Yasaka took a deep breath as she sat herself down in a lone room. It was still early in the morning and she had plans for the day, so getting her talk done with the two stranglers early is more preferable.
There were some bags under her eyes as she stayed up most of the night contacting the different factions of magicians. Despite Yuto claiming himself to be a magi, none of the established factions knew of him.
There was the chance of his family being stand alone magicians, and according to them there weren't any magicians there was no family that was contracted with a yokai.
All of this paired with the fact that the aura those two gave off was strange, as if they were organisms in a new environment. As if they didn't belong.
"This just keeps getting weirder and weirder. I wonder if the oni are behind this." She pondered.
The door to the room opened, a small kitsune with multiple tails walked in with some food on a tray, a worried look on her face. "Mother, you haven't eaten yet. You need to eat."
Yasaka smiled softly. "Thank you Kunou. It has been rather stressful lately."
"Is everything okay? I heard about that human from some advisors." She poured the fresh tea in the cup she brought.
"Yes, him. Don't worry about it, I will figure everything out today." She patted Kunou's head.
Her ears twitched as she picked up the sound of multiple footsteps coming towards the room. "Head out now, I'll call you if something happens." She gave a quick wink and Kunou smiled proudly as she walked out.
Alright, lets see how this goes.
0-0-0-0-0
The guard stopped before a set of double doors, standing guard just outside the door. "We have arrived."
"I got that. You didn't have to walk so weirdly though, or maybe you are just used to flying." Despite his mild complaint, the guard didn't respond.
He must be a tengu, there aren't a lot of bird yokai to my knowledge.
He thanked the guard and reached for the door, only for it to open for him by a tiny kitsune. They stared blankly at each other before the kitsune stepped out of the way. "Inside please. Mother is waiting for you."
Nodding at her, he walked inside. Seeing Yasaka already sitting, he followed her lead and sat across from her, with Tamamo next to him. "Good morning. You look…not well."
"I appreciate the honesty." She let out a dry chuckle.
"So was the hospital an inappropriate place to talk, or is this more convenient for you?"
"This is far more convenient for me. I wanted to keep normal people out of this."
"What you meant to say is that you wanted guards in case we acted up." Tamamo spoke up.
Yasaka's smile remained unchanged, but the two had a general idea of what this conversation was going to be. Yuto relaxed his posture and leaned back on his arms, "You said you would ask your associates about us, did you find anything?"
While it wasn't impossible, there could be another Yuto Shihouri in this world, or was one. He was hoping that there wasn't for the sake of simplicity.
"Turns out not a single magician in this world knows a magi going by 'Yuto Shihouri'. So instead of them, I asked around in other factions here in Japan, still nothing. I ended up calling more people than I would have liked." She ended her sentence by taking a sip of tea, calming her tired nerves. Tamamo motioned for her to continue.
"I am at the end of my rope. I normally would prefer to be ahead of such things but I suppose it was unavoidable in this case." She rubbed her eyes to remove the sleepiness that had built up.
"Yeah, that's on us. I was still skeptical of my surroundings and chose not to speak about it. Though to be honest, I still don't know a lot."
She waved off his concerns. "That's more than fine. It's wise to question your surroundings when necessary. That being said, if you could explain to me how you got in Kyoto suddenly and how you both were so injured?"
Yuto took a deep breath. "This is where we run into complications. I'm not sure if you would believe us if we told you."
"I am out of options at this point. I'm willing to believe anyth-"
"We're from another world." Yasaka froze at the swift interruption.
"Another…world?" She said, testing out the words.
"Well technically still Earth, just a little bit different."
Yasaka just stared forward, her eyes narrowed in confusion. "That's… that might be a bit much to believe, even for me."
"You said you'd believe anything. And I am unable to prove this, it's just my word you need to believe."
"That is asking a lot out of me, are you sure you don't have any form of proof. Otherwise I might just have to put you in an insane asylum."
Tamamo narrowed her eyes. "You will not be putting Yuto there."
"I think I would fit in honestly." Tamamo shot him a look and he shut up and he cleared his throat. "That being said. I might have something but that depends, how do magi use magic here?"
"Magicians make contracts with supernatural beings to learn from them. Mostly devils but some yokai do get the occasional request."
"Hm, mixed feelings about that." After saying that, green lines flared on his arm, going from his fingers all the way down to his shoulder. "Magi from where I'm from have these things called magic circuits. We can use these to manifest mysteries, strengthen our bodies, and many others."
Yasaka blinked again. Interest replacing the confusion from earlier. "This is the first I'm hearing of it. Does that hurt? Your temperature went up a bit."
"It does when they first open, but you get used to it." A burning sensation replaced the circuits on his arms. His arm shook at the new sensation. It was different from simple pain, his circuits were burning.
"That's about all the real proof I have besides my magecraft, but I'd rather not use that openly."
"Are there any other differences between this and your version of earth?" Yasaka leaned on the table far more interested in the conversation than before. Even if it were all lies it still fascinated her.
"Do you want the long or short answer. Because I can give a full presentation on this matter."
"I don't think she has the patience for all of that, Yuto." Tamamo piped up.
"From what I've seen there don't seem to be a lot of differences in terms of human civilization. The biggest however are the fact that beings like yokai and apparently devils are walking around."
"So all supernatural beings don't exist?"
"We do have vampires. Besides them, essentially all other beings went somewhere else." He noticed her confusion and continued. "Once again, long or short answer."
"I-I think I'm fine. That's not so important anyway. But if supernatural creatures are gone, then how was she with you before you got here." She pointed at Tamamo.
"Once again, short or long answer."
"...You aren't going to give a straight answer are you?"
"I could, it's just summarizing it will leave a lot out and neither of us have time for a full presentation. As for Tamamo, well it wouldn't be inaccurate to say I summoned her." While he would never admit it to himself, watching people get slowly annoyed at his words offered a minor form of amusement.
Yasaka sighed and rubbed her temples. She could tell he wasn't trying to, but all his answers had this very coy feeling to them she couldn't but get annoyed.
What he was claiming wasn't an impossibility . There were plenty of theories about this topic, none of them have been confirmed but that didn't mean they were impossible in this kind of world.
"Well that certainly is a lot to process."
"Better than lying and coming up with some excuse. As far as this entire world is concerned, we didn't exist until a week ago. You would have been looking for something that didn't exist."
"I wish you told me that yesterday." She sighed to herself, the lack of sleep was for nothing. "That saves me time and sleep, so I appreciate it. However, that still leaves other problems to deal with. Your sudden appearance worried the general populace. A lot of other yokai think the oni were behind an assault."
"Technically yes one was, but she isn't here." He covered his stomach, remembering Assassin shoving her hand through it. "Are Oni a problem here? From what I saw of the city, a lot of different yokai seem to live there under you."
"Oni are of the few races that chose to stick to their own rules. They continued to attack humans even after I declared that was prohibited; they currently have their own town secluded in Mount Oe."
"That being said, I do have some remedy for this. Since you have confirmed the oni aren't behind this, that will make it easier to calm the public. However, that still leaves what to do with you two?"
"Worried you can't handle taking in two people?" Tamamo said with a smile.
"I never said that. However, before I give an offer I want to ask one more question." She straightened her posture and narrowed her eyes at the pair. "Are you a threat?"
"Not as long as you aren't." He answered promptly.
It was a simple answer but it told her all she needed. His current focus was simply on understanding his current situation, she posed no threat in his mind. As she had no intention of making an enemy of him, he would not be a threat. "Very well then, that's satisfactory enough for the time being."
"How would you two like to stay here? I can help you find a job to earn some money, or you could work as a guard." If that were the case, then the least she could do is help them get back on their feet.
She listed off different kinds of positions that the two could work, but Tamamo intervened after a bit. "Don't limit Yuto's options, I'm sure he wants to pick for himself."
"Th-thanks Tamamo." There weren't a lot of options that sounded enjoyable. This is what the priest talked about, Yuto didn't know what to do once he got the wish.
"I… I think I'll need some time to think about this."
While Yasaka had already made up her mind on the matter, Yuto was still deciding how he felt on the matter. His instincts told him she was beyond dangerous. Something he should run from. He pushed those thoughts away, Let me think for myself damnit.
"Take your time. Why don't you get acquainted with the area while you make your decision? I can set up your room while you do so."
Tamamo nodded and stood up, picking Yuto up with her, who didn't resist her. "Well, in that case, we will get out of your hair. It's been a while since we went on a nice walk together."
"Hm, oh yeah. Thank you for your time." He offered a quick bow as Tamamo dragged him out.
Outside, the small Kitsune girl was still there, one side of her face pressed up against the wall. She moved quickly, acting like she wasn't just eavesdropping. "Don't cause trouble for mother or else I'll come after you."
Yuto turned to the Tengu next to the door. "Who's this sassy child, exactly?"
The guard let out a repressed laugh, the same could be heard from inside the room. The small kitsune's face burned red as she slapped the guard's leg in protest. "D-don't laugh at that."
"Perhaps try not to act like an intimidating princess, it doesn't suit you." Tamamo pitched in before she and Yuto continued along.
When the two were out of sight, the tengu walked into the room and stood at attention. "How did it go my Lady?"
"They aren't an immediate threat so I offered them a place here. Though they did say some rather…outlandish things. I may have to ask one of the Baku to look through their dreams later." The Tengu nodded before moving to the side.
The small kitsune walked in with a big frown. She looked towards her mother, "I don't like them."
Yaska held back a laugh and patted her head.
0-0-0-0-0
Tamamo and Yuto walked along the edge of the busy streets of the strange city. It was silent between them. The silence offered a comfort that they lacked for the last few weeks.
Eventually, Tamamo broke the silence. "Do you think she can be trusted?"
"For the time being, yes. Though she'll probably have a way to confirm my claims later." She scratched his neck and let out a sigh. "I'm worried she'll look through my mind, and more worried what she'll see."
"What then? If she is willing to go that far…"
"Then I'll ask her to back off. I'd rather avoid confrontation right now, and she doesn't seem all bad." Ignoring his instincts should be easy enough, he's done it for years. As long as he wasn't in absolute danger he would be fine.
"Besides, we need money and resources right now. Her offer is the fastest way to get what we need. And I need an easy out for once. But, if this place makes you uncomfortable, we can leave."
She smiled a bit. "It's not entirely this place. But something about that fox doesn't sit well with me. She's too…nice?"
"Via and Charlie were nice too, ulterior motives included. Assuming she has one besides just protecting her people. Speaking of, it's a little concerning that every single yokai just lives under one entity. Though I suppose this is how they would have adapted to modern times? There might be some out with the common populace too."
"So it might be normal for a human and a yokai to be together." She looked down sadly.
"I'd be with you even if it wasn't normal." Her face gained a nice red hue as she looked at him.
"Saying such a thing, you've gotten bolder, Yuto." She covered her sly smile with her hand.
"Because I spend too much time with you, and too much with Via."
"That damn seductress, she had better not have made any moves when I was captured."
"Maybe she did. But if it wasn't for her I wouldn't know what these feelings for you are, so I got to thank her for that. It makes something like this much easier." He leaned over and kissed her cheek. Tamamo's face burned even brighter as her smile became much more flustered, matched by her swaying tail.
"So, for the time being, I say let's just enjoy ourselves." Without missing a beat, she wrapped his arm with hers and started to lead him along.
Omake:
Yasaka violently pushed the door open. She surveyed the room and found her target sitting on the couch, with the other sleeping comfortably despite the noise. "How did you spend over 200,000 yen in less than 4 hours?!"
Tamamo tilted her head back. "You said there wasn't a limit. And could you keep it down, Yuto is sleeping."
"Within reason! I didn't expect you to spend over 200,000 yen in less than four hours." She retorted. While it was inconsequential to her, she did NOT want them making a habit of it.
"It's barely anything to you. Besides, I'll pay you back later."
"Don't think you can escape with your 'good wife' kink. YOU will be paying this back, not him. Don't think I won't put you to work too." She spun on her heels and slammed the door shut.
"...Could have knocked first."
Sorry for the late upload. School and work have been brutal lately and I haven't had the time for like 2 months. That and the fact that I tried to work on the Holy Grail War story, which I have altered the backstory for btw. This will be more explained in the hgw story, but I really did not like how it was going with this story and I felt limited with what I could with Yuto as a character because of that. So, he is no longer an Emiya nor does he have any connections to the main cast anymore. If this upsets you, then feel free to drop this story. But this is something I have had more fun planning than I ever did with the original.
Don't know when I'll have the time to work on the other story, but I WILL work on it when I get the chance. It has been something I have been excited for a while now, and I hope you enjoy what I write.