Anon's mastery test CYOA

You are anon. As a child, you were abandoned at a grand temple's steps by your parents. It was actually a common occurrence during those days with the war going on. You were of course taken in and raised there among the dozens of other orphans. You trained from the day you could walk to improve your skills, and help protect the area around the temple with the others learning the martial arts. Due to the early start you are ready to become a master soon after your twentieth birthday comes by.
Finally, the ryuu master of the grand temple calls you to the main hall to discuss your master test. A rite of passage all masters must pass in order to gain their title. As you make your way to the very center of the temple, you find that only yourself and the great ryuu guardian of the capital are in the vast main hall. She's sitting at her usual spot at the very back of the room, so you head on over to greet her with a bow before sitting on your knees.
"Well, I'll get right to it. I'm sure you're impatient too. But it took a while to receive a vision for what your test should be." She smiles at you, "Or maybe just get an idea for it."
You stay quiet out of respect, making her sigh when her attempted joke went past unnoticed.
"I did have a vision though. And it was for your test, that I'm sure of!"
She sits a bit straighter and gets more serious, the lights starting to dim to focus you.
"One of my daughters to the west has been getting harassed by a nearby warlord. He wishes to force her into marriage so he may use her powers for himself! The two masters there are already having trouble with his army. You'll need to defeat this man. With your wife."
You look up with confusion, raising a brow.
"But I don't have a wife."
She chuckles at you, glad to finally get a reaction.
"Yes, but that is what my vision showed. You with a wife you love. If you have none, you are bound to fail. Do not worry, I shall give you a blessing of luck to help speed the task. It will... allow you opportunities. There are plenty of candidates there to choose from."
"This must be some sort of joke." You scoff, having heard of the great ryuu attempting humor like this sometimes.
"I'm afraid not. If you do not have a mutual love when you face that man you will die. There are some good candidates there however! You can even go after my daughter if you wish." She teases.
She seems serious about the task, as strange as it is. And she's predicted far stranger things.
The ryu raises a claw and casts a white ball of light into you before waving you away, allowing you to stand and move to leave.
"Have a pleasant trip!" She calls after you.
You're in for it now. Do you even know how to complete this task? You'll just have to see.
What style have you trained in over the years? There are three that the great temple taught, though it didn't limit you to them.
The first style was the Striking Dragon. Even a mighty stone would yield to strong enough strikes in the right place. It's good for overpowering all sorts of opponents and trains your body to it's limit. It'll even act on it's own out of reflex, improving your fighting speed. It isn't a thinking style however, and is weak against weapons.
The second style is the Hidden Tengu. It is a thinking style that uses the environment and the weakness of opponents against them. It emphasizes grabs and holds over strikes, as well as escape tactics. Often called dirty fighting.
The third style is the Serene Ryu, which forgoes most physical training for meditation and focus. By using this training you can gather your body's energies to bring about changes around you, like the magic of the ryuu. It's combat style is more passive, but can be used in close range effectively.
You've trained all your life in the style of the Serene Ryu, but have taken teaching in the style of the Hidden Tengu as well. It's an odd style, but has proven effective.
You are given a horse and supplies for your journey to the west temple. It is several weeks ride there, but you keep your horse energetic with your magic so you can ride faster. The trip is uneventful, your martial arts outfit keeping bandits away even when you camp out at night.
You are surprised when you are expected on your arrival, due to the ten days it took that should have taken twenty. They even have a feast prepared. That Ryu daughter is good at predictions herself.
After you have your horse put away you are led by the apprentice up the long staircase to the temple, a grand place with many training areas. A waterfall comes down behind it before flowing into an underwater river deep in the rocky mountain, though some of it returns to the surface as hot springs that litter the outside of the grounds.
You are led through the doors into the grand hall, a table with a grand placement of food for all the students is laid out in front of you. You are led around it however, to a much large round table on the other side of it. There sits the young ryu daughter, having only come of age the past year, short hair in a bob cut with crystal charms hanging from her horns. She's a bit small for a ryu, though still just as regal looking despite the innocence around her.
"Anon! I knew you'd be here today!" The young ryu smiles with excitement. "Sit down and eat, tell us about your trip!"
You notice the two other people at the round table now. On the left is a Jinko with more black stripes than orange on her fur. She's a bit larger than the average jinko, with a strong look that is sizing you up. She looks to be in her late twenties.
She is wearing a worn out martial arts uniform of the Striking Dragon. Care has been taken to keep it clean and in repair however. Her hair is allowed to grow long and wild.
On the opposite, right side of the table sits someone must less intimidating. A hinezumi wearing a white chinese dress so short you swear you could see under it if she were to lean over. Her hair is up in buns with some well kept bangs. A confident, cocky grin is on her face as she too sizes you up before laughing a bit to herself. This one doesn't seem to think much of you, even if she seems to be the same age as you.
You sit down and the ryu realizes she has not introduced the three of them, clearing her throat before speaking.
"I am master of the Serene Ryu of this temple, Himizu."
She gestures to the still stoic Jinko to your left.
"This is master of the Striking Dragon, Toriza."
And finally to the Hinezumi.
"And this is master of the Hidden Tengu, Mimita. It's a great pleasure to have you here Anon!"
The pair don't speak with you as dinner goes along, you telling Himizu about the boring trip to her delight. She seems to like the simple things. Or maybe she is simple. You wouldn't suggest it. Glancing at the pair, they seem to shoot glares at each other every now and then. Seems they don't like each other much.
After much more talking about things you wouldn't call interesting and more silence by the other two masters, the grand dinner is finished.
After you have your traveling supplies put into the large room set aside for you by a meditating garden, you feel something compelling you to wash yourself. You have only been doing so in wells and rivers until now, so it may do you good.
You could go and bath in one of the hot springs, you've never had a hot bath before.
You could also just use the well of the temple, which will be quick as always.
Or you could take advantage of the waterfall, which may be useful for meditating.
You decide to go with the hot spring, and ask a passing apprentice cleaning the halls if they know a good one nearby. They seem confused, but remember that you only just arrived.
"The waterfall is a hot spring. You can't see the steam too well through the mist of it though." They explain.
A hot spring waterfall? No wonder the temple was built here. You thank the apprentice and head on out to try it out. It's not a far walk up the stones and past meditating gardens to the hot spring, but you find many young apprentices washing and swimming in the largest pool. You'd prefer somewhere quieter. You head up the rocks to search for another spot, and soon find another small waterfall up a stream leading to the main one that is hidden from sight among trees growing around it. You begin to undress but stop when you feel the presence nearby. You turn to see Toriza in her gi under the waterfall, your own presence having taken her out of some endurance training.
"I didn't realize this spot was taken." You comment, the Jinko just huffing and closing her eyes again. You figure that she won't bother with you as you wash and finish disrobing before dipping into the delightful pool of water.
Not a second later, another figure comes bounding around the corner before coming to a sudden stop. It's Mimita, wearing a plain white robe as she is ready to wash as well.
"Oi! You're both in my spot!" She complains, getting deep growl from Toriza as she glares over at the Hinezumi.
"I'm not moving."
This isn't good. They look ready to argue and fight for the spot, even if it's not for blood.
You tell the pair to calm down, staying level headed but getting ulterior motives about what you were going to suggest.
"We all want to be here so we should compromise. There isn't enough room for all three of us unless we think creatively."
The pair are looking skeptical, but are listening.
"I'll sit on Toriza's lap, and Mimita will sit on mine." You suggest.
Toriza scowls at the idea, staying in her spot in the hot waterfall. Mimita laughs a bit and flips her robe off and onto your face. Before you can get it off, water is splashing and she's landed hard on your lap with no care for the shallowness of the water. As you get the robe off you see both the taunting face of the Hinezumi looking back at you and the angry face of the Jinko both looking at you.
"You're a comfy seat! You know who is on top at this temple!" Mimita bragged, leaning back into you like you were really a chair. You're thankful her flames aren't on, as she's already hotter than the water. "Just watch your hands, if you know what's good for you."
You keep your arms and hands out of the water, for now. Toriza is still glaring down at the pair of you, Mimita starting to talk more.
"Sure, my sparring record with this kitty here is about even, but she couldn't get a man if she tried! She has by the way. Always scares em off on the first date. Kind of pathetic. I have standards though, I want someone that can actually beat me! Nobody has come close yet." She prattled on, seemingly just to taunt the angry tiger more.
"But hey, just because you don't stand a chance doesn't mean you don't need to try. You might actually improve! I mean, I was a master two years before you!" Mimita laughs, crossing her legs and enjoying her seat on your lap.
You let Toriza go, it'll calm the situation down better than trying to keep her there. The rat is getting hard to ignore too, despite your mental training. Once she is gone, Mimita looked back at you while staying in her spot.
"She's way too straight-laced, never could take a joke. Probably why we don't get along. Can't even take a loss well when she fights me!" She chuckles, wiggling in her spot to 'get comfy'.
You can't help but respond to it, you were already holding back. Before long you're standing at attention between her teasing rump.
You're having trouble holding back now, so suggest a fight with the rat. Somewhat in joke. She looks a bit serious, raising a brow at you.
"Sure about that?" She asks.
"Why wouldn't I be? It'll be hard sparring."
She grins some more before flipping backwards in a quick motion, feet hitting your face before she bounces off of it and lands back on them on the path to the spring.
"Come and get me then!" She taunts, running down it without a care for her nudity.
You get up and start to chase her, the rat taking a path across the stream by jumping from stone to stone to get to the other side where there is open space first. You move to chase her, focusing on the water to make solid footholds to run across instead. You cut her off with ease, forcing her to fight over the flowing water on the rocks while you have no such disadvantage. She lets her flames out while grinning, the white flames making you feel the heat already. You don't want to get close and keep a distance, getting to the solid ground to shift focus to swinging solid whips of the water at her as she dodges the strikes with nimble leaps and seeks to get closer. Despite your efforts, you don't hit her, and she reaches the short. A few layers of feints later and she nails you in the chest with a leaping kick, knocking you back on the stones. The fire is getting to you from the first hit, not making your erection easier as it fires you up.
Toriza finally stands up and moves to leave before she actually attacks the mouse, Mimita watching with a cocky grin of victory.
As you get up you see her ready to continue in front of you, cocky grin still on her face. Toriza is watching from a ledge above where the two of you were, showing interest in the sparring. As is the apprentices down below, who are already cheering for either one of you. The advantage is hers, and she's waiting for you to do something stupid. You can sense the well behind you, with a bucket next to it. Another meditating garden with some tools left nearby is behind you. Or you could just attempt to use the flowing water against her again. There may be yet other strategies too. You won't win head-on though.
You need to keep some distance from that flame. As quick as you can you leap back and roll into the wooden hoe, swinging it up like a pole arm. Your quick swings keep Mimita away from you as she dodges the strikes, but you're not gaining distance this way. You are forcing her to block,on occasion.
But even as she flips and dodges around you, it becomes apparent something is wrong. You pause a moment to see the hoe has caught fire from when she was blocking. And she's got her cocky grin back now that you've realized her plan. You use the only other weapon you can think of and use the burning pole to leap over her and try to grab the bucket with your focus in the air. A set of garden clips knocks it away and breaks your focus before you land, spilling the water all over the ground. She charges right after, her shortness making it hard to defend and dodge as her quick strikes meant more to affect you with her flame and break your focus. You won't be getting that water out of the well in this hectic mess. Your focus is already starting to fail.
You try and go on the offensive, snatching her tail and holding tight with a hand as you try and grab an ankle to keep her off balance. It earns you a roundhouse to the temple that knocks you next to the cliff that would let you fall into the pool below. As you stand up you see her in her ready position, still grinning, knowing how much her flame has aggravated your lust. Your next strategy will be a last ditch effort, but you're a bit short on time or resources. Gotta think outside the box.
You can only think of one last thing that may let you win. You chuckle and drop your stance, though Mimita stays ready for anything.
"You really are strong, just like I'd expect of a master. Looks like you wi-"
Your focus lets you catch the quick lunging kick she tries to knock you up and over the edge with, surprising the rat when you were ready for the swift attack. You use the motion to flip her up as you turn towards the edge, wrapping an arm around her waist and jumping over. She tries to pull free but it wouldn't matter anyways, you both land in the hot water below and go below into the drink. The force of the fall and her struggles knocks her out of your hold once you two splash down, a flurry of bubbles steaming out of her as she the water boils around her. You have a choice to make though, now that you have the chance. You could regain your focus, now that you're in the hot water and she'll seek to escape to regain a bit of her fire. Or you could press for advantage and reach the surface first, using what little focus you have left to try and keep her in the shallow water to keep the flames away. Of course, you could attempt to grapple her underwater while she has less breath and focus training than you. She may get close to drowning, but if she concedes then it's still a win. It may be hard holding onto someone with more training at holds and escape than you, and you'll tire yourself out as well.
You need to regain your focus, her flames have done a number on you and you've resisted other Hinezumi flames before. As she rushes to the surface you take the serenity and center yourself, bringing down your arousal and making your mind clear. By the time you get up to the surface, floating up out and standing on top she had already started to gloat at the edge of the hot water. She gets ready for the fight to continue, getting into a stance but being ready to retreat. You're focused enough to stay on the water and attack from afar now.
You use the focus you gained to affect the tree behind her, bending it back before letting it swing at her legs. She realizes too late and nearly falls to her rump, quick reflexes saving her as she starts to run towards the path to get above you on top of the waterfall to gain the higher ground and break sight with you. It's not easy for her, you use your focus to trip her up and make stones come loose under her feet. As one rock comes down and hits her belly she rolls backwards and falls behind a ledge, branches cracking and rustling around her. After that there is no movement and the area is quiet, it being up to you to check on your win. The fight seems over, but something is telling you to be careful.
You're not some fool. You stay where you are and close your eyes to focus further. Looking for her. You see the spot she should have landed, but she is not there. The rock that hit her is. You try and find her, spreading out your search. You can't check a wide area well, all it gives you is sight from all angles. She's somewhere out there, but is taking to the element of surprise. There is nothing for a while as you two stay in stalemate, and searching specific spots shows you nothing. Nobody else sees her too. When it comes at you, there is no time to react as an arrow with a blunt metal end flies from the bushes and nails you right in the mind chakra of your forehead. The shock while you are focusing shatters your focus, and the second blunt arrow comes as you're reeling to seal the win for Mimita as you're knocked out cold.

You wake up with a pounding in your head and a soothing feeling on the outside. A groan later and you're opening your eyes to see the dim lantern light of your room, a light above you keeping you from seeing Himizu until you sit up. Looks like you lost.
"You shouldn't try and move too much, it'll take some rest to recover your energies." Himizu huffed, pushing you back down with her small clawed hand. "Fighting on the same day you get here, like they didn't do it enough already against each other! A-and naked too..." She blushed, the light returning as she kept healing your pounding head. "It's i-indecent!"
You ask how you lost, the ryu answering after a moment.
"She snuck to the armory and came back with training arrows. Shot from the bushes. She practices with ranged weapons a lot."
Well, shit.
Well, you don't want to see the rat right now. You consider what to do as the ache goes away, Himizu eventually stopping her healing once she sensed that.
"No more fighting for a while! I'll punish you if you do! Sparring is okay, but no fights!" Himizu urges, showing concern for you.
You agree, don't want to go through that again. She nods and leaves once she has your word, closing the door behind her to leave you alone. Well, you got a feeling for what Mimita is like now. May as well speak with the grumpier master now. Surely that isn't a bad idea with the sun setting.
You get up and notice you're already dressed, likely at Himizu's request. You're not sure where Toriza's room is, but it shouldn't be too far. You head out hoping not to run into the gloating rat, searching for someone to ask for directions. Before you find anyone you find yourself lost, somewhere in the outer halls. A cracking sound attracts your attention though.
A short search for the sound finds you outside, among the taller trees on the side of the mountain. It doesn't take you long to find Toriza in her old outfit slamming her open palm into a tree. And shaking the whole thing each time. As sweat flies off of her. You're glad you didn't spar with her. You head over and wait for her to notice you though, but with her back to you and her focus on training she isn't going to know you're there unless you do something about it.
You're feeling too much like shit to try and disturb her. You find a comfortable place to sit against a tree and watch her while you half-meditate. She keeps on hitting the tree in the same manner, with the same perfect form for an hour. You're glad she isn't pointing out the mistakes you made in that fight you had with the rat. You can think of plenty. That arrow was a real dirty trick, even by her style. But it wasn't out of bounds.
After an hour longer of her practicing she stops and takes some deep breaths to get herself calm, only noticing you as she turns around. She frowns a little but doesn't ignore you as she wipes her brow with the fur of one of her paws.
"You're slow."
Is that the only criticism she has of that fight?
"Left yourself too open at the end. Chasing is better."
Of course not.
"Train with Himizu. If you focus enough you can ignore her flames. Has weak arms. Only kicks hurt, with wide attacks."
Wait, she's giving you advice. You ask why she even thinks you deserve it, her stoic face not changing. Maybe you need to go to the mountains alone for a few months.
"Can't. Need you here in case warlord attacks."
Well, that makes sense.
"You're not as dirty. She enjoys being dirty. You just use openings. I can't think fast, so I move fast. I don't dislike her style. Just her."
She seems to be a bit friendlier than before. Maybe fighting Mimita made her this way.
"She still has a bruise from the rock. Hehe."
Was she trying to laugh there? Her face hardly changed expression at all.
She starts to move past you after this, not saying a thing as she heads back into the temple. You could always follow her, you're sensing that's alright. Or you could take her advice and set up training with Himizu.
Or you could go find the rat and taunt her over the bruise. Probably not the best idea though. Maybe you should just get some sleep in a bed for a while.
You decide to follow Toriza, to see what she is going to be up to. If she's going to bed you'll just have to head to your own room anyways.
The jinko takes a trip to the well for some water and to splash some water over herself to clean the sweat off first, not caring about the dripping wet outfit she was wearing after. She walked someplace else after that, drying on the way, not minding your hovering while moving along. She made no attempt at conversation though.
After a long walk you find yourself where the temple's orphans are housed. It's a lot like the room you shared with others growing up, but smaller and with less beds on the ground.
Toriza chuffs as she heads inside, to your surprise. And is greeted by all of the children at once, all five crowding around her before she pulls that all into a tight hug with more chuffs while lifting them up off the ground with ease, carrying them towards the center of the room.
This was unexpected. She's the temple's caretaker for the youth. She sits down with them and takes a book one of them brought to her, opening it to a place to start reading in her simple monotone way.
You smile and move in to sit down with the group, staying quiet as you let Toriza read to the group. They're all transfixed with the story, but as time passes they start falling asleep listening to it. Before too long all of the kids are asleep and Toriza stops. She chuffs and strokes some of their heads, a warm smile creeping onto her normally stoic face.
You help to tuck all the youngsters in, letting her handle the little Shirohebi girl since you'd drag the tail. Once they're all tucked in she looks at you with her normal stoic face before ruffling your head, moving away on her own while yawning. She's tired too.
You decide to head off towards bed but catch Himizu in the hall as you move along. She isn't impressed that you're walking about, but gets happier when she hears you want to train your focus with her. She tells you to be ready first thing in the morning before heading away, humming to herself as she does. You head off towards bed, hoping that things won't stay this crazy every day you're here.

You wake up with a start when you feel a sharp pinch to your side, sitting up to see that Himizu is there to wake you up. The sun has barely started to rise at all, but she's already looking a bit annoyed with you.
"Come on anon, we need to start the training!"
You yawn and get up, realizing you won't be getting breakfast first as she heads outside in the most direct route. You follow her, having no chance to retort on the way to a special meditating garden with a large stone in the center of raked sand with evenly placed, orb-like stones polished till they shined. You are about to question her, before the young ryu flicks a finger and you have to catch an unpolished stone from the outside circle in your hands.
"This training is simple, you'll be polishing that stone down with the sand! But you need to stay on the stone in the center to do it. And the stone cannot touch the ground."
That sounds rather tough, but she just giggles and smiles at you.
"You're at about this level, you haven't been slacking off training have you?"
Maybe a bit, but you don't admit it.
Nonetheless you get up onto the stone with a jump before trying to sit cross legged. You find that it has a very dull point, making it hard to sit without supporting yourself with your focus. Himizu watches as you do so and gather your focus, hovering the stone in front of you but struggling to bring any sand up to polish it. Two things is about your limit.
Himizu keeps up the instruction, but she's a novice at it and has to correct herself at times. You drop the stone and fall off the rock several times before she gets annoyed with you, never really sounding that angry.
"Stay here till you get it!... or till noon. Our meal is then." She informs you, moving away to calm herself down as you keep trying to do the practice. She isn't here, you could just sneak away and do something else.
That last fight you had was pathetic, you don't want a repeat of it. Especially in real combat. You'll stay as long as it takes to get it. Making sure to remember Himizu's instruction you attempt the task and start to get the hang of it once the sun is halfway up the sky, ignoring the occasional passerby as you meditate.
By the time noon comes around you're at least hovering the three things at once, and are working on moving the sand around the stone but can't exert the force you need to actually make it smooth out the stone.
Your training is cut short Himizu comes 'running', a whine in her voice as she calls your name. It snaps you out of your focus and all three things fall down, yourself landing in the sand.
Himizu doesn't care and tries to pull you up and drag you, helping you to stand up before you start walking on your own. You ask what is going on, Himizu not looking back as she hurries you along.
"We were supposed to get our supplies in today, but one of the disciples we sent to get it came back saying the town it passes through has been taken over by the warlord's forces! The nineteen others have been captured!"
Well, that isn't good. Lucky you, it's only the second day here.
You're rushed into the main hall where the students are talking and gossiping in worry. Toriza and Mimita stop arguing in front of the spooked panda girl sitting where your seat is, eating your lunch. They look over at you as you're brought over, Himizu moving about around the table in worry.
Since you're there you ask for the situation, the panda girl keeping to her eating.
"A hundred strong. Two officers. Confirmed mantis, possible centaur. Ten p'orcs with nine large mice each. Holding town hostage. Only source of supplies. Only enough food for five more days." Toriza explained, Mimita frowning at you a bit before standing on her chair
"We need to send out forces to reclaim it! Those officers aren't masters, but the centaur has some sort of power. Anytime one of the female students get close to her they end up getting controlled or something! We haven't seen her before, we just heard from a Kunoichi we had hired until she stopped coming back." Mimita explained, holding out her bowl of rice that had half of it still in it, chopsticks on top.
You take the food and start eating, Himizu whining a bit. "So, you need to go but we can't decide which other master to keep here in case it's a diversion! I can't leave on mother's orders, and we need a master to help protect me!"
So, you're the tiebreaker.
"Two days on foot. One on horse. Only twenty horses. Can take forty to fight if we don't use them." Toriza added.
You're choosing the form of locomotion as well, huh?
They look at you expectantly, waiting for your decision. They must trust you a bit if they're making you choose.
Speed isn't as much of the essence, there is a day to spare. Maybe longer if they ration and hunt. You'd rather have more forces, as twenty on one still lost against the warlord's force. Mimita would be able to avoid the centaur's magic better, and you know her moves better.
You inform the group of your decision and Himizu nods before casting a ball of light into you and Mimita. Wards of protection.
"Those should help you against any magic you face off, but I can't use it on everybody. I'll get who I can but I need to save some of my strength just in case." Himizu states, moving towards the students to start picking out the thirty eight that would go with the masters.
Toriza stays stoic but seems bothered by the decision, turning and heading away. "I'll get the supplies ready."
You need to go get your own supplies from your residence, and start to head off. You realize that Mimita is following you with a grin on her face as you finish the food.
"I used those chopsticks you know." She teases you, though you don't respond as you find your way to your place. You pack light with the essentials, placing the empty bowl down while Mimita hovers.
"You almost won yesterday you know. SO close! You'll do it next time, won't you?" She teases some more, almost getting a reaction out of you.
"Come on, don't be like that! I was pretty impressed! Though, now some students are calling you 'senior sitting duck' but I didn't start that."
Finished getting your traveling shoes on you stand up and ask if she needs to get anything for the trip, your earlier training keeping you calm.
"I suppose I should get my weapons. Want to know where my room is? I can show you, in case you get lonely after this is all over." She grins up at you as you pause at your room's door.
There isn't any harm in doing so, you agree to it but decide to try and have some fun with the rat. You ask why she's trying her best to cheer you up, seems odd for the victor. She starts to lead the way as she responds.
"I'm impressed is all! Nobody has come that close to beating me before!"
"So, you want someone to beat you?" You ask.
She hesitates, but answers anyways. "I really do want someone that can beat me, but you've gotten the farthest. If you train a bit harder you might actually do it! Not if you slack off though!" She laughs.
It's not far to her room, and she opens it up with pride. The place is rather bare, she keeps it really tidy. Ink paintings are hung from the walls that she's done herself, the practice showing. The rat hurries to a chest and opens it up, leaning over to give you a teasing near look at what undergarments she wears under that white mist valley dress. When she stands up with her things, the grin tells you it was very on purpose.
"So, you want ME to beat you?"
She laughs again as she gets some more things for the short trip together, packing just as light as you. "Don't flatter yourself! You're a good choice, but you need some work still."
She's a bit hard to get under the skin of. She passes by you with her weapons inside her bag, cocky grin returning.
"You've been all over me since I arrived though, besides the dinner." You joke, turning to see her paused and grumbling towards you a bit. "And you've pretty much invited me to your bed."
"Nevermind that! We gotta hit the road!" She huffs, moving off quick with no intention to lead you to the temple gates. You know the way anyways, but are happy and grinning that you got at least one good shot in.
You head off after her but she ran once she rounded the corner, leaving you behind. You save your strength and get to the gates where the other warriors you would be fighting with are gathering, not having to wait long before they're all ready to hit the road.
You let Mimita take the lead, and accept the rations that are given to you by Himizu and Toriza before you leave. The rat knows the way and takes you down a well kept road with the students following behind at a brisk pace, stopping for a break at wells and streams to get water and keep the pace going for longer.
You trade more teases with her on the road, though after a while focus on just keeping the jogging pace going. You make good time when you reach a good camping place for the night, an old shrine that Mimita knew about off the road that isn't in use.
You get one of the fires going and start to cook the rice that you brought with you to share with your group, but notice that Mimita is checking the surroundings out even while food is cooking. She's been diligent for a while, stopping the teasing at that point. She's almost being dependable.
After eating and a night of rest you continue along the path, and it's surprising that Mimita gets you there by noon through the use of a foot path that she knew of that was again off the path. You ask if she knows the area and she only replies with a cheek "Of course!".
Arriving at the town, you look at the small collection of buildings at the edge of some farm land. There are ten foot walls of wood surrounding it, and you can see large mice lookouts peeking over it from the angle on the wooded hill you are surveying from. The town center has the lightly armored centaur, too big to miss, though you can't make out what weapons she has. Small patrols move around the outside, though half are missing and likely having fun with the men of the village. It's up to you to decide the plan of attack. Waiting till night may help you, but you risk being found. A sudden attack on the gates may catch them off guard, but taking the risk of sneaking inside and finding your captured forced may help you more. There may be another strategy though.
Your forces need a rest, and the ones in the town are poorly trained. If they attempt to engage in the forest, if they even find you, they'll be at a disadvantage. You can't cook food without alerting them, but have some fruit to gain strength. Mimita scouts with a small group and returns with the patterns and location of the prisoners. A plan is made shortly, and you wait until it's dark to carry it out.
First, you capture one of the patrolling groups outside of the fence. You pick one that isn't doing it's job well, and get them all tied and bound within moments before pulling them into the bushes.
You take the gag off the orc and begin the interrogating while she's still scared. You ask for information on the plans inside the village, and she spills after some threats. Definitely not well trained.
"Th-the second in command is waiting for an attack! The prisoners are tied up but she's already used her magic on them! She expects you to get them and get ambushed! Please don't hurt me!" She whines, getting the gag put back on. The prisoners won't be helping you, it'll be forty on a hundred nineteen, if you let the prisoners go. You should still capture the building first to prevent reinforcements from controlled friendlies. Besides that the plan stays.
You take twenty of the students with you and let Mimita take fifteen, five being tasked with starting a fire at the signal to add to the diversion and split the forces.
When the others in your group are hidden in the bushes near the front gate and the others are in place you head up alone in plain view of the guards. The gate is made of logs tied together with rope, and can be seen through but not passed through, besides by the mice. They are nervous, your outfit intimidating them. You ask to speak with their leader and one runs off to get her, and soon enough they bring the centaur back.
Soon enough the centaur trots up by stops just outside the closed gate to size you up. She has a black coat, robes, and armor ornamented in gold. An army style helmet with a crescent is on her head, but her face looks western. Oddly, there are two horns poking up out of the helmet. You're not sure if they're real.
"And what do you want? Are you with the temple?" She asks, seeming annoyed at the sight of you.
"I want to speak with you outside, come to a truce." You inform her. Mimita is likely already snuck inside and moving.
She paces at the gate, still staring at you for a minute. She has a polearm and bow, with a quiver on her human back. You realize she isn't falling for it when she draws the bow with an arrow, and despite your attempt to snap the string something stops you. The arrow flies through the gaps and leaves a trail of magic in it's wake, horns crackling with the same, and you can't divert it with your focus in time. The charm on you shatters when the arrow hits, the arrow itself bouncing off and into the ground.
Seeing the ruse is over you call for the others to attack, the group on the fire duty starting to set the flames at the same time. With the gate down it'll be hard to get inside, and the 'centaur' is already drawing her bow again as you move out of the way. It flies past with a crackle again, but the Striking Dragon students rush up all at once and smash through the wood to make the gate begin to all apart. The centaur turns and starts to gallop to gain distance, you and your forces rushing in to be met with half the opposing forces to your twenty. She's heading towards Mimita though.
You can't let her get near Mimita! You trust the students and push past the weaklings in front with some swift throws on those that try and stop you, but the centaur is already gaining good distance. You focus hard and send one of the spears of a mouse near her to the side, causing her to trip when she wasn't expecting it. She's having trouble getting up as you hurry towards her, but don't want to fight head on. She's stronger, has better reach, and you can't throw a horse. You take to the buildings and alleyways, keeping your focus up to control the spear from afar to hold her back. She tires of that and takes her pole arm out, breaking it in half with one stroke before attempting to pick up speed again. You focus on a horseshoe and make her trip again, knocking off her helmet as you spy on her from the darkness of an alleyway.
The centaur is not happy as they get up, horns definitely a part of her head as they didn't come off with the helmet. The sound of fighting is coming from the other side of the small town, but the centaur isn't trying to flee now. She takes her bow out and prepares an arrow, looking around to try and find you. Looks like the fight is in your court this time, the mice and p'orcs occupied on either end of the city with the more skilled opponents.
You search for something to use against her, still not wanting to fight her close up. You have an idea however, and figure if you can get on her horse back there is little she can do. Or you could just toss buckets, ladders, and stray weapons at her until she's beaten. That may take a while, but your forces know to keep a distance from her.
The fire has spread to one of the houses nearby, making hiding harder but giving you an idea. You could drop a pillar onto her, if you lure her into the right spot. It may kill her, but you don't know if that'll release her spell on the captured students.
Best course of action is to get onto her back, it'll prevent her from fleeing anyways. You move a bucket with your focus and drop it onto her head without warning. The distraction surprises her and she drops her bow, rearing up a bit before coming back to her feet. By then you are already jumping onto her back, grabbing onto her horns with one hand for balance as you pull the broken spear into your hand and bring it up to her throat as she drops the bucket and freezes.
"Don't try anything, release that spell."
She's fidgeting from the hand on her horn, and the magic is reacting to your touch.
"A-alright, but you should let go."
You don't do it, and reinforce the threat. She seems to be having trouble, but without warning the magic in her horns discharges against her will. You're thrown off her back as she falls down, also affected by the shock. You recover first and stand up, but can hear some battlecries as you stand up. The prisoners are tree, and with the villages helping are overpowering the enemy forces. The battle is won and their commander is having trouble getting to her feet.
"Geez, never heard of a bicorn before?" She asks, looking back before grinning when she sees something behind you. You focus there to see what it is, and duck just before a mantis blade can hit your neck, ducking under it. The mantis keeps going and swings around to get between you and the bicorn, who has regained enough strength to get to her hooves.
"Go, you... can't be... captured." The mantis pants. She's been having fun with Mimita, she's bruised and has a chipped blade already. There is a telltale set of burns on her cloth as well. Must have noticed the prisoners being released from the spell. Nearly beaten, but it'll be tricky getting past her before the bicorn takes off.
The bicorn nods and steels herself, looking towards the side exit that is through the flames. You won't be able to follow her through there and she knows it.
Before you can think of a plan the mantis lunges at you, swinging her arm blades at you as quick as her tired body can manage. You can dodge them well, but your focus can't follow the fleeing horse as she charges straight past the burning buildings to get away. And Mimita can't get her.
You managed to trip up the mantis and drive her into the ground with a pin, she isn't able to fight back. You could snap her neck and chase after the bicorn before she gets too far to chase, she's still weak. Or you could keep this one to interrogate. She won't get away unless you let her. Mimita is on her way though, you can see her.
You keep her pinned, but you hear Mimita yelling something as she runs. She gets close enough for you to hear soon enough, listening carefully.
"SPEAR IN THE LEG!!!"
It takes you a moment to realize what she means but you pick up the broken spear and stab it into the mantis's leg. With her unable to run you get off her and run towards the gate you can flee out of, passing Mimita as she heads the other way towards the mantis to keep her down. You get out of the town and see the bicorn in the distance, but she's just out of range of your serene ryu techniques. You attempt to run her down and catch her bu she's galloping before too long and leaves you in the dust, and after that you are forced to give up. You return down the road to the town afterwards, the fires being put out, and any of the mice or p'orcs that didn't run are tied up in the ropes the hostages were in, being stored in the same building. The mantis is wrapped in rope too, some to keep her blades trapped and the rest to keep her arms bound behind her back. You help Mimita drag her to somewhere else, not wanting her to make a plan with the forces you caught, the mantis already taking a stance of not talking. Interrogation is going to be fun, you think with sarcasm.

After spending the night in the remains of the village, you make sure the mantis is secure while your students get the supplies ready. There are too many enemies to keep prisoner at the temple, so you let the village hold onto them until the army comes by to take them away. The mantis isn't talking, and it's unlikely a counterattack will happen before then. It'll still take time to wear down the mantis and get her to crack.
You get the mantis in a metal prisoner cage with her arms still tied up, to keep her from escaping, and are glad that you can relax on the supply cart on the way back. As you're getting the horses attached to one of the ten carts full of food, Mimita giggles and jumps into the driver seat next to where you'll be sitting.
"Hope you don't mind me traveling with you! I wanna keep an eye on the mantis in front of us too." She lies, leaning back on the wood as you look at her. A night's sleep seems to have helped her recover well, she was exhausted before. Still has some of the light cuts from near misses from the mantis.
You don't see the harm in it and get up onto the seat as the rest of the line of carts and the students driving, riding, or guarding them start to move off. Mimita could lead the way better, but you're happy to have the company on the trip back. It'll be walking pace anyways. After you sit down, Mimita gets onto your lap and lets you take the reins, grinning up at you.
"Hope you don't mind, you're comfier than the wood."
You could tell her to lead the line to keep them on the right path, she did lead the way here. Or at least get her off your lap, she's sounding a bit cocky about it as the packed dirt road bumps and rumbles along.
You don't see any harm in leaving the mouse on your lap for the trip, as long as she's behaving. She grins and leans back into you when you agree, letting you keep the cart on track.
"Thanks anon! I don't want a sore bottom when I get back to the temple."
You keep the thought on how she might still get one to yourself as you lean back against the wood yourself, keeping an eye on the mantis in the cage. The mantis is watching the pair of you, not having given up on escaping even with her injured leg.
Things stay quiet for about an hour before Mimita speaks again, seeing the dark clouds gathering in the distance ahead.
"Looks like a storm is coming in. I hope we get to that small temple before it hits."
So, she doesn't like storms then? You always found them relaxing, due to the pounding rain on roof noises.
"You really like them?! Nevermind the rain, I just don't like them!" She complains, shifting in the seat and rubbing up against you in the process.
And why is that, you ask.
"It's all wet for one! That's all I have to say about it!" She huffs, seeking to change the subject quick.
"So, what do you think of Toriza anyways? I know you watched her training for a bit after our fight."
"Toriza is a bit moody, and quiet. But she's skilled, commendable, insightful, and gave me advice for our next fight."
Mimita grumbles a bit when she hears you speaking well of Toriza, shifting in her seat on purpose this time to rub up against your lap before looking out to the side.
"Well, alright. She can be pretty useful in a fight, I guess." Mimita admits, sounding annoyed with your opinion.
She stays silent for a few minutes before speaking up again, turning to the side and putting an arm on your shoulder as she looks right at your face.
"You should train with Himizu more. I can handle anything Toriza can do, even if our sparring scores are even! It's not even your style! You could train with me too if you wanted though." She suggests.
Well, it sounds like you should train with Himizu then, you joke.
"Well, it wouldn't be as fun as training with me. You don't use enough hidden tengu, and stay at long range. It's safer, but you'd be faster if you got close and made all the things that could go wrong happen with the ryu skills!" She retorts.
She really wants you to train with her, huh? You could definitely tease her more now, or just accept the offer to train with her.
"I don't know, it might be more fun to have ryu boosted punches by training with Toriza. The whole piercing the weak spot sounds like fun."
Mimita frowns, turning some more so she's straddling you with her firm legs and short mist valley style dress, making sure not to block your view of the road.
"Oi, you'd have to start from scratch there! It'd take ages for you to get good enough to beat me!"
She really wants you to beat her in combat, huh? You comment on that and cause her to blush.
"Hey, if someone is gonna do it you're not a bad option! There are worse ones!" She huffs and turns back around, returning to her original sitting position. The movement isn't helping you down there, and she knows it.
"Well, shouldn't you get to know your rival better then?" You ask.
"Rival?!" She asks in surprise, bursting out into honest laughter. She stops wiggling on your lap after a short time.
"Fine, you're a rival. And I wouldn't be opposed to getting to know you better, but you already told us your life story that first night." She chuckles.
Well, maybe if you train with her you two can learn more about each other. You catch her off guard, but she flips around and straddles you again with a serious look.
"You mean it? I'll be catching you off guard and teaching you more weapon techniques. Even at night, I'll try and surprise you with some sparring or practice."
Yes, you mean it. You might still train with the others a bit, but brushing up your hidden tengu skills would be useful.
The response makes her gain a big grin, and she turns around and relaxes back into you again. This mouse just can't pick a way to sit.
The trip is calm for a bit after that. You chat with Mimita about how she knows the area, and it turns out she grew up in the temple. She didn't want to work on a farm like her mother did, after having lost a drunken bar fight. Her parents were happy and still working though.
After not too long you reach the small abandoned temple you spent the night before last. Not a moment too soon, as the wind and chill is picking up with a the threat of rain approaching. The carts are covered in cloth and the horses put in shelter before the group starts setting up bedding for that night, packed close due to the limited space. When it's all ready, with the mantis under rotating watch, you head towards your own bed as thunder and pounding rain pelt the walls and roof of the old building. As you're getting into your bedding, you notice it smells odd. It smells like... the rat. The same perfume as her dress. She seems to have switched your bedrolls, though whether it was an accident or not is up to paranoia. You could go get your own bedding back, or just use what you have tonight.
You're tempted to go ask about it, but she probably just mixed the two up. She was being a bit manic about getting into bed for some odd reason. It's not so bad of a perfume anyways.

Morning comes with a peaceful sunshine and a damp, chilled air. The storm passed and left behind some muddy traveling ahead. You're up before most of the others, having had a really good night's sleep. The smell of perfume is following you even as the bedding is put away. Eventually, with breakfast passed and most of everyone up you have to go to try and wake up Mimita. She's sleeping in for some reason.
The mouse is fast asleep and isn't being roused even after you take her out of the bedding. You're not sure if she's faking it or not, but the signs point to no. With departure time coming, you have no choice but to pick her up and take her to your cart yourself. You set her down on your lap again though, not wanting her bumping around with the food in the back or falling off the side of the cart if you were to sit her against you. Her falling the other way could end badly if she woke up from it.
You set out and keep the sleeping rat stead as you travel, the mud making it take a bit longer than expected between each rest stop. You'll be arriving at night at your current pace. It's a bit boring though, but you could play around a bit with the vulnerable rat.
Well, no sense not having some fun. You want to leave her along, but are feeling like pranking her. You lean down to try and bring her skirt up so you can take those undergarments off, and manage to slip them off her legs by leaning forward.You stick them into your martial arts shirt to hide them away and reach with one hand for one of the breasts, and get a good feel in before your breath brushes against an ear. She squeaks and starts awake, making you retreat your hand as quick as you can back to the reins.
She doesn't realize anything though, blinking and yawning before she figures out where she is and looks up at you. You say good morning and she responds in kind.
"Sorry about that, couldn't get to sleep till that storm passed..." She yawned some more, trying her best to stay awake even as she pulled her dress down while none the wiser about the situation under it. "Can never sleep during them..."
Wait, it was the storm that made her stay up last night? You thought it was something else. You don't say anything though, but mention that you think she mixed up your bedrolls.
"I did? Who cares, they're just bedrolls. If you liked mine you can always nap in my room at the main temple though." She teases, waking up enough to get her usual personality back. "If you try it at night it'll lead to some impromptu training."
"I'll take you up on that offer sometime. You can come sleep in mine next time a storm hits, if you're so scared of them." You tease.
Her frowns up at you when you mention that, wiggling in the seat. It's getting hard to keep yourself down, even with your focus.
"Besides, you sleep like a log. I'd be able to do anything I want to you if I did some in at night." You add.
She grumbles a bit and looks back ahead, seeing where you are on the road. "I just stayed up too late last night, I'd pick up on a pin drop if I got to sleep on time!" She brags, though obviously that's not the case.
"Now, what do you mean by impromptu training?" You ask, the rat getting a bit annoyed at the teasing.
"Well, what is a nude girl going to do with a man in her room?" She asks in a suggestive tone. Your focus can't stop you now, and she has a cocky grin of victory from the stiff item in your pants now. You need to think of a different topic.
"You said that you and Toriza had an even record. How do those fights usually go?" You ask. Mimita thinks for a moment before answering.
"Well, she had trouble beating me for a while. But it evened out after she found out about my ea-" She stops, catching herself before she says anything else.
"Nevermind about that. I'm usually running from her and using whatever I can get my hands on. I can't beat her physically until I wear her out, and that takes hours."
That sounds about right. It'd take a lot to break through that wall of muscle directly. You're a bit curious about what Toriza found out about that gave her an advantage, but doubt that Mimita will glean any more information.
After some more chatting and a stop for dinner, you find yourself reaching the temple as light disappears fully.
You get the food put away in the storehouse and everyone heads to their beds for the night since it's so late.
When morning comes you get a bowl of food ready specially for Mimita however. Rice and some meat arranged into a triangle shape on top. You place it inside the door where she is sleeping with a note asking how she didn't notice all the way home and her undergarments she stole underneath. It takes a short time waiting outside before a loud yell comes from inside, the door being thrown open after a few seconds to find the rat red faced and angry.
"You asshole!! We're having another match tomorrow, I'm going to kick your ass!" She exclaims, slamming the door shut. She remembered that today she couldn't spar with you yet, that's surprising. But you need to go train now. Or you could go wash, you're still a bit dirty from yesterday and the mud puddles the horses went through on the trip.
You want to get a bath, you're filthy. You're also curious what that weak point is, though you do suspect one point. Well, two. Toriza knows what it is, and you want to greet her after the long time away from the temple.
You head to the jinko's room and knock, not wanting to catch her nude. Would she even be embarrassed by that? Either way, she takes a few moments before opening the door. You almost don't recognize her.
Toriza has had her hair trimmed, it's still long but looks less wild. She's wearing a mist valley style dress as well, colored black to match the prominent stripes. She seems a tad embarrassed through her stoic expression though.
"Himizu suggested it. Don't really like it." She admits, breaking the odd moment. You suggest bathing and the sparring advice, and she just nods before closing the door.
"Meet there."
Understanding, you head off to get to the bathing area near the waterfall. Mimita may be in the hidden spot though, and you need Toriza to find you. You look and head up the rocks to find a pool above the waterfall before seeing someone occupying one that would be perfect. It looks like Himizu, and you can hear Mimita chatting away at her. She still sounds upset, but the hidden spot is open.
You decide to wait for Toriza, you can press Himizu for the content of their chatting later. It would be wrong to eavesdrop anyways, right? You go to the entrance of the hidden pool and look back, waiting until Toriza sees you to head in and get your dirty robe off and get into the water. You scrub yourself down while she heads up, moving in and taking her robe off herself as well before getting into the water to share it. There is barely room for two, but she is sitting in the waterfall feeding the pool to give you more.
She doesn't say anything for a long time, even after you're clean. You just end up staring at each other until you start to speak, but stop when you realize you can hear the pair above you a bit. Only bits and pieces, but it sounds like Mimita is making sure Himizu is alright with the match happening formally. Almost gleefully.
You could listen longer but Toriza speaks up, getting impatient.
"Need advice to beat rat?" She asks. Her ears are better, is probably getting the whole conversation above.
Yes, it would be nice.
"What will you do if you win?" Toriza asks.
You ask what she means.
"If win,become husband. Unless resist flames. Able to without water?" She asks.
You're not sure, but would try. You're not about to choose yet. Maybe.
She seems alright with that answer, and asks what sort of advice you want, as she isn't sure which you need after her advice last time.
You ask about what openings Mimita has first, and what things to look out for in a more formal match with her. Toriza thinks for a moment before answering.
"Kicks, watch for them. Weapons in formal match. Good with those too. Prefers light ones. Always kicks wide. If expected, open for a second. Goes down easy, but recovers quick."
That all sounds very much like the rat, but you're still curious. You ask about how she herself fights Mimita, the flames must be a problem. And Striking ryu is weak against weapons.
"Chase, don't stop attack. Try to get weak point if possible. Guards well. Strike weapons away. Ignore attacks. Block kicks, counter. Keep chasing."
Rather straightforward, just like Toriza. You ask about the weak point next, hoping it's something you can use. You tell her you suspect it's the ears.
"Ears weak. Pinch between pads, get win. Keep stroking, squirms. Satisfying." She lets out another 'hehehe' laugh, grinning slightly at the memory of one of her wins. Seems the ears at an easy win button. You ask how hard she pinches though, you don't want to waste the chance if you can use it. She holds her paw out for you, and you realize from the pinching motion she intends to let you feel it. You move a hand forwards and let her pinch your hand. It's not hard, but a good pressure. She must be holding back her true strength. Means you can match it. You can't help complimenting the unique fur as you raise another hand though, feeling the fur and making the tiger tense up a bit as you hold onto her paw. You ask if her mother had the same coat.
"No. Just me." She admits, face turning a tad red from the touching as she tries to hide the mild discomfort.
"It's a pretty coat. You keep it really shiny too." You comment, the stoic Jinko not taking her paw back yet as you hold onto it to inspect the fur closer. She's looking rather embarrassed from the compliments though.
"Why are you being shy about it, it's a nice coat."
She takes her paw back and looks down, not sure how to respond to it.
"Th-thank you." She mutters out. Seems she's very weak to this sort of thing. Guess nobody else has ever tried it.
You ask to see her paw again and she gives it after a hesitant moment, allowing you to feel the pads and between the fingers of it even as her face stays red. You ask her to unsheath the claws after, having never gotten the chance to look at a Jinko's paw this close before. She complies without complaint. Admiring the claws, you feel one of them and find they have hardly been used. She must not need to use them in a fight. Or chooses not to.
She takes her paw back again and gathers her robe as she walks in a hurry out of the bath.
"Those claws were lovely."
She pauses and glances back at you, surprised by the final comment before turning away and giving a chuff as she retreats, leaving you alone in the pool once Toriza has departed. She's really soft under that iron hard shell.
You're rather clean now though, and starting to prune. It's about time to get to training, but you still need to interrogate the mantis. It's not really urgent, and you may not be needed for that though. You have a rather tough match to look forward to tomorrow anyways.
You decide to get some training in first, and head out of the spring to go get dressed. The trip to your room and to the rock is uneventful, and you begin to focus on doing the task. You're starting to get the hang of it after a while, before you hear some yelling from a building nearby. It distracts you, and makes you tumble to the sand. Well, you got a few hours of practice in.
Curious, you go and find where the yelling is coming from. The building is the one that you took the mantis to last night, something that was reserved for prisoners. You peek in the metal barred door and see what is going on. Himizu and Toriza are there trying to interrogate the mantis, Toriza holding the chair she is tied upside down and Himizu trying to get the mantis to talk. You eavesdrop a bit, but it doesn't seem to be going well.
"Tell us what you know!" Himizu yells, having lost her temper already and out of arguments.
The mantis just stays quiet and stares into space.
"Alright, if she won't talk we'll have to do that! Spin the chair!"
Toriza nods, keeping the chair upside down as she starts to spin around. She does this for several minutes before stopping, wobbling on her feet and having to sit down, setting the mantis that hadn't been affected sideways on the ground.
"Liked that, huh? Where is that fortress?! Who else works with you?!" Himizu asks again.
The mantis just stares into space.
This is getting hard to watch, so you stand up and knock on the bars. Himizu looks over, still looking annoyed and angry. You tell her you're there to help, and she hurries over to let you in before locking the door behind you.
You head in and stand the chair up, Toriza still too dizzy to do it herself. The mantis does nothing, she won't listen easy.

Well, whatever these two are doing isn't working. You tell Himizu to go meditate and cool down, the mantis isn't going anywhere. She agrees readily, and whispers the secret to opening the lock of the door. It uses serene ryu technique to move the hidden mechanisms, which are a bit of a puzzle. Simple once you know the secret.
The ryu departs, still muttering mild annoyances that might be tortures to a five year old while leaving. Toriza stands up, and you whisper to her to follow your lead, and do what you say without speaking. You have a plan.
You sit down cross legged in front of the Mantis, getting below her line of sight.
"Sorry if those two were rude with you. You're not hungry, are you?" You ask.
The mantis doesn't respond.
"I guess they fed you, huh? Don't worry, we won't hurt you. Well, Toriza sometimes can't hold herself back." You state, Toriza already knowing you're lying as she moved behind the chair and puts her paws on the mantis's shoulders.
"She just hasn't done anything bad since she respects Himizu so much. I just got here though, I can't control her so much."
You stand up and move the strong paws from the shoulders, putting a hand on hers to which she glares at you in protest. She doesn't like you touching her. You could use that.
"If you just tell us what we want to know, we can leave you alone nice and peaceful. That's better than letting her play with you. I could always get the hinezumi you fought in here too. Didn't she chip your arm blade?"
She turns her face away from you. You may need to change tactics.
>>12715662

Threats won't work on her, and you look at Toriza before back at the mantis. You ask Toriza to leave you alone with her for a bit, to see if you can do something about it. She hesitates, but you whisper that any threat she poses has been eliminated by Himizu. The jinko nods and moves out after you open the door for her, closing it after.
With you alone with the mantis to apologize for the rough treatment, hoping she cracks a smile. No dice. You move on, approaching her and looming over the mantis.
"Since you're not talking, I'll have to bring out some real nasty techniques. Maybe a hot poker? I could stop your heart for a few seconds. No, I think I have a better idea." You grin, raising a hand as she sweats a bit.
You grab onto one of her antennae, smiling the whole time as you rub it and the mantis starts squirming in part surprise, part stimulation as she stifles her voice.
"So, what's motivating you so well you serve so loyally? Do you have a husband? You must love him  a lot to put up with this."
You take the other one, rolling the pair between your fingers as she squirms and squints.
"Stop it already!" She yelled, snarling at you. "My husband is the lord!"
"But the lord is looking to marry Himizu, isn't he?"
"We're all his wives! He loves us all! The second in command is his favorite, but we are all loyal to him!"
Well, that's surprising. The centaur is his top wife, from how it sounds.
"How does such a thing work? Don't women want their man loyal?" You ask, assaulting the antennae more.
"He makes us all his women! The head wife takes away the jealousy! Quit doing such an obscene thing!" She spits at your face, nearly hitting you before you dodge and let go. This technique is effective, even if the mantis is now scowling, red faced, and fidgeting. You resume.
Taking hold of both antennae again you rub them some more, intending to get more answers.
"Do you know what a bicorn is then? How do you counter it's magic?" You ask.
You don't get an answer as the mantis tenses up through her whole body and shakes, before drooping in a hazy eyes mess in the ropes afterwards, panting for breath. Her antennae twitch as you let go of them, and you realize just what you did to the poor mantis. You decide to leave it for now, out of embarrassment.
You turn to leave, only to see a blushing Mimita watching you at the bars. She must have been watching for a short bit.
You wink at Mimita, grinning a bit since she saw the whole thing anyways. You move over to unlock the door for her and let the mouse in, Mimita moving inside before looking up at you with a bit of jealousy hidden in her anger.
"Wh-what are you doing in here? This is interrogation?!"
Well, it's working. She can do it for me if she doesn't want me to. You joke and say you can pay her back later in the same way. She huffs and moves behind the mantis, taking over rubbing the antennae with little flames on her fingers.
"Just ask her more questions!" Mimita urges you, seeming troubled with doing the odd interrogation technique. The mantis is already squirming and pleading, putty now.
"What does it mean to take away jealousy? What can a bicorn do?" You ask the mantis, moving closer.
The mantis resists for a few seconds, before speaking up.
"She uses her magic, helps you accept it! Only permanent after the lord seals it! Sh-she gains power with each wife he has!" The mantis spills, not able to stop. That explains the powers a bit.
"What other wives does he have?" You ask, the mantis squirming more.
"I-I haven't seen them all! One i-is asleep in dungeon, h-he keeps her secret! A-all the other women in the fortress! Tengu! Kunoichi almost! Ah!"
She tenses again and passes out under Mimita's assault, the mouse letting go and seeming just as embarrassed as you were. Looks like this is all you're getting today.
With the interrogation done, and the prison building locked up again, you wonder what you should do to pass the time. There is still time to wait until dinner, and you've missed two meals already today.
That's when you recall Mimita is still there looking a bit embarrassed still by the method you had found to interrogate the mantis. She looks up at you when she sees you looking, frowning a bit.
"Could you have picked a more perverted way of getting information?!" She asked, throwing a kick at your stomach. You manage to catch the sudden strike and avoid getting the wind knocked out of you with one hand, ready for a fight that doesn't come as she crosses her arms.
"Probably not, but you seemed to enjoy it too." You tease, noticing the rat going for a rising kick. You focus and trip her up when she makes the move, making the rat fall sidewards when she starts raising up one leg so she falls over before the other springs. She gets up with a huff and a small grin, seeming happy you took her advice.
"Look out, the match doesn't officially start till tomorrow but the fight starts now!" She declared, turning and running off before you can react. She's already gone into the temple, though you could chase her footsteps. She seemed dead serious on the fight starting at that moment, and have no doubt she'll be doing everything she can to sabotage you. Maybe you can do the same instead of chasing her uselessly?
You can't just let her have her way with your room! You'll need it for resting tonight! You rush off in a different path to get to your room, reaching it quick enough to catch Mimita in the process of stealing your bedroll and heading for the window. She sees you and leaps out, laughing as she flees your pursuit. You jump out the window after her and chase her through a garden, seeking to reclaim your bedding for the sake of a good night rest before the showdown. Just as you are about to catch her she turns and throws the blanket into your face, stopping you for a moment as you take it off to see she has disappeared somewhere. Doubling back, you confirm she isn't in your room before using the bedding and some spare rope you found outside to make a trap on the inside of the doorway, ready to capture anyone who moved in after you close the door to set it.
With a contingency trap in place you head straight for Mimita's room, using cover and looking a bit like an idiot to the people you pass as you make sure you're not being watched from the rafters or something. Before long you reach her room and open the sliding door, glad you're clear when the pulling triggers a trap to swing a pole where your legs may have been. Finding it safe you move inside and find a different trap instead.
The room stinks of a special kind of incense, with every entrance besides the one you used closed to seal the smoke in. You're not sure what kind it is, but are sure it's magical. You retreat out before you become too exposed to it but find yourself getting aroused due to it already, if only a bit. She isn't there and likely won't use that room, she's taken her own bedding out and left the room as a trap. You'll need to try hard to find where she'll be sleeping that night.
You're not going to beat her like this, she's probably watching you and it's getting harder to focus on anything. You close the door to let the incense stay inside before heading off to find Himizu. Maybe she has a trick for finding someone in a large area. And know what that incense was.
After a bit of searching you find the ryuu in the main hall polishing the statue at the very back by floating water up and onto the surface to capture the dust and dirt from it. She notices you as you walk up and smiles at your approach, putting the water into a bucket to speak with you.
"Did you find anything out during the interrogation?" She asks. Oh right, you still need to tell her about that. There are more important things to consider though.
You tell her you'll tell her over dinner, and that you're more worried about the incense you breathed in. After a brief explanation of what was going on Himizu sighs and puts a claw to your chest as she focuses.
Were her horns always so pretty?
You try and shake the thought from your head, and she takes the claw off after a short time.
"It just looks like basic aphrodesiac, but infused with magic. It'll keep getting stronger until it's all out of your system. You've learned to meditate to remove toxins, that'll work."
Well, that's the good news you suppose.
"It'll take about eight hours though."
Well, guess that eliminates the possibility of finding Mimita's hiding hole tonight. You ask her about methods of tracking an individual anyways.
"It's possible, but only if you have something with a lot of her on it. Personal belongings. You can just get some from her room though." Himizu smiles, unaware of where the incense was.
Well, this is a bit of a pickled peach. You could learn the tracking method and deal with the effects of the incense, or meditate to try and get it out of your system while Mimita hounds you.
You won't be able to fight much at all tomorrow if you let the incense keep getting to you. You decide that tracking wouldn't be advisable, Mimita likely has plenty of traps that'll affect your mind and sleep before the match.
You grab some supplies to make some traps and look for a place hidden away that you could meditate from, and find yourself a good spot outside the temple in a wooded area. You have to go to dinner, but can at least calm the incense down enough to keep control through it if you hurry and eat. For now, you set up hidden snare traps, warning lines, and other traps around your spot before you sit on the ground and begin to focus energy inwards.
For the first couple hours nothing happens and you feel the effects receding, before your warning line is tripped. You shift focus towards it to find nothing around it, before a line on the other side is plucked. You check that direction next to again find nothing. You keep some focus on the incense's effect while looking around for the one that keeps plucking the strings and ringing your bells, but always find nobody.
Before you can figure it out you feel acorns falling on you, sharp side down. You ignore it, but they all pop all around you to make you jump and break your focus. It has to be Mimita, but where is she? The plucking starts again when you look up, and this time you make out movement from the plants where the rat had run by to tease the bell.
You do your best to ignore the bells now that you know what she's trying to do, focusing instead on trying to predict which ones she's going to do. It gets hard when you feel more acorns drop on you before popping. Finally, you manage to pinpoint her. Keeping her in your mind's eye gets tough, but you have enough focus to follow her and suppress the effects. After some time doing this the rat decide to up the ante and starts creeping close as she thinks you don't know where she is. You take the chance to move the looser plants around her limbs, trying to tie them against her body and away from her flames. She squeaks, you can hear it next to you, as her arms are bound but her legs break away from the vines trying to bind them as you feel the heat of her flame break through the other plants. It makes her back off and move away however, retreating out of the area now that she knows you're aware of where she is.
Finally, some peace and quiet.
The temple's gong sounds. It's dinner time. You could always miss it and apologize to Himizu later, but she may get angry and come fine you. Mimita wouldn't miss the chance to have her do that.
Besides, you haven't eaten since yesterday. You could go for a nice, if quick, meal.
You can figure that the acorns that Mimita is throwing is some sort of impact based blast.You've seen similar things put into small marbles by kunoichi you've learned from. With this you devise a plan.
You wait until Mimita throws more of the acorns to move, standing up and catching a handful of them out of the air softly enough they don't detonate. With them in hand you bolt, rushing toward the main hall to get some much needed food. Mimita follows, but her shorter stride can't match speeds with you and she falls ten seconds behind.
You have enough time to duck to the side when you enter the open doors of the main hall, timing your acorn and flicking it to bounce off the top of the doorway just before Mimita comes down. By some miracle it comes down between her ears and pops, making Mimita squeak loudly in surprise and dive to the ground to slide flat on her belly while students look to the side at her. Mimita shoots you a dirty look before standing up and brushing herself off, the pair of you taking what seems like a truce as you pocket the remaining acorns and head towards the master's table
The other two are already waiting there when you arrive, Himizu very eager to hear from you but frowning nonetheless.
"I know you two are playing around, but no more while you're eating! Alright?" The ryu asks, getting a nod from you as you sit down and pick up your chopsticks. Seems there is plenty of meat today.
"Of course we'll get along, don't worry! Mimita grins, moving her chair right beside yours before sitting down with a coy grin as she starts to eat herself.
"Alright, but if there is any funny business both of you are going hungry!" Himizu warns the pair of you.
Sure enough, you can feel something touching you below. You glance at Mimita, but she's leaning over the table with her hands full. With a leg crossed over the other. You didn't realize she was so flexible. She's using the toes to work her way into your pants, not doing any favors with the incense affecting you. It'll be hard to last long unless you counterattack somehow.
You won't be able to stop what she's doing without missing out on the food you're eating, but she really doesn't think you can counter this. You were going to save this for the next day, but this is a battle in it's own right. You focus as you eat and blow some air into her ear, making her jump a bit. She pretends nothing happened, her foot working faster now as you blow into her ears. She's got you out down there, and it's not hard for her to have you hard and ready either. The tough part is keeping a straight face as she starts rubbing it with the sole of her feet and toes.
"Now then, Anon. What did you find out during interrogation?" Himizu asks, smiling and none the wiser to the battle going on. You have to try rather hard to compose yourself.
"Rubbing the antennae was very effective. The centaur is something called a bicorn, and uses it's powers to build a harem for the lord. With each member added, the bicorn gains power. The women of the harem all believe themselves to be wives. The mantis said she was one too." You explain, Himizu missing the lewdness of the antennae rubbing method. She is however rather confused by the species.
"A bicorn? I've never heard of such a thing!"
"She did look foreign, at least her face."
Himizu goes into thought and you eat more. The blowing in the ears has Mimita in trouble too, but her small hot foot on your stiff member is maddening in it's own right.
"I'll have to go and look at the mantis later to try and figure out that magic! If it's foreign it will take a while to crack it though." She pondered, getting lost in thought once more.
Just when you think it's over for you down below you feel the foot pull away. Mimita puts it down again and gives you a big, cocky grin as you're left aching for release, but not able to do it unless you give yourself up alone. Her cheeks are flushed and she's shivering a bit from holding back herself though, seems the ears are effective. Looking away you notice Toriza watching the pair of you closely, though with her same stoic expression as always.
The meal is finished before long due to how quick you and Mimita eat, and after bringing your pants back up with your focus you stand and excuse yourself. Himizu doesn't notice, still lost in thought, but Toriza nods at you in response.
Mimita takes off first however, disappearing into the halls again. You really wish you knew them better. Your lust is boiling now though, you'll either need to meditate or take care of it someplace.
You won't last without meditating, though chasing someone down to help you with the problem is starting to get tempting. Just the incense talking, you hope. Your spot before is useless now, so you go and look around for a different spot that you can use for the meditation in hopes that Mimita won't find you.
You pick a place you hope she can't reach even if she knew where you were. Using a ladder, that you take with you to your spot, you hide behind the decorative ryuu statue at the front of the main hall's roof before starting to focus in a cross legged position.
You focus the spirit energy into your body's energy, giving it more weight as you seek to eliminate the incense's effect with your focus. It speeds the process up a bit, but the events of the meal made you lose some progress still. For a long while there is nothing, before you hear something climb up onto the roof nearby. You open your eyes to look and save focus, seeing Toriza coming up towards you. You still haven't calmed down, as converting the lust into body energy is difficult and takes time, so the jinko's presence is a bit awkward.
"Anon alright? Acting strangely during dinner. Why meditate here?" Toriza asks, not realizing she might give your position away. You're glad that Mimita doesn't have the sharper nose though.
You stand up and gently shake Toriza to wake her up, the jinko blinking awake after a good ten second shake. She realizes soon enough where she is though and stands up as well, having a whole foot over you. If not more.
Making sure she's awake, you tell her of the predicament and ask if there is any other place you are able to sleep. Toriza thinks for a moment before answering.
"Plenty of spare rooms. Get spare bedding from storehouse. Sleep in one, out of sight of door."
Well, that isn't a bad plan. You take the ladder and lead the way down off the roof, Toriza simply leaping off of the lowest point of the still high roof without a care. After that she leads you to the storehouse, opening it up and heading inside before looking confused.
"Bedding gone."
What?
"Bedding missing. Nothing here."
Well, looks like Mimita decided to make sure you wouldn't get a good night's rest. You're a bit out of luck there, before you see Toriza hesitating with a question.
"...Can sleep my room tonight. If want. Share bedding. Have extra, because so large."
You can't think of a reason not to take Toriza up on the offer. You do ask if she can detect Mimita in her room while sleeping, the Jinko shaking her head no. Well, you'll still need to be vigilant and keep watch then. You still give Toriza a tight hug and thank her for the offer, though you'll just take the extra and sleep in a corner. She hardly hears you, her face turning red as you hold onto her. You let go and wait for her to snap out of it, having to snap your fingers to make her do so.
"Right. My room." She nearly stutters, leading the way again as you move after her and close the door of the storehouse behind you. It's a short trip to Toriza's room, bare besides the necessities. You take the extra and move it to the corner, Toriza getting into bed facing away from you as she curls up tight to fit under the blanket she has left.
"Sleep well." She mutters.
You slip into your bed as well but can't help noticing that it smells of Toriza quite strongly. You slip off to sleep when the same rhythmic breathing goes through the room, though you keep your guard up as you drift off.

You wake up to a kick to your stomach, making you cough and sit up in pain. Mimita scowls down at you with an angry look before huffing, turning away and walking off. That really hurt, she didn't hold back. But it's morning, and the match will start in a few hours. It's time to get food, steel your mind ,and avoid any of the traps Mimita has in mind. You notice Toriza is already gone, her bedding folded up rather neatly.
You head off to get your breakfast, not finding any nasty surprises on the way. When you get there you see Toriza and Mimita staring daggers at each other, though only Mimita is talking. She only got there a couple minutes before you too.The rat stops as soon as she hears you come in, though Himizu is missing for this meal. You'll have to keep the two from fighting it out for now.
You move to the table and sit down, the two still glaring at each other when they don't think you're looking. Mimita is ignoring you, and Toriza is too focused on the rat to say anything in your direction as you begin eating. A bit of a tense situation.
It may be better to redirect the hostility a bit and even it out. You think for a minute before finally speaking up. You looks at Mimita and ask her where she got the incense from, as it may be useful later on fighting the lord. She looks at you before responding with an annoyed voice.
"From a tanuki that passes by sometimes! It wouldn't be good in actual combat in enemy territory!" She retorts.
Well, that makes sense. You decide to ask about the rules of the duel that you two would be fighting, Toriza speaking up this time.
"In sparring hall. Can't exit, or lose. Weapons on walls, blunted. Fight until surrender or knockout. No traps set up before match begins." The jinko explained, frowning at Mimita. "I'll guard till then."
Mimita huffs and looks away from the pair of you, and you see your chance. You ask how she liked your tactic to avoid the traps last night, as you got to meditate and sleep well last night. Or maybe she just didn't find you.
"I couldn't do anything while Toriza was there! She'd just block it! Interfering and such!" Mimita scowls at you, standing up in her annoyance. "It's not that I didn't find you! I could predict that you'd be in her room!" Mimita lied, sitting down again and finishing her rice.
You're finished by then as well, and stand up to leave but not before smiling at Toriza.
"Thanks for letting me sleep with you last night. I slept really well." You smile. Toriza's face turns beet red as she drops her chopsticks, Mimita's eyes wide as you walk away. You hear her scream and storm off the other way, the Jinko just sitting there stunned as you head off to meditate before the duel. Maybe you should check in one Himizu, she may be with the mantis. Or you could keep Mimita angry, tease her more to make your match easier.

You decide to check on Himizu first, but as you pass by Mimita's room you pause. She couldn't be there due to lingering incense. You hold your breath and rush inside, finding a pair of panties and rush out again before breathing. It seems you avoided it that time. You stow the garment away with the acorns from last night, and are thankful you didn't get kicked there that morning. After closing the door you move along.
You find Himizu right where you expected, in the prison cage with the bound mantis with her hands on the bug's head. You stay outside of it to let her focus, before finally speaking up to ask if she figured it out.
The ryu jumps before sighing, smiling at you. "A bit, but it's really different than what I expected. I'm about... halfway done analyzing how it works, but the second half will take longer." She explains. "I'll be out there in time for the match, don't worry. I wanna see if you can win this time!" Himizu cheers, before going back to her work.
You leave the young ryu be and move away, going back to the training stone that you were practicing the polishing technique on. You resume this training for a time until it comes time for the duel, though you hear the sound of angry training elsewhere the whole time you were training.
You head into the sparring hall for the match and find it exactly as expected, with Toriza guarding it in the center. She glances at you before averting her gaze. Himizu is watching from a seat raised against the wall with students watching from the large doorways, waiting for the rematch to begin.
Soon enough, Mimita rushes in and Toriza gets out of the way. She's still looking annoyed but has a grin that betrays a plan, getting into her position.
"Alright, get ready and take your positions!" Himizu calls out. You move into position and get ready as well, and she counts down.
On one you reach into your pocket with lightning speed and take out the pair of panties while grinning, before seeing that Mimita had pulled out something as well. It's a pair of your undergarments.
The hall is quiet and Mimita is just as stunned as everyone else at the situation.
You recover from the shock first and merely grin as you put the panties onto your head as everyone watches the scene play out, Mimita's eye twitching already.
"Do mine smell good? You spent two nights in my bedding now, you must like it." You taunt.
Mimita snaps. Her fire comes out in full, blazing far stronger than your first match with her. Your undergarments burn into ashes in her hand. This MIGHT have been a bad idea?
You take the panties and throw them at Mimita before the acorns, hoping to disorient her before she can mount an attack. She ignores them and leaps into a kick, all the projectiles turning into ash as you dodge to the side. She doesn't chase you, instead bouncing to the wall to grab a pair of metal tonfa from the wall. With these weapons in hand she rushes you, the heat making it hard to keep your eyes open as she pelts with you the hot metal attacks and goes for a kick. You pull off the tripping trip with your focus, and back off. You'll need a weapon for this now, she's already burned away parts of your clothes. Thankfully the heat isn't damaging you, just affecting your libido. You need a weapon to keep her at a distance. Thankfully there are plenty in the hall and you can grab any you want with your serene ryu style.
Thinking quick you pull a nearby polearm to you, swinging it to knock Mimita back and out of her lunge. You use your focus to pull her feet towards you to knock her down, but your attempt to pin her with the blunt blade doesn't work as she rolls out of the way and leaps to her feet.
You send another weapon from the wall at her, the metal bowstaff missing when she managed to hear the noise of it spinning towards her, deflecting with her tonfa before coming at you. You swing the polearm and swing the staff back, missing with the heavy weapon but hitting her side with the staff. She stumbles but recovers quick, lunging low and going for a wide kick. Opening.
You plant the pole into the floor, catching her kick on it before you use your focus to pull the other one out from under her. You attempt to drop onto her to pin, but miss when she springs up and into you. You stumble back as she gets into a better position, and you're forced to swing a blunt sickle from the wall at her to buy you time. The curve of it made it so when she blocked it still swung around and hit her head, making her flinch long enough for you to get the pole arm back and bring a chain with weight to you and wrap it around your arm. She starts some feints before throwing one of the tonfa at you, lunging after it. You're forced to block with the chain, polearm too slow to counter her approach. She pelts you with flame powered punches in the short window, the fire getting to you now. Only your training is keeping you able to use your focus. Seeing no choice, you use the trump card. You blow some air into her ear.
Mimita jumps back in surprise, another blow of air making her drop the tonfa before scowling at you in time to be tripped by the pole arm. You take your chance, and swing the weighted chain. It swings off your arm with some help from your skill and wraps around her legs, and you dive down to flip and pin Mimita's hands down. She's looking up at you, but the match rules say she needs to be knocked out or give up to have it end. Her ears are yours for the picking, but those flames are affecting you a lot now.
Well, your master always told you to have no mercy and strike the weak points. Never imagined it'd apply to a situation like this. You lean forward, keeping her pinned tight as you grin at her.
"Surrender anytime you like."
She shows her worry, but the first blow makes her squeak a bit when she realizes what's about to happen. She attempts to squirm but her legs can't get out of the chains, her arms too weak to overcome yours.
A light nibble on her ear makes her squeal, and you continue with the assault. She squirms and complains and pleads, none of her anger remaining as your assault erodes her fighting spirit. You give one of them a light bite and she shakes underneath you, panting a bit from her own rising lust. You quickly wear her down, and she finally says the magic words.
"I s-suurrendeeerrr!" She squeaks.
And then it hits you. Not any thought, but the flames already affecting your lust is directing it towards the hot, ready body of the mouse underneath you. You're not letting go even as the match finishes, but you move a hand down to pull the dress up without any control left as you seek to claim your win fully.
You don't see it when a powerful kick launches you into the air and you hit the wall. The hit to your head has you about to pass out, but before you do you see the worried, confused face of Toriza as she stands next to Mimita and lowers her leg. You black out.

You wake up in a haze, feeling a familiar white light taking away the pounding that is nearly gone in your head. It takes a minute to get your bearings as you wake up and look up to see three different sets of faces and the roof of your room. They don't notice you waking up as your vision sharpens, seeing the three masters fussing over you a bit. Himizu is healing you up again, hands held onto your head with a gentle but firm grip. Toriza is looking down at you with a worried look on her face, sitting cross legged side you. Then Mimita jumps into your field of vision when she sees you're awake, planting a kiss on you before you can react or even sit up. She pulls back, huge grin and excitement around her.
"You actually did it! You really did it! Finally someone beat me!" Mimita is nearly cheering. She looks up and glares mutual daggers at Toriza, crossing her arms as she sits on her feet. "This thug had to stop the finale though!"
You groan and try to get up, but your head is held against a rather oddly sloped pillow. You realize soon enough it has to be Himizu's tail.
"So, it wasn't against the rules then?" You ask, Himizu looking at the pair sternly to keep them from fighting again. She looks down at you and sighs.
"Mimita got permission from me not to stop that, if you did try. Some hinezumi thing I won't understand. Toriza stepped in without permission."
She did, huh? Kind of odd that such a thing would be allowed in a temple.
"It's just the nature of things, I bet there is someone having sex right now on the grounds anyways!" Himizu huffs.
Well, why did Toriza stop the fight then? You look at her for the answer and the jinko looks away sheepishly. She isn't answering, and Mimita is still staring daggers.
"Whatever the case is, you now have the right to claim me! No fight or fuss, I'm yours!" Mimita grins, pointing right at your face. "Lucky boy."
Toriza frowns at her before looking down at you, the statement giving her courage.
"You're not scared of me. Only man that sees me as woman. I won't give you up." She proclaims, getting a red face even as she acts strong and exchanges glares with Mimita again.
Things seem to have gotten complicated, and the two seem ready to fight. They try to stand up to do so but are tripped back down by Himizu without her missing a beat.
"No fighting! Let him rest a bit!" The ryu warns them sternly, the pair settling down on either side of you. You can almost feel the envy of so many men, but pass it off as a crick in your neck. You'll need to diffuse the situation somehow though.
They're both nice, in their own ways. But you won't be deciding while you're recovering from that rather bad knock to the head.
"I'll decide after I'm better, so tomorrow. Or at least on the method of deciding." You explain, Himizu smiling at your responsible decision.
"So, you'll decide sooner if you get better faster?" Mimita asked, grinning with ideas.
Well, you suppose so. But Himizu is already doing what she can.
"I'll be back! Gonna borrow some clothes Himi!" The rat bounced up, running off. Toriza watched her go, not knowing what she was talking about. Himizu frowned a bit, letting Mimita disappear.
"Really don't know what she's thinking. How is clothing going to help?" Himizu asked, Toriza standing up and moving away as well now.
"Borrowing kitchen." She stated, moving off to leave you and Himizu alone.
Himizu looks a bit confused but lets them be, looking down at you instead as she keeps healing.
"They sure are into you. I mean, you beat a master before passing your test. Mother didn't tell me what the test was when I heard you were coming. What sort of test was it?"
You don't get a chance to answer her as Mimita rushes in, wearing some shrine maiden clothes as she rushes to your side again.
"Back again! Hope you didn't miss me!" She smiles down at you. "Thought you could use some nursing, and who better to do that than a shrine maiden?" Mimita asks.
Toriza comes in carrying a very strong smelling tea in a pot. The outfit Mimita is wearing caught her by surprise but she sits down and sets the teapot down, pouring a cup of it as Himizu sits you up to let her hand it to you. The jinko lets you drink from the cup, holding it for you. The tea is very bitter, but Toriza seems to know this and makes you drink it all down so it doesn't last too long.
"Better?" Toriza asks. It's too soon to be sure, but it seems to be some sort of medicine. Or home remedy.
"That stuff couldn't help him any!" Mimita states with a jealous look, crossing her arms. "He needs water and food! I'll make it for you, what do you want to eat tonight anon?" Mimita asks, grinning at you while waiting for her answer.
"A royal feast might be good to eat. You can handle that, right?" You ask, smirking a bit at Mimita. The rat looks flustered, freezing in place with wide eyes before you speak again. "Kidding. Whatever you think would be best would be nice. Just keep looking cute in that outfit."
Mimita sighs in relief and stands up, grinning wide. "Alright, but I'll come and check on you every chance I get!" She exclaims, running odd out of the room. You're starting to wonder why nobody is closing the door.
You thank Toriza for the tea and get laid back down on Himizu's lap, telling her you feel a bit better already. She smiles a tiny bit and sits you up again, making you drink a second cup. It almost tastes as bitter as the first cup. You get laid down yet again, Himizu seeming skeptical on the cure.
You keep being watched over by the two and getting more bitter tea to drink when Mimit comes back to brag about the food she's cooking, Himizu calmly healing you the whole time. By the time you're better it's time for your meal and are left alone in the room to dress yourself. Turns out your clothes were burned up badly in that fight and nobody changed you. Going to have to deal with ashes in the bedding tonight.
Once you're dressed you head to the main hall to get your meal. Himizu has brought out the sake and everyone is getting some in celebration of your win. As you sit down in your seat you can't help but notice that the fish she cooked is burnt, and the rice is a bit overcooked. It at least has some sort of sauce on it, but you can't tell how it is from looking. You look up at the rat who blushes a bit and avoids your gaze.
"I got a bit excited, give me a break. It hasn't happened before." She mutters.
Toriza is just eating some of the unburnt fish that the others are getting, and eventually Himizu reaches the table to pour the sake around. You could challenge them to a drinking contest, or just let them drink however they like. Mimita is already sipping hers, she seems to have some resistance to the drink.
You try a bit of the fish, it's still not too dry despite the charring. You give Mimita a smile and compliment her on it, mentioning you like a bit of char in your food. You ask if she'll be making all your meals from now on. The rat's face gets a bit red as she finishes her drink, before grinning a bit at you.
"Well, may as well. I'm going to be your wife, if I have any say in it." Mimita chuckles. Toriza drinks down her sake fast as well, Himizu floating more into their sake bowls to keep them full. This gives you an idea.
"How about a small drinking contest? Drink whenever someone does something that annoys you." You suggest. Himizu drinks from her bowl right away.
"Alright, that seems fine." She responds, starting to eat her food. Mimita and Toriza agree to it as well, but glare at each other and drink at the same time. This will be easy.
After a long dinner of baiting the group into drinking, you're surprised when Himizu is the one downing the most. By the end they're all a bit past tipsy, and you haven't had anything to drink. Didn't feel right to drink when they weren't annoying you.
"Lemme tell you sumthin! Ish lonely in a temple... Ahm a ryu, nobody thinksh they're good enuff fer me! But I don't know anything about dat dating shtuff, mom didn't teach me!" Himizu pouts, drinking down another bowl of sake.
"Why didn't you tell me Himi? I can teach you all about courting a man!" Mimita says with pride as Toriza drinks another bowl before returning to staring at you out of the corner of her eye. "All you gotta do is gettim wanting you! Make em mad and aroused and they'll jump through hoops ta get at you!"
"But I can't do shumfing like that, anytime I wanta tell you two yer idiots I can't do it. I couldn't git someone mad at me ever." She pouts some more.
As you're listening, Toriza knocks over one of the bottles with her paw. It falls over and splashes you with sake, a small grin of victory on her face.
"No good. Need bath. Shall we?" She asks, acting coy but grinning wide. You don't think you even have a choice.
You don't see a reason to complain about such a thing. Even if you did try to get out of it she'd probably catch you eventually due to her usual fighting method for spars with Mimita. The other two have their attention on you two already however, the jinko not realizing they could hear.
"Yes, lets get a bath! I'll show you how a wife washes their man!" Mimita giggles, standing up and grabbing your arm to try and pull you right out of the chair. Himizu stands up suddenly, looking stern. "If he's bathing with you two he's bathing with me too!" She demands, Toriza and Mimita blinking at her before nodding.
The four of you head off towards the baths, your arms taken by the taller and shorter girl as the ryu pushes you along. You don't even get to take your clothes off in the warm night air as you're pushed into the water by the three masters. You're about to complain about the treatment but they're all stripping naked to try and be the first to join you in the water. Not the worst sight in the world.
Before you can even try to take your clothes off Toriza, who was wearing the least, plunges in with a full blown pounce that pushes you deeper in the water. Your clothes are ripped off by her, and by the time you surface you're as nude at the three women with your clothes being tossed over the tall jinko's shoulder as she stands waist deep in front of you, chuffing as she grins down at you.
By that time Himizu rushes in, a large wave splashing Toriza from behind as the whole ryu gets in at once with nary a bit of grace to be found.
"Don't take im all fer yerself, he's not taken yet!" Himizu slurrs, moving through the water with ease and surrounding you in dragony coils. Mimita huffs as she stays at the edge, water too deep where you are for her to do much against them.
"I thought we were just here for bathing!" She taunted, sitting down neckdeep in the water at the very edge of the large pool, the steam and spray from the nearby waterfall obstructing the view just a bit now.
Toriza calms down a bit, frowning when she's forced to, and moved into shallower water to sit and soak. "Spoilsport."
Himizu sighs in relief, moving her main body over between the two and letting her tail wander in the water aimlessly.
"Good, now shtay calm! Come shhhit with us anon!" She smiles, Mimita starting to snicker and suppress her laughter at the word that came out of the slurring ryu.
You stand up in the water, not caring about your nude form as you walk proudly over to the group of three. You sit down on Himizu's tail, a small distance from them, but the ryu uses her magic to pull you all the way onto her lap with enough slack to have her head above yours.
"Yer not gettin away now!" She giggles, wrapping her arms around your neck, her tail wrapping around your legs once. She isn't kidding about that.
"Hey, why dya think you can keep him to yourself!" Mimita huffed, moving up and tugging on your arm. "He belongs to me!" She declares, and you realize their chests are being pressed into your back and arm. Almost on cue Toriza takes the other arm and tries to tug you that way, scowling at the pair. Even more breasts on you, getting hard not to pop a strong one.
"Not married. Free game." Toriza declares, the three tugging on you in an increasingly violent tug of war. It's one way to get the joints stretched out.
"You two couldn't even tell him you like him directly without being drunk! I've been gettin him after me since he got here!" Mimita declares, Himizu frowning more at them.
"I jusht wanna try datin! Mom shaid thish one was alright!!" The ryu complains, squeezing you tighter in her coils. Good thing she can't notice the iron rod below the steamy water.
"Not giving him up. He's mine." Toriza declares, glaring at the two to intimidate them. Things may get out of hand at this rate, maybe you should stop it?
You don't think you can take too much more of this, even if Mimita doesn't have as much physical strength as the other two. You have to speak up loud to get their attention over the bickering, but when you do all three sets of eyes are on you. A bit of pressure there.
You tell the three to calm down, you'll decide on your own time and fighting won't hurry it up. It settles them down, but they're all still clinging to you. You instead decide to ask some questions, curious what Himizu's mother said about you. You ask the young ryu, who giggles and runs a hand through your hair.
"She shed you were a dependable, smart man! Yer kinda perverted though!" Himizu comments. You can guess she can see what's under the water. "Alsho said you can't tell us about the tesht she gave to ya. Wonder why."
"It's probably just turning the warlord into an alp!" Mimita joked, snickering and then laughing a bit at the thought of that sort of test. You're not sure you want to do something like that but let the comment pass. You deflect further inquiry by asking how the three met.
"Bandits. Had to fight them. Asked Himizu for help. She asked me to learn here after." Toriza gives her bit, Himizu deciding to fill the rest in.
"I wash like... five. Sho I only did a bit. She almosht did it all herself! Not really, but she did really good for a ten year old!" Himizu explained.
"And I was always here, in the area. I just came to the temple to learn here. That's how I knew those shortcuts!" Mimita chuckled.
She must not have gotten many suitors since she got really skilled then. You ask if anyone else has ever tried.
"A few times, always ran off after ten or so losses! No conviction in them! You did it on the second try though!" Mimita giggled, nuzzling up against your shoulder. You look at Toriza next, who frowns.
"Some try. Get scared. Run away. Nobody notable." The jinko recants. "Until you. Not scared."
Himizu huffs, speaking up without being asked. "Nobody hassh ever tried datin me! Nobody hass even ashked! Ish it sho ard to ask out a ryu?!"
It seems like a good time to get out, your head is getting a bit light from the heat. The three bodies aren't helping much. You ask if the four of you can get out, Himizu frowning a bit.
"You don't want to stay?"
You tell the three that you're feeling very light headed and would like to get to bed a bit early. They seem a bit troubled but let you go, allowing you to get up and out of the water. You pick up your clothes to start slipping them on, starting with your pants. As you do so you hear Himizu speaking up.
"Y-you know, with a head injury you shhhould have shomeone nearby justh in case!"
Well, that's only to keep someone with a concussion awake. But all three are staring at you with their best puppy dog eyes. You reluctantly speak up, saying that they'd need to sort out who sleeps where. This proves to be a bad idea.
They immediately begin to argue in the water as you dress faster and move away, unable to help but look back as they decide a drunken spar is the only way to settle this.
The jinko and hinezumi didn't stand a chance. They were like a cat and a mouse in a storm, and were dumped unconscious in one of the many meditating gardens in a flood of hot water that nearly gets into the temple.
You're stunned by the display of what a ryu can do, Himizu cheering and rushing past you to get to your room and set up her own sleeping quarters.
Holy shit, don't ever piss her off. But now she's in your room and waiting for you. She forgot her clothes.
Well, you sowed the drunken seeds of this. You may as well clean up. You move over to the unconscious pair with their clothes and dress them again, not minding the wet sand too much. Once the pair are clothed, you pick up Mimita first and take her to your room, not wanting any of them jealous.
When you get there the ryu is already asleep in your futon, holding onto the pillow, tail spilling out and all over one corner of the room. You sigh and set Mimita down, fetching some extra futons before setting them up with some distance between them. After tucking the rat in you head back out for Toriza.
Dragging her back is a task, you're not built strong enough to do more than drag her by her shoulders. You get her in the layered futon to account for her height before looking for Himizu's clothing.
You can't find it anywhere. The fight must have washed her robes away. You're not sure where her room is, and so head back to see if you can get to your clothes in you room.
Unfortunately, it's the corner of the room Himizu's tail is occupying. You try, but you can't get past the strong dragon coils. Not much choice now, you don't know where her room is. You take off your shirt and move over to her, putting it on. Her torso is short enough it covers everything up at least.
Now you just need to try and get some sleep while three drunk women share the room. That's going to be easy. Maybe you should sleep in a different, abandoned room. That wouldn't be as fun though, right?
No sense heading all the way out now. You're already tired from dragging Toriza into the room. You find a place that is unoccupied in the corner and close the doors to outside before opening the one to the hall, not wanting misunderstanding. It makes some sense to you right now, in a way. With all of that set up you get into your corner of the room and lay down to get some much needed rest.

You wake up in the middle of the room. Not nearly the corner you went to sleep in. And there are three other bodies clinging to you, in a bit of a tangle due to Himizu's tail moving about in the night. Mimita is laying sideways across your stomach with her head lower than her bottom. Himizu has replaced your pillow with your leg, face nestled up against your foot. Toriza is acting as your pillow, you recognize those abs on the back of your head. The paw laying on your shoulder as she snores is evidence of that as well. How didn't you wake up during whatever moving was going on? At least someone closed the hallway door. It'll be hard explaining this to any of them if they don't recall it, so you'll either need to wake up one that didn't drink too much or risk slipping out of the tangle. Which one drank the most anyways? Need to account for their body weight too.
You decide that waking Mimita up first would be best. She hardly acted different when drunk, now that you think about it. You try to use your free hand to shake her awake, but the rat just mutters and giggles in her sleep. You try some more, but the rat really does sleep like a log.
You have no choice and close your eyes, playing dead and meditating to keep from getting aroused by all the woman you have around you. It takes about an hour before Himizu wakes up first, the ryu taking a moment before realizing what she's holding onto and letting out a loud whine as she got up and off you.
"How long was I sleeping with that in my face?! Grossgrossgrosgrosssgross..." The noise trails off along with the noise of the ryu, leaving you with one less person to deal with. The noise seems to have roused Toriza from her sleep, sitting up a bit before seeing you on her abs. You can't see what she's doing, but it takes her a while before she replaces herself with a pillow and stands up. She picks up Mimita off of you as she leaves, sparing you from having to keep the act up till the rat left. Looks like the plan went alr-was that just a chuff?
After waiting a short while longer you sit up and look around, finding it a bit late in the morning. Well, you can blame last night on that. You have plenty of things to tease the three about, but it seems your morning is open to whatever you want to get up to.
You've had a tiring day yesterday, some simple meditating till lunch seems like a good plan to you. Still haven't mastered that trick Himizu has set you to doing, and seeing the fight last night really made you realize how effective it must be.
You get some fresh clothing and head to the same meditating garden where were practicing to resume. It's gotten a lot easier over the last few days, and soon enough you're wearing down the rough edges of the rock with the floating sand.
You don't get to train right until noon, the meek ryu poking her head up to watch you through a window before slinking around and moving outside to greet you. She slides over, and you manage to keep the training going while paying attention to her.
"Y-you're getting the hang of it, that's good!" She smiled, looking around as she felt awkward speaking with you before speaking up again. "Sorry if I got carried away last night... I don't really remember too much about it." She frowns.
Oh?
Well, you'll be able to have fun with this.
You frown and lower the rock and sand, but stay floating above the stone where you are training.
"I can't believe you called my leg gross. I mean, you were holding onto it all of last night." You sigh, feigning disappointment.
Himizu perks up, remembering that bit at least. "I was?!"
You nod, deciding to keep the truth of the events.
"You even pulled me onto your lap in the bath. Knocked out the other two in order to sleep in my bedding. Naked."
Her face turns red as she hears what you have to say, but you look away from her with a bit of a blush you manage to get onto your face with your focus.
"Wh-what else did I do?!" Himizu asks, holding her face with her hands now as her tail squirms behind her. You turn and face her solemnly.
"I mean... didn't think you were into those sorts of... things."
Himizu stops moving, face as red as it'll ever get as steam almost seems to come off of her head. After a long moment like that she nearly slams her forehead into the sand, bowing to the ground as deep as she can go. You nearly fall off the rock and manage to catch yourself to stand up correctly at the gesture.
"I-I'll take responsibility for my p-perverted actions!!"
She's actually taking this seriously. Could be a good time to say i's a joke. Or not. Don't they behead people that ryu bow to?
You decide to have just a bit more fun with this. Just a little bit. You cross your arms and speak in a serious voice.
"Kiss my feet, and I'll forgive yo-wait! It's a joke!" You have to blurt out, the ryu having already pulled a foot out from under to you to get ready to kiss the sole of it. She looks confused, face still red. After a few second she drops your foot.
"So, all that stuff from last night was a l-lie?" She asks.
No, the stuff you mentioned were real. You don't know what she was thinking of though.
"I still need to apologize for my drunken indiscretion!" Himizu pouted.
Well, she can come up with a way to apologize on her own. But only if it's out of her own feelings and not duty. The last bit confuses her before her face turns fully red again.
"D-don't tell me I... confessed... or something?" She asks.
Not formally, but she was very interested last night. Giving the shirt back won't count, she can keep it since she likes it so much.
The ryu can't handle any more embarrassment and whines as she 'runs' off, somehow tripping as she turns to get into the temple again. You didn't know someone with a lower body like that could actually trip.
You chuckle to yourself as you head towards the main hall for some lunch, feeling the pang of hunger from missing breakfast. Himizu isn't there when you enter, but the other two masters are. You form an idea in your head as you head to the table and sit down calmly, Mimita yawning a bit before greeting you.
"Good morning. So... you two."
Mimita and Toriza look at you, waiting for you to speak.
"I hope your budding relationship with each other works out well. Cheering you on." You say.
Mimita just looks confused, along with Toriza.
"What are you talking about? I just got done telling Toriza about what happened last night. I'm not some light drinker that gets blacked out from that much."
Well, that joke kind of failed. Should have seen that coming. You apologize for the bad attempt, and start eating.
"Well, maybe I should have played along for a bit. Still got a bit of a hangover though. You're sneaky though, I know the game you played last night when we were drinking." Mimita chuckled, grinning at you. "Expected you to try something though. Well, nothing happened. Maybe next time?" She asks, hopeful grin showing.
Toriza is just looking down at her food, not wanting to think too much about last night.
"Where is Himizu anyways? She wasn't there when we woke up." Mimita asks, looking at you for the answer. You tell her you don't know, she ran off after you embarrassed her a bunch.
"Oh, she's probably in her room. Always goes there when she needs to hide." Mimita explains. "You don't need to know where she is though, right? I mean, you can always play with me, right?" Mimita asks, smiling at you.
"I dunno, now that you're so into it I'm getting less interested." You sigh, smiling still even as she believes it for a moment. You decide to just cut the joke off there though. "Though, going somewhere nice to train away from the temple would be nice."
"Oh...? Well, that sounds lovely! You still haven't trained with me much. Your two skills combined may be good, but without focus you'll have to rely on your quick wits! We'll need to train those." She suggests, the three of you getting back to eating after that. Toriza seems a bit worried about it though, finishing her food before speaking.
"Don't go too far. Need help if warlord attacks. May come for mantis."
Right, you forgot about the prisoner. And never managed to ask Himizu what she found out about it.
Mimita grabs your attention by poking your leg with her foot.
"Well, I know a few nice places close by. This is my back yard on this mountain. When do you want to go? Tomorrow would be good, this hangover isn't going away till then." Mimita grumbles, drinking some more water.
"Can train with me." Toriza suggests. You're about to point out how it makes little sense, but recall last night. Well, some light sparring and building up your body wouldn't be a bad idea, and you agree on it. But you'll need to check on Himizu first, to get the news about the bicorn magic. Toriza agrees and nods. The three of you depart the table at the same time to go about your day.
You arrive at the door of Himizu's room after spending a short while looking, not sure how you missed it. Must have been how mazelike the inner hallways of the temple. The heavy double doorway of the ryu's room stood high enough for two onis standing one on top of the other to walk in without bumping their heads, and wide enough for a full ushi oni to get through. Looking at the red stained door you can't see a handle or a knocker, just metal reinforcing the bottom. It was made for a siege, if the stone walls surrounding the room were any clue. Thankfully you're not there for that.
You walk up to the door and give it a good hard knocking, it echoing on your side of the door but not seeming to get through the other side. They're really thick doors. Seeing no choice you focus on the door to find what it's like on the inside, spotting a locking mechanism like the prison. You don't know the combination, and it's far more complicated than the other one. You could try to unlock it anyways. What could go wrong with that? Alternatively, you could find something heavier to knock with. Or you could use your serene ryu skills to get Himizu's attention by moving things around inside.
The lock is too complicated to decipher, it would take a while to get past it. You don't think she'd hear any sort of knocking either. So you focus hard to see what the inside of the room is like, closing your eyes to see it in your mind's eye.
The inside of the room has pure spring water flowing through small holes in the floor, with a small raised stone walkway leading to an even further raised area of the room that had the ryus huge bed, many pillows, wardrobe, huge mirror, and other sorts of items of value or importance. The young ryu is laying on the bed turning over on the bed while holding onto a pillow, unaware of someone watching her. You look for anything that you could move in the room without it breaking, the candles in the room not seeming like a good option due to their proximity to the fine cloths.
After a bit of searching you find an item that'll be easy to move, a get attention. A simple, somewhat worn out doll of a four tailed kitsune sitting on nightstand, dressed in a miniature shrine maiden uniform. You focus on it and make it stand up, Himizu noticing it with a jolt. She watches the soft doll with only button eyes on it's jump off the nightstand and walk to the door on the path, putting it's hands on the door before looking back at the ryu. She isn't moving though, too spooked to go near the moving doll.
Well, you didn't expect the ryu to react quite like that to the floating doll. You can have some fun with this though. You recall a trick that your old serene ryu master taught you for imitating speech with your skills, though you haven't practiced that much. Time to try it out though.
You have it turn all the way towards her before floating back towards her, the ryu whining and hiding under her blanket, peeking out to see the doll floating right in front of her. She jumps back and plants her back against the back of the bed.
"Why are you scared?" You have the doll ask, imagining a sweet, innocent voice. Himizu stutters and eventually replies before too long.
"Y-you're a floating doll! Are you alive?! But I haven't had you that long!" Himizu keeps panicking.
"I can't hurt you. I'm one of your ancestors, and I'm speaking through something special to you."
Himizu is believing it, still wide eyed. "Wh-what are you here to tell me?" She stutters.
"You were really naughty last night. Drinking so much and being all over a human boy."
"I'm sorry!... whichever one you are, I got carried away! But I like him so it's alright, isn't it?!" Himizu asks, wiggling on the bed.
You're having trouble coming up with a followup to that one. You had a feeling, but she said it outright now.
"I suppose you are young. He may feel the same way about you as well. Maybe it's time to try and get some children?" You have the doll say, pushing the joke further.
Himizu lets out a loud whine, face going red before she grabs a pillow and hides her embarrassment in it. "B-but that's so n-naughty!" She complains. Seems like a good time to cut the prank short.
"Himizu?"
"Hm?" She looks up from the pillow at the doll.
"You shouldn't believe everything someone tells you. Open the door." You speak in your own voice before dropping the doll, letting go of your focus to wait for Himizu to appear. The door opens and she whines extra loud, batting you with her balled up hands as her face stays crimson red.
"You big mean perverted jerk! Jerkjerkjerk!" She complains, not really bothering you much with the very light batting. "I can't believe you did that!... w-wait, you didn't hear it when I... of course you head it!" Himizu whines, rushing back in through the open door and tripping on the walkway, falling in the water in her room with a splash. That's twice you've seen a ryu trip today. Himizu gets out and throws the water off herself as she dives into the bed, wrapping her torso up and hiding in the blanket while whining extra loud, ryu tail still sticking out. You still need to ask her about the bicorn magic...
You head on over to the bed where Himizu is and apologize for the little trick you played, picking up the doll to set it back in it's place. She's still just whining under the blankets, so you have no choice.
You sit down on the edge of the bed and pat her head, before pulling her up into a light hug as tell her how cute she is reacting to your teasing. She freezes up, the blanket still between you and her, the top half of her head exposed to your head pats. You tell her you think you like her too, but aren't sure yet. After you let go she's stopped complaining and plops down onto the bed again, wiggling and shifting in the blankets to get herself free from them.
Before she can ask about about what you said, you ask about what she's found out about the bicorn magic, changing the subject while she's calm. It takes her a moment but she answers.
"Well, it's some sort of mind suggestion thing. But at the strength that this one has, it could be used like mind control on other women. I can't break it on the mantis while the bicorn is alive, but the good news is I can track her down using it! I don't know how long that will take, since I'll just be projecting myself and checking for the signature as I fly around. We know their fortress is in the area, just not where. It's probably hidden under a mountain or something." Himizu explains.
Well, that's good. Finding their fortress means that you can lay an offensive.
"Yeah! Though, it reacts very odd to other male energies besides the husband. Short circuits their magic or something. Haven't though of a way to use that though." Himizu ponders out loud, before realizing where you are.
"Is th-that all you needed? I should get started on that looking! I'll only have the energy to do it two hours a day..." Himizu blushes, looking away from you. You have some training to do with Toriza anyways, so you stand up to leave, thanking Himizu for the information as you pat the doll on the head and head out of the room.
"I-I'll see you at dinner!" Himizu calls before closing the doors again.
Well, now you just need to find Toriza. You realize that you didn't make a plan of where to meet, but where do you look for her? She might be in the forest where you saw her striking trees before, or training somewhere else. You could check where the children are being trained, you can hear their little voices echoing down the hall.
You decide to check the room the children are in before you head all the way outside, finding the room where the noise is coming from. Peeking inside, there really is no sign of Toriza as one of her older students runs the young ones through some basic techniques. Maybe they know where Toriza is though.
You head inside and greet the instructor, though this breaks the lesson as all the kids cheer and run over to you in a swarm, nearly bowling you over.
"Mistah, are you gonna marry Toyiza?!"
"Anon and Toriza, sittin in a tree!"
"Do you like mastah Toriza Anon?!"
"K-I-S-I-N-G in a tree!"
"Where do babies come from?!"
You're a bit overwhelmed by them and ask the kids to calm down, but it takes you ordering them to attention to shut them up. They're trained well, if excitable. You ask if they know where Toriza is, one of them blurting it out with joy.
"She went to train in the obstacle course! The one up the path on the east side of the temple!"
You thank the kids for the information and tell them to get back to their lesson, the stand-in thanking you for it. You head off and out of the temple, finding the stone path some students must have had to lay. You follow it up and find something a bit bigger than an obstacle course. A replica of a common fortress gate and wall with fake soldiers made of wooden logs, wood for avoiding arrows, and a pole with a flag stuck into the ground behind the heavy gate doors. Toriza is shadow fighting something nearby it, kicking and striking at the air while she waits. She's already got some sweat on her, and is plenty warmed up for whatever she has planned. Though, you could play a prank on her too. Or at least try to surprise her.
You decide that it's not a good idea to try to surprise her when she's ready to break a log in half with her leg. You're not as a durable.
With that in mind you head on over and call to her, getting her to stop her shadow fighting and wipe some sweat on her fur. She smiles a bit and waves to you, and you head through the gates. The other side has a bunch of bamboo poles surrounding it, put into the ground perfectly straight. You greet Toriza, and she nods back at you, small smile staying on her face and growing a bit when you compliment the obstacle course.
"What did Himizu find about bicorn magic?" Toriza asks, standing a bit closer to you than usual. She has to look down at you at this distance.
You explain what she said about it, the part about her being able to track down the warlord's base or at least where the bicorn was making her look happier despite expression not changing. You're starting to be able to read her.
You suggest a sparring match to start with, keeping your plan secret for when it would start.
"Warmed up?" She asks. You say yes, though you're not fooling her. She agrees to it though, and gives you ten seconds to get into a position.
As the count starts you rush out the doors to where there are more obstacles, and after the ten seconds pass she comes rushing towards you with frightening speed. You barely have time to speak.
"Are we going to get married?" You ask, Toriza missing a step and nearly falling over. You trip her over, the tiger falling into a pile of wood that used to be wooden combat dummies. You hurry over to get her into a pin and lock, the jinko too confused to fight back as she gets taken down with ease despite her much stronger body.
"Spar over..." She says, standing up once you let her go, looking away in embarrassment. "Proposal?" She manages to mutter out in question.
"No, it's just something the kids asked me. What have you been telling them?" You ask. She seems a bit less embarrassed, but her face is still a bit red. And maybe disappointed under that.
"Just... talk with kids every morning. When waking them. They wanted to know what happened. Told them while you talked with Himizu." Toriza explains, keeping her face turned away from you to hide it from sight. "Should be able to keep secrets."
Well, you could press for more answers or get back to training with her now. It might be fun to tease her some more though.
You suggest a different kind of training, seeing as how that comment threw her completely off balance and left her wide open. The two of you will talk while speaking. Toriza seems confused by the suggestion but nods to agree to it.
You two get ready for the LIGHT sparring, you don't want a broken bone. It starts out with her trying to chase you down, as all you can do against the quick strikes as you're getting used to them is dodge.
"So, what sort of things have you been telling them?" You ask, Toriza managing to only hesitate with a strike from the comment. She tries to trip you with her leg, though it's more like a full sweep. It's easy to dodge that time, and you use the chance to try and get her into a hold. No luck, she overpowers your attempt and rolls you across the ground backwards.
"Secrets." She answers simply, charging you and throwing more held back but swift strikes at you, favoring punches over kicks. You can dodge them though, but are kept on the run.
"Maybe I can ask them about these secrets? I'm sure they'd say." You ask, Toriza slowing down again. You go for another grab but your arm is seized, Toriza leaning in towards you really close before you feel her other paw land on your chest, pushing you back onto the ground with the soft strike.
"Just talked about you..." She admits, fighting against her own embarrassment as you stand up and she waits for you to attack. With the chance to think you try to trip her up or knock her over with your focus, but she isn't budging due to her strong muscles.
"That can't be it, can it? One of them asked me where babies came from." You mention, Toriza losing her stance in surprise. You take the chance to trip her up and attempt to jump onto her back for a pin, but she recovers and swings around to catch you with one of her paws. It's a short trip to the ground, and you find yourself pinned under her single paw as she freezes too, not answering but not letting you up as she stays on her paws and knees over you.
"Have you already thought about what the kids would look like?" You tease, Toriza jumping up with a redder face and freeing you. You get up and she hesitates, but tries to strike you some more with off style, slower attacks.
"Come on, you haven't answered me!" You taunt, dodging and countering one of the jabs with a throw, figuring pins wouldn't be effective anymore. She rolls back to her feet, face getting redder.
"...A biit." She admits, rushing in and almost hitting your face with a paw strike when you let your guard down. She grabs your arm and positions it, face very near your own at the side as she adjusts your standing position as well. "Swing arm up over shoulder, like shield. Swing first up and strike stomach. Aim for liver." She instructs, moving back and waiting for you to get into a stance. She rushes you again, thrusting her paw quick but in a predictable path. You use the technique she showed you, and strike at her stomach. Your hand hurts now, and she hardly noticed. The sparring keeps going, resuming from that point.
"And what did they look like then?" You ask, Toriza flinching a bit and getting tossed again over your shoulder. She brushes herself off as she gets up, frowning at you a little with her red face. She doesn't answer and you two resume sparring, and she doesn't answer any more questions even as she gets more and more flustered. But she stops to teach you some things from her style every now and then, getting closer and closer to you each time. Nearly touching your back with her chest, cheeks touching, her paws moving your body around with a gentle strength.
After you're both covered in sweat you can tell she's having trouble, though only from your many questions and teases. You had to switch to compliments halfway through. You could keep going and see what happens, or stop for now. It's been several hours and both of you could use a break.
It seems like it's time to stop, you don't want to be too worn out if anyone attacked. You get out of stance and put a fist into one of your hands before giving her a bow.
"Thank you Toriza-sensei." You smile on the way up, the surprise on her face showing. She gives you a bow as well, with the same position before chuffing a tiny bit, to her blushing embarrassment.
The two of you head back down together, though you follow her since she heads down first and it's a one person wide path. Her long legs means she loses you on the way down, and the tiger heads off for a good hot soak. You decide not to bother her any longer, and decide to look for Mimita. She might still be nursing that hangover, you should check on her since it was your drinking game anyways.
You find her in her room, as expected, and she seems to be doing fine. She's working on another of her ink drawings with her back to the door and her windows all open, some healing incense burning on a stand, her focus meaning she didn't even notice the door opening. Or she ignored it. She should be on her guard after all. You could still try surprising her. Someone has given you three chances at surprise today, and you've only used one.
You head inside and wait behind her for the rat to finish with her painting, or at least put the brush down. It doesn't take long before she does, inspecting the ink she has put down. You take your chance.
You move in and hug the rat from behind, making her chuckle a bit when she isn't surprised by it. The nibbling on her ear gives you a squeaky yelp, making her squirm a bit in your arms.
"Hey, you're all sweaty! Couldn't you have washed beforehand?" Mimita asks with a coy voice, which you can see from the small mirror she has on the desk. Oh. didn't see that there.
"Couldn't, had to see my candle mouse. That's a lovely painting."
She looks a bit confused by the line, still squirming from your breath on her ears. "Candle mouse?"
"Because you brighten my day." You smile.
Mimita takes a moment before trying to hold back her laughter, but has no luck with it. "Pffffthahahahahahaha! That's... sorryahahahahahaa, I can't! That was tooahahahahaha!!" She laughs harder, not struggling against you.
Well, that didn't go so well, but she's laughing. You nibble at her ears more, mixing her squirming with her uncontrolled laughter before she finally quiets down and smiles.
"You really haven't dated anyone before, have you?" She asks, grinning wide as she wipes the tears the laughter forced out away from her eyes. "We should get you clean for dinner, want to try something fun?" She asks, her smile turning suggestive instead.
You're a bit skeptical about what she has in mind, but ask her just what it is. The rat chuckles and gets up out of your arms to move over to her chest, digging through it to find the thing she has in mind. After a while she brings out a bottle of something in a glass bottle. You can't make out the liquid's color through the red stylized form, but it's still full.
"I got this from that tanuki I get my incense from sometime last year. She said it came from a sandy desert place where they use it for massage. I studied the book that came along with it, don't worry!" Mimita grins, holding the bottle up for you. "Said it was how the royals down there washed, since it's sort of a soap too."
Well, a massage sounds nice. But you ask about the technique that she mentioned for applying it.
"That? It's full body massage. Using the full body. We'll both need to rinse off after, but if you just want to jump in the hot spring instead I suppose we don't need to use this very expensive, scented oil I've been saving for so long." She hums in a coy manner. It is tempting, you admit. Do you go for it?
You tell her that a massage sounds wonderful, you haven't relaxed much since you got there. She just needs to behave herself, or she'll take responsibility for whatever happens.
She just grins wider at the comment, closing the chest after taking out a large cloth that she lays down on the wood floor of her room before closing the door, keeping the windows open.
"Well then, strip down so we can start. Lay on your belly when you're ready." She instructs, pulling her dress off first and exposing the white side-tie undergarments she's wearing, keeping them on as she watches you strip down as well. You lay down when you're naked and rest your head on your arms, Mimita moving to your feet first to put a good helping of oil on her hands and start the massage with her hands alone there. The oil heats up with her hand's heat, and you swear she has her flames out but when you look back to check she doesn't have them out.
As the mouse moved up your legs she touches you more, straddling each leg and squeezing them between her thighs as her hands work on them, applying more of the oil as needed. Before long she pours some on your back and makes you shiver before the boiling heat of her body replaces it as the rat leans down onto you and presses her whole body against you as her hands massage your sides, moving her body up and down against you. Once her hands are done with your sides she moves them to your arms, keeping the body contact on full for the whole thing. Your body certainly is feeling the tension melting away, but after a short time she leans into your ear to whisper.
"If you want you can turn over so I can do that side." She grins, waiting for your answer.
You say yes, but you'll need a towel to cover up your lowers. She seems a tad disappointed in that, but the excitement when you agree to it overpowers that. She stands up and looks for something, before shrugging and picking up her discarded dress.
"This'll do, no towels in here." She grins. You sigh a bit and turn over, letting her admire a moment before clearing your throat to get her to lay the dress down.
She does the whole process again, giving more attention to the arms to keep you waiting for the main event. After getting your arms all loosened out she gets the front of your legs next, not needing to work on them long as she nearly sits against the hard item under the cloth. She's sitting up more this time to give you a good view of her as you watch, but she has both legs finish before long.
The main event appears then, and she pours more chilly oil onto your chest and stomach before moving down and pushing her chest against your belly. She drags her body up, her belly and legs rubbing up against you as she brings her face right up next to yours and hovers for a moment, her grin staying even then. After a few seconds there she moved back down, taking care not to move the dress to protect your modesty. She runs her hands against your chest and stomach when she moves down, before repeating the process. After a good deal of that, she sits down right on top of the dress and your aching member to massage deeper into your chest and stomach, all the while staying silent and watching your face. It's getting hard to think straight due to something hard down below.
You let her keep going with you as you lean back and put your hands under your head, the oily rat getting more excited by that. She puts lets pressure on you down below and slides the dress out to drop it to the side, leaving you exposed. She doesn't take her panties off though, and as she's massaging your torso with her nimble, practiced fingers she presses back down. You can feel the full heat of her body coming down out of her, and it's almost steaming hot. Then she beings to rub up against it.
The smooth fabric of the panties and the strong heat force you to focus to avoid blowing too soon. The rat is stifling little moans as she feels you through her undergarments, pushing against you harder as time moves along but keeping the pace slow as she moves her body almost like a dancer on top of you. It continues for an agonizingly long time, Mimita never going faster. The oil almost lets you see through those thing undergarments, and you can hardly stand it.
Soon, you can't stand it any longer and erupt, the slow play and soft sensations becoming too much for you. As you do, the dinner gong sounds and Mimita watches the finale with an excited smile, staying still as you twitch under her.
"Sorry, but looks like that's it for today. Looks like you really enjoyed that though." Mimita giggles, getting up off of you and finding her bathing robe. "Lets get rinsed off and get our dinner. We're already going to be late."
Sounds like a good idea.
Mimita takes off for a bath while you recover, leaving you taking yours around the time she's finished and in the dining hall already. You clean quick but try to be thorough to get all of the oil off, but it's exotic scent sticks with you even as you arrive in the dining hall with a clean set of clothes on.
The three masters are sitting at their small, round table as per usual, though it's oddly quiet. Himizu and Toriza are both staring at Mimita, with the rat staying silent to let her cocky, satisfied grin speak for her. She isn't trying to start anything, but the other two look up to you with the same suspicious stare as you walk in and sit down at your seat.
You apologize for being late, but before you can finish Toriza has stood up and put her paw on your face as she sniffs at you. She sits back down with a scowl, curiosity replaced with an angry look she casts at Mimita. It only seems to make the rat happier. She looks at you again after a minute of tense eating.
"Why smell of rat?" She asks rather upfront. "And perfume."
Mimita doesn't speak, and looks at you to explain it to them.
Toriza waits expectantly, and Himizu pays close attention as well while eating bits of her food slowly. They're suspicious, but it seems Mimita hasn't told them anything yet.
"Well anon?" Himizu asks, putting her bowl of food down.
You explain calmly that she just gave you a massage, using some oil she had stored away. You hadn't gotten a lot of rest unless you were knocked out until then, so you just needed some help getting the tension out of your body. The two are still suspicious, Himizu resuming her eating. Toriza doesn't seem as easily convinced.
"How did scent get all over both?" She asks.
You explain that it was a technique that Mimita wanted to try for a while, after having gotten it from a tanuki. It may have gotten a bit intimate, but nothing serious.
Mimita breaks from her smiling and looks at you, seeming a bit confused.
"What are you talking about? What about that part at the end? You didn't stop me." Mimita asks.
Toriza looks at her, glaring a bit but speaking politely.
"What happened at end?" Toriza asks.
"Well, nothing got put in anywhere." Mimita admits truthfully.
Toriza and Himizu are looking at you with very suspicious looks now, Toriza's chopsticks creaking in her clenching paw. Mimita is looking at you too, but with an oddly worry filled face.
"So, how 'intimate' did you get anon?" Himizu asks, leaving you at center stage. You won't get out of this without explaining yourself.
"All of the excitement around here has gotten me rather wound up, and Mimita merely helped me out with it. My time here has been rather intense," You look at Toriza. "but I know that it'll be very rewarding." You look at Himizu next, trying to reassure them. They've calmed down a bit now. But when you look at Mimita, you see her just looking down at her food with a frown as she eats faster. She seems to have taken offense with something you said.
"Well, I suppose that is alright then." Himizu mutters, still seeming unsure about it. "It's not like you meant it when you said you think you liked me. You did tell me not to believe everything you said." She laughs a bit.
Toriza looks at you again, seeming even more suspicious but not saying anything about it yet.
"Yeah, you didn't mean it. Right anon?" Mimita asks, looking at you with her own suspicious look.
You apologize, patting Mimita's head and thanking her for the wonderful massage a second time that day. You look at all three and decide to lay your hand on the table.
"You're all wonderful women and trusted comrades. But that is making it harder to sort out my feelings."
You look at Mimita first, the rat still looking worried.
"You're a bit inexperienced as a wife, but a fiery and passionate woman with an amazing personality. And man that could have you would have to thank heaven everyday."
You look at Himizu next, the ryu holding something inside.
"You may be young, but your skills are unparalleled in this whole region. The humility you have despite that is remarkable, and your innocence is irresistible. A prank with a doll doesn't make a liar."
Finally, you look at Toriza who is showing a bit of jealousy under her expression.
"Toriza, you have a beautiful side hidden under your hard exterior that few could appreciate, but those that can find it cannot resist it. Those that are afraid of your beauty are fools."
And finally you look at none in particular, shifting focus to each of them.
"That said, it is very difficult to make a choice between the three of you. A man has needs, so I will control myself as much as I am able."
The three are looking skeptical, but one by one they accept your stance, though Toriza still seems a bit jealous and Mimita frowning a tad.
"Well... that makes some sense. I think." Himizu ponders, before looking at your face with a serious look. "You really wish to protect your chastity till you've chosen?"
You ask if there is any ulterior motive to her asking that, and the ryu looks at you more firmly to press for an answer. You assure her that as long as you can have release to deal with your urges, that you shall.
Himzu nods, closing her eyes as she rises off her chair and lifts her torso up a few extra feet over what she usually stands at. A glowing white light forms between her two claws raised in front of her chest as she weaves a spell, before pushing it forward. You're knocked back as it hits you and spreads through your body, falling backwards to the floor. You get up as she holds her head with one hand, lowering herself down to her chair to rest. You ask what she did as you sit down.
"A spell we use for men going into battle that don't have a partner. It'll stop you from... uhm... getting inside anyone, at least in a way that would break your vow. It'll only come undone with a marriage ceremony." Himizu explains.
You're tempted to ask why she didn't ask your permission for such a thing, but from the reassured and calm looks they have now you figure that complaining would be a bad idea. Seems she made it stronger than usual, if her current weakness is anything to judge the strength of the spell by.
Before you can let your thoughts settle, you see someone clad in skin-tight material, a short black skirted robe, and a mask covering their face from the nose down appear behind Himizu. Their hair is tied back into a tough braid, wrapped around itself with two needles through it. From the long, thin, spaded tail you can safely say it's a kunoichi.
Your intuition tells you that the kunoichi means no harm. She is coming into plain view after all. You still get your focus ready and stand up to respond to the possible threat.
"Himizu!"
The ryu perks up, looking behind her at the same time as the other two that check. All three sit up at once, speaking at the same time in surprise.
"Silk?!"
They know her?
Himizu nods, turning and smiling at you as she stands up.
"Yes, she is the kunoichi we hired that didn't come back!" She states with excitement. "Silk is just her code name."
The kunoichi drops down onto one knee and bows to the four of you, but looks up at you for a moment.
"I apologize for my absence. Their tengu captain managed to capture me, but I managed to escape upon some strange surge of magic several days ago. It caused some chaos in their ranks. It was only a temporary base away from their main one, so I have no found their fortress I am afraid." She reports in a clear voice.
"You must be exhausted! Eat something, and get some rest!" Himizu urges her.
"I have already eaten, I shall rest shortly. Who is this?" The kunoichi asks, looking at you as she stays knelt.
"This is a man taking his formal master test at this temple and helping us against the warlord. His name is Anon."
The kunoichi nods, looking at you with an appraising eye that doesn't seem to be romantic in nature. She doesn't seem interested, more curious.
You greet her anyways, and she merely bows her head for you.
"I shall take my leave and find a place to recover. Forgive my failure." The kunoichi requests, Himizu just nodding and smiling. "Go ahead. I can still feel whatever magic that bicorn tried to use on you a little. Take a nice bath."
The kunoichi hesitates and nods, before jumping up and nearly disappearing into thin air to leave the four of you alone.
You return to your meal and ask about what sort of things she's found out about before, Mimita answering for Himizu.
"She found plenty of scout positions, but they're widely spaced. They seem to just be decoys and places to gather information from when messengers move by. She never found those messengers though." Mimita explains.
With her meal finished Himizu stands up, holding her head again.
"That last spell took more out of me than expected. I'm going to go rest. Behave yourself Anon." She warns you with a smile, turning and moving away slowly.
Toriza stands up and leaves silently, not giving a second glance back as she heads off somewhere.
Mimita is still there eating her food, taking pecks out of it with her chopsticks to eat and waste time.
You lean over to Mimita and give her a kiss to the forehead, apologizing to her in case you hurt her feelings. The rat looks up at you before she gives you a quick kiss to your cheek, smiling a little bit again.
"Alright, but don't think that I've full forgiven you for trying to play the field." She chuckles.
You nod and stand up, pausing a moment. You ask if she wants to train with you and Toriza tonight, and maybe improve their teamwork. You can't see them working well in battle, and think the two could get along eventually. Mimita frowns a bit, but actually thinks it over for a minute.
"I'll give it a try."
You smile and head off towards Himizu's room to see if you can speak to her about the kunoichi. When you arrive you find the door is shut tight again, and something is blocking your focus this time. She put up some sort of barrier inside. Well, it's more secure at the least.
You have other things to worry about and go to the baths. The kunoichi is nowhere to be seen, and you scrub yourself down with the strongest soap you could find. It works to get the smell of the oil off of you, even though it's designed for cleansing demonic energy from someone.
Once you're clean and dressed, you start looking around for the two. You have a hunch and head up to the obstacle course to find the pair already practicing, though Mimita is firing fake wooden arrows are Toriza as she tries to reach the closed gates without getting hit. They're getting along! Sort of.
You watch the pair go at it for a short while, seeing who is having more trouble. Toriza keeps baiting Mimita to use arrows, assuming it'll take more than one strike to break open the gates. Or she wants to climb up to the rat. Either way, they're both heated up and Mimita starts using flaming arrows when she knows it won't hit any wood.
You decide to join in on the exercise and sneak around to the other side of the wall, getting up behind Mimita. You climb up and take an extra bow as she notices you, grinning as she keeps her shooting up. You join in and do your best to keep Toriza back, the tiger getting fed up and picking up one of the barriers to carry it along to use as a shield. This lets her get right to gate and start pounding on the door, but you shoot and arrow and focus to curve it. After a few tries, you manage to tag Toriza with one and the game ends when she stands up and points at her head where it hit. It didn't seem to have hurt her.
With the practice over, she jumps up onto the wall and joins you and Mimita. The rat hugs your arm and Toriza gets right up next to you, both challenging each other with their eyes. They stay civil though.
"Suggested training. What had in mind?" Toriza asks.
You're a bit worried about choosing one over the other, so you suggest the pair of them teaming up to get past a challenge you set. Not necessarily in the obstacle course, but maybe temple wide.
They frown at each other before Mimita speaks.
"What did you have in mind?"
You have to think for a moment, but hatch an idea in your head about how to get the pair to work together. You wouldn't stand a chance if you worked on your own, but this may make things interesting.
You tell the pair to meet you in the sparring hall, and head off on your own to gather the supplies you'll need from the supplies shed. With some rope, thick cloth, and a pair of metal cuffs in hand you head to the meeting spot.
Toriza and Mimita are arguing a bit about what the challenge will be when you arrive, going quiet and waiting to see what you came up with using the items. You move up and start to explain, showing off the red cloth as you tuck it into your belt, hanging on your right side.
"The game is simple, get the 'flag' before sundown. The catch is, you'll have a handicap."
The pair are confused, but you moved behind Mimita and attach the cuffs, ones that are unlocked with serene ryu techniques. You tie the rope to those and got them a six foot length between them, tying the other rope around Toriza's waist. Finally, you make Toriza lean down enough for you to blindfold her.
"There. If you manage to get the 'flag' like that, without removing those things, I'll pay each of you a favor. If you lose, I'll take a favor from both of you. How does that sound?"
Mimita thinks for a moment before grinning, seeming to like being the one in control.
"Alright, lets do it!"
Toriza nods as well, though you can't read her emotion due to her eyes being covered.
"Good. Now then, the contest starts..." You back away, getting some distance from the pair before calling out, "NOW!!"
Toriza runs for where your voice came from to try and grab you, Mimita yelping as she's dragged along behind the jinko. You're already running for the other doorway, heading outside as Mimita is yelling at Toriza to slow down and let her stand up. You hope this wasn't too hard a strategy.
It's not long before Mimita comes running after, leading Toriza at a distance behind you as they try and coordinate. They catch up with you in a straight line, but when you turn suddenly and rush through a doorway Mimita panics and tries to get Toriza to turn. The Jinko keeps going, Mimita getting bowled over as they trip over each other.
Mimita and Toriza find you several minutes later, Mimita giving the Jinko instruction from behind instead of leading in front like last time. They get closer this time, and actually start swiping. Toriza is attacking blind, but Mimita tries to get her to grab the flag as she keeps trying to trip you up. You slip away after a short combat, and lose them when you manage to trip them into getting their rope onto a pillar.
They come running at you inside after. Mimita is on Toriza's shoulder's this time, giving much better instruction this time. You flee, and actually have trouble defending against them this time. Toriza actually brushes the flag with a paw. But that offensive ends when you run inside and Mimita gets her head knocked against the door frame. That had to hurt.
The sun is about ready to set, but you're feeling sorry for them. They're making some good progress, maybe you can let them win? Having some favors to take from them sounds fun though.
Well, it'd only be fair to give them another chance to win. You stick nearby until Mimita is done formulating their next plan, which involves her going piggyback inside of Toriza's shirt to avoid any more nasty bonks.
They're onto you soon enough, and you realize that they've added Toriza's sense of smell to their arsenal for tracking. You give them a run for their money, but they keep you on your toes until finally cornering you in one of the spare rooms.
Mimita gives Toriza quick coded directions so you can't follow the strikes she's using, but you don't make it easy for them. Toriza actually manages to use a feint, catching you off guard from the out of style move, and holds up the flag in her paw afterwards.
"Got it?" She asks, Mimita cheering and wiggling in her shirt before yelping when her celebration makes her fall out the back and land on her bottom when she forgets to hang on with her legs.
"Yeah, we did it! We won Toriza!" Mimita cheered, standing up and grinning wide at you. "You owe us each a favor now!"
You smile and let Toriza take the blindfold off, blinking and adjusting to the light levels still around them. You help Mimita out of the cuffs and rope, setting it all to the side.
"I sure do. Just don't put all this out the window and hinder each other's requests."
Toriza can't help but grin as she holds onto the flag, staring at it with pride even with the team effort.
"Well, I'm too tired to decide on it right now. I'll hit you up with it sometime else." Mimita yawns, grinning wide at you as she skips off. "Don't complain if you don't like it!"
Toriza moves away as well, still holding onto the flag. Seems like she's eager to get some sleep too, she's been training a lot today. You could head off yourself, or stay up to do something else. Maybe Himizu has recovered?
You're still nervous about that kunoichi, and head on over towards Himizu's chambers to go ask about it.
When you arrive there you approach the door and see if your focus can get through. To your surprise you can see through it, and notice that Himizu is sleeping soundly in her bed. Before you can think of waiting, you detect someone behind you.
Turning, you find the Kunoichi standing a small distance away with a raised brow.
"Checking on her even after spending that time with the others? Are you really trying to get them all?" The kunoichi asks, almost mocking you. "Are you sure you have the charisma?"
You're about to respond, but she speaks again without letting you.
"You might actually manage it. If you listen to me. I know all their secrets you know." She suggests. You're not sure if she's tempting or testing you.
"Enough joking though. Can you awaken Himizu? You appear to be able to peer inside."
She's being awfully pushy for a hired woman, so you ask why she needs to see Himizu so badly.
"Simple. I need to report some enemy movements I found scouting after my rest. I report to Himizu, nobody else."
It seems plausible, and you know that kunoichi's contracts are solid stone. You could trust her, but something seems off about her.
"If you open it for me, I'll tell you something useful on each of them." She offers.
You agree to wake up Himizu, and tell the kunoichi to be patient. With that in mind, you keep an eye open in the back of your head as you focus into the room and find the same doll as before to awaken Himizu. It's right where you left it, and with a bit of effort you pick it up and have it move over to the sleeping ryu.
After a few pokes to the face she grumbles awake and turns on a lamp beside the bed, yelping and falling out of the other side of the bed when she sees the doll moving around again. She peeks up and realizes it's you, huffing a bit while looking at it.
"I thought I put up wards to stop you from doing that!" She complains, yawning a bit. You don't try to change your voice, and project your thoughts through the doll.
"I came here to speak to you about Silk. That comment you made about bicorn magic being around her seemed suspicious. She's outside with me now, so we'll have to speak now before you open the door. She has a report on enemy movement she won't give to anyone but you."
Himizu blinks a few times and gets back up onto the bed, sitting on her coils while facing the doll.
"Suspicious? But she's been very loyal since she started working for me!" Himizu frowns. She has a lot of trust for Silk it seems.
"She's also been missing for a while. I'm just suggesting looking into it closer, maybe check for how much it's affected her."
Himizu seems conflicted, but nods to you and picks the doll up to give it a hug.
"Alright, I'll see if I can ask her."
After instructing Himizu not to mention their conversation, and that you'll be staying with her in the room just in case, you drop your focus. Silk hasn't moved behind you, and is waiting patiently. The door opens up as Himizu opens it up, yawning again as she smiles at Silk.
"Sorry it took so long to wake me up. Come on in you two."
Silk seems hesitant but moves in after you, Himizu closing the door. The ryu lit all the lights in the room, and keeps you two on the walkway instead of taking you all the way inside. It smells like lilies in here somehow.
"Go on Silk, anything you tell me can be told to Anon here."
The kunoichi bows before she speaks, keeping her head down.
"During a scouting mission just before sundown today, I spotted a force of around a hundred making it's way towards this location. They have were-rabbits, but the ogre and red onis in their company have slowed their progress. I estimate it'll take them two days to approach up the northeastern pass." The kunoichi reports, Himizu nodding at Silk.
"Thank you, is there anything else to report?" She asks, Silk taking a moment before replying.
"This man has promised two favors to the other two masters of this temple. I question his motives."
Himizu looks at you in surprise, before waving a hand and opening the door.
"Go, I'll need to speak to him in private." She instructs the kunoichi, who nods and moves out. She closes the door tight behind her.
"What's this about favors? Why don't I get one"
You explain the training and test that you had the pair go through in order to earn it, Himizu seeming genuinely surprised by the effects of what you had described the pair doing.
"Amazing, those two hardly ever got along before! And you had them working together, just like that!" She grins, seeming overjoyed and impressed with the task.
"So, if you want one you'll need to earn it. It wouldn't be fair to them if you didn't, right?" You ask.
Himizu nods to agree, still overjoyed.
"Alright, what sort of test will you give me?"
You apologize and tell her it's late. You'll think of it tomorrow, while they make preparations for the force coming towards them. Just in case Silk wasn't lying, though you don't let that comment out.
"Alright, I'll wait until then. We should all get some rest. If you can't think of anything, I might suggest something. You are making good progress on the sand polishing practice, you might be able to do another training exercise."
It sounds like a good backup, so you agree as long as the contest makes sense. With that said, you say goodnight to Himizu with a head pat and head out of her chambers, the heavy doors closing behind you again.
Thankfully Silk isn't there that time, that you can see. You head to your room to get some sleep so you're ready for the preparations tomorrow.
You awaken to a gentle sunlight and a calm morning, the feeling of nothing going wrong clear around you. This makes it a bit hard to get up, but you manage it so that you can head off to get breakfast when the gong for the meal sounds. You take your time walking there, and when you do you find two of the masters, Mimita and Toriza, already eating. As you head over you notice that the fish for your meal is a bit charred, but not as bad as last time. The rice is decent as well, and has a red flower placed on top. Sitting down, Mimita smiles at you. Toriza is too deep in thought to respond to your presence, thinking rather hard about something.
"Good morning anon! I was about to come get you, I didn't want your food to get cold!" Mimita grins, "Hope you like it, I tried to make sure it wasn't dry this time."
You thank Mimita for the meal and start to eat. She's been taking lessons from someone.
As you eat, Himizu comes in yawning. She's still sleepy and tired from yesterday it seems.
"Good morning everyone. Has anon told you about the thing yet?" Himizu asks.
You say no, and shake your head before anyone can get suspicious. You forgot about it due to how nice the morning was going.
"What thing?" Himizu asks, looking at Toriza before snapping her fingers till the jinko snapped out of it.
"Alright, then I'll tell you. Uhm... Silk... northwestern pass... onis and rabbits..."
Himizu slumps over onto the table to fall asleep again, Toriza pulling the food out of the way so no mess is made. The pair look to you for a real explanation. You tell them about the force approaching the temple and when it's expected to arrive, the pair listening intently. After that you three make some plans with what resources you can, but there is little you can do besides keeping forces in vital areas to protect them while another tries to push them back.
After the meal is over, Toriza gets up and leaves to resume her thinking and take care of preparing what can be done. You and Himizu are left alone, but Himizu is still asleep. Can't ask her about the task unless you wake her up, but she may not be up to the task right now anyways. Mimita is still there eating though, having taken it slow.
"Hm... say, I know what my favor will be. But I want to tell you in private. Just come find me when you have time, I'm sure you have things to do yourself." Mimita states, getting up off her chair and blowing you a kiss as she runs off.
With no choice now you wake Himizu up by getting up and moving around the table to gently shake her, the ryu mumbling a bit as she sits up straight again.
"Whas happening?" She asks, seeing the breakfast hall empty besides the two of you.
You say good morning and remind her to eat her breakfast, you two can talk about the test she'll need to complete for the favor. Remembering the deal, Himizu wakes up more and starts eating as she grabs her bowl of cold rice and starts eating.
"Did you think of something?"
You think you have something in mind for her. She seems to be rather clumsy when flustered, since she's tripped twice now that you've seen. She gets a bit embarrassed about that and asks what you have in mind.
You explain the test. She'll run an obstacle course while you distract her. Any time she damages anything, she's penalized the time it takes to fix it without using her powers, and she must do it herself. If she can manage to do it before the dinner gong sounds, you'll grant her a favor. You need to take time to set it up, so it'll take place after noon when she's more awake anyways. You also mention that the others agreed that if they failed, they would grant you a favor instead and ask if she agrees to the terms.
Himizu ponders it over for a short while, before nodding.
"I'll do it!" She says with sleepy confidence.
You smile and move away to start preparing the obstacle course, gathering what supplies aren't being used by Toriza to prepare. By the time you've gathered everything up the hill and started working on the agility course, Mimita comes up looking for you.
"There you are anon! What are you doing up here?" The rat asks, moving over quick and looking at the wooden hurdle you're putting together. "Hurdle jumping is pretty basic for training, isn't it?" Mimita asks.
"It's for Himizu's test. She found out about the favors from Silk and wanted her own. So I'm making her work on her agility."
Mimita blinked, but chuckles as she imagines the master tripping over everything.
"I'll stay here then! Sounds like fun!" The rat exclaims, not helping out right away. "Say, Anon. Can I ask you about some limitations on this favor? You never set any besides that one."
You ask what she means while continuing your hammering.
"Well, how long can it last? Forever, until the day you die, for as long as we know each other?" She asks.
That sounds a bit suspicious. You ask what she has in mind.
"I just want to have you do something anytime you're around me, I'm not going to say it if you're just going to shoot it down!" Mimita frowns, crossing her arms.
You're too skeptical to agree to something without knowing what it is you're agreeing too, so you come up with a limit you think is fair.
"One month, that's the longest I'll do." You state.
Mimita frowns a bit, uncrossing her arms as she sits down to look at you more sincerely.
"It's really something that needs to last as long as one of those." She tries to convince you. You tell her you can't trust her with that amount of vagueness You don't want to be made to do something embarrassing forever.
Something hits her when you say that and she frowns for real.
"Fine, forget about it..." She sighs, moving off to sit under a tree to sit down and continue watching you with that frown.
You spend a couple more hours setting up everything, making a varied and somewhat challenging course for Himizu. The whole time Mimita doesn't move from her spot, hardly moving, taking to leaning against the tree in the grass. You're finished now, and have a bit of time before dinner to do something else now.
The reaction she had has you feeling guilty, surely it can't be anything bad if she is acting like that. You head on over to where she's sitting and kneel down as she frowns a bit more from your approach.
"What I said may have been a bit unfair. If you tell me what it is, I might make it last longer."
She scoffs and turns over, turning her back to you.
"Not going to say it unless I'm using the favor."
This isn't good. You're just pushing the rat away now.
"Are you sure? It's hard to agree to something I don't know."
She stays with her back turned to you, not budging.
"Alright, I'll listen. After I get Toriza's, to make sure they don't conflict. So, after lunch."
She turns her head to look at you, still frowning a bit.
"Alright, but you better not back out!" She says sternly, sitting up to look at you more directly instead of leaning. You assure you that you won't, and almost on cue the gong for lunch is rung. You stand up and lead the way, Mimita following you at a distance.
You arrive at the table and find Himizu fully awake and eating her food down quick, and Toriza looking proud of herself while she eats at her own pace. You sit for your own meal, seeing that you're having some noodle soup for the meal. Mimita sits down after you, still looking dejected as she doesn't look directly at you and begins eating without speaking.
"Is everything set up Anon? I did my meditating, so I'm awake and ready!" She smiles, looking between you and Mimita. She almost speaks before keeping quiet to wait for your answer. You tell her it is ready, you just need to eat before she can start.
"Then hurry up, every second is one I could be trying!" She exclaims, slurping up some more noodles as she forgets about grace and tries to finish quick.
Toriza looks at you with a small smile and a chuff, getting your attention.
"Have my favor. Want to hear now?" She asks.
Mimita starts paying attention, so you tell her yes.
"Makeover. Choose new clothing. Groom fur. Scrub dirt stains out. Cut hair.... no trimming claws."
That's a surprising request. She just wants you to make her look a bit less wild, if you listened to her right.
"When do it?" She asks, and you suggest doing it that night after Himizu's test. Seems like a good way to relax to you. Toriza chuffs again and goes back to her food, seeming excited for it under her usual stoic face.
Himizu finishes her meal first and heads off to the obstacle course on her own, Toriza following her since she finished at the same time. This leaves you and Mimita alone now.
"So, are you ready now?" Mimita asks, frowning at you.
You said you would, and tell her to tell you. She gets up out of her chair and moves over to you, taking your head into both her hands to lean you down for her to press her forehead and nose against your own as she stares right into your eyes.
"You don't, ever, ever, ever, EVER lie to me. Even if you choose someone else, even if it'll hurt, you never tell me a lie. That's all I want." She speaks clearly, holding onto you till she finishes.
With it said she lets go, moving back to her seat but not sitting down. She just takes her bowl and chopsticks, walking off out of the hall to leave you alone and eat on her own.
You're left there alone and finish eating your meal soon enough. You head straight out and to where the others are already waiting at the obstacle course. Mimita is watching from the top of the replica gate, Toriza is lazing about in the sunny grass, and Himizu is doing what looks like tail stretches at the end of the course, believing it's the start. You correct her and guide her towards the start.
After explaining the path she'll take, you get ready to give her the signal. She's waiting rather excitedly, and seems to think she'll manage it even with your teasing and distractions. Maybe you should go hard on her, or easy?
You warn her that you won't be holding back on her, and will do everything you can to prevent her from winning. You didn't hold back with the other two, so it wouldn't be fair.
She nods to show she understands, and you finally tell her to start.
She trips over the one hurdle you decided to start the test with. It doesn't break, but you're surprised she didn't get it. Himizu hurriedly sets it up again and takes a quickly slithering leap, clearing it before heading into the poles she needs to wind herself around. You start with the assault.
"Your eyes are lovely you know." You speak right into her ear, making the ryu fumble and nearly fall over.You finish her off. "They're like jewels."
Himizu trips over herself, tail tangling around the sturdy poles a little. She carefully unwinds herself, but snaps one of the bamboo poles.
After she replaces the pole in the hole by hand, which takes half an hour, she tries again from the start. She trips over the hurdle at the start again. After two more attempts she leaps over it successfully, and starts going through the poles again.
"Your scales shine so nicely, do you polish them?"
Himizu isn't phased. You don't know many compliments that'll get to Ryu, so decide to go more personal as she goes through the next stage, the 'rock hopping' section. It's only loops of rope on the ground, but around every one of them are sections of bamboo stood up and ready to be knocked over or crushed. She takes an attempt and reaches the first one, and goes for the second as you speak into her other ear from where you're standing.
"Your sleeping face sure is cute you know."
She blushes, tripping and falling among the bamboo. She crushes a few with her tail's weight, but scatters more. She whines as she stands up, frowning at you before carefully getting out of the mass of bamboo without scattering or damaging more. Replacing them takes twenty five minutes.
As it goes long, Himizu's progress crawls and the other two find themselves greatly amused despite not knowing what you're telling her. She eventually reaches the last obstacle. The accursed five hurdles in a row, spaced so she has to keep her tail high over each one during the multiple jumps. The ryu is already sweaty and panting, taking a small break to catch her breath before attempting it.
She finally goes for it, getting over the first two before you speak again with the trump card.
"Is that your reverse scale?"
She fumbles hard and crashed into the remaining ones, splintering the two she already jumped over as she lands. Just as she gets up whining in sheer embarrassment, the dinner gong rings and she freezes up, looking towards the temple.
"...I lost."
"That wasn't fair! You can't just say something like that to an unmarried woman!" Himizu whines, batting at you with tired, balled up fists. You did tell her that you wouldn't be holding back, but if she's worried about it she should put something up to protect it. She's pouty, but Mimita walks by still snickering and giggling from the finale as she heads off to go get her dinner. You tell Himizu that you'll think a bit about what your favor will be and get the two of you heading off after Toriza as she passes by to get your evening meal.
She pouts the whole way there, using her powers to purify her sweat into pure water before you can notice any smell from it. As you're sitting down to the meal, you ask what it was she wanted so much for you to ask as her favor.
"Well, I kind... well..." She mutters, looking away sheepishly.
You ask again, telling her if she doesn't want to tell she doesn't need to.
"It's embarrassing though!" Himizu whines, looking ahead. Toriza looks at her after swallowing the first bite of her food, speaking up.
"I was embarrassed. Asked anyways. Actually getting it."
Himizu whines a bit, working up her courage a bit before speaking.
"I wanted you to... cook for me. For a bit. Like a week!..." She blushes, picking up her chopsticks to start eating her food.
Mimit laughs a bit, grinning at the admission. "Everyone here wants to try terrible cooking! I bet he's a beginner like I am too." The rat smiles. Well, she isn't wrong. You've only ever cooked rice on the road before.
Well, it's tempting to give it a try but you'd have to cook for all three of them to make it fair. You still have your request, but could give it some more thought.
You think it may be a fun idea, and suggest cooking dinner for all three of them tomorrow. You'll get one of the usual cooks to help you so that you don't give them food poisoning before the enemy gets there tomorrow night.
All three of them look at you at once, paying plenty of attention. Seems the idea is a hit.
The three keep asking if you can make certain food and keep disagreeing, and you tell them you'll make something that you'll not screw up too hard before they start really arguing. Before long the dinner is finished, though Himizu has to break up a fight that nearly breaks out among the students without leaving her seat.
"Have fun cleaning that big cat! Well, not really. I'd prefer you didn't." Mimita shrugs, chuckling as she gets up and heads off, blowing you another kiss as she leaves the doorway. Toriza doesn't seem to care, and stands up with a smile on her face as she looks at you.
"Ready Anon?"

You finally found the tools for hair cutting, having been tucked away for a long while due to the temple using a mantis servant to cut hair for the last thirty years. They're still sharp with not rust on them, ready to tackle the task of cutting Toriza's wild hair.
Arriving at Toriza's room, you see her sitting on the ground with a blanket around her neck and over her body, ready for the haircut. She chuffs when you arrive, smiling a tiny bit.
"Hard to find?" She asks, commenting on the time it took to get the tools. You nod and head inside, surprised that her position sitting on her knees doesn't look too awkward to give you access to your head.
She's ready and the tools are laid out, so you ask what sort of haircut she had in mind for herself.
"You decide. See how turns out." Toriza requests. Looks like you're the one making the choice.You have skills with tools, but have never cut hair before. Well, on purpose. There have been fights where you've made some girl very mad at you for lopping off a length. You could go for something simple, or take a risk and try to do something hard.
You have an idea for a more practical style for the jinko, but first you need to get the hair ready so you do it right. Remembering back to the times you've had your hair cut, you quickly fetch a bucket of hot spring water before returning. You use your fingers to comb through the wild hair to start sorting out the tangles and knots. Despite the occasional tug on her scalp, Toriza doesn't complain and occasionally lets out a quiet chuff. It takes a long time to get all the way to her scalp, and you scratch through it with your wet fingers. This produces a cacophony of chuffs from Toriza, and you have to pull her back up straight when she tries to pull away out of embarrassment. You repeat with the comb and more hot water, getting the hair straight and ready for the cut.
You set about cutting and trimming next, taking off the hair to the point just at the top of her shoulder blades. After seeing how it looks up in a high ponytail, you nod and tie it up while leaving two long bangs that fall down the sides of her face to her collar bones.
"All done, have a look. Don't be afraid to wear it down sometimes."
You hold the mirror up for Toriza, the jinko looking into it for a few moments while not seeming to think it's really her being reflected. You surprise her with more scalp scratching, making her chuff more and move to get away before just accepting it for a minute. Once she's had her fill she stands up, her blanket falling off to the ground. She was naked under there, catching you off guard.
"Next is bath. Then clothes." She states, grabbing a bath robe before moving out of the room as she puts it on, not taking her hair ribbon out. You follow her along, carrying the soaps she picked out up to the hidden pool. Thankfully nobody is there before you.
Toriza gets down into the water, looking at you with another chuff and a small smile. She's opening up to you for sure, but now it's time to clean her up. She's letting you do it, and has only taken the ribbon out now that she's chest deep in hot water. You get in with her, keeping your bath robe on to maintain decency. You'll need to wash her hair, scrub the dirt from her skin, and use the rough brush on her thick fur. The tail is a different, squirmy challenge.
You start with the hair, scrubbing the soap into the scalp and the freshly cut hair. The scratching at her scalp makes her produce more chuffs and push up into your fingers.
"You like that, huh?" You ask, Toriza nodding a bit while staying quiet. You give her even more head scratching than she needs for fun, before picking up the bucket and filling it with water. You push her ears down and rinse her hair a few times before moving onto the next part.
You scrub her fur down with the brush first, making sure to go with the grain to avoid irritating the hairs. It takes a while, but Toriza seems to enjoy the lengthy pampering with how the chuffing keeps going. You go for the pads with your fingers though, washing them with soft cloth while Toriza squirms from the sensitive spots being cleaned up.
Her skin comes next and you start with her back, not holding back as you clean as rough as you can. She doesn't complain, and before long you've moved from the back to her shoulders, her sides, and pause.
"The rest of the areas are a bit private, are you sure you want me to clean then?" You ask.
She chuffs and nods.
Well, the woman asked for it. You start with her belly, thinking it'll be the easiest to start with as she lays back in the pool. It's no use, she's squirming as you clean those rock hard muscles. It's hard to stay in position as her movements shift her around. After some struggle you finish that area, heading up and getting her chest. She's blushing madly now, and seems nervous as you try your best to wash her chest with a cloth without it becoming too awkward. She stops you and covers her chest up, turning around to point out her tail.
"Can wash there myself..." She refers to her chest, looking at the tail next. "Wash that." She instructs.
You comply, and start to gently scrub the fur of the tail with the soap. It helps you both settle down, and before too long you've finished and rinsed it out. After many rinses, she's all clear of dirt. She gets up to grab her bath robe before leading the way back to the temple.
Once there, she leads you to a room you thought was another spare. It turns out it's the sewing room, where piles of plain cloth and some fancier cloth is kept in a wooden cage, locked away. There is a Jurougumo woman there, putting the finishing touches on an outfit made on some wooden frame mannequins, smiling at the pair as you walk inside.
"Oh, you're done sooner than I thought! Just a few more stitches and the last one will be done for you." The spider smiles, looking back at her work.
On the three mannequins are custom designed outfits for Toriza.
The first is a practical black martial arts gi with pants and no arms, stylishly appearing torn off.
The second is a black mist valley (chinese) dress, made sturdier than a usual one but fit to Toriza's frame. It's a bit longer than Mimita wears, but it's just as femenine with gold embroidery put onto it.
The third is a bit odd, and sort of original. It's like a gi but slightly longer to act as a skirt, with a bigger sash and larger sleeves meant for a jinko. The length would cover up her hands, and the hems are colored the same as the orange parts of her fur. The rest of it is of course black.
"Pick one you like. Can ask for new one if you don't like any." Toriza requests, smiling down at you in her wet bathrobe.
The third is tempting, but you decide that the second would look best on her. She wants to look more feminine after all. You tell her that you want the one in the middle, but have a suggestion. You ask if she can wear one with sleeves like the third one. The jurougumo chuckles at you and nods, starting to get to work on it already.
Toriza pulls you into a tight hug, almost crushing you with her strength before she lets you down.
"Go wait in your room. Come when finished." She instructs. You comply, leaving the room and heading back to your own as the sun starts to go down. You light the lamp in your room while you wait, doing some meditation while time passes.
Before long you hear a knock on your door, and hear Toriza chuff from the other side. You tell her to come in, staying on the floor.
The door slides open and Toriza steps inside. The mist valley dress has matching sleeves seamlessly added, using the same fabric that the body of the black dress is using. She has her hair up in the ponytail and the hanging bangs tied into little loops at the end to keep the hairs together, her fur dry and full of sheen now that it's clean and brushed.
"Makeover done. Good?" Toriza asks, pulling the form fitting dress down a bit as she gets used to a skirt.
You tell her she looks beautiful as you stand up, asking her to give you a spin to see the back too. She nods and does a slow spin, chuffing afterwards. You take her paw and give it a kiss, making her blush and let out another chuff.
"How about a dance?" You ask, Toriza looking surprised by the question but not fighting as you pull her into a dance you've learned from festivals at the grand temple. You place her paw on your shoulder, yours on her hip, and taking the paw in your hand as you take the lead around your room. She doesn't know the dance but manages to keep up without stepping on your feet, a smile growing on her face as you keep it going.
By the time you're ready to sleep you've been dancing with her for about an hour, the jinko not wanting to stop. You remind her that there is preparations to do tomorrow, and tell her to get some sleep as well.
Toriza moved to the door, but doesn't leave. She closes it and turns towards you, a louder chuff coming out as she walks up to you before pushing you down onto your bedding. She gets down over you, and just as you think she's about to ravage you she lays down beside you with a 'pomf' and pulls you into a big hug as she chuffs some more.
"Sleep here. Don't mind?" Toriza asks.
You tell her you don't mind, but she needs to go and change out of the dress. It's new and too good to be slept in, she should get something comfier. And her bedding, so there is enough blanket.
Toriza nods and chuffs, releasing you as she gets up and moves out of the room quick. You take the chance to get up and close the windows of your room, and she's back after a few minutes. She has her hair down and is wearing an old martial arts outfit, which serve well enough for sleeping. You only have time to turn the lamp off before she has her bedding beside yours and pulls you back into her strong arms, chuffing some more as your face is pushed into her chest. You settle in as best as you can among the strong, warm, chuffing muscle as you put an arm you can move around her.
It's a pretty good way to get to sleep, you think.

You wake up to the sound of the temple's gong, dark blackness still surrounding you. The gong sounds repeatedly, signaling an emergency and waking the solid mass wrapped around you. Toriza jumps to her feet and turns on the lamp so you can see, just as the sound of clattering and mayhem spread towards your room. You have only time to get up before the cause of alarm becomes obvious.
Through the wooden door bursts a group of four were-rabbits clad in light metal armor wielding spears, charging right for the two of you. Toriza heard them coming and breaks the spears aimed at only you before kicking them all down with a wide kick to the head, knocking the first two out but leaving the other two conscious. You move quick and trip one up when she attempts to get up, taking the helmet off before slamming her head into the wood floor with a flip to disable her as well. By that time Toriza strikes the other back out into the hallway, the were-rabbit collapsing from the shock of a few broken ribs.
Toriza hesitates, listening before looking at you with worry.
"Battle everywhere. Don't know where go first." She frowns.
You don't get to decide just yet, as she sees something from next door. She charges with a roar and you hear the sound of metal being bent, spears snapping. You grab the lamp and move out to see what it going on, seeing three more were-rabbits defeated and a tied up female student. The rabbits were trying to take her. You check the room and see a male student. He's dead, stabbed to death with the spears.
"Where do we go?" Toriza asks, too many options for her to pick. If she were alone she's merely charge at the nearest threat till they were all gone.
She's obviously worried about the children, but there are other problems. They'll be trying to free the mantis for sure. Mimita may not have awoken, and may be in trouble. The students are in danger as well, and you have no idea if anyone is trying to get at Himizu.
You tell Toriza to go and make sure that the children are safe, you're going for Mimita. She sleeps like a log, and the temple needs her skills now. Toriza nods to agree to your plan, patting your head for good luck before running of into the dark. You hear the cries of more were-rabbits in that direction, before the yell of an oni.
You run down the hall yourself, happy when the moonlight helps to light things a bit. You're forced to levitate the lamp as a group of rabbits steps out in front of you with another female student, struggling in her binds. You steal away one of their spears and trip one of the free ones, kicking their helmet off before catching it on the end and swinging it under just before she hits the ground. The other two drop their captive, but before they can brandish their weapons they fall before your fallen spear as you stab at the weak points in their armor. You take a moment to untie the student and instruct her to follow you, before you start running down the long hall.
As you do, a shadow appears just outside the slotted wooden window. You turn to look at it, black wings and glowing blue eyes staring back at you.
"Found you." It grins. Instinct tells you to duck, so you do so just before some sort of blade flies through the wood and hits the wall beside where your neck was. Checking it, you find that it's some sort of saw-like chakram. It dislodges and flies back out the window, but you're forced to run ahead as kunai rain in and hit the wooden floor. The student behind you isn't being targeted, and the chakram comes flying back for you from behind. You dodge it from the slight sound it makes, the wide blade curving unnaturally in front to swing back at you. Another duck and leap and you're away from the slotted windows, chakram flying out of the window again. Whoever it was has stopped their attack, for now.
With the assault finished you rush for Mimita's room and check inside, seeing nobody there. They have her, but they can't be far. The studen behind you calls for your attention, pointing down at the other end of the hall. You head out to check, but you can't see in the dark. Must be why they picked were-rabbbits for this.
You rush down the hall and are soon greeted by another group of rabbits and a red oni, the muscled woman taller than you holding onto the sleeping rat. The student gets ready, and you throw the spear at the oni's leg to stop her from fleeing. It takes a momentary mid-air adjustment with your focus, but you hit the back of her leg before they notice you. In the confusion you trip them all up, one after the other before rushing in. You're glad to have a striking dragon student with you, the 'clang' of helmets being struck repeatedly letting you get to Mimita and the oni. As you do, white flame lights up the whole hall as an annoyed looking rat glares down at the oni. The fall must have woken her up. She rushed forward as the oni is getting ready to fight, grabbing her head with her legs before spinning around and snapping the neck. With the opponent down, she looks at you.
"Is Himizu safe?!" She asks, getting a hold of the situation already.
"She's next, come on!" You urge her, Mimita nodding and leading the way as the female student finishes with the three rabbits and follows.
On the way you free and save more students and tell Mimita where Toriza is, but pause when you see what is in front of Himizu's door.
A group of five red oni and the green ogre, who stands a whole twelve feet tall. They're not trying to open the doors of the ryu's room though. They're guarding it.
You can't take that head on, but can't just leave Himizu alone in that room without knowing what is going on. You request that they guard you while you try and check, it'll take all your focus to look into the room from a distance.
"Don't take too long trying!" Mimita urges you.
You close your eyes and focus as hard as you can, finding the hole in the wards she put up, looking into the room as you strain yourself. The image comes in clear for a few seconds, and Himizu is sleeping soundly in her room. Nothing is happening inside. Your focus can't take the strain so you come back out of it, almost getting a headache from the effort.
"She's safe, we'll come back later!" You tell Mimita.
The rat is uneasy but nods, you and the group heading towards the other rooms of the temples to save more students. Before long you catch up to the main battle by the main dorms, oni and were-rabbits still fighting. You and Mimita charge into the fray, not holding back as you try and save as many of your fellow fights as you can and reduce the enemy's force.
As you fight, you hear a mighty roar and a crashing sound. With the dim light you see a crack in the wall just outside, and through the window see Toriza there. She's a bit cut up, but is fighting the forces that are still outside while dodging whatever is sending the flying blades around her. Only half the hundred strong force has been taken care of by your count, but you're missing a quarter of the students counting those men who were killed. The rest must be getting dragged outside to be taken away. You still don't know the status of the mantis, but they'd need a serene ryu to open that cage's lock. Your force now is about fifty, more than enough to multitask. Who do you help out yourself though?
You need to stick together, and pick out a group of ten students to join you while telling the others to spread out in groups to rescue and protect who they can. You lead the small force towards the nearest exit and head out where Toriza is with Mimita.
The jinko is dodging and getting dodged by the mantis, already freed. Someone seems to have healed the bladed insect up after letting her out, but as soon as she sees you she breaks from the fight and runs towards the front of the temple. Toriza almost goes to chase, but you yell at her to stop. You need the help to get possession of Himizu.
Toriza nods, panting for breath as she starts to follow you back towards the ryu's room. On the way back, you can tell that the forces are retreating to the front, even as you and your group finish any you come across.
You arrive back where you saw the onis and ogres again, the group still standing guard even as their allies flee. With ten students and three masters, you see no reason to avoid attacking.
Your group charges in, these oni stinking of sake and wobbling on their feet. Including the ogre. It's the Drunken Oni style. As the students set about handling the oni, the Ogre stands resolute but drunk in front of the door with her long, spiked metal bat.
You may need a plan of attack for this, she's not backing down from three very strong opponents.
You tell the plan as briefly as you can to the pair beside you, telling the serene ryu students to hang back with you as you stop just before the fray. Toriza jumps right over the oni as the students collide with them, you and the ryu students working on keeping their bats from hitting anybody. You even manage to make one hit another in the head to knock them down right off the bat. They have a thick skull and aren't out though.
Toriza kicks the Ogre but can't put her off balance, the bat blocking before the ogre swinging her body to the side to get rid of the force. She wobbles but goes to strike Toriza with the bat, your focus letting Toriza dodge the surprisingly fast attack as she strikes at the hand with a powerful chopping attack. It doesn't do the trick, but a strong kick from below and the ogre's hand gives up as Mimita springs up into the air. The flaming rodent grabs Toriza's arm and gives some sort of quick one word instruction, and Toriza swings the limb up to give Mimita a lift up as the ogre moves to punch the jinko. She gets a strong dual kick to the face, making the giant woman step back a few times. Toriza follows up with a high kick to her stomach to make her double down, another instruction from Mimita as the rat lands. The jinko tosses Mimita straight up with one paw as the ogre recovers, claws digging into the ground before she herself launches herself low and uses her weight and force of her twin strikes to knock out the ogre's legs and knock her forward. As the green skinned woman lands, Mimita comes down spinning with both feet and a blast of fire. The ogre nearly gets up, but collapses on the floor from the coordinated attacks. The rest of the oni are already on the ropes, so you rush forward and to the door to focus inside. Himizu is still asleep.
You grab some water from her spring and float it to the bed, dropping it on her face to wake her up. The ryu jumps awake, sitting up right away and looking around before realizing it had to be you.
"We're under attack!" You speak into the room with your focus, Himizu getting panicked for a moment before rushing to the door as you let go, it opening a moment later.
"Under attack?!" She exclaims, still in panic. Maybe waking her up for a battle is a bad idea, she can't focus like this.
You take Himizu's shoulders and stop her from moving, taking a deep breath before speaking.
"ARISE OH GREAT DRAGON!! OUR ENEMIES FLEE BUT OUR COMRADES ARE STILL IN THEIR CLUTCHES!! REVEAL UPON US THEIR LOCATION AND THEIR COMMANDERS!!" You declare in a commanding voice, her panic ending as she stares at you for a moment.
"What?"
Now that she's snapped out of it you explain the situation fast, but it only gets her worried and panicked again. You reassure her, telling her she can do this and you believe in her. Himizu nods, calming herself down a bit. She focuses and you feel a wave of magic pass by, though subtle. Soon after you hear a loud whistle from the front entrance, though you do not recognize it.
"They've got our students kept at bay at the doors of the main hall! They're trying to buy time to take away twelve of our students on the horses! The mantis is at the front!" She exclaims, keeping herself in check. "There's a tengu out there!" She whines.
The students that are restraining the onis and ogre with chains freeze up when they hear that, and the two other masters are at full attention now. You've heard of them, but never seen any at the grand temple. Hermits with powerful magic and fast flight. A strong one could be a match for a young ryu with no variables.
"Wh-whats the plan?" Himizu asks, hoping you have one.
You look at Mimita and ask her if she has an idea for a plan, the rat thinking carefully but quick to come up with one.
"You and Himizu take the students and charge out the front. Toriza and a group of twenty will go down to the stables and stop them from escaping, while I take care of the mantis while coming in from the side. How does that sound?"
You agree to it and everyone starts to head towards the main hall in one group, Toriza picking up ten more students that are fast enough to come with her before getting ready for the push. Mimita moves outside and uses the dark cover to get into position, though you lose sight of her as she heads out the door.
The main doors are being kept shut by something familiar. It's the serene ryu style, but stronger than your own. That's troublesome, and you can guess where it's coming from. It takes a bit to get Himizu composed, but she focuses herself and blasts the doors open with her own magic, surprising the tengu on the other side.
You and the rest rush out, Toriza and her group running right past the battle that breaks out with the remnants of the assault. The mantis almost starts going for you, but is sideswiped by Mimita. Everything according to plan, so you look up.
Standing on the last arch of the temple's stairs is the tengu, wearing black and gold cloth, hair cut short, and the same blue eyes you saw before. She grins when she sees you, scowling when Himizu appears.
The ryu tries to focus an attack but fumbles, the tengu spreading her wings and revealing the insides of the open sleeves of her robe. Metal throwing weapons, including the saw-like chakram you saw before.
"Try to die more easily this time." The tengu whispers right behind you, taking off into the air and flapping her wings hard. A blast of wind washes over the battle and hits the pair of you at the entrance of the temple, and you feel the pain of metal kunai sticking into you as the wind knocks you back. You slide to a stop inside, Himizu letting out a small cry herself. You get up and shake the weapons off, glad for whatever small resistance the ryu did with her powers to weaken the weapons enough to not pierce to deeply. Looking out towards her, you see several of the kunai have hit her tail. One oddly has a small purple cloth on it.
You don't get to ponder it long, as the weapons at your feet lift up and swirl around you. You manage to catch a few and guard against the rest with the picked up kunai and your own focus, managing to run back outside. Himizu has taken cover behind some pillars to try and knock the tengu out of the sky, but is having no luck with it. A familiar flying saw comes flying towards you, forcing you to dodge to the other side before it changes direction and flies after you. This isn't going well, you need a strategy to take out this bird.
Himizu is the best bet for taking her out, so you slide under the chakram and dodging the flying kunai to head past Himizu. You throw your voice to tell her to steal some of the tengu's weapons to use against her while you distract her, glad for that trick you learned.
You leap off the small balcony and keep on the move, spinning and pointed blades following you as you move. You keep away from the battle, diverting the tengu's efforts and making her focus on two opponents in far different places. She almost gets hit when the kunai that hit Himizu come flying past her, dodging it with a short dive in the air before catching herself just out of range of the battle below her. With a strong flap of her wings she goes on the move, abandoning the kunai and focusing merely on the chakram as she swings past Himizu and starts to fly straight at you.
The chakram suddenly picks up speed, whizzing past you almost too fast to dodge. It leaves some small nicks and cuts in you with each pass, before the Tengu flys past and a blast of wind sends you rolling back. You recover in time to deflect the dangerous weapon, and do your best to avoid it.
Himizu keeps the kunai heading after the tengu, her focus improving by only having one thing to do. This keeps the tengu on the run as well, having to dodge and maneuver around the swift weapons. Finally, they hit home and they strike her in the body. She looks at the purple cloth on the one in her stomach and quickly knocks them away, the weapons having hit deep. The tengu starts to fly down the mountain, a very loud whistle blowing out of her as she glides away. Himizu attempts to hit her, but the tengu's focus is only on defense now and they can't get through.
The remaining warriors on her side start retreating fast, heading down the steps and straight for where Toriza is. Trapped between the two forces, they try to get past and a group of around thirty make it, the mantis included as her speed has her out the smashed gates already. The rest are being captured and defeated by your remaining forces. The sun is starting to come over the horizon now, and the light is very welcome. With the battle over, and the prisoners being taken to their cage, it leaves the wounded up to the serene ryu users. Your stamina boosting skill won't help here though. You could lead a force to stop those that are running away, or ask Himizu to teach you how to heal as quick as she can to help there.
You don't think it's time to stop moving just yet. You see Toriza nearby carrying an injured student and ask if the horses are still there, getting a nod. That means that their kidnapping efforts were fruitless too. With that worry out of the way you hurry over to Himizu, who has already started to treat the injured with her powers. You have to try multiple times to get her attention.
"Y-yeah?" She asks, spreading her focus to keep healing the injured student. You ask her to meditate and check herself for poisons, if she knows how, just to be safe. She nods, still shaken from the fight but is able to meditate and check. After a minute of checking, she sighs in relief.
"I can't find any poison in me, and I've already sealed those stab wounds. I'll be fine." She smiles.
You sigh a bit in relief, but before you can think of giving chase Himizu grabs your arm and looks at you with a frown. "We need you hear to heal! You'll have to face the tengu without me as well, I can't ride a horse for... obvious reasons." She refers to her tail. She seems to be holding on rather tight, even after saying that.
You agree, but tell her you don't know how to heal. She looks surprised, before looking at the injured that are being gathered in the main hall. There are at least ten that need immediate attention, a dozen with broken limbs, others with numerous more cuts and stab wounds.
"I don't have a lot of time to teach you, I'm going to have to do something a bit... embarrassing to give you the knowledge fast." Himizu frowns, blushing a bit as she looks at you. You don't get to ask as she pushes up to your level and kisses, but you don't get to enjoy it for more than a second. After that your senses go blank for a second and a rush of images flood you. As you snap back to reality, ryu lips no longer on your own, you realize you just got some of her memories.
And you know how to heal now.
There isn't a better time to use that skill than now, so you move away from the madly blushing ryu and set to work helping a boy on death's door with all your might.

By noon all of the injured are healed, and the broken front gates of the temple are being remade from scratch. The dead have has their last rights done and are buried, and things are quickly being repaired and cleaned up. Things are still somber as everyone eats their lunch in the grand hall, and there has been no sign of Silk despite the search for the kunoichi. You noticed the missing numbers of students, and worry about what would happen if there is another attack.
While you mull over those thoughts in your head, one of the guards from the front gate comes running up in a panic. The other three masters look up right away, the student stopping at the table to speak urgently.
"A-A bunch of warriors! At the gate! Tanuki asking to enter!! What do we do?" The student asks, clearly scared after last night.
"Calm down, what was her name?" Himizu asks, not seeming too worried anymore.
"Sh-she calls herself Sen." The student responds. The three brighten up considerably.
"Well, go let her in! Someone prepare some more food for them, they must be hungry! Someone get an extra chair, Sen sits with us!" Himizu commands with a bright grin, Mimita pushing her chair out and running off towards the front gate in excitement. Whoever 'Sen' is, she seems important. Maybe you should meet her at the gate too.
You decide to go meet up with the tanuki too, you're a bit wary of her but any help that she can provide would be wonderful. You get up and run after MImita, stopping at the start of the stairs to look at the mass of warriors that the tanuki has brought with her. They must number at least three hundred, and have large amounts of supplies in huge locked carts. They all have decent armor and are in formation, but appear to be mercenaries.
Heading down the stairs to are greeted to the sight of Mimita hugging the tanuki, looking to be at least thirty. She has the usual brown hair tied back with a ribbon on the end and an expensive looking but functional green set of robes on, the wear on her shoes showing she wasn't above walking. She's not that tall compared to you but stands a bit higher than Mimita, hugging her back tight with a big smile. Sen notices you and grins, turning her attention.
"Well, you have the air of a strong man. What is your name? I am Sen, pleased to meet you." She gives a small bow once she detaches Mimita.
You introduce yourself as well, Sen looking at Mimita after.
"So, did he beat you then?" She asks, Mimita grinning and looking confident.
"Yes, but the other two are interested too. Sure could use some help!" She winks.
"Sorry, I'm staying neutral in that. Good luck though." Sen laughs, walking past you before pausing and looking back at a man at the front of the group.
"Sweetie, there won't be enough room in the temple grounds. Set up some camps around the perimeter, and bring the supplies into their storehouse." She instructs.
Mimita looks confused, following Sen when the tanuki starts to walk up the stairs. You follow, listening to them talk on the way.
"So, you finally found a husband then?" Mimita asks. Sen giggles and nods, smiling at the rat.
"Yes, looks like I beat you to it!" She taunts, Mimita chuckling but looking a bit irritated. You're getting a bit curious how they know this tanuki and what the army is about, but hear nothing but catching up between the two as the three of you head back into the main hall of the temple and over to the master's table. A fifth chair has been set up for Sen, with some of the extra food having been brought out for her.
You sit down again, Sen sitting beside Himizu and Mimita after a brief greeting. You finally ask how they know Sen, and what is up with the army she brought.
"You don't need to worry about paying them, that's my job." She starts off with, fine with the semi-warm food she gets. "This temple raised me as a child, and invested a lot in my upbringing. I couldn't charge them for anything, my conscience would kill me." Sen explains.
"She was my mentor in Hidden Tengu until I surpassed her when I turned nine. We're pretty close from that, she still lets me have free stuff as gifts each time she comes by." Mimita grins.
"Is there anything else you're worried about?" Sen asks, smiling at you.
You get down to business and ask about her husband first, wary of anyone female at this point. She chuckles, amused by the question.
"I just talked to him when I came up! Your memory isn't that good." She teases.
Well, that rules out her being mind controlled. No sense pushing her for more on the same track. You decide to ask something else while she eats. You ask what she knows about the warlord that is attacking them, Sen shaking her head no.
"Not a lot, just rumors. I've been out of the country for a while before I got word on the current crisis. I came as quick as I could." Sen explains. That isn't terribly helpful, but you tell her of the last attack and how they kidnapped women and killed men.
"The warlord must be afraid of the effects of other men then! Why else would he have someone target you so specifically. That attack may have been meant to give them a chance at you." Sen theorizes.
That's not good news. You change the subject, worry showing on the three master's faces. You ask if she has any iems for detecting poisons or curses in her caravan, the tanuki shaking her head no.
"I left my merchant supplies someplace safe. Everything I have here is for battle and siege relief." She frowns. "Why, are you worried about something like that?" She asks. You mention the purple cloth kunai, Sen pondering a moment.
"Do you still have it?" She asks.
You did make sure to grab it after the healing was done, and put it in a box for safe keeping in case of such a scenario.
"Then I'll take a look at it, I know a bit about that sort of thing, if only to keep from spreading unsavory items. I'm better at appraising valuables to be honest." The tanuki shrugs.
With that done, you suggest holding a celebration tonight to welcome the soldiers. Himizu frowns a bit, looking a bit worried about that plan.
"I'm not sure the students would be too into such a thing, they're still grieving those we lost."
"Come on Himizu, a good celebration would do all of us good!" Mimita pleads, standing up as she looks at the ryu. "It'll bring spirits back up, with any luck."
The ryu is worried, looking at Toriza. The jinko just nods at her, seeming to be for it as well.
"Well, alright. But we still haven't found Silk." Himizu states, looking worried. "Do you want to search for her Anon?"
You still need to get that kunai checked out, and there were plans for you to try to cook their dinner that afternoon. You'll need to make a decision.
You're more worried about that kunai, and tell Sen you want to check that out first. The others can take care of the celebration while you do that then take care of that promise of cooking the three a passable dinner. The others agree to the plan, Sen departing first to get her appraising equipment. You look at Himizu though and ask if she's sure Silk is on their side, she didn't fight at all.
"She's... probably just following them back in secret, and didn't want them to know she was here! That was she can tell us where the fortress is!" Himizu smiles.
That makes a bit of sense. You finish your meal and stand up when Sen finally returns, leading her towards your room as you wave to the three still eating at the table.
Sen inspects everything as you guide her along, though she seems to know the place better than you do. You reach your room before long and open the box for her, the tanuki closing the door behind her as she sits down and opens the box she brought with her. She puts on a pair of gloves to handle it with care, starting the inspection.
"There weren't any effects after it hit?" She asks.
You tell her Himizu checked and found no poison, and showed no symptoms. The tengu seemed surprised and retreated as soon as she was hit by it however.
"Hm... I see. It's a hunch, but stick here with me until I finish this." Sen requests. You're not sure why, but wait around anyways.
She moves through the tools and odd items to check the item over, having no magic to check herself. Eventually she looks up at you.
"It's definitely cursed. With what, I'm not sure. What kind of magic does the tengu use, it looks foreign."
The tengu used serene ryu, which was definitely local. The only foreign magic you've seen is the bicorn. Sen's ears perk up.
"Bicorn? I've heard of those!"
Something tells you to move, and you swear it's the grand ryu in the back of your head. You reach leap to the side and grab the pillow, throwing it on instinct behind Sen before getting up to your feet again. When you get up you see poison darts stuck in the pillow and in the door. You trace the trajectory while Sen realizes what is going on and takes cover, you looking out the open window and not seeing anyone there. Thank whatever charm the head ryu put on you before you came, those darts might already have killed you by now.
You use your serene ryu to try and see who is around, staying at ready in case of a second attack. You don't see anyone, but spot an odd shadow on top of the roof of your part of the temple. The blotch of blind spot begins to move, so you start to chase after it from inside. You inhale and yell out as loud as you can, hoping the masters will hear, trying to reach the master with your voice throwing.
"ASSASSIN!!!"
You repeat that as you keep following the shadow, it doing it's best to avoid you and lose your trail. You spot Toriza ahead, but the shadow takes a quick turn. You are forced to follow before you can alert her. This is repeated multiple times. You eventually attempt to trip them up, but don't have much luck as you cannot see their limbs in whatever shadowy shroud they're using, even as they move inside and fly among the rafters above the heads of the other searching people.
Before long, it darts outside and into the forest outside of town. You'll need to make a decision, nobody is around you despite their own searching, and plenty out of range of your shouting. If you try and get help the assassin will escape for sure, they're too quick. There is plenty more obstacles to use in the forest though, so you may have the advantage.
You make one last loud call into multiple areas behind you into the temple as you head out, telling them where the assassin is going as you hope they came hear you. You run out after the assassin, the shadows staying in the trees as you track her and move over the terrain with ease due to the view your serene ryu sight.
You chase them for no less than five minute before they stop. You rush towards them, looking up to try and see who it is. The leaves block your view, and you're forced to dodge some more darts and some shuriken, the shadow moving closer to the ground but using the cover well. You've played this game before with Mimita. You draw a branch back ahead of their path and let it snap when they pass by, hitting the fast moving object hard and sending them into the clearing you've been lured into.
Silk falls out of the bushes, recovering to her feet and knees. She's scowling, you think, now that you've discovered it's her. The kunoichi grabs the handle of her hilt, but you know it'll draw faster than normal as she charges you. You deflect her hand with your own and grab the other one she attempts to use to stab you with a kunai, spinning her around quick with some focus boosting.
Silk is spun around but catches herself on the tree with her feet, your hand slipping away before she leaps off the tree and sends more shuriken at you, your serene ryu focus deflecting them as she stands her ground.
You take a chance and lift up her used weapons with your focus, flinging them at her all at once. She avoids it entirely by leaping above, using her wings to her advantage to hover above as she takes out more shuriken to throw down at you. You're having trouble deflecting or dodging them, but if you know anything you know all of them are poisoned. One cut and you may be dead. You could use it against her, maybe even grab equipment right from her belt. There are some nice, thick branches above her that may come in useful if you break them off the trees though.
A battle of attrition seems like a good idea, but it increases her chances in the long run of fleeing or hitting you. While staying careful, you pick up the weapons from the ground and fling them up past her, making sure she hears the metal sticking into the wood above her before dodging the next flurry. You strain your focus to feign a back and forth without being hit, while using the metal to 'polish' through the tree branches. When all of them are ready you fling the last flurry up and strike through the branches. While Silk is dodging, she doesn't have time to react as the branches come down onto her without warning. You get out of the clearing as the heavy branches land, crashing to the ground on top of the kunoichi.
You shift to looking into the pile and spot the kunoichi, knocked out. Her stealth skill has been turned off, and almost on cue you hear Himizu come rushing up beside you.
"Are you okay Anon?!" She asks, looking you over and fussing over any potential injury. "You didn't get hit, did you?! I saw you fighting when I used my sight, but I couldn't see who!" Himizu frowns.
You tell her that it was Silk, the ryu frowning as if it were an insult.
"There is no way it was her!"
You focus and start moving the branches until she sees Silk under them, the ryu looking at her before at you in worry.
"No, sh-she was just trying to... she just got caught in that when the real assassin tried to run!" Himizu frowns. She may need a reality check here, but it'd be hard to do so without hurting her.
"Silk is not herself right now, she has been taken over by the bicorn. Once the bicorn is dead she will be back to herself." You tell Himizu, grabbing onto her shoulders so she will listen to you clearly.
The ryu looks confused, but after a few moments nods as she trusts your judgement. She turns towards Silk, still under the branches, and raises a claw up. From it flies a small ball of blue light, moving to the kunoichi and into her.
"She'd be too hard to keep locked up to question. It's a sleeping spell, she'll sleep until I wake her up again." Himizu states, frowning a little. "I'll let you take her to the prison."
You stop her from moving away when she starts to turn.
"The kunai was cursed with 'foreign' magic. You've analyzed bicorn magic before, you should see if you can figure out what it was." You instruct Himizu.
The ryu looks more worried now, nodding and heading away ahead of you. It takes a few minutes to get Silk out of the branches safely, the kunoichi peacefully slumbering as you pick her up over your shoulder and carry her back towards the temple.
The panic that ensued from the attack has wound down by now, word already spreading that Silk had been turned. You take her to the prison, glad the building is large and sturdy enough to hold all those that were caught. Mostly oni,and the ogre. It's tricky getting the kunoichi inside due to the numbers but you manage to do so.
With the assassin taken care of, you have other things you need to be doing. You head for the kitchen, eager to relax and enjoy yourself a bit now that the eyes watching your back are gone.
When you arrive, you see a different, older hinezumi and her husband starting on the temple's dinner already. There is a celebration coming, and they're swamped with preparations and work. It may be a good idea to leave them alone to avoid tripping over each other, they are moving constantly and flipping things around like a dance. Even passing knives around. You won't be able to do much in the area of the kitchen they've set aside for you without guidance, but you could still attempt an extravagant meal.
You decide it wouldn't be a good idea to get in the way, and retreat to fetch some writing supplies. You return to them and move to your station, trying to gather together the items you think you'll need to make the meal for the three masters. The pair of cooks are precise in their movements, and if it were a combat form you might be stricken with envy.
They finally hit a lull in the frenzy, taking a moment to take a break from their work. You clear your throat to get their attention, and the male chef looks over.
"Ah, Anon! Didn't see you there!" He grins, moving over to your station and tossing a few items back onto their hooks or onto the cutting board at their station, moving around the kitchen and tossing you some things as he moves around. You have trouble catching them all, but manage to do so. He comes back and sets everything down, pushing the paper and charcoal pencil into your hands before going through the process of cooking the dish he's selected for you ahead of time. You have to listen twice to get it all down, the cook repeating it slower while miming the motions as if he could not help himself.
After a bit of instruction, you attempt the simple but flavorful dish. It takes some practice to get it right, and on the fourth try you manage to make something the chef says is 'good enough.' Just in time, as the dinner gong sounds.
You plate the dish as you were told and carry it into the main hall. It's a bit more full now, with the higher ranked members of the mercenaries getting their own table inside the hall. Setting the food down, you take your seat and wait for the three to enter.
Toriza comes first, chuffing when she sees you and the food waiting. You are eating something the cooks prepared, as the meal you made is for them. She sits down and begins to eat, seeming to enjoy it as she smiles at you once she tastes it.
Mimita moves in next, running up to you and punching you arm when she gets close.
"Hey, there you are! Where were you! All I heard was that the assassin was caught, and then I couldn't find you anywhere!" She pouts. You point at her plate, and after a couple looks she gets it. "Oh! I thought that you might not do that tonight! Sorry for the punch."
"It's okay, hardly hurt."
She chuckles and gets into her seat, tasting the food and savoring it even as her expression changes around. "It's a bit salty, but not too much. Maybe a bit undercooked." She critiques, smiling and eating it anyways.
Himizu comes in last, looking a bit troubled. She moved to her spot and begins to eat without saying anything, whatever is on her mind is keeping her very distracted.
"Would you have liked it more on the charcoal side?" You joke, grinning at Mimita. She just sneers at you for a second, going back to enjoying the food with glee.
You look at Himizu next, the ryu still brooding and lost in her thoughts. You pass her the side dish with your focus, making her flinch and sit up straight to look at you.
"Oh! Uhm... thanks." She smiles a tad, it going away as she takes the side and tries one of the small meat buns after dipping it into the sauce. "It's good."
"The secret ingredient is love." You whisper into her ear using your magic, Himizu's face going red as she nearly spits the food out but stops herself.
"G-geeez! Don't do that at the table..." She pouts, Mimita looking between you two before giving your leg a quick kick as she pretends nothing is going wrong.
"What are you brooding about? Is it about the curse?" You ask.
Himizu takes a moment to respond, slouching back in her seat. "Well... I guess it is. I figured out what it was. Everyone is here, right?" Himizu asks, looking at the tables in the room before nodding. She stands up and lifts herself as high as she could stand, taking a deep breath. She seems to be making an announcement, although she is still nervous.
"Attention everyone!" She calls out, magic making it boom through the room.
It takes a minute for everyone to turn her attention to her, but everyone has their eyes on her. She struggles a bit but speaks again with the same magically loud voice.
"I've had a curse put onto me. I won't have longer than two weeks before it overtakes me and I won't be of sound mind! We'll be attacking the warlord's fortress, as the curse will allow me to track down the source! But first, there is an important preparation to be done by everyone!"
She waits a moment, though you are not sure why.
"Everyone needs to get married as soon as possible! The bicorn cannot overtake the female mind if they have a husband! The male energy repels it! You all have a week, only those women that are married can join the attack!"
She sits down again after, whining as she covers her face to hide the red color. "I'm not used to doing thaaaat..."
Toriza and Mimita are looking as surprised as you are, Mimita speaking up first.
"So, are you serious?" She asks.
"Why wouldn't I be?" Himizu asks, pouting as she goes back to eating. There is a chatter and a bit of a ruckus going on in the hall now thanks to the announcement. "It applies to me too... spirit energy would break the curse, but there's only one person that I'd accept marriage with." She looks at you sheepishly for a moment.
Mimita looks at you and then at Himizu, frowning a bit before eating the food a bit faster.
"You should cook more for me Anon, this is great!" Mimita grins, standing up with a scowl when Toriza slides her chair right up next to yours. "Hey!"
The jinko just chuffs as she sits next to you, getting a second helping of the food you made. Well, things are going to get more heated now.
"It's too bad that one man couldn't marry multiple, we'd have that many more to attack the fortress with." You joke. It gets you a stink eye from Mimita as she moves her chair over next to you as well. "Is undercooked and salty that great?" You ask her.
Mimita kicks your leg lightly, frowning a bit from the comment. "You shouldn't joke about that! You're almost sounding like YOU want a bicorn!" Mimita huffs.
Himizu sighs and looks straight at you, also frowning.
"I don't think it would work, but that's just a guess. The marriage ceremony to bind two people's fates only works with two people as well. We're not going to force you to choose, you'll be safe even if you don't. Well, from the magic... because you're male. You know what I mean!" Himizu pouts, trying to finish off her food.
You stand up then, apologizing for the bad joke. You excuse yourself, having to pick up Mimita's chair and move it to the side to get out that way, taking your food with you. The three watch you leave the hall, going back to eating what you made in an almost competitive manner to get the most out of it.
Himizu didn't mention that if you didn't choose, you'd be the only master in the attack. You know it'll be like that. For now, you have a chance to think of what sort of tests you can do with the three. Or prepare traps and defenses for your room.
You decide not to set up any traps to get in the way, they wouldn't hold the three off more than a few seconds. The three do not bother you at all even as you head to bed and dim the lights, and for a minute you think you will sleep soundly.
It's not even five minutes into your attempt to sleep when you hear a loud chuff right above you. You feign sleep, but it gets hard when you feel Toriza wrapping you in your blanket and picking you up over her shoulder.
"Hey!"
That was Mimita's voice. You're suddenly being carried very fast, Toriza having to dodge around the rat as Mimita attempts to steal you from her. Toriza manages to escape from her somehow, and runs into the hall with you still grasped firmly by a paw keeping you on her shoulder. You keep faking sleep as the pursuit keeps going, the tiger and rat meeting again when Mimita cuts Toriza off. They spar again, Toriza dropping you when Mimita managed to land a surprising kick to her stomach. She starts to drag you away, but Toriza picks the both of you up and tries to shake Mimita off of your legs.
"There you are! Let him g-go!" You hear Himizu call. The pair stop, before running off together to escape the ryu who keeps yelling at them to stop. She isn't losing ground even when you get outside, in fact she's gaining it. That obstacle course must have helped her agility a lot more than you thought.
This doesn't change the fact you're being carried around like some sort of prize now.
You decide to keep the charade going. You keep feigning sleep, but use your focus to see what is going on. You've been taken out into the gardens, and Himizu is trailing behind Toriza and Mimita. You trip Toriza up to see what happens, the Jinko catching herself on her paw. It gives Himizu the time she needs.
You're yanked from Torriza's grip hard, and are pulled into the coils of the ryu. She holds you behind her as the pair charge her and attempt to overwhelm the ryu with quick attacks and attempts at you.
"Anon mine." Toriza growls, getting up right next to you but getting thrown off by the ryu's magic. Mimita takes the chance to throw some dirt at Himizu's eyes, but the ryu blows it away before it can impair her vision.
"No, he's mine! I'm not giving him up! I'll never find someone else like him!" Mimita yells, managing to give Himizu a good headbutt. You get released from the coils when it stuns her, the rat jumping down to try and drag you away. Toriza returns and stops her, but can't manage to reclaim you as Mimita defends her prize. Neither takes you away as Himizu regains her senses, picking them both up and flinging them away to land in the far off hot springs.
With the competition out of the way, Himizu picks you up again but in her arms this time. She hugs you against herself as she moves away with you, so you decide now is a good time to 'wake up.'
"What's going on?" You ask. You're dropped as Himizu stops, face red as she panics. She stumbles over her words as you stare up at her from the floor, sitting up in the blanket wrapping you.
"Uhm... th-this is... I wanted... you see... my room..." She stammers and pauses, whining and hiding her face.
By this time the soaking wet pair come running, stopping in their tracks when they see you're awake. Well, Toriza does. Mimita keeps going and jumps on you, hugging you protectively even as it gets the blankets wet.
"You're not hurt, right?! Come on, lets get back to your room!" Mimita frowns, trying to unwrap you.
"Why am I wrapped up and so far from it?" You ask, trying not to glance at Toriza as she plays innocent.
"Toriza thought she would just take you somewhere on her own! I did try to stop her." Himizu huffs. "Though, I kind of did want to sleep in your bed tonight." She admits.
"I see. If you all want to do that, you'll need to share then." You suggest. Mimita frowns some more, huffing again. "Fine... but they need to get the extra bedding they need."
"Th-that'll work, I'll be right back!" Himizu exclaims, retreating from the situation. Toriza nods and moves towards her room to fetch her own bedding as well.
Mimita gets off you next, frowning at you a bit before running off. "I'll get mine, they're dry!"
She did get your own blanket wet. Can't sleep in that. You get out of it and stand up, but by the time you've gotten back to the room the three are already there fighting over who gets to sleep in what place and whose futon gets to be the one you rest on. You hide behind the doorway for a minute, seeing them pushing on each other while arguing in a manner too rapid and noisy to make much out. Seeing a chance, you trip up Toriza, who falls onto Himizu's back as the ryu squeals in surprise. Mimita lets out her own squeal when the rat ends up on the bottom of the stack, and you walk in right at that moment.
"Oh... I didn't know you girls were like that." You tease, Mimita just frowning a bit while Himizu's face flushes red. Toriza just gets up, moving over to you to push you inside your own room and down onto her futon.
"Hey, he's going to lay on mine!" Mimita huffs, rolling you onto her own before you can react to the first push. You're pulled onto the third one by magic, Himizu plopping down on your side and hugging you tight.
"N-no, he's going to sleep in this one! It's a new one!"
They may need a middle man here.
You tell the three to calm down, getting their attention as you stand up out of Himizu's grasp.
"If you're all going to stay in my room there will be some ground rules. Anybody that fights or makes noise has to leave for the night. Positions will be first come first serve each night, starting from when I've settled in. Get up, I'm going to take care of the futon issue."
They move out of the way as you organize the futons, laying them right against each other before putting your pillow down in the middle of one of the ones on the edge. You think it's Toriza's. You take your blanket and lay down, covering yourself with it. Immediately, you feel the dragon take your left side and the tiger take your right. Under their arms and on your chest however, is Mimita who is laying on you with a coy grin while she uses you as a futon.
"Looks like I get the best spot! It pays to be small sometimes." Mimita giggles, nestling in on top of you and hugging you as best as she can around your chest. You can feel the envy coming from both sides of you, but the lamp is out.
Toriza manages to pull you in closer to her though, ending up with your head against her chest as she clings to you and chuffs right above your head. It's a bit hard to get to sleep with that chest pushing into your head, but at least the three are quiet now. You drift off to sleep amidst the three different heartbeats.

You wake up feeling much less cluttered. The rat and the ryu are gone for now as the morning is starting, but Toriza is still sleeping where she was last night with her paws holding you tight with your head in her chest. You could stay here a while, but breakfast will be soon. You may be late if Toriza wakes up alone with you, if she tries something. Mimita wouldn't like her meal getting cold.
Well, you won't get out of this grip without waking her up, so you may as well wake her yourself. You manage to reach up to her head to start to rub her ears with your fingers, getting some chuffs out of her as she squeezes you tighter in her sleep. You keep going however, and she eventually wakes up as her hold on you loosens. At least for a moment. Once she realizes what you're doing she squeezes you extra tight as you retreat your hands. She slides down and gets her face next to yours, smiling as she stays in the bed with you.
"Good morning Toriza." You smile and give her a quick kiss, surprising the tiger. She takes a moment, but then gets a small grin and predatory look in her eyes.
Toriza rolls over on top of you and gives you a longer kiss as she holds your head still with a paw, chuffing as she does so. After a good half minute she finally sits up, chuffs not stopping.
"Good morning Anon." She replies, standing up and yawning as she moves away to go get herself dressed before breakfast.
Well. That was exciting.
You get up and compose yourself, getting some fresh clothing on before heading out of your room and towards breakfast in the hall, the gong sounding as you travel. On the way you see a pair of students try to sneak out of their room without being noticed, looking surprised when you're there. You just tell them to be better at checking for threats and continue on your way.
You reach the breakfast room and find Himizu missing, but the other two are there. Both are smiling smugly as you walk up and sit down, though this time Sen is joining you for the meal with her own happy grin.
"Hey there Anon! Want to tell me what these two are so happy about?" Sen asks, watching as the two slide their chairs right up next to yours again. "Looks like you have two suitors, huh?"
"Three, the ryu wants him too! Come on anon, I tried making a nice sauce to put onto the fish today!" Himizu smiles, using her chopsticks to pick up a piece of the slightly charred fish to feed to you. You eat it, and find that it does taste a lot better. She must have gotten up early to practice cooking more.
Before you can tell Mimita that it's good, Toriza gives you a kiss on the head. Mimita looks at her with jealousy, huffing a bit.
"I'm still going to be the first to get a kiss from his lips!" She states.
Well, she's wrong about that. You should probably tell her that, it's not like either were your initiative.
You avoid the topic for the moment, not wanting her to get angry right away. Well, she'd most likely get jealous. You compliment her cooking again with a smile, eating it with a smile.
"Hm... I don't know what Toriza is grinning about over there, did something happen when we left you two?" Mimita asks. You almost answer, but Toriza does for you.
"Got a kiss. Long one." She brags with her smile staying on her face.
Mimita stares at Toriza for a long moment, taking a bit before looking at you with a confused look.
"Is that true?" She asks. You can't really lie here.
"Yes, though I only gave her a peck first. Himizu got one when she taught me healing." You answer her.
Mimita's face gets very jealous as she hears this, face turning a bit red. Sen tells her to calm down, waving her over to whisper something. Mimita perks up when she hears the idea, getting a nice grin on her face. She heads back to her seat and sits right next to you.
"Alright, that's fine. But I want my own! So we're going to be training you today! Me and Sen!"
What do those two have planned for you now? You wait for Mimita to explain it as she eats her food a bit before continuing.
"The goal is for me to get my kiss! We'll try to wear you down and restrain you so I can get it, but if you want to give up then that'll be it. Well, you'll still be tied up... I could play with you more, since I won't be tired if you give up." Mimita explains, "This training might not last long, huh? What do you think?"
You're done eating by now, so you'll need to train somehow today anyways. You do only have a week till the assault. Toriza is listening carefully too however, waiting for the answer as much as Mimita is.
You say that it's a bad idea, you are preparing for the siege and you need to train seriously. If Toriza and Mimita get to join in, then you'll do it. It's only fair, but you're fine upping the ante.
"Oh? So, you'll be fine with something better?" Mimita asks, grinning up at you. "That would make it very competitive. We can work out the details later, but for noooow." She grins, getting out of her chair and crawling up onto you. The extra weight of her getting on sends you both to the ground, but Mimita holds on and pushes her lips against yours to take her kiss from you. She holds it for a long time before stopping, giving you a small kiss after before bouncing up.
"We'll work it out in the sparring hall until Himizu is done finding that fortress, she'll want in too. We'll need to give her a handicap..." Mimita started to ponder, walking off and leaving you on the ground with Toriza looking at her with a jealous look as Sen leaves the main hall herself.
This coming training exercise is going to feel like you'll be wearing raw meat among a pack of hungry wolves.

You have to wait until the next morning to lay out the plan for the training exercise so that Himizu can rest properly for it, meaning you only spend the night with the Toriza and Mimita trying to claim the best spot in the shared futon. You wake up to find both missing however, a few burned things in the room telling you all you need to know about why Toriza was gone as well.
You yawn as you walk into the main hall for breakfast, finding the three masters in their spots. Toriza is eating calmly, though you detect the smell of smoke and ash on her as you sit down. Without warning, Mimita moves over onto your lap to enjoy her meal and oddly not get in the way of your own.
"Hope you don't mind me taking the best seat. Did you sleep well?" Mimita asks, her fiery body heat warming you up in the chilly morning.
"More or less." You comment, getting distracted by Himizu. The ryu has already devoured a huge helping of food and isn't slowing down, hardly noticing you are there.
"Now that everyone is here, can you tell us the directions Himizu?" Sen asks, looking over at the ryu while Toriza glares and envies the rat sitting in your lap.
Himzu looks up, some rice stuck to her face before she swallows and wipes her face with a cloth. She composes herself, trying to look official.
"Well, yeah. I did find it, was easy once I tracked the curse's source." She states, taking out a map of the area and setting it in the center of the table as you help move things out of the way.
"The temple is here, and the path took me past this mountain, around this valley, and to this cavern under this other, rocky mountain. The fortress is actually under the mountain in a HUGE cavern! It's covered up by large trees, which is why our scouts always missed it!"
"Are you sure it's there? It's in the middle of nowhere." Mimita asks, Himizu nodding with confidence.
"Of course! I don't know how they dug out such a huge cavern, but from what I could see safely they have a pretty big stone castle built in there." Himizu smiles with pride. "Though... I think something dangerous is under it, I don't know what. It had lots of magic wards so I couldn't approach it while projecting my spirit."
Well, that sounds lovely.
"We can talk more about that later once I have my scouts check out the area, it seems to only be a days march. The raid must have gotten the drop on us because of that." Sen stated, grinning at you. "So, did you come up with a fun game to play? I came up with my own for training."
You ask to hear hers first, the tanuki nodding while the masters pay attention.
"Alright, I'll set myself in the obstacle course and have a nice picnic with some of the other high ranking disciples and plan out the attack. You four have other things to worry about anyways. How this works is this. Himizu gets a crown. She has to guard it till sundown, and the three of you go and get it. If you bring it back to me, you win. If Himizu outlasts you three, she wins. But it's no fun if you all work together..." Sen pauses, making sure she has all three of your attention. "The one that wins gets to do whatever they like with one of the others of their choice. All night. Alone. If you work together you need to share the request. Anon has the chastity spell put on him, so it'll be mostly clean fun right?" She asks.
The three are looking a bit unsure about it, all turning their gaze to you to see what you think of the training game and the prize.
You agree to it, seems like it'll be a great way to get everyone motivated about training. Also will help Himizu not panic when being attacked like last time she was in battle.
"I'm just not used to it!" Himizu whines, pouting at Sen. "And why do I start with the crown? That's not fair."
"Because you're the strongest one here!" Sen laughs, finishing her meal and standing up. "I'll get that crown, I'll need it back after. Just meet up in the sparring hall when you're done."
Sen walks off and leaves the three of you there, Mimita humming a bit as she thinks about the challenge and begins to plan already. Himizu returns to regaining her strength by eating all the extra food on the table, while Toriza keeps her envious stare going towards Mimita.
After you are all done eating you head into the sparring hall, Sen already waiting for you with a bronze polished crown with opals laid into them. She puts it on Himizu's head, clearing her throat after.
"Alright, the whole temple is in bounds. You must wear the crown on your head if you have it. After I give the signal from the obstacle course using a horn, you go. Until then, move about and get into a good position." Sen laid out the rules. "I'll check on you guys with binoculars, but I can't really keep a good eye on you guys like that anyways so don't worry about the referee. Everyone clear?" The tanuki asks. The three nod, and you do as well.
"Alright, get moving. Don't start fighting till the horn starts." Sen grins, moving away at a slow pace.
Toriza retreats from the hall at a quick walk, disappearing to outside. You head the other way into the temple while Himizu heads for the springs. Mimita starts following you however, grinning a bit.
"Hey, Anon. How about we work together? I trust you to pick me anyways. Well, enough to suggest this." Mimita smiles, keeping up with your pace.
"Afraid you'll lose otherwise? I guess it's good to know your limits. But if I don't win on my own I can't order you around all I like though. I've beaten you before I'm sure I can do it again to claim the prize." You grin and wink.
Mimita chuckles a bit and passes you, turning to face you for a moment as she gets ready to head down a different hallway.
"Alright, then it's on 'rival'! I won't hold back, this isn't a straight fight this time!" Mimita declares.
She takes off down the side hallway as you pass it, separating the two of you. Taking a different route, you round back around to where you saw Himizu heading. You use the cover of the rocks and trees in the gardens to get closer to the hot spring, seeing Himizu peeking her head out of the surface every now and then while you all wait for the horn to sound.
You hear it echo over the temple.
Without delay, Toriza leaps from her spot above the main spring and down towards Himizu. Still in your cover, you divert her path to land just behind her. The jinko doesn't seem to realize it until it's too late, but you haven't moved her enough to miss completely. As Toriza grabs for the crown, she grabs the ryu's robes and yank them down to expose Himizu's upper torso as she jumps in shock from under the water, exposing her paled skin.
She lets out a bit of a scream and Toriza is thrown into the waterfall as the ryu flees out of the pool of water, covering her chest and fleeing towards the temple.
You see a rope fly down from the roof next, small dull hook on the end of it aiming for the crown as well. You make a wind that blows it away from the prize as the ryu moves by, but you hear swift footsteps coming towards you before the flaming mouse flies down at you from above.
You ready a counterattack, fighting back as she swings her limbs at you quickly. You're hardly being hit, and she suddenly retreats while laughing loudly. You're not sure what is wrong until you feel a breeze.
She just burned all your clothes off, and all that hinezumi fire that hit you is affecting you a little bit in the libido. May be a bit much to chase after the group like this, but if you don't they may actually get the crown before you.
You don't have time to get yourself clothing from you room, so you head for the nearest one to raid their clean clothing. You grab a bathing towel from inside and tie it around your waist, not wanting to waste any more time away from the game. With the base level of covering on, with it exposing one side of your hips, you run out and almost run right into Himizu with her soaking wet, semi see through robe. You manage to dodge around her before a collision, managing to pat her bottom as you pass her. She squeals and falls flat on her belly, crown falling off as she lands on the ground.
Toriza rushes down the hall just after you duck behind another door, seeing the scene as Himizu scrambles to get up, floating the crown back up. Toriza rushes to get the crown first, but you move Himizu's tail to trip her up. The jinko nearly falls on her face, but rolls to her feet. Not before you catch a glimpse of her wearing nothing under that sleeves mist valley dress. She growls when Himizu is back up, the ryu whining again as she resumes fleeing. Toriza attempts to leap for the crown again anyways, but you pull her back and make her pull the ryu's robe down again to make Himizu's face turn bright red from the repeat performance.
"Why do you keep doing that?!" She yells, picking Toriza up with her magic before flinging her through a door down the hallway. She fixes herself up as she flees, and you begin to follow while remaining as stealthy as possible. Himizu keeps on the move, trying not to make a pattern to her movement. You haven't seen Mimita since she burned your clothes, but Toriza leaps out from behind a corner again to attempt to get the crown.
And you make her slip on the floor to make her pull the robe down again. Himizu's eyebrow twitches as her red face returns again, a loud angry yell coming from her as Toriza is picked up again and bounced around the hallway before getting tossed through a doorway and being given a free nap.
"Stupid perverted tiger stupid perverted Anon stupid perverted everyone!!" Himizu yells, pulling her robe back up again as she picks her pace up again and heads for outside. You follow her out and watch as she dives into the hot spring, swimming to the deep end to stay underwater to wait the timer out.
That's no good, nobody can get her there.
You can't think of a way to fish the ryu out of that deep water, by the time you swim down to her you'd get thrown out. You'll need a good toss to get down there, and only one person can do it. You head back into the temple and find the room that Toriza was thrown into, face down on the floor and out for the count. You wake her up the only way you know will work, scratching her scalp.
The jinko chuffs as she writhes awake, not sure what is going on until after you stop and back up a bit. She looks back at you as she sits up, holding onto her head. Your bare essentials of clothing leaves her staring for a moment, struggling to keep her eyes from drifting downwards.
"We need to work together for just a minute. Himizu is at the bottom of the hot spring and isn't coming out, I need a good toss to reach her to get her out." You inform Toriza.
The jinko stands up and thinks about it for a minute, circling around you as she does so.
"Why not use magic to take crown?"
"Her magic is stronger than mine and I wouldn't win that tug-of-war."
She thinks for a moment before nodding.
"I'll throw, but after it's free for all again."
With that agreed, the pair of you head straight to the hot springs. You pick up a heavy stone to help you sink, and Toriza picks you up with both of her paws over her head. She prepares herself and throws you towards Himizu as hard as she can, your rock extended in front of you. The water splashes around you as you sink fast and focus your mind for the next part.
Himizu notices you coming in fast, but you make the water pop around her to distract her as you get close. It disorients the dragon, but just before you reach her you feel the water moving around you. It nearly hits you, but you let go of the rock just before the rush of water swings by. It sucks you in after, and you end up getting pushes right into Himizu as her eyes widen and your bodies hit each other. You've reached her, but only have a second to react before she counters your efforts.
You think quick, and give Himizu a kiss before she can react. She is stunned, even as you steal the crown right off of her head. You have no trouble swimming back up to the surface, taking in a deep breath as you surface. Looking back to the shore, you see Toriza ready and waiting for you to come in range. Caught between a rock and a hard place.
You think quick again and go underwater, making disturbances like kicking water in different directions as you head for the shore. Getting out, you grin when Toriza went for the wrong one after all, putting the crown on your head before you start to run for the obstacle course.
Before you know what is happening, Mimita appears from behind a boulder with a grin on her face. She tries to hit you, but the water on you keeps the flames from working well. You instead focus some of your energy into the flames, the spirit energy taking and flaring them up as Mimita looks at her own flames in worry and you're forced to back up while shielding your eyes.
When you can look again, Mimita's clothes are burned up and gone. She blinks a few times, looks down, then back up with a coy grin.
"I di-"
Mimita is knocked into the water by Toriza as she runs by, the fireball having caught her too and burned up her dress to leave her fighting nude as well. She doesn't mind it and throws fast, strong strikes at you that even you have trouble dodging. After few rounds of dodging and blocking, you grab onto an arm thrust and use her strength to flip her over your shoulder and into the water herself. Mimita is getting out now, and frowns while looking at you.
But then you hear the water quaking, and all three of you look into the hot spring. It explodes up as you hear Himizu roaring. It looks like the stunt pushed her over her breaking point, and she has her eyes set on the three of you.
Well, it's all or nothing now. And a free for all. Whatever quip you want to use, it doesn't matter. You quickly pick up Mimita, producing a squeak, and throw her at Himizu with some help from your own magic. The mouse is splashed away with a strong wave of water, Himizu rushing towards you and Toriza as you two make for the obstacle course with a tidal wave following you.
You use your focus to keep sight behind you without turning to look, the wave catching up fast. You see only one option and trip up Toriza to try and slow Himizu down, the jinko falling backwards and trying to grab anything to stop her fall.
She pulls Himizu's robe down again when her paws grab onto them, the already angry ryu roaring again and starting to spin the water she is carrying into a tornado as it keeps following you. Toriza is spat out in front of you, out cold again as you rush up the path towards the obstacle course.
You manage to keep ahead of the water twister as it chases you, flowing past trees and nipping at your heels while throwing things in front of you to dodge. Your adrenaline is pumping as you rush to the fake gate, Sen already running to the side with everyone else to avoid getting soaked. You rush through the gate and let out a triumphant roar, reaching for the crown on your head.
The crown isn't there.
Well, shit.
You get slammed with literal tonnes of water in your moment of 'victory', everything going black as it knocks you out from the force of it.
You wake up with a gasp, the feeling of hunger from missing two meals and the light of the lowering sun greeting your senses. You hear the sounds of Sen and others talking nearby, and as you look around you see you are half buried in mud from the torrent of water that hit you.
"Oh, are you awake Anon? Game isn't over, get back out there!" Sen calls over to you.
There surely isn't much time left, and it takes a lot of effort to get yourself out of the muddy ground to stand up. Looks like you'll need to find whoever has the crown, though it's probably Himizu. You have less than an hour, if the sun's position is any indication.
You're not about to call it quits, so you head on down the hill back towards the temple with the mud still all over you. As you approach you notice it's oddly quiet as you enter the halls, no random students moving about. As to move about the halls, you hear the faintest noise and a far off dragging noise that you're sure is scales on wood.
Before you can track it down, you feel someone grab your hand and tug it. Looking up, you see Toriza looking at you with worry, a new dress, and a bit of fear.
"Get inside. Hide." She urges you, whispering as the dragging noise gets closer. You oblige her and move inside, door closing afterwards. Looking around the random room, you see a few students taking cover in the other corner.
"What's going on?" You ask, Toriza pulling you in close protectively.
"Himizu's mad. Not calming down. Toss anyone she sees." Toriza explains.
Well, that can't be good. You stay quiet as you hear the scales dragging by in the hall outside, Toriza holding you extra tight as she listens to it with care. When it stops for a moment everyone freezes up, but after it picks up after they calm down. After a minute they let out a sigh of relief, the hold on you loosening.
"Never seen her angry before. Don't know how to calm." Toriza explains, frowning down at you. Seems Himizu has quite the temper, if it's flared enough.
You're curious why Himizu didn't see you with her sight, focusing your own and seeing what is going on were she went to. The ryu is moving along slowly through the hall, Mimita wide eyes and staying quiet as she is being dragged along by her collar as she doesn't dare to try to escape. The ryu is holding the crown in her other claw, hand shaking as she stares straight ahead while moving with her anger filled face.
"I need to follow her to keep in range, try to talk her down." You whisper to Toriza, the jinko nodding and letting you go so you can creep out and begin to follow Himizu. You gather your thoughts and speak softly nearby her, trying not to startle her.
"Himizu, what are you doing?"
She stops and looks up, scanning her surroundings with her eyes to try to find you. It seems to irritate her that she can't.
"Why are you attacking people?" You ask, Himizu actually responding this time.
"They're all so indecent... thinking I don't know... but then they try to make me indecent too! And taking things lightly!" Himizu fumes, starting to move around to check rooms to look for you. "They need to be punished! You need to be punished!"
"You're over-reacting Himizu, you need to calm down."
"I'M PERFECTLY CALM!!" Himizu yells, taking some deep breaths as she glares around her. "Where are you anon?!"
"I'll come out when you're cal-"
"COME OUT HERE!!" Himizu yells, the less sturdy walls and doors shaking a bit as she does so. It may be a good idea to do as she says.
"If I come out, are you going to hurt me?" You as calmly.
"No! Maybe!" She responds, thought a bit calmer.
"What about Mimita?" You ask next, "Why are you holding onto her?"
"Because she was... just... I won't hurt her, come out!" She calls, letting Mimita go. The rat scurries to a corner and hides behind it, peeking out from behind. With Mimita out of danger, you hold your hands up and step out in the open. You kneel down, and put your hands down to wait whatever Himizu has in store.
She moves over slowly, taking deep breaths as she looks down at you and frowns.
"I know that you were the one that caused my robe to keep coming down! A-and you made their clothes burn away! All sorts of perverted things, all over the place!" She yells down at you, not letting you get a word in edgewise. "Every since you got here! And even after all of that, after you say you need time to 'think' you keep going!!"
She takes a few moments to organize her thoughts, breathing deep and clenching her claws. Then, tears start to form on her face.
"Why can't you just d-decide on someone?! Why do you need to keep teasing us like this?! Do you know how c-confusing it is for me?! I don't have any experience with any of this! I don't even know if you want me! Y-you haven't even used the request you have to ask of m-me! Do you know how much that h-hurts as a ryu?! Someone not wanting to make use of m-my gifts?!" She asks, still sounding angry but mostly frustrated.
"W-why are you such an idiot?..."
You wait for a few moments to make sure that Himizu is done speaking, keeping your voice as calm as you can as you speak up to the crying ryu as she waits for answers.
"It's hard not to be an indecisive idiot. There are three equally wonderful, beautiful girls fawning over me. Wanting to marry me." You admit. You consider mentioning the prophecy, but something tells you it wouldn't help you much.
"I'm a man, I can't help but want to see you three in those sorts of situations. And I'm... inexperienced myself, I'm bound to fumble a lot."
Himizu seems to be calming down, wiping the tears from her face as she lowers herself down a bit as her anger disappears a bit. At least on the surface.
"It's also hard to make a decision when you've got a request to make from a powerful ryu. I considered asking you to make me a meal, with some help, but I didn't want to demean your status." You admit next, getting a light bop to the head.
"W-who said a ryu couldn't do cooking? You idiot..." Himizu sniffles, searching around for a cloth to blow her nose on but not finding any. "I'll do that i-if that's what you want. You a-already made me cry, nobody is going to think less of you than th-they do now."
You wipe away her tears as you stand up, before giving her a tight hug and patting her back. She gives you a hug back as you speak to her.
"I'm glad you've calmed down. What do you know how to cook?" You ask, Himizu holding onto you tight as she thinks.
"J-just some normal stuff. Mom made a lot and I watched her a bit." She answers. "You're still muddy..."
"Sorry. And some curry would be lovely. Thanks." You smile, waiting for Himizu to end the mutual hug.
After a few minutes she eventually lets go, letting you pull back. Before you can say anything she hands you the crown, sniffling some more while pushing it into your hand.
"J-just go and choose already, idiot."
You nod and stand up taking the crown with you as you walk away from Himizu. She turns and starts to head in the direction of her room, ignoring Mimita when she passes her.
You head up to the obstacle course, arriving just before time is up with the prize. Sen seems to sense the serious tone, frowning a bit before declaring you the winner, standing up to head back to her room. She pauses, looking at you with a raised brow.
"So, who do you pick?" She asks.
"Himizu." You answer, leaving it at that as you head off to get the mud washed off of you.


You're nice and clean, having washed all of the caked on mud off of yourself and scrubbed well. You make sure to wear a clean robe before you head on over to Himizu's room for the night, the halls quiet except for the faint noises of playful games behind closed doors. Seems lots of others are taking advantage of Himizu's decree.
Reaching Himizu's door, you find it closed shut before you. Seems she may not have gotten the news, or is just embarrassed. You focus and look into the room, able to see inside. Her tail is hanging off of her bed a bit, but mostly wrapped around a ball of blanket in the center of the room. You'll need to persuade her to get up or open the door, but she may not hear you under that blanket. You pick up the doll again and move it around, having a lot of practice with the trick as you move it over to the bed and have it jump on Himizu's tail.
The ryu shifts around under the blanket, moving to where the doll is before poking her head out from under the blanket to see what it is.
"Anon?" She asks, seeming to have calmed down a lot even if she looks rather ashamed of herself. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm going to spend the night with you." You tell her honestly.
She stares at the doll for a minute, not seeming to believe it for a few moments before her face starts turning red.
"Y-you don't need to do it out of pity or anything." She frowns.
"It's not out of pity, I just didn't understand how you felt. Maybe we can talk about those things?"
She whines and covers her face again, getting embarrassed by the suggestion.
"Come on, open the door so I can some in." You request, Himizu staying under the blanket to hide her red face.
"N-no..."
"I won the game, and we agreed to the rules Himizu. Open the door." You tell the ryu with a stern voice. Himizu flinches, whining as she stays where she is but wraps herself tighter in the blankets as the locks of the door open, the heavy slab of wood and metal swinging open. You head inside, the door closing behind you with a 'clunk'.
The room is lit by the lamps inside lining the walls, reflecting a bit off the water as you walk past the pure spring water to the bed where the ryu is hiding in her large, soft blankets. You pick the doll up and place it back in it's place before looking down at the ryu, wondering when she is going to come out. You'll need to coax her out.
But first, you look around the room. She has plenty of personal belongings in the room, and you notice some very fine sand in a jar and rough crystals laying on a desk, among many small crystal statues of different animals and shapes. There is of course the bookshelf, full of different scrolls and leather bound texts. And the unguarded dresser, ready for anyone to snoop through. Even with Himizu in the room, it'd be easy to snoop through her things.
You leave her bed for now and move over to the desk to look at the crystal sculptures on the desk, picking one up to feel the very smooth surface of the little mouse shaped statue. Inspecting closer, you find that most of them are more round things displayed as a success, but looking through the drawers you find the raw crystals in one, failed statues in another, and some rough cloth in another. The ones that are a success are rather nice looking, but the ones where she's attempted to do people are all broken in the failure drawer. She seems to use the same method as the stone polishing for this, on a smaller scale.
"These are very pretty, how long did it take you to make them?" You ask.
Himizu panics a moment, flailing her tail around as she struggles to get out of her blanket cocoon. It misses you, but hits her dresser. Some miko robes fall out, but the heavy hit from the tail also causes a drawer to open up and expose a bunch of sealing strips with no markings on them, the ryu diving off the bed when she sees the drawer open to close it.
"Couldn't you have used your magic to do that?" You ask, the ryu looking up at you from her place flat on the ground with a face of realization before blushing again.
"I didn't think of it! And be careful with those, they'll break if you drop them!" Himizu pouts, 'standing' up and moving over to make sure you haven't touched anything you weren't supposed to. You're tempted to ask about the sealing strips and why she was so embarrassed about them, the robes floating back into the dresser as Himizu adjusts the little statue's positions on the desk.
"So, this is your hobby?" You ask, Himizu looking up and nodding.
"Yeah, I used to just make jewelry but got bored of that, so now I'm trying these. We get the crystals from the bottom of the hot spring, there are a lot down there. It's pretty hot that deep though." She explains, inspecting a half finished welcoming cat statue in a yellow crystal. "The sand was hard to make, I had to grind sand with sand and it took forever, so don't knock the pot off the desk either."
"You really think I'm the clumsy one here?" You ask with a grin.
She blushes a bit and frowns, mumbling something to herself as she moves back to the bed and plops down on her belly.
You move over to sit on the bed beside her with your legs crossed, gently patting her head as she lays there beside you. She flinches a moment, red face getting darker, but she doesn't move as you keep stroking her hair.
"It looks like a fun hobby. Closest thing I had to a hobby at the head temple was making fun looking charms to put the charm into. I only worked with rope, cloth, and paper." You smile, Himizu seeming to calm down even more as her tail relaxes around the two of you.
"I don't need to make too many of those. Nobody comes to this temple for them since it's so far away from most towns, and the priestesses at the local shrines make them themselves." Himizu admits, seeming to get less embarrassed by the head petting through her short bobcut as you keep doing it.
"I've painted some sealing strips too, when there was an outbreak of living marbles turned girls. The person who kept them loved them too much he never sold any, and when they became tiny hand-tall things they started causing annoyance for lots of men they latched onto. Jealous little things."
Himizu snickers a bit as she hears the story, trying to suppress laughter that wants to come out.
"All their voices were squeaky and tiny, it was pretty hard to understand the things. We finally rounded them all up after a few weeks, we think. Might still be a few out there."
"Squeaky voices..." She giggles and snickers more, tail shifting around you as she keeps trying to hold it in. A small tickle to her side and she bursts out laughing, falling onto the floor with a small 'ouch!''. You resist your own urge to laugh and just smile at her as she gets up with a huff but a smile.
"You made that up!"
"Maybe a little." You admit, smiling back at her. "It's good seeing you laugh like a normal person, I don't get intimidated by your status when you're like that."
Himizu blinks a few times, plopping back onto the bed on her belly again where she was before.
"Is it that intimidating? Me being a ryu?"
"You were at first. The head ryu and her family required a lot of respect at the head temple, and was treated like a goddess. And worshiped as such. It makes it hard to see them as something approachable." You admit, "But you're so cute, innocent, and even clumsy. You're still someone to respect, but I got to like you as a person instead of an authority figure. You're like a sweet candy you need to get through the hard shell to get to the gooey center."
Himizu is blushing a bit but not reacting as she looks at you from her spot on the bed, turning over onto her back and adjusting her tail's position by the bed as she slides up and towards the center.
"You're not lying, right?" Himizu asks, sitting up to look at you, still a bit embarrassed.
"Why would I lie?" You ask.
She ponders for a moment before shaking her head. "I don't think you would."
You smile, before pointing at the drawer.
"So, do all ryu wear those strips as underwear?" You ask, Himizu whining and flipping over to hide her face in a pillow as her tail flips up and pins you on the bed by accident, wiggling around.
"Noooooo!! They usually wear cloth wraps, but I don't like the constriction and it means my chest is bare too..." She speaks into the pillow, though you can still hear.
You move the tail off yourself when it stops moving, before spotting something odd on the tail. One scale out of pattern, sticking out of the rest. It seems tempting to touch, but that may not be the best idea. Right?
"This sure is a pretty scale here, it stands out like some sort of jewel among your scales. I wonder what it is? Could this be what they call a reverse scale? And you're just showing it to me, you lewd dragon." You tease, raising a finger as Himizu looks back with wide eyes.
"Wait, don't touch tha-"
You poke the scale with your finger. Or you almost do. You're stopped a tiny distance from it and there is a thunderclap, blinding light, and a mildly painful shock through your entire body. You fall onto your back, body twitching a bit. She moves her tail away from you, moving up over your head with a tiny frown.
"I told you not to... a-after that time at the obstacle course I found it and put a defensive charm on it..." She admits, still blushing a bit as she looks down at you, knowing that you can't move. She slips her tail under your head and strokes your hair, looking around the room as she tries to think of what to say.
"You... wanted to touch it though..." She mumbles to herself, almost sounding a bit happy about it.
You sit like that for a while, the effects of the shock wearing off after a short while and you can feel sensation return to your limbs as the tingling goes away. Seems like a rather effective defense for that vulnerable point.
"I'd still like have some fun with you Himizu. Are you sure I can't touch it?" You ask, grinning up at her. The ryu looks down at you, blushing more but shaking her head.
"NO! Not until... it's only for who I marry!" Himizu complains, turning and flopping down on her belly again as the tail slides out from under your head. You can sit up now, so you do so and turn to look at her.
"If you say so. I can still make you do anything I want tonight though." You tease her, Himizu whining and hiding her face in the pillow.
"I could even do this, and you can't stop me." You grin, grabbing the end of her tail and pulling it up. She flips over and looks at you, hugging the pillow to her chest while keeping wide eyes.
"Stick it in my mouth."
Himizu blinks, looking confused. "Wh-why?"
"Because I said so." You tell her.
Himisu whimpers, but moves the tip to your face to stick it in. You give it a gentle nibble and play with it, Himizu squirming and whining.
"Stop that, it's weird!" She complains, making you take it out.
"Well, how about we do something else? How about anal?"
Himizu blinks, clueless what the word means.
"It means putting something up your tail end."
She has to think about it for a moment to get it, face turning dark red as she squishes the pillow in her arms looks at you with wide eyes.
"But I poop from there!!"
You move up close to pull her up into a hug, and give her a kiss as you smile at her. She's still whining a bit as she stays nervous about the suggestion.
"I still want to give it a try, you keep it clean right?"
"O-Of course I do, but I can't... no!" She whines. You sigh and take her hand, frowning a tad as you manipulate her fingers as she doesn't guess at what you're doing.
"Well, what if I do this?" You ask, moving the hand to the side with her watching, poking the extended finger right into the reverse scale. Her eyes go wide as she watches her finger poke it, the scale falling out as she struggles to contain herself.
"Th-that's not fair!" She whines, panting a bit already as she looks at you with newfound lust boiling up and ready to explode. "J-jerk!"
"I have the chastity spell, we can't go any further than I already went with Mimita, right?" You ask. Himizu is having trouble forming a counter-argument as her coils squirm around you before wrapping around you and swinging you down onto the bed. She slides up to you and looks down at you, body heating up around you while she looks at your face.
"I s-still don't want to do it!"
She leans down and pushes her lips into yours for a sloppy, amateurish, overly excited series of kisses. Your arms are pinned to your sides, her hands moving through your hair as she 'lets go', not having the knowledge to do much else than what she is doing already. She peels off her clothing as she starts feeling too hot, yours staying on as you stay trapped.
"I c-can do other things if you want!" She pleads, looking desperate.
"I still want to try anal." You state, the ryu whining a bit as she holds her perky human bottom as she thinks about it.
"B-but it'd hurt, right? Please, l-lets do something else!"
"Alright, I'll drop it. We'd need to go get some oil besides lamp oil, and we'd never make it that far." You smile, Himizu whimpering a bit. "Just release my hands and let me help you calm down."
Himizu nods, letting you out of her coils as she struggles to contain yourself. You move up behind her and pull her to the head to the head of the bed, sitting with your legs crossed as you sit her in your lap. You gently peel the slip off her as you take charge, kissing at her neck as she submits and her tail writhes on the end of the bed. You'll need to pick the blanket up later.
You set the slip to the side and gently stroke her already moist opening, making her flinch as your fingers touch the sensitive spot. You keep stroking the outside to get her used to the feeling, before plunging one finger into the ryu's cave. It's amazingly tight, almost pushing your finger out. You manage to keep it inside, moving it slow in and out as she lets out soft moans and squirms more. You don't get to do it for long before she turns around, finger slipping out as she turns on you and brings her head down while struggling with your pants. She pulls them off with some trouble, pulling you back to the center of the bed before getting them off. With your already ready manhood as hard as iron for her, she lunges in and starts inspecting it. You find yourself in a good position to reach her vagina with your fingers again though, and you resume where you left off. Himizu doesn't even look back despite her moans starting again, transfixed as she figures out how to handle you on her own.
She begins to kiss the item, but sees that it isn't really doing much for you after. She uses her hands to try and stroke it, but you wince a bit from the pinching of the scales. She feels the jump from your finger, panting a bit as she wracks her brain for something to do while she breaths on the dick.
"Use your mouth, avoid putting the teeth on it." You instruct her.
She glances back and nods, opening her mouth up and inserting the throbbing rod into her mouth. She's not that good on it, using only her lips as she figures out how deep she can take it. The whole while you're increasing the pace in her hot well, hand getting wet as she keeps moaning onto you. After getting a taste, she starts using her tongue far more.
After a while, you move your hand out of her front and move around to the back, getting closer to finishing from her clumsy attempts to please you with her mouth. She pauses when she feels this, eyes widening as she feels you circling the tight right behind with a finger. She clenches up and looks back, but doesn't say anything as you keep circling it to spread more of the copious ryu fluids. It relaxes, and you plunge the finger into the anus. She writhes a bit as you do, whining as she clenches around your finger. After she relaxes again, forgetting about the dick now resting on her chest as she lays on her belly, you start to move the finger slowly in the hole while she whimpers. You keep going, using your focus to move more natural lubricant up to work it into the hole, Himizu not able to resist it. You add another finger after she gets used to that, the ryu gripping at the blankets.
"Th-this feels weird..." She whines, her body still reacting to the attentions without her permission.
Your dick can't handle any more rubbing from that chest, so you take the fingers out and tell her to turn over for a moment. With hazy eyes, she nods and rolls over onto her back before you get up onto her chest, pressing her modest bust together to thrust between them. She watches with utmost interest, too turned on to say no to it. When you bust your first nut from it, she yelps when it shoots out over her face and neck, managing to avoid getting any in her mouth. You stay on top and gather it together on your fingers, bearing with it as you hold it above her mouth.
"Open up."
She opens her mouth, letting you put the two fingers and cum inside. After you spread it around you feel her tongue attacking your fingers, sucking on them as you pull them out. She swallows it down, panting a bit as it didn't satisfy the itch.
With that scene reinvigorating your hyper-weapon, you get off Himizu and push her over again. She doesn't fight it, whimpering as you line yourself up.
"B-be careful!" She pleads, and you give her a head pat as you press against her entrance. You reach around with one hand to grasp her chest, guiding yourself in with the other as Himizu lets out a long whine as you push all the way in. You remove your hand and grab the other breast, kissing and sucking at her neck as she gets used to the feeling. Your hands massage her sensitive breasts, and you feel her relax enough for you to start moving.
You gently start moving your hips, the ryu letting out little whines that sound a bit like moans coming from the ryu as the actions leave her melting in your hands. As she relaxes further and gives in, you increase the pace and get more moans out of her as her tail coils around itself behind you over and over.
Finally, you feel your second climax coming around as you are going at a decent pace and Himizu is grasping at the sheets. You don't ask where she wants it and push as deep as you can, exploding inside the ryu's anus as her eyes widen again as she feels it. Some part of her gets off on the sensation, and you feel her shake and quiver beneath you as she stifles her moans in the soft bedding beneath her. You lay on top of her as you rest, both of you panting for breath now that the amorous activity is at an end for the time being.
You let the Ryu rest as you turn over onto your side, making her the small spoon while you kiss from the mid-shoulder up to her neck just below her horns. Your hands travel across her body slowly, making Himizu let out little moans as she closes her eyes and stops worrying about what is going on. You can't help starting to move again when your dick gets hard again in her hole, moving it gently in small, short thrusts as you keep teasing her neck with kisses. You run one hand through her hair, the other reaching around to start fingering the hole on the other side to make her let out breathy moans and writhe some more, no complaints or words coming out of her this time. The gentle affections cause her to shake in climax many times over the multiple hours to take it slow, the fire in her body getting quelled by the time you finally let out the third shot and make yourself spent.
You stay inside, you both want nothing more than to get some rest and sleep. Himizu doesn't mind as you hold her as the little spoon again, pulling the blankets over you to keep warm before turning the lamps off with your magic. You drift off the sleep amidst the smell of your mutual sweat and adult scents, ryu asleep first before you drift off second.


You wake up finding yourself in Himizu's bed, the smell of fresh water and the lack of light almost lulling you back to sleep. Not to mention the warm body next to your own. And wrapped around you. Opening your eyes, you see Himizu's head directly under your own, the ryu clinging to you as she keeps on sleeping peacefully with her tail coiled around your legs. The lamps are all off, the only light coming from the bottom of the pure water pools. It's very tempting to stay as you are, but you hear the breakfast gong sound despite the thick doors.
You could go on your own to eliminate suspicion, or take time to wash yourself clean. Or you could wake up Himizu to do either of the same options, or even just spend more time in her room alone.
A bath is more important than food right now, and Mimita's breakfast will still be good by the time you have a quick wash. You gently move your hands down to Himizu's chest and fondle the soft breasts, making her moan a bit in her sleep. As you squeeze and caress them, the ryu lets out more cute noises until she wakes up.
Himizu takes a few moments to react to the position she is in, turning her head to talk to you. Her horn nearly pokes your eye, but you manage to avoid the woody horn.
"U-uhm... good morning A-anon." Himizu smiles, face a bit red as she looks at you. She gives you a light kiss before unwinding her tail, slipping away from you and freeing your legs from her coils.
"Good morning Himizu. How about a bath before we get breakfast?" You ask. Himizu pauses and thinks about why, face flushing redder when she remembers.
"Y-yes, a bath! Lots of bathing! I'll use my best soap!" She exclaims, moving to a drawer and taking out a large bottle full of syrupy liquid. With it in hand she moves to the pool of water in her room and plunges in, splashing water on the stone floor as you approach and slip inside to join her. The both of you scrub thoroughly and get as clean as you can manage, before getting dressed and heading outside.
The pair of you arrive late to breakfast, Toriza already finished eating while Mimita is pecking at her food with her chopsticks while leaning on one arm. The rat perks up when she notices you come in, Toriza turning to look at you with a keen eye. Sen has already left, her empty dishes sitting in front of her spot.
"There you are! I had to try to keep it warm myself, so it may be a bit dry and extra crispy." Mimita smiles, slipping onto your lap once you sit down. Toriza leans in to give you a good long sniff, but it seems the scrubbing took enough scent away to keep her from getting suspicious. Well, more than she already seems to be as she sits back straight. Himizu stays quiet as the pair glance between the pair of you, Mimita smiling and holding a piece of the fish up for you to try.
"Come on, I tried adding some different spices today!"
You eat the fish, and despite the recooking it's been through it's very good. You compliment Mimita on it, and the rat grins wider.
"Well, I almost didn't make it today! I thought 'maybe something sexy would happen in there.' But after yesterday, it's not like anything sexual would happen, right?" She asks, noticing Himizu turning her gaze away as she eats her own breakfast. Mimita notices that, looking up at you with a raise brow.
"Right?"
"Well, we did actually." You answer, both of them perking up at full attention and surprise.
"Really?!"
"Well, it was anal. I found her reverse scale."
Himizu's face is beet red now as she hides her face with her hands, whining a bit as the pair stare at you.
"REALLY?!"
"Why would I lie?" You ask, Mimita seeming to get that you're being serious. Toriza is looking very jealous as she looks at you now, but isn't saying anything.
"Now you two are on equal footing, don't you think?" You ask, patting Mimita's head. She calms down, staying on your lap as she feeds you another piece of fish.
"I suppose, seems like she got to have more fun." She pouts, Himizu staying quiet with her red face while she eats her breakfast faster.
Toriza stands up and stretches, moving off without a word as she muses about something. Or plans. Mimita speaks up again.
"There is only four days left, I'm going to need to try harder. Hope you weren't planning on formal training." She teases, bringing her flames out on one leg to press against your leg and affect you with the magic inside while you withstand it.
Himizu finishes her food and gets up, moving away to save her face from getting stuck red. She went back in the direction of her room, probably to hide. Mimita just stays on your lap until all your food is gone, but stays on your lap.
"So, what did you have planned for today?" She asks, her flame starting to stoke your own.
"I'm going to see what Toriza is doing." You answer Mimita, the rat looking a bit disappointed.
"Well, alright. But I'm coming with you! I'm not leaving you alone with another rival!" Mimita grins. You don't think you have a choice.
Mimita gets off of your lap and sticks right beside you as you stand up, following you on your way to find the jinko. You trace her path out and take a moment to consider where Toriza went, and head for her room first to check there. Opening it up, you find no sign of her.
With that lead gone, you head to check on the children's room in case she went there that morning. You open the door and are swarmed by children in seconds, once again, while Mimita is forced to stay on the sidelines with wide eyes.
"Hurry up and marry Toriza mister!!"
"You made Towiza so pretty!!"
"Where do babies come from?"
"What's a chuff-napping?"
"Toriza is grrrrrrrrreaaat!"
"I want an orange onii-chan!"
"What are you going to do with Toriza on the futon master anon?"
"Imma tiger! Rawr!"
"No, you're a kitty Neka!"
It's hard for you to pick up anything, but you seem quite popular with the kids at least. You manage to ask if they know where Toriza is, but they don't know either. You get them to go back to their lessons, but aren't any closer to finding Toriza. You look at Mimita, who seems to sense your question.
"I don't know where she'd go either, don't ask me!"
You suggest splitting up to search for her, Mimita frowning and shaking her head no to the idea.
"No way! We don't need to find her that bad, and I'm not letting you out of my sight!" She grins, crossing her arms as she looks up at you. You see no choice, and so take her with you to search for the tiger. Having a hunch, you head for the obstacle course to see if the jinko is there.
After a short walk there, you find that there has been activity here recently. Some things have definitely been taken away by Toriza, but you don't see the jinko herself in sight. Despite a short search, nothing else turns up. As you move away to leave, Mimita starts running for the path from the other side of the course. You turn the corner, and hear a chuff before you are pulled into the forest. Mimita looks around and calls your name when she sees you missing, but you can't answer amidst the chaos of being carried off through the thick bush.
Before you can regain your bearings many minutes later, you're tossed onto some fake flags amidst the wooden barriers from the course, camouflaged with branches and bushes to hide the circular 'nest' from sight. Turning over onto your back you can see Toriza looking down at you, before she drops down onto her hands and knees right on top of your laying form.
"What are we going to do on the forest floor Toriza?" You ask, throwing the jinko off what game she was playing at with a poke to her nose. She sits up, looking confused by the reaction for a moment before leaning down towards you again.
"You're being rather forward this time. Did the kids tell you to do that?" You ask, Toriza stopping to answer you as her paws hold onto your robe, ready to strip them off.
"...maybe." Toriza answers, eyes shifting to the side.
"We asked them where you went after breakfast, they had LOTS to say."
Toriza looks worried by that statement, getting off of you and sitting down by your feet as her face goes red.
"They told you... about how I think the kids would look?" She asks.
"No." You answer, "But what did you think they'd look like?" You ask.
She looks around, flustered by the question before looking at you.
"What did they say?" She asks, not wanting to reveal anything else on accident.
"Well, one still doesn't know where babies come from."
"...She's five. No need to know." Toriza answers, waiting for more.
"They knew about that time you tried to snatch me away in my sleep." You add, Toriza frowning in shame before looking up at you again.
"Need to be aggressive. Won't get you if I don't." Toriza explains, crawling towards your sitting form again before you scratch her ear and stop her in her tracks.
"Then you'll need to catch me." You smile, poking her nose again before jumping up, running for the other side of the enclosure to use your magic to leap over it. Toriza takes a moment to respond, but gets up and begins to chase after you as you flee in the forest. You can hear her footsteps for a short while, before they disappear. You might have lost her, but it's unlikely. The game only just began. You could stay near the enclosure, head towards the temple again, or go to a different place in the forest now.
It's no fun if you don't give her a good hunt. You keep a grin on your face as you keep running, going a bit deeper into the woods while using your magical sight to keep the location of the temple roughly in your mind in case you lose your way.
When you slow down for a moment, Toriza rushes out from the bushes beside you. You duck under the lunge, the jinko landing well and turning to sweep her leg in an attempt to knock you down. A simple hop up is enough to avoid it, but she goes for another pounce now that she's right next to you. This time you have to roll back and use your feet to send her rolling back into the bush, getting to your feet just as she scrambles back up and charges you. You begin to flee again, the jinko hot on your tail the whole time.
As you lead her around the forest, while trying to keep track of the temple, Toriza keeps chasing you and attempting to trip you up to catch you. It gets harder as she wears you down, and before you know it you're struggling to keep pace. As you try to move through another bunch of bushes, you meet with something solid and smack right into a wooden barrier. It's only then that you realize that Toriza has been herding you back here all along.
You're not able to stop her as she pounces you this time, grabbing you with both arms and holding onto you with a loud chuff when she finally catches you. Her weight and force break the wood propping the barrier up, both of you rolling to a stop with you pinned to the ground beneath her as she pants for breath on top of you, licking her lips as the predatory look in her eyes undresses you.
You both start to catch your breath, but a chuff later and Toriza is pushing her face into yours as she presses her body up against yours. You can feel the strong muscles, and the soft parts, grinding against your pinned form as the jinko takes what she wants. She uses her paws to pull your robes off, followed by her own as she grins down at you. The clothes are discarded together to the side, Toriza wearing nothing underneath the dress again.
You let her take the lead, but use your own hands to guide her to what you want to try. She presses her stomach against your already stiff erection, pressing it between you two before you raise your knee to give her something to grind against. You can feel the slight moistness as she chuffs and begins to move her body up and down on yours. She takes in large breaths of your scent from the sweat you built up running from her, the jinko's paws settling on your shoulders as she steadily speeds her pace up.
Before long, the treatment makes you coat both of your stomachs with your seed and the jinko gives you another big, long kiss as you have your climax. The moment doesn't last long, as you hear a voice from behind.
"Get off him you... chuffy huffbag!" Mimita yells, though you can't see what she's doing from where you are. Toriza looks surprised as she sits up, getting a flaming, flying jump kick to the head from the rat. It knocks Toriza off of you, freeing you from the jinko as the rat lands almost on top of you. It takes a moment for you to recover from seeing something you always wanted to see as a kid, and by the time you do Mimita is fighting with Toriza, the rolls oddly reversed with Toriza defending against the burning rat and Mimita keeping her on the ropes with her quick strikes and strong legs.
You've had your fun, so you stand up and jump in between the two to break the fight up. The pair almost nail you with some strikes, Mimita scowling up at you as she keeps her hands in fists.
"Why'd you run off without me?! This is exactly why I didn't want you out of my sight!" She complains.
"I was chuff-napped. Now everyone is even, don't you think?" You ask, Toriza frowning behind you.
"Not really." She comments, Mimita huffiing a bit and grabbing you arm.
"Come on, you need a bath to get the smell of tiger off you!" Mimita declares, Toriza grabbing onto your shoulders and growling a bit down at her.
"Nothing wrong with my scent."
You tell the two to calm down, and tell Toriza the pair of you need a bath anyways. Looking at Mimita, you ask if Toriza can have some more alone time with you.
"No way! I'm sticking to you like a baby monkey now!" She declares, getting your robe and tossing it to you. "Come on, lets get back to the temple!"
Toriza frowns at Mimita, moving beside her to fetch her dress and slip it on before looking at Mimita. She considers something but moves past her to lead the way back to the temple. Mimita does as she means, and sticks right next to you as you get dressed and follow Toriza.
Bath time looks like it'll be fun.
Wanting to get some time to wash in private, you head up towards the secret spring with the pair as Mimita attempts to keep Toriza at a distance from you, forcing you to get the pair to cut the fighting out. With that said, you head up into the small pool of water, Toriza moving into the small hot water waterfall to claim her spot and glare at Mimita. The rat ignored her, looking at you with a grin.
"I'm going to need to sit on your lap, that won't be a problem will it?" Mimita asks. You say no, not wanting to make the two angrier at each other any more. You sit down with only your legs in the pool for now, Mimita frowning as she takes her dress off and gets in up to her neck.
"Suit yourself, but you won't be washing that belly of yours that way." She grins. You realize you still have a sticky situation on your stomach, even if it has been covered by your clothing. You jokingly ask if she wants to lick it off, Mimita's grin growing.
"Sure, why not?" She asks, Toriza paying full attention.
You tell her that sounds fine, and take your own robe off. She giggles and moves over towards you with a playful look in her eyes, moving up between your legs as Toriza looks on in envy. She leans in as you lean back, licking her tongue across your stomach slowly to savor your taste as she cleans you up. After several long licks up your belly, Toriza gets up and moves with with a huff.
The jinko pushes her way in, pushing you down onto your back as she goes for her own lick to clean what remains off of you. Mimita scowls a bit, moving her face in beside hers to start licking up the other side as they wrestle for position. There is some shoving and competition, but after a minute you're all clean and the pair get off of you, the jinko paw on your face moving away as Toriza sits back down under the hot waterfall.
"Well, that was rather tasty. Thanks for the snack." Mimita grins, sitting back down in the water as you sit up again. You see her eyes hanging down, slipping into the water to hide the stiff rod between your legs. She moves onto your lap without asking however, lodging it between her cheeks as she nestles in.
"Don't worry Toriza, isn't not going in anywhere! Not that it can right now, I wouldn't try." Mimita teases the tiger, Toriza just scowling at her.
"Didn't do that when you had the chance." Toriza retorts, Mimita shrugging.
"I was going with the flow then. Cheer up, even if you don't get him you won't scare anyone if you stay that pretty." Mimita tries to console Toriza, it only seeming to partly work.
"Now then. Anon, you like me sitting in your lap don't you?" Mimita asks, grinning up at you knowing you have to tell the truth.
"Who wouldn't like having a cute mouse like you sitting on their lap? But... Toriza's stomach is rather comfortable too." You admit.
Mimita hums a bit, wiggling a bit in her spot as she turns herself around to face you with her hands on your chest and legs straddling your own with her knees on the stone of the side of the pool.
"Really now? Well, that makes me a bit jealous. I've only been able to feel jealous for little while now. I know you need to test out the other options, but I'm hoping I'm not just some fling now." Mimita speaks, looking right at your face as she speaks.
"So, you like me don't you?"
"Of course." You answer.
"And Toriza?"
"Yes."
"And Himizu?"
"Yes."
Mimita pauses to think, never looking away form you as she tries to come up with a question.
"So, who is your favorite right now? You still have four days, so it may change anyways. I am curious though." Mimita questions you, waiting for an answer with patience.
"Right now? Himizu." You answer honestly, having had to resist the powerful urge to just push her into the water and flee from the question. She pouts, looking a tad dejected but regaining her smile afterwards, staying right where she is as she leans in to lay against your torso.
"Hm... I'm going to need to work harder then won't I?" She asks rhetorically. "I mean, it'd be hardest for me to find another candidate out of the three of us. Not many men can beat me in a fight." Mimita brags, wrapping her arms around your neck loosely to relax.
"Couldn't you train someone to get that good?" You ask, Mimita chuckling at the idea.
"Maybe. If I didn't need to worry about the warlord I'd be traveling around looking for someone, yknow? But I have my duties." Mimita speaks seriously.
Toriza slips in next to you, staying calm now that the rat is. It's a bit cramped already in the small pool, but it's not bad.
"Say, Anon? Who do you think would have the cutest kids?" Mimita asks out of nowhere, laughing to herself. "Hinezumi kids are pretty cute you know, really clingy and sleepy."
Toriza speaks up next, not wanting to be left out anymore.
"Jinko cubs are better. Fluffier, don't burn things on accident."
"Well mine don't claw things up while testing their claws!"
"Mine won't marry the first person they lose to."
"Want to say that to my face?" Mimita scowls, glaring at Toriza. The jinko scowls back at her, growling a little bit.
You see no choice but to stop the pair from fighting the only way you know how. You reach up and give Toriza's ear a rub, before reaching to the ear in front of your face to rub it at the same time. Toriza is caught off guard and looks confused, but relents and relaxes with a small chuff.
Mimita however jumps and whines, going limp against you as your gently assault the ear with your hand. She doesn't even have the will to squirm away, stuck laying against you as you attack her weakness.
"S-stop, that's no fair!" Mimita pleads, trying to push herself away.
"Anything is fair in a fight though. That's your style, isn't it?" You tease.
Mimita manages to squirm a bit, but your hand keeps moving on her ear to keep her nice and weak. She can't get away from you now, but her movement has her rubbing up against your leg now. She's breathing more heavily, lust infiltrating her voice.
"P-please stop, t-touching that isn't good!"
You're tempted to stop, but Toriza seems to be enjoying the sight of Mimita reduced to her current state as well. It maybe fun to keep going, but who knows what may happen.
"No way, this is fun." You taunt Mimita, taking your other hand off of Toriza as the rat turns around in her squirming. You attack her second ear with your hand, making her cry out in a lewd little voice as she tries to stand the attention to her sensitive ears. You continue on, her squirming amusing Toriza and exciting you.
The fun is cut short after a good few minutes of this when the lunch gong rings, echoing up to the three of you. Toriza grins and picks Mimita up, carrying her off as she leaves while the rat tries to get her to stop with a weakly complaining voice still full of unreleased sexual frustration.
You get out of the water and follow, getting your robe onto your wet form to help dry you off on the way there as Toriza gets Mimita into her clothing before resuming the carrying, not letting the rat get away despite her desperate squirming. You follow along, Mimita frowning at you miserably from on top of Toriza's shoulder. She carries Mimita all the way to the entrance to the main hall, setting her down and pushing her along to force her to a seat while having a grin of her own. Sitting down after Mimita, she watches the rat try to bear her lust as you sit down between them, Sen oddly missing while Himizu has recomposed herself after that morning. The ryu looks at the rat, before at you with a confused look.
"Is Mimita feeling alright? Did she stay in the hot spring too long?" Himizu asks, already eating a bit of her rice.
"Something like that. She's still a bit dizzy." You smile, leaning in to give Mimita a kiss on the cheek and a rub on top of the head. She whimpers, grinding her legs together under the table as she tries to eat her food quick in order to escape and take care of her current problem.
Himizu blinks a few times, too innocent to really understand it being much more than a headache. "Well, I can't heal that. I need to cook that dinner for Anon, and then get to work on marriage ceremonies. I'm going to be a bit busy for the next three days, except when I'm resting." Himizu informs you, a small box floating over to you and tucking itself into your pocket. Himizu uses your own trick and whispers from her mind into your ear so the others won't notice.
"Don't open that until you're alone please."
She blushes a bit and sips her water, but keeps on looking at you. Toriza is more entertained watching Mimita struggle to care, so you decide to bully the rat some more. You make a bit of wind blow at her ear, Mimita squeaking and jumping, spilling some rice. She frowns and looks down at her lap before frowning at you, still looking miserable. You magically blow some more air at her ear, eliciting another squeak from her as she shakes in her seat.
You decide to tease Mimita in a different way next, focusing as you eat to stroke at her body with your magic, trying to imitate actual hands caressing her inner thighs, sides, and bottom. It seems to be working, Mimita not able to stop squirming in her spot. You stop when Himizu looks at the rat, letting Mimita have a break to breath and eat her food. She's barely half done her food now.
You can't just leave it at this, you're still excited from having her on your lap before. Mimita is getting predictable even as you tease her along with gentler touches to her legs and puffs of air blowing past her ears, so you turn your focus away from the fidgeting rodent to the great cat to the right side.
Toriza is eating at a pace equal to Mimita to enjoy the fun, before feeling your fake hands start to explore her body to try and find a weak point. She swats at them, realizing soon that they aren't something physical as they search around. When you get to the base of the tail Toriza shakes in her seat a bit. When you attack it again she reacts still, but suppresses it with force of will even as your fake hands tease her chest and rub her abs. You give her much more force than the soft rat, attacking her ears as well as she tries to hold in a chuff and fumbles with her chopsticks.
Himizu seems none the wiser on the other side of the table, till you feel something rubbing your shoulders. You check with your sight and see two ghostly hands like what you are using, leading back to the ryu as she plays innocent and another runs a finger up your spine to make you shiver.
You're not going to give up this fight so easily. While keeping the same amount of focus on the other two, you keep yourself steady as you use your magic against Himizu. You stroke her head first, before having two hands stroking along her tail. She jumps a bit, but moves her hands to your sides to try and tickle you, getting no reaction.
Focusing on three targets is straining your mind, but you manage to keep any ill effects away even as Himizu switches her focus to rubbing your arms. She really isn't good at this, and is too shy to go for dirtier places. The battle keeps on going as you all eat, you moving your hands to Himizu's hips to rub them up and down before magically slapping Himizu's bottom and making her yelp a bit. She huffs and increases her efforts. A lot.
Before you realize it, you have what feels like a hundred slender magic hands all touching your body everywhere at once, overlapping and each moving on their own. They're even rubbing your inner thigh, though they avoid the private area enough to start to annoy you. All the hands are making it even harder to focus, and it's starting to feel nice. Like a whole body massage all at once. Your magic is waning, if you keep trying to get all three of them you might hurt yourself or pass out.
You're not about to give up now! You pull your focus together and focus on the ryu alone, making about a dozen hands appear on her. While you can't match her numbers, you know where to attack. And you do it relentlessly.
You stroke at the slip that covers her privates, teasing the edge loose as you move. Two hands stroke her bottom, two more her sides. One strokes her head while two massage her chest, one rubbing her stomach as the rest rub alone the tail. The ryu squirms and tries to remain quiet, her tail moving about around her as she tries to bear it. You've pushed yourself a bit too far however, and your vision goes black before you realize it

You wake up in Himizu's room, staring up from the water with her hands on your head and her tail keeping you at the surface of the water. Mimita and Toriza are looking at you with just as much worry, but you can tell not much time has passed. They're still fidgety, and you can smell their combined female scent in the room around you.
"Idiot! Going so far to do naughty things! I should punish you, but you know why not!" Himizu frowns down at you.
"How long was I out?" You ask.
"Only around ten minutes. Are you feeling alright?" Himizu asks.
You nod yes, sitting up and looking at the door. It's sealed shut, and your instincts are telling you something is up.
"So, what's going on now?" You ask, looking at the three.
"Oh. After that stunt we kind of thought it'd be fun to tease YOU for a bit." Mimita grins. "And you're not leaving till we're done with you."
You can't tell if it's a joke or not, at least until Himizu blushes and pushes you off her tail into the water.
"Th-that isn't what we agreed to!" She complains, Mimita scowling at her. "We were going to have a stern talk with him!"
"He teased me way more, I want to tease him back!" She complains.
Toriza just waits and watches on the sidelines, listening to the back and forth with mild interest.
While the two argue, you move around them to get to where Toriza is. The jinko notices, but doesn't seem to react much as she keeps looking at the pair arguing. Sitting down on the stone walkway with her, you watch the back and forth devolve into Himizu trying to match Mimita at insults and failing, rounding back about what to do with you again. You look at Toriza, the jinko keeping her eyes forward.
"So, what do you think we should do? What's the best plan of action?" You ask.
Toriza turns to look at you, a small chuff coming out of her as she grins and leans towards you.
"You get punished." She states.
"You're joking, right?" You ask.
She shakes her head no, poking at your chest with a claw as she looms over you.
"No. Need to be punished." She declares. Looks like all three of them want to take their frustration out on you.
"Toriza, get over here! We're making a plan!" Himizu calls, the jinko moving into the water to huddle with the other two. After a minute of planning, they turn and look at you all at once.
This isn't going to be good.
Toriza moves up to you first, moving around behind you before putting you into a crude lock. It's strong, but you could get out with ease if the other two weren't already right in front of you with a devious look in Mimita's eye. You can tell Himizu is still unsure about what they have planned as she reaches into your robe to retrieve the present box that she had given you, opening it with her scaly hands before floating the gift out. It's a small necklace with one of her jewels attached to the end, a familiar green scale embedded into the clear crystal.
"Alright Anon, this is the plan! We figure that since you can't seem to think straight you must be pretty backed up as a man. So we're going to help you with that, and give you something we can exploit later to 'help' you later!" Mimita explains, grinning wide as she eagerly awaits their plan.
Himizu opens up the necklace and gets the scale out of the hollow section inside the crystal, Toriza bending you over and pushing the hair up and off your neck. You're wondering what they're up to but don't fight it even as you feel the scale pressing against your neck, feeling some sort of spell being used by the ryu. After a few minutes of this, the three inspect your neck before letting you go free.
"Did it work?" Mimita asks, looking at Himizu.
"I think so, we can't see it anymore so it must have worked. That was sort of a freeform spell, so I hope there aren't side effects." Himizu explains, looking at you next. "How are you feeling Anon?" She asks.
"I don't feel any different." You say honestly, still unsure what all that was about. You reach back to feel the back of your neck, not feeling anything there. As you brush a spot near the center, you nearly black out as a surge of lust rushes through your system. Your erection could pierce the heavens after that, and you try not to move lest you embarrass yourself. Mimita hums and grins, looking at you with a knowing eye after seeing your reaction.
"Looks like it worked. How is it Anon? It was designed to work on a larger, more powerful creature like a ryu so a human man must be just aching for some sort of release now, right?" She teases. "Well, we'll be making you as dry as a desert next."
"Well, if you're so eager to be soaked in my seed I shall indulge you." You grin, Mimita blinking a few times at the odd comment.
"You won't be speaking so hot once you're sore and shooting blanks Anon!" She retorts, grin returning as she teases you by poking at the bulge in your wet robes. It doesn't help you, and you doubt you could focus better than an amateur with the lust boiling through your veins. You lose your will to hold back, lunging forward and tackling Mimita into the water as she squeaks in surprise.
"Hey, what are you doing?!" She exclaims, yelping when her panties are discarded and you keep her facing you as your pants slip off on their own due to your magic. With a grin you line up with her rear hole and thrust, the tight ring holding tight while Mimita just blinks a couple times at you.
"Uhm... you won't get in there unless you let me get my oil..." She speaks calmly, not seeming too opposed to the situation now that she knows what you're after. Toriza frowns a bit, having expected more complaint from the mouse while Himizu stammers and blushes at the lewd sight. She isn't kidding, despite your efforts Mimita keeps you locked out of anal. You're desperate for some release now though, and waiting may take a few minutes.
Screw that. You surprise her by reaching down and jacking yourself off in two seconds, touching the spot on your neck again to maintain your erection after you finish shooting all over her whole while the rat squeaks in surprise. With your self made lube in place you thrust as hard as you can, her tight muscles no match as you ram inside and make her eyes go wide. It's incredibly hot and tight, but you start to thrust anyways.
"W-wait, stop!" She squeaks, trying to push you off but unable to get any leverage with her legs or force you off with her arms. It doesn't seem to be hurting her as you pound against her, getting her panting with lust and moaning despite her meager complaints. The honeypot above the hole you're abusing is leaking profusely, making your thrusting easier.
It doesn't take long for you to shoot off your second shot right into the rat, making her babble a bit from the rough treatment up till then. Pulling out, you look at Toriza next. The jinko blinks a few times, actually looking nervous after you left Mimita temporarily disabled on the side of the pool of water. She gets a combat stance up out of habit, but you lunge in and grab her chest to surprise her. You push her down, the jinko unsteady on her feet due to the current scene. She looks up at you once you pin her shoulders, too surprised to fight back against whatever you seek to do.
You let go of her shoulders and hike the Jinko's rear end up by grabbing her knees and forcing them up, your skill at holds keeping Toriza from getting away from you. She's going commando again, utterly exposed already as you lean down and give her a deep kiss as you line up to thrust into her ass. The juices from Mimita still on you helps you in, and you reach around Toriza's legs to grope at her chest. She stifles any moans that try to come out, pawing at your back in mild defiance as you take her rough. She's bigger, but her larger muscles makes the entrance squeeze almost as tight as Mimita was. A few chuffs start to leak out of her, the tiger actually starting to enjoy it. You help her along, standing up straighter and moving a hand to her drenched pussy. You rub it hard, making her clench and paw at your back more as the sensation helps her enjoy the ravaging even more. Glancing over at Mimita, you see the rat still recovering on her back and not in a state to comment on your next 'victim'. Your other free hand goes for the base of her tail as you lean in and bite at her neck, getting loud moans out of her as you gently bite, stifling them when you give her more deep kisses.
You groan as your third climax comes out, cumming as hard as the first two times even as you pull out halfway through, shooting the rest of it onto her stomach as you let her legs drop down and leave the jinko panting and dreary eyed.
With Toriza down, you turn and look at Himizu as she stays flustered and beet faced watching you go. Realizing that you're coming after her she focuses as hard as she can, floating you into the air so you can't find purchase with the ground to move. Your own focus isn't great, with the lust still boiling in your body, making the inability to act that much more aggravating.
You reach down and start to jack yourself off, Himizu almost losing her focus just from that lewd act as you show your lust on your face while looking at her in the eye.
"You seemed to like it last time, I was sure you'd love another round Himizu. That scale of yours is too much for me, I need the comfort of your body! You were going to punish me, but it's torture not being able to get off!" You plead, groaning as you keep polishing your hyper-weapon with abandon.
Himizu stammers as she tries to come up with a response, but before you can you shoot out another round of thick ropes of thick white semen. It lands on her head, in her hair and one her face. The ryu drops you, too stunned to keep her focus together. You touch the 'scale' on the back of your neck as you rush her, jumping on top of her human torso as she lets out a loud whine. She can't fight you off as you lift her tail up above your shoulder, lining up with yet another anal entrance before pushing inside with relative ease as Himizu gasps.
Once again in the ryu, you reach around and finger her water temple while you thrust into her. The tail is a bit hard to keep balanced, requiring you other arm to keep up. You keep thrusting hard, the familiar hole clenching around you from the much more surprising fit of lust this time around.
Your fifth shot comes, still just as hard as the first one. At this point it's starting to get a bit painful, and your shots are getting thin, but the wonderful sensation helps alleviate most of the discomfort. You pull out and let you your aching member rest, sitting down on the stone as Himizu recovers. It's peaceful for a few seconds, before you feel a small hot hand touch your shoulder and a finger press on the 'scale'.
"Ready for the next round?" Mimita teases, grinning wide next to your face. "You're not done yet!"
"You'll need to wash me off before we can go again." You tease, the aching erection helping you regain some focus amidst your heavily distracted state. She grins a bit, reaching into the water to get her soaked panties to reach around and stroke your member clean in an agonizingly quick manner, making you grunt a bit as it forces another shot out of you. She does manage to get it clean, and discards it before pulling you down onto your back and tosses her dress to the side, crawling on top of you and going for the still rock hard member with her mouth.
"There, it's clean. Now for the polish!" She teases, her hot honeypot hovering right above your face as she starts to suck you off with unpracticed but exotic skill, having obviously read about it but never practiced before. You can't resist and plunge your face up, licking at her and sucking on her small bean to get some moans out of her as the torturous pleasure envelops your dick. Before long you shoot off again, but Mimita keeps going after sucking down the nearly blank shot, making you groan in milk pain. You decide to fight back, making some ghostly members appear to pierce the rat's two lower openings as you lay back down to rest, the pain helping you keep them solid. Mimita yelps, her own affections to your pained member slowing to a crawl as the two items pound into her and make her give out loud moans, laying down on top of you as they sap her strength away. It makes her quiver and shake, stifling an outcry as it gets her off and defeats her for that round. You roll her off to the side and sit up again, cringing as you feel the state you are in right now.
And then you hear a chuff from the side. You turn to look, seeing Toriza's face right there as she crawls on her hands and knees towards you.
You decide to let Toriza take the lead, sitting back to let her move on top of you as you bite your cheek for the extra focus you need. Once Toriza is on top, you pull her face down and give her a deep kiss. After holding it there for a few moments, she holds it as she lowers her rear entrance down onto your member herself. Your hands explore her body, running along her every exposed inch of skin. Her chest, sides, ass. You scratch behind her ears as she rides hard on top of you, chuffing every now and then as she wrestles your tongue with hers and holds her paws around your shoulders to keep you still.
Stroking her tail and pressing at the base, you focus your mind and summon back the ghostly members. You send one to each hole, surprising Toriza as she feels them push into her orifices when she doesn't expect them. She forgets about her complaints when they start thrusting, only riding on top of you even harder as she enjoys it.
After an agonizingly long time, though it's surely no more than a few minutes, you seem to please her as you shoot a blank out again and the jinko shudders with delight, getting off of you and laying down on her belly while looking satisfied for now as she takes a nap. You're almost at your limit, before you feel a scaly tail wrap around you. It swings you to the side and into the pure water spring, bringing you up after as Himizu frowns at you sternly.
"You're being punished, I'm making you pay for forcing yourself on me!"
"What are you going to do?" You ask, feigning fear and letting Himizu retain control. You doubt you have the focus or strength to get out of her scales, the ryu crossing her arms as she lowers you into the water up to your waist.
"I-I'm going to make you sorry, you perverted man!" She stammers, not used to speaking sternly. You feel the water beginning to move, turning almost solid due to her focus before being pushed onto your stiff but pained member. You groan a bit, able to feel how good it somehow feels despite the pain. It spins and milks at you, the water itself pleasuring you like you thought only an Undine could do.
"H-how is that? Ready to give up yet?!" Himizu asks, face turning redder as the water forces a blank out of you below and a groan above.
"N-not ready yet." You wince.
The water moves faster, seeming to get more solid as Himizu huffs and gets irritated. It forces another blank out already, making the pain agonizing as you clench your teeth and try to bear it.
"Y-you like it wh-when it h-hurts?" Himizu asks, voice shaking a bit while trying to keep her stern attitude up.
"N-not going to... give up..." You groan, grunting as the watery ministrations get fiercer. Two more blanks are forced out of you, before your vision starts to go dark.
"Okay, maybe... I am now.." You fade out, fainting from the pain as you hear Himizu whine out loud in worry once she sees you black out.
You wonder what you'll dream about...
A fuzzy wolf and some sort of barbarian-esque ryu appear playing in the snow, the large one rolling up a snowball taller than you are as she enjoys the white powder. The wolf is running circles around her, jumping over her tail while telling the odd ryu where to push. Hearing a chuff, you look beside you to see Toriza in odd clothing you don't recognize, some sort of cloth hat and a puffy jacket covering her torso.
"Come on. Put the face on." She instructs, pushing you forward. You step over to the snowman as the last ball is put on top, only the odd ryu able to reach up that high. The three balls of snow loom over you, but you get a lift up from the odd ryu so you can put a series of stones on the middle ball and some odd kind of orange radish into the top one, adding more stones to make eyes and a smile. The ryu puts you down before cheering, moving off and breaking large branches off from some nearby trees to stick it in the sides. It's topped off with an odd black hat, looking like the top of some round chimney with a lid on the bottom.
As you stare at the odd creation, it rumbles and you see a grinning face with an eyepatch form where the snowman's face is. It has a groomed beard that points out from the chin, it's eyes falling on you as Toriza takes a protective stance in front of you. The face takes in a deep breath before whistling a deafening sound out through it's teeth, sounding rather distinct. There is a rumbling, before the oddly armored ryu breaks through the odd stack of snowballs with fury on her face and a roar of anger.. She swings a mighty claw down at you, and for a moment you feel pain before waking up with a start and a gasp.
Mimita jumps when you sit down in such a manner, falling back onto her ass before taking a breath when she realizes you're alright.
"Don't scare me like that! What kind of ad dream did YOU have that would scare you?" Mimita asks, pushing you back down before returning to washing you with a cloth. You're back in your room, and once you get your breath back you look up at the rat as she wets the cloth again and wrings it out.
"Well, it started out nice. Lots of fun with all three of you." You lie, Mimita snickering a bit as she knows you're joking. You hear Himizu whine a bit in the corner of the room, letting you know the other two are there. "But then there was this werewolf, and some odd sort of ryu. They made a stack of three balls of snow, made a face with stones and some orange radish, put this weird hat on it... then a face came out of the top ball, and whistled. That odd ryu burst out, and well. I woke up." You explain, Mimita letting you sit down as she puts the cloth into the bucket again after. Himizu moves on over, blushing a bit still.
"Odd ryu? Odd how?" She asks.
"Well, it had armor-like scales and it's horns were sharp. It was really strong, that stack of balls was gigantic. It had... some pretty nasty claws." You admit, rubbing your shoulder. You can almost still feel it. Toriza moves around Himizu and looks at you with worry, and you grin at her.
"You were there too. Well, all three in that first dream. That part was pretty wild."
Himizu blushes and frowns, looking away from you while Toriza does the same. Mimita just holds her snickers to herself, pondering about the dream.
"An odd ryu... I could ask Sen about it, she's been to the west a bit. Maybe they know there." She suggests. "Or we could talk more about that first dream!"
The idea seems to make the other two dis-comfortable.
"Well, all three of you were there." You begin, playing it with a straight face as you watch the pair in front of you start to blush more. "You all three took turns wringing me dry, in a manner of speaking. Toriza gave me a rough ride, I got to shoot a load into each of your rear entrances, Mimita polished my tool with her soaked panties, and Himizu used water to jerk me off into unconsciousness. It was so vivid and real. But they wouldn't do anything like that, right?" You wink at Mimita, using the eye the others can't see when you look at her.
Mimita giggles and smiles at you, shaking her head no.
"Of course not! But you didn't say I wouldn't do those things~ Well, you know me well I guess." Mimita smiles. The other two are beet red, Himizu speaking without looking up from the ground.
"Y-yeah, n-no way we'd d-do that!" She fakes a laugh.
Almost like a savior, you hear the dinner bell. You ask how long you were asleep, Himizu looking up with delight at the change of subject.
"I-It's been a whole day! I guess you... tried too hard training, yeah!" Himizu smiles, trying to convince herself too.
"So, three days till the attack then?" You ask.
"More like two and a third." Mimita corrects you. "Not a lot of time to choose, is it lover?" Mimita asks, giving you a peck on the cheek before standing up. "Come on, Himizu's food is waiting! She finished it earlier!" Mimita urges you.
You're a bit curious why Mimita is so excited for another person's meal and pull on your clothing to cover your chest before standing up. Himizu whimpers a bit, moving out ahead of you to lead the way back to the main hall.
When you arrive you see the seats rearranged a bit, at least in sitting order. Couples are sitting together everywhere. You head to your seat and see Sen, the tanuki smiling at you with an amused grin.
"Hey there, glad you're around today. Enjoy the dinner." She teased. You finally look down and see what she means as the others sit down, Mimita sitting at a normal distance from you as what you assume is a precautionary measure.
On the place in front of you is cooked rabbit, burned to a crisp with a side of oily vegetables and undercooked vegetables. The head of the rabbit has it's fur and ears removed, but it's face is still there without eyes looking terrifying as if in pain. As the others start, you decide to bring up the dream.
"That other dream was odd, it seemed oddly specific. Do you know anything about odd, armored ryus Sen?" You ask. The tanuki looks up from her food, seeming to know something. Or at least something like it. You describe it for her, the tanuki thinking about it.
"I've heard stories, of things in the mid-continent region of the mountains. Think of an Ushi-oni, but as a dragon. Scales that are indestructible, and all the same power. They can't fly, but their strikes are said to break boulders apart. Supposed to be very simple minded though." Sen explains. "It sounds like that, but if you don't know what it is why did you dream of it?" She asks.
"U-uhm..." Himizu stammers, raising a hand as you eat some of her food while you listen. It's terrible, but you keep a straight face as hard as it is to. "A-after we put that scale in, his energy became a bit more like a ryu... I g-guess it went well with his own... or something... b-but it may have been at least a part of a premonition or warning that we get sometimes." Himizu stated.
Well, that doesn't sound good. You wonder where you'd meet something from the mid-continent as terrifying as that.
"Well, it's just speculation... maybe he just saw a picture and forgot or something... when he was a kid." Himizu trails off, retreating to her food for the moment.
"How do you know about the scale in my dream?" You ask, Himizu sitting up straight and whining a bit.
"W-what drea-OH that! Uhm... uhhh... I was j-just kidding, but you were training so h-hard that you uhm... made one of your chakras a really open, on the back of your neck! Don't touch it, you don't want to... unbalance the energies!" Himizu laughs, face beet red as she attempts to lie but fails spectacularly. She sips from her cup before staying straight and eating her food faster. Mimita just laughs a bit, Sen amused by the obvious ruse herself.
"Well, if you say so. Lets not worry about that dream, it was probably nothing." You smile.
"Y-yeah, probably nothing." Himizu stammers.
The table goes quiet after that as the group eats, Sen seeming to be pondering and taking the dream into consideration for the attack plans if the tapping on the table with her chopsticks made any sense. You struggle through the meal Himizu cooked, it taking a lot of effort to keep the meal down but you manage to eat the whole thing before smiling at her.
"It was lovely, thanks Himizu." You smile, hoping that you don't actually spit it up. And also hoping you can later before it gives you week long diarrhea. She blushes a bit, but smiles back at you.
"Y-you're welcome Anon."
Mimita finishes her meal and stands up, giving you a kiss on the cheek before moving away.
"I gotta start packing my things! I'll talk to you tomorrow!" Mimita calls.
Toriza stands up as well, not saying anything as her food is finished. She moves off on her own, not saying anything as she seems to be thinking of something.
"I need to get some rest, I've been doing marriages all day. I think we got the majority, but I need to rest just in case." Himizu smiles, moving away from the table last to leave you alone.
As much as you like the thought of having some ryu powers, you don't want such a weak point when you go into battle. A simple touch would neutralize you in battle. You stand up and move after Himizu, catching her halfway to her room as you walk quickly to catch up.
"Himizu! Think you can remove that scale from my neck? I'm going to that battle either way, and don't need such a weak point." You request, Himizu's face burning up again as she stops and looks at you.
"W-wait, you knew... what happened wasn't a dream the whole time?..." Himizu asks, whining and 'running' back towards her room. You run after her and dodge the tail, getting inside the room with her before she can close the heavy things.
"Yes I did, don't worry. It was just the scale making me act. Mostly." You assure her, Himizu diving into her bed and wrapping her torso up in a ball of blanket to hide her embarrassment from you as she hides. You sigh, moving up to the bed and patting her tail.
"Come on, simple request. You don't want something happening to me, and I was already 'punished'." You smile. Himizu takes a moment but wiggles out of the blanket, moving behind you to take the sides of your neck in her hands.
"Alright, I made the spell so it'll be easy to undo." She states, still blushing hard. She focuses and takes deep breaths, calming herself before you feel her magic working. After a few minutes you feel something leave you, before Himizu slumps over and falls asleep on your back now that her energy is spent. The door is still open so you can leave, but you should probably tuck her in first. And who should you check on next?
You smile and gently move Himizu, adjusting her so the snoozing ryu is in your arms as you stroke her hair. She sleeps soundly for a short while, but eventually wakes up in a happy daze before looking up and seeing you. She blushes a bit, frowning while she avoids your gaze for a moment.
"U-uhm... y-you didn't need to stay with me... you know..." She pouts, and you nod.
"Just making sure you were alright." You give her a kiss, making her blush more before you adjust the blankets and lay her down on her huge bed. She accepts the help, almost falling asleep already. You get up and walk out to leave, Himizu turning the lamps off as you leave.
"Goodnight Anoooon...." She yawns, closing the door behind you.
With Himizu in bed, you decide to go see what has kept Toriza down since you woke up. You move through the halls to find her room, hearing some marital arts being practiced in rooms you pass by on the way.
Getting to Toriza's room, you knock on the frame and wait until Toriza speaks, not wanting to barge in. It takes a minute, but eventually you hear her talk.
"Come in Anon."
You step inside, surprised to see her combing out her hair in a mirror as she preens herself. She seems to have gotten the hang of brushing her hair as well, but stays facing away from you.
"Something want to talk about?" She asks, looking at you using her mirror.
"You've been acting pensive since I woke up. Did I go too far?" You ask.
Toriza shakes her head no, still looking at the mirror.
"No. It was... fun."
You walk into the room, rubbing Toriza's head and ears when you reach her. She chuffs but swats yours hands away, fixing her hair up again as you kneel down to give her a hug and a kiss on the cheek.
"You can talk to me if something is bothering you. I'll comb your hair while you talk." You smile. She frowns into the mirror, sighing before she hands you the comb. You begin to comb her hair, ready to listen to the jinko.
"Been thinking. Made decision." Toriza starts, pausing for a few moments. "Giving up."
You blink a few times, kneeling behind her as you comb. "What do you mean?" You ask.
"Least liked. Want to lose on own terms. Love you, but not going to try." She admits, speaking solemnly.
"Both deserve more than me. Not worried though. You made me beautiful." She smiles, chuffing a tiny bit. "Nobody scared of me anymore."
You're having a hard time believing she's serious, but you've never heard her joke before.
"After warlord dead, can go looking. Find a good man. Live like a woman. Be happy. Thank you." She turns her head, smiling at you as you stop brushing with the comb. She holds her paw back, waiting for you to set the comb into it with patience.
You frown, holding onto the comb as you look at her.
"You're not the least liked." You assure her, hugging her from behind as she sighs and lowers her paw. "Why do you think you're the least liked?" You ask.
"Spent least time with me. Pursued the least. Had to chase to get attention." She explains, pulling your arms off of her before turning around to face you seriously. "Equal doesn't always mean equal."
You keep your arms to yourself, setting them on your lap as you speak with her further.
"I spent time the least with you on chance. I didn't need to pursue you because you pursued me. It doesn't mean I don't love you." You try to reassure her, Toriza frowning at you. She puts a paw to her face, her face straining a bit.
"You don't need to lie. I can't share. Won't share." She states, removing the paw and standing up, tears in the corners of her eyes. She puts her hair up in the ponytail before taking a deep breath, and moving into a fighting stance.
"Me alone, or let me go. I'll make you leave if have to." Toriza looks at you sternly. You can sense that she means it, her body is ready to move at a moments notice despite the emotion she's holding back.
You stand up and stare Toriza right in the eyes, the jinko staying in her ready stance as she stares at you. You step forward and attempt to give her a kiss, not realizing it until you've been hit that her paw thrust is faster than you knew about. You're knocked back away from her, tumbling to the ground. She gets into stance again, tears still in her eyes as you stand up.
You see she's going to do it the hard way, and step forward again. You try to dodge the strike, but get kicked into the wall with enough force to knock the wind out of you. Again you stand up, moving towards her faster. Again you are knocked away, crashing out the doorway as the closed door splinters and Toriza roars at you.
You try many times, each time Toriza getting you with her speed and strength. She doesn't let you close, and soon a crowd is being drawn by the commotion and noise.
Soon enough, Mimita comes peeking in the crowd. You keep up your attempts even as Toriza's room ends up mangled, windows broken out, and things knocked onto the ground. Finally she loses her patience, knocking you down hard onto the ground and keeping you down onto your back.
"Get it already! Don't believe attempts at physical compassion! You know words! Say them!" She yells, still crying out of the pain of the confrontation. "Your word!"
Mimita stays quiet in the doorway, looking worried about you.
"Anon?"
You look up at her from the ground, staying serious even knowing Mimita is there watching. It's hard to get the breath with Toriza standing on top of you, but you form the words clear for everyone to hear.
"I love you Toriza. You're the only one for me. Please, marry me." You say with a serious voice. Toriza looks down at you, appraising your answer with her teary eyes. She doesn't let you up while she tries to judge if you mean it. She eventually takes her foot off of your chest, reaching down to pick you up to your feet.
"Yes. We'll do it the night before the march." She agrees, still sounding skeptical of the offer. "Unless I change my mind. Or you yours."
With that she moves you to the door, pushing you out and closing the remains of what is there, half of it missing from the fight. You stumble as you move out, not seeing Mimita anywhere as the crowd disperses and the gossip begins to spread. Toriza moves over to her futon, sitting down as she turns off her lamp and puts her head in a paw as she seems to start to think about her decision.
You're left alone outside of her room for now, everyone else having left. You do have some time before you go to sleep however.
It'd be better to let emotions settle, the two awake are already upset and the one asleep will find out in the morning. You head back towards your room and close the door behind you, and sit down in the dark to meditate and to calm your own mind.
As you meditate, you hear the same whistle from your dream in your mind. You wonder why it lingers, but push it away while you sort out your feelings in earnest to face the other two masters in the morning.
It's probably not going to be fun.

You head into the breakfast hall after the oddly quiet morning, used to waking up to more exciting surroundings. As soon as you enter the room students begin to chatter amongst themselves, looking up at you while you make your way to the master's table and sit down in your usual spot. Looking at the meal there, you notice that it is the same as the others are being served and not the specially cooked breakfast Mimita had been getting better at. Sitting at the table with you is only Sen and Toriza, the jinko eating her food. She seems calmer than last night and smiles at you, not saying anything else as she just relaxes. The other two are missing though.
"Where are Mimita and Himizu?" You ask, starting to eat your own food. The tanuki answers right away.
"Himizu is just sleeping in a bit. Mimita had a lot of things to pack and sort so she just got some fruit for breakfast." Sen explains.
Before you can consider anything, Himizu moves on in with a bit yawn and moves to the head of the table as usual. She giggles and smiles at you, seeming to be unaware of what happened after you left her room last night.
"Good morning anon. Why is everyone so quiet?" She asks. Toriza looks at you, waiting for you to inform Himizu.
"Be gentle." She frowns, Himizu blinking as she puts her cup down.
"Gentle about what? H-he's not going to do anything bad again, is he?"
You take a deep breath and ready yourself, not sure how Himizu will react. Forming the words in your mind beforehand you speak, the ryu still looking at you for whatever you are about to say.
"Last night, I decided to marry Toriza. I proposed to her. We're planning on having the ceremony tomorrow night." You speak honestly.
Himizu stares for a moment longer, face sinking as her chopsticks drop down to the table. The ryu takes a minute to process the confession as she looks between the two of you. She pushes her chair back out and 'stands' up, looking down at the table as she holds onto her own hand.
"...excuse me..."
The ryu turns and moves back out of the room, slumping over a bit as she moves out of the door slow. Once her torso is out of sight the rest of her goes away fast, disappearing into the halls.
Toriza sighs, looking at you seriously.
"I don't like how last night went. I forced it out. After meal, go make peace with them. In private. If you really want me, confess again after." She instructs you, reaching her paw out and rubbing your head. "Sorry to put through it for me. But want to be sure."
She goes back to her food, eating as quiet as you do for a few minutes. She finishes first and gets up, moving away and back towards her room.
"So, what are you going to do?" Sen asks, the sound of rain falling coming from outside.
"I should visit Mimita first." You state, finishing your food quick before standing up. Sen smiles a little bit, focusing on her food as you leave.
You take the path to the familiar room with Mimita inside, able to hear some things moving about inside. You knock on the frame, waiting for a few moments before hearing Mimita speak.
"Come in!" She calls, sounding oddly alright.
You open the door and step inside, seeing the rat gathering her things in a few different piles in the room as she holds onto a fancy vase and ponders something. When you say nothing, she turns to see who it is before seeing it's you. Mimita frowns a moment, before turning back to her things.
"What do you need?" Mimita asks, turning back to the vase as she walks to one pile and sets it down.
"What are you doing?" You ask, sitting down by the door after closing it. Mimita moves to her trunk, taking another thing out to look over and muse about.
"I'm packing. Why?" She asks with the same tone.
"It sounded like you were leaving."
"Not until after the warlord is dead. After that I'm gone, taking a little trip around the country." She explains. "That's the pile of things to take with me, that I'm going to sell to Sen, and those things are going to be gifts for students." She points to each one, but you notice there are two traveling bags packed. Each with a different set of travel bedding sticking out of them.
"Why are there two packs?" You ask, Mimita setting the item she was musing over down in another pile. The mention of the second bag makes her look over at it, taking an unusually long time for her to respond.
"Well, I was packing both. That one was in case I was coming to fight the warlord." She answers, sighing as she goes back to her chest and digs out a jade statue of a dragon. "Don't need that anymore." Her voice cracks, not moving away from her chest this time.
You stand up and move over to Mimita, giving her a hug from behind that makes her drop the statue to her feet. Patting your head, you speak.
"I'm sorry it ended how it did. You'll find someone far stronger than me out there, I know it. Travel with Sen, and you'll find someone many times my skill." You try to apologize.
Mimita doesn't move, tears coming out of her eyes as her calm disposition melts. She tries to wipe the tears away with her palms, voice cracking as she speaks.
"Th-that's not fair anon... that's not fair! You c-can't say that about yourself!" Mimita cries, pushing you off so she can turn and face you.
"They won't be you!! I love you damnit!! I was the first to like you!! I was the first to go after you!! Why did I come in last?!" Mimita yells, punching at your stomach as she takes her frustration out on you with her weak, ill-formed strikes.
"Wasn't I good enough?! What did I do wrong Anon?! I thought I was- I thought I was your candle mouse!! I thought I was something to you!!"
It's hard to get a word in amidst this flurry of questions, and the weak strikes hardly bother you. Eventually she stops, still crying as she clings to your shirt and hides her face in your stomach.
"D-didn't you love me?..."
"I love all of you, but I needed to choose one of you. I'm sorry." You say, petting her hair as Mimita keeps sobbing. She eventually lets go of your shirt, looking up at you with a deep frown and red eyes.
"I-I'll live... it'll take a while, I guess. But I might always love you, you jerk. If she hurts you, tell me so I can kick her out." Mimita huffs, forcing herself to be strong. She turns and moves away from you, moving to the window to look out of it.
"...it's not rainy season. Wasn't supposed to be rain. You must have made Himizu cry too." She comments.
Right, Himizu. You need to speak with her as well.
"Go on, get out of here. I need to be alone."
You move out of the room and shut the door, letting her have the peace she craves. With one of them done you move into the hallways and find your way to Himizu's room, heading towards the great big doors. You reach them and try to look inside, but the wards are back up and you can't see. Before you can think off something to solve the problem, you feel someone tug on the back of your robe. Turning, you see the kids with tears and frowns on their faces. You're about to ask what's wrong, before one of them pushes a letter scroll up at you.
"Read it you jerk!" He yells. You take the scroll and open it up, curious what has the kids upset.
'Anon. I'm sorry to trick you like this, but I'm leaving. I had already given up on you, and it was weak of me to accept your desperate affection. By now you'll be at Himizu's door, and I'll already have ridden away. Don't follow me.
Mimita isn't that bad. That training exercise you made us do was fun. We learned to work together, and were good at it.
Himizu is young, she may never forget you. But either of them would be a far better wife for you.
I'm sorry Anon. We may not meet again, but I hope we do.
~Toriza.'
"She left because of you!! Jerk!! Bathscrubber!!" The boy yells again.
"Why did Towiza need to leave master Anon?" One of the girls asks, tearing up just as hard. "D-didn't she like us anymore?"
"It's not your fault. It's all this idiotic bathscrubber's fault. I drove her away myself. All three of them loved me and I hurt them all." You admit, kneeling down and pulling the pair of kids into a hug as you speak. "I'm the biggest idiot and bathscrubber there could possibly be." You admit.
"But why did she need to leave?" One of them asks as you let go of the first two.
"She had to leave to follow her convictions. She'll come back sometime, when I'm not here." You assure them, patting the third's head. The boy punches you, though it doesn't hurt your face that much as he storms away.
"Which way did she go?" You ask, the girl from before sniffling and shaking her head.
"W-we're not supposed to tell you... T-towiza made us swear to it." The girl complains.
"Please, it's really important. I have to try and bring her back." You tell her, the girl not holding up for long.
"S-she ran up towards the mountain." She admits.
That's even worse than taking a horse. You'll never find her or catch her in the woods, even if you knew where she was right now.
"If you go, who is going to stop the warlord?..." One of the other boys asks. "Toriza always said you'd stop him."
If you chase her, you'll be bound to miss the start of the march. You won't be able to complete the task the head ryu put onto you.
"I need to go after her. Tell Sen that I may not make it back for the march, but will try to reach them as long as they leave me a horse to ride on." You instruct the most stable looking one. They nod, sniffling a bit as you rub his head and stand up. Without wasting any more time, you start to run to head outside and head towards the woods. You'll head up past that nest she made during the chuff-napping first before going further, just going on a hunch.
Getting outside, you call her name as hard as you can while magically enhancing your voice. With no answer you run out of the woods, calling again after about a minute. It doesn't take long to get to the nest amidst the heavy rain, but you keep going and pushing through the wet forest even as the moist logs try to slip you up. You realize that the branches are trying to snag and trip you up as well, but you ignore it to keep running and calling for Toriza.
You keep going and try to find any trace of where she is, but you grew up in the city. You can't navigate the woods, and before you realize it you've circled around to the nest again. You swear and try again, it taking a long time but you still end up back at the corral.
"Why are you trying to leave Anon?" You hear Himizu whisper, confused. You look around but realize she's throwing her voice all the way from her room. "Wh-where is Toriza?"
"Toriza left. I'm going to get her back!" You tell her, heading back into the woods as fast as you can. You make it a short distance, before a tree branch swings at you and knocks you over onto your back.
"You're going to get lost! You won't even find her!" She warns, worry in her voice as you get up and try to move again. A root has wrapped around your leg, and try as you might you can't dislodge it.
"I have to find her, she can't be far! She's confused about her feelings and running from them!" You struggle against the root, snapping it but only getting caught by another one.
"Anon, listen..." She tries to speak.
"I'm sorry if I hurt you, but please. I need your help. Can you see her?" You ask.
"She's not coming back Anon! I read the letter you dropped!" Himizu cries, "You need to let her go!"
"No,I need to find her!"
"A-anon, listen to me for a minute!" Himizu yells, the voice booming and knocking you back, almost knocking you over.
"She dumped you! Left you at the altar! Got cold paws! Get it through your head! We h-have to handle rejection but you don't?! Why do you get to be special?!" Himizu yells at you, voice echoing through the woods, still carrying her pained voice.
"I don't care about that. If you panicked and made a b-bad decision then you did. I can accept that. You're new to relationships, and thought you were losing someone. So you p-proposed. But I d-don't care. And Mimita, she probably wouldn't care either if you explain it well. Why can't you see that?" Himizu asks, whispering to you now to try and sooth you.
"Wh-why do you want to throw it all away for someone that gave you up? She doesn't WANT you to chase her. W-will you really let us die here? Or worse?" Himizu asks.
You focus and snap the roots, taking off before Himizu can catch you again with the roots. Free, you expand your focus as far as you can. Finally, you see Toriza in the far distance. She's so far off. The strain on your mind makes your focus shatter, making you fall over onto the muddy ground. You attempt to get up, but your body and mind aren't synched.
"Anon, you're going to hurt yourself!" Himizu pleads.
"I c-can't stop! I have to catch her! I don't know what else to do!" You tell her, your efforts not helping you recover. "She's just o-on the other side of the mountain. I can still get to her."
"Anon... you won't catch up to her. You're just going to kill yourself. You don't even know what mushrooms to eat or how to hunt." Himizu tries to calm you. "You said you loved all three of us. Was that a lie?" She asks.
"No." You answer, stopping. It hurts, but realization is setting in. "It wasn't a lie."
"Then come back to the temple. I'll carry you back, so just relax and rest before you cripple yourself." She pleads, not moving you yet.
It takes a few minutes for you to finally say it, but you manage to choke it out.
"Alright. I'll come back."
You feel gentle hands picking you up, the ghostly members lifting you off the mud and carrying you through the wet, rainy forest back towards the temple. It takes a while, but the rain stops falling so hard as you finally get back to the smell of the hot springs and are greeted by Himizu's reddened eyes and slight smile.
"You're really stupid, you know that Anon? Are you feeling better?" She asks, not caring about her wet robes.
You manage to stand up once she sets you down, though your magic isn't working so well after over-exerting yourself on the mountain. You look towards the woods one last time, still feeling the urge to run back out there but keeping in mind the consequences.
"You still have a full day, excluding any time sleeping. If you don't choose... I'll come and try to resist the bicorn if you like. I think I might have enough control to at least support from the rear of the attack." Himizu comforts you, turning to move away. "I learned some tricks while talking with my mom. Hopefully they're enough."
With that said she moves back into the temple, the drizzling rain washing the remaining bits of mud off of your body and clothing.
"I already told Mimita about the letter. I think she's in the kitchen now if you want to speak to her." Himizu whispers to you from afar.
I try to make one last desperate attempt to speak with Toriza, but she's far too gone and my magic isn't working. You turn and head into the temple, walking towards the kitchen so you can clear things up with Mimita. On the way, you catch up with Himizu. Taking the chance, you get her a tight hug from behind without saying anything, surprising her before you move past.
Heading into the kitchen you spot Mimita running around in a panic, gathering ingredients and items together as she tries to make something quick. You have to be careful moving over to her, even if the rest of the food is just simmering and waiting to be plated. She spots you and jumps, fumbling a knife and yelping as she dodges it before it hits her foot. She's wearing an apron over her usual dress, and it would give you a look at her chest if she were only wearing it when she reaches down to pick up the knife.
"Don't surprise me like that Anon! Geez. Just hold on, your lunch needs to cook. It'll be a bit late though!" She tells you, seeming to be back to her usual self. You mention as such.
"Well, you have to be angry that someone left you at the altar. And this means I still have a chance!" Mimita grins back at you with her usual confidence.
"You're ready to forget about what I said that easy?"
"No, I'm not forgetting. But you said you loved all three of us. So you still love me. You promised to never lie to me after all." Mimita explains, adding the rice to the boiling water and flipping the fish.
"So just go sit down and wait for lunch. I won't dwell on what happened last night. But if you need some space, just say it."
(Canceled)