Flag Master Nobu

Though it was a massive pain in the ass, both literally and figuratively, Nobu was kneeling in a pale imitation of a seiza as he attempted to extinguish specific candles among the hundreds that were encircling him.

Nobu's biggest weakness at this point was his inability to freely manipulate his Aura. He was getting better at it, but, compared to people who had spent years refining their control when they had very limited reserves, he was terrible at it.

When he had first started his control training, Nobu had elected to train alongside Midori, Sachiko, and Nariko. It was intended to be a bonding exercise, but, once he realized how far behind he was despite the fact they were only eight, he promptly decided to seek Inami's assistance.

Fortunately, one of the excuses Inami had given for staying in the estate was helping Nobu with his training. She also had a tremendous amount of experience, and, due to her specializing as a sensor, her insight was far beyond what Kumiko could provide. Nobu still entrusted the latter with his basic education, but, when it came to cultivation, Inami and Yui were his go-to sources for guidance and insight.

The only problem was that Inami arbitrarily inflated the difficulty based on her mood. She argued that this would allow him to maintain control under duress, but, from Nobu's point of view, she was basically just horny...

"I'm trying to focus..."

Giggling in response to Nobu's words, Inami continued to nuzzle him from behind, a teasing smile on her face as she said, "Then focus. Do you think your enemies will just stand still and wait for you to act? A true master is able to maintain control regardless of the situation..."

As she was saying this, Inami traced her hands over the gradually developing muscles of Nobu's body with a subtle pink glow in the depths of her eyes. Then, just as he was attempting to ignore her and focus on a specific candle, she promptly licked the back of his ear.

Unable to maintain control, Nobu's brow began to twitch as he ended up extinguishing most of the candles surrounding his target. Before he could complain, however, Inami suddenly reminded, "Kaia is going to be transported this evening. Do you want to go pick her up or would you rather wait for her here?"

Recalling the wolfish woman he had met nearly a month prior, a smile developed across Nobu's face as he said, "I'll wait for her here. I've already talked with the others and they agreed it would be for the best if I left her transport to them. If I was present, there is a chance Kaia might lose her cool and make transporting her back problematic..."

Though she had somewhat expected Nobu to insist that he help in Kaia's transfer, Inami supplied a curt nod of approval in response to his words. There was such a thing as taking sentiments too far, and, while it was nice to show consideration towards your subordinates, doing so at the expense of your other retainers was rarely a good idea.

"Then you should rest and make the necessary preparations. I imagine you'll be wanting to spend some time with her once she arrives, correct?"

Nodding his head, Nobu was about to explain his intentions when Inami interjected, adding, "Just make sure Yui and someone else is with you. I'm not going to tell you not to have sex with her but there is no-"

"Wait, what...?"

Blinking in surprise, Inami released her hold on Nobu before tilting her head to the side and asking, "Are you not intending to bed her? At this point, the only person you haven't laid a hand on are the final two members of your entourage. It would have been fine to ignore them if you only sunk your teeth into Yui and Yuriko. Now that you've crossed the line with the other ten, it is only natural that you complete the set. Leaving out just two people is bound to make them feel inadequate..."

Changing the topic, albeit only slightly, Nobu adopted a frown as he said, "That reminds me. When am I going to meet the final member of my entourage? It's weird that I've been here for more than a month and have yet to even see what she looks like..."

"Mmm...there's a pretty simple explanation for that. Though her tail had to be removed when she was an infant, Yufu-chan is still a kitsune. There are medicines to inhibit the effects, but, if she were to meet you in her present state, there is a very good chance she would inadvertently injure you. In the worst-case scenario, you may even end up impregnating her. Kitsune that have sex while they're in heat are almost guaranteed to get pregnant."

Though she spoke casually, Inami's stomach felt indescribably fluttery as she laid the foundation for her own pregnancy. This became even worse when she saw the look of realization in Nobu's eyes as he asked, "Aren't you a kitsune...?"

A stark contrast to how anxious she was feeling, Inami managed to appear calm as she issued an amused chuckle and explained, "At my age, it is nearly impossible for me to get pregnant. There is also the matter of your cultivation base, and, more importantly, the medicines I've been taking to prevent any mishaps. Even if we remained locked together throughout the entirety of Spring, the odds of you getting me pregnant are astronomically small."

As her words were intended to lower his guard and open his mind to the possibility that there was, no matter how small, a chance, Inami was quite surprised when Nobu suddenly held his head with both hands. She could also hear him muttering something under his breath. Something about flags and the fact that she had just planted the biggest he'd ever seen.

Just as she was about to ask what was wrong, the hairs across Inami's body stood on end when Nobu looked at her with a dead look in his eyes, saying, "Let's assume you did get pregnant...what are our options? Like, does this world have...you know..."

Though he was about to ask if she could get an abortion, a shudder ran through Nobu's body at the mere thought of such a thing. He was an irredeemable asshole, sure. He wasn't afraid to admit that. However, while he wasn't even remotely ready to be a father, the thought of yeeting his own children just felt fucked up. He had already fucked up quite a bit since his arrival in this world so it didn't seem even remotely fair to just abort his own flesh and blood because he was too chicken-shit to take responsibility...

Understanding what Nobu was going to suggest, Inami's heart was beating faster than a rabbit's as her entire body tensed like a spring. If he brought the matter to Hitomi, she would have no choice but to abort. It wouldn't matter if she had acted at the behest of Inari Okami-sama. Without Nobu's support of the idea, there was no way in hell she would be allowed to bring the child to term.

What Inami didn't expect was for Nobu to smack himself in the forehead a couple of times before staring directly at her and saying, "Fuck it...listen up. I'm not saying you should try, but, if by some fucking miracle you end up getting pregnant, these are the ground rules. First of all, you'll be my woman from that moment forward. I don't give a fuck what other people say. I'm not going to let the mother of my children piss off and spread her legs for someone else. Second, I don't give a fuck about the Yoshitsune Clan's or anyone else's traditions. None of my children are going to be trained as kunoichi. Understood?"

Though he might be overreacting, Inami's words had convinced Nobu that she was pregnant. This world seemed to follow a lot of narrative tropes so there was no way in hell nothing would happen after she planted a flag the size of fucking Mars. She was also the literal High Priestess representing the piece of shit Inari and the literal catalyst for his rapidly increasing strength. If she wasn't carrying his baby, he would eat his fucking foot.

Surprised by the fervor and resolution contained within Nobu's words, Inami genuinely had no idea how she should respond. She should be feeling relief, but, hearing Nobu basically state that he was going to claim her if she ever gave birth to his children, a feeling of giddiness began to swell within her chest.

In the end, the only response Inami could muster was an uncharacteristically meek, "Okay..." as she averted her eyes to the side. This caused Nobu to issue an exhausted sigh, his body sprawling out on the ground as he asked, "Does the Yosthistune Clan have a method to tell if someones pregnant or do you just wait until your bellies begin to swell?"

Answering truthfully, Inami explained, "When we are actively trying to get pregnant, we need only spread our Aura through our body and focus on the region around our navel. If there is a new life budding there, it isn't particularly difficult to find..."

Rising to a seated position, Nobu's gaze became even more intense than before as he said, "I want you to check. Right here. Right now."

Swallowing in response to Nobu's words, Inami placed her palm on her stomach before closing her eyes and pretending to focus her Aura. She was already close to five weeks at this point, so, while it was only the size of a grain of rice, it wasn't difficult to find the fetus-

Though she was initially preparing herself to feign surprise, Inami was genuinely shocked to find, not one, but two fetuses developing in her womb. Her eyes widened to an almost comical extent, words failing her as Nobu exhaled a sigh and muttered, "I fucking knew it..."

Blushing furiously, Inami wasn't lying when she stammered, "This...this shouldn't be possible...!"

Thinking she was just talking about the pregnancy, Nobu just muttered, "Yeah, yeah, good luck with that..." as he stared up at the ceiling. Now that he had confirmed his suspicions, he felt as though all the tensions in his body had drained away. He couldn't even hear Inami's follow-up remark, as, for a brief moment, his brain had basically shut down.

Noticing Nobu's state, Inami couldn't help panicking. His previous words made it seem as though he had approved of her pregnancy. Now, however, it seemed like he was seriously contemplating whether or not he should force her to have an abortion. She couldn't risk this, so, after overcoming the anxiety filling her entire being, she made her way over to him, tentatively caressing the left side of his face as she asked, "Are you okay...?" in a genuinely concerned tone.

Though he didn't shift his unfocused gaze from the ceiling, it wasn't long before Nobu answered, "Yeah...I'm fine..." in a listless monotone. This caused Inami to feel even more concerned, but, before she could think of anything to say, Nobu surprised her by grabbing her hand and saying, "Let's just lay here for a moment...I need time to think..."

Understanding that he was telling her to lay next to him, Inami swallowed a second time before curling up next to Nobu with her head on his shoulder. This somehow felt more intimate than all the times they had sex, as, rather than aggressively assail her, Nobu just wrapped his arm around her body, absentmindedly caressing her shoulder as he stared blankly at the ceiling...

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(A/N: Nobu's ability to spot flags is still going strong. Now he just needs to learn how to break them before they're planted too deeply xD...)