15

"This could get us disgraced and executed, Narikage-san," the Tanuki hissed in a hushed whisper.

Narikage just seemed to shrug, "Tadaari-san, you know as well as I do that… Yasaka needs to be reminded of her place. That she only leads the Youkai faction because us nobles and elders allow her to. She has been getting too bold, even keeping around that tailless thing when it should have been put to death at birth. She needs to be reminded that no one is untouchable."

Cold rage swirled in Onari's core at the way the noble sneered Yasaka's name. He dared?! To insult Onari himself was one thing. He would have just paid that slight back with a bit of interest. But to insult his beloved, benevolent mother?!

The Tsukumogami would die slowly and painfully. Onari would shred its physical form. He would keep the object's spirit tied to each individual shard. Then he would burn each piece with heavenly flames. And when there was nothing left, he would exorcize the impudent object spirit. He would send that spiritual blight to the darkest depths of Yomi, and make sure it was tortured until if faded from existence.

Tadaari, the Tanuki, gave Narikage a shaky nod, "I… agree… But surely you understand the risks of this plan of yours!?"

The infuriating Tsukumogami casually waved off Tadaari's worries, "Of course, of course. The Himejima traitor has already been paid to plant the remains, and they will be silenced once the job is done. All you have to do is propose a mission for the tailless freak. A 'test', if you will."

"... Yes, I understand. And it will just be an… unfortunate coincidence that the boy's first mission ended up being such a formidable foe…"

"Exactly. When the thing fails, Yasaka will obviously be distraught. It will remind her that nothing is invincible, and the heir issue will be taken care of at the same time. Young Mistress Kunou will make a much better successor to the old fox anyway."

The icy rage inside Onari grew further. His background Qi gathering process wobbled momentarily before Onari reined in the anger and used it to fuel his cultivation. They weren't just insulting Yasaka. They meant to harm her. They meant to break her emotionally so that they could bend her to their will.

This could not be allowed to go unpunished. Onari watched as the meeting in the past ended. He broke the connection with the strand of hair. The Tanuki was guilty, but he wasn't the real evil in this situation. The generous Onari would let him off 'lightly' just this once.

Onari carefully extracted himself from the snuggle pile. He made his way into his room to gather his formation tools. He sat down at his desk, and unfurled a scroll of parchment that had been soaked in his Qi. The strand of Tanuki hair was placed in the center of the scroll.

Pausing his cultivation for a moment, Onari gathered his Qi for a different reason. True Qi flowed down his arm and into his brush as he dipped the instrument into the ink. The brush began to glide smoothly across the scroll as Onari drew the basic structure of a curse technique.

Once the structure was in place, he started adding the cursed effects that he wanted. A cloud of bad fortune would follow the Tanuki until his death. He would forever be jumping at shadows. His strength would stagnate and begin to wane. Disease would hit him frequently and always twice as hard.

Onari finished off the cursed formation with a little cherry: a small spiritual tattoo that said "Betrayer" would manifest somewhere on the Tanuki's body. Onari set down his brush and leaned back with a vindictive smile on his face. He clasped his hands together, fist to palm, over the finished scroll.

Qi streamed into the formation. Onari had to pull on the local Qi as well as his own Qi to power the curse. He had to sacrifice a significant amount of his internal reserves, but he believed this was worth the loss in cultivation speed. He'd just have to accelerate his plans for alchemy.

The scroll rolled itself up, and started to shine with light. Once the scroll was closed, the light began to dim until the scroll was cloaked in shadow. Onari finished jumpstarting the curse with a resounding clap. The scroll dissipated into motes of shadow.

Unfortunately, the sudden noise woke up Yasaka. She walked into Onari's room with a still sleeping Kunou nestled in her tails.

She yawned, "Onari? What was that noise?"

"Nothing for you to worry about," Onari said. "I was just dealing with some unfinished business."

Still bleary eyed, Yasaka walked to sit behind Onari, and put her chin on his shoulder. Glorious, pillowy breasts were squished against his back. Onari didn't even try to fight the possessive feelings that came over him when he smelled her scent.

Yasaka sighed comfortably, "If you say so, dear."

Onari hummed, "Hmm, I had something else I wanted to talk to you about as well. Is now a good time to make an unusual request?"

"I don't think there will ever be a better time. You just succeeded in an unexpectedly dangerous mission. Small as it may be, you've proved your worth to the rest of the faction. I could almost be expected to reward you in some way. I would reward you anyway, of course, but this gives me a good excuse."

"Well that's good to hear. I would like to request a supply of ingredients, some of which may be esoteric in nature. I will also need a mortar and pestle, a small cauldron, and a supply of supernatural metal."

Yasaka looked at Onari curiously out of the corner of her eye, "Is this another one of those things from 'a past life'?"

"Yes," Onari nodded. "I would like to try my hand at alchemy."

"Hmm… We'll have to sit down and have a conversation about that one day, but I'll wait until you feel ready to broach the subject yourself."

"... Thank you."