As the towering glass canopy of Kyoto Station faded into the distance behind them, the concrete and neon of the modern world slowly gave way to narrow, winding streets paved with ancient stone.
"Listen closely, Ren-chan," Kon spoke up, his tone unusually serious. "Kyoto is the capital of the Yokai. So while you are here, don't do anything rash, okay?"
"Yokai? Like you?" Ren asked, tilting his head in genuine curiosity.
"Kuhum! Exactly like me!" Kon proudly puffed out his furry chest. "So, you better not mess with me. I've got some serious connections around here."
"Oh? Connections, you say?" a sultry, mature voice suddenly purred from the shadows.
"GHK!" Caught mid-boast, Kon completely froze, his golden fur standing on end. "Ka... Kaa-san?" he stuttered out weakly, trembling on Ren's shoulder.
"WHAAAAATTTT?!" Ren shrieked to the heavens, utterly blindsided.
Completely ignoring the shouting six-year-old, the newly arrived Yokai, Yako no Hidarite, smiled teasingly. "Maa, maa. Little Konyo has finally decided to visit his poor mother after all these years? Mom is super happy."
"Konyo?!" Ren yelled again, his brain short-circuiting at the ridiculous real name of his supposedly majestic spirit beast.
"S-sorry, Kaa-san," Kon or rather, Konyo no Hidarite murmured guiltily, averting his eyes.
In truth, the idea of visiting his mother had never even flashed across his mind for a single second. It wasn't because he had any bad blood with his biological mom, but because the woman was a compulsive prankster. She was infamous across the entire supernatural world for traveling far and wide just to mess with people.
In one of her most legendary pranks, which had actually been recorded in human mythology, she had convinced an entire village that she would bless crops planted on the left side of their fields but violently destroy any planted on the right. It escalated to the point where the superstitious farmers began using their left hands for absolutely everything, forcing their dominant right hands to hang unused. She had literally caused an entire village to walk with a leftward lean and obsessively avoid anything associated with the right!
Yako was a stunning woman with long, dark brown hair that cascaded down her back in soft, elegant waves. Her eyes were a striking, luminescent gold—bright, alert, and swirling with a hint of mischief. From the top of her head rose two large fox ears, furred in deep brown with pale inner tufts. Behind her, multiple lush fox tails unfurled, swishing lightly in the evening breeze. She was dressed in a bright red floral kimono, its flowing fabric elegantly lined with the dark imprint of graceful black roses.
"Maa, maa. It's alright. It's alright." Yako covered her mouth with a slender hand and chuckled lightly. Then, turning her golden gaze toward Ren, she spoke with genuine amusement. "This must be that little girl Shiori's child. So cute," she cooed, her eyes softening as she took in Ren's cheeks, still lined with youthful baby fat. "Where is she now?"
Hearing the question, Kon's ears instantly wilted. Ren looked down at his boots, a heavy, depressive shadow falling over his small face.
"She's... gone," Kon whispered sadly.
"Gone?" Yako straightened up, her playful, joking demeanour evaporating in an instant. "How?"
"I-it was me..." Ren answered softly, his voice trembling before Kon could even open his mouth.
"Oh, dear..." Alarm bells immediately rang in Yako's head at the boy's heartbreaking confession. Moving with supernatural grace, she quickly knelt down and wrapped the little boy in a warm, protective hug.
"How could it possibly be your fault?" she scolded gently, rubbing his back. "I am absolutely sure it was Shiori's own decision to bring you into this world. Look at how cute you are! If it were me, I would have done it without a second of hesitation as well." She pulled back slightly to look at his face intently, nodding with absolute conviction. "I am sure she would agree with me."
Hearing her strange but deeply earnest way of comforting him, a familiar, comforting warmth bloomed in the young boy's chest.
"Mm," Ren hummed softly, a small, fragile smile finally breaking through his sorrow.
"Come, you're going to the Mizuki ancestral home, right? Mama will take you there." Yako stood up gracefully and reached her hand out to Ren with a soft, inviting smile.
Seeing this, an unfamiliar hesitation took hold of the young boy. Slowly, he reached out, placing his own small, sword-calloused hand into her elegant, warm one. Gripping it securely, Yako gently pulled Ren up to his feet and began to walk ahead, leading the way with his hand snug in hers.
Washed in this entirely new sensation, a deep, comforting wave of motherly warmth bloomed in Ren's chest, a feeling he had never truly known before.
Meanwhile, off to the side, thick, imaginary black lines of depression had already formed over Kon's furry head.
'Are you my mother or Ren-chan's?' the neglected little fox thought sulkily as he trotted after them.
**********
The Mizuki estate stood silently at the edge of the cedar forest, half-hidden behind a dense curtain of bamboo that swished and clattered whenever the evening wind passed through.
Its roof, once a proud, elegant sweep of dark tiles, had softened with age, completely mottled with patches of velvety green moss. The traditional Japanese architecture spoke of a long-forgotten, quiet grandeur. The thick, exposed wooden beams of the estate's framework had weathered to a pale, silvery grey, cracked by the elements and groaning gently under the weight of the years. The wraparound wooden veranda sagged heavily in places, its ancient planks warped and creeping with thick, invasive ivy.
Behind the veranda, the delicate paper of the shoji sliding doors had yellowed and torn over the decades. The frayed edges flapped lightly in the breeze, revealing only glimpses of the pitch-black, silent interior of the ancestral home.
In the front courtyard, nature had completely reclaimed the grounds. Knee-high, overgrown wild grass swayed like a restless green ocean, entirely swallowing up a cracked stone lantern that stood like a lonely sentinel by the front steps.
"It seems to be in severe need of repair," Kon commented from the side, stating the obvious.
"Mm." Ren nodded, staring up at the estate with a heavy sense of dread, completely daunted by the idea of having to clean and fix up the massive traditional manor by himself.
"Maa, maa. No need to look so anxious. Mama is here to help you," Yako comforted him upon seeing his overwhelmed expression. Raising her hand with an elegant flourish, she sang playfully into the evening air. "Come, come. Wind."
A sudden, sharp surge of wind blew through the courtyard. It acted like invisible hands, cleanly slicing the overgrown grass down to the roots, peeling the thick moss from the roof tiles, and sweeping decades of accumulated dust out from the open corridors. When the breeze finally settled, the estate was immaculately clean, though still structurally damaged.
"Woah..." Ren breathed in awe at the spectacle.
"Hmhm! Impressive, isn't it?" Kon boasted proudly, puffing out his chest as if he had done the work himself. "Kaa-san is a Yokai Sage. She has mastered natural energy. She was just working with the wind to clean the house."
"Fufu. I'm not done yet~" Yako chanted in a melodic, sing-song voice. "Grow, grow. Wood."
Tiny green sprouts immediately burst from the soil, rapidly blooming and dotting the freshly cut yard with hundreds of fluffy white dandelions. With another graceful sweep of her hands, the dandelions dispersed into a cloud of tiny, floating seeds. Carried by the lingering wind, they drifted toward the manor and latched onto the broken beams, the sagging veranda, and the torn paper doors.
A soft, brilliant white glow soon illuminated the damaged areas. A moment later, when the ethereal light faded away, the once-dilapidated house stood pristine and perfect, looking as good as the day it was built.
"Hehe. Ren-chan has potential in the Sage Arts as well, so you can learn from Kaa-san later," Kon added cheekily from the sidelines.
"Can I really?" Ren asked, his eyes shining with newfound hope.
"Of course you can," Yako agreed without a single ounce of hesitation. "Konyo says you have potential? Then it is Mama's duty to bring it out of you."
"Yay!" Ren cheered happily. Suddenly overwhelmed by a feeling of safety and bubbling excitement, the six-year-old threw his hands in the air and began running in joyful circles around the freshly cleaned courtyard.
Kon and Yako stood side by side, silently watching the energetic child dart around the courtyard.
"It must have been so hard for you, Konyo," Yako said softly, her glowing eyes filled with quiet, maternal understanding.
"Maa... As long as Ren-chan is happy..." Kon murmured. He looked back at Yako, a rare, solemn sincerity shining in his eyes. "...Then it was all worth it."
Seeing that profound look of dedication in her son's eyes, a deep swell of pride bloomed in Yako's chest. 'My boy has truly grown up,' she thought warmly.
Then, the serious atmosphere instantly shattered.
"Hehe! My cute little son has groooown up!" Yako squealed in a teasing, sing-song voice. Without warning, she pounced on the little spirit fox, scooping him into her arms and aggressively rubbing her cheek against his fluffy fur.
"Kaa-saaaannn!" Kon complained helplessly, his voice muffled as he was mercilessly squished against her face.
**********
ako eventually took pity on the suffocating fox and finally released him. Kon immediately dropped to the floor, gasping for air and aggressively grooming his ruffled fur to regain whatever tiny shred of dignity he had left.
"Now then," Yako said, her golden eyes twinkling as she turned toward the grand entrance of the manor. "Shall we go inside?"
Without waiting for a reply, she stepped up to the wooden veranda and gently pushed the freshly repaired shoji doors. With a smooth, satisfying clack, the doors slid open, revealing the dark, quiet interior of the Mizuki ancestral home.
As Ren followed Yako into the sunken entryway, a wave of completely unfamiliar scents washed over him. Instead of the cold, sterile scent of the Ritsuzen stone castle, the air here smelled of aged cedar, faint remnants of old incense, and the earthy, grassy aroma of fresh tatami mats.
Slipping off his boots, Ren walked down the long, polished wooden hallway. The evening light filtered through the paper doors, casting long, peaceful shadows across the floorboards.
"Your mother was a very quiet little girl," Yako murmured softly as they walked, her lush tails swishing gently behind her. "She spent most of her time in the house, reading her books. Mou, now that I think about it, your mother sure was boring. I don't even know why Konyo chose to follow her," Yako said jokingly.
"Hmph. It's only because you are cute that I will forgive your mother this time for stealing my son," Yako huffed cutely, puffing out her cheeks.
Watching this centuries-old Yokai joking and playing around like a child, Kon was left completely speechless. 'Sigh... It looks like in this household, there is only one adult,' Kon thought, possessing absolutely no self-awareness whatsoever.
Meanwhile, off to the side, Ren was listening quietly, genuinely glad to hear these little titbits about his mother's childhood.
Soon, Yako stopped in front of a sliding door painted with fading cranes. She pushed it open, revealing a modest, quiet bedroom.
As Ren stepped inside, he saw the room was mostly bare, holding only a low wooden desk, an empty bookshelf, and a neatly folded futon in the closet.
"This was your mother's room, you know," Kon explained this time. "She was always holed up in here..."
"Yeah! Yeah! Like a NEET!" Yako interrupted her son, playfully cutting off the melancholic mood before it could even build itself up.
"Ugh... I was about to tell Ren-chan more about his mom..." Kon sulked, his ears flopping down in defeat.
"Pfft..." Seeing Kon looking so thoroughly defeated by Yako's teasing, Ren couldn't hold it in anymore. For the first time in a long time, the boy threw his head back and burst out laughing. "Hahahahaha!"