Chapter 14 – Black and White
(Confession and Penance Arc, Part One of Seven)
Sometimes, 'I love you' wasn't enough. Sometimes, 'I'm sorry' wasn't enough.
Sometimes, words weren't enough to express the true depth of meaning associated with what one wanted to convey. Sometimes, there were no words to express what one was feeling.
Harry was pretty sure this was not one of those times, because he could confidently state that right now, he was nothing but bored. And, when Harry Potter was bored, he got weird ideas. For example, what better way to alleviate your boredom than to summon someone else that was probably perpetually bored, just like you? In his mind, his reasoning was flawless.
It was with this thought in mind that Harry stood in a very familiar graveyard, snake on his shoulder, and began performing needlessly flashy and pointless magic. Within seconds, he had a single-person audience.
"Greetings, Master of Death."
"Hello!" Harry greeted brightly for once. His demeanor was not missed by his self-designated observer.
"You seem happy."
"I am. Do you know why?"
"I do not."
The two of them stared at each other for a moment.
"Do you want to know why?" Harry asked.
"Yes," the old man replied.
"Good! I'm happy because my friend, the mysterious old man, has decided to pay me a visit today! So, Mystery Man, thank you for visiting me and making me happy!"
"You're welcome."
There was silence again as the two resumed their staring contest. Bright green met dull grey, and green blinked first.
Harry gave up and sighed. He should have known better. He could have had a better conversation with a conjured golem. At least they had some semblance of intelligence and personality if you gave them one.
Just like every other time, the old man held his hand out, and the snake on Harry's shoulder slithered off his shoulder onto the ground, making its way to its original owner and disappearing into the folds of the cloak the other man wore. Moments later, the same snake (Harry assumed) would slither right back and resettle itself on Harry's shoulder. The act had initially bothered him a lot, but over time he had gotten used to it.
"How many times have we met now?"
"This is our thirteenth meeting."
"Lucky thirteen," Harry remarked idly.
"The number thirteen is commonly considered unlucky in your culture."
Harry resisted the urge to deadpan.
"Y'know, I've been thinking about what you said last time."
"I cannot read your mind, but I believe that is false."
"Okay fine, the idea just occurred to me. You said you wanted to be a wizard, right? Or at least learn our magic?"
"Yes."
"Well, I've reconsidered, and I've decided you can be one!"
"Okay."
"There's just one little thing I need from you first."
"There is no prerequisite to being a wizard."
"I know. This is something that I've made up. And, since I'm technically the last wizard alive, I get to make the rules for others becoming wizards."
"I do not believe your system of law works that way."
"Actually, it does. As I am the last remaining Lord on the Wizengamot, I am its only voter and candidate for Chief Warlock. I nominate myself and vote for me. There, I'm Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot. That's Magical Britain. As I am the last remaining magical authority of a member nation of the International Confederation of Wizards, I am also its only voter and the only candidate for Supreme Mugwump."
"The position of Supreme Mugwump is appointed by others."
"I don't see any other wizards around, do you?"
"You are a wizard."
Once again, Harry fought the overpowering urge to deadpan.
"Other than me."
"No."
"Then by default, I am the only person available to appoint others. Since I cannot appoint myself, the position falls to a vote. I cannot vote for myself in the ICW like I can in the Wizengamot, but I can cast my vote for abstention. Since no candidate received a clear majority, the position falls to the highest magical authority present. I am the only authority present, therefore I am Supreme Mugwump. There, that's the rest of the magical world."
Harry cleared his throat.
"By order of the Supreme Mugwump of the ICW and Chief Warlock of the British Wizengamot, all aspiring wizards must now reveal their names and titles upon application, as well as any relevant aliases they go by. All aspiring wizards will also address fully-fledged wizards by their names. Failure to do so will result in permanent exclusion from the wizarding community, including all interactions with its members. So mote it be."
A brief flash lit up the graveyard after Harry finished speaking.
"There, done. Your move, Mystery Man."
The old man paused, blinking a few times. He opened his mouth. Then, he closed it. He repeated this several times as if deciding whether to comply or doing his best impression of a goldfish. With him, Harry wasn't quite sure.
"Well, Mr. Aspiring Wizard? All you have to do is follow the law, and you can remove the 'aspiring' from your name! I'll even induct you formally!"
When the elderly man finally spoke, it was not what Harry expected to hear.
"You are a very interesting man, Master of Death. No," the man caught himself, "Harry Potter."
"I've been told that by many people, although you are the first person to say so almost every single time we've met. Now, are you going to tell me your name, or are you going to leave me alone forever?"
"You called me your friend. Did you mean that?"
"Of course!" Harry said. And it was true. For all the man's cryptic actions, creepy preference for cemeteries, and borderline stalker-ish tendencies, he was the only other person Harry interacted with on a regular basis these days, which was a rather sad thought, so the wizard dismissed it. "You're basically my last friend now that the world's like this. You're the only one that's different every time I see you. Not that different, mind you, but I can tell you aren't trapped like I am."
"I see."
"I would have preferred it if you were female, and my age, or at least around my relative age in appearance, but I'll take what I can get," Harry joked.
The man's expression changed from its flat look for the first time that Harry could remember. He smiled.
"Thank you, Harry Potter. I would like to be your friend."
"You're… welcome? And sure, we'll be the best of friends! As long as you visit often enough, anyway."
"I will always be watching."
"Aaand we're back to being creepy. Tone it down a little."
"Okay. I will wait here."
"Not what I meant. Anyway, you know what this means, now that we're friends, right?"
"What does it mean?" the old man asked.
"It means you have to introduce yourself! Friends call each other by their names, after all."
"That is true."
"Exactly, so introduce yourself already!"
The old man paused, and Harry was worried he might have pushed just a tad too hard. He really did want the old man to stay. His worries were unfounded, however, as the old man continued talking.
"Very well, Harry Potter. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Ophis. I am the Infinite Dragon God. You may also call me Infinity. It is nice to meet you."
"Ophis, huh? And Infinity? Well, I'm Harry Potter, Master of Death. Nice to meet you too! We're gonna be best buds, you and I, just you wait."
"I will wait as long as it takes."
Harry gave in to the urge.
.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
Koneko adjusted her formal kimono uneasily and frowned when it did nothing to cool her down. The month was July, and it was about eighty-eight degrees Fahrenheit (thirty degrees Celsius) in Kyoto in the middle of the afternoon. Not quite blazing, but still too hot to be wearing a formal kimono, even indoors. Next to her, Kunou, the Fox Princess of Kyoto and daughter of its ruler, Yasaka the nine-tailed fox, also shifted uncomfortably, although her expression was carefully neutral.
The two of them stood dutifully next to said ruler as she presided over the Imperial Court of Youkai. As the leader of the West Faction, the current dominant faction of Youkai in Japan, Yasaka was the de facto spokesperson for all Japanese Youkai. However, even her patience had its limits, as was shown by the miniscule twitches of irritation in a few of her nine tails. Unconsciously mimicking her mother, Kunou's own three tails twitched every so often.
Eventually, the older kitsune could take no more.
"We find this meeting to have exhausted its usefulness," Yasaka proclaimed suddenly, cutting off the muted chatter from the other Youkai. "As such, we shall adjourn for now and continue next month. If you have urgent business, you may direct it towards one of our secretaries. Thank you all for attending." As she stood up to leave, Kunou stepped forward and spoke clearly.
"Remember that we will begin celebrating Obon with our compatriots from Kantou tomorrow, so please show proper respect towards them. Also, registration for Nurarihyon-sama's annual parade ends tonight at sunset. Please be mindful of the time of day if you plan on participating."
Koneko didn't have anything to add, so she just followed the two fox Youkai out of the room. Mother and daughter walked in silence, while Koneko trailed behind. The three of them exited the stuffy building the meeting had been taking place in, with Yasaka acknowledging the Tengu guards stationed just outside and receiving nods of respect in return. Soon after, Yasaka transported herself and her two assistants for the day directly to the entrance to her shrine. As soon as they arrived, they were hailed by a different pair of Tengu guards.
"We have returned," Yasaka said simply.
"Welcome back, Yasaka-sama, Hime-sama, Nekohime-sama" one of the Tengu said. He was wearing a fox mask instead of the traditional red mask with a long nose. "Do any of you require anything?"
"No, thank you. We are fine. Has anything happened in our absence?"
"You have two guests waiting for you in one of the waiting rooms," he responded. He did not need to specify which, because the entire property was under the control of the nine-tailed fox.
"Who are they?"
"The Satan Leviathan-sama and… the Noble Tyrant, Orion-sama."
"Hoh? We will have them sent to our private chambers. You may return to your duties."
"Hai, Yasaka-sama!" The tengu snapped a salute, and resumed standing guard as the trio of two fox Youkai and one Nekoshou made their way into the shrine proper. Once they reached the top of the stone staircase, Yasaka let out a gusty sigh that did interesting things to her prodigious chest.
"Haaa. It's finally over~"
Kunou giggled at her mother's sudden abandonment of her ruler persona. Koneko just cracked a smile.
"We will rest in our room for a bit and meet our guests. Why don't you two go play?" Yasaka suggested. Even if she was no longer playing the part of the leader of the Japanese Youkai, her speech patterns were ingrained in her mind from having used them for so long. "The parade isn't for another few hours, and We are sure Kuroka-san would appreciate the company."
Koneko's cat ears perked up instantly at the mention of her sister, but she restrained herself long enough to thank the fox Youkai and bid her a respectful farewell. Yasaka just waved the Nekoshou off and chuckled.
"Come on, Shiro-nee!" Kunou said eagerly, using the stylized form of the other girl's name she had been calling her for several years now.
"Mm."
Kunou grabbed on to Koneko's hand and ran off with her in tow. The Nekoshou allowed herself to be dragged along down the many halls of Yasaka's extravagantly-large shrine. After passing what seemed like the third koi pond, the two young girls came to a stop in front of a sliding door with two black cat paw prints and two white cat paw prints on it below the words "Kuro and Shiro's Room!" in bubble letters. It was not actually where Kuroka stayed, her usual location being a closely-guarded secret known only to Yasaka and Koneko, but recent events necessitated her presence in Kyoto.
Without hesitation, Kunou swung the door open and ran in.
"Kuro-nee! We're back!"
Her happy expression became confused when she didn't receive a response. The little kitsune looked around the cutely decorated room at the many pillows, blankets, and stuffed animals, as if expecting the woman to be hiding somewhere. To be fair, Kuroka did like to ambush the two smaller girls sometimes by shifting into her black cat form and pretending to be one of the many stuffed cat dolls sitting around.
Still standing outside, Koneko's cat ears twitched on her head and she sniffed the air carefully. It smelled familiar. Wanting to get a better read on the scent, she followed her childhood friend and foster sister into the medium-sized room.
"Kuro-nee? Are you hiding?"
Koneko ignored her friend as she continued sniffing curiously. Besides the overpowering scent of her fellow Nekoshou, she could also smell a faint muskier scent. But, beyond that, she smelled what she had come to call the scent of old magic. It smelled like a combination of a big library, a fresh spring breeze, and petroleum jelly, strangely enough. It was also a scent only carried by one person she knew, and Koneko was determined to find where he was hiding.
Working her way from one corner of the room to the next, Koneko stopped in front of one of her sister's closets. The room hidden behind the door was plenty large enough to hide more than one person. She reached out and opened it slowly, half expecting to be tackle-hugged by her sister as she had done many times in the past. As it turned out, her caution was well-warranted.
Koneko ducked under the form of Kuroka as she leapt out of the closet as a black cat with a split tail, signifying a Nekomata's maturity, and shape-shifted into her normal, busty self in midair, complete with revealing black and red kimono. The woman crashed into the unwitting figure of Kunou, who had been curiously following Koneko around as she sniffed at the air, causing them both to fall on to a strategically-positioned pile of pink pillows. Kuroka would never risk hurting either of her cute little sisters after all.
"Mmph! Mm-mm-mmph!" Kunou's words were muffled by the large pair of breasts currently shoved in her face by Kuroka, who had landed on her and then proceeded to hug her tightly. The woman pouted slightly when she noticed her intended target was deadpanning at her as usual, but brightened up immediately as she continued to smother the squirming fox Youkai in her arms.
"I think you're suffocating her, Kuroka."
"Nyahaha, she loves it. Don'tchu, Kunou-chan~?"
"Kuro-nee!"
Koneko had frozen when she heard the first voice, her ears perking up instantly. She whirled around looking from her two sisters to the person she knew should also have been hidden in the closet.
"Harry!"
The black-haired Wizard was wearing his usual all-black outfit, although his cloak was missing. He grinned and held his arms wide. Koneko accepted the unspoken invitation and latched onto his front. She had actually leapt into his arms, her head nuzzling one side of his neck affectionately, before she slid downwards and landed on her feet. One arm snaked around her back while the other gave her the head pats she loved so much. Soon enough, she was purring contentedly, her own split tail waving about idly.
"Ooh ooh, I wanna pet her too!"
Koneko's ears twitched again as she noticed the presence of a third person in the closet, behind the man she was hugging. Serafall Leviathan walked out of the closet with a smile, dressed in a casual yukata instead of her magical girl outfit. She joined in pampering the purring Nekoshou and cooed happily when the purring became louder.
"Ahh, you broke Shiro-chan. No fair!" Kuroka complained. "Oh well, I guess that means I get to spoil the other Princess of Kyoto~"
She loosened her grip on Kunou long enough to turn the girl around so that she was sitting in the woman's lap with her back to her. Then she began to pet the fox girl, ruffling her hair and scratching behind her animal ears. The girl's weak protests soon vanished as she lost the battle against her inner nature and relaxed into the older Nekoshou's ministrations. Her tails waved about idly as their owner began to drift off. The three of them spent several minutes enjoying the cuteness of the two well-known Cat and Fox Princesses of Kyoto.
With permission from Magari, the leader of the Nekomata, Koneko and Kuroka were officially adopted by Yasaka – the latter posthumously – following the fateful events surrounding the Kuroka's supposed "death" at the hands of the Devils. Since Yasaka was the ruler of the Japanese Youkai, and Kunou had already been dubbed the Princess of Kyoto, Koneko was given the title of the Cat Princess of Kyoto, often said as "Neko-hime" and later adopted as an actual nickname for her since she disliked being called Shirone by those she wasn't close to. The other Youkai refused to call her Koneko since the name was given to her by a Devil and it translated to "little kitten," which they felt was an obvious reminder of how the event that had taken her sister's life had traumatized the girl and stunted her growth.
Eventually, Harry was the first to stop, much to Koneko's vocal disappointment. She mewled pathetically, making the Wizard feel like a terrible human being.
"Don't do that to me, Koneko. You're gonna make me cry."
"Pet more," the girl demanded simply. When she saw Harry's hand visibly twitch and reach for her again, she tried harder. "Please, nya?"
"Grk!"
"Harry, if you don't pet her after that, I will be very disappointed in you."
"Et tu, Serafall?" Harry asked his fiancé with a betrayed look. Nevertheless, he did begin to pet the pouting Nekoshou again, causing her to lean into his hand and nuzzle his chest affectionately. The Wizard carefully maneuvered the pack of himself, Serafall, and Koneko towards an empty spot in the room and summoned his favorite armchair. He then sat down. Koneko and Serafall both took up positions in his lap.
"Ara, Harry-kun? Have you changed your mind about having a harem? Can I join?" Kuroka asked mischievously. Koneko blushed, while Serafall looked at the man expectantly.
"No, I haven't." To Harry's dismay, Serafall actually seemed disappointed by this. She hugged the blushing Koneko to her chest and turned the girl's head so that she was looking straight up at him with a heavy blush in her cheeks.
"How could you refuse this?" Serafall demanded. Koneko tried to dislodge her head from the Satan's grip, but found her neck joints magically frozen by a paper-thin layer of ice that nonetheless refused to crack or break. She looked at Harry with a combination of distress and embarrassment in her expression.
"Or this?"
Harry looked from Koneko and Serafall to Kuroka and Kunou, and immediately regretted his decision. The black-haired Nekoshou had slipped her already-revealing kimono down even further so that her breasts were completely exposed, and the kitsune in her lap was squirming more desperately than ever as her captor leaned in, slipped one sleeve of the girl's own kimono downwards in a taunting manner, and bit one of her fox ears. The small moan Kunou let out nearly broke Harry's self-control, but he reminded himself that the fox girl was practically a child as far as her race went. It was then that he recognized the subtle signs of magical manipulation.
Deciding that was worthy of a magical solution in turn before things really got out of hand, Harry put Kuroka into a temporary stasis, remotely pulled her kimono back up to its usual position (which was only marginally better than her being topless), and summoned Kunou out of the Nekoshou's arms and into his lap, which was becoming quite cramped. The girl let out a small squeak of surprise as she finished sailing through the air and arrived at her destination. Harry used one hand to pull the fox Youkai's kimono back into place as well before using the other to chop Serafall on the head.
"Au~!" the Satan cried out cutely.
"That's quite enough of that, Serafall. You too, Kuroka. Stop with the mind magic. If I were a lesser man, I would have completely lost control just now."
"I wouldn't complain, but that's why I love you, Harry-kun! Chuuu~" Serafall planted a kiss on her husband's cheek and hugged him tightly, with Koneko and Kunou both included in the embrace. The two Princesses of Kyoto both sported blushes as they were pressed between the Satan's breasts and Harry's body, though Kunou seemed to be the only one who was actually trying to wriggle free.
"I know I definitely wouldn't be complaining, nya," Kuroka said. Harry shot her a half-hearted glare for breaking out of his stasis so quickly. Youjutsu was more or less a perfect counter to his soul magic since it was also part of the spiritual system of spells, and Senjutsu rendered most of his low-powered spells almost useless. The older Nekoshou was an accomplished user of both, though she never used Senjutsu outside of combat. Combined with her shape-shifting abilities, this made her near impossible for Harry to deal with without resorting to extra measures.
Harry used to get rather creative when he tried to restrain Kuroka. This was not helped by the fact that the cat girl would treat anything remotely resembling rope as bondage play and continuously make lewd suggestions while trying to undress herself. The one time Harry tried to gag her, he discovered that doing so somehow turned her on more and made her writhe around on the floor as if she was having an orgasm. After that, he had simply given up and went back to putting her in stasis even though she usually broke free within seconds.
Harry sighed, prying Serafall's arms apart to give the two other girls in his lap some breathing room. Kunou leapt to her feet and tried to glare at the two women present, but on her the expression only came off as an even cuter pout. The kitsune nimbly dodged out of the way of another tackle-hug from the older Nekoshou and was quick to move out of leaping range.
"Haaah. Greetings, Harry-san," Kunou said belatedly.
"Good afternoon, Kunou. You're looking as cute as ever. How are you?"
"I am well. Thank you for your concern and for the compliment. And you?"
"I'm doing just fine too. You know you can drop the formalities when you're around me, right?"
Kunou adopted one of her rare mischievous looks, making Harry sweat a little.
"Oh? Should I go back to calling you 'Tou-chan'?"
Serafall mock-gasped in outrage.
"Harry-kun! Did you…?"
"Ooh! Harry-kun is Yasaka-sama's secret mate from years ago?" Kuroka asked excitedly.
Even Koneko looked up at him in surprise, the teasing in her expression much harder to pick out.
"NO!" Harry denied. "Kunou, please don't say stuff like that! I get enough of that from Yasaka…"
The gleam in Kunou's eyes became brighter.
"You make Mother call you 'Tou-chan'? My, Harry-san." Harry's heart sunk.
"…Pervert." The one-word insult from Koneko hurt him more than it had any right to.
"Ooh, is that what you're into, 'Tou-chan'? I can oblige, nya!" The dark-haired Nekoshou batted her eyelids at him.
"Harry~! Do you want me to call you 'Papa' when we do it?" Serafall's question had been asked a tad too enthusiastically for his sanity.
With no other recourse available to him when he was being teamed up on by all four females, Harry buried his face in his hands.
.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
"Thank you for agreeing to meet with me, Yasaka-sama," Serafall said. She was standing in the Kyoto Youkai leader's private chambers. Next to the Satan, the armored form of Lord Orion stood in silence resolutely. Unlike the other versions of themselves, who had been let in through a secret entrance by Kuroka, this Serafall and Harry pair had been transported into Kyoto's Foreign Affairs reception area via teleportation circle and walked up to Yasaka Shrine normally. Upon seeing Lord Orion walking alongside the Satan of Foreign Affairs, the Tengu guards had stiffened. However, the man passed without acknowledging either of them, much to their relief.
"It is no trouble, Leviathan-dono. Congratulations on your engagement," Yasaka said from her seated position on a pile of cushions.
"You are too kind."
The three of them regarded each other for a moment before the two women broke into quiet giggles. Serafall skipped over to the seated Youkai leader and hugged her, rubbing her face against the kitsune's cheek. When they broke apart, the two of them remained comfortably seated while Lord Orion opted to stand.
"Yahoo, Yasaka-chan~ How've you been?"
"We have been well, Sera-san. Would you care to introduce your mysterious guest?"
"Well, this is the Noble Tyrant, Sirius Orion Black! You may recognize him from my show! He's a really good actor, y'know!"
Harry almost tripped as he was about to step forward.
"Indeed. He seems… larger than expected in person."
"Ufufu, he's larger than expected in a lot of ways."
Must… not… break… character.
"Truly? We may have to… find out for ourselves one of these days," Yasaka commented knowingly. Her smile was seductive as she looked at the man and batted her eyelids.
"Call me when you do!" Serafall said cheerfully. "I wanna be there!"
The armored man coughed as loudly as he could without being impolite.
"Yasaka-sama, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."
Her knowing smile widened further as a gleam of mischievousness entered her eyes.
"We would not be opposed to becoming further acquainted, Orion-dono," she offered. "In fact, We find ourselves fascinated with your armor, and what secrets it might hide. Perhaps you could remove it?"
Harry deadpanned even though neither of the two women could see his face.
"Should I even bother?"
"Your soul may be protected, but it is still familiar to us."
Harry sighed and removed his helmet.
"Hello again, Yasaka-sama. It has been a while."
"Indeed it has, Master of Death. We would like to thank you again for your assistance all those years ago. And please, call us Yasaka."
"Only if you call me Harry."
Harry attempted to summon his favorite armchair, only to find it in use. Slightly annoyed, he opted to duplicate the many pillows the two women were lying on until they covered the floor, then plopped down heavily. His cloak fluttered outwards behind him. Just as he was about to relax, he thought of something.
"Wait, if you can recognize my soul…"
"We are aware that you have somehow achieved the impossible once more and managed to duplicate yourself. Indeed, you seem to make a habit out of doing such things. We are interested, but We are concerned that any explanations may serve to bore us."
"Maaagic~" Harry said, wiggling his gauntlet-covered fingers. "Should I be concerned about others sensing me?"
"Nuharihyon-dono and Magari-dono might, but they are not as in tune with the natural energy of Kyoto as We are. Our connection with the ley lines affords us greater perception of such things. You need not worry about your secret being revealed."
With that, the Wizard finally let himself relax. As usual, his relief was short-lived.
"Ne, ne, Harry-kun!" Serafall said as she bounced over to him. "If you're that opposed to cats, maybe you like foxes more? Yasaka-chan has huuuge boobs, too! And don't lie; I know you stare at them every time you see her! I do, too!"
Yasaka chuckled good-naturedly as Harry spluttered out an unconvincing denial.
"We do not mind, Harry-san. Indeed, We find it flattering. If ever you find yourself reconsidering your stance on monogamy, We suspect you might have at least four willing wives among the Youkai."
This got Harry to begin blushing again before his brain processed the statement. He looked at the kitsune in confusion.
"Wait, four?"
"Indeed," Yasaka responded while nodding regally. "You have the affections of our twin Princesses, Kuroka-san, and ours as well, should you accept them."
The Satan bounced back over to the other woman, taking up position behind her. Both Harry and she watched in curiosity. Harry promptly blushed even harder when his fiancé began molesting the leader of the Youkai from behind, kneading the other woman's enormous bust inside of her formal kimono. Said kimono did a poor job of hiding what Serafall was doing, and noises Yasaka was making only made him blush harder. He had a very strong suspicion they were working together to embarrass him as much as humanly possible. The kitsune was definitely accentuating her reactions on purpose.
"Look, Harry-kun! How could you possibly resist these! You love playing with mine!"
Harry tried to tear his eyes away from the debauchery going on in front of him, but his natural male urges refused to let him. He violently clamped down on his wandering imagination and, like the other version of him, decided magic was the answer.
The Wizard teleported the amorous Satan into his lap, freeing the fox Youkai who wasn't really complaining, a fact Harry stubbornly refused to acknowledge. He wrapped his arms around Serafall and pulled her closer.
"I love you and only you, Sera," he asserted clearly. "I don't need anyone else."
Serafall melted.
"D'Awwwww. I love you too, Harry-kyun~!" She turned around in his lap and straddled him, kissing him on the lips. To her disappointment, her fiancé gripped her hips firmly when she began grinding against him. He had a flat look on his face. "Ehehe. I guess I'll wait until later?"
"Yes, that would be preferable. Anyway, Lady Yasaka. As you can see, I am satisfied with what I have. Besides, Kunou at least is still a child, and Koneko has the body of one."
"We see, and what We see has only intensified our desire," Yasaka replied wryly. "Still, We shall respect your wishes. As for the two Princesses of Kyoto, you know as well as We do that Youkai reach sexual maturity quickly. If you are distressed by their appearance, rest assured that they have assuredly inherited the genes of their family members. They will not be happy to wait, but We are sure that they will if you express the desire to."
Harry ruthlessly crushed the mental images of an older Kunou and a white-haired version of Kuroka that popped into his mind. His self-control was already frayed as it was with Serafall in his lap trying to start something.
"Stop that." His demand was directed the woman in his lap and the kitsune across from him, who he was sure was the cause of those mental images. They smiled at him unrepentantly.
"I swear, you and Kuroka both will be the death of me while I'm here," Harry muttered. He cleared his throat before continuing. "I am flattered that they, and you, hold such a high opinion of me. I can only advise you to find someone who can devote themselves fully to you, for I do not think I am capable of dividing my attention that way."
"My, how noble of you," Yasaka remarked teasingly.
"He's the Noble Tyrant!" Serafall chirped happily.
"Then what about the 'Tyrant' part of his name?"
"Well, obviously, he's gonna steal the hearts of every woman he interacts with and refuse to love them like he should! Even though he can make copies of himself! I say he's making excuses!"
"My, that does sound rather tyrannical of him. What do you have to say for yourself, Harry-san?"
Yasaka giggled while Harry contemplated his life choice in getting engaged to the woman in his lap. Within moments, he decided he regretted nothing about his choice and began tickling Serafall in revenge. The Satan of Foreign Affairs tried to escape once she saw the Wizard change tactics to cover his embarrassment, but she was held in place by an iron grip.
"W-wait! Harry! I'm ticklish! I'm waaay ticklish! We can talk this out! Please!"
"Oh no. You want to tease me and all that, you deserve to be punished!"
"I'd prefer you punished me in bed…" she said before she could stop herself. The way Harry's evil-looking grin widened scared her, but only slightly. The other half of her was aroused from how she was at his mercy.
"This calls for special punishment. I cast the tickle-me-forever spell! Go!"
"Nooooo!"
The private chambers of Yasaka, the leader of the Youkai, were filled with laughter for several minutes afterwards.
.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
"Please state your name and business," the Tengu guard said.
"My name is Sona Sitri, and this is my Queen, Tsubaki Shinra." Tsubaki bowed respectfully, and received a nod in return. "We came here with the Satan Leviathan, but we were separated at the Foreign Affairs Office. Is she here?" the black-haired Devil girl asked politely.
"She is. Do you have any others in your party?"
"The rest of my Peerage is here, but they are currently exploring the rest of Kyoto. They will not be coming here."
Sona resisted the urge to sigh at this. When they had first arrived as a group with her older sister and Harry disguised as Lord Orion, her sister had immediately abused her authority and declared she was going to see the leader of the Youkai, bypassing all customs and causing a general ruckus. It was a good thing everyone at the department was more or less used to her antics by now.
Then, when they had been allowed through shortly thereafter, Saji had been pulled aside by Ruruko and Momo to one of the stalls set up for the Gion Matsuri. The trio had proceeded to run off on their own before Sona noticed they were gone, busy as she was asking for directions to their hotel. From there, her Peerage had slowly been whittled down by stalls on the way to Yasaka Shrine, and she had been too tired to bother stopping them. Eventually, she had dismissed her Peerage to enjoy the festival told them to meet up at the hotel later tonight. Only Tsubaki had opted to stay with her.
The Tengu guard nodded in acceptance.
"Please take care to show proper respect to Yasaka-sama. You will be directed to your waiting room once you enter the shrine proper. Please do not wander." With that, the guard returned to his duties.
"Thank you," Sona said as she began walking up the stone steps, followed by her Queen. Just like the guard had informed them, when they set foot past the shrine gate at the top of the steps, a small, ghost-like blue fireball sprang into existence in front of them. The fireball bobbed in place a few times before floating down one of the many halls. The two Devils followed it diligently.
After too many turns for her to remember, which Sona suspected was due to some sort of magical ward on the premises rather than any deficiencies in her own memory, the fireball stopped in front of two large sliding doors. She recognized the sounds of laughter coming from within.
Resigning herself, Sona opened the doors.
"SO-TAN~!"
"Kyaa-mmmmph?!"
She was pulled through the air as if gravity were centered on Serafall rather than the ground, and swiftly found herself smothered in her older sister's embrace, both of them sitting in her brother-in-law's lap. Harry smiled at her.
"Glad you could finally join us, So-tan."
"Grr. Eh?"
It was then that Sona noticed that he was dressed in black armor with his helmet off.
"Nii-san, why aren't you wearing your helmet?"
"Everyone here knows who I am, so there's no point," he replied simply.
"And, and! If he has his helmet on, I can't do this! Muah!" Serafall planted a kiss on his cheek.
"Yes, that too."
Getting over the initial shock of seeing her King being pulled through the air like a ragdoll, Tsubaki stepped into the room bowed respectfully to everyone else. The door closed behind her of its own accord.
"Baki-chan~! Gimme a hug!"
"I will politely decline, Leviathan-sama."
"Hey, Tsubaki," Harry greeted easily, ignoring the outrageous pout Serafall made when Sona's Queen refused to join in the hug. "Thanks for having some common sense."
"Hello, Harry-san. And you're welcome. Your lap looks quite occupied at the moment."
Harry sighed.
"I'm going to get all of you to call me just 'Harry' one day, watch me."
Tsubaki disagreed, but did not voice her opinion.
"Let. Me. Go!"
"Fiiine~"
Sona rose to her feet shakily and glared half-heartedly at her sister for embarrassing her and her brother for not helping. Neither was moved. After the two new arrivals exchanged greetings with Yasaka, who was watching the proceedings with some amusement, Sona turned back to look at her two siblings accusingly.
"Nee-san, nii-san, you two left without us."
"Blame Serafall," Harry said without hesitation.
"Mou, I didn't think you'd be interested in hearing about politics and all this icky stuff. Why didn't you go have fun at the festival? I bet the rest of your Peerage did!"
"Urk."
"You need to learn to have fun, So-tan! Where's Saji-kun? Why don't the two of you go draw a love fortune?"
Sona blushed.
"I-I don't believe in those! And don't change the subject! We're supposed to accompany you everywhere. Actually, you're technically our chaperone!"
"I don't know who thought that was a good idea…" Harry commented idly. Serafall stuck her tongue out and bonked herself on the head with her fist.
"Yeah, well… Anyway, let's get down to business! Yasaka-chan! How're things between the two Youkai factions?"
Everyone else in the room shot the Satan a flat look at the transparent attempt to dodge responsibility, but Yasaka responded dutifully.
"Relations between the East and West Factions are smooth. We are holding joint festivities over the next several days that We encourage you to attend and enjoy."
"That's sounds like a great idea! Harry! So-tan! Let's go!"
"What about business?" Harry reminded her.
Sona pinched the bridge of her nose, while Tsubaki and Yasaka both stifled chuckles.
"Business is boring!" Serafall complained. "Oh, I know!" She leapt out of Harry's lap and ran over to Sona, who began backing away cautiously. Unfortunately for the younger Devil, the room wasn't big enough for her to avoid her sister when she was determined. In short order, Serafall once again had the squirming figure of her younger sister in her arms.
"Ahem! Lord Orion! I dub thee a temporary Foreign Affairs Officer! Take care of everything for me, 'kay? Thanks, bye!" She was gone out the door before anyone else could stop her. Tsubaki looked between Harry and the open door, before shooting him an apologetic look and following after her abducted King.
Harry blinked.
"Did she just…?"
"We believe she just did, yes."
The Wizard sighed.
"Well, I suppose I should have seen this coming, and this is as good an opportunity as any. Lady Yasaka, have you noticed any strange activities in your territories lately?" he asked.
"We refuse to answer."
Harry blinked again.
"What? Why?"
"You will address us as 'Yasaka', or we will not speak further."
Her teasing smile was back. Harry deadpanned before a smile of his own broke out on his face.
"Okay, fine. Yasaka. No wonder you and Sera get along so well. Anyway, have you noticed anything strange recently?"
Yasaka hummed thoughtfully.
"Plenty of 'strange' things happen. We are Youkai, after all. Perhaps you could be more specific?"
"You should have been informed about the Khaos Brigade as early as a couple of days ago. The leaders of the Three Factions and I are fairly certain their next target isn't one of us. They have to know we're allied by now, and we're all on high alert."
"But are we not allies of the Devils, and by extension the Three Factions, as well?"
"You are, but just because you may not be the target doesn't mean they aren't operating in your territory. We're keeping a close eye on the Pureblood Devils, and Azazel is keeping tabs on certain Fallen as well. Michael hasn't found anyone he deems suspicious yet, but it's only a matter of time."
Yasaka continued humming ponderously.
"We suppose… there have been some particularly strange movements by the East Faction surrounding the annual Hyakki Yakou, but Nurarihyon-dono screens the participants very closely with the help of Magari-dono."
The Hyakki Yakou, or Night Parade of One Hundred Demons, was an annual event hosted by the leader of the East Faction of Youkai, Nurarihyon. It used to be a separate event, but ever since the two Youkai factions forged a closer alliance, it was scheduled to take place in the middle of the Gion Matsuri, or Gion Festival. Said festival was hosted in Kyoto by the West Faction of Youkai, headed by Yasaka. In folklore, the Night Parade was an infamous event where Youkai would whisk away all who found themselves caught up in it by being outside at night, but nowadays, in reality the worst that could happen to anyone was that they got drunk and woke up in a different district.
Criminal elements in Japan used to abduct people in the middle of the summer, which led to the myth that the Youkai were responsible. Even though both Yasaka and Nurarihyon worked tirelessly to stamp out said elements, the rumor persisted. Over time, the leader of the parade eventually decided to have some fun with it and perpetuated the rumor by actually encouraging the Youkai under his leadership to drink and make merry with the humans brave enough to be outside at night, changing the sinister nature of the legend associated with his parade into a more mischievous one.
Harry had no idea what the Khaos Brigade's true objective was yet, but if its members were looking to take advantage of the festivities and Night Parade, they could feasibly stage an actual abduction. He snapped out of his thoughts when Yasaka coughed politely.
"I'm sorry, I was thinking about something."
"We realize, and We are not offended by it. As We were saying, the two of them have purged several participants already. We cannot imagine the Khaos Brigade gaining a solid foothold in recent events, though We are not certain they would not be able to take advantage of them somehow."
"My thoughts exactly. Can I speak with those that were forbidden from participation? And possibly the leader of the Nekomata, Lady Magari?"
"That can be arranged, but you will have to hurry, as the parade begins in three days. Do you not wish to meet with Nurarihyon-dono?"
Harry's expression soured.
"Sera's scheduled to meet with him later today. I'll most likely be attending as Lord Orion. We'll request the same of him, but I understand that the Night Parade is something of a long-standing tradition. He might not appreciate us stepping on his toes," he reasoned.
"We see. In that case, We will endeavor to arrange discrete meetings. Can We assume that you will be posing as Lord Orion for the duration of your stay?"
"Actually, he won't be here much longer. His reasons for being here began and ended with establishing contact with the leaders of the Youkai, with help from Sera as the Satan Leviathan of Foreign Affairs. I'll have him retire elsewhere after tonight to hopefully lure people out."
"Very cunning of you. Have you considered a career in politics? We are always on the search for competent advisors, and We would welcome you as a guest."
"It's been suggested to me, but no thank you. I've never been a fan of politics."
.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
Sona flopped down into her futon the moment she was close enough, sighing explosively. Her Queen regarded her actions with amusement. The two of them shared a hotel room for four people in the combination onsen and inn they had been booked by Serafall.
The Foreign Affairs Satan had booked three four-person rooms for the eleven of them (Harry, Serafall, Lord Orion, Sona, and her six Peerage members, not including her Knight Tomoe who was still recovering), but since Yasaka had offered her and Harry a room, and Lord Orion was just another version of Harry and wasn't planning on staying any nights at all, that meant Sona and the remaining members of her Peerage got all three rooms to themselves.
Sona and Tsubaki had gotten one room, the four other females of her Peerage another, and Saji, being the sole male, got a room all to himself. His room was also used to store excess luggage and materials they brought along for the trip or bought during it.
Currently, the Sitri heiress was doing her level best to forget everything that had occurred over the past couple of hours. The eternally-energetic magical girl Satan had dragged her across town, visiting anything and everything that caught her eye, and somehow finding a way to embarrass her at the smallest opportunity. Sona would not be surprised if the entire town knew of her name by tomorrow morning.
Which of course meant something big was going on, if she was being used as additional bait, or as a distraction. She wasn't quite sure which it was yet, but she knew who to ask…
"Evenin', So-tan. How are you feeling?"
Speak of the Devil, or Wizard, and he shall appear. Sona was too tired to even be surprised by his sudden appearance, though Tsubaki did jump a little in her seat.
"Harry-san, please don't do that."
"I make no promises, Tsubaki."
While her Queen half-glared, half-pouted at the man, Sona turned over to regard him carefully. He looked like he always did, messy black hair hanging over bright green eyes. He had swapped his usual outfit for a casual black yukata with white highlights, and was barefoot.
"Nii-san," she greeted. "How did your meeting with Nurarihyon-sama go?"
"Terribly. He was uncooperative, though I get the feeling it was more because he was offended we didn't have faith in his abilities than any real malicious intent. Sera and I will meet with Lady Magari tomorrow. Yasaka has also managed to arrange for meetings between us and some of the rejected candidates for Nurarihyon's Night Parade."
"'Lady' Magari?"
"It's the closest English equivalent to the Japanese suffix I'm going for, and I'm speaking in English through the translation spell. Your Devil's tongue is a weird bit of magic I'm not inclined to decipher."
"You don't address the other high-ranking Youkai respectfully like that."
"Yasaka refuses to talk to me if I do. Lady Magari is… special. She and I know each other from an incident a while back."
Sona didn't have to ask which incident, though she did try to tease her older brother-in-law a little.
"Is this something Sera-nee should know about?"
"Ha ha. I bet Sera'd be ecstatic if I told her I was involved with someone else or even thinking of it."
The heiress adopted a slightly pained look at that reminder.
"Right. Never mind."
Neither of them spoke for a bit. Eventually, Sona's suppressed curiosity boiled over.
"Okay, spill. Why am I here?"
"To have fun!" Harry answered readily. "Also, to draw attention away from me."
"I figured that might be the case."
Harry walked over to her and ruffled her hair playfully. She didn't bother stopping him. Nor did she bother to stop him when he began petting her head. She knew from experience he gave good head pats. She still remembered the shocked faces of half the school when a picture was released of Kuoh Academy's mascot, Koneko, blissed out in the man's lap while he did paperwork in his office.
"Don't worry about a thing, Sona. Sera and I, along with Yasaka, have everything mostly under control. You won't have to lift a finger, even to look pretty."
She scoffed lightly at his compliment.
"So what, I enjoy the festival and you do all the work behind the scenes? I'm not some princess you need to protect all the time, nii-san. I'm not as strong as you or Sera-nee, but you can't shelter me forever. My Peerage and I can handle some small-time security, surely."
"Tsubaki, do you agree with this? You may end up losing a lot of your free time."
"I trust in my King and agree with her opinion," the Queen replied without hesitation.
"Hmm… Fine."
Sona looked at him in surprise. She had expected it to be much harder to convince him to let them participate in whatever he was planning. She actually had a compiled list of reasons up to and including subtle threats of complaining to her older sister that Harry insinuated she was too weak or dumb to help out.
"Really?" she asked disbelievingly.
"Absolutely. You're right. You're more than capable of helping out; I just wanted you to be able to enjoy everything that's going on what with the things that have happened recently."
Sona smiled.
"Thank you, nii-san, but that's okay. Like I said, you can't shelter me forever, and my Peerage and I need more real world experience anyway. So, what can we help with?"
"Well, there are more werewolves and vampires in town than usual, but we're fairly sure that's just chance. Still, there's one pack in particular I could use your help investigating. They applied to participate in the Night Parade, but were rejected because they weren't Youkai."
"Why would werewolves want to participate in the Hyakki Yakou?" Sona asked in confusion.
"That's what I want you to figure out. They aren't really that suspicious, but you never know. Oh, and there's one more person I'd like you to meet. You'll be working with her."
Harry stood up, and Sona found her head suddenly felt like it was missing a crucial part of its existence with the absence of her big brother's hand. Her brother's head pats were dangerous. Maybe they would weaponize them somehow…?
Sona's attention was redirected to her brother when he waved a hand around in the air idly. Nothing happened.
"Hm? Is she ignoring me again?" Harry snapped a few times. "Hey! You aren't allowed to ignore me! You're technically my familiar right now!"
After a few more snaps and slightly more frantic hand-waving, a magic circle finally began expanding in the air next to him. When it reached full size, there was a flash of bright light, and both Sona and Tsubaki had to blink a few times to clear the spots from their eyes.
"Must you call on me so often?" a soft female voice asked.
"The last time I called on you was back when Ajuka first introduced you to me a couple of days ago," Harry pointed out.
"Exactly. And nothing has happened that requires my presence yet. If it did, he would have contacted me first."
"Y'know he asked you to help me for a reason, right? He isn't here in Kyoto. He's busy elsewhere. How do you expect to help me if you don't actually show up?" Harry asked in exasperation.
Sona and Tsubaki both gaped at the woman standing there. The woman was taller than Harry just slightly, and was apparently very fond of the color blue. Her long, pale blue hair matched her dark blue eyes, and she was dressed in a blue shirt and jeans, wearing navy blue fingerless gloves and midnight blue shoes. Harry snapped once more, and her clothing was transformed into a casual sky blue yukata. She examined her new clothing critically, before sighing and nodding in grudging approval.
"Obviously, you aren't supposed to summon me unless you actually need help. Unless the two Devils over there are assaulting you, you don't look like you're in any danger," the woman said flatly.
"Is that any way to talk to your temporary master? Anyway, I do actually have something important for you. The people who distorted the rules of the Rating Game between Rias and Diodora may be present here, and I have an idea of where to look first."
For the first time since she appeared, the woman displayed some interest.
"Oh?"
"The Night Parade held by Nurarihyon has had an abnormally high amount of applicants. We have good reason to believe it will be used as a cover for their next operation. I want you to help them," Harry said, pointing at the two dumbstruck Devils, "with investigating one of the groups."
"I do not see why this should interest me. Just call on me when you find the ones responsible."
"I hear the werewolf pack may or may not be in possession of a fragment of your treasure, but if you really aren't interested…" he trailed off.
"I'll do it."
Harry smirked.
"I'm sorry, what was that?"
"Grr…" The woman visibly restrained herself. Her expression shifted. "I'll do it, Master."
"Don't call me that," Harry said reflexively.
"I'm just showing proper respect to you as my master, Master. Now then, I'll be waiting for your summons tomorrow. Good night, Master."
By the time the woman vanished, her temporary master was contemplating a silencing spell. Specifically, how powerful he would have to make one for it to work on his generally uncooperative familiar. The overpowering cold aura she had been emanating vanished when its owner transported herself back to wherever she had been summoned from. Moments later, Harry realized he had forgotten to actually introduce her to the two Devils. He smacked his hand to his forehead.
"Bugger, I forgot to actually introduce her. Ah well, that was your partner for the investigation. I'm sure you'll get along with her just fine. I'll formally introduce you all tomorrow. For now, get some rest. Good night, So-tan, Tsubaki."
Harry vanished as well, leaving behind two speechless female Devils. A full minute passed before either thought to put words to what they had just seen.
"Was that…?" Tsubaki asked slowly.
"Yeah," her King responded.
"Have I told ever told you your big brother is amazing?" she asked in wonder.
"Yes, but I think this warrants a reinforcement," Sona replied, equally stunned.
"Your big brother is amazing. Also, quite possibly insane."
A/N: Friendly reminder that our update schedule can be found on my profile. Additional story details are also posted there.
We have a poll up at the top of my profile! Come vote for the next arc!
The plot of this arc is centered on Obon and the Hyakki Yakou (with the Gion Matsuri happening in the background). However, the arc's name comes from events in the past that have effects in the present. Keep that in mind.
The familiar bond is a bond, but don't get your hopes up… unless this is reverse psychology, and we actually hinted at Harry's Peerage members and the plot-reveal in the same introductory chapter to the arc. You never know!
In the next update, a ghost from Harry's past makes an appearance, literally! Also, day one of Obon, the Japanese festival of the dead!