Categories > Original > Fantasy
A Force of Nature 自然の力
0 reviews15 year old Takeru Inoue has quite a few problems for someone his age, however the biggest has to be his arranged marriage to one very beautiful but peculiar girl who just so happens to be a warrio...
0Unrated
The alarm couldn't have gone off at a worse time.
Takeru Inoue had instantly wanted to smash his beside alarm clock and go back to sleep, but the moment he made his fist in preparation to do said smash he remembered that it was Monday.
Monday in a September for the sixteen year old meant that he had less than an hour to shower and eat breakfast before he had to go to school. As much as he wanted to go back to sleep he pulled his stiff form out of the bed and shuffled down the hall to the bathroom.
He tried to rub the sleep out of his eyes as he opened the door, 'Hopefully I can just keep going today without any more distractions...'
He lowered his hand and was instantly met with a bright light. Going in unprepared Takeru covered his eyes with one arm and his surprise became vocal. "Damn! Who left the light on?"
He lowered his arm, and suddenly wish he hadn't when he saw a young woman standing in front of the sink. The woman appeared to be no more than eighteen in age with long black hair that reached her waist in length and was straight not to mention slick and wet. She wore nothing but a bath towel that was wrapped around her slender waist. As much as he tried not to stare he couldn't help but notice how...well-endowed the woman was, not to mention her other curves. He had a strange sense of déjà vu come over him at that moment.
However what stood out the most was the fact that poking out of her hair on either side of her head were a pair of canine ears that were black.
The woman was staring too, though not with ogling eyes. Her stare was one that, like the saying went, had the look that could kill and she was drilling holes into Takeru. He broke off his stare and raised his hands, ready for what might just be coming his way.
"S-Sorry, Megumi! I didn't notice the light was on until-gah!"
A small wash pan hit him in the forehead and he went flying back out the door. He landed on the wooden floor with a thud and the door slammed shut as he recovered.
After realizing his mistake and complaining under his breath about women Takeru went on downstairs to see that breakfast was already being served.
An older woman in her late thirties saw him come into the room. She had short brown hair that was in a bun and wore an apron over a simple yellow sundress and was diligently working preparing breakfast. Yumi Inoue was a single mother of two and she was on top of her game in the mornings, being up before her own children to help them get their day started. She already had a plate ready for Takeru before he had entered the kitchen, "Morning dear-oh! What happened to you?" She was talking about his slightly bruised forehead.
Before Takeru could answer a disinterested voice spoke out, "Looks like Megumi happened to him, Mom." The voice came from a young woman sitting at the table. She looked similar to her mother but wore thin rimmed glasses and had her hair long. She was Aki Inoue, Takeru's eighteen year old soon-to-be-going-to-college older sister, and her attitude like any other day was already terrible.
"Yeah, thanks for noticing, sis," Takeru sarcastically replied. He took the plate from his mother and went to sit at the table. The attitudes between the two siblings was sarcastic at worst though they got along the majority of the time.
"I forgot to knock on the door as she was coming out. She took it a bit too far in my opinion," Takeru said before helping himself to his food.
"Little bro you always knock on a closed door before entering. Its common courtesy," said Aki as she finished up her meal. Though she had gotten up earlier than the rest of her family she had been hard at work on school stuff. Her text books were stacked next to her chair and a couple were even on the table though well enough out of the way of anyone else. She was going to college to learn to be a teacher the following spring.
'Odd because she can't teach herself basic manners such as being polite,' Takeru thought as he finished his glass of milk in one swig. He had little time to dilly dally. Thanks to his run in with Megumi he had no time to shower so he'd have to skip that part of his routine. "Still she didn't have to throw a pan at me..."
Yumi sat down at the small table between her children, "Did you apologize to her?"
Takeru nodded once, "First thing out of my mouth but she wouldn't listen and..." he sighed and looked at the clock over the oven. The clock read 7:45. He had only fifteen minutes before the bus would arrive at the stop, "I don't have time for this. Thanks for breakfast, mom." He got up and after putting his dishes in the sink he ran upstairs to finish getting ready for school.
He didn't notice Megumi anywhere when he entered his room nor did she appear to be in the bathroom either. He quickly got dressed into his school uniform and grabbed his bag before he ran back down stairs.
He turned to the kitchen to say farewell to his family and that is where he saw her.
Megumi was standing in the doorway, holding a school bag in her hands and wearing the girls' uniform of the same school that Takeru went to. The uniform was made up of a cherry blossom pink jacket with a white undershirt and a short forest green skirt. She also wore black pantyhose that gave her a more mature look despite not looking a day over eighteen. She wore a slightly curved white hairpin in her hair on the right side while the full length of her hair was tied into a single tail in the back. She wore a dark grey knit cap that covered most of her head and-most importantly-her fox ears from sight.
Yet that wasn't what got Takeru's attention. He recognized the uniform.
"Isn't that Aki's old uniform?" said Takeru.
His mother was on hand to confirm this. "We found out that Megumi and Aki share similar sizes. Quite a coincidence, huh?"
Well it does look like it fits...except for one area.' Takeru noticed that despite how her jacket was buttoned up to the middle it was impossible to go any higher because Megumi's chest was much bigger than the shirt would allow but by some miracle it held on.
He had to look away before Megumi caught him staring again. Though he could take solace in the fact that there was no wash pan nearby he was afraid of her using something else as a weapon to hurt him.
"I'm glad it works for you, Megumi," said Aki, being friendly this early was a rarity for her.
Megumi only nodded once, and Takeru could tell she was still angry with him. Not just for earlier but for a variety of reasons. Like any of it was his fault.
Takeru turned his eyes to look at the clock again. It was nearing the time. "We'd better get to the stop or we'll miss the bus."
Megumi turned to Takeru's mother and bowed politely before leaving the house, leaving the door wide open for Takeru.
"Takeru..."
Takeru stopped after his mother said his name, "Yeah mom?"
"Be patient and careful about Megumi. I'm sure we don't need to worry about her but just...don't tell anyone about you and her. I don't know what people would think of you if..."
Takeru stopped her there. He knew what she was trying to imply. "I know, mom. I won't tell anyone. Though to be honest, even if anyone were to find out, I doubt anyone would believe any of it."
"What, about what she is or you two being engaged at such a young age?" said Aki out of nowhere, just to smite her brother.
Though the ploy worked it ultimately had no pay off. That was the last thing Takeru wanted to talk about this morning and he had other things to worry about. Like being late for school for instance. "Talk to you later." He opened the door and ran outside.
The bus stop nearest to Takeru's home was only two blocks away. If he was living on a normal street in any other city he would make it there with time to spare.
However, he lived at the family shrine in Tokyo and it was at the edge of the city. Traffic was nonexistent thankfully but he was running late. On a normal day the whole schedule went like this: leave the house at 7:30, get to the stop at :40 and chill for the last twenty minutes. He'd be lucky to reach the stop with any time to spare today because of all the ruckus from this morning. It wasn't like he had any of his friends waiting for him, he just liked the peace and quiet of being the only one at the bus stop.
Today, and maybe until he graduated, that was going to change.
He made it to the stop with less than five minutes to kill, and Megumi was standing like a statue on the edge of the curb. She wasn't out of breath and so there was no evidence of her having ran to the bus stop and Takeru was almost out of breath when he approached her.
"How the hell did you get here so fast?"
Calmly and coldly she replied, "I walked."
"Oh..." 'Wait why am I surprised that she beat me here? She's not normal to begin with!' "By the way, I just want to say sorry about earlier. I'm not used to having someone other than Aki use the bathroom so early in the morning, and usually I beat her to it."
She continued to look ahead across the road, not even turning to look at him, "Next time..."
"Huh?"
"If it happens again I will do much worse than use a wash pan on your head. You'll get a taste of Shinohana's blade," she threatened him, keeping her tone calm but ice cold threatening to the point it made Takeru shiver. Shinohana was the katana that Megumi normally had on her most of the time but thankfully wasn't on her now.
Takeru actually wanted to pull his hair out from his head. How in the hell can she say that over a simple accident? "Man, you sure know how to ruin a sign of good will. Do you enjoy threatening people or is it just me?"
This time she turned to him, her eyes were sky blue in color but while they were beautiful she still had the looks that kill, "Preferably, much like last time, I'd rather cut you down like the swine that you are." She slowly closed her eyes and returned to facing the road, "But...I am honor bound to protect the Inoue family and it's shrine. As the oldest daughter of the Kitsune Clan, it is my duty to protect you and your family, despite how I personally feel about the situation."
Good thing the two were alone for a few minutes, otherwise Megumi would not have said any of that out loud. As it turned out Takeru's family shrine was more than just a tourist attraction. It was also home to another family. A family of animal yokai (demons in human form) called the Kitsune (fox) of which Megumi was a part of.
Though you may ask, how does a family of demons live in a shrine that had been maintained by the same family for multiple generations?
As simple as changing clothes apparently, because according to Takeru's mother the Kitsune Clan had been watching over the family for years in plain sight and in human form, yet it was only until very recently that Takeru discovered their existence.
And it had happened under the most unusual of circumstances, of which the results turned out to be rather life changing for not only the two families in general but also to Takeru and Megumi personally.
Takeru Inoue had instantly wanted to smash his beside alarm clock and go back to sleep, but the moment he made his fist in preparation to do said smash he remembered that it was Monday.
Monday in a September for the sixteen year old meant that he had less than an hour to shower and eat breakfast before he had to go to school. As much as he wanted to go back to sleep he pulled his stiff form out of the bed and shuffled down the hall to the bathroom.
He tried to rub the sleep out of his eyes as he opened the door, 'Hopefully I can just keep going today without any more distractions...'
He lowered his hand and was instantly met with a bright light. Going in unprepared Takeru covered his eyes with one arm and his surprise became vocal. "Damn! Who left the light on?"
He lowered his arm, and suddenly wish he hadn't when he saw a young woman standing in front of the sink. The woman appeared to be no more than eighteen in age with long black hair that reached her waist in length and was straight not to mention slick and wet. She wore nothing but a bath towel that was wrapped around her slender waist. As much as he tried not to stare he couldn't help but notice how...well-endowed the woman was, not to mention her other curves. He had a strange sense of déjà vu come over him at that moment.
However what stood out the most was the fact that poking out of her hair on either side of her head were a pair of canine ears that were black.
The woman was staring too, though not with ogling eyes. Her stare was one that, like the saying went, had the look that could kill and she was drilling holes into Takeru. He broke off his stare and raised his hands, ready for what might just be coming his way.
"S-Sorry, Megumi! I didn't notice the light was on until-gah!"
A small wash pan hit him in the forehead and he went flying back out the door. He landed on the wooden floor with a thud and the door slammed shut as he recovered.
After realizing his mistake and complaining under his breath about women Takeru went on downstairs to see that breakfast was already being served.
An older woman in her late thirties saw him come into the room. She had short brown hair that was in a bun and wore an apron over a simple yellow sundress and was diligently working preparing breakfast. Yumi Inoue was a single mother of two and she was on top of her game in the mornings, being up before her own children to help them get their day started. She already had a plate ready for Takeru before he had entered the kitchen, "Morning dear-oh! What happened to you?" She was talking about his slightly bruised forehead.
Before Takeru could answer a disinterested voice spoke out, "Looks like Megumi happened to him, Mom." The voice came from a young woman sitting at the table. She looked similar to her mother but wore thin rimmed glasses and had her hair long. She was Aki Inoue, Takeru's eighteen year old soon-to-be-going-to-college older sister, and her attitude like any other day was already terrible.
"Yeah, thanks for noticing, sis," Takeru sarcastically replied. He took the plate from his mother and went to sit at the table. The attitudes between the two siblings was sarcastic at worst though they got along the majority of the time.
"I forgot to knock on the door as she was coming out. She took it a bit too far in my opinion," Takeru said before helping himself to his food.
"Little bro you always knock on a closed door before entering. Its common courtesy," said Aki as she finished up her meal. Though she had gotten up earlier than the rest of her family she had been hard at work on school stuff. Her text books were stacked next to her chair and a couple were even on the table though well enough out of the way of anyone else. She was going to college to learn to be a teacher the following spring.
'Odd because she can't teach herself basic manners such as being polite,' Takeru thought as he finished his glass of milk in one swig. He had little time to dilly dally. Thanks to his run in with Megumi he had no time to shower so he'd have to skip that part of his routine. "Still she didn't have to throw a pan at me..."
Yumi sat down at the small table between her children, "Did you apologize to her?"
Takeru nodded once, "First thing out of my mouth but she wouldn't listen and..." he sighed and looked at the clock over the oven. The clock read 7:45. He had only fifteen minutes before the bus would arrive at the stop, "I don't have time for this. Thanks for breakfast, mom." He got up and after putting his dishes in the sink he ran upstairs to finish getting ready for school.
He didn't notice Megumi anywhere when he entered his room nor did she appear to be in the bathroom either. He quickly got dressed into his school uniform and grabbed his bag before he ran back down stairs.
He turned to the kitchen to say farewell to his family and that is where he saw her.
Megumi was standing in the doorway, holding a school bag in her hands and wearing the girls' uniform of the same school that Takeru went to. The uniform was made up of a cherry blossom pink jacket with a white undershirt and a short forest green skirt. She also wore black pantyhose that gave her a more mature look despite not looking a day over eighteen. She wore a slightly curved white hairpin in her hair on the right side while the full length of her hair was tied into a single tail in the back. She wore a dark grey knit cap that covered most of her head and-most importantly-her fox ears from sight.
Yet that wasn't what got Takeru's attention. He recognized the uniform.
"Isn't that Aki's old uniform?" said Takeru.
His mother was on hand to confirm this. "We found out that Megumi and Aki share similar sizes. Quite a coincidence, huh?"
Well it does look like it fits...except for one area.' Takeru noticed that despite how her jacket was buttoned up to the middle it was impossible to go any higher because Megumi's chest was much bigger than the shirt would allow but by some miracle it held on.
He had to look away before Megumi caught him staring again. Though he could take solace in the fact that there was no wash pan nearby he was afraid of her using something else as a weapon to hurt him.
"I'm glad it works for you, Megumi," said Aki, being friendly this early was a rarity for her.
Megumi only nodded once, and Takeru could tell she was still angry with him. Not just for earlier but for a variety of reasons. Like any of it was his fault.
Takeru turned his eyes to look at the clock again. It was nearing the time. "We'd better get to the stop or we'll miss the bus."
Megumi turned to Takeru's mother and bowed politely before leaving the house, leaving the door wide open for Takeru.
"Takeru..."
Takeru stopped after his mother said his name, "Yeah mom?"
"Be patient and careful about Megumi. I'm sure we don't need to worry about her but just...don't tell anyone about you and her. I don't know what people would think of you if..."
Takeru stopped her there. He knew what she was trying to imply. "I know, mom. I won't tell anyone. Though to be honest, even if anyone were to find out, I doubt anyone would believe any of it."
"What, about what she is or you two being engaged at such a young age?" said Aki out of nowhere, just to smite her brother.
Though the ploy worked it ultimately had no pay off. That was the last thing Takeru wanted to talk about this morning and he had other things to worry about. Like being late for school for instance. "Talk to you later." He opened the door and ran outside.
The bus stop nearest to Takeru's home was only two blocks away. If he was living on a normal street in any other city he would make it there with time to spare.
However, he lived at the family shrine in Tokyo and it was at the edge of the city. Traffic was nonexistent thankfully but he was running late. On a normal day the whole schedule went like this: leave the house at 7:30, get to the stop at :40 and chill for the last twenty minutes. He'd be lucky to reach the stop with any time to spare today because of all the ruckus from this morning. It wasn't like he had any of his friends waiting for him, he just liked the peace and quiet of being the only one at the bus stop.
Today, and maybe until he graduated, that was going to change.
He made it to the stop with less than five minutes to kill, and Megumi was standing like a statue on the edge of the curb. She wasn't out of breath and so there was no evidence of her having ran to the bus stop and Takeru was almost out of breath when he approached her.
"How the hell did you get here so fast?"
Calmly and coldly she replied, "I walked."
"Oh..." 'Wait why am I surprised that she beat me here? She's not normal to begin with!' "By the way, I just want to say sorry about earlier. I'm not used to having someone other than Aki use the bathroom so early in the morning, and usually I beat her to it."
She continued to look ahead across the road, not even turning to look at him, "Next time..."
"Huh?"
"If it happens again I will do much worse than use a wash pan on your head. You'll get a taste of Shinohana's blade," she threatened him, keeping her tone calm but ice cold threatening to the point it made Takeru shiver. Shinohana was the katana that Megumi normally had on her most of the time but thankfully wasn't on her now.
Takeru actually wanted to pull his hair out from his head. How in the hell can she say that over a simple accident? "Man, you sure know how to ruin a sign of good will. Do you enjoy threatening people or is it just me?"
This time she turned to him, her eyes were sky blue in color but while they were beautiful she still had the looks that kill, "Preferably, much like last time, I'd rather cut you down like the swine that you are." She slowly closed her eyes and returned to facing the road, "But...I am honor bound to protect the Inoue family and it's shrine. As the oldest daughter of the Kitsune Clan, it is my duty to protect you and your family, despite how I personally feel about the situation."
Good thing the two were alone for a few minutes, otherwise Megumi would not have said any of that out loud. As it turned out Takeru's family shrine was more than just a tourist attraction. It was also home to another family. A family of animal yokai (demons in human form) called the Kitsune (fox) of which Megumi was a part of.
Though you may ask, how does a family of demons live in a shrine that had been maintained by the same family for multiple generations?
As simple as changing clothes apparently, because according to Takeru's mother the Kitsune Clan had been watching over the family for years in plain sight and in human form, yet it was only until very recently that Takeru discovered their existence.
And it had happened under the most unusual of circumstances, of which the results turned out to be rather life changing for not only the two families in general but also to Takeru and Megumi personally.
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