Unselfish Wish

Chapter 31- Fumiko's Familiars Part Two

Fumiko swirled her hand, and the honsho masamune appeared. Lord Ritaru gulped. He may not be honorable, but he was not stupid. That was no normal sword, and he nearly wet himself as a fearsome roar was emitted from it. She dragged it across the floor as she took a few steps closer, while Lord Kitaru scrabbled backwards. She pointed it at him, unmoving.

"Who are you? Why are you doing this?" He whined.

"We are waiting for my familiar to return." Fumiko announced. He gulped.

"F-f-f-familiar?" He was sweating profusely. How distasteful, she thought, when he assumed we were defenseless he was so arrogant, and now he is begging like the vermin he truly is. Fumiko did not answer him, letting the silence drag out until Tsuneo returned with another kitsune, and from the look of things, she was his twin.

"What is her name, Tsuneo?" Fumiko asked gently.

"Tsukiko, Your Highness." He replied, pushing his sister near her. She looked with curiosity at the trembling Lord Ritaru and grinned.

"Your Highness?" Ritaru whispered and swallowed hard. Fumiko contuniued to ignore him.

"Tsukiko, do you accept to become my familiar as your twin has? I will protect you always should you accept." Fumiko announced.

"Yes Your Highness-" Tsuneo whispered in Tsukiko's ear. "Fumiko-hime." Fumiko leaned over and kissed her forehead, sealing the bond, another rush of power rolling over them.

"Fumiko-hime? Who is that?" Ritaru protested. "What did I do?" His whining was more than Fumiko wanted to continue to hear.

"Get up, you sniveling slimeball." She gestured with her sword. She forced him outside into the square, where a crowd of onlookers gawked. "Who runs your Inn, trash?" She asked Ritaru. A throat cleared behind her.

"I do, my lady." Said an older female kitsune. Fumiko could read immediately from her aura that this woman would do right by the Inn. She nodded.

"Akai Hono Inn is now yours." Fumiko raised her voice. "Ritaru is being castrated for his crimes of r**e, extortion, and abuse. I, Lady Tachibana Fumiko, of Tsukiyomi's court, declare once I have performed his punishment, will ensure he is banished to Izanami's court." A cheer rose up from the crowd. Apparently, Ritaru had been using and abusing many Yokai. "Let it also be known, I am the bride-to-be of Tsukiyomi himself. I am not in the market for any other husband, and anyone else that attempts it will be sentenced to death. You cannot simply steal brides!" She declared. Ritaru looked green as her butterflies divested him of his clothing, tears pouring from his face.

Within seconds, he was being dragged away to the entrance of Izanami's court, screaming, his manhood destroyed.

Turning to the twins, Fumiko grinned, all relics but her crown receding. She held out her hand to Tsukiko. "I'm sorry we had to meet under such terrible circumstances, but I am glad we were in time."

"Thank you so much, Your Highness." Tsukiko bowed slightly.

"Oh, please, call me Fumiko." When Tsukiko shook her head, she sighed. "Fine, Fumiko-hime then?" At the fox girl's nod, they turned to the new proprietess. "Please, madame, take care of the girls. Make sure that if this is not what they want to do, they are permitted to leave or at least, change their tasks." When the woman nodded, Fumiko looked to the twins, satisfied. "Time to return back home!" She said before turning to Tsuneo. "I forgot to ask... how long was I out?" He shifted on his feet.

"A week." He whispered. He had no doubt, as much as Fumiko-hime had done for him, Tsukiyomi was going to be livid upon her return. She sighed.

"How long will it take to get to the Utsushi-yo portal?" She asked.

"Two days." Tsukiko piped up. She knew her brother had done wrong, but was glad their goddess was so forgiving.

"Well, I guess we'd better get started before Tsukiyomi razes everything trying to find me, hmm? The longer it takes, the harder time I will have convincing him that Yokai are redeemable... well, mostly, I think?" She giggled.

To say that Tsukiyomi was beside himself with anger would be a vast understatement. Their friends felt guilty for not escorting her, but Tsukiyomi was the most upset with himself. He had sworn to keep her safe, and what had happened? Kidnapped by Yokai. Susano'o had barely convinced him to take care of Amaterasu's task while the rest of them searched. He knew he needed something to focus on. After a week had passed, he had become a shell of himself. No matter how much everyone reassured him that Fumiko was going to be fine, his mind would not let go of the worst case scenarios.

He had himself convinced she was gone. That he was going to have to wait for her reincarnation. Woo her again, just after they were finally in a good place. His anger at the Yokai grew, and he began to feverishly plan an assault on their home turf. He completely ignored Amaterasu and Susano'o, and refused to leave Fumiko's room. His siblings understood and did not press him. All of the progress he'd made, returning to the world from his self-imposed solitude, was nearly undone. His added depression seemed to make things worse.

Hinata had finally had enough of his pity party, and dared to confront him, where everyone else just left him alone. She brightly knocked on Fumiko's door, knowing the distraught moon god could be found there. "Enter." He rasped harshly. Since it was not technically his own space, he knew he could not keep people out. He just could not force himself to leave, either. Hinata stood before him with her hands on her hips.

"This, my friend, is ridiculous." She announced, flinging open the drapes. Tsukiyomi squinted at the bright light, and groaned.

"What do you want, Hinata?" He groused.

"I want you to get out of Fumiko's bed and return to the world of the living." She announced. Come on, up we go." He was laying on his stomach and she smacked his behind as motivation. It worked.

"Don't touch me there, that belongs to my beloved." He grumbled. Hinata giggled. He sat up, feeling groggy.

"Listen, Tsukiyomi. I know this situation has been torture for you, but I have faith she will be back. You need to-" She stopped speaking abruptly, grabbing his arm and pointing at the closet door where Fumiko's yukata hung. "Look!" She exclaimed. Before their eyes, the yukata was replaced by her school uniform, dirty but in decent condition. "It's her!" She screeched. Tsukiyomi stood abruptly, and they hugged, jumping for a moment before realizing it was awkward. Hinata held onto his arm. "Tsukiyomi, you've got to have faith, she's coming back to us." She said. The moon god could only nod as tears of relief spilled over his cheeks. Hinata ran off to tell Fumiko's parents what had happened.

He felt a gentle hand on his shoulder, and looked to see Susano'o, of all people, next to him. "You saw, brother?" Tsukiyomi asked him. He nodded. "She's alive... my beloved... do you think she'll come back to me after I failed her so miserably?"

"Anniki. Your princess loves you so much that she forgave you for making her choose between your two selves. I'm sure she felt that was far worse than being away and not being able to avoid an abduction." He reasoned. "Best thing you can do is wait for her and see what she says." He patted Tsukiyomi's shoulder before disappearing.

It was another three days before suddenly, he could hear her praying. My dearest beloved Tsukiyomi, grant me your time when I arrive home to tell you what has happened. She whispered. Soon I will home to you.

Granted, he whispered, sitting in her window seat awaiting her appearance.