Haru and Aika were led through the crowd of Yokai and towards the estate—a grandiose building that looked more like the Osaka Castle than it did an estate. In fact, it looked twice as big as the Osaka Castle, dyed in gold and black colors with several yokai-shaped ornaments, all of which resembled crows, foxes, and dragons.
Haru could feel the tension in the air. The atmosphere was thick with it, so much so he felt he could cut it with a knife. His body felt heavy, mouth dry like the Sahara desert. He had no idea what he could expect from this meeting, but he knew his life would be on the line here. One wrong move, and his life would be forfeit, ability to revive in a new body or no. In fact, it was not even his own life he was worried about. Aika had no reason to be here, other than it was safe. The only reason Gozu and Kunou brought her along with them was because they knew she was a victim of Jorogumo's attack.
If this meeting went sour, and the yokai became hostile, what would happen to her? Would they rescind their protection and turn against her? There were many things unknown to him, too many possibilities. He tried to think of a plan, but each one only made his brain hurt.
This is the worst. I'm no master strategist or schemer. I'm a perverted seventeen-year-old high school student for Kami's sake! he ranted in his head. And here I am, about to meet with a goddess and the leader of all friggin' Yokai! No matter how you look at it, I'm screwed!
"We have arrived." Gozu announced. Haru froze for a moment before realizing that the messenger and Kunou stopped outside a sliding door. Faintly, the teen could make out silhouettes inside the room. No doubt Yasaka Tamamo and Amaterasu-no-Ookami.
Haru gulped down a large pile of saliva. This was it, the moment of truth. Even if he was not smart or talented, he had no choice but to wise up at this moment, here and now. He glanced behind him at Aika, who looked equally as nervous.
Gozu knelt down at the door and spoke to the room's occupants. "Yasaka-sama, Amaterasu-sama... Namikaze, Haru-san and his companion have arrived."
"Send them in," a woman's voice gently ordered.
Gozu nodded and turned to Haru and Aika. "Milady will see you now. Please, be on your best behavior, Namikaze-kun." Haru nodded stiffly.
For what encouragement it was worth, though, Kunou gave him a smile and two thumbs up, which he greatly appreciated. Inside he was screaming at himself to run and live another day, but escape was impossible. He had willingly walked up to the gallows and was ready to put his neck on the guillotine.
Doing his best to present himself as respectably and as indignantly as possible, not wanting to make a bad first impression on the two powerful women waiting for him inside, Haru took a deep breath and pulled the door open.
A second passed. One, two, three. Four, five seconds.
Finally, his brain caught up with him. Behind Haru, Aika gasped and began to pant, cheeks flushed.
As he had guessed, there were two women waiting for him inside the room. The first was a bombshell, to put it bluntly. A heart-shaped face with blonde hair and matching golden eyes, long hair tied back into a ponytail and garbed in a very revealing yukata. It was partially open and revealed an ample amount of her bosom. Not helping matters was the fact that her figure was on par with that of Tamamo's. No, dare he say it, her form was even sexier than Tamamo's. Over her yellow yukata was a black kimono with pale yellow ginko leaves printed on its fabric. Behind her were nine, large, bushy golden tails. It took all of his willpower to not walk up to her and bury his face in her fluffy tails. They looked so soft...
Quickly regaining his focus before he made a bad impression, he focused on the second woman, only to later realize it was a little girl. She looked like she was barely older than Kunou and in middle school at the very least, her long hair coming down to her ankles and the color of sun. Her eyes, on the other hand, were bright sky blue. Three sets of whisker marks decorated her white face. Rather than a yukata or kimobo, she instead wore an orange t-shirt that was several sizes too big for her and had a knight with his arms spread outward, forming into a Y-pose. Below the picture of the knight were the words, "Praise the sun!" She looked utterly adorable, more so than Kunou herself, especially with the abnormally large ahoge atop her head.
Two radically different styles, clashing to the point where his eyes were hurting. One was a drop-dead sexy woman whose looks rivaled even Tamamo and the Three Great Ladies of Kuoh Academy, while the other was a child. He could not discern who Yasaka was or who Amaterasu was. Actually, was it possible the girl was not Amaterasu or Yasaka, but someone else entirely? Perhaps a stand-in as a means to test him?
He couldn't be sure.
Quickly composing himself, Haru bowed as deeply as he could. "H-Hello! It's a pleasure to meet you. I am Namikaze Haru, s-second year at Kuoh Academy!"
"Kiryuu A-Aika, also a second year at Kuoh!" Aika quickly followed his lead and bowed. "N-Nice to meet you both!"
The buxom woman giggled in her hand. "Ara ara, so polite~" she said before she bowed her head, breasts bouncing. Haru nearly salivated at the thought of her yukata loosening for even a moment before the terrifying image of Tamamo crushing his balls came to his mind and immediately calmed his libido. "No need to feel so tense. Please, take a seat." She gestured to the pillows situated in front of them. Haru and Aika quickly took a seat and knelt down on their knees. "I am Yasaka Tamamo, leader of the Yokai Faction."
The middle schooler next to her followed with her own introduction, raising her arm over her head and forming a "V" sign and grinning, revealing sharp canines at the corner of her lips. What she said threw Aika and Haru for a loop.
"Yo I'm Amaterasu! But I goes by Naru now! Nice to meet'cha!"
Haru was expecting a lot of things.
He sure as hell didn't expect Amaterasu-no-Ookami to look like a middle-schooler, much less speak like a country girl from Osaka.