In one of the private rooms of the sanctuary, Yasaka sat across from Damon with that natural elegance that drove more than a few crazy across the entire supernatural world. Rhea had taken a seat to one side, watching with interest, while Grayfia stood a few steps from the redhead, maintaining her posture as a devoted servant without losing sight of any detail in the room, completely ready to execute any order Damon might give.
On the low table rested several freshly served cups of tea, some traditional sweets, and small plates with fresh fruit. Yasaka took the teapot with both hands and began to fill Damon's cup with a perfection that only someone who had done this a hundred times possessed. "I must admit Amaterasu didn't exaggerate," the Kyuubi said as she set the teapot aside. "In fact, what she's told me about you... I have a feeling it doesn't quite do you justice."
Damon accepted the cup, turning it slightly between his fingers. "I hope she only told you the good things."
Yasaka tilted her head, a teasing smile curving her lips. "Well, she said you were troublesome, stubborn, and too confident. Whether that's a good thing for you, you'll have to decide for yourself." The kitsune spoke, her amber eyes not leaving Damon's as she took a sip from her cup.
The aroma of tea filled the space between them. Damon was having a small internal dilemma at the woman's obvious little jab — she was clearly testing him before the meeting truly began. Not to mention he'd only just met this woman and he was already starting to like the way she acted. Certainly, she was his type.
"Well, sure, all of that is good things, but I'll tell you I'm much more than that. Maybe, if you get the chance, you can ask Amaterasu, or if you want, you can find out for yourself. I don't have a problem with that," Damon replied, giving the woman a slight grin, showing his sharp fangs.
"Oh, I believe you. Not every woman goes around saying her man has a worrying talent for attracting women. That sounds truly interesting." Yasaka tilted her head slightly, and her nostrils flared almost imperceptibly. "I like to verify some things personally."
Damon just looked her in the eyes and took a sip of tea without looking away from her. His raised eyebrows were the only sign that he found this more amusing than usual, and the fact that his mother was right here witnessing it gave it an extra touch. He hadn't come expecting this, but hey, he wasn't complaining.
For a few seconds neither of them said a word. They didn't need to. Damon felt Yasaka's gaze travel over his presence in a way that went beyond the normal. Her eyes narrowed slightly, and that was enough for him to understand what was happening.
Yasaka was frustrated — and it wasn't a simple passing annoyance. It was genuine frustration, even more than Venelana or any demon or human Damon had ever seen. And he'd known many, but none had behaved exactly like Yasaka. That said, he wasn't unaware of the effect of his own pheromones. In fact, he rarely bothered to contain them completely, and this was the first time he'd seen their true effect.
Yasaka felt the god's aroma grow more intense. Her instinct screamed at her to climb on top of him. She could be a yokai with centuries of experience and a ruler accustomed to maintaining control, but she was still a kitsune. Her animal instincts had never disappeared; she'd simply learned to keep them in check.
However, near Damon, the control she normally maintained with ease was becoming less effective.
The god gave off a presence like a dominant wolf. Her body reacted before her mind, as if she'd drunk a hundred bottles of sake, and a light heat began to settle in her belly while her fingers tensed around the cup.
Yasaka cursed herself internally. She was the ruler of Kyoto. Control must come above all else. Behaving like a cub in heat was beneath her position. A slight growl escaped her throat before she could stop it.
"Eh? Did you say something, Lady Yasaka?" Damon asked, genuinely confused.
Yasaka shook her head with perfect composure. "No." An imperceptible pink tint appeared on her cheek from the embarrassment of her small slip.
Damon raised an eyebrow but didn't insist. Rhea, who had been watching the exchange in silence, felt something twist in her chest. The way Yasaka looked at her son, with that gleam in her eyes... It wasn't that she disliked the Kyuubi. In fact, at first she'd thought she was a well-mannered, classy woman. But now, seeing more closely, she didn't know what to think anymore.
"Are you always this direct?" Damon asked, clearly entertained.
"When something interests me, yes." Yasaka held his gaze. "And I must say Amaterasu omitted some details about you."
"Oh, really?" Damon tilted his head, genuine interest mixing with amusement. "I thought you already knew everything about me. Tell me, what are these things Amaterasu omitted?"
Yasaka let the silence stretch for just a moment — just long enough for the weight of her words to land where they needed to.
"That in person, you're much more... present," she said, and the word hung in the air with an intention that none of those present could misinterpret. Damon smiled, but before he could respond, the door slid open softly and a familiar presence filled the room.
Amaterasu entered the room in small, graceful steps. Her black hair fell loose over her shoulders; her golden eyes shone with that inner light that only she possessed as the supreme sun goddess. She wore a white and red jūnihitoe, the layers of silk moving with each step.
Damon stood before he realized he'd done it.
Amaterasu crossed the distance between them without paying attention to anyone else in the room. Her arms wrapped around his neck while Damon's body adjusted to hers with natural familiarity.
"She-wolf," he murmured near her ear.
She responded by pressing against him for an instant before taking his face between her hands. Without thinking twice, the goddess gave him a deep, possessive kiss — the kind that made it clear this one is mine without needing words. Amaterasu's tongue found his with familiarity, her fingers tangling in his hair while Damon held her waist with one hand and traced her back with the other.
Yasaka watched the scene with her lips slightly parted. Damon's aroma had intensified with Amaterasu's closeness — a mix of power and desire that hit her senses like a wave. She felt the heat spread through her body, her tails twitching involuntarily behind her.
The kitsune quickly pressed her thighs together discreetly.
Rhea, for her part, watched the couple with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. Seeing Damon like this, surrendered to another woman, awakened something in her that she didn't dare say out loud. Simply because Damon was her son, and above all she should be happy for him. And she was — truly. But there was also a part of her, that dark part that had spent countless nights in the ancient war against the Titans, spending time alone with her son, talking about anything and everything, and now saw Damon surrounded by women who weren't her... she simply wanted to...
Rhea tightened her hands on her lap and forced the kindest smile she'd given in her long life.
When they finally separated, Amaterasu kept her forehead resting against Damon's, her golden eyes searching his blue ones. "I'm glad you came."
At that, Damon stroked her black hair before giving her a shorter kiss and allowing her to turn toward the rest of the room.
"Rhea," Amaterasu greeted the mother of her man with a respectful bow.
"Amaterasu, dear." The Titaness rose and approached the sun goddess, hugging her with genuine warmth. "How wonderful to see you again."
"Likewise." Amaterasu pulled back slightly, holding Rhea's hands between hers. "I'm sorry I couldn't visit more often. Things in the pantheon have been..."
"Busy, I know." Rhea squeezed her hands gently. "And I want to thank you."
Amaterasu blinked. "Thank me?"
"For what you did for my son," Rhea clarified, her gaze softening. "When I couldn't be there, when my son was discovering the world... you were. You taught him to walk again and, more than anything, you gave him a home."
The silence that followed was incredibly warm and intimate.
Amaterasu squeezed Rhea's hands back gently. She couldn't be more grateful to have a mother-in-law like Rhea. "You don't have to thank me for anything. Damon is..."
"The man of your life." Rhea smiled. "You don't have to tell me again. And that's why I thank you. Because I know you take care of him the way I truly would have wanted to."
Damon watched the scene from his place, feeling a warmth in his chest that he hadn't expected. Seeing his mother and Amaterasu like this, recognizing each other, accepting each other... it meant more than he was willing to admit out loud.
Yasaka, who had been watching in silence, felt her own discomfort mix with something else. Damon's aroma was still affecting her, but seeing him with Amaterasu... there was something hypnotic about the way they moved around each other.
How enviable, thought the kitsune, and she didn't know if she meant Damon or Amaterasu.
"Alright," Damon said, breaking the moment as he sat back down. "Now that we're all here... I suppose we should talk business."
Amaterasu took a seat beside him, close enough that their shoulders remained in contact. Her fingers found his on the table, intertwining naturally.
"Business?" Yasaka asked, recovering her composure. "Eh, so soon? I thought you might have wanted to get to know Kyoto a bit more, or something?" The kitsune offered any excuse, trying to make Damon stay longer than normal.
"I'd like to, but right now I have my own matters to attend to in my pantheon, so it would be best if we discussed business as soon as possible," Damon spoke, setting aside the little game he'd been playing with Yasaka for now. "I'm sure Amaterasu has already told you about Kuoh. By the way, I hope you liked the gift I sent you."
"The gift?" Yasaka asked, tilting her head slightly. For a couple of seconds, her mind went blank. Her closest tail twitched with a nervous tic as she searched her memory for what the hell this gift he was talking about could be.
Amaterasu, who had been watching the exchange, shot the kitsune a confused look. She'd known Yasaka for years. Normally, the Kyuubi would have thanked him from the start. Especially after having been talking with Damon for several minutes, she would have expected the kitsune to have thanked him the moment they sat down to talk — before she'd even arrived.
Yasaka felt Amaterasu's gaze on her, the heat rising to her cheeks. She knew exactly what the goddess was thinking about her.
She cursed herself internally with a ferocity that would have impressed any god-fearing man. She'd thrown her manners out the window in the middle of the conversation. All because of her hormones.
Yasaka straightened her back, recovering her composure in a blink. "Ah, yes... the head of the Neberius clan," she said, making it seem as though she'd simply forgotten for a moment what the gift was — not the gift itself. Her voice returning to the firm control that characterized her. She bowed her head with elegance. "My sincerest thanks, Lord Damon. It was a gesture I didn't expect and deeply appreciate. The devils did impeccable work."
Damon watched her for a moment, a spark of amusement dancing in his blue eyes. He nodded, satisfied.
Maybe I should visit Venelana, he thought, letting the idea settle in his mind with an internal smile. Thank her in person for the good work of her people. She deserves... adequate compensation.
"I'm glad it was to your liking, Lady Yasaka..." Damon was about to say something more when the sudden sound of rapid footsteps came from outside, drawing the redhead's attention as he sensed the panic in the emotions of whoever was running toward the room.
Yasaka turned her head toward the door, her fox ears swiveling instinctively to catch the sound. The moment her gaze landed on the door, it burst open.
A tengu stumbled in, his kimono torn and one of his wings hanging at an unnatural angle, soaked in blood. Two guards were trying to support him, but he pushed them away violently, falling to his knees before Yasaka.
"Yasaka-sama!"
The Kyuubi stood immediately. She recognized the tengu — it was Heptio, one of the personal guards assigned to Kunou's protection.
"What, in the name of Izanami-sama, has happened, and where is my daughter?" Yasaka demanded, her voice rising, making Grayfia instinctively almost go on guard.
Heptio opened his mouth, falling completely silent from fear. That brief instant of silence was enough for Yasaka's fury to nearly explode. Yasaka's nine tails spread behind her. "Where is Kunou?" she repeated.
"Kunou-sama..." — Heptio lowered his head, his voice breaking. "Kunou-sama has been taken."
The silence that followed was deathly.
Amaterasu instinctively rose to her feet at the words. All the warmth she'd shown since her arrival disappeared from her face, replaced by a coldness that made the temperature in the room drop several degrees.
Rhea was stunned. She had no idea what was happening, but wisely the Titaness decided to remain still, her eyes fixed on the situation.
"Who?" the sun goddess asked, maintaining an unsettling calm in the room.
Heptio swallowed before answering.
"Fallen Angels." He paused, blood dripping from his wing onto the tatami. "They appeared out of nowhere before we could react. They took Kunou-sama and..." Heptio tried to continue, but before he could say anything more, a massive explosion shook the sanctuary, and outside, an enormous black cloud rose into the sky.
The light of the explosion illuminated Damon's face for an instant. "Fuck," he muttered, not even bothering to hide the fatigue in his voice.
Inside, in the mental space where the nine Bijuu watched the world through his eyes, Shukaku let out a harsh, mocking laugh. "There goes the peaceful meeting that you wanted lol"
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I might have exaggerated a bit with that Yasaka scene, I think....idk fck it.
Thank you for reading )
https://discord.gg/ED3BTQjvt
P@treon: Brotato