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Ichigo sat on his couch, one leg over the other, as he casually flipped through the channels, mindlessly searching for something to kill the next few hours. Everyone in his life was currently busy with one thing or another, as such, he was oddly left alone. A very rare thing these days.
But said solace was abruptly broken when a red haired young man came crashing through his living room with a desperate look on his face.
"Nii-sama! I need life guidance!"
Ichigo gave the teenager a flat look before slowly turning back towards the TV. "Hello to you too, Millicas. I'm fine, thanks for asking."
The young Devil all but danced in spot. "Nii-sama, now is not the time for your caustic wit! I have a serious crisis on my hands!"
Ichigo let out a tired sigh. "What is it now?" he asked with resignation.
"I've finally received my own Evil Pieces set!"
"Congrats," Ichigo said dryly. "Though I fail to see the issue."
"Well...," and it was the way Millicas went red that gave Ichigo a solid grasp of what was running through his young friend's foolish mind. "I was thinking... do you think Kunou would accept if I offered her my Queen piece?"
Ichigo fixed the boy with the sternest glare he could muster, causing Millicas to go pale and let out an unmanly squeak. "She's eighteen. You're not offering her jack-shit, buddy."
"But-but-"
"Besides, I tried that with her mom. Didn't work for her, won't work for her daughter either."
Millicas deflated but then said, "I-I know that! But-but I was hoping she'd accept the piece.... symbolically, at least. Like Her Highness did with you."
Ichigo rolled his eyes, if anything, Kunou would refuse with a smile and encourage Millicas to find someone else while patting him on the back. "Seriously, just confess to her already."
"Devils and confession don't exactly go hand in hand!" He exclaimed.
"You know what else isn't hand in hand? You and Kunou."
"Gah!"
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After Kunou waved goodbye as her onii-san dropped her off at high school, she calmly turned around and walked past the school gates with her bookbag in her arms. It was a cool autumn day, with the wind blowing gently and the sun shining bright and warm. Honestly, it was her favorite time of the year. Not to mention, the Moon Viewing Festival was coming up; she culdn't wait for another family outing with her parents! Eating cakes while boating down the Kumogawa river was the best!
She also didn't mind the throngs of worshippers praying for her and her mother's favor, hehe!
But Kunou was broken from her thoughts as she was quickly surrounded by a gaggle of teenage girls, her classmates and friends. All of whom were letting out high-pitched squeals and 'kyas', much to her confusion and shock.
"Kurosaki-san! Who was that?!"
Eh? Kunou blinked confused, who was who?
One of her good friends, Hana reached out and grabbed her hand and looked at her earnestly. "Kunou-chan! Did you go and get yourself a boyfriend?"
Huuuuh? What boyfriend!?
"He was driving a car! Are you dating an older man?"
"No wonder Kunou-chan turns down all the guys in our school, she prefers older boys!"
"He was so handsome! How did you meet!?"
"What about Millicas-kun?"
Feeling slightly overwhelmed and pressured, she took a nervous step back. Also, what the hell did Millicas have to do with anything? But wait... were they talking about...?
"That's not my boyfriend!" She said indignantly. "That's my dad!"
There was a collective hush of silence and all the teenage girls began looking at each other in question as they whispered.
But then Hana tugged on her sleeve and gave her a strange look. "... can I be your step-mom?"
Ehhhh!? This bitch!
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As Yasaka watched her daughter bound through the halls, she resisted the urge to let out a long suffering sigh. But no, she had to keep her imperial and holy dignity before her servants. Which was more than could be said of her sixteen year old girl coming to a screeching halt on her heels as she enthusiastically greeted her husband.
"Onii-san! You're back!" She exclaimed as she wrapped both of her arms around his elbow and leaned up to peck him on the cheek.
"Hey there, kiddo," her husband said with a fond smile.
"Kunou," Yasaka said with a heavy frown. "How many times do I have to tell you? Call him father."
Her daughter merely rolled her eyes - honestly, the sheer audacity of this girl - and then said with pure cheek, "Seriously, Okaa-sama? Are we doing this again? I can him onii-san, you say don't, I bring up the fact that I'm closer in age to him than you are, you get upset, we both try and get him to take our side, and then he says some placating, stupid stuff that makes us both mad. Can't we just skip all that?" This! Little! Vixen!
The corner of her right eye began to twitch violently even as Ichigo's mouth fell slightly open.
"...I don't say stupid stuff," he mumbled.
"Yes, you do." They both said reflexively.
Veering the topic of conversation away from himself, Ichigo cleared his throat and quickly asked, "Anyways, where you running off to?"
Kunou blinked before saying animatedly, "Oh, I need to clean my room before Millicas gets here! Like, we're going to be studying for our calc exam and I can't let someone see all my clothes thrown all over the floor!"
Again, she resisted the urge to sigh. And what were the maids doing to let her daughter's room to get in such a state?
"Kunou," Yasaka began severely. "You can't bring a boy into your room. It's not proper."
"What?" Kunous made an incredulous face. "Okaa-sama, please, it's just Millicas. He's not like that!"
"He's a Devil," she said pointedly. "Of course he is."
"So is onii-san! Well, Demon, but same thing!"
Yasaka raised a challeneging brow and said, "And I can assure you that your father is just as lecherous as the rest of-"
"Eww! Okaa-sama!" Kunou put both hands over her ears and began shaking her head. "See no evil! Hear no evil! Heaven preserve us!"
The tips of her tails began to twitch as Yasaka mustered every iota of patience she had. Amaterasu help her, Kunou would end up putting her into an early grave.
"Regardless," Yasaka said through gritted teeth, "I will not allow you to bring a boy into your bedroom!"
Kunou petulantly stomped her foot. "I told you, he's not like that!" "Young lady," Yasaka said, her eyes narrowing as her temper began to show, "as lenient as I am in allowing you your freedoms, and - irregardless of what is expected of one of your elevated station - it is unnacceptable for a teenage girl to bring a boy into her room!" Kunou let out a groan. "No! When I say 'Millicas is not like that' I mean that he's gay!"
And all of Kyoto heard the Crown Prince of Wrath's roarious laughter.
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A/N: Over the years, I've written a lot of random snippits and DMAW lore stuff in Discord, but after learning that Discord is banned in some countries, I've been trying to track down and put them on Patreon for everyone to access.
A lot of the more popular stuff happens to be anything written with Kunou and Millicas. It's always been my intention, that once DMAW finishes, I write a short (my version of short, I can hear you laughing Mand) epilogue with Kunou as the protagonist.
Anyways, hope you're having a lovely week, and I'll see Patreons tomorrow for chapter 84!