Sitting on the broken stump of a random tree, Kiyohara no Nagiko idly inspects her sword. There is nothing to see that she has not already seen, no polish to apply that she has not already done. Yet, there is little else for her to do at the moment.
Lifting her head, Nagiko is unsurprised to note that the surroundings have not changed. That being a brief glimpse of forest around her before everything is subsumed by a thick wall of white fluff.
Yes. She gave up trying to chase after Narauko.
His little rabbits kept leading her in circles, and he is clearly wary enough of her Eyes to have avoided giving out tells, somehow, so she can't even spot the misdirection when it comes. Well, either that or she is spotting it too late, or she is noticing in time and Narauko simply also notices and course corrects immediately.
So yeah, she gave up.
She can't say that she is too upset by it though. If anything, Narauko's showing of competence only makes her want to wed him even more. This is his first real public showing after all. After this, the metaphorical cat will be out of the bag and there will be Ladies aplenty vying for his hand.
She'll be damned if some nobody Lady were to jump ahead of her. She is already losing out to Tamamo, but she can accept that much. In fact, she actually rather enjoyed her conversation with the Kitsune, surprisingly enough.
She hadn't expected to, obviously. But the situation is different. It is not some noble Lady seducing her husband-to-be, but a Yōkai he has known longer than her. More than that, Tamamo is an Ultimate-class Yōkai.
That's important. Both in the weight of the title itself and in the simple fact that, loathe as she is to admit it even to herself, Nagiko is aware that she cannot match Narauko in combat. Not enough to stimulate him.
So if anything, she would say she is grateful of Tamamo's presence, as it will help prevent Narauko from getting pent up by a lack of challenge. Such a thing could cause quite some dissatisfaction, and a dissatisfied husband is how one ends up competing with concubines.
No. Better Tamamo be there. She was never under the delusion that she would be alone among his wives, but that doesn't mean she wouldn't be happier for the number of her 'sisters' to be lesser.
Not that she can imagine Narauko spreading his heart so widely. He would so hate to be neglectful.
She smiles to herself at the thought.
It may be his strength and soon-to-be political weight that attracted her to him in the first place, but she cannot deny that he truly is charming. She expected that she would have been happy with him even if love never bloomed, but perhaps she may even come to love him far sooner than expected.
A rare thing indeed, for marriage and love to come together.
An abnormal movement in the wall of bunnies around her draws Nagiko's eyes, and she turns curiously to watch as the white wall parts. From within, the rest of her 'team' bar Seimei emerge, walking at a sedate pace and mostly seeming at ease. A couple of the weaker willed 'men' appear to be sparing surreptitious looks at the rabbits around them as if afraid of such simple Shikigami.
They are just rabbits. Even if there are a lot of them.
Nagiko looks up, observing the dome of rabbits obscuring nearly all light and preventing her from figuring out her location via the sky.
Quite a lot of them indeed.
"Kiyohara-san!" Minamoto no Yorimitsu greets her with a smile, front of the pack. She notes Dōman looking disappointed that she is unharmed and sends him a brief, mocking look, knowing he would understand her intent of belittling him for needing a group to travel freely. Pathetic man that he is. Kami she hates him. "Good to see you well, though I suppose that much should be expected?"
Her attention returns to the pretentious Minamoto as he keeps talking. She takes a moment to go over his words again before replying, as she wasn't really paying attention originally.
"Indeed it should, though your own arrival is quite the surprise," Minamoto doesn't visibly react to the thinly veiled insult, but she can see his pride bristle, though barely. It is just a shame that Yorimitsu's pride has such a unique shape, as it makes it rather difficult to provoke.
Truthfully, it is something that she respects about him. Yorimitsu was one of the few men whom she held in consideration for her marriage prospects. Just not so much that she would seek him out with any urgency. Not that it really matters anymore. He is still impressive to be certain, and whomever he marries is sure to be pleased with the arrangement, but he is little when held against Narauko.
"Well, now that we are all gathered together again," Yorimitsu continues, not mentioning Seimei going off on his own. "I do not suppose you would have any insight as to the goings on of this mountain?"
Nagiko goes to make a noncommittal gesture, only for more movement to pull her eye.
She watches with both interest and amusement as a small group of rabbits disentangle from the mass and start making various poses and dances.
"...What am I looking at right now?"
Nagiko ignores Yorinobu's muttering in favour of stifling a laugh behind a sleeve. It would be uncouth to express such merriment in front of so many lacklustre men.
"Narauko, Dear," Nagiko speaks to the Shikigami, knowing he will hear her. "If you intend to use my Eyes to pass a message along, you will at the very least have to make gestures somewhat relevant to the information you wish to share."
The rabbits all pause and then slump in a way that she just knows to mean that he is pouting on the other side.
He really was just having his rabbits make random gestures and assuming that her Eyes would be able to discern meaning from it. She isn't sure if she should be flattered or not. Likely not, as she now realises that he was probably once more testing the limits of her Eyes' deductive abilities.
That thought has her amusement fade away into a playful scowl.
She doesn't really mind, not truly. Not if it is him. Still, she is not fond of being toyed with.
The rabbits move again, and this time there is some coherency to them that her Eyes are able to pick up on.
The 'storyboard' given is rather rambling, but relevant enough that her Eyes discern meaning. It is her mind that struggles to accept it. Soon enough, the Shikigami finish telling their tale and begin simply ambling about.
Nagiko however, does not move away immediately. Still digesting what she has learned. Yet, she does not stand there for long before a small huff of amusement leaves her as a deprecating smile grows on her lips.
"Mind sharing with the class?" Dōman speaks up, but she pretends not to have heard him at all.
He rolls his eyes at this, which she also ignores in favour of placing her sword back into its sheathe and leaning it against the stump on which she sits.
"Ever since first meeting the man, I have always had the same thought." Nagiko speaks aloud, her voice and expression both lost in thought. Her 'peers' all do well to listen, though she could hardly care if they did or not. She really is just speaking her thoughts aloud. "That Narauko seems to, knowingly or not, insult everyone he interacts with everywhere he goes. Treating us with such disregard, not even trying to consider anyone an equal. Well, with one exception."
"Yes," Yorimitsu comments, and she doesn't bother to hide her displeasure at getting interrupted. "It is rather difficult not to notice. Alas, he is The Strongest. It is expected that he would belittle everyone he meets. Hence why none of us have issued any challenges over our slighted honour."
"I am sure that is the only reason," Nagiko smirks mockingly in his direction, but Yorimitsu only smiles. His brother's reaction is far less flattering, but also far more ignorable. Truly, she wonders how he could live with himself, failing so spectacularly to even keep up with his twin.
"Regardless," Nagiko continues, turning her eyes back to the rabbits clouding the sky. "I know that it is not his intention to insult. No matter that he constantly limits himself whilst expecting everyone else to give it there all. Intended or not, his actions are incredibly insulting."
"However." She pauses for a moment. Gathering her thoughts to properly verbalise them. "I now think that I may have been considering things from the wrong perspective."
Her lips twitch up in brief amusement at her final word, eyes glancing at the ceiling of rabbits as if she could see through them and at the man sitting oh so far above. The feeling quickly fades.
"Consider a lion. Powerful. Prideful. Royal. A King amongst its peers. Yet, what does any of that matter to a Dragon? It does not. For a Dragon stands far too high above to even notice such a puny creature. A Dragon certainly would not need exert any effort to kill one."
"Narauko would be the Dragon in this metaphor, hm?" Yorimitsu interrupts again, raising a brow in her direction. She doesn't even bother to face him this time. "While the lion would be us? That is the point you are building towards, yes?"
Nagiko lets the silence linger for a moment. A brief and subtle way of showing Yorimitsu that he needn't speak again. She doubts that he will heed her however.
"As of this moment," Nagiko begins, answering with a non-sequitur, "Narauko is currently fighting against the entirety of the Onmyōji's side, bar Nanami-dono. He is doing so with his entire Technique sealed away under a Binding Vow, bar the rabbits. He is also weighed down by a small mountain in his shadow, which he can not currently remove as his Technique is sealed away."
A small, exasperated yet amused smile pulls at her lips as her voice gains a quality of wry amusement. "Of lesser significance, he is also dealing with a slight hangover and two nights of mostly missed sleep." The amusement in her voice fades back away as thoughtfulness returns, though her smile remains deprecating as he finishes her thought.
"Yet in spite of all of this, he is winning." Shaking her head, Nagiko pushes herself to her feet, grabbing her sword as she does.
She doesn't feel like waiting around with so many men that annoy her with their mere presence alone, so she simply walks away. The rabbits part for her, but before she abandons the group of Sorcerers, she turns to leave them with some parting words, staring Yorimitsu straight in the eye as she does.
"The point, Minamoto-san, is that we have been but foolish, prideful lions who would decry a Dragon for the great crime of not seeing us as filling enough meals." She holds his gaze for a moment longer before turning and walking away, speaking her final words with her back to them. "The only insults are those that we ourselves have invented. A Dragon has no need to insult a meagre beast, after all. No matter how our prides must insist on feeling slighted."
She does not look back as she leaves. Not truly caring on the reception of her words.
Her mind is more occupied by the knowledge of what Narauko is getting up to.
On a whim, she speaks again to the bunnies around her.
"I would like to watch." She says. "I give my word I will not interfere."
For a second she wonders if he is even paying attention at the moment, but then the bunnies around her abruptly fall down and stop hindering her.
Smiling, Nagiko glances at the sky to see that that invisible bowl of air surrounding the mountain peak is now holding a rather perversely large number of rabbits. Not a second after noting this, the question of where the battle is taken place is also answered for her as a bolt of fire lights up the sky, shooting straight up before exploding.
Well, she would have been able to find the fight regardless.
It's hardly subtle.
///
Ki no Tokibumi
///
This is getting ridiculous.
Tokibumi can count on one hand the number of Sorcerers he has faced that have managed to even keep up with him in close quarters, let alone match him. One of those Sorcerers being the Tachibana fighting beside him right now.
Yet here is Narauko. Fending him off with one arm and leg while using his other half to defend against Tachibana. Wielding the Barrier covered flagpole as if it were a greatsword all the while.
It honestly makes them both appear rather lacklustre, but that just goes further to show how absurd Narauko is being.
Tokibumi is not exaggerating to claim he should rightfully be a Special Grade. He has the strength and ability to crush any Grade One Sorcerer with ease. He has never doubted this fact.
Now he is starting to wonder if he has been underestimating what it means to be Special Grade, or if Narauko is simply so absurd that he should be given an even higher designation.
Because he isn't just fighting Tokibumi and Tachibana at the same time. He is also creating dozens and dozens of Barriers every second to fend off both Uma's animated Cursed Tools as well as Tachibana's whenever he summons them.
It's absurd. Madness.
The man is fighting two of the best hand-to-hand combatants in the nation at the same time, exchanging moves faster than any normal human would be able to see. Yet, at the same time he still has the presence of mind to keep track of roughly a dozen flying Cursed Tools enough to block them all. Even sometimes using their positioning against them to cause friendly fire.
That's not even counting the fact that in order to defend against Tachibana's Cursed Tools, Narauko has to first react to which Tool was summoned, as there is no way to tell ahead of time, then create an appropriate Barrier for that specific Tool. All in a fraction of a fraction of a second, and he is yet to make a mistake.
All the while, that ever present smile grin has never left his face.
It's like fighting Father back when I was a brat, he thinks to himself, feeling a growing sense of awe rising to match his fear. The Strongest feels like an understatement. There have been many worthy of that title before, but I cannot imagine any of them being anything like Narauko. So then, if The Strongest is not enough, what title could possibly be worthy of Narauko?
Tokibumi's train of thought is disrupted when Narauko feigns an open palmed block of his staff, allowing the weapon to thrust an inch farther ahead before Narauko's elbow impacts it hard enough to make Tokibumi stumble.
However, instead of attempting to garner any manner of advantage from his efforts, Narauko contorts himself backwards, twisting away from Tachibana and below nothing. At least, until a moment later when a trail of fire spears through where his head just was, immediately followed by a sound like thunder.
Narauko's face twists enough to send Yorinaga a sharp grin. The kanji for 'missed me' briefly appear above Narauko's head in another of the Barriers that famed Tengen-sama.
Tokibumi glances at the Fujiwara to see him lowing his fire lance Cursed Tool down from his shoulder while wearing a scowl.
Serves him right. He could at least land a shot.
Tokibumi is aware of the hypocrisy of that thought. Doesn't stop him from thinking it.
He's still a little bit mad at Yorinaga for opening his damn mouth and getting him punched in the face.
Dumbass Fujiwara.
Tokibumi doesn't jump straight back into the fight. Instead, he turns his head to the edge of the clearing, the fight coming to a momentary halt as they all wait for the new arrivals t show themselves.
The second year Onmyōji walk out as a group of five, missing only one. That much is to be expected though, as the one man missing is the sole Grade Two present who doesn't even have a Technique to his name.
The group is another two Fujiwara men, two Minamoto and one of the Minamoto's wife, Nakatsukasa. They might not have the same raw power as himself, but they are undoubtably skilled and have useful Techniques.
Looking back to Narauko, who is somehow grinning even wider, Tokibumi feels some doubt that it will even matter. Still, he would be remiss to simply give up, so he mentally goes over what he's working with here.
Nakatsukasa can explode, not very useful here. Her husband Saneakira has a limited ability to move outside of time, so that could be helpful. Shigeyuki, the other Minamoto can disorient. Kiyotada can become and obstacle and the other Fujiwara, Yasumasa, can also disorient.
The control type abilities are bound to be more useful than the damaging ones, which makes it fortunate that it's only really Nakatsukasa that doesn't have any utility to add.
A chill passes down his spine, and he is sure he isn't the only one to feel the sudden weight on his shoulders.
All eyes turn to Narauko as his Cursed Energy flows from him. His rising excitement loosening his control enough to reveal the monster beneath more clearly.
Tokibumi feels his entire body tense and shiver and perspire. It feels as if some great beast, a Demon, is finally showing itself. Crawling out of his shadow to feast on their Souls.
That the memory of Tokibumi's first encounter with a Cursed Spirit as a child is what comes to mind brings him no sense of ease.
Luckily, if it can be called as such, Tokibumi is well used to being afraid. So he has at least enough presence of mind to spare a glance at the new arrivals and the expressions they wear.
He can't help the sardonic amusement that wells within him at the sight of them.
You are already here now, he thinks to himself. The monster has already caught your scent. Better be prepared, because there's no backing out now.
Thinking as such, Tokibumi slides back into a stance, ready to face whatever bullshit Narauko chooses to show them next.
He still hasn't used his Technique.
Truly, so absurd.
///
Narauko
///
I'm having fun.
I have no throat but I must laugh.
Heh, I remember that. Funny~.
Twisting around an extending thrust of Ant-Man's staff, seven Barriers spring into place in the air, their short-lived existences deflecting seven Cursed Tools.
I lost track of the tune in my head. There is still a song, it just doesn't have any lyrics anymore. No real beat to it either. Just vibes~. Hehe, music should be a vibe, right? Man, I haven't heard that word in ages. Vibe vibe viiiiibe~.
My eyes snap to the side as a man appears behind me without any warning, throwing a kick at the back of my knee that I have no time to dodge. I try to swat him, but he disappears again. Makes me think of the shit Tachibana-kun was doing inside his Domain.
Time powers aren't fair~.
But even if I lost the song, I still feel like I'm dancing. It's.. oddly familiar? The feeling anyway. I was pretty dour before this life, but I do remember my few moments of happiness being when I was dancing to some tune alone in my room. Man, that's pretty sad~. Hahaha, hilarious~.
A ball of pure Cursed Energy forms in my hand and is immediately thrown into the floor, creating a cloud of dust that does little to obscure the swing of my flag-turned-giant-sword. The hit still sends Tachibana reeling, though it does little else.
Another half dozen Barriers in the air block another half dozen Cursed Tools.
The vibe is the same though. That kind of.. bouncy, bubbly feeling. The one that you feel rise from your belly all the way up to your shoulders. The kind of feeling that makes you just want to move. To sway, to dance.
It's a good feeling.
Briefly clear of attacks, the ground craters beneath me as I launch myself at the guy drowning me. I want to laugh, and I can't do that without a throat.
However, I feel some weird compulsion overtake me and force me to turn and charge straight at one of the new guys. The target of my apparent bloodthirst hiding behind another of his fellows.
Aggro draw into CC? Man, I miss video games. Kinda. Actually nah, I think this is way better. Still, if their timing is right, then what follows aggro draw into CC would be burst damage. That's a good opportunity for me to win. Overextending yourself is bad too you know~?
Throwing myself forward and off of the ground, I launch a flying Sparta kick straight into this dude's chest. He doesn't so much as flinch.
That's hilarious~. Total damage immunity? Evidently he needs to root in place for it to be active though. I wonder if a connection to the ground is a requirement as well? Probably, unless the Technique itself freezes him in place. A Space-lock type thing then? That's fun~. I want it~.
Too bad that I figured that'd be the case anyway, so my leg doesn't break on impact. Instead, I simply stop myself there, standing horizontally on this guy's chest as I twist to throw a ball of Cursed Energy straight down right as a whole bunch of simultaneous attacks are thrown my way.
Dropping straight to the floor, most of the attacks miss me, plenty smashing into this guy and parting like a river around a rock. The few that don't miss are caught by a Barrier.
Planting my hands both on the ground, I throw myself straight through Mr Indestructible's legs, sliding back to my feet in the same breath and throwing a half-hearted punch at the aggro pulling guy.
Most of my mind is elsewhere, playing around with the Touki within my body and trying to get something new to work, how exciting~!
Aggro guy takes the punch like a champ and bows out and some other guy tries to take advantage of me being off balance to punch me right back. However, he is too slow, so I grab his wrist to throw him away, only to blink as my world flashes and I find myself standing behind him?
I'm still touching him though. Teleportation of others with the condition that the target of the Technique remains in physical contact both before and after it takes effect? Man, that's so cool~! I want that one too! That must be so fun to fight with on even footing~! Shame that.
Ah well. I think I've more or less figures it out, so I step away from teleporting guy, summon more Barriers and twist around another of Tachibana's Cursed Tools. He really has a lot of those.
I really wish drowning guy wasn't here though. I'd like to explain what I've just kinda figured out.
See, there is an issue with using Cursed Energy without an Innate Technique. It's basically useless. That's why Innate Techniques matter so much, and why I want to make a Spell system sometime.
But it's not like raw Cursed Energy can't be damaging, that much is obvious enough. The problem there is that Cursed Energy is entirely spiritual. That means that it doesn't have much 'substance' in the real world. Makes it have a short shelf life. So external Cursed Energy doesn't tend to last long.
Certainly not long enough to be used at range. Not without a Technique anyway.
The solution? Touki. The physical side of the energies. Only trouble is that mixing the two seems to be all but impossible.
However. All this choking got me thinking of mustard gas and other equivalents. Mainly he idea of a sturdy outside containing a weak inside.
Basically, I just need to stuff a bunch of Cursed Energy inside of a ball of Touki.
Sounds a lot simpler than it is. The two energies like to tear at each other, so even if it does work, which it will, it will be so incredibly inefficient as to be laughable.
Luckily, that isn't much of an issue for me. I have energy to spare.
The next time Ant-Man's staff flies my way, the white flames of my Touki spread over my form and instead of dodging, I grab the staff and I yank it.
Ki flies forward, but I know he'll shrink so instead of paying him any mind, I let go of the elongated staff and immediately punch it. The whole thing flies at Tachibana, distracting him for the moment that I require.
Cursed Energy gathers in a ball in one hand while Touki does the same in he other. Without any hesitation, I slam the two together. Allowing the Touki to flow over the Cursed Energy like a blanket.
But Jujutsu is a world of visualisation. So I don't stop there. I imagine a bullet and add the rotational force, spinning the energy as rapidly as I can without deforming it. Then, I imagine a frisbee, because those things always go way further than I ever meant to throw them.
The ball of destructive energy is compressed top and bottom. Squishing it down into a flat shape before splitting from a circle into three individual prongs, because shuriken are just frisbees for combat and I'm in a fight.
It's not like this collection of energy really cares too much about physics. It doesn't have any actual mass to it. Kinda. It's just about the visualisation.
Time guy appears then, the only one able to move fast enough to interfere, not that Cursed Tool Lady isn't trying.
However, time guy is just fast, not particularly strong. So I just ignore him entirely and do not suffer for it at all.
Grinning in anticipation, I turn predatory eyes to the guy drowning me, and he doesn't hesitate to shoot me with his gun. It's not really a gun, but I can recognise the firearm's predecessor easily enough that I wasn't caught off-guard the first time it fired.
This time? With Touki?
My free hand stretches forward in the path of the shot and I catch the bullet with the back of my two front fingers, flicking it up where it trails a line of fire into the sky before exploding.
Wait a second that was actually a really cool thing I just did right then, wasn't it? Nice.
My turn~, I think gleefully as I return the favour and throw my magical shuriken straight at his face.
Time seems to slow down as I watch my newest creation—I actually had to make something new here~! Isn't that cool~!—fly forth. It is because of this perception that I manage to catch teleporting guy fly over my head and overtake the shuriken. I don't need to look back to figure that Ant-Man must have used his Technique to launch the guy.
What was his name? Ki no Tokibumi? Cool guy~.
My smile remains unchanged as I watch the teleporting guy tap the drowning guy on the head as he passes, moving them both out of the way in time for the shuriken to hit nothing.
"Ha!" Drowning guy yells, face twisting in mockery despite the clear fear to him. "You missed!"
My grin grows.
"Stop! Fucking! Talking!" Ki all but screeches at the man. Understandably really, and I can't help but heal my throat to speak. It won't matter in a moment anyway.
"Whoever said you were the target?" I ask innocently. Though perhaps the tone is ruined by my smile.
Regardless, no one gets to answer before my attack audibly lands, an explosion like thunder echoing across the sky. Immediately following is a sound like glass shattering, only multiplied a million times over, and we all collectively look up to watch as the sky shatters and infinite rabbits rain down~!
The laugh that has been building up within me is released without restraint as we are drowned under a tidal wave of fluffy white. There is a rush to attack me one last time before my Shikigami come, but it amounts to little.
However, there is one thing that I failed to take into account.
You see, the very moment that my bunnies blanketed us all..
I won.
With so much area control at my fingertips and the matter of numbers no longer being against me, it is no trouble at all to separate my foes and deal with them one by one. Well, those that don't simply fall to the bunnies themselves.
The euphoric high I was just riding at having been pushed to create something new immediately drops. Inversing into a heavy, resigned depression.
The moment I really start trying, I just win. What's even the point?
I know I'm being stupid. There are people out there that can push me further. Beings more powerful than I could even fathom as I am right now.
But emotions don't care about such things.
"Tsk. I don't feel like fighting anymore," I mutter with a sigh. "Mood's ruined. Song's gone."
Shaking my head and shrugging, a simple mental command has the tide of white fluff collapse into a rapidly dissipating wave of ink.
Ignoring anyone else, I turn to face the confused Ki and simply chuck the flag underarm at him.
"I just got sad," I tell him. "I'm gonna go find find someone to hug 'till I feel better."
That done, I turn and I head in Nagiko's direction. A simple hop with my Touki enhancing me is enough to make it across the mountain to where she has been watching from in a single bound.
"Nagiko-chan~!" I call out with a whine as I land, sticking out my bottom lip. "I'm sad~! Comfort me~!"
She stares at me for a moment before a small smile lights up her features. An amusement that spreads all the way to her mesmerising iridescent eyes.
Without a word, she slides off of the tree stump she was sitting on and plants herself on the floor, legs out and back against the stump. Then she simply pats her thighs invitingly and with a grin on my lips I do not hesitate to lie down for a lap pillow.
Hell yeah.
As soon as my head is resting on her incredibly comfortable thighs, her hands starts combing through my hair in a gentle message. Any thought of the competition going on flees my mind immediately as comfort take precedence.
Double hell yeah.
I'm feeling better already.
///
A/N: He~llo! Dear readers!
I'm not sure if you've noticed, but god damn I'm fukin bored of this fight lmaooooo it's like 20k words or some shit. Waaay too fukin much xD
On the bright side, now that he has finally shown off in a public setting, this will probably be the final fight scene I write for Narauko where his opponents are so much weaker than him. From now on, his fights will actually have some challenge to them.
Eh, idk. I'm tired rn lol.