Kamisama: The Life of a God

She looked at him, she had her powers sealed? She glanced over at Jineza and then back to Tenjin..."wait so one reason why i was a target was maybe because of the seal could be weakening?" she asked wondering if that was the main cause, or just because she was now 16 and it was almost time for the games. Taking a deep breath she shifted, she needed to become the miko they needed as she would then nod "alright...le..lets do what we have to, remove the seal.....dad...." she said softly.

“Awww you called me Dad!”Tenjin said with practical hearts for eyes as he clutched his fan under his chin happily “I think I could just melt away right now”he said happily before he then turned to her holding out his fan “Right, removing the seal, easy.”he said as he snapped his fan closed as a gold circle began glowing in the center of her chest with the kanji for Kami written inside of it, before it suddenly fractured, vanishing from sight as a sudden rush of energy began flowing around her like a cool air current “You may feel a slight cooling sensation is your dormant energy is released again.”

Jineza stepped back to give her Daughter some space for the ritual to work. “Don’t be afraid. If you feel it pull you, don’t fight it” she coached from Tenjin aside.

Koharu could practically see the 'hearts' in Tenjin's eyes as well as around his head, she would then shift a bit after all this was all new to her but soon as he would pull out his fan to break the seal she took a deep breath. Though instead of something extraordinary she would suddenly feel a surge go through her, almost like a whole new breath filled her lungs and she blinked a few times "I don't....feel all that different.." she stated as she looked at them, "do I look different?...I mean the only thing I felt was like I could breath...that normal?"

"Hmm....well I am the spiritual representation of the sky.....so it could be that you inherited some of my powers to go with your miko powers after all."Tenjin said tapping his fan on his chin "Hmmm I guess there isn't really a way to tell until you start fully using them though huh...."he finished looking over at Jineza "You got any ideas? You were always considered a prodigy, I'd trust your judgment on this" said the god that was thousands of years old and should have been the leading expert on these sorts of things

“Could be shes always had an affinity...a feeling...of her abilities. Like the barest of hints that it was there.” She said and looked back to Koharu, “feelnlike youbcan breath? Like something was holding you down?” She asked

Koharu nodded, "Ya...like a weight lifted itself from me....I don't feel so...heavy I guess..." before she always felt like there was something keeping her down, something that prevented her from being...more than what she was currently. She accepted that lot in life, thinking that she was just going to be some looked over girl, that no one saw....till Nazuki or Ebisu came along and he showed her that she wasn't, now she felt like that even without him there to help lift her up. "Its rather nice....like I'm not as useless as I've always felt.."

“I’m sorry. Maybe that seal was a bit more powerful than I originally intended”Tenjin said “We just had to make sure your powers were sealed to protect you and your grandparents. And so you didn’t give them a hard time.”he commented “well I’m glad now, you get to come into who you really are now.”he said “Albeit not the best circumstances.”

“No..in a perfect world we would have raised you ourselves and you would never have had to feel so secluded.” Jineza Said and looked sadly at Tenjin and then to Koharu. “But now we can face this all together and make sure that we have many more years to correct the time we spent apart.”

Koharu nodded and shifted before she would take a deep breath, "Well I guess tomorrow I'll get working on being a Miako....though for school, I think there's an club on traditions that wouldn't hurt for me to join. I know you guys are going to help, but I should still act like a normal student so I'm not concerning anyone...." she stated, but paused. "Um anther thing....since I moved here....who is going to be my legal guardian? On paper it be my grandfather still but....since I'm here and T....Dad can't exactly leave nor can you mom.."

“Hmmm.....that could be quite the problem.....Oh!”Tenjin said palming his fist in his other hand “I got the perfect idea. We can say you are under the legal guardianship of the monk! That’ll actually be the perfect cover for all this as well. I can summon Gail back to the shrine and he can also help in your miko spiritual training.”he said “We can say he is your uncle, and has legal emancipated you from your grandparents to begin your training. And he can also help in case Ebisu tries to do anything while you are away from the shrine. I’ll send letter to him right away.”

‘Nooo not Gail, anything but Gail”Orochinagi said as he suddenly appeared from where he had been listening “The last thing we need is that overzealous, overly friendly monk who doesnt know his own strength, or when to stop drinking, to come drunkenly stumbling back in here. Besides, he’s not a kid anymore. He’s at the age where he might seriously try to hit on your daughter. You know he isn’t even really a “proper” monk in the first place” he said as Tenjin waved his closed fan dismissively “You worry so much, Gail is a great boy, and a skilled and devoted monk to the faith. That’s why he asked to take his missionary work across the lands until he is needed again.”he said “And now is a better time than any.”

“It’s his being strong and friendly that we trust him. Also he is someone Ebisu doesn’t know. He went away before everything happened.” She said. “But If he knows what is good for him he will keep his hands to himself.”

Koharu listened to them talk about this new monk that was going to come into the picture, "I suppose, if you say he's OK then I'll trust your opinion" she said with a faint smile and couldn't help but chuckle some at how easily Tenjin seemed to dismiss a few things. "Orichinagi...if your worried he'd do something you could always just stay in your snake form and ride on my shoulder....that way if he does something you don't like you can bite him...." she said hoping to try and get on the snakes good side, the twins already seemed to like her...but it was hard to tell.

“Geitsu, please go and get word to Gail that he is needed again. Knowing him and that two tailed fire fox I gave him to travel, he should be here shortly after being informed. Let him know about the situation and let him know who he will be guarding.” Tenjin said dismissing Orochinagi’s complaints once more “it will be reassuring to have him near again.”

“It’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when.”Orochinagi said with a slight hiss as he looked over at her “I will ride on your shoulder, and strike him down when the time comes. Do not take this as me growing to like you....my distaste for Gail is just more.”he said as he transformed in a poof and slithered off again.

“I think in his own way he likes you already.”Tenjin said with a smile “Orochi’s definitely a cold-blooded snake, but once he begins to have his blood warmed up by your aura, he becomes firercely protective. If it wasn’t for what happened with Jineza, he would still be my top guardian.”he stated

“Which is why I think he dislikes me.” She said, “we were not very close when I was human, but we at least respected and got along amicably. But since then....” she said and shrugged. “But he will protect you.”

“Right away Master.” The elder demon said and ran off to reach out to gail

Koharu nodded and would watch Orochinagi slither off but she smiled, he was faithful if not dedicated as well as she then looked back at the others. "Well I should probably go and get some rest, its been a rather...productive day and...believe it or not I am exhausted" she laughed. Half of it she still thought was a dream, and she was going to wake up and Nazuki was going to be there. Thinking of that it hurt as she would push that thought to the back of her head, "I'll go take a hot bath then head to bed....good night......Mom....dad..."

She would then turn to head back down towards the bathhouse to rest and relax before sleep.

Tenjin smiled at her, practically beaming as he nodded his head "Of course, of course. I completely understand. Goodnight, and....welcome home."he said bowing his head towards her as she headed out of the doors before he turned to Jineza letting out a deep sigh "Well....how do you think that went? Besides Ebisu showing up...I think she took everything pretty well....but having Nazuki around her worries me.....he's already spent so many years around her, who knows what he could have been doing all this time."

“I know what you mean.....she thinks of him so highly that I worry for her emotionally. This may have her questioning who she can trust for years to come.
I worry also that maybe she will side with him altogether....if that were to happen...I....I don’t know if I could take it she said on the verge of tears. “I....We...we can’t lose her again Tenjin. We just can’t.”

“I don’t think we will. For now, let’s just focus on getting done what we have to”Tenjin said flashing her a smile ‘Let’s get some rest.”

When the morning came the twin foxes could be heard outside playing in the morning light as Koharu had to get up and ready for school. Tenjin was also already up and thinking about the reaches Nazuki could have at the school still since Tenjin couldn’t leave “Having Gail accompany her will definitely help. He said to himself”

When the next day came Koharu was already getting ready for school as she stood in her new room putting on her uniform, it was a bit different to not be waking up in a small bedroom or to Nazuki already waiting for her outside calling for her to get ready. She brushed her hair from her face and would then head out of her room, calling out to the others "Sorry I'm late for school!! See you tonight!" she pulled her shoes on and would soon rush out and started down the shrine steps with her book bag over her shoulder. The events of yesterday seemed to fade to the back of her mind at the moment, as well that she was suppose to have someone accompany her to school.

"Ok, I have..a math test....I studied right?" she asked herself walking quickly down the road and soon was coming up upon the shop that she had told Nazuki to meet her at so they could still go to school.

As she wondered up the road, a ginger Cat with a white tipped tail appread beside her, a package in her mouth. Shebquickly tucked it in the bag before hopping away, giving the snake inside the bag a stern yet knowing look before doing so. Inside the package was a small lunch that had been forgotten at the house plays an added charm for protection.

Orochinagi curled up tightly into his tiny ball inside of the bag, tucked out of sight as she continued on. At the coffee shop, as expected, Nazuki stood with two coffees in his hand and his kendo sword on his back "Hey!....I was almost starting to think you forgot about meeting up with me. A couple more minutes and I would have started walking back to school all by myself."he said as he handed her the cup as they walked "I hope you're prepared for the math test we have today? Sensei did say it was going to be one of the tricker ones we take this semester."

Back at the shrine, a tall man had just finished walking up the monastery steps as he gave a bow before entering the shrine "Helllooooooo?"he called looking around "No one home? Great!"he said as he was quick to pull the gourd on his side off of his hip taking a deep drink before spitting it out as a fan came down hard on top of his head as Tenjin suddenly stood behind him "That wouldn't happen to be my old fire whiskey inside that gourd would it?"Tenjin said as Gail turned around slowly scratching the back of his head "N-No, Tenjin-sama, of course not. M-my your looking as Blue and vast as ever. New ribbon?"he asked with a nervous laugh as Tenjin shook his head "The others were very abrasive about bringing you back, don't prove them right will you?"he said as Gail snapped into a salute "Of course not, sir!"

She would turn to look over at Nazuki as he came up, she would shift some after all the others were telling her to stay away from him but she would soon reach out taking the coffee from him but wouldn't take a drink just yet. "I studied a bit this morning as I was getting ready, but over all I think I'm ok...we did have that one day we spent at your place studying." she said brushing her hair from her face, and walked with him. There was a strange silence after all he was Eibsu...he wanted to rip her father from his title and use her to do that, she raised the coffee to her lips and took a small sip.

The ginger Cat looked back at the scene with worry...but the charm she had left, plus Orichinagi would keep her safe. Jineza would vanish and reappear in her human form at the shrine. “Sorry for running off like that...Koharu forgot her lunch...” she said and stoped when she noticed the other figure in the shrine. “Gail. It has been a long time....” She said. She swallowed hard, this would be the first time her friend and former shrine resident would have seen her in her present form. The last time having seen her was human

Nazuki let out a held breath as she took a sip relived as they kept walking “Hey...so about yesterday....I know there was a lot that happened...but I just want to give you a bit more detail....because I’m sure your parents gave you a story in a very one sided light, but you are walking with me now, so I’m guessing you’ll give me a chance to explain so here it goes.”he said before clearing his throat “Yes it’s true that I am..was..Ebisu, the God of Fortune and Greed. But the thing about being Ebisu, is that we are a cursed God. Whenever a God dies, they have two choices, either be reborn, and grow up to be a diety again, or return to life as a mortal and pass on the diety to the next person waiting, usually a shrine guardian, like your mother ascends into the role. Those Gods who become humans still keep a small portion of their spiritual energy and in turn give birth to future shrine maids and monks and thus the cycle continues as those maidens and monks become guardians and thus forth.”he explained to her “But Ebisu, as a curse for his original sin of greed, does not have a choice on whether he gets to be reborn, or become a mortal, but he still retains all the memories from the last incarnation. So while I was born as Nazuki, your childhood friend, one day I awakened my past memories...I didn’t really know how to tell you...I mean..the previous incarnation of me had this grand plan to dethrone your Dad. So I hoped that maybe it wouldn’t come true, but when you said you moved to a shrine part of me deep inside just knew that it was already to late to stop what was put in motion.”he saidd grabbing his arm slightly “I totally understand if you want to stop being friends but....I can’t promise I can control what Ebisu has already done. While we’re different...we’re also the same....it’s hard to explain.”

“J-Jineza!? Is that you!?”Gail said in complete shock as he stared at the cat that had just transformed before him “What the hell happened since I was gone!? I mean I know I was just a kid when I was sent off for training but you were like young and pretty..and pregnant.....and you’re still young and pretty...and a cat!? I was expecting you to be all old and wrinkled already after taking care of a kid for 16 years. But then I got the letter for Tenjin-sama that explained what happened. But I still didn’t expect you to be a Guardian already!.......How’s it feel being all...divine and stuff?”he asked curiously as he set his staff down and took off his hat as his fire red hair came pouring out from underneath

“My, my, you’ve grown into quite the handsome young man during all your training. Still a drunk like you were as a naughty child, but you’ve grown so big. And I can sense quite a deep amount of spiritual energy inside you. I see you’ve taken your trainings seriously, I knew you’d be a good protege to one day replace Jineza”Tenjin said proudly laughing to himself with his fan covering his mouth “Such divine foresight is truly a gift.”