My luck has always been peerless

Part 1

3rd Person POV

The sun was setting and the group was preparing to head back. Watching everyone look in amazement as Nora was taming the bear using food, two people were a distance away, hidden from everyone's view.

"You have failed miserably." Kamiya coldly said.

"So what? I couldn't have imagined that something like this could happen." Azuma snorted. "That stupid creature was beaten by his clown-like performance. What human in their right mind would even dare to face a bear with their bare bodies? Instead of running, that bastard did the most stupid thing and stayed. He even used stacks of bills to beat the bear... no, no matter how you look at it, something strange happened."

"Is that the excuse you want to use to avoid taking responsibility?" Kamiya narrowed his eyes.

"Don't you find it weird? That bastard is like those other rich kids that come here flaunting their money and women, yet he managed to survive under that circumstance. He should've been killed while I would've gotten-" Azuma had to stop speaking.

Extending his hands toward his little brother's throat, Kamiya choked Azuma with a strong grip.

"I believe I asked you if that was the excuse you wanted to use to take responsibility. It is a simple question that even a fool can understand how to answer. I wanted to hear a 'Yes' or a 'No', simple as that." Kamiya sighed in disappointment, his gentle expression long gone, replaced by a vicious face. "Not only did you go against my orders and acted on your own accord to kill one of our guests, but you also failed."

Easily lifting Azuma from the ground, Kamiya did not seem to be having a hard time. His actions reflected a lack of effort and he even seemed to have the leisure to glance at the group riding the bear.

"How it happened is not important given we were not able to notice anything from our position. He might as well have used the luck of his whole life during this encounter or he probably is the lover of lady luck herself. I can't say, and you cannot either. However, the fact that he is alive is not the point here. If something had gone wrong, some other sacrifices could've been killed." Kamiya said. "If an accident like that happened, the ritual would not be completed correctly. We MUST NOT fail to offer the correct number of sacrifices unless, of course, you would be willing to take their spot."

With a vicious smile on his face, Kamiya tightened the grip on his hand and squeezed his brother's neck one last time as he glared at his figure squirming in the air as he fought to get air.

Azuma struggled to break free, but his strength could not match Kamiya's.

"Whatever, I did not have high hopes for you from the beginning." Kamiya released his hand. "Go back to the village alone and make sure everything is ready for today. The ritual will be held today so send someone to retrieve the book from the true altar. We must ask what kind of ritual our naive Miko is holding or she would refuse to cooperate. They don't exactly fall from trees and I had a hard time bringing one here after you decided to ravage the last one. I will lead the group by myself so there are no more 'surprises'."

Without waiting for Azuma to stop gasping for air, Kamiya left.

Alone, Azuma shed tears of rage as his face distorted from anger.

"You... always look down on me." Azuma held his neck as the throbbing pain assaulted his senses. "Wait until it awakens. The day I become that, that will be the day you and everyone else will have to bow down their head whenever they see me, the day I am not being compared to you... that day, you will be compared to ME!"

Spitting on the spot on the ground where Kamiya had been standing a second ago, Azuma departed.

...

...

...

"Everyone! It is getting late so perhaps we should call it a day. We had some activities prepared for you in the village and perhaps the ritual might happen today if there is a good wheater." Kamiya exclaimed.

his words were completely ignored as everyone's attention was on the bear. The visitors were busily posing and taking pictures of themselves with the bear or asking the villagers to take the pictures. The creature would look at Nora before anyone got close to him and only when Nora nodded did it let itself get pictures taken.

"I am surprised that you did not go with the idea of cooking the bear." Tobio suddenly said.

"Oh, perish that thought. Pochi is part of the family." Nora muttered.

Deciding not to tackle the issue with the dog's name, Tobio glanced at the bear.

Its towering figure could easily make it a fearsome opponent if they only used their physical abilities alone, and while they could best it in speed and stamina if they ran thanks to Nora's training, fighting it bare-handed would be beyond them. The thick fur was soft to the touch, but the toughness was far from something they could use simply brute strength to overcome.

The use of Ki was a huge boost for him, but Tobio felt that the bear was not your run-of-the-mill creature.

"This one is close to becoming a youkai." Nora narrowed his eyes. "Nowadays is pretty rare to see regular animals turning into youkais or divine spirits, and most of our population comes from reproduction rather than being born from nature. That said, until not long ago, nine-tailed foxes had a unique method similar to the original way, but that is no more."

Casting a glance at Kamiya that was having trouble hiding his displeasure from being ignored but kept a wry smile on his face, Nora sighed.

"I am not sure if these guys knew about it, but once the transformation was completed, its strength would go up considerably and its size would at least double." Nora said. "If this one had transformed into one, faking a lucky survival would've been tough."

"Is it really that dangerous?" Tobio curiously asked.

The youth almost burst into a laugh after seeing Sae seriously asking for the bear's paw.

"There are many ways that youkais can be born, and I reckon that this includes other fantasy creatures from other mythologies." Nora glared at the bear and it immediately gave Sae its paw. "Putting Gods aside, the birth of many supernatural creatures comes from the belief of humans. Of course, it is not the only requirement, but it can play an important role when creating unique and bizarre creatures beyond natural boundaries."

Smiling wryly, Tobio sent Nora a thankful look for being considerate towards Sae.

"Even when following the original path of nature, there are differences. Youkais and Divine Spirits are different for a reason." Nora shrugged his shoulders.

"Is it the human form or...?" Tobio inquired.

"Nah, it is nothing as boorish as that. Besides, the first nekomatas did not look completely human since that was not their intention." Nora looked away. "Anyways, while Divine Spirits have different grades of strength, the originals had a pair of defining traits. You see, Divine Spirits were benevolent by nature and they never consumed a drop of human blood."

"So that means.." Tobio left the rest unsaid.

"Please, do you think I would get upset if you finished your sentence? I would not touch the topic if that was the case." Nora rolled his eyes. "Youkais, for whatever reason, tasted human blood. That is an important trait for ancient youkais."

Wondering if he should stop her, Tobio saw Aika excitedly pointing at the bear and she let go of Lisa's hand to run toward the bear.

"Gods, on the other hand, are tricky. For one to appear at this age, well... it would be even rare. Whether it is about building divinity through others' faith in you or building it through karma as an example to become a Buddha, the path is not always guaranteed since it requires a lot of effort." Nora sighed. "Well, if the conditions were set in place you could technically become one, but the method would cause your divinity to be random. It is not like you can have the same divinity as one of the original gods from a lucky situation, but the quality can be subpar if you compare a monk who lived a rightful life full of discipline and a monk that barely worked to meet the minimum requirements."

Making a slitting throat motion to the bear that had opened its mouth to bite Aika who was pestering it, Nora turned to Tobio.

"Well, you don't have to worry too much about that, Ikuse-san." Nora muttered. "Devils, Gods, or Buddhas, with your blade, there is no enemy you cannot defeat."

Smiling wryly in response, Tobio did not feel like he could do what Nora say even if he bitterly trained. Nora usually looked down on himself too much and Tobio was certain that if he got serious about it, Nora would not lose even if he used a balance breaker. It was not to say that Tobio was just that weak. Nonetheless, Tobio knew how much determination Nora had, and if those important to him believed in him, he would do whatever it took to not disappoint them. No trick was dirty enough, he would use it. In a serious confrontation, his blade could injure Nora fatally, but his body would not give away that easily. Regardless of what kind of injury he received, he would stand up again and again. Even if his hands or feet were cut, he would simply re-attach them. To Tobio who lost control of his Sacred Gear once, it was Nora who contained him and exhausted him to stop his rampage. Despite how ruthless he was, or how many times he cut off his hands, Nora did not waver. The only solace is that back then, he did not know how to use his blade that well, otherwise-

"Hey, don't go there." Nora called out.

Blinking in surprise, Tobio did not notice that he had fallen into deep thoughts.

"You are not guilty of that, as the leader I let Sae get hurt and I consider it my punishment." Nora said.

"There is no way you can call that a punishment!" Tobio exclaimed. "I could've killed you!"

Rolling his eyes, Nora signaled the bear when Kamiya tried to brag about getting along with every animal he had seen. Nonetheless, the bear was smart and understood what Nora wanted so he growled menacingly at the youthful next village chief.

"Please, what you did was nothing. Killing me? Don't be absurd, cats have more than one life. I have a place to go back to snuggle with my precious people, I will not die." Nora said. "Although I would like to be spared of you and Vali going on a rampage at the same time. Vali's Juggernaut Drive is impossible for me, if Azazel had not been there, Vali would've taken all my lives at once."

Chuckling slightly, Nora tried to cheer up Tobio.

Knowing that Nora will not blame him no matter what he said, Tobio did not push the topic any longer.

It was at this point that Tobio had a question, one that he forgot to ask a moment ago.

"Shiki-san, you mentioned Gods and their divinity having different grades, but where does that leave the... Fake Gods?"

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3rd Person POV

"Did you even consider the consequences?" Yasaka spoke in a tired tone. "I am not saying that there is not a possibility of him being evil, but you can't just go and try to pick a fight with him."

Sitting in seiza, Shirone, Ayananami, Charlotte, and Kanna were listening to Yasaka as she scolded them. Something unfair, Shirone thought. An identity thief is a troublesome foe and she recalled that Nora always warned her to be careful whenever she had to face identity theft.

"But he is stealing our identity!" Shirone rightfully retorted. "Urakyoto will be in great peril if we leave someone like that to go unchecked. To protect our citizens, it is our duty to beat up- I meant, to teach a lesson to the evildoers."

"I know that you corrected yourself because you thought you made a mistake, but you still said the same thing. Resorting to violence first is not the right way to solve problems." Yasaka sighed.

House arrest, was what Shirone and her gang were subjected to by Nora's fox crush. Shirone did not think it was fair so she called Yasaka for a trial to defend her honor and warn her of the shadow cast over Urakyoto. It was her duty as Nora's right hand.

"E-Etto, I would like to say something..." Yume timidly raised her hand.

Yasaka glared sharply at the girl and she fearfully trembled.

"If you say that Nora-kun gave you permission, I will personally strangle that cat." Yasaka narrowed her eyes.

Gulping fearfully, Yume took a deep breath.

"He was not as innocent as you believe." Yume took out a bunch of documents from a pouch hanging on her waist.

Raising an eyebrow, Yasaka took the documents and began reading them.

"I see." Yasaka said a minute later. "However, I am already aware of that."

"Then why have you not done something?" Shirone furrowed her eyebrows.

"I could use dozen of excuses to not answer that question, or hide myself behind my position. Nonetheless, I am not only the ruler of Urakyoto but your guardian and friend as well. I will tell you that it is because we have plans." Yasaka replied. "You should not worry about it, the tengus are keeping an eye on him. While the twins are away, Nora-kun left his next target of trust among the tengus in charge of these sorts of problems. You kids should be playing instead, Kunou has finished her studies for today so she is waiting for you in another room along with... her."

Heavily sighing after recalling 'her', Yasaka wondered how could someone like that be lured with sweets. A person of that caliber needs a strong mind and a sharp intuition that cannot be swayed by something like earthly desires.

"Indeed, she should be like me, someone who cannot be swayed by sweets..." Yasaka mumbled.

"Pffft" x 4

"Zzzzzz."

The sound of laughing and snoring could be heard, but Yasaka was kind and mature enough to not pursue it.

Lamenting the fact that her respect seemed low among this group, Yasaka stepped away. Her thoughts went towards that visitor, a supposedly nekomata who heard about the rising numbers of his kin here and came looking for a mate. Such a thing sounded normal given the free nature of the nekomatas coming from the East Youkai Faction, but Yasaka had already contacted that side and they confirmed the lack of data on such individual, and while it is not impossible for a male nekomata to be born from a stray nekomata living far from japan's jurisdiction, there was something odd on the child since he triggered the alarm set by Nora. The boy who was subjected to a deadly situation with that kind of murky energy came to study it over the years until he became a youth. His sleepless nights were always used to be able to control the rampant energy on his body so he came to learn a lot about it, and with the help of his wide range of acquaintances and friends that basically included women, he was able to pull a method to detect a certain amount of bearers of that energy. As long as they have even a small signature of it and they cross the torii leading towards Urakyoto, it will trigger a silent alarm.

"I am not sure how to feel when he explained that he got the inspiration after seeing the detector on stores for stolen merchadience." Yasaka sighed. "I almost got a heart attack when he brought those pair of goddesses here too... like Amaterasu-sama, Tsukuyomi-sama and Susanoo-sama were not enough. He allows more women with such a high standing to enter his place as they belong there... Urgh, Raikou and Yukari are enough to make the fur on my tails stand up when they start rampaging for whatever reason... I wonder if my Kunou will be able to deal with them...? As her mother, I want to make her the main wife but..."

A fuzzy feeling in her chest caused Yasaka to stop speaking. It was hard to ignore and the feeling caused her pain. Afraid to worry Nora, she never asked him to do the check-up. Against her best wishes, she called upon an acquaintance, Florence Nightingale, and was subjected to several tests and exams over and over until Florence confirmed that whatever the pain was, it was not a physical matter. Once again, against her best wishes, she spoke with her acquaintance and after listening to her, Florence sighed heavily and advised her to look for Sora. She even called her blockheaded before leaving to confirm Nora's growth. Yasaka felt slight concern after hearing Nora's screams a second later, but she decided to reach the bottom of her problem thus she went to talk with Sora. Ignoring the screaming Nora whose shirt had been ripped and was running dearly for his life as Florence ran after him with a syringe, Yasaka looked for Sora but the response she got was that woman laughing so hard that she was left out of breath after rolling on the ground.

Noticing that no one reliable enough was there to listen, Yasaka left and went towards Shion who just rudely told her that she must wait a few years before making her move. Yasaka understood immediately what she meant and left the place as well. Since then, whenever she thinks about that topic, her heart beats faster from rage (?) and she tries to avoid Nora, but he never relents in looking for opportunities to spend time with her. He picks her favorite flowers and hands her a bouquet or just visits her during work and helps her to finish quickly so she can go home and spend more time with Kunou. Whenever he does something like that, her heart beats faster but Yasaka does not want to accept that she... because that would be like she is taking advantage of him and leading him. Yasaka was well aware of her charms and for a boy that had grown up surrounded by Saya and her from a young age and later only had her at his side so he is just considering her because he is blinded by her appearance.

"Hahaue!"

A spirited voice called out to the thoughtful Yasaka and she only had seconds to spread her arms to catch the figure rushing towards her.

"Kunou, I told you to not do that because you can hurt yourself!" Yasaka mildly scolded.

"Hehehe." Kunou giggled in her mother's embrace.

Completely ignoring what her mother said, the little girl about a head shorter than Shirone, just snuggled before pulling away. After seeing her mother's stare, she just stuck out her tongue playfully.

"You need to act more gracefully..." Yasaka sighed. "We have many visits here that we cannot afford to displease, you know?"

"He said that you are telling me that so I behave." Kunou said. "There is no need to worry, Hahaue, I will not tarnish the reputation of the Youkais."

"That just makes me more worried though..." Yasaka smiled wryly. "Alright, just try to not bump into anyone again. Skadi-sama is a benevolent goddess so she forgave you, but we cannot make a custom."

"Yes~" Kunou nodded.

Lightly caressing her head, Yasaka took a look at her daughter and how much she had grown. She was close to 9 years old so her height was higher. Perhaps it was because she was her daughter, but Kunou had begun showing traces of her charm by maturing faster than most girls her age. Nonetheless, she had still a long road ahead to call herself a woman or even reach Yasala's level.

However, she was an adorable girl and she was Yasaka's pride.

"Hahaue, is he still not back?" Kunou tried to peek behind Yasaka but did not get far because she did not want to stop being caressed in the head.

"Fufufu, do you miss him already? He just went out for work so he will come back soon." Yasaka found her daughter's question amusing.

"Hmmm, Tamamo-aneue said that we should keep an eye on him but not constrict him, always act magnanimous but never detached so we can earn Nora-aniue's favor." Kunou furrowed her eyebrows. "I want to play with him, but I have to give him space and let him do his stuff."

Yasaka's expression stiffened slightly and her hand followed suit, and perhaps noticing her mother's behavior, Kunou looked at her with questioning eyes full of desire to be patted.

"Kunou... sweetie, what might you be meaning by that?" Yasaka asked.

"As the earlier ones in the list of the harem, Tamamo-aneue said we should always pay attention to certain details such as the time he leaves home and how long he takes to come back so we can predict if he has a new woman in his life." Kunou spoke with an uncertain tone. "She said that he is too kind and he might get taken advantage of so we must always pay attention to what kind of women get close to him."

Nodding slowly with her eyes closed, Kunou seemed to be recalling something that was said to her instead of using her own words.

"She also told me that we must forge alliances with the other women in his life to protect him. He will be approached by nekomatas, and that much is to be expected, Tamamo-aneue said that we should entrust that management to Kuroka-aneue who will make sure everything is in order. That would leave us to focus on the other youkais waiting for opportunities." Kunou furrowed her eyebrows and sighed before pulling a notepad from the sleeves of her hakama. "I think there is a blind point on the devil's side, but Tamamo-aneue said that she has someone looking for the right person to take care of that side."

Reading without problems, Kunou sighed.

"Even though Tamamo-aneue is working so hard, we cannot stay behind and let her do all, Hahaue." Kunou tightened her fists in determination. "There is still the human side and many others."

Being unable to come up with enough retorts to all she heard, Yasaka wondered why is the person she admired for so long like that. Tamamo no Mae was supposed to be the incarnation of power and gracefulness judging from the stories she heard about the fox when she was little. unmatched wisdom and unparalleled intelligence. Why was it that she used all that to cause her headaches? Yasaka wondered if she did it out of spite because Nora liked her more.

"...we? Kunou, I want you to be in the harem, no, I originally wanted him to marry only you, I am not..." Yasaka was unable to finish the sentence.

The word harem was not the issue, just imagining herself on the side as Nora is surrounded by women made Yasaka unable to finish her words.

"Hmmm? Hahaue, what are you saying? All girls who love Nora will be in the harem, that is what it was agreed on it so no one tried to fight each other to have him for themselves." Kunou tilted her head. "I think there is a set of rules as well..."

"Sweetie, did someone tell you to say that...?" Yasaka inquired.

For the young Kunou to be muttering words like harem or love, it must be someone saying it to her. While Yasaka indeed hoped for Nora to marry her daughter, she just prepared situations for them to spend their time together. It was possible that she would develop a sibling relationship so it was a real plan or way for her to make Kunou and Nora fall for each other. As she gets older, Yasaka planned to loosen her 'tricks' and see if they would try to approach each other. If things did not work out, she would not push it.

"Hmmm? Oh, Nora-aniue did say something to me once." Kunou said. "He told me to ignore what everyone said about harems and the like. First of all, since I was too small, I should by no means use the word 'love' until I understand it for real. Only when I could tell the difference between familial love and the other one is when he would allow me to use it. He was pretty strict about that."

Smiling, Kunou nodded.

"And second, the one who would decide whom I should like was not Hahaue, or Tamamo-aneue, not even Nora-aniue, but me." Kunou muttered. "Well, he also told me to forget about what he said and not ponder deeply about it. I would understand what he meant when I grow up."

Feeling like her role had been taken over, Yasaka felt slightly jealous that Nora had already had this talk with her daughter.

"I said joining the harem, but Nora-aniue would not let me even if he decided to create one. I... just want to stick together with all from the Shiki Household. The funny Kuroka-aneue and Shirone-aneue, the mischievous Alice-aneue, the strange Raikou-aneue, and everyone else. Everyone is a precious friend and I do not want us to separate." Kunou mumbled. "Hahaue must be the same, she wants to stay close to Nora-aniue."

Pressing for an answer, Kunou clung to her mother. Feeling slightly afraid, Yasaka could not face the eyes full of innocence that her daughter was giving her.

"I have no idea what love is, but I can tell that Hahaue likes Nora-aniue more than you would a family member." Kunou said.

"No, I..." Yasaka bit her lips.

"Is it wrong to like him...?" Kunou asked.

The little girl could not understand her mother's problem with being honest. Tamamo had already mentioned it several times, about how they flirt more often and how Yasaka is becoming more conscious of Nora as someone of the opposite sex. While Kunou could not understand most of what she had been told, she was certain that her mother would look at Nora with eyes full of affection like no one else. The same look that Nora received from Kuroka whom everyone considered to be madly in love with him.

"I promised Saya that I..." Yasaka did not continue.

Furrowing her eyebrows, Kunou was unsure what she could say to help her mother to sort out her feelings. Since she had been a baby, Kunou had been very sensitive to the mood of her surroundings thanks to being capable of reading the flow of ki. Nora had been helping her handle and grasp the use of ki, mainly Senjutsu, so Kunou could feel the complicated mood her mother had, but she did not say anything more. Nora had once said that sometimes, people have to deal with their problems alone, and while that had been a lesson she had overheard him telling to one of the girls Nora picked up from a grim place as he once described, Kunou understood that if one always solved the problems for others, you would take their opportunity for growth.

"Hahaue. I am sorry, my words have upset your mood." Kunou meekly apologized.

Perhaps, if she had chosen a better phrasing of her words, or waited for an opportunity where her mother had been more relaxed, she could've done a better job at communicating. The books that Nora had been reading with her about communication had said it before but she had forgotten.

"No, it is not your fault." Yasaka sighed. "You are really growing up fast."

With a gentle smile, Yasaka caressed her daughter's hair.

"I want to learn a lot so I can help Hahaue and Nora-aniue sooner." Kunou spoke in a tone full of determination. "I cannot lose against the ones in the hidden village."

Recalling the rivals she had in the hidden village, Kunou was filled with drive. Her next lessons were in the afternoon so she had free time now.

"I will ask anyone if they could practice with me." Kunou suddenly said before sprinting away. "Phis-done left to take a walk so I don't have a playing partner."

Her first stop was Shirone's room since her group usually hung up there or sneaked into Nora's room to look for hidden candies. Kunou was bound to find a sparring partner after asking so many people.

"...rushing is not good, but..." Yasaka smiled wryly. "She wants to grow even faster. As a mother, I am happy, but I also feel a little lonely."

With her complicated mood, Yasaka felt like taking the day off, but her duties did not allow it. That 'invader' was a strange fellow. There were no records of him so Yasaka was initially against letting him in, but Nora's ideas had to be tested. There were enough countermeasures, but he wanted to hide them as much as possible to not scare off the 'invader'. Learning about its goal and how Urakyoto would cope with such a threat was necessary as well.

"There is also watching over that sleepy young woman..." Yasaka groaned. "She is being protected by the strongest one, but Nora-kun still insisted on keeping people ready to attend to her needs. Thankfully, she is not a troublesome child and is currently learning about the modern world but... really, how did he suddenly leave one day and brought a descendant of-"

"Yasaka-sama." Raikou's voice was heard.

Yasaka's monologue was cut off and she turned her head to see the buxom woman in her battle garments.

"There has been a mission issued for me a moment ago. I came to inform you about my absence, although my sister Ei will be arriving soon, I have to take Sara with me. Ei will soon arrive, but I did call 'her' to cover for my absence as well. I am worried about that 'invader', but this mission is important."

Nodding in acknowledgment, Yasaka pondered for a moment.

"Is there still no news of...?" Yasaka asked in a hopeful tone.

Shaking her head sadly, Raikou did not offer a reply to the question.

"She is most likely being moved often or their HQ must be in the dimensional gap where it is impossible to track. Even if Yukari-sama has origins in that place, her history with Great Red makes her an unwanted guest so she must search with caution to not be discovered by the dragon." Raikou muttered.

Sighing, Yasaka wondered how long do they have to wait until they can find her.

Part 2

3rd Person POV

"Hahaha, bro, are you sure you want to try your luck while being so drunk? You will be wasting your money here."

A friendly stand owner advised Nora, who was barely standing on his feet as he swayed left and right.

The very same evening after the bear raid, when the group arrived, the festival had begun. The preparations had been underway while they had gone out so it seemed like the villagers had done their best to finish everything. The first thing that awaited them was a feast full of meat and sake so everyone began to dig in heartily. As someone who had faced great adversity and had a great story to tell, Nora had been offered the seat of honor and had been given a lot of food and sake. The result was that he was intoxicated beyond a normal level.

After the feast, the group was invited to several stands with games and activities to pass time. They were mostly armed for the visitors, but a lot of villagers were happily participating in games to earn prizes.

"Brother, I also advise you against it. This stand is among the most expensive ones. The fees are higher since the rewards are of higher quality." Kamiya kindly advised.

Not only Nora's group was going around and checking the stands, but Kamiya and Azuma were accompanying them. There were also the pair of ladies that Nora had reproached following him as well, but they did not try to approach him as aggressively as before, but they were rather engaging in conversation with Lisa as they asked her advice about fashion and how to look like her at her age. If it wasn't because they meant no ill will with their questions, Lisa would be more than happy to teach them a lesson.

"Nonsense... I am going to get the best prize for my girl here!" Nora said as he pulled Natsume into his arms.

"I... still advise you against it." Kamiya kept a gentle smile, albeit a bit forced. "How about this? I will get something in your stead."

Looking confident, Kamiya patted his chest reassuringly, and without waiting for anyone else, he walked towards the stand a picked a dart. Sharing a look with the stand owner when he picked the dart, Kamiya turned towards Natsume and flashed her a smile.

"This is for you!" Kamiya said as he turned his head back towards the target.

By doing this action, he missed the disgusted face Natsume made in an instant.

Kamiya was confident about not missing since he practiced in every game to surprise the ladies that visited the village and were different from the visitors, he did not use a dummy dart. However, his movements were interrupted for a split second, a small window of time that his brain barely registered. After trying to flirt with Natsume so blatantly, a terrible fear gripped his heart and like that, his dart missed the target. The stand owner was surprised, but not as much as Kamiya who sweated coldly and carefully glanced around him. Nonetheless, no matter where he looked, he could not find the source of the terrifying fear he felt.

"Was that supposed to be a miss on purpose or you actually failed?" Natsume asked.

A hard-to-hide smile was on her face as she glanced at Nora. From the perspective of those who knew her, it was a simple happy smile, but Kamiya could only feel that it was a mocking smile.

The truth was far from his imagination since Natsume noticed what happened and she felt pleased that Nora got jealous despite outwardly taking Kamiya's blatant actions like he did not care.

"Tough luck, brother..." Nora regretfully said. "Huh? Are you perhaps not feeling well?"

At these words, everyone noticed the unnatural cold sweat pouring from Kamiya.

"Y-Yeah, I mean, no, I might be feeling under the weather and did not notice until now..." Kamiya excused himself. "it might be a good idea to stop here..."

"You need to watch out for your health. I think you might've drunk too much alcohol." Nora said. "Sake is great, but only in moderation."

Looking slightly sluggish, Nora kindly advised his 'brother'.

"I usually can hold my liquor better, but perhaps because this feast had so many guests I made friends with, and it even had my sworn brother that I drank more than I could hold." Kamiya explained.

While looking at Nora, Kamiya inwardly groaned at his presence. The youth had consumed enough alcohol to kill a normal human, yet he only looked slightly drunk. Kamiya drank less than him and he would've passed out if he did not prepare medicine beforehand so his body got rid of the sake fairly quickly.

"No shame on that brother, we all cut it loose sometimes, hahaha!" Nora heartily laughed. "Well, I guess it is my turn. I have to avenge my sworn brother and my beloved wants... whatever the best prize is."

Looking doubtful, Nora did not even look at the display containing the prizes. He strode to grab the darts 'kindly' prepared and handpicked by the stand owner after paying for them. However, someone tugged his clothes, but Natsume was a few steps away since she did not want to get in his way. As he turned around, Nora saw Lavinia looking at him with a hopeful look.

"Nora-kun..." Lavinia did not say anything else, but the message was clear for the youth.

"Don't think I would forget about you... I never would..." Nora gently took her hand away. "Of course, that includes you too."

Shigune stopped in her tracks with one hand outstretched to tug Nora's clothes.

"I-I just thought it would be lonely if..." Shigune shyly mumbled.

Not daring to look at him, the girl blushed.

Her actions made Nora smile since she looked cute.

"Sorry, my brother. I guess I can't avenge you." Nora sighed. "These shoots will be in their honor..."

With the three darts in hand, Nora turned around to walk towards the stand, but his actions were too sudden and his drunk self lost his equilibrium and fell.

Inwardly smirking, Kamiya was about to head towards him to help him and maintain his reputation, but his steps froze after only a single one. Not only he, but everyone did the same. Nora's group looked very 'surprised', perhaps a bit too much, but no one paid attention to them or the poor Nora. They were all looking at the target that had three darts attached in the center.

It seemed that when Nora fell, he had 'accidentally' thrown the darts and they had coincidentally hit the bull's eye.

"Man, today must be my lucky day." Nora stood up and undusted his clothes. "No, this is a divine message. They must be telling me that having three girls is not wrong, and I just have to treat them fairly."

His nonsense was not heard by Kamiya or the stand owner since they were shocked to the core. They knew that

Nora's darts were dummies. Even the most skilled in the village could not even hit the target, regardless of the mark, but Nora had done it, not only once but thrice.

"No, I am a man who goes against the heavens. I decided to take care of my maids as well so I have to get them something too." Nora said a put more money on the stand and grabbing the two remaining darts that Kamiya did not use.

Moving left and right in place, Nora's eyes did not seem to be capable of locking the target.

"Ah, screw this." Nora covered his eyes with one hand and threw the darts all at once.

"Bullshit..." Kamiya could not help but say.

Another bull's eye from a nonsensical throw.

Kamiya was still shocked, but the stand owner was sweating coldly as he recalled the prizes he had. Five... did he have enough to cover the first prize five times?

"Haha, I am on fire!" Nora flashed his friends a victory sign.

"Pops, gimme one, just one dart. I can't just leave it uneven." Nora pointed at Lisa. "This is for you."

Widening her eyes in surprise, Lisa certainly did not expect him to do that, but she smiled nonetheless.

The absent-minded stand owner was so busy calculating the loss that he simply passed Nora another dart. The youth stretched like he was going to do an arduous action, however, the movements sent him stumbling forward and like before, another bull's eye.

The stand owner was already pale, but Nora-

"Is this game rigged? I mean, I am just winning so easily that makes me wonder if you guys are going easy on a beginner like me... no, maybe it is part of the experience from our visit?" Nora mumbled.

The stand owner almost passed out in that instant. However, his merchant soul reanimated him and he immediately changed the display for the first prize, an ancient-looking teapot that was his family heirloom, with something that the young village chief had prepared in case he had won. It was an item that had 'ties' to their 'land god', and it was usually worn by their mikos. Kamiya had used to flirt with girls since a long time ago, and he had planned to do the same this time. Luckily, the amount was just right.

"So, where is the prize?" Nora asked.

Without caring for the mental well-being of the owner who almost coughed blood, Nora demanded the stand owner at once.

Carrying a flattering smile, the stand owner pulled several small boxes. Exactly six. Nora was curious and as soon as he directed a look at the boxes. He paled.

"These are rings exclusively for females, they were handed over by our land god long ago to males whose love and devotion towards their women was unmatched. It is a custom for our mikos to never marry as they must remain virgins to carry the rituals, but those who were granted these rings had permission to marry and have children despite their miko status. There are the real deal and have been passed down from generation to generation, and while this will not hold the same meaning for an outsider, we consider them Rings of Eternal Vows, We usually only display them as means to have visitors ask about them and introduce them to the story of our land and would never hand them over to outsiders but the love shared by you guys has moved me and it changed my mind."

Speaking even more eloquently as Nora paled, even more, the stand owner found it sweet to get revenge on Nora this way.

The eyes of the women in the group shone subtly after the stand owner opened the boxes one by one and showed them the rings.

"...and my luck ran out." Nora facepalmed.

"Since it is a gift, you will certainly put it on me, won't you?" Natsume said.

"A gift from Nora-kun, I am so happy." Lavinia muttered.

"Awawa, aren't we skipping too many steps? At this speed, we will be raising our children by next year..." Shigune began imagining several images that made her face turn bright red.

"Nanami had dreamed of this day since she was born..." Nanami looked deeply moved.

"Ah, if Altais finds out about this, I will have to live in the run." Felis looked pale.

"Oh, cutie, you are really bold to propose to six girls at the same time..." Lisa amusedly said.

Sighing, Nora only let go of any intention he had of escaping Suddenly, he felt a pat on his back and his expression turned confused.

"You reap what you sow" Aika consoled.

"No, where did you come from?" Nora asked. "I did not notice how you got here..."

"Hehe, surprised? Lisa taught me how to move like this." Aika said. "Now I can go to those places that adults did not let me go to."

Smirking rather obscenely, Aika's goal could be easily inferred so Nora immediately karate-chopped her.

"Ouch! Don't you know that you cannot hit beautiful women?" Aika complained.

"What woman? You idiot, you are only a fool ready to get way too mischievous for her own good." Nora muttered. "Besides, what are you going to do with what you find?"

"I won't tell a mean guy like you." Aika stuck out her tongue at Nora.

Rolling his eyes, he raised his hand threateningly and Aika crumbled under pressure.

"I give up." Aika said. "I want to...."

Mumbling in a low tone, most of her sentence was lost but Nora seemed to catch bits of it and he looked at Aika with a confused expression. He noticed that she was feeling shy to speak in public so he kneeled and pointed at his ear and Aika whispered her sentence again.

"Hoho? To think it would be like that..." Nora looked at Aika with interest.

The girl immediately covered her non-existent chest fearfully. Her action earned her a roll of his eyes.

"If you are interested..." Nora whispered in her ears.

Squirming with a red face, Aika was not sure why his simple action embarrassed her so much. However, she soon threw her shame away and her eyes shined with interest.

"You and I will be buddies for a long, but long time..." Aika muttered.

Amidst Nora escape from reality as well as creating a new friendship. He failed to see a certain duo filming his actions. Tobio and Sae were both recordings everything from the beginning.

"Should we stop recording already?" Tobio asked.

"Giving his usual streak, he will surely say another crazy thing in a few seconds. We have to record as much blackmailing material, I mean, precious memories to share with him when he gets older."

Sae seemed to believe that years of collecting his embarrassing behavior will be useful later on, but Tobio thought otherwise. Nora was the type to not care about embarrassing behavior or the like, but he did not say anything and let Sae have her fun. From his position, Tobio saw the animosity barely hidden in Kamiya's expression and Azuma gleefully observing his brother. It seemed that the two brothers did not get along that well so perhaps they would each have their own agenda so they needed to watch out in case they had different plans in mind.

"Master, Nanami has finished setting the camera. Please proceed to put the ring on the finger you desire." Nanami said.

As she mentioned, she had pulled a tripod and set her phone in recording mode. While the maid had given Nora the choice, only one finger was not part of a tightened fist.

Those words seemed to spur the rest and they tried to push themselves forward to be the first.

Smirking at this, Aika seemed to be waiting for a good spectacle of Nora being troubled, however, Nora saw through that and snorted. He picked the first box close to him and immediately kneeled in from of Natsume who was the quickest to arrive near him.

"This might be a simple gesture on my part, but I want it to express that our bonds will last forever." Nora slowly opened the box and showed Natsume the ring.

While being interested in the ritual but acting for the fun of it, Natsume found that Nora was not simply joking and acting for the mission. He avoided any cheese line to make it sound more serious si she felt moved.

"I hope they do." Natsume presented her hand.

Smiling wryly, Nora was obligated to put the ring on the ring finger since Natsume had formed a fist with the rest.

Like that, Nora easily resolved his issues, or so he hoped, but that was a story for another time.

------------------------------------------------------

3rd Person POV

Taking a deep breath, Musashi sheathed her katanas. Taking a look at her surroundings, like they had not been there since the beginning, the wooden golems she just destroyed turned into a muddy liquid. Even after walking for a while, she still has a long way to go. She failed to grasp the actual distance before so she followed the direction she had to go through the forest.

"So it was an evil mastermind causing me to drop my food after all." Musashi reasoned. "However, there was no Intel about this kind of place as far as I recall..."

Dispersing the transformation of his sacred gear, the white cat Byakusa stayed on his master's shoulder and Kouki picked a branch from the ground and poked at the liquid. It clung to the branch for a second but it did not take long to evaporate completely.

"Anee-san, you said you stumbled upon this place by coincidence and were not aiming for it from the beginning?" Kouki asked. "I thought that Stray-sensei had called you to help me."

"No, I had a separate mission." Musashi shook her head. "Although I certainly did not expect to stumble with an acquaintance in the middle of nowhere... if I had a choice in the matter, a pretty young boy would've been better."

Sighing, Musashi gave another look at Kouki before sighing with disappointment.

With the corner of his lips twitching, Kouki did not try to retort.

"I see." Kouki pulled out a map. "Local maps do not point out any buildings near so the place we are looking for must've been built illegally or our target must be using a cave of some sort as a base."

"Either way... we must continue walking. There is a chance that he is aware of our presence already if he is sharing his senses with the golems or he has been alerted after we destroyed his toys." Musashi exclaimed. "You said that he sent you here to rescue someone?"

"The parents of a child we picked up during our mission went missing. A shikigami that Nora used to scout was kidnapped and one of the last images it sent Nora before disappearing was the parents of the child following someone's orders." Kouki explained. "He was not sure that it would be related to our mission so he sent me over since I was not busy. He mentioned sending backups so perhaps we will find other friendly units in our rough destination."

"I wish he would've given Yukari-sama a call, he is the only one that she listens to other than the older members in-" Musashi closed her mouth immediately. "You did not hear anything."

Given that Kouki was Nora's ally, Musashi began to speak confidently about her organization, but it was forbidden to speak to it to outsiders. While Nora had learned of it from a slip of tongue, the organization did not seem bothered (they even had positive feedback about it), and the case was different from other people who learned of it without the acting leader's approval.

"Anee-san, do you know anything about our target?" Kouki asked. "We are seeking him to rescue the parents of a girl Nora picked up on our mission. They had disappeared mysteriously but we could not be certain if our mission was related to their disappearance so he sent me here to check on them. His shikigami caught had seen them after getting kidnapped so we have evidence on our side, although our numbers are small now, he promised to send back-up."

"So you guys had that kind of circumstance." Musashi frowned. "That explains why I found you out here in the woods; it is pretty far from civilization after all. Although, I would've preferred to find a pretty boy out here instead of…"

Sighing in disappointment, Musashi put a hand on the handle of her katana.

"How about coming out?" Musashi called out.

After not receiving an answer, Kouki shared a look with Musashi and waved his hand. Byakusa understood his meaning and lighting rained upon the shadow of a tree.

The tree transformed and a small figure evaded the lighting with swift movements, landing a couple of steps away.

"Aren't you…?" Kouki recognized the figure and relaxed his stance.

"You know her?" Musashi still did not let down her guard.

Dressed in a light outfit, the figure was covered in some sort of kunoichi outfit. Her mouth was covered with a black cloth and her right eye had been wrapped with an eye patch, leaving only her left eye staring at them.

"There was one time that Stray-sensei was pondering deeply during our training and he seemed distracted, but asking him about it was a mistake because he dragged us to some sort of hidden village in who knows where. He said that we should learn the way of the ninja." Kouki sighed. "Lucidra-sensei was thrilled, but we were not. What awaited us was a full week filled with extensive training on Ninjutsu, everything from presence concealment to shuriken throwing and handling different types of weapons. Basically, he made us train, but we were not alone. The village was filled with several women that he had picked up and they were receiving training from a lot of people with famous names."

"It has been a while, Samemija-dono."

Bowing her head respectfully, the figure took the cloth off her mouth.

"My name is Chiyome, just Chiyome." Chiyome introduced herself. "I am one of our esteemed Master's shadows."

Nodding respectfully at Musashi, Chiyome continued to stare at her fixedly.

"…Did I do something to her?" Musashi mumbled.

"My apologies, it is an honor to meet Musashi-sama so I unknowingly stared at you for too long." Chiyome said. "We have not met before, but our master mentions you from time to time."

"That is a bit embarrassing…" Musashi scratched her cheek.

"Not at all, he always sings praises about your noble heart and skills with the sword." Chiyome muttered.

"I see, my sword skills…" Musashi looked a bit dissatisfied.

Noticing her blunder, Chiyome looked distressed.

"No, he also speaks about the time you two met and expresses how he was saved by you in his darkest times, that we should not direct the gratitude we have for saving us to him, but it should all be for Musashi-sama!"

Unsure what expression to make, Musashi decided to evade Chiyome's innocent look. The girl looked like a fan meeting their idol after years of waiting for it, and Musashi couldn't find the heart to pour cold water on the petite girl.

"Pfft, yes. I forgot to mention that detail, Anee-san." Kouki smiled.

"This is not funny!" Musashi glared at him. "And stop with that way of calling me, just Musashi is ok."

"No can do, sorry but I cannot do that. Stray-sensei would harass the heck out of me if he thought I was taking liberties with you." Kouki shook his head. "He is kind of possessive sometimes and crossing him can cost you dearly. Even if you are a friend, he can still prank you to death."

Recalling a certain leader of the fallen angels that told a dirty joke about Yasaka once, Kouki shuddered knowing how Nora caused the mysterious disappearance of the said individual for weeks. The mystery of the cursed bathroom in the Nephilim Institute became one of the Seven Wonders of that place and no one has been able to crack the source.

"On one hand, I know that he never means anything bad, but on the other hand…" Musashi smiled wryly after seeing Chiyome. "Anyways, are you alone?"

"No, Master usually forbids us to work alone." Chiyome said. "He always instructs us to avoid death flags as much as possible, although I am not sure what he means by that. One of our instructors should be watching us from far away. Master asked for her presence, I think she was your acquaintance, Musashi-dono."

"Mine?" Musashi tilted her head.

"Yes, she carries the name of someone related to Japan's historical characters like us. Her name is Katou Danzo-dono."