One Last Chance (A Kamisama Kiss Fanfic)

Chapter 12

When she heard the door to the dining room open, Nanami looked up and blinked in surprise, not believing her eyes when she saw who was carrying the tray containing her breakfast.

"S-Sakura?! Oh my gosh, I didn't recognize you for a second! You look so pretty!" she babbled excitedly.

Sakura blushed and looked away, somewhat embarrassed. "Thank you, Nanami-"

Suddenly, Tomoe seemed to appear almost out of thin air. Taking his fan, he struck Sakura's back, causing her to yelp.

"Your posture is awful. Stand up straight and square your shoulders; keep your chin up. Not making eye contact when someone is talking to you, particularly a god or goddess, is extremely disrespectful as well! Also, you must address Nanami as Lady Nanami or Nanami-sama since she is your superior!" Tomoe lectured, waving his closed fan about like a baton as he spoke.

"But you don't call her that." Sakura protested.

Tomoe scowled down at the redhead before whacking her on the head with his fan. "Don't argue with me. Now hurry up and give Nanami her food; she's probably starving after being forced to wait so long."

Sakura clenched her jaw angrily and glared up at Tomoe, who continued to scowl down at her in reply. Immediately the air in the room thickened to the point that it could be cut with a knife, causing a bead of sweat to drip down the side of Nanami's face as she squirmed uncomfortably in the tense atmosphere. Turning with a huff, Sakura raised herself to her full height as she had asked and attempted to walk forward. However, she squeaked in surprise when something wrapped around her ankles, causing her to fall forward and spill Nanami's breakfast onto the floor. Growling, she whipped around to see a familiar white snake rest on her leg, his little mouth curving into a smile.

"Oops, sorry!" he said cheekily, though he truly didn't seem the least bit sorry about it.

With an angry snarl, Sakura lunged to grab Mizuki but he quickly slithered out of the way only to be picked up by the end of his tail by Tomoe.

"And where do you think you're going?" Tomoe snarled, eyes narrowed.

A nervous gulp echoed from Mizuki's lips as he swallowed a large lump in his throat. Scowling, Tomoe tossed him back onto the ground.

"You and Sakura will clean this up immediately."

"What?! Why do I have to do it?! He's the one who tripped me!" Sakura exclaimed angrily.

Tomoe huffed in annoyance and rolled his eyes. "How childish. As a familiar, you will be tasked with cleaning many messes you do not make. Now get to work while I go remake Nanami's breakfast."

Sakura glared daggers at the back of Tomoe's head as he started to leave and muttered a few not-so-nice comments about him under her breath, but when he turned around, she hastily began to pick up the dropped dishes and place them back on the tray. Scowling suspiciously, Tomoe began to walk away, his eye fixed on Sakura till he left. Once he was gone, the redhead sighed in relief and wiped away the beads of sweat that had protruded on her forehead.

"You must really have a death wish to say things like that while Tomoe's in earshot." Mizuki's snickered as he slithered up onto the table.

"Shut up, Mizuki. Besides, aren't you supposed to be helping?!" Sakura snapped.

"I am helping; I'm overseeing." Mizuki smiled.

A low growl escaped Sakura's throat. "You little bastard. I outta-"

"Ah ah ah, please refrain from threatening me in front of Nanami-chan. I want to keep her as innocent as possible." Mizuki's said in a sing-songy voice.