Yins perspective.
She saw her open the door and come towards her, it was hard to not do a double take, Kira had grown a lot older, no longer the toddler she was just a few days ago but at this point now the same age as Yin if not a bit older.
Yin could easily see the power running off Kira much like Inari and Chaos but oddly she couldn't feel a thing, not like first time she had seen Kira, sending her senses out it was completely blank.
that said seeing Kira in front of her there was no doubt that Kira was everything Yin had hoped and more.
"Sorry for giving you a scare like that" Kira said casually while walking over
her lady should never have to apologise for her actions Yin was screaming internally but she also knew that Kira was who she was so she decided to stay quiet.
"I'm extremely relieved you're in good health things have been a bit hectic since you .... passed out, keeping the humans from finding excuses to enter the shrine have been close to an impossible task"
Kira frowned in return
"Well it's not every day you see both Chaos and Inari in the same place so their curiosity is understandable"
it wasn't them they were trying to get to but you.. Yin kept her mouth shut, it was probably better to let Kira find out for herself and then immediately deny responsibility maybe blame Mr Shinji if it got too out of hand.
Yin smirked to herself
-------
Kiras perspective
-------
Yin seemed worn out, she hadn't slept for days last time and Kira had no clue how long she had been out this time around but judging by how much seemed to have happened it was probably a while.
"Yin, am I to assume you once again have been running on minimal sleep?
Yin immediately blanched in indignation but ultimately conceded.
"I've been sleeping but I've been trying to be here for when you woke up!"
Kira sighed, "let's go our shared room and get you to sleep, you need it."
Yin immediately rejected with various excuses.
Kira thought to herself, my powers is based on desire, and I'm not constrained by certain skills if I understood Chaos and Inari correct
Kira then decided to walk right up in Yins face who immediately blushed and started to panic, before Kira put a hand on the top of her head and simply pushed for her desire for Yin to sleep.
Looking at Kira with wide eyes she quickly slumped over in a deep sleep, Kira panicked for a moment as she hadn't quite thought that far but trying to pick up Yin, did she quickly realize that carrying her wasn't going to be a problem and as such she brought Yin back to their shared room and tugged her into bed.
I wonder what drives her to that point, it's endearing but it's definitely not healthy i should try see if I can give her some healthier habits.
her path to their shared room had been a bit odd it almost seemed like people was finding excuses to be in her path, while they bowed in apology for getting in the way and wished her a great day, similarly had every one she had seen out in the open painting immediately found an excuse to turn it around the second Kira would have been able to steal a glance, maybe they were shy.
looking up Kira couldn't blame any of them for desire to point, she wasn't artistically inclined but she could appreciate the desire to capture the sky as it was, the sight was breath taking.
moving on she decided to see if she could find Mr. Shinji, it was his class she had effectively been disrupted by her problems which hadn't been fair when he had poured so much effort into that lecture.
moving towards the cubs temple, she saw a small army of small cubs immediately storm towards her in greeting.
"Kira is back, and she is even prettier than before"
one shouted.
"Mr Shinji is going to be upset one of the paintings is already wrong" another Cub immediately followed up.
"Should we get some food so Lady Kira doesn't pass out again, I really don't want that" a third smaller female Cub chimed in.
"You're silly she haven't used any energy yet, so she isn't exhausted this time.... atleast I think so."
a older male Cub added to the small female, looking ar Kira questionably not entirely sure if he was right.
Kira smiled.
"You're right, I don't feel hungry right now, I just came to see Mr. Shinji is he around?"
the smaller female Cub came up and dragged at Kiras leg
"Yes Mr Shinji just came back from all the work he have been doing he is in the classroom right now please follow me"
The tiny female Cub kept pulling in her clothes to to get her to follow along while all the other cubs was running in circles around her cheering and playing.
what a blessing to see how cheerful and happy they are Kira thought to herself, she had a brief moment of thinking back to her own kids, they weren't really hers but she had come to feel that about the library kids, for some of them she had functioned more as a parental guidance than their own dysfunctional families had provided them.
She remembered just how excited Yin had been when she explained about Dungeons and Dragons, maybe that was a bit too complex for these cubs.
much to her surprise the first thing she discovered was dice, actually 6 sided dice, apparently that was already a thing here, but she also saw attempts at her 20 sided dice she had told Yin about and it was very clear that wasn't as successful, picking up the dice one of the smaller cubs had proudly picked up and given her, she saw a sight she had not been prepared for, there had been an entire wall dedicated to something that looked like a mini shrine, with first Inari and Chaos being painted in intricate detail and then finally with her younger self below what is even going on ....
Like when did they even have time to waste on painting her portrait.
Also why was her portrait roughly twice as big as Chaos and Inari.
Kira was deeply confused and slightly embarrassed, she hadn't exactly expected to find a portrait of herself coming here.
Mr shinji saw Kira entering the classroom and rejoiced in her expression, it was exactly as Yin and Shino had described, to think anyone her status would be showing such emotion for a simple portrait made Shinji happy, Kira was someone who could still appreciate the small things.
"Does Lady Kira enjoy the paintings, The painters have been hard at work, but I can see we might need to repaint Lady Kira already"
Kira turned towards Shinji and gave him a slight frown, "As much as I enjoy the paintings of Inari and Chaos is the painting of me a bit excessive don't you think"
Shinji gave her a polite smile
"A family tree wouldn't be complete without Lady Kira on it, so the Lady will have to forgive me taking the humble liberty of also adding Lady Kira to use for my lectures."
Kira frowned, she couldn't deny his point without denying Inari and Chaos, and she was unable to get herself to do that, he is playing dirty and he knows it, if she didn't know better would she argue he had spent a while to practise that excuse.
coming up and pulling at her clothes the little Cub who had given her the dice was trying to get her attention.
"Yin described Lady Kira knew how to make wonderful games with dice, but we were unable to make the dice Yin described, can you make games with normal dice?"
Kira considered for a moment, there were plenty of common board games that wasn't too hard that utilised dice, she had no clue where they had gotten hold of the one they had but deciding to see if she could make the cubs happy she requested something to paint on 16 small stones, and drew the board for ludo out of her memory, she really wasn't too sure if the amount of tiles was correct but she figured as long there were an even amount of tiles between each player and the same for entering the exit it should be fine, it was honestly rather crude and not her finest work.
but upon finishing she got 4 cubs who wanted to try the one that had given her the dice got a priority spot, and explained the rules as the cubs wide eyes shined with excitement.
Shinji had also been looking at the board she had drawn with deep interest and if he leaned much further he would fall over.
"Mr Shinji you're free to come and look I don't bite" saying that last sentence Kira immediately remembered her pillow and she blushed slightly in embarrassment while doing her best to forget that event.
barely had she finished before shinji was beside her exploding with questions, and she did her best to politely explain that there really wasn't anything amazing about the game, it was simply just a fun board game mainly played by kids relying on luck.
You would think I just invented the wheel for how he was reacting, I'm honestly not even sure if I got the tile numbers right, since I was just kind of guessing based on memory.
Kira completely forgot about apologising for interrupting his lecture the way he had, but given his reaction to Ludo and how he had basically dedicated a wall to her without her consent she figured there really was no point, heading back towards the Shrine she suddenly felt 2 presences nearby, doing as she had promised Chaos she opted to only speed herself up just enough that the first individual missed her with an inch moving as little as possible to make it seem like a fluke, but thinking about it further Chaos had said nobody could get here without her permission, realising that She was safe and free to do as she pleased she smirked to herself and waited until the 2 individuals tried again this time she fully side stepped, grabbed an arm of each of them and gave them a polite smile, she had effectively increased her frequency up to theirs in the last second and politely asked.
"So who is it that is trying to prank me ?"
both twins looked at her with complete disbelief.
"Sister dearest we mean no ill intent, would you kindly let us have our arms back so we can hug you properly" the Golden haired bright one of the twins said.
Letting go of both of them they tackle hugged her.
"You're every bit as impressive as mom had showed us, we have promised mom to take care of you for a while" The dark haired twin said.
"Wait sisters, mom.... wait you're Aunt Chaos children"
they both gave Kira a frown.
Aether was the first one to speak up
"Why are you calling mom for Aunt, you're our sister so Mom is just as much your mom as she is ours, are you per chance displeased with being our kin and that is the reason you put distance between you and mom ?"
Kira wasn't sure how to answer that.
"No its more that Inari was my first mom, and Chaos originally introduced herself as my aunt before I accepted her seed, and it would be a bit confusing to call both mom, so aunt was the next best thing"
The dark haired twin seemed to nod in understanding but the light haired one was still frowning.
"But you're our sister, not our cousin we can feel it clearly through the connection, so calling mom for aunt is silly, and I dont like it!"
shaking her head not sure how to deal with the light haired twin Kira decided to change the subject.
"So as you put it sisters mine, do you ever intend to provide me with your names or do you much prefer I just call you by the title of sister?"
Nox stood behind Aether and couldn't help but give a small chuckle, while Aether still looked slightly frustrated.
"I like your spunk, I wouldn't have expected anything less from anyone related to Inari however, I am Nox, daughter of Chaos but you know that already, unlike you I didn't get her pure traits, instead I developed an affinity with the concept of darkness, its a bit hard to explain, but I guess you will see in due time"
the light haired one chimed in
"Like my sister Nox did i also not inherit moms true trait but I adapted mine into the aspect of light, qnd just like Nox I guess it's better you see it yourself. Now with introductions out of the way
I want to make it clear you're not getting rid of us any time soon, ans I'll get upset if I hear you call mom for aunt again"
Nox frowned
"Aether can't you just let it go, her reasoning is pretty solid and it's not like she is denying our kinship"
Aether crossed her arms and pouted
"I will not! Our sister is our sister, and not our cousin!"
Nox rolled her eyes.
"Sorry Kira, but Aether can be a bit stubborn about the weirdest things, you will just have to humor her"
seeing the twins flying into her life like a tornado was a bit much, they both meant well but she felt she barely had time to pick herself up from the floor before she was crashed through the next cliff.
giving the twins a polite smile.
"You both seem wonderful, but would you allow me just a bit time on my own, a lot have happened very fast and while you seem lovely do I need a bit of time with my own thoughts for now"
Aether looked outright horrified of the rejection but Nox had a more understanding look.
grabbing her sister in the neck Nox started to drag off the protesting Aether in the opposite direction, considering lowering her frequency down to normal and finding herself a spot to be alone Kira realised that the opposite was a better choice.
Kira found a nearby tree sat down and tried to mem orise the feeling of when she had met her own copy, within too long she found herself in a blank space with nothing in it, pouring desire out of what it was she wanted within.
within too long a Fox girl around 13 or 14 years old of age, with an absolutely breath taking appearance appeared, Kira still had a hard time accepting that was herself, seeing the white hair woven with what looks like liquid galaxy and purple tips, the odd eyes with one resembling the color of Inari while the other held the color of Chaos and both eyes having the same kind of liquid galaxy quality in the animalistic pupil.
the sight all in all was breath taking.
"You called her other self said, also do you need to stare so much we both know how uncomfortable we are with other people starring at us, it being myself really doesn't change that fact" her copy said.
Kira suddenly remembered the mindspace of the elegant chairs and table and upon her desire it simply appeared, Kira couldn't help but feel that real life would be much easier if she could pull that trick out there.
"Eh so impromptu therapy session it is?" her clone said while dragging the chair behind her and sitting down.
giving her other half a smirk Kira simply replied.
"worked wonders last time, so why not?"
Her other half gave a bit of a frown, "You do realise i dont know anything you don't already know, maybe talking this out with Inari would yield better results"
Kira contemplated but decided it wasn't worth bothering Inari about, she didn't want Inari to feel guilty for rescuing her from the so called purge she was doomed for.
"I know, I know, you don't have to say anything and we are both of the same mind, but I felt I should atleast voice it."
her clone said and took a sip of the tea on the table.
Kira looked on with astonishment.
"Wait you can actually drink it? wasn't it just meant as decoration?"
her other half smirked.
"It's not like I nourishes us in any way, but it tastes like our favorite tea why don't you take a sip yourself, it's quite soothing
that said....
You lost your access to your pc, you lost access to all the wonderful, books, manga, anime and video games from earth and what are we obsessing over ?
The kids, even though we both know they couldn't be in better care, did you ever once worry about the kids the days you were off work, even vacations, no because we knew Jane would handle it, so why are we doubting all of it now?"
Kiras other half had effectively come straight out and said it, loosing access to all her hobbies and being dragged into another world and another existence hadn't been what bothered her the most, she knew her guild mates could easily find a replacement healer and be on with their day, and loosing out on ever getting the end of the shows she was invested in sucked but ultimately the thing that had been nagging her the most had been her kids, and she knew they weren't really hers but she didn't care.
"The question is how to ease my worry, its not like its based in logic" Kira murmured.
"Ofcourse not and that's why summoning me here to deal with isn't exactly your brightest idea, this is one of the few cases you really should go to Inari and get it resolved, as fun as it is enjoying my own company do we know that this matter is the wrong one for you to play ball with yourself"
Kira wasn't happy in the slightest but again she was only saying what she already knew.
"I will atleast consider this a useful experiment and even though its odd, thanks for helping out"
her other half frowned
"You do realise you're thanking yourself and it is a rather pointless act don't you?"
smiling Kira weaved a motion like cleaning a chalkboard and she returned to the tree she had leaned against, that got to have more uses, also while I know it is myself am I provided information I didn't actively know before like the Tea, I wonder if my other summoned half don't consider that I might not actively be aware of instinctive knowledge in all regards is it pretty useful.
Moving towards the Shrine still with everyone else frozen around her Chaos was nowhere to be seen but Inari was sitting patiently like she had been waiting for her.
"Are you finally ready to come to me with your worries instead of relying on yourself for everything?"
Inari gave Kira a slightly displeased look.
"The twins told us you had needed time for yourself and how astonished they had been seeing you enter your own mindspace just like that, but I kind of assume the reason you're here is it didn't work out for you?"
Kira looked at Inari with a bit of shock
"Guilty as charged I'm afraid, I've been worrying about what happened to the kids I took care of in my former life, and even though I know they are likely safe with Jane have it been nagging me"
Inari returned a warm smile.
"So that is what it was, well as this is an overall positive story I think it's better to fill you in, I had initially decided to take care of the situation after taking you as my kin, but it turned out I didn't have to lift a finger"
Jane was the first to turn up when the emergency people had called her that there was a corpse near the library, seeing you dead she had initially been crying for quite a while she was quite heart broken initially, but shortly after she started showing more determination than I had ever seen her before.
Remember the Stash of evidence you held on all the kids, from school bullying to neglect at their homes, turned out it wasn't so secret as you thought it was, Jane had been going through it every time you were off work to better be able to help the kids when you were away, after your death she took the entire stack of evidence and brought them to the right instances, parents, schools even government, she had even kept the recording of the time you had told that disgusting lady who called herself Jack's mom off, and how you had been reprimanded afterward.
its been around 1 month since you died, since then Jane is now leading the library and the upper management was kicked out due to their action against you for standing up for an abused kid, it all hit the news in a spectacular way, and you were heralded as the city's hidden hero, and all the kids went to your burial.
all in all I'm impressed how quickly things happen the second you shine the media spotlight on it and mob mentality takes over."
Kira sat listening letting her tears slowly trickle, she knew she could trust Jane, but the fact she had gone to the media with all the evidence was unbelievable, it could easily have cost her the job if it went wrong, Kira had relied on the job and been too afraid to act fearing it would hurt the children more.
Inari coughed to regain Kiras attention.
"Jane held quite a fine speech at your burial, I figured you might desire to know the rough points but overall she spoke very positively about you as a person, your care for others and your dedication to the kids, she further said that it was your death that had made her realise that life was too short to stand idly by and if she were to get fired or get into an accident who would take care of the kids, with that in mind had she decided to act
during your burial did a card with messages from all of the kids get buried with you, you might think your former life hadn't much worth, but evidence suggests that to be a mistaken assumption"
to think so much had happened in such little time was kind of impressive, Kira knew she had been sleeping a lot so the time didn't feel as long to her, at most a few days, but to think an entire month had passed was surreal.
"Oh before I forget, Jane adopted that Jack kid, and gave the disgusting lady her opinions very publicly, best part is, all those fine pretend people she was so obsessed with impressing no longer wants to associate with her, she was quite devastated
Jack seemed much happier last glance I saw of him"
to this Kira couldn't help but laugh, Jack had truly deserved a better home and she was sure that Jane would provide exactly that, her and Jane had already for lack of better already been acting the role prior.
With this Kira felt her obsession and worry about the past break, it was now much easier to look towards the future and what it might hold
"Just a shame I'll never catch up with my shows and video games" Kira muttered to herself.
Inari smirked
"I heard that young lady, and I'm not a heartless mom to deny my daughters hobbies, now is not the time and it won't be for a while, but remember you're long lived and I've made a room for you in my realm where I'm collecting those things I saw you obsessed back in the lost realm, I can't promise I get it right, but when the time comes and something is missing do you just have to ask, so work hard and become strong enough we no longer have to hide your existence"
Kiras eyes widened.
She would never be able to claim that Inari wasn't mindful of everything about her.
Inari got a lot more serious
"Now on to another matter I am honestly not happy about, but Aether spent quite a while ranting about how I couldn't claim the title of mother all to myself, and that she refused to be considered a cousin to her sister"
Kira facepalmed ofcourse she did.
"Yeah I'm afraid she didn't take well to me calling aunt Chaos for aunt Chaos..."
Inari looked away for a moment.
"I feel calling Chaos aunt is also doing her a bit of injustice in recent light, originally was her seed sub to mine, but during your sleep...
let's just say a lot happened and it became something else
I know it might be confusing but consider to also call her mom, when speaking to her directly, and if we are both here you can call us mom inari, or mom Chaos or just our names directly, it's a bit confusing but I think it would make Chaos happy
She should know by now I will not relinquish the primary custody of you though."
Kira could only frown at the last sentence, it was an almost obsessive tick her mom seemed to have, she couldn't help but wonder what had caused her to be so determined on what is ultimately a detail.
"Well it's a about time, Chaos should be done taking us back from the pocket universe, upon doing that will both Chaos and I be busy for a while, you can still contact us through our link but it will likely be difficult for us to get to you, and we can't guarantee we can always answer.
Nox And Aether will be here for you though, try to live your life freely and remember the constraints of your former life is no longer there!"
Kira couldn't do else but just nod her acknowledgement, she knew they couldn't be here forever and it was likely time to move on.
both Inari and Chaos went outside the shrine to see the explosion of the star and planet filled sky rushed over them to finally be replaced with what was the normal sun.
most of the people outside rejoiced as many of them hadn't seen the sun for weeks, the sky had been extremely pretty but after weeks without the sun or rain they were getting a bit weary especially those in charge of tending to the fields.
Chaos joined Inari with Aether and Nox in tow.
"With that I think it's probably for the best that we start to head out before they start to ask too many questions I think" chaos said and started to move inside the shrine.
Inari, Kira, and the twins followed along, Inside Inari gave Kira a massive hug.
"I will miss you, stay safe and please make sure to keep me up to date."
Kira was taken a bit by surprise as it had always been Chaos who had been the hugger but smiling she replied.
"Shall do mom, have a safe trip and hurry up with whatever it is you need to do"
Inari gave a polite wave opened what seemed like a weird wobbly void ans went through.
This time It was Chaos turn to hug her.
"Stay safe my dear, remember you can always reach out to us, and Both Nox and Aether is there for you"
Kira smiled and replied.
"Shall do mom, please get whatever you need to do done as quickly as possible and come back and say hi!"
Chaos eyes went wide as saucers
"What did you just say?"
Chaos was in complete disbelief and worried slightly if Inari would skin her for this, but couldn't help but indulge in this guilty pleasure.
"I spoke with Inari and we came to the conclusion that it wouldn't be fair to Rob you of the title just because you arrived a bit later
So I called you mom "
Kira was awkwardly scratching her ear, but Aether immediately broke through the awkwardness with a massive cheer
"Our sister is no longer rejecting our kinship"
Nox couldn't help but frown in return.
"She never did Aether you just jumped to extreme conclusions"
Aether frowned
"Sure she accepted kinship but cousins isn't the same as sisters, I won't be having it!"
deciding to give up Nox simply shook her head and gave Kira and Chaos a smile.
"Be well mom, I think I can safely say that Aether and I will be taking care of Kira in the meanwhile"
Chaos headed over gave both the twins a hug waved and went through the portal before it closed.