Jun opened his eyes in the morning, lying on his bed, feeling the Soul Force move inside his body. He raised his palm, feeling the energy swirl around his upper arm, moving towards his palm before he closed his eyes.
He appeared in the void the next instant, divided into four cracked sides, balanced in between. In between all that was the power that made him worry. If he wanted to keep it sealed in, he needed to strengthen the four sides. He couldn’t even access their basic abilities, but he knew how to reach them instinctually.
He needed a bridge, a connection, to draw out their power through something, and in this case, the best solution was demon spirit. But it would depend on the quality of the demon spirit to draw out a certain amount of power from this.
He opened his eyes, only to hear a knock, “Jun, get up. We will be late for school.”
“I am awake,” Jun rubbed his eyes, dull because he didn’t sleep last night. He got up, walking directly towards the bathroom, seeing if the door was locked or not.
Forever, Miyuki had a crush on Tatsuya Nii-san, and so she was worried even as a kid that he might walk into her while she was in a bath. She felt she would die if something like that happened, so she made sure he was the one sharing the bathroom with her. But it never happened since she never forgot to lock the door.
Well, never, until now since Jun found himself face to face with Miyuki, holding a pillow in front of her body, barely hiding her wet, dripping skin from his sight. She let him take in the sight before she got angry, “Close the door! What are you doing!”
“Right, sorry!” Jun closed the door, shocked to the core, and there was little that could shock him this much. He closed his eyes, wondering what this could mean, but that thought didn’t stay in his head for long.
He let out a breath, calming himself down, soon managing his emotions well.
He sat on the bed, waiting for a while until he was sure was no one on the other side. He freshened up and got ready before walking out with Tatsuya and Miyuki.
“Today, she plans on teaching us Inscriptions, right?”
“Yes, are you interested in that?”
“No, I am more interested in Alchemy, for that matter.”
“Please, the only reason you have interest in Alchemy is because of Teacher Yang Xin.”
“You don’t know that,” Jun protested, denying the charges Miyuki threw at him.
“Oh, but I do know that,” Miyuki rolled her eyes at him, “I bet the only reason you chose to stay in the class was that she was the teacher. Or you wouldn’t be sitting on the front seat.”
Jun put his finger in his ear, scratching it, “Wow, I must have been cultivating hard last night. My ears are blocked. I can hear anything.”
Miyuki puffed her cheek, taking a few steps forwards before slamming down her foot on him, using a bit of soul force to get through his thick skin.
But surprisingly, it wasn’t enough to even hurt him, so she put more strength in her soles, using more of her soul force.
“Ouuu!! That hurts!!”
“Hmph,” Miyuki scoffed, taking Tatsuya’s hand as she pulled him, weaving through the busy streets while they stopped and looked at Jun, watching him jump on one foot.
Tatsuya looked over his shoulder, smiling, “Miyuki….”
“Onii-sama…” Miyuki hugged his arm, looking down in shame. She was so sure that Tatsuya would say something to her; after all, with his sight, he would have known what she did in the morning, and yet, he said nothing. She tightly held onto him, wondering if that was what he would talk about, but he said something else entirely, “How much strength did you use?”
“Mm?” Miyuki raised her head in confusion, “About Third Bronze Rank …?”
Even while she repeated it, she realized what she was saying, making her look at the boy who was still jumping.
“When did he reach the Second Bronze Rank?”
Tatsuya used his Elemental Sight on Jun, but his Dantian was still a mystery to him. He couldn’t see that far, and this is the first time this ever happened, be it on Jun or anyone else, “Hm. You might need to stop lazing around, or he might get stronger.”
“Never!” Miyuki’s eyes were filled with blazing fire, “No way Jun is ever getting stronger than me!”
“Really? You should call me Jun Onii-sama,” Jun put his arm around her before she noticed, pulling her cheek.
“You!” Miyuki tried to slap his hand away, but he pulled it, hastily walking away, grinning as he waved his hand, “I’ll see you in the class.”
Miyuki caressed her cheek, puffing her lips as she glared at his back.
“I am jealous….”
“What? No, Onii-sama!” Miyuki waved her hand, panicking, but Tatsuya patted her head, smiling, “He manages to bring a side of your that you always hide from me. I must say…I am jealous.”
“Onii-sama…” Miyuki blushed, clutching onto his sleeves, “That’s…not true....”
Tatsuya just smiled without saying anything, walking with her until they reached the Holy Orchid Institute. Since they were still early, they weren’t expecting anyone to be in the classroom, but there was one other than Jun when they entered.
Huyan Lanruo was standing behind him, pulling him back, cupping his cheeks, planting a kiss. She softly kissed him, enjoying the taste of his lips, seemingly bewitched.
Miyuki cleared her throat, reminding them that they were here, and Huyan Lanruo hastily pulled back. Her face turned red, but she kept up her act, “Miyuki, Tatsuya…we were just…kissing…since we are together….”
“We are?” Jun raised his eyebrows, only to tick Huyan Lanruo off, who glared at him.
“I guess we are,” Jun shrugged, and Huyan Lanruo bowed towards the other two before she took her to leave.
“I’ll be right back.”
Tatsuya nodded to her, walking on his side to take his seat, but Miyuki sat down, pursing her lips, forcing him to sit in between, “How long has this been going?”
“For a week, maybe two?”
“Huyan Xiong is Father’s childhood friend and a strong supporter of the Snow Wind Family, and Huyan Lanruo is his only daughter, so she has been pampered the most. But still, as the daughter of the prestigious family, she has responsibilities.”
“Wow, are you trying to say that I am not exactly the ideal mate? That’s hurtful.”
“I am just telling you that you might need to perform if you want to keep her. I don’t want you to feel insulted. Moreover, you have to…think, what if she’s with you just because….”
“Oh, don’t worry. She’s not like that.”
“How would you even know you are head over heels for her,” Miyuki leaned forward, finally speaking to him.
“That’s the thing,” Jun let out a smile, looking outside the door, “I am not head over heels for her. I would be worried if I was…since I have a thing for ones who are bad for me.”
Miyuki parted her lips, seeing the look in his eyes, nervously looking away.
Tatsuya, sitting between them, noticed their expression before letting out a smile, narrowing his eyes, “Then just tell me when you do fall head over heels for a girl.”
Their shoulders twitched, and Tatsuya stopped the smile that was coming onto his lips, waiting for others to come, and it didn’t take long for the whole classroom to fill up.
Today, it was mostly about Inscriptions, something he was interested in, and then in a few days, she taught them a bit about Alchemy.
For most days, they kept to themselves, there wasn’t much, but still, they made a few friends.
Chen Linjian, Hong Mey, and Huyan Lanruo spent most of their time together, but recently, there had been one that caused the problems to appear.
“Really? Do you see Shen Xiu with Jun? Are you sure you saw Jun and Shen Xiu?” Miyuki asked in wonder from Hong Mey.
“Right, they were sneaking around, but I caught the sight of their back,” Hong Mey shot Lanruo a look, “What is going on with you two? Did he finally see your true face under all that makeup?”
“I don’t put on make-up! And that’s not it! He’s…” Huyan Lanruo looked away, sitting on the ground of Holy Orchid Institute, having lunch under the tree with others.
“Aren’t you going to say anything to him?” Chen Linjian asked Tatsuya, “After all, Sacred Family doesn’t have the best reputation.”
“He doesn’t exactly listen to me. Is he rebelling? I think? Tatsuya ate the food that Miyuki made, looking at her sour face with a soft smile, “But then again. I think it is not Jun that has been charmed.”
A few miles from Holy Orchid Institute,
Jun sat in a shop that sold Demon Spirits, turning the pages, “So, this is Firefox, and they only come out in summer, then are there any Winter Fox too?”
“I am surprised you guessed, but yes, there are,” Shen Xiu explained to him, which was very uncharacteristic of her.
Usually, she was haughty since that is what her family taught her to be, but Jun didn’t buy that set. Moreover, his voice was so velvety and looked so pretty that it didn’t take long for her to take a liking.
Although when he asked her out, the last thing she was expecting was for him to ask her to teach him more about the Demon Spirits. However, it didn’t matter since she could lean on him and take a few whiffs of his fantastic scent.
“Fox would look pretty good on you…you’d have fox ears and tail,” Jun ran his eyes over her, staying at her head, imagining fox ears on her.
Shen Xiu glanced down to his lips, turning her eyes towards the fox spirit on the pages, “I am…just one step away from the Silver Rank….”
“I know,” Jun looked towards her, into her eyes, turning his gaze to her red lips. Shen Xiu’s case was different since Sacred Family made her wait rather than study three-four years back with children of her age. They sent her into the classes with the children of City Lord.
At first, it was humiliating, and she was too proud to even say anything, but at the end of the day, something nice came out of it. She was to use her womanly charms to make one of the two boys fall in love with her, to wrap around her finger, but something went wrong with the plan, she could tell.
His lips were about to brush against hers, but she knowingly pulled away, “Now then. Let’s see what they have on the next page?”
“Right,” Shen Xiu let out a breath, leaning forward on him, gazing at the spirits on the next page, but her mind was nearly blank, entirely thinking of something else.
Jun traced the demon spirits on the page, wondering which one of them would be the best. But since he knew nothing about them, maybe counting on Fate was for the best.
But none of the Demon Spirits here was enough to make him feel anything; he did not make his heart tremble or let his soul feel. He relied on instinct, but even he knew none of these were genuinely worthy.
“Perfection…”
“What?” Shen Xiu couldn’t figure out what he meant by that word.
“It’s too much to ask for. You can never be perfect when making the first move when taking the first step, and thinking that you can perfect it…that is what gets you killed,” Jun turned the page back, choosing the section for himself, “I want, all the fox spirits.”
“All of them?” Shen Xiu asked in surprise, and the man standing outside the door, hearing their talk, nearly jumped in, “Really? Will you buy it all? Can you? I mean, it’s all very costly!”
“Ah, no worries,” Jun put his palm on his neck, taking out the ring hanging on the chain, putting a bit of Soul Force in, taking out golden cards for him, “My mother dotes on me.”
“Hehehe,” The merchant laughed, “Yes, please let me prepare it for you.”
“No, need. I will keep it,” He put the spirits in his interspatial ring, leaving the money on the table, “Thank you.”
The two of them returned to the class by the next half; Shen Xiu returned to her seat while he sat down in his usual place as if nothing had happened. Miyuki was more curious about what was going on than Huyan Lanruo, which everyone found strange, and something Tatsuya didn’t want to let go of.
When they were kids, he once tried using Elemental Sight to find where Jun was. As a result, Jun noticed it right away. That day, even as a kid, he couldn’t help but a circle. He was buzzing with the feeling that someone was watching him.
He tried again when Jun grew up a little, and this time he even managed to figure out there was a sight, and it barely took him time to figure out where it came from.
“I want to see what is going on with you and her.”
“I didn’t know you had the hobby of watching,” Jun shot a look at him, mysteriously happy about something, “Which one?”
“Who you which.”
Jun thought, chuckling, “It’s not what you think, sure.”
Tatsuya lightly said, “That’s why I said. I want to see.”
“Not like I could stop you.”
And so, once the classes were over, Huyan Lanruo stood up, pulling Jun over, “I’ll return him in a while.”
She took him to the free classroom, taking him in before shutting the room, “Can you not roam around with Shen Xiu when others think you are my boyfriend?”
Jun sat up on the table, facing her, “Does it even matter?”
“It’s a matter of my reputation!”
“Like you ever cared about that,” He separated his legs, waiting for her to reach closer to him. She stood near him, cupping his cheeks.
“Please?”
“I’ll think about it if you ever succeed.”
“Fine!” A sakura petal reflected in her eye, peering into his, trying to charm him. She tried this out the first time, but it didn’t work, and she thought she wasn’t enough. But it worked on everyone else, and that didn’t help her.
It was only when it was too much for her that she was rejected, that her power increased, and so did her charm.
“Your charm is fake, so fake,” Jun cupped her cheek, “It makes you look like you aren’t beautiful, but you are using too much makeup to look beautiful. The charm is not just the surface; it’s not just in the eyes; it’s everything about you. The way you carry yourself, the way you act, the way to speak, the way you dress, and above all, your intelligence.”
“That’s not me,” Huyan Lanruo slumped forward, keeping her hands on the table.
“I know, but you are charming enough on your own,” Jun raised his palm, grabbing her breast, squeezing it, “You have these, let alone that ass of yours. With your age, you will develop even more.”
“Don’t touch them!” Lanruo slapped his hand away, covering her breasts, taking a step back.
Jun chuckled, pulling her close again, running his fingers through her hair, “Do you know your problem?”
“What?” Huyan Lanruo looked up, her lips close to him, “Tell me…?”
“You believe you even need those eyes, that spirit to make people fall for your charm….”
He jumped off the table, pushing her against the wall, caressing her shoulder, “You know, you wear this revealing dress? Your shoulder, your cleavage, it’s good if you want to tempt someone, but more than that, it’s this.”
Huyan Lanruo felt her breath stop, feeling his thumb on her waist, stroking the folds above her sash, close to her core, “This, right here. From the front, this is what will bring the eyes of others, and if you turn around.”
“Ahh~” Huyan moaned when he turned her over by force, cupping her ass, “Now, when you walk away, showing this, shaking it. That is what’s going to bring the attention you desire.”
Huyan clenched her teeth, breathing heavily through her nose as he ran his hand over her ass, his other hand holding her head in place as he whispered in her ear, “Now, there are different types of charms; there is the elegant charm of Miyuki, then there is the sexy and dominating charm of Shen Xiu. Now, that leaves you. What kind of charm do you think you have?”
Huyan Lanruo bit her lip when he pulled away, finally letting her breathe, “But if you still want to do this the hard way, then try again.”
“Fine!”
Yotsuba House,
Tatsuya let out a soft chuckle, sitting on the sofa of their house, gently exchanging a kiss with Miyuki.
“What is it?”
“Nothing. I was just wondering, who is seducing who here.”
“Wait, Lanruo is seducing Jun?”
Tatsuya raised his eyebrows, “Why can’t it be the other way around?”
“What? Jun seducing a girl? I don’t think he even has an interest in them.”
Tatsuya gently tasted her lips, making Miyuki breathe in, “You know firsthand…that’s not true….”
Miyuki lowered her eyes, hesitating, “Onii-sama…that’s…it’s not like you think…I don’t know what’s going on….”
“I know…it’s not your fault…something is wrong with the world…so I don’t blame you.”
He leaned in, cupping her cheek, whispering, “In fact. I don’t mind…I think…you are not aggressive enough….”
“What…? What?!”