Chapter 58

October has come!

And with it? Beyond it getting slightly colder and raining a tad more than before, nothing else has changed.

On the surface level, anyway, if the Hero Faction is here in Kyoto, then I have no way of figuring out where exactly they are.

I hit things with a sword and fire, not gathering intelligence, after all.

Besides that, the extent of my knowledge on the Hero Faction's attack only goes so far as 'sometime in October'...which, while something, isn't the most helpful in preparing for an exact time.

The only other thing I can say for sure is that Yasaka goes out at some point before the Kuoh Second Years trip to the city, which narrows things down a tad bit.

That particular trip tends to happen sometime early in the month, like the first or second week.

Which is why, as October just starts to roll in…

My phone abruptly sets off.

Luckily, I set it to vibrate, for…reasons. If it dinged right now it'd be fairly bad timing.

In any case, I look at my phone, snorting at the message.

FluffyTailsPrincess: Hmph.

…Ah, yes. The peak of eloquence, I see.

I responded exactly that, this time, I got a reply back seconds after mine.

FluffyTailsPrincess: Well! What else am I supposed to say to an image of a…I don't even know what that was!

It was a picture of a stoned fox.

FluffyTailsPrincess:..Is that because it was sitting on stones, or because it was on drugs?

I dunno, you're supposed to be the expert here.

FluffyTailsPrincess: Y-You! Just because…! Hmph!

I snort, quietly, and put my phone away.

I've had Yasaka's number since the whole Ibaraki thing, but she also gave me Kunou's number after that.

Much to her daughter's intense displeasure.

Why? Well. Whenever Yasaka would be sexually suggestive in her messages to me, I'd send a random meme to her daughter.

Needless to say, if you checked the logs of my and Kunou's chat, most of it would just be stupid pre-2010s memes from me, with the Princess pouting after every one.

Oh, right. But this time is a little different.

I quickly pull out my phone again, and send…

–de gozaru.

FluffyTailedPrincess:...are you sure you're not stoned?

Okay, that reply caught me so off guard I legitimately snorted. Loudly.

This prompted me to immediately jump on top of the guard tower I was hanging onto before the two Tengu stationed within instantly craned their heads in the direction of the sound.

I let out a silent sigh of relief, as the bird Yokai started looking around, more confused than alarmed for now.

Good. That means they aren't going to whip up the entire palace guard into a frenzy.

Now, I know it wasn't technically her fault, but I'm petty like that, so how about in retribution I…sneak up to her room and scare her?

Yes, this plan has absolutely no flaws, or downsides, whatsoever.

Show me your worst Murphy!

Besides, Yasaka already knows I'm doing this, so even if I do get caught, it's not as though I'll be in any real trouble.

I figured this would be a good time to test the new ninja skills I learned over the past month, and, I got to say?

It was kind of scary how easy it was for me to sneak into Urakyoto.

Even with a bunch of Senjutsu Practitioners around, once I suppressed my aura, I may as well not have existed to them as I strolled on by.

On the bright side, since I learned to conceal my aura, I don't need Kuroka to refresh her enchantment spell on me to stop Youkai from going crazy in my presence anymore.

I can do that myself now, dial it up, or vanish it as I please.

Of course, I'm not going to turn that on now, I'm in a city full of Youkai, and I'd rather them not all want to eat me!

As I was thinking, I made it into Urakyoto and through the city easily enough…all I had to do was find the portal, put on some fake cat ears, and walk on through.

Half of sneaking into a place is looking like you belong there, so no one questioned a cat boy strutting around like he owned the place, even with my aura suppressed to nothing.

There are so many other Youkai around that, of course, individual signatures would get muddled.

As I approached the Palace though, things got tricky.

The large groups thinned out, and I was forced to the shadows or else my lack of a life force presence would get discovered immediately.

I was climbing up the walls when Kunou there finally responded to my latest meme.

Now then, as for finding the Fluffy Tailed Princess's bedroom…

The one downside about concealing your aura is that you can't sense anyone else's either, your sixth sense is essentially blinded to blind everyone else's, which means I'm going to have to find where her room is by estimation and sight alone.

I blink, as an idea forms in my head.

I eye the Tengu guards below with a smirk before I clasp my hands together, and a small white smokescreen pops off around me.

When it clears, the black-haired golden-eyed young man is gone, instead, your average bargain bin Tengu stands in his place.

The only difference is? The bright red and white standard uniform I see every other guard wearing is replaced with a black and dark blue version for myself.

Transformation Jutsu. One of the three basics back in the Naruto world. Ten-year-olds could figure this out, it didn't take long for me.

My disguise set, I shoot up, high into the air, fast yet silent, and start flying around the place.

Tengu feathers are dark and with my outfit? If anyone did look up, I'd blend in perfectly with the dark midnight-esk sky.

Now, if I were a spoiled princess, where would my room be located in a giant Japanese castle?

…Top floor? Yeah. Top floor. It's likely that her room is right next to Yasaka's, so maybe I should visit the mother after the daughter?

Eh, that is if Kunou doesn't flip her shit on me, which I expect her to do because it's her, so I likely won't have the pleasure of surprising Yasaka.

Unfortunate, but the things I do for the petty.

I quickly nose dive down, my transformation collapsing into smoke as I do before I land, sticking to the second-story castle's wall like Spider-Man and start shimmying across it.

It doesn't take long for me to run across a shogi that acts more like a window, and when I look inside…

Firstly. I'm on the wrong side of the floor, I see.

This is Yasaka's room.

Second. Holy fuck those tits are huge.

Did that sound rather vulgar? Yeah, no, even that doesn't clearly express it.

Right now, Yasaka is standing in front of a mirror, a half frustrated, half pout straining her face as she tries to pull a yukata up onto her chest.

Her breasts are so damn big, that she just can't do it. The thing simply can't reach over her chest, leaving it to snap back down around her waist.

She probably has special tailors for this sort of thing…but I guess it can't be easy making clothes for her, huh? This particular yukata looks pretty different compared to her usual one…

Hmm, I wonder if a nice gift for her would be a whole diverse wardrobe of clothes that actually fit?

I quickly shake my head of those thoughts, and quickly continue my shimny before Nori Junior decides to come out and carve a hole in the wall wherever I go.

I end up having to go pretty much all the way around the floor, but eventually, I hit another window and another room.

…Alright, Murphy. I have to admit. This? This is pretty good.

My man.

Much like her mother, Kunou is also trying on clothes.

Unlike her mother, they fit. Also unlike her mother, rather than some traditional robe, she's straight up trying on a bikini.

I wouldn't call the swimsuit sexy by itself it's the girl's body doing all the heavy lifting there.

I think she was trying to go for 'modest' but she inherited her mother's body, so that simply isn't possible.

Also, those colors…

Heh, someone's wearing my colors~!

A genius idea pops into my skull, and I quickly take out my phone to implement it.

I sent her a rather simple message.

Nice colors.

Nothing happens immediately, of course. She hasn't seen it yet.

I can't hear the dinging of her phone going off, the only way I know it's delivered is I see the Princess all of a sudden perk up and give an annoyed, yet very cute, little frown to go with the embarrassed blush she's sporting glaring at herself in the mirror.

She shuffles over to her bed, where her phone lay, seemingly half haphazardly thrown there, and bends over to grab it.

I'm truly thankful her tails end up covering the view. I'm trying to trespass, not let Nori Junior cause property damage.

Upon snatching the device up, and looking at my message, she furrowed her brow in confusion and started to type out a reply.

Before that though, I quickly add…

The black and gold go well with your hair and eyes, though I think red really pops out on you, ya know?

And send.

She stares down at her phone.

A second, several, as her eyes slowly begin to widen in realization, and just as she begins to rapidly look around…

I make my move.

In one fluid motion, I open the window, and slide right on in, all while calling out…

"Daddy's back!"

"EHHH!? Y-Y-YOU!? HAAAHHH!"

My vision becomes a bright pale blue immediately after as Kunou raises her hand in my direction.

I just stand there, smiling, as I'm immolated. No harm was done to me whatsoever.

Vaguely, I feel several more fox fireballs strike me consecutively, over and over again, in a row.

But just like the first, none of them do anything.

"Pervert! Sicko! Creep! Deviant! Degenerate! Depraved Weirdo!" I also, vaguely, heard Kunou cry an insult with every assault.

But much like her flames, her words held just as little heat to me.

Even if they were a bit more...colorful, since last we saw each other in person.

The girl really hit the thesaurus afterward, huh?

"Kunou–" I try, but–

"No! Shut up and die!" I'm met with more cries and more fire.

I sigh, and start walking toward her…whilst still slathered in flames.

"E-Eh? Hey! You…You s-stay back! I'm warning you–!"

With a simple act of will, the fires around me go out, prompting Kunou to cut herself off with a shocked squeak.

I step right up in front of the girl, who's back up to her bed, leaning against the end of it as she tries desperately to cover her upper body with a small red jacket she has.

Unfortunately, much like her mother, the keyword there is small and the jacket won't entirely fit around her due to her chest.

Hmm…so both of them could use it, then?

Good to note for later.

For now, I lean down, looking straight into the slightly quivering girl's eyes, "...How ya doing?"

"...F-Fine." She looks away with a huff, "Then you showed up, p-perv."

I smile as I respond, "Good to see you too, Princess."

She merely huffs at me, before tentatively asking, "...what are you here for, anyway…we thought you were busy doing stuff with the Norse and the Clans after the Alliance."

I wave off her thought, "Was, actually, but now I've got some time…so! I decided to show up, and steal your maidenhood!"

Kunou, for a split second, essentially short-circuited.

She froze, her mouth gaped slightly, and her ears and tails twitched, it was really cute.

Then she slowly looked up at me.

"...H-Huh?"

I nod, casually, "Mhmm. I'm here to steal your maidenhood." I repeat, as though that was a casual talking point.

"...H-Huh." She repeated, still in disbelief.

"Yup. Looks like you're all dressed up for it, too! Even in my colors~!" I add, huskily.

Kunou shivers, slightly, "Y-You don't have a monopoly on those colors, you know?" Then she quickly adds, "Also, w-wait a minute! You can't do such a thing! You have to…you know…c-court me first! Yeah! Like you said!"

I chuckle at that, leaning down ever so closer to her, "Oh, Princess…I don't have to court you first to claim you, ya know? In fact, I think your mother would much rather us do this, right? Wouldn't you…? Isn't it a fantasy you read about all the time as a princess? Some handsome man, sneaking into your room…"

I slowly reach down, grabbing the color of her jacket and holding it firm, the action drawing a hot shivering breath from the fox girl.

"...and having his wicked way with you in the middle of the night? Hmm?" I finish mouth inches from her ear.

"T-That's…there's no such fantasy's like that, you…p-perv…!" She denies weakly, sounding desperate to sound unabashed.

I chuckle, deeply, drawing a shivering gasp from her before I continue, "Don't be like that, Princess. Besides, as I said, your mother would probably prefer it…after all, I'm not dense, I know she's trying to set you up with me…some sort of plan, right?"

Kunou freezes, "I…u-um…how do y-you…?"

I grin, "I have my ways."

Meta knowledge bullshit. Yasaka and Kunou from canon have something like it in canon for Issei. I just took a guess that moved over to me here.

"So! Why don't we…skip the journey, and head straight to…the destination~..." I mutter right to her ear and watch as the poor girl's face blushes an atomic red, and she trembles in place, breathing quickly as her legs and thighs grind together.

Then, a moment later, I pulled away with a stupid smile on my face.

"But anyway, we should probably do that later, I just got here, and I'm pretty hungry." I say, deepness and husk gone, just my normal voice back at it again.

Kunou takes a second before she blinks, looking up at me.

"...What?" She asks, breathy and dazed.

"I said I'm pretty hungry." I repeat, crossing my arms and smirking, "Should probably get something to eat."

I'm not really, but it has been a while since I last ate, so I figured why not?

Kunou blinks again, "...But…wait, aren't you…?"

I wave her off, "Eh. Maybe later."

Kunou stares up at me, and I think I see the exact moment she realizes just how hard I've been fucking with her.

Because I hear, "Y-You…!" Then she raises her hand, mounting fury stretching across her face, and all I see is white.

Then a pop as a mild explosion of aura centered on my head clears.

It's now my turn to blink.

The girl just shot me with an aura bullet, point blank, in the head.

Didn't do anything, of course, but still.

Fair enough.

Her voice came through once more "You ass!"

"Language." I automatically correct her.

"Shut the hell up!" She barrels on through, "Why would you joke about that you…you!" She hisses, grabbing her head in straight fury.

"Oh?" I raise an eyebrow, "Were you, mayhaps, looking forward to me whipping it out right in your face there, and making you call me Daddy?"

Her blush returned as she perked up at my words, she quickly looked away after, however, "N-No! No, not one bit…" she denied, very weakly.

"Mhmm." I hum out, unconvinced, "Right."

She clicks her tongue, "Look, never mind, o-okay!? Just…if you aren't here for that…then what!?"

Ah, come on now girl, you can't just change the subject like that.

But I guess I'll give her a break, for now.

So, I decided to answer honestly, "Well, I mainly snuck into Urakyoto and the Palace to test myself."

Kunou blinked at that. She's been doing that a lot lately, is she okay?

"That…wait, you snuck into the city and the Palace!?" Kunou cried in outrage, "How!?"

"Ninja–de gozaru." I respond while making a stupid non-existent hand seal as if that answers everything.

Kunou stares at me, dumbstruck, "...you are stoned, aren't you?" She mutters in disbelief.

I snorted again, "No, no…I really did learn from a ninja and decided to put those new skills to the test. It was…terrifyingly easy to do." I muse.

Seriously, if me and Kuroka had these skills way back when we probably could have just assassinated Ibaraki or something.

"Also," I quickly add, "that remark almost made me slip up and get caught when I read it, which is why I decided to come visit you, my favorite fluffy-tailed Princess~!" I state, cheekily, while petting her head.

She tries, and fails, to detach my hand from her head by batting it away, though she quickly abandons that plan with a growl and a pout.

"...has anyone ever told you that you're a perverted ass and you need to go die?" She asks, fuming.

"Yup~!" I confirm easily, "Also, language."

"Screw you!" She hisses back.

I clear my throat, "The proper term is, actually, 'fuck you', and that…that can be arranged~!" I correct as I start leaning down to her.

"Hnngghh!" She squirms in place, before crying out, "Knock it off! I'm not falling for your…thing…again!"

…Way to confirm that you were, indeed, totally willing to get dicked down right there.

Good job, Princess.

You're lucky you're so cute!

"You know, you've always been a bit fiery and bratty-"

"Not a brat." She interrupts with a huff, that I ignore to continue.

"But you're much more…I dunno what to call it exactly. Not outspoken, more like…relaxed, in a sense, here?" I try to convey, "Less formal, ya know?"

Kunou scoffs, "Well, yeah, it's my room…I can say or do whatever I want here…and no one can hear me…"

I blink at that, "Huh…hear you? What, is this room soundproof?"

She nods, and slowly, realization dawns upon me.

That's why I couldn't hear the phone go off through the fairly thin walls, huh?

It's also why her screaming and launching fire and bullets didn't cause half the Palace to come running.

If that's the case, then…

I nod, pleased, "Good to know that I can make you squeal as loud as I want for later then, hmm?"

Kunou perks up, then shivers with a frown, "What do you mean…later."

With a sigh, I sit down at the foot of her bed and suddenly pull the girl into my lap.

She squeaks in shock and confusion before I grab her face and look her straight in the eyes.

"I wasn't kidding when I was talking about you and your mother's plan, you know?" I state simply.

Her eyes widen as she freezes still once more.

"I know it exists. You confirmed it does. I don't have a problem with it…but, I do wanna eventually hear what exactly it entails, and…well," I smirk, "I was teasing about taking you right now, but I didn't say I wasn't gonna take you ever, right~?"

Kunou immediately flushes, "You…better not be teasing me a-again…or I'll tell Mother you're here!" She tries to threaten.

I chuckle, normally this time, "Before I made my sneak-in attempt, I told your mother, Princess." I boop her on the nose, prompting her to squeak in indignation.

"That's…well…! Mmmmmm!" She resorts to simply pouting, because really, what else can she say?

If she tells her mother that I teased her or came onto her, I'm 95% sure Yasaka would just go.

So why didn't you seduce him back, hmm?

Or something to that effect.

That…brings up another thing.

"Beyond just the plan," I continue, a serious inflection suddenly painting my words, "as we talked about months ago, I want to hear not just what your Mother wants, but what you want. Got it?"

Kunou's pout strained before she looked down at my chest, "...Okay. Fine."

In canon, Yasaka was the type to try and get her then 12-year-old daughter to either get her to watch her shack up with a high schooler, or try and get her to join in.

It'd be unfair to judge the Yasaka I know based on that one's actions that won't ever occur, but still.

Just to be safe.

I nod, pleased, "Good girl…" and scratch behind her ears.

For a second, Kunou legitimately purrs, only to freeze as she realizes she's still wearing a swimsuit…and nothing else.

She flinches back and scrambles out of my lap, and back onto her feet with a click of her tongue, "Alright, pervert…get out of my room so I can change!"

I hold back a cackle as I rise to my own feet, "Alright, Princess…I think I'll go visit your Mother then!" I announce as I stroll for the door.

"Hmph! You do tha-" Kunou does a double take, "...wait, no no no! You're not allowed to do that!"

"Why not~?" I stretch the words out long as I turn back to her and ask with a smirk.

"Because! She'll…well…no, you'll try to have your wicked way with her!" She reasons.

I mean. She's not entirely wrong, she's probably thinking in the wrong way.

Regardless, I throw up my arms, "So? Where else am I supposed to go, then?"

"Um…" Kunou looks around her room, back and forth, quickly, before finally settling on some random corner, "There! Go sit in the corner, facing the wall!"

I deadpan stared at her, "...really?"

"Yes!" She nods, resolutely, with a smirk that screams pride and smug. "Go on, sit!"

…Me help me, too not correct this brat right this second.

I'll give her this, for now, so I scoff but walk over to the corner anyway.

While I have this time, I decide to finally take in the appearance of her room, so focused I have been on the fox princess specifically that I hadn't taken it all in.

Compared to the Palace as a whole, this room seems the most modern.

She's got a massive actual bed, not a mat, and it's plastered with assorted stuffed animals. The floor is this fancy reddish-pink soft carpet, and along the walls, there are shelves upon shelves of stuff messily strewn about.

Most of it is books, everything from old scrolls to modern covers, but there are toys and ornaments thrown amongst them as well.

Between the shelving, there are posters, and photos depicting various events, and across from her bed is a door to her wardrobe, or at least I assume so anyway, because there's a big mirror next to it along with a table that has makeup stuff and jewelry thrown about.

…Kunou's room, although messy, still isn't as disastrous as Kuroka's was.

I'm never going to let the cat live this down.

As I sit down in my little corner, I briefly compare Kunou's room and Yasaka's in my head and find that, from the quick glimpse of the latter's I got? The two rooms are essentially polar opposites.

Yasaka herself was the only thing to note in hers because the rest of the room was fairly traditional and spartan.

As in, she had a mat, a table, a door to her wardrobe like Kunou's, the mirror, yet her walls were plain…it's…kind of sad.

The two are a product of different times, huh?

"Remember what I said, cur!" My thoughts were silenced as Kunou called out, "No! Looking!"

My eyebrow twitched.

Call me cur, will you? Well, now I have to look!

I sit there, patiently, listening intently.

I hear a door open, cloth dropping to and thudding against the floor.

Once. Twice…

I quickly turn my head.

And all I see is pale blue as fox fire envelops my vision, accompanied by distant snickering.

…I don't know whether I want the Hero Faction to come sooner, or later, now.

Regardless, I know I will be ready…and that this brat is going to be corrected by the time I'm done here!

~ A New Sun ~

"...Cao Cao, I think it's about time we get moving."

"Yeah…Yeah, it's okay now. We have long since gathered enough capable people. Let's move on to the next stage."

"Right. We have gathered what we need. It's about time."

"Now then, are we going after him first?"

"Him? Ah…Do you truly think we have enough? There's no doubt he's gotten stronger since that recording."

"We do. Besides, who said anything about a fight? First, we have to negotiate. And we will do it quite firmly, Siegfried. I know you're excited, but hold your swords for just a second. At least until after he joins us."

"...Roger that. We have common ground, after all. The ones who destroy the demons, monsters, and dragons…"

"Has always been the Heroes."