[Vancouver Shrine] BINGO: Angelic (?) Being

[pineapplechild]

Ana stared at the spirit, wide eyed.

“You don’t want me.” She said, dumbly. “This is just a part-time job while I’m in school.”

The tiger tossed his head.

“So? You chant the chants, you dance, you set out the prayers. And you’re.” The tiger hesitated, as if looking for the word. “Compatible.”

Ana put her head in her hands.

“This is not what my mother had in mind when she told me about this job. ‘Be a miko, Ana-chan. Learn your heritage.’ She said, muffled into her hands. ‘Meet a nice Japanese boy, Ana-chan, give me Japanese grandchildren,’ She said. Not end up bound to an idiotic sword that thinks it’s a tiger.”

The spirit looked at her curiously. “Are you not—” he started.

Ana held up a hand to stop him. “My mother is firmly in denial about any non-traditional leanings I may have. I do not tell her, and she doesn’t arrange for a matchmaker. This is our arrangement.”

“Hmph.” The tiger sounded skeptical.

“Look, it works. Don’t give me crap.” She snapped, then dropped her head back into her hands. “And now I’m arguing with a giant blue tiger. I knew Tully was right, I have knocked a screw loose with all the martial arts.”

The tiger nosed at her hands, nose damp and chill. She batted at him ineffectually. “Go away.” She told him. “Go find someone who really believes in you. There’s tons of Old Believers in Vancover, I’m sure one of them would be happy to play superhero with you.”

“Ana Saito.” The tiger said, suddenly very serious, sitting back on his haunches. “None of them picked me up and used me to save a young woman.”

“Well, it wasn’t like I’d just let that happen in our alley.” Ana said, confused. “And it’s not like I knew you were a spirit-weapon. Takata, he’d be a much better bearer, or Kiki. They’d love to have a mission from the kami.”

“Which is a great deal of why I’m talking to you and not them. Now then, stop arguing with me, you need to study, not try and get out of this.”

Ana groaned. “Don’t remind me. Fuck, Aziz writes the longest tests.”

Ana could’ve sworn the tiger was grinning at her. “Go, study. We’ll practice tomorrow.”

Ana glared at him, but got her backpack out of the shrine’s lockers. “No we won’t because I won’t play superhero with you.”

The tiger followed her back to her apartment.