Chapter 15

Moving to Kyoto, I honestly expected something anime to happen, you know?

The examples are too many to list, but the expectation was there.

Is it kind of sad that I'm disappointed nothing has happened yet?

Kuroka didn't have much to pack, I didn't care to pack all that much stuff, so we were able to leave pretty quickly.

Of course, not before I left behind a clone to keep up with the going ons at Kuoh, the club for school, and such.

Said clone will be dispelled and a new one sent back off to Kuoh every day.

It's also there to tell Uzume what's up…whenever the hell she gets back!

Side note? Starting to get a little worried there, I wouldn't have the first idea of where to even look for her!

Moving on from that, for now.

I'm not entirely done with Kuoh, beyond just the chance Kokopuffs shows up, I still have to visit Genshirou's siblings and get them sorted.

Not looking forward to it, I'll admit. But I want to make sure they're set and not thrown into Japan's shitty foster care system.

Once Kuoh is finished building back up, I'll swing back by personally for them.

Upon actually making it to Kyoto things have been, as I said, rather mundane.

We found a place pretty quickly, a nice apartment looking over the city that Kuroka picked out, and I threw money at the poor guy selling so we could get in quickly.

He didn't seem to mind though.

After breaking in the bed, and not actually breaking the bed thankfully, we've been doing what all people visiting a new place for the first time do.

Exploring!

And by that, I mean walking.

A lot.

Or, in Kuroka's case, she's practically skipping right now, humming pleasantly while holding my hand as we ascend a particular mountain.

Around us, and continuing for heavens knows how long at this point, are hundreds of thousands of Torii Gates lined up in a row to create an almost tunnel-like structure.

You'd think I'd feel something coming from these gates, considering who I am and what they represent, but really, the only thing I can feel is the Shrine that we're heading towards.

That crushing, near suffocating Holy Spirit Power it emits, I can feel it, and Kuroka should be feeling it as well.

And yet, as soon as we started climbing, the Shrine seemed to recognize us and specifically didn't try to smite Kuroka.

I've never visited a Shrine before, especially never a Head Shrine before, but I'm fairly certain this is only happening because the owner knows us.

The Fushimi Inari-taisha. Inari's Head Shrine.

I figure, if there is someone who knows where to find my wayward maid, it'd be Inari.

Also! Kuroka and I kind of just wanted to explore, I don't think either of us has been to Kyoto before, and it is a really beautiful place so far.

Helps that I…don't have any concrete plans right now beyond, 'get to Kyoto!', and now that I'm actually here?

I'm kind of left scratching my head, looking around like a poor kid of lost his parents in a crowded airport in a foreign country.

Like, what I wanted to do was solidify some plan of action once Uzume got back with the information I asked her for.

I'm not going to make plans based on little to no information at all, look how planning with faulty info went!

So really, at this point, just trying to find stuff to fill the time.

Do you know what also helps?

Kuroka, wearing actual clothes. Like, proper casual clothes.

Skintight shiny black pants that almost look like latex, a nice fluffy tan open front sweater that shows off all the cleavage, and cute little black boots.

Correction. The pants are sinfully tight.

Also yes, despite the fact she's wearing actual clothes, they somehow only sexualize her more.

I don't know how she does it, and I don't think I want to know.

"Nyah~...Nyah~...Nyah~!" She hums, skipping lightly as she tenderly licks the ice cream held in one of her hands.

Her eyes dart over to look at me, and the little tease smirks before she takes a slightly longer lick.

Never breaks eye contact, not even a little, as she does so.

I stare at her, incredulously, right back. "Kuroka." I start, plainly, "Do you want me to fuck you in the middle of the Senbon Torii?"

Kuroka gives a drawn-out hum at that, before smirking and saying, "Maaaybee~! Nyahaha~!"

She chuckles, of course, at the absolute deadpan I send her way.

"I'd rather not give Inari a front-row seat to something like that," I state simply, "but! Don't worry!" My deadpan slowly turns into a smile, prompting Kuroka to pause at my sudden cheer.

"When we get home, I'll make sure to give you plenty of…attention." My smile arches sinisterly, and Kuroka shivers, her cheeks flushing slightly.

"Looking forward to it, nya~!" She winks right back.

My smile drops, my expression neutral, as I add. "After I eat all those damn fortune cookies I bought for you."

"Wha!?" Kuroka blanches at that, and practically clings to my side, letting go of my hand to grasp the side of my jacket, "Nori-kun noooo! Why would you be so mean!?"

I chuckle light-heartedly, and take a bite from my ice cream, promptly ignoring her.

Seriously. First shops before climbing the mountain? Sweet shops. They got everything over there, but they're mostly known for their fortune cookies.

Damn cat filled her purse with a whole bunch of them after we tried one.

Admittedly, they are really good, if I had a man purse most definitely would have done the same thing.

Kuroka finally gives it up, letting go of my side to pout instead.

And for a single moment, blissful silence reigns.

Until it doesn't.

"So! Nori-kun~?" Kuroka suddenly pipes up, "Not that this isn't fun and all, but why are we in Kyoto nya~?"

I blink at that.

Huh. Guess I didn't tell her anything, did I? Just kind of dragged her along.

"Ah, shit…" I rub the back of my head and sigh, "sorry kitty, I did drag you out here without saying anything, didn't I?"

Kuroka waves me off with a smile, "Nya! It's fine, I always wanted to visit Kyoto without being attacked, you know? And with a big strong famous man like you around, there's no chance of that happening!" What followed was a streak of cat-like laughter, while I bristled slightly.

Kuroka. Please. You can only tempt Murphy so much.

That does bring up something I was just thinking about though, but first things first.

I bonk her on the head, prompting a whining mew to replace her laughter as she reaches up and puts a hand on the strike zone. "Nori-kun~!"

"Don't tempt Murphy," I scold her with a huff, "as for why we're here? Well…" I trail off with a hum, thinking about the best way to answer this.

"For one thing," I settle on this start, "it's basically the center of Supernatural Japan. From what little I know, the West Yokai and Five Principal Clans both make the city their base of operations. And as you already know, Inari's Head Shrine is here as well."

Kuroka scrunches her nose slightly at the mention of the Clans, "Agh…those guys, nya? Do you have to deal with them, Nori-kun?"

I shrug at that, "Do I have much of a choice? My parentage alone is probably enough to get their attention but with my reveal to the world going the way it went…" I leave that statement open-ended, as obvious as it is.

She huffs at that, returning to pouting kitty mode, "Bunch of boot lickers going to come steal my Nori-kun away, I won't let em', nya~!"

I can't help but chuckle at that, and pet her on the head, chuckling harder as she starts full-on purring and leaning into my touch.

The world, I think, already considers me part of the Shinto Faction in some way.

I haven't gotten around to reading the general response the world has had to me yet, definitely something I should do, now that I'm thinking about it.

But, what with my reveal, I'm fairly certain I'm going to start getting invites to join various groups.

Hell, I already did with Vali's, and I expect I'll be approached by the Clans and maybe even the Yokai at some point.

But, I don't want that.

I'm not going to wait around and be picked up by some group, especially when I'm missing a lot of key info about said groups.

For instance, Yasaka and the West Yokai. I'm pretty sure she has ties with the Devils in some way shape, or form.

Why? Well. It took longer to find a good place to stay that wasn't owned by said Devils than it was to actually buy and move in.

Which was slightly worrying, with various implications.

It means either Yasaka and the West Yokai have ties with the Devils, or Yasaka doesn't truly rule Kyoto.

Judging by how she was readily willing to lead an army in support of the Underworld during the Demonic Beast Riot in canon, I'm willing to bet the former over the latter.

The problem is, I don't know the full scope of their dealings if there are any at all.

And do I even need to get started on the Clans?

"I think I'll be fine, kitty." I scratch behind her ears, prompting her to mewl with delight. "All these important groups being in one place is rather convenient because it lets me get what I sorely need right now," I continue, "information."

Kuroka's ears perk at that, "Hmm? What kind of information, nya?"

I grin, "All of it."

Kuroka blinked at that, and tilted her head slightly, looking at me with consideration.

And so I continue, elaborating, "So far, I've been living in a bubble, not even acknowledging that the wider world around me exists. But it does, and I live in it, here in Japan. If I'm going to be a part of it, truly, then I need to know all I can. Beyond that?" I huff.

"I have no fucking clue."

Kuroka's head tilts comically. "Nya?"

I shrug, "What? It depends on what I find out. I sent Uzume off to be my little information gather, but she hasn't come back yet, so I haven't made any plans beyond that quite yet."

Slowly, she sighs and shakes her head, "And here I was, thinking you started sounding profound, nya~!"

I snort, "You know, that should be an insult coming from a Senjutsu Master, but from you?" I pat her on the head, "I'll take it as a compliment."

Kuroka sputters on the spot before returning right back to pouting kitty mode.

Meanwhile, an inkling of a memory springs itself up in my head.

From around a month ago, when Uzume was first telling me stuff, the more general stuff, I specifically recall the conclusion.

My new home is kind of shit, isn't it? And my Dad tried to fix it but failed.

Hmm. I've been holding off thinking about it, but I suppose soon would be a good time to bring it up again, huh?

With my thoughts and Kuroka being a pouty kitty, I didn't realize we had reached the end of the Senbon Torii until we finally did.

And stood before the Inari Shrine proper.

Well, the final massive Torii Gate with the Inari Shrine behind it, more like.

"Hmm, time sure does fly when you're lost in thought, huh…" I mutter, before looking over at Kuroka who's looking past the final gate with slight unease.

I take her hand into mine once more, and give it a light squeeze, "Hey?" I say softly to her, "It'll be fine, been fine the entire way here, you'll make it through, okay?"

Kuroka looks at me, a small smile etching onto her face before she nods lightly back at me.

We take a step forward, passing under the gate-

And it feels like I step through a film.

I come out the other end of the gate, alone, not even my ice cream came with me, the world around me has shifted.

The colors are brighter, nature especially, even the cold unalive stone somehow feels alive.

I can see the air, wafting gently like a clear white mist, as it goes through my hair, and as I look up, I see the sky has become a whirling spiral of golden power.

My gaze is suddenly snapped away from the sky by a sly giggle, coming from the shrine itself.

All around it, spectral pink foxes come strutting out from seemingly everywhere. Everywhere, except from inside the shrine itself.

No, the fox that comes from there is golden, and I know instantly who it is.

"Inari…?" I breathe out, my voice reverberating and echoing throughout this place.

The golden fox hums, and sits down on the offering box, before emitting a bright flash of light that makes even me narrow and close my eyes.

Once it's cleared, my question is answered, as Inari sits there in the golden fox's place.

Although she seems more…ghostly than I recall? She looks the same as last I saw her, in her shrine miko outfit, but she's translucent and almost entirely see-through.

"In a sense," Inari? giggles in amusement, "I suppose you could call me that. I am part of her, but not the whole her."

Ah. Kami or deity bullshit, then?

She spreads her arms out to the Shrine and space around her, "Well, allow me to be the first to welcome you then, Noriaki-kun, to Shinkai…the World of the Kami!"

Ah, yeah. Kami bullshit specifically then.

What do I say at times like this again?

Ah, right.

"I have several questions." I very intelligently say back.

The part of Inari, who I'm just going to call Inari from now on, giggles at that. "I figured you might!" She claps her hands together, and looks at me with a sly smile, "Unfortunately, this time, I can't exactly answer those questions."

"Huh?" I blink at that, "Uh, why not?"

"I can answer that!" She points at me, "See, I'm more like a fragment of the real Inari's power, molded into…I guess the modern term would be software program. As the Inari in the Head Shrine, I manage all the other Shrines, therefore I'm more self-aware than the others…but I'm still merely a facsimile of the real thing."

Well, that kind of sucks. Though, with how busy Inari seems to be, I suppose something like this should have been expected.

"So, I suppose you couldn't answer why Kuroka isn't affected by the Shrine's Holy Spirit Power?" I try anyway.

And I'm not shocked when Inari just sits there and stares at me, her eyes becoming eerily unfocused even as she smiles.

I sigh, and walk up towards the offering box, "Well, this is still here, guess I can do my wish while I'm here."

The light in her eyes suddenly returns, "Offering?" She says quickly, before scrambling off the box and behind it, poking her head out slowly to stare at me still, eyes sly smiling at me. "Go ahead, please~!"

Okay. Now I'm just a little creeped the fuck out.

Tentatively making my final approach, I pull out a yen coin and hesitate significantly as I see Inari's vision suddenly laser focus on the thing.

Fucking hell Inari, what do you program these things to do exactly?

With a flick, I toss the coin in, thankful to all hell and back that the Inari behind the box didn't moan or some shit, before putting my hands together, tilting my head forward slightly, and closing my eyes.

I make my wish and keep it simple, that being?

Make Uzume give me a phone call. That's all I need, to at least see if she's good, and what's going on.

The Inari behind the box suddenly snickers, "Ah, that's all?" She hums, "Yeah, yeah…I can do that!" She claps her hands, and suddenly, the Shrine pulses.

Holy Spirit Power roars out from the Shrine, twisting and turning in the air, molding into the world before seemingly vanishing from my senses entirely.

I stare, half-lidded at her.

She merely smiled back at me.

"Thank you for your patronage!" She pipes out.

"...you could have at least warned me first, you know."

"Thank you for your patronage!" She repeats, like a broken record, her smile turning slightly more sly.

I sigh, deeply, and end the offering by clapping my hands twice-

I am sucked through the film again.

And find myself standing back in the real world once again.

Kuroka, standing right next to me, her eyes slowly opening to turn and look at me.

Before I could even say anything, she summarized that whole…thing, with three words.

"Kami bullshit, nya?"

I nod sagely, "Kami bullshit, nya." I say right back.

She reaches over, and pats me on the back, "Well, that was a moment kind of ruined…along with your ice cream, by the way."

I give a long, pained filled sigh at that, which she nodded to.

"I already made my wish, so we can go somewhere else if you like, nya~!" She pipes up.

I hum at that, "Sure thing, but first," and narrow my eyes at her, "what kind of wish did you make."

Kuroka smirks at me, "Why, Nori-kun~! Don't you know that telling someone else your wish makes it so it won't come tru-"

"You know Inari is the Goddess of soil fertility, not female fertility, right?" I cut in easily.

Kuroka blinks, "Nya?" She utters, dumbly.

"Mhhmm~!" I hum, turning away, and leaving it at that.

It took her a few seconds of staring at my back before she finally started sputtering incoherently.

Ah, I'd say it was a shot in the dark, but truly? With Kuroka? It's more like a mild shade.

"Nyaaa! Are you even listening to me!?" She cries out while jumping onto my back and clinging on, "I want a refund! I call false advertising! Nyyyaaa!"

I reach around, chuckling, as I grab her legs to hold her and start making my way down with her on my back, babbling all the while.

According to that Inari, I should be getting a call from Uzume eventually, she didn't say when, but judging by the fact that she could make the wish, I presume Uzume is fine.

That's a little tension off my back for the day, at least.

Hmm, one last thing I want to test.

At the gate to the shrine proper, I pick up my fallen ice cream, or what I can with the cone.

Holding it up I begin, "Sorry about that, think you can handle this for me?" and with that, I toss it into the air.

As soon as it reaches its peak, I catch a bird-like shadow flash overhead, once it's clear, the ice cream has seemingly vanished into midair.

I grimace.

Yeah, of course, we are being followed the whole time. I do recall Kunou leading an attack on Issei and co here, after all.

Hell, they might even be the ones that take care of the shrine itself while Inari is away.

Kind of shocked someone came out for that, though. Judging by Kuroka staring up at the air where it happened with this outright floored look, I think she was too.

"Well," I continue into the strange silence that followed, "that happened." I state, a matter of factly.

Then look over my back at Kuroka, "Wanna go get some udon and eat all the fortune cookies?"

Kuroka suddenly wraps her arms around my neck, her look completely shifting from incredulous to intrigued in a literal second.

"Udon?" She parrots with a hum, "Hmm, that does sound nice!" Deciding that, she points forward, down the path, "Away we go, Nori-kun~!"

Ah, cats. It's always food with cats, huh?

~ A New Sun ~

Later that day, we're back in the Kyoto Apartment, I'm sitting on the couch, with Kuroka lying her head in my lap.

Honestly, I feel cheated, shouldn't this be the other way around?

Regardless, I'm softly petting my very full kitty, as she purrs lightly in her sleep.

She ate a ton of udon and half the damn fortune cookies.

Didn't know she had a bottom to that seemingly endless appetite, but I suppose it had to end at some point, huh?

Only so much can go to her chest after all.

With a soft hum, I take a once over the apartment, still getting used to the new layout.

While my house outside Kuoh is of the more traditional style, this place is more modern luxury, while still retaining a dash of some old Japanese aesthetic.

Kuroka picked the place out herself, and I will once again admit to her having some taste.

Just that, some.

It's late evening out, I'm full, Kuroka's full. I think it's about time I put the cat to sleep and find a place to train.

I would just have Kuroka teleport me back to my estates dojo, but well, already know why that isn't happening.

Tomorrow, I need to start getting into the habit of dispelling and remaking my clone and have Kuroka teleport them back.

Gently now, I move Kuroka's head off my lap, drawing a whining mewl from her that sounds way more cute than it should.

I pick her up, and carry her off to the bed, leaving her there all nice and tucked in, before heading to the living area.

Once there, I get the idea to try training my Senjutsu a bit, since I figure it may be just a tad bit important here, you know?

I couldn't sense anyone following us the whole day, I assume Kuroka could, but didn't care because they weren't going to try anything.

Maybe they were using their own Senjutsu to mask their presence even harder, but still, it's a weakness I need to see about overcoming.

And until I find an open enough free space that's durable enough to handle mountain-busting level attacks at minimum, harder training regimens might be off the table for right now.

Or until I can teleport back to the estate, but it would probably be better to just find a place here.

It's as I'm moving the furniture around to clear out a mediation space that I finally hear what I've been waiting to hear.

A phone call.

From guess who~?

With a hum, I answer the call.

"Hello–"

"Noooriii!" Uzume, on the other end, interrupts with a long groaning whine.

Damn, she sounds out of it.

"Yes?" I affirm soundly, "It is indeed me, Uzume, what's up?"

"What's up? What's up!?" Uzume parrots, almost maniacally, "Everything's up, down, twisted, and sideways! Every time I think I'm done, something new gets added or changed! Things are constantly shifting! I haven't slept in…awhile!" She full-on rants, and I blink, mouth half open trying to think of something to say.

"What…happened?" I settle on, tentatively.

Uzume sighs loudly, "Ama happened. And the Devils didn't feel like stopping her."

"Specifically." I stress in response.

A moment of silence passes, before Uzume just says, "The Three Factions became Two."

I stare out the window at that.

Well. Shit.

"Uzume?" I start, simply.

I can almost feel her blink at my tone, "Yeah?"

"Come on back," I tell her, and before she can interrupt, I add, "I'll send you the address for our place in Kyoto, it's where we're at now, okay? You've got enough for now, I'm guessing. So get on back."

"B-But…"

"No buts." I shut her down, "Come on back, alright?"

"I…" Uzume stifles a sigh, "Okay. I'll see you soon, Nori…"

I hum in acknowledgment, "Good, see you soon."

And with that, I hang up the phone, text her the address, and throw it on the table.

With a deep, anguish-filled sigh, I push the furniture back into place.

I'm no psychic, but I get the feeling I'm going to need it.

It took shockingly little time before I could sense her incoming, her Holy Spirit Power even felt sad and spent.

As soon as she appeared, I was at the door. Before she even got a chance to open it, thankfully.

Because what greeted me wasn't my very tired maid, but a stack of boxes hiding said maid.

"Mmmm!" She mumbles behind it all, "Hi…"

"Hi?" I look over the stack of boxes, then blink and tilt my head slightly, seeing even more around her. "Need a hand there?" I tentatively ask.

"Please." She breathes out softly, nigh brokenly.

Damn girl…

Gingerly, I take what she's holding, and set it down next to the entrance, so I can finally see her.

She refuses to meet my gaze, and the new bags under her eyes practically have bags themselves.

With a huff, I go straight up to her.

"Huh?" She perks up as I approach, "What are—EEP!" Then full-on squeaks as I pick her up, princess-style!

"H-Huh!? Nori! N-Nori!? Why are you-"

"Shush," I quietly silence her, "you need rest, and you're getting it."

I walk straight over to the couch and sit down, laying her head in my lap.

Her confusion is very much palpable as I do, but she starts humming softly into my leg as I pet her hair regardless.

"B-But I…didn't…" she weakly tries, I think, to shame herself, but she trails off tiredly before she can say it.

Still, I'll take a guess.

"You got enough for now," I mutter softly down to her, "you did real good, you deserve a break, okay?"

"O-Okay…" And just like that, poor girls out like a light.

Damn.

Tomorrow, we may need to talk about not working yourself to death.

Granted. Judging by where we are, I should have seen this coming, so I guess that's on me.

With a thought and a hand seal, I create a few clones that head off silently to go bring everything Uzume had in.

And then, of course, start speeding reading with the eyes activated.

I assigned one clone, specifically, to look over what would be the results of the Juggernaut Drive talks.

That takes precedence, of course, I needed to know what the fuck happened there yesterday.

Quietly, I pet Uzume's rather luscious purple hair as my clones get to work.

The only time I deviate from this action is when the clone assigned to the aforementioned task pops, and I flinch.

Huh. The Grigori just…doesn't exist anymore.

Also, the Grigori was shockingly small, like, damn.

Okay, where to start?

Leadership is a good one.

Azazel himself was chased out of the Grand Ise Shrine, where the talks took place, by Serafall after they were done.

Serafall had made an ice shiv, and was chasing the Fallen down threatening to, 'put some ice in his eye'.

Yeah, that sounds about right.

No idea if she caught him though.

Knowing Azazel, he probably pulled out some tool or whatnot that let him escape.

Beyond him, Shemhazai left to go live with his Devil wife and start a family proper.

Good for him, the poor guy deserves to live happily after all the shit Azazel made him do.

Baraqiel and Penemue just straight-up vanished. Odd. I kind of expected Baraqiel to join up with the Devils to try and get closer to his daughter.

Armaros, the now Head Researcher of Anti-Magic, took his subordinates and joined the Magicians.

Sahariel, the now Head Researcher of the…Moon? Took his subordinates and went to Romania.

Huh. Well. At least that fits, I suppose.

The list continues, on and on like that, for several researchers and executives.

Most just ended up leaving and going off where they can continue their research and business ventures.

Speaking of, Tamiel, the Head of the Business Department, took what was left of Grigori businesses, real estate, shipping, and so on, and formed 'The Watchers Conglomerate'.

A large world-spanning corporation, that has its toes in a little of everything. Neat.

The Nephilim Institutes across the world were handed off to associated Factions in the region like the Institute here in Japan being handed off to the Shinto.

Ah, and that's not the only thing!

Several Grigori Teams were handed over to other Factions.

Well, they were given the choice to either freelance or join up, and most did.

All of these teams are squads of Sacred Gear-wielding humans, the only one I recognize being Team Slash/Dog, who did join the Shinto officially.

Double neat.

Accordingly, businesses and other ventures were handed over to other Factions, and seeing that list almost made me snort.

All the Grigori's stuff in Japan was handed over to Inari, even the stupid shit like the 'Oppai Clubs' I vaguely recall from canon.

The full list is ridiculous, I know she's already busy, but…damn.

I wonder if there's a way to help her out with this workload. Uzume is not the only one working herself down.

Moving on. I do snort lightly at the next bit.

Kokabiel, he's gon dun a thing, of course.

See, most of the Grigori's stuff in the Underworld was handed off to the Devils.

I think the idea was, to have the remaining Full, Half, and Quarter Fallen population in the Underworld follow Shemhazai, and try to integrate.

But of course, everyone knows how the Devils treat their Half Breeds and Reincarnated Devils.

I'm not even the slightest bit shocked to find that, once the Shinto Shinigami pulled out and handed control of the Headquarters to the Devils, Kokabiel raised a ruckus and led a massive uprising personally.

I'll be honest here, Kokabiel, you crazy mad fuck, I don't like you. But damn do you have balls of brass.

Man supposedly tried to ambush Falbium, nearly succeeded, but got countered by the Satan before fleeing with a drove of supporters.

Kokabiel hasn't officially said anything, but the consensus is that there are two 'Grigori' now.

One was led by Kokabiel, and the other trying to get started with whoever was left under Shemhazai.

Who really would rather not do that shit, turns out, but the Devil Government is pushing for it.

Neither have names yet, unfortunately.

I can already tell, just from a bit of light reading, that Kokabiel is trying to catch that Fallen 'spirit of rebellion' and start up some sort of manic combination of a civil war amongst the Fallen, and straight war against the Devils.

Luckily, the Devils sealed away the Fallen's point of access to Earth, which means for now, Kokabiel's Rebellion is stuck down there.

Which means I probably don't have to worry about him for a little while.

Fuck…that's a lot of stuff. And that's not even everything. Just the more important bits.

Of course, that's when my other clones decide to pop, and I grab my now buzzing head with a huff.

Those two were tasked with reading about the Clans and the Yokai.

And I think I know who I want to visit first now.

No, who I need to visit first.

The Five Principal Clans.

Supposedly, over the years, they've gotten better.

Remembering the events of Team Slash/Dog, I suppose it only makes sense.

But progress is slow, even with the new heads and heirs working on it.

Beyond that though? The Clans are the most knowledgeable regarding Japan's factions, supernatural beings, and their abilities.

Very interesting indeed.

Now, how does one go about setting up a meeting with them?