He's so lucky to be him and not anybody else right now!
Amaterasu would be screaming that sentiment so loud even the Distinguished Ones would hear it right about now.
If she weren't so busy anxiously pacing back and forth around her bed, where her youngest child lay absolutely still, save for the small rising of his abdomen with his breath.
He felt so small to her senses right now. So small, it physically hurt.
At either side of the bed, her daughter and Uzume sat, the latter for once legitimately looking serious.
It's telling, not only because of that, but because both goddesses shine brighter to her senses individually than he does at present.
It's jarring. Her breath starts racing, and her heart pounds, even considering the notion, the very idea that her boy could be less than the weight of the gigantic star that usually radiates off him.
Truthfully, she knows, understands even, deep down that he'll be okay.
She did the divine equivalent of a jumpstart on his holy spirit powers. All that he needs is time to recover naturally.
Even then, even if she wasn't there, she doesn't think he'd croak. It'd just be an exceptionally long rest until he got back on his feet again.
Still, none of that changes this one simple fact.
If it were anyone else in Nori's state right now? They'd be dead.
Death by steer exhaustion.
A normal Kami, a normal divine being in general, can't spend an entire day breaking their body physically and eating through their entire divine power reserves to forge a single artifact.
Their bodies and spirits would give out. They would die. It's as simple as that.
Yet here Nori is! Still breathing. Still present.
Stupid. Reckless. Over the top. So many things she wants to scream, so many things she needs to say, but can't, because it'd all fall on deaf ears.
By the time he wakes up? She imagines she won't even be mad at him anymore.
At present, her darling daughter and Uzume are only really to watch if his condition takes an unexpected dive, or if he wakes up.
In which case, she ordered them to whack him over the head with this weird pink bat she found.
Honestly, she's not sure what it is.
Uzume chuckled when she saw it, but remained tight-lipped about what it actually did, infuriatingly so.
Which means it's likely not a normal bat in some way.
Since Uzume decided to hush up, she can at least be sure the thing won't harm him somehow; she knows Uzume would have said otherwise, and that's the only reason why she lets Uzume keep her lips closed.
Knowing her, it's probably something stupid or embarrassing.
Which she deems acceptable. Her brat of a son deserves it for almost turning her hair stark white!
All for, well…
At last, she stops her pacing, right in front of the sword. The sword that was on the anvil her boy was leaning up against.
Set on the table where Uzume's impromptu desktop setup was cleared off, just by looking at it now, one probably wouldn't think it'd be possible for it to leave anyone in such a state.
Oh sure, it's immaculately crafted, if rather plain and bare, but it felt like nothing.
Less than nothing, even. Empty.
But it didn't want to be that way.
Okay, she's being a tad dramatic, the sword isn't alive or anything, its function right now is just to take in a Kami.
So, seeing Uzume nearly get sucked into it like water being flushed away by accidentally brushing her hand along it was pretty funny.
It also at least confirmed that it should work. At least that part of it.
As for when the Kami actually gets in there? Well, that's something they'll have to test.
"It'll be alright, Mother…" She froze stiff, caught completely off guard as a hand intertwined with her own, along with a voice.
Wakahirume's voice.
Huh. She must have been really deep in her thoughts this time.
Silently, she apologizes to Noriaki for passing along this particular of hers to him, before managing to thaw enough to turn and look at her daughter.
Her girl was smaller than her and was looking up at her now with this gentle, easygoing smile.
"You know it will." She finished, knowingly.
Amaterasu couldn't help but sigh, "Knowing and feeling are two very different things, Waka."
Her daughter grips her hand tighter at that, "Still doesn't change the outcome, does it?"
Unfortunately, Amaterasu can't really argue with that logic.
As much as she'd naturally like to be more dramatic, with Wakahirume here…she just can't really bring herself to.
Slowly, she let out a long, shaky breath. Out of the corner of her eye, she can see Wakahirume nod, pleased.
"Good." Her daughter states, pleased.
She couldn't help herself, at least a little bit, "Aren't you supposed to be watching him still?" It wasn't really an accusation; her words held no anger behind them.
Her face not even changing a bit, Wakahirume shook her head.
"Lady Uzume seemed to have it taken care of all by herself." She replied, much to Amaterasu's doubt.
Without hesitation, Wakahirume tilted her head, looking past her with the bob of her head.
Naturally, Amaterasu followed her gaze in that direction as well.
Only to deadpan, as she bore witness to Uzume half hidden behind the side of the bed, a smirk ripped straight from an American Looney Tunes skit on her face as she held that strange pink pat, tapping it over and over again in an open palm as she watched Noriaki intensely.
So intensely, she hasn't even noticed Wakahirume leave.
And if she focuses, she's sure she could hear Uzume cackle here and there.
"...Yeah. She does." Amaterasu eventually answered, deciding to leave Noriaki to his fate as she faced her head back toward the sword.
A fate that he deserves for not being able to take a break, mind you!
Wakahirume pats her side and gives her this pouty frown, as if trying to admonish her.
She doesn't even react to it. This time, she's sure, he deserves this one at least.
With a sigh, Wakahirume eventually follows her mother's gaze in return.
"So," she began again, voice far more curious than before, "this is the thing you were talking about, right?"
Ah, right. She sort of got so caught up in Noriaki being himself that she hadn't thought to really show her the sword he made.
Sheepishly, Amaterasu nodded, "That it is, what do you think so far?"
"Shiny~..." Wakahirume trailed off with stars in her eyes, causing Amaterasu to chuckle lightly.
"To be frank, Waka," she continued, squeezing her daughter's hand back to snap her into the present, "I'm not really sure what will happen when you get in there, how it will be, how…you know." She huffed, the words that could even begin to explain the full scope of the undertaking before them evading her, "Just everything. This is all new."
"I know." Wakahirume states, without even a shred of hesitation or doubt, before asking with the biggest smile, "Isn't it exciting?"
It admittedly took Amaterasu a moment to answer that, "A bit." She settled on saying.
Even to the gods, the unknown can be a terrifying, stressful thing. Maybe especially for the gods who live so much longer, see so much more, in fact.
"I believe it's more than a bit." Her daughter responded in kind, wangling a finger her way, "A new day is finally approaching for everyone. If this works, everything changes. Things are already changing, with my adorable little brother here."
Amaterasu wanted to groan at all that.
It's not that she hates change; she's glad it's happening, really!
It's more so the stress and paperwork she's groaning about.
That, and how her son keeps putting himself into dangerous situations, or at death's door.
Seriously, the entire point of him being here wasn't for all this! He wasn't supposed to fight one of the Distinquished Ones, win, then go on to try and make the Shinto's versions of Sacred Gears!
She just wanted to cuddle him for a while and pamper him! Try and make up for at least a fraction of the time where she could have been there for him!
How did things turn up this way again!?
"Mother." A tighter squeeze and a sharper word pulled her from her thoughts once again.
"...Huh?" She blinked, dumbly.
Wakahirume sighed, "You were spiraling again."
Oh. That seemed about right for her, huh?
"You can't keep going on like this, you know that, Mother?" Wakahirume added, letting go of her head.
"W-Wha!? I totally can!" Amaterasu tried to reject.
Only for her daughter to give her the most doubtful side eye she's ever seen.
"R-Really!" She tried again, the stutter making her sound very sure.
Wakahirume merely shook her head, letting out a soft huff. "Let's relieve you of some worry, yes?"
Huh? How does she plan on doing that?
Wakahirume held her out to the sword.
Wait.
Before she could move her hand any closer, she had Wakahirume's wrist in her hand.
"Don't." She stated, "Don't do that all of a sudden." She almost ground out through gritted teeth, "Not without warning. I will ground you. For eternity."
"E-Eheh," Wakahirume chuckled, a sheepish look crossing her face, "sorry, Mother."
Damn right you better be sorry! She almost had a heart attack!
"Also." Amaterasu huffed before adding, "Shouldn't we wait until Nori is awake before doing anything more?"
Wakahirume tilted her head at that and asked, "Does he need to do anything more?"
That gave Amaterasu pause for a moment.
"Technically? No." She gave her back, "But at the same time, he should still be awake to see whether his work actually works or not. That's only right."
Wakahirume looked back toward her brother before looking back at Amaterasu, this small smile stretching across her face.
She'd seen that smile before. On Uzume. On Noriaki.
She doesn't like that smile.
"While that may be true, if it does work," Wakahirume leaned closer to her, having to rise onto her tippy toes to get closer to her ear, "wouldn't it be nice to surprise him?"
Wakahirume mumbled and mumbled her idea.
Slowly, ever so slowly, her eyes began to widen.
Then, she smiled back, a real small smile.
Well, now, maybe there's something to that smile after all?
~ A New Sun ~
My entire body felt heavy.
That was my first real conscious thought.
Consciousness returning to me was both a blessing and a curse. On one hand, I felt like someone had strapped several tons of that accursed crimson metal around my limbs and left me to lie there with it pressing against me on all sides.
On the other hand, I was dreaming for once and could actually remember it all perfectly.
And by dreaming, I mean I was having nightmares.
That fucking metal. Everywhere. The whole damn world was made of that metal!
Do you want to open the door? Better cut through the locks, that'll only take you around half an hour.
Want to eat food? The usual plastic sheet on top of a bowl of ramen is replaced by crimson sheet metal. That'll take you fifteen minutes of nonstop pulling to peel off.
Getting the sheets off the bed. Opening a drawer. Flipping a light switch. Everything. Everything. Everything.
Hmm. On second thought? I prefer consciousness. I much prefer consciousness.
Slowly, I sat up, my whole body sagging in rebellion and protest.
I could feel the mattress beneath me, and the sheets lay atop, pooling down to my lap now.
My eyes were next, cracking open into thin lines, refusing to budge much more.
I didn't need perfect vision to tell that I was put in my mother's room.
If it wasn't the lack of any sort of windows that clued me in, then it was the obscene amount of memorabilia lining the walls that sealed it.
[It is a bit much, isn't it?]
Yeah, it really is.
I reach up and scratch my cheek.
My nails grind to a halt against my flesh like a scratched record.
I freeze. My eyes shoot entirely upon. Every ounce of weakness. Every once of resistance, I ignore it, completely and utterly.
"...Who the fuck was that?" I utterly, hoarsely, into the silence around me.
No Uzume. No Ama. Nobody is here. Right?
[Wrong~!]
My head twists to the side, nothing. I ignore the crack. The buzz. Nothing. No one.
Yet it sounded like a…girl? Kind of like Ama, but younger? Cuter? In a way?
But I can't pinpoint where it's coming from!
[In your head, silly~!]
I slowly blink at the wall.
What.
[Your head!]
What.
[Yeah! Your head! Well, technically, according to what Mother said, your soul, not your head.]
What in the fuck.
My eyes slam shut, and I turn my senses inward.
[Uh? Wait, what are you…?]
Shockingly, it didn't take long to find. It's just that I wasn't looking for it until now.
In my mind's eye, I can see it.
The sword. But it's behind my sun, dwarfed by it, even in its immensely drained state. Another reason I couldn't feel it until now.
Yet, it looks a bit different compared to when I last saw it.
The straw rope that was wrapped around the hilt? It's not straw anymore. Instead, it looks more like a rope of threads, almost like silk.
The cloth hasn't changed in appearance, but instead, it's grown, wrapping around the blade like a makeshift sheath.
With a mere thought, and for lack of a better term, I zoom in.
[Uhm? Wait, are you? Oh! Oh gosh, you're coming here!? Waitwaitwait!]
As soon as I 'touched' the sword, the world around me seemed to shift, and I felt elsewhere.
I opened my eyes.
"A-Ah…Um. Hi?"
I immediately deadpanned.
My sight was greeted by a plain reddish pink space, which didn't have anything within it, save a single girl.
A very familiar girl, yet definitely not who she looks like.
Obsidian black stretching down the length of her back, big golden eyes, and now that I'm here? I can sense a whiff of holy spirit power similar to my own.
By all accounts, she looks like Ama.
But she's not. For one, she looks smaller and younger, too.
Two?
Her chest is way bigger than Ama's. Like, it's not even funny how outclassed this girl makes her look.
Finally? Said chest is currently out, and I'm being flashed, because the gold and white yukata she's wearing isn't being the most cooperative right now.
Following that distraction, my memory finally catches up with me.
I've seen this girl before. Vaguely. She was with Ama, wasn't she?
Then, I was so delirious from exhaustion that I started to think there were two of her!
Right. Guess not. In a sense, anyhow, they do look eerily alike. Sister, maybe? Do I have an aunt?
"Sup." I finally answer back, waving to her.
The girl just kneels there, sweet forming across her face as she's frozen still.
"...You can pull up your robe the rest of the way, you know." I slowly add, causing her to perk.
"Oh! Right, um! Mmm~!" With a struggling tug, she manages to cover up, "So, I…didn't exactly expect to be meeting you quite like this." She began with a nervous chuckle.
"Neither did I," I pointed out, "though, judging by the fact I saw the sword on the way here, I can only conclude that you were the Kami my mother got to volunteer for this…and that it works."
She nodded while holding up a finger to add herself, "Our Mother."
My following blink was slowed and slightly out of sync between each eye.
"...Seriously?" I ask, just to make sure.
She nods, more than a few times.
Me dammit. Seriously? I have a sister. And this is how we meet!?
Damn titty world!
It's bad enough I didn't think it was awkward when she was my aunt, but now I'm feeling it!
Shaking my head of all those thoughts, I decide to simply power on through, as usual.
"Well, alright then!" I accept the news as graciously as one can at the moment, before walking my way toward her, "What's your name?"
"Oh! Um, Wakahirume!" She perked up as I sat down, right in front of her.
I gave her name some consideration before nodding.
"Gotcha." I snapped my fingers, pointing at her, "Wa-tan!"
Her eyes widened dramatically as she flinched, as though I swung at her, "W-Wa-tan!? Why!?" She sounded almost like she was about to cry.
I shrug, "Because you're clearly younger than me. So, little sister, Wa-tan."
Wa-tan rapidly shook her head, back and forth, "C-Clearly!? No, no! I'm older than you!" She pouted.
I gave her a lopsided grin, "Think that matters? Looks like a little sister. Is a little sister. Done deal."
The poor girl gaped at my impeccable and perfect logic with no counter whatsoever.
"Anyhow!" I continue, not even giving her a chance to try and rebuke me, "Wa-tan. Which one, Mother, or Uzume, do I need to spank for doing this?"
"S-Spank!?" Wa-chan gasped, scandalized, "Why would you need to spank anyone!?"
"Uh, duh?" I point at her, "For stuffing you in here, in my soul, without telling me? That's pretty spank worthy to me."
"W-Well." Wa-tan steadily looks away, "First, I'm not technically in your soul, just connected to it. Mother used a modified form of the Sacred Beast inheritance ritual to implant me."
Neat. So.
I raise an eyebrow, "So, Ama needs a spanking?"
"Nonono!" She quickly waves her hands at me, "Not her, not her! She isn't the one who had the idea for this!"
I lean forward slightly, "Then…Uzume?" I guessed plainly.
I mean, who else could it really be?
Wa-tan shook her head.
My eyes narrowed.
Wa-tan immediately started to sweat.
I stood up.
"EEEP!" The girl squeaked and immediately began to scramble away.
"Get over hereeeee!" I faux roared as I began stalking after her.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorrryyy!"
Meanwhile, on my real body, my face twitched upwards with a smile.