League - Chapter 3

 Authors note: Make sure to check the main fanfiction page for gameplay to story changes so you are able to follow along.

Make sure to also check out the Yokai Tamer game page for more information and to play the game yourself

Please check the notes on the main page about the symbiotic relationship between kitsune and tengu. I'll be using this chapter to explore that a bit here and in future chapters.

Those who play this game with me, this is where the story will start to have a deviation from events in-game. I'll be taking inspiration from events in-game but to create a more interesting story, I'll be starting to ramp up the drama from here.

Pet: Meowball

Yukkii sat in his room watching Takoyakii play with Kirei's Meowball. He had asked them to look after it for a while since the cat had started to attack and damage furniture by scratching it to pieces. He wanted to cat-proof his room before he brought Meowball back. A soft knock at the door drew him out of his thoughts.

Takoyakii looked up. In the moment of her distraction, Meowball took the string she had been dangling in front of him and started to chew on it. Takoyakii sighed and got up to answer the door. "Darius, Ember," She said with a smile before giving a yell of surprise at the twin cuffs on Darius' wrists. "What happened?" She let them in and led them to where Yukkii sat watching them. 

"Nagi went on an impromptu journey," Ember explained softly. "He passed the leadership to Dari…"

"But I want to pass it to you, Yukkii. Ember and I can be your assist but I don't want to be leader," Darius said with a smile. Yukkii wordlessly reached out his hands and Darius took off the cuffs and passed them to him. "The room of the guild leader is yours."

Yukkii shook his head and smiled. Closing his eyes, he tapped into the magic of the guild and the building, commanding 2 identical rooms to be created. They watched as the room around them shifted becoming more spacious. Opening his eyes, he smiled before placing the single cuff back on Darius. 

"He says that because you two are co-leaders, there is no reason why the room of the guild leader and your bedrooms should be different. We don't need three rooms on this floor, only two." Takoyakii said with a slight tilt of her head. "So both rooms now look identical."

Darius shook his head but quietly accepted Yukkii's choice. Ember blinked confused at what just happened. "Did you lose your voice, Snowbunny?"

Takoyakii started laughing while Yukkii mock glared at her before silently laughing as well. "He did something to upset the Gods," Takoyakii explained as she tried to get her breath back. "So they've made him mute for a while."

"Oh…" Ember stared at Yukkii who shrugged is shoulders. "A mute guild leader. Well even if you didn't want the leadership, you wouldn't have been able to say no." Ember giggled before the others joined in with her laughter.

~~~

Ember skipped ahead of Darius after leaving Yukkii and Takoyakii's room. They had some morning tea with the pair and she was now bouncy with sugar. Darius followed wondering how to bring up the topic of their disagreement. He followed behind, not really paying attention to where they were heading. He came to an abrupt halt when he ran into her from behind.

"You know…" Ember said softly looking out over the hotsprings. "I never told you about my previous spouses before…"

Darius moved to stand next to her. "Shawn you mean?"

"No," Ember sighed. "You're my 4th spouse. I don't have the best luck when it comes to being married to tengu." He was silently listening. He didn't want to interrupt her flow. If she was going to open up to him then he didn't want to let her second guess or hesitate. "Kirei's known me ever since I met my first spouse, Assassin. He was so charming and sweet. Would always shower me with gifts. But all he wanted was a convenient playtoy. Always wanted sex. Nothing more. Didn't want to start a family. Whenever I pushed the topic, he would yell at me. Tell me that I'm not smart enough to look after a baby. That a baby with me would be just as worthless as me.  I felt trapped and couldn't see a way out. One day, he gave me his ring and said that he was going to his real spouse overseas. He couldn't handle having to train me anymore because I was a lost cause." 

Darius wrapped his arms around her pulling her close. Tears were streaming down her face. It took her a while to slowly calm down again. "My third spouse, Levi," She continued her voice slight muffled by his chest. "He was just like Assassin. Showering me with gifts and was also sweet and charming. But when something would go wrong, it was my fault. He was never to blame for any issues that happened. It was always me. It got to the stage that he started betraying me, lying about what I was like. Lying about everything. I forced a divorce with him. Kirei kept him away from me. He would follow me and stalk me, stealing items I'd find and trying to ruin my reputation with people I met. After Kirei nearly sent him to Takamagahara, he vanished. Kirei and I have been worried he might come back to try again." She sighed softly. "Kirei is more worried now that he has Choco at his side. He's worried Levi might attack her to get back at him."

She took a deep breath to steady herself. "Only you and Shawn have been the only spouses I've had that haven't tried to harm me," She rested her head against his chest again. "I only divorced Shawn because his first spouse came back. I thought it was only right for them to be together because Shawn had already had a daughter with her." Her ears twitched nervously before she added. "When you spoke to me, I felt like I was talking to Levi. Being blamed for choosing the wrong thing. Not being up to his standards. I became afraid of you attacking me."

"I wouldn't harm you Emb," Darius finally replied softly. He finally understood why Kirei and her were so close. He also finally understood just how fragile she was to words and how they are spoken. "I'm blunt and to the point. I don't mince words… I never have. But I'm not attacking you or blaming you for anything."

~~~

Meanwhile, Yukkii stood looking at the bookcase. He had an idea but needed a way to implement it. I could use Choco to test it out. He looked at the series of books on kitsune skills and battle techniques that Takoyakii owned. Tako? He called in his mind. As he turned he called again, Tako? Sighing, he gave a gentle smile.

Takoyakii sat dozing on the couch behind him. Her tails curled up around her like a blanket. He walked over to their bed and picked up a light cotton blanket and placed it over her, tucking the top in around her shoulders. He turned back to the bookcase and brought down the first book of the series and sat down on the other couch to look at the layout of the material. 

How long will she sleep for? He asked. A small voice let him know about an hour or two. Nodding, he took out his phone and flicked to Chocolatte's name. Meet me in my room in about 2 hours. I have something that might help you.

Carefully, he continued to flick through the book, his idea on how to help Chocolatte and other kitsune like Chocolatte to get stronger. If this worked, he planned to transfer the idea to help strengthen the weaker tengu in the guild as well. He had a feeling that this preparation will be needed in the near future. 

I just hope my feeling is wrong…

~~~

Chocolatte looked at her phone curiously as she made her way to Yukkii and Takoyakii's room. I wonder what this is about. She hadn't told Kirei about going to meet Yukkii but she figured that because he was a guild member that there wouldn't be an issue. Raising her hand, she knocked on the door.

"Choco! Come in," Takoyakii said inviting her inside. "Yukkii was thinking that we need to get the guild stronger." She guided Chocolatte to the lounge and invited her to take a seat. "The problem being, a tengu teaching a kitsune techniques is difficult. So he wanted you to work through my book series I got from my parents. He was hoping that once you're done, you can assist him with developing a more streamline and concise way to teach new techniques and skills to the guild kitsune."

Yukkii handed her the first book in the series with a smile. Chocolatte looked at him confused before starting to giggle. "You got yourself muted again!" Takoyakii and Yukkii also joined in her giggling and Yukkii nodded with a big smile on his face. "You also…" Chocolatte's face fell. "You have Nagi's cuffs…" 

Takoyakii sighed and briefly explained to Chocolatte what happened earlier that day. She could see Chocolatte was upset to hear the news of Nagito leaving without saying a word to anyone. "Yukkii says we'll do the books in fortnightly intervals. Work through the books. Learn what you can. Ask questions to any kitsune about things you don't understand."

Chocolatte's expression changed again to excitement. "I can't wait! I need to be stronger to catch up to all of you!"

Takoyakii placed a hand on her shoulder. "There's no rush Choco. Take your time. Better to be slow and steady than rush and be weakened because of it."

Chocolatte mock saluted the two. "Yessir!"

~~~~

Settling down for the night, a certain tengu had a particularly evil plan in mind. He waited until his kitsune stopped moving and snuggled up to his side like she usually did when they went to sleep before he started talking.

"Ember…" Darius kept his voice controlled and sounded concerned.

"Hmm?" She didn't look up at him. Her head rested on his chest, eyes closed, and was listening to his heartbeat.

"Did you forget something?" A sneaky smile played on his face. 

"I don't think I did…" She sounded mildly uncertain. "No. I don't think I forgot anything. Why do you ask if I did?"

Darius wrapped his arms around her and shifted his body until he was laying on his side facing her. Her eyes snapped open and found herself laying on one of his arms instead of his chest. Once he stopped moving she looked up at him.

"Are you sure?" She could see the sneaky smile on his face. Her ears pricked up into sharp points. He knew something she didn't. 

"I'm sure," she replied wondering where he was going with this line of questioning. 

"I assure you Ember," He lowered his head and kissed her on her forehead. "You've forgotten." His hand trailed down her back and rested just above the base of her tails eliciting a squeak from her. "And I'm going to remind you so you don't ever forget again…"