Keeping at least 5 steps behind Ashi, Tomoe growled muttering to himself about annoying little shikigami that had no right to lay claim to his goddess. Rolling her eyes the raven haired girl smiled letting Hikari jump around on her. Glancing over her shoulder the god laughed.
"Really Tomoe don't look so down. I actually did something useful yesterday. And then I beat the shit out of you with a pillow. It was a good day." Rubbing his still sore ears the youkai hissed. Slowing her pace to walk beside him the land god giggled reaching up to rub the tender snowy fur covered appendages. "Sorry Foxy I didn't mean to get your ears." The demon pouted looking away, crossing his arms.
"I would be happier if you'd left that thing at home." Hissing Hikari snuggled into the front of her shirt. "It just does that to piss me off." Swatting his arm she laughed.
"Oh hush. He's still a baby. I'm sure you did the same thing when you were that small. Like forever ago when you were young and not a grumpy old fox." Ear twitching as the warning bell sounded in the distance Tomoe ruffled her hair before scooping her into his arms and bounding off towards the school.
"I'll have you know I'm still young. I'm barely into my 600's." Wrapping her arms around his neck she sighed into his shoulder shielding her face from the cold air.
"That is old to a lowly human like me. My bones would be dust by now." Frowning he set her down inside the school so she could get her bearings. "Seriously that's like 9 generations of my family. And not even one generation of yours. Hell your mom would pass as a high school student." Sliding the door to the classroom open she cackled. "A very short high school student." Walking behind Kurama she ran a hand over his hair, the bird hating having his feathers messed up, so to speak. Having heard the last sentence Ami perked up.
"Who's a short high school student?" Sliding into her seat the raven haired girl laughed.
"Not you Ami. I was saying Foxy's mom could pass as one. She's like that prettiest person I've ever met and she's so sweet. She has to be something else to keep Akki, Yu, Tomoe and any other brothers I haven't met yet in line." Pushing his chair closer to Ashi the silver fox growled a sound only the tengu could hear.
"If I have anything to say about it you won't meet any of the others. They behave like true demons, mostly spending their time in the nether world." Kei glanced up from her phone.
"Nether world? Is that like a night club?" The teal eyed girl snorted pulling Tomoe's tail into her lap.
"If you can call a bunch of single men going to a whore house a night club. Then sure it's a night club." The little pinkette gasped.
"Ashi!" The god shrugged.
"What, we all know what sex is here, some of us a lot more than others." Casting a look at the kitsune she grinned flashing a fang. Rolling his eyes the youkai tugged her hair playing with the ends now that it was well past her shoulders. "On a side note, how does hanging out this weekend sound? I hear a new rollercoaster just opened at the theme park. And Mizuki has been begging to see his Kei-Chan again." The orange haired teen tried to hide her red face behind her phone, failing horribly.
"Sure, I'm free." Kurama gave a nod wrapping an arm around Ami's waist to pull her closer.
"We'll come too. I haven't been the best boyfriend lately because of work. So I'll make up for it." Nodding the god smiled running a hand through the silky fur in her lap.
"Good, we can meet at the shrine. It's closest to the park anyway." Happy to be doing something more than reviewing prayer logs and working with her divine power the teen tuned into the lesson, gazing at Tomoe every so often. 'He is kinda beautiful…'
Yawning the teen stood up cracking her stiff back in the process. Stuffing her things into her bag the teal eyed girl groaned, feeling her muscles pull from setting still so long. "Yami-san?" Blinking she looked up at the teacher.
"Yes Sensei?"
"I've noticed that Hiiragi-san talks to you a lot. I was hoping you could stop by her house on your way home and drop off her homework. She moved here by herself and it would ease my conscious to know someone had checked on her. She wasn't at school today." Accepting the folder from the teacher she sighed placing it inside her bag as well.
"You're not really going to go are you?"
Staring at the door in front of them Tomoe sighed flicking his tail in annoyance. "I can't believe we're here." Shushing him Ashi knocked on the wooden door waiting for any sign of life. Pulling the door open the human god huffed crossing her arms before letting them in.
"Just who said you could come visit me?" Looking back at Tomoe who shrugged and took a step inside, ears lowering when he scented a foul aura, just as Hikari hissed from his place under Ashi's hair that fell over her shoulder. Pulling the girl's homework from her bag the teal eyed girl tossed it on the floor in front of Kayako who had retaken her seat.
"Well someone had to make sure you didn't die. A lotta stuff can happen to a girl in the city, ya know." Looking around she wrinkled her nose at the dullness of the whole apartment. "I love what you've done with the place." Huffing Kayako turned her head away.
"You're too nosy." Ashi snorted.
"It kinda reminds me of the shrine right after I moved in. Why don't you have anything?" Repositioning herself the human god bowed her head.
"We're not like everyone else; our bodies need constant care to remain pure." Placing her hands on her hips the marriage god frowned.
"Then I fail, I fail horribly." Kayako laughed moving her outer kimono to show them her egg which was bigger than a human head.
"Of course you do, you've not even been a god a year. I've been one my entire life. In four days my shikigami will hatch and I will win this contest." Running a hand down her own Shikigami's fur Ashi smiled as he yipped at her.
"I don't know Hikari is pretty damn cute." Letting her senses spread out the teal eyed god winced when they brushed against the large egg.
"Don't you ever get tired of following her around?" Focusing back on the human god in front of her the deity frowned when Kayako turned back to her. "And you don't you get tired of keeping him under control?" Tilting her head the goddess smiled.
"Control? I've only ever given him one order. And that was to not be a dumbass and sacrifice himself for me again. Foxy is not a thing, demons have feelings ya know." The human god sighed a faraway look in her eyes.
"I know." Waving her hands around the marriage god cut her off.
"Whoa, wait a sec; don't tell me you love a youkai." The brown eyed girl nodded. "Oh good." Turning to Tomoe she stuck her tongue out. "Ha another point for me. That's 3." Turning back to the completely confused girl Ashi laughed. "Sorry, see I'm all for the interspecies love, but Foxy is against it." Bowing politely she made her way to the door. "Take care of yourself, Hiiragi-san." Sagging when they exited the apartment the land god yelped when a bright flash of light blinded her before she was side tackled by a silver and black haired kit.
"Kaa-san, don't go back to that place! Something bad is inside that egg." Smoothing his shaggy hair the girl sighed.
"I know, fur ball. But I can't just let it eat Kayako even if she is a little shit." A sudden pulse of energy had her dashing back inside the room. Gasping at the giant egg that was fastly absorbing the last of Kayako's energy the goddess ground her teeth pulling the human god away.
"I.. have… to go.. to Izumo…" Checking her pulse Ashi cursed.
"We have to get her to a hospital. She'll die if we don't." Sighing the Silver kitsune lifted the unconscious girl into his arms never moving too fast to lose his goddess as she followed on the ground.
A scream had Ashi letting go of Otohiko's shirt and racing towards the room where Kayako was staying. She couldn't believe that this whole thing was to raise her power so she could attend the meeting in Izumo. That was a horrible thing to do to the girl; Kayako honestly believed she had a shot at winning this test. Slamming the door open she quickly looked around. "Where's Hiiragi?" A man sobbed covering his face.
"The world has tainted Kayako-sama! She was ruined!" Rolling her eyes the teenager had had enough.
"Will you just shut the hell up! Of course she's going to act like that, she's 17 and you treat her like she's a saint! That's bullshit! Kayako is a normal girl but you relied on her and clung to her like she was a god! You make me sick." Storming out of the room she paused in front of a window to catch her breath. She shouldn't have done that now her hurt chest was already sore on a daily basis.
"Ashi the human went home." Squeaking she rounded on the kitsune hanging in the window. Composing herself the land god let the youkai pick her up racing towards Kayako's apartment. Sliding from the foxes arms Ashi sighed watching Kayako sob.
"Tomoe, please." Nodding the fox pulled a leaf from his kimono quickly turning the humanoid shikigami back into an egg. Rubbing her throbbing head the marriage god bit her lip. "I'm going to Izumo, Kayako, and when I get there I'll give them a piece of my mind."
Pulling her hair into a high pony tail Ashi put the finishing touches on her outfit for the day. Sighing she smoothed her hands over her blue jeans and tugged her black shirt further down. Nodding to herself the land god hummed making her way to Tomoe's room further in the shrine. Passing Tenshi and Akki on the way she waved ruffling Yu's hair when he bounced over. "You almost ready to go?" Nodding the kit smiled.
"Yes Ashi-nee-san." Continuing on her way she paused watching all four of her shrine spirits float around the inner garden playing with Yoshi. The dog loved all the attention she was getting and the spirits adored her just the same. It gave them something to do other than just floating around, wondering the same land every day. Mizuki's little plum blossom tree was growing fantastically.
"Do you guys want me to bring you anything from the park?" Stopping in their game they all nodded.
"Yes! More sweet stuff!" Yono and Mori cried together. Kotetsu and Onikiri drifted over.
"Anything you bring will do Ashi-sama." Giving a thumbs up she quickly reentered the shrine hoping her fox demon was ready, heaven knew he took longer to prepare then she did.
"Bastard snake!" Rolling her eyes she slammed the shoji door open watching her two familiars fight for a while before stepping in to break them up.
"Okay guys break it up." Staring at her for a moment Tomoe slid her out of the way before continuing the brawl. Sitting down beside the open door the deity yawned wondering when the others would arrive. Seeing Mizuki summon his snakes she pulled her phone from her pocket checking the time. They still had 10 minutes before Ami, Kurama, and Kei were supposed to be here. Feeling the heat from the kitsune's fox fire she glanced up. "Don't burn the temple down boys." Letting her head thump against the shoji screen the land god shut her eyes, snapping them back open when a timid voice spoke up.
"A-Ashi?" Slowly turning her head towards the open doorway she paled seeing Ami shaking while staring into the room where both Mizuki and Tomoe had frozen both still sporting their demonic powers and appearance. Kei dropped her phone watching the giant white snake floating around her boyfriend disappear back into nothing, while Tomoe's fire died out and his ears gave a twitch.
"Oh shit…" Yes that seemed to sum up the situation quite well.
Having barely caught Ami before she fainted for a moment Kurama glared at the other two demons who hadn't stopped arguing. Rubbing her forehead the goddess gave the tengu a sympathetic look. "Will you two just shut up!?" Feeling a tick form over her eye Ashi had to agree with the crow demon.
"Be Quiet!" Instantly the two stopped sitting silently beside each other. Tending to his slowly waking girlfriend the redhead patted her cheek while Kei inched forward.
"Mizuki what are you?" Giving Ashi a pleading look the snake clasped his hands together, giving in the land god sighed.
"Mizuki you can speak. Come on Foxy they need to be alone." Waiting for the others to leave the Hebi frowned.
"I'm sorry Kei. I couldn't tell you. But I'm a divine familiar for the goddess of this shrine."
Pacing the floor the raven haired girl waited for both of her friends to return. Soon after moving to the common room Ami had woken up and demanded an explanation on what she had just seen. Giving a hiss Tomoe folded his arms taping his foot. Throwing an arm out she groaned. "Fine you can talk too."
"Thank you oh mighty land goddess." He hissed lowering his ears to show just how annoyed he was. "What are we going to do?" Sitting at the low table in the room she ran a hand through her bangs.
"I don't know. Are there really any rules saying humans can't know about this?" Examining his claws with fake interest the fox gave a grumble.
"No but they'll only cause trouble." Tracing a finger over a claw mark one the table that one of the Kitsune had left by accident she stared at the wall thinking a moment.
"How? Ami could already see demons and Kei must be able to because she has a tie to Mizuki. Now that they know I don't have to stop talking about it when they do move within hearing distance." Giving his tail a good flick the fox growled, mumbling under his breath. He hated to admit it but the other two humans knowing wasn't entirely a bad thing. Catching a silver and raven haired kit when he dashed into the room she winced as he crashed into her front sending them both to the floor. Hissing Tomoe yanked the shikigami away pulling his mistress back up into a setting position.
"Watch how rough you are. Ashi is human, she breaks easily." Whimpering the kit tucked his tail nearly crawling towards his master when the silver fox set him on the floor.
"Sorry Kaa-san. Yu was chasing me and the only safe place I could think of was you." Seeing the ginger haired fox peeking in through the door Ashi smiled waving him over as well before pulling both small foxes into her lap, earning high pitched giggles from the two.
"What am I going to do with you guys? And might I say Yu, you look adorable today." Blushing the purple eyed kit fidgeted with the end of his t-shirt, just because Tomoe liked formal Japanese clothing didn't mean the rest of his family did. Ashi had discovered quickly that Akki and Tenshi had traveled the world and sampled all the cultures. Yu having modern clothes was a good thing, he would stick out at the park otherwise, and she had even managed to get Tomoe to agree to wear his uniform so his clothes wouldn't be a hassle all day. Having a fancy familiar was such a pain in the ass sometimes; even now his tail was thumping coarsely against the floor in irritation. A squeal shocked her out of her glaring contest with the violet eyed demon. Ami and Kurama had come back from outside holding hands so at least all was good with them.
"Oh Ashi they're so cute!" Yipping both kits scrambled behind the land god, the red head because he was still unsure of humans, Ashi smelled more like a demon by now, and Hikari because the other had. Slowing her dash the little pinkette blinked wondering what she had done. Taking a seat across from the raven haired girl Ami clasped her hands waiting patiently.
"The one with purple eyes is Yu, Tomoe's little brother, and the one with teal and violet eyes is Hikari." Ami smiled shuffling in her seat when Kurama set down beside her.
"Hello little foxes, I'm Ami." Hikari perked up from under Ashi's hair sniffing. Turning gleaming eyes towards his god the shikigami twitched his ears.
"Kaa-san?" Scratching his ear the deity sighed.
"Go on no one here is dangerous." Snorting Tomoe turned his head away when the teal eyed teen shot a look his way.
"There are over 5 youkai living in this temple right now and no one here is dangerous?" Watching the pinkette and the little demons interact the marriage god huffed snagging the silver tail that was slowly flicking behind the male.
"We're not gonna think about demons or humans today okay? I wanna have a nice get together with my friends before I di- depart for Izumo. Is that too much to ask?" Frowning the kitsune gazed at his master a while before Mizuki and Kei strode into the room. Planting her hands on her hips the orange haired teen scowled down at the raven.
"Why the hell didn't you tell us all this crazy shit was going on? Demons and familiars and all that. Even telling us your mom left you would've been something." Narrowing her eyes at the snake behind her friend the god wondered how much Mizuki had spilled. Pinching the bridge of her nose the teen pushed to her feet pacing the room.
"I didn't wanna bother you guys with my problems; fuck senior year is hard enough without all this bullshit. I didn't want to make a big deal out of this and have you fail." Stopping in front of the group Ashi smiled. "I've managed just fine the last year living here, and I'm happy with my life. What more could I ask for?"
Yay another chapter! I enjoy playing with Ashi and Tomoe way too much.
Anyway Read and review please and if you see a mistake tell me.