Chapter VIII.

Winter

The Rainbow God's arrival in the Underworld always caused commotion. After all it's not every day that the Underworld is filled with bright, lively colors.

Iris cautiously made his way, knowing danger lurked everywhere. The fact that the only weapon he has in hand was a puny Ares plushie doll didn't soothe Iris' nerves at all. He glared at the plushie. "Damn Akaya..."

He poked it, and the plushie emitted an evil chuckle. "I'll crush you! Aheeeheehee!!"

"Now...Where to the throne room?" he muttered, looking around. Then, he grinned. "Ah! Cerberus-chan!"

A great big three-headed dog looked up from mauling his plaything, gave a cheerful bark and bounded over the Rainbow God.

"Missed me much?" Marui chuckled, petting the dog's heads. "Got something for you." He took out a gigantic slice of strawberry cake (from his breakfast). "Here you go!"

After fondly watching the dog eat the cake, he took off again. Finally, he reached a crossroad. He landed and studied the signs.

"East is the Elysium West would be Tartarus, wouldn't want to go there; northeast would be Erebus, Realm of Sleep; most definitely wouldn't want to go there." He shuddered. "North is the Judgment hall," Marui paused. "This trip's downright peaceful. It's suspicious... Eh, whatever. Yosh! North it is."

So the Rainbow God went on his merry way, not noticing the smirking god who materialized by the crossroad and casually flipped the signs back into its proper place.

"Puri."

Somnus jerked from his peaceful slumber, eyes alight and a face-splitting grin on his face. "My Marui senses are tingling!"

"By the power Zeus vested on me, I command you to STOP!" Hermes cried out, holding a palm up. "Nya!"

The Earth gods stared at the messenger for three seconds before stepping around him and moving on.

"Hoi? Ah, wait up!" Eiji cried, following the three, and tripping on his own feet. "Ow. Wait! You're not allowed to go on, nya!"

"What do you mean?" Akazawa asked.

"Zeus' orders, nya!" Eiji replied, floating up. He looked around, but only Akazawa was there. "Where's Dionysus and Demeter?"

"Tachibana and Sengoku said they would be going on first," Akazawa answered, looking at the tiny orange-haired figure waving in the distance. "So, what were you saying?"

"Orders are to keep Tachibana from reaching Underworld. Marui has already gone to fetch Shishido," Eiji answered. "And also, the three of you are called in for judgment for neglecting your duties as the Gods of Corn, Wine and Wind respectively. There had been no crops, no vines and even a change of weather for the last year! One part of the Earth is all dried up while the other side is frozen! You three have a lot to answer for!"

In the search for Shishido, the three of them did forget their jobs. And apparently, when the three of them slacked off, it's a disaster of epic proportions.

The God of Wind winced. "Oops."

"--So you need to go back to your dad, Persephone," Marui finished, twitching.

"Oh no! So that's why there's an increase of souls here," said Ootori. "Shishido-san, you'd better go back to Earth."

"No way in Tartarus." Shishido crossed his arms.

"But, Shishido-san, your father must be worried sick for you. You are his only son after all," Ootori said sadly. "He must have been searching high and low for you to completely forget his job."

Shishido grimaced. "Uh, yeah, I can imagine that."

"Won't you go back to assure him, Shishido-san?" Ootori pleaded.

"Che, how lame. Fine. I'll go back. You can't wait to get rid of me anyway," Sishido muttered.

Ootori gasped. "That's not what I meant, Shishido-san! I like having you around!"

"Don't lie to me, Choutarou! It's alright. I'll be on my way, then." Shishido said, turning away.

"This this is so touching," Yamato said, wiping the corner of his eye. "I'm a sucker for dramatic scenes like this."

"It's like watching a tragic play," Minami said, awed, passing a box of tissue to a sniffling Higashikata beside him.

Muromachi simply continued his Judgments. "I don't understand what's all the fuss about. Niou made Shishido eat those pomegranate seeds right? So he's bound to return here even if he did leave now."

"Really?!" Demanded everyone, including Niou.

Muromachi shrugged. "I saw him nicking the seeds in the pantry last coffee break."

Everyone stared at the Trickster, who held up his hands to show his innocence.

"Hey, how am I supposed to know those were pomegranate seeds? I thought they were bird feeds," Niou protested.

Ootori barely held Shishido as the shorter god tried to jump on Niou. "Shishido-san! It's alright! You'll be able to come here every four months and be with your dad for the rest of the year. I think it works just fine like that."

Shishido stopped struggling. "I guess so."

"Are you done?" Marui demanded impatiently. "I don't know about the lot of you, but I have lot of work to do."

"More like food to eat, eh, Sparkly? It's past lunchtime. With all that color and sparkle you emit, you must be starving," Niou sneered.

"Shut up! It's your fault I arrived later than scheduled!" Marui shrieked (in a manly way). It's a well known fact that Iris' temper is incredibly short when he's hungry. "Then you have to go and send me to Erebus, of all places! I have to deal with---ARGGHHH!! DID YOU JUST BITE ME?!"

Jirou looked up to his idol, eyes shining. "Sugee! Are you talking about me, Marui?"

Marui was momentarily blinded by the sparkles. "Yes. Can you please let go of my shoulder?"

"UWAAH!! You're so cool Marui!" Jirou thrilled, glomping him more tightly.

"Why don't you use that?" asked Niou, pointing at the Ares plushie hanging limp at Marui's pocket.

"I did," Marui deadpanned. "It's impressive that a plushie could summon the bloody God of War himself, but it's pretty much useless if said god is scared of dead people."

A strangled noise was heard. Kirihara, tied and gagged in one corner, grunted indignantly, bloodshot eyes darting accusingly at Niou, who was sniggering.

Shishido straightened up. "I'll leave for now, Choutarou."

"Make it soon, before my shoulder gets gnawed from my body," Marui interrupted, trying to pry Jirou who was happily chomping on his shoulder.

"I'll be waiting for you to come back, Shishido-san," Ootori said devotedly.

Shishido nodded, but didn't move.

"Ne, Marui, we should say goodbye like that!" Jirou said excitedly, pointing at Ootori and Shishido who were still looking at each other.

"Uh, no," Marui said. He glared at Shishido. "You coming or what?"

"Goodbye, Choutarou. Be strong," Shishido said gruffly, walking away.

"Shishido-san," Ootori muttered tearfully.

Silence fell after Shishido and Marui (and Jirou too, since he was still chomping on Marui's shoulder) left the hall. If one doesn't count the muffled cries of a certain War God in one corner, which everyone ultimately ignored.

A spirit appeared from the wall next to Kirihara's head and blew on his ear. The War God gave another muffled shriek and fainted.

Sengoku, Akazawa and Eiji stared.

"That's stupid," Akazawa said finally.

"Are you drunk, Tachibana? I don't remember giving you a shot..." Sengoku said, sniffing the other god. "Hey, you smell like oranges!"

"Nya, I don't like this," Eiji whimpered.

The three are currently staring at Tachibana who was digging nearby.

"Wait for me, Ryou Dad's coming to save you," Tachibana muttered as he continued digging.

"Tachibana, that's not the way to the Underworld," Akazawa said for the nth time.

"Actually, it is," Sengoku said thoughtfully. "Underworld is under ground, right? So if we dig, we'll reach it eventually. It's probably the best idea we've come up with so far!"

Akazawa glared at Sengoku. "You're not helping."

"Well, it wasn't my idea to head to the Underworld without knowing how to get there," Sengoku retorted, crossing his arms.

"Well, it wasn't my son who'd been kidnapped," Akazawa snapped.

"Well, it wasn't my fault Phoney-chan got kidnapped," Sengoku answered back.

"Well it wasn't--"Akazawa paused. "Actually, it's your fault since Shishido wouldn't have gotten kidnapped had you and Tachibana been conscious at the time."

Sengoku blinked. "That's true."

"Ha!" Akazawa said triumphantly. "So this is your fault!"

"No, it isn't!"

"Yes, it is."

"NO!"

"YES!"

"STOP IT!" Eiji cried out stepping between the God of Wine and Wind. "Oishi says that fighting will solve nothing! We can always talk things out, nya!"

"Oishi? He just bakes cookies that look ugly," Akazawa said.

"Remember that time when he gave as a basket each and waited until we finished it?" Sengoku said, blanching. "It's like eating moss-covered rock."

Eiji was offended. He and Oishi were, after all the Golden Pair in some other universe. "Hey! Don't talk about Oishi like that!"

While the three are busy arguing, Tachibana was still digging. He ignored the various junk as he plowed through the earth which includes treasure chests, a mole, fist-sized diamonds, dinosaur bones, an army of earthworms, a piece of gold paper which says 'Congratulations! You just won a trip to Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory!' and other random stuff.

Just then, the ground opened up. A burst of colors exploded in the air, blinding him momentarily.

"What the heck? I know you're a freakin' Earth god, but do you really have to stuff your face in it?"

Tachibana gaped. "R-ryou?"

There stood Shishido, arms crossed and scowling (so lovingly, Tachibana thought) at him. Tachibana threw himself at his son, enveloping the Spring God in a tight hug, and wailed. "RYOU!! I WAS SO WORRIED!"

Shishido twitched. "I can see that. Get off me! You're totally ruining your manly image. So not cool!"

Tachibana only continued crying.

Marui, who had left the father and son reunion, tapped Eiji. "Oi, we're done, right? Let's go back. I'm starving."

Eiji looked at him, upset. "They insulted Oishi!"

Marui shrugged. "Not my problem. Well, I'll be going on first. My shoulders are aching like mad..."

Eiji blinked. "Why is Somnus chomping your shoulder?"

"Oh, him?" Marui sighed, prodding the blonde with a finger. "He fell asleep like that. If I pry him off, I'll be prying my shoulder off as well."

Just then, the heavens opened with a bright light, sweet-smelling white fog and a choir of singing birds, catching everyone's attention. That only meant one thing: A god was descending from Olympus. That god emerged from the fog, coughing.

"The fog's too thick! I'll have the fog machine checked this week. Someone might stumble and break his neck in it!" Hestia, God of the Hearth, and the divine Mother-hen, emerged into view.

"OISHI!" Eiji shouted happily, bounding over to glomp him. "I missed you, nya!"

Oishi sweat-dropped. "We just ate breakfast together this morning, Eiji." He noticed the other gods. "Oh, hello there Dionysus, Aeolus! I brought your favorite cookies!"

The two mentioned gods paled.

"It's him," Akazawa muttered to Sengoku nervously.

"Hey, I think the south exit's clear. Lucky!" Sengoku whispered back. "On three. One."

Akazawa nodded. "Two."

The next instant, the two were gone.

Oishi looked sad. "Do they hate me that much?"

"Of course not! No one could hate you, Oishi!" Eiji exclaimed, hugging him.

Marui rolled his eyes. "I'm surrounded by drama queens," he said. But it came out as souning like "Arf chronched wif rafa twech."

"Hoi? Why are you eating Oishi's cookies?" Eiji demanded.

"What? I'm hungry!" Marui said, after swallowing. "And it's food, even if it does look like a moss-covered rock."

"I fail at life," Oishi sobbed.

"What're you doing here anyway?" The Rainbow God asked, shoving another cookie in his mouth.

Oishi stopped moping and gasped. "Oh, right! I'm here to talk to Demeter!"

"GET OFF ME, OYAJI!" Shishido practically roared, shoving his clinging dad away from his face. "Stop being lamer than usual!"

"B-but I missed you!" Tachibana said. "I was so worried when you got kidnapped and--"

"Who got kidnapped?" Shishido interrupted.

Tachibana blinked. "You are."

Shishido scowled. "Why would anyone kidnap me?"

"Well, you're such a cute child, and since you are my son--" Tachibana said fondly.

Shishido flushed. "Shut up! I wasn't kidnapped!"

"Hoi! Didn't Hades kidnap you?" Eiji asked.

"No! Why on Cronus' ass would he do that?" Shishido demanded. "I followed him to the Underworld!"

Everyone stared at him. "Huh?" they said intelligently.

"I met him in the fields, alright? We talked, but I forgot to take back my scissors from him, so I followed him," Shishido explained.

"Scissors?" Tachibana frowned. Then noticing his son's new haircut, he was aghast. "DID YOU CUT YOUR BEAUTIFUL HAIR!?"

Shishido twitched. "You just noticed that...? What's the big deal? It's just hair."

"NO! I CAN NEVER PRETEND TO HAVE A DAUGHTER INSTEAD!" Tachibana wept.

"THAT'S THE REASON WHY YOU TOLD ME TO KEEP IT LONG?" Shishido yelled indignantly. "THAT'S STUPID!"

"But, isn't Hades looking for a queen? There are flyers everywhere in Olympus. Didn't he kidnap you for that?" asked Oishi.

Shishido twitched, remembering his conversation with a certain God of Sleep. "How can I be a freakin' queen when I'm a freakin' guy?!"

There was a sound of choking nearby. Marui was chortling through his stuffed mouth. He swallowed with difficulty and chuckled.

"Could've fooled me. What with all the drama and the PMSing attitude that you have," Marui said.

"I don't want to hear that from you, pinky. At least I don't wear girly-colored clothes," Shishido retorted.

Everyone chuckled warmly as Marui's face matched the color of his hair.

"You try being the Rainbow God and the messenger of the only female god. This job is not fit for a tensai like me," Marui sulked.

"It's alright, Marui! You look sugoi in those colors anyway!" Jirou chirped, beaming at him from his shoulder.

"Really? You mean my genius shines even through this horrible garb?" Marui demanded.

"YEP! You're as cool as ever!" Jirou exclaimed.

"YAY!" Marui said happily. Yeah, his mood swings are unpredictable as always.

"Anyway, I need to speak to you Tachibana," Oishi said.

Tachibana, who by now had managed to collect the fragments of his masculinity, looked more like normal self. He regarded Oishi politely.

"I guess this is about the Earth that I abandoned in search for my son," Tachibana stated.

"Yes. Well, Zeus asks that you sort out the problem immediately," Oishi said.

"I see. But they didn't even help me when I was searching for Shishido. Why would I help them now?" Tachibana said, feeling righteous anger inside him.

"Think of the humans, Tachibana. By the crops that you provide alone can they survive in this harsh world! Can't you feel their suffering?" Oishi said, gesturing dramatically.

"I have suffered much, and so will they! Those who had turned blind eyes in my need, so will I turn blindly away from theirs," Tachibana declared, looking up to the sky passionately.

"Oh no! They're SO getting into it, nya!" Eiji said, alarmed.

"Can I just kill myself?" Shishido deadpanned.

"I hate drama," Marui said, in between bites of cookie.

In the end, Oishi had to drop to his knees and shake his fists to the heavens. "If only the Fates have been less cruel, none of this might have happened!" he cried.

Tachibana, who by now has tears from the corners of his eyes, slowly closed his eyes. He lost. When you drop to your knees and shake your fist to the heavens, you technically win at drama wars. (1)

"I understand. I can't ignore the humans suffering for long," Tachibana said.

"Thank you, Demeter," Oishi said gratefully. He blinked. "Er... Eiji? Could you help me up? I think my joints got stuck..."

A year later.

Shishido glared. "NO."

"Ryou..." Tachibana said patiently.

"I didn't agree to this!" the Spring God protested.

"You did," said Tachibana. He brought out an audio recorder. "You promised to do it without complaints."

Shishido twitched. "I was drunk! I didn't know what I was saying!"

"That was just a shot glass, Ryou," Tachibana reminded.

"So? It's my first time," said Shishido indignantly. "And that blasted Dionysus gave me his strongest!"

"Ah, well. That's tradition," Tachibana nodded. "Every god must drink Dionysus' special brew when they reach the legal age."

"No, it isn't. He just made that up to see us throw up," Shishido said grumpily. Then he smirked. "He did say your first time was more humiliating than mine, though. Did you really run naked through Olympus with a sign board 'KORNZ R FRENDZ, NOT FUD!'?"

Tachibana blinked, before his left eye twitched rather violently. "I rather be not reminded of that time."

"Is that why you haven't visited Olympus for three thousand years now?" Shishido grinned.

"Yes," replied Tachibana, deadpan.

Shishido sniggered. "And everyone saw you? Even you, Choutarou?"

The Lord of the Dead, who had been quietly watching the father-son exchange, stuttered as the Earth god's Glare of Doom was directed to him. "U-um, I think I remember that time."

"You kept photos, right? You gotta show that to me sometime," Shishido chuckled. "Someone's got to send pictures in the Olympian Times' blind item section."

"Ryou..." Tachibana drew himself to his fullest height and commanded ominously. "Drop it."

Shishido simply laughed outright on his face.

"Shishido-san, I think you should get going now," Ootori said, trying to stifle his own laughter, lest the God of Corn gets all pissed off at him. "You did say you're going to hunt Dionysus."

"Right. That guy's going down!" Shishido declared, walking away. "C'mon, Oyaji. Before that creep hides in the Ocean again. I don't get why Poseidon tolerates that guy..."

Tachibana didn't move. Instead, he faced Ootori.

"I still can't forgive you for the fright I suffered when I thought I lost my son. But," he paused, looking at Shishido who was arguing with Charon the Boatman (who had asked for Tachibana's autograph earlier after a lengthy explanation that he was a fan). "Seeing him right now, I think he is at his happiest when he's with you."

Ootori looked sad. "I didn't mean to take him away, Tachibana-san."

Tachibana regarded him carefully, before smiling kindly. "I meant that in a good way. Since he's my son, his happiness comes first." He bowed. "Thank you, Hades-san."

Ootori was flustered. "I-it's nothing, Tachibana-san. I'll take good care of him, I promise."

Tachibana nodded gratefully.

"Oi! Oyaji! Let's go!" Shishido yelled impatiently. "I still have a Wine God to beat up!"

The father and son boarded Charon's boat.

"This is a happy day. Imagine my surprise when Tachibana-san appeared and asked for a ride in my boat. I'm so happy that I'm about to cry. But of course, I can't do that because it will be embarrassing, also with Hades-san here. I'll cry later during my coffee break, which I hope no one would disturb. It's lucky that Eris-san, that Trickster, is off to Olympus. Maybe he shan't disturb me when I fanboy over Tachibana-san's autograph... I could ask Jirou-san for advice for proper fanboying but I think he's sleeping right now--" Shinji mumbled as the boat left the bank.

Shishido tuned out the boatman's mumblings (which held his dad's attention and amusement) and was staring off at the far away bank where a silver-haired deity still stood.

"OI! CHOUTAROU!" he yelled suddenly.

Startled (as bats and other spirits were jolted from the noise), Ootori blinked.

Shishido smiled as they crossed from the Underworld to the Land of Living. "See you next Winter."

Ootori blinked again. Then he smiled warmly. "Yes, Shishido-san."

.

Characters so far (in order of names' appearance:
Prologue - Ryuzaki Sumire (Hera), Nanjiroh Echizen (Zeus), Inui Sadaharu (Prometheus), Akutsu Jin (Poseidon), Dan Taichi (Triton), Ootori Choutarou (Hades), Fuji Syusuke (Aphrodite), Fuji Yuuta (Eros), Oishi Shuichirou (Hestia)

Ch. 1 - Kirihara Akaya (Ares), Oshitari Yuushi (Athena), Atobe Keigo (Apollo), Kaidoh Kaoru (Artemis), Kikumaru Eiji (Hermes), Kawamura Takashi (Hephaestus), Niou Masaharu (Eris)

Ch. 2 - Sakaki Tarou (first human), Hanamura Aoi (Pandora)

Ch. 4 - Tachibana Kippei (Demeter), Shishido Ryou (Persephone), Sengoku Kiyosumi (Dionysus)

Ch. 5 - Yamato Yuudai (Father Time), Ibu Shinji (Charon), Minami Kentarou (Rhadamanthus), Higashikata Masami (Aeacus), Muromachi Touji (Minos), Akutagawa Jirou (Somnus)

Ch. 6 - Akazawa Yoshirou (Aelous)