"They've been in there for quite a while. Should we go check on them?" Nanami said after the group had sat outside the shrine for over an hour. Having grown bored within the first five minutes of waiting, the goddess had settled down on the grass and contented herself with weaving flower crowns out of the various wild blossoms and weeds that had yet to be picked and thrown out. She was currently busy finishing a crown for Tomoe since Onikiri, Kotetsu, and herself already had one, but as she was securing the last flower, a mighty gust of wind knocked the crown from her hands.

"Kurama! Look what you did!" the goddess whined as picked the flowers up off the ground only for them to fall apart in her hands.

"Oops, my bad." the tengu shrugged. He didn't sound the least bit sorry.

Rolling his eyes, Tomoe picked up the destroyed crown and mended it within moments.

"Is she locked up?" he asked Mizuki as the other familiar leaped from the back of his snake onto the ground.

"Yep. All the spells are in place, so she won't be getting out of there any time soon. I still think it's a rather disrespectful to use the Yonomori shrine as a prison though." Mizuki replied. He glanced up at the Mikage shrine and frowned. "Atomu still hasn't come back out?"

"Nope."

"Do you suppose she killed him?"

"No."

"Still, we should probably check on them. Tomoe, why don't you go take a look?" Mizuki suggested.

Tomoe scowled at the snake. Of course the coward would automatically volunteer him. "Why don't you do it yourself? Are you still scared?"

Mizuki's cheeks flushed the color of tomatoes. "O-Of course not! Why would you say that, Tomoe?"

"Oh, no reason. It just seems that whenever things get dangerous or even slightly risky, you always want me to take care of it. I must be imagining though. There's no way the fearless Mizuki would ever get scared." Tomoe said mockingly, a sly smirk on his face. As he turned and made his way up to the shrine, the fox could sense the snake burning holes in the back of his skull and as a result, his smirk tripled in size. However, as he was reaching for the door, it suddenly slid open, causing him to jump back.

"I should've know you guys wouldn't be able to follow instructions, but I expected more from you, Tomoe." Atomu said with a tired smile.

Tomoe's eyes widened as Mizuki started snickering behind him. "Wait, it's not like that-"

"Really? It certainly looks that way." Atomu chuckled. "Either way, it doesn't matter. You guys can all come in."

"Finally!" Nanami cried excitedly, leaping to her feet and racing past Atomu and Tomoe and into the shrine. Kurama, Mizuki, Onikiri, Kotetsu, Tomoe, and Atomu followed after her. As they passed each other, the fox and the snake shared a hostile glare before Nanami suddenly gave a loud yelp.

"Oh my gosh! Is it already that late?! I haven't even started my homework!" the human goddess cried in horror when she saw the clock in the kitchen. Spinning on her heels, she dashed into the livingroom only to find that her book bag was no longer by the door where she left it. "Tomoe, where did you put my stuff?!"

"I didn't put it anywhere. You put your supplies in your room on Friday claiming you would get all your work done that night so you could have the rest of the weekend to relax." Tomoe stated flatly.

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that...." Nanami blushed, rubbing the back of her neck sheepishly. "I was just about to start my math homework when I decided to take a nap instead."

Tomoe sighed and shook his head. Nanami was a great master, but sometimes she worried him.

"I almost forgot about school...." Atomu muttered thoughtfully.

Nanami frowned. "Is something the matter, Atomu?"

"No, not really. I just need to figure out how I'm going to continue my education now since all of the tutors dad hired to teach me are......well, dead."

"Oh....." For a moment, Nanami was quiet. Kurama and Tomoe could practically see the gears turning in her head as she stood before them, deep in thought.

"Nanami, I know what you're thinking and it's a bad idea-" Kurama said only to be cut off by said goddess.

"Why don't you come to school with me, Kurama, and Tomoe?" Nanami suggested, smiling broadly.

Kurama groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Nanami, it's not that easy. He has to enroll in the school first, and even if they let him in, it's very unlikely that he'll be in most of your classes-"

"But Tomoe managed to do it."

"Oh, so if the magical fox spirit is able to do then everybody can, right Nanami?" Kurama said, his voice dripping with thick sarcasm. "Well then, why don't we push our luck and try to enroll Sakura as well? No one will find that suspicious at all."

"Kurama...that's a great idea!"

The tengu stared at Nanami, completely shocked, then brought his hand to his face with a loud smack. "I was being sarcastic, Nanami..."

"Well, I'm being serious."

"Nanami, you're way too optimistic."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"Are you sure about this, Nanami? I don't want to cause you any trouble." Atomu said.

"Yes I'm sure! You can borrow one of Tomoe's spare uniforms and Sakura can borrow one of mine. We'll have classes together and help each other study. It'll be great!"

"Yeah, because you study."

"Shut up, Kurama!"

"I-I don't know how to thank you. I am in your debt, Nanami." Bowing respectfully, Atomu gently took Nanami's hand in his own and kissed it. The goddess immediately squeaked in surprise and struck him across the face.

"What was that?!" she shrieked.

Atomu gently rubbed his tender cheek. "I was just trying to express my thanks."

"By kissing my hand?!"

"It's an older custom, Nanami." Tomoe explained.

"Oh yeah. I remember him doing that yesterday. Why do I feel so flustered about it now though?" Nanami thought to herself.

"Doesn't mean we like it though." Mizuki hissed, eyes narrowing at Atomu. The demigod just shrugged and smiled faintly.

"What's going on out here?"

Everyone turned to see Sakura looming in the doorway of the livingroom, clothed in the kimono Nanami had lent her.

"Nanami is signing you and your brother to go to school with her, myself, and Tomoe. Doesn't that sound fun?" Kurama asked, rolling his eyes.

Sakura started at Nanami and Atomu for a moment then started to chuckle.

"What's so funny?" Mizuki asked.

"I'm not doing that."

Atomu frowned. "Sakura, I know how you feel about these things, but you can't just hide away in a shrine your whole life. You're going with me tomorrow whether you like it or not."

"Good luck with that, little brother." Sakura snorted before turning her back on the group and skipping down the hallway. As she left, she called back to them, "I'll be napping until dinner. Don't disturb me or else."

Mizuki rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I'm so scared of a yokai who can't even fight-"

"Nanami, are snake skin bags common in the human world? I have one I've been looking at for a couple days and I want to make sure I won't attract too much attention with it before I get it."

Mizuki's porcelain white skin somehow managed to grow several shades lighter and he hastily hid behind Tomoe and Kurama.

The tengu smirked down at the snake. "So much for not being scared of a yokai who can't fight-"

"Also Tomoe, I'm kind of craving poultry tonight."

Kurama hastily joined Mizuki in cowering behind Tomoe, grumbling under his breath a few not so nice comments about yokai women. Smirking to himself, the white fox decided to play along.

"I've heard crow tastes good." he purred, smirking down at the tengu clinging to his robes.

Kurama glared up at Tomoe. "Not funny."

Tomoe suddenly did something no one expected; he smiled and began to chuckle.

"It was somewhat funny." he commented smugly. Turning, he hastily headed for the kitchen to prepare dinner, but he stopped in the doorway when he sensed eyes boring holes into the back of his head.

"Nanami? Is something the matter?" he asked, glancing at her over his shoulder.

"Huh? Oh, it was nothing. Don't worry about it." the mortal goddess answered, flashing her familiar a warm smile.

Tomoe could tell she was lying but he decided it probably wasn't that important if Nanami wanted to keep it to herself.

Meanwhile, the gears in Nanami's head began to turn as she slipped down the hallway and into her room. As she sat down and opened her math book, she drummed her fingers against the pages as she thought.

"Sakura managed to make Tomoe laugh. I wonder..."

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

The next morning, as she was roughly shaken from her sleep, Sakura opened one sleepy eye to glare up at Atomu in annoyance.

"What?!" she grumbled irritably.

"Nanami says we need to get up now or we'll be late for school."

Sakura rolled her eyes before laying her head back down. "No. Go away."

Atomu frowned. "Sakura, get up. I'm not playing around."

"Neither am I. I'm not going."

"You're not getting a choice in the matter." Grabbing hold of the bottom of his sister's plush comforter, Atomu ripped it off of her shoulders and tossed it aside.

Sakura cringed as the cool morning air bit into her skin, but instead of getting up, she curled into a tighter ball on her futon.

"I'm not getting up."

With a frustrated groan, Atomu grabbed the edge of his sister's mattress and flipped it, sending her tumbling to the floor. The redheaded vixen landed on the floor with an oomph and shot a glare at her brother, still refusing to budge. Grabbing his sibling's ankles, the demigod began to drag towards the doorway as the kitsune dug her nails into the wooden floorboards.

"Sakura, get up!"

"No!"

"What's going on in here?! You two are causing enough ruckus to wake every family within a one mile radius of the shrine."

Atomu and Sakura both looked up to see Tomoe looming in the doorway, scowling down at them.

"Tomoe! Thank goodness! Could you give me a hand?" Atomu asked, gesturing to Sakura.

"Atomu, I'm not going to school. Nothing you or Tomoe do is going to change that." the vixen huffed, folding her arms.

Tomoe raised an eyebrow and Atomu shot him a pleading gaze. With a sigh, the white-haired fox grabbed the back of Sakura's nightgown, which was actually Nanami's, and threw her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

"Hey! What are you doing?! Put me down! I don't want to go!" Sakura cried indignantly, squirming in Tomoe's grasp.

"Nanami is going to a lot of trouble for you and your brother, so you shall be going to school with us whether you want to or not." the white-haired kitsune stated flatly.

The vixen hissed angrily, her ears flattening against her head. Thinking fast, she kicked Tomoe in the gut, causing him to drop her with a grunt. Sprinting down the hallway, Sakura barreled into the bathroom and hastily shut the door behind her. Crawling into a corner, she curled up once more and closed her eyes, falling asleep almost instantly. As she slept, she didn't hear the door to the bathroom slowly slide open nor the steady patter of stealthy feet.

Tomoe smirked when he noticed where Sakura and laid down. "She really isn't smart, is she?"

Grabbing the shower handle, Tomoe hastily turned on the water and let it rain down on the poor, unsuspecting woman. Sakura shrieked in surprise as she was soaked from head to toe with icy cold water and hastily leaped out of the shower

"Are you awake now?" Tomoe purred, smiling smugly.

Sakura said nothing, her green eyes burning with enough murderous rage for a thousand words.

"Good. You will want to get out of those wet clothes soon otherwise you'll catch a cold. Get dressed and meet everyone else downstairs for breakfast." the male fox said cheekily, tossing one of Nanami's uniforms at the vixen's feet before leaving. Shivering, Sakura gently picked up the blouse of the uniform and scowled at it.

"Jerk fox!"

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

"Class, we have two new students joining us today. Please give Sakura and Atomu Daichi a warm welcome."

All eyes were on the brother and sister as they stood at the front of the room. Atomu blushed and waved awkwardly while Sakura rolled her eyes and continued to scowl like she had all morning.

"Your seats will be behind Tomoe and Nanami; ask them for help if you need it. Here are your books." The teacher said, handing both of them a textbook.

"Thank you." Atomu smiled before hastily hurrying after Sakura towards the back of the classroom. He began to sit in the seat behind Nanami, but a quick glare from Tomoe caused him to slide into the seat behind the fox familiar instead. Once Sakura had taken the seat behind Nanami, the teacher turned to the board and began the day's lecture. Sakura frowned as everyone opened their textbooks and began to follow along.

"Nanami, what page are we on?" she whispered to the brunette goddess.

Nanami frowned. "Page thirty-six. Can't you read the board?"

Sakura glanced up at the chalkboard at the front of the classroom and shook her head.

"No, I can't. What language is the teacher writing in? It certainly isn't Japanese."

"He's writing in English."

"Why?"

"Because this is our English class. Didn't you read your schedule-"

"Sakura, I said you could ask Nanami a question, not strike up a conversation. Since you seem to be in such a talkative mood, why don't you read the excerpt on page thirty-seven."

Sakura's cheeks turned bright pink as a few snickers rose from the class. Glancing down at her book, she slowly opened it and began flipping through the pages.

"Well, we're waiting." the teacher remarked, annoyed.

"I-I'm sorry. I can't read this." Sakura mumbled, hanging her head shamefully.

"Why not?"

Everyone turned to stare at the redhead, who shrank down in her chair. Unsure of what to do, Sakura turned to her brother, her desperate eyes silently pleading for him to help her.

"Um, the school my sister and I used to attend had English as an elective class instead of a requirement so she never learned." Atomu fibbed quickly.

"Well, why didn't she just say so?"

"She's a tad embarrassed about it."

"Well, what about you? Can you read any English?"

"A little." Picking up his book, Atomu slowly read in a loud, clear voice the selected passage. A few times, he fumbled over his words, but with a little help from Kurama, he completed the text.

"Very good, Atomu. Perhaps you and Kurama should tutor your sister till she is caught up with everyone else. Alright, back to the lesson." the teacher said before turning back to the chalkboard.

Sakura rolled her eyes in annoyance and turned back to her book. However, as she was flipping through the pages trying to find one that resembled the page the other students were reading, she felt something hit her cheek. Looking down at the ground next to her desk, she saw a piece of wadded up paper sitting next to her foot. Scanning the classroom, she noticed a boy with blonde hair snickering at her from his seat.

"Nanami, who's that?" she hissed.

Nanami's eyes followed Sakura's gaze and she sighed in annoyance when she realized who the redhead was looking at. "That's Isobe. Why?"

"I think he just pelted me with a piece of paper."

"Ignore him. He's just a bully and isn't worth the time of day." Tomoe muttered from his seat.

"Sakura, am I going to have to move you?" the teacher snapped.

"No. My apologies. It won't happen again-"

"Don't make promises you can't keep, newbie." the blonde boy, Isobe, called from his seat, smirking.

"Isobe, I don't believe I asked for your input. Why don't you read the next passage for the class?" the teacher barked.

Isobe paled and hastily began to read. However, he continued to occasionally glance at Sakura as she pretended to read along.

"She kinda looks like Nanami; I bet she's as dumb as her too. I'll have fun messing with her."

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

"I can't believe Sakura and Atomu aren't in the same math class as me." Nanami sighed as she made her way towards the lunchroom.

"Be grateful that you have both of them in at least some of your classes. That's a miracle on its own." Kurama grumbled.

Nanami was about to say something, but she was cut off by a loud yelp.

"SAY THAT AGAIN, YOU LITTLE BASTARD!!! I DARE YOU!!!" A familiar voice shouted from nearby.

Nanami, Kurama, and Tomoe hastily sped around the corner to find Sakura pinning Isobe to the wall, her fingers wrapped tightly around his throat. Atomu was struggling to pry his sister off of the blonde boy but to no avail. Isobe's face was starting to turn a bright purple as he struggled to breathe, and Sakura's eyes were filled with the same fire Tomoe had seen that morning after dousing her with cold water.

"OH MY GOSH!!! SAKURA, LET GO OF HIM!!! TOMOE, DO SOMETHING!!!" Nanami shrieked, her eyes wide with horror.

Tomoe didn't hesitate to obey. Prying Sakura's fingers from around Isobe's neck, he pulled the angry vixen off of the poor boy and held her back. The blonde boy immediately fell to his knees and gasped for air.

"Isobe, are you alright?" Nanami asked worriedly.

"She...She's a monster....That girl's a monster.....GET HER AWAY FROM ME!!!" Isobe cried before taking off down the hallway.

Kurama clenched his teeth angrily. "You baka! What were you thinking? Are you trying to expose us all?"

Sakura said nothing, hanging her head so her hair hid her face. After a moment, Nanami realized the girl was crying.

"Sakura, what's wrong?" she asked.

Instead of replying, the redheaded vixen tore free from Tomoe's grasp and ran off.

"Sakura, wait! Tomoe, go after her!" Nanami exclaimed.

As the white-haired familiar went after Sakura, Nanami turned to Atomu. "What the heck happened?"

Atomu sighed and massaged his temple like he had a migraine. "That blonde boy, Isobe, kept messing with her in math class. I told him off a few times, but he refused to stop since he could tell he was getting to her. After class, she disappeared, and I found her trying to strangle Isobe only moments before you did."

"Ugh, Isobe is just a punk. She needs to learn to toughen up and ignore him." Kurama grumbled irritably.

"You say that like it's easy."

"Because it is!"

"Not for her, it isn't."

"Well, she needs to toughen up then and stop throwing a pity party for herself."

Atomu glared darkly at the tengu. "Kurama, watch you tongue otherwise you will get yourself into a lot of trouble. Just because the humans like you doesn't mean I won't hit you when you need it."

Kurama sneered at the demigod. "Try it and see what happens."

"Both of you, stop fighting! We need to focus on Sakura!" Nanami exclaimed, stepping between the two males.

As if on cue, Tomoe rounded the corner.

"Sakura ran into the girls' locker room. I'm afraid I can't retrieve her." he said.

"That's alright. You stay here and keep these two from tearing each other's heads off while I go talk to her."

"Nanami, is that truly a good idea? What if she tries to hurt you?"

"She won't, I promise. Wait here."

Nanami hastily hurried down the hallway until she came to the girls' locker room. Slowly opening the door, the sound of muffled sobbing greeted her ears. Sitting in the corner of the room was Sakura, curled up in a ball with her face buried in her arms. When the goddess took a timid step toward her, the vixen's head snapped up and a low growl escaped her throat.

"It's okay. I'm not here to yell at you. Can I sit down?" Nanami cooed softly.

Sakura said nothing nor did she protest as the goddess plopped down beside her on the ground.

"What did Isobe do to upset you so much?" the mortal girl asked.

Sakura looked away. "He made fun of me because I don't know how to do math."

"You don't?"

"No. I learned to count when I was little, but that was it."

"Didn't Lord Daichi have tutors for Atomu? Did he ever let you study with them?"

"He did, but I refused to listen to them."

"Why?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

As she spoke, Sakura furiously wiped away the tears spilling down her cheeks.

Nanami sighed. "I assume that's why you didn't want to come to school?"

Sakura nodded. "Even if I'm not as smart as everyone else, I know enough to get by and that's all that matters. There was no purpose behind me coming here other than being humiliated."

"Well....you could fake sick."

"What good will that do?"

"If you're sick, then you have to be sent home."

Sakura looked at Nanami in surprise, the faintest glimmer of interest in her eyes. "I will?"

"Yeah. Here, I've got an idea. I've done this enough times to know a thing or two."

Grabbing a paper towel, Nanami turned on the sink and stuck the the towel under hot water. "Hold this against your forehead."

Gingerly taking the towel, Sakura flinched as she pressed it against her skin. "Gah, that's hot."

"It'll be worth it, trust me."

After a few minutes, Nanami took the wet towelette from the redheaded fox and threw it away. "Okay, now I need you to take a sip of hot water and keep it in your mouth. Don't take a lot though."

Turning on the faucet once more, Sakura did as she was told and sipped enough hot water to hide under her tongue without looking suspicious.

"Good, now lean on me for support while we're walking and keep you eyes halfway closed. Groan occasionally but not too much." Nanami instructed as she opened the locker room door.

Sakura stared at Nanami for a moment, awestruck, then smiled. This girl may not be school smart, but she certainly wasn't dumb either. Leaning against the goddess, the vixen allowed Nanami to guide her to the nurse's office, moaning softly whenever someone would pass by them.

"Excuse me, I think my friend is sick."

The nurse looked up and frowned when she saw Nanami and Sakura. Sakura's face, which was still flushed from crying, helped sell the illusion. Getting up from her chair, the nurse gingerly felt Sakura's head then inserted a thermometer into her mouth.

"It would seem your friend has a fever. She'll have to go home until it goes down. I'll let the administration know to give her an excused absence." the woman said after checking the thermometer. "Does she have someone who can take her home?"

"I've got someone who can pick her up. Thank you." Nanami said sweetly and guided Sakura out of the room before any more questions could be asked.

"I can't believe that worked." Sakura muttered after swallowing the water.

"Shh, you can't stop faking until we get outside." Nanami whispered as she continued to guide Sakura down the building's numerous hallways. After a few moments, she pushed open one of the many exits leading outside of the school and pulled Sakura out onto the sidewalk.

"MIZUKI!!!" she called as loud as she could. Knowing the snake, he was probably nearby.

In an instant, Mizuki leaped out of a tree and ran to Nanami's side. "Lady Nanami, what's wrong? Are you hurt?"

"No, I'm fine but I need you to take Sakura home. She isn't feeling well." Nanami said.

Mizuki frowned and glanced at the vixen. "She looks fine to me."

"Please Mizuki? She can't stay on campus if she's sick and I have to get to lunch before Ami and Kei start to worry."

Mizuki sighed. "Fine."

With a snap of his fingers, Nanami's second familiar summoned his large white snake and help Sakura climb on. Once he himself was seated, Mizuki waved goodbye and flew off towards the shrine, taking the vixen with him.

"Thank you." the redhead called softly to Nanami as she left.

Nanami smiled. "Don't mention it!"

Just as Mizuki vanished from sight, the doors to the school were thrown open and Tomoe, Kurama, and Atomu came racing out.

"Nanami, are you alright?! I heard your scream!" Tomoe asked worriedly.

"I'm fine. I just called for Mizuki to come get Sakura and take her home after I helped her fake sick." Nanami explained.

The white fox's eyes narrowed. "How did you manage to do that?"

"Uh....That's not important right now. What matters is she isn't upset anymore. Now let's hurry to lunch before Kei and Ami come looking for me." Nanami said quickly, not wanting to discuss her methods of trickery with Tomoe right then and there.

Atomu smiled as he watched the goddess push past her familiar and head into the building, and a light blush dusted his cheeks. "Nanami, thank you. You are truly amazing."