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"Kaito, come here." The voice of King Enma reached Kaito just as he was waiting for the next match to begin.
He paused for a moment, turned to say a few words to Yūrei, then stood up, offered brief explanations to the other yōkai present, and vanished from the spot.
He was summoned directly into the presence of the Lord of Hell.
King Enma sat alone within a quiet chamber in the rear hall of the Enma Palace.
"What is it, Your Majesty?"
With no outsiders present, Kaito dispensed with all decorum and sprawled sideways on the floor in a rather undignified manner, propping his head up with one hand.
In stark contrast, King Enma sat with perfect, rigid posture, meticulously and slowly arranging the opulent, voluminous sleeves of his robes.
He looked down from his seated position at the reclining Kaito, his gaze almost condescending. "You should be aware, should you not? That as long as you are within the confines of Yomi, the Yellow Springs, nothing you do or say can escape my notice."
"I'm aware. What of it?" Kaito blinked, his expression one of genuine confusion.
"First, congratulations." King Enma raised a hand and removed the demon mask from his face, revealing features that were a perfect mirror image of Kaito's own. He curled the corner of his mouth into a smile whose meaning was difficult to decipher.
"You have finally succeeded in forming pacts with those formidable yōkai."
"And so? You should be perfectly aware this was always part of the plan." Kaito looked at him, still puzzled. He lifted his other hand to cover his mouth, letting out a yawn that carried the potent scent of alcohol.
"Indeed." King Enma gave a slight, dismissive flick of his sleeve. The alcoholic odor in the room was instantly purified, leaving the air scentless.
"I am well aware. This has been part of our design from the beginning. The you of the past, or perhaps one could also say the me of the past, lived at Mount Ōeyama for well over a decade. You coexisted harmoniously with all the yōkai, and long ago succeeded in deciphering the true nature of every single one of them—their personalities, their quirks. This included the great yōkai who were later resurrected, along with the full history of their past deeds."
"Isn't that simply a matter of course?" Kaito continued to regard him with a look of bewilderment.
"Back then, I was young, but I considered myself relatively mature in mind. Thrown into an unfamiliar environment, facing a host of non-human beings whose intentions were unclear, it was only natural to seek a sense of security."
He gently closed his eyes, as if slipping into a reverie.
"As confident as I was, a sense of unease would still arise within me, unbidden. That was when that particular resolve took shape. I had to seize more power, to grasp it firmly within my own hands-"
"-Because only by wielding formidable strength oneself can one obtain a tangible, reliable sense of security." King Enma finished the thought for him.
"And once that clear objective was established, everything else became much simpler to manage."
"You make it sound so effortless. Has becoming a deity made you forget the sensations of the past?" Kaito opened his eyes.
"Those yōkai, while many were simple-hearted, were not without their masters of perception, experts at seeing through to the core of a person. To earn their true acknowledgment, I interacted with them without a single shred of falsehood or deception."
"You were clever indeed, back then." This time, King Enma did not include himself in the statement, linguistically cleaving Kaito apart from his own being.
"Or rather, from a very young age, you were born with an innate talent for understanding people, for seeing into their hearts. Your perception of others' emotions is actually remarkably acute. Your own father—had you not deemed it beneath you to fawn and flatter—likely would never have treated you as he did. Your apparent awkwardness in front of Yūrei in those days was simply because you hadn't invested any significant attention into that particular facet of emotion."
"Heh, why bring up such trivial, long-past matters, Your Majesty." Kaito sighed, the sound tinged with helpless resignation.
King Enma pressed on, his voice calm and relentless. "When did you first become aware that Yūrei's feelings towards you had begun to change?"
Upon hearing this, Kaito's face abruptly became a blank slate, all expression draining away to be replaced by a profound chill.
Undeterred, King Enma continued. "Do you recall the very first thought that sprang into your mind the moment you made that discovery? It was a calculation on how to leverage her affection to secure greater advantages for yourself."
"What exactly are you trying to say?" Kaito's voice had grown as cold as his expression.
"I merely wish for you to remember the kind of person you once were." King Enma offered a thin, insincere smile.
"The former you, even when offering genuine sincerity in exchange for the same, always retained in the deepest recess of your heart a sliver of absolute, unyielding rationality. You always knew, with crystal clarity, what was most important for yourself. You understood perfectly that, faced with any choice, you could amplify that sliver of pure reason and decisively select the option most advantageous to you. Yet… the you of the present seems to have become utterly immersed in those emotions. I find myself unable to determine whether this transformation is for better or for worse."
"I see." Kaito lowered his gaze, his eyes empty and distant as they fixed upon the smooth surface of the wooden floor.
"Better or worse, these are the insights I gained following my journey to that other world. You, however, were separated from me before that event. You have since become a deity. You understand the growing divergence between us far better than I do. When all is said and done, I am merely an ordinary human."
King Enma suddenly laughed, a soft, dry sound. "Of course. As you say, the chasm between my existence and yours grows wider by the day. The time will inevitably come when the increasingly tenuous thread connecting us is severed completely. However, I find I cannot simply regard you as just another face among the teeming masses of ordinary souls. Should you ultimately manage to take that true, final step forward, I would feel a profound sense of gratification."
"I believe there is no need for Your Majesty to concern yourself with me." Kaito raised his eyes once more to meet the deity's unwavering gaze.
"Because I remain, as ever, on the path of advancement. Even if changes have occurred within me, even if my feelings for those around me have deepened and grown more genuine…"
He paused, letting the silence hang for a beat.
"However."
In that moment, his gaze became ironclad, resolute.
"That applies only to those who remain by my side, within a certain proximity."
He grinned, a sharp, almost predatory expression.
"I never look back."
"You mean to imply…"
King Enma began to smile as well, a mirror of that sharpness.
"That if Yūrei should one day fall too far behind you, or if Sasuke's strength should one day reach its limit and progress no further… you would cast aside your love and your familial bonds without a moment's hesitation?"
"Precisely." Kaito answered without the slightest pause for thought.
He lifted a hand and pressed it against his own chest.
"Though it would undoubtedly be agonizing, a pain that feels as though the heart itself is being torn apart… I am certain I would do exactly that."
"Ahahahahahaha…" King Enma suddenly threw his head back and roared with laughter, even going so far as to bring his hands together in a slow, mocking clap.
"Truly, you never fail to be yourself, Kaito. You are like a bird born without feet. Your only means of survival is to fly ever forward, without cease. The moment you stop flying, you die. That is the unalterable core of your being!"
"Getting to the heart of the matter, why summon me for this particular conversation, Your Majesty?" Kaito let out another weary sigh.
"I find it hard to believe that mere separation for this length of time has rendered you unable to understand me."
"It is nothing of great import. I merely perceived certain… shifts within you recently. Though I pride myself on knowing you better than any other, I felt a simple confirmation was in order." King Enma stated calmly.
"As expected, you have not disappointed. You have not become completely, helplessly submerged in that gentle sea."
"And yet, I do not believe you." Kaito said flatly.
"That reason. I do not accept it, Your Majesty."
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