Family Time

Human World, Japan, Kyoto.

After hugging Yasaka and Kunou for a short while, the trio released their hugs. Before Kunou could get a good look at the corpses in the surroundings, however, Yasaka launched plumes of [Fox Fire] at all of them, turning them to ashes in an instant. At the same time, James made his way to the strongest of the attackers, the man who was acting as the leader, who he had intentionally left alive. Unfortunately for that man, though, he would probably been better off dead.

"So, do you have any idea who these guys are?" James asked after arriving next to the barely living man.

"He said he was a member of the Khaos Brigade's Hero Faction." Yasaka said as she and Kunou arrived next to James.

"Yet another reason for the Khaos Brigade to not exist." James said coldly.

"James-Otousan, why did they attack me and Mom?" Kunou asked with a bit of fear in her tone.

Although James' heart ached to hear the fear in Kunou's voice, his thoughts came to a screeching halt when he heard what Kunou called him. At the same time, his cold, bloodthirsty glare was replaced by an expression of absolute confusion.

Seeing James' expression, Yasaka almost laughed aloud. She had to quickly use her own hands to stifle her laughter as she watched James react.

James' reaction did not disappoint Yasaka in the least. Like a rusty old robot, James turned his head toward Kunou in a clunky manner. Then, failing to speak a few times, he opened and closed his mouth repeatedly.

"I'm sorry, what did you call me, Kunou?" James was finally able to ask after several false starts.

Kunou tilted her head in a cute manner when she saw James' reaction and heard his question. She did not understand what the issue was. So, she repeated her term of address.

"James-Otousan?" Kunou said unsurely. "Since you're mom's mate, I shouldn't call you Onii-Chan anymore, right?"

Hearing that, James froze for a moment. Then, he smiled and knelt in front of Kunou so that they shared the same eye level.

"Kunou, you can call me whatever you want." James said with a smile. "Anything you're comfortable with."

Kunou smiled back at James then, she jumped toward him and wrapped her arms around his neck. Immediately afterward, she kissed him on his cheek and spoke once more.

"I love you, Otou-San." Kunou said happily.

In response, James stood up straight with his arms wrapped around Kunou and a smile on his face as well.

"I love you too, Kunou." James said just as happily. Then, he turned his head to Yasaka. In a gentle tone, he spoke to her. "You weren't hurt, were you?"

"No, they're too weak to do anything to me." Yasaka said with a smile. Then, in a sinister tone, she spoke once again. "They planned to take Kunou so that I would be forced to obey them, though."

"That's a mistake none of them will live to regret, I assure you." James said in just as sinister a tone.

Then, James and Yasaka exchanged blood thirsty glances and smiled at each other. Meanwhile, Kunou looked at her mother and stepfather curiously. Although she knew they were angry about what happened, she did not like seeing them smile like they were. So, in order to change the atmosphere, she pulled on James' shirt to get his attention.

"What's up, Kunou?" James asked after changing his expression to his usual smile.

"Can we go home?" Kunou asked. "It's almost lunch time and I'm hungry."

At that moment, Kunou's stomach produced a sound that proved her words to be correct. Hearing that, Kunou blushed while James and Yasaka chuckled.

"Sure, let's go home." James said. "I'll have lunch with you. Then I have to go to work later in the afternoon."

Kunou smiled when James said they were going home and that he would have lunch with them. However, her smile faded slightly when he said that he had to go to work. She had missed James terribly since the last time he came to visit during winter break. Although he had made a few day trips to Kyoto in the months since then, Kunou only considered trips where he spent the night to be real visits.

Seeing Kunou's expression, James could only smile wryly. He would like to spend more time with her and Yasaka, too. Unfortunately, a lot has happened since he and his peerage came to visit back in the winter. Deciding to do better when it comes to spending time with the two, James held out a hand to Yasaka. After she took his hand, a teleportation magic circle appeared beneath the trio and the heavily injured, unconscious human man who led the attack. A moment later, the four people vanished from the clearing.

James, Yasaka, Kunou, and the unconscious man appeared in front of the torii that served as the gate to the Youkai Sub-Dimension. Then, Yasaka created a communication magic circle and contacted her guards. A few moments later, a small squad of her personal guards, led by her Guard Captain, Sesshoumaru, walked out from the gate.

"Yasaka-Hime, are you and Kunou-Ojousama alright?" Sesshoumaru asked.

"We're fine, thanks to James." Yasaka replied.

"Allow me to apologize for my inability to protect you, Yasaka-Hime." Sesshoumaru said with a bow.

"Raise your head, Sesshoumaru." Yasaka said solemnly. "I do not blame you for this surprise attack. On top of that, we were just outside the gate. No one would expect anyone to attack us here."

Sesshoumaru bowed once again, then he fell silent, awaiting Yasaka's orders. Yasaka also felt continuing with the topic was meaningless. So, she turned her attention to the man that led the attack against her and Kunou.

"Take this man and imprison him." Yasaka said coldly. "Make sure that he does not commit suicide. I have many questions I wish to be answered."

"Understood." Sesshoumaru said before lifting the injured man by what was left of his clothing after James' attack.

After that, Sesshoumaru and half of the guards returned through the gate to confine the man from before. The other half of the guards took up protective positions around James, Yasaka, and Kunou as they also entered the gate.

Human World, Japan, Kyoto, Youkai Sub-Dimension.

Several minutes later, James was seated at a dining table with Yasaka and Kunou. While they were waiting for lunch to be served, Kunou was telling James about how she spent her time since the last time he came to visit.

"Now, I can even create [Fox Fire on three of my tails." Kunou said excitedly as she explained how far she had reached during her training in [Senjutsu], [Youjutsu], and the nine-tailed fox's racial abilities.

Because James did not or could not train in any of the techniques Kunou was currently training, he was unsure if Kunou's accomplishments were impressive or not. However, he maintained a proud smile, nonetheless. As he glanced at Yasaka he could see the same kind of smile on her face as well. Though, he was unsure if that smile was because she was a mother or because Kunou was really talented.

"So, what time do you have to meet with Lady Serafall?" Yasaka asked once Kunou was finished with her report.

"I've got about four hours." James replied with a smile. "So, I have some time to spend."

Yasaka returned the smile.

"Then how about spending time with Kunou until you have to leave?" Yasaka asked as she glanced at her daughter. "Then, if you have time after your meeting with Lady Serafall, maybe we can have a date tonight."

James smiled and nodded in return, which made Kunou exceedingly happy. However, he also did not miss the seductive glint in Yasaka's eyes when she mentioned the date later tonight.

'Looks like tonight is gonna be fun.' James thought to himself as he made eye contact with Yasaka.

Shortly after that short conversation, the servants in Yasaka's manner arrived carrying plates for the little family of three. Then, James, Yasaka, and Kunou continued to chat while they ate.

"That's right, I need to introduce you to my [Queen] before we return to Kuoh." James said after taking a sip of water and wiping his mouth with a napkin.

"Your [Queen], huh?" Yasaka said curiously. "You still haven't told me who you managed to recruit as your [Queen]. I don't even know if it's a man or a woman."

James smiled mischievously in response.

"You'll never believe it if I tell you." James said with that same smile on his face. "It's a woman, by the way, and she's even older than you."

Immediately after saying that, James tilted his head to the side to avoid a balled-up napkin that Yasaka had thrown at him.

"Are you calling me old?" Yasaka asked in a menacing tone.

"Of course not." James said nonchalantly. "But she's from an era further back than the one you were born in. We both know you're not old at all."

Then, James leaned closer to Yasaka and whispered into her ear. When Yasaka heard James' whispering, she flushed shortly afterward. Then, she repeatedly hit James' shoulder embarrassedly. On the other hand, Kunou smiled brightly seeing how energetic Yasaka had become ever since James arrived.

"Anyway, who is this woman that you've convinced to become your [Queen] with that silver tongue of yours." Yasaka asked.

"Actually, words were nowhere near enough to convince her to become my [Queen]." James said while shaking his head. "Well, I think words would have been enough, actually. But I needed more than words to make her my [Queen]."

"What do you mean?" Yasaka asked. Then, she shook her head and spoke again in an impatient tone. "Just tell me who she is. I'll hear the rest of the story after that."

"The Celtic Warrior-Queen, Scathach. Also known as my master." James said with a smile.

"Scathach? The greatest trainer of heroes in Celtic Lore who was able to kill those on the major god-rank?" Yasaka said in surprise. "Wait, does that mean she's in Kyoto right now? This is something I should have been made aware of ahead of time."

Immediately after realizing that scathach was in Kyoto, Yasaka began to panic. No leader enjoys it when someone that powerful, someone more powerful than they are, shows up in their territory unannounced. Although James thought Yasaka's panicked expression was cute, he knew he had to stop her before she mobilized her guards to confront Scathach.

"Yasaka, calm down." James said in a soothing tone as he took Yasaka's hand into his own. "She's my [Queen], remember? On top of that, she knows better than to cause trouble in another's territory. As long as she isn't provoked, there will be no issues."

After hearing James' tone, Yasaka slowly broke out of her panicked mindset. Then, when she calmed down completely, she glared at James to hide her embarrassment. She knew she had overreacted. But she could not help it. She was also embarrassed that even though he had said so only a moment before, she forgot that Scathach was James' [Queen] in her panic.

"Was messing with me fun?" Yasaka asked with a pout.

"Honestly, yes." James replied with a smile. "Your panicked expression was really cute."

"Ugh." Yasaka grunted as she rolled her eyes at James. "You were such a bad influence on your mother."

This time James was surprised. He had never told Yasaka about his secret. However, his expression only showed a mild shock. Then, he gradually calmed down after thinking about it. He realized that his mother was the only one that could have told Yasaka about that. And he knew that his mother would never say more than she was supposed to.

"So, mom told you about that, huh?" James said with an awkward smile. "Just out of curiosity, I wonder how much she told you?"

James decided to prod Yasaka for answers. He needed to know how much he could talk about without spoiling his mother's story.

'It's not that I don't trust Yasaka and Kunou.' James thought to himself. 'But the fact that the Hero Faction's goons seemed to know that she and Kunou would be waiting for me makes me think that there are more traitors or spies in Yasaka's manor. The only person I'm certain is not the source of the leak is Sesshoumaru. He's too honorable to betray someone he willingly pledged his loyalty to.'

While James was thinking to himself, Yasaka repeated the story about James falling into a coma that Leona had told her. Understanding that Yasaka had received the watered-down version of the story, James relaxed completely.

"I might be the reason that Mom likes messing with people." James said awkwardly. "But I'm not the reason she took it so far."

"What do you mean?" Yasaka asked curiously.

Then, as the trio continued to eat, James told Yasaka and Kunou about the fiasco that was Parents' Day. As outsiders looking in, Yasaka and Kunou could not help but laugh hysterically at Serafall's antics. Shortly after that story was finished, the three finished their lunch. Then, for the next two hours, James accompanied Kunou while Yasaka attended to some of her official duties. Kunou spent most of the time asking James about the things he had done and the people he had met since he was last in Kyoto. She also showed off her progress in [Senjutsu], [Youjutsu], and her racial techniques. James almost had a heart attack when he saw how cute Kunou was when she took her fox form. Eventually, however, the time for James to leave for the day had come. Before he left, he made sure to see Yasaka and say his farewells to the mother and daughter together.

Then, he left the Youkai Sub-Dimension and made his way to the hotel that the Sitri owned, where he was scheduled to meet Serafall. It was also the same hotel where the students from Kuoh were staying during their school trip.