Who Da Boss Lady? 47 (Patreon)

Commissioned by InfiniteChaosRai

Who Da Boss Lady?

Chapter 47

-VB-

Venalita got scolded first and “sent” to Mari’s room along with Mari.

It left Sato with the stranger in his house who had been about to fight - and potentially destroy - in his backyard (and potentially also destroy his house that he still needed to pay off). 

“... I don’t recognize you at all, sir,” he said to the man who sat in seiza as Venalita had been while he scolded her. 

The man took a slight bow. Respectful enough for the position Sato found him in. “I am Urahara Kisuke. Formerly of the Gotei 13.”

Sato sat on his statement for a moment before the word registered. 

“A shinigami?” he asked incredulously. 

Urahara looked surprised. “You are well informed. But then again, you should be, Mister Bush Snake.”

His eyes narrowed. “I left that life behind a long time ago. You don’t need to bring it up.”

“On the contrary,” Urahara replied. “You may say that you have left that life behind, but it has been less than two decades, and you have left plenty of enemies.”

“And are you here for that?”

“No.”

“Then what are you here for?”

Urahara didn’t reply for a long moment. And when he did, it raised Sato’s hackles. “I suppose you were low enough on the totem to not know the kind of response void taint demands.”

“... You are talking about Venalita.”

“Yes. Her ‘essence’ has been found in this city, and I was asked to investigate by Satan Leviathan. She had been worried that some void creature might be after her apprentice. Except instead of a void creature on the prowl, I found a territorial and protective void god.”

A void god. 

Individuals and people like the shinigamis used the word “god” more frequently compared to those from other cultures and pantheons. India and Japan were two of the most iconic cultures when it came to the prolific number of spirits and gods. The terms for gods and spirits were different and had different connotations, of course. 

A god (kami) referred more to a natural force, demon (youkai) embodied the less natural but still spiritual parts of the world, and ghosts (reikon) pointed to human spirits in particular. 

And the shinigami, a god, in front of him, referred to Venalita as a god. Not a demon, not a youkai, or ghost of some kind. 

A god.

Sato sat there for a moment before he reached forward and took a sip of his green tea. 

It was about what he expected. 

“And how bad is the situation in your opinion?”

“Surprisingly enough, not too bad. We won’t have to wipe out the city.”

Sato nearly did a spit-take. 

“Oh yes, that’s generally what happens to void infestation. But…” he paused. “Venalita seemed to be working toward something and more than willing to commit to violence. Someone like her, a void creature capable of planning and thought as we understand it, is not someone we as humanity can ill afford to anger. So I intend to observe the situation.”

He stared at the shinigami before nodding slowly. “If you have the time, then I would like to learn more about … this void.”

Urahara looked at him for a moment before smiling. “Wonderful! It’s always good to see parents who are willing to learn. If you would, then could you tell me from the start how Mari-chan became… Clarinette?”

Sato stared at the man for a moment before he shook his head. “No.”

The shinigami looked surprised. “No?”

“That’s her story to tell. What I want to know is if there are other dangers that Venalita could bring to my house whether she knew about it or not. Like the part about ‘wiping out the city’ you just glossed over.”

“Ah, yes. That.”

-VB-

“What did you mean when you said ‘rival’?” Mari demanded as she glared at Venalita from her bed. 

Venalita spun around in circles, up and down and up and down, before she finally stopped long enough to answer. “A rival is a rival. What else is there?”

She took a deep breath in and let it out. “And what constitutes a rival?” 

“Someone who will push you to be better and more!” 

“And who is this rival?”

“Not telling~!” 

Mari felt her cheeks twitch. 

“And why would you go and make a rival? Hmm? When I didn’t ask for one?”

That got Venalita to stop.

“Because you’re lollygagging.”

“... What?”

Venalita rolled her eyes. “You’re not strong enough.”

Her words made Mari freeze. 

“You saw exactly how strong the devils can become, but you aren’t hunting anymore. You’re scared. You’re stagnating. So I decided that you need someone to push you forward. So I made another evil magical girl, and unlike you, she seems to really like working toward her goal. Of defeating you that is. And being this magnificent, beautiful, and great Venalita’s sole magical girl!” 

Mari called bullshit on that. 

If anything, she felt pity for the other magical girl. This new girl obviously got involved just like she did: zero idea, zero understanding, and zero choice. 

If she knew Venalita, then she definitely pushed that girl to go through some horrid shit. 

“You dropped her off into combat zones without telling her how her new powers worked, didn’t you?”

“Well, she was a magician before she became a magical girl so…”

“So you did.”

“I did.”

“Why are you like this, Vena?”

The mascot just blew a raspberry at her. 

She nearly jumped at the thing before she calmed herself down. Because right now, she was … not quite desperate but frustrated with her lack of progression in healing spells unlike her Final Spark and other spells that came so easily. 

“Venalita, I need your help.”

That made the mischievous doll stop.

“... Ho?”

“I want to be able to heal people but I can’t get it right. You can help me with that, right?” she asked and gulped at the concentrated look Vena was giving her. 

After a long while, she finally answered.

“But you should be able to do that easily?” 

“Huh?”

“It should be no different than your other spells.”

“But it isn’t! I made tentacles sprout from a dead rabbit!”

“Well, duh. You tried healing on a corpse. That’s necromancy.”

That brought her up short.

“... Necromancy? Like … Warcraft?”

“You know Warcraft?”

She grimaced. “I have a friend who is obsessed with it.”

“Huh. Small world.”

“... Wait, how do you know about Warcraft?”

“... I plead the Fifth?”

“What does that even mean?”

“Right, you’re not American enough to understand that. Darn.”

“Americans? What does that have to do with -?”

“So! Let’s find ourselves someone hurt! The local hospital should have plenty of people, right?”

Mari felt her stomach drop. “Wait, you’re not suggesting…!” 

“It looks like Evil Magical Girl Clarinette is about to go to the hospital!” 

“... To learn about healing, right?”

“...”

“... Right?”