HxH: Ryomen... Satoru?

A wolf-like howl rang out from outside, followed by a raging gust of wind that ripped tiles right off the rooftop.

Cyr looked up—there was now a gaping hole above him. The tiles were gone, and he could see straight through to the sky and a few structural beams. He dropped his brush, leaving a smear of ink across the paper.

So we're just tearing roofs off without warning now? Great.

Cyr let out a breathy laugh—half amused, half annoyed—and walked straight out of the house.

Hovering in the air was a massive dog demon—thick, fluffy white fur, fire-like markings on its forehead, and red demonic tattoos on either cheek. It stared down at the shrine below.

"So you're the one who kidnapped the pups from our clan?" it rumbled, voice low and powerful.

Even standing tall, Sora—at six meters in length—was barely half the size of this beast.

As the giant demon dog and the white tiger stared each other down, the two little pups, finally seeing their backup arrive, started barking wildly in excitement.

"Woof woof woof woof!!"

"Bark bark! Bark bark bark!"

(It was this tiger that captured us! These humans hit us and didn't feed us!)

(Master Kōen, please save us!)

The demon dog cast a sidelong glance at the teary-eyed pups, clearly unimpressed, and then shifted its gaze toward the white tiger.

Back at the site where the pups disappeared, it had caught the scent of another beast—this tiger's—and followed that trail here, to this shrine.

Ordinarily, yokai wouldn't dare step into a shrine, not even past the torii gate.

Shrines were protected by barriers—any yokai that entered would either die or be severely wounded.

But this shrine… had no such barrier.

Did that mean this place wasn't actually devoted to a god?

"Let's fight. If you beat me, I'll drop the matter."

"If you lose…" The demon dog sniffed the air, releasing a visible puff of breath. The meaning was clear.

"…." Sora glanced at the massive beast, whose size nearly doubled his own. His claws scraped across the ground.

"Go ahead," Cyr said as he walked up beside Sora and patted his head.

Might as well take this chance to see what difference there really was between a demon beast and a magical beast.

"If you win, great. But if you lose—and it's a bad loss…" Cyr gave a cold snort.

Sora flicked his ears and said confidently, "There's no way I'll lose." Then he surged upward, riding a cyclone into the sky.

"Don't fight here," Cyr called after him with a raised brow. His eyes then fell on the demon dog's luxurious fur. "If you wreck my shrine again…"

If it ended up damaged, he'd just skin that mutt and lay the pelt down at the shrine entrance as a welcome mat.

A rug made from a greater demon's hide would definitely scare off plenty of weaker yokai.

The dog demon shuddered at the ominous feeling rising in his gut.

Also… what did that human mean by his shrine?

But there was no time to think further—a blast of wind blades forced him to dodge, and in a flash, dog and tiger shot into the distance, locked in high-speed combat.

"A greater demon…"

"So big…"

"So cool…"

The two little girls stood dumbfounded, staring at where the demon dog had vanished, faces flushed.

Wait. Flushed?

Cyr squatted down and took a closer look at their expressions. Yep—their cheeks were definitely redder than their necks.

Hold on. You're blushing… over a dog?

"What's wrong with you two?" Cyr deadpanned.

Sure, the dog was good-looking…

If something that pretty existed in the real world, its price tag would start at six figures, easy.

Cyr rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Yeah… he liked it too.

"Snap out of it." He clapped his hands together. The girls jolted and came back to their senses instantly.

"Humans and yokai… there's no future in that," Cyr said seriously.

How long could a human live? Maybe a hundred years. A yokai? Even after a hundred years, they might not have even reached adulthood.

The two races just weren't meant to be. For either side, it could only end in heartbreak.

Although anime loves to romanticize human–yokai relationships—acting like love and friendship are the most important bonds in the world—it always ends with tragedy. One dies, the other grieves for life, and the audience is left to feel moved by the sorrow.

"You two are my shrine maidens now. That means you need to be prepared to live your whole lives without love," Cyr reminded them flatly.

What, did they think he was some kind of idiot? He provides them with food, clothing, power, and then they'd just run off with some other guy?

They better stay here, work their whole lives, and pay off the debt.

"Eh?" Noriko blinked, then quickly waved her hands, face turning even redder than before. "It's not like that!"

"It's just… we were a little envious of a powerful yokai like that," she added, head lowered, her voice full of admiration.

They weren't blushing at the dog per se—after all, it had appeared in its beast form. That would be ridiculous.

But its massive size, its freedom, the way it moved with the wind—it was something they couldn't help but admire.

"If noble daughters like you become shrine maidens, and then start getting tangled up with powerful yokai, that's a dangerous combo," Cyr muttered, his tone taking on a strange quality as a thought crossed his mind.

He'd seen that trope too many times in anime: shrine maidens and yokai, noble princesses and yokai—the pairings were endless.

And these two… Cyr looked them over.

Noble daughters? ✓

Shrine maidens? ✓

But… they were missing one thing: beauty.

Yokai were very superficial beings. When great yokai abducted women, they always picked those who were renowned for their beauty.

Just like Heian-Kyo's prevailing aesthetic, yokai also favored delicate, beautiful women—maybe even more so than humans did.

Probably because such women stirred their possessiveness and protectiveness more strongly.

"Please rest assured," Noriko and Rinko said in unison, faces pale. "We would never fall in love with any other human or yokai."

They seemed to have misunderstood something, but that was fine.

It wasn't unreasonable for a half-god like their lord to dislike yokai.

After all, a deity wouldn't want his shrine maidens forming bonds with anyone else—whether human or yokai.

Cyr didn't really believe in the promises of humans, but he didn't say more.

There was no point in discussing such things. He'd rather speak with yokai—at least yokai could remember a promise for hundreds of years.

"…Do you think Lord Sora can beat that one?" Noriko asked nervously.

A divine beast raised by a god—surely it was powerful. But it looked so much smaller than that greater yokai. Could it really win?

"Hmm…" Cyr thought about the vast age gap between the two. "Probably not."

"Sora isn't even three years old yet. That greater yokai must be at least several hundred years old."

In yokai terms, a few hundred years old was like being just past adulthood—about twenty in human years.

But Kuuro, not even three years old…

This fight was basically a baby versus a grown man.

If Sora actually won, that would make him truly gifted.

"Then will Lord Kuuro…" Noriko and Rinko looked visibly worried.

"He'll be fine. This isn't something you need to be worrying about. Get back to training," Cyr waved them off.

No point in wasting time with pointless anxiety. Better to use that time to get stronger.

°°°

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