Work Text:
Momo screamed in shock as she forced her psychic hands to grab onto Okarun’s ankle, flinging him across the grounds. He grunted as he was aimed towards a tree, barely managing to break his fall. Again, he rushed her, but she was more prepared this time. His hair was haloed in the sun and their eyes met for a brief moment. She grinned as her brain rewired the fact that this fight was something unearthly into a game with her friend. Too many times had they been in a fight with something not human, but it was nice to change it into a friendly spar.
“Focus, Momo!” Her grandmother shouted from the porch. “You’re not going to be able to play pretend with your little puppy when it’s you two against whatever freak you’ve managed to piss off this time!”
Okarun rushed her again and he managed to put a flour-laden hand on her arm before she forced him back again, “Shut up! It’s not like we keep finding trouble on purpose!”
Turbo Granny grunted from where she lounged next to the other grandmother, “Hey, Brat! If you can manage to grab Shit-heel, I’ll let you sleep in!”
Seiko glowered at the statue, “That’s not your call to make, rotten cabbage.”
“Eh, maybe not, but you don’t have to convince his normal brain, you have to convince his brain when it’s like this ,” Turbo Granny snorted and pointed.
Already, Okarun was putting on more speed and Momo was sweating. She tried to dance back, tried to put more space between them, but they fought together often enough that they knew a general idea of what the other would do.
He tried to trip her.
She pushed herself into the air and tried to push him away.
He bounded around, not unlike a rabbit, making it harder to get a hand on him. He reached for her ankle.
She let him grab her ankle, only to let the high, baggy sock slip his hand off of her. She took the second to pin him down.
With a gasping gag, he stayed down. Okarun panted, trying to get in air and Momo panicked, “Oh my god, Okarun! Are you okay?” She removed the hand and rushed to his side, “I didn’t mean to hit you that hard–” Her words were caught in her throat as he lunged, wrapping his arms around her. He sat cross legged, placing her in the small pocket in the center of it. With his head on her shoulder and arms secured around her waist, she knew she wasn’t going anywhere.
He was apparently exhausted enough that his brain wasn’t connecting to his normal way of thinking long enough to put together that he should be embarrassed about holding her like this, but neither were truly complaining at the moment.
He hummed lazily, “Sorry, Momo, but I really wanna be able to sleep in tomorrow. No hard feelings?”
“ No hard feelings– You traitor! ” She snarled, but her words weren’t terribly barbed. She grumbled, but didn’t fight his hold nearly as hard as she could have. “And it wasn’t entirely up to your granny, you’re staying with my granny’s rules.”
“And my rules are that he still needs to get some endurance in him! Momo, don’t let him transform back for at least another 15 minutes!” Seiko yelled. “If he does , I’m waking you up earlier!”
Momo sighed and leaned more into her friend, “Whatever, you old bag!”
Seiko scoffed, “Watch it, you limp noodle! That shouldn’t be anything too hard, considering how cuddly he is right now!”
Turbo Granny snorted and grinned, “Hey, bratling.” His eyes lazily shifted to her as he began to come out of his battle high. He was no doubt exhausted, but he knew he had to keep his transformation active. His Granny knew that as well and she practically preened, “I bet her bed’s a whole lot comfier. She keeps her windows unlocked.”
“That’s so much effort,” He groaned.
Momo sighed, knowing that his hold on her wasn’t going to let her go anywhere. She ran her fingers through his hair and he sighed contently. A familiar, deep, ragged breath echoed in his chest from lungs stretched far too much and she laughed as her brain plugged in the image of a large ghost cat wrapped around her. “I’ll let you burrow in the blankets.”
“What a pain,” He groaned before he rose slowly. He kept his arms around her, bundling her close and tucking her under his chin. It only took one good leap before they were on the roof outside of her room.
“Okarun, you can’t just- oh, you know what, never mind,” Momo grumbled and he hummed, his chest practically vibrating with the sound. It didn’t take much to get her window open and even less to step through.
They collapsed into the bed and Okarun melted . Momo managed to grab her phone from her pocket and sat against the wall, and her friend snuggled into her side. She smiled and curled an arm around his shoulders. Running her fingers through his hair, she smiled as he breathed deep in that same purring manner. “You’re just like a giant cat, Okarun.”
Her brain caught up the same time that Okarun opened an eye to peer at her and she yelped. “I-Ignore that, you didn’t hear anything!”
“I think I did, babe. You’re so warm…” He mumbled. He shifted again, pressing his head into her stomach. He rumbled and sighed happily. “I’m going to fall asleep.”
“You better not turn back or my Grandma is going to be waking me up at 4 in the morning for the next two weeks,” She grumbled. All the same, she buried her fingers into his wispy hair and relaxed. Okarun’s breathing deepened slightly, but something in the way that his aura didn’t dim told her that he was more meditating than sleeping.
Did it count as meditating if she got lost in playing with his hair, ignoring her phone and the rest of the world? Or was that just taking a moment to breathe in a world that had thrown too much at them at once?
A small ache informed her that his glasses were digging into her side and she hummed, “I’m going to put those on the side table, alright?” He grunted absentmindedly, so she took it as approval. Momo was gentle as she slipped them from his face, but her breath caught as he snuggled his face in that much more.
“Soft…” He breathed, and his claws played with the yarn on the back of her cardigan. It was dirty and dusty, but it was comfortable, and Okarun seemed to agree.
Momo laughed quietly at the image of a normal Ken blushing as he played with the fibers, picking at them like a cat kneading a warm blanket. Hell, he was already doing it, but he was always so nervous… Maybe she should get him something to fidget with during those times when he couldn’t look anyone in the eye. It might prove to him that even when he doesn’t think anyone likes him, she cares enough to be there, even if in spirit…
She sighed as his breathing got deeper and she relaxed more than she had in a while. If he wasn’t keyed up and ready to fight, then everything was alright. Already, she could see slight twinges of black hair peeking through, but it had been a while since he had been able to relax this much.
Did this form pull back some of what made him more human? More of his actual consciousness laid bare? If she could help him now, could she help him more when those walls went back up?
Momo used her spiritual hands to pull their blankets up over them and while she felt him tense for a split second, she soothed her physical hands over his shoulders and back, “Shh, it’s just me. Don’t worry, alright?”
He could have hummed, but she wouldn’t have been able to tell. She laughed again and played with the small wisps of hair at the base of his neck and he shivered. Pausing, she waited for some kind of other response, but he whined, “Why’d you stop?” A singular red eye peered up at her, belying the power and danger that he wielded, short of the fact that he was curled around her like a piece of ivy to a particularly sunny spot of sunlight.
“Sorry, Okarun,” Momo mused before burying her fingers in his hair and he melted again. She only watched him, and wondered if he was just this tired or if it was a symptom of his depressed state? Or did he feel safe?
Considering she had a lap full of sleepy yokai-human, she might have felt more safe than he did.
She tucked a strand of hair behind his ear and smiled, “Thanks for being my friend, Okarun.”
His exhausted hum was the only response she got before his yokai appearance slowly melted away, revealing a sleeping Okarun underneath it all.
A soft smile was painted onto his face and she considered that maybe, he wasn’t just letting down his walls around her, but she had become one of them, knowing him and protecting the boy who had sworn to become a monster to keep her safe.
Perhaps, she was already a monster, but he knew that. He guarded her in the moments she needed him, and she pulled him from trouble when he could no longer handle it himself.
They felt like monsters at times, but together, they were perfect.
Turbo Granny hummed as she watched his aura shift and swim in the room above them, “He finally dropped off.”
“I’m surprised he lasted this long,” Seiko grumbled. “He better not be doing something. Momo is strong, but…” She looked to the ceiling, “I can still worry.”
The yokai scoffed, “I wouldn’t worry about him. It’s more your grandchild I’m worry about.” She took a sip of her tea, “My grandchild is a good boy.”
“Didn’t he bite your tit that one time?” Seiko snickered.
“Just like his old lady,” She said proudly and her fellow grandmother barked a laugh.
Seiko took a drag of her cigarette, “Shit, you shoulda met me in college. Had a hell of a time.”
“She’s just like her old lady,” Turbo Granny teased and Seiko flipped her off.
She hummed, “Wanna bet that they’re both asleep right now?”
“Depends on what I get in return,” She grinned. After a moment, it fell. “I already know the answer. It wouldn’t be fair. She’s still awake, but I don’t think she will be for much longer.” She relaxed, “Despite it all… they’re not awful kids. Maybe they need attitude adjustments, but they’re learning.”
“They’re not making our mistakes, that’s for sure,” The medium agreed.
“From one old bag to another… We’ll make sure they see this through.”
Seiko took a deep breath of cleaner air this time, “Make sure Momo knows about what kinds of things she’ll face out there, and I’ll see what I can do about what your brat knows about barriers and talismen. I don’t want to know what’ll happen if he can’t recognize a four way bounding spell.”
“Or if she runs into a tengu,” Turbo Granny shivered. “Only ever met one of them, but it wasn’t fun.” She sighed and let herself flop forward onto the table. “I guess we have no choice but to work together.”
“Eh, I’ve worked with worse assholes. Fuck you, bitch.”
“Fuck you, skank.”