Just as Leo and Asuna Yuuki formally met Miyamoto Musashi at the estate and began their special training at her urging, Yukino Yukinoshita was driven to the Yukinoshita home by a familiar acting as a chauffeur.
It was a mansion that, though not as grand as Leo's estate, was still luxurious and lavish.
After Yukino stepped out of the stretch limousine, the household servants escorted her into the mansion and led her to the living room.
Only two people were there. One was Haruno Yukinoshita, who looked about seventy percent like Yukino, but had a more mature figure and appearance. The other was a beautiful woman who looked even more mature and voluptuous than Haruno. She wore a kimono and radiated an extraordinary presence.
"Mom..."
Yukino thought she had prepared herself, but the moment she saw her mother, the timidness she never showed in front of others surfaced involuntarily.
"You're here?"
Mrs. Yukinoshita looked at her younger daughter, a momentary flash of conflicting emotions and suspicion in her eyes before her expression settled back into calm.
"Since you're here, sit down."
At Mrs. Yukinoshita's invitation, Yukino pressed her lips together. After a moment, she walked over and sat across from Haruno.
Haruno said nothing. She simply studied her sister, whom she knew inside and out, as if trying to discern something from her. Her eyes flickered faintly.
The three women, unmistakably mother and daughters, sat together. Though they were bound by inseparable ties of blood, none of them seemed to have anything to say. An indescribable silence settled over them first.
For once, Yukino seemed unable to keep her composure. She asked in a deliberately nonchalant tone, "Where's Dad? Why isn't he here?"
At that, Mrs. Yukinoshita raised her eyes, breaking the silence as well.
"Your father isn't in Chiba at the moment, so we haven't told him about your situation."
It was practically a direct way of telling Yukino she had no allies here.
Yukino's father was a kind man, the stark opposite of her forceful mother, and Yukino had always been close to him.
With her father gone, Yukino could be said to be completely isolated and helpless.
Still, this was no surprise to her.
After all, she knew her father was henpecked. He had married into the Yukinoshita Family, so Mrs. Yukinoshita was the one truly in charge.
Mrs. Yukinoshita was strong-willed and used to having the final say. Even Haruno was in awe of her, let alone Yukino.
In the past, Yukino had never been able to defy her strong-willed mother's orders. Put another way, her mother was the one weakness of stubborn Yukino. That was why Yukino had decided to move out and live on her own.
Even so, in Mrs. Yukinoshita's eyes, she still seemed like nothing more than an immature girl.
"I've already heard everything from Haruno." Mrs. Yukinoshita regarded Yukino with doubt. "To be honest, I'm not inclined to believe something this ridiculous."
"My own daughter turned into a Devil? If Haruno hadn't come back and told me with such conviction, I wouldn't have wanted to waste my time on this today."
"But since things have come to this, let me confirm it for myself."
Mrs. Yukinoshita looked Yukino straight in the eye and asked, "What Haruno said is true? You really became the servant of a third-year senior at your school?"
Clearly, whether it was the matter of Devils or servants, it all sounded like a far-fetched fantasy to Mrs. Yukinoshita.
If she hadn't known that her eldest daughter wouldn't joke with her about something so absurd, Mrs. Yukinoshita would have thought this conversation was completely pointless.
Even so, Mrs. Yukinoshita hadn't believed it at first. That was, until Haruno mentioned something...
"Do you remember what strange thing happened on the first day of school?"
Haruno had said nothing more than that, but it had brought the memory rushing back to Mrs. Yukinoshita.
Of course she remembered. On the way to take her younger daughter to school, she had nearly hit someone. Before she could even react, something unbelievable had happened.
That day, she had shivered in the car as a sudden, extreme chill swept over her. Her eldest daughter had been just as cold. The car's tires had frozen over, and ice had appeared all over the street they were on. Everyone there had come down with a bad cold or even suffered frostbite.
Only one person had been completely unharmed, able to run and jump around without even feeling cold.
That person was her younger daughter, Yukino.
"We were told we'd happened to encounter an extreme weather event, but could something really be that coincidental?" Haruno had also said, "And even if it could, why were all of us affected while Yukino was completely fine?"
That was a mystery in itself, one that defied explanation.
It was because of her doubts that, after careful consideration, Mrs. Yukinoshita had decided to tentatively believe Haruno and call Yukino back to confront her.
But Yukino didn't answer Mrs. Yukinoshita's question right away. After a moment's silence, she turned to Haruno.
"Have you been in contact with people from the Church?"
Yukino's question in response made Mrs. Yukinoshita frown and caught Haruno somewhat off guard.
"Does that matter?"
Haruno returned the question, just as unwilling to relinquish control of the conversation.
"Did you seek them out, or did they come to you?"
Yukino was clearly fixated on the answer, but Mrs. Yukinoshita cut in.
"Don't change the subject when we're discussing something important." Mrs. Yukinoshita's voice was stern. "Since when did you learn to answer questions with questions? We're the ones asking you!"
Under her mother's severe reprimand, Yukino's hand tightened around her skirt, and she nearly gave in.
A lifetime of habit made it difficult for her to stand up to her forceful mother. Her hand even trembled slightly.
If no one else had been there, Yukino might have given up and dutifully answered her mother's and sister's questions.
Unfortunately, the three of them weren't alone.
"How long are you going to keep hiding?" Yukino suddenly turned toward the living room balcony and spoke coldly. "Do I have to spell it out before you'll come out?"
Her words left both Haruno and Mrs. Yukinoshita stunned.
"What are you talking about...?"
Mrs. Yukinoshita was about to say something angrily when a figure squeezed in from outside the balcony.
"As expected of a retainer of the Eligos Clan. Even without the Eligos Clan's blood, you're still adept at using Demonic Power to detect things."
With a soft laugh, the nun who had crossed paths with them not long ago stepped inside.
Who else could it be but Sharon Holy Grail?
"Who are you?"
Mrs. Yukinoshita immediately stood up, staring at Sharon in bewilderment.
"You were hiding in my house?"
Haruno stood too, looking furious.
"So it was you." Yukino was the third to rise. She fixed Sharon with a cold stare, as if she too had been provoked. "You approached my family, and that's how they found out about all this, didn't you?"
At that, Sharon laughed brightly.
"I only wanted to tell your mother and sister that their family member had become a filthy Devil and that they should be careful."
Yukino laughed in fury.
"No wonder he said you were troublesome and unscrupulous. You really don't seem like a nun at all." Yukino spoke bluntly. "He was right, wasn't he? You can't do anything to him, so now you're targeting his retainer. Pathetic."
The smile on Sharon's face vanished in an instant, just as it had the last time Leo mocked her.
Yukino met the nun's gaze. There wasn't the slightest trace of a smile on her face, and the coldness in her eyes seemed to weigh down the air in the living room.
"You..."
Just as Mrs. Yukinoshita and Haruno were about to speak, Yukino and Sharon, still glaring at each other, moved at the same time.
"Whoosh!"
Sharon vanished from where she stood, suddenly appearing in front of Yukino. She raised her leg and kicked at the side of Yukino's head.
The kick was fast and fierce, stirring a sharp whistle through the air. It was easy to imagine how much force she'd put behind it.
Unfortunately, Yukino had been prepared. Without hesitation, she released her Demonic Power.
"Boom!"
Sharon's powerful side kick landed hard on the ice wall that had suddenly risen, shattering it.
Yukino immediately leaped backward, dodging the kick that had slowed after striking the ice wall. Then, without holding back, she unleashed a freezing wind and fired rapidly forming Ice Gravel at her opponent.
"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!"...
Sharon reacted at once. Her hands and feet moved in tandem as she delivered punches, palm strikes, and kicks at tremendous speed. With her astonishing skill, she shattered every piece of incoming Ice Gravel, sending shards of ice flying throughout the living room.
Watching the scene, Mrs. Yukinoshita and Haruno were completely stunned.
"This... This..."
The surreal sight assaulted their minds, leaving the two normally shrewd and capable women utterly flustered in a way they never would have been before.
They were even more shaken when they saw Yukino enveloped in freezing wind as she continuously formed projectiles—Ice Gravel, ice spikes, Ice Blades, and ice pillars—and hurled them all at once.
In that moment, the image they had of their somewhat timid yet stubborn younger daughter shattered.
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