Kuro glanced at Tamamo briefly before letting out a soft chuckle.
"Where else would we go?" he asked casually. "Of course, to the bedroom."
He paused for a moment, taking a short breath as if deliberately emphasizing the next sentence.
"And there will be no activities whatsoever other than accompanying me to sleep."
Tamamo blinked slowly.
The enthusiasm on her face froze for a few seconds, before gradually turning into a small smile that felt much gentler.
"Oh…"
Her tone softened as well.
Not a disappointed tone.
More like she had finally understood something.
Her gaze lingered on Kuro's face for a moment, as if she had only just realized there had been a faint exhaustion that had always been neatly hidden behind his relaxed attitude.
She tightened her hold on his arm more gently.
"Alright," she said with a thin smile. "Then let me stay with you until you fall into a deep sleep."
Her tone sounded very natural, almost like a couple already used to doing simple things like this every day.
Tamamo then tilted her head slightly.
"As an ideal wife, my duty is not only cooking and pampering you."
She closed her eyes for a moment with a proud expression, as if delivering a very important life principle.
"But also ensuring my husband gets enough rest."
A few moments later, she opened her eyes again.
Her gentle gaze remained on Kuro.
"So tonight, leave everything to me."
There was a short pause.
Then her smile turned a little sweeter.
"I mean… taking care of accompanying you to sleep."
***
Upon reaching the room, Kuro moved without much hesitation.
He immediately pulled Tamamo up onto the bed before lying down casually.
In one motion that felt extremely natural, he pulled the blanket over both of them, then his hand instinctively reached for Tamamo's fox tail and hugged it tightly like a pillow.
Soft, warm, and extremely comfortable.
The position was almost perfect, as if the tail had been specifically created for that purpose.
His movements were too fast.
Too natural.
Almost like a long-standing habit, even though this was clearly the first time.
Tamamo froze for a moment.
She glanced slightly backward, just enough to see Kuro now hugging her tail with a far more relaxed expression.
"Eh?"
Her fox ears twitched slightly.
The surprised expression on her face slowly turned into a small gentle smile.
A mix of amusement, satisfaction, and a little pride.
"Fufu…" a small laugh escaped her lips. "It seems my husband discovered the best use of my tail far faster than I expected."
Her tone carried a small victorious pride.
Rather than moving much, Tamamo only adjusted her body slightly so that Kuro would be more comfortable.
Her movements were minimal.
Natural.
Not disturbing the man who already seemed half asleep.
Her hand then moved behind, gently stroking Kuro's hair.
The rhythm was steady and calming.
Almost like an automatic motion to help someone fall asleep faster.
On the other side, Kuro was truly enjoying the sensation.
Tamamo's tail fur felt incredibly soft, with a comforting warmth like evening sunlight.
Combined with Tamamo's faint, soothing scent, the combination felt almost absurdly effective.
Kuro's eyelids grew heavier.
His thoughts began to slow.
His body gradually released all remaining tension.
"…This is much more comfortable than I expected," he muttered softly, half asleep.
Almost like discovering an EX-rank artifact specifically for sleeping.
Soon after, his breathing became more stable, deep, and regular.
He truly fell asleep.
Tamamo remained silent for a moment.
Her smile softened.
She pulled the blanket slightly more neatly, then stayed in place, allowing Kuro to continue hugging her tail comfortably.
"Sleep well, my dear."
Her whisper was extremely soft, almost swallowed by the silence of the room.
After that, Tamamo also closed her eyes, staying beside him while occasionally gently stroking Kuro's hair.
In that calming silence, her thoughts slowly drifted back to the moment she was first summoned.
The ritual felt strange.
Not like a normal summoning.
The pathway was forced in a way that felt almost impossible, as if someone had truly torn open a gap toward her without giving any room for refusal.
However, once the connection was finally formed, Tamamo had sensed something from the other side.
A faint but clearly perceivable feeling.
Warmth.
Loneliness.
And a simple desire to have someone by his side.
Not something grand like fate.
Nor a romantic coincidence that sounded too poetic.
Yet for some reason, that simple feeling was enough.
Enough for her to decide to stay.
A small smile formed again on Tamamo's lips.
"Fufu~ perhaps this can also be called another form of destiny."
Her whisper sounded light, almost like a private joke only she understood.
Even so, she did not take back her words.
Instead, Tamamo only moved slightly closer, allowing herself to enjoy the simple warmth of the moment before slowly drifting into sleep.
***
Twelve days had passed, and quite a lot had happened during that time.
As usual, system rewards kept arriving consistently. Most were useful, while some felt extremely random, as if the system was deliberately testing the owner's patience.
Nevertheless, all rewards were safely stored inside the Gate of Babylon.
The list of check-in results over the past twelve days was quite satisfying:
Day 1: 800,000 gold coins.
Day 2: 5 Heroic Spirit Catalyst Gacha Tickets.
Day 3: 100 Mana Prisms, condensed mana crystals with each prism estimated at 50,000 OD.
Day 4: Prototype Holy Grail.
Day 5: 5 Gacha Tickets.
Day 6: Travel Ticket Modifier (Permanent).
Day 7: 100 Prototype Noble Phantasms Rank B+++ and below.
Day 8: 100 Prototype Noble Phantasms Rank A+++ and below.
Day 9: Hanging Garden of Babylon, complete with Prototype Tablet for an automatic production system.
Day 10: 5 bottles of aphrodisiac lubricant, each containing 500 milliliters.
Day 11: 5 boxes of honey packs, each containing 10 sachets.
Day 12: 100 Mystic Code-type clothing items.
Kuro himself no longer reacted much to the increasingly unpredictable pattern of system rewards.
He was already used to it.
Sometimes the system felt extremely generous, giving truly absurd items in terms of usefulness.
Sometimes it also felt like it had a very strange sense of humor.
Especially the Day 10 and Day 11 rewards.
Those two items made Kuro fall silent for quite a while, questioning whether the system truly understood situational needs or simply understood them too well.
In the end, as usual, everything was stored.
Aside from the continuously accumulating rewards, several important developments also finally occurred.
The first was that Kuro successfully obtained Saitama's signature.
An achievement that, personally, felt far more absurd than obtaining several rare artifacts.
However, above all that, the biggest development came from Chiyome.
Over the past twelve days, she had been active in the field—defeating monsters, helping civilians, and steadily building her reputation.
That hard work finally bore fruit.
The Hero Association officially sent an invitation to join.
Her accumulated contributions and stable performance gave her a fairly high evaluation.
Chiyome obtained Rank A, placing 30th, with the official title: Serpent Poison.
At the moment, in an open area within the Mirror Dimension, Kuro was sparring with Chiyome.
The battlefield used was a wide flat space reconstructed from the Mirror Dimension, surrounded by folded building structures and distorted landscapes in the distance.
The sky above them looked like endless fragments of reflection, creating a calm, silent atmosphere very suitable for intense training without disturbance.
In the middle of that area, Kuro and Chiyome stood facing each other with wooden swords in hand.
Although Chiyome's main specialization was stealth assassination, traps, infiltration, and the use of Orochi poison curses, her close combat ability still remained at a very high level.
As a Koga Jonin, Chiyome never relied on a single type of equipment. Swords, kunai, ropes, traps, poison, and even surrounding objects could all become killing tools in her hands.
She was the type of fighter who maximized all available resources.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The collision of two wooden swords echoed repeatedly across the field.
Both moved quickly, exchanging attacks without pause—striking, blocking, evading, then counterattacking in a continuous rhythm.
Kuro's Sharingan was active.
His eyes turned blood red, with two tomoe slowly rotating.
Every movement of Chiyome was read.
Processed.
Analyzed.
Stored.
Then gradually adapted into a fighting style more suited to Kuro's own preferences.
At the same time, the Magic Circuit in his body glowed faintly.
Prana flowed steadily, reinforcing his body physically so he could match Chiyome's speed, reflexes, and attack pressure. Without reinforcement, the physical gap between them would be too large.
The purpose of this sparring was clear.
Preparation.
Kuro was preparing himself to return to his original world.
More specifically, to face Gilgamesh in the conflict of the Fifth Holy Grail War.
______
Author's Note:
Creating something, even a fanfic, is not easy! Please support me! Leave comments, reviews, and some (or all) of your Power Stones! 😎
Hei. Don't ignore meh! Plz notice me senpai~
Sorry for the late update everyone 😅 I fell asleep and forgot.