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The scene shifted—now, the two were already downstairs in the first-floor bathroom.
Because it was a residential bathroom, the space naturally felt somewhat cramped compared to the spacious upstairs bedroom.
Steam permeated the air, filling it with misty warmth. In the bathtub filled with comfortably warm water, Asagi Aiba and Bokue Keikain sat snugly, positioned just like before upstairs on the bed.
Bokue held a dampened towel, gently wiping the body of a certain blonde girl who today was practically reduced to a "completely spent kitten."
Perhaps due to the lingering afterglow, or perhaps because the bathwater was too warm, Asagi's cheeks were still tinged faintly pink.
She lightly bit her lower lip and rested her head against the young man's chest, turning her face slightly away and murmuring softly.
"Geez... Now that I've calmed down a little and thought about it, isn't our relationship progressing a bit too fast...?"
Indeed, it was pretty fast. Practically at rocket speed.
Because strictly speaking, just four hours and one minute ago, their relationship had still been stuck in the childhood-friends stage.
In other words, these two, whose memories had been frozen in their innocent childhood friend days, needed only four hours and one minute to instantly leap forward into the "married couple" stage.
They'd done everything they should—and even everything they shouldn't—and now they'd already reached a stage where they could comfortably bathe together in the bathtub.
Bokue just finished gently wiping the girl's porcelain-white shoulder. Hearing her words, he paused slightly.
"What's wrong? Would you prefer if we slow things down?"
"That's... that's not exactly what I meant..." Asagi pouted slightly. "It's just that, well, it feels natural in the moment—but when I think about it afterward, it really does feel incredibly fast. We jumped right to this stage."
Hmm...
Bokue considered this for a moment, then put down the towel and gently patted the girl's shoulder.
"Well, since we're at your house right now anyway, why don't we test the technique I placed on you earlier?"
"Technique...? Oh, right!"
Asagi froze for a second before remembering: She'd originally pestered him upstairs precisely because she'd wanted him to place a location-tracking technique on her. However, they had gotten carried away by what followed after—she'd nearly forgotten the whole thing.
Before she realized it, Bokue had gently pushed her half a meter away toward the other end of the bathtub.
"Close your eyes," Bokue instructed calmly. "Try sensing the connection."
"Okay, I'll give it a try..." Asagi obediently shut her eyes.
[I want to find Bokue.]
The instant that thought appeared in her mind, a sudden sensation of weightlessness overwhelmed her.
Eh?!
The blonde girl gasped softly and opened her eyes—only to be greeted by the bathroom ceiling, shockingly close overhead.
Immediately afterward, she gently fell down, safely landing in Bokue's open arms.
"Good, it worked," he nodded.
"W-wha—what just happened?"
Asagi blinked in confusion. She had no idea what had just occurred. He'd told her to sense it, and she'd barely even started when she found herself inexplicably floating in the air.
"That's the spiritual beacon I placed on you earlier," Bokue explained patiently. "That beacon detects whenever you're thinking 'I want to see Bokue.' Then I can trigger a teleportation spell—either pulling you directly to me, or sending me instantly to your location."
"Oh..."
Asagi listened, still feeling a bit dizzy—but after a moment's thought, she realized something wasn't right.
"Wait a second! Isn't that still leaving all the control with you?! What if I send the signal, but you decide to ignore it—wouldn't it become completely useless?!"
"Actually, normally you'd have control, too. If you became proficient at it, you could even summon me directly to your side," Bokue shrugged innocently. "Unfortunately, though, you don't know Onmyōjutsu. So..."
"Then... then just teach me Onmyōjutsu!" Asagi blurted out, but her voice lacked confidence.
Realistically, her relationship with Bokue, while drastically advanced, hadn't even been officially clarified yet—marrying into the illustrious Keikain family was an even more far-fetched notion.
Moreover, practically everyone familiar with the supernatural world knew the Kyoto-based Keikain Clan never taught outsiders. All practitioners of Keikain Clan's Onmyōjutsu had always been direct descendants, without exception.
Thus, she asked only tentatively.
To her complete surprise, however, Bokue nodded easily.
"Teaching you isn't an issue. Learning Onmyōjutsu requires sensing and controlling your own spiritual energy first. The first step toward controlling spiritual energy is strengthening it—and the simplest way to do that is... erm..."
Bokue abruptly stopped, momentarily at a loss for words. His sudden pause made the girl tilt her head curiously.
"Simplest way is...?"
"You know what? Let's talk about it next time," Bokue quickly amended.
"Eh? Why?" Asagi protested indignantly.
Bokue mentally sighed in resignation.
"Because initially I'll have to guide and support you personally. But today you've already exhausted yourself completely. There's really no point trying it now. Anyway, I'll still be around Itogami Island the next couple of days."
"Then... tomorrow?"
The blonde girl seemed eager to continue.
Bokue briefly considered it mentally before replying:
"Well, as long as nothing unexpected pops up, tomorrow should be fine."
Of course, he'd need to see how well Asagi's body recovered by tomorrow first.
Internally, Bokue added a silent disclaimer.
Just as Kuroka had analyzed previously back home, the quickest and safest way to rapidly strengthen spiritual energy was still through intimacy.
Granted, this method fundamentally relied upon Bokue himself having the world's most extraordinary and enormous spiritual power—but their experiences had clearly confirmed its effectiveness.
A prime example was Kuroka herself. As a Nekomata, even though she was from the elite combat subspecies called Nekoshou, her original potential would never have reached legendary Yōkai levels. At best, even with intense training, she'd merely become a regular high-level Yōkai.
Yet, from the moment she'd met him, Kuroka had practically abandoned all serious training. Even so, her current strength rivaled a legendary Nine-Tailed Kitsune like Yasaka—all that additional power had been literally "infused" by Bokue through continuous "special practices."
By that logic, Bokue reasoned silently, as long as they were slightly more diligent, helping Asagi reach a respectable Great Onmyōji level shouldn't be an impossible task.
Somehow, Bokue suddenly felt a bit like one of those fake "Dual cultivation masters," using shady tricks just to get girls in bed.
At this moment, Asagi's soft voice interrupted his thoughts:
"Since Mom won't come home until later, Bokue, how about staying for dinner?"
"Ah... ordering takeout again?"
"Then do you think I can even manage to go downstairs and cook with my current physical condition?" The blonde pouted slightly, a hint of complaint quickly melting into gentle warmth.
She pushed herself forward gently, pressing her lips softly against his own.
"Don't rush back just yet, okay...? Stay a bit longer with me tonight..."
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