130 Favorites and 120 Follows...
I see this as an absolute win!
Anyway, it's been a while since I've been to this but I wanted to wait until Brandon Santiago got a little farther into the comic before I continued. Now that he's just recently uploaded, I'm back in the game for the moment.
Alright, let's pick up where we last left off!
"How long has this tension been going on?" The Doom Slayer pondered as he saw Emiko and Amaya staring at each other while he, Sam, Osamu, and Erma observed.
"In certain times, I'd say a few months." Osamu casually said as Amaya finally broke the silence between herself and her daughter.
"Well, Well, Well. Right on time, Emiko, what a surprise."
"Mother…" Emiko growled out as she glared at the older woman.
"It most certainly has been a long time, hasn't it? But I see that you still haven't lost your touch in making an entrance or making a mess of things as well." Amaya chuckled rather coldly before looking at Sam and frowning. "I also see that you never left that…phase of yours."
"Excuse me, my PHASE? What are you talking about?" Emiko asked angrily.
"Oh yes, child, your phase," Amaya mentioned as the Kijo looked down on Sam and began to inspect him. "In fact, it appears that you've dug yourself into this particular hole deep enough beyond recovery. Having a child…with this?"
Hearing Amaya's disrespectful words to his friend made Slayer clench his fist so tightly that the knuckles began popping and crackling. Emiko was in the same boat as her hair rose up and spiked around the edges.
"You couldn't even find one with a Warrior's Build? Tsk, Tsk, this is quite unfortunate." Amaya continued as she sneered at Sam who remained unusually calm during the whole ordeal.
"Oh, I wouldn't say that just yet," Sam said cooly before continuing. "I mean, after all, this village did appear to be abandoned and decrepit when I first arrived here. Only to find out it wasn't and instead it housed many neat and interesting surprises. Oh, and it's Sam by the way."
"The sheer balls you have, my friend. You'd have made an excellent Night Sentinel." Slayer thought, his already immense respect for the man growing even further.
"Hmmm, well at least this one has the confidence of a Warrior's Tongue." Amaya begrudgingly said before turning towards Erma sneered. "If nothing else, then perhaps the half-spawn could at least do the same."
"Now Now, Dear. Is that any way to treat our welcomed guests?" Osamu said as he tried to placate his wife. "Sure I may not agree with Emiko's husband being here, but who knows he may surprise us."
"I'd say he's already surprised this village plenty before you've arrived." The Slayer spoke up, his arms folded. "I doubt you'd want to piss off a man who has stared death in the face so many times without so much as blinking."
"And just FYI, he's referring to himself." Sam pointed out to Osamu and Amaya rather wryly as the old Yokai Lords tensed slightly. They both could see the contained fury in the Slayer's eyes behind his visor and decided it was wise not to trigger him.
However, it was then that Amaya perked up before smirking as she sensed something approaching. Slayer was about to ask what was making her smile all of a sudden when he got his answer in the form of Mitsu and Momo flying in to hug her.
"GRANDMA!" The twins said happily as they hugged their Grandmother who smirked at seeing the two young girls.
"Hell there girls, how have my two favorite little demons been enjoying their trip?" She asked the twins who smirked back at her.
"Bored. Absolutely bored." Momo said with some mischief in her voice.
"But we had some fun watching Slayer beat up some punks and rip their heads off." Said Mitsu in a mischievous tone that made Amaya raise an eyebrow at that statement, but smirked at the thought of peasants being slaughtered.
"Oh really? If so then have you also been keeping this one busy?" The Kijo said as she condescendingly smirked at Erma.
"Oh yes! We've been giving Erma such a warm welcome here!" Momo said with a mocking smile as Erma frowned in annoyance.
"With hugs and kisses all day every…. EEP!" Mitsu squeaked as she saw Slayer glare at her and her twin sister.
"Girls..." He said in a very stern patriarchal voice that demanded that the twins show their cousin more proper respect. Amaya arched an eyebrow at just how quick Mitsu and Momo were to obey his voice.
"Hmmm...perhaps he'd be a better mate for Yori than that repulsive man..." The Kijo thought to herself.
It was at that moment that Yori and the rest of the family came into the throne room. A few of them looked rather nervous, Kentaro giving his mother an awkward wave as well.
"I hope your stay here meets both of your expectations, Mother," Fumiko said while bowing.
"Hm. Perhaps Fumiko perhaps. If I didn't find your command of this place rather disappointing." Amaya said rather coldly as Fumiko stared at her with a confused look.
"I'm sorry what?"
Amaya rolled her eyes and gave a slight scoff to her eldest's confusion. "Judging by how sloppy and incompetent many of the staff are….it appears you don't seem to be treating them with enough discipline. Not to mention your courtship with one of them."
Fumiko looked confused and more than a little nervous at her mother's words. Her fears were confirmed by the next words Amaya spoke.
"Seriously though. Did you really think you could have hidden that Kappa Pet away from us? For shame Fumiko for shame."
The Slayer glared as Amaya criticized the rest of the family except for Mayumi, who she didn't even give a passing glance to. That made the Slayer angrier as he clenched his fists even tighter, so much that blood began leaking out as Osamu took notice and cast a wary gaze.
"It seems my dear Amaya must watch her back around him. He will surely not be patient with her like I am."
"Now as for you Yori. I hear your girls have been putting my teachings to exquisite use." Amaya said rather proudly to Yori, not noticing she was looking at her with a skeptical look on her face. "Perhaps it's time they learned some of my more…Advanced spells when we have some time, no?"
That certainly got the twins excited. "Yes, please! Can we, mom? Can We?"
"Yeah! I wanna learn how to shoot Fireballs or even Raise the Dead!"
"What you two need is proper guidance if you want to even think of using those kinds of spells," Slayer said, beating Yori to the punch in rebuking the twins.
"Awww, come on, Dad!" Mitsu whined before immediately covering her mouth as her white face went bright pink. Slayer snorted in amusement at the child's reaction while Yori grinned at her daughter teasingly.
"Hmmm...and I suppose you have things you can teach them that I cannot?" Amaya questioned as the Slayer glared at her.
"I would rather not have the children experience the horrors I have seen. The scourges of Hell have been eliminated but the scars remain."
"Ohohoho! Isn't all of this exciting?" Osamu laughed as he walked towards the group while smiling. "All of us here, together again. Even our dear little Emiko has finally come back along with her lovely company. And it's all thanks to Yori as that task couldn't have been done without her."
Yori gave her father an annoyed look as she crossed her arms. "Hey, I just wanted to see my sister again. We ALL did."
Osamu merely chuckled and casually waved his daughter off. "I see, it HAS been quite a long while since we've all been together. Perhaps we could spend some time after the night parade to catch up, no?"
"Assuming you don't have some plan for Erma and the twins..." The Slayer dangerously said as he popped out his Doomblade. "Then we'll see if you're getting slower in your old age."
"I have no doubt you'd be able to beat me, but I won't go down so easily, you know..." Osamu said in a challenging tone, which Slayer responded to with a savage grin behind his helmet.
"I'll be sure to cherish it for eons to come, old man."
Osamu smirked as he spoke to everyone. "That being said, with everyone together again, I feel that some simple family dinner will simply not cut it. A reunion such as this requires a much more...Extravagant Ceremony."
"And what do you have in mind?" The Slayer asked suspiciously.
Osamu simply called out all of his servants to the throne room and smiled jovially at them despite their nervous and anxious expressions toward being at his presence.
"Aah, here you all are my faithful subjects." The Yureimoto Patriarch said on his throne before continuing. "I'll be needing everyone. The maids, janitors, cooks…Everyone. Because for tonight, we will be letting all of the citizens of Yureimoto Village into the gates of our home! In celebration of their royal family's return!"
The announcement shocked Fumiko as the serious Harionago couldn't believe what she was hearing and thought her father had gone senile.
"Father…." She said rather slowly as she tried to process the information and not freak out about it. "You've never allowed any of the villagers to come within the gates. Surely you can't be serious."
"As I see it, why wait for the Night Parade to begin the festivities when we can start tonight?" Osamu merely responded with a wry smirk.
"What about when you trusted me with keeping everyone out of our home? After keeping my promise all this time, do you want me to abandon it? Just like that?" She questioned as Osamu shrugged his shoulders as if what was currently going on didn't matter to him.
"Oh, I don't see the harm in it."
"Father, are you even listening?!" Fumiko nearly yelled as she continued. "We are heavily understaffed for that! And we've only been making preparations for the parade! If we just let them all in, the servants are going to get trampled! It'll just be chaos!"
"Then as the one your father trusted with this home, I suggest you make sure that doesn't happen," Amaya said coldly as she took to Osamu's side. "Besides, I'm sure a few peasants can be easily replaced."
"You'll get yours soon, witch..." The Slayer growled under his breath. Fumiko wanted to argue more, but she realized it would be pointless and sighed in defeat.
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let the festivities now commence!" Osamu said very jovially.
Slayer looked at the rest of the Yureimoto Clan as they all agreed on one thing; This was going to be a long night.
It feels so good to have come back to this! I want to dedicate this to Enriks-Da-Writer, a fellow author who I still see as a friend despite actions in the past having caused us to split apart.