Youkai no Bikou (Naruto x DXD)
Disclaimer: This story is work of fiction. All the characters' designs, called names and places mentioned belong to their respective owners.
Hmmm… have you guys (and girls) read rick12's reading story of this story yet? He'd actually revealed some of the future arcs so it's kind of spoiler. Go read his work, give him support, make love to… err, the last part is voluntary. Ahem, moving on, there is a reason why this chapter is called 5-5. Enjoy!
=[Self Reflection]=
5-5
The world - everything from the rough graveled walkways upon the uneven ground to the cloudless sky above - was hazy, distorted and wavy in her golden pair of eyes.
A timeless dream, conjured up by her childlike mind, stemmed from her hopeful desire, illustrated by the deep seeded wish that had manifested years ago. The beautiful canvas painted by her psych had never changed before. The vision was always the same, time and time again, but now, the appearances of the two people - a young man and a young woman, each gripping one of her hands gently and firmly - were sharper and crispier.
It was as if they were actually there in person, gripping her hands tenderly, lovingly. And despite knowing the warmness upon her hands was only a figment of her imagination, she smiled at the two people who had erected that sensation.
"Mother," Kunou called out as she looked up her outstretched left arm and at the young golden blond-haired woman on her side. The woman cocked her head around and returned the smile, only warmer and more lovingly.
"Kunou," Yasaka responded softly as she always had done so whenever she addressed her daughter, in either dream or reality.
Kunou giggled joyously and turned her head towards her father, who situated on her right, gripping her right hand firmly.
Ever since she could understand, she wondered and questioned where her father had gone. Everyone she knew, from the young to old, had met their father in person at least once, but not her. The only time she was able to see her father was upon the self-imposing portraits that were decorated in a few secluded room of the imperial palace, her home. Her mother, the ruler of the palace, rarely spoke of him in much detail, and when her mother choose to do so, she mostly stated that he would return one day. There was a hint of doubt in her mother's voice, however, but as a child, she remained hopeful.
And her father did return after all these years. He was here now, clearly and vividly.
"Father," Kunou called out like a child, wishing to be noticed. But sadly, unlike her mother, her father did not did not acknowledge her even the slightest.
"Father," Kunou repeated and tugged his hand. The same heartless result came, and it came again with each of her subsequent attempts.
"Otou-sama," Kunou corrected after the sixth attempt by adding the required honorific. Her father finally turned his head around and placed his towering gaze upon her. His mismatched colored eyes of blue and golden - strong, unwavering, and dreadful menacing - narrowed as if they were gauging her. They made her feel small and insignificant. Without uttering a single word, her father turned forwards the front once more while his hand slipped out and away from her small confine.
"Otou-sama!" Kunou exclaimed loudly. She reached out her right hand in order to grab onto the receding one from her father, but his hand was always out of her each despite the gap in between did not seem so great. "Your hand, Otou-sama! Otou-sama!"
"I AM NOT YOUR FATHER! DON'T CALL ME THAT!" her father snapped angrily after cocking his head over his shoulder. His booming voice echoed and rippled across the dreamscape, shaking the entire world in its wake. Cracks began to manifest as he turned away from her and looked ahead once more.
"But… but… Kunou…" Kunou uttered as tears began to pool around her golden eyes. In that moment and to her shock, the gentle hand that had always wrapped around her left slipped away from her grip. She immediately turned around to see her mother, who had begun to drift away from her.
"Mother!? Where are you going? Please don't leave Kunou!" Kunou implored as she desperately chased after her mother, who turned away and faded like an apparition, vanishing from her world as a ghostly illusion would. She sniffed at the spot her mother once stood, smiling warming at her, holding her hand lovingly. The cold emptiness had taken her place.
"Mother, please come back," Kunou sobbed. "Kunou won't be naughty anymore, so please come back, Kaa-sama!"
Despite her heartfelt pleading, her mother did not return. Kunou rubbed her swelling eyes and eventually looked around the vicinity, only to find she was completely alone in the world despite it was filled with so many bright and colorful things. "Mother…. Father…"
- Self Reflection -
Kunou woke up on the bed alone. She was alone. Her mother was taken, no longer by her side, and her father, who had returned like she had hoped for so long, did not acknowledge her the slightest.
"Otou-sama," Kunou muttered sadly as she stared blankly around the room. Her golden eyes eventually landed upon the portrait of the blond-haired man. His eyes gazed back her impassively. "Otou-sama… if Kunou isn't, then… then… who is Kunou?"
Once the cold and unchanging portrait hanging at the center of the wall began to distort, she rubbed her eyes to clear the obscuring layer of liquids away. And once that task was relatively done, Kunou sniffled and threw off the heavy blankets, allowing the warm sunlight, radiated into the chamber from beyond the draped window, to shower her petite frame.
The light did not feel warm.
She then rolled across the bedding, but unfortunately, she fell off the bed with a thud once she reached the ledge without slowly down. Groaning in pain, Kunou jerked and slowly picked herself off the hard, cold, impassive wooden floor. She rubbed her eyes once more before staring up and at the large portrait hanging in the middle of the room. The blond-haired person portrayed within it was obviously musing at her clumsiness despite his unchanging stern expression and gaze.
"Outo-sama," Kunou muttered weakly as she adverted her eyes from the mural of the said person, and without taking a short moment to fix her rather messy red and white pentagram patterned miko attire, she moved towards the only entrance and attempted to exit the chamber. It was cold and empty just like her mother's room was.
"Good morning, Kunou-hime," the fox lady greeted when Kunou pushed apart the heavy wooden doors of the room from within, allowing her to access the hallway.
Kunou looked up at the fox lady standing in the opening and became dumbstruck for a good handful of seconds. For a short pause that followed, Kunou had really thought she was in trouble for sneaking into another chamber in the middle of the night, but that thought was dropped almost immediately.
"Good morning… Sasha-nee," Kunou returned the greeting, but with less heart. She dragged herself out of the room through the opening made by the doors and into the rather vacated hallway. She gave the long carpeted hallway one brief glance. It was different. There were at least half a dozen servants or guards standing idling about in this very hallway just yesterday. Now, only her caretaker, Sasha, was.
"Yes, it is. Did you have a good dream, Kunou-hime?" Sasha asked while she crouched down and began her only task - taking care of the young princess. Her dedicated fingers gently and meticulously caressed and realigned the red and white attire around the princess' body, straightening any wrinkles and creases in the exquisitely silky fabric.
Kunou stood there in silence, allowing Sasha to do so.
"Do not be so sullen, Kunou-hime," Sasha said once she completed the simple task. It'd taken her almost a minute to do so. She smiled thinly as her slit eyes captured the expression that the young princess was displaying. She understood vaguely what the girl was feeling. "No matter how bleak things appear to be, they are not always so. Please have hope and be patience. Good things come to those who do."
"But what if Otou-sama…" Kunou uttered, but trailed off. Her eyes fell upon the ground while her fingers began to fidget her attire, resurrecting the wrinkles and creases that were eradicated a minute ago. She had never doubted her mother before, but after meeting her father, she wasn't so sure. He was not like what her mother had described at all.
"Kunou-hime," Sasha said as she planted a couple of fingers under the said girl's chin. She lifted the girl's head up in order to match her eye. She now fully understood what the young princess was so afraid of; what every child was so afraid of. She was once that child, centuries ago, after all. She smiled thinly. "Did you know that Yasaka-hime… your mother did not wish to give birth to you? She held on, refusing to let you be born, until she passed out from the pain."
Kunou saddened. Her small hands began to tremble. "Mother did not want to have Kunou…? Mother… did… not…"
Sasha shook her head firmly. "Please do not misunderstand, Kunou-hime. Yasaka-hime only wished your father, Kurama-sama, to be there by her side, holding her hands, giving her support, at the moment you were given life. She held onto that glimmer of hope, small as it may be, until her body gave out, allowing what must be done be done."
Sasha took in a deep breath while her fingers left the Kunou's chin and brushed the golden bangs off the girl's face. "Sadly, due to the circumstances that only your father would know, he was unable to be there in person, but even so, a part of him was with your mother."
Kunou lifted her head. "A part of father was…?"
"Yes, Kunou-hime, a part of your father was," Sasha assured as her smile broadened. "And that part has always been by Yasaka-hime's side since, helping her through the days that Kurama-sama was unable to, bringing both joy and happiness for those years that had passed, and it will continue to do so for many, many years to come."
Kunou stared for a moment. She blinked once she understood what, or more correctly, who Sasha was referring to. Her small hands were now gripping her attire, pulling on them tightly. Her face flushed with glee. "Okaa-sama…"
Sasha noticed it and planted her hands upon the girl's hands. "Kunou-hime, your mother loves you more than anything in the world because you are his daughter. That is an undisputable fact, and no one in the world could change that."
"But Otou-sama…"
"Your father loves you too, Kunou-hime. Do not doubt that even if his way is a bit hard to understand," Sasha assured and patted the girl's hand lightly. Her yellow tinted eyes matched that of the girl's golden jewels. "I believed the reason why your father refusing to come to term with you is because deep down, he feared that if he did then he would be admitting to himself of his fallibility as he vowed not to be like your grandfather."
"Grandfather…?" Kunou questioned, blinkingly. "Father didn't want to be like grandfather? Why?"
Sasha pursed her lips worryingly. She had accidentally let slip something that she should not have, but the young princess was not an outsider. She smiled faintly after a couple of seconds of contemplation. "Kunou-hime. Did you know that your grandfather was not there for your grandmother when your father was born?"
Kunou stared at Sasha for a moment before lowering her head and looked at the floor. Her mind tried to comprehend what the underlying implication was. From her knowledge, she knew that her grandmother passed away only moments after her father was born, but the circumstances leading to her passing and immediate aftermath was a complete mystery. No one really knew what had happened those years ago even though her grandmother was now part of the Kyoto's imperial family. Her biography should have been recorded in full, from her birth to her death, but the only thing the Keepers of Records were able to attain correctly was her name. Even that seemed dubious at best as that name sounded more like a title than an actual name.
"No," Kunou admitted. "Didn't grandmother died when father… when father…"
"Yes," Sasha confirmed. "Shirohime passed away after giving birth to Kurama-sama. Because of that, Kurama-sama never knew his mother, your grandmother." Letting out a sigh, Sasha stood up and turned around to stare out the nearby window. She watched the scenery outside for several minutes, losing her thought and herself in the process.
"It is also a great… great misfortune that you were unable to meet either of your grandparents, Kunou-hime. If they could see you now, I'm sure they would love you as much as we all do," Sahsa said a few more minutes later and blinked slowly, seeing the phantom images of two girls - twin - chasing each other while laughing upon the grassy field. They looked like a mirror image of each other, only that their hair and fur color had been inverted, black and white.
"Sasha-nee," Kunou called out.
"Yes, Kunou-hime," Sasha responded calmly as the image of the twin princesses of the Nekomata clan from centuries ago faded away. She smiled and returned her attention back to the young princess, who was also staring out the window, seeing the numerous construction workers covering up several Youkai-shaped holes in the wall.
"I'm hungry," Kunou said as her stomach began to growl.
- Self Reflection -
"Ugh… ah… ugh… ur…" groaned a creature with a least a dozen limbs. Its mind was delirious. It couldn't use any of its hands as every bone in its body seemed to be broken. Its fellow companions, garmented in the same white uniform and matching white hat it had were trying to render aid, clumsily.
Out of seven Youkai there, the chubbiest one stared at the newly created path that connected the corridor, passing through several rooms, to the dining hall at the other end. "Was Naruto-sama not satisfied with the feast we prepared?"
"If he was not satisfied with the meal, we would all be looking for a new line of work, and that is only if we are lucky enough," the older one said after a moment of thought. Many people were being fired left and right, and quite a few was being fired literally out of the palace, straight into the infirmary.
"I recalled that Naruto-sama gave his compliment," he added. "Or maybe I imagined that."
"No, oddly enough, he did. He said there are still some more rooms for improvement, but overall it was impressive, one of the best he had ever tasted. He was going to reward us for our effort, but he changed his mind like ten seconds later," one of the Youkai commented while a few others nodded in agreement.
The chubbiest one among them raised a brow. He wondered what the reward was as he was not there preparing the feast personally, but considering what he had seen, what anyone had seen, with their new temporary leader, Naruto, he seemed to be far more strict than Yasaka - draconian even, so the reward might not actually be reward in a sense. With Yasaka, as long as they did their assigned job, she would not say anything. But with Naruto, if any of them did the required task inadequately, they would need to reevaluate their profession. The palace guards apparently took it much harder than the rest. Most of them had winded up in extensive care with severe physical and mental trauma.
The chubbiest one sighed. "If that is the case then why is he like this? And where are the healers? They should be here by now."
"The healers are preoccupied with the influx of patients at the moment, and they would be for some time," the shortest one answered. He was squatting on the floor. "As for why he is like this… you should ask him."
"I believed he said something about the simplistic meal we prepared was for commoner," the older one pointed out before shivering lightly along with most others. He remembered the incredible killing intent that flooded the room, emanating from their new leader. He blacked out soon afterwards along with everyone else in the chamber. "I don't know why Naruto-sama too it as a personal offense, but I suggest that from now on, we should keep our mouth shut lest any of you wanted to spend a few weeks in the hospital, healing."
"Ah, healing in the hospital is not so bad," the shortest one mused. "If the injuries sustained are severe enough, one of those beauties would heal you with their bedroom method. I'm sure many of those bastards are in heaven right now."
Almost everyone stared at him. It would never lead to such lewd method, they knew. For one, bedroom method was reserve for couples, who may or may not be in love. For two, healers must be well versed in Senjutsu for Bouchujutsu to produce any desire effect. For three, none of those healers would want to sleep with that dumbass, and those that would, would likely only wanted to consume his essence.
The shortest of the seven siblings knew what his brothers were thinking. "I can dream, can't I? And stop looking at me like that. Check on him would you?"
The chubbiest raised a brow. He then crouched down at the injured chef with a frown. It would take at least a couple of weeks of intensive care from the severe physical trauma the chef had taken. "Ramen is for commoner, is it not?"
"No… gah…" the injured chef groaned as his delirious mind recalled the last thing his ear heard before he was sent through the wall - several solid concrete walls - with a backhand slap. He thought he was hit by several thousand tons hammer. "You… ah… dare… guh… uh… in… in… ha… sult… gr… the… ugh… mmh… the… f… ood… urr… of… the… go… go… d… ugh… ss…"
"What was that?"
"Gibberish," one of others pointed out. A few nodded while the rest cocked their head to see a young black-haired girl approaching them. She was incredibly beautiful even if she did not reveal her legs and shoulders with that red outfit. It was to the point that each and every one of them seemed to lose their voice.
"Hello, beautiful," the shortest one said, apparently teleported to the girl. "May I have your name?"
"I am Ahri," she said as she leaned down. Her eyes widened slightly as it flickered with aura. "I'm a bit famished. May I indulge myself with some sustenance?"
"Yes, yes, of course, anything for you, beautiful lady," the shortest one said, nodding rapidly. Before he could do show her to the extensive kitchen of the imperial palace, where he would showcase his ability in creating the most lavish imaginable, she clamped her palms around his chubby face, pressing each on his cheek and gave him a very deep kiss.
Everyone watched in awe and envy, but their awe and envy turned to shock and dread a short moment later. They widened their eyes at the sight before their face turned ghastly at the unmoving corpse on the floor that was their brother once the short kiss was broke.
"You bitch, what did you do!?"
"He will be fine… almost fine in a few days or so," Ahri said and inhaled the glowing blue mist in a deep breath through her lips. She then looked at the five Youkai and pursed her lips. Her eyes flickered. "Will you forgive me?"
"Yes, yes, we will," they all said while nodding their head. Some were more reluctant than others, but all of them honestly would forgive her for what she did to their youngest sibling.
Ahri would have smiled proudly, but she was frustrated inside. Her charm had never failed her before as it what made her kind unique, but against him, it seemed to be ineffective, not only infectively, he was throwing insults at her face. She thought he was simply dense to her undeniable beauty, but that wasn't the case when he brought up his wife, the ever revered Yasaka-hime, for a short comparison. "Maybe I don't have enough spiritual energy to overcome his mind?"
"Is someone troubling you, Ahri-hime? May we help?"
"Yes, but unless you could persuade Naruto to have a private audience with me, then no, you cannot help me," Ahri said dejectedly as she examined each of the Youkai before her.
They have been staring into her eyes for too long so they were all in some sort of trance. They also oddly reminded her of that strange fairy tale about a young princess, escaping from an evil Queen. Even the names stitched into their white uniform near the chest were somewhat hilarious. The one on the ground near her feet was called Shorty because he was the shortest among them, and while his spiritual energy wasn't tasty, it did fill her somewhat.
Ahri heaved her chest and exhaled. A smile appeared on her face as eight white tails materialized behind her. "But there are other ways you all can help me."
- Self Reflection -
"What has happen to them, Sasha-nee?"
Hearing the question, Ahri turned around and saw the young golden blond-haired girl. Eight of her white tails, thicker and longer, glowing with abundant amount of spiritual energy she'd accumulated, wrapped around her very feminine body in a protective manner. She immediately gave a small courteous bow to the child that would one day lead the Youkai of Kyoto. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Kunou-hime. I am Ahri of the Kumiho clan."
"Uh," Kunou uttered and gave a bow in response. "I'm Kunou of the Kyuubi Clan. It is… also nice to meet you, Ahri-nee."
Standing close by to Kunou, Sasha narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the oddly courteous spirit fox. Spirit fox were dangerous, especially one with so many tails, and from the seven unconscious bodies on the floor scattered around that eight tailed spirit fox, that danger level had become deadly. Although, one of the bodies seemed to be conscious, muttering something along the line of "you dare insult the food of the gods?"
Since there weren't any palace guards around to call upon, Sasha was about to grab hold of Kunou to flash fire away, but found herself lost in those strange alluring, dominating eyes of the spirit fox clan. As experienced as she was, she tried to fight the mental hold over her mind, but slowly, she succumbed to its influence.
Ahri smiled as her eyes landed upon the young blond-haired girl, matching those golden jewels. "Kunou-hime. I have a little problem. Can you help me?"
- To be continued -
The reason this is noted as chapter 5-5 is because the protagonist, Naruto, is not in it. He will be in the next one as he met up with Kunou for some actual father-daughter bonding before we can get to the Yasaka part. It is also spanking Ahri time since she really needed a spanking XD - not sexually. This isn't Icha Icha Omnibus so lemon isn't prevalence. Her strange attraction to Naruto is kind of cute in my opinion. The more he told her to piss off and go home, the more she wants to stay and tempt him. Her romantic story is a subplot though.
Ahri is from League of Legends, but her powers are been modified to fit the setting. She is a spirit fox, and do has the power to charm ( Charm ) anyone as well as steal their spiritual energy ( Essence theft ) through physical contact. She does have Fox-Fire (spirit flames?) and a few others abilities that are traits of the Kumiho Clan such as Sphere of Deception, Spirit Burst, etc…