The Mark of a Yokai's Love

Chapter 4: A Confrontation

The rest of the day was a blur. Tomoe refused to answer any of my questions and after the tenth time of asking, I gave up and accepted my fate. Then, we went home, I fought with Tomoe, we ate dinner, I complained about the ugly clothes he bought, we fought some more, and I went to bed. When I woke up the next morning, it was still dark outside.

'What time is it?' I asked myself. The sun was just beginning to peek out from behind the mountains, so I figured it was around 6:30. 'Woah,' I thought. 'I NEVER wake up this early.' I wondered if I should go back to sleep, but I wasn't tired enough, so I decided to just get up instead. I groaned as I thought about school, and I started preparing my school uniform. Then, I had a brilliant idea. I could just skip school!

Smirking, I slowly put the uniform back in the dresser that Tomoe had placed in my room at my request. Then, I put on a pink shirt with a black belt, a long, plaid skirt, pink tights, and black ballet flats. It was one of the horrid outfits Tomoe had considered fashionable, but I was going to fix that today. After grabbing a bag and filling it with the most important items (money, headphones, etc.), I tiptoed over to the screen door that blocked off my room from the rest of the shrine and slid it open. I was trying to be so quiet that I didn't dare breathe. Once I got the door open, I escaped the confines of my room and closed the door again. I looked down the hall, and noticing that the coast was clear, made my way to the front of the shrine. I was almost to the front when suddenly, I turned a corner and saw Tomoe. His back was facing me, and he didn't seem to notice my presence. I swiftly retreated behind the wall again. I considered moving back towards the direction of my room, but I was so close to the outside world, and I didn't want to waste my progress. Moving slower than molasses, I peeked around the corner again. However, Tomoe had left the room through another hallway, and he was nowhere to be seen. Sighing with relief, I stepped out from behind my wall of protection. But right when I did, Tomoe entered the room again carrying a broom. I let out a little yelp, and Tomoe dropped the broom in surprise.

"What are you doing up so early?" he asked, staring at my outfit.

"I was...going out."

"To where?"

"None of your business."

"Actually, it is my business. I'm your familiar, and it's my job to protect you. Also, you're in more danger than usual because you are a new god AND a human god. So I will ask again. Where are you going?"

"...Out."

Tomoe narrowed his eyes at me in suspicion. It was clear that he thought I was going to be doing something bad, but what that something was eluded my mind. Finally, he straightened his back and lifted his chin up in the air with a pompous manner.

"Then I shall go with you."

"That's not necessary."

"Yes it is. You wait there while I put something more presentable on."

Tomoe left the room. Right when he stepped around the corner and was gone from sight, I sprinted to the door. Wrenching the door open, I continued my escape across the shrine's front, down the stairs, and along the street. When I had almost turned the corner, I thought I heard Tomoe yell, "KORA!" but the sound was carried away by the wind. I smirked and hurried along, remembering the time when I had done the same to my teacher just two days earlier. Although it's a short amount of time, so much has taken place. I became a god, I gained a familiar (who just so happens to be a fox-guy), I was harassed by a famous pop star, and my life was turned upside-down. Who knows what will happen next?

Once I snapped out of my thoughts, I realized I was already almost in town. I stopped running and took my headphones out of my bag. 'I haven't listened to music in a while,' I reflected. That thought saddened me. Music was the one thing that I enjoyed most in life, even more than drawing. As I scanned through my music library, I found a few oddities. There were four songs where the artist, song title, album, and cover art were missing. Instead, a bunch of X's appeared for the title. Confused, I clicked on one of them. An attractive guitar melody started the song, and then it broke out into a chorus of instruments. I knew this song! I couldn't remember exactly what it was called, but I was very familiar with the tune.