The Doomsday Horn that proclaims the end of the world, Gabriel actually tried to sell it for fifty thousand yen, brazenly holding out her hand for cash. What a weirdo.
"Do you have any idea what this thing means?" Riku took the horn back out and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Of course I do. But it's useless to me," Gabriel said with open disdain. "All it can do is destroy the world. That's zero utility. It's not like I'm actually going to end the world. Keeping it around just takes up my space."
"You make such a convincing case, I'm speechless," Riku muttered, tossing the Doomsday Horn back into storage with a curl of his lip.
"If you get it, then pay up. Fifty thousand." Gabriel glared and stuck her small hand out toward Riku.
"No deal." Riku tapped her hand away without a shred of hesitation.
"Tsk. Stingy." Gabriel smacked her lips. "Thirty. That's my floor."
"Gabriel, you really take the cake." Riku headed for the door, waving her off with open contempt. "Sorry, this is my war trophy. You're not getting a single yen. That pizza I brought already covers your 'compensation.'"
"Hah? A single pizza for the Doomsday Horn? Riku, why don't you ascend to heaven while you're at it?"
"Apologies, I've already been to heaven, and to hell, too." Riku opened her door and stepped out.
"Oh, right, Gabriel. One reminder: your pizza's done heating. If it gets cold again and you reheat it, it'll be inedible." He slid the door closed with a smile. "Later."
"Tsk, what a mysterious guy." Startled, Gabriel rushed after him, but the hall was already empty. She frowned to herself. "What is Riku's real identity? He gives me this impossible, out-of-the-ordinary vibe. I don't even feel weird letting him keep the Doomsday Horn."
She scowled. She wasn't an idiot, and she did have a bottom line. If a random human pulled this on her, she would definitely get even. Maybe not kill anyone, but a little heavenly "discipline" would be on the table.
And yet, when it came to Riku, she couldn't even raise a hand.
"Whatever. I'm starving. Pizza time." With that, Gabriel dropped the thought, darted to the microwave, pulled out the piping-hot slice, ate with bliss, and queued another match.
'Ah, that's living. Compared to that boring slog in Heaven, this is the life.'
…
Chiba City. Leaving Gabriel's place, Riku teleported straight to Sora's.
"Sora and Aoyuki are in the room, huh." One sweep of his senses told him the lay of the house.
He walked to Sora's door and tried the handle locked.
"Sora, open up. Why are you locking doors at home?" Riku said with a helpless laugh.
"Riku, you're back!" A flurry of sounds, then footsteps; the door opened.
Sora stood there in a plain white sleep shirt; clearly, she hadn't gone out today. After waking and taking a shower, she'd never bothered changing.
"Dummy. Even if there's no one else here, dress properly at home," Riku sighed, ruffling her uncombed silver hair.
Just a thin sleep shirt, half-askew like that… Honestly, it was way too tempting. An ordinary guy might have lost control on the spot. Even Riku felt a tiny tug in his chest.
"Exactly. No one's here, so who cares?" Sora looked up and huffed.
"I'm still a man, you know." Riku rolled his eyes.
"So what you're saying is… your heart skipped a beat for me?" Sora's eyes lit, mischief dancing across her face.
"Skipped a beat, my foot." Riku flicked her on the forehead. "Don't get cocky, you little Sora."
"Idiot Riku, don't just flick my forehead out of nowhere!" Sora glared. "Mere Riku, brushing off my charm is unforgivable!"
The words were flirty; what she really minded was… a bit more complicated.
"Writing again?" Riku nodded toward the closed laptop.
"Mm-hmm. I've been… dabbling." Sora touched her cheek; a faint blush crept in, and her eyes wandered.
Riku stepped inside and pulled the door closed. He glanced at Aoyuki, who was sprawled on Sora's bed.
Aoyuki looked back at him, golden eyes flashing with distinctly human delight. If only he knew what she had gone through today, she'd been petted senseless.
A proud little fox spirit, reduced to being manhandled by a human girl in… ahem. Mortifying.
"Tsk. What a disgrace of a pet. Not a shred of pet-like self-awareness," Riku sniffed.
"…!" Aoyuki froze, glaring daggers at him. Same old master, merciless to the core. I should've known better than to expect kindness.
"Riku, were you talking with Aoyuki?" Sora asked, looking puzzled. From the note Riku left that morning, she already knew the snow fox's name.
"Ahem, nothing much," Riku coughed lightly, then changed the subject. "Sora, have you eaten dinner?"
"I ordered takeout. Did you eat?" Sora nodded and asked back.
"Yeah. If you're writing, I won't disturb you." Riku patted Sora's silver hair, turned to the door, and spoke gently.
"Mm." Hearing this, a blush crept onto Sora's cheeks, and her expression turned a little unnatural as she nodded.
"Aoyuki, come here." Riku then beckoned to Aoyuki.
Aoyuki hurried to Riku's side. Even though following Riku around might mean getting teased again, it was still better than staying here and getting… overwhelmed by attention.
"Sora, don't stay up too late. Remember to sleep early," Riku reminded softly.
"I know, I know. Riku, you nag like an old grandpa," Sora muttered.
"Have you ever seen a grandpa this handsome?" Riku rolled his eyes, tossed off the line as he stepped out, and closed the door.
"Back to work," Sora said once Riku had left. She locked the door again, quickly returned to her laptop, and her clear eyes held a faint flush.
On the other side, Riku brought Aoyuki into his own room.
"Whew, finally free." As soon as they entered, Aoyuki shifted into the familiar silver-haired girl form, in a black-and-white gothic dress, the bells at her temples chiming softly. She plopped down on Riku's bed and sat on Riku's bed, swinging her slender legs, which were clad in white stockings that reached past her knees, with a look of relief on her face. She grumbled, "Master, Sora is really terrifying. I truly didn't realise she had that side to her."
Riku grinned. "Actually, I also really want to pet the fox, especially when you're a little silver-haired like you right now."
"Pff!" Aoyuki immediately shrank back into a corner, hugging her legs and trembling as she looked at Riku.
"Relax, I'm teasing you. I was just kidding. I wasn't actually planning to do something to you right now," Riku waved it off with a smile.
"Not now… so later…" Aoyuki's mouth twitched, and she looked miserable. Could she really last until she has nine tails? Wouldn't these two incorrigible masters "break" her first?
"That depends on my mood. If you try to seduce me, I might not be able to resist and do something," Riku hummed.
"Who's trying to seduce you!" Aoyuki yelped.
"Tsk, what kind of fox girl doesn't seduce its owner? It's shameful." Riku said, giving her a sidelong look.
"Who says a pet would seduce its master!" Aoyuki almost coughed up blood. "Those pets are just being cute!"
"You're a fox spirit. If a fox demon doesn't seduce people, is it still a fox spirit? You can't even do that, you're truly useless," Riku said with open disdain. "Truly useless."
"Master, that's species discrimination. Who says fox spirits must seduce their masters," Aoyuki glared, trying to prove her innocence.
"Come on, that's how anime does it," Riku clicked his tongue.
"Don't project anime onto real life!" Aoyuki's face twitched. She felt very tired.
"Forget it. Whatever you say, you're still a disgrace of a fox," Riku waved, nailing it down again.
Aoyuki looked ready to cry, lay on the bed, and stared silently at the ceiling.
"Master, I'll tell you two secrets. Be gentler with me after that, okay?" At last, Aoyuki seemed to remember something. She turned her head, blinked, and looked at Riku.
"I'm not interested in your secrets," Riku waved lazily.
"…," Aoyuki's forehead filled with metaphorical black lines.
"They're about Sora, not me," Aoyuki said meaningfully.
"Hm?" Riku paused and looked over.
"Actually…" Aoyuki hesitated, her eyes flickering. If she spilt what Sora did today, this home might fall to pieces. Wouldn't she be the sinner then? But if she kept quiet, the matter would come out sooner or later, and the fallout might be worse. Yet this daily life, full of mixed gloom, warmth, and happiness, was exactly what she longed for. She didn't want to lose it so soon.
"What is it?" Riku asked, seeing Aoyuki tangled up.
"Nothing. I couldn't think up a good excuse," Aoyuki said at last. "Anyway, Master, please be gentler with me from now on. Maybe I'll even fall for you."
Riku gave her a long look. "Aoyuki, are you begging for training?"
"Master, no, I was wrong, please spare me!" Aoyuki surrendered in a second, eyes brimming.
"Go and train. I'm going to deal with Isayama Yomi," Riku said, glancing at Aoyuki, shaking his head as he stood up.
"Uh, Master, are you going to kill her?" Aoyuki looked up in surprise.
"If I'd wanted to kill, I would've done it long ago. I actually meant to let her go, but her keeping watch on this place isn't acceptable. I'm not in the habit of being monitored," Riku shrugged, speaking casually.
Isayama Yomi was a heroine one could pity, but Riku wouldn't save her out of sympathy because she had injured his own pet, Aoyuki. Sparing her before was already magnanimous enough.
However, if Isayama Yomi still had value to be used, that was another matter.
Riku's eyes flashed; he vanished from the room, leaving Aoyuki bewildered, unable to guess what he was thinking.
But she couldn't be bothered to dwell on it either. Humming to herself, she slipped into cultivation. If her master settled the problem of Isayama Yomi, she wouldn't need to keep worrying.
At that moment, in a building, a scene ordinary people would hardly ever witness was playing out.
Yomi's body seethed with baleful youki; the Sesshōseki on her brow glowed ever redder, enough to make one's scalp prickle.
Clinging to a final shred of reason, Yomi's pupils reddened by the Sesshōseki's influence glared fixedly at a silver-haired boy not far away. She gripped a broken katana, its tip levelled straight at him.
"You still dare show yourself before me!" Yomi's voice was hoarse, her killing intent almost taking on substance.
"Ahh, as expected of someone I chose," the silver-haired boy, who looked no more than thirteen, said to himself, eyeing Yomi. "After the fusion, for the Sesshōseki's power to swell to this level… Looks like if I wait a bit longer, I can harvest the spoils."
"I'll kill you!" Yomi rasped.
She vanished like a phantom, afterimages slashing the air as her broken blade cut toward the boy.
At the last instant, the boy's left eye, hidden under his bangs, flashed red. It was the Sesshōseki.
Clang!
The Sesshōseki embedded in his left eye erupted with a surge of youki that blocked Yomi's strike, blasting her away. She crashed into a concrete pillar of the abandoned plant and shattered it.
Yomi tumbled across the floor before she could regain her balance, fixing the boy with eyes full of hatred.
Santogawa Kazuhiro was the one who had forcibly fused the Sesshōseki into his own body, who had driven her into a rampage that ended with her killing her father. She didn't care about the rest of the Isayama clan, but the father who had raised her, slain because of her own rampage, was intolerable. She would have revenge; she must have revenge.
For that, she needed power.
Overwhelming hatred drowned the shred of reason left in Yomi. Her crimson pupils brimmed with feral killing will as she stared venomously at the silver-haired boy.
"Don't glare at me like that. You're no match for me," Kazuhiro said coolly, looking down on her. "You can't control the Sesshōseki's power; thinking you can defeat me is delusional."
"Aaaahhhh!" Yomi screamed like a beast and charged him again.
But the gap in raw strength was there, and with her reason gone, she was toyed with again and again.
"Brat, really asking for a beating." A voice cut in, and Kazuhiro's pupils shrank. He snapped his gaze rightward, someone had appeared there without him noticing.
"Who are you?" Kazuhiro's heart tightened. He hadn't sensed this person arrive at all.
Yomi, having lost her reason completely, swung at whatever she saw; at the sound of the newcomer's voice, she lunged toward Riku.
But the moment she closed with him, she froze entirely; space itself had been locked.
"…!" The eerie turn made Kazuhiro's eyes contract. He tried to run, but the instant he intended to move, he found he couldn't. Even the Sesshōseki's youki was being forcibly suppressed.
"You can control the Sesshōseki. Your constitution is admittedly unusual. But you don't have the strength. Trying to break the concept of life and death? You're biting off more than you can chew," Riku said evenly, looking at the punk.
Kazuhiro's aim was to resurrect his dead mother via the Sesshōseki and have her kill his father. Hence, the chain of events, he was the prime culprit who drove Yomi toward tragedy.
Pity he didn't end well either. Once Yomi completely degenerated into an evil spirit, he seized the Sesshōseki and died. He resurrected his mother by force, only to be torn apart by her in a berserk fit.
The so-called resurrection methods in the onmyōji system are giant traps. In Tokyo Ravens, for instance, the girl Ōtomo/Ōnmyōji (Dairenji) Suzuka used the Taizan Fukun Rite to revive her brother, and the result was a rampaging "thing," essentially a monster.
"Who exactly are you? We don't have any grudge between us, do we?" Kazuhiro asked, uneasy, staring at Riku.
"Relax. I've no interest in small fry like you. But my future maid, that's another story," Riku said calmly.
He snapped his fingers; a blaze of holy light burst forth, wrapped Yomi, and in an instant purified the taint on her and even the Sesshōseki, down to the last speck.
"You can actually purify the Sesshōseki? And that power just now you're…" Kazuhiro stared at Riku in horror, disbelief written all over his face.
"Shut up," Riku said evenly. Like Aoyuki earlier, Kazuhiro was clearly about to say "Seraph."
That stupid pet fox is one thing; she's family. If she drags down my mystique, I can just "re-educate" her. Outsiders don't get that courtesy.
"…" Kazuhiro's words stuck in his throat; he couldn't force them out.
"Why did you save me?" Now fully purified in body and mind, restored to normal, Isayama Yomi's eyes wavered. Grateful yet puzzled, she asked in confusion.
She'd been eroded to that extent by the Sesshōseki, and yet she'd been rescued from its core within her, even erased. It was incredible. What she couldn't figure out was why Riku would save her. They'd only met once, and the first time was while she was half-mad under the stone's influence; he'd even casually suppressed and beaten her back then.
"Hey, how about a deal?" Riku met Yomi's gaze and spoke slowly.
"I'll grant you power for revenge, the strength to settle every debt you carry. The price is that you become my maid. From then on, body and mind belong to me, and you will not disobey a single order."
"…!" Yomi's eyes widened a little. She looked at Riku in surprise, momentarily at a loss.
"Yes or no?" Riku asked, calm as ever.
"Please grant me power… Master." Regaining her senses, Yomi answered frankly, without the slightest hesitation. Her life had been saved by Riku; he'd kept her from degenerating into an evil spirit and being put down. Even without this bargain, she would have been willing to become his maid.
"Deal." Riku nodded, lifting a finger; a globe of light bloomed at its tip.
"What is that?" Yomi stared, stunned. The aura it gave off made her feel instinctive reverence, as if meeting a god.
"There are countless ways to make you stronger. This one's the simplest and most direct," Riku said, unruffled. "It's a godhead. A human who receives a godhead becomes a divine prodigy, a god-child."
"A… godhead!" Yomi's eyes went wide with shock. She hadn't expected Riku to produce something so terrifying on the very first move.
'What on earth is this guy's background!?' Kazuhiro's expression shifted darkly; his whole body was taut, yet he still couldn't move.
Neither of them knew that Riku's storage space held a small mountain of godheads, war trophies from his assault on the Heavens.
And this one was the weakest among them, the lowest tier of the five-digit class.
Even so, once it fused with her, Yomi would have power enough to level a city.
Why save Yomi and even gift her a godhead? Riku intended to have her serve as Sora's covert bodyguard at school, quietly dealing with boys who harassed her or girls playing dirty tricks.
Bullying on campus is common, and Sora is a prime target: a bit willful by nature and far too beautiful for her own safety.
While Yomi was still dazed, Riku had already sent the godhead flowing into her body.
In a flash, radiance burst out; Yomi's aura swelled at an alarming rate. If Riku hadn't sealed off this pocket of space, half the city would have sensed it.
"Thank you for your grace, Master." After a while, Yomi dropped to one knee, looking up at Riku with rapt devotion, speaking from the heart. At this moment, Riku had fully claimed her.
"Try not to damage the Sesshōseki. I should bring my idiot pet a little souvenir," Riku said with a nod, casually.
As he spoke, he released the spatial bind on Kazuhiro.
"Master, leave it to me," Yomi answered respectfully and rose to her feet.
'I have to run!' Seeing Yomi's change, Kazuhiro went paper-white and bolted for the exit without a second thought.
Squelch!
He'd barely made it a few meters before Yomi slipped behind him like a ghost. Her right hand punched straight through his torso and clutched his still-beating heart.
"Heh… lucky you," Kazuhiro said weakly, turning his head, face ashen, speaking to Yomi.
"I think so, too." Yomi smiled, enchanting and deadly, and crushed his heart.
She dismembered the enemy she hated most, plucked the Sesshōseki from his left eye, and returned to Riku.
Then, realising how bloody and unsightly she looked, Yomi hurriedly washed the blood away with her new power before facing Riku again, anxious that he might dislike it.
"Not bad," Riku said as he took the Sesshōseki and purified it, slipping it into his pocket.
At that, Yomi's smile blossomed, and she gazed at Riku with adoration. Her Master was everything. She seemed to have gained a little yandere…. Well, that works too. Corrupted heroines do come with their own kind of…appeal.
Riku glanced at Yomi, gave a small shake of the head, and murmured to himself.
A new week began, and Sōbu High School welcomed a transfer student: a cool, long, straight black-haired beauty, none other than Izayama Yomi, whom Riku had arranged to enrol.
Outwardly, Yomi was aloof, so no one dared approach; in secret, she watched the area around Sora, quietly driving away boys harbouring improper thoughts about her and using various methods to handle girls who tried petty tricks.
She executed Riku's orders perfectly. Thanks to her distinctive personality and the feat of single-handedly flooring five delinquents, her name instantly resounded through Sōbu High.
At Sōbu High, she and Yukino came to be called the school's two "ice-mountain" beauties ordinary people found hard to approach.
Within Sōbu High, to Yomi, only one person mattered: her master's sister, Sora. For that, she tried in every way to get along with Sora, which surprised certain observant people like Yui.
As for what was happening at Sōbu High, Riku only paid it some attention and wasn't particularly surprised. He still trusted Yomi's ability to handle matters.
Meanwhile, at the Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School (ANHS), Riku spent each day happily "training" no, teaching the students of Class D, especially the problematic ones, Horikita Suzune, Kikyo Kushida, Hikigaya Hachiman, and Ayanokōji Kiyotaka, who received Riku's special attention in every sense. When he had time, he strolled around campus with Kei.
In the rest of his free time, he chatted with girls online and hung out with Shiro, Sora, Sagiri, and the others, living at ease.
In Tokyo's Nerima Ward, on a broad avenue, Riku wasn't driving his Rolls-Royce today; he was keeping a low profile in an Audi A6.
It was Saturday. Riku had planned to keep slacking off, but Eriri suddenly called, hoping he could come by her house.
That reminded Riku: there was still an evil spirit at Eriri's home waiting for him to deal with.
Thinking of that, Riku felt a bit awkward. Indulging in gentle company, he'd accidentally forgotten about Eriri's situation. If he let it drag on, her family might really be in danger, though, granted, raising the dead was something he could do with a wave of the hand.
"Hm?" As he drove uphill, Riku spotted a girl walking along the roadside ahead. The familiar silhouette made him smile; he pulled the car alongside her and stopped.
The sudden stop clearly surprised the girl, who looked over.
She had a simple, slightly cute bob cut, a white beret, a white dress under a light pink cardigan, and slender yet shapely legs in over-the-knee socks with a floral band at the top. Although she was very pretty and had a nice figure, she lacked a striking aura, the kind that makes people look twice, so others tended to overlook her.
"Katō. Long time no see."
Riku lowered the window, smiled at the girl, and greeted her.
"Ah, it's Dola-kun. Running into you here is really surprising," Katō Megumi said after a brief blank look.
"Katō, if you're surprised, I think your expression should fluctuate a little rather than showing no change at all, with even your tone barely shifting," Riku said, rolling his eyes in a mild roast.
Riku's acquaintance with Katō Megumi wasn't a coincidence. It wasn't a chance meeting online, nor one of those choreographed 'real-life encounters.'
It was because, when Riku acquired a certain idol agency that was about to go under as prep for some future plans, he met Katō Megumi's father, Katō Keita.
Strictly speaking, Katō Keita had been the manager of that failing idol agency, so when Riku bought it, Keita became one of his subordinates.
When Megumi came by to bring something to her father, Riku naturally noticed the identity of this presence-thin girl and took the opportunity to get acquainted.
"Mm, that troubles me too. My family often says the same thing," Megumi said with the same lack of expression and cadence about something she called "troubling."
"Katō, your outfit today is pretty good. Compared to your usual 'zero-presence' look, you've got much more presence today, enough to make me do a double-take. Otherwise, noticing you would still be a bit difficult," Riku said with a small smile, unable to resist teasing the background heroine before him.
"Dola-kun, even if that's true, saying it so directly is harsh. It sounds like praise but also hits where it hurts a little; it makes me feel a bit down," Megumi said, staring straight at Riku while logically laying everything out.
"Honestly, I don't get it either, Katō. Your features are delicate, your height is moderate, your skin is clear, and, how to put it, you have a well-proportioned figure; you're the very cute type. So why are you so lacking in presence that you can't catch people's attention?" Riku said, rubbing his chin, utterly serious.
"Dola-kun, you're getting worse, you know, you keep poking at my sore spots," Katō Megumi said, fixing Riku with a steady look. "And what you just said already counts as sexual harassment."