It was a normal day in Mikage shrine, well as normal as it could be. Mizuki was at Yonomori shrine, Tomoe, Onikiri, and Kotetsu had left to go get ingredients for supper and Nanami had spent a while after their departure watching television in the "study"( which is what it was called despite the fact nothing even remotely educational was inside the room). Said land god was currently standing outside in the yard her familiar kept sparkling clean. Without noticing, she was humming a song she had recently heard playing on the bus her and Tomoe rode to school each morning.
Nanami's pov
UUUUGH! This is soooo annoying! The stupid song won't get out of my head!Dang it I'm humming again. Ok maybe if I sing it long enough then I'll be free from whatever evil curse is put on those stupid lyrics….even though it's a good song. I'll just go sit in one of the trees I climb when Tomoe isn't around to constantly worry about me. Even though I enjoy knowing he worries about me. I know he doesn't reciprocate my feelings but it still makes me happy. Maybe he could change eventually. I doubt that, I mean he's not only a fox but he is also Tomoe meaning he's the most stubborn person I know…so probably not. Ok before I get depressed I should just calm down by singing. Then I could kill two birds with one stone. Yay!
Outside pov
Soon she was up in her favorite tree and attempting to make herself sound decent which just made it worse, but soon she got the hang of it and knew all the right words. The land goddess was happy at that moment when she started to really think about the song and realized it almost fit her and the fox she fell in love with. After she realized that her voice sounded better because she was singing with real emotions. The emotions she kept in her heart under lock and key.
High dive into frozen waves where the past
comes back to life
Fight fear for the selfish pain
It was worth it every time
Hold still right before we crash
'cause we both know how this ends
A clock ticks till it breaks your glass
And I drown in you again
Tomoe's pov
That stupid girl! Why did she have to order me to leave her by herself with no form of protection just to get groceries? I'm so worried I can barely concentrate and apparently others know this because those two tiny spirits insisted they could finish shopping themselves just so I could go back. I realize that I shouldn't be worried and be frustrated with her instead because she honestly wouldn't ever leave the shrine like Mikage but right now I'm not sure if that's what I'm worried about. I know she wouldn't leave so maybe I really am worried about her instead. She, for all I know has been kidnapped by that snake again. If that happens we won't need the groceries because snake will be what I cook! Ok maybe I'm worried about her, but that is only because I've grown attached to her and not because I have any feelings for her….right? Ok so maybe I do but I'm not going to do anything about it because its taboo and crazy and would only be problematic. So I'll just hurry back and continue cleaning whatever room I was cleaning before I was forced out.
Nanami's pov
Tomoe should be back soon but I'll keep singing anyway if I order him to leave me alone he won't bother me. Maybe I should send everyone out of the shrine more often. Being alone is to singing now.
'Cause you are the piece of me
I wish I didn't need
Chasing relentlessly
Still fight and I don't know why
outside pov
Right now a certain worry-wart fox familiar is climbing the steps to the shrine, still not close enough to hear singing but definitely on the steps and getting there fast. Our land goddess however doesn't know this and continues singing her little earworm with a voice she doesn't know is quite beautiful despite her being talented at literally nothing else
Tomoe's pov
I'm glad I came back by myself because if anyone had seen my face the moment I heard whoever was singing I would have been mortified. I didn't realize it was my talentless mistress until I saw her sitting in a cherry tree staring up at the sky singing a song I thought I had heard recently.
Now I knew I would have been mortified because Tomoe, the wild fox, does not stare at the human girl he loves with shocked admiration when other people are around. I just don't.
Nanami's pov
If our love is tragedy why are you
My remedy
If our love's insanity why are you my
Clarity
If our love is tragedy why are you my
Remedy
If our love's insanity why are you
My clarity?
Walk on through a red parade and refuse
To make amends
It cuts deep through our ground and makes us forget all common sense
Don't speak as I try to leave cause we both know
What we choose
If you pull then I'll push too deep
And I'll fall right back to you
Cause you are the piece of me I wish I didn't need
Chasing relentlessly still fight and I don't
Know why
If our love is tragedy why are you my remedy
If our love's insanity why are you my
Clarity
Finally done singing that catchy little song that had actually embedded itself in my skull. I wonder when Tomoe will be ba-.
Outside pov
Nanami was suddenly jerked out of her thoughts and whipped her head around to stare in shock at a clapping Tomoe smirking at her. That of course would have happened if she hadn't been startled so bad she lost her balance and fell from the tree branch she had previously been perched on.
Tomoe's pov
I don't know when I started clapping but apparently I had because I startled Nanami enough that she lost her balance and fell from the branch. Being the non-human familiar I am I was there just in time to catch her before her back and a rather sharp rock made contact with each other.
Nanami's pov
I had been expecting to hit the ground any second now but when it still hadn't happened I unclamped my eyelids and looked up into the worried face of a very worried fox. For a while we just held each other's stare before I remembered why I had fallen, blushed and then broke the silence.
"Tomoe you can put me down' I'm alright"
As expected he replied suspiciously
"Are you sure, your face is red. Do you have a fever or something?"
"No, and I really am alright"
Slowly he put me down and I just stood there, staring at the ground until I heard him ask me a question.
"Nanami, are you sure you're ok, because your being irregularly quiet?
"Yes, I'm fine but...um…how long had you been listening?"
"Long enough that I won't be able to call you talentless ever again"
That's when I looked up questioningly at him because I didn't understand since I can't possibly be any good at singing. I'm just an ordinary high school student that has no noticeable talents at all. As if reading my mind which on some occasions I think he has, Tomoe said something that I didn't completely believe.
"Nanami, you really aren't that bad at singing"
"Yes I am"
"Are not"
"Are too"
"Are not"
"Nanami I am not lying so believe me or not I don't care'
"T-Tomoe…can I ask you to do…something?"
"You know that I don't have a choice if you ordered me to do it right"
"Well yeah but I don't want to be that kind of person"
"Fine, ask away"
"Can you not tell anyone about this"
"Yes, but why"
"If everyone found out that I could sing as well as you say I can they will want me to sing for them and I just don't have enough self-confidence"
"I won't tell them, but you really should have more faith in yourself"
"Tomoe, after spending your entire life alone while being bullied for everything you were self-conscious about you don't really have much courage anymore"
Tomoe's pov
At that moment I wanted to hug her more than anything else, just because of the sad smile she was giving me. I hadn't realized I had actually embraced her until she let out a muffled cry into my chest.
"Nanami, were you really alone all those years?" I must have sounded pretty concerned because she tried to tell me that she was fine but the steady stream of tears said otherwise.
"Tell me the truth" I asked after realizing I could help her calm down better if I knew the truth.
"I g-guess you really don't know since I h-haven't told you everything about me, d-do you? Well,all my life I have been poor because of my father's gambling, and when I was young my mother who was the only thing keeping our dysfunctional family together..she passed away and I was left trying to take care of our home and my drunken father. Because I was so different from everyone else I was bullied but I never did anything about it because no one could actually help me. I think that maybe if someone had been there for me it would be different but I was alone. But now I'm a goddess who is friends with a snake, a crow, and maybe a fox."
"You don't need to say maybe, you know"
"w-what?"
"
"You don't need to say maybe, because I'm going to be here for you from now on whether you like it or not"
Then she laughed. After learning that a wonderful human like her had been through so much in such a short amount of time I didn't think she could laugh genuinely. Maybe…just maybe that's one of the things I love about her and eventually she'll know that. Eventually I'll tell her but right now we can only be there for each other.