Chapter 124 - Natsume couldn't sleep well/The meeting between two goddess

In the apartment building, shortly after Kuroka and Drako went to the airport, a door opened, and a young girl came out of her room.

"Moo, they've been f.u.c.k.i.n.g like rabbits all night! They haven't let me sleep at all!"

Natsume had messy hair and deep dark circles under her eyes.

"Good morning, Natsume."

A beautiful blonde girl, Lavinia, came out of the same room. Unlike Natsume, it seemed that Lavinia had slept well.

"You... Lavinia... what did you think you were doing last night? You almost walked into Drako's room again!"

Last night, Natsume left the room to go to the bathroom, and halfway through, she met a sleepwalking Lavinia. It was fortunate that Natsume met her, as Lavinia had been about to enter Drako's room while he and Kuroka were having s.e.x.

"Hmm? It's not like it's the first time I've slept there."

Lavinia had an honest face of confusion as if she didn't really understand what Natsume was saying. Sleeping in someone else's room? Isn't that what she did unconsciously every night? Though it was almost always Natsume-chan's room, and a few times in Dra-kun's.

"You... didn't realize what happened in Drako-kun's room last night?"

"What?! Did something happen to Dra-kun? Dra-kun!"

Lavinia confused Natsume, thinking that something bad had happened to Drako and Kuroka.

"It's not that... Wait!"

Natsume ran after Lavinia, who was already beginning to invoke her Longinus. The witch opened the door to the room by the door, and was assaulted by the smell left by all the activity that Kuroka and Drako had been carrying out the previous night.

"Ugh... what is this? Dra-kun! Kuro-chan!"

Lavinia called about the two people who lived here, but received no answer. This worried her even more.

"Lavinia!"

Natsume finally caught up with the witch, and stopped her from doing anything crazy.

"What's going on? What happened here?"

"Drako and Kuroka have already left. Today was the day Kuroka's little sister returned, don't you remember? They should be arriving at the airport now."

"Huh, that's right."

Natsume was speechless when she saw her friend Lavinia. Was her head really empty?

"But... what is this unique... smell?" Lavinia asked.

Natsume entered the room with Lavinia.

"These... are the results of the battle that took place in this room yesterday. At least they were decent enough to clean the room before they left."

"Battle? Did Dra-kun and Kuro-chan fight someone yesterday?"

Natsume looked Lavinia in the eye. Was Lavinia making fun of Natsume? Or was Lavinia as innocent as she looked? Honestly, for Natsume, a 17-year-old girl couldn't be as innocent as Lavinia appeared.

"S.e.x. Kuroka and Drako had s.e.x last night, all night long and nonstop. Really... I couldn't sleep at all because of the two of them. And that damn lazy cat, she was screaming her head off. I'm sure she was doing it on purpose. Ahh... I'm so sleepy."

While Natsume was complaining, Lavinia was blushing. She went from less to more, starting with her cheeks and ending with her ears.

Had Natsume said s.e.x? Wasn't that the activity a.d.u.l.ts did to make babies? But that couldn't be possible. Kuroka and Drako were still very young, or at least Kuroka was, so they should not be looking for babies right now. Besides, her teacher had taught her that only married couples performed this act.

Had Kuroka and Drako married yet?

No, no, no.

That couldn't be true.

Because if that was true... wouldn't that mean Lavinia wouldn't have a chance with Drako anymore?

"Is something wrong, Lavinia?" Natsume asked.

"Natsume... are Kuroka and Drako married?"

"Mmm... I don't think so. They're still too young to get married, aren't they? So I guess they're, uh, a couple?"

"But... they can't have s.e.x if they're not married, right?"

"Huh? Where did you get that? Well, in some religions, the ideal is to arrive at marriage as a v.i.r.g.i.n, both man and woman. Still, even human religious don't listen anymore, what do you expect from a dragon and a youkai?"

Natsume did not know much about the supernatural world, but this was something that could be considered common sense. Religious practices such as arriving at marriage as a v.i.r.g.i.n were almost unheard of today.

Although Lavinia was not sure if Natsume's words were true, she felt a sense of relief inside.

"It seems that Kuroka has taken a step forward in her relationship with Big Brother. It's about time, that idiot Big Bro has been keeping her waiting for a long time."

The sudden arrival of Valina surprised both Lavinia and Natsume.

"Valina! Don't give us those scares!"

"Good morning, Va-chan"

Lavinia's reaction was calmer than Natsume's, although that was expected given the different personalities of each.

"Good morning. Hmm... you don't seem to have slept well, Natsume."

Valina gave Natsume a mischievous smile. She seemed to have guessed correctly why Natsume had not been able to sleep.

"I've had some problems, although I'm sure the great Valina has too. There's no way you couldn't have heard last night's screams with the perfect senses you have."

To answer Natsume, who is looking defiantly at Valina, the young Lucifer does a pose that she thought was cool.

"You underestimate me, Natsume Minagawa. Valina Lucifer is always ready for any challenge. Knowing Kuroka, I knew she would make as much noise as possible so that we would realize what they were doing. Since I knew this day would come sooner or later, I have special headphones ready, so I didn't hear anything."

Valina responds with an arrogant smile to Natsume.

As expected from the descendant of Lucifer and the bearer of one of the 13 Longinus, she was prepared for any situation.

"Damn it... I want to sleep!"

.........................

Artemis was looking at the rainbow-colored heavenly bridge that was rising to the sky. This was the Ama-no-uki-hashi, the heavenly bridge that connects the Takamagahara, the heavenly court of the Japanese gods, to the earth.

Today was the day that Artemis had agreed to meet with Amaterasu to discuss the whole matter of the connection she felt six months ago.

"I am Artemis, goddess of the hunt and v.i.r.g.i.nity, I have come, as agreed, to meet with Amaterasu Ō-Mikami."

Artemis announced her arrival.

"Come up."

An ethereal voice came from the high heavens, the Takamagahara, giving Artemis permission to tread the celestial lands.

Artemis did not delay and climbed to the top. When she reached the top, a servant was waiting for her.

"Amaterasu Ō-Mikami is waiting for you, I will be the one to guide the steemed guest."

"I will be in your care."

Artemis followed the servant to where Amaterasu was waiting for her. She said a respectful goodbye to the servant and entered the place.

The interior looked like a typical Japanese traditional room, and a young woman was waiting while she drank what appeared to be tea.

This woman had the appearance of a woman in her twenties, but she had not passed twenty-five. Her features were those of a Japanese woman, which did not mean that she was not beautiful. Her beauty, though different from that of Artemis, rivalled that of the goddess of the hunt. She wore a simple white dress, with few details. Her hair was black, and her eyes emitted a golden glow.

She was the main goddess of Japan, Amaterasu.

"It has been a few decades since our last meeting, Artemis."

"That's right."

Artemis sat across from Amaterasu. The two goddesses were only separated by a traditional Japanese wooden table.

Artemis had changed her appearance. She no longer looked like a 12-year-old girl, but a woman of about 17-18 years of age. This was the appearance that Artemis had when she attended official meetings.

Amaterasu handed Artemis a glass of tea similar to the one she was drinking, and Artemis took it with pleasure. They only enjoyed the tea in silence as they looked into each other's eyes.

Artemis and Amaterasu, the goddess of the moon and the goddess of the sun were very good friends. Both were single at this time, though Artemis was the only v.i.r.g.i.n. The truth is that it was very difficult to find a v.i.r.g.i.n goddess these days, with Artemis being one of the few of them.

Amaterasu had been married once. Her ex-husband was her brother Tsukuyomi, but she had been divorced after an incident in which he killed a goddess friend of Amaterasu. Since then, the sun separated from the moon in Japanese territory.

Since then, thousands and thousands of years had passed, and Amaterasu had not met another man. During that time, she met Artemis, and she was amazed at her determination to remain a v.i.r.g.i.n during her lifetime. Eventually, they became very close friends, if not best friends.

"Well, to what do we owe your presence here? You told me you had something important to investigate on my turf, what is so important that it requires the personal presence of an Olympic goddess?"

Amaterasu went straight to the main issue.

Artemis smiled. Amaterasu had always been this serious when it came to official business.

"Six months ago, my brother and I felt that someone was making a connection with us. It was only for an instant, a few seconds, but we felt it. We want to investigate who has made a connection with our divine spirits, and I want to know how they did it. I came here because Japan was the place where we felt that connection."

Amaterasu frowned. Six months ago, in Japan... Hadn't the new Suzaku mentioned to her that an incident had occurred during that time?

"You could have sent your jackets to investigate, why didn't you?"

"They're busy hunting, plus..."

"You seem to have something on your mind."

Amaterasu knew Artemis well, so nothing could escape her eyes when it came to her best friend.

"That connection... reminded me of Atalante."

Artemis sighed.

Atalante was one of the most talented hunters ever to be devoted to Artemis. The goddess saved her when she was a baby abandoned in the mountains, but she never expected her to become one of the greatest hunters ever recorded. In terms of her talent with archery, she was only on par with Orion, but he surpassed her in terms of physical qualities.

Artemis intended to recruit Atalante into her huntress retinue, but she married before the goddess could extend her invitation. Once married and having lost her purity, Atalante could no longer join Artemis' retinue of hunters.

Artemis lamented that event, but lamented, even more, the cruel fate of Atalante. The huntress, who was living a happy married life, committed the sin of having s.e.x.u.a.l relations in a sanctuary of Cybele. As a punishment, they were transformed into lions.

By the time Artemis learned what had happened, it was too late to reverse it.

But now, Artemis had felt a connection that reminded her of Atalante. Was she the reincarnation of Atalante? If so, Artemis was willing to bring her into his care.

"I see... I have good news for you, as I may have some information about what happened six months ago."