By the time we return to Kyoto, Yasaka looks at me with a frown on her face. Uh oh. I have a feeling that she will scold me for coming back with clothes full of blood.
As we leave Toto, Yasaka walks toward me and says,
"Ryan…"
"Yes?"
"No sex for a week."
"Aw, men!"
I look at Nurarihyon, who is loudly laughing at my misfortune and say.
"This is your fault!"
He wipes tears from his eyes and says.
"What? My fault? You are the one who wants to come with us. I am grateful because without you following us, we would be dead by now, but this is your fault."
I am about to say something, but Yasaka looks at Nurarihyon and says.
"What do you mean by dead? Are the people on that island really powerful?"
Nurarihyon looks at Yasaka with a serious expression before saying.
"Let's talk inside. I need you to call Lady Amaterasu, and I will give you the details. We found a solution to our problem."
Yasaka nods and says.
"Let's get inside. I shall prepare the ritual to call Lady Amaterasu."
"Good."
While we are walking back to the palace, Yasaka looks at me and says.
"You should go and take a bath, Ryan. Are you hurt? I can ask my healer to heal you."
"I am doing fine, dear. I already healed my injuries and only need to rest for a moment."
"I see. Then I will ask the servant to prepare an herbal bath for you."
"Oi!"
The two of us look at Nurarihyon, who gives us a playful smirk.
"Give some herbal bath as well. I am still your guest. Don't only pamper your mate, Yasaka."
"Go and make your own bath, you old youkai. You are old enough to make your own bath. The ingredients are in the kitchen."
Instead of being angry, Nurarihyon laughs and gives her a small smile.
"You truly love him, huh?"
Yasaka releases her frown and says.
"Yeah. I love Ryan, and I am worried when I see all the blood."
"Good." He nods his head. "It is good that you have already moved on. Harada will be happy to see you move on and search for happiness. He will also be happy that little Kunou has a father figure that she can lean on."
Harada, huh? That must be Yasaka's late husband, who died in battle to protect her while she was going through labor. Yasaka rarely speaks of how her late husband died, but she is willing to talk about her late husband's bravery.
It looked like she did not want to talk about her late husband to me because she thought that I would be jealous of her talking about her late husband. I need to talk to her about that sometimes.
"Yeah…" Yasaka smiles a little. "He is that kind of person."
We continue to walk to the palace and change the subject to a happier one as we banter with each other. After a few minutes of walking, we arrived inside the palace. Nurarihyon walks to his room while Yasaka and I walk to our room.
When we enter our room, I quickly remove my clothes and walk to the bathroom. I sit on the stool and start to clean my body while the warm water fills the bathtub. I blink a little when I see the door to the bathroom open up and see Yasaka walk inside the bathroom with only a towel around her body.
"Yasaka?"
"Let me wash over your body, Ryan."
I can only nod and enjoy her touch as she scrubs my back. I wince a little as she touches the still-healing wound on my back.
"You are fighting Orochi once again, huh?"
"His clone. It is a lot weaker than the original one."
"Even still, you fight another dragon, and this time, it manages to hurt you quite badly."
She leans forward, and I can feel her breasts touch my back and her warm breath on my neck.
"Please tell me the truth, Ryan. Do you hurt badly? As bad as the others?"
I can only sigh and say.
"Not really.."
I decided to tell her the truth.
"What do you mean?"
"It is not as bad as you thought it was. It melted some of my flesh but did not penetrate my bone. My Dragon Slayer Magic prevents it from melting all the way through."
I point at my lower left rib and say.
"This one is the worst one. I can see my bone when I notice it."
It was because of my last attack. As I cut through a lot of its body, some of the acids around its body hit my body. Most of them evaporate from Susanoo's blessing, but some of them manage to get through, and this part of my body gets the worst hit.
"Does it still hurt?"
"A little bit. My power might be great for healing, but it takes a lot out of me to regenerate flesh after it gets destroyed by acid."
She stayed silent for a few seconds, and I was about to turn around, but she hugged me before I could do that. She puts her hands around my neck and hugs me tightly.
"Yasaka?"
"You stupid man. Why do all the mates I love always throw their bodies into danger? Why can't you just stay near me?"
I turn my head and give her a quick kiss before saying.
"Because that is what makes you love us. It is what makes us who we are. I know that you are worried, Yasaka. I swear I will be careful and return to you every time I fight against the big bad."
I turn around and look her in the eyes.
"I will not leave you guys. I love Kunou. I love Asia. And I love you. I will never leave you guys. I shall always be coming back to you guys. I promise."
She leans over and kisses me in the mouth. I let her take the lead and feel her warm breath. After a few seconds, she releases me and says,
"And the pact is sealed. If you die, I shall go to Lady Izanami and beg her to let me beat you as your punishment for breaking this promise."