章節 2: The Blessing Ceremony

3 months passed and Yahiko knew that today was the day.

The day when Kenshin would show to the world that he was not the scourge everyone thought him to be. After all, Yahiko and Mio learned more about how to treat him and they felt now that they could somehow control him.

You only needed to cover your ears with cotton when he started screaming. Of course, you couldn't do that when Kenshin was crying as he may need something important, but they learned how to distinguish between screams and cries. They were different.

Also, never approach him. It may sound weird like that, don't approach the baby but it was the truth as Kenshin automatically slapped almost everything that approached him. Yahiko was thinking of teaching him how not to slap when he got a bit older, all he would do is approach a cactus to him.

And so, with his newfound confidence, Yahiko picked up Kenshin to go to the shrine. Mio also wanted to come but Yahiko persuaded her to stay at home, something about 'there is no need for your ancestors to be ashamed too'.

Kenshin had stopped crying that much, maybe because he annoyed even himself. Yahiko didn't take him outside the house for 3 months so he was now looking at everything curiously.

Yahiko felt that Kenshin was after all a normal baby, except for a few quirks. Look at him, looking at the grass in wonder. Look at him looking at the tall trees in awe. Look at him-.

Yahiko deadpanned when he saw Kenshin slapping a butterfly that had unknowingly entered his impressive slapping range.

"Why can't you be normal?" asked Yahiko the baby who was looking with frenzied eyes at more things to smack down.

So while Yahiko pondered his life's mistakes and Kenshin looked around they arrived at the Great Narukami Shrine.

'I want to go back' thought Yahiko with fake tears when he saw how every single person looked at them while whispering.

'No!, I need to be strong. If Kenshin doesn't receive the blessing he will not be able to have a healthy life. So what if they whisper at my back? When the time comes I will approach Kenshin to anyone who complains!' Yahiko was indeed a parent worthy of admiration, he even thought about how to weaponize his son.

'Still, aren't too many people here in formal clothes? I should come another day' Yahiko got cold feet when he saw the amount of officials around.

"Welcome to the shrine. What do you need?" asked a miko with brown long hair. Due to her short stature and apparent age, Yahiko thought that she must be a miko-in-training.

"I'm here for the blessing ceremony for my son. But if there is something important today I can come back another day" said Yahiko while gulping. He just saw the head of the Kamisato clan. And he was carrying Kenshin. This will go wrong for sure.

"Don't worry!. I will tell that to Guuji-sama!" the energetic trainee went happily to accomplish her mission, not realizing the dismayed expression Yahiko had hearing her.

Yahiko had hoped for a quick ceremony with miko C and to get out, easy. But now the Guuji was involved and remembering how she was treated by Kenshin, Yahiko wanted to run. But now that the trainee had left it would be rude of him to run away.

'Fuck it, better to be rude than dead. I'm running. Kenshin I'm sorry, but your blessing is too expensive for us'.

Just when Yahiko had turned around to leave the trainee came back with an excited smile.

"Good news!. Guuji-sama was going to perform the blessing ceremony for the young lord of the Kamisato clan, so she agreed to bless your son personally!" her radiant smile told him about how excited she was to be able to tell him this 'good luck'.

Yahiko felt that the God of Eternity was punishing him for not praying enough. He could only hand Kenshin to the trainee, who received the baby with a gentle face. Maybe she was at the age when she thought babies were cute.

'Poor soul.. I only hope Kenshin doesn't destroy her innocence. Please Kenshin, this is your chance of redemption. I don't ask much of you, just don't go slapping people around. You can cry, it's okay. I made sure that your bladder was empty before leaving so that's also covered'. The fact that Yahiko needed to do this kind of preparation every time he needed to take his son out of the house was quite telling of how much of a pain Kenshin was.

Yae prepared herself, checking for the last time her appearance in a mirror before leaving for the blessing ceremony.

'So it's already this time. The new generation of the 3 great clans have already been born. I wonder which generation is it now? I lost count a few hundred years ago' Yae thought dryly.

'Well, it's just another ceremony. Let's end quickly and return reading my nov-' And then she saw the other baby she was going to bless today.

'Oh no' that was the only thought that crossed her mind. 'Not you again'.

Go Kenshin!. Making a centuries-old fox youkai feel fear is something no one else could do.

Seeing Yae's dark face, Yahiko hunched over trying to make himself smaller.

"Is there a problem Guuji-sama" asked with a wide smile the trainee.

'Miyuki was it....you have no idea of the trouble you have caused today' Yae thought with a resigned smile. Something was going to be wrong today, and she didn't know what.

"No, nothing. Prepare everything".

The ceremony started without a problem. It was a lot more formal and solemn than what used to be, as one of the children being blessed was the only boy from the Kamisato clan, Kamisato Ayato.

'I can't believe it, Kenshin is behaving himself!. Go Kenshin, show your dad how good you are' Yahiko was almost crying with happiness.

'I can't believe it, this boy is not slapping the boy from the Kamisato clan next to him!' Yae was impressed by the wrong reason.

Kenshin had been looking at the Sakura Tree with an absent expression, and Yae was thankful for that. Still, she wondered what was he looking at. Maybe when he grew up he could tell her.

Then the moment when the children received the blessing arrived. Yae slowly lowered the talisman to Ayato's face and gently touched his forehead with it. Ayato made a cheerful expression and giggled a bit. Truly, his expression befitting that of a normal baby.

'Now you' Yae looked at the other baby and felt dismayed. 'Oh no, he's not distracted anymore, he's looking at me'.

Indeed, Kenshin was looking at Yae with a bored expression at having been watching the same tree for an hour. And a bored Kenshin was a dangerous one.

'Please, behave. I will even give you a greater blessing. Please' the 500+-year-old fox youkai begged to a 3-month-old baby.

Yae gently lowered her talisman towards Kenshin and Kenshin just looked at it curiously. But when the talisman entered his range, he grabbed it.

'.....' Yae just looked at the baby in dismay. She was ready, and she wouldn't approach her face to the baby nor would she pick him up, but this brat's unpredictability was something to fear.

And there they stood. Baby and Youkai exchanged gazes, one curious and the other apprehensive.

'God dammit Kenshin' Yahiko resigned himself to grab Kenshin and start running away.

The rest of the attendants, the top of the whole Inazuma, obeying only the Shogun herself looked in curiosity at this unexpected development.

Yae lightly pulled her talisman trying to make Kenshin release it, but of course, Kenshin didn't allow that. You approach it and now you want to take it away? Nu-uh.

Yae decided to be the bigger soul here. She released the talisman making Kenshin show a disappointed expression. Maybe he wanted to play more, but now that the lady released it, this strange thing was his now. Come and take it back if you dare.

The trainee saw this and towards Kenshin to retrieve it, but Yae saw how Kenshin's eye zeroed on the approaching object and started preparing his arm for a monumental slap. So Yae stopped the trainee, saving her from the embarrassment of being decked in the face in front of the ruling families, who were watching the show with anticipation. Watching a ceremony for hours to bless 2 children they didn't care about could be quite boring after all.

"No need, surely you don't think so little of me that you believe I can't bless a baby without a medium right?" Yae asked with her teasing smile while masking her apprehension.

"O-Of course not Guuji-sama" the trainee quickly blushed and retreated.

'Fufu, how cute. And now you' Yae looked at Kenshin as if she was staring at an enemy.

Maybe Kenshin noticed the animosity in Yae's eyes because he wore a smile that Yae could only think was a smug one, while waving her charm, reminding her how he had won their previous bout.

'This little---' Yae decided to bless him and release this feral beast into the wild. She muttered an incantation and gestured with her hands in a complicated pattern, effectively blessing the child.

The boy tried to slap the blessing, making Yae feel astonished.

'Is he really able to see the blessing? This kid is really special after all. But though luck, you can't slap the blessing away' smugly smiled Yae.

Kenshin felt really surprised because it was the first time in his short life that he couldn't smack something. From the corner of his eye, he saw Yae's mocking smile, of course being a baby he wasn't able to understand what it meant but he didn't like it one bit.

So he slapped the purple thing approaching him with his other hand, the one holding Yae's medium. And he was able to effectively slap the charm away.

'Hoo, you aren't that smug now, right? Bow before my greatness' is what Yae understood from Kenshin's smirk.

Yae clenched her teeth again. Why did this brat make everything so complicated? If she gave up she would feel like she lost against a baby 3 months old.

The people around saw what happened but didn't understand why Yae looked pissed off, but someone remembered the last time they had seen Yae make that kind of face.

"Wait a minute, isn't that the baby who pissed on Guuji-sama only to slap her after?" someone pretty dumb had to say in a loud voice.

The rest felt stunned. Some because they didn't know about it, and some others because they recognized the baby now. Now everybody was muttering while looking at Yae, and the Kamisato clan felt nervous as they didn't want Ayato's ceremony to be tarnished by this troublesome baby.

Yahiko was dead inside.

'I'm done with you. I know how this will go, I will keep trying to bless you and will keep slapping my blessings away. So I will bless you with all my power and just end this'.

And Yae did just that. Hundreds of blessings poured towards Kenshin who was wearing a playful smile and holding the talisman like a tennis racket.

But when he saw the hundred of purple things approaching him he knew he was in for the hardest battle in his life.

He started swinging the talisman, focusing on the zones he wouldn't be able to reach so easily later, mainly his feet. Yet he realized that he couldn't stop paying attention to his left side because he was using the talisman with the right hand and the time needed to reach the left side of his body was bigger.

'Huh, so that's your plan. Pretty crafty, but you shouldn't underestimate my power!' Kenshin thought while looking with a challenging smile at Yae. He started executing his perfectly designed plan, evaluating the amount of purple things that were about to reach the different sides of his body and calculating how much time he would need to bat away every single one of them.

Or....he swung his hand around randomly with his eyes closed, hoping to somehow hit them.

What did you expect?. He is a baby after all.

Of course, he failed, he slapped 3 before the rest hit him. Yae quickly dispelled the excess of energy inside his body but still had time to send Kenshin a smug smile before freezing in realization.

'Why am I competing with a baby?' she thought and felt depressed.

The audience looked at her quickly changing face, but couldn't understand anything as they couldn't see their mystic battle. But one thing they realized was that the boy wasn't normal.

When Kenshin realized he had lost in something, his monkey brain did not allow him to understand exactly what felt like crying.

Yae saw how Kenshin took to the air to start screaming and felt relief. If he was crying he wouldn't do anything strange right? But she didn't hear the expected cries so she could only think 1 thing.

'Oh no'.

Yae saw Kenshin wear a confused expression, maybe not understanding what he was feeling. He opened his mouth and puked.

All over Kamisato Ayato.