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They choked as they woke up right before the sun rose, skin prickling with the unfamiliar silk that blanketed them.
Who are you?
They jumped out of the bed, only for their throat to be at the mercy of the blonde girl with fox ears and tail, in maid attire. She would kill if she received an unworthy answer, they both knew.
I won't repeat my question again, who are you?
Stop it Tsubaki.
Another voice, but this time, it was of the handsome man sitting on the futon. Hair of midnight black, obsidian eyes set on a strikingly attractive face paired with a kingly stature.
“W-Who.... Where...?”
Master, are you okay?!
The fox girl levitated slightly to be on the other man's side, worry replacing her bloodthirst, for now.
They aren't a Shade Tsubaki.
I know, but how did they—?
Enter my body? That I don't know.
“Um, I should probably be part of this conversation, right?”, they asked, timidly.
Both pairs of eyes looked at them, one curious and wary, the other barely hiding her murderous aura. They couldn't help but gulp.
I suppose so.
The man walked to the cabinet, befuddled when he could open it and take something, which was a mirror.
They took the proffered item and gasped at themselves. They resembled the man, save for a small mole right under their... his? right eye.
“W-What?!”
Nijouin?
“Huh?”
How about Goyougi? Yotsukado?
“What the hell are you talking about?”
Can't be Sankourou, Kikyou is too infatuated to pull this—
Ahem!
The man stopped rambling and tilted his head at the fox girl—Tsubaki.
Yes?
I don't think he, pointing him with the blunt edge of a nail that was too close to his head for comfort, knows about our world Master.
For once in this whole ordeal was he happy that Tsubaki was there, even as the fox girl-that-really-wasn't-a-girl-if-he-squinted-hard-enough-because-why-is-her-shoes-phasing-through-the-floor-at-times threatened to kill him minutes ago.
The man looked at him straight in the eyes as he asked, Do you know what a practitioner means?
He shook his head.
We have a lot of explaining to do.
I hate this already.
“So you,” pointing at him, “Are practitioners knowing ancient techniques to fight shades.”
He looked at his scribbled notes, “Shades are negative emotions made manifest but do not have sentience, that is for corrupted souls, another discipline we don't have time for.”
“You seal and dispel shades with the help of your summoned,” he gestured at Tsubaki, “shikigami?”
In summary yes.
This still has nothing to do with Master's background!
“Ok ok, wait for me as I finish this,” a flip through the notebook. “So! Me and you, we're Ichinomiya Saku, the clan lord of Ichinomiya with the succession ceremony happening two weeks later.”
What are the Ichinomiyas again?
“One of the five clans of Japan that maintain their own crystal pillar as these pillars are barriers against the shades, immensely preventing damage on non-practioners.”
What is the meaning behind your pendant?
“This is the license as provided by the Association of Practitioners, signifying the rank of the practitioner. Beginners have white, then red, gold, lapis and—” clutching the black jewel on his neck, “Obsidian as the highest.”
I think you're ready, fake!
“H-Hey, don't call me that!”
What should we call you then? You're definitely not me.
“Let me think!”
He paced around the room, looking and glancing at every thing he never remembered owning, before slowing to a stop.
“I... please don't laugh.”
Why?
“Be... because I've picked my name...”
And?
“It's... Makoto...”
The laughter would've awakened everyone within the manor if Saku was still in possession of his physical body.
If there was anything he wouldn't regret in this whole mess, it was that the Ichinomiyas were great at hosting ceremonies. As clan lord, he was given endless feast after endless feast after his vows.
They agreed that Saku would be his recently awakened human-form shikigami, "Asijai", with long cherry blossom pink hair, wearing the clothes of a butler. He looked cute matching with Tsubaki, but Makoto would rather die than admit it out loud, because he'd very likely die by Saku's hand.
Unfortunately, Makoto was left to deal with the many, many women in the branch families asking to be his wife. Some were beautiful, some were emotional, some hid their bitterness with the sweetest smiles he'd ever seen.
Heck, I'm twenty-six and there's kids at least fifteen years old here!
He politely sent them away, but there was a girl who caught his eye. She was beautiful, with shining golden hair. Behind her was a human-form shikigami too, resembling a young warrior.
“Ichise Hazuki, no doubt?”, he asked softly.
Everyone around him blushed, their thoughts clear in the way their fists clenched and shoulders trembled.
He chose her! He chose the genius of the clan!
“Y-Yes my lord,” she bowed to him.
It was mildly... sickening, watching her kneel. The food was great but the women playing for his attention scared him.
“I have seen enough, thank you.”
He did not mean to sound so cold and aloof, but she flinched all the same before gracefully walking away. He stood up, hearing a faint creak from a protesting spine, and walked off the food he ate.
You didn't like her? "Asijai" whispered, appearing behind him in a melodramatic burst of flowers, strands of pink hair on his shoulder.
“I think she could do better than me.”
A raised eyebrow, and then he said nothing more.
“Bind!”
The girl before him quickly dispatched the shade with the sheer power of her skills. Not to mention, she had two genuine human-form shikigami!
Get her, she's the best wife for us.
He ignored his coldly calculating "shikigami" and politely asked.
“Miss Ichise Hana, I presume?”
She whirled around, shock in her very pretty face.
“EH?????? L-Lord Ichinomiya?????”
Behind her, her shikigami were raising their weapons at him.
Ah, like good ol' times, Makoto wryly thought as he readied himself for an unhinged discussion.