The following day.
Naoki stood with quiet composure before the barrier, watching a swarm of Shuuki hurl themselves wildly in his direction.
*HISSS!*
The monsters crumbled to ash the instant they made contact with the invisible protective wall, but Naoki didn't so much as blink. His mind was already somewhere else entirely.
Today was his scheduled date with Yachiho, arranged on Tenka's orders. For the occasion, Naoki had put some thought into matching the tone of his appearance to his date. He wore a crisp white shirt with a dark tie knotted neatly at the collar, layered beneath a slim-fit black vest that followed the lines of his athletic frame, paired with dark trousers and polished formal shoes.
The result was a look that was clean, understated, and masculine, formal without being stiff.
*TAP-TAP-TAP!*
A measured rhythm of footsteps echoed behind him. Naoki turned, and for just a moment, the breath went out of him. He stood there, arrested by the figure walking toward him.
Yachiho held her signature pose, arms folded beneath her chest, chin lifted with characteristic arrogance. She wore a soft white off-shoulder blouse that bared the smooth, porcelain curve of her shoulders, a stark contrast to the fitted black pencil skirt hugging the lines of her hips and legs with precision. The silhouette it created was striking, undeniably alluring yet entirely polished.
Her blue-green hair, tied up in twin tails and adorned with a pair of white ribbons that looked expensively made, swayed with the elegance of her stride.
Yachiho's golden eyes slid sideways toward the still-motionless Naoki, and a thin, self-satisfied smile settled on her lips.
"You've been waiting long enough, Naoki. Stop making that face." Her tone sharp but carrying an unmistakable note of satisfaction beneath it. "I know I look extraordinary, but at least remember to breathe. You don't want to pass out before the date even begins, do you?"
Naoki chuckled softly and let the sarcasm roll off him, stepping forward. "It's hard not to stare when you look like this, Yachiho. You really are something today. The outfit suits you perfectly."
The sincerity of it caught her off guard. A faint flush crept across her cheeks. She was no stranger to compliments, but something in the way he said it landed differently. She held onto her composed expression with effort, though her eyes gave her away with a quiet flicker of pleasure.
"H-hmph, of course. Someone of my caliber never does anything halfway. So where exactly are you taking me? Don't tell me you haven't put together a proper plan."
Naoki smiled. "Actually, I'm leaving the location entirely up to you."
Yachiho was already drawing breath to point out that the man was supposed to be the one doing the planning, but Naoki continued before she could get the words out.
"I want to understand you better, Yachiho. That's why I want to know the places that matter to you, the ones where you feel most like yourself. I want to see the world from where you're standing."
Those words hit her harder than any attack she had ever trained to withstand. Her heart gave a sudden, unsteady beat, and something warm and unfamiliar spread through her chest. She turned her face away and reached for the tip of one twin tail, turning it between her fingers to give her hands something to do while she composed herself.
"You... you really do have a way with words, don't you." She worked to bring the haughtiness back into her voice. "Fine! Since you're so eager to step into my world, I'll be generous enough to show you the kinds of places a person of my standing actually frequents. Prepare yourself, Naoki, because my standards are considerably higher than anything you've likely encountered."
"Where are we going?" Naoki asked simply.
Yachiho straightened her back and gave him the look of someone for whom the answer should have been obvious. "Ginza. Nowhere else would be worthy of my taste."
"Understood."
At that, Naoki activated «Pandemonium». Reaching inward, he accessed one of the Peach Fruit Blessings stored within his Qliphoth Tree, drawing out «Ame-no-Mitori».
It wasn't the first time she had seen it, but Yachiho still felt a quiet flash of awe as the inverted black-gold cross pattern surfaced in Naoki's eyes. It was the unmistakable sign that the man before her was channeling a Peach Fruit Blessing.
*BUZZ!*
The space before them heaved and rippled, tearing open into a black portal rimmed with violet light. Dozens of white bird feathers came drifting down around its edges, creating an effect that was beautiful and unsettling in equal measure.
Just before stepping through, Yachiho spoke up, her voice dropping just a little from its usual register. "Naoki... what Peach Fruit Blessings have you actually copied in there? If it's a secret, or if you don't trust me with it, forget I asked. I'm not forcing you to say anything."
Naoki paused, glancing at her with a measured smile. "Is that your own curiosity, or your grandmother's instructions?"
Yachiho flinched slightly, then answered without hesitation. "Both."
That honesty was enough for him. He saw no reason to hold anything back. He began listing the ten Peach Fruit Blessings currently housed within «Pandemonium», one by one.
"«Ame-no-Mitori», «Golden Hour», «Crazy Sheep», «Decimal Point», «Amplitude», «Night Storm», «Promise», «Canopus», «Scarlet Regiment», and «Transience»."
Yachiho's feet stopped right at the edge of the portal. She hadn't expected him to lay out his hand like that. But what truly sent a jolt through her wasn't just the fact that five of those belonged to active Captains. It was the final name on the list.
"You even copied my grandmother's Peach Fruit Blessing?!"
Naoki lifted a shoulder with complete, untroubled calm. "Naturally. There was no way I was going to pass up the abilities of a former Supreme Commander. Anyone who has ever held that position in the Anti-Demon Corps carries a Peach Fruit Blessing in a completely different league. I copied what I believed would be useful for our future."
Yachiho stopped where she was, directly in front of the swirling portal. She looked at him with an expression far more serious than the one she usually wore.
"Why are you telling me this so easily, Naoki? Aren't you worried I'll let it slip? If the world found out, your enemies would begin building strategies specifically designed to counter each and every one of your abilities. That's not a small risk."
She wasn't exaggerating. Just look at Yamashiro Ren, who had kept all eight of her «Vairocana» abilities known to no one but herself. Naoki, as the only man to have ever awakened a Peach Fruit Blessing, was already drawing the eyes of an entire nation. There were those who wanted him gone to preserve the dominance of women, and others who wanted him captured and dissected so they could pull apart the secret behind his power. That was the reality of his situation.
"..."
Naoki didn't answer immediately. Instead, he reached out and closed his hand around hers, fingers interlocking firmly. He looked directly into her eyes.
"Yachiho, listen to me. If I can't trust my own woman, then who in this world can I trust? I believe you'll keep this to yourself. At most, you might tell your grandmother, and I'm confident she'll keep it locked away, because at the end of the day, I'm the most valuable son-in-law the Azuma family could ever hope to have."
There was, of course, another reason he kept quietly to himself. As someone who knew the full arc of this world's original story, he knew precisely that Yachiho and the entire Azuma family were people who had earned the right to his trust.
But Yachiho didn't know any of that. She hadn't expected this kind of trust from a man she had known for less than a week. The feeling it stirred struck deep, cutting through the armor of her ego, and her eyes grew faintly glassy before she blinked it quickly away.
"You really are a strange man, Naoki..." Her voice had lost its edge. She returned the pressure of his grip with equal strength. "All right. I give you my word, sincerely and without reservation. I will never betray your trust. I will be your shield."
With that promise quietly sealed between the two of them, Yachiho gave him the most genuine smile Naoki had ever seen from her. Together, they stepped forward and disappeared into the black violet portal, moving toward the gleaming streets of Ginza.
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