September 12, 1988.
News came from the West.
News came from the East.
News came from the North.
News came from the South.
Their common thread was the whispers of secret battles and rumblings of a war of Magi.
Or it was just paranoia. No one wanted a war that could potentially destroy the world; all the magic nations were desperate to avoid it. But then talk of nuclear annihilation had been going on for the last thirty years in the mundane world, and if nuclear annihilation hadn't happened now, then Chen was sure a magic war of annihilation wouldn't happen either.
But it didn't change the fact there had been quite a bit of destruction over the last few years.
The Rostram School of Magic Arts in Iran was in ruins as was the ancient Alf Deen Madrassa in Iraq. Tales of looting and misery in Mesopotamia and Persia buzzed in the ears of many a demon and magus. Aswad Marid Emir Abdiel was rumored to be most pleased, seizing hundreds of unfortunate humans into slavery.
Algeria was restive. Tales of Algerian Magus quietly rebelling against the government were being told. Turkish Magus were assisting despite a ban from the Istanbul Magic Association.
Russian demons were being summoned in large numbers to Poland, Estonia and Czechoslovakia. Powerful demons like Khitaka and Koshchei, a disturbing bit of news if true. If Chen was human, he certainly did not want to be in Eastern Europe this time of year.
The Americas was boring as usual. An election was going on in the US. Random news of a major lacrosse tournament of Inuit spirits against Cherokee spirits.
China, blessed homeland, was restive… again… No evidence that there was going to be a major, in the magical sense. It seems that his homeland was lurching to another crisis. There were glimmers of a great new age on the horizon or another age of misery. His homeland had become disturbingly bipolar in the last two centuries, swinging from stability to the other end of the pendulum, utter chaos.
He also made a mental note to prepare a teleport spell if the upheaval in his homeland triggered another collapse in society. There were a number of items he had coveted for the last twenty years. His first list was not magical, two Song dynasty stoneware jug, a bronze Shang dynasty ritual bell, three fine wooden statues of the Bodhisattva from the Yuan dynasty, a genuine copy of Liaozhai Zhiyi, dozens of masterwork Ming paintings, thirty calligraphy scrolls and… oh hell, there were hundreds of things he wanted to have!
And to think, that was only the non-magical relics list he had written up!
The Uzoku stopped himself as he felt his greed runaway with him for a moment. The final hundred years of the Qing dynasty had spoiled him silly, he remembered running around disguised and looting hundreds of homes during those times. Then there was the wars and the Great Cultural Revolution! What heady and miserable times those were! Evil English merchants and their opium, the Japanese and humiliating the superior Chinese, and all those mind boggling Imperial intrigues! The Red Guards and their talk of the future and destruction of the past! Such naked abandon for power, such misguided ideals for a perfect society, such self-righteous fury against the bourgeois and foreigners. Being the demon that he was, he shed tears of supernatural joy as the swirling emotions of China soaked into his soul.
It was like a giddy high that lasted a hundred years; he remembered thousands of demons becoming drunk on the emotions of that time. Elder demons compared it to the years before the Yuan Dynasty, when Kublai Khan was still roving the Middle Kingdom, in terms of the level of misery and bloodshed they had seen.
Chen would have liked to have argued with the Great Elders that those particular one hundred years were probably a lot bloodier and more miserable than anything they had seen, but the young should never challenge his Elders.
It was unseemly and usually suicidal.
Mostly suicidal.
Yet how did Chen know of these things? It was not as if he could pick up a newspaper and read of it.
It was very simple really.
Crows.
His brother and sister crows and a few raven cousins. Carrying on their wings news of the outside world and beyond. Their beady eyes and ready minds heard much and spread it to others ears for a price.
So there was much sweet bread being passed around and bai jiu being drunk by all in Nishikyo Public Park. It was mid day, there were no children about or gossipy housewives or salary men, all were going about their daily lives. The Uzoku was in his human form so that no one realized he was a demon. For an extra precaution he blanketed the park with a subtle illusion so that people passing by didn't see drunken birds falling over and squawking around him for more sweet bread and bai jiu.
The September air still clung to the muggy remnants of August. The grass and trees were still green, full of life despite fast approaching death of autumn.
Usually, he would not bother spending so much time gossiping with the crows and ravens but he had gotten into a small fight with Setsuko today. So it was out the house for him for the day at least.
It was because of the new table in his kitchen.
His wife insisted on placing the table where it was most useful but crudely disrupted flow of chi in his kitchen. He, on the other hand, insisted on putting the table in the most pleasing and most harmonious way possible, though it was a trifle bit inconvenient when he was cooking. But it offended his Fang Shih sensibilities, disrupting the flow of chi by damming it up with the table.
Setsuko with her limited abilities understood that it did disrupt the flow of chi but moved to where it was most useful anyways; he moved it back where it pleasing to his senses and chi flowed about his kitchen freely.
After nearly a month of this unending battle of shifting the said table, the sword saint finally snapped at him in annoyance.
He responded back with undue mockery.
The end result was a small fight between a married couple.
Chen wasn't sure if he appreciated the absurd domesticity of it all.
He was a demon… Demons don't get browbeaten by pregnant demon slaying woman and get tossed out of their home.
Yet here he was.
Spirits and Gods above he was bored.
He had practiced Yingzhaoquan and Xingyiquan for the last two hours. He idly practiced a western spell he received from Albireo called Sagitta Magica and whipped around the park as an exercise in control. He crafted an earthen table and summoned a few creatures to bind to future service and renewed a few contracts as though he was holding court in the public park.
Seals pressed into the necessary documents. Payment and haggling of prices. Browbeating servants and slaves so they did not stray or dare to think of betraying him.
Tedious and boring, but something to preoccupy him for a few hours. Soon even that was completed.
All the while, the crows and ravens began to whisper amongst themselves as the sweetbread and bai jiu started to run low. The last crumbs and drops staining their beaks were gone leaving their minds to be clouded with vapors of idle thoughts and mischief to be had.
"Oh, why does our great Brother spend so much time in this paltry court? Does the lord not have his own great house?" The great black crow with a blind right eye whispered to the ratty raven on his left. They knew that Chen could hear them but it simply wasn't polite to say things involving their good host out loud and in public. Especially things that seemed touchy, their great Brother seemed to be little upset as he went about his business though he had tried to bury it under as a gracious host.
"Aye, and a pretty human wife to boot. Mayhap a little time away from the joys of marriage?" The raven whispered back. Her beady eyes studiously avoiding looking at their esteemed host too closely. It was known that Chen had a human wife but very few had been formally introduced to her yet.
"Oh hoh? I wonder if our great Brother has something important to announce to us on this fine day. I can't wait until the end of this court," the half blind crow whispered back. The murder and conspiracy began to quiet gossip, it swept through the park like leaves swirling in the autumn wind. The rustling of quiet words being exchanged by all, scarce disturbed the air.
Chen gritted his teeth in annoyance. He knew that the gossip being spoken here would be spread throughout the world to any Uzoku who invited guests to form a court. The demon fumed as he remembered precisely why he avoided hosting these sorts of meetings.
The last time there was a rumor about him acquiring a taste in dressing in human women's clothing. Damn Albeiro and his costume collection; maids, mikos, nuns, cat ears and swimming suits are not sexy.
"Why are we whispering? Wife? Human? I thought he was done with marriage after what had happened to Ye Ming Zhu? Why not just go and ask him?" A young brazen voice queried. The owner, a young stupid crow who had no idea what all the whispering was all about had just broke an unwritten rule.
The entire murder and conspiracy of crows and ravens fell silent at the egregious breach of courtesy. All eyes fell upon the young crow who dared to speak aloud their desire in such an rude way. There was now no way their esteemed Brother could possibly ignore the gossip involving him anymore. The young crow realized his mistake and shrank from the glares.
Chen said nothing as he silently finished the contract he was renewing with the earth spirit, Hei Chen. The murder and conspiracy was unnaturally still and silent as they politely waited for the ink brush to be stilled.
At last the great brush was stilled. And the owner of the brush looked upon avians before him in silence.
"Who wishes to ask me a question? Was it you old Guan?" A gentle smile, with nary a hint of the hidden dagger ire it seemed, was directed at the half blind crow.
"Not I, oh great Brother. Fifty years of great service to all my great Brothers and Sisters would not move me ask any questions about you." The half blind crow bowed low with his wings spread. Chen could smell the fear; he had sponsored Guan to the next stage of existence along with several others. In another fifty years, Guan would be ready to take a place as an Uzoku. As long as Guan did not anger or fail in services to his sponsors this was guaranteed by his quick wit and discretion.
"I see, then was it you cousin Shu?" The Uzoku's deceptively mild gaze fell upon the ratty raven.
"Oh no, I am not foolish enough to talk behind the back our most charitable host," Shu the raven uttered with the utmost false worshipfulness. Chen's lips pressed into a thin line, Shu was the most untrustworthy piece of flesh and feathers in the entire lot. But the Uzoku decided to ignore the she-raven, Chen heard everything of course but appearances were important. As long as they pretended to be discrete, he would pretend not to hear them. It was a subtle way of informing the host on what to speak to his guests before dismissing his court or how his guests were regarding him.
Clearly no one had taught the foolish young crow who had spoken out.
For this, Chen was supremely thankful. He wouldn't have to explain anything to his guests because the idiot had so egregiously breached the rules to honor the host and turn back on obvious gossip. Such a thing should be rewarded but not in a very obvious way.
"Then, who was it? Come now, I know my ears are not failing me yet."
The silence of stretched into uncomfortable seconds. The crows and ravens began to subtly move away from the foolish young crow who had spoken aloud their gossip.
Realizing that he stood alone, the young crow decided throwing himself before his great Brother was the wisest course of action to take.
"It was I, oh great Brother, forgive this young foolish one. I meant not to pry, I was…"
Chen raised his hand to silence the young crow. Its beak shut and all listened intently.
"What is your name, young one," the Uzoku asked leaning towards the panicky crow.
"Forgive this stupid one, great Brother! I didn't mean to…" The crow squawked and babbled.
Another hand was raised to silence him.
"Calm thyself young one. I ask nothing but your name," the Uzoku continued with his even voice.
"This slow one has no name, I am but a speck of dust in your noble presence," the young crow continued to grovel.
"So you would not protest if I decide to honor you with a most appropriate name then?"
"I have no objections, I would be grateful for a name," the young crow continued to kowtow to the ground, not daring raise his eyes.
Inside the young crow's mind, he wept silently in despair. He imagined the humiliating name that his great Brother was about to inflict upon him. The young crow wondered if it would be something as embarrassing as Dong, idiot, or worse.
"Very well young one, I dub thee Gu. Is there anyone here who objects?"
Silence reigned and all could see the fluid strokes of Chen's brush and the character 'drum' being written out.
It wasn't a bad name, but it advertised the type of crow he was. Loud and crass, but honest.
"And now my brothers and sisters, I declare this court adjourned."
The murder and conspiracy quietly cursed at the dismissal. No longer could they pry and coax new information out their host now. It was time to take flight and go on to other things.
"Congratulations cousin Gu, may you honor your name with an even louder voice next time we meet," Shu remarked sarcastically. The she-raven joined her conspiracy to fly to the north.
Gu made no comment as ravens left, the crows were another matter. They were waiting for Guan to make his judgment if the young crow should be allowed to remain in the murder. Most were annoyed at him.
"What are you waiting for Gu, we're leaving," the one eyed crow announced at last. He signed tiredly, but he was willing to forgive a mistake even if others were not. Gu would learn with time, if not then he shall die from the beaks and claws of his brethren. Guan took to the air with a beat of his wings, and the murder followed him.
Gu released the breath he was holding and followed after them. He took a quick look back to see how his host was.
Chen was impassive, sitting at the bench straight and imperious, until all his guests left. The table of earth he had sculpted from the brown earth had sunken back to the ground as thought it had never existed in the first place.
With that one last look, the newly named crow beat his wings to after his brethren.
The Uzoku let go a breath he had been holding and relaxed from his rigid sitting position. It was time to go home and see if his wife was still in a foul mood. If he was lucky, she wouldn't be home and then he could make sure that the table was in the right place forever.
As luck would have it Sakurazaki Setsuko was out of the house and visiting the local doctor for a check up and to finally find out the gender of her baby with a sonograph. It turned out to be a pointless the child was turned in such way in the womb that it was not easy to tell the gender anyway. She was nervous going out and about in the neighborhood as she was now.
It was now, rather obvious she was pregnant. There was just no way of hiding it anymore and the neighborhood housewives where she lived was twittering about it. Actually, it turned out that most had guessed when the sword saint was, in the third month of pregnancy that she was with child. The obvious swell of her stomach only confirmed their suspicions.
Setsuko had received celebratory fish from the fish monger, fruits and vegetables from the grocer and drinks from the neighborhood. It was embarrassing, they were all very concerned with her health and were freely giving advice (and sometimes, horror stories) of pregnancy and how to raise children. The neighbourhood women were all very happy for her and spoke to her as though she was one of them now which had never happened before. Setsuko avoided them because their tendency of gossiping about everything and everyone, but now she was stuck in their little group of housewife day to day events. Now she was in the middle of them during shopping and found herself being forced to interact with them in ways that she had never imagined. It was a nice change from the isolation but…
That being said, the sword saint felt out of depth with them. They respected her that much was true, the entire neighbourhood did, though they didn't quite understand what she did; they seemed to sense that it was important. In Kyoto a number of non-magical folk accepted that there were 'things' out there that they didn't understand and wished them harm. They also somewhat understood that Setsuko was one of their protectors, from what they did not know and, hopefully, they would never know. So, as though Setsuko was a samurai of old, they honored her in their own way.
Mainly by giving her discounts at the stores, never inquiring too deeply into her private life or even talking to her.
With her pregnancy, this all changed. The community regarded it as the end of her long years of a warrior and the beginning as a mother and housewife. As a normal woman about to raise a normal family in a normal world.
While rather touched by their concern, the Shinmeiryu warrior couldn't help but resent their assumption of her 'retirement' and 'normality'. Though traditionally Shinmeiryu warriors did often retire after marriage, it never meant that they were free from all the responsibilities that came with being a demon slayer and protector. It merely meant that their duties were downgraded to teaching and the occasional slaying in their designated community. Even then, there was a chance that they would return to their duty after giving birth.
Setsuko was also not very prepared to deal with their curiosity about Chen either. Many noted the oddity of his habits and lack of employment or the fact that both of them retained their surnames separately. All the myriad little things that Setsuko realized they needed to somehow cover up or correct if they were to hide the fact that Chen was not quite human from everyone.
Hell, they weren't even officially married. While Chen had taken care to make a false paper trail stating he was Chen Hou Zaio, a Chinese resident of Japan and so forth, it didn't change the fact that he did not have a bank account, drivers license or any other little details that would describe a normal human life.
Setsuko had to engage in some very creative fiction to pull the wool over the eyes of the ever sharp ears and eyes of the Nishikyo housewives. Those women seemed to be able to smell a juicy story a mile away, and they were very persistent. Setsuko had never had to think of lies up before until then. Some of her claims weren't too much of a stretch of the imagination.
He's a scholar of Chinese art and history (actually he pillages artifacts occasionally and keeps it in a mystic storeroom like a miser hoarding gold).
We use my bank account. I simply put his wages in there and give him a little something when he wants to go out and about in town (actually last time I checked he had piles of ancient gold coins, gems and other treasures that he occasionally sells while disguised).
And so on, and so forth.
The sword saint was not looking forward to explaining her pregnancy to the Shinmeiryu and her family either. Let alone explaining Chen and the fact they had been living in sin for the last four years. Most of her family were unaware she was living with Chen, let alone in love with him or anything of the sort.
She could only hope her mother and father didn't die from a heart attack when she visited them as their pregnant unmarried daughter. What was she going to say to her grandparents, aunts and uncles? Oh god, and then there were her cousins and younger sister to deal with.
Setsuko's head spun as she tried to imagine the hassle of it all. First and foremost though, she had to go and convince Chen to get a marriage license at city hall. There was no way in hell she was going to go to her relatives and telling them she was unmarried; it would be far too dangerous.
For Chen that is, she was sure her entire family would pull out their blades upon learning that he didn't take responsibility by marrying a Sakurazaki. The idea of her husband pinned to the family dojo's floor with a variety of swords, spears and halberds was not pleasant.
But she didn't want to imagine what would happen if anyone of her family discovered that Chen was a demon, there would be lots of blood. And Setsuko wasn't quite sure if it would only just be Chen's, she was sure that if that happened then she would protect him. Even if it meant going against her own family and it terrified her. She tried not to think of it but memories of Arashi no Yome's fate and that of her children put a chill down her spine. She would not let that happen to her child, never.
Yet that did not change the basic problems facing them now, Zaio Chen Hou, the fake human scholar and husband, was far too removed from normal human society. He did not participate in human affairs; Setsuko was always the one who went to the neighbourhood meetings and cleanings. Chen had probably never been to something as mundane as a shopping mall or driven a car in his life either. It raised the suspicion of too many people, another thing that she needed to talk to him about.
Setsuko never imagined there would be so many fine details needed for a demon to live in secret in human society. A plausible way to make a living without arousing suspicion, an identity, false records of prior history, and so forth that Setsuko could only assume that Chen had faked most of them somehow. Then there were the more subtle things like knowing your neighbours, being up to date with some current news and events, an entire fake history that wasn't too strange to human ears and being able to relate with non-magic using people.
The sword saint knew that it would be impossible for Chen to be able to do all of it without screwing up his cover.
It was these thoughts and more that plagued Setsuko as she walked home. Never had she quite realized how difficult it was to create an entire life out of lies and live it out without trouble. No wonder so many demons didn't bother with long term human disguises and identities, how could they know about the little things of humanity they have no idea about. How could they live in a world that demanded unchanging identities that terminated in a blink of an eye to their long life spans or regular interaction with humans whom they thought were no better than bugs? The fact that Chen had actually created a false identity in Japan for himself was astounding in itself.
"You know, I hope you learn to appreciate the trouble we're going through to have you," Setsuko whispered as she placed one of her hands on her growing stomach. She was going to have this child, she decided after three weeks of hard thinking and quiet meditation. Chen was deathly silent during that time and Setsuko often caught him looking at her in anticipation of her decision. But he never said a word for or against having children the entire time.
But with a simple "I'm going to have the baby", he smiled with pure happiness. He scurried about the house, excitedly going in and out of his dimensional domain with this and that and pasting wards, hanging up scrolls and giving offerings to spirits for safe birth. She was still in the middle of her pregnancy with no idea if it was a girl or a boy, and here was Chen running about writing letters to his older children that a new little brother or sister was about to come into the world.
Setsuko thought it was women who were supposed to be rushing about doing things for the baby's arrivals. By the end of the week, Chen had cleaned up a room and set up everything needed for the child. He agonized about where to put the cradle, where to place the wards to protect the baby, what sort of things to cook for her and so on. Actually, she found it rather annoying; the Uzoku wasn't exactly good to respecting her more modern and definitely Japanese sensibilities. The cradle needed to go; it was made of cherry hardwood and ridiculously expensive as it was anachronistic, perhaps if their house was Chinese style and over a hundred years old it would look good in it but it was wrecking havoc on the tatami floor with its weight.
These thoughts and more plagued the mighty Sakurazaki "Kaminari" Setsuko as she walked home.
The house was quiet when Chen returned home. He checked the charms and protection spells as he entered to make sure that nothing and no one had breached it just in case as well. The Uzoku had arrived home early to discover that Setsuko was out. It was her turn to cook dinner tonight; he hoped that despite her anger she was bringing home some raw meat for him to eat. His stomach was getting upset from all the cooked meat he was eating lately, he needed some red bloody fresh meat or else he was going to get sick.
On that thought, the demon headed towards to his kitchen to see if there was any leftover raw meat to chew on. A light snack never hurt, but all thoughts of savouring the tangy bloody meat left his mind as soon as he went in.
The table of his marital discord was once again in the 'wrong' place. An abundance of yang was gathering in the western corner since the table was blocking its exit to the hallway and was quite frankly irritating Chen. There wasn't enough yin, he had pondered long and hard before to even out the yang with yin without making it inconvenient but the most obvious and simple solution was always the same. The table was best placed close to the stove, there was simply no other place.
The crow demon rolled his eyes and attempted to move the table back to where it needed to be for harmony.
And discovered it did not move an inch.
He strained more until he felt the wood of the table threaten to break.
The table still hadn't moved.
Chen immediately opened his mystic third eye to look about the kitchen. The table, to his shock, was not enchanted. It was stuck but he couldn't begin to imagine why.
He just couldn't see any magic that would root the damn thing to the floor. So just how did Setsuko do it?
He questioned the spirits of wood; they claimed they were not assisting his wife. He went to his laboratory and gathered spell components and ancient unguents to assist his task. He cast various spells that undid enchantments, illusions; anything that would help the table stuck in its place and was rewarded with failure. He used physical force a few times to see if the table would budge but instead felt the wood creak under the pressure.
Chen was starting to get angry.
He opened the book of the Old Ones and called upon Nyarlathotep as described by the impeccable scholar H.P. Lovecraft for advice. Yes, yes he knew the 'do not call up what ye cannot put down' but he was smart enough and powerful enough to do that calling up and putting down. It didn't work, a pity, he was rather curious about these so called Great Old Ones and their odd names Cthulhu, Hastur and so on. In any case, he received no information to his predicament.
He released the essence of the three thousand year ginseng he had. Nothing, it simply rolled about the floor inert as it tried to find magical sustenance. It was starting to get rather annoyed and he could hear the sibilant squeaks from the ancient thing complaining the lack of rich soil and magic to feed upon.
The Uzoku was getting humiliated by a petty human trick of some sort. It involved no spirits, no magic, and no visible contraption to bolt it down.
So what was it?!
Zaio Chen Hou was so engrossed in solving this little mystery he did not hear Setsuko come home and enter the kitchen.
"What the hell are you doing!?"
Setsuko was aghast at what had happened to the kitchen. She wasn't quite sure what to think at the sight of Chen on his knees summoning household spirits and casting a plethora of spells she had never seen before.
Then there was the amount of junk scattered about the entire floor and countertops. The sword saint saw oddly colored vials, magic circles with strange words, tomes written in what looked like blood, scatterings of seeds and incense, a shapeless blob of ginger clinging to the floor eating away at anything vaguely magical and other bizarre possessions that could only have come from Chen's other dimensional laboratory.
Then Setsuko watched her husband rise to straighten his back and raise an imperious dignified aura. It would be quite impressive if his black cheongsam did not bear the obvious marks of being set on fire at some time and oddly colored neon blue and green stains on it.
"I was moving the table."
He said it as if it was the utmost importance. His grave voice opined as though it was an almost divinely ordained task.
"That's all!?" Setsuko was torn between horror at the cleanup to come and laughing her head off at Chen's dogged determination to move the humble piece of furniture.
"In the name of the honorable ancestors, woman! This is of great importance to me! What trickery did you use? Why won't it move! Tell me!" Zaio Chen Hou was dignified enough not to whine too badly in front of his wife. At least he hoped so.
"Now I'm tempted not to tell you," the swordswoman smirked at the look of pure frustration on her Chen's face. It was incredibly rare to see him in such a state.
"Setsuko!" A pronounced twitch appeared on Chen's human brow. The overabundance of yang in the kitchen combined with the frustration of not figuring out the petty human trickery causing it left the crow demon with very little patience. The sword saint could see it quite clearly and she couldn't help but feel amused.
There was also an opportunity here, if Setsuko could play her cards right.
"All right, all right. I'll tell you but you have to do something for me after."
There was a gleam in Setsuko's eyes that made Chen cautious. The demon's dear wife was up to something and he was damn sure it wasn't something he was willing to agree to.
"And pray tell what would that be?"
"You have to wear a suit of some sort for an entire week… of my choice, and each day it's a different type."
On the surface it was a simple request. But for an extremely prideful Chinese demon, the idea of wearing the clothing of barbarian Westerners was probably not the greatest idea.
Chen twitched.
"Se-tsu-ko…" His voice seethed, clearly enunciating the swordswoman's name to show he didn't like her offer at all but he knew that wife wasn't easily scared by his temper.
"Oh come on, I always dress up in a variety costumes when you ask. I mean, how many school girl uniforms have you borrowed from Albeiro already?"
"Pfft, you like wearing them. Don't go and deny it," Chen scoffed. Setsuko blushed and gritted her teeth.
"That's beside the point; it gets kinda boring seeing you only wearing Chinese style clothing. I mean, give some fan service for your wife and wear something she wants to see."
"Does wearing absolutely no clothing count?"
"Chen!"
The Uzoku couldn't help but smirk at the red blush staining the Shinmeiryu woman's cheeks.
"Look just agree with the deal, okay?" Setsuko barked with embarrassment.
"Oh fine then. I vow to please my wife in our marital duties by turning her on with exotic clothing if she tells me the secret of the unmoving table."
Seeing that the Uzoku had pledged his word at last, the Shinmeiryu knew that he would not break it. That didn't change the fact she wished her husband could have phrased the vow in an entirely different way. Setsuko reached into a drawer and produced a small item from it depths.
The object in question appeared to be a clear plastic bottle, small with a white safety cap. Inside it, the Uzoku could see a small grayish colored squeeze tube; it reminded him of a paint tincture tube. The grey thing was clearly labeled as 'Kawashige Super Glue'.
"So it was human trickery! I knew it!"
"… Super glue is not human trickery, now I'm going to be collecting my debt from you."
"Gr, I refuse! You can't make me do anything."
With this Chen huffed and cross his arms. But both of them knew that demons that make vows did not usually break them casually. A great deal of their powers came from the strength of their vows, to break one was to weaken them. It was why deals and contracts to control demons were so labyrinth and complicated in general, and often ending in tragedy due to loopholes.
But the advantaged lay with Setsuko. She knew exactly what to do to get Chen to do what she wanted.
"Oh fine then, I guess I won't tell you what the doctor told me about our baby."
"…"
"Well?"
"… What is it you want me to wear?"
Defeat was a bitter experience. Things were not going the demon's way; it was probably because the table was in the wrong place. The circulation of chi was obviously affecting his luck and allowing his wife to have the upper hand against him.
He would have to move the table again in the future, preferably using this human creation 'super glue' to keep it in place for eternity.
Setsuko radiated with triumph as she quickly rifled through a small stack of magazines the human woman kept near the kitchen. Pictures of stunning young men in various suits flashed past as she happily hummed a tuneless song. The demon began to wonder why he had never noticed this particular stash of magazines before.
"Let's see… Oh, this one looks really wonderful. Italian, sharp and stylish," the pregnant swordswoman proclaimed at last.
The Uzoku forced himself to look at the picture his wife was admiring. He saw a blonde haired young man wearing well tailored western clothing. It looked utterly silly in his eyes, why were there so many different layers for the torso area? It looked like there was a under shirt, then a shirt, then a vest and then an overcoat.
Yet, he had made his vow. The crow demon closed his eyes and concentrated on his black cheongsam. The innocuous piece of clothing, was not actually cloth at all but his black feathers, soft to touch, pliant but hard as steel when he willed it. With but a thought of his mind, it began to shift and morph. The basic shape of his clothing changed, here it parted, and here it knitted together before at last came the hardest part. Changing his black feathers to reflect a light color was hard enough, but to make it white was extremely difficult as it was antithesis color.
Slowly but surely before Setsuko's eyes the black undershirt was becoming gray and then an off white before Chen gave up trying to get it pure white. It was too much hard work and his feathers were actually starting hurt from the strange change he was trying force.
"That's as far as I go," Chen muttered and watched a slow broad smile appear on Setsuko's face. The Shinmeiryu woman took a step back to admire the unusual sight of her husband dressed in western clothing. Fancy, well tailored western clothing that he would never be caught dead in if circumstances allowed it. The copy was remarkable, almost exactly like the picture in her magazine.
Except for one thing.
"You're missing hat," disappointment colored Setsuko's voice.
"The deal was suits; I don't recall hats being a part of the deal!"
A smile once more graced the Shinmeiryu woman's face as she admired her stylishly dressed husband.
"Well, I suppose this will be good enough for now. Oh I'm going to have to buy some more magazines for tomorrow as well."
The Uzoku would never admit it but he wanted to cry. Was it so wrong that he liked wearing a cheongsam or hanfu while in his pathetic human form? At least he was getting something out of the suffering.
"And news of the child?"
"Very healthy, the doctor says there's nothing wrong and I should read up on these pamphlets."
"Bah, this doctor is obviously incompetent as the last one. He barely touches upon what you should be eating! I was forced to use that communication device a week ago to call upon a real doctor in Yokohama's Tang Renjie to learn the proper foods pregnant human women should eat."
Before Setsuko could roll her eyes, she blinked in surprise.
"You mean used the telephone?"
"The dianhua? Yes, with great difficulty," Chen emphasized with a wave of his hand.
"… Okay, maybe this will work out after all," Setsuko murmured to no one in particular as she rethought the ability of Chen to blend into human society. The idea of the Uzoku using modern technology without being needled had never happened before.
"Did you say something?"
"Oh no, let's clean up the kitchen and cook dinner first. I'm really hungry. And then you can ask me all the questions you want," the swordwoman smiled as she spoke.
"Very well, but first a pronouncement regarding our child!" The Uzoku announced as he stood before his wife with the 'what to do during pregnancy' pamphlets in his hands.
"The child shall be named on the fifteenth year, on a full moon," Chen proclaimed proudly. The Uzoku had fanatically calculated the best time for naming ceremony, he was very happy with the effort he went to looking for such an auspicious day for the newest child of his clan.
"Fifteen? Why would we name our child at that age?" Setsuko asked, baffled by her husband's proclamation. The Shinmeiryu warrior knew that she missing some sort of vital information regarding Uzoku cultural habits. The Uzoku demons had a rather complicated social structure and were an astoundingly superstitious lot; giving far too much weight in things that Setsuko thought was insanely outdated.
"It is the proper age for us to give our child a name." Chen waved his hand dismissingly as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Humans name their children at birth. They need one so we can write it in the registry at city hall."
Her husband waved off such concerns with another airy wave.
"It is unseemly to hurry the creation of a good and honorable name for our child."
Yes, there was definitely a disconnect between human and demonic requirements. Setsuko wasn't looking forward to looking for a bridge between them.