Disclaimer: I do not own Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja or its characters.

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Waking up with a gasp, Randy looked around at his trashed room in surprise before settling his gaze to the huddled form of his mother, still hidden behind his desk. With the Nomicon in hand, Randy rushed to his mother's side, praying she was left unharmed from all the carnage that was left in their wake.

"Mom! Are you okay?!"

Dark blue eyes blinked cautiously as the blonde woman uncurled herself to look up at the masked face of her teenage son. A hand reached out before it was placed gently against her son's face, with eyes expressing both her worry and awe, Gwendolyn inspected the equally worried teen, looking for any signs of injury. Finding none that would warrant her attention, the worried mother threw arms around her son in a relieved hug, one that Randy returned just as fiercely.

Leaning back from their hug, Gwendolyn was about to question her son before a warm glow from beside them caught her eye.

"Um, sweetheart...?" whispered Gwendolyn hesitantly as she urged her son to look at the Nomicon. Feeling a mix of curiosity and worry stirring in his chest, Randy and his mother looked on as the Nomicon levitated slightly off the floor, the warm pleasant glow still present before the book burst into a flurry of papers.

'Now what?'

Unsheathing his sword, Randy pushed his mother behind him as the storm of the Nomicon's pages surrounded them before they settled and took form in the middle of his room.

As the last page finally settled, both mother and son stared openly at the figure that stood before them. Wrapped completely and securely from head to toe with paper, the now clearly female figure -evidently from the soft curves and modest chest, even if said female was wrapped up like a mummy- stood quietly in front of them with only her eyes as her clear definite feature.

Her jade green eyes.

'Could it be...?' thought Randy as his muscles relaxed however the steady grip of his sword hadn't faltered, just in case. As if sensing the pair's anxiety over her presence, the figure spread out her empty hands in front of her in a non-threatening gesture.

"At ease, Randy Cunningham. I mean no harm to you or your mother," said the figure that Randy was now sure is the physical form of the Nomicon because even if he just recently heard it himself, there was no mistaking that soft and confidant voice of hers.

"Nomicon...?"

Nodding her head in reply, Randy felt his shoulders finally sagged in relief as he put away his sword before dropping unceremoniously on the floor. Pulling off his mask, Randy turned his attention back to his still quiet mother, who was eyeing the Nomicon with wary curiosity.

Lips pulling back into a reassuring smile, Randy placed his hand on top of his mother's in hopes to calm down the already frazzled woman.

"Don't worry, Mom. She's..." he began before glancing at the silent figure, who only gave a small hesitant nod of her head at his unsaid question.

"She's a friend," Randy finished confidently.

Staring at the strange figure for just a moment longer, the blonde finally let out a sigh of exasperation before throwing a stern look at her sheepish son, "You better have a good explanation for all of this," turning to the green eyed figure, the blonde continued just as sternly "Both of you."

Letting out a nervous laugh, both Randy and the Nomicon nodded their heads at the blonde woman's words. After all, with all of things that just transpired in the room they owe her at least that much. Satisfied, Gwendolyn got to her feet, waving off her son's attempt of helping, before she made her way to the door.

"Mom...?"

Gripping the doorknob, Gwendolyn gestured to her son at the ruined state of his bedroom. Furniture upturned, papers strewn about, her son's room was a literal battle ground, not the best place to sit down and talk, "I think its better if we talk in the living room, sweetheart," before the blonde let herself out of the bedroom.

Exchanging a glance with the Nomicon, Randy dusted himself off before both teacher and student went down to join the blonde, preparing themselves for the long talk that was waiting for them.

When they arrived at the entrance of the living room, they found Gwendolyn already seated with a jug of water and a few glasses set on the room's table, an impatient look on her face.

Quickly, so as to not irate the woman any further, both Randy and Nomicon sat down side by side on the other only remaining couch- which was placed directly in front of his mother- with his head bowed, Randy nervously twiddled his thumbs as his mind ran a mile a minute.

"Well?"

Snapping his head up to look at his mother who had a stern yet gentle look on her face, Randy let out a shaky breathe as he began his story. At first, he thought about omitting some things but with all that's happened, he decided against lying or hiding any facts from his mother especially with the way she was giving him that look, a look that promise trouble if he even thinks of avoiding the truth.

At times he hesitated and faltered, unsure on how to continue. That was when the Nomicon took over, adding or explaining things when he hadn't been able to. Her voice, while understandably tired, was sure and confident, a quiet comfort patiently helping him explain to his mother about the things that her son had recently been apart of. And throughout his storytelling, never once his mother interrupted them, the impatient look on her face had long faded only to be replaced with thoughtful silence.

When Randy finally reached the end of it, he chanced a look at his mother to see her reaction, praying that she wasn't too mad at him. Seeing the hesitant and somewhat fearful expression on her son's face, Gwendolyn allowed herself a small yet genuine smile to reassure the worried teen.

"I'll admit this is a lot to take in, sweetheart, you being the Ninja?" here she shook her head in amazement before continuing, "That's going to take time on getting use to. But, I can say as a mother I'm both worried and proud of you, Randy, I really am," reassured the tired blonde.

Leaning back with a sigh of relief, the teen Ninja looked gratefully at his mother, "Thanks, Mom. That really means a lot," grinned Randy.

"But don't think your going to get a free pass from your chores, mister. Or me generally being overprotective," teased the blonde, a mirthful glint in her eyes.

"Wouldn't have it any other way, Mom," laughed Randy as he poured himself a glass of water, throat parched from the lengthy explanation he gave.

Smiling to herself, the blonde then looked to the quiet Nomicon. Biting her lower lip, Gwendolyn decided to take a chance at sating her curiosity about the impossibility that sat beside her son.

"Um, Nomicon, was it?" at the Nomicon's answering nod she continued, "May I ask who or what are you actually?" the single mother asked bluntly.

Chocking slightly from his drink at her straight-forwardness, Randy threw his mother an incredulous look, angst.

"Mom!"

Shrugging at her son's reproachful look, "What? Don't tell me you're not the least bit curious?"

"That's not, I mean yeah, but Mom-" sputtered the embarrassed teen before the subject of their discussion gently placed her hand on his wrist, stopping him from his stuttering.

"It is fine, I honestly do not mind her inquiry," the Nomicon said quietly.

Folding her hands on her lap, the Nomicon dipped her head in apology to the curious mother, "I apologize for not introducing myself sooner, Madame. I am known as the Ninja Nomicon or as your son prefers to address me, Nomicon. I am what the Japanese would called as a Tsukumogami, a supernatural being that came to be when an inanimate object develops a soul of their own on their hundredth birthday. I, as you can obviously tell, am a book Tsukumogami that had served the Norisu clan for generations and later on, as a teacher to the Ninja since my imprisonment in my dormant form," explained the Nomicon.

That, gained the attention of both mother and son as they both adopted looks of excitement on their faces at the prospect of a real –benevolent- supernatural being.

"Seriously? I've heard only a little about them, but are you seriously telling me that your one of the mythical ayakashi of Japan?!" asked Randy, who then let out a loud whoop when he received a nod in reply.

"That's so honkin' bruce!"

"Wow, a T-tsuku, Tsukumogami huh? Did I pronounced that right?" shaking her head, the blonde continued, "Anyway, I've never met a supernatural being before, much less a Japanese one! I have to admit, no matter how weird this is, it's still pretty cool!" exclaimed the excited woman.

Before, the mother wouldn't think on believing all of this but after what she'd seen in her son's now trashed bedroom, it was kind of hard to deny it. Especially when solid proof was sitting right in front of her. Not to mention that this is Norrisville they were talking about, stranger things had happened before.

Besides, she liked to fancy herself to be open-minded after all.

Smiling, the woman sat up from her seat to offered out her hand at the curious Nomicon. Chuckling, Gwendolyn stepped forward to grab the Nomicon out of her seat before taking hold of one of the Tsukumogami's hand in a firm handshake, "Its nice to meet you, Nomicon. I'm Gwendolyn Cunningham but you can just call me Gwen. And none of that Madame stuff, you hear? I'm not that old," grinned the blonde haired woman.

Jade eyes blinked curiously at the warm welcome before letting a quiet chuckle of her own, 'It seems the son inherited more than just the eyes,' before returning the gesture in kind.

"It is a pleasure to meet you as well M-no, Gwen-san" the Nomicon amended when the blonde woman glared sternly at the Tsukumogami. However when her hand was released from the other woman's grip, the Nomicon shifted awkwardly before bending to the waist into a deep bow to the blonde, surprising the son and flustering the mother.

"And...I would also like to sincerely apologize for causing such trouble for both you and your son today. It was not my intention to do so," said the remorseful form of the Nomicon.

"W-wait, what are you apologizing for? As far as I understand, you were a victim too! You shouldn't apologize for something that was beyond your control, you know," said the flustered mother as she waved her hands in front of her to placate the Tsukumogami.

The Nomicon raised her head in surprise at that, "But-"

"She's right, Nomicon," interrupted Randy.

The teen stood up from the sofa before placing his hands on his teacher's shoulder to straightened her up from her bow. Dark sapphire blue eyes stared earnestly at jade green ones as Randy spoke firmly to the perplexed Tsukumogami.

"What happened back there wasn't your fault. If anything it was the Sorcerer's," biting his lower lip, the teen pulled away his hands only to let one of them rub guiltily at his neck, "And mine," muttered the young ninja.

Before Nomicon could question on what he meant by that, Randy's mother voiced out her agreement, oblivious to her son's guilt.

"That's right, what happened was not your fault, end of discussion alright? Good!" turning away from the two to hide her yawn, the tired mother picked up the tray of water to put away before turning back to look at the pair, "Now I don't know about the two of you but I think that's enough excitement for today. Randy, you can use the guestroom for tonight, and Nomicon-"

"It is alright, M-Gwen-san. I will turn back to my dormant form as I still require time to recover from this ordeal," reassured the Nomicon, looking worriedly at Randy who was avoiding her gaze.

"Alright, just as long you're settled in. Now, I'm just going to put these away, so by the time I'm done, I better find the two of you to be sound asleep by then, understand?" warned Gwen. Receiving nods from both teacher and student, the blonde woman left, leaving the pair to themselves.

Letting out a nervous laugh, the teen gestured at the stairs, eyes still diverted from the Nomicon's, "Well, we better get going. It is pretty late after all," said Randy as made his way up only to stop mid-step when the Nomicon's hand grabbed his wrist in a firm grip.

"What is wrong?" came the simple question, voice quite and concerned.

Head bowed from where he stood, Randy closed his eyes before he turned to give the Nomicon a -hopefully- lighthearted grin, "Its nothing, I'm just tired that's all."

While unconvinced, the jade-eyed Nomicon accepted her student's answer seeing as the teen to be unwilling to elaborate in his current state.

"Very well. Then if it is not too much trouble for you, I would like to excuse myself to take that much needed rest," said the Nomicon as Randy nodded his head in understanding.

"Sure, no problem. And, uh, Nomicon?"

"Yes?"

"I'm really glad you're here," and he meant it, in more ways than one.

Jade eyes softened at that as the Nomicon gently rubbed his wrist with her thumb, "Thank you. I too, am glad to be here," was the whispered reply.

Smiling more genuinely, Randy placed his other hand over the centuries old Tsukumogami, "Goodnight, Nomicon," whispered Randy.

"Goodnight, Randy-san," answered the Nomicon before dissolving into countless pieces of papers before reforming back into her dormant book form. Securing the ancient book in his grasp, the purple haired teen quickly made his way upstairs to the guest bedroom, making good of his promise to his mother to be asleep as quickly as possible. But as he go through his nightly bedtime routine, Randy made sure that the Nomicon was near him at all times, never once letting the book out of his sight for too long, to the point that when he finally did got under the covers, Randy made sure to place the now resting book right beside him, paranoid from the day's events.

Hugging it closely to his chest, Randy maneuvered his body until it was curled protectively around the book, as if he was shielding it. Breathing out a sigh, the exhausted teen finally closed his eyes as he drifted off into slumber. Never once did Randy's tight hold over the book falter, even in his sleep, he held it tightly, securely, protectively, never letting it out of his sight, never letting it go.

Never again.