Deeply and Truthfully

Tomoe stared in shock at the person standing over him. He had been laying on the roof of the shrine, sipping his sake as he gazed at the moon, an action that he performed often after the long tiring days he shared with his teenage Land God Nanami Momozono.

He had just been drifting off into a blissful drunken sleep when a shadow had blocked the light of the moon from his still form. Mikage, his previous Land God who had disappeared for twenty years without a word, leaving Tomoe to run the shrine, had finally sent him a letter, as well as a new master.

At the time, Tomoe had been livid with rage, but eventually, he and Nanami began to get used to each other, and he was even beginning to think he might like her. That was until the sixteen year old had confessed her love for him, and his incapability to return her feelings had resulted in the present day awkwardness.

When his past had come back to get him in the form of a vengeful sea dragon king, Nanami had risked her life to save him with the aid of a snake demon called Mizuki who had formerly been the holy familiar of the now deceased river goddess Yonomori. Thus, Nanami now had two familars (Mizuki had moved in), and Tomoe was beginning to feel that he was the less favoured one.

And now Mikage was standing over him, a sad smile on his stupid face, and the mark of the Land God now burning once again on his forehead.

"Where's Nanami?" Tomoe whispered through numb lips.

"Come downstairs Tomoe and I will tell you what has happened"

Mikage placed a steaming cup of green tea before his fox demon familiar, and watched him curiously as he sipped from it.

Tomoe still looked the same, with his angular face, snow white hair, soft pointed ears and golden eyes. However, Mikage knew Tomoe well enough to notice a difference in his character. The fox, who had once held himself arrogantly and emitted a devil-may-care attitude, now held himself with a stillness gained from maturity, with the sadness and weariness of loss cloaking his normally mocking eyes.

"Please Mikage-sama", he murmured, gazing at his returned god with longing. "Where is she? Where is Nanami?"

"I have sent Mizuki to take her safely home"

"But she has nowhere to go! Remember her father and his debts? He abandoned her and now she has no place to live!"

Mikage laughed at the unexpectantness of Tomoe's sudden aggravation.

"Relax Tomoe. She has a new home, back in the house of her birth, and I have gifted her with a small fortune and a scholarship to an elite all girls private school. She is safe and content. Now isn't what you really want to know how this all has happened?"

Tomoe nodded his head warily and took a deep breath and a firmer hold on his cup.

"Nanami tracked me down after she rescued you from the Dragon King because she couldn't stand how awkward the situation between you had become, especially after she talked to Kurama and he told her how you had scoffed that your master could never be a weak, hormonal adolescent girl"

"It wasn't in those exact words!" Tomoe exclaimed, ashamed to find himself blushing, and made a mental note to hunt down Kurama and kill him.

"Nevertheless, Nanami was so distressed that she spent an entire year finding me, and then begging me to return. You see, I quite like retirement, and being a god is so stressful. I only agreed after I met her in person and realised just how deeply her feelings for you were."

Tomoe's ears perked up at that, and Mikage laughed and patted the fox's knee.

"And no, I won't tell you that because if you don't know, then you don't deserve her."

With Mizuki around happily doing familiar work, Mikage could watch in amusement as Tomoe moped around. The fox obviously had strong feelings for Nanami, and Mikage knew that it was only his own stubborn nature and dark past that kept him from tracking her down and ensuring that she knew well and good that she belonged only in his arms.

He called the fox demon aside one afternoon, four months after Nanami had left, and spoke to him seriously.

"Tomoe, hear me out and don't interrupt. It would also be wonderful if you actually seriously considered my words but that's your choice. However, the actual listening and shutting up is non-negotiable. You obviously love Nanami a lot. Yes she's human, but that didn't stop you before, and I can assure you that she is nothing like Yukiji. So if I'm wrong and you still prefer scheming traitorous manipulative bitches , please forget everything I've said. If not, then please also remember that yes you were a bloodthirsty bastard in the past, but Nanami doesn't care about that. Your past is behind you and you can't change it, but your future is still your choice, and is fast becoming your present. So what I'm basically saying is, GET YOUR ARSE INTO GEAR AND MAKE YOUR DESCION" .

Tomoe was stunned. He hadn't realised that Mikage knew that much about his past. As to whether or not he loved Nanami, Tomoe himself wasn't sure.

Four years passed, and Tomoe was nearly out of his mind with longing. He now knew that he adored , loved, longed after and burned for Nanami. She would be twenty now, and she probably had a lover or two. The thought of anyone else touching his beloved was enough to send him back into his bloodthirsty bastard mode, although this time with the distinction of the battle being fought for Nanami's heart and not for the pleasure of a massacre.

Grabbing Mizuki by the throat, he slowly tortured the location out of the snake, before calling his will-o-wisps and flying quickly to where she should be.

Mikage healed Mizuki and smiled to himself.

"How has he managed to leave the shrine without your permission?" Mizuki croaked weakly.

"I released him from my service four years ago in the hope that he would finally come to his senses" Mikage confessed happily.

Nanami walked back to her house slowly, swinging her bag of groceries in one hand and brushing her thick black hair out of her face with the other. Passing the house that she used to live at, Nanami smiled as she remembered her last conversation with Mizuki when he had left her there.

The snake had cutely promised that even if he were tortured he wouldn't give up the secret of her location. He swore he would take it to the grave.

She idly wondered whether his promise had been put to the test yet. She doubted that he'd be able to withstand being tortured by anyone, much less someone who really wanted to know where she lived.

Briefly, the thought of Tomoe entered her mind, but she quickly banished it. Tomoe was always in her thoughts, her memories if him making her heart ache and her body yearn.

A sound of a scuffle sounded from an alleyway, and Nanami curiously followed this noise. What she saw stopped her in her tracks.

Tomoe looked up from where he was pinning the man to the wall, and gasped. Unconsciously loosening his grip on the mans throat, he paid no attention as the man scampered away.

The four years had done wonders to Nanami. Her face was fuller and more grown-up, her breasts had grown larger and her eyes had grown more secretive. Although not the most beautiful or sexiest woman he had seen, the power of her presence over him was profound and undisputed.

"Follow me", she commanded, turning and walking away, towards he guessed, her new residence.

He admired the way she moved gracefully like a cat, each step measured and perfectly balanced. He also like the way her tight little butt moved in her short denim skirt.

Once inside her new house. Tomoe allowed himself to be seated in the living room, while she put her shopping away. She sat on the sofa opposite his armchair, and placed a glass of water and a tray of biscuits between them on the coffee table.

"Thanks", he smiled, drinking deeply and gratefully out of the glass. "So Nanami, you miss me?"

"What are you doing here Tomoe?", she asked coldly. "I was happily getting on with my life, and letting you live yours, and now you do this? And what on Earth were you doing to that man?'

"I was politely asking where you now lived"

"And why seek me out now, after four years?"

Tomoe took a deep breath before replying, "because I have finally realised that I am deeply and truthfully in love with you"

Nanami looked down as her eyes burned with unshed tears. "It's too late for that", she said tightly, clenching her fists unconsciously.

"Is it Nanami?", Tomoe countered. "I can see no evidence of a lover, and I can see from your reaction that you are not indifferent to me"

"You bastard", she spat, springing to her feet. "I left you alone, like you'd always wanted… and tried to get over you as best as I can. Yes I still love you, so what? Is that what you wanted to hear, so that you can mock me for being stupid? There's been no one else because even the idea of it is enough to make me physically sick. I love you so much that seeing you now is as good as if you had run me through with a sword, or taken a burning rod to my eyes. So I'm asking you please to leave me alone in my anguish and go find some other girl to play with"

She never saw him move, but somehow, he had lunged over the table and pressed her back against the sofa. Their lips met hungrily, as their bodies crashed together and fireworks exploded inside her head.

Tomoe groaned as one of his hands slipped up her shirt and cupped a breast, while the other slid up her skirt, pulled aside her panties and played in her welcome wetness.

"Ah, Tomoe", she gasped, pulling away from him as much as she could. "Don't do this to me. It will destroy me when you leave"

"I'm not leaving", Tomoe growled, slipping one finger inside her and moaning as her body bucked wildly against him. "And neither are you"

Hitching up her skirt, Tomoe freed himself from his robes and entered her in one deep thrust. She screamed as he roughly broke her maiden barrier, but was soothed with his hungry teeth-and-tongue kisses. He held himself still while she adjusted to the feel of him, and at her nod, he moved slowly, gaining more and more speed as they neared their simultaneous climax. It was earthshaking to the say the least, and as he slumped over her, he noticed blood on his fingers.

"Dear gods, Nanami!" ,he yelled, rolling his sleepy lover over so that he could see the damage that his claws had done when they'd dug into her back. He was hating himself when he felt her clever little fingers wrap around his cock, making him instantly hard again.

"I don't mind Tomoe", she smiled cheekily at him. "I don't mind the scars as they are a reminder of who owns my heart and soul"

Those words and her fingers made him climax into her hand.

The next three days were a fury of love-making, leaving them both very sore and tired at the end. Making her breakfast while she still slept, and bringing it up to her on a tray, Tomoe survey with satisfaction the carnage the two had created. They'd had sex everywhere, on the sofa, in the kitchen, on the stairs, in the shower etc. It was only in the last few hours that they'd discovered her bed.

Nanami awoke to the smell of bacon and eggs, and to the feel of a very talented tongue licking up whatever juices her poor tired body was able to generate. She climaxed as she lay there, staring down into his mischievous golden eyes.

"I quite like waking up this way", she confessed as she sipped her orange juice.

"With my tongue in your pussy?", he smirked, tweaking her nose and nuzzling her neck.

"No, with breakfast in bed", she retorted, and she was rewarded when he tackled her and teased her with his kisses and nips. The breakfast and its tray hit the ground with a crash, creating a small mess, which Nanami swore Tomoe should clean up as it was his fault.

A year later, Nanami and Tomoe stood in front of Mikage, with all their friends gathered around, as they said their vows, uniting themselves in marriage.

Their best wedding present was from Numano Himemiko, the Swamp Princess, who bound their souls together, stating that as long as Tomoe lived, Nanami would too, without aging.

Today, they celebrate their 350th wedding anniversary, and have around sixty children. They are always arguing, yet they can't bear to be apart, and neither has ever been unfaithful or left.