A/N: I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend. It appears Yui and the gods have a problem child on their hands. Will this be too much for them to handle? What about Yui and Tsukito? Enjoy the new chapter!

Chapter 9 – Defend

The gods' first week of school had finally ended and there were times it seemed as if it would never arrive, especially for Yui. A whole school week had passed since she had lost her first kiss – not to mention the other stuff that happened as well - and she could still feel the press of his soft lips to hers. No, it wasn't a real kiss, but the way Tsukito tended to be, this might be all she would ever get. Maybe she just needed to count her blessings, savor what she had received, and move on. And yet, that was the last thing she wanted to do.

If she really allowed herself to think about it, Yui should have fallen for someone else. Apollo and Balder were more than interested in her – she would have to be living under a rock not to see that – and they were sweet. They catered to her needs, tried to make sure she was safe and happy, and were willing to do almost anything for her, but they weren't who she wanted, who she thought about, dreamed about. That role belonged to the one god who seemed the most oblivious, and who only thought about his duty as a god or student.

Tsukito was probably the hardest working god she knew. Well into the night, he would review the notes he had taken that day while furiously scribbling everything the sensei said word for word; and while he may not understand everything, he always seemed to do everything he could, which was always more than a normal human. In fact, Takeru and Yui were both worried that he may be pushing himself too hard once again, and remembered all too well what happened at their other school when he did that. It was something that did not need an encore performance.

And so, they both watched him closely, an unspoken pact between them. Takeru because he was worried about his brother, and Yui because she was worried about her friend and the man she had feelings for.

No, not man…he was a god; and because he was a god, they were never supposed to be together. Shaking her head in an attempt to get rid of her melancholy thoughts, she followed her friends home from school. It had been another monstrous day dealing with Haruko and her almost idiotic attempts to throw herself at the men surrounding Yui. After the first day and the way she had been treated by Takeru and Loki, one would think she would give up, but she hadn't.

If anything, the pink haired teen had gotten even more tenacious, and Yui was exhausted. On Tuesday, she had been locked in the dojo sometime during her afterschool practice and she couldn't get out. At first Yui thought it had been a mistake – although, not sure how – but when Haruko asked, "Is the dojo scary at night," Yui knew the truth. On Wednesday, the purple haired teen had received a note from the office right before lunch, and thus she told her friends to go onto lunch without her and she would meet them, however, when she arrived at the office, none of the teachers had called her. It had been a phony summons. When she got back to the classroom, her friends had been taken and according to one student, Haruko said something like, "Don't worry about Yui. She and I have decided to make peace and she'll join us." Balder and Apollo pushed the others out the door in anticipation of witnessing the peace treaty that would never come. Wednesday afternoon, after Yui returned to the classroom after PE so that she could change, she found her clothes soaking in a bucket of soapy water forcing her to wear her PE jersey the rest of the day. On Thursday, Yui thought she was better prepared for anything Haruko would throw at her, but alas her efforts proved futile. She arrived that morning and on her desk lay decaying food and garbage. Switching classrooms for music, she came back to grab her bento for lunch and found it missing.

And that afternoon, she tried to talk to her tormentor and got in trouble – afternoon detention – because the pink haired girl fell to the ground holding her cheek, a red mark there, claiming Yui slapped her. As much as the purple haired girl wanted to slap her, she hadn't.

Would her torture end now? No. Even this Friday morning turned out to be horrible. Waking up, the sky was overcast and the moment she and the gods stepped foot outside the shrine, it had started to rain. Thankfully there were enough umbrellas to go around and they were protected… at least a little. As they got closer to the school, her eyes darted from side to side looking for pink hair. Yui was on her guard and would remain so. She and her friends entered the classroom and immediately all eyes were on them. She couldn't understand why until one student pointed towards the blackboard. Drawn in marker – not chalk that could be erased, but marker that would stay – was a picture of the teacher as a demon and Yui's name appeared as the artist. Surely no one would believe she had done that. Right? However, the moment sensei walked in, he was furious at her. "I didn't do this. I got here after it had been done!" She defended herself.

"But you could have come this morning!" Sensei argued in front of the principal, where he had taken her the moment he saw that.

"I didn't! It was Haruko Mizushima!"

"Accusing an excellent student like that… how low, Kusanagi-san."

"I'm a good student too! She has been behind everything this week!"

"Do you have proof?"

And that was her dilemma: there was no proof of anything. Haruko had enough money and clout that people would probably do things for her, therefore, she kept her hands clean. "No," Yui mumbled.

"She didn't do it!" Eight men burst into the principal's office and exclaimed.

Apollo spoke up, "She couldn't have. We left the shrine together and it was raining, so it took us longer to get here."

"She could have snuck out during the night," the sensei snidely remarked.

The principal rolled his eyes. He knew Haruko wasn't as innocent as she claimed to be, but with her being the daughter of a wealthy family, he had to tread lightly; however, even he had to admit that this was getting ridiculous, "Snuck out and broke into a locked school, with a closed gate, and a security guard on patrol?"

"Well…uh…ano…It could have been done!"

"Not likely." He looked from his teacher to his student to the boys who stormed in to defend her. In his mind, she was innocent. "Kusanagi-san is in the top three of her grade, helps out in student council, helps the kendo team when they need it, and competes for us in iaido. Her grades and ranking exceed Mizushima's by leaps bounds. What makes you think that Kusanagi-san is the guilty party?"

"What makes me think…? Her name was…"

Before the sensei could continue, the principal shook his head and held up his hand, "Anyone can sign a name to something. Do you have proof?" Normally, he wouldn't second guess his teachers, but this was an important matter because the accusation was so severe. This could very well affect a good student's academic career. "We have eight witnesses who say it was not Kusanagi-san, and I will also say that this…infraction does not match the student I see before me." His gaze settled on Yui, "You said she was behind everything all week. What do you mean?" Suddenly the eight male students who had burst forth started talking at once, some more animated than others, and he could have sworn one of them muttered, "I've brought misfortune to her." The principal wasn't sure what he meant by that, so he decided to ignore him for now. Holding up his hands again, he gave everyone a pointed look, "I asked Kusanagi-san."

Yui cleared her throat and began to tell the principal everything that had happened over the course of the week, leaving nothing out, and when she was done, she waited for the principal to say something. She could see her friends were chomping at the bit to defend her, but she really hoped they remained silent for now.

"I see." He wasn't exactly sure what he had been expecting, but this was not it, and to hear that Yui had even had to serve a day in detention…although, even he had to admit if he would have come across that scene, he would have punished Yui as well. The proof would have been stacked against her. "So someone has been bullying you, and you believe it was Haruko since she has made it more than clear that she wanted to…to host the exchange students."

"Hai!"

His eyes darted to the teacher, "What have you done to find the bully?"

"I…well…I…eto…I didn't realize this was a problem," he stammered.

"She sat in your class in her gym clothes and you didn't question it? Didn't question anything about what happened to her desk."

"Ano, I cleaned up the mess before sensei arrived," Yui rushed to defend her instructor. "As for the gym clothes, I informed sensei that mine got wet and were unwearable when I tripped and they fell in the sink."

It made him feel more embarrassed that the very student he was accusing was trying to help him, "If I remember correctly, she wasn't the only student wearing their gym clothes."

"Balder-san had to as well. He tripped while carrying the bucket of water and drenched himself."

"Do you have any witnesses who saw your clothes in the bucket?"

"Hai! My friends Chikako and Akane were with me when we found the bucket. When I went to the bathroom to wring out my clothes, Balder-san took the bucket from me since it was heavy and tripped."

His fingers rubbed his chin, and finally the principal said, "I will be talking to your friends and Michi as well. As for Mizushima-san, I would recommend both of you stay away from each other. I will be telling her the same thing. Do you understand?"

Stay away from her? Yui wanted to scream that she tried, and time and time again, Haruko sought her out, but instead she bowed and answered, "Hai. Arigato."

"Now all of you return to class. Ono-sensei, can you please wait a moment?" Once the students were out of the room, he informed his instructor, "Starting next week, we will have a new teacher who is part of an exchange program."

"New…all of these exchange people. Why so many now?"

"I don't know. I would like you to help show him the ropes."

"Hai!" Ono-sensei bowed and walked out of the office.

The rest of the day seemed to pass by more smoothly, but Yui could not help but feel the burn of Haruko's eyes on her, fuming because she had been called to the principal's office and had not won. Now as she and the gods walked home together, her thoughts kept flitting to Tsukito. Did he think about the kiss at all?

In the next moment, she realized she should have been paying attention to where she was walking because she tripped over a crack in the sidewalk and would have hit the ground had someone not caught her. She expected to look up and see Balder, Takeru, Apollo, Dionysus, or Thor, but her eyes locked onto the golden eyes of Tsukito. "Ar…Arigato, Tsukito-san," she breathed, her cheeks turning red with her blush.

"Are you all right, Kusanagi Yui?"

"H-Hai."

Lifting her carefully, he helped her to her feet and waited until she was steady before he released her. "Be careful. The sidewalk is uneven in places. It is easy to hurt yourself." With that said, he started to walk again.

The others in their group were stunned into silence, but that only lasted a moment before Apollo and Balder were screaming, Dionysus was toasting her with wine, and Takeru was going after his brother. Yui could see and hear the bedlam around her, and yet, it felt as if it was happening in the distance. Everything was muffled. Tsukito had just rescued her.

Later that night, Tsukito sat in the grass and looked up at the moon. It was bright, clear, and the twinkling of stars surrounded it giving it an even more heavenly appearance. His hands furled and unfurled, remembering the feel of Yui in his arms. Even his lips could remember what it felt like to press against her mouth…and he wanted it to happen again. He wasn't as oblivious as he once was, but then again, he wasn't exactly sure what this was. The only thing he knew, something had happened to him in that garden and he had not been able to forget her. In a way, he longed to see her again. He missed her. And now that she was with him once again, he didn't want to part from her again. Why? Because they were friends? He considered the other gods his friends and didn't feel the same way about them. This was different. Weird. And it was making him feel odd. It was a feeling he didn't exactly dislike, but he didn't like the confusion it brought.

In addition, when Yui was being bullied by the pink haired student this week, Tsukito had the urge to defend her, to protect her. Why?

Looking up at the moon again, he sighed. So many times he had heard her words as she spoke to him, and listening to her made his desire to see her almost overwhelming. She was a good friend, however, his feelings for her surpassed those of the other gods and maybe even his brother and his duty…and he didn't understand how that could be. He was confused, but at the same time, he didn't want to be apart from her ever again.