<h4>Chapter 450: Ahoge</h4>
Kat and Kamiko enjoyed another long soak in the bath. This time, with slightly more sess. The burning sensation in Kat''s limbs was slowly leached away by the cool water, slowly retreating towards her core which continued to burn. It wasn''t the perfect fix, but it helped improve the feeling of her arms and legs tremendously as well as clear her thoughts up somewhat.
Kamiko had a very simr experience, though with a few extra aches and pains being cleared up as well due to hercking a regeneration ability. Her torn muscles would need to recover more naturally, though a good night''s rest would do most of the job. She was no Kat, but she was still a healthy Rank 2 demon.
When they got out of the water an hourter, they headed back up to see Kamiko''s father and prayed things would be a bit cleaner. They were lucky to find it was indeed the case. ''A bit'' cleaner indeed. The dinning table had been cleared away leaving two couches in its ce, one brown and the other ck. The dishes from the table had seemingly been put away. The kitchen bench now had a small section clear of flour but not much of it.
"Ah, I''m d to see you both back!" said Trigrath now covered in a face mask and bandanna over his hair. He had a real shirt on with long sleeves that had been rolled up along with short pants for some reason. Kat was surprised to see a he didn''t have any hair on them as well. *I wonder if that''s natural. I haven''t really met enough demons to know. I mean, I don''t have hair on my legs or my arms now so it''s likely I guess, at least for Subi.*
Trigrath spun in ce as his clothes got swapped out for a much more normal t-shirt and shorts, though they were still longer than the ones he was wearing during the cleaning. Once out of his cleaning attire, Trigrath stepped out of the kitchen and held his arms open wide. Kamiko sighed with a big smile on her face and jumped at him. Trigrath easily took the weight and spun her around.
*Wait… it just urred to me that he doesn''t need to do that. Normal humans use it to bleed momentum, but I could EASILY catch Kamiko without moving so he must be able to do the same. Why did he bother? How did he get into the habit? I have questions now and I don''t know if I can bare to ask for the answers because they look cute like this.*
Kamiko was being held aloft by her father easily, his hands tucked under her armpits as he spun her around a few times. Once that was done he, still spinning, moved over towards the couch and ced her down before taking the other couch for himself, knowing that Kamiko would want to sit with her friend. Trigrath had a soft smile on his face when he did this, not quite reaching his eyes.
Kamiko saw this, and jumped in ce next to Trigrath, and he said "Don''t you want to sit with Kat?"
"Dad, don''t be silly. I haven''t seen you for a while and I know you like spending time with me when you can. It''s fine. We just spent an hour in the bath together, and even ignoring that we''re spending the whole week together for the punishment. I can spare an hour or two in yourp silly" said Kamiko with a big smile on her face.
Trigrath''s smile grew much more rxed and he brought his daughter deeper into the hug. "Spose you''re right."
*They are sweet together. I''m surprised she didn''t do this with her mother but they seem to have a bit more of a… give and take rtionship? Maybe?* Kat examined the scene. Obviously she didn''t have a well of personal experience to fall back on but she had read books and seen a few films, so she had a guess.
*Is it… does Trigrath still see her as a little girl while her mother recognises, she''s… well I don''t quite know if she counts as an adult in their society, but at least as a functioning human… er… demon being? Is that right?*
Kat eventually made her way to the couch, taking a modest upright position with her legs crossed over and her tail in herp. She wanted to show she was paying attention to Trigrath, though she was still leaning into the couch somewhat, she also wasn''t trying to be overly stiff.
*Maybe this time I can make sure neither of my friends parents hates me. Well… as I heard recently her Dad doesn''t really hate me, he''s just willing to go along with it all. Which… you know I almost think that''s worse. I have no idea why Lily''s mum hates me but at least she can form her own opinions no matter how wrong.*
Suddenly, Trigrath tightened his grip on Kamiko. It wasn''t painful, but she would have a much more difficult time escaping. "Dad?" Kamiko asked confused. Her confusion was answered when he reached into the couch and pulled out arge binder and her eyes went wide. "Dad no!"
"Dad yes!" said Trigrath. "My little shrine maiden, I must uphold the sacred traditions of fatherhood and embarrass you in front of your friends. However, because you only have one I have to be extra embarrassing"
Of course, in truth might have more to do with Trigrath getting revenge for seeing his daughter cuddled into someone without warning. That had shaved a century off his lifespan just from the shock, even if it wasn''t as bad as he feared. "So… this is Kami''s photos from when she was younger…"
Trigrath managed to use one hand positioned at the bottom of the book to open it with his fingers, and give Kat a perfect view. On the first page was a tiny little Kamiko swaddled in a nket with almost know her. She actually had a tiny pink ahoge at the front calling everyone''s attention.
"Wait that''s Kamiko?" asked Kat confused not seeing any trace of the ahoge now.
"Yes, yes it is" said Trigrath "I can understand the shock. It''s very rare for a baby born with an ahoge to lose itter in life. Normally they stick around and develop strange abilities but Kamiko''s didn''t. She''s one of the few people who managed to escape it."
"Wait escape?" asked Kat confused
Kamiko was currently doing her best to examine what fabric her dad''s shirt was made up of as she hid her face. Trigrath exined "Well, escape probably is the urate term. Most of the abilities it develops are… not helpful to the demon in question. Such as giving away their real mood, or pointing to things that catch their interests. Why I knew one person with an ahoge that would vibrate when they lied, not a demon obviously, but it happened."
*Wait… this… this is a real thing? This isn''t a demonic thing either… what the heck? Isn''t it just a funny bit of hair?*
"Now, next…" said Trigrath taking Kat''s silence as the cue to move on, was a picture of Kamiko surrounded by all her family baring Meridithna. Most of them looked exactly the same as Kat knew them, except for Aslena who was much smaller, clearly still a baby herself. Kat didn''t like the look in her eyes though. If Kat knew better, which she did, she''d call it a spark of jealousy.
*That is a weird look for a baby. I think I''m starting to see why Aslena and Kamiko never managed to get along. Aslena has actually been after her since day one. Man am I not looking forward to meeting her. I feel a deep need to beat her up and then dere my defence of Kamiko.
Is that allowed? I feel like it''s actually somewhat more likely to be allowed then I''d really like to think. The demon world is just sort of like that isn''t it?*
"Oh, it was nice to see her when she was that little. This picture is actually from a few weeks after she was born. I think we have a picture from the day… but it''s in another album. This one is more like the highlight reel, while that other one is just for the baby photos" said Trigrath
Kat''s eyes widened as she really looked at the book for the first time he said that. The thing was huge, even if there was only one photo per page, it would easily hold a few hundred photos.
*Seems like we''re going through quite the highlight reel. Still, I''d like nothing more.* "Well Trigrath, I''d be more than happy to go through them with you. I can tell you a bit about myself as well if you''d like"
Trigrath grinned, showing sharp pointed teeth and for the first time looking like a true demon "That sounds wonderful Kat" Kat didn''t realise that she''d never introduced herself.