Bride of the Dark God

by Gakuto Mikumo

  She puffed out her chest in a little show of pride. “Yes. That’s why I told Motoki to have him make the recommendation. I figured Yume is a shoo-in for a Demon Mentorship Program scholarship.”

  Kazuma, Motoki Yaze’s older brother, was a genius who’d graduated from a major North American Union university with flying colors. In spite of being midway through his twenties, he’d been assigned a crucial role in the Gigafloat Management Corporation. Asagi was acquainted with Kazuma because Motoki was her childhood friend.

  Itogami Island, a Demon Sanctuary, was replete with government programs to support demons without families to care for them. The Joint Demonic Research Institute scholarship was one such program. As the World’s Mightiest Succubus, Yume, of course, met the qualifications. At the very least, she would surely be able to live a comfortable life so long as she remained on Itogami Island.

  Yaze murmured in a blunt tone, “Well, that’s fine, isn’t it? His motto is to use anything that’s worth using, after all. I’m sure he’ll roll out the red carpet for li’l Yume.”

  His expression seemed peeved somehow, like he really didn’t enjoy being indebted to his biological older brother. Yume had the same look on her face from being addressed by Yaze’s weird nickname. It wasn’t clear to Kojou if they were getting along or not.

  Kojou’s shoulders wearily fell as he looked down at Yume and said, “That so…? Anyway, I’m glad. Now you can stay on Itogami Island on the up-and-up, right?”

  “Yes. So please wait for me, okay?”

  Yume’s eyes glimmered as she looked up at Kojou. The directness and purity of her gaze somehow made Kojou feel overwhelmed.

  “Huh? Wait for…what?”

  “You promised, you know—that you would make me happy for the rest of my life. It is still some five years before I am old enough to marry, but…,” Yume murmured, touching her left hand’s ring finger and fidgeting with a blushing face.

  Asagi was listening to this from right beside them; the words made her face tense.

  “Wai…wait! You’re wrong! I mean, you’re not wrong, but that’s not what I meant when I said…”

  Kojou’s expression turned nervous. To save Yume, who had chosen her own death to seal the soul of Lilith, the Witch of the Night—akin to a curse on her—Kojou had said he would make her happy. But Yume seemed to have taken it in a somewhat different light than Kojou had intended…

  The girl was now lost in her own little world; the words with which Kojou tried to clear up the misunderstanding never reached her ears. Clenching a tiny fist in front of her chest, she stated in a strong tone:

  “I do not intend to remain a child forever, so… I will do my very best!”

  “You don’t need to do your best! Just act normal!”

  Kojou was desperately continuing to try to explain as other students leaving school—ones he didn’t even know—were giving him dirty looks as they passed. Feeling the prickling of their gazes upon his back and hearing their murmurs, Kojou’s pained stomach pleaded for mercy.

  On top of that, Asagi, who surely knew the situation perfectly well, glared at him with half-lidded eyes. “Kojou…does this mean you really do have a thing for little girls…?!”

  “How’d this turn into that?! Don’t go twisting it into something it’s not!”

  Kojou, his eyes unwittingly tearful, shouted at Asagi. Even as a look of relief came over Asagi’s face, she made no move to conceal the suspicious look in her eyes. Watching this, Yaze audibly cleared his throat and stepped between the two.

  “Now, now, this isn’t really the place to talk about it, so how ’bout we go somewhere we can settle down?” he proposed.

  “Ahh, well, I don’t mind, but is that fine for you, Yume? I mean, curfew, or something—”

  “Yes, it is all right. I will go anywhere if it is with Mister Kojou.”

  Speaking those words, Yume snuggled right into Kojou’s side. Watching that, Asagi exhibited an even graver expression.

  Yaze seemed excited as he drew his face close to Kojou’s and said, “Hey, Kojou…she said she’d go with you anywhere. It means anywhere’s good!”

  “Geez! Don’t go reading deep things into stuff on your own like that!”

  “No, I will go! I will do my very best!”

  “I said you don’t need to do that!”

  Looking up at the vast blue sky above him, Kojou muttered to himself, “Gimme a break.”

  At any rate, that is how winter vacation began for Kojou Akatsuki, the Fourth Primogenitor—the World’s Mightiest Vampire.

  2

  Itogami Island was an island of eternal summer floating smack-dab in the Pacific Ocean. Even in so-called winter, the temperatures breached 20 degrees Celsius, and the sun shining down on everyone was still intense. The trees lining the city streets were vibrant and full of leaves, sending thick shadows falling upon the sidewalks.

  It was behind the trunk of one such roadside tree that a suspicious figure was concealing her presence.

  This person wore a middle school uniform and carried a case for a bass guitar on her back.

  Her facial features were as shapely as a doll’s, and her physique looked delicate, but the effortless way she moved made her seem strong and supple as well. She was Yukina Himeragi, Sword Shaman of the Lion King Agency.

  “Oh, good grief… What does that person think he’s doing?”

  Poking only her head out through a gap in the branches, Yukina murmured to herself in visible dismay.

  The object of her gaze was Kojou Akatsuki on his way out of school.

  Pressed right against his flank was Yume Eguchi, dressed in a brand-new school uniform. Asagi Aiba was sticking right behind them as if to keep that girl in check. A short distance away, Motoki Yaze was watching the strained relationship among the three from a safe location. Furthermore, even completely unrelated people leaving school couldn’t help looking on in interest.

  Properly speaking, it was Yukina, Kojou’s observer, who ought to have been at his side. However, with all eyes upon him like this, it was difficult for her to wedge herself in. Thanks to that, Yukina could only watch in irritation.

  “Even if it is Yume, how can he act so lovey-dovey with a little kid—?!”

  Naturally, Yukina’s anger was directed at Kojou. Even when Yume blatantly tried to seduce him, all Yukina’s eyes could see was the Fourth Primogenitor being a doormat for an elementary school girl casually clinging to him.

  Yukina’s grip grew stronger without her realizing it, causing the poor roadside tree’s branches to audibly creak.

  Then, she heard a somewhat pitying voice from behind.

  “Well, I’m here wondering what you think you’re doing, Yukina.”

  The speaker was Nagisa Akatsuki, Kojou’s biological younger sister and Yukina’s classmate. Watching Yukina quietly tail Kojou, she made a pained smile mixed with a sigh.

  “You know, if you have something to say to Kojou and the rest of them, you can just walk up to them and say it.”

  “Y-yeah…but doing it at a time like this would be a little…”

  Yukina made a frail excuse in the face of Nagisa’s exceedingly sound advice.

  Of course, Yume wearing the elementary school uniform of a famous school attracted great attention—but so did Asagi’s extravagant, beautiful appearance. Furthermore, they were both making a show of fighting over Kojou. It was unthinkable that they wouldn’t stand out. If Yukina inserted herself into that, it would inevitably court even greater chaos.

  As the watcher of the Fourth Primogenitor, Yukina had to strenuously avoid such behavior.

  All the same, she thought it would be dangerous to simply abandon Kojou to Yume’s seductions.

  With amusement, Nagisa observed Yukina, who was stricken with the mental anguish over her current dilemma, and said, “Well, I’m fine with it, really. Plus, it’s fun watching you like this, Yukina.”

  “Er… Ah, I’m sorry. This is a little…”

  Yukina meekl
y lowered her head to Nagisa, who’d ended up tagging along with her surveillance. However, Nagisa shook her head with a carefree smile on her face.

  “It’s totally fine. More importantly, look! It seems as if Kojou and the others are going into Murakumo! I really like the chocolate they make with brown sugar over there. But we’ll be totally busted if we go into the same store, huh. Hey, instead of that, let’s at least buy something to drink at a corner store. What do you want, Yukina? A sports drink? Soda? Fruit juice?”

  “Er… Then, ah, some kind of iced tea—”

  “Okay, leave it to me!”

  Still keeping her body posture low, Nagisa broke into a run to the nearest convenience store. Yukina made a weak, strained smile as she watched Nagisa go. She’d intended to become more accustomed to Nagisa’s wordiness of late, but she still found herself suddenly overwhelmed.

  For their part, Kojou and the others entered the park-side café just as Nagisa had predicted. Yukina hid behind the park’s YOU ARE HERE sign and continued monitoring Kojou and the others when…

  “Ah… Excuse me, you over there—miss schoolgirl?”

  “Eh?”

  Yukina, suddenly hearing a voice from behind, immediately turned around. Standing there was a tall, middle-aged man in a casual-looking, worn-out shirt.

  His posture was rather good for his age, and his physique was honed with no hint of excess fat. However, his chin was covered with thin stubble, and an air of listlessness hovered all around him. The man was carefree, with no coercive presence whatsoever.

  But that very observation threw Yukina off. The distance between them didn’t even amount to three meters—close combat range, which was Yukina’s specialty. The man had stepped inside that space without Yukina sensing his presence.

  “Is this seat taken?” he asked, pointing at the flat bench next to the sign. He seemed to be asking out of consideration for Yukina before sitting down and taking a breather.

  “Ah, no. Help yourself.”

  With those words, Yukina offered the bench to the man. His lack of an aura threw her off, but she could sense no hostile intent from the man. If anything, Yukina’s sneaking around was the more suspicious action between them.

  “Thanks. Ahh, that’s a big help. It’s tough wanderin’ around in this crappy heat when you get to be my age…”

  The man settled down on the bench, flicking up the rim of the old-fashioned fedora hat he wore. Yukina felt an odd sense of déjà vu when she saw his now-exposed face. He should have been a simple passerby, but she didn’t think this was their first meeting. He greatly resembled someone Yukina knew.

  “So you’re not sitting down, miss schoolgirl?” he asked without any amount of tension—a complete contrast to Yukina’s bewilderment.

  “Correct,” said Yukina, nodding with a stiff expression. “I am all right. Please pay no heed.”

  “Hmm. Incidentally, that case…the one on your back. What’s in it?”

  The man casually rested his chin on a hand as he asked another question. Thanks to his casual manner of speech, Yukina couldn’t find the right moment to brush the question away.

  Yukina awkwardly shifted a hand to the gig bag on her back and said, “Th-this is a musical instrument. Er…what they call a bass guitar.”

  “Heh…bass, huh? Do you like music, miss schoolgirl? What genre?”

  The man bit on the topic with unexpected fervor.

  Yukina felt a cold sweat on her back. Naturally, it was not a bass guitar or the like in the case on her back. In truth, it was the Lion King Agency’s Schneewaltzer—a purging spear, dubbed Snowdrift Wolf.

  “E-er… I, ah, haven’t really kept up with musical trends of late…”

  That was all Yukina could manage to say as she tried to somehow conceal her inner nervousness.

  The man laughed in delight, smiling as he said, “Nice answer there. I suppose the youngins are into punk these days, huh?”

  Even as Yukina wondered what puncture had to do with music, she made an appropriate sound and nod of agreement. The man in the fedora hat nodded twice, crossing his arms in apparent satisfaction.

  “Ahh, good stuff,” he said. “I was really into music when I was your age, going to live concerts and all that. Don’t mind me. It just distracted me for a moment.”

  “Is that so? Have you…come to enjoy…punk?”

  Yukina asked a question to prevent the man from prying into the object in her case any further. Though she would have liked to flee without a moment to lose, she couldn’t leave that place until Nagisa returned from her trip to the convenience store. Until then, she had no choice but to somehow put up with the middle-aged man’s chummy ways.

  Whether he knew what Yukina was up to or not, the man fondly narrowed his eyes and said, “Ahh, I’m into those underground idols. Like, the Gristle Fairy Hoods or Aromatic Megaterium. Do you know them? Maybe you don’t.”

  “I—I am sorry.”

  Yukina apologized for no clear reason. Internally, she was seriously conflicted about whether these were really the names of idol groups.

  Taking advantage of the momentary lapse in Yukina’s thoughts, the man slipped in a question.

  “Incidentally, miss schoolgirl—what’s your relationship to Kojou Akatsuki?”

  “Eh?!”

  Yukina let out a little voice. Oh no, she thought, but it was too late. There was no longer any way to gloss things over. The man clearly knew she was monitoring Kojou.

  “Wh-why do you know Akatsuki-senpai’s name…?!” Yukina exclaimed, her voice going shrill.

  A leering smile came over the man, playing innocent as he said, “Well, I mean, you’ve been glaring at Kojou with an incredible look all this time, miss schoolgirl. I thought maybe it was envy…or rather, jealousy. Am I right?”

  “You are not!”

  Yukina glared at the man, confused as to why he’d go out of his way to “correct” himself like that.

  “I—I am simply observing Akatsuki-senpai. It is not j-jealousy or anything of the sort!”

  “Observing? Observing, you say. In other words, stalking the object of your unrequited love?” He chuckled to himself in apparent admiration.

  Yukina momentarily froze at his unexpected reaction before blurting out, “E-excuse me?!”

  “‘Observing,’ so nice. Ahh, the springtime of youth. Ack, it’s so innocent, so…bittersweeeet!”

  “H-how did the conversation come to this?! More importantly, who are you…?!”

  Yukina, her face red to her ears, pressed the man for answers. That was when she sensed someone standing right behind them.

  “G-Gajou?!”

  Nagisa was carrying PET bottles when she looked at the middle-aged man in the fedora hat—her eyes going wide. It was the sort of expression players made when encountering a super-rare monster in an online video game.

  “Ga…jou?” Yukina gasped at her friend’s murmur. She finally had confirmation on the man’s identity.

  “Oh, Nagisa! How you been?”

  The man in the fedora hat rose to his feet with a grandiose spread of his arms as he beamed at her, smiling. The sudden transformation left Yukina shocked that human beings were capable of such love-struck expressions.

  “You’re as adorable as ever! You’d think you’re some kind of goddess! Ahh, I saw you run off to the convenience store, so I thought I’d introduce myself to miss schoolgirl here while I was waiting around.”

  “Ah, so that’s it… Incidentally, what are you doing here, Gajou? When did you get back to Japan? What about work? Have you met Mimori yet? What’d you talk to Yukina about?”

  Nagisa casually parried the man’s exaggerated flattery like she was accustomed to it. For some reason, Nagisa’s rapid-fire questions made him proudly raise his chin as he answered:

  “I basically just arrived on Itogami Island. I went on a ruins excavation in the Caribbean, but a civil war suddenly broke out, y’see. Ha-ha, that was a pain. I went to see Mimori at work, but she said I
was in the way and kicked me out, and since then, I’ve been talking to miss schoolgirl here about romance.”

  “Talking about romance?!” Nagisa stared at Yukina with a starry look in her eyes and said, “No fair.”

  Yukina desperately shook her head as she retorted, “W-we did not…!”

  “Ah, that’s right. I haven’t introduced myself yet, have I…? Oh?”

  Then the man, the architect of that false accusation, suddenly raised a hand for reasons only apparent to him.

  He was staring at a chair on the terrace of the park-side café. There, being seated after ordering, were Kojou and the others with him. Yukina was nervous about the group realizing she’d tailed them, but the man waved to them right out in the open and said:

  “Hey, Kojou. Over here!”

  “Geh, Dad…?! What are you doing here, you old geezer?!”

  Kojou, noticing the man’s presence, spat the insult as an involuntary reflex.

  Hearing Kojou’s words, Yukina was dumbfounded as she compared the faces of the pair.

  It was Kojou Akatsuki, none other than the target Yukina watched over, whom the middle-aged man in the fedora hat greatly resembled—not only in their faces but in their gestures and the listless air about them.

  “Y-you are…Akatsuki-senpai’s…father…?” Yukina’s voice conveyed some doubts.

  Now she could understand the reason for Nagisa’s surprise. They didn’t know why they were encountering such an individual at this time.

  Then, the man gazed at the petrified Yukina with apparent amusement as he made an impetuous smile, his intonation somehow seeming suspicious as he said:

  “Gajou Akatsuki. Kojou and Nagisa’s father. Nice to meet ya!”

  3

  “My, my, to think you’d lay a hand even on a little girl just because you can’t land a woman—”

  Lying on the living room sofa, Gajou Akatsuki shook his shoulders as he laughed.

  They were in the Akatsuki family’s own apartment. It had actually been a year and several months since Gajou had last returned. Thanks to that, the atmosphere in the room seemed to revolve around him alone.