47

Chapter Text

Waking up this morning, I was still buzzing with excitement from the events of yesterday.

The feeling of a worthy challenge and the experience of meeting so many interesting people was too much excitement to go away instantly.

Not that I would want the feeling to disappear. I want to enjoy this feeling for as long as possible and build upon it.

My only regret is that I didn't have time to spar with everyone. If my spar with Haneul was any indication, I'd be able to enjoy battling any of them.

I can't complain because I got to see their strength during the events but being able to personally experience their ability in a duel would have been better.

There's always next time though, and that thought alone is enough for me.

Since we exchanged numbers I'll be able to bully all of them into fights eventually!

Suffice to say I got weird looks from the people walking to their jobs due to my maniacal laughter.

Though I enjoyed these past months, especially the most recent one, I'm relieved to be finally heading home.

It has been so long since I last saw my mother or Shuten. Even if I've been too busy with training myself, Akeno and Takehiko, as well as interacting with the other Oni to truly be homesick, I have still definitely missed them.

There's a difference between not having time to worry and not worrying at all.

Worse is the persistent question of how they were faring in my absence. The worry has been niggling at the back of my mind this whole time. Not manifesting itself as any substantial panic but a constant dull throb.

Thinking about it, this has been the longest I've been separated from the two of them.

I can't see anything bad happening in my absence, and even if something did, they could handle it. I just hope they've been well.

Oddly, I was so reluctant to leave Kyoto and return to the village initially, yet now I can't think of the trip as anything but a blessing. I was able to form amicable relationships with the Oni from the village, reunite with my disciple whom I hadn't expected to see again, and I also had the opportunity to bond with Akeno.

Speaking of them, It has even been a full month since I saw Akeno or my wayward disciple.

Susanoo would have likely sent them straight to my home in Kyoto or at the very least somewhere nearby in the city. It wouldn't have made sense for him to do otherwise since he wouldn't have anything to gain from it.

The only question I have is whether they've kept up their training in the past month. I highly doubt they would slack off just because I wasn't there. Knowing their ability and the training habits I instilled in them, I'm eager to see their progress.

Of course, in the event they have been slacking in their training I can dissuade them from repeating that mistake in the future.

I grin sharply and the bystanders around me stumble as my malicious thoughts leak out.

'Don't scare the humans too much.' At Byakko's rebuke, I rein my aura back in.

It wouldn't be good to give these salarymen heart attacks, especially in such a brutal work culture.

Fight on, good workers!

The passing thought of work environments makes me think of my 'employees'.

Don't my minions have it too good?

They're healthier than the majority of humans, they get paid well, they get skills training, and have both personal security and job security. They even have the potential to rise in position based on the amount of effort they put in.

Isn't that a dream work environment? Especially for delinquents and dropouts who don't get better job opportunities.

When I expand the gang I should find a way to work those points into the recruitment pitch. Once I'm done conquering Kyoto's criminal element, there isn't anything stopping me from continuing across all of Japan. Therefore, I'll need to do recruitment eventually.

Maybe I should make them work my current minions harder as compensation? A 'reward' for getting in on the ground floor of this enterprise.

Well, I say that but as long as everyone has been trained up to my standard I'm going to be starting a gang war in the coming days. Kyoto isn't going to conquer itself and I don't have anything else pressing on my schedule.

That should be enough danger for me to get my money's worth from my minions.

'You don't plan to start a war in the streets right?' I frown as I process Byakko's lazily drawled question.

Well, um, you see…shit.

This is another one of those situations where I'm not allowed to punch my way through it, isn't it?

I frown wondering why the modern era has to be so difficult. With an archaic system such as that of my village, all you need to do is kill the strongest guy and you're the new leader.

How the hell am I supposed to conquer the criminal underworld if I'm not allowed to butcher my way through the streets? I frown as I ponder the situation more carefully.

I need to figure out the exact situation before making any overt moves but I had assumed I could just bully them into submission like with the Golden Dragons. The classic, 'beat up the leader to force everyone else to submit' scenario is the method I have the most experience with.

I mean, I guess I could use strategy or undermine the prosperity of their businesses to force them to concede their territory. I could also figure out a way to build enough capital and buy out their assets from underneath them.

That seems like a lot of work though.

A better question is, why the hell did I train up an army of minions if I can't crush my enemies out in the open?

Don't get me wrong, armed conflict is almost guaranteed considering the opposing gangs in the area are run by supernatural factions, not humans. Still, I had been working under the assumption I could just crush their skulls under my feet from the outset. Pulp their flesh, grind their bones to dust -you know, old school domination.

'You'll still get to fight them but you need to figure out who you're dealing with first. You will also need to use something called 'subtlety.' I can feel Byakko's smug grin from where he's lazing in my mindscape.

'I can do subtle,' I shoot back with a pout.

I'll have to check in with Kintoki and my other executives in the coming days to get a feel for things again. Depending on how things go that could be as early as tomorrow.

I left them with orders to secure our territory quietly while implementing my new rules and policies. There shouldn't be any big news as a result of those orders but it would be best not to just leap into conflict right away.

'Is that common sense I heard?' I growl a warning at him which he summarily ignores, 'To think you had some hiding inside you.'

'I'm not that bad,' I protest weakly.

Byakko doesn't offer an alternate verdict crushing any hope I have to reverse that impression of me. Well, I'll just have to ensure the gang war is violent and bloody. That way I won't have to admit that I was wrong about how it would be conducted.

A perfect solution that serves many purposes beyond salvaging my wounded pride.

My executives should be able to smooth out the rough edges of my plan. Turn it into something workable.

'Plan is a bit of a big leap. It's barely an idea with how little you have there.' Byakko still sounds excessively amused at the situation.

'I don't see you offering any ideas.' I snipe back petulantly, receiving a chuckle in response.

Smug bastard.

As I pass through the barriers around the property of the house, I breathe a sigh of relief feeling everything unchanged.

If there had been significant modifications to the spell structure or damage to the barrier I would have been a little worried but not too much. Outside frankly improbable events where someone absurdly powerful decides to attack them, my mother can handle any possible attacks.

Considering I haven't made any enemies that would warrant such an attack, and Kyoto is the territory of both the Principal Clans and the West Yokai Faction, I doubt I'll have to worry about it any time soon. I would have to grievously insult someone for them to dare make such a bold move.

With the barriers being in the same condition as when I left, I can be sure that nothing bad happened in my absence here.

Walking through the front door I announce my arrival, "I'm home!"

A response from my mother is heard from the kitchen, a slightly muffled 'welcome home!', and the smell of food being prepared reaches me.

I'm still not very hungry considering the amount I ate yesterday but the familiar scent is endearing and brings a sense of comfort after such a long time away.

As I travel towards the kitchen I look around and take in any changes. There's a new painting hung in the hallway; a water feature oil-painting that is well done but doesn't interest me. Other than that everything is the same.

It's comforting to see the place relatively unchanged since my absence.

After a short walk, I step into the kitchen.

My mother looks over her shoulder as I enter and flashes me a smile. The corner of her lips twitch in restrained amusement as she notices the little dragon peeking over my shoulder.

He chooses this moment to yawn and readjusts his position, snuggling his snout further into the crook of my neck.

I chuckle at his antics and shake my head with a grin.

As I turn my attention back to her, she scrutinizes my expression more carefully.

"You look happy," She says, her smile softening.

I glare at her even as my cheeks heat up, "Don't say such embarrassing things so casually."

She has the gall to laugh at my reaction even as my glare intensifies. Between her and Byakko I'm starting to wonder if anyone fears me the way they should.

I'm a murderous demon who evokes fear and despair, not some adorable creature to be fawned over!

"Fine, I won't tease you more than this. I do, however, want to hear the details of your trip." That is something I'm eager to share.

I take a deep breath, prepared to dive headfirst into the tale of my adventures when she rolls her eyes and points at Gator.

"First though, what is that lizard on your back?" I scratch the bottom of said lizard's jaw, eliciting a gurgling hiss of contentment.

"This is Gator, I brought him for Shuten." My mother levels a flat stare at me so I continue my explanation.

"My youngest sister asked for a dragon. I had the opportunity to obtain one so I thought, why not? Besides, I doubt I would have the chance to get one with a better bloodline than this little guy." My mother stills at the word dragon and glances between Gator and me.

As she processes that, I plop the dragon down on the island countertop. He wriggles a bit on the surface before deciding it isn't worth the effort and laying down.

Letting out an explosive sigh, my mother pinches the bridge of her nose. "I'm pretty sure that when a child asks for something like a dragon you're supposed to pretend as though you'll get them one. Not actually acquire one for them."

"He's harmless though, a real wimp honestly." Well, comparatively speaking.

To prove my point I poke him a couple of times. He snaps at my hand, swallowing it up to my wrist and I raise my arm with him still attached. He hangs there, clamped on my arm as I twirl him around.

"See?" I tap him in between the eyes and he hisses, letting go of my hand.

A quick burst of flame burns off the saliva coating my hand. No clean, not a mark is left on my skin. A slightly empty demonstration considering I'm more durable than the dragon but he isn't a mindless beast or else he wouldn't have let go.

Compared to me, he's pretty weak but most beings are at this point. I wonder if that's conceited of me to think so? I have a healthy enough understanding of where I stand in this world's power levels. I'm not dumb enough to challenge the Trimurti or anything yet.

"It isn't the dragon I'm worried about." She shakes her head, muttering under her breath, "And isn't that a depressing statement."

"Oh, in that case, he should be durable enough to handle anything Shuten can dish out." Even the runt of the litter of dragons is still a dragon.

Apex predators can't be measured by the same metric as other beings. A dragon is a being that is born at the apex of all species and grows stronger by simply existing. I doubt Shuten has grown strong enough to meaningfully harm Gator.

Considering how toothless he is, the coward, I doubt he'll be able to hurt her either.

She eyes the napping dragon sceptically, "If you say so. Will she be able to take proper care of him?"

"I don't see why not." I pause mid-shrug as I realize how little I've thought this out. "...probably?"

"Are you trying to convince me or yourself with that answer?" I scratch the back of my neck as I think this through some more.

I know nothing about how to properly care for a dragon. Not only that but they're mostly extinct or hidden in nearly all places around the world.

That means information on them is going to be difficult to get ahold of. Especially if I need reliable information about a hybrid species that historically hasn't been allowed to exist past infancy. This is pioneering a wholly new field of animal rearing.

I don't know how large he'll grow, how much he needs to eat, or how intelligent he's going to grow with age. The question of intelligence is probably the most worrying unknown out of the bunch.

I can't exactly allow Shuten to treat him the same as her pet centipede if he demonstrates human-level intelligence. That would be teaching my sister some very questionable practices.

Eh, in the worst-case scenario I'll take care of the dragon myself.

I might be able to spin this into a lesson for my sister… I'll have to think about that more before I see her.

"Yeah, I believe she'll be able to handle it. If not, I'll take responsibility." I nod resolutely, ending the line of questioning.

"She has taken good care of Anzu. As much as she had some difficulties training her at first. Anzu has been very good recently." My mother agrees easily enough.

That isn't the best example considering insects are self-sufficient but I'll take the offered concession.

"Though she has grown quite large for a centipede, even as a giant centipede." she taps her finger on her chin contemplatively.

Why do I not like the sound of that?

Moving on to safer topics, "Speaking of my sister, where is everyone?"

My mother grins and her face lights up with pride.

"Both your sister and Akeno are training in the dojo right now. Shuten was very serious when she said she would work hard in your absence." My interest peaks at the idea of Shuten training of her own volition.

While I didn't exactly doubt her when she expressed her desire to grow stronger, nothing in the past ever indicated I should get my hopes up regarding diligent training from her.

I know she's young and doesn't have the external pressures that I had but the lack of interest in training was… Hmm, how do I put this delicately?

I don't want to say disappointing because I wouldn't be upset if she never wanted to train at all.

She could become a scholar for all I care, so long as she's happy and earnestly trying her best. I genuinely mean that too, even if I think that this world is harsh on those without power. Knowledge is a power of its own and if something like that is what makes her happy that's fine.

All I would need to do is ensure the world knows to fear what I would do if anyone touched her.

I think the best way to put it is, to see so little drive from an Oni toward combat is abnormal. Especially so with how much she enjoys watching me train, fight or kill things.

My mother and Kiyoshi are the only other Oni I know that aren't crazy about fighting. Three is a very small portion of our species, so yes, odd would be one way to describe her lack of interest in fighting.

It isn't even laziness because I've seen her interest in poison first hand. She has drive and ambition when she's interested in a topic but she's always been apathetic towards being the one fighting.

Maybe it's the physical exertion that annoys her?

"I'm excited to see her progress now!" My mother smiles indulgently, then the expression turns cautious.

"Measure your excitement carefully, okay? I've never seen her trying this hard and I don't want your response to affect that negatively. She looks up to you and if your response is too excited or not excited enough it might hinder her."

"Hmm, I think I understand." Too little and she'll be disheartened, too much and the weight of my expectations might crush her enthusiasm.

Sometimes I forget she's still so young and impressionable.

"She's also only increased her physical training marginally so don't focus too much on that." I tilt my head questioningly and my mother elaborates.

"Shuten has been training in Yojutsu and poison creation almost exclusively." I purse my lips at that, not voicing my feelings yet.

Even if I think that not training in martial arts is a waste, she's still young and unlike me when I was her age she has time. As long as she slowly develops her physical abilities she'll be able to defend herself against most threats up close.

There is wisdom in getting that muscle memory ingrained in the body during childhood though. I close my eyes as I toss around some ideas of how to make the training fun. She didn't seem to mind playing tag with Byakko and that was decent training for striking and evasion.

I'm sure I'll figure something out.

"She's already read all the books that we bought for her related to poison and has begun pestering me for more." My mother says that but doesn't look upset at all, "Akeno has also been asking for more books around the house."

'Is that a dig at me not being studious?' I think with narrowed eyes.

'It wouldn't hurt you to pick up a book every once in a while." Byakko snipes.

'I'm educated enough, thank you very much. Besides, who needs to study when you can beat your problems into submission.' I conclude with a satisfied grin.

Back to the original topic, we have the money to continue supplying them with textbooks. The issue is probably the potential of Shuten attempting something dubious with the knowledge she obtains.

All it takes is one negligent experiment and the local water table gets filled with poison or hazardous chemicals.

There are a lot of things I can get away with but I doubt Yasaka would be pleased with the mass poisoning of the civilian population of Kyoto. Or any of the other factions for that matter.

I hadn't anticipated that the study in this house would end up being filled with books… How did my sisters become nerds?

"She has even begun to subtly coax the Zen Master into teaching her about medicine in an attempt to combine her knowledge of the two disciplines. If there is a saving grace it is that he is not oblivious to her intentions and his knowledge doesn't extend beyond herbal remedies."

She frowns slightly, "Though he does humour her a bit too much. The garden has begun to fill with medicinal herbs that he brings for her. I can't argue with the gesture though since Shuten is always overjoyed and it does get her to focus more on her studies."

I suppose the only differences between poison and medicine are the doses and the intent behind them. I'm curious what ideas she's come up with.

"He also brings Akeno the occasional magical text so at the very least both children are happy. It makes it difficult for me to be upset." I'll have to find a way to thank him for that.

He doesn't have to bring them gifts as their teacher, the fact that he does speaks well of him. The fact that Shuten is a good enough student that her tutor wants to engage her interests is surprising.

"Ever since Akeno returned, she has been teaching your sister magical theory as well." I smile at that.

"It's good to hear they're getting along." My mother laughs at my response.

"They do now. Your sister tried to assert her dominance over Akeno and lost convincingly in the fight. Akeno then decided to instil some discipline in Shuten." I blink in surprise as my mother continues.

"Apparently with the 'over-indulgent influence' away it was time to correct your sister's, 'deficient personality'." For a moment I'm offended before I toss that around in my head some more.

My mother raises an eyebrow as a smile slowly spreads across my face, "So what you're saying is, Akeno is taking her responsibility as Shuten's older sister seriously."

"Only you could come to that conclusion." my mother sounds strangely resigned.

I wave a hand dismissively.

"I'm simply glad they're bonding well. I was worried they wouldn't get along without me to mediate." Now I just need to get Akeno to call me her older sister and I can die happily.

Although… hearing Shuten call Akeno her older sister would be equally as cute.

"That's why Shuten has been doing any physical training beyond the minimum. She doesn't want to lose to Akeno again." I nod having come to that conclusion easily enough. Shuten may be a bit lazy but she doesn't enjoy losing.

"There are worse reasons, I suppose." As I shrug I notice Gator slowly wriggling across the counter towards where my mother is filling bento boxes with the food she has prepared.

This cheeky lizard is trying to sneak food under my nose? I think not.

I grab him by the tail and drag him back over to me, ignoring the pitiful whine he lets out with the cultivated skill of an older sister with a petulant younger sister.

"I'll get you something to eat later." A quick glare has him curling up and pretending to sleep again.

Dragons can have human food, right? If they can have humans for food they should be able to eat anything humans eat.

I know I can.

But what if he can't have chocolate or something? It wouldn't be good if a dragon died to such a stupid method, even if by accident. We can't have Nestle becoming dragonslayers via a rogue Kit Kat.

I'm drawn out of my thoughts by my mother clicking her tongue, "She has the same self-destructive ideas about how to train as you do."

Did Shuten create a Body Refining technique of her own or something? That's the only 'self-destructive' training I go through. Provided we don't take self-destructive so literally, then I suppose I've spent multiple days awake training before.

Well, I'll find out when I see her since she'll be able to explain the technique better.

She shakes her head, "I have no idea where you two got that from, it certainly wasn't from me."

I laugh at her exasperated tone, "It's called efficiency. Suffering a little during training means you suffer less later."

"My children are going to drive me into an early grave." She says dramatically, bemoaning her misfortune of having two insane daughters.

"We got sidetracked, I want to hear about what you did in these past months." I lean on my elbows, putting them on top of the kitchen island.

"I'm sure you heard about our time at the village from Akeno so I'll skip over that." My mother frowns and crosses her arms.

"I want to hear from you about your time." Her expression softens, "At the very least I want to hear whether you had a good time there."

"It went a lot better than I expected. I was a bit upset at you for essentially forcing me to head back there but in the end, I agree it was for the best." I sigh not enjoying admitting that so bluntly.

My mother nods as though she expected that wearing a proud smile the whole time. When you're right, you're right, I guess.

"I appointed an official brewmaster while I was there!" I point out, making an extremely skilled topic change.

"That's nice. Did you get to sample any of Hayate's products?" My mother graciously allows the new topic, seemingly having heard what she was looking for.

"You know him?" I say in surprise before shaking my head, "No wait, of course, you do."

It isn't like the village was large so everyone knew each other. I was the only one who had neither the time nor the inclination to get to know them until recently.

"To answer your question, I haven't yet. He wanted to take the time to make something great."

I pout, "He also ruined the mystery of the blood saké for me. Allegedly, blood can't even be made into alcohol because there isn't enough sugar inside it. He has to use Yojutsu to alter the proteins into sugar instead."

I turn my nose up at that assertion, of course. "I think he's lying or not trying hard enough."

My mother reaches over and ruffles my hair.

"It's adorable that you think that is possible." I huff in annoyance and look away.

"How am I supposed to know whether it is or not? I'm not a chemist." I mumble and my mother just chuckles much to my consternation.

"Where did Susanoo end up taking you?" My annoyance fades as I remember my time in Izanami's castle, my smile coming back in full force.

"We went to Yomi! It was amazing there," My mother's eyes twitches at the mention of the land of the dead but I press onward, "There were undead and demons as far as the eye could see, all for the killing."

"Can we go back to the fact you were Yomi?"

"What's wrong with Yomi? It's a way nicer place than you would think. The only real problems are the lack of sunlight, the ability to eat any food, or ambient Ki. It's scenic in an unassuming way." I mean, it could use some rivers or forests to fill the environment but it isn't bad by any means.

"...You realize you described an uninhabitable wasteland right?" She looks distinctly unimpressed as she sums up my words.

"No, it's inhabitable. You simply need to be dead to fully enjoy it. Either that or be as awesome as I am!" I rest my fists on my hips and jut out my chest with pride.

My mother deftly glosses over my self congratulating words, "Ignoring that, you roamed around killing undead and demons for the entire month?"

"I thought that would be how it turned out but I spent a lot of the time reading the journals of deceased heroes. Trying to glean something useful from their memoirs." A waste of time for the most part.

Heroes have surprisingly mundane lives outside their adventures and feel like those mundane moments are way more interesting than they truly were.

"Other than that, I spent a lot of time training with the help of Izanami." My mother fumbles the bento she's preparing at the name drop.

"The goddess of death? That same Izanami?" I nod happily at the question.

"Of course, aren't you impressed? Your daughter is moving up in the world." Rather than with my last boast, this one receives a sincere smile in response.

"I'm always impressed by what you do. Keep working hard, okay?" Urk, don't switch it up and hit me with such an earnest compliment. It's bad for my heart!

Deflect, deflect! "I also met the Crom Cruach which was awesome!"

My mother's face blanks in confusion, "Who?"

"Eh? What do you mean who? The Strongest Evil Dragon! The Cresent Circle Dragon! A being who stands at the top of the world in power!" I gape in shock while my mother just tilts her head to the side.

"That's nice? I have no idea who that is but all that sounds impressive." I groan and promise to sit down and explain the entirety of the mythology of the world to my family.

After allowing me to recover from my emotional damage, my mother continues our conversation.

"Is it your efforts paying off that has put you in such a good mood then?" I tilt my head and ponder that.

It is probably partially a result of that. When I was just training and doing the occasional task for Yasaka I didn't feel like I was making progress. Now though I can see good things beginning to happen so the effort feels worth it.

Though mostly, "It has been the events of yesterday that made things clear to me. There was a massive subjugation of dragons that I took part in. I got hyped, had a ton of fun, and got to slaughter rare enemies!"

My mother looks between me and Gator with an uncomfortable expression, "His siblings I assume?"

"Mhm! Don't feel bad about them though, they would've destroyed the coasts of Korea, Japan, and China without being culled." I'm sure someone would have stepped in either way but then it wouldn't have been a good training opportunity.

"So you killed these dragons yourself then?"

"I wish," I sigh forlornly, "There were representatives from all the relevant factions there to participate."

I perk back up quickly since I'm not truly upset about it. Sure it would have meant more enemies for me to fight but then I wouldn't have met so many interesting people.

"I made a lot of friends there." I pull out my phone and show her my contacts list which has doubled as a result of this trip.

That is no great feat considering my contacts before were my mother and the executives of the Golden Dragons… Even thinking about that is pretty embarrassing.

My mother's excitement suddenly surpasses mine as she reads the list, "That's wonderful! When can I meet them?"

I flinch at the sudden intensity, glancing at her sceptically, "Is this such an important event?"

"Of course it is! I was worried you would never get any friends besides that club you're in." She says such cruel words with an easy-going smile.

"It isn't a club it's a gang," I whine pitifully.

"Of course, dear." She continues scrolling through my contacts with interest.

"Hm? Is this the same Suzaku we met before?" My mother points at Suzaku's number in my contacts and I nod.

"Yeah, small world huh? I was out with her last night, otherwise, I would have arrived back home yesterday." A sly smile stretches across my mother's face and a glint appears in her eye.

"Oh? Just the two of you?" I take my phone back, confused at the emphasis.

"Yes?" The smile stretches wider and I begin to feel as though I've misstepped.

"I was worried for a while there that even if you flirted with every pretty girl you saw, you didn't have any interest." She flashes me a thumbs up, "Work hard and give me a grandchild soon."

My blush is atomic as I process what she said, "Mom! What the hell?"

"You two will make beautiful children, they should be strong too." She nods along to herself, completely ignoring my mortification.

"How would that even work!?" My mother taps her finger on her chin before shrugging.

"I'm sure you'll figure something out." I slump bonelessly against the counter and groan.

"Please stop." She goes to continue verbally torturing me when she suddenly looks at the clock.

"I want to get a head start on making baby outfits but I have to go to work soon." She sighs and finishes packing up the meals.

For my part, I just sigh in relief. I might have died of embarrassment if that had continued. The mighty Ibaraki, slain by teasing. There is always a bigger fish it seems.

Once I've recovered I process what she said, "Wait, work?"

"Hm?" She pauses before flashing me a smile, "I got an apprenticeship with a textiles store in Urakyoto."

She's too excited to notice my confusion as she continues, "I say that but I'm also teaching them some things at the same time. They teach me more modern techniques and styles and in exchange, I teach them the classical techniques and styles I learned in the village."

"The older styles are a real hit with the older Yokai clans. Most of the people who would have lived long enough to know the techniques wouldn't have ever learned them." My mother shrugs, likely not caring about the minutia behind the circumstance, merely the benefit.

"I don't think we need money though?" I phrase it like a question because I'm still confused.

My mother ruffles my hair and keeps cleaning up, "It isn't about money, I just wanted to do something around here. Besides, I have my interests, right?"

That I understand at least, "Ah ok, as long as it makes you happy."

I give my mother a quick hug and help her clean up, the two of us smiling a little brighter as we work.

After my mother left for work, I store the Bentos she made with magic, place Gator back on top of my shoulders, and begin making my trip to the dojo.

The kids are still out training and the meals were made for when they finish. Normally my mother would have eaten with them but since she started her new job she has been preparing their meals in advance.

As long as everyone eats slowly there shouldn't be any mess. I say that but it is hard to worry about insects being attracted when Anzu would eat any of them. Besides, the barriers on the property take care of low-level maintenance.

I hide my presence as I approach the training ground since I want to see how they're doing without me. If I announced myself they may act differently or try harder which wouldn't give me an accurate metric to judge their progress.

I check their positioning with my Ki sense and find they're currently sitting with their backs to the entrance. Even though it allows me to sneak in without them seeing me, I still click my tongue at that.

You should always watch entrances for threats! Constant vigilance!

I slide the door closed behind me and carefully examine what they're doing. Akeno is seated behind my Shuten with her hands on my sister's shoulders. Her palms are emitting a soft golden light which I immediately recognize as the Holy element.

Akeno seems tense but the feeling is focused outward, so she must be worried about what Shuten is doing. It isn't too deep an anxiety towards what they're doing, making me think it is either something only slightly dangerous or something they've done before.

Shuten on the other hand is visibly sweating buckets as a deep purple haze flows off her body. Her Ki is in complete disarray and I would interrupt in concern if I didn't sense complete confidence in her aura.

If I had to guess, Shuten is using poison to break down her body and Akeno is healing her at the same time. It's an inspired method of training but I can't see any immediate reasons as to why Shuten isn't simply doing it by herself with Ki. I know she can do it that way and avoided it because she wasn't fond of the method, mostly due to the pain.

With that in mind, there must be some reason why she's choosing this method. A benefit that this gives her that my method doesn't. It isn't because it gives Akeno experience healing because that would be entirely too selfless of my sister.

The poison could also be a numbing agent, abating the pain from breaking down her body. That seems like a waste of time and effort though.

After a few more moments of watching to make sure things are going smoothly I look around for Anzu, knowing my sister's pet wouldn't be far from her. I would look for Takehiko as well but he isn't in the house at all. I have no idea where he went but I assume he's out for a run or something.

The centipede isn't in the courtyard so I extend my Ki sense down below the ground and shiver at what I find.

When my mother mentioned Anzu growing larger, I hadn't expected the centipede to grow this big. She has reached a length of at least five meters and carved out her own living space below the property. It's hard to gauge the exact layout of the space but it seems to be a fairly large tunnel system.

At five meters, she's over the length of an adult anaconda at this point. Not only that but I can tell at a glance that it has gotten stronger as well.

What the hell has my sister been feeding that thing?

Ugh, why did she have to choose a centipede of all things as her pet? I would've gotten her a venomous snake if I had known this would happen. Giant snakes are cool but giant centipedes are just terrifying. Trust me, I've killed both while I was in Yomi.

I don't even know if she can be considered a centipede anymore. Anzu is a demonic beast now.

I'm spared from that depressive downward spiral of thoughts by the girls finishing their task. I tune back in just in time to listen to them chatting.

"Is this the best method?" Akeno asks Shuten as the younger of the two rolls her shoulders.

Now that their both standing I notice that Shuten has grown again. She is nearing four feet tall if I had to guess, maybe closer to three-foot ten.

She's growing quicker than human children but I'm not sure if it's particularly fast for an Oni. The only example to compare her growth to is mine and I was too busy to measure my height growing up.

"For what, pure physical ability? No, it isn't, not even close." Shuten shakes her head.

"Why do it then? Don't get me wrong, the practice healing is useful but if it isn't necessary you shouldn't be doing it." Shuten bites her lip and stares at the ceiling as she thinks of her answer.

"Immunity and… um," She bites her lip as she tries to remember the word, "Integration!"

She pokes her finger with one of her claws causing a drop of blood to well up. When the drop hits the ground, the dirt hisses and a hole burns out around the droplet. "Integration of the poison makes me innately poisonous. More than I already am anyway."

A malicious gleam dances in her eyes, "Even if someone stabs me they're risking dying from exposure to my blood. Eventually, a simple touch might be enough to kill someone."

One of her fingers drops down as she moves to her second point, "Also, as my body adapts to poisons of increasing potency, less aggressive substances will be easily ignored. I have a decent immunity as a result of my affinity already so it should grow to be near-complete immunity."

Akeno looks unimpressed, "I still think it's stupid but this isn't the first time I've brought it up. I'm sure Ibaraki-nee will straighten this out when she gets back."

I barely suppress an excited squee and have to stop myself from doing a victory dance lest I give away my presence. For all I know, she'll be too embarrassed to repeat that form of address if she knows I'm here. Not that I'd let her backtrack now!

Shuten glares at Akeno, "Just because I can't beat you in a spar doesn't mean you can address Onee-sama so casually!"

"Hoh, does my little sister have something against what I said?" Akeno says with a smug grin, "I'll stop if you can make me."

Shuten growls as an embarrassed blush rises to her cheeks. She whistles sharply and Anzu burst out of the ground beside her.

Seeing the centipede, I notice the changes from the last time I saw her. Her chitin seems thicker and more durable, with a rougher texture. Not only that but the colour has darkened, seemingly swallowing the light around her. There is a dull sheen that glimmers at certain angles on the chitin and looking closer it seems to be covered in a fluid that I can only assume is poison. The legs along her body have sharpened into proper weapons and overall she looks built for battle.

"How intimidating," Akeno says dryly, lightning dancing across her fingers. "Do you think this will end differently than usual?"

Anzu hisses aggressively as she positions herself protectively around Shuten.

My youngest sister pats the back of the centipede's head, "Hmph, you barely won last time. Even then it was luck."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night," Akeno says with a mocking smirk.

I'm amused by the trash talk but hope they don't make a habit of it. Talking isn't a free action in a fight.

Akeno's wings pop out as she flies backwards, firing off a bolt of Holy lightning as she does so. I can tell how much Akeno is holding back on the attack so I'm unsure why she wouldn't use normal magic.

Either she has become overly reliant on her bloodline; she wants Shuten to think she's trying hard, Or she wants to hone the ability further.

It's probably a mixture of the latter two options because I can't see Akeno going from hating the ability to using it to the exclusion of everything else.

Attacking from range makes sense though since up close Akeno would simply get poisoned.

Anzu tanks the attack for Shuten and spits out a torrent of poison towards Akeno.

Rather than an orb spat out like last time I saw Anzu, a continuous stream of poison not unlike a dragon's breath fires out. Severely lacking in power, of course, but the comparison is apt visually.

I internally lament the amount of effort it will take to clean all that up even as Akeno easily dodges the attack. The poison is going to soak into the walls and the floor…

The Holy lightning Akeno fires at Shuten writhes jaggedly through the air, creating sharp angular attacks that probe at weaknesses in the formation of Shuten and Anzu. It's a novel use of lightning's tendency to fork and bounce, even if the attacks are still being blocked.

This dance continues as the two groups trade salvo's of ranged attacks with Akeno dodging and Anzu blocking for Shuten.

Akeno shows off the harsh training I put her through. She dodges the attacks with contemptuous ease, passing by them with the slimmest margins to position herself ideally for counterattacks.

Anzu is more impressive though, able to block Akeno's attacks, even if she is holding back. She moves with deceptive agility for a creature of her size and shape. Overall, the centipede is a far cry from the slightly oversized insect I remember.

She's a bonafide living weapon at this point.

It's good to see that Akeno is going easy on Shuten and allowing her to fight back. It makes me happy to watch them work together to train like this.

Spikes of poison suddenly shoot up from the ground at Akeno. The ground breaks apart from all directions around them and I realize that Shuten must have been prepping this attack the whole time. I had thought she was just hiding behind Anzu, hoping her pet would win.

Akeno vaporizes the attack, as an omnidirectional burst of lightning explodes outward from her. The problem with that is that the poison merely becomes a noxious cloud which Shuten directs toward Akeno again.

It is an impressive continuous form of attack that is difficult to deal with, more so because you have to hold your breath the entire time. It doesn't help that the tactic also eliminates Akeno's vision, allowing Shuten to move freely.

I catch Akeno smirk as she beats her wings, whipping up a gale to push away the cloud. She manages to gain some distance from the attack and fires a gout of flame through the cloud toward Shuten.

The move takes me by surprise, as sometimes I forget that she has the blessing all members of the Himejima clan receive. The very same blessing that allows her cousin Suzaku to be so proficient with the Fire Phase of Onmyoudo.

Her goal must have been to burn away the cloud of poison and attack at the same time. The confidence behind the action must have been due to familiarity with the poison cloud Shuten was using. Given its effectiveness or lack thereof, it is probably a tactic Shuten has used in spars before.

Some toxins bind well with smoke such as urushiol, so if this is a new event, that move was either brilliant or suicidal.

Though, admittedly I'm not well versed with magical poisons and their interactions with magical fire. Theoretically, as long as Akeno is stronger she can burn it away no matter the composition. Barring extremely rare or special toxins.

Shuten doesn't even flinch as Anzu meets the mass of fire head-on. I decide to trust in their confidence and don't step in.

The centipede lets the flames wash over it and once they disperse is seemingly unharmed. It takes me a moment before I notice that the shiny coating of poison on her body has burnt away.

So the poison acts as a flame retardant as well as a weapon? I shake my head at the ingenuity behind the idea. Preparing for that eventuality from the outset is impressive even if it seems obvious from an outside perspective. Still, a prolonged attack or something of greater intensity would overwhelm Anzu.

Maybe the poison breath from earlier could be adapted to be a fire suppressant? That would work to almost eliminate the weakness to fire Anzu has. That might be too much specialization, however.

My eyes narrow as I watch my sister's movements more carefully, taking in the calculating gaze and precise way she moves around the dojo. Akeno was trained to move with efficiency and purpose but Shuten is matching that precision instinctually.

There's a glint of joy in her eyes as she fights. It isn't the same manic glee as I get, relishing in the challenge and the violence. Instead, she seems… satisfied that things are going as she expected.

Perhaps, I should focus on cultivating her intelligence rather than pushing her towards close combat. If she's better suited to controlling the battlefield through observation and calculation then I should help her develop that talent.

Akeno continues to play around, firing ranged attacks at Shuten who, as the number of attacks increases, begins to weave barriers to take some of the damage from Anzu. It's a defensive battle that is swiftly turning into a losing position for Shuten but it is still impressive how long she's holding on.

The barriers are amateur but each barrier she casts is slightly more refined than the last. A small increase in durability, a more precise placement, an alternate angle to abate the attack better.

The real-time improvement is amazing to witness but Shuten starts to show her age as the fight wear on.

I frown as Shuten starts to grow frustrated and lets out a shrill whistle. Anzu, hearing this abandons all defence and leaps at Akeno who looks surprised at this development.

Shuten is a child who is used to getting her way. When she doesn't she gets annoyed. An easy weak point to exploit in a fight, yet not something Akeno anticipated.

Akeno forms a magic circle in between her and the centipede. A sturdy barrier appears that blocks Anzu but also obstructs Akeno's vision. Due to this, she fails to notice that Shuten has closed the distance and is attacking from her blind spot.

Seeing Shuten's hands wrapped in the familiar aura of the bone stealing curse, I let out a sigh.

I decide to step in before someone gets maimed and catch Shuten in mid-air, a few feet short from pulling a bone out of Akeno's arm.

Shuten hisses like an angry cat at Akeno as I hold her by the back of her shirt. "I think that is enough for now."

She freezes as she hears my voice and I can feel the embarrassment radiating off her at being caught like this.

"You were doing well until you got frustrated," I say as I put Shuten down, ruffling her hair as I do so.

Realizing I'm not angry, she immediately jumps back onto me, clinging to my waist and hugging me, "Onee-sama, you're back!"

"It's good to see you too." I flash her a wide smile, "I'd missed my youngest sister these past months."

Shuten beams up at me and I turn to Akeno with a mischievous grin. "Of course, I missed my other sister just as much."

Akeno groans and places her head in her hands but not before I catch how red her face is. Ah, teasing my little sisters is the best!

"To think it has been a whole month since my poor sister has seen me. She must have been so lonely without Ibaraki-nee~" I continue to tease Akeno even as I hug Shuten tighter.

"I can't believe you heard that," Akeno mutters in despair.

"Did you see Anzu and me fighting together? Weren't we great?" Shuten says, wiggling out of my grip and tugging at my clothes excitedly.

"You two did excellently. It's hard to believe my adorable little sister has become so strong." I sniffle and feign wiping away a tear.

"You almost had Akeno back there." I wink discretely at Akeno, knowing how easily she could have ended the spar.

Shuten puffs up with pride and Anzu chitters happily. "Though you should use a less devastating attack than the bone stealing curse if I'm not around to regrow missing bones."

Akeno frowns sending Shuten a glare as she realizes what almost happened at the end there.

"She would've been fine, I would've only been able to remove the radius or ulna." Both Akeno and I look unimpressed at the flippant response.

"Yes, important bones that would have left her arm crippled until I healed it." I deadpan, "Unless she has become incredibly adept at healing in the last month?"

Akeno crosses her arms and lets out a menacing aura, glaring at Shuten with alarming skill. I'm almost proud of her newfound skill in intimidation.

Shuten flinches at the sight and sweat starts to drip across her brow. The sweating intensifies as lightning starts to dance along Akeno's arms.

"I'm sorry Akeno-nee, it won't happen again." Shuten and Anzu, much to my amusement, bow in apology to Akeno.

The reaction leaves me at a loss as I hadn't expected Shuten to be tamed to this degree.

Akeno has become formidable in my absence…

"I will hold you to that." She says with a sharp nod.

"You've started experimenting with fire magic, I noticed," I say to Akeno.

She looks away and coughs, "Having a diverse array of attacks will catch my opponents off guard."

I raise a brow at the reaction, "That's a good point. Don't go too far though or else you'll be burdened with choice in a battle. I can give you some pointers on fire magic if you want."

"I'd like that." She says quietly, still not looking at me.

Of course, I find the responses adorable.

Shuten growls and pinches my side, "Onee-sama, don't get distracted. If you ignore me I'll never forgive you!"

I sweep her up into my arms and grind my knuckles into her hair, "Don't be rude. Besides, how could I ignore you when I brought a present!"

Shuten brightens up and only now notices Gator sitting on my shoulders. She gasps, only for her brows to furrow a second later as she cocks her head to the side.

"A lizard?" Said lizard hisses angrily at her.

My sister looks distinctly unimpressed by the display of aggression.

"Of course, I didn't get you a lizard." I scoff at the idea and hold Gator out in front of me where he hangs limply by his armpits. "I got you a dragon!"

I hear a loud slap and a groan as Akeno facepalms a short distance away.

Shuten, however, doesn't look amazed or excited. Rather, she is staring at me with undisguised pity. "Onee-sama… if you couldn't find a dragon you don't need to lie."

My eye twitches and my grip tightens eliciting a sharp squeak from Gator, the sound not unlike a plush toy.

"Why would I lie about this? You said you wanted a dragon so I got you one." I huff and Shuten smiles gently.

"Alright, I believe you. I'm just so happy to have a 'dragon' that I was surprised." She says it with barely disguised doubt, the air quotes around dragon audible.

"Gator, do something cool! I'm losing the respect of my sister here!" I whisper harshly to the reptile.

He squirms in my grip and spits out a tiny ball of Dragonfire, using the minimal effort possible to help me in my time of need. This is payback, isn't it?

"So… is it a magical alligator then?" My shoulders slump in despair as Akeno pipes in, apparently in a similar state of disbelief as my sister.

"He's a dragon," I whine, prodding Byakko mentally to see if he'll back me up here. "Gator is just his name."

Byakko snorts and goes back to sleep, the bastard abandoning me in my time of need.

"You named a lizard Gator?" Akeno pinches the bridge of her nose, "You both have a terrible naming sense."

"Fine, if my words aren't enough to convince you, I'll show you instead." Nodding to myself I place Gator in the middle of the courtyard and bring the girls over to the entrance.

"Alright Gator, you can go back to your full size." He glances at me and gurgles before looking away defiantly.

It's one thing for my sisters to not listen to me but it is another entirely for a lizard, who is only alive because of my mercy, to ignore me. My killing intent falls upon him like an executioner's blade and the shock of it forces him to drop his size change, bursting to full size in an instant.

Shuten gasps, wide-eyed as the true form of the dragon is revealed. Akeno, in contrast, scoffs and crosses her arms.

Even as Shuten runs over and starts to climb on top of the dragon, Akeno frowns and looks away.

Her reaction confuses me so I decide to deal with it now instead of leaving it alone, "Are you alright, Akeno?"

She shoots me a glare, "Don't you think that's irresponsible?"

"Not really?" I furrow my brows, finding the hostility odd, "She's not simply getting a pet. This is a test too."

The glare softens slightly and the frown turns into something more petulant than truly upset, "How so?"

"Oi, Shuten!" I call out to her and she pokes her head over the side of the dragon. "You have a year to get Gator under your control, otherwise I'm taking him away from you."

Akeno looks relieved at my words but Shuten looks indifferent, as though this is a foregone conclusion.

"You can use force, coercion, or befriend him. Your choice." I wave a hand idly, even though I know it won't be that simple.

While Gator is completely under my heel at this point and will probably never get over that instinctual fear of me, he has no reason to fear Shuten. Unless she gets significantly stronger in the next year, she won't be able to force the dragon into submission.

Her best bet is to either come to an agreement with him or slowly befriend him. The question is whether she'll figure that out in time.

Case in point, Shuten cocks her arm back and slams her fist into the dragon's scales with full force. A human would have their rib cage collapse under the force but the dragon shows no indication of even feeling the attack.

Turning back to Akeno, I notice that while she looks relieved, there's still an undercurrent of irritation to her expression.

'She's jealous. How you can't figure that out is baffling.' Byakko chimes in.

Examining her expression more closely, I can see why Byakko thinks so. A quick check of her aura verifies that assumption. There isn't any anger or real annoyance, her emotions lean more toward that sadness or resignation.

I ruffle her hair and flash her a smile, "I'm going to get you something special soon too, don't worry."

She blushes and tries to make a hasty denial, making me laugh, "I was going to get you a proper weapon made from the dragons I killed but I haven't had time to commission it."

"Since the gift is late, maybe I should get you some armour made as well." I muse aloud.

I have enough dragon scales to make her something flexible and durable. The surplus is enough that even though she will need new armour as she grows it won't be a burden to the supply.

"You don't have to get me anything," Akeno protests without any actual effort

"Hm, I didn't technically come back empty-handed," I say cryptically as we watch Shuten fail to pummel Gator into submission.

Though maybe this isn't a gift per se.

Akeno seems unimpressed by my attempt at being mysterious, "...and by that, you mean what exactly?"

"Have you thought more on whether you will pursue revenge against your mother's killers?" Her hands ball into fists and she grinds her teeth.

"I don't know why you think that would have changed. That's why I've been training so hard all this time." I put my hand on her shoulder to both placate and reassure her.

"I figured as much but I have to check." Revenge might have been my path, and I'm not going to deter Akeno from it, but it would have been fine if she chose something different.

"I was able to learn some more about your clan and what happened that night." I glance at Akeno sideways and worry my lip, "How do you feel about your cousin Suzaku?"

Akeno scoffs, "She might have pretended to care when I was younger but she did nothing to stop my mother from being killed. Why should I care about her? If anything she should die with the rest of those responsible."

I hum in response, more than a little conflicted with that assessment.

Suzaku seemed genuinely upset about what happened. If she was involved and merely killed the Elders to tie up loose ends she would need to be a world-class actress. Nothing about that makes sense according to what I know about her from both canon and my experiences with her.

"She slaughtered everyone in the Himejima clan responsible for the deaths of you and your mother." Akeno stares at me in shock, not expecting that bit of information.

"What are you saying?" She asks me, at a loss of how to take that.

"If Suzaku is to be believed, she was incapacitated during the sealing of the Vermillion Bird and the clan took advantage of that time to remove a, 'stain from the bloodline.' When she recovered from the sealing process, she flew into a rage and incinerated everyone responsible." My words hit Akeno hard and stares at me wide-eyed.

"Again, this is coming from Suzaku herself." I say trying to explain better, "You would know better than I would whether that makes sense. You have more knowledge of Suzaku's personality and of the sealing techniques of your clan -you can verify her words better than I can."

I glance back at Shuten and see her trying to douse Gator in poison. The dragon, being descended from Jormungandr, a being with much more potent venom than anything Shuten could create, ignores her completely. If anything, the dragon looks comfortable, as though he's being given a nice bath.

I inhale sharply when I turn back to Akeno and see her crying, head down, shaky and pale.

This is not turning out the way I wanted it to. All I was planning to do was give her an update so she didn't think I forgot, not make her cry.

When she lifts her head back up and meets my eyes, she looks defeated. "Are you telling me that even revenge has been stolen from me?"

"No, of course not!" I hurry to reassure her.

I hadn't wanted to destroy her will with this information, though I could have handled this more delicately. The current situation is enough of an indicator of that.

"The Himejima clan were only one target of your revenge." I hug her to comfort her and calm her down. "Even the Elders of the clan would have had difficulty breaching the barriers placed by your father."

Akeno flinches at the mention of her father but her breathing continues to level out as she calms down, "You've had a lot of time to think about that night. I know you've realized that someone from the Grigori had to have helped, someone who hated your father."

"He could have been behind it," Akeno grinds out angrily. "He certainly didn't care enough to save us."

I grimace at that, having expected her to figure out Barakiel wasn't involved by now. To be fair, rationality isn't easy with such deep feelings of anger, sadness and betrayal to deal with.

"You know he wasn't behind your mother's death," I chide gently.

"So who then?" She glares up at me.

I sigh regretfully, genuinely not knowing who in the Grigori would hate Barakiel enough to help kill his family. Certainly, other factions could have been involved but that wouldn't make sense with how quickly the barriers were penetrated.

At the very least, both Akeno and Shuri would have been able to escape without inside help. More than likely any aggressors would be stopped long enough for Barakiel to return; he's no slouch after all.

"I don't know." I'm not a fan of apologizing, especially for things out of my control but this is one instance where I'm genuinely regretful, "I'm sorry, I wish I knew."

I never read far enough into DxD or the side stories to know whether Akeno's past was ever expanded upon.

Akeno sighs wearily, "I know you're trying, I'm sorry for being angry at you. You don't deserve it."

"Until I figure out the target for your rage, I'm fine with the occasional outburst." If I was in her situation I would be far less composed.

We stand in silence as Akeno calms herself, watching Shuten continue to fruitlessly pester Gator. Shuten is swiftly running out of steam as she tries her hardest to get a reaction out of the dragon. To no avail, of course.

"You met Suzaku?" Akeno says after a short while.

"Technically I had met her before arriving in Kyoto. She's very strong," I nod to myself, closing my eyes and picturing her in battle again.

Watching her fly around the sea covered in a corona of flame, incinerating dragons until not even ash remains…

My eyes open when I feel Akeno punch my arm, "You're smiling creepily again."

I clear my throat to hide my embarrassment at getting caught fantasizing, "She seems nice too."

"Nice, huh," Akeno says dryly.

Her expression turns thoughtful and a touch sad, "Yeah, nice sums up my cousin fairly well. She was the only one who ever cared about me and my mother in the main family."

"Did you want to meet her?" Akeno looks away and bites her lip before shaking her head. "I figured it was probably too soon."

"I didn't mention I knew where you were to her yet. She still thinks you're dead for now." I say as a small reassurance. 

'Sure, it was a tactical decision rather than you forgetting. A believable scenario.'

Shut up, nobody asked you.

"That's… for the best I think." Akeno says slowly, "She will find out eventually though."

"Are you fine with that?" I ask, curious.

I could try to hide Akeno from Suzaku for as long as she wants. How long I would be able to pull that off would depend on how much I interact with Suzaku.

I may want to get to know Suzaku better but not at Akeno's expense. If Akeno doesn't want Suzaku to know about her, I can keep Suzaku at arm's length.

"I always thought of her like an older sister," Akeno says wistfully, "She doesn't deserve to mourn me forever."

I ruffle Akeno's hair gently, "Whenever you're ready."

It is at this moment that Gator finally grows annoyed by Shuten and slaps her with his tail. Upon impact, Shuten yelps and rockets away from the dragon towards us. I catch her easily, redirecting her momentum and plopping her down on her feet beside us.

"How's the taming going?" I ask with a cheeky grin.

"Excellent, amazing, fantastic!" Shuten growls before leaping back into the fray.

"She's going to have a hard time isn't she?" Akeno asks her voice simultaneously encapsulating her doubt at Shuten's ability and her delight at the idea.

"You bet." I'm so proud of this plan that my enthusiasm colours my response.

From Akeno's shudder, my tone may have been too sadistic. It probably reminds her of training back in the village.

"Do you want to eat your breakfast while we watch?" Akeno shrugs and I pull her bento out of dimensional storage.

As we sit down, a thought comes to me, "Where is Takehiko? He did arrive with you, right?"

Akeno angrily pulls her chopsticks apart, "Don't talk about him, I'm still annoyed."

She frowns adorably as she starts eating and I patiently wait for her to give up the display of defiance. She'll eventually realize that I'm enjoying her indignation and answer.

She swallows and shoots me a glare, "That idiot stayed here with us for a week before he decided he needed to, 'use your teachings to become a hero'. I tried to reason with him, telling him to wait until you were back but he was 'determined'. A convenient synonym for moronic if I've ever heard one."

She huffs and takes another bite, the training and crying taking a lot of energy out of her. "He thinks the world is some anime where he's the protagonist."

"How he thinks that a kid without a complete education is going to make a living roaming around killing demons, criminals, and saving innocents, I'll never know." He isn't exactly wrong though…

I snort in amusement, an action that is wrong because Akeno glares at me again, "Don't you dare laugh, you encouraged his delusions."

We pause as I catch Shuten again and toss her back at her target.

"Even Aunty tried to convince him not to. When she couldn't she gave him some money before he left." My mother was against him leaving too?

Either that means she thought the idea was absurd or she's worried about my disciple. Hopefully, that means they got along well for the brief time he stayed here.

Akeno grunts in annoyance and I coo at how cute she sounds, "He left you a letter in your office. He wanted you to be proud and prove your teachings weren't being wasted or something stupid like that."

I discretely sniffle but Akeno catches it and looks at me in disgust, "What? It's cute how he wants to prove himself all of a sudden! Who wouldn't want a devoted student?"

"Of course, you would be fine with this ridiculousness. Look who I'm talking to." Akeno mutters.

"He'll be fine," I roll my eyes, not hurt by the accusation, "He can hunt for food even if he goes broke and he can learn more about the world through experience. The odds on him running into someone truly dangerous are negligible too."

Nobody other than Susanoo knows he's my student so he can't be targeted by any of my enemies. Also, I was running out of ways to help him advance.

At this point, he needs to seek out a dedicated teacher to hone his skills, preferably a human who understands what that means. Or, failing that, he needs to refine his abilities through experience.

Even our understanding of the sword conceptually is growing incompatible. By necessity, he needs his sword to be fast, precise, and almost desperate. A single attack to defeat his enemy and end the fight.

On the other hand, I'm developing a sword that will kill my enemy in one attack as well. The difference is that mine is a show of dominant strength rather than desperate weakness. There's also the fact that my sword is purely used to kill and his idea of a sword is intended to protect.

It's a matter of perspective that is gradually widening into something completely incompatible.

Besides, if anything does happen to him, I'll go rescue him. If I can't rescue him, then I'll kill everyone who touched him.

"Ah, he told me to tell you he hopes you meet again and, 'A teacher for a day is a father for a lifetime," Akeno smirks at me and I growls lowly.

Never mind, that kid is on his own.