Magical Trickster DxD (HS DxD Magician!OC-I with some X-overing)

A quick premise:
This is a Fanfic that will be updated daily. It starts with main plot and has some minor divergences from the Canon. Such as:
- Issei is not as cringey as in Canon (by that I mean he is still a pervert but he will not be obsessively so like in Canon, he still loves Oppai but will experience some growth);
- I am planning how to structure his Harem, some girls will be parried to other characters while others will not have a pairing at all. (Girls like Rias and Asia are a must, but I will not directly address any lewd scene this section of QQ's rules, maybe in the NSFW section I will open an archive if I must);
- MC will have a Chibi Army, a growing group of little sisters which will not be considered an Harem (Closest action to lewd allowed is 'Head-patting');
- MC will have a single pairing, no Harem for the Insert as it would escalate any future migraine about structuring this all;
- MC doesn't start with a Sacred Gear (He could obtain or 'create' one if I plan this correctly and logically);
- The MC story will partly follow the main plot and some divergences are planned to happen very early on. (Some characters appearing way earlier than in Canon);
- How am I writing 3 to 5k+ chapters daily? I am just inspired. Dunno why tho.
And that is all, let the madness unfold!

 

Chapter 1: Why one should always be careful

As a renowned establishment for students seeking high-grade education, Kuoh Academy did make its good figure with its illustrious teacher staff and model rule-book.

Once an All-Girl school, the decision to switch to a co-ed system was agreed unanimously by the past school board after the large increase of funds received years ago, the money allowing the construction of a prominent complex of buildings styled after a mix of Japanese and European unique tones.

A prestigious place of culture that only had a simple but persistent issue that gave to the whole Academy a less than pleasant reputation: the Perverted Trio.

While perverts were a glaring problem back when the decision of opening to male students was approved, the stern rules that were applied at the time managed to destroy most of the pests studying at the high school.

The Trio was a special case as the female population did see them as a threat to deal with personally, feeling quite attacked by their lecherous ways.

At least that was the known part of the story.

There was another deterrent the Trio was supposed to deal with all those times they tried to lewd after innocent, but very violent, girls.

It was during an hour after the end of the school day when the first burst of girly shrieks reached my years and, having been doing this for months now, I knew that the owner of such shrieks wasn't female at all.

"Motohama! You better not be hiding in the Girl's storage room again!" I shouted as I slowly patrolled the area, sweating a little after the brief chase I was previously engaged in trying to find the last of the two present perverts today.

While his comrade has fallen to the 'kindness' the girls leaving from the volleyball practice wanted to return after some caught the two while they were peeping on them, the glass-wearing fiend managed to avoid being given a beating of the pervert-kind.

No honor among idiots, I thought tiredly as I continued for my little game of hide and seek with the young teen.

"Man, this isn't the first time we do this and you know that making things harder will not get you out of this situation."

There was some noises now erupting from the storage room, a familiar pervert slamming the doors open while trying to make a run for it, failing to remember I was far too close for him to avoid being tackled.

Slamming head first, the boy groaned under my weight and soon I had him pulled up.

"C-Can we talk about this, H-Hoitsu-kun?" He let out a quick, nervous chuckle which I replied with a sigh.

"We can chat about the nice weather and how is school, but sadly I cannot have you skip righteous punishment;" I stated quietly, ignoring the panic surging from my words.

He squirmed as we started to slowly walk towards the girl approaching us.

Long straight black hair that reached down to her knees split into several bangs and heterochromatic eyes, one a soft violet while the other with a pleasant chocolate shade, Tsubaki Shinra was a gorgeous young woman. The Vice-president of the Student Council and my 'Second' Boss, the bespectacled lady was someone with an admirable sense of duty for her work.

She nodded at once she was close enough to understand the predicament she was staring at.

"Motohama-san and Matsuda-san caused chaos once again?" Tsubaki asked in a rhetorical voice before sighing. "I would have thought you two would have learned from getting beaten so harshly last time."

Surprisingly enough the glass-wearing pervert huffed. "The girls were violent a-and the council shouldn't condone this kind of viole-Eeck!" The boy tried to pull away from my grasp, noticing almost instantly the glare the girl was giving to him.

"Violence that is caused by your unbecoming acts, pervert." She scolded sternly, earning another whimper from the teen as we escorted him to the teacher lounge.

As one of the senseis picked the boy out of our jurisdiction to deal with him, I started to walk back toward the student council's room with Tsubaki.

"Those three are incredibly resilient to the ministrations of the strongest females in this school. I do reckon that-"

"N-Now that I remember about it- Sorry, Hoitsu-san, I didn't want to interrupt you but..." The girl sighed and continued. "Sona-buchou said that today's session will not happen. Momo and Tomoe were busy with some important appointments and couldn't participate, thus it has been de-"

"-layed." I interrupted with a small smile, Tsubaki blushing a little. "There is no need to make this kind of news this much developed. Still, thank you for the warning, Tsubaki-san."

She nodded happily as we parted ways, I didn't have now a reason to go to the council's room and thus decided to walk back home.

Homework wasn't going to be done without my input and today Math-sensei did leave quite the heavy work to see completed for tomorrow.

Yawning quietly, I paced through the halls of the school to reach the main entrance, a large corridor that led right to the glass doors that divided the school building from the outside courtyard.

I was about to reach out for one of the doors' handles when I heard footsteps approaching me. Blinking, I turned around and I was found myself greeted by a smiling brunet which I was familiar to, much to my dismay.

"Issei-kun?" I muttered curiously as this was the first time he didn't waste time around the other two perverts and… didn't he disappear for most of the school time?

"Hoitsu-senpai, can I walk with you back home? I need to tell you about some epic news and-"
I sighed tiredly at the cheerful tone, dreading at what 'epic' things the younger teen had done today. There were so many terrible things I could be hearing once we were out of the building and…

I think I was seeing that part of the story, the beginning of DxD and… how did I miss Raynare?!

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"Rias-buchou is awesome, senpai." The brunet continued to tell about accepting the invitation to the Occult Club led by the redhead beauty, Rias Gremory.

My name is Hoitsu Sakakibara… or is it Sakakibara Hoitsu? Japanese styling of names and all... Anyway! I'm what many would call a Self-Insert, someone from the 'original world' that is either moved to a different universe or replaces a determined character, important (and known) or secondary (and particularly unknown).

"...a-and then there was this shower built inside and…"

My situation is a replacement of a character I'm fairly sure is a… OC, a person that within the 'Canon' version of this universe shouldn't be existing.

"...Oppai!…"

I woke up a few months ago, way earlier than the beginning of the plot. I was already enlisted to Kuoh Academy by the time I found myself in this world of Devils, Fallen Angels, and True Angels, but the preparation I have planned to avoid some of the more 'unpleasant notes' of this series have yet to be completed.

"...Koneko-chan is adorable!…"

I wormed myself in the Student Council, obtaining the rule as a serious treasurer under Sona's leadership. The role came as a surprise as I expected that, even with the elections that saw me appointed to the position, Sona would have meddled with the results.

"...Akeno-senpai is so nice and-…"

Still, I didn't show any wrong reaction in accepting the charge, showing merely happiness at the 'results of my hard work'. I knew I did more than enough to conquer the place, but the doubt of losing that seat of power because of favoritism regarding her peerage? That was a legitimate fear of mine.

"...Kiba looks like a jerk…"

And while I consolidated myself at school, I actually managed to find some magic books a few weeks ago. The pace of learning and training the Arcane Arts only delayed by the duties at school and the nagging of my new parents regarding my grades at school.

I was doing pretty well with exams but I ended up with a man and a woman that wished for their son to strive and reach the highest point in society. A big objective that I hardly considered to achieve, since there were more important situation to deal with first-

"Ne, senpai. Are you ignoring me… again?"

I blinked back to reality as I caught Issei's words, glancing quickly at him and shrugging sheepishly. "Sorry, Ise. Dealing with stuff with the council and-"

"Oh? Is it Sona-senpai or Tsubaki-senpai the 'stuff' that you are dealing with?"

The lewd tone, I didn't like. Thus I proceeded to land a quick karate chop on his head and, while this might have caused a reaction with little strength, I decided to add a little more as I knew that the boy wasn't human anymore.

The hit did work miracle as the teen recoiled at the quick punishment, huffing at the 'treacherous tone' I had around the Perverted Trio. "S-Senpai, this is unfair! You have many gorgeous women around and you refuse the accept the idea of having a harem-"

"Because it is a flawed idea of making everyone happy, Ise." I replied quickly, this bickering not the first regarding this very topic. "A man can't give equal love to more than a woman. The relationship would be unhealthy and get very unstable after some time."

He pouted but, like always, decided to not continue the losing battle.

"Still, to be invited to the Occult Club by Rias-san herself?" I chose to bring some little relief in that defeat of his. "You have to have caught her eye with whatever you did… that wasn't perverted."

He blinked, his cheek reddening in embarrassment. "J-Just being normal but trustworthy-" Issei's eyes blinked as he found himself staring at the ground. "I… Senpai?"

"Mhh?" Now that was a quick change of personality.

"D-Do you believe me about… Yuuma-chan?"

I blinked in surprise at that question. I did kind of forget that this little thing was a reason for Issei to doubt himself and…

I sighed. "I don't believe that." At hearing my words he deflated immensely. "No, I know that there was a girl that asked you out."

… "Eh?!"

"Ise, you were shouting about this yesterday, bragging how a 'connoisseur of the fine female body' can get a girlfriend."

He had the decency to blush again. "I-It wasn't that bad and-"

The new Devil stopped, eyes widening as he looked up in the sky and I frowned as I realized where we were right now.

I could recognize the fountain and the benches, I could recognize the trees near the free paths of this… park. The sky looked as if it had been painted by someone suffering from some heavy LSDs influence and I tensed as I felt someone walking right behind us.

"To think I would end up encountering a human and a Devil this late in the day." We turned to see a man wearing a trenchcoat and a hat, both apparels hiding his appearance from us but… I knew who we were looking at.

Dohnaseek, one of the few Fallen Angels that joined Raynare and Kokabiel in their little rebellion against Azazel.

Issei looked scared, possibly comparing this very situation to the one that saw him dying against the backstabbing lady that had him on a date. He looked ready to run away but he stood quiet as he noticed that I wasn't particularly fearful of the predicament.

"S-Senpai-"

"I know, Ise." I said quickly, understanding his concerns but… feeling quite ready to face someone of his caliber. "But I have a plan."

The middle-aged man chuckled. "'A plan'? Do you seriously think anything you could come up with would work on me?"

I smiled widely. "I can assure you that my plan is the best plan possible and… you should have expected guests." My finger pointed right behind him and he turned to look, trying to find any intruders he had not detected and…

…

There was no one.

He turned around, mouth open and ready to call out my bluff but he stopped at what I was trying to pull.

Pumping energy the moment he had turned around, I grabbed Issei close and turned around myself, leg moving quickly and swiftly as I muttered a grand hero's true strategy out-loud.

"Nigerundayo, Ise!"

… "WHAT?" The brunet yelled under my arm, squirming a little as I rushed deeper into the foliage.
"You little shits!" Dohnaseek looked absolutely pissed and tried to pull his flight to try and intercept us-

BAM

-Ending up slamming on some tree branches in the process. Face bleeding and his mind completely gone because of the humiliation and the injury, the Fallen Angel didn't stop in his pursuit and continued to give chase.

I sighed as I decided that the distance we got over him was enough to start laying down a new plan. Turning some of the corners, I jumped on a bush, Issei yelping as he took most of the fall damage in the process.

"S-Senpai, what are you-"

"Be quiet, Ise." I stated with a stern tone, hands glowing as I started to place some magical signs all over the trees... "This is my real plan."

The lights coming from the seals dimmed and soon disappeared as nothing had happened.

"Now you stay here as I deal with this annoyance, ok?"

"S-Senpai, don't-" But despite his best attempt to keep me from leaving the hideout, I yawned as I walked on the clearing and waited to be spotted by the Fallen Angel.

"There you are!" Launching in a burst of speed, the middle-aged man gave off an animalistic glare, akin to a predator finally catching its prey and then- WHIP

Eyes widening, Dohnaseek dropped the Light Spear he had created while rushing towards me, several silver-colored strings keeping him stuck still.

"For being someone that pride himself as one of the 'strongest', you sure suck in keeping yourself out of an ambush, Dohnaseek-san."
He tensed at his real name being mentioned. "Y-You bastard-UGH!" The strings started to squeeze at him and I sighed.

"To think that a simple spell like the 'Silver Lining' one can give you this much trouble and…" I crouched to pick the still-present Spear, humming at its magical composition. "What an interesting conjuration…"

"You pitiful human! Once your Magical Coils go empty, your life is forfei- STAB - !"

The previously clean spear was now stained with blood, the man looking down as I continued to push it deeper inside his torso. Trembling in pain and fear, the Fallen Angel seemed to have understood that this wasn't going to be a warning for his group.

There wouldn't be any warning for traitors. I sighed again this time showing a curt smile. "Your little rebellion is going to end very soon. Kokabiel isn't the sharpest planner, isn't he?"

His eyes widened even more at the mentioning of his boss but his attention was mostly diverted in trying to live through the painful experience but-

STAB

The spear was pulled out almost instantly and pushed once more in his body, the damaged part being… his heart.

There was an instance of inner realization that his life was dimming and slowly he slouched over the strings of platinum. I waited a few more moments before pulling the spear out, letting the weapon collapse and release its energy, letting it seep in my reserves for further study.

"S-Senpai?!"

I blinked and turned around to see a shell-shocked Issei, glancing back and forth between me and the dying Dohnaseek.

"I will explain what is going on tomorrow, Ise." I stated without leaving much room for protests and patted his shoulders as I went towards him. He looked confused, frightened at the scene I left behind as the strings finally faded away, letting the man's corpse hit the ground.

"Right now… you should back to the fountain. I think Rias-san should be there and… Do keep quiet about me." I squeezed his shoulders again. "I am serious, do try and keep quiet about what has happened here, say that you managed to out-run the Fallen Angel and… I will be thankful."

He relaxed a little, his shoulders sagging as he nodded at my request. "B-But why are-"

"I know that secrecy sucks but… I need to avoid being noticed by some people. You do me this favor, buddy, and I will tell you about the answers you have and that your boss didn't even mention to tell you about. Capisce?"

He nodded and I sighed. "Good, then go and… have a good day."

I started to quickly pace towards the exit of the park, avoiding the normally-used paths that could be easily monitored and managed to get out of the area without being noticed.

This night? I consider it a failure as now I will have to act more directly towards the plot from now on…

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AN

This will update every two Saturdays, I am taking the Consultant off the hook for a while as I am experiencing some writer’s block about it.

Anyway, we dipping in the land of Lewd and Perverts but this OC-I will not act upon the primal predicament of the universe but focus on something more important and… that everyone crave as much as pron… and that is FLUFF AND HEAD-PATTING!

… Heh, mostly JK but yeah I will add some fluff and some minor little sisters army, not a harem but… an army of sort, yes.

I know that I might have left some Grammar errors around but the issue is that I can’t find a proper BR nowadays. If someone is interested in Beta-reading this story, and that means some seriousness as I will not accept any slackers on the job (something I had experienced most of the times with my attempts in finding a beta-reader). Anyway, let us make the best out of this story… shall we?

EDIT: Decided to start looking back at the old chapters and correct the mistakes when I can. I think I got all if not most of the mistakes of the first draft this time ‘round.

 

Chapter 2: Mistakes were Made

This wasn’t going to be an easy morning.

Yawning tiredly, I managed to pick myself off the bed, surprisingly avoiding once more getting ensnared by the alluring craving for more sleep.

Dohnaseek’s words about my coils echoed in my brain, pointing out how I was still fairly new with the whole Magic sthick. My entire body was still recovering from the straining encounter of the previous night and I would be lying in saying I didn’t have a certain inner whining about more sleep.

If it hadn’t been that I did have something important today, I would have considered the notion, weighting if skipping a day would or not spark the suspicions of Rias.

Sure, I knew that Sona was too much busy with her own problems regarding the school and her situation in Hell, but the Gremory was the one that keep an eye open for any possible threat in their fiefs.

While I was still a noob, I was a Magician in the making in everyone’s book. The Silver Lining was a good proof that I knew few things about the basics, being able to turn a ‘Containment Spell’ from the Japanese Spellcraft in something useful for the predicament I had to deal the day before.

The death of the Fallen Angel was going to have the dual effect of bringing more attention to the presence of curious individuals near the school and making Raynare a little nervous over the current pace of their operations.

If I played my cards well, I could easily catch Asia before she can even consider approaching the rebelling Fallen Angels and gaining an ally in the process, which I would more than happily assign to live at the Hyoudou residence.

Why that place and not my home? The first reason was that my new parents were no-nonsense kind of people and would turn down politely the any offer of housing the nun; the second reason was that I would then gain some respect from Issei, the boy understanding that I was putting some trust about his capacity to not cause any perverted act around the naive girl.

While I was perfectly sure that he would eventually end up doing some unconscious lecherous acts, those were partly-acceptable as… they weren’t planned.

Plus if the situation evolved accordingly to Canon, Asia would manage to mitigate the perverted nature of Issei which… was a good thing for him and my plan.

Standing up from the bed, I glanced at my PC and smiled as I remembered the little idea I had about owning ‘suspicious’ book in my room. Two weeks of afternoons spent writing down the content of the books in some documents within the computer, making photos of all the signs that couldn’t be reproduced with the keyboard, I had two whole books regarding Japanese Spellcraft and basic healing techniques saved in a safe folder hidden by two passwords.

A very complex scheme that became a necessity with the possibility of being eventually tailed around by people or getting my room violated by unwanted intruders.

Speaking of ‘people’, before going to catch some rest I did spend some time browsing around in search for a very important contact details.

With the plans of Kokabiel entering in motion, it became a must informing Azazel of the happening in Kuoh Town. The man might have some limited interest in Issei, but I am fairly unsure if said interest did span to a level of keeping the brunet under constant surveillance, excluding Raynare.

It was a long guess, but if I managed to pass on him the memo that someone was starting to plot some war-sparking problems within Grigori and give him some proof of it, I might get some indirect help from him.

Setting up an untraceable post within my PC was something that drained even more time but also part of my available funds, either from pocket money or small rewards from odd jobs around the city.

It was enough to get me to send a lengthy message to Azazel, containing pictures and peculiar bank transactions visible with some ‘persuasive’ research within some Grigori-owned branches without being spotted by the efficient security system set-up by the former Fifth-Heaven.

As I finished putting on my school uniform, I noticed that my right hand, the one that had absorbed the ‘Heavenly Energy’ from Dohnaseek’s final Light Spear, was still heated up from the minor adjustment to the coils contained within it.

Creating a separated section of my Magical Core to be used to accumulate holy energy was a blunder I conceptualized from some theories alluded within the Healing Book I had yet to finish to study about.

A Magical Core was something unique that was present within all living beings, the main reactor for everyone’s life. It was generally ingrained to sustain only a single type of energy, rarely two if the being was something like a hybrid, most of the cases being Fallen Angels.

Since my body couldn’t hope to survive a sudden injection of holy energy with my ‘Earthly’ type, I decided to try and test if the Mithridates’ method could be used in this specific situation.

Mithridatism was usually applied about building an immunity to poison by ingesting a small and gradually increasing quantity of non-lethal poison. In this predicament of mine, by slowly filtering the Holy energy within my core without causing any major issues with my current biology.

Some sickness was expected, some minor aching and a partial sensation that was akin to drugs’ withdrawal were partly possible, but the worst, which was complete rejection of the new energy, was nigh-impossible to happen as I wasn’t a Devil.

A Devil was incredibly weak against Holy energy which made ‘energy transfusion’ of said type of energy within a Devil’s body a known failure and death of the subject.

Putting on some bandages over the hand, I decided to also wear a glove with some minor runes that hid the energy pattern contained within it, keeping an extra layer of disguise from any Devil specialized in energy-detection.

It wasn’t much, but I was going to have an easier time at school today.

Walking downstairs, I was greeted by a steamy plate of bacon and scrambled eggs and a small paper sitting right beside the food on the table.

I blinked, curiosity deciding to peek out as I started to read quietly the content of the small thing.

We will be working overtime and will be home later than usual.

Simple, curt and very positive. This message did offer some more opportunity to further study and expand from the books available and see if I could get some more texts I could learn from.

With general happiness plastered in my face, I walked out of my house with a satisfied belly and an intriguing possibility to deal after a normal day at school.

---

I yawned, my attention keeping fixed on the teacher as I continued to half-listen to today’s lesson about Japanese literature.

I admit I didn’t expect the subject to hold this level of difficulty, with its deep poetry and narration of the various periods, detailing the Shoguns and the Daimyos. Still it wasn’t worse by any mean to European literature, managing to get close but also… not close enough to make my head hurts every single lesson.

Part of my focus was also split between looking at Akeno and Rias, both girls in my same class, being the two favorites of the class by both teachers and students.

Beautiful, smart and morally graceful. Those two were quite the grand rewards for many young men, respectfully holding a similar kind of appeal that made them popular while also lovable.

A position that many women would envy was actually praised and quickly accepted, which showed that their reputation was way above than the one’s air-headed divas would have.

I continued to keep a good composure for the rest of the hour, quickly walking out of the classroom the moment the teacher confirmed the end of the class and giving permission to leave the room.

A minor pause of ten minutes would ensue, brief but good enough to approach Issei and give him some better time for our little chat.

Finding the brunet was actually simple as the boy had to be wandering around the entrance of his classroom and, few moments later, I was patting his shoulder with a small smile much to his panic and surprise.

A little yelp left his mouth but he stopped himself from letting out anything remotely girly the moment his eyes noticed my figure. “O-Oh, Hoitsu-senpai.”

“Good morning, Ise-kohai. Might I remind you about our discussion about Drag So-Ball?”

He blinked in confusion, then a flash of recognition washed on his face. “R-Right, almost forgot about it… it should be in-”

“The thirty-minutes pause after our third lesson. We shall catch up in the roof to discuss about the latest episode.”

His eyes glowed a little as I knew he was a fan of the Dragon Ball’s rip-off. “You mean the Super Dragon 3 transformation and Satoru going against Mango Belus? That was-”

“Incredible, I know!” I smiled widely as I did catch some glimpses of the episode as…

I missed watching Dragon Ball and what was available in this dimension did make some good figure compared to it.

“Still I wonder, what do you think of the let-down of Sora? He managed to beat Terminator X and seemed to be ready to become the new protagonist-”

“But they make him go out so easily...” The new Devil replied with a gloomy face. “It’s kind of sad but I guess Satoru is kind of more popular, it wouldn’t have done him justice if he lost his importance.”

“I guess you are right.” I nodded in agreement. “Then I suppose we can continue later- and remember to not do anything ‘weird’ in the mean time. Would hate to have to pick you up and personally have you sent to deal with a teacher’s lecture.”

Issei bowed his head in embarrassment, yet his eyes hardly kept still while he spoke. “I-I will make sure to not cause trouble, senpai.”

I patted his shoulder once. “Good! Then we will see each other later, kohai.”

Turning around, I started to walk away from the boy, ignoring the mutterings of some students at the fact I did speak with a junior student. I was part of the Student Council and it had to be quite confusing to see me talk so calmly with a member of the Perverted Trio, no shades being thrown and all.

I guess I could have approached him in another way, but the rumors were hardly going to escalate without any further situation that might spark some unpleasant theories.

With a small sigh, I returned back to class and continued with today’s lessons, ready to deal with two sessions of Math and one of Biology.

---

Three hours later and I found myself limping on my way to reach the roof.

The expected symptoms were starting to show in the form of severe pain going through my left leg and some minor itching by the chest’s area.

I also felt feverish but still capable of formulate some logical thoughts and, after informing Sona herself that I wouldn’t be able to participate the council session because of health problems, I decided to make my chat with Issei the last thing to do at school today, taking an early leave to return back home.

I completely miscalculated the time it would take for me to recover and only the Gods know how much I would have to rest before being able to experiment around with my magic.

At least I wasn’t going to die, I mused darkly as I finally reached for the handle that led outside to the roof.

As the sudden light from the sun started to dim a little and my eyes slowly adjusted to it, I found myself staring at two individuals rather than the one I was expecting. Issei looked partly guilty as he shifted nervously from a seat quite distant from the smiling blond that was Kiba Yuuto standing near the only entrance to this place.

“Sakakibara-senpai, I’m sorry if I’m intruding but-” He turned to the nervous looking brunet with a small smile. “Issei-kun told me that you were going to discuss about Drag So-Ball and I am kind of… a fan of it.” He winked my way and I restrained myself from sighing at the pretty boy’s fake attempt to infiltrate the discussion.

I should have considered the fact both King and Queen of the Gremory’s peerage would have avoided giving up some hints to any actions directed at me, maybe they knew that I was spotted leaving with Issei for the park when they ‘rescued’ him yesterday.

But still, the lack of a direct confrontation from the redhead confirmed that Issei did keep his mouth shut about my role in killing Dohnaseek. That meant I could give some respect to the usually pervy boy to have not let that secret go because of a boob attack.

“Sure.” I smiled widely. “Then I guess we should begin.”

The two nodded, Kiba smiled happily while the other teen seemed to have taken a bite out of a lemon. Such was the terrible thing known as aggressive intrusion.

But I guess I have to explain why I had to go along with this ploy and not call out the pretty boy out of his silly act.

If I did make him leave, either diplomatically or violently, said act would be taken as evidence for further investigation and, frankly speaking, I did want to deal with Rias anytime soon. Especially without some power to protect myself from an eventual ‘unkind’ reaction from hers.

So the discussion did happen, but it was only about the anime which only Issei and I knew about. Kiba did show his lack of familiarity with the show and tried to downplay it as some mere forgetfulness, a lie that was easily caught by both the brunet and I.

It was an odd situation that continued for about two more hours. My health deteriorated a little more but nothing alarming yet and, seeing that it was starting to get dark, I decided to conclude this chat with a few words for the poor Devil.

“Ise-kohai, I almost forgot. Can I ask you a favor?”

The boy blinked and nodded, the blonde looking curious. “Sure, what do you need, senpai?”

“Tomorrow I might have to skip school.” I said with a pained smile. “You see, yesterday I got a deep cut while preparing dinner and the medicines I had to use aren’t particularly sitting well with my body. If it’s not asking too much, could you make an effort to get a copy of the homework of tomorrow from Tsubaki-san-”

He tensed at hearing the stern woman but I was quick to assure him safety. “I- I will call her to tell about the situation. I-If you avoid any issues tomorrow she will be less prone to lecture you and get you some detention.”

The teen nodded slowly and accepted the request. “I will do what I can, senpai.”

“G-Good.” I nodded too. “Then I-I can give you my address so you can pass around tomorrow.”

I took a small piece of paper and wrote down the address to my house, the boy nodding while storing it in one of his pockets. “Understood.”

“T-Then I go as I think I will need some p-power nap after this little situation.”

As I went towards the door, I saw Kiba walking by. “Do you need some help, senpai? You do seem quite...”

“I-I can hold until back home, Kiba-san.” I nodded thankful at him, while I tried to dodge the little bullet there. “A-Also I don’t want to get some r-rumors going about our current situation here.”

He blinked innocently. “What rumors, senpai?”

I looked back at Issei and the brunet didn’t deign to look back much to my disappointment. “S-Something about your romantic inclinations. Don’t wish for the rumor mill to hit us about that.”

“That sounds completely silly, senpai. No one would-”

“Did y-you know that girls are shipping you with Issei?” His confusion turned in dread. “I hope you will make sure to clarify the s-situation or the rumors will only end up getting w-worse.”

He nodded and I was granted the chance of leaving that place of dread behind as I ventured out of the school and towards home.

Reaching the modest-looking house, I sighed as I let my body hit the couch, the coziness almost taking my consciousness out as I tried to deal with the growing aches of the process, my stomach starting to softly groan at the terrible suffering it was subjected.

For the interest of everyone, I decided to avoid eating anything at lunch, knowing that it was now a matter of time before I would have to go to the bathroom and throw up what was left of my breakfast.

A pity that I couldn’t do anything with the extra hours of being alone but dealing with the regret coming from the results of my poorly-made choices.

I was about to close my eyes and let my sore brain drift away from that reality of pain when I heard a familiar and unholy sound reach out for me.

Ding Dong~

God-frigging-dangit!

I groaned on my pillow before slowly pulling myself out of that delightful place of comfort and back to the ever-aching situation of walking around. It was sheer determination that got me towards the door and as I slowly opened it to see who was daring to disturb me in my moment of sorrow, my eyes were greeted back by a pair of golden ones. Then I stared up and I saw silver-hair and…

Why was Koneko here?

She had some books in her hands, grasping them softly as she looked a little bit nervous through her ‘blank’ mask. “I’m sorry if I’m here without notice… but I need your help, senpai.”

… “W-What?”

“I… I have a Math exam tomorrow and Issei-san said that you were good at it. C-Can you help me with that?”

I knew that her tone was as fake as her current attempt of pulling a nervous expression, her act another attempt to investigate my presence at the park the night before and, as much as I wanted to kick her out for the sake I was in a world of pain already as I was now, I… decided to let her in.

“S-Sure.”

She nodded and walked inside, eyes scanning inquisitively before settling to the living room table and placing the books there. The girl looked back, a waiting glance as I slowly made my way towards the chair the opposite she was currently sitting on and I prepared myself to deal with possibly the last issue of today.

Gods, I hope I am not going to need to throw up to the bathroom now with a cute but dangerous character in my house.

---

AN

First chibi is in and… Koneko is going to be kind of fun to ‘write’ next time.

The sweet-toothed Nekomata will have her main mission to find any evidence of our MC being implicated with the debacle of the day before… but will end up with something else. No, I don’t plan to make something ‘that’ disgusting regarding the last bit of the chapter. I am not that cruel towards lil’ chibis.

Also another thing, I might add ‘one’ big-boobed character to go after our MC, but it will happen much, much after, when there will be ‘a reason’ for the two to meet.

 

Chapter 3: Of Study Sessions and Investigations


Koneko was starting to get bored after barely an hour of trying her best at Math.


As much as her dedication to her job and devotion to Rias was high enough to get her to start this slow and soporific study session, nothing did prepare her to deal with the dreadful subject’s truest difficulty.


She had been twitching once or twice because her attempts of trying to solve the exercises she had brought for this session were quickly graded with some just attention.


I continued to analyze the minor errors sporadically lingering onto the paper and that rendered the equations wrong in several spots.


It wasn’t something to be ashamed for, I was careful to point out during my corrections, as Math wasn’t certainly the strongest point of everyone and, if I have to be honest, I was quite sure that she really needed this kind of help at school if this was her genuine approach to ‘easy’ tests.


Much to my delight the sickness I had been suffering early today had started to slightly reduce its cruel grasp over my sore brain, making it possible for me to work well with the younger student without showing any worrying sign of fatigue.


But I had yet to sing victory, most of the dreadful effects of the Holy energy injection still leaving me a feverish mess as I continued to deal with the explanations to be given to the girl and the corrections if Koneko’s completed homework.


She was cutely scowling by the end of the first hour, her eyes narrowing at the piece of paper that I had just finished to correct as if it had killed her Uncle Ben.


Then the silver-haired girl groaned as she was presented with a new sheet with more exercises, her head slowly banging on the table and eliciting a brief smile from me at the adorable sight.


“You know, you shouldn’t give up just yet.”


She lifted her stare up from the table while keeping her head resting on the furniture as she gave a bored blink back at me, causing me to sigh tiredly at the display of unwillingness to continue.


“You know, you are actually doing better than I did back when I was your age,” I hummed with a truthful voice, looking up in remembrance of… something from my former life. “I was quite the terrible thing at Math too, a grave of Fs did take most of my first year at High School after all and…”


Man, it’s been a while since I thought about home. I wonder how are the others-


“And?”


I blinked down, noticing the interested tone in the young girl’s voice.


Was I getting her attention now? Could it be that… she was suffering of that predicament herself?


“And I just ended up putting myself into it,” I finished the sentence with a quiet tone. “I ended up realizing that a helpful hand can take you so far, most of the effort needs to come from within yourself.”


“But isn’t it still boring?” She sighed, her voice a little whiny but restrained.


Still, it was quite surprising to hear her speak this much genuinely, but I was quick to rule it out as a mere school-related frustration release.


“It is. I don’t think I mentioned ‘liking the subject’; Mind you, I still hate Math with a passion and I will be the happiest once I end school… away from those evil numbers...”


There was a brief snort which caught my attention almost immediately, Koneko’s hand shot up to her mouth, but I could see her cheeks flaring in embarrassment at the agreeing noise.


“As I was saying-” I continued with a small twitchy smile in my face, basking in that sight a little more. “Math is not going to get easy, nor you are ever going to like it. You just need to put yourself on the line and deal with it swiftly and efficiently before getting to deal it in some late stage of the year.”


The Nekoshou-in-disguise nodded at this, golden eyes taking in some determined glint while she resumed with her attempts and, much to my glee, I did notice some sudden improvements from her efforts.


There were still some minor errors in the paper as I looked at the mistakes she made along her calculations, but it wasn’t as intense as it had been previously


She now gave a positive nod at the reduction of corrections, the development urging her to try more and more with this attemps.


It was after another full hour that I remembered a confusing detail of her current disposition, my eyes soon frowning at the lack of a certain device while she finished another multiplication done in a paper on the side.


“Koneko-san, why are you not using a calculator?” I found myself asking, confused by the fact she was doing calculations by hand.


Koneko paused, blinking twice before nodding.


“Teacher said that for this year calculators weren’t to be used during tests.” She glanced back at me confused. “Why do you ask, senpai?”


“Well, what your teacher is doing isn’t condoned by the rules,” I pointed out, my tone once again showing confusion but it was mixed with some annoyance at the fact a sensei might have tried to do this with his class. “Student DO need to have calculators this early in their experience at high school. The exercises are already difficult with those, to think that you did without one...” I finished with a sigh.


Then I nodded to myself.


“I guess I will have to call Sona-san to tell her about the situation.”


The silver-haired teen looked surprised at the sudden development, but still managed a grateful nod before blinking in dread at a small situation.


“A-Actually...” She said before sighing nervously. “I don’t have a calculator back home, senpai.”


Now that was something I could understand for certain reasons.


Since she didn’t put much effort in the subject before today, I guess that she didn’t mind doing homework without the device.


Still, the girl needed that kind of help and… I slowly walked out of the chair and towards the couch, where my school bag had been resting for a while now.


“Senpai?” Koneko asked in confusion and I nodded as I pulled the small calculator out of my pencil case.


“Tomorrow I will have to skip school so… you can borrow it.” I placed it on the table, pushing it towards her. “Once you are done with it, you will just need to give it to Issei and he will pass it to me when he pass around.”


She frowned at the mentioning of the pervert. “Why should I even bother talking to him-”


“Because I am asking you to, Koneko-san,” I replied with a calm but determined voice. “I know that you are both in the Occult Research Club, so I just hoped you would have the time to do that.”


The girl contemplated the dreadful request and ended up sighing tiredly at it.


“Fine… but I will not do anything else with the perverted, correct?”


I nodded and she hummed in agreement, thus returning back to the practice.


The calculator quickly gave a major boost of her effort, time reduced between exercises and allowing her to validate her previous calculations better than before.


Two more hours passed and it was getting time for dinner when Koneko started to yawn tiredly, golden eyes softly sleepy as she rested a little more on the table.


I smiled. “I think you are ready for the exam, Koneko-san.”


My words effectively got her attention, eyes widening in surprise at the quiet declaration and her jaw dropped for a moment.


“B-But there were some mistakes.”


“Minor ones,” I chided softly, causing her eyes to twitch in annoyance at my little stern tone. “You are more than ready to deal with the exam without major issues. Get some rest and-”


“B-But I think that I would enjoy more… time here.”


… I hope that this is just about the job.


I hope this is only about the investigation.


“As I said, Koneko-san, you will have no problems in doing the test. Over-exerting yourself for some nervousness could end up making you too tired to sustain it if you continue to study session.” I concluded with a smile.


“So… I should just-” She looked quite skeptical about it, but I wasn’t finished yet.


“Go back home, eat something good and healthy for dinner and get some rest. You will deal with the exam with a fresh mind and a healthy body.” At the end of my words she did seem to flash a brief pout, but she quickly hid it by nodding at me.


“U-Understood, senpai.”


A few moments later, the little kohai was helped to the door where we exchanged some goodbyes before I found myself dealing with the aftermath of this all.


I felt incredibly exhausted and my mind cried for some well-deserved rest after the crap I had to deal today… but I still had to make some calls before going to get some napping done.


Thus, sitting silently in the couch I spent few moments to regain some mental energy and started to call the two individuals I had to call before the end of the day.


“Tsubaki-san? I hope I’m not disturbing but...”


---------d-d-d-d-----------d-d-d-d-----------d-d-d-d---------d-d-d-d---------d-d-d-d---------


“So… we got a situation.”


With those few words, Azazel started the emergency session with most of the leaders at Grigori sitting by the large table of the meeting room.


From Shemhazai to Tamiel, the only one absent to this special sitting was Kokabiel.


Not a major surprise for everyone within the reunion, the man having long displayed the disinterest in partaking in those kind of meetings after the current leader had started to take a softer approach regarding the dealings with the other factions.


“What did you do?” Shemhazai and Baraqiel asked almost in unison.


The two shared an understanding glance before returning to stare at the frowning Azazel.


“I didn’t do anything… this time,” The Governor-General admitted with asigh, the last words with a little bit of embarrassment. “But the situation is still a grave one.”


“I hope this is indeed something important, Azazel-kun.” Penemue stated, the General Secretary then giving him a teasing smile. “I still have to give you today’s paperwork and- oh my, this time its twice than yesterday~.”


“Cruel woman,” The man started with some fake tears falling off at the mentioning of the greatest threat of them all. “But yes, we have an issue involving our elusive Kokabiel-san.”


“The war-hawk?” Shemhazai asked curiously. “I thought he was already monitored after the recent situation-”


“But it seems it isn’t enough!” Azazel interjected with an exasperated sigh. “He did some more naughty things and...”


The large screen in the room turned on, several documents and bank details of large transfers highlighted.


“We are risking another war.”


…


“What?” Baraqiel slammed his closed fists on the desk, creating some minor cracks on it as he stared confused and angered. “Why didn’t you inform us of this before?”


“Because I got this information quite recently and… because I had to confirm some situations within your cadres.” The leader explained swiftly, a tired smile on his face as he slouched on his chair. “You know that there are some rebellious elements in your departments, right?”


There was a full minute of silence at that question, some dreadfully nodding while others looking as confused if not more than Baraqiel.


“You mean that Kokabiel could… spark a civil war in Grigori?” Armaros asked cautiously, looking around the table and finding some nods of agreement at his legitimate query.


“He could but… I think he will not do it now,” Azazel replied with a careful voice. “At least not until he is sure to have the power to win the eventual struggle.”


The man then stood up, his eyes continuing to glance at the documents visible from the screen.


“I think he is trying to poke hard at the Church and at the Devil’s faction to spark the second conflict.”


“And you are sure of this… because?” Tamiel inquired while frowning at the precise theory, confused over the accurate thinking.


Yet Azazel did smile and gave him a nod.


“Because he has been buying the loyalty of some stray exorcists sited in Rome,” He answered with an irritated voice. “I think he is aiming to stole something from them or maybe even go as far to kill some important figure.”


“He isn’t suicidal to go after the Pope.” Shemhazai considered carefully and quickly.


“But he would give a try to kill a Cardinal and get some attention shifted in Japan,” The leader interrupted with a serious look.


“Why Japan of all places?” Tamiel mused over, glancing at the sighing man.


“Because that is the place alluded by my little source, he did mention that a group of Fallen Angels went rogue after some simple orders of studying a subject in Kuoh Town.”


Baraqiel shifted nervously, knowing that his daughter lived there.


“K-Kuoh Town? What were they doing here?”


“The Red Dragon Emperor,” Azazel revealed with some little hesitation, having kept the news limited to just a few of the members in that room. “I found him almost a decade ago in that part of Japan and I just wanted to make sure to get him to join to Grigori once he was old enough to train.”


“What did the group do then? Did they kill him perhaps?” Penemue suggested but, seeing Azazel nodding at her, she let her eyes widened in shock. “What!? You mean to tell me some recruits of Grigori went that far to go against an order from you? Who are this idiots?!”


“Raynare, Mittelt, Kawalarner and Dohnaseek.”


The answer got some head-shaking from most of the group.


“You sent some rebellious fools and you expected them to not get cocky about their roles? What did you smoke, Azazel?” Sahariel finally stated, annoyed by how things were turning out to be grim this suddenly.


“I tried to have them re-assigned somewhere else but…” He took a brief pause, then sighed again. “I got news that someone of high importance decided to have them still sent there.”


“Kokabiel?” Baraqiel suggested and was met with a nod. “Damn it!”


Some furious whispers were exchanged through the table and the leader of Grigori let this happen for a while, trying to get everyone to release some steam before continuing.


Much to his displeasure, his close friend and Vice decided to ask a very important but uneasy question to answer.


“Still, you mentioned a source gave you all this material, how do we know that this isn’t just a trap from Kokabiel so he could gain some advantage?”


Azazel looked partly hesitant as he considered his next words and… that was weird for everyone present to the meeting.


Their leader, as much as sheepish he might sound once in a while, would never look this much clueless about something in any particular situation.


“I… might have got news that one of the members of Raynare’s camp had been killed; Dohnaseek was found dead in Kuoh’s park, the wounds that were found on him were caused from a Light Spear created by him.”


“You mean he impaled himself?” Tamariel asked with a quizzical look on his face.


“No, the angles which the holes were found suggested that someone took his weapon and used it to kill him.” Azazel answered without hesitation. “And the possibility that this was committed by a fellow Fallen Angel is disproved by something else our investigator found in that place.”


“And that is? Don’t keep us in the dark, Azazel.” Baraqiel pressed on, now intrigued by the situation considering whom lived in that city.


The leader blinked and then smiled once more.


“Silver Lining. Several seals to be exact were found and were supposedly used to keep the man’s body stuck as he was killed by his aggressor.”


“Isn’t that basic magic… that even humans can use?” Penemue muttered curious about this whole development. “Do you think it was a human that caused it and then sent you this info?”


“It wouldn’t be a Devil because our Fake Holy energy would hurt them and I think from the message this whole documentation had reached me with was written by someone young, I would dare to say a student sent me this.” The man nodded at his own suggestion. “The lack of details and the informality of his wording make it clear that he is inexperienced over the matter, but resourceful enough to make use of modern devices.”


Baraqiel sighed. “So you think there is a young Magician at Kuoh Academy?”


“That is correct idea, my dear friend!” Azazel clapped his hands once to praise the intervention. “But I think I will get some more proof once I will be there to personally oversee the scene and the area to find my elusive contact.”


Shemhazai’s face darkened at the last bit of his proclamation.


“Azazel, you are not leaving me to deal with the paperwork-”


“Sowwy, Shemmy, but I’ve already taken a ticket for a flight to Japan for tomorrow,” The man-child hummed without restraint. “I’m sorry I didn’t give much of a notice to deal with, but this is an… emergency.”


“You will not leave me to-”


But the outburst was interrupted by quite the sudden action.


“Too late~!”


In that very instant the windows on the side of the building broke as a laughing Azazel deployed his wings and flied out of the building, leaving behind some surprised subordinates behind.


An incensed Vice-Director tried and failed to give chase as a giggly Penemue latched at him, the notes about the amount of paperwork he would have to deal today and tomorrow.


Meanwhile, a chuckling Baraqiel stared at this familiar scene from afar, keeping himself away from the dreadful fate of his good friend.


This very situation proved how refusing the offer of becoming the Vice to the organization years ago had been a wise one, already knowing well enough how Azazel would have made him suffer through his career by dropping on his already imposing stack of paperwork his own tower of suffering.


And yet, as he contemplated over the behavior of his old friend, the man couldn’t but consider the nervousness the man had while talking about the Red Dragon Emperor and… the situation at Kuoh.


It’s been so long since he had seen his baby girl and maybe it would have done Shuri happy if he had finally gone and see how she was faring as the Queen of Rias Gremory, after so many years of avoiding meeting up with her.


It didn’t help that his paternal instincts were acting up at the knowledge that Kokabiel was planning something terrible right in the city where his baby girl was trying to enjoy a normal life as a student at high school.


Part of him also wondered if their daughter got other than her Mama’s appearance also her ‘interesting’ personality bits. How nostalgic, how intriguing!


---------d-d-d-d-----------d-d-dd------------d-d-d-d-----------d-d-d----------d-d-d-d--


AN


The Plot is moving, Koneko is not going to open up suddenly and unrealistically this chapter (we are too early for that) and Asia-chan is going to appear next chapter. I have plans to screw with the plot just a little for the sake of coherence as the encounter with Azazel will coincide with another major event.


I know that it might seem like I am trying to pull something weird there with the canon plot, but I have plans of having our MC do some extra work away from the original story. Important work too.​

 

Chapter 4: Sweet Meeting and Cold Refusal


I was regretting my little experiment.


Waking up with a migraine and with my body suffering with something close to a hangover situation, I was pretty much feeling like crap when I started to eat some cookies for breakfast.


My stomach felt churning in disgust, rejecting even the small baked goods and almost sending me to the bathroom for the aches I was experiencing.


Said effects were difficult to hide and father picked quickly that something was wrong with me.


Cue the several questions coming from the renowned doctor of Kuoh, the man pestering me for a good hour before nodding at the sufficient level of knowledge I had over the matter: I was sick because of an infection happening in a cut in my hands, I had it already bandaged and I’ve already taken in the medicines to deal with the resulting symptoms of the infection.


There was some confusion regarding the extent of the effects of the medical pills to counter the infection, seeing that I looked way more ill than I should be when he first noticed me, but I managed to shrug it off by saying it was just a minor allergic reaction and that I would be fine.


Maybe it was the pressure of possibly turning late for work if he continued with the interrogation what truly made him back down from that subject, but the man easily accepted the excuse and waved me a goodbye as he and mother went for the car, directed at their respective jobs.


Once the vehicle was out of sight, I let out a sigh of relief and went back to my room.


Opening the wardrobe I picked some good clothes and started to change with those, folding my Pjs at the end of the bed.


While I should seriously take some rest from this long process of energetic integration, I had to move quickly to make sure to alter a crucial bit of the timeline.


Asia was supposed to be coming in Kuoh today and… I should also catch up with Issei.


The intrusions of yesterday taught me that planned encounters were going to be monitored and if I wanted to have a chance to finally explain some of the new things to the owner of the Welsh Dragon Sacred Gear, I needed to intercept him while he went to school.


Before doing so I also needed to go and buy some groceries as the fridge was starting to get quite empty.


Thus I first ventured to the local super-market to buy some ice cream, some fruits and other veggies.


There wasn’t a shortage of meat-related food back home, thus I just went to get the products that were actually missing.


I did concede myself some ice cream to deal with the painful effects of the integration, hoping that suddenly ingesting a cold treat wasn’t going to slow down the biological process.


Once I got everything paid, I walked out of the store and started to think where Issei could be around this time.


It was fairly early in the morning, but I didn’t doubt the younger student would be already out to walk to school, his house quite distant from the place.


It was odd to think that, as perverted the boy was, the youth didn’t make any other issues with the school’s rules.


Very respectful of the classes’ times, good grades and praised numerous times by his curious interest in Japanese History.


Odd for someone with a bad reputation with the entire student population.


It was in that moment I did remember a minor detail I was almost forgetting about.


In Canon, Issei meets Asia near the local park and, wasting no more time in my thoughts I proceeded to take the proper path to the next section of the town I had to visit.


It took me few minutes and, much to my awe, I was bestowed with a familiar sight from the show.


Being that I was looking at someone with ‘real life glasses’, Asia Argento was breath-taking.


Her golden locks were well-cared considering that she lived a humble life, her hair was clean and pristine while her suave face was something I had trouble to not look at.


It was just like the first time I saw Akeno and Rias, the beauties of this series so incredibly impressive to look early on and yet… there was just something incredibly ‘more’ about the little nun.


Asia was surely going to give some harsh competition to the girls even without trying, of that I was sure of.


As I finished looking at the nun, the young girl fixing her clothes after her clumsy fall, I slowly turned to the little problem of this scene.


Issei was slowly helping in putting back the various piece of clothes that had fallen out of the suitcase of the foreign female, stopping more than once to stare at… intimate objects within the case.


I narrowed my eyes and starting to pace towards the unsuspecting kohai of mine, stopping moments before crashing onto him as I waited for him to notice my presence.


Being that I was covering the sunlight that helped the boy look better at the panties he was currently holding, Issei slowly turned to see who was causing the shadows coming from behind and…


He blinked once.


Then twice.


Finally he paled, eyes widened and his jaws dropped.


“S-Senpai! W-What are you doing here?”


“Doing some groceries and thought of try to find you now to speak about that important things… to think you would do that to a poor nun of all people.”


He looked back at the panties and dropped them back inside the container, swiftly doing the same with the other clothes before staring back at me with a nervous look.


“S-See, just a minor mistake.” He chuckled sheepishly, expecting some retribution at being caught in a perverted act but… I decided to grace him and merely sigh.


“Just… don’t do that ever again.” I blinked as I slowly turned back to the blonde. “By the way, who is the- Uh?”


As I spun around to face the nun, I found myself facing Asia, blue eyes looking concerned at my gloved hands as her very soft ones started to caress it. “Did you get hurt?”


I blinked. “I may have, yes. Why do you-”


It was kind of sudden but then a soft green light coated my entire arm and… I started to felt vigor returning to my entire body.


Gone was the fatigue and the tiredness, gone was the aching from my belly and the back pains that had tortured me for a full day now.


My eyes were wide open as I let the girl finish her treatment and blinked once the light stopped covering the limb.


I had merely thought about the possible sensation ‘Twilight Healing’ could have given to the patient being cured and… to think that it would so…


“Meraviglioso...” Wonderful…


The girl gasped for a moment, my mind catching up quickly that I did speak in my native language for a moment and had to hold back a flinch at the recognition in her eyes.


“Siete un Italiano anche voi?” Could you be that you are an Italian too?


I almost gave out my entire cover, what the hell is wrong with me? Why did those cute girls have this effect on me of all people?!


“Parlo poco la lingua, imparato da cliente di Padre.” I can barely speak it, I learned from client of dad.


“Oh?” She deflated a little but then seemed to regain some happiness at the fact someone could partly understand her. “T-Then could you help me find the local church, good sir?”


I blinked at the was she was addressing me and I faked a frown at her mentioning the ‘local’ church.


“You mean the one that is not used, young miss?” I smiled at the pale blush at the way I returned the addressing, but then sighed. “I am sorry to say that it is not a safe place to go. The police did issue a warning to not visit it.”


Her eyes widened in surprise at this revelation. “W-What? I-I thought that-”


“There had been some unpleasant people there and… some found a dead man in the park quite recently.”


She gasped at the following news and Issei frowned at the mentioning of Dohnaseek at the girl but I nodded to him as I hummed in thought.


“Young miss, would you like to accept my gratitude for your kind gesture by inviting you to the local ice cream parlor? I think they just finished to refurbish the store and-”


“M-My name is Asia, Asia Argento. A-And the offer is truly kind but I healed you without a need of a reward or-” In that moment a soft growl reached for my ears, Issei blinking in surprise too as he heard it too.


The girl’s blush worsened and she looked away as her treacherous belly ruined her selfless moment.


“I think you would do well with some breakfast, signorina.”


She smiled at being called ‘young lady’ and sighed. “F-Fine, but it is only because you are insisting...”


I chuckled and Issei was the one taking the suitcase, his strength partly augmented so he barely felt the weight in his hands.


A few moments later, Asia took a spoonful of her cup of ‘Fior-di-Latte’ ice cream, enjoying the delicious flavor as Issei took a chocolate cone and I picked a cup of watermelon flavor. I just enjoyed the chocolate bits.


“S-Senpai, y-you kind of promised some explanations-”


“And I am ready to give some answers. But let’s start with something you wish to know more about.”


He appreciated the offer of having some of his important questions solved and nodded.


“W-Why is Asia-chan here for this?” He turned at the confused girl and tried to wave in an appeasing way. “I- I mean, this discussion should be kind of private and-”


“That is because I wish to discuss about Asia-san’s current living quarters from now on.” I glanced at the blonde. “Asia, do you understand that the local Church is a stronghold of Fallen Angels, right?”


She looked surprised at my knowledge of the race but nodded with a sad look, causing Issei to narrow my eyes in my direction. “I… I do.”


“I want to say that I don’t find the fact you healed a Devil to be a reason to warrant the punishment you suffered, signorina,” I stated with some genuine interest. “Quite the opposite, I found it a commendable act.”


The nun perked, eyes sparkling at the mentioning of the event that costed her the place within the community of God, but I think the kind comment was what got her mostly happy.


“I… I don’t know what to say and… actually, why is Issei-san needing your assistance, Mr-”


I softly facepalmed and groaned at forgetting that important thing. “I kind of… forgot to introduce myself, didn’t I?” Smiling, I gave a quick bow with my head. “I am Hoitsu Sakakibara and I am Issei’s senpai at school.”


She tilted her head by the side. “S-Senpai?”


There wasn’t a clear translation of that specific term in Italian, so I had to explain it to her.


“I am his senior at school and thus there is a relationship of support for him to growth and get a grip over his study.”


The boy blushed as I patted his shoulder. “I- I am not that bad-”


“You are if you have to be taken to the teachers with your ‘naughty’ behavior.” His blush worsened, the fact that he was a pervert still eluding the confused nun.


“Anyway, I was saying that the church was under Fallen Angels’ control and- those are not the good kind of people within Grigori, Asia-san.”


“B-But I thought that they were there by A-Azazel-san’s order?”


I nodded partially at her outdated knowledge.


“This was the case at first, then their leader decided to rebel against him and try to steal the Sacred Gears she could get.” Then I pointed at the boy. “Issei here has a Sacred Gear and was attacked a few days ago by the leader of the group here, left to die as his ‘gift’ was mistaken for something weak.”


Issei flinched at the telling of his near-death experience and was taken by surprise as Asia quickly looked at him with a genuine worried look. “R-Really, Issei-san?”


“I-I almost died, yeah but-”


“I think I should explain that myself, Issei,” I interrupted him, the boy frowning at the intrusion in that intimate closeness of theirs. “As the topic is fairly complex and it has to be… well-detailed.”


The nun frowned. “W-What do you mean? Y-You think I could mistake something?”


“Kind of, yes. You see Kuoh Town is currently the fief of the heiresses of two Devil Clans, the Gremory and the Sitri-”


“Y-You mean that Issei-san-?” Asia interjected as realization materialized in her features.


“Was turned in a Devil, yes. Previously a human, this young man has been recently thrown inside the big tug war.”


Her innocent stare returned to the brunet and she frowned. “Y-You think that I would doubt the g-genuine helpfulness of Issei-san, Hoitsu-senpai?”


I blinked at the honorific and the stubborn tone behind her voice.


“I mean, without some context some people would be careful around a Devil. No, I wasn’t thinking you of that… I mean, you did heal a Devil before.”


She blushed at the remark and nodded, accepting the quick explanation given. This time it was Issei that spoke.


“Senpai, you also mentioned that I had this ‘Sacred Gear’. Buchou explained to me what it generally was but… she didn’t know which one I had.”


“The knowledge of one Sacred Gear’s identity is given by the power it can deploy. I would be lying in saying I knew certainly the true identity of yours, but I did found your energy pattern… unique,” I carefully explained, trying to bring some logical reasoning behind my discovery instead of blowing my SI cover. “Rather similar to how a dragonic one should feel like and, since you are hardly someone driven by logic but by heart and emotion, I would say you have the Red Welsh Dragon.”


…


“W-What?”


I sighed as I knew I had to go fairly deep in the lore for this. “The Red Dragon Emperor is part of the 13 Longinus, the Boosted Gear is how it’s known commonly,” I continued to tell, careful to not rush too many things at once. “Differently from Asia’s Twilight Healing, this is a very powerful Sacred Gear and it is considered to be one of the few ones that could manage to kill the Satans if its full potential is unlocked.”


“B-But how does it work?” The brunet asked, a little awed by the description. “I can form the gauntlet but-”


“You ended up with a very lazy Dragon within yourself, Ise.” My comment surprised both teens and I smiled smugly as I continued. “You see, Ddraig is not as helpful as Albion is, he sleep all-day and has the least victory against his rival. I wonder why he is considered a Heavenly Dragon if he is that dumb.”


Issei blinked, eyes widening the more the words left my mouth and he let out a nervous chuckle as his gauntlet formed right as I finished this little session of roasting.


Asia blinked in surprise at the appearance of the dragonic arm on her new friend, but I think she was mostly taken by what I was trying to do here.


I was glad that there weren’t many people there and that the workers were all sitting inside and chatting away while waiting for some other clients, thus unable to see what was going on here.


“U-Uh, senpai, I think you should-” But the teen’s plea fell deaf as I continued.


“And let us not forget about the time he and Tiamat went-”


“Okay! That is enough, Magician!”


The sudden outburst coming from the Boosted Gear ended up making me crack a smile at the familiar voice. “And here is the sleeping drake-”


“Desist from that remarking, I know what you are trying to do here by trying to get a raise on me.”


I raised a brow at that. “Truly? Then pray tell, what do I want from you?”


“Support, help and… power-”


“Wrong, wrong and also wrong.” I sighed tiredly. “I want a very simple thing from you, Ddraig, and… that is something that has to do with Issei.”


The brunet blinked in surprise, pointing at himself with his normal arm. “M-Me?”


“Oh? Do you wish to have him as your minion or-”


“Can you stop with throwing senseless accusations?!” I interrupted with a groan. “It’s starting to get quite annoying and what I meant is…” I sighed. “I need you to train him.”


“Train this weak host?” Issei let out a soft ‘Hey’ but the dragon ignored him. “While he does have an… interesting group of people around, I fail to see the potential he might have.”


“I consider him your best bet against the current owner of Albion,” I shot back with a huf. “The host is a powerful Devil which… I would like to see kicked around here and there.”


“Some revenge? Did he slight you?”


“Just angry at how he could ruin things around if not stopped early on.”


“Some preventive strike? You wish to make use of my rivalry?!” He seemed angry but at this point I could recognize the bluff from his heated tone.


“Would you truly mind that? You would still get some victories against Albion.”


“T-That is true but- ARGH! You are one of the most infuriating humans I had to deal in my entire existence!”


Okay, I think that was kind of flattering knowing the lengthy presence of Ddraig in this universe.


Sadly, the smug victory was dampened by his following words.


“Differently from the fair and gorgeous babe sitting near us.”


Asia blushed a storm at that unexpected barrage of compliments compressed in that sentence and Issei poked at the Gear.


“Excuse you?! What are you saying to Asia-chan?”


“Being a blunt and honest male with good ideas for her beauty- Gah, stop poking now!”


Despite the protests, the boy continued to poke even harder than before.


Meanwhile, the blonde had a hand pressed on her lips as she tried and failed to contain her mirthful giggles at the comic scene.


A few moments later, after the bickering of the boy and the dragon was finished, Issei did remember that he had to go to school.


So bidding goodbye after some guarantees and assurances that I would take Asia to a safe place (which was his house and I forgot to tell him about that), the girl and I started to walk towards the Hyoudou’s residence.


Every corner I would glance first before going with the nun in tow, knowing full well that Raynare might as well have decided to wander around to find Asia to avoid any other hindrances to her plan.


It was weird for someone as cautious as her to attack in broad daylight but-


I heard a gasp and then I was pushed forward, almost falling on the ground and I turned around at the sound of something making a loud noise.


Thud


My eyes widening at the sudden noise, I was greeted with Asia fallen on the road and a pool of blood forming underneath her clothes. The liquid was coming from the gaping wound in her lower chest and the cause of the injury was the vanishing dark-pink light spear piercing her.


I-I almost died!


“Shit! She had to jump and take the hit, that idiotic nun-” Raynare was flying right above us, she sighed as she turned her attention at me. “That means I will have to take care of you so we can go ahead with the process. To think that I have to risk this much...”


Several other light spears formed above me and, feeling the shock starting to get replaced by seething anger, I decided to try out if Twilight Healing did bolster the integration process to completion.


I remembered the composition of the spell and the pure emotional grade required to fully form the spears and soon I was graced with several dark-gray blades of light.


The Fallen Angel blinked in surprise before snarling, her six dark-pink spears launched towards me. Responding to the threat, my own Light Spears propelled to intercept her own and minor blast of lights echoes across the street.


There was surprise and fury within the woman’s eyes but I wasn’t going to back down now.


Asia required help and I had to kill this bitch as quickly as possible.


Why can’t things just go my way even this early on the story?!


---------d-d-d-d-----------d-d-d-d-----------------d-d-d-dd------------dd-d-d----------d-d-d-d-------d-d-d-d-----


AN


Cliffhanger, Raynare just attacked! And she has mortally damaged Asia-chan!


The battle will be epic and… divided in two sections and times.


While our MC could technically work around the odds with some ingenuity and good-thinking, doing so would prolong the fight and further reduce the chances of saving the nun.


Can he works in this situation to win and saw our lovable young, Italian nun?


Quick explanation about the Light Spears and other Magical Constructs: While a Magical Construct is connected to its creator and could be dispelled in normal circumstances, the connection between creator and construct can be severed or altered by external magic. This was the case with Dohnaseek’s spear being used against him and, before anyone ask how someone with ‘Earthly’ magic is capable of sustain the spear, the answer lies in what the drain entails. The spear drains energy, Earthly energy could work as an alternative for the toll but it would require much more because of its lesser quality compared to Holy energy.


Also about Twilight Healing: I know, I am going a little over the usual AN’s length but I wish to avoid any issues with what I am pulling there. This Sacred Gear can only cure injuries and wounds, but cannot cure sickness and fatigue… and yet it worked on the MC? The solution is that those two are not independent things but are caused by the process, an injury to one Magic Core that allows the implementation of a secondary magical energy within the body. With the process concluded swiftly, the two bad factors are removed from affecting the MC.

 

Chapter 5: Showdown and Lecture


Raynare wasn’t someone I had planned to face this very early in the story.


I did make some plans to let the plot unfold a little more, to maybe tag in for the eventuality that Issei would have ended up being lured by the Fallen Angel to the Church, thus giving me the chance of having some support during the fight.


But now it wasn’t time to deal with scenarios that aren’t going to happen now that the woman was attacking in broad daylight.


Just like in the show, Raynare was donning the incredibly skimpy and revealing set of ‘clothes’ that were there to distract any male opponents she was facing.


I admit it would have worked in a normal situation as I did look quite provocative and endearing at the sight, but much to her chagrin, I was kind of pissed and extremely concerned about the safety of Asia.


As the battle progressed, a simple exchange of Light Spears from one side to another, I noticed a feeble green light coming from the bleeding nun.


The mortal attack having somehow left her still conscious enough for her to start some healing, which was quite good as it offered a little more time to deal with the Fallen Angel.


Yet as this all unfolded, I decided to cover my bases and plant some Silver Lining seals on the ground in front of me. Knowing whom I was dealing with, her impulsiveness during a brawl, it was now a matter of moments before she-


The dark-haired beauty snarled as she finally decided to interrupt the stalemate of lights and try to go for a direct assault.


I saw her wings flap sharply as Raynare dived for a quick action, urging me to take some step backs and hold back my grin from spoiling the surprise.


She prepared two Spears in her hands, ready to engage in close combat, seemingly unaware that this was all a silent trap.


The moment she had her first weapon raised and ready to land a hit on me, the seal sprung into action as three strong ropes of light sparked in action and restrained the woman for a short amount of time.


I wasn’t dealing with Dohnaseek, this Fallen Angel giving some good reasons for me to act promptly and decisively right in that moment of relief.


Two dull-gray Light Spears formed right behind the distracted woman and rushed quickly towards her wings.


Snapping away from the limitations, Raynare turned around quickly and shattered one of the incoming blades, but failing to move quickly enough to avoid the remaining one.


Tore from its original spot, the black-feathered wing went flying away from the Fallen Angel, blood spurting from the injury I had caused.


She yelped, shivering at the sudden pain sharply hitting her brain and alarming her of the damage she suffered.


Her eyes were showing anger, dread and utter fear, the knowledge of having lost something important to her as a wing, something Angels in general prided themselves to have, had to be a demoralizing hit and we both knew that Twilight Healing couldn’t restore lost limbs, such as the lost wing.


“Y-You!” She backed away a few more meters, keeping sight on me as I continued to keep on guard for any other attacks. “Why are you helping this nun? Why would you-”


“Asia-san is a friend of mine, Raynare-san,” I sneered at her surprised look. “This is the second individual I am close to that you’ve caused pain to and I will not forgive you for those situations!”


She flinched the moment I took a step towards her. “S-Stop! I- We don’t need to fight- I can offer you what you wish for- power, m-money a-and even a g-girlfriend-”


“Don’t tell me. Yuuma-san?”


There was an uneasy silence, the woman’s face paling even more at the mentioning of that name. “Y-You are f-friend with that-”


“Ise is my kohai, you bitch, and you tried to kill him, same for Asia-chan. I am going to end you!”


She twitched, almost breaking from the sudden tensing up caused by her fear for her life, her lone wing managing to snap her away from the ground and fluctuate barely off the floor.


I stared at her, red eyes wide open as Raynare spun around and quickly fled the area, her open wound still letting out blood once or twice in a while.


I waited a few more moments before turning my attention back to the blonde, Asia slowly trying to sit up while still trembling.


I rushed to her side and helped her up, quickly taking into account the fact that her wound had closed up but her skin had paled considerable.


Twilight Healing didn’t restore any of the blood lost.


“I-I am sorry,” She muttered quickly, much to my dismay and annoyance. I generally disliked those people that apologized with no apparent reason, it just brought up some unpleasant memories of good characters killed for no reasons.


“It wasn’t your fault, Asia-chan. You were just unlucky and now I will take you to a safe place.”


She blinked curiously. “Really? How safe?”


“Issei’s parents kind of safe,” I replied almost instantly, slowly pulling her up even more and carry her bridal style, her suitcase and my groceries bag quickly attached onto my back with some Silver Linings.


She blushed a little but she was still quite stunned by what had just transpired.


“Oh? A-Are they nice people?”


I nodded at her question, starting to pump some energy in my legs and quickly blitzed through the streets, my mind fixed on the place I had to reach quickly.


The blonde giggled at the sudden rush of speed, quite adorably too.


“So fast.” She giggled again and snuggled closer to my chest.


Asia wasn’t mortally wounded but she still needed some rest and nourishment to help with her recovery.


Thus as I reached for the entrance door of the household I didn’t skip a beat in quickly ringing the door-bell and wait for someone to arrive and open the door.


Miki Hyoudou, Issei’s mother and respectable housewife of this house, looked initially pleased to see me, but also gasped at seeing the barely conscious girl in my arms.


“Mrs. Hyoudou, I need some help with her. We were mugged.” Her eyes widened at the hasty explanation and she did noticed some blood on the girl’s chest.


“C-Come in! I-I think I have some first aid kits a-and I can call some ambulance.”


“It isn’t necessary for further help, Ma’am. The wound isn’t as deep as it seems, but it’s the first time she let out this much blood.”


There was an erratic nod as the woman rushed to get the proper medications to assist the situation and I slowly placed the girl in the long couch in the living room. Asia shifted in her sleep at the sudden lack of warmth but seemed to accept the comforting pillow offered to her head as an acceptable sufficient as a small appreciative smile appeared in her face.


“I got some bandages, some pain-killers and-” The married woman paused a moment to stare at the angelic face of the blonde and frowned. “Such a sweet girl, attacked in broad daylight of all times possible...”


Then she turned to face me. “But could I ask what are you doing here and not in Kuoh Academy, young man?”


I sighed. “I am currently recovering from a momentary period of sickness, and I just started to get a little better now?”


The suspicious expression softened in an understanding one. “I… see.” At this point the woman had begun removing some of the clothes covering the upper body of the girl, gesturing me to look away as she continued with the process of bandaging the area.


“You were… correct. The wound is so difficult to spot but… so much blood?” She blinked with some confusion as she glanced over the injured area.


“I think it’s something of a genetic thing, but I don’t know for sure about,” I lied an explanation, the woman still accepting it as she was quite focused over the wound.


Few moments of silence passed and while Asia continued to rest quietly in the couch, fresh bandages and medical ointments applied on the sore area, Issei’s mother decided to ask few more questions.


“Did you see the face of the aggressor, Hoitsu-kun?”


“Just barely, ma’am,” I stated in a truthful note as I did see Raynare commit the act. “But I’ve already called the police and told them about what happened.”


“Good… but how did you phone with Asia-chan in your arms, young man?” I blinked and realized I did have my hands busy at the time and I let out a faux sheepish look.


“I-If I have to be honest, I think it was mostly adrenaline. Sometimes in a moment of panic I do end up doing some strange actions that should be quite impossible, hehe...”


“Like bringing the girl’s suitcase and your grocery bag on your back,” Mrs. Hyoudou added dryly, a curious look in her face.


“I do some training on my free time,” I motivated quickly, feeling rather nervous at the interrogation. “F-Dad says that a good mind requires also a good body.”


She blinked in surprise. “Truly and… you have never gone against this decision by… doing other things you that you might like.”


...Where was she going with this?


“I do spend some time doing what I like-”


“And that is?” She pressed on and for a moment I saw her appearance flicker to another individual, one that was looking much sterner and pressing about the situation. I felt myself growing smaller and sighed.


“...Reading books.”


She huffed. “To think that I would have to deal with someone the opposite of my baby boy,” She sighed and… suddenly pinched my cheeks.


I almost jumped at the situation but her hold was surprisingly strong enough to keep me stuck on my seat.


“You are supposed to go out, have a social life and get yourself a girlfriend. How are you supposed to give your parents some grandchildren!?”


I groaned at the sudden barrage of responsibilities. I swear to the Gods that sounded like the nagging I had back home, I could almost hear mom’s voice overlapping with Miki’s voice.


“I am fine-”


“You say that, but you seem still shaky about what happened now. I am half-tempted to keep you here for a while, just to see if you need some rest or anything...”


I drew a long, waiting sigh within my head as I did have to rush and intercept Raynare now that she was weak.


If I didn’t press the advantage now, I would end up getting a more active and careful force of rogue Fallen Angels to deal with.


“-But I know that you wouldn’t like that. And I am not your mother so… the only thing I can say is be careful in your way back home.”


I felt the need to flinch at those words.


Way close to home and… this stress shouldn’t be adding up all today.


I merely nodded but, as I went to pick my grocery bag, I paused a moment as I remembered something else I had to do.


“Actually, Mrs. Hyoudou, there is something of a favor I would like to request.” I started, garnering the woman’s full attention. “It’s about Asia.”


---------------d-d-d-d--------------d-d-d-d-------------d-d-d-d----------d-d-dd-----------


It was around lunch time that I got by the only Church in town.


I was partly surprised at how Issei’s mother took the situation regarding the excommunicated nun, giving her sad looks as I explained more about the backstory before I ended up giving the real question about the blonde.


“Could you take her in? She doesn’t… have anyone to live with.”


I remember Rias being the one pushing this idea to the brunet’s parents, but in Canon that case was dictated by Asia’s status as the redhead’s new Bishop.


Without the girl becoming a Devil, it meant that the heiress of the Gremory family had little interest to push the girl’s safety onto the two adults.


So when I did ask the question, having little on Rias about persuasion, I was saved by the fact the woman was already considering keeping her around until she recovered.


She was still unsure about her being sheltered there, since she motivated the fact she had to discuss it with her husband.


I accepted the compromise and she agreed to contact me once Asia was awake and stable.


Returning back to the current present, I slowly entered the formerly holy building while holding tightly a Light Spear in my hands.


The structure looked quite abandoned, the silence and the lack of liveliness that came from a usually well-kept church was missing from the place.


My steps were soft as I wanted to keep my presence concealed as I slowly ventured inside this dangerous area of the city.


My eyes were silently looking everywhere, my mind urging me to consider any possible hideout for an ambush on me.


I was going in the lion’s den and I didn’t know how ‘big’ it truly was.


I remember from Canon that there was a group of stray exorcists already there, led by foul-mouthed Freed Sellzen of all people, and that there were two other Fallen Angels to count around Raynare.


My objective wasn’t to truly decimate the force, my current fighting capability limiting me to only a big target at the time, but to make sure that the ‘head’ of this revolt and the connection of Kokabiel with the group of Grigori there was cut quickly.


I had a simple plan, a very quick and easy one, but nothing had prepared me to the sight I found myself staring at few moments later as I looked at the last doors that led to the large room of the Church.


Disguised corpses, butchered and bleeding out were all massing up near the entrance.


None was moving, they were all dead… including the permanently scowling Freed lying on the group right in front of the two main doors.


The leading figure of the exorcists had let go of his initial equipment, the ‘Exorcist Gun’ which seemed to have been broken by a powerful grip and… the ‘light-saber’.


I know, it’s called ‘Light Sword’ but seriously, why wouldn’t I just call it what it truly was.


I picked it off the ground and stared at it. It looked like it was still in working conditions and I activated it.


My eyes blinking in awe and glee, I immediately turned it off as I started to search for something in particular.


While it looked like some incredibly awesome, I was fairly sure that it wasn’t something infinite like the Star Wars’ version of it and that it required something like a battery to work.


Lo and behold, my little scavenging act was rewarded with seven transparent small crystals that seemed to fit in the lower section of its metallic hilt.


Putting the new weapon in my pocket, I had now a better chance of fending off anyone on my way as I could switch to use the sword without needing to empty my entire magical reserves and… possibly get killed because of it.


I pushed a little the wooden barrier that led to the greater room of the building and… peeked inside.


The acoustics were sublime and the sight offered by the sufficient illumination was good enough to understand what was going on inside of it.


My eyes widened a little as I saw instantly that the two other Fallen Angels that served under Raynare, Kalawarner and Mittelt, were kneeling as they silently looked towards the other two figures in the room.


Raynare was kneeling too, but she was crying profusely as she begged the man that was currently giving me his back.


I frowned at his frame, feeling like I should have recognized him by now and… yet I couldn’t pinpoint much from the little details I could see.


The distance just wasn’t helping me.


I sighed quietly as I couldn’t exactly hear what he was saying to the scared Raynare and thus, deciding to poke fun at fate itself, I slowly and stealthily crouch-walked towards a broken column near the entrance of the room.


As I finished this little relocation, I returned to glance back at the scene and… I noticed something was different.


The trio of Fallen Angels was now looking incredibly confused, alarmed even as the man that was once there and speaking to their leader was now… gone?


I blinked once, then twice and… I finally noticed something odd about my current placement.


I could distinctly remember this place having enough light to give a clear sight over everywhere and… yet where I was standing I felt like it everything looked quite… darkened.


Like a shadow was looming right from behind me…


My head turned slowly around and I was greeted with a smiling face that was of a very important character of the show.


Azazel winked and waved cheekily and I almost jumped at the sudden appearance of this powerful being this close to where I was.


A yelp of mine caught the attention of the other occupants of the large room and my cover was literally blown apart by the presence of the leader of Grigori.


I poked fate and fate poked back by kicking my ass. Harshly.


“Hello there, young intruder; May I ask what are you doing here?”


I blinked, paling as this situation continued but managed some words out as the man waited patiently.


“I-I am here t-to kill...” I pointed at the glaring Raynare. “H-Her.”


He stared up to his subordinate and the young woman shied away from looking back at him.


“Is that so?”


I nodded and he sighed. “Then could you explain to me what drives you to such a… murderous mission?” The Governor-General inquired with an intrigued tone. “I was busy with some ‘responsibilities’ here and I was trying to appear an upstanding boss for those three… ‘wayward’ idiots.”


The three Fallen Angels blushed embarrassed at the way they were addressed, but didn’t rebuke it as… Azazel wasn’t someone to take lightly, especially if you worked under him.


“S-She killed a friend of mine and… tried to do t-the same with another friend of-”


“She jumped and took the Spear meant to you. I was going to kill you-!”


“But doesn’t change the fact you hurt her!”


We exchanged some fierce glaring, momentarily ignoring whom was in the room but…


“Hahaha! That is something I’ve not seen in a long time, some childish bickering between enemies.” The leader of Grigori chuckled and nodded at me. “I see that you both have some reason to fight each other and, while I would be quick to dispatch a punishment for trying to betray me, young Raynare, how about a bet?”


I tensed at the word ‘bet’, knowing well enough that ‘bets’ for Azazel were nothing to be happy about.


What was the crazy bastard thinking to do?


“A fair fight to the death between you and this funny fellow. The one that wins this match gets to live after today and… I don’t think I need to explain what happens to the one who loses.”


“I-I think I should have the right to-”


“Denied~!” He stated pointingly without even looking back at me, his stare turning right at the girl. “What are you going to do, little Raynare?”


Was there even a choice for her?


Even I knew that refusing such situation would mean denying herself a chance of getting a lenient punishment out of her treachery being uncovered by Azazel.


So I wasn’t surprised when she managed a quick ‘I accept’, but I was quite scared when I felt disappearing in some dark-yellow light only to reappear right in front of the young woman, right few meters away from her.


“Then you both better prepared yourselves. We start in 5… 4… 3-”


I quickly took few step backs, both of us creating each six Light Spears and the man pausing a moment to stare at mines.


“You have…” He hummed and then nodded. “If you win I will have to understand how are you doing this.”


Now wasn’t that reassuring?


3.


2.


1.


Raynare jumped high up and tried to get some advantage by maintaining herself up above, away from direct confrontations.


The initial stage of this fight was pretty much the same of what had happened earlier today, but with a major difference from me.


While my body wasn’t as winded as it was back at the Hyoudou residence, my Core hadn’t truly recovered from the previous draining exchange of attacks.


So, when I noticed that the woman seemed to have taken a more careful approach over this battle, I knew I had to find a way to force her down on the ground for me to deal in close quarters.


My first attempt was the simplest attack, Silver Lining seals planted on the ground right below the Fallen Angel quickly deploying white ropes of light, those speeding quickly toward the waiting target.


Much to my dismay this effort was rendered nothing by the quick response of the girl, several of the Spears previously targeting my own ‘missile’ barrage quickly turning to intercept the strings, shredding them instantly.


I gritted my teeth as I felt my reserves starting to groan at the continuous fighting, urging me to find a way to break this stalemate I was losing.


“You will not win, human!” She yelled with utter conviction in herself. “I will not accept losing to you, not anymore. It is my pride and my life at stake!”


I blinked as the number of spears she was producing started to increase, forcing me to start dodging the stray weapons passing through my draining defense.


This situation just worsened… a little.


My mind was burning at the various plans that started to flash in and those that were rejected because of some impracticability of the current situation.


It was infuriating how I couldn’t use the Lightsaber on her because of how distant she was and the fact she was keeping her distance above me was starting to further irk me. I had to move and-


Slash!


My eyes widened the moment as I saw one of her Spears tear through part of the sleeve of my left arm, a large gash forming on the limb and forcing me to back away with an agony painted in my face.


FUCK! THOSE HURTS!


“Just stay still and accept your death, worm!”


I scowled and resumed my dodging, this time the pain keeping me distracted from formulating any logical plan, but was doing miracles in keeping me sharp in seeing the trajectory of the errant Spears coming for me.


A small thought, a chant repeated furiously in my brain, a mantra of strength and anger.


Hit her.


HIT HER!


I wanted to land a fucking hit on that flying bitch and I was starting to see red the more this continued. Something big, I wanted to squish her like the annoying mosquito she was and…


I blinked in realization as a good idea popped in my mind at those fury-fueled thoughts.


This place was filled with rubble, old benches and other large projectile I could use.


A small smile formed in my face and it was quickly noticed by Raynare.


“Already accepting your fate, human?”


“Me, giving up?” I replied with an amused tone. “I was just considering how you preach about pride but never about the morals. You strive for some ends, but never consider the means to reach it.”


She frowned but I continued. “That is why I shall be the victor of this fight. For I have the moral high ground here!”


At this declaration a snarl left her lips and she starting to push even more energy in her attacks.


But it was too late for her.


Several seals spawned around the unoccupied sections of the Church.


Benches, debris and other broken but sturdy parts of the place were suddenly yanked up and towards the Fallen Angel.


The young woman’s eyes widened at the massive assault and I could only guess because she wasn’t expecting this much effort from a human like me.


But as she successfully shifted her attention to grind down the rocks and the wood sent at her, I quickly snapped in action, using one of the Silver Linings to yank myself right on one of the approaching debris and then… I jumped up and above the unsuspecting girl.


My body was on fire from the usage of so much energy and the stress building up, the sudden duress I had put onto my core starting to bite my butt, but the adrenaline was doing more than enough to keep me from getting distracted by the searing pain steadily growing through my entire body.


The Lightsaber once owned by Freed blazed to life as I prepped it for its first lightshow under my ownership, ready and eager to get a killing blow accomplished and soon, once I had stabilized well above the distracted Fallen Angel, I dived in for the victory blow.


Maybe it was the wind, maybe it was instinct that got her to perceive me, but by the time I was close enough to her, Raynare snapped her head right to where I was.


Violet eyes widening in terrified shock, she couldn’t do anything as my blade came down upon her.


Something was cut, blood was spilled and… I was sent crashing toward the ground.


CRACK!


Pain surged within my now-throbbing right arm, the limb taking most of the punishment and… I think some ribs broke too.


I coughed some blood, failing to stand up as I looked back at where Raynare was.


The young woman had followed my same descent to the floor, slamming quite brutally on the ground as she ended up getting cut by the pieces of rocks around.


We were both sporting minor cuts from this escalation and our breathings were labored at best.


We waited some time, trying to see whom was going to get up and get the victory while also knowing that we weren’t able to do so.


Too much pain and strain was going through our system and our bodies had gone beyond the limits we had.


A smiling Azazel landed right between us and raised his arms towards both.


“It would seem like this match has ended in… a draw!”


…


W-Wha the-


Thud


Before I could call BS on what had just happened, that my efforts were useless and that Raynare was going to live…


What an infuriating day!


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I woke up some time later, surprisingly enough not in the church I had fallen unconscious to.


My eyes snapping open suddenly as the pain finally broke me away from my slumbering.


I stared at the ceiling of the room, a familiar ceiling-


This was the ceiling of my room.


My eyes widened and slowly I started to look around, trying to not move my body too much as I was still sore and in pain.


H-How did I got there? Who brought me here-


My thoughts died down the moment I heard some pages of a book rustling quickly, as if someone was cheeking my-


I stared at Azazel, the man sighing in disappointment as he closed another book from my library and giving me an annoyed glance.


“You know, Hoitsu Sakakibara, you are one of the most boring young men I had the opportunity to be around with.”


He shook his head in shame. “Your parents aren’t around most of the day, sometime even being away for the entire day, and what I find from your library is...”


“That you don’t have a porn stash!”


I frowned in confusion as the man started to chuckle at his own words, my left eye twitching in annoyance at the attempt of his to find anything remotely connected to ‘non-descript stuff’ in my room of all places.


“But let us talk about something a little more… serious.” He sighed as he carefully sat on the bed, avoiding to crush my poor legs.


“Your little fun fight, the one I caused out of boredom, brought up some questions about your current abilities and… your identity,” He took in his hands my wallet and looked at the ID card here. “You see, I am fairly sure that you are a full-human, your parents are humans… and yet you can use Holy energy, pure one at that.”


...was that so unique? I thought someone else would have-


“Oh? You don’t even know why is it important?”


I flinched at the sudden interjection, almost caught off-guard by it..


“Your face is currently a window to your thoughts after getting this much beaten and coming to crash down on the unforgiving ground of a ruined church from a fall of more than 10 meters” The man hummed quietly, then he stopped another search around the room to continue. “By the way, the worst of your wounds should be gone in a few hours from now. Your biology has quite the quick regenerative power-”


He stopped at my questioning wide eyes and smiled.


What was he talking about?


“Yep, you’re quite different from what a normal human should be. The holy energy present in your body is slowly improving your entire being- nothing that could turn you in an Angel, mind you, there are too many differences between you and a pure-blooded Angel.”


Azazel sighed and patted my leg, getting a hiss of pain out of me.


“Jeez, that much sore? Well, I guess that could be caused by being that much suicidal.”


I felt my features hardening as he gave me a strong and stern look, an unnatural sight to be bestowed.


“That was stupid- no, even worse than that. You almost died.”


Flinching at the stern words, I was still subjected to this unexpected lecture as I was quite sure that Azazel had never displayed this much sternness around someone, especially with a ‘nobody’ like me.


It was odd and… somehow unnerving.


“Your reserves were close to fully dry up, your body was collapsing at the pressure and I had to employ the help of some old associates to get you in stable condition.”


He stared silently right onto the bandages applied to my body, then he looked up to my face as if trying to push the point deeper in my brain.


“You were throwing your life to just a draw, one that was admirable mind you, but a silly and senseless one at best,” The Governor-General sighed tiredly. “And… that made me consider something.”


I blinked and he snorted at my confusion.


“You are dumb and inexperienced but you have potential to become someone important in this mad world,” The man explained with a softer tone, a small smile playing on his face. “The kind of potential that, if carefully groomed, can bring you to achieve some impressive milestones.”


Was he going to- No, that couldn’t be it.


There was no way in Hell that Azazel himself was going to get me in Grigori.


Sure, the organization was a hub for anyone willing to side against Hell and Heaven (albeit formally considering the state of the factions’ relationships).


“I know that you’re the informant that revealed the plot Kokabiel is concocting as of now,” He stated with undeniable certainty in his tone, causing me to look shocked at this certainty. “You made a great service for Grigori and, while I can’t offer you much, I do think you would benefit to work with us.”


What the-


“But not as a full worker,” The leader of the group continued, detailing his proposal. “I wish to have you as a… part-timer; Someone for minor missions and then, maybe after few years from now, as an associate affiliated to us.”


I blinked, contemplating this offer.


If I joined even part of Grigori, I would have to deal with long missions, face some big threats and… be sent away from Kuoh, possibly ruining my chances of keeping my general cover about my knowledge and interest in developing my abilities.


Still, the risks were worth some neat rewards as Grigori did have some brilliant teachers and many were researchers with a penchant of developing modern-based spells and magic-related technology.


“And before you ask- yes, we will have to first train you up before sending you in real mission,” He snorted and shook his head. “As if I would send you, an inexperienced idiot with these suicidal tendencies, to fight for us in an official job.”


I narrowed my eyes at the insults, starting to get offended by this easy-going skit he was trying to pull here.


“And I will also add up the premium offer of being trained by me, the grand and majestic Azazel, for a few days!” He proclaimed with unrestrained glee, then he sighed. “Just the time I will be there in Kuoh and then I will have someone else assigned to deal with you.”


Someone else? And he wanted to train me?


While one would easily accept at this point, the gains that I would receive from such offer way beyond what I could normally achieve on my own, I was quite wary of being my butt-kicked by Azazel and given a full-treatment of his usually-abrasive personality.


The man might mean good things, but knowing that he did train Vali and the Host of the Vanishing Dragon appeared in Canon way over-powered already, I was aware that I was going to be suffering through those days if I said yes.


...Yet the benefits were still interesting as I would gain an edge for the incoming fights and prepare myself for the show’s biggest threat.


By fighting Raynare this early, Gods know how much I twisted the current timeline because… the Chaos Theory.


Conflicted but somehow determined to not deny myself the little chance of advancing my growth even faster, I let out a single but careful nod, a gesture more than enough for the leader of Grigori to smile at and take it as a ‘yes’.


“Good! Then I will call you… tomorrow morning to address your new schedule and… I think we are done for now.”


He stood up from the bed and moved towards the door.


“By the way,”


Oh Gods, what does he want now?


“While you were sleeping a young man and a cute girl decided to pass by and I think one of them is the owner of the Booster Gear, correct?”


I nodded again and he smiled.


“Well, I let them in and they are waiting outside.”


He opened the door and the man left while waving back at me, letting the two visitors enter moments after.


Issei and Asia walked inside and stopped to stare at my current state, the young man’s eyes widening as he tried to formulate any sentence, while the young nun gasping at the scene.


“Senpai!”


Goddammit! Now I have to deal with them worried kohais too…


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AN


6k chapter and my hands are hurting, yay!


Anyway, I hope that I didn’t disappoint with the fight as usually I am not that good with them. I am fairly rusty in pacing them but I have some images while writing down so… maybe.


More explanations about the MC’s improved biology next chapter. I didn’t want to bloat this one with info and thus decided to leave the better explained version of his situation for a latter time.


He isn’t an Angel, nor a Fallen one too. He is 75/80% Human… the rest is kind of odd.​

 

Chapter 6: Fleeting Normalcy

The shining morning of this new day started what was supposed to be a particularly normal day.

With Raynare and her group pushed away from Kuoh Town and with my cover remaining intact after the ordeal I had to face through to get the threat removed, I was ready to get few hours of relieving normalcy at the Academy and see how things were going at the Student Council.

Well, mostly normalcy as I still had to give a tour of the school to a thrilled Asia. The blonde had excitedly narrated how the strange but kind man (read as ‘Azazel’) told her that he would have had some words with the principal of the establishment to enlist her in the same year Issei was frequenting.

While the news might have been happily accepted by the brunet at the idea of having such a cute girl around - while also being remembered that I wasn’t going to allow him to do anything remotely perverted to the girl, I had to be the one breaking some issues that will immediately appear with this situation.

In the show it isn’t never mentioned what level of education Asia had when she reached Japan, nor is it said if she did frequent or not the Catholic private schools that children in Catholic-owned orphanages were supposed to go.

Thus the first question about as she continued to heal me with her Sacred Gear was what was her last school experience before being excommunicated. She had to think about it since the Italian school system was completely different from the Japanese one, but I managed to get a positive response.

First year of Lyceum.

The Italian Lyceum was technically the commonly-known high school, and so that meant that she was going to skip only a year of school by being in the same course as Issei. Not something truly dreadful to deal with but also something that was going to require some adjustments in the girl’s homework for the sake of catch up with her peers.

And that was going to be a somewhat easy job thanks to my position within the School Council.

The foreign girl hummed happily as she continued to walk close to me, listening to the various info about the school and the various sections of the building I was providing her with.

“So Issei-san is subscribed to the Occult Research Club… which his made by the other members of the peerage he is part of?”

“Correct.” I nodded and gave her a small smile back at her own. “Rias Gremory is one of the two owners of Kuoh’s grounds by Devils’ laws. The other one is the current Student Council’s president, Sona Shitori. Her real last name is ‘Sitri’ but she wants to be addressed either as ‘Sona-san’ and ‘Shitori-san’.”

“Sona-...san. Okay!” I was having a really hard time keeping the urge of patting her head away from hindering my current job. She was adorable and I prayed for said adorable feature to never be weaponized.

After almost ten minutes of walking around and giving Asia a full look of how the Academy looked like inside, we both reached for the door that led to the classroom she was assigned to.

“Remember to not get distracted by Issei during the lessons and to take notes- Also, if Motohama and Matsuda tried to do anything remotely perverted to say ‘no’ and get Ise to tell them off, okay?”

She nodded, a determined expression in her face that just conveyed all the cuteness someone like her could muster. I blinked when my hand unconsciously went over her head, causing the blonde to look in surprise the moment it start to pat her golden locks. “Remember to relax and to never hesitate in asking for help.”

Her body tensed in surprise at the encouraging words, her eyes glowing a little and then- my own eyes widened in shock as I found myself with her arms wrapped around my torso, a giggle left her lips as she concluded the brief hug. “Thank you for helping me around, Senpai. I do appreciate your kindness and support.”

I chuckled. “Just avoid trouble, Asia-chan, and you will be super-fine.”

A last giggle left her as she moved towards the door, knocking at it and waiting for a response. At the invite from the teacher to join inside, the former nun nodded and waved quickly at me as she finally entered inside the classroom.

I waited few more moments, sighing in relief the moment I decided it was time to go back in my own classroom. I wonder how things were going for Rias now that she wasn’t going to have Asia as her Bishop.

It will be a dreadful weakening when she will have to face Riser, but I am fairly sure having Ddraig more active so early on and Issei actively training with him to unlock his potential a little quicker than in Canon will be enough of a re-balance.

Sitting in my usual post, the teacher started with the roll call as he would usually do this at this stage of the day. I took out my notes, a pen and the English textbook, ready to deal with what was supposed to be a normal day at the Academy.

But it was right as I looked up from my desk to give attention to the teacher, I noticed almost instantly something very concerning. Rias’ cerulean eyes darted away as she saw me looking her way, my mind screaming at the fact I had caught her interest for some reason.

I tried to not focus too much on her attempt to hide away what had just happened and turned back to the teacher… and found out that Akeno was still staring at me.

While this would have been chilling because of her personality and all, what made her stare the most dreadful to go through was the lack of her usual smile. Instead she was giving me an analytical look, studying me from afar and…

That didn’t bode well with me.

---

In the official room of the Student Council I found some relief away from the newfound issue presented by the fact the Gremory’s heiress wanted something from me.

The idea of her wanting to ‘recruit’ me was already off the table, knowing that Sona wouldn’t want the redhead to have a hand in her group. Even through I wasn’t in her peerage, the Sitri was quite protective about everyone in her team, especially those loyal and faithful to her orders and capacity of decision-making.

I sighed tiredly as I signed another piece of paper off to the side, right beside me Tsubaki silently doing the part of work she requested to help with. Having been absent for two days now from dealing with Council’s duty, there was quite the stack of paperwork to deal with and the Vice-President decided to offer her support in dealing through with all of it.

The bespectacled girl took this time to explain what had happened during the two previous council sessions I had been unable to attend and while also ask how I spent the time while resting away at home.

I had to present a modified story of the ‘grocery encounter’ but the girl seemed to accept the story I had given her, quite surprised to learn that I met the newest addition of the school in this casual way.

Half an hour of dutifully completing the large workload of three days, I found smiling at the grand result managed today. I gave a quick but meaningful ‘thank you’ to Tsubaki, the second-in-command nodding and giving a small smile.

Just as I thought that this was going to be how I was going to spend the last hour at school today, an unexpected knocking at the door interrupted the activities within the room. There was a brief pause as we all exchanged some glances about what to do.

Currently in the classroom were Reya, Ruruko, Tsubaki and me.

The first two were formally my assistants, but generally helped around every major member of the council. Slowly gaining some experience, both girls were still unable to fit a proper position with the limited Council’s roster. They were trying to put some cardboard boxes inside one of the lockers within the small storage area connected to the classroom as they stopped to hear this sudden noise, almost tripping on each other as they were carrying one of the bigger boxes.

Sona was currently busy with some meeting with the administrators of the school, thus leaving only us in the Council’s room.

I blinked and decided to take some action. “You may enter.”

With the permission granted, the door opened and Rias Gremory led the trio made by her, Kiba and Akeno inside, eyes directly fixed on me as she approached.

“Sakakibara-san.” The redhead greeted with a quick nod, the others deciding to let their leader speak this time around. Which conveniently helped me a lot as I had to deal only with a single individual.

“Gremory-san.” I returned the greeting politely, waiting for the young woman to speak… and so she did with a certain confident tone.

“I wish to talk with you about Asia-san.” There was that smile, the smile that felt like the world here in Kuoh had to bend to her way. I don’t hate nor dislike Rias, it’s all about her over-confident behavior she got before the Raiser’s Saga that got me quite annoyed of talking with her.

Thus my frown deepened and I let out another curt nod. “Sure, what do you need to know about her?”

And while I looked the perfect example of calm to those looking my face, inside my head a storm was slowly forming, the maelstrom of thoughts and theories about the following discussion being far from positive or good for myself.

But still, I decided to see where this was going and let her speak freely.

“I was thinking of having Asia-san enlisted to the Occult Research Club. I did ask her about the possibility but she seemed adamant to not join it and...” Her eyes narrowed softly. “You were the last one to speak to her and-”

“Are you seriously saying that I would for some reason order her to not join a specific club, Gremory-san? Are you possibly accusing me of something in particular of that sort?”

My tone was glacial and the brief hesitation from Rias at the strong front I was putting at that implied attack seemed to show that she wasn’t as strong as she looked to be in confrontations of this kind.

“I-I was referring to the fact you might have said something that could have been badly-interpreted.”

My boiling fury kept still as I continued to keep myself stern about this situation. Emotions were going to hinder any chance of dealing with this predicament without issues.

“Asia-san asked if it was necessary to join up a club, stating that she would have liked to have to get hold of her classes and see how to deal with them without any further weight over her head. I reminded her that as per rules, students at Kuoh Academy have a maximum of 2 months to decide to join or not a club.”

Her eyes widened and she looked unsure how to continue the discussion. Of course I did mention that it was best for the blonde to enter her club, as if I wanted a God-devoted girl to be deprived of the chance of grasping at her metaphysical crutch.

Because, as much as I wasn’t much of a Church’s believer, I was one that understood that everyone needs to have someone to pray at when they were at their lowest. Without tangible support, Asia directed her prayers to someone that was ‘unquestionably good’ and ‘that would never turn His back at her’.

If the girl joined the ORC? She would be pressured to become a Bishop, as she would be vulnerable as a human in a group of devils, and would have to then learn about God’s death by Kokabiel.

I know it’s wrong to lie just like I know that it was a duty to be honest to someone as precious as the girl- but I was also very important to keep her from learning about this disastrous news in the heat of a fight.

I will be the one telling her, once I know that she can easily find a fall back for her hopes in someone like Issei or me. It might sound selfish but… if I had to choose between breaking her heart like that during a battle or in a place and time where she could think properly about this, I think my answer is as clear as a cloudless sky.

Just as the redhead seemed ready to continue with this hopeless situation, I felt the phone I had in the left pocket of my pants vibrate, notifying me about a new message. Slowly I picked the small device and checked whom was it and…

I frowned at the content of the short message and the name of the contact that sent it.

“Tsubaki-san, I think I will have to go now. It’s about the late lessons I have to take now.” The bespectacled girl blinked at the sudden development but nodded with an understanding glint in her heterochromic eyes.

“I will take this situation off your hands then.” The Vice-President stated with a nod as she turned her attention to the trio. “As Hoitsu-san has just finished to tell you, his role doesn’t allow him to-”

I walked around the envoy and waved at the other two girls in the room, both smiling and nodding my way as I walked out of the door.

But just as I closed it behind me, I felt like I was being watched until that moment. I could feel something or someone reaching from me while I was going towards the lone entrance to the classroom.

I glanced back and shivered. What was that?

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Deciding to not indulge the blessing that allowed me to hastily retreat away from dealing with this odd situation and to face the planned encounter with Azazel, I proceeded to walk towards the school’s entrance, sure that at this time of the day most of the students that weren’t doing club-work were already out of the Academy.

And yet, as I walked out of the glass doors, I noticed a short figure waiting here. Golden eyes turned my direction as Koneko was waiting by the end of the stairs, holding with one hand behind her back a familiar test-paper.

I blinked and as much as she was trying to appear calm and restrained, a small smile was twitching on her lips. It didn’t take a genius to understand that the little Nekomata had just got a good grade out of yesterday’s test.

And I was correct.

As we walked through the streets of Kuoh Town, the younger student decided to tell more how her test had gone.

It was surprising to see someone as stoic and usually reserved as Koneko speaking this much openly and in detail about something that had happened to her. Surprising and very adorable.

She didn’t spare any brief spur of emotion from showing as she revealed so eagerly the ‘99/100’ she got in the Math exam.

“I never got this high grade before…” She muttered happily while holding the paper. Her tone was incredulous, as if she was dreaming all of this and she couldn’t believe it was actually true.

“Preparation is the key of success, Koneko-san.” I replied with a small smile of mine. “When you give your all in preparing for a test, you will be scoring some good grade out of it.”

The girl considered my words and then hummed in agreement. “But I have to thank you for the support, senpai.” She walked quickly in front of me and stopped, causing me to stop too. “You helped me and… I am thankful.”

It was tame, but I wasn’t expecting much from it. Yet I decided to poke a little at her current attitude.

“By the way, I hope you received some other congratulations.” I said with a small smile. “That was certainly an achievement for you and I hope you got some rewards out of it.”

She frowned and blinked confused. “Rewards?”

“You know, the classic ‘you did amazing’, ‘Since you have been good, I will buy you some candy-’”

“Are you offering to buy, senpai?” The white-haired girl interrupted with a strange glint in her eyes. “I know a place that sells-”

“I don’t have money on me right now, Koneko-san, I am sorry.” She deflated at that development, a flinch-worthy scene. Thus I decided to sprung into action.

The girl tensed, much like Asia did earlier that day as my hand patted her head. I expected her to react badly, maybe pummel me away if I went in too aggressive, and yet…

“W-Why?” There was a light stutter, a very adorable one too.

“I think you did good.” I replied without hesitation. “You gave your best for the test and got one of the highest scores. That is nothing to scoff at and… good job, Koneko-chan.”

The young girl slowly turned around and looked up right at me. There was a minor blush in her cheeks and her eyes were wide open. “You...” Koneko started, her voice lost after few moments of careful head-patting. “You aren’t going to tell anyone about this.”

A quick but decisive threat. “And I get to reward you like this?”

She didn’t reply, trying to pout at little but failing to hide some slivers of happiness appearing on her face.

The situation lasted five more minutes and we parted for our respective ways.

Today was sure looking up for me!

---

I’ve jinxed myself.

The first training session with Azazel was supposedly an ‘introductory’ one, the man offering a brief schedule about the three days he was going to teach me around.

The session was structured in a simple thing:

First we had training with swords as the Fallen Angel wanted my skill with the Lightsaber to be top notch; Magic training was a mix of exercises to increase my already growing Core, learning new spells and practicing what I had learned during spars; the last section was bare-handed fighting, something I was completely ineffective about as the man did have some mad experience about being close and personal against people.

But while said regime looked fairly simple, the truth was completely the opposite.

The leader of Grigori had come prepared for the occasion, bringing in more than forty small bottles with a clear green liquid in those. The man was quick to reveal that those were very expensive health potions called ‘Tears of Phoenix’, something that was sold primarily by the Phenex family.

Kind of a dreadful reminder of the things that would have to happen in a month from now.

The reason of the insane price was based on the fact that those could heal quickly, restore a body out of fatigue, recharge a Magical Core and that multiple potions can be used repeatedly without running in any dangerous after-effects.

A powerful thing that ended up being my ruin for the four hours of utter pain I had to go through.

Azazel didn’t hold his punches, nor his sword’s strikes… and his magical nuking. Seriously, I was turned in a fun target that could hardly dodge or counter anything thrown at me.

Something did change the moment I got to read and practice two new spells, Light Mining and Light Barrier.

The L. Barriers created cushions between the attack and the caster, giving me some edge in deflecting or out-right dodge some of his attacks and try to lure him to make use of the Mining spell.

Obviously it was a minor improvement but, as the fist-fight resumed for the 33th time, I managed to get some dodging done and hitting his guard more than once. It was refreshing and would have been awesome if…

THUD

...he hadn’t been holding back for the first two hours.

Groaning on the floor, I noticed that there was only two potions left and I dreaded the fact the last round was the 34th of all numbers.

“Now that did sound like an interesting round.” The man chuckled as he pulled me off the floor, sighing as he looked around the damaged arena. As he wasn’t sparing any blows, I wasn’t certainly holding back anything, resulting in the utter devastation visible in the building.

“I got my ass kicked.”

“But you lasted longer than the first time. I would say 20 times than your initial time.”

I frowned at his attempt to cheer me up. “D-Didn’t I last like a minute the first time.”

He snorted at my tired reply, my ears catching what seemed to be a that’s what she said, further irking my strained brain as I downed the content of the penultimate of the bottles left.

Azazel turned around with a feral smile. “C’mon, one last time.” He sighed, his energy showing once more, like a sun ready to explode right on me. “This time… with emotion.”

The clash resumed, this time I decided to give my fullest and…

An hour later I fell on the floor with a solid Thud, my body on fire as I went beyond my limits and gained something of an edge against the stronger being.

I noticed how he restrained himself from flying, giving me the chance to unbalance his footing with the creative use of mines bouncing off the barriers. It was like using a cannon against Terminator and the grinning bastard managed to still recover quickly enough to render the initial advantage minimal.

“You almost made me slip. That was some good thinking… and I think this is enough for today’s.”

I sighed in relief accepting his help to get off the ground for the umpteenth time, drinking quickly the last bottle and taking few moments to recover from that beating.

“Your potential is quite higher than I initially thought. I can see that you will be quite the dangerous individual in the great game once we are done with your training.”

As I contemplated his words, Azazel slowly handed me a small USB. “What is it?”

“A tome from Grigori’s library. It contains the first ten spells for Shadow-craft.”

At my confused look, the leader of the Fallen Angels sighed. “Its a craft that very few individuals can achieve, humans being the prime individuals because of your Earthly Magic.”

“Nothing about developing my Light arsenal?” I asked out of curiosity.

He scoffed. “I have already planned to teach you more during the training days, but I want you to learn Shadow-craft on your free time, in the field.”

I nodded at his response but decided to ask some more, this time forwarding a question that had been bothering as of late.

“Yesterday you said something strange about my biology and all… what were you talking about?”

He blinked in surprise but smiled. “I guess that has to be a quite the heavy brick to digest and… I think I should have been clearer than that.”

The man slowly sat on the ground and I followed his example.

“Your current self, your body and soul, are slightly different than the standard human being. It houses a powerful core that makes use of Holy and Earthly magical energy, something that can be achieved only by Angels or Fallen ones.”

I nodded while he pointed at himself, understanding that my case was curious.

“But your current biology isn’t neither similar to an Angel nor a Fallen one. You do feel like one, but checking better one with a good sensory ability can see that there is a prevalence of humanity within you, simple mortality only humans can have.”

“So you mean that I kept myself a human even with the injection of Holy energy.”

“Correct. You are a human being that has merely increased his magical and physical growth. You will get some muscles and maybe swoon some women in the process-” He chuckled at that much to my annoyance. “But you are not able to fully compose the spells you make.”

At this I let out a frown. “I thought I did all the right things, conceptualizing and materializing the magic while giving the proper amount of energy.”

“That is what a spell generally need, but those that are reserved to Angels and Devils require also a specific essence from the caster, a personification of your will that fuse harmoniously the technique with the energy.”

I blinked, realizing what he was talking about.

While fighting Raynare, I did notice that my Spears were slightly weaker than hers, but I thought that it was because mine were basic ones, without any proper reinforcement or something that improved them generally.

But if this was the case, anything I learned that wasn’t something humans could generally magically use was going to always be inferior compared to the version used by Angels or Devils.

...Shit.

“So that is why you want me to learn Shadow-related spells?”

The man nodded. “Yep. While I think those will hardly present any powerful attack to use against your enemy, it will give an edge in supporting your allies or giving yourself some time to recover.”

I nodded and as I was about to call the day and go home, the man patted my shoulder. “You are going far, Hoitsu, but I have to ask you… what do you wish with this life?”

I frowned. “What?”

“What do you seek with this life? What do you want to achieve by becoming stronger and stronger?”

I blinked and thought about it.

What did I want from this situation? I guess I want to make sure to avoid the deaths of the Canon, the innocents and avoid the awakening of Trihexa.

I wasn’t sure that there was something in this world that could help up in dealing with the Dragon of Apocalypse and even training the hardest possible was going to leave me short of something.

There is also the matter of the peace between the Three Factions, fighting the Khaos Brigade, both Hero Faction and Qlipoth.

It wasn’t a bleak gaze but neither was a favorable one.

And yet…

“I guess I want to be a hero.” I decided to say. “Not the ‘I am cool and I have this title’ hero, I mean the one that kick asses while chewing gum.”

“You want to save the world?” Azazel asked a bit surprised. “I don’t want to kick your dream like I just finished kicking you up, but that sounds quite...”

“Childish?”

“I would say simplistic.” He sighed. “You are setting the bar quite high and… I hope you aren’t going to become power-hungry because of it.”

“Nah.” I stated with a nod. “I know the difference of meaning it and using the ‘Greater Good’ to justify some selfish power-gain. I will be content once I am strong enough to deal with the threats in front of me and-”

“I think there is more to it.”

I froze and looked at him. “What?”

“I know that you are hiding things away from everyone, things that, from my understanding, seems to be quite private but important… but I want to really know what you want from this all.” The fallen angel gestured around.

“The world, the people here and...” Azazel pointed at me. “Yourself.”

I blinked, eyes going once more wide as the man got up from the floor. “But I don’t think you are ready, or at least you think you are not. Once you are, please… do tell me.”

… “Why?”

“Because I think it’s a real good motivation and...” He hummed, looking away for a moment. “I think those around you would share this same idea of mine about it.”

…

“You are insane, sir.”

He grinned madly. “Try to deal with my work-load and the absence of boobs and booze and then we will see who is the insane.”

I reiterate my initial assessment about this man.

Azazel is a nutcase and surprisingly enough… I don’t mind that he is one.

---

AN

Did Akeno feel… something different about our dear MC? (It’s not Romantic-related before anyone asks)

I had to quadruple-check the DxD timeline as I found myself lacking some proper dates about some of the events and from my understanding between Raynare Arc and Raiser Arc there is a month of difference.

This month will be a complete divergence from Canon, the MC will start to walk independently from the plot and work with Grigori. What does this mean? Next chapter will happen three days from this one, after the training and (before the hounds waiting there start to maul me up) I have planned a showcase of the new abilities in the next few chapters as some big AU event is planned to happen in those two-three chapters after this one.

What is it about? Find out tomorrow!

 

Chapter 7: Petty but Effective

The building that I’ve grown accustomed to in the last three days was once again rumbling as the umpteenth spar with Azazel continued.

The Fallen Angel was powerful, experienced and seemingly with never-ending energy. He hardly looked winded after 12 consecutive spars and I was starting to understand that my growth in power wasn’t going to be neither a quick, nor an easy one.

The leader of Grigori was somewhat focused, the smile that had characterized the spars the first day disappeared towards the end of the second day. I was getting faster, receptive and incredibly unforgiving when lazy openings were offered.

Real damage on him was minimal, but the annoyance that the firepower of some of my attacks caused on him was enough to make the man take a stronger pace. That had initially meant a sudden switch of speeds and reactions, his attacks getting a little faster and more difficult to deal with.

Yet any attack on me meant a possible opening for me to use on his defenses, which would be exploited by deploying my strongest attacks.

The first Shadow-related techniques revealed to be quite the blessing and, just like Azazel had stated two days ago, it did help in keeping up with my opponent’s pacing and swift moves.

It was actually a very simple form, the Shadow Duet, which enabled the user to follow up an enemy’s speed by latching some magic on his shadow.

It was like attaching a small boat to a very fast gunship with a strong chain., the example also bringing up the glaring issues of this basic technique:

The user’s body had to be able to sustain already that kind of speed, the spell wasn’t going to nullify the straining a pace beyond the user’s limits was going to cause;

While the ‘connection’ was subtle and difficult to perceive during a fight, if it is found my the enemy, it can be broken or influenced to act on the opposite end, properly destroying the advantage without notice.

The spell was useful in aiding up my offensive capabilities, but paled to the second spell I ended up learning from the USB. The Silent Step of Darkness wasn’t a spell made for battles, but rather as a stealth/infiltration technique.

By using someone/something’s shadow, I could easily make my steps soundless and bolster my speed through several shadows.

The utility it had in this fight?

With Azazel’s constant attacking, his shadow was shifting with him and… gave me the chance of being one step forward, dodging his punches and kicks during close quarter without much effort spent there.

And that was why bare-handed fighting became a very frustrating activity for the leader of Grigori… and made him retaliate by dropping literal magical napalm during Magic training.

The bright side of getting this much attention in that compartment was that my barriers got a tiny bit stronger, managing to hold two of the man’s Light Spears before collapsing.

It wasn’t enough to make this a safe alternative to dodging or using my own Spears to deflect the others, but I was starting to give a little more hope that I could develop some strong protective spell that could do more than just be the ‘scapegoat’ for attacks.

With the constant use of Spells and the meditation I had to endure with Azazel joking around with some adult topics, my Core was starting to produce and contain much more energy than before.

I could now create eight spears at the same time, but while I could go as far as twelve, their quality would get lesser the more I went beyond that ‘safe’ number.

I had generally improved and, to be honest, I was quite sure that with this pace I was going to get strong enough to make some ‘impact’ very soon-

“Enough for today~!” Azazel announced with a small smile without notice, dropping his stance immediately and… making me trip face-first at the sudden declaration.

“What do you mean ‘Enough’?! We weren’t done!” My outburst was met with a groan from the man.

“Look kid, you might have the Tears of Phoenix keeping you going, but I have nothing to recover the massive input I am deploying.” He explained quickly. “Plus, we need to talk about something important.”

I blinked at that bit and nodded, approaching slowly the sighing man. “What is it about?”

“Do you remember when I said that my replacement, the one that was going to continue to train you, was supposed to arrive today?”

I narrowed my eyes at that reminder. “Yes. What happened?”

“He is trying to bail out of this.” The leader of Grigori hummed. “Not because of you, he doesn’t even know you to be this much of a prude already. His problem is… he doesn’t want to be there in Kuoh.”

“But why?” Was my quick query. I mean, there were several Fallen Angels that would avoid the dual Gremory-Shitori fief, but I don’t see one in specific that would give a ‘nope’ to Azazel… and the man being mostly fine with that.

“Personal issues and… the situation is that I can’t go personally to snatch him away from where he is.” He turned and pointed at me. “’You’ will go and do that for me.”

… “What?”

“I need you to go and get him in Kuoh town, do whatever is necessary like helping him with his current mission or out-right try to kidnap him.” Then he scrunched his face in thought. “Actually, don’t try to forcefully smuggle him out, he might be quite stronger than you.”

“How much strong?” I had to consider every situation and kidnapping might be one of those available.

“Strong enough to kill you without trying.” He remarked without hesitation. “Plus he will not be alone and the ward is incredibly easy to anger… “

He hummed again. “Actually, you should anger his ward. I want to see his hilarious reaction.”

“I assume that this one shouldn’t be able to kill me?”

“Oh no, he could and will try to kill you if you even joke around him.” The leader of Grigori stated calmly. “But I am confident enough to know you would avoid getting killed by him with what you have.”

“So he is dangerous but… still someone I can face against and hope for a victory?”

Azazel thought about it. “Maybe.” He nodded. “You could give some trouble, maybe even knock him out before he can get serious.”

So someone arrogant… I have some idea of whom he was referring to. I just hope that I wasn’t seriously going to face him of all people wherever I was going to sent to.

“By the way, where am I supposed to go exactly?”

For some reason the man gave off a smile bigger than usual.

“Kyoto.” He finally replied. “I will come to pick you up tomorrow by dinner-time.”

---

I was a little tense when Sona asked for more details over this supposed ‘odd-job’ in the old Capital of the nation. Albeit very lenient and permissive when the situation allowed, the heiress of the Sitri clan was also one that didn’t like leaving a strange situation unanswered.

Mentioning the fact I would have to be away from Kuoh town for the following two-three days was enough to spark some surprise, curiosity and suspicion.

The latter emotion was minuscule and overshadowed by the other two, the questions that ensued from that small meeting giving me some insight of why she was suspecting me of something.

While Rias had ditched the idea of approaching me directly, seemingly limiting her attempts to mere glancing and studying me from afar, the President of the Student Council decided to admit to have received ‘considerable pressure’ from her friend.

“While your point is valid about Asia-san having the right to have some time to decide which club to pick… couldn’t you just-”

God-fucking-dammit, I am starting to get annoyed now at this attempt to coerce the girl in the OCR.

But while the allure of rebuffing that proposal was strong, I knew that I had to avoid getting caught by my own irritation in some trap I couldn’t get out from. Rias might lack the proper influence to push me in the corner, but she knew that the political landscape of the Academy played similarly to a chessboard.

Yet that view wasn’t a complete insight over the whole state of things, as there were some advantages that only those that looked around knew about.

So, much to Sona’s surprise, I smiled and nodded. “I will see how to solve this situation then.” Then I frowned, giving off a very stern and serious look. “But I hope that you will not crack under this kind of pressure, Sona-buchou.”

She blinked in surprise. “B-Beg your pardon? Are you saying that-”

“Sona.” She frowned at the lack of honorifics but looked quite shocked. “I’ve known you for what? Four months now? I think I can recognize when something is coming from your mind as those generally have a superb level of logic to them that I can’t help but accept them instantly. You are usually very objective and impartial, yet you are flawed in properly curtailing the fact you were pushed into this.”

The girl kept quiet, we were alone in the Council’s classroom for this special discussion and that meant I had to pick my words carefully now. Sona was smart and very perceptive to things around her, but also relatively naive and easy to mislead when particular individuals had a grip over her.

“Y-you-” There was a long pause after that botched attempt to reply, this ending with a tired sigh from her. “You are correct.”

She leaned on her chair. “Rias has been pointing out that you were quite stern about keeping ‘Asia from picking the club she wanted’-”

I opened my mouth but the president held her hand, gesturing me to keep quiet. “Tsubaki-san was quick enough to rectify this ‘mistaken’ thought as she was present when the encounter happened and she had spared few words with Asia-san to confirm your point of view for this situation.”

I blinked in surprise at this. I mean, I was fairly close to Tsubaki, nothing of romantic as she had been keen to state that she was not interested in pursuing anything serious with anyone right now, but to think that she would go out of her way to confirm my version was… touching.

“Still, I have realized that during our last encounter Rias-san had mentioned some facts that weighted heavily over the school’s current situation.” Sona mentioned and I quickly connected this to the coalition she and the redhead shared for this territory. “Her father is an influential donor to the Academy, his funds help to sustain a steady income to maintain our present’s situation.”

I can see where she was trying to go… but I could see her looking away while giving this last bit. Rias was far too much a softie to contemplate pulling a ‘rich-girl’ act and get Zeoticus to pull out his donations to the school. The Academy was her base was and having it closing down would have been a stupid risk to take to expand her peerage.

But I had to give it to Sona, if I hadn’t known the situation to the fullest and didn’t know about the tell-tale signs of her lying, I might have thought badly of the Gremory’s heiress.

“Then I will make sure to avoid any situation that could warrant any reason for her… to make a scene.” My words caused the girl to nod nervously as it seemed like she herself trying to digest her own lie even now.

“I will leave you to this matter. I hope that… you understand my concerns and why this happened.” I nodded at her hesitant self.

“I do, Sona-buchou. But I want to say only this to you.” I said with a serious tone. “I know that, if you give some thought over this matter, some way to circumvent this predicament can be found and I believe you will do that.”

The following smile, a hopeful one, was what made the girl pause in her tracks, eyes darting away as she considered those words and nodding a goodbye as she spent some more time alone.

Meanwhile I was already walking towards Asia’s and Issei’s classroom, it was already lunch-time and school generally ended early on Fridays as Saturdays and Sundays were school-free. Spotting the brunet and the blonde was easy thing, both were chatting amiably as usual and Issei waved in my direction once he saw me coming.

“Senpai, it’s good to see you and-”

The boy’s boisterous greeting was interrupted by Asia, the girl giggling as she spoke over him. “Senpai, today Issei-kun did protect me!”

I blinked twice, surprise painted in my face at the sudden statement. “What?”

“I-It wasn’t a big time. Matsuda and Motohama were pushy with Asia and I tell them to don’t bother her-”

“Then you punched Matsuda-san when he ignored you.” The girl’s smile was incredibly bright, as bright as the blush currently visible in Issei’s face. “Issei-kun is that kind.”

The boy stammered a little, the flattering compliment coming from such sweet girl was quite the achievement for part of his dream. “A-Asia-chan is just too kind. S-She did make me some bento today too.”

This time it was the former nun’s turn to blush a clear red. “I-I just wanted to give you a gift for… helping me around so much.”

...It was just too cute. Both of them were when interacting with each other and… I contemplated going for a checkup and see if I got some diabetes from that scene alone.

“I am happy to see that you are this close to each other.” A new round of blushes resounded within the two Kohais. “But I’m here to say two important things.”

My words got them to sober up as I did give them a serious glance. “This weekend I will be out of Kuoh for some job out of town. I should be back by Monday but if there are any issues I wish to be contacted without hesitation.” I looked at both younger students. “Understood?”

They shared a nod and I sighed in relief. “Good, now we focus on you, Asia-chan.”

The girl blinked and frowned. “M-Me?”

“There had been some pressure about you having to join a club today and do you remember the idea I gave to you yesterday about that possible club?” Her eyes glowed a little in remembrance and she nodded happily.

“The Theater club?”

I nodded myself, remembering having suggested to the blonde that the club was offering the chance to work a volunteering course that allowed people to participate in charity events and perform freely for hospital children.

The idea of making people smile through their bad days, especially children, was something that thrilled the girl quite instantly. Of course I had to check if there were any requirements that could obstruct the girl from applying for this setting and I found nothing that could be problematic in the least.

“I think it’s time you join a club.”

She almost squealed at my words and the three of us walked towards the section of the school housing the particular club. The Amphitheater was mostly known to the students as the place where important announcements and events happened, very few knew that it was also used as the ‘headquarters’ for the Theater club.

There were two presidents of the club, sort of consuls, and the club was evenly split between male and female students. Previously an all-girls club, the former president permitted aspiring male actors to join and have their own representative.

Surprisingly enough, this was considered one of the clubs that received quite the support from the several of the school’s donors. It was just this well-organized and administered that the resulting events were considered the Academy’s prime delight.

Having already spared some words with both club’s presidents, enlisting Asia was just a matter of few moments and the girl was officially made part of the volunteering group.

Holding the copy of the certificate that rendered her effectively part of the club, I told her that she merely had to go to the student council’s room and hand this out to Tsubaki.

As we were turning the corner of one of the halls, we found our path blocked by few individuals.

Rias looked partly smug, Kiba, Koneko and Akeno few steps behind her, the girl possibly expecting a quick victory from this encounter as she had a flier in her hands and… much to her future dismay, I decided to do something completely unexpected for her plans.

I patted Asia’s shoulder and stated few words. “I think I will be going, please remember to leave the certificate of your official acceptance to the club to Sona-san.”

The blonde nodded happily and I decided to leave Rias to deal with her unexpected defeat. Her eyes had widened by the time I had passed her and I was fairly sure she realized almost instantly what was going on but…

I was happily going to ignore all of that today. I still had to focus on prepare my luggage for the small trip to Kyoto and I couldn’t afford to-

BZZT

I blinked as my arm shot protectively on my chest, the sudden electric shock forcing me to back away from… Akeno.

I didn’t look back, but I was fairly sure that she didn’t do anything as I was passing. Yet, as our elbows were close to each other, a sudden spark reached out for my arm. It wasn’t painful, just ‘shocking’.

And as Hoitsu continued for his path back home, Akeno looked back at him as he retreated away, her arm held close as she felt the same electric sensation.

---

AN

Hehehehe, this last bit might hint to something a little more… deeper. But it isn’t!

Akeno-chan is actually ‘not’ in Issei’s harem for this story but… she will be a fun girl to write about. Lots of potential at the fact she is both a sadist and a masochist… eheheheheh.

Some little opening about the skills that will appear in the next two chapters and, before anyone asks: No, the Kyoto Segment will not be a copy and paste of the show happening. The Khaos Brigade is still forming and they would hardly care to try and take on the Yokai faction this early on.

The third chibi is coming soon! XD

 

Chapter 8: Meeting and Befriending

Once the city that hosted the Imperial Court in Japan before the Meiji Restoration happened, Kyoto had long been turned in an influential cultural capital in the nation.

It was one of the cities spared during WW2 but also one of the last ones to get properly modernized to an acceptable level.

I spent some time around the area near the Kyoto Station to try and get some important equipment before going to the Hotel Azazel had booked for me. The Mall within the large station building offered maps for tourists and some interesting souvenirs I decided to pick and give to Asia, Issei and the members of the Student Council.

But alas, just as I felt like I got everything I needed to get from the Station and ventured outside of the structure, I stopped just a moment to take in a small detail I had completely forgotten to consider about Kyoto.

This city… was much, much bigger than Kuoh.

While this shouldn’t be problematic in the least, the issue was more related to some meek nervousness about being in such large city, especially since I’ve hardly left Kuoh for some holidays during the months before the beginning of Canon.

While my new parents were quite rich, they were also hesitant to go on trips that weren’t for work, thus depriving me of the chance to explore a little more Japan.

Deciding that I had to recollect myself somewhere safe, I started to walk through specific streets of Kyoto, my eyes darting from the map to the streets’ signs once or twice per moment as to confirm my current situation.

It took me fifteen minutes to find myself staring to a very familiar building, the hotel being something I’ve already seen before in the show.

Built by the Gremory family to honor their son’s title, the Kyoto Sirzechs Hotel was a common place of rest for many businessman and government’s officials passing by, but also for rich tourists and VIPs.

I reached for the receptionist, standing behind a large counter with several other workers dealing with other clients. The young woman, looked up from her terminal and smiled.

“Good morning, sir, how may I help you?”

I blinked and showed her the small card Azazel had given to me. I was pretty much clueless over the room number and what kind of room I was going to have for my stay here in Kyoto.

With another perfect smile, the woman nodded and picked a particular set of keys.

Number 137, heh.

Nodding and thanking the receptionist, I was quick to move towards the elevators picking one of the few yet to be used. Entering inside it, I was greeted by a panel with seven different buttons that led to 6 floors and an underground parking lot.

I picked the button with the ‘1’ written on it and waited as the elevator music lulled me to a peace during the brief waiting. The doors opened with a quick Ding and I quickly took my suitcase off the floor.

My eyes looked around at the various tags and it took me some time to find Room 137. I blinked and waited by the door-handle as I imagined what kind of room I was going to be dealing with for those two days here.

I closed my eyes, took a breath and then… opened the door.

I waited few moments, walking just two steps inside and… then opened my eyes.

Blinking once and then twice, I looked around and the more I glanced around the more I felt my jaw dropping low and near the ground.

This wasn’t the room Issei got in the Canon, this wasn’t even what the two other member of the perverted trio got. This was a proper 5-stars room with large bedroom, balcony that gave to the back section of the hotel, which showed some pretty scenery, and a bathroom with Jacuzzi and large bathtub.

I was kind of touched at first, then I realized how much all of this had to have costed to be bought. It is never mentioned how much rich the Three Factions are, only that the 72 major Devil families were fairly well-endowed in their bank accounts and that Azazel had money to throw around.

But for me? Why waste this much money?

As I sighed, my head throbbing a little at the confusing scenario, I went to approach the bed and… noticed a small silver-plated suitcase and a folded piece of paper.

Dropping my luggage by the bed, I started to read the content of the letter and… I blinked.

The message seemed more of a rehearse of what Azazel had already told me to do about this mission of mine, only giving some extra details about my new teacher’s current whereabouts (Room 131, just few moments away from my own room) and some extra warnings about approaching the duo.

I was certainly going to be careful around Vali, but whoever was currently keeping an eye couldn’t be worse than him.

...Right?

By the time I arrived to read the last few words, I was given some explanation about the curious case sitting on the bed. Opening it as I continued to read the explanation, I was greeted by four items.

A pair of dark-green pants together with a shirt with the same shade of color, a light-brown cloak and a green mask that resembled much a Naruto’s ANBU one.

This was supposed to be my disguise for my time here while I did my tasks, for the rest of the things I could do here, going around and get some pictures of the various monuments here in Kyoto I was given the permission to wander in my usual clothes.

Pretty interesting but also quite annoying as I had to have those clothes around. Thankfully I had brought some backpack in case of necessity and I could use that to solve the issue.

Few moments later, I decided to start to take out the various things within my luggage, making sure that I had them in places I could easily find them while there and could be easily put back once I had to go back in Kuoh.

The process lasted around an hour or two and I fell on the bed once I had finished the arduous process. Spending some time in a hotel was draining, but the intriguing prospect of being granted the super-deluxe room was enough to make the pain worth it.

My eyes slowly moved to the suitcase with the disguise and I blinked. Now that I had myself settled in, maybe it’s time to face the music and brave the encounter with my future mentor.

I nodded to myself and slowly grasped the cloak away from the case. Changing in the disguised clothes quickly, I was already out of the room and slowly making my way towards where the two other members of Grigori were staying.

Once I was in front of the door, I knocked thrice and waited for some noise that could tell if they were or not inside the room. There was some things rustling then some heavy footsteps and soon I heard the door being unlocked.

I gulped nervously as my eyes widened behind my mask at the sight of the towering Baraqiel glancing me lazily. What made the sight quite dreadful wasn’t his expression, nor his height.

It was the fact he was wearing a white sleeveless shirt and some boxers with small black hearts as a theme.

Now isn’t that the scariest sight ever?

“You are… Hekishoku-kun.” That was the nickname I had to take during this mission. Emerald, a reference to the shade of the mask I was donning.

“That is correct, Shinku-san.” Baraqiel’s name was ‘Crimson’, but I doubt that his cover is that much easy to keep up because of his size and known personality.

I was about to continue when the man make way for me to enter.

“Please, do come in.” He stated calmly and I nodded, my mind putting an insane effort to hold myself from pointing out that terrifying sight. “By the way, Sougyoku should be ready soon. He is still in the bathroom.”

I nodded again, this time walking to the large living room area that… showed that this Hotel was possibly the only 6-stars as per massive rooms.

Taking a seat in one of the long couch I patiently waited for some extra instructions and… some minutes of quiet passed.

I was lost in my own thoughts about what kind of missions they were supposedly doing here in Kyoto of all places, quickly dismissing the whole Yokai faction diplomacy as it did happen much later when the Three Factions were in need of get some more groups to band together against the Khaos Brigade.

I felt a strong hand grasp my shoulder so suddenly, eyes snapping wide open as I turned to see someone wearing the same outfit as mine, the colors being what differentiated the two of us as he had shades of blue on him.

This was Vali Lucifer, there wasn’t any doubt about it. This was the host of Albion’s soul and Sacred Gear Divine Dividing.

I nodded at him and I was glad to have a mask hide away my current hesitation in beeing this close to someone that could and would obliterate me at the first mistake I did.

“Sougyoku-san-” “Make way.”

...What?

The couch was big enough to allow ten of him on the other side and-

Oh, he is not trying to do what I think he is trying to do! He better not be trying to make some shitty attempt to pull some dominance.

Like heck I will allow it!

“There is a space here on the side-”

“I know, make way.”

Okay, that’s it. Diplomacy failed? Time to pull something he doesn’t expect from someone from Grigori.

I had my arms crossed and close to my chest, I drew my sight away from him and stared forward.

“Are you going to move?”

I blinked and ignored him. His hand squeezing a little harder on my shoulder but failing to actually hurt me in the process.

My body was already accustomed in the arts of ignore pain like I was ignoring this moron.

There was a brief bout of silence from him, I could feel a glare that sadly did nothing on me. Even putting his Killing Intent didn’t get me to budge out of my cozy seat, further irking him to continue with his childish attitude.

It was like dealing with a little kid, just with some superpower and teen body, unable to do much against me as we were in a… very peculiar situation. If Vali messed up with his pompous behavior right near to Baraqiel, he would-

“Fine.”

My thoughts died down and I blinked at his sudden response. What?

Letting go of my shoulder, he slowly went to take a seat right beside me. I guess that not being Issei did avoid me some extra animosity from him. He stood quiet for a while and for a moment I thought that this was going to be the end of the awkward powerplay that was our first interaction.

Yet he turned his head to look at me. “What’s your name?” He asked with a somewhat more reserved tone.

I narrowed my eyes at that, sensing that he was guarding himself for some reason. Did I put him on the defensive there? I mean, how many did contest Vali during his tenure in Grigori, excluding Azazel and the other major leaders?

“I am Hekishoku-”

“Not your nickname.” He interrupted for the third time and I was starting to get annoyed at this rude occurrence. “I mean your real name.”

I gave him a tired look and sighed. “I am Hekishoku, Sougyoku-san.”

He stopped asking, keeping quiet until Baraqiel was done with the bathroom.

For the first time in a long time, I was glad of having some silence rather than chat with my current company.

-------------d-d-d-d-----------d-d-d-d------------d-d-d-d-------------

I was particularly surprised that my initial assessment regarding the chances of this mission being related to the Yokai faction were actually incorrect. Grigori had to keep some diplomatic ties with the group led by Yasaka as a mean to keep themselves honest to the world about their acceptance of everyone that shared their ideals and Yokai were what made the backbone of the group.

The negotiations with the current leader were a must to keep the relationship between Grigori and the Yokai Faction amiable and devoid of any issues in the future.

The large temple-like building that housed the Bureaucratic and Administrative wings of the ‘Yokai Government’ was quite imposing, the architecture reminding me much of the awe one would get by looking around and alone an ancient Greek temple from the inside.

Several beings having the classic denotations Japanese monsters had were wandering around, going for their own business while we were escorted by a Lamia through the intricate halls of the building.

The guide gave brief descriptions of the various areas of this place and didn’t seem to be bothering much in trying to make a good job about this.

Baraqiel was the one leading, while Vali and I kept close behind as going too far would mean getting swarmed by the incoherent horde of people around us.

Few minutes later, we were left to wait in front of tall doors, the guide mentioning that their leader ‘was still finishing the preparations and would be arriving as soon as she can’.

There was nothing where one could sit while spending the time waiting and thus we were forced to stay put like that.

I felt my shoulders sag tiredly as I boringly started to look around the particularly ample hallway we were waiting in. I was about to turn back on the door when my attention was taken by the tiny but continuous sound of someone tapping.

My eyes pinpointed the origin of the noise and I found myself staring at a small head peeking from around the corner.

Golden eyes were giving a dull and bored look as her golden mane ended up with two pointy fox ears. I blinked and I saw the small hand tapping at the wall now point right at me. I frowned and tilted my head on the side.

Kunou blinked and then gestured me to ‘come here’, her finger pointing on the ground near her with some insistence.

I looked back at the others and contemplated what I should do about this. Vali and Baraqiel were chatting quietly, ignoring my current actions and thus I felt a little more compelled to see what the little princess wanted.

From my basic understanding, Yasaka was going to arrive much later than planned and… I was getting bored myself. It wasn’t like I was trying to do something irresponsible or anything but I guess if I went to see what the girl wanted wouldn’t be an apocalyptic action.

Thus I started to walk towards her and she nodded and waited until I got closer. As I opened my mouth to ask what did she wanted from me, she turned around and started to walk even more away from the hallway, turning towards one of the doors and walking inside the room.

Did she want me to follow her inside? What was going on?

Against my best judgment I started to slowly follow her, peeking inside the room and… blinking in surprise at what I found inside.

This wasn’t a mere room, but an open-roof small-sized courtyard.

There was a small fountain with a mini-lake, two trees and some bushes around. The little Kitsune was waiting there, giving me a long stare as I finally approached her and waiting for some explanation.

She opened her mouth and stated the reasoning behind what had just happened.

“Play with me.”

I blinked. “What?”

“Play with me.” The girl repeated with a frown. “I’m bored.”

“And?”

“And you are too, Onii-san.”

I felt a small smile forming behind my mask. “Oh? And what do you have in mind?”

She looked away, her stare directed at the floor. “I don’t know.”

“You don’t… know?” I parroted a little bit confused.

“Not many play with me and...” Her golden eyes were back looking at me. “You will?”

Now that was playing a very dirty trick! I-I can’t just-

Dangit!

“I could?”

The tails behind her started to waggle quicker than before even through her face gave no telltale sign of interest about my answer.

I waited few moments, then sighed as her cute reaction was starting to take a toll on my composure. “Fine. But I can’t be there for a long time, I’ve to be present when Yasaka-san-”

“Okay!” She nodded with a small smile and I sighed. This was going to be an uneasy day, wasn’t it?

But as I focused on this new problem of mine, I found myself dealing with a dilemma about it. Since Kunou didn’t have any idea of what game to play… what was I supposed to do in a small place like this one?

I gave a quick look around and tried to see for any hint for something to do here and… then I turned my attention to the floor, or better at the small pebbles spread around the area.

I reached for the chibi blonde, the girl frowning as I showed her the small piece of stone I took while walking up to her and then I directed my attention to the small fountain.

Without saying anything, I took aim and threw the pebble right at the body of water.

Swish

Swish

Swish

Swish

Swish

Swish

Swish

Swish

Swish

The stone then plopped deep in the small lake and I turned my attention back to the distracted kitsune. The girl was staring at the lake, then she blinked back in reality and glanced at me.

“Can you beat that?” I said in a teasing tone and I saw her face twitching in a pout. She crouched a little to pick one of the stones and turned her attention back to the lake.

With a determined look, she took aim and prepared to throw. Just as I had expected, she threw the pebble way to high and-

Swish

Swish

Swish

Plop!

She huffed and picked another stone, trying once more. Her second try became fifth, then eight and then twelfth.

At that point I was sitting nearby as I watched this unfold, my attention interested at how she was slowly improving the more she tried.

By the time I noticed that she was getting a little unmotivated by this whole challenge I decided to give her a possible reward.

“If you get it this time...” Her head turned to stare at me. “I will show you my face.”

She frowned, narrowing her eyes at the green thing covering my real face and she nodded energetically.

Kunou had long forfeited her composure as her childish self was showing the moment she prepared to throw this miracle shot. Differently from before, the pebble she took was placed in one of her tails and, surprisingly enough, she launched the small stone with remarkable precision.

Swishswishswishswishswishswishswish-

The skipping lasted for more than fifteen times as I lost count of the situation at the absurdity of the situation. I glanced back at Kunou but, much to my surprise, the girl was already on me.

“Show me your face, Oniichan!” She demanded while already pulling at the mask. “You promised.”

I chuckled. “I did and-” My hands reached for my mask and she looked ready for the sight.

“Here it is.” The mask came off and I waited few moments to gauge her reaction.

Fox ears twitched, the little girl’s eyes widening as she continued to look at my face. For a moment I thought I had something weird on it as she was spending quite sometime staring at it.

Then she blinked, a little embarrassed blush painting her own petite face as she realized she had been staring for a while now. “O-Oniichan is… pretty.”

I frowned. “Pretty? Don’t you mean handsome?” I asked out of curiosity but… she smiled deviously.

“Oniichan is super-pretty.”

My lips twitched a smile, failing me while I was trying to appear serious for a moment.

“You… are incredibly funny, aren’t you?”

Her smile widened. “The funniest!”

What a scoundrel too!

But as I was about to continue that friendly bantering, I was distracted by another noise.

“He-hem.” I blinked, putting my mask back on quickly, glad that the direction I was currently sitting gave my back to the door and hid my face away, allowing me to put my mask back on without ruining my cover.

I turned around and I was greeted by Baraqiel, Vali and… a very amused Yasaka.

The younger Kitsune peeked over my shoulder and smiled. “Mama!”

And while the little girl rushed to her parent I slowly got up from the ground and slowly walked towards the fellow members of Grigori. “Hekishoku, you ended up wandering and-”

“Oniichan was nice, Mama. He played with me at stone skipping and I beat him!” Kunou exclaimed in her mother’s hold, the woman giggling at the energetic reaction of her daughter.

“Really, sweetie? And what do you think about him?” I blinked as my current boss stopped to listen to the exchange, which I followed too myself.

“He is nice, awesome and...” She got closer to the woman’s ear and whispered something at her, her cheeks flaring a little as Yasaka giggled again.

“Oh my~ Now that is quite interesting.”

Then the older blonde turned her attention at me. “I wish to thank you for playing with my little Kunou-chan. She doesn’t have many friends and she tends to get bored while I am busy.” She bowed her head a little. “Thank you.”

I nodded at her words and we were soon directed inside the meeting room. Surprisingly enough, the woman seemed to be much more receptive of the request advanced by Baraqiel and the negotiations ended with good results.

As we were going away and back to the hotel, I saw Kunou staring from afar and I waved at her, the girl smiling and waving back until we were out of her sight.

Sighing happily at how things had turned out to be, I felt a large hand squeeze at my shoulder and I felt surprisingly meek in that exact moment. “We need to have a serious discussion about ‘wandering around’, Hekishoku-kun.”

I gulped nervously, dreading that little event as we continued on our path back to the hotel.

Vali looked at this situation from a safe distance, his interest piqued at what had happened but… further research was required before he was sure of what to make of this rebellious pawn in front of him.

---------d-d-d-d-----------d-d-d-d----------d-d-d-d-----------d-d-d-d--------d-d-d-d---------d-d-d-d-------

AN

So much happened in this chapter and so much will have to happen next chapter. This time it will be some fightin’ tho!

 

Chapter 9: Trouble Stalks Around

Lunch was an awkward affair.

Once we reached back the hotel, Baraqiel decided to delay the lecture about what happened back few hours earlier, deeming more important that I got some time to reflect on my conduct while he thought about the situation and how to tackle it.

Vali was still wearing his mask, but I could see the smug exuding from the prick and the annoying fact was that I couldn’t act upon it without worsening my current predicament. Still I enjoyed seeing him pause multiple times in my direction as he noticed that I hadn’t ditched the mask to eat.

Bringing the small thing a little bit up, I freed some space for my mouth to receive the food and in the meantime keep my identity a secret to the current host of the Divine Dividing Sacred gear.

A minor victory in a sea of defeat, but one that was surprisingly mirthful since it was Vali on the losing side. I wonder how much time will pass before he will react more aggressively over my mysterious anonymity and if it will happen with someone strong enough to keep him away from me.

Hopefully someone strong enough will be there when that happens…

It was around early afternoon that we were back to the room that Baraqiel and Vali shared, the leader of this diplomatic mission sitting right on the couch across the one I was sitting in, giving me a somewhat disappointed expression.

“You risked big time with that action of yours. While you ended up scoring some favorable points with Yasaka-san, you failed in thinking that it could have ended up in a trap.”

I kept quiet as the introductory words for the lecturing started to reach my ears, knowing that my defense, at least the one based on the fact I shouldn’t be knowing about both Kunou and Yasaka beforehand, was feeble at best.

I was glad that Vali had deemed the situation unworthy of his attention and the teen had retired to his bedroom, leaving me to deal with the Fallen Angel alone.

The only thing I could do at the moment was nod at him and reply in agreement to his statements.

“Yes, sir-”

“You risked your life by doing what you did. You were lucky enough that it ended as sweet as it was or we would have ended up dealing with the worst diplomatic scandal since the 80s.”

“Yes-” I blinked at the ‘80s scandal’ trying to understand what it was about. “sir.”

He sighed tiredly. “Azazel told me that you were a particular case, both about your potential and your quirky sense of throwing yourself at any possible danger.” His voice gave off some minor agreement to the description given by the Governor-General of Grigori.

I flinched but nodded. “Yes-”

“And stop agreeing to everything I am saying, young man.” Baraqiel finally interjected, crossing his arms close to his chest. “And remove your mask, I wish to see to whom I am speaking and possibly going to train.”

I frowned, some hesitation washing over my hands as I slowly reached for my mask and let it fall on my lap.

The man blinked, seemed to be thinking of something and then… smiled.

“You are a student at Kuoh Academy, aren’t you?”

Please don’t.

“I am.” I know where this was going to end up with. The man was going to ask about-

“Do you perhaps know someone that goes by… Akeno Himejima?”

...Shit.

“I… do?”

He shifted a little in his seat at my answer, the smile still there.

“Can you tell me how… she is going? Any friends or-” He stopped a brief moment in his questioning but I still replied.

“She is close friend to a fellow classmate, her name is Rias Gremory.”

As the redhead’s name left my lips, Baraqiel shifted once more.

“And… do you think it’s genuine, their friendship-”

“They did seem genuinely friendly with each other. I am quite sure their isn’t any… strange stuff going on.”

My answer further relieved the man, but he seemed ready to ask some more.

“You seem to know quite a lot about my daughter.”

I tensed a little at the strange vibe in those last few words, feeling the vindictive tone that only a very ‘threatened’ father would feel over a boy being ‘close’ to his daughter.

I sighed while making a small prayer to avoid any unnecessary beatings from the clearly suspicious man.

“I… she is your daughter, sir-”

“Wrong answer, kid. Please do respond to my question.”

Gulping nervously, I nodded. “I- We are in the same classroom, sir. But we never spoke to each other.” I said with some minor stuttering.

This wasn’t certainly the best moment to stutter but the nervousness was making me fail this all.

“But you know about her situation with the Gremory family-”

“Only that she is part of whatever group Rias has. As part of the Student Council I have to know about specific details about the Clubs in the Academy and… not to appear to be classist, but those two hardly fit the bill for people enjoying Occult Research.”

The Fallen Angel gave a wider smile. “I admit that the cover would be… difficult to keep up but you are the only one that figured it out, aren’t you?”

I opened my mouth, ready to rebuke that idea and… yet I found myself questioning this a little bit.

As dumb as it might sound, and I am referring to the ‘Glasses trick of Clark Kent’ kind of dumb, the Club was enjoying relative anonymity as no one in particular questioned the curious choice for the two ‘Ojou-samas’ of Kuoh Academy to pick the ORC.

“I remember someone saying ‘If a plan is stupid but works, then it isn’t stupid’ and I find myself agreeing that this is indeed the situation, young man.”

...I think I got Murphy’d here-

“I think his name was… Murphy?” Baraqiel added with a brief chuckle.

Oh no, I really got Murphy’d!

“Ah, as much I would enjoy to learn more about my daughter, I think we should focus on your punishment.” The man reminded the main focus of this discussion much to my dismay. “I think letting you go scot-free would be detrimental for my lecture and… I just have the appropriate idea for your case.”

His hand reached for one of his pants’ pockets and he pulled out a folded piece of paper.

“I wanted to use some of the time here at Kyoto to buy some expensive materials Shemhazai asked me to get… but since you caused this little chaotic mess-”

“I have to do it myself?” I questioned and deflated as the man nodded.

“That is correct.” He said with a small smile. “I want you to go to the addresses written down in the paper and get the ingredients on the list.”

I looked at the paper and frowned at the not-so-short list the man was talking about. I saw him pull out from the same pocket a curiously large bag containing… money? “This is the money to buy everything- and I will know if something is missing off from the spare.”

I nodded quickly and stood up from the couch.

“By the way.” The Fallen Angel stated. “Try to not cause anything that could jeopardize our current mission here, Hoitsu-kun.”

I stopped a moment to give him a full wide-eyed look, surprised that he would know about my name without me telling him and- then I remembered that Azazel could have told him prior.

With another quick nod, I went to door and left the room, prepared to have quite the handful late day on my hands.

--------d-d-d-d------------d-d-d-d------------d--d-d-d--d---------------d-d--dd-------------

Four hours.

I had two full bags of various ingredients taking most of my hands as I finished my long errand around the former capital of Japan.

I do remember seeing some Yokai-only quarter when we went to visit the headquarters of the Yokai Faction, but the ones I had to see during this task were particularly different from the previous ones.

Looking like slums, I saw some unkind faces around there and the Yokai living there seemed to be particularly hostile to strangers. Sensing this much negativity, I was quick to finish the various trips around those sections of the city to avoid any unneeded brawl on my hands.

I sighed in relief once I was on my way back to the hotel, hopefully ready to get some well-deserved rest from the ordeals I had to face this long day.

As I turned one of the corners that I had to take to return to the building, I found a small golden furball crash onto my chest, claws surprisingly not drawing blood as those straddled on my shirt.

I blinked at the frantic shaking of the little thing and then-

“N-Niichan, help!” It was Kunou’s voice and as my eyes widened in recognition, I also noticed the twenty or something robed figures rushing towards me, some magical circles forming in front of them.
Fucking magicians!

I quickly turned around and rushed towards one of the alleys, managing to reach the sharp corner before any of the magical missiles reached for me. Without stopping a single moment, I started to laid up my usual quantity of traps to create some advantage.

The moment I left the alley to race through the mostly empty street, I felt the first explosion going off and then several others of the same intensity following closely. The Light Mines were doing their bombastic job in keeping the pursuers a little busy as I continued to make some distance from them. Yet I could feel footsteps still close to my current pacing and, without thinking much about it, I turned my attention at the various closed stands on the side, producing several seals with the Silver Lining combination to pull the various wooden structures towards the center of the street.

At the sound of loud crashing and people shrieking in pain, I knew that I had taken down some of the bastards down. The relief from those two quick victories was seriously crushed by the time I reached the middle of a large intersection.

Front, left and right were obstructed by ten robed figures each side, I noticed some people in the roof ready to strike too and some footsteps still approaching from behind.

We were encircled and I grimaced the situation as it was.

“Your potential is impressive, brother of magic.” A feminine voice stated by the front of the main force of magicians. “Let the girl go and we will accept you in our glorious group of-”

“Pass.” The cloaked woman stopped, a brief pause before sighing at my word of defiance.

“Think of the heights you could achieve-”

“Not interested.” I rebuked again, sighing in annoyance as I felt the need to scratch my head but couldn’t because I had my hands still busy with the bags. Kunou shifted a little closer to my chest, trying to get the furthest away from the band of grunts around us.

“Your death wish then...” I saw several circles forming, but as the woman preached some recruitment pep talk I had noticed the best escape for this situation.

“Or your failure!” A small sphere of light appeared up above my head and a sudden flash of white engulfed the area. Several spells were launched, some explosives to vindicate those that had fallen under my merciless trapping skills and those who sent off stunners to avoid harming the Yokai attached to my shirt.

Sadly all of those reached the ground, either exploding in loud noises or dispelling at the lack of an acceptable target and, the moment the blinding light gave away to reveal the aftermath of their bombardment.

Dust was still hovering around, but there was nothing that remained of ‘me’ or of the little furball that was sticking close and away from the fiends.

Surprise was replaced by fear at the possibility of having killed the offspring of Yasaka, ushering the large group of magicians to look around the area… missing completely the open manhole that led up to the sewers area of the large street section, coated by shadow camouflaged as simple dirt.

Sitting on the cemented ground by the end of the ladder, I had long dropped the bags on the floor to comfort Kunou as she trembled in my hold. That has been way too close of a call to not be at least a bit scared from it.

The Flash Bomb had been a bet that not even I had been sure of its effectiveness but… it worked.
“I’m here, Ku-chan.” I continued to comfort her, her whining in her foxy form continuing for a little while, then she slowly melted in my arms and started to change.

Fox ears and tails still present, Kunou continued to snuggle her face closer to my chest, sobbing a little at the scary ordeal. One of my hands shifted to her head, patting carefully the distraught girl as she continued to cry a little more.

“N-Niichan- Th-That was-”

“I know, Ku-chan. I am here.” She nodded and shifted a little more in my hold, now sniffling as she was slowly get hold of her emotions.

I waited few more moments and I saw her head slowly move up, to look at me. “T-Thank you, Niichan.”

Snorting with a small smile plastered on my face I nodded at her, continuing to pat her. “You are welcome.”

As I was about to stand up from the ground and plan out the path I had to follow to reach either the hotel or Kunou’s mansion, I felt a strong presence slowly descending from the ladder nearby.

She was slowly falling, her Kimono conveniently censuring her exposed bits, leaving just her legs and cleavage to show in that lewd but dangerously perverted display of her body.

She had her golden eyes fixed on my frame, her black cat ears, the same color as her hair, twitching as she finally landed.

Kuroka was smiling at the fact I had paled several shades of white during her descent, almost giggling at the reaction she was getting from me.

“Ara, Ara, I suppose I could appear quite… shocking, nya~?”

ゴ
ゴ
ゴ
ゴ

Why does she have the Jojo’s menacing aura within herself!?

Shivering a little, I got up from the floor with the bags busying my hands once more, Kunou shifting back to her fox form started to grasp at my ruined shirt once more.

“Y-You are Kuroka, the Nekoshou.” My words caused her to smile and she nodded.

“And you are a little boy from Grigori, nya. I wonder, how much did you train to get the dummies up above this much disorganized?” She took a step forward, I took one back.

“Very little. I-I am actually surprised they are so much dumb, a-actually.”

“Oh really~?” She giggled, taking another step forward and prompting me to take another back in return. “Then you have to be quite the special case, aren’t nya?”

“I guess… it’s time to use the super secret technique of the Joestar family-” Just as I was about to finish that glorious sentence, I was stopped by a new round of giggled from the young woman.

“You mean yelling ‘Nigerundayo’ and running away like a fool?”

I froze on the spot and frowned. “Y-You know about-”

“Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure? I do know my memes, nya~.” Kuroka interjected again, her smile widening even more.

T-This is a terrible disaster! My plans do come from memeing around and… there was nothing else to do.

“T-Then I will be going, yes?!”

She frowned, her smile giving off some predator-like’s glint. “Oh, but I thought we were so much fun here talking about Jojo.”

“I-I am but- Priorities!” I swiftly turned around and started to use the blasted shadows created by the dim lights in this section of the sewers to boost my pace. “Nigerundayo!”

A loud giggle followed and I felt the pressure of being chased by someone more powerful than me and capable to discern what my brain was thinking starting to get incredibly intense, beyond anything I had faced before.

“Oh? You’re running away from me?” She started to quote, picking up even more speed in the process. “Instead of approaching, you are escaping from me, nya~!?”

“I-I can’t live a long life if I don’t run away from your deadly beauty.” Then I shook my head as I remembered this wasn’t the moment to ‘Jojo’ around. “A-Also could you not distract me with that?!”

“But why? I am having such fun now, with this little chase.” She stated with some genuine amusement dripping from every words. “Let’s get close and personal~!”

I felt it. A sudden jump from the cat-girl to reach out for me and, in a split second, I formed some Silver Lining to pull her on the side and away from succeeding with her move.

She yelped at the sudden bout pain as the light ropes took her by her leg and threw her away, being that the strings were made by holy energy and that she was a Devil.

My quick-thinking granted me some extra time and distance, enough to understand that trying to outrun the girl here wouldn’t do. As I felt her return to the pursuit, I dropped another Flash Bomb rushing even faster and letting my legs burn a little more as I suddenly jumped through the closest manhole, hoping to end up in an empty street.

I sighed in relief as my prayers ended up realizing, the desolate street giving me the chance of seeking a hiding spot from the current chaser on our trail and, without thinking much about it, I dived to the closest alley and went to hide behind the two dumpsters sitting there.

I kept quiet for a while, trying to see if we were still being chased or not. Minutes of silence passed, Kunou looking uncertain at moments but accepting to keep quiet since this wasn’t a simple situation and…

Yep, she lost us. I sighed in relief the moment I confirmed this and decided to let the girl return back to her human form. The blonde smiled a little but looked still quite shaking by the ordeal.

“T-That was genuinely the scariest of chases, Ku-chan.”

She nodded and as I got up myself from the floor she gave me another hug. “Super scary.” Her voice was muffled as her face was pressed on my chest and I nodded at her.

Without wasting further time, I went to take out my phone and contact Baraqiel.

The man picked up the call almost instantly. “Where are you, Hoitsu! There has been an assault against Yasaka and her daughter is missing-”

I flinched at the angry and worried tone but interjected quickly. “Sir, Kunou-chan is here with me. She found me while I was ending my errands and we managed to escape the pursuers.”

There was a pause. “Did any of you get hurt in the process?”

“I am just a little drained as I had to unleash some spells while Kunou-chan is a little tired and dizzy from it all.”

She nodded through the hug and I sighed. “Sir, should we be going somewhere or-”

“I will be contacting Yasaka-san first. She should be able to send loyal men to pick you both up.”

“Understood-”

“You truly are a trouble magnet, brat.” The Fallen Angel sighed tiredly. “But I guess this time it did some real good.”

“I guess too...”

Kunou smiled a little as she continued with the embrace.

Rather the affectionate girl, isn’t she?

------------d-d-dd-d-------------d-d-d-d-d-------------d-d-d-d----------d-d-d-d---------d-d-d-d---

We were all back to Yasaka’s main office, the mother keeping her little girl close as she continued to thank me profusely for saving her daughter.

Kunou smiled in the woman’s hold but would steal some glances in my general direction as this situation continued to unfold.

Baraqiel was sitting nearby and listening to Yasaka’s praises about my intervention, seemingly less inclined than before to condemn my ‘picking fights’ where I went.

Of course some explanations about the happenings that led to our escape from the large force of magician was provided and both the woman and the Fallen Angels found some detail note-worthy. The Magician that had tried to make me surrender the girl spoke of some ‘glorious reward’ if I joined them and the fact that Kuroka, a Stray Devil Nekoshou, seemed to collaborating with this organized group detached from the Magic Council was… concerning.

This instance was going to come and bite the Khaos Brigade in the ass when they will have to reveal themselves as now their element of surprise was partly ruined and with this failure both Grigori and the Yokai Faction was going to investigate who sent this assault force.

Yet what truly caught my attention and I did notice only by the time the two leaders discussed about this situation was that… the Khaos Brigade wasn’t supposed to attack this early on in the story.

There were some minor detection of large groups massing up, but nothing that suggested to some mysterious faction starting to create.

This wasn’t Canon, to risk this early on their cover wasn’t something that the original timeline had and… I knew that this was the most meaningful of the details. Something had caused the Khaos Brigade to attack early on and try to force Yasaka to join them.

It was strange and, if I have to be honest, quite a worry. Many theories flowed in my brain and only few managed to get some logical backing, ranging from Le Fay being able to use Clairvoyance and foresee any of my interventions to Ophis deciding to be much more aggressive with her plans for some reason.

All of this still lacked substantial evidence, but it was something I had to study once I returned back to Kuoh.

“-But let us return to you, Hekishoku-san.” The older Kitsune stated. “Could you please come a little closer. I would need to ask you something.”

I frowned at the request and glanced at Baraqiel, the man nodding a silent acceptance at the request thus prompting me to approach the gorgeous blonde few steps more.

She smiled and gave me a long studying look about my face before frowning. “Could you… remove your mask? I would like to see the ‘pretty’ face of Kunou’s savior.”

I blinked and glanced at the little girl, the younger Kitsune blushing and looking away as she knew that now the little ‘secret’ she had spoiled to her mom was now coming to bite back at her in terms of embarrassment.

I tried to look at the Fallen Angel but the man preceded me. “Do it, Hekishoku-kun.”

Nodding, I slowly removed the mask and waited for some reaction from the woman.

Her eyes widened a little, a little surprise painted in her face, then she smiled and glanced at her daughter and let out a brief giggle. “I think Kunou-chan meant ‘handsome’, not ‘super-pretty’.”

I nodded quickly. “I told her that but-”

“Niichan is super-pretty.” The little blonde reiterated with absolute conviction drawing another giggle from her mother.

“Oh? What an interesting judgment. But… I guess Kunou-chan is sticking to her idea of you as a… ‘super-pretty’ individual.”

I didn’t restrain the small groan at that, surrendering to the idea that this was going to be a thing from now on.

“But the reason I wished to speak to you face to face is more about rewarding you for your service and your intervention in saving my child.”

I sighed loudly and held my hands up, causing the woman to pause. “I have to refuse on some good reasons, Yasaka-san.”

She blinked and gave a confused look. “Could you elaborate, Hekishoku-kun?”

A bit surprised at the honorific, I still managed to reply. “Saving Kunou-chan was done out of genuine care for her, not out of a promised reward, and hearing the fact I am being rewarded by it is… wrong.”

I continued. “While I understand that you wish to thank me for protecting your daughter, it is also true that the real reward in this situation is there and perfectly visible.”

I turned my attention to Kunou, the girl’s eyes a little wide open at my speech. “Kunou-chan is safe and sound, that is what is my current reward to my service.”

There was a long pause of silence and then the woman sighed in genuine relief. “That was a show of honesty that I find quite refreshing after so much time of hearing sweetened lies.” Yasaka smiled as she said this. “You are quite wise for someone your age, Hekishoku-kun, and I think Grigori did gained someone worth of note with you.”

I nodded at the flattering compliments.

“Still, I wish to ask you something since you proved to be someone that truly cares for my daughter’s well-being.” The older blonde stated. “A favor that is born out of necessity and worry for the safety of Kunou-chan.”

...What?

“With this assault from unknown forces, it has become clear that our current level of security is inadequate to protect both me and my child and...” She looked tense at giving out the request but, after some brief moments of silence, she spoke clearly her intentions. “I wish that you could take my daughter with you back in Kuoh Town.”

… “W-What?”

How did she knew that I was from Kuoh? I never stated anywhere near her or any of her servants that I was from the city and-

“Azazel-san contacted me just an hour ago, presenting me with a more detailed report of your… current identity.”

Goddammit, that bastard is ruining my chances of keeping myself from dealing with everyone’s power-plays!

“I will not divulge the information I gained, as the Governor-General has gained from me the utmost secrecy about it. Still, I wish for you to consider the request as it is important for me to know I can have someone trustworthy to keep my baby-girl away from danger.”

Kunou blushed a storm and snapped her attention at her parent, looking aggravated by the embarrassing nickname. “M-Mama!?”

“You are going to be away from me for a long time. Can you allow your mama to tease you a little bit before letting you go?”

The little girl flinched at the woman’s blunt question and then nodded silently much to her mother’s amusement. “Thank you, sweetie.”

The younger blonde groaned, causing the woman to giggle in response before she returned to look at me.
“I wish to know your answer, Hekishoku-san.”

I hesitated a little as… taking care of someone while keeping her identity secret from those around the school…

But then again what alternative did Yasaka have if I had refused?

Ignoring the logical choice of saying ‘no’ to protect my own identity, I knew that I would end up literally confirm that what I just said until now about Kunou was a lie and it wasn’t.

Even through I knew her for so little, I think that after facing some deadly situations together, the kitsune and I bonded well enough for me to call her a good friend at least.

So, going against my best intent of keeping myself safe and hidden from Hell and Heaven, and making my life more difficult than before, I nodded at the woman.

“I… accept, Yasaka-san.”

The girl beamed at the reply, while the woman’s smile widened. “Thank you, Hekishoku-kun.”

As I nodded at her, I found Kunou approaching me with a small set of key. I frowned and looked back at the woman.

“Azazel-san also wished to say that the little request of yours has been accepted from doing such a good job and that your new home is now ready.”

...Ah.

I think I need to make a brief explanation, I guess.

Before leaving for Kyoto, I decided to ask a big favor to the leader of Grigori regarding my current lifestyle.
Knowing that my life was going to take a more dangerous turn now that I was in his organization, I didn’t need to endanger my new parents with this situations and, knowing that getting out of the house with normal means was nigh-impossible as there would have been some adamant resistance from father and mother, the man agreed to use some mind-trick and put some fake memories in them about a tense but acceptable family meeting that saw me gaining some independence from them.

Was it cruel? Yes.

Was it unorthodox? Incredibly so.

But was it a necessity? Yes.

Differently from Issei, I couldn’t make full use of Grigori’s protection to keep my parents safe and, as much as I loved my cramped room back in their house, I needed much more space to deal with training and studying other arcane arts.

An extreme decision to prevent an extreme situation from exploding right on my face.

I took the keys and patted Kunou’s head, the girl smiling and closing her eyes as she accepted the simple gesture.

The return home was surely going to be… quite hectic.

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AN

Ku-chan joins Kuoh Academy, the 2nd year of middle high school!

I know that the last bit about leaving the parents’ house might sound a little forced and shady but there are big reasons for this, much bigger than the ones the MC gave at the end.

Kuroka is a memester and I will not apologize for that one. I just have this little head-canon of her discovering the internet while on the run from Hell and just got addicted to some meme-y stuff. Will it be to a cringe or crackish level? Nyaope!

P.S. Vali wasn’t in the room to see MC’s face and… that is going to be a gag for a long time. Hekishoku will now be a thing on for Grigori missions and other stuff from now.

Also almost 300 followers in Fanfic, GAH! THIS IS AMAZING!​

 

Chapter 10: Double Trouble

Waking up to the ceiling of my new room was… strange.

It was a curious sensation that was a mix of positive surprise in finding something unusual but also pleasant because it was a quick reminder that now I had some more liberty in my own home.

The place Azazel had bought was immense, not mansion-sized, but still quite decent for a house accommodating three individuals at once.

Indeed, I wasn’t the only occupant of my new house, Baraqiel having picked a room on the first floor, leaving the relatively large bedroom to me and the modestly-sized room with smaller bed to Kunou-chan.

The girl accepted her new living quarters, deeming them to be almost similar to what she had back home but there was an adorable twist at it. As she first entered the room to study better the features of the European-styled room, the Blonde stopped to frown at the bed.

From my understanding she had a particularly comfy futon as bed since she decided to have her own room, thus seeing the ‘contraption’ in front of her was kind confusing for her and amusing for me.

I could remember her go through some testing about the material, coziness and the quality of the bed. The last results being a small smile as she literally melted by lying on it, her head receiving some attention by the soft pillow she had.

Blinking back to the present, I found myself stuck in bed, not because of craving for some more rest but… because of a small weight the night before wasn’t there. Turning my eyes down, I stared at the twitching fox ears visible from my current disposition.

It would seem like… Kunou had decided to invite herself in my bed while I was sleeping and, much to my relief, she had kept her new Pjs on through the whole situation. She had been a little dismayed by the fact she had to adopt the new set of clothes, but a mere glance at her former ‘nightgown’ was enough to prompt me to pick her some new clothing before we left Kyoto.

I still had some money on me for the trip and the shopping spree was positively short and quick, picking her five more sets of clothes and her Kuoh Academy uniform. It was the uniform that actually piqued her interest the most, the girl finding exotic the flamboyant style it has, causing her to spend more time proving it around.

Sighing in her sleep, I held back a snore as I found my brain fully awake and ready to deal with the new routine of my life in Kuoh.

The girl had her head slouched on my chest, her partly open mouth letting out some brief and adorable snoring as a little trail of drool stretched down to my sleeping shirt, staining it just a little bit.

Blinking just once, I slowly let my hand wander out of its resting position and hover over the waiting head and then… started to softly caress her top.

She tensed a little, her snoring ceasing almost immediately as she stirred a little more and… one eyes opened to stare right at me.

Her lips, at first set in a neutral thin line, arched up in a smile and the girl nuzzled her head a little more on my chest. “Niichan… good morning-” Kunou paused just a moment to her greeting as she yawned cutely and I almost let out a ‘Aww’ at that sight.

“Good morning, Ku-chan.” I stated softly, knowing that using my usual volume might cause some annoying effects on someone still waking up. “It’s time for breakfast.”

Her eyes lightened at the word related to some delicious food and, slowly and calmly, she started to shift away from the little cuddling, reaching one of the ends of the bed to get out of it. I followed her pattern on the opposite side and, without missing a beat, turned to walk towards the only door of the bedroom.

There was some feeble light coming from the windows of the hallway that led to the living room and Kunou softly tip-toed forward as I slowly followed her to the kitchen area.

The kitchen was quite big but easy to understand where everything was and I guess that is what is the most important for that room in particular. As we entered the zone, we were greeted by Baraqiel.

The Fallen Angel was sitting on one of the few stools, drinking from a particularly large mug of coffee while reading some newspapers from Kuoh Local.

He glanced from the paper and greeted starting with a small nod. “Good morning, Hoitsu-kun, Kunou-chan.”

The girl nodded quickly, smiling his way as she hopped on another stool, while I moved towards the cooking area to begin to fix something for breakfast. Twenty minutes of careful tinkering around resulted in two steamy cups of chocolate milk and three cookies for each of us.

The blonde blinked at the content of her little mug but her nose picked up quickly its sweet scent. Eyes going wide open, Kunou didn’t waste any time in dipping one of the cookie in the liquid and then bring it to her lips.

Her slow munching turned swift almost instantly and the cookies were decimated very quickly. The rest of the milk she drunk from a straw I had offered her and she gave a satisfied smile once she was done with it.

“That was so good, Niichan!” I chuckled at her energetic reaction and nodded myself as I did manage to get Ma’s recipe to utter perfection.

Once I had cleaned up the three empty mug, Kunou and I reached for the two close bathrooms to prepare ourselves for the day.

I was certain the girl would have ended up needing some help with some of the things within the particularly modern bathroom, thus I rapidly went through my usual cleaning routine in my usual neck-breaking record of fifteen minutes.

By the time I was done and freshly donning my uniform, I was shocked by the sight of a giggling Kunou already out of the bathroom she had been using with her own uniform on as she twirled around to test it once more. She was smiling while doing so and her smile widened when she caught glimpse of my presence.

“Niichan, you’re ready!” I nodded at her and couldn’t help myself but smile at her bubbly excitement. I guess that is the reaction of someone as sheltered as her having the chance to see what a school looked like and befriend fellow teens her age.

“I am.” I stated with a warm voice. “I guess we could go… now, actually.”

She nodded and started to reach for the door but stopped right in front of it and frowned at the fact I wasn’t following her quickly. Her head turned to see why I was being this slow and her eyes widened in realization and embarrassment at the fact she had almost forgotten about her school bag.

I was holding it in my hand as I had my own bag already on my shoulders. “There.” I decided to not tease her forgetfulness and she nodded thankful at that attitude.

Having already settled with Baraqiel the night before that the training sessions were going to happen after school, we only waved at him and bid him a good day as we ventured inside the house.

The warm breeze of April hit us moderately, just enough to make us notice the difference between the indoor and the outdoor. The blonde glanced back with a nervous smile and I sighed as I went to take her small hand into mine. “C’mon, we also need to meet up with someone along the way.”

She frowned at those words but slowly accepted this little situation.

Our walk took some minutes before we reached my usual meeting area where I would find Asia and Issei as the house was set in the outskirts of Kuoh Town. Just as we stopped for me to give a look around I heard familiar footsteps approaching.

“Senpai!”

I looked around to find where the loud call came from and I saw a familiar former nun approaching, a smile plastered on her face while Issei tried and failed to keep up with the surprisingly fast foreign girl.

“Senpai, you are back!” I nodded and as I opened my mouth to greet my kohais, I found Kunou slowly hide behind me. Frowning, I glanced her way with a confused expression and the younger girl glanced right back with a shy look.

“Kunou-chan, Asia-chan is a good friend of mine and she is as kind as your mom. Can you give her a chance?”

I could see the former nun blushing a little at the comparison and the younger blonde blinked with some hesitation before actually stepping out of my shadow and give a short bow at the older female. “I-I am Kunou Kurama, nice to meet you, A-Asia-san.”

The human girl nodded with a comforting smile directed at the Kitsune-in-disguise. “My name is Asia Argento and it’s nice to meet you too, Kunou-chan and… you can call me Asia-chan if you want-”

“S-Senpai.” The sudden appearance of a wild Issei Hyoudou caused the younger blonde to back away a little and, before the brunet could react upon the little girl by my side with some wrongly-worded comment, I spoke before he could. “This is Kunou-chan, Ise. She will be my ward during her stay at Kuoh Academy and you will not say anything inappropriate.”

The stern and quick threat seemed to hit home as the now nervous-looking boy nodded sheepishly. “S-Sorry, senpai. I wasn’t expecting you to return with someone from your trip.”

“It was a surprise for me too but...” I patted Kunou’s head much to the girl’s delight. “Kunou’s mom needed someone to keep her safe and away from home. There had been some… unpleasant situations there.”

“Oh...” Asia gave a sympathetic look to the younger blonde, to which the girl reacted with a small blush appearing on her cheeks.

“N-Niichan protected me.” Kunou said with a minor stuttering, recovering from the minor embarrassment. “There were some bad people trying to kidnap me a-and Niichan tricked them.”

“Tricked them?”

“Just fooled some eighty magicians with some simple spell, nothing to be flaunting about-”

“You faced 80 what?”

I groaned at the Hyoudou’s explosive reaction to this fact. “Nothing noteworthy, I just escaped them with an astute plan and… that’s all.”

The little kitsune glanced up at me with a questioning look and I did realize that I didn’t say anything about the ‘Kuroka’ situation. I shook my head at her and she nodded in silent acceptance of not saying anything about her.

“So Kunou-chan will be joining us at Kuoh Academy?” Issei asked, having recovered a little from the earlier shock and noticing the girl’s uniform.

“That is correct. She will join the 2nd year of the Middle School section.” After this the discussion moved to easier topic to speak about, like the souvenir gathering of the last day at Kyoto and the photos I had taken of the various shrines and temples around there that I promised to show to Asia once she had some free time from her Club.

-----------------d-d-d-d-----------------d-d-d-d---------------d-d-d-d-d--------------d-d-d-d-d----------------

“This is quite the interesting letter you brought me, Hoitsu-san.”

Sona’s tone was soft as she was distracted by the content of the letter Yasaka asked me to give to her to show my legitimate claim as the current guardian of Kunou while she was in Kuoh Town.

The bespectacled, short-haired girl looked lost in her thoughts some moments during the reading, possibly because some of the details within the letter could be detailing about the ‘unique traits’ of the little blonde sitting on the chair beside mine and her identity.

The leader of the Yokai Faction had been adamant in repeating that I was barely mentioned and the few sections about me were bare at best and lacking any possible correlation to what had transpired in Kyoto.

While the events had happened just two days ago, the news had reached far and wide through the entire supernatural world. The attack on the Yokai was something that sparked some outrage at the attackers and formal pity to the suffering community.

The heiress of the Sitri clan sighed as she folded the paper and gave me a confused look. “Hoitsu-san, how did you exactly encounter Yasaka-san and her daughter.”

I blinked at the question but kept smiling. I was ready for this kind of questions and thus I had rehearsed them with Kunou before this situation.

“I actually met Kunou first at the Maruyama Park. She was playing alone while I was waiting for my boss to arrive and she asked if I could play with her-”

“Wait, you mean to tell me that Kunou-san asked you this?” Sona interrupted and then turned at the young blonde. The younger girl nodded and the president sighed. “Please, continue then.”

“As I was saying, she asked me to play with her and we ended up spending some time playing stone skipping. By the time her mom reached us for the park, she thanked me for keeping Kunou occupied and safe.”

“I beat Niichan.” The blonde added with a big smile, ignoring or maybe gloating at the brief frown I threw at her.

“She is incredibly good at stone skipping...” I admitted and the kitsune-in-disguise giggled at my words, Sona watching the scene with a neutral glance.

“But why did Yasaka-san give you guardianship over Kunou-san, did it happen at the park or-”

“Actually it happened few hours later. A little before dinner if I have to be honest.” I stated some half-truth, finding it quite the best way to deal with this predicament. “She managed to contact me and ask if I could come with haste as there was some matter of importance to discuss.”

“And you didn’t find anything suspicious about this sudden request from someone you barely knew about?”

Her words were legitimate as generally that wasn’t a smart thing to do and certainly not something that I would normally go with in a normal situation.

“When I first met Yasaka-san I found that she was incredibly and genuinely honest with her words, especially around her daughter. The sense of worry and distraught sounded real and thus I decided to put some trust on the situation.”

“And she explained to you about the need of you taking the guardianship for Kunou-san.” The short-haired girl remarked and I nodded at it.

“She said that there were some people trying to cause some problems to them and she feared that Kunou could get targeted for it. Thus she asked me to keep her away from Kyoto until she was done with her education here.” I finished with a small smile.

“That sounds quite the responsibility.” Sona muttered looking at the folded paper. “Did it cause any problems with your parents?”

There was a minor hesitant pause from me, then I sighed. “I… am not living with my parents anymore.”

…

“Could you elaborate that? I think some context should shed some light over what you just said.”

I nodded at Sona’s request. “It’s been few months now that I’ve been contemplating over going living alone and, after accumulating enough money I managed to get a proper house in the outskirts of Kuoh Town.”

“Any… particular reason why you decided to leave?” There was some concern in her voice but I smiled once more in a reassuring way.

“Our opinions about my future were clashing. Father wanted me to follow his steps in becoming a surgeon but I wished to take a different career path, I am still deciding but I am fairly sure it will not be related to medicine.” I explained as honestly as I could. There was that aspiration that both mother and father wanted me to become and upstanding citizen like them, but I found going down the path of surgeon to… not be me.

I can’t explain fully but I didn’t feel like that was going to be the correct vocation for me, especially with the difficult road I am walking through right now in the supernatural world.

“Then I guess you will need to change your current address and...” Sona paused just a moment. “If you need some help, I can offer some support. Don’t hesitate in asking.”

I nodded at her kind offer. “Thank you, Sona-san. I’m always happy to know that you worry for me and the others.”

She blushed at my words and nodded. “O-Of course. It’s my duty as president of the Student Council.” She sighed and then turned to the blonde. “I suppose you will escort Kunou-san to her classroom now, Hoitsu-san.”

I nodded. “That is the plan, then I will be on my way for my own class.”

“Then I leave you to your duty, I think we have spared enough time on the topic and I don’t wish to have you go late for lessons.”

I nodded again and, bidding the Sitri heiress a ‘good day’, Kunou and I started to make our way to the Middle School section of the Academy.

“Sona-san is… very cool.” The kitsune commented calmly and I nodded.

“She is very professional and serious, but also very kind and flexible when the situation requires it.”
The blonde nodded at my elaboration and she smiled. “School seems fun.”

“I guess it could be if you can manage the lessons and the homework.” I reminded her. “But I know that you will have not many problems at it.”

As our brief chat continued, I felt footsteps approaching from behind.

“Good morning, senp-ai.” I turned to see whom was greeting me and I saw Koneko staring questioningly at the younger girl by my side. Kunou turned to and looked quite confused at being stared with such intensity.

“Oh, Koneko-san, good morning to you too.” I turned to the little blonde. “This is Kunou-chan and she is joining Kuoh Academy today as a student in Middle School.”

At hearing the silver-haired girl’s name, Kunou’s eyes went wide in recognition as I did tell her about the young girl that would come for some Math repetitions. So she detached herself from my hand and approached the silent Nekoshou, standing right in front of her as she gave a low bow.

“My name is Kunou Kurama. I’ve heard good things about you and I hope you could take care of me...” She looked up, golden matching with golden. “Koneko-senpai.”

If there had been some concern and distress at the new girl at school within Koneko’s mind, it all vanished the moment that honorific sunk in her brain.

Eyes going wide for a brief moment, my little kohai blinked in surprise at the introduction but managed a nod through her shock. “I… It’s nice to meet you too, Kunou-kohai. My full name is Koneko Toujou, I will help you around if you need.”

They both nodded at each other and I felt like something between the two, a strong friendship, was going to bloom from that little gesture.

…

Or maybe I just wanted the two of them to be good friends and I was seeing stuff.

“Anyway, Senpai can I ask you if I can pass around for some help with the next exam?”

I blinked confused. “Sure, but I thought you had already done one quite recently-”

“Our sensei is very strict. She says that making several exams will preserve the best our current knowledge of the subject and the next exam will be by the end of this week.”

“I guess I could help and- Oh right.” I nodded in recognition. “I am currently living alone with Kunou, if you want I can pass you the new address-”

“I think I will ask Kunou-kohai.” She remarked quietly, taking hold of the blonde’s hand. “Since I will be the one helping her around.”

…Wait, what?

“Koneko-san-”

“It’s fine, Niichan.” I blinked at the smiling kitsune. “Koneko-senpai said that she will be helping me around and I don’t want to overburden you.”

I frowned at that. “But I’m not-”

“Overruled, senpai.” Koneko interjected and started to walk with Kunou on tow. “Let’s go, kohai.”

Staring at them disappear in one of the corners, I couldn’t help but have my jaws hang low at how things have unfolded.

What had just happened?

Few moments later, seeing that it was getting fairly late, I reached for my own classroom and prepared for the Art lesson of the hour.

Just as I took my usual seat, our sensei entered the room with a happy smile, causing many of us to look quite confused at her unusually good mood.

“Today we shall have our monthly drawing contest. Please pick your partner and start to work!”

The short declaration was initially considered by many, then a large group of people started to move around to pick their own partner and, as I was about to move myself to find my own I saw someone dropping softly their art-book on my desk.

“May I be your partner?” The feminine voice asked, causing me to look up from my own books and blink at the smiling face of Akeno Himejima.

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu-!!!

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AN

Koneko accepts Kunou as her disciple, MC is outsmarted by both Chibis and Akeno has some plans for today, plans about the MC.

Now, isn’t this the recipe for disaster? Ara, Ara intensifies…

And now I am contemplating putting Akeno in the rooster for MC’s hearts because some have suggested it. I am quite neutral over what to do about it and thankfully the shipping arc will happen much later in the plot so…Fufufufufufufu!​

 

Chapter 11: Confrontations

I’ve gone through difficult choices to keep myself from getting this level of investigations from Rias continuing, making sure that nothing could urge those to continue even after the situation with Asia was settled.

I was quite annoyed to find out with the direct presence of Akeno for this Art Contest that this wasn’t the case, as I did forget to take into account the fact this Rias was actually…

Petty.

Before the Phenex Arc, the heiress to the Gremory Clan was pretty much an entitled brat with a sweetening coat of kindness and good manners keeping people from perceiving her major flaw.

The redhead was genuinely concerned about those around her, but the way she tried to approach people that sparked some interest to her and her lack of concrete social skills at dealing with the simple student she knew nothing about were good enough reasons to create an unhealthy way to deal with everyone around her that wasn’t her peerage or her family.

And while I was humanizing this aspect of her mind, I wasn’t certainly going to let some spoiled girl get a freebie in stepping on me.

“What is your best quality, the one thing that you are best for this task?” I decided that to avoid getting stuck with this young woman for too long, I needed to put my head on what I had to do and avoid the rest.

“I’m fine with coloring. I hope this is not a problem for you, Hoitsu-kun-”

“Hoitsu-san, I don’t remember extending any familiarity with you, Akeno-san.”

Her smile twitched hesitant but I had most of my attention of the white paper as I started to draw the first lines of the subject I had in mind for this contest with a soft pencil.

For few moments there was some pleasant silence, which ended up giving me some extra time to elaborate some defense against the Yamato Nadeshiko sitting quite close to me.

The Fallen Angel-Devil hybrid took this time to actually glance both at me as I focused on the drawing and the drawing itself since the first few hints about my subject started to appear.

“You are drawing Sensei?” The Queen of Rias’ peerage stated with barely hidden surprise.

“I remember hearing from some members of the council that she was supposed to retire during this year.

Seeing her unusually happy expression when she entered the classroom, I think she got some good news about it.” I stated while keeping my eyes on the paper.

“You mean that she could be retiring any time now?” She said with some small surprise dripping from her tone. “I didn’t know about this and… you want this to be a goodbye gift to her?”

I nodded, a soft humming coming from the young woman as she continued. “That is kind of you.”

Blinking I glanced up with a frown. “And that what’s supposed to mean?”

“Only that I think this is the first unique act you have ever shown in Kuoh.” As she finished with that

statement, I found myself snorting and let my attention slip back to the lines I was defining.

“That is quite the erroneous idea you have of me, Akeno-san.” I remarked. “I think the fact I’ve been quite renowned for ‘unique acts’ ever since the beginning of this year.”

She blinked. “Truly?”

“I’ve been helping Issei to detach himself from his former group of idiots, I helped Kunou-chan around the school and I also gave Asia the opportunity to be part of the Club she best fit for.”

She flinched at the last example, just as I had expected, but she managed a frown.

“Rias only wanted to befriend Asia-chan-”

“-But she ended up getting her pushed away.”

A minor scowl appeared on Akeno’s face. “Buchou has a good heart-”

“-But poor social capabilities when dealing with fellow students and peers her age.” I interrupted once more, this time deciding to explain a little more. “It’s fairly clear that, while not done consciously from her part, her attitude towards ‘interesting people’ is somewhat childish. She has this idea that getting them on your club would mean instant friendship, without needing to expand further on that.”

The female hybrid looked ready to protest, but I wasn’t finished. “I understand that she had lived a sheltered life and that you were already there before you both started studying at Kuoh, but I think it’s right to say this ‘unpleasant’ truth.”

I put down my pencil, dragging the eraser some of the mistakes I’ve left behind, then spoke again. “She isn’t perfect in that part and she needs someone to guide her through that part she is so hesitant about.”

Akeno’s protests died before they could be voiced, her violet eyes widening a little at that depiction of the Gremory. “W-What are you talking about?” She tried to appear clueless, but the stutter ruined her attempt.

I sighed. “You mean how is it possible that someone that much could be understood from not talking to someone?” I glanced once more at her. “Why of course, your leader does flinch a lot when her confident move is turned useless by a simple tactic.”

She frowned at that explanation. “It could be just surprise-”

“Surprise doesn’t generally get people that much tense.” I sighed, dropping my pencil once more and starting to contemplate which pen to use to retrace the lines of the drawing. “Her flinches are tense. She tends to get on a very defensive stance when her determination is forced to a halt.”

The Himejima blinked at that. “Buchou could be a little bit hesitant once in a while, that doesn’t certainly mean she is that much inexperienced with people.”

“Then I will wait and see if my theory or yours are valid with future events.” I conceded tiredly, I was starting to get annoyed about the whole chit-chatting as I was paying little attention to the drawing now.

Of all days, Rias had to annoy me while I was doing such important task?

“By the way, why did your boss send you here?” I asked calmly, ignoring the confused frown from the girl. “Is she perhaps interested in Kunou-chan, now?”

There was a brief moment of silence, then Akeno smiled. “Actually, Hoitsu-san, I decided to see what kind of person you were on my own.”

...What?

What the actual heck?!

“Uh?” was what ended up leaving my mouth and the girl giggled.

“I guess it’s kind of surprising as you had this little big theory of yours about Rias-buchou.” Her smug look was annoying to even know it was there, even through I was still staring at the paper.

“A little bit but...” I softly dropped the pen and held one of my hands right up to cup my own cheek, then closed my eyes in a satisfied expression and relayed the true counter to this girl in particular.

It was a counter I had only thought possible but never tested its practicality, knowing that there was a minor chance of ending up with some unpleasant situations in the near future… but-

“Ara, Ara, is Akeno-san interested in me in a perverted way? I can only wonder what kind of things she would do to me then~”

I blinked my eyes open to gauge her reaction and I was rewarded with a full-face blush from Akeno, her eyes wide open as her jaw had dropped low. She seemed frozen in time, stuck in that expression and I decided to move before she could react more about it.

I slid the finished drawing right at the girl, her violet eyes finally darted away, looking down as she noticed the work in front of her and she blinked.

“It’s your turn, Akeno-san.” The girl didn’t answer at my input, returning to stare up at me and… it was intense. She continued to stare for two full minutes, something that left me quite nervous for some reason and I expected her to launch a full-fledged lewd assault at that and…

I was confused when said thing didn’t happen, the Himejima silently starting to pick the various colored pencils and markers to begin her own work.

There was no further interaction from that, which caused me to frown warily at the suddenly quiet girl. While she was particularly reserved sometimes, it looked odd to see her go this much unresponsive after we just ended up that talk.

Did that comeback seriously cause her to back away from… everything she could have asked after that?
The comeback itself was actually a joking remark, nothing more and nothing less, yet the effects that it caused on Akeno looked… quite impressive.

What has just happened to the girl currently busy with the coloring phase?

The mystery remained unknown for the rest of the contest and even after as, just brief instants after giving the final result, which was quite well-done in my opinion for both sides, the Himejima retreated with a polite nod back to her desk and decided to not turn around to stare back where I was.

Rias looked confused too, seeing her Queen getting this quite and reserved without an apparent reason and she did glance back where I was sitting, trying to understand what was going on with Akeno.

Of course I avoided her eyes as I knew that the possible reason the usually teasing girl was in that state was the very playful remark I did starting with that ‘Ara, Ara’.

To think that the magnitude of that statement could bring to the girl was of this level…

I don’t know if I should be impressed or scared for any future retaliation now…

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Kunou looked positively elated at her first day at Kuoh Academy.

As we meet up by the school’s entrance, the kitsune was quick to barrage me with details from her first day, from the interesting lessons she had to take notes of to the classmates that were kind enough to help her around.

Koneko would pass by during the pauses between lessons to ask if she required any help, to which the blonde kindly said no. The only issue that she had with her day was the fact she was supposed to stay sitting for full hours and couldn’t move around when she wanted too.

It was felt ‘odd’, but the girl managed to bear through the day until the end of the lessons.

She was latched her hands onto my arm as we started to make our way back home, my other hand busied with my phone as I quickly contacted Baraqiel to inform him of the situation with Koneko.

The man agreed that bringing the attention of the Gremory peerage upon us this early on would be a dangerous thing to do, him in particular since he wasn’t still sure how to deal with his daughter and, without fussing too much about it, he accepted to go and visit some pubs while I was busy with the silver-haired Nekoshou.

Once we were back home, I started to prepare quickly some lunch while Kunou rushed to her room to change back to her home’s clothes and drop her school bag by her bed. She went to the bathroom to clean her hand and wash her face from any trace of sweat, while I decided to clean my own hands in the kitchen area.

I decided that today was a good day for some omelets and started to bring out several eggs out of the fridge and, as I did so, I also noticed the bag of potatoes hiding by the far corner of the machine and picked some of those too.

And while in the frying pan the content for the omelet started to cook, on a medium-sized pot I had water start to boil as I peeled the ten potatoes I had picked to prepare the dish I had in mind.

Thirty minutes later, I had the steamy omelets put in plates, ending up making one more than planned, while the potatoes were almost boiled to an acceptable level.

Kunou was sitting by the table and waiting patiently, her mouth watering at her plate with the delicious-looking omelet, but confused at the lacking quantity. Her golden eyes turned back to the kitchen room which I had ventured once more and she saw me returning with a large plate with several boiled potatoes.

She frowned in confusion, her eyes following my actions as I dropped five of the potatoes on the free space of her plate and her nose sniffed at its scent.

Eyes widening, she grasped her fork and carefully picked the interesting food and took a bit from it.

She munched slowly, testing the texture and the taste and, few moments later a smiling kitsune had finished her first boiled potato.

I sat down and took a bite from the omelet and nodded happily at the result of my hard-work.

Just as the lunch commenced, our little moment of peace was abruptly interrupted by the door-bell ringing only once.

I stopped and blinked while looking towards the main entrance door. Did Koneko come earlier than expected?

Walking towards the door, I peeked from the door-hole and nodded at the sight of familiar white-hair. I opened the door and was graced with my kohai with her school bag on her back.

“Senpai, did I come too early or-”

“No, no. You may enter, you are not disturbing.” She blinked at my interruption but nodded as she stepped inside and glanced around the new house. Surprised and awed, the Nekoshou wandered a little before setting her attention to the living room and noticing Kunou looking back at her with a smile.

“Ku-kohai.” The oldest of the two girl greeted with a small smile.

“Ko-senpai.” The little blonde returned with a bigger smile.

The silver-haired girl rushed to the table and paused only to glance at the plates there, mouth opening to ask something but her stomach-

Growl

Beat her to it.

A little blush spread in her cheeks and she sighed. “I might have forgotten to eat something for lunch, senpai.”

Kunou smiled and nodded. “Well, Niichan did make a third omelet, Ko-senpai. You could have it!”

“I don’t wish to impose-”

“You are not imposing...” I patted her head from behind. “Koneko-chan.”

The girl blinked in surprise and then huffed at being patted so suddenly, causing the blonde still in her seat to giggle at the scene.

Moments later Koneko was sitting with us by the table and enjoying her own share of omelet and potatoes, smiling as she consumed the delicious dishes. The entire lunch was a brief affair and while I was cleaning the empty plates back in the kitchen, both girls started to discuss with each other.

Their words were muffled by the fact I was far away from the scene, but I could still see from time to time the two sharing some friendly bantering.

Once I was done with this chore and returned to the living room, I found myself staring at quite the situation.
Koneko had her eyes closed as Kunou continued to hug her. The little kitsune was humming happily in the embrace and I could see a small smile in my kohai’s face as this WMD of cute continued to manifest before my eyes.

I stared for few moments, until golden eyes finally opened with a pleased expression and froze at my sight. Koneko stiffened a little in the embrace and the blonde turned to see what caused her senpai sudden freezing up.

“Niichan.”

I blinked back to reality. “I-I finished cleaning the dishes.” The girl nodded finally ending the embrace.

“Koneko-chan, if you want you could stay a little more after we finish our study session.”

The Nekoshou seemed to genuinely contemplate the possibility but much to Kunou’s and my dismay, the girl shook her head at the idea.

“I would like to, but I have things to do back home. Thank you for offering, senpai.”

At those words, the blonde quickly went for her room with the intention of quickly do her homework and then join us for the study session.

Differently from the first time, Koneko had bought a calculator and was being incredibly careful with the way she was completing the various sets of math queries I’ve written down for her to complete.

It was a particularly quiet session, the girl having little to no trouble in grasping the logic behind some of the exercises.

An hour later Kunou managed to join us and started to ask about some of the formulas her senpai was using and, much to my glee, Koneko was keen to answer every single question from the fellow Yokai.

The session lasted for about two more hours and I was happy with the results the girl managed to get from this first repetition. Before she went back home, the girl and I ended up establishing the hours where she could come for the sessions and I was quick to add that she could join us for lunch if she wished for.

She obviously didn’t answer to that, but I could see in her eyes that she would give it a serious thought once she was back home.

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I waited some time after Koneko had left the house to call Baraqiel. The man returned half-an-hour later and he seemed sober from his trip to the pub, a good thing since I wanted to focus on some training now.

We moved upstairs where the house had built-in a special dojo filled with various seals and long-term spells that absorbed damage and restored any physical alteration to the room.

There was a small table by the far corner of the room, 10 small bottles of Tears of Phoenix sitting there in line and prompting me to frown at it.

“Why are there so few of those?” I turned at the Fallen Angels, some electricity crackling in his arms and causing me to tense up a little.

He smiled. “Azazel told me that you are lacking in terms of offensive spells and attacks, we will focus on that first and...”

Before he could finish this sentence, thunder sparked out of his palms and launched towards me. My eyes widened in surprise at the unexpected attack and I quickly erected five Light Barriers in front of me.

My jaws dropped the moment I saw the lightning passing through the white walls without any sign of alteration or slowing down.

It finally crashed on my arm, that I have lifted as to take the brunt of the attack within my limb rather take the hit on my head or chest. The resulting pain stunned me a little, my eyes closed instinctively and, as I prepared to take on the searing sensation to the fullest, I felt it vanish in a wave of heat.

Gone was the painful effects of the attack, yet I could still see the electricity dancing all over my arm… with a striking difference. It was no longer glowing blue as it had left Baraqiel’s hands, it was a pristine white lightning playing around my limb and I could feel its power coursing around my Magical Core.

I blinked again as the electricity finally dissipated, leaving behind only its energy. Turning back to the Fallen Angel, the man nodded at me and sighed.

“That, Hoitsu-kun, is a suspect of mine proving to be correct.” He started to explain. “You have an affinity to Thunder and a minor one to Light.”

… “Wait, isn’t that kind of exclusive to-”

“While the Holy Lightning bloodline helps to harmoniously create powerful Thunder-based elemental casts, people can still try and develop similar powers but they tend to spend more time to achieve what my family is capable of gaining in mere months of training.”

“So I could technically gain some powerful techniques from training with this-”

“At the expenses of spending quite the large amount of time to develop.” Baraqiel reminded, electricity crackling again around him. “I will show you some techniques and I wish that you use those immediately during the spars we will have.”

I nodded and carefully prepared to see this unfold.

The first spell was what I could assume as Electricity Bolts, rapid-firing low-damage attacks that were meant to be common at this stage.

The second one looked like a transparent wall with some blue corners, it seemed sturdier than the light barriers and thicker in size.

Finally the third technique was a… whip? I saw Baraqiel playing around with it, seemingly distracted by something and then he suddenly stopped, his cheeks turning red and-

Oh no, I am NOT dealing with that kind of stuff!

“S-Sensei.” He twitched and seemed to break away from his reverie, noticing that he had been still for a while.

“Sorry, Hoitsu-kun.” He apologized while staring at the palm previously holding the electric whip. “Just being reminded of… my late wife.”

I don’t need this.

“She was so sweet and understanding.” A good sadist and dominatrix too.

“I could even go so far to say that she completed me.” I mean, Akeno did get both the sadistic and the masochistic traits from both of her degenerate parents.

“By the way, sensei, can I ask you something… hypothetical before we begin?”

The man paused and nodded. “Does it have to do with my daughter?”

A chill went down my spine as I wanted to avoid mentioning what had happened today but I still wanted some answers about it.

“Actually it has to do with your relationship with your wife, sensei. Nothing overly personal or-”

“Please do ask, I will answer the best I can about my Mist-I mean, my Shuri.”

That was quite the close call there…

“Did your wife make use frequently of the term ‘Ara, Ara’?”

The answer was an instant nod. “It was something of a unique thing for her… I remember my little Akeno copying her about that and… does she still do that?”

“She says that quite frequently. I thought it was something that was associated with the ‘Onee-sama’ reputation she built around herself.”

“Oh, that explains a lot, but I think you should directly ask your question, Hoitsu-kun.”

I gulped nervously at the little push from the Fallen Angel and… I decided to formulate a smart question. “Have you ever replied to your wife with a sentence starting with the ‘Ara, Ara’ term?”

He went still for a moment, then a dumb smile appeared on his face and he nodded.

“I do reckon that it was how we ended up dating together. It was while she was nursing me back from a terrible injury I had received while fighting a Stray Devil and, seeing how she repeated that every time she spoke teasingly I decided to reply in kind.”

“And?” I tried to push as Baraqiel stopped and started to blush again.

“A-And we ended up discovering more about each other.”

...Oh no.

“Did you or your wife tell about this story to your daughter-”

“Of course! Which parent wouldn’t tell their children about how their love bloomed.” Then he looked hesitant. “Although my dear wife did end up going through some… details I think could have been avoided but, Akeno-chan has to be a fine and upstanding student.”

How wrong you are, Baraqiel-sensei…

“Anyway, let us not diverge with the past’s sentimentalism any longer, let’s see if you got a gist of what you are supposed to do with this new knowledge. Let’s go!”

And with that the first of many spars began!

But as the brawl started, at the entrance of the dojo where Hoitsu’s bag was lying, the phone contained within it started to vibrate, notifying the arrival of a new message.

Title: Invitation for Tea Time at the Occult Research Club.

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AN

So it seems that some misunderstanding is happening. I wonder how this will unfold…

In two chapters from now another minor time-skip and the beginning of the second mission. This one sadly lacking a female chibi. (keep an eye over every word of this sentence as there is a clue there).

Also trying to deal with the fact the Call of Duty Zombie timeline is now officially over in quite the ‘meh’ ending. It does solve some questions, but the overall emotion about it is bitterness. Something felt like it’s missing.​

 

Chapter 12: Cornering Someone for Something

The Occult Research Club-room was the perfect copy of what was represented in the show, thus I will not spend time to describe the peculiarly humongous size of the room or the fact it had a fucking shower in the middle of it.

While in the ‘Anime’ side of the story the fact a student could easily be pulled out of class and pardoned because he had to speak to an important character, I was fairly sure how things were unfolding right now was quite illegal by the school’s rules.

I never heard of a school that could allow students to be literally pulled out of a classroom mid-lesson and given as justification the fact ‘they were going to talk with a big name’.

It just was wrong and dumb by logical thought available and present. Just like the blasted shower in the middle of the room.

Seriously, who would really want to shower in front of people? And why?

Rias was someone that, from my understanding, doesn’t have any issue in showing some skin around, my mind reminding me how she would spend her nights sleeping ‘with’ Issei without clothes.

It’s a miracle the boy hadn’t regressed back to when he was going with his perverted ways because of this occurrence, but I was quite certain it had all to do with Asia.

The former nun seemed to be less worried about losing Issei to someone, it was a strange change in her attitude towards the brunet compared to the Canon that was almost difficult to spot on.

The blond would still seek the boy’s presence, happy to be around him much to my glee, but she wouldn’t exert herself in showing her interest about it by going too far.

My only theory connected to the first encounter and how the initial interactions weren’t as intense as in Canon: Issei didn’t get to give her a full tour of Kuoh Town until I was mid-training with Azazel and, without Raynare there to interrupt and cause a heroic rescue to save the blonde, Asia’s idea of the boy was… a little more personal.

There wasn’t much of a Knight in Shining Armor kind of idea in the girl regarding the boy she cared for and that offered her the chance to slowly learn more about him to a moderate pace.

Plus there was the fact Issei himself didn’t present himself as a teen that launched himself at every oppai he saw, thus mostly removing the chances of the blonde to get jealous about other girls and push herself to ‘catch his attention’.

That is why I could only suppose Rias was having a particularly difficult time with the brunet and Asia. In the show the redhead would have some sort of advantage over both ‘Kohais’ as she was quite resourceful and gave off quite the confident presence compared to both the boy’s and girl’s uncertain reactions to everything about the supernatural world.

With Asia standing on some strong foundation and becoming an important element in Issei’s life, the Gremory’s chances of teasing and playing around with the boy’s (now non-existent) embarrassing habits turned quite useless if not antagonistic.

The atmosphere at the club was quite tense for some reason and the club was divided in two visible sides.
Occupying both sides of the couch I was sitting in were a nervous Issei and the stoic-looking Koneko, the little Nekoshou munching at some candies as silence reigned all around us.

Kiba took one of the chairs near the center of the room, Rias was sitting in the couch to the opposite of the one I was currently seated and Akeno was humming happily as she finished preparing some tea.

I had long contemplated the fact they would reveal themselves there, but this theory was discouraged by the fact Sona wouldn’t allow that.

As I had said long before, the Sitri heiress still considered me part of some ‘honorary peerage’ as I was a member of the Student Council and giving up the ‘honor’ of revealing what was going on in the school’s backstage wasn’t something she was going to truly accept nor do.

So I knew that whatever was going to happen, it wasn’t going to be incredibly big or important plot-wise.
Finally the Himejima came to pass and, even through I politely declined her offer of a cup of tea, I was presented with a steamy one of it. Groaning, I held it close but didn’t sip at it until I could study its content.

The words shared the day before with Baraqiel were still ringing dreadfully in my mind and I knew that every possible attempt to ‘seduce me’ was now going to be something of be wary of while around her.

The girl sat near her buchou, smiling sweetly and waiting for something to happen. Without hesitation I glanced at the tea in the cup and I did notice an odd shade to it and I noticed that I wasn’t the only one suspecting some foul play going on.

Koneko’s eyes were fixed at the liquid, her candy-munching interrupted as she frowned at the cup. Her nose was sniffing at it and then, in a mere blink of an eye, her hand swiftly slapped the cup away, uncaring of the tea spilling on the ground and the container exploding in shard as it slammed on the floor.

Issei yelped in surprise but it was her reaction that surprised me the most.


“K-Koneko?!” Our attention shifted to the wide-eyed Akeno, the girl shocked, a little angry but mostly dismayed at how her plan had been ruined by the silver-haired girl.

“Koneko-chan… why did you slap Hoitsu-san’s cup away?” Rias’s voice showed some surprise and reprimanding tone. The girl looked a little more tense now that the King was interested on the matter and I decided to intervene just because it was my kohai suffering this double attack.

“I think Koneko-chan spotted a mosquito on the cup and since it was quite close to her-”

“I almost jumped at that.” The girl faked an apologetic tone and nodded towards my direction. “I’m sorry, senpai.”

“There is no need to apologize to me, Koneko-chan. Still, I think that was quite the excessive reaction and you should apologize to Akeno-san-”

“I-I am fine with that.” The Himejima interrupted nervously, causing me to frown at her. “I-I suppose accidents can happen a-and I forgive you, Koneko-chan.”

There was some barb in the usage of that honorific, but I guess that did screw some of her plans. I wonder if it was some aphrodisiac or something worse…

Thank the Gods I wasn’t going to deal with that ever again, since now her plan was clear to me and she knew it wouldn’t work with me anymore.

Rias seemed ready to mount a protest, as her lips parted to make space to some response to what was going on… then she stopped and seemed to think about this a little more.

“Ignoring what has just happened… I assume you wish to know why you got invited here this urgently, Hoitsu-san.”

I nodded. “That is correct, Rias-san.”

There was a brief smile then the girl turned to Koneko. “I’ve been told that you are now living alone, in your own house.”

I blinked at the curious beginning of something incredibly convoluted. “Yes, that is the case.”

“And how did you exactly ‘bypass’ your parents about this? Did you buy your new home and-”

“If you mean that ‘I avoided fighting with them’ with ‘bypass them’, then no, I did fight them about the subject.” I corrected quickly. “But in that very fight we managed to sort out the issues and have them accept my current plans for the future.”

The Gremory fidgeted in her seat as she thought about my words, then she continued. “But you did have to make something to get them to see your point.”

Sighing I nodded. “I had to show them results that my plans are starting well and they would be until I was careful around.”

… “What?”

“Actions matter more than words.” I stated calmly. “That is an unspoken rule of life that helps almost everywhere. If you wish for someone to understand and approve of what you want to do with your life then you need to prove that your idea is worth of consideration-”

“This is actually a… different case.” The redhead sighed, putting the chat in a stall as I narrowed my eyes at her sudden interruption.

I continued to stare at her for a little while, her sky-blue eyes darting away from direct contact and I sighed tiredly as I decided to push up the discussion.

“Are you dealing with an arranged marriage?”

True silence reigned in the club-room.

Issei looked quite confused, Kiba and Akeno looked shocked at the precise question and Koneko merely showed surprise at my words. Yet it was Rias’ reaction that won it all.

The heiress to the Gremory family went still, frozen as her eyes widened in evident shock, fear and dismay.
“H-How did you-”

“It was a mere theory of mine, taking under consideration the fact that you come from a traditional rich family.”

“B-But how did you know t-this was the case?” Kiba asked, breaking away from his shocked state.

“As I said, it was merely a theory, an assumption that was answered positively by the reaction of most of the occupants.”

“S-Still, that is something big, buchou!” The brunet looked incredibly clueless about some bits of the situation, but part of the disgusting mess was starting to sink in his brain.

He had all the rights to be like that, but I decided to focus on the matter at hand. First we solve this mangled debacle, then some explanation will be given by Rias and only Rias.

“Rias-san, I suppose you have a copy of the contract with you as you are directly involved with it.”

She nodded. “I do, but I’ve already searched for any clauses that I could use against him but-”

“There is none that would help.” Well, that sucks big time as I did kind of hoped that something could have been done about it, maybe avoid completely the Phenex Arc with some cunning planning but…

It wasn’t the case.

Which means that I would have to be ready to personally meddle if something strange happens and Canon derail for a reason or another.

“Have you thought of declaring the contract void since you weren’t signing it willfully?”

She blinked. “What?”

“You could mention that the pressure exercised by both family ended up influencing your decision and, against the chances of performing your pondering with the lack of a peaceful and free capacity, you were forced to sign such contract.”

I waited, expecting the girl to rebuke my idea as it was actually standing on some frail foundation. While the girl was this desperate to get out from the contract, she wouldn’t go as far to face the possible wrath of her parents about it-

“It could work.”

… “What?”

The redhead smiled. “It is a pretty weak excuse, I think that is why you seem this much surprised of seeing me agree to that… but I can plan something from it.”

I blinked once, then twice. “Could you elaborate?”

“My brother has already mentioned that he would support me in case I vouched a good and compelling case that he can get behind and my parents aren’t interested about the arranged marriage themselves, so convincing them should be easy...”

“And the issue is?”

Rias sighed. “There are some members of the close group of ‘friends’ of my family that might not see this in a positive light.”

“From my understanding, you have quite some time to deal with this.” She nodded at my affirmation. “Then you should focus on building up some backing from those groups and provide yourself a cushion for an eventual fallout.”

She nodded. “I will do that.”

There was a relieved smile and she relaxed on her couch. “Hoitsu-san, thank you.”

I snorted and she frowned. “I mean it. I would even reward you-”

“If you wish to do something then apologize to Asia, since you have been avoiding her since she joined a club that wasn’t yours.” I stated seriously. “If that was your attempt at befriending people, that was poorly-made.”

She flinched at my tone but nodded slowly at my request. “I-I can see your point. I guess I wasn’t particularly honest with her and-”

“I want you to also never try to bring her to whatever you are planning here.”

Tension sparked once more at the sudden threat, but I ignored the sudden frown from the Gremory. “I don’t know what you are talking about, Hoitsu-san.”

“Then let us speak within the hypothetical case.” I smiled at the fact the pressure I was feeling was actually bearable. “If I discover you tried to manipulate Asia once more, I will make sure to create some real opposition. And that, Gremory-san, is not something you truly wish to face, trust me.”

And with that weight finally delivered, I got up and started to walk towards the door that lead outside of the club-room.

“Where are you two going?” Rias asked with a mix of surprise and annoyance. Following me closely was Koneko and it was the silver-haired girl that answered the older teen.

“If you remember, Rias-buchou, I asked to be exempted from class for only a single lesson as today I have an English exam during the second hour of school. In ten minutes I have to be back to class and I don’t wish to be late for it.”

The redhead nodded at her excuse and turned at me expecting some motivation from me too. I shrugged. “I have class too, plus I think this discussion is over and… you have to explain stuff to Issei.”

“Yes, but-”

Click

The door closed behind us and I sighed in relief at the fact she wasn’t giving chase.

“Do you wish to be escorted to class, Koneko-chan.” I offered and she spent few moments to hum about it and then…

“Okay.”

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The rest of the school-day seemed to fly at how quick it went.

Kunou enjoyed her second day at the Academy, while I was glad to not get annoyed by Rias after that ‘little chit-chat’ we had earlier that morning.

It had seemed like the whole day was actually going to be a very normal one, without any major issues or problem to face and… I found it the annoying way that it wasn’t the case.

Just as we turned the corner for the small street that led to our home, Kunou squealed happily and rushed forward as she quickly spotted Koneko in the distance, waiting right by the entrance of the house.

The Nekoshou seemed quite dismayed by something or, once I noticed whom was waiting by her side, someone.

Akeno waved happily and smiled as I slowly approached, the little blonde frowning at the unknown individual and went to ignore her as she intercepted her senpai with a hug.

“What are you doing here?” I asked without hesitation at the still smiling Yamato nadeshiko.

“Hello to you too, Hoitsu-kun, I thought of passing by and see if you needed some help-”

“Pass.” I stated quickly and her smile only widened at the refusal.

“It isn’t something you can refuse~-”

“Watch me.” I gestured the two girls to get inside the house inside and, once I stepped inside, I was about to close the door behind me to keep the young woman out when she suddenly put her feet in and-

It blocked my chances of closing.

She didn’t move at first as I tried to deter her by carefully adding some little more force and get her to back down but-

“T-This is~ New~”

I completely forgot whom I was trying to deter with pain and… she was enjoying through it all.

I backed away from the door and she smiled deviously as she closed it behind.

“Ara, Ara, was I that much… scary there?”

Yes, yes you were, you crazy masochist.

She giggled at my lack of response and proceeded to slowly venture inside the house, her violet eyes locking onto the kitchen area visible by the end of the living room.

“Oh?” She quickly marched towards the shiny room, I followed her closely as she entered inside and stopped to stare at the large communion of modern appliances and various cooking utensils carefully put in the various cupboards and drawers.

Her eyes were shining through the whole time and I started to notice that I had yet to see Kunou and Koneko when I entered the house. I suppose the blonde could have gotten the older girl to follow her to her room, having mentioned that she would have wanted to show her senpai her room.

And so I was here, alone with the currently distracted ‘Priestess of Thunder’ as she studied the whole Kitchen in silence.

Finally she stopped to nod to herself. “I would like a kitchen like this for myself.” Then she turned to look at me, her smile changing in something quite mysterious and dreadful for some reason.

A chill went down my spine as she curiously approached the sink and she opened the tap.

The sudden burst of water caused her to yelp while also close the tap before causing too much of a mess to clean after and… her lips twitched in amusement.

“Oops.”

God-fucking-dammit. Why I had to deal with this perverted woman-

Why was I getting the attention of the more perverted ones?!

“Can you take me to the bathroom-”

“I am picking some towels and some pair of fresh clothes.” I interjected quickly, knowing that bathroom and perverts created the worst nightmare for those trying to keep the V-Card for the right moment.

She pouted and waited there as I quickly rushed upstairs to pick said objects. I was glad that she didn’t try anything with this much water wetting her clothes and rendering some feature visible.

It wasn’t a full sight, but I could see her cleavage and her toned stomach. I had a little blush because of that and the girl milked this opportunity by using the towels very slowly and very carefully.

Once she had the dripping water issue dealt with I left the kitchen for a while to let her change with the pair of clothes I had procured to her. The Himejima spent the same amount of time, if not more to complete this simple task and I was tortured by little teasing from her side.

“Hoitsu-kun, could you help me with the bra? I’m having trouble getting it off~.”

“My legs are tired, could you help me remove the skirt~?”

“Actually, could you give me a foot massage~? I would like a very extended one~.”

This is… mind-shattering.

My pride and virtue was put to a difficult challenge against someone that was professionally the perfect perverted woman.

Thankfully she didn’t make any first step nor pressed on with any of the blushes she could spot on my face and kept herself from passing over my ‘safe line’ of distance.

As Kunou and Koneko descended from upstairs and sat by the living room’s table, Akeno and I started to prepare something and… by something I mean the Himejima decided to take the lead with the preparation of the menu.

Miso soup was something I had the ingredients to make, but I was quite an inept in making traditional Japanese dishes, having most of my knowledge coming from Western cuisine.

Thus I was pretty much given a secondary role of support during the preparation, following the smiling woman as she gave orders over orders.

It was a quick process that surprisingly didn’t crash and burn as I had initially thought it would and the result was delicious.

Kunou and Koneko were both glowing happily while eating the content of the soup. Akeno didn’t try anything funny during the moment spent all together and few minutes later, both girls retreated back to the blonde’s room and I was left alone once more with the Queen of Rias’ peerage.

We were cleaning the empty plates when something unusual happened.

I was bracing myself for any eventual strike from Akeno, still giving enough focus to the plates I had to complete, when I heard the girl sigh tiredly. I glanced her way and I saw her stopping for a moment, eyes closed and I frowned.

“Something’s wrong?”

She looked surprised and almost jumped at my question before giving off a nervous look. “J-Just thinking outloud. Nothing to worry about.”

I narrowed my eyes at her. “Are you… sure?”

The Himejima blinked and nodded slowly. “I am fine.”

‘I am fine’. I gave off a perplexed expression and planned how to tackle this sudden sadness of the girl.

“And what if I tell you that I don’t believe it and I said that I could offer you a shoulder?”

There was some silence as she went still for a moment and then nodded to herself.

“I would say ‘good job’ and then ask to replace the shoulder with your bare back.” She replied, her smile twitching in weak amusement as I groaned at her surprising response.

“Cheeky, but I am trying to help you there.” I sighed and continued. “What got you this sad, Akeno.”

She tilted her head and then turned her attention back to the sink. “I… guess I was thinking about about my childhood.”

Oh.

“My mom was… quite supportive when I wanted to help her around with the house chores. It was fun when we were both doing those and...” She smiled sadly. “Right now I was reminded of those times, when she was… still alive and-”

Akeno bent a little over the sink and I sighed as I slowly spread my arms open at her. The gesture was caught almost immediately by her attention and she moved softly to press her head onto my chest.

The sobbing began a little muffled as Akeno pressed her face close to my shirt, the girl was crying quite calmly as I silently had one of my arms wrapping around her while my free hand started to carefully run through her hair, lulling her as she let out everything she was holding in.

Few minutes of this passed and I didn’t speak nor move further as she needed some time to rest.

Finally she started to sniffle a little, her head turning as she looked up with a small smile.

“S-Sorry. I stained your-”

“That’s alright.” I quickly reassured her with a small smile of my own. “How are you doing?”

She sniffled a little more. “J-Just a little tired now. But… I feel better.”

She moved out of the hug and nodded. “T-Thank you.”

“You are welcome.”

As she used one of the unused towels to clean her face off the tears, the two other girls finally emerged from the kitsune’s room and sat prepared for the little Math session.

The study session that followed was quite interesting as Akeno decided to take a more active role than before by joining the group with her own homework, which I had to help with myself as I was the one sharing that burden with her.

It was livelier than usual and it got quite adorable when Kunou asked to the Himejima if she could sit in her lap to see better what was going on the table. The Yamato nadeshiko blinked and nodded as the little blonde settled on her legs and looked both at the hybrid’s and the Nekoshou’s homework.

It got real when Akeno patted her head with a smile and let out the strongest kind of Ara, Ara.

“Ara, Ara, aren’t you a smart girl?”

Kunou smiled and nodded at her ‘newly-named Neechan’.

It was around two hours later, with both girls having completed their homework that I escorted them by the door and out to the open.

“Thank you as always, senpai.” Koneko bowed a little.

“And as always, it’s just my duty, kohai.” I waved at her.

The Himejima merely smiled and nodded. “I hope that I could ask to join you all once more if I have the chance.”

“If you can come and don’t commit anything remotely lewd, then yes.”

She giggled. “Now, that is quite the difficult promise to maintain.”

“Please do and… remember to do that when you feel sad.” I whispered at her, the silver-haired girl on the side frowning at the secrecy.

Akeno blinked and hummed comically. “You mean… groping?”

I facepalmed really, really hard at that. Goddammit, you perverted woman!

“Hugging! Ugh, why are you like this?”

“Because I am special and… I know that you like me this way, why would I change?”

That very question caused me to frown at her, eliciting some giggles and then she suddenly blinked.

“Actually… there is something on your cheek. Let me...” She approached her finger softly touching my left cheek and then…

Chu~

I felt my face explode in red, my brain going a little blank for the embarrassing even currently unfolding as the Himejima pressed her lips on said cheek.

Kunou blinked in surprise while Koneko frowned at the action, both staring and giving their judgment to the situation from afar.

She pulled back with a content smile and nodded. “That is a ‘thank-you’ for being there for me… even through I didn’t deserve it.”

I nodded slowly and dumbly, causing Kunou and Akeno to giggle at it while Koneko cracked a quick smile.
Yet as I waved at them while they walked away from the street and turned the corner, I had in mind to return back home and wait for Baraqiel’s return.

But, much to my surprise and mostly to my dismay, as I turned to face the entrance door, I saw him looking from the corner.

The Fallen Angel was peeking from said corner, eyes murderously locked on my figure as his hands twitched furiously and cracking the surface he was holding onto.

He was giving me quite the…

ゴ
ゴ
ゴ
ゴ

Murderous glance.

I saw him disappear in a blur and I instinctively braced while yelling. “I have a good explanation!-!”

He appeared right in front of me, his hands squeezing at my shoulders as he gave me the greatest of glares.

“You will. After we start a special round of training without Tears of Phoenix. Only then you can explain, Hoitsu-kun.”

AW SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII-

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AN

Today I’m supposed to do another 4k chapter for another story and do the ‘Standard one-shot’ for a HP competition. Hopefully things go well…

Quick assurance: Most of the Arcs are going to happen and the Phenex Arc will still happen, just in a different setting and with different events. That is what happens when the timeline is changed.

Also quick reminder: This scene is still a pending consideration about Akeno’s position and role as this could be the start of a close friendly bond with some perverted moments or I could make it a romantic thing. Thankfully I don’t plan any ships happening until a little later.

Lastly a small hint, I’ve plans for the character I will ship Kunou. It will be a shocking surprise but actually a plausible choice. He will appear quite soon too...

Future milestone: 696 Followers and Favorites.​

 

Chapter 13: Unexpected Role

Things were going quite well for me and those around.

Having Koneko and Akeno come for lunch and join in the study session together had turned into a normal occurrence much to Baraqiel’s chagrin and the ‘strange’ situations that the Himejima would cause once in a while would continue to persist.

Even through there was a sharp difference from the lewd tone she took early in her ‘chase’, some particular events would still continue to happen.

Hands touching during lunch, she would press her chest to ‘look over my shoulder’ or she would even go and try to get her shirts wet while using the sink of the kitchen. The girl ended up mastering the bursts of water, making it a precise hit on her shirt only.

It was the teasing that was left unchanged. The perverted ‘Oneesama’ was incredibly keen to point out some of the more ‘interesting’ details about a situation about herself or, in some cases, about me.

Nothing was committed explicitly in front of the two younger girls, yet I was quite sure that my little kohai already knew that something was going on between the Queen of the peerage she was part of and her poor senpai.

Speaking of the sweets-loving girl, I was happy to learn that she was quite confident about the future results of her Math test. The silver-haired Reincarnated Devil did show some rare smiles much to Kunou’s growing interest to see more of her senpai.

It was an adorable relationship both Kitsune and Nekoshou were developing, very close to a sisterly bond which Koneko was quite elated to have as she was somehow happy to be the ‘older sibling’ to the young blonde.

Training proceeded smoothly, with Baraqiel being a little more ‘aggressive’ in his approach after learning about Akeno’s frequent visiting and how she was ‘interested’ to me. I didn’t blame him for being incredibly protective, but I did blame him for making training a true walk through hell with his more violent attitude towards me.

It was around Friday that the Fallen Angel announced some news for the following day.

After finishing the last sparring session of the day, the man showed me a particularly long report, urging me to read it.

And I did and… I was a little surprised at what was supposed my official first mission for Grigori.

I blinked and then frowned at the details, turning for answers to Baraqiel. “Only one day and… where is this place?”

The address was strange, written in a language I was quite unfamiliar with and the man smiled.

“It’s going to be a mere escort mission as some talks happens in the meantime and you don’t have to worry about the location.” The Fallen Angel stated with a smile. “You will be helped around by your partner during the mission, he is quite acknowledged about Hell language.”

… “Partner?” I found myself questioning. “You are not going to come too?”

“I will be going for said diplomatic talks once this training session is over.” He answered while giving a lone nod. “My presence for this event is important and your presence will give some trust to the other side.”

“Are there going to be the Four Maou?” The Fallen Angel quickly nodded at my question. “So… this has to be a big thing and- do I know whom is going to be my partner?”

He merely smiled, then he spoke three words and I groaned.

“You know him.”

Which means that, since I knew just four people from Grigori and only one fit the bill, I was going to deal with Vali once again and while he had yet to go rogue, he was still going to be a pain to deal with.

“Can I have some more info? Like who is the contractor or-”

“All will be explained in good time, Hoitsu-kun.” Baraqiel sighed as he started to move towards his room. “Just behave and avoid making a bad impression.”

With those ominous words the Fallen Angels left the training room, leaving me to contemplate the situation from a very limited standpoint.

Whatever was going on between Grigori and Hell, it has to have to do with Khaos Brigade… or at least what was currently part of KB.

Qlippoth and Old Satan factions have already joined at this time of the story, same for the Nilrem faction as I had the pleasure to encounter a group of them and-

I wonder if I should contact Mephisto Pheles and inform him about the current situation of the magicians, maybe get his support early on for the eventual anti-KR coalition and avoid some major issues.

I should do that but right now I couldn’t because of the lack of info about the Grauzauberer. It wasn’t common knowledge in the lore where exactly it was sited, nor how it truly worked.

Maybe they would even hunt me down if they discovered me as I was a Magician, that was a thing now, but I was quite unaware what kind of ideological line they would have towards ‘newcomers’, a purist or a reformist one.

My little silent thinking earned me a minor headache as I slowly ended up theorizing where exactly Vali and I were supposed to be sent to.

Hell was smaller than the entire world, but it did have several interesting places. Places that were either ‘safe’ or incredibly dangerous to be spending time within.

Hopefully I wasn’t going to deal with any dangerous situation anytime soon and hopefully the Khaos Brigade wasn’t going to cause any problem during the talks, just like it had happened in Canon.

I entered my bedroom and blinked at the sight of a nine fluffy tails of golden waggling slowly as Kunou lied on the bed, eyes open and directed at the door while giving a patient look.

The Kitsune was wearing her Pjs and I was glad that there was nothing ecchi in the way she was positioned, no unnecessary skin showing and she looked mostly adorable like that. Like a puppy starving for affection.

I snorted, a small smile playing in my features. “I think you are getting quite spoiled, aren’t you?”

She pouted briefly, but didn’t shy away as I slowly slipped inside the covers and waited for her to start to move.

The blonde sighed in relief as her head nuzzled on my chest. I patted near her fox ears and she hummed pleased by the calm but careful ministrations.

With her eyelids half-closed, I decided to break the news to her now as things will get quite annoying in the morning.

“Tomorrow I will be out of Kuoh for my work.” Her sight was quickly locking on my face. “It will be just for Saturday, by Sunday’s early morning I will be back.”

She blinked, a little tense but not too much and she asked. “Just Saturday?”

“Yes, just tomorrow. I will call Asia and Issei early in the morning to see if they can come and keep you company, okay?”

Golden eyes glowed warmly at mentioning the fellow blonde and the funny brunet. “What about senpai… or Neechan?”

“I don’t have their number, but if they pass and wants to spend some time I don’t see any issue with that.”

She smiled and nodded, further snuggling close to the warmth. “Niichan?”

I hummed in response, half-asleep already and she giggled.

“I… love you.”

I sighed and pulled her head closer, kissing her forehead and smiling. “Love you too, Imouto.”

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It was quite early in the morning, I had set my travel bag on the table as I let Asia and Issei in, nodding at them. “Once more thank you to be there-”

“Nonsense, senpai. Issei and I will be more than happy to take care of Kunou and the house for today and...” The girl looked around, a little awed at the size of the place. “T-This house is really big.”

The brunet nodded in agreement and then turned back to me with star-glittered eyes. “This is what will happen if I continue working part-time?”

I shrugged. “If you keep up for a long time, you will be able to buy what you want, even a house.”

He nodded, happy with the answer as I turned to Kunou. “Remember to listen to Asia-chan and Ise if they say that there is something dangerous going on, okay?”

She nodded quickly. “I will be fine with Ise-nii and Asia-nee.”

I patted her head. “Good and..” I blinked towards the two distracted teens, a little devious plan forming inside my mind. “Do try to bring them together. Just some suggestions, nothing too much complex.”

The girl blinked and glanced towards her temporary caretakers and nodded slowly, a little mischievous smile appearing in her face. “I will try.”

I patted her head again and picked my bag. “I will see you all tomorrow then.” I held my free hand up to wave as I walked out of the door and I was greeted by the three waving back.

Closing the door behind me I started to make my way to the precise alley Baraqiel had told me to present myself to and much to my silent surprise the walk was surprisingly a short one.

I paused a moment before venturing towards what seemed to be a dead end, putting on my disguise as Hekishoku on. Feeling ready to go after putting the changed clothes inside my bag, I started to walk towards the frontal door and… waited for something to happen.

Looking around I found nothing in particular that could fit with anything magical or- Wait.

I pressed my open palm on the wall and… it was warm. Pushing some energy onto the construct, a glowing seal appeared and a beam shoot from it and hit my full body, coating me in light as… I felt shifting.

I lost my footing and tripped almost immediately in a rugged floor.

Groaning, I got up and the first thing I noticed was that I was now in a train?

There were some workers walking around, some guards and some normal people wandering through the various aisles of the moving thing. I blinked and turned to look if I could see someone familiar and… I did.

Standing right by the aisle directly in front of this… ‘Shifting’ section of the train, a caped figure was standing alone, giving me his back and… I decided to test Vali’s perception of things.

So I slowly made my way towards him, my feet coated in shadows and silencing the sounds from those and managed to poke at his shoulder to get his attention.

His head snapped my way, I could feel some initial anger, then surprise and realization and finally scowl. “So you are here too.”

His dry tone only made me smile more. “Aw, and I thought you would have missed me.”

He crossed his arms and looked away. “Why are you here?”

“I am your partner for this mission.” He glanced back and I nodded. “By the way, do you know where we are going? Baraqiel-sensei decided to say nothing about it and-”

“Gremory’s territory.” My eyes widened at the sudden answer. “We are supposedly going to guard the young spawn of Sirzechs and his maid.”

That… sounded quite strange. Why would they need us when- This doesn’t make any sense.

“And I am fairly sure that something else is going on.” The host of Albion continued to speak. “Yet Azazel was very secretive about it all.”

I frowned. “Well, I know that Baraqiel was supposed to be present for some diplomatic talk.”

Vali froze for few moments, then he turned around fully attentive at my words. “What?”

“He didn’t tell you, didn’t he?” He didn’t reply but from his previous reactions I knew it was the case.

“He should have told me!” He rebuked loudly and I sighed. “What? Do you think this is funny?”

“Quite the opposite, I think the situation is far more complicated than you think.”

… “Explain!”

Another sigh. “I know that… there is some internal rebellion brewing within Grigori and the passage of sensitive info is quite difficult.”

“You mean that he doesn’t trust me?” He asked shocked and I facepalmed.

“I am saying that people are preparing to support some bastards and that you, Sougyoku-san, are being monitored by some of those.”

He tensed up and started to look around. “Not now. Not during a mission. That is why Baraqiel didn’t say anything about keeping quiet about what was going on.”

“But shouldn’t Azazel know where the traitors are?”

“If the big boss pull some shady act, people part of this rebellion will know and plan something earlier than established. Grigori isn’t ready for a civil war, not yet at least.”

His shoulders relaxed a little. “That sounds… smart.” Vali admitted, turning his masked face to the rest of the people enjoying the ride. “Still it doesn’t explain why we are here.”

“Indeed.” I agreed, nodding even. “And sadly, I am completely unaware of the reasoning behind our presence today.”

Just as we continued with our discussion, the blue-masked youth noticed the digital sign blinking and sighed. “We have arrived, get by the door on the right side.”

I frowned but complied, noticing a large button to open said door and, as it slid open, I stared at… the massive territory owned by Rias’ family.

Yet there was a small but considerable issue now that I thought about it and said issue was… the fact we were flying. The whole train was flying. “How am I supposed to-”

Thud

“W-WHAAAAAAAAAAAA-”

One moment I was grasping at the sides of the new opening, then I found myself free-falling as the host of the Divine Dividing Sacred Gear decided to sparta-kick me out of the train.

Of the many things I’ve trained, of the several spells I’ve learned about with both Azazel and Baraqiel, none prepared me to deal with this particular situation.

I slowly started to turn over and over, my breakfast starting to beg some evacuation but I managed to hold over. Squinting my eyes, I saw Vali following my falling with two Dragon-like wings on his back.

Help me!

He slowed down a little, I could perceive the smug at the fact he was going to pull me out last minute.

HELP ME, YOU FUCKING BASTARD!

Finally the young Lucifer snorted amusingly and quickened his flight, catching me before I could turn in a human omelet and started to get us towards the large gates that led to the central mansion sited within the territories.

We landed and I spent few moments breathing in and out to normalize my poor lungs, ignoring the chuckles coming from the Dragon-kin and the arrival of various members of servitude, an army of maids and butlers went in two lines, one for each sides, and bowed slightly as the gates opened.

“Uh, quite the welcoming party.” My comment was met with a nod by the fellow member of Grigori and we slowly started to make our way inside the large courtyard that led to the massive mansion in front of us.

Once we stepped inside the large house, we found ourselves staring at a particularly old butler.

“Welcome to the Gremory’s Household. I am Horace and I shall be your guide to the room where the young Master and Lord and Lady Gremory are currently in.” He bowed a little and I nodded appreciatively.

Vali ignored him, but the elder seemed to not mind the young man’s attitude and proceeded to lead us through part of the large mansion, some of the windows showing some inner courtyard and the overall aesthetics were… impressive.

It was actually my first time entering the house of someone very, very rich and so I took my time in looking around the rooms we were passing by.

Finally we reached a humongous living room with two long dining tables, two big fireplaces and several couches of various dimensions.

Right by one of the fireplaces a small red-haired child was playing with what seemed to be a box of… Lego?

Now that I looked closely, it was a different company but… the toy was similar. I tried to discern the constructions completed but, before I could focus on that properly, I saw the boy stopping and looking to stare who had just entered the room.

He then got up from the carpet he was previously sitting on and slowly approach us.

Short red hairs, his eyes a shade a little lighter than his locks, the young child of Sirzechs and Grayfia smiled in a friendly way.

“Nice to meet you, I am Millicas Gremory. Could I ask about your names?” And polite too, just like in the show.

I crouched a little and smiled through my mask. “My name is Hekishoku and it’s nice to meet you too, Millicas.”

If I remember correctly, the boy appreciated being addressed in an ‘equal’ way and I nailed my response by his smile widening at the way I addressed him.

The old butler coughed. “I think you should address the young Master in a more formal manners, Hekishoku-san.”

I blinked and turned to stare at the old servant and returned to stare curiously at the boy, a little deflated at the words of the butler.

“So, I saw you were playing with those blocks. Can you tell me what you were building, Millicas-kun?”

His eyes widened and he nodded as he took the hand I offered to him and led me back to the fireplace much to the old man’s dismay.

Kids need to be kids and… it’s been a while since I played with some lego-like blocks.

And then I saw them sitting in two close couches.

Venelana Gremory, née Bael, was a beautiful woman. There weren’t enough adjectives in the English vocabulary to describe the attractive figure the lady had and I was forced to look away almost immediately to avoid blushing madly at the sight.

Zeoticus Gremory looked like a professional businessman with a kind edge on his expression, probably because of the fact he was in the proximity of his grandson.

The two current leaders of the Gremory family looked happy and… fine. They were there babysitting their grandchild and… they were still strong enough to protect him.

...Why were we there then?

I gave a quick bow to both respectable members of Devils’ society and they returned the gesture with a nod.

It was right in that moment that the dots connected and… I knew what was going on.

There were diplomatic talks happening right now and… Vali and I were ‘guests’ to the mansion owned by the parents of one of the Satans. We were supposed to stay there until the talks were concluded thus…

We weren’t guarding anyone today.

Today, much to my dreadful realization, I recognized that this was a classic hostage situation, one that served to build-up the trust between Fallen Angels and Devils.

I blinked and started to quietly listen Millicas as he described his buildings, my mind focusing on a small detail about this all.

While I could accept the situation as it was a necessity, what would Vali’s reaction be at the idea that Azazel had knowingly used him as an expendable piece in the big chessboard?

I could only hope that, during our stay, he wouldn’t understand what was going on just like I did and maybe, just maybe, this mission will end up being a breeze…

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AN

Millicas, Zeoticus and Venelana will be expanded upon next chapter. I decided to make this little mission three parts long for good reasons and…

Yeah, shit will hit the fan once more…

Lastly, I found Kunou with her uniform!

Future milestone: 696 Followers and Favorites.​

 

Chapter 14: Clashing Forces

I hummed quietly as I started to play around with the blocks Millicas was offering.

Currently the general plan was to create a massive 250 blocks high tower, make some courtyard all around it and then go for a small hospital.

“Hmph.” I blinked on the side, seeing Vali as the teen continued brooding in one of the couches, relatively away from the two leaders of the Gremory but decided to keep to an acceptable distance to where I was.

A power-play? Again?

I guess that this was more of him picking the ‘lesser evil’ inside the room and just deciding to keep close in case of any strange situation happened.

It was a pretty awkward disposition, but from the lack of annoyed reactions from both grandparents I just decided to roll with it.

The small red-haired boy blinked, eyes focused on the foundations of the tower and the developing inner-works.

Yes, I was literally spending time and effort in getting the insides of an imaginary tower to appear as ‘realistic’ as possible. I wasn’t a Lego madman, but this time I was actually enjoying the eager interest of the young Gremory while leading the operations.

It was around twenty minutes in the work that Millicas decided to start some questioning.

“Hekishoku-san?” Red-eyes glanced my direction briefly to see if I caught his call and he returned back to the building once he saw me nodding. “I know this might sound improper but… you are not a Devil, aren’t you?”

I paused just a single moment, blinking and then nodding once more. “That would be correct, Millicas.”

I could see the child getting intrigued by this very small details. “But you also are not a Fallen Angel?”

Nodding again, I decided to give some more details. “That is correct too. I am a Magician.”

Red eyes frowned at that answer and the boy stopped once more. “A Magician?”

“A Magician is someone that is specialized in the use of Spell-craft. There are Devils and Fallen Angels that deem themselves as such, but the backbone is made by humans with high magical attitude.”

The child looked in awe at this discovery. “So they could work well with a Bishop piece?”

...Oh right, Millicas did state in Canon that he was already planning how to compose his future peerage this early.

I gave him an uncertain nod as I wasn’t that much keen in studying how really the Rating System worked. I was so much focused with how things worked that I generally ignored what kind of rules it make use of.

Even through Canon explained it well, I generally skipped those parts because… I wasn’t that much interested in something related to Chess.

I didn’t despise the game, it was more of a dislike caused by the fact I failed to memorize how the pieces moved on the board and by the fact people seemed to have some obsession with it and compare it to real life.

“I… think so, yes.” I answered. “If I remember correctly Bishops are those who have large magical reserves-”

“And are mostly revered as support units in a Rating Game.” The boy nodded in agreement and I smiled at him.

“You are quite interested in Rating Games?” Another nod, this time some child-like glee present as he looked like a boy talking about his favorite sport team.

“Yes. I wish to get a powerful but balanced peerage.” He blinked as I started to pat his head unconsciously, but then he nodded at the gesture.

“I bet you are going to win some of the tournaments if you keep this determination up.” I commented quietly. “But do remember to be careful about every matches.”

“I will.” He proclaimed quickly, blushing a little at the sudden outburst. “I-I mean-”

“No, that’s alright. That is the determination I am talking about.” I interrupted, still patting his head. “That is what will lead you to some victories in the future.”

He blinked once, then twice. Finally his smile returned and he nodded again. “Thank you for your kind words, Hekishoku.”

“You are welcome, Millicas.”

We shared a chuckle as we returned back to the construction block but I managed to catch a glimpse of Rias’ parents glancing at the scene with a pleased look.

Vali merely glanced at what had just happened, possibly thinking little of it and surely going to forget it few minutes later.

“It has to be quite difficult for a human to keep up with the standards of Grigori.” Zeoticus finally asked after so many minutes of quiet watching. “Azazel must consider you highly to have you partnered with such...”

He glanced at Vali, the host of the Vanishing Dragon ignoring such action.

“Peculiar individual.”

I nodded, understanding the curiosity. “I was found by Azazel-sama.” I explained. “And he trained me for the first three days after I joined Grigori.”

“You have to have left quite the impression to get Azazel-san’s interest.” Venelana pointed out. “The man might be eccentric, but he would be this earnest only with those that manages to catch his attention.”

“I did ‘win’ against a rogue Fallen Angel back where I live and he was impressed by my ‘potential’.”

The woman giggled regally. “That man, he can be quite the mysterious leader once in a while.”

“Indeed dear, but I find it interesting that he decided to send Sougyoku-san too for the occasion.”

… “E-Excuse me but, what?”

The Lord Gremory blinked curiously at my confused reaction but continued to explain.

“After hearing what happened in Kyoto, I asked to Azazel if I could engage the ever-mentioned by Yokai faction, Hekishoku-san, to babysit my young grandson.” He paused a moment, then sighed. “He stated that he would accept the request only if I had Sougyoku-san to join you for the task.”

I blinked, my confusion hardly vanishing with those words as my brain had to deal with the conflicting ideas of ‘being a hostage for the diplomatic talks’ to ‘merely be a babysitter because I caught the interest of a nobleman’.

Paint me as clueless as Vali was right now. He looked annoyed, very confused and incredibly pissed at the idea Azazel decided to attach him to a mission that I was supposed to be the lead figure.

Blinking again, I slowly turned at the teen causing him to look back in kind as my mind did formulate a very interesting detail from that development and revelation.

“So, because I am the leading one in our partnership, at least in this mission-” I started to explain my sudden realization. “Does that make you… my sidekick?”

Vali kept quiet for few moments, his arms then crossed close to his chest and he spoke. “No, I am not.”

“Yes, you are.” I pressed on. “And I believe that Azazel-sama did this on purpose.”

“I am not and he has to have done it on purpose.” His tone turned stronger at the beginning before reluctantly agreeing to the second section of my rebuttal.

Just before I could keep up with the teasing, the doors of the large living room opened to make way to a familiar figure.

Millicas looked away from the half-completed building of blocks and locked onto the woman walking inside, smiling and standing up to rush for her.

The silver-haired lady paused, accepting the hug from her son and showing a small smile, a contrast to her previous stoic expression.

Grayfia Lucifuge, the wife of Sirzechs Lucifer and sister-in-law of Rias Gremory, looked prim and proper with her maid outfit and I now had reason to believe it fitted her perfectly.

It was the strange allusion to Sakuya Izayoi and the overall regal air that she had around herself that made it quite an opportune kind of dress.

The hug ended and she finally glanced at the other guests of the room and proceeded to walk slowly towards… the two grandparents of the child.

She ignored Vali’s presence, mine too, and bowed slightly their way. “Lord Zeoticus, Lady Venelana.”

“Grayfia. We didn’t expect you to come back to the mansion this early. Did something happen at the talks? Is everything alright.”

She gave a slow nod. “The talks are proceeding smoothly. I decided to leave as the discussion was turning to some sensible topics and Sirzechs-sama accepted my request to leave earlier than planned.”

Then the woman turned to glance my way, I was now standing up from the carpet and looking at her as she let out a minuscule scowl.

I flinched at that reaction, knowing how her expressions meant much more than they appeared. “I do remember asking to not have any strangers to babysit Millicas. Yet, just like Azazel had informed me an hour ago, you decided to still go with this decision.”

Their smiles suddenly turned nervous and I felt the need to apologize about this.

Thus I bowed slightly and spoke. “Grayfia-san, I’m sorry if my presence-”

“Please, spare me the apologies, Hekishoku-san. We both know the fault isn’t yours in this situation but...” The maid frowned. “I wish to know what kind of individual I am referring to. Right now I’m seeing just someone with a mask and with a fake name after all.”

I blinked and nodded. “I can see the issue, but I can’t divulge my identity and-”

“I thought about offering the classic customary glass of wine to any guests of the house of Gremory.” In her hands was a large red wine bottle and I narrowed my eyes at it.

I wasn’t in the mood to play the ‘get me drunk to make me spill my secrets’ and I wasn’t a fan of alcoholic beverages whatsoever as my tolerance was pretty low.

“I-I don’t want to impose-”

“It’s a must. As a guest you should abide to the rules of this house and… It would be improper if you refused.”

She was pushing me to a corner and I knew that I wasn’t going to receive support from anyone in that situation. I was in the worst predicament but it was right as I continued to despair that the solution to this issue manifested in my brain.

I blinked and smiled. “I suppose that I shouldn’t be shying away from such kind offer… but I hope you understand that I would prefer to not be the only one making use of this expensive bottle.”

The maid stood quiet for a moment. “You wish for me to join you? Even through I am asking you as a Maid of the Gremory house?”

“I think you are inquiring as Millicas’ mother rather than the role you mentioned, Grayfia-san.”

Her lips twitched, knowing full well that she did leave that small opening for me to exploit. Now she had to deal with whether or not honor her own trickery and… the woman sighed.

“I suppose it would be fair if we both discussed in an equal manner.” The maid conceded much to my partial glee. At least I had a chance of having her drunk and confused before she can get me on that state.

We sat in two opposite small couches a small glass table between us where the bottle was placed with two small glasses.

Venelana stood up and took the hand of the confused Millicas in her own, leading him out of the room as she didn’t want the boy to see this unfold. Grayfia nodded gratefully at her mother-in-law and she continued to focus on me.

Zeoticus merely stared with some interest while I could perceive Vali’s curiosity coming from several couches away. Hopefully I can hold from any external assault as I focused on the woman.

The lady poured the red content of the bottle within the two glasses and I noticed quite the difference about the whole ‘equal’ deal we had struck just now.

While my glass was almost full with wine, hers wasn’t even close to half its capacity. The woman had a poker face and brought her glass to her lips, sipping slowly and annoyingly.

Eyes narrowed at that challenge, I decided to return fire with fire. Picking my glass in my hands, I started to sip at it softly, quietly and, most important of them all, the slowest possible.

Her red eyes glinted at some dismay at the fact I wasn’t going to fall for such a crappy attempt and the woman decided to break away from trying and literally poured some more wine in her glass, normalizing the competition and making me start drinking normally.

We both downed the content of our glasses and stared back at each other.

Our faces were slowly turning red, our eyes dilating as the alcohol kicked in pretty swiftly. My brain started to feel lighter and I found myself wobbling a little, just like the woman in front of me.

“I-I guess we should s-start talking about Millicas- hic!” A hiccup suddenly left her lips as she was talking, her eyes showing some embarrassment and I felt my lips twitch amusingly at the adorable sound.

I opened my mouth to speak about the boy but I was interrupted by my own hiccup. “Hic!”

… “Hehehehehe~”

The woman’s smile twitched back to her face and she had to press her hand on her mouth to keep herself from giggling at my little chuckling.

Boy, this shit shure ish…. Shupa-stronk~!

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Vali Lucifer continued to silently stare at the slow but visible drunkening of the one he knew only as Hekishoku while challenging the fortitude of the current Lucifer’s wife.

It was kind of surprising to see a woman of her standards slowly descending in a state of open expression, the silver-haired maid humming amused as the fellow teen chuckled once more while melting in his seat.

“I-I-I was shaying that my shon ish-”

“G-Good?” Hekishoku guessed. “Cute, a-adorable, shmart?”

“Y-Yeah-” Finally a giggle pierced through her frail attempt to keep her composure under the influence of alcohol. “N-No, I shouldn’t b-be gi-giggling.”

“Why nyot?” The only human in the room questioned. “I-It was adorable, heh! I byet your hubby lovesh them.”

Her face reddened even more. “H-He doesh.” She admitted and nodded. “B-But we are shupposed to b-be talking a-ab-about M-Millicash.”

“Oh?” Hekishoku nodded multiple times. “Yesh, Millicash is shuch a good kid. He is shmart, polite and… shmart.” He giggled. “I r-repeated shmart tw-twi-two timesh.”

She giggled again, this time seemingly forgetting about trying to avoid such thing from happening.

Vali blinked at the strange scene, glancing at the other individual in the room and finding the Lord Gremory smiling while filming all of this with a large camera?

The owner of the Divine Dividing Sacred Gear frowned but decided to don’t do anything about it. After all the scene there was worth letting some copies… spread around.

“H-He ish very precocious a-and I sho proud of him.” The woman remarked, relaxing on the couch. “B-But I think I-I am not doing a-a… a good job.”

Now that was… strange to hear. Grayfia Lucifuge had seemed so much confident in greeting her son and Vali was fairly sure that there was no way that the little brat was unhappy with her own mother’s behavior.

“T-That is b-bullshit, yeash!” Red eyes narrowed at the foul response. “Millicash adoresh you, he ish shuper h-happy when you a-are around!”

“B-But he doeshn’t have any friend to play with-”

“Then o-once he ish old let him go to a normal school.”

The maid looked hesitant at that suggestion but decided to inquire more. “B-But wouldn’t he be bullied? Wouldn’t h-he shuffer?”

“I-If that ish what you ar-are scared for, then y-you could get him t-to the shame school as her auntie. I-I think I remember hearing tha-that Riash-shan went to a normal school, dunno which o-one tho.”

She blinked and hummed quietly as she thought about the detailed answer, then nodded. “That- That could work- but what about w-when he ish home?”

“What a-about it?” Hekishoku asked quickly and the woman sighed.

“I-I am shtill too strict- S-Sirzechsh think I should ease up a little-”

“Y-Ya’re doing fine.” He interrupted quickly. “Y-Ya don’t have nothing to worry about!”

“W-What if I- U-Uh?”

The masked young man snorted and slowly got up from his couch, making his way to the confused maid and… placed one of his hands on the top of her head.

“Y-you are a dummy.” He said softly. “B-but you are a-a good mom, sho never heshitate anymore, ‘kay?”

She blinked, red eyes slowly lifting to stare at the mask, confused, surprised and mostly relieved as the small action was finally registered by her brain.

Grayfia smiled and giggled. “Y-You are d-doing it wrong. S-Sit back down.”

The teen didn’t oppose being pushed back onto his couch as the maid wobbled towards him and slowly removed the hood of his cloak, exposing his… light-brown hair.

An aspect of the fellow member of Grigori was learning just now as the woman hummed a lullaby as she started to ruffle his hair softly.

“Y-you need to be a tad bit more careful or you can hurt p-people.”

“I-I am jusht drunky, I-I am good at thish normally.” His muttering slowly dwindled as he quietly let her ministrations silence him.

“I’m s-shure you are.” The woman giggled. “B-but you do remind me of S-Sirzechsh’s little Riash.”

“Uh?” was the most intelligent thing the boy could ask and the maid let out a grin.

“Riash wash cute, she shtill is, but few yearsh ago she was a-adorable and she liked being patted in her head.”

“She doeshn’t want anymore?” He seemed skeptical at the woman’s sad nod. “Th-then she ish losing a lot! Y-you are good, Nee-I mean, Grayfia-shan.”

She paused a moment and gave a weird look to the human. “Y-You want to call me Onee-san?”

He looked up. “I-I think it fit better Neechan, c-caushe you are pretty.”

The woman blushed but nodded at that. “Uh… can- can I call you Otouto, then?”

There was a brief silence and Vali took this to re-valuate everything until now.

Somehow, a mid-ranked member of Grigori was getting cozy with the wife of Sirzechs Lucifer and… he was succeeding big time.

This was surreal and illogical- yet alcohol was making things happen before his eyes.

“I-I mean, if you wish-” She giggled and nodded, continuing with her ministrations.

The situation with both still drunk and lacking common sense would continue for two more hours, by lunch-time the maid and the moron would present with everyone else for the lunch prepared by servants and both would voice out some minor headache from their idiotic competition.

At least nothing bad for the talks had happened to them… yet.

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AN

Some explanations before getting lynched by some:

1. Grayfia is canonically a light-weight about alcohol and she is quite quick to forget this very flaw of hers;

2. Her insecurity about motherhood is actually mentioned in the Light Novel, but it’s never given too much scene about;

3. Zeoticus, just like Sirzechs, likes to tease his daughter constantly, thus why he has a camera at hand, always;

4. The third part will be by dinner time and will include the Satans, so expect lots of randomness from the likes of Sirzechs and Serafall.

Also yes, I did just make Grayfia a possible older sister to MC. It’s quite strange when this is one of the few instances this happen where the MC isn’t related to her. Leshrug!

And with that I go back to bed.

Future milestone: 696 Followers and Favorites.
​

 

Chapter 15: Dining and Denying

My head was hurting so much…

Seriously, why did Grayfia went ahead with that stupid idea of hers?

I had expected to be granted a quick leave once the talks concluded, which happened around dinner-time, but Azazel decided that accepting the ‘humble offer’ from Sirzechs to spend the dinner at the mansion was a brilliant idea.

I barely held the groan building up in my throat as the minor hangover I was experiencing continued to knock at my poor brain.

Baraqiel was giving me quite the disappointed look but kept himself from lecturing me about accepting alcohol in general, while the Governor-General of Grigori was enjoying my current suffering from the way he was sending gloating smiles my direction.

Vali was silent, but strangely enough seemed to be purposely avoiding even glancing at me during that particular instance.

To make things a little more complicated for my cover, among the people dining in that very room were the ‘second-in-command’ to Grigori, Shemhazai, Sirzechs Lucifer and someone I was fairly familiar with back at Kuoh Academy.

Rias Gremory looked particularly tense at the fact this dinner was more important than any previous ones, fidgeting in her chair but surprisingly keeping a good composure about it all.

I was offered a teacup by one of the butlers, the servant stating that it contained something to help with my current suffering. I saw a maid approaching Grayfia too, the woman surprisingly looking just a little annoyed by the hangover rather than truly in pain as I was.

I quickly drunk the content and the effect was almost immediate. My mind regained some more perception over the situation and my logical side was restored to full, my approaching migraine vanishing instantly.

I blinked and looked back at the teacup. “That was… interesting.”

“I know, right?” Sirzechs asked with a smile. “It’s something Ajuka developed a few centuries ago to solve the deadly hangovers the stronger blends of alcohol available in Hell cause. That man is sure a genius in everything.”

I nodded in agreement at the praise directed at the Beelzebub of the Four Satans. In the Canon Ajuka is rightfully considered the smartest individual in the universe and incredibly powerful, very close to Sirzechs in terms of strength, and the few inventions mentioned in the series were quite an appetizer for the modernity he brought to Hell.

I had yet to fully study the list of objects and innovative upgrades the Devil brought to this part of the world, but I was quite interested to find out what differences there were between Earth and Hell.

“A pity the little nerd couldn’t join this delicious dinner.” Azazel commented, finishing to eat the first dishes right in that exact moment. It was curious how both individuals were researchers but the Fallen Angel considered Ajuka the nerdiest. “Speaking of him, Hekishoku-kun.”

I turned to look at him. “Catch!”

Frowning I saw nothing being thrown at me but, just as I opened my mouth to question what was going on, a sudden weight slammed on my stomach and forced me to fall backward with the chair.

The leader of Grigori chuckled, Baraqiel sighed tiredly and the rest of the table looked quite intrigued by what had just happened.

I slowly went to pick up the chair and pull it up, giving a deadly glare to the smug-looking man.

“R-Really?”

He snorted. “Get up and don’t whine, I know that I didn’t hit you that hard.” I complied as he continued to speak. “By the way, check that box out too.”

Frowning as I returned to my seat and started to inspect the curious smooth box made by black wood, eyes fixed on the small piece of paper seemingly glued to its top. It looked like a seal but… I don’t remember any that looked like that one.

“Uh… what is it?”

Azazel smile widened. “It’s a gift from the bottom of my heart.”

At those words I slowly stood up. “I think I will take a quick leave. I suspect this is a bomb-”

“As much as that would actually make sense, I can assure you this isn’t the case, Hekishoku-san.” Shemhazai interrupted calmly, nodding reassuringly at the rest of the people by the table.

The Governor-General huffed at the two indirect jabs given with such precise succession but let his friend speak.

“This is a little creation from our research team and before you ask yes, the reason we are giving you this for the occasion is because it was discussed in the talks and the Satans are aware of what it is.”

… “Any other details? That explanation was vague-”

“Sadly it was decided to not give you any other information about this gift. Consider this a reward for your good service in Grigori.”

“I feel like there is more to that and-” I turned to Azazel. “Was my identity-”

“You are still a mysterious being of unfathomable potential, brat.” The man replied instantly with an annoyed edge.

I sighed in relief, at least I didn’t have to worry about that… yet.

“Indeed it is quite curious that you wish to keep your face hidden even after the impressive feat you managed to obtain last week.” Sirzechs said with a curious glint in his voice. “One would think that the one that faced quite a large number of Magicians and protected the daughter of Yasaka-san would have bragged about this.”

Blinking, I hummed quietly. “I’m fine with my anonymity.”

“That is so strange. Forgive me, but don’t you crave anything like money or… women.” I sighed at his words, the man getting nervous instantly as he noticed his wife staring at him with an odd look.

“I’m quite content with my life and… I will be honest and say already that I don’t want to use fame or glory to replace some honest hard-working.” I admitted with some minor hesitation. “I also think that I would risk those around me if my real name was attached to what I do with Grigori and… that is not fine.”

“A noble soul.” Zeoticus commented. “It is a rare trait from someone young.”

“And also quite familiar, dear.” Venelana nodded in agreement. “Why, I do remember a young man many years ago trying to accomplish the same but ending up becoming quite well-known everywhere.”

I frowned at that curious statement, then I saw the brunette turn at Sirzechs and I connected the dots as the man sighed at that comment. “It was because it was also convenient in avoiding some pretentious marriage contracts and, from how things turned out to be, I think I got the best deal possible.”

For some reason Grayfia was giving attention to Millicas, the boy confused as his mother patted his head with a minuscule blush visible on her cheeks.

I returned to stare at Sirzechs and I found him staring back at me with a suspicious look.

“By the way, Hekishoku-san, what is your relationship with my wife.” I could feel him focus his energy, channel it to add pressure on me. There was Killing Intent for fuck’s sake and I had to stop a moment to avoid hyperventilating.

My mouth was drying up and I felt my throat tensing up, no words could leave my mind and I felt a little chocking.

This was the power of a Satan?!

Just as suddenly it happened, it also disappeared quite quickly and I found myself bringing my breathing back to normal.

“Owie- Gwayfia-chwaa-n~!” The maid had a small scowl as she continued to pinch strongly Sirzechs’ left cheek.

“You should be doing that to him, dear. After all, this is my Otouto we are speaking of.”

…

…

“O-Oneesama?” Rias was the first to recover from the words leaving the silver-haired woman’s mouth and the girl’s eyes darted between the now composed Grayfia and me, busy with having my hands pressing on my mask to try and silence the nagging coming from Azazel-

“How did you do that, brat?! I want the full story now.”

-Vali’s smug air while looking my general direction, Baraqiel’s curious look and Shemhazai’s interested expression.

“Hekishoku-kun and I came to a small agreement during our moment of… little-thinking.” The maid started with slow but calm tone. “We decided to address ourselves as siblings for the sake of some common ground.”

“So you...” Sirzechs looked confused for a moment, then realization struck. “You wish to compete with me to whom is the best older sibling, isn’t it?!”

… “No.”

The dry reply quickly deflated the Lucifer, the man staring at his now empty plate. “Oh.”

The woman turned to look specifically at me and smiled tentatively. “May I address you as Otouto, Hekishoku-kun?”

I mean, you did previously but… wasn’t that just alcohol speaking and…

Dangit, this escalation wasn’t really planned.

A blink, then two and then I sighed. “I… I wouldn’t mind if you did, Grayfia-neechan.”

Grayfia smiled at that.

…

“BWAhahahahahahaha!” The boisterous laugh from Azazel was the catalyst of my sudden blushing, the man looking positively entertained by my answers and the rest of the table looked quite surprised but not unhappy about what had happened.

Millicas’ eyes went wide at this development and he looked at the silver-haired woman questioningly. “Mother, does that mean that Hekishoku-san is my… uncle?”

“Surrogate uncle. Yes.” The maid answered quickly and curtly and I groaned even more at the situation.

Sirzechs slammed his closed fist on the table. “I demand proof of how this happened!”

As if on cue, his father revealed the silver-colored camera. “I have recorded it.”

Wait, what?!

“Lord Gremory, it’s the utmost need for Grigori to obtain a copy of that video-”

YOU WILL NOT!-

“I will make sure to provide one then. I hope this is for research-” BAM

Zeoticus’ head landed on his empty plate, a conspicuous bump forming on top of his head as his wife retreated her still-smoking fist. “Forgive my husband, he is quite extreme with his recording hobby.”

Grayfia nodded. “I understand the plight.” The maid agreed, bringing her own smoking fist close for her to blow over as Sirzechs was posing just like his father, even the large bump on the back of his head was there too.

The Governor-General of Grigori paled a little, letting out a nervous chuckle. “I-I think that I will wait for a while to a-sk, uh?” He turned to see who was tugging at one of his shirt’s sleeve, my hand grasping tightly as the man looked confused.

“W-What do you want, brat?”

I didn’t reply, merely lifting my free hand up and letting some electricity dance around my fingertips. He frowned, a little uneasy at the little light-show, and looked at the rest of his friends.

Both Baraqiel and Shemhazai blinked and turned away from him, some sweat rolling off the leader of the Fallen Angles and… then he looked at Vali.

“V-Sougyoku-kun, I request your help with-” The holder of the Divine Dividing Sacred Gear stood up and approached, taking hold of the other sleeve and… Azazel’s eyes widened as he felt his energy halved.

Vali turned to his fellow masked ally and nodded. “You may proceed, partner.”

I nodded respectfully at him. “Thank you for your support, partner.”

As the man tried to plead some mercy, several volts quickly superseded his attempts electrifying him for a while and then-

Thud

The man’s face landed perfectly on his plate, smoke leaving his body as I nodded at the fitting payback.

Meanwhile Rias Gremory continued to chat amiably with her nephew, Millicas glancing only briefly as this strange things happened around them and… This was actually fine. For both, this was how dinners normally devolved and they had long accepted it.

----------d-d-d-d-------------d-d-d-d------------d-d-d-d----------d-d-d-------

I yawned quietly as I continued for my slow walk back home.

Once Azazel had woken up from the punishment I had administered to him and having been reprimanded by Shemhazai for being overly-unruly during the dinner, the Governor-General decided to merely have me shifted back to where I left Earth, back in the now-dark alleys where once there was the teleport seal.

The bag with my things was still there and I didn’t waste time to change back to my normal clothes, starting to quietly wander out of that small place and back to the main street.

There were few lights still working and the path was hardly visible at this time of the night and thus I decided to not invest too much time looking around.

There was no one wandering like I currently was and that meant less annoyances to deal on my way back home.

But just as I turned one of the corners I had to take to reach my house, I found myself staring at a very, very bad sight.

Several meters from where I was currently standing, a little black-haired goth girl was looking my way, patiently waiting… for me.

I blinked once, then twice as I tried to find a way to avoid this particular confrontation with Ophis, unaware about why she would approach me of all people and now of all time.

So I decided to go for something simple, turning towards the main street and crossing it, my objective being the parallel sidewalk and, much to my relief and dread, the girl didn’t decide to teleport on that section of the road to block my path but she wasn’t even where I had seen her at first.

“You are Hekishoku.” She stated with her calm voice.

I ignored her and continued to walk. The girl followed from behind, continuing to speak while doing so.

“I wish to recruit you and Vali Lucifer to my group.” She muttered blankly. “I wish for you to-”

“I’m not interested.” I interrupted with the same calm the Infinity Dragon was displaying and she hummed at my words.

“I can offer you money, power, a chance to revenge or even lust.” I flinched at the very idea that this being was genderless to begin with. Just like ‘she’ could be a little girl, ‘it’ could turn in an old man. That very image wasn’t enticing and refusing such deal was actually easier than I had thought.

“I’m content with what I have.”

The humming ceased. “Everyone wants something more.” She said with such certainty. “What is that you crave the most? What is what makes your heart quiver in need?”

I stopped, waited few moments and slowly turned around, one hand still holding the medium-sized box from Azazel as I addressed the little girl.

“I wish to have my own peace from your petty war, Ophis.” I stated sternly. “I wish for you to not disturb my ‘silence’ because you are not strong enough to retake yours.”

I felt the need to tremble, knowing that a bad reaction from her would see me dead instantly.

Yet Ophis gave a wide-eyed look as I turned around and continued for my walk back home, this time the being didn’t gave slow chase but… said those last words before vanishing completely.

“You are interesting, Hekishoku.”

I shivered as the words sank deep in my brain and I was glad that I didn’t meet anyone else on my wandering.

In front of my doorstep, I pressed the doorbell’s button momentarily, just enough to wake up the two guardians I had left behind in case they had fallen asleep.

I heard something crash, some ‘eeping’ and then loud footsteps and the door was opened by a red-faced, disheveled-clothed Issei Hyoudou.

I blinked at the following surprised outburst.

“S-Senpai. You are back!”

I nodded, curious about what happened to him. “I am and… I suppose you and Asia were sleeping until now, weren’t you?”

“We were just a little tired and- Kunou-chan said that she usually sleep in your room-”

“I’m her official pillow.” I interjected. “But I think I am fairly interested in how you two were sleeping there.”

“W-We weren’t doing anything wrong- just sleeping in the long couch-”

“Are you both clothed?” I asked curiously.

“Yes, but-”

“Then I’m fine with that.” I nodded at him.

“We’re sorry if- Wait, you are ‘fine with that’?”

I shrugged. “You were just cuddling, I don’t think that is a grave crime against humanity.”

He relaxed a little. “Oh.” He blinked. “Oh.”

“Maybe you should tell Asia-chan that she doesn’t need to rush anything to prepare herself?”

The blonde has to be in a panic right now, poor girl.

He nodded. “I probably should- Wait, you’re right!” He rushed back inside and I sighed tiredly while entering inside, closing the door behind me.

I heard some rumbling in the living room and I slowly ventured there to see what was going on.

The brunet was chatting with Asia, the girl looking still fairly tense, and she noticed me entering, eyes widening.

“S-Senpai, we didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I know, there is no need to worry nor apologize.” I raised my hands up to gesture both to calm down. “It’s normal for two teens to cuddle together while sleeping.”

“B-But we were supposed to watch Kunou-chan-”

“Ise said that she is in my bedroom, so there is no need to watch over her right now.” I assured both of them once more. “Plus I think it would be fine if you stayed today.”

… “Y-you mean spend the night there?”

“It’s very dark outside and I would be irresponsible to let you both walk back home this time of the day. The only thing I’ve to ask you both is to call Issei’s parents to confirm this.”

The blonde blinked. “Oh.” Then she smiled. “Thank you, senpai.”

I nodded but, just before I could leave the room to see if Kunou was awake or not, the former nun stopped me by grasping at my arm. “Uh, Asia-cha-!” I stopped, eyes going wide open as I noticed the pout on her face.

“Senpai, why didn’t you tell us that Kunou-chan had fluffy tails.”

...Oh, I did forget-

“Answer!”

I blinked at the miffed blonde, the boy looking at the exchange from afar, knowing that intervening would be the worst thing to do in this scenario. “I… might have forgotten to tell you about it?”

Her stare intensified and I did feel a little nervous at the anger she was conveying in those orbs of hers.

Then, just like nothing happened she let go and looked away, her slighted expression still present on her face and making me tense a little.

“Wait, are you mad about it?”

She literally glared at me. Asia Argento, the sweetest soul in this whole series, was giving me a glare.

I think I died twice in that split second and I was quick to pull her in a hug. “I’m sorry-y!”

The blonde didn’t reply, but she did accept the embrace and completed it. We stood there for a while and then… she melted.

“See-npai, next time you have to tell us about that.” She pressed her face on my shirt. “Fluffy tails!”

“I’m sorry, Asia-chan. Next time I will tell, okay? Will you forgive me this time?”

She hummed a little and then she nodded. “Just this time.”

“Thank you, Asia-chan.” I said while ruffling her hair a little, causing her to giggle. “Now, go back to cuddle Ise or he might starve for affection."

Both blushed madly at my teasing but I decided to not press this advantage, merely bidding them a goodnight as I ventured right to my bedroom.

I peeked my head to see how was the situation inside and I looked just in time to see the little Kitsune yawn adorably while sitting on the bed. Her eyelids were close to drop but she seemed to look more awake the moment she spotted me, a small smile finding its way on her face.

“You are back, Niichan.” Her tone was soft, but happy and I nodded with a big smile of my own.

“Just returned and… I hope you spent a good day while I was away.”

She nodded and then started to tell about her day as I went to the small bathroom connected to the bedroom to change in my Pjs.

Koneko and Akeno did pass around to visit, both staying until dinner-time, mentioning some important thing they had to do before going home but still playing around with Kunou.

The little Kitsune was actually the reason why both Issei and Asia looked more comfortable with each other, having been slowly mentioning how they both looked like a happy couple and how I would approve of it.

It was strange to know that ‘my approval’ was actually a relevant point to give it a try for the two teens, but I guess that after having been their lives’ Cicero for a little while now they could have found my acceptance a good way to see if something could actually be tried or not.

The result was spectacular and I did praise the little girl about it.

Once I was under the sheets, Kunou snuggled closer and as she tried to close her eyes her nose picked something wrong.

Eyes snapping wide-open and causing me to look concerned at her reaction, I saw her sniffing the shirt of my Pjs for a little longer… then she frowned.

“You… stink.”

I blinked, confused, then I remember and looked up. “Oh, that is the wine...”

Her golden eyes snapped right onto my face at that comment. “Wine?”

“I was offered a glass of strong red wine. Early today and… I guess the scent remained until now.”

She squinted her eyes annoyed. “Will it go away?”

“Tomorrow morning I will take a bath and I will be fine.” I carefully caressed her fox ears and she looked happier. “Don’t worry.”

She hummed quietly and snuggled back, once or twice looking disgusted by the bitter smell of the alcohol and causing me to curse inwardly at not having gone for a quick bath before going to bed.

Sadly I was incredibly tired after a full day spent by the Gremory Mansion and thus I decided to push the solution to this little inconvenience to Sunday.

I sighed in relief at the idea that tomorrow was going to be a day to rest and recover, maybe even plan for the rest of the remaining month before the Raiser Arc started and… I closed my eyes and let my consciousness slip away to properly fall asleep.

But just as Hoitsu began to rest together with Kunou, someone blinked curiously as they continued to watch the house from afar, intrigued by what they have just seen before vanishing away, promising to visit once more, this time in the morning.

He was just… interesting.

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AN

There is a peeping tom! But who are they? (Wink Wink)

So, little crackish at the end of the first part of the chapter and I did it willingly. I know it was anime-sque and… this is kind of a story with some Anime logic until a certain point and those moments will not be a normal thing (worry not, maybe I will still do some Omakes with that style).

Ophis is trying to recruit MC and Vali and, while writing her ‘Jehova’ tactics against MC will be hilarious, I think I will cast some surprise at how Vali will react to the recruiting attempt.

Future milestone 1: 626 Followers and Favorites. (Someone asked to put a little Stitch EE so… why not?)

Future milestone 2: 696 Followers and Favorites.