It's surprisingly easy to get directions.
Maybe it shouldn't be a surprise, but I don't know, I figured it'd be difficult to find out where an important noble is by name. Maybe I'm just thinking through movies again, it's not like Taira no Tadatsune has a reason to hide or be hidden.
Still, I was expecting to go on a miniature adventure looking for him, else I'd have just used a Spell to point me in his direction.
Though, thinking that, as a Clan Head he probably has some protections from Divination, right?
"Hey, do Clan Heads like Tadatsune have protections from Divination?"
The Taira next to me startles slightly at my voice before turning and answering without meeting my eyes.
"Y-yes, N-Narauko-sama."
He's sweating.
I give him a nod before turning back to my thoughts.
It seems that I took the expeditious route by mistake after all. This feels like in a video game when you have two paths ahead of you and you pick the one you think is the wrong one so that you can get all the loot before progressing. Only to find out you accidentally took the right path and got locked into a cutscene you can't go back from.
My poor mini-adventure...
Instead of enjoying a morning of whimsy, the first person I asked about Tadatsune's location just told me right away, pointing me to the main Taira compound. Then, after showing up at their front gate, they just let me in without even questioning me beyond asking why I was here.
What ever happened to the whole, 'I'll let you in if you fetch me three rabbit furs first' or whatever. Don't these guys have any respect for the quest giving nature of...
I should probably not start thinking of people like they're NPCs.
I mean, it's not like I'm actually starting to see my life as a game or anything, I just got video games on my mind for some reason.
Whatever, I'm here now and that's what matters. There's no sense to leaving things with Takiyasha to simmer. I already took too long with her once, so it's the least I could do to clear everything up with haste now that I'm active again.
Though...
My eyes drift to the Taira escorting me and the line of sweat trailing down his forehead. Well, I say 'escort' but it's more like 'the guy who rushed to follow me so I wouldn't be strolling through the compound alone'.
It's not like I need a guide.
Still, I get the impression they are nervous of me. I wonder why?
I know that sounds like a dumb question, but it's not like I wasn't The Strongest beforehand, and no one else has been acting so nervous about it. Do they think I have a reason to be upset with them or something?
Maybe they think I'll be thinking that they were in league with Masakado because they're all Taira? I could see that. A country bumpkin who doesn't know politics might make that mistake.
Might just be because I chose to stroll in without waiting for permission or anything. You'd think that'd make them mad though, rather than nervous. It's not like I'm Sukuna.
Oh, right, maybe it's that. I keep forgetting that mu Cursed Energy isn't being sneaky anymore.
Eh. It doesn't really matter.
I came here to make a statement anyway, so it works out for me anyhow.
Speaking of, I think to myself as I finally reach a door that I can feel Tadatsune behind, alongside a couple other presences that I barely recognise.
Recognise in the sense that I've probably been in their vicinity before, not in the sense that I've actually interacted with any of them, else I'd recognise them better.
My 'escort' goes to say something but cuts himself off as I simply slide the door open and step inside.
"Yo~! Tada-kun~!"
I hear a piteous whine leave my escort before the door is hurriedly shut behind me and his presence rapidly flees. Poor guy.
Inside the room, other than Tadatsune there is some old guy, some other old guy, a middle-aged dude and a not-so-old dude. None of them give me the vibe that I'd find them particularly more interesting than I find any human interaction, so I don't really pay them any more mind than that.
Though as I think that I also consider starting a fight just to see what their Techniques are. It'd probably be pretty disheartening if they have a cool Technique and are wasting it by being weak though, so I don't.
"You overstep yourself, Boy," one of the older dudes is the first to speak, catching me somewhat by surprise. Tadatsune too, if the glare of his that snaps to the old guy is any indication.
"I know right~?" I immediately agree, exaggerating amazement. "Yet my strides remain vast indeed."
The old dude's Cursed Energy flares as if he cannot feel my own blanketing the entire compound.
Don't get me wrong, I know this guys understands the difference between us. He's just clearly one of those old traditionalists that will continue to act as if the reality they believe in is still true until someone forces them to accept otherwise.
In other words, my character offends him enough that he can ignore the disparity in our strength. I almost scoff at the thought, though I do find it very cute at the same time. I love the way humans can be stubborn like this, believing his authority can cow even those stronger than him.
He's probably used to that, as I imagine his authority likely has cowed people stronger than him before. He just can't understand that this is not that.
Dang, now I kinda like this guy.
Still, his attempt at pressuring me deserves a response.
"Scary~." I send the old dude a wink. "I refer to myself of course."
The old dude goes to speak again but Tadatsune cuts him off with a raised hand. "Enough." After glaring for a moment longer at the old guy, Tadatsune's gaze falls back on me. "Narauko-dono. Why have you come."
Sheesh, talk about a cold greeting. Well, not like I don't understand.
"Just wanted to tell you somethin'. About that last conversation we had?" I don't wait for him to answer the rhetorical. "Well, I had a chat with Takiyasha-chan the other day, so I can give you a proper answer this time."
I withhold a snicker at the hopeful gleam in his eye that he clearly does his best to restrain.
This time, I do wait. Presentation and stuff is important for making statements and such. It's like how in alien movies the spaceship's ramp descends at that ponderously slow speed. There's an art to human nature, and emotions can be stoked and prodded to reach any destination one desires. It's really quite fascinating.
So I wait for impatience to strike their eyes, as the way I was speaking clearly left them expecting me to give an answer without the need for prompting. I wait until Tadatsune does prompt me, and when he does, I give my answer almost before he finishes the word. With finger-guns too. For fun.
"And?"
"Takiyasha-chan and I will not be getting married~! Yaaay~!" The varied scowls are predictable, and this time I don't wait for a reply before following up, "However, Takiyasha-chan is still officially under my protection from now on anyway~! And so are her siblings~! And if you or anyone else hurts any of them then I'll massacre the entire branch of whoever is responsible~!"
There, that should do it.
Masakado's children—all of which turned out to be alive like Takiyasha thankfully—are no longer at risk of assassination.
I don't really pay attention to the response my words get, as my mind is drawn down, deep inside my Shadow, as I feel some twisted, broken Curse flow its way up through my Soul; something malevolent akin to gratitude.
I gotchu, Buddy.
It's the least I could do, after all.
///
???
///
The distant sounds of chirping birds and rushing water fill the air with a peaceful atmosphere. Wind flows gently through mountain passes and rustled leaves, bringing peace and tranquillity with them; here in a land yet untouched by man.
Here, a woman sucks in a deep breath of the fresh air and breathes it out in a pleased sigh, as if sampling the scent of a delicacy.
"It's a good day," she hums to herself, voice low and eager to match the grin on her lips.
A short, brief laugh escapes her in her eager anticipation before she swallows it down and glances around herself in observation. The forest is as natural as any other, untouched by humans in a way that leaves it difficult for them to navigate. Thick vines and bushes cover the forest floor, with only the occasional damper to it from forest paths carved by wandering animals.
It's not open enough.
The woman considers a solution for only a moment before deciding that it would be too rash.
She wants to make the right first impression; it is very important that she does. So she decides against clearing some space.
Instead, her eyes of molten gold turn upwards.
The woman shrugs and bends her knees slightly before abruptly blurring into motion, shooting straight up.
It takes less than a moment for her to clear the treeline into open air, and she savours that moment of weightlessness before turning her eyes back down and angling herself to land delicately upon the tippy top of the tallest tree beneath her.
Being such a thin surface, only one of her feet can actually stand on the tree, so she bends her other leg into an angle and rests her foot against her first leg's knee.
The view is nice up here, and as a gust of wind blows her bright, wheat-gold hair all over the place, the woman takes a moment to brush it back into place. For a human, it would likely be an impossible task, dealing with not just the wind and the length of her hair—which dips down to her knees—but also having to do so whilst avoiding the pair of long horns sticking up from out of her forehead.
She, however, is an Oni. So not only is she used to working around her horns, but a simple use of Youki is enough to keep her hair from blowing too wildly in the high wind.
Before anything else, the woman gives herself one last look to ensure that she is presentable. She holds her blood-red hands out in front of her, checking under their black claws for any grime. Seeing none, she looks to the yellow, floral-printed robe she wears, tied by a sash of prayer beads.
The wind has blown it a little bit loose, revealing the pale skin beneath, but it still covers most of her arms and the lower half of her torso, so she doesn't really care to pull it back into place like how the humans wear them. Besides, she likes the way it flows in the wind like this; it's almost like she has wings or something. She thinks it's cool, so it'll probably be good for the impression she wants to make.
The woman shrugs her shoulders again at the thought.
She doesn't really care what they'll think of her. Their personal opinion of her isn't why the first impression is so important.
With her brief self-inspection out of the way, the woman plants one hand on her hip and drops the other down to hold onto the equally blood-red foot resting on her knee, pulling it up slightly.
Then, she simply stops hiding herself.
She has enough control over her power that nothing around her faces any kind of physical destruction, yet still the air stills and twists as if unsure it is still allowed to blow as air does and afraid to find out.
Around her, the woman feels dozens of lives snuff out. Small beings feeling something beyond them, something dangerous that they cannot comprehend and simply dying of freight.
Further away, the previously peaceful forest explodes into noise as a veritable wall of feathers erupts in every direction, near blocking out the sun as every creature capable of flight that was not too close to die flees as one. Below the trees, wolves howl and whine and deer and rabbits and insects crawl and lope and run.
The woman sees this and she sneers at their instinctual reactions.
"Pathetic animals," she mutters to herself before brushing the thought of them from her mind.
Their own diminutive nature has nothing to do with her; she doesn't really care if they flee. It's the smart thing for them to do, even if she still thinks them pathetic for doing so. But either way, she isn't here to judge some Soulless animals, so her eyes remain firmly on the horizon.
It does not take long for the response she was waiting for to arrive.
She feels them before she sees them, naturally.
It tastes like... Assumption.
The woman licks her lips.
What an interesting flavour, she thinks to herself with no small delight. Though, she would have been surprised if the flavour was boring. You wouldn't have made it this far if there was nothing interesting about you.
A figure resolves itself before her right as she finishes the thought, and the woman is quick to observe them.
All she'd known ahead of time was that they were a woman and a Kitsune. That much she can now see for herself. Beyond that, they have hair a similar colour to her own but shorter, with fur of the same colour. Her kimono is worn more properly, or 'modestly' would be the right word. Though, that does nothing to conceal the large chest beneath.
The girl briefly glances down at her own meagre comparison and frowns.
"You have my attention." The Kitsune opposite her states, tone flat with a hint of threat—as is only natural. However, the woman isn't intimidated by the power her guest is radiating to match her own. "Why have you come, Oni?"
The woman grins. She really does like the hostile tone. It shows that at the very least, the newest Ultimate-class Yōkai is not a fool. That is good; she would be mad if they didn't take this seriously.
If the Kitsune tried to act chummy with the first Ultimate-class she met as an 'equal', then she'd have killed her out of principle alone.
Still, as the senior here, she feels no need to hold the same tone of voice.
It isn't as if she is the one in danger here, after all.
"That's not a very nice greeting, Kitsune~. How about we exchange a polite and friendly greeting first, hmm~? My name is Ibara—"
"I know who you are, Oni." The interruption has Ibaraki's grin stretching just a bit wider. It is, after all, the perfect response she was hoping for. "You are interrupting something. Get to the point."
She isn't too shocked that this Kitsune would know her, but most Yōkai would only be able to tell what she is, not who. It takes an ignorant Yōkai to not know at least some of the existing Ultimate-class Yōkai and it takes a dim Yōkai to not recognise her as an Oni. However, knowing a person by sight is another thing entirely, so most Yōkai would be unable to say if she were herself, Shuten or Otakemaru, if they would even know the names of her kin's Ultimate-classes.
Overall, the Kitsune recognising her is hardly as important to focus on as something much more interesting.
I'm interrupting something precious? Ibaraki echoes with momentary surprise in her mind, assuming by the tone that it isn't something mundane that she has stepped in the middle of.
Her grin grows again at that realisation.
Perfect~. All the more reason for you to project your animosity onto me. Go ahead~, be unfair~.
Stifling a laugh, Ibaraki raises her arms in a helpless shrug while sending forth a guileless smirk.
"Well in that case, it's simple~." Her head tilts down as she eagerly stares forward from lidded eyes and near-whispers the following words in low, alternating tones. "I~ came~ to bully~ you~."
Ibaraki resists the urge to chuckle as she feels her power swell by a fraction at her words as they cause her strength to grow for the coming battle.
The Kitsune tenses at the words and then again at the miniscule growth of her aura, stepping half a foot back from where she stands on the air. She feels the Kitsune's aura change around her in preparation for a fight, that unmistakable sense of anticipation clouding her presence.
Good. She's not a coward.
"I have no desire to fight at this time," the Kitsune tries, to which she merely laughs.
As if you can talk your way out of this. Do you even want to, or are you just trying to make me let my guard down?
"So what? You are far too young to be rejecting tradition~." The Kitsune's eyes narrow further at her cheerful words. She doesn't actually know how old the Kitsune is—she assumes around seven centuries because of the tails, which would make her the elder of the two. But then, that hardly matters here. Unless one is as ancient as those old monsters, then there really is no right to be questioning tradition.
"And what tradition would that be, exactly?" The Kitsune testily spits the words out, and she assumes that she must have interrupted something especially important for this degree of hostility to be warranted.
Or she's just a bitch, who knows?
Either way, Ibaraki's answer is a simple one.
"Bullying~!" She happily exclaims before letting her tone turn more serious as she gives the proper answer. "You claim yourself to be Ultimate, yet what proof have you shown to be worthy of sharing a title with us? Don't feel bad though! My sister and I both went through this a few centuries ago! Even if you're a disappointment, you'll only die!"
A focused breath leaves the Kitsune in a sigh, even as her eyes unwaveringly meet her own.
"I had assumed as much would be the case," the Kitsune states, looking unimpressed. "If you would just wait, I already need to convince Tsuchigumo to follow me as he once did Hagoromo. Give me a month and you will have your proof."
"Ey! You know that sly cunt!?" The woman abruptly exclaims, eyes wide before startling and calming down, nodding her head sagely as she looks the Kitsune up and down. "Riiight, right. Of course you do," she waves her arms vaguely at the Kitsune opposite her, "Kitsune." It would also explain how she recognised Ibaraki too.
Their eye twitches.
"Not all Kitsune know one another."
"Yet all Oni know the names Ibaraki, Shuten and Otakemaru."
The Kitsune says nothing in the face of her counter, for there is nothing more to say.
To be Ultimate is to stand at the highest reaches of the world, it is right there in the title, Ultimate. For a Yōkai, there is no word more revered, and so it is only natural that every single Yōkai will know the name of any of their own kin that have reached that venerable peak.
No Kitsune does not know the name Hagoromo Gitsune.
"Will you introduce yourself now?" Ibaraki asks, tilting her head slightly, her smirk not dimming the slightest.
The Kitsune hesitates for only a breath.
"Tamamo-no-Mae, leader of the West Yōkai Faction."
"Hah! That weird-headed coward really wasn't lying, huh?" She snickers a little bit more. "You didn't wait long to snatch up the dead's inheritance~."
Tamamo shrugs one shoulder. "Hagoromo enjoyed claiming me as her student. You will find none contesting my right to her inheritance."
"Meh, I don't really care." Ibaraki turns to the side. "C'mon now, all this talking is ruining my mood."
"You expect me to travel with you?" Tamamo raises an incredulous brow, to which Ibaraki merely turns back enough to smirk at her.
"Scared~? Guess you were a coward after all."
"If I were to be scared, it would not be because of one of your... stature, Dōji."
Ibaraki smirks wider as her power swells a fraction more from the derisive words, something that Tamamo clearly notices.
Ibaraki doesn't actually mind the epithet, she wouldn't allow herself to be known as Ibaraki-dōji if she felt it offensive. She gets why some might, as the title directly just calls her a child, but... is that not what she is? She's only a few centuries old, not like Otakemaru or those other hags.
Besides, it's perfect for her, since the strong tend to be proud, and there is little that stings the strong's pride quite like getting beat up by a child. It benefits her for there to be that layer of insult.
"We'll see if that lasts, Tamamo-chan," Ibaraki mocks as she raises a hand before her and taps the empty air. The moment she does, ripples spread from her fingertips across the air before abruptly cracking like ice dropped in warm water.
As the reflective shards of shattered sky hover beside her like a broken mirror, Ibaraki turns back to Tamamo and gestures to the doorway she created. "After you?"
Tamamo doesn't bother repeating herself, merely staring down at her. Ibaraki waits for longer than is reasonable before deciding that Tamamo must be in need of some motivation, so she decides to explain certain facts to the newbie.
There is more to this tradition than just bullying, after all. It's supposed to be educational.
"This is kind of like the Reverse World," Ibaraki begins, thumbing at the gateway. "It's just barren. I don't really get the full explanation behind it, but on the other side is a reflection of this Realm, except that everything resets like every month or something. The Gods made it ages ago, back when Yōkai first started coming to this Realm, so that we Ultimates would have a place to fight without having to worry about wiping out Humanity."
Personally, Ibaraki thinks that if Humanity would be wiped out so easily then they should just let it happen. Alas, she isn't going to naysay Amaterasu-Ōmikami. She isn't stupid.
"Beings like us are forbidden from fully expressing out power in the Human Realm." Ibaraki tilts her head in thought, "Well, I guess in general it's considered rude for anyone at our level to let out power out in any Realm but our own. Though, I guess that should be obvious. Eh, whatever, the point is, we gotta go in here if we wanna fight else Sarutahiko-Ōkami will throw a hissy fit, and you can only fight so many Gods at the same time before it just gets annoying."
Tamamo's gentle frown and furrowed brows last only until Ibaraki finishes her explanation and only a minute longer before she seems to come to a realisation. With this apparent realisation, Tamamo's frown disappears and she looks down her nose to Ibaraki instead with a mocking smile.
"It sounds to me, then, that I do not need to follow you at all."
Ibaraki just rolls her eyes at that, starting to get a little bit annoyed.
Do you want to fight or what?
Conveniently, she ignores that Tamamo very clearly has something else she'd rather be doing at the moment.
"Sure, you could say that," Ibaraki shrugs, and she can see Tamamo's frown return as she hears Ibaraki's tone be without concern. "However, I do not particularly care if this Realm crumbles. Do you? It seems to me that there are a lot of Yōkai over there," Ibaraki gestures to where Tamamo came from and the Kitsune's frown near immediately turns outright murderous.
Yes, that is how you should look at me.
"Ohh~? Seems to me that you do care? Well, how about this then. We are going to fight, either we will do so in here," Ibaraki thumbs at the gateway again, "Or we will fight very briefly out here, and I will make sure that everything in that direction dies before anyone can stop us. Your choice."
Tamamo's glare grows intense enough that Ibaraki can feel it trying to burn a hole through her. She only smirks however, as she feels her power grow yet another fraction larger.
"And the Gods? You think you can contest with them?"
Ibaraki shrugs. "Sarutahiko can suck it—"
The instant that the words leave her lips, the tree blow her shatters into dust as an incredible force drops on her head like the entire weight of the sky dropped on her shoulders. Ibaraki herself merely grunts at the impact, her resting foot dropping to join the other standing on air and slightly bent to take the force of the impact that craters the earth below in a perfectly controlled circle.
Despite that however, she does not drop an inch from her shattered perch.
Ibaraki turns back to Tamamo with delighted eyes. "This will certainly all be over quickly if you don't come, but not even Sarutahiko-Ōkami would be fast enough to save your servants."
Tamamo clearly recognises the truth of her words—the Kami rarely deign to involve themselves in the affairs of mortals at the best of times. Not even the Earthly Kami truly care, most of them anyway. Duty is duty and they will not forsake theirs, but there is a difference between doing their duty and putting forth the effort that would be required to stop her before she can act at all.
Ibaraki is no pushover, after all.
"You have a sister, yes?" Ibaraki pauses at the unexpected question and regards Tamamo with a curious look as the Kitsune finally approaches. Tamamo stops a step in front of her before speaking again, voice low and full of furious threat. "Should you follow through with your threat, Shuten-chan would suffer a miserable end long before you would get the mercy to part from the world."
Ibaraki instinctually wants to rise at the challenge, but she is old enough to not be so easily baited into carelessness. It helps that Tamamo's words cause her power to grow by an even greater fraction that the previous increments. Fitting, really.
So Ibaraki does not lash out or do anything more than narrow he eyes momentarily.
Besides, Shuten is stronger than Tamamo too, so the threat is little more than wind anyway. Just a woman wanting to do something to repay the emotional distress Ibaraki has apparently caused.
Idly, her eyes flicker to where the gathered Yōkai are that Tamamo came from.
There must be someone precious to her down there.
Musing aside, Ibaraki gestures yet again to the gateway by her side, only for Tamamo to send her a dry look glare.
"It's not a trap," Ibaraki defends, more offended by that one look than anything Tamamo has said. "Unlike you tricky Kitsune, there is nothing false in the words of Oni."
"I will follow after you."
"You do realise how weird it is for someone so freshly ascended into Ultimate to be so hesitant to test their new strength, right?" Ibaraki asks even as she shakes her head and steps to the gateway.
"There are things of greater value," is Tamamo's simple response, to which Ibaraki can only scoff.
"Yeah? Like what?"
"Does it matter?" Tamamo blandly returns, "I have agreed to fight you, this does not make us close enough for small talk."
Ibaraki smirks again as her power grows once more—the smallest increment of growth this time—and finally steps through the gateway.
The difference is immediately noticeable, as this is a Realm that is entirely empty. A mere echo of the Human Realm. In that identity, the very air feels different, as there is no Sarutahiko over here, nor any other Kami. It actually makes it a bit easier to fight sometimes, depending on how one fights. Some Kami like to make it difficult for others to touch upon their Domains, after all.
The difference is only really relevant for weaklings though. For someone at her level, it's a negligible change. Kagutsuchi couldn't dampen her flames even if he wanted to.
"Small talk doesn't have to be between friends," Ibaraki comments as she feels Tamamo step through behind her and the door close behind them both. "It's good to talk to your enemies as well, that way you can better—"
The air cracks! as Ibaraki rapidly spins around with her arms raised high barely in time to catch the full force of a blow on crossed forearms.
Her bones do not break, but she does feel pain and as unexpected as the sucker punch was, Ibaraki has no footing to hold herself to. As a result, Ibaraki shoots away like a cannonball, crashing through a hundred trees before her back hits a mountain and buries her halfway through it.
Ibaraki lies there for a moment after coming to a sudden stop, waiting for her head to stop ringing as she ponders.
That blow was certainly not weak, but it shouldn't have hit her as hard as it did. Ibaraki knows why, of course. She was simply unprepared. She hadn't expected Tamamo, for all her reluctance, to be so quick to initiate.
If Ibaraki had failed to defend herself at all, while the blow wouldn't have killed her, it likely would have left her disoriented enough that the next blow could have.
A single impressed huff leaves Ibaraki's throat as she tears herself out of her earthen coffin, the mountain having partially collapsed on her from the tunnel her back carved through it.
Absently, Ibaraki spits out a glob of saliva and dust that got in her mouth and finishes her sentence.
"—Understand when they will attack."
Another amused snort leaves her at the irony before she finally manages to pull herself free from the rocks and back into open air.
As she steps back into the light, Ibaraki is forced to crane her neck up in order to lay eyes back on Tamamo, who stands on the air above, perfectly poised and looking down her nose at Ibaraki with nothing more than scorn in her eyes.
"Do not forget," Tamamo begins, her voice echoing through the valley as Ibaraki's insides twist with both glee and unexpectedly wounded pride at what she hears next.
"You are the challenger here."
///
A/N: He~llo! Dear readers!
This chapter was just gonna be ibaraki/tamamo, but cuz that was such a good line to end the chapter on, I had no choice but to add another brief pov cuz otherwise the chap would have been too short.
In other words, some Taira higher ups got bullied because Tamamo said a cool line lol