I Sealed Sukuna’s Finger#449+450: Mother's Love Gone Wrong, Claiming the Mother Fox Sisters

Cough!

Completely unprepared, Sukuna—pierced through the chest by Brynhildr—violently coughed up a massive mouthful of blood.

Forget Sukuna himself—even Megumi and Nobara watching from the sidelines hadn't expected Bokue to suddenly pull something like this. They couldn't help standing up from the table in shock.

Even Gojo Satoru's mouth fell open slightly, his sunglasses sliding down to reveal his azure Six Eyes beneath.

"What... what are you doing?!"

At this point, even Megumi couldn't maintain his composure, demanding loudly.

"Don't forget that's Yuji's body! If you do this, then Yuji will also..."

"Wouldn't that be perfect?"

Bokue glanced at him sideways.

"At the end of the day, wasn't this your Jujutsu Association's original plan anyway? Have Yuji Itadori consume all the fingers, then eliminate him along with Sukuna. I just accelerated the process a bit... Alright, just kidding."

Seeing his joke had gone a bit too far in scaring them, Bokue shrugged.

"Relax. I know what I'm doing. Your beloved jock won't die."

"Huh?"

Though completely unable to understand why the other party could still say "won't die" in this situation, those three words did genuinely calm Megumi down somewhat.

While they hadn't interacted much, he could tell the guy wasn't that crazy.

Could there really be some method...?

Just as Megumi reached this thought, Bokue's voice came again.

"Remember how I promised you all I'd eliminate all of Sukuna's fingers? Now's when I deliver results. Oh, and remember to have the Jujutsu Association transfer payment after you get back. Hmm... deposit it in Yura's bank account. Don't put it in the Keikain family's main account—this has nothing to do with them."

With that, he prepared to pull the demon sword from Sukuna's body.

But just then—

"Why... did... you..."

Even with his soul completely torn apart by the demon sword and death imminent, Sukuna still struggled bit by bit to turn his head, letting out the dying man's final words.

Bokue looked down at him.

"Why? Because I don't like you, okay? Seriously, so much pointless chatter..."

With that, he gave a light shake and pulled out the blade. The instant the sword tip left his body, the wound healed over, even restoring the ruined clothes completely.

Sukuna collapsed, then closed his eyes forever.

After about four or five seconds, Yuji Itadori slowly opened his eyes. Both pupils reflected the azure sky and golden blazing sun high above.

He instinctively raised one hand to block the sunlight.

"Huh? How'd we swap back? What's the situation now? Is it over?"

"Not quite, but almost."

Bokue glanced toward Abe no Seimei slowly descending from the sky back to the ground in the distance.

"Oh, and incidentally, I also sent off that neighbor inside you. From now on, you can do whatever you want."

"Oh... eh?!"

Taking a full second to process before snapping back to awareness, Yuji scrambled up from the ground with his mouth hanging open in shock, pointing at himself.

"You're saying Sukuna's already dead?"

"That's the situation."

Bokue waved his hand in a shooing motion.

"Alright, go do whatever. You can reunite with your teacher and classmates now."

"Oh, okay..."

Though he couldn't shake the weird feeling from how Bokue phrased that, Yuji didn't overthink it. He turned and walked toward Gojo and the others.

Bokue withdrew his gaze, turning it toward Abe no Seimei—who'd been kneeling on one knee in a submissive posture before him ever since landing.

As the Dark Lord from a thousand years ago, Abe no Seimei wasn't just empty pride and arrogance. He'd also learned how to play along and be diplomatic during his youth before reaching his peak.

So Abe no Seimei understood clearly that he was to Bokue what Sukuna was to him—possibly with an even greater gap, one so large he couldn't even imagine it in his current state.

As they say, a wise man knows when to bow his head. Kneeling before someone countless times stronger wasn't shameful in Abe no Seimei's view.

Hmph~

Bokue raised an eyebrow.

Hand up, blade down.

BANG!

The six-pointed star barrier that lit up didn't even last a blink before shattering before the demon sword Brynhildr. The falling soul-cutting slash sliced through like a hot knife through butter, cleanly splitting the founder of Onmyōji before him in two.

In an instant, flesh tore and blood gushed. Abe no Seimei didn't even have time to change his expression before toppling backward.

He opened his mouth as if trying to say something.

"Don't bother asking. Let's just say I don't like you either."

Bokue casually flicked his blade to shake off the blood.

"You put Hagoromo-Gitsune in chains, causing my Yasaka a thousand years of heartache. So I'll give you one slash to completely obliterate your soul, never to reincarnate."

"...So it was her."

A flash of realization crossed Abe no Seimei's gradually fading eyes.

"One more question... I exhausted the way of Onmyōdō, reached the pinnacle of both humans and demons, yet why can you..."

"If hard work was all that mattered, what would be the point of talent?"

Not bothering to look at this dying man whose soul was about to scatter, Bokue waved dismissively, left that line, then turned and walked away directly.

At the same time, the last remaining base in the sky began gradually collapsing.

❁❁❁❁

One minute later, inside the bustling tea house in downtown Kyoto—

"Alright, brought you all back. Do whatever you need to do next. I've got other business, so I'm heading out."

Waving to Gojo and the others—who'd been teleported back along with people, table, chairs, teapot, cups, and tray—Bokue vanished into thin air once more.

This time, when he reappeared, he'd arrived at the entrance to Yasaka Shrine.

Yasaka and the others should already be back...

With that thought, Bokue climbed the steps and pushed open the door.

Just like when he'd arrived earlier, when he pushed open the shrine's main door, a certain blonde beauty inside was already waiting for him in advance. Seeing the young man finally arrive, she couldn't help showing that familiar gentle smile.

"Bokue, you're here."

"Yeah, all settled. About Hagoromo-Gitsune, she..."

"She's fine. Already recovered."

Yasaka pointed toward the familiar Japanese-style room in the back.

"She's waiting for you inside right now. Go in and see her?"

"Oh."

Though he didn't know what there was to see, since Yasaka said so, Bokue naturally had no objections.

So the young man crossed the corridor to the room's entrance, slid open the door to look inside. Hagoromo-Gitsune sat quietly seiza-style on the tatami, still wearing that familiar black sailor uniform.

Noticing Bokue's arrival, she turned her head with a slight smile—her expression carrying the brightness and gentleness of yamabuki flowers. She raised her hand, pointing at the tatami beside her.

"Come in. Sit."

"..."

Bokue obligingly entered, closing the door behind him, then came to sit beside her.

However, the very next second after he sat down, a soft, supple body settled smoothly into Bokue's embrace. Nine fluffy white fox tails surrounded them tightly like petals around a flower's pistil.

"You've finally come, my most beloved child..."

???

Watching Hagoromo-Gitsune before him—who'd completely activated "corrupted maternal love mode"—Bokue couldn't help falling into deep thought.

He'd only removed Abe no Seimei's technique, right? He hadn't added any new techniques, had he?

Is this... right?

<><><><><><><><>

SLIDE—

Just as Bokue was struggling to recall whether he'd accidentally added new techniques while removing Abe no Seimei's earlier, someone pulled open the room's door from outside.

The blonde beauty in her elegant kimono appeared in the doorway.

Seeing the two already embracing inside, she raised an eyebrow and covered her mouth with one hand, laughing softly.

"Bokue really is such a child, rushing ahead by himself like that... And you too, little sister. Bokue's impression of you hasn't shifted from before yet. Suddenly changing like this will make him very uncomfortable, you know."

"Mmm~"

Hagoromo-Gitsune—seated in the young man's lap—peeked half her face out from Bokue's shoulder upon hearing the voice, narrowing her eyes slightly.

"Sister, you're here too? Why don't you come join us?"

"No rush, no rush. Let's explain things clearly first, take it slow."

As Yasaka spoke, she also entered the room, closing the door behind her.

She came to sit beside Bokue, her gaze sweeping over the young man's hand that had already unconsciously settled on her sister's waist. She couldn't help lightly pursing her lips again.

"Alright, let's start from the beginning. First, regarding Abe no Seimei..."

"Dead and gone."

Bokue thought for a moment and added another line.

"Rest assured—no risk of revival or reincarnation."

"Is that so? That's good then."

Hearing that the one who'd exploited her sister had finally received his just desserts, the blonde beauty finally showed a relieved smile.

Over the past thousand years, she'd tried countless methods to remove the shackles branded on Hagoromo-Gitsune's soul. But she'd never succeeded.

After all, Yasaka's own power wasn't sufficient to touch the soul level.

More accurately, even in today's world, those capable of touching the soul level could be counted on one hand—and most of them weren't people Yasaka could easily contact.

Fortunately, Bokue Keikain was one of them. Plus, their relationship had been quite "good" since his childhood.

Perhaps this was fate and destiny.

"Then there's my sister's current situation..."

Without avoiding her sister watching right beside her, Yasaka intimately rested her head lightly on the young man's shoulder, just as when they were alone together.

"As I mentioned before, my sister was once someone who held maternal love for all things. But precisely because of that, Abe no Seimei exploited her."

"Now the shackles branded on her soul have been removed by you, Bokue, so she'll no longer be controlled by Abe no Seimei. In other words, she's free now."

"And precisely because of this, she told me that from now on, she'll pour all her maternal love onto you alone, Bokue."

Bokue: "..."

He looked at the blonde beauty beside him, still wearing that gentle smile, then at the girl in his arms with her face raised, flushed, and lips parted. He decided it was better not to comment.

Because there were just too many things to say.

Forget everything else—are you sure those eager eyes are really related to maternal love?

"That's basically the situation."

Seeing Bokue remain silent, Yasaka generally knew what he was thinking. She just smiled again before slowly rising to kneel on both knees, embracing the young man holding her sister from the side.

Two mother foxes, eighteen tails total—half white, half golden—swaying as they surrounded the young man airtight, front and back.

"Alright, everything that needed saying has been said. Now it's time to..."

"Wait, Yasaka. Where's Kunou?"

With the ball at his lips, Bokue didn't immediately dive in like usual. For some reason, his mind suddenly flashed to the slightly strange atmosphere between mother and daughter during their earlier conversation on the way to the back mountain spring.

"Kunou, she..."

Yasaka hesitated slightly, about to speak when Hagoromo-Gitsune interrupted.

"Right now Kyōkotsu is keeping little Kunou company for her afternoon nap. Don't worry—Kyōkotsu knows what she's doing. She'll take good care of my adorable little niece."

With that, she could no longer hold back. Straightening her back, she greedily pressed her lips forward.

Sister, the child you found... is truly impossible to resist~

❁❁❁❁

Meanwhile, several rooms away from the Japanese-style room, in Kunou's bedroom—

The small kimono-clad girl lay quietly on her side on the tatami. The skull used for casting demon techniques now sat in a corner to the side. Her gaze stuck to the floor level, looking toward the little fox shrine maiden sleeping peacefully under covers on the futon nearby.

This feeling was quite strange.

Though Kyōkotsu had followed Hagoromo-Gitsune in battle four hundred years ago, she'd spent the subsequent four centuries sealed by the Keikain, and demons lived extremely long lives anyway. So physically and mentally, she was actually about the same as Kunou right now.

Having her supervise Kunou's afternoon nap was basically having a kid watch a kid.

The problem was she didn't want to nap at all right now. Napping was so boring~

Plus... right now Ane-sama should be meeting with that Bokue Keikain, right? Though Yasaka-ane-sama was watching from the side, the other party was still an Onmyōji from the Keikain family. Toward demons, they should all hold hostile or even hateful attitudes, right?

Especially since Ane-sama was the Lord of Darkness who'd ruled all demons across the Kansai region four hundred years ago. To the Keikain family, she was definitely a mortal enemy, right?!

No good, no good—she was so worried about Ane-sama's safety...

Ane-sama was in serious negotiations with the enemy. As Ane-sama's right hand, how could she nap peacefully here?!

With that thought, Kyōkotsu rolled over and sat up in one motion. She glanced at the little fox shrine maiden in the futon nearby, the girl's peaceful sleeping face reflected in her golden pupils.

So she quietly got up, grabbed her skull artifact, and tiptoed out of the bedroom.

❁❁❁❁

Scene change—

The kimono-clad girl had already left the bedroom and crossed through the shrine's corridor. Not much farther ahead lay the Japanese-style room's location.

As the distance to the room shortened, little Kyōkotsu's heart pounded harder.

If she heard fighting break out inside, she'd charge in immediately to protect Ane-sama!

Just as the kimono-clad girl reached this thought, faint sounds suddenly came from the room's direction, reaching little Kyōkotsu's ears.

'Child, w-wait a moment... let this one rest briefly, just a moment... ngh! It's coming again, coming again...!!'

'Me too... Bokue, ah... sister, let's do it together... kyaaaaah!!'

?!!

Hearing the voices vaguely coming from inside the room through the sliding door, little Kyōkotsu standing in the outside corridor silently opened her mouth wide.

Wh-wh-wh-what's happening in there?!

Why do both Ane-sama's and Yasaka-ane-sama's voices sound so strange?

It's like a feeling that's both painful and pleasurable...

With that question, the kimono-clad girl carefully placed her hand on the sliding door, opening it just a tiny crack.

But before she could see clearly inside, the damp, sticky sensation between her toes made her instinctively look down.

It was some kind of murky, pale-colored liquid. It had already covered the entire floor of the Japanese-style room, slowly flowing out through the opened crack in the door.