Saitama Prefecture, Kawaguchi City.
Separated from Tokyo by only the Arakawa River.
Yotsuya Miko had just left the shrine with Yurikawa Hana when her phone buzzed in her pocket.
She took it out, glanced at the screen—
It was Arthur.
Miko blinked.
Didn't Arthur go to the yōkai domain with Zhu Ran Ya'ai?
Why is he calling already?
"Hana, I'm gonna pick this up."
"Mm-hm~" Hana held her snack and pretended not to listen, but the moment she heard the name "Arthur," her ears perked right up. This kid's gossip radar was on full power.
Miko answered. "Hello, Arthur."
On the side, Hana's eyes narrowed.
Sure enough.
They do have something going on.
"Mm, yeah—I already went to the shrine."
"I'm out shopping with Hana right now."
"Okay, I'll come over in a bit and tell you the rest."
"Mm, bye."
She hung up, put her phone away, and looked at Hana with a little smile. "Hana, I'm going to Arthur's."
"Yeah yeah yeah, I knew it."
Hana puffed her cheeks, half teasing, half proud of herself. "I asked you before and you still kept saying 'no, no, nothing's going on.' Hmph! And now—caught in 4K."
She looked extremely satisfied with her detective work.
Honestly, Miko was a bit embarrassed. She'd always tried not to drag Hana into her mess of a supernatural life, so she hadn't said it outright.
They walked together to the station.
Hana got on the train heading toward Kita Ward.
Miko got on the one to Nerima.
About twenty minutes later…
Miko arrived at Arthur's place.
"Uh…"
The moment she stepped into the living room and saw three unfamiliar girls sitting there, she froze for a moment.
Arthur smiled. "You're here. Come, I'll introduce you."
He pointed one by one.
"This is Zhu Ran Xin'ai, Moka's younger sister. She came from the yōkai domain to find Moka and will stay here for a few days."
"Hello~" Zhu Ran Xin'ai waved and smiled sweetly.
"Hello," Miko smiled back. She was curious, but she stayed polite.
Arthur went on, "This is Akasha Bloodriver—you can just call her Akasha. Her identity is… basically Moka's mother."
"Moka's… mother?!"
Miko's eyes widened.
Because the woman in front of her didn't look like a mother at all. She looked like a slightly more mature, more elegant version of pink-haired Moka—no, more like Moka's big sister.
Out of instinct, Miko bowed a little. "Hello, auntie, I'm Yotsuya Miko."
Akasha's eyes curved in a warm smile. "Hello, Miko. But you don't have to call me 'auntie.'"
"Eh?"
"If you don't want to call me Akasha…" Akasha tilted her head, still smiling, "…you can call me 'onee-san.'"
"...Onee…san?"
Miko was stunned.
She looked at Akasha again. Then she glanced at Arthur. Then at Moka (silver-haired). Then at the other two—Tohru and Zhu Ran Ya'ai.
Something… was off.
Seeing that she still didn't get it, Akasha simply reached out…
And interlocked her fingers with Arthur's.
"Ah!!!"
Miko's eyes shook.
Wait, wait, wait—
She didn't see wrong, right??
That was Moka's mother.
And she just ten-finger-locked with Arthur?
"She's Moka's mother!!" Miko couldn't help blurting out to Arthur.
Arthur looked at her, eyes full of mischief. "And?"
"…"
Miko turned to Tohru, then to Zhu Ran Ya'ai, then to Zhu Ran Xin'ai.
All three of them looked… calm.
Very calm.
Way too calm.
"??? …Is it just me?" Miko started to doubt life. "Am I the only normal person here?"
Arthur chuckled. "Alright, don't tease her."
"Huh?" Miko blinked.
Arthur said, still smiling, "Akasha really is one of my familiars, yes. But her relationship with Moka is more complicated than you think."
Miko: "??!"
More complicated than mother and daughter?!
What's more complicated than that??
Arthur waved. "Let Moka tell you."
Miko looked around. "Where's Moka then?"
"I'm right here."
The silver-haired, red-eyed girl sitting on the sofa lifted the corner of her lips.
"...Huh?"
Miko stared.
You're… Moka?
I thought you were some cool, high-level vampire lady.
Miko's brain lagged for two whole seconds.
Then she suddenly remembered—
Arthur had previously said that the Moka they usually saw was the sealed, pink-haired version.
This silver-haired version was Moka's true vampire form.
…In other words, this really was Akashiya Moka.
"I… my head kinda hurts…" Miko plopped down on the sofa and pressed her temples.
Too much information.
She just went out to visit a shrine and buy snacks.
Came back, and the household now had:
Moka's mother,
Moka's mother holding Arthur's hand,
Moka's little sister,
and everyone acting like this was totally normal.
Arthur raised his hand and used Sky Magic on her.
A cool, gentle force brushed over Miko's mind. Her headache and messy thoughts instantly eased.
"Better?"
"...Yeah." Miko let out a breath. "Okay. Tell me. Everything. Slowly."
So Arthur, very neatly, told her the whole thing:
Long ago, Akasha used herself to seal Alucard.
Later she accidentally created Moka.
In order to protect Moka and the seal, she made the rosary cross.
The pink-haired Moka they'd seen all this time was actually Akasha's surface personality.
This time Arthur went to the yōkai domain, separated Alucard and Akasha, killed Alucard completely, and brought Akasha back.
"...So Pink Moka was Akasha all along?" Miko's mouth fell open.
No wonder Pink Moka had that soft, almost maternal gentleness.
No wonder Pink Moka fell for Arthur so fast.
Because the first one who liked Arthur… was Akasha.
Now that she understood, Miko's shock slowly turned into an odd acceptance.
…Mother and daughter serving the same man.
If the "mother" was actually the original personality, and the "daughter" was the born-from-a-split, new soul…
Then it wasn't the usual family tree anymore.
This was just… a very, very chaotic bloodline.
Miko sighed inwardly.
Is it me that's not normal… or is this world just way too crazy?
Arthur looked at her. "Okay. Then tell me about Hana."
"Right."
Miko straightened a little. "About Hana—here's what happened today…"
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