The dark feelings faded from Balor as a grin tugged at his lips. After the revelation, Yasaka dragged Valerie over to the showers for a cleaning. If the shrieks and giggles were anything to go by, he wouldn't have to pay Valerie back. Yasaka was doing a fine job of making her squirm. It really did look like a parent washing an unruly child.
After what must have been only a couple minutes, Balor watched Yasaka released a Valerie who was struggling to catch her breath. With a gleeful laugh at having escaped Yasaka's clutches she dove into the onsen in an explosion of water. Had he ever seen her acting so childlike? Struggle as he could, he couldn't seem to remember a moment. Turning his gaze back to Yasaka he saw her begin the process of cleaning herself.
"Want me to wash your back?" Balor asked Yasaka cheekily.
"You just proposed to a girl and you're already trying to seduce another." Yasaka said looking back at Balor with a twinkle in her eye. He couldn't help but sputter as she washed her floor length hair. She was the one who came onto him earlier and orchestrated Valerie's act. If anyone was seducing anyone, it was definitely her seducing him! "I wouldn't mind having your hands on my back," she answered as she waved her golden tails at him suggestively.
Still red-faced from her comment, Balor began washing Yasaka's shoulders. Washcloth in hand, he worked his way down the small of her back until he got to her tails. Since they were already wet, he gently scrubbed carefully after pouring some shampoo on them.
When Balor finished with her tails, Yasaka said, "You missed a spot," as she lifted her tails to show off the region she was talking about. Responding to her provocation, he wet the cloth and began to scrub her rear. It was just as soft as he remembered. Spending more time than necessary, he scrubbed every inch and then evilly chuckled as he pinched her. It was payback for tricking and embarrassing him. With a startled yelp she jumped up from her seat and turned to him with smoldering eyes.
Staring down at Balor, the heat faded from Yasaka's eyes when she said, "If you were bigger, I might have attacked you right away." With a smile she added, "If you keep teasing me like that, I might have to find someone to help me with this itch."
"No, You can't!" Balor said anxiously. She had just given him the worst kind of threat he could think of. Netorare. The darkness came back in full force as tiny blue flames sprung into existence around him. They beat with the waves of his emotions as they pulled at something within him. With a wet thwack of her tail, Yasaka sent him flying into the hot spring with a plop.
"I was just kidding. Don't get so upset." Yasaka said with a mirthful giggle.
Rising out of the water Balor yelled, "You can't joke about something like that!" Even if she was joking, he couldn't stop himself from imagining the scenario. If she really went to another man what would he do? Anger and jealousy filled him. He didn't want to find out. Before his thoughts got any darker, arms wrapped around him from behind.
"Even if you're frustrated, you can't say things like that. You really hurt Gasper," Valerie said from behind him as her arms tightened comfortingly. How had he ever thought she was an imp? She was surely an angel. Glaring at Yasaka she said, "You said we would make lots of babies with Gasper and be a big family. You promised!" Her new comment left him dumbfounded. Just what kind of things had Yasaka told this little girl while he was out here.
Yasaka wilted under the power of Valerie's disapproval in the staring contest that ensued. Climbing into the water, she wrapped her arms around them and said, "I won't make such a bad joke again." He could only give a muffled acknowledgement as she shoved him into her chest. Enclosed between them, he felt completely out of his depths. The parent was supposed to scold the child, not the other way around. Yasaka sat there with a sullen face, as if she was a naughty child that had just been caught with her hand in the cookie jar, for the rest of the bath.
Once out of the bath and in the changing room, Balor found a row of neatly folded miko outfits. Walking up to one with the blue bottoms typically worn by males, he asked, "When did they even find out I wasn't a girl?" Yasaka seemed to finally perk up at the question.
"You mean even after you did this to me?" Yasaka said gesturing to her still slightly swollen belly. It had slowly gotten smaller during the bath, but Balor wasn't sure how. Nothing had been leaking out. "From the beginning. They came to me and said, 'There are a little girl and boy in the waiting room that believe someone means to harm you.' It was quite funny seeing you in that oversized dress." Even if she found it funny, it made him happy that his efforts in countering a trap's fate bore fruit.
As Balor was puzzling out how to put the uniform on, a maid came in and said, "Since you missed dinner, food has been prepared. Do you and your-" she giggle as his stomach rumbled to her statement, "guests wish to eat?" Yasaka repeated the question to Valerie, as she finished helping her don the uniform. He could have easily mistaken them, standing side by side with those matching outfits, as mother and daughter if they had the same eye color.
"I want to eat! Do you have cookies?" Valerie excitedly asked as Yasaka helped Balor properly wear the hakama pants. Her enthusiasm was understandable. It felt like forever since he had anything other than cookies and blood. The thought brought his mind back to grandma and his mood dampened. Was she even still alive? He slapped himself in the face. There was no point in worrying about something he couldn't change at the moment.
With Yasaka grabbing one of Balor's hands and Valerie grabbing the other, they made their way to the dining room. Now seated on cushions, they were served food. The sight of so many foods made his mouth water, enen if he didnt like tofu. Looking for the silverware he noticed thay had been given something he had not used before. Chopsticks. If he didn't know how to use them… He looked over and nearly doubled over laughing as Valerie shoved a handful of rice right into her mouth.
Yasaka, who hadn't even touched her food, looked at the sight and said exasperatedly, "You don't eat like that! If you want to be a proper wife, you have to learn to eat more elegantly." The words caused Valerie who was mid chew to pale.
"How am I supposed to eat it?" Valerie said with a mouthful of rice. Yasaka mouth twitched as she moved behind Valerie and began scolding her on how to eat properly. Watching the lesson Balor began imitating the motions. Good thing he hadn't used his claws.
Satisfied with Valerie's progress, Yasaka looked over at Balor's clumsy movements and sighed out, "Your hopeless, let me help you." He wasn't hopeless. His claws just kept getting in the way.
Moving behind Balor, Yasaka took the chopsticks from his hands and began feeding him. He felt halfway between a child being fed by his mother and an emperor being fed grapes as she offered him food. This might be something he could get used to. In the middle of the peaceful scene another pair of chopsticks appeared.
"Say Ah," Valerie said with a look of determination while proffering some meat. Was feeding him something to fight over? Apparently, they thought so, because once he ate the offering, Yasaka brought more food to his mouth. It soon became a competition of who could feed him more.
When his plate became empty, Balor let out a sigh of relief only to have more food held before him. Any protest he had was silenced when Valerie would tearfully offer him more food. Yasaka seemed to notice he was full but kept feeding him from her plate while laughing. He promised himself that, next time he was able to, he would make sure she was stuffed to bursting again.
When Valerie finally finished with the food on her plate, she panicked and shoved Balor's face into her shoulder. Feeling bloated but realizing she probably wouldn't let go until he drank her blood, his fangs sank into her neck. Even if he was full, there was still room for dessert.
"I win!" said a victorious Valerie as Yasaka continued to laugh at his misfortune.
"Maybe now you understand how I feel," Yasaka whispered to Balor as his body now laid splayed out after the ordeal. Never, in either of his lives, had he ever felt so full. If this became an everyday occurrence, hiding might be his only option.
"I will pay you back for this. Just as soon as I can move my body." Balor uttered vengefully as Valerie curled up next to him. Maybe it was because he didn't sleep in a coffin, but he still felt tired as well.
"Oh? I'm looking forward too it. Until then, how about you tell me more about yourself," Yasaka said to Balor as she placed his head on her lap and began sifting her hand through his hair.
"What do want to know?" Balor asked as he watched a male kitsune collect the empty dishes.
"What your life was like, how you ended up here or maybe your goals and dreams. I hardly know anything about you other than what I experienced in the dream."
"When I was born…" Balor recounted his experiences to Yasaka beginning with his birth in darkness. He told her of his sacred gear and his connection to the Irish god he derived his namesake from. His first bath with Valerie drew a soft laugh from her while the tale of his flight from the vampire hometown made her frown.
"I stood by as grandma was probably killed-" Balor said as he felt Valerie's grip on him tighten, "but if I can help it, I want to try to prevent bad things that I know will happen and as for my dreams… I just want to have a happy family and lots of sex." The words left his mouth before he realized what he was saying.
"I already knew that last part." Yasaka replied with a laugh that added to Balor's embarrassment. "Still, the bible factions. I can probably get a meeting with some of the lower people of at least the devils and fallen angels, but you will have to be careful. The secret you have is something we could get killed for."
"That would help me alot. I have no clue how to contact them."
"In exchange, how about you tell us about your life before you became Gasper." Yasaka said targeting the spot Balor was trying not to talk about. His robe crinkled as Valerie shifted to hear better at the comment.
"Why do you want to hear about that Yasaka?" Balor asked self-consciously. There was nothing special about his previous life. There were no gods or demons. No acts of heroism or tragedies. In fact, it was so plain, that talking about it would make him even more mortified than his previous outburst.
"Because I want to get to know the father of my child better."
"Child? Isn't it too early to tell?" Balor asked. His hands moved to Yasaka's midriff even if he couldn't actually tell by feeling it. Was his child really in there? He couldn't decide if he was more excited or nervous. A little of both coiled inside him as wondered if it would be a boy or a girl. Twins might be good.
"It is easy to tell when something is tugging at my life-force if I focus. Even then, after what you did, it would have been more surprising if I wasn't pregnant," Yasaka said pinching Balor's cheek lightly then added, "Even worse, after knocking me up, you ran straight to another girl and proposed. It really made me feel like I've lost my feminine charm."
"I…" what could Balor say to that? Remembering his earlier jealousy, he felt like he had wronged Yasaka. Mustering up his courage he said, "Will you marry me?"
"You want to marry me? I don't know," Yasaka said with mock disinterest. "It seems like you're only doing this because you were forced to. Maybe if you did something for me, I might consider accepting."
"What do you want me to do?" Balor asked hesitantly. He was experiencing déjà vu. Yasaka obviously was pleased to be asked, but like Valerie had when she wanted him to get into a dress, she withheld her answer. Hopefully it wasn't wearing another dress.
"Well, for starters, maybe now you can tell me about your past as 'Jason,' Balor."
"There is not much to tell. You'd find it boring." Balor hedged.
"Humor me." Yasaka said with her customary smile.
With a sigh Balor began speaking. "I was raised in a small orphanage. I didn't go out much and after I grew up, I started working while watching anime and playing video games. I would occasionally go out drinking if I was asked to. That's about it."
"You're not telling us everything. What about that forest dream?" Yasaka said while pinching his cheek hard.
"It wasn't anything important. I had a childish crush on a girl, and she saw me peeing one time. The kids at school bullied me for a bit after that and I mostly forgot about it," said Balor thinking he was done until Valerie pinched his side while looking at him reproachfully. Letting out another heavy breath, he continued, "I had a complex about my body ever since then and I developed a crush on an anime girl who looked like my last crush but had a better personality. That's really all."
Yasaka gave Balor a soft smile after his story was over and said, "See, that wasn't so bad," while stroking his face. "I have decided to accept your proposal on the condition that you learn how to use senjutsu and youjutsu."
"Why do you want me to learn senjutsu, and isn't youjutsu only learnable by youkai?" Balor asked in confusion. What did fighting techniques have to do with anything?
With a light chuckle Yasaka began explaining, "Youjutsu just requires you to use senjutsu to create spells. Even if it did require you to be a youkai, being able to use kitsune fire unconsciously, like you did earlier, shows you at least have some aptitude for it. It would also make my people feel better about me marrying a vampire if you adapted to our culture."
"As for senjutsu, besides being required to use youjutsu, I need you to learn it so we can accelerate your growth. I don't want to have to wait until your body matures naturally to have more children. You aren't the only one to enjoy what happened earlier either," Yasaka said shamelessly causing Balor to choke. This lewd fox definitely put more emphasis on the last part. The only problem was he couldn't tell if she was just teasing him again or being serious.
"Mother, you said I could be the next one to have a baby!" Valerie interjected, causing Balor's eyes to bulge. She was too young to be thinking about that! He glared at Yasaka, the obvious perpetrator.
"You get to be the legal wife. Show some mercy on this poor mistress." Yasaka said with fake sorrow while ignoring his stare.
"Can't you just go into my dreams again?" Balor asked trying hard not to think about what other ideas Yasaka might have put into Valerie's head. It was obvious that they had plotted a lot of things about him, but he wasn't sure it was a good idea to bring it up.
"You remember when I told you it was dangerous?"
Thinking back to the encounter Balor said, "Was it something about our minds fraying?" It was hard for him to remember the words when the sensations in the memory were so overwhelming.
Yasaka gave a nod of her head as she began talking, "When I go into a dream, I am using my real body. If you had died in your dream you would have merely woken up with a headache, however If I had died in there, I wouldn't have even left a corpse. There was a very real possibility of that happening when the dream I formed had started cracking. Not that I'm complaining about the end result."
Yasaka rubbed her belly with a smile to make a point and then continued, "That is the least dangerous part of it. Being in control of the dream gives you complete control. If you had really wanted it when you seized the dream, you could have forcibly molded me as you saw fit. An idle thought is all it would have taken to permanently cripple me or destroy my mind. It was a good thing you were more interested in my body than anything else."
"Why did you stay if it was so dangerous then?" inquired Balor as he looked at Yasaka skeptically. Surely, if it had been so dangerous, she could have found a better method to get the information she wanted. Why put herself in danger?
"When you began taking control I nearly fled, but if I had, I would have hurt you deeply when your only crime was trying to help me. I also wanted, no, needed a child. There has been pressure on me to bear children after the last war but, I uh-" Yasaka started showing an uncustomary blush, "even I wanted to fall in love first."
It was Balor's turn to blush now. "You just barely met me, and you fell in love?" It was the first time in his life that a confession of love had been offered to him.
"What do you think?" Yasaka said coyly without answering Balor. Considering how fast she came onto Issei, he thought it was possible, but Issei had saved her when she was actually in danger.
"I don't know but I hope so. I don't want my child to be born into a loveless marriage." Balor said to Yasaka with a yawn. She was looking at him with those passionate eyes again, or maybe, the lack of sleep was getting to him. Besides the quick nap he had after the vivid dream, it felt like he had not slept in days. Valerie seemed to agree because she yawned as well.
"Time for bed it seems." Yasaka said picking Balor up again and leading Valerie out of the room. He considered complaining, but sleep deprivation was taking its toll and it was nice to be pressed against her soft chest. Through the winding hallways, she took him into a room with a low-lying bed. Sleep took hold of him when his head hit the matress.
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Senjutsu, literally translated as Sage Arts, is the ability to control life force/Ki/Chi/Spiritual energy.
Youjutsu, literally translated as Demon Arts or Monster Arts, is a method of spell casting used primarily by youkai.