The New World: Rebirth (TF, TG) (Part Four)

Rin stared at me. "…A goddess. A god-ESS." He repeated. I shifted, nervously, my ears flattening in embarrassment. "…Yes."

"Well. I'm convinced." Rin said, smirking. I blinked.

"Wait, WHAT?!"

"What the hell else would explain those ears, and that face? You look gorgeous, by the way."

I blushed furiously. "Stop hitting on me!"

"Eeeeesh, Alright, alright, don't get your panties in a bunch."

It was before class, and Rin and I were hanging out in the fields behind the school, sitting on a tree branch, overlooking the fields. I dangled my feet beneath me, looking down at the grass below. We were speaking quietly, so nobody else would hear. I got occasional glances in my direction though—people noticing the ears.

"Are you even gonna grow tits?" Rin smiiiirked.

"Yes." I replied, in an irritated manner.

"Okay, okay, I'll stop! It's just not every day one of your friends gets turned into a foxchick… …Oooh. That's—that's gold! From now on, your codename will be... Vixen!"

"Nnnnnngh." I involuntarily shuddered. Rin frowned, obviously noticing my discomfort.

"Hey. It could be worse. I'm taking this well, all things considered." Rin folded his arms, his face in a comical pouting pose. I gave a resigned sigh.

"I guess you're right. You could be freaking the hell out right about now."

"Believe me. I am. But not about you turning into a girl. …If what you're saying is true, and you're turning into a kitsune? We've won."

"…" I narrowed my eyebrows. "Won what?"

"The war, kid! Ares house, supercharged with a Kitsune! Imagine it!"

"That's not the war we need to be fighting, Rin." I sighed.

"What do you mean?"

"We don't need to fight the school. We need to unite it."

"…" Rin rubbed his forehead. "Not. Going. To happen."

"Well, if I don't, Myria's going to win. Then Illaena and I would die. We've got no choice."

Rin was silent for several moments, overlooking the school, with a concerned look on his face.

"The answer's simple. We gain followers by winning. Everything. In order for this to work, we have to dominate the school—make people want to join with us, or they'd be eliminated."

"Rin. Do you seriously think we're capable of taking out the other houses? The Myrian's, the Kolor's, and the Alanian's?  …You do know this means all-out war?"

"Kid, it's always been war. …This time, we just gotta win. …No, just winning's not gonna be enough. We've got to DOMINATE."

"How the hell do you expect us to do that?"

"I have several tricks up my sleeves. And favours owed to me from others. We can pull through. We just gotta be careful. Not let anyone know we're bringing out our A-Game so early." Rin slid off the tree, and landed on the ground. I followed , and stretched.

I sighed, looking around, sniffing the air. The scent of fresh grass pleased me. I looked to Rin, who seemed to be… Examining me. He seemed to be looking at my ears.

"…What?!" I said, a little annoyed.

Rin walked up to me, and placed a hand on my head. I yelped quietly. …He then brought his hand around, and began scritching at the base of my ears.

"Nnngh… Nyhh—aaahn…" I groaned, my ears twitching in surprise, my entire body trembling at the sensation, a huge blush sweeping across my face, turning it bright red.

Seeing that reaction, Rin immediately swept his arms behind his back, frowning. "…Looks like your ears are yet another weak point." He said, quietly.

I grimaced. He was right. I was reminded of seeing a catgirl on TV being scratched behind her ears, and she couldn't resist. That was how I felt then—I felt like I just wanted to curl up, and let him scritch my ears.

"…" He continued to examine me, which made me feel EXTREMLEY uncomfortable. '…Oh! Forgot to tell you.' Illaena's voice chimed into my head. 'The, uh… The transformation process. It'll take a while for your ears and tails to toughen up.'

I grimaced even more. Rin looked away at that. "Yeeeesh, sorry, I didn't know they were sensitive in that way!"

"WHAT?! N-No, hell no, they're not!" I groaned, feeling like pulling my hair out in frustration. "It's just like--! It's…. It's like… Shit, it feels good, but NOT LIKE THAT."

It took all my energy not to shout. "Shit, you have no idea how embarrassing it is to say that!"

"…Jeeeeeez, sorry, sorry!" Rin stepped back a little, holding his hands up.

"You damn well should be!" I grumbled lightly, folding my arms. My ears flattened, as I narrowed my eyes, pursing my lips.

"…What's next, puppy dog eyes?" Rin snarked. All it took was one look from me to get him to stop commenting further.

"…So. What's your secret?" I asked.

"What secret?" Rin folded his arms.

"You said you had a few tricks up your sleeves."

"Right, right. That'll have to wait till after school, if you're okay with that."

I nodded. "…Right. Also, aren't traps supposed to be up today? Shouldn't we be setting those?"

"Yes… Follow me." Rin looked to the forest at the edge of the field. I narrowed my eyebrows, but decided to trust him, for now. "Isn't the forest out of bounds?" I queried.

"Are you kidding me? The forest's aren't out of bounds! Well, half of them aren't, at least. The school has a sorta policy where if you go too far into the forest outside the respawn area, it's your own fault. People try and stay away from there." Rin replied, as we entered said forest.

"…Then why the hell are we going in here?" I frowned. Rin smiled. "It's best to show you, than tell you." He said, quietly. I didn't have a response to that, and just let him lead. As we got deeper into the forest, the air felt more humid—and I couldn't help but think I was being watched. With these ears, everything sounded crisper—clearer. I paused for a moment, hearing some nearby branches rustle. But I didn't see any movement.

"What's wrong…?" Rin asked, quietly. I held up my hand in a 'quiet' gesture, and began walking slowly to where I thought I heard the sound…

…I didn't find anything. I didn't find anything on the ground that'd make a sound similar to the one I thought I heard. I turned to Rin, shaking my head. "Thought I heard something… But I as wrong." I said, quietly. He nodded, and smiled. "It'll be okay. Let's just keep going. …Best to keep  an eye out." He continued to walk.

Soon, we came across a large, thick tree—that looked really old. There were a lot of bushes and thorns around it.

"What now?" I inquired. Rin just grinned.

"O Ares, giver of victory…. Let me in, dammit!" He said. The bushes seemed to part at that word, and Rin's hands glowed red—similar to what happened to me when I first entered the Ares house-room. I assumed it was a similar kind of identifier—to make sure one was of Ares before they entered.

A square patch of ground glowed red at the same time—before, revealing a trapdoor in the grass. Rin grinned, and knelt down, brushing some dust and rocks from its metallic top, before pulling it open, revealing a set of steps leading downwards.

I tilted my head, and he motioned to the entrance. "Ladies first." He smirked. I glared—but this time, it didn't seemed to phase Rin. I guess he got over my reactions. Grumbling, and shaking my head, I walked up to the steps, and slowly began the descent. The steps themselves were made of marble stone, and reflected the glowing bright red light from the torches on the wall. My footsteps echoed as I descended, soon joined by another set as Rin began his descent.

The natural light from the trapdoor soon faded as we were a good distance away from it, it's doors closing automatically with a loud clang that made my ears ring.

Noticing my discomfort, Rin frowned. "Those ears must be a real damn hassle, huh?" He said. I nodded, rubbing my temples, wincing lightly. "Let's… Just keep moving."

We emerged into a stone chamber, and if I had cartoon physics, my jaw would have dropped to the floor. Rin put a hand on my shoulder, grinning. "This, my friend… Is our supply room."

I stammered. "W-What? I thought it was in our homeroom!"

"It is! Ares has blessed our house with several unique access points all over the school. It's our best-kept secret. We can use it to our advantage, and hopefully, outdo the rest of the classes, trap-wise. But they do have their own tricks up their sleeves. One time, the Myrian's were caught teleporting…"

I shivered at the thought—if our enemies could teleport, what chance did we have? Granted, even though they can teleport, we can still catch them with our traps… But it seemed like we were at a bit of a disadvantage, regardless.

I walked around. There were plenty of things to behold… Weapons, tools, workbenches, furnaces. Everything from swords to maces, crossbows to explosives. I did a double-take at the explosives, my eyes narrowing. "…Hey, what the hell are these?! I thought gods disallowed usage of explosives…"

Rin smirked. "You think it'd be easy to blow up a magically fortified building such as this? …I'm kidding, by the way. This is one of our secrets, a last resort kinda thing. Ares granted it to us upon learning of the Myrian's teleportation. He figured we deserved something with a bit more… oomph, to compete."

I nodded lightly. "I think it's safe to assume every house upped their game upon learning of that little detail, considering the sabotage the Myrian's could have used it for already at that point. We would have been at a massive disadvantage if they didn't. …Still, shouldn't there be MORE stuff, given the gravity of teleportation powers? This doesn't look like it'd create a very big explosion."

Rin just grinned. "You've got a lotta things to learn, Vixen. First—looks can be deceiving. Second—it's not the only thing he gave us." Rin winked.

"What else, then?"

"…That, would be telling~"

"What, you can't tell me?"

Rin just shook his head, and shrugged. "Best-kept secret. Also a last resort."

"I thought that's what the explosives were."

"Well. They're the second-best kept secret." Rin replied. I grunted.

"How the hell can we plan effectively if you won't clue us in?"

"Alright, fine, I'll tell you." Rin didn't look too happy. "…He granted me the ability to use the ability to go into foreign houses. From there, I can sabotage stuff. Ares said that it's not cheating—it's winning. However, I can only do it after hours. And I can't take anyone with me. If I'm found out, it's over—I'd be punished by the other gods. That's why I didn't wanna tell you. The costs of misusing it would be too great."

I stared at Rin, my left eye twitching. "…W-W-What? You can… …That's… Impossible!"

"You're turning into a Kitsune goddess. –that's- impossible."

"…Alright, fine, you have a point."

I heard the school bells ring, my ears twitching at the loudness of it all. "Alright—Let's get to class! We don't want to be late." Rin rushed to the front door of the storage room, and entered the class. It took me a minute to gather my thoughts and follow.

I took my seat—and as I did so, the memories of the other day came crashing down on me. I sank downwards, beginning to dread seeing Ares again. The class soon filled up with students, all waiting anxiously for him to appear once more. I, for one, wished he didn't…
Ares's image flicked upon the blackboard—staring us down as usual. He peered over all the faces—and paused at mine. He stared at me. I trembled a little, my ears flattening, as I shrank down in the seat a little, frightened.

"…" Ares just… Looked at me. As if he was trying to figure me out. As if he were staring into my very soul.

"…There are no new announcements today. Goodbye. …And good luck. War looms in the distance. It's best those involved… prepare." Somehow, I felt that was directed at me. The image flickered and vanished.

Illaena's voice sounded inside my head. '…That was at –both- of us. …He knows. About me. About you.'

I whimpered quietly. This time, everyone WAS looking at me.

"…Well. Things certainly just got interesting." Rin said, casually. All I could do was whimper again in response. I felt pathetic.

'You can achieve much if you better your mentality, young one.' Illaena said.

'Better it how?!' I replied. She was silent. I just groaned, rubbing my forehead in frustration. People in the class murmured amongst themselves quietly… I felt like whatever the case may be, my troubles in this life were only just beginning.