25 Chapter 20

A few days rolled past in what felt like moments.

After waking up the next day, finally dispersing my poor clone, and seeing all that, we jumped right into the grind.

And by that I mean, Kuroka somehow managed to convince Koneko to come on over when she could, so the two of them could use me as cat toys.

Not in a sexy way, either.

So, I spent the next few days specifically training against a peak ultimate class Kuroka, and Koneko who's finally learning Senjutsu.

Now, leaving the fact that Kuroka herself matches Vali in his Balance Breaker, let me just say, Koneko is bullshit at Senjutsu.

Like. According to Kuroka? She has better potential with it than even her.

Which fits, considering how fast Koneko got her third tail.

And this Koneko is jumping right into learning Senjutsu from her sister, albeit hesitantly and purely to beat me up better.

Not like I didn't try to make them work for it, but hey, only so much you can do in like three days.

At least Koneko and Kuroka got sister bonding time.

In a way.

Yeah. That's good.

My days were spent being a cat toy, and my nights were spent chugging along with Rias in multiple anime marathons.

I'm so glad I don't require sleep to function.

But! All 'good' things must come to an end, and now it's time to head out and visit the Yokai.

Specifically, the West Yokai Faction under Yasaka.

Now. I would like to wax on about the Faction's current deal and stances, but. Well.

I've got a maid and or secretary fussing over my attire right now.

"Uzume," I say suddenly, sternly, as the purple-haired kami is rapidly patting down my dress clothes as if they're filled with wrinkles or folds, "It's fine, you can stop now."

They are, I swear, she's been at this for half an hour.

She jumps at my voice, and stops to look me in the eyes, "Noriaki, Goshujin-sama," she said just as sternly back, "with all due respect, this meeting is important and thus you must dress your best!" She boops me on the nose, causing me to flinch briefly, stunned, "This isn't like the Clans where you can walk up in a bathrobe and they'll throw themselves at your feet! You must pay proper respect!"

"I know that!" I retort, muttering through rubbing my poor nose, "But you're worrying a bit much, don't you think? I look fine!"

Dare I say, dapper even.

Turning my head to the side, to look at myself in the full-body mirror, I see a young man clad in a white suit jacket over a crimson red dress shirt, with the outer robe of a black kimono, embodied with red and white flowers, falling upon my shoulders. Night black pants, and matching dress shoes finish the look.

Damn, I look fine.

And this was all Uzume's idea, truth be told.

I was planning a basic bitch formal kimono, but it was Uzume who insisted upon a mix of modern and traditional.

Although, I will admit, having the dress shirt upon to expose my mark, and having my sword slung across my back, also kind of makes me look like some yakuza boss.

Still, very good-looking, very cool.

"Nyaah~? You better watch out Nori-kun~, the maid is calling you master!" Kuroka gives an amused chuckle where she lies, sprawled out across the couch, "You better listen to her, nya~! That's how you know maids are getting serious!"

I deadpan back at her, "You know, I didn't drag the couch back into the living room just so you can be cheeky and mess up your outfit, you know?"

"Hmm? Messing it up, nya~?" She sits up, leaning forward slightly as she smirks, her red, black, and gold formal kimono nearly falling over her chest as she moves, "You sure about that~?"

My eyebrow twitches, "I'm going to spank you when we get home, I hope you know."

Kuroka hums, leaning back and raising one of her legs, revealing that she is wearing underwear for once, "Looking forward to it, nya~!" She winks.

"Hmm. A six-out-of-ten tease. Should have worn lace rather than plain black." I state plainly.

Kuroka flinches, "Nyyaaahh~!? A six!? Nori-kun!" She cries out indignantly.

I turn back to Uzume, promptly ignoring the cat.

That's what you get when you don't wear underwear for so long, you forget what sexy underwear looks like.

"Can we leave yet, Uzume?" I ask her with a huff.

Uzume stares back at me for a moment, before relenting with a sigh, "Okay…fine…" she reaches out, patting my suit a couple more times absentmindedly, "just, be safe, alright? Don't do anything stupid. When your Father visited, he left Urakyoto as the only place he didn't have to fight to get people to agree to his demands. But who's to say they haven't changed their minds since…?"

I reach out, giving her a small smile as I pat her on the head a couple of times, "You don't need to worry so much, alright? We can handle ourselves just fine, and if something happens, we'll book it, okay?"

Uzume doesn't meet my smile, a slight frown on her face, "...promise?" she asks tentatively.

I smile wider, "Promise." I affirm.

A small smile slowly crosses her face, as she steps back, and bows slightly, "Then I will await your return, Goshujin-sama."

Damn. Who taught her to be a maid?

I nod at her, before walking over to Kuroka and holding out my arm, "Ready?"

She smiles prettily right back, before taking my arm as she stands up, "For a night on the town, yes! But, not so much for the politicking, nya." She sighs.

I chuckle at that, "Well, if all goes well, maybe we can come back again, none of that second part included?"

"That sounds lovely, nya~..." she snuggles into my arm as we head on out.

It took her a bit, admittedly, for her to finally ask the question I've been waiting for her to realize she should probably ask.

We were halfway to walking to our destination like a lovey-dovey couple by the time she finally asked.

"Hmm~...say, darling~?" Kuroka murmured in realization, "How are we supposed to meet Yasaka and her Faction, in the first place? We don't know where the entrance is, and it's not like you have an official channel with them, nya~?"

I merely smile a truly face-splitting grin, right back at her.

"I've got an idea or two."

~ A New Sun ~

Sitting in between three separate shrines is a rather small lake, or perhaps a pond.

Specifically, the Inari Taisha, Takakura-okami, and Kumataka Shrine.

Pretty significant shrines, if I do say so myself. Of course, you've got one dedicated to Inari, the primary one, but a minor one to my Mother as well?

Seems like a perfect place to make a phone call.

As we left late in the evening, there were bound to be very few people around this time of night.

Well, mundane people, anyhow.

See, the Yokai in this city are very peculiar.

Turns out, Yasaka isn't on the Devil's side, or anything of the sort. She merely has a history of playing peacemaker and negotiator, using Kyoto as a sort of neutral ground to facilitate interaction across various groups for Japan.

Therefore, all the Devil businesses.

There are likely several other supernatural-backed businesses from all sorts of factions across the world here, it's just that simply wouldn't have been able to catch them, not knowing what to look for all.

But, that leads to why the Yokai here are odd.

Due to Yasaka's stance, the Kami, more specifically Inari, actually has some form of working relationship.

That merely being guarding the shrines in Kyoto, those not manned personally by the Clans, anyway.

Which leads to now!

Me and Kuroka, floating above the pond between the shrines, as I prepare my call.

A little ball of sparking Holy Spirit Power sitting on the tip of my finger.

Kuroka floats there in front of me, deadpanning at me and my little firecracker orb.

"Nori-kun." She starts, blandly.

"Yesss?" I drone out, focusing intently so the orb doesn't burst prematurely.

"This is your master plan, nya?"

"Yesss."

She sighs, "And you say I'm terrible at plans, nya!"

"Well, hey! It was either this or walk straight up to the Inari Shrine itself!" I point my finger up, "And grab their attention with something that doesn't induce good first impressions!"

"Like threatening to set the forest on fire, nya?"

I blink, "Eheh...no?"

Kuroka facepalms.

Okay. To be honest, I kind of procrastinated this, so this isn't the most well thought out plan.

But I'm only really doing this because I have heavy doubts they'd just come out if I asked them, the first time around with the ice cream seemed like a joke, truly.

I need to get their attention.

This should do it.

I launch the orb straight into the sky, sending it whizzing up into the late sunset like a rocket.

As it climbs further and further, its structure destabilizes rapidly, sputtering out before popping like a firework.

A bright, golden, crackling firework. With my Holy Spirit Power as the boom.

There we go, a non-threatening way of getting certain people's attention.

I twitch a bit, as my Holy Spirit Power bursts out, and a good distance away the power within the Takakura-Okami seems to fluctuate slightly.

Or, to put it bluntly, I think my mother felt that.

Oh well.

Kuroka sighs, before floating over to my side, "Well, you got a fair few people's attention with that one. All Yokai, ones vastly stronger than the rest, get ready, nya!"

Hmm? Vastly? Perhaps a higher-ranked Yokai then, like a commander?

It doesn't take long until I get my answer, as we are quickly not so much surrounded by Yokai, but more like confronted.

Mostly by Karasu-Tengu, bird people with big black feathered wings, like a Fallen, with the head of a crow.

Pretty much all of them wore typical mountain hermit attire and wielded thin staffs for weapons.

Well, sans the few slightly fancier-looking guys wielding scepters around whom Kuroka claimed to be vastly stronger than the rest.

It's not a Tengu and not someone I expected to meet so soon, that's for sure.

"You there!" Their clear leader pointed, right at me, her golden eyes narrowing as her nine-tails swished behind her in irritation, "You were here the other day, weren't you? Don't you know it's rude to let out your powers like that!?" She immediately starts chastising us, as the guard around her point their very small sticks at us.

Hmm. Okay. So, thing to note.

This is Kunou. Definitely.

But uh, she's...well.

A tad older. As in, if I had to guess, Koneko's age.

The thing is she sure as hell looks like she grew into it as well.

Her Shrine Maiden outfit looks a tad too small for her, straining against her thin yet curvaceous form, especially against her chest.

Although it's nowhere near the size of her mother's, it's going for it.

Still smaller than, say, Kuroka or Rias, but probably bigger than the Church Girls, I'd say.

So. Basically, fluffy-tailed shortstack Kunou.

Is the universe trying to tell me something here?

"Well!? What do you have to say for yourself!" She crossed her arms suddenly and glared at me, expectantly, in an almost pouty manner.

Shit. Did she keep going? Whoops! Wasn't paying attention, too busy processing all…that.

Now, Nori. Here's the thing, she looks very bulliable.

Don't do it. I know you're thinking about it, but don't.

I point up to the sky, where my makeshift firework went off, and give a happy-go-lucky smile, "You know, technically, as long as it's not explosive, fireworks are allowed in Japan, right?"

Damnit.

"Bha!?" She exclaimed and flinched, her mouth gaping in confusion at me for a second before she returned to glaring, "T-That has nothing to do with what I was just talking about!? Were you even paying attention just now!?"

I hum, non-committal, "You sure? What else could you be talking about? There isn't a rule against the Kami letting out their power here, could there be? After all, all the shrines are doing it, why can't I?"

Kunou blinked at that, looking legitimately bewildered, "T-That's not…that's not the point!" She suddenly decides, and if I had to bet, she'd probably stomp her feet if we were standing on solid ground right now.

She points at me again, "It's rude! Doing that all of a sudden! Every Yokai on the mountain felt and saw it!"

"You know it's also rude to point at someone, right?" I respond easily back.

"E-Eh?" She weakly stutters, her finger slouching, before deciding to ignore me and keep up the pointing, her finger shaking as her face flushes in a small amount of anger, her pout returning full force, "You…!"

So. Fucking. Cute.

Although I think I may have broken her.

Ah well~!

I should probably wrap this up before the girl decides to order an attack on me or something.

I chuckle, waving off her words as I float slightly forward, bowing slightly to the congregation before me.

The action causes the Kyuubi Princess to once more cease, staring at me in sheer confusion.

"Ah, but I forget my manners, before I tease you more, I should state my name and purpose, no?" I begin, formally and regally.

"Ah!? Teasing!? So all that was on purpose!" She cries out indignantly.

I ignore her, of course, and carry on, "My name is Noriaki Kusanagi, Arahitogami, Son of Amaterasu and Kunihito. I have come looking to talk with your Mother, Princess," I look straight at her, "supposedly she should be expecting me, but I don't quite know where exactly to go to find Urakyoto myself."

I smile simply, "Figured flagging the people put in charge by Lady Yasaka to guard the shrines and asking would be a pretty good way to remedy that."

Kunou blanches at my words, but only slightly, "The Omikami? So that's why it felt so…" she mutters, trailing off, before shaking her head and narrowing her eyes at me, "I am aware of who you are, Lord Kusanagi, but not of your intentions. Why should I show you where our home is? Where Mother is?" She crosses her arms and glares at me.

I deadpan at her, "You act as though your mother wouldn't just squish me to death if I tried anything. I am strong, but your mother is vastly above me and my companion in terms of power."

Kunou gave a satisfied smirk and nodded smugly at that, "Very true indeed. But that brings up another point, your…companion…" she strained the word out, "is a known criminal. That doesn't paint a pretty picture for you by association, you know?"

"On the Devil's side," I argue with ease, "do the Yokai here have a problem with her? Is she wanted in the West?"

Kunou blinked at that, narrowing her eyes in thought for a moment, "I…guess not…" she started slowly, before clicking her tongue and huffing, "Hmph. Okay. Fine. I'll concede that, but this is still incredibly suspicious. Mother never told me anything about suspecting you…"

I hum, before stating, "Parents don't often tell their children everything."

"I know that!" She snaps back, "But this seems important enough that she should have least mentioned it!"

I smile, widely, at that, "Important, huh?"

She freezes at that.

Then huffs and looks away.

So she does know who I am, and that I likely wouldn't try anything, or at least believes that I won't.

Then, logically, she's only holding out on us because…

I shrug, "Well, I suppose then we can float here all night, Princess, and I can continue to tease you." I smirk as her expression grows incredulous, "Certainly wouldn't be a waste of the night, would it Kuroka?"

"Nope, nya~!" Kuroka purrs out in affirmation.

Kunou's eyebrow twitches, before she gives a long, defeated, sigh.

"Everyone." She suddenly speaks, all the Tengu parking up at her address, "Please return to your duties at the shrine. I'll escort our guests to Urakyoto personally."

"Yes, Lady Kunou!" All the Tengu shout as one.

And at her command, they scatter to the wind.

Slowly, Kunou floats up to me, her arms still crossed as she glares right at me.

I give her a stupid smile as Kuroka floats to my side, "We will follow your lead then, Princess."

Her eyebrow twitches at that.

"I am Lady Kunou. Daughter of Lady Yasaka of the Kyoto Yokai." She speaks plainly, "Don't call me Princess."

I nod, "Got it."

She sighs in relief.

"Princess."

Her sigh strains as the last whisps leave her mouth, and she scowls at me.

"You're just a rude man in general aren't you?" She huffs out, disgruntled.

"No no," I deny rather easily, "see, I only tease cute Princesses, that makes you special!"

"Eh?" Her face blanks out for a moment as she processes what I just said, "C-Cute!?" She suddenly stammers, her face flushing as she looks away from me once more.

It takes another good moment, but eventually, she composes herself and huffs, still looking away, "Cute? I'm far more than that. I am my mother's daughter after all! There is none more beautiful than us." She states as if fact.

I want to pat her head.

I want to do it, so fucking bad.

I want to scratch behind those cute little fox ears and call her a good girl.

But I do have some self-control, you don't touch a girl you just met like that.

Hell, you don't touch anyone you just met like that.

So. I'll wait.

For now.

I chuckle at that, "Fine then, Princess. You're more than cute…" I smirk as I see her eyebrow raise at that, just barely, "you're adorable."

She tries to look away further, but can't, so I'm treated to a full side view of one of her cheeks flushing full before she finally decides to turn around, breathing out an annoyed sigh.

She flicks her tails at us, not looking back as she says, "Follow me, you two. Let's make this quick."

She starts floating away, rather quickly, but we easily keep pace.

Kuroka leans in, and mutters into my ear, "I kinda wanna keep her, nya~!"

"Same~!" I whisper right back with a chuckle.

Kunou's ears twitch at that, and she speeds up just a tad more.

Hmm. Well. It seems like the operation, 'don't bulli the fluffy-tailed shortstack' has failed successfully!

Now to make sure Kuroka doesn't actually try to kidnap the girl, the damn cat has less impulse control than I do.

Off to Urakyoto, we go!

~ A New Sun ~

Kunou just about slammed the doors to her home closed as soon as she stepped inside.

It was a close thing, as right before she did, she stopped the doors and closed them gently, not wanting to be scolded by her mother over something so trivial.

Then she stood there, right at the entrance, reeled back her head, and let out a frustrated scream.

The fox Yokai guarding the doors flinched at that, looking on at their young Princess with worry.

Meanwhile, Kunou herself was, for lack of a better term, seething.

As soon as they reached the city, those two jerks gazed at the place in awe.

Good. That made her feel all proud and smug. Her mother's city is the greatest gathering of Yokai in Japan, after all!

Then, the big jerk - because she refuses to acknowledge his status as long as he teases her like that - simply asked her if she could inform her mother of their presence.

He stressed that she shouldn't be pressed to see them too quickly, as they did just kind of show up unannounced.

Instead, as they waited to see her, they wished to use that time to explore the city for a bit.

Well. At least they knew their place there.

Understanding that her mother is far too important to just drop everything at a moment's notice for them earned some respect.

Then they went and wasted it by calling her Princess again and saying they'd see her late.

It took everything in her power not to blow the two up with foxfire.

Not like it would probably affect the big jerk at all, judging by who he is, but it's the thought that counts!

Taking a long, deep breath, Kunou rubbed the bridge between her eyes and shivered as the frothing boiling rage left her, replaced by an endearing determination to get back at them.

Somehow. Also mostly the big jerk, his accessory cat girl just nodded along and played off whatever he said the whole time.

She bristled slightly as she started walking, remembering what that cat girl said the moment they started their little trip.

Keep her? She is not some pet, damnit! She's the Princess of the Kyoto Yokai! Daughter of Yasaka!

His agreement didn't make that statement any better!

Especially coming from him!

That train of thought prompted her to blush profusely and scowl.

Wording it like that leads to ideas she'd rather not think about.

Bah! Puberty. At least she isn't like those cat yokai with their Mating Seasons.

Especially like his hanger-on cat. You'd think she's perpetually on her Mating Season the way she clung to him.

But it's further exacerbated since she's already seen him under most of those clothes.

To be fair, who hasn't at this point? It's all over the internet, but still.

That doesn't help. At all.

Stop thinking about that!

Stop thinking about how he called you cute, while you're at it as well!

He's a teasing jerk who should explode!

She didn't even realize she had made it to her mother's room until she had, on autopilot, swung open the doors.

Sitting at a desk in the far corner room, the only occupant perked up as the doors slid open, her ears fox ears twitching and nine-tails swishing as she looked up from some book and saw her.

The warm smile her mother sent her as soon as she laid her eyes upon her burned away any tumultuous emotions she had left.

Kunou smiled back, as Yasaka stood up from behind her desk, closing her book as she moved, giving her daughter her full attention.

"Kunou, dear?" She began, walking over to her and patting her on the head, "Aren't you supposed to be watching over the Fushimi Inari Shrine? Did something happen, or," her smile turned much more sly, "did you perhaps forget your pass, again?"

"Eh!?" Kunou blinked, "No, no! Mother! Nothing like that! Besides! It was one time! One!" She exclaimed in response.

Really! After the first time, she made sure to never forget it again.

Holy Spirit Power, as it turns out, is very corrosive to Yokai. She was lucky being hit with it only made her extremely sick and weak for a month, rather than turning her to ash.

Well, luck, and she is a Kyuubi, a nine-tailed fox! Something like that wouldn't kill her outright!

Her mother merely chuckled down at her, giving a pleasant hum, "So then, something happened?"

Kunou cleared her throat, before nodding and explaining in detail what had occurred thus far this evening.

By that point, Yasaka had sat down on her bed, with Kunou right beside her.

By the end of her explanation, her mother was humming thoughtfully, tails swaying side to side.

"Hmm, that man's son is here? Curious." Her mother mused, "I figured we would see him eventually, but most likely a while after the Parade, not right before." She suddenly starts chuckling, holding a hand to her face, "Still, like father, like son, I suppose, hmm?"

Kunou tilted her head in confusion, "Both of them couldn't just knock politely and ask to enter normally?"

"I suppose not." Yasaka smiles with mirth, "Though I will say, although both may have had…unorthodox methods of entrance, I vastly prefer the son's way over the father's."

"Huh." Kunou blinked, "How did his father get in, then?"

Because, personally, in Kunou's opinion, she can't think of anything worse than what she just had to deal with!

Yasaka grimaced, but still held her smile as she explained, "He found the pocket dimension Urakyoto resided in, and cut a path in with his sword."

What.

Kunou's eyes widened into saucers, "H-How!? That doesn't make any sense!" She exclaimed, jumping back to her feet and gaping at her mother.

"Oh dear," Yasaka reaches out, patting her gently and soothingly on the head, "there are few things those blessed by, or those of the Gods, Kami, and Buddha can't accomplish. That, I get the feeling you will be learning quite soon with your own eyes."

With a hum, Yasaka stood up herself, "Speaking of…Kunou, dear?"

Kunou perks up at that, "Yes, mother?"

"You should go change, perhaps into that pretty pink kimono we had made for you for more formal meetings?" Yasaka smiled slyly, "You'll be joining me for talks with him after all."

Kunou clicked her tongue, crossing her arms and looking down, "...Do I have to?"

"Kunou, this meeting is important…" Yasaka walks over to her desk, pulling open a drawer or two and rummaging through them, "this one especially. And as my daughter and heir, this makes it even more important for you to be there as well."

"B-But…Mmmm…" Kunou shifted from side to side as she gave a nervous hum.

Yasaka looked over to her, eyebrow raised, "Is something the matter dear?"

"Mmmgh!" Kunou huffed, throwing her arms up, "But he's a big jerk! I don't want him to see me looking like…like that!"

Yasaka stilled.

"Oh?" Her voice had an unusually cold edge to it all of a sudden, "A jerk, hmm? How so? What did he say?"

Kunou blushed profusely, "H-He…he called me cute! And he outright admitted to teasing me because of it!"

Even though she couldn't see her mother, she could feel her gaze boring into her back.

Then her dear mother started giggling.

A small, soft thing, before it eventually evolved into a chuckle, then a truly pretty laugh.

Well. If it wasn't directed at her.

"Mother!" Kunou half cried half whined back, turning to see said mother covering her mouth with a dainty hand as her laughing trailed off.

"Oh, Kunou, dear. It'll be fine," she walks back over, grabbing her little cheek, much to Kunou's indignation, "he's right after all! My daughter is very cute!"

Kunou blanched at that, "M-M-Mother! Stoooppp!"

~ A New Sun ~

Today has been a good night so far.

Even if Yasaka denies seeing us, or is evil now or some shit, I can confidently say all this was worth it regardless.

Urakyoto is…stunning.

A traditional Japanese city, straight out of olden times, but lit up and brought to life by the supernatural inhabitants.

Despite everything feeling old, it also feels alive.

And considering how varied the Yokai are as a species, I wouldn't be shocked if some of the buildings here were just straight-up Yokai.

Just walking around, we saw shit like a literal living thundercloud, a naked lady intertwined with a wheel, and a flying head!

It may be because of the Night Parade coming up, but we also saw a lot of Nekomata, which Kuroka noted is unusual around here, along with Oni, Kamaitachi, and more.

Also more than likely due to the Night Parade, the city had stores and vendors set up in droves, with all sorts of Yokai foods.

Kuroka just about bought out the Nekomata food vendor, poor guy.

She's said it's been years since she's had proper Nekomata food, although, to me, all of it just looked like normal stereotypical stuff cats like.

Eh. Who am I to judge?

Another shocking thing is that we haven't been bothered, at all.

Well, more specifically I haven't. Kuroka is fine since she lets her ears and tails out and fits right in.

But I certainly don't look, nor feel, like a Yokai.

I could maybe see Kuroka masking my power with her own, she has been clinging to me all night after all, but it's still a shock I haven't been accosted, not even given real funny looks.

Well. Besides the Oni. But they seem perpetually angry no matter what, so eh.

We're also being followed, but I'm not exactly shocked. Be kind of dumb to leave outside guests alone to wander the city.

All in all, a very lovely night.

As we walk through the crowd of Yokai, Kuroka happily holding my arm and clinging to my side, I feel someone brush against the other side, as a small, feminine whisper enters my ear.

"Lady Yasaka will see you now."

I almost jump, I barely have time to turn my head to see a fox yokai, a small kitsune girl in a shrine maiden's outfit, as she walks off, vanishing into the crowd.

I didn't even sense her, holy fuck.

And judging by Kuroka still being all lovey-dovey right next to her, she didn't either.

Well. That was a message with a subtle double meaning if I ever saw one.

Still a great night though, heh!

I tilt my head down to Kuroka, briefly telling her what just happened, she seemed startled and apologized that she didn't sense the girl at all.

I just kissed her and told her to not blame herself, before we headed up to the Palace.

If the city was alive, then the Palace, a traditional Japanese castle manor, looked positively haunted.

In a good way. As it was glowing a soothing blue light.

We were met at the doors by a pair of Kitsune, not guards, more likely attendants as they didn't carry weapons, who led us throughout the Palace, straight to where I could feel the absurdly monstrous power of who I assumed to be Yasaka.

When the attendants opened the final door, I expected some sort of throne room.

What I didn't expect was a fairly modest tatami room, with a few zabuton cushions laying out, four in total.

Two of which were already occupied.

Okay. So look.

I knew what to expect, and I was still floored.

Yasaka is, of course, gorgeous.

But how in the fuck does she see her feet with those watermelons in the way!?

Her specialized shrine maiden attire straight from canon was sure as shit not helping keep those in and up, either!

Hell, even Kuroka looked floored, not even jealous of her chest, just like, confused?

Ain't no amount of Senjutsu and Youjutsu should physically help with that, especially when she sleeps.

Sitting right next to Yasaka in her own little cushion, was Kunou, with a bit of an outfit change.

A pretty pink kimono, with a flowery yellow sash and cute red ribbon, now adorned her form.

As soon as we entered, Yasaka gave us an inviting smile.

While Kunou pouted, puffing out her cheeks and looking away.

Fuck it. I can't.

I look straight at Kunou, give her a silly smile, and a thumbs up, "Very cute now, Princess!"

Kuroka, bless her heart, nodded along with me, humming in agreement.

Kunou blinked.

Yasaka blinked.

Then, she slowly smiled slyly.

Kunou, meanwhile—

"Ughhh!" Threw her arms into the air, and groaned in absolute seething anger, "See, see Mother!" She points at me, over and over, "He's a jerk! A very big jerk!"

Yasaka hums to that, "I don't know, dear, he does have a point…you are very cute like that!"

Kunou cried out once more.

And promptly burst into blue, fox fire, becoming practically a roaring bonfire within seconds.

Much to Yasaka chuckling.

You know what? I think this is going to go just fine~!