Haruno stood outside her mother's bedroom, holding the glass of blood wine in both hands, but she couldn't bring herself to knock.
The dim yellow light in the hallway cast a long shadow behind her.
Her fingers trembled slightly, not from the cold, but from nervousness.
That image had taken root in her mind, and she couldn't shake it.
Every time she tried to knock, it resurfaced, leaving her hand frozen in midair.
Haruno drew a deep breath and clenched her teeth.
Closing her eyes, she tried desperately to banish the image from her thoughts.
She needed to be rational.
From a purely rational perspective, giving this glass of blood wine to her mother was the best choice.
The Yukinoshita family needed power. They needed supernatural strength to confront the threats lurking in the shadows.
As the head of the family, if her mother could also enter the supernatural world, the foundations of the entire family would become far more secure.
Besides, her mother had already interacted with Genichi, and his attitude toward her hadn't been particularly bad.
If her mother drank the blood wine and became one of Genichi's people, the Yukinoshita family would truly be bound to him.
Haruno opened her eyes and stared at the glass.
The wine swayed gently inside, its crimson glow flickering beneath the hallway light.
Gritting her teeth, she raised her hand and knocked.
"Come in."
Mrs. Yukinoshita's calm, steady voice came from within.
Haruno opened the door and entered.
Her mother sat before the vanity in a plain nightgown, her long hair hanging loosely over her shoulders.
She was removing her makeup, gently wiping her cheek with a cotton pad.
Her face was reflected in the mirror. Though she was already in her forties, meticulous care had kept her skin smooth and firm, while her features remained refined and elegant.
Her expression was calm, betraying no emotion whatsoever.
"Why are you still awake at this hour? What brings you to my room?"
Mrs. Yukinoshita set down the cotton pad and turned to face her daughter.
Her gaze fell upon the glass in Haruno's hands, and her brows drew together slightly.
Haruno said nothing. She simply walked forward and placed the glass of blood wine on the vanity.
A quiet clink sounded as the glass touched the surface.
The blood-red liquid looked especially striking beneath the light.
"Do you want to drink it?"
Haruno's voice was soft.
Mrs. Yukinoshita's pupils contracted sharply.
Of course she knew what it was.
Blood wine.
Genichi's blood wine.
Drinking it would grant her supernatural power, but it would also place her life and death in his hands.
Mrs. Yukinoshita took a deep breath and forced herself to remain calm.
"What happened?"
Her voice remained composed, but her fingers had already tightened around the cotton pad.
Haruno sat in the chair opposite her and began to explain.
She told her everything, beginning with her request that Genichi give Yukino a chance. She recounted how she had rushed home to bring Yukino to him, how Yukino had refused, and every word her sister had said.
She repeated it all without embellishment or omission.
Mrs. Yukinoshita listened silently, her expression never changing.
Haruno could see her fingers tightening more and more around the cotton pad until her knuckles turned white.
When Haruno finished, a long silence settled over the room.
Mrs. Yukinoshita sat before the vanity with her back perfectly straight, staring at her own reflection in the mirror.
Her expression remained calm, but something churned within her eyes.
At last, she spoke, disbelief creeping into her voice.
"How dare she?"
Haruno remained silent.
Mrs. Yukinoshita rose and walked to the window, turning her back on her daughter.
Moonlight streamed through the glass, bathing her in silver.
Her silhouette looked strangely lonely and forlorn.
"I knew Yukino was naive, but I never imagined she could be this foolish."
Mrs. Yukinoshita's voice was quiet, yet every word sounded as though it had been forced through clenched teeth.
"Just who does she think she is? Does she think the world revolves around her? Does she believe that self-righteous sense of justice of hers will put food on the table?"
Haruno lowered her head without answering.
She remembered Yukino's expression as she spoke. That pride, that stubbornness, and that self-righteous conviction.
At the time, Haruno had only felt disappointed. Hearing her mother speak now made her realize it wasn't merely disappointment.
It was anger.
What right did Yukino have to judge Genichi?
Did she understand him?
Did she know what he had endured?
What gave her the right to call him selfish?
Mrs. Yukinoshita turned around, walked back to the vanity, and picked up the blood wine without hesitation.
She moved so quickly that Haruno barely had time to react.
"Wait!"
Haruno reached out and grabbed her mother's wrist.
Mrs. Yukinoshita looked at her, frowning slightly.
"What is it?"
Haruno opened her mouth, but she didn't know what to say.
She stared at the blood wine in her mother's hand, then at her mother's composed face.
That forbidden image resurfaced once again.
Haruno bit her lip and finally forced herself to speak.
"You don't think the two of us will end up sharing the same bed, do you?"
Haruno's face turned bright red the instant the words left her mouth.
Her voice trembled slightly, but she didn't look away. She stared directly into her mother's eyes.
Mrs. Yukinoshita froze for a moment before realizing what her daughter meant.
Haruno was asking whether both mother and daughter might end up becoming Genichi's women.
A complicated expression flashed across her face. There was surprise, embarrassment, and another emotion Haruno couldn't identify.
The room remained silent for a long time.
Moonlight streamed through the window, casting their shadows across the floor until they overlapped.
Outside, the night wind stirred the leaves, filling the silence with their gentle rustling.
Mrs. Yukinoshita finally spoke, her voice perfectly calm.
"That will depend on what Genichi wants. If that is his desire, I won't refuse him."
Haruno's pupils contracted violently.
Her fingers tightened around her mother's wrist, her nails nearly digging into the flesh.
"Submitting to someone stronger has never been shameful."
Mrs. Yukinoshita's voice was quiet, but each word carried undeniable weight.
"The strong devour the weak. That is the only law governing this world. Genichi possesses power, the power to change everything. If the Yukinoshita family wants to survive and prosper, we must attach ourselves to him."
Haruno fell silent.
She knew her mother was telling the truth.
"But you're my mother."
Haruno's voice trembled faintly.
Mrs. Yukinoshita looked at her, a trace of tenderness passing through her eyes.
"That is why I won't actively pursue anything. But if Genichi wants me, I won't refuse him."
She paused.
"That is my choice. It isn't your fault."
Haruno lowered her head and released her mother's wrist.
The warmth of her mother's skin still lingered against her fingertips.
She knew she couldn't stop her.
Just as her mother had said, this was her choice.
"I understand."
Haruno stood and walked toward the door.
Upon reaching it, she stopped and glanced back at her mother.
"Mother, won't you regret it?"
Mrs. Yukinoshita looked at her, her gaze wavering slightly.
"Regret what? Drinking the blood wine? Obtaining power? Becoming one of Genichi's people?"
She shook her head.
"The only thing I would regret is failing to form a deeper bond with him."
Haruno remained silent for a moment before opening the door and leaving.
Her footsteps gradually faded down the hallway.
Mrs. Yukinoshita remained in the room, holding the glass of blood wine as she gazed in the direction her daughter had gone.
Her expression was calm, but something flickered within her eyes.
She lowered her gaze to the blood wine.
The liquid shone dark red beneath the moonlight, resembling blood that had begun to congeal.
Drawing a deep breath, she brought the glass to her lips.
The moment the wine flowed down her throat, she felt a strange power surge into her body and take root in the depths of her soul.
It felt warm and gentle, as though something were filling a void that had always existed within her.
Mrs. Yukinoshita lowered the glass and closed her eyes, sensing the power circulating through her body.
The corners of her lips lifted into a faint smile.
Genichi sat on the windowsill of his apartment, one leg drawn up while the other hung outside.
The night wind drifted past, gently stirring the hem of his clothes.
Moonlight bathed him in a silvery glow.
His eyes were closed as he felt the newly formed connection taking root in the depths of his soul.
Mrs. Yukinoshita, Haruno's mother.
The woman who had once looked down on him, later submitted in the face of his power, and was now willing to place her life and death in his hands.
He could sense how faint the connection was. It resembled a newly sprouted vine, slender and fragile, still incapable of carrying much power.
Yet it was growing, gradually becoming stronger.
Genichi opened his eyes and looked down at his right hand.
The Boosted Gear rested silently over his arm, its green gem emitting a faint glow beneath the moonlight.
The corner of his mouth curled upward.
His smile was faint, holding a trace of satisfaction, a hint of relief, and something even he couldn't quite define.
The person who had drunk the blood wine wasn't Yukino.
Thank goodness it wasn't her.
Yukino believed she had seen everything. She believed her judgment could never be wrong and that her self-righteous sense of justice could change the world.
She had no idea how complicated, dark, and cruel the world truly was.
She didn't understand that some choices weren't about right or wrong.
They were about life and death.
Genichi remembered the girl standing at the entrance of the Service Club, regarding him with that cool, proud gaze.
She had called him selfish. She had said he was unworthy of his power and cared only about satisfying his own desires.
Genichi couldn't help laughing.
His smile was filled with contempt, mockery, and the condescending pity of someone looking down from far above.
What did she understand?
She was a sheltered flower who had spent more than a decade under her sister's protection, an ordinary person who couldn't even see vengeful spirits, a student who knew only how to judge reality according to lessons she had read in books.
What right did she have to call him selfish?
She had no idea what he had experienced.
She didn't know how many alternate versions of himself he had personally killed in the arena, where death could claim him at any moment.
She knew absolutely nothing, yet believed she understood everything.
If she truly obtained power and stepped into the supernatural world, what kind of person would she become?
Genichi could already imagine it.
She would use her power to help anyone she believed needed help, regardless of whether they deserved it.
She would use her power to punish those she considered evil, regardless of whether they were truly guilty or had been falsely accused.
She would use her power to uphold whatever she regarded as justice, without considering whether it was genuine justice or merely an ideal someone else had instilled in her.
And then what?
Politicians, conglomerates, and ambitious schemers would swarm around her like sharks drawn to blood.
They would exploit the flaws in her personality, her stubbornness, and her self-righteous sense of justice. They would turn her into a sharpened blade.
They would send her after their enemies, use her to eliminate their obstacles, and have her advance their ambitions.
All the while, she would believe she was doing the right thing.
Worse still, they would trace the source of her power through her.
They would discover Genichi's existence, investigate his movements, and devise every possible means of exploiting, controlling, or even eliminating him.
Genichi wasn't afraid of them, but he had no desire to invite unnecessary trouble.
He already had more than enough enemies.
That was why he had never intended to grant Yukino a Sacred Mark in the first place.
If Haruno hadn't asked him to give her sister a chance, he wouldn't even have offered one to that self-righteous girl.
Haruno was his benefactor.
When he had been at his lowest, she had reached out to him. She had supported him and given him a place to stay.
He had never forgotten that kindness.
So when Haruno asked him to give Yukino a chance, he agreed.
But Yukino had refused.
She had no one to blame but herself.
Genichi shook his head and erased Yukino from his thoughts.
She wasn't worth any more of his time.
He withdrew his gaze from the distant city lights and looked down at his right hand.
Within the gem of the Boosted Gear, a dark shape continued to swim about like a fish trapped in amber.
It was his shadow, the soul of Impredge that had been transformed into a totem.
It was weak, nowhere near comparable to a true dragon's soul. It couldn't grant him Satan-class power, much less strength beyond that level, even for a short time.
His greatest priority now was finding a way to break through the bottleneck of the Ultimate-class Devil level and advance to Satan-class.
Genichi raised his head and gazed into the night sky.
The moon was full and brilliant. No stars surrounded it, only a few wisps of thin cloud drifting through the moonlight.
He recalled the information Rias had brought back.
The number of Satans in that world was limited.
If someone wanted to ascend to Satan-class, one of the existing Satans first had to die.
Every Satan-class being in the DxD world was a monster.
If Genichi wanted to claim one of those seats, he would have to drag its current occupant down.
That was easier said than done.
But what about this world?
This crossover world, the first place he had arrived after transmigrating.
Did this world possess a throne for a Satan?
Genichi didn't know, but he believed it did.
Vengeful spirits and other supernatural powers existed here. Although those spirits were weak, with even the strongest only reaching the level of a Middle-class Devil, their existence proved that this world possessed a supernatural foundation.
If the supernatural existed, then it could have a pinnacle.
If there was a pinnacle, there could be a throne.
Genichi tapped his fingers against the windowsill, producing a steady rhythm.
Countless thoughts churned through his mind.
What was the origin of the vengeful spirits?
Where did they come from?
Why did they exist?
If he could locate their source and deal with it, perhaps he could claim this world's throne.
His shadows had been hunting vengeful spirits throughout the city, but they could only follow orders. They couldn't think or analyze what they found.
He needed to investigate personally, to search for clues concealed within the darkness.
Genichi jumped down from the windowsill, his bare feet touching the cold floor.
He walked over to the table, picked up the already opened bottle of red wine, and poured himself a glass.
The wine swayed within the glass, its deep red luster glimmering beneath the light.
He took a small sip. The wine spread across his tongue, carrying a trace of bitterness followed by subtle sweetness.
Genichi lowered the glass and returned to the window, once again gazing into the night.
Moonlight streamed into the apartment, stretching his shadow across the floor.
"I'll find the source of the vengeful spirits, claim this world's throne, and ascend to Satan-class."
(End of Chapter)
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