Part 1
"Well, I think I need to head back to Kuromaku after this..."
Liliana sighed and looked at us, she had currently teleported us back to Ayumu's room with the stacks of boxes containing the information that Kusuke-san gathered on Kuriko's research
"I will make sure to explain to Mayumi and the others were we got this so we can start looking for clues about what Kuriko might want, I will get in contact with Azazel as well. Maybe that guy has some useful info."
Both me and Ayumu nod along
"You need us to tag along and help?"
Liliana quickly shook her head
"No, no, you two need to be here for the school trip, it'll be strange if you suddenly disappear in the last day. Also, I think you two should enjoy your last day here, I think you earned it"
She says with a laugh that spreads to us as well
"So have fun, I hope I'll have something useful when you two get back."
Liliana waves goodbye to us, but just before she turns away she smacks her right palm on her left hand.
"Oh yeah, I can't leave without this."
I furrow my eyebrows at her remark
"Can't leave without what?"
Liliana approaches me and puts her arms around my neck, kissing me on the lips
I'm taken aback for a moment before returning the kiss, carefully placing my hands on her hips
Liliana breaks the kiss and looks lovingly into my eyes
"I won't be seeing you till tomorrow after all, now I can go~" - She says with a giggle before releasing her arms from behind my head
"Ayumu, you'll be having Tatseyo the whole day just for you then, enjoy~"
Liliana remarks with a playful expression before disappearing in a teleportation circle before Ayumu could utter an answer, taking all the boxes with her.
"W-what do you mean by-"
Ayumu tries to reply, but stops midphrase as Liliana disappears right in front of us
An awkward silence takes over the room as neither me nor Ayumu have the courage to look at each other in the eye
"So... it's getting late..."
I say, trying to come up with anything to talk about
"Y-yeah..."
"We should go to sleep before it gets too late, we already won't have long to rest already"
I look at my phone, it's way past midnight already. When we went to fight Cao Cao it was already nightime, so with everything that happened after that it's almost time for us to wake up.
"Y-yeah..." - Ayumu says, playing with her hair with a slight blush on her face, still not looking directly at me
God, are things going to be this awkward between us untill we get used to dating?!
Desperate to break this stupid ice wall that seems to have been erected between us I close the distance between her and me and place a hand on Ayumu's cheek
"T-Tachan?"
Her eyes widen as she looks at me
"I kissed Liliana before she left so... I thought..."
Ayumu blushes when I say this, but she doesn't say anything
I slowly approach my face to her and we kiss
Unlike Liliana's full of passion kiss Ayumu is more careful and held back, but gentle and soft as she also places her arms around me.
We then break the kiss and stare in silence into each other's eyes for a few moments, the awkwardness between us breaking.
"I love you Ayumu"
I say it with firmly and with certainty, a big smile appears on Ayumu's face
"I love you too, Tachan"
After saying this I give her a quick kiss on the lips again and caress her cheek
"See you tomorrow, okay?"
Ayumu nods, holding my hand on her cheek a little longer before letting me go
"O-okay, see you tomorrow"
I wave goodbye one last time before turning to leave
But as I walk towards the door I feel something tug at my shirt
"Uh?"
I turn back to see Ayumu holding me by the back of my shirt
She opens and closes her mouth a few times as if deciding what she should say before speaking up
"Tachan, do you want to... sleep here with me?"
My eyes go wide at Ayumu's request
Is she... asking what I think she's asking?
N-no, there's no way, I mean we just started dating
"A-Ayumu, are you..." - I try to speak up but Ayumu interrupts me
"Please? I don't want to sleep alone today, we don't have to sleep in the same bed if you don't want but... please, just stay with me?"
Her eyes linger at me with an adorable expression I think I never saw on her face before. As I take in how cute Ayumu looks I also feel a wave of relieve as I realize that Ayumu actually means sleeping when she says she wants me to sleep with her
"A-ah, yes, okay then"
Ayumu smiles at me again
"Thank you, Tachan!"
She thanks me by putting her arms around me in a tight hug.
I leave for a few minutes, I have to get my pajamas and toothbrush after all, but in a few minutes I'm back, Ayumu already dressed in a pair of light red pajamas.
I've seen her wearing these exact pajamas likely hundreds of times, maybe more, but now it feels different...
"You look beautiful..." - I let it slip out of my mouth and Ayumu blushes and looks down
"W-why? These are just my regular sleeping clothes, you've seen me in them a hundred times already..."
"I know... it just... feels different, I don't know"
The fact that I'm dating her and that we are about to sleep together makes it feel so different.
"You wanna take the spare futon or do you want to... sleep with me?" - She asks, her face a bright red shade
For a moment I consider saying I'll take the spare one, but just as it occurs to me I take the idea out of my head.
No, haven't I been thinking that I want to erase the distance between me and Ayumu? Now I have the perfect opportunity, I can't keep pushing her away like this when we just started dating.
I gulp down before answering
"I want to sleep with you"
Ayumu's eyes go wide and the blush of her face deepens at my answer, I think she was expecting I'd pick the spare futon instead.
"U-unless you don't want to!"
I say it, maybe I went too far, we did just start dating after all.
But Ayumu shakes her head
"N-no! It's fine, I... I want that too..."
Ayumu slips under the covers of her bed and then stares at me, lifting the covers while looking at me
"So, Tachan, come here"
Keeping my excitement in check I crawl under the sheets with Ayumu and she places the covers over us.
I am now sharing a bed with Ayumu, under the covers with her in a dark room while looking directly into her eyes.
"Do you... want to hug?"
I ask and Ayumu just nods and scoots closer to me
I put my arms around Ayumu's waist and she places a hand around my back and nuzzles her head in my chest
My heart is pounding like crazy, she's definitely feeling it.
"This feels good..."
Ayumu says as she closes her eyes and says
"Tachan, I love you... thanks for not giving up on me"
Not being to bear how cute my girlfriend is I hug her tighter and start petting her hair as I nuzzle her closer to me
"I'm never giving up on you, Ayumu. I love you too much, I can't imagine living without you."
A smile draws on her face
"I wanna be like this forever..."
Ayumu says and I keep caressing her.
It takes a good while before we've calmed down enough to finally be able to sleep.
Part 2
A loud knock on the door suddenly pulls me from my sleep
"Uh? What the hell?"
I say, still tired from last night and annoyed at the barging sound
After the annoyance has time to settle and I take my surroundings in I remember what happened last night
Oh yeah, I'm in Ayumu's room.
In her bed.
With her by my side.
I look at the person who is also rubbing her eyes with a rattled expression
"Ughhh, who is tha-"
Ayumu slowly opens her eyes and sees me, her eyes going wide as she blushes, I guess she also just remembered what we did as well
"Ah, hi, Tachan... good morning"
"Good morning, Ayumu"
We both stare at each other for a while, unsure as to what to do, untill another knocking hits the door, louder and more insistent this time
"Ayumu?! Are you there?"
I frown when I hear this voice
"Oh crap, it's Kanae!"
Not that it would be much better if any other girl caught me in Ayumu's room, but Kanae is not only a friend but a member of the Moral's Comitee, I have no idea how she'd react to this.
Ayumu looks at me like a deer caught in the headlights
"W-what are we going to do?!"
I look around, for a moment the idea of straight jumping out of the window and flying away popped into my head, but that would be really bad.
I can't turn invisible or create illusions like devils can, so if even a single soul saw me there'd be some explaining to do.
So I try the next best thing.
"I'll hide in the bathroom! You go and talk to her"
"A-alright..."
I rush into the tightly packed bathroom of the room and hear Ayumu as she goes to open to the door. The distance is not that big so I can still hear them.
"H-hey, Kanae, w-what's up?"
I can hear Ayumu's shaky voice from here, dear Lord, she really won't be able to keep the façade will she?
"Ayumu! Finally, today is the last day of the trip, we'll have to leave after lunch, are you alright? We were worried when you didn't show up for breakfast and the boys can't seem to find Tatseyo."
When I hear this I look at my phone and slap myself mentally
Six messages from them and it's over an hour past breakfast time, we all agreed to meet at the last day of the trip for last minute purchases, of course they'd come looking for us! I completely forgot about that last night
Well, not like I didn't had a good reason to not have this in my head at that moment, but still...
"Do you know where Tatseyo is?"
I feel my heartbeat increasing at her questions
"Ah... no, I haven't seen him since last night, I... I'm sure he must be somewhere in the building, maybe he woke up early to get some fresh air or take a bath."
"Uhmm, maybe. Anyway, you should get ready, we're already behind schedule. I'll see if I can get a hold of Tatseyo."
"A-alright..."
I hear Kanae's footsteps as it seems like she's finally leaving and strike a victory pose inside the tight bathroom.
Untill
RING RING RING RING
My cellphone starts ringing.
I immediately pick it up and look at the screen
Incoming Call: Kanae
Oh God!
I immediately put my phone on silent and put my ear on the door
Did she hear that?
I think to myself as I pray that Kanae had already left the room by the time I got her call
"Hey, Ayumu, was that coming from your bathroom?"
Oh no... she's still in the room.
"Y-yeah, I think I forgot my phone when I was there, hehe"
She gives an incredibly awkward laughter, but it's still a good save
"Isn't that one over there your phone?"
Oh shit...
"Ah... yeah... I guess..."
A brief silence follows as I try to think about how to get out of this situation
The bathroom has no place to hide and nowhere to escape, yeah, I could bust the walls, but there's no way Kanae wouldn't hear that noise from the other side.
"Ayumu, what's going on in here?"
"Ah... uh, I..."
Listening to Ayumu stumbling over her words I take a deep breath, yeah, there's no way out of this.
I carefully and slowly open the door and am greeted by a shocked Ayumu and Kanae
"T-Tachan!"
"Tatseyo?"
I give an awkward wave to my friend
"Hey there, Kanae..."
She stares at me with wide eyes and then back at Ayumu
"You two... are..."
"Look, it's not what you think it's-"
"Finally dating!"
She says with an extremely cheerful voice
"Heh?" - I answer with a dumb expression
"I'm right, right? Ayumu, you sly girl! You did right under my nose!"
She walks closer to Ayumu and grabs her hand
"You go, Ayumu! I just wish you had told me that you were about to move onto him like this!"
"A-ah..." - I try to answer the question and look towards Ayumu, but unfortunately...
"Ah, we... are..." - She seems just as lost as I am
"That said..."
She points a finger at me
"Why were you hiding in Ayumu's bathroom?"
I look around, feeling more than a little awkward.
"Huh, we... kinda didn't want you getting the wrong idea, since we are... you know, in the same bedroom and all that..."
A smirk comes across Kanae's face
"Ehh? Why is that? Were you two doing something I shouldn't know about? Naughty Tatseyo, as a member of the Morals Committee I can't let that happen in a school trip, you know?"
I shake my head embarassed.
"W-we didn't!"
"Y-yeah, we just slept in the same bed!"
Ayumu admits and I look at her, she immediately covers her mouth
There was no need to say that!
Kanae starts to chuckle
"Oh~ Is that so~? I didn't take you two to be so bold, Tatseyo, you acted all innocent but deep inside you are wolf?"
I cross my arms in front of me.
"That's not it!"
When I begin to panic Kanae starts to laugh
"I'm kidding Tatseyo, I know you two wouldn't do that. But really, you two should get dressed so we can leave, it's the last day after all."
I sigh in relieve as she turns to leave
"Oh..."
She turns to us before getting out of the door.
"Make sure you two change separately to avoid any temptations ok?~" - She adds
""We are!""
We both shout at Kanae who closes the door behind her while chuckling
I sigh and look at Ayumu
"Sorry about that"
She shakes her head, her face red.
"N-no, it's fine, we... we should really get dressed to leave..."
She says and I nod, I put back my uniform in the bathroom while Ayumu also gets herself ready, we don't say a word to each other untill we are facing the door, ready to get ouy.
I take a deep breath and take a look at Ayumu
"Do you wanna... hold hands when we go there?"
The slight blush on Ayumu's face turns into a full on crimson spread when I say it
"W-w-what?! B-but everyone will see... we..."
"I don't mind..." - I say
"We're dating now after all, right?"
Ayumu's eyes go wide and she finally looks directly at my face
"Ah... we are..."
After saying this a small smile starts to form on her face
"Yes, we are dating right now, aren't we?"
The small smile turns into a large beaming one as she nods
"Yes!"
Ayumu takes my head and we walk out of her dorm, walking through the corridors while holding hands
She looks quite happy for a moment, eventually fully grabbing into my arm
"A-Ayumu..."
Isn't this a little too much? If everyone sees us close like this...
"What is it, Tachan?"
Her eyes look directly into me and her voice makes my brain stop for a moment
"No... nothing." - I squeeze her hand
"This is good. Very good."
We walk out, I expected to see Kanae immediately upon walking out, but it turns out she's not here, maybe she's waiting for us by the stairs...
Eventually we reach the end of the hall and are greeted by a group of shrill voices
"W-what is this?!"
"A-Ayumu and Tatseyo leaving the girls dorms?!"
"They're holding into each other! What is going on? Are they coming from Ayumu's bedroom?!"
Oh no...
My stomach drops as I hear the words of several girls and boys in the hallway
In the middle of all this chaos it seems that we forgot something.
This was the girls rooms.
Even if it's not forbidden, after all, Issei and his friends did meet in Asia and Kyriuu's room to show the pictures of their trip after all. This has been happening all the time, but it's usually in group, it must look really suspicious that we're coming out of it just the two of us.
Even more suspicious how we're at each other.
I then hear a loud screech coming from the group of girls in front of us
However, a stern female voice saves us
"Tatseyo! What are you two doing here?"
Rossweisse walks towards us, pushing the girls aside and pointing a finger at us
"A-ah, I just wanted to talk to Ayumu about... you know..." - I stop myself before I actually reveal what had happened in front of all the civilians.
Rossweisse blinks for a few moments, her eyes still lingering on the connection between my arm and Ayumu
"Ah, I see... well, you shouldn't be walking like this coming from the girl's dorm. Think about what people who see it will think! While in this trip you are still representing Kuoh Academy, so you should-"
"Ehhh, she's really letting them have it"
"Maybe it's because Rossweisse-chan sensei doesn't have a boyfriend?"
"Is she jealous of them?"
"Even the deliquent Tatseyo can get a partner and Rosseisse-sensei can't, how tragic..."
Me and Ayumu have to hold ourselves from laughing at the comments of the girls behind Rossweisse
"That has nothing to do with it! Mou!"
The silver haired valkyrie angrily turns around, her cheeks puffing, everytime someone brings this up she gets like this, honestly, how hard could it be for a woman like her to find a boyfriend in a polyamorous society? But again, Rossweisse might be against it...
"Uh, hey, Rossweisse sensei, can we go have breakfast now?"
She looks back at us with a flustered expression
"A-ah... y-yeah, of course, just be careful next time."
We promise to be more careful next time and leave, but of course Kanae wasn't going to leave us just like that
As expected, she was waiting for us by the airs and stopped a few steps bellow us, crossing her arms in front of her chest
"Hold it right there chief!"
Both me and Ayumu laughed at her exaggerated display
"I let you guys off the hook in the dorm, but before you take even a step further I need to know: When did this happen?"
She says, pointing towards me and Ayumu
I look at Ayumu, who smiles at me and nods her head, then back at Kanae
"I mean, I think I kept Ayumu waiting for long enough, right?"
I say with a chuckle and Kanae looks at me with a baffled expression
"Woah! Wait, you were the one who confessed? You? The guy who had his friend rubbing herself on him for half of the trip and the train ride and still didn't catch the hint?"
I feel my face turn red at the mention
"Please don't bring that up, oh lord, did the others notice too?" - Ayumu asks, her face flushed with embarassment
"Y-yeah, things happened and Ayumu was a little... chocked on her words, so I went and told her how I felt. About time, I was pretty oblivious like you said..."
I put one of my arms around Ayumu's shoulder, slightly pulling her closer to me and she smiles, before laying her head on my shoulder.
"Oh my God, that's so kyuuuuute!"
Kanae says with an expression that looks like she's about to burst
"Eizo and Shouji are going to be so jealous of you Tatseyo, be ready!"
She says and leads the way downstairs towards the dining hall, me and Ayumu trying not to laugh at her excitment over our newly announced relationship.
I wonder how she would react if she found out we are trio
We better keep that hidden...
Once we arrive at the dinning hall we see that Issei and the rest of the Gremory and Sitri group are there already, they had an outstanding recovery.
"Hey there, look at the couple of the hour"
"You guys get out of our sight for half a day and come back dating, honestly, you two..."
Eizo and Koji mock us as we approach the table
"Shut up you two! They're just jealous because you two are dating and they have no one"
The two shoot glares at Kanae
"Look who's talking, you don't have a boyfriend either, Kanae"
Kanae flicks Eizo on the forehead
"Quiet!"
Me and Ayumu laugh as we take a seat on the same table as them
"So, you guys have anything else planned for today before we have to leave?"
The three talk about the shopping they will do before they leave and ask us to come as well
"I will be able to join in the morning, but I got something to do before we leave"
Everyone looks at me puzzled, including Ayumu
"What is it, Tachan?"
Part 3
The last day of the school trip was finally here, we'd all leave in the morning and only had time to eat breakfast before leaving the hotel.
Despite everything, I have to admit this trip had it's fun moments
I did just discover that my entire group of fellow espers are creations of an eldritch alien god who wants to commit mass genocide against non-espers and is now living inside my head, but hey, things could be worse. At least no one died...
I really shouldn't have said this, should I?
"Hey Tachan, you alright?"
Ayumu, who is standing by my side, pulls me out of these grim thoughts
I look at her and instantly feel a warmth wash over me and a strange feeling on my stomach
We've been dating for one day and I'm already feeling like this when I look at her, even though we used to spend entire days together and I've talked to her pretty much everyday but I can't help it, looking at this beautiful sweet girl I've know my whole life and thinking that she's my girlfriend makes me feel this unexplainable sensation every time I see her.
"It's nothing, just... thinking about all that's happened here."
Ayumu sighs and nods
"Oh yeah, sure a lot happened here, didn't it?" - She states with a tired look on her face
I entered Kyoto thinking about infiltrating the Hero Faction and capturing Cao Cao, I'm leaving with my entire sense of identity changed forever, a new terrifying skill that can kill gods, knowledge that one of the strongest espers in the world is behind a massive terrorist plot to turn the supernatural world upside down and release an old alien god by taking over my body... and two girlfriends.
I squeeze Ayumu's hands as we prepare to leave the hotel along with the other students
Like I said, not everything was bad, but the bad things still haven't ended.
"Tachan... are you sure you wanna do this?"
Ayumu asks me and I nod
"I have to do it, Ayumu."
When we arrive at the train station, Yasaka, Kunou, Azazel and Serafal are waiting for us there.
"Hello! Ayumu-san and Tatseyo-san!"
The little youkai girl gives us a polite bow and I can't help but smile at how cute she is as I bow back, a tinge of guilt in my heart.
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Tatseyo-kun, Ayumu-chan."
The beautiful kyuubi also bows to us as well
"I'm thankful to finally to be able to meet you properly, our first encounter was... unideal to say the least."
I give an awkward chuckle, the first time we met was while she was trapped in a Hero Faction prison and the second was when the Crimson King took possession of me and tried to kill everyone who wasn't an esper, so this is the first time we can talk properly.
"It's our pleasure, Kyuubi-sama."
"Y-yes."
Ayumu and I bow towards her
"Ara ara, no need to be so formal, I think we have gone through enough that we can talk with each other without such stuffiness, right? Call me Yasaka"
She says while waving a hand in front of her face
"As you wish, Yasaka."
She then looks at the two of us and inquires with a smile
"So, Tatseyo-kun, I was informed you wished to meet with me before your group departed back to Kuoh. Did something happen?"
I look towards Azazel and Serafall, who have serious expressions on their faces
And then I look at Kunou
"Uhhh, I'm sorry if this sounds strange, but could it be just you, Ayumu and I, Yasaka?"
The kyuubi looks bewildered for a moment, before looking towards Azazel and Serafall, who nod in approval
The fox girl pouts at my request, she tries to act dignified but at times like this you can see she's just a child after all
"Eh? Why can't Kunou stay and join the conversation?"
I rub the back of my head
"Sorry, Kunou, but this is a very personal matter which I think... you shouldn't be around to hear"
Yasaka smiles and pets her child's head
"It is alright Kunou, meanwhile, why don't you go spend time with Azazel-dono and Maou-dono?"
Azazel smirks and bends his knees so he can look at Kunou's eye level
"Oh yeah, Issei and the others are around the train station now, would you like to go there and speak to them before they leave?"
Kunou immediately drops her pout and looks at Azazel while star eyed, it seems she and Issei grew quite close during their little adventure, I heard he saved her from one of the Hero Faction's agents, the same guy who contacted us when we arrived here apparently.
"Ah! Yes! I'd like that very much!"
Kunou then waves at me as she leaves with Azazel and Serafall
"Bye Tatseyo-san, Ayumu-san I hope you'll come back to Kyoto one day! I'll definitely come see you!"
She says as her already small figure diminishes in the distance
"So, what is the matter you wish to discuss with me?"
Yasaka asks and I look back at her before sighing
I guess there's no escape now, I did ask for this after all...
"Well, there is no easy way to put it. But before I say anything, I just want to let you know that I'm telling you this because I believe you should know, Azazel or Serafall said I should tell you when I felt ready, but they didn't push me into it. I'm telling you this because I believe you need to know and I honestly don't think it would be right to try and keep it a secret from you"
Yasaka's beautiful face grimaces with a frown
"I... don't understand. What is it that you are talking about?"
I take a deep breath and look at Ayumu for encouragement, my girlfriend and childhood friend gives me a nod and places a hand on my shoulder. Which is enough for me to keep going
"While we were in Urakyoto, Kunou showed us a mural that depicted a battle between youkais and a white fox youkai that she called her father."
Yasaka nods, a sad expression tainting her face
"Indeed, my late husband, the guardian of the Kyuubi. Did you happened to know him? Is that what this is about?"
I gulp down hard before answering
"It is... a little more than that."
Yasaka narrows her eyes but doesn't say a word and I continue.
"Four years ago there was a retaliation mission in Kyoto ordered by the Esper Association... I was 13 at the time and was part of that task force."
When I say these words, Yasaka's eyes go wide and an expression of shock and clarity comes across her face
"Y-you were there... that night... they were espers?"
She asks and I nod
"Yes... we were. I managed to defeat your husband with the help of a frie- with the help of an ally. That ally's name is Kuriko. She was also there"
The shock in Yasaka's face seems to grow more and more as she listens to me
"W-what? You mean the girl that was behind the Hero Faction, behind all this?"
"Yes... with her help I managed to defeat your husband and capture him, we took him to the Esper Association's containment facility and-"
"You mean he's imprisoned?! My husband is still alive?!" - I am abruptly cut off by Yasaka's voice
I look up at her, the hopeful look in her eyes almost making it too much for me to continue.
I neither deny nor confirm, instead just keep going with the story
"While in the containment facility, something went wrong and your husband managed to escape... the Esper Association called upon me and Ayumu once again to deal with the situation, during that time another friend joined us"
Yasaka looks at me with a frown
"That Kuriko again?"
I shake my head
"No, not Kuriko, it's someone who I haven't seen in a while, I doubt she's important for what we're going through now... the point is..."
I take another deep breath before continuing
"During that battle, we fought against your husband, but he wouldn't let go... he threatned to destroy the facility and I had to..."
I stop and look Yasaka in the eye
"I killed your husband that night, Yasaka-san."
A mix of shock and horror paints the kyuubi's face as she stares at us without uttering a word.
"I... don't know what I can say to you. I wish I could say I am sorry, but that doesn't feel enough compared to what I did. To what I took from you... and from Kunou"
Yasaka does not answer immediately, instead just staring at me and Ayumu, the shock on her expression gradually diminishing, as if she's looking for the words to say.
She stays like this for a few excrutiating silent seconds, to the point where I start to wish she'd break the silence even if just to scream at us and shout 'How could you!?'
Instead, her dignified and composed expression returns, despite the fact I can see tears start to gather in the corners of her eyes
"I see... first of all, I wish to thank you for coming forward and admiting to what you did. I am sure it took a lot of courage."
I nod, not saying anything else, ready to be chewed up by this woman.
"As for what you did... I don't believe I have the right words to express how I feel. Needless to say I am beyond shocked... I grieved my husband for years, I swore that I would find the people who did this to him and avenge him, but now..."
She stops for a moment and looks at us, a small sad smile creeping on her face
"I don't know what to think"
I nod.
"I would understand if you hated me for it, I have no intention of asking for your forgiveness because I know what I did cannot be forgiven. I just... had to tell you."
Yasaka looks at me for a moment
"I guess what I have to say is..."
The kyuubi takes a step closer and raises a hand with her palm open
I close my eyes, not making even a slight attempt to dodge or block it, I deserve that. She deserves to do this.
But instead a feel a soft touch at the top of my head, when I open my eyes, I see that Yasaka has her hand ruffling my hair
"I'm very sorry for you... for both of you."
My eyes go wide and I stare at Yasaka in shock and confusion
"W-what?"
I ask, dumbfounded.
"You two are so young, just kids... in times of war, things like these are inevitable. When I imagine that my Kunou might be dragged in a situation like that... kids being dragged into a war is always a terrible thing"
I frown my eyebrows when I hear her say that
When have I heard that before?
Oh, right. Maribel-san said something like that, the same night I captured Yasaka-san's husband.
Still, this isn't about me, it's about what I did to Yasaka-san and her family.
"N-no, I killed your husband during a fight, I went into the mission willingly. I... I took him away from you and Kunou... I..."
"You did what your organization requested and joined a fight with a willing opponent. I miss my husband, I miss him dearly, but I cannot put the whole blame of it into a child."
"But... I..."
I open and close my mouth looking for what to say
Yasaka then looks at me with a curious expression
"Tatseyo, why do I feel that it would be easier for you if I blamed you for it?"
I freeze when the question leaves her mouth
Never in my life I considered myself to be in a situation that a kid shouldn't be in.
I was raised as an esper in the Esper Community, fighting the supernatural was normal for me.
Ayumu joined later, but she was still just a little kid when she joined, I guess it must have been easy for her to get accustomed as well.
But in the end, we were... technically child soldiers weren't we?
'We're not kids, we're weapons of mass destruction ready to be deployed'
Is what Kuriko said, maybe deep down I thought she was right.
That's why I never thought someone might not blame me for it
"I... guess it would"
Yasaka's face had a sad smile when I answered
"I am so sorry for you..."
She said and all of a sudden...
"Y-Yasaka-san?!" - I exclaimed
The blonde haired youkai pulled Ayumu and I into an embrace, motherly and warm while she petted our heads
"When children are raised in constant conflicts, they can lose sight of what is normal, of what should be normal. I'm sorry you had to grow like this"
!
"I..."
Unsure of what to say, I look at Ayumu, to my surprise, she's hugging Yasaka back, tear starting to stream down her face
"I just hope one day we can live in a world where things like that don't happen anymore. Where children no longer have to take the lives of parents."
She slowly lets go from both of us and I just stare at her, frozen in place.
"Tatseyo, Ayumu, my husband was a good and generous man and I know he wouldn't want me to hold a grudge against two children who believed they were fighting for what was right, specially after you have more than proven to be at our side now. So, allow me to say this:"
She pauses as if to emphasize her words, with a motherly smile on her face
"I forgive you, Tatseyo, Ayumu."
I feel like a weight was lifted from my shoulders, I look back at Yasaka.
"Thank you, even though I- uh?"
I feel a wet sensation, like drops falling on my hands
"W-what?"
I touch my face and realize...
I've started to cry as well
"Oh, God..."
I start to clean the tears that began to flow without me even realizing it and reply to Yasaka-san
"Even though I... don't think I deserve it, thank you very much."
I bow towards her and Ayumu does the same
"I... I feel the same, thanks for not holding it against us, thank you for not hating us"
"Ara, lift those heads up, like I said, it's been forgiven. Just promise me one thing, right?"
We both look up to Yasaka, who is smilling tenderly at us while holding up one finger.
"Fight with us to make a world where things like that don't have to happen again, okay?"
We both nod
"Y-yes, we promise"
"Yes, absolutely"
Yasaka gives us a radiant smile despite the moist drops gathering in the corners of her eyes
"Excellent, I believe we'll definitely have success with you two working with us. I hope you two will come to Kyoto again, we'll receive you with open arms."
"Thank you very much... Yasaka-san"
"Yes, we are very grateful for you being so comprehensive."
The kyuubi waves a hand in front of her face like it was nothing, like she hadn't just forgiven me for killing her husband, the father of her child.
"Also, I'd appreciate if you didn't tell Kunou about this. She's just a child, she... probably wouldn't see things the same way I do."
A gut wrenching feeling hits me at once and the guilt that I felt being lifted from my shoulders pushes down on me once again
"I... I understand, we'll both leave it to you to tell her when you think it's appropriate"
I look at Ayumu, who nods agreeing with me.
"Thank you, as much as it hurts me to hide this from her, there are things in this world which are very... complicated"
She says with a pained expression, before narrowing her eyes and turning to me.
"Before we say our farewells, Tatseyo, I believe you said that the attack was a retaliation from your organization? May I inquire as to what? I don't beleive the youkais from Kyoto have ever done something to aggravate the Esper Community"
"Ah... huh?!"
I ask, completely taken by surprise
"Wait... you don't know?"
Yasaka furrows her brow at my question
"No... should I?"
I look at Ayumu, who looks just as confused as I am, she turns to Yasaka and asks
"Wait, nothing? Two high level espers were killed while doing a recon operation on Kyoto, they found evidence that it was the work of a fox youkai, we... thought you knew about that."
Ayumu says, her voice trailing off at the end, Yasaka-san seems even more confused now
"N-no, I don't remember any conflict with people with this profile and if they were indeed high level as you say I doubt it would be something that I would have forgotten that easily."
I stare in shock and blink in confusion
"Wait... if you were not responsible, then..."
I look at Ayumu, who mouths the same thought that started swimming in my mind
"A setup?"
As she says the words I was too afraid to utter outloud I take a hand to my forehead
"Dear Lord... could it be?"
Yasaka-san looks between the both of us
"You believe that the incident that lead to all of this could have been caused on purpose?"
I gulp down before nodding my head in response
"If it's Kuriko we're talking about... then yes... there's nothing that girl wouldn't do."
After kidnapping her own father and betraying the Khaos Brigade to awaken an ancient god inside of me I now know there's no line that she won't cross
But still...
"Tachan... that was four years ago, are you sure?"
Ayumu says exactly what was on my mind, but I nod back, insisting
"Ayumu, it's Kuriko... with her everything we expect from a regular person goes out of the window. If you tell me that she was planning to do all of this since four years ago I would believe it... wouldn't you?"
Ayumu opens and closes her mouth as if she's unsure of what to answer, but eventually she narrows her eyes, the weight of all that happened while we were here weighing in her mind
And she finally nods
With Ayumu's positive answer, I look at the leader of the Kyoto youkais
"Yasaka-san, I believe we may have found something new thanks to you..."
She narrows her eyes with a serious expression
"That Kuriko girl who is associated with the Hero Faction... do you believe she had anything to do with this? With my husband?"
I nod
"Yes... and you have my word, we will find out what she's planing. I promise you, we'll find what Kuriko did and put a stop to her, once and for all."
Yasaka's concerned expression turns into an expression of surprise before she smiles once again
"Oh my, such a brave kid, fufufu"
She says and I feel my face redden, suddenly self aware of the cheesy line I just sputtered.
"Well, I will be gladly waiting for it then, of course the Kyoto faction will be providing our full support to the Alliance as well, you can count on us too, Tatseyo, Ayumu."
We both nod
"Thank you very much, Yasaka-san!"
Part 4
After saying farewell to Yasaka-san with the promise of returning one day, Ayumu and I were going to meet our friends at the train station
"We'll put a stop to Kuriko once and for all, huh?" - She says with a smug grin while poking me in the ribs
"Are you trying to impress the Kyuubi-dono? After she just forgave us for what we did?"
I shake my head, flustered
"Ughh, forget about that, please... I just wanted to look trustworthy, but more importantly..."
I say, trying to change the subject but also serious about what I wanted to talk about
"Kuriko..."
As soon as I say this name Ayumu's expression loses it's smile and she turns serious as well
"Do you really think she... I mean... how?"
I shake my head
"I have no idea, but if I could understand how Kuriko's mind works we wouldn't be in this situation to begin with"
Planning all of this for four years, maybe even more far back.
It would sound ridiculous if we were talking about anyone else
But it's Kuriko
With her...
"At this point, anything is possible if she is involved..."
Together we meet with our friends and take the train
As the Kyoto scenery says goodbye to us the memories of the things that happened here go through my mind
A lof of bad things... a lot of terrible terrible things
But...
I look at Ayumu who is sitting by my side, holding my hand while she sleeps on my shoulder
I give a gentle kiss on her forehead to not wake her up.
"Awwww..." - I hear Kanae say from the seat in the row next to us
"I think I'll go diabetic" - Eizo mocks and I chuckle while shaking my head
A lot of great things as well.
Now we have more problems and mysteries to solve
And I would like to say I'm confident
But a shadow looms over my mind
And from the deep recess of my mind a deep and gutural laughter ressonates
Afterword: And we finally reached the end of the Kyoto arc! I hope you all liked, I had a lot of fun writting this chapter and let me tell you: The plot twist of what Kuriko did to incite the incident that lead to the death of Yasaka's husband is something I have been planning for over a year! And it will be revealed in the following chapter, I really hope you all enjoy it. Thanks for reading!