A/N: Thank you everyone! I loved reading everyone's reviews and to see a positive response to this story! I have always said I have amazing readers. Enjoy the new chapter!
Chapter 2 – Staying
Sitting around the table in her family's living room, the sunlight enveloping the room through the open sliding door which led to the porch and outdoors, and sipping tea felt a little surreal to Yui. Was she dreaming? Couldn't be because she had pinched herself to verify the vision before her, and nothing changed. The eight gods still sat around the table drinking the tea she had served.
Happiness flooded her being, threatening to overwhelm her if it wasn't for the small sliver of disappointment – and she couldn't exactly say why she felt it at all. Her friends surrounded her, Balder and Apollo sat on either side of her with the others circling the table. Tsukito and his brother were the furthest away, sitting directly across from her. So far away. Shaking off those thoughts because she was not yet ready to explore her actual feelings. She asked, "How? How did all of you get out? What happened after I left?"
Takeru snorted with amusement, "Did you forget who we are, weed? Something that small wouldn't destroy us!"
"I've…I've missed all of you. I was so worried and afraid after you sent me home. I tried to come back, but I couldn't find the sword." Tears started to form in her eyes and roll down her cheeks once again.
Seeing her reaction, the others started to panic and feel slightly guilty for not seeking her out sooner. "Don't cry, Fairy," Apollo rushed, pulling her into his arms and embracing her tightly. There was something soothing about this particular human and he loved having her close to him. For the first time since Cassandra, he could honestly say he cared about a human and wanted to be by their side.
Balder tried to pull her away from the blond Greek God, but the other held tight. Instead of fighting in front of Yui, he patted her back and ran his hand through her hair, "We're sorry, Yui-san. We had to help Zeus repair and rebuild the garden. If it exploded, it might have spelled disaster for other worlds, including our own homes and yours."
"Eh? How?" She lifted her head, her gaze travelling to each one of her friends, before automatically settling on the purple haired Japanese Moon God across from her.
"My misfortune brought this about," Hades sighed.
Releasing the girl, Apollo explained, "My father created that table top garden in another dimension, however, it was on the cusp between the world of gods and the world of humans. One of the reasons he put those limiters on us was so that the garden wouldn't become unstable, but as they were broken, the garden became more and more stable. It would have been one thing if it was just us, but he had to put a special protection on it so that you could be there as well."
Never before had she heard this man speak so detailed about complicated matters, "So everyone made it out? What about Thoth-sensei?"
"Everyone made it out safely and returned to their own lands after the garden was repaired. He was an idiot for doing what he did," Dionysus shook his head and rolled his eyes, and then he winked, "But I will admit, it was fun. All that wine though…I had just finished growing a new crop of grapes."
Yui couldn't help but laugh at his lamenting, "I'm sure it would have been wonderful."
"It would have! Those were some of the best grapes I've grown!"
"You can grow more."
"Here?"
"Eh? Uh, I…I don't know."
Snapping his fingers together, Loki announced, "I forgot! I brought a bottle of wine especially for you from home!" He reached into his coat and pulled out a large bottle of spirits and placed it in front of the God of Wine and Merrymaking.
No one was sure if they forgot who had given him the bottle or if he was just really craving a glass of wine, but no one was surprised when Dionysus opened the bottle and he was sprayed with the red liquid. And when Loki started to roll around on the floor laughing, they knew the bottle had been rigged – not that they hadn't suspected something like that in the first place.
"Loki!" The redhead seethed and stood to his feet.
Sensing he was in a great deal of trouble, the prankster laughed and stuck his tongue out at the other god before running outside away from doom.
"We would have been here sooner, but we had to finish our work. It took longer than expected, but we succeeded," Tsukito announced.
Smiling at him, Yui said, "I'm glad you came when you could."
There was something about the smile on her face that didn't sit well with Balder and Apollo. She should be turning her smiles upon them, not the unexpressive moon god…or at least that what each of them thought.
Seeing her smiling face, Takeru's own heart started to race. How could something so small and simple cause such a reaction in him? He didn't know. He had tried to talk to his brother about it before, but that conversation didn't go very well, and in the end, he was even more confused than when he started. It's not that Tsukito didn't have feelings, the sea god knew he did, but his older brother's understanding of emotions and human situations was still at a grade school level. Maybe one day Tsukito would find someone who made his own pulse speedup like lightning through his veins. As it was, Takeru sometimes didn't believe he had started to have any sort of feelings for the human girl. She was… human after all.
"Umm, where will all of you be staying? You…You said you wanted me to teach you again. What did you mean?"
"We will be attending your school as exchange students. You have recently had your closing ceremony for the year. Correct? Did we miss much of the new term?" Tsukito explained.
"You knew?"
"Hai."
"Actually we did, but the new term started a few weeks ago. You haven't missed much though," her voice replied quietly, a little surprised the moon god knew so much. Wait! "Going to school with me? My school?" She must have heard wrong.
"Hai. We feel that we still have a lot to learn about humans and will be attending your school to better understand them."
"What?"
"It's true! It'll be so much fun, Yui-san!" Balder grabbed her hands excitedly.
Her head was spinning, "And where are you going to be staying?"
"Here! We'll make more memories and have a wonderful time, Fairy!" Apollo grabbed her away from Balder and hugged her again.
A little annoyed about the other blond, Balder pulled her away from Apollo and hugged her himself.
Thor could see where this was leading and said, "Your parents have already been informed. While you were at school, Zeus talked to them and arranged everything. Would you please show us to our sleeping quarters? They said something about staying in the dormitory where pilgrims and such stay."
"The bunker house where people who are on pilgrimages and come for festival?" Yui questioned.
"Yes. That is the location."
"Uh, hai," she nodded and was finally able to free herself from the two warring gods, unsure about what exactly set them off this time. "Follow me." Getting to her feet, she waited for the others to do the same and then led the way to a building separated from the main house and temple, and set a little in the back. An unassuming building that most ignored while worshipping at this temple, which is exactly the way it should be.
Yui was still confused as to this sudden turn of events, and didn't know what to think. Her parents actually approved of this? Zeus had been here? Did her parents actually understand that they would have eight different gods living in their temple? Granted her family believed in the gods and even prayed to them, but this was something else entirely; and yet, a small thrill went through her at the thought of a certain someone being close enough to talk to without having to look up at the sky.
Leaving them to get settled in, she needed to complete her chores before dinner and knew it would not be appropriate to remain in that building with them. She turned on her heel and was about to leave when Loki rushed passed her followed closely by Dionysus. Losing her footing, she would have fallen if a certain purple haired god had not caught her. "A-Arigato, Tsukito-san."
"Please be careful. Kusanagi Yui. You are our guide for this mission," he replied and set her on her feet.
"H-Hai." Sometimes she forgot how serious the moon god could be, and while her heart raced when he saved her, his reaction felt like a bucket of ice water had been dumped on her head. Nothing had changed. He was the same. "I'll let you unpack and get settled." She ran away, towards her home, and prayed he did not see her blush or hear her frantic heartbeat.
Tsukito felt a little sad at her reaction. Did he do something wrong again? She almost felt a million miles away from him, and yet, she was so close. How was that even possible? He had much to learn still and he had a feeling, she was the only one who could teach him.
Running into the house, Yui decided to get to work to take her mind off of things. She started to clear the table and when she was about to start washing the dishes, her mother entered the kitchen, "Yui, did our guests get settled in?"
"Hai. I showed them were the dorms were."
"We will count on you to show them around and make the introductions. They are going to be here until at least summer, so please make sure you help when needed."
"Hai, kaa-san."
"They are an interesting group of young men. I can't believe they are all your age, but they aren't exactly from here, so I guess foreigners mature a little differently. They are all good looking though. Don't you think?"
"Uh, hai. Kaa-san, two of them are from Japan."
"Oh, that's right, but they are coming from a different school in Japan. I was told they recently studied abroad as well."
"Hai, they did." Her thoughts turned to the memories she made with the others in the other school, and for some reason, they quickly turned to the night of the moon festival and a certain moon god.
"They seemed to know you. Have you met them before?"
"Uh…we met at the park and talked for a while. I didn't know they would be attending my school though." As close to the truth as she would or could disclose.
"That's good. At least they know someone and it might not be tooo strange for them."
If only her mother knew the truth of the matter, but Yui would not be the one to spill. However, she had to wonder, claiming to be foreigners would only get them so far and only allow for so many excuses of behavior, could they really fit into human society? They had a hard enough time at the other school. She could still remember when she tried to explain what an opening ceremony was. Tsukito mentioned a sacrifice. She would do what she could for them. But she had to question the intelligence of this decision. That being said, she couldn't be happier that they were here, closer than she ever imagined they would ever be again. A smile on her face, she began her chores. The moon seemed a little closer than it previously had.