First Meeting (Shinmonokami)

Here’s a brief summary of the setting and characters in this story:

Shinso is a neko vampire mix. He lives with his adoptive parents Aizawa, who’s a neko, and Yamada, who’s a siren, and his younger adoptive sister Eri, who is a sprite (sprite as in a fairy, not the soft drink).

Monoma was born a vampire and lives by himself. He doesn’t interact with others often.

Kaminari is a raiju who lives with and studies under Yae Miko, the Thunder Kitsune.

Shinso, Monoma, and Kaminari are all sixteen at the beginning of this story.

(3rd Person P.O.V)

Shinso held Eri’s small hand in his as he led her through the forest. Even as he held her hand, he looked over at her every now and then to make sure she was still walking beside him. Eri didn’t have a habit of wandering off, but he wouldn’t risk losing track of the young girl. He had never been an older brother before and he was determined not to mess it up.

Earlier that day, Yamada had come up with the idea for him to teach Eri how to make pie. But since they were out of blueberries and blueberry pie was his specialty, he sent Shinso and Eri out to pick some. Shinso was initially hesitant because despite how well he knew the forest, being solely responsible for Eri’s safety was a lot of pressure for him to be under.

“Hitoshi?”

Shinso looked down at Eri when he heard her say his name, “Yeah?”

“How much further?” She asked.

Shinso pointed at the trail ahead of them with his free hand, “The blueberry bushes are just up this trail, so we’re almost there. Are you getting tired?”

Eri shook her head, “No, I can walk.”

Shinso nodded and a silence fell over the two siblings. Honestly Shinso didn’t mind the silence. He listened to the sounds of the nature around him as they walked. The birds chirping, the light spring breeze blowing through the leaves...

“I saw it first! That means it’s mine!”

The... Arguing?

“That’s not what it means! Besides, I saw it way before you did!”

The peace of the forest was cut short by the sound of two people shouting at each other. Shinso stopped walking and listened, trying to figure out where the sound was coming from. He looked down at Eri and saw that she was also looking around for the people they could hear arguing.

Shinso eventually pinpointed the direction of the sound as coming from ahead of them slightly to the right. He knew it would be best to just ignore the two people arguing and continue on his way, but curiosity got the best of him and he walked closer to see who exactly was arguing.

Two people he didn’t recognize were standing just off the path leading to the blueberry bushes. They appeared to be two males around the same age as he was. One of them, the one with a black lightning bolt in his hair, was holding some kind of flower tightly in his hand, as if he was protecting it.

Is that flower what they’re arguing about? Shinso wondered, No. With how much they were shouting a second ago, they have to be fighting over something more important than-

“You didn’t even want this flower until after I picked it!” The slightly shorter teen with a lightning bolt in his hair shouted.

... Never mind.

“That’s not true! I’ll have you know I’ve been looking for one of those flowers all day!” The other teen, slightly taller with ice blue eyes, shot back.

The first teen raised an eyebrow at him suspiciously, “Oh yeah? What’s this flower called then?”

“I don’t know the name, but I know what it looks like and that’s it!”

“I don’t believe you!”

Shinso was completely dumbfounded by the two blondes in front of him. Were they really getting this angry over a flower? The sheer stupidity of that idea made Shinso’s head hurt. His attention was pulled away from the scene before him when Eri tugged on the sleeve of his hoodie.

“What are they yelling about, Hitoshi?” She asked.

Shinso sighed and shook his head, “Something stupid. Let’s just go Eri.”

Eri nodded and Shinso took her hand in his again. He glanced at the two teens one last time before he turned away from them and continued the walk to the blueberry bushes.

SNAP!

The sound of a snapping twig made Shinso freeze in place. He looked down and saw that he had stepped on a stick that had fallen on the trail. He sighed in relief, the initial panic that had flooded him at the sudden sound subsiding. Shinso had calmed down, but before he could take another step he heard the sound of leaves rustling behind him.

Shinso looked over his shoulder and saw that the two teens who had been arguing before he were now staring at him through the bushes. Shinso, uncomfortable with how long they’d been staring, let go of Eri’s hand briefly so he could turn around before he took ahold of her hand again.

“Can I help you?” Shinso asked awkwardly.

“Oh, I’m glad you asked,” The taller teen with blue eyes stepped out of the bushes, “You heard what the two of us were arguing about, didn’t you?”

Shinso silently scolded himself on his poor choice of words as he nodded.

“Great. So let us know, who do you think deserves this flower?”

“I-”

“It’s me, right?!” The shorter teen cut in, “It has to be me! Miko sent me to find this flower for her and I can’t go back empty handed!”

“I don’t-”

“Shut up and let him choose for himself!” The taller teen shouted at the shorter teen, “Besides, he’ll definitely choose me!”

The shorter teen looked like he was about to speak up again, but Shinso did before he could get the chance.

“I couldn’t care less who gets that damn flower,” Shinso answered honestly, “I’m just trying to take my sister to pick blueberries, so I’d appreciate it if you could leave us alo-”

At the mention of his sister, the attention of the two teens turned from Shinso to Eri. Before Shinso could say anything, the two of them had kneeled down so they were at eye level with the girl and started asking her who she thought deserved the flower.

“Who do you think should get this flower?” The shorter teen asked, holding the flower out to show Eri, “I need it because my mentor will be mad if I don’t get it for her!”

“And I want it too! I saw it first, so that means I should get it, right?”

Eri, overwhelmed by the questions, hid behind Shinso’s leg. Shinso picked her up to comfort her and saw that the little girl was about to cry.

Seeing his little sister on the verge of tears because of those two made anger overcome all of the confusion that Shinso had been feeling. He held his sister protectively as he glared at the two teens.

“Now look at what you’ve done! You made her cry, all because you’re arguing over some stupid flower?!” Shinso snapped, “Leave us out of this!”

The looks of guilt and remorse that came over the faces of the two teens would have normally lessened Shinso’s anger, but under these circumstances he was too focused on protecting Eri to care. Shinso turned around and carried Eri up the path toward the blueberry bushes, hoping doing what they had come there to do would help calm her down. He couldn’t hear the pair shouting anymore, but that didn’t matter. What was important was making sure Eri was okay.

~Time skip to the next day brought to you by my simp list (but it progressively gets worse)~

After that unpleasant interaction, Shinso didn’t expect to see either of those two again.

That was why he was so surprised when they showed up at his doorstep the following day.

“Toshi, there’s someone at the door for you,” Yamada said from just outside Shinso’s bedroom door.

Shinso looked up as Yamada’s voice pulled his attention away from the leg massage he was giving himself (Aizawa’s training had been particularly difficult that day). He had no idea who it could be coming to see him, but nevertheless he left his bedroom and walked to the front door where Yamada was waiting for him.

Yamada moved aside so Shinso could see who was at the door, “These two say they know you.”

Shinso stepped into the door way to see who Yamada was talking about. To his surprise, the two blonde teens he ran into the day before were standing outside. The shorter of the pair was hanging his head slightly with a guilty look on his face while the taller had his arms crossed over his chest in a rebellious pose, but was noticeably avoiding eye contact with Shinso.

“Thanks dad,” Shinso nodded to Yamada before glaring at the pair as Yamada walked away, “What are you doing here?”

“You’re Shinso, right?” The shorter teen asked.

Shinso frowned, “How do you know my name? Better yet, how do you know where I live?”

“My mentor Yae Miko told me. I described you to her and she knew who you were because she knows your parents,” The shorter teen explained, “Anyway, we felt bad for scaring your sister yesterday, so we came to apologize.”

Shinso raised an eyebrow and waited for this apology the other teen mentioned.

Shinso wasn’t sure what to expect from this apology, but he wasn’t expecting the shorter teen to bow to him before shouting at the top of his lungs what he’d done.

“MY NAME IS DENKI KAMINARI AND I SCARED SHINSO’S LITTLE SISTER AND FOR THAT, I AM SORRY!”

Shinso held his hands up, signalling for Kaminari to stop as the shorter teen stood back up.

“Sheesh, not so loud! You want me to know you’re sorry, not the whole forest!”

Kaminari smiled sheepishly, “Heh, sorry!”

Kaminari, finished with his part of the apology, looked at the other teen with him expectantly. He seemed to be waiting for him to deliver his half of their apology, but when he remained silent, Kaminari frowned and nudged him with his elbow to get his attention. The taller male sighed and finally made eye contact with Shinso.

“I’m Neito Monoma and I’m sorry we freaked out your sister yesterday.”

Shinso was still just as confused as he was when he first saw that the pair was at his door. But as confused as he was, he was also pleasantly surprised by the two of them. They had gone out of their way to find him again and apologize to him for almost making Eri cry while most other people would have just moved on a forgotten about that incident. He hadn’t expected them to take that kind of initiative, considering when he met them they were in the woods arguing over a flower.

“Okay. I uh... I forgive you,” Shinso replied after a brief pause, “Thanks for apologizing, I guess.”

Kaminari nodded, “Of course! I hope we can start over!”

“Yeah...”

Despite being impressed with the initiative Kaminari and Monoma had demonstrated, Shinso wasn’t sold on the idea of becoming friends with them. But he decided not to mention that for now. They were probably only apologizing so that they wouldn’t feel guilty about what they did, after all. It wasn’t like they were going to start hanging out with him after this or anything.

Shinso thought the conversation was over and was about to say goodbye to the unexpected visitors when Kaminari held something up to him.

“Oh, and we brought you this to prove we’re really sorry!”

It was the flower they had been fighting over the day before. A few petals had fallen off, but aside from that it was in the same condition as it had been yesterday. Shinso took the flower somewhat awkwardly and looked from it to the two teens standing in front of him.

“... Thanks,” Shinso said, “Not that I don’t appreciate it, but why are you giving me this? Didn’t you two need it for something?”

Kaminari shrugged, “Eh, I can find another one.”

Monoma smirked, “Honestly, I only wanted it because Kaminari wanted it.”

“I knew it!” Kaminari cut in.

Monoma ignored Kaminari’s interruption and continued, “Besides, that flower isn’t even that pretty. It’s far below my standards.”

Shinso nodded slowly, “Okay...”

“But do you know what might be up to my standards?” Monoma asked.

“What?”

“You.”

“... What?”

“You heard me. I think you’re interesting and you might meet my standards,” Monoma said, “It isn’t often that I find someone like that, considering how high my standards are. So I want us to meet again so I can see if you live up to them! Who knows, maybe this idiot can join us too.”

“Who are you calling an idiot?!” Kaminari demanded, “Says the guy who needed my help to get his kite out of a tree because he thought it would be a good idea to fly his kite in the forest!”

“I thought we agreed never to speak of that again!”

The two teens seemed ready to get in another argument until they remembered Shinso was standing there. Monoma awkwardly turned away while Kaminari smiled that goofy smile at him again.

“Soooo, what do you say Shinso? Wanna hang out with us sometime?” Kaminari asked.

After how awkward their interactions so far had been, Shinso wasn’t sure that he did. But it wasn’t like he had anything else to do. At the very least, talking to those two would be more entertaining than sitting in his room all day.

“Yeah, sure,” Shinso finally responded.

Kaminari’s face lit up at Shinso’s agreement while Monoma looked at him as though he hadn’t heard him correctly.

“Awesome! We’ll stop by again in a few days and we can go do something!” Kaminari said.

Shinso nodded, “Yeah. Thanks for the flower. I’ll see you around.”

Kaminari nodded eagerly and Monoma waved goodbye to Shinso as he closed the door. Shinso turned away from the door, but before he walked away he heard the voices of the two teens coming from outside. Their voices were muffled due to the door between them so he couldn’t make out their words. Curiosity got the best of Shinso and he pressed his ear against the door to hear their conversation.

“See, everything worked out!” Kaminari said excitedly.

“I guess you were right. This time,” Monoma responded, “Wait, did we even tell him when we’ll be back?”

“Off course I did! I said we’ll be back in a few days!”

“That isn’t a plan. How will we know if he’ll be free when we come by next time?”

“... I didn’t really think about that.”

“Of course you didn’t.”

“I-I’m sure it’s fine! Everything will work out!”

“You better not have messed this up Kaminari.”

“Hey, I didn’t mess anything up!”

Shinso didn’t realise he was smiling until he moved back from the door and started walking back to his room. Despite the odd circumstances of how they’d met, Shinso found himself excited to see Kaminari and Monoma again. Maybe they would end up being friends after all.

On his way to his room, Shinso passed the kitchen and saw Aizawa doing the dishes. Aizawa looked up at him and nodded a bit, which was his way of saying hello.

“Who was at the door?” Aizawa asked.

“Two guys I ran into yesterday when I took Eri to pick blueberries,” Shinso explained, “They kind of scared her, so they came by to apologize.”

Aizawa nodded, “I see. Did they give you that flower?”

Shinso looked down at the flower, only then remembering that he had it, “Oh, yeah, they did. I was thinking about giving it to Eri or something.”

Aizawa put the dish he was cleaning down and walked over to Shinso, “That flower will keep longer of you press it in paper. I can show you how to if you want.”

Shinso nodded, “Sure.”

Shinso had never tried pressing flowers before, but from what he understood it was done to hold onto flowers with sentimental value long after they would have wilted otherwise. He didn’t think this flower had any real sentimental value to him, but it was pretty and something about it felt special to him.

It would be a waste for it to die in a few days after Kaminari and Monoma gave it to me, Shinso thought, Atleast this way I can hold onto it for a while.

~Time skip to two years later brought to you by Lucara (He sends his regards from the world of magic)~

“Whatcha looking at Hitoshi?”

Shinso looked to his left and saw Kaminari next to him, leaning over the back of the couch Shinso and Monoma were sitting on. Monoma had been preoccupied reading, but at Kaminari’s question he turned his attention to what Shinso was holding. Shinso smiled a bit and pulled the pressed flower out of the scrapbook he was looking through so the other two could see it.

“It’s the flower you guys gave me the day after we met,” Shinso said, “My dad helped press it so that it wouldn’t wilt.”

“Which one?” Kaminari asked, sitting on the couch next to Shinso.

“Shota.”

Kaminari seemed surprised by this, “Really? I didn’t think he’d know how to do stuff like that.”

“Neither did I. Hizashi said Shota taught himself how to do it because he wanted to preserve the flowers Hizashi got him on their first wedding anniversary.”

“Aww, that’s so sweet!” Kaminari said.

Shinso smiled, “Yeah, it is. But if he asks, you didn’t hear that story from me.”

Kaminari laughed as he looked down at the flower. Monoma, on the other hand, seemed more interested in something else.

“You have a scrapbook?” Monoma asked.

Shinso nodded, “Yeah. Hizashi bought me one and a Polaroid camera when he went to a human town a while ago. So I’ve been using it to save the pictures I take.”

“Interesting,” Monoma responded, “Do you have a picture of the three of us in there?”

“Now that you mention it, no I don’t have one of those yet.”

“Ooh, you should take one! It can go with that flower so you remember where you got it!” Kaminari suggested.

“I don’t think he’s going to have trouble remembering where he got it Denki, especially since it came from me,” Monoma pointed out.

“It was from me too! Don’t take all the credit!”

“Want to take that picture right now?” Shinso asked, mostly to distract his boyfriends before they could start an argument.

“Right now?” Monoma repeated.

Shinso nodded, “Sure, why not?”

“Sounds good to me! What’s the matter Neito? Do you need to go get ready for two hours so you ‘look your best’ or whatever?” Kaminari teased.

Monoma glared at Kaminari, “Of course not, I always look my best! Let’s do it!”

Shinso nodded and picked up his camera, which was sitting on the table in front of them. The only problem was he wouldn’t be able to take the picture himself because of the type of camera it was.

“Hey dad!” Shinso shouted.

Yamada poked his head through the doorway to the living room, “What is it Toshi?”

Shinso held the camera out to him, “Can you take a picture of the three of us?”

“Alright. What’s it for?” Yamada asked as he walked over and took the camera.

“Just thought I needed one for my scrapbook,” Shinso said with a shrug.

“Oh, okay,” Yamada held up the camera, “Smile!”

Shinso smiled while Kaminari put am arm around him and made a peace sign with his free hand and Monoma rested his head against Shinso’s. Yamada took the picture and waited for the picture to be printed out before handing it to Shinso. He shook the picture to clear the image and look it over.

“That’s a good one!” Kaminari said happily.

Monoma nodded in agreement, “I look great. You two look nice too.”

“Yeah. Thanks dad,” Shinso said as he took his camera back.

“No problem!” Yamada said as he left the room.

Shinso looked down at the picture again and smiled. Kaminari and Monoma had started talking about something else, but Shinso was focused on the photo and the flower.

He never would have imagined that he’d end up dating the two loud blondes arguing over a flower he ran into two years ago.

This would make a nice addition to his scrapbook indeed.