Shrine Visit #2

At a very young age, Himejima Akeno became aware of one thing – her mother's family did not like her at all. Their contempt for her existence itself was so apparent that even a small child like her could tell easily.

She had been saddened greatly since almost no one else would play with her, or even bother to talk to her. Finally, one day, she had enough and hence went crying to her mother, asking why everyone was like that.

Her mother had just smiled melancholically, saying that it was because of a silly reason.

That it was just because Akeno was slightly different from them.

The young Akeno had not been able to truly understand the meaning of those words back then. Soon though, she stopped worrying about the matter altogether… as their little family of three moved far away from the Himejima clan.

Then, as the years passed, Akeno found others who wouldn't shun her. She now had friends as well as a happy little family, and she would have completely forgotten the existence of the Himejima clan if it were not for the occasional visits from one of her older cousin sisters.

More specifically, the clan heiress, Suzaku Himejima.

The only one who played with her when their family lived with the Himejima clan. The same cousin who was supposed to undergo the ceremony to inherit the Vermillion Bird today. The one who had gently promised her that she would change the rules of the Himejima clan, and bring them back – so that they could live as a big happy family.

And yet–

…

Akeno embraced her mother's cold body, trying to provide it whatever warmth she could, as she blankly gazed forward, past the barrier that enclosed both of them, at the back of the person whom she used to lovingly call Papa only a few days ago.

And yet, as the cruel words of the people from the Himejima clan kept echoing in her ears, the truth of her mother's words from long ago became clear to her at this moment…

'All of this is his fault,' was all she could think… and all that she could see in front of her was a demon.

.........................................

To say that the fallen angel Baraqiel was having a bad day would be an understatement of epic proportions.

"Aargh!" Another one of the Himejima Jutsusha was put down by him, his light sword cleanly decapitating his head. And yet… all that he could feel as he saw his enemies' rapidly dwindling numbers was immense regret. That he hadn't done this the last time when they had come to kill him and take his wife and child away.

He had shown mercy and let them go, on account of them being his wife's relatives.

And now he wondered futilely. If he had been crueler back then. If he had not spared them. Would anything have changed?

Would his Shuri be still alive?

'Heh… serves me right, for pretending to have a big heart,' he mocked himself ruthlessly before casting a shielding magic, as a volley of magical attacks honed in on his position in the single moment of opportunity his enemies received when he killed his last foe. He did not budge a single inch, standing protectively by his daughter… as well as the corpse of his wife.

Rage boiled yet again in his heart as he involuntarily glimpsed at her unmoving body, as well as the catatonic state of his little Akeno… and he glared murderously at the remaining dregs. A moment of tense standoff took place between the two opposing parties… before the rag-tag party on the other side finally began to lose their morale, causing a moment of hesitation to appear on their faces.

That was all it took for Baraqiel to leave his family's side for the first time since the battle had started, and he roared as he threw himself at his enemies, gladly trading as many injuries it took for the opportunity to murder every single one of them… even a single instant faster.

Finally, when not even a single of his enemies was left standing, Baraqiel, drenched in the blood of his foes, cried out loud in pain… since, in the end, no matter how many he killed… his Shuri was never coming back.

…

He dragged himself back to the barrier, under which his daughter sat embracing her mother's body, staring blankly at him. He dispelled the barrier, before slowly, hesitantly trying to caress Akeno's head, only for her to react finally for the first time ever since he had returned.

She flinched back, avoiding his touch, and vented out the myriad negative emotions churning in her mind in the form of a shriek.

"S… stay away!"

"Akeno…"

"I said stay away from me, you monster!"

Baraqiel stopped in his tracks altogether, and his face twisted in grief as he saw his daughter's terrified appearance, before looking down… at his body caked with blood.

Akeno looked at him hatefully as her brain kept replaying the words of the people from the Himejima clan. The truth that they had disclosed before they murdered Shuri.

"This… this is all your fault! They… they would not have hurt Mama if it wasn't for you! All these bad people, they were here for you! And yet! And yet! Why did they hurt Mama?! Why didn't you come and save Mama? Say, why?! Why?! WHY?!!!"

Her tears finally flooded down her eyes, and she sobbed miserably. "You– those people, they were right, weren't they? You… you used some bad magic on Mama, didn't you?! You didn't really love Mama in the end–"

"Akeno that's not true–"

"Don't lie to me!" She screamed angrily.

"Don't… don't lie to me… If– if you really loved Mama, then why did you–"

The girl's tears fell miserably as she looked down at her mother, no longer breathing, and could do nothing but finally accept the cruel truth. "Why did you let her die…"

Baraqiel had no answer to that… and could only bitterly watch his little Akeno cry her heart out over the dead body of his mother, until–

"Who's there?!" He growled out as he heard the sound of footsteps and hastily stood at guard again… only to pause, dumbfounded, as he saw who he thought were a pair of ordinary human girls coming for a shrine visit… who had somehow barged past all the wards.

'Maybe the wards had been destroyed because of the fight,' he thought as he gave the pair a once-over – at the frail-looking girl frowning as she stared at the scene of carnage, as well as the pale-faced, slightly older woman with closed eyes being carried in the younger girl's arms.

He immediately realized that the woman had been frightened badly by his indiscriminate killing intent, and on other days, he would have immediately apologized for his mistake… and yet, he couldn't be bothered by anything but his daughter right now.

He was about to cast a couple of memory-manipulating magic on the pair, to forget everything and leave the area immediately, only to pause in surprise as he saw the younger one walk forward unhesitatingly, past the sea of blood and broken bodies while murmuring to the other one to not open her eyes.

She suddenly gazed at him, then at Akeno, before her eyes suddenly widened and she began to berate him, "What are you standing there like an oaf for? Hurry and clean yourself up, as well as all the filth. Don't tell me, did you really try to console a child while looking like that?"

He gawped incredulously at this impertinent child, only for her to scoff in disdain and curse him. "You did, didn't you?" She shook her head. "What a disgrace. A failure of an adult. Useless scum. Birdbrain."

"S… So-chan?" The other woman asked in confusion and tried to open her eyes… only for the younger girl to panic and say, "Mama you can't open your eyes! There… there's a really ugly guy in front."

"So-chan… Mama is not an idiot."

"Urgh."

Smiling softly, the older woman lifted her hand and tried to caress the daughter's face, who obediently brought her face to the hand searching for it. "There… there's a lot of questions I have… but for now, I'll listen to you."

"Oh." The girl whispered and bit her lips, then glared murderously at Baraqiel who still hadn't started with cleaning… and despite the morose situation, Baraqiel felt his lips twitch slightly.

He turned back to look at Akeno who had stopped crying sometime in between and was now blankly staring at the affectionate mother-daughter pair. Sighing, he began to do as he was told while keeping an eye on the newcomers who had arrived by Akeno's side, where the girl finally let her mother down carefully.

"Mama, you can open your eyes. Just… don't look back." Sosuke said softly. Miki did so and immediately gasped as she stared at the poor young child with swollen, red eyes, as well as–

"Oh you poor little thing." Tears began to form in Miki's eyes as she carefully approached the girl and gently pulled her into a hug, while softly caressing her head.

Akeno stiffened at the sudden familiar-feeling warmth that enveloped her… before she eventually broke down into sobs, and then started wailing loudly into Miki's bosom.

Meanwhile, Sosuke carefully laid Shuri's body down and asked his goddess. 'Is this considered a 'situation'? And can your boon change it?'

<Ho~? > She asked, even though she smiled widely, having anticipated her little champion asking her this question as early as when they entered the forest. <It can… but are you sure about this?>

'Don't play coy with me. Just do it.'

<Hmm~ Alright. Then, your last freebie is – A one-time use of a power from the list I've prepared for you~>

'So I will potentially get it in the future?'

<Yes~ Provided you don't let me down. Otherwise, a big fat zero for you~>

'I see. Do I get to select, or is it random?'

She huffed derisively. <Huh? Random? Don't be stupid~ I'm a goddess, not gacha game. Of course, it's going to the one most suitable for situation.>

She then turned serious for the first time in all of their time together as she warned. <Still, know that if you fall into danger any other time from now on… and I haven't given a power by then, will not save you. After all, have no need for mediocrity.>

Sosuke pursed his lips and stared at Akeno, the girl for whom he was potentially putting himself in danger before his gaze went to Shuri… and finally to Miki. He sighed. 'Isn't Akeno one of the targets? If I don't do this, wouldn't she despise me if she ever found out that I could have saved her mother?'

The goddess snickered. <Are you worried about being despised by Akeno, or your mother~?>

His face cramping, Sosuke grumbled. 'Whatever, just give me the power.'

…

Except for the small period of time when she had been asked to close her eyes, Hyoudou Miki had always been paying attention to her son, ever since his change back in the forest.

He had been behaving oddly, his speech mannerisms flip-flopped between being childish and mature, he straight away headed to what felt like the most dangerous place for some reason, and yet… despite his magical transformation, she was sure that it was still her cute So-chan… after all, his gaze was still the same.

And it was because she was still looking at him, that Miki blinked in surprise as an oddly ornate silver earring with distinct feather-like protrusions suddenly appeared on Sosuke's right ear, just a moment before he looked down at what was most likely the body of the little girl's mother and murmured solemnly.

…

"Sōten Kisshun, I reject."

...