Dionysus had finished cleaning his hair when Thoth finally returned to the waters. "How is she doing," he asked genuinely. Thoth walked down the steps, sinking into the water so only his shoulders were above it, making his way over to the Greek before he answered. "She's exhausted, but overall, she'll be fine." Di nodded, "Right." Thoth closed his eyes, relaxing his body, but his mind was busy as always, "Have you ever given that elixir to a human before?"
Dionysus was smart enough to know where that question led, "Once, but not that much. It didn't require more than a sip for that one to crack. On the other hand, Kusanagi was nearly as resistant as we are to its effects, so I'm hoping her recovery will be about the same." Thoth sighed, "Yes, well, I also took that same resistance into account when crafting the pill."
Di laughed at the troublesome look on Thoth's face. "That afraid of playing dad to another kid, huh?" Thoth smirked, "And you're not? Say, how are your kids these days?" Di rolled his eyes at the playful jab, "Hey now, at least mine will talk to me." Thoth chuckled. "When they want something." Both men paused before laughing.
The two of them enjoyed each other's company as they finished cleaning up. "You seem different." Thoth was surprised by his lover's offhand comment, "How so?" Di shrugged, "I'm not sure, but for starters, the bags under your eyes aren't nearly as heavy as they normally are." Thoth chuckled, "Yes, I have been keeping Yui company for a few days. She's made me a more regular sleeper."
Di was surprised, "Really? You're able to relax with her?" Thoth sighed, "I'm not sure why, but yes, it would seem she has that effect on me." Di made a noise in agreement, "Interesting. What led to this discovery?" Thoth was quiet at first, "She was severely depressed. You remember the state of her bedroom, correct?" Di grimaced at the memory, "I remember." The older god cleared his voice before continuing.
"She was spiraling downward, more so after coming back here. In her case, she was trying to isolate, which only adds fuel to a fire. The opposite of that would be connecting. She needed to make a bond with someone. The best way to do that is physically connecting with someone through touch, especially if they won't open up verbally."
Dionysus was a good listener when he wanted to be, which is why Thoth talked so openly with him. Ironically, it is also the reason Thoth would get so angry at him last year because he chose to sleep and not take notes. "I didn't know that. Why didn't we learn about things like that last year?" Thoth sighed, "Because it wasn't relevant to Zeus' plan last year, and like he said, you stubborn fools barely understand love, which, to say you understood it, is a generously gross estimation of the truth, in my opinion."
Dionysus smiled at first, but when his brain finally processed Thoth's comment, his smile flattened, and he splashed water at him in retaliation, "You know, you could just say you thought we were idiots and we should have failed!" He chastised, sticking his tongue out like a child at the end, making Thoth smirk, "I just did, idiot." Thoth grabbed his lover by the wrist and pulled him into a slow, passionate kiss.
Thoth pulled away from the younger's lips, only to peck him on the cheek, "When you're done in here, take my place and cuddle the girl, will you? There's some work I need to attend to." Dionysus nodded, "Sure thing, what do I do when she wakes up?" Thoth went to the steps to get out of the water and dry himself off, "If you have the time to stay with her, maybe see if she wants to hang with the others at the dorm for dinner tonight."
Dionysus followed after the Egyptian, more than ready to get out and dry off as well. "I've got plenty of time, and I'm sure the others would love that." Thoth wrapped the towel loosely around his hips before helping Dionysus dry his maroon hair, "Good. Just don't push her into anything. However, if she insists on being left alone, hold your ground. And try to get her to eat something; I don't think she's been eating enough."
"Yes, yes, not to worry, oh thoughtful one." Thoth stopped drying the Greeks' hair and opted to use the towel as a whip, cracking it across Dionysus' firm ass, eliciting a fake pained noise followed by a laugh from the younger god, "So mean, I was just teasing you." Thoth hugged him, pressing his chest to the younger's back before kissing and biting his neck, "Be good. And come find me if she needs anything." Di reached around and kissed the god one last time, "I will."
With that, Thoth walked off and up the stairs to his apartment. Di followed behind him a few minutes later, and by the time he had gotten into the bedroom, Thoth was fully dressed, pulling on his boots. Di was going to jump in bed with the girl but thought twice, "Should I put clothes on?" he asked before Thoth finished walking through the door, "There's no need, though it's a cute sight when she blushes and stammers, insisting upon it. She'll give in fairly quickly, though."
The two gods shared a grin, "That does sound adorable. See you later." Thoth nodded, "Farewell." With that, the Egyptian left the young girl in Dionysus' capable hands, and the Greek wormed himself on the bed and under the sheets with the girl, pulling her close, careful not to wake her. It wasn't long before her sleeping form moved about, gluing herself to him without realizing it. He chuckled when she started drooling on his chest.
"You really are just an adorable little thing, aren't you?" he chuckled. The god could understand why Thoth found it so easy to relax with her. After watching her peacefully sleep on him for a while, his eyelids started becoming heavy, too. He played with her hair for a while longer before setting his hand on her back as he joined her in sleep.
After sleeping the day away, Yui's peaceful dreaming was ending, her mind playing tricks, as it materialized her biggest fears. Yui was in the classroom, not the one from her mortal realm, but back in Zeus' academy. There was no one there, though, no one but her. The floor started to move under her, like the swelling of the sea. She tried to run for the door, but it got further and further away, "Kusanagi Yui." she heard the voice of Zeus roar like distant thunder, and suddenly the floor was eating her. She screamed, trying to stop sinking, flailing about, "Help, Master Thoth!" she panicked, finally sinking past the tiles, her hand reaching out, hoping someone would grab it, but no one did.
It was dark for a split second, and the next thing she knew, she was falling; it was short. She landed in her seat back in the classroom again. Panting, she looked around her, trying to understand what was happening. Everyone was doing their own thing, laughing as Thoth wrote something on the board, "Um, -" She dared not continue when all the other students stopped what they were doing to look at her, staring her down with cold eyes, flat smiles, or smirks; they just stared at her.
Takeru made a snickering noise, giving her an angry look, "Damn Weed." Balder scoffed, "Yes, who could ever want a weed." Loki cackled, pointing at her as he doubled over, slapping his knee. "Kitten looks like she's about to cry!" She let a stray tear out and tried to hide her face from them, but then Apollon appeared before her. He caressed her face in his hand, and she thought he was about to save her from the bullying, but then his face twisted, "Oh my, Fairy, you were once so beautiful, but now your tear-stained face has made you ugly. I can't believe I ever wanted you to stay by my side." When he joined in the laughter around them, she gasped, clasping her hands over her mouth.
Among her classmates, the only one not laughing was Tsukito; instead, he started reading back everything they had just said to her flatly, without emotion, only making everyone laugh again. She couldn't take it anymore and stood up from her desk, trying to push past them, heading for the door. She stopped when Hades cut between her and the path to the door, standing there, blocking her way out. "Fool, you know why we abandoned you. You brought us nothing but misfortune."
Yui was letting the tears run down her face indiscriminately as she held herself, "I never asked to be here! Zeus -" Hades cut her off, leaning his face uncomfortably close to hers to whisper in her ear, "Zeus? I'll let you in on a secret about my brother. He loves nothing more than playing with humans, and you're his toy. He's brought you back to play in our garden, so you'll never be alone again." She crouched on the floor, covering her ears as she hid her face in her lap, "Stop it! Please, don't say things like that! Leave me alone!" she screamed
The next thing she knew, a firm hand gripped her wrist, pulling her back to her feet. She was scared until she realized it was Thoth. He was tugging her past Hades, marching her toward the classroom door. He opened it, but it didn't lead to the hallway. It led into his bedroom. The door slammed shut when she crossed the threshold, making her jump. "Master Th-" He turned back to look at her, and she yelped. He was frightening, his eyes filled with rage. "You want to leave?" he yelled, backing her up to the door before slamming his hands next to her head.
Yui winced, afraid he would hurt her. She couldn't even find her voice; she just shook in fear as his large form loomed over her. His face went flat, but not his eyes. His blue eyes were darker than normal, and the anger became something akin to hunger as he leaned his face closer to her ear. She thought he was going to whisper something, but instead, she felt a rough kiss on her neck, eliciting a moan from her. She slapped a hand over her mouth to prevent any other noise from escaping as he continued the assault of kisses and nips up and down her neck, her ear, and the line of her jaw.
He peeled away the hand covering her mouth and pinned it along with the other above her head with one hand of his own, "You're not going anywhere." The god whispered with a sultry and threatening voice as he grabbed her waist harshly with his free hand. She tried to free herself from his grasp. But he pulled away, still holding her hands; he swung her off the wall and tossed her onto his bed. Letting go of her only to undress himself.
She crawled away in horror, scared of the smirk and the sinister glint in his eyes. "Wait, stop, please." At first, she backed away but realized that would only trap her on his bed. She stared at the door and then back at him. Her body moved, scrambling off the bed. She managed to run to the door, but just as she gripped the knob, he grabbed her by the hair. She tried to hold on, but eventually, her head grew too tender. "Let me go!" she screamed.
He held her against his naked form easily; she was like a fly stuck in a web, desperately trying to break free, even knowing she never stood a chance. Yui cried and begged him to stop as he ripped her uniform off. He threw her naked form back on the bed, and she crawled away from him, "Stop it! I don't want this, please! Somebody help me! Help!" The next thing she knew, he was on top of her, crushing her front to the bed. He grabbed her by the hair to lift her face from the pillows, "Would you rather be my pet or Zeus'?"
She heard the deep, distant rumble of Zeus' voice, "Yui! Kusanagi Yui!" she cried and cried as Thoth started handling her body roughly; she had given up struggling and just lay there sniffling. Again, she heard Zeus, "Yui!" it was getting louder, "Yui!" She was sure if he summoned her, this dream could only get worse, "Yui!" Her crying stopped, trying to figure out if it was really Zeus' voice she had just heard. It sounded like him, but it didn't at the same time. "Who is it?" she mumbled, wishing someone would save her.
"Kusanagi? -" She felt her body being shaken and tried to open her eyes. "Hey, wake up! Yui!" she recognized the person calling her name and jolted upright with a yelp, accidentally colliding her head with the Greeks, "Ow! Damn it, that hurt!" she also held her head, wincing, "Ouch," she mumbled before going wide-eyed. Taking in her surroundings frantically, she gasped, "Oh, I'm so sorry. Are you okay?" Dionysus chuckled, "That's my line!-" he gave her a smile, which confused her. "You were kicking and whining in your sleep before you started yelling for help."
Yui thought about her dream, trying to remember it, but it was patchy. She mainly remembered laughing and Thoth coming onto her. "Oh, I'm sorry, I was having a nightmare." She blushed, realizing Dionysus was shirtless and very close. She moved to grab the blanket, and when she looked down to grab it, she came to a screeching halt.
At that moment, it dawned on her that during that entire conversation just now, they had both been sitting there less than a foot apart and were both shirtless. Moving her leg with an involuntary twitch, she then also realized she wasn't just shirtless. She was completely naked.
Dionysus looked at her like she had three heads as her face morphed from smiling to shocked, to more shocked, to pale, finally growing red, all in about twenty seconds, "Uh, Yui? Is… everything alright?"
"You- I- We're na-naked! And Thoth! And- we- oh my. We had sex. I had sex?" Dionysus wasn't sure what to do at first. She looked like she was about to rip her hair out if she gripped her head any tighter. "What am I going to do? I could get pregnant from this!" she panted, shaking her head back and forth, "Hey, Yui, calm down, okay? I promise everything is going to be fine." She opened her mouth wide, and he thought she was going to scream, so he did the only thing he thought was logical. Covering her mouth with his, the god began to passionately kiss the girl. She tried to pull back at first, but he was sure it would have ended too quick to do the job, so he grabbed the back of her neck and her hip, pulling her to him tightly.
She was tense at first, but it didn't take much coaxing for her to relax. The god was just about to pull away when she began kissing him back, timidly swirling her tongue with his. It took him by surprise, but he welcomed it. She placed one hand on his muscular shoulder and the other on his chest. He let his own hands explore her in response. His fingers ran through her hair against her scalp, the hand on her hip giving a tight squeeze before sliding down to her core. She gasped into the kiss, digging her nails into him when she felt his fingers run along her sex. He broke away from their kiss, leaning in to whisper, "You're really wet."
It turned him on, and he could feel his cock throbbing to life at the thought of taking her again. She whimpered as his fingers gently slid against her soaking center. "It's your fault," she mumbled in a bratty pouting tone. The god smirked and kissed her neck, making her gasp. "As much as I want you. -" he started before rolling her on her back, one knee between her legs as he hovered above her, "I don't think your body can handle that right now." He smiled softly at her when she flushed with embarrassment.
"Look." He said, picking up her arm and tapping his finger on her. She looked to the spot he had tapped her, and there was a bruise. He sighed, slightly upturning his lips. "Sorry, we were a little rough with you earlier." She looked at both arms, noticing quite a few bruises on herself, not just the one he pointed out, "It's alright. I didn't notice until you said something. I'm fine." His emerald eyes stared into hers, but she found she could hold his gaze easier than she could with Thoth.
The way Dionysus' eyes penetrated her was different. It was warmer, asking for entrance, whereas Thoth's gaze left her feeling exposed, like a butterfly entomology on display. "You only think you're okay because we haven't started anything." To prove his point, he used one to caress her sex. She moaned as he played with her swollen clit, and whined when the fingers stopped. He dragged them up and down her wet folds, covering his fingers in her juices before pressing them into her.
Yui gasped, recoiling from the stinging pain, "You see? As much as I would love to mess you up, I don't want to hurt you." he whispered kindly, his tone filled with pity. She blushed and looked away from him, looking back when he bolted upright, "Oh wait! That's right! Thoth dropped something off earlier." He quickly crawled off her, and she watched as he jumped off the bed walking toward the dresser.
The girl tried to make out what was in Dionysus's hand while he was reading a note, but she couldn't see it from her spot on the bed. "Oh, okay. Yui?" She yawned before answering him, "Yes?" They looked at each other, and he cleared his throat, "So Thoth gave you two options: the blue potion, which will help speed up the healing process, and return you to the state your body was in before we had our fun. Or the red potion, which won't heal you but will nullify any pain you are experiencing while under its influence until you've healed naturally."
Yui blinked a few times and then stared down at her lap, unsure what to do. "Oh yeah, he also says here to you, and I quote: If you intend to engage in coitus again, choosing blue will only lead to you being reinjured. However, if you would like to explore this path further, my recommendation as your master is to choose red." The good looked into Yui's eyes, watching the debate in her head unfold. "Not to pressure you, but if it helps, I hope you choose red. I think Thoth would love that, too."
Yui smiled at him, "I understand. I think I'll choose red then." She was sure she had made the right choice when a big smile spread across Dionysus's face. He rushed over to her with the small vile. "Here you go!" His excitement burst through every fiber of his being, making Yui happy, too. "Thank you." She pooped the cork off the bottle and sniffed the contents, its fragrance was pretty, but she couldn't compare it to anything; it was a unique scent. She quickly downed the bottle and put the cork back on.
Her core started to feel strange, almost heavy in a few moments. "You okay?" She gripped her tummy, "Yes, I'm fine. I just feel strange." Di gave her a sympathetic smile. "Why don't we get something to eat? I'm starving, and I'm sure it will help you." Usually, she would have refused him, but she thought maybe that was a medicine that was better taken with food, as it was not sitting well. "Sure, that sounds good."
Dionysus helped her get out of bed. He worried she would struggle walking, but he was happy she seemed fine, so he let go. "Oh yeah, he brought you a change of clothes." He crossed the room to a chair, grabbed the stack, and handed it to her, "Thank you." She was thankful for the fresh clothes, and they dressed. She wore black shorts, much shorter than she was used to, and they were high-waisted, with twelve golden buttons, split into two rows of six, paired with an emerald-green shirred tie-neck halter top.
She smiled as she held the matching ribbon he had given her, the same pretty green color. Di was already dressed in his usual outfit and offered to help her with her hair. She accepted and enjoyed how kind he was when brushing out her knotted hair, even helping to tie it back with the ribbon, "There we go, now let's go eat!" They engaged in small talk on the way there, and she was happy Di treated her normally, as she had been worried at first that he might stray to difficult subjects. It didn't take them long to get to the cafeteria, and they placed their orders. Just as they received their trays, she heard her name.
"Hey! Kusanagi, over here!" They both looked to their left, sitting at a table where Takeru and his brother Tsukito were waving them over. Di chuckled and gave her a nudge, looking down at her, "Yui? Do you want to eat with them?" She was nervous and knew it must have shown since he gave her a worried look just before leaning down to whisper in her ear, "If you'd rather not, I can always just kidnap you and take you back to bed. Then they'll blame me and not you." She blushed at his sultry tone.
"No! No, I'm fine. I want to sit with them." she stuttered frantically. Di nodded, "Let's go then." She nervously followed behind the Greek god, using him as a shield until they reached the round table and took their seats. Takeru was the first to greet her, "It's good to see you! Why are you two together? I thought you were couped up in your room still?" his brother nodded in agreement but didn't give her a chance to respond before adding to it, "Yes I'm curious about why your both here together as well, Thoth said we were not to bother Yui did he not?"
Yui hung her head low at the comments, and Di stepped in with a laugh, "We ran into each other at the library this morning." Takeru winced, "Oh? You went to Thoth yourself, huh? I thought you'd be hiding from him after the other night." Though laughed again, rubbing his head, "Yeah, well, I thought I'd do a bit of groveling so he'd go easy on me." Tsukito took a bite of his food, "Did it work?" Di let out a nervous chuckle, "Who can say? We didn't get to finish that conversation."
Yui chimed in to help, "Master Thoth seemed busy. He had to leave earlier." Takeru was munching away on his sashimi when he noticed her looking at a specific piece on his plate, "I'll trade you an octopus for one of your eel sushi." he offered, loving how her face lit up with happiness, "Really?" The blue-haired god blushed, but it was so faint she didn't notice, "Yeah, here." he muttered, turning his plate so she could grab it with her chopsticks easily. She did the same with her plate, and they each took the piece they wanted carefully, "Thank you!" she squealed.
Dionysus leaned forward to get a better look at Yui and Takeru's plate. "That's raw fish, isn't it? Won't you guys get sick from it?" Tsukito shook his head, "Not when prepared correctly." Yui nodded in agreement, "Yes, it's delicious. Would you like to try it?" She flipped her chopsticks around using the opposite end to pick up a piece of her sushi with salmon. The girl turned to her side, offering it to him. "Here," she said cheerily, expecting him to grab it with his hand when he leaned down to take it in his mouth instead.
She blushed from the interaction, realizing she fed him. Takeru blushed, too, having just watched that happen, "You were supposed to take it with your hands, not eat it off her chopsticks, you idiot! Don't do something so weird!" Tsukito, of course, didn't react but looked at Takeru, "What was weird about it? Yui fed me last year." Di and Takeru turned their heads to the stoic god, "What?" they both screeched in unison. Yui frantically waved her hands, "It wasn't like that! Loki had put that ring on us, remember? It was when we were cooking for the moon viewing!"
The other two gods relaxed as they remembered that ordeal; it had been mortifying to everyone but the trickster Norse god. Takeru sighed, "Well, anyway. Kusanagi?" How he angrily said her name made her flinch, "Yes?" she stuttered. "Come hang out with everyone tonight. Besides, it's our birthday, so you have to come." Yui was taken aback, "Ours?" She said, confused. Tsukito nodded, "Yes, we were born on the same day." Yui was surprised, "Really? Your twins?" Takeru shook his head, "Unfortunately, we're not." she didn't have time to be confused again because Tsukito elaborated, "We're triplets."
Dionysus made a noise of surprise, "You guys have another brother?" Takeru slammed his hands on the table, "A sister if you can even call her that! She's horrible." Yui laughed, "Takeru, that's mean. She is your sister, after all." Takeru ate the last bit of his food and pointed his chopsticks at Yui, punctuating his words at her with them, "She's a monster!" Yui scowled at the stubborn god, "Takeru!" she chastised, but Tsukito came to his aid, "Actually, I agree with Takeru; she's scary."
Dionysus sighed and changed the subject, "So Yui, did you want to have dinner with us tonight? It's just a little get-together to celebrate these two." Yui looked between the three of them; she reasoned that this hadn't been so bad and that it was worth a try, "Sure, I'd love to celebrate you both- Oh, that's right, Takeru, Tsukito, congratulations on your birthday!" they both uttered their thanks, and she wondered if she should get them a present.
Everyone was done eating, so they got up to put their trays away. The Japanese gods were saying their goodbyes to Dionysus and Yui, and just as they went to walk away, Takeru stopped, "Oh, Kusanagi, I almost forgot. I hope you continued your training; we postponed that fight, remember?" he said smugly. Yui had forgotten about that until he said something, "Oh, yes, that's right. I trained in sword skills every morning, but I didn't have a partner to practice with since my older brothers aren't at home often these days."
Takeru was surprised at the mention of her brothers, "Is that so? We must start training then; I can't fight you unless I know you're a proper match. I have no choice but to help train your body to keep up with mine." Yui blushed at his words and wondered if he noticed how those words came across or how they affected her, "Right, I look forward to working with you." she said with a bow. Takeru nodded and turned to walk off, "See ya later!"
Dionysus laughed when they walked out of earshot, "So, Takeru's going to train your body, huh?" Her blush grew more prominent when she saw the smirk on his face. "He didn't mean it like that! He meant running and stuff like that!" The Greek laughed at her and rubbed the top of her head, "Maybe, but I can think of a better cardio routine than running. In fact, we practiced it this morning." He whispered before kissing her neck, making her gasp and pull away, "Don't do that here!" The god laughed at her, "You're cute. Do you know that? We can always continue this at the library if you'd like?"
Yui didn't know what to say, and Di stopped his teasing, taking her by the hand to pull her along instead. "Come on." she tugged back, making him stop to look at her, "What is it?" She tried to hold his gaze but was too embarrassed, "Um, do you mind if we stop at the school store first? I'd like to get them presents for tonight." He smiled at the shy girl, "Sure thing, let's go."
They walked hand in hand to the store, and she came up with an idea for both of them, hoping they would complete the order before the dinner party tonight. Di sat back and watched her talk at the counter, but he was far enough away that he couldn't pick up what she was saying; however, as the conversation progressed, she started to smile, making him happy.
She returned to Dionysus, "Thanks for letting me stop by here first; I'll be able to get their gifts on time!" He stopped leaning on the wall and rubbed her hair again, "That's good, what did you get them?" She looked surprised, "Well, I put in an order for a custom tanto to be made for Takeru. For Tsukito, I got some notebooks with various designs on the cover and a custom fountain pen since he likes calligraphy." Dionysus looked at her funny, "A tanto?"
She smiled, "Yes, it's a short sword similar to a wakizashi or a katana." The god smiled at her, "Oh, I see; I'm sure they'll love it, especially since it's from you." She blushed at the last part of his comment, "Well, just so long as they like it, I'll be happy." Di grabbed her hands and kissed her cheek, "They'll love it." She looked away, embarrassed, and he chuckled, "Did you want to return to the library, or would you rather help me with my gift for them?"
She cocked her head to the side, "Help you?" he nodded, "Yes, I'm terrible at Japanese calligraphy, so I was hoping you could write on the labels for me?" She nodded, "I'd love to help. What are the labels for?" He smiled and turned on his heel, dragging her along, "Sake." She gave a disapproving noise, "I thought you weren't allowed to make alcohol?" Di smirked, "Zeus said I wasn't allowed to brew it during school, and while we may be in his garden, we are not technically in school right now."
She grew concerned when they started traveling through the forest, "Where exactly are we going? I thought we'd be going to the shack near the gardening club?" Di smiled, "Well, you see, my workshop is on the back part of this island. Before Zeus started using this as a school, he granted me a portion of its land to brew the booze for all the gods on Olympus." She made a noise, showing her amazement, "I had no idea! But why would Zeus put you here instead of in Olympus?"
Dionysus sighed, "We do have some time before we get there, so I'll tell you. My father's wife, Hera, is not my mother, and she can be a ruthless goddess when she's jealous. My mother was a mortal like I once was. Long story short, since I wasn't always a god, Zeus couldn't bring me to Olympus at first, so when Hera's jealousy turned to me, he hid me here where Hera could not see me." Yui noted that his voice had a hint of sorrow in it as he summed up his story.
"That must have been difficult. Where was your mother while you were stuck here?" The smile faded from his face when she asked him, "Dead. Hera was so jealous that my mother had caught Zeus' attention that she plotted my mother's death. Using only her words, Hera tricked my mother, getting her killed while she was pregnant with me. Zeus saved me, obviously, but Hera was just that powerful, so when she realized I had lived, my father had no choice but to pluck me from my life in Greece and hide me here."
Yui gasped, "I'm so sorry. That must have been awful." Thoth smiled at her, "It was at the time, but it all worked out. Besides, I'm not alone in what I went through, and I wasn't the only demigod on the island at the time; even Apollon went through a similar experience with Hera. Apollon and his twin sister, Artemis, lived here with me for a short time. They became gods just before I did, and Hera accepts us all now. She's not a bad goddess; she just gets jaded whenever my father betrays her."
Yui wasn't sure what to say. She had a hard time seeing how anyone could hurt a pregnant woman or children and not be a bad person. But if Dionysus didn't hold a grudge against her, she figured it wasn't her place to either, "Well, if things hadn't turned out how they did, who knows if we would have ever met. I can't imagine my life without you, Dionysus." He was shocked by the sincerity in her voice and eyes and smiled, "I'm glad I met you, too."
Finally, they made it to a clearing, and Yui saw fields of different harvests growing with a large wooden cabin at the top of the hill. She couldn't help but take in the beauty of it all and was even more excited to see the cabin inside. It far outweighed her expectations and was what she had imagined a brewery to look like if it were from ancient history. "Amazing," she whispered. Stone tanks and other chemistry-looking items on tables are scattered about.
"This way." He called, going towards a small room. "Here are the labels." She sat at the desk and took up the fountain pen, "Okay, what should I write?" the god explained what he wanted and showed her some examples of bottles he had already completed packaging. "Right, okay. I can do that." He nodded, "I'll leave it to you then." he made his way to the door, "Where are you going?" he looked back before leaving, "I'm going to grab their sake; I'll be back in a moment."
She admired the image he had drawn on the first label: a moon with the shadow of a rabbit on the dark side. She carefully wrote the phrase and then moved on to the second label. The image drawn on it was equally unique, showing a katana stuck in a rock while a storming sea crashed against it from behind. She then wrote the exact phrase, reading it aloud, "Nisen nihyaku to sono saki." She set the pen down and jumped when strong hands gripped her shoulder.
"Two thousand two hundred and beyond." he parroted her, whispering the words in her ear. "You did a great job. Your penmanship is impressive." She nodded, "Thank you. Your drawing skills are amazing, too! No, it's beautiful!" He smiled down at her and rustled her hair. "Thank you. Now, let's get these on the bottles, shall we?" She looked to the side of her, and the two bottles were on the table, transparent and shaped like a skinny, tall pyramid. But then she noticed something peculiar, "Wow, is that gold in there?" Di laughed. "Cool, isn't it? Here, watch this." He grabbed the bottle by the neck and shook it back and forth, "It's so pretty! Like a snow globe!"
He loved seeing her smile and had no clue what a snow globe was; he nodded anyway and agreed, "Right, let's stick these on here now." He carefully placed the labels on the bottles, and she watched with fascination. When he was finished, he set them in wooden boxes and slid the lid close, wrapping them with gold silk strings before trying to put them in an intricate knot. She hesitated when she saw him struggling before interrupting, "Um, if you want, I can do that for you?"
He gladly took the help and handed it to her, "Please! I tried looking it up, but I'm unsure I grasped it." She giggled and started knotting. For the box containing Tsukito's gift, she tied the knot to look like a flower; for Takeru, she tied it to look like a butterfly. "That's amazing. Why did you do two different ones, though?" She looked up at the god, "Well, I thought It would be easier to know who to hand it to if they were different since everything looks the same until they open it." he nodded, "Oh yeah, I guess that is smart. I hadn't thought about that."
They laughed and talked for a while since she was curious about his workshop. He showed her around, answering some of her questions, and almost hours passed before they realized it. "I can't believe we've been here this long; we gotta hurry back!" Yui gave him a funny look, "What's wrong? Did you forget something?" he nodded, "Yeah, well, I wish the Japanese had said something to us earlier when they invited you, but everyone dressing in their own formal attire, I think Thoth got you something already just in case you wanted to go, but we should go find him."
Yui nodded, "Right, well, I'm sure if he didn't, I can order a kimono at the school's store." he smiled, "Yeah, I guess that's true. Let me just grab a crate of wine. Can you grab their gifts for me, and then we'll go?" She smiled back at him, "Of course!" They got their things together and hurriedly walked back to the school. They were nearly back, and Yui built up her courage to speak, "I had fun. Thank you for hanging out with me today." Dionysus looked down at her, "No, thank you, I can't wait to hang out with you again. It was nice having you to myself for a while."