Il Cielo dei Tre Regni
by Lunar Wave
Disclaimer: This story borrows the setting and characters of the Koihime†Musou series and borrows multiple elements from Katekyo Hitman Reborn. I own neither series as they both belong to their respective owners. Also, considering Koihime†Musou could be considered a fanfic of the Three Kingdoms, I'd like to say I don't own anything related to the stories of the Three Kingdoms.
-()-
Connections and Arrivals
-()-
"Kazuto, you better freaking run faster or I'm leaving you behind!"
"Never will I ever run faster than a horse, asshat!" A haggard voice escaped his lips as he struggled on forward.
"No cursing!" A soft female voice rebuked him, even as she panted slightly.
"Not cursing when I mean it literally!"
"No dissing the hat! And no dissing the horse!"
"Is now… really the time… for that?" A panting boy said next to them. "Truly…, each and every… one of you is completely… inelegant…"
"We have barely begun running for over five minutes! How the hell are you so tired?!"
"I blame… jetlag. And not having the training to pace with a horse."
"I blame Reborn!"
""We all do!""
"Ohh, dearie dear!" Then the voice of what could be the devil was heard, causing everyone to run even faster. "Running away from me, are you? Do remember, that we need to take your… measurements if you will~"
"None of us want to be molested so NOOOOOO~!" A pause before looking at the rest, "Hey, wait! I expected all of us to say in unison, like those anime stuff! Why was I-"
"And for that~ I suppose I should start with the Cavallone heir!"
"NOOOOO! TRAITORS, I WILL HAUNT YOU TILL THE DAY YOU DIIIIIIIIEE!"
So what did he learn from that day? Lussuria is faster than a horse when he/she wants to be. Also, he might have developed a trauma of measuring tapes even stronger than before.
This is the reason why Kazuto requested a bike from Giannini. He's technically not allowed to ride it till he gets a license, but since when did the mafia pay attention to the rules?
-()-
With the added workforce of economic officials Rairai and Denden, occasional help of Paitan, Yue, and Ei, all office work was effectively drained within the first few days. Leaving Kazuto and Touka much more time to take care of other business.
"Wouldn't it be easier if I removed my clothes before doing this?" Paitan asked, as Kazuto prepared the flame on his sword.
"A girl shouldn't be suggesting that to a boy." Kazuto tapped her forehead with a finger.
Paitan pouted at the gesture, before shaking her head, "It's just us three here, though…" Paitan muttered, as Yue blushed to the side and awkwardly poked her fingers together. "And I don't mind. It would be bad if we kept burning clothes after all. We'll be spending too much of our treasure just buying clothes."
"I'm sorry for not being good at this yet." Kazuto sighed, before muttering, "There's a reason why I don't superheat my sword."
"It's only for treatment anyway." Paitan nodded, "It's not like you have any plans on doing bad things to me."
"I don't." Kazuto nodded, "But you do realize that I can overpower both of you if it ever happens?"
"Touka-neechan trusts you." Paitan told him. "I don't need another reason."
"I swear…" Kazuto sighed, turning away. He has questions he wants to ask, but tact dictates that he doesn't mention it.
Paitan merely smiled brightly, "Yue, help me."
"Is this normal for this world?" Kazuto sighed, "I'm serious. I came from a world where girls are a lot more, shall we say, reticent about these sorts of things. Sleeping in the same room and even bed as a boy. Undressing with a boy in the room…"
"I don't really know the answer to that." Paitan winced. "I'm not as familiar with how people from outside the imperial family does things."
"It's not normal." Yue shot it down. "But that's for total strangers. But if people trust the other person, isn't it fine? And Master is trustworthy." Yue told him. "You might not think you are but no one in this army could really disagree with that."
"I think Nenene has some issues about that. I walked around with Ren the other day, and she spent quite a bit of time high-jump kicking me."
Yue laughed softly at that, "Nenene-chan usually doesn't trust anyone at all, especially when they're around Ren-chan."
"We've known each other for only a couple of weeks, Yue. That's about the level of distrust I expected from everyone here."
"Why is Master so worried about it? Isn't being trusted a good thing?" Yue asked.
"I'm worried if my sense of values is skewed compared to everyone else." Kazuto sighed. "It's a good thing that everyone can trust me easily, but…"
"I suppose I'm a bit odd in that sense." Paitan told him. "I've gotten used to Yue taking care of me all this time, so I don't really feel shy about undressing with company."
"… That really doesn't change the fact that I'm a boy."
"Really? I've had male healers look at me before. It's hardly worth worrying over. This is simply the same thing. After all, you're the healer who would take care of me, right?"
"I suppose I am." Kazuto sighed. "Are you done?"
"Yes."
Kazuto nodded before facing her again. The small back of Paitan is clear to see for him. He quickly focused on his sword before setting Paitan aflame. He then began closing his eyes so that he may focus. Let the flames engulf her. But don't harm her. Just burn whatever traces that Choujou had left in her body. There aren't any clothes left for him to worry about burning, so just focus on getting rid of anything that could harm the girl.
Specks of another flame seem to burst from the girl's body, before harmonizing itself with the regular flame, removing itself. There wasn't much of it, so Kazuto couldn't tell which is which, but judging by the story, it had to have been Swamp Flame. With no clothes to worry about, he continued burning away, careful not to harm the girl.
After a minute, Kazuto stopped, sweat trickling down his forehead. That was probably the most intense session he had with Paitan. Paitan breathed quickly as well, as Yue quickly put a cloth over the girl's body.
"How do you feel?" Kazuto asked, nodding gratefully to the small girl.
"Better already." Paitan nodded, as she pushed herself off the ground. She made some tentative steps. "I think that was a lot better than previous sessions."
"But is it enough?"
"Probably one or two more." Paitan told him, "But I do feel healthy enough to walk a bit further than the complex."
Kazuto smiled. "I'll get out of the room so you can dress up."
"Thank you." Paitan smiled.
"Just… don't tell anyone." Kazuto sighed. "I do not want to be executed for 'seeing the bare body of the emperor'."
"That would require me demanding an execution in the first place." Paitan pointed out. "Is this the first time you've seen a naked girl?" Paitan asked.
"No," Kazuto replied. "Aisha would be the first." Kazuto sighed. He did forget to knock on that door.
"I see." Paitan nodded. "I would've thought that Touka-neechan would've been the first."
"Why exactly would you think that?" Kazuto asked.
"She does sleep in the same room as you." Paitan pointed out.
"They generally change clothes in their own rooms…"
"Generally?" Yue asked, confused.
"Shuri and I once slept in the same room at Kouro Gate." Yue and Kazuto both winced at the reminder. "Yeah, sorry."
"It's alright." Yue shook her head, and offered a small smile.
"It's not just Touka-neechan who sleeps in the same room as you?"
"Apparently they have a turn system that I am vaguely familiar with." Kazuto sighed. "Not completely. Sometimes I'm completely off." Kazuto then shook his head, "You know what, just ask Touka for the details. I'm stepping out so that you can dress up."
"Thank you for everything, Kazuto-san." Paitan nodded.
"Thank you, Master." Yue bowed to him.
"You're welcome. Both of you."
-()-
"Hello, Ei." Kazuto greeted the girl as she was cleaning his room.
"If you expect me to fawn over you like everyone else, guess again."
"Thank you for your hard work." Kazuto cheerfully replied as he grabbed a change of clothes. This particular healing session made him a lot sweatier than he thought he would be.
"You're going to take a bath?" Ei raised her eyebrow.
"I'll just wipe myself down a bit." Kazuto shrugged.
"Hah… then wait for me to heat up the water." Ei sighed.
"It's fine. I'll just use cold water." Kazuto raised his hand.
"In this weather? Don't be stupid." Ei scowled, "If you get sick, then I'll be the one stuck taking care of you."
"There are other servants."
"If I don't do it, then Yue will. And I don't want Yue catching any illnesses from you." Ei continued scowling.
"Fine." Kazuto relented, "But I'll help you light the wood on fire."
"I suppose that's one use for you." Ei nodded, as the two of them began moving towards the kitchen. Some servants were there cleaning dishes. Ei quickly grabbed a bucket before the two of them moved to the well outside. Kazuto immediately took over to help pull up the water.
"Fitting in well?" Kazuto asked as he lowered the well's bucket.
"Some of the servants are annoyed that the two of us are favored more than they are despite their tenure." Ei shrugged. "That ended when Yue invited them to a tea party."
"I can see why she was the leader of your faction if she's capable of bringing people together like that." Kazuto laughed. He was then kicked in the shin. "Guh!"
"You do remember we're supposed to be hiding, right? Don't mention things that don't make sense!" Ei hissed.
"Ah, sorry." Kazuto winced. He pulled up the water bucket and poured it into the bucket that Ei brought in. Ei hefted it and they made their way back to the kitchen.
"She's also been asking them to mentor her on how to serve you better." Ei sighed, as she looked at the furnace and prepared the fireplace.
"Really? She shouldn't have to worry, though." Kazuto shrugged.
"That's how Yue is." Ei shrugged. "Done. Now light it up and go back to your room. I'll bring the water to you when it's done."
"Yeah, sure." Kazuto nodded, pulling out his sword and setting it on fire. He then stabbed the wood to eventually kickstart the fire. "What about you?"
"What about me?"
"All you've talked about is Yue. What about you?"
Ei looked at him with an unreadable look, before pushing him. "The fire's lit, go away already." Ei mimed kicking him.
"Sure, sure." Kazuto nodded, moving back to his room. It seems it's still a bit early for Ei to open up to him.
Entering the room, he sat on the ground for a bit. Quiet seeped into the room. Kazuto sighed, pulling out his sword to swing it for a bit. There's nothing to do anyway.
Today was one of the rare days that Reborn wasn't around. Unfortunately, without Reborn, that also means no books, much to the disappointment of the Suikyou Student Trio. Those three managed to learn Japanese syllabary really quickly and were eagerly wanting to read the books that Reborn brought. Hopefully, Reborn will be able to figure out a way to bring books here without needing his presence.
"Excuse me." A quieter voice called in, and Kazuto raised his eyebrow as the door opened.
"Hmm? Yue?"
Yue smiled at him, before picking up the bucket that was on the ground before dragging it into the room. "Ah, Ei-chan said that you were going to take a bath, right?"
"If I'm taking a bath I'll use the bath." Kazuto pointed out. "I'm just wiping my body down. I'll take a proper bath some other time."
"Umm… if you don't mind, I'll wipe your body for you."
"… Why?" Kazuto asked.
"You can't really reach your back well enough, right? And this is a servant's job."
Kazuto sighed, putting down his sword and removing his shirt. "Fine." Kazuto smiled at her. "You don't really need to do this, you know?" Yue dipped a cloth into the warm water and washed his head.
"I want to be of use to you." Yue shook her head. "You've been working hard to help us. We aren't mistreated. Even though my being here is risky, you accepted me here without a problem."
"I'm not the type of person to let an innocent fall to the wayside just because of circumstance."
"Master is kind." Yue softly said, moving to his back.
"Am I?" Kazuto mused with a smile. "I don't think so."
"Normal warlords would've just let me die than risk everything. The fact that I'm alive here, right now, shows how kind Master is."
"If that's how you see it, then that's how we'll do it." Kazuto nodded.
Yue hummed. "Umm… To be honest, considering how you acted with Paitan, I thought you would've insisted to take care of this yourself." She finished scrubbing his back and moved around so that the two of them are face to face. She wet the cloth and rubbed the boy's chest.
"I admit that I'm a bit interested in someone else taking care of me for a change." Kazuto laughed awkwardly. "Maids aren't exactly something I grew up with."
"Me-i-do?" Yue asked confused.
"Female servant. Just a word from where I came from. Don't mind it." Kazuto smiled. They stayed in relative silence, as Kazuto closed his eyes to let the feeling of relaxation kick in. Yue soon finished cleaning his chest and moving over to his arms.
"It really does feel strange to have someone cleaning me." Kazuto chuckled in amusement. "It reminds me of when I was a child…"
"Is that so?"
"Mmhmm. By the time I learned how to take a bath by myself, I always did it on my own."
"You didn't have servants back in heaven?"
"Mama and Grandma like to cook, so we never had to hire a housekeeper of the sort. There are servants in the family manor, but I never interacted with them that much. And they're generally just Mafiosi serving the role." Kazuto chuckled. "Then there are the robot servants that Uncle Spanner designed. But that's a bit more appliance than person."
"Ma-fi-o-si? Ro-bo-to?" Yue asked, confused, as she dipped the cloth in water once more, before placing Kazuto's leg on her lap and rubbing that down too.
"Never mind that." Kazuto shook his head. "And aren't you going a bit too far now? That tickles!"
"Ah, sorry." Yue apologized, moving the cloth away from the boy's foot. "That's done. Umm, the other leg."
Kazuto obliged her before wondering, "So what happened to Ei? She usually wouldn't have let you go here on your own."
"Eh?" Yue froze up a bit, "I don't think…"
A quick knock on the door. "Master." Ei's terse voice echoed from outside. "Do you know where Yue went?"
"… What exactly did you say to her?" Kazuto asked.
"I just said that I'll deliver the water…" Yue blushed.
"And when did you decide to be the one to wash me down?"
"…" Yue's silence spoke volumes for Kazuto.
"…" Kazuto sighed, before turning to the door and calling out in a loud voice. The room wasn't strictly soundproof, but it did at least muffle it enough that no one would hear soft sounds from inside. "She came with the bucket and went on her way. She didn't say where she's going after." Technically true. She went on her way to come in and clean him up. And she didn't say where she's going after; she never left after all.
"Fine." Ei's voice sighed, moving away.
Silence filled the room again, a bit more uncomfortable than before. Yue simply continued washing his leg. Kazuto then heard more footsteps outside, as if hurried.
"… You aren't hiding her there, right?" Ei's voice came back.
"… I'm washing my body, Ei. Why would I have someone else here with me?" Kazuto called back.
"Of course, of course…" Ei's footsteps then echoed for a bit and disappeared. Kazuto sighed, before rubbing Yue's head.
"I think that's enough for now." Kazuto smiled, "Can't have her worry too much about you."
"Right." Yue smiled, putting away the bucket.
"… Your clothes got wet."
"Ah, yes." Yue looked down and noted that her servant clothes really did get rather damp.
"I'll take care of the rest here." Kazuto smiled. Yue bowed before opening the door. She carried the bucket out. Kazuto sighed.
"… Huh, that was about fifteen minutes of me with a girl in my underpants." Kazuto said amused.
Being someone who was trained under Dying Will Mode, while he does have a sense of shame for other people's state of undress, he does not have the same sense for himself. The default look of Dying Will Mode is for the user to burst out of their clothes and straight to their underwear, in public. So, he already lost his personal sense of shame in being in only his boxers. It's not like he was naked, after all.
So the only thought that crossed Kazuto's mind is that it felt good to be pampered, every once in a while.
-()-
"Fitting in well, Ren?" Kazuto asked, as he looked at the girl.
"Un." Ren nodded.
"Have some friends among the soldiers?"
Ren shook her head, but then pointed to a few men who were lined up at the front of the military office. "Came to join."
"Ah… those are… your men? From before joining us?"
Ren nodded.
"Last I checked they were imprisoned by Enshou…" Kazuto muttered before moving forward towards them. "Hey!" Kazuto signaled for Ren to come after him. "You Ryofu's men?"
"Ah, the Heavenly Messenger!" The former soldier moved forward before bowing. "Yes sir."
"Last I heard, all of Ryofu's soldiers were imprisoned by Enshou? She let you out?"
"Ah, yes." The soldier nodded. "She said that they didn't have time to feed that many prisoners, especially if they won't become their soldiers… so they just let us out. And then we heard that General Ryofu was here and… we hoped to become her soldiers again."
"Well now. Ren. Seems you have more friends than I thought you did." Kazuto smiled before nodding to the man. "Well you still need to get past screening from General Kan'u and General Chouun, but if you do, I don't think it would be a problem to put you under Ren."
"Really, sir?" The man said with wide eyes.
"Ren needs soldiers who can… trust her." Kazuto winced. "As you should know, your group didn't exactly leave a good impression on my soldiers."
"Understandable sir." The man nodded. "Soldiers from the enemy camp rarely get accepted easily in an army."
"Although I do expect your group to accept outsider soldiers if they're assigned, okay?" Kazuto warned. "And I better not hear of any harassment campaigns against those who don't like Ryofu. As long as your group is civil about it, I'll reprimand any on my side about being civil as well."
"Yes, sir."
Kazuto breathed. Looks like that problem is at least somewhat fixed. Of course, they're not part of the militia yet. "So where's Nenene, Ren?"
"Food." Ryofu replied.
"I see…" That was all he managed to say before his instincts flared up. He immediately started moving out of the way before:
"CHINKYUU KICK!"
Kazuto weaved out of the way and caught the girl around the waist. "How many times will you do this?"
"NAH! How'd you catch me this time?"
"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." Kazuto replied, "Get kicked a third time in the head, risk a concussion. Speaking of, recognize this man, Nenene?" He hefted the girl so that her face is on level with Ren's former (and possible future) soldier.
"Chinkyuu-sama!" The man bowed.
"Let me go, dammit!" Nenene was struggling in Kazuto's arms, but then realized who she was looking at "… Ah, you're…"
Kazuto smiled, putting down the girl. "Ren, Nenene, go help out Aisha and get these guys processed faster so that you have soldiers that won't be as wary of you when you go on your own jobs." Ren and Nenene nodded, before running back into the office.
Kazuto smiled, picking up a sack of food that Nenene left behind and passing it onto a soldier to return it to them. An acknowledgment and Kazuto began walking away again. Seems Ren and Nenene will fit in just fine.
-()-
"Was it wise to let them have their former subordinates back?"
"Have we given Ren a reason to betray us?"
"… no."
"Then I'm fine with it, Aisha." Kazuto replied. "Besides, she'll still be working with your men for a few good weeks, if not months before we leave her to her own devices."
"If not for the fact that she's strong enough to possibly leave us."
"I choose to trust Ren." Kazuto replied.
"I suppose you're right. Although it would be nice if the soldiers would get along with ours." Aisha nodded.
"So how's Denden and Rairai doing? Fitting in well?"
"They're doing their best as military officials if that's what you're asking. Although their current job as economic officials have been eating their time up." Aisha shrugged.
"Eh… those two insisted on serving in the military as well, so I thought to let them do as they please." Kazuto hummed. "Good to know that their enthusiasm is still unmatched."
"They may or may not be gathering people to form a group of their own." Aisha told him. "I don't know the details but something about a Cheer Squad."
"Really?" Kazuto laughed. "Well, as long as they submit a proposal properly, we'll at least consider it." Aisha could only sigh at the boy's free-spirited response. "And Sei?" Kazuto asked.
"She's doing her job well, although she could be a bit more into it." Aisha nodded.
"Patrolling the streets for any potential street criminal is tiring business." Kazuto shrugged. "It requires you to doubt everything and everyone around you, even in a quiet time as this."
"It still won't do if her soldiers adopt her attitude." Aisha objected.
"… Relax, Aisha." Kazuto put his hand on his sworn sister's shoulders. "Sei knows what she's doing. Let her be. Speaking of, what of the, ah, observers that the other warlords have dispatched here?"
"I've given the 'soldiers' plenty of warning to not snoop around as much." Aisha nodded, "I also fired any who's been proven to do so. We've no use of people who can't follow orders. At this point in time, we can afford to be picky with our soldiers."
"Yeah. It would be much harder to weed them out if they're already entrenched in our system after all." Kazuto sighed. "Just make sure to double-check before firing. Don't want to fire someone innocent, but just really into their work."
"Of course." Aisha nodded.
"Then I'll be taking my leave." Kazuto smiled.
"Try not to shirk work too much." Aisha sighed. "Now that we're dealing with… everything, I can't be there to scold you as much."
"It's my rare Reborn-approved day off that's not actually a day off." Kazuto pointed out. "I'm going to do my job at my pace. Besides, a day without looking at the building paperwork is a day I'll praise to the high heavens and back."
"Take care, Master." Aisha promptly nodded.
"Just because more people are calling me Master now, doesn't give you the right to call me so." Kazuto dryly pointed out.
"S-sorry, Kazuto-sama." Aisha blushed at that. "It just slipped."
"If it keeps slipping, we'll try to get a niichan and neechan out of you, Aisha. Don't test us." Kazuto warned.
"Just go already, if you're going." Aisha hissed. "The other soldiers should not see me like this!"
"Alright, alright. I'll be on my way." Kazuto waved and left. So what should he do now? He still has the afternoon. Ah, maybe… just maybe…
He smiled brightly, heading for a certain place. Touka would be very cross with him if he decided not to take her with him, after all. Where was she? Ah, wasn't she at her mother's place today?
-()-
The humming sound of his airbike as it speeds down the unpaved roads of the territory is nothing short of… he didn't know what word to describe it right now, but the sense of freedom is breathtaking. Granted the helmet is obscuring his vision by quite a bit, but it's simply amazing what it feels. The only thing that could beat this is flying. Maybe he should try? It's not as if Dying Will Mode is necessary for training flight. It's just useful to have his heightened skills for the trickier maneuvers.
"Kazuto-sama, shouldn't we be headed back soon?" The muffled sound of Hinari's voice reached his ears.
"Hmm?" He intoned from within the helmet.
"It's getting late, and Aisha-san will be expecting us soon."
"It's been so long since our last joyride though…" Touka's disappointed voice replied for him. Kazuto, Touka, and Hinari were currently seated together on the airbike, although it really wasn't built for even two people, let alone three. But still, the bike handled well enough, as Hinari was seated between him and Touka. Hinari didn't voice much of a complaint about the position though, as she's holding on tightly around his waist, while Touka had taken to seating sideways, admiring the scenery.
Well, Hinari's complaints were more practical though, "It's dangerous! What if bandits show up?"
"Are they faster than the bike?" Kazuto asked, confused. "It's not like this bike's stopping anytime soon."
"They're not but still!"
"Relax, Hinari-chan." Kazuto could practically hear Touka's smile, "We'll be fine. Speaking of, why today, of all days, Kazuto-kun? I'm grateful that you decided to pick me up, but it's not as if I needed it."
"Ah, well, I wanted to talk to your mother for a bit."
"Oh, right… What about?"
"I wanted to ask her to come and live in our main city." Kazuto sheepishly told her.
"And?"
"She refused." Kazuto sighed, "It's really instant too. I started off with a bit about your position, then when I brought it up, she just instantly shut me down."
"I figured." Touka smiled, "Mother always was a bit stalwart about things. I don't think she'll ever leave that small house…"
"… Did something happen?"
"Eh?"
"You sound a bit melancholic when talking about her."
"Ah… that's…"
"Touka-sama's mother told her to stop visiting her." Hinari sadly told him.
"Why?" Kazuto asked.
"… Mother didn't want me to waste my time on her." Touka grimaced.
"… A daughter's time can never be wasted spent on her mother." Kazuto told her.
"Not in mother's eyes. She wanted me to stay focused on the task at hand."
"Then why not come back with us?" Kazuto asked, confused. "If she lives in the city with us, she'll finally be…"
"She said no, didn't she? And we can't force her." Touka shook her head. "It's her choice and… as a daughter, I have to respect her wishes too…"
"Filial piety, huh…" Kazuto muttered, looking upwards slightly. "… Tell you what. Next time, let's take Paitan with us."
"Eh?"
"Paitan would surely want to see the mother of her Touka-neesan, after all." Kazuto told her.
"I think mother would just scold me for endangering the emperor like that…" Touka chuckled.
"Emperor's decree, and all that." Kazuto smirked.
"You shouldn't so whimsically use the power of the Emperor like that, Kazuto-sama!" Hinari objected.
"I suppose abusing the Paitan's power is a bit too much, huh?" Kazuto grimaced, "It's like I'm using her, but, to be honest, she really is just a good easy solution to our problems right now, like with Chiihou."
"Chiihou-chan?"
"Ah, I suppose I never mentioned it? Sei and I plan on getting Paitan to write a pardon for the Three Chou Sisters, so that the looming threat of being outed as harboring Chouhou could be mitigated." Kazuto sighed, "But Paitan needs to want to do it herself, so I've been meaning to get her to interact with Chiihou a bit more."
"That's a wonderful idea!" Touka brightly replied. "Hopefully we can get Paitan to be healed by the time comes."
"Yeah." Kazuto nodded, "But, I'm getting a bit worried about this. I feel like I might be abusing her kindness by relying on her this much…"
"That's why you don't want to just ask her to do it, right?" Hinari asked.
"Yeah." Kazuto sighed, "But we can't rely on her to take care of our bigger problems. No amount of Emperor's decrees will be enough to deal with our current dilemma of not being able to expand any further than we are currently."
Touka grimaced, nodding silently. "But would an emperor's decree really work? What about with Yue? Why won't it work for her?"
"Because Yue's 'crime' is 'subversion of the emperor' and 'tyranny'." Kazuto replied. "Any letter that Kentei writes for Toutaku's sake could be claimed to be forged. Unless, of course, Paitan appears before them herself, and we're currently not ready for that."
Touka nodded. Paitan's health is still rather bad, even with the treatments. She is good enough to move between her room and the office, but she still gets exhausted rather quickly. It's clearly improving, for what it's worth, but leaving her to someone else at this point is a scary idea for both of them.
Kazuto nodded, "Anyway, as much as Paitan can solve a lot of our problems, I want to at least try solving it without relying on her so much. Chiihou's one problem we weren't able to really solve properly."
"Then why do you want Paitan-sama to solve the problem with Touka-sama's mother?" Hinari asked.
"… I'm just worried if Touka's mother is ever used as a hostage against us." Kazuto reluctantly replied.
"… Would that ever be a problem for us?" Touka asked fearfully.
"After the sorcerer assassin? I've no doubt in my mind that they can go that far." Kazuto grimaced. "They did, after all, make an old man blow up just to try and kill me. It's obvious that their morality is a bit beyond a normal person's."
"That's true…" Hinari nodded, smacking her head into his back, "Ow… But that does sound scary."
"I… that's…" Touka's voice goes through a range of emotions, unclear and uncertain how to feel. There's fear in it, some desperation… and Kazuto found that he hated hearing Touka be like that.
"And that's why I'm trying to get her to come with us. If she still refuses, then I'll stop, but… I can't let your mother come into danger because of us. She's one of the people who helped us along the way, after all. I still owe her for letting me stay with you."
"… I see… That makes sense, I suppose." Touka sadly nodded, letting her chin rest upon Hinari's head. "But if that's the case I won't be able to help you." Touka sadly told him.
"Eh?"
"I promised that I won't visit her, then I won't. I'll honor her wish."
"That's fine." Kazuto smiled even though none of them could see his face, "For now, let's head home, shall we?"
"Ah, yeah."
"Then close your mouths, both of you. I'll be going fast, okay?" Kazuto cheerfully told them.
"Awawawawa!?"
"Un! Let's go, Kazuto-kun!"
-()-
When they got home, an irate Aisha was there to greet them. It is a terrible idea to go off on your own when you are being targeted by assassins. So Kazuto could do nothing but kneel with a blank expression as she scolded him. He's used to getting scolded at this point. For good measure, she proceeded to scold Hinari and Touka as well. He mentally apologized to Hinari, already planning on taking some of Hinari's work away from her to give her more time to read one of Reborn's books. Watching the scolding is… everyone in the group, as it was dinner time and everyone is now having an interesting time watching the three get scolded by Aisha. Although, for what it's worth, it's already background noise for Rinrin, Sei, and Chiihou, who continued eating without worries. Ren followed in their momentum. Ei and Nenene, both not caring about the three, also ate without a thought.
"… Kazuto-sama, if you do this again, I will tell Reborn." Aisha made what she believed to be the final blow and Kazuto could only dryly look at her.
"If you thought that really would make me reflect harder than I already had, then you're wrong." Kazuto bluntly replied. "We are talking about someone who organized a dine-and-dash so that he can leave the bill to me."
"Dine-and-dash?" Paitan asked, confused.
Shuri coughed, "It's a crime that involves you eating food at a restaurant without paying for it, and then running away."
"How does one organize a dine-and-dash anyway?" Josho asked.
"He invited a bunch of friends to an expensive restaurant. Brought me with him. And then after eating all the food, they all quickly disappeared through the door, while making a ruckus." Kazuto sighed. What else can you call standing up, food still in mouth, and mad dashing out the door?
"… Why?"
"To learn to take responsibility for the mistakes of your subordinates." Kazuto replied and everyone there felt a pang of responsibility from that response. "Just so we're clear, if any of you dine-and-dash, I'm setting the guards on you, and you'll be spending the night in jail. Even if it's Ren."
"We won't!" Most everyone exclaimed. Ren nodded.
"What happened?" Paitan asked. "With the dine-and-dashing."
"Hmm? The first time they did it, it didn't really work, because the restaurant owner is a friend of my father's so they just put it on their tab and sent the bill to my father. The second time, I was stuck as the dish cleaner of the shop for a good few days before someone bailed me out. And then he beat me up." Uncle Hibari is a cruel person to have as a savior.
"B-beat you up?"
"For falling for something twice." Kazuto sighed. That seems to be a running thing for him. "Learning from past mistakes is essential so that you don't get taken advantage of, a lot."
"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." Ren repeated his earlier words.
"Exactly." Kazuto nodded cheerfully. "If you fall for a trick once, then that's just the skill of the other side. But if you fall for it again, well… that just means you're an easy target."
"Like Rinrin?" Sei asked.
"What's that supposed to mean!?"
"It's fine to make mistakes, but you should at least learn from them." Kazuto ignored them, turning his focus towards Paitan.
"O-of course…" Paitan laughed awkwardly, "I learned a lot from that story."
Touka nodded, "Kazuto-kun has a plethora of life experiences that are just downright weird."
"All thanks to Reborn." Kazuto told them.
"He's not gonna do any of that to us, right?" Touka asked, fearfully.
"I will not put it past him, but considering his scheduling for everyone? Probably not. He seems more focused on improving everyone's knowledge base at this point. He'll leave any life experiences to you just being near me at that point in time." Then again, Reborn is currently really limited at this point in time… but since when has that stopped him?
"I'm not done yet, Kazuto-sama." Aisha raised her voice. Oh right, they were still in a scolding session.
Kazuto finally decided to head it off. "I promise to not use my airbike for joyrides anymore."
"W-wha?" Aisha was taken aback by the sudden reply.
Kazuto pressed on, actively ignoring Touka's crestfallen face. "I did it today because I was planning on not doing it anymore anyway, but it would be a shame for Touka to not experience it again." Kazuto awkwardly smiled.
"I-if that's the case, then it's fine." Aisha nodded, moving back to her seat on the table to begin eating.
"If I knew, I would've enjoyed it a bit more…" Touka sulkily said, as she began eating herself.
Kazuto laughed awkwardly, moving to his seat on the table.
Shuri looked at him before raising her own question, "Kazuto-sama, isn't tomorrow the day that Reborn-san said that Yuni-san is coming? Are we completely prepared for her arrival?"
Kazuto blinked at Shuri's question before nodding. "Ah, yes. Aunt Uni's coming tomorrow."
"Another person from heaven!?" Rairai asked, surprised. "Did everyone here know?"
"It's not like we can do anything for her." Kazuto helplessly replied. "She's coming the same way Reborn did. She's not going to be eating anything. She's not going to be sleeping over. There's literally nothing we need to prepare for her."
"Then why exactly is she coming?" Yue asked, a bit confused. "Is it to see you?"
Kazuto shook his head, "While she is certainly a friend of the family, she's not really one of my teachers; she doesn't… shouldn't have any personal stake on my growth. Reborn simply said that it's to confirm something." That only Arcobaleno can use the communicator right now.
"I see…" Touka said, a bit troubled, "What kind of person is Yuni-san?"
"She is one of the two current leaders of an allied family, the Millefiore Famiglia. Uni of the Giglionero, is the leader of the Black Spell of Millefiore, serving as the muscle and the public face of the Millefiore. The Black Spell is originally the Giglionero, a family that once kept the valued Mare Rings. She is the former leader of the now-disbanded Arcobaleno, also known as the World's Strongest Seven." Kazuto replied, a bit more robotic in his delivery. Part of his training had been to be able to immediately bring to mind the strengths of notable mafia families across the world.
"Strongest Seven!?" Rinrin asked, excitedly.
"Reborn's one of them." Kazuto replied. "I don't know how they were decided to be the world's strongest seven, but… anyway, if Reborn is the World's Strongest Hitman, then Uni is the World's Greatest Clairvoyant."
"Clairvoyant?"
"I've never personally seen her in action, but I know her daughter well enough to tell you this much: it's the real deal." Kazuto witheringly smiled, "Iris's ability to see the future is frankly absurd, possibly surpassing my own Hyper Intuition. I don't know how many times I lost at card games when dealing with her." Because Hyper Intuition can still be fooled, can still be wrong, no matter how rare those moments might be. But the future? It's much more difficult to fool an ability that lets you peer into a point in time that doesn't exist.
"So she's similar to Kanro-dono?" Aisha pondered.
"She would be my era's Kanro, yes." Kazuto nodded.
"That's nice and all," Touka interrupted, "But that tells us nothing about what she's like!" She complained. "I asked what kind of person she is, Kazuto-kun, not what she can do! I didn't understand a lot of what you just said!"
"Eh, uhh…" Kazuto sheepishly chuckled, "She's nice? Motherly?"
"… That basically tells me nothing, Kazuto-kun." Touka pointed out.
"Sorry! I didn't interact with her as much. She's more the mother of my friend or a friend of my parents. We chatted once or twice about Iris, but that's about it!"
"But isn't there something we should at least do to welcome her?" Hinari pondered.
"Well, I suppose I can take her with me when I go to Chiihou-chan's rehearsal with Paitan." Kazuto replied.
"I see, that's probably for the best." Shuri nodded. "It's a shame that her next scheduled performance did not coincide with her arrival."
"It's fine! I'll just do my best as if it's an actual performance!" Chiihou confidently cheered.
"Rehearsal?" Paitan asked, confused.
"Training for her performances." Kazuto replied.
"I see." Paitan nodded, "I'll watch her progress as much as I can." Kazuto laughed as Paitan seemed to be treating this as a job, not as a simple outing. He felt that it was a bit lucky that Chiihou doesn't know that Paitan is the emperor, otherwise the pressure of that sentence would probably have hit her hard.
"I still don't understand how people would actually pay to see one person dance on stage for a few hours." Ei sighed. "When they could be doing more productive things, like earning a bit more money, working on the fields, or something."
Chiihou looked offended by that. "What does that mean!?"
"Careful, Ei." Kazuto chuckled, "Chiihou's your senior. Try not to offend her too much?"
"I'm older than her." Ei pointed out. "And I'm just stating facts. If the commoners were to not be distracted by other things, we could be a bit more productive, especially seeing as it's the harvest season."
"More productive? We're not running a sweatshop, Ei. We're not a merchant group either. You can't push the people around for the sake of productivity. We're governing a territory. Not everyone is suited to a monotonous lifestyle, Ei." Kazuto chuckled.
"What's that supposed to mean, annoying master?" Ei glared.
Kazuto laughed, "Do you have any hobbies, Ei?"
"Eh?"
"Things you do to pass the time, or when you have literally nothing to do? As an example, Touka takes care of a horse in her spare time. Aisha goes to the orphanage to take care of the kids. Rinrin goes on an eating spree." The sworn siblings each had their own reactions to being used as an example. Touka laughed embarrassedly, Aisha looked away with a blush on her face and Rinrin could only nod exuberantly.
Ei only glared at him. Kazuto shrugged, taking that as a 'Yes, I do have hobbies. But I'm not going to tell you.'
"Imagine not having those outlets, and instead have to work day in and day out? While Touka and I really do complain a lot about our workload, I don't think it's a controversial statement to say that paperwork really is mindnumbing, and really stresses us out. A single mistake in our brush, and we have to start all over again, or possibly have our orders be misinterpreted, and result in ruin in our territory. So sometimes, we just need something else to do to unwind."
"I understand." Yue nodded, being a former lord herself. She didn't see Ei's slightly betrayed face.
"Now consider our citizens. They also work day in and day out so that they can live, but even they need time to unwind, have some fun. A lot go to bars to drink away. Some find a hobby that doesn't need so much physical strength. I'm sure some of them would've taken up reading if only they were literate."
"I get it!" Ei sighed, "I'm not complaining against hobbies! I'm more talking about the business of selling to see a performance by a single girl. Most bards simply perform in the town, hoping to get a few coins or so. What makes Chiihou so special in comparison?"
"I think you're forgetting one thing: Chiihou's not just a bard, she's a singer and a dancer." Kazuto chuckled, "Generally speaking, someone like her, is usually in the employ of the lord to perform for the lord and his guests." Ei's eyes widened, before nodding.
Shuri slowly nodded herself, "Watching a real performer sing and dance is something no commoner ever expects to experience. Dancers tend to be reserved for nobility, after all. I think I'm starting to understand why Chiihou can attract so many people to her side."
"Aside from well…" Kazuto mimed wrapping something over his head, and everyone in the know nodded at the reference. Most of Chiihou's initial fandom is from her time as General of the Land. And it was that initial fandom that propagated Chiihou's small following in the territory. "Anyway, something that was, by the common sense of this world, is exclusively for nobility, able to be witnessed by commoners for a fee that they can afford, I'm sure you can see the appeal?"
"Although my dances are a bit different from ones usually done in court parties…" Chiihou pointed out.
"It's more appealing to the cute side of you over the sensual, yes. It's the main reason why I agreed with the label of 'Everyone's Little Sister' for you. With that title, it's meant to trigger protective instincts, over lustful ones." Kazuto nodded.
"… Kazuto-kun, you most certainly did not think of that when you agreed." Touka glared at him. "I know that you just agreed with it because Chiihou-chan wanted it." Ah, Touka's learning. Kazuto's 'hindsight bullshit' as he sometimes calls it is starting to weaken in her presence. Which is essentially just Kazuto making a snap decision based on his gut, then coming up with the reason much later once he comes up with it.
Kazuto coughed, "My excuse stands."
"Calling it your 'excuse' makes it obvious, Master." Shuri sighed.
"And I almost thought you actually were smart." Nenene scoffed, "So you're actually a dumbass that lucks his way into making smart decisions."
Kazuto winced. That actually hurt. "I think through my decisions just fine!" Kazuto argued. Everyone stared at him. "… As long as I pass the idea through Shuri and Hinari."
"Pass it through us as well!" Aisha argued. "You know that neither Shuri nor Hinari can argue against you once you have your mind deadset on something!"
"We can argue just fine!" Shuri exclaimed, a bit weakly though.
"Ryofu." Aisha argued back. And Shuri could only laugh hollowly at the reminder.
"A-anyway!" Kazuto coughed, before Paitan's and everyone else's opinion of him drained further. "It's getting late. We should go to sleep soon."
"Oh? No training tonight?" Sei asked, "And I just started to figure out how to light the ring."
"Which is still faster than everyone bar Rinrin." Kazuto pointed out. "Then again, you've been eavesdropping for months; so you still have some advantage compared to everyone else."
"…" Hinari looked sadly down on the ring that now sits on her finger. She still hasn't lit her ring and is currently the last of the ringbearers to do so.
"Anyway, I don't really know what time Aunt Uni will come, but I still want to put my best foot forward for her, after all." It wouldn't do for the heir of the Vongola Family to embarrass himself in front of the head of a close ally. "So for now, good night, everyone." Kazuto said. And a chorus of replies was returned.
-()-
"Hello, Kazuto-kun."
"It's nice to see you, Aunt Uni." Kazuto smiled upon seeing the woman. "Although it seems you also shrunk. Not as much as Reborn did, but…"
The Aunt Uni that Kazuto remembers is a woman in her late thirties, that looked like she was in her twenties. Now she looked as if she was ten.
Uni nodded, looking her body over, "It seems that Uncle Reborn was right. We do revert to our Arcobaleno forms here. Or rather, it seems I reverted to the age when I lost the curse."
"Eh?"
"Ah, it's fine. It's an old story. 29 years old by this point." Uni smiled. "Speaking of, you missed your birthday."
"Ah, right…" Kazuto nostalgically nodded. "They don't really celebrate birthdays here…"
"Have you managed to open the gift that Tsuna-san, Byakuran-san and I have made for you?"
"This?" Kazuto pointed to the one box that he has yet to open. "No. It doesn't really open."
"That's a bit of a shame… We worked rather hard to make that box animal for you…" Uni sighed. Kazuto nodded shallowly.
"What animal is in it?"
"Now now, you know that I won't tell, Kazuto-kun." Uni laughed, "It's a surprise till you open it." Uni smiled at him, "Speaking of, how many guardians do you have at this point?"
"Four? Maybe five if Ren fits in well enough." Kazuto replied.
"In two months you managed to gather so many…" Uni laughed. "Although I suppose it's been a bit more than that for you."
"Seven, going onto eight months." Kazuto chuckled. "It's been fun, for what it's worth."
"Which Guardian position have you not filled in just yet?"
"Lightning… although if Chiihou ever wanted to fill in the position, I suppose she'll fit in just fine."
"By Chiihou, you mean that idol that Uncle Reborn said you were managing? Speaking of, where are your friends? I expected that they'd be here to meet me."
"Awawawa… I'm here…"
"Hinari, you really don't need to stand at attention." Kazuto sighed.
"Who's she?"
"Houtou Shigen, my current secretary for the day." Kazuto shrugged, "She and Shuri seem to alternate the position." Hinari decided to duck out of the conversation, muttering something about Shuri spending more time than she has.
"Hmm…" Uni hummed, "And where's the rest of your friends?"
"They're… panicking." Kazuto sighed. "They learned that you're coming today and well…"
"They hardly need to be worked up. Uncle Reborn is much more critical than I am." Uni hummed, "Besides, I believe that it's time for you to unlock that Box Animal. It wouldn't really do for you to keep fighting without it at your side."
"Wait, what? Unlock my Box Animal? Are you finally going to tell me how to do it?" Kazuto asked excitedly.
"The six domes around the hole should be indication enough, Kazuto-kun." Uni laughed, "Come along."
"Eh?"
"The box is unlocked by pouring the six other flames of the sky into it. After that, all you need to do is pour your own flame into it when you need them. If you have a group of six that could do it already, isn't it fine at this point?"
"Why such a convoluted locking mechanism?" Kazuto complained. "Aren't Sky Flames capable of opening any box in the first place?"
"Well, don't tell Tsuna-san, but for me and Byakuran-san, it was to incentivize you to gather Guardians, more than anything." Uni chuckled. "Byakuran-san and I were starting to get worried about the Vongola Family succession if you kept holding back in your recruitment. Tsuna-san didn't know that part though. However, he still decided to order everyone involved not to tell you the requirements until you have your guardians. So, he effectively subverted our decision. Although it probably is a bit horrible for one of your birthday gifts to not be openable before today."
"Dad gave me a proper birthday gift after though so it didn't matter." Kazuto shrugged.
"Tsuna-san spoils you." Uni sighed.
"… Chiihou's not necessarily my Guardian, you know?"
"You have all the time in the world to decide who will be your Guardian. You only really need to truly decide once you become Vongola Eleventh, not just the heir. Besides, Uncle Reborn said that your life was targeted for reasons that are still unclear to you and him, so I think it's time for you to unlock all of your tools."
"… I suppose so."
"Now, come on, where are they?" Uni pulled his hand, which felt weird, like a breeze was tugging his arm.
"I'll lead you to them, Lady Yuni." Hinari bowed.
"Lead the way then, Houtou-chan."
-()-
Introducing Aunt Uni to his friends went perfectly well. Although he did have to remind everyone that, yes, Uni is older than all of them, bar Chouseihei, and has a daughter Kazuto's age.
Regardless, Aisha, Rinrin, Shuri, Sei, Ren, and Chiihou were lined up in a row, as Kazuto pulled out the box.
"Each of you knows how to light the ring, yes?" Uni prompted. Shuri, Aisha, Rinrin, and Sei all nodded. Ren just looked confused,
"I don't really use a ring though…" Chiihou replied, pulling out her microphone.
"That's fine, as long as you have a way to use it." Uni smiled.
"Umm, Aunt Uni?" Kazuto asked. "Why are we doing this in the courtyard?"
"You don't want to burn the dining hall, would you?" Uni asked. "Now then, I want you to each light your ring, or your microphone and pour the flame into the box."
One by one, the box was passed onto the girls. Aisha did it first, and the red crystal on the box lit up. Kazuto grumbled, now realizing just how obvious the situation was. He would be lying if he didn't slightly resent the Millefiore Leaders for making such a convoluted method of telling him to gather his guardians, but it seems that everyone really was worried about his lack of them.
Rinrin took the box and excitedly tapped the bright yellow flame into the box's hole. Then Shuri did so, with the indigo crystal lighting up. Sei grabbed it and confidently put an already lit ring onto the hole before passing it onto Chiihou. Kazuto chuckled a bit, knowing that the ring was lit much, much earlier, as, while Sei can light the ring, it's still difficult for her. Chiihou, in turn, had it much easier, as green lightning sparked around her microphone and she tapped it into the hole.
Chiihou then looked a bit confused, as she passed on the ring onto Ren.
"… Uhh… what should we do about Ren?" Chiihou asked. Ren merely looked at the ring on her finger, then back to Kazuto.
"Just think of what motivates you." Kazuto prompted. Ren shallowly nodded before turning her eyes to her ring.
"Oh? I thought everyone here's been training?" Uni asked.
"Ren's still probationary as a guardian." Kazuto confessed. "It's still a bit difficult for people to accept her as a friend, after all. I thought I should save training her for when she's a bit more… well-liked."
Ren then pulled out Houtengeki, and quietly closed her eyes. A small hum escaped her lips before…
Violet Flame burst from the ring on her finger, and Ren merely put down the weapon and tapping it into the hole.
"Done." She promptly told Kazuto, who only looked surprised.
"Huh… I guess we got another Rinrin on our hands."
"Awawawa…" Hinari looked enviously.
Kazuto looked at the six brightly shining crystals that surrounded the hole, and Kazuto could only laugh at it all. He then lit his ring.
"What exactly is in that box, Kazuto-kun?" Touka asked. "I mean… Uni-san said that it could potentially be your strongest weapon, after all."
"Well, we're all about to find out, right?" Kazuto chuckled, before slamming his ring into the hole and pointing it towards the sky.
Bright flames burst from the box. And out came what would be Kazuto's partner for a long time coming.
And what it was… shocked everyone.
The natives of this world could only stare at the creature, a bit shaken by its appearance. No, not a just a bit, very shaken. Each of them was certainly expecting a strange creature, like the transforming lizard that Reborn had. But what appeared could only be described as something that none of them expected to see.
As for Kazuto, he looked at the creature in silence. He turned to Aunt Uni, who only laughed at his reaction. Deciding that he had about enough of that, he looked back at the creature.
"Well?" Aunt Uni interrupted. "Give it a name."
Kazuto looked back at the creature, its black complexion lit brightly by the orange flames around its neck. Its blue eyes looked back into its new master's eyes with barely any blinking.
"Then… your name… will be…" Kazuto decided. "Your name will be Kazuma."
"Very well then." Uni nodded. "Then so it shall be. Kazuma, the Lion Dragon."
The black dragon, with a body of a lion, jumped onto his shoulders, its mane a flaming orange. Its dragon's tail wrapped itself once around Kazuto's waist. It then roared into the sky, its piercing cry thundering throughout the horizon.
-()-
Chapter End
-()-
Chapter Release Date: February 14, 2020
Last Edited: August 25, 2020
-()-
Beta Reader: Seraphius
Happy Valentines' Day everyone. I apologize for not having a love-themed chapter for today. Please make do with Uni's first appearance into this story. It's also likely her only appearance for this fic, as there's really no reason for her to come so often and Kazuto's not that close with her.
And so, here's Kazuto's box animal! I certainly think it's a bit of anti-climax to reveal it here. Uni will discuss the dragon a bit more in the next chapter. I actually had plans to do the reveal back in the fight with the Earth Assassin. But you saw how that fight turned out, and I preferred it that way. Also, I didn't plan on it being a dragon until I was writing this chapter.
Regardless, I'll discuss Kazuma a bit more next chapter. Probably the only thing that I feel I need to talk about is its name origin. Kazuma is named after Kiryu Kazuma, the protagonist of the Yakuza series. The black color really reminded Kazuto of the noble "Former 4th Chairman of the Tojo Clan". Or rather, his faint memories of him, as it's been a long time. Otherwise, he might've remembered that Kiryu's more of a silver dragon than black. It helps that Kazuto and Kazuma have similar names, with a difference of one character.
Now let's talk about something outside the realm of fanfics. I've done something really dumb. I, uhh, went into each of the official pages of Koihime Musou games and nabbed every single character profile. I now have a collection of folders full of pictures and Japanese text that I'm planning on translating. An amateur who can barely read any Kanji translating a ton of Japanese, you can imagine how much difficulty I will be working with here.
I also got Shin Koihime Musou -Kakumei- Ryuuki no Taibou. Even though there's no translation of it anywhere. So, consider me a colossal idiot. Meh, I already did it with Shin Koihime Musou. I just want to see the personalities of the Shoku Kakumei/Eiyuutan characters, so that I can write them more accurately. Right now, I'm writing Denden and Rairai as Genki Girl twins. But apparently, it's Rairai who's the Genki Girl and Denden is the Cutesy Type. Also, Paitan has too much plot significance for me to not try and figure out her proper personality. So I sort of thought, hey, might as well, right? I may not be able to understand what they're saying, but personalities come through well enough with just Voice Acting.
Both of these things will almost certainly delay this story's writing process but don't worry. As long as there's someone on the Koihime Musou Wiki who insists on changing a page on it every day, you'll know that I'm still likely working on this story. Because that someone is me, and I made it a habit to update that wiki every single day.
See you next week for the last chapter that I'm posting for this story, for a good long time.