nekasu

[nekasu]

"What can I say? I've lived the kind of life that requires one to be fast, strong, and shrewd. I don't hold it against you if such efforts tax you more. Especially since it was your first time. Not the first time we've done something which you've had no experience in while I've had plenty~" There could only be one thing he could be referring to, and Neka knew it, and he knew Angel knew it, too.

Since 'hot spring' was not either of the contingencies that Angel suggested, Neka did not wish to break the unspoken rule and also break the mold. "From my experience, if you're going to bed, you should always make the food first, since going to sleep on a full stomach beats waking up with an empty one. That said, if you're too worn out after that skirmish, I can always make something for you instead." A genuine offer, but it was an odd situation to be visiting someone else's home and using their kitchen instead of them.

Neka did enjoy making the first move, but he preferred Angel not get it in her head that he only wanted one thing specifically. "I figured that I put you through some measure of stress today, you should at least get to decide what you want to do."

“Ok. Well maybe it wasn’t as hard for you as it was for me.” She said with a slight huff. “But I’d still like the company.”

Though Bubby was a nice spirit, she didn’t offer much in the conversation department. Unless it had to do with the teapots maintenance. So any chance she could have Neka over was a welcomed one.

Once inside, the first thing that befell the two was the all familiar warmth. From the ground itself to the feint breeze. It was a perfect temperature to take a nap in.

Just before them was her father’s home. Countless rooms to rest and relax in. Plenty of comfortable beds as well made of only the finest materials.

And just behind it, a beautiful hot spring. Were one could soak all their troubles away on an instant. But you’d stay for the comfort it brought.

“Thinking about cooking up some grub, or maybe take a quick nap.” She said before stretching out and letting out a relaxed sigh. Seemed this place’s calming effect already took hold of her.

“But if you’re hungry I can start on it now.” She offered.

Oh sure she had plenty of dirty ideas that waved around that pretty little head of hers. But she couldn’t just force them. What if he just wanted to enjoy a peaceful moment with her? It would certinally give her an excuse to feel those fluffy tails again (with permission of course). Besides, it was always more enticing when he made the first move.

[nekasu]

"It takes a special kind of spatial and situational awareness in order to deftly avoid incoming strikes, and to manipulate mass and momentum with only a split-second to calculate how it'll influence your position." Having over 1000 years of practice definitely went a long way.

Ah, the teapot. Perhaps Angel needed to recuperate after the stressful day she'd had. She made it sound like he'd done something strenuous, but the whole scenario--both of them, really--hadn't really fazed him at all.

"All I've done today? All I did was a little bit of a warmup. If you want to see an actual workout, you're more than welcome to ask for another display sometime in the future~" After all, Neka had extremely lofty goals when it came to his prowess, and while he knew full well he would never reach said goals, it wasn't as though he had anything better to do in life.

"Still, it sounds like you could use some company, no?" Perhaps Angel would be able to figure out his intentions to comfort her, but it was just as likely her mind would think of something much dirtier.

As the demonstration began, Angel would go on to examine closely. Looking at every detail as she possibly could. It perplexed her how effortlessly he was able to go from one form to the next and use his smaller form to outwit his Shikigami.

As the fight continued, any remnants of annoyance she might have had for him before had completely been washed away by a feeling of admiration. Even her tail began to wag as the fight got more intense.

Then came the finale. The biggest transformation she had ever seen. Even the Adepti in their animal form were just taking the form of animals in their respected sizes. The closest she could compare this form to would have to be a dragon. But she had never seen one in person.

‘If his tails were soft before… I could probably sleep on one of them like a big fluffy cloud…’ she thought. Though given how poorly her previous attempts to feel them had gone, that though quickly left her mind.

‘Though I should really learn to ask before I grab…’

And just like that the fight was over. Shikigami fallen. And Neka looking even more flawless than before.

Though her tail wanted to keep wagging at this sight, Angel made sure to keep it still by the time she got back up.

“I wouldn’t dream of it.” She said, watching the Shikigami get up from their demonstration as if they had been simply tripped over. “But I have learned a lot from your “exhibition match”. Hopefully someday I can morph from one form to the next just as quickly. Though I doubt I’ll ever be able to turn into a large fox like you.” A small chuckle left her lips as the thought of his large fluffy tails once again crossed her mind.

But with that, all said and done, Angel pulled out her teapot once more. Ready to head back.

“You wanna tag along?” She asked. “After all you’ve done today, you deserve some relaxation as well.”

[nekasu]

"Describe them. Spare no detail." His voice was rigid, stern, though his steely eyes do nothing to reveal the reasoning for his command.

"Be advised my Kitsune friend. A really cringe human just tried sneaking into your shrine for who knows what purpose. You're lucky I was there to cut them down."

"I ask that you refrain from doing anything to people around my shrine. How is a god supposed to maintain a loyal following if youkai decide to kill them all who get close to their shrine?"

[nekasu]

"Be advised my Kitsune friend. A really cringe human just tried sneaking into your shrine for who knows what purpose. You're lucky I was there to cut them down."

"I ask that you refrain from doing anything to people around my shrine. How is a god supposed to maintain a loyal following if youkai decide to kill them all who get close to their shrine?"

[nekasu]

"Who would win in a mom-off, Raikou or Tiamat?"

[nekasu]

It wasn't as though Neka would allow Angel to come to harm. Hmph, how little faith did she have in his ability to program his shikigami? "Yes, the whole thing is to demonstrate to you some of the applications of transformation. I certainly have no need to get into a brawl with my own shikigami for my benefit, even if they are more stimulating sparring partners than anyone in Inazuma not named Ei." It was a curious balance, with Neka improving his 'programming' of the shikigami and having to develop his own fighting skills to overcome their improvements.

"Each of my forms is more specialized in a particular attribute over the others. The small one is the fastest form. This one has the most control. After all, it's a lot harder to use my pen without opposable thumbs." Neka did not elaborate, simply explaining the pertinent details and letting Angel surmise other things on her own based on what he said. Suspense and anticipation were the currencies of the actor, after all.

One of the shikigami lunged at Neka, ice spear targeted at his upper chest. With a puff of smoke, Neka disappeared, being replaced by his smaller fox form perfectly perched on the spear. Another poof, and he changed back, the extra weight at such an awkward angle brought the spear to the ground, the shikigami unable to keep it steady and falling forward.

Poof. Humanoid form.

Reaching up, Neka grabbed the wrist of the shikigami, spinning on his heel to throw it into one of its fellows, sending both tumbling to the ground as the other four began their own attacks.

Poof. Fox again.

Having a much smaller profile, Neka was able to deftly dodge the icy spears as they entered the space his other form had occupied but a moment before, carefully weaving around each one.

Neka's fox form launched itself at the nearest shikigami with a speed that was hard to track, but the moment before he was to collide with it, he transformed back into his humanoid appearance while maintaining the same level of speed. Using the incredible momentum behind his movement, Neka slammed his fist into the chest to the shikigami, sending it careening toward a nearby boulder.

If it had been Neka himself, he'd be able to get out from that predicament, but the shikigami held no such recourse as it impacted the rock, sending up a spray of obscuring dust. Three left now.

Poof. Fox.

The three shikigami had brought their weapons back to the ready as Neka charged at them. As he'd done before, he managed to deftly maneuver around the icy lances, leaping from the ground and dive bombing the nearest shikigami.

Poof. Humanoid.

Now blessed with two longer legs once more, Neka's kick knocked the shikgami to the ground with a loud thud, using the resulting force to launch himself at the next. Two left.

Poof. Fox.

This time, however, the shikigami was more prepared, and instead of getting mauled by Neka, it grabbed his smaller form and tossed him away from it, high in the sky.

Poof. Hu--no, wait.

Instead of changing back into his regular form, Neka was still a fox...but far, far larger than before, about the size of an average house. it bore the same basic outline as the smaller fox; pure white with green eyes and nine tails, but its features were sharper, colder, more bestial. Angel wouldn't get much time to inspect this new form before it impacted the ground with an earthshattering force, knocking the last two shikigami over. Zero remaining.

Poof. Humanoid for the final time. Not a scratch on him and his kimono looked immaculate as if it had just been cleaned and pressed.

"I could have simply transformed into that at the start and won instantly, but I would rather avoid destroying perfectly good shikigami if I can help it. And don't underestimate them, either; they could definitely get up from the minor taps I gave them. Plus, it was a learning experience too, I hope."

As if on cue, the six shikigami extricated themselves from whatever fate had befallen them, proving Neka's point. If it were a serious fight, they would have put up more of a struggle before going down.

‘Guess that makes sense.’ Angel thought, had this been a true fight, she wouldn’t have lasted more than a few seconds.

“Well as long as I’m not actually getting involved… sure I’ll watch. Besides. I could use this as a way to potentially learn.” Said Angel, giving a small shrug and moving a safe distance from the group (but just close enough to fully take in every detail) before taking a seat. At this point, with all the buildup he gave, Angel had to admit some curiosity. How would he take down all those Shikigami without all those powers?

“Start whenever you all are ready.”

[nekasu]

Neka's not going to inquire about her apparent distaste for humans. It's not a subject he particularly cares about, and he has no desire to get her to trauma dump on him. More pertinent to focus on the more pressing issue.

"Yet, as you can clearly see, it is not raining in my shrine, or else you would not have taken shelter here. Surely that kind of environment would be ideal for cooking, yes?" Surely she had some sense of taste, right?

"Good. Those cretins are bad for you. Not even worth a meal to the dregs of our kind. Yet some still persist."

There's a tinge of hostility there. Not directed to him but it seems she wants to spit on the floor after all of that. Though a question does raise their tails in a curious raise. What did he mean...?

Before that's answered another one is thrown back at her. This gets her to cross some arms together as well as they stare back "I meant for when I killed it. I hunted it for myself first remember. And it's not like I could get some kind of fire going in this weather." Is he forgetting her story here? This wasn't exactly something she planned on doing.

[nekasu]

"If I had actually been your enemy, you would not have gotten as far as you did. My warning strike wouldn't have zoomed past you. I'm just a sage teaching the next generation is all~"

As Neka explained it to her, the six shikigami from earlier, each wielding one of the icy spears that he's conjured earlier, resolving the mysteries of what had happen to both of them.

"It's a 1 v 6, of course. I won't use my Vision, onmyodo, my pen, or most of my other kitsune powers. Just so show you how flexible transformation can be in combat. After all, for someone like me, the question I ask myself is not 'can I win', it's 'what's the most entertaining way to win'."

Illusions were useless against shikigami anyway, since they didn't rely on the same mechanisms for interpreting sensory information as living beings. He could burn them to cinders all with foxfire, rewrite them with his pen, or puncture them with more ice, but none of those options would teach her anything.

Angel shrugged in response, “I mean, even if you were prepared, I still bit you. Though I suppose I wouldn’t apologize to my enemy if I was in a real fight…” she trailed.

Though just before she entered, his little offer waved over her ears. Causing her to stop on her tracks and turn around. Though it wasn’t so much that she was intrigued by his offer as she was more, curious.

“Exhibition match? What’s that?”

Surely he wasn’t meaning another match right? Of course not, he said she’d be watching. Was this some sort of display of his own strength?

Guess there was only one way to find out.

[nekasu]

Sentinel and Dusk Witch might have been quite amused by their little joke, but Neka's smile actually faltered, not knowing them well enough to tell if it was truly a joke or not. Perhaps he needed to put his foot down a little. "I will admit that me being vague to start is my own fault due to wanting to keep it decent, but once I clarify something, I mean it. I do hope you think better of me than to lie about something so minor."

"I'm an inhuman monster who can survive on human fear alone for a long time. When it comes to physical food, I'm a lot more exacting, usually catching, growing, and cooking my own meals."

"I've had little reason to interact with others for the most part. Me living alone is simply best for everyone involved." Perhaps another reason why he wasn't sure if the joke from before had actually been a joke.

Sentinel and Dusk Witch exchange glances before smugly grinning at one another. It's sentinel that replied first.

"It's okay, you don't gotta walk it back. There's plenty of people that are chubby chasers Mister Sage."

"Yeah, maybe Miss Secretary is more up your alley. Don't worry we'll try to get you sent to her desk a bunch."

"And there's no need to be embarrassed cause we won't tell anyone else about it, right Dusky?"

"Nah, of course not! We won't be spreading that around to anyone."

The pair of them were giggling now. The happy go lucky smiles on their faces made it clear that this was just a joke between them and not an indication of future hazing.

"Oh no no no no no! A picky eater, that's not going to work at all camped out in the woods or in the second month of a siege. If you want to get by we need to broaden your palette. I'm going to start cooking for you, to start." She sounds fully genuine in what she's saying. Hopefully Neka likes fish.

"Accustomed to living on your own, are you? I'm the same way. It's going to make adjusting to the communal livings of a barracks kind of hard, isn't it? Lets agree to try our hardest to be good roommates.

They all responded to his answers but asked no questions. It seemed that they were content with the results of their probing for the time being.

[nekasu]

"Why do you apologize? I didn't know what powers you would awaken, if any, so I was well-prepared to deal with anything you might have managed to retaliate with." He'd still felt the pressure of her bite, to be sure, but Neka got away without any actual wounds from the encounter.

"Perhaps you will find more powers or uses for your existing ones in time. But for now, you can work on exploring with what you have. If you need something new unlocked, we could always fight again~" As much as Neka personally disliked combat, he did appreciate the chance to show off, and that included his strength. Speaking of...

"Though, before you go to your teapot, perhaps you'd like a little...exhibition match? At least to watch, I mean."

"And yes, I said exhibition, not exhibitionist."

Giving a heavy sigh, she looked back over to him.

“Sorry. I’m sorry for snapping like that, and I’m sorry for bitting you.” She looked down at where his wound would be only to find he hadn’t taken any damage. ‘Of course he’s just fine’ she thought.

“I’m just not used to fighting in general. I don’t like doing so I don’t really have the skills or stamina for it. So if I have anymore than this, it’ll probably take some time.” She explained. “But thank you for helping me with today. I think after all this I could go for a soak. Need to clear my head.”

As she pulled out her teapot, she looked back at Neka with a slight smirk on her lips. “I’m surprised you use your clones for combat. It was a bit jarring to see them with clothes on for once.”

[nekasu]

In truth, Neka wasn't going to launch any further attack on her, and only made his tails glow to test if she had any hidden tricks left or was actually too exhausted to continue. That's what this whole exercise was in a nutshell anyway: to make her think she was in danger to force any latent abilities to the forefront while not actually putting her in harm's way. If she still believed that of him, that meant that Neka played his role rather well, a sense of pride.

That said, pride alone would not defend oneself from a lunging maw of sharp fangs. Still, Neka wasn't the kind to be surprised by such things, and with a dramatic poof of smoke, he turned back into his more humanoid form, leaving Angel to bite his ankle through his kimono and nothing more severe. Her teeth didn't break the skin, only eliciting an unamused look from the kitsune until she let go.

"That is an awful lot of words to say 'yes', which is all I was trying to ascertain. If that is the extent your power can handle for now, then it doesn't help either of us to try to push you further. There isn't shame in having to give up when you can't go forward anymore, instead of stubbornly throwing everything away."

"Stamina is something you'll have to work on, yes, but it is enough to know that you do have more power within you. Which is what you wanted to know, and I wanted to help you find out. There will be more opportunities to explore this later, but for now, you should rest yourself."

Despite not having the means/or not knowing how to talk in this new form, Angel made it perfectly clear in her body language that she was not amused by him anymore.

Her ears pinned back, her teeth showing in a nasty snarl, and a growl leaving her new forms lips. She was tired and had had enough.

The moment she saw his tails glow she knew she had to act less he continue, so once again she went without thinking and lunged forward with her sharp teeth. The moment she felt something, she gave a sharp tug.

“G-Give me a break!” She managed to say. Surprisingly, it had come out much easier than she thought “I’ve never thought I could turn into this much less do I know how to walk or run in this form! Yet you come at me all high and mighty expecting me to do more? I might be the daughter of a god, but this is my first day, and I have no idea what I’m doing here!”

Slowly getting up, though not as gracefully as she would’ve liked, Angel glared back at him. Not daring to walk away (though she really wanted to the fear of what he might to if she did was too great), she just stood there. Unsure how to turn back to her regular form until once again.

POOF

The moment she focus less on it, Angel was back to her old self, standing on her two feet. Looking down at the fox. She would’ve found the situation humorous had she not been so frustrated.

“I know what you’re trying to do and I’m thankful for it, I really am.” She said, after taking a deep breath “But I have no clue what my father had much less how to access my powers. I don’t know how to walk on four legs or sneak around like a fox. Trying to focus on you not killing me on top of all of that was draining in that form.” She paused for a moment to rein in her emotions.

“Can we just take it slow for now, at least so I know how to work around being another creature?”

[nekasu]

In little time, Neka had caught up with Angel, the icy spears that had recently adorned his back nowhere to be seen, likewise with the shikigami copies.

His piercing green eyes all but bore a hole through her, his tone overwhelming and far from his usual teasing self. Despite them being nearly the same diminutive size in their different forms, Neka seemed to loom over Angel. "Is this the extent of your power?" The tips of his numerous tails began to glow, giving her a short time to answer.

Her small victory was short lived however as she soon realized that she was now on four legs and would need to get used to them as well as the heightened smell that came with her form.

Trying to get her footing, Angel focused hard on where her adversary was now. But instead of the multiple footsteps she assumed would come with the clones, she only heard one. But this one had multiple feet.

Had he transformed?

Taking a whiff, she could catch his familiar scent. He was gaining on her once more.

Poking her head from the thicket, Angel waited for a clearing before very poorly trying to run to another spot.

Unfortunately, all the strain and stimulus in this new form took its toll and after tripping over her own paws, would collapse on the ground. Overwhelmed and defeated.

Tucking her tail between her legs, she would only hope her adversary would take mercy on her.

[nekasu]

"Of course you're a cat. Explains a lot."

@nekasu replied to your post:

Neka vc: yes

Nyo

[nekasu]

The fox will yeet her into next week if she does anything other than her best.

She better be careful she doesn't wreak havoc in a certain fox's shrine, or he'll be quite cross with her.

[nekasu]

She better be careful she doesn't wreak havoc in a certain fox's shrine, or he'll be quite cross with her.

She's one again on the prowl!

Coming to your neighborhood, your temple, and even your Shrine!

[nekasu]

Neka wasn't sure about the kind of vibes he was getting from their responses, but he would take it in stride for now.

"I don't mind being the one that answers most of the questions for now. I imagine that if I have a particular question about a specific member here, the others can answer it in the meantime, but for me, none of you has that luxury. If you don't learn it from me, you won't learn it at all."

"But in order..."

"I like the ones that are sweet and easily teased."

"Not chubby, no. I like the curves being both above and below the stomach." He hoped he wouldn't have to spell it out explicitly, but he didn't want them thinking the wrong thing of him.

"I generally lived alone, only occasionally gracing humans with my presence~"

"I'm actually very picky, but have ways to procure my own food if need be." One of the perks of his heritage. "Plus I have ways to conserve energy for long journeys."

Would that sate them, or would they ask more?

Hmm they also listened to what he was saying. It was clear they were interested but not super invested. Curious about their new friend but not interested in him enough to be hurt if it doesn't fit them. As he spoke Dusk Witch nodded along.

"Really? I'm more partial to muscular women myself. It's your turn to ask another question also, ya know. Only fair since we already know a lot about each other and you don't. But if you want us to ask more than what kind of personality are you partial to?"

"So you're into chubbier girls, huh? Not gonna have much luck with the four of us then but it makes a lot of sense."

"I would prefer we ask something more relevant to working as a team. Like, have you ever shared a communal living space before?"

"Oh I'd like to know what kind of foods you like! For when we need to camp together! That is relevant too!"

"Guys, lets not flood him with questions when it is his turn to ask questions!"

"Besides, we're getting to know him. Any questions that are fun are good!"

[nekasu]

Local kitsune has become 75% aggro'd.

Aether has been added to the muse list.