Faced with her analysis, Takumi had to admit it—she was spot-on, but he immediately shook his head and said in a low, steady voice,
"First, let me make one thing clear. I'm not a normal guy."0
"I'm in high school, and I also work as… half a hero, an exorcist, a jujutsu sorcerer, a doctor, a landlord… This is my exorcist agency and my apartment building."
"And my biggest identity right now is the head of the demon house Morax, and the fiancé tied to the Sitri family. Explaining it with words won't really do it justice, so I'll just upload the info to you—read it yourself."
As he spoke, Takumi raised a finger and lightly tapped Kotoko between the brows.
A massive torrent of information slammed into her mind, and she froze on the spot for several seconds.
After she finally sorted it all out, her eyes turned unbelievably complicated—then that complexity flipped into pure, gleeful pride.
"Wow… so I really hit the jackpot." Kotoko said, chest puffing up a little. "I just casually fell for a Demon King-level hero on sight. That's insane."
She shot a glance toward the corner.
A few small yokai were hiding there—creatures she could normally order around like it was nothing, but the moment they'd seen Takumi, they'd been shaking so hard they practically melted into the shadows.
"No wonder they were scared stiff of you," Kotoko muttered, visibly pleased with herself.
"So what's your answer?" Takumi stopped walking and looked straight into her eyes.
Kotoko smiled like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Of course I'm saying yes. I wasn't even considering saying no, because you're literally my love-at-first-sight guy."
"I just didn't expect you to be hiding this much. You're way more ridiculous than my own status. Compared to you, me being the yokai's Wisdom Goddess feels like a cute little kids' game."
Takumi shook his head. "No, no. I can tell you've got huge potential. If you can gather enough faith, ignite a divine spark, and form a divinity… You can become a real faith-based god with serious power. Even if you're not on my level, you'd at least reach Demon King tier."
Kotoko's expression wavered for a beat.
Now that she understood what Demon King tier actually meant—something that could erase a nation if it felt like it—she honestly couldn't tell if Takumi was praising her or just trying to make her feel better, but she didn't dwell on it.
Instead, her eyes brightened, and she leaned in with a playful tilt of her head. "So… as my boyfriend, shouldn't you show me something~?"
Seeing that doll-pretty face say something so bold made Takumi laugh under his breath.
"Fine, fine. Of course I'll show you something."
Before she could even react, Takumi scooped her up with one arm.
His hand settled under her hips—firm, confident, like it was the most natural thing in the world—and then he leaned down and sealed his mouth over hers.
Kotoko's eyes went wide for a second.
She clearly hadn't expected him to be this direct, but the surprise only lasted a heartbeat before her lashes fluttered, her body softened, and she melted into the kiss like she'd been waiting for it.
The hospital park was quiet, somewhere along the way, it felt like the whole world had faded out until there was only the two of them.
When Takumi finally pulled back, Kotoko's cheeks were flushed a deep, tempting red, and her violet eyes shimmered with watery light.
"So… this is what kissing feels like," she murmured, voice a little breathy, like she was tasting the words.
It was just a kiss, but it already left a sweetness spreading through her chest, warm and restless.
And then, as she felt the size of him—felt just how much he was holding back—her rational brain kicked back on.
"Uh…" Kotoko's brows knitted with genuine worry even as her face stayed bright pink. "Yikes. No matter how I look at it, my odds of dying feel… uncomfortably high."
Takumi pinched her cheek. "What is with you and the sudden dirty jokes? If it were actually dangerous, do you think I'd let you be my girlfriend?"
After teasing her, he pulled out a Divine Envoy piece and a cup of godly wine.
After asking her, Kotoko used them without hesitation. A soft glow lit up over her body. The godly wine sank into her flesh like warmth spreading through cold limbs, leaving her looking refreshed—almost luminous, but her disability didn't change.
Because it wasn't an injury. It was a trade.
Kotoko had given up her right eye and left leg in exchange for becoming the yokai's Wisdom Goddess. For Takumi, fixing it would actually be easy.
A full reset with healing magic could restore her, but that would also break the exchange—and she'd lose her position.
After hearing that, Kotoko didn't hesitate.
"I'm already used to the job," she said matter-of-factly. "And if I lose the position, I'm not special anymore. In front of my boyfriend, I should have something that stands out… so I can keep your attention on me."
Takumi pinched her cheek hard. "I'm not into that, okay?!"
Then he sighed.
"But keeping the Wisdom Goddess position is good for you right now. Once you actually become a god—get a divinity and divine power—then rebuilding your body is something you'll be able to do yourself."
Kotoko gave him a dry look.
"Right now I'm just a girl who can talk to yokai. Becoming a god is… so far away it might as well be a bedtime story."
Just then, a tanuki yokai came waddling over at a full sprint, panting like its life depended on it, but with Takumi right there, it didn't even dare come close.
"P-Princess! Bad news!" it blurted out. "There's a yokai causing trouble at the library! If this gets big and attracts sorcerers or onmyoji, we're finished!"
This wasn't the yokai era anymore.
If things got out of hand, sure—onmyoji and sorcerers were scary, but if humans decided to escalate and just flatten everything with modern firepower, most of the peaceful yokai would lose even their last place to hide.
That was why the tanuki was panicking.
As it got closer, it finally noticed Takumi properly—and nearly collapsed.
The sheer pressure rolling off him made it tremble so hard its fur looked like it was vibrating.
"P-Princess…" it said through chattering teeth, "this… thing is too dangerous. It doesn't feel like human or yokai… I think you should stay far away from it!"
A yokai's instincts were screaming that Takumi was lethal, but out of loyalty to Kotoko Iwanaga, it forced itself to warn her anyway.
Takumi clicked his tongue.
"Don't call me thing. That's just rude."
He didn't get angry, though.
Honestly, his composition really was messy. After fusing [Ultimate Lifeform], he gave off a presence that could be both irresistibly attractive and terrifying to lower beings—and which one they felt depended entirely on Takumi's mood.