Then, just as Aiden was thinking about what to say to ease the atmosphere that felt unbelievably strange to him, Maki continued, "Mr. Aiden, since Miss King and Miss Shermie came from far away, as the host, it's only natural for me to treat everyone. Why don't we go have a meal first?"
"Sure, I've been wanting to try what authentic Japanese food tastes like for a long time… King, how about you?" Shermie turned her head to look at King.
Although she didn't understand why Shermie didn't just ask Aiden directly, King still shrugged. "I don't mind."
"Then Mr. Aiden and the two ladies, please come with us." Maki smiled, made an inviting gesture, and then took the lead toward the parking lot.
Before leaving, she gave Shermie a glance, but Shermie only smiled faintly and even walked right beside her, shoulder to shoulder.
"Aiden, why do I feel like the two of them know each other?"
At this moment, King moved closer to Aiden and asked in a low voice.
"Yes, Mr. Aiden, has my elder sister met Miss Shermie before?"
Although Chizuru was displeased that Aiden had once again brought back a woman who looked, in her eyes, overly seductive and indecently endowed, she was more curious now about her sister's attitude toward Shermie.
That sense of unfamiliarity mixed with recognition was something she couldn't quite understand.
Hearing the two women's words, Aiden forced out an awkward smile. "Perhaps… this is what people call fate."
———
The Japanese restaurant Maki arranged was an old and luxurious establishment located in central Tokyo. Originally, this welcome meal had been prepared for King, after all, in her eyes, King was someone who posed no threat whatsoever.
The sisters had long reviewed all information about King. To them, this woman who liked dressing as a man, with a flat chest and a completely neutral appearance, was hardly someone they even considered a woman.
Aside from long legs and a gender-ambiguous look, King had no femininity at all, and she even had a younger brother to look after. How could a woman like that possibly be considered a rival?
In the sisters' view, King wasn't even as much of a threat as Mai Sakuraba.
But now, with Shermie added into the mix, everything was completely different, especially once they entered the restaurant and saw Shermie sitting close against Aiden without hesitation.
The Kagura sisters' expressions grew slightly stiff, and both of them came to the same conclusion Helena once had about Shermie, an unrestrained woman.
Shermie, of course, noticed the sisters' expressions. Knowing full well that they were her mortal enemies, an idea flashed in her mind.
She leaned closer to Aiden, pressing his arm into her soft rabbits, and said in a teasing tone, "Aiden, can you help me get some sashimi? You know, fish is my favorite thing to eat."
Crack!
Sitting across from the two of them, the Kagura sisters snapped the chopsticks in their hands clean in half.
Meanwhile, Aiden said expressionlessly, "If you want fish, order it yourself."
And to shift the attention away from the three of them, he turned toward King, who was sitting alone on the side. "King, what do you want to eat?"
King could clearly tell Aiden was using her as a shield. Feeling a bit helpless and exasperated, she still smiled and said, "Do they have red wine? If they do, I don't care what I eat."
As soon as King spoke up, the tense, gunpowder-like atmosphere lightened slightly. The Kagura sisters also remembered that this meal had originally been meant to host Aiden and King, what Shermie wanted to eat wasn't their concern.
At the same time, Maki felt somewhat relieved. At first, she'd planned to host this meal at the Kagura Shrine itself, since entertaining guests at home would show greater sincerity. But thinking about it now, changing plans and holding the meal at a restaurant outside had been the right decision.
The last thing she wanted was to let the Four Heavenly Kings' Awakened Shermie set foot inside the Kagura family shrine, if their ancestors knew, they'd be furious enough to rise from their graves.
Hearing that King wanted red wine, Maki immediately instructed a bodyguard to go buy some outside. The restaurant she chose was old-fashioned, all about traditional style. It had plenty of sake, but not a single bottle of Western liquor.
Then Maki handed the menu to Aiden, letting him order.
Since they were all familiar with each other, Aiden didn't bother being polite. He ordered a bunch of random dishes, after all, most Japanese restaurants served food that looked fancy but came in tiny portions.
After hesitating for a moment, he still ordered a platter of ocean sashimi for Shermie.
And immediately regretted it, because Shermie used it to make a scene.
Delighted, Shermie planted a hard smooch on his cheek and said sweetly, with no hint of pretense, "Aiden, you're so good to me. You say I should order for myself, but deep down you're afraid I'll be shy. Mmm, I've decided, I'm going to reward you properly tonight."
Crack!
The Kagura sisters snapped another pair of freshly replaced chopsticks in unison. That made Aiden nervously rub his neck, those two really had strong hands. Hopefully they wouldn't use that strength on him.
"Care to explain what you mean by 'reward'?" Chizuru said flatly, tossing the now-splintered chopsticks aside. She glared at Aiden first, then glowered at Shermie.
But Shermie only looked at her in surprise. "You mean you don't understand?"
"Of course I understand," Chizuru said through gritted teeth.
"If you understand, then why bother asking?" Shermie gave her a disdainful glance, then turned her eyes toward the calm Maki and said provocatively, "Miss Maki, you must know what I mean too, right? Oh wait, no, you probably don't. You're a shrine maiden, after all, not allowed to marry. Sorry, I shouldn't have asked you. My bad."
As one of the Four Heavenly Kings, Shermie obviously knew the Kagura family's rules, among the twin sisters, the elder one must remain a shrine maiden for life, forbidden to take a husband, forbidden to marry, forbidden to bear children. Unless she defied the ancestral decree, Maki would remain a virgin her entire life.
Of course, she seemed to forget that even someone like her, who carried Orochi's power, had dared to defy divine authority. Compared to that, some ancestral rule hardly mattered.
So Maki wasn't angry at all. She simply smiled faintly and said, "Whether I can marry or not doesn't matter, but my sister can, and her children will certainly be healthy."
Her words struck right at Shermie's sore spot.
Shermie wanted to live as an ordinary woman, and marriage and childbirth were inevitable parts of that. But she carried Orochi's blood, meaning any child she bore would also inherit it.
Even if she died and was reincarnated, her descendants with Orochi's blood would continue her mission, to revive Orochi.
So in truth, she'd never thought about having children. She didn't want her descendants to be trapped by the same mission.
Or rather than "mission," it was more like… a curse.
Shermie fell silent.
Watching from the sidelines, Aiden wisely stayed out of it. With his experience, he knew full well that in such situations, keeping to himself was the best choice, otherwise, he'd just end up burned.
But what he worried about most was that Maki and Shermie might actually flip the table and start fighting.
This wasn't like when the Kagura sisters fought Mai Shiranui, the Kagura family and the Four Heavenly Kings were mortal enemies who'd fought for centuries. The fact that they were even sitting down and talking calmly was already giving him a lot of face.
Still, letting things stay that quiet wasn't good either. Aiden glanced at King, hoping she'd say something, after all, she was the only neutral one here.
But King only shrugged, signaling that she couldn't help him. Of course she didn't want to get involved; she was a woman too, and women knew best how terrifying conflicts between women could be.
Seeing that King wasn't helping, Aiden had no choice. After thinking a while, he still couldn't find a way to ease the tension.
There was no helping it, the Eight Heads Clan and the Three Sacred Families had always been at odds. If words alone could resolve it, it wouldn't have lasted a thousand years.
Sighing, Aiden picked up his chopsticks and said, "Let's eat. I'm hungry."
But before he could decide what to eat, Shermie quickly picked up a piece of tempura for him and said sweetly, "Aiden, just eat, I'll get the food for you."
Across from them, Maki calmly gave her sister a look. Chizuru immediately stood, knelt beside Aiden, and poured him a cup of sake.
Then Maki said, "Mr. Aiden, let Chizuru serve you like she used to."
'Great. It had begun again.'
But Aiden didn't bother saying anything this time. He just ate a bite, drank a sip, and balanced the attention between both sides.
Inwardly, though, he thought, 'Go ahead and fight all you want. If you make things too uncomfortable for me, I'll just go stay at Mai's place.'
Thankfully, from that moment on, neither side said another word. They actually behaved like proper traditional Japanese women, meekly and attentively serving the man of the house.
Which ironically made Aiden feel even more uncomfortable. Helplessly, he said, "You should eat too, don't just worry about me."
But they continued doing as they pleased.
"I said, you eat too." Aiden's face suddenly turned stern.
Then he grabbed the sake bottle from Chizuru's hands, set it aside, sat upright, and started serving food for everyone, King included.
Then, in a serious tone, he said, "Eat."
Seeing how firm Aiden was this time, the Kagura sisters and Shermie could only pick up their chopsticks and start eating. Even King stopped sipping her wine and quietly focused on her food.
They hadn't known Aiden for very long, but it was the first time they'd ever seen him speak so sternly, and they couldn't help feeling a little nervous.
Aiden, on the other hand, felt very pleased with himself as he looked at them. He thought, 'So I do have some authority after all. Maybe I should be more assertive from now on, otherwise, they'll keep fighting whenever they meet, and I'll go crazy.'
Thus, after a brief clash, the tension between the Kagura family and Shermie of the Four Heavenly Kings finally eased.
And once the meal was over, it was time to settle the matter of arranging where King and Shermie would stay.
———
King was actually the easiest to deal with. Aiden planned to take her directly to meet Mai Shiranui and Yuri afterward.
They were still staying at the Kyokugenryu Dojo for now, though they were about to return to the Shiranui Dojo, since Takuma Sakazaki was due back soon.
As for Shermie, that was trickier. Aiden had already done everything that needed doing with her, but bringing her back to the Yata Shrine was absolutely impossible.
Even ignoring the ancient grudge between the Four Heavenly Kings and the Three Sacred Families, the Kagura sisters would never allow what they saw as a mistress to live in their home.
So, sending Shermie to the Shiranui Dojo wasn't feasible either, Mai Shiranui definitely wouldn't agree.
In the end, Aiden could only arrange for Shermie to rent a place to live outside. Though he felt it was a bit unfair to her, Shermie didn't seem to mind at all.
Afterward, Aiden took King and Shermie to the restaurant entrance to bid farewell to the Kagura sisters, then set off to take King to meet Mai Shiranui and Yuri.
The Kyokugenryu Dojo was also within the Tokyo area, though like the Shiranui Dojo, it was located in a less busy suburban district.
Still, its reputation far exceeded that of the Shiranui Dojo. After taking a taxi to the outskirts, it only took asking a passerby to find it.
Aiden had Shermie wait at the entrance, mostly to prevent her from starting a fight with Mai again, and then entered the dojo with King.
Once Aiden and King were inside, Shermie's expression subtly darkened. It wasn't because she thought Aiden was playing favorites by leaving her outside.
It was because, here, she could sense the presence of Orochi's aura.
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