The Other Crew

THE FOREST was now completely quiet as Dandy's group sitting perfectly aligned as if they were having a formal greeting.

Well, Sora cannot claim that it wasn't a greeting. Dandy asked all of her friends to line up and be seated. The wolf and grasshopper did their best to sit properly while the other two took a while and a lot of persuasion.

Sora then looked at Dandy when he cleared her throat. She too was sitting properly.

"Now, I would like you to meet my friends," Dandy started. "This wolf that you were afraid—"

"I'm not afraid of him!" Sora almost stood up from what he heard but sat quickly when Dandy's eyes went wide before laughing. "there's nothing to laugh about." Sora pouted and crossed his arms.

"Understood. You are not afraid, just frightened, then."

"Dandy."

She giggled and just continued. "His name is Yoshiko. Him and Tamotsu, the grasshopper who kicked you in the face."

"No, he did not."

"Okay. Okay. Calm down. I'm just teasing you." She giggled again.

And Sora could only sigh. There must be something about her giggle that made his annoyance begone. If it were other people, he'd probably walked out from them already.

"Yoshiko and Tamotsu have been my guardians since the day I woke up." Dandy continued. "They're practically my mother and father here."

"Your Grace, that was a little…" Tamotsu shyly bowed his head. He stopped his head from bowing when he heard what was Yoshiko said next.

"It is an honor to be called your father, Your Grace."

"You are the father?"

"Yes," Yoshiko responded proudly. Even in his wolf form, Sora can clearly see his smile. "A father, huh, That feels great."

"Then who am I? The mother?"

Yoshiko then looked at Tamotsu, "Why? It suits you very well, my friend."

"How… How can I be the mother?" It was then Tamotsu transformed himself to his human form. "This... This body? This well-built, not muscular yet lean body of mine. How can this be a mother?"

To answer him, Yoshiko transformed into a human, too. His big muscular body was on the opposite side of Tamotsu's body. Aside from that, Tamotsu's strict and mother-like care and nagging with Dandy and Yoshiko makes him the mother who was taking care of her two children. And from there, one thing came to his conclusion.

"Definitely you are the mother, Tamotsu"

"He's the father."

"You're the mother."

Sora was shocked and looked at the two others with them. Sora looked at them. Both are wearing a white cloth on their faces and all he could think of are spirits or Yokai.

{Does Yokai wears white cloth on their faces when they wander the human world? Isn't it the other way around?}

Sora turned his gaze to Tamotsu when the two looked at him in synchronize. It gave him chills as if he saw their eyes looking at him.

"Dam/n, why am I the mother just because he's bigger than me?"

"Because you nag like a mother, Tamotsu. Even Goddess Ume is afraid of you."

Tamotsu just tsked at him and turned himself into a grasshopper again not before Sora saw how Tamotsu blushed.

That got him thinking who that Goddess Ume was.

"Yahoo!" Dandy shouted and immediately, the two shut up from their bickering. "Be good, okay? Let's be good in front of our guests."

"Understood, Deity."

"Yes, Your Grace."

Dandy cleared her throat again and anchored her arms to the other two children. "These two are my big brother and big sister... The two have been with me since the day I woke up. Well, not long as mother and father."

Dandy's giggle turned into a laugh when Dandy looked at the two. "Well, then, these two are Shina and Naru. They are twins and the Gods of wind and thunder. You know when they are angry, they turn the clouds black. And it's frightening when Naru sends his thunder and lightning in the skies."

Sora was speechless as he looked at the two. He was facing a God and Goddess. And he also can't believe that they were just a kid like him.

"H-How…W-why…Why aren't you doing those kinds of--" Sora slightly shook his head as he clear his mind. "No. No. I just thought that all of the Gods and Goddess are all grown up. All of the statues in Shrines that I have gone to have grown up Gods and Goddess. I guess it's not all true."

Sora saw how the twins looked at each other. And before he knew it, they two transformed into their older version.

{Did I offended them?}

Sora swallowed hard and slowly bowed formally in front of the two. "Forgive me. Please don't call out a storm. I may not be able to come back to play."

"Eh?" He heard Dandy reacted. "Did you do something wrong, Sora?"

"Not that I could remember," said a female child's voice.

When Sora looked up, the grown-up twins are gone and they were back to their child self. He slowly breathes out and relaxes in his seat.

What did he have done before in his past life that he has to encounter them? All he wanted was to play with Dandy—no, save her—now, he was getting to know these Gods, Goddess, and Guardians.

{What more is there?}

"Now, now, children. Let's not scare the lights out of this kid, okay?"

Sora snapped his head to his left when he heard yet another voice. "W-who are you?" he absent-mindedly asked.

The man with long hair and wearing flowy like water robes emerged from the trees and bowed as their eyes met. "Kahaku, God of the rivers." And to prove his point, his eyes turned into silver with golden slits. It was like an eye of a snake.

"A...are you…will you turn into a snake?"

"A snake?" his lips curled into a snarl before he snigged at him. A bit of annoyance was clear on his face. "I'd charge that to your…innocence, kid. But I'm a full-grown dragon, may I say."

And for the second time, Sora's mouth fell, and was speechless from all he was hearing.

"I just have one question," Naru then stood up before sitting beside Sora. "How are you able to talk to us? See us? Are you really a human?"

****END OF CHAPTER****

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