(Vale POV)
After Haruka suddenly threw a ball of blood-red light at me, I felt a lurching sensation followed by a sudden shift in scenery. I was then standing in my bedroom, and the sun was coming up through the window.
It was then that a system window opened itself in my field of vision, displaying something I never thought I would see.
{You have gained a new Blessing}
[Minor Blessing of the Grand goddess of Blood, War, Honor, and Foxes Haruka]
[Effect 1: Faster learning and understanding of combat techniques]
[Effect 2: Instinctual understanding of those who hold themselves with honor]
This must have been what that ball of red light was. It also explained why it was the color of blood, and if what she was insinuating is true, then Grandma is not someone to mess with.
Now feeling bad about what I did and having stalled for long enough, I walk out of my room and head downstairs to the dining room were Raina is usually waiting in the morning.
Walking through the door, I find that no one is sitting at the table but I was able to hear some movement in the kitchen. There were also what I thought were voices, but I could not tell, and I did not know where Raina could be, so I sat at the table even though it stated to chew me up inside that I could not talk to her faster.
Eventually, I heard someone start to walk to the dining room from the kitchen, even though it felt like hours had passed since I walked in and sat down.
Soon someone walked through the doorway and was able to see who they were.
The first thing I noticed was the moon-colored tail followed by a white and gold robe displaying a phoenix in flight, and finally, the face of Rainawho looked surprised to see me sitting there.
Quickly getting up, I launched myself at her and wrapped her in a hug while she was still stunned and rapidly started to apologise by constantly saying that I was sorry.
Eventually, she came out of her stunned state and pulled me away from her before asking, "What are you apologizing for?"
Not wanting to look her in the eye, I kept my head lowered whilst I felt my ears flatten out to either side of my head and my tail drop to the ground while I responded, "I am sorry for the way I acted and not letting you explain more clearly."
I thought that she would not be happy about what I did and say something to correct my actions, but unlike what I was thinking, she instead reached forward and rubbed my head between my ears. She then said, "It's not you who should be apologizing for this. I was the one who made a mistake and should have asked you before I did that.
"So it should be me who is saying sorry to you."
When she said this, I finally looked up at her to see her smiling down at me with a guilty look in her eye. She then motioned to the table and said, "I made your favorite breakfast."
Looking at the table saw a few plates sitting there, with two of them piled high with food. One of the plates that contained food was covered in pancakes, while the other had so much bacon on it that my tail unconsciously started to wave around at a fast speed. I then darted to my chair and sat down, waiting for Mom to do the same, allowing us to start the meal.
This series of actions by me elicited Mom to start laughing without the previous guilt that marred her face. She then sat down at the head of the table and started to grab some of the pancakes, only to place them on my plate.
While all this happened, the person who went unnoticed in the background smiled before taking her seat as well.
It was only then that I realized Yuki had been there the whole time, watching everything from start to finish. I could not help but feel my face go red in embarrassment from this as she just smiled while watching me before grabbing some food for herself.
I then looked down at my own plate to see it piled high with both pancakes and bacon while a floating pitcher of maple syrup was pouring some of the heavenly brown liquid over all of it.
Looking over at Mom's plate, I saw that she had only two pancakes on it with a few pieces of bacon, which was pretty simple compared to mine. So I reached forward and placed a few more pieces of bacon onto her plate causing her to smile before she placed her hands together and lowered her head.
Recognizing what she was doing, I mimicked her movements and gave a prayer of my own before opening my eyes and waiting for Mom to take the first bite.
Her eyes were still closed, and she did not seem to be aware of the world, so I turned to look at Yuki and saw her looking at Mom with both shock and confusion, then looking at me with a question clear in her eyes.
I was going to ask her what it was but Mom opened her eyes at this time and reached forward to take the first bite of food.
With that, the meal was started and her question was put to the side as I focused on my food.
Just like last time, the pancakes were delicious, but for some reason, there was a hint of another flavor that I thought was bacon, but I could not fully place it.
Besides this, I still finished everything on my plate as fast as possible and finished not long after Mom.
It was then that she raised her hand, which was now surrounded by a glowing white, towards me. This caused me to back away from her and ask, "What are you doing?"
She did not seem that shocked by my actions, but she was still clearly hurt by it. She lowered her hand slightly and said, "I was going to remove the curse I placed on you."
Hearing this, I stopped for a moment as I thought that she would want to keep that going and I would have to convince her to remove it, but instead, I was now speaking up about that. "I am fine with it, but I would prefer if the curse would stop at 14 instead of 10."
This caused her to pause for a moment before her face lit up in joy as she said, "12, and I will help you get access to three techniques of your choosing. If you allow me to keep the curse at ten, then I will help you get access to a whole series of techniques."
This was what I was expecting initially, so I tried to barter with her by asking, "Do I get both of them if I say you can keep it at 10?"
Mom then shook her head from side to side and said, "No, you won't, and the conditions are non-negotiable."
I wanted to try more, but with Mom's last words, I had my choice decided for me so I said, "I will just keep it at fourteen then."
Mom looked disappointed to hear this answer, but I soon noticed that the light on her hand flashed before it disappeared, and a system window appeared in my vision.
{Curse has been modified and will now only lower your age to fourteen.}
With that done, the concern I had over it vanished, and I smiled at Mom before remembering that the project should be finished now, so I asked excitedly, "Did you say that you finished up the project yesterday?"
Still looking at me Mom smiled and seemed to forget about the incident as well, as she answered, "I did. Even though I needed some help from Elinaria and Stephanie to finish it."
I then got up quickly and almost started to bounce in place while nearly shouting, "Then what are you waiting for?! Let's go, let's go, let's go!"
I was even tugging on her sleeve by the end of it.
She then started laughing while seeing this and asked, "Are you sure that you aren't twelve?"
I paused at this before frowning and retorting, "Only if you give me both rewards."
What I did not expect after saying that was to see a brief flash of light and see another system window pop up in my vision.
{Curse has been changed to lower your age to twelve}
Looking at Mom again, I could not help but be shocked at her actions before she grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the house instead.
She then said, "Why are you standing there? Didn't you want to see your gift?"