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After receiving the news from Yura, Bokue left the Keikain estate directly.
The next second, the young man's form appeared in the sky above Yasaka Shrine.
Having only been away for a day, if you just looked at the surface, Yasaka Shrine appeared virtually unchanged from usual.
But upon closer observation, one could notice that the humidity throughout the mountain where Yasaka Shrine was located had significantly increased. The mist was thicker than normal, and even the late-sumr sun filtering through the tree leaves couldn't fully penetrate it.
Well... from a scientific perspective, that's what was happening.
From an Onmyōji's perspective, the demonic energy emanating from the mountains around Yasaka Shrine right now resembled Mount Fuji on the verge of eruption. If a less skilled Onmyōji so much as glanced at it from afar, they'd imdiately wet themselves and run back ho with their tail between their legs.
Of course, to Bokue, this was just ordinary fog.
He slowly descended from high above, arriving at the shrine's entrance.
Stepping forward to push open the shrine doors, what t his eyes was a blonde, classically beautiful woman in an elegant kimono.
Yasaka had apparently been waiting already.
The blonde beauty maintained her usual graceful and dignified appearance. Hearing the door open behind her, she turned around. Seeing the young man appearing in the doorway, she couldn't help showing that familiar gentle smile.
"Bokue, you're here."
"Good morning, Yasaka."
Bokue stepped forward, gently grasping the blonde beauty's soft hands.
He'd originally wanted to go straight for a waist embrace, but considering it was dayti and they were inside the shrine, it was hard to say whether little Kunou might suddenly pop out from so corner. Getting caught directly would be pretty awkward, so he had to settle for second best.
But Yasaka, contrary to her usual behavior, leaned forward—actively offering herself into the young man's embrace with a smile.
"Still calling it morning... it's almost noon already. Don't tell you just woke up?"
"No use hiding it—yes, I did."
Bokue admitted honestly.
"Little sleepyhead..."
Yasaka affectionately tapped the young man's chest with one finger.
"Oh, and about the Keikain branch families..."
"Yeah, I already know about that."
Without a mont of sadness for the branch families' annihilation, Bokue nodded readily.
"Truly worthy of the Lord of Darkness from four hundred years ago. She works fast."
"...Is that so?"
The feeling was quite subtle. Yasaka didn't know what expression to make at this point, so she could only smile and nod.
"This ans my little sister has reclaid all her power. She's currently in the back mountain preparing for the final ritual before her rebirth. Let's head over now."
"Alright..."
Bokue was about to agree.
However, just then, the blonde beauty still pressed against him—chest to chest—suddenly turned slightly and raised her voice toward the inner room.
"Kunou, it's ti to leave!"
"Eh? Bokue-oniisan is already here? I'm coming right now!"
The voice of a certain little fox shrine maiden ca from inside the shrine. The next second, the sliding door to the inner bedroom was violently pulled open. A small golden figure burst out, transforming into lightning as she dove toward their position in the posture of an arctic fox hunting prey, burying herself directly into Bokue's arms and rubbing vigorously with affection.
"It's been so long, Bokue-oniisan! Hagoromo-Gitsune-oba-san said you ca by several tis before, but I was sleeping and missed you every ti."
Hagoromo-Gitsune-oba-san?
Bokue was caught sowhat off-guard by that form of address.
Though thinking about it carefully, there didn't seem to be any problem. Kunou was Yasaka's daughter, and Hagoromo-Gitsune was Yasaka's younger sister, so she should indeed be called aunt.
However, what concerned him more was that even though a certain blonde beauty was still pressed against him, little Kunou acted as if she didn't see her at all, completely unbothered as she dove straight into his arms.
And Yasaka herself seed to have no intention of avoiding this situation either...
"Alright then, let's head out now."
With no intention of explaining, Yasaka smiled faintly before proactively taking the young man's hand to head outside the shrine.
Seeing this, little Kunou pouted sowhat unhappily.
"Mom's being so sneaky, holding onto Bokue-oniisan's hand like that."
"But Kunou, you're the one making your Bokue-oniisan carry you, so you don't have much room to complain, do you?"
The blonde beauty turned her head with a smile.
Mmph...
Little Kunou fell silent.
Bokue also said nothing. His gaze kept shifting back and forth between the blonde beauty ahead and the little blonde fox girl in his arms.
He couldn't shake this inexplicable sense of dissonance...
Had sothing happened between this mother-daughter pair during the day he'd been gone?
Bokue ntally added a small question mark.
❁❁❁❁
Monts later, under Yasaka's guidance, Bokue and little Kunou in his arms quickly arrived at the back mountain where Yasaka Shrine was located.
More precisely, they arrived at the entrance to a cave in the back mountain.
"This is the place. Let's go in."
Without stopping at the cave entrance, Yasaka continued leading Bokue and Kunou inside as she spoke.
"Bokue, you know about dragon veins beneath the earth, right?"
"Of course."
Bokue nodded, answering casually.
Actually, dragon veins existed not just underground but in the sea as well. Like how Itogami Island had been built atop a location where undersea dragon veins intersected, held up and supported on the ocean's surface by the dragon veins' massive spiritual power.
Though now, thanks to him, that was no longer necessary. He could drive Itogami Island around like a speedboat if he wanted.
"Actually, there's also a dragon vein running through this cave. After years and years of accumulated spiritual power, it slowly ford a spiritual spring. The spring contains enormous amounts of spiritual energy."
The blonde beauty turned her head with a slight smile.
"When you were little, Bokue, I originally planned to save this spiritual spring for you to use in the future. But now it seems that's no longer necessary, so I'm temporarily lending it to my little sister instead."
"...So she's in there chugging spring water right now?"
Bokue slowly raised a question mark.
The cave wasn't particularly deep. In just this short ti, before Yasaka could even answer, they'd already reached the end.
What appeared before them was a circular stone door, along with a kimono-clad girl who looked only slightly older than Yura.
The girl's hairstyle and appearance looked quite refined and elegant. If you ignored her golden eyes and the skull she was cradling, she'd look just like a little princess from so ancient daimyo's family.
The kimono-clad girl holding the skull saw soone approaching. Without a second thought, she stepped forward to block the stone door with her body.
"Ane-sama is bathing and purifying herself inside. No one may enter... oh? So it's Yasaka-ane-sama and Kunou-chan. And you are..."
When her gaze landed on Bokue walking behind Yasaka, the kimono-clad girl with golden eyes reacted like a feline encountering a natural predator. Her entire demonic power erupted, whipping up her long hair as even her back arched.
"Wait! You're from the Keikain family... I won't let you in! I'll protect Ane-sama...!"
Before she could finish, Bokue's form vanished from where he stood. The next mont, he'd appeared behind the kimono-clad girl, his hands passing under her armpits as he lifted her up like picking up a kitten or puppy.
"Who's this little kid anyway?"
"That's Kyōkotsu-oba-san~"
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