God, It Has Started The Wrong Way Round

Kotarou and Kei

Nanami was...ecstatic, to say the least.

A wide smile split her face as she slid the door open. Two figures stood on the threshold.

First, there was what looked like a slightly scrawny teenage boy with ruffled brown hair and slightly dulled eyes. His attire was similar to Tomoe, with the exception of the colours. The second figure was that of a girl. She stood proudly, her grey-brown eyes fierce and her orange hair spilling out behind her. She wore yet another outfit similar to which her master wore, but instead of cloth, upturned shoulder plates pointed out from her clothes. A sheathed katana lay on her hip.

Kotarou made a small effort to smile, before brushing past Nanami and slumping onto the floor of the shrine. Tomoe, who had just walked in, stared at the scene before him.

"Um...Hello?"

Kotarou lifted his head and his eyes widened when he saw Tomoe. In a flash, he was at the land god's feet, head pressed to the ground. Nanami heard Kei gasp, and Nanami herself had a hard time covering her surprise.

"Kotarou-sama! You shouldn't be bowing like that!" Kei's voice bounced through the room, although it was ignored by the prince.

He slowly raised his himself up and stared at Tomoe with dull eyes.

"Please, I need your help."

His voice cracked mid-sentence as he bowed his head again. Kei sighed, walked up to him, and pulled him up by his kimono, gently setting him on his feet with inhuman strength. She pinched the bridge of her nose with her fingers and turned to look imploringly at Tomoe and Nanami.

Then she began to speak.

"Long story short. Kotarou-sama is lovesick. He fell in that mushy puddle around ten years ago, and he's just realised it. The object of his aff-"

"Wait, hold it. How does this have to do with me, may I ask?"

Tomoe had an eyebrow raised, head half-cocked. Kei stared at him for a moment before Nanami interrupted.

"Uh, you see Tomoe, Mikage was the god of matchmaking and marriage, so that's why Kotarou's asking for your help." She scratched the back of her head, sweatdropping as she hoped that Tomoe didn't realise that she'd never mentioned this before.

No such luck.

"Oi, Nanami, why didn't you mention this before?" Tomoe's eye twitched slightly. Nanami slowly backed away to hide behind Kei as he started emitting a dark aura.

On the other side of the room, Kotarou sneezed.

Suddenly, he leapt up, and started to fill the room with sparkles as roses bloomed around him. A blissful expression decorated his face as he sighed happily. Kei sweatdropped as both Tomoe and Nanami choked.

"See? Look at him. He thinks Himemiko - you know, the girl I was talking about - is talking about him. He's hopeless! And it's not like you can help him, either." The last part was muttered under her breath, but Tomoe managed to catch it.

"What do you mean?"

"Kotarou met Himemiko ten years ago, at Tatara Swamp. She was lost, and he helped her find her way home. He-"

Kei was again interrupted in her storytelling by a hand that came up in front of her. Kotarou made his way to Nanami and Tomoe and bowed down again.

"I've fallen in love with Himemiko." Nanami could see that, by just saying it, a smile lingered on his lips.

"But I can't meet her in this form." He gestured to his catfish-humanoid appearance, wincing slightly. "I'm a yokai. So, I would like to ask you to tie an uninterrupted bond between myself and Himemiko."

"I-"

"You can't." This time, Kei interrupted Tomoe. Her eyes were hard and cold. "He's a yokai. She's human. It's forbidden for a human and yokai to become lovers."

Nanami gulped. She then spread her hands in front of her and directed her words to Kei.

"But Kei! Kotarou's so unhappy right now. He's your master! Don't you want to make him happy? The rule doesn't matter, not in the face of love! Well, can you at least let him meet this Himemiko to see if she will fall in love with him?!" She argued passionately.

Tomoe stared at her, mesmerised by the way she spoke. She spoke of love. His inner self went spiralling into a whirlpool of hearts while he stared like an idiot.

Kei (who was extremely refined in the art of a woman's intuition) noticed immediately and turned to wink at Nanami, sending a silent message.

Girl, you've got yourself a keeper!

Nanami stared at her for a moment, before her face erupted into a mess that rivalled a splattering tomato. She then tried to summon an angry face - she failed miserably - and turned away, fuming. How dare Kei imply that just after she refused to make room for Kotarou's feelings?!

Kei sniggered into her sleeve, before turning back to Tomoe.

"Actually, good point, Nanami-chan!" Sparkles literally blasted off her figure. "Let's make an exception in favour of Kotarou-sama's happiness!"

Nanami sweatdropped behind Tomoe. You're too conspicuous, you moron.

Tomoe deadpanned. "I can't."

Kei froze, the production rate of her sparkles slowing down drastically. Suddenly, her background cracked and shattered into a thousand pieces. Darkness radiated from her as she loomed above Tomoe.

"Why not?" She hissed dangerously.

Tomoe's mask held up very well, considering his situation. Inside, he shivered in terror. "Well, you just said that it's forbidden. It's not like I can break the rules."

"You can at least try to bend them, jerk! With Nanami's magic, Kotarou can meet Himemiko in a human form."

"But still, it's a ru-?!"

Nanami had latched onto Tomoe mid-sentence, using foxy puppy eyes for him to see.

"Please, Tomoe?! I'll do all the chores voluntarily! I'll do anything! Please?!"

Nanami neglected to mention that she'd been doing the chores voluntarily for twenty years, but Tomoe paid no attention.

Instead, he gulped at her hold on him.

Blushed at her closeness.

Looked away because - goddammit, was he going to get a nosebleed again?!

And then finally relented with a silent nod.

Nanami released him and jumped away, punching the air with a fist as she laughed merrily. Kotarou looked at them, shocked. Then, his features melted into a warm smile and Nanami continued her victory dance.

"Thank you, Nanami, Tomoe."

Nanami, I hope you can be happy too.