~ Support & Read 60 Advanced Chapters on Patreon
~ Bonus Chapter every 200 Powerstones!
<><><><><>
"Huff... huff..."
The girl's labored breathing echoed through the mountains. By the time Yura reached Yasaka Shrine, two full hours had passed.
As mentioned before, while technically within Kyoto's boundaries, Yasaka Shrine sat deep in the mountains. Even with the onmyoji girl's skills, the climb from the mountain's base took over an hour.
The ridiculous part was that Yura had rushed out so frantically she'd only realized partway there that she hadn't brought any talismans—meaning she couldn't summon her white tiger for transportation and had to run the entire way on foot.
Good thing she had spiritual power enhancing her stamina. Without it, even a professional athlete couldn't handle this much physical exertion.
But she was almost there now, just a bit further...
The afternoon sun blazed through gaps in the dense mountain foliage, dappling the thousand stone steps with light. The stifling air buzzed with the drone of countless cicadas. Sweat streamed from the onmyoji girl's hair, carried backward by the wind from her sprint.
Yura lifted her face with effort. The torii gate of Yasaka Shrine was clearly visible ahead.
Finally—
Tap.
With the last step conquered, the onmyoji girl's foot landed on the shrine's front courtyard.
She'd made it!
"Ha... ha, cough... ha..."
After sprinting up those thousand steps, even Yura's stamina was reaching its limits. Standing in the courtyard, she bent over with hands on her knees, gasping for breath.
But she couldn't stop here.
Barely catching her breath, Yura straightened up and strode toward the shrine's closed doors.
She reached the entrance and knocked gently.
"Lady Yasaka, are you there? This is Yura Keikain..."
No response came.
This was highly unusual. Lady Yasaka should always be at the shrine—it wasn't just her residence but also the anchor point for the barrier covering all of Kansai.
Besides, Lady Yasaka had no reason to go out, right?
With this puzzlement, Yura mentally apologized for the intrusion, then carefully pushed open the shrine doors.
Creak—
The doors weren't locked. The onmyoji girl pushed them open easily, and cool air flowed out from within.
Just as Yura stepped inside, subtle sounds from deeper in the corridor caught her attention.
It sounded like... water?
But why would there be water sounds in Lady Yasaka's shrine?
Yura grew more curious.
Just as she was about to investigate further, footsteps from around the corridor's corner made her stop in her tracks.
The next second, the golden-haired, fox-eared classical beauty emerged from around the corner, as elegantly beautiful as always but still emanating faint traces of moisture—as if she'd just bathed.
And following behind her was Bokue Keikain, looking completely at ease.
"Brother?!"
The unexpected sight made Yura cry out involuntarily.
At the same time, Yasaka and Bokue emerging from the corner noticed the onmyoji girl at the entrance.
"Ara? What brings Yura-chan here today?"
Yasaka's steps paused slightly.
She'd just finished bathing with Bokue and emerged from the bathroom. Hearing footsteps, she'd thought her daughter had woken up, never expecting it to be Yura Keikain.
Honestly, her daughter would've been slightly easier—at least little Kunou was simple-minded. She'd just be happy to see Bokue and wouldn't care about anything else.
But now it was Yura Keikain, staring straight at them. How could they explain this?
"Um... good afternoon, Lady Yasaka."
Yura at the shrine entrance snapped back to her senses, realizing her rudeness, and quickly bowed in greeting.
But Yasaka simply smiled and waved her hand. "It's fine, it's fine. Yura-chan, you don't need to be so formal."
"Then... thank you, Lady Yasaka."
Calming slightly from her panic, Yura straightened up, glancing at the golden-haired fox-eared beauty before her, then turning to the youth beside her who was winking at her.
"So why is Brother here too? And... Lady Yasaka, you were just bathing, weren't you?"
"Yeah, that's right." Bokue didn't deny it. "Actually, I just got here not long ago. More importantly, Yura, why did you suddenly come here?"
"I came because—"
The onmyoji girl cut herself off mid-sentence, suddenly realizing the topic had been deflected again.
"Wait, I'm the one asking you questions, Brother. Why are you asking me instead?"
"Oh, you've gotten smarter..."
Bokue rubbed his chin.
"Well, it's nothing really. I moved my home back to Kyoto, so I came to notify Yasaka first."
Moved back... to Kyoto?
Yura understood each individual word, but somehow the sentence together made no sense.
The onmyoji girl frowned slightly, asking half-hopefully, half-probingly: "So Brother, you mean you're moving back to the main house?"
"Hm? Of course not."
Bokue raised an eyebrow slightly.
"It's a long story. How about I take you directly to my current residence later? You'll understand once you see it. So back to the point—Yura, why did you rush here so urgently?"
"...Yes."
Getting the youth's promise, Yura finally nodded cooperatively.
"The Keikain main house barrier suddenly received an alert detecting a massive object appearing in Kyoto's coastal waters..."
"Oh, that's it." Bokue clapped his hands.
"Perfect, I've already explained everything to Yasaka. Let me take you to see it now."
"Eh? Brother, you know about this? So what exactly is—"
"Like I said, it's a long story. Don't ask now—I can't explain it in a sentence or two. You'll understand when we get there."
Yura wanted to ask more, but Bokue had already pressed her shoulders, turning her around and pushing her toward the door. At the same time, he casually reached back to give a gentle squeeze to the voluptuous curves beneath the beautiful woman's kimono.
"Alright, alright, Yasaka doesn't need to see us out. We'll be going now. I'll visit again when I have time."
"Mmm... okay, go ahead."
Yasaka hadn't recovered from that squeeze yet. Her already flushed cheeks from bathing grew even redder as she bit her lower lip and nodded, her eyes shimmering like wind-rippled lake water.
She watched Bokue lead Yura out of the shrine before they vanished into thin air.
Only after confirming the youth had completely left did Yasaka release a small sigh of relief.
When she turned around, the black-haired girl who'd been in the room next to theirs now stood in the corridor corner behind her, arms crossed and leaning against the wall with a knowing smirk.
"Sister, so that's the child you care for?"
"..."
After a long silence, Yasaka could only sigh.
"Sister, you still won't give up..."
"Give up? Of course not."
Hagoromo-Gitsune narrowed her beautiful dark eyes with an evil smile, touching her finger to her slightly upturned lips.
"I've sworn to sever the bloodlines of both the Keikain family and the Nura clan. This is a fox's revenge, even if it makes Sister hate me."
"Sister..."
But what they didn't know was that at that very moment, high above Yasaka Shrine, Bokue Keikain held the girl in his arms as she gazed at Itogami Island on the distant sea, while he looked down below with a slightly raised eyebrow.
"Oh~ Hagoromo-Gitsune, so that's how it is."
<><><><><>
~ 60 Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon
https://p-atreon.com/dragonnx
(Just remove the hyphen to access Patreon normally.)
<><><><><>
Keep the chapters coming—Support with Power Stones!