“I need a favor from you,” Lilian said seriously before laying out what she wanted. When she finished, Kotohime chuckled.
“Ufufufu, such a dedicated mate. I would be more than happy to help you. I do not know what happened either, but I have noticed that something seems to be weighing heavily on Kevin-sama’s mind.”
“Thank you.”
Lilian never doubted that Kotohime would help Kevin, but she still felt relieved. Her mate’s depression had gotten to the point where she couldn’t even concentrate on creating her manga—or getting used to drawing on her Wacom tablet.
I don’t know what’s going on, but Beloved needs my help.
In the end, that was what it came down to. Her mate needed her.
“Will you be enlisting the help of Iris-sama and Christine-san?”
“Of course. Iris would be upset if I didn’t.”
Lilian knew that Iris would want to help, and she was positive that Christine would too. All she needed to do was let them know about her plan.
Everything would work out. She was sure of it.
Kiara wasn’t sure of what to expect when she’d been called up during her workout.
Walking into the hospital, her heels clicking along the tiled floor, Kiara wondered what it was that Mack wanted. He’d sounded frantic during their phone call. Anything that could make him sound that worried had to have been something big.
“Excuse me,” Kiara said to the nurse sitting behind the front desk. “I’m here to meet with Mack and Phoebe. Do you know where they are?”
The nurse, a human woman with brown hair and eyes, looked up. “Oh! Ms. Kiara! Yes, I was told to expect you. Let me call someone who can take you to them.”
The nurse called for an aid, who Kiara followed through the hospital until they reached a room with two people standing outside. She recognized both Mack and Phoebe. They were talking about something, but they stopped upon seeing her.
“Kiara, I’m glad you’re here.” Mack cut straight to the heart of the matter. “We’ve got a situation. Phoebe found Sarah Feniks.”
While that was shocking, Kiara didn’t see what the problem was. “Wouldn’t that be good news?”
“It would, except that Sarah has no recollection of who she is.”
“You mean she has amnesia?” Kiara felt a headache. “You’ll have to explain this to me.”
“I think it would be easier for you to understand the situation if I showed you.”
Mack gestured for her and Phoebe to follow him as he walked inside of the room. It looked like a regular hospital room. There were two beds, and there was an occupant on each bed. One of them was unmistakably Sarah, but Kiara didn’t recognize the other. It was a girl in her late teens. She was speaking with Sarah, who spoke with a smile that Kiara had never expected to see on her normally expressionless face.
“Kiara, may I introduce Kandice Fürstin,” Mack said, gesturing to the young woman. “We found her with Sarah.”
“Um, hello,” Kandice greeted politely. She seemed wary.
“Hi!” Sarah said with a bright smile.
Kiara’s lips twitched wanly. “Hello. Do you remember me?”
Sarah shook her head. “No. How could I? We’ve only just met, silly.”
“Right…”
“I’m sorry,” Kandice apologized. “She’s only like this because she was protecting me.”
Kiara raised an eyebrow and turned to Mack.
“Kandice was with the Yamata no Orochi. According to her, he’s been dragging her to all of the seals and using her blood to break them.”
“That shouldn’t be possible. There’s no way a human could break a seal created by one of the Four Saints.”
Mack’s expression became dry. “Normally, you’d be correct. However, Kandice is a little different from normal humans. She’s the reincarnation of Kushinadahime.”
“So, she’s the reincarnation of an earthbound goddess?” Kiara raised an eyebrow.
“That’s just what Hebi called me,” Kandice said in her defense. “I don’t really believe in all of that reincarnation crap.”
“She might not believe it, but we have reason to believe that Kandice really is the reincarnation of Kushinadahime,” Mack said. “It’s not well known, but Kushinadahime was never actually a goddess. She was a human. Susanoo, unwilling to allow her to pass on, made it so that rather than crossing the Sanzu River upon death, she was reincarnated each time she died.”
“How do you know this?” asked Kiara.
“Orin was something of a chronicler of myths and history,” Mack said. “We checked his residence after it became clear that the Four Saints had been defeated, and that’s when we learned about this.”
Kiara nodded. If Kandice really was Kushinadahime reborn, then she would be able to break the seal that bound the Yamata no Orochi’s power since his power was strongly connected to her mythology. It was also highly probable that Kushinadahime had powers that she herself was unaware of.
“I’m guessing you called me here for a specific reason?” Kiara deduced.
Mack nodded. “I need someone who’s capable of protecting these two to take them in.”
“And you were hoping I could be that someone,” Kiara uttered with a sigh. “Look… I’m strong, and I can certainly protect them, but I don’t think I’m the right person to take care of them.”
“There isn’t anybody else who can do it, though,” Mack pleaded. “Look, I know you’re not really the type who’s… well…”
“Well what?” Kiara glared. “Are you gonna say I’m not the motherly type? You were, weren’t ya?”
“Ah-ha! W-well, yes. That is what I was going to say.” Mack coughed into his hand as if to hide his embarrassment. “Anyway, you’re really the only one I can ask. Phoebe’s place is already too crowded and Kotohime’s already taking care of a lot of people, including Camellia.”
… A moment of silent understanding passed between them. Kiara eyed Mack with the stinkiest stink eye she could muster. He looked away.
“Right.” Kiara sighed. “I’ll take them in.”
“A-ah.” Kandice stuttered. “Y-you don’t have to do that. I don’t want to be a bother…”
“Well, at least you’re polite.” Kiara pinched the bridge of her nose. She could already tell this wasn’t going to be pleasant. “Come on, you two. I’ll show you to my home.”
Kandice climbed off the bed. Sarah followed her example, grabbing the girl’s hand, her bright face containing an almost childish joy.
“Ne, ne,” Sarah said, looking at Kiara. “Are we going to live with you, Granny?”
Several veins throbbed on Kiara’s forehead. “Who are you calling ‘Granny’?!”
Kevin returned home from sparring with Kiara’s three disciples. His body was more battered than usual. These days, he could beat all three of those idiots at the same time. However, with his mind distracted as it was, Kevin just couldn’t find the will to concentrate. He was plagued by what Justin had told him two days ago.
My old man is the person who started this war. Commander Ethan Paine. The leader of the Sons and Daughters of Humanity.
He felt like someone had jabbed him in the gut with a taser, as if his whole world had been turned inside out. It wasn’t a pleasant feeling.
With a towel thrown over his shoulder, and the duffel bag filled with his workout clothes clutched firmly in his hand, Kevin entered his apartment.
“I’m home,” he called out.
Footsteps answered his call. They drew nearer until two people bounded into the room. One was Iris, who looked sinful in her low-cut blouse and ridiculously high skirt. The other was Christine, who appeared to be blushing for some reason.
“Heya, Stud,” Iris greeted with a grin. “Did you have a good workout?”
“Good enough, I guess,” Kevin muttered.
“You’re covered in bruises,” Christine pointed out, still blushing.
“I know.” Kevin held a hand to his face
, where one particularly nasty bruise rested. He winced as a sharp spike of pain flared up on his cheek. Normally, Lilian would be the one to heal his injuries, but today, he’d asked that she not come along with him.
“Uhuhuhu, you’re a very fortunate young man,” Iris declared as she placed her hands on Christine and shoved the girl forward. “Because Christy here has just the thing to help your aches and pains go away. Go ahead, Christy.”
Her face a blushing mess, Christine stood in front of the confused Kevin. She took a deep breath, and then…
“Pleasetakeoffyourclothes!”
Kevin was nonplussed.
“… Eh?”
Kiara entered her apartment, a silent Kandice and an excited Sarah following close behind her. She closed the door and kicked off her shoes. After putting them in the rack, she walked further into the room, turned around, and spread her single arm out wide.
“Welcome to my place. It isn’t much, but it’s home—for now, at least.”
Kandice and Sarah both took off their shoes. While the younger of the two, Kandice, gazed at the apartment with an observant eye, Sarah bounded into the room like a child who’d eaten too much sugar.
“Wa… this place is so big,” the blond woman said.
“Thank you for letting us stay with you,” Kandice said.
Kiara waved her off. “Think nothing of it. Now, why don’t you two make yourselves at home while I cook dinner? I’m starving.”
As Kandice and Sarah went off to explore the small apartment, Kiara wandered into the kitchen. She wasn’t a very good cook. Still, she was at least capable of making something nutritious for her new tenants.
Kevin was experiencing heaven.
“Munya…”
Heaven apparently involved a lot of “munyas.”
When Iris had told him that Christine had a method of helping rid him of his aches and pains, Kevin hadn’t been sure of what to expect. However, a massage of godly proportions was something that he had least expected.
He was lying on his stomach, on the bed. There wasn’t much protecting his modesty, just his boxers. Christine was standing on top of him.
Kevin moaned, feeling utterly blissed as Christine’s toes dug into his muscles, undoing the knots and tension in his back. Her feet were incredibly small as she used her toes and heels to rub out the tension, and she felt so light. Perhaps that was why her actions felt so good.
She also seemed to be using her powers. Her toes were warm, as if they’d been wrapped in a thermal blanket. Meanwhile, her heels were cool, like they’d been placed in a fridge for several hours. The combination of hot and cold served to further soothe his back muscles.
“Wh… where did you learn to do this…?” Kevin asked, groaning as Christine’s big toe undid a particularly nasty knot.
“I-I’ve been reading up on it. D-don’t misunderstand me, though! I didn’t do this because I wanted to help you specifically. I just thought it would be nice if I could learn something useful that took advantage of my, um, small stature.”
“Hmm… well, whatever your reasons for learning this are, I’m very grateful. Thank you.”
K-ku! D-d-d-d-don’t say something like that so easily, you idiot!”
“What are you—YEOWCH!”
Kevin screamed when Christine’s feet slammed into his spine. It felt like someone was trying to snap his spinal cord in half!
“C-Christine! That really—OH, GOD!”
“I-I-I-I-I’m not doing this for you, so there’s no need to thank me, got it?! Got it?!”
“I’ve got it! I’ve got it! Now please stop! Christine? CHRISTINE?!”
“I don’t want this!”
Kiara twitched at Sarah’s rude declaration. “What do you mean ‘you don’t want this’? I made this specifically for you.”
“I want something tasty! Make me something tasty!”
They were sitting at the table, all three of them. Kiara had just finished making a healthy dinner: lightly glazed salmon with salad. While Kandice ate her meal without complaint, Sarah’s obnoxious complaining grated on Kiara’s ears.
Twitching as she tried to control her irritation, Kiara smiled. “Salmon and salad are healthy for you.”
“I don’t want healthy! I want tasty!”
Who knew this powerful woman could be such a brat… is this the result of her amnesia?
“Look here, I only know how to make food that’s nutritious and good for you. I don’t make crap that’s not beneficial to your body. Don’t you want to grow big and strong?”
“No. I want food that tastes good! Gimme food that tastes good!”
Kiara didn’t know what to do. This woman was one of the Four Saints, a yokai with far more power than her, but all Kiara wanted in that moment was to smack the blond for being such a brat.
“Kiara… if you’d like, I could make something for Sarah,” Kandice offered.
“Absolutely not,” Kiara declared. “If this brat doesn’t want to eat something that is filled with nutritional content, then she can go hungry.”
“That’s not nice! You’re a meanie! Bleg!” Sarah pulled down her eyelid and stuck her tongue out, blowing Kiara a raspberry.
“Why you little brat!” Kiara lunged at Sarah, who leapt out of the way. She chased the supposedly immortal Phoenix around the table.
Kandice sat in her chair, watching the two with growing irritation. Several marks appeared on her forehead. They throbbed, their pace steadily increasing as they became an angry red.
“Will you two cut that out?!” she shouted.
Kiara and Sarah stopped.
“D-did you just yell at me in my own apartment?” asked a gawking Kiara.
Kandice pointed at them. “You two need to stop acting so childish!”
“Childish?!” Kiara squawked.
“She started it!” Sarah pointed at Kiara, who growled.
“That does it! Come here! I don’t care if you have amnesia! I’m gonna beat the crap out of you!”
“Not if you can’t catch me!”
Stomping her feet as the two began their game of chase again, Kandice scowled. “I said stop it! Hey! Are you two listening to me?! Hey!”
The sound of their argument could be heard several blocks away.
Experiencing heaven often meant that one would experience an equal amount of hell. That was what Kevin believed, anyway. He had the evidence to back it up.
“Oh… my back… I think it’s broken,” he groaned, rubbing at his sore spine, which Christine had taken her frustrations out on.
Her expression contrite, Christine looked down at the floor, where her foot was drawing circles against the carpet. “I-I’m sorry about that. I don’t know what came over me…”
I do.
“It’s fine.” Kevin graced her with a wan smile that he tried to make look reassuring.
Christine shook her head. “N-no, it’s not fine. I wanted to help you, but all I ended up doing was make things worse.”
It was rare to see Christine blame herself for something. It actually made Kevin’s smile turn more genuine.
Placing a hand on her head, he tenderly ran his fingers through her hair. “Don’t worry about it. While you were a little rough at the end, your massage did feel really good. Thank you.”
Poof!
“Ah! Y-you’re welcome.”
“Have you ever thought of becoming a masseuse? I think you’d be really good at it.”
POOF!
“W-wh—shut up! D-d-d—stop paying me such nice compliments! If you do that… if you keep doing that…”
Kevin tilted his head when Christine trailed off. She was looking at the floor, and her hair was hanging over her face.
“Hm? What’s up?”
“No, it’s nothing.” Christine shook her head. “A-anyway, sorry I couldn’t do more.”
Christine left in a hurry, leaving a dumbfounded Kevin standing in the living room.
What was all that about? Don’t tell me she�
�?
“Uhuhu, it looks like she failed to be honest with herself again,” Iris said right next to his ear. Kevin barely withheld a scream as he spun around.
“Iris.” He glared at the girl. “What are you doing?”
Iris’s smile reminded him of a fox who had played a successful prank. “Christine had her turn to make you feel good, so now it’s my turn.”
“Your… turn?”
Kevin didn’t get it.
“That’s right. Now, come on. I’ve already got the towels, soap, and shampoo.”
Iris grabbed Kevin by the hand, and he finally noticed that she was carrying a duffel bag in her other hand. As she led him toward the door, Kevin dug his figurative heels in.
W-wait! What? Where are we going?”
“Have you not figured it out yet?” Iris asked rhetorically, her smile widening. “We’re going to the bathhouse, of course.”
The place was a mess. Everything that could be destroyed had been destroyed. The table lay in shambles, the couch was torn apart, the TV was a sparking heap of scrap, and the ceiling had food splattered all over it. In the center of this chaos lay three people.
Kiara sucked in several deep breaths as she tried to regain her bearings. She’d not expected either Sarah or Kandice to be so difficult to handle. The once cool female known for her icy personality acted like a rambunctious child, but she still possessed all of the powers she had before, making her impossible to deal with. Kandice was just a human, but her temper was on par with an oni.
“I think… maybe… we should… go out… to eat…” Kandice suggested between puffs of breath.
Kiara thought about it for a moment, then nodded. “Agreed.”
“Yay…” was Sarah’s exhausted response.
There was no one in the bath house that evening. Kevin was surprised by this, as the bath house was almost always in use. He could only assume that someone had either set up an illusion to keep people away, or, the more likely case, Iris had somehow bribed everyone into staying away.
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