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"Yasaka, you're saying Abe no Seimei isn't actually Hagoromo-Gitsune's son? What do you mean?"
In Kunou's bedroom, Bokue Keikain tilted his head, looking at the golden-haired beauty still blushing enticingly in his arms.
Compared to his earlier teasing, his eyes now showed more curiosity.
After all, this completely contradicted everything recorded in the Keikain family histories.
It was like suddenly reading unofficial history claiming that Izanagi and Izanami—that incestuous sibling pair from Japanese mythology—weren't actually siblings, but that Izanagi was actually Izanami's father. Complete nonsense.
"There's no special meaning—it's exactly what it sounds like."
Yasaka shook her head gently.
"I've confirmed it personally. That Abe no Seimei couldn't possibly be my sister's son. I don't know what he actually is. If I had to say... perhaps he'd qualify as a human who violated taboos."
"Taboos?"
Bokue grew increasingly curious.
This seemed like there was some incredible revelation brewing.
"Like I just said, my sister Hagoromo-Gitsune was originally a very gentle and kind fox demon who held something called 'maternal love' for all living things. Her dramatic personality change only occurred after that Abe no Seimei appeared."
Yasaka explained slowly.
"Fortunately, though Hagoromo-Gitsune's personality changed drastically, she still recognized me as her sister and was willing to tell me her plans like before."
"That's how I learned that this Abe no Seimei seemed to have been brewing his immortality plan since a thousand years ago."
Wait, now there's an immortality plan too?
The topic kept expanding, and Bokue grew more interested by the minute.
He decided to stop interrupting and let Yasaka continue.
"That human called Abe no Seimei—the first head of the now-declined Gokadoin family—used techniques to prevent his soul from entering reincarnation after death. He asked Hagoromo-Gitsune to 'give birth' to him again after each of her reincarnations, thereby achieving immortality through a human body."
"?"
Bokue slowly formed a question mark.
Logically, even in Japan's relatively open romantic culture, elementary school kids knew making babies required one man and one woman.
So... even if your mom could infinitely reincarnate with retained memories, your dad couldn't do the same. How could she "give birth to him again after each reincarnation"?
Even Yasaka herself had only given birth to little Kunou after becoming the Eastern General of Japan's yokai world, single-handedly protecting all of Kansai's prosperity and receiving the faith and blessings of countless people who crowned her as the harvest goddess.
"So now you understand, Bokue, why I say that Abe no Seimei couldn't possibly be my sister's son."
Yasaka paused here, a trace of gravity flashing across her previously relaxed face.
"I've also asked my sister. From what I know, her so-called technique to 'give birth' to Abe no Seimei again has nothing to do with traditional reproduction. If anything, it's more like a ritual to pull the dead back from the underworld to the living world."
"Huh?"
Bokue was stunned.
So it really was Edo Tensei?
"It's a ritual using massive yokai power to reconstruct a flawless body. Even reaching the nine-tailed celestial fox level wouldn't make it easy to bear."
Yasaka frowned.
"So I've always suspected that Abe no Seimei might have used some technique to directly bewitch souls on my sister, gathering all of Hagoromo-Gitsune's maternal love for the world and focusing it solely on him. That's why my sister would so willingly exhaust everything to perform the ritual."
"But unfortunately, I have little research on souls. Though I've tried secretly observing before, I never found any clues."
"Souls, huh..."
Bokue looked up, thinking seriously.
Come to think of it, ever since retrieving Brunhild, he'd gained some control over soul matters. Now he could directly touch others' souls even without using Brunhild.
"Alright, back to the point."
Yasaka gently touched the cheek of the youth currently embracing her.
"It's actually normal that my sister harbors such hatred for the Keikain family and the Nura clan. Four hundred years ago was her eighth reincarnation. She already had eight tails then—though her power stood at the apex of all yokai, it still wasn't quite enough to perform Abe no Seimei's birth ritual. For that, she gathered large quantities of living human livers."
"But just when she'd nearly accumulated enough power to perform the birth ritual, the plan was shattered by the then-head of the Keikain family and the Nura clan led by the Nurarihyon from Edo. My sister's power was sealed away along with it."
"Nurarihyon?"
Bokue vaguely remembered this name.
He recalled the Keikain family rules mentioning something like—forbidding Nurarihyon from entering the Keikain house to freeload.
Emmm, not that he cared much about such things.
"The Nura clan should still be entrenched around Tokyo."
Yasaka recalled carefully before answering.
"Didn't you notice them when you were attending school in Tokyo, Bokue?"
"No, never saw them. Not even once."
Bokue shook his head honestly.
Though thinking about it, that made sense. They say wealth doesn't last three generations—four hundred years had passed. Even with the Keikain family's clean and proper selection system, they'd still produced all those worthless branch families. The Nura clan sounded like some single-succession yakuza organization. It wouldn't be surprising if they'd declined and collapsed in some generation.
"Then about my sister..."
Returning to the topic of her sister, Yasaka hesitated again.
"This is my sister's ninth reincarnation. As four hundred years have passed, the seals dispersing her power have gradually loosened. Once all seals are removed, she'll directly become a nine-tailed celestial fox like me. Then she can perform the ritual to 'give birth' to Abe no Seimei again."
"Oh."
Bokue responded quite calmly.
He really wasn't worried about the legendary ancestor of onmyoji reviving. So what if he revived? At worst, he'd just punch him back to hell again.
Besides, those seal locations were all managed by those worthless Keikain branch families. Hmm, thinking about it... this might actually be a good opportunity?
With that thought, Bokue turned toward the bedroom door, which had been silent for a while, raising his voice slightly.
"Alright, you've been listening outside long enough. Why don't you come in and join the conversation?"
What?!
The golden-haired beauty still lying in the youth's arms started slightly, quickly turning to look at the bedroom door.
The next second, the sliding door opened from outside. A black-haired girl in a black high school sailor uniform stood at the entrance, her hime-cut bangs casting faint shadows on her nearly translucent pale face, holding little Kunou—now in pajamas and fast asleep—in her arms.
"Sister..."
Yasaka's mouth fell open slightly, clearly not expecting the subject of their discussion had been listening outside all along.
"What's wrong, Sister? Surprised?"
Hagoromo-Gitsune entered the bedroom with the little fox girl in her arms. After placing her in bed and covering her with blankets, she came to stand beside the pair, her long legs wrapped in black stockings pressed together as she looked down at the youth holding her sister. A faint smile curved her lips beneath her calm black eyes.
"Sister really told you quite a lot about me... detestable Keikain bloodline."
"..."
Bokue didn't answer immediately.
After about one or two seconds, he suddenly reached out and squeezed the black-stocking-clad Hagoromo-Gitsune's leg.
Hmm... as expected. Some kind of onmyoji technique that could directly affect thoughts and memories had been carved into her soul.
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