Senran Kagura; Shinobi by Death: Volume 1, The Beginning

Chapter 20: Acceptance

After Yukio used Soul Travel to see Katsuragi's past, he waited for her, in the secret room, to wake up.

Yukio heard Katsuragi starting to wake up, and he panicked. He didn't know what to say after seeing her backstory.

"G-Good morning, Katsu." Yukio said.

Katsuragi yawned before replying, "Good morning, Yukio. Wait, you were watching me sleep?!"

"Yes, but not in the way that you're thinking of." Yukio responded.

Katsuragi sighed. "Oh, I forgot. You don't have the guts." She taunted Yukio.

"Sure...we'll go with that." Yukio sarcastically said, he didn't fall for her taunt. "Are the others asleep?"

"Look for yourself." Katsuragi replied, as she pointed to the door. She then smirked. "Or do you not have the guts for that either?"

"To look at girls sleeping? I know I'm not gonna do anything that you're thinking of, so yeah, I have the guts." Yukio said, as he walked to the door. "Oh, and if these girls are sleeping as cute as you were, I won't wake them up." He added.

"Huh?!" Katsuragi was shocked, and didn't know how to react to the compliment.

That got her to shut up. Now I know that she gets flustered by compliments.

Yukio opened the door to reveal the four girls, sound asleep on futons.

Asuka slept on her right side with her arms out like she was reaching for something. Ikaruga slept on her left side and her hands barely touched her chin. Hibari slept on her right side, facing Yagyu, and her right hand was intertwined with Yagyu's. Yagyu slept on her left side, facing Hibari, and her left hand was intertwined with Hibari's.

Seeing how the girls slept in their beds made Yukio's heart stop for a moment, he quickly closed the door, and tried not to wake anyone.

"So, are they still asleep?" Katsuragi asked.

"Oh, y-yeah." Yukio replied.

"Great, we've got a while before they wake up. So...what should we do in the meantime?" Katsuragi reluctantly asked.

"You're asking me?" Yukio countered.

Well, I've got quite a number of topics to talk with Katsu about, but...they all have to do with her past. Is it ok for me to tell her that I saw her past?

Yukio then remembered his chats with the other girls about their pasts. Yagyu accepted that Yukio saw her past. Hibari told him about her past like it was nothing. Ikaruga was strong enough to share her past with Yukio. Asuka was to be decided, but Yukio thought that Katsuragi was gonna be the same way, so he took a deep breath, and opened his mouth to talk about the past he saw.

"Katsu...you know about my Soul Travel ability, right?" Yukio said, after a minute of silence.

"Yeah, what about...oh, you saw my past, didn't you?" Katsuragi said.

Yukio simply nodded. He didn't know whether to show empathy, or not show anything.

"I'm sorry. My ability suddenly activated, and showed me your past." Yukio bowed as he apologized.

"Well, if you didn't activate it yourself, I can't blame you. How much of it did you see?" Katsuragi asked.

"Only about your parents, and your first year here with Ikaruga." Yukio admitted.

Just be honest, there's nothing I can gain from lying to her at this point.

Yukio sat in silence, waiting for Katsuragi to respond.