Chapter 12

Whack. Whack. Whack.

The dull thud of a paper fan smacking something resounded throughout the Kusanagi Estate.

"Staaahhpp! Please, Inari-chan! I said I was swoorryy!" As were the cries of the said something, who at least in Inari Okami's mind, would forever be deemed 'useless goddess' from here on out.

Inari sighed, retracting her fan back to her face, glaring daggers down upon the Revelry Goddess turned maid as she kneeled next to her seat.

Truly, it's a wonder Noriaki hasn't lost his mind dealing with this one.

Though, judging by his actions when the Boosted Gear user went Juggernaut Drive, perhaps he too also has a few screws loose.

Wouldn't surprise her, considering his parents and 'caretaker' for most of his life.

"Turn one more of my sake barrels into fruit punch, and I'll wring your Holy Spirit Power out through your nipples." She threatened with a serene smile across her face.

"Eeek!?" Uzume promptly yelped and covered her chest, for all good that'd do, and looked at her in teary-eyed fear.

"Look! I said I was sorry, okay!? Nori inadvertently nuked my musubi with the other Earthly Kami with his orders!" She whined incessantly, "I can't summon any food beyond party snacks anymore! I can't even try drinking alcohol without it turning into some random kid's drink!" She shook, swaying side to side, voice growing increasingly manic, "I'm losing it, Inari-chan! LOSING IT!"

Whack.

"Owwiee!" The maid goddess promptly grabbed her head and whined, all emotional build-up lost.

Inari, once more, let out a baleful sigh.

After Inari brought back Noriaki and set him in his room, she thought it prudent to come down and take a look at the situation she was inheriting.

You know, ask Uzume for her side of the story, what's been going on and all.

And let's just say, her being smacked with a paper fan is not only for vengeance over her lost sake.

Turns out, there's a pretty good reason, she was to be the young man's new guardian.

Who'd have thought?

Something he certainly needed coming up, after his fighting the Red Dragon Emperor and winning got around to the wider world.

There were yokai in that town. Several saw him flying into the battle and more than a few watched said fight from afar.

It would only be a matter of time before the whole damn world heard about it.

She knew because she commandeered a kitsune's senses to get a front-row seat to the fight herself.

Said Kitsune was also recording said fight, hilariously enough.

Ballsy kit, Inari could admit. She had half a mind of taking that one under her wing later.

Ah, right. Speaking of musubi, though.

"Uzume?" She questioned, prompting a pained 'huh?' from the Kami in response, "Were you aware that Noriaki shared his musubi with the reincarnated nekoshou he took as a concubine?"

Uzume just stared at her, dumbly.

Inari stared at her back, scathingly. "Does he even know what musubi is?" She continued.

Uzume slowly started tearing up again. "N-No…" she stuttered out, "But I have a-, w-wait—!"

WHACK.

The useless goddess was silenced by her fan, forced to give out a stuttering shriek as it struck her with a tad bit more force than before.

"You truly are a useless goddess, Uzume." Inari admonished with a scathing sigh, "I don't have time to teach him everything about his Kami half before I go, and he's going to have to learn quickly," She continued, biting her lip in thought, "especially after today…"

"A-Ah…" Uzume sniffed out, "what happened in town, by the way? For him to come back like that?" She asked quietly, nearly deathly so.

Inari blinked. Right, this place is warded so heavily Uzume couldn't have felt the aura that Juggernaut Drive emitted, could she?

Well. Best be blunt about this.

"Noriaki fought a rampaging Boosted Gear user in Juggernaut Drive." Inari casually revealed, "He had some help of course, later on in the fight. He ended up awakening his Ara-Mitama however. Nearly turned on and killed some Devils after he killed the dragon. I stopped him before he could, though."

What she doesn't explain, at least out loud, is what she herself was doing during all that. Luring the people away, rescuing those that could be saved.

In a sense, she still is, her foxes are still out and about, while her main consciousness and form are here for now.

But that'll change quickly.

Uzume just stared at her, mouth slightly agape.

Seconds pass of just this, as she can see the gears turning in Uzume's head.

Eventually, the Goddess of Revelry slumps down and says the one thing Inari herself agrees with regarding all this.

"I need a drink."

"Finally, some words of wisdom." Inari mused, and with a snap of her fingers, a drink appeared in her hand.

Some of her own special brand sake.

Taking ginger sips, she watches with mirth and a sly fox-like smirk as the purple-haired girl whines and shakes with envy and jealousy next to her.

With a refreshed sigh, Inari spoke up once more, "I can't be here for long you know, so we'll have to make this quick." She rose from her seat and looked down at her shrine priestess outfit with a huff. "After I change out of my work clothes into something more comfortable." She added with a huff.

Uzume winced at her words, "Doesn't that mean waking him up early?" She questioned with a frown, "After his violent half woke up in the middle of a battle like that, his mind, the strain…" she trailed off worriedly.

"Yes, it will be a bit much for him," Inari confirmed simply, "but even so, he needs to know regardless."

With a clap of her hands and the scent of freshly watered rice fields, Inari suddenly found herself wearing something much more casual.

Gone was the rather long and ornate shrine maiden uniform, replaced instead with short jean shorts, and nice long sleeved white jacket fitted snuggly over a white tank top that of course freed a generous amount of cleavage.

It was also quite sexy, but that's par for the course for her, no?

Flicking a drooling Uzume on the nose to bring her back to her senses, she waved for said woman to follow her.

"Come along now, you should be there too! A good maid wakes and cares for their master, no?" She giggles as Uzume rises with a flush, and leads her away to said master's room.

~ A New Sun ~

I see only darkness, as I lay upon a soft fluffy mattress, presumably in my bed.

On my side, I can feel the softness and plushness of my kitty, and feel the way she breathes quietly against me.

Completely naked, of course. I don't need to be able to open my eyes to say that much.

Idly, one of my arms is wrapped around her body, keeping her close.

I…don't know how it got there. Maybe I put it there automatically when she snuggled against me?

I certainly don't recall being awake doing it, regardless.

Hell, I don't even recall being awake getting here.

The last thing I remember was sucking up Holy Spirit Power from the sun like the world's most overcompensating solar panel.

Then, I didn't exactly blackout, it was more like an out-of-body experience.

There was a fight afterward, right? I won, I think? And then I blacked out.

Fuck. Not only did I pull the anime trope of last minute power in the middle of a fight, but I also blacked out afterward!

Think I've reached my quota of anime bullshit for the week.

Anyway, I'm currently conscious, barely right now…although I'd really rather not.

The problem is though, there's this awful smell being pressed against my nose, and it's forcing me to stay awake.

And I can barely move, much less swat away the fucker who's trying to interrupt my peaceful catgirl snuggle times!

"Come on, come on~! Noriaki-san!" A soft, feminine, vulpine voice mutters into my ear, "I know you're awake…we need to have a chat, you and I~..."

…okay, the very seductive sounding fucker.

Still a fucker!

"You don't need to worry about us waking your little pet over there~..." She continues sweetly, "I'll keep her asleep for as long as we need, okay~?"

"Whaddya want." I groggily intone, cracking open my eyes slightly.

Thank all gods, old and new, she didn't open the shades right now.

Funny, coming from the son of a sun deity, but I really don't feel like getting light in my eyes right now.

I know I'll be fine, I'm just not feeling up to it right now.

Turning my head slightly, ignoring my twitching purple-haired maid at the foot of the bed, I see the figure of the woman talking to me.

Long pink hair, violet eyes, a foxy smile, and several pink tails swishing out behind her.

Also, her massive cleavage is more or less being shoved in my face.

Yet, the back of my head starts phantom buzzing, and I narrow my eyes at her.

"And...who the hell are you?" I mutter out.

She chuckles at that, "I see," she muses aloud, "you don't remember then, hmm? I suppose that makes sense."

She sits down at the foot of my bed, throwing one leg over the other before smiling down at me.

"I am to be your guardian for the next few years, Noriaki-san, until you reach the age of adulthood." Closing her eyes, she bows slightly, "I am Inari Okami, or just Inari, if you will…pleased to finally meet you fully conscious for once, no?" She giggles as she raises her head back up, and gives me a little wink.

I simply stare at her as best as my heavy body will allow, my mouth hanging open as low as it'll go while lying down.

Damn…I feel, and look like a fish right now, don't I?

"I have…several questions." I respond intelligently.

Inari Okami, the most popular and widely worshiped deity in Japan, responds to my dumb response with a giggle and rubs my cheek slightly.

"I'm sure you do, Noriaki-san." She hums, "And I will answer as best as I can, unlike a certain…someone." Her smile widens ever so slightly.

And out of the corner of my vision, I see Uzume fidget slightly more.

Course.

Although…hmm. Hold that thought for a second.

Let's start from the beginning first.

"Before we start," Inari interrupts curtly just as I open my mouth, "I must apologize for waking you up like this, see, Noriaki-san, I am a very busy woman…I'm afraid I can only stick around here for a few hours more, so it's best we do this as soon as possible. Alright?"

I think for a second, then nod in acceptance, causing the Fox Goddess to smile brightly.

Inari Okami. As I said before, she is one of the most popular goddesses in Japan in the modern era.

A third of the shrines in Japan are dedicated to her. She has more shrines than my mother, of all Kami!

Fucking hell. Why do I know those details? What was I in my past life, the useless trivia facts guy?

Still, I'm not one bit shocked she's so busy.

Now. Where to begin?

Ah, beginning. Right.

"How did I end up here?" I start, "Last I fully recall, I was sucking up sunlight to restore my powers, then…" I trail off, not too sure how to describe what followed out loud.

Inari frowned slightly, pursing her lips at my statement. Even Uzume seemed to furrow her brow in confusion.

"You did something to cause yourself to enter Ara-Mitama?" She asked, slightly off, "That's…strange. I thought it was triggered by you undergoing intense emotional stress…huh." Inari quirked up a smile, "Then again, I suppose you are a unique existence. Perhaps this is to be expected."

Well. That wasn't helpful. What the fuck is an Ara-Mitama?

"...All of that just brought up more questions." I followed up blandly.

She giggled at my statement, "Then please, ask away, but first!" She boops me on the nose, causing me to go cross-eyed in confusion, "Congratulations are in order, Noriaki-san. You killed a Red Dragon Emperor in Juggernaut Drive! And with little civilian deaths as well" She smiled sweetly, "That's something to be quite proud of! Most times, when such a thing happens, several Faction Leaders are required to intervene and put them down, you know!"

I frown slightly at all that.

That does answer my first question, in a roundabout way.

I ate sunlight, went Ara-Mitama – whatever that is – and finished Issei off.

Considering how Issei was the weakest Red Dragon Emperor in history, not counting titty power-ups, that's nothing to write home about.

Especially due to the circumstances that led up to it all.

Moving on, I wave off her words, as much as I can move my arm and hand, and ask something she didn't touch on, "And the Devils?" I ask, "Did they make it out okay?"

As soon as I said Devils, Inari's smile turned a lot more sly.

"Oh, they made it out just fine," she hums, "although…you did almost torch the Sitri Heiress." She casually adds.

I blink.

Huh? Wait, what? When?

I recall being very pissed at her because she tried barriering in an ultimate class being like it was no biggie.

When realistically, she should have had her Peerage play support, and have us play around her Queens ability to reflect attacks.

If they were there, we could have ended it when he fired off that Longinus Smasher then…

But they never showed up, even after their barrier was destroyed.

I narrow my eyes at her, and say one tired word, "Elaborate."

Her eyes sparkled with mirth, "As you wish…this is actually a perfect segue into Ara-Mitama and a few other things we have to go over quickly."

Clearing her throat briefly, she continues, "In essence, Ara-Mitama is your violent half. Every Kami possesses two separate souls. One violent and rough, the other gentle and kind. Ara-Mitama, and Nigi-Mitama. You, Noraki-san!" She puts a finger to my chest and leans closer to my face, her sparkling eyes taking the whole of my vision, "Are different, due to something very important. You're alive."

I stare at her, blankly.

"I sure hope so." I respond wholly seriously.

She chuckles, and pulls back slightly, "Not like that, Noriaki-san." She pats my chest, "I mean you're both alive in the Human sense, but you're also Kami. You are both. There's a word for your existence, an 'Arahitogami', a Living God."

Huh. That's…actually pretty neat.

"Sounds way cooler than 'Demigod', that's what I've been calling myself this entire time." I shrug, weakly.

Her eyebrow twitches at that, and she huffs.

"I suppose the Western term is what you'd be more familiar with, hmm?" She pulls back completely, "Granted, that term isn't incorrect either…by Western standards, anyhow."

Eh. I'll probably still call myself Demigod, regardless. I get the feeling I'd have to explain myself more if I said Arahitogami.

Sucks too, sounds hella cool!

"So," I pushed on, "what's all that got to do with my…Ara-Mitama, you called it?"

She grimaces, and gets back on track, "As Arahitogami, you possess one whole soul. A Kami who enters their Ara-Mitama still has another soul to go back to if placated, you…don't." She huffs, "When your soul became consumed by your Ara-Mitama, that's all you were at that point. I had to knock the power out of you to restore balance to your soul."

At her mention of knocking, my head buzzes and throbs again.

I wince, "You…mean that literally, don't you?"

She merely smiled at me.

The buzz in my head grows.

Ugh, so that's what happened then?

I went beast mode, killed Issei, tried to kill Sona, but then I presume Inari stopped me?

Wait.

I groan out suddenly.

I did all that shit in front of Koneko.

I went into a state literally called 'Wild Soul' in front of Koneko.

Good. Fuck. I probably hit all her trauma buttons, didn't I!? Shit!

Suddenly, Inari pats me on the head, ruffling up my hair, "Took you long enough," she hums out softly, "I felt the incredibly irrational fear of a white-haired girl as she watched you. I presume you know each other?"

Fuuuuucck. Meeee.

"Yeah," I huffed out, "damn, I need to talk to her, as soon as possible…" Almost instinctively, I try to get up to go do just that.

But I can't feel my legs. So there's that.

Also, Inari moves her hand back down and places her hand firmly down upon my chest, keeping me from moving even a little.

"Don't worry," she starts softly, "I already informed the girl you'd talk to her when you could, and that you'd be alright and yourself again when you did."

I breathe a slight sigh of relief, "Thank you." I give her my most grateful smile, "Helps a lot, truly."

She returns a beautiful one right back, "You are most welcome, Noriaki-san."

What else to ask, what else…

"Hmm, although, Noraki-san?" She suddenly spoke curtly, "If I may ask a question of my own…?"

Huh?

"Well, sure?" I affirm, confused, "Not too sure what you could want to know, though?"

She hums, giving me a sly smile at my last remark, "Oh, I was just wondering why you'd share your musubi with your catgirl concubine?"

My brain seizes thinking.

I slowly widened my eyes at her.

"Huh?" I respond dumbly, not entirely certain what she's asking, but at the same time knowing what she means.

Her smile widens in turn, "Why did you share your power with a girl you just met a month ago? Especially this interesting energy of yours…" she rubs a finger across my chest, "I can feel it, in pathways lodged between both you and her's physical and spiritual being…very very interesting…" she trailed off, mystified.

She can sense Chakra!?

Okay, Nori, hold the fucking phone.

Of course she can, she's probably one of the strongest Earthly Kami in the Faction! I shouldn't be shocked that she can!

Let's rewind here, she mentioned…musubi? And sharing it? In reference to giving her my power, my chakra that it is.

There's a word for my awakening powers here? Others might be able to awaken powers in others!?

I need information!

First things first, I need to answer her…

No reason not to tell her the truth.

"Because I really really like her," I responded after a second of gathering my bearings, "and she saved my life, a bit ago. Beyond that? Well…" I think for a second, then smirk, "I fully intend to breed this cat later on down the line, so I'd appreciate it, Inari-san, if you didn't refer to her as a mere concubine."

If I could, I'd be showing my displeasure at her statement a lot more.

The idea of referring to Kuroka as a concubine, like a side piece, fucking pisses me off.

Inari merely gives me a thoughtful hum, "Interesting indeed, Noriaki-san, interesting indeed…" she chuckles, "someone's possessive, hmm?"

"A bit." I admit with ease, "So. What's musubi?" I tack on casually.

"Everything." She responds just as casually, saying it like it answers all my questions.

I stare at her, and she stares right back at me, a sly smile on her face.

"Oh, alright," she relents, "it's a tad more complicated than that. Musubi is the interconnecting energy of the universe." She reveals.

A tad!?

She continues, "Kami are manifestations of said energy." She raises her hand and snaps her fingers.

Instantly, the nice sweet smell of tea leaves fills the air, and she's holding a steaming cup of said drink.

"Via our Holy Spirit Powers, we govern and hold authority over the natural laws and phenomena with our domains. In my case," she holds up the drink and takes a sip, "tea is one of my domains, amongst others. It's via musubi that we exist and gain our powers. It also enables us to share said powers, give blessings, and enable small parts of our domains to be shared. Amongst ourselves…" she trailed off as she reached down, and tapped my chest suddenly.

Golden and pink sparks flicker across her finger and into my chest.

Something snaps into place, deep inside me, and it's like I finally understand.

It's like waking up from a dream I never knew I was in.

I hold out my hand, and a similar steaming teacup to Inari's own appears in my hand.

A dream specific to tea, sure, but now I know I can just sort of summon really good tea to me! If that makes sense?

Sucks I can't move to drink it.

Dammit!

Seeing my plight, Inari chuckles and reaches down, her cup disappearing as she helps my arm and hand move.

"And others." She finally finishes, as I take a nice long sip. "Musubi isn't technically unique to us Kami," she adds, watching me in satisfaction, "all deities, of all pantheons, have something similar. It's the source of their 'Holy' Powers, the core generated by the faith of humans long ago that ties them to reality. It's what enabled them to cause miracles, bless followers, and even come back from death eventually…with enough power gathered."

Huh. Uzume flinched when Inari mentioned coming back from death.

Odd.

"Still, though." She continues, "Each pantheon has their niches when it comes to their version of musubi. In our case? We are very good at sharing, giving to individuals and nature in turn." She pulls my hand away from my mouth, revealing a very empty cup.

Damn, I didn't even realize I chugged it…

Inari giggles and boops me on the nose, before promptly vanishing my cup.

"That's a fair bit to take in all at once." I sigh in satisfaction. Still damn good though.

Inari nods in understanding, "It is probably just a bit much, hmm? Don't worry, you'll have time to ruminate on it later," she pats me on my face, gently, "Anything simpler do you have to ask? Perhaps that'll help cleanse your mind, so to speak?"

Simpler, huh? Well. I'm not too sure this is simple, but…

"Do you know what this unique energy of mine is, Inari-san?" I ask with slight trepidation.

I gotta know. She can sense it, somehow, so maybe it's more like other energy sources than I thought?

She shrugs nonchalantly, "I have not the slightest idea."

Eh?

"I assume, however, that it's a product of you being an Arahitogami." She adds nonplussed, then with a thoughtful hum, continues, "The last true Arahitogami didn't live long when he was alive, and that was some thousands of years ago. I never met him, so who's to say they didn't also possess that power, hmm?"

Well. That's a whole lot of nothing.

"Alternatively," she grimaces before finishing, "you could have gotten it from your Mother."

That makes me just blink at her.

What the hell does Amaterasu have to do with chakra…?

"Ama has actually been experimenting with creating different powers for a while now!" Uzume suddenly pipes up wistfully, "I believe in modern lingo, she would be called a…Shut In NEET? Most of her experimenting is inspired by anime and manga, and due to her musubi being so strong, she actually managed to make a few work!" She says with awe.

Meanwhile, I'm just deadpanning at the ceiling.

Shut in NEET, huh?

That explains so, so much.

Also, with that said, I have a sneaking suspicion…

"Like these?" I suddenly speak up, and at the same time, activate my eyes.

And nearly flinched at my increased detail and vision.

Did my eyes get another tomoe during the fight and I never even realized it?

Regardless, I can watch in figurative 8k as Uzume suddenly lights up.

"Ahhh! Heehee!" She squeals and giggles with excitement, "You've got her eyes!" She exclaims happily.

Ah. Well. Fuck.

I feel significantly less special now.

But, thinking about it, how else would I have these powers?

As an aside, this means others besides me do have these powers, since supposedly my mother just made them, who's to say she's the only one?

Ain't that a slightly worrying thought?

Uzume continues blabbering on to herself, mentioning something about how my mother's eyes have way more tomoe before a deadpan glare from Inari cowes her into being silent and stepping back.

With an annoyed huff, Inari states, "I believe we're getting slightly off track here."

I deactivate my eyes, and look at her once more, "Maybe just a bit," I reply tiredly, "honestly though? I think I've had enough questions and answers, for now…" I trail off in a daze.

Seriously, a man can only take his exposition scenes for so long!

I need time to process all of that, and I might need to change a few of my brewing plans here or there now…

Well, all my plans just recently got kicked to the curb because canon got fucked, so there isn't much to change admittedly.

Inari gave me an amused smile, "As you wish, Noriaki-san." She pats me on the head, "Take a nice long rest, and when you wake up? You should go take a look at the Supernatural Online Message Boards! The video of you fighting the Red Dragon Emperor is getting a fair bit of traction, you know?" She says far too happily.

Wut.

"Wut."

Video? How. Who in the fuck was ballsy enough to take a video in the middle of that warzone!?

And where are they, so I can shake their hand and pat them on the back because holy fuck.

Also so I can strangle the life out of them for revealing my existence to the world far too early!

I click my tongue and follow up with, "Course that happened. Somehow, deep down? I'm not even shocked."

Fuck this shit. I need a nap.

Inari stood back up, chuckling all the while as she waved at me, "Have a nice rest, Noriaki-san~!"

I grunt out, "Night." In response.

As the two leave, I try my best to snuggle up against my soft catgirl, before letting the darkness take me in once more.

Never would have thought unconsciousness could be so sweet…

~ A New Sun ~

The next time I wake up, it's to something much more pleasant.

What feels like soft and slow licks against my neck stir me awake, "Nyaaan~...Nori-kun~...Nori-kun~...Hello~? Are you awake yet, nya~?" And the breathy almost vulnerable sounding questions into my ear sends shivers down my spine.

On instinct, I try turning toward her, and actually succeed! Although my body still feels weak, I can move once again!

I wrap my arms around her, slightly surprised to find her actually clothed, but still hold her regardless.

"Nya~!?" She yelps in shock, "Geez, you stubborn man~...there you are." She slowly hugs me back.

"Mhmm." I hum back to her, slowly opening my eyes, "Good…whatever time it is."

She chuckles at that, only to yelp once more as I move down and claim her lips suddenly.

Slowly, I roll us over so I'm on top of her, looking down into her eyes as I pull back.

"I assume Inari or Uzume told you what I got up to out there?" I ask.

Her face flushes slightly as she frowns up at me, "Yeah, you stupid stupid man!" she says with very little heat, then suddenly sighs, "But I guess that's par for the course with you, isn't it, nya?"

I wince, "I couldn't just sit there and let him destroy the town, it wasn't all battle junkie you know?" I explained myself.

Leaving out the part where it's all my fa—

No. Stop that. Later.

"You didn't have to rush in all by yourself," Gently, she took my face into her hands and looked me deeply in the eyes, "especially against an opponent like that."

"I had help." I argue.

"Not at the start." She says back.

Ah…yeah. Okay.

I chuckle, weakly, "Sorry, then."

"Don't be," Kuroka sighs, "that's just how you battle junkie types are, you think more with your sword, over even your sword and head, nya!"

"It wouldn't be you if you didn't make it at least slightly sexual, huh?" I muse out loud.

Slowly, Kuroka wraps her arms around my neck and pulls me closer to her, "The next time something like this happens, Nori-kun, give me a call, okay?"

I blink at that, "Huh? But, Kuroka…if people see you…" I trail off. If she got caught on video with me, everything could get so much worse.

"I don't care about any of that!" She nearly hisses out, "I don't like it, seeing you come home like this, you know!? If I can help stop it from happening, I want to!"

I stare down into her defiant and resolute eyes at her statement.

Before very slowly, I start breaking out into a wide happy grin.

I go down, missing her lips, and go straight into returning to her what she did to wake me up.

Slowly and methodically, I start licking her neck, wrapping my arms around her body tightly as I do.

"Nyaan~!?" Kuroka gives a startled yelp as I do so, her body shivering in my grasp, "Noriaki~...! What are you~...hahn~!"

She stifled a moan as she clung to me in turn.

"That's dangerous, you know? What you just said to me right there~?" I say huskily between licks, "Some might even say that's a declaration of some sort~!"

I smirk, feeling her freeze up in my grasp.

"I already felt the intense urge to breed you once I got back, a big fight where you almost die tends to activate that neuron, but now~?" I pull back, looking her straight down in the eyes, "I'm most definitely going to do that, by having lovey-dovey hand holding missionary sex under the covers while staring deeply into your eyes~."

I can feel her quiver underneath my body at that proclamation.

"Y~You…stupid…silly…man~..." She shakily and sultry huffs out, but then, she suddenly sighs. "I don't think you understand just how badly I want to take you up on that offer, nya~..." She pats me on the back.

"Oh?" I raise an eyebrow, "And why can't you?"

"I have to go, remember?" She drawled, "All of sudden, of all times, the timing couldn't be any more terrible, could it, nya?"

Ah. Fuck.

I sat up, pulling her up too with a sigh, "No, no it couldn't."

Kuroka chuckles, leaning forward and placing a sweet kiss against my lips, "Don't worry, Nori-kun, you can do all those degenerate things to me, and more, once I get back, nya~!"

With that, she turns and leaps off the bed to her feet.

I smirk, and chuckle at her, "You damn well bet that ass I'm going to!"

Turning towards me one more time, Kuroka looks at me with a lustful smirk and the greatest teasing 'fuck me' eyes I've ever seen as a magic circle appears and lights up underneath her.

"I'm looking forward to it, darling~!"

And with that, she's off.

I chuckle, scratching the back of my head as I sit there in bed, wondering what exactly to do now.

I get the feeling that due to that video of me being up, that's what caused Kuroka to have to go now, rather than soon.

Don't know if Vali would be pissed I beat his Rival, or clambering to try and find me for a fight because I beat his Rival.

Either way, doesn't sound fun to me.

But beyond all that, I'm hella horny, fucking cat.

At least some of that was probably on purpose, wasn't it? To blueball me at least a bit?

Don't think she thought it would've wound up ending up that kind of heated, though. Heh.

Still. I've got to take care of that, and something else…

Canon is gone. Reduced to atoms.

I need information on the Japanese Supernatural World. I recall Uzume mentioning a Bureau a while back. What's up with them?

And that's not even getting into the Clans, the situation with the Yokai, the dozens of exorcism families, beast tamers, those sword collectors…

I'm a fish in a pond, surrounded by darkness. Not knowing how big the pond was outside my small little corner, not even thinking to know what was within the darkness.

And that small little corner was crushed by the darkness as a result.

Brushing a hand through my hair, I get off my bed, the inkling of a plan forming in my mind.

I wonder how good Uzume is at gathering information.

Can't imagine Inari is still around, after all.

Still, even just the bare minimum would be a start.

And it's not like that's all Uzume is going to help with either~! I still remember that titjob she gave me back then!

If nothing else, she's at least good at that.