When you returned to the shrine, Nanami was already asleep. You were about to head to your own bed, when Tomoe stopped you. You looked back at him, confused. "I want you to join Nanami and me at school tomorrow." He whispered so as not to wake the sleeping land god.
"Is that wise? The goddess of beasts isn't the kind of person you invite to be around a bunch of children."
"I don't care what anyone else thinks about it." He stated. "I don't want you to leave my side."
You couldn't help but smile at the light blush that dusted his cheeks. "I doubt I will be capable of getting good grades." You chuckled.
"So long as you maintain grades that are good enough to keep you in school, I don't care."
"How am I supposed to register now? Summer vacation is in a few days." You smirked.
"I registered in a similar fashion. I have it all under control." Tomoe nodded.
"Very well then. I leave it in your capable hands." You whispered, as you entered your room, and shut the door behind you.
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You woke up bright and early, before Tomoe even woke up. You walked outside the shrine, and whistled softly. Within minutes, dozens of animals filtered out of the woods. There were creatures that humans didn't know lived in the forests, and some that were older then man.
"Hello everyone." You smiled at all of them. "I was wondering if you could help me out this morning." The creatures chirped, grunted, and growled in agreement. "This shrine will be my home for the foreseeable future, so I want to thank the land god and her familiar by making this place spotless. Think you can help?" You asked. Once again you got enthusiastic shouts. "Let's get to work." You chuckled.
While you set to work making breakfast for everyone (including the creatures), they cleaned the shrine. A little Disney princess-y, but you'd done it long before Snow White was a thing.
The deer helped cut down the grass, while the rabbits pulled weeds. The birds cleared debris from the roof, while the yokai tanuki scrubbed away the moss and mold. A pair of kama itachi trimmed the foliage, while three mujina carried away the fallen leaves and branches. When Ryuu woke up, he helped by sweeping and cleaning the inside of the shrine.
It wasn't long before everything was cleaned up. You brought out platters of raw meat for the mujina and kama itachi, a bottle of sake for the tanuki, and a bowl of seeds and berries for the regular animals. Ryuu sat beside you, sipping on his own cup of sake.
You were sitting outside with all of them when Tomoe finally woke up. He was startled by how clean the shrine was. He walked out onto the porch, and was equally startled by the creatures. "What is going on?" He asked. The second he spoke, the mujina ran away, closely followed by all the other creatures.
"Way to go." Ryuu snickered.
You swatted your snarky familiar, before looking up at Tomoe. "They were helping me clean the shrine." You smiled at him.
"I can see that, but why?"
"I wanted to show my gratitude to you and the others." You shrugged. "Besides, I figured you would have your hands full getting me into school. Which reminds me, Ryuu was helping me with something the past few days." You snapped your fingers, and your ears and tail vanished in a puff of smoke.
"What?! That is what it was for?" Ryuu interjected. "Why must my mistress bore herself with the frivolity of humans?!" Ryuu snapped.
"It's nothing to get so worked up about Ryuu." You chuckled at your overprotective familiar.
"If your mind is set on going to this school, I shall accompany you." Ryuu huffed.
"Not a chance." Tomoe scoffed
"And why not, fox?" Ryuu hissed.
"Because you look like a twelve year old." Tomoe spat.
"That's enough." You chastised. "Ryuu, I need you to protect the shrine. I'm counting on you to keep it safe, while keeping an eye out for any suspicious characters." Ryuu grumbled angrily, but eventually agreed. "Thank you." You smiled at your familiar. "Now, why don't we wake Nanami and have breakfast."
"It will take me several minutes to prepare an adequate meal." Tomoe stated.
"There is no need. I have already prepared a meal. I just need you to wake Nanami." You replied, walking past the two familiars and into the shrine.
It took a few minutes for Nanami to wake up, but Tomoe got her to the table promptly after. When everyone was present, you brought out the food. It wasn't anything fancy, but you were proud of it. Each person got a bowl of steamed rice, a grilled fish, a bowl of miso soup, with a plate of pickled vegetables in the middle of the table.
"This looks wonderful, Milady." Ryuu praised, as he started eating.
Tomoe took a bite, and stopped. "This is quite delicious." He looked impressed.
"I'm glad you like it." You smiled.
Tomoe looked at you, and frowned. "Aren't you going to eat?" He asked.
"Food can give me extra energy, but I don't need to eat. At the moment I'm not interested in eating." You shrugged.
"If that is the case, where did you learn how to cook so well?" Kotetsu asked.
"I used to cook for some people I used to know. Turns out cooking is like riding a bike." You chuckled. You stopped smiling when you noticed that Nanami wasn't eating. "What's wrong Nanami?" You asked, concern in your voice.
"I'm just not hungry." Nanami mumbled, as she poked listlessly at her rice. You could tell something was bothering her, but didn't want to bring it up in front of everyone, so you just let it go.
When breakfast was over, you got dressed in the kimono Tomoe brought you, and followed him and Nanami to the bus stop. You were actually a little nervous about going to school. You'd never been around so many humans before, at least not in a form they interacted with.
When you arrived at school, Tomoe led you to the office, before heading off to his own class. They made you fill out some paperwork, then handed you a uniform. You quickly changed in a bathroom stall, making sure to tuck the dragon pendant under your shirt, then the principal led you to your classroom. "The teacher knows you are coming, so knock on the door when you are ready." The principal smiled before taking his leave.
You took a deep breath, before knocking on the classroom door. "Enter." Came the reply. You hesitantly pushed open the door, and stepped inside. "Ah, you must be (Y/N). Come on in." The teacher smiled at you. "Why don't you introduce yourself?"
You walked up to the front of class. It was a little uncomfortable having all of those eyes on you. "H-hello, my name is (Y/N) Yukimori. It's a pleasure to meet all of you." You smiled as sincerely as you could through the nervousness. You weren't very familiar with human expressions, so it was difficult for you to understand what they were thinking.
"Alright, let's find you a place to sit." The teacher scanned the classroom.
"There is an open seat right here." Tomoe spoke up, pointing to the seat in front of him.
"Ah, that's perfect." The teacher smiled. You hesitantly walked between the rows of desks, all to aware of the eyes following you.
You dropped into your seat, and busied yourself pulling out the books you'd just been given. "Don't be nervous." A familiar voice whispered in your ear.
"What makes you think I'm nervous?" You mumbled to Tomoe.
"You're all rigid." Tomoe chuckled softly.
"Last time I was in a room with this many humans they were trying to kill me." You whispered back.
"Don't worry about them. I won't let anyone hurt you." His words made you relax a little, but you weren't completely calm.
Throughout the class, you were confused. The math made no sense, and the language arts was gibberish. One of the classes you were looking forward to was history, but the humans somehow managed to mangle that. They blamed bandits for massacres done by yokai, and disasters for the rage of a god. When lunch came around, you were relieved. You didn't have a lunch, of course, so you stayed in your seat and read the textbooks. At least that was your plan, but people crowded around your desk as soon as lunch started. You looked up from your textbook, and smiled nervously at the gathered students, most of whom were boys. They started bombarding you with questions.
The girls said things like, "Is that your natural hair color?" and "Your skin looks so pretty, what do you use?"
While the boys asked absurd questions like, "Do you have a boyfriend?" and "Do you want to eat lunch with me?"
You didn't know how to respond, when someone grabbed you by the hand, and pulled you out of the crowd. You were pulled into someone's arms, and you looked up to see Tomoe. "Don't you think it is a little rude to pester someone with so many questions at once?" He grumbled to the gathered students. He glowered at them, until most of the boys sauntered away. The girls, however, seemed very annoyed by your close proximity to Tomoe.
"Is that why you pulled her away from them?" An unfamiliar voice asked. "It looked to me like you were mad that they were near her."
"Shut your mouth." Tomoe growled, as he let go of you, and faced the owner of the voice.
"The two hottest guys in class are here today." You heard a girl swoon.
"Tomoe and Kurama aren't only beautiful, they are incredibly talented." Another mumbled.
Kurama? You looked at the red haired boy. He looked familiar, but you couldn't put your finger on it. Tomoe and Kurama glowered at each other for several seconds, before you figured it out. "Now I remember!" You said aloud, gaining everyone's attention. "Little Shinjirou." You smiled at the red haired boy. Everyone looked at you confused, but the red haired boy's face fell. He grabbed your arm and dragged you out of the classroom.
"Where do you think you are taking her?" Tomoe growled, charging after you.
The boy that everyone called Kurama, dragged you all the way up to the roof before he let go of your arm. "Who are you?" Kurama hissed at you.
You looked at him, not understanding why he was so upset with you. Tomoe barged onto the roof, slammed the door shut, and stood protectively between Kurama and you. "What the hell is your problem?" Tomoe spat.
Kurama ignored him, and just continued to glare at you. "I seem to have made an uncomfortable situation." You apologized.
"Just tell me who you are." Kurama snapped again.
"I'm sorry for upsetting you. My name is (Y/N). I am the goddess of beasts." You explained to the tengu.
"Why don't I sense any godly power coming from you?"
"I am quite skilled at suppressing my energy." You replied simply.
"How do you know who I am?" Kurama barked.
"Probably the fact that you are all over the television." Tomoe barked back.
"Nobody down here should know that name." Kurama glowered, once again ignoring Tomoe.
You sighed, realizing you'd caused a lot of discomfort. "Tomoe, would you give us a minute." You asked the familiar.
"I don't feel comfortable leaving you with this tengu. He tried to attack Nanami once before. He'd do anything to gain the power of a god." Tomoe hissed.
"I can take care of myself, now please." You placed your hand on the familiar's tense shoulder. "I need to speak with him in private."
Tomoe hesitantly turned his back on Kurama. "Are you sure?"
"I am."
Tomoe examined your face, and sighed. "Very well then, but I shall remain nearby. Should he try anything you need only shout." With that Tomoe reentered the school.
You returned your attention to the boy in front of you. "I'm sorry that I caused you such discomfort. I didn't realize you had abandoned that name. Now, to answer your question, I've known you for a very long time."
"Why don't I remember you then?" Kurama interjected.
"I was getting to that." You sighed. "As I was saying, I've known you for a very long time, as I have every creature in this land. Anytime a creature feels fear, a piece of my essence is present." You explained. "I was there when you were hit by Jirou, when he threw you in with that beast, when Suirou lost his wings, even when you descended from the mountain. I'm always glad that I can be there for those who are scared, but at the same time I never get to see the moments of joy. It's a blessing, and a curse." You smiled at Kurama. "But, it makes me happy seeing how comfortable you are in the human world."
Kurama seemed startled by everything you'd just told him. He simply stared at you in stunned silence. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone about it. You have your reasons for hiding your true identity, and I will respect that." You turned, and headed towards the door. "I should go now. I have P.E. next, and I need to change." You glanced back at the tengu. "I'll see you around Kurama."