Goddess

                                    

                                          
In this oneshot, Kanroji Mitsuri is modeled after Amaterasu - the Japanese goddess of the sun. If you want to do more research on her, feel free!
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Iguro Obanai was a simple man who lived in a small village. Even so, his strange dislike towards women made him a bit of an outcast in this town, forcing him to find solitude in the forest surrounding him. All he had was his snake and companion Kaburamaru - not that he cared.
The crushing of leaves could be heard in the distance, and Iguro grew curious. He practically lived in the woods, so he was sure that if something else were to be here he would have known. The man and his snake crept closer to the sound, peeking around the trunk of a tree to see a woman that he believed was around his age. His first thought was to quickly turn away and leave, but there was something about her that made Iguro to stay.
She was wearing a rather fancy kimono with a sun shaped headdress on as well. The atmosphere seemed to shine around her as she observed her surroundings. It didn't take long for her to notice Iguro and his snake hiding behind a tree. Once he was spotted, the man was immediately ready to leave. However, the woman stopped him.
"Please, don't go!"
Iguro stopped in his tracks, not knowing why. The woman moved closer to him, but no close enough to see his face.
"I'm Mitsuri... Mitsuri Kanroji."
She smiled softly as she introduced herself and the earth seemed a bit more bright. As if something had possessed him, Iguro turned around and made eye contact with the woman, despite his hesitancy to do so. It was then that he noticed her beautiful green eyes and the two moles place precisely under each eye. To say that he was captivated by her beauty would be an understatement as he was simply in awe. There was truly no explanation for it, but Iguro felt safe around her.
"Iguro Obanai..."
Her smile brightened, if that was even possible.
"It's a pleasure to meet you Iguro! Who's this little guy here?"
The woman's attention shifted to Kaburamaru who seemed rather flattered by the sudden gaze of such a stunning woman.
"His name is Kaburamaru. He's a close friend..."
Mitsuri giggled softly and it was almost as if the heavens had opened up for a moment. She slowly moved her hand closer to Kaburamaru, careful not to startle him. It was clear to Iguro that his friend liked the woman quite a lot, even if they had just met - he couldn't blame him though.
"Actually, some of my worshippers believe that I'm related to snakes in a way... Sometimes they even refer to me as the snake deity instead of the sun deity!"
Again, there was a soft laugh that made the whole world stop moving. Iguro almost didn't catch what she had said.
'Worshippers' 'Snake deity' 'Sun deity'? The man was sure that he was dreaming, but he asked the woman to elaborate, just to be sure.
"Excuse me, Mitsuri... What do you mean by worshippers?"
With a soft tilt of her head, she took a moment to understand the question. Once she actually understood, she smiled softly.
"Yes!! Many people refer to me as Amaterasu! I'm actually out in these woods because I got lost after wandering away from my temple..."
Mitsuri's tinted pink cheeks suggested that she was quite embarrassed about her story, so much so that she began to elaborate - using onomatopoeias in every sentence. Iguro began to stop paying attention though as he was lost in thought. Surely there was no way that the woman in front of him was one of the most powerful deities in all of Japan. There was simply no way.
Iguro was brought back to reality once Mitsuri gently brushed her hand against his, whether it was on purpose or by mistake was anyone's guess. Her eyes had a glint of hope that was almost pleading Iguro to help her.
"Would you please help me find my way back to my temple, Iguro?"
Again, without even meaning to, Obanai agreed. Less than a second later, a strange yet warm feeling enveloped his hand. The man looked down to see Mitsuri's soft hand gently grabbing his, feeling his face heat up after the realization. She soon explained that it was so they wouldn't get lost, but Iguro wouldn't have complained anyways.
Strangely, the man who's made an effort to stay away from every woman he's seen actually enjoyed the feeling. It was unexplainable.
The two wandered around the forest hours, yet it felt like mere seconds to Iguro. It was almost as if the man could spend forever with the goddess that was next to him. A part of him wanted to.
Iguro and Mitsuri eventually found the shrine and the woman grew quite excited, clearly happy to be home. While she danced around the shrine, Iguro observed how well-taken care of it was. While he was looking around, the sky grew darker.
Rain began to fall, gently decorating the earth with wet puddles. After realizing that the weather had changed, Iguro and Mitsuri ran for cover. The two of them sat on a bench underneath one of the many overhangs.
The rain continued for what seemed like forever, but it gave the two a chance to converse.
"Mitsuri, if you don't mind me asking, how did you get lost again?"
Her cheeks grew darker in color, the pink tint becoming more noticeable.
"I was bored and started to pay attention to a couple of animals outside. Usually, I wouldn't just leave my shrine, but nobody was visiting and I couldn't just sit around! So I started to follow them around and eventually lost sight of them! Next thing I knew, I was lost!"
Her explanation put a gentle smile on Iguro's face, not that she could see that. His mouth was covered after all. He looked out at the rain before noticing that Mitsuri was holding his hand yet again.
It didn't take long for the rain to stop. At the first ray of sun, Iguro gently dropped his hand from Mitsuri's, watching as her face fell ever so slightly. He got up and faced the exit of the shrine and let out a soft sigh before turning to face the goddess once more.
"I'll be back to see you tomorrow... And you can call me Obanai next time..."
Once he saw her features light up again, he smiled softly. Iguro noticed his cheeks growing hotter once she repeated his name. With that, he nodded gently and left.
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Hey guys!! It's actually been forever since I've updated this story so I want to apologize real quick for my very long hiatus. I can't guarantee that I'll be more active, but either way, I'm still grateful for the continued support. I hope that you enjoyed the chapter!! <3