It's True Love 72

"My, are you going to take me home like some sort of gentleman?"

Yuta nodded towards Akiha. "Of course I will. Do I look like a barbarian or something?" She was a pretty young girl and it was late. This city was full of degenerates, so he knew what to do!

She smirked. "Yes."

Ouch. "Actually, I am a barbarian, I don't look like one. I look more like a tired emo or something." It was like the world was conspiring to give him eyebags, though he thought he actually pulled them off pretty well.

Akiha raised an eyebrow. "An emo...? I don't understand..." She didn't know what that was? That didn't surprise him. This was a Akiha after all. "As far as I can tell you look more like a gentleman." She had to have awful taste.

He chuckled. "Sure... I'll take the compliment."

And so began their long, long walk to the Tohno Mansion. It was a peaceful one, at least for Yuta, he knew that even if a maniac did jump in and attack them, Arcueid and Rika were always around to protect him. It was like he had the world's best bodyguards by his side.

Naturally Akiha didn't stay quiet during their way home. "Yuta, may I ask you something perhaps... a bit private?" A blush suddenly appeared on her face. "Nothing perverted, I assure you!"

He snorted. "I would like that though." His nonchalant comment got him a glare from the girl. "Jokes aside, feel free to ask me anything, always. I've invaded your privacy and investigated your secrets way too many times now to deny you anything."

Even if he did try it, at this point it would be well into her rights to investigate him. Or sue him, considering he invaded her home to steal a diary that belonged to her father.

She scowled. "Now that you mention it, you are correct! So I won't bother showing you any decorum." That was cute, so he would accept it even if he had the opportunity to deny it.

Even as she said that, she hesitated for a bit. "So Yuta... How exactly did you get involved with the supernatural?" Where should he even start with a question like that?

He raised an eyebrow. "Um? Why do you wanna know?"

She huffed. "It's not that I want to know, but... well... you know my intentions about you and... I am a part of the supernatural. Even if sometimes I wish I wasn't." So she definitely wanted to know.

"Fair enough. Though... you shouldn't feel bad about who you are. Your red hair is cute, ya know?" And he loved a red head.

She looked away. "I-It doesn't matter if you find my hair to be attractive. You know the consequences of being demon-blooded." Yeah, he definitely did.

So as much as he wanted to make a joke about crazies being good in bed, he held himself back, for Akiha if nothing else. He would have to actually put some thought into what he said next... which was tough to do, because being demon-blooded genuinely seemed to suck. It was completely unlike Yuta, who's blood just came with advantages.

"Yeah, but... I love all of Akiha. That is all I'll say." And he meant it... Even if he knew such words wouldn't particularly comfort her.

So before she replied, he raised a finger. "And about my entrance into the supernatural... I guess there are four points I would consider to be my starting ones?"

She gave him a confused look. "What does that even mean? You can't exactly leave this world." True enough.

Now that Yuta was an executor for the Holy Church, and one with tons of potential at that, he wouldn't exactly just get to go back to a normal life. He had already made enemies by doing stunts like killing Vlov. Well, at least the Holy Church let people retire eventually. That was something.

"It will make sense as I explain it... First of all, there was the time when I accidentally revived Rika as a ghost." That was the first time he even discovered the supernatural was real.

Akiha pouted. "Rika... that's your... curse friend, right?"

Immediately Rika left his shadow. "Wife, actually. And you better learn the pecking order." Wow, as soon as a threat appeared she showed herself! What a scary wife he had!

Akiha didn't seem particularly scared by Rika's sudden appearance, however... "Wife? Are you two legally married?" She was definitely worried about what Rika said.

The curse grinned. "We are spiritually married."

Yuta interjected. "What my cute Rika means by that, is that when we were kids she gave me a ring and I promised to stay together with her forever." He raised his hand, showing it. "It goes without saying that I'm still wearing it."

Akiha let out a sigh of relief. "So it was just two kids playing games. Nothing serious." Typically Yuta followed her mindset over it, but surprisingly...

Now that someone else was saying it, he kinda of wanted to rebuke it.

Rika growled. "Child love is the strongest love!" That sounded super wrong, but whatever.

Yuta laughed. "Every form of love is strong if crafted well." Even stupid ones. "Leaving that aside, the fourth time I was introduced to the supernatural was when I met your brother. It was in a hospital."

He comtinued. "Little nutjob immediately tried attacking Rika, and promptly got slapped away—."

Akiha cut him off, shock in her voice. "Got slapped away!? Was he alright after that!?" Surprisingly yes.

Yuta hadn't put much thought on it, but there was a big chance Shiki would have been turned into goo if Rika had put just a bit more strength into it huh? Especially since back then she used to not even try and control herself.

Rika waved her off. "He was fine, and before you say anything, he started it." Yuta would call that childish, but Shiki had freaky death eyes. A person couldn't be blamed for self-defense in that case.

Yuta nodded. "Yep, he's tough. Probably because he's a big brother." Yuta was slowly learning how to harnass the same amazing energy...! Which was pretty shameful of him, considering he had been a big brother for even longer than Shiki.

He really needed to make sometime for his family... After Roa died. It was cold of him, but this job specifically would have to come before family.

Yuta put a hand to his chin. "And soon after I met him, I met Sensei... Though we eventually cut contact. I would consider that to be my second entry into the supernatural. Now as for the third..."

He looked at a distance. "That was when I met Arcueid. She suddenly attacked Rika and I, but we killed her and then we became friends." Yep, that's when his life started becoming crazy.

Akiha gasped. "Did the tone of your story shift just now!?"

He ignored her. "And the fourth and final time was when I started training with Ciel. There you go, story over." Yuta had dealt with the supernatural like it was a cold pool. Putting just a little bit of himself in it multiple times, and then quickly removing it.

Akiha sighed. "That is certainly... quite the story. Though I suppose any normal person who has entered this world will have a strange tale to tell." Made sense, it was something abnormal.

He grinned. "Ayup. By the way, I plan on... entering the supernatural world a fifth time."

"Um? I was under the impression that your apprenticeship with that executor was permanent?" It certainly was.

But that was not what he was talking about.

Yuta started wriggling his eyebrows.

Akiha immediately began sputtering. "Is there a man more foolish than you to be found in this world!?" Probably not.

Rika too has a comment about the situation. "Perv." Such wise words...

He shrugged. "Yeah, that's me. Though... when did you enter the supernatural, Akiha?"

She looked away. "What a stupid question. I was born in it." Right, but that wasn't exactly what he was asking. She definitely understood that, which meant she was purposefully avoiding the question.

He crossed his arms. "C'mon now. We both know that isn't exactly true... Though I won't blame if you don't wanna talk about it." It wasn't a big deal, so he wouldn't start snooping around as it had become natural to him.

Their walk became silent.

Sort of, Rika was humming along, since nobody was out at such a late time of the night. Yuta didn't know if that made things more or less awkward... Well, he did say she could avoid talking about it.

Eventually however, she relented it. "It was when I was really, really young... No, let's just say it was at two points of my life." Oh, so she had multiple entrances too, huh? "The first was when my father first told me I was a demon."

"It's not like I was born knowing what I was, and... my impulses are very weak, so I never noticed anything strange about myself..." She sighed. "No, even if I had noticed it, I would just assume it was something everyone felt."

She continued. "That's because until that day I truly lived the life of a normal girl, I didn't even know the supernatural existed... When I learned of what I was, I cried. It was a bit pathetic..." Not that it could be helped.

This wasn't the Age of Gods. Little Akiha had grown up thinking anything demonic was immediately bad, because that's just how modern people thought. When she learned of what she was, she therefore thought she herself was bad. She... might have been right, considering the sins of her family.

"But in the end it wasn't too bad. My life didn't change much... though I started having to meet Doctor Arach a lot. I despise that woman." Wow.

Yuta scratched his cheek. "She doesn't seem that bad—. Okay, she's pretty bad, I won't even argue that." She might also be Akiha's natural counter. It was like the two were made to not get along...

Rika interjected. "It's weird that you don't like her. 'Cause you like Yuta, and the two act pretty similar." Oi! Well, he couldn't deny that, even if kind of wanted to.

Akiha waved her off. "They aren't similar at all. Yuta is a lot more charming and honest." Love is blind.

Though it was also probably a case of them having different actions. When Yuta had first met Akiha, he was just Shiki's weird friend. When she met Arach, the doctor had been a woman cruelly dragging her into a world she didn't understand. Even a saint may be hated if one met them in a shitty circumstance, and naturally the same thing applied to the other side of the coin.

Rika nodded. "You passed the test! If you actually agreed that the creepy woman was anything at all like Yuta, you would have been super demoted!" Eh? So she also didn't think the two were similar!?

He wanted to say love was blind again, but he might have been seriously misreading this situation!

Akiha glared at her. "Demotion? I'll have you know that when I succeed and make Yuta solely mine, there will only be one position. The wife. Which naturally shall belong to me."

"Keep dreaming, hothead." Yep, Yuta would rather die than practice monogamy!

He refused to be one of those normies that lived stable and happy lives! He wanted a chaotic and happy life instead! Which really had nothing to do with polygamy, he was just awful at setting boundaries.

Akiha rolled her eyes. "Ugh... Now let's move on to... the second entrance, I suppose." Her skin slowly became paler as she began to talk. It was clear that this second event had affected her much more than the first.

"It was summer. I was... playing outside with my big brothers, Shiki and SHIKI." She was going to talk about the second one!? "It was a bit of a rare thing, father was a worrywart when it came to me, and so I typically stayed inside of the mansion..."

Makihisa being a worrywart huh? The monster had certainly been horrible, but Yuta wouldn't deny that maybe he had cared for his children... the biological ones at least. He clearly hadn't cared for Shiki... or for Kohaku and Hisui.

"At first things went just fine but then... Everything spiraled out of control. Before I knew what was happening, both of my brothers were bleeding on the ground. Both dead." Huh? "I managed to bring Shiki back, but the other one was gone forever."

That didn't sound right. "Didn't SHIKI survive for—."

"He was dead." Ah. She didn't mean literally, did she? "After that, they took SHIKI's cadaver away, and Shiki was disowned. I would take years until I was able to see him again..." So this was when Shiki was sent to the hospital...

Hah, it was a bit sad to realize, that Yuta making some of the most important connections of his life came as a direct consequence of Akiha losing some of hers.

She looked down. "I was also forced into taking the mantle of Tohno heir... Least to say, my days as a little girl were officially over."

He put a hand to his chin. "I see... But wha happe—." He was about to ask exactly what had happened to cause the supposed deaths of both Shiki's but he stopped himself.

That question was way too stupid to ask. It would just bring dark and sad memories. Something which he was already doing, but that would be a new level of scummery.

So instead he apologized. Even if he himself hadn't done anything wrong. "Akiha, I'm sorry you had your choice taken away from you."

"My choice...?"

"Yeah. You may have been born as a demon-blooded, but it's clear... it's clear that didn't mean much. That you had a choice, and people took it from you." Things had gone very differently for Yuta.

He had so many chances to back away from this life that it was kind of incredible. In the end he was the one who chose to pursue Vlov no matter what... And he also had a whole life in the past where he lived as a normal person.

In contrast Akiha... it was like the world had been against her, against Shiki, even against SHIKI for no reason at all. And that definitely applied to Hisui and Kohaku as well.

Ciel had made sure to tell Yuta many times that the world was cruel and unfair, it seemed reality was reminding him of it.

She sighed. "Thank you, but it's alright. I have accepted it." If she said so...

"[B]By the way Hothead, what exactly does it entail being the head of the Tohno anyways?[/B]" That was a good question. Did it perhaps involve tons of combat?

Akiha scowled. "Ugh... So many things, but I supposed the worst part is dealing with the branch families. They are a bunch of leeches with way too much power. I mean, they even used to live in the mansion before I kicked them out!" Ouch...

Making them homeless was a bit muc—. "And it's not like they didn't have mansions just as big as mine! It was always either some form of demented power play, or because they saw living in the Tohno Manor as a symbol of status." Yeah, okay, those guys were total losers.

Rika began crackling. "Hah, that's hilarious! Your family sounds like a riot!" And not the good kind either.

Akiha scowled. "They're not my family, don't even joke about that. It genuinely makes me ill." Yikes. "Being a leech isn't the only thing they do either. Some of them are monsters just as awful as my father... some are worse." That was hard to imagine.

Specifically because it made Yuta want to go find them and punch them in the face. He wouldn't be able to overlook them if they treating people like Kohaku and Hisui had been treated.

She grit her teeth. "They were also completely against my big brother coming back." That... was actually fair.

As painful as it was to admit, Yuta understood their side. Shiki was someone of the Nanaya clan who could very much hold a huge grudge against Akiha. Calling him back to live with her was a pretty risky maneuver to say the least even if it had worked.

"And they also had the gall to set me up with an arranged fiance!" Hah!? "He was Tonami Kugamine, some middle aged man." Oi. He could see the tropes from a mile away. "His family lacks demonic power, but makes it up with economic one..."

"He was a pain in the ass who bothered Hisui, so I broke our engagement as soon as possible." This demon even bothered Hisui!? What was up with those traits!? Did he step out from a different show!?

Really, there was only one thing Yuta could say to all that. "Akiha, if one day you want to destroy all these branch families, call me. Rika and I will turn them into mincemeat." Or something even worse!

His ghost girlfriend did her best Hulk impression. "Rika smash!" That was the spirit! He loved having a girlfriend with psychopathic traits in moments like these!

Finally, a smile appeared on Akiha's face. "A dangerous promise to make for a man not supposed to get involved in the politics of my family." Oh yeah, he had totally forgotten about that.

"It's okay for your future husband, however." And as he had said before, he would always help her anyways.

"Very well then, I might someday make use of this Rika smash." He would look forward to it.



//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////



AN: Ah! An Akiha chapter!