Ten Miles of Autumn Leaves 十里秋叶 (Hana ✗ Sen)

[Mu]

"So just outside the barrier..." Kiyoko may not be able to see it, but Nishibyakko could feel it. Azumaseiryuu's way of keeping him inside. If he did not have a reason to go outside, deemed necessary by the Eastern god, then he would have been barred from going outside. "No wonder..." he murmured, low enough for her not to catch what he had said. He found it strange that Azumaseiryuu's barrier had let him through. Kiyoko had not been with him at the time, but that meant that he had a reason to venture outside and the safety of the temple grounds and his earth. The Western god would not have healed naturally outside the borders, but he had been given free access to the world outside. And in the end, it was because the miko was in trouble. That could only mean that dragon was keeping watch on her at all times.

An eyebrow rose at her words, a knowing smile on his lips. "The Emperor, eh? Ha, he still cannot let me go." He closed his eyes again, turning to roll onto his back and stretching. "That foolish man would rather spend all of his treasury on hiring those useless god hunters to try and catch me," Nishibyakko mocked. It was clear that from the way the god spoke of him, it was full of amusement yet also contempt. e hated the man who called himself the king of the land. He did not act like one, and did not do anything to support his people, and instead wasted his time chasing a god like him. A futile mission.

He found it strange that they would have offered her marriage. Did she look that good to them? He opened one eye to peek at her. To the god, she was just that annoying miko who had a filthy mouth. She was hard-working, sure, but he did not know much about her otherwise. She was a strange, strange mortal who was unlike others he had met. Her personality switched back and forth, sometimes as strong as a current sometimes meek and shy like other girls of her age. But... he was somewhat proud that he had taught her something she could use to defend herself with. "That's good, that you managed to keep him away. It was a weak attempt, but still one."

He sat up. "As my miko, you are not allowed to die by any means." His pale eyes glittered at her, "I'm going to teach you how to use that sword of yours."

 

[Hana]

It was a weak attempt, but it was the best she could come up with in those desperate moments. With only those plants up her sleeves, ofuda didn't work on humans, there was nothing she could have done. "Not like it did much to keep him away afterwards." Kiyoko thought back on the sheer anger and wounded pride the man displayed, making him look larger than his already sizeable self. He wasn't as tall as Nishibyakko, but he was by no means a small and frail man then. Considering the handful of smoke she had made him inhale by sheer surprise, it wouldn't have downed him very effectively. Compared to how... At the very least able she was when dealing with minor youkai and spirits, dealing with that god hunter was different.

"Hah? Teach me?" She turned towards him in surprise, eyebrows lifting high. Did he really just say that? "So dying isn't allowed, how very specific," after catching up with the rest of his words, she repeated them with a roll of her eyes. "How will you?" Kiyoko narrowed her eyes in suspicion, sizing the god up for a moment or two. Her adoptive father had taught her how to use the sword, but he had died before actually giving her much to learn beyond the basics. The sword blessed by the autumn god was supposed to be wielded by a man or a boy from the main family. But Kana had been unable to bear a child anymore, and so the sword passed on to Kiyoko, whose mother was part of the main line but had been disowned.

"You're not going to do anything outrageous. Please say you aren't." Most of her experiences with Nishibyakko told her he wasn't going to be a very patient teacher. Despite this, there was actual interest in her eyes, if he looked past the suspicious expressoin she was shooting him. She was a weird girl who was more or less interested in mannish activities if given a chance.

 

[Mu]

The god seemed confused at the miko's questions, appearing as if he had just heard her spout strange nonsense. "What do you mean, 'how will you?'" He repeated the words slowly, furrowing dark eyebrows at Kiyoko and her narrowed, suspicious eyes. Her body seemed a bit too tense, but also riddled with excitement. So she liked the idea of swordsmanship and sword fighting? Over the years, Nishibyakko had always realized that when it came to the sword, it was the men who wielded them. He had only ever seen a handful of female blacksmithers, and even then their toughness and masculinity... was enough for the god to see them as equals to their male counterparts in the forge. But outside of that, aside from rare kunoichi and female samurai wives, he did not see a lot of women interested in such violent activities.

"Obviously I am going to teach you more than just swinging a blade around like a child and a stick," he pointed out. "Your form is correct but even if I had not called out to your blade, you are too vulnerable." The god sighed, there was a reason why he had created that sword for the men of the Hayashi clan. It was never meant for women to be wielded. The energy and the 'soul' of the blade he had inserted into it when it had been forged was highly active... like a man. Not passive, not a blade that could wait, like a woman. "A blade is a powerful extension of one's self, not just a weapon. You should treat it like such. It is like a dance, not just a flurry of strikes. If you cannot grasp this, you cannot learn how to fight with a sword and expect to win. Brute force will get you nowhere." When it came to the subject of bladed weaponry, the god tended to ramble a lot. He was, after all, an expert. "If you insist on using that sword, then I will beat that into you if I must."

 

[Hana]

So he was one of those men who took the sword, and swordsmanship so seriously, wasn't he? His puzzled frown was telling of what he thought of her questions. The short rant that followed had Nishibyakko adopt an interesting tone of voice. It reminded her of... Most likely to the god's surprise, the young priestess merely chuckled at his words and shook her head. "You sound just like Father and Katsuo." It was quieter than her usual brash exclamations. She found swordsmanship fascinating, even if it wasn't something she should have taken a liking to. Her adoptive father was one such man who was good at it, and having no other child to pass his work on to, had no choice but to take her under his wing. Even then, she remembered the man muttering about how she didn't deserve to undergo such rough training.

And if she hadn't been the type of girl who liked to watch boys play at their rough games, she would never have known that boy so well. He had always been the type to love the feeling of holding that training sword crafted from quality wood in his hands, even more so than the other children his age.

Kiyoko blinked and shook her thoughts off, almost hesitatingly looking upon the tiger god again. "If I'm going to learn from you, you really need to help out more around the temple. Keeping it in a good condition is hard work," she stared at him with a pointed smile. "Think of it as keeping your own house clean if you have to." He was living here with her, and no matter what anyone said about priestesses having to be subservient to their gods, there was only so much one could do around a temple of this size.

 

[Mu]

The god stopped his rant, shutting his mouth with a small growl. She had laughed at him. He narrowed his eyes at her, pale eyes glinting in the light of the room. However, something had managed to catch his attention. So she knew people who also shared his love for swordsmanship? He remembered her father very vaguely, who had taken the sword from his ancestors, though he had more memories of her Hayashi grandfather. But who was the other person? He cocked his head at the miko with a mask of confusion, Katsuo? "Who or what is Katsuo? Skipjack tuna?" he licked his lips. "Taste good grilled or raw, skipjack tuna. Shame you cannot get any here in Nippon."

"Why can't you cut back on your village trips?" he suggested. "Why goes a god have to clean what is meant to be their place of worship?" It made no sense to a higher god like him. There were mikos and monks for a reason, it was their job to maintain the temples and shrines. Besides, Nishibyakko couldn't care less about neatness. He, after all, had seen his 'homes' being burnt down to the ground. Taken refuge in one as well. A few leaves here and there on the temple grounds did not bother him, but it did annoy him when his 'people' shirked their work. "... 'My own house'?" He echoed. "I am not familiar with that term. Gods do not have homes."

 

[Hana]

"Can't do that," Kiyoko interjected quickly after he suggested she visit the village less often, frowning heavily. It wasn't as if she liked all the villagers all that well, considering she fought most of them every time they ran into each other, but the few who accepted her needed her help. "I have to help Hayato-ojiisan feed his family and he exchanges vegetables with rice. There wouldn't be any rice in here if it weren't for him," she pointed at the bowl of congee left on the table with a pointed look. She couldn't farm rice all by herself, how would she get everything else done then? "Hotaru-obaasan needs help sorting medicine and herbs and you aren't telling me to abandon an old woman to do her work all by herself, are you?" She actually liked the elderly apothecary, she learned things there whenever she visited.

Clicking her tongue, she crawled back towards her futon where the roll of bandages and the medicines lay unattended. "If you don't want to help clean, then find other things to do to help. You may be a god, but so long as you're living under this roof you should earn your keep!" Kiyoko had a fierce work ethic for herself, all things considered, and Nishibyakko would have been blind not to notice how well maintained everything was. The grounds and the temple were a large place for only one person, yet the sole priestess attending it kept everything as if Ochibagami Jinja was still a flourishing, well-respected place of worship. "You're a person who's capable of being useful around here, aren't you?"

She paused, trailing off and eyes flickering towards his face. His last words had struck a chord in her, and she was almost at a loss on how to continue. No home? That was a strange thing to say, since gods were worshipped and welcomed in their temples, people encouraging them to take refuge there and treat it as their own homes. But he... He had lost almost all of those homes. Not even Kiyoko was going to touch those scars that he must have gotten from losing so many. "Well, my grandfather always said that Ochibagami Jinja is your home. You're living here for a while. Make it your home."

Something about his voice and his face as he had said so that he had no place to call home was just simply... Sad. It didn't belong on someone who looked as regal as Nishibyakko Okami, the god of autumn and metals, the great white tiger who looked over the western lands. Kiyoko cleared her throat, and spoke in a softer tone, kindness in her voice. "As long as you have someone who believes in you and thinks of you, you have a home. You have a home when someone waits for you to come back." And how long had her dead relatives waited for him?

She met his eyes. "My family waited for you for so long."

 

[Mu]

He rolled his eyes at her, "Only because you are too lazy to grow rice yourself. I'll have you know that the old Hayashi clan grew their own rice here on this fine land. And sometimes the ladies did all the work," he sighed, glancing at her sideways as if he was examining her. Of course, such a scrawny little girl couldn't hope to harvest all of the rice herself, much less be able to mill it and create quality products and cook with. "What I say will only upset you, so why do you ask?" The god's expression darkened considerably, silent rage building up and surrounding the deity. He may be a drunkard being in a mortal form, lounging about with nothing to do with his time, but he never forgot why he was here - and his identity in this world. "The people of Ochiba-mura hate me. And I, too, hate them. They are just like every human being out there in the world."

The saddened expression morphed into ugly anger, the god's pale eyes flashed with anger at memories of men and women carrying their fiery torches, laying waste to the innocent and people who tended to their own lands and lives - only because they had worshiped him. "A god like me does not have a home, Kiyoko. Your people have burnt them all down! And my people, my people have suffered and died and burnt like criminals because of your dog-shit Emperor, who is nothing but a greedy arrogant fool who believes he is second to the gods. Pah!"

Nishibyakko backed away from the priestess, keeping his eyes locked and steady on the girl. There was distaste, not of her, but of her species. The human species. How they were so destructive and even more frightful than the gods they worshiped. "The only reason this place remains is because those things cannot trespass my land. If not for that, this temple would have been like the rest. Burnt to the ground with nothing left! I am not obligated to help anyone outside these lands."

He snorted. "Gods are not supposed to stay for long. After a year is up, I will take my leave. I have the slightest feeling even you are disgusted by what I have become." The god hissed at her, "Have you ever waited for me to come 'home'? Or am I an unwanted visitor?" With that, the Western god slunk out of the room, leaving behind an imprint of his feet where he had stood - the wood had started to decay ever so slightly.

 

[Hana]

She hadn't expected such venom-filled eyes to bore down on her today, for him to spit vitriol at her, vitriol that burnt and bit and actually hurt. Kiyoko could probably understand and even take his usual sarcasm and belittlement everyday. She had faced it all her life, and that was why she puffed her chest with false yet convincing bravado and held herself rigidly outside. Why she acted so rash was a front and a way to boost her own outlook for herself, because if no one was to help with her regarding that... Who will? For a few moments, she could only stare at him in shock, the color draining out of her face as her eyes widened more and more at his words.

As the god fled out of the room, she was left to herself staring after him. Where her words were meant to encourage and even invite him, she had started to feel some trust towards him after last night, he had returned the gesture by lashing out at her. At the world. Kiyoko shook herself slowly, eyes slowly leaving the open and empty threshold where he once stood. She barely even noticed the wood that had started to rot, just a little, under his feet. All the priestess could think of was... If she wa supposed to get to know this god, to understand him... Wasn't there a way to actually do it without getting hurt? This was the man she had met that night, the god that spat and looked down upon humans as if they were less than the dirt under his feet.

She had not wanted him to come barging into her life unexpectedly, to suddenly be bossed around and belittled in her own home. Kiyoko was guilty of that. But she had actually meant her words the moments she spoke them to him, something like familiarity and fondness almost there.

Did he see her as separate from the rest of his people, she wondered, and let out a hollow little laugh. Of course those words would stick with her, even if he probably spat them at her in the heat of the moment. It suddenly hurt to breathe, just a little, and she cracked a smile, a burn starting at the back of her eyes. "How could I wait for you to come home when this one isn't even mine?" She stood up and quietly padded across the floor, finally catching the unnervingly dark spots of wood where Nishibyakko had stood his ground. And she waited, trying to see if he was still outside nearby. When she confirmed that he wasn't, Kiyoko averted her gaze and slid the shoji doors shut with a snap.

The futon had never looked so inviting as it had then as she let herself sink into it, sagging as the energy seeped from her very bones. "Come here, Yuta." Ever quiet and observant was her dark-furred companion, even under the unnerving anger of a god. He was still there. That made it easier to breathe, and she held onto the cat's warm body tight, burying her face in the furry body and breathing deeply. "What did I say wrong earlier? Do you think you can ask him, if you could speak?" Such wishful thinking! She laughed again airily and shook her head. "I'm too scared to ask him myself, you know?" The cat was silent...

And then, murmured so lowly even in the lonely silence of the room, as if even the very air itself shouldn't hear her say such words... "Of course I won't feel disgust for you. I'm more disgusted with myself." The subtle throbbing at her back and in her chest only proved it. If she ever let herself feel that simmering, boiling, and ugly rage that welled up underneath... She'd be even worse than a rogue god. Kiyoko would end up being a dark tale whispered by parents to their children, the monster that kept them behaved... So really, who was worse?

"It's coming again, isn't it? I guess I should prepare for that night soon..."

"He shouldn't have to know."

 

[Mu]

Nishibyakko had found himself sitting by the farm land, in a place where Kiyoko would not have been able to see him if she had looked outside the room. He stared down at the harvested plants, the flowers closed and ready to open again the next year. Without the sound of the miko sweeping or rushing about, the world outside was so silent. The god took a deep breath and sighed, trying his best to calm down. It was only when he was by himself surrounded by nature he could settle down so easily. Unlike humans, nature was always there by your side, under your feet in the form of dusty and muddy earth. Trees that were growing bountiful and beautiful all around him. And these were his lands, his trees, the earth was his. Kiyoko was only the one who tended to them.

Had he... yelled at her too much? He had not meant to explode at her. The god knew that he did not necessarily hate on the miko. She was quite kind to have let him did what he did in the temple. Although he sometimes thought she did not think so highly of him, especially since she frequented the village where those townspeople would do anything to get the gold in the earth, he did not mind her presence around him. After all, she had dedicated her life to the temple. And alone, at that. That was enough to earn her some credit.

Silently, he left for a small cluster of trees in the boundaries of his land, but not too far from the temple. If his memory served him correctly, there was something here that was important to him. Pushing aside golden leaves and dead leaves, he found a standing, polished and rounded stone. It looked neglected, and that made the god's heart sink. He had not been around to take care of these, did he? He traced the characters that had been engraved onto it, not yet worn away by the weather. Falling to his knees in front of it, the god silently brooded over what he had done, pressing his forehead against the gravestone.

 

[Hana]

The morning passed by at an excruciatingly slow pace, but at the same time Kiyoko was glad... That she had the room to herself. She didn't want a god to walk in on her while she was having a semi-existential crisis while hugging the life out of Yuta, after all. The dark-furred cat looked decidedly haggard and tired as he pawed at her to get off after her breaths had evened out again, her tears glinting like stars in the night sky of his coat. Sometimes, she wondered who was the pet and who was the master. Her cat was unusually intelligent for an animal, so attuned to her feelings sometimes that it felt as if he knew her better than she knew herself... But if he did, why did he stay with her for so long?

She released her arms around him with a small sigh. Yuta delicately stepped down from her lap, tail swishing gently in the air as he turned around and gazed at her steadily, as if expectant. "Thanks." She bowed her head under the cat's imperious jade-green gaze, wiping at her face with her sleeve. It was disgusting, her face was already dirty from last night and now it was damp and sticky with the salty liquid. "Sorry for getting your coat dirty, ahaha~" His unimpressed stare made her giggle to herself as she wiped at her face some more. "I'll brush your fur for you after you clean yourself, okay? And oh! Maybe the pumpkin patch has a ripe one and I'll leave some out for you too." He looked consoled enough after that, licking his paw and then at his coat as much as he could.

"Now let me get to work on these disgusting marks those bastards did." Grabbing the rolls of bandages and wielding her trusty medicinal paste in her other hand, Kiyoko did get to work. She was rather good at it, all things considered. Probably faster than when the god was even helping her, the miko dabbed on her bruises on her arms, as well as the cuts, quick and uncaring of the discomfort, so eager she was to be done with the task. Deftly rolling out the bandages, she tore a strip away and wrapped it around her torso and her shoulders. The cut on her cheek was dabbed with a stinging mixture that caused her to hiss, and then it was done.

"To the baths now... If only so I could wash the unwrapped parts of me. Tch." She couldn't even lie back in the wooden tub immersed in gloriously hot water wrapped up as she was now. Washing her face clean of any evidence from earlier as well as cleaning other parts of herself would have to do.

​

There was still no sign of the autumn god by the time the sun rose to high noon. Kiyoko accepted this with a quiet groan as the time for mealtime with the two of them passed, hauling herself into the kitchen and making her way to the pot of congee the god had left out. He had said there was a lot still left, so she might as well just heat it up again and then eat as much as she could stomach. It still smelled good even when it was reheated from the earlier morning's efforts, and she scooped some for herself into a bowl, and after a second look took out a smaller bowl for her cat. She moved to the mealtime room and plopped herself in front of the table with her spoils, patting the spot next for her for Yuta to make himself at home.

She poked at the bowl of rice porridge half-heartedly, staring down at her food. "Eat up, Yuta. There's a lot of this still." The god really hadn't been kidding around when he told her he made so much of the congee. Who did he expect to feed, an entire family, or four more of him?​

​

 

[Mu]

The temple was eerily quiet when the god had finally managed to walk himself home. He was unsure whether or not the miko might be angry at him, and decided it was not a good idea to walk in and grab the sake he had been sipping on since yesterday. It would be easily to slide into his futon in the middle of the night in her room, but until then he thought it would not be wise to go up and talk to the girl after he had exploded at her. Her cat, Yuta, was nowhere to be seen either. Considering her mood, he guessed her animal companion was hanging about beside her. It was an old feline but quite wise for a 'temple cat', definitely one of those creatures he would read in stories about nekomata.

Instead of reentering the premises, he found himself by the farmland, looking down at the mostly fruitless crops. Nishibyakko stretched, his body morphing and changing in the silence of the setting sun. Gone was human flesh and bone, smooth skin and pale eyes - replaced with a body with powerful muscles, covered in soft white fur with streaks of jet black. Eyes that glowed like the pale moon gazed down at the land at his paws, where sharp claws more reminiscent of knives were extended. There seemed to be blade like thorns sticking out from his elbows and around his neck, the living iron growing from his body.

Laying down on the floor, he amused himself by making a pumpkin grow. The flowers budding and opening, followed by a baby beginnings of a pumpkin beginning to swell, tail swishing at his hind.

 

[Hana]

In one of the lesser-frequented rooms inside the temple, the miko lifted the black, ink-tipped end of the brush in her hand and sighed. She stared down at the written characters; painstakingly and slowly scrawled as they were on precious white paper, and brought the brush down once again to continue. New characters in fresh black ink flourished in white as Kiyoko lost herself in it, the art of creating new ofudas as she moved the brush in rhythmic motions. It was quite calming now, when she had been younger she had been so dreadfully bored with the tedium of repeating motions over and over in front of the hawkish gaze of her adoptive mother…

Oh divine gods and goddesses we implore you to bind and banish these demons that plague our lands. Oh Amaterasu, the sun who reigns above all under the heavens, please give us the strength to keep this beast from tearing what we have worked so hard to build. Oh Azumeseiryuu, the dragon who soars in the skies above, give us the vigil to keep our eyes sharp and our hearts calm in the face of such terrible rage. Oh Minamisuzaku, the eternal phoenix whose flame never dies, give us the courage and valor to fight and hold it back. Oh Kitagenbu, the turtle that protects all, give us the endurance and unrelenting control once our emotions begin to get the better of us… And oh Nishibyakko, our patron god of the calm autumns and benevolent one who watches over our family, please protect us in our times of need…

Her hand faltered slightly upon writing the character for the autumnal god's name, almost creating a fault in the usually pristine characters she wrote, before Kiyoko gritted her teeth and swept her intruding thoughts of him away. If she thought of him as that unknown figure she had always just wondered about, instead of the hateful and bitter god he really was… It somewhat helped. Her spiritual powers wouldn't work if she didn't focus, and any personal feelings she had about him? Those didn't matter when she had to create ofuda strong enough to keep the monsters away.

She pressed her hands together once she finished the tenth ofuda of the afternoon, after drawing her brush back, setting it down and sagging from her kneeling position. "That's enough for today." One hundred ofudas. She needed one hundred of them to be stuck to every nook and cranny of that room in preparation. Where were the beads to act as the chains that bound…?

Her eyes flickered upwards and to the side, seeking out her cat. His usual spot was empty. He had left sometime during the creation process, when Kiyoko had been lost in the mental chants and prayer she had been performing. Carefully laying out the finished ofuda on the floor to dry, Kiyoko rose from her seiza kneel, feeling the ache in her thighs from sitting in the position for so long. Stretching her arms above her head and breathing deeply, she departed quietly from the room, sliding it shut.

-
​

His young kit-daughter had been unhappy. He could still taste the salt of her tears on his tongue, when he had licked at her cheeks to help her wipe those pesky droplets away. He never liked seeing her cry, but what could he have done against the tiger god? Yuta licked at his paw, green eyes narrowing grimly in the direction of the fields where he could catch whiffs of the god of felines' scent. If the humans had seen the White Tiger as the symbol of the western skies and lands, and ruler over autumn, the animals saw him as the king of the beasts. Cats worshiped him and respected him, and that was why he had been so deeply concerned when he had realized just who had been bleeding and unconscious in his own land many days ago.

Speaking to her back then in her mind had been a risky decision, he could have outed himself as more than just a temple cat. But he had to save his own, and she was too shocked about Nishibyakko Okami-sama's presence to do much for herself. His shouted words inside her head had done the trick, but he couldn't always be a guiding voice for her. She had to learn for herself, as she had said to him so many times that she didn't understand her own god.

Languidly, he jumped down from the veranda and made his way over to the fields. He had come to a decision, and Nishibyakko was able to talk to him. Even if the god thought he was just a wise old temple cat, the god would be foolish if he didn't think the cat didn't care for the only priestess in the shrine.

The sight of the blooming plants, crops quickly swelling and growing in size to the point of being unnaturally vibrant and healthy, caused the cat to pause and blink. But he made his way to Nishibyakko all the same, admittedly in a bit of awe at the display of power all around him. Plants were rousing to the god's call to them, leaves shifting and stems flexing and straightening in attention. The pumpkin patches where Kiyoko had promised to feed him some were already full of beautiful large pumpkins, causing the cat to lick his lips and purr at the thought of the food.

He stopped before the enormous white tiger and bowed his head reverently. "Nishibyakko-sama." The god was able to understand the language of cats, and Yuta raised his head after keeping the bow for a few more seconds. "It is an honor to see and be in the presence of your true celestial form."

Looking out at the fields, he was silent for a long moment. "If you are feeling calmer, I want to talk to you about the kit back in the temple." He called Kiyoko a kit or a cub when talking about her to the god, and he did so with quiet pride shimmering in his eyes for all to see. Kiyoko may have thought she raised the cat, but it was actually the opposite way around… And Yuta considered her his daughter.

"She is just a cub; a stranger to your story and your pains." He stared steadily into the god's pale and glowing eyes. "Perhaps you have realized that you have been… Unkind. You are both strangers living under one roof, and perhaps one day you should realize that even humans have their own grief. We are cats; we choose who we take under our wing and who we consider ours. I have considered her my family ever since she saved me from the throes of death, and she is kinder than she looks." What passed for a sigh escaped the cat as he settled down in front of the god. "I would so dearly love to see my child and my king get along eventually." His tail batted around lazily behind him, mirroring the god's own motions.

Even gods, and kings of beasts, as it turned out, needed wisdom even from the common wise temple cats from time to time. Especially a god who was so closely led astray as this one. "And you need not unnecessarily hurt each other over misunderstood words."​

​

 

[Mu]

At the approach of Yuta, the concentration of the god shattered along with the pumpkins. Just as quickly as they swelled to an extraordinary size, they disappeared and shrink, evaporating into thin air with a faint 'pop'. Nishibyakko did not budge where he lay, titling his head ever so slightly so his glowing eyes could see the small temple cat. He was so small that, if the willed it, the poor thing could easily be killed with a powerful swipe of his paw. However, unlike his hatred for mankind, the Western god quite liked his feline underlings. They respected him even when he had been at his lowest. When Nishibyakko had roamed the streets alone unseen to accusing human eyes, stray cats often followed him - leading to humans wondering why there were lines of these four-legged creatures following something they could not see.

He did not need to open his maw to speak to the cat. A growl could mean so many words in the cat language. And he quite enjoyed conversing with Yuta, who was better at holding a conversation that his owner. "True, she is a child." The Western god sighed, heaving his mighty chest. "A fragile human being who can disappear in the blink of an eye, my expectations were too high for a miko like her," his golden eyes narrowed into thin slits, lips pulled back as he growled. "I thought she would know and understand what her god had been through, and the hatred and malice her kind have directed at me. Yet she has done nothing but try to prove me wrong as if I know nothing. Because I am a god, I am arrogant."

His tail swished. Talking to another cat like this was calming. He doubted he would have been able to hold a similar talk like this with Kiyoko, who was probably still lingering inside the temple doing whatever chores she needed to do. "As the priestess - and the Head Priestess - of the Hayashi temple, she should have been aware of my story and my pain. She has seen first hand the terrors of these pitiful God Hunters. I do not need to sympathize with humans, they deserve their suffering for trying to upset the balance of nature."

The god raised a paw to the wind, letting the leaves blow by him. "Their greed has blinded them to the consequences. By ending my life, they kill the season of autumn itself. There would be no harvest, no food. Summer and winter would change so quickly the humans will die off. Yet, they continue to justify their actions. What sort of human grief is this, Yuta?"

 

[Hana]

"There is no shame in having hope. It is what lets humans live through the most terrible of times. Even my kind knows of how powerful it can be." Yuta surveyed the now quiet and motionless plants around them, tone mild as he spoke with the god. He was gladdened to see those golden eyes honing in on him, the god's ears twitching and heeding his words. He may have sounded furious and bitter now, but with what the God of Autumn had suffered through for a long time, that was to be expected. The cats of the land could only silently comfort the god they called a king of their kind, following him and offering him company where none would even want to nowadays. It was surprising to actually witness Nishibyakko use his powers as the lord of autumn, when he had turned into the feared god who rotted things to the core in his anger.

But the old cat had spent a long time around both beasts and humans, as well as youkai. Gods may have thought they knew all there was to human nature, but most never bothered to look closely at the mortals who revered or feared them. Even as they walked among the humans, most didn't let themselves become too close. Was it a fear of getting hurt? Was it arrogance? They had many reasons to hold back. "Kiyoko has read and heard of your legend, but most mortals nowadays no longer know the true legend about you. Even the Hayashi, they grieved at losing you so much that they only preserved the best of what they remembered of you. They loved you so much they never wanted their children to know of how you have turned from humans."

Neither of the felines had to open their mouths to talk, but Yuta yawned and laid his head down. He was an old cat. Nishibyakko would have known that a cat wouldn't have spoken for a human being if it didn't respect that human, so he wasn't particularly worried that the god would never take his words into consideration. "And remember the saying that not all cats have the same fur patterns and hues. I have seen it in humans as well." Cats did have their own sayings. They came in all colors and patterns, from solid colors that seemed plain but could be beautiful with the right kind of fur... Not all cats were the same. Not all humans were the same.

He twitched his ear, listening closely to the land. It brought nothing but the wind and whispers... "If you want to see grief, look all around you and ask yourself who has been living with ghosts since she was a child." The fields used to be alive with joyful merriment of strong men and women who woke up to greet the day with vigor; a family determined to survive through the times even if the rest of the land would have shunned them for their worship of a god the Emperor had wanted dead. Now this very land was silent except for the whispers of mournful ghosts who died violently and all of a sudden, only their love and the way they all died together keeping them from turning into vengeful yurei. As a cat, he was sensitive to these things. Shadows of people would sometimes appear behind paper screen doors in the light of the moon, women who might once have been aunts and grandmothers to Kiyoko. The girl hardly spent time in the other houses as a result.

Yuta smiled grimly, opening one eye to peer at the god. He spoke only a few more words, tone both wry and solemn at the same time. "I see the ghosts every day." And maybe the miko also could.

Where were the other two? Kiyoko stood at the veranda, having slid the doors open and looking outside with a flicker of concern. She didn't think the god would leave all of a sudden from the land without saying anything, considering he said he would stay for a year. He said it with so much contempt that she didn't doubt him one moment that he would vanish from her life once those three hundred and sixty five days were up. After seeing no sight or hint of her cat or Nishibyakko, she sighed and retreated back inside the temple quietly. It was almost childish and cowardly, but she didn't want to step outside yet.

The evening would soon come and she just busied herself with lighting up the lanterns that needed lighting, her eyes weren't like the other two who lived here who could see very well even in the darkness. The temple was silent as usual, but now it almost felt odd and out of place for her to suddenly speak out loud without someone actually listening to her. Yuta usually fulfilled that role, but he wasn't here now. "Where are you? You don't like him better than me, do you?" She sounded a little bitter, tone souring at the end of her words. That cat was spending more and more time with the god, and she remembered hearing they could even talk to one another.

She shook her head quickly and muttered, "Is there nothing else to do?" She had tried to tidy up the temple and even clean the floors as much as she could while still sporting bandaged ribs and a bruised back, but now she just realized how little she could do if she holed herself up inside. Kiyoko stomped over towards the kitchen, remembering the congee. It had sat already for a day, maybe she should just prepare dinner by herself now. Especially if Yuta thought it was better to spend time with the god than to stay with her. So maybe she was sulking a little now.

She grabbed vegetables without particularly caring what she had taken, bringing it into the kitchen and placing it on the table. Bringing her sleeves up to her elbows, she wondered on what to make.​

​

 

[Mu]

"What a futile mission," Nishibyakko commented, turning back to look at the patch of soil. The vines that snaked across the earth looked smaller than never, like the strings of a spider's web under his claw. "She has found out what I have done anyway, through those people out of the borders. Whether or not the Hayashis have told her anything, that miko would have seen the truth. Although it is ugly it still stands true, yet she has made no efforts to understand the in betweens of her legends and stories and where I stand now."

His tail swished as he huffed heavily. "True, not humans are clones of each other. But I believe they are all fundamentally the same. They all see what is in front of them, and it takes so much for them to see anything else. Well, that is to be expected, especially when they have the blood of Susanoo..." The Western god snorted, as if he was amused by a joke. The humans' ancestor, Emperor Jimmu, was a decent man. He was, after all, the descendant of Amaterasu - who despite her inability to sometimes take things seriously, was a benevolent and wise ruler of the gods. Jimmu was a talented man who ruled this country fairly, and was one of the best Nishibyakko had seen. It would have amazed the god to put Jimmu next to Susanoo, whom he unfortunately also shared blood with. They were so different. But of course, that storm bastard's blood would emerge somehow in the human line, as Jimmu had many children.

"I am aware of ghostly grievances, Yuta. Have you not forgotten what they have done to my temples and the people who followed me? Their ghosts haunt me as well, they linger and continue walking the path to a temple that no longer exists, praying in hopes of me coming to their aid." Kiyoko and the god were no different, Nishibyakko realized. But she did not have to be so... so irritating. Why didn't she even make the effort to get to know this... god she believed in?

Well... at the same time, wasn't he doing the same?

"What a stupid girl," he murmured, though there was no weight to his words. He was almost chuckling.

 

[Hana]

The temple cat smiled, green eyes dancing with his own amusement. He was glad that he had come to talk to this god, even if Nishibyakko and Kiyoko still had a long, tiresome road ahead of them if the two hoped to understand each other. "You are not so different. Perhaps it would be good if you two stopped assuming wrongly about each other since you two will have to live together for a year." The god was open with the cat about what had happened and why he was staying in this lonely temple this part of the land. And Yuta suspected that the dragon had his own reasons beyond what was so clearly obvious to Nishibyakko. Azumeseiryuu, after all, was known as one of the gods who loved humans, wasn't he?

He closed his eyes. "Let us come back inside. She is probably wondering where I am, and probably where you are as well."

​

The boiled eggplant that Kiyoko was trying to make was a sad, wrinkled dark thing that lay dismally in the iron pot. It was even sadder that the miko actually knew how to make do with an eggplant yet it still turned out badly. "Tch, damn this thing!" The miko suddenly slapped herself in the face, exploding at herself. "What did I do wrong this time?" It was a waste of vegetables to even throw away this thing, even if her attempt with it had turned out an utter failure. A certain god probably would get on her case again if she even thought about wasting vegetables that his precious land yielded. She grimaced to herself at her slip, remembering once again the simmering anger in Nishibyakko's eyes earlier today.

Was she supposed to apologize where she had been trying to encourage him? Maybe she wasn't even cut out for doing or trying that kind of thing aside from doing it for herself. This afternoon, she had been thinking. Hadn't the girl resolved to learn more about him? But why did he only push her away? Was it so arrogant of her, a mere mortal, to even thinks she can begin to understand him? She was left on even more uncertain ground with him than she already was before. Who was she to say anything, indeed.

This was never going to work, was it? Not unless she was prepared to get hurt in the process. Kiyoko wasn't even sure if she was talking about just getting to know him, or if she was talking about meaning to understand him. Her thoughts were distracted as she scooped the ruined eggplant out and dropped it in a bowl, the girl's eyes dark and her lips a thin line. "I'm not even going to ask him what he's been doing all day long." Being discouraged was not her forte. But why did he have to lash out at her when she attempted to reach out?​

​

 

[Mu]

With a nod, the god hauled himself up to his feet, pulling back to stretch with a gentle yowl. He felt comfortable like this, four paws to the ground, claws flexing and unsheathed... but always readied at his side. The blades that protruded from his body was of no convenience to him. It was his natural form, no confinement of human flesh and such a small body. He was ten times, no, a hundred times more powerful as the king of the beasts.

He paced after Yuta, who had taken the task of leading the god back towards the temple. He had a knack for finding the girl, even though it was his temple it took him a while to sniff the girl out. Some of the doors had been thrown open, the interior glowing like a pale ember. Nishibyakko slowly trailed past them, finding each room empty but inviting. He could easily jump onto the patio and back inside, taking a well deserved warm nap. But he had a girl to find, and there was a horrendous smell coming from the kitchen. It was about time for dinner, wasn't it? "..." Nishibyakko exchanged a look with the temple cat. "I'm surprised your cub hasn't died of food poisoning, her cooking skills are horrible," he rolled his eyes before following Yuta into the kitchen.

For some reason, he was excited at the reaction of Kiyoko seeing him for the first time. He could barely fit through the door, having to squeeze through - and it was a tight fit - through before crouching down and sitting on his haunches as if nothing had happened hours before, eagle-like eyes gazing at her.

 

[Hana]

The second eggplant didn't turn out as badly off as the first, but for some reason the smell was even more terrible. It was probably too little water or moisture that caused it to burn like that... Right? Kiyoko supposed that Nishibyakko had a point. "My cooking is shit, but I've been living on it for years." It wasn't as if there were any humans around who had to suffer through her cooking. Now there was Nishibyakko, but he didn't have to eat her cooking if he didn't want to. He could summon ingredients out of nowhere for his own food. The miko grumbled a little to herself as she took out the second failed attempt, wrinkling her nose at the burned smell.

A racket behind her, the sound of something squeezing against wood, caused her to jump. "Um?" What kind of thing coming up behind her would make a sound like that? Spinning around, Kiyoko almost dropped the large wooden spoon in her right hand as she saw the huge cat sitting back on its haunches. "Ehh?!" No, it wasn't a cat.... Cats didn't have patterns like that and she was pretty sure they didn't stare at her hawkishly with a familiar expression either... So now there was a white tiger in the kitchen, sitting back and staring at her as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

Kiyoko stared at him, blinked a few times, and then pinched herself on the arm. Her expression was stuck between recognition and shock... Before she yelped loudly. "WHAT?!" Why was there a white tiger in her kitchen? Why was Nishibyakko - "N-Nishibyakko-sama?!" She had subconsciously named the tiger as her god, and it all clicked together. She lowered the wooden spoon and backed away, red eyes focusing to the side almost as if to avoid the sight of the god. It was hard, since the urge to stare at him was great. He had such soft-looking fur too... Even if those metal spikes looked rather frightening...

But she hadn't forgotten about earlier. Pursing her lips unhappily, she snuck a look at the feline face looking back at her. "... W-what were you doing?" Kiyoko wasn't sure whether or not to even speak up about what had happened. Yuta approached her then, pawing at her hakama, and she reached down to absently pat him. "And why are you in your true form in here?!"

 

[Mu]

He hid his amusement. "What? I'm watching you co- attempt to cook." With a giant paw, he covered his twitching pink nose, narrowing his eyes at her. "You cannot even make an eggplant edible," he pointed out bluntly with a hint of his usual mocking tone. It was astonishing how she could turn such a fine vegetable into something that smelled worse than vomit after a night's worth of drinking terrible quality sake. Unlike conversing with Yuta, to speak like a human he needed to open his maw. It was strange listening to a tiger speak the tongue of humans. "I was talking to your cat and I made myself comfortable."

Looking around the kitchen, he sniffed each of the pots and the boxes for ingredients. He had been the one to restock most of them, and he remembered where he had placed some of them. Nishibyakko was going to force her to make a somewhat decent dish, and it was going to be edible. "Come over here, Yuta. Watch your cub try to make something you can proudly eat," he said in the language of the feline race, which to Kiyoko would sound like a low rumble, before turning his attention back to the miko.

"You. Get a new eggplant, a big one, and chop them into small chunks. Get the oil, one red chilli, two garlic cloves and dark soy sauce. Water, as well. Follow my instructions and hopefully you'll have something to eat tonight instead of congee," he growled at her playfully, using his tail to point at the vegetables he called out.

 

[Hana]

What was even more alarming than having a large white tiger sitting inside the kitchen of all things was hearing said tiger begin to speak like a human. Kiyoko's mouth fell open as she heard the god's familiar voice rumble past the white tiger's opened maw. She blinked rapidly at his words before she huffed in affront, eyes darting to the two failed attempts with the eggplants from earlier. If she had failed a few more times, she would have just gone with eating those even if they were - well, failures. Her cat was also predictably with Nishibyakko. Narrowing her eyes she poked at the feline. "Why were you with him?" And as usual, Yuta just blinked at her slowly and turned away to walk over to the white tiger, siting with him as if they were old friends...

Hearing the god bark - or was that growl - out a list of orders, the girl looked over at him once again with her brows rising high. "What?" He was going to order her around again like he hadn't just yelled at her or scared her earlier today. In fact, why was he talking to her playfully? There was a singsong tone to the god's voice that somehow ignored all the question and whatever emotions she was feeling at the moment. Pursing her lips, Kiyoko turned away and went to get a new eggplant from the box where more were placed.

She wasn't able to forget what had just happened earlier today, but it wasn't as if she could just tread dangerous territory again with him. He might just go further than he had already earlier. And that was after he had been almost generous towards her, as well. Better to just keep quiet and do what he asked. Chopping up the big eggplant was something she could do, and after finishing and setting aside the chunks she took out the other ingredients he had listed. "Well?" Not turning around, she frowned down at the assortment of ingredients.