Ancestral Duty (Repaired)
Edit: Holy SHIT, folks, am I sorry! Apparently, there was some sort of mix-up! This time, the story is fixed.
Blinding light. An unending sword of pure luminescence, driven straight into his eyeballs. Such were the impressions of Robert Yamata as he opened his eyes to the new morning. Unfortunately, he happened to open his eyes while looking directly into the rising sun. He yelled, and crunched his eyes shut as hard as he could. As he saw abstract shapes swirling behind his eyelids, he rolled over in his bed. Or he would have, if he had been sleeping in a bed. However, he was not. As he rolled off the small mattress set on the floor, he pressed sleepy flesh into the unforgiving cold tile. His eyes involuntarily shot back open, and he screeched.
As he dressed after his most unhappy awakening, Rob fumed. "Man, screw Japan. I'm here for ONE DAY, and the sun and floor team up to give me brain damage. 'Oh,' Mom says, 'it'll be fun! Taking over for your great-grandparents back at the ancestral shrine! You can get in touch with your roots, and take in a whole new culture!' Well, there's a reason why we left for America in the first place; Americans don't give a damn if you sleep till 10!"
He felt guilty as soon as he thought it. He wasn't really angry at either country, just a little homesick. Rob was born and raised American, while his parents were merely raised. His grandparents had merely immigrated when in their 20's. And his great-grandparents had never left Japan.
Nippon, he reminded himself. "Man, it's hard getting used to being Japanese." His grandparents, pushing triple digits, had asked his family to return to take care of a bunch of old shrines. "And my parents, pushing triple digits in IQ, accepted." So the family had packed up and left everything. All of Rob's friends, his school, even his way of life. Rob looked at himself in the mirror, and snorted. "Is it racist if I think that we all look alike?" In a cruel twist of fate, having been raised in America, he fell victim to the embarrassing curse of race blindness, which would have been real hard to explain if he had talked to anyone here.
"And I get to learn a new language. Lucky fuckin' me." He left his room, attired in sagging torn jeans and a black band shirt, and slouched into the kitchen. His sleep-fogged eyes registered the unfamiliar outline of the room, and his aged great-grandfather drinking a steaming cup of tea. Rob mumbled something along the line of "Morning, gramps."
Nakamura Yamata smiled serenely, staring into the steam. He spoke in slow English. "Good morning, Robert." Nakamura, a venerable old man a few months short of living a century, was remarkably sharp for his age. Most of his wrinkles were laugh lines, and his faraway gaze reminded one of an Eastern mystic. His marked face was graced by a wispy white mustache and beard, and his remaining hair was pulled into a topknot. Nakamura was remarkably fit, having done vigorous exercise all his life well into his old age. That is probably why he was awake and alert as Rob, more than half a century his junior, was stumbling about like a particularly clumsy zombie.
Rob leaned against the side of the ancient fridge, trying to find something caffeinated and sugary to jump-start him. His inaudible mumbles reached Nakamura's ears, but didn't faze the old man. Nakamura was very old, and had seen very many things. The antics and eccentricities of the young bordered on the low end of the scale. He savored the aroma of his favorite blend, and waited until his descendant sat next to him on one of the cushions around the low table. Robert cracked a DP and drank it greedily. Nakamura sighed, and said "Over here, Robert; this window has the best view in the entire province." He directed Robert's attention to the window overlooking the estate. The traditionally-built house sat on a hill, and this edge of it was suspended in space over several rolling hills, weeping willows, a wandering river, and shrines.
Oh, the shrines. Ancestor worship expressed in tangible form, the shrines dotted the landscape for miles around. As far back as the Edo Dynasty, those great of mind and spirit requested after to death to be brought to the Yamata Ossuary and given a shrine. The site had become significant after Lord Yamata had, on his deathbed, committed his estate to the honoring of the dead. His rather morbid wish had been carried out, and the lands of the Yamata had become a national treasure, a repository of the movers and shakers of the Feudal period. The shrines were tended by a cadre of volunteers, led and spearheaded by the hereditary Yamata family. This, in this case, meant Rob.
Rob stared out the window, morning malaise forgotten as he lost himself in the view. The room was silent for perhaps ten minutes. Rob and Nakamura both smiled when Buyo wandered in. Buyo was the family cat, a fat little short-hair calico with a quirky disposition. Buyo grunted as he jumped up on the small table, and purred as he rubbed his jaw along Rob's outstretched hand. Nakamura smiled, and looked away. After a few more moments, he spoke again. "You do not like it here."
Rob spluttered. As much as he disliked leaving America, his great-grandfather was a pretty nice guy. "No! Gramps, I..."
Nakamura shot him a kind, but piercing look. "You do not like it here."
Rob slumped more than he had before. Buyo grumbled in annoyance, and jumped down to follow his hand. "Well... Yeah, gramps. It's just... I don't know anyone or anything here! I don't speak the language, I don't get the customs, heck, I tried to go buy some shoes yesterday, and somehow mortally offended the whole store. So now I can't go back, and like 20 people turn up their noses whenever they see me."
Nakamura laughed softly, and shook his head. "Ah, my son, such is life. Knowledge will come; knowledge always comes. However, if you do not want to wait until you are as old as I am, there is something you can do to hasten it."
Rob cracked an eyebrow. Nakamura continued. "Learn your history! Nippon is the oldest land in the world, and our culture changes but rarely. Know your history, young one, and you know Nippon."
Robert was pretty smart too. "You're about to give me chores, aren't you?"
Nakamura laughed, taking care not to spill his tea. He thickened his accent, and said "Wax on, wax off, Robert-san." Reverting back to normal, he said "Yes, Robert. After all, it is your duty."
Robert huffed. "Alright, alright, I don't need the preamble. What do I need to do?"
Nakamura did not answer right away, instead taking a gulp of tea. When he spoke, he said "There is a small shrine to the southeast of here; it is G-21 on the grid. It is to a distant ancestor of yours; ten-times-great-granduncle, I believe. It has been neglected as of late, and Hito and the crew are still restoring one of the emperor's. That will occupy them for quite a while, so it falls to you to take care of some of the smaller ones in their absence."
Rob sighed resignedly. "So, what do I have to do?"
Nakamura looked contemplative. "Nothing extraordinary; clean off the dust, refresh the offerings, shoo away any animals, generally tidy the place up. Use your imagination."
Rob laughed. "Really now. Okay, okay, I'll get on it..."
Nakamura finished his tea. "You know where the supplies are kept, yes? Mmm, good, good... The rest of us will be gone today; after all, this is the first day in many years our duties did not compel us."
Rob blew hair out of his eyes. "We're you going?"
Nakamura smiled. "To see Iron Man 2, of course. He fights Whiplash in this one!"
***Later***
Rob smiled wistfully as he drove the electric golf cart over the grounds. He regretted that he couldn't merely take in the scenery as he checked the map for the fifth time. The terrain was becoming rocky, and the lone trail had hardly been used, ever. He wondered if... He checked the map. He wondered if Souda Yamata's shrine had ever been visited. When he finally saw the shrine, he was positive it hadn't. The shrine was positively tiny, a simple alcove built into a large hill. Rob sniffed, and parked the cart. He rummaged in the back for a second, and got out a soft cloth and a non-acidic cleaner. He spritzed the cloth a few times, and attacked the built-up dirt and grime along the shrine. As he went, he was forced to revise his opinion of his ancestor's final resting place. While the shrine was small, it's artistry was magnificent. The marble had been lovingly rolled and carved, into beautiful swirling patterns inset with jade.
The centerpiece of the shrine was a plain black wall of obsidian, set flush with the hill. As Rob wiped away the coat of filth, he uncovered carvings in the stone of austere beauty. After ridding the wall of its last mark, he sat back, and studied it. Inscribed in the wall were a couple of odd symbols. After a few seconds of puzzling, he saw that they were kana; ancient Japanese script. He traced the indents in the stone, and muttered haltingly under his breath. He got up, and ambled to the cart, and picked up a small handbook. Scrolling through it, he slowly found each symbol, running his hand across each as he spoke. "Ninth... Seal... Of... Their... No, no, 'The'... The..." His eyebrows met as he encountered the final symbol. "What on Earth is this?" He flipped through the guidebook some more, and finally found it, back in the 'culture' section. "Ninth Seal Of The Bakeneko?" As he looked back down at the guidebook to check his translation, he thought he saw the jade glow out of the corner of his mind, but dismissed it. He studied the symbol again and again, making sure that he was right. Next to the translation was a short entry. "Bakeneko, n.: A cat spirit in Japanese folklore. Most were seen as merely mischievous tricksters, however there were some of great and terrible power. Historically, these demons were defeated and banished by wandering priests."
He smirked at the book. "Seal of the cat demon? Holy crap, my ancestor was a Satanist." He looked back up, and his heart stopped. The obsidian slab was just gone. There was just an empty hole... No! Not a hole; a cave. The alcove had been built over a massive cave, and now the seal was broken. Rob shivered as the thought passed through him. "'The seal is broken?' Why did I think that?" He peered into the dark musty depths, and sniffed. A dank, moist smell floated out to him, and he wrinkled his nose. "Eww. Must have been sealed for years." Suddenly, the sun slipped behind the hill, and his only light source went dim. Rob growled. "Dammit, I can't have anything."
He went back to the cart for a flashlight, and approached the cave again. He flipped it on, and was more than a little surprised when the light revealed... Absolutely nothing. Even when he shined it just barely in front of his feet, the darkness was resolute. Rob was then given a new mystery to ponder; from the cave, he began to hear a repetitive percussive sound. He scrutinized the cave, and tried to identify the sound. "...Wings? Are those bats? No, no, it's not leathery, it's more... Feet? Is someone running towards me? No, it's happening too fast for that. It has to be at least two people, and what are a couple of people doing in here? Oh, there they... WHAT THE?!?!?!?"
Several things happened at once. First, Robert's jaw dropped, as did the flashlight. His arms hung numb at his sides, as he stared uncomprehendingly into the depths. Second, an earsplitting roar sundered the air, resounding over the hillsides, causing birds of all feathers to take wing in frantic flight. Finally, a huge something shot like a bullet from the mouth of the cave, and slammed into Robert at about chest height, catapulting him backwards.
Rob's head slammed into the ground with incredible force, and a multi-colored Candyland sprang into his field of vision. He felt something heavy pressing into both shoulders, and shook his head to clear his sight. As he blinked in abject shock upwards, a female voice snarled down at him. "And now, Yamata, you are mine!"
Robert could not believe his eyes, but he could not deny what he saw. An enormous cat sat atop him. Its forepaws were the heavy force pinning him down, and the rest of its body was suspended parallel to his. The cat seemed to be an amalgam of species; it had a lion's mane that hung back past its forelegs, a tiger's tail that whipped around angrily, a cheetah's coloration and a leopard's fur pattern. Inch-thick obsidian-sharp claws snickt out into his arms, and he cried out as they pierced his skin. The thing's face, which appeared to be that of a housecat, smiled in predatory glee. It spoke again, in the same woman's voice.
"You didn't think you could escape the wrath of Neira, did you, priest? My memory lasts all of time, and sealing me away for a century has done nothing to quell my vengeance!"
Robert babbled nonsensically, seizing on the one part of it he could understand. "N-neira?" The cat looked puzzled, and frowned. "Yes. My name, Souda. Have you not the common decency to recall the names of your victims?" Rob's mind shifted, gaining the clarity and insight of those demented. "Okay, one, my name's Rob, not Souda. Second, I'm not a priest. Third, I've never seen you before and foouuuCCCKKK, GET YOUR CLAWS OUT OF ME!"
Neira's countenance become more bewildered than ever, but at least her claws retracted a bit. "Roub? What manner of name is Roub?"
Rob gritted his teeth, and hissed "ROBERT! Rob's just short for it, OH, GOD, GET OFF ME!"
Neira became aggravated, and hissed at him. Rob balefully noticed that her hiss was much more threatening than his. " 'God', Rob? You have the audacity to not even bother to name one? My, how the mighty have fallen."
Rob surprised himself; he instinctively raised his legs to his chest, and kicked up. Neira was unseated forthwith, and flew through the air with a kittenish mewl. She landed on her feet, and bushed her tail. She hissed at him again, and arched her back. Rob slowly got to his feet, tearfully kneading the eight gashes on his torso. Thankfully, they were not very deep. Recovering his composure, he sat down, and stared at Neira. He knew he should be afraid, should be wetting himself at the mere sight of the cat-monster, but strangely, he was at peace. "Okay, Neira, let's talk."
The cat said nothing, so Robert continued. "So, apparently, you think I'm Souda Yamata. I'm not. What's left of him is left over there." He pointed to the urn of ashes over in the alcove. "He's been dead for a while, so revenge is more or less pointless."
Neira looked at the urn, and trotted over to sniff at it. Robert shivered as he watched her. Neira walked on all fours, even though underneath all her fur, her body appeared to be mostly human. Her slinky walk was supernaturally graceful, and Rob reminded himself, she was; supernatural, apparently. Neira examined the urn, and sampled its scent. She turned back to Rob, and spoke. "What you say... Is true, priest Rob."
Robert flicked a blade of grass off his jeans. "That's another thing; I'm not a priest. I'm just a guy."
Neira looked piercingly at him. "You lie. I could smell your power from a mile away."
Rob spread his hands. "I don't know what to tell ya; I'm not."
Neira snuffled over the alcove. "You have to be; no one but a priest of equal or greater power to Souda could have broken my seal."
Rob felt a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. "So... The inscription... 'The Ninth Seal Of The Bakeneko'? That's you?"
"Neh!" Neira made a cat-like noise at him, and licked her forearm. "What else would I be, human?"
Rob began to hyperventilate. "Oh, shit. Oh shit. Oh, shit. The guide says only really powerful and evil demons were sealed away."
Neira sniffed at him. "Evil?! I must object! So one would not blame a snake for biting, so one should not blame a bakeneko for feasting on a village. It is the nature of the beast, as it were."
Rob pinched himself. "You ate a village?! An entire village?"
Neira licked her other forepaw. "Mmhmm." She looked up, and smirked at him. "And I'm hungry."
Rob's heart throbbed, and he tried to change the subject. "Uh... You said you were sealed away for a century, right?"
Neira sat cat-like on the ground, and raised her paw to clean it. "Indeed."
Rob thought. "Yeah, I don't know how years were measured back then, but I'm pretty sure it's been a lot longer than that."
Neira sniffed haughtily at him. "If you know not the proper measure of time, then answer this; how many years has it been since the Heian fell?"
Rob flipped through a few pages in his guidebook, and poked the date with his finger, doing a little mental subtraction. "Wow... It's been about... 826 years."
Neira's jaw dropped. Rob looked up at the sudden silence, and saw that the huge cat had begun to shake. "No," she gulped. "No! I've been sealed for over 500 years! That can't be!"
She whirled on Rob, and snarled at him. "You! Robert! Show me something from your era!"
Rob levitated, and shot into the golf cart. He wanted to get the hell out of there before he wound up a cat toy. He stomped on the accelerator, and the cart jumped to its top speed of 35 miles an hour. Neira and the cave dropped swiftly behind him as he sped away. He sagged in the seat, and gasped in relief. He didn't know how to deal with something like this, he wasn't Superman. He had to get to a phone, call the police, call SWAT, call the Ghostbusters, call SOMEONE... Just someone who could deal with this situation that was not HIM. Suddenly, he heard a series of soft pats off to his right, and turned his head. He nearly swerved into a lake when he saw Neira keeping pace next to him. She looked up at him mournfully, and mewled. "A horseless carriage that is as fast as me? Oh, Gods, I HAVE been gone for centuries!"
Rob laughed the laugh of the damned, and stopped the cart. If she could catch him in it, he should probably give up and make his impending consumption as painless as possible. When he got out, however, instead of being greeted by a toothy maw, he saw Neira curled up several yards away, weeping quietly. He approached her cautiously, and knelt next to her, wondering if there was some way he could out of this that didn't involve a tour through a bakeneko's digestive tract. He prodded her gently, and was surprised by how fluffy she was. "Uh... Hey, Neira, right? Are you alright?"
She sniffled, and said nothing. Rob thought for a second, and plopped down on the grass next to her. He rationalized that even if he ran, it'd only take Neira three strides to catch him, so what'd it matter? He studied the sky, and waited until he could no longer hear tears. Then he said "Something tells me you're upset."
Neira curled a little tighter, and again said nothing. Rob continued. "Could you tell me why?"
She said nothing. Rob didn't know why he expected anything different, and merely looked around, brushing a fly off his forehead. He was startled when she spoke.
"Because I am obsolete."
Rob looked down at Neira, who had propped her head up on her foreleg. She continued miserably. "When I manifested, I was a queen. I could take what I wanted, when I wanted, from whoever I wanted. No human could stop me. And it was good... For a while."
She sniffed. "Then the humans started to band together for protection, in villages, towns, cities, and kingdoms. 'What did it matter to me,' I thought. 'I can still crush them under my paw'. But it just got worse. Humans are weak, but they are cunning. They started making powerful weapons, and learned how to fight en masse. It started to get harder and harder to get what I wanted. Eventually, I couldn't do it anymore. I had to give up fighting entire nations."
Her eyes became squinted, and her voice became high and mocking. " 'Oh, what does it matter to me? I'll just take what I need from smaller places!' That is what I thought, priest Rob. But humanity just kept getting bigger and bigger, and smarter and smarter. Eventually, cities could repel me. Then towns could stave off my hand."
She covered her face with her hand, and meowed piteously. "In the end, I was reduced to raiding villages like a petty thief. And then that blasted Souda came along and banished me into darkness. Humanity has won. Even Souda is beyond my reach now... I give up. I'm hungry, I'm frightened, and I'm old."
She said nothing for a moment, and then uttered one more sentence. "Kill me."
Rob snapped his head around, and stared at her. Then, he finally dared to speak. "I most certainly will not!"
Neira removed her paw from her face, and looked in surprise at him. Rob turned slightly to face her, and said "Look, just because you can't waste my great-whatever-uncle doesn't mean that your life is over."
He scooted over in the grass next to her, and sat down. "You said you're hungry, right? Well, I can at least do something about that. What do you eat, anyway?"
Neira glared up at him suspiciously. "What are you playing at, priest?"
Rob shrugged. "I don't know. I can't just let you run around, can I? I mean, I don't think you could destroy the entire country, but you could sure as hell cause some problems. My great grandpa would probably know what to do, but he's gone for the day. So, I figure, if I can keep you happy and satisfied, you won't feel the urge to eat me or destroy a suburb. If that means sacrificing the contents of our refrigerator..."
He cut off sharpish as Neira's cold wet nose pressed into his arm. He sat stock still as the bakeneko sniffed him all over, before sitting back on her haunches. She studied him curiously, and finally said "Hmm... You aren't lying. I do not think that you are luring me into a trap." She then licked her chops. "And you smell delicious, by the way."
Rob broke into a sweat. He stammered. "Uh... So, what did you say that you eat?"
He blinked as Neira's outline blurred, and vanished. He looked around hastily, and saw her sitting in the cart, grooming herself. She cocked her head at him. "Well? What are you waiting for? Take me to your food."
Rob looked quickly from where she had been sitting to where she was, and gulped. Cautiously, he slipped into the driver's seat of the cart, and put it in gear. He jumped as some of Neira's fur brushed his arm, and didn't leave. He was struck by the softness of it; not even an otter pelt he had touched once had been this soft. He drove in silence, watching Neira more than the landscape. He finally pulled up to the house, and stilled the engine. For a second, he just sat there, watching Neira study the house. Finally, she spoke, with a soft rumble. "Mmm... Houses have gotten prettier since I've been gone."
Rob smiled nervously. "Well, glad you think so." He stepped out, and walked from the garage to the door. Neira hopped out, and padded after him. Rob opened the door, and stepped in, but not before wiping his feet on the doormat. Over his shoulder, he called out "Hey, Neira; could you wipe your paws on the mat? My parents don't like people tracking dirt in here."
Neira impudently stepped clear over the mat, and wiped her feet on the tile. She looked up, and smiled lazily. "I bet they would not mind if a bakeneko did it."
Rob covered his face with his hand, and groaned. "Ohh... I knew this was a bad idea."
Neira sniffed around at everything, and was too busy to reply. Rob sat down on one of the kitchen cushions, and said "Now, for the last time, what would you like to eat?"
Neira examined a bottle of sake greedily. "Mmm... Meat, please. Any meat. May I have this?"
Rob shrugged. "Could I stop you?"
Neira giggled, a sound that Rob rather enjoyed. "Excellent point." With a claw, she popped the cork out of the white vase-like bottle, and grasped the bottle in her jaws. Leaning her jaws back, the rice wine disappeared without a sound. She laid the bottle back down gingerly, and hiccupped. Rob laughed, and went back to his work. He pulled out a bag of his favorite American product; frozen chicken nuggets. He poured out the entire bag, and set it into the microwave. Neira looked up in shock at the hum of the alien device, and studied the modern machine curiously, raising her nose and sniffing as the haunting scent of cooked poultry floated out. When the microwave dinged, Neira snarled, and launched herself at the machine, attempting to maul it for the delicious bird inside. Rob pulled her off with difficulty, yelling "Neira, Neira, chill! I can get it, I can get it!"
Neira put her belly to the ground, watching the device suspiciously. Her suspicion quickly abated when Rob drew forth the steaming plate, and it was replaced by avarice. Her paws hit him in the stomach, and he went down with a 'WHOOF', sprawling spread eagle on the floor. Years of experience had preserved the plate, and he held it to his chest, without a single nugget spilled. For a delirious moment, he wondered where his gold medal was. Neira pounced on his prone body, eating the chicken in gulping bites, leaning heavily on him. She finished the plate in seconds, then flicked it aside with a claw, and put all her weight on him, lying on his chest and licking her paws.
Rob was still getting his bearings after his jostling, and was completely unprepared for Neira's weight. It didn't settle on him evenly, but rather concentrated itself in six points along his chest. As Neira gobbled the chicked, he looked sidelong along her body, and blushed heavily. Due to the way she sat, her fur was shunted to the side, and he could see why her weight felt uneven; six buoyant and very human-like breasts were squished into his torso, cushioning her on a built-in pillow. Neira hummed as she finished the plate, leaning lower on his body, and as she finished, she licked her chops, and purred down at him. "Mmrr... That was nice. What else do you have?"
And that set the schedule for the afternoon. Rob would cook something, Neira would knock him down, and eat it off his chest. After the third time, he gave up, and simply took the plate out of the microwave and lay on the ground, letting Neira straddle him and consume her next course. It was only after the fridge was completely empty and the freezer half so that Neira did not order more. Instead, she daintily stepped off Rob's prone form, and shook her paws primly. She looked over her shoulder, and smiled predatorily. She beckoned Rob with her tail, and stepped out of sight into the hallway. A bemused human followed her, wondering if she planned to usurp his bedroll.
He peeked his head around the corner into his room, and sighed. He was right. Neira had curled up impudently on the bedroll, and was cleaning herself with her tongue. Rob turned around, going to give her a little privacy, but she growled at him. He froze, and looked back at her. She smiled, and went back to her bath. Every time Rob attempted to leave, she'd snarl at him again until he resumed watching her bathe. She licked herself all over, moistening the fur on her torso, and then licking her paw and running it over her head. When she was finished, she lay on her side and began to purr mightily. She thumped one of her forepaws into the bedding, and uncurled a little. Rob blinked, thinking that he had to have misunderstood her. Neira opened one eye lazily, and gave him a look.
She thumped the bedding again, punctuating each whack with a lilting growl, as well as allowing her devilish claws to slip out and create a high-pitched squealing on the tile. Rob began to sweat, and nervously approached her, bending over as she indicated. However, he never got the chance to finish. Neira lashed out a paw, and cut him off at the knees. He almost cracked his head open on the tile; would have, in fact, if Neira hadn't scooped him up in her paws, pulling Rob against her underbelly. She snuggled him in close, causing her two rows of breasts to pop out on either side of the human. Rob's mind shut down all non-essential functions, as he felt her tits envelop him, and nearly shut down altogether as she began to purr again, which only shifted him in closer to her.
Neira, oblivious to the human's discomfiture, tightened her grip. Rob felt a wet, wide tongue slide along his cheek, as she licked along his face slowly, lovingly, tasting his scent. Her licks traveled up his head, until she was grooming his hair, wetting down the black locks with her saliva. She stopped for a moment, and licked her chops, drinking in his taste. She shoved her muzzle down next to his ear, and growled softly at him. "Do you know the last time I had someone to wash like this was, human?"
Rob felt an instant of panic; she was tasting him like a side of ham! She giggled, as if she could hear his thoughts. She wiggled a little, so Rob fit better into the hollow of her breasts, and spoke again. "Oh, silly Rob, I'm not going to eat you." She left another lingering lick on him. "Mmrr... No, you are too fine a treat to just gobble up like that." She flexed her claws, carving rents in his shirt and pants. "I only asked if you knew how long it has been since I held another human to my heart like this."
Rob finally found his voice. "Uh... A long time, I'm guessing?"
Neira purred throatily, and placed her leg over Rob's. "Oh, yes, priest Rob, such a very long time indeed. It was your ancestor, if I remember..." Her tone grew nostalgic, and her voice soft. "Oh, wily, wily Souda... He was such a wonderful man. Never cared a whit for himself, his only duty to the people and places in his care." Her tone grew a fraction sharper for just a second, but fell. "And that, Rob, is the only reason I was sealed. Souda and I were so in love, but he felt that I was too destructive, too wild for this world..."
Rob looked up as best he could, and thought that he saw a tear slide out of her eye, to be absorbed by her fur. "When he cast that binding, I saw tears in his eyes... He hated to do it, knowing that I would hate him for the longest time." She resumed licking him, shifting her attention to the other side of his head. She bit down gently on his ear, and sighed. "But the past is past, priest Rob. It seems I've found a new Yamata to snuggle with."
Rob winced a little at the nip, and smiled. For some reason... He wasn't afraid anymore. He wasn't even nervous. In fact, he felt completely at ease. Sure, he knew that he had never been crushed into the bosom of a cat-demon-lady before, but it just felt... Right. He reached up, and gently squeezed a furred mound. Neira gave a little hiss of pleasure, and nipped his ear again. Rob laughed, feeling the area burn with hot, white, electricity. "Wow... I knew kitties were affectionate, but I didn't know how much."
Neira nuzzled into his shoulder hard, rubbing her scent on him, smirking as she claimed him. "Oh... So, so much more, priest." She hissed again as Rob ran his fingers along the line of nipples, stimulating her in all the right places. She crushed him into her even tighter, wishing that he would just sink into her. It felt so good, so long in coming, after being trapped with only her own company for so long. She mewed faintly as Rob became bolder, and began to tongue one of her breasts. She rolled over onto her side, and closed her eyes as Rob pleasured her, sucking on one of her more engorged breasts. In some dim recess of her mind, she wondered if this was what a kitten felt like. The thought pleased her, and she relaxed even further. Rob explored her body as he suckled, running a hand along her side, down towards her legs. Suddenly, he felt wet, slippery warmth, and Neira sat bolt upright, and snarled. "Now, priest."
Rob was shocked out of his reverie, and merely looked up at her uncomprehendingly. "What?"
There was a blur, and suddenly he was staring at Neira's tail instead of her face. She lifted it, and shivered. "I said NOW , priest Rob!"
Rob was on his feet in an instant. He hadn't the faintest idea how he got there, or why he wasn't worried, but the only thoughts in his head were of a carnal sort. Ever since he had been held to Neira's chest, he had had a raging hard-on; only his now-gone reticence had held it in any sort of check. In the buzzing maelstrom that was his mind, he vaguely recalled that an animal's sex was below the tail. He grasped Neira's generous hips, and pushed into her.
Neira felt the human's erect rod slip into her, and failed to choke off a giggle. Rob raised an eyebrow, and said "What?"
Neira wiggled her hips, and laughed. "Nothing! Nya! Keep going!"
Rob needed no more encouragement. The closest he had come to this with any other female had been through a screen, and he was not about to pass up this opportunity. He grunted; it felt so much better than he had imagined. Her tunnel was tight, warm, and it seemed to be massaging his staff as he rocked against her. With the only two brain cells he could spare, he wondered why it wasn't wetter. The area he had touched had been positively dripping. But no, it wasn't important. What was important was the yowling bakeneko beneath him.
For her part, Neira was performing irreproachably. She rocked back against the human's hips, her fevered mind casting over the past. She thought with a kind of far-off pride on the human race, and the miracle of evolution. Rob was far larger than his ancestor! She giggled again as he thrusted, reveling in the knowledge that she knew something that he didn't, and wouldn't he feel silly in a few minutes? The thought was torn from her mind as another lance into her was met with joyful meowing and thrusting. It felt so good, so hot, so big. It was like nothing she'd ever experienced before. Priest Rob's hands on her back, digging into her dense fur, his thighs next to hers, pumping in unison, and of course, his shaft digging into her, a most welcome intruder. She raised her rump higher, rubbing her breasts along the ground, and striking sparks off the floor with her claws. She yowled in ecstasy; when was the last time she had ever... No, had she ever been bred like this before?!
Rob snarled, feeling rather like an animal himself. He pounded into her with an almost vicious lust. The scent of her arousal stung his nose in pleasurable pain, so strong that he began to wish there were seventeen of him, so that they might properly sate her. Her flattering mewls and growls only egged him on as he rocked against her, scratching itches that had been left alone for centuries. Suddenly, her catcalling became quieter, fainter. He almost stopped and asked her what was wrong, but the yowls became louder and higher with each thrust, until Neira threw her head back and screamed. She raked the floor with her claws, gouging out furrows in the tile as she came, dripping out onto the floor. Rob smirked; now that that was taken care of he could... Wait, why was she pulling away?
Neira pulled back from him, and lay on the floor, gasping and panting for breath. She pawed at the air, a silly smile gracing her face. "Oh... That was excellent, priest. Far better than any time in the past. But I think that you should know something..." She giggled, and rolled onto her back, pointing between her legs. "You missed."
Rob stared at the pouting set of lips between her legs; not where a cat's would be, but a humans. Suddenly, it dawned on him. He'd just made love to a bakeneko; through the backdoor. He could feel blood rush to his face, and sat down heavily. "Uh... I'm sorry?"
Neira smiled, and settled a bit, so that she was looking at him through the hollow of her many breasts. "It is not something to be sorry for, priest Rob. I had no idea that humans would develop so many alternate ways to copulate." She wiggled seductively, and batted her eyes. "But why don't you come and try it the normal way, priest?"
Rob blinked at her. She wanted to go another round? Well... Why not? He'd get a chance to get his rocks off, at least. He slowly crawled up her on all fours, which he thought she might enjoy more. She grasped his shoulders, and pulled him level with her head. "Why don't we take it slower this time," she purred. "Get to know each other?"
Rob nodded, and slid his hands around her form, gently kneading the fur and flesh. She mewled softly, and allowed him to take his sweet time. After he'd massaged her for a while, the heat between her legs had built back up again, and she licked his face a few times. "Mrrr, priest Rob, I said take it slow, not take it off. Get on with it."
Rob jumped, but obeyed. He pressed his body into her breast channel, and positioned his tip at her entrance, and slowly began to slide it in. Neira closed her eyes, and purred, rocking gently against him until he hilted himself in her. She sighed, and smiled gently at him. "Oh, yes, just like that priest. Slow and steady."
For the next hour, the two made love. It was no thing of wanton passion; that had passed. Yes, there was pleasure exchanged, but it was sedate, calm pleasure. Rob found it rather easy to avoid shooting off in five minutes, with Neira's help. She was such a good partner; experienced, attractive, affectionate, and more than a little tight. Neira was enjoying herself rather a lot too. She had never had a session that had lasted this long, and she had become sensitive to the point that a single stroke from Rob's manhood would make her loins sing. Over that hour, Rob reintroduced her to the wonders of kissing, and the improvements humans had made to it over the years, and Neira taught him proper lovemaking technique; the angles, the pace, even the talk. However, for all the tenderness, a basic need had to be satisfied. Slowly, their thrusts intensified, a compliment passed over in exchange of a yowl or grunt, until they were rutting wildly again, Neira holding herself against him and Rob pounding hard into her.
Rob felt an unfamiliar tingling in his sac, and looked up at Neira's rapturous face. He said "Nngh... Neira, I think I'm getting close..."
The cat demon smiled mischievously, and guided his hands from her sides to her breasts, and said "Good. I trust you know how to treat a lady. Do a good job, and I'll let you 'stay inside' tonight." Rob caught her drift, and groped her breasts enthusiastically, teasing the nipples and pulling them just enough to make her purr with pleasure. He leaned in for another kiss, and engaged her tongue. She growled playfully, and took possession of his mouth, humping into him gratefully. She let him go, and began to meow rhythmically again, and Rob gritted his teeth, determined to make it simultaneous. Her moans got louder, and louder, and higher, and higher, until... NO!
Neira groaned as she felt warm sticky seed shot into her, still a few thrusts away from climax herself. She stuffed herself a few more times, and howled as she came for the second time that day, her walls clenching at him and drawing his essence into her womb. The two shuddered as if caught in an electric current, and exchanged fluids for more than a minute. Finally, orgasm left them, and they slumped to the floor. Neira caught Rob's body, and pushed him back into her breast channel, looking at him fondly from between her mounds. "So, ahhhh... Tell me, priest Rob, are you a dog person or a cat person?"
Rob sighed tiredly as he smiled at her. "Is that a trick question? Of course I'm a cat person."
Neira smiled at him, and took his hand, placing it over her belly. "How would you feel about raising a litter of kittens?"
Rob's eyes widened as her meaning hit him. "Is... Is that even possible?"
Neira smiled. "I'd say so... Father."
After that day, Rob's life was very different. Neira found a nearby den to use, and Rob visited her every day he could. Neira taught him everything about her old world, and it wasn't long before Rob could speak Japanese like a native and could recite history with polished ease. Sometimes, Rob would even catch himself thinking in Japanese. Rob could never tell, but he always suspected that Nakamura knew more than he let on. Whenever he would come back from their den, covered in tawny fur, his great-grandfather would nod, and smile knowingly. Neira had indeed conceived, and in the following months, her belly began to swell with the six small lives inside. She gave birth to a litter of healthy, happy, and very active kittens just like her, four girls and two boys, who simply adored their human daddy. When Nakamura eventually passed away and Rob turned 30, his parents and grandparents left the estate to him and moved to Kyoto. The house on the hill and the forests and mountains on the large estate quickly became the playgrounds of Rob and Neira's children, who grew strong and intelligent, playing under the cherry trees. They grew into quick-minded bakenekos, and armed with their mother's physical abilities and their father's knowledge, went out into the world at 20 years of age to seek mates of their own. Rob never told a soul of what he had found in his ancestors tomb, and lived his entire life deliriously happy with his bakeneko bride. He took the secret to his grave, and was buried on his own land. To this day, it is said a tawny bakeneko haunts a small shrine on the Yamata Burial Grounds, forever protecting the resting place of the most honorable Priest Robert Yamata.