocked again (after Yuko hopped off of her spine, of course). The witch stood up and shook her head at the girl who was still sparking with electricity.
"She just doesn't learn."
"Child, get me out of here," Raiju ordered.
"Why should I-" the seer started to grumble venomously, but the sound of sparking lightning got her on her feet instantly. "I got it! I got it!" She leaned over the dryers and reached for the little god. "If he fries me again, I won't be able to take it!" She added this more to herself than anyone else. However, the second she touched the god with both of her hands, she knew she had fucked up. The whole area lit up as the girl was fried, electricity crackling and flaring out in all directions and she convulsed and shouted in pain.
"You can't grab Raiju with your bare hands," Yuko told her (much too late and from a safe distance).
"Way too late!" The girl groaned and mumbled her displeasure at the ill-timed advise, but by that point, she was a smoking corpse on the floor of the electronics store. After that incident, they all went back to the shop (minus a refrigerator and Watanuki had no idea how Yuko managed to get the salesmen to not sell her the fridge she'd intended on buying). While the raven was recovering from her multiple electrocutions, the shop's yard was ablaze with light as Raiju zapped the fridge in the kitchen, the open doors letting all the light out. When the door swung open, the little god announced that it was fixed and Yuko was so pleased.
"Thank you! You saved us from having to buy a new one!"
"Call it thanks for getting me out of that store." Raiju hopped out of the fridge and floated in the air as Mokona hopped into the fridge to test it out.
"It's so cool now!~" The pork bun announced happily.
"It was me who got him out," Watanuki pointed out grumpily. Once the words were out of her mouth, Raiju made a threatening noise and sparked, causing the girl's post-traumatic panic to take over. She began sweating and clamped her mouth shut in fear before backing out of the room clumsily. However, once she'd made it to the door, Maru and Moro were coming in with a cart full of appliances that needed fixing and Watanuki stubbed her toe on one of the wheels, banged her knee on the cart and crashed to the ground.
"This too! This too!~" The twins chanted, leaving their causality writhing on the floor in pain as Mokona poked various parts of the girl's body with a stick.
"Does this hurt? How about this?" Mokona got a kick out of its game, but all Watanuki could do was cry bitterly. My life is pain…all pain!
But going back to Maru and Moro, the twins pushed the cart until it loomed over the little god, asking, "Can you fix it? Can you not? Time to fix! Fix if you can!" Their voices were cheerful still, but somehow had taken on the threatening-ish tone that Yuko used when she wanted to scare the shit out of Watanuki. Raiju sweated a couple of drops before agreeing frantically before he got ran over by a mountain of appliances.
"Alright, alright! I get it!" The twins clapped and danced in glee as the god sparked up again. After a few moments of straining and directing the lightning into the machines, they each flicked on and buzzed and dinged as they were fixed. The rice cooker, heater, radio, blender, microwave, washing machine, vacuum, DVD player, multiple fans, CD player, several TVS, the dryer and countless other appliances whirred to life as Raiju's face turned red with effort. When it was all done, the little god crawled on the floor, exhausted.
"Let me take a small break!" He called, however, no one was listening to him. Yuko was busying fiddling with the DVD player and Watanuki was nonchalantly checking all the appliances that she used for cooking. "Oi! You fellows!" Mokona was riding around on one of the twins' mechanical trains, whooing as it went around and around. The twins themselves were giggling at a TV show, completely ignoring everything else. It was at this point that Raiju just collapsed on the floor to take a small nap.
Once everything had been put back in its place, Watanuki started to make snacks for their guest and brought out some tea. Yuko and her guest were out on the porch and Raiju had been placed upon five stacked cushions so that he was at least shoulder level with the witch as they visited.
"Oh, that's right. I wanted to ask you why you were in the electronics shop," Yuko stated.
"There was somewhere I had to go." Watanuki called out that the tea was ready while Raiju was giving his explanation. "As I was flying around in the sky for the first time in ages, I got caught in that building."
"You got pulled in by the electric waves, huh?" Yuko concluded.
"Is that so?" Watanuki got a shit-eating grin on her face as she realized the embarrassing circumstances of the god's arrival and his squished state. "And of all things-" She had to hold back a laugh as the god turned to give her a disapproving looking and she scrambled to offer him tea before he could electrocute her again. He took a cup off of the offered try and sipped at his tea.
"Exquisite," he sighed and he let the girl off the hook for her rude behavior.
"So, where did you want to go?" Yuko asked, taking her own cup.
"I just thought that the moon looked right this night."
"Ah, I understand," the witch nodded in agreement. They all looked up at the moon, its waning crescent shape glowing up in the sky. "Then would it be alright if we joined you? We have business there too." Watanuki had no idea what the woman was talking about, but that was normal.
"Oh, I see. If you're with me, then there's no chance I'll be lost either," Raiju agreed.
"Oh, Watanuki," Yuko got the girl's attention. "Why don't you call Wari over too?"
"Wari?!" The girl's face lit up at the name and her mismatched eyes sparkled. She did a little happy dance and Raiju raised an eyebrow at her. Once she'd used up her Wari-energy, she knelt back down on the ground. "So what's this about?" She asked.
"It's about granting your wish, Watanuki," the witch replied with a smile.
After that little visit, Watanuki set about inviting Wari (and inevitably Doumeki) while Yuko went and changed into a navy kimono with a maroon obi. They all met at Doumeki's temple in the courtyard, the night illuminated by the soft glow of the temple's lights. Watanuki was chatting happily with Wari and Doumeki butted in every once in a while to tick off his girlfriend. Mokona giggled at the girl's antics from its perch on Yuko's shoulder and teased her a bunch as well.
"I think that you'll definitely like it, Wari!" Watanuki gushed a little bit, excited to share her surprise with her friend. Tanpopo chirped excitedly from the boy's shoulder and Wari smiled too.
"Yeah, I can't wait!" He replied cheerfully. Yuko pulled out a pocket watch to check the time.
Popping open the lid, she said, "It's almost time." Watanuki glanced over at her and became very displeased and irritable when she noticed the watch in the witch's hand was the same goddamn watch that she'd been swindled out of during her first meeting with the woman in Yuko's shop (sorry, it was used as compensation and was not swindled but Watanuki still felt a little cheated). The witch smugly noticed the girl's death glare and decided to ignore it, turning said glare even more murderous until the girl's skirt was unceremoniously lifted so that her boyfriend could get a look at her panties (orange with brown paw prints stamped all over). That sent both Mokona, Wari and Tanpopo into a round of giggles (peeps in the bird's case), completely distracting Watanuki from her pilfered (exchanged) pocket watch.
"DOUMEKI!" The seer's fangs came out as she whipped around and slapped her hands on her butt. She was blushing furiously, but was also red in the face out of anger, an incredible feat to be sure.
"Cute," the archer stated, covering his ears with his hands as his girl got her rant going.
"YOU ASSHOLE! WHY DO I EVEN PUT UP WITH YOU?!"
This question was followed by a "Because you love me," and a "With Doumeki here, there's more of a chance for them to appear here!" at the same time by both Doumeki and Yuko. Before the girl could complain more, another annoying creature decided to make itself known. The pipe fox slithered up the girl's shirt and popped out of her collar, giving her a swarm of kisses on the cheek. The raven wiggled from his ticklish fur and was then suddenly assaulted by a jealous Doumeki, who simultaneously tried to pull the pipe fox out of his girlfriend's shirt and managed to fondle Watanuki's chest at the same time. The seer yelped at the intimate contact and the sudden death grip on her neck when the pipe fox wrapped itself around her throat in an attempt to say with his favorite person.
"The more the merrier, right?" Wari commented to his bird, smiling serenely.
"Waaaa…ri…" the raven gasped, reaching out for help as she was strangled, tugged at and groped. The boy smiled back, but didn't move. The trio ended up collapsing on the ground in their struggle and only ended when Watanuki nearly passed out from asphyxiation, at which point the pipe fox loosened his grip and Doumeki stopped fondling the girl and instead just held her in his arms on the ground until she could breathe again.
Raiju, who had been watching the humans' antics up until this point, made to stand up and floated into the air. "It's almost time," the little god said, hovering above the group as Doumeki helped Watanuki to her feet again (he was still displeased that the pipe fox was in the girl's shirt, but he'd get that little punk later). This was the first time the archer had noticed their other companion and looked at him with a blank face.
"What's that wei-" he started, but unexpectedly, Watanuki got better all of a sudden and slapped her hand over her boyfriend's mouth, her other grabbing the hair at the crown of his head.
"Idiot!" The girl was freaking out because she knew firsthand that Raiju did not take well to being called "weird."
The little god flew off into the temple's trees, their branches suddenly lit by paper lanterns. The soft glow of the lights banished the shadows into the darker part of the little grove (which suddenly seemed larger and deeper than it had been before). As Raju disappeared, a sudden scent of good food wafted out from the trees, and a brightly lit food cart could be seen winking into existence. The raven got the distinct feeling that by walking into the grove of trees, one ended up somewhere in between here and there, not quite in the here and not quite in the there either. She would find that by walking into the trees the sky would be the same, but somehow it would be expanded, the trees would be the same, there would just be more of them and other things like that. The shadows would be deeper, the lights would be more ghostly and everything would seem the same, but wouldn't be at the same time; everything would be connected but disconnected, normal and supernatural existing in harmony for however long one stayed under the trees.
"What a wonderful smell!" Wari clapped his hands together in delight as he took his first whiff of the otherworldly food, breaking into the girl's thoughts.
Mokona leapt off of Yuko's shoulder and hopped towards the cart excitedly. "It's the Fox Oden! I love it!" Yuko made some satisfied noises as well and that trio started to walk into the trees towards the cart. Watanuki was too busy basking in the wonderful smells of oden to notice that Doumeki was now the one being suffocated, due to her hand being over both his mouth and his nose.
"Even the smell is enough to make you drool!" She cooed, wiping her drool on her shoulder. The archer's face started turning red, but he did not move away from his girlfriend.
"Here's your beef tendon," the big fox announced, handing a bowl to a customer sitting obscured by the blue handing cloths. There were already several customers sitting in the stall, which meant that tonight was a busy night. A familiar voice could be heard asking if he'd gotten a new cart, to which the answer was yes. The fox noticed that he has more company and ducked out from under the curtains to greet his new customers. "Oh welcome, everyone! You're all together!" His foxy face lit up at the sight of so many old friends and several friends he had yet to meet.
"Good evening," Yuko called. Her voice drew the attention of the little fox, distracting him from his job of clearing away dishes from an extra table that had been set out. His little foxy face lit up when he turned around and saw Watanuki, his little tail bushy in excitement. Watanuki grinning, happy to see her small friend again (this time with the rest of his body). Doumeki's face had now progressed from red to blue and was starting to turn purple, but he still hadn't pushed the girl away, trying to be polite. However, his body did shudder and twitch and if anyone was paying attention, they would've seen a smug look grace the pipe fox's face, served that human male right for trying to take him away from his precious female. When the Little Fox started running up to the seer, Watanuki finally let go of Doumeki's face and the archer promptly dropped to the ground, panting and coughing.
"Good evening!" The little fox greeted his friend and Watanuki knelt down to be on his level.
"Hello! Your oden was delicious! Thank you!" The raven set the wrapping cloth with the dishes she got yesterday down on the ground.
"Really?!" The little fox had tried so hard to make it good and was bashfully delighted that his friend had liked it.
"Yeah, really!" The girl's angelic smile made the fox blush and his tail went all bushy like he'd been electrocuted, so to calm his fur, he hugged his tail and smoothed it down. The raven chuckled at this behavior as she picked up the wrapping cloth with the dishes. "Here's the pot," she said, placing the whole package in the fox's paws.
"Did you come to give it back?"
"There's that, but…" Watanuki again reached for something and pulled out a pair of light blue mittens. She took the fox's paws after he'd put the dishes down again and slipped on her present. The Little Fox held up his hands and admired his gift with childish delight.
"Wow!" He was so happy!
"It's a thank you for the delicious oden," Watanuki explained, smiling at his joy. The Little Fox then started freaking out a bit and waving his arms around.
"But a thank you for a thank you is…" His oden had been a thank you for Watanuki's thank you…and this was getting ridiculous.
"I did it because it made me really happy," the seer replied. The two didn't know, but their little exchange was being watched by all of their friends, and each of them had a smile on their faces as well (except for Doumeki, but his smile was in his eyes). The little fox blushed again and his ears wiggled and flapped as his happiness overflowed and couldn't be contained.
"Thank you!" The little fox adored his new gloves (and he adored his friend) and he excitedly showed his father the present when the big fox walked over.
"That's a nice present for you, isn't it?" He asked his little one. When his son nodded excitedly, he chuckled and patted his head lovingly.
As Watanuki was watching the exchange, she was distracted by meowing sounds coming from somewhere above her and she looked around for the source. High in the tree, the Nekomusume was lounging on a branch, still wearing her saucy school uniform. She was munching on something yummy from the food cart and winked at the girl below her.
"Hey, you're the cat-girl!"
"It's been a while!" She called down, her amber eyes glowing in the low light of the lanterns. She took a bite of her snack and was so startled by the heat that her tail and cat ears popped out as she mewled in surprise. Watanuki chuckled awkwardly as another familiar voice called up to the spirit.
"Eat carefully now!" The girl recognized the cat-lady Akari's voice from the time when she'd delivered the ground cherry.
"Oh goodness, everyone's here." Yuko peeked into the food cart and found Akari, Raiju and the Dream Buyer all huddled around the delicious oden.
"Yuko! Thank you for last time!" The Dream Buyer smiled at his friend with his hippo-like face.
"Good evening," Akari greeted her old friend.
"We've already ordered," Raiju informed the witch, sipping beer from a glass cup that was almost half of his height.
"Well then, I guess I should take a seat too," the witch made room for herself on the bench and started to catch up with her colleagues.
"Chef! Another hot sake!" The Dream Buyer called out to the big fox when his drink ran out.
"Got it!" The big fox returned to his honored customers and friends. "And what would you like, young lady?" Yuko smiled at being called a "young lady" (because she was certainly not young (and not a lady in Watanuki's opinion)).
While the curtain was pulled back by Yuko's arm, Raiju noticed that Watanuki, the little fox and Doumeki were all still standing so far away from the cart."Children! Don't stay over there, come here!"
"Oh right!" Watanuki started into action. "I guess, I'll help cook…or something!"
"Really?!" The little fox got excited again at the prospect of cooking with his friend.
"Sure!" At the prospect of getting to eat Watanuki's cooking and getting her attention again, Doumeki instantly recovered from his ordeal and stood up to make his order.
"First diakon, then tsukune, and after that, konyaku and tobo maki, and a potato shira-" As his list went on, veins started popping out on the raven's head and she finally snapped and cut him off with a fist shaking in his face.
"You're spouting off and giving you orders already?!" The archer plugged his ears as Watanuki started yelling. "Is your stomach a black hole or something?! Wait, don't answer that! I already know that it is, jerkass!"
However, despite her annoyance and outbursts, Watanuki did end up making and serving everything that Doumeki wanted. But it wasn't just him; all of her friends enjoyed the things that she and the foxes cooked, everyone finding places at tables or on benches and tree roots. Doumeki sat under a tree with Mokona on his knee and poured the pork bun a cup of sake (the archer was also drinking, but he was drinking much less than the creature), Wari was stilling on some roots and fed Tanpopo little morsels of his food and several feline friends scrambled up the tree where the cat-girl was sitting. She was blowing furiously on her food so that she didn't burn her tongue again all while her cats friends sat in her lap, rubbed up against her or meowed for attention. The four old farts (Raiju, Yuko, Akari and the Dream Buyer) were all jabbering together and became excited each time the big fox set down another order.
"Ooo! Me too!" Yuko called, beginning to place her order. "Diakon, eggs and kinjaku mochi!"
"Got it!" The big fox started putting her order together as Akari called out that she'd brought nectar to drink.
Watanuki and the little fox were working behind the cart, bringing up more food and drinks, slicing and preparing dishes for cooking and generally just having a good time. However, it got to the point where Watanuki had to have a second hot pot going because of the rate people were eating. She became the second chef and was putting together another bowl for Doumeki when a soft boiled egg slipped out of her tong and splashed back into the broth. Hot soup splattered all over the girl's hand and she dropped the tongs in pain.
"Ow! Hot!" She yelped as she blew on her hand, trying to sooth her skin.
"Are you alright?!" The little fox was freaking out, but their panic was interrupted by a haughty voice calling down to them.
"As clumsy as ever, I see!" The seer looked up and saw a circle of light flash in the night sky before it dissipated into a thousand fireflies. The small lights danced in the sky gracefully, mesmerizing all who gazed upon them. In the wake of the beautiful display, Ame-Warashi floated down with her open umbrella, Zashiki-Warishi stilling gracefully on top. The second the rain sprite touched the ground, she closed her umbrella smartly and held up her hand to catch the other sprite's hand to help her to the ground.
"Ame-Warashi! Zashiki-Warashi!" Watanuki was surprised at their entrance but was delighted to see the pair.
"Yeah, yeah, hello." The red-headed sprite huffed out an abrupt greeting.
"Go-good evening!" Zashiki-Warashi on the other hand stuttered and blushed once she saw her crush.
"Good evening!" Watanuki gave the sprites a bright smile. Zashiki-warashi's face burst into flames as she became shy around the seer.
"Oh, so you two were also attracted here by the smell of oden!" Yuko called out to the girls from the food cart, please to see that their more just got merrier.
"It's not something that you can have every day, after all," Ame-Warashi replied, shrugging. She then took a moment to look around. "Even with that being so, there's quite the gathering of people. Maybe we should come back later…" The rain sprite was concerned about how many people the big fox was having to feed all at once, but a small tug on her sleeve made her look down. Zashiki-Warashi wanted something. She looked at the blushing sprite's face, and then at Watanuki and then back at the friend and then back at the raven, before coming to the correct conclusion. "Alright, let's intrude then," she stated in her usual haughty tone. The zashiki-warashi's face lit up.
"Yeah!" She gave Watanuki a sweet smile. Doumeki threw a chopstick at his girlfriend's head to distract her from his rival in love (geez, Doumeki was having to fight off a lot of people tonight).
Watanuki whirled around and glared at her boyfriend. "Hey! Don't throw things at me!" Ame-Warashi rolled her eyes at the pair, and went to find a good place to sit.
The old farts were now drinking, waiting for their food to digest before gobbling up more deliciousness. Their topic of conversation had circled around to the young people outside and Yuko had just described the incident with the jorogumo and Watanuki gaining half of Doumeki's eye.
"What does that mean?" Akari asked, sipping hot sake.
"It means that he's become able to see the things that Watanuki sees," Yuko explained.
"Oh! How fascinating," the cat-lady replied, her voice a little sing-songy due to being a bit tipsy.
Oblivious to the fact that the adults were gossiping about her, Watanuki was asking the sprites what they wanted in their orders. Then, she came upon a snag when Ame-Warashi was making a disgruntled face at her. "Oh, would you prefer an order made by the head chef?" She was holding a bowl out to Zashiki-Warishi and the girl immediately shook her head and thanked the seer for the meal. Unfortunately, she began to tear up while she was thanking the raven.
"Why are you crying over receiving oden?!" Ame-Warashi asked incredulously. One, she couldn't believe that her friend would get so emotional over oden and two…well…everyone knew how that song and dance went.
"You made her cry again!" A loud, obnoxious voice hollered from the sky and Watanuki's blood froze at the sound.
And another joined it. "Made her cry!"
And another. "We won't forgive you!" And then the five Tengu shot down from the sky with their paper fans ready for the attack.
Doumeki held back a sigh and decided that fighting off the Karasu Tengu was not worth it at the moment. He'd eat his oden in peace and pick the girl up off of the ground later.
"No! Stop!" Zashiki-Warashi stepped in front of Watanuki and tried to curb the attack. Ame-Warashi just face palmed at the mess that was about to happen.
"Gah! Not this again!" Watanuki started crying and was frantically looking for a place to hide.
The adults just looked out over the ensuing chaos as the Tengu tried to beat Watanuki and Zashiki-Warashi did her best to stop them. "Oh my, it's always the same isn't it?" Yuko mused to herself, smiling while her servant suffered. The pipe fox did a little spin as he jumped out of the girl's clothing while a fan hit her back and threw her to the ground, but then slithered back in once the girl was up and running again.
"Yuko," the Dream Buyer began, "You're really attacked to that child, aren't you?"
"Well, she is interesting, isn't she?"
"He brought back the nectar from the demon parade, right?" Akari noted, sipping her own sake.
"The dream I bought a while ago from her has grown up into a marvelous dream," the hippo added. "Tonight is a celebration of that as well!"Now Watanuki was on her hands and knees looking for her fallen glasses as the Karasu Tengu smacked her with their fans and Zashiki-Warashi panicked, not knowing what to do.
"But she's quite the fool for trying to handle me with her bare hands," Raiju piped up, causing a chorus of laughter to ring out from all four of them. It was a good fifteen minutes before the Tengu were calmed down and Watanuki was allowed to nurse her new bruises. However, after only a few moments, she was back at it and taking people's orders again, including the Tengus'. She put another bowl together for Wari and handed it to him with a happy smile.
"Here you go, Wari!"
"Thanks," the teen replied, looking away from Tanpopo as the bird got himself a drink from a small cup of water.
"It's marinated daikon with colored mochi kinchaku and atsuage tofu-whaaaaaa!" Any other explanation was cut off when the pipe fox squirmed in between the girl's breasts and popped out of her collar to go get a piece of tofu from the pot. After getting over the tingles in her chest, the girl panicked at the tofu-eating fox. "Hey, pipe fox! Are you going to be okay eating that atsuage tofu?!" The last time he'd had tofu, the fox was almost stuck in his released form, which was a huge ordeal to get reversed. Before she could even really finish, the fox gobbled down the tofu and that was that. The raven sighed and gave up. "Well, a little won't hurt," she concluded. The pipe fox chirped at her and rubbed his face against her cheek, giving her loves. In true Doumeki fashion, the archer interrupted the cuddles with a kiss, pushing his tongue into Watanuki's mouth to deepen it so that the fox knew who she belonged to. Startled by his affection (and jealously), Watanuki let the kiss go on for a few moments before breaking away, the pipe fox's angry chirps sounding in her ear.
"Shizuka!" She gasped, completely mortified by his actions. But he wasn't fazed at all.
"Ganmodoki and sumire," he stated as he held out his bowl. The girl blanched at his order, her emotions and brain doing a 180⁰.
"Go get it yourself! Who the hell do you think I am?!" She was completely embarrassed by all the eyes that had just seen him kiss her so lewdly. But, despite her protests, she whirled around and started putting another bowl together. All the attending guests hid their giggles behind their hands and drinks as they watched the young couple.
"Chikuwa too," came the additional request.
"WHICH ONE?!" Watanuki's shout was so loud that the archer had to plug his ears and the pipe fox got the shit scared out of him. Laughter erupted from around the food cart and everyone was pleased to have dinner and a show, as was the case when Watanuki and Doumeki were involved.
Then, during the midst of the festivities, a light rain began falling from the night sky, which quickly became heavier. Everyone ran for cover, huddled under trees or under the roof of the food cart. Doumeki was pleased because his girlfriend has run straight to him after grapping some umbrellas, cuddling into his arm as Wari pressed in on his other side.
"Oh dear, it's really pouring," Yuko commented, still warmed by her sake and the heat from the cart. "I hope it's a passing rain." The Karasu Tengu hopped into the air again on their boards and hovered over Zashiki-Warishi, covering the pure sprite from the worst of the downpour. "Ame-Warashi!" Yuko called, getting the rain sprite's attention. She made a gesture with her hand that the sprite picked up on immediately.
She sighed, "I guess it can't be helped." As good as rain was, it did put a damper on their party. She made to get her umbrella, but was stopped by Raiju's voice interrupting.
"Oh, wait a minute." The little god stood up and got ready to leave. "Well then, I'm gonna head off."
"Oh, you're heading back already?" The witch asked.
"It's been more than long enough!" Raiju thought about the ordeals of the day and decided that he'd had enough fun and trouble for one day. He floated into the sky and was in the lantern-filled branches when he suddenly stopped. "Oh, child," he called down to Watanuki who responded almost immediately after she'd told her boyfriend to be careful with the umbrella.
"Yes?"
"As thanks for the delicious tea and the oden, I'll show you something." The god flew up into the sky and started sparking, his electricity lighting the droplets of rain in the air. Every part of the sky in the immediate area burst into light, like multicolored fireworks right above their heads. The lightning flashed and crackled through the air in dazzling greens, blues, pinks, purples and yellows. Every face was in awe of the ferocious beauty.
"Wow! They're like fireworks!" Watanuki gasped at the light, the same fascination on her face mirrored in everyone else's. The moment of brightness seemed to go on forever, but it quickly came to an end.
"Bye bye!" Mokona called, waving at the small god. "Come back soon!"
"Let's meet again!" Raiju called out, pleased with his display. The human girl's face had been worth it. The kid wasn't so bad, even if she was a fool. With that last goodbye, Raiju flew up into the sky, the clouds above the party become electrified with his presence.
"Take care!" Mokona shouted.
"Until we meet again!" Yuko added.
And then he was gone. The crowd in the trees was quiet for a few moments after his departure, but Yuko broke the silence in her usual fashion.
"Well then! Let's drink out hearts out!"
"Yay!" Mokona cheered, hopping off to find its cup.
"Ame-Warashi," the witch began again, "If you please!" The sprite nodded and swooshed her umbrella up into the air, opening it and then brought it down so it was right in front of her, arm outstretched. She took a deep breath and swung her umbrella down and then up, spinning twice and then resting the umbrella on her shoulder while she twirled it. Once she brought it in front of her again, the rain stopped, leaving the smell of wet earth and clean skies behind. The clouds slowly dissipated, revealing the starlit heavens that they'd been hiding. The crowd around the oden cart oooed and aaaahed at the celestial display.
"Brilliant!" Yuko clapped her hands in delight, a huge grin on her face. "Now let's eat and drink to the end!" The party guests cheered and got right on it. "Watanuki! Keep bringing it on!" Yuko waved her empty sake bottle at her little servant, calling for more alcohol.
"Not this again!" The seer wailed in defeat, woefully determining her life would only consist of feeding Shizuka and keeping Yuko's cup full. The oden foxes chucked at the girl's outburst and the Karasu Tengu took great pleasure in laughing at her suffering. After getting Yuko another bottle of sake, Watanuki took a moment to dance with the little fox, as he was so happy to have so many friends around him. She shared soft smiles with Zashiki-Warashi and Ame-Warashi, and when Yuko caught her gaze, the witch's cranberry eyes were molten with affection for her little seer. Watanuki smiled at her, realizing in that moment just how much her life had changed since she'd met Yuko. It was not something that she could ever pay back, but she'd spend her whole life repaying the woman for her opportunity at happiness if she had to (though she wouldn't dare say that to her face…not when the witch could literally ask for anything for compensation, but the sentiment was there). Not a word was spoken between the two women, but they each understood what the other was saying.
This was a wish that was well worth granting.
Of course, the moment was interrupted by the pipe fox slithering up some place unmentionable under the raven's clothes and she was thrown into a fit gasping and giggling as her skin was stroked by fur. She did a funny dance while trying to catch the squirming creature, drawing laughs from anyone watching her. After a moment, Akari held up a bottle of sake and gestured for Yuko to sit down, prompting the witch to take a seat and start another round of drinking. Once her cup was full, the witch held it up, toasting the moon, her friends, her charges, or maybe all three, who knows? Her mysterious smile was as bright as the moon and her eyes were filled with happiness as she watched everything unfold. Under the light of the crescent moon, the party continued long into the night. The Karasu Tengu entertained everyone by flying around and doing tricks, Watanuki worked alongside the oden foxes and kept everyone's bowls and glasses full, and those with bottomless stomachs ate and ate and ate until the food had run out.
Watanuki didn't know what time it actually was when the party goers started to trickle off, but it was definitely late o' clock and into the wee hours of the morning. The first to leave after Raiju was the dream buyer, having had too much to drink. He ended up having to be escorted to wherever his home was by Akari, the cat-woman rolling her eyes as she also wobbled under the influence of good sake. Ame-Warashi and Zashiki-Warishi herded the Karasu Tengu off once they successfully attacked Watanuki a total of 13 times and all of them vanished in a cloud of fireflies while Watanuki waved goodbye. The cat-girl ended up falling asleep high in a tree with about a dozen cats and everyone who was left just decided to leave her up there. She'd wake up when she'd wake up. The little fox had fallen asleep sometime after midnight, still being too young to stay awake all night like the adults, but when the sounds of packing up were heard, his fox ears twitched and he began to rouse himself. He yawned hugely, pulling a smile from his father, Watanuki and Wari, blearily looking around before stumbling to his feet to help. Watanuki started bossing her boyfriend around because according to her, "I cooked all the food and you ate it all and so you have to help clean up!" which he begrudgingly did. Yuko did absolutely nothing to help clean up except to "get rid of the sake!" So, everyone left her too it and true to her word, three extra bottles of sake were empty by the time the food cart was packed up.
"Thank you for your hospitality tonight," Yuko nodded to the big oden fox as she was forced to stand up when her little servant swiped her stool out from under her. "It was a wonderful party!~"
"We're always happy to see you, Yuko. And your friends of course." The big fox smiled as he saw his little one snuggling up to Watanuki, still very sleepy but wanting to say goodbye.
"I'll miss you," he mumbled into her stomach, his little arms wrapped her waist. "Come visit soon!"
"I will." The girl smiled and hugged her little friend back. "I'll miss you too."
"It was very nice to meet both of you," Wari said to their hosts, joining the group after depositing the last of the boxes by the cart with Doumeki.
"And you as well." The big fox nodded. "You are all welcome back anytime. We'll be waiting for your visit." He held his paw out for the little fox, but the child didn't want his friends to leave, so he clung to the seer tighter and one of his mitten-ed paws even managed to grab Wari's sleeve too.
"Don't worry, we'll see each other soon," Watanuki carefully pried the small arms from around her waist and took his paws in her hands. "I promise."
The little fox smiled and then admired his new mittens. "I'll have something good for you next time too!" A sweat drop appeared on Watanuki's head.
"A thank you for a thank you for a thank you?" She asked, chuckling.
"For a thank you!" The little fox nodded happily. And then he yawned again, starting a chain on contagious yawns that went through Watanuki, Wari, Doumeki, Tanpop and Mokona (who just happened to hop onto Doumeki's head to see the first yawn).
"Alright, it's clearly bedtime for everyone," the big fox chuckled with Yuko and gently took his son into his arms. As if in response, the little fox yawned again and it spread to the others again, causing another round of laughter. They all waved goodbye and Yuko took the lead as the group walked out of the grove of trees. At some point, the feeling being there and here disappeared as the temple and the courtyard focused into view. Watanuki looked back just in time to see the last traces of the oden cart and the big fox holding the little fox before the shadows obscured the fading lights. After she blinked, it was just a normal grove of trees, the magic of the night seeming like a dream.
Despite the late hour, Yuko seemed ready to go for whatever adventure was coming up next, the three extra bottles of sake clearly giving her the energy to take on the world. "Ah! That was so much fun!~" She cooed as Mokona hopped onto her shoulder. "Are you up for a sunrise party, Mokona?"
"Sunrise party! Sunrise party!" The little creature hopped around happily, excited by the prospect of more food and booze.
"Hell no! I'm going to slee-" Watanuki's objection was interrupted by a yawn. Yuko pouted.
"Party pooper."
"We've been partying for the last four hours at least!" The girl protested, swallowing another yawn. She really needed to get to bed before she fell over.
"I should really be getting home too," Wari added, cradling a sleeping Tanpopo in his hands. "We're pooped." The teen said his goodbyes and then waved as he was headed towards the temple's gate. "See you tomorrow!"
"See you! Be safe!" The seer waved tiredly and as she wobbled, Doumeki was there to catch her. Yuko watched the pair, finally acknowledging the lateness of the evening (or earliness morning) and signed.
"I guess that it'll be a party of two then, huh Mokona?" She asked her companion and the pork bun nodded.
"It seems so!" It replied as it hopped over to Watanuki to plant a big kiss on her cheek.
"What was that for?!" The seer was startled at the show of affection.
"I just felt like it! Make more yummy snacks tomorrow, okay? With sake and pickled plums on the side just the way I like it!" The raven rolled her eyes.
"Alright, alright! Get going you furball!" She shooed the creature away, but there was a smile on her face. Mokona hopped back onto Yuko's shoulder as the witch swept towards the gate in a regal manner.
"I expect you to be at the shop no later than lunchtime, alright Watanuki?" She half-ordered and half-asked the girl.
"Yeah, yeah," came the tired reply.
"I'll want inarizushi tomorrow! Don't forget!~"
Doumeki's ears perked up. "I'm coming."
"Of course you're coming!" Watanuki signed, exasperated. "Because it looks like a fox's ear!" She jokingly put her hands up to her head to make fox ears and Yuko giggled at her.
"See you tomorrow, my little Watanuki!~" The witch waved (much to brightly for the late hour) and disappeared into the quiet streets of Tokyo, leaving the two young people alone.
Shizuka could tell that Kimihiro was about to collapse from exhaustion as her weight against him kept getting heavier. She wouldn't make it home at this rate. "What to spend the night?"
"Sure." She was so tired that she didn't even put up a fuss as her boyfriend started to lead her towards the temple. They made it to the archer's room, and he went about putting out two futons, seeing as he had more energy than his girlfriend. While he was preparing for bed, the girl tottered over to the screens to the outside and slid one of the doors open. Moonlight flooded the room, dimly illuminating both of them as she went to sit on the porch. It wasn't long before Shizuka joined her, having finished with the futons and blankets. The second he sat down next to her, their feet dangling off the edge of the porch, she leaned into him, her head resting on his shoulder. Her eyes were closed as she basked in the moonlight. She was totally falling asleep. The man took the hand that was resting on his thigh into his own while the other reached towards her face to tip her chin up. He kissed her gently, their gentle warmth shared in the touch.
"We should really go to bed," he murmured the words against her lips more than he spoke them, and she made a noise in response. He waited for more of a response, but she was silent. "Oi." That word got her eye brows to furrow, the old annoyance still kind of annoying.
"My name isn't 'oi,'" she grumbled, cracking her eyes open to give him a glare.
"I know." He paused. "Kiss me?"
"What? You want a kiss for a kiss now?" She grumbled again, her annoyance greatly dampened by sleepiness and his needy behavior. She stretched up a bit and gave him a kiss that was just as soft as the last. He hummed in response and deepened the kiss for a moment before pulling away. Kimihiro's eyes did that cute thing where they fluttered open like she'd just woken up (probably because she had at least a little bit) and her lips were beginning to look kissed. "One more," she ordered, her mismatched gaze locked on his.
"You want a kiss for a kiss?" He asked, slightly mocking her for mocking him.
"Yes, asshole, kiss me." He wasn't going to say no to that. They kissed again, their lips moving a little more forcefully than before, but still tamely gentle compared to other kisses that they'd shared. While they indulged in each other, they disturbed a little passenger hiding out in Watanuki's shirt. The pipe fox was displeased that his sleep had been disturbed by being squished by a pair of arms, and he took the opportunity to slither out of the girl's clothes, making her wiggle as his fur tickled her and slithered over to the closest futon. He curled up underneath the blanket and chirped a good night before falling back asleep.
The pair hardly heard the small creature but their kisses didn't last much longer due to Kimihiro starting to fall asleep herself. Shizuka gave her a small smile as he stood up and scooped her into his arms, cradling her softly against his chest. He walked over to the futons and deposited her on the one where the pipe fox was slumbering, then removing her uniform jacket and her skirt so that she'd be more comfortable. She snuggled into the blankets after the archer tucked her in, making satisfied noises as he removed his own jacket and pants before getting under his blanket. They were facing each other, close enough to embrace and Shizuka reached out to stroke the seer's cheek and then carefully working her elastic out of her hair. Raven hair cascaded onto her back and pillow and the man took a few minutes to softly brush tangles out of it. When he saw that she was pretty much asleep, he tenderly placed one last kiss on her forehead.
"'Night, Shizuka." The whisper could barely be heard over the sound of her breathing, but he still caught it.
"Good night, Kimihiro," he whispered back. "I love you." He didn't know if she'd heard him, but he didn't really need an answer. He knew that she loved him. Having her near him was enough. The archer yawned, the night catching up to him all at once, and he pulled his girl into his chest, snuggling into the bed with her, sleeping finally taking both of them. If he really wanted her to answer him, there was always tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that. There were many tomorrows waiting for them, and they would spend all of them together. Any wishes they could have would be granted, their prices would be paid and whatever would be would be. They would eat together and laugh together again, they would see their friends again and make new friends in the future, but most importantly, they would love each other and be loved.
It was inevitable.
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ The End Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ