Rule 109
In the case where a Young Master has foolishly decided to disregard the previous rules—either because of a concussion or, more likely, utter idiocy—and courted death by challenging an MC to a fight, he should prepare himself for the worst, because things are certainly going to get worse.
Some naive Young Masters may believe that they will be safe after inevitably getting their ass kicked by the Heavens' favorite son in front of everyone and their mother, but they are wrong. It doesn't matter how much one was humiliated; MCs will always come back to make their life a living hell out of pure, unadulterated malice.
The best advice I can offer is to throw an even more arrogant Young Master in their way in hopes that the MC will focus on them instead.
P.S. You must be especially careful when choosing your scapegoat if the MC happens to be the avenger type; those guys treat the Geneva Convention as a bucket list.
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A tired sigh escaped from my mouth as I was packing my clothes at the hotel. With the tournament over, my parents' blessing to wear my peerless robes outside the mansion also expired. Gone are the days of my robes fluttering in the wind in a display of grace and majesty for mortals to gaze upon with a mix of admiration and jealousy.
It is time to hurry back home. Just the idea of being seen wearing commoner's clothes, like blue jeans and T-shirts, in public makes me shudder.
"Nya~I heard that you got yourself a loli." Kuroka, who suddenly appeared from thin air using what I assume to be a complex illusionary technique, flashed me a mischievous smile. "Not bad for a pity prize."
I gave her a flat look.
"Fine, she is a petite girl who is still growing," She huffed, rolling her eyes. "Happy?"
That wasn't the issue here; my Junior Sister is undoubtedly a loli. I'm merely a bit miffed at the way she started this conversation. It's weird.
"She won't be petite for long, though. She has Yasaka's genetics, so it's only a matter of time until she surpasses even me," She sighed, shaking her head in resignation.
Eh, Kuroka's voluptuous figure did fit with that lustful, mature vibe she has, but her biggest appeal has always been the more subtle aspects of her personality. The way she subtly takes care of others despite her lecherous and whimsical mannerisms is simply adorable. Alas, I know that saying that aloud would be a bad idea.
"Don't worry, my Dao Companion is still adorable." Then again, I have regeneration for a reason. Bad ideas are fine from time to time. "She has already long surpassed you in fluffiness, though."
"If you are going to bully little me, you better go all the way ~ nya." She purred. "Or maybe I'm expecting too much from someone who was a friendless neet until we met."
I don't know what a neet is supposed to be, but she isn't wrong about the friendless part. Kuroka has been my first social interaction outside of my family, Sona, and the servants.
"This Young Master kowtows to Venerable Elder Kuroka for teaching him about friendship and love." I offered her a mocking bow. "Next time I'll do a better job at showing off to you."
For a brief moment, her the fainstest gleam of bitterness could be seen in her teasing smile. Or maybe not; it happened so fast that it could have easily been my imagination.
"You're making me feel old... nya."
"Now that you mention it, I never asked your age—and I will shut up." And her claws were no longer pressing against my neck.
That was too close for comfort. Maybe it's time for me to reread the Holy Book to further refine my survival skills; otherwise, I fear I may foolishly inquire about her weight next time.
After finishing packing everything, I went back to the mansion using Kuroka's portals while she stayed behind to discuss a private matter with Yasaka. While leaving a femme fatale by herself close to her hometown is begging for her to go rogue and take revenge on those who wronged her, I am not particularly worried.
When I woke up at the hospital after my...tie with the MC, there was a clean set of cultivation robes next to my bed waiting for me.
This time, I'll the one waiting for her at home.
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The black cat wandered through the empty wooden halls of a mansion as if she owned the place, even though she found it too nostalgic for her taste. She isn't going anywhere in particular, but the point of wandering has never been to reach a location, but to find a path to walk.
The black cat thought about a lot of things while wandering. She thought about the tournament, about the pointless duel between the True Longinus' chosen one and the nonsensical devil. It didn't end with a bang, but rather with the lights suddenly turning off the moment the spear pierced the devil's heart, as if the figurative lightbulb had exploded.
She thought about the gall of an idiot who kept yapping about getting better at growing vegetables and his love for pussy.
She thought about a white kitten who ate too much sugar on a daily basis. While adorable, the kitten was too short for her age. Drinking more milk and eating her vegetables should fix that and help her to 'develop' a little.
She also thought about that movie she watched the other day with the others. The actress was totally faking her orgasms.
"Kuroka?" The cat was startled by the voice of a young kitsune. "I didn't know you were still in Kyoto."
The apprehension in Kunou's voice was delightful to hear. The young girl has always been an extremely easy and amusing target for teasing.
Should she bully her as usual?
Nah, gossip always comes first. After all, cats were curious by nature.
"Nya, I was just wondering about the story behind your mother offering your hand to an evil, vegetarian devil rather than to the winner of her tournament, so I came here to pay a visit." Although Kuroka already had a good idea of how that happened, hearing it from Kunou would be more entertaining.
"Oh, that's because he was the strongest person in the tournament and the second most talented after me, of course," she stated as if it were obvious.
"Didn't he just lose the finals?"
"My fiancé is a devil, and the other guy had the True Longinus. That was the equivalent of a Moltres losing a single battle against a Rhydon; it doesn't count." Understandably, the reference was lost on Kuroka, who wasn't all that familiar with video games that weren't rated R. "Anyway, how can I help you?".
"Oh, does little Kunou want to spend some private time with Kuroka-neechan?" She flirted, sticking her arms under her breasts to showcase them.
It wasn't very effective.
"Something is up." The kitsune frowned. "You didn't even fake-moan while saying that."
Cursed be her very sexy mannerisms! That was an extremely fair and extremely reasonable deduction.
Jokes aside, Kunou was certainly more perceptive than she had initially given her credit for. Most kids her age wouldn't pay attention to such details, or at least she didn't at that age.
"I'm fine, no need to worry about it." She waved it off.
"It's literally my job to worry about you. You are kin, and as the princess of the West Yokai faction, it is my duty to ensure that you're safe."
The certainty in her voice was something that only true believers or idiots were capable of pulling off. There was no shadow of a doubt that the little kitsune meant every word. However, Kuroka's usual mischievous smile remained unchanged.
"Such a dutiful princess. What happened to the adorable rascal that joined the tournament in secret?"
"That was also my duty." She puffed her almost non-existent chest up, displaying all her nine tails in their fluffy glory. "As the future leader of the Youkai and Yasaka's daughter, I need to demonstrate that I am the best because the most efficient way to inspire my people is to be the one they look up to. They will see me as a goal to reach and become better versions of themselves that will still be slightly below myself."
The obviously rehearsed speech made Kuroka massage the bridge of her nose. All of a sudden, she wasn't in the mood for teasing anymore. The last thing she wanted to do at the moment was to deal with blondes who happened to follow a very convoluted logic and had an inflated opinion of themselves.
"Is your mother home?"
"Mom is in a meeting with the heads of some important Youkai clans in Kyoto at Amaterasu's shrine. She won't be back until late at night. Do you want to wait for her?"
That made things a bit harder, and not in an enjoyable way.
"Nah, I just wanted to ask her to let me crash on here for a week or two after I leave the Underworld. I was thinking about hiding in Ireland next."
"You're planning on quitting your job at the Phenex Territory?"
The black cat's smile grew wider.
"Nya~ that's right. Will that be a problem?"
"Not really? I'm not fully aware of the details, but mom told me you had a good reason for becoming a wanted criminal. I can imagine you don't like being among devils even if my fiancé is a proper gentleman."
That was a much more reasonable and boring reaction than what Kuroka had been expecting, which was perhaps a good thing, given that she was serious about leaving the Underworld. That was something that she had always intended to do at some point, and this visit to Kyoto seemed like the perfect opportunity to go ahead with it.
"Mmmh, you would think so, but they treat me like a pet cat their very 'special' son picked on a whim. As long as I don't get said son killed, they will continue to feed me high-quality tuna."
That and turn a blind eye to her visiting the Gremory territory and sneaking into their castle once a week to spy on her younger sister from a safe distance.
"That seems degrading."
"And kinky." Kuroka added this very important detail. "However, there is the possibility of them selling me out at any point."
Not that the Phenex Clan needed even more money than what they already had. They even had those super-modern toilets that could speak ten different languages and automatically regulate the temperature of their seats.
"I don't believe that to be likely, mostly because they would get in problems for willingly housing a dangerous criminal in their territory for years. That would be basically self-sabotage" Kunou argued with a frown.
Admittedly, they probably weren't eager to tell Leviathan that they allowed a dangerous criminal to interact with her beloved sister on a weekly basis.
"Fair stuff, but I'm a free-spirited gal at heart. Stray cats aren't meant to stay in one place for long."
Although 'working' at the Phenex mansion made checking on Shirone as easy as asking Sona Sitri, who was best friends with her sister's king, the right questions when she came to visit for those grooming sessions disguised as chess lessons, it also had some downsides. For once, nobody likes babysitting a stubborn idiot with the survival instincts of a particularly suicidal lemming.
Also, she still needed to find a good lay who would give her strong babies. They probably wouldn't have as much potential as Riser, but they would actually fucker her like a two-cent whore instead of acting like a prudish romantic one step away from becoming a stalker. Sure, his corny flirting and occasional poems were flattering, even cute at times, but that wasn't what she was looking for.
"You have already decided to leave, then."
"Seems quite fitting for me, what do you think?"
"Do...do you expect me to convince you to stay with Senior Brother?" Kunou asked, looking quite unsure about where this conversation was going.
Kuroka's smile widened once again. What else was she supposed to do when asked such a question but smile?
It took almost fifteen full seconds for words to come out of her mouth..
"Not at all. I just felt like complaining about my employers."
Complaining about people was always fun when done in moderation. With the right listener, it became one of the most relaxing, and sometimes enlightening, activities one could do. Unfortunately, little Kunou wasn't nearly as good as a listener as her mother, most likely due to her lack of experience on the subject and the fact she was still too young to share a drink with others. Ranting became much more enjoyable when the parties involved were slightly drunk.
Maybe she should go back to the mansion and come back when Yasaka was here. There wouldn't be much of a difference between leaving now or in a few days.
"Kuroka, maybe you should try to be more honest."
Naturally, she wouldn't dignify that with a reply.
To think there would come a day when her excuses were so flimsy that even a loli could see through them! But calling them excuses seemed inappropriate since they were the truth as far as she knew it. Making sense of this mystery was too much to ask of a cat who would rather spend her afternoons eating junk food on a comfortable bed and then have someone else clean the crumbs.
At the end of the day, there was nothing unique about this situation. Like many others, Kuroka simply felt a bit lost.
She didn't know what she was doing.