English is not my first language, so I apologize for any mistakes I might have made. Also, this is my very first fanfiction, so please be kind when rating it. Have fun, I hope you will like it!
(I don't own Kamisama Hajimemashita. If I did, Suirou wouldn't have lost his wings.)

As the sun finally dove underneath the snow-capped mountains, its deep red rays illuminated the falling snowflakes for the last time, making it as though fiery embers danced through the now somber sky. The smell of strong incense lingered around the mountain, its thin smoke threads encircled the naked branches, bathing in the golden rays of the lanterns. A sudden blast of wind blew them off, bringing new chill in its wake, making the two men sitting under the cherry tree pull their coats tighter. It was such a cold winter they had that year, and it lasted for so long that everyone started wondering if they fell under an endless curse.

Jirou drew in a deep breath as he took in the sight of their frozen world - even the Thousand-year Sakura refused to wake up, although they were already far into Spring. Its budless branches shook slightly from the small breeze, the light snowflakes that had been resting on them swiftly diffusing into the deep violet of the sky. Nothing seemed to be alive, just like his heart, freezing over and over every time he thought about— He took another suck from his smoking pipe, the smoke twirling around him. It's been cold, so cold since— since Nanami left. He cursed his brain for pointing out what he'd been refusing to admit since the girl returned to her home with that stupid fox. Not that he missed her or anything, of course, who would miss such a clumsy and disrespectful human, who couldn't even take care of herself and... Okay, he might have missed Nanami a bit. And it wasn't just him, he noted, as he'd recently overheard the tengu kids talking about how bad it was without the girl. Of course, he had scolded them and told them off, but deep down, a small voice he refused to listen to, agreed with the children.

"You seem to be rather off today" said a deep voice from his right. He turned his head to see Suirou puffing out a smoke circle. "It seems as if your mind is in another world... Perhaps in that of a certain girl's?" he added with a sly smile.

"Shut up!" he lashed, but of course that omniscient bastard took his denial as a confession. He wondered if a grin as wide as Suirou's was still considered healthy. Probably not.

"Now now, my friend, there is no need for such an aggressive tone. It is bad for your nerves, you know~! And it is such a beautiful night we have here, you should rather enjoy it!"

"It is hard when someone's making stupid claims about my mind!" How the other remained immune to his deathliest glare, it would never cease to amaze him.

"Aww, Jirou-san, there is no need to take it to the heart! I was just joking~" he said in a fake tone that made Jirou want to punch him. But suddenly, Suirou got deadly serious, not even a hint of smile remained in the corners of his mouth. "Actually, we should really call her."

"Huh— what? Why?" Jirou sat there totally astonished as he tried to understand his friend's line of thought. Not that it ever made any sense.

"Remember that she was the one that purified this place the last time." Suirou leaned closer. "She was the one who brought back our spring" Jirou quickly pushed that annoying voice out of his mind that kept telling him that the last sentence contained a deeper meaning than the matter of the season.

"So what do you want me to do?" he asked angrily.

"I am just saying that maybe she could do something to expel this never-ending winter. It's worth a try" he said nonchalantly as he took a sip of his sake. However Jirou felt that he was walking into a trap, he agreed.

"I will send someone for her tomorrow." he said, but then he thought better of it. "No, actually... I will be the one to bring her back."

Suirou coughed on the smoking pipe, the surprise being clearly written over his face at his partner's decision. But whatever questions he might have had, he swallowed them and turned to his friend with an all-knowing smile on his face.

"As you wish. But for now, we shall enjoy the night."

"Tomoe, hurry up! We're going to be late!" shouted a young black haired girl at her familiar. The latter exited the shrine with a scowl, clearly unamused by the fact that he, a 600-year-old demon had to attend to a human school. And the stupid snake waving at them as they left the shrine didn't make it any better. These times he wondered why he was enduring this humiliation. But then Nanami would turn to him, clearly to say something completely unimportant, with a smile on her face and he would comply. "Hee—y, are you here?" His train of thought was suddenly interrupted as said girl waved her hand in two inches from his face. But of course, a familiar's mind never wanders off, that's simply inadmissible.

"Of course I am. Now come on, you are missing your first class" and with that, he grabbed her wrist (and his heart clearly not thumped harder from the feeling of her warmth against his hand) and began to pull her towards the town.

It was the usual ritual they went through every day. He would wake at the sunrise, clean the shrine, bug Mizuki a bit, make breakfast, bug the incompetent snake some more, then spend the rest of the morning making sure Nanami was in a presentable state. Then they would go to school together, endure the boring classes and that insufferable tengu and return home to attend their chores around the shrine. But today, something was off. There was something unnerving in the air that he couldn't grasp, it wasn't evil but it was still there, making the hair on the back of his neck stand up. He wondered if all those dangerous encounters he faced in the past were making him paranoid, for Nanami seemed to be completely unaware of the strange aura surrounding the town. Tomoe decided not to worry her by telling her his observations as she was already rambling about some test she had to write.

As they neared to the school, the aura seemed to get stronger, and now it had a bit of an oppressive edge to it. Strange, indeed. The next corner, Kurama and that girl - maybe Ami was her name, but then again, he couldn't care less - joined them and soon it became obvious that the tengu didn't have anything to do with the odd phenomenon, because he seemed to be just as confused as he was. But at least, someone else could sense it too, he concluded after a quick exchange of glances (which, of course, didn't contain any worry at all). As if the bloody idiot's opinion would count. In five minutes they arrived. The school itself seemed normal, filled with cheerful students, some of them chatting, some of them trying to finish their homework before the teacher arrived. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. And that was what pissed him off. If only a ghost or a demon appeared, he could finish them quickly and then mind his own business, but this suspense was nerve-racking.

"Ahh, Nanami-chan!" waved a girl at them, he remembered her, she was one of Nanami's irritating classmates that always insisted on setting him up on a date with Kurama. She even had the nerve to— No. I'd rather not remember that.

Meanwhile Nanami was already talking with the girl. "—Really? Did he say what he wanted?" Tomoe's ears perked up at this, while he pretended to observe a... uh... Orange? Sure, it can be interesting, it seemed to be a very thought provoking fruit, with all the—

"I didn't ask— I didn't really... dare to" At this, the girl seemed to be stumbling for the appropriate words. "He was really scary! I didn't know you had such scary friends, Nanami-chan!"

"But I don't have any—" taking advantage of Nanami's confusion, the girl already pulled her out of the classroom, muttering something about 'not wanting to be eaten'.

Tomoe was already up and ready to rush after them, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him. Turning back, his gaze met with burning black ones.

"There is no need to go after them" Kurama said with an all-knowing glance. "I think I already know who he is. And what he wants..." he added in an uncaring tone, but the fox didn't miss the tenseness in his posture.

Outside in the schoolyard, Nanami stood dumbfounded. She wondered if the milk she drank last night was expired as she eyed with the man standing in front of her. With his wings fully spread, managing to draw all the attention to him. Or perhaps, the fact that he was at least 7' tall and wore his traditional robes helped some, too. If she was lucky, perhaps she could pass him as her cosplay-crazy cousin. Not that anyone would buy it, she thought as he eyed with the mighty fourth chief of the tengu realm who was standing right at the gates of her school.

"Well, uh, hello Jirou! How are you? Long time no see, eh? " She mentally face-palmed herself for her stupidity. Gods, she wondered if a stronger land god would hear her prayer and make the earth swallow her. "Umm— I mean, there must be something you came for, haha! You don't seem to be the type to go visit his friends and... Well, uh..." she felt she was blushing with embarrassment, and the other was just standing there, giving her that funny look that was not helping at all!

"I came for you."

"Haha, that's great, I was just— Wait, WHAT!" Nanami wondered if she should run for her life, as he seemed to be angrier than she'd ever seen him before. Or she could call for Tomoe. Where is he, anyways?. Sensing that she wasn't going to get a response, she tried to explain. "I mean, I know that I promised to visit you someday, but you see I kind of have school today and we're having a test next class and I am failing at math and I should look for Tomoe he has probably got into a fight with Kurama and look at the clouds we have a great weather today and—"

At that, she noted two things. One, apparently Jirou didn't appreciate her ramblings, nor the nice weather. Two, he has grabbed her by the waist and now they were high in the air, flying towards gods-know-where (oh wait, she was a god herself, but oh well).

What the hell have I just got myself into!

Poor little Nanami! Actually, I plan to make her suffer some more, during later chapters, but I'm not here to give away spoilers... I hoped you liked this chapter, I know it's a bit short, the next one will be much longer, I promise!