"What is your plan?"
Iori asked simply, instantly taking Yasaka back to those simpler days. Where it was just her and her master; fishing, farming, blacksmithing. Really he did anything to keep his mind occupied but she still treasured those times greatly. What she would give to go back…
'Kunou…'
Just thinking of her daughters name was all it took to dispel the sudden stream of nostalgia.
"Originally," The kitsune said after a beat," We were on a precarious edge. Balancing between standing firm on certain things and letting others pass-by. The other factions know when to push and when to back off, less they test our bottom lines. Well that was the case until…"
He didn't rush his disciple, figuring that whatever she had say would be spit out eventually. Besides, he already had an idea on what exactly happened.
"An incident happened," She slumped, drawing in closer to varitably collapse in her master's comforting arms," Over a decade ago, a talented Nekomata by the name of Kuroka went berserk and killed her master, some scion of the Nebiros House, and became a Stray Devil. And in retaliation, the House massacred every single Nekomata in their territory…"
"Except for 1," She continued, tears beginning to stream down her face," A child by the name Shirone. They would have killed her too if Sirzechs hadn't stepped in. No matter how much I wished to do something about it, I couldn't. I couldn't leave Kyoto nor could I demand anything from one of the Pillars. They got away with everything scot-free. No apology, not even a promise from the Satan themselves to see justice done. All the Nekomata clans, no matter how distant they might be, are all incredibly close so it was the toughest on them to hear their relatives be slaughtered like cattle. They demanded justice from me, for permission to march into every bit of territory in Japan owned by the Nebiros House and destroy them. Chase them out of Japan and forever bar them from ever purchasing Spirit Plumbs from us. Something, anything to retaliate against those monsters."
"But," She sobbed quietly, thoroughly ruining his pristine kimono," I couldn't. Not only did the Houses present a unified front against us, but even the Satans had taken a side. It would be all out if I dared to take action against the Nebiros House in anyway…"
"When we received the ultimatum of let the situation die out or there would be war, we-no I had no choice. No choice but to not pursue this incident. No choice but to turn a blind-eye as an entire branch of my people were turn into corpses overnight. No choice but to turn the other cheek."
Iori only solemnly listened, rubbing at the woman's golden locks as she hid her face in his clothes. The image of that fox girl all those years overlapping over the beauty before him. They were both young at the time, and it wasn't strange for hormones to get out of control leading to a fight between the 2. But no matter how bad the fight or disagreement, this was how it always ended. Her ugly crying into his clothes. They got better as they aged but that never changed.
Maybe that's why she stayed even after all these years..
"We avoided an outright slaughter," She explained, breathing in deep of his oh so familiar scent," But the damage was done. Not only was an entire clan branch of our massacred but we couldn't even muster up the strength to object. The Nebiros-no the Devils broke our bottom line and brought in a new era. An era in which the other factions could keep demanding for more and more. Previous allies of our no longer saw any benefits to a fair deal with us and just joined the bandwagon. Even now, most of our alliances are entirely one sided and only barely concealed threats. We're essentially paying tribute at this point."
They then stood in silence, taking in the other's breathing. Enjoying the cool breeze running across their skin. The moon overhead seeming to star down at the reunion of a master and his disciple. The gentle crickets chirping and hooting in the distance only added to the peaceful ambiance.
For the first time in a long time, Yasaka felt like a colossal weight had been lifted off her shoulders. As both a mother and leader, she had no one to turn to like this. No Yokai would ever have any confidence in her again if they saw their vaunted leader, their strongest, bawl like a child.
And Kunou had enough on her plate, it didn't feel right to shatter the illusion she's built up of the older woman.
"Then I must ask again," Iori broke the silence, murmuring into the crown of her head," What is your plan?"
Yasaka knew the man before her well enough to hear the unspoken question just hidden beneath the surface. She knew in this moment, that she her decision held the lives of every single faction in the balance. With just one word, the bloody heavens would return. Crimson would flood the Underworld, the Grigori would become nothing more than a rumor, the Church would be crushed beneath the feet of a giant and the list went on. A single, hostile promise that could overturn the entire world.
But no matter how her vindictive nature wished for exactly that, to fully payback all the trouble the factions have given her people, a singular face popped up in her mind's eye. A girl on the cusp of becoming a teenager, a small round face. Golden eyes that looked up to her, fluffy tails and ears.
Kunou, her only child.
She wanted her daughter to live in a world far different from hers, where such wide bloodshed was the norm. To live in a world of peace and where everyone could work together. Where she didn't live in fear of someone becoming ballsy enough to kidnapped her kit, just to extract more resources.
For that reason and that reason alone, Yasaka, the golden nine-tailed kitsune, drew her metaphorical paw away from that particular doomsday button.
"I," She coughed slightly," I don't want them destroyed. I don't want you to stain your hands for someone else again. This is a much different time, diplomacy is king these days. I want to give them a chance. A chance to live in harmony."
'For my daughter's sake.'
"If that is your wish."
Iori agreed readily enough. After all he hadn't really expected his disciple to pull to trigger anyway, she was way too much of a softy even back then. That had only grown after the birth of her daughter.
"It is." Yasaka sighed, taking a couple deep breathes of the man's scent. Praying that all this wasn't some kind of dream, for she didn't know if she could or would ever want out of it. "This might sound selfish, but please agree this foolish disciple's request."
"I will listen."
"The Yokai Faction as a whole is weak." She said bluntly," We're stuck in the past and simply put, our abilities of illusions just aren't enough to handle higher ranked threats. And with our Senjutsu knowledge crippled and our general isolation, we're like fish in a barrel."
'Gee.' He flinched internally, infinitely glad that there wasn't any Yokai around to hear their own leader disparage them this much. Such words would surely spark a civil war, damn the consequences.
"So with that in mind," Yasaka retracted herself from him and fell into a practiced dogeza," Please allow this stupid disciple make an idiotic request to her master. Please, please lend us your strength. Your patronage until you deem we can stand on our own."