Quite the way to end summer break, wasn’t it? Only two days left to school returning to session like it normally would, yet everything in your life is topsy turvy.

Last night you had broken into the shrine. You met spirits and mikos, and learned of things only believed to belong in fairy tale books. Now, you are living in this mad fantasy, an apprentice onmyouji.

Your training was supposed to start this afternoon with two of the Onmyouji in the shrine: Keito @Sho Minazuki and Niko. So, now you wait at the entrance torii gate with the others for your teachers to arrive.

---

With a few minutes to spare until the “class” was expected to begin, clicks of footsteps from wooden sandals could be heard running up the cobblestone stair pathway accompanied by gentle pants.

A young girl in miko clothes came to a stop from her sprint, folded over with her sweaty palms gripping her knees and breathing heavily from the trek. It wasn’t hard to notice she had almost toppled over the last step, but it was a good decision to just leave the observation at that. ”W-wah! I’m sorry I’m late! I was helping mother at the store, and—“ The long haired girl seemed to had lost her train of thought as she stood up straight, in her arms a small fluffy bundle which was snuggled up cozily against her. The little bundle cracked open a purple eye at the group, giving them a quick scan over before shutting again as a chocolate brown paw sleepily pulled the straw hat over it’s face to block out the rays of sunlight still coming through.

The cute little miko gave a wide grin with her eyes closed tight, pushing her shoulders back to face the group. ”Hiya! My name is Niko Kodomoppoi, Yang Water exorcist! It’s a pleasure to meet you all!” Niko paused and pointed lightly to the small creature she was carrying. ”This is Tsugu, my shikigami... ah, Tsugu, don’t be rude! Wake up and greet them!” The small girl pouted down at the tanuki, who just gazed up at her lazily in response.

”Hm... fine. Since you asked, princess.” In a puff of gray smoke, suddenly instead of a cute fluffy ball of fur there was a tall blonde man bearing the same sleepy but passive expression as the tanuki once had. He also happened to bear the same straw hat, ears and tail. Tsugu tucked his clawed hands into the roomy sleeves of his shirt, giving a wobbling grin through his flushed cheeks. Was he... drunk? ”How do you do?”

The big hazel eyes of Niko opened, glancing about curiously. ”Ah, where’s Keito? Isn’t it late?”

The tanuki gave a hum of thought, glancing up at the orange sky as if to check the time like it were a clock. ”No. You’re early, my dear.”

Niko’s expression dropped into one of exhaustion and bewilderment as she stared in disbelief. ”Wah?? Why did I rush all the way from home then, Tsugu?!”

The tanuki tail waved in delight as Tsugu chuckled in his throat, placing a hand on the girl’s shoulder. ”Now now, don’t look so down. You can sleep on my lap later, hm? I’m nice and cozy...” For some reason, the passive male gave you the shivers.

Was this girl really an experienced exorcist and Onmyouji? At the moment, it seemed hard to believe.

supposed that today was going to be interesting.

He didn't particularly care about the rumors of the supernatural; he was just wandering around yesterday night and his path led him to the shrine. When he and the others learned that the rumors were true, Yuudai couldn't understand why they were shocked. After all, the yokai had always existed--the discovery was like learning a new fact in school: interesting, but not exactly world-shaking.

Then again, people have told him that he was very unemotional.

Eh, whatever.

It probably would've been easier to just ignore this stuff and go about his daily life, but they--the onmyoji and yokai at the shrine--seemed good-intentioned. However, he still felt a sense of danger from Tsugu. The tanuki hadn't done anything bad yet, but it was enough to prompt Yuudai to throw paper shurikens at him.

---

stretched himself out on a park bench.

The sun was really~ nice that afternoon, a good time to recharge. The period right after spring was a quiet period for him, since couples were just happily spending time with each other. Towards the end of summer break, things became a bit busier. Relationships formed during their vacation, so people steeled themselves to confess. Some were just students, praying for a good year.

Thinking about students, Kuharu remembered a rumor that he'd heard. "Mmn~ there are new onmyoji at the shrine now, aren't there?" It was quite an unusual occasion, so the word traveled fast. Maybe it'd be a good time to visit; he hadn't seen Tsugu in a while. Maybe Suzue would be there as well.

"Alright! Let's go!" he said with a surprising amount of energy. Kuharu really liked them; they were always nice to him, for some reason.

Kyorinrin was carefully arranging a couple recently used scrolls that had been carelessly tossed back among the others. The parchment floated and carefully unwound and rewound itself nice and evenly before carefully lining itself up among the other delicious smelling scrolls that made up some of the shrine's more elder literature. He had half a mind to hunt down the unforgivable snob that had left his precious scrolls in such a state, but after his initial rampage upon his creation he did not want to get on the shrine's bad side again. He enjoyed not being exorcised after all.

There were of course plenty of more modern books in the shrine library, tons of delicious knowledge packed in to rows of shelves, mostly focusing on onmyuji and yokai of course. He had carefully arranged them all after spending many nights in the room, and was now proudly able to pull any book from them by memory when requested. He was quite proud of that system, though occasionally some filthy book smudgers would have the nerve to come in and take out books without asking him first! The nerve!

Speaking of humans, supposedly a bunch more were coming to the shrine this day, many of them coming to learn more about yokai. The paper dragon could certainly respect the pursuit of knowledge, so he was going to make a point of checking them out, some new faces around the shrine would be a new chance to learn about the world outside his safe little home. Also some younger blood around the shrine like himself would be very welcome.

A quick manipulation of the window and he was floating outside toward the new arrivals. He got a couple odd looks from other inhabitants as he went. Usually he spent most of his time in the library protecting his treasure hoard of knowledge, so it was surprising when he actually did leave. He'd get close to the gate but not go anywhere near it. That gateway was a passage to danger after all. He'd instead float a safe distance away close to the ground and out of the way of the main path.

“Welcome to the shrine newcomers. There are plenty of things to learn here, plenty of books and scrolls that I will graciously share them with those seeking knowledge!” he offers, his paper muzzle splitting to create a paper toothy grin as he glanced over those that we're there. He can't just leave it at that though. “Just be careful and no writing or folding.. oh and wash your hands before but make sure they're dry.. no food either.” he'd start to ramble a little before catching himself. “Ah, but I could go over proper book care later.”

---

"O-Obariyon!" The little girl jumped up onto the back of an unsuspecting man, probably walking home from work or a convenience store. The man seemed unfazed at first by her added on weight, but as the man continued down the street, his breathing became extremely labored while his steps were now few and far between, much to Obariyon's disappointment.

She had definitely lost count by now, how many people she's tried to go home with, and none of them have been able to make it. It was surprising to see that this man was still standing, but judging by where they were, she might've accidentally led the man to walk to the middle of nowhere...well, except for what looked like a shrine in the far distance.

The Yokai arched her eyebrows curiously at the sight of the shrine, her expression remaining stoic for the most part. What was this man trying to do? Maybe get some help and possibly exorcise her? But the shrine had to be abandoned, right? It just had to be! She wasn't going to let herself go like that! Not when she hasn't done anything wrong! Obariyon slowly began to sway back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, until the man couldn't carry himself anymore and collapsed under the weight.
"...B-Bari..." She hummed successfully as she stood from the man's collapsed body. As her bare feet touched the pavement, the girl couldn't help but let out an annoyed groan. Her feet were going to hurt walking all the way back... Luckily, before she began her oh so long trek back 'home', Obariyon caught sight of what looked like people walking in the direction of said shrine. While she got that people visited the old and run down place often, the magnitude of people a little alarming. And seeing that it was probably faster to go to the shrine than to go back 'home', Obariyon chose the former and scurried off in the direction of the shrine, curiosity and laziness getting the better of her. Again, she hadn't done anything wrong, so even if there was someone waiting to get her, she could explain herself..right?
"O-OBARIYON!!!"



Upon making her not so sneaky way up to the shrine, Obariyon was halted in her steps at that sight of possibly her worse enemy...stairs. She couldn't even describe how long they went on for; well, in her eyes at least. All Obariyon knew was that it would take her a few days to get to the top and that's only if she tried! The slightly defeated Obariyon could only stare up at what was possibly a new home for her, a set of stairs being the one thing separating her from a possible hub where she could climb on people's backs and get them to take her home...

Though knowledge of yokai is a close-kept secret among only a small group of humans, perhaps it would not be so if people gave more heed to the stories told by the old folks of Kokona. Folk tales of kitsune are innumerable, but Kokona seems to have a few unique stories of its own. One old woman claims a white fox guided her out of the woods when she was lost as a child. Another old man tells the same story over and over about a woman he used to drink with. He swears he saw her disappear into the woods; everyone else swears he was drunk. Perhaps the only person who really knew the truth behind such tall tales was the three-tailed fox bathing in the sun in the courtyard of Obake Shrine.

Yukine stretched and yawned, still in her fox form, as she awoke from her nap. She normally wasn't a morning person, but today was one day she didn't want to sleep in. The shrine was expecting a new group of Onmyouji today, and Yukine wanted to be there to meet them. She wondered what kind of people they would be. Perhaps the descendant of an Iga ninja... or maybe a tech-savvy inventor that would bring all kinds of new gadgets to the shrine. Her tails swished with excitement as she let her imagination get carried away. Of course, even if they were just relatively normal high-school students, that didn't mean they wouldn't be great people. More than anything, she was just eager to make some new friends, ones she didn't have to hide herself around and lie to. Perhaps she'd finally find an Onmyouji of her own among them.

She trotted up to the gate just in time to see Kyorinrin, their resident scholar, lecturing the newcomers about his books. Yukine giggled.
"Now now, don't scare them away with all your rules, Kyo." It was a little habit of hers to truncate names to one or two syllables. Some people found it annoying, but those people were no fun and probably not ones she wanted to be around anyway. "You could at least tell them your name before you ramble on about your books." She gave the dragon a vulpine grin, which looked rather odd and unnatural in her fox form. Perhaps there was a bit of irony in the fact that she hadn't introduced herself yet, either. Then again, she wasn't talking to the group like he was.

@Cherrywitch

---

The summer holidays were nearing their end, it may be an interesting school term to come too. It seems by sheer surprise they're getting a few more onmyouji, it appears they stumbled into this kind of realm of work by coincidence, and today they were going to be briefed on what this job entailed. This many onmyou at once was a little unusual to him though, for awhile it was mostly just him and Niko, which was fine, and manageable. Up until he arrived it looked like it was just Niko doing most of it, and considering her he's surprised she managed to do her job all this time.

For today he largely just idly sat around and played video games like other days in the summer holidays. He'd also only recently took care of all the summer homework, having chosen to do it late in the break, so at least he doesn't have to worry about that.

Well in any case, he showed up on time today, it would not do to have a terrible showing as the senior and by extension teacher. They were here to learn after all. But it also seemed they'll be matched with some yokai too, which surprised him at first... When he joined the agency back in Kyoto, they had pretty much only powerful yokai, so anything he was doing was focused strongly on improving his own powers, until eventually he'd be able to handle one of their yokai. Speaking of which... Where was Kazumi? Well knowing him, he should be here very soon.

"Well whatever, he comes through when it counts", a bond of trust existed. The two were quite similar in some ways, both aloof and took a distanced approach, but stepped in at the right moments. It was quite fitting for a detective.

As he walked up the steps following Niko's introduction to no one as she was quite early, he called out to her as he continued on up the steps,

"I see you're as lively as ever Niko. So, how were your summer holidays?", he inquired. He also saw Kyorinrin and Yukine on the way up, it was rare to see Yukine anywhere you would expect yokai to be, so she was probably also excited to see the new hires, while Kyorinrin was a little worked up, as old men do, and by no coincidence over the same things old men would. He also recalled seeing Obariyon on the way here but it seems the curious little thing would be arriving after him...

Regardless at the moment it was just him and Niko with her shikigami, Tsugu, waiting for the newcomers. None of them have arrived yet, but they were early anyways, so all there was to do was wait.

~A clever little Spider~

---

Ah...it was a pleasant day, wasn't it? She walked through the suburbs, humming a pleasant little tune to herself, not a human batting a single eye at her. Such funny, oblivious creatures. So many of them were so unaware of things greater than they. It was quite funny, really, to see them think themselves the strongest or most intelligent creatures on earth. They were just lucky other things couldn't bother with humans because they were too busy or didn't care. Heh, it was entertaining to see them so oblivious to the greater world around them...or the man-eating spider that was currently walking among them.

It was also a little boring, being unable to interact with a majority of them unless they were alone. Oh well, she was busy anyways. Things to do, places to see, humans to watch, children to play with, heh, even a dinner date. So yes, quite busy indeed, despite a number of delicious looking morsels catching her eye that she'd like to play with. Ah, and of course, she couldn't forget she said she'd get that new...computer part for Chi-Chan. Some sort of graphics thing or something - whatever that was.

The downside of being old and from a completely different era, was you had no idea how this mysterious thing known as 'Technology' worked.

Hmm.

Oh well. She chuckled quietly to herself, walking through the suburbs of the town, past a quiet little house and into the city proper. Such was the troubles of a funny little spider like herself. She should pick up some more of those things Chi-Chan likes too...the cold orange flavored things.

---

Akiko quietly drank sake while she enjoyed the scenery of the shrine. She began thinking about the unusual amount of new onmyoji, quite a miracle had happened yesterday, if only she had been soberer to remember all the details. She should probably go take a look at the new faces, who knows what kind of interesting personalities and stories they will have, but it was a better idea to wait for a while since the other yokai will probably be anxious to meet them, and that meant things would get chaotic and Akiko preferred to enjoy the warm sun and drink peacefully for the moment.

“Aren't you going to meet the new onmyoji?”

Looking behind her, Akiko saw her onmyoji with a broom in her hand, she had probably volunteered to help clean the shrine. Her name was Momo and she was a very serious, obedient person who loved to work, unlike her, which put the two at odds sometimes. Nevertheless, she still thought of her as a friend and hoped she would be able to loosen up. “I will pass on that for now, this is a lovely view and I have all the time in the world to talk to them without the need to rush, what about you? Shouldn't you use this as an opportunity to make friends?”. Momo’s eye twitched a bit at that last question. “That wording makes it sound like I have no friends Akiko, just because you haven't met them doesn't mean they don't exist” she let out a sight “But it would be a good idea to take a break from cleaning an introduce myself to them” Saying that Momo said goodbye and went to where the new onmyoji were gathered. A small smile formed on Akiko’s lips as she continued lazing around, seeing as how Momo had listened to her advice.

Momo quickly reached the area where the class for the newcomers was supposed to be and noticed that Kyorinrin and Yukine were already there. It seemed that with the exception of Akiko, the other youkai were excited to meet with the newcomers and had already started to arrive. Hopefully, Kyorinrin hadn't started rambling, he was knowledgeable about many subjects and kept the library in a pristine state so she usually went to borrow some books from him every once in a while, meaning that she knew that when Kyorinrin started rambling about books only he could stop himself.

Slightly nervous, Momo approached the group and introduced herself “Good day everyone, my name is Momo Mochizuki, I am a Yang Metal onmyoji, it will be my pleasure to work with you” she said in a polite and neutral tone, doing a small bow. Such a polite way to introduce herself may contrast with the casual atmosphere of the group and her unusual attire, wearing a black haori instead of the white one on her Miko outfit and having her catalyst, the black oni mask, on the side of her head. Looking at Niko and Keito she noticed that Kazumi wasn't with Keito, not too different from her shikigami who also preferred to go do her own thing every once in a while. For now, the only onmyoji with their shikigami was Niko and with a large number of new people, it may get a bit difficult to manage all of them. “Do you need any extra help with the class?” she said in a quiet voice to Niko and Keito.

At this particular moment in time, the Waniguchi was curled around a rock that was placed ever so carefully in rock garden. There was only decorative lines in the sands and there was not a single blemish. It was a serene scene as the sun basked down on the nameless lizard yokai creature with a bell for a head. Of course that was not to be the case as this creature felt something. Perhaps she was disturbed from the sounds in the distance or perhaps it sought something more than basking in the dark warmth.

Slowly the creature raised its head and began to open its jaws. As the facsimile of a maw separated the upper and lower jaws there was a slight bit of metallic ringing alongside wooden creaking. With uncertain movements, as after all this creature was navigating a strange darkness that they only seemed to be a part of, the creature raised its anterior claw on the right side and swung it down. The Waniguchi manipulated its digits around to assure that it was just sand they were going to enter.

Once it was assured to be safe, the yokai began to scamper down the rock and landed upon the sand. With a few more motions of the jaws, with that ever prominent noise, the Waniguchi determined where it was. Swinging its head wildly from side to side the beast dashed out of the zen garden carelessly knocking down various statues. Of course for the harder of the little decorations that struck against it, the yokai would let out a horrible sounding wail, but these moments were few and far between.

These ornate and painstakingly crafted designs were now replaced with a hodgepodge of yokai tracks; but the creature had successfully exited. And so the Waniguchi continued to tromp its way in no particular direction.

She couldn’t for the life of her remember what had driven her to the shrine that night. With it, she’d gotten roped in to working for them as some sort of summoner or exorcist. Onmyouji, they’d called it. They hadn’t shared many details with her that night, but when Takemi had been caught breaking and entering, she’d fully expected to have the police called on her. The way it tuned out, she hadn’t been the only one who’d been sneaking around. All any of them had been told was to meet at the shrine at a later date for more information regarding their “newly awakened” powers. The workers there could probably tell just by looking at her that they weren’t so new in her case, but it wasn’t like she made any great effort to hide that she could See Things. However, it seemed like Seeing was all that she could do.

With the conclusion of summer break and the changing of trees to fall colours, Takemi couldn’t help but think of what she still needed to accomplish at school. She didn’t just have university entrance exams to think about like the others in her class. Takemi needed to learn as much as she could about exorcisms and purifications before graduation if she wanted to help the wandering spirit that had been wandering around the roof since at least her first year there. Who knew how long that spirit had been unable to pass on from its earthly pains?

As she reached the steps to the shrine, she passed by what looked like a small child, although there was clearly something Strange about her as she stared cloyingly up the stairs. Well, Takemi thought, it’s probably better if she doesn’t come to this particular shrine. The vibes that the tanuki man gave off as he wagged his tail and chuckled at Niko-chan made her tense up like crazy.

After school had gotten out, he stopped at the store to buy Yu-Gi-Oh cards. Then he'd made his way to the shrine. Megumi had sworn up and down that he'd never go back again. Megumi made it a point to actively avoid anything that could maim or seriously injure him. But last night, when he'd gone there, he'd had some pretty earth-shattering revelations, including that magic was apparently real.

The only logical conclusion was, of course, that he had hallucinated the whole thing. But he had those ten rings he'd acquired that night, and, yes, they still worked. He'd been late to school because he'd been testing it out. So, there he was, at the steps to the shrine. Looking up at it, he supposed it was a bit less spooky in broad daylight. All the same, he'd come prepared. Megumi looked more or less the complete opposite of intimidating. He was about 5'2, though the pair of hairs that always stuck up put him at 5'4. He was feminine enough that he frequently got mistaken for a girl, with big, grey eyes and long eyelashes. It didn't help that he had a fairly lithe, slender frame, which was quite visible because of the tight black t-shirt and jeans he was wearing. He had his backpack on his shoulders, and he'd filled it with things he thought might be useful: A flashlight, a candy bar, and some rope.

"Ah, Takemi!" Megumi called out, as he saw a familiar face near the shrine. Takemi had also been there on that fateful night. "You're going up too, aren't you?" He said. He then turned his eyes to the tiny girl. "Do you need any help?" He asked, getting down on his knees to put him at eye level with Obariyon. He turned hie head to Takemi.

"Is this your little sister or something?" He asked her.

@Veradana@Tenma Tendo

---

Obariyon let out a quiet sigh as she brought her left leg up, only to put it back down with a huff. There was no way she was doing this, and she knew full well that she wasn't without the help of another.

Puffing up her cheeks angrily, Obariyon was about to give up, until she spotted a girl with a ponytail walk right past her. At first, she was going to call upon her for help but it look like she might have been in a hurry, or maybe even trying to ignore the yokai herself? Obariyon didn't feel as if she did anything wrong, but she was definitely getting vibes that she might have done something...

It was only when another 'girl' came by, addressing the girl with the ponytail that Obariyon picked up that they were probably here for the same reason. The 'girl's' attention was then brought to Obariyon, who shuffled back a bit when 'she' knelt down. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but this 'girl' had a rather boyish face, aside from the pretty eyelashes and round eyes. 'She' even seemed to have a cowlick (was that what they were called?) that was amusing to the yokai. This would be the one to help her!

"O-Obariyon!" The little girl chimed as she pointed up the stairs before holding her arms up to the 'girl'. She clearly wanted to be taken up there, but was too lazy to do it on her own. She only hoped that this 'girl' was strong and kind enough to do it.

Not even two steps up the stairs, Takemi heard a voice call out to her. Turning around, she recognised the boy as one of the others who'd snuck into the shrine the same night as her. She nodded when he asked her if she was heading to the shrine. Any new information she could get would be helpful. Megumi’s attention turned immediately to the kid standing at the foot of the stairs, wondering if she was alright or if Takemi knew her somehow.

“No,” Takemi said, “I’m an only child.” They didn’t look alike at all, either. She couldn’t really comment on how the kid didn’t really seem like a normal kid. When she considered how, even now, it was still sometimes hard for her to tell a more human-shaped ghost from a human. The kid herself exposed her true nature by crying out at Megumi to be carried up the stairs. That solved that, then.

“Well Nijima-kun, looks like you have your first job.” Takemi clapped him on the shoulders, smiling, “at least Obariyon aren’t dangerous, so you’ll probably be fine.” She did worry about his physique, but it wasn’t as if she’d run ahead of him. If he collapsed, she’d be there to help him out.

@Tenma Tendo @HeroicSociopath

It took a moment for Megumi to realize the little girl was a yokai. He was on one knee next to her, poking her cheek. As if to make sure she was really there. "Like a Pokemon..." He muttered under his breath. He looked up the stairs. He was familiar with the story of Obariyon. For a yokai, she didn't seem that scary. And he supposed it was his duty as an onmyoji.

"Alright, get on." He said. She could climb on his back easily. His bag was in his hand, and between that and the pink-haired demon he was in a very awkward position. "This is what onmyoji are supposed to do, right?" He asked Takemi, seeming oblivious to the fact that she probably knew exactly as much as he did.

@Tenma Tendo @Veradana

---

Obariyon blinked in confusion when the boy on his knee began poking her cheek. She opened her mouth as if she was about to bite his finger before remembering that she wants something from him. Be nice...be nice...
"O-Obariyon..." She mumbled softly, her face developing into a pout. But this only lasted for a while as Obariyon immediately perked up when the dark haired teen claimed that he could help her get to the top of the stairs.

"Bari? Bariyon!" She chimed happily as she hastily padded over and up onto the boy's back before speaking her iconic catchphrase, that being her name. The demigirl let out a dreamily sigh as she gripped tightly onto her generous helper's clothing, remaining almost entirely still as she waited for them to get going.

The paper dragon would puff himself up a little bit, which in reality was just fanning himself out a little. “Hey those rules are important!” he'd retort before finally dropping his rambles. “I suppose your right, Though I don't really have a name yet.” he says, unbothered by the odd looking fox grin. He turns back to his introduction. “Most just call me Kyorinrin, that's the type of yokai I am and thus a proper title. I know a lot about yokai, that's the sort of information that was on the scrolls I was born from you see. If you ever need some dirt a troublesome one I'm happy to share my knowledge.”

He'd take notice Momo as well, perking up a little more at a more familiar face. She had checked out multiple of his books in the past! “Oh, Momo! I haven't seen you recently. An onmyuji gave me a book that you might be interested in. It's, well, reading it made me feel a bit strange and scared so I've not fully read it, but you might like it for your training. You should stop by the library later and look at it.” he offered with a bit of a happy glint in his eyes that only showed when he was trying to share a book.

@Tenma Tendo

Legs shaking, Megumi stood up, very nearly losing his balance and causing both of them to break their necks. Even though Obariyon was a little girl, Megumi himself was not very large. "Heavy..." He said quietly, as he started to walk up the steps, shakily marching up them. Honestly, it was a little pathetic but also really funny. He might have been able to do it faster, but he was still holding his backpack in one hand, and it was throwing off his balance.

"Am I allowed to take breaks?" Megumi asked, tilting his head over his shoulder. He was somewhat familiar with yokai, but he wasn't an enthusiast or anything, so he wasn't super well-versed in the story of Obariyon. Still, he was nearly at the gate.

Takemi made sure to keep pace with Megumi, never more than a step or two ahead of him. He’d nearly fallen over right at the beginning, and the strain was starting to get to him. Takemi wondered if she should have offered to carry the Obariyon or if it would have even made a difference. Considering that Obariyon just got heavier and heavier no matter who carried them, it probably wouldn’t have, in the end. Megumi turned to address Obariyon, asking if he could stop and rest. Takemi answered first, doubting that they’d get an answer out of the little spirit, considering all she’d said so far was her own name.

“C’mon, c’mon, you’re almost at the gate!” she cheered, “If you stop now you won’t want to get back up again. Trust me, I’ve been there. Although…,” she looked from him to the shrine, counting the remaining steps, “If you’d like, you can pass her over to me, and I can carry her the rest of the way.” She turned to face Obariyon, “Would you be alright with that, or would you rather stay with this boy?”

@HeroicSociopath @Tenma Tendo

~A hungry little spider~

---

Suzue sighed. She had been growing increasingly bored. It was growing increasingly obvious. Perhaps that's why she's started relapsing into her 'old tricks' again. It was a little different this time, though. Men were so boring. The same, all of them. So easily tricked and coerced...not to mention all the same. After living so long, one started to want a little variety and fun in their lives. So she had focused her efforts on the cute little things known as 'women'. It wasn't as difficult as one might think, but perhaps she was just that good? She liked to think her skills in that area were quite good, at least. She had promised someone a long time ago she'd be a good little spider, but...ah, she was so bored recently. Not even cute little Chi-chan could entertain her these days.

She supposed she should feel bad, for breaking that promise, but the only thing there was apathy, and a slight thrill from the thought of being discovered since she had gotten a little rusty.

"Tsk," She smiled, lips turning into a small smile from where she had set herself up. A warehouse that, as far as she could tell, hadn't been used for some time. It was dark inside, but that was fine. She could see well enough in low-light conditions. Multiple sets of eyes helped with that. She looked upwards, towards the webs hanging on the ceiling.

Such delicious prey they had been.

"Chi-chan is going to be quite upset with me..." She held a hand to the side of her face. "Ah well..." She had her darling little children anyways. "Well, I've gotten quite careless in recent days. Make sure to take care of him, hm?" Suzue sighed. "We're a bit out of practice, but I know my darling little children wouldn't let me down." A few of the spiders hissed in what could be assumed in an affirmative seeming manner. Suzue smiled, and waited.

---

There was a quiet house in the suburbs. One wouldn't think too much of it, after all, it appeared to be a completely normal house. One wouldn't be able to tell something was amiss inside of it. The mans wife had gone missing, and since the police had been completely unable to help in the matter, he had began doing something himself. Admirable, by all accounts...but he was, unfortunately, far in over his head. He sat at a table, rubbing his head.

No, it couldn't...that wasn't possible.

He jumped back, giving a start when he discovered a spider on the ground next to his floor, crushing it under his foot.

"No-!"

It just wasn't possible. He turned his head to the ceiling, and screamed.

---

People looked on as the house burned, a fiery inferno threatening to burn even the neighbors houses. It had started suddenly, and the owner of the house was assumed to still have been inside, but from the intensity of the flames it was unlikely he was still alive. The fire department had been called in order to deal with it, but even they were having mild difficult entirely putting it out, and the next few houses over had been evacuated.

Of course, they didn't notice the small spiders watching quietly from the shadows.

From all around the shrine came yokai, shikigami and Onmyouji all into the center of the structure, where a woman sat quietly on a pillow rested neatly on the floor in an otherwise mostly empty room. She wore a concerned expression, tight lipped and eyebrows furrowed as her eyes flickered among the group.

”You all are mostly new... but we need all the assistance we can get.” Hikari stated. Despite her inner worries, her voice remained as steady and smooth as always.

“Our newer members may not understand this as well, but there is a grave issue at hand that can become disastrous if we let it go by. A Tier 3 yokai is terrorizing the nearby village according to one of our affiliates there. Our other Onmyouji are out helping in different shrines, so I’m afraid it’s uo to you few to take this down. Keito, Niko and Momo are all experienced and great Onmyouji, so I’m sure if you follow their orders you will do just fine.

“Takemi and Yuudai will be following under our Niko, that being said Megumi will be fighting alongside Momo and Keito. Niko’s team will be concentrating on securing the area from any other intruding yokai, and will banish the miasmas as to weaken the yokai. Momo and Keito’s team will be heading for the source, but do not attack until the first team had finished their job! This yokai is too powerful to take on without any restricting ofuda put into place. If our friendly yokai here at the shrine wish to help, then please do.

“Please hurry, Inugami will be carrying you there on his back. And please be careful.”



Terrified wasn’t a powerful enough word to describe the emotions swirling through the little dark haired girl at this moment. She wasn’t truly in control when the sirens went off, her body just sort of started running on its own. Adrenaline? Maybe. But now she was struck with news that made her chilled to the bone.

Not only were they going up against a Tier 3 Mythic yokai, but she was the leader of one of the two groups! Niko couldn’t lead, she was a labeled follower. Even her alignment told her to stay back. Why would Hikari think she was qualified for such an important task?!

Noticing his Onmyouji almost shaking from nerves, Tsugu put a gentle comforting hand upon Niko’s shoulder, flashing a warming smile. ”Hey. Don’t worry. You’re going to do fine. Plus, I’m with you, so I won’t let anything happen, right?” The girl cracked a small soothed grin, giving a gentle nod in approval. Tsugu would always watch her back. She didn’t have to worry that much...

When the groups returned outside, a gigantic hulking mass of shadows blocked the rays of the sun. Two beady red eyes peered down, a massive black tail swaying with impatience. ”Are you all related to snails? Hurry up.” Though the mouth of the beast didn’t move, it was fairly easy to connect the gruff echoing voice to the beast. This must be Inugami.

The tanuki suddenly had a sly grin peel open on his face, fluffy tail slashing behind him. ”Oh. The little puppy dog is angry.. should we fetch him a bone?”

Niko poured firmly, tugging on Tsugu’s sleeve with what seemed to be all of her strength, albeit the tanuki man didn’t budge an inch. In fact, he barely seemed to notice. [color=lightblue]”Ah, sorry, Inugami-sama! Tsugu, it’s no time for this!”[color]

Tsugu frowned back, tucking his arms firmly over his chest. ”How come the mutt gets a ‘-sama’ and I don’t..?” Still, the tanuki poofed back into his cuter and smaller form to hop into Niko’s arms, both climbing aboard the know bowing dog spirit. ”Come on you all, hurry!”

Once everyone was upon the dog’s back, Inugami raised his paws and clawed at the sky, bringing himself up into the atmosphere. Bounding upon the air as if it were earth, they soon were above the burning town. ”There!”

Inugami landed and let his passengers off, wishing the exorcists luck before taking off back towards the shrine.

[color=lightblue]”Okay. Let’s get to work!”[/colir]