Chapter 59

"So…" Yasaka began, barely holding back her laughter, "Noriaki, I see you snuck into the place just fine?"

All three of us; myself, Kunou, and Yasaka, were seated around one of those small and low dining tables for dinner.

After Kunou managed to get dressed, we went and grabbed Yasaka from her room and came down with her for a quick informal late-night dinner.

Directly across from me, the bratty little fox sitting across from me had the largest smug smirk I'd possibly ever seen.

Between the two of us, at the end, or more like the head of the table as this is her house, sat Yasaka.

She looked about ready to break down into a fit of giggles.

I, meanwhile, was pouting. My arms crossed, I intentionally looked huffy as hell.

I'm also fairly certain my hair is on fire, still.

"...Yeah. Just fine." I huffed out, glaring at the fox princess as I answered her mother, "Saw some pretty interesting…stuff." I state, the gears in my head turning as an idea forms.

As I start smirking, Kunou's seems to drop in turn, before I swivel my head and look at Yasaka.

"Say, while I'm here…hmm, well, first!" I began, causing Yasaka to raise an eyebrow, "Do you have any plans to go anywhere soon?"

Yasaka hums, contemplating for a second, her hands reaching for and picking up her teacup almost automatically as she does.

"Yes, actually." She finally answers with a sigh, "Although it's not immediate, it is soon. You came around just in time, in fact. In a day or so, I have a meeting with the Sakra's messengers from Mount Meru." She finished with a sip from her cup.

I blink at that, my spite train of thought halting.

That's…isn't that meeting when she's supposed to get kidnapped?

That sounds about right, yet also…Sakra? Indra?

Why would she be meeting his messengers?

Not that such a thing is impossible, considering the sheer amount of Buddhists and Buddhist Temples in Kyoto, and what with Yasaka's whole thing being trying to turn Kyoto into a melting pot with diplomacy…

I suppose I could see it?

Still, knowing that guy's personality, I figured he'd consider Yasaka and the West Youkai as a whole not worth talking to, even through messengers.

…Unless he's already got the Hero Faction in his pocket, and this entire thing was a setup from the beginning.

That…could mean killing them might draw Indra's ire…

Internally, I shake my head at that notion.

When they come, they die. It's pretty simple. I already know who's getting the sword first.

If Indra wants to throw a hissy fit about it, let him.

Preferably, he'll show up in the middle of the day, near noon. Hell, he's got the arrogance for that in spades.

Regardless, I can ruminate on all that later, back on the spite train!

"Oh? Hmm…" I make a show of thinking about it for a second, "Well, it's a little tight, but what do you think about fitting in that date I promised you before then?"

Across from me, Kunou slams her hands on the table as an indignant, "W-What!? Date!?" leaves her mouth.

Yasaka's eyes widened, although whether from my proposition or Kunou's reaction to it I couldn't tell.

What I could tell is, though, the poor MILF fox almost choked on her tea there for a second.

Luckily, or unluckily depending on how you look at it, she seemed to have some practice dealing with such a situation…considering how stupid the people here can be, I'm not entirely surprised.

So, with grace, she barely let the slip show and corrected the failed swallow shirtless thereafter.

"My oh my, Noriaki~..." she set down her cup, and put a hand to her mouth, "asking a mother out like that right in front of her daughter, how bold~!" She giggled lightly and leaned forward ever so slightly as she did.

"M-Mother!" Kunou squawked, looking damn near ready to leap over the table, grab her mother's kimono, and forcibly close the thing before her tits spilled out.

Which, to be fair, they always look about ready to spill out.

I completely ignore Kunou for the moment, and focus on Yasaka, "Bold…and serious," I start, mirroring back her lightly flirty inflection, "I did say I'd take you out sometime, months ago, and hey? Doesn't a date before a long and boring meeting with a bunch of Buddhists sound divine?"

Yasaka hums in contemplation for a second, "It does, it does…" she almost needily whines.

"M-Mother! You can't just–"

"Come onnnn~..." I cut off Kunou as I trail off, slowly leaning toward her, "I already have a few ideas on where to go and what we'd be doing~!"

"Mmm~..." Yasaka continues to hum, before sighing sweetly and smiling, "Oh, alright, Noriaki…how could I refuse, hmm~?"

I chuckle and shoot her a smile right back, as Kunou groans in pain or embarrassment, slumping down on the table.

"Don't worry dear," Yasaka addresses Kunou with a smile, "after he's done with me, I'm sure it'll be your turn next!"

Kunou flinched back as if struck, her head reeling as she whined out, "M-Mother!"

I let out a dry wheeze of a laugh as Yasaka giggled at her daughter's indignation.

Ah, I sort of wish I swung by sooner now. I nearly forgot that these two antics were great.

"So then, Noriaki~?" Yasaka began sweetly, and I got myself under control enough to look at her, "I presume you'll be spending the night here then?"

I nod, "If that isn't any trouble…It'd make everything a lot easier."

Yasaka nodded in turn, "Then…how about instead of us sending you off to a guest, you spend the night with me, and we get a head start on our…date~...?" She asks, breathily, leaning forward ever so slightly whilst leaning on her hand.

All of a sudden, I had to actively suppress Nori Junior from coming up right away.

…This MILF can be very dangerous, huh?

Kunou stood up, quickly, and called out, "A-Absolutely not! I don't want to be an older sister right now!"

Yasaka blinked at that, seemingly legitimately not expecting Kunou's words.

But she recovered quickly enough, and smiled as she fired right back, "But Kunou, dear, you'd make an excellent big sister…"

Kunou took a step back, flushing from the praise, "W-Well of course, Mother," she nodded, rapidly, "You raised me right after all…but still! That doesn't change that fact!"

Vaguely, their back and forth turned into distant echoes as I sat there, slowly zoning out.

Ah…fox girls.

Yeah, I really should have stopped by sooner.

~ A New Sun ~

"I gotta say." Now it's my turn to smile smugly at the fox princess, "I'm not surprised it turned out like this, why are you?"

"J-Just…shut up, would you!?" Kunou cried out, albeit heavily muffled under all her blankets, sheets, and stuffed animals.

I can barely hear her, and that's with me lying right next to her.

In her bed, of course.

Because clearly, this was the only solution to the problem.

Poor fox princess, her mother pretty much manipulated her into outwardly saying she wanted me to sleep with her instead.

Not like that kind of sleep, I already know that I'm pretty sure, but hearing her say that in front of her mother was pretty damn funny.

With a chuckle, I turn and lay on my side, facing the bundle of cloth and stuffed animals hiding the little fox princess.

"Though, on the other hand," I continue, regardless of her words, "this does give us the time to talk. Specifically, you, remember?"

For a moment, I'm greeted by silence from the lump, until it slowly starts shifting, and Kunou's head pops out from it.

Her eyes refused to look at me directly, instead eyeing some random stuffed animal, and her face positively burned.

"...I'd… rather not." She mutters out, weakly.

"Too. Bad~!" I sang the denial out, "It's too late to back out now!"

"It's embarrassing!" She whines, shimmying under the assorted bed stuff, "Like, really really really embarrassing! Okay…? I could barely talk about it with Mother, and you…" she trails off, leaving the unspoken, we'll, unspoken.

I'm a part of the plan, after all.

With a sigh and a much more tender smile, I reach a hand over to her and gently cup her face, "Take your time then, princess. But it is happening tonight, and the sooner you get it out, the better, yeah?"

I give her a few scratches just like that, before moving and flipping around, facing away from her.

For her sake, I hope that'll make her feel less uncomfortable.

I settled in to wait for her, I was planning to start brainstorming and going over my plan for when the Hero Faction attacks, but to my surprise, it didn't take long for small soft hands to grasp the back of my robe, and hold onto me.

Then, in even less time, she began to speak.

"...I'm sure you're aware, but Mother isn't exactly the…s-strongest, amongst the Daiyoukai?" She strained the last words, as if physically speaking them hurt.

Of course, I am aware, but I don't say anything, giving only a nod.

Interesting start, though. What does this have to do with her plan?

"She's been alive for a long, long time. She was but a girl even younger than myself when Tamamo-no-Mae 'reigned'." Kunou practically spat the old Kyuubi Daiyokai's name, before sighing, "Originally, she was never meant to lead the Kitsune, did you know that? There were stronger, older, more experienced Kitsune alive at the time."

"What happened to them, then?" I ask though I suspect I already know the answer.

I could feel Kunou's shrug, "They all died, of course. They wanted to be the next Tamamo, they felt they had to be, so they tried to be like her.

"But back then? At that time? There wasn't peace between the Shinto Clans and the Youkai, it was war. While the Great War waged across the western countries here, in the east? We fought amongst ourselves." She scoffs, "It's scary, looking at human history, and seeing how the wars and battles all match up with what's going on in our side."

History repeats itself huh? Even with supernatural powers. Or I suppose, in this case, it mirrors?

"Regardless," Kunou continued, "Mother was still young at the time the position fell to her. At that point? She was the only one left.

"The Kitsune of Japan had to gather under her, at least then, they'd have strength with numbers if it came down to a fight.

"But instead of choosing to fight, which hadn't worked several times over, Mother sought a different solution."

"Diplomacy…?" I wagered a guess. Was this the start of how Kyoto ended up the way it is today?

"In a sense." Kunou answered, rather neutrally, "See, Mother, was…Hnngh…" She struggled with the words, "...is, still, the…w-weakest, Daiyokai. Especially back then. She didn't want to fight, to be killed for nothing and lead the rest of her kind to death.

"When you don't want to fight, yet you don't have the power to do what you want anyway, in a world where might makes right…what do you think happens?"

Ah.

That's…kind of dark if it is what I'm thinking, holy shit.

Then again, it's war.

Kunou let out a shuddering breath, "Let's just say, it wasn't a pleasant time, back then…but at the very least, the Kitsune Youkai didn't die out.

"Eventually, things calmed down in Japan, and as things calmed, sweet words became the weapon of the age…something Mother learned to wield well long before that time back then.

"Thus, diplomacy. Everyone grew tired of fighting, and it became much more desirable to settle down with a cute little fox or cat girl than take them away…" I could feel Kunou shake her head quickly, "I'm just thankful Mother no longer had to go through any of that again, for the most part."

…For the most part?

"Even up to the modern era, of course, things weren't perfect. Uniting, gathering up the Wast…it took more than sweet words.

"And although wars aren't as prevalent, battles still happened until lately here and there. Especially with the Clans. Heh, even still amongst Youkai from time to time…"

She held onto me ever so slightly harder.

"...How do you think I came to be, after all?"

Holy–

"Kunou–"

I go to speak, but she shushes me quickly, and quietly.

"Don't. I know what you're going to say. I don't need your pity, or hugs, or…s-scratches…" I almost deadpanned at how needy she sounded saying that last word, "I know I was unplanned, an accident, ultimately. But Mother made it very clear that despite that, she still loves me regardless. So just…don't. I'll be fine."

"...I'm still giving you scratches later."

"..I-If you must, hmph." Kunou cutely doesn't deny it.

I chuckle just a tad at that, "Right. So, Kunou…how does all of that relate to 'the Plan', hmm? I think I can see where this is going, but just to be sure…"

"Ah." I can almost feel Kunou's blink against my back, "Right. Okay, so…pretty much, all of that I just told you? Much of that Mother told me before explaining her plan going forward, to give context as to why she wants her, and I, to go through with it."

…Hmm, I kind of want to call that borderline manipulation.

In a sense, she told her daughter about all this stuff she had to go through, and now she's pulling her daughter into it by implying, in a sense, that if they don't go through with this, my past will return.

But! I'll withhold my judgment until I hear exactly what 'the Plan' entails.

"She called it the 'Hanyō-Kami Descendants Plan.' Half Demon/God Descendent's Plan. I'm uh…" Kunou's voice quieter as she seem to shrivel up at my back, "...Sure you can tell figure out how we'd get such descendants…y-yes?"

"...Yup." I pop the 'P', as I deadpan stare across the room.

Here's the thing about Youkai biology that I haven't thought about much, the really weird thing.

When two Youkai breed, the type of Youkai depends on the mother, rather than being a mix of the parents.

So, taking Kuroka and Shirone for example, they're both pure Nekoshou, like their mother, despite having a human father.

Yet, despite that, Youkai children do in fact take some racial characteristics from the other parent, if the other parent is a different race.

I can't recall exactly what, but in DxD EX, Issei's kids with the Nekoshou sisters had something from him, dragon aura, I believe? And maybe wings, too.

Honestly, it doesn't make much sense at all to me. But then again, I'm not a supernatural biologist.

The point is, if I have kids with Kunou, Yasaka, or hell, this applies to the Nekoshou sisters as well, they'll likely possess divine attributes in some way.

Due to my powers being focused on fire and light, in the fox girls' cases, I expect their foxfire might be buffed to hell and back, and they might be resistant if not outright immune to things like fire, light, and Holy Aura.

Hell, they might even be able to generate the stuff.

So not only would their kids with me have the potential to not possess one of the Youkai's standard weaknesses, but they'd of course be several times stronger just in general, even if they don't possess any of my divine powers, they'd still likely inherit some facet of my natural power.

Truly, it's a wonder the Youkai haven't gotten themselves bred by outside races several times over to gain their powers.

Then again, they probably don't do that because, much like normal Japanese people, they have a thing against foreigners.

That, or perhaps the gained powers disappear after some time?

Ugh, alright. Time to stop thinking about that. If I want to conclude there, I probably need a biologist.

More importantly…Yasaka already told me, in brief, about this particular plan. Name and all.

It was after Ibaraki was dealt with, during one of our meetings, the same one I originally asked to take her on a date at.

Figures, she wasn't joking, more like seeing how I'd react to the idea.

"Kyoto, the West Faction my Mother built up…" Kunou suddenly continued, heavily, "It's lasted for so long, even outliving the North and South. We have allies, and wealth, in a sense, we possess power…but not the type everyone respects.

"It's only been a few months since I last saw you, but you could beat even Mother in a fight now, couldn't you?

"Even with her pull on the leylines, you, one person, could destroy this city and probably half of the country, somewhat casually…"

"...Probably, but I wouldn't." I feel the need to interject.

She bats me on the back, "I know! But you see it, too, right? What I'm trying to get at…what Mother was getting at. The West will never be secure unless we have someone strong enough to secure it! Otherwise…well…" She trails off.

"Your Mother fears the past will come back to haunt you all, huh…" I mused, with Kunou nodding at my back.

"Well," I continued, "that's all fine and dandy, but what about you? What do you feel?"

I'm met with silence for moments that stretch on, and on.

Until finally, Kunou's voice picked up, but it was so, so, small, almost guilt-ridden and filled with shame.

"Is it…selfish…to not want to do what Mother does?" She asked, so quietly, "I…don't want to seduce you…to, try to baby trap you into some marriage, use my body to lead you around…I don't want that!" Her voice rapidly grows in intensity and speed.

"But, at the same time, I don't know what I want besides not…that…and it feels wrong to want that, you know!? Because I'm my Mother's daughter! I was raised to do what must be done for the West, my people, but at the same time it just feels like…!"

At this point, her voice sounded close to breaking, and I just couldn't stay still any longer.

I whirled around, causing the little fox princess to give a shocked yip at my sudden action. As soon as I was facing her, my arms came around like a bear trap before she could escape, and snatched her up!

"A-Ah!? You b-big, damn, oaf!" She cried, batting at my chest, "Let me go!"

"No." I state simply, "You need a hug."

"No! I don– Haaaa~..." She trails off into a groan of relief as I, promptly, start giving her ear scratches.

Good thing too, now that I can finally see her face, she looks like she's on the verge of tears.

I sigh, "Hell Kunou…so essentially, you don't know what you want, huh?"

"I…um…" She shivers, before swatting my hand away from her ear, "Pretty much…just not…that…even if seducing you wouldn't be difficult."

I snort at that, "Oi. I have self-control."

"Right." She nods, "Pervert."

"Hmm, you say that, but you didn't seem against what I was offering earlier…" I brought up casually.

Kunou blinks, before looking right up at me, "That's because I really…wasn't. As loath as I am to admit it…you were…right…" She slowly shrinks back, "About those stupid novels…"

"Heh! Called it."

"Hush oaf or I'll slap you."

"Slap me, and I'll spank you, Princess."

Her eyebrow twitched, before she scoffed, "As if you actually would, brute."

"Oh?" I raise an eyebrow at that, "You think I won't give you the proper brat correction you deserve?"

"Brat correction…!?" Kunou's eyes widened rapidly, before she looked downright offended, "You dare…!?"

"Don't start talking about Mount Tai, you're too short to see it after all." I replied automatically.

Only for Kunou to give the most adorable 'ferocious growl' ever known to man.

It sounded more like a kitten trying to growl, but not knowing how.

I pat her on the head, which makes her try to be more 'ferocious'...even as she leans her head into my hand more.

So cute.

"Feel better?" I ask out of the blue.

Kunou pauses, before huffing and looking away, even as she clings onto me, "...as if."

I roll my eyes, "Whatever you say, Princess."

"...I like it better when you call me by my name, like earlier." She huffs harder.

"Hmm…be more honest with me, then maybe I'll consider calling you by your name?" I try.

It takes her a second, but she sighs, "Fine…yes, I do feel better, happy now?"

I chuckle, smile, and rub her head, "That I do, good girl, Kunou~!"

"Haaahh~!?" Kunou recoils and quivers at my touch and words, "That…! Don't do that!" She demands quickly.

"Nah."

"Wha!?" She exclaims, flabbergasted.

"Anyway-"

"Hey! Don't just–!"

"I think I know what to do for your date, now." I continue to state, unabated.

"...Huh?" She tilts her head slightly, "My…date?"

"Well, duh? What, you think I'm just gonna leave you out? Besides, I think I got a read on what you want…even if you don't or refuse to see it."

"Huh!? And what would that be, then!" She challenged, hotly.

I reached down, a finger going under and lifting her chin, so I could look down into her eyes.

"You don't wanna seduce me? Alright, that's fine…I'll seduce you then, Kunou. I'm going to take you out of Kyoto, and you'll have the most sappy, feels-good, romantic experience you'll ever have in your life.

"Then, I'm going to take you back here, right to this bed, and you know what I'm going to do to you?"

"I-I…Ah…what?" She asks, almost in a daze, as every word I said pretty much from the start made her grow redder and hotter.

I go down, straight to her ear, and mutter to her with a similar huskiness to earlier this night, "I'm gonna correct. That. Brat."

"Hnnggh…you…perverted…oaf~…!" She shivers and mutters out back, "You wouldn't…!"

"You bet that fluffy-tailed ass I would." I countered easily.

"You're…in a relationship already…with that horny cat!" She tries, desperately, to come up with some excuse.

I shrug at that, "So? I'm also doing her sister, one of the Clan Heads…I've got a harem little fox, and they're all aware. All I gotta do is tell them when someone new might show up, and let me just say? They've known about you and your mother for a while."

"T-Tch! You jackass…!" Poor girl looks like she's about ready to burst into tears again.

"Language." I say, automatically.

"That's! You aren't my Dad!" She exclaims in outrage.

"Yeah, right now." I huff, "I might be by the end of tomorrow."

"Huh!? That's…so shameful! After saying all that stuff you're just going to turn around and do Mother!? Even after everything I told you!?" She sounds legitimately exasperated.

I nod a couple of times while humming, "Hmm hmm. Yup. For one, I got your side, but I haven't learned anything from the woman herself yet. Two…well, I always wanted oyakodon."

She blinks, "...what does a rice bowl dish have to do with this?"

I cackle, as I lean down and whisper the proper meaning into her ear.

Kunou blinked.

Then her eyes progressively widened.

"...Y-You…brazen, insolent, shameless pervert!" She screams, hands igniting with bright pale blue flames!

"That's brazen, insolent, shameless, Daddy to you, young lady."

"NYAAAHHH!"

As my vision turns pale blue once again, there's only one thought left in my mind.

I really should start brushing up on my Dad jokes, huh?