[26] Dates and Gods

Chapter 26: Dates and Gods

Note: There you go, goal fulfilled and deal fulfilled. Enjoy.

Next Goal: A 23-hour goal, if we 400 more stones and reach 1100 total stones by tomorrow, I'll post two chapters at once.

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I had a day off and the day after, too, as it was Sunday. The day after that, I didn't have school because I had a shooting in the early morning. 

Mem-Cho and Black Hanekawa healed me well, but I still had to stabilize my body; so I decided to do exactly that before the shoot.

Mem-Cho stayed almost the entire day in our house, but I wasn't there to see her. I left my house and leaped into the sky. I began to cultivate within some storm clouds. I could finally do this now that I could fly.

– Crack! Rumble.

My Qi was causing the clouds around me to roar in rage. It helped my speed a bit. Unfortunately, no matter how much I try in the normal way, it will take a long time for me to advance. It would have taken at least two months before I could advance again, to begin with. But after this ordeal, that could take a year or more. That's a year of wait I was too impatient to go through.

"What should I do…"

With my eyes closed and sitting in a lotus position, I murmured. I really needed to find a way to speed up my progress. Being in the middle ladder of a world was not fun, and sadly that was the part of power I was right now. 

"Well, it's not like there is no way."

Yes, there sure was. I wouldn't usually choose this way, it's not my current style, but things have come this far, but I have already kind of done it halfway through. So why not go all the way?

Problem is… "How do I approach this?"

While pondering over this, the night came. I stabilized my body off everything I went through yesterday. This didn't return the cultivation I had lost, obviously, but my foundation was safe.

I opened my eyes.

The stabilization left me with a clear mind that let me decide the next course of actions. I admit, I couldn't go at this slow speed. The Mana in the air was not thin but it wasn't very thick either. Time was important, so I needed to be fast.

Alright. Fine.

"...I did lead Tsubasa by her nose and made her feelings for me concrete. It would be a waste to not use this chance, to not use her to grow stronger faster."

To be more precise, with the help of Black Hanekawa, my cultivation speed will grow. There was a slight issue though, I couldn't do things with Hanekawa without Tsubasa's cooperation since they're sharing a body and all. So before I could do this, I first had to win over Tsubasa completely. I had to take her to the bed by her own will.

The Bouchujutsu; the Bedroom Method. In this world, that technique was only used to heal people, as what happened to me. But in many of the other worlds I know, it can do a lot more. Indeed, I am talking about the infamous Dual Cultivation method.

* * *

Mem-Cho left, the day ended. When the next day came, my entire family decided to go on a tour as it was Sunday. Well, it was just the three adults, Ruby, I, and Tsubasa who were left behind. 

Ruby was diligently training in this free time of hers, while Tsubasa was in her home. She was home alone, which was just perfect for me.

So, I left my house and went to the house just beside ours. I greeted the guard at the gate and entered, waking into a peculiar scene.

"A-aqua?!"

I stood in front of Tsubasa who just walked out of the shower, wrapped in a white towel with her wet hair falling down to her waist.

She jumped back a few meters, hitting the wall. From her shock, it seemed she was intending for a few steps only, but her new strength was too unfamiliar to her to know.

"W-what are you doing here, Aqua?!" She yelled as she held her hands over her chest, which was always covered with a towel.

Alright. It's Sunday, and our family was out, Ruby was in her room. I happened to  have something to talk to with Tsubasa, and she just happened to walk out of the shower. Purely a coincidence.

"Hey uh," I waved a hand at her. "I came here to check up on you. I wasn't here the entire day yesterday, so I didn't get a proper chance to ask how you're doing."

"Oh…" Tsubasa eased a little as she took a step forward, nodding. "I'm fine. C-can we talk a bit later? I should get dressed."

"I don't understand," I walked over to her. 

She went nervous seeing me approach, but when she tried to back off her back was against the wall already. I put a hand above her shoulder, pinning her down. She looked anxious under me, her eyes spinning as she held her towel with her hands.

"Tsubasa, I thought we made up? What is this behavior?"

"...." She didn't say anything, a massive blush growing on her face and her eyes moving to the side. "I… this is…"

"Yes?"

I-it was just the side effect of the bloodline thing awakening… it made me feel heated, it was a mistake…"

"Oh." My facial expression twisted as if I was hurt. I hesitantly withdrew my hand. It was an act. "I… see. My bad. I guess your mother was messing around when she said you have feelings for me. I suppose I should have been more doubtful since she is playful…"

I looked down at her as she looked up at me hesitantly. Then, I turned around to walk away. I took a step, and then another. But I couldn't take my third step, as she ran and threw her arms around me from behind. Just as I had planned.

"You are so evil," she grumbled. "Mother just said this was an act. Was this? She said you are trying to make me feel guilty and planned to make me run and hug you. Is she telling the truth?"

I paused. What a bitch, she saw through? I guess I'll have to be more careful next time, it was kind of obvious.

Slight change of plan. With that slut in her head, I should take this slower than I planned. I don't want Tsubasa to feel like the development is artificial, because while I might be acting a bit manipulative, I do like her.

"You think?" I said as I gently grabbed her hand that was hugging me. "It pains me a little to see her trust such a scheming slut over a young long-term… friend."

"...I did run to hug you anyway, didn't I?" She said and tightened the hug. "And I am still doing it. Isn't that enough to prove I don't trust her more than you?"

I was hoping she would correct me when I referred to myself as her "friend" but she didn't do that. See, harem settings in modern worlds are annoying. The girls have a level of self-respect, she can't just throw herself at me after I kissed her, then Mem-Cho, and then her again. Now that she was "sober" she knew better, even though I could feel that she still wanted me.

Haah, fine. I suppose I'll take a more active approach. I turned around swiftly and held her in front of me. Her back was against my chest and my arms wrapped around her. My left arm held her arms wrapped by her belly while my right hand rose to raise her chin up to look at me. It was the same position I had held Mem-Cho in the 2nd episode, so she knew to expect what I was going for.

As I had hoped although her expression showed hesitation at first, her eyes closed and her lips parted. I didn't kiss her though, and once she realized I wasn't going to, her eyes opened and a massive blush spread across her cheeks.

"Is that what you wanted? You should be more honest with your feelings, Tsubasa."

"L-let me go." She said, but she was not struggling. Her eyes were spinning and her face was growing redder. "Ah, shit, what a mess up…"

I pulled her closer, her ass pressed against my lower abdomen. Her largest asset was her breasts, sure, but she wasn't flat in her other important area either. As a healthy male, my manhood naturally reacted and poked her behind. Her breathing stopped when she felt that.

I let go of her chin and wrapped both my arms around her. I leaned down and put my lips on her neck, taking a deep breath as I kissed her nape deeply. She gasped, her head snapping to the side, as she let out a sweet moan with her eye closest.

"D-don't~ Ahn…!"

My hands went up to cup her breasts, and her gasps only grew louder. I didn't do much and stopped kissing her nape.

"Let's go on a date," I said. That's the right way to approach this. "We can… talk about this better there. I am sure you still want to talk about this, given these reactions you just have me."

"...You really are a bad boy, mother was right." She said, keeping her eyes locked on the wall. Since she wasn't looking down at the ground, she wasn't feeling any negative emotion. No, if anything, she loved every second of this interaction.

I held her like that and asked, "When do you have time? For the date."

"...I am not free anytime soon. How about next Sunday?"

"We will do it tomorrow, then. My shoot ends at 10 AM, we will meet up then."

"I- I have classes then, though…?"

"Too bad, looks like you'll have to dunk school tomorrow."

She looked up at me, her eyes pleading. It looked like she didn't want to do it, as she opened her mouth to protest. "I can't do that, and you know it. I am the Class Rep, you know? I can't miss a day for such a…"

"Silly reason?"

"I didn't say that."

"I'd have been hurt if you did."

"...."

She looked away for a moment and then looked up at me again. She didn't say anything though, so I had to ask again. She really likes the other person to take the lead, huh?

"So, will you make time?"

"...I will." She nodded slowly.

I smiled, and almost per qué said, "Good. Good girl."

The good girl part wasn't entirely intended, but I felt her body shiver a little when I said that. So it was as I suspected. Well, she's an orphan, the orphanage held control over her life, and even after being adopted she was kept on high watch thanks to the kind of family she was living with. With that context, perhaps some masochism is normal. Then, while she at least knew her mom's name and had her photos, she had nothing on her father. So maybe some daddy issues too. It was a nice package, I liked it.

When I began to loosen my arms around her, implying that I'll go now, she looked up at me expectantly and regretfully. I didn't allow her regret to register, leaning over to give her what she expected. 

My mouth neared hers and her lips parted. She closed her eyes and accepted me, as I entangled myself in a passionate kiss with her, that I had to end all too early. Tsubasa was delicious.

* * *

[Third Person Point of View]

"Xihuitl was killed, my lord. We thought it may have been Jaguar Warrior who did that, but he too was killed. Their bodies are unfound; the culprit is unknown."

Quetzalcoatl sat on her throne, dressed in an elaborate Aztec dress and headdress. Just like how her outfit was serious unlike last time, her expression was too. She wore a dark frown as she heard the report recited by a servant kneeling in front of the throne.

"Was it the devils? Or angels? Do we know that much at least?" After a short silence, she asked.

"It's neither of them," the kneeling servant said. "There were signs of Ki and normal Mana in the vicinity, so it may have been a Yokai and a Human Mage. It was a group."

Did they group up on him and Xihuitl? It made sense to her now. There was no way for the Jaguar Warrior to lose to a no-name. Quetzalcoatl would have bet on Jaguar Man even if he was against Rias Gremory, who had the Power of Destruction at her fingertips. So no way he lost to a single individual whom they haven't heard of before.

"Strange." she leaned against her fist, her eyes looking into the distance. "A pity that he had to go this way, I was planning to use him a bit more. Let Tezcatlipoca know that Jaguar Warrior is dead, and tell her to prepare a funeral for him who was once her strongest Avatar. Prepare a funeral for Xihuitl in our place, too."

The servant lowered his head further, it was a nod. Quetzalcoatl had a feeling that this culprit was the same one who held the Treasure of Xolotl currently, it was a simple divine intuition. So she added one last line, 

"And make sure to find whoever did this. I am curious if the Yokai Faction is daring to bare their fangs against the real beasts."

Were the Yokais holding onto the box? The heaven shivered process as her beautiful lips stretched, revealing rows of sharp teeth under. Her green eyes held a bright glint in them, like the brilliant light of Venus before the sun's rise.

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