Chat Group: Traits, Gacha, and Crossovers

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"Well, well!"

Some time later, after dragging the thoroughly defeated golden fox (Ran) back to Hakugyokurou, Yakumo Yukari was met with an unexpected sight: the little white fox she'd let go earlier was now curled up comfortably in Veyron's lap, happily nibbling on snacks offered by Yuyuko Saigyouji.

Yukari raised an eyebrow.

Then she gave the golden fox a few teasing pokes. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. See the difference in treatment? If you'd just let me capture you peacefully, you'd be enjoying some pampering too."

She smiled mischievously. "Oh well. Time for little Ran to officially join the family."

Yukari dragged her over to an open spot in the courtyard, plopped the golden-furred fox down, then opened a spatial gap. From some unknown corner of existence, she reached in and pulled out what looked like the soul of a tiny golden fox.

"A deal's a deal," Yukari said, holding her hand out. "I've prepared the body for you, just like we agreed. I assume I don't need to walk you through what to do next?"

She bit her fingertip, and a drop of blood slowly formed — glowing with swirling streaks of violet-gold energy. She offered it to the fox spirit.

The spirit nodded and swallowed the drop.

The moment the blood entered her mouth, those golden-violet markings burst to life, spreading across her body like intricate tattoos.

Once they stabilized, the fox spirit didn't hesitate — she dove straight into Ran's body.

It was like watching a replay of history.

The spirit's glowing markings began transferring to Ran's body, sinking beneath the surface this time, not lingering on the skin. Once they stabilized and fused completely…

One breath. Two. Three…By the ninth breath—

Ran's eyes slowly opened.

"Lady Yukari!"

She looked up at Yukari with joy and reverence.

"Take on human form," Yukari ordered.

"Yes, ma'am."

Ran nodded and transformed into a woman with golden short hair that brushed her neck, a pair of fox ears poking out from the top of her head, and nine golden tails swaying gently behind her, each tipped with white.

"Hmm, not bad."

Yukari gave her an approving once-over. The new shikigami was dressed in a long white robe with wide sleeves, layered with a modified blue Taoist coat — quite similar to Yukari's own fashion.

"Your name is Ran," she said. "Now that you've become my shikigami, you'll take on my family name as well."

"Ran Yakumo. That'll be your name from now on."

After bestowing the name, Yukari introduced her new shikigami to Veyron, Yuyuko.

Ran greeted all three with deep, respectful bows.

Then Veyron, who had been watching the whole ritual unfold, tilted his head curiously.

"So… after Ran took over the body, what happened to the original golden fox? Is her 'self' sealed away somewhere, or did it just… vanish?"

"She's not gone. But I wouldn't call it a seal, either," Yukari replied after a moment's thought. "If I had to put a name to it, I'd say… suppressed is more accurate."

Yukari hadn't spent years chasing Ran down just to end up with an empty husk of a yokai. No—what she wanted was the potential locked inside this pure-blooded, golden-furred nine-tailed fox.

A bloodline with the promise of evolving into a millennia-old daiyokai (Great Yokai)… now that was worth all the effort. That potential was the reason she'd selected Ran—a compatible animal spirit from the Beast Realm near Hell—and fused the two.

"So what you're saying is… one day, the golden fox could come back?" Veyron asked suddenly, processing the explanation.

"??!"

Ran visibly flinched.

"Relax," Yukari said, shooting her a side glance. "That'll never happen unless you willingly give up complete control of this body. The most she'll manage is surfacing for some fresh air now and then… and only if you let her."

"I'm sorry, Lady Yukari," Ran bowed her head. "I shouldn't have doubted your technique."

"It's fine. Just make sure you complete the tasks I assigned you."

Yukari waved it off casually.

"Yes, ma'am," Ran nodded. Having already received her orders through the link between shikigami and master, she turned to the others and offered a polite farewell: "Lord Veyron, Lady Yuyuko—I'll take my leave now."

With that, a gap opened behind her, swallowing her figure whole.

"Guess it's my turn to move," Yukari muttered, opening a gap beneath her feet. "The weaker ones or those with ties to me, I'll leave for Ran to contact… but when it comes to real cannon fodder, I'd better go handle that myself. Just to be safe—"

"Hold up."

Before she could vanish, Veyron opened a portal of his own and yanked her back. "Earlier, you said that the Hagoromo Gitsune also had the potential to become a full nine-tailed fox, right? Do you know how she's supposed to reach that level?"

"She doesn't know?" Yukari glanced down at the little white fox curled up on Veyron's lap.

"She said she feels like it's possible," he replied, "but she has no idea how to actually do it."

"I didn't get much more than that myself," Yukari admitted. "All I saw was that it seems related to 'rebirth' in some way. Maybe she'll understand it better once she breaks through and becomes a full daiyokai."

"Alright. Guess we'll wait and see how she does."

Veyron nodded lightly.

Hagoromo Gitsune: "…"

…So to people like Veyron and Yukari, that near-impossible wall between High-Class Yokai and great yokai—a bottleneck that's blocked countless yokai for generations, one that I spent over a hundred years trying to overcome—is just something you wait to break through?

Seriously?

.

.

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