Training again…
and a meeting?

 

Part 1

 

MC’s POV

 

The next morning Kaa-san woke
me up since she was worried about the state of my body.

 

I was covered in sweat all
over. I did find it harder to communicate with He (?) but I did not think it
would affect my body for real.

 

Kaa-san left to continue
making breakfast after making sure I was perfectly fine.

 

I still could not put my head
around the things he (?) said about giving me powers. I can barely understand
that I will probably be able to use magic and that my ability to handle Ki will
improve somewhat. For the other things... I don't know that much, although what
he(?) mentioned regarding me seeing, I guess that is easy enough to give it
try.

 

But for now, I have a more
important business to focus on.

 

The person who cursed Kaa-san.
In this particular world, there are a bunch of psychos going around and causing
troubles wherever they go. That makes it hard to guess which one could've done
it. However, I can't tell her about it, her child had died. Even if she never
had him, she would probably be saddened by the news.

 

Still, I need to know more
about the incident where she got cursed... perhaps Yasaka-san will know.

 

"Nora-chan, breakfast is
ready". I heard Kaa-san's call coming from the kitchen.

 

Well, for now... let's eat. I
have not eaten anything since yesterday at lunch.

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Today's lunch was more than
what Kaa-san usually makes.

 

Every dish looks very
appetizing.

 

Steamed rice, grilled fish,
miso soup, even tamagoyaki (rolled omelet). The quantity is rather high this
time.

 

They usually taste very good,
although once in a while, Kaa-san gets affected by her hidden, or not so
hidden, airheaded and klutz attributes. The effects can vary every time. One of
the most common mistakes is usually confusing salt with sugar, or vice-versa.
That is why I always have to be prepared for any kind of flavor.

 

In my previous life I never
had the chance to taste Japanese-style food, so the first time she gave food
like that I was curious. I had long heard of the combination of flavors and had
an idea what to expect. That is why I was taken by surprise when something I
thought was suppose to be salty, tasted very sweet instead.

 

Putting aside my inner
struggles, Kaa-san just smiled while offering me a seat.

 

I guess that not much has
changed. I am glad.

 

...

...

 

After finishing our breakfast
(lucky day, everything tasted normal), I was helping Kaa-san clean the table
when I decided to ask for a few things.

 

"Kaa-san, Can we talk for
a moment?" I asked.

 

She glanced at me curiously
and stopped cleaning the dishes.

 

"Hmmm, is it about
yesterday?" She asked back.

 

I smiled bitterly at her tone
filled with concern. She might be acting like normal, but I guess that she
still has that topic in mind.

 

"Yes, you could say that.
I think that now that you know more about me, it will be easier to ask for a
couple of things. I have two requests for now if that is alright with
Kaa-san". I told her.

 

"Just ask me
anything". She replied.

 

She was just going to do what
I ask to. Kaa-san, please hear me first before accepting like that.

 

"Please do wait for me to
tell you first what I want, and don't go saying something like that so easily.
You don't know if I have wicked thoughts and I will be asking you to do awful
things". I told her firmly.

 

I am worried that a bad man
will trick her if she is like that all the time.

 

"Ohhhh, you will ask me
that? Oh, what should I do? We have a mother and child relationship... Kyaa! We
can't!" Kaa-san spoke in a mock-worried tone, although her blushing cheeks
made me wonder what she imagined.

 

Forget about worrying about
her. If she can still joke like that... she will be ok. Probably.

 

"Ah! Don't worry about
it. I will not say this to just anyone. You are my child and I trust you... and
if you want to..." Kaa-san seriously muttered but her tone got playful at
the end.

 

I have never been good at
handling the teasing of others… because she was joking, right?

 

So I will use the mighty...
'change the subject'.

 

"Kaa-san, I would like
you to help me publish something". I started to explain.

 

It was nothing complicated, I
was planning to use a slightly (highly) low-handed method of taking advantage
of my knowledge of different works of fiction to publish them here. In the end,
I feel like I should repay Kaa-san and Yasaka-san (not like I told her that,
I  was just asking because it was one of
my regrets, or so I told her), I don't think my abilities to write stories will
be enough to give them what I think they deserve. So I will use the other
method I had. Well, I will still be writing my manuscripts so perhaps that
would be an unexpected harvest (hope so).

 

Not only had I explained to
her what I wanted to do, I also asked for writing supplies, particularly, a
laptop. Although I could work by writing it using paper, I think using
technology here would be more helpful for my second request. It would save me
time.

 

"That should be it... Is
it possible? I think about it starting little by little, but I can't do that on
my own. So..." I said.

 

At the end of my explanation,
I felt slightly nervous; this would cause them many troubles.

 

"Regrets you had huh... I
see. I guess you wish to fulfill them this time. It should be easy to arrange,
but I will be asking Yasaka-chan for help since I am not too versed in
technology. You shouldn't worry about asking for anything, you know. I was
worried when you were little, you never asked for anything in particular. After
hearing all that yesterday, I understood the reason. But, even though you have
lived more years than what your appearance might show... You should never
forget that I will do everything I can to help you". She seriously said.

 

I see... well, I won't say
anything then.

 

"That takes me to my
second request; I would like to continue the trai-". I started to tell her
but I was cut off by her.

 

"Not going to
happen". Kaa-san spoke with a look that would not accept any further
compromise.

 

"But you said..." I
tried to counter her but-

 

"This is this and that is
that. Don't even think about it". Kaa-san concluded before standing up.

 

This is troubling; I might
need to try harder to convince her. How can I coax her to accept my request?

 

...

...

 

...I managed to convince her
after four hours of hard work... and various compromises.

 

She was not going to use the
same method with the Senjutsu healing bullets. Kaa-san explained that as I am
now, that method would end up causing me problems when I grow up.

 

I could only accept the idea
albeit reluctantly. I thought that such training was perfect because it covered
several areas, but Kaa-san should be reluctant to try it even though I am not a
young child on the inside.

 

Instead, she kept the part
where I exhaust myself while making me recover the fastest I can by relying on
my own Ki, or just by letting time pass.

 

After talking to her about the
problem I had with the speed of recovering... she gave me a bow and a quiver of
arrows, leaving me dumbfounded. Kaa-san then explained that I needed better
control in Ki if I wanted to increase my recovery speed. The idea of the bow
and arrows consisted of me adding a particular amount of Ki to reinforce the
arrow. Making every arrow contain a different amount would lead me to control
better how much I use. The thing is that I needed to keep in check my recovery
rate to make it last as much time as possible, all by continuously doing it
without stopping.

 

I asked her why I could not
try using pure Senjutsu bullets but... she just told me that I should only
mention it when I have good enough control to transform easily into my cat
form.

 

The topic was not mentioned
again because... I would have to train in that a lot.

 

One of the compromises
required me to sleep in my cat form with Kaa-san now and then. She was somewhat
lonely that I was no longer doing it at my age.

 

I could only reluctantly
accept since I was asking too much from her. Although I blame my slow speed in
ending the topic because Yasaka-san overheard us and demanded the same reward
in payment for her help at training. Not like I was that against staying with a
beautiful woman... but I was supposed to stay as a cat.

 

Perhaps I let it show on my
face too much because Yasaka-san told me I could even do it in my regular form.

 

The answer I gave her to
that... I will keep it as a secret in my heart for now.

 

Other than all those things, I
guess that continuing with training with Yasaka-san was the thing that did not
advance too much for a while. As the leader of Youkais(she has never directly
told me), she has duties to take care of. Whenever she comes by is because she
rushes to take care of things but it is not possible to do so every time.

 

During those times, I focused
on writing. I never had such a good memory so I had to do my best to get out of
my head all the ideas regarding the light novels and mangas I had before I had
forgotten them.

 

In that manner, time passed
by.

 

Part 2

 

-Time skip, 1 year

 

Sitting on a log just outside
the house, I was thinking about my new training.

 

On my right side, there was a
sack full of... seeds. In front of me, there were several pots with plants of
different sizes.

 

Some of these plants seem
healthy, but for the most part, they were dried or had weird shapes, and the
fault of that lies not with the quality of the seeds but... me.

 

A little over a month ago,
Kaa-san decided to add to my training her use of Senjutsu to heal. You could
say she was teaching me her craft.

 

She took part of the time I
used to write which I accepted since there was no news regarding the few
manuscripts I handed a few months prior, leaving me with a bit of free time.

 

I never had any problem trying
to aid my recovery of fatigue so I thought it was going to be easy but Kaa-san
spotted a problem once we started to train.

 

In simpler terms, my Ki was
not 'gentle' enough. Which after a couple of checks on her part... she located
the problem at the root of Ki. Inside my inner world or how you might want to
call it.

 

Over the years, I kept
compressing my Ki as I gathered it and absorbed it.

 

But the rate which I gathered
Ki became much more during this time due to the little changes He (?) did.

 

This led to raising the amount
I had rather quickly, and every time the ball... or let us call it 'orb'. Every
time the orb of Ki increased in size too much, I would do my best to compress
it further.

 

Now then, what is the problem?
Well, I could use easily use my usual Youjutsu spells due to me having got used
to them. But now learning a new technique became much harder because even a
'little' of it was much more quantity than I needed and they would haywire.

 

I just raised the quality too
much for me to use some techniques.

 

To avoid further problems,
Kaa-san made this practice for me. Stressing the 'life energy' of Ki, I had to
help the plants grow with my Ki.

 

The first time I tried this...
I wasted an entire sack without making a single one sprout.

 

Considering trying to change
my orb of Ki... Kaa-san 'kindly' advised me to stop playing around.

 

She told me how the process I
did is used a lot by beings of a certain level of power. Because if they let
their Ki, Demonic power, Magical power, or Holy power, keep growing in size
inside their inner world, it would make it harder to keep track of it.

 

The difference from me is that
they have years under their belt regarding the control of their power.

 

In the end, while my level of
Ki might look small, the quality was better than people of my level.

 

But I decided to not care
about any of that, they are they and I am I. I just had to train and practice
more to fix the problem.

 

Taking another seed and
inserting it in the pot, I proceeded to make it sprout when-

 

"Nora-chan, Can you
please come to the house for a moment? I heard Kaa-san calling me.

 

Thinking it was odd for her to
stop my training like that; I went to see what she wanted.

 

Inside the house, Kaa-san and
Yasaka-san awaited me.

 

"Nora-chan, Nora-chan!
Your manuscripts were a big hit!" Kaa-san happily spoke.

 

That is a piece of good news...
although I have sent a good number of them.

 

I did not remember word by
word each light novel or manga I read, so I had to be a little creative. I kept
apologizing in my mind to authors while I wrote, so I hope they forgive me.

 

"Which one was it...? I sent
five". I said

 

Indeed, over the year I sent a
big number of ideas that were rejected for the most part.

 

You must never underestimate
that industry.

 

"There were three of
them, the story of the detective kid, the exorcist, and the treasure
hunter". Yasaka-san replied in Kaa-san's place.

 

Really? From those three, one
was my original one and not someone else's work.

 

"Nora-chan, two of them
even made it overseas. They were liked by a lot of people (youkais) we
know". Kaa-san said almost like competing with Yasaka-san.

 

That is even better. But, to
be liked by the youkais-

 

"That is good but... You
are speaking about those three in particular?" I asked.

 

"They liked the story
about the exorcist. They said how having a non-human protagonist was rare these
days". Yasaka-san explained.

 

Those guys must be wrong in
the head... to like that one in particular. They are youkais.

 

I don't even know where to
begin retorting.

 

"But the story about the
treasure hunter was well-received more by kids, even though it was a rather
long book". Kaa-san said.

 

That story in particular was a
really old idea I had from back then, I sent it among the first manuscripts and
got rejected. After that, I kept working and working on it. And it looks like
my hard work paid fruit.

 

"There is even a talk
about a manga, although those talks are still under discussion. However, they
informed me that it would go smoothly after they set a date to talk with us. However,
are you sure that you want only the money of that story? If you count the
others, you would be getting a good amount of money of it... perhaps you don't
mind now that you are little but when you get older..." Yasaka-san asked
with concern.

 

That is something I requested
of her.

 

She should get all the shares
in that along with Kaa-san. I used the argument that I was a kid and they could
manage it better than me… and how I just wanted to write for fun, which is what
convinced her.

 

Although I feel like Kaa-san
saw through that since she did not say a word... I think she decided to mention
the topic again when I get older.

 

"It is ok, I don't think
it is good that a child gets to use that much money just like that. I also
trust that you could put that money to good use; you can even use it to invest.
You can later give me my share when I ask for it". I answered back..

 

Not like I will ever ask for
it.

 

This way, she could use it to
grow somewhat the influence of the youkais.

 

If possible, I would like a
better grasp of the city. The responsible for Kaa-san's curse from back them is
still unknown. Although I have a suspect, I heard from Kaa-san how he is MIA
since a while back.

 

I had asked Yasaka-san to do a
bit of proving for a certain idea I had. And he is gone now. I can only wonder
if he was a loose end that got taken care of... or the culprit himself. Either
way, there is the need to find more clues.

 

Thanks to that particular
topic Yasaka-san sometimes keeps staring at me. I feel like she suspects
somewhat about me being something more than a kid, but decides to remain silent
since I have not made any signs of being a threat for her friend. Her stares
also get directed at my tail sometimes so I can't be sure though.

 

"Nora-chan, Did you hear
what I said?" Kaa-san muttered while shaking my shoulder.

 

"Eh? What?" I asked
back.

 

I was too lost in thought.

 

"Yasaka-chan said that
you should talk with those people regarding the manga". Kaa-san repeated
what was said.

 

The what?

 

How did it come to that?

 

"Don't make that face
like you don't know what this is about... You are the author and you should
have a better idea about what kind of style it should have. I know that you did
not want initially to make one, but our staff strongly insisted to push the
idea forward and many very thrilled... that is the reason why the talks have
been going but no decision has been taken". Yasaka-san explained.

 

I did not want that because I
did not want to get involved in anything other than giving the idea.

 

"But I don't think a
child should be getting involved with such big talks..." I argued.

 

That is no joke. I know
nothing about the process so I could make it worse. Besides, I want to leave
this to these two, if I get too involved they might want to give me 'my share'
later.

 

Not to mention that I don't like
to be surrounded by too many people.

 

"It is your manuscript so
you have more than enough reasons to be there. No one will there to bother you
with me there. Saya-chan will come with us too". Yasaka-san spoke.

 

Wait, Kaa-san was the one that
did not want to let me leave this place until I got older, why... Oh, I see.
She knows what I want to do... this is how she decided to counter my idea.

 

"It is decided then, we
will be leaving tomorrow". Kaa-san, the culprit behind all this, muttered
while a slight smile.

 

"I still don't know how
to hide my ears and tail so perhaps I should not go..." I used my trump
card.

 

"I can hide those with
Youjutsu on my side, or I have a few tokens that help you with that".
Yasaka-san said, crushing my now-that-i-think-about-not-so-good-trump-card.

 

No choice but to do it huh.

 

Part 3

 

???’s POV

 

At an unknown location, two
individuals seemed to be having a conversation.

 

Both of them were wearing
robes and hoods.

 

Being black and brown
respectively.

 

The black-robed one seems to
be inspecting a small object, which was as big a bead, colored black.

 

"You certainly did it...
It was properly nurtured". The black-robed one said.

 

Putting the bead inside the
robe, he sounded satisfied.

 

"Hmph, of course, I did it,
I would not be here to give you a failure". The brown-robed one replied
with a snort.

 

"Indeed... by the way...
Are you still not planning to start with the plan to get rid of your target? I
know how you said you were patient but... it's been years already". The
black-robed one commented.

 

A much longer time than what
the black-robed individual expected had passed.

 

"There have been a couple
of problems, for some reason that fox woman started to dig on the last incident
and some of the previous ones to that one. She also seemed to want to apprehend
me, thanks to that, I had to leave. I have no news about the Nekomata woman or her
child. Even if I have it, I can't go back if the fox woman is wary of me".
The brown-robed one explained.

 

Even though he said how there
were several problems, the brown-robed individual was not bothered.

 

"That is strange
considering how careful you usually are... then your plan is done for...?"
The black-robed one inquired.

 

The situation did not sound
like something that the brown-robed individual would cause, so the black-robed
individual decided to ask.

 

"The initial plan is done
for; as long as she makes me the bad guy I can't go there again. I still
planned to take care of her too so this hardly changes anything, but I need to
deal with the other one first". The brown-robed one spoke.

 

There was almost an obsession
with the order the brown-robed individual wanted to take the other woman first.

 

"It is your choice
then... We will fulfill the request to take care of the woman with the child as
we agreed before. No more than that unless you pay the corresponding
price". The black-robed one said.

 

Not interested in the reason,
or perhaps for a personal reason, the black-robed individual just cut short the
subject with that.

 

"Aren't you unusually
cold this time? What is it? You have some problem on your end?" The
brown-robed one questioned.

 

The brown-robed individual
seemed interested in why the other party acted like that.

 

"Nothing much... Just...
rumors are going about 'peace talks'. We are not very please with those... Oh, we
seem to have heard an interesting rumor that you might find informative".
The black-robed one answered after thinking for a moment.

 

The black-robed one did not
delve into the topic too much but decided to change the subject.

 

"Do tell... If it comes
from you then it should be pretty accurate". The brown-robed one asked in
a slightly interested tone.

 

Curious about the information,
the brown-robed individual sounded almost eager to know.

 

"Well... The 'devils' are
looking for someone to aid them in healing someone sick, or so we heard, and
some people have been mentioning information about your target. For now, We
only know that it is a high-ranked family, but the details are not clear. What
we know is that they started to look for 'her'... but due to their particular
request, they are being extra careful". The black-robed one exclaimed.

 

Unusual for the black-robed
individual, he spoke a lot.

 

"The 'devils' huh... It
would make things complicated if they formed some sort of link due to this
situation... or maybe... Yes... This could be pretty interesting. Sometimes,
having others do the job is enjoyable. Why don't we..." The brown-robed
individual started to machinate something.

 

Part 4

 

MC’s POV

 

Another year when by, and I
was-

 

"Urgh...." I groaned.

 

While standing up from the
ground... again.

 

I was currently receiving a
beating- training for hand to hand combat from Kaa-san, although the process
was one-sided.

 

"Kaa-san... that was
unfair..." I weakly muttered.

 

I did not expect it.

 

"Why? It was pretty
normal for me". Kaa-san replied from the spot a few steps away from me.

 

She was wearing her white
haori and red hakama that she used during training and her attire remained
spotless, proof that I did not land a hit on her.

 

"You used your
tails..." I complained.

 

Yes, that she did. The last
hit, that sent me to bit dust again, was with one of her tails.

 

"Where does it say that I
can't use them? You should expect something like this, if you can cover your
body with Ki. You can certainly do it with your tail too". Kaa-san started
to lecture me.

 

I just did not think she would
be able to, considering how much of a weak point it can be. It is pretty
sensitive... I remember this time during training when Yasaka-san accidentally
stepped on my smol tail, I think I saw Hades playing poker in hell for a while
there.

 

Although what surprised me
more is how good she can control her tails... mine on the other hand, just do
as it pleases most of the time.

 

There was this question I once
asked Kaa-san, regarding my number of tails. I inquired about the different
numbers of our tails. She then explained that there were two ways to increase
them.

 

One way was the plain old...
growing up and getting older. It just required you to age. I won't say much,
but Kaa-san punished me rather heavily when I stared at her tails and jokingly
asked if that was the knowledge that came from experience. I do not regret it
though.

 

The other way was rather risky
from what she could tell me. Pushing your body to the absolute limits as you
wander within the limits of life and death, I had jokingly called it...
Shounen-manga method. Kaa-san punished me again for playing around, although
she did not deny my name. Instead, she added that it isn't as easy as in the
shounen-manga method and it does not happen that often. It is also combined
with an absurd amount of training and a certain level of talent, something
about pushing past the limits your body was able to withstand, allowing you to
grow further, similar to crossing a wall that not everyone can overcome.

 

"Hey, stop daydreaming.
We have to go to see some patients today. You were the one that told me to
teach you how to defend yourself so we have to train promptly at this time so
we can leave early in the morning to check on them". Kaa-san 'kindly'
reminded me.

 

I certainly did that but...
Kaa-san, aren’t you having too much fun? You used to cry when I started this
training. My kind mother is no more.

 

"Ok ok, I am already up.
I should just go once again until I can hit you, right?" I asked.

 

For the record, I started
doing this six months ago, and I could still not land a single blow.

 

"You can try... but you
have seen the result to that". Kaa-san pointed out.

 

She seems to be having fun
there, on the other hand... I just get to know better the ground each time. We
might as well call us best friends at this point.

 

"Ahhh!" I yelled
while I sprinted at full speed.

 

Trying to take advantage of my
agility as a cat, I ran straight ahead.

 

The result...?

 

"Urgh... Can't we call a
day?" I weakly muttered while lying on the ground... again.

 

Nothing changed.

 

"No, let's go a couple of
rounds more. If you have the energy to complain then you can still go on".
Kaa-san said in response to my pleas.

 

Really, where is my kind
Kaa-san?

 

...

...

 

After tasting some dust a few
more times, Kaa-san told me to get ready to go.

 

This routine started two
months ago when I could make seeds grow without damaging them for about 90% of
the time. She told me to come with her while she was treating people, making me
observe.

 

It was to gain experience in
dealing with different patients, although she could not allow me to treat
anyone yet... I could observe her closely.

 

It was pretty confusing for me
at first... I only assumed that you shared your Ki to heal others, that it did the
entire job. But it wasn't like that with Kaa-san. Wounds were taken care of in
a completely different way, not to mention diseases.

 

There are times when diseases
need a particular way of treating. Dealing with poison can't be always be
treated with Ki either. Kaa-san once dealt with a case where the body of the
patient suffered from Ki deficiency, the body was fooled to use the Ki to make
a parasite stronger. That was an eye-opener.

 

Youkais might have different
forms and wondrous abilities, but they do also get sick, and what they are
afflicted with can be quite bizarre so you have to always be careful to not
treat them without making sure what they have or you might risk their health.
Kaa-san made sure that I engraved those words in my head.

 

Nevertheless, the new schedule
added even more stuff I had to learn. Herbs and their uses, all that so I had
other ways to help people when Ki did not work which was why Kaa-san used
things like herbs to aid her.

 

Many of those medicinal herbs
were carefully planted, and they were located at a good distance away from our
house

 

The house was built in the
same place. And after much opposition from the youkais in the faction, claiming
that it could influence the herbs, Kaa-san shut them up by reminding them who
was the one that grew some of the rarest ones. Being the one who pushed the
idea to build that particular Senkai made her the owner so she could do as she
pleases with it.

 

One term bothered me and
Kaa-san immediately explained it to me.

 

A Senkai was similar to pocket
dimension, I was aware that Urakyoto, which was the residence of the Youkai
Faction led by Yasaka was one. However, I did not consider that our house was
inside another Senkai at Urakyoto. Like an egg inside an egg, how confusing.

 

The heck? It was something I
kept saying in my mind, repeating it over and over for a while the first time I
got out of Kaa-san's house. Although I forgot it later after taking my first
look around Urakyoto.

 

A sight that blew your mind.

 

Well, that did not last too
long since we had to take care of the manga business. I had no time to explore
around. I also did not get any chance to wander around outside with all the
youkais because Kaa-san took me home as soon as we finished.

 

It was not until my training
paid off that I could go out more often, but Kaa-san was at my side every time
and only to treat people.

 

...

...

 

As we were preparing to head
out, Yasaka-san came by.

 

"Oh, Saya-chan. I am glad
that you are still here. There is a little troublesome request I got.
Originally, I wanted to turn it down because I know you might not like it, but
its origin makes it hard to do so. That is why I thought of leaving the final
decision to you". Yasaka-san spoke in a slightly worried tone of voice.

 

This was unusual. Normally she
would not start talking about any potential request as soon she got here. It
should be something serious.

 

I tend to forget due to my
peaceful environment but this world is a death trap considering the walking
disasters that can nonchalantly be among the regular people. Trouble always
comes knocking.

 

"Let's talk this at the
kitchen table... You need to be careful, you are pregnant now. You can't be
going around working as a messenger. If you had called me I would go to visit
you to talk about this over there". Kaa-san replied with concern.

 

That was something that happened
a few months ago as well.

 

Yasaka-san had some time
without coming here, and Kaa-san decided to visit her. She was sick, but after
Kaa-san started to diagnose her... the kitsune found out that she was simply
pregnant.

 

I can't deny that I felt jealous
at that, heck... scratch that, I was jealous. But there were several reasons
why I thought that I should not comment on it.

 

My feelings were pretty much
one-sided at this point and my status as a child made it worse. I wanted to
make sure that she at least considered me a reliable partner first before
confessing.

 

Her pregnancy came as a
surprise but I was mentally prepared for it. I knew that she was going to have
a child... that little fox girl had not been born yet so I wondered when was
that going to happen. I also did not plan to interfere to prevent her birth due
to my selfishness. I won't deny that I felt somewhat bitter when I learned
about that.

 

Putting my personal feelings
aside, I was happy for her. She seemed happy with this so that was enough for
me.

 

While I was lost in thoughts,
the two women kept talking. I quickly paid attention again to hear Kaa-san say-

 

"No". Kaa-san
resolutely said.

 

At her answer, Yasaka-san put
a troubled look. I am kind of lost here. What is this about?

 

"Is your answerer judged
by your official standing or personal standing?" Yasaka-san inquired.

 

It seemed to be something
important because Yasaka-san pressed forward.

 

"Urgh..." Kaa-san
faltered at that.

 

"Hmmm, what was this
about again?" I asked since I was still at a loss.

 

"We received a request
for your mother, it is to treat someone but that person is a devil... not to
mention, it is in the underworld. Accepting or denying this could affect us
more than any usual request. If it's possible, through this cooperation, we
could form friendly ties with them". Yasaka-san kindly explained.

 

Hmmm, I don't recall this
being mentioned in the Canon. Is this another difference between this world and
the novel? No, they are requesting Kaa-san. As someone who was going to fall on
someone's trap and die... Grrr, it bothers me just thinking about it. In the
end, this is probably a new path; perhaps in the Canon these people never
requested help from the youkais.

 

Knowing that the baby in
Yasaka-san is the loli kitsune in the Canon, Kunou, it means that I am probably
a few years before the story begins. Pushing for better opportunities for the
youkais to form good relationships should be helpful for Kaa-san and Yasaka-san
at the end of the road.

 

"Isn't it good? There are
many good points". I tried giving my support for the idea.

 

Wait, even though it looks
good-

 

"But this could be some
sort of trap. From the request, I read how the place we are supposed to go to
belongs to a family of devils. However, they were not the ones behind the
request. They are just the middle-men during all this". Kaa-san let out
her worry.

 

That makes it suspicious, you
can't be certain with terms like those then.

 

There are many families of
devils that are hostiles to other races. Pursuing the path of devil supremacy,
they loath other supernatural creatures other than them.

 

If by any chance the request
came from one of them-

 

"It sounds too suspicious;
we should perhaps turn them down after all..." I mumbled.

 

In any case, I want them to be
safe. Benefits can come later.

 

"Still, it is a request
from a prestigious family. I have already confirmed that they are trustworthy.
By no means would they use methods like this to harm someone". Yasaka-san
argued.

 

That is also true... I doubt
Yasaka-san would consider any request that could be potential harm to Kaa-san.

 

However, in this world, some
sick bastards rely on underhanded methods to trick others-

 

"Do you know the name of
the household?" I inquired.

 

I have my doubts but let us at
least learn the most we can.

 

"It is the Sitri household;
they are the ones that are acting as the middle-men this time. I confirmed that
they have a good reputation, even having one of four Maou, hailing from their
house". Yasaka-san said.

 

Oh... they.

 

"Let's accept". I
declared while looking at Kaa-san.

 

"But they are devils
and... and...". Kaa-san seemed at a loss for words. She is looking at me
like I betrayed her trust.

 

Please don't stare at me like
that. I don't think that the house that had that Magical Girl can be bad. It's
her who we are talking about.

 

Although I have my worries
about Kaa-san, this could be one of the best opportunities we'll have to make a
good impression on the devil's side.

 

This is also a good
opportunity to ask her about her distrust of devils, and perhaps changing her
view on them. Well, we will know when we get there.

 

Why 'we'? There is no way I
will let her go alone. I still have my doubts about what could happen after
all.

 

"Now that it has been
decided... When is this supposed to happen?" I turned to Yasaka-san for an
answer.

 

Maybe surprised for my
immediate support on the idea after I expressed disapproval, the blonde-haired
woman did not answer at once.

 

"It is rather soon, one
week starting from today, but they wish to know the answer to the request
before the day in question". Yasaka-san explained.

 

Not too soon not late. Enough
time to make ample preparations.

 

"Then you can tell them
about the decision when you think it is the right time. You can wait until the
deadline for the answer or tell them right away. Just... keep it discreet. We
don't know if a third party might want stir trouble at that time". I
warned Yasaka-san.

 

The meaning, I know that
Yasaka-san got what I was trying to imply.

 

"Fufufu, of course. I
will be careful; I have enough time to prepare". Yasaka-san said with a
happy tone and a smile plastered on her face, but her eyes told you another
story.

 

She already has an idea who
the culprit from my mother's attack could be, but she has not told me so far. I
have tried to touch the topic sometimes but she just changes the subject again.

 

Nevertheless, I do give her
some of my ideas regarding the possible actions the culprit might take. In
anime and manga, I have read about a good number of villainous people so I take
examples from there. I would like to believe that it helped her even a tiny
bit.

 

Although I am not like those
absurd protagonists that solve problems from left to right with their ingenuity,
I can at least think of one or two easy solutions to simple schemes. However,
the rest is up to her, she has more experience dealing with people from this
world than me.

 

Yasaka-san found odd my
behavior and interest in this. I had to lie to her by telling her that I heard
Kaa-san's murmurs during a nightmare. Since then, I have told her that it
bothered me the possibility of harm coming their way.

 

I am pretty sure that she just
half-believes me, my story sounds suspicious after all, but she still takes
into consideration my worries since there was a precedent already.

 

One of the things I had warned
her about was the so-called 'long term' spies. They are people that have been
infiltrated in places for such a long time that no one finds them suspicious.
In the end, they only act when their mission requires them to, even if their
allies are caught, heck... they might even help to capture their allies to earn
more trust.

 

My ideas are nothing out of
the ordinary, but I do recall how screwed each faction got thanks to spies and
traitors.

 

She took me even more seriously
after some 'long-term' spies among her people were found.

 

I don't think that is the end
of it so I keep reminding her to be careful.

 

Like today.

 

"Why did the two of you
decide that on your own like that? I am the one that has to go". Kaa-san
interrupted my thoughts.

 

She looked a bit irritated.
This might bite me in the behind later, in the form of hand-to-hand combat
training.

 

"Well, I have more
business to take care so I leave the rest to you, Nora-kun". Yasaka-san
said while she prepared to leave.

 

And she reality left just like
that.

 

Damn, I have been abandoned.
Where is the basic trust between people (youkai)? Weren't we friends?

 

"Nora-chan... I hope that
you are going to explain to me why you wanted me to go along with that request.
Also... I know that you have been talking about some stuff with Yasaka-san
behind my back, you might think I did not notice that but you are wrong".
Kaa-san spoke while putting a hand on my shoulder.

 

Oh, what a radiant smile she
has. Her eyes leak her true thoughts though.

 

"To sightsee a new place
as mother and son?" I tried playing dumb.

 

Bad answer.

 

"So you planned to come
with me huh. But never mind that... Is that truly your last answer?"
Kaa-san said while tightening her grip on my shoulder.

 

The 'last' part worries me.

 

"If I explain... Will you
consider accepting?" I tried negotiating.

 

I put to use the mighty force
used by young children... puppy eyes, no, kitty eyes?

 

"You... *sigh* I want a
really good reason or you can forget about me accepting. I still want to know
about the thing with Yasaka-chan, but I want you to tell me that one by
yourself". Kaa-san said after avoiding eye contact.

 

You might think whatever you
want about my methods, but I was desperate. The last time I made her this
angry... she made a Spartan training where I had to punch through logs, easy if
I use Ki, but she did not allow me to do so. I am still a kid so it was pretty
hard to do. Kaa-san just wanted me to suffer a bit then have me apologize later
after I gave up... too bad, I felt so pathetic remembering how that loli cat
girl had so much strength in comparison to me that I... did not stop until I
broke one.

 

My hands were a mess after
that... and Kaa-san got angry at me for being reckless. I wondered where my
kind mother had gone a couple of times back then.

 

"We will talk after we
finish today's rounds". Kaa-san said, remembering what we were originally
going to do today.

 

I had nothing to say about
that so I just nodded at her words.

 

...

...

 

The next day, it was sunny all
over and I was-

 

"Why!? Urgh..." I
groaned as I was thrown to the ground.

 

Getting beaten by Kaa-san
again.

 

Yesterday, I managed to
convince her to take me with her using the reasoning that this was a good
opportunity to make a good impression on the other side for the sake of
Yasaka-san and the youkais.

 

She did not accept until a
named several good points about having a good relationship with devils. One
thing that picked her interest was the opportunity to push for a business
transaction to get the famous Phoenix Tears. I was not sure that we could get
some, but I told her that it was the first step to do so.

 

Getting some on the black
market is quite expensive, and she did not want to get involved too much with
that kind of people until now so she never got the chance to acquire one.

 

Thankfully that was enough of
a good reason.

 

I was quite limited since I
hadn't told her how this world had been known in my previous one as a light
novel, the reason being rather clear, simply about her non-existence in there.
However, I wanted to eventually tell her about it, just... I think that
although we have talked about each other life frantically, me even telling her
about my time after the death of my family, I had not told her how that
happened. The same could be said from her, there were things that she had not
mentioned to me about my father, or rather, Tou-san in this world.

 

Nevertheless, I believe that
she will eventually talk about it.

 

*Blasting noises*

 

"Hey, I was on the
ground, isn’t it normal to leave laying people alone? Kaa-san, you are not
supposed to attack me until I stand up again..." I complained after
rolling away from the impact zone of that blast.

 

Kaa-san, somewhat sulky
because I did not talk about the topic regarding Yasaka-san, did not pull any
punches during today's training. Even using Senjutsu bullets during our
hand-to-hand combat... while I am not allowed to use even Youjutsu which I
learned a few tricks, during the fight.

 

"I never said you could
rest that much, I noticed how you stay on the ground more than you have to...
just to rest". Kaa-san rightfully argued.

 

She is clearly and openly
bullying me but... she got me with that. I might've been trying to avoid being
blown repeatedly.

 

"Alright, I won't do that
again..." I said while I stood up.

 

Now it's time to get
serious... It's been days since I have been thinking of one strategy to land a
hit on her.

 

I have one opportunity at
this, I doubt this will work next time on her and she might not allow me to use
this method during mock-fights with her.

 

I look at the ground and check
that everything is in place.

 

This is it.

 

"Kaa-san, if I win... you
will teach me seriously about your techniques, not only basic ones". I
exclaimed.

 

Although I wanted to distract
her, I seriously wanted that, she only teaches me the basics even though
Yasaka-san has been teaching me different techniques.

 

"Aren't you greedy? I
thought I told you that you are not ready yet". Kaa-san answered back
while narrowing her eyes.

 

I know that I still have long
ways to go, but I always felt that her reason to not teach me lies elsewhere.

 

"Consider it a gift for
my growth then, I will be doing something pretty amazing by landing a
hit". I said while trying to distract her as I get closer.

 

Step by step... The closer I
am, the better this will work.

 

"Very well... However, that
is only if you land a hit". Kaa-san muttered after a moment of silence.

 

In the next moment, she sent a
barrage of bullets my way. I had to dodge by jumping to my left side.

 

No more buying time.

 

I dashed at my fastest speed.
Dodging by leaping right or left at times. I still got hit a few times, but I
could manage to hold it for now. The bullets lacked the power to knock me on
their own but if too many came at once they would throw me off at once... I
have experience with that. She  is
holding back a lot, otherwise I would filled with holes by now.

 

Now close to Kaa-san, but not
enough for her to reach me... I threw myself to the ground.

 

Kaa-san seemed confused at my
actions, perhaps thinking I made a mistake or I tripped. But I had done it for
a reason.

 

Extending my arms to reach a
certain place... I made contact and sent my Ki as fast as possible.

 

The effect was immediate,
plants of all kinds started to grow out of the ground near Kaa-san, entangling
her. But I knew that this will hardly stop her for long, even though they
should be somewhat reinforced by my Ki.

 

My intentions were simply to
stop Kaa-san for a moment while I stood up quickly and-

 

Just as I was about to touch
her, she blew up all the plants and branches covering her, sending me flying
too.

 

I landed a few meters away...

 

"Kaa-san, using Touki is
overdoing it". I grumbled while standing up again.

 

Ouch, I kept falling on my
back. Who was the one that said that cats always fall while standing? I still
can fall on my back... or head first.

 

"That was a pretty good
try, you were so close... but you took too long. You could've moved faster
after growing the plants. You take too long between every action. Thinking too
much during battle is no good". Kaa-san explained, ignoring my complaint
about using Touki.

 

"It was the first time I
used that so I might've moved slower than usual..." I confessed after
thinking for a moment.

 

"Nora-chan, using a new
technique during combat is very dangerous. You never know if you will truly be
able to pull it off. Besides, since you are not used to it, you won't get to
use your 100% if you are too worried about it and neglect your movements. This
was the perfect example. Everything went pretty good regarding your movement
until you touched the ground with your hands". Kaa-san said while coming
closer to me.

 

Near enough, she starts
getting rid of the dust on my hair.

 

"Using plants is a good
idea, but you have to think of the party you are trying to use it against. Even
if you could seal the movement of my hands and feet, I still can hit you with
my tails. Even though I used Touki to blast off everything, I did have a
different number of ways to take care of it. Still, the first thing you did was
to complain about the Touki". Kaa-san continued to talk.

 

I kept my head down during her
explanation.

 

She was right on point after
all.

 

"You had a lot of
information about my abilities but you still did not use it correctly. When
fighting other people, you will hardly know about their abilities so it is even
more dangerous to face them. Although you might think I am being unfair by placing
you under the conditions I put you... I think you are still not ready to use
that many abilities during a fight. In the end, you might be older in your
mind, but your previous world was too peaceful and you are not used to battles.
Not to mention that there were only humans with no superpowers or abilities.
You are still bound by that place's common sense". Kaa-san finished
explaining. "Let's leave at that for today. You don't have to do anything
else for today, just think about what I said, and promise me to do it".

With a pat on my head, she
left after watching me nod at her words.

 

I was left alone think about
her words.

 

Really, what have I been doing
so far?

 

Part 6

 

A week easily when by, and the
time to visit the Underworld came.

 

In the end, the request was
not going to be completed at once since both sides were still wary of the
other.

 

They will discuss the details
and then decide after that.

 

To me, this was... a waste of
time. If they need Kaa-san then this is not your everyday cold. But they are
the ones that wish the service, and they will pay just for the talk today.

 

There was a certain request on
our side that had to be done, mainly because of me.

 

I wanted to go by using
teleportation magic.

 

It is faster so it will save
time. We would be getting to the place at once.

 

Nonetheless, above all... I
really can't seem to ride the train those guys have as common transportation to
the Underworld. Past trauma working overtime. Although I did not exactly die at
the crash, I did die because of it.

 

Anyways, we were waiting for
our guide to arrive.

 

Kaa-san was wearing a green
homongi (a type of Japanese kimono that married or unmarried women can wear
during ceremonies or parties) with a design made of black Sakura leaves falling
from a Sakura tree. She was not wearing her usual hakama or haori. Mostly
because this will be more of a social gathering if you think about it.

 

As for me... I am wearing
something called Haorihakama (a type of male kimono used at parties and
gatherings). The color being black. Kaa-san wanted me to use a more colorful
one but... no. I find this bothersome already, I prefer my usual hakama.

 

One thing worth noticing is
that we are both hiding our ears and tails. The least people that know we are
youkais the better. That said... how long are we going to wait? They were late
by half an hour.

 

...

...

 

It resulted that we were early
by too much. Kaa-san attributes shined today once again. She never told me the
time of the meeting so I had just followed along with her directions.

 

Anyways we were going to be
teleported by an incredible absurd individual. From the different people (devils)
I was expecting to meet today, she was not among them.

 

This gives a new whole meaning
to the visit today because the requester is either involved with the strongest
Maou or with his family, the Gremory household. Because having come to pick us
is Grayfia Lucifuge, the Strongest Queen.

 

I was eager to meet her due to
my unquestionable love for maids, but I learned once again that maids are not
to be messed with. When she appeared to pick up Kaa-san, her presence was
accompanied by her aura on full throttle. Something that caused me to almost
plant my knees on the floor given the pressure it gave me. It made it difficult
for me to breathe, and if Kaa-san did not flare her aura to push the maid's
pressure away, I would've kissed the floor.

 

That however put Maid-san on
guard thinking that this was perhaps an ambush or some kind of attack.

 

Nevertheless, when Maid-san
noticed me as the reason for Kaa-san's actions, she proceeded to apologize for
it.

 

My first impression of her was
that she was not as kind as in the Canon, but she was not our ally so her
aptitude must have some sort of meaning. Too bad I am terrible at politics to
read hidden meanings behind actions or words.

 

Thanks to this little show,
Kaa-san's mood sunk even further.

 

Even while Maid-san, proceeded
to explain why she was here and how we were going to move close to the mansion
of the Sitri household, Kaa-san looked very angry. It did not help that her
voice was rather cold to the listeners.

 

Well, Maid-san never introduced
herself and she was even flaring her aura halfway making me uncomfortable.
Combine that with Kaa-san's already low affinity with devils... it was a true
miracle that she did not start crossing blades... or fists with Maid-san.

 

Glad I am here.

 

I am kind of scared since
Maid-san has a sharper presence than what I expected from a maid but... I need
to make this meeting work.

 

"Excuse me, Miss". I
tried faking a child-like voice, although I might've wasted my efforts since my
voice is pretty much like that since I am 5 years old.

 

Scary, she is looking right at
me like asking why interrupted her... Maids are love, maids are love, she is
not scary. Repeat, repeat. Repeating that in my head several times to calm
down, I spoke again.

 

"I apologize for interrupting
you and I might be overstepping my boundaries by saying this. However, I
believe that it is important. I think this meeting started on the wrong foot.
That said if you don't mind... Could we start over? I think we both want this
to succeed and to form a friendly relationship if possible". I explained.

 

I am not sure if she will pay
attention to the ramblings of a random kid. But I think she will hear me out in
the name of completing her duty.

 

"You might be
right". Maid-san nodded at my words.

 

Closing her eyes for a moment,
she seemed to ponder for a moment.

 

I know that she did not plan
to offend anyone by keeping her aura out. I am not sure how the relations
between devils and youkais are at the moment, but I think she did it to keep in
check any uncanny individual since she does not know who is going to be coming
with her.

 

At this point, she knows that
she was wrong because I happened to be here a caused her actions to escalate.

 

Apologizing further might be
difficult for her so I offered a way out.

 

In a sense, Maid-san
represented the devil's side, but at the same time, Kaa-san represented the
Youkais. Sorting this through dialogue might be good but it would be awkward
and complicated to escalate this situation.

 

"I am called Nora Shiki,
and this is my mother, Saya. Nice to meet you, Maid-san". I spoke with a
slight bow.

 

I tried signaling Kaa-san with
my eyes. Although she was not pleased, she at least followed along.

 

"I am Saya Shiki, nice to
meet you". Kaa-san spoke albeit reluctantly.

 

Taking a hint from my actions
Maid-san did the same.

 

"I am called Grayfia
Lucifuge, pleased to make your acquaintances, then..." Grayfia-san said
but she stopped her words unsure how to continue.

 

"Maid-san can call me by
my name, Nora". I exclaimed.

 

Having the super maid call you
by your name sounded nice, although being called master sounded very tempting.
It is a shame that I would never have Grayfia-san call me like that. Besides, I
don't want to be called '-sama'. Please pardon me from that. '-chan' and '-kun'
from Kaa-san and Yasaka-san are enough.

 

Kaa-san only remained silent
and she did not participate in the conversation.

 

Hopefully, she will only act
like this in front of Grayfia-san.

 

"Then you might call me
as you'd like, Nora-kun". Grayfia-san said with a slight smile.

 

It looks like the list of
people using '-kun', will increase after all.

 

Whatever.

 

Her sharp looks slightly
softened, even her voice that seemed slightly cold at the beginning is sounding
milder.

 

Truly the power of being a
kid, no, a shota? I might have an incredible trump card in my hands.

 

With this done then they will
get along soon-

 

"Grayfia, is it? Just
takes us there. We already know the details". Kaa-san spoke in a slightly
annoyed tone of voice.

 

I might need to talk to
Kaa-san in private later, her problems with devils are worse than I thought.

 

"You might call me,
Lucifuge-san, Saya-sama". Grayfia-san said in her original cold tone of
voice.

 

"Eh? Me too?" I
asked.

 

She just said to call her as I
like... I was tempted to call her wife, but that feels like it will my end no
matter how I think about it. Perhaps she had read my thoughts!?

 

"No, Nora-kun is free to
do as he wishes". Grayfia replied to me, going back to her milder tone.

 

So... that's it.

 

It looks like these two won't
be getting along.

 

Is this visit going to be
fine? I feel like going home already.

 

Yasaka-san, I feel like I
should receive some compensation for all this, later on. Your tails, let me
sink in that softness to heal my heart.

 

I plan to receive full
payment.