In an office above the sky, A certain God was humming to himself as he rewatched a recording of a videotape.
"Clever use of the Talismans," The Shinto God of Storms and Seas said as he watched the video, looking at his protege curl the balls of Magical Paper into a ball and throw them, improvising to combat his lack of ranged options.
Susanoo-No-Mikoto replayed the scene, pausing at the moment the ball of paper left the human's hand, watching as the boy's sacred gear seemed to activate instinctively, turning what would otherwise be a painful spread of Anti-Evil Spirit seals into a firework of Anti-Evil Spirit flames.
Susanoo turned back the clip, once again replaying the exact same scene, watching again and again how his student's Sacred Gear turned a ball of paper into an explosive of Light Magic.
"Are you going to sit there silently all day?" Susanoo asked, pausing the video as it showed a Moth of light over the hand of Motohama Ken, for but a brief second, as the ball of Talismans left his hand.
"I am merely wondering..." A second person's voice sounded around the Office, The god of Storms turned his head to look at an androgynous man, with long silver hair and smooth pale skin. If Susanoo hadn't known this man for almost three thousand years, he would have thought this man was a Jade-like Beauty, befitting his effeminate position as the God of the Moon.
"Wondering about what, Tsuki?" Susanoo smirked as the nickname left his lips, his black stubble and rough skin far different from the other man's calm and serene appearance.
"Your decision to give the Human such a dangerous first mission," Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto told his younger brother, ignoring the nickname his sibling gave him, "He has only been involved in the supernatural world for a month, And yet you decided his first mission should happen so soon, and involve a hostile Spirit," Tsukuyomi pointed out, "It would have been better to ease him into the role of a Shin-corp agent with a simpler job,"
"Perhaps," Susanoo agreed with his brother, "But, It was a trial by combat, and he succeeded in flying colors," Susanoo spun in his chair before resting his legs on the table and leaning back, showing his carefree attitude, "He convinced the Yokai to leave the apartment, and he exorcised the Spirit, In my eyes he passed with flying colors,"
"But what would have happened had he failed?" Tsukuyomi asked, linking his fingers together, "It was blind luck that his Sacred Gear activated when it did, Showing another never-before-seen ability, to Exorcise the Yurei," Tsukuyomi leaned forward in his chair, "He could just have easily been killed by the Spirit had his gamble failed, And that is not considering the scandal it would have caused with the Celtic Faction,"
"Because Connla was on the team? Relax, the kid is doing fine, He beat the two Yokai who were causing trouble for him," Susanoo waved his brother's point off.
"Did his victory over them need to include blowing a hole in the side of the building and physically shooting both him and his opponents out of the third floor of a dilapidated building?" Tsukuyomi raised an eyebrow at his brother, waiting to see Susanoo try and worm that answer into being a good thing.
"He showcased his creativity and problem-solving skills without harming his opponents," Susanoo smiled.
"And how about your Apprentice getting stuck in tar, relying on a gamble with his sacred gear and a chance encounter with the Yurei's second half to achieve his victory over what many would consider such a middling Evil Spirit that not even a weaker Exorcist family would take care of it, let alone one of the Five Principal Clans," Tsukuyomi pointed out again, causing Susanoo to shuffle his head to the sides as if thinking of a good rebuttal.
"I never liked the Principal families, you know that, right?" Susanoo said.
"Please don't try to change the subject," Tsukuyomi blandly spoke, ignoring the growing smirk on his brother's face.
"Why are you so bothered by how I'm training Ken? He's doing great, you know," Susanoo watched his brother's face, searching for any hint as to why he cared so much.
"Don't tell me..." Susanoo squinted, his brow furrowing as he started to accusingly glare at his brother, "You're jealous!"
"...Excuse me?" Tsukuyomi was taken aback by Susanoo's accusation.
"You're excused," Susanoo smirked as he took his feet off the table, a flick of his wrist removing all the dirt his sandals left on the expensive wood, "And back to what I'm talking about, You're jealous I have a super awesome apprentice to pass my wisdom onto and you're stuck being a boring old man!" Susanoo laughed as he pointed a finger at Tsukuyomi.
"If you were not my brother, I would have struck you down for such insolence," Tsukuyomi calmly told Susanoo, his serene face momentarily twisting into a frown before he corrected himself.
"As if you can do that," Susanoo leaned back in his chair, glaring over his desk at Tsukuyomi. The two gods locked eyes and the sparks of challenge seemed to grow brighter between the brothers.
"Do you want to find out?" Tsukuyomi asked, his gentle voice carried by a current of challenging acceptance.
"I have a few minutes to spare," Susanoo clapped his hands, the walls of the office peeling away as if an illusion, turning into a serene lake on top of a mountain, with a single plum tree at the edge of the cauldron-like lake.
"Very well," Tsukuyomi stood up from his chair, watching it disappear into the aether as the empty sky above the lake gained texture, turning from a blank white into a starry night sky, A full moon floating high above, reflected in the serene surface of the lake, dotted with gentle clouds of grey.
It was as if the two were sucked into a painting, the two gods standing on water as if it was a solid surface, the beautiful night sky reflected on the mirror-like pool of water.
"You know, Ken's grandmother is teaching him how to dance," Susanoo said, slowly walking around his brother, his Deep-blue Hakama leaning onto his shoulder with only one sleeve, leaving half his chest exposed, "With little fans and everything,"
"Are you now spying on your student when he's spending time with the little family he has? What would the other gods think when they find out?" Tsukuyomi circled Susanoo counter-clockwise, the two brothers not letting their eyes off each other, "Should I call child protective services?"
"I should be asking you that same question," Susanoo said as a Katana appeared in his hand, several square indents in the blade making it seem as if it was part saw, bladed teeth ready to savage whatever it cut into, "Did you not also spy on his training with Hachiman, and his mission at the apartment? Should I be worried you're planning on stealing my student from me, Tsuki?"
"Do not be daft, Brother," Tsukuyomi spoke, a razor-thin blade of reflective silver appearing in his hand, smooth and long, looking less like a standard Katana than a Mirror in the shape of a sword, "And besides, would it not have been smart to tell your protege of the Yokai living in Kumamoto? I'm sure a bit of homework would help the boy,"
"Are you trying to tell me how to teach my own student?" Susanoo stopped circling, his grip on his toothed katana tightening.
"Perhaps I am," Tsukuyomi hid his mouth under the smooth purple sleeve of his Kimono as he laughed at the face his brother was making.
"You should have seen him in Kyoto then," Susanoo pointed his sword at Tsukuyomi, "His light lit up the very sky, You could have been mistaken into thinking it was the middle of the day,"
"Then perhaps I should have been there," The mirror blade lifted to point at Susanoo, the two Gods ready to start fighting.
"Indeed you should have," And without further wait, Susanoo disappeared from where he stood, a flash of lightning hitting the surface of the water a moment later as Susanoo's blade appeared in front of Tsukuyomi's face.
Tsukuyomi smiled gently as the mirror blade blocked the strike less than a centimeter from his face, the serene look on his face contrasting greatly with the hungry look in Susanoo's eyes.
Less than a moment later, Susanoo once again disappeared, instantly appearing behind Tsukuyomi for another strike, thrusting his sword at his brother's unprotected back, only for Tsukuyomi to once again calmly flick his wrist, not even holding the mirror sword, as the blade levitated to his back, blocking the strike once more.
Another flash of lightning and another strike from a different direction, Susanoo kept appearing around Tsukuyomi, slashing and thrusting from different directions, each strike slightly faster than the last, and each strike easily blocked by Tsukuyomi levitating the mirror blade.
After ten whole seconds, each second filled with tens of lightning-fast strikes and blocks, did Susanoo disappear with another flash of lightning, only to appear exactly where he disappeared from, Ready to thrust his sword into his brother once again.
Tsukuyomi quickly saw through the faint, his hand balling into a fist before he moved both hands to his sides, The Mirror blade snapping into two smaller swords, each moving to different sides of his body in order to block Susanoo's strikes.
"Already bringing out your doubles?" Tsukuyomi asked Susanoo, watching the toothed katana weakly push the smaller mirror blade before he turned to look at the second mirror behind him, and at the second Susanoo who slashed his blade down onto the mirror.
"It's no fun if you just keep blocking everything," Susanoo smiled widely, two mouths talking simultaneously from two different bodies, "So I came up with a win condition so we won't be standing here for hours just trading blows,"
"Oh? And what would that win condition be?" Tsukuyomi smiled at his brother, crossing the sleeves of the Purple Kimono he wore, the serene look on his face not disappearing for a moment.
"Make you move from where you're standing," A third Susanoo appeared, flipping the toothed katana in his hands as he circled Tsukuyomi, echoing the words of the two other Susanoo's who had their attacks blocked by the god of the moon.
"Then you might want to use a bit more of your power, Brother," Tsukuyomi said, three more Mirror blades appearing in the air around him, all levitating in his magic.
"Fine, I guess I can use five percent of my power, Just so I can finish this quickly and get back to work," Susanoo stretched his shoulders, hearing popping sounds coming from his spine as he squatted onto the floor, stretching his legs.
"Are you ready to resume?" Tsukuyomi raised an eyebrow at his stretching brother.
"Resume?" Susanoo lifted his head, showing off his deep brown eyes, a spark of blue lightning flashing through them before the third Susanoo disappeared, "We never paused!"
Tsukuyomi closed his eyes and gently smiled, before quickly lifting his arms, a barrier of reflective moonlight appearing above his head, blocking the humongous pillar of white lightning, thicker than his body several times over.
"Very well them," Tsukuyomi opened his eyes, watching the army of Susanoo doubles standing around him, the water on the lake he stood on starting to ripple violently as a whirlpool started to form around him, "I'll also be using five percent," And faster than the human eye could react, a beam of silver energy shot from the moon in the sky and hit the swiftly growing number of mirror blades that levitated around Tsukuyomi, Each blade reflecting the moonlight into many smaller beams, each beam bouncing between the blades and once again refracting into more and more beams, before an entire dome of reflective moonlight surrounded Tsukuyomi.
All it took was a single tap of his finger on the dome of silver moonlight for the magic beams to shatter as if they were made of solid material, and his finger was the hammer of a sculptor, getting rid of unwanted mass.
The moonlight spread across the Lake, piercing the many Doubles of Susanoo, his laughter echoing as his bodies exploded into blue and white lightning, The god of seas did not bother to block the beams of silver moonlight, as he knew that would only make them refract once more, spreading like a spiderweb of magical light, growing more numerous the more they were deflected.
The lightning that exploded from the impacted Susanoo's shot into the sky, forming thousand of blue orbs, sparking with divine lightning, before instantly raining down on the dome of protective moonlight, the rain of lightning being joined by the rest of the Susanoo doubles, each body laughing with joy and excitement at the prospect of a fight, even though they were barely using any of their power.
Tsukuyomi took a relaxed breath, gave his head a nice spin to get rid of any knots in his neck, before snapping a finger, the Dome of moonlight shattering into millions of beams of microscopic light, each beam either piercing a double, or hitting the rain of lightning to halt it in its fall.
With a simple wave of his hand, the Mirror blades that reflected the moonlight levitated in front of him, and with nary a thought, they fused together to create a long spear of reflective light.
Tsukuyomi nodded at the long mirror spear he created, before he spun it around, using his body as the centrifuge of the spinning spear as he cancelled the whirlpool the few remaining Susanoo doubles were trying to create.
"Behind you!" Tsukuyomi didn't bother turning his head as the spear spun once more, faster than most creatures could fathom, before it once again blocked Susanoo. And another Susanoo, and a third Susanoo.
And Tsukuyomi looked at the reflection in the water in front of him, watching an army of Susanoo all pushing against each other, trying to push a single sword forward in an attempt to cause the Moon god to move from where he stood.
Tsukuyomi wanted to giggle, only for his eyes to widen as he felt a fist impact his chest, looking directly down and seeing another Susanoo appear from the water below him, punching him in the gut with enough force to push him backward half a centimeter.
Earning Susanoo the victory.
With a flash of lightning, All the doubles disappeared, the ripples in the lake smoothed out, and the slowly encroaching storm clouds cleared away to once again show the serene moon and the night sky.
Tsukuyomi smiled gently as the spear in his hand disappeared, no longer powering the magic he used to create it, before he smoothed out the area of his Kimono where he got hit.
"Umeshu?" Tsukuyomi turned around to see Susanoo sitting at the edge of the Lake, underneath the tree, lifting a glass of plum wine.
Tsukuyomi calmly walked over to his brother, took a seat beside him on the coastal shore of the lake, and grabbed himself a glass of Umeshu.
The two brothers sat in comfortable silence, drinking their wine and watching the night sky reflected on the lake's surface.
"You said something about the Yokai of Kumamoto earlier," Susanoo broke the silence by turning to look at his brother, "Anything I should be worried about?"
Tsukuyomi lifted his sleeve to hide his smile, "Not if you keep your eyes on your protege," He chuckled gently, "I'll be watching him myself, after all,"
Susanoo lowered his glass before grabbing the bottle of Umeshu to drink directly from the source, "So you think something entertaining will happen?" He asked, opening his mouth wide as he poured the plum wine directly inside, as if he was drinking from a fountain.
Tsukuyomi merely smiled at his brother, enjoying the calm atmosphere that this illusory world created.
Knock knock knock
Tsukuyomi opened his eyes, Finding himself once again sitting inside Susanoo's office, The god of Storms in front of him fell from his chair in a half-drunk tangle of limbs, his bamboo hat stayed floating in the air for but a moment before Susanoo's hand appeared from beneath the table to snatch it from mid-air.
Tsukuyomi turned to look at the door behind him, watching it open up to reveal a Yokai wearing a Shin-corp uniform, the pair of sparrow wings on her back revealing her identity as a Tengu.
"Susanoo-sama! There has been- Oh, am I interrupting something? I'll be back in five minutes then," The Tengu bowed to him before closing the door as she left.
"You should really focus on your work, Brother," Tsukuyomi said as he stood up, looking over the table at the wide-eyes Susanoo who lay on the floor of his office, staring at the ceiling, "Drinking during the job is unhealthy," He told him with a gentle smile before the bottle of Umeshu levitated up to him, The god of the moon coyly smiled at his brother before space itself started to fold on top of him, making it seem as if he was a piece of paper that was being folded into origami.
And as Tsukuyomi disappeared from Susanoo's office, all that remained of him was a single paper crane, and a missing bottle of umeshu.