*knock, knock*
My knuckles gently wrapped on the door leading to Nozomi's hospital room. Charlotte stood next to me, her hands clutching at the bouquet we bought for our liaison. She wore a white sundress that exposed far more skin than her usual gothic-lolita look. Looking down at her I could see her little nipples as the fabric built for a larger bust was a little too loose on her petite body. It took great willpower to tear my eyes away from the mouthwatering sight.
"...Do you think she'll like them?" Charlotte's nervous voice broke the silence of the hallway. Her grip on the flowers grew stronger as she looked up at me, a worried look playing on her face. For the first time I realized she wanted friends, even if her messed up obsession with me pushed her to help me seduce these friends she still wanted genuine friendships. Underneath that overwhelming love in her heart was a little girl who had the same fears as any normal girl would. And I found that beautiful.
"I do." My arm wrapped around her shoulder as I pulled her close to me, "I'm glad you are making friends." I left out the part where I'd kill any boy who thought he could worm his way into her heart. My fiancee will only have female friends, preferably hot ones!
"I'm not trying to make friends with her, idiot! I'm just helping you seduce her!" Her loud voice broke the quiet peace of the hospital and a passing nurse gave Charlotte a wilting glare.
"W-who are you two?" A meek little voice came from just behind the hospital room door as I and Charlotte turned toward it. The door was slightly cracked and a pair of pink irises gazed at the both of us with apprehension and fear.
"Ah, sorry about the loudmouth here." I pushed Charlotte's straw sunhat down over her face. The little spitfire flailed her hands around in a futile attempt at pushing my hand off of her head. This seemed to disarm Fumiko's wary perception of us as the door cracked open a bit more to reveal a small smile playing on her pouty lips.
"My name is Garridan Wraith, and I'm your instructor at the academy." Her eyes seemed to widen as she looked at me, 'this bloke is a world-class exorcist?' was the thought that probably swam around in her head. Charlotte only huffed at the girl before grabbing hold of the door and pushing it open the rest of the way. Fumiko looked on in shock as the little girl overpowered her desperate attempt at keeping the door closed.
"H-hey wait you can't just—"
"...Fumiko who is it?" The quiet words of Nozomi interrupted the gyaru, her eyes bouncing back and forth between her mother lying on the bed and the intruders trying to disturb her.
"It's some rough-looking dude and his little jailbait slam piece, he says he's my teacher!" Charlotte didn't know what 'slam piece' meant but she could tell from Fumiko's tone it wasn't nice. So, she kicked the brown-skinned gyaru in the shin, the teen girl hopping on one foot holding her leg in pain.
"Fumiko! Don't you ever call Charlotte that word again or I'll wash your mouth out with soap the next time I hear it!" The roar of a momma bear filled the room as Fumiko visibly paled. Her mother even in her injured state was a force to be reckoned with.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk you made Mommy mad." I chided the mortified girl as I walked up to Nozomi's bedside.
The woman herself still looked pale with bandages wrapped around most of her torso. Her normally red-painted lips were now a pale pink having been wiped off by the nurses. Behind her red-rimmed glasses, her eyes brimmed with shame as she looked down at her clenched fists. Her head hung low and her untied hair cascaded over her like a curtain. To say she looked pitiful would be an understatement.
"...we brought flowers." Charlotte's meek words seemed to stir a reaction out of Nozomi as she looked at the younger girl with a kind smile. Her hands took gentle hold of the bouquet like it was the most precious treasure.
"Thank you, Charlotte they are beautiful." Tears streamed down her cheeks as she looked at the both of us. "Thank you, thank you for saving my daughter!" She wailed as she cried her heart out, her sorrow as a mother giving way to relieved joy. She put a hand under her glasses as she tried rubbing away her tears. Her daughter began crying too, her arms wrapping around her mother as two very impressive busts met squeezing together in a pillowy heaven that I wish I was in between.
"T-thank you for saving my mom!" The two crying messes made me feel guilty about what I would say next.
"You're welcome, but we need to talk." Charlotte gave me a nervous glance, the worry projected through her mark told me she thought this was a bad time to bring this up.
"W-what is it?" Nozomi sniffled as she spoke, her teary brown eyes looked at me with a looming dread. Fumiko's hold on her mother grew tighter her pink eyes glaring into mine with defensive hostility.
"You are weak." I grimaced as I said those blunt words. Nozomi's head dropped in shame, her hands gripping the blanket on her bed. Fumiko's eyes grew dark and a deep hatred spread from her body, the geist around her answering to her emotions.
"I know... I know I'm weak, but what was I supposed to do!? Am I supposed to let my daughter die in some phantom's gullet or become its plaything until her mind breaks!? I'd rather die than see her hurt, and if you think you'll make me stop being there for her then you're out of your fucking mind!" She screamed her breath coming in ragged gasps. Fumiko stared in awe at her mother's determination her own anger dying away. Their heads snapped toward me when they heard me give a slow clap, a proud smile playing on my face.
"Good, use that emotion to drive you! Geist responds to emotion, a determined person is far more likely to succeed than someone hopeless. I'm going to train you like I'll train your daughter, you'll both become killers." My grin became sadistic as I cracked my knuckles, the two girls shuddering under my intense gaze.
The two weakest links of Class 1-A would be getting private tutoring during the two weeks school is closed. The attack on the Tokyo Exorcist Academy had far-reaching effects.
***
(Ōishi Tsukasa's POV):
Bang
Bang
Bang
Crack
The wood log split as my fist tore through it, the tree it held up toppling over with a thundering crash. Sweat ran down my midriff as I moved to the next tree, my mind intently focused on the anger boiling underneath me.
How would I kill that man with a body this weak? I watched him kill a Tier-3 with a single strike of his blade and yet I fell unconscious before I could even take a step. Growling at the thought my leg battered into the trunk of a large tree. The bark sloughed off the tree like skin as I delivered another kick, my breathing kept tight as my geist flowed through me.
My leg turned a dull gunmetal grey as fire and earth elemental energy collided to form metal geist. The kick which normally would be a powerful yet dull strike sliced through the wood like a knife through butter. The tree collapsed in a loud crash that sent birds and squirrels skittering away in fear.
"Hah, I did it!" I jumped for joy as I finally completed it, Eukrasia. When one mixes elemental energy they can achieve harmony and balance with the two creating a new element. Metal eukrasia is the combination of earth and fire while the headmistress's lightning is fire and air. This was my trump card as the ability to mix elements is a rare trait found in only a select few.
"I will kill you, father!" My smile grew wider as I imagined the bastard dying with my hand holding his still-beating heart. But before that day I still needed to train, and according to the school my sensei defeated the phantoms attacking the school by himself. If he can help me kill my father then I'll do anything to repay him.
***
(Chihara Yuzuki's POV):
Walking through the bustling streets of Hyakki Yagyō felt so surreal. Having been in the human world for so long I forgot just how lively the world of Yōkai could be. Street vendors with multiple mouths hawked their wares in loud disordered voices, each creature announcing the sell of five different items with five different tongues. A talking inn announced the vacancy of one of it's rooms, the gate leading to it opening and closing with the whispering sound of it's windy voice.
"Shoes, shoes, come get your shoes at 8 Legs Shoe Emporium!" I dodged under the giant spiders twitching legs, each one had a leather boot at their end.
Beyond the bustling market of the Night Parade tucked away in a little alley was the place I called home. On a sign probably older than Japan itself covered in five different layers of peeling paint was the name Chihara. The walls of the squat little building were scrawled on with all manner of grafitti. 'Whore, bitch, traitor' and many more we're written on the walls with red paint. My face soured into a grimace as I looked at the words they called her, my own mother.
"Okaasan I'm home." My words stirred something in the little shack as the sound of bottles clattering together was followed by the sound of footsteps. What emerged from under the noren's (cloth door) aged black fabric was a stunning beauty.
Ruby-red eyes shaped like a cat's gazed at me, their predatory desire was held back only by the smallest sliver of sanity. She wore a kimono that barely covered the top half of her body as her soft breasts were held in place by the very top of her dress. A gold belt hugged her toned stomach and a slit ran up one side of her legs revealing a creamy pale thigh and it's seductive curve. Two pointed cat ears adorned her head each one twitching and flicking as they picked up the ambient sounds of the city like a radar. And at the point where her bum met her spine two flowing tails floated in the air as if they were lighter than air. My mother Kiyomi stood before me.
"Oh, yay Yuzu-chan is back!" Her crushing hug had me gasping for air and yet I couldn't help but smile at this airheaded mom of mine.
"...Mom stop you're crushing me!" I tapped on her back as the light slowly faded in my eyes, the world growing darker than the already permanent darkness of Hyakki Yagyō.
"Ugh, fine." She released me as I slumped onto my knees, deep breaths filled my lungs with life-giving air.
"Thanks, mom."
"Yes be thankful that I am as magnanimous as I am....But Yuzu-chan why are you here, it's not like I'm complaining heck I thought you were too young to go to school anyway. We should wait until you turn 100 and get your second tail!" Her words sent a sting of shame in my cheeks as I realized how right she had been. The locals talk here of how weak the human world was had left me naive to the true danger of the world. I hadn't trained and that lack of preparation almost cost me my life as I was rendered unconscious before I could even move.
"That's the thing mom... I kind of want to train my Bakeneko powers." I spoke lightning-fast toward the end, my fear of my mother's response compelling me to do so.
"Huh?" Her eyes grew wide until they eventually rolled up into her skull and she passed out. My panicked scream filled the alleyway as the blood-red moon of Hyakki Yagyō bathed us in its light.
***
(Homusubi Akari's POV):
I've always had muted emotions, my inability to feel anything made using my family fire techniques impossible. So when I asked the girls at school what they thought would help me feel emotions they recommended something strange.
In my hand was a rather dubious book cover of a man with all too perfect muscles and long flowing blond hair. His crystal blue eyes gazed at me with something I couldn't understand and the way he bit his lip told me he was holding something back and yet I didn't know what it was.
The story itself however did do something to me. Each scene where the handsome man put his penis in the main character had me feeling uncomfortable. A tingling sensation grew in my vagina and when an exploratory hand rubbed against the sopping wetness of my quim I moaned for the first time. My hand continued to rub against my outer folds, my mind-numbing in a pleasant haze that sent electric arcs down my spine. I had discovered the secret joy of masturbation.