The battle with Abe no Seimei was over.
Human society wasn't going to recover easily—after all, Seimei's rampage had been too spectacular. Nearly everyone on the planet had witnessed the massive tree, its ribbon-like branches blanketing the sky, and the gravity distortions he'd caused by manipulating the stars were felt worldwide. Even with Seimei defeated, the effects lingered.
Handling the aftermath would be the Nura Clan's and Keikain Clan's main focus for a long time.
Still, that was a problem for tomorrow. Right now, after finally defeating Seimei and ending generations of destined conflict, there was only one thing to do—
"Let's throw a party! How could we not celebrate at a time like this?!"
It was a yōkai who shouted it—no surprise there. Yōkai loved nothing more than a good party, especially those in the Nura Clan. Any excuse was good enough, but mostly it was about the sake.
Back in Nurarihyon's day, that was how things went: wherever he went, the party followed.
Even though it hadn't been the Nura Clan but Ashiya Douman who actually defeated Seimei, the feat of Rikuo cutting down the Fantasy Tree made the clan's yōkai feel honored and excited.
Rikuo himself had been badly injured felling the tree. Thanks to Douman's timely healing, his life was saved, but it still took days before he woke up—and when he did, he learned a celebration was planned.
The party was, officially, to celebrate Rikuo's achievements—or at least that was the reason on paper. Of course, it wouldn't be a real party if the guest of honor wasn't there.
"Seriously… why am I even here?"
As yōkai crowded around the still-bandaged Rikuo, celebrating loudly, Keikain Ryuuji sat in a guest seat, clearly out of sorts. In his hand was a sake cup, recently filled by a female yōkai.
"Ryuuji…"
Keikain, sitting closest, reminded him quietly, "The ancestor said… today is a day to celebrate."
"I know. That's the only reason I'm here at all," Ryuuji muttered irritably.
Aside from Ryuuji and three other Keikain onmyōji had come as well. Since the Keikain family had fought as allies of the Nura Clan, it was only right for them to be invited.
But someone was missing—Nura Rikuo and the yōkai soon realized that Keikain Yura wasn't there.
Compared to the rest of the Keikain, the Nura Clan's yōkai were much more familiar with Yura—and a few still held out hope she might someday become their third heir's bride.
"Why isn't Yura-san here?"
Some yōkai didn't bother hiding their thoughts.
Ryuuji answered bluntly: "Why would I let my sister hang around with you lot? And you'd better stay away from her, too. If I catch any of you getting close to Yura, I'll exorcise you myself."
That got more than a few yōkai grumbling.
"He's got a lot of nerve to talk like that on our turf!"
"Why does Yura-san's brother have to be such a jerk?!"
Rikuo stepped in to calm things down. He hadn't personally delivered the final blow to Seimei, but after everything he'd done in that fight, nobody dared question his standing now. He'd changed a lot from the boy who'd wanted to live as an ordinary human and shun his heritage.
"Hasn't Limbo-san shown up?"
After settling the yōkai, Rikuo approached Ryuuji with a warm smile, voice low. "If anyone deserves credit for defeating Seimei, it's Limbo-san—and he healed my injuries, too. I really want to thank him in person."
Ryuuji stared at Rikuo's human face for a long moment, then turned away, muttering, "How should I know where he is? Wasn't he staying here with you until recently?"
"I haven't seen Limbo-san since the battle," Rikuo said with a trace of disappointment. "I thought maybe he'd gone to visit the Keikain house to check on his descendants."
Ryuuji only snorted, but his discomfort was obvious. Even now, he had plenty of reservations about the whole "ancestor" business, but with everyone else taking it for granted, he kept quiet.
At that moment, a stir came from the door. Rikuo and Ryuuji both looked up as a paper crane fluttered through the entrance.
Ryuuji caught it. He recognized the onmyōdō at once, and immediately sensed Yura's presence on the spell.
Reading the message, his face changed dramatically.
"Hmm? Ryuuji, did that come from Yura? What's it say?"
Rikuo was deeply curious at Ryuuji's strange reaction.
After a moment's hesitation, Ryuuji passed the paper to Rikuo.
Rikuo glanced over the message—then nearly fell over, his brows knitting in disbelief.
"Limbo-san's… son?!"
For a moment, his brain simply froze, overwhelmed by this utterly unexpected news. He reread the paper several times before raising his head, completely dumbfounded.
"…Huh????"
…
By dusk, the sky had faded to gloomy black, the city swallowing the last rays of sun far too quickly.
In a well-known dessert shop, the wall clock's hands nearly reached six. At a window seat, a child with half-black, half-white hair and oddly ornate robes sat idly, little legs swinging above the floor.
"So… how did things end up like this?"
Staring through the glass at the passing crowd, Ashiya Douman tapped his chin in thought, going over everything in his head.
After defeating Seimei, Douman's true body had sealed away the matured Fantasy Tree and—with help from his shikigami—set up the illusion that "Rikuo cut down the tree and Douman defeated Seimei."
He hadn't left this world immediately; until the country's ley lines were healed, he couldn't relax.
But now the tree was gone, and Douman's true self could no longer stay inside it—he had no choice but to wander about in the open.
Then, that day—
Perhaps it was the lingering chaos from Seimei's rampage. Douman, strolling aimlessly, encountered a yōkai.
A yōkai named Wanyūdō, driven wild by either Seimei's godlike power or the aftershocks of mass panic. As soon as it saw Douman, Wanyūdō attacked.
Not that it mattered. Even as a child, Douman's mind was sharp, and dealing with a Wanyūdō was nothing to him.
Except he didn't even get the chance. Someone else took care of Wanyūdō first.
Douman's frown broke as a glass sundae cup slid across the table to him.
"Here, this one's yours. It's a little pricey, but this shop's sundaes are worth it," Yura said, her tone warm and just a little indulgent as she sat down beside him, sundae in hand.
Douman's bright gray-black eyes flicked to the ice cream in front of him.
Hmm… The colors look amazing, I bet it tastes great… Wait! This isn't the time for ice cream! Why did I have to run into Yura—especially looking like this?
Ryuuji, determined to keep Yura away from the Nura Clan party, had sent her out to subdue any yōkai still rampaging after recent events—leading to her fateful encounter with Douman.
Yura stared at Douman like she'd seen a ghost, and Douman's brain whirred into overdrive.
I can't let her recognize me! All the reputation I earned from beating Seimei would be ruined—people would think I'm just some thousand-year-old weirdo who likes turning into a cute kid for attention!
What Douman forgot was that, in everyone else's eyes, he was already a world-class oddball. Maybe a new label would only make him more popular…
Neither Douman nor Yura had any idea how much the other was panicking inside.
Yura's lips trembled as she stared at his face.
"You… you're… Are you…?"
"Uh, actually, I—no, what I mean is, I…"
Nerves jangling, Douman still hadn't found a convincing excuse when Yura suddenly shouted:
"You must be Limbo-san's son, right?!"
"???"
Do you have a lot of little friends, question mark?
His round, confused eyes blinked, then Douman's face split into a bright, innocent smile as he caught on.
"Nice to meet you! My name is Ashiya Ōu, beautiful big sister—do you know my father?"
"Oh! So you really are Limbo-san's son!"
Hearing Douman introduce himself, Yura grew even more excited, her eyes sparkling as she examined the "child" more closely.
After all, if Douman could show up, then him having a son wasn't impossible—especially with Abe no Seimei and Abe no Kippei as precedents. That was Yura's logic.
She didn't stop to wonder why a thousand-year-old like Douman would have such a young child; instead, she felt a bit proud of her own clever deduction.
"Limbo-san's son is so cute… It's almost scary."
Comparing the giant, imposing Douman with the impossibly adorable Ōu in her mind, Yura was genuinely impressed.
Not wanting to leave Douman alone, Yura kept him by her side.
"No, really, I can take care of myself, you should go about your business, big sis."
"No way. You just ran into a yōkai. If I hadn't been there, you'd have been in trouble. Until Limbo-san comes to get you, you're sticking with me."
…Time skipped forward.
Damn you, Kiichi Hōgen… You've really made a mess of things for me.
Douman spun his spoon pensively, muttering under his breath.
"What's wrong, Ōu?"
Yura, noticing he hadn't started eating, looked puzzled. "Don't you like sundaes?"
"Eh? No, it looks delicious. Thank you, Yura-neesan. I'm digging in."
Putting on his sweetest, most childish voice, Douman scooped up a spoonful, even as he thought to himself—
Guess I'll have to send a shikigami to fetch me out of this… Better do it soon…
He ate the sundae.
In the next instant, Douman's eyes sparkled; it was as if flowers bloomed in pink clouds behind him, his face lit with pure bliss.
Actually… I've got nothing urgent to do. I'll have the shikigami pick me up a little later…
With that, Douman stopped worrying and happily enjoyed his sundae.
He followed Yura back to the Nura Clan, because both Rikuo and Ryuuji were curious about this so-called "son of Ashiya Douman."
Not that Douman cared—he was far more interested in the Nura Clan's desserts. As a child, he was instantly conquered by the array of sweets.
Only when his shikigami arrived did he finally get "rescued."
"What do you think you're doing? Put me down!"
Hoisted by the scruff by his own shikigami, the little Douman puffed out his cheeks. "I'm the real thing, you know! Is this any way to treat your main body? Show some respect!"
But the shikigami just smacked him on the head.
"Oh, so you remember you're the main body? You're a disgrace, you know that?"
The little Douman glared, unwilling to take the blame. "You can blame Kiichi Hōgen's spell for this, not me!"
"Besides… you can't tell me those desserts weren't amazing."
"…Hmm. They were pretty good."
"See? Case closed."