Kogasa and Kanako

Kogasa twirled her umbrella, enjoying all the gorgeous warmly colored leaves falling around her. The pathway up the Youkai Mountain may have been long, but the autumnal trees around and above her made it so much more worthwhile to travel than simply taking the ropeway.

And worthwhile the trip was sure to be! Kogasa gripped the vouchers in her left hand tightly. Sanae was such a great friend, and had managed to secure her a special one-on-one meeting with THE Yasaka Kanako, goddess of the mountain! And for only 12 easy donations plus faith, it was a steal of a deal! The cheery umbrella had already memorized all of the things she would ask the goddess about, all the blessings she would hope for! Oh, wait until her husband heard about this!

Finally, Kogasa's long trek met its end, at the summit of the mountain. Sanae had seen her approach and rushed over to greet her guest, offering her some respite, a quick bath, and a meal. After some quick rest and recuperation, and ensuring her umbrella looked its absolute best, Kogasa was finally brought into a grand imperial room within the shrine.

There the purple haired goddess sat... floated. Her eyes were closed, but opened as Kogasa approached and sat before her. "Ah, so you're Sanae's young friend, aren't you? Welcome." Her voice was deep and powerful, yet it spoke with an air of casualness to it. It made Kogasa feel welcome, even before such a powerful presence. "There will be much more time later tonight and tomorrow for pleasantries, so let's skip to business, shall we? What are the things that trouble you, that only a god may assist you with? Are you seeking ways to become more powerful? Curses for your enemies? Or perhaps, you se-"

"Oh, it's nothing like that Miss Lady Kanako!" Kogasa spoke up, feeling so comfortable in this casual god's presence that she could interrupt her. Thankfully, that feeling was right, Kanako was easygoing with that stuff. "You see, I had actually came to seek some relationship advice from you!"

"A-Ah, relationship advice?" A touch of nervousness seemed to coat Kanako's voice now, but the umbrella failed to pick up on it. Well, she couldn't turn away the youkai now, especially in this season where worshipers were so hard to come by. "Well, there are no realms where a god's insight cannot help..."

"Wonderful, thank you ma'am!" Kanako cringed hearing 'ma'am'.

"S-so, you're looking to have advice on how to win over the heart of a man?"

"Oh no, I already have a husband." What. This umbrella had a husband already? ... An umbrella could get a husband before her? "You see, what I was wanting to know is, you see, you know how boys can act really touchy and clingy when they're alone with you?" No, she didn't. "Well you see, my husband, he's really cute! You see, well, I like to surprise him, but lately he did something that surprised me! He appeared behind me one time and swept me off of my feet, and he leaned close! But instead of kissing me even though he was so close, he gave me flowers!" Kanako grew red. That sounded so lovely, like out of a cheap romance book she had read. She wanted something like that.

"Well, it was super nice and apparently he had been prepping to do that for a while! So I want to try something similar to surprise him! But, romantically you know? But I was wondering, do you think boy's like girls that are straightforward like that? Is it OK to be pushy and surprisey with that kind of romance stuff?" Kanako had absolutely 0 idea, and could only stutter. Kogasa didn't even seem to register the non-response. "Well, I was thinking that maybe I could use some chocolate..."

...

Sanae and Suwako gazed into the room from a hidden one near the back. "I never have seen Lady Kanako turn so red."

"Yeah, she does that when this topic comes up."

"I think I'll raise my bet, she'll go through 10 bottles of sake, if this one tale from Kogasa can fluster her so much.."

"10?"

"Yeah, I know this youkai has plenty more romantic tales to spill to Kanako."

"Now you're making me nervous I bet too low. ... I wonder what an umbrella who's so happy and blessed already needs from a goddess anyways?"

"Donations and faith are donations and faith. Though maybe deep down she's just interested in bragging about her husband?"

"Bragging to a god? Oooh, what a scary youkai~"

"Come on Lady Kanako, she's expecting us by now."

"Geeeeeh..."

"None of that, you of all people should know that these important moments in a person's life are when they'll be capable of giving the most faith, and will impact how they give faith in the future, you should be excited at this prospect."

Kanako said nothing, as she flew beside Sanae, the young girl leading her through the sky to their destination. Sanae was right, the umbrella they were heading towards was a fantastic source of faith, and if all went well there would be no doubt she'd continue to give them faith for years to come, but still... Constantly hearing about married life, the joys of romance, having a loving husband to cuddle and return to every night, or... other things that made Kanako blush at the thought of. Things she had always dreamed of, desired, but never had.

It was funny, Kanako was always seen as this calm, collected, and cunning god, but somehow this weak youkai managed to make her seize up every time.

"Ah, we're here!" A small building came into view, along the outskirts of the human village. It was quaint, cute even, with a shop attached to it. No doubt a wonderful place to have a family and raise a child in...

"Alright Lady Kanako," Sanae said as the two landed. "I'll wait outside, you head in there and give it your best!" She beamed, giving a fantastic saleswoman smile, no doubt one she had given to plenty of the Moriya faithful before. Kanako begrudgingly nodded, and headed inside the cozy abode.

"Hello, anyone home? Is now a good time?" Kanako called into the house as she entered, hoping for silence. Instead, she heard a voice beckoning her into another room. As Kanako headed in, she took a quick examination of the home's decorations, sepia photographs on the wall of Kogasa and her husband, admittedly very fine-crafted metalwork with umbrellas adorning the sides, it felt like the epitome of a young couple's household. Moriya shrine was her irreplaceable home with Sanae and Suwako, but she had always wondered what it'd be like there if she had...

Kanako entered a bedroom, the lighting warm from a mechanical lamp. There laid Kogasa in bed, late into her pregnancy, with her husband by her side holding her arm. Kanako had never asked why he had a mechanical arm, but it looked highly sophisticated. Well, it was a story for another time. "Come in Miss Lady Kanako, come in! It's wonderful to see you again ma'am!" Despite being pregnant and bed-bound for most of the day, the tone in her voice was just as young and upbeat as it had always been. The blue-haired youkai turned to her husband. "You gotta head out now, prayers between someone and their goddess need to be one-on-one, just like wishes!" That wasn't necessarily true, but Kanako didn't object. It was already awkward enough dealing with just the wife. Kogasa's husband chuckled as he bowed to Kanako, and took his leave, heading to the kitchen to prepare food.

"So, how are things going with you this time, all well?" Kanako asked, putting on her best smile. "No doubt you're excited this pregnancy is nearing it's end, correct?"

"Of course, I'll be excited to be able to get back up and walking again, haha! You have no idea how hard it is to keep trying to surprise my husband like this, but Kogasa is resourceful!" Kogasa's smile as wide as she recalled all the times she had to shake her husband awake from sleep to surprise him. It was a bit cheap, but it worked. "And the blessings you've given me for a smooth pregnancy feel like they've been working wonderfully, I can't thank you enough for them!"

Kanako smiled. In truth, these blessings were ones she had never given out before, and were far out of her area of expertise. It took a lot of practice and prep to give them out, and she was overall proud of the result. "I'm sure you're ready for a blessing for a smooth delivery soon as well?"

"Ah, of course! But first, I wanted to ask you something!" Kanako cringed, bracing full well for another one of Kogasa's long winded stories about her and her husband's lovey-dovey tales.

Instead, the umbrella leaned to her side, and pulled out a small purple box. "... Eh?"

"Well, come on over! It's for you!"

Kanako walked closer to the side of Kogasa's bed, where she was handed the box. An offering? Sanae was supposed to handle collecting these types of donations... As Kanako opened it though, she saw inside a fascinating piece of jewelry. A silver necklace, composed of snakes interconnected with one another. The craftsmanship seemed unmatched, as the eyes of scales of each snake was detailed. "Kogasa, what is this for?"

"It's an offering! Or a gift! Or a bribe! I'm not really sure which would be the right word... But I made it before I had to stop blacksmithing for a while! I think it came out really well, I hope you like it!" Kanako held it up, letting it shimmer in the light. This wasn't the first time she had received something so well crafted, many times in the past she had been given such things. But they were always formal, part of a scheduled offering, on behalf of a village. Never had someone made something like this out of their own volition. "I'm a youkai that isn't really... 'born', so I never had a mother, father, or anything like that. So a lot of this is entirely new to me. You, and the whole of the Moriya shrine really, have been so wonderful to us, and it's really been great talking with you, getting your advice, and receiving your blessings! I can't thank you enough, and the scheduled donation plan Sanae put us on didn't feel special enough, so I wanted to make something extra to show how thankful I am!" Kanako was a tad flabbergasted. Advice? Kogasa dominated most of their conversations, Kanako could barely manage to say anything on most of the topics, mainly due to inexperience. Suwako probably gave more practical advice to her on childcare. Maybe... Just being able to gush about her husband and her life was enough?

"... It's extremely lovely Kogasa. It'll no doubt be a highly prized addition to the Moriya treasury... Thank you."

"I'm glad! Though, I wanted to give it to you before hand, before I asked you my question, you see..." Kogasa was a tad nervous, as she took a moment. "Would you be willing to be my child's godmother?"

"... What?"

"The godmother! I read in a story long ago, every child needs a godmother! You're always so reliable, and cool and smart, I can't think of a better candidate! So would you be willing to be the godmother?"

... Godmothers were an entirely western concept, and from that... Christianity religion. Kanako couldn't actually be a godmother. Unless, maybe Kogasa meant in a more, secular interpretation? Just someone to help care for and raise the child, watch over and protect them?

Kanako's face turned a familiar red, but instead of one caused by embarrassment, she instead had a smile. The idea of it, of helping care for the child, to be an important person in their life filled her with an incredible sense a joy. One she hadn't felt since the day she saw Sanae, and Sanae saw her. "YES!" She accidentally shouted. "Y-Yes! I'll do it! I'll be happy to do it! It sounds fantastic!"

Kogasa's smile grew wide, relief arriving. "I'm so happy to hear that!"

The wind goddess leaned by Kogasa's bedside, a fire ignited within her eyes. "Tatara Kogasa, you have my word that your child will have the full unending support of the entire Moriya shrine! They'll have access to the best mentors, goddesses themselves! They'll get to enjoy learning all of the ins and outs of management, blessings whenever they need it, why, we can even..."

Sun had long set, the discussion between god and youkai lasted much longer than their usual meetings had, with Kanako for once leading things. Sanae was shocked to see Kanako so passionate and fired up. This was the goddess everyone knew, the one constantly planning conspiracies and working hard to bring them to fruition. This was entirely unlike how she usually was after a meeting with Kogasa. Kanako was eager to tell Sanae all of her plans and ideas on the flight back, and to prepare the sake. There would be plenty of drinking tonight, but for celebratory reasons instead of self-pity ones.


You, Kogasa's husband entered back to the bedroom, Kogasa looked tuckered out from her long talk, but happy and enthusiastic. You heard most of their discussion from the kitchen. "Hey, that was an incredibly nice thing you did for her." You could tell... well, everyone but your wife could tell how awkward these meetings made the old virgin goddess feel. It was touching to see Kogasa do something like that, though not surprising. You always knew this umbrella had a huge heart.

"I'm just so happy she was willing to become the godmother! Otherwise we'd have to ask Suwako!"

"What?"

"And if Kanako said no, Suwako would probably also say no. Then we'd have to try maybe those autumn goddesses..."

"Kogasa what are you talking about?"

"Godmother candidates of course! There's only so many gods in Gensokyo that walk around after all."

"..." You took a deep breath. Kogasa was far from dumb, but she could be a bit naive at times. "Kogasa... A godmother isn't a literal god."

"... Eh?"

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Pub: 17 Dec 2021 15:16 UTC
Views: 148