Chapter 53: A New Ability & Eientei's "Childhood Husband"
.....
Kihara had no idea that two ancient beauties were bickering over him in the sunflower field.
Right now—
He was completely exhausted.
After undergoing what could only be described as hell-level combat training under Kazami Yuuka, both his body and mind were on the verge of collapse.
Thankfully…
At home, he had Akane Shinjo and Rikka Takarada waiting for him.
That night, he rolled himself neatly into their soft embrace, letting their warmth soothe his weary soul.
His body, however, received no such mercy.
Because of Yuuka's sudden appearance yesterday, he hadn't made it to Eientei.
So this time, after breakfast.
Kihara stood right outside his house and shouted:
"Yukari! Come with me to Eientei, I've got something to discuss with you and Kaguya!"
A small hand suddenly reached out from a gap.
This time, Kihara paused for a second or two.
…Yep.
Definitely not the size of an adult woman's hand.
He silently placed a gold coin into it.
The gap opened.
Stepping through.
He arrived right outside Kaguya's room.
"Kaguya! I'm here, are you secretly playing eroge again?!"
THUD!
Tap-tap-tap-tap—!
Rapid footsteps echoed inside.
The door flew open.
And Kaguya immediately grabbed him, pulled him inside, and pinned him down.
Straddling him, she glared fiercely.
"Can you keep your voice down?! If Eirin hears about my collection again, I'll lose half of it! Believe it or not, I'll give your 'Black Flame Dragon' a permanent debuff so it never stands up again!"
…That threat was extremely effective.
Kihara instantly raised both hands in surrender.
"I'm sorry! My bad!"
"Enough flirting."
A familiar voice cut in lazily.
"Why don't you tell us why you're here first?"
Kihara turned.
And froze.
There, sitting at the table, casually reaching for a bag of chips.
Was Yukari Yakumo.
In… loli form.
"…You've gotta be kidding me."
"Don't touch my chips!" Kaguya snapped, rushing over to snatch them back.
Then she turned to explain:
"Your world might have received fragments of Gensokyo information, but those are heavily processed, fictionalized."
"In reality, the stronger a youkai is… the younger they tend to appear."
"…Wait, that's actually a thing—"
Kihara coughed.
"I mean—that's quite a setting."
Kaguya's eyes instantly turned cold.
"In that brief moment, your pupils dilated, your breathing quickened, and your nostrils flared."
"You were clearly excited."
In front of someone like Kaguya—who had already discussed every possible niche preference and shared countless "cultured" materials with him.
Denial was pointless.
Kihara nodded honestly.
"Yes. Your Highness sees everything."
That honesty…
Only made Kaguya more annoyed.
Seriously?! I'm a long-haired beauty right here, and this idiot is more interested in some ancient loli grandma?! What's so great about flat chests—you could use them as a file!
"Get to the point!" she snapped, clenching her fists.
Kihara quickly sat down, grabbed the leftover cola, took a sip.
Then tapped the table lightly.
"I wanted to ask—when can I head to the next world?"
"And… aren't you planning to give me any new abilities?"
Yukari narrowed her eyes.
Looking at his completely shameless, freeloading attitude, she almost wanted to rename herself just to argue with him properly.
Still—
He wasn't wrong.
The matter of world travel couldn't be delayed any longer.
"Good timing," Kaguya said, turning her laptop toward them.
"After you returned, my anime collection started showing… strange changes."
"What kind of changes?"
"You wanted to quickly find a heroine suitable to run the shop, right?"
"Well, lately, some worlds seem to have merged. The story fragments are all mixed up now."
"The coordinates extracted from those fragments likely lead to fusion worlds."
"Which means…"
"You'll lose your advantage of knowing the plot."
Kihara shrugged.
"That's fine. As long as Yukari doesn't mess with my memory again, knowing who the heroine is will be enough."
"After all, I'm a—"
"Yeah, yeah. A galgame expert. We know."
Kaguya cut him off.
"The next world you're going to…"
She paused.
"…is One Punch Man."
"…You sure you're not just sending me to my death?"
"The Gridman universe has merged with One Punch Man."
Kaguya's tone turned serious.
"It might affect Akane's world."
"Are you going to deal with it or not?"
"…I'm going."
No hesitation.
Kihara belonged to the "protect my wives at all costs" faction.
If anything threatened them.
He would eliminate it.
Personally.
"Before you go—take this."
Yukari tossed him a jade, eight-sided die.
The moment he caught it.
It dissolved into light and entered his body.
[New Ability Acquired: Gensokyo Divine Invocation]
[Gensokyo Divine Invocation: Offer tributes to borrow the power of Gensokyo factions. The cost varies depending on the world and the strength of the ability.]
[Available factions: Scarlet Devil Mansion, Yakumo Residence, Hakurei Shrine]
"I refined that little 'IOU system' you had and turned it into an ability," Yukari explained.
"Now that the Great Barrier is more stable, I can't monitor you constantly like before."
"Think of this as a survival tool."
"…Thanks."
Kihara hesitated, then asked:
"Can't I take you with me?"
"No."
Yukari answered immediately.
"The barrier restrictions are stronger now."
"If you bring back a chosen one, you can freely travel to their world afterward—but not before."
"…What, feeling unsafe without me?"
She smirked.
"Thinking of clinging to my thigh?"
Kihara glanced at her current form.
…Bare, delicate feet.
Tempting.
Very tempting.
But—
Acting on that impulse would probably get him beaten beyond recognition.
"Thanks, but no thanks. Feet would only slow down my sword."
"So—when can I leave?"
"Anytime."
"…Then I'll go tomorrow."
Kihara stood up.
"Yukari, send me back. I need to talk to Rikka and Akane first."
With a casual flick, Yukari opened a gap and sent him away.
Then—
A mischievous smile crept onto her lips.
"Kaguya… he didn't think of you at all, you know~"
Kaguya calmly finished the last of her cola.
Her expression.
Unbothered.
"That's just how he is."
She leaned back slightly.
"The man I've known since childhood… I understand him better than anyone."
Yukari raised an eyebrow.
"…Don't tell me—you used your 'eternity' ability to go back to his past?"
"…A child husband from Eientei?"
Kaguya smiled faintly.
"…What do you think?"
...
Thank you for reading.