Sliding open Sakura's door as quietly as possible and holding her breath as she peeked inside, Nanami smiled in relief when she saw the red headed vixen fast asleep, her pillow clutched tightly to her chest.

"She looks so relaxed and calm when she's asleep." She thought to herself as she shut the door and hurried down the hallway. Pulling out the folded list the vixen had given her after dinner, she read it carefully, the occasional, thoughtful "hmm" escaping her lips. Upon entering the kitchen, she stuffed the slip of paper back into her pocket and turned her attention to Tomoe and Mizuki, who were standing quietly in the corner awaiting her instruction. Grabbing the wooden stool she had had Mizuki bring in, Nanami set it in the middle of the room and pointed back and forth between it and Tomoe.

"Sit." she ordered sternly.

Eyes narrowing, Tomoe slunk over to the chair and gingerly sat down, his ears flat against his skull as his tail flicked back and forth behind him.

"Now Tomoe, there have been concerns expressed by a few different parties regarding your teaching methods." Nanami stated in a serious, formal tone that honestly was not natural to her at all. "Aside from calling your teaching methods 'severe' and 'dangerous', most parties expressed they found you to be rather 'harsh' and 'unreasonable' with your students. However, after so deep thought and reflection, I realized you are not to blame for this."

Mizuki and Tomoe stared at her in surprise.

"He's not?!" the snake squawked.

"No, he is not. Tomoe was trained to be a warrior and then the sole familiar of Mikage shrine. Of course he isn't qualified or equipped to teach others what he knows!"

"I'm still not off the hook though, am I?" Tomoe grumbled.

"Not even close. Despite having no prior experience, you are the best candidate for being Sakura's mentor, so to help you out, I've decided that Mizuki and I are going to teach you how to be a teacher."

Tomoe grimaced as Mizuki's eyes started to sparkle.

"We are?!" the snake exclaimed, excited by the thought of getting to boss around the fox and not get in trouble.

"You are?" the fox stated flatly, sounding unamused by the concept.

"Yep, and your first lesson starts tonight so I hope you're ready!"

"Yay, lucky me."

"That's the spirit!" Nanami smiled, oblivious to her familiar's sarcasm. Turning to the counter, she opened a carton of eggs and placed one in each of Tomoe's hands. The fox's brow furrowed in confusion.

"What are you doing?"

"Setting up your first exercise. Part of your problem is you can't control your temper. You get angry really easily and it makes everyone super nervous when they're around you. This exercise is to help make you more patient." Nanami explained.

"How are eggs going to make me more patient?"

"I was getting to that! Now, you recall that I asked you not to clean up the dishes from dinner tonight, correct?"

"Yes."

"And you didn't touch them."

"No, I did not."

"Good. Mizuki, go start cleaning the dishes."

Mizuki blinked. "Huh? Me?"

"Yes you. Tomoe, I want you to instruct Mizuki on how to properly wash, dry, and put away the dishes without yelling at him and crushing the eggs in your hands out of frustration. Each time you break an egg, yell, or behave aggressively in any way, Mizuki will stop and won't start again till after you've cleaned up your mess and grabbed a new egg. I'll be standing off to the side to observe and take notes regarding your performance."

Tomoe glanced back and forth between the eggs and Nanami. "You must be joking."

"Less whining, more teaching. The longer you take, the less sleep you get. Now move move move!" Nanami stated as she hopped up onto the counter with a clipboard and pen in hand.

Rolling his eyes, Tomoe turned to Mizuki, who was staring at him blankly. The fox's eyebrow immediately started twitching.

"Why are you just stand there?! Go start already!" he snapped angrily.

"Mizuki, stay right where you are and don't move till a minute has passed." Nanami countered.

"Yes, Lady Nanami." Mizuki replied smugly, shooting Tomoe a smirk. Tomoe clenched his jaw angrily but kept his mouth shut, knowing another outburst would only waste time.

Once the minute was up, Mizuki strutted over to the sink with a smile and grabbed the first plate. Tomoe dug his teeth into his bottom lip as he watched the snake's every move. Surprisingly enough, he seemed to know what to do despite having never done the dishes before as far as the fox could recall.

"Since when have you known how to do the dishes, snake?" he inquired.

"I watched you a couple of times when I had nothing else to do or got bored. It's not like it's hard." Mizuki stated as he dried the first plate and set it aside. However, he wasn't paying attention and set the plate a little too close to the edge of the counter, causing it to slip and fall.

"Mizuki, you idiot! The plate!" Tomoe exclaimed. Immediately, he felt something cold and slimy on his hands and looked down to see both his eggs crushed in his fists.

"Well, that certainly didn't take long." Mizuki mused.

Tomoe growled angrily. "This only happened because you were careless and didn't pay attention!"

"Well, we wouldn't be here if you could just learn to be nice."

"Why you little-!"

"Both of you knock it off right now!" Nanami exclaimed. "Mizuki, clean up the broken plate and remember, we're here to help Tomoe, not spite him."

"Yes, Lady Nanami."

"Tomoe, clean up the eggs and grab two new ones. At this rate, it will take us all night to clean all the dishes so hurry up."

Grumbling under his breath, Tomoe grabbed a rag and wiped up the raw egg that had dripped from his hand onto the wood floor before cleaning off his hands. After tossing the rag aside, he grabbed two new eggs and resumed his position.

"Nanami, where did you get this bizarre exercise from?" he asked.

"The internet, but that's not important right now! Resume when you're ready, Mizuki."

--------------

An hour and a dozen cracked eggs later, Mizuki gingerly set the last dish in the cupboard and closed it while Tomoe threw away the empty egg carton and ruined rag.

"Okay, so that didn't go as planned." Nanami concluded as she set down her pencil and hopped off of the counter.

"You don't say." Tomoe grumbled and tried desperately to scrub the nauseating smell of raw egg off of his skin.

"Hey, I didn't ask for commentary!" Nanami stated. After reading over the notes she had taken throughout the exercise, she continued, "It would seem that completely eliminating Tomoe's anger problem is going to be a tad more difficult than I expected so we're going to switch gears and teach him how to manage his anger in ways that don't involve yelling or violence. Mizuki, there's a plastic shopping bag sitting on my bed in my room. Could you go grab it for me?"

The snake familiar nodded and quickly slithered out of the room. Moments later, he returned with said bag clutched tightly in his hand and a smile on his face.

"Thank you, Mizuki." Nanami stated, taking the bag from him. Reaching inside, she pulled out a little blue ball and tossed it to Tomoe. Frowning in confusion, the fox turned the gift over in his hand, inspecting it carefully. The ball was a little smaller than his palm and , judging by the weight and density, it was made of some kind of foam. A smiley face had been painted in white on one side and on the other side the words "Don't worry. Be happy." were printed in big, bold letters.

"Nanami, what is this?" he asked curiously, unsure as to why he had received such a toy.

"It's a stress ball, silly. Whenever you get upset or angry, you squeeze it and it helps you feel better." Nanami explained with a smile.

Tomoe stared blankly at her for a moment before replying.

"That is the stupidest idea I have ever heard." he stated flatly, tossing the ball over his shoulder into Mizuki's face.

"Aw, Tomoe, don't be that way! At least try it first!" Nanami exclaimed as she took the ball and shoved it back into Tomoe's hands.

"Fine!" Snatching up the ball, Tomoe sank his claws into the cushiony material and proceeded to rip it in half. "There, I feel slightly better! You happy?!"

"Tomoe! I just bought that! Why do you have to be such a grouch?! I'm trying to help you!" Nanami whined, her cheeks red with anger.

"I don't need your help. Sakura's training was going just fine until you stepped in!" Tomoe retorted.

"You were trying to kill her!"

"You think her enemies won't?! In a real battle, her opponents will be far more bloodthirsty and merciless!"

"Which is all the more reason for us to make sure she feels safe here!"

"I'm trying to prepare her for an actual confrontation but I can't do that if you keep getting in the way!"

"Can't you do that without traumatizing her in the first place?!"

Tomoe was now seething with anger. His tail flicked back and forth with enough force to knock over the stool behind him and give Mizuki a decent sized bruise.

"I don't have to put up with this. I'm going to bed." he snarled and stormed out of the kitchen, ignoring Nanami's shrill shrieking for him to return.

"Stupid Nanami, she doesn't understand anything!" He thought to himself as he stalked down the dark hallways of the shrine towards his room. However, as he passed Sakura's room, he stopped as a faint noise grabbed his attention.

"Whimpering?"

Frowning, Tomoe swiveled his ears back and forth in attempt to locate the source of the sound.

"It seems to be coming from Sakura's room. Ugh, what did that miserable klutz do now?"

Rolling his eyes, Tomoe threw open the door to Sakura's room and peered into the darkness. To his surprise, the vixen was curled up on her bed, fast asleep.

"Did I just imagine it? I swear I heard something-"

Suddenly, Sakura gave a loud yelp and started to thrash about, though her eyes remained firmly closed the entire time. Her sharp claws ruthlessly tore through the blankets wrapped around her as she flailed wildly, whimpering and shrieking in her sleep. Concerned that she would wind up hurting herself, Tomoe hastily sprinted to her side and pinned her arms down at her side. Crying out in fright, Sakura bucked and squirmed in his grasp, kicking frantically at the air in hopes of fending off whatever attacker was plaguing her dream. Biting his lip, Tomoe hastily drew her to his chest and held her there for several minutes. At first, Sakura continued to fight him, but little by little she started to relax till finally she was completely still, cooing softly as she slept. With a sigh of relief, Tomoe placed her back on her bed and began to inspect her body for injuries. As his hands grazed along her lower back, Sakura involuntarily flinched, causing him to pause. Talking his nail, he gingerly sliced an incision in the fabric of her pajamas that covered the spot and pulled them apart to reveal an ugly purple bruise in the shape of a line. Tomoe immediately frown as he recalled this was the spot where he had repeatedly hit her with his fan.

"Did...Did I do this?" He asked himself though he already knew the answer. Immediately a sense of guilt grabbed hold of his stomach and twisted it into an intricate balloon animal. Stepping away, Tomoe grabbed the corner of the one blanket that remained somewhat intact and began to draw it over Sakura's shivering form when the vixen started mumbling in her sleep, her ears flattening against her head.

"I-I'm sorry! I won't do it again! Don't be mad at me! I'm sorry, Tomoe!" she mumbled, her lip quivering as another shudder wracked her body.

Tomoe blinked. She was dreaming about him? Was he the cause of her distress? Immediately, the guilt inside him tripled in size and began to arrange all of his organs into different shapes that weren't natural at all. Instinctively, he reached out and began stroking Sakura's hair to soothe her, and she surprised him by subconsciously snuggling closer to his hand, her lips curving into a soft smile and erasing the last traces of her fear from her face. Immediately, Tomoe pulled away and scampered out of the room, head down and ears drooped. He barely noticed the cool night breeze slipping through the tears in his clothes and brushing against his pale, porcelain skin, causing goosebumps to pop up all over the smooth surface. No matter what, he couldn't escape the awful sensation tugging at his heartstrings like a harp, playing a melody of regret and remorse that only he could hear as it resonated inside him. As he slipped into his own room and laid down on his own bed, he stared blankly at the ceiling above and allowed his mind to drift aimlessly on the seas of thought. However, the ocean waves sounded like Sakura's frightened cries and the water was as red as her scarlet hair. Grumbling, he tossed and turned in his bed, trying to fall asleep, but his mind wasn't having it.

"Grr, why can't I get her out of my head?! I made her cry; so what? I've made others cry before and never felt bad about it. Why is she different?"

Throwing the blankets off of his body, Tomoe found himself getting up and walking over to the closet to grab some new clothes.

"If I can't sleep I might as well get some work done."