A New Sun Chapter 22 (Patreon)

Chapter 22

< ~ A New Sun ~ >

"He's after you!?" My maid screeched in abject horror after the situation was explained to her, prompting me to wince.

Getting back to our apartment in Kyoto after leaving that interdimensional city was a breeze with teleportation.

Kuroka made sure to teleport multiple times across the city before finally heading back here, just in case the Oni had a way to track such things.

Regardless, we made it back just fine. Although I'm still a tad dazed from my little stare-down with the molding tomato.

Of course, our entrance awoke Uzume, who we got right into telling her what happened, and now…

"Noriaki!" She called out, grabbing me by the shoulders, "Are you even listening right now!? This is bad, really really bad!" She looks down at me, her face tense with worry, "And you…don't even seem concerned!"

"I am." I refute with a grunt, gently pushing her away, "I'm just not screaming at the top of my lungs about it, I'm thinking."

"About moving back to Kuoh and bunkering down for the next several centuries?" Is my maid's automatic reply.

I click my tongue, "No. About how I'm going to go about killing him."

Kuroka, who was in the kitchen, sighed at my words.

Uzume meanwhile looked outright floored.

"Noriaki Kusanagi." She started with a smile.

Ah hell no.

I nearly snarl at that, "You don't get to pull that card now of all times. Don't try to act like my mother. You aren't."

Uzume, to her credit, doesn't back down.

"Well someone has to!" She cries indignantly, plopping down right next to me on the couch, "Listen, Noriaki! Ibaraki is an ancient Oni, he's been around for a very long time, he served as the right-hand of the Daiyokai and Fierce God Shuten Douji back when he terrorized Japan before the Clans sealed him away!"

I snort at that, "Of course. Leave it to the Clans to put down one threat and let another take its place—"

"That's not the point!" Uzume shouted, hushing me by putting a finger to my lips, "The point is, he's strong, far stronger than even Shuten was in his prime! If you fight him, you'll die!"

My eyebrow twitches at that.

"Like I haven't heard that before." I respond evenly.

"Yet you still want to fight him!?" She responds much less evenly.

And this time, I do snarl.

"Well? What other choice do I have!?" I shout as I jump to my feet, whirling around to face her, "What!? Do you want me to call up Inari, and have her kill the big bad tomato God?"

"Yes." Uzume states simply, unperturbed even as my height looms over her.

I feel my face twist itself into an ugly scowl.

"No." I deny just as soundly.

"And why not!?" Uzume buffs out.

"Because it's not her fight. Not the other Kamis. Certainly not the Yokais or Clans," I intone, "my fight. Mine to finish."

Uzume has the gall to scoff at that, "Just because he's strong doesn't mean you have to fight him!"

"That's not why." I deny briskly.

"Eh?" That seems to halt her train of thought as she stares back at me dumbly.

"He's after me because of Dad." I state that simple fact, "He's my problem to clean up now. Nobody else."

Uzume opened her mouth slightly, then shut it, repeating this several times, before she slowly sunk back into the couch and looked down.

"But he'll kill you…" She managed to finally whimper out.

I sighed, deeply, reaching over and patting her head, "Yeah. If I try to fight him head-on without a plan." I start, slowly, "Look, I'm not the smartest, but even I get that…if it's gonna be me that fights him, it'll probably be under the sun…" I frown slowly, "but that's not really 'me' either, huh…" I trail off.

Kuroka chose that moment to bound on in from the kitchen, wearing nothing but her underwear and that 'top' that truly shouldn't be called a top.

"Don't worry, Uzui-chan~!" She practically jumped on my poor maid, wrapping an arm around her shoulder as with the other hand she held a milkshake.

Pretty sure in one of our teleports, we appeared inside a restaurant, and she got it there.

Honestly? At this point, I'm numb to her antics.

"You don't have to worry, I'll be with him every step of the way, nya~!" She rather proudly proclaims.

Nevermind.

But, before I could even say anything, a cold finger was jammed into my face.

Including a shake.

"Nope! No buts! You promised a while ago, and if you need to rationalize it yourself, well~..." Kuroka purrs pleasantly, "I am yours, so my helping is like you using a tool, darling, nya~!"

I frown at that behind her hand and drink, "I didn't like that at all you know, you're not a tool." I mumble into her hand.

She merely winked at me, "In that case, I'll beat you up, and you'll have to accept my help regardless because you can't say no, nyahahaha~!"

My frown deepens, "Kuroka…"

"Be stronger, then maybe you wouldn't have to worry about it, nya~?" She retorted with a smirk.

Ooof. Okay. That stung a bit. My pride!

Ugh. I taught her that though, didn't I? She sat in on all the times I curb-stomped Shirone in our gaming sessions, after all.

"Been working on that…" I trail off dejectedly.

"I know!" She pets Uzume's hair idly as she goes on, "But sometimes, darling, you need a little help…and you can get help, without having others do everything for you, ya nyah~?"

I bite back a very stupid retort that I know would get nowhere.

Why?

Cats are stubborn. And I did promise to let her help next time something comes up.

I like to try and keep my promises, thank you.

Ah. That reminds me. I still need to get around to railing Sona's Pawn and Knight.

I click my tongue, sitting back down whilst crossing my arms to not pout.

"Fine." I concede.

"Nyahahahaha~!!" Kuroka cat cackles in victory.

Uzume gives a small smile to all this, and I just sigh.

Right then.

I turn my gaze to our fourth occupant in the room.

Kunou is just kind of sitting there, very awkwardly to herself in a chair, her hands grasping her knees as her gaze seems to find the floor very interesting.

So interesting that she's been staring at it ever since we got here.

And she hasn't said a word since.

"Oi. Princess." I call out, prompting her to twitch slightly before her gaze snaps to me, her eyes widening in shock.

Then she slowly frowned as she realized what I called her.

Ah, so she is alive over there, hmm?

I chuckle before continuing, "What are you still doing here? Thought you would have gone back home by now?"

She twitched again at that, before crossing her arms and huffing, "I was going to explain that a while ago, but as soon as we arrived here you started arguing with the maid!"

That prompted Uzume to twitch and give a low embarrassed chuckle.

I merely blinked at that little statement.

Does Kunou not recognize Uzume as a Kami? She isn't hiding her power at all!

Granted, Uzume is pretty weak in the grand scheme of things, but still!

This is hilarious, and I'm going to use this later.

Like yes, Princess, I have a literal Goddess as a maid. What about you?

Anyways, where was I? Right.

"You know you didn't need to sit there and watch us go at it from your little chair, right?" I deadpanned at her, before pointing to the door, "Doors over that away, and don't worry, I cleared the door for midget use so you can reach the handle. I think."

That bit was mostly added for Shirone, but it works out here as well.

"I'm not short!" She flushed and shouted indignantly.

I snorted, "Could have fooled me. You barely reach beneath my chest."

"T-That! Nnmghhh!!!" Her tails swooshed rapidly behind her as she looked away, ruffling her hair with her hands, "Mother. Why? Why did you make me do this!?"

Damn, she sucks at whispering.

With a deep huff, she finally turns back to me, and points.

"I—"

"Rude." I automatically cut her off, staring at her finger.

She stares, her mouth open half-lidded.

Then she growls and stands up, her fists clenching as they ignite with pale blue fox fire.

"Shut up! Shut up shut up shut up! Or I'll eat you!!"

Huh?

"Nyah~?" Kuroka tilts her head at that.

Uzune blinks, "Huh." Her voice pierced the thick as of fuck silence, "Ancient threat. Haven't heard a Yokai say that in a long time."

Kunou meanwhile, stared dead ahead in abject horror, the flames around her fists slowly petering out.

"I…" Kunou started again, seemingly in a daze, "J-Just ignore that! Okay? Okay!" She answered for herself.

Hmm. You know, I don't get it. Was that supposed to be some big threat? A slur?

Didn't get that feeling to be honest.

But maybe that's because Kunou is just that cute, she can make it sound adorable rather than offensive.

Hmm.

I nod, completely serious, "Okay. Gotcha."

She blinked at my words, and eyed me wearily, disbelief clear in her eyes, "...really?"

"Really." I nod again.

"O-O-Okay…" She stammers, taking a long, deep, breath. Then she answered, straight to the point.

"I can't go back home for the time being."

And now, it's my turn to blink at her, "...why not?"

She sighs, "The Oni. Whenever they visit Urakyoto, Mother always sends me away. They tend to get…rowdy. In numbers."

"Ah," I rub my chin as I ponder that, "so like, egregious amounts of alcohol, violence, and fucking then?"

At my ask, Kunou looks down, her face flushing at my 'vulgar' language as she gives a meek nod.

I follow up with, "So then you're still here, specifically, because…?"

"The Oni are coming for the Night Parade, obviously, and a good chunk was already in the city…we knew the rest, and the Onigami himself would show up soon, so the plan was, before then…" she gets ever quieter, "was for Mother to ask you to..erm, take me with you when you left the following day."

I blink at that, as the words pass through my head.

Then I nearly snort aloud as I finish processing it all.

Yasaka. Really? Whose side are you on? Do you wish for your daughter to be relentlessly bullied?

Because I can grant that wish, early peasy, don't worry.

But also, if the point of sending her away when the Oni shows up is to keep her from being exposed to violence, drinking, and sex then this is probably the last place on the planet Yasaka should send her to.

My response isn't even words, just a pity-filled stare that makes my newest pet princess wiggle in place.

"I need to thank Lady Yasaka for this opportunity, Kunou, you will be the perfect stress relief princess to ever exist. Promise." I tell her honestly.

"E-Eh…?" She looks at me, no no, stares at me after I say that.

Her face slowly flushes a bright rosy red as her tails puff out behind her.

Wait wait wait. Hold everything.

Does this mean I get to pet fluffy tails?

Yes.

All's right with the world.

Now then. Kunou is sputtering about…something?

"Y-Y-You…!" She points at me again, looks at her finger, puts it down, and then stomps the ground in my general direction, "I am a t-the Princess of the Kyoto Yokai! You can't use me as mere stress relief as if I was some Red Light Nekoshou in their mating season!"

Wait. Mating Season? Red Light…?

Oh. Ohhhh.

She thought I meant…ah.

"Kun—" I try, but she keeps going.

"B-Besides, I'm much too inexperienced in c-courting rituals at the moment to have any worth in that regard…" She states somewhat lamely as she looks down.

"Oi. Kuno—"

"And a-also!" She keeps on going, looking at me once more, "A big jerk like you isn't worthy of having one such as I j-j-join you in your bed!"

"Kunou. I'm not—"

"And another thing!—Ow! Owowowowo!!!"

I halt her rambling by grabbing one of her fluffy ears and giving it a light tug.

"Kunou." I state, my smile straining my face.

"I…y-y-yes…?" She mutters back, her voice way too soft for the situation, and dripping with trepidation.

"I'm not going to fuck you." I spell out, crystal clear.

"You…aren't?" She asks, quizzically.

You know what?

I'm going to pretend, pretend, I didn't hear a hint of disappointment there.

Nope. I didn't hear that. Not at all.

"No." I reaffirm. "But. I am going to bulli you relentlessly."

She whimpers, slightly.

"Especially after all that."

She full-on whimpers at my words there.

"Correction~!" Kuroka pipes up behind us, "We're going to bulli you relentlessly, nya~!"

Ah. My communist cat strikes again.

After pondering for a second, she also adds, "Say, doesn't this technically mean we get to keep her for now, darling~?"

I hum, "Guess that does, hmm?" I look at Kunou intently, "We're gonna need to get you a collar, huh?"

Kunou, of course, yipped at that.

Ah. We're going to need to think of something to get Yasaka for this wonderful opportunity.

< ~ A New Sun ~ >

"Okay then everyone!" I clap my hands together as I take a seat before the giant map, stretched out across the table that Uzume set out a while ago.

Also, yes. I stuffed the map with pins. My half-monkey brain approves of this decision.

"I would like to figure out at least some sort of course of action before I take a really, really long nap." I state, face drooping slightly as the girls all sit around the table.

Kunou is clinging to Uzume right now as if that will somehow protect her from bulli.

Futile. But cute.

Speaking of! I focus my gaze on Uzume specifically.

"First things first, do you know how specifically my Dad's meeting with the tomato bastard went?" I ask.

Context. I need context here beyond him just being mad and salty that he got his ass handed to him.

Uzume hums for a second, before starting, "It's not that complex from what I recall. Your father went to Mt. Oe, challenged Ibaraki, and humiliated him."

"Is…is that it?" I ask, nearly at a loss for words.

"Hmm…ah!" Uzume perked up, "I think, at first, Ibaraki refused because he was human and all that."

Oh?

"So then how did he end up fighting the big guy? Did he just jump him?"

"What? No, no…" She waves me off, "Your father wasn't so crass. I think what he ended up doing was challenging the weakest Oni he could find, then working up the ranks so to speak until Ibaraki had to accept."

Kunou blinked at that, before suddenly adding, "He did the equivalent of taking all their pride and stepping on it, then? Hmm…a mere human…if it were another Oni, what he did was tantamount to taking over the Oni itself." She shivers, and looks at me, "No wonder the Onigami really wants you dead. For him, he won't be the Onigami again truly until he slays you."

What.

Dad. What the fuck did you do.

"What do you mean, Princess?" I ask tentatively.

She bristles at that, but continues, "It all comes down to Oni pride. In the eyes of the Oni, the strong rule. So him and everyone else losing to your father is the ultimate show of dominance. By beating them, he is their leader…but, he didn't kill them, or at least the Onigami, which is also the ultimate insult and slap in the face." Kunou huffed, "It's like saying, 'You're so weak, you're not even worth killing!' that type of stupid stuff."

Ah. Well. Shit.

Uzume hummed in agreement, "Mhmm. That fits with what I've known about them!"

"Joy." I state blandly.

So this isn't just irrational hatred and anger. It's a matter of pride.

A dangerous combination.

Then, a thought occurred.

A very simple thought.

"What if," I start, trying to form the sentence right, "I challenge him to fight, just like Dad did."

Almost as soon as I said those words, Uzume went to speak, loudly.

I quickly added before she could, "Specifically right before noon."

And whatever she was going to say, died in her throat.

Kunou just looked confused, however, "What would the time have to do with anything?"

"You remember the video right? Of my fight with the Juggernaut Drive?" I ask Kunou right back with a smile.

Her nod and crimson blush confirmed it for me, so I continued.

"During that fight, I entered a state powered by the sun, its strength determined by the sun's height in the sky." I explained simply.

Kunou quickly caught on, as her eyes widened, "So then, by challenging him near noon..."

I nod, "I'd be at my strongest in that state, yeah."

"You'd also be at his most uncontrolled, nya~!" Kuroka added suddenly, "You've never pushed that state so high before and that power in and of itself is still recent, you know?"

"Yeah, I know." I smile solemnly, "But it's probably my only real shot at fighting him, no?"

My Ara-Mitama is still nowhere near controlled. It's like an alter ego at this point.

Not me.

"Even so," Kunou starts once more, "I don't think he'd accept an invitation to fight now."

Eh?

"Why not?" I turn back to her, befuddled.

She grimaces, "He saw you run away from him. His pride wouldn't let him accept a request from a coward."

Double shit.

"Not only that," Uzume pipes up, "but if you're going to use that, we don't know how much destruction you'll cause at that level, so we'd need to trap the both of you in a barrier space for the fight, and, well…" Uzume gives a nervous laugh, "I don't know any barrier space creation techniques that also let in natural sunlight."

"Neither do I, nya~!" Kuroka chimes in.

Kunou shrugs, "And I usually have servants who take care of such things for me…" she finished.

Triple shit sundae.

I groan and lean back in my chair.

Barrier spaces are meant to isolate everything within from outside. It makes sense a specialized one would be required to let certain things through.

"Then who would? The Five Clans?" I ask the three.

Uzume answers first, "Perhaps…but the Bureau is more likely to possess the means, I believe."

I click my tongue at that.

I've been meaning to contact them after I met with Five Clans and the Yokai.

Although I guess, technically, I have now, hmm?

But I didn't expect all this to suddenly erupt in my face during it.

I grit my teeth.

"How would one go about getting into contact with them?" I suddenly asked Uzume.

She blinks at me, before gapping at me, "Nori…really?"

"Yeah. Really." I huffed, "If they're the only ones that can make it happen, then I don't have a choice."

Uzume chewed her lips for a second, before eventually sighing, "The Bureau is under the purview of the Imperial Family. Just…head over to the Imperial Household Agency building in Tokyo, the moment you set foot on the grounds of the Imperial Palace…they'll know." She finished rather ominously.

Kunou looked between me and Uzume, clearly confused about what all that was about.

Meanwhile, Kuroka was humming pleasantly.

"You know, darling, if you're going to get help from your extended family…why not try and go all the way, nya~?" Kuroka began slyly.

I gave her a weary glance and a tired sigh, "Do I wanna know?"

"Why not get into contact with as many groups as possible," she continued unperturbed, "and see just how much help you can gather all at once, nya~!"

I felt my eyebrow twitch at that as I sighed, "Who do you recommend…?"

Kuroka's eyes lit up, as she started spewing groups and factions all across Japan.

My first thought? She must have gotten into Uzume's notes because there's no way in hell this cat knew about half the people she was listing.

My second thought? She actually might have a point with a few of these groups.

The East Yokai Faction hasn't shown up yet, getting their input and perhaps their support alongside Yasaka's would be a bone, even if it's in word only.

She notes several small Yokai Factions, largely made up of specific species of Yokai. It wouldn't shock me if one or two hated the Oni enough to play ball.

Gathering the support of the rest of the Clans wouldn't be a bad idea either, I was going to do that anyway, and with Suzaku's help that shouldn't be too hard.

Holy hell am I actually considering this?

"Whoa whoa whoa!" Kunou cried out, stopping Kuroka and making us both look at her to see her eyes practically having swirls in them, "Getting more people on your side is great and all, but you don't have time to be rushing around the country looking right now!"

Kuroka looked back at me, a cheeky smile on her face.

I merely sighed, getting at what she was insinuating with her eyes alone.

In the next moment, a little around half a dozen clones poofed into existence behind me.

Kunou stared half in wonder, half in sheer bewilderment.

Especially as the clones began waving at her and shit.

"Let's just say I can be in more than one place at once, okay?" I gave her a similarly cheeky smile myself, and dispelled all the clones, holding back the wince of their memories hitting me all at once.

"W-Well…alright…" Kunou began again, "Still, assuming you get all the help you need, how are you going to make sure the Onigami accepts your challenge? Like I said, he likely thinks you're a coward!"

I shrug, "Then let's force him to accept, just like dear old Dad did." I stand up, looking over the map.

And the map doesn't have Mt. Oe on it. It's just outside of Kyoto.

Neuron deactivated.

I sigh, waving to the map in general, "I presume the guy didn't bring all his Oni to Kyoto, no? So. How about we pay Mt. Oe a visit, and I show that old molding tomato just how much of a coward I am!"

Kunou stared at me, absolutely stunned.

Likely also thinking I have a death wish, but eh, who doesn't think that of me at this point?

Kuroka cat cackled in her seat at my little proclamation, "Ah~! Darling? May I come with you on that little trip? I have something I'm working on that requires an Oni or two to lend some…assistance, nya~!"

Hmm. Suddenly, I feel much worse for the Oni still on that mountain.

"Sure kitty, whatever you want," I pat her on the head, "just try not to play with your food too much."

"Nyah~!" She purrs at my touch, tails waggling back and forth before she winks, "No promises~!"

Uzume just gives a tired sigh, "I really should have seen all that coming," she muttered, "well, with Kuroka there, it should be fine…" she trails off.

Kunou, meanwhile, looked between all of us like we were insane.

To be fair, it's not like she would necessarily be wrong thinking that.

< ~ A New Sun ~ >

It took a little while after that to narrow down where exactly I was going to send my clones off too.

One for the Bureau, one for the East, another for the Clans, and the rest for various smaller factions across Japan.

With all that taken care of and a general game plan for what's to come next, you'd think it would be naptime right?

Nope! There's one last thing to take care of!

We've got a guest, a Princess to be exact, and it's not like we have guest rooms here in this apartment for her.

Wasn't expecting additional company beyond Uzume after all.

…where does Uzume sleep, anyway? The last couple of times I made her sleep on the couch, but this time she just kind of left.

Kuroka went to the bedroom after we broke the meeting, but where did Uzume go?

Hmm. I'm just going to chalk it up to Kami stuff.

For now, though.

"Are you sure you wanna stay here in Kyoto?" I ask the very pouty Princess, once more, who's crossing her arms and looking away whilst sitting daintily on the couch.

Trying to convince this very stubborn, very cute, fox that staying at my place in Kuoh for a bit isn't working out all too well.

"I'm not leaving the home of my people." Was her curt reply, "Or Mother."

I deadpanned at her, "Even if you've gotta sleep on the couch here?"

She twitched at that.

"You know, while we're at it, let's get this out of the way." I continue, "I honestly think your Mother would probably prefer if you stayed out of…all this. You don't need to help, or fight, any of that."

Kunou scoffed, "Perhaps. But Mother also said she would help you, and for her dreams…" She looked at me, resolute, "If it's for Mother, I'll do it."

"Really? That's it?" I plop down next to her lackadaisically, "So if your Mother told you to try and seduce me into marriage, you'd go for it? No questions asked?"

She blinks at that, then shivers as her face flushes, "I expected you to say something like that, but n-not that specifically…how am I supposed to answer that properly!?"

"I dunno," I hum out, "technically, you know, I am royalty. A prince. Kind of. Not officially. Dad was the Crown Prince of the Imperial Family, so, you know~!" I give her a sly grin, "Could happen, just saying~!"

"E-Eh?? I suppose that explains some stuff from earlier…hey, w-wait a minute now!" She cried in outrage, "That l-lineage may have been a big deal back before I was even born! But nowadays it isn't all that!"

"Point." I concede, "But consider this. The Imperial Family's power back in the day was garnered from their lineage to Amaterasu." I lean back casually onto the couch, "Now, who am I again?"

"You're…A-Ah." Kunou blinked, several times in fact, before sputtering and promptly shutting up.

Ah. The pain of being raised royalty.

I chuckle, "Of course, if your mother wanted me in the family, pretty sure she'd just seduce me herself."

"E-EEHHH!?" Kunou practically squealed, "Y-You? With M-Mother!? You aren't worthy to—"

"Pretty sure she already tried in fact." I continue promptly, ignoring her, "Well, kind of, maybe more like testing the waters. She certainly gives off that unrepentant flirt energy though, doesn't she?"

"Mother isn't! Er, she…Nmgh." Kunou quickly quiets down, wiggling in place, "Can we please stop talking about this now? Please?"

I hum, "Well hold on now, I didn't get to finish. You wanna know why she would probably rather do it herself?"

"W-Why?" Kunou grumbled uneasily.

"Because she wouldn't want to force you to do anything you don't wanna do."

Kunou paused, and I reached over and patted her head.

"You're lucky, don't you know?" I continued softly, "Having a mother that cares about you in more ways than just what you could be used for. Not a lot of Princesses get that luxury, so aren't you the spoiled one, hmm?" I chuckled as she grumbled and blushed.

"If what you truly wish to do is see your mother's dream and words through, who am I to say that's wrong? It's what you want, after all." I yawn, scratching behind her ears idly as I do, prompting her to make a sound reminiscent of light purring, "Just, try not to get caught up thinking everything your mother wants is what you want, I guess. You're two different people, you aren't her clone. You can have wants beyond her."

"I-I…guess." Kunou mutters, before finally realizing what I'm doing, and promptly batting away my hand with a huff, "I…haven't been outside Kyoto before. I suppose…it would be nice to see outside the city for once?" She tried, almost scared, like what she was suggesting was illegal.

Hmm. That can be arranged.

"Still don't wanna stay in my other place, with your room and everything~? You really wanna stay here with all of us?" I ask her once more.

"D-Did you not already hear me?" She stammers, yet still looking straight at me, "This is all for Mother!"

"Oh~? Not because you like us?" I coyly respond.

"No. Not one bit." She huffs, crossing her arms, "You're a big jerk. Your cat is too h-horny. Your maid is…adequate, however."

"You're just saying that because you haven't seen enough of her yet." I roll my eyes, "Trust me, that opinion will change."

Kunou eyed me in confusion for that comment, before yelping as I suddenly stood up.

"Well! If you're staying with us, then I suppose it's only right that a Princess such as yourself gets the correct commendations." I announce stoically.

Immediately, Kunou tensed, weary of me.

"...I have a feeling I'm not going to like where this is going." She states, uneasy.

And she was instantly proven right, as I picked her up.

"Which is why you're going to stay with us. In the big bed." I further state.

"Eh?" Kunou stares at me, half-lidded like she can't process what I just said.

Then as I started walking toward the bedroom, she started gaping and flushing like mad as she sputtered out, "E-Ehhhh!? Hey now! I didn't agree to this! The couch is just fine! Promise! P-Promise!!"

I smirk, "It would be rude to have one such as yourself sleep on the couch, wouldn't it?"

"N-No! No, it wouldn't! I insist!" She pleads desperately.

I open the bedroom door, revealing a Kuroka, hiding under the blanket with a cheshire grin and glowing yellow eyes.

Kunou grabs onto the door frame for what could be seen as dear life.

"Please! You're not a big jerk! I didn't mean any of that stuff I said! I'm sorry, I'm sorry!!" She continued pleading.

All for naught.

"We will have fluffy tails." I intone as I pull her off the door frame.

"N-Noooo!!!" She gave one final squeal as she was pulled in.

Honestly. I don't know what she thinks is going to happen, I just brought her because I wanted to pet fluffy tails. And ears.

Might need to bring out the spray bottle and the rolled-up newspaper in case Kuroka tries getting handsy, but we aren't going to torture her or anything.

Besides, I need to fill the fun quota as much as possible right now.

There isn't long before the Night Parade begins, and if I have my way?

I'll be sacking a mountain while the yokai dance, and by morning, a very pissed-off Daiyokai to kill.

< ~ A New Sun ~ >

Chapter 22 End


Fuckin' love writing Kunou. Also want to lewd her so damn bad, but like, plot and development first. Then petting can be petting if you catch what I mean.

In the meanwhile, we are getting to this arc's conclusion fairly swiftly. 

Like, within the next three, fourth, fivish chapters. Because I'm thinking of putting the clone meeting with the Bureau/Imperial Family in its own Interlude.

I won't show all of the clone's interactions with the factions, just the Bureau/Imperial Family as they're the most important story wise.