Chapter 4: First Day at the Shrine

"Rise and shine. It's time for you to get ready for work," Rei said and slid the door open to let in the sunlight.

Goten covered his closed eyes with his arm and let out a groan as he could feel the intensity of the brightness.

"Ah, geez…" he murmured.

"Come on, get dressed. It's almost 7AM. Breakfast is waiting for you in the kitchen." Rei put her hands on her hips and walked across the room as he was lethargically getting up.

"How long have you been up?" He asked in mid-yawn.

"Since 4AM."

Goten did a double take. What was she, some sort of vampire!? Wait, that wasn't right. Vampires slept during the day. Just why were they up at such an ungodly hour?

"Come on, now. Stop dawdling and get up!" She clapped her hands hurriedly so he could get moving. "Meet me out front once you're finished," she added with a huff.

The shaggy haired tenant let out a grunt. He was starting to wonder if it was the morning, her dislike for him, or she was just generally this unpleasant. He began to stretch and change his clothes. For what it was worth, it sure was nice of her to make breakfast for him. In fact, she was the first person to cook him a homemade breakfast since he'd left home.

He stepped out after breakfast, and to his surprise, saw a large line of people looking to buy charms. It sure seemed like Rei did have her work cut out for her. He walked towards the front of the line and a young boy called him out.

"Hey, you can't cut in line!" He squeaked.

Goten flinched at getting called out in front of the rest of the adults in the line.

"But I'm not cutting. I'm not buying anything," Goten countered.

"You're not from here, are you?" The boy's mother asked.

"Well, I just moved in yesterday," the demi-Saiyan answered modestly.

"I see, so you haven't heard the news," another woman chimed in. Goten looked confused.

"Up until a few days ago this area's been terrorized by the Typhoon Gang. They're relatively new but have been relentless in their take over. They threatened people to pay them protection or else they assaulted them violently. It's been a total nightmare," the mother enlightened the teen on current events.

Goten's eyes widened in realization. So those thugs from the day before weren't just your regular street urchins. It seemed like they were stirring up enough trouble to strike fear among the masses.

"We came here to buy some charms for protection," the mother added while holding her little boy's hand.

That explained the line; however, Goten couldn't help but think out loud. "What makes you believe the charms are going to help you?"

The women motioned for him to step closer so they could whisper to him. "The priestess that lives here is said to possess fantastic powers." Goten's interest peaked at the sound of this.

"The priestess, you say? You mean the one right over there?" He asked and pointed at the booth where Rei was handing out charms.

The women swatted him while shushing him. "Don't point!" They said in unison. "Yes, that is the priestess," the older woman confirmed. "It's said she has powers of foresight, and her blessings usually work wonders."

Goten pressed his hand to his lips and pondered over what he had just heard. They seemed so convinced that there was no way it was just empty gossip. There seemed to be more to Rei than he thought. Just what sort of powers could someone like her possess; were they strong?

"Hey!" Rei's voice barked at him, earning his attention. "What are you doing over there?"

Goten bowed to excuse himself from the group he had conversed with and jogged to the front of the line.

"You know, you can't just start a conversation with everyone when you've got stuff to do," she said as she handed him a bucket with cleaning rags inside.

He gave a nod, looking fretful for being caught wasting time. "Right, sorry," he apologized and took the bucket.

"I need you to clean the shrine floors and polish them. I mean really polish them, until you can see your reflection," the shrine maiden instructed.

"Okay, I'll try not to get mesmerized by my stunning good looks." He grinned ear to ear.

Rei merely eyed him, not amused.

"Oh, I'll find your sense of humor. It may not be today, it may not be tomorrow, but I will find it!" Goten squinted his eyes at her, shaking his fist at her dramatically while he was backing away.

He then turned to flee into the shrine to clean before she could retort. The customers who saw him at the front of the line burst out laughing and the priestess cracked a smile before concealing it.

"Next," she called, getting back to business.

Goten had been scrubbing the floors as instructed for the past few hours. This was a lot harder than it looked and it was surprisingly much more time consuming than he anticipated. Did he have to use rags? Why not a mop? He stopped to wipe the sweat off his brow until he noticed how red and wrinkled his fingers were. He only had hands like these soaking in the bath after rigorous training or sparring with his father. To think he thought he had it rough then.

"No doubt about it," said a couple of young girls passing by, holding up their charms. "With the blessings she gave us, we'll definitely ace our exams!"

"Yeah, I've always come here since New Year's. I got a lucky-in-love fortune and a week later I had a cute boyfriend!" The girls erupted in squeals as they walked towards the exit together.

Goten's head tilted in wonder. He couldn't help but feel overwhelmed with his curiosity concerning Rei and her mysterious "powers". Come to think of it, Rei in general was pretty mysterious compared to most girls he knew. Then again he'd never met a girl who lived in a shrine, or woke up at 4AM.

'She's so focused on working,' he thought to himself as he dipped the rag in the bucket. 'I wonder what she does when she's done for the day. If she's ever done that is…' He pouted and went back to work.

"…and done." Goten said before falling face first on the now sparkling floor.

That was the most exercise he'd done in ages. His stomach agreed as it rumbled for nourishment. He looked at the clock on the wall and smiled.

"Almost lunch time," he said dreamily.

So what if he had to do some cleaning? He had a bed to sleep on, a roof over his head, and they fed him. As far as Goten was concerned, the Hinos had his gratitude and unwavering loyalty.

He could hear birds cawing nearby and got back up on his feet. He walked toward the sounds and poked his head outside to see Rei kneeling on the ground, feeding two black crows. Goten watched in awe; he didn't think Rei would have a soft spot for animals. Rei stroked the birds dotingly as they pecked on crumbs and seeds. It was like a whole different side of her. She looked so peaceful and content. A smile slowly graced his lips as he approached her.

"Friends of yours?" His voice snapped her out of her reverie.

Rei turned around to glare at him. "Shouldn't you still be cleaning the floors?" She grumbled, voice dripping with annoyance.

"I finished. Shouldn't you be minding the charm stand?" He cockily rubbed his nose like his father would do.

"It's lunch hour. Business is practically dead around this time," she said through her teeth. She'd be damned if she would let him sass her.

"What are their names?" Goten knelt right next her, ignoring her previous statement.

"Phobos and Deimos," Rei answered, pointing at which one was which.

"What weird names," Goten said and reached his hand out to stroke the one she called Deimos.

The crow looked at him peculiarly since she wasn't used to contact with any other humans than the shrine maiden herself.

"It's okay, I won't hurt you." Goten spoke softly and caressed the bird with the back of his hand.

Rei's violet eyes widened at the sight of Deimos nuzzling against his hand. Just how was he doing that? These were her crows! They'd attacked Usagi the first day she'd met her yet here they were warming up to this goofball.

"Aw, look Rei. I think they like me." He chuckled as Phobos hopped onto his shoulder to join in on the nuzzling.

Rei was speechless and just looked upon the display of affection they were giving him. Was this a sign? What could this mean?

"They're girls, aren't they?" He asked, now having a better look at them up close.

"Yeah…most people can't really tell," Rei mumbled, still in a state of bewilderment.

Phobos continued nuzzling his cheek while Deimos hopped onto his thigh, still nuzzling against his hand.

"They're really friendly!" He laughed.

"How are you doing that?" Rei asked, mind boggled.

"Doing what?" He blinked, tilting his head to the side.

"They don't usually behave this way around strangers at all." Rei crossed her arms.

"I guess animals just like me; after all I like them too," he said while continuing to stroke the amorous birds. "I grew up in the mountain district so I'm used to them," he added.

"You did, huh?" Rei's expression softened, her hand trailing her ribcage over her robes where the cuts from her visit to the mountain district were. She forgot how lucky she was to have had him there at that exact moment.

"Do they still hurt?" He asked gently.

Rei glanced up at him and lightly shook her head.

"You're pretty tough." He grinned.

"I manage," she corrected him before slowly rising to her feet; she was in more pain than she let on.

"You okay?" He asked when he saw her clench her eyes for a second.

"I'm fine. I have to make lunch anyway," she said and began to step away, showing her back to him.

"Wait, would you like some help?" He offered, shrugging the birds off before standing.

Rei let out a sigh before looking at him over her shoulder. "I guess you could bring Grandpa his tea."

Goten flashed a smile, happy that she was being accommodating to his readiness to assist. Maybe she was starting to trust him more.

The tea tray was set up for him and Rei got to work on preparing the food. He carried the tea tray into Grandpa's bedroom. The old man coughed and sat up so Goten could hand him his cup.

"Thank you, my boy," the elder said before taking a sip.

"No problem." He smiled back, eyes still looking quite concerned. "How're you holding up?"

"Well, I'm not dead yet. So that's good news, means my time is not yet up," the priest mused before turning to look at him. "How goes work? I hope Rei hasn't worn you ragged."

Goten merely shook his head and beamed confidently. "No, it's okay; I can handle anything she dishes out."

"Your hands say otherwise," Grandpa said, pointing out the redness on Goten's fingers. "Rei usually puts on some ointment for that after she's finished cleaning the floors. I think the tube is on the counter of her vanity mirror. Go put some on."

Goten nodded and decided to heed his suggestion when he left his room. He'd never seen Rei's room before, maybe he could take a look around while 'finding' that ointment. He went down the hall to the door past his bedroom and gently slid it open to step inside. Good lord was it neat and, to his surprise, pretty normal.

She had a book shelf with literary works on it, a computer, a small TV, a desk, a table, a bed, a closet, a lamp, and a vanity mirror. It was spacious too, much bigger than his. Then again his room here made his old bedroom at Mt. Paozu look like a small walk-in closet. He saw a school bag on the floor against her desk. Rei did look like she was still in high school, hence the computer and books. He figured she probably read more than watched TV or typed at the computer, seeing as both devices looked untouched. He stopped in front of the vanity mirror and glanced at the assorted objects on the counter. A bottle of expensive looking perfume, a set of combs and hairbrushes, a make-up kit, some creams, and a jewelry box all sat on the counter.

'Seems like an ordinary girl's room,' he thought before slowly opening the jewelry box.

He held the top open as he began to sift through earrings and bracelets before realizing it was layered like a bento. He took out the top tray to look at the compartment underneath. He blinked when he picked up an inquiring object.

"What is this, some sort of pen?" He mumbled as he took a closer look at it. It had a symbol of a circle with an arrow emerging from it, one he recognized as a male sex symbol. He shrugged and put it back down. It must've come in a set since there was a matching watch next to it. He noticed something poking out from the tray underneath and took it out to see. An old photograph rested at the bottom of the box. He pulled it out and held it up close to get a good look at it.

'Is that Rei?' He thought while observing the woman in the photograph.

Upon further observation, he concluded it wasn't the miko, seeing as this woman's features were more refined. It almost had him fooled though; they could pass off as sisters! Or in a more likely case, she was her mother.

'Wow, so this is Rei's mom…no wonder Rei's so gorgeous.' Goten felt a smile tug at his lips before the thought hit him. 'Does Rei's mom live here?'

"What are you doing?!" Rei exclaimed, standing behind him.

Goten whirled back to face her, her mother's photograph still in hand. "Oh I-I was just looking-"

He saw the fire in Rei's eyes. "What have I told you about coming into my room?" She growled.

Goten gulped, realizing he had been caught doing something he knew he shouldn't. "Grandpa told me to come in and…"

When her eyes fell on the picture he was holding, the anger inside her was at a boiling point. "Touch my things!?" Rei seethed and stormed up to him, swiping the photo out of his hand and shoving him out into the hall forcefully. "Get out, now!" She demanded.

"Rei, you don't understand! I was only trying to—" Goten fell back on his behind and tried to explain, but Rei wasn't having it.

"Just because you saved me doesn't mean you have an open invitation to anything! Now stay out!" She screamed in rage before closing the door.

Goten laid there on the hallway floor, looking pretty scared. He thought he was already in hot water regarding their first meeting, but it looked like whatever he had just done was a much worse offense. Instead of finding answers, his head was buzzing with countless new questions.

The most common question being: 'What did I just get myself into?'

AN: Hey everybody! Sorry for the delay on uploading this chapter. Just wanted to let you all know I have up until chapter 7 already written up but it just takes a while to get them beta'd before posting. And my lovely beta Megakat is a very busy lady. Feel free to check out her work sometime!

And just wanted to get this out there to my faithful readers: This is going to be a fic that is going to move at a very slow and steady pace with Rei and Goten's relationship. I know we're all used to fics that just jump into the romance but this fic is going to be much more about the journey than the destination. Sorry to disappoint anyone expecting different but I am so thankful for those of you still reading and all of your reviews!