A New Land God?

Chapter 1: Arisu Becomes a God

Arisu couldn't believe this. Her father just up and left her. When she returned home that evening, she found her things packed in a backpack and a duffel bag outside the door. The door was locked. Arisu found a note attached to the door with a piece of tape.
The note said, "Dear Arisu, I cannot take care of you anymore. You remind me too much of your mother. I also hate the fact that you're a half breed. I packed everything for you. The house isn't ours anymore; new occupants are moving in tomorrow. I left and moved into an apartment in a different town. Don't bother looking for me. I'm sorry, but please try to understand. Good-bye, Arisu.
Love, Father".
Arisu growled at the word "half breed". She hated that word. Her father knew it too. As she walked in the cold night, she re-read the letter over and over again, trying to fight back tears and a flame of anger.
Her father lied to her. He promised that he would always take care of her and he just left Arisu like she was nothing. Some father he was. 'What am I going to do? I have nowhere to go.' Arisu thought, sadness gnawed at her against her will. A nipping wind blew and Arisu put a hand on her hat that concealed her cat ears and tightened her grip on her black jacket.
The letter blew away and Arisu snatched it out of the wind and put it in her jacket pocket. Her trust got betrayed again; that fact wasn't surprising to her. This was why she rarely trusted others. Suddenly she heard a dog barking and someone called, "Someone, please help! Help me, will someone please get this dog out of here? Please? Anyone, help!" This snapped her out of her thoughts.
Arisu ran towards the sound and she saw a man with blonde hair and round glasses clinging to the branches of a tall tree while a small dog was barking at the base of the trunk. "Thank goodness! Can you please get that dog out of here?" he asked. "Go on, get out of here!" Arisu said to the dog while shooing it away with her hand.
The dog released a small yelp and scampered away. The man came down from the tree and sighed in relief. "I take it you don't like dogs very much?" Arisu asked. "Thank you, you're very kind! And no, I don't, I'm afraid. That dog just came out of nowhere and barked at me. The people in this town don't seem to be very welcoming to me." he explained. "Are you a local person too?"
"Yeah. Well sort of. I currently don't have a place to live." Arisu replied. They sat down on a bench and she explained how her father sold the house and just abandoned her. She didn't even know why she was pouring out her heart to this complete stranger. Something about him made him easy to talk to. "How awful! You must hate him intensely for leaving you by yourself!" he exclaimed. Arisu looked down at her lap trying not to cry. 'Get a grip! Remember your promise!' she growled at herself mentally.
"It's a bit embarassing to admit, but I abandoned my home too. Tomoe would probably jump kick me if I showed my face there again." he said sheepishly. 'Is Tomoe his wife?' Arisu thought. "At least you have a home to go back to." Arisu pointed out. "You can have my home, if you like; I don't mind. After all, you're much more deserving of it than I am." the man kissed her forehead.
Arisu blushed a soft shade of pink. 'What the hell was that about?' she thought, obviously bewildered and confused. He handed her a hand drawn map on a piece of paper. "Use this map to locate my house. Tell them Mikage sent you and they'll be sure to welcome you." he waved farewell and he vanished from her sight.
She examined the map. "Mikage Shrine, huh? I might as well go with it; I've got nowhere else to go." Arisu muttered as she started following the map's instructions. When she got there, she found the map led to her to a rundown-looking shrine.

"Was I played?" Arisu growled.

"Lord Mikage? Lord Mikage?" a voice called. "Welcome back, Lord Mikage." another voice chimed in. Arisu sniffed the air. She picked up three unfamiliar scents. 'What the hell?' she thought. Red fire danced around her. Horrible memories flashed through her mind. Arisu dashed into the shrine, hoping to get away from the spirit fire.
Suddenly, Arisu saw a figure in the darkness of the shrine. "Ah, Mikage. You finally decided to return. Twenty years is a long time to make someone wait. Don't you agree? You fiend! AAAAAH!" he growled. the figure bore down on her snarling. Arisu fell to the ground out of fright and the hat hiding her ears fell off, leaving her golden cat ears exposed.
Her instincts took over. "Back off!" Arisu growled, punching the figure squarely in the face. The male figure was sent sprawling over the shrine's wood floor. "Wait. You are not him." he stated, regaining his footing and rubbing his left cheek where Arisu punched him. She finally saw his features. He had short silver hair, the same color fox ears, serious icy blue eyes, and a silver fox tail with a pure white tip. 'Oh shit. I'm in a yokai shrine!' Arisu thought. Her muscles tensed. She looked up at Tomoe. Though she would never admit it, she actually found the man with the ears to be attractive.
"But, Master Tomoe, I sensed Mikage's spiritual energy!" a small male spirit about the size of a toddler with a mask on and a fiery kimono protested. "And she has the mark of the Land God!" another spirit, a small female one with the same kimono and a mask, added. "That still doesn't make her him." Tomoe retorted.
'Tomoe is gorgeous...' Arisu's thoughts trailed off. Then she mentally face palmed. 'What am I thinking?' she snapped at herself. Tomoe glared at her and his icy gaze found her ears. "You. Half breed. What are you doing here?" he asked rudely. Arisu stood up and revealed her long golden fluffy tail. It bristled until it was twice its original size.
"Look, Tomoe, I have a name! And it's not "Half breed"! It's Arisu! Get it right!" Arisu hissed. Tomoe looked shocked that she talked to him in such a manner. "Lady Arisu, you must be Mikage's replacement as Land God of this region." the male spirit addressed her, interrupting Tomoe as he was about to offer a stinging reply. "We must prepare a feast!" the female spirit declared. Food materialized in their hands.
"Help yourself, new lady goddess of the land!" the spirits said joyously in unison. "Hold up! I'm no goddess! And like hell I want to be one!" Arisu protested. "But Lady Arisu, you bear the mark of the land god on your forehead." the female spirit pointed to a glowing mark on Arisu's forehead that disappeared after the spirit moved her small hand away.
"I am Onikiri." the female spirit introduced herself. "And I am Kotetsu!" the male spirit added. "We, willow the wisps, are the shrine spirits of this shrine. Now we serve you, Lady Arisu." they said humbly. Tomoe glared at them. "I'm leaving. I am Mikage's familiar and I'll not serve a half breed like her. What will a filthy half blood like her be able to do? At most she could weed the garden and count the money offerings." Tomoe remarked scathingly, pulling Arisu's face close to his own. Arisu growled in defiance, but deep down, that hurt. "But Master Tomoe! She was referred by Lord Mikage himself!" the pair of willow the wisps butted in. "I care not! Throw her out!" Tomoe snapped.
Arisu roughly removed his hand from her face; she'd had enough of Tomoe. "Like this rundown shrine even gets money offerings! You couldn't pay me to do it!" she snapped. "Hmph. If you are going to give that creature a place here, I no longer care what happens to this shrine. Good-bye." Tomoe stated icily. "Master Tomoe! You must be Lady Arisu's familiar!" Kotetsu protested. Tomoe ignored him and disappeared from view. Arisu looked down at Kotetsu and Onikiri. "I don't suppose you could at least put me up for the night?" she asked them.
"Of course, Lady Arisu!" they replied right away. They guided her to a room that would be hers. Arisu flopped on the bed and fell asleep right away. 'What is going to happen now?' she thought before sleep overcame her.