~Tomoe X Reader: Book One~

7. Morning

"A girl like you..." The woman glared into your eyes, her expression cold and merciless. "...is better off dead."

Your eyes opened and you blinked rapidly, then stared up at the ceiling above with half-closed lids.

Where... Am I?

You clenched your fist around the fabric underneath you.

I'm on a futon... But I don't recognize this one...

The events from yesterday flooded your mind and your eyes widened, moving a bit of your hair to the side to touch the spot where the god's mark was on your forehead.

Oh... Right...

Yesterday you had come back to the shrine, sulking Tomoe nowhere in sight, and when you had mentioned you were a bit tired the shrine spirits led you to a futon (a clean, non destroyed one) and you had promptly collapsed onto it.

You sat up and threaded your fingers through your hair.

Ugh... I bet he's going to...

A mental image of Tomoe looking like a pissed off cat flashed across your mind, and your eyes widened nervously.

After all, you had taken away his freedom yet again, forced him to serve you. You cringed a bit when you thought about how much of a manipulative person you must look to Tomoe.

You looked up and around you, you were in an empty, small room with only the futon and bare walls, light coming in from the paper door, and from a single window.

You let your hand fall back to your side as you saw a small stack of clothing.

Is this...

You picked up a neatly folded kimono, a rather plain one, a shade that reminded you of the inside of an almond, a tannish yellow that wasn't too fancy at all.

You ran your fingers across the smooth fabric.

Who put this here?

You stood up and started to undress.

Maybe it was Onikiri and Kotetsu. I'm not sure Tomoe would do anything like this...

You put on the kimono carefully, making sure you remembered how. You'd worn kimonos at festivals, yes, but still the outfit seemed alien on your skin.

You sighed, reaching up to fix your hair, it was surely a me-

Your eyes widened a tiny bit.

Your hair was perfect, glossy and brushed, even smelling faintly of cinnamon, though your nights in the world over yonder had left it a tangled mess that you hadn't bothered to fix before you had basically passed out.

How?

It was a small detail, yes, but who had...?

You surely didn't remember brushing it.

Had someone brushed your hair while you slept...?

Maybe one of the shrine spirits again.

Shaking your head from side to side, you walked over to the door, bare feet padding on the wooden floor.

Gathering your courage, you opened the door. It lead to a hallway with many doorways, a large space that seemed to be a kitchen at one end and the main area you had been bleeding to death in just hours before.

A sudden shockwave of fear shot through you and you gripped the doorframe.

Looking down, you gritted your teeth.

Post-traumatic stress disorder. Just what I need, you thought sarcastically, and straightened, heading towards the kitchen, you heard the faint clanking of dishes and soft footsteps coming from that direction.

You peeked into the kitchen when you came to it.

Tomoe is cooking...?

Indeed, the fox-yokai was looking confused, and, as always, irritated.

His tail swished, no, twitched, occasionally, and his ears were a bit flattened, face twisted into disgust as he looked down at his pan, at the black smoke curling up from the singed remains of something that used to be food.

Tomoe tossed a cooking book he had been holding onto the table, closing his eyes and sighing.

"I'll never understand human food," he muttered, rubbing his temples.

He opened his eyes, looked down at the black thing.

"Though I'm going to have to," he said, then poked the charred lump with a wooden spatula. "If that brat is going to be..."

He made a movement a little too close to a shudder, and you knocked on the doorframe, pretending to be just now arriving to the kitchen.

Tomoe looked a bit surprised, but he quickly put back on his typical arrogant expression.

"I'll have food ready for yo-"

"It's fine," you interrupted. "If you have the ingredients, I can cook my own food."

Seeing Tomoe's little angry rant, you suddenly wanted nothing more than to prove yourself not to be just some "human brat".

You bowed, smiling. "I'm sure you have other matters to attend to," You said cheerfully. "Though I do have some questions that I would like to ask after I've finished. Would you be interested?"

There, you thought. Maybe if I ask him at first instead of ordering him, the contract the shrine spirits spoke of won't apply and he might feel a bit less bossed around...?

Tomoe was speechless for a moment, and his ears relaxed from being flattened, but as quickly as it had gone, his irritable personality was back.

"Very well." Tomoe muttered. "Though I'm not planning on repeating anything over and over."

You smiled a bit wider, tilting your head to the side. "Thank you, Tomoe."

Tomoe stood still for a moment, then nodded, exiting the kitchen, but just before he was out, you called back to him.

"Tomoe?"

Tomoe stopped, looking back.

"One question before you leave, do you and the shrine spirits eat human food?"

Tomoe paused, the hint of a scowl on his lips.

"It's optional." He hissed, and then left the room.

You dropped the smile you had been faking so well and buried your face in your hands.

If I ever want to be treated... Well... Not like that, I'm going to have to put in a lot of work. Me and him seem to be total opposites, but it may be just because he's irritated about the contract thing.

Hopefully he'll calm down soon.