A New Sun (Highschool DxD Shinto Demigod SI-OC)

Karmic_Wizard

Описание

"I woke up. Sick, with no memories, barely even able to stand up. But hey? At least the view was good!"

Welcome, WebNovel-goers, to my Fanfic "A New Sun"!

Check out "A New Sun" on Questionable Questing or Fanfiction.net, the original sites this work was posted on. Specifically QQ if you wanna see extra stuff like the pic used as the cover.

Also, I've got early chapters up on my Patreon (3 early chapters, in fact).

Check that out here; https://patreon.com/Karmatic.

Updates regularly every Thursday.

Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own High School DxD, this work is fan-made fiction. Please support the official release.

I have absolutely no fucking clue why I'm here.

Right now, I'm standing atop a mountain in the middle of what I'm fairly certain is evening.

The sky is nice and clear, so besides seeing the start of a setting sun, I'm also catching a long sweep of the land beneath the mountain I'm standing atop.

Within which, several more mountains stretch out within the horizons.

Foreign is truly the only right word that comes to mind.

I've never gone mountain climbing before, but I'm fairly certain America doesn't have sights like this...

Then again. From what's little memory I have left, I don't think I got out much, to begin with.

Still, I knew enough to recognize that what ended up giving away where I am was the Japanese on the sparse signs dotting this mountain top, the Japanese that I could read perfectly.

There's not a soul around right now, it's just me up here, and the usual creeping cold, so I'm free to do the only thing I really wanna do right now.

"Ugghhhhh..."

Vomit off the railings as I have been, and will continue to do, ever since I got here five minutes ago.

The moment I arrived, I haven't even been able to panic, or plan, I just felt this overwhelming sickness.

Moving felt like pushing my entire body through sludge. My head is fucking pounding, I can't focus, and every single instinct in my body is telling me that I need to lie down.

But I can't! The ground is too damn rocky and my instincts correct themselves to bed. But I don't have a bed right now, so fuck you body!

Leaning against the rails and hurling off the side is quite honestly the only slightly comforting thing right now, ugh...

"Well now...what do we have here?"

An oily snake-like voice hisses throughout the air, presumably towards me.

I freeze. My instincts correct themselves again to danger, as does my mind agree, but my body is giving the Error 404 code right now.

So I'll have to get back to you there.

Instead, I decide, rather stupidly, to see who the hell is talking to me.

And there, not too far away behind me, is...

Good Lord in all that is unholy what the fuck!?

A snake thing, with its flesh peeled back revealing it's head like a hood and flayed in several other places across its body to reveal tanned, meaty flesh, and boney stinger for a tail.

Worst part? The single boney arm the fucker has.

My face processes this thing's appearance by projecting a gape.

"Ah, I sssee you have frozen up in fear at my majestic appearance!" the thing hisses with glee.

"A-Ah," I rasp out with effort, "No no, that's not it..." damn it body, even talking is hard!

"Ho?" the thing questions, "The sssick prey can ssspeak...lovely!" the thing wraps its one boney arm around itself, I think it's hugging itself? What in the fuck!?

"I jussst love hearing prey ssscream when I feassst!" it wiggles and cackles to itself in glee.

I gulp, trying to hold back another wave of nausea. I really don't have time for this.

"Y-You aren't, majessstic..." I mock, it freezes, "you're," I hiccup, "fucking disssgusssting!"

And with that, I proceed to vomit again, right in front of the fucker.

Fuck you bitch. If I'm dying a second time, I sure ain't going out like a bitch just standing there!

The snake creature gapes, I think anyways, right at me, seemingly completely caught off guard.

I smirk and decide to keep it going then while it lets me.

"The hell even are y-you, eh?" Ah, my beautiful voice, the more I talk the easier it gets. Adrenaline? Probably. "A rubber hose with g-grass hair and an insect for a tail? Your mother must be so disappointed in y-you-!"

Suddenly, the fucker blurs. I gag and choke as the fuckers boney arm wraps itself around my throat and pins me to the railing, his face and tongue thing right rippling with poorly constrained anger.

"DON'T YOU TALK ABOUT MUMMY!" the monster absolutely seethes, "I WASSS THE ONE THAT KILLED THE BASSSTARD THAT TOOK HER FROM ME! THE FIEND! DEVIL! SCUM! I BECAME THISSS! STRAYED! BUT SHE'S FREE NOW!"

Okay. Woah. What the fuck. Didn't see this coming.

Wait, what was that about a Devil? And becoming this form?

I grumble, attempting to speak, but the bastard tightens his grip, and I only manage a choked gasp.

"ALLL HUMANSSS ARE PREEYYY..." it drawls out, slowly like a bloody mantra, "They FAILED to save mummy, so for EVERY beating, EVERY rape that Devil gave to her...I'll break a HUMAN in HALF, and drink their SSSWEET. SSSUCULENT...BRAIINNS."

Oh fuck oh shit. I could feel this fucker just shiver as he came from talking about that!

Tragic backstory or not, it's me or you buddy. It sucks, really, but I'm fairly certain I know where I am, which means you're fucked.

Well. If he would take his hand off my throat. Then he would be.

I don't have any powers, not that I can feel over my overwhelming sickness anyways, so this will have to do!

I reach up, slightly, drawing what I'm fairly certain is the Stray Devil's attention towards me.

"What isss it!?" It hisses.

I point towards my throat.

"Ah...want me to ssstart there? Fitting, yesss...your voice did get you into this mess after all..."

As soon as the boney arm loosens just enough to let my windpipe free, I take a big deep breath of it and scream.

"YAHWEH!" the True Name of God.

I don't know any scriptures or writings from the Bible, or any Holy Book really. Hell, I don't even remember most of my old life, just my trivia and knowledge.

But this? The True Name of God? It should work. It's something considered so Holy that you aren't to say it, or even erase it once written, after all.

And oh yeah, it has an effect alright!

The Stray Devil screeches with the force of a thousand nails against chalkboards as it recoils back and slams into the ground, writhing into the dirt and rock like it's trying to escape from me.

I collapse to the ground, heaving as that same damn sickness returns in full force, clawing at my throat and stifling my body again.

I grit my teeth, forcefully push it all down, and shakily get up.

Not even a moment later, I throw myself back to the ground to dodge a disgusting glob of yellowish-red slime aimed at my head.

"Fuuuck!" I shout as I try and force myself back up again.

I can hear the railing behind where I just was melting, I don't even need to turn to see it.

"G-Ghaahh!? What was that!? What did you just say, human!?" this thing already wiggled back up, fuck!

I grimace, then snort, "I see that lisp was a poor attempt a-at trying to be intimidating, huh!"

I can see and feel it bristle, "You BRAT!"

"YAHWEH!"

"AHHHHHHHH!"

And onto the floor, it goes again!

You know, I really shouldn't be doing this on second thought. Like, really, it isn't likely that the True Name of God is even known...but, eh. Fuck it.

I'd rather deal with the Angels than that freak show! At least the Angels might kill me painlessly and relieve my sickness first!

On shaky legs, I stand upright once more and begin trying to trudge away.

When I do, and meet what feels like liquid air holding me back from even jogging, I realize something.

I can't run away. My body will either collapse before I can get far enough away, I just won't be fast enough.

Another thing, the fucker is already getting back up! That small little increase in the distance made it less effective. Are you kidding me!?

"YAHW-Ugghhhh!" I gag and fall to my knees and vomit once more.

Fuck this second life.

One lucky thing, though? He isn't diving straight for me, seemingly realizing what I just did.

If he's further away, he'll be less affected by that word.

Guess it really put the Fear of God into him, huh? Eh?

Fuck this really isn't the time for jokes.

The snake slithers back quickly, I smirk at the fear I see in its eyes, then grimace as it slowly starts tracing a circle around me.

"Shit!" then roll out of the way as another yellowish red mucus ball comes for me, this time I get to really see the way the thing practically dissolves whatever it touches!

Joy.

"You will die!" It hisses out, "Either way slowly, by acid or my teeth! It doesn't matter! I will have your screams to comfort my dreams tonight!"

"Fuck your dreams!" I spat out, grunting with exertion as I roll to dodge another mucus shot, "I just got here! I can't e-even remember who I am! So fuck your dreams! And fuck you with a scalding hot rusting railroad s-spike!"

The snake actually had the gall to look offended, so I added, "YAHWEH!" and watched with glee as the thing screeched and writhed in agony.

It didn't fall over like it was dying, but it still had an effect, weaker as it was it was something.

I also decided on another thing for sure.

I'm not gonna let this fucker kill me.

I'm not sure why I'm here. I'm not sure who put me here, to begin with. If this body I now have even had a life before I woke up here.

Regardless, I was fully prepared to accept a second death when I saw this thing, but considering the world I'm in?

Fuck that! This fucking danger noodle from a Devil's trash bin has the gall to try and kill me!?

I clenched my teeth, and flexed my hands, as I felt pure unadulterated rage fill my veins like molten metal. Rage at life I lost once, for the family I know I forgot. Rage at whoever put me here without even a bloody note! Rage at the idea that I would even give up so soon a second time around!

I growled like some sort of beast possessed as I forced my sick body to fucking obey. To do something!

And felt as if something in the back of my mind snapped into place.

Like when awakening from a vivid dream, my senses, the feeling of the clothes against my body, the flex of muscles I didn't know I had, all of those sensations came crashing down upon me.

Knowledge of skills I know I never learned suddenly struck me in equal measure, and as one, my mind and body moved to complete a new plan.

A plan to survive.

I dashed back towards the railing, kicking up dirt and rock in my path.

"Hnnngh!? You!" I could hear it, the beast move and spit mucus at me at the same time. I could feel him as he slithered towards me, the vibrations of his body against the ground.

They were just as disgusting as him.

With a deft hop, I leaped onto the railing and back flipped off as the mucus struck home, immediately melting another part of it, and weakening the overall structure further.

The snake appeared before me, bone arm swinging with claws outstretched.

So...slow. I can see him move. It's so much slower than before...

I take a deep breath, filling my lungs with so much air I thought my lungs would burst, before leaning down and forwards, easily dodging under the claw swipe.

His eye widens, eventually comically so, as I shoulder charge into him with all my newfound might.

His body lifts from the ground, flying straight through the railings, which easily collapse as they're partially melted already before he's sent careening off the cliff edge.

And just for one last fuck you?

"Yahweh." I say, not even scream, and watch with mirth as he howls in rage, pain, and fear into the abyss below.

As I hear the sickening thud of the snake's body crashing into solid hard rock, I allow myself a smile.

"Damn danger noodle. Get fucked." Oh yeah, me! You really showed him! A likely Low-Class Stray Devil with so many issues it would make Rias' Peerage look like the picture-perfect definition of fine mental health!

I don't have much time to curb my ego, or celebrate, as a coughing fit overtakes me and I once again find myself collapsing to the ground.

"W-Well!" I hack, and cough some more, "Fuck m-me too, I guess! Ugghhh~..."

At least I didn't throw up again. Yet.

I should probably get out of here before this new strength leaves me. Fucking snake probably didn't actually die from the fall.

With that frankly sobering thought, I stagger to my feet, pick a direction, and walk in it. As long it was away from the snake thing, I didn't care, but I figured taking what the signs were telling me was the normal way down would be a bad idea.

Bitch would probably be stalking the official entrance or exit for food, and will likely try and race there to catch me, assuming I would leave from there, presuming he's dead.

But I'm presuming he's still alive. Suming-seption, you rubber hose.

I've never hitchhiked, or lived in a forest atop a mountain before, but really...how hard could it be?

I don't know how far it was I walked, all I remember was coming across a pleasant-looking grove. Tons of grass, lots of fallen branches, and good shade and cover.

It was the middle of the night, the full moon was out, high in the sky, bathing silver light across the world.

Why did looking at it piss me off so much?

I collapsed down, my ill body finally giving up its prudishness and pride, and said good enough.

A place to rest my head. A place to finally sleep.

My sickness consumed me, and sweet sweet darkness washed out my vision.

~ A New Sun ~

Kuroka, one of the Underworld's most wanted Stray Devils, was currently on the hunt!

No, no. Nothing like anything the stuffy purebloods sitting atop Hell's government body claim she did, something much more simple than that.

A couple of days back, starting sometime just around the night set in, she felt some ridiculous strong Holy Power suddenly appear around the village she was holed up near.

Now, she's fought Exorcists, Angels both Pure and Fallen before. But the power she suddenly felt the other day?

It felt like a Kami or God came down to Earth. And it was far too close for comfort.

She thought that maybe the local Kami, Buddha, God whatever the hell she was sensing caught wind of her scent, and came to finally put her down.

After all, a Yokai turned Reincarnated Devil? That's like doubly antithesis, she doesn't have a doubt in her mind that if a deity was in the area, they'd try and smite her just on principle.

Being an SS-Class Criminal in the Underworld is like the cherry on top more than anything else.

Now, not to brag...ah, who is she kidding? She's a shameless brag.

As an Ultimate Class Reincarnated Devil, on top of her natural powers as a Nekoshou and all her artificial enhancements, she's pretty damn tough. Tough enough to give a deity a good fight, and at least escape if not put the bastard down.

But that would likely come at the cost of the yokai village she was staying near getting caught in the crossfire.

And if she ran? Well, presuming the deity gave chase, they'd come across the village anyway and massacre it for shits and giggles.

Gods are assholes like that.

And she's not about to sacrifice a bunch of innocent people trying to live their lives, they don't deserve to get caught up in her mess of a life.

In the end, she decided to go out and find this deity before they found her.

Slight problem with that, though.

As soon as she got closer to the source of Holy Power which never moved, strangely she also caught a whiff of something else, literally.

Something smelled absolutely delicious. Not like pheromones, or musk-type smell, but instead, something that made her mouth water and stomach rumble with a deep primordial need.

The smell was so intoxicating it nearly drove her into something resembling a mating frenzy, but instead of looking for sex, she wanted to eat.

Of course, having more self-control than that, she used her Senjutsu to violently squash the feeling and begin her search, more curious now than ever before.

She's been searching the forest atop this mountain for the better half a day now, the closer she got to the source the more messed up her sensing abilities were getting as the Holy Power disrupted her demonic and yokai abilities.

But she's close. She knows she has to be.

And at this point? She has no fucking clue what this deity's deal is anymore. They still haven't moved, haven't done anything really.

If this was one elaborate ploy to lure her out, it's really starting to annoy her.

Doesn't help that on the way here, she ran into no less than 5 stray devils, all in monstrous forms, all in a similar feeding frenzy. She put them down before moving on.

She also ran into a few wild Yokai in a similar feeding frenzy, which she bound up with Youjutsu and teleported them out of range.

At this point, this bastard is actively messing with the locals, turning them feral while luring monstrous strays in.

"Come out, come out, where ever you are..." Kuroka drawled out as she stalked through a particularly dense brush of the forest.

She froze, chills running down her spine, as the Holy Power in the air thickened for the first time in a while.

She smirked devilishly heh! as she prepared to break through to the other side of the brush.

She couldn't feel or sense any movement, but life detection was picking up something more than trees and grass finally...something much more.

Her purple magic circle spiraled into existence around her hand, before she suddenly burst forward, blasting through the final brush into a tight grove!

"There you are! N-" she stops suddenly, her mouth left hanging open at what she sees, "Nya...?"

There, laying without a care in the world in the middle of a bunch of grass and branches is a young man...probably barely a man, if that.

Clearly Japanese with his spiky black hair, he wore an equally clearly scuffed black yukata which barely held onto his admittedly very well-muscled and handsome frame.

Kuroka quickly slapped her now watery jaw shut with her free hand, magic circle pointed straight at the body still just laying there.

She started walking towards him carefully, keeping her eyes on him closely...which admittedly wasn't that hard to do.

The hard part came from holding back the instincts telling her to take a good bite out of him.

Now, she knows some Yokai are flesh eaters, that some Yokai legitimately needs human flesh and blood to live.

But Kuroka is not one of those Yokai, even as a Stray Devil she wouldn't swoop so low, the thought disgusted her to no end.

So then why, why, did she wanna munch on this human-looking guy like he's a chocolate bar?

She chooses instead to focus on the chills the Holy Power he radiated gave her, rather than this newfound sense and disgust she has for herself.

As she got closer, she could see some sort of strange dark red flame-like tattoo on either side of his collarbone.

Quickly shelving that away as neat trivia, and now finally close enough to touch him, she noticed another thing.

He's asleep, genuinely asleep. Completely limp, and seemingly unresponsive, she even gives him a kick to the shin to see if he'll stir, but he doesn't budge.

He doesn't seem hurt, just out of it.

With a sigh, she dispels her magic circle and kneels next to him, putting a hand gently on his chest.

She tries sensing his ki, only to get the equivalent of a spiritual flash bang.

Light, life, fire, and holy energies slam like a hot railroad spike into her 6[sup]th[/sup] sense with the force of a supernova.

"NYAH!?" she stumbles back with a squeal, falling right on her rear.

And for some reason, that finally gets him to stir. He grunts with a small amount of exertion as his once limp body begins to move, his head turning towards the direction of her exclaim.

She freezes, as his eyes open and a pair of molten gold iris lock onto her own hazel gold ones.

Then, very slowly, they move down her body.

She blinks. And follows his eyes, down to her now completely exposed chest.

"Ah." She realizes. When she tried sensing his ki earlier, the shock of what she felt must have messed up her control over her Senjutsu and Youjutsu.

What she uses to keep her kimono up and on.

Because she doesn't wear underwear.

Fuck.

Hah! Just kidding! Jokes on him!

"Do you like what you see, nya~?" Kuroka, of course, has no shame. And instead leans into it, acting like she's trying to pull her kimono up and cover herself, but only accomplishes pushing up and showing off her bust more." It seems like you we're having a nice nap, I hope I'm not interrupting anything nya~?"

Now, Kuroka knows she's hot. She knows she's curvy as hell, and knows very well what that does to any man.

Deities are especially known for being horn dogs of the highest order, though. Something like this? Should catch even Zeus lacking and drive any man into a blushing mess or mad with lust.

So, imagine just how floored she was when this man reached up slowly and just patted her head.

She froze, completely caught off guard. She almost mewled as he started scratching behind her ears.

The man gave a weary, tired chuckle, and simply said. "Cute kitty."

Then he removed his hand, turned onto his side, settled in, and fell right back asleep.

Kuroka just fucking stared at his back, incredulously.

And for just a split second, she felt like eating this bastard.

After getting over that nauseating thought, she didn't know whether she wanted to kill him or fuck him.

She decided on the middle path.

"Oi! Wake the hell up! Nyaaaa!" she then proceeded to kick him right in the small of his back.

Kuroka would never admit it, but the scream of pure terror he gave made her feel a lot better in that moment than it had any right to.

~ A New Sun ~

Takamagahara, the Plane of High Heaven, was beautiful this time of year.

Correction, the Heaven that her favorite Sun Goddess ran was always beautiful, not that Ame-no-Uzume, the goddess of the dawn, revelry, mirth, and most importantly, parties had ever been to any other Heaven.

Currently, Uzume was taking one last dance through the great sun palace on her way to visit her favorite, beautiful, absolutely gorgeous usually boss, mostly lover, and all-around bestie.

Why is this to be her last dance, you may wonder? Well. It's because her favorite goddess has she mentioned she's gorgeous? - will likely reduce her to ash after she brings the news she has.

Luckily, Uzume has a plan! It's a perfect plan, a flawless plan, and Uzume knows it will at least buy her two more seconds of life!

She's wearing a particularly revealing kimono today.

Purple, just like her hair, and layed so low that she may as well be half naked.

Hell, her nipples are even partial showing!

Did she already mention how her beautiful goddess is an absolutely shameless little thing that swings both ways and has a thing for really big round-shaped objects?

She's also a shut-in hikiNEET who hasn't set foot on Japanese soil in about...two decades or so, give or take a few years.

She hasn't sat on her Throne in much longer than that, though. But at least she isn't in a cave all the time, that's something!

Oh damn, where was she? Oh right.

Now why would her adorable hikiNEET Goddess want to turn her into ash?

Well. It may have just a little something to do with the fact...

"You lost Noriaki!? How!?"

Uzume winced, not really surprised at her reaction.

Granted, this could have been a lot worse. The Omikami's room isn't exactly made for loud booming echoes.

Thing is actually fairly small and compact, just like her.

Long flowing black hair, small, cute frame, cute little frown, and golden eyes which may or may not be glowing slightly right now.

And those tiny smooth hands, though damn if those hands can't work though...

Ah, shit. No no no! Bad horny Uzume! Stop that before you become ash!

"Well, as you know, his last year of High School is coming up..." Uzume began, making sure to put her arms under her considerable bust and push it up, "so, I decided to take Nori-kun out for a night on the town!"

Her little sun groaned. "Uzume. Please tell me you didn't fuck my son."

Uzume winked. "Not yet~!" she then quickly dodged a manga volume being hurled at her face. "Oh, feisty!" she giggles, " You know he's a lot like you! He's he might just be the one to fuck me instead~!"

"Uzume." Amaterasu ground out through clenched teeth.

Right right, no horny damn it!

"Okay, okay! So, I took him out to get something to drink, you know, his first proper sake! And, well..." Uzume trailed out, a nervous chuckle slowly following.

"Well. What."

"He's got about the same alcoholic tolerance as you, Ama?" Uzume slowly said.

Amaterasu froze, face somehow paling even more than it already was.

"Ah, in fact?" Uzume let out a dry chuckle, "I'd wager it's worse than yours, actually." she elaborated. "As in, I give him sake with content less than 1%, he took a sip and bam! He was gone."

"Then why did you let him out of your sight!?" the sun goddess snapped, "If he's anything like me when he's drunk, t-then..." she trailed off, wriggling in place.

Uzume's eyes sparkled. "He's an absolute embarrassment in your eyes, but a party animal in mine?"

A mirthful smile erupted over her face as her little sun flushed with embarrassment.

That smile dropped though, when her little sun stomped down that embarrassment, and leveled the almighty-est of adorable glares at her.

"Uzume..." her golden eyes hummed with a dangerous light.

Uzume, quickly, jiggled her bust with a slight movement of her arms.

And internally cheered as Ama's gaze dropped below her neckline and that light in her eyes flickered.

Success!

"Anyhow," Uzume took the opening, "as I was saying, he's worse than you when drunk right? So while he was out, he may or may not have challenged me of all girls to a drinking contest."

"Oh for fucks sake." Ama grumbled.

"I know right!?" Uzume wholeheartedly agreed.

"That you're a big-titted child?" she tacks on.

Uzume put a hand to her chest, totally not intentionally causing a nipple to slip out from her kimono, no sir! And the dramatic and sudden step back definitely was because she was hurt, not because she wanted to take advantage of Heaven's advanced jiggle physics!

"Heyyy~!" Uzume whined, "You love my boobs!"

Amaterasu just deadpanned at her. "How much did you drink, Uzume."

And completely ignored her too! Hmph!

"Around 9 or so barrels of about 65% alcohol content sake, I think." she ponders out loud. "It kind of got fuzzy after a bit though, you'd have to ask Inari-chan for the exacts! I called her up for her special recipe after all!"

"Of course you did." Amaterasu, at this point, just sighs in defeat. "Well, at least this was recent. Means he shouldn't have wandered off far."

"Ah." Uzume hums. "About that."

Amaterasu blinks. "Hmm?"

"You see, I may have gotten so smashed, that I just woke up." Uzume said carefully, "And I think it's been about...three days?"

For a second, it was sweet blissful silence.

Then Amaterasu's eyes started shouting lasers.

"Uzuuuummmeee!"

"Eh!?" Uzume, thinking quickly, dropped her kimono as she dodged the bright beams of purest sunlight.

The impromptu titty flash made Ama's eyes briefly flicker in sheer confusion, and Uzume took that chance to burst out the door, followed quickly by another beam of light that came crashing through after her.

Besides singeing her hair due to the sheer heat, the beam missed Uzume's body whole and blasted a hole straight through the palace wall.

"Well! What did you expect!?" she called back as she makes a run for it, "You put the Goddess of Revelry as his guardian!"

Amaterasu stopped in her tracks just as she was about to step out.

You know, thinking about it like, makes a lot of sense. It's honestly a wonder Uzume hasn't gotten her little boy killed off alcohol poisoning.

But that snide comment isn't why she's standing at her door, fuming.

Oh, no. The real reason is much more confusing as it is equal parts infuriating.

She could feel him, a new light suddenly appearing like a beacon in the middle of her territory, suffused with the Holy Power of a deity she hasn't heard from in thousands of years.

Why the hell is the Archangel Michael suddenly in her country!?

Chapter 2

I really hate Mondays. And now cats too apparently!

Whirling back around to look at the far too smug-looking cat, I go to stand, but my body sternly declines that attempt.

Grumbling, I plop down on my side this time facing her and glare.

Kuroka. I already know all about her, about how she really isn't that bad a cat. Still dangerous, but not evil. It's why I wasn't particularly worried when I saw her sitting there right next to me after my nap.

I'm just too tired to really care about the massive melons literally jiggling every which way she moves.

Though, strangely, I get the distinct impression I've seen similar size and quality bust before...?

Huh. Definitely nothing I should be getting from my old world. Impressions of this life then? Interesting.

First things first, how to deal with the cat? And what the hell is she doing here anyways?

Ah well. No time like the present I suppose. I really just want to go back to sleep anyways.

"The hell you doing here, kitty?" I huff at her, "And was the kick really necessary?"

Kuroka, who was sitting there giggling, stops with a glint in her eye. "Well, I had to make sure I was seeing things correctly..." she crawled over to me, her breasts swaying back and forth way too much to be natural as she did so, and got right up to my face. "I don't think I've ever seen a blind god before, nya~?" she gives me a little wink.

I stare at her face, incredulously. "God?" I ask bewildered.

What the hell is she going on about?

"Of course~? You're a deity of some type, though I must admit that human disguise is very convincing." she practically purrs, with a poke to my nose, "You letting off holy power for miles around kinda ruin the charade though, don't you know? Nya~?"

I blink at her, my expression only becoming more lost.

"Yeah." I settle on. "I have no clue what you're talking about, kitty."

Kuroka stares at me for a moment, then she blinks in turn, her head tilting slightly. "Huh. You're actually telling the truth?"

"I don't exactly know why I wouldn't?" I grumble, "I don't know how long it's been, but I came to on a nearby bridge over looking a mountain ridge a ways away," I point in the direction I remember staggering in here from, "sick as all hell. I was vomiting up what felt like stomach acid, got jumped by some armed snake Devil, pushed him off the bridge, and walked away until I found this place."

I huff and lay down on my back once more. "Been here ever since. Still sick, but I'm feeling better at least." I groan and stretch, trying to abate the mounting stiffness in my limbs.

I may have been asleep for a bit, huh?

Kuroka just stares at me, I can see the belief in her eyes, but there's clear confusion creeping up on her pretty face.

I don't know why she's believing me so quickly, though. Kind of odd.

"Well," Kuroka begins slowly, finally finding her voice. "I certainly didn't expect this? I was kind of assuming you were some big bad Warrior God here to cream me, nya~!"

Oh ho ho, kitty. I just might, I just might. This is DxD after all.

Ugh. I'm still too sick to even get it up, though. Damn it!

Regardless, I snort. "I just might if you keep interrupting my cat nap by kicking me."

"Nya!?" she fake gasps, "Gods can't have cat naps, only us kitties can do that!"

I give an amused chuckle, "That's what you take offense too, really?"

She, of course, completely ignores me and goes on. "Besides! How can a tasteless God ever dream of going up against me, nya~?"

I'm sorry. Tasteless!?

"The hell you mean tasteless!?" I retort with vigor I didn't know I had, "Also, stop calling me a god! I'm not one damn it!"

"Mhmm~! Tasteless!" she perks up, sitting back straight up on her knees, arms directly under and pushing up her still uncovered bust. "How can a god," the glint in her eye shines, "not see these babies and not be taken, nya~!?"

You know. I don't think it's dawned on me until now.

I'm actually in DxD, huh? No person, no woman, would ever actually fucking act like this.

My eyebrow actually twitches as I glare up at her.

"Okay. Look." I stare right into her eyes, and as I start talking, I start slowly getting up. "I have perfect taste. Why, if I wasn't sick right now?" I'm on my knees now, right in front of her. Suddenly, I grab her by the shoulders and pull her right up against me.

I will admit, the way the shine in her eyes gets replaced by confusion and a little bit of something else I can't quite fathom, makes me cackle internally.

Now, with our noses practically touching, and our eyes practically the only thing each one of use can see, I summon up every bit of lust and desire I can straight into my eyes, and continue.

"If I was such a deity as you claimed? You'd better be real careful kitty, because after all~..." I go right up to her ear, and mutter as huskily as I can, "gods are known to take what they want, whenever they want~..."

The way she shivered after I said that makes me wish I wasn't sick right now.

Regardless, with my piece said, I lay back down lazily. Grinning from ear to ear at the way her face is completely flushed.

That grin drops soon though. This is a cat we're talking about here.

Quickly regaining her composure, and finally covering her bust, Kuroka grins right back down at me.

"Ah~? So you were telling the truth then?" she starts, a new insufferable shine in her eyes, "Clearly you're not a god if you won't 'take what want' huh~? Nya hah hah~!"

I'm gonna strangle this fucking cat.

I click my tongue, and decide this line of conversation probably isn't good for my mental health much longer. So I decided to pull a cat, blatantly ignore her, and move on to something that's been bugging me.

"Speaking of telling the truth," I pipe up suddenly, causing her to stop her laugh, "why are you believing me so quickly?"

Kuroka tilts her head, her tails swaying behind her, "Why, Senjutsu, of course? All Nekoshou know it, and telling lies based on aura reading is a basic skill, nya~!" she hums, contemplating something for a moment before continuing, "It's also how I was able to suppress the urges your scent is letting off, you know! Though, if you didn't know about your holy power, I presume you also don't know about your scent, huh?"

My scent?

"Oi." I deadpan at her, "I don't smell that bad, right?"

It has been a while since I've showered, much less been to a civilization proper, I guess.

Kuroka shakes her head, "No no, I don't mean like that! I mean you smell..." she edges slightly closer to me, "delicious~..." she mutters hotly.

Hmm. Horny? Horny. Or I would wish, damn it.

I chuckle, "I don't think I have natural pheromones though, either. Sorry about that though, I don't know what's going on with m-"

"Not, like that~..." Suddenly, Kuroka is practically on top of me. Her eyes beamed into mine, her hands on my shoulders. "I mean, delicious."

Ah.

That's not lust in her eyes. That's hunger.

A desire for food. The desire to eat freshly caught prey raw.

And she's looking at me like that.

Not horny! Not horny! I'm not into vore!

I do the only thing I can do in this situation.

I bonk her on the nose, hard.

She yelps, jumping back slightly, hands rushing to her nose, that look in her eyes gone instantly.

"Nya!? Hey...!" she fake whines, "I told you I was perfectly in control! Do you not trust me nya~!?"

"Well." I huff. "I did just meet you. Here. In the middle of nowhere."

Kuroka blinks. "Nya~!? How could I forget!?" she suddenly exclaims, causing me to jump a little, "We haven't even introduced ourselves yet!"

Really. No, seriously? Just going to ignore me again? Not even going to talk about how I apparently let off a scent that makes an unknown amount of creatures want to eat me!?

Can we go back to that? I'd like to learn how to stop that from happening!

Unknowing of my inner turmoil, Kuroka perks up straight, then slightly arches her back and leans down, letting all of her curves and assets show as she gives me a curt little wave and a sly smile.

"Kuroka, Reincarnated Devil, Bishop~! Former Nekoshou Yokai, nya~!" she chuckles a bit, her two tails swaying behind her, "Well, in writing anyways~! And who might you be, Not-a-God-dono~?"

My eyebrow twitches. At least she has the sense to not outright say she's a criminal.

Unbeknownst to me, my lips are moving before I can even think of a proper response.

"Noriaki Kusanagi." I reply, then blink slowly.

Huh. Automatic response? Guess I do have a life and memories here I'm missing, but my body seems to remember at least a little bit.

With a sigh, I add. "Since I've already basically seen you naked, may I call you Kuroka-san?"

Kuroka hums with another mischievous glint in her eye, "Only If I can call you Nori-kun~?"

Another eyebrow twitch. Pet names, already? Cute. Coming from the literal cat.

"Fine then, a pleasure to meet you, Kuro-chan." I retort with a sly smile.

"Oh, Nori-kun~! The pleasure is all mine, nya~!" she hums back hotly.

Fuck. This is going to be a thing, isn't it?

God have mercy on my self-control when this sickness leaves my body, or else I may actually put kittens in this girl before I'm ready to start daddying.

Helluva Boss reference, anyone?

As I elaborate on those future prospects, the cat finally gets up onto her two feet and stretches out some of the kinks that come from talking to a weird maybe god in a forest for lord knows how long.

Yes. Her figure is indeed exaggerated for no reason, and her breasts do jiggle. What made you guess?

"Now then, Nori-kun~? Do you have somewhere you can go? We can't have you laying around on top of this mountain forever you know!" she begins, her expression turning slightly more serious, "Your aura and scent are attracting stray devils and yokai alike, and not everyone has my levels of control. I've had to kill a bunch of strays and bind up a few of my kind on the way up here, nya!"

Ah. That would be a problem, wouldn't it?

"Well, I don't exactly know how to stop it? My aura and scent, I mean." I huff, "With that, it wouldn't matter where I hole up, yeah? Even then..." I trail off into a mutter. "I can't remember anything before the time I suddenly woke up on that bridge, besides my name. So I don't even know if I have anywhere else to go."

And isn't that just depressing to think about? At the end of my little fight back at the bridge, I had clearly gained something. I have a bunch of new knowledge floating around in my head, and I know I felt something was off and new about me earlier, but I've just been too tired to sort through it all.

Or asleep, either or.

I probably have powers of some kind now, and I don't doubt now that now, since apparently Kuroka feels some sort of holy power coming off me.

I hope I'm not an Angel. Please, for the love of the dead God whose name I used the other day, I seriously hope I'm not an Angel.

No sex after all this would blow, I'm telling you.

In any case, I don't feel hunger or thirst, and I can remember the encounter with that snake thing perfectly, and that's just what I've noticed offhandedly so far. Once I slept off this illness, I was fully planning on just kind of...wandering until I hit civilization.

But with my aura and scent making me a big bright monster beacon? Hah. That's a tall order, ain't it? Especially if what Kuroka's saying is true, it means the only reason I haven't been munched in my sleep yet is that she got to them first.

"I see..." Kuroka suddenly says softly, drawing me from my mental anguish, "well, if that's the case! I think I can help you, Nori-kun!"

Oh fuck she looks way too excited now. Her tail is swaying rapidly what are you, a dog? and her grins turned cheshire.

"And...how could you do that?" I hesitantly ask.

Suddenly, her hands are gasping my yukata. My eyes widen. "Hey! What are yo-"

"Nya-hah~!" and with just a bit of exertion, I'm hefted up, and over her shoulder.

It takes everything I have to not puke on the spot.

"I'll take you home with me, and show you the ropes~!" Kuroka exclaimed at me, patting me on the back. "You may think otherwise, Nori-kun, but you are some type of deity! That means your powers are all your own, and you can control them! And I think I can help show you how nya~!"

She started walking with me, and meanwhile, I was screaming internally.

You can teleport you damn cat! Why are you walking and swaying your hips with a sick man flung over your shoulder!?

"As for your scent? Well," Kuroka goes on, oblivious to my thoughts, "Senjutsu is the magic of the body! I'm sure I can cook something up to suppress your scent, maybe even show you how to do it too, nya~!"

Her tails slowly glide down the side of my face.

"Aren't I just the best kitty, hmm, Nori-kun~?" she states with what I assume is a sultry smirk, judging by her tone.

I deny her a proper response.

Well, mostly. I do bring my hand back, and give her ass a nice and proper smack.

As she yelps and nearly tumbles over, I call out, "Stop swaying you damn cat! You want me to throw up back here!?"

"Oh my~!" Kuroka chuckles sweetly, "You don't have to pay me back quite yet, nya~!"

To her credit, she does stop swaying.

Unfortunately, I can be really petty when I want to be!

I decided that once this sickness passed over me, I am going to mercilessly tease and flirt this damn cat down into a flustered mess before absolutely ruining her.

I remember something about her wanting a dragon to give her kittens or something, right? Because they were strong?

Well fuck that. By the time I'm done with her? Dragons sure as hell aren't going to be the thing on her mind when it comes to getting knocked up.

Who needs a scaly lizard cat when you've got a far superior god right here!

~ A New Sun ~

It was late evening by the time we arrived at Kuroka's home.

And by home, I mean shack. And by arrived, I mean I was basically dragged the last half mile.

Lazily ass cat said I was too heavy. Bullshit!

With a thunk, I was basically dropped onto the ground by my catnapper. Not even in the shade too, I was dumped on the grass bathed in late evening sunlight.

It felt...nice, actually.

The sunlight I mean, not being dropped. Not into that!

"Kuroka." I grumble into the grass, "Is this how you usually treat a sick man?" I slowly lift my head up to look at her.

"What's the problem, hmm? Can't take a little fall on the grass? Besides!" she looks at me, a glint in her eyes, "Isn't it rude to complain when a lady invites you to her home, nya~?"

"You kidnapped me." I state blankly.

"Catnapped you, for educational purposes, nya~!" She winked at me, and I groan, putting my head back down.

"Ah~, nya~..."

I look back up though, once I hear Kuroka half groaning, half purring.

My eyes immediately lock onto Kuroka's figure as she's stretching, but not in the type of pre or post-workout, no no, she's blatantly doing a seductive stretch that shows off her body.

Wanna know how I know for sure?

Her breasts, they're jiggling all over the place, in such over-exaggerated ways it's fairly absurd. Breasts don't naturally move like that! And she's hardly moving at all!

Slowly, Kuroka looks at me, meeting my gaze, and smirks.

"Enjoying the show, Nori-kun~?"

I stare back at her blankly.

And then, slowly, I smirk right back.

"You know what? Yeah, I think I am~..." I slowly, huskily mutter back. "But, you know, it's not far if only I get something outta this~..."

I promptly drop the upper portion of my yukata, leaving everything from my waist down still covered, and I begin stretching as well.

Two can play this game, cat!

You know, I never really got the chance to check my body out all this time, but I will say, even without seeing my face, I do look like a deity at least.

Like, gawd damn, I look good! A lean and well muscles frame chiseled seemingly from marble, coated in pale white skin, that somehow doesn't look sickly, but rather bright and lively.

I can see flickers of obsidian or charcoal black hair in my vision, and a...huh. There's a deep red flame-looking birthmark on either side of my clavicle.

Ah. My dormant Demon Slayer Mark.

Wait. Demon Slayer Mark? I...there's stuff to unpack there. Later. Do it later when I have time to think.

More importantly, does this mean I won't be allowed in hot springs because it looks like a tattoo!?

Noooo! That's like, half the point of living in Japan!

Disregarding my inner despair, I come to my senses once more to see Kuroka shamelessly ogling me with the tiniest bit of a blush on her face.

I shoot her a knowing smile and continue to ogle her right back.

After a few long moments of this, Kuroka finally sighs and sits down right in front of the shack. In the shade, of course.

"Show off, nya~!" she huffs and pouts.

"Right back at you kitty~!" I respond easily. "Unless of course, you mean to say you can't take what you dish out right on back?"

She shakes her head, "Of course I can Nori-kun! You just haven't seen everything I can do yet to try challenging me, nya~!"

I deadpan at her. "I've already seen you naked, though."

She pouts at me for a moment, putting on a sultry smile. "Foolish of you to assume it ends there~..."

"Says the busty virgin kitty."

She flinches as if struck, "V-Virgin!?" she sputters out.

"Why of course," I slowly mirror her sultry smile, though mine morphs into a smirk. "after all, only a virgin would tease a man like this incessantly. And when the man finally gives in? Well~..." I give her a deep rumbling chuckle. "usually, the end result is the virgin ends up learning something quite, new~..."

Ah. There's the flushed face I was looking for. Whiplash time!

"Anyways!" I speak up, normal-toned, as if I didn't just enunciate I'd fuck the hell out of her. "Don't you have something to 'educate' me on?"

"Ah, like the virtues of the female bo-"

"Not that. Virgin kitty, remember?" I state, my tone unwavering.

"Gyah!" Kuroka puts her hand on her chest and flinches back, once more.

After her moment of fake dramatics, she huffs and shakes her head, the red in her cheeks quickly vanishing, and any fluster in her expression morphing back into her usual mischievous smile and glint in her eyes.

Ah, but what's that I see? A fire in those pretty little hazel-gold eyes of yours? Someone's especially determined now, hmm?

Good. Good. You can see I'm willing to play ball! But every time you think you're about to score, I'll steal the ball right from under you, each, and every time!

"Hmm, right, I suppose you do need to get your aura under control, nya?" Kuroka lays down on her side, head in her hand.

Ah, french girls pose. Nice~!

"Luckily, it should be fairly simple. About as simple as it is for a Devil to control Demonic Power, or an Angel their Light." Kuroka holds up her free hand and forms a purple sphere just above her palm. "Simply focus, find the aura around you, and pull it back tight around yourself, nya~!"

Well. That was shit advice. If it was that easy I could probably have figured it out myself!

With a huff, I sit myself down, "No way it could be that easy." I vocalize.

Just before I close my eyes and concentrate, I see Kuroka smirk.

In my mind's eye, pitch black is all that greets me. Kuroka's "advice" didn't actually tell me how to find my aura. Focus? Focus on what?

I get the distinct impression that asking her for more info will just give me a shrug and her shaking her tits more, so I decide against it.

Focus. Hmm, well, my aura is being radiated out into the surroundings, I'll try and focus on the area around me, first.

God this feels so silly.

And at first, it also feels like a lesson in futility.

I can feel the cool afternoon breeze that brushes through the area, the soft grass beneath where I sit. Everything felt normal, and I just felt like an idiot.

Then I had a strange thought.

Where's the warmth of the sun?

The sun is slowly setting, sure. But last I checked, I'm not in the shade. Sunlight was beaming down upon me right about now.

So then, where is the warmth from it?

Ah. Wait, I remember. I didn't feel any warmth or heat from it earlier.

It just felt...nice.

The kind of nice feeling you get, when you open up the window in the morning, and the sun hits you just right. And you know, you just know, that today is going to be a great day.

I grasped that feeling. And refused to let it go.

And suddenly, I found the warmth that was missing.

A pulsating warmth, spreading out from me in tidal waves.

The pitch black of my mind's eye is replaced by a roiling, shifting honey-like mist, all coming straight from me.

My body is acting almost like the world's largest most broken smoke generator, and I'm not entirely too sure how to stop it.

Apparently, I just have to reign it in. Via what? My will, a thought?

I take a deep breath, and push down the irritation I feel begin to bubble up before it even surfaces.

And it's within that moment when I take a breath, and feel the rhythmic beating of my heart, that I make a curious discovery. With every beat of my heart, another wave of the golden mist surges forth.

So, I focus on that, instead. I imagine my heart, but instead of an organ like normal, I for some reason see a literal sun, pulsing with solar light.

No matter, I stare at the beating star within my mind's eye.

I think about it not blasting the area with aura.

It doesn't respond.

I imagine it not blasting the area with aura.

It doesn't respond.

I ask it nicely to stop blasting the area with aura.

It doesn't respond. And in fact? It gets worse.

That irritation from before returns, but I don't smash it down, instead, I use it as fuel to command the beating star to cease.

And it slows, the aura jetting out from it soon fizzling away, instead, it merely thumps with light and fire.

But this isn't good enough. I've still got an aura flowing about all around me.

Another command, and this time the roiling mist begins to retreat, being sucked up by the star.

All of a sudden, I'm back in the real world. In my chest, where my heart is, I feel that same rhythmic thumping and beating, but not with blood, but rather heat.

My heart burned in my chest, but it didn't feel bad, instead, it felt so, so nice.

I hold up my arms to my face, seeing them coated in a pure honey-like aura. It doesn't take me long for me to feel that entire aura covering my entire body.

"Huh." I say, "I take it back, that was actually kind of easy, just needed to figure out how to actually get the ball rolling!" I take a look at my cat girl spectator, only to find her sitting up, gaping at me as if I grew a second head. "Uh, Kuroka? Everything okay there?"

Slowly, she points to my head.

Oh shit, did I actually grow a second one!?

I turn quickly and find a, well...

Halo.

That's new.

Right behind my head though, and it kind of looks like a sun?

Huh, for a second there, I almost thought I was some type of Angel. Whew!

"Nori-kun." Kuroka suddenly piped up, rather quietly actually, "I'm starting to think you aren't a full deity..."

"That's what I've been trying to tell you this whole time!" I reply exacerbated.

Kuroka sighs, "It's a lot more complicated than that, nya."

She crawls over to me and points directly at my face. Yes, her tits do sway, that should be a given every time she does this at this point.

"You, Nori-kun, are a demigod. Half-God. Like Grim Reapers, Valkyries, and such. Although," a glimmer of what I almost think is worry enters her eyes, "you really...aren't? Your power, it's Holy Spirit Power. The Holy Power of the Kami. I'm honestly kind of embarrassed to mix it up, but every pantheon's deities have their own type that's vaguely the same, and I don't go out trying to figure out which is which."

She sighs, looking to the setting sun and then back to me, "Kami aren't really gods per se, they're more like spirits, or forces of nature. Honestly, when was the last time someone like you walked Japan..." she trailed off, wondering into her mind it seems.

Oh.

Oh damn. Okay, yeah I kind of see the problem here. Not Greek, Norse, or any other kind.

A Kami though, huh? Gee, I wonder which one. What with the literal sun halo behind my head?

Though, truth be told? I'm not actually all that worried.

Really, this is just the sort of motivation I need.

I chuckle as my aura and halo fade, then casually I reach out my hand, and pat Kuroka straight on top of her head.

"N-Nyaaa!?"

Not letting the ensuing mewl deter me, I speak. "Is that worry I sense from you, Kuro-chan~?"

"T-That! You! Not! Aga-" Kuroka fumbled over her words.

I interjected before she fell face first, by scratching behind her ears, and watching with a smile as she leaned into my hand more.

"Well. You don't need to worry!" I reassure her, "Though I may be a Half-Kami, and you a Reincarnated Devil and Former Yokai, that doesn't change my opinion of you! I'm not gonna suddenly smite you! Even if you are teasing little minx!"

"Nya!? Teasing minx?" Kuroka whines, faking dejection. "Is that really what you think of me, nya~?"

Really? That's what you choose to focus on? Alright, kitty. You wanna play again? Here we go!

"If you really want, I suppose I could think of you as something else~..." I mutter huskily, Kuroka's ears twitch and her eyes widen slightly.

But she's too late to pull out, as I wrap my hand around the back of her head, and pull her mere inches body mere inches away from my own. Our heads are so close, are noses almost touch.

"For saving me on that mountain top, I guess I could consider you like a pet~." I huff the word, right into her ear.

Kuroka, practically vibrates in my hand, her face immediately flushing red. "S-Say," she starts, unusually quiet and almost timid, "since I found you, doesn't that mean you're m-my pet~?"

Oh, kitty. All that fake bravado. Has no one really ever come on to you this hard before?

I chuckle darkly, smirking as I feel it make her quiver, "Ah, but aren't you forgetting something, pet~?" she actually half moans, half mewls when I call her that, "Half-Gods, no matter the component parts, we still take whatever we want~..." I drawl deeply to finish it.

The moment I said that. I could see it in her eyes, something shifted. From embarrassment to sheer overwhelming lust.

"N-NNYYAAAAHH~!?" she quickly dashes back from me, eyes wide, faces completely beat red. She takes deep heaving breaths, with a hand placed on her chest.

Huh. Did I just accidentally trigger her mating frenzy there for a second?

You know. I went into this assuming this would be difficult. But now I realize something.

Kuroka looks the way she does, she's flirtatious and shameless as all hell, and she's literally thrown herself at guys like Vali, yet she still remains a virgin despite all that.

I know my game isn't the greatest, but after that realization, it's just sad.

In a proper fight, this girl could break me in half, yet sexually she isn't all there.

Side note, I am very horny right now, and cursing this sickness that's stopping my body from getting it up!

But. Soon.

I should probably check on the poor cat first though.

"So." I begin with a stupid smirk, "You really can't take what you dish out, huh?"

Her eyes flick back at me, "That's...that was different, nya~!" she whines.

"So what you're saying is that I should most definitely call you pet from now o-"

"Nya!? No no! Please don't Nori-kun! Why are you so mean!?"

The gas lighting is strong with this one.

"Fine, fine." I hold my hands up placatingly. "I'll only call you pet sometimes." she glares at me. I click my tongue. "Alright, fine, only during specific...moments." I leave that implication hanging, and she blinks at me, flushing just a tad.

Well. That was certainly one way to cheer her up. Kind of got off the rails there, but I think it did...something?

Regardless, ruthlessly tease and come on to Kuroka some more later. For now?

Well, I'd like to figure out something about that whole attracting people into eating my thing!

I clap my hands together, causing her to perk up and focus on me, "Now then, Kuro-chan?" I ask, "What's next?"

It took me much longer than it probably should have to realize she was smirking at me once again.

Much longer than that to register that the cat just pulled a book out of her cleavage, and chucked it straight at my face.

"Gackkk! Oi! Damn cat!"

"Nyah ha ha~!"

~ A New Sun ~

After figuring out how to restrain my aura, Kuroka decided to call it a night.

As for Senjutsu, that book she threw in my face all of a sudden was a book on the basics.

Basically, she said to learn what's in it first before we could get started on me properly learning to reign in my scent.

Then she left and went to go steal something for us to eat. Now, she just told me she was ordering it, implying she was paying, but...

Being a criminal wanted by one of the Three Factions tends to not leave you with much in the way of money, and besides, Kuroka strikes me as the type that's too lazy to try to get legal tender anyway.

Demonic Mind Magic strikes the need for the middleman anyways. Besides, I don't think she actively hurt anyone to get it.

I didn't need to eat, but I ate with her regardless because that's the nice thing to do. Also, Freshness Burgers are indeed, very fresh.

As for our living situation.

When I described Kuroka's home as a shack earlier, I was actually overselling it.

It's legit just a dirt and stone cube, with holes for windows. Made out of Senjutsu and Magic, or so Kuroka claimed.

There's barely any space, and of course, there's only one futon.

You know what that means, yeah?

I have a big titty kitty buried in my side while I'm trying to sleep.

Now I must admit, the bed although it is kinda shit quality is better than a grove, so there's that.

But the soft, sensual, busty cat girl using me as a body pillow is making actual restful sleep a daunting task.

Starting to think my pushing her earlier caused this.

Task failed successfully?

Just when I get the chance to rest without feeling ill, this happens, of course.

Though it is just like pets. To be annoying.

Still can't believe I actually called her that, and she seemed to like it.

Honestly, still wrapping my head around this being DxD, the girls here simply aren't like they are back home.

I could probably be even more bold, if I was feeling up to it, probably could have gotten laid already. Maybe.

Although, I'm probably only thinking of this now because Kuroka is literally purring into my side.

Horny? Very. It's why I can't sleep, yet my sickness won't let me do anything about it. Double whammy.

I give out a sigh and look down at the cat girl on my side.

Only to find a smirk marring her face.

I stare blankly down at her.

"Kuroka." I deadpan. "You've been awake this whole time, haven't you?"

A beat passes.

"Kuroka."

Another beat, and then...

"Nyaaa~!" she wiggles into my side with a loud badly faked yawn, "you're so warm, Nari-kun~..."

I quickly dispense divine retribution upon this big titty kitty via a hearty slap upon her rear.

The half mewl, half moan she gives in response only causes me to turn to her, and wrap her up in my arms.

Now. I don't grope her, or anything. I have more class than that!

But, if one of my hands were to say, land and stay on her nicely shaped ass and stay there, and she didn't try and move away herself, then who am I to move it away?

It's found a perfectly fine resting spot, after all!

"And you're so soft, Kuro-chan~..." I mutter back, right into her ear, relishing in the way she shivers against me.

Fuck you cat. If I don't get to sleep, no one gets to sleep!

Tomorrow morning, or more likely tomorrow afternoon at the rate trying to sleep is going, I need to get off my ass and get to work.

No more sickness getting in the way, I'll power through it if I have to. No more kitty getting in the way, no matter how much of a massive cock tease she is, I'll tease her right back into her place.

I need to figure out what I have, and I need to start working on it as soon as I can.

I'll probably start with whatever I have from Demon Slayer, I have a mark, I must have more. Maybe Kuroka could make me a sword so I can practice?

I get the feeling I'll have a fair bit to work on, won't I?

Chapter 3

I do have more than just the mark.

Hinokami Kagura.

Dance.

My bokken a traditional Japanese wooden training sword swings down, in an arching vertical slash.

It's mid-afternoon now. We had only just recently woken up, and I managed to convince Kuroka to make this for me.

Clear Blue Sky.

A seamless transition into a horizontal 360 slash. Don't forget to breathe.

Don't ask how I managed that. Let's just say, she's laying on her side watching me right now, and not on her rear, for a reason.

Raging Sun.

Like a perfect dance, I move into flinging two consecutive arching slashes around myself right after.

I will say, the craftsmanship is pretty good. And in my preferred style, too. A Dai-Katana, more often known as an Odachi, is a Japanese great sword. My preferred length is about that of a bastard sword.

Burning Bones, Summer Sun.

I step forwards, unleashing a singular slash with a spiraling motion. Perfect.

Though the sword's length isn't standard for Sun Breathing, or in my case the Kagura, it works just as fine. It feels much more natural this way, regardless.

Setting Sun Transformation.

I backflip, kicking off the ground with the forward momentum of my last slash, only to perform another horizontal slash, spiraling as I do, my blade creasing through the air with ease.

It's strange, though, I specifically have the exact knowledge on how to use the Hinokami Kagura, not Sun Breathing. Which I remember Tanjiro himself stated was an imperfect version with unnecessary movements, some sloppy footwork, and perhaps more.

Solar Heat Haze.

I land, and dash forward in a burst of speed, delivering a strike with my bokken at speeds that would boggle the senses.

But, really, I don't truly mind. I doubt my body could handle the full and true Sun Breathing Technique as I am now. I'll take whatever I can get.

Beneficent Radiance.

Like clockwork, I'm in the air again, performing a spiraling upwards slash at some imaginary foe.

But this knowledge of how to perform the Kagura isn't all I got. I also discovered I have a secondary power system, separate from the beating star in my heart that seems to be the source of my demigodly powers. I recognized it almost instantly from my memories.

Sunflower Thrust.

When I land, I lash out with the tip of my blade. Even as I feel the force of my landing, the way the air shifts from the movements I make, the leaf atop my forehead doesn't fall off.

I have a chakra pathway system and chakra with which to fill it. I honestly couldn't say how much I actually have since I don't have anyone to compare to, but pooling my physical and mental energies is giving me what I consider a good amount.

Sun Halo Dragon Head Dance.

With a bit more strain, I burst forwards into a whirlwind of movement, slashing at multiple imaginary foes with multiple full power swings.

I've got knowledge of chakra theory and manipulation, as well as a jutsu I could learn, but no control yet. Gotta start from the basics, then rush B for Shadow Clones, of course.

Fire Wheel.

At my last imaginary foe, rather than slash them, I jump over them and then slash them in twine with a singular vertical slash with a circular motion.

As for everything else? Well, I've got knowledge of several Japanese weapons in my head, though I have a preference for an odachi as already stated. I have knowledge of two Martial Arts styles I never heard of before; Sendo and the Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist.

Fake Rainbow.

I land and immediately spiral into a burst of motion. Twisting, turning, rotating my body every which way. I blur across the grass and see the afterimages left in my wake.

Jeez. The name on that last one though. Isn't it kind of overcompensating for something?

Flame Dance.

I screeched to a halt, my blade already raised. Two slashes spur forthwith, one after another, a vertical into a horizontal.

I watch as the tree I just struck with that last attack slowly falls apart at the cross-shaped attack.

And I breathe. Sweet, fresh oxygen fills my body, and I can almost feel it as it ripples throughout my veins, bones, and muscles. Rejuvenating them in ways I didn't think were possible.

Sendo, that other martial art I mentioned before, also involved breathing. Through self-controlled respiration, it manifests some kind of energy called Hamon or the Ripple, Wave Energy. Power like that of the Sun.

The Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist is more a defensive, counter-attacking based style, that also involves breathing and the flow of energy. Though my physique is unfortunately not up to par to handle diving into it yet, I can tell it'll work well with everything else.

I'm starting to see a theme with my powers.

Just as I'm about to continue my dance, a voice stills me.

"Ah, Nori-kun~?" Kuroka half yawns, half calls.

I turn towards the laying cat, a frown mounting on my face, I actually feel myself about to snap at her, anger quickly building in my gut.

That reaction actually shocks me enough that I pause, and am able to push it down before responding in a much more neutral tone.

"Hmm?"

She points, an amused look in her eyes. "The leaf fell off your head, didn't you notice? Right at the end, nya."

I blink, then slowly look down to see the said leaf.

I let out a much longer than usual sigh, probably as a result of all the air I just took in, and reach down and pick it up.

"Thanks for telling me, Kuro-chan." I murmur, still holding back my sizzling anger at being interrupted.

Why does that piss me off so much? She was just trying to help...

I promptly stick it back to my head, and with the Seal of Confrontation, focus the chakra needed to stick it atop my head.

"Nya?" Kuroka tilts her head, "You know, Nori-kun? Those moves of yours looked very cool, like a dance, actually! But I gotta ask, what are you doing, nya~?"

"Training." I reply simply.

Dance, huh? Well, it was a kagura.

She pipes up, "Training? While sick? That can't be good, nya!"

I shrug, "Course it doesn't, being sick doesn't help, but that's kind of the point." I turn back and begin practicing some basic sword swings. Overhead vertical strikes right down onto the tree stump in front of me.

Damn, this thing is really well-made, huh? Not even a crack on it.

"Being sick makes the training harder, more effective, at least in my mind anyways." Though my swimming head would really like to have a word with me on that.

Kuroka pauses for a beat, "Just seems like a great way of getting yourself hurt and put out of commission for longer, nya."

I snort, "Says the lazy kitty with only two tails."

"What was that!?" I can hear her sit up from the ground as she shouts. I smirk.

"Two. Tails. Kitty~!" I speak it out slowly, and a tad louder.

"How do you even know about that!? Multiple body parts denoting power! You just learned about this world yesterday, nya!" She responds, exacerbated.

"That's how it works in anime, yeah?"

"We don't live in an anime, nya~!"

Okay. At that, I almost keeled over and rolled around the ground in a fit of giggles.

"C-Can you prove we're not?" It was a hard thing though, holding myself back from breaking out laughing.

"Well, I mean..." Kuroka pauses, and I can almost feel the gears turning in her simple catlike mind as she tries to come up with a counterpoint.

I can feel the moment she gave up, huffed, and started whining. "That's not the point nya! Using the Underworld Ranking System, I'm an Ultimate Class Devil!"

Ah. Just ignore me again. Fine, be that way.

"Okay? And? What's that prove?" I counter, "Just because the Devils rate you one way, doesn't mean you have power still to gain elsewhere! I mean," I stop smacking the poor tree stump, and fully turn back to her, "unless you think you hit the limit of your potential?"

I can see the conflict on her face, or what I think is conflict. Kind of hard to tell, but it's not anger, fear...maybe sadness?

Eventually, Kuroka speaks quietly, "No, I don't think so...maybe?" Kuroka shrugs, "Never really thought about it much, to be honest, nya..."

Ah, maybe this all ties back to the experiments performed on her back then?

Well, it's not my place to pry right now, but I know this can't be her limit. Her sister gains a third tail in the normal future. And there's a Nekomata out there with seven tails.

Maybe those experiments did something to stunt her potential or growth, but I seriously doubt it. More likely, Kuroka has room to grow stronger than her sister and the Nekomata I mentioned before, but simply doesn't work to attain it.

Likely due to feelings of guilt and depression, which would be my bet.

Well, in due time...I want to see her reach that potential.

Oh, you poor kitty. Not only do you have my attention sexually, but now you have my eye on your potential!

Ah, all in due time.

Suddenly, Kuroka shakes her head, brushing all those thoughts off and powering on, "Oi, back up a minute! This isn't about me! We were talking about you training, while sick, nya~!"

I hum, "Were we?"

"Yes, nya!" she shoots back. "I don't think you should be doing it, really. Besides, you still have that Senjutsu book to read, you know!"

Hmm. Stay inside, and read? Or dance?

The answer is simple. Easy. Automatic.

"No." I reply evenly, "I'll do it once I've exhausted my body."

Kuroka frowns, "Noriaki-kun. I'm telling you, this isn't good for yo-"

"Kuroka." I cut her off through gritted teeth. "I don't want to stay inside, in a bed. All alone, again. Reading some book." By the time I even realized what I was saying, my voice had up ticked in volume, and that anger, was bubbling in my gut.

"I would much rather be out here, not locked in a damn house, stifled again! With barely any room to move, no one to see what I could do! I..." I blink, as something catches in my throat.

Oh fuck I forget to breathe.

I gag, my knees hit the ground as bile rises in my throat. Liquid streams down my face as I wait, liquid?

Am I crying?

I stifle back a gag, and force down the bile, as I reach up and touch my face.

Pulling it back, I see the clear streams of tears, painted across my fingers.

Huh. Why...?

I freeze as I feel a hand gently, almost hesitantly, pat me on the back.

Ah. Fuck. I just...damn it.

"Sorry about that..." I refuse to look at her, instead staring down at the ground. "I don't know what...any of that was about."

Slowly, carefully, Kuroka rubs my back in a circular motion. "It's okay...amnesia, right? Did I perhaps trigger something? A memory, nya~?" she softly purrs in my ear.

But it didn't sound seductive, more soothing?

I don't like this. Being consoled like a baby. It's pathetic.

But, I hate this feeling more.

"I..." I trail off slowly, forcing that feeling back to the surface, and along with it, the nugget of memory attached. "I was always alone," I stated fact, "in a big house, somewhere. I" the tears came again, Kuroka patted me on the back, and I forced it to continue, playing out like a film in my mind.

"I was always alone. So I, cooked for myself. Kept the house clean, for myself. Played games, by myself. Read by myself." Why does the list feel endless? "I have, a guardian." I hiss suddenly, nearly making Kuroka jump. "She'd come by, from time to time...I...the smell of alcohol." The smell pisses me off, just thinking about it.

"She'd either be or get drunk, then trash the place. I'd clean up, and throw her in a room. She'd always be gone the next day. Repeat, over and over..." Purple hair fills my mind. A figure of a woman, with a bust equal to the cat girl next to me, flickers through my mind.

Ah, the perfect definition of what it means to want to hate fuck someone could never be described more succinctly as her.

And yet.

"But one day." I perk up, "She showed me how to dance." I smile, a truly wide smile, a tear-filled smile. "And I never wanted to stop. I wanted to show everyone, including her, I wanted to just dance."

My smile wavers. "Somehow. I don't get the feeling I got that as much as I wanted, huh...?"

"There, there, Nori-kun~..." Kuroka slowly pulls me into her bosom, and I blink. "As long as your out here, you can dance as much as you want, nya~!"

"Ah?" I smile, weakly. "But?" I add on.

"But not if you'll hurt yourself doing it! There are always ways to heal you, of course, like the bedroom method, for example, ~" she purrs out seductively, "but, well this is still serious, nya!"

I chuckle. "I see absolutely nothing wrong with this. Especially since just from the name I already have a feeling I know what the bedroom method is all about?"

For my comment, I get a bat on the head. Ow. "It works most effectively when you can use your ki too you know~!" But also a sultry reply?

Damn it cat. Stay consistent! Are you trying to seduce me, cheer me up, stop me from overworking, or work on something else? Pick one damn it!

"Are you trying to get me to study that book, so I can learn how to access my ki just so when I inevitably strain myself too far we can use the method better?"

This time, Kuroka just sighs, "Maybe?" she wearily replies, "I get the feeling you won't stop working, and I can't watch you all the time, even if you do look dazzling training as you were~..."

She continues rubbing my back.

My exposed back, because I've been doing this all with the torso portion of my yukata down to show off.

Hey? If it works, it works!

"Still, Nori-kun!" She perks up, "I invited you to my home"

"Shack."

"Home," Kuroka pressed on, "and I want you to leave better than when you left, nya~!"

"Still don't fully get why you kidnapped me in the first place." I tack on, blandly.

I don't even need to see her face, to feel the glint in her eyes as she stares at the back of my head. "Hmm, who can say, who can say, nya~..." she continues patting me on the back like I'm a sort of goddamn puppy.

"I hate that you have to see me like this." I suddenly say, and before she can quip, or say it's okay, I press on, "I don't like it. Being vulnerable like this. I hate it. You shouldn't have to deal with my problems, they're mine. No one else should have to suffer for my issues. Me being all snappy. Which is why..."

I pull back from her and look her straight in the eyes. "I'll pay you back. Somehow, someway. I don't know quite yet what I'm going to do, but I'll do it. For everything you've done here for me. For all you've seen"

I stop, flinching back slightly in shock as Kuroka suddenly puts a hand on my cheek gently. "You don't have to." she says softly, almost pleadingly, "I get it. I was in your place too. It's fine, really!"

I narrow my eyes at her. "I'm gonna do it," I state succinctly, "I'm stubborn like that."

For a moment, we stare into each other's eyes.

A beat, or two, or more passes in tense silence.

And then, finally, Kuroka sighs.

"I can see that..." she trails off wearily, and I smile.

"I'm sure you have, pet~!" I chuckle like a madman, even as Kuroka suddenly locks her hands around my shoulders and squeezes.

"Alright, that tears it!" She suddenly stands up, "Inside, nya!"

"Study time?" I ask bemused.

"Yes! Study time! For a very naughty demigod, nya!"

Look. Kuroka, if you say shit like that, you're going to make me think of other sexual fantasies involving you.

Oh well. I could use a break from all this sappy stuff anyways.

Maybe after this, I should work out a schedule. Demigod/chakra training during the day, physical conditioning in between, study when physically drained, try and dance the Kagura all night from sunset to sunrise?

Hmm. Could use a bit of refinement, but I think I'll have the time.

Kuroka seems pretty intent on making this a long study session after all.

~ A New Sun ~

I was correct, Kuroka did indeed force me to study the rest of the day.

Although her method of trying to make me learn isn't really helping though.

As I sat there reading the book Kuroka gave to me on Senjutsu, she had her arms wrapped around my neck, and her tits placed formed on top of my head.

"It's to help you focus, nya~!" She would say.

It did indeed not help me focus.

Luckily for me, I have something like an overcharged eidetic memory, so I can just pull up the mental image of the book's pages whenever I need.

Now, I'm going to be honest, going into learning Senjutsu I was a tad bit...hesitant. Mostly because I have chakra, and a chakra pathway system, and if my memory serves chakra is technically a type of life force, much like ki.

I was afraid that trying to learn DxD Senjutsu might make me accidentally absorb natural energy far before I was ready, and cause me to turn into a stone statue on the spot.

Or, even worse? Make me turn into a cat.

The one thing keeping my fear in check was the fact that humans in Naruto did exist before the Sage spread chakra to the world, meaning those people had to have had some other type of life force.

Now, if only I could find it!

"The most basic method of learning Senjutsu is via mediation~! Concentrate on your state of mind, find the ki the life force that sustains your existence and quietly release it into the world, nya~..." Kuroka purred hotly into my ear, her arms wrapped around my neck, bust pressed against my back.

State of mind, huh? Well. I think I'm very horny. But also very pissed that the sickness running through my body hasn't abated enough yet to let me get it up so I can not so quietly release something at her.

I swear, she's doing this shit on purpose. Maybe she's holding a grudge over the pet thing?

Fuck it, I'll double, and triple down if I have to.

First though, trying to find my ki is like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

I've got a couple of different power systems already to juggle, my chakra pathways, and the beating sun in my heart, so trying to find a new one that I have no idea where to even start really isn't going great.

I figured my being half-spirit or kami might actually make this process easier, but I guess not. Maybe my human half is fucking everything up? My other power systems? Kuroka being a cock tease?

Maybe I'm just shit at Senjutsu?

Only time will tell, I suppose. Not like I have anything else going on.

Senjutsu is supposedly the 'magic of the body', right? Pretty sure Kuroka said that herself in the Light Novels of this world.

Maybe, rather than looking for my ki in the same place I've been feeling out my chakra and holy spirit powers, I should look for the place where my body and spirit meet?

Is that even possible? How would that even

"Nya~..." the cat girl leaning against me suddenly yawns into my ear, causing me to shiver and drop my train of thought like a rock. "Ah, Nori-kun~...look how long we've been at this, nya~!"

I open my eyes and crank my head to look out at the now night sky, the moon echoing its dirty silver light across the world.

I blink. And casually choose to forget I called the moonlight dirty. Seriously, what the hell?

"Huh, guess it has been a while." I move to stand up from my meditative pose, causing the cat girl still clinging to me to fall back with a yelp, "With no progress so far. Can't help but wonder why...?" I intone, whilst giving the big titty kitty a glare through my side-eye.

"I think the answer is pretty simple, actually!" she winks and sticks her tongue out at me, "You just suck at Senjutsu, that's all, nya~!"

This fucking cat.

"Don't worry about it though, Nori-kun!" Kuroka quickly adds, "Most humans are like that! It'll take a little bit for you to find your ki, but that's just natural! Even if you're only half, nya~!"

I click my tongue, "That's...fair." I admit begrudgingly. "Still, isn't there another way? Like, physically working myself to the bone until my ki manifests?"

Kuroka frowns slightly at that, "That could work, technically. But that doesn't just happen after a single back-breaking workout, you know? That could take months, even years, of dedicated body breaking to happen." she points at me at that, "That kind of time isn't something you have. Not only that, you're sick," she stresses, "and even still, this method although tedious and very boring is still the fastest."

Well. Shit. Better trust the ki and Senjutsu expert here. Plan grind like Sai The Man is a bust.

"It's also ripe for opportunity to tease you, nya~!" Kuroka giggles slyly.

I fucking knew it!

I take a deep breath, in and out, roll my shoulders, loosen my body and just take a second to chill.

Release the anger, release my lust holy shit there's a lot of lust and get back to the task at hand here.

Training? Training. I want to see how long I can last dancing the Hinokami Kagura tonight. It's well past sunset, but I don't think I could make it from sunset to sunrise as I am now anyway.

Ignoring the still giggling cat, I go and pick up my bokken, and head out the door.

Kuroka suddenly stops, "Eh!? Nori-kun! Where are you going, nya~!?"

"Outside." I respond simply.

"For what!"

"To dance?" I tact on.

"Too~?"

I sigh. "Train." I grumble out.

"Nori-kun..." Kuroka begins, in an almost accusatory tone.

"Would you like to watch?" I quickly interrupt her to add on.

Kuroka pauses, I can feel her grinning faintly at my back. "Sure nya~! Your dances are actually pretty amazing!"

I chuckle slightly, "You've only seen me dance once, though?"

Her grin turns cheshire, "That's all I need to see to know you're amazing at dancing Nori-kun, nya~!"

I'm so, so glad I'm not facing her right now.

Because judging from the fact that my face is burning right now, I'm actually blushing from that little compliment!

By the dead god whose name I said the other day, just how starved for attention am I that what got me was that!?

Not the killer curves, the massive breasts, the pretty face. None of that. A compliment.

Fuck, I'm really not looking forward to getting the rest of my memories.

"Well, come along then, kitty." I try to keep my tone as neutral as possible, but I don't think it's really needed. I don't need special sensing skills to know she probably already knows of my state.

I will remember this, kitty. And I will pay it back severalfold!

~ A New Sun ~

Kuroka really did mean what she said, his dancing his beautiful, but also somehow...fierce? Is that the right word?

Spinning, spiraling, kicking out, he moves. Stops, strikes a specific pose, then flows back into another set of foot work.

Each movement has some purpose she can't quite divine, regardless, it's stunning to watch.

Managing to captivate her attention even now, as fatigue from a long day's 'work' seeps into her body.

She honestly can't remember the last time she had this much fun. Can't remember the last time she interacted with one person for this long.

Can't remember the last time she held someone in a bed, either.

It's kind of absurd, how in just a day or two, life could feel so different.

Kuroka doesn't think of herself as a bad person. Oh, she knows she's made massive mistakes and fuck ups Shirone but she isn't intentionally malicious.

When she took in her dear Nori-kun, it was for two main reasons...one, he actually legitimately needed help. Amnesia, sudden powers, no combat experience, and on top of all that a monster beacon that drives people to want to eat him.

Yeah. She couldn't in good conscience just leave him there.

But the second reason was much less altruistic, she can admit to herself.

That being simply, helping a deity or demigod or whatever Nori is exactly is a great way to gain their favor and respect.

Seducing them is also a great way to get in their good graces, turns out.

Having more friends rather than enemies would be a massive boon for her nowadays. Hell, her only friends right now are technically in a terrorist organization, so any other friends would be nice in case that path explodes.

What with the way the leaders are running the brigade, she wouldn't exactly be shocked. Vali is already selling them out and planning to go solo, and she and the rest of the team are along for the ride.

Ah. Vali.

Virgin.

She bit her lip at the thought.

Do demigods...kami...whatever, have some sort of mind-reading power? Because that hit right on the marker so hard it actually kind of hurt.

Honestly, there was a small traitorous part of herself that was starting to think men didn't find her attractive, especially after Vali rejected her advances.

Though that part quickly got thrown into the sun, literally, when Noriaki here came into her life.

Kuroka can't help but shiver at that thought. It's been probably a day, maybe two, and he's already said he'd take her. Fuck her. Just all without outright saying it.

Or, as he aptly put it, make her his...pet.

The brass balls this guy has to be hiding under those robes to say that to her...even though she admits that the thought makes her more than just shiver.

Damn near sent her into a matting frenzy, that did. Kuroka didn't know she had that type of kink, and she probably could have gone her whole life without knowing it.

The only reason she hasn't likely experienced it yet is because Nori's body is too sick to actually get it up. She feels it through his aura, all the time when they do this song and dance.

She is equal parts disappointed, but also yet kind of relieved at the same time?

Him knowing she's a virgin makes her kind of afraid of what he'll do to her once he finally can get it up.

Ultimate Class being she may be, but she doesn't have sexual experience, shamefully. Something Nori here seems to have despite not possessing much of his memories.

The thought of his memories briefly makes Kuroka recall what happened early today, making her sigh silently.

When Nori could remember something, it didn't seem to go well.

Admittedly, when it started, Kuroka didn't have a single fucking idea what to do.

After all, she can't even figure out her own issues! Much less some demi kami's with amnesia!

She sort of just, defaulted into big sister mode when it started, and it seemed to have worked? At least it didn't make anything worse, so she'll call it a win.

She's glad he didn't look at her face through it all, the pained expression she had during the ordeal probably wouldn't have helped.

Kuroka could feel her eyelids starting to get droopy as Nori's dance continued on.

She didn't want to fall asleep quite yet, though. She wanted to commit as much of this as possible to memory before she goes.

Ah, right.

Soon, perhaps within the next day or two, Vali is calling the team together for a meeting. Maybe a mission.

She doesn't know how long it'll take, but it sucks because she was really enjoying her time with him!

That, and well, after his little breakdown earlier leaving him alone feels like kind of a dick move.

On top of all that, he is still sick, and she'd rather be here in case anything happens. Not because Nori is too weak to defend himself, no, it's just that she can totally see him doing something stupid to try and push himself.

As he's said, and she's seen, he loathes being pampered and vulnerable.

She gets it. Really, she does. But there's a line between being bold and being stupid, and she'd really rather not see him cross it.

Originally, she thought that maybe she could take Nori with her to meet the team...but something deep in her gut told her to stop that line of thinking, fast.

She doesn't know where it's coming from, but that awful premonition she got from just the idea basically told her all she needed to know about that.

On the opposite end, not going would get the greater brigade to look at her and her team more closely, something nobody would want, so that's also out.

In the end, she decided to go, but not before casting a spell and weaving Senjutsu in the area to lock down his scent from escaping.

Gently laying her head down on the soft grass, Kuroka briefly hoped that when she returned, his illness would finally be over.

Gods, both Pagan and Abrahamic, know she needs to get laid after the cluster fuck that is her little terrorist organization's meetings and structure.

That thought gave Kuroka a smile as she finally drifted off to sleep.

~ A New Sun ~

Kuroka told me she had to leave to join up with her master and the rest of the peerage for a rating game, or something along that line, not long after we woke up the next morning.

I knew she was bullshitting, but I accepted it with ease regardless. Honestly, I was kind of surprised she wasn't called away sooner for something or other.

Ah, by the way, a result of my training that night? My internal clock told me I could dance the Kagura for just under an hour, going full throttle the entire time, before getting tired.

The results honestly kind of made me feel like shit.

Like, seriously? Barely an hour? Am I a demigod whose parent is a head of an entire pantheon, or not? And on top of that, I also possess chakra! It's just, really!?

Every breath energized my body, I felt like I could go on forever, but my body itself, my muscles, my bones, gave out on me eventually.

That lit a fire under my ass, hard. And with Kuroka leaving? That gave me much more freedom to go all out.

Of course, the morning after she left, I woke up to a very infuriating yet nice surprise.

My illness just straight up vanished sometime during the night, and I finally found out how painful morning wood gets when I am overwhelmingly horny.

I'm fucking that cat when she gets back, mark my words.

I can't actually believe that's a sentence I thought, what the hell is my life anymore?

Anyhow, I decided to dedicate my time to training until Kuroka got back.

During the daylight hours, I trained my physical condition.

Lifting whatever heavy or large things I could find, fully sprinting in circles around the shack, digging big ass holes and refilling them by hand, whatever I could do, I tried it.

When my body finally got worn out, I'd meditate to try and find my ki, and pull double duty by sticking leaves to my body and training my chakra while I was at it.

As it turns out, not having a cat in my ear turning me on the entire time did help, and using my chakra passively in the background helped me distinguish it from any other powers, and made my search just a tad bit easier.

I still haven't found it, but I feel as though I'm actually getting somewhere.

Somewhere, deeper beneath chakra, and even physical and mental energy, there's something there...

Once my body recovered, I'd repeat my conditioning training, until I tire, meditate, repeat, and so on.

Until night comes, when I draw my bokken out and dance until I can't anymore.

Then wait until I recover, dance some more, and repeat.

Repetition, it's all about repetition.

Throughout this entire process, I'm practicing my breathing whenever I can, trying to force myself to use Total Concentration Constant.

As I found out after my sickness left me, I truly don't need to sleep, so training for Constant that way is worthless, especially without someone there to spot me and make sure I can maintain it in my sleep.

Let it be known, changing 18 years of breathing habits is a bitch and a half to do.

Ah. Another thing.

After my sickness abated, my memories are coming back bit by bit, every day.

I know my age, I'm remembering more and more of a very lonely and uneventful childhood, and I now remember the name of the purple-haired woman in my memories, my guardian.

Uzui.

Ah. I can't wait to finally remember where I live, and see her again.

Now, I know that sounds very suggestive in my head, but I promise, I won't force her.

Just seduce her and then fuck her into a slobbering mess, no alcohol needed!

At least then I could save some yen, and have some fun at the same time. Be a great stress relief and a way of paying her back for all effort and hard work she put into taking care of me.

It would be better, at least, than staying in this shack for god knows how long.

This routine of mine lasted for days after Kuroka left, a week and a half to be specific.

Honestly, I was considering leaving the shack for civilization, but I didn't want Kuroka to come back and see I ditched the place.

That would be a dick move of the greatest proportions. After she basically saved me? Helped me figure out the start of my powers? When she hasn't gotten her well overdue pounding?

Yeah, not gonna happen.

When I leave, I want to take her with me.

She is my new pet, after all. Besides, I could still use a Senjutsu teacher, and I still can't suppress my scent myself.

Beyond all that though? This shack?

It's so fucking lonely.

I was actually assuming, and actually kind of hoping, that my scent would attract some monsters or something for me to fight and get real experience against.

Fucking hell, I also admit that it's because not talking or seeing people for a week and a half sucks and I'm kind of desperate.

So desperate that I consider interacting with literal monsters that want to eat me better than no social interaction.

Once again, I ask. What the fuck is my life anymore?

It was well into the evening that I was pondering this type of stuff.

Going stir-crazy already, only around ten days in. Joy.

At least night had recently fallen, which means I can begin my dance soon. That always helps.

I felt the vibrations of movement before I heard or saw anything.

The weight of the vibrations indicates a thing much larger than the occasional small animal that scurries into my temporary small part of the world.

Familiar, disgusting vibrations...

Oh, son of a bitch!

I turn and face the direction of the movement, and not so long after that I finally hear it, the slithering and brush and grass being parted.

With a final burst of speed, my dear old friend, the fucking danger noodle blasts through the foliage, and into my clearing.

"There you arrreeeee!" It screeches, sounding like several broken cans rubbing together, "I sssearched for, everywhere on that mountain! All through the foressst! I followed your ssscent! You're new, delicious, sssssscent! For daysss! Not even the barrier around this place could ssstop me!"

Huh. Guess that answers that question.

The thing shook every which way as it blabbered on,"Don't think I forgot the humiliation you dealt to me on the mountain! I'll have you pay! Pay with your brainsss and eyesss! I even hid from the Golden Angel of Heaven to get to you!"

Oh. OH.

An Angel? On that mountain? A golden one?

Hmm.

I believe I may have made a mistake.

But that's for future future me to deal with.

"Cool story bro." I casually reply. "Don't think I much like having a stalker though. Didn't your mother ever teach you bett"

"YOU PIECE OF SHIT I'LL EAT YOU!" it screeched like Palpatine high on crack cocaine.

And then, the world's ugliest and most dangerous rubber hose flung itself at me, bone arm extended.

I smile with glee. It's rematch time!

Here. We. Go~!

Chapter 4

It's the strangest thing, but I could have sworn the rubber hose wasn't this fast.

"Hinokami Kagura Fake Rainbow." I twist, turn, and move. Half a dozen afterimages appear around my stalker, the number going down by one as the snake bites through one almost as soon as it's formed.

"Ssstop running! You bassstard!" He screeches with fury as he moves in turn, his bony claw lashing through another afterimage, tail striking another, and biting through another.

My remaining afterimages snicker. "I haven't been doing much running this past week or so. Only you-" I pause, looking at his lower body intently, then smirk. "Nevermind!"

The danger noodle lets loose a hiss-like roar as it launches out a full-blown stream of acidic bile, swiping its head to strike my remaining afterimages.

The remaining afterimages vanish as I break the form to dodge, back flipping over the bile, and away from him. I take a deep breath midair, and just as I land, he's upon me.

"Hinokami Kagura," his bony claw swipes through the air, as I once again backflip, "Setting Sun Transformation."

"Acck!" my bokken slams into where his neckline should be, aiming to cut through and take the bastard's head clean off.

I feel the scale-like flesh of his bend underneath my wooden blade's cutting edge, but not break.

It was here that I realized something.

While my blade is very good at cutting trees, a stray devil even one as weak as I assume this guy is is still tougher than a tree.

Luckily, the sheer force of my attack acts like I just hit him in the neck with a bat, and he gets sent sliding off to the side.

But not before he bats me himself, straight into the ground, with his tail just as he skids off.

I groan but don't have time to lick my bruise, as I feel the sickening vibrations of his movements come straight at me.

With a kick off the ground, I flip up and over the snake as he bites down into the ground where I was just laying.

My bokken blocks a wild swing of his tail, I feel the wood heave under the weight of his strike, but not break.

Hmm. Maybe I should lighten up on the teasing a bit when Kuroka gets back? Think she may have earned it. Wonder if I can get her some milk after this, lord knows she hasn't had it in a while I'll bet.

As I dodge another swipe from my one-armed danger noodle, I shake my head.

Fight now, kitty later.

"You know, I'm quite sssurprised" my stalker drawls, "you haven't said the word yet" my noodley stalker shivers out.

I simply shrug, spinning my bokken around nonchalantly, "I don't need to rely on a crutch like that anymore." I state, "Never planned to continue using it. I was sick, and out of it then. Not anymore though!" I smirk slowly. "Enough talk. Come at me, at least tell me your mommy taught you some dancing skills before you lost your legs!"

"I! You! Fuck youuuu!" it screeched, bomb rushing towards me like a wild animal.

Ah~...you know, I think I just learned another thing.

This sound, of my heart beating in my ears. The way my fingers tighten around my sword as anticipation and tension rise in my chest.

The slowly growing, almost near-manic grin appearing on my face.

I think, maybe, that I might be just a bit of a battle maniac.

I want to test myself against this guy, even if he's the weakest of the low class.

I'm going to draw every scrap of experience I can from this fight. And the next, and then the next. Growing better, stronger, and faster as I go on.

Just training won't cut it in this world.

Besides, this guy is a pleasant surprise so far, he's far faster than I gave him credit for!

I frown, realizing that's not quite right, though.

Another stream of bile is avoided, a claw swipe aimed at my face forces me low to dodge.

I feel his tail come up and down, aimed to skewer my back, "Hinokami Kagura." I spin around to meet it, "Clear Blue Sky." my following horizontal slash bats it away, causing the snake to hiss in pain before he brings his whole head down to chomp down on me.

I bring my legs up quickly, kicking him in the face before he can go down, pushing myself down and back onto the ground in the process.

Yeah, he's not fast per se, it's just the way his body is. The way he moves, twists, and springs into his attacks, it's almost like a dance?

Despite the sound, it's actually kind ofgraceful? Well, as graceful as a wild animal can be I suppose.

I roll out of the way as he attempts to slam his entire body down on top of me, springing to my feet immediately afterward.

Still, I can't help but think, at the end of my previous encounter with him, wasn't he really really slow?

I huff, putting that out of my mind, grinning straight at him. "I wonder," I intone through an excited breath, pointing my bokken straight at him, "just how long can you dance? Can you keep up?"

I receive nothing except an exasperated screech in response.

In turn, I smirk and prepare myself for the long night ahead.

~ A New Sun ~

"Ssstop toying with meee!"

He had realized it only about half an hour into their 'fight'.

His prey, the prey that was so weak just a week or so ago, the prey that smelled sssooo good, was bloody toying with him now!

Playing with him like a child! Testing things! Using him like a training dummy!

Now the moon is up, nearing its crest in the sky.

Hours! They've been at this for hours!

He never should have played with his food the first time around.

Mother taught you better than that.

He stopped, reeling his head back, and screeched.

"IEEEEHHH! I said stoooppp!"

The bastard boy stopped, tilting his head.

"Eh?" he began, confused. Lowering his wooden blade slightly, "Did I break you already? Come oonnn it's only been like, what? A few hours! You can take a few more hits, right? Hell. I even let you get a good hit or two on me!"

Hits, maybe. But they felt superficial, at least to him.

The boy didn't even look the least bit scuffed, besides some dirt and dust on his robe.

He pointedly never let himself get struck by his claw or teeth, it was all blunt force hits.

Not enough.

"Not only that," the boy continued, undeterred by the increasingly irate expression forming on his face, "but I kinda hoped to try a couple more things on you. You see, I'd much rather try them on you. I don't wanna take the chance it'll hurt my friend."

"Well then why don't you try it, you bassstard!" he screamed in reply.

The boy let out a dark chuckle. "Why, my wild rubber hose" he grits his teeth, ready to launch a stream of bile to melt his prey into delicious mush while his guard is down.

But the next words that leave the boy's mouth make him freeze in his place.

"It's because you'd die too quickly if I did."

He froze, ramrod straight at the boy holding an easy smirk aimed right at him.

The way he said that, the way he said that, the way he said that

A memory?

Why do you keep doing this!? Please! Leave him! Take me instead!

Mother?

Begone, wench! I want him to see and feel the price for not following my orders exactly!

Him.

Besides, he'll die too quickly if I don't!

Him.

Demonic Power, uncontrolled, wild, and seething with malice explodes around his snake-like form.

Taking the appearance of a dark purple, rolling mist, hissing just as loud as his mouth when it comes into contact with the ground, coating it with acidic burns.

Slowly, he starts sinking as the ground melts around him.

"I'll kill you. I'll kill you - I'll kill you - I'll kill you" he repeats like a mantra, over and over and over again.

"Ah." the boy blinks, still seemingly not perturbed by this turn of events. "Did I trigger you again? My bad!"

The boy huffs, drawing a deep breath before refocusing on him.

That look in his eyes. What is that?

"I'm well and truly sorry." the boy speaks, and he can't help but feel that he's genuine.

Ah. It'ssadness?

And then the boy's sword explodes with light. Pure, bright light, shaping around the blade like a sheath.

Despite all his senses screaming at him to run, he proceeds regardless.

There's nothing left for me here, anyways.

"Hinokami Kagura"

Here he comes! This time he'll eat him alive with his Demonic Power enhanced aura!

"Faux."

Golden puffy wisps of liquid burst forth from the boy's feet.

And suddenly, the boy moved.

"Dancing Flash."

All he saw was the arc of light, as it cleaved through his bony arm like a hot knife through butter.

Pain.

An unimaginable burning pain shot up the severed appendage as the stump began to smoke.

Where is the boy!? He needs to-

"Clear Blue Sky."

Directly behind him, the wooden sword of light cuts clean through his aura, and slams into his neck.

He can feel it, the unimaginable burning pain emanating and spreading throughout his body, as the wood sword starts to cleave through his scales-

Crack.

And then promptly shatters.

The boy's eyes slowly widen. The first look of genuine shock he's seen from the brat ever.

More importantly though? A chance.

"EYYYY!" he screeches, his aura-clad tail slamming into the boy's side, sending him flying back, still holding what's left of his now lightless blade in his hand.

The hilt, and a small bit of the blade.

The rest is splinters in his neck right now.

He'll die from Light Poisoning soon.

But not before he takes this brat down with him!

"I"LL KILL YOOOUU!" he screams like it's a commandment, gathers all his remaining aura into his mouth, and fires.

An acidic purple bullet of Demonic Power flies toward the rising boy.

And misses, as the boy is suddenly standing, his body turned slightly to just barely dodge the bullet.

It collides with and vaporizes the small shack behind him, before detonating and melting the immediate area around it.

"...y-you!" he growls, but the boy doesn't even look at him, instead having turned to look at the destruction.

The boy sighs, "You know, it's lucky I planned on having her come with me."

The boy turns back to look at him, and he almost had to do a double-take.

Why did the boy's eyes have two pupils!?

Reaching down, the brat tore off the remaining upper layer of his robes. The rest having dissolved from his attack.

He still seemed relatively unharmed, besides the big nasty red spot on his side.

Even that didn't look bad.

"So, thank you I guess? The place was kinda shoddy, regardless." he started casually.

He hisses, gathering more raw Demonic Power.

He can be hurt! Just need a good solid hit and-

Suddenly, he found himself curling in upon himself, a foot the brat's foot buried in his center of mass.

In the next moment, he was airborne, flying up into the sky.

The ground where the two just were shatters, and the boy is suddenly flying there, high above him.

Two halos mark his back, a smaller sun-based one behind his head, and a larger more oval looking one encompassing his entire upper back.

The picturesque image of the moon glowing behind him contrasts the scene before him perfectly.

The boy clenches his busted sword, a hilt with barely a blade, refilling it with light.

"For what it's worth?" the boy speaks solemnly, his strange eyes glistening slightly, "I'm sorry for what I said about your mother." then he smiles, a real, genuine smile, "I hope you find her again in the next life, buddy. Mayhaps she's waiting for you at the Sanzou, hmm?"

Ahmother, waiting for me? No. No! She shouldn't have! ShereallyI

"Hinokami Kagura."

II'm coming home, Mama. I hope I didn't keep you waiting long

"Sunflower Thrust."

A beautiful flower, brimming with pure white light filled his vision.

And then, he finally became free.

~ A New Sun ~

With a slight huff of exertion, I wrench my broken bokken from the danger noodles' body.

Looking at his broken, beaten form, oozing vile smoke, laying in a good-sized crater of all things, yet etched across his face is something akin to a smile of all things.

One hell of a contrast, that's for sure.

I take a good long moment, staring at the corpse.

How do I feel?

Well.

I'm not sad I killed him. I'm sad about his circumstances, if they're true, which made him end up like thisbut I'm not sad he's dead.

How many did he kill before trying me? How many did he eat alive in his fucked up sense of self?

I don't want to know, but I figure the number is higher than zero, and that's far too many to not kill him over.

Still.

I crawl out of the crater, set my bokken down next to me, and get on my knees before the crater and corpse.

Soundlessly, I put my hands together, and now my head slightly. "Go easy on him and his mother, alright Uncle?" I intone silently in prayer.

Though I doubt it'll make much of a difference, Susanoo isn't exactly known to bewell-tempered.

"He'll pay for his sins whilst stray, but beyond that, be at ease, please."

Maybe I should do an offering later? Hmm. Decisions, decisions.

I rise slowly, grimacing as I realize his trip across the Sanzou probably won't be pleasant either way.

Regardless, I have more pressing matters to attend to.

Like the massive mess this guy made around the place!

No seriously! It was mostly him! Promise! I only made a couple of craters!

This guy melted half the area!

Half of his bile is still lingering around, and his corpse, of course, I should probably start cleaning up

But before that, my eyes, somethings up with my eyes.

Earlier, right after I pulled off that Faux Dancing Flash using chakra, and proceeded to break my sword on his Demonic Power strengthened scales, something similar to the last time I fought him happened.

His last attack, that acidic power bullet, was painfully slow to me. Just like his last attack the first time around.

And now, I feel this itch in my eye, not like there's something in it, but more like I'm feeling the strain of taking in so much more than I'm used to.

Holy hell this is weirdI need some water or something-

Plop. A nice cool bottle of water appears in my hand.

I blink, staring at it incredulously.

"Okay then," I say aloud, "thank you?" I thank the air slowly.

What the fuck. Did I do that? Did someone else do that!?

I decide to not take a gift from the water bottle gods kami? for granted, and look at my reflection in the bottle.

I blink again.

Once. Twice. Thrice.

"Holy shit." I mutter, barely containing my nerdgasm as I see the reflection of my golden eyes, with two pupils.

A normal pupil, and then a second tomoe-shaped one around it.

I'd recognize these eyes from anywhere.

"Sharingan," I mutter with sheer disbelief. "I've got the Sharingan!"

I don't squee, throwing my arms up with exasperation.

I don't.

After I'm done perfectly containing my nerdgasm, I sigh as a new fact hits me.

If I didn't know I had the Sharingan, what else could I not know about?

With a huff, I pop open the bottle and dump the water over my head, shivering with delight as the fresh water runs down my body.

It runs down my side, where my fancy new acid burn sits, and even though it's healing up quite nicely it went from bright red to pale pink in just this time I've been sitting here the water running down it does feel nice.

Healing factors, always nice.

The water also helps me clear my mind for a second, and I realize that, for right now, I really should just focus on cleaning up.

I can do crazy experiments and testing on my powers later, for now, maybe I can turn this cleanup into training?

Idly, I turn off my new pair of eyes with the ease of flipping a switch, marveling briefly at just easy it is to miss if you didn't know to look for it.

With a shake of my head, I turn back towards the corpse and begin weaving chakra, forming hand seals as I go.

Snake. Ram. Monkey. Boar. Bird. Tiger.

"Fire Release: Fox Fire."

This is the only jutsu I know so far, it came with my knowledge of chakra, or so I'm fairly certain.

I've never heard of this jutsu before, but the irony of giving it to me of all people isn't lost on me.

The only reason I haven't practiced it yet, or used it during the fight, is that it takes a fair bit of time and chakra to use for me right now. Need to build up my chakra control more first.

Doesn't help that it looks like a crimson version of a Yokai's Kasha or Fox Fire, either. So training it in front of Kuroka may get a question or two I wouldn't be sure how to answer at present.

Several spiraling crimson balls of flame spark into existence around me. The balls form a wheel, before launching itself at the corpse, causing it and the entire crater to be enveloped in a bonfire of crimson flame.

I silently clap my hands together, giving the stray's burning body one last respect, before turning to the rest of the mess.

Well, the night's still a bit young, right?

Ugh. Maybe the next time I provoke someone into a drawn-out fight, I pick someone less prone to make a big mess, yeah?

~ A New Sun ~

She needed a drink.

"It is certain that all the Kunitsukami have been questioned, yes?" the soft and quiet male voice before her spoke, with twelve golden wings coming from his back.

The latest reason she wishes she could just haul up in her room for the next few thousand years or so.

Archangel Michael.

"Yes," she replied dully, for what felt like the umpteenth time, "we've been over this. Again, and again, and again. All the Earthy Kami have been questioned. They didn't hear anything."

This fucking game of theirs has been going on for over a week at this point, ever since the Archangel showed up in her country.

After blatantly trespassing, he wished to meet the Chief Amatsukami; Amaterasu herself, and her Imperial Court.

As much as she would rather not deal with this shit, ever, it turns out she didn't have much of a choice.

You see, the Three Abrahamic Factions all have their ownshall we say, methods of negotiation.

The Devils? Do what we want, or get the melon and strawberry-haired mutant super devils sicked on you.

The Grigori? Do what we want, or get the Longinus Wielder with a God Slaying Blade and Abyss Side Balance Breaker sicked on you.

The Angels? Do what we want, or end up like the Egyptian Pantheon. Defunct.

And as much as she well and truly doesn't care much for the Heavenly Kami meandering around trying to play politics, bickering and fighting each other over literally nothing, she'd rather not end up fighting a pissed-off Abrahamic God over some nonsensical perceived threat.

That man can be incredibly petty, after all. She wouldn't put it past Him to set her manga collection on fire for shits and giggles. He's done worse over less in the past.

Because in the end, that's what this whole week-and-a-half roundabout is truly for, isn't it?

The dear old Abrahamic God felt something in her country, got pissy, and sent his closest son over to deal with it, but he can't outright say what this is all about. Which leads to exchanges like right now.

The Archangel sighed sadly. "I see, howunfortunate."

"You know," she stiffly interjected, "it would be much easier to figure out what's wrong if we had an idea of what we're looking for."

The Chief Angel smiled such a fake smile, "Unfortunately, that's sensitive information, as stated previously."

She resisted the urge to bury her face in her hands and scream. Again.

Why didn't she just throw the Angel out again?

Oh right. Her manga collection.

"Well, I'm not entirely sure how else we could help then, Lord Archangel." she continued through gritted teeth, "It took long enough to gather the Earthly Kami and question them, yet they've heard nothing anathema to your Father. Unless you provide more information about what the big deal is, I'm afraid that's all I can do."

Truly, she's actually going over her authority here. The Earthly Kami aren't technically hers to order around, that job is meant to be Uzume's 'husband' Sarutahiko.

She almost snorted out loud at the thought. Husband? Chief of the Earthly Kami? Yeah. Right.

Inari all but took over that job in name a while ago, and that man seemingly welcomed the change, content to just laze around and practice his Martial Arts in peace for the rest of eternity.

She's so fucking jealous.

Regardless, she had to call Inari for help in gathering everyone up. Luckily, in matters relating to outside factions such as the Abrahamic, everyone can get on the same page relatively quickly.

Still, there are many Earthly Kami, the process took a while.

And during that time, she and the Archangel stared at each other, debating in nonsensical circles the whole while.

What makes it all worse is that this whole time she has to have worn these super stuffy, long thick robes that drag every which way she goes.

She's had to sit on her throne, a rendition of the Japanese Imperial Throne the Takamikura, this whole time.

Honestly. Whoever suggested the Throne is lucky she was in autopilot mode when it was suggested, and thus can't remember who exactly did, or else she'd smite them for it.

The robes paired with this old, dated, chair that hasn't been touched for several hundred years?

Pain.

Hell! Even her court is getting tired of this, they haven't spoken up in days to offer anything insightful!

At this point, she'd take anything to get this fucking meeting to stop.

Even Uzume, coming in here and ruining it by trying to seduce the Archangel, as ruinous as the incident would be, at least it would end the suffering!

Sucks she threw her from Heaven like Hera did Hephestus. She's supposed to searching the Earth right now, but...

Oh well.

Just as Michael was about to open his mouth, and draw the conversation into another circle, and thus draw Ama to consider finding her old cave again, something different happens.

And by that, she means an arrow of silver light blows off the ceiling of her palace and embeds itself in front of her throne, right at her feet.

Her court stared at the offending projectile, mounting indignation spreading across their faces.

Michael made a facial expression that wasn't a fake smile for once, actually gaping at the random light arrow.

Meanwhile, her's eye twitched.

A silver light arrow.

A moonlight arrow.

She takes it back. Anything except this would be fine.

She rose from her throne, taking just a few steps until she reached the offending dirty arrow of light, and wrenched it from the ground.

The silver light dissipates, revealing an antiquated scroll underneath.

Ah. What a way to send a letter. Just like her brother, hmm?

Uncaring that the Archangel is still right there in front of her, she opens it up with a sigh.

Ama

Collect your son already.

That's all it read.

After she read the single-letter signature though, the scroll shifted, its paper turning into a sort of screen or mirror.

Through dirty silver light, she saw the Earth below.

She saw her baby boy down below.

Is thatthe corpse of a monster?

"Get the fuck out." she suddenly hissed, slamming the scroll shut with a thick thwack.

Michael flinched, "Ibeg your pardon?"

"You are not pardoned Archangel. You are being told to leave." she glared balefully at the offending Angel. "I tried being courteous, out of respect for your Father, but you've been running circles around us this whole time. I have more pressing matters to attend to now. So if you aren't willing to be courteous in return, leave."

Michael seemed rather lost for a moment, before straightening his shoulders and giving her a simple smile. "Isee. Very well, Lady Amaterasu. I apologize for the inconvenience then, and I shall be going. Thank you for speaking with me." he gave a cursory glance at her court, standing around her throne. "You all as well. Good day."

And like that, with a golden flash, he vanished just as quickly as he came.

Briefly, she'd wondered if she should have tried blasting the Archangel for recompense. Repayment for wasting everyone's time, specifically, in the form of a specific sword

She knows the Church has it. Her sword. Broken, to boot! And they wouldn't be able to fix it, they simply can't work with Holy Spirit Power.

But she knows someone who can fix it. And she can think of a pair of hands it would be much better suited in than some random Exorcist who hates 'Pagans' and whatever else.

That image from the scroll plays in her mind once again, and she sighs.

He most definitely might need it, especially since he finally awoke to his powers, it would seem.

She waves toward a random member of her court, "You there. Go contact Ame-no-Uzume. Drag her back to Heaven, if you must. I have something for her to do."

The Kami gave an affirmative before running off to do just that.

Uzume can't possibly fuck this up, right?

She's got an exact picture of his location now!

Ama, unfortunately, won't hold her breath. Still, Uzune needs at least a chance to go fix her fuck up.

I'm sorry, Nori. Mama should have done somethingso much sooner.

With a bitter sigh, she left for her room, waving the rest of the court off.

She's had to deal with far too many emotions lately, and she figures things are only going to continue going downhill from here

~ A New Sun ~

Okay. Now I caused most of the damage.

Looking around at my attempts to 'clean up' and only finding a Biblical Hell scorched wasteland, I click my tongue in dissatisfaction.

At least it doesn't smell like acid anymore?

That's a plus! Now it just smells like sulfur!

Ugh. Okay, so this is exactly what I was afraid of when using my powers, specifically, my demigod powers.

All the crimson fire still blazing like the depths of hell? Made on the order of my Holy Spirit Power.

The problem is that once made, the fire didn't act at all like the energy used to make it. So ordering it around? Yeah. Nope. Did nothing.

Which resulted in my fire just kind ofdoing whatever the hell it wanted.

Like burning things. And spreading to burn more things. Who'd of thunk right?

It's weird, when I used my light earlier by channeling it through an object, it worked just fine. Maybe it's a skill issue?

I snort loudly at that.

Wouldn't surprise me at all.

Regardless, I'm probably going to need help from a Kami anyway, which means I'm probably going to have to check off trying to use those powers for a bit.

It sucks, but between all my swordsmanship-related skills, marital arts, breathing techniques, chakra, and eyes still can't get over that I feel as though I've got enough on my training plate.

Not even counting Senjutsu, Eastern Magic which I plan on learning eventually, and my physical condition.

Yeah, I'm definitely going to have to drag Kuroka into my training. Having an actual opponent is sooo much better than waving a stick in the air!

Anyhow. How am I going to put out these fires?

The usual method is dousing it in water, of course.

Can't go with that though, I have no idea where to get enough water to pull that off.

The second method? Suffocate it with something that doesn't burn.

Well, considering everything is on fire right now, I don't think there is something that doesn't burn around at the moment.

Besides, well.

Me.

Needless to say, when the sun finally poked above the horizon, it was beholden to aninteresting scene.

Me, rolling around the ground, using my fire and heat-immune body to cover and suffocate my own fires.

Never let it be said I didn't at least try.

And you know what, it actually kind of worked?

For the smaller ones anyway.

I wasn't large enough to cover the literal trees on fire, unfortunately.

It was in the middle of one of my attempts to put out one of these larger fires that I heard the whirl of a magic circle.

Impeccable timing, kitty.

Her unique purple magic circle blazed with light, moving to deposit said cat girl right in front of where her former shack was located.

"Nyyaaa~..." the big titty kitty was stretching, eyes shut with a dramatic pose, as she appeared.

Of course she planned it like that.

"Oh Nori-kun~! I'm ba-" she stopped suddenly, her jaw left hanging mid-sentence as the smell finally hit her nose.

She slowly opened her eyes and just as slowly, looked around.

Then her eyes found me, rolling around on a particularly large bush that was on fire.

"Nori-kun." she began, dryly. "How?"

I grunt with exertion as I roll, "Some creature found me, and I may have had a tiny problem cleaning up?" I stop rolling, only to give her a pained chuckle and a pleading smile. "Please help."

Kuroka sighed and shook her head, and shot me an amused smile right back, "Where would you be without me, Nori-kun? Nya~!"

With pretentious ease, she waves her hand and makes strange symbols appear and float around her fingers.

Ah, that's Youjutsu, hmm?

The symbols combine, and a purplish-black mist bursts forth, running over the flames like a train and easily smashing them down.

The mist slowly wraps around me, dragging my prone form over to the black cat, who held a glimmer in her eye is that also a tinge of worry there too?

"Nori-kun?" she asks, bringing a finger up to my chin, "I'm assuming that since I don't see a body anywhere, and you're uninjured, you took care of it, nya~?"

In response, I reached up and scratched her ears, drawing a light purr from the cat girl.

"Oi. I can handle myself just fine, you know? Especially since, well" I trail off into a chuckle, before continuing, "guess who's not sick anymore?"

The way she suddenly stilled in my hand was delicious.

"That would be the first thing you think about, huh?" I tact on amused.

To her credit, she does recover quickly, batting her eyelashes 'innocently' at me, "I have no idea what you mean, nya~?"

I snort, "Course you don't." and boop her on the nose, causing her to jump back and squeak.

Ah. Cats.

I get off the cloud of mist holding me up, and eye the spot where her shack was.

With a grimace, I turned back to her and gave her a genuinely remorseful smile. "Sorry about your place. I promise I didn't melt itbut I couldn't save it, either."

Kuroka blinks at me, before grinning slightly, "Don't worry about it, Nori-kun~! I always build em like that just in case, nya!"

Just like your barriers, huh?

I put my hand on my chest and gave a dramatic sigh in relief, "Thank goodnessI thought your fashion sense was about as bad as that barrier you put up"

Kuroka's eyes widen the size of saucers, and puts a hand on her chest, looking legitimately offended, "Eh? What do you mean Nori-kun!? I have perfect fashion sense!" she bats her eyelashes, giving me a little sexy smirk and pose that reveals much more skin than before, "Your eyes and little buddy seem to think so when it comes to my clothes, nya~!"

"Naked implies no sense. You're just hot." I retort dryly and succinctly.

"Gck!" she stumbles back, and whines, "Nori-kun is so meeaann~!"

Paybacks a bitch. Also, that's what you get for calling my 'little' buddy little!

"Also!" she adds on, "My barrier was perfectly fine! It was only meant to mask your scent and aura, that's it! I didn't have much time to put down much else!"

"Don't worry, Kuro-chan!" I add on far too happily, completely ignoring her whines of complaints, or attempt at defending herself, "I'll show you proper fashion when I take you home with me!"

Kuroka stops and stares at me, before resuming her sultry look, "Nya~? Inviting me your home already, Nori-kun~? I" she trails off suddenly, realization slowly dawns on her face, replacing the heat in her eyes, "wait, doesn't that mean- nya!?"

Suddenly, Kuroka found her waist wrapped up in my arms, and her body pulled into a big hug!

"Ah! Kuro-chan~! I'm so proud of you!" I gushed as Kuroka just looked lost, "You finally came to a conclusion that wasn't sexual! Good on you!"

Kuroka blushed at that, "Nya!? Nori-kun! That! Do you have such little faith in me!?"

"Yes."

"Ack!" Kuroka flinched, "Nori-kuuunnn~!"

"Anyways," I soldier on, "I got a bit more of my memory back, so I know where I live now!"

Still, no clue how I ended up where I did, but yes! I remember where I live!

My memories came back just a tad bit faster during the middle of my fight, a neat bit to note.

Not gonna lie, the fact that I live eerily close to Kuoh Town worries me slightly.

Like my place is legit right on the edge.

But we take the good with the bad! And I could use a proper bed for once!

"And I'm taking you with me! No if, ands, ors, or buts allowed!"

"Eh? But, Nor-" Kuroka tries to interject.

"Besides," I carry on, putting my forehead to hers, my voice turning so incredibly soft, "being alone out here sucks, doesn't it? I think you could use a proper bed. And food. And actual company, don't you think?"

I look her straight in the eyes, and I watch as she diverts a very unsure gaze away from my eyes.

"Kuroka." I give her a small smile as her eyes snap back to mine. "I said I'd repay you, and I'm not going to take no for an answer. You know that, right?"

For a moment, Kuroka just states in my defiant and resolute eyes.

After a beat, she gives a tired, worn sigh, and slowly hugs me back.

"You stubborn man" she mumbled, barely audible.

I give her pats on the back, content to just hold the clearly very traumatized cat girl in my arms.

I can't say I'm looking forward to helping sort through and deal with her issues, butwell.

I want to. And I feel predisposed to helping her if that makes sense?

At this point, I can't do nothing. Especially since I practically claimed her at this point, right?

Well. Verbally.

Physically? Soon.

Though, no horny now.

Let's justenjoy the moment.

Say. Is it getting much brighter out, or is it jus-

The sky parts.

Kuroka freezes in my grasp, going ram rock still, as an aura so very similar to my own slams into us.

Dawn's light shines from the Heavens and with it? A figure.

A purple-haired woman, wearing a very revealing kimono of similar color, slowly descends do-

Wait.

Hold up.

This bitch.

Casually, I let Kuroka go and began rummaging around on the ground. Poor kitty looks like a deer caught in the headlights.

She just looks even more confused at my actions.

Meanwhile, she spoke, her voice echoing down from the Heavens, reverberating across the air.

"Ah. Akaruihiruotoko, there you are"

Who? Eh.

"It's been a long time since I've last seen you"

It's been a week and a half.

"But look at how you've grown! Finally, you see the truth of the world. The light."

Mhmm. Right. Ah, here we go.

"And now, I reveal myself to you, in ACK!"

Bam. Bullseye. Rock right to the forehead.

"Uzui!" I shout, "Shut the fuck up and get down here you overdramatic drunk sow!"

"Bwah!?" the kami sputtered, her reverb long gone, hands holding her forehead, "B-But! I! You!"

"Now!" I call over her.

I can feel her mumbling as she floats down, and lands right before us. All flashy lights and shit gone.

Then, she pouts. Puffing out her cheeks and crossing her arms. "Hmph. You ruined my entrance."

I snort. "Okay. And?" I say, "Where the hell have you been? What the hell happened?"

'Uzui' blinked, and slowly looked at me, "...I feel like I'm missing context here."

I sigh, before explaining simply. "I lost my memory of how I got out here. Amnesia. Forgot everything for a little while."

The purple-haired kami stared at me, for a good, long moment.

Then, she curled in on herself, putting her knees to her chest, and sat there.

Rapidly mumbling.

"OhfuckimsoscrewedAmaisgonnakillmehowishestillaliveohfuckohnonono"

Hmm. Yeah. I don't feel like trying to parse all that together.

I give a cursory glance at Kuroka, who just looks more absolutely dumbfounded now than scared.

I give her a smile, and a few head pats, before looking down at the kami having a straight panic attack at my feet.

"Oi." I smack her over the head, causing her to yelp and look at me, holding her head with barely constrained tears in her eyes. "You gonna take us home, or what?" I wave towards myself, and Kuroka.

The kami blinks. "Us?" she parrots back, looking between Kuroka and me. Her eyes widen slightly once she gets a proper look at Kuroka. "But! Nori! She-"

"I don't wanna hear it!" I hiss, causing her to flinch, "Kuroka here actually helped and saved me, unlike a certain someone else, so she's coming back with! Got it?"

"B-But-"

"Got it?" I repeat through a strained smile.

For a second, my 'guardian' kami just kind of sat there, staring up at me.

Then she started to hiccup.

"E-Eh" oh my goodness she's crying. "Nori-kuuun~! Why are you so mean now!? You used to be so soft-spoken! Did awakening your powers put more Ama in you!? Waaahhh!"

Hmm. You know? I think I got another thing from Demon Slayer.

Much like my swordsmanship, my face contorts instinctually, taking on that look Tanjiro had when he first meant Zenitsu.

A look of pure, unrivaled loathing and disgust.

"...and why does that kind of turn me on!?"

I let out an exhausted, tired, sigh.

Fuuucck. My. Life

Chapter 5

My home is located just outside Kuoh Town, technically making it a part of a different, and much larger, territory.

Though sparse in people, it more than makes up for in views, a classic Japanese countryside.

And my place was built to take full advantage of that.

Despite being a traditional Japanese-styled estate, or I suppose compound, what with multiple unused buildings around the main house, it still held plenty of modern amenities.

All insisted upon by my Father, who I inherited the place from.

It shouldn't come as a surprise, then, that besides this house also came an absurd amount of money.

Enough that I'm set for life, one or another.

In the end, it's just one of the many reasons I'm sitting in a kitchen chair, glaring down at a kneeling Uzui Uzume, who refuses to meet my gaze.

This girl is so lucky I don't throw her out right now, she can't even begin to comprehend it.

After she finally stopped crying earlier, she got her shit together enough to teleport us all straight here.

Last I checked on Kuroka, she had claimed my big bed in my room as her own in her Youkai form, that being a black cat with a forked tail.

She was looking forward to some rest after whatever went down with her the past week and a half.

Figured I'd get answers out of her later, so I let her rest, she kind of earned it after all.

Besides, I had other things to do.

Like listening to Uzui, Ugh...Uzume, blubber on for a wholehow long has it been?

3 hours. Fucking hell.

She told me what was up, who she actually is, how I ended up on top of that mountain, the whole works.

A lot to process. Let's start with something simple!

"So. Just to clarify." I suddenly start, keeping my tone decidedly neutral, causing her to perk up, "I applied for Kuoh Academy around 2 or so weeks ago, managed to get in, and you took me out drinking to celebrate. I got smashed on sake made by the Inari Okami so hard, I lost my memories temporarily?"

Uzume slowly nodded.

I whistle, "Damn. And drunk me challenged you to a drinking contest that left you so smashed, you didn't wake for a few days?"

Uzume nodded once more, even slower, and a bit shamefully.

"Well shit." I snorted, "Drunk me sounds hardcore"

"I know right!?" Uzume suddenly popped up, "I tried to tell Ama that! But sheAh." her eyes met my glare, and she slowly shrunk back down, "Sorry"

I huff, leaning back in my chair.

My memories haven't fully come back yet, but I get the feeling everything she's told me is true.

Which, if it is, I have to wonder

Why in the hell would I want to go to Kuoh when I'm rich?

The answer supplied itself quickly enough, just based on the sheer uneventful and lonely childhood I had.

Friends. That's it.

From what I can gather, I was already ousted from the schools I normally went to due to my antisocial nature and 'strange' hobbies.

Although Japan has an entire section of dance and theater purely for males, I guess it was still niche enough that I wasn't a part of the collective.

Fucking Japanese schooling system.

Regardless, I think I saw Kuoh as a chance to 'start over' that part of my life, the idea of it being a former all-girls school likely helping to push that idea along.

Though, with what I know now about the school now, do I really want or need to go there?

Hmm. I don't know? Maybe I should ask the fucking stack of letters from the school, sitting on the kitchen table behind me.

One is from the School Headmaster, sending me my school supplies list and time to pick up my uniform.

The rest? All from one Souna Shitori, the current Vice President of the Kuoh Academy Student Council, all of which I assume to be about me missing said time.

At least that nugget of info told me where I am in the timeline. Just before Rias and Sona's third year, a few months before Ray Ray shanks Issei with a light shiv, to be precise. I was meant to be joining them that year, but now?

I'm not sure.

Ugh. Fuck it. I'll come back to that mess later.

First, though.

"What am I going to do with you, Uzume?" I sigh, and she flinches. "Look. I'll be frank. You ruined my childhood, or what I can remember of it so far. You weren't so much of a guardian as you were the reason I taught myself to cook, clean, and take care of myself. " I watch as her eyes widen like saucers, and quiver a little.

"On one end? I'm fairly self-sufficient now. On the other?" I snort derisively, "I couldn't interact with people because I didn't know how, and on top of that, my hobbies were 'weird', and thus I had no social life. I was alone" I trail off, tiredly.

Honestly? When it comes to Uzume? At this point, I'm not even mad anymore.

Just tired, and a little annoyed.

My inherited memories from my old life flushed out my social inexperience, so really? I'm mostly fine now.

Though it might honestly be better to say I just don't care about any of that anymore.

I jerk from my thoughts as something soft impacts my legs and wraps around them.

Looking down, I found the purple-haired kami wrapped around my legs, snuggling them, tears rolling down her face.

"I-I'm sorry, Noriaki-san~!" I raise my eyebrow at the honorific, but otherwise, just watch as she goes on, "I-I didn't mean to do anything like that! I! I just!"

"Suck at raising kids?" I try.

"Yeah! That!" she nods frantically in agreement.

Well. It's nice to know she wasn't intentionally malicious. Still

"Doesn't change the fact that you tried and failed." I nail in.

She just looks down in shame, "I-I knowI" she bites her lip. "I want to make it up to you."

Oh?

"Really, now?" I mumble dryly, "And how do you plan on doing that?"

If you say anything related to serving me, especially sexually, I swear-

She stands up and drops her kimono to the floor, a blush spreading across her face as she does.

Son of a bitch. Fucking DxD, man.

"Ican't bring back the time I lost you in your life. But, maybe I can help make the rest of your life less lonely, and more pleasurable~?" she murmurs, with just enough hotness to it to make me shiver.

"Are youbasically offering to become my maid? For the rest of my life?" I very clearly meet her eyes, and continue the contact, making damn sure not to check her out.

She giggles, and slowly kneels before me once more, her hands traveling up the length of my legs, rubbing them softly. "Concubine works tooso does slave, if you're into that? Whatever you want me to be, I'll do it, just say the word~...?"

I click my tongue, and despite myself, I find my pants getting rapidly tighter and tighter.

Needing to buy time to think, I pull from my knowledge of Shinto Mythology and throw one last thing at her.

"Aren't you married, though?" I breathe out through gritted teeth.

She smiles up at me, "Ah? That man? He has a harem, and he's agreed to let me be a bit morefree, because of that." she chuckled suddenly, "I'm also Ama, your mother's, consortfuck buddymaidbasically what I just offered to be for you?" she stops for a second, and blinks.

"You know, sheshe trusted me with youand I" she grimaced, I could see the pained and guilt-ridden expression breaking through on her face being smashed back by a quickly growing sultry one.

"I want to make it up to you~...before she can tell me what to do, I want to take that responsibility into my own hands~..." she looks me right in the eyes, finally, "Please~?"

You know?

I'm not a man to be led around by my dick. I have more pride than that.

But Kuroka has made me around a week and a half backed up.

And Uzume, despite being an actual trash guardian, is hot.

As a Goddess, it's only natural.

I want to fuck her. I'll admit that. Anyone saying they could be the 'bigger man' and not be even the slightest bit tempted has the testosterone levels of a fucking tree branch.

But I want to punish her, as well.

If I bend her over the kitchen table and fuck her silly, that doesn't feel like a punishment, as presumably, she likes sex.

Sure, I'd get to fill her womb with my seed, and it'd feel hella good. But that's all it would be.

The pettiness inside me demands justice. Some kind of justice. Justice that only I dispense, not my mother.

I want to fuck her, sure.

But I have a really hot cat girl that deserves my seed more upstairs.

That doesn't mean I can't fuck with her, first.

I suddenly stand up, causing Uzume to yelp and fall back in surprise.

In the next moment, just as she had done just a bit ago, I dropped my clothes, or what was left of them after my fight over the night.

My member, so close to fully erect it might as well be, slaps her right in the face.

"Ahh~!?" she flinches at the strike, half surprised, half incredulous. Then she takes a look at my rod and stares. "Big~..." she gasps hotly, and I see the moment sheer lust fully enters her eyes.

I roughly grab her hair, lifting her back up to her feet.

She whines as I do, but gives an even greater moan when I reach around to deliver a meaty spank upon her reer.

"Fine, I accept." I mutter huskily, straight into her ear, grinning darkly as I feel her shiver at my voice.

I promptly sit back down once more, bringing her upper body down atop my lower, so my cock is once again right in front of her face.

"Your first task~? Get me ready~." I don't even need to say more, the sheer lust flowing from my voice is all the explanation she needs.

"As you command, Goshujin-sama~..." she moans out, I shiver slightly at her addressing me as 'Master', and watch as she wraps her hands around her breasts and brings them around to envelope the whole of my manhood in soft bouncy flesh.

I grunt, as she slowly begins bouncing her bust on my rod, slowly at first, but very quickly picking up speed as she gets used to my length.

She stares into my eyes, filled with desire, as she sticks out her tongue and begins gently lapping at my exposed tip.

"Mmm~..." I grunt lowly, "I should have had you do this years ago~..." I brush strands of hair outs her eyes, as she shoots a sultry smile up at me.

"I wish you did~..." she replies hotly back, "I could have started serving my sentence sooner~..." with that, she goes back down on my wood, enveloping the tip within her lips.

I groan slightly longer, as I feel her tongue twirl around my tip, with my shaft being massaged by her bouncing bust in turn.

It almost makes me cum on the spot.

Almost.

"Well~" I mumble darkly, "there's always the present~..." I sat up, though not enough to dislodge Usume from her work. "Dorei-chan~..." I feel her shiver at me basically calling her a sex slave. "Be a dear for me and go bend over that table over there for me, alright~?" I wave to the table in question.

"H~Hai, Goshujin-sama~..." she gets off my manhood, reluctantly, I can tell, and walks over to do exactly that.

She puts her hands on the table and bends over with an arch to her back.

As I approach, she gives her plump ass a nice little shake. "T~This~...Dorei~," she quivers with a lewd smile at calling herself that, "is here for Goshujin-sama's pleasure~..."

Good god, you have no idea how much that makes me want to fuck you into the ground.

But! I'm not here to please you, my sweet little Dorei-chan ~...

When I approach her, I slap her straight across the ass, "Only for your Goshujin-sama~?"

She moans and nods eagerly. "Y~Yes~! Only for you~! From now on~!"

Good.

With that, I don't hit my entire length inside of her, like every fiber of my male hormones is telling me to do, instead, I jam three of my largest and longest fingers inside of her.

All at once.

Not the same as my nice large dick, but well

"Ahhnnmmm~!" I feel her quiver around my fingers as she moans, loudly, grasping for breath.

Which I don't give her, as I start moving. Rapidly.

I twist and spin my fingers around inside her with each push deep into her folds, not aiming for quality, but sheer overwhelming stimulation.

"W~Wait~! Maahh~! Goshujin-sama~!" another push in, another breathless gasp and moan, "M~Maaahh~! P~Pleaase~! I can't, hnnghh~!" again, "H~Hahh~! Staahpp~!" again, "Noriaki Goshujin-sama~!" and again, and so on.

I only stop, just as I start to feel her folds tighten, the start of a tension building for her climax.

And I don't just stop, I rip it away.

Pulling my fingers out quickly as soon as I feel it start to take hold, I let her gasp out a shocked moan as my fingers leave her entrance and watch amused as she slowly slides down and slumps to the floor.

She heaves out quivering gasps for air, her body shaking in I realized release.

"Y~YouYouGoshujin-samaw-why?" she whines out, and I answer fairly simply.

By walking up to her, grabbing her hair, and putting her face right up against my throbbing hot rod.

I smile darkly, watching as she breathes hotly against my shaft, nearly forgetting about her denied climax.

Until I remind her.

"Because you don't deserve this yet." I pulled her head harder against my shaft, "This shall be your punishment, my beautiful little Dorei~!" I feel her shiver, likely in both pleasure and horror as she slowly realizes what I'm saying.

"I won't take you~...my cock won't part your walls, and I won't fill your womb with my seed~..." her eyes slowly start to widen up at me, "Oh sure, I may use your tits or mouth for my release~, but don't expect me to bring you to release myself~!" I chuckle deeply and boop her on the nose, before suddenly pulling back, leaving her to drop to the floor completely with a whining yelp.

"Iy~you~! Noriaki~! That's cruel!" she whines.

"It's Goshujin-sama to you, remember?" she shivers at just how softly I say that, "Don't worry! It's not like I won't ever give a try at breeding you!" she shivers even more at how casually I state that, "Let's seeprepare for, maybe in another 2 decades or so?"

I smirk evilly, as her eyes widen to sheer comical levels, "For every year you took from me, I'll deny you release." I lay out plainly. "Now, I won't stop you from achieving release yourself, but let's be real here~..." I put a lone finger under her chin, and lift her head slightly as I look down in her eyes. "...it just won't be the same, will it?"

And with that, I remove my finger and start walking away.

Uzume just stares at my back, dumbly for a second.

"W~Wait!" she suddenly calls out, "What are you d~doing~!?"

I don't turn back to her, or even stop. "Going to pay a certain kitty who deserves something far more than you do! Feel free to watch, just make sure not to get yourself caught, hmm~?"

My smirk widens into a grin as I hear her choked confused gasp turn into a whining sputter forsomething or other, I stopped paying attention.

Ah...this is going to be fun~!

~ A New Sun ~

I enter my room, to find a very familiar sight greeting me on my bed.

One very naked black cat, laying on her back, with one hand behind her head and body sprawled out.

Despite the deadpan she sent me the moment I walked in, she was already blushing.

It got worse once she saw I was as naked as the day I was born.

"I thought you had forgotten about me up here," she mumbles softly, her eyes seeming unable to move off my manhood, "you two weren't exactly quiet down there, you know~? Nya~!?"

She yelped when I dived onto the bed next to her.

Ah. Big bed.

I casually wrap an arm around my kitty, pulling her soft nude body against my bare side.

Perfect.

"Ah? You mean with Uzume?" I feel her eyes suddenly widen against me.

Oh yeah, she wasn't there for the ted talk, huh?

"Yeah, that Uzume." I grumble, "I'llexplain everything to you tomorrow. For now, just know that she's my maid from now on and that I didn't fuck herquite the opposite in fact."

Kuroda blinked. "Eh? Then those noises downstairs?"

I chuckle, giving her a devilish smirk. "Punishment. I fingered her to the edge, then pulled out. Came up here to do you instead, and she won't be feeling anything inside her for a little under two decades"

Kuroka blanched at that, "That'sNori-kun, that's cruel, nya~..."

Then why are you shivering and holding onto me tighter, huh?

"Hmm. You seem to be into that, though~?" suddenly, I turn, pushing her onto her back, with me right on top of her.

My hand comes down, right next to her head, and I stare down into her eyes.

"Maybe~...I should give you the same treatment, hmm~?" I mumbled deeply.

"Nya~!? That's not what I! Nori-kun~! It's cold! You're warm~!" she stifles a gasp, subduing her whining as she feels my other hand travel down her stomach, to her thighs, before finding her somewhat wet entrance.

"Right~," I huff out, amused, "like you weren't keeping yourself warm before I got here~..."

I slowly trace the boundaries of her entrance, staring her deep in the eyes as I do, watching with mirth as the lust and desire slowly builds up with them.

"You know," I hum out nonchalantly, "I don't have any condoms~..."

Kuroka hisses a bit at that, "So~!? I want kittens, nya~!"

I chuckle, going down to place small kisses at her neck and collar, smiling at every shiver and poorly kept mewl and soft moan she lets out, before slowly going up to her ear and whispering.

"You and I both aren't ready to be parents yet, you know that" I trail off, leaving the mention of our obvious unresolved personal issues unspoken.

Also, the fact that lust does not make a relationship.

If I'm gonna be a Daddy, I sure as hell am going to be there to raise my kids, and I'd like to love my kid's mother and have a proper relationship beyond just sex.

After a beat, I feel Kuroka wrap her arms around my head and sigh.

"I know," she whines sadly, "but being a Devilwell, let's just say it might take a while, alright~? We have extremely low fertility~..."

I chuckle, causing her to look at me slightly in confusion.

"Then, how about we call this" I whisper huskily, directly into her ear, "breeding training~..."

She stills the moment the words leave my mouth, letting out a low, hot moan shortly after

As my longest finger, my middle finger, finds purchase and enters her tight folds.

"Don't worry, though~..." I continue through a small smile, "as I am a most generous trainer, and this is your first sessionI'll make sure you're ready for me~..." Kuroka gives a near-sputtering lewd gasp as I lay a gentle lick across her ear, and begin to slowly and steadily finger her quivering quim.

"And, don't worry~!" I say just as cheerfully as lustfully, "I'll be gentle." I lie. Straight through my teeth.

The way her folds suddenly tighten around my finger, and the way her eyes light up with sheer desire makes me think she enjoys that idea.

Without further adieu, I quickly increase the pace of my fingering.

Okay. I'll be truthful. I'm finger fucking her if the way my hand slams against her entrance with loud wet slapping sounds.

"N~Nya~!? Nori-kun~!" she whines and moans, "Don't~! You~! Nnnghhh~!"

I shut her up, by stretching her out further, having another of my fingers join the first in getting her nice and ready.

I hum as I do this, almost casually, smiling down lustfully at her as I go.

"You know~?" I suddenly began. "You can help me out too~!"

"N~Nyahh~!? How~...?" she moans in a lust-filled daze.

My smile widens. "Beg~." I answer simply, succinctly, and huskily.

My smile becomes a grin as her eyes widen, and she loudly mewls lewdly, and dare I say, a tad bashfully?

"Beg for me to fuck you. Beg for me to do what no other man will do, and fill you up with my seed. Beg, and know I will do it when you ask~..."

I saw the moment, the moment sheer burning lust and desire enveloped and ignited in her eyes.

She pulls me down, so her mouth can easily go up to my ear.

Her next words were almost slurred with desire, the sheer heat coming off her breath made me shiver.

"N~Nori~kun~! P~Please fuck me~! I~I've been waiting for so long~! Please~ nya~!?"

I smile.

Yeah. I think she's ready now.

In the next moment, I move, pulling my fingers from her desperate folds and moving to place the tip of my member right up against her entrance.

I move forwards, my own legs pushing hers up into the air before settling back down over mine.

Mating Press.

I smirk down at Kuroka, whose body trembles, eyes filled with anticipation.

"P~Please, n~nya~?" Is all she says, with a lewd mewl tacked on right at the end.

I slam down into her, my rod easily sliding into her soaked passage, bottoming out into her shortly after.

"N~NYAHHH~!" my cat girl screams out in pleasure, and her insides mirror the action by locking my shaft in a vice grip, causing me to give a pleased low groan.

After a second or two of letting her adjust to the pleasure thrumming through her veins, I start moving again.

Not slowly, no. Just as 'promised' I started being the opposite of gentle.

I started pounding into her, roughly slamming down into her eager folds, causing the bed to harshly shake, over and over and over again.

"Ngghhyaahh~! Nori~! Ghhaa~! Kun~! Maaahhh~!"

Besides her desperate, heat-filled moans, the only other sounds to fill my room were the rough sounds of flesh slapping together and my poor bed ready to fall apart.

Looking down at her face now? With her mouth wide open, her tongue hanging out, and the literal hentai hearts in her eyes.

Only made me go harder.

"MMNNNGHH~!" suddenly, her arms and legs wrapped around my body held me tight.

Her walls clamped down on my shaft, and I nearly came with her as her climax exploded.

Her entire body started vibrating and shaking profusely, as the hottest, lewdest moan I ever heard went right into my ear.

"Nyyaaahhh~...N~Nori~, kun~..."

I shiver and let out a deep groan, "Fucking hell, Kuroka~..."

"Nya~!" she gives me a dazed, sultry cheshire grin, and goes up to slowly lick my neck. "Where's my seed, Nori~kun~...I want it~...give it all to me~..."

Say no more.

I promptly continue right where I left off, pistoning into her, but this time with a different goal in mind.

Filling her up.

"NYAAAHH~!? That's it~! Right there~! Mmmmm~! Fill up your pet~! Fill her up~!" she begs and moans, straight into my ear.

I pin her down on the bed, pushing her into the mattress as I hilt myself completely inside her, and gave her everything she begged for.

She clings onto me, giving a loud lewd cry in time with the several long seconds it took for me to empty every drop of seed I had deep inside of her.

"A~Aaahhn~...Nori~kun~..." she gives my neck and chest several lewd kisses and small licks, seemingly in a pleasure-filled daze.

"F~Fuck~..." I huff out. "Kuroka~?

She just continues kissing and licking my chest and neck, hell, she's purring now? And rubbing up against me?

Admittedly, it does feel good. But

"Kuroka~...Pet." I say a little more sternly, smiling with glee as she perks up.

"Nori~kun~? Nya~?" she slurs, looking up at me and tilting her head to the side.

I look her right back in the eyes.

My next words cause her to still entirely.

"I'm not done with you yet," I grumble huskily, "let's flip you over, on your stomach, hmm~?"

I sit up, pulling her up by her shoulders as I go, her eyes glazed over with lust, yet mounting with confusion rapidly.

It's only when I actually flip her over onto her stomach does she give a somewhat coherent, yet confused mewl.

"H-How are you still- NYA~!?"

I cut her off, by putting my still very hard member right between her cheeks.

As it would turn out, breathing techniques that energize my entire body with oxygen gets the blood flowing.

Everywhere.

Not too sure if I have any seed left in the tank, but there's only one way to find out, right?

"Y~You~...? Nori~kun~! Answer me-"

My answer comes in the form of me pushing down and into her still very wet folds!

"NYAH~!? W~Wait~! Nori~kun~! Not like that~! I'm still not~! Maaahh~!"

What was it that I said I was going to do to her way back when we first meant, hmm?

It had something to do with fucking her senseless, making her stop thinking about dragons, all that jazz, right?

Time to make full due on that promise.

~ A New Sun ~

Several hours later, it's now the middle of the night.

I walk now down a small path on my estate, heading towards a particular building that, from my memories so far, shouldn't exist.

Only reason I saw it was because, after our sex-a-thon, I decided to take a nice long look out my window and noticed it.

Ah! By the way, I left Kuroka in a sex coma in my bed. Fun times.

Didn't get to try everything on her, and it turns out that although I can keep a rock solid hard-on basically forever, my sperm bank is indeed limited.

Sadge.

Even during our breaks - she did have to eat after all - I played with her, teased her.

Me thinks she's learned her lesson about being a little tease, but my rational mind calls bullshit on that.

We'll see about that.

Anyhow, a strange building that just seemed to haveappeared, on my estate. What's up with that, hmm?

Taking the path that avoids the moonlight the most makes this little trip take longer.

Ughthat's another thing I need to look into, huh? This almost built-in hatred for the moon and night.

I don't like being predisposed to bullshit like this. I'll have to ask my mother about that when I get the chance.

Regardless, I made it to the building, a large rectangular building built in the same style as the other buildings amidst the estate, traditional Japanese.

As soon as I approach the sliding door, I feel something likemy entire body passing through a soap bubble? Or maybe a liquid plastic film?

I blink. A barrier of some kind? Is that why I couldn't see it before?

What changed then? Is it because I now have powers?

I shake off those thoughts for now. Just another thing to check in later about. Another thing added to my plate of bullshit I needed to sort through.

With that joyous thought in my head, I pulled open the door.

To reveala dojo?

Sheathed in darkness, lit only by candles this late at night, huh? Still, it looks rather nice

I still, my blood turning ice cold as a thought breaks into my mind.

Who the hell lit all these candles?

"Ah, Goshujin-sama!" Oh for fucks sake. I recognize that voice.

I turn, finding Uzume standing there holding a lit candle, the politest smile on her face I've ever seen.

She'salso wearing a maid outfit.

Nice.

Still. Kind of ruins the whole mood this place gives though, doesn't it?

"Ah, Uzui-chan!" I clap and smile right back, relishing in the confused blink she gave me at my impromptu name switch. "You have fun earlier today?"

Her polite smile twitches.

My smile turns into a smirk.

According to Kuroka, she was watching but had tapped out at one point or another.

Poor girl. At least she didn't leave any trace of a mess around?

Good maid! I'll give her head pats later as a reward!

Ah, shit. Okay, Nori! You're doing it again! Focus! On secret dojo! For now!

I cough into my hand, my smirk dropping as I look about the place.

"So," I start, a tad awkwardly, "what's up with this place?"

Uzume blinks at my awful attempt to change the conversation but takes it regardless.

"This is a Dojo your Father had built so he could train in peace," she explains, whilst walking to place another candle down, "you're here because you never saw this place before, correct?" I nod, and she continues.

"Your Father had a few of his friends from the Bureau of Onmyo put up barriers around the place, to hide it from the mundane world. Now that you have powers, well..." She waves nonchalantly around the place.

Okay. The only bit I got was the first and last bit.

I don't know much of anything about my Dad. Only his name, Kunihito, and that only came from a very drunk Uzume talking about how much she misses him.

Besides that? I got nothing. So, he was a fighter of some kind? Had connections to some Bureau?

"You lost me." I outright state, causing her to flinch and look directly at me. "I mean, why did Dad need any of this? And a Bureau? Like, you never told me anything about him, so I don't" I trail off, my eyes slowly widening, as I look at Uzume.

Quietly crying, tears gently streaming down her face, as she stares at me with this dreadful expression across her face.

It's like someone mixed grief, horror, guilt, bitterness, and anger in a pot, and drank the whole damn thing in one gulp.

"Uzume?" I step towards her, raising a hand, "Are you okay?"

She nods shakily, "I" she takes a labored breath, and shoo's my hand away when it gets close, "No. No I'm not actually." she states through gritted teeth, "I had forgotten that, you didn't reallyknow anything about your Dad."

Tears still streaming down her face, she glances up towards the sky. "Fuck it. Ama can't hear us now, anyways. You deserve to know."

I blink at that. "Huh?"

Before I could ask for more, she turns and walks away.

"Follow along, Akaruihiruotoko." she more so orders, then asks.

"That name again, huh?" I mumble, seeing the moment for how serious it was, I follow along behind her without a complaint.

As she leads me through the long wooden halls around the Dojo, she suddenly begins.

"You have three names, Akaruihiruotoko, the Kami name Ama picked for you. Norihito, the human name your Father picked for you, and" she chuckles good-naturedly, "Noriaki, the compromise name I came up with when your parents couldn't decide!"

"Don't theyall just mean variations of the same thing, though?" I ask, confused.

"Yup!" Uzume agrees, amused. "It'sa tad bit complicated, but let's just say that neither of your parents wanted what the other wanted for your life," she shakes her head, "let's not go into that, though, for now. I want to tell you about your father."

Eventually, we make it to a wide-open indoor space, shaped like a long rectangle.

At the very end of the space? A katana stand, holding, wella katana!

Specifically, an odachi, a larger variant of the katana. With a red hilt, wrapped in soft black cloth, and a dark golden guard.

And in front of it? A small picture frame, holding the visage of a man

Dad?

I didn't realize I had walked straight up to the stand and picture until I was already in front of it.

The man in the picturedidn't look much like me, I'll admit. I think I got basically everything from my mother.

Uzume, who stood off to the side of it, smiled slightly as I kneeled before it.

Regardless, it is still my father. Shame I don't have any incense around to light.

"I won't give your father's entire life story," she began, "you've been hit with enough new stuff lately already, and it's not like I won't have plenty of time now to tell you more later."

She waves toward the weapon. "This Odachi, it was a gift from your mother to your father when they first met." I trace a finger down the charcoal-black blade, absolutely mesmerized, and yet... "It's made of Hihiirokane, Brilliant Scarlet Metal straight from Heaven. Ama made it herself for him"

"So why is it black, then?" I suddenly ask.

"Huh?" Uzume looks at me.

"It's" I frown, "not supposed to be, right? I can feel it, the sword feelsdead?"

It's the strangest thing. It feels like something crucial is missing here

Uzume smiles sadly, "Iof course you could tell."

She walks over and places a hand on my shoulder, "When your father fell, the blade turned black, because, Amawell" her grip tightens slowly, I can feel her trembling through her hand, "she didn't take it well."

I take a slow, measured breath, "How did he die?"

Uzume gulps and huffs a sigh.

On her hand, I can see it, inklings of an orangish dawn-like light, sputtering off her.

But I can also feel it. For the first time, another's Holy Spirit Power, as hers throbs out in irritation.

Compared to mine? I feel like a puddle next to an ocean.

"Some context, Noriyour Dad was on a one-man mission," Uzume began, "to expel all the 'Darkness' from Japan, as he liked to put it. He left behind his family, his responsibilities, his inheritance to do so."

Uzume gave a choked sigh. "Devils. Fallen. Yokai. Their strays. He hunted them all. With the Five Principles Clans too busy fighting amongst themselves, and the Yokai Factions not having much sway outside their territories, Japan was, and still isw-well."

Slowly, Uzume came down to her knees, wrapping her arms around my neck.

"It's not great Nori. But, at least it's not America? Yeah? Hah" she gave a sad chuckle, and I got a small smile out of that, though for reasons even she couldn't have suspected.

She snuggled into my back, mumbling as she continued listlessly. "HeH-He always told us he'd die out there. Fighting. Ama gave him the sword so maybe he wouldn't but, in the end? He was right."

The sound of sad, slowed-down party music wafted into my ears as her holy spirit powers flexed a bit.

"They ganged up on him. The Fallen and Devils. Ambushed him." she dug her head into my back. "Ama smote the entire block once she felt his soul cross. Ashed a whole Grigori cell, and Devil Peerage."

Uzume gave a long, tired chuckle. "Ah, the meetings afterward? Fun. But I won't bore you with those details, Noriaki."

A beat of silence passed, and I just sat there, processing all ofthat.

"Nori-kun." Uzume suddenly spoke, causing me to look slightly back at her, seeing her still crying softly. "The sword is yours now. And," her arms tighten around me, "I'm sorry, after he died, Ama forbade me from talking about him. And I just" slowly, she trails off into soft sputtered sobs.

As the night ticked ever onwards, I sat there in silence, letting Uzume cry it out behind me.

In my hands, I hold a perfectly sized Odachi for my fighting style, preferences, and tastes.

And yet.

The blade couldn't feel more empty.

Just like me.

Interlude 1

Before Amaterasu, Uzume kneeled, face completely flushed and unable to meet her eyes.

She just explained, well, everything. Right up to, all thecopious amounts of sex Nori is giving to that cat devil.

Slowly, Amaterasu closed the manga volume she was reading and set it gingerly on her room's nearest table.

"So," she began, tone dull and neutral, "that's all then?"

Uzume slowly nodded meekly.

Then waited to be blasted into pieces.

And waited. And waited

And wait. Is that giggling?

"Snnnnrrrkk!" Ama suddenly flung her head back, a loud poorly restrained chortle spurting forth, "Damn, he played you, huh?"

Uzume sank even further down, her face flushing a deeper red hard.

When she left, he and the cat were still going at it, and she, well

She doesn't wanna think or talk about that anymore!

Ama nods sagely, "Yeah, that about serves you right," casually, she puts one leg over the other, and looks down at Uzume amused, "and honestly? That's practically the same punishment I was gonna hit you with when you got back, anyways."

Uzume blinks, and finally looks up at her, "R-Really?" she stutters, dumbfounded.

Ama hums in confirmation, "Although, honestly, Uzume" she closes her eyes, her amused smile slowly turning into an annoyed frown, "I didn't think you fucked up quite that badly."

"A-Ama. I"

"No," she didn't even raise her voice to interject, "I don't wanna hear it. But you have something you need to hear." with a huff, Ama continued.

"Do you know why I put you in charge of him in the first place?"

Uzume blinked at that and just stared.

After a moment, Ama sighed.

"I mean. It doesn't make sense at first glance, right?" Ama chuckled slowly, "Goddess of Revelry, raising a child? Doesn't make much sense. But, I wanted you to do it because it could only be you, Uzume."

Ama stands up, walks over to Uzume, and gently puts a hand under her chin, "When Susan drove me into my cave, you dragged me out. When my marriage to him fell apart, you were there" a sad, nigh fragile little smile appeared on the Sun Goddesses face, and Uzume's heart cracked, "since the beginning, you were there, always there. When Nori was born? Hell, you helped make him, Uzu!"

Ama fell to her knees, right in front of Uzume, putting their foreheads together, the two looked straight into each other's eyes.

"And after Kuni died, and I nearly flash fried that Leviathan bitch, her whole Peerage, and that degenerate crow and his cronies when they came flying over demanding shit, who was there?" she asked, softly, so softly.

"II was" Uzume answered quietly, tears budding on the sides of her eyes.

"That's right," Ama confirmed with a smile, "You were. Not my fucking court. I had my aids and advisers telling me to prostrate myself before them like I was in the wrong." she sneered, full of contempt and malice, "Tenjin. Omoi. All of them. Cowards scared of the watermelon and strawberry devils!"

She shook her head slowly as Uzume reached up and slowly wrapped her arms around her.

"You were the only one who made some sense, thenand it was after that, Uzume that I knew it could only be you," she said pointedly, "not my dumb as fuck court, who would mold him into the perfect pawn while I'm not looking, not his fathers, they'd do the same but mundane."

Ama took a shaky breath, "The Earthly Kami were all far too busy to take care of a child, none of the other Heavenly Kami would ever descend, and Nori would have died as a baby if brought here." Ama grabbed and held Uzume tightly on either side of the face.

"Only you can walk freely between Heaven and Earth, Uzu. Only you I trusted enough to even think of watching him. And yeah, ever since the war you've been a bit put out! But, I thoughtwell" Ama slowly looked away, tears forming in her eyes, "you loved him too, didn't you?"

"I do!" Uzume cried out, latching onto Ama's waist tightly, "Of course I do! I still do! Kuni and Nori both! I just! I!"

"Then why, Uzume?" Ama asked harshly, her gaze snapping back to her, "Why? It's not hard to pick up a parenting book! Hell, you saw me raise my other sons and daughter! What changed!?"

"I" Uzume shivered, slowly looking away from her, as tears broke from her eyes.

During the Great War, Uzume died.

Luckily, it didn't take long for her to revive.

But, that void, where dead Gods go to sleep. She sawthings.

Things that keep her up at night. Things that make her stop wanting to think.

Machines and flesh things, duking it out on thousands of stars. World's consumed by parasites like Devils, but thousands of times worse.

The Old Gods sat there. Watching her. Enjoying her suffering. They wanted her to stay, be their new playmate.

The only thing that kept her sane and able to come home was the thought of seeing light again. Ama's light.

When she came back, the only thing that could keep her from slipping back into that spiral was drinking, partying, and doing literally anything else.

How is she supposed to tell Ama any of that? What she saw? When just thinking about it cracks her min

Light envelopes her.

And she's at peace.

"Uzume?" Ama's now staring at her, concerned, her pupils like magatama whirling around her eyes as the area is bathed in flaming light.

Purifying white flames.

"Beautiful." Uzume muttered breathily, as she waved her hands through the purifying flames, and grabbed hold of Ama, refusing to let go.

Ama blushed slightly and wiped the tears from her eyes, "Now's not the time for that, Uzu. No flirting."

"Not flirting," Uzume states dazedly, "just stating the truth!"

Ama blinks, before slowly patting Uzume on the back with a small smile.

Then she sighed, remembering what was supposed to be going down.

"Regardless, Ame-no-Uzume," Uzume froze at the announcement of her full name, "the punishment my son set for you stands. Go. Pack your things and head down, you will stay with him. Answer his will absolutely. And as for you being his Guardian? No more," she announces, "I'm going to call in a favor. She's fairly busy already, but he's old enough now that he doesn't need a babysitter, just someone to check in once in a while."

Uzume slowly, reluctantly, let her go. "II understand, of course, Ama" she slowly trails off, looking away once more. "I'm sorry." she mutters, brokenly, tiredly, "I'm so so sorry" and with that, she curtly gets up, and walks away quickly.

Ama just stood there, watching her go, her eyes slowly shifting back to normal.

"I know." Ama mutters, quietly, "Me too. To you and Nori" she slowly sits down, now mumbling, "I don't know what's going on with you"

She thought that maybe, just maybe, giving Uzume this job would help break her out ofwhatever all that was, earlier.

Help her get out of this funk she's been in since the Great War.

But it looks like it wasn't to be.

She slowly leans back in her chair, staring dead up at the ceiling, "And Nori? WellI'm preparing myself for the worst when we finally meet."

He was born into such a broken family, after all.

And in the end? It's all her fault.

Chapter 6

The ending of last night kind of sucked, not going to lie.

Which is why I prefer this morning, so much more.

"UGHH!" My crumbled body slams into the top of my new dojo, and sticks there for a second, before slowly falling back down and hitting the ground with an echoing thump.

Even if it involves me being trashed in a fight with the cat girl I just fucked silly yesterday.

"Nyaaa~..." Kuroka yawned and stretched, before walking over to poke my prone form, "Eh? Nori-kun~? You still alive? It's only been a few minutes! I thought you said you wanted to test your new sword, nya?"

I slowly look up at her.

"I lied," I revealed, unsurprisingly, she didn't seem phased by that, "I just wanted to get beat up because last night after sex sucked."

"Ho?" she plops down right in front of me, "I knew that first bit, althoughnot the why," she pauses for a beat, "What happened, nya?"

I roll onto my back, and groan, "Juststuff about my dad." I grumble out, and at Kuroka's head tilt, I continue, "He died before I was born, of course, I just found out why. A bunch of Devils and Fallen ambushed him, it made my mom forbid Uzume from ever talking about him, for some reason? Grief, maybe."

I huff, holding the charcoal-black Odachi up in front of me.

"This sword was his, Uzume gave it to me last night. And I just" I trailed off.

"Don't know where to start?" Kuroka offered, and I turned my eyes back to her. "About the Fallen and Devils? I mean, they did kill your dad"

"That's the thing, though?" I chuckle, softly. "I don't particularly feel anything regarding them. Not anger, not sadness."

I shake my head, "Mom already killed his killers, and I'm not gonna go blame an entire race for the actions of a few." I reach up, and pat her head in reassurance a few times, getting happy mewls from her as I do.

Who the hell am I? Akeno? Snnnrrk! Right.

"It's like," I huff, sitting up and turning to face her, "I never knew my dad. Never met him. Never held any attachment to him. I always knew he was dead, so when I heard how he died" I pat my chest, and sigh, "Nothing. Not even a damn tear."

Kuroka's eyes widened, slightly, "Really, nya? That's"

I snort. "I know right? A tad heartless?"

Kuroka shook her head, "No no! I doubt you're heartless, you feel bad about not feeling bad, right?"

I nod, "Well, yeah?"

Kuroka nods right back, looking far too pleased with herself, "Then you aren't heartless, nya~!

I stare at her, blankly.

Cats. Almost forgot.

"I'm fairly certain it's more nuanced than that, though?" I replied unsurely.

It can't be that simple, right? Am I overthinking things because I've got too much shit to do right now?

Kuroka seems to think so, seeing as she's nodding rapidly.

"You know what I think, Nori-kun~?" she jumps on me, all of a sudden, wrapping me up in a nice big hug. "You saw Uzume-san crying, heard about how your mother reacted to his death, and feel like you should have some sort of reaction, but you don't, because you're right, you know?"

She puts her forehead right against my forehead, "You didn't know him. Why would you act like you did, feel like you did, otherwise?"

I blink at that.

Thatactually makes some sense? Holy shit.

"Where the hell is the bimbo kitty I fucked into the mattress last night?" I mutter in shock.

"Nya~!?" she yelps, nearly jumping back, but I hold her close. "Why do you say that, nya~!?"

I chuckle, mirthfully, "No particular reason~..." and then I go up, and kiss her, straight on the lips.

The way she froze before slowly melting into it was precious.

It's funny. We fucked like wild animals last night, but haven't actually kissed until right now.

That was intentional, on my part.

I wanted to save the kisses for intimate moments, like this one!

I place my sword gently on the ground before my hands slowly go around to and down her lower back, and at about the point I reach her waistline, she perks up and pulls back slightly.

"Maah~..." she breathes out hotly, "Careful, nya~! You better watch those hands~! I'm still sore!"

I deadpanned at her, hard.

"Sore. Yet you still kicked my ass with ease."

"Well! You are pretty weak, nya~!" She says matter of factly.

Okay. Ouch. Damn Gojo, where's your blindfold? And rest of your fucking clothes while you're at it!?

"Then why the hell are you wearing that!?" I exclaim, waving to her lack of clothes.

Could you even call a frilly lilac top that barely covers the top of her tits and a damn thing clothes?

Seriously, she might actually look less sexy naked now. I didn't even know she had underwear? When did she get those!?

The fucking cat smiled, "Fashion! Nya~!" she said wistfully with a wink.

You little shit.

"Fine" I grumble, "you can fashion, you little~" I cut myself off, by capturing her lips with my own once again, drawing a cute surprised giggle from her before I eventually pull back, and huff.

A beat passes in blissful silence.

And then I ruin it.

"I still feel bad." I suddenly said.

Kuroka looks at me, sighs, and playful smacks my chest, "Stubborn. Man." twice, one for each word.

I chuckle weakly, "I know, my bad, I can't help it?" I try rapidly firing off.

Kuroka looks unamused.

I sigh, "Look. I know, I'll get over it eventually, okay?" I huff. "I just have a lot of shit to process and deal with, recently" I trail off.

Kuroka just stares me in the eyes, before giving me one last pat on the chest, slightly harder than before.

I wince, "Ow! And there's another!" I exclaim dramatically.

"Oh hush you! Nya~!" she wraps her arms around my neck and practically hangs onto me. "So! You mentioned stuff to do? Anything you plan on doing today?"

I nod, wrapping my arms around the catgirl to hold her as I start explaining. "Yeah. I got school supplies to pick up for my Third Year at a new school."

Kuroka blinks at that, "School? Out here? Where, nya?"

I watch her carefully as I say this next part, "Hmm? We're right next to Kuoh Town, I'll be heading to Kuoh Academy to start my final high school year in about aweek?" I ponder out loud.

The 'break' fucking hell, I hate Japanese School Trimesters between the 3rd Quarter and 1st Quarter is two bloody weeks.

I spent half that time out and about, as it were, enrollment starts in a week.

But none of that's all that important.

It's the way that Kuroka stilled and paled the moment I mentioned Kuoh.

Soshe knows already, huh?

"Kuroka?" I ask, slowly, and even that makes her snap her attention towards me. "You okay?"

Kuroka blinked, "I'mfine, nya~? Perfectly fine! Nyah hah hah~!" she laughed, so rigid and forced.

Damn, kitty. You're an awful fucking liar, you know that?

Great actor. Shit liar. How does that even work?

I sigh, internally, I mean.

You know, I hate being vulnerable, like earlier, but amongst the multitude of shit on my plate now is Kuroka's issues with her sister.

I have a plan in my mind for dealing with it. The problem? I can't start it, because I'm not even supposed to know about her and Shirone yet!

She needs to tell me first. I hoped that being vulnerable, and opening up first, would encourage her to do the same, but, well.

It'll probably take more time, won't it?

Damn.

I reach up, placing a hand on her cheek, causing her to rapidly blink in confusion, "N-Nori-kun? Nya!?"

I kiss her on the forehead, and whilst rubbing her cheek, whisper to her ear, "Whenever you're ready, you can tell me, alright?"

I chuckled as she gaped at me for that.

"Now!" I start standing, pulling her up with me gently, "Speaking of, I have to go into town soon. Besides the school stuff I gotta grab, someone," I stare down at her, "ate all the damn food in the fridge"

Kuroka, at least, had the decency to look sheepishly down at that.

Seriously. It's not like there was much in there in the first place, and admittedly some stuff was expired because I was gone for so long, but one break last night, and it's gone?

Fucking freeloading cat.

Then again, I wasn't expecting anything less.

Didn't she do something similar in the Light Novels? Ate all of Issei and co's food, laid around all the time playing games and shit.

I also distinctly remember that she offered him sex to pay for it, and he folded.

Didn't get any sex in the end, why would he, it's an ecchi not a hentai world for him.

Fortunately, I don't live constrained by genres.

So. I wonder what Kuroka will offer me?

"Well, Nori-kun~! I can help pay you back, nya~...?" she says hotly, slowly slipping her frankly non-existent top up further.

Was there ever any doubt?

I flick her on the nose.

"NYA!?" she quickly moved to cover her clearly very hurt nose, "Nori-kun~! Wwwhhyy!?" she whines out.

I slowly put a finger under her chin, and looked her right in the eyes, "Because I'd get your body anyway, pet." I mutter huskily. "I already own you, remember?"

I grin, watching her shiver and nod slowly in place, before deciding to turn down the horny - for my poor kitty's sake - and speak much more softly.

"Horny aside," I begin, "I wasn't actually about to ask you for anything." at her eyes quickly widening, I continue, "Recall, I invited you here, after what happened with your shack-"

"House!" she piped up.

I stare at her, dully, for a second before continuing.

"House. After what happened to your house," she nods, "I'm not gonna make you pay me anything, alright? Hell," I chuckle, "this is supposed to be my way of paying you back, remember?"

Kuroka blinks for a second, then she realizes and suddenly she's chuckling to herself, "Oh yeah! Nya ha ha~!"

Ah, that's a much more real laugh than before.

"But!" I suddenly interject, causing her to pause, "If you truly do wish to pay me back? Well." I pat her on the head, "You do remember that time we talked about your training, right?" I wave around to the dojo, "Might be a good time to look into that, no?"

Kuroka stared up at me, dumbfounded. "I'lllooking into it, nya?" she said slowly.

I nodded at her and gave a light chuckle.

That's good enough for now, I think. Trying to force her into anything wouldn't work.

If she's going to make any progress, she needs to be the one to push for it, herself.

"Good girl~!" I suddenly start scratching behind her ears, my light chuckle turning into a hearty laugh as she bats at my hand and mewls in protest.

"Ghaa!? Nori-kun! Stop it! What's this even for, nya!?'

I shrug, "Because I felt like it, your ears are soft, and I know you like it?"

Kuroka pouted, looked away, and refused to answer.

With a smile, I pick up my sword and point it in the direction of the exit.

"Well, come along kitty! I owe you an explanation, and I gotta go soon. Let's get that all over with, yeah?"

Kuroka, still pouting, harrumphs as she heads out, prompting me to chuckle as I watch her go.

Before I follow, I take one last look around the dojo, finding the now picture-less sword stand.

I thought it would be kind of weird to have a picture of my dad watching me do stuff, and allthatwith Kuroka, I knew was going to happen here.

So, I moved it inside. Gave him a proper household shrine before I started my routine last night.

I wonder if Uzume found it yet? She passed out on me last night as well.

Hmm. Well, if she has, I'm sure she liked it, at least!

~ A New Sun ~

With a low hum, and a slight smile on my lips, I grace the streets of Kuoh Town by blazing down them on a motorcycle.

Yup. I'm pulling a Kirito, and am gonna hit up Kuoh Academy via motorcycle.

Only way this could piss off Sona more is if I wore my yukata as well.

Sadge I can't though, damn things are hella comfy. Nice and thin, yet soft, easy to breathe in the works.

I love my hoodie and shorts, don't get me wrong, but I'd much rather live my likely very long life henceforth in the most comfortable way possible.

Only problem is that yukata are technically, well, traditionally, bathroom robes. So I can't wear them everywhere.

Omega sadge.

At least I can still wear them at festivals and such without getting weird looks.

With a content sigh, I take pleasure in the wind whipping through my hair, completely ignoring some strange looks I get from people walking about or in other cars.

Turns out, motorcycles were pretty popular with gangs and such back in the day. Who'd have thought?

Not like I care though. This feels good.

Just gonna ignore everything else I got going on.

Like, what am I supposed to do with my life now? How do I deal with all the shit at Kuoh? Should I even?

Also, my Dad may or may not be related to the fucking Japanese Imperial House, if his name and context clues from Uzume are anything go by.

Do I even wanna think about shit like that right now? Should I even? Is any of this possibly important to me specifically!?

Suddenly I find myself slamming on the brakes as the light before me turns red, and I come to a sudden stop that nearly flips me off my vehicle.

With an annoyed grunt, I slam my head down onto the steering handles.

This isn't like you, Nori. Chill.

Let's just take one thing at a time.

The light turns green, and I drive off, much slower than before.

The breeze whipping through my hair now isn't nearly as intense, but it gives me time to think.

Kuoh. Why would I go there? Obviously, it's because the plot happens there, all of the main characters are there.

Do I care about the plot or characters?

Not really, no.

I like Rias, she's a dweeb, I'd love to make friends with her!

And no. Not to fuck her or add her to a harem or anything.

Which, let's be real here me, it's gonna happen eventually, the harem thing.

It's inevitable in this world. Suck it up. Prepare for it.

But as for Rias, adding her to a harem is a terrible fucking idea. I remember how she acted with Issei on that.

Despite knowing about his dream, and seemingly supporting it, she still got extremely petty and jealous with him about it.

Not touching that with a thirty-foot pole, no thank you.

Speaking of Issei. What do I think about him?

Eh. Unless he starts perving on any of my girls, I couldn't care less about him.

I won't go out of my way to kill him, yoink his Sacred Gear - like I'd know how without that ritual Raynare used on Asia - or other such nonsense with him.

Mostly because I don't think killing a kid is a valid solution to anything.

Also, the easiest way to remove Issei from the board is to just kill the Fallen before they kill him.

Assuming you're not in some sort of evil manipulative Rias world or some shit.

Which, side note, I need to do that. And Diodora.

Although, I would rather not take Asia in myself.

She'd latch onto me like a lost puppy, and likely form romantic interest out of nowhere because, well, Asia.

And I just wouldn't be able to reciprocate those feelings, I think.

Still, no one deserves that fate. And Diodora deserves to be burned alive.

Koneko is a given, I have to care about her for Kuroka. It helps that I do like her, she was a savage in the English dubs of the anime.

Gasper? Eh. Fem boy Dio.

Yuuto? Eh. Edgy sword bro? Maybe. Unlikely though.

Akeno? Cringe. Her Fallen hate boner makes no sense, she's got some fucked S/M tendencies, and if I recall correctly? She's got a thing for cucking men away from their wives.

Won't be touching that with a sixty-foot pole.

As for Sona? I don't hate her or anything, but her extreme strictness puts me off a good bit.

I don't even remember anything about her Peerage, sans Genshiro, who I don't care about.

Huh. And as for the plot, I'd rather not Kokabiel blow up the town and start a second Great War in my backyard, but besides that?

Rias and her marriage to Riser won't happen early if she doesn't get Issei and Asia in her Peerage.

Killing the Fallen annuls the entire plot before that, and shit like the Young Devils Gathering isn't my business.

Cough. Sai should have won that. Cough.

Ugh. Sorry about that. Had to clear my mental throat.

But, huh? So that's it, then?

The only real reason I would go to Kuoh is for Rias and Koneko. That'snot much, is it?

And actually, now that I think about it? If part of my plan works, I won't even need to go to Kuoh for Koneko.

Just Rias.

Is just Rias worth it though?

Hmm.

I could send a clone. Like, Shadow Clone, to school for me.

Although I'd have to rush chakra control training, could I advance enough to make a single shadow clone in a week?

Yeah. Yeah I think I could.

Hold up.

Doesn't that make, like, my entire stressing over this situation pointless?

Fuck.

With that sobering thought, I finally pulled up to Kuoh Academy, a dead look in my eyes.

There isn't a place to park, I just kind of haphazardly park next to the bike rack outside the walls and chain it up there.

Then, I slam my head against said wall and groan in frustration.

"What did I say, Nori!?" I scolded, well, myself. "You just need to chill a bit! Think, Nori, think!"

I blink in confusion as an 'ahem' sound comes not too far to my right.

Slowly standing up straight, I turn to look at the source.

Ah. Joy. Already at the gates waiting for me, huh?

"Shitori-san," I give a small bow, and a tired smile, "I'm sorry you had to see that."

Sona Shitori, well, Sitri. Kind of expected she'd be wearing something that isn't the school uniform, since schools technically on break right now, but I guess not.

"Kusanagi-san," the bespeckled girl replied in kind, nodding back to me stiffly, "I see you finally decided to come on time, hmm?"

Ah, that's a tad cold don't you think?

"I had to call ahead of time for this," I raise my head back up and level an easy smile at her, "of course I wouldn't be late. Especially not with this bad boy!" I pat the motorcycle like I would a pet. Or Kuroka.

Sona's eyes drift to it, and I withhold smirking at the slight tightening of her brow.

"I can see that." she states dryly, though impressively her neutral expression doesn't shift at all.

With a single arm, she opens the gate slightly - making a show of putting some effort into it despite her likely being able to do it with ease - and waves me on in.

"Come along, Kusanagi-san," she huffs, "can't keep putting this off forever."

I nod sheepishly, "Right, right," and enter, helping her close the gate behind us, "I respectfully apologize for my lateness in following up on my assigned pick-up dates, it won't happen again." I softly apologize.

She gives a slight nod in thanks, and looks at me sternly, "See that it doesn't happen during school hours proper, yes Kusanagi-san?"

"Hai, Shitori-san." I acknowledge. After another nod, she starts walking off, with me following close behind her.

You know. I didn't like that. Speaking softly, meekly, bowing to another authority.

From my memories, that's how I was before the mountain. Before the Stray Devil, and Kuroka.

So, correction, I hated that. I have pride now, damn it!

But I don't want to intentionally antagonize Sona.

Okay. Maybe I wanna bully her a bit, but not make an enemy out of her.

Hnggghh. I wonder how long all of this is going to take?

~ A New Sun ~

"Nyah hah hah~..." the lazy cat girl lay sprawled out on the couch, playing games on an emulator, humming jollily to herself.

Kuroka has been having a great time so far.

Granted, it's only been about a day, but getting pounded into a mattress for the first first, and laying around after that is, at least by Kuroka's definition?

A really good time.

Disregarding the small windows of time she had to do anything else, of course.

Like beat Nori up earlier, and put a spell on him to mask his scent for a bit.

None of that counted, though.

Neither did the fact that she was right next to Kuoh Town.

Where her sister is.

Where Shirone is.

Nope! None of that mattered! Nor does the lying, the fact that Nori knows she's lying and doesn't seem to mind.

Nah! Nope! Everything's peachy!

Kuroka stopped humming a tune and stopped playing games.

Whenever you're ready, you can tell me, alright?

Kuroka let out a small little whine, flipped onto her stomach, and dug her face into the couch.

Years. She's spent years as a criminal terrorist. She's spent even longer letting her sister believe she went insane on power and killed her King for shits and giggles!

Why? Oh, why did she think that was a good fucking idea!? It wouldn't have been hard to just tell Shirone the bastard was going to experiment on her too!

Ah. That's right. She did it because she heard about his plans, had a knee-jerk reaction without thinking, and ran with the whole mentally insane angle.

Butat least Shirone is safe. That's what matters.

And with that thought, Kuroka's mind can rest at ease.

"So. When are you gonna tell him?"

Nevermind.

"NYA!?" Kuroka squealed and fell off the couch, flailing wildly. Looking up, behind the couch, she finds the source of the intruding voice.

A smug purple-haired woman in a maid outfit? Ah, this must be the Uzume that Nori was talking about!

"You know!" Kuroka huffed, and crawled back onto the couch, "For a glorified party Goddess turned maid, you look far too smug right now, nya!" Kuroka pointed at her.

Uzume grimaced, her admittedly very smug look dropping.

"Don't remind me," she huffed, "but hey? At least I'm not a glorified sex doll."

Kuroka narrowed her eyes, "At least I'm getting sex."

For a good, long moment, the two stared each other down.

Uzume sighed through gritted teeth, "Touche. Cat. Touche."

"Nyahaha~!" Kuroka threw up her arms and chortles in victory.

Uzume's eyebrow twitched, watching the cat, before she suddenly spoke up, causing her to sit still once more.

"You still haven't answered me, SS-Class Devil Kuroka," something glimmered in Uzume's eyes, that made every single hair on the back of Kuroka's neck stand on end, "well? I'm waiting."

Kuroka stifled the intense urge her flight or fight response was sending her to flee, and sighed, "I was just thinking about that, you know?" Kuroka gave a dry chuckle, "Generally speaking, telling someone you're a criminal after sex isn't a good idea, nya!"

"Really?" Uzume raised an eyebrow, "Seems like just the type of thing you usually would do?"

Kuroka levels a dry glare at her. "You've thrown too many parties, nya."

Uzume levels a challenging stare right back. "And you haven't been to enough parties, kitty."

Kuroka waves her off, "Regardless, it isn't that simple-"

Uzume snorts at that, "No no. It is," she interrupts her, "you're just scared about how he'll react, right?"

At Kuroka's scathing glare, Uzume took that as affirmation and continued.

"Trust me when I say, kitty, he won't care. Hell," Uzume sits down next to her, leaning against a broom she's holding. "I don't particularly care either. Well, now at least."

Kuroka blinked. "Nya?"

"Yup!" Uzume nodded, "You may not know this, but generally speaking, the Underworld and Devils? Not well-liked. Not by me, not by the other Kami, and I'm sure Nori will think the same way once he gets a detailed explanation."

She waves towards Kuroka, "As for you, specifically, kitty? Well. We heard you killed your King, but that you went insane beforehand. But from what I see?" she looks her up and down, "YeeaahhI think that's a load of bullshit."

A beat passes, with Uzume looking towards the fridge.

"Actually. I take that back. Insane for food." Uzume corrects with a snort.

"Nyah!? I already said I was sorry!" Kuroka whines out.

Uzume chuckles lightly. "Yeah. You aren't insane on power or some other bullshit. I'll be honest, any enemies of the Devils?" she reaches into her cleavage, and pulls out two full-on cups of sake, "Are friends of mine!" she hands one to Kuroka, who just stares at it befuddled.

"How did you?" Kuroka begins, but Uzume just waves her off.

"God domain stuff. Mostly. Anyways!" she holds out the cup, "Here's what I'm thinking! You tell me what's up with you, huh! Consider it aspractice! For telling Nori!"

Kuroka blinks, "That's rather, Uzume-san"

"Just Uzume is fine, kitty." Uzume interjects.

Kuroka nods, "I guess I'll just ask thenwhy?" she looks at her, "Why do this for me, nya?"

Uzume hums, "Because if we're going to live under the same roof for Heaven knows how long, I'd rather not deal with stupid YA drama?"

Kuroka blinks. "Ah."

"Right? See, you're getting it!" Uzume nods, "But, ah, alsolike I said before, about friends, and such? I wasn't kidding about that either."

"Friends, huh?" Kuroka said wistfully, "A bit much to call someone you just met that, yeah?"

"It's a bit much to get dicked down by a guy and ask him for kittens barely two weeks into knowing him, yeah?" Uzume replies in kind, with a small smirk.

Kuroka stared at her, for a long moment.

"Fair, nya, fair" Kuroka eventually conceded.

"Besides," Uzume suddenly added, "if it'll make you feel better, I fully plan on getting black-out drunk while I still can. Especially while Nori's gone!"

Kuroka tilted her head at that. "Don't you have a job to do?"

Uzume chuckled mirthfully, "Oh, I'm already finished! All that I had to do recently was a whole bunch of dusting, and Nori isn't easy, but you?" she points to said cat, "Ehhhhits been a day, and I already crave death." Uzume shrugs and says nonchalantly.

Kuroka looks mildly concerned, "Are youI'm sorry?"

Uzume waves it off almost casually, "Eh. It happens. So!" she downs a whole cup in one gulp, "Woo! Tell me your story, girl!"

You know. Kuroka didn't think this would be how her first interaction with the woman, this Kami, would go.

But she'd say it worked out pretty well.

With a slight smile and sad chuckle, Kuroka draws a deep breath and unveils her story.

~ A New Sun ~

"And this is the Gymnasium." Sona waved to the, admittedly rather large and impressive, gym.

"Ah, I see, I see" I trail off, nodding stiffly in understanding.

Okay. So, I have to keep checking my internal clock to make sure this isn't taking the hours upon hours this feels like it is.

No shot. All this was supposed to be is me getting my uniform, books, and a quick tour.

That's it.

And the funny thing? That's all it has been so far! But it's all soI don't know how to exactly describe it?

Painful would be one word I'd use.

I tried to do some small talk, but anything I got back from her was what I'd describe as professional, and to the point.

Like, watch!

"So, Shitori-san?" I begin as we walk away from the Gym, "I've been meaning to ask, but what is the Student Council Vice President doing giving a lone student so much attention?"

A legitimate question for a mundane person, although based on meta knowledge, I know it is likely related to her desire to open up her own school.

Somehow.

"It's part of my job, is all, Kusanagi-san." she replies simply.

"Ialright, Shitori-san." I acknowledge awkwardly.

See what I mean? She isn't being cold, or just a bitch, just professional and distant!

Or she's socially inept, but I doubt that considering she's a, you know, Devil.

Is she lowkey trying to make me awkward? Because it's working.

"Kusanagi-san," Sona begins slowly, looking over her shoulder slightly towards me, her eyes going specifically to the bag on my back, "do you practice Kendo?"

Ah? Finally asking me a question, huh? Fair enough assumption though, I am carrying around my sword in a kendo shinai bag.

"I suppose I do," I nod, "just recently started though. Going to hit up the Dojo after this."

Sona gives a curt nod, "I will inform you now, then. Although Kuoh does have a Kendo Club, they opted to remain an All Girls Club after our switch to co-ed," she continues, moving her head back to facing forwards, "if you wish to join such a club here, you'll have to start one yourself."

"Ah? What about a Dance Club?" I follow up, in a futile effort to keep the conversation going.

Sona doesn't even look at me, "Same as the Kendo Club." she states succinctly and says no more.

Fuck.

You know what? I'm just gonna keep my mouth shut now.

Just ride out the pain Nori, you got this!

Luckily, I did indeed have this.

Since I was attending as a Third Year, we didn't have to go all the way over and check out the college campus, nor any of the primary school buildings, just the ones I'd use as a Third Year.

Thank. Fuck.

On the way to our last destination, the Student Council office, I waved and said hello to a few of the staff.

Nice people. Felt like I could hold a conversation with them if I wished!

Interestingly enough, I didn't see any of Sona's Peerage around. Hmm?

At the office, I was presented with a nicely folded-up boys' uniform, and my schedule for the year.

"That marks the end of your tour, Kusanagi-san," Sona bows to me, "I hope you enjoy your Third Year at Kuoh Academy."

"Ah," I now back, deeper of course, "thank you for showing me around, Shitori-san. I will be in your and the Student Council's care."

The whole thing with bowing tradition in Japan is one hell of a thing to parse through and seems like something Sona would be a stickler over.

"Please, raise your head Kusanagi-san." I do so, seeing her giving a small smile my way, a knowing small smile, "Please try not to be late during the actual school year, and I believe you will excel."

Oh. Oh, you little shit.

You're getting hella bullied.

"Hmm, hmm!" I pretend to preen at the praise, "Thank you, Shitori-san!" I say, and smile at her right back, "I'll be sure to give due warning and reason next time something happens, alright?"

And by that, I mean I'm gonna intentionally 'miss' a bunch of school, and give her the most bullshit and asinine reasons.

What is she gonna do? Call my parents? Snnrrkk!

And Japanese Schools don't kick people out unless under extreme circumstances, and missing school isn't a big enough reason! At least in Japan!

Of course, I actually will be therewell, my clone, which will just confuse her more.

Seemingly picking up my petty energy, Sona's smile tenses slightly, "...see that you do, Kusanagi-san." she replies curtly.

I chuckle and pick up my things, "You have a good rest of the break, Shitori-san! See you during the Enrollment Ceremony!"

And with an easy wave, I walk off and out of there.

Honestly? I felt a lot better leaving than going in, which isn't the greatest start to my time here, but, eh.

At least I got another thing to do here fueled by petty spite. Always a plus in my book.

Now then! Let's see, I've got some shopping to do! Need to fill the fridge for three people, for one!

Well, two. I don't need to eat anymore.

Eh, actually? Does Uzume need to eat? I mean, she can get drunk, so I assume she can eat, but does she need to?

Eh. I'll get enough for four. Three for one in Kuroka, one for the maid.

Also need to get cellphones for the two, which would help in communicating with them over long distances.

After that, drop off the stuff, and head out into the forests and long plains around my place at night.

I did bring my sword out with me for a reason.

What with me being a monster beacon, I don't even really need to hunt them, just let them come to me!

And voila!

Easy mob farming.

Chapter 7

Dancing upside down on the ceiling of an abandoned warehouse is an interesting way of spending my very late afternoon.

I think. Mostly for the reaction I'll get from whatever poor stray wanders in following my scent.

You know, when the spell I told Kuroka to put on me wore off exactly when I told her to have it do so, I'm kind of surprised I didn't immediately get jumped.

Honestly though? That's good! It means Rias is doing a real good job of keeping strays out of her territory!

Still a tad sad I didn't get a fight right away, though.

Getting some chakra control training is always nice, thought it was about time I went to the next level, but since I don't have a tree, the ceiling will have to do!

Anyhow, the only reason I'm here in the warehouse district is because I realized after my little shopping trip that this area has way more space to hide in than say, the forest and fields out in the country.

The only problem with this new plan of mine is I can't stay out all night. I've got two phones, a bunch of food, my motorcycle, and devil fliers stashed out back.

Yup. Devil fliers. Those summoning slips used when you want to broker deals with Devils.

I ran into both Rias's bat girl and some short business suit wearing man, both of whom gave me little slips.

One for Gremory. One for Sitri.

It was hilariously easy to just broadcast my desires - lust, both power and sexual - while I was just walking around and shopping.

The familiars, at least I assume the guy was Sona's familiar, just walked up and gave one to me like it was an ad of some sort.

Easy peasy!

Honestly, the only one I was really after was the Gremory one. My plan for Shirone and Kuroka requires it.

No fucking clue what I'm gonna do with the Sitri one, but, eh? Maybe I could use it to bulli Sona in some way?

Decisions, decisions

As I was thinking of ways to bully the Sitri Heiress, the doors to the warehouse exploded.

Flying in with about as much subtly as a bag of tin cans, somespider looking stray devil? Eight legs, eight eyes, the works.

I can feel the taint of his demonic power, a cold dread fills the warehouse, telling me that this guy probably doesn't have a sad backstory like my favorite danger noodle from day one.

The spider halts in the center of the room, his mouth salivating like mad, as his several eyes dart around the room.

"Ehhh?" he moans, "Come out, come out, wherever you are, ehhh? Come on!" he chitters a laugh, skittering around on the floor, "I can smell you, ya knooow? Come on!"

What is it with all the strays I've met so far having a verbal tick like that?

Also, why do all the strays I've seen look bum fuck ugly?

While I'm internally insulting my not-so-friendly neighborhood spider mutant, he's down there sniffing up a storm.

"Ah! I see! I see!" he exclaims jubilantly, "I know where you are!"

Ho?

"Below! Yes! You bunker beneath me! I will dig you out!" and then, the dumbass began doing just that.

With about half of his arms - or legs? - working on it, he's actually making quick progress.

To accomplish nothing, of course.

I almost let out a loud snort and fall off the ceiling in a fit of giggles, but I smash down that knee-jerk reaction and continue my silent dance.

With a stupid grin on my face, but I continue nonetheless.

I have an idea as to why he came to that conclusion, and it involves the bit of time I spent on the floor before jumping up here.

You see, I did a bit of a pre-workout routine before coming up here; stretches, moving around, getting all fired up, the works.

Also rolled around on the ground like an idiot trying to put out fires again.

But! This was all with the express purpose of testing something.

You see, I'd imagine my scent is extremely thick down there right about now, and I wanted to see if more scent worked like getting someone more and more drunk.

Looks like I was correct, if the guy didn't even think to look up before digging.

You know. In a world where most supernatural species can fly naturally!

Ugh. You know what? If I keep thinking about it, I'll just give myself a headache.

So I'll just keep dancing up here, instead.

I actually kind of want to jump the guy now, but I figure, let's wait a bit! See if I can't get more strays in here to fight all at once?

Hmm. Although, if I do that, maybe they'll start fighting each other for the right to eat me or something?

Eh. Worth it if I at least have to put some effort into it. One-on-one will be over too fast, especially since I want to test my fire during combat this time around.

This time through my sword!

Because let's be real, the only Kami I got around is Uzume, and I seriously doubt she can teach for shit.

So, I'll be on my own here.

Sadge day, truly.

I do hope it doesn't take too long though. If it does, I might just say fuck it, kill the spider, and start wandering around the abandoned district out in the open.

That outta work better, right?

Though I'd rather train, efficiency and all that.

Well. I'll see how it goes, time to zone out and dance for a bit in the meantime.

Honestly? The frantic digging noises in the background are kind of like rain, nice white noise to just do whatever too for a bit.

Could do with fewer random giggles and coos during it though.

~ A New Sun ~

Sona Sitri hasn't been having the worst day, all things considered.

Although one could say chasing your assigned target across town is as it ravenously goes aftersomethingis slowly pushing it.

"Kusaka-san, report." Sona crosses her legs and sighs. Currently, she and her Peerage are camped out on top of a roof.

Sona has been using one of her Bishops, Reya Kusaka, information and spy-based magic to track their target.

With a sigh of her own, the long brown-haired girl opens her eyes, the spiraling magic circles overlapping them vanishing as soon as she does so.

"Nothing concrete yet, Sitri-sama," she shakes her head, "although the target does seem to be heading in a much straighter path now, so perhaps soon?"

Sona nodded her head in acknowledgment, "Good, keep observing them, then. Update me when something changes."

"Hai, Sitri-sama." Reya compiled quickly, and quietly.

"Uwaaahh" Sona's attention snapped to the exuberant whine, finding her Pawn, one Ruruko Nimura, sprawled out on the ground, "Seriously, I still just don't see why we didn't jump the guy when we found him! He was right there!"

Momo Hanaki, her white-haired second Bishop, kneeled on the ground next to Ruruko and patted her dark brown-haired head, "Ah, don't worry so much, Ruruko-chan! I'm sure Sitri-sama has a plan."

Tsubasa Yura, her only blue-haired Rook sitting next to them, snorted and interjected. "Leave her Momo-chan, she's just grumpy she didn't get into a fight right away."

Ruruko's eyes snapped to look at Tsubasa, "Oh yeah? Don't act like you didn't want a fight either!"

Tsubasa grunted, "True. But at least I'm not gonna whine about it all night."

"Now now, Tsubasa-chan, Ruruko-chan!" her one and only Knight, Tomoe Meguri, interjects before Ruruko can bite back.

She comes up, getting right in between the two, "Think about it like this, eh? What if! Wherever this guy leads us? Turns out to be some sort of secret hideout! With more baddies to slay!" She pulls her katana from her sheath, and swings it, up, down and around. All with a big silly smile on her face.

"Just imagine! That'd be way more fun than just fighting the one, yeah!?"

The two girls stared at Tomoe blankly, before slowly turning to face away from each other, grumbling their agreement.

Momo smiled, and Tomoe just giggled.

On Sona's side, Tsubaki Shinra, her black-haired Queen sighed at the Peerage's antics, relenting her grip on her naginata slightly.

Sona simply gave everyone a small smile.

At this point? They've run across the entire warehouse district after this guy. She isn't exactly surprised everyone is starting to strain.

Truly, though. Tomoe is very close to Sona's plan, although she doubts they'll find more 'baddies' to fight.

In reality, she suspects that the stray might have something important hidden there, to his single-minded pursuit of reaching said place as soon as possible.

The only reason she hasn't voiced such thoughts is because it would make two of her girls huffy, and she'd rather not deal with that right now.

She gets the strangest feeling like she's going to be dealing with a lot of snark, sass, and general bullshit in the near future, and she can't figure out why.

"Nimura-san," Sona suddenly calls out, prompting the girl in question to freeze and slowly look at her, "when the fighting starts, you have my permission to Promote. For the time being, I'm designating this area as Enemy Territory."

Ruruko gave a predatory grin, "Hai hai, Boss!"

At Sona's ensuing glare, her grin slowly turns sheepish, "Right, Sitri-sama, ehehmy bad."

Sona waved it off with a sigh. Old delinquent habits die hard, she supposed? And Ruruko is the most recent addition to her Peerage

Sona's thoughts are snatched from her as her usually soft-spoken Bishop suddenly stood up, "Sitri-sama!" and shouted in alarm.

All eyes moved to her, and as soon as Sona looked at her, she continued.

"The target has just entered one of the warehouses, and has started fighting two other strays!" she exclaimed.

Ruruko shot up to her feet, "Hell yeah! Let's do this!" she pumped her fist into the air, a predatory grin back on in full force.

Tsubasa nodded with a similar look, Tomoe looked giddy, and Momo looked slightly concerned for her battle-hungry friends.

Sona quickly took control, raising to her feet, she spoke aloud, "Tsubaki-san, work with Kusaka-san, and get a teleportation circle up and running to that location."

"Hai, Sona-sama." her Queen acknowledged, moving to Reya to do just that.

Sona looked over everyone else sternly, "Gather around, standard formation."

To their credit, they did move quickly into position. Drawing from Sona's favorite game, this formation is quite literally just the typical chess board at the game start.

Although she's lacking all the pieces to fill it up, it always feels like Ruruko acts like she's more than just one Pawn.

Soon, her Queen and first Bishop join them, magic circles spiraling in their hands.

Before they head off, Sona speaks plainly, "By the honor of Prince Sitri, we shall see this through. Right, everyone?"

"HAI! SITRI-SAMA" they all cry back in affirmation.

With a smile, and nod to her Queen, Tsubaki slams the butt of her naginata onto the ground.

A magic circle blazes into existence, and just like that, they're off.

With a flash, the Peerage finds themselves directly outside a warehouse, right before a blown-out section of the wall.

Inside said warehouses, three strays arearguing, and taking potshots at each other?

"No, I tell you! The smells source is mine!" A giant naked centaur lady, wielding dual spears, throws said demonic power-imbued weapons with a roar at a spider stray, and her original target, an owl stray.

Wait. Smell?

"And I said, I got here first!" the spider stray screeches as he dashes into a hole, that's seemingly just there, to avoid the spear.

"Hoot hoot!" her target calls down to both of the other strays from a catwalk.

Both of whom turn, and look at the owl.

"What are you even saying!?" they both angrily shout back, the spider even poking its head out to do so.

"Hoot! Hoot hoot!" the owl keeps jumping, pointing a wing upwards.

Fortunately, Sona notes internally, it can't fly anymoreit lost that ability when it strayed, but supposedly, it could do other strange things.

So, why does it keep pointing upwards?

The answer came for her.

A cracking of stone and tile, the pop of air being displaced, and the heat that suddenly pushed out and bathed her and her Peerage made them all take a step back.

In the next moment.

"Clear Blue Sky."

A voice, this time a human male, that Sona thought was familiar, came from above.

And then a person, a figure, with a katana larger than Tomoe's, followed.

And then fire.

Circular waves of slashing fire fell upon the spider stray's neck, cleaving through it and the ground beneath it, all radiating off the man's sword as he delivered a beautiful circular horizontal sword stroke.

As the spider's body slumped to the side, and his head rolled away, the man huffed as the flames billowed out around his sword.

"Sorry about that," he begins, and Sona realizes she does recognize him, "I know you three had like a whole thing going on, but I just can't anymore!" he sighs, and crosses his arms, tapping his foot restlessly on the ground as he goes off.

"Look, I've had to sit up there on the ceiling, listening to that," he points to the corpse, "moan and giggle and shit for most of my night now. I deserve a break, okay!?"

Noriaki Kusanagi.

Well. Maybe he's not just some uncaring delinquent like she originally thought, hmm?

~ A New Sun ~

This entire thing was a waste of time.

Now, granted, it wasn't a complete waste.

The ceiling training went well, but that was just a warmup!

I was hoping for like, several guys to show! You know! A real fight to push my limits!

But instead! I got the Hooty expy, that one Stray from the first Light Novels, and Spider Brother expy!

"Sooo~..." centaur bitch slurs and swoons, "you're what smells so go-"

"Shut the hell up."

"I, wha-?"

I hold a finger up to her, "I said. 'Shut the hell up'," I slowly turned my head to eye her scathingly, "Did all the cotton from your clothes go to your ears or something?"

I am not in the mood for this shit. Could you tell?

Rias. Girl. You've done too good of a job.

The centaur bitch fumes in her spot, her hands clenching tightly as she eyes her spears embedded into the ground next to me.

Before she can say anything that just makes me kill her on the spot, I continue.

"Look. I'm not interested in any bullshit you fuckers spew about eating my brains, my skin, whatever," I huff, crossing my arms, "if you wanna try me? Go ahead! But don't gloat before we even startafter all."

I slowly enter a simple combat-ready stance, and mutter, just loudly enough barely so it softly echoes across the warehouse.

"In the end, all I see you as is free EXP."

The centaur bitch screeches - or nyehs? - some sort of war car, as she rushes down my position on all fours.

Slow.

A shadow slowly encompasses me, and I look up to see a massive owl head barreling its way down upon me.

I snort, and dash to the side, just as it crashes its beak into the ground.

In the next moment, I Ieap forwards, my blade igniting with swirling crimson fire as my heart beats and sends Holy Spirit Power straight through my sword.

The Hooty expy elongated and enlarged his neck and head to make that attack, but its original body sits still, completely open and undefended.

"Hinokami Kagura", one quick slice. "Dance."

Like an executioner's blade falling atop a neck, I cleave through with ease, dropping from the catwalk with a newly limp corpse falling behind in short order.

The neck and head hit the floor as well, but

"HOOT! HOOOOTTT!?" They begin immediately flailing about on the floor, screeching in anguish and what I think is confusion?

Regardless, he isn't regrowing anything, so death throes, maybe?

I look down at my sword, and grin.

Unsurprisingly, the real deal is a tad bit better than wood, huh?

I turn to the centaur bitch, who just now was grabbing her spears, having pushed the Hooty expy's severed head off them.

She turns towards me and eyes me with an angry and hungry gaze.

I hold up a finger, and her eyes brim with confusion as I speak the last thing she'll ever hear.

"One. You get one chance to attack me. Put your all into it, or, well" I swipe my hand across my neck.

Confusion turned to sheer unadulterated rage as she full-on bull stampede rushed towards me.

I sigh. Really.

No. Seriously.

Is this a stray thing? Do all of them share a compulsive lack of pattern recognition skills?

With a booming roar, she's before me, two spears primed for a pincer attack to my sides.

I breathe.

Hinokami Kagura.

Two blades of fire lash out to either of my sides, cleaving through her misshapen spears and severing her arms.

Raging Sun.

A fitting name, no?

As burnt leather fills the air and the centaur bitch cries out in agony, I merely take a single step forward.

"W-Wait no! Pl-"

Her pleading, and nascent attempts at shuffling back in a rare moment of life preservation, are cut off as my normal unlit blade cleaved through her neck.

A second later, her body joined her arms on the floor.

And I loudly groan, as I slowly sheath my sword.

Seriously. I'm not going to lie, danger noodle put up more of a fight than these guys.

Is it because of the sword? Are these guys just weaker?

Ugh. This is why I wanted a good group of them.

"HOOOOT HOO-GHHHUUUU-" the anguished screaming behind me suddenly gets, not cut off, but replaced withdrowned screaming?

I turn, finding said owl monster's head covered in a nice large glob of water.

It doesn't take long from there for the screaming to finally taper off and cease.

Though, I'm not focused on that.

Nope. Instead, my eyes are locked onto the violet eyes of a small girl, surrounded by other girls, as they stand just outside the warehouse, looking in through a large hole in the wall.

She wore an impossible smug smirk on her face as she looked right back, and held a demonic circle out casually in her other hand.

When the stray finally fell limp, she snapped her fingers, and the water and circle dispersed.

"Well, Kusanagi-san," she begins rather amicably, although as she steps into the warehouse, the other girls - her Peerage, I assume - follow around her in a strict formation, "is this what you were out doing to miss your assigned times?"

Sona Sitri.

Well. Look at what we have here!

I send an appraising gaze toward the group as I answer, "Would you believe me if I told you I got sick?"

Sona chuckles at that slightly, "Unfortunately, no."

Well, shit. "Would you believe me if I told you I got sick from drinking, lost my memories, and wandered the countryside mountains for a bit?" I try, lightly.

Sona deadpans at me as her answer, and I laugh.

With one fluid motion, I grab my sword, with its sheath still on, and bring it forth. Slamming it to the ground, and resting my hands on the hilt.

The group flinches at my sudden movement, getting in battle-ready stances quickly. Sona moves, raising a hand to cow them, but I speak as she does.

"Well, Sona Sitri?" she, and her entire group, flinch at that, and I grin as I continue, "Nice to finally meet you, without all the bullshit hiding and faking it. My name is Noriaki Kusanagi, still!" I pause for a beat, then add with a smile. "Technically."

And I mean that.

Honestly? I should probably be a tad peeved at being exposed this early, but eh.

As long as no one finds out about Kuroka living in my house, I find that I don't care all that much.

Besides! This means I can just bully her harder later, no need to fake being weaker, with no powers, or other such nonsense!

Sona frowns heavily at that and goes to speak, but I raise my hand quickly, stopping her before she asks the several questions I know she wants to ask.

"No." I preemptively answer, "To whatever it is you're about to ask."

Sona's expression turns so gobsmacked I wish I could frame it on my wall.

And the rest of her girl squad has these cute little scowls too, aw!

Although, that thigh high girl looks especially reared up to fight.

Cute.

Also, thigh high stockings.

Nice.

She's the pawn, right? Let's see

The sword girl is obviously the Knight, the two girls in the back next to Sona are the bishops, and the spear wielder is her Queen, which leaves the blue-haired girl as her Rook, yeah?

Wait. Hold up.

I snorted loudly, drawing in their now weary glares, "Did you arrange everyone in your Peerage into a chess match start formation?"

I know Sona had a hard-on for chess, but damn, this is new.

Sona coughed, a tad weakly, "It's just a standard formation is all" she paused, huffed, and leveled a glare straight at me, "but none of that matters right now. Why won't you answer any of my questions?"

"I don't know you." I state simply with a shrug.

Sona furrowed her brow, "Yet, you know who I really am?"

"Yup."

"So you do know me?"

"Nope."

Her glare turns wrathful.

I smile, and before we can continue this warped rendition of Spongebob any further, I add.

"But! I could get to know you!"

Several of the girls, including Sona herself, preened and stared at me for that.

I deadpanned right back, "Not sexually or romantically, you perverts."

After receiving confused stares in response, Sona decides to just ask.

"How, then?" Sona asked slowly.

Shockingly, before I could answer her, the thigh-high girl stepped forward toward me, "He means a fight, of course! What else could he mean? And I, for one, would love to give it to him!" she declares, her grin almost feral.

"Nimura-san!" Sona interjects sharply, "There will be no fighting here today, fall back!"

"That sucks." I hum out, "Because thigh highs is right, that's what I'm asking for."

"I" Sona's glare turns into a dumb stare, "huh?"

Did my shattering whatever assumptions she had break her in the head as well?

Heh. Nice.

Nimuranah, thigh high's grin turned spicy, "Hell yeah! Let's get this going! Er, wait?" she stops, and blinks, "Thigh highs?"

I nod sagely, "Yes, thigh highs." I give her a thumbs up and wink, "Very nice."

The girl blushed, slightly, and winked right back, "Big ass sword, very nice dude," She then turned to look at the sword girl, "Oi. Tomoe-chan! Take some pointers from this guy!"

"E-Eh!?" the now named sword girl exclaimed, "But! Odachi are really hard to wield you know!"

I ignore her and respond to thigh highs with a chuckle, and a nod, "Thank you. It was my father's sword."

"Could you please stop flirting with my Pawn?" Sona bit out through gritted teeth.

"Hmm" I make a show of thinking for a moment, then succinctly I reply with.

"No."

Sona lets out a trembling, angry groan.

I smile widely, "What? She's cute alright!"

She is. However, maybe before I go pursuing more girls I should ask Kuroka first.

Hmm hmm! I'll do that when I get home.

"Regardless," Sona powers on through before her Pawn can respond, "why do you want a fight so badly? If you know who I am," her glare intensifies, "then you know a High-Class Devil and their Peerage isn't too be trifled with."

Aww! She thinks she's a threat!

Well. She just might be. Only one way to find out

I smile, widely. "Ah? But that's exactly why I want to fight you," my response boggles Sona once more, judging by the gapes at that, so I continue, "Let's just say, I just joined this wonderful new world, and I want to be tested. I want, no need, to see where I stand."

My grin mirrors the look on her Pawn from earlier, "And I lose? Well. I'll take that L, learn, and become better. If I win, all's the same to me!"

For a good long moment, Sona just stares at me, and then she lets out a deep, loathing sigh.

"Whywhy is there another one of you?" She just barely mumbles.

I shrug and smile good-naturedly, "What can I say, I love fighting, okay?"

Sona shakes her head, sighs once more, and pushes up her glasses.

I nearly giggle at how her glasses do the whole anime shining thing.

Is this gonna be a common occurrence here? Ah, well. Just adds to the fun.

"So," Sona continues, "who do you wanna fight?"

"All of you." I respond instantly.

"No." Sona deadpans, hard, "Do you crave death, Kusanagi-san?"

"Hey!" I hold my hands up, "It's not like I'm paper mache here, I could take it! My swords going to be sheathed the entire time too, it'll be a spar!"

Sona huffed out, "And? If you speak truly on your naivety, then you'll die with a challenge like that."

I pout and stare at her.

Sona stares right back. "...acting like a child won't convince me otherwise, Kusanagi-san."

Before I can interject with a very adult response, the spear-wielding girl steps forward, a fuming frown on her face.

"Sona-sama. Please, allow me to take him on."

I blink and tilt my head at her.

Say. Didn't this girl have a Sacred Gear? Mirror Alice, right?

She's also the only Queen in the series to use all her pieces' attributes, yeah?

Not quite High Class yet I don't think, especially not without her Balance Breaker, but she surely shouldn't be Low Class.

Respect +.

Hmm. Yeah, I'd love to go a round with her.

Sona looks back at her Queen, a thin frown on her face, "Tsubaki-san, are you sure?"

"Quite," she replies curtly, then narrows her eyes at me, "this man shows a lack of respect, and clear ignorance, which sorely needs to be corrected."

"Respect is earned," I say aloud, "not freely given."

The grip on her spear tightens significantly, "Sona-sama?" she asks again, much more strained than before.

Sona looks between us, and sighs, before focusing on me, "I assume you don't mind?"

"She's your Queen, right?" I ask, and upon receiving a nod in confirmation, I mirror it and add, "Not at all!"

Sona looks back to her Queen, "Very well, try not to hurt him too badly," she then quickly looks back to me, "and you will answer all my questions when we're done here."

You know. I wanna snark back at that insulting and accusatory tone she's got. I really do.

But actions speak louder than words, no?

Her Queen, Tsubaki, steps up towards me, a tight glare on her face.

I grin straight back at her.

Gee, wonder why she dislikes me so much.

It can't be because of a little disrespect, right? I know she's a lot like Sona, but the King in question seemed only lost or mildly annoyed at my antics.

Not like, well this.

"I will correct your ignorance," she spins her spear around with a flourish, just as the rest of Peerage pulls back to give us space she stops and points it straight towards me, "and displace that arrogance of yours."

Arrogance, huh? Is that it?

I smirk right back, "You know, spear lady, some may say facing an unknown opponent with such gravitas", I slowly slide into my combat-ready stance, "is the height of arrogance."

She furrows her brow at that, her grip on her spear shaking despite the cold stoic look she glares at me.

"It's not a spear," she says plainly, "it's a naginata."

My smirk grows wider, "I know. I just find it easier to call it a spear."

I see the moment she clenches her teeth, and scrunches up her face.

So did Sona, as she called out before Tsubaki could bite out another reply.

"Tsubaki-san," Sona says simply, "he's intentionally riling you up. Stop responding to him, and let's get this over with!"

She huffs, "Hai, Sona-sama!" before taking in a deep breath and eyeing me.

Her mouth is shut, but I can see it in her, the roaring embers of angerand hatred?

Oh. Most interesting!

Say. Now that I think about it, isn't this girl a throwaway from the Five Principle Clans?

I wonder, do I remind her of someone from there? Or did her time with them allow her to, at least subconsciously, know who and what I am, and thus ping that mental sore spot in her life?

Ah, well. Still doesn't mean I'll go easy on her.

I look her back, straight in the eyes. All mirth, all passion, all excitement leaving me, replaced with sheer unadulterated anticipation.

"Test me." I utter, just loud enough for her to hear.

Her eyes tighten, but that's all the response I get before Sona announces.

"Begin!"

~ A New Sun ~

Sona watched, rather passively, as Noriaki blasted forwards, his blade wreathed in crimson fire.

"Dance!" he intoned, falling upon Taubaki from above.

Tsubaki immediately backpedaled, dodging the flaming blade, whilst lashing out with her naginata like a snake.

Noriaki was quick to redirect the sharp metal, batting away her thrusts harmlessly around him.

Sona couldn't help but smile.

Tsubaki, with incredible ease, started dancing around him, using her reach advantage to keep his massive sheathed sword away.

She spun around another one of his swings, easily getting behind him, and before he could turn, her naginata was already poised and struck.

The boy tilted his head to the side, avoiding the brunt of the blade, but it still nicked his cheek.

Sona's smile flickered.

Thatwas a possible lethal attack, had it connected fully.

But before she could say anything, Noriaki turned to Tsubaki and grinned a grin that sent shivers down her spine.

"You'refaster than me?" he said, not all sounding surprised, but rather ecstatic. "That's your Knight trait, right?"

As if to answer him, Tsubaki blasted forward once more, sending numerous thrusts at him.

He couldn't parry them all, several nicked his flesh, but none were lethal.

Even more worrying though? The wound on his cheek was already closing.

Sona had her suspicions, but now she's sure. Noriaki isn't human.

Tsubaki, seeming to realize something similar to her King, widens her eyes, before guarding against a massive overhead swing from the sword wielder.

The ground beneath her cracks and the shaft of her naginata groans slightly, but otherwise? Tsubaki doesn't seem affected by the swirling flames and is only lightly exerting effort into holding back his attack.

"Stronger, more durable?" Noriko voices, sounding more and more like a kid on holiday.

He didn't even grunt as Tsubaki kicked him in the gut, sending him flying up into the ceiling with a smile on his face.

Tsubaki pointed her naginata at him, and intones, "Be silent," before several barrier magic circles appeared around him, pinning him to the wall, "and yield."

Noriaki looked down at them all, the biggest, happiest, grin on his face.

"Aw, but why would I do that?" his sword ignited into fire, bursting from the sheath as he swung it.

Swirling slashing fire blasted apart the magic circles in the next moment.

Tsubaki clicked her tongue and readied her weapon for him to fall.

Only to gape and stare, as he seems to stick to the ceiling, and sheath his sword.

"After all!" Noriaki intones through the swirling flames, looking down upon them like a kid would for dessert.

And as he does so, Sona and everyone else can see the moment deep red flaming tattoos come up from his neck onto his face, and the way his eyes suddenly spin with two pupils.

"This fight is only just getting started!"

Chapter 8 (R-18)

I could feel it.

Molten lava coursed through my veins, spreading and shooting up and from my neck and face.

My Demon Slayer Mark was finally activated, and guess what?

I'm itching to see just how strong it makes me.

I grin wickedly down at the befuddled group of girls, eyeing the black-haired Queen who threw me up here in the first place.

Fire erupts around me as the sun in my chest thunders with power, swirling around my sheathed blade like it's the eye of a storm

The next moment, I fall.

I can see the moment her eyes widen, now in picture-perfect 4k with my eyes activated, as I fall upon her with the force and speed of a comet.

Hinokami Kagura.

She barely has time to bring up her spear to block.

Solar Heat Haze.

My blade fell upon her spear shaft but lost in the heat and flames as it was, she seemed to have misjudged exactly where my strike was landing.

The ground shattered and ruptured, as my blade slid off her spear and fell upon her shoulder.

To her credit, she didn't even so much as flinch as the fire bit into her or began eating away at her clothes.

Good. No prude shit here!

With a grunt, she pushed her spear forward, knocking me off her.

Before I can land on my feet, she already transitioning into several wide yet quick slashes out at me.

Ah. She's still trying to play keep away, huh?

And even with my eyes, I can still say she's fastnot nearly as fast as before, but still fast.

The Queen Piece is no joke, huh?

Very good!

But no more of this keep away.

I breathe and kick off the ground into the air once more almost as soon as I land, launching myself over her just as her blade lashes the air where I once was.

Fire Wheel.

I slam my flaming blade into the back of her head, sending her sprawling away wide-eyed, her spear too far extended to bring it back in time.

As soon as I land, I don't give her time to recover, instead, I drop my sword and race right into her personal space.

With my body fortified like this, I should be able to do this!

With my breath still held, my chest beats and energy like sunlight ripples through my veins as I aim a jab at her solar plexus.

She barely blocks it with her spear, visibly shuddering as solar energy ripples out like incendiary sparks across the air.

She once again attempts to backpedal, but I grab onto her spear and yank her right on back, slamming my head straight into hers.

I get a startled cry of pain from that, followed by a knee slamming into my chest.

It was almost instinctive. The moment her knee struck true, the vibrations, the flow of kinetic energy hitting me traveled through my body. Into my arms, my hands.

I lashed out, striking both my palms against either side of her face with the force of her attack backing it up.

Discombobulate.

That got a strangled sputtered cry as she staggered back, waving back and forth before hitting the ground.

She had let go of her spear to do that, so I generously returned it to her by embedding it into the ground in front of her.

I smirked at her seeing the way her head spun behind her eyes even as she projected a wrathful glare my way.

I casually walked back towards my sword, picking it up, whilst masking the growing soreness slowly stretching out across my body.

That was the Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist, I believe.

Even with a mark active, it still takes a strain huh?

Doesn't help that the general strain of pushing my body this hard is slowly catching up with me.

Ever so slowly, that molten lava in my veins is turning to lead. My body isn't getting weaker, but it's getting harder and harder to move as I go.

I need to wrap this up quicker than I'd like.

Well. Shit.

I do still have that summoning slip, though. Hmm.

One last exchange then.

I whirl around, blocking a downward strike from her spear, her face poorly stifling her hatred and aggression.

"Sneak attacks are unbecoming." That is all I say before fire ignites into existence around my sword, and I begin an absolutely brutal assault.

No fancy forms, no graceful dancing, I just began hammering away at her with sword strikes.

My fire scorches her, reddening her skin and burning away her clothes, yet she doesn't relent in trying to play keep away.

I refuse to be kept at arm's length, however.

She tries to trap me in a sphere of barriers and regain her reach.

Burning Bones, Summer Sun.

I blow through with an unsheathed flaming blade just like before, which I note is glowing red hot rather than black.

Very interesting.

With a step, sheathing my blade as I move, I'm in her space, her eyes wide as I bring my sword down once more.

Light and a burning crevice in the ground are all I see until I look around and find her on the catwalk.

Teleportation. Cute.

I stab my sheathed sword into the ground and rapidly go through hand signs so the Devils can't see exactly what I do.

All they see is the sudden spiraling orbs of crimson fire that appear behind me and form into a wheel before launching itself towards Tsubaki.

Whosmirks at this?

Ah. Her Sacred Gear.

With a wave of her hands, an ornate silver mirror around the size of a person forms in front of her.

My flaming wheel gets sucked into the mirror before rapidly being expelled at twice the size I sent it.

Right back at me.

I stand there, smirking right back as the flaming wheel slams into me.

Then, she startshold up, is she?

"This is my Sacred Gear, Mirror Alice!" she fucking gloats.

The audacity of this bitch. Anime character power explaining to me like she just won or got the upper hand!

"Yeah yeah." I wave off as the flames die down around my completely unharmed self, she gapes at me, and also seems a fair bit offended, "I got it, you can reflect attacks. Tell me though?"

I glared straight back at her, "What made you think my attack would hurt me?"

The intensity with which I said it made her flinch and grit her teeth at me.

Also, fuck you for trying that shit on me like you just won! Fight ain't over till it's over!

I raise my sword, gripping the hilt with both hands and entering a high guard.

"This is how you end a fight!"

Fire explodes out around me like a volcano, and I breathe!

My body creaks as every muscle, every bone, every fiber of my being cries out with sheer raw adrenaline.

Hinokami Kagura.

I move.

The ground ruptures and melts as I tear off from the ground, into the air, and onto the catwalk.

The metal turns red hot as I blast across, it falls apart behind me as I move, a corona of fire and molten metal exploding out with every step!

Sun Halo

Tsubaki throws up several barrier circles and even another mirror.

I blast through it all, as the fire around me roars into the shape of a dragon!

Dragon Head

I finally reach her, my blade poised to strike and end this now.

And then, in a flash of light, she's gone, teleported again to the other side of the warehouse.

I turn, seeing her smug yet panicked smirk.

Aw. That's adorable.

I twist, into a spin, and the dragon of fire follows, I slash in her direction

And watch as the flames continue their course without me.

Dance!

Dance for me!

The dragon crashes into her, blowing her into the side of the warehouse with a plume of roaring bright crimson flame.

I hear several cries of alarm below before the rest of the catwalk around me falls with me still standing on it, bringing me with it.

I know she's okay, so once I land on my feet, I merely give a small wave to the girls that suddenly surround me.

The blue-haired girl, sword girl, and thigh highs, hmm?

I wink at thigh highs, but she doesn't take the bait for some reason, so I wait as the other girls fly up the flame-bathed section of the warehouse.

I watch with mirth as the white-haired girl, one of the Bishops, pulls out a very toasty and unconscious but still alive Tsubaki.

Huh. I thought the giant flaming dragon would do more than make her apple red and torch her clothes.

She'll be fine after a quick Devil cuddle sesh, I think.

Sona soon flies down to join us as well after fully confirming that she's alive.

She nods to her two pieces standing on either side of me, before actually glaring at me.

Before she even starts, I point at her.

"You start talking about how I almost killed your Queen, then I'll start talking about how she almost stabbed me in the face." I glare right back into her eyes, "I don't wanna hear it, Sitri. She's fine. I can control myself."

Mostly. Usually.

Sona doesn't relent in our glaring contest, letting out a shaky breath.

"Questions. I have questions." she states, matter of factly.

I hum, feeling the heat crawling up my face slowly dissipating and simmering down.

"I would presume so." I reply simply.

Her eyes narrow at me, "Like where those flame markings going up your face are, andand!" she stumbles over her words, although I can't tell if it's because of fury, confusion, or a bit of both.

Huh. Is that what my Demon Slayer Mark looks like when active? Kewl.

Speaking of cool though

"How about this?" I speak up suddenly, "Why don't we all go back home, relax, cool off a bit, yeah?" I put my sword on my back and stretched out my increasingly stiffening limbs, "Then, later, I'll use that summoning slip I got from some guy earlier to give you a lot a call, and we can talk then?"

Sona stared up at me, slowly composing herself, before backing away slightly.

"That'sacceptable, Kusanagi-san." she finally says.

I nod happily at her, "Good!" and give her a pat on the head as I walk right past her, she freezes at my touch and I continue with, "Sorry about roasting your Queen! Tell her she needs to get rid of that stick up her ass!"

And with that, I'm gone, out the backdoor, and off to where I stashed my stuff.

I plop down on my motorcycle like a puppet with his strings cut, every part of my body feeling extremely heavy and spent.

I do manage to stuff everything I bought earlier into the basket attached to the back of the seat, before finally zooming off myself.

The nice, fresh cold night winds were like a balm to this tired body of mine, as I rode all the way home.

The whole time I sported the biggest shit-eating grin on my face.

~ A New Sun ~

Ah~...now this is how you cap a night off~!

"Where did you even get that outfit from~...?" I question in a hot low breath, shivering slightly as my drained body gets another shock of pleasure shot straight into it by, well

Kuroka, bouncing up and down atop my length with the hottest fucking ahegao I've ever seen, 'wearing' what amounts to thin golden strings across her torso, wrapping around her waist and breasts.

"Uzume-chan had i~it in her closet, nya~!" she grinds down into my hips, swiveling around slowly as folds tighten around me, "You like that, Nori~kun~? Hmm~?"

I glared at her, dangerously, "Who said you could stop bouncing, pet~?"

At my gaze and words combined, she shivered, clenched down even harder around me, and got back to bouncing and mewling like a good little fuck cat.

Man. Even as the bottom, I can't be the sub, huh?

I'd have it no other way!

Ah, but before I get into greater detail about what exactly I and Kuroka am doing - it's more than sex, I promise - let's head back a little.

When I got back, Uzume was passed out drunk on the couch.

No shock there.

Note to self, replace all alcoholic beverages with kiddie cocktails, and order her to exclusively drink those from now on.

Kuroka dragged her ass to her room, because she has a designated one now, and threw her in there.

She also tossed everything in the fridge that needed to be put in there.

Meanwhile, I was quite literally on my last legs.

My body had given out so hard that I was actively spinning and draining my chakra to walk.

I took Uzume's old place on the couch, and seeing my state, Kuroka said she had an idea to help me out and ran off to what I now learned was Uzume's room and came back wearing that.

Needless to say, she easily managed to get me up, and out of my clothes, and how we're here.

So, this is Bouchujutsu, huh?

It feels like regular sex, just with a purple-misty glow around us.

Although, I am slowly being revitalized.

Hella disappointed, still.

I muster some of my slowly returning strength to grab my cat girl's hips, digging my fingers into her soft supple flesh.

Can't thrust up, for now, but I can at least do this

"Kuroka~..." I give out a low pleasurable groan as I call for her.

"N~Nya~?" Kuroka looks at me, a blissed-out smile across her face, "Y~Yes, Nori~kun~?"

Hmm. You know what? It was hot when Uzume called me it, so I wonder

I lock eyes with Kuroka, and reply, "Call me master, my pet~..."

"Maagh~..." Kuroka grins and lets out a lewd moan, "Hai~, Master~! Let your good little fuck pet take care of you, nya~!"

I think I might have broken her with all the sex the other day.

Also, Japanese for Uzume, in English for Kuroka. Perfect.

My only regret? Right now I can't grab her hips and hold her in place while I pound up into her so hard she can't even speak.

I slowly drag my hands up her body, resting them upon the squishy and juicy orbs mesmerizingly bouncing in front of me.

As I play with them, I can feel Kuroka shiver and mew at my touch.

A little rub on the nipples there, a little grab and pull.

"N~Nyaah~!?" Kuroka cries out in brief ecstasy, "Maaaasster~!" she slurs with attempted admonishment.

Attempted. I just kept doing it and delighted in the way she quivered around my cock.

"You know, pet~?" I dragged her attention back to my voice, "I kind of expected the vaunted Bedroom Method to feel and be a bit more effective than normal sex~?"

Still can't get over that.

"Well, Master~...the Bedroom Method works best when both man and woman share their ki~!" she answers through her daze.

"Ah, so it's because I don't have my ki unlocked yet~..." I mutter softly.

"Eyup~! N~Nyah~!?" I pull on her nipples, causing her to throw her head back, and let out a loud, lewd mew as she 'paws' at my chest.

Cute.

So, my ki huh?

If I recall correctly, Bouchujutsu is when a woman shares her ki with a man and a man shares back.

Technically, that means she's shoving ki into my ki, but the circle can't be complete without me returning the favor.

The last time I tried to find my ki, I found the general area, but not specifics.

Though, with this, Kuroka's ki knows where my ki is, so maybe if I follow it

Well. No better time than the present I guess?

I lean back, close my eyes, and let myself get washed into the moment.

Down the road of pleasure, and the trickle of revitalization entering me, I follow it through my mind's eye.

That misty purple glow, as it passes my chakra, and flows deeper and deeper and

Huh? Where did it go?

It justvanished.

I "look" around, finding nothing but darkness, I feel nothing besides emptiness.

Did I take a wrong turn or something?

No. I know I didn't, the trial just ended. So where?

I doubt this void is my ki, right? That wouldn't make much sense.

I don't feel anything from this place, besides a creeping cold that I don't like.

So what's going on here?

Backing up, the trail suddenly manifests itself back into my eye.

Rather than follow it, I look at it, and find something rather odd

It's thin. Extremely thin, more so thanwait.

I back up even further and watch as the trail gets larger, thicker.

The further it goes, the smaller it gets. Why?

Where is the excess going? Why is it bleeding off like this? Is it just energy inefficiency, or something else?

Maybe it's not going for my ki in the first place? No, but that's how it stimulates the body, it has to be

Wait. What if, what if, I've been thinking far too hard about this, and the answer is actually much simpler.

Beneath my chakra, there's nothing there. It's strange, very strange. I get the feeling my ki is supposed to be there, but it isn't.

Ah!

I'm not Human.

Not completely, at least I don't know what exactly I am.

But it stands to reason that Human ki and Me ki would be in different places, and act differently because I am different.

Kami are spirits, forces of nature, in simple terms.

Humans are alive, free, and unbound by something like nature.

II am both, then. Right?

I am alive. The beating heart in my chest proves it.

I am the sun. The beating star in my chest proves it.

Between the rhythmic thumping of my heart, star, and Kuroka, where my body and spirit meet, humming throughout my entire being

A dark golden mist blankets me, covering all, seeping into everything just a tiny bit.

I can see it clearly now, the way Kuroka's ki drills into mine, and melts away into the whole.

That's what it was doing before, right?

So, how do I return the favor?

Maybe I just

I grab my metaphorical ki blanket and flip it up like one would when they straighten out a bed sheet.

I'm forcefully dragged back into reality as my dark golden mist bursts out of my body and entangles itself in Kuroka's purple.

The glow around us suddenly explodes, and Kuroka spasms around my length, her eyes going wide and cross as she cries out, falls upon me, latches onto me with her arms, and climaxes hard for several long shivering seconds.

"N~NYAAAHH~!? Mmmnnnghh~..." she moans out straight into my ear, "M~Master~...Nori~kun~..." she blearily muttered, "did you just~...?"

"Unlock my ki mid-sex ~?" I smirk darkly, as my arms come up around her waist and grab big handfuls of her ass.

It took her around half a second to realize what that meant, but it was too late, as I was already slowly sitting up.

Turns out, unlocking your ki is a really good energy booster, who'd of thought?

"Ahnn~...Nori~kun~...Master~...Nnghh~!" I slowly started bouncing her up and down on my length myself, "W~Wait~! I'm still- Mmmmnn~!?"

I promptly shut her up by capturing her lips with my own.

She purrs, melting into my embrace and the pace of my bouncing her as I deepen the kiss.

I'm not entirely sure how Bouchujutsu works, to be fair. So I could be completely missing the mark here as well.

But I get the feeling that it works best when the intercourse is much more sensual and intimate, rather than bestial fucking.

This means, fortunately for kitty, I'm not going to bend her over and pound her ass into the couch.

I'm okay with this, though. I can do both fucking like animals and sweet lovey dovey kind, both feel good so who am I to complain?

Speaking of

I begin bouncing her much faster, groaning into her mouth as I feel my climax start to reach its peak.

Kuroka perks up and pulls off my lips slightly so she can speak.

"Nya~? Master~? Is your little fuck pet doing a good job~? Are you going to reward her~?" she hums hotly, right to my face, prompting me to finally begin thrusting up into her.

The suddenness prompts her to yelp, and hug up against my body, she continues moaning right into my ear.

"Please~! Master~? I've been a good little pet, yeah~? I've been a really really good pet~! Please give it to me~! Give it to me~! Reward me, master~!"

With one last thrust upwards into her quivering quim, I hilt completely inside of her and give her exactly what she's asking for.

I groan as I release several long ropes of white hot seed, straight inside her.

Her walls clench around me as soon as the first burst comes, like she's trying to greedily milk me.

"Mmmnnnah~..." she slowly licks my ear as she moans out, while I bounce her a few more times, riding out my orgasm slowly, "Thank you, Master~, nya~!" she dazedly thanks me.

Suddenly, she hums, grabs my shoulders, and pulls back to look me in the eye before I can say or do anything more.

"Say, Master~?" she asks while batting her eyelashes, "Perhaps we should move this to the bedroom, no~? It is a tad bit cramped after all!"

Huh.

I take a good look around, seeing exactly that. Actually about to fall off the couch as is

"Alright, kitty~..." I grab her by the legs, hoisting her up by the thighs as I swing off the couch entirely and stand, cock still hilted deep into her folds. "Bedroom it is~!"

Admittedly, I was still a tad bit weak, but it was so worth it, watching her bounce up and down on my length as I walked, mewling every step of the way

Perfection.

~ A New Sun ~

Needless to say, we went at it a little while longer after that, but due to how late it was and Kuroka requiring sleep, we had to stop much earlier than I think either one of us wanted.

Which resulted in now, Kuroka cuddling naked into my side, with me all the same.

Despite her soft purring and the fact that I can't see her face because it's buried into my neck, I know she's not asleep.

I've been paying attention this time, see!

I gently rub Kuroka's back and speak softly into the night, just to make sure.

"You still awake, kitty?"

Her purring instantly stops.

After a short pause, she holds onto me tighter and nods against me.

I reach up and pet her hair instead.

"You feeling okay?" I mutter down to her, "You're usually out like a light after" I trail off softly.

Kuroka lets out a slow shaky breath, causing me to immediately tense up.

"I'm fine, I just" she clicks her tongue, holding back something before seemingly caving and outright saying. "Uzume-chan and I talked earlier today - er, I suppose it's yesterday now, nya?"

I blinkthen deadpan at the ceiling as all tension leaves my body.

"Kuroka. Did the maid threaten you?" I ask, scathingly.

Kuroka perks up, suddenly looking wide eyed at me, "Nya!? N-No! Well, actually, kind of?"

I'm gonna fucking kill that bimbo bitch.

"I'm gonna kill her." I growl out, prompting Kuroka to grab my face and make me look down at her.

"Noriaki-kun! No. It wasn't that bad, she justshe was worried, and I" she slowly looked back down, "because I haven't been entirely truthful with you"

Oh. Oh shit.

Are we doing this now?

Why after sex? This better not be a bloody pattern!

Alright, welllet's do this.

"Oh?" I intone, both curious and confused. I turn onto my side as well, wrapping her up into my arms and holding her close, "I presume, since you're bringing it up, you'll explain?"

Kuroka shivers slightly in my grasp, but I just go up to her ear, and whisper, "Don't worry, I understandtelling the whole truth to an unknown and potentially dangerous stranger?" I chuckle, "I get it. I'm not gonna hold any of it against you. If you want to tell me, go ahead, and if you don't feel ready? I won't judge. Just do your best, kitty" I softly mutter into her ear.

She takes a deep, shuddering breath, before muttering, "Okay, let's see, where to start?" she mumbles briefly, before finally settling on and saying out loud.

"You remember when I told you about Peerages, and that I was a part of one?" she asked softly, with which I hum in acknowledgment, "Iwas in one. Not any more, though. That was years ago, Iwell," her voice became tiny, "I killed my King."

A beat passes and I ask the obvious, whilst being careful to not sound accusatory or something similar, just curious, "Why? I don't take you for one to murder for no reason, so?"

Kuroka chuckles darkly at that, "Officially? It's because I got drunk on my powers, and went insane, killing him in the process. Unofficially?" Kuroka starts shaking slightly, and with my new-found senses due to unlocking my ki, I can feel her energy boiling under her skin. "That bastard wanted to experiment on my sister, so I ended him before he could even touch her!" she bit out harshly.

Hmm. I already knew this, of course. Still, If my own flesh and blood were going to get experimented on, I'd kill the bastard planning it too.

Suddenly, Kuroka sighed deeply, "Unfortunately, Imay have gotten a bit carried away? I overheard his intentions and jumped him immediately, but the rest of the Peerage was there, and I" I can feel her slowly cringe up against me as if slowly chewing a lemon as she recalls, "I killed them all. And Shirone, she saw, so I" She heaved a shuddered deep breath, and I gently caressed her back, pushing her onwards.

"ItI panicked, pretended I lost it, and l-left her there"

okay. I may have checked around and planned an ambush, and most certainly wouldn't have done that. Damn, kitty

She giggled manically for a second, "I-I know what you're thinking! Really! But, at the time, I knew the Underworld would hunt me down after what I'd done. I didn't have evidence, not like they'd care anyways, and I didn't want that for my sister" She shook her head and huffed, "She didn't end up getting much better though, those bastards took her and tried to charge her with my crimes! They tried to kill her! She wasn't even a Reincarnated Devil! And thatd-damnit" She let out a small sob, but quickly pulled it back in and reoriented herself.

"The Devil King Lucifer took her in, had his younger sister reincarnate her, and she's been part of the Gremory Heiress's Peerage ever since. And as for me? I" she spoke so quietly, so tiny, I barely even heard her, but I could feel the pain in her grimace as she said, "may have joined a group of terrorists to survive"

"Ah," I speak up, just as quietly, "so when you said you had Peerage stuff to do" I let the question hang.

"Yeah," she answered for me, "group meetingbut, b-but!" she suddenly speaks up, "For transparency! The sub-group I'm a part of doesn't actually do any of the terrorist stuff, our leader just wants to go around and fight strong guys! Most of them do," she buffs, "I just wanna live, nya"

Ah! A chance! Humor, go!

"Oh? Fight strong guys?" I raise an eyebrow, a smile slowly growing across my face, "Where do I sign up?"

Her eyes shoot up to meet mine, her face already a perfect deadpan stare.

Then she slaps my chest. 'Playfully.'

"Ow." I wince, with an amused smile on my face.

"Battle junkies," she huffs and looks away, "you and Vali must never meet, that's a calamity waiting to happen, nya!"

"Sounds like a fun time to me!" I say good-naturedly.

Only to receive another slap in return.

"Ow."

"I swear" she huffs yet smiles slightly.

"Hmm?" I slowly snake a finger underneath her chin, and make her look up at me, "You swear, huh? Rather rude of you, don't you think?"

"Nya~?" I see the moment light, desire, and mischievousness return to her eyes, "So what if I'm a little rude, hmm? I'm a terrorist criminal, it's practically expected~!"

"You could be a smooth criminal, instead you know?" I reply, with a bright smile, "But aren't either of those things, instead, you're just a sexy little vixen who loves her sister."

The moment I say that, her eyes widen, and I don't even let it fully sink in before I capture her lips with mine once more.

She retaliates rather quickly, wrapping her arms around me and holding my closer as she deepens the kiss, to my surprise.

By the time we finally break off, her face is absolutely scarlet red, and I pull her in for a big hug.

"I just wanna let you know, nothing you just told me lowered my opinion of you." I began, feeling her stiffen in my grasp, "While I think you could have handled it better, there's no real point in admonishing you for it. You've done that yourself plenty, me thinks. I don't care that you're some criminal to a government I find myself disliking the more I hear about it, and while the terrorist thing is slightly concerning" I trail off, then shrug.

"You aren't a bad kitty. Just one forced into your current circumstances by the past." I gently scratch behind her ears, "If I have to say one thing though? It's this." I go down and mutter softly into her ear, "Don't blame yourself for her being almost put to death. That's not on you. It's the guys that dropped the sentence, you hear?"

Kuroka immediately spoke up, "But I-"

"No." I slapped her right back down, "You swung the sword. No matter your reasons, there is no reason to pin any of that on a little girl."

Like. Seriously. The fuck? Who does that?

Shirone wasn't even a Reincarnated Devil at the time, not like that should have mattered. She didn't kill anyone. What kind of ass backward government charges the son for the crimes of a father? The sister for a sister's?

For a second, all is silent.

Until Kuroka breaks it by asking a simple question.

"...You really mean all that?"

"Yes." I affirmed succinctly.

Another second and I get a tired, shuddering sob as my cat girl tightens her grip around me, and two softly spoken words in response.

"Thank you."

I pet her back gently and let her ride out the waves of emotion pelting her like several tons of bricks.

All the way until her sobs turn into quiet, content purrs, and her shuddering is replaced by gentle rhythmic breathing.

I smile, and kiss her forehead, getting a tired mewl in affirmation.

Quietly, so as to not wake her up, I softly mutter, "Thank you for telling me, kitty."

With that, I hold her close and close my eyes right alongside her.

You know, I don't need sleep, but rest sounds really nice right now, after everything today.

And besides, there's nothing else like waking up alongside someone else after a long hard day.

Chapter 9

I woke up the next morning to a very naked cat girl clinging to my side.

So, the best way to wake up, of course!

What made it even better was that she was purring at the same time, with the most adorable grin across her face.

With a small chuckle, I extract myself from her grasp, my body crying in grief at the loss of her softness.

Turns out I'm not the only one suffering inside as Kuroka slowly frowns at my absence.

Her purring suddenly ceases, only to be replaced by a quiet whine as she reaches out and snatches up the pillows.

With an amused chuckle, I reach out and pet her head, "I'm going to go get breakfast started, alright? Shouldn't be long."

She snuggled up against my hand, and gave up a hum of what I'm fairly certain is a hum in agreement.

Pretty sure, what else could, "Hmmmfghnn." mean?

Regardless, after throwing on a fresh new yukata, I'm up and out of my room shortly after.

It takes me walking about halfway to the kitchen to realize something.

"Oh yeah. I got a maid to do all this for me!"

And with that jubilant exclamation, I turn and make my way to Uzume's room instead.

And promptly kick down the door when I make it there.

"Raise and shine! It's breakfast time!" I say whilst walking in, stopping halfway to her bed.

She's sprawled out half-naked.

Course she is.

"Maid!" I call out, "Wake the fuck up!"

"Mnnn" she mumbles, and pulls the covers over her face, "five more minutes, please Goshujin-sama~...?" she gives her ass a little shake.

Bitch you trying to bribe me?

I answer in the only fashion appropriate to this disobedience.

By taking a few steps back, then bomb-rushing her down, and leaping.

I dropkick her off the bed.

"GHAA!?" she screeches and hits the wall with a pathetic flop, she isn't down for long though, scampering up right before she starts whining, "N-Nori-kun-!"

"Nope!" I cut her off, "Don't start! I wanna see if you can cook, so get that ass in uniform and get moving! Also," I narrow my eyes, "that's Goshujin-sama to you unless you need another reminder?"

"Mmmm!" she squirms, holding her head, "Too hungover for this!"

With a snort, I walk over to her and lift her to her feet, "Yeah, well, it won't be an issue anymore. No more drinking for you."

Her eyes widen into saucers as she looks at me, blanching, "Wah!?"

I give her a casual nod, "Mhmm, and before I forget!"

She flinches as I bring up my hand once more, only to give a confused blink once I bring it down and only pat her head.

I go right up to her ear, and whisper, "So I noticed you didn't leave a mess outside my door the other night, good job! Have some head pats! Also," I turn my tone much softer, "head pats for taking care of the Dojo all this time. You earned that much, at least."

Confusion slowly morphs into a small smile as she leans into my touch.

Ah. I'm gonna turn her into a head pat slut over the years, aren't I?

That small smile quickly becomes a look of realization as she turns and eyes me, "W-wait, are you paying me in head pats?"

"Yes." I reply simply.

"Wah!?" she sputtered in response, once more.

"Be glad I'm paying you at all," I continued before she could say something stupid, "now!" I rear back my other hand and deliver a big meaty slap to her rear while she wasn't looking.

The flush on her face and the squeal she let out was the cherry on top of the cake of the sheer look of betrayal on her face.

"Get this ass in a uniform, and let's see how well you can cook!" I command.

After a brief moment of composing herself, she let out, "H-Hai! Goshujin-sama!" and scurried off to do just that. I think.

Regardless, I set down for the living room myself, where my jacket was haphazardly thrown to the ground beforewell, I guess you could call it a type of training?

Bedroom Method training. Ki training. That type of thing!

Also, another thing to add to the list of shit I gotta train.

Joy.

Moving on, my jacket has the summoning slips in its pockets, both Sitri and Gremory.

With a huff, I find said jacket and take those slips out before chucking the thing onto the destroyed couch's armrest.

Ah well. Just another thing for the maid to clean up, no?

Speaking of cleaning, I really oughta have her do that while I make a 'deal' or two.

I lay the summoning slips out on the table, and take a seat, looking over the two small fliers while I wait.

Now, who should I summon first?

A responsible person might summon Sona's posse first, but I'm feeling rather, hmmI dunno, lazy today?

Not that I don't wanna train, I will later, but I know I've got some gaming system lying around here.

A whole emulator and all, actually, with a shit ton of different games.

And if I recall correctly, Shirone takes requests for gaming with her clients.

Now, as loath as I am to summon a Devil to play games with them, it's like the equivalent of a more pathetic Rent-A-Girlfriend in my mind, I'm not doing this to make friends.

This is part of the plan to get Shirone comfortable enough around me, and hopefully, a Kuroka in cat form, so that the reveal of her sister doesn't make her die from a heart attack or something.

Huh. You know, I just had a thought. I don't think I told Uzume or Kuroka what happened last nigh

"Goshujin-sama!" Oh shit. "It's do" at that moment, Uzume came walking into the kitchen with way too much food to be done already.

Like. What the fuck. How do you already make waffles!? It's been like a few minutes, tops!

Also, she paused because she was staring dead set at the summoning slips in front of me.

"You cheated and used your divine powers, didn't you?" I suddenly say, without missing a beat.

Uzume blinked. "Huh?"

"With the food, Uzume, there's no way in hell you made all that already!" I elaborate.

"B-Beh!?" she stutters, dumbfounded whilst putting it all on the table, "So what if I did!?"

I shrug, and smirk, "Nothing. I just felt like pointing it out."

As long as it's good, I don't care.

Uzume pointed at me, her face pouting, "You! Y-You! Gha! That's not the point!" she slams her hands down on the table, "Nori. Where did you get those fliers from?"

"Bunch of Devil familiars." I respond casually.

Another slam, as Uzume's head hits the table.

Slowly, she lets out a low whining groan.

"Why, why are there still Devils in Kuoh!?" she cries out into the table.

Huh.

"Is there not supposed to be?" I ask with a raised eyebrow.

Uzume raises her head slightly, "No! WellI don't think so?" she clicks her tongue and stands back up straight, "Remember how I mentioned that meeting your mother had after your Dad died?" she asked, her face stony.

OhI think I see where this is going.

"Yeah?" I confirm, "Let me guess, Mom wanted them all out of Japan?"

Uzume nodded, "Yup. Although that's what she wanted, that doesn't mean she got it." Uzume crosses her arms and starts rapidly tapping her foot against the ground, "Without help, Ama can't enforce anything on Earth, since she doesn't technically rule it directly anymore."

With a sigh, Uzume continues, "That responsibility was handed down to her grandson and was supposed to be in the hands of the Imperial Family and Five Clans today."

Pointedly, Uzume looks at me, "Your father was the closest to consolidating Japan, you know? He had Ama's blessing, and he was the Crown Prince, if he had lived" she trails off, melancholic.

I, meanwhile, blinked.

"Uzume," I say, blankly, "you don't just casually drop that kind of bombshell, you know!?"

I mean, I always expected it considering his name and mentions of an inheritance, but damn girl, could at least lean into it rather than slap me in the face with it!

"E-Eh? O-Oh!" her eyes widen and she gives an awkward laugh, "Right, right! Sorry! I jus"

"Uzume." I say, pointedly, "Just move on."

"R-Right, right" Uzume cleared her throat, "where was I? Uh, right! The Imperial Family with their Bureau can't fight the Devils, the Clans are too busy throwing their members out to deal with it, soyeah."

"And the Earthly Kami?" I ask though I get the feeling I know the answer.

"Too weak, too divided, or locked up in shrines," Uzume answers, "the only two who could fight the Devils are Inari, but she's too busy, and my husband, but he hasn't left the bridge in centuries." she lets out a tired discontent sigh.

"I'm not shocked the Devils continued with business as normal, they probably expected Ama to forget or not take up her mirror again, but" Uzume mutters in slight horror, andastonishment? "she really is like her siblings, to some extent."

"That turns you on, doesn't it." I more so state, accusingly.

"Yes."

A beat passes.

"W-Wait, I"

"Nope!" I smile good-naturedly at the suddenly very embarrassed maid goddess that refuses to look me in the eyes, "That's going to stay a core memory for the rest of my life, I just want you to know."

While Uzume squirms under my teasing gaze, I reel, mentally.

All that I just heard? I don't like it one bit.

I already knew the Five Principle Clans were kind of shit, more concerned with tradition and other stupidity rather than the state of the world.

And the less said about the Bureau and Imperial Family, the better. They likely can't do much on the supernatural side due to a lack of power.

So, Japan, my new home here, is kinda screwed isn't it?

If the Devils aren't supposed to be in Kuoh but are anyway, then that means the Fallen probably are as well.

Transgression after transgression.

And that's just the outside problems, what about internal ones? Are there any Shinto or Buddhist Gods to worry about, the Yokai?

Hold up.

Why am I getting so worked up over this?

Internally, anyway.

Dad tried to fix all this, but he got killed, no?

Well. Yeahbut he was just Human. I'm not. I could do more, couldn't I?

That sounds disrespectful.

Ineed more time to think about this.

Externally, I let out a frown and sighed, prompting Uzume to finally look at me, "Regardless. Devils in Kuoh, alright? Not much to do about it right now. Besides, I met one of their Peerages"

Slam.

Uzume just smashed her head into the table.

"Uh," I blink, holding a hand out to her head, "Uzume, you okay?"

I flinch back as she suddenly throws her head back up and stares me down.

"Are you okay? Did they hurt you!? Did they offer to make you into one of their slaves!?" she asked, rapidly, Holy Spirit Power flickering around her into sparks of dawn-like light.

Okay. Damn. Probably should have seen that reaction coming.

"Eh," I wave off, "the King of the Peerage, she wanted me to answer some of her questions, I said nounless she fought me."

Slam.

I grimace and continue, "So I fought her Queen, hit her with a fire dragon and all, and told her I'd text her later using one of these!" I tap the Sitri slip.

Slam. Slam. Slam.

"Nori." Uzume grumbles into the table.

"Yes?"

"Why are you like this?" she asked with a pained breath.

"Because it's funny." I answered amused, prompting a groan from the maid, "Also, I wanted a good fight, strays are rare in Kuoh, and I wanted a proper challenge for once?"

It was at that moment, a certain someone entered the room.

And almost immediately started stretching out provocatively, because of course she had to come down here for that, no?

"Mmnnyaaahh~!" Kuroka practically moaned as she stretched out the tension in her body.

Well. At least she's wearingsomething.

Thin tank top and panties are still clothes. Mostly.

"What's all the noise about down here, nya~?" she rubs her droopy eyes with the back of her hand, "It sounded like someone was trying to break in!"

Before I could say anything, Uzume shot up and looked at Kuroka with gods on high tears in her eyes.

"Kuroka-chan!" she pointed at me, "Nori-kun went out, met a Devil Peerage, and challenged their Queen to a fight!"

Oi. Are you telling on me to my cat girl?

Well hah! Jokes on you! I ain't whipped!

Also, spankings later. Cheeky shit.

I sent a baleful glare at Uzume that caused her to squeak and back up slightly.

Meanwhile, Kuroka blinked and tilted her head. "So that's why you were so out of it when you came home last night, nya~?" she struts over to me and suddenly sits on my lap, and wraps her arms around my neck, "As to be expected of my mate, nya~! Did you kick their ass?"

"Yup." I smirk, and mirror the 'fuck me' eyes Kuroka is suddenly sending me right back at her, deriving high sadistic joy in the way Uzume squirms off to the side.

I'm like, fairly sure she's doing this just fuck with Uzume. Fairly.

Could also be that she's horny again.

Or both. It's probably both.

Wait a minute.

I pause briefly, considering what she just said fully. "Mate?" I parrot back to her, "Is that a Yokai thing? And since when was I your mate?"

"Since you fucked me into your bed and declared it 'breeding training'~" she replied with a sly grin, Uzume had the nerve to gasp at that, "also, yes, it is a Yokai thing, nya~!"

It really is that simple with her, huh?

Also, I didn't notice it until right now, but Kuroka is ever so slowly grinding herself against my hips.

Oh yeah, it's both.

"Careful kitty~," I warn her hotly, reaching around to take big handfuls of her ass, "or we'll continue off directly from last night~..."

She shivers and mewls at that, grinding against me harder with a sly lewd smirk plastered across her face.

Hmm. Uzume is a future head pat slut, Kuroka? She's a slut slut.

Guess that's what happens when you go from slutty virgin to not so virgin anymore in a single long night.

My bad!

Unfortunately for Kuroka, as much as I'd love to fuck her into the table, there is work to be done and food to eat!

With that thought, I bonk her on the head.

"Nya~!?" she flinches, grabbing her head and gapping at me, "Nori-kuuun~!"

"Not now, kitty! Breakfast is right behind you, and we've got a very present audience." I remind her.

And then all horny is lost, practically with a snap of the fingers, as she whirls around and eyes the bacon with sparkling eyes.

Cats, everyone.

Also, more of her ass is pushing into my crotch.

Task failed successfully?

I then look at a flushed, yet snickering, Uzume.

Well, that won't do.

"Oi. Voyeur Maid." I call out blandly, and she freezes, "What are you snickering about, go clean the living room!"

"V-Voyeur!?" she blanched in response, "I'm not! You two! You! Hnnnghhh!" she groans and shuffles away, presumably before she can say something stupid.

Look at her, she's learning!

"Ah, Nori-kun?" Kuroka spoke suddenly, though slightly muffled and much more softly due to the bacon stuffing her mouth.

Also, the fact she finally noticed the summoning slips and is staring dead at the Gremory one might have something to do with it.

"Are these?" she trails off, and I just chuckle, wrapping my arms around her waist and pulling her in for a hug.

"Correct." I confirm for her, "I presume you recognize the sigil on one of these, yeah?"

She nods, absentmindedly, "The Gremory ClanShirone" she says longingly.

"Well then," I kiss her on the back of the neck, "let's eat, and figure out how we're going to go about this!"

Operation, reunite the cat sisters in a way that doesn't further destroy their relationship is a go!

~ A New Sun ~

The plan was simple.

I would summon Shirone, or Koneko as is now, and make a contract with her.

It doesn't matter what exactly, it could be playing games, training, whatever.

The point is, I make a pact with her.

Next part?

Be a decent, non-perverted, normal human(?) being

Yup, it's that simple.

If I recall correctly, Koneko's contractors are generally losers who make her do weird shit.

Like that one guy, who had her dress up as anime characters and carry him around like a baby.

Yup. Not exactly envious of that job.

In the end, be myself, and make friends with smol cat girl.

While all that's going on, Kuroka is going to pose as my completely normal pet cat, that wanders around doing cat things.

When Koneko opens up, hopefully with her version of the sisters' backstory, then Kuroka can finally reveal herself.

But, well

"Let me just go around and check the wards again, okay, nya?" my cat girl who now actually looks like a cat asks. Again. For the seventeenth time in the last thirty minutes. "It'll be quick, nya! I promise, nya!"

I've learned a few new things about Kuroka today.

One?

[spoiler=Kat.][/spoiler]

She looks really cute in her Yokai form. Just a black cat with two tails, though she's currently using transformation magic to hide her second tail.

Two. When she's nervous or stressed, her verbal tick is constant.

And three.

I grab her before she can run off again and check the damn wards like she's been doing all day, setting her on my lap. "No." I affirm, "We're doing this, now."

"But! But! Nyan!" she fluffs out and puts her paws over her head as she whimpers, "...can we not just kidnap her instead, nya!?"

She tries to make really stupid fucking decisions when she's stressed.

My eyes darted down to look at her, "Do you want me to go get the chair leg again!?" I glared, heat in my eyes.

Kuroka instantly cowered, "N-No Master, n-nya!"

When I gave her my plan originally, she suggested we did what she did in canon during the Youth Devils Tournament.

I objected by tearing off a chair leg and bonking her over the head with it.

Honestly? I don't think it's the chair leg itself that knocked some sense into her over that, it was the sheer vitriol in my reaction that did.

Still, none of that's stopped her from trying to delay my summoning her by doing silly shit like setting up and checking wards over and over.

I only let her do it, because Kuroka thinks Shirone practices or utilizes Senjutsu, and would thus be able to sense her without wards.

I had no reason to object there since I wouldn't realistically know otherwise.

Poor Kuroka, she's gonna be in for one hell of a surprise when Shirone finally shows up, huh?

In any case, I have Sitri Devils to summon and bulli later tonight, preferably right before daybreak for maximum fuck you energy.

"Kuroka," I called out to her, my gaze softening as she looked at me, "we're burning nighttime, we gotta do this now." I state with finality.

Kuroka's ears pinned to the back of her head, and she shuffled up against me closer, before muttering out a barely audible, "O-Okay"

With that, I picked up the Gremory summoning slip that sat next to us on the couch.

Uzume, being the good little head pat voyeur maid she is, cleaned the living room and even moved some of the furniture out so there'd be enough room for the summoning circle.

The little slip simply said something about granting your wish.

Hmm, my wish huh?

I wish Kuroka and her sister would make up.

Aiming that desire towards the slip, the Gremory Clan sigil on it suddenly glowed a bright crimson red.

I reached down on instinct, running my fingers through my cat's back fur as she flinched at the sudden lights, "Here she comes, kitty."

It didn't take long after that for a full-on magic circle to appear right in the middle of my living room.

And with it?

Exactly who I wanted to see.

To none of my surprise, the cat under my hand froze like a deer caught in the headlights at her appearance.

Meanwhile, the cat now standing before me just gave the black cat in my lap a simple once over, before leveling her eerily passive and emotionless gaze on me directly.

Despite the gaze, she is pretty darn cute. Long sleeved white shirt under a brown sleeveless blazer, short jean skirt, and cute little dark brown boots.

Glad I managed to catch her a time she wasn't wearing the damn school uniform.

"You are the one that summoned a Devil, yes?" she asks simply, and I merely nod, "I am Koneko Toujou, what is your wish?"

Well, damn. She's every bit as stoic as I recall her being.

Somehow, that doesn't make her less cute.

I put a hand to my chest, "Well, Toujou-san, my name is Noriaki Kusanagi. And this here is Chomusuke!" I pat disguised Kuroka on the head.

Who properly turns, and gives me a scathing glare.

My bright beaming smile never wavers.

Sucks no one would get that reference here beyond the chuuni as fuck sounding name.

But I think Koneko got the spirit of the reference by the way her lips twitched slightly.

I huff out a sigh, "And honestly? I'm actually a tad bit unsure as to what my wish should be."

Koneko raises an eyebrow slightly, "Unsure?"

"Mhmm," I hum and continue, "It's like, I'm quite lonely here" her eyes narrow, "not like that!" I quickly interjected.

"Then what." she asks coldly.

Christ, cat. Chill for a second.

"Like, okay, look." I lean back into the couch, "I'll give you the simple less personal version of sad anime backstory," another twitch of the lips, I continue as normal, "my maid majorly fucked up upbringing. So I don't have any friends. Or social skills, mostly. I got over it. But you see, because of that, I don't have any friends to do fun stuff with." I promptly whip out one of my controllers from between the couch cushions!

"Like play video games with!" my eyebrow twitches at that, hell that sounded so pathetic!

Koneko's narrowed eyes give me that same feeling, just with a healthy dose of pity atop that, "...you could have just led with that."

Fuck it. Enough cringe.

I chuckle, "Maybe, huh? But, well, like I said it's a hard choice" I slowly stand up, my motion giving enough time for Kuroka Chomusuke to jump off my lap. "I'm unsure, see because while that's all fun and dandy, I've also got something else in mind."

This is a shonen anime world, after all

I walk over to her, her eyes narrowing as she looks up at me, "Tell me," I ask, "how good are you at throwing a punch?"

She blinked at that, "I'm pretty good. Why?"

My smile may as well be blinding, "Spar with me?" I ask simply.

She furrowed her eyebrows at me, "That'sprobably not a good idea."

"I can take a hit, or two, or three," I assure her, "besides, it'll be fun, I think. Never know until you try it?"

Koneko stares at me impassively, then shrugs, "It'll be your funeral, I guess."

Hah! Dub Koneko! Yes! Best timeline!

"I'll be fine, Toujou-san!" I said faking hurt, "Really, you haven't even seen me in action yet, don't judge a book by its cover you know?"

The stare Koneko sent me could bring about the next Ice Age.

"...I suppose." she dully replies, before pulling out a tablet like device, "Now, about payment..."

Ugh. Paperwork. Miss me with that shit and let's get to the good stuff already!

~ A New Sun ~

Koneko didn't know what to think exactly of this potential client of hers.

He was different from her standard clientele, that much was for sure.

In that, he didn't appear to be a pathetic, degenerate loser who wanted her to do weird shit.

She could get behind that.

Also, his claim of being able to handle himself in a fight, although at first just sounded like he was low-key digging at her small frame, might hold some merit.

The devices that Devils use to calculate prices for wishes and contracts are generally based on the worth of the person making the wish.

So, when she pointed the device at him, imagine her internal shock when it found that he was considered a potentially exceedingly high-value client.

Like, several times the value of all her current clients, combined.

It's a level of value in a client that someone like her President should have gotten, but instead, the summoning determined his wish and desire was best granted by her.

Curious.

After signing the digital paperwork, he asked her to follow him over to his dojo, which she obliged to.

On the way, Koneko was trying to figure out exactly why he was considered such a high-value client

Looking around his full-on estate, she gets the feeling it could be the moneybut, no.

Akeno-senpai and Yuuto-senpai, get rich clientele all the time, but their worth isn't nearly that much more substantial.

As for the young man himself? Well, he doesn't seem particularly special.

Hell, she can't even smell him.

Wait.

He smells like...nothing?

That's unusual. And slightly worrisome.

As they enter the dojo, her fists tense slightly at just how eerie the place looks.

Though, the guy, Kusanagi, just waves it off. "Yeah, I know. I think it looks cool, especially at night, but I can see how it looks to others."

Koneko gave a stiff nod to that.

It did, in fact, actually look incredibly edgy, at least in her eyes. But she wasn't about to say that out loud.

Maybe. She's thinking about it.

Eventually, they reached a longer, more traditional looking training hall, and Kusanagi took up the other end of it.

With a bright, very punchable smile, he turns and looks at her, "Ready when you are, Toujou-chan!"

Her eyebrow twitched at that. This guy

Regardless, she takes up her position and raises her fists in a boxer's stance. "Hai, Kusanagi-san." she stresses coldly.

His smile just gets wider.

Then, he starts pulling off the top of his yukata.

She blinks.

okay. She changes her evaluation. He's very much not like the worthless degenerate losers who probably never left their homes a day in their lives before.

This guy is ripped. Mildly, he isn't a bodybuilder, but more like a swimmer.

Maybe his confidence in fighting her isn't too unfounded, after all?

Also, that tattoo on his collarbone.

Yakuza, perhaps?

"Sorry sorry, Toujou-chan," she was, admittedly, too busy staring thinking to correct him again, "it's just, I'd rather not destroy another one of my robes again you know?"

She gets that sentiment. She always scuffs her clothes in fights too.

Wait. Again?

Then he moved.

Koneko had to strain her eyes to see him coming, and even then, she barely had time to bring up her guard to stop his fist from connecting with her nose.

Her arms shook as she absorbed the blow, and she was sent sliding several feet back from her original position.

She blinked and looked at him incredulously.

Why? Well.

"Damn, girl!" he whined, shaking the arm that he struck at her with, "You've got the durability of a Queen!" his smile shifted slightly, "Nice."

Why does the way he said make her wanna call him a pervert?

"Come on then, Toujou-chan!" he enters aninteresting looking stance, breathing deep before his eyes focus on her intensely, "Test me."

She doesn't know what exactly this is, but this has to be a type of perversion, right?

Regardless, she isn't one to not give as good as she got.

Besides, his face is very punchable.

Rushing forwards at a not inconsiderable speed, she delivers a right hook, straight to his jaw.

To her shock and slight horror, he tanks it, shifts his body, and punches her straight in the jaw right back.

The force nearly sends her airborne, it was stronger than his first punch after all, but she's quick enough to grab the hem of his robe and stay her ground.

"Ey!" with a kiai, she lifts him up and promptly throws him across the hall in response.

He twists midair, spinning to land on his feet, hitting the wall before springboarding off it and right back at her.

Their fists collide as soon as he makes it to her, staggering both and stopping his flight.

As soon as he lands on the ground, however, he's upon her once more.

A jab to the left side of her face that she's forced to take and let slide as she punches at his center of mass.

Only for him to come up with his free hand and redirect it away.

She steps into his personal space, and spins on her feet, lashing out with a kick that connects to his center.

He grunts as his breath temporarily leaves him, and she dashes forward to press pressure upon him.

A right hook from her is dodged, she backflips away from his retaliatory left chop, then dashes forwards to shoulder tackle him.

He steps forward, his own shoulder out, stopping her advance with barely a flinch back.

She frowns, right into his smiling face as they locked eyes.

He's the one to disengage, trying to trip her up and knee her center, but she catches his knee easily and pushes him.

Following up, she begins an absolutely brutal assault, advancing on him with constant jabs and strikes aimed at his stomach.

He easily pushes her attacks away, redirecting them several times with his superior reach and the palm of his hands, all whilst backpedaling to force her to expend more and more energy trying to keep up.

It was incredibly annoying.

"Tch!" she huffed, and suddenly lashed out, grabbing his arm as he redirected another one of her jabs.

"Ho?" he raised an eyebrow, then his eyes widened comically as she flipped him over her shoulder and jumped on his back, wrapping her arms around his throat and legs around his waist.

"Ah," he noted, with strain, "well aren't you cute, giving a hug to a guy you just met!"

What.

He then promptly jumped into the air and slammed her straight into the floor upon coming back down.

He grabs onto one of her arms, holding it whilst pinning her in place under his weight as he starts elbowing her over and over again with his free arm, straight into her side.

"You gonna let go?" he calls out, muffled and choked.

"Nope." she responds with a pained wince.

"Alright then!"

Suddenly, he hops to his feet.

He blasts forwards, jumps, and flips, and slams both of them right into the far wall with enough force to make the entire building creek.

The two sputter to the ground shortly after, herself dislodged from his back.

With a groan, she gets up slowly, looking at the young man who's rubbing his throat, wincing as he does so.

"Damn, I didn't even consider that as a weakness," he idly notes, then looks at her with appreciation, "thanks for that!"

She has no fucking clue what he's talking about.

He stands up, seemingly not much worse for wear, "Also, damn, you fight rough huh?"

She snorts, "You as well." she goes to brush off her clothes, butah.

Chunks of cloth are missing here and there, though thankfully her underwear remains. Somehow.

Lovely.

She immediately eyes him again, "Look and I'll kill you."

He eyes her right back, momentarily stunning her, "Oho? You can fuck me with your eyes but I can't do the same? Double standards much, Toujou-chan?"

Her eyebrows twitched as she huffed out, "Pervert."

"Pervert." he shot right on back with a stupid smile.

She blushed, slightly.

He chuckles, "Don't mind your ruined clothes. I'll give you something you can wear after, alright?"

"...fine." she concedes, "If it's skimpy, I'll murder you in your sleep."

"It's just a shirt," he looks at her much more intently, "seriously, are you okay? Do you deal with perverts that often that even the slightest hint in that direction makes you flip?"

Well. No. But considering how her normal clientele usually are

She shrugs at him, "It's just better to keep an eye out."

And also keeps herself far away from her personality.

He looks at her, then reluctantly shrugs, "Alright. But you tell me if my teasing goes too far, alright Toujou-san? I don't wanna make you feel uncomfortable."

She blinks at that.

How shockingly considerate

Wait. Teasing?

Before she can reach the proper train of thought to strangle him again, he's suddenly holding a bottle of water.

"Water?" he holds it up to her, she nods, and he tosses it over to her. "Ready for Round 2 when you are!"

He practically skips over to where he was standing before, and Koneko narrows her eyes at him as he goes.

She downs the entire bottle in a single chug, smashes it, and throws it aside before mirroring his position.

She isn't usually into fighting all that much, but she feels the need to prove something here.

And also break his nose for nearly breaking her jaw earlier.

"Hai." she enters her stance, glaring at him as he does.

"Let's begin, round 2!" and with that, he rushes at her once more.

~ A New Sun ~

Well. My everything hurts.

Fighting a cat girl who can rival a Queen like Sona's in raw physical strength and durability with pure martial arts all night tends to have that effect.

Speaking of

"Like the shirt I got you?" I eye her cheekily.

"I will destroy you." she replied coldly, sitting there on the floor with a glare that promised death.

Though the small flush on her face kind of took away from it.

Hmm, wonder why she's so mad? I kept my promise! The oversized white shirt with a cute little kitty face on it covers her perfectly, doesn't show anything at all!

Heeheehee~!

I smirk, and raise my arm slowly from my prone position on my back to give a thumbs up, "Ah, like you did during our fights? Why, go on ahead! I could use the cardio!"

Her eye twitches at that.

No, but like, seriously? This girl broke my nose seven times.

Don't think she noticed though, I heal fast.

We fought at least a dozen or so rounds, with breaks thrown about every few so she could catch her breath.

When she noticed I didn't get tired mid-fight, it just made her try and break me harder.

Honestly? Love the spirit! You go kitty!

Truly, this type of training is waaay better than raw physical exercise. Breaking my body on a petite cat girl's fist and with my martial arts, is always superior.

I think I may have issues.

A tablet-looking device nearly soars past me, I catch it casually before it does.

"Whatever," she huffs, "just fill that out so we can be done already."

I chuckle and idly begin doing so, "You have fun, Toujou-san?" I ask offhandedly.

I get a grumbling hum in response.

"For what it's worth, you did break my nose like, seven times." I remark.

I'm fairly certain she snaps her gaze towards me, as I can feel her incredulous gaze bore into the side of my head.

"How?" she asks, still disbelieving.

Hmm. Should I reveal who or what I am? Really?

Let's see. I'm only fucking with Sona and her Peerage out of spite, purely because Sona made our first interaction intentionally as awkward and painful as fuck.

Also, her Queen called me names, so I threw a dragon at her.

Koneko broke my nose several times, but I asked for it, and I like her quite a bit.

Eh. What the hell? If my luck with Sona was any indication, Rias and Co would eventually find out anyway.

"I'm not human," I state casually, "fully anyway. I'm half, I think."

"You think?" she asks, still unbelieving.

I shrug, then look up from the tablet to eye her, "Yup, half human, and" I let the floodgates that is my Holy Spirit Power open, and surge out across the dojo, "half-god."

Her reaction was instantaneous, the moment I opened the valve so to speak, Koneko paled, shivered, and began to sweat. Her eyes widened comically and started shaking.

And then I reeled it all back in like it wasn't even there.

"Or at least I think so, anyways? Shinto myth doesn't have demigods in the Western terms, but, eh" I rub the back of my head, "It works for now, so that's what I've been running with."

After several brief seconds of Koneko catching her breath, she replied with a heated glare, "Don't do that again without warning, or I'll kill you."

Jeez. So quick to threaten death.

"Don't doubt what I say, or I'll give you head pats!" I respond in kind.

Koneko gives me a blank stare at that.

I simply chuckled, moving my eyes back to the screen, ahreview huhhow would I rate Koneko's job?

"Hmm, you know, you're really tough," I say aloud, basically what I'm writing down, "about as tough as the Sitri's Queen I fought the other day, in terms of pure physical ability."

"You foughthuh." she blinks out, "Why?"

I shrug, "The Sitri King earlier that day made getting my uniform at my new school awkward as hell. So, when night rolled around, they caught me hunting strays for training, and she asked questions? Well," I smile positively devilishly, "I made 'em work for it in a duel."

Koneko stared at me for a good, long moment. "You didn't give them answers, did you, Kusanagi-san?"

"Nope~!" I confirm cheerily, "I'm supposed to summon a Sitri Devil tonight, give them answers then, buteh." I wave off, "Don't know if I'm feeling it tonight either. I'll likely just be coy about it all."

To my slight surprise, Koneko nodded vigorously at that, "Good. That bitch deserves it."

Damn, Koneko. Did someone from her Peerage or the Student Council steal your snacks?

that's probably exactly what happened, isn't it?

Still. My people!

After a brief moment of thinking further, Koneko perks up, "Wait. You mentioned a new school?" she asks simply.

"Yeah," I confirm, "Kuoh Academy, I'll be starting my Third Year of high school there soon."

And by that, I mean I'm making clones do it.

"Huh. Small world, I guess." Koneko mutters, before suddenly standing up.

Holding the hem of her shirt, she bows deeply to me.

"Then allow me to introduce myself once more, I am Koneko Toujou, and I'll be starting my First Year of high school there shortly." I can tell she's straining slightly to say this last bit properly, "Please take care of me, Kusanagi-senpai."

Ah. Japanese and manners. Always nice.

I walk over to her nonchalantly, and suddenly pat her on the head, causing her to freeze ramrod straight under my touch.

"Honestly, with how tough and cute you are little kouhai? I think you'll be just fine." I beam my smile down at her, "Just give 'em the same left hook you did me, that'd do anyone else in! Heh!"

It's cute, the way she bows deeper to try and hide the growing flush I can see growing on her face.

Very cute. Heh.

I hold the tablet out to her as I move my hand off her head, "I'm all done, Toujou-chan."

She takes it gingerly, rising slightly up, but still refuses to meet my gaze, "Right, Kusanagi-san."

"Say, you wouldn't mind if I wished for you again, no?" I ask suddenly, "It would be nice to continue where we left off. Hell. Maybe I could even break out of those games at some point?"

Koneko blinked, then she replied stone-faced, "That's up to you, Kusanagi-san," a beat passes, "but Iwould not be opposed, I suppose." she tacts on, quietly.

Progress!

I nod happily, and kneel to her, "See you next time then?"

She nods, and hums, "Mhmm," then just as she turns to leave, "...hmm?" she stops and looks down.

Where Kuroka Chomusuke stood, right next to her legs, juststanding there staring up at her.

I instantly tense up.

Kuroka. You fucking cat. I swear if you try anything.

Chomusuke rubs against Koneko's leg, "Meowr?" and looks up at her, swaying her tail back and forth.

Koneko continues to stare down at her.

Until, well.

Suddenly, she reaches down and pets her right on the head, a small smile on her face.

Chomusuke immediately freezes, before slowly rubbing into her hand more and more, purring loudly.

Then Koneko pulls away, and I can see the sheer longing in her eyes begging her to not go just yet.

She nods at me, and I nod back. "Have a wonderful day, my new cute little kouhai!" I call out as she walks, a devil magic circle appearing in front of her.

As she steps into it, she flips me off and disappears.

Leaving me giggling softly, and a very desperate black cat eyeing where she left.

I walk over to Kuroka, and pick her up, "Don't worry kitty, she'll be back, alright?"

Her digging her head into my chest and whimpering is all I get as a response.

With a sigh, I gently pet her back.

All finish this night off by playing coy with Sona's Peerage.

Ah, I hope I summon thigh highs. She acted like the delinquent type, those are always fun no matter what!

After that, I have to snuggle my cat for the day, to make her feel better.

Beyond that, the grind well and truly begins! I've got shadow clones to make, a white cat girl to train and make friends with, and everything else to train as well.

The grind, be it for power or people, is well and truly eternal it would seem.

Interlude 2

The first day of school.

A certain Vice President was out doing bag checks and welcoming all the new and old arrivals alike.

Everything was fine.

And then he showed up.

Noriaki Kusanagi approached with his bag already out, the smugest smirk plastered across his face.

"Hai hai! Shitori-san!" He gives her a little wave, "Nice morning isn't it?"

Her eyebrow twitches, and she does her best to maintain her neutral gaze as she takes his strangely light bag from him.

"I suppose it has, Kusanagi-san" there's nothing in the bag.

She looks up and glares at him.

He just smiles sweetly at her. "Everything fine, Vice?" he asks innocently.

Her eyes narrow dangerously. "There's nothing in this bag."

He shrugs, "I wouldn't worry about it. Brothers coming down with my stuff later. I'll be fiinne!" he said coolly.

Brother?

"Brother?" she replied, befuddled.

"Yup!" He responded easily, taking his bag back, "Don't worry Miss Half President, It'll all work out!" And then, without prompting, he walked off, waving behind him. "See ya around!"

She just stared at his back, mouth slightly agape.

The overwhelming urge to drown him pulsing through her body begins to boil up.

Around a week or so ago, he had done what he said he'd do; summon one of her Peerage to answer questions.

So why, oh why, did the one to be summoned have to be her delinquent Pawn?

Not only did he apparently flirt with her so hard that the girl came back a blushing mess, he also intentionally screwed up the questionnaire he was supposed to fill out.

For instance, when asked, 'What kind of being are you?' he put down in response, 'The kind of alive, kind of not kind, but not in a machine way, more like a spirit way?'

What the hell is any of that supposed to mean!?

Regardless, she seriously doubts he has a brother.

She huffed externally before going back to bag check.

Internally, she screamed.

At least that man came early, one of the first in fact, that's good.

Halfway until school officially started.

She was still doing bag checks.

Everything was fine.

Then he showed u

Wait. Huh?

Noriaki Kusanagi approaches, sardonic smile on his face, bag already out.

"Hello there, Shitori-san."

What the fuck.

She glares balefully at him, "Do you think this is some kind of joke, Kusanagi-san?"

It's the same innocent smile again! "I have no idea what you mean, Vice." He shakes his bag at her.

His very full-sounding bag.

Sona pursed her lips into a frown and took it.

Heavy. Frowning deeper, she opens it up and finds the supplies required for at least three students.

How.

"Yeah, I know, I know," He gently takes the bag back from her, "I lost a game of rock-paper-scissors, so I had to carry everyone's stuff."

With an anguished sigh, he closes up the bag, throws it over his shoulders, and walks away.

Sona just stared. Stared so hard, that one of the other Student Council members - not of her Peerage - started looking at her worriedly.

How. Why? What the hell is going on?

There's no way in hell that's his brother. They looked exactly alike! Same uniform, same face, height, even bag!

Wait. Did he say everyone? Why not ours?

Sona doesn't think she'll like that answer.

Minutes felt like moments, and shortly thereafter school was just about to officially start.

The gate was beginning to close, and just as she thought everything was going to be fine.

He came flying over the half-closed gate!

Oh sweet Mother Lilith why is there a third one?

Noriaki Kusanagi gave a wave to her as he flew over her, landed with a roll, and hopped up onto his feet.

"Nailed it!" He turned to Sona, "No need to check my bag, Sitri." He spoke freely with a smirk, "After all, I don't have one on me!"

She should have gone in sooner. Then she wouldn't be alone out here for this.

"See ya around, Polka Dot Wings." He waves as he heads off.

Haha. Polka Dots. Like a leopard. Because of Sitri and leopards, right?

"Very funny, Kusanagi-san." She bit back at him.

That's not even correct, anyway!

But she was too done with all this to even try fighting that.

She went to walk away to class, only she looked in the direction he went first.

And she froze.

Three Noriakis. All stood there, talking, chuckling, and chatting it up with one another.

How. How. How.

They all turned and smirked at her.

Sona very quickly turns, and speed walks away, face quickly paling as that foreboding feeling from a week ago returns at full force.

~ A New Sun ~

"School was honestly kinda boring, how about you, Toujou-chan?"

Her latest client asked suddenly, while lying wrapped up in blankets on the couch, with her sitting right in front of italso wrapped up in blankets, and on a much smaller yet still very comfortable cushion.

She shrugged, though the blankets barely moved, so she said, "About the same as it usually is, I suppose."

And then they focused on the TV screen in front of them, as the two proceeded to beat the shit out of each other in a fighting game.

Kusanagi is suffering from some type of exhaustion, so no sparring for today.

Honestly? That's alright with her. They've been at it for around a week now, and she was curious as to what kind of games he had.

Her eyebrow twitches as he locks her character into an infinite, feeling the smugness radiating off her client in droves behind her.

If she could get to play them, that is.

Idly, she reached down into a big bag sitting in front of her, took a handful of the very small bite-sized cookies, and jammed them into her mouth.

At least the snacks are really good.

He chuckles, "You like the snacks, yeah? My maid makes them. All magical and like," he huffs, "she used to do that with all the food, then I realized I got groceries for no reason, so now she can only do snacks."

"Allfood?" She, completely forgetting the game, turns to look at him.

"Yeah," he waves off, "not even sure how she did it before. She shouldn't have been able to stretch her powers that far, thinking she might have been double cheating."

He looks down to see her staring at him expectantly, and his eyes widen in realization.

"If you want me to make you something, just ask," he chuckled, "I can cook just fine without her."

She nods, satisfied.

Then turns back to the game, and frowns, as her character is still caught in an infinite loop with no health.

She looks back at him with disgust, "You're not playing that guy again."

He snorts, "Just get good scrub."

Her eyebrow twitches, and she shoots back.

"You don't have skill, prick."

"I don't need skill for you shorty, that's how bad you are."

Her eyes narrow at him.

"Worthless dick can't play the game, needs broken exploits to win."

"Cope. Seeth. Mald."

"Die in a hole, you bastard," she growls and glares at him, "and wipe that smile off your face"

"Maybe I will when you stop being a sore adorable loser?"

"A-Adorable?" She huffs, and looks away, "Pervert."

He huffed a laugh at that, "Would you rather me call you a midge"

She whirls around fully and looks at him.

"See what I mean?" his smile never wavers and grows more when he reaches out and pats her on the head. "Adorable."

"M-Meowwrr!"

Her attention is suddenly drawn away by Chomusuke, or as she calls her now, Chom-chan, crying out for help.

She had been loafed out on her lap, and when she turned, Chom-chan must have gotten tangled up in the blankets.

Quickly ignoring that last comment from Kusanagi - and the slow flush she feels burning across her face - she goes to dig her out.

"Sorry, Chom-chan" she pulls out the fluffy black cat from the sheets she was buried under, petting her head as she does, "your master was just being a dick, is all."

why does the cat look so smug all of a sudden?

Chom-chan, no!

This is all Kusanagi's fault. Somehow.

He cackles loudly as her expression turns crestfallen.

"Alright, alright!" he slowly laughs out, and down, "Serious question time, Toujou-chan!"

"Hmm?" She raises an eyebrow, what could this be about?

"Would you like to join the Magical Girl Club I'm starting at school?" he asks, stoically without a hint of other emotion.

She's gonna fucking kill him.

"And no, I'm not asking you just because I want to see you in a Magical Girl outfit." He adds.

She wasn't thinking that!

"I wasn't thinking that." she grumbles out.

"Right," he smiles, most definitely not believing her, "well? What do you say?"

"Why did you even start a club like that?" She asks after a pause, still trying to wrap her head around allthat.

She didn't even need to look at him, she could feel his shrug.

"Purely to fuck with Sitri."

She raises an eyebrow at him, slowly. "That's it?"

"Yup."

She gives him a thumbs up, "I approve."

"Ah? Huh" After a beat of him scratching his chin, he asks, "You know, I've been meaning to ask, why are you so salty with her group?"

"Her Queen caught me eating my snacks during a break last semester," she idly scratched Chom-chan's head, her eyes narrowing off into the distance, "it wasn't lunch, I was in class, and she confiscated them. Now she and the entire student council are dead to me."

He claps at that, "My people!" and calls jubilantly to the sky whilst throwing up his arms.

Suddenly, he looks down at her, "Say, if you really mean all that, then does that mean?"

"No," she shuts him down, causing his face to immediately drop, "I'm already busy with club stuff. And besides," She points out, "how are you going to get the minimum required members for something like that?"

He smiles sardonically as he lays down, "Me, myself, and I are already members enough." he answers plainly.

why does she get the feeling he means that literally?

But before she could even begin to question that, he sighs and yawns with despair.

"Ah, big sadge, now I can't get to see my cute little kouhai in a Magical Girl outfit!"

She elbows him in his side, causing him to let out a sputtered laugh.

"Pervert." She mutters, face flushed.

The bastard then thought it would be funny for them to watch a horror movie after that.

No, she did not cling to him and Chom-chan throughout the night.

Nobody can prove otherwise!

~ A New Sun ~

"Mmm~, having a nice night, Kuroka?" I ask the big tiddy kitty, currently sprawled out on top of me purring into my chest.

"The very best, nya~!" She snuggles against me more, "I got held by Shirone all night, she fed me, and gave me pets! Nyaann~!"

She's practically vibrating against me now.

Cats are never not simple, I tell you.

After our movie, Shirone left, glaring at me all the while.

Somehow, she blames me for putting on the movie, when she's the one that called me a pussy when I said I didn't like horror.

See how that turned out for her, huh?

"Say say, Nori-kun~?" She suddenly pats my chest, causing me to look down at her, "Are you gonna be okay? You've been like this the whole time after you made those clones, nya~!"

"Awww," I coo, "someone concerned over me?" I lean down, planting a surprise kiss on her face, causing her to yelp with shock, "I'll be fine you, just overdid it is all."

Chakra exhaustion is a bitch, let me say.

Physical and Mental Energy is churned up into chakra, which is then used up. Running out of chakra? It's like running both your mind and body through the gutter.

Fucking sucks.

Like, earlier, Shirone was right! I couldn't have won without an infinite there, not because I'm bad, but because my mental power wasn't there enough to pull it off.

Kuroka huffs, and slaps my chest, "Stupid man, you better not be trying to kill yourself before you put kittens in me"

"Right," I say neutrally, as I wrap my arms around her waist, "because that's the most important thing, no~?"

After a moment of just staring at me, she snuggles her face into my chest and refuses to answer.

I think someone may have caught a little bit of feelings. But who am I to guess that?

I pet her back, as the quiet night settles in around us.

"How did you do it?"

And then it's shattered, as she asks that.

I blink, "The clones you mean?"

"Yeah," She nods against my chest, "I thought maybe they were avatars of some kind, but that's it, is it? I didn't feel your Holy Spirit Power in use, so?" she trails off.

And I struggle internally as to what to say to that.

The idea of chakra and the chakra network doesn't exist here, in this world, although through native Senjutsu there are the chakras and ki.

Hmm

Eh, fuck it. I'm too tired to bullshit my way through this.

"Basically, I take my mental and physical energies, mash them up, process them, and turn them into a new form of energy that powers certain techniques." I explain briefly, and succinctly.

Kuroka finally looks at me, her head tilted, "Techniques?" she asks.

I blink at her, "Well, yeah?" I say, "This isn't the first time I've used this power. Remember when I practiced walking and fighting on the pond, or the ceiling? I was using it then too, training it."

Her eyes widened significantly, "Really? I just thought that was all weird deity stuff, nya!"

I deadpanned at her. "Course you did, cat." I huff out.

"Is it teachable?" she suddenly asks, and I

"Idon't know." I try, carefully, "Why do you want to learn to clone yourself all of a sudden?"

She winks at me, "Don't you wanna be the meat between a big titty kitty sandwich, nya~?" She says softly, with a sultry smile as she makes sure to rise slightly, exposing more of her cleavage to the world.

Hmm. Well, fuck. Now I've gotta at least try on principle, but!

I raise my hand up and bring it down upon her ass with a thunderous slap.

She squeaks and mewls, dropping back down on top of me as she goes.

"Okay, while that does sound fun," I eye her expectantly, "now the real reason. Give."

"Mmmm," she huffs, "I've been thinking about what you said a while ago, about my potential, and seeing Shirone again" she trails off.

"Gave you the kick in the tit to get your ass in gear again?" I finished for her.

"Nyah hah hah~!" she chuckles, "Close enough, I suppose?"

"So," I begin, "why rush straight into trying to attain a new power then, Ms. Two-Tailed Ultimate Class?" I question like a parent asking their child why they tried to steal a cookie.

"Eh? That again!?" she cries out, "Nori-kun, it isn't that"

"Have you even tried?" I cut her off.

She didn't meet my incoming gaze after that.

I sigh, "Alright then, Kuroka? Here's what you're gonna do!" I start, "You're gonna actively try and reach your third tail!"

Before she can instantly start complaining, I power on, "When you achieve it, or after I've seen you put in significant effort to at least try, then we'll see about you learning cloning and such. Got it?"

Kuroka whines, and cries out, shaking all up against me, but doesn't at least verbally reject.

I huff and pat her on the back. Damn big baby.

I don't know about teaching her chakra and how to clone and such, but I do get the feeling I canat least awaken the potential in her to use it, if that makes sense?

Course, I'm not just gonna give her free handouts, she's gonna have to put the effort in first.

And as for anyone else? Fat fucking chance. I'm not a bargain sale.

Now, I can't believe I'm actually about to say this.

"Now enough talk about training, kitty." I wrap my arms around and hug a suddenly scandalized Kuroka, "I'm tired, I want my body pillow to not be crying about having to meditate tomorrow."

"But Nori-kun~!" she whines, "Mediation is so boring!"

I bore my gaze down into her, then snorted, and rolled my eyes. "Ask Uzume for help then, she's supposed to be a Meditation Goddess."

"Eh? Really?" Kuroka pauses, and thinks, "That doesn't make a whole lot of sense, nya!"

I shrug.

She's right of course, I'm betting she hasn't meditated once in a thousand something years. Or something just as absurd.

Ah, well. Not my problem~!

With that cheery thought, I hug my soft plush cat girl to sleep.

All around, a lovely start to the school year so far, and I haven't even set foot inside the school since I got my uniform! Hah!

Chapter 10

The dojo is abuzz with the sound of clashing steel.

"Claws-Purifying Wind!"

"Rising Scorching Sun!"

Two voices, both my own, call out from my sides.

Four vertical slashes come down from above, and a single roaring slash from beneath, both at the same time.

I plant my feet.

Raging Sun.

And counter with two raging slashes to both of my sides, angled slightly up for one, and down for the other.

My sword strikes true and both clone's forms are stilled, their bodies thrown away by the force of my swings with loud grunts.

They land amongst the others, numbering four in total clones that I'm fighting at once.

Each with their own headband denoting an elemental breathing style they're using exclusively for this match.

See, I realized something.

"Thunderclap and Flash."

Fake Rainbow.

My afterimages head comes clean off with a crackle of thunder left in its wake.

"Drop Ripple Thrust!"

I parry and redirect a thrust aimed straight for my neck to the side, but before I can cleave the clone's neck in twine

"Blazing Universe!"

I'm forced to block a falling overhead strike that rumbles the dojo upon my blocking it.

I grit my teeth and breathe as my Flame clone smirks at me.

"Rice Spirit."

"Clean Storm Wind Tree!"

Several slashes from the speed and agility based styles race towards my body from either side.

Burning Bones, Summer Sun by itself won't be enough to deflect all these attacks.

By itself.

My body tenses, and I move.

Burning Bones, Summer Sun

A singular fluid circular slash turns into multiple in an instant, spiraling out all around me, stopping and blowing away several slashes and all four clones at once.

Undulating Heat.

A combination of the aforementioned original Hinokami Kagura form and Flame Breathing Blooming Flame Undulation.

Sucks I had to go with a Flame Breathing form like that, Wind and Thunder are much better suited for that type of defense, but it's part of the rules of the training.

See, when I try to combine forms like that, I'm explicitly not allowed to use the forms of the style I'm being attacked by to force variance and such.

Where was I? Right.

Hinokami Kagura, or Sun Breathing, is the ultimate breathing technique due to the sheer versatility it possesses.

This training I'm doing right now is meant to forcibly draw out that potential, by combining the techniques and strengths of the other forms and pushing it to its limits.

Much like how Tanjiro did it, where he combined Thunderclap and Flash with Dance, or that one time he combined Water Breathing and Kagura Breathing.

I'm going to do that but go further. I want to eventually combine all the strengths of all the forms into my dance, and pull them out whenever I need.

Sucks I've only managed to fully recreate Flame, Wind, Water, and Thunder in about a month and a half or so?

I can't remake Stone, Love, or Serpent, don't possess the weapon for those, Moon requires powers and I'm specifically focusing on swordsmanship right now.

Besides, if my methods pan out, I'll have several new forms to rival Moon's number anyway.

Though when I'm done, the Thirteenth Form won't be the thirteenth form then, will it? Hnngh. Gonna need a name for that, then.

Mist and Flower are next on my list to recreate, and I'm honestly pretty excited about Flower due to it possessing a form that isn't a sword strike, but a body enhancer that targets the eyes.

As my clones begin to stand up, I hold up my hand, causing them all to freeze.

"Alright, that's enough." I call out, sheathing my sword to my back.

They all look at me, then at each other, then promptly fall back down, sprawled out and groaning.

"Fuck you boss!" Wind barks out.

"I think! You should!" Flame heaves, "Commit die!"

Thunder is snoring. Fakely. But still trying at least.

Water holds his chest, taking long deep breaths, "Really, guys, just calm downIt'll be fine as long you breathe righ"

"Fuck you bitch, you didn't do shit the whole night!" Wind snarls at Water, who looks exaggerated back at him.

I grimace as Water tries to get up and headbutt Wind, only to be stopped by Flame, whotries to pin and hold down Wind so they can both headbutt him.

Hmm. You know. When I originally envisioned this training, I thought getting into the mindset and personality of those who used the styles would be a good idea.

I take it back. It was and still is a great idea!

"Alright, alright everyone!" I call out, prompting them to look toward me, "I'm going to release the Jutsu now, get ready!"

"Hai Hai, Sun!" they all call back. Besides Thunder, who gives a thumbs up. And Wind, who scowls at me.

Heh. Love this training.

I slam my hands together, and we all vanish in a cloud of smoke.

~ A New Sun ~

Several hours of muscle memory from several different perspectives slam into my body all at once.

"Hmmmghhh!" I groan, and nearly fall back, off the roof of my house!

The tallest point atop my house, mind!

Not like the fall would do any damage, but it would still be annoying.

As for why I'm up here in the first place? Well.

I groggily opened my eyes to find Kuroka cross-legged right in front of me, one eye open and eyeing me knowingly, her form perfectly positioned in front of the early morning sun.

"Your clones just got done in the dojo, nya~?" she asks, with which I simply nod back, "Alright, but remember we're not done yet! Try not to lose focus again, nya~!" Kuroka swishes her three tails at me as she says so.

I respond to her attempt at being the paragon of focus by reaching out and scratching her cat ears.

"Nyyaaannn~!?" she squeals, nearly falling off herself until she grabs and clings onto me, "Nori-kun~!" she looks up at me, and whines.

With a chuckle, I pat the most definitely afraid of falling cat on the back.

While my clones practiced the sword, I and Kuroka practiced ki and, get this, chakra control.

She managed to reach her third tail after around a month or so of dedicated meditation, purely focused on taking in the non-malicious ki of nature.

And, honestly? No jokes, I'm hella proud of her.

After all, I made sure to assist her in her training by giving her ample bust a massage the whole time, just as she gave my back a massage.

You know. Paying it forward and all.

But she did it! I knew she had the potential! She had to have, what with her younger sister hitting her third tail within a few months after neglecting Senjutsu for so long.

Turns out, Kuroka just needed a proper kick in the tail for her to get going, and seeing Shirone as she is now was enough of a kick.

Also, the prospect of learning shiny new techniques might have helped, the little goblin.

I awoke her chakra that night, by having copious amounts of reward sex.

I didn't need to do it that way, turns out, but I wanted to because why not?

Besides, the actual method - touching her, injecting her with Holy Spirit Power, and simply willing the power to awaken within her - was much more boring.

As for what giving Kuroka chakra did? Well

She told me about the network that sprang up inside her body, she also told me that molding chakra feels like the perfect blend between spiritual and bodily and that it seems to be some sort of in-between for her Youki and normal ki.

Oh. Also, she's progressing fast.

Like. Faster than I am. Way faster than I am.

It's got to be a Nekoshou thing, there's no way it isn't! I'm not kidding when I say the damn cats already trying the shadow clone technique!

It's been a week! A week! She can walk on water already, memorized all the hand seals I showed her, and is already well on her way to trying to create jutsu.

I call haxs. Can I get a race change in my non-existent store yet?

Although I will say, I'm fairly curious as to what her chakra affinity is gonna be, and what kind of techniques she'll come up with.

I'm betting Yin Affinity, makes too much sense for the damn cat.

With a sigh, my thoughts shift to something tangentially related, and I stand up, holding and bringing Kuroka up with me.

"Actually kitty? I think we're done for now," I speak solemnly, "I've got something to do that requires my attention."

Kuroka tilts her head, "Your Magical Girl Club, nya~?"

I snorted and sputtered out a chuckle, "No, that's actually doing really good."

Seriously, I managed to get normal members for the club. Damn things grew beyond just a Sona troll club.

I'm so proud of myself!

Now it's a legitimate club that Sona can't shut down now that she's Student Council President.

Little shit tried to tell my clones we didn't count as enough members to hold it.

So I might have Genjutsu tricked a teacher into signing off on it.

Just a simple illusion to make two of the three names look different, no biggie. With one tomoe, that's about all I can do anyway, and on a non-supernatural being no less.

Wait a minute, where was I?

Fuck, Kuroka damn it! Stop derailing my thoughts!

"No, you see," I start, "there's a group of Fallen in Kuoh, and I think it's about time I throw them out."

Kuroka blinks at that, "Really, nya~!? Fallen" she thinks for a moment, "they haven't done anything yet?"

"No," I answer, succinctly, "not yet."

And that's the problem. They haven't done anything yet.

It's been a month and a week. The first month of school is where events like Asia showing up and Issei being murdered should have happened.

But they haven't. Asia never showed, Issei hasn't been shivved yet and he and his friends continue glaring hatefully at my clones when they walk by.

The only reason I haven't headed down to the Church and murked them yet is that I want to draw out Diodora the Explorer and murk him and the Fallen at the same time.

But as time goes on, and Asia doesn't appear to be showing, I doubt that chance will come.

This means there's no point in keeping the birds nest around any longer.

I shrug, "Still, I don't want to keep them around any longer." With a small hop, I jump off the roof and land on the ground below deftly, giving Kuroka a small smile.

"Fallen aren't exactly known to be the most trustworthybesides" my grin turns hungry. "I have yet to fight a Fallen Angel."

Strays are boring now. I've culled the population of them in this part of Japan by now, no way I haven't yet.

Kuroka, playfully, smacks my chest and rolls her eyes, "Somehow, I'm not even surprised, nya!" she huffs, "Try and be quick about it, at least? I have anothermeetingto go to soon," she sighs, "and I don't know how long it'll be. Rather you be there to see me off, nya~!"

"Ah, it has been a while since your last, hasn't it?" I muse, "Was wondering when you'd have to leave again," I pulled her right up to my face, and kissed her tenderly, feeling her mewl and purr into my mouth as she kissed back.

After a short moment of that, I pull back slightly to say softly, "I'll be there, then. Shouldn't take too long."

I just tempted Murphy, didn't I?

Fuck.

"Jeez" she reaches up and slowly caresses my face, "you've been getting increasingly more and more affectionate you know~? You gonna miss me that bad, nya~?"

"Yup." I confirm easily with a smile.

Kuroka's eyes widen as her face flushes at my easy response.

She tries to avert my gaze, but I take the side of her face into the palm of my hand and caress it, forcing her to stay looking at me.

"I'm not sure if you've taken the hints, kitty, but I can be both incredibly petty and lustful, but also compassionate and loving," I give her a wink, and kiss her nose, "and In my book, a man knows when to be and can be both." I state with a bright smile.

And with that, I pat her on the head, "See ya when I get back, kitty!" and head off with a nonchalant wave, leaving my catgirl confusedly staring off at my back.

I smirk and chuckle when I hear something like a loud panicked drawn-out meow.

Think I might have just broken her there.

Whoops?

~ A New Sun ~

The flight to the Church was uneventful, and judging by the fact that it's bright and early out, I'm not exactly surprised at the lack of guards and such at the front door.

I could also just chalk it up to general incompetence, that's a staple of Ray Ray and her group after all.

No, what's making me frown right now isn't all that, but instead, the positively zero life force signals I'm reading inside the Church.

I get it, my Senjutsu is only a month into being trained, and my range is kind of trash, but I should be able to pick up something from out here!

Hmm. Well! There's only one way to check for sure, isn't there?

I grab the hilt of my sword that's strapped to my back, take a few easy steps forward, and promptly kick the doors off the hinges.

The cracked and shattered masses of wood slide forward into

An absolute shit fest.

Several times worse than what I recall the state of the Church being under the Fallen in canon.

Religious iconography hasn't been just smashed, but actively defaced, twisted, and ground up.

The walls are lined with a chaotic series of weird symbols and letters I don't recognize.

Hell, not even the seating remained unscathed, all torn up and thrown amongst the building.

"What the fuck" I mutter to the very fucked up, but also rather empty Church.

Thisdoesn't make any sense.

I saw them, the Fallen, in town. I caught the only guy in the cell wandering around looking for strays.

All this damage to the Church is intentional and fits with the Fallens modus operandi, if a bit extreme I'll admit.

They had to have been here, then.

But then why?

I walk into the Church, still feeling nothing within my sensing range as I head down the aisle to the big hole in the ground where an altar is supposed to be.

Within that hole? A big staircase leading down straight where the Fallen performed that ritual to extract Asia's Sacred Gear.

Well. Couldn't hurt to check at this point, no?

Hand never leaving my hilt, I do just that.

And am struck by the most putrid fucking smell ever about halfway down.

Against the very ardent protests of my nostrils, I quicken my pace, practically flying down the stairs.

only to nearly run into a massive pile of bodies, waiting for me right next to the entrance to the large underground ritual room.

I take just a few seconds.

Just a few.

To look at what I'm seeing right now.

A haphazardly made pile of corpses, each with their face contorted and twisted in agony.

The light in their eyes? Long gone. And judging by the state some of these people are in? They've been dead for weeks. Already decaying away.

I see people from all walks of life, young and old, all classes.

But I only recognize one body amongst the multitude.

One Genshirou Saji. Corpse just as cold as the rest. Former holder of the Absorption Line Sacred Gear.

Former, because it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what his corpse lying in a room where the ritual to extract Sacred Gears is means.

My hands cycle through hand seals on instinct, and the next thing I know, a wheel of fire erupts out from behind me.

In the next moment, the corpse pile in front of me ignites into a massive bonfire as the wheel crashes into it.

I clap my hands together, wishing the deceased a safe trip into their afterlife.

And with that, I turn on my heels and quickly leave the now empty ritual room behind.

Canon? What's that? That doesn't exist here anymore.

The idea that the Fallen here were for anyone else besides Issei isn't canon, the only reason they were was because Azazel is a fucking wizard, and figured out Issei had the Boosted Gear.

So what the fuck did I just walk into down there!?

Sacred Gear gathering. Collecting. The purpose of this cell has changed, if not by Azazel's order, then by Ray Ray herself.

For some reason, despite me having done nothing to influence the canon, shit flew off the rails anyway.

If I had known, I'd have killed everyone here a month ago and burned this place to the ground.

But now they're gone, and I don't know where.

As I step back into the Church proper, I promptly still.

Around a dozen or so life forces enter my range, all at around the same time.

They're all weak. Pathetically so. Sans one, but not by much more.

Stray Exorcists, perhaps? Here to clean up their mess downstairs?

You know. I was about to make a joke about how it's so like Ray Ray's group to leave such evidence in a squeaky clean room

But thinking about it, she more than likely saw such a thing as beneath her to do or some stupid shit, so sent some grunts after the fact to clean it up.

As much as I want to kill them all the moment they step foot in the Church proper, I need more information right now.

So, instead, I jump up high, touching my hand to the ceiling and sticking myself there with a bit of chakra.

And now I wait.

Thankfully, it didn't take long.

"Ayo! Did these shitty old doors finally decide to give up or what!?" a shrill, preachy boyish voice screams out from just outside, "Any one of you baby fuckers do it!? Eh? Was it you? Or you?"

I hear mutterings of denial from several people and, "No, Father Freed"

"Well fuck! I wanted to do it!" he eventually whines out.

Ugghhjust my luck, huh?

Several stray exorcists file in shortly after, with a pouting Freed close behind them.

"Alright, alright, let's get this shit over with," Freed mumbles out, "you lot go down and clean up the mess downstairs! While I" he slowly looks around the Church, "eh. I don't know. Maybe touch grass or something!"

All the exorcists glare at him.

"Eh?" he raises an eyebrow, "Sorry, I don't recall stuttering, get a move on little timmys! Or else I might need a training dummy or several when we get home, eh? Eh!?" they all quickly start shuffling downstairs, he throws his arms up, "Oh come on, no takers!? Maaannyou're all such pussies!" he pauses briefly, then chuckles maniacally, "What about you, spiderman on the ceiling?"

Ho? Don't tell me. The one guy to look up at the ceiling is Freed of all people.

I stop sticking to the ceiling, falling easily back to the floor some distance away from a maniacally grinning Freed, who eyes me without a care in the world.

"Now, who might you be, little peter? Hmm? You know it's rude to listen in on other people's conversations, or attempt to hide incriminating evidence!" he whips out his oversized gun and light sword, "So, for that, ima have to punish you like all good priests of the Vatican punish naughty little boys! With a good old spanking! Heeheehe"

"You like to talk a lot, huh." I interrupt to state.

"Eh?" Freed tilts his head, "Well fuck you too weeaboo!"

I'm sorry. What.

"Weeaboo!?"

"Yeah!" he smirks, "After all, what else could the overcompensating sword strapped to your back mean!?"

"That I can very easily cut you down even shorter than you already are?" I fire back.

"Agh!?" he grasps his chest tightly as if wounded, "Hey! It's not my fault my momma was a test tube! We can't all get big, thick test tubes to grow in, alright!?"

I snort, "Joy. I got the runt of the litter then, huh?"

"Tch! You!" he points his gun at me and narrows his eyes, "What the hell even are you, eh? You're not a dirty Devil, but you sure as shit ain't human either!" his eyes wander to my sword, "Hmmcould you bea Pagan?"

"Close enough," I hum, "but, considering what you are, you really shouldn't try talking shit."

"Oho?" a grin splits across his face, "So the majesty of the great, Devil slaying, pagan fucking, rogue Exorcist Freed Sellzen has reached the ears of you people here in this backwater country, eh? Tell me, Pagan, why should I give a fuck what you say when I'm about to chop you up into itty bits and eat ya!?"

"Damn, you do talk too much." I sigh, then start walking toward him.

My eyes shift, gaining a second swirling pupil.

"Oi! The fuck you thinkyou'reyou'rehuh..?" he slowly trails off, dazed, his eyes flickering and dulling with a second pupil much like myself.

With a few more steps, I'm right in front of him, my hand on his forehead.

He drops his weapons to the ground with a dull thud as he stares off into nothing.

Genjutsu entrapment is successful. He's human, and already a tad bit coo-coo for cocoa puffs, so there's no chance in hell he can shake off the Holy Spirit Power I just shoved into his brain.

Although, using the Hypnosis Eye for genuine hypnosis feels weird, not gonna lie.

"Alright," I start, "let's make this quick before your buddies come running back. Where are you and your friends located now?"

"Hmmwarehouse" he says, dreamily, almost giddy, "big abandoned warehouse."

Well. That'ssomething.

"Why did you all move?" I ask next.

"Something somethingritual" he replies.

I blink. He wasn't paying attention completely when they were told why exactly they moved. Of course, he wasn't. This is Freed after all.

With a scowl, I rack my brain for what to ask next, only for the echoing of rapidly approaching footsteps coming from the hole to cut off my train of thought.

Fuck.

"Father Freed, Father Freed!" one of them calls as they rush out into the light, "The bodies, they're!" he cuts himself off, of course, once he sees me and Freed.

They all stop and just stare at us.

I hum, finally thinking of what to ask Freed next. "Do any of these guys know anything more than you?"

Freed almost barks a laugh, "Noheheven lowerjust mobs."

Nice.

And with that, I grab Freed's head with both hands and snap his neck.

His body falls to the floor with an unceremonious thump, the extras gaping in disbelief all the while.

Yeah, sorry Freed, and just to make doubly sure you don't come back within the next few months, I'm gonna burn your body to ash.

After I take care of the extras.

"Kill him!" one of the exorcists calls, but I'm already moving.

Hinokami Kagura.

As I draw my sword, crimson flames swirl into existence around the blade.

Sun Halo Dragon

Several bullets whiz past my speeding form, then I am upon them.

Head Dance.

Several heads for several slashes, and in moments, their bodies join their heads on the floor.

Right alongside Freed.

I huff as I sheath my sword, "About what I expected for a bunch of mobs."

With that said, I turn and walk out of the Church.

But not before fire wheeling all the bodies to ash, of course.

I also offer no prayer, at least for Freed, I'm not sure about the rest, but I'm not in a particularly good mood, so off in silence they all go.

As I step back into the morning sunlight, I realize something.

Canon is well and truly fucked. No longer can I operate on the assumption that things will go a certain way.

I can't presume to be able to react anymore, I need to be proactive.

With a clap of my hand, I suddenly release all the shadow clones that I have out and about. I need their information, just to make sure

My three at school suddenly popped, and although one was in the middle of class, it was fine. Rias is in the same class, she'll mind-wipe everyone there.

No, you know what the real problem is?

Issei didn't show up to school this morning.

Son of a bitch!

~ A New Sun ~

Raynare was on top of the world.

Seriously, everything is going perfectly!

This mission she and her team had been sent on by Lord Azazel? A piece of cake! Hell, she even went far above and beyond the call of duty!

Thinking back on it all, truly, if her Father still cared about her, she might even think it was a blessing from Him!

This simple little check-and-smash mission swung wildly into a collection mission that stands to massively boost the power of the Grigori in Japan by several folds!

And that's even with one of the stronger Grigori cells in Japan getting smitten out of existence all those years ago, massively weakening the Grigori's presence and power in the area!

Seriously, who would've thought a single town held so many Sacred Gear wielders?

Sure, most are 'common' types, but some? Like the last Vritra Gear?

She knows that will make her Lord a very happy camper! After all, he's been trying to find and collect that piece for a while!

And none of that includes what their original mission was for

Ah. Speaking of!

Raynare turned to the door, sensing the arrival of her subordinates just as they walked in.

The tall buxom blue-haired one, Kalawarna, threw the target of their original mission onto the floor in front of her.

A knocked out cold, brown-haired school boy.

Whose nose wasbleeding profusely, for some reason? Though it didn't look broken?

Raynare raised an eyebrow at her, to which Kalawarna shrugged.

"I led him away from his walk to school with my tits," she huffed annoyed, "pulled him right into my cleavage when we got somewhere private, his nose exploded. Was afraid the kid would bleed out before we got here."

Mittelt, the blonde loli snorted, "Almost wished he did. There's no way in hell someone like him is who we could be looking for."

The only male fallen in the group, Dohnaseek, huffed disappointedly and straightened his fedora, "I concur," he agrees, "the boy possesses no magical potential, is weaker than your average human, doesn't appear to possess any noteworthy talents or skills" he trailed off.

"Truly, I think Lord Azazel may be mistaken with this one." he finishes solemnly.

Raynare looks at the fedora-wearing Fallen with narrow eyes, then back at the boy, with a sigh, she picks him up by the back of his shirt. "You shouldn't doubt Lord Azazel so quickly, Dohnaseek." she retorts, dragging the boy to the center of the massive ritual circle in the center of the warehouse. "Regardless, the ritual continues."

"Of course, Raynare." Dohnaseek tentatively agreed. Likely for the same reason Kalawarna nodded, Raynare thought, and Mittelt groaned.

"Ugghh" the blonde loli whined, "all that work moving everything over to a bigger space, drawing with chalk for days, and he might not even be the real deal!?" she crossed her arms and pouted, "Lame. Waste of fucking time!"

Raynare grimaced, "Let's just get this over with, hmm? Then we can return home as heroes."

She smiled viciously, "Besides? Worst case scenario? He turns to paste and a blood smear, Sacred Gear or not, our tracks are covered!" and with that lovely image, she dropped the boy into the middle of the circle.

Mittelt perked up, "Speaking of covering our tracks, has Freed and his cleanup crew gotten back yet?" she asked tentatively, "I'd rather not leave that dog off his leash too long, he might expose us to the Devils, or do some other stupid shit!"

Before Kalawarna could respond, Raynare called out, "Who cares about Freed? We'll go pick him up after the ritual! Well?" she barked out, "Take your positions!"

"Ugghh" Mittelt groaned, but complied regardless, walking to one side of the ritual circle.

Dohnaseek did the same, stoically, while Kalawarna huffed and took her place.

Once each Fallen took a spot in each cardinal direction on the circle, Raynare raised her arms almost reverently and began chanting.

A language by which no human could understand, Enochian, the Language of Angels.

Soon, the ritual circle lit up, and as it did each Fallen mirrored Raynare, the light building and building, collecting around the center where the boy lay still.

The light ballooned around him, forming a small cylinder around him that, once it touched him

Forced his eyes open wide, and screamed in sheer undiluted liquid agony.

Luckily before he could even think to escape, golden chains came up from the circle shortly after, wrapping him up and pinning him tight to the ground against the circle.

It still didn't stop the screaming, unfortunately.

"AAAGH!" the boy hollered, his mouth and jaw straining to open wide enough to let him scream as loud as possible.

Fortunately, Raynare has gotten used to the noise, what with how many times she's had to do this.

Still, it's shocking he hasn't

"PLEASE! STOP! IT HUURRTTSS!"

Ah. There's the begging.

Slowly but surely, flickers of green bubbly light begin to evaporate off the boy.

With each bubble, each bib, the giddy-ness in Raynare increases.

The boy hasn't exploded! It's working! He has a Longinus!

She just wishes he would stop screaming like a bitch.

"AGHHH!" somehow, in fact, they get worse, "PLEASE! I DON'T WANNA DIE! NOT LIKE THIS! NOT LIKE THISS! UGHH!"

The green bubbles of power begin coming off him more and more frequently, mixed in with a tinge of red.

So, so close!

"IFUCKYOUUBASSTAARDSSS!" the boy growled and snarled with anguish, "YOU! ALL! IIII.!"

The bubbles condense and explode into a violent red and green aura.

The cylinder of light flickered, as all four Fallen are tossed to the ground, their chanting halting.

Only for a new one to take its place.

"Iwho am about to awaken!"

'It started.' 'Looks like it's going to start!'

But not from them. The boy.

"Am the Heavenly Dragon who has stolen the Principles of Domination from God."

'It was always like this, no matter what.' 'That's not right, it was like this every time!'

The chains shatter. The boy floats there, growing, changing, shifting. Red armor with green jewels forming across his body like a second flesh.

Boosted Gear.

"I laugh at the 'infinite', and I fret over the 'dream'."

'The one the World seeks' 'The one the World rejects'

"Kill him! NOW!" Raynare calls, voice hoarse with sheer fear. At once, the Fallen all hurriedly and desperately throw light spears at the boy.

"I shall become the Red Dragon of Domination."

'It was always power.' 'It was always love.'

The aura devours the light spears. It grows, devouring the pillar of light, the ritual circle

"And I shall sink you to the depths of crimson purgatory!"

'You guys choose destruction, no matter how many times!'

"RUN! ITS"

The Fallen.

And all of Kuoh Town shook, as the jewels upon the armor announced as one.

["JUGGERNAUT DRIVE"]

Chapter 11

You know, I thought I was going to have to hurry up and start searching for Issei right away.

Then the town started to shake like an earthquake was hitting it.

Not long after, the warehouse district exploded.

And at its center? A bright pillar of pulsing red and green touching the sky.

I stood, ramrod still as an aura washed over my entire body, sending it shivering and sweating.

Issei went Juggernaut Drive when they tried to take his Sacred Gear, didn't he?

Those fucking idiots.

"Ahwell, fuck." I huff out through gritted teeth.

And yet, slowly, a grin starts etching its way across my face regardless.

I need to hurry. The town won't last much longer if I don't give him something to focus on!

My hand rests upon the hilt of my sword.

And several things happen at once.

I breathe and kick off into the sky. Both my halos burst forth into existence before I blast off, flying right in the direction of the pillar.

My ki explodes out, a dark golden mist wrapping around me to form a rudimentary touki.

And I get faster.

Molten fire suffused my face, my veins, my muscles, and my blood as my Mark activated and roared to life.

And I get faster.

Chakra swirls around my network almost immediately as it gets molded, suffusing my being internally as my ki does externally.

And I get faster!

Air snaps as I draw my now crimson-bladed sword.

Hinokami Kagura

Fire whirls around my blade.

Shooting like a comet, I fly straight down into the pillar of draconic aura, cutting through it all with a whirl of flame.

Sunflower Thrust.

Straight to the red dragon in the center.

"AUGGHHH!" He roars as my blade stabs straight into his chest, barely piercing the strange metallic-like flesh perhaps only a few inches deep.

But I heave with all my strength, picking up the raging dragon by the tip of my blade and pushing him back, carrying him my momentum and speed away from this district.

And hopefully, out of town entirely.

The dragon growls and snarls, looking down at me, his mouth opening to reveal a bright bloody red mass of aura ready to fire.

I smile, "Aww, for me?" My eyes spin as they activate, "You shouldn't have!"

I drop him off my sword and barely have time to twist and dodge out of the way as a beam of crimson red fires from his mouth.

It hits the ground behind me, annihilating it, before exploding out and creating a mini ravine that erupts with aura.

I grimace, looking around quickly to find that we are still in the now very ruined warehouse district.

But we're close, very close, to the edge of town.

It'll have to do!

I eye the dragon as it turns to me, and fires another blast of red aura with an animalistic roar.

My eyes widen at the sheer speed, but I raise my blade in time nonetheless and breathe.

Radiant Scorching Sun.

I spiral into the air, whilst slashing upwards in a circle, combining both Beneficent Radiance and Rising Scorching Sun to cut the aura shot in half and send it twisting into the air.

Where it detonated, bathing the sky in violent red fireworks.

I shakily land back on my feet, clicking my tongue and steading myself once more.

That single shot of aura? Felt like cutting through some sort of diamond silk.

Dodging it is then!

I kick up into the air, just as the dragon begins changing up another blast.

Fake Rainbow.

Which is promptly used to annihilate the afterimage that took my place.

That singular afterimage has its place taken by dozens more, all flying around the dragon and fading in and out rapidly.

"GuhGrahAGHH!" The dragon looks around quickly, before just deciding to rapidly fire off lasers into the sky every which way.

I grimace, watching my afterimages getting blasted left, right, and center.

But, at least like this? None of his attacks will hit the town, instead, they merely light up the sky.

I'm under no delusion that I can kill him by myself.

Even my one attack from earlier, that piercing strike with loads of speed and momentum to build up to it?

Barely did anything.

And I can see what little damage I did already healing, bubbling with aura as the metallic flesh restores itself.

Really, the only reason I can fight him right now is because this is an Issei who's not even a Devil.

No training, no Pawn Pieces to boost his non-existent base power, nothing.

All of this is Juggernaut Drive, all of Ddraig's original power. And a mere fraction of it at that.

Wild, absolutely insane.

Even when Rias and Sona's Peerages get here, I don't think we'll be able to put him down.

We may well have to wait for his life force to run out!

Or, maybe, since he's rather mindless right now, I can try this.

I suddenly appear in front of the red dragon, just after he blasts apart another afterimage.

He turns, and when our eyes meet, mine spins.

"Go. To. Sleep." I command, opening the floodgates of my Holy Spirit Power to bury his mind and force it upon him.

For a second, the red dragon falters, staggering under the pressure of my aura, and the sudden weight on his mind.

Then I hearwhispers?

Voices.

A cacophony of voices.

I blink, as all around me hooded and cloaked figures scream and shout and roar.

Old, young, men and women.

I couldn't make out any words. Just their sheer hatred.

Their loathing, their contempt for life, purely focused on me.

The world darkens, and the voices and people are suddenly consumed in violent crimson fire.

But they never stop screaming, frothing with rage. Never.

From the flames, a red beast rears its head up, emerald eyes looking down into mine with contempt.

A Red Dragon. The Red Dragon Emperor.

"Think you might have pushed a tad far, aye, Godling?" The dragon, Ddraig, says over the screams and fire, melancholic, "You can't save him, boy. He's gone, long gone."

I clench my fists tightly, and refuse to meet his gaze, "Sorry." I mutter quietly.

The dragon snorts, "Don't be. It's not your fault." he says chidingly, then sighs, "I'm used to it ending like this, anyways."

Please don't say that. I'm trying hard not to think about that right now.

"Dodge." He adds all of a sudden.

"Huh?" I blink.

"I said dodge, brat!" He roars indignantly.

And suddenly, I snap into the real world.

My Holy Spirit Power is crushed, tossed from his mind, and violently batted to the side.

And a bloody red glow is rapidly approaching me.

Even with my eyes, I could barely see it move, I couldn't even move myself!

Aura like liquid red diamond slams into my body and explodes.

My body is sent flying from the blast, unable to feel anything sans the fizzles and buzzes all over, as I ragdoll through the air and crash into the ground with a thunderous thud.

Before my body hits the ground, I'm already cycling Holy Spirit Power through my body.

Boosting my native healing factor to mend my newly acquired broken bones, seared and broken skin, torn muscles, and other comparatively minor injuries.

All from that from one blast striking true.

The fuck.

My touki snapped like a loose twig in front of the blast, but without it bracing my body, I might have just gotten my limbs blown clean off as well!

Regardless, moments after I hit the ground, I spring back to my feet, skin red and revealed by my lack of yukata, but still alive.

Very much alive, judging by my smile being so wide it physically hurts.

Well, fizzles lightly, but you get it.

You know, I really shouldn't be so into this fight after nearly getting my arms and legs blown offbut

Fuck it.

I can't help it.

My touki explodes out, weakly enveloping me once more as I eye the dragon who thought that blast killed me.

I could tell, because of the way its attention focused on me as soon as I stood up.

He roared, but rather than try to blast me with more aura as I expected, it charged, claws and teeth spread.

I take my stance and breathe.

Fire reignites around my blade, around my body, suffusing my aura with raging flames.

"Test me, Red Dragon Emperor!" I call, before launching myself straight at him.

"GUOOOOOH!" The dragon roared in ferocious response.

Heaven knows I'll need the experience, for the hell that's about to come after this battle!

~ A New Sun ~

Rias surely wasn't expecting the new student in her class, one Noriaki Kusanagi, to straight up poof in the middle of class.

She most definitely didn't see the town starting to shake soon afterward, followed by a pressure slamming down upon every one that even made the normal humans afraid.

Deciding that dealing with all of that later and figuring out what the hell was going on was more important, she put the entire school to sleep with ease before gathering up her Peerage and heading out.

To findwell.

"Oh my" her Queen, Akeno Himejima gaped at the image before them, "Rias, this is" she trailed off, struggling to find the proper words to use.

Behind her, her Rook Koneko, clenched her fists tightly, body tense and face twitching.

Besides Koneko, her Knight Yuuto had a much more calm yet clearly focused look on his face, hand at his side ready to use his Sacred Gear at any moment.

Meanwhile, Rias just bit her lip, trying to figure out how exactly to deal with this.

Before them, Noriaki Kusanagi was fighting the actual Red Dragon Emperor, who's currently raging out in Juggernaut Drive.

He wasn't winning, that's for sure.

But he wasn't losing either, thankfully.

"He's stalling for time," Yuuto suddenly said, eyes glued onto the battle, "that I'm sure of. He's dancing around him, literally." He notes.

His fighting style does resemble a dance, doesn't it?

"President." Koneko suddenly spoke up, her voice hard.

Rias turns to look at her due to her tone and grimaces at the frown she's projecting down at the battle.

She didn't need to say anything more, Rias knew what she wanted.

She knows Koneko holds something of a spot for Noriaki, her client of a month or so.

Even before today, she was aware of him being a part of the Supernatural, Koneko told her as much, but as her adorable little Rook seemed to like the young man Rias never felt much need to personally talk with him.

Even still

Rias turned back to the scene in front of her and crossed her arms under her chest, her eyes dead set on the two fighters.

"We won't let him fight alone." She declared resolutely, prompting her Peerage to look at her.

Realistically, even if they all fought together, they wouldn't be able to bring the Red Dragon Emperor down.

All they can do is weaken and tire him out faster so he'll die due to running out of life force.

"What's the plan then, Rias?" Akeno asked patiently.

Watching Noriaki go, she started to think.

She watched as he deflected several raging claw strikes, and slid under the dragon's body as it tried to bite him in half, flip over, and parry a tail strike.

Rinse and repeat, all in a circle, all in a flowing dance, never getting out of the beast's personal space.

Seeing the two's physical prowess, she came to a decision almost immediately.

"Koneko. Yuuto." She called out, prompting the two to nod, "I want you two to pepper the field with traps, Yuuto, using your Sword Birth, and Koneko to set them off."

"President." Koneko immediately stresses in objection, prompting Rias to glare right back at her.

"Koneko, those two are far too strong and fast for you two right now," Rias explains, "please, just for right now, focus on support, okay?"

Koneko glared right back, but didn't abject further, rather she looked away and huffed through gritted teeth.

Rias' heart throbbed a bit with pain for her little Rook, for having to tell her off like that.

She gets why she wants to go down there, really, but it's just too dangerous right now for them.

Both her Knight and Rook lack ranged attacks, it's better this way.

Yuuto grimaces, but nods regardless, seemingly having already figured that much out himself.

Having settled that, Rias turns to Akeno, "Akeno, when an opportunity presents itself, you and I are going to open fire right on top of that dragon to give Noriaki-san some breathing room." She declares, "Hold nothing back."

Akeno giggles at this, flying up higher as she does for a better vantage point, "As you command~! How will we know when to start?"

Rias frowns slightly, racking her brain for a moment.

Noriaki is too close for them to unleash their Demonic Powers, so

A moment will have to be created, first. And there's only one person who can do that right now!

Thinking quickly, Rias summons a devil magic circle and makes it glow brightly as she holds it up.

Just as Noriaki himself is flipping over the dragon, she can see it, the moment his eyes flicker up and sees them.

He

Hold on a moment.

Are those Sharingan!?

Why does Noriaki have Sharingan!? How? Where? What!?

She momentarily falters but regains herself when she sees the way he smirks at them.

Internally huffing, she decides to shelve that as a conversation for later.

Needless to say, she's regretting not talking to him before!

Koneko never mentioned this before, either!

why does she suddenly feel a very smug smirk being aimed at her back by her Rook right now?

Before she can turn and confirm her gut feeling, Noriaki lands, before leaping up high.

Her eyes widened.

"Akeno!" She calls urgently, red demonic magic circles erupting into existence around her hands.

Her Queen merely giggles, and raises her now electrical sparking hand, causing a bright yellow devil magic circle to roar into the sky above.

Koneko and Yuuto drop behind them to the ground suddenly, as three separate things happen.

Thunder builds and bellows from above.

Noriaki's blade and entire body ignites with crimson fire as he spins.

Around her hands, pitch black and lashing out to destroy all creation, her power surges forth.

"Resound, Thunder." Akeno intoned diabolically.

And the gathering lightning dropped like a hammer.

"Summer Sun, Burning Scarlet Mountain." Noriaki called breathlessly.

He slashes, arching and spinning as he moves, creating a spiraling growing arc of flames that wraps around the dragon.

Meanwhile, she throws her arms forward with a shout, blasting forth her destructive power in something like a beam.

Internally, she laments, because she doesn't have a cool named attack or callout.

But really, later!

All three attacks converged on the dragon, who took too long trying to figure out what to do about all the sudden attacks coming its way.

As a result, its form is suddenly engulfed in a cacophony of flames, lightning, and black destructive power.

"GGUOOOHHH!" The resulting roar the dragon gives out as the pillar of powers explodes atop it halts even Akeno's sadistic giggling for a moment.

Hell, it even gives her pause for a moment, causing her to shiver slightly.

He soundslike he's in pain?

"Nice of you all to show up." A new, slightly tired voice draws her from her mind.

Turning towards the source, she finds Noriaki there, having floated up to them with two actual halos at his back.

He waves at her, half-heartedly.

Rias chuckles right back, "Sorry we took so long, Kusanagi-kun. Are you holding up okay?" She asks, noting his, well.

Lack of clothes. And very red skin.

"Yup!" He replied with a wry smile, "Managed to keep my boxers and my limbs, so I can keep going!"

Rias felt more than a little concerned, hearing that part about his limbs.

"Well, okay?" She replied wearily, not entirely sure how to respond to that.

Only, before she could think of something more, both their attentions were snapped away, as a growing growl reverberated from the ground below.

The dust cloud clotting the view of the red dragon's form below falls, revealing a worse-for-wear dragon underneath.

Across his metallic flesh, spider web cracks lay, barely skin deep and smoldering.

Superficial wounds. They could see them already healing as aura bubbled into them. They barely did anything.

And that was putting everything into an attack!

Rias clicked her tongue in annoyance, and her Queen frowned, hand twitching with more lightning.

Noriaki didn't seem surprised, rather, he sighed, slowly floating before the two girls.

"Yeah, that makes sense," He voices her earlier thoughts, "I don't believe he can last much longer though, we can do this!" and he smiles, not entirely unlike Akeno's smile when she does herthing.

Although Rias gets a distinct feeling this smile is a different kind of bloodthirsty.

"Hmm, although" Noriaki adds thoughtfully, "Where is Sitri and her Peerage?" he asks, "Thought they'd come with you, but I don't see them anywhere?"

"Ah, they did." Rias confirms, "They're setting up a perimeter around the battle and are going to place a barrier up to protect the town."

The moment she said that Noriaki froze, before slowly turning to her with wide almost enraged eyes.

"She fucking what!?" he hissed, prompting her to flinch slightly. "She decided to leave the one person that could deflect his attacks back at him to deal some real damage out of the fucking fight!?"

Huh. You know. She didn't really think of it like that.

Just as he says this, the world around them begins to shift slightly, as a crystalline sheet starts to spread up and around the area they're in, beginning to form a dome.

The dragon looks up at them but has its eyes drawn to look around at the dome as it climbs higher and higher into the sky.

He snarls. Seeing all the enemies, seeing the attempt to trap it.

The dragon's gems erupt with a blinding bright light as they all begin to announce

[BOOST!]

A bloody red aura explodes around the dragon.

Everyone pales.

"Hehasn't done that yet" Noriaki mutters, only causing Rias to pale more.

[BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!]

The dragon continues, its chest opening up, and aimed towards the sky.

At them and the barrier.

[LONGINUS SMASHER]

"To the ground! Now!" Noriaki shouts, as suddenly grabs her!

Just as a bright bloody red beam coated in green thunder blasted forth from its chest, easily the width of a building, and soared into the sky so fast she could barely see it as a bright blur.

It blasted through the barrier, shearing it apart like it was made of paper, before climbing ever higher and turning the blue sky sparking and flickering with red and green.

Even being nowhere near the beam of energy, the shockwaves it sent out caked and cracked the ground in kind.

Rias, although she didn't even realize it until it was over, was holding onto Noriaki for dear life, trembling slightly at the sheer force of that single attack.

Akeno, who was much further away from them, actually used her Knight Pieces speed for once to get out of dodge.

Luckily she did.

"You okay?" His voice broke through the haze of her mind and made her look at him, at the three pupils in his eyes, as he looked down at her in concern.

She nodded slowly, knowing if she said anything, it would just be about his eyes. And now is really not the time!

"Good!" He smiles, a non-bloodthirsty smile, "Because this fight ain't over, and I'm not keeling over until I maim a certain Sitri, and fuck her Knight and Pawn!" he states casually and far too happily.

Rias blinked.

Now she has several questions.

But first!

Her eyes widen looking behind him, "Kusanagi-kun!" she suddenly called out.

Noriaki whirled on the spot, forming a sign with his hand as he moved.

There the red dragon was flying towards them, having grown red bone-like wings encrusted with jewels all over it from its back.

It growled and snarled, holding its claws out on either side of its body, ready to strike.

Fortunately, they both had an answer for that.

Rias held out her hand, her power gathering haphazardly and crackling as it burst into existence in front of her palm.

Noiriaki breathed deeply, leaning back before suddenly dipping back forwards, and breathing out.

As one, a beam of raw destruction blasted forth from her palm, as a gout of crimson flame from his mouth turned into a cascade.

The two powers slammed into the advancing dragon, who raised his wings to block the brunt of the attack and continued pushing forward through it all, barely even slowing down his advance!

Lightning crashed down upon its frame from above, prompting little more than a primal grunt as it barrels on through, shrugging it off just as well.

"Damn it!" Noriaki curses as he finally reaches them, blowing through their combined attack completely.

He drops her quickly, kicking her away from them as he grabs his sword and just barely blocks his claws from running him through.

Rias sits up, her eyes widening rapidly as she watches Noriaki get barreled down upon hard.

The dragon begins a pure all out assault of claw slashes that Noriaki is barely able to dance through!

Thinking fast, she calls out, "Koneko! Castling!"

A magic circle quickly spiraled into existence beneath her, promptly flashing, trading places with her Rook.

Rias appeared overhead of the battlefield, where Koneko was seemingly watching for a time to trigger their trap, or so she guessed.

So, Rias decided to give it to her!

Koneko understood exactly what she needed to do the moment she got there.

"Senpai!" She called, raising her fist, "His wings!"

Noriaki blinked and looked closely.

Seeing the wings the dragon just used to block their attacks filled with cracks and splinters, he took the chance with a grin.

A dark golden aura exploded out around him as he slipped past the dragon's claws with a jump, getting gashes on either side for effort, but that didn't appear to deter him.

Just as he reaches the apex of his leap, his blade ignites with whirling crimson fire, and he lashes out with two raging strikes, one for each wing.

This time, with as thin and damaged as those wings are, his blade completes its cuts.

"GUAAAGHHH!" The dragon roars in outrage as its severed wings hit the ground.

Quickly, he opens his maw, and goes to bite down on Noriaki, finally finishing him off.

Only to find itself tumbling back, as the ground beneath him shatters.

With Koneko's fist now buried into the ground, she triggers their very rudimentary trap, and the dragon falls into a pit of demon swords jutting out from the walls and ground.

"GUHH!? GRAAAHH! GOOOHHH!" Konenko winces slightly, hearing his near desperate roaring and raving as he tries to cling onto the swords to stop his fall, but only breaks them under its weight.

More importantly, however

"Senpai!" Koneko rushes over to the downed form of Noriaki, just as Rias gets back to them, having flown down as soon as the trap was sprung.

Noriaki lay there on his side, clutching the wounds on one of his sides, breathing heavily and deeply, but still controlled.

Shockingly, as the two girls found, he wasn't bleeding in the slightest, but the wounds still looked pretty deep

Before the two could even begin fussing over him, he held out a hand to them and waved them off, "I'll be fine!" He exclaims with a heave, "I heal real fast, you know that Koneko-chan, don't worry, see?"

The three looked at his wounds.

His wounds began receding, at a remarkable pace!

Then nearly halted entirely.

Albeit they did continue to heal, just fairly slowly, not exactly fast.

Noriaki lowered his head suddenly, "Ah. Never mind, ran out of juice." He said solemnly.

And promptly got batted over the head by Koneko.

"Stupid. Know your limits, Senpai." She chided him coldly, glaring down at him.

"I know, I know!" He waved his hands and sighed, "But Ithink I have an idea to fix myself up and put down the dragon for good."

Koneko raises an eyebrow, "You're going to do something stupid, aren't you?"

Noriaki merely smiled widely back, "You betcha."

As much as Rias would love to tease these two over their antics, they've got bigger trouble to deal with right now.

Rias grabs both of them, pulling them away from the pit as the ground around it begins to shake violently.

"As much as I don't think it's a good idea what with the state you're in, Kusanagi-kun," Rias voices her thoughts solemnly, "I can't think of anything else to do now. Will you be safe, doingwhatever it is you plan on doing now?" She asks, slightly afraid.

She really doesn't want to have to knock him out and take him away to safety for Koneko's sake if he's planning on hurting himself here.

He shrugs, "Worst case scenario? Nothing happens, and I'm" He sighs, reluctantly, "out of the fight, I guess."

Okay, that makes her feel better.

The ground cracks and shatters next to the pit, and a clawed red hand soon bursts forth from it.

Nevermind!

"Hedug out? So soon?" Koneko intoned, bewildered.

Noriaki closes his eyes, "Alright, doing it now! Let's see how this goes!"

"GUOOOHH!" The dragon roars in rage as it charges down towards them.

~ A New Sun ~

I didn't really start thinking about it until recently, but

Why don't I get stronger during the day?

I mean thinking about it? I should.

Even Devils get a burst of energy during the night, all Devils.

And it's no shocker that God's are more powerful within their domain.

So then what gives for me? Beyond that nice feeling sunlight grants me, it does little to nothing else.

This brings me to a thought I had. Like just now.

What if I absorbed the sunlight like the world's most handsome plant?

What could go wrong? Already got a raging dragon running us down, literally nothing could get worse at this point.

I opened my eyes, looking towards the morning sun as it climbed ever higher into the sky.

Like so long ago, I grasp onto that nice feeling that I first felt so long ago.

But instead of just holding it, memorizing its touch, and finding my own sunI take it in.

And then some more. And some more. More.

It's like the reverse floodgates open.

I gasp, stifling a breath as my sun explodes in my chest, reinvigorated, greedily sucking up the sunlight like a parched man in a desert.

A molten gold aura wraps around my being, and I sink slightly into the ground as the rock beneath my feet melts.

Vaguely, in the corner of my scenes, I hear the girls around me yelp and quickly back away.

No matter.

This feelingis so, so, nice.

I breathe, and energy ripples and thrums across my tired body.

My chakra and ki are gone but with this? I can keep restoring my Holy Spirit Power, at least.

Hahaha! Why haven't I thought of doing this before!?

This isI feelso right.

As the dragon finally reaches us, or rather me, I take up my now golden-bladed sword, and slash once, into the claws that lash out for me.

And cutting the animal's sharp metal tongs from its hands.

"GUUUOOHHH!?" The dragon reels back at the loss of his claws, and I slowly rise.

Smiling, laughing with glee.

I look upon the wretched beast that has run quickly out of its usefulness, and grin.

"S-Senpai?" I hear a girl's voice behind me. A weak, terrified girl's voice.

But I promptly ignored it. After all

"Throughout Heaven and Earth, I alone am The Honored One." I declare to the world.

I am Akaruihiruotoko. He of the Bright Midday Sun.

"And you, dragon" I point a finger at it, "Have outstripped your welcome."

~ A New Sun ~

Rias feels like she's been saying this a lot, but she doesn't really know what's happening now.

All of a sudden, Noriaki began glowing, thrumming with heat, and coated in Holy Spirit Power from head to toe.

His hair changed color, gaining purple highlights in the sunlight, and his pupils and marks around his face started glowing golden.

And hedoesn't sound like himself anymore.

Judging by the way Koneko is staring at his back, he isn't acting like himself either.

Rias takes Koneko's shoulders, and gently pulls her back, further away from them, "Koneko, come on, we need to get away from here!"

Koneko flinched at her touch, and tried to resist being pulled, "But, S-Senpai, he!"

"He'll be fine, Koneko, please!" A wave of heat washes over them, and Koneko trembles as she stares at him, before falling back into Rias' arms herself, and letting herself be pulled away to a safe distance away.

Noriaki just stood there, a smirk on his face as the dragon recklessly charged straight for him.

"You know, I have to wonder." He muses out loud, jumping back to dodge the dragon's diving maw, "Why haven't you shot any blasts at us to finish us off after your Longinus Smasher? You could have easily done so multiple times."

The dragon's tail lashes out, and Noriaki casually knocks it away.

"Or, could it beyou can't? No" He smiles maliciously, now so much more like her Queen it makes her shiver, "You won't. You're trying to save energy, aren't you?"

The dragon snarls as aura bubbles around its hands, its claws quickly regrowing.

"Don't worry," He intones, raising his swordit engulfs itself in crimson fire, "I'll make sure to take your head before you run out, then." His grip tightens, and the fire around his blade crackles with light, before fusing and bursting into deep golden flames!

The dragon seemed to object to that.

[BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!]

Noriaki didn't seem to care, giving an even wider smile in reply.

The dragon's aura engulfed his body as he rushed forward, swinging wildly like a trapped caged animal.

Noriaki deflected his claw swipes with his flaming blade, each swipe turning the dragon's claws into molten crimson slag due to the sheer force and flames behind each strike.

Only for his aura to restore them, and the dragon to continue.

Rias hasn't seen Noriaki fight for long. But the way he swiped back at the claws, using pure force rather than dancing around his attack, it just feltwrong.

Noriaki clicked his tongue in annoyance, his body vanishing into a blur that the next claw swipe cleaves through, leaving nothing but air.

He reappeared at the dragon's side, upside down, already swinging.

"Setting Sun Transformation."

He speaks, as his blade cleaves into the dragon's neck, getting about halfway through it before abruptly stopping.

Golden fire erupted from his neck, but the blade refused to go further.

"Even like this, huh?" He says, seemingly equal parts annoyed and fascinated.

Suddenly, he wrenches his sword from his neck, his halos flashing into existence behind him and he turns.

Cleaving through the dragon's thin tail as it tries to strike him from behind.

"G-GUUHHHGUUUOOO!" The dragon staggers back, growling and heaving aura as its neck restores itself.

"You know, dragon." Noriaki idly muses, "The longer this fight goes on, the stronger and stronger I'll get." He points to the sun, his eyes full of mirth, "And the weaker you get as I deal more damage." He eyes the dragon, in particular, his face? "So let's end this, then. Before this fight becomes a chore."

And with that Noriaki blasts forward, a blur of light and heat.

The dragon's eyes widen, and instinctively, he opens his mouth and starts rapidly firing aura beams.

Each beam is cut through, all the same, being divided in half and diverted around him.

But just before Noriaki reaches him

The dragon's chest suddenly snaps open!

[EXPLOSION!]

All the gems announce as one. His aura explodes around him once more, forming a pillar of energy that reaches the sky.

Noriaki makes it there, in a golden blur, and swings.

Hemisses.

Just barely, he missed his face, he swung for his mouth.

[LONGINUS SMA]

Yet, the dragon's final announcement was suddenly cut off by gurgling metallic static.

As the top part of its head slowly slides off its body, and hits the floor, cut straight across from its mouth.

"Solar Heat Haze." Noriaki intones, as the dragon's body clambers to the floor with the top half of its head.

Looking down at the fresh corpse, everyone stares stunned, except for the victor himself.

Who starts laughing. Loudly, joyously, boisterous!

"You, you! Hahaha! You almost had me there, you tricky bastard! Hahahaha!" He continued to laugh, barely managing to get the words out.

Rias wasn't too sure whether or not to be relieved just yet, but she let out a relieved sigh anyway.

Koneko, however, continued to tremble in her grasp.

"R-Rias!" Rias turned in the direction of her name being called, finding Sonaonly Sonaflying down to her.

"Sona!" Rias called back as she landed next to them, "There you are! What happened after the barrier broke? Are you all okay!?"

It was slightly worrying how they didn't come running after their barrier broke. She actually thought they may have gotten caught in the blast.

Sona grimaced, "The destruction of the barrier sapped everyone's Demonic Power, and knocked us all unconscious. I just woke up, and sent everyone away" She looks around before finally eyeing Noriaki and the corpse, "Is it over?" She asks quietly.

Rias looks towards them as well, "Ithink so?"

Noriaki stops laughing.

Slowly, he looks down at the corpse one final time, before raising his sword and pursing his lips.

Golden fire swirls around the blade, and with a single swing downwards, a column of said fire erupts from his slash, engulfing and consuming his slowly deteriorating body in the flames.

"Not. Enough." Noriaki huffs out.

Guess it's not over then!

He turns, and once he sees Sona, his eyes lock onto her.

"You." He remarks scathingly, voice dripping with sheer fury.

His look alone froze Sona in place like a deer caught in headlights, his tone sent her shivering on the spot.

Rias, as much as she wanted to get up and defend her friend from what she felt was coming, couldn't even muster the courage to move her legs!

"K-Kusanagi-san" Sona tries.

But Noriaki cut her off by having his blade burn brighter with flames while barking out, "Silence. I will hear none of your dumbass excuses! What I will hear, however, is your screams as I"

"Alright, that's enough mister."

He stops, they all stop, and blink at the soft female voice that interrupts him in turns.

Standing there, right next to Noriaki, is suddenly a woman wearing a very elaborate shrine outfit of white, gold, pinks and reds. Long light pink hair ruffled nicely in the wind behind her as she regards them all with a small smile.

Yet, her violet eyes were trained solely on Noriaki himself.

He turns his head slightly to look at her, "Don't you interrupt me ACK!"

He's promptly silenced again as he's slammed down onto his knees by an invisible force, all the woman doing is narrowing her eyes.

But the Devils? They could feel it.

A titanic amount of Holy Spirit Power, purely focused and pressed down on Noriaki.

"You! You!" He grunts out, trying to rise back onto his feet.

The pink-haired woman, meanwhile, just giggles slightly.

"You are some thousands of years too early to try and challenge me with your violent half, Akaruihiruotoko." She chided lightly, "Now, you take a well-deserved nap!"

He growls in response, still trying to rise.

Only for the dull thud of bells ringing to be heard as she smacks him over the back of the head with her Kagura Suzu.

She hits him so hard that he flops straight down, his face impacting the ground with such speed and force that the ground cracks and splinters and craters.

His aura pops off him, his hair fades back to normal, and he finally lets go of his sword.

Now, he's just a very unconscious, almost naked Noriaki, just like that.

The Devils just stared, eyes wide and bewildered.

The woman reaches down, and picks him and his sword up, throwing both over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes, before finally turning to the Devils, immediately causing them to tense up.

Only for her to begin with, "Apologies, Heiress of the Gremory and Sitri Clans, our little Noriaki here isn't used to that part of his powers," she pats him on the rear, "not yet, anyway."

Sona, still too shell-shocked at almost getting torched, doesn't respond with the obvious, but Rias manages.

"Whoare you?" She asks, trying very hard to remain stoic in front of obviously a deity.

They just don't know which one.

The woman gives a fox-like smile but doesn't respond.

Instead, it's her Queen, who floats down slowly next to them while staring at the women in awe and fear, "Inari Okami-sama?"

She giggles, "Correct, little Devil, of course it would be you that recognizes me. You do take care of one of my shrines, after all." She walks over, and pats Akeno on the head, prompting her to still at her touch.

Sighing though, Inari backed up, looking at all of them scathingly, "You're all very lucky though, I came as soon as I could when I felt that aura, truly, do none of you have any self-preservation?"

Everyone looks down, ashamed, but Inari just huffs. "Although I suppose it's not my business, is it? It's your brother and sisters, no?"

That prompts both Sona and Rias to perk up.

"They'll be here soon, I think," Inari muses, "when they get here, please tell them not to worry about his mother on this." She smacks Noriaki's rear, "It was him who jumped into this battle, after all."

Sona blinked, "His, mother?"

Inari smiled, "Why, Amaterasu Omikami, of course. Can't you tell?" She points up to the sky, "She's watching us right now."

Of course, neither girl dared look at the sun directly, mostly because they were too busy being in awe, or wishing they had been torched by Holy Spirit Fire.

But both did notice, at least slightly, that the sunlight did feel slightlyharsherthan before.

"Before I go, though" she utters, walking up to them again, this time kneeling to Koneko, and petting her head. "Don't worry, little one," she mutters softly, quietly, "he's still there, that was just another side of him, is all. Okay? I'll make sure he talks to you again soon."

Koneko barely nodded at that, but at least for the moment, she trembled significantly less.

Smiling, Inari stood back up, waving to the Devils as she walked away, "Have fun dealing with your siblings~!" And with the scent of tea and rice in the wind, she suddenly vanishes without a trace.

Leaving the only one to regain her bearings, Rias, to sigh, as the sky fills with several dozen devil magic circles.

The cleanup for all of thisisn't going to be fun, that much Rias knows.

Chapter 12

Whack. Whack. Whack.

The dull thud of a paper fan smacking something resounded throughout the Kusanagi Estate.

"Staaahhpp! Please, Inari-chan! I said I was swoorryy!" As were the cries of the said something, who at least in Inari Okami's mind, would forever be deemed 'useless goddess' from here on out.

Inari sighed, retracting her fan back to her face, glaring daggers down upon the Revelry Goddess turned maid as she kneeled next to her seat.

Truly, it's a wonder Noriaki hasn't lost his mind dealing with this one.

Though, judging by his actions when the Boosted Gear user went Juggernaut Drive, perhaps he too also has a few screws loose.

Wouldn't surprise her, considering his parents and 'caretaker' for most of his life.

"Turn one more of my sake barrels into fruit punch, and I'll wring your Holy Spirit Power out through your nipples." She threatened with a serene smile across her face.

"Eeek!?" Uzume promptly yelped and covered her chest, for all good that'd do, and looked at her in teary-eyed fear.

"Look! I said I was sorry, okay!? Nori inadvertently nuked my musubi with the other Earthly Kami with his orders!" She whined incessantly, "I can't summon any food beyond party snacks anymore! I can't even try drinking alcohol without it turning into some random kid's drink!" She shook, swaying side to side, voice growing increasingly manic, "I'm losing it, Inari-chan! LOSING IT!"

Whack.

"Owwiee!" The maid goddess promptly grabbed her head and whined, all emotional build-up lost.

Inari, once more, let out a baleful sigh.

After Inari brought back Noriaki and set him in his room, she thought it prudent to come down and take a look at the situation she was inheriting.

You know, ask Uzume for her side of the story, what's been going on and all.

And let's just say, her being smacked with a paper fan is not only for vengeance over her lost sake.

Turns out, there's a pretty good reason, she was to be the young man's new guardian.

Who'd have thought?

Something he certainly needed coming up, after his fighting the Red Dragon Emperor and winning got around to the wider world.

There were yokai in that town. Several saw him flying into the battle and more than a few watched said fight from afar.

It would only be a matter of time before the whole damn world heard about it.

She knew because she commandeered a kitsune's senses to get a front-row seat to the fight herself.

Said Kitsune was also recording said fight, hilariously enough.

Ballsy kit, Inari could admit. She had half a mind of taking that one under her wing later.

Ah, right. Speaking of musubi, though.

"Uzume?" She questioned, prompting a pained 'huh?' from the Kami in response, "Were you aware that Noriaki shared his musubi with the reincarnated nekoshou he took as a concubine?"

Uzume just stared at her, dumbly.

Inari stared at her back, scathingly. "Does he even know what musubi is?" She continued.

Uzume slowly started tearing up again. "N-No" she stuttered out, "But I have a-, w-wait!"

WHACK.

The useless goddess was silenced by her fan, forced to give out a stuttering shriek as it struck her with a tad bit more force than before.

"You truly are a useless goddess, Uzume." Inari admonished with a scathing sigh, "I don't have time to teach him everything about his Kami half before I go, and he's going to have to learn quickly," She continued, biting her lip in thought, "especially after today"

"A-Ah" Uzume sniffed out, "what happened in town, by the way? For him to come back like that?" She asked quietly, nearly deathly so.

Inari blinked. Right, this place is warded so heavily Uzume couldn't have felt the aura that Juggernaut Drive emitted, could she?

Well. Best be blunt about this.

"Noriaki fought a rampaging Boosted Gear user in Juggernaut Drive." Inari casually revealed, "He had some help of course, later on in the fight. He ended up awakening his Ara-Mitama however. Nearly turned on and killed some Devils after he killed the dragon. I stopped him before he could, though."

What she doesn't explain, at least out loud, is what she herself was doing during all that. Luring the people away, rescuing those that could be saved.

In a sense, she still is, her foxes are still out and about, while her main consciousness and form are here for now.

But that'll change quickly.

Uzume just stared at her, mouth slightly agape.

Seconds pass of just this, as she can see the gears turning in Uzume's head.

Eventually, the Goddess of Revelry slumps down and says the one thing Inari herself agrees with regarding all this.

"I need a drink."

"Finally, some words of wisdom." Inari mused, and with a snap of her fingers, a drink appeared in her hand.

Some of her own special brand sake.

Taking ginger sips, she watches with mirth and a sly fox-like smirk as the purple-haired girl whines and shakes with envy and jealousy next to her.

With a refreshed sigh, Inari spoke up once more, "I can't be here for long you know, so we'll have to make this quick." She rose from her seat and looked down at her shrine priestess outfit with a huff. "After I change out of my work clothes into something more comfortable." She added with a huff.

Uzume winced at her words, "Doesn't that mean waking him up early?" She questioned with a frown, "After his violent half woke up in the middle of a battle like that, his mind, the strain" she trailed off worriedly.

"Yes, it will be a bit much for him," Inari confirmed simply, "but even so, he needs to know regardless."

With a clap of her hands and the scent of freshly watered rice fields, Inari suddenly found herself wearing something much more casual.

Gone was the rather long and ornate shrine maiden uniform, replaced instead with short jean shorts, and nice long sleeved white jacket fitted snuggly over a white tank top that of course freed a generous amount of cleavage.

It was also quite sexy, but that's par for the course for her, no?

Flicking a drooling Uzume on the nose to bring her back to her senses, she waved for said woman to follow her.

"Come along now, you should be there too! A good maid wakes and cares for their master, no?" She giggles as Uzume rises with a flush, and leads her away to said master's room.

~ A New Sun ~

I see only darkness, as I lay upon a soft fluffy mattress, presumably in my bed.

On my side, I can feel the softness and plushness of my kitty, and feel the way she breathes quietly against me.

Completely naked, of course. I don't need to be able to open my eyes to say that much.

Idly, one of my arms is wrapped around her body, keeping her close.

Idon't know how it got there. Maybe I put it there automatically when she snuggled against me?

I certainly don't recall being awake doing it, regardless.

Hell, I don't even recall being awake getting here.

The last thing I remember was sucking up Holy Spirit Power from the sun like the world's most overcompensating solar panel.

Then, I didn't exactly blackout, it was more like an out-of-body experience.

There was a fight afterward, right? I won, I think? And then I blacked out.

Fuck. Not only did I pull the anime trope of last minute power in the middle of a fight, but I also blacked out afterward!

Think I've reached my quota of anime bullshit for the week.

Anyway, I'm currently conscious, barely right nowalthough I'd really rather not.

The problem is though, there's this awful smell being pressed against my nose, and it's forcing me to stay awake.

And I can barely move, much less swat away the fucker who's trying to interrupt my peaceful catgirl snuggle times!

"Come on, come on~! Noriaki-san!" A soft, feminine, vulpine voice mutters into my ear, "I know you're awakewe need to have a chat, you and I~..."

okay, the very seductive sounding fucker.

Still a fucker!

"You don't need to worry about us waking your little pet over there~..." She continues sweetly, "I'll keep her asleep for as long as we need, okay~?"

"Whaddya want." I groggily intone, cracking open my eyes slightly.

Thank all gods, old and new, she didn't open the shades right now.

Funny, coming from the son of a sun deity, but I really don't feel like getting light in my eyes right now.

I know I'll be fine, I'm just not feeling up to it right now.

Turning my head slightly, ignoring my twitching purple-haired maid at the foot of the bed, I see the figure of the woman talking to me.

Long pink hair, violet eyes, a foxy smile, and several pink tails swishing out behind her.

Also, her massive cleavage is more or less being shoved in my face.

Yet, the back of my head starts phantom buzzing, and I narrow my eyes at her.

"And...who the hell are you?" I mutter out.

She chuckles at that, "I see," she muses aloud, "you don't remember then, hmm? I suppose that makes sense."

She sits down at the foot of my bed, throwing one leg over the other before smiling down at me.

"I am to be your guardian for the next few years, Noriaki-san, until you reach the age of adulthood." Closing her eyes, she bows slightly, "I am Inari Okami, or just Inari, if you willpleased to finally meet you fully conscious for once, no?" She giggles as she raises her head back up, and gives me a little wink.

I simply stare at her as best as my heavy body will allow, my mouth hanging open as low as it'll go while lying down.

DamnI feel, and look like a fish right now, don't I?

"I haveseveral questions." I respond intelligently.

Inari Okami, the most popular and widely worshiped deity in Japan, responds to my dumb response with a giggle and rubs my cheek slightly.

"I'm sure you do, Noriaki-san." She hums, "And I will answer as best as I can, unlike a certainsomeone." Her smile widens ever so slightly.

And out of the corner of my vision, I see Uzume fidget slightly more.

Course.

Althoughhmm. Hold that thought for a second.

Let's start from the beginning first.

"Before we start," Inari interrupts curtly just as I open my mouth, "I must apologize for waking you up like this, see, Noriaki-san, I am a very busy womanI'm afraid I can only stick around here for a few hours more, so it's best we do this as soon as possible. Alright?"

I think for a second, then nod in acceptance, causing the Fox Goddess to smile brightly.

Inari Okami. As I said before, she is one of the most popular goddesses in Japan in the modern era.

A third of the shrines in Japan are dedicated to her. She has more shrines than my mother, of all Kami!

Fucking hell. Why do I know those details? What was I in my past life, the useless trivia facts guy?

Still, I'm not one bit shocked she's so busy.

Now. Where to begin?

Ah, beginning. Right.

"How did I end up here?" I start, "Last I fully recall, I was sucking up sunlight to restore my powers, then" I trail off, not too sure how to describe what followed out loud.

Inari frowned slightly, pursing her lips at my statement. Even Uzume seemed to furrow her brow in confusion.

"You did something to cause yourself to enter Ara-Mitama?" She asked, slightly off, "That'sstrange. I thought it was triggered by you undergoing intense emotional stresshuh." Inari quirked up a smile, "Then again, I suppose you are a unique existence. Perhaps this is to be expected."

Well. That wasn't helpful. What the fuck is an Ara-Mitama?

"...All of that just brought up more questions." I followed up blandly.

She giggled at my statement, "Then please, ask away, but first!" She boops me on the nose, causing me to go cross-eyed in confusion, "Congratulations are in order, Noriaki-san. You killed a Red Dragon Emperor in Juggernaut Drive! And with little civilian deaths as well" She smiled sweetly, "That's something to be quite proud of! Most times, when such a thing happens, several Faction Leaders are required to intervene and put them down, you know!"

I frown slightly at all that.

That does answer my first question, in a roundabout way.

I ate sunlight, went Ara-Mitama whatever that is and finished Issei off.

Considering how Issei was the weakest Red Dragon Emperor in history, not counting titty power-ups, that's nothing to write home about.

Especially due to the circumstances that led up to it all.

Moving on, I wave off her words, as much as I can move my arm and hand, and ask something she didn't touch on, "And the Devils?" I ask, "Did they make it out okay?"

As soon as I said Devils, Inari's smile turned a lot more sly.

"Oh, they made it out just fine," she hums, "althoughyou did almost torch the Sitri Heiress." She casually adds.

I blink.

Huh? Wait, what? When?

I recall being very pissed at her because she tried barriering in an ultimate class being like it was no biggie.

When realistically, she should have had her Peerage play support, and have us play around her Queens ability to reflect attacks.

If they were there, we could have ended it when he fired off that Longinus Smasher then

But they never showed up, even after their barrier was destroyed.

I narrow my eyes at her, and say one tired word, "Elaborate."

Her eyes sparkled with mirth, "As you wishthis is actually a perfect segue into Ara-Mitama and a few other things we have to go over quickly."

Clearing her throat briefly, she continues, "In essence, Ara-Mitama is your violent half. Every Kami possesses two separate souls. One violent and rough, the other gentle and kind. Ara-Mitama, and Nigi-Mitama. You, Noraki-san!" She puts a finger to my chest and leans closer to my face, her sparkling eyes taking the whole of my vision, "Are different, due to something very important. You're alive."

I stare at her, blankly.

"I sure hope so." I respond wholly seriously.

She chuckles, and pulls back slightly, "Not like that, Noriaki-san." She pats my chest, "I mean you're both alive in the Human sense, but you're also Kami. You are both. There's a word for your existence, an 'Arahitogami', a Living God."

Huh. That'sactually pretty neat.

"Sounds way cooler than 'Demigod', that's what I've been calling myself this entire time." I shrug, weakly.

Her eyebrow twitches at that, and she huffs.

"I suppose the Western term is what you'd be more familiar with, hmm?" She pulls back completely, "Granted, that term isn't incorrect eitherby Western standards, anyhow."

Eh. I'll probably still call myself Demigod, regardless. I get the feeling I'd have to explain myself more if I said Arahitogami.

Sucks too, sounds hella cool!

"So," I pushed on, "what's all that got to do with myAra-Mitama, you called it?"

She grimaces, and gets back on track, "As Arahitogami, you possess one whole soul. A Kami who enters their Ara-Mitama still has another soul to go back to if placated, youdon't." She huffs, "When your soul became consumed by your Ara-Mitama, that's all you were at that point. I had to knock the power out of you to restore balance to your soul."

At her mention of knocking, my head buzzes and throbs again.

I wince, "Youmean that literally, don't you?"

She merely smiled at me.

The buzz in my head grows.

Ugh, so that's what happened then?

I went beast mode, killed Issei, tried to kill Sona, but then I presume Inari stopped me?

Wait.

I groan out suddenly.

I did all that shit in front of Koneko.

I went into a state literally called 'Wild Soul' in front of Koneko.

Good. Fuck. I probably hit all her trauma buttons, didn't I!? Shit!

Suddenly, Inari pats me on the head, ruffling up my hair, "Took you long enough," she hums out softly, "I felt the incredibly irrational fear of a white-haired girl as she watched you. I presume you know each other?"

Fuuuuucck. Meeee.

"Yeah," I huffed out, "damn, I need to talk to her, as soon as possible" Almost instinctively, I try to get up to go do just that.

But I can't feel my legs. So there's that.

Also, Inari moves her hand back down and places her hand firmly down upon my chest, keeping me from moving even a little.

"Don't worry," she starts softly, "I already informed the girl you'd talk to her when you could, and that you'd be alright and yourself again when you did."

I breathe a slight sigh of relief, "Thank you." I give her my most grateful smile, "Helps a lot, truly."

She returns a beautiful one right back, "You are most welcome, Noriaki-san."

What else to ask, what else

"Hmm, although, Noraki-san?" She suddenly spoke curtly, "If I may ask a question of my own?"

Huh?

"Well, sure?" I affirm, confused, "Not too sure what you could want to know, though?"

She hums, giving me a sly smile at my last remark, "Oh, I was just wondering why you'd share your musubi with your catgirl concubine?"

My brain seizes thinking.

I slowly widened my eyes at her.

"Huh?" I respond dumbly, not entirely certain what she's asking, but at the same time knowing what she means.

Her smile widens in turn, "Why did you share your power with a girl you just met a month ago? Especially this interesting energy of yours" she rubs a finger across my chest, "I can feel it, in pathways lodged between both you and her's physical and spiritual beingvery very interesting" she trailed off, mystified.

She can sense Chakra!?

Okay, Nori, hold the fucking phone.

Of course she can, she's probably one of the strongest Earthly Kami in the Faction! I shouldn't be shocked that she can!

Let's rewind here, she mentionedmusubi? And sharing it? In reference to giving her my power, my chakra that it is.

There's a word for my awakening powers here? Others might be able to awaken powers in others!?

I need information!

First things first, I need to answer her

No reason not to tell her the truth.

"Because I really really like her," I responded after a second of gathering my bearings, "and she saved my life, a bit ago. Beyond that? Well" I think for a second, then smirk, "I fully intend to breed this cat later on down the line, so I'd appreciate it, Inari-san, if you didn't refer to her as a mere concubine."

If I could, I'd be showing my displeasure at her statement a lot more.

The idea of referring to Kuroka as a concubine, like a side piece, fucking pisses me off.

Inari merely gives me a thoughtful hum, "Interesting indeed, Noriaki-san, interesting indeed" she chuckles, "someone's possessive, hmm?"

"A bit." I admit with ease, "So. What's musubi?" I tack on casually.

"Everything." She responds just as casually, saying it like it answers all my questions.

I stare at her, and she stares right back at me, a sly smile on her face.

"Oh, alright," she relents, "it's a tad more complicated than that. Musubi is the interconnecting energy of the universe." She reveals.

A tad!?

She continues, "Kami are manifestations of said energy." She raises her hand and snaps her fingers.

Instantly, the nice sweet smell of tea leaves fills the air, and she's holding a steaming cup of said drink.

"Via our Holy Spirit Powers, we govern and hold authority over the natural laws and phenomena with our domains. In my case," she holds up the drink and takes a sip, "tea is one of my domains, amongst others. It's via musubi that we exist and gain our powers. It also enables us to share said powers, give blessings, and enable small parts of our domains to be shared. Amongst ourselves" she trailed off as she reached down, and tapped my chest suddenly.

Golden and pink sparks flicker across her finger and into my chest.

Something snaps into place, deep inside me, and it's like I finally understand.

It's like waking up from a dream I never knew I was in.

I hold out my hand, and a similar steaming teacup to Inari's own appears in my hand.

A dream specific to tea, sure, but now I know I can just sort of summon really good tea to me! If that makes sense?

Sucks I can't move to drink it.

Dammit!

Seeing my plight, Inari chuckles and reaches down, her cup disappearing as she helps my arm and hand move.

"And others." She finally finishes, as I take a nice long sip. "Musubi isn't technically unique to us Kami," she adds, watching me in satisfaction, "all deities, of all pantheons, have something similar. It's the source of their 'Holy' Powers, the core generated by the faith of humans long ago that ties them to reality. It's what enabled them to cause miracles, bless followers, and even come back from death eventuallywith enough power gathered."

Huh. Uzume flinched when Inari mentioned coming back from death.

Odd.

"Still, though." She continues, "Each pantheon has their niches when it comes to their version of musubi. In our case? We are very good at sharing, giving to individuals and nature in turn." She pulls my hand away from my mouth, revealing a very empty cup.

Damn, I didn't even realize I chugged it

Inari giggles and boops me on the nose, before promptly vanishing my cup.

"That's a fair bit to take in all at once." I sigh in satisfaction. Still damn good though.

Inari nods in understanding, "It is probably just a bit much, hmm? Don't worry, you'll have time to ruminate on it later," she pats me on my face, gently, "Anything simpler do you have to ask? Perhaps that'll help cleanse your mind, so to speak?"

Simpler, huh? Well. I'm not too sure this is simple, but

"Do you know what this unique energy of mine is, Inari-san?" I ask with slight trepidation.

I gotta know. She can sense it, somehow, so maybe it's more like other energy sources than I thought?

She shrugs nonchalantly, "I have not the slightest idea."

Eh?

"I assume, however, that it's a product of you being an Arahitogami." She adds nonplussed, then with a thoughtful hum, continues, "The last true Arahitogami didn't live long when he was alive, and that was some thousands of years ago. I never met him, so who's to say they didn't also possess that power, hmm?"

Well. That's a whole lot of nothing.

"Alternatively," she grimaces before finishing, "you could have gotten it from your Mother."

That makes me just blink at her.

What the hell does Amaterasu have to do with chakra?

"Ama has actually been experimenting with creating different powers for a while now!" Uzume suddenly pipes up wistfully, "I believe in modern lingo, she would be called aShut In NEET? Most of her experimenting is inspired by anime and manga, and due to her musubi being so strong, she actually managed to make a few work!" She says with awe.

Meanwhile, I'm just deadpanning at the ceiling.

Shut in NEET, huh?

That explains so, so much.

Also, with that said, I have a sneaking suspicion

"Like these?" I suddenly speak up, and at the same time, activate my eyes.

And nearly flinched at my increased detail and vision.

Did my eyes get another tomoe during the fight and I never even realized it?

Regardless, I can watch in figurative 8k as Uzume suddenly lights up.

"Ahhh! Heehee!" She squeals and giggles with excitement, "You've got her eyes!" She exclaims happily.

Ah. Well. Fuck.

I feel significantly less special now.

But, thinking about it, how else would I have these powers?

As an aside, this means others besides me do have these powers, since supposedly my mother just made them, who's to say she's the only one?

Ain't that a slightly worrying thought?

Uzume continues blabbering on to herself, mentioning something about how my mother's eyes have way more tomoe before a deadpan glare from Inari cowes her into being silent and stepping back.

With an annoyed huff, Inari states, "I believe we're getting slightly off track here."

I deactivate my eyes, and look at her once more, "Maybe just a bit," I reply tiredly, "honestly though? I think I've had enough questions and answers, for now" I trail off in a daze.

Seriously, a man can only take his exposition scenes for so long!

I need time to process all of that, and I might need to change a few of my brewing plans here or there now

Well, all my plans just recently got kicked to the curb because canon got fucked, so there isn't much to change admittedly.

Inari gave me an amused smile, "As you wish, Noriaki-san." She pats me on the head, "Take a nice long rest, and when you wake up? You should go take a look at the Supernatural Online Message Boards! The video of you fighting the Red Dragon Emperor is getting a fair bit of traction, you know?" She says far too happily.

Wut.

"Wut."

Video? How. Who in the fuck was ballsy enough to take a video in the middle of that warzone!?

And where are they, so I can shake their hand and pat them on the back because holy fuck.

Also so I can strangle the life out of them for revealing my existence to the world far too early!

I click my tongue and follow up with, "Course that happened. Somehow, deep down? I'm not even shocked."

Fuck this shit. I need a nap.

Inari stood back up, chuckling all the while as she waved at me, "Have a nice rest, Noriaki-san~!"

I grunt out, "Night." In response.

As the two leave, I try my best to snuggle up against my soft catgirl, before letting the darkness take me in once more.

Never would have thought unconsciousness could be so sweet

~ A New Sun ~

The next time I wake up, it's to something much more pleasant.

What feels like soft and slow licks against my neck stir me awake, "Nyaaan~...Nori-kun~...Nori-kun~...Hello~? Are you awake yet, nya~?" And the breathy almost vulnerable sounding questions into my ear sends shivers down my spine.

On instinct, I try turning toward her, and actually succeed! Although my body still feels weak, I can move once again!

I wrap my arms around her, slightly surprised to find her actually clothed, but still hold her regardless.

"Nya~!?" She yelps in shock, "Geez, you stubborn man~...there you are." She slowly hugs me back.

"Mhmm." I hum back to her, slowly opening my eyes, "Goodwhatever time it is."

She chuckles at that, only to yelp once more as I move down and claim her lips suddenly.

Slowly, I roll us over so I'm on top of her, looking down into her eyes as I pull back.

"I assume Inari or Uzume told you what I got up to out there?" I ask.

Her face flushes slightly as she frowns up at me, "Yeah, you stupid stupid man!" she says with very little heat, then suddenly sighs, "But I guess that's par for the course with you, isn't it, nya?"

I wince, "I couldn't just sit there and let him destroy the town, it wasn't all battle junkie you know?" I explained myself.

Leaving out the part where it's all my fa

No. Stop that. Later.

"You didn't have to rush in all by yourself," Gently, she took my face into her hands and looked me deeply in the eyes, "especially against an opponent like that."

"I had help." I argue.

"Not at the start." She says back.

Ahyeah. Okay.

I chuckle, weakly, "Sorry, then."

"Don't be," Kuroka sighs, "that's just how you battle junkie types are, you think more with your sword, over even your sword and head, nya!"

"It wouldn't be you if you didn't make it at least slightly sexual, huh?" I muse out loud.

Slowly, Kuroka wraps her arms around my neck and pulls me closer to her, "The next time something like this happens, Nori-kun, give me a call, okay?"

I blink at that, "Huh? But, Kurokaif people see you" I trail off. If she got caught on video with me, everything could get so much worse.

"I don't care about any of that!" She nearly hisses out, "I don't like it, seeing you come home like this, you know!? If I can help stop it from happening, I want to!"

I stare down into her defiant and resolute eyes at her statement.

Before very slowly, I start breaking out into a wide happy grin.

I go down, missing her lips, and go straight into returning to her what she did to wake me up.

Slowly and methodically, I start licking her neck, wrapping my arms around her body tightly as I do.

"Nyaan~!?" Kuroka gives a startled yelp as I do so, her body shivering in my grasp, "Noriaki~...! What are you~...hahn~!"

She stifled a moan as she clung to me in turn.

"That's dangerous, you know? What you just said to me right there~?" I say huskily between licks, "Some might even say that's a declaration of some sort~!"

I smirk, feeling her freeze up in my grasp.

"I already felt the intense urge to breed you once I got back, a big fight where you almost die tends to activate that neuron, but now~?" I pull back, looking her straight down in the eyes, "I'm most definitely going to do that, by having lovey-dovey hand holding missionary sex under the covers while staring deeply into your eyes~."

I can feel her quiver underneath my body at that proclamation.

"Y~Youstupidsillyman~..." She shakily and sultry huffs out, but then, she suddenly sighs. "I don't think you understand just how badly I want to take you up on that offer, nya~..." She pats me on the back.

"Oh?" I raise an eyebrow, "And why can't you?"

"I have to go, remember?" She drawled, "All of sudden, of all times, the timing couldn't be any more terrible, could it, nya?"

Ah. Fuck.

I sat up, pulling her up too with a sigh, "No, no it couldn't."

Kuroka chuckles, leaning forward and placing a sweet kiss against my lips, "Don't worry, Nori-kun, you can do all those degenerate things to me, and more, once I get back, nya~!"

With that, she turns and leaps off the bed to her feet.

I smirk, and chuckle at her, "You damn well bet that ass I'm going to!"

Turning towards me one more time, Kuroka looks at me with a lustful smirk and the greatest teasing 'fuck me' eyes I've ever seen as a magic circle appears and lights up underneath her.

"I'm looking forward to it, darling~!"

And with that, she's off.

I chuckle, scratching the back of my head as I sit there in bed, wondering what exactly to do now.

I get the feeling that due to that video of me being up, that's what caused Kuroka to have to go now, rather than soon.

Don't know if Vali would be pissed I beat his Rival, or clambering to try and find me for a fight because I beat his Rival.

Either way, doesn't sound fun to me.

But beyond all that, I'm hella horny, fucking cat.

At least some of that was probably on purpose, wasn't it? To blueball me at least a bit?

Don't think she thought it would've wound up ending up that kind of heated, though. Heh.

Still. I've got to take care of that, and something else

Canon is gone. Reduced to atoms.

I need information on the Japanese Supernatural World. I recall Uzume mentioning a Bureau a while back. What's up with them?

And that's not even getting into the Clans, the situation with the Yokai, the dozens of exorcism families, beast tamers, those sword collectors

I'm a fish in a pond, surrounded by darkness. Not knowing how big the pond was outside my small little corner, not even thinking to know what was within the darkness.

And that small little corner was crushed by the darkness as a result.

Brushing a hand through my hair, I get off my bed, the inkling of a plan forming in my mind.

I wonder how good Uzume is at gathering information.

Can't imagine Inari is still around, after all.

Still, even just the bare minimum would be a start.

And it's not like that's all Uzume is going to help with either~! I still remember that titjob she gave me back then!

If nothing else, she's at least good at that.

Chapter 13

Things sure aren't going my way lately, huh?

Turns out, Inari had already left, which left only Uzume here to gather what I needed before deciding fully on what to do next.

What sucks, or rather isn't, is that the moment I mentioned wanting to watch that video of me, Uzume herself quickly told me how to get on the Supernatural forum it's on, then ran off to go get what I told her.

How she seemed very enthusiastic to get work done for once was extremely suspicious, but I only really understood why she ran off until I watched the video.

And, let me tell you, seeing the moment from the outside looking in? When I went full violent mode and started playing with the big dragon?

Fucking hell, I wish I could remember that time clearly!

The video cuts out just after I put the dragon to the torch, not showing the moment I turn and try to turn Sitri into an ash stain on the ground.

Thankfully. I'll have to thank Inari for that next time I see her.

Still, though.

I sit on my couch, leaning forward as I glare at my phone, holding the video paused at the clearest moment I can see myself in it.

Specifically, it's the moment where I stand before the dragon after cutting its head in two, laughing.

I frown, dragging a finger across the screen over my digital self's hair.

Which is highlighted purple in this berserker state of mine.

A very familiar purple, might I add.

Fucking dammit Uzume.

I get the feeling that this is what caused her to leave so quickly, huh?

Leaning back onto my couch, I loudly groan into the currently empty house, tossing my phone onto the cushion next to me.

That information I told her to collect for me better be damn well good.

Supposedly, she is some sort of liaison between the Heavenly and Earthly Kami and the World. If she doesn't know what I want to know off the top of her head, she should know a place to gather it.

It's all Japan specific stuff, anyway, so I don't think it'll be too hard.

My big ask was for contact details and statuses on the Five Principal Clans, the Great Yokai Factions, and the Imperial Family or their Bureau of Onmoy.

But alongside that, I wanted details and names of the various smaller exorcist families and clans, the beast tamers, the artifact-holding families, the smaller yokai communities and such scattered throughout my home.

Honestly, all that extra stuff is to sate my curiosity more than a need to know, but I figure it would be nice regardless.

And as for the Kami? Well, I figure Uzume should be able to answer anything I ask about them, both Earthly and Heavenly.

Right?

I stare blankly at the ceiling above me, the deafening silence outside of my thoughts the answer to that.

I click my tongue in distaste.

Well, at least my horniness is gone? At least until Kuroka gets back, that is. Or Uzume.

What to do while I wait then? What to do

A pile of dead bodies flash into my mind's eye.

I still.

Then let out an aggravated huff.

Fine. Fuck it. Let's get this over with, then.

Am I at fault for what the Fallen did here?

No. That's my first response. Why? Because I don't puppet their actions.

But, at the same time, thinking about it more, with my knowledge of the canon, I could have straight up killed them once school started.

But I had a plan, to wait out Diodora, then murder him and the Fallen all at once.

Then fuck off from Kuoh, maybe visit Kyoto, and work from there.

I had no idea canon changed, not until the month ended and Asia never showed!

I assumed! I saw the Fallen, flying about, but I just assumed they were doing random Fallen things!

Like that fedora-wearing fuck! He went out looking for strays in canon, right?

But here, if I had to bet? They were out kidnapping and mutilating people's souls!

And for what, huh!? For fucking what!?

I hissed out a breath I didn't know I was holding, and slowly laid down on my couch, covering my eyes with an arm.

Butyou know?

I can't help but think.

If I had just murdered the Fallen the moment I got here, maybe not all, but likely a good chunk of people would still be alive.

How many people died when they forced Issei to go Juggernaut Drive? There's no way that district was clear of people

I don't even know how many people were in that pile I found.

Hell, that could have been the only pile I found, because they either hid or cleaned up any other bodies before!

I was so close, so fucking close to disaster, and I was never even aware!

And so many people are dead regardless.

And their friends, all their families

Like, Genshirou! Doesn't he have little siblings? Twelve and under little brothers and sisters?

Fuucckk

Ineed to find thembefore I leave this town.

I don't know why, or what I'd even domake sure they're set for the rest of their lives without their big brother there? Maybe make sure the rest of their family doesn't get broken up and separated?

I don't know. Justsomething.

And Asia

Thinking back on it, I could maybe wrap my head around Raynare and her gang doing equally dumb shit like before, but Asia?

Why didn't she show up!? There's no way I or the Shinto, could have done something that altered that.

Fuck. I just hope wherever she is, that she's okay

I take a deep, shuddering breath.

I don't want to admit I'm crying right now.

But I am.

Hah. I supposeI won't say it's all my fault.

I should have known something was up after week three though, with no Asia in sight.

To be fair to myself, canon was always vague on dates, it's why I waited until the start of the next month to act.

But, still. That's no excuse.

I tried being reactive to spoiled information.

It failed. Who'd have thought?

No more being reactive anymore, I told myself that when Juggernaut Drive got unleashed on the town, and I'm reaffirming that now.

I don't believe myself some fairy tale or legendary hero from the old myths and legends that are oh so real here.

A real hero would have saved the day, long before it spiraled out of control.

ButI at least believe in responsibility. I have knowledge, in my head, a basis for what could come in this world.

If I don't use it to help, to at least make the world a better place before I go?

Then I failed.

I failed this time.

I won't a second time.

With a start, I sit back up, taking a deep breath.

Stop pitying yourself, Nori. Control your damn empathy.

It's time to think. Time to be proactive.

Vali is going to respond to what I did, isn't he? The video was very clear, in the description and title, that it was shot in Kuoh.

He'll come searching for me, won't he? Because I killed his 'fated rival'.

I doubt he'll come to kill me, though. He'll probably only come to see what I'm made of.

Maybe he might even get it stuck in his head that I ought to 'fill in' as his fated rival since I killed his actual one?

I give the air a manic grin.

Bring it, Half Devil with a Longinus. My sword will cut through you just as it did your red counterpart!

Now, as for Kokabiel.

His reaction willlikely depend on how the Faction Leaders respond.

But I don't know how the Faction Leaders are taking this, hell, do the Devils or Shinto even know what the Fallen did?

Unlikely, considering any evidence of Grigori activity probably got leveled with the activation of Juggernaut Drive.

So, the best way to get that information, and tell the Devils what's up so they can ram a molten railroad spike up Azazel's dumbass, is

Koneko. For fairly obvious reasons.

I click my tongue, though, because that conversation I'm very much not looking forward to having.

Still, it needs to happen at some point. Better get it over with faster, the longer I wait, the worse this situation gets.

But first things first!

Inari supposedly left some of her sake behind

And I could very much go for a drink right now!

~ A New Sun ~

The past day or so since had been more than a little hectic.

Well, not for Koneko and the others, all they had to do was be interviewed by the Leviathan about what happened.

Ever since then? She's just been sitting around in her room in the Gremory Castle as Kuoh gets cleaned, memories and non-supernatural recordings get altered or wiped, and the works.

It was fairly amusing, watching her President and Sitri have their siblings fawn over them relentlessly.

It got even better once the Leviathan saw those posters Kusanagi made for his Magical Girl Club.

Supposedly, according to her President, the Leviathan flipped and not so subtly said she had to be the advisor for the club.

The sheer panic and fear in the picture her President took of Sitri after that was amazing.

she just wishes Kusanagi could see it right now.

Koneko stilled on her bed, briefly pausing the handheld console she was playing on as the thought passed through her head.

She's been trying hard to not think about him and his, whatever that was, at the end there.

Deep down, a part of her knows it isn't his fault.

It was a slightly desperate time, and he didn't know what would happen to begin with.

But still.

She can't help comparing that state of his to what she was like.

She can almost see it, the way he stood before the dragon, just like she did to her King

Looking down at her game now, she suddenly finds she doesn't feel like gaming anymore.

Throwing the console to the other side of her bed, she turns and buries her face into her pillow, sighing and trembling slightly.

That woman, Inari Okami, which she still can't fully believe, said he'd summon her again later.

That he'd be fine, and himself.

It's been a little bit, and she hasn't gotten a call from him yet.

She honestly doesn't know how to feel about seeing him again.

Which sucks, because he probably doesn't even know she's upset in the first place!

Or even why.

That's not a conversation she's looking forward to having.

"Hmm?" She hums, suddenly feeling soft vibrations under her pillow.

Ah, her phone.

Pulling it out from under there, she holds it up lazily and opens it up.

Then she stops and stares, eyes growing increasingly wider as she sees who exactly texted her.

Dumbass: Hey. You up for a summons?

Kusanagi. Who, yes, she has under her phone as Dumbass.

For what felt like several, long, agonizing seconds, she debated on what to say back.

Then she remembered her thoughts from earlier, gave a simple 'K' in response, and gingerly got up to find the Peerage's Summoning Circle.

Since they wouldn't be returning to Kuoh for a little while, her President's parents threw together a room where the Peerage could get their job requests done.

Since it isn't anywhere near the time the Peerage usually operates, Koneko had a relatively easy time getting to said room where the circle is.

She didn't even have to sneak or anything.

Sometimes, she swears, the people here are a tad too nice.

Still loves them all the same, though.

Regardless, she makes it to the circle and fires another quick text telling him to use the summoning slip.

After a beat, said circle begins to light up an ominous red.

Ah. That's just her imagination, right? It's always been that color. Gremory Clan and all that!

With a deep shuddering breath, she closes her eyes as the light overtakes her.

She doesn't dare open them, not until moments later when she's sure the lights are gone, and the floor beneath her feet is completely different than before.

"Heeheehee~! Hiiiiii, my cute little kohai!"

Hold up.

She opens her eyes, any semblance of fear or trepidation violently dying as she beholds Kusangi, lying there on the couch before her half slumped, grinning at her like an idiot with a slight flush on his face.

He sounded giggly, almost slurring his words.

A single sniff, and she can tell why.

Sake.

"Senpai." She begins, with a half-lidded stare of pure contempt. "The fuck."

"Ah ah ah!" Kusanagi holds up his hands, "Hey! I know what you're thinking! But I'm not actually drunk! Ehhh~" He reaches over, with some difficulty, to a small coffee table next to the couch, and grabs a small tea cup.

He holds it up, to reveal it's basically entirely full of the offending liquid.

"See, see~! I took a sip, a sip!" He whined, before going to slam the cup down.

Then stops dumbly as he realizes the mess he'd make, so sets it down gently.

"I took a sip!" He continues unabated, "And I turned black-out drunk! This stuff is the weakest Inari left behind, and I'm cycling every energy under the sun over here through my body just to remain, well" He stares up at the ceiling for a second, then he suddenly perks up, "me! Mostly, anyway. Think I'm just slightly moreloose if you know what I mean?"

He looks at her, and hics.

Koneko deadpans at him, "I see absolutely no difference."

"Eh!?" Kusanagi flinches back as if struck, "Koneko-chan! That's kinda mean, you know!?" He pouts, "Besides, I called you up because I heard from a little someone that you were, well." His focus and eyes sharpen slightly as he fixes his gaze upon her, "Not well, at the end of the battle the other day."

She wavers slightly and refuses to meet his gaze with a huff. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Please be drunk and stupid right now, please drunk and stupid right now, please be drunk and stupid right now.

Just as she realizes that thought should probably be more along the lines of just, 'be himself', she finds that he is indeed, not being drunk and stupid.

He's got a fucking death wish!

She suddenly found herself being grabbed and pulled right to him so fast she didn't even know what was happening until all movement stopped.

And she found herself sitting on his lap, with him holding her like some kind of teddy bear.

"Senpai." She hisses out lowly through gritted teeth while trying very hard not to blush or move at all, "The fuck!?"

"Cut the bullshit, the japes, all that Koneko." He replies just as lowly back, right into her ear, making her shiver, "There's a video you know? Of the battle? I saw you there, shaking in your skirt, and Inari told me the same."

She bristles at that.

Video? Who in their right mind would get close enough to record any of that!?

"So, tell me," He stresses, much less lowly, much more genuine, and if her ears don't deceive her, with a hint offear? "Are you okay?"

She twitches, slowly looking down as she processes what she's hearing.

"I'mfine now, Senpai." She decides after a moment, slowly pushing her head into his chest so he can't see the ferocious blush spreading across her face.

"But you weren't then, hmm?" He hums in response, holding her tighter.

She, pointedly, doesn't answer that.

"I noticed that for most of the fight, you were fine," he continues, "it was only near the end, after I had my moment, that youyou know."

She slowly finds herself gripping his robe tighter.

He sighs deeply.

"I'm sorry I scared you, my cute little kohai." He mutters dejectedly to her, whilst reaching up to pat her on the head.

Her mask cracks.

"D-Don'tPlease" she mutters right back, brokenly, causing him to flinch and look down at her with what she can feel is concern, "It's not your fault, you couldn't have known! II" she shivers in his arms, struggling to find the words she wants, no, needs to say.

He merely reaches back down, and rubs her back gently, in smooth circular motions.

"It's okay if you don't wanna talk about it, Koneko-chan, you don't need to tell me anything you don't want me to." He mutters gently into her ear.

Then he hums, before adding on, "Although, if you want to talk, but don't want me to remember, I could chug a shot and let it take hold," he chuckles, "then I won't remember a thing! HehEHE!?"

She doesn't dig her fingers into his sides and grabs on far tighter.

She doesn't do all that, with a deadpan stare into his chest, not at all!

And she certainly doesn't have a small smile on her face as she mutters back, "Don't do that, you stupid senpai. You'll die before I can kill you."

"Oi! My tolerance isn't that bad!" He replies, almost sounding offended.

The pin-drop silence she gives after is all the answer he needs, so he slumps back while hugging her.

"Fine." He relents evenly, then after a moment, he asks, "Can you please stop squeezing my sides now?"

"No," she replies simply, "you're like a stress ball that doesn't break. You should hang up your sword and do this full-time."

Instead of jabbing back at her, like she thought he'd do, he just chuckles, and says, "Hmm, alright. Use me anytime you like!"

He winces and whines shortly after she full-on crushes his sides in her grip.

"Stupid. Dumbass. Pervert." She intones like a mantra.

"I'm not into this!" He objects right back.

She huffs, then blinks, realizing all her ensuing stress and panic from before has been washed away.

Belatedly, she also realizes that all of that talk from before was probably on purpose.

Sighing, she shuffles her body closer to him, still refusing to look up at him, however.

"Hmm? Koneko-chan?" He spoke, confused.

Just do it. What's holding you back anymore?

"A long time ago," she suddenly began, as if reading dispassionately from a storybook, "there were two Nekoshou, cat yokai, sisters, one older and one younger, who lived together in the Underworld." she intoned.

"Their life wasfine. It was all the younger one ever knew. And that was fine." She gave a slight, pained, grimace.

"Until suddenly, it wasn't." Her voice picked up slightly, "The elder sister, who had been reincarnated into a Devil by the one they lived with, grew more and more powerful day by day. In magic, in the native yokai arts, and as a Devil." Her breath hitches, despite how hard she's trying not to, "One day, that power got to her head, and the younger sister bore witness as the elder slaughtered her way out of the household, and into the night."

She pauses briefly, then finally looks up slowly, meeting his concerned gaze with a dead one.

Or she wished.

She found herself shaking instead, as tears pricked the corners of her eyes.

"Leaving the little sister behind to be charged for her crimes." She finished, barely getting the words out straight. "They wanted to kill her, but luckily, the Devil King Lucifer had mercy, and took her into his house, where she would meet his little sister, andwell" She smiles, half-heartedly and broken, quivering slightly.

"You're not dumb enough to not be able to figure out the rest, r-right, Noriaki?" She watched, uncaring as his eyes widened at her finally saying his name, only to gasp slightly as he wrapped her up tightly and pulled her in for a very sudden bear hug.

"So I did push a trauma button then? Fuck," he bit out loathingly, "I'm sorry, Koneko, really!"

"Eh?" She blinks out in a daze, "I already said"

"Just because I didn't know, doesn't mean I didn't hurt you." he refutes, "I'm gonna feel bad about it regardless. Besides! I did a dumb thing in the first place," he states disparagingly, "trying what I did in the middle of the battlefield like that, seriously!"

Her face flushes, more and more, as he goes on. "Senpai, you really" she trails off.

Honestly. This man.

How can one man be so bloody stupid?

"It's like, OOF!" He grunts as she cuts him off with a jab straight to his gut.

"Stop saying stuff like thatyou pulled through in the end, right?" she refutes right back, "Even if you did nearly torch Sitri."

Honestly, she couldn't tell if that would even be that big a loss if he did.

The only thing she'd worry about is the Leviathan going mental.

He pauses, briefly, looking down at her with a stunned expression, then he smiles warmly and pats her on the head.

"Still, I'm sorry regardless." He apologizes wistfully, "And it sucks, what happened to your family, too."

She quickly finds herself purring slightly at his touch, before she softly asks aloud, "Thenyou won't do that again? Thatthing."

He hums, "Ignoring a part of me, won't make it any better, Koneko-chan." he responds easily, "Rather, I'm going to master that power. Make it mine, so that the next time I need it, I'll be in control, not my violent half." He states with conviction.

She blinks, rocking back and forth, forcibly biting down a nasty retort.

She saw him fight that dragon. He was far stronger, far faster, far more deadly than when he was in their spars.

If it's him, thenmaybe he could do it?

"I like this senpai," she states aloud, without even really thinking, "he'sa bit of a dumbass, maybe. But he's still kind, he cares when it matters. I" She eyes him, pleadingly, "don't want that senpai to go away!" she declares, face positively on fire.

And yet, he gives her that same stupidly warm and reassuring smile. "I'll be fine, I got people here, far stronger than me, to knock some sense into me if it comes down to it. I promise." Then he leans forwards and kisses her forehead. "Alright?"

She just stares at him, mouth slightly agape, eyes slightly wide.

Koneko has stopped working.

She stopped working so hard that the transformation magic she used to hold back her yokai features broke.

Her ears and tails suddenly fluttered into existence, causing Noriaki to look at them in wide-eyed surprise.

Which, unfortunately for her, quickly turned into awe.

"Aww!" He exclaimed, snapping her out of her shock, but far too late, as he was already petting her ears, gently and soothingly. "So, cute!"

She purrs, beside herself, trying very hard not to - "Nyyannnn~..."

Damnit!

There's only one way to escape this!

She punches him, as hard as she can, briefly instinctively causing an amber mist to flow around her as she does so.

Her fist collides right into his unguarded side, right into his kidney with a crack in the air.

She blinks, eyes widening into saucers as she realizes she just used ki.

Slowly, fearfully looking up, she saw Noriaki locked ramrod still, his eyes whited out, face pale, his entire body quivering slightly.

Blood slowly trickles down from his mouth.

Before she can say anything, he suddenly grabs her shoulders and holds her quivering body in place as she looks down at her with a nigh proud gleeful smile.

"Good hit, kitten!" He praises, blood still slowly trickling out of his nose.

She found any fear she had quickly vanished, as she looked right back at him blandly.

"Senpai." She began, blandly, "I just punctured your kidney. That's not good." She emphasized just as blandly, somehow.

He snorts at that, "I ain't no pussy, I can take a hit and heal."

She blanches at that, and eyes him incredulously, "I take it all back, senpai. You're purely a dumbass, go die for all I care."

Despite her tirade against him, all he does is continue smiling, "My point is, Koneko-chan, let's say you want someone who can take a hit from you because you're trying to sayI dunno," he hums, "practice a little something," her eyes rapidly widen, and he smiles knowingly, "just know, I'll be right here!"

She stares at him as her tail slowly starts swishing back and forth rapidly.

With a huff, she looks away once more, face completely flushed, "You really are just an idiot"

He chuckles, undeterred, "And you're just a cute little tsundere, aren't you?" He responds right back.

Her tail twitches.

She's heard her President call her that before. What the hell does that mean?

Regardless, she punches him again, just for safe measure.

And his chuckling doesn't stop, only sputters, as he falls onto the couch on his side, dragging her down with him as he still holds onto her.

"S-Senpai!?" She exclaims as they go down, and she promptly finds herself being cuddled.

"So!" He voiced, ignoring her cries, instead favoring to pet her ears as he moved on, "It's been a little bit since we talked, hasn't it? What's been going on at your guy's end while I've been taking a power nap?" He asks.

Ah, so he's been out this whole time?

Lucky. Even if it's just been really boring for her.

Still, this conversation sounds much better to have thaneverything else so far.

Even if she is being cuddled as it happens.

She shuffles slightly closer just before she replies.

"Well"

~ A New Sun ~

Hours later, I'm once again lying on the couch by myself.

Koneko, after being sufficiently cuddled and telling me how boring it's been since the battle, having left not too long ago.

Of course, not before I told her about what I found in the Church, so she could relay that to Sirzechs and Serafall, who would hopefully relay that to my mother.

Then they can both suplex the Grigori while I point and laugh.

I was thinking about just telling my mother directly, like, walking out into the sun and sending a prayer directly to her

But eh. Don't feel like it. Not even sure that method would work.

Besides, I'm still slightly buzzed, from just a sip!

Still can't get over that.

At least I can kind of cheat by cycling my ki, Holy Spirit Power, and

I narrow my eyes in thought.

Could I really call my chakra, chakra?

I mean, it acts and works like the Naruto World's Chakra, but I'm seeing a theme with my powers so far.

That being, they seem in some way connected to the world and aren't just there for no reason.

On the one hand, I'm glad because I don't have to make up some bullshit about why I have select powers.

On the other hand? Makes me feel significantly less special.

Regardless of all that, what could my chakra be then?

Hmmthat's some food for thought, isn't it?

With a huff, I hop off the couch onto my feet and take a second to stretch out the kinks cuddling always leaves in your body after.

Uzume still isn't back yet, nor is Kuroka, and although I'd have loved it if Koneko stuck around so we could fight, she had to head back.

My bet is partly because she legitimately had to go, and partly because she just caught feelings and is trying to process them.

Sucks too, because I don't plan on holding anything back during our spars anymore.

I don't think I'll give her 'chakra' just yet, but I do want to try teaching her Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist.

For a Rook, that style would be kind of stupidly broken, wouldn't it?

Beyond that, I also want to push her more and more into getting stronger, so she can body Kokopuffs if he ever does show up.

Hmm. One Punch Kat?

I hum and nod to myself, liking the idea of that.

Ah, and another thing she mentioned before leaving!

Apparently, Rias wants to have a chat with me sometime.

it's totally because of my eyes, isn't it?

I'm not giving her anything, even if she's an adorable little weeb who's begging for it!

I ain't no bargain sale!

With a huff, I walked back upstairs to my bedroom, where Inari left my sword sitting there waiting for me.

How about, while I wait for everyone to get back, I do some training, yeah?

See if I can't figure out Mist and Flower Breathing and add those to my repertoire.

So, with a happy little hum, I do just that. Grabbing my sword, and within minutes of light walking, I'm out the door once more.

By the time me and Koneko's chat got over with and she had to leave, the sun had passed over the midpoint, and it was now smack dab in the middle of the evening.

I click my tongue in annoyance.

I should have made Koneko lunch or something, that'd have made her stay longer!

Bemoaning that missed opportunity, and vowing to do just that next time I summon her, I continue walking

I stop, as the barrier around my estate suddenly cracks with a loud thunderous creak.

Slowly, I raise my eyes to the sky, seeing it bathed in spider web cracks.

I narrow my eyes slightly with a half-lidded glare, as a thunderous clap rings out once more and the barrier promptly shatters.

Guess who slowly floats down from the rapidly growing hole of the barrier?

He's not even wearing his armor, he purely just has his wings out.

Messy anime white hair whips in the wind, as the chunni half devil's blue eyes look down upon me, and he smirks with poorly constrained glee.

"There you a"

"You're paying for the replacement barrier." I interrupt casually.

"Ihuh?" He stammers, tilting his head like an idiot.

"You heard me, dumbass." I reiterate. "I said you're paying for the replacement barrier."

"That's" He frowns, trailing off in sheer confusion.

"Also!" I call out, adding, "Talking isn't a free action."

He blinks at that, "Huh?"

And I'm upon him.

My Mark, my eyes, my touki, my everything is activated at once, and I'm upon him.

Crimson fire erupts around my blade like a volcano as I slash down upon him, the crimson wave slamming down upon him and carrying him away.

Away from my home, and into the plains and forest around it, straight into the ground where he belongs.

I eye my blade quizzically, seeing it flicker with a holy aura, carrying the spark of another power I can't quite describe.

I blink as my phone vibrates in my robe.

Pulling it out, I see a message from my dear black kitty.

Tiddy Kitty: You may wanna stay low for a while, someone's looking for you, nya~! And it won't be pretty if they find you!

I stare at my screen, slowly shifting my gaze to look at the smoking flaming crater outside my estate.

Then I snap a picture and send it to her.

Chapter 14

I hum, an easy smile on my face as I put my phone back away.

Completely ignoring the way it buzzed constantly at the surge of messages I got in response to the photo I sent her.

Now then.

How do I want to deal with this?

The smoking crater I snapped a photo of earlier suddenly erupts with a bright blue aura, a figure rising from the pillar of power right back into the sky.

As soon as the pillar vanishes, Vali reveals himself in full again, this time with a positively manic smirk plastered across his face.

The sheer glee on his face is contrasted fairly well by the bloody gash he's got a hand on across his torso.

I blink at him.

Dodo I make that same expression?

While looking like that?

You know, maybe Koneko is right.

Perhaps battle lust is a type of perversion?

Suddenly, Vali speaks up, "That sword of yours stings quite a bit" He grins harder, "I certainly wasn't expecting it to possess a Dragon Slayer effect, though. Didn't look like it was doing much to the Red Dragon Emperor before" He trails off, excited.

Dragon Slayer effect?

I look at my blade and tighten my grip harder, sending my power into it like I usually do.

This time, instead of filling an empty vessel, my power slides in alongside something else.

I draw both to the surface.

And watch, as that same Holy Aura flickers around the blade once more, mingling with my power seamlessly.

That same power I never felt before hums off it, albeit, dully.

That's what that is then?

I huff, "Trust me, this is news to me just as much as it is for you," I state dully, "that fight would have been so much easier if I had Dragon Slayer Magic or similar."

How did this happen? I knew my sword was empty, it lacked powers of its own when I first took it up, I felt that.

So thendid it gain a dragon slayer attribute when I finished off the dragon?

I can see the logic, maybe, but not the mechanics of how that works!

Unfortunately, I don't get much time to ruminate on the how, as Vali lets out a loud reverberating chuckle.

Then raises his hand to the side, and clads it in Demonic Power.

I tense, but stop dead and just stare as I watch his power spark and burst into a roaring flame.

Which he promptly slams into his torso.

With a smirk, the man doesn't even flinch as he cauterizes the gash across his body, staring me dead in the eyes all the while.

Which, if he was a girl, I'd absolutely take for 'fuck me' eyes.

After the fire dissipates, and the only thing left is the smell of smoke and burning flesh in the air, Vali finally responds verbally.

"Then it looks like coming out here will be worth it after all," He notes, pleased, "I left Grigori early for this, you know? You really should be grateful."

My brain takes a half second to process that, but really, I'm not even surprised.

"Ah, right," I idly began, "Kuroka told me about your group. She said you formed your team behind the Grigori's back. Why drop that cover now?"

He smiles knowingly at me, "It was fun and all, but Grigori is kind of a sinking ship. When I left?" He grimaced, "Well, let's just say things weren't going so great, and leave it at that." He waves it off.

I guess Vali has no reason to stick around for the Peace Conference, huh?

If that even happens here.

You know, I can't help but wonder whether Vali officially leaving the Grigori and turning traitor was a calculated move from Azazel or something Vali did by himself.

Judging by the way he needed to be adopted by Odin later to not be prosecuted to hell and back as a terrorist, I assume the latter.

Which kind of pisses me off, actually.

I frown right back at him.

AzazelI think he was a shit leader. He'd rather have Grigori die than lead it.

Which to be fair? He's probably going to be getting his wish soon.

But! He still took in the white-haired battle manic before me and raised him basically like an adopted son.

And this brat fucking betrayed him.

My only hope left is that here? He left Grigori when he decided to come fight me so Azazel could claim that he had nothing to do with Vali showing up here to the Shinto.

Not like it'd save Azazel's ass, but I guess it's the thought counts.

I click my tongue and return to a more neutral look, staring at him blankly.

How could I forget?

He's also a stupid battle manic teenager with a grudge and lifelong goal of killing his Super Devil abuser grandfather.

It doesn't change anything, but I can see why he'd do it all, at least.

"Well, you're here," I hold my arms out to either side, "I gave you my welcoming gift for breaking into my property, what now?"

He smirks at me.

I smirk right back.

We both already know the answer.

I could have killed him right there, at the start.

If I had channeled light, instead of fire, I could have cleaved him in half.

But I didn't.

Do you know why?

I, too, wanted this fight!

Vali moves first, posing as he calls, "Balance, Break!" causing his divine-given wings to sparkle and erupt with blue and white power.

At once, the jewels ingrained upon the wings' spine announce

[Vanishing Dragon Balance Breaker!]

Brilliant white draconic metal shines into existence around him, forming across his body like a second skin.

Besides?

I breathe, my blade sparkling with white light as I get into a stance mid-air.

An actual fight will always be far better than most training.

Especially since I don't believe he intends to kill me.

"Try to keep up," Vali says casually and clearly, despite the full body armor, "I'd like for this to last at least a little bit, you know?"

I can almost feel the condescending smirk this guy is sending my way.

I'm going to punch it off him real soon.

"Try not to become mince meat too fast," I reply in kind, smirking all the while, "I know you Devils have a thing for keeling over in the light and divine, but don't worry!"

My smirk widens.

"I'll go easy on you."

I didn't even need to see his face, I could feel the eyebrow twitching there, as he just stared at me.

My smirk turns into a full-on grin.

Then he charges.

A blurry line of white and blue light surges towards me like a bullet train.

Even with my eyes, he's fast. Incredibly so.

I barely have time to raise my blade and block a fist aimed straight at my nose.

The sheer force behind his attack sends me flying away from my estate, my arms rattling and teeth clenched tightly as I endure.

He's stronger than Issei was.

That thought flashes through my mind, as suddenly he's upon me again.

Hinokami Kagura

His hand was already raised, a ball of aura flaring into existence from his palm.

Fake Rainbow.

I twist and fling myself aside, an afterimage barely taking my place before it's deleted in a blinding flash of Demonic Power.

Pushing my body and speed, I flash rapidly all around him, several dozen afterimages appearing all around him.

Vali laughs.

"You call that speed? Well, watch this!" He intones before he flashes to the side.

Clad in a brilliant light, he ping pongs between my afterimages, punching one out before flashing to another.

It doesn't take me long to realize he's taking them out far faster than I can create them.

This air battle? Not working for me.

I need the ground. I need to be able to put my body, my legs, into my speed!

My blade dims, before igniting into swirling flames.

My afterimages dim and disperse themselves, and almost as soon as they do, Vali rushes towards me.

But my blade is already swinging.

Raging Storm Sun Tree.

Several times, in fact, with the combination of Clean Storm Wind Tree and Raging Sun.

But these slashes around me aren't meant to protect me, no, they're meant to obscure me.

Fire lashes and spirals out in every which way, and Vali charges bullheaded straight through it.

He punches a hole straight through the center with his sheer speed alone, causing the flames to burst out in all directions.

Only to slam to a halt as he hits nothing but air on the other side, and looks around in confusion.

Meanwhile, my feet land softly on the ground, obscured by the now flaming trees.

I breathe in, knead chakra in my stomach, and spit out flames.

The flaming trees are soon joined by a massive fireball, rising from the tree line and soaring straight into Vali's back like a comet, hitting his armored figure with a blazing explosion.

When the flames clear, Vali floats there, body slightly turned and head pointedly looking towards me.

I can almost feel the smirk on his face, as I see the demonic magic circle spiral slowly at his block, completely negating my attack.

I click my tongue and flip him the bird.

He snorts derisively before exploding into a line of light, heading straight towards me.

Just as he approaches, I twist and backflip back, avoiding a crushing haymaker that slams and craters the ground like a meteor impact.

My blade booms with my light, flaring and mixing with its new aura and power, as I swing mid-flip.

Setting Sun Transformation.

Vali's wing moves to guard his neck just in time, I hear him tick lightly as the metal of the wing gives slightly under the blade, bending and creaking softly.

But not quite cut.

Damn.

His fist is suddenly far too close to my chin.

At that moment, I recall something that Kuroka told me way back when we first met.

Something about my Holy Spirit Power almost constantly radiated out around me, almost like a shrine?

Now, what kind of being am I fighting again? Who just so happens to get weaker when exposed to divine power?

I grin savagely.

Vali's instincts likely feel what's coming, if my face didn't already give it away, but it's far too late.

I let the chest containing my sun open.

And almost as soon as I do, my Holy Spirit Power explodes out in a tidal wave, washing over Vali like a surfer in the ocean.

He flinches and gasps, and at that moment, his punch goes slower, tilts slightly of course.

I move, pulling my blade back off his wing, and spinning into a horizontal slash that bats his fist away completely.

As soon as I land, I hold out my hand, and focus, commanding my wild radiating aura to focus purely on him.

Vali snarls, his light blue Demonic Power boiling and flickering to the surface around his body in an attempt to disperse the golden divine power that concentrates around him and solidifies, bathing the area in brilliant golden light.

I breathe in, kneading my chakra once more, and spit it back out as a concentrated bloom of crimson hot flames!

With glee, I watch as he attempts to throw out another demonic barrier, only for my flames to crash into and through it like playdough, hitting him spot-on with a firework like explosion.

I follow in soon behind, knowing the risks, but realizing if I don't keep the pressure on, he'll pull something out to turn the tides.

See, the only reason I haven't completely folded in this fight yet is because of my nature, and the fact that he hasn't landed a solid hit on my body yet.

And that first one only matters because the second one is true.

As soon as he can Divide my power, I may as well throw in the towel.

But, If I can weaken him first, with a combination of my divine power, light, and new Dragon Slayer blade, then maybejust maybe, I could eke out a win here.

If I could combine my light and fire like berserker me did, then my chances would soar, but I don't know how to do that.

And the last time I tried something new like that in the middle of a fight, berserker me happened.

So let's not do that again, yeah?

I coat my blade with light as I enter the fray once more, mixing it with the meager dragon slaying power of my blade.

"Let's see how good your endurance is, White Dragon Emperor!" I barked out jubilantly.

And then I started to dance.

Thirteenth Form.

Technically, I have others of course, but keep it simple for now stupid!

It goes like this.

Dance, into Clear Blue Sky, into Raging Sun, and so on.

Keep going, keep battering him down with light imbued dragon slaying sword slashes.

If there is one person that can take it, it's Vali, the fucker that got chewed up and swallowed by Fenrir and lived.

My vertical slash is dodged, barely clipping his chest armor.

When I leap above him, his wings block another spinning slash.

He meets my sword head-on, punching back two more slashes, meeting them blow for blow, the armor across his fists cracking slightly and smoking.

Stepping back, he thrusts out both hands, his Demonic Power boiling and bursting forth in a flash.

I suspect he's trying to push me off him and give himself some breathing space.

It doesn't work.

With a circular slash, my light-infused blade cuts through his demonic power and disperses it.

I step into his guard once more with a flash of movement, backflip over the surprised jab he sent out in response, and aim straight for his head in another sweeping slash.

He ducks underneath it, his wings lash out to try and sweep me to the side.

My eyes glimmer as I see an opportunity.

If I could cut off his wings, would he be able to use Divide anymore?

He certainly wouldn't be able to vent excess power, at the very least.

My halos flash into existence behind me, as I dodge his sweeping wing by flinging myself high upwards.

Only to fall straight back down at such speeds I come in shrouded by a heat haze.

Vali guards his face as I swing down, seemingly, I miss.

"Hmm?" Vali starts, confused, seeing my blade embedded into the ground beside him, "Did...did you seriously-" Only to gasp as his weight shifts slightly.

His left wing is bent so badly out of shape, it's hanging there, splintered and broken and nearly fallen off, having been the true target of my attack.

I spiral back into the air before he can even think to react, slashing upwards, completely cleaving the wing off with that motion.

Vali blanches at that, his body going ramrod still as he staggers from the sudden weight shift.

He only barely manages to dodge my next form, a stab aimed down at his chest, which instead embeds itself into the ground.

"You!" Vali tries to get out, but I keep coming back.

The ground shatters behind me as I move back into his guard, pushing and straining my body as I unleash a flurry of consecutive slashes at him.

Each hammering blow is endured by his gauntlets, left splintered and smoked as I leap over his guard and deliver a wheel-shaped slash into his right shoulder unimpeded, cleaving into it as I pass over.

He grunts in exacerbated pain, whirling around to face my new position, he shouts out, "That's! Enough!"

He throws out both arms, several demonic spell circles manifesting to fire off bullets straight for me.

Too many, can't cleave them all at once.

I move, vanishing in a blur of gold, afterimages appearing by the dozens all around him.

He moves his circles, attacking in as many directions as he can.

I focus, pushing my Holy Spirit Power upon his shoulders as hard as I possibly can, watching as he stills and flinches, and his Demonic Power sputters at the holy invasion.

And once more I'm in his guard.

And the Dance is complete.

Two slashes, one vertical, one horizontal, right to his chest, to complement the first attack I gave him.

The light and holy cleaves through his armor like butter, drawing gouts of blood, and sending him reeling back with a loud gasp.

His Demonic Power fades completely after that, and he grabs his chest as his helmet unfolds.

He stands there, half bent over, smirking at me.

"Well," he starts, amused, "I guess the video wasn't doctored, huh?"

I breathe out and simply deadpan at him.

Is this what it feels like

"You know, I'm almost insulted," I state back, "did you come here to fight, or be my test dummy for attacks?"

He chuckles, "No, noI just figured, training my resistance against holy, light, and dragon slaying powers would be a good idea." His eyes glimmer, "I figure, I might as well get something out of this, you know?"

what it feels like to be used for training.

Well. What goes around comes around, I suppose.

"Still, though," he continues, unabated, "you only figured out your heritage about a month or two ago, no? I was expecting a much worse showing, but you're pretty good for a rookie."

My gaze sharpens, "How did you find that out." I demand.

He laughs right back in my face, and levels an easy smirk at me, "How do you think?"

I snarl and go to say something more with my sword, but he waves me off.

"Don't worry, don't worrydidn't hurt your cat, or anything," he says, bemused, "I just so happened to be in the vicinity of some girl talk between her, and another member of my team."

He grimaces before finishing, "Let's just say I didn't much care for most of it, just the bit about you specifically. After watching the video online, I put two and two together, and knew where to find you."

Damnit kitty. What are you flaying Le Fay with?

Probably sexual stuff. It's always sexual stuff with her.

I click my tongue, before huffing out, "Somehow, I'm not even surprised."

And for that one blissful moment, me and Vali looked at each other and seemed to come to some sort of understanding.

But that's beside the point right now.

I break this moment, but I simply asking the very obvious.

"You gonna stop holding back now?"

Vali blinks at that, then smiles.

"If you think you can handle it."

I'm about to get every single bone in my body broken, aren't I?

I meet his gaze with a smile of my own.

"Test me."

Vali grinned.

And his aura exploded.

His armor rapidly repairs itself in bubbling light, and even his wing reforms with such speed you wouldn't even know it was cut off before.

His Demonic Power roars forth with the power of his Sacred Gear, and my Holy Spirit Power gets crushed under its rampaging chaotic wake.

I still as cold dread shoots up my spine, and I rapidly pull back every ounce of power into my body.

I dredge up every bit of energy I possess, and strain it within my body to beat back the tide of pressure I feel rolling off the half-devil before me.

Even with my meager Senjutsu aura sensing, I can feel it.

His power, right now, is stronger than Issei's was in his Juggernaut Drive.

And beyond that, unlike the animalistic wild drive that fueled Juggernaut Drive, I'm facing something far worse.

Controlled power, backed by a sentient mind, a mind acclaimed for being a combat genius.

I'm fucked, aren't I?

That thought couldn't be proved right sooner, then when his fist suddenly appeared, buried into my chest, a trail of light blasting out behind.

I couldn't see him move.

And suddenly, I'm sent flying.

My touki snapped like a twig, my ribs shattered like china, and I'm left sprawling through the air, not even sure what the fuck is going on.

I hear his voice resound right next to me, just slightly below, "I noticed you're much stronger on the ground than in the air," he remarks casually, "It's because you're focused on your physical body more, right? You can kick off with your legs on the ground, and put more force behind your attacks then."

I lash out with a wild slash in the direction of his voice as my body repairs itself.

Suddenly, his voice is on the other side.

"Here, allow me to help you with that little problem."

The air cracks like thunder as his foot impacts my stomach, and I'm flung like a ragdoll straight into the sky.

Thank fuck there aren't any bones to break there, just, organs.

My entire body is buzzing, and I can't stop being thankful that I don't experience true pain, or else my body may have given up from the shock of it.

But I won't have that.

His voice echoes from above, "Here we go," the air cracks again as my momentum is halted, an armored grip around my face, "enjoying the view?"

Slowly looking around with my eyes I alone, I see clouds.

He kicked me to fucking cloud level.

I can almost feel the amused smirk being radiated at me from beneath his helmet.

"Don't give out on me now, alright? You've still got one last thing to see!" He adds on, as his wings perk up and radiate.

[Divide!]

Weakness assaults me.

It felt like my power, the quality of my very being, just got violently cut in half.

I gasp through gritted teeth, and raise my blade once more, imbuing it with light.

[Divide!] [Divide!] [Divide!]

My unpowered blade smacks against his neck and rebounds off it dully.

Fuuucck

"Hmm," Vali hums, "this should put you ataround Low Class, on the Devil scale, I believe?" He gets slightly closer, looking straight at my face, "Well, look at that. Are you still conscious? Color me further impressed!" He states, seemingly legitimately ecstatic.

Barely.

I'm justbarely

Whatwhat did I tell Koneko I was going to practice again?

"You know," the Chuuni Dragon Emperor begins to monologue, "I originally came here because I needed a new rival, and since you sort of killed my destined one, maybe you could fill in that role."

Ah, right.

"I wasn't expecting much, to be honest." He continues, "That videowell, I wasn't overly impressed, you mostly danced around the whole time, and didn't fight. Not until the end." He spits out

I grit my teeth.

"Thefuck you say?" I weakly mutter back, "You got a problem with dance, Chuuni Dragon?"

He flinches, but only snickers as he grasps my face tighter.

"Someone's got a mouth still, huh?"

I snort.

"Someone does stupid poses when they transform, huh?" I spit right back, "You should join my Magical Girl Club at school, you'd fit right in!"

He twitches at that, and tilts his head slightly, "MagicalGirl Club?" He repeats back at me, floored.

I grin and take this moment to flip my inner floodgates open, just like before.

It's evening now, compared to early morning when I last tried this, It means I should be strongerbut grow weaker as time goes on.

The incoming tsunami wave of Holy Spirit Power slams into my body, roiling through like a violent current.

My mind barely holds on, I force it to hold on.

"Yeah, yeah" I hum out, slowly, a molten honey aura bubbles around my body, and I can feel it once he finally looks at me, the moment his eyes widen.

In both shock and excitement.

"R-Really, it's a fun t-timeyou should come see it-" My voice shifts rapidly before it finally breaks and I growl out instead, grabbing the arm that holds my body aloft.

My mind, rather than be carried along like before, is assaulted by a tidal wave of emotions and thoughts so foreign and wrong it makes me want to vomit.

How dare he enter my home, this half-devil spawn holding a wild animal in his wings!

How dare he-

Hnnghhh! No! Come on!

Stop it!

Let me free!

Vali, of course, helps in his way.

By throwing me up, slightly.

And punching me straight in the jaw.

My mind wavers, white noise fills my ears

And golden, wrathful light, fills my vision.

My arms become clad with a bright molten aura, and I move as if possessed, slamming both fists right atop Vali's face.

The air roars as heat and wind billow out, Vali stares at me dumbly with a sunburnt face, as he rockets downward, his helmet blown off, and shoulder pouldrons halfway melted.

I snarl, before I move, to return his earlier favor.

Appearing just above the ground, I catch his flying body by the throat and stare dead into his eyes.

"Apologize to me," I command, "for being born into my world."

The creature before me blinks, then smirks, as his armor reforms quickly with a flash.

He responds rather simply. Rather cockily, for a half-breed parasite.

"Make me."

And so I shall.

~ A New Sun ~

Kuroka appeared, stepping from her magic circle in a hurry, into a forest of desolation.

Charred nature, as far as she could sense, see, and smell, stretched out around her.

The culprits?

The two dumbasses wailing at each other in the sky.

Noriaki snarls, taking a punch straight to his jaw that sends him spiraling back.

He rights himself quickly, and holds up his hand, an orb of spiraling golden flames forming above his palm, bathing the dimming evening sky in new golden light.

"Last Sun." He intones viciously, before throwing the miniature sun at her team's founder.

Who merely holds out his hand.

[Divide!][Divide!][Divide!][Divide!]

And divides the star into non-existence.

Noriaki grits his teeth, a ferocious grin spilling out onto his face as he charges straight back into the fight.

Vali laughs boisterously, shouting to the heavens as he meets Noriaki blow for thunderous blow, their fist cracking the sky like thunder as they meet, "Yes! Yes! This is more like it! This is what I wanted to see! Come! COME!"

Kuroka just rolled her eyes, then stared deadpanning at the two.

Boys.

What was she worried about again? If Vali wanted to kill her Noriaki, he could have just utilized Juggernaut Drive right off the bat and overpowered him quickly.

But she eyes Noriaki in specific.

Even in that state of his.

Whatever that is exactly.

She was showing Le Fay the video of him fighting earlier while giving commentary about things that most definitely mattered.

Like how it was essential his boxers didn't get blown off during the fight, or else the resulting encumbrance would have made him lose outright.

Watching Le Fay squirm and bluster at all her little comments was most definitely worth it.

The scolding she's gonna get from Arthur later once he finds out about all that? Maybe not so much.

The fucking she's going to get after this fight for accidentally revealing Nori's location?

Okay, she's very much looking forward to that.

She shouldprobably make sure they have a house to fuck in, first though.

Noriaki suddenly raised his sword, a cyclone of golden fire whirling out from the blade as he slashed thrice.

Vali dodged between two, letting them slam into the ground beneath him and cleave open small molten ravines upon the Earth's surface, before blasting through the third to deliver a haymaker straight to his face.

To his credit, Noriaki tanked it with barely a flinch, grabbed Vali by his shoulder pauldrons, and breathed a stream of crimson flame straight into his face.

Vali tried to shield his face, but Noriaki just pressed harder, the flames intensifying and sparking with light before bursting golden.

Following swiftly after, Vali lashed out, grabbing Noriaki's face and forcing him to aim upwards into the sky.

Even from here, Kuroka winced, seeing Vali's gauntlets just gone, with his upper arms scorched to hell and back.

When Vali suddenly lurched forward, grappling Noriaki tightly, before shooting downwards in a stream of light, Kuroka decided now was the time to get out of dodge.

Casting a Youjutsu spell to make herself invisible, using Senjutsu so the boys couldn't detect her, and with a small simple application of that new power Noriaki gave her, she's off!

Nori was still trying to breathe fire on him, even as he was being dragged and slammed into the ground.

The heat wave that accompanied the small rumble as they struck the ground told her as much.

Even if she wasn't using Information Magic to keep watch of their fight from afar.

Just in case.

Luckily, the two seemed to have pushed their brawl away from the house, so that was still in one piece.

However, without the barrier around it, that could change.

So, Kuroka worked on setting up a rather rudimentary barrier around the house as she watched the fight like one would watch an anime episode.

Except, unlike in anime, where several episodes take up some five to ten minutes in an in-universe fight?

This fight lasts for hours.

And in some respects, it's painful to watch.

It's clear that whatever state Noriaki's in runs of the height of the sun.

As it fell, he got progressively weaker and weaker.

After a couple of hours, punches that would annihilate Vali's armor in one to two hits took double the amount of blows.

Another hour or so later? He couldn't even produce his golden flames anymore, and his normal crimson fire simply wasn't doing enough quick enough.

He ended up switching to pure light once more, and that brought greater results.

For a little under an hour, because that's when night finally truly began, and well

As much as Kuroka would love to root for Noriaki here, It just isn't happening today.

Because she knows for a fact these two are going to go at it again sometime.

Hopefully, later rather than sooner.

By the time she got back, you couldn't even tell there was a forest there anymore, just scorched and molten plains.

And in the center of it all? A massive smoking crater, where a white armored figure stood over a robed one, foot firmly pressed down against his chest.

Shockingly enough, though, only Vali was heaving, with Noriaki wiggling underneath the armored boot trying to get out.

"You" Vali gulped air, "are one persistent bastard, aren't you?"

"And your entire existence, is bullshit!" Noriaki groaned out, swinging his sword at Vali's leg, only for it to ping off it uselessly, "How are you so damn tough, huh? You're half devil, you should be keeling over foaming at the mouth from light poisoning!"

Vali chuckled breathlessly, "I'm just that good. And you've still got a long way to go."

"Ah!" Nori snaps his fingers, his eyes widening rapidly in realization, "I got it! I need to be more Chuuni! Then the world will favor me more so I can pull off more ridiculous bullshit."

Kuroka had to hold back a laugh to not reveal herself so soon, it only got harder once Vali visibly twitched at that.

"See, I already got a catchphrase, now I just need to pose!" Nori exclaimed as if he was learning the truth of the world, "So, right before I go into Ara-Mitama next time, I'll do a JoJo pose! Tell me, Chuuni Dragon Emperor lay upon me your wisdom! What should my ultimate attack be call-ACK!"

Vali suddenly pressed his boot down harder, really grinding it into his chest.

"Would you pleasejust shut the fuck up?" Vali groaned out.

"B-But, But!" Nori heaved out, yet grinning, "I need that master's advice! Clearly, I am in the presence of the one true Chuuni! There can be no greater advice!"

Vali deadpanned at the desolate plains around them, then looked straight back down at Nori, and simply stated.

"These past few lines of conversation have done more damage to me than you did during the whole of our fight."

"ACK!?" Nori flinched as if punched in the nose, sputtering indignantly as Vali just smirked down at him.

Alright, this is cute and all, but

Kuroka dropped her visibility and sensing protection, suddenly appearing as if from thin air.

"Alright, alright, nya~!" She starts, walking up to the two who perk up and look at her.

Well, Vali does, Nori barely lifts his head to glimpse at her.

"Haven't you two had enough fun, keep going any further, and you might attractunwanted attention, nya~!" Kuroka reminded them.

Both boys grimaced at that, or at least Nori did. After all, they are right next to Kuoh.

The only reason she suspects that the Devils and Shinto haven't rushed out to see what is going on right outside is because the talks are going on right now.

Probably why Vali chose this time to do this, so they wouldn't be interrupted.

Vali sighs and removes his foot from Nori's chest, prompting a groan of relief from the half-buried demigod.

"If she's here, I guess I should probably go," she could feel Vali cringe as he continued, prompting her to smirk, "I don't wanna be around to hear what you two get up toespecially if even half of what she says is true."

Nori looks at her, narrowing his eyes, "The fuck you tell your little team?"

She wiggles her finger at him, and winks, "Only the truth, nya~!"

Nori groans, and Vali's armor drops, revealing a sympathetic look on his face aimed at the guy he just punched into a crater.

Oi! She's not that bad!

"One more thing," Vali adds on, looking at Nori, "my team is open to you if you wanna join. You're pretty tough yourself, and given time, I can tell you're only going to get better."

Kuroka blinks.

Noriaki blinks and widens his eyes into saucers as he fully registers what he just heard.

"I'll" Nori begins, hesitantly, "I'll think about it, alright? Wanna see where everything lands in the world first."

Vali nods, "That's fine."

He then promptly turns and starts walking away.

Before suddenly stopping, turning his head back to them slightly.

"You better be stronger for next time," he adds ominously, "I want to show you what a real Juggernaut Drive looks like."

And with that, his demonic magic circle bursts into existence beneath him and flashes him away.

The silence that promise left behind is suddenly filled, by Nori snorting.

"Really? Couldn't even say goodbye properly? The hell man! Chuuni ass- OOF!" He grunts, cut off, as a new weight falls upon him.

This time, something she knows is far more welcome.

She straddled his lap, with her hands resting daintily upon his chest, smirking down upon him.

"Ah," He looks up at her, smiling warmly, "hi kitty" He reaches up, stroking her face gently.

"Nori-kun~?" She begins with a small purr, "You okay?"

He blinks at that, "Well, yeah, I can heal, remember?"

"No no no, not like that," she refutes, "I mean after getting your ass beaten so thoroughly, nya~?"

He deadpans at her promptly. "Yes, I am in fact not a sore loser and can take an L, kitty." Then, he smacks her straight on the ass.

She can't even get a mewl out before he suddenly wraps his arms around her, and pulls her down completely into a hug.

"Cleanups gonna suck, ain't it?" He suddenly continues, "Especially since I'd rather we get it done fast."

Kuroka hummed and purred against him, before asking in a quiet daze, "Why is that, Nori-kun~?"

He pats her on the back, before slowly sitting up with her.

"Why, because my sexy little kitty~!" He grins, "We're moving to Kyoto!"

Interlude 3

The Inner Shrine of Naiku, housed within the Shrine Complex of the Ise Grand Shrine is dead silent.

Not in worship for the one Kami who's housed here, unfortunately, but rather in sober and silent thought.

Within this shrine, a round cypress wood table has been erected. Six chairs fit on either side with only one side currently being occupied, although, by how the chairs have all been justled about, it's clear then they were in use rather recently.

On one end, the figure of a woman sits alone, staring at the ceiling absent-mindedly.

She seemed rather bored, a far-away look clear in her violet eyes, as her long pink locks flowed down from her head and swept the ground gently.

"You know, Ama-chan," the woman breaks the silence suddenly, "if this is what you have to deal with every day in Takamaghara, I can see why you gave the Earth to your grandchildren."

A voice, feminine and soft whilst sounding absolutely done permeates the inner shrine, barely above a muttering whisper.

"I knoware you counting, Inari-san?"

She nods, "This is the third recess the Devils have called so far," she muses, "think they'll come back with something different this time? This time did seem more urgent than the last."

The voice snorted, sounding almost like cracking wood, "I doubt it," Amaterasu muses back, "It's been the same thing, over and overwe didn't know anything, we didn't do anythingthey have no one to blame it on, so all they can do is claim ignorance."

It was Inari's turn to snort.

Truly, Inari didn't want to deal with Satan's Leviathan and Lucifer back then, because she knew she'd have to deal with them now.

After all, the Shinto need to present a united front right now, and she's the closest to a leader or at the very least a representative for the Earthly Kami.

Amaterasu is of course 'here' for the Heavenly Kami.

But they are missing one, the King of Yomi was supposed to show a while ago, but he hasn't quite yet.

Granted, it's not like they need him here.

Susanoo-no-Mikoto does have a reputation, after all.

Still, he was supposed to be here to confirm the number of the deceased, really press the severity of the situation down upon the Devils, and force them to agree to someterms.

But, it's not like they were the only ones missing some of their number.

Inari hummed, before adding, "Think they are finally going to drag the Grigori and Heaven into this?"

Save for the uneasy creaking of the wood composing the Shrine, she didn't get a direct verbal response.

It's strange.

Heaven has seemingly denied the Devil's call for help at all.

While the Grigori don't seem to be picking up the phone in the first place.

It's very strange.

Standard Three Faction modus operandi dictates that in big situations like this, the three usually band together to press-gang the opposition down and get what they want.

Inari, personally, thinks it's hilarious.

Because they've been leaving the Leviathan out to dry, as she sits across from them and argues around and around in circles.

The Earthly Kami can see the poor Satan getting desperate, and rather annoyed, at the whole thing.

After all, it's not like the Devils can claim that they, the Shinto, were at fault.

Noriaki's reveal to the world, showing him as the first responder, while Inari herself covertly focuses on luring people away from the area and trying to save those caught in the blast, sealed that option from them.

It was especially impressive, considering the world sees them as fairly isolationist.

On the flip side, however, the Shinto themselves cannot lay the blame solely upon the Devils either.

For one, the video also showed the sisters of the Satans attempting to help out and beyond that, trying to pin the blame on them and calling them incompetent directly goes against the edict Amaterasu laid at the Devil's feet all those years ago.

The Devils aren't supposed to own territory in Japan anymore. If the Shinto tried to claim the sisters didn't overlook the territory properly, then are they not saying they consider that territory Devil territory?

What about the edict then? Was that just grandstanding from an enraged deity at the time?

Well, yes. But they can't exactly admit that out loud, can they?

Inari internally groaned.

Politics.

Inari gave politics all of her hate.

At least this situation gives her the excuse to not have to 'be in' several thousand different places at once, answering prayers, giving blessings, running several different businesses and enterprises, making several dozen different products, and-

She blinks rapidly a few times, her thoughts snapping out ofthat rut again, as she shifts in her seat and sighs.

"How are things going in Heaven?" Inari decides to ask, filling the silence once more.

Also would help stop her mind from drifting off, again

The wood creeks, as if grunting this time, and the voice returns once more, "I just shot a beam of sunlight through some Kami who thought we should be thanking the Devils for their help, and be giving them a gift."

Inari giggled at the absurdity, "Who was it?"

She could feel the wooden walls shrug, and the voice huffs, "I don't know, there are millions of them, how am I supposed to remember one dumbass amongst the sea of millions?"

"Fair," Inari mused with a sly smile, which only grew slightly more as her senses were pricked by the telltale chill of Demonic Power entering the confines of the shrine space, "ah, guess who's back~?"

"Inari." The Shrine, at Ama's voice, felt like it was deadpanning at her, "I can tell, I'm basically inhabiting the shrine, you don't need to say that."

"I know~! But I'm going to do, anyways~!" She sang out in response.

Not like there's anything better to do anyway.

Inari suddenly quirked her brow, and the Shrine seemed to be still, as another Demonic Power entered the space.

Not with a chill, but like a void. A black hole of all-consuming crushing power, that could easily annihilate anything it so much as blinks at.

Inari inwardly muses then, that it's rather impressive the amount of control the master has over such power.

Unlike the last two times, the Leviathan doesn't enter the inner sanctum alone, as the door opens and she walks in, not too far behind her is the source of said power.

Sirzechs Lucifer, in formal Satan attire and all.

Inari is the first to speak, "Welcome, welcome~! I see Satan Lucifer's here as well! Did something happen down in the Underworld?"

Serafall sat down, a blank look on her face, not responding at all.

As Sirzechs sits down, he grimaces. "First things first," he bows slightly to Inari, "Lady Inari Okami, a pleasure. No, everything's fine. Right now, anyways." Inari giggles to that, before Sirzechs turns his eyes upwards, "Well met, Chief Goddess of the Shinto, Lady Amaterasu Omikami, I thank you for allowing me access to your most sacred shrine."

A beat passes, before her voice returns, directed at the Satan Lucifer, "And I thank you, for not letting out that power of yours to disperse the shrine's power."

Sirzech blinks at this, not expecting her voice to come fromeverywhere.

He turns to look at Serafall, who waves it off. "You get used to it, after a while." She adds, dully, tiredly. "Now, tell them what you told me, please"

"Right, right, Sera" he sighs and faces Inari's side of the table, "We believe we may know who caused all this."

"Hmm?" Amaterasu hummed out all around, slightly intrigued, "And who may that be?"

"The Fallen." Sirzechs answered clearly and succinctly, "They were using a Sacred Gear Extractor in Kuoh, presumably killing many. They tried extracting the Boosted Gear from its host, andwell." Sirzechs trailed off, obviously needing not to explain further there.

Inari, very slowly, pulled out a hand fan and started waving it in front of her face.

Serafall sighed, and Sirzechs looked around and pulled at his collar, as the heat within the shrine rose by several magnitudes.

"Where did you get this information from?" The Shrine demanded with a loud creak.

Sirzechs winced, "Yourson, actually."

The rising heat halted, staying at a boiling simmer.

Inari raised her eyebrow slightly, and quickly put two and two together.

"Ah, that Reincarnated Devil, then?" Inari spoke up, "He told her, who told you and your sister?"

Sirzechs nodded, "He told my Rias's Rook, yes."

Well, isn't that a shock? She didn't think the boy knew anything, and certainly didn't think to ask him while she still could, he seemed far too out of it.

Looks like Amaterasu is learning something about her son today, hmm?

Well, it certainly isn't Inari's problem who he fucks and summons, so who's she to judge?

"Inari." Amaterasu's voice echoes dully through the inner shrine, causing her to pipe up, "Kuoh has a Church, no? If the Fallen were in town, they would have been there. Could you check it for me, please?"

Ah, glad she's taking it well.

"Sure thing~! It will be just a moment!" Inari leans back into her chair, her eyes gaining a thousand-yard stare as she sees elsewhere.

Several of her cute little foxes are still roaming around Kuoh, assisting in the cleanup and searching effort.

She takes control of one of them and has it go skipping off, towards the church house sitting atop a hill in the middle of town.

The doors to the Church are gone, the little fox easily walking in to find them several feet from where they should be hinged, smashed off the frame and onto the ground.

It looks around and beholds the smashed and defaced iconography. The twisted symbols, and ruined insides of the building, the smell of ash and fire wafting through the air.

But the most damning thing it sees?

The stretches upon stretches of Enochian, the Language of the Angels, desecrating the walls of the Church.

Although Inari herself can't read exactly what they say, she knows the purpose of the writings.

To block out His sight from the house, and deconsecrate the ground around it, commonly used when the Fallen wish to set up a base, but don't want their wayward Father to watch them.

They were here.

Inari blinks back to herself, slowly sitting forward with a grim smile on her face, as soon as she speaks, everyone focuses on her, "They were there," she starts, "the walls are covered in Enochian, to ward away His sight."

Sirzech's eyes widened at the confirmation, a grim frown slowly stretching across his face.

Serafall meanwhile, groaned loudly, "Why, why Azazel!" she shouted, throwing her hands up into the air, "No, how!? How does someone fuck up this badly!" She pulls a phone from her uniform again and starts rapidly pressing the screen, "Pick! Up! The! Phoooonnnee!"

Her phone screen starts to flicker, causing her to pause.

"Eh?" It glitches, before sparking and flickering dead. "Eh!? Oh, come on! Not now!"

The people sitting in the shrine stare at that occurrence with a widened or confused gaze, but Amaterasu? She merely sighs.

"Well, here we go." Is all she says.

Suddenly, a demonic magic circle appears next to Sirzech's ear.

"Hmm?" He hums out, then his eyes widen into saucers. "The Grigori headquarters is under attack!?"

Serafall pales and blanches at that, "Huh?"

Inari hums thoughtfully, and is about to ask who, but

Well, the storm building around the Shrine should be a pretty good answer, no?

Sirzechs tensed suddenly, muttering into the circle something about the border, before dispelling it.

Just in time, the smell of ozone fills the air and a massive lance of lightning roars down from the heavens.

The Shrine seems to part, its pieces folding and sliding to the lighting through, striking a chair on the Shinto's side and shaking the entire Shrine complex.

And standing there, once the light from the bolt parts?

The King of Yomi, God of the Sea and Storms.

Susanoo-no-Mikoto. Battle worn blue robes clad his form, pulled open to freely expose his muscular chest, and a long straw hat barely hiding his stormy long black hair, and glowing fiery orange eyes.

In one hand, he holds the Governor General of the Grigori, Azazel, up by the neck. With the other, a massive silver odachi, notched like a sword breaker near the hilt and roiled with darkness and thunder.

"Here's the man you're looking for." The storm god grunted out, before tossing the Fallen like a bag of bricks to the other side of the table.

Azazel has seen better days, Inari thinks.

The man looks like he got struck by lightning and flung through a mountain. Several lightning-shaped burn marks are laced across his body, his clothes are similarly scorched and torn, and several of his wings are bent out of shape or outright broken.

The man's body ragdolls into a chair, which promptly skids across the room with him on it, and slams into the wall.

Azazel grunts, and groans as soon as the chair stops, sitting up slightly, he sees Sirzechs and Serafall, glaring at him.

"Ah," he huffs out, "well, I" he sighs, "okay, yeahthis one is my bad." He admits, belatedly.

Serafall lunges at him, crying out like a banshee as she rams into him, grabs him by his collar, and starts furiously shaking him every which way.

His cries of pain as he tries to put away his wings, and calls for saying he needs to explain, went unheard and ignored as Serafall continued.

Not even Sirzechs looked like he wanted to step in to maintain any sense of professionalism left.

Above them, the Shrine closed back up, and Susanoo took his seat lazily, putting his feet up on the table.

"Brother." Amaterasu's voice rang through, dryly, prompting the Kami in question to huff right back.

"Don't start with me right now, sister." Susanoo bit out, "That fucking clown and his posse of edgy rebel wannabes deserved it, and you know it."

"I know." She replied, prompting the deity to blink, "Good job."

Susanoo elected to sit there for a moment, staring dumbly at the table, before huffing and setting this sword down against the chair he was sitting on.

He crosses his arms and lets his eyes go to a more normal look, the blazing orange and red becoming nothing more than piercing sky-blue eyes, as he watches on in amusement at the antics of the Satan of Foreign Affairs.

Specifically how she was slowly shaking Azazel to death. The near-upshot view under her skirt was just a bonus at this point.

Even Inari watched on in poorly disguised mirth behind her fan.

Although it was odd, Inari supposed.

Just how quiet Amaterasu was right now.

After several long moments of enjoying the scene, it was slightly shocking just who eventually interrupted it.

Loudly clearing his throat before speaking up, Susanoo began.

"789." He stated, prompting the Devils to still and turn to him, Serafall still holding a groaning and dazed Azazel by the collar. "That's the death total, the amount of souls whose deaths I could manage to trace back to the dragon currently. And that's not counting the likely dozens if not hundreds more humans who are hospitalized right now." Susanoo added lowly, "Who knows how large that number may be in a week or two from now."

At this Sirzech's frown deepened, saddened at the news, whilst Serafall seemed to bristle, lowering her glare upon the Governor General once more, who tenses up likely expecting his face to get caved in.

Susanoo snorts at his plight, "Hold it shortstuff, you can wail on him some more after I finish."

Blinking, Serafall looks right back at Susanoo, head tilted slightly, "Eh? Shortstuff?"

Ignoring her, he continues, "I don't know the exact population count of Kuoh Town, so who's to say if those are big deal numbers-"

"Kuoh Town isn't large enough to be considered a city, but still possesses large scale accommodations for large population centers," Inari interjects, "if I had to guess? I'd say Kuoh possesses the upper-end population range for a town, somewhere between 15,000 and 20,000 people."

It's Susanoo's turn to blink, "Thanks, foxy. Anyways!" He moves on, ignoring the giggles she sends his way, "While all that's not fine at all, you wanna know what really pissed me off? What took me so damn long to make it here?"

Thunder rumbled outside, as Susanoo gritted his teeth.

"The few dozen mutilated souls I found over the past month, sorted between Yomi and the Buddhist Heaven!" He practically snarled out, lightning flashing in the background, he levels a fiery glare right at Azazel, who shivers at the god's wrath-filled gaze, "You are lucky, so very lucky, that the bone-headed edge lord outcast from Olympus set down that law that prevented all Death Gods from interrogating exact details out of their dead, or I would have had your head on a spike! And your wings cut off, and sent right back to your Dadd-"

"Susanoo." Amaterasu's voice cut in, stern, yet frighteningly calm. "Still your rage, before you tear apart my Shrine with your storm outside."

Inari looked outside, seeing almost hurricane-like rains and winds and flashes of lightning rage outside.

Susanoo growled, stretching his fingers, as the storm outside slows, but doesn't truly subside.

"Regardless, Mother's Shinigami have the Grigori Headquarters locked down. As soon as we figured out the damage done to those souls was much like that caused by having a Sacred Gear torn out, I led the charge myself." He bit out, then looked at Sirzechs directly, "You don't need to worry. It's just Fallen territory we're locking down, I'm locking down."

Sirzechs nodded, tentatively, "Then you'll understand if we keep a watch over our borders, then?"

Susanoo waved him off with a grunt, which Sirzechs took for affirmation.

"Alright!" Serafall suddenly called out, "We good then? Good? Okay!" She holds up Azazel and sets him down in his seat. "What are we going to do, then? Because, I, personally? Can think of several things to do!" She gets this downright sadistic grin that forces Azazel to grimace and shiver.

"Before then," Amaterau's voice interceded, cold and commanding, "I want to hear it. What happened, from his point of view."

Azazel blinked out at that, and pointed to himself, slowly.

"Me?" He looks around, seeing everyone stare at him like he's an idiot, "H-Hey! I know, I know, I'm justsurprised is all. I honestly thought I was just gonna be strung up like the world's handsomest pinata, and beat on all night after I gotah," he looks at Susanoo, "invited here."

Susanoo glares right back, but before he can administer a controlled shock, Amaterasu says one word.

"Azazel."

He winces, and holds up his hands, "Alright, alrightso, ah shitwhere do I begin." He rubs his chin, "So, the Fallen in Kuoh? I sent them there to keep watch over the Boosted Gear user, with instructions to ah" he clears his throat, "to kill him, under certain conditions. Like lack of talent, compatibility, and such. You know? Standard operating procedures." He explains, "I didn't tell them specifically that the boy had the Boosted Gear, for security purposes, obviously. Most lower-level Fallen aren't the most trustworthy as a rule of thumb, but this particular cell" he trails off.

He thinks for a brief moment, before shaking his head as he settles on, "Most cells know the Sacred Gear extraction ritual to collect gears for research, but that's an old practice, I don't know why they went on a gear collection frenzythe fools died long before they could tell me anything about their mission, so I guess it doesn't matter now." He finished with a sigh.

He was meant with silence.

"Can I toss him into Cocytus yet?" Until it was broken, by Serafall's deadpan question.

"Make sure to cut his wings off first." Susanoo adds, 'helpfully' with a snort.

"Okkkayyy~!" Serafall happily summons a very jagged piece of ice using her Demonic Power and starts advancing on Azazel, who inches back away from her more and more.

"I think it's funny." All of them paused as Amaterasu's voice broke through again, this time, she sounded amused, "How your name fits you so well, Governor General."

"A-Ah?" Azazel's face twitches and he gives an uneasy smile, "Thank you, Lady Amaterasu?"

"We keep taking it out on you, and yet" she continued, "I feel as though we have a much better target than the man who doesn't even truly run his organization. Your Cadres? They don't do anything either. They sit in their tower, researching, learning, but never keeping up with the present beyond what suits them."

Azazel gulps, the heat in the shrine simmers, and Serafall blinks as her jagged ice knife starts to melt in her grip.

"I suppose, from a certain standpoint, I'm no better, hmm?" She giggles slightly, "But at the very least, I'm not stuck in the past anymore." A pause, as the Shrine seems to sigh, "I'll be honest, Azazel. The only reason I haven't declared war on your entire Faction and razed your Headquarters to the ground? Four years ago. The Heavenly Alola Incident, your Fallen saved many sons and daughters under my light that day."

Azazel's eyes widened in realization, as she continued, "And those same sons and daughters continue to do good work, with my people's blessings."

Susanoo scowled slightly at their specific mention, while Inari was slowly beginning to realize where Amaterasu was going with this.

"So, rather than you, Azazelhere's what I want. Lives given, are lives your people took away once more," the Shrine's heat and power seemed to press down upon Azazel, causing him to sweat and his knees to buckle, "I would have them returned to me, my sons and daughters born under my light, and by the end of all this? Either by division and dividing up, or destruction, the Three Factions shall become Two."

Serafall blinked at that, "That isthe dissolution of the Grigorijust like that!?"

Loud, uproarious clapping, echoes throughout the shrine, coming straight from the god of storms himself.

"There we fucking go! Hahaha!" Susanoo laughed like thunder, "My little sister can pimp slap a little bitch! Ah, where the fuck is the pimp's prayer when you need one!"

Inari watched all this very carefully, as she got the immense feeling that her workload was about to double or triple.

Bypassing Susanoo's hooting and hollering, Amaterasu went on, "Clearly. The good they've done doesn't outweigh the harm, no? Traitors after traitors, deaths after deaths, with the Children they are supposed to watch over constantly being caught in the crossfire, used by their traitors, or outright killed by them regardless. When will it end, Azazel?"

The aforementioned Governor General simply looked dead to the world, perking up slightly at his name, "I" he starts, "It's not that simple, I" he sighs, deeply. "I don't know."

Slowly, he looks up at the Shrine, "If we force this issue, you know there are several executives that wouldn't approve, right? They'll try something, and I won't be able to stop them."

"Would you be able to stop them, regardless?" She responds curtly, prompting a wince from the Fallen. "Let them come," she continues, "they'll be dealt with one way or another."

"Iugh," Azazel looks towards Sirzechs and Serafall, though he doesn't look particularly hopeful, "what about you guys, huh?"

Serafall responds first, with a rather simple, "You nearly got my little So-tan killed."

And that's all she needed to say to get her feelings across.

Sirzechs rubbed the back of his head, sheepishly, "Idon't particularly blame you for my Rias' lack of danger sense, Azazel, but this is bad." he stresses, "We all know, this situation could have been so much worse. If the wielder was stronger, thenwell" he trails off silently, the obvious implication hanging.

"Still," he continues, "I don't know if dividing up the Grigori like this is a good solution, that's a fair amount of assets, and people, and a whole lot of work and potentially small-scale fighting over something like this, isn't it?"

"That is what negotiations are for, Satan Lucifer." Inari pipes up for the first time in a while, "And besides, I don't think it needs to be said, but I think we all know Lady Amaterasu isn't going to budge on this at this point."

"Ah," Sirzechs hummed, and looked at Serafall, "I suppose I'm not the Satan of Foreign Affairs, but," he sighed, looking down at the table, "no, we can make this work, I believe." He moves his gaze to Azazel, "I'm sorry."

Azazel waves him off, leaning against the table himself.

"Yeah, yeah, alright" he sighs, defeatedly, before looking between the two sides, "for what it's worth? I'm sorry too. So!" He claps his hands together with fake cheer, "Where do we start?"

~ A New Sun ~

With a bright crimson flash, Sirzechs Lucifer appeared in the Gremory Castle, a somber expression marring his face.

He had left not too long after the Grigori began being carved up, trusting Serafall's renewed motivation to push her through and let her finish the job.

Meanwhile, Sirzechs had something he considered much more important to do.

Taking a ginger walk through his old childhood home, he eventually finds the room he's looking for and knocks on the closed door.

"Ria-tan," he calls out softly, "are you awake?"

He already knew the answer. Beyond just sensing her awake, he knew his sister well enough to know she wouldn't be getting any sleep right now.

She was waiting for him, after all.

He heard the soft pattering of feet approach, just before the door handle was rustled and slowly opened.

"Brother?"

Revealing his baby sister, in her nightgown, looking absolutely depressed.

Her posture held a sag, her eyes were baggy, and her face held a constant sad frown.

He had to hold himself back from wincing, it hadn't been so long since the incident, and yet, once what finally happened in her town caught up to herwell.

Rias crashed hard.

It only got worse once she found out what the Fallen were doing right under her nose.

She blamed herself almost instantly, and as much as Sirzechs wanted to say it wasn't entirely her fault, to cheer and hype her up as Sera had been to the Shinto, he justcouldn't.

He couldn't lie to her like that, right to her face. She wouldn't believe it.

And this is all before even knowing all the damages, the death total.

That thought made him struggle to hold back a wince.

"Got time for a small talk?" He asked tentatively.

She merely nodded and beckoned him in.

He had barely managed to close the door behind him, before Rias spoke up, albeit softly.

"How many."

Sirzechs paused, before turning to face her completely, "Not counting those in the hospital, but counting those who the Fallen killed as well?" He elaborated, she nodded, "Just under a thousand."

Rias flinched as if struck.

"That'ssomewhere around 5%..." She mutters, mostly to herself, before slowly curling up into a ball on her bed, and saying no more.

Sirzechs walked over to her side, and put his hand on her head, petting her hair gently, "Listen, RiasI'm not going to sit here, and tell you how bad the situation isyou already know that." He began, tentatively, "Mother and Father have already decided on how they plan to punish you for this," He could feel her still under her hand, "and Iwon't be helping you out of it, not anymore."

Rias turned her head slightly to look at him, tears budding at the sides of her eyes, "You mean?"

Sirzechs nodded solemnly, "Beyond it being moved forward, just as Serafall is going to be personally staying with Sona from now on, they decided you need aminderas well."

Honestly, Sirzechs thinks Sera doesn't even see her staying with Sona when she can as a punishment per se, but Sona certainly does.

It also inspired that particular decision from their parents.

Sirzechs shrugs as he adds on, "Although, I don't think they've quite decided on who just yet."

She turns completely to face Sirzechs, her knuckles tensing and cracking, "But! T-Thats" she weakly begins, but trails off.

This time, Sirzechs does wince. He isn't used to seeing his baby sister sodrained, like this. It hurts.

Usually, she'd be up in arms right about all these decisions, but right now?

Sirzechs blinks, an idea forming and taking shape.

He stands back up suddenly, prompting Rias to give a startled flinch as he does, only for her to look at him quizzically as he holds his hand out to her.

"Ria-tan," He starts with a small smile, "let me show you something."

"O-Okay?" Rias slowly, hesitantly, took his hand.

And clenched her eyes shut as a crimson glow enveloped the two of them, and sent them away.

Next she knew, the cool night air was hitting her skin, and she opened her eyes to see they were outside, in the Human World

Above a lake?

The two quickly unfurled their wings, and floated there, Rias looking every which way in sheer confusion.

"Wherewhere is this?" She asked, concerned.

In every direction she looked, she kept seeing more and more water. She could see mountains far off in the distance, but she didn't recognize any of this.

Sirzechs hummed thoughtfully, before answering, "The United States. Specifically, we are above the Great Grande Lake, right in the middle of the country."

Rias simply blinks at that, "Whyshow me this then?"

"Because this lake isn't natural," Sirzechs waved a hand out to the distant waters, "a few hundred years ago, a young man and his family traveled across something called the Oregon Trail, seeking opportunity on the other side of the country."

As Sirzechs went on, the chill in the air seemed to only grow colder, prompting Rias to shiver, "Unfortunately, they wouldn't make it. Around halfway through, stray vampires attacked, torturing and killing the young man's family right in front of him."

Rias' eyes slowly widened as she looked around, starting to get it now, Sirzechs continued with a solemn frown, "How unlucky was it, that said man was that generation's Boosted Gear wielder, and the stress of it all forced a"

"Juggernaut Drive" Rias finished for him, prompting a slow nod from her brother.

"This lake was caused by the mere activation of the stateit's bigger than several small states, countries, and islands." Sirzechs stresses, "The water here was placed to cover up all the damage and fighting that happened at the lake bed. Me and Serafall were there to put him down, Riasit wasn't pretty."

He turns slightly to look at her, "I want you to see this, and I want you to understand just how bad things could have been." He floats over to her slowly, and puts a hand on the side of her face, "There's a difference between pride andwhatever it was you three did that day."

Rias nods slowly at that, "Ah, right" Then she tilted her head slightly, "Wait...Three?"

Sirzechs hums, "You, Sona, and Kusanagi-san. I'm sure he had good intentions, and he did help, butWell, I'm sure you saw the video before you got there, no?"

Rias winced, recalling some of the hits he took back then.

Yeah.

What was it Koneko had called him?

A battle pervert?

Fitting, she mused internally.

Sirzechs smiles, and pats her on the side of her face, "I know you can do better at least, Ria-tan. But you're going to have to prove that to our parents moving forward, with the marriage, and your minder"

Rias smiled right back, albeit significantly more drained, "I got it, big brother" she put a hand on his hand and squeezed, "...thank you."

Ah, there it is.

That fire in her eyes, just a tiny little spark, but back nonetheless.

There's still a lot of work to be done, for all of them, but at least with this, he can hope his little sister doesn't herself in the times to come.

"Now then, let's go home," Sirzechs suddenly announces, "I picked up some ramen on the way home, and I figure-"

"R-Ramen!?" Rias suddenly bursts out, before sheepishly shifting in place back and forth.

Sirzechs just let out an amused chuckle.

Maybe he should have led with that, instead?

~ A New Sun ~

A nearly twenty-foot tall heap of muscle and red skin sat atop a carved stone throne.

In one of his massive hands, he held the hilt of his kanabo, a massive stretch of black rock and metal, a club.

The only weapon the Fierce God of the Oni needs.

In the other hand, a contrasting object, a human-made television screen of such size it should be housed in a living room.

But rather, it's used as this Fierce God's phone.

With this, he watches the same video spreading across the Supernatural World, over and over and over again.

That man, no, boy with those markings, wielding that blade clad in those accursed golden flames.

The man who wielded such things should be dead. Yet, here is this boy, all the same.

The answer is simple.

That man mated, and now, their world is under threat once again.

The Fierce God grunted and snarled, remembering the look of that man when he came here and demanded fealty.

When he went around and demanded fealty of all Yokai, the Clans, and the country, all for the Heavenly Kami who would much rather sit up there and let them rot than rule!

And now, it could happen again.

Yet, this boy isn't a man, and most certainly isn't that man.

Here is their chance.

Rising to his feet, the Fierce God let his Youki out for the first time in decades.

And all of Mount e felt his pressure, his rage, and his determination.

"They shall not rule us again." The Fierce God, Ibaraki Douji declared, and his Oni hooted and hollered in reverence and glee, all across the mountain.

It was time to gather the Yokai of Old back together again.

Interlewd 1 (R-18...Duh)

Cleaning up that forest wasn't difficult, just very boring.

Kuroka and I sat there and used Senjutsu to speed up the plant growth.

And by that, I mean I sat there and wiggled in place, not knowing how to do that, while she did all that work.

I did end up using my light to speed up things, though. Kuroka vaguely mentioned that my power felt connected to life in some way, which wascurious.

Pretty sure all I did there was provide food for the plants as 'sunlight' like the world's most handsome sun lamp.

Regardless, after finishing all that, I wanted to go to bed.

Getting your ass handed to you by both the Dragon Emperors in one week tends to have that effect on people, I'd think.

So imagine, to my horror, when it turns out my kitty didn't want to sleep with me, and decided to pack instead!

I know. Nearly threw a miniature sun at her. Clearly, my Kuroka has been replaced by an Alternate.

But if that was the case, then they are doing a fairly good job at playing up another aspect of being my kitty.

"Kuroka" I hum out from under the sweet fluffy cover of my blanket, amused, "why are you packing up naked."

I do a quick brief look around, seeing the lack of light level, before adding on with a deadpan, "...in the dark."

I can at least understand the second bit, we both can see in the dark fairly well after all.

"Nya~?" She flicks her tail in my direction, and bends over painfully slowly as she reaches down to pick something up, right at the foot of the bed, "What's the matter, Nori-kun? Not enjoying the show~...?"

Well. I can't go to bed now.

Wonder why?

Gee, maybe it has something to do with

I hum deeply as I sit up and scoot across the bed, settling on the edge.

This.

In one clean motion, I slap her straight on her teasing peach-shaped rear, drawing a mewling gasp from her as my hand doesn't disconnect.

Instead, I keep it there, sinking my fingers into her jiggly soft flesh, fondling her with an amused wolfish smirk.

"Hmm, I recall asking a question. What do you think you're doing, huh~?" I murmur huskily into the air.

Even without being close, she hears me, and shivers in my grasp, her back arching slightly as she sticks her ass out more for me.

Without me even having to say a word?

She's come so far~!

I stand up, slowly, making it a point to brush my already full throbbing mast against her outer thigh, drawing a flush to her face.

"Such a good kitty~," I reach over my free hand, and grasp one of her plush loose tits, squeezing and playing with it like a child would play dough, "not a word, and you're already making yourself ready for me~?" I go right up to her ear, speaking breathly, "Such a good pet~..."

Kuroka whimpered, leaning the side of her body against mine as I continued to play with her ample assets.

But, Kuroka herself wasn't idle. Her hand came down, grabbing my length daintily, and she began to stroke it almost vigorously.

Our eyes met as soon as she did this, and the next thing I knew, Kuroka was pressing her lips into mine.

Quickly regaining my composure, I held onto the assets I already claimed like some sort of grip, pulling and holding her flush against me as I attacked right back.

My cat girl shivered, and purred, as I invaded her very needy mouth with my tongue, claiming it as well, just as she seemed to want.

Just as these throes begin, I have a thought.

What did I say I'd do to her earlier? Don't know the exact time right now, it could be yesterday or this morning by now.

Don't care about those specifics, the point is

I suddenly lift Kuroka, turn, and promptly toss her onto the bed, back down.

The poor girl yelps as I do, before landing with a confused gasp.

She quickly sweeps a hand through her hair to clear her face, revealing it to be positively flushed.

She quickly looks around, before settling on me with a slightly confused yet airy look.

I, who am slowly shuffling towards her across the bed, the blanket held at my back.

"N~Nori-kun~?" She mumbles, tentatively, "What are you~..." She trails off, as I reach her, her gaze following me as I loom over her.

Tenderly, I spread her legs, and leaned down over top of her, throwing the blanket over us both.

It's only after I positioned myself, my member pointing straight into her waiting folds, and took her hands into my own, that her eyes seemingly widened in realization.

I smiled down at her, looking her straight in the eyes.

But before she could protest the absolute degeneracy I was about to unleash upon her, I stated one simple thing.

"Told you it was going to happen~!"

She looked almost betrayed before I plunged right into her, entering her with ease, washing away that look with a single breath.

Literally.

I don't stop looking her straight in the eye, smirking sweetly all the while, as her face turns completely red.

A breathy moan escapes from her lips like a quiet whimper as my shaft bottoms out inside her.

"W~Why does this f~feel sol~lewd~" she whines quietly, almost desperately, her body quivering underneath me.

I chuckle deeply, setting my forehead atop hers, "That's not quite the word you're looking for, I think~." I respond easily.

"H~Huh~? Then what do y~you- NYAAN~!?"

Her words are replaced with a hot gasp, as I start to move. Slowly but surely, I lifted my hips and drove back down into her.

"Hahn~!? Nori-kun~! Nnghh~!? Y~You~...Nyaahnn~!" Kuroka clenches her teeth as every thrust draws a purr from her core, her back arching slightly into the position, her legs lifting up and around to either side of my body.

I chuckle deeply, grunting slightly in exertion with each pump, "What's the matter, love~?" I ask with an easy smirk, my voice a low husky murmur under the soft sounds of the bed creaking and flash slapping, "I thought you were used to all this already~!"

Kuroka blanched at that, well, tried to, but a lewd whimper overcame her and shivered the look right off.

Instead, looked at me, lips slightly pursed and desperation clear in her golden eyes.

"T~This is~...Hahh~! Different~!" She manages, barely, "Ahn~! Nori-kun~!"

Her head moves slightly to the side like she's trying to look away.

Quickly, I grip her hands and push my head upon her only slightly harder, prompting her to stop.

With a gruff voice, I simply say, "Don't." My eyes bore down into hers, "Don't look away."

She shivers at this, her eyes widening before nodding back slightly, a small smile slowly forming across her face.

I'd call it lewd, but

"O~Okay~...Darling~..." She purred softly, "Okay~...Nyahhnn~!"

I think the proper term would be loving.

Something inside me, something in my core, the moment she said those words?

I could feel it, something in there justsnapping.

And not in a bad way, either!

Well, it depends on who you ask.

My lips clamp down onto hers, and I suddenly find my mouth filling with her quickly increasing moans and purrs as I begin pumping my hips down into her.

My one, sole thought?

Breed this kitty.

At this point, I couldn't measure the time, the seconds, the minutes.

As I pumped down into her over and over again, the sound of the bed was steadily replaced by the sound of just her.

That's all I focused on, all I could feel.

Eventually, Kuroka broke off from my lips, letting out a purring gasp for air, before she began slurring the only word I think she could say right now, "D~Darling~! D~Darling~..." She cooed into the air, over and over, each word only making me go faster, harder, but not rougher.

Her tongue sat halfway out of her mouth as she continued to pant out the words, slowly but surely as I continued, I could feel her tightening around my length.

Her hands gripped my hands tighter as well, and her body began tensing up, beyond bracing for each of my impacts, she was preparing for a climax.

And judging by the impossible amount of searing heat building up within me, I can see exactly where this is going.

I see the look in her eyes, and that's all I need for confirmation, the desire, the need.

With one last rush, I push her down into the mattress under my weight and start pistoning down into her.

"Yess~! Darling~! Right there~! Like that~! D~Darling~! D~Darliiinngg~!" Her words are cut off, ceremoniously, by her voice stilling completely into a stifled drawn-out gasp, her entire body trembles as I bottom out inside her one more time.

I fill the small silence with a gasping grunt of my own as her folds snap around my length, warmth, and heat claiming my rod for its own.

That's when I also fill her greedy quim with what may be the largest shot of magma hot cum I've ever put out in my life.

For several, long, seconds we just lay there, both shivering, both gasping and twitching slightly as we ride out our respective orgasms to their conclusions.

By the end, both of us are smiling dopily at each other.

It's at this point, that the world around us finally comes back into focus, at least for me.

I feel it first before giving a cursory glance, butyeah, I broke the bed frame.

The mattress is now much lower to the ground, and I see the metal legs strewn across the floor.

Oh well.

"Kuroka~" I mutter, breathily, finally releasing her hands from my grip.

In response, Kuroka merely wrapped her arms around my neck, and giggled softly, "Yes, daaarling~?" She giggles again, with a small smile on her face, as she tests the word again.

I chuckle right on back, and wrap my arms around her torso, holding her close as I look her straight down into the eyes.

"I love you." I state, with one breath, and a smile.

I mean it, too.

Judging by the way she freezes up slightly, she knows I mean it.

"Y~Youstupidman~..." She stuttered out weakly, with no heat or energy.

No, that's reserved for her actual response.

"I love you too, darling~..." And she moves up slightly to kiss me straight on the lips.

I do return the favor, quickly after, this time our eyes are closed, simply basking in each other's presence.

But, maybe? After that, I find myself pumping into her once more, and we continue right where we left off.

Maybe, we just rest in each other's embrace like that for the rest of the night, content.

In any case, packing can wait until tomorrow.

Chapter 15

Moving to Kyoto, I honestly expected something anime to happen, you know?

The examples are too many to list, but the expectation was there.

Is it kind of sad that I'm disappointed nothing has happened yet?

Kuroka didn't have much to pack, I didn't care to pack all that much stuff, so we were able to leave pretty quickly.

Of course, not before I left behind a clone to keep up with the going ons at Kuoh, the club for school, and such.

Said clone will be dispelled and a new one sent back off to Kuoh every day.

It's also there to tell Uzume what's upwhenever the hell she gets back!

Side note? Starting to get a little worried there, I wouldn't have the first idea of where to even look for her!

Moving on from that, for now.

I'm not entirely done with Kuoh, beyond just the chance Kokopuffs shows up, I still have to visit Genshirou's siblings and get them sorted.

Not looking forward to it, I'll admit. But I want to make sure they're set and not thrown into Japan's shitty foster care system.

Once Kuoh is finished building back up, I'll swing back by personally for them.

Upon actually making it to Kyoto things have been, as I said, rather mundane.

We found a place pretty quickly, a nice apartment looking over the city that Kuroka picked out, and I threw money at the poor guy selling so we could get in quickly.

He didn't seem to mind though.

After breaking in the bed, and not actually breaking the bed thankfully, we've been doing what all people visiting a new place for the first time do.

Exploring!

And by that, I mean walking.

A lot.

Or, in Kuroka's case, she's practically skipping right now, humming pleasantly while holding my hand as we ascend a particular mountain.

Around us, and continuing for heavens knows how long at this point, are hundreds of thousands of Torii Gates lined up in a row to create an almost tunnel-like structure.

You'd think I'd feel something coming from these gates, considering who I am and what they represent, but really, the only thing I can feel is the Shrine that we're heading towards.

That crushing, near suffocating Holy Spirit Power it emits, I can feel it, and Kuroka should be feeling it as well.

And yet, as soon as we started climbing, the Shrine seemed to recognize us and specifically didn't try to smite Kuroka.

I've never visited a Shrine before, especially never a Head Shrine before, but I'm fairly certain this is only happening because the owner knows us.

The Fushimi Inari-taisha. Inari's Head Shrine.

I figure, if there is someone who knows where to find my wayward maid, it'd be Inari.

Also! Kuroka and I kind of just wanted to explore, I don't think either of us has been to Kyoto before, and it is a really beautiful place so far.

Helps that Idon't have any concrete plans right now beyond, 'get to Kyoto!', and now that I'm actually here?

I'm kind of left scratching my head, looking around like a poor kid of lost his parents in a crowded airport in a foreign country.

Like, what I wanted to do was solidify some plan of action once Uzume got back with the information I asked her for.

I'm not going to make plans based on little to no information at all, look how planning with faulty info went!

So really, at this point, just trying to find stuff to fill the time.

Do you know what also helps?

Kuroka, wearing actual clothes. Like, proper casual clothes.

Skintight shiny black pants that almost look like latex, a nice fluffy tan open front sweater that shows off all the cleavage, and cute little black boots.

Correction. The pants are sinfully tight.

Also yes, despite the fact she's wearing actual clothes, they somehow only sexualize her more.

I don't know how she does it, and I don't think I want to know.

"Nyah~...Nyah~...Nyah~!" She hums, skipping lightly as she tenderly licks the ice cream held in one of her hands.

Her eyes dart over to look at me, and the little tease smirks before she takes a slightly longer lick.

Never breaks eye contact, not even a little, as she does so.

I stare at her, incredulously, right back. "Kuroka." I start, plainly, "Do you want me to fuck you in the middle of the Senbon Torii?"

Kuroka gives a drawn-out hum at that, before smirking and saying, "Maaaybee~! Nyahaha~!"

She chuckles, of course, at the absolute deadpan I send her way.

"I'd rather not give Inari a front-row seat to something like that," I state simply, "but! Don't worry!" My deadpan slowly turns into a smile, prompting Kuroka to pause at my sudden cheer.

"When we get home, I'll make sure to give you plenty ofattention." My smile arches sinisterly, and Kuroka shivers, her cheeks flushing slightly.

"Looking forward to it, nya~!" She winks right back.

My smile drops, my expression neutral, as I add. "After I eat all those damn fortune cookies I bought for you."

"Wha!?" Kuroka blanches at that, and practically clings to my side, letting go of my hand to grasp the side of my jacket, "Nori-kun noooo! Why would you be so mean!?"

I chuckle light-heartedly, and take a bite from my ice cream, promptly ignoring her.

Seriously. First shops before climbing the mountain? Sweet shops. They got everything over there, but they're mostly known for their fortune cookies.

Damn cat filled her purse with a whole bunch of them after we tried one.

Admittedly, they are really good, if I had a man purse most definitely would have done the same thing.

Kuroka finally gives it up, letting go of my side to pout instead.

And for a single moment, blissful silence reigns.

Until it doesn't.

"So! Nori-kun~?" Kuroka suddenly pipes up, "Not that this isn't fun and all, but why are we in Kyoto nya~?"

I blink at that.

Huh. Guess I didn't tell her anything, did I? Just kind of dragged her along.

"Ah, shit" I rub the back of my head and sigh, "sorry kitty, I did drag you out here without saying anything, didn't I?"

Kuroka waves me off with a smile, "Nya! It's fine, I always wanted to visit Kyoto without being attacked, you know? And with a big strong famous man like you around, there's no chance of that happening!" What followed was a streak of cat-like laughter, while I bristled slightly.

Kuroka. Please. You can only tempt Murphy so much.

That does bring up something I was just thinking about though, but first things first.

I bonk her on the head, prompting a whining mew to replace her laughter as she reaches up and puts a hand on the strike zone. "Nori-kun~!"

"Don't tempt Murphy," I scold her with a huff, "as for why we're here? Well" I trail off with a hum, thinking about the best way to answer this.

"For one thing," I settle on this start, "it's basically the center of Supernatural Japan. From what little I know, the West Yokai and Five Principal Clans both make the city their base of operations. And as you already know, Inari's Head Shrine is here as well."

Kuroka scrunches her nose slightly at the mention of the Clans, "Aghthose guys, nya? Do you have to deal with them, Nori-kun?"

I shrug at that, "Do I have much of a choice? My parentage alone is probably enough to get their attention but with my reveal to the world going the way it went" I leave that statement open-ended, as obvious as it is.

She huffs at that, returning to pouting kitty mode, "Bunch of boot lickers going to come steal my Nori-kun away, I won't let em', nya~!"

I can't help but chuckle at that, and pet her on the head, chuckling harder as she starts full-on purring and leaning into my touch.

The world, I think, already considers me part of the Shinto Faction in some way.

I haven't gotten around to reading the general response the world has had to me yet, definitely something I should do, now that I'm thinking about it.

But, what with my reveal, I'm fairly certain I'm going to start getting invites to join various groups.

Hell, I already did with Vali's, and I expect I'll be approached by the Clans and maybe even the Yokai at some point.

But, I don't want that.

I'm not going to wait around and be picked up by some group, especially when I'm missing a lot of key info about said groups.

For instance, Yasaka and the West Yokai. I'm pretty sure she has ties with the Devils in some way shape, or form.

Why? Well. It took longer to find a good place to stay that wasn't owned by said Devils than it was to actually buy and move in.

Which was slightly worrying, with various implications.

It means either Yasaka and the West Yokai have ties with the Devils, or Yasaka doesn't truly rule Kyoto.

Judging by how she was readily willing to lead an army in support of the Underworld during the Demonic Beast Riot in canon, I'm willing to bet the former over the latter.

The problem is, I don't know the full scope of their dealings if there are any at all.

And do I even need to get started on the Clans?

"I think I'll be fine, kitty." I scratch behind her ears, prompting her to mewl with delight. "All these important groups being in one place is rather convenient because it lets me get what I sorely need right now," I continue, "information."

Kuroka's ears perk at that, "Hmm? What kind of information, nya?"

I grin, "All of it."

Kuroka blinked at that, and tilted her head slightly, looking at me with consideration.

And so I continue, elaborating, "So far, I've been living in a bubble, not even acknowledging that the wider world around me exists. But it does, and I live in it, here in Japan. If I'm going to be a part of it, truly, then I need to know all I can. Beyond that?" I huff.

"I have no fucking clue."

Kuroka's head tilts comically. "Nya?"

I shrug, "What? It depends on what I find out. I sent Uzume off to be my little information gather, but she hasn't come back yet, so I haven't made any plans beyond that quite yet."

Slowly, she sighs and shakes her head, "And here I was, thinking you started sounding profound, nya~!"

I snort, "You know, that should be an insult coming from a Senjutsu Master, but from you?" I pat her on the head, "I'll take it as a compliment."

Kuroka sputters on the spot before returning right back to pouting kitty mode.

Meanwhile, an inkling of a memory springs itself up in my head.

From around a month ago, when Uzume was first telling me stuff, the more general stuff, I specifically recall the conclusion.

My new home is kind of shit, isn't it? And my Dad tried to fix it but failed.

Hmm. I've been holding off thinking about it, but I suppose soon would be a good time to bring it up again, huh?

With my thoughts and Kuroka being a pouty kitty, I didn't realize we had reached the end of the Senbon Torii until we finally did.

And stood before the Inari Shrine proper.

Well, the final massive Torii Gate with the Inari Shrine behind it, more like.

"Hmm, time sure does fly when you're lost in thought, huh" I mutter, before looking over at Kuroka who's looking past the final gate with slight unease.

I take her hand into mine once more, and give it a light squeeze, "Hey?" I say softly to her, "It'll be fine, been fine the entire way here, you'll make it through, okay?"

Kuroka looks at me, a small smile etching onto her face before she nods lightly back at me.

We take a step forward, passing under the gate-

And it feels like I step through a film.

I come out the other end of the gate, alone, not even my ice cream came with me, the world around me has shifted.

The colors are brighter, nature especially, even the cold unalive stone somehow feels alive.

I can see the air, wafting gently like a clear white mist, as it goes through my hair, and as I look up, I see the sky has become a whirling spiral of golden power.

My gaze is suddenly snapped away from the sky by a sly giggle, coming from the shrine itself.

All around it, spectral pink foxes come strutting out from seemingly everywhere. Everywhere, except from inside the shrine itself.

No, the fox that comes from there is golden, and I know instantly who it is.

"Inari?" I breathe out, my voice reverberating and echoing throughout this place.

The golden fox hums, and sits down on the offering box, before emitting a bright flash of light that makes even me narrow and close my eyes.

Once it's cleared, my question is answered, as Inari sits there in the golden fox's place.

Although she seems moreghostly than I recall? She looks the same as last I saw her, in her shrine miko outfit, but she's translucent and almost entirely see-through.

"In a sense," Inari? giggles in amusement, "I suppose you could call me that. I am part of her, but not the whole her."

Ah. Kami or deity bullshit, then?

She spreads her arms out to the Shrine and space around her, "Well, allow me to be the first to welcome you then, Noriaki-kun, to Shinkaithe World of the Kami!"

Ah, yeah. Kami bullshit specifically then.

What do I say at times like this again?

Ah, right.

"I have several questions." I very intelligently say back.

The part of Inari, who I'm just going to call Inari from now on, giggles at that. "I figured you might!" She claps her hands together, and looks at me with a sly smile, "Unfortunately, this time, I can't exactly answer those questions."

"Huh?" I blink at that, "Uh, why not?"

"I can answer that!" She points at me, "See, I'm more like a fragment of the real Inari's power, molded intoI guess the modern term would be software program. As the Inari in the Head Shrine, I manage all the other Shrines, therefore I'm more self-aware than the othersbut I'm still merely a facsimile of the real thing."

Well, that kind of sucks. Though, with how busy Inari seems to be, I suppose something like this should have been expected.

"So, I suppose you couldn't answer why Kuroka isn't affected by the Shrine's Holy Spirit Power?" I try anyway.

And I'm not shocked when Inari just sits there and stares at me, her eyes becoming eerily unfocused even as she smiles.

I sigh, and walk up towards the offering box, "Well, this is still here, guess I can do my wish while I'm here."

The light in her eyes suddenly returns, "Offering?" She says quickly, before scrambling off the box and behind it, poking her head out slowly to stare at me still, eyes sly smiling at me. "Go ahead, please~!"

Okay. Now I'm just a little creeped the fuck out.

Tentatively making my final approach, I pull out a yen coin and hesitate significantly as I see Inari's vision suddenly laser focus on the thing.

Fucking hell Inari, what do you program these things to do exactly?

With a flick, I toss the coin in, thankful to all hell and back that the Inari behind the box didn't moan or some shit, before putting my hands together, tilting my head forward slightly, and closing my eyes.

I make my wish and keep it simple, that being?

Make Uzume give me a phone call. That's all I need, to at least see if she's good, and what's going on.

The Inari behind the box suddenly snickers, "Ah, that's all?" She hums, "Yeah, yeahI can do that!" She claps her hands, and suddenly, the Shrine pulses.

Holy Spirit Power roars out from the Shrine, twisting and turning in the air, molding into the world before seemingly vanishing from my senses entirely.

I stare, half-lidded at her.

She merely smiled back at me.

"Thank you for your patronage!" She pipes out.

"...you could have at least warned me first, you know."

"Thank you for your patronage!" She repeats, like a broken record, her smile turning slightly more sly.

I sigh, deeply, and end the offering by clapping my hands twice-

I am sucked through the film again.

And find myself standing back in the real world once again.

Kuroka, standing right next to me, her eyes slowly opening to turn and look at me.

Before I could even say anything, she summarized that wholething, with three words.

"Kami bullshit, nya?"

I nod sagely, "Kami bullshit, nya." I say right back.

She reaches over, and pats me on the back, "Well, that was a moment kind of ruinedalong with your ice cream, by the way."

I give a long, pained filled sigh at that, which she nodded to.

"I already made my wish, so we can go somewhere else if you like, nya~!" She pipes up.

I hum at that, "Sure thing, but first," and narrow my eyes at her, "what kind of wish did you make."

Kuroka smirks at me, "Why, Nori-kun~! Don't you know that telling someone else your wish makes it so it won't come tru-"

"You know Inari is the Goddess of soil fertility, not female fertility, right?" I cut in easily.

Kuroka blinks, "Nya?" She utters, dumbly.

"Mhhmm~!" I hum, turning away, and leaving it at that.

It took her a few seconds of staring at my back before she finally started sputtering incoherently.

Ah, I'd say it was a shot in the dark, but truly? With Kuroka? It's more like a mild shade.

"Nyaaa! Are you even listening to me!?" She cries out while jumping onto my back and clinging on, "I want a refund! I call false advertising! Nyyyaaa!"

I reach around, chuckling, as I grab her legs to hold her and start making my way down with her on my back, babbling all the while.

According to that Inari, I should be getting a call from Uzume eventually, she didn't say when, but judging by the fact that she could make the wish, I presume Uzume is fine.

That's a little tension off my back for the day, at least.

Hmm, one last thing I want to test.

At the gate to the shrine proper, I pick up my fallen ice cream, or what I can with the cone.

Holding it up I begin, "Sorry about that, think you can handle this for me?" and with that, I toss it into the air.

As soon as it reaches its peak, I catch a bird-like shadow flash overhead, once it's clear, the ice cream has seemingly vanished into midair.

I grimace.

Yeah, of course, we are being followed the whole time. I do recall Kunou leading an attack on Issei and co here, after all.

Hell, they might even be the ones that take care of the shrine itself while Inari is away.

Kind of shocked someone came out for that, though. Judging by Kuroka staring up at the air where it happened with this outright floored look, I think she was too.

"Well," I continue into the strange silence that followed, "that happened." I state, a matter of factly.

Then look over my back at Kuroka, "Wanna go get some udon and eat all the fortune cookies?"

Kuroka suddenly wraps her arms around my neck, her look completely shifting from incredulous to intrigued in a literal second.

"Udon?" She parrots with a hum, "Hmm, that does sound nice!" Deciding that, she points forward, down the path, "Away we go, Nori-kun~!"

Ah, cats. It's always food with cats, huh?

~ A New Sun ~

Later that day, we're back in the Kyoto Apartment, I'm sitting on the couch, with Kuroka lying her head in my lap.

Honestly, I feel cheated, shouldn't this be the other way around?

Regardless, I'm softly petting my very full kitty, as she purrs lightly in her sleep.

She ate a ton of udon and half the damn fortune cookies.

Didn't know she had a bottom to that seemingly endless appetite, but I suppose it had to end at some point, huh?

Only so much can go to her chest after all.

With a soft hum, I take a once over the apartment, still getting used to the new layout.

While my house outside Kuoh is of the more traditional style, this place is more modern luxury, while still retaining a dash of some old Japanese aesthetic.

Kuroka picked the place out herself, and I will once again admit to her having some taste.

Just that, some.

It's late evening out, I'm full, Kuroka's full. I think it's about time I put the cat to sleep and find a place to train.

I would just have Kuroka teleport me back to my estates dojo, but well, already know why that isn't happening.

Tomorrow, I need to start getting into the habit of dispelling and remaking my clone and have Kuroka teleport them back.

Gently now, I move Kuroka's head off my lap, drawing a whining mewl from her that sounds way more cute than it should.

I pick her up, and carry her off to the bed, leaving her there all nice and tucked in, before heading to the living area.

Once there, I get the idea to try training my Senjutsu a bit, since I figure it may be just a tad bit important here, you know?

I couldn't sense anyone following us the whole day, I assume Kuroka could, but didn't care because they weren't going to try anything.

Maybe they were using their own Senjutsu to mask their presence even harder, but still, it's a weakness I need to see about overcoming.

And until I find an open enough free space that's durable enough to handle mountain-busting level attacks at minimum, harder training regimens might be off the table for right now.

Or until I can teleport back to the estate, but it would probably be better to just find a place here.

It's as I'm moving the furniture around to clear out a mediation space that I finally hear what I've been waiting to hear.

A phone call.

From guess who~?

With a hum, I answer the call.

"Hello"

"Noooriii!" Uzume, on the other end, interrupts with a long groaning whine.

Damn, she sounds out of it.

"Yes?" I affirm soundly, "It is indeed me, Uzume, what's up?"

"What's up? What's up!?" Uzume parrots, almost maniacally, "Everything's up, down, twisted, and sideways! Every time I think I'm done, something new gets added or changed! Things are constantly shifting! I haven't slept inawhile!" She full-on rants, and I blink, mouth half open trying to think of something to say.

"Whathappened?" I settle on, tentatively.

Uzume sighs loudly, "Ama happened. And the Devils didn't feel like stopping her."

"Specifically." I stress in response.

A moment of silence passes, before Uzume just says, "The Three Factions became Two."

I stare out the window at that.

Well. Shit.

"Uzume?" I start, simply.

I can almost feel her blink at my tone, "Yeah?"

"Come on back," I tell her, and before she can interrupt, I add, "I'll send you the address for our place in Kyoto, it's where we're at now, okay? You've got enough for now, I'm guessing. So get on back."

"B-But"

"No buts." I shut her down, "Come on back, alright?"

"I" Uzume stifles a sigh, "Okay. I'll see you soon, Nori"

I hum in acknowledgment, "Good, see you soon."

And with that, I hang up the phone, text her the address, and throw it on the table.

With a deep, anguish-filled sigh, I push the furniture back into place.

I'm no psychic, but I get the feeling I'm going to need it.

It took shockingly little time before I could sense her incoming, her Holy Spirit Power even felt sad and spent.

As soon as she appeared, I was at the door. Before she even got a chance to open it, thankfully.

Because what greeted me wasn't my very tired maid, but a stack of boxes hiding said maid.

"Mmmm!" She mumbles behind it all, "Hi"

"Hi?" I look over the stack of boxes, then blink and tilt my head slightly, seeing even more around her. "Need a hand there?" I tentatively ask.

"Please." She breathes out softly, nigh brokenly.

Damn girl

Gingerly, I take what she's holding, and set it down next to the entrance, so I can finally see her.

She refuses to meet my gaze, and the new bags under her eyes practically have bags themselves.

With a huff, I go straight up to her.

"Huh?" She perks up as I approach, "What areEEP!" Then full-on squeaks as I pick her up, princess-style!

"H-Huh!? Nori! N-Nori!? Why are you-"

"Shush," I quietly silence her, "you need rest, and you're getting it."

I walk straight over to the couch and sit down, laying her head in my lap.

Her confusion is very much palpable as I do, but she starts humming softly into my leg as I pet her hair regardless.

"B-But Ididn't" she weakly tries, I think, to shame herself, but she trails off tiredly before she can say it.

Still, I'll take a guess.

"You got enough for now," I mutter softly down to her, "you did real good, you deserve a break, okay?"

"O-Okay" And just like that, poor girls out like a light.

Damn.

Tomorrow, we may need to talk about not working yourself to death.

Granted. Judging by where we are, I should have seen this coming, so I guess that's on me.

With a thought and a hand seal, I create a few clones that head off silently to go bring everything Uzume had in.

And then, of course, start speeding reading with the eyes activated.

I assigned one clone, specifically, to look over what would be the results of the Juggernaut Drive talks.

That takes precedence, of course, I needed to know what the fuck happened there yesterday.

Quietly, I pet Uzume's rather luscious purple hair as my clones get to work.

The only time I deviate from this action is when the clone assigned to the aforementioned task pops, and I flinch.

Huh. The Grigori justdoesn't exist anymore.

Also, the Grigori was shockingly small, like, damn.

Okay, where to start?

Leadership is a good one.

Azazel himself was chased out of the Grand Ise Shrine, where the talks took place, by Serafall after they were done.

Serafall had made an ice shiv, and was chasing the Fallen down threatening to, 'put some ice in his eye'.

Yeah, that sounds about right.

No idea if she caught him though.

Knowing Azazel, he probably pulled out some tool or whatnot that let him escape.

Beyond him, Shemhazai left to go live with his Devil wife and start a family proper.

Good for him, the poor guy deserves to live happily after all the shit Azazel made him do.

Baraqiel and Penemue just straight-up vanished. Odd. I kind of expected Baraqiel to join up with the Devils to try and get closer to his daughter.

Armaros, the now Head Researcher of Anti-Magic, took his subordinates and joined the Magicians.

Sahariel, the now Head Researcher of theMoon? Took his subordinates and went to Romania.

Huh. Well. At least that fits, I suppose.

The list continues, on and on like that, for several researchers and executives.

Most just ended up leaving and going off where they can continue their research and business ventures.

Speaking of, Tamiel, the Head of the Business Department, took what was left of Grigori businesses, real estate, shipping, and so on, and formed 'The Watchers Conglomerate'.

A large world-spanning corporation, that has its toes in a little of everything. Neat.

The Nephilim Institutes across the world were handed off to associated Factions in the region like the Institute here in Japan being handed off to the Shinto.

Ah, and that's not the only thing!

Several Grigori Teams were handed over to other Factions.

Well, they were given the choice to either freelance or join up, and most did.

All of these teams are squads of Sacred Gear-wielding humans, the only one I recognize being Team Slash/Dog, who did join the Shinto officially.

Double neat.

Accordingly, businesses and other ventures were handed over to other Factions, and seeing that list almost made me snort.

All the Grigori's stuff in Japan was handed over to Inari, even the stupid shit like the 'Oppai Clubs' I vaguely recall from canon.

The full list is ridiculous, I know she's already busy, butdamn.

I wonder if there's a way to help her out with this workload. Uzume is not the only one working herself down.

Moving on. I do snort lightly at the next bit.

Kokabiel, he's gon dun a thing, of course.

See, most of the Grigori's stuff in the Underworld was handed off to the Devils.

I think the idea was, to have the remaining Full, Half, and Quarter Fallen population in the Underworld follow Shemhazai, and try to integrate.

But of course, everyone knows how the Devils treat their Half Breeds and Reincarnated Devils.

I'm not even the slightest bit shocked to find that, once the Shinto Shinigami pulled out and handed control of the Headquarters to the Devils, Kokabiel raised a ruckus and led a massive uprising personally.

I'll be honest here, Kokabiel, you crazy mad fuck, I don't like you. But damn do you have balls of brass.

Man supposedly tried to ambush Falbium, nearly succeeded, but got countered by the Satan before fleeing with a drove of supporters.

Kokabiel hasn't officially said anything, but the consensus is that there are two 'Grigori' now.

One was led by Kokabiel, and the other trying to get started with whoever was left under Shemhazai.

Who really would rather not do that shit, turns out, but the Devil Government is pushing for it.

Neither have names yet, unfortunately.

I can already tell, just from a bit of light reading, that Kokabiel is trying to catch that Fallen 'spirit of rebellion' and start up some sort of manic combination of a civil war amongst the Fallen, and straight war against the Devils.

Luckily, the Devils sealed away the Fallen's point of access to Earth, which means for now, Kokabiel's Rebellion is stuck down there.

Which means I probably don't have to worry about him for a little while.

Fuckthat's a lot of stuff. And that's not even everything. Just the more important bits.

Of course, that's when my other clones decide to pop, and I grab my now buzzing head with a huff.

Those two were tasked with reading about the Clans and the Yokai.

And I think I know who I want to visit first now.

No, who I need to visit first.

The Five Principal Clans.

Supposedly, over the years, they've gotten better.

Remembering the events of Team Slash/Dog, I suppose it only makes sense.

But progress is slow, even with the new heads and heirs working on it.

Beyond that though? The Clans are the most knowledgeable regarding Japan's factions, supernatural beings, and their abilities.

Very interesting indeed.

Now, how does one go about setting up a meeting with them?

Chapter 16

With a light hum, I walk through the streets of Kyoto, bathed in the early morning light.

Clear skies today, just the right amount of breeze.

You know what that means?

Perfect day to ambush one of the Five Principal Clans!

Well, I say ambush, but all I'm going to do is walk up to their compound and knock on the door.

Of course, I came prepared! Brought my sword hidden in a shinai bag, just in case.

After all, I recall Uzume mentioned that my Dad met these guys before, and the way it was framed, I don't exactly think that meeting ended joyously.

I would have brought Uzume or Kuroka along with me, but Uzume is still knocked the fuck out.

And bringing Kuroka is just asking to get my fade run on, that's like double heretical to them!

Although, maybe I could make it only heretical to them if I could find a way to turn Kuroka back from being a Devil.

Unreincarnate her, is that the term?

Hmm. That's an idea. Still wouldn't stop them from being dicks about her being a Yokai, but that's what my sword is for if they push it, no?

Not like I actually give a damn what they think in the first place, just didn't think bringing her would be a good first impression.

But, beyond that, turning Kuroka back into a pure Yokai might help get the Underworld off her ass, too.

An interesting idea, though admittedly I have no fucking clue how I'd go about it.

Need to talk with her about that once I get back.

Also, going to have to talk about finally revealing herself to Koneko. Since I finally got her to open up, that time is approaching as well.

Shaking off those thoughts, I continue my lackadaisical walk across Kyoto.

Specifically, I'm making sure to head to the South Side of Kyoto.

Because that is where the Himejima Clan compound is located.

Unfortunately, I can't ambush all the Clans at once, as each clan makes a specific 'direction' in the city their territory, so to speak.

The Himejima Clan of the Southern Guardian, Vermillion Bird.

The Kushihashi Clan of the Eastern Guardian, Azure Dragon.

The Doumon Clan of the Northern Guardian, Black Tortoise.

The Shinra Clan of the Western Guardian, White Tiger.

And lastly, but certainly not least, the Nakiri Clan of the Center Guardian, Yellow Dragon.

Technically speaking, when the Five Clans need to act as one, it's the Nakiri who usually represent them, but otherwise, each clan may as well be a separate entity.

With distinct traditions, worship of specific gods, training regimes, and so forth.

Though they are still bound by their shared exalting of the Shinto Gods beyond all others, of course.

If I wanted to be practical about who I choose to visit, the best choice would probably be Nakiri.

Not only do they tend to represent the Clans as a whole, but they are also the laxest traditionally, shockingly enough.

It's such a small difference when spoken, but the Nakiri teach and practice Onmyoudou, Shinto, and Shugendou Magics.

Onmyoudou also has stuff related to Buddhist and Taoist practices, so they branch out quite a bit!

Compare that to say, the Himejima, who would throw you out for practicing just Buddhist Magic.

Hell, from what Uzume gathered, the Nakiri still have ties to the Bureau of Onmy despite the fact the other Clans cut them out when the Imperial Family stopped exerting its influence over them.

Wild.

With all that being said, it's actually why I decided against going there, at least right this second.

The Nakiri are slowly on their way to growing out of the rest of Clans hardline traditional bullshit.

The new head, the current host of the Yellow Dragon, is a young but good guy. If I recall correctly, he wanted to make some vampire girl one of his wives.

A vampire.

The balls on that kid.

Yeah, they'll be fine.

It's the Himejima Clan I'm most worried about.

They are the most hardline traditionalists in the Clans. Even with the current Suzaku heading them the way she is, clan structures tend to favor the 'wisdom' and 'guidance' of the elders.

The people who hold significant influence in the Clan, and who I have no doubt are pushing back hard against the direction Suzaku wants to take the Clan in.

And Suzaku's taking over of the Clan only happened very recently, as in only within the last few years or so.

The former head, a stubborn old fuck by the name of Suou Himejima, was only ousted from the position after his deal with the Gremory Family came out over Akeno, and his poor handling of the Utsesumi Agency four years ago.

Even then, he kept his position for another year, and past that he's still alive, still an elder, still in a position of power.

Completely wild to me.

And what with this whole thing with the Grigori being disbanded, and Team Slash/Dog being fully incorporated under the Shinto banner, I can only assume the members of the Clan have someopinions.

Which Suzaku has to deal with. All at the same time.

Poor girl.

And, not going to lie, but I do feel slightly responsible for the stress likely thrown upon her.

I figure if, beyond everything else I set out to do here, I could also help her out.

That would be nice.

And no. Not doing this because her nickname may as well be Better Akeno. She already has a thing for Tobio, and I'm not into NTR.

Even if that dark, devilish voice in the back of my head says Tobio doesn't return her feelings, that's incomplete information.

It's been four years since the events of those Light Novels. I seriously doubt his relationships are that stagnant.

Although

She also said she was going to marry him back then, and from what I've heard and what Uzume gathered, she is still single, supposedly.

I nearly stopped walking and slapped myself in the middle of the street at that thought.

No. No NTR. Bad Nori.

But if

No. Keep walking. She's hot, but you still don't know her personally.

No harem unless Kuroka approves, and you, you know, catch feelings?

By the way, another thing I need to talk to Kuroka about still, damn. Keep forgetting to bring that stuff up.

Not that I think she'd have a problem with it.

Something something, 'sister wives' I bet.

Okay, now I'm just rambling about shit in my head.

Time to pick up the pace!

Taking a quick look around, I find no one close enough or looking in my general direction, and so I step into action.

Kicking off the ground at speeds a normal human would think I simply vanished, I launch myself up into the air.

My halos flash into place behind me as my upward momentum halts, and I find myself floating in the sky, eyes narrowed and looking toward my target destination.

I don't know exactly where the Himejima Clan Compound is located, but I have a general idea.

The Clans don't exactly hide away in some pocket or alternate dimension, like the Yokai City Urakyoto or what I presume the Kami Shinkai is, but that doesn't mean they are broadcasting their existence either.

With a tentative sigh, I bask in the nice weather for one more moment before beginning my search.

Steadily, I float through the sky, and for my first stop?

The Goknomiya Shrine.

See, each Directional Guardian is supposed to have a specific temple in Kyoto dedicated to it, headed by their Clan of course.

The Goknomiya Shrine isn't the Vermillion Bird's Temple, not truly, the original one was abandoned by the Himejima because they are Shinto hardasses and refused to share with Buddhists.

Regardless, this particular shrine is the one the Himejima looks after in the Vermillion Bird's name, so it only makes sense to start there.

It's not too far from where we were yesterday, near Inari's Head Shrine.

It's also a shrine dedicated to giving blessings related to childbirth.

Kuroka must never find out this place exists.

Making a point to fly there, over the Torii Gate at its entrance to not accidentally pass into another Shinkai.

So imagine my shock as I press against something regardless.

And slowly pass through a different film, a different type of barrier.

This one felt like passing through a shield made of innumerable small rocks or chips, I could feel them part around me as I floated on through, and popped out the other side.

I blink as I stare down at the Shrine below.

Not because there's anything wrong with the shrine, no, the woodcarving dotting the structure is just as magnificent as I had heard.

Instead, it's the several dozen people staring and blinking right back at me.

And most of them are wearing what I thought is, not going to lie, Klan outfits.

Luckily, I also quickly caught the differencesbut still. The hats look very similar with those long white robes.

That similarity is going to stick with me for a bit now.

Thank fuck I'm not allowed to ruminate on those thoughts.

All of a sudden, several of these guys practically leap forward onto their knees, slamming their heads to the ground, all facing me.

"Oh divine exalted Kami, please save us!" They all collectively shout to the highest of Heavens.

I merely stare at them, schooling my expression from my knee-jerk reaction of, 'the fuck?'.

What the hell did I just float into this time!?

Ah. Right.

Anime bullshit.

I floated down from the sky, and almost as soon as my feet touched the ground everyone started talking at once.

It was all a jumbled mess. The only thing I could get was that the compound was being attacked bysomething.

I haven't even said a word, these guys just started going on, and on

"Enough!" I call out, my voice rumbling above the crowd. For effect, I let a splinter of my Holy Spirit Power out as I speak.

I knew they both heard and felt me, as they all clamped their mouths shut and stood straight and still.

"Better." I huff out.

These people think I'm a Kami, which isfair. They probably don't know the exact details of my birth.

Well. If they expect a Kami, I have no reason not to give them one, I suppose.

I eye the gathered crowd of Shinto Mystics, slowly dragging my gaze across them, drinking in their appearances.

My eyes stop as they land on someone who looks significantly fancier than the rest, gold and red cloth interlaced with the pure white that most are wearing.

I point to him, "You." He flinched and stood straighter, somehow. "Tell me what's going on, succinctly."

"Yes, my L-Lord!" He stutters quickly, before taking a deep breath, and beginning, "It's started ever since Lady Suzaku left on business a couple of days ago! A Fallen Angel, one of those scum," he bit out with hate, "attacked the Clan Compound, killing a select few and injuring badly any who tried to stop him."

Lady Suzaku? Ah, so these are Himejima Clan members then? Good.

"Ever since then, he'd return every night, at a very specific time, and repeat the process. He's been terrorizing us for days!"

He practically throws himself at my feet, grabbing my pants leg as he looks up at me in sheer unbridled desperation.

"Please Lord, save us! There's no way a mere 10-winged bastard crow could fight someone who killed a Heavenly Dragon! Please!"

I cringe internally at that.

That Juggernaut Drive was nowhere near Ddraig's true power, I would have fled otherwise, but I guess on a screen it is kind of hard to tell, huh?

Honestly, I'm more surprised these guys have phones.

Wait.

10-winged Fallen?

Tentatively, I ask, "Who has the Fallen mainly been targeting?"

The mystic gives a sad sigh, "Mostly our elders, and their followersjust last night, the crow tried to kill our former head! We barely managed to sneak him out!"

My eyebrow twitched at that.

How unfortunate.

"And did the Fallen use any sort of special powers beyond their light?" I follow up.

The mystic thinks for a moment more, before shaking his head, "No Lord, I don't believe so."

Huh. Really?

Well, that would have been an easy way to confirm my suspicions.

It would make sense for this to be Baraqiel exacting revenge for his wife and daughter, Holy Lightning would be an easy way to confirm it.

The targets match his motive if it is him but without exact proof, I can't say for certain.

Would certainly explain where he went after Grigori got disbanded.

"Hmm," I hum out, "I'lllook into it." I decide, prompting the guy to utter rapid thanks into the side of my leg.

And for a chorus of relieved sighs and thankfully prayers to be uttered around me.

Meanwhile, I'm conflicted.

I don't give much of a shit for these Clan Elders, for obvious reasons, all truth be told.

And it doesn't seem like whoever's attacking them is trying to destroy the clan.

If they did, they would have just killed everyone.

No, it's just the elders and their supporters, or at least so this one guy claims.

"Please let go of my legs." I sigh out, prompting the mystic to scramble back, rapidly apologizing.

I ignored him, and pressed on, "The elders, I presume they all were evacuated, yes?"

At that, he grimaced, "Er, wellNo. They refused to be moved from their ancestral home," the mystic sighed, "I admire their courage, Lord Kami, but their lack of life preservation makes my job suffering."

Oh damn. Poor guy.

Wait.

"So, your former head, he?"

He nods, solemnly, "Yes. Moved right back in after we pulled him out. He refused to move elsewhere."

Fucking hilarious.

Still. Poor guy.

"Point me in the direction of the Clan Compound, and I'll check it out." I sigh, a plan already forming to ambush this guy during his timed attacks.

The mystic perked up, "Ah, of course! Right! Ah, by the way, Lord Kami, if you find anyone injuredplease bring them here as soon as you can, the healing springs will hasten their recovery."

Oh yeah, this place also has those as well. Neat.

I'll make a note of that just in case I need to visit. Probably won't need to because I have a healing factor, but who knows?

Ah. One more thing!

"By the way, my name" I trail off in thought.

What name do I use for this? My Kami name would fit more with the whole godly image, but my real name is still my real name.

"Noriaki." I decided, "Just call me Noriaki, or Kusanagi if you must be so formal."

"Right, Lord Kusanagi!" He bows to me in response.

Huh. You know, you'd think I'd start feeling off about being called 'Lord' this, and that, and such.

But I don't dislike it.

In fact, I kind of like it.

That sounds like something an upcoming anime villain would say, isn't it?

But fuck it. It sounds good to me.

Shortly thereafter, the mystic points me in the direction of the compound.

It is at the southern tip of Kyoto, right at the border so to speak.

Makes sense, feel stupid for not thinking of it sooner.

I asked a few other questions, like the exact time when the attacks happened, who in totality has been killed and injured, and so forth.

Several of the mystics present started praying to me specifically, right as I was leaving.

It was strange because I could feel it, but not hear what they were praying for exactly.

The act made the miniature sun in my chest throb, it didn't grow stronger or anything, at least I couldn't notice anything, but it did feel weird.

Is there a handbook or instruction manual for Kami? Or is my existence just that different that there isn't one?

Joy.

With that cheery thought, and a sigh as the sun in my chest throbs more, I leave several praying mystics behind, and fly off towards the Himejima Clan Compound.

~ A New Sun ~

The Vermillion Bird represents fire. The midday. Summer. The color red.

Burning passion for life, when it thrives most under my mother's sun.

And yet, as I float before the crimson gates of the clan compound, the atmosphere, the weather?

It all feels like shit.

Getting here, once I knew exactly where it was, wasn't difficult.

The only barriers around this place were the ones put up to keep mundane humans out.

If there were any protective barriers, they are surely long gone now.

The sun still easily breaks through into this place, but it feels like it's filtered through a gloomy film.

This weakened light is beaten down upon a sprawling but empty compound, dotted with crimson buildings of old Japanese architecture for as far as the eyes can see.

The grass, trees, and flowers seem to be in a perpetual state of full summer bloom, filling the gardens bountifully.

And yet, beyond all that, the few trashed buildings that look like they just exploded make the place seem all the more desolate.

Nearly haunting.

I float down to the gate doors, embroidered with the Symbol of the Vermillion Bird, and easily push them open.

No guards, no defenses.

The place feels like a ghost town, but with my meager sensing abilities, I know there are people here, albeit few.

With a deep sigh, I land on the ground lightly and start walking.

But it's a slow, thoughtful walk. Towards the largest, grandest building in the compound.

At the southern end of the compound, I can see it, even from here. It looks almost like a shrine, it's where I can feel those life signatures, albeit barely.

I'm taking my time, partly because I'm not too sure what I want to do here.

Do I just ignore the people there, wait for night to fall, and for the Fallen to arrive?

Or do I go in, and have a chat while I wait?

I'll be honest, I get the feeling if I do go in, I'll do something stupid. Incredibly stupid.

Like, kill the fuckers in there myself levels of stupid.

But a part of me can't help but think, why?

Why be such a trash human being that you'd throw out your sister? Chase and try and murder a child? After you just killed the child's mother

I stopped walking, and released a deep breath, pulling back my raging power, which was leaving melted stone steps in my wake as I walked.

I get the intense feeling I won't like the answer.

But that isn't how I wanted my first meeting with the Clan to go.

I doubt Suzaku would like that all too much, even if it would ultimately be a favor to her.

And yet.

My feet pick up their pace, heading toward the building once more.

My father came here once, didn't he?

He came to all the clans, once.

I don't know what he did.

But whatever he did, didn't work.

Canon still occurred. Whatever he did, didn't stick.

The Utsusemi Agency was still formed, as the Clan threw out their members in droves.

Be blessed with a different skill? Learn a different magic?

Tossed.

Be born with a special tool randomly?

Banished.

A child lost their mother and a family, no several families were destroyed. Continued to be.

And for what? For him to get jumped by a bunch of Fallen and Devils?

For everything he did to mean nothing!?

I didn't realize I had practically run to my destination until I reached it, my hands pushing open the double doors with ease.

Ah.

I finally realized something.

That's why when Uzume mentioned him some time ago, what he was doing, was meant to do, I feltoff.

Pissed off, almost.

What was his name, again?

I do a quick search through my memory.

Kunihito.

Well, Dad.

I don't know much about you, I was never told much.

And I didn't ask, either.

That's my fault, I suppose. Sorry.

But, I guess I'm about to find out, huh?

If you're watching me right now, give me the strength to not chop this idiot's head off the moment he speaks, alright?

Being as close as I am now, sensing where everyone was in this building was fairly easy.

My skill wasn't great, differentiating lives is something typically out of my reach for now, but you don't need to be a master to find an old soul.

An old soul, wrapped up in a layer of fire. The Shinto God of Fire's blessing.

Kagutsuchi's blessing.

I recognized it almost immediately for what it was as soon as I felt it.

And I frown as I feel how fake it is.

Don't get me wrong, it's still a genuine blessing from a Kami, I know that.

But it feels artificial. Somehow.

I don't know how to describe it perfectly. I've never even come across something like this before.

Vaguely, I recognize that those mystics from before likely had something similar, but they were weak enough, and my sensing ability was not strong enough, to pick up on it.

I shake those thoughts out of my head.

More pressing matters to attend to.

As I approach the location where I sense the old man, aptly in the building's southernmost chamber, I can feel the other life signatures fan out around the building.

I don't hear, or even see anyone else, but others are certainly around.

Still, I can tell they aren't that strong, compared to the old man anyway. If they try to ambush me, it won't turn out well for them.

Steadying myself and slowing my stride to something less stomping, I reach a set of magnificent doors, the old soul sitting just beyond.

I put my hand against the wood, and take a deep breath.

I'm not too sure what kind of man I expect to see on the other side.

But in the end, I don't think it truly matters.

I push open the doors and gingerly step in, my expression preemptively steeling itself.

I'm not shocked to find the ancient old man sitting there, already facing my direction.

Slumped forward slightly in his chair, sitting in an open-air chamber with no windows or even walls, merely red cloth curtains flowing gently in the wind.

I'm sure the place would look positively dazzling, if whatever spell over this place hadn't ruined the general atmosphere.

The old man sat at a nice redwood table, with an extra chair on the other end opposite to him.

A steaming teapot with cups is the only thing that sits on the table.

"Suou Himejima." I began, neutrally.

He gave me a bemused, once over. "...Arahitogami. Of our Lady Amaterasu Okami, no doubt. I never thought, in my old age, that I'd ever see one of you."

I blink but am not particularly surprised he knows what I am.

It would be disingenuous to call this man not learned. Cruel, for what he's done, sure.

But when you're in his position for so long, you likely pick up a lot regardless.

"I would have your proper name, boy. Then we can chat." He somehow manages to snort out softly.

I bite back an immediate snarky response, and instead state the truth, "Noriaki Kusanagi." I grit out.

He raises an aged eyebrow at that, "NotNorihito? Huh. Curious."

Before he can add something else, I take a seat in the free chair and glare at him.

"But still, ever like your Father, aren't you?" He waves off, "Maybe not in looks, but in temperament. He came here once, marched in through the gates, didn't take no for an answer, didn't grant any due respect, didn't say his name until the end, right before he left."

"With all due respect," I say with the kindest smile, "respect isn't granted freely, but earned."

The old man merely scoffs at that. "A principle to hold, I suppose. Well" the man's gaze turns and looks outside as he trails off for a second.

"We all, each of the Clans, and likely the Yokai as well, expected you to show up eventually." He muses, "Although I must admit, I can't tell if it's a curse or blessing, that you arrived here when you did."

"I am aware of your little Fallen problem," I state, "though I'm unsure whether or not to make it my problem as well."

"I figured as much."

He paused, reached out, and took his teacup from the table, taking a ginger sip before continuing, "Then what did you come here for? Although, I suspect I already know your reasoning."

Well. I came here, broadly, for information on Japan as a whole.

But seeing as the Clans and maybe the Youkai are expecting me for some reason, I should have bigger questions.

And yet, for this man in particular, I can only think back to my original thoughts coming here.

"Why." I utter, nearly silent as a breeze.

The old man stops midway through his next sip, and stares at me, gently lowering his cup.

"Ibeg your pardon?" He tentatively responds, his befuddlement easy to feel.

"Why send your sister away?" He flinches at that, "Why kill your own? Hunt your own? Banish your own?" I hammer in, each question like a nail driven into his gut.

Flinch after flinch.

"I'm not sure what my Father came here to do exactly, said here, tried to do. But clearly?" I wave my hand to the outside, to the empty haunting compound, "It didn't work. So. Why?"

It was a strange thing, watching the sheer pain and sadness blooming in those old eyes.

And feeling no sympathy at all for the man.

"It istradition," the old man began, pained, "tradition that has been carried on for over a thousand years. All Clans follow it, and all Clans maintain it, in some form. For the Himejima?"

He holds a hand out to the side, a small ball of flame appearing in his hand.

"No Magic, beyond that granted by our gods. No tools of a pagan god, no other powers." He snuffs out the flame by squashing it between his fingers, "We were blessed with these gifts. We need no other, to gather otherwise would be" he grimaces, "heretical, to our patron gods."

Ironic. Considering who he's talking to.

"And yet, when my Father came to you, with my Mother's blessing, and said otherwise?" I'll trail the question off to him.

He snorted at that, "He implied such a thing, that what we were doing was wrong," he stressed, "but the offer he gave to fix it? To swear fealty to him and serve directly under him and the gods once more? Well. It didn't fix anything, in the end. Didn't even get a chance to tear down our traditions, before heyou know."

"I am aware." I huff, "But that's it, then?"

"Hmm?" He hummed out, befuddled once more.

"You did all of that because of tradition?" I elaborate, "That's it?"

The man didn't meet my gaze, instead focused purely on the teacup in his hands.

"Without our tradition, we are nothing." He stated solemnly.

"With your tradition, you lost family." I refute right back.

The old man cringed and gave a long sad sigh, pointedly not responding to that.

"You know," I began, dully, "the mystics over at the Goknomiya Shrine seem to think you're staying here out of stubbornness and tradition, but that's not it, is it?"

The old man looks further down.

When I came here, I didn't know exactly what to expect from this old man.

"You're here because you feel like you owe the Fallen attacking here something, right?"

Maybe somewhere, I expected the stereotypical angry hardline traditionalist.

One of the ones with a ten-meter-long stick up their ass, who can't get their head out the past.

But instead, as this old man finally looks up at me, eyes dull, dead, and broken, I know who I sit before.

A coward.

A coward who couldn't handle the weight of the duty his station brought.

Who knew, knew, what he was doing was wrong but didn't dare to stand up and say no!

Because of tradition. Because old men older than him would disagree.

What a fucked up situation.

"Yes." The old man murmured, "I am sure you're aware, at least somewhat, but I took the one who he loved away. Tried taking his daughter away too. Now that that man is free of his duty, he has nothing left but revenge I suppose."

So it is Baraqiel.

And that's a lie. He still has a daughter to make amends with.

"So you're offering yourself up?"

He nods, "I managed to convince the other elders to go to the Five Clans Inner Sanctuary and seek refuge there. I, and the most stubborn of brats, are all that remain."

I hum at that. "I'm shocked that Suzaku hasn't come back to fix this mess herself yet."

"Hah!" The old man chortles, "Are you kidding? This can only help strengthen her position. It wouldn't shock me if she was intentionally dragging her feet on getting back. Beyond that, she probably still holds a grudge against me specifically!" He takes another much longer sip this time.

I tilt my head. She would? Why?

"Ah," he waves me off, "Some four years ago, I had a marriage interview with the brat she wanted to marry. I shot it down after."

Oh. That's what happened with Tobio and Suzaku's marriage here, huh?

"What happened?" I asked quizzically.

"The boy didn't love her back." He shrugged.

I winced at that.

Sounds like Tobio alright.

Does that mean they've been doing harem shenanigans for the past four years?

Damn.

Finishing his tea, the old man placed his cup back on the counter and sighed.

"Well, boy? What are you going to do now? I don't presume you harbor any notion of saving me," He sighs out, "so I'm dead either way. I suppose the question is, by your hand? Or the Fallen?"

He suddenly chuckles mirthlessly, "Back in the day, when your father did show up, he chopped off the heads of several elders and nearly took the necks of three of the heads for what they did. So here's a better question, I suppose."

He looks directly at me, "Are you going to do what your father did, all those years ago?"

"No." Was my automatic reaction and reply, "I want to do better."

The old man snorted, and lowered his head, "Good answer, Lord Kusanagi."

My hand was on my back before I even realized what I was doing.

Crimson flames roared forth, torching the fiber of my bag, my hand cleanly sliding through the ashes and grasping the hilt of my sword.

In one single moment, when the flames stopped burning, and my blade left its sheath, there was silence.

Until the dull thud of a headless body hitting the floor tarnished it.

The doors behind me exploded.

I turned slightly, just enough to see more of those Shinto mystics, each holding numerous talismans in their hands.

Before they could utter a sound, my chest pounded, and a wave of Holy Spirit Power crashed into their senses, halting their movements and words in equal measure.

Light bloomed in the chamber, as my halos came into being, and I watched half-lidded as they all seemed to stiffen.

"Clean this up." I commanded them, dryly, waving at the body, "Give him a proper burial, as expected for this Clan."

A clean death, a clean grave.

I'll give him that much at least.

The mystics, after a moment of staring at me dumbly, hurriedly nodded.

"When that's done, show me to your training grounds, and leave. I have some steam I need to work off, and a match to prepare for later." I added simply.

Baraqiel. I hope you're ready. I'm about to beat the coward out of you and make you talk to your damn daughter already.

Instead of doing all this!

Chapter 17

I didn't stop swinging my sword until night fell.

I knew that logically, I should be sitting down, meditating, and advancing my Senjutsu.

But I just wasn't in the mood for it.

TooI wouldn't call it pissed off.

Moody, maybe?

Done.

Yeah, that fits.

I was too done to sit around and take in the world's ki at the moment.

So, I spent the entire beating up myself, several times over, as I tried to get down and incorporate the Flower and Mist Breathing forms into my repertoire.

Due to me no longer sending three clones to the Academy, only keeping one at Kuoh now, I could summon somewhere around six for the practice.

An additional help was only needing to push for two rather than four, which means I could assign three clones to each and have them go at me.

Pop them, reform them with newly found insight, and repeat.

Due to Flower and Mist being derivatives of Water and Wind respectively, I had a pretty decent baseline.

The problem that I didn't consider until trying to learn them is just how much more highly specialized the forms were.

Still, with my rather sour mood being hell-bent on slicing something, and my clones sharing the sentiment, I think I got a good grasp on the basics.

Nowhere near enough to roll the forms' techniques into my fighting style, yet.

Give it a week or two more, and I think I could do it.

Then, I need to focus fully on upgrading from the Dance to Sun Breathing proper.

That should complete my swordsmanship unless I can think of something else to add later.

Now then.

I lay in a crater of my design, inside the confines of one of the Himejima Clan Training Halls.

The place looks a lot like the dojo on my estate if I'm being honest, just with a lot fewer red and bird symbols everywhere.

Oh! Also, this place is far less durable than my own.

Seriously, I created this crater when I kicked off the ground.

Wasn't even a particularly strong kickoff.

To say the rest of the Training Hall is faring any better would be a bold-faced lie.

So, yeah, the rest of the hall is just fine.

Just like the other, uh, seven I believe there are?

Were. There were seven.

I am very done, alright? Not my fault their training halls are made out of cardboard!

Regardless, none of that matters, as for this one moment, dull of action and anything to do, I turn to what all young adults my age do at these times.

Lay on the ground with my phone in one hand, and a cup of tea in the other.

Yes, I raided their storeroom.

Also yes, they didn't have any soda, and I'm contemplating mass murder.

I texted Kuroka and told her what was going on.

She thanked me for telling her ahead of time what was going on and told me I could handle a ten-winged Fallen Angel.

She confirmed something I wasn't too sure of myself, that the Fallen are weaker than their pure counterparts, even if their number of wings is the same.

An Angel with ten wings can supposedly body a normal ten-winged Fallen, even beat down a twelve-winged Fallen unless it's Azazel.

This just makes me wonder how the hell the Grigori only just recently got torn apart, if true.

Not like Kuroka has any reason to lie about any of that.

She also sent me good luck nudes.

Which shockingly didn't replace my old mood, just added on top of it.

Fuck.

Beyond chit-chatting with my kitty, I also finally got around to combing through the internet about my appearance.

And shitposting.

So much shitposting.

None of it helped me feel better, but fuck if it wasn't fun.

Generally speaking, general reactions to its appearance were, 'Holy fuck. How did this guy get conceived', and memes.

Some motherfucker made a gif of that part where the dragon blew off my clothes with an aura blast and sent my body ragdolling through the air.

Made that shit my profile picture.

What? It does look pretty damn funny if you zoom in on it hard enough.

You can make anything look funny if you zoom in enough or pause at specific frames.

Glad to see the internet hasn't changed, no matter the universe.

Or at least, that's the feeling I got while reading through

With one last sip to finish my cup of, admittedly pretty damn good tea, I set the now useless cup down with a pleasant sigh.

Just on time too.

It's time.

Supposedly, every night, well past midnight.

A little over two, right on the dot.

Minutes ago, the night sky was like that of a dull summer night. Warm, clear, and sparkling with stars.

But now?

Gray storm clouds seem to spiral into existence, converging on the compound from all around, out of nowhere.

As a single life force, stronger yet darker than any I've felt so far, slips passed the border and onto the grounds.

Even so far away, I can feel it, feel him.

An old dark soul, rumbling like a distant storm.

It's Baraqiel. It has to be.

I sigh, shooting one last text to Kuroka simply stating that my fight is here, before setting my phone on silence and putting it away.

My halos flicker into existence as I float up, out of my crater, and casually open up the window.

I don't attempt to hide, there's no need.

I'm not going to assassinate the dumbass, beat the hell out of him if I have to, but not sneak attack him.

In fact.

I want him to come to me.

So, to announce my presence, I flare out my power like a beacon as I take to the sky.

The life force I felt had started moving toward the big building I was in earlier, but as soon as I flared my power, it stopped.

And started moving towards my location.

Albeit, at a much slower speed than when it was b-lining straight for the big building.

Even then, it didn't take long for him to get here.

He stopped a good bit away from me, yet even with the distance and darkness suffusing the area, I could still see him.

A tall, large man, with ten stormy black feathered wings, sprawled out behind him.

The rest of his body was clad in a rough and ragged dull tan cloak, from head to toe.

I couldn't see his face until he tentatively pulled back the hood and dropped it to his shoulders.

Exactly as I recalled him looking, if a bit gruffer than usual, Slicked back and down black hair, tanned skin, slick and spikey bear.

The Fallen simply stared at me, with his trademarked stoney face.

I'd say I couldn't read his expression, but he doesn't make an expression at all, so eh?

It doesn't take long for the meandering silence to be broken.

"Are you here to kill me?" Baraqiel intones before I open my mouth, gruffly.

"Maybe." I hum out, dryly, "But I don't truly plan to."

The man lets out a sigh, "Good. That's good. Then my quest-"

"Is done." I finished for him.

"Iwhat?" He grunts back lowly.

"Suou Himejima is dead," I state the facts, "I killed him myself earlier today."

Ah, there we go, his facial expression finally changed, his forehead creasing upwards as his eyebrows lifted slightly.

"No, I may not be here to kill you, but I suppose for you it might feel the same." I continued, "Your daughter"

His wings start sparking.

I smirk, "You're going to talk with her and stop killing old men. There are no more excuses anymore." I follow through, unperturbed.

For what feels like a good, long moment, he merely stares at me.

I see his hands tense and grip into fists, several times, rustling his cloak.

His jaw works itself like he's trying to think of something to say.

Finally, he settles on, "You know her?"

"A bit, not personally," I confirm, "but we're in the same class at school."

"I see," He grumbles, "yet you know of our story?"

"I did kill Suou, after all," I wave off, "probably would have killed the other elders too, just like you have been. Your situation isn't exactly unique, it's fucked, and neither one of you has been helping fix it."

"I" the man looks away with a huff, "this situation isn't yours to mediate on, boy."

"Ah! But it is!" I start floating toward him, "See, you got free from your responsibilities to the Grigori and the first thing you do is try to get a little revenge!"

"What of it?" He bites back.

"You didn't, oh, I don't know." I hum out, "Try and look for your daughter again, try and see your daughter again, try andoh, I don't fucking know? Try and comfort your daughter after she and the town she was living in nearly got blown to pieces?"

"That!" he rumbled out, his wings sparking slightly more, "She doesn't need me anymore. My organization nearly caused her and her new family's deaths," he ground out, "now, of all times, she probably wishes not to see me the most."

I snorted, "You're a crock of shit." I refute back.

To his positively dumbfounded look.

Now, I float right before him.

"You think she blames you? Specifically? I doubt that, and if she does, I'll slap that dumbassery right out of her head."

My Touki flares abruptly, my mark burns into existence on my face, and my eyes spin into their activated state.

My hand comes up, clad in my power, catching the longsword of golden light aimed at my neck.

The air cracks and roars as its movement is halted.

Baraqiel stares down at me, eyes now properly open with a mix of rage and surprise, his arms trembling with exertion as he still tries to make the blade carry through.

"Hmm?" I raise an eyebrow at him, "Someone is eager to protect someone from the littlest threats, huh?"

"You will not," he grinds out through gritted teeth, "lay a hand on my daughter."

I give him a toothy grin right back, "Well, someone has to be her Daddy if you aren't."

Hmm. You know.

Maybe I'm not the greatest choice for trying to talk down someone or de-escalate a situation.

But, at the same time.

Was this really going to turn out any other way, at least at first?

His longsword roars as golden thunder bursts into existence across the blade, coated with sparks of pure cyan light.

I let go, just in time, shooting backward as he completed his swing and filled the entire area I was in, from the sky to the ground, with a wall of Holy Lightning.

Chuckling, I reach to my back and draw my sword.

As the wall of lightning falls apart, I see Baraqiel standing there, now holding a second light-made longsword, both coated in Holy Lightning.

"Take it back." He states, coldly.

I smile, "For a man that's too much of a coward to face his daughter? For a man who was planning on ultimately dying here, in the end, being unable to face her?"

He flinched at that.

I figured, from the moment he started talking about how Akeno wouldn't want to see him.

What did he come here for, ultimately? It wasn't revenge.

It was to die.

Revenge was more like a cherry on top. He could finally end who tore apart his family, then he could get himself killed, and finally free Akeno of his existence.

Or something along those lines, I'm not in his hand, but something like it I bet.

He probably expected it to be Suzaku, in the end.

Unfortunately for him, I'm not going to let him take the coward's way out.

"No. Never." I conclude succinctly.

His face turned into a deep frown, "So be it," he mumbled, before slowly starting to float towards me, "then I shall make you."

His body blurred forward in a haze of coiling thunder.

My sword ignites, and I breathe, slashing up to meet both his descending swords.

Fire and lightning hiss and bash against each other, neither overcoming the other.

Midair, we push against each other, with him steadily yet slowly pushing me back.

I click my tongue and twist.

Hinokami Kagura

His eyebrows raise rapidly as fire erupts around my blade, swirling and devouring the meager amounts of lightning around his swords.

Burning Bones, Summer Sun.

My blade spirals out, flames booming with it.

Baraqiel quickly backpedals away from the raging blade and flames and is just as quick to move to his next attack.

Holding one sword out, I watch as it explodes with Holy Lightning, shifting into a lance larger than he is tall, made entirely out of his unique element.

Then, he throws it, the air cracking at the might of his toss.

I flow into the next stance quickly.

Flame

A flame-clad vertical stroke cuts the lance of lightning clean in half, directing its two smaller parts around and behind me.

Another explosion. Another crackling thunderous lance.

Dance.

A flame-clad horizontal stroke follows, and like the previous slash, sends the second lance around me just the same.

Four explosions, four thunderous crushes behind me, as I look up and see Baraqiel darting higher above.

Thunder rolls between palms facing each other, kept close between his palms.

Even though the crashing and cracking of lightning, I could hear it.

"Resound, Thunder."

Two words, uttered in the ozone-baked wind, as they ignite the heavens.

Baraqiel claps, and the sky shudders and booms with a mass of Holy Lightning, coming down in the form of several large thunderbolts.

I spiral to the ground, narrowly dodging the first one to fall, before hitting the ground and exploding across it in movement.

Fake Rainbow.

Lightning rains as if hail, peppering and beating the ground.

My afterimages and I blaze through the maze of lightning, dancing through it all.

This guy, he's weaker than Juggernaut Drive, but not by an insane amount.

This is doable.

Baraqiel himself joins the party of electricity, a spear made of lightning firmly in hand, and a deep frown upon his face.

He crashes down with his storm, piercing the ground with his spear, and drawing all the lightning to it like a beacon.

The ground rumbles as static shock waves begin to burst across the ground from the spear, radiating out like ocean waves.

I grimace as all my afterimages pop to the newly electrified ground.

Before it can hit me properly, I take to the now free sky once more, a single seal forming with my free hand.

I inhale, deeply, mixing it with the power in my body, before roaring out a mass of flames in the form of a comet.

Baraqiel grunts, holding out his other hand almost dismissively, forming a greenish-yellow Fallen Angel magic circle.

The comet-shaped fireball crashes into the barrier circle, causing Baraqiel to stumble slightly under the sheer force behind the attack.

His circle starts cracking, and I keep the gout of flames up for just a little longer.

Until he finally wrenches his spear from the ground and collects all his lightning into it.

I smirk and shoot straight down at him, riding my torrent of flames like a wave, wrapping it around my blade.

I spiral like a wheel down upon him, crashing and cutting through his magic circle, slamming and slashing through the ground in front of him.

Caking the entire area in front of him with flames.

He growls, raising his spear to bring it back down, this time on me.

No.

Beneficent Radiance.

I spiral into the air, fire following my blade as I slash up into the spear, cutting in twine.

Making it promptly explode with thunder all around us.

I pour out my aura, my Holy Spirit Power, into the sheath of flames around my body, bolstering it against the torrent of power.

And with a stomp of my foot, I explode my fire and power out all around me.

Fallen, too, are weak to holy aura after all, just like Devils.

Baraqiel tries to step back, cloaking himself in the wild surge out around us for protection in much the same manner as I am with my flames, but I won't let him.

All it takes is a step, and I'm past his guard.

With my blade, arching out to his defenseless center.

Dancing Spirit.

Several flaming arched slashes lash all around his center, a combination of Thunder Breathing's Rice Spirit helping Dance strike more than once, quickly, continuously!

Each strike is taken, but not by his body, but by his wings.

Wrapping around protectively, his wings tense up like blades themselves, and lash out at each incoming slash.

The sheer force behind each attack cracks the ground beneath us, sending out waves of fire and thunder in equal measure.

I huff out flames, break my form, and flow into another to break the stalemate.

Sunflower Thrust.

My blade spikes out, tip poised for his center, coated in whirling flames.

His wings come down like a shell, wrapping around my blade, trying to stop it.

Only for my blade to promptly, point blank, erupt with fire as I pour my power into it on mass, shredding and scorching his lightning cloak.

A wave of crimson fire blasts forth, picking up and carrying the former cadre, dragging him along the cyclonic spiraling flames straight into the training halls.

Former training halls. As the fires tear through and blast the entire building apart with an explosion.

Emerging gruffly from the burning wreckage, Baraqiel reveals himself quickly.

His cloak has been completely burned off, leaving him in amale version of the church exorcist uniform.

Huh. Okay.

Several of his wings are practically destroyed, with most of the feathers being burned off, and spines cut up and dripping with blood.

The rest of his body isn't doing the greatest, but still far better, only seemingly splattered randomly with minor burns.

With a sly hum, I stab my sword into the ground and lean against it, crossing my arms and smirking at him.

"Damn. I'm doing more work beating you for your stupidity than your Daddy's ever done, huh?" I state, looking over him.

Baraqiel merely stands there, face hard, before finally managing a cold, "Why."

I blink at that, "Hmm? Why, why what?"

"Why go through all ofthis." He waves a sparking hand around us, "It's not any of your business, boy. You even said you don't know Akeno personally. So why."

My head tilts slightly, "Do you need a reason to want to repair a broken family?"

At that, he simply stares at me, incredulously.

Ah. I suppose he truly wouldn't get it, being Fallen and all.

The first broken family, biblically anyhow.

"Speaking of," I go on, "are we done here, or do you need me to legit punch you in the face to finally get it through your fat skull?"

The Fallen grumbled at that, then harrumphed.

Then the sky fell atop me.

A massive surge of Holy Lightning came crashing down upon my shoulders, filling my vision until all I saw was gold.

My entire body was set abuzz, but shockingly, heh, it wasn't that bad.

The holy light part wasn't all that effective against me, I think.

As soon as the surge subsided, all I could smell was ozone, charred ground, and smoke.

I was full-on smoking as if I had just been cooked alive.

Suppose technically I just was.

But to Baraqiel? Judging by the look of abject surprise on his face, it may as well look like I took no damage at all.

Honestly think his face might have taken more damage than I did, if he keeps moving it who knows? He might break it!

I huff, momentarily, I recall that moment just a little while ago when he waved his hand.

Ah. That's when he set up the attack.

I crack my knuckles and get off my sword, leaving it stabbed into the ground.

"Alright," I grunt out, "one punch to the noggin, coming straight up."

With that, I charge.

Baraqiel quickly forms light swords, grits his teeth, and swings out one of them.

I easily flip over it, over him, completely, and lash out a kick down at his head.

He blocks it with his second sword, only for me to use it as a platform to kick off and land behind him.

As soon as I hit the dirt, light explodes from my feet.

Much less messy than fire, but still not easy to control without a focus.

Regardless, I'm counting on that.

Baraqiel turns to meet me, only to be greeted by a flashbang as I blast toward him, coating my fists with the same explosive light.

He grunts, his eyesight cut out as it may be, but he still manages to bring both his swords down upon me.

Fuck it.

I grab both of them with my light-covered hands, caring little as the meeting of light destabilizes both powers.

Focusing on him, I see that he's too damn tall to reach his head like this, so I do the first thing that comes to mind.

Break his bloody kneecaps.

My foot lashes out once more, straight into the offending knee with an audible thwack.

The strike barely makes him flinch.

Ah, right. Masochist. Pain won't do it.

I need something more.

I look up at him, seeing him grunt and shake his head as his vision returns.

Our eyes meet as he finally opens his eyelids, but unlike his, my eyes are spinning.

A big proper Genjutsu won't stick, he's strong enough, and my eyes weak enough, that it just wouldn't take.

But! Shoving absurd amounts of Holy Spirit Power into his brain to trick it into not enjoying pain?

I can do that. I think.

Holy Spirit Power suddenly bellows out from me, Baraqiel flinches, his eyes dulling rapidly as my power presses down upon him.

"Hnnn?" He groans out, confused, as for one perfect moment.

He doesn't like the feeling of all his injuries.

My foot comes out once more.

Crack.

He howls in pain as his attacked knee buckles.

As his concentration is fucked, I explode the light around my hands, shattering his light swords before grabbing his uniform, pulling him down the rest of the way.

His head comes down.

My head goes up.

And slams right into his nose.

The most glorious crack and pop noise echoes out between us, as Baraqiel falls directly back and hits the dirt.

A big, bloody spot, right in the center of his stiff stoney face.

I, meanwhile, stagger back, my head abuzz from forehead to back.

Man's face is about as hard as it looks, it turns out.

"Not exactly a punch, but same idea," I grumble out, "you get it yet, old man!?"

"Oh, I think he gets it, Lord Arahitogami~..." a voice, a very feminine voice, suddenly speaks softly right into my ear.

I whirl around, blinking wearily as I think I see someone else. But the rather piercing red eyes give her true identity away.

"S-Suzaku" Baraqiel mutters groggily, having lifted his head slightly to see her.

She certainly does look like a more mature Akeno. She looks practically the same as her though, in hair and general figure, the only real difference is her crimson red eyes.

And of course, she fills out the shrine maiden outfit she wears just as well as Akeno does. If not better, I'd say.

"Hmm, hmm!" She hums, looking around at us.

Then the destroyed area around us, the demolished and burning building beneath us, and the grounds scarred with craters and cracks.

I point to Baraqiel, "He did it."

Baraqiel wheezes, "Hnn!? B-Brat! You!"

"Well, he did everything around the building." I relent easily, "I blew up the building itself. Already wrecked it training all day beforehand."

I put my hands together apologetically.

"My bad."

Suzaku merely looked over at us amusedly.

Then she sighs, deeply. "Boys. Hah~. Alright, first things first." Suddenly, she held her hand up, poised like a finger gun.

I barely had time to blink, before she made a firing motion, before suddenly, Baraqiel exploded.

I gape in his general direction, as the equivalent of a firebomb suddenly goes off right in front of me, centered on the man.

"You" I turn towards her, only for Suzaku to wave me off before I can even begin.

"Wait a minute." She interrupted curtly.

I huff and turn back towards the rapidly settling flames.

Which, now that I see I'm looking carefully, I see aren't even burning the ground it's touching.

With no fuel, the flames quickly disperse, revealing a very alive, yet also very knocked out Fallen Angel.

Who also wasn't any more burned, at all.

She just used the force of the attack itself to knock him out.

I turned back to her, "Show off."

Still really cool, though.

Suzaku merely giggled at that, before bowing to me slightly, "I thank you, Lord Arahitogami, for not killing that very stupid man."

I waved her off, "No need to thank me, I figure, I did what you were going to do already, right?"

She raises her head, before tilting it, "Hmm? Whatever do you mean?" She asks so incredibly sarcastically, so fakely, that I almost cringed on the spot.

I merely deadpanned at her, "You were just using Baraqiel here to clean up the clan, weren't you."

She hums and looks away with a simple content smile on her face.

What was it that the new head of the Nakiri said about Suzaku again?

Ah. Right, he called her scary. I could see it.

"I will neither confirm nor deny such accusations, Lord"

"Noriaki, or Kusanagi if you must be so formal." I curtly interrupt her, saving her tongue from more of that.

She nods, "Lord Kusanagi. But! What I will say is, thank you for subduing the Fallen, I do believe he will be much better off in a certain someone else's hands."

"Ah, care to share whom exactly?" I ask knowingly.

"Well," she begins, "the Gremory Family is known to be rather agreeable, and with all the change going down in the Underworld, another Fallen wouldn't be outside of the norm."

She saunters up to me, "Of course, to the rest of the Clan, said Fallen did die tonight. With only two people knowing his real fate, yes?"

Cheeky minx.

Very scary indeed.

"Of course," I smile easily, "I see no reason to speak up otherwise."

"Hmm~!" Suzaku hums happily, walking right past me before waving for me to follow, "Come along, Lord Kusanagi, let's have a chat."

Almost off-handedly, she pulls a small paper figure from her pocket and drops it onto Baraqiel.

The little paper man suddenly gets up, on his own, looks down at Baraqiel, and seems to sigh before flashing away.

Taking the body with it.

That was a Shikigami, I believe. A paper familiar imbued with a little bit of the maker's spiritual power.

Putting that out of my mind for now, I follow Suzaku, jogging to her side.

"I'll be brief, and honest, to start with," She begins with a sigh, "I wasn't planning on coming back so soon, you know? But when I caught word you had shown up, I figured I couldn't exactly wait any longer."

"Ah?" I blink at that, "I'm sorry? Granted, I did originally come here to meet with you in the first place, so, mission accomplished?"

She chuckled weakly at that, "I suppose so, Lord Kusanagi. It's been a very busy, and rather stressful few days, what with everything going on, everything changing" she trails off, "new developments keep springing up, even as we speak, I bet."

"Ho? Such as?" I inquire.

"One of the other reasons I had to return sooner and get everything back in order faster," she huffed, "the Yokai have called for a Hyakki Yagy."

Night Parade of One Hundred Demons?

"I'm afraid I've never heard of the term before."

"It's a great gathering of the strongest Yokai in Japan, their people, and factions, all in one place for a grand meeting," she elaborates further, "and in this case? That place is Kyoto." She finishes with a tired sigh.

Fitting for the name, I suppose.

"Ah, I see why you had to come back. If the Yokai are going to pull this united event, then the Clans need to look united as well." I muse aloud.

"Correct, Lord Kusanagi." She confirms easily with a smile. "Fortunately, moving so many Yokai at once can take a little while, so I still have time to clean everything up, before the Clans meet up themselves at the Inner Sanctuary."

She suddenly stops, turning to me, "With all that being said, what do you plan on doing now, hmm?"

I scratch my chin, "Well if it isn't too much trouble, I'd still like to talk shop with you, and while I'm at it, I want to help clean this place up a bit, since I did cause a bit of the damage."

"Ah?" She hums thoughtfully, "Aren't you a sweet one? I don't mind, truthfully, sitting down and talking with a cup of tea sounds positively divine right about now."

"Excellent." I form a lone hand seal, causing a little under several clones to appear around us.

Suzaku blinks, and looks at me, the original me.

I shrug it off, "Kami stuff."

"Ah." She nods, as my clones jump away back to where we were.

"As for after this? Well. If the Clans and Yokai are all going to meet, that saves me tons of time from going to each faction. So," I grin, "may as well crash both parties at the same time, see what's up."

Suzaku chuckles at that, "Well, I suppose I should have expected that. Now then." She claps her hands together, and the sky clears.

Gone is that dull, dreary haze, and back in full force is a true, warm summer night.

"You wished to talk shop, now I believe I have an idea of what you want, but let's see about that over some tea, yes?"

Chapter 18

Back in the same chamber where, just the other day, I killed a man.

Sat at the same table, the same chairs, teapot, even the smell of the tea.

Only differences? The cups are different and significantly fancier, and the other occupant isn't an old guy this time.

"Can I just say," I begin after taking a ginger sip ofwhatever kind of tea this is, I don't know, but it tastes impeccably sweet, "you fill this room out much better than the old guy did."

Suzaku giggles lightly at that, "My, isn't someone a flirt."

I shrug at that, "I just state the truth when I see it."

Suzaku had long since sent the people she called back to the compound away from this building, so I do not need to hide anything in particular.

"Speaking of old guys," I continued, "Suou Himejima. I killed him. He told me he sent a bunch of the other elders away to this Inner Sanctuary before I arrived here, though." I raise an eyebrow at her, "You know about any of that?"

Suzaku gives a short hum, "I was aware of those elder's survival, yes. Shame that."

Damn. Not even going to try and be coy now?

"But, I wasn't aware of your killing of that man in particular. Did he offend you in some way?" She asked, intrigued.

I stare at her, blankly, "He knew what he was doing was wrong. Yet he still did it anyway."

She grimaces at my brief explanation, "Yes, his morecowardly insistence on holding to tradition for fear of any sort of backlash was a big pain point for me as well."

I was very tempted to bring up the marriage interview stuff, but really, that sounds like a great way of pissing her off.

No real way to bring up something that sensitive in a joking manner.

"Ah, but if you did kill him, does that mean I'm to assume you mean to follow your father's footsteps?" She inquired, "After all, if I recall correctly, he did much the same upon his introduction to the Clans, just on a much bigger scale."

I snorted, "Depends. Ultimately, nothing he did changed anything. After he was gone, everything just kind of fell back into place."

Look, I'll be frank.

"And me? Well, I heard he tried to start and run a unified supernatural Japan. A kingdom." I point to myself, "I have absolutely no fucking clue how to rule. In that sense, I'd probably do worse than even he did."

I chuckle a bit before thinking aloud, "Unless it's common sense, I can do that. Telling other people not to do stupid shit would be quite easy, I think."

Suzaku nodded and chuckled along with my words.

Honestly. Back when I confronted Suou, I said I wanted to do better than my father did.

I said it because it felt right to say that, and I do want to, ultimately.

Then I sit here and realize, I'm so far out of my depth in that regard it's hilarious.

And kind of sad.

Suzaku gives a lovely hum, "Is that so? Truthfully, I thought you were here in part because your mother ordered you to come take over the part your father played."

Really?

Wait. Is that what everyone is going to think when I go to them?

That'sannoying.

I deadpanned at her, "I haven't even spoken to my mother. Across my entire life, in fact." I shake my head, and press on, "I originally came here just to learn about what supernatural Japan is like, beyond what my sources could grant."

Though at this point, I think I've kind of veered off the path of my original purpose, haven't I?

"Also, allies would be nice, I'd like to have those as well." I shoehorn in.

Suzaku, meanwhile, is just staring at me, "You haven't spoken to your mother, ever?" She utters, clearly in disbelief.

I shrug nonchalantly, "Yup. I came here all on my own."

"Isee." She finally says, a thin frown on her lips, "I truly didn't expect that, not at all. We as well, of the Five Clans, share a similar problem as well. Never hearing from the gods in any direct manner was actually why your father had support at all."

I raise an eyebrow at that, "Really? That'sinteresting."

Somehow. I don't doubt for a second that the Kami leave these guys out to dry beyond giving blessings and probably some vague sense of their wills.

She sighs solemnly, "It's a pain, is what it is. Imagine, trying to do the will of your patrons when they won't tell you what they want, explicitly."

I cringe at that.

Damn. Right on the money, huh?

Would now be a good time to bring up that I have Uzume as my maid?

Or that I've met Inari before?

I kind of want to see her reaction to all that.

Hmm.

Nah. I'll save it for later.

"But, getting back on track," she shakes her head and continues, dropping her frown and replacing it with a slight sparkle in her eyes, "I'm actually quite glad you came here of your own volition. We here of the clans are servants to the gods, not seeing another is a nice change of pace."

I give a happy hum at that.

"And I'm pretty glad you're doing what you're doing," I waved my hand to the compound outside, bathed still in the sweet summer night, "with all of them, the Clans, the Himejima especially. I heard about the Clans before coming here, and admittedly, another part of the reason I wanted to come was to help against all the ultra-traditionalist bullshit going on getting people exiled and killed."

That sparkle in her eyes only seems to grow stronger, "Really now? Well, I certainly wouldn't be opposed to a little help, here and there. Being able to say that actions taken are ordained by the gods is an excellent hand waver to get things done."

I take another sip, another chuckle escaping my lips, "You wanna use me like a very handsome stick to beat down certain very stubborn elders, huh?"

The smile that sprouts on her face is poorly contained behind her teacup, "Whatever could you mean, I wonder?"

Very, very, scary indeed.

"Well, apologies, I'll help. But I won't be used." I wave off, unperturbed, "I'm not that dumb, I have agency and my own goals."

"Hmm. As you say." She says simply after taking a sip herself, "So then, what are those goals, Lord Kusanagi? If you aren't going to follow in your father's footsteps?"

"Hey now," I smiled right back, "I never said that, I said it depends."

Her smile turns cheeky, "On?" She inquires.

"Whether or not I could change anything, long term, even if I did manage to gather everyone together," I answer just as cheekily back, "and luckily? I do have some ideas on how to make it work."

At that Suzaku blinks, her head tilting cutely with genuine intrigue and slight surprise.

Anticipating her asking for details, I continue before she can speak, "I won't give away much, since I'm still working out the details, but it involves a morepermanent peace."

As Suzaku's eyes widen slightly as she considers my words, I chortle internally.

The idea only came to me recently, very recently, but I stole it from the Three Factions Peace Conference.

Which I doubt will happen at all here, since there are only Two Factions now.

But in effect, I want to see if achieving a more permanent peace and cooperation between Japan's supernatural factions is possible.

Not the sham peace the Clans have with the Yokai, which was already broken with the East Yokai Faction.

I want something between the Kami/Clans, and Yokai proper, where they all work together rather than trying to murder each other.

The idea is that everyone can collaborate, and use their resources together, to make Japan a better place.

Sounds simple, but I have a very intense feeling it's going to be a pain in the ass to pull off.

For one, convincing the die-hard traditionalist clans to do it sounds like hell, and I heavily doubt the Yokai have the same baseline respect for me that the clans do from my heritage.

That's all assuming I don't come in with a fat stick and start swinging, but I'm nowhere near strong enough to make that method work, unlike my father.

Also, that method didn't end up sticking, so I doubt it will again.

Hmm, it's going to be something I have to build up towards, then.

Help the clans with their stuff, and when the Hero Faction comes around, beat them down and win the West Yokai Faction's favor, that's a good start.

After I'm through here, I need to head back and have a talk with Uzune about stuff. See what's viable and not.

"That's certainly an idea, Lord Kusanagi," Suzaku eventually slowly states, "definitely an idea I've never personally entertained."

I nod, "That's fair, I only recently came up with it myself," I admit, "but I think the idea has a good foundation. Though beyond trying to make it happen, I'm still not entirely sure of my role beyond that."

Suzaku nods pleasantly, "Then may I ask you to keep me informed on your plans? I'll admit, while I never entertained the idea myself, it does sound interesting."

She smiles sweetly as she continues, "A greater, more permanent peace would be amicable towards and help my personal goals for the clans."

"Got a phone number so I can contact you whenever?" I ask with a raised eyebrow.

"Mhmm~!" She hums pleasantly, "But oh my, Lord Kusanagi, asking for a young lady's number so easily? So casually?" She gives me a very cheeky grin as I smirk right back at her, "Aren't you bold?"

I chuckle, "Not so bold, it would be an insult were I to assume a beautiful young lady like yourself doesn't have anyone pining for your attention. No boyfriend, no marriage lined up?" I play along, putting on a distinguished noble-sounding voice.

"Ufufufu~! Beautiful, hmm?" She hums good-naturedly, reaching for a napkin on the table.

It was a quick thing, but I did notice something else.

As soon as I said the word marriage her smile strained. Heavily.

It was so quick, I almost did miss it, but I caught it, and holy fuck am I glad I did bring up the marriage thing earlier more directly.

Dodged a nuclear missile, I think.

Still, four years, and Tobio hasn't done anything about this?

There's only loving your childhood friend, and then there's leaving several girls out to dry for years, including said childhood friend, because you're an indecisive pushover.

Granted, I don't know what's wholly going on behind the scenes, and another man's love life, or lack thereof, isn't my business.

Still. It's just sad.

A burning smell draws my attention from my thoughts, and I see Suzaku carefully burning a message into a napkin.

Flexing her mastery over her power, she writes her phone number down perfectly. I don't even see any fire come from her finger as she writes, just the faint heat haze.

And as she hands it off to me, I find the makeshift note merely warm to the touch, with no damage marring it beyond the intended burned-in numbers.

"There you are, Lord Kusanagi!"

I give a thankful nod as I take it.

"I'll send you a message when I leave here tonight." I pocket the napkin, before adding, "I suspect we might be talking to each other extensively."

"Oh?" She raises an eyebrow slightly, "Whatever for?"

"Well, unless you're gonna tell me everything you need help with tonight." I start, "Also, unless you plan on telling me about supernatural Japan all right now to go along with it. Seems like a fair bit, taken together, right?" She gives a rather sheepish nod to that.

"Also," I tact on, "friends are nice. More of those is always good."

Seriously. I've got like. Three.

Uzume, Kuroka, Koneko.

Uzume only sort of counts, but we don't do friend stuff, Kuroka isKuroka.

Koneko fits though. Though I highly suspect she'll be going the way of Kuroka in the future.

Suzaku's eyes widened slightly, "Friends, hmm? Well, if you're looking for more of those, may I recommend a place where you could meet more? They are joining us under the umbrella of Shinto, after all."

I blink at that.

"Ah, right," I hum out, "the Slash Dog Team is being transferred over. Suppose I should go visit them. Know anywhere I could meet them?"

Suzaku chuckles, "They usually frequent a bar, perhaps sometime I can take you there, and introduce you?"

I grin, "My oh my!" I play up and exaggerate my voice, "Asking a young man to a bar, so casually?" I try, likely failing, to bat my eyelashes, "How bold." I finish with a smirk, to Suzaku's giggling.

"Am I to take that as a yes, then?" She asks between giggles.

"Yeah, that's a yes." I chuckle, "I've been to a bar before, got so shit-faced drunk it's still just a haze to me. Think it'll be different this time."

"If the bartender will serve you underaged," she gives me a slight grin, "which he won't. I know the bartender personally, he's far too straight-laced for that."

I sigh, and wave it off, "Well, that's good at least. Means I might remember my time there."

She smiles and nods, "That it shall. Although we will have to go after this mess is over, I'm afraid."

I give a simple nod in understanding.

Then, taking a quick look outside, I find the darkness outside has faded slightly, purple and black pulling back like a curtain to reveal a slight blue glow just beneath the horizon.

Damn. All night? Really? Doesn't feel like it.

I down the rest of my cup like a shot, and place the cup back gently.

"Well~!" I stretch out in my seat, before slowly rising with a protracted groan, "Ah. I think we covered just about everything, no?"

Suzaku followed my gaze for a moment, before chuckling at likely the same realization I just had.

She too rises curtly, a small smile across her face, "I believe it does, yes."

I give a content hum, "I'm not too sure when I'll see you again, sometime before or perhaps during the Yokai's Night Parade, when the Clans have their gathering?"

"I doubt I'll be able to input any of my plans before then," she waves my first notion off with a sigh, "so during the Clan gathering, most likely."

"Any idea when that'll be?"

She thinks for a moment, "A few days at most, I'll send you specific details before then."

I nod, before giving her a slight respectful bow. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Lady Himejima, despite the circumstances."

Suzaku chuckled, before bowing as well, although hers was much deeper, "You as well, Lord Kusanagi. Although," she raised her hand back up, "if we are to be friends, shouldn't we drop the pleasantries?"

"Ah! How bold~!?" I exaggerated exclaimed in response, to sweet giggles.

I smile, "That's alright with me, Lady Suzaku."

"Well then, Lord Noriaki," she smiles right on back, "be seeing you in person again quite soon."

~ A New Sun ~

I was feeling much better on my journey back home.

And why wouldn't I? I got to headbutt Baraqiel in the face. Peak emotional venting.

The talk over tea went well too.

Suzaku was a touch more ruthless than I originally imagined, admittedly.

But when the girl grew up in the Himejima and specifically took the Vermillion Bird on to enact change, what should have I expected?

Speaking of

As I walk down the street, I mess with my phone's contacts, trying to think of a good nickname for her.

Ah.

I type the first thing that comes to mind.

Tiddy Birb.

Perfection.

Saving that, and sending her a quick message stating it's me and this is my number, I quickly filter through one last thing.

The memories of my clones, specifically. As it turns out, they didn't end up doing much beyond cleaning up.

Not like I could do much else, I'm not a carpenter.

But none of that was important.

What was is the memories of how the other clan members reacted to the clones being there.

See, Suzaka had called everyone back to the compound and sent people to start repairing the damage from my fight with Baraqiel.

And the guys that were sent over? Well. I'd describe their reactions to me as they revered me, practically on sight.

Much the same way that those mystics at the temple did.

I could hear talk, sporadic, here and there about how I came to kill the bastard crow and free them, like a divine gift or some shit.

It irked me, slightly, I recall. To have my agency reduced to being told to come save them by my mother or something.

So one of my clones told them off. That I wasn't sent, that I came of my own will, just like I had told Suzaku.

Somehow, that made them only revere me more.

Rolling my eyes as the memories pass, I continue my rather lackadaisical walk across the city.

Then I realized I burned my bagged sheath off and was freely walking around with a sword strapped to my back.

Thank fuck it's still super early out, and I'm not exactly anywhere near where people would be out so early.

So I picked up my pace, leaping high into the air before flying off.

The view here is nice and all, but I can't help but loathe my luck when it comes to just taking a walk so far.

Specifics shalt not be named, lest I incur the wrath of Murphy.

Nothing interesting happened on my flight back home, although seeing the city eerily devoid of people at certain places from up above was pretty cool.

Rather than enter my apartment via the door, I simply floated in through a window.

Which was open, for some reason, even though I don't recall opening one before I left the other day?

The reason as to why quickly became apparent.

That was, the complete reorganization of my living room into a veritable command center, complete with a big ass table in the center where a map of Japan sat.

Around it, were the boxes from the other day, opened and seemingly organized completely within judging off a cursory glance.

The source for the remodeling overnight?

Uzume, standing there in a tight black skirt and white sleeveless blouse, looking over everything with a finger to her chin, humming pleasantly in agreement with...herself?

My first thought was, damn. Fuck the maid outfit, she fills out a secretary outfit way better.

My second thought was, "Where did all the furniture go?"

"EEP!?" Uzume jumped in her spot, flipping back around to look at me, "Nori!?"

"Yes. I'm Nori-kun." I confirm blandly.

She stares at me a moment, before huffing and pouting, "Why did you come through the window?"

"Because it was open and more convenient?" I state, looking around for a chair to sit on, "Why did you leave the window open?"

"Ambience," She responds as if it answered everything, "and air."

"Ah," I hum in confirmation, walking over to and grabbing a kitchen chair, "that makes sense."

With that, I take a seat. And pat my lap.

Uzume looks on, blinking slowly.

"Nori-kun, what are you?"

"Come." I command, "Sit."

"W-What!? Why!" She exclaimed, her face flushing.

I roll my eyes, "Because someone moved the couch, so I have to do this instead. Come on!" I continue patting my lap.

Slowly, she waddled over and gingerly sat on my lap.

I grabbed her waist, and pulled her closer, prompting her to wrap her arms around my neck and squeak as if I was suddenly about to drop her.

I take a deep, non-combat oriented, breath.

"Uzume." I start plainly, "When the fuck did I say you were done resting?"

"E-Eeehh? That's what you start with!?" She exclaimed, prompting a very deadpan stare straight into her eyes.

"The fact that you did this anyway, expecting me to have an issue with something, but did it anyway concerns me." My lips twitch, as a thought occurs, "Did youwant me to punish you?"

Uzume immediately starts squirming in my grasp.

Eventually, she stops, refusing to meet my gaze.

"Maybe." She says quietly, so very quietly, I could hardly pick up on it.

But I did. So I smacked her on the ass.

"AH~!? Mmmm~! Nooori~kun!" She shuddered before she started whining.

I give her the blankets of stares, "Maybe later. First, what's allthis?" I wave off to the former living room.

"Nmmmm!" She huffs, I can feel the urge to pout at my denial radiating off her in waves.

Shockingly, she managed to push it and answer me properly.

"It's a planning center," She explained curtly, "I gathered up everything I brought, organized it, set out maps and charts and the like relating to everything. The works."

Slowly, she looks at me, a nervous smile on her face, "Isis that okay?"

I let out a tentative sigh, "Honestly, I'm more concerned about you doing all this after I told you to rest than anything else."

Mostly because I'm going to pin the hell of that map, put string between the pins, and stuff like that.

Make it like one of those investigator boards, or one of those war maps!

I don't know why, but something about doing that just makes the neurons active in my brain.

"So you're notmad?" She asks tentatively, and

Bitch why the fuck do you sound disappointed!?

Then a core memory in my head replayed itself.

At that time she compared my mother's temper tantrums to her siblings.

And found that hot.

In one perfect moment of understanding, I contemplate the secrets of the universe.

And found that it's the horny.

It all boils down to the horny.

The disgust that slowly etched itself across my face at this enlightenment, told Uzume everything she needed to know about what I think of that.

"Eh? Nori-kun!? That face! N-Not that face again!" She cried out, weakly trying to shuffle out of my grasp

But I refused, holding her tighter.

Her cries are only stopped as the bedroom door opens, and a mewling yawn echoes across the room.

"Nyah~...it's too early for all this noise, you know? What's going on" Kuroka, who was wearing barely anything save a very short top and underwear, stopped at the door and stared out into the living room.

She tilts her head at us, "How long was I out, nya?"

"Just the night," I responded easily, "the secretary did all this overnight."

"S-Secretary!?" Uzume repeated, scandalized, "I thought I was the maid?"

I deadpanned at her, "You can be both."

Kuroka stalks over, a sly smile on her face, "Honestly, I think she looks better in a secretary outfit than a maid outfit, nya~!"

Uzume, reflexively, tries to shuffle away from her, but I hold her still.

I chuckle, "I know right?"

Uzume gives an anguished cry as Kuroka comes up, grabbing her with a low purr, causing the poor goddess to be sandwiched between us.

"Well you did say you wanted to be punished, Uzume" I trail off with a silly smile.

"Not like this!" She cries out in response, muffled due to being pressed into Kuroka's bust.

Both of us chortle like actual cats as Uzume flails around between us.

I click my tongue though, as I realize what I'm doing.

Damn. The urge to bully the Uzume is just too strong, huh?

Gently pushing Kuroka away, much to her slight confusion, I freed the purple-haired kami.

Who instantly gasped dramatically for breath.

"Haaahhh~! Freedom!" And immediately tries to wiggle out of my grasp and escape completely.

With a long dead stare, I hold her in place and start.

"As fun as this all is, I just came back from talking with the Himejima. We can continue the bullying later," I state, "for now, we have a little talk to do."

Uzume suddenly perked up, looking on much more attentively, while Kuroka merely tilted her head in curiosity.

Not wanting to drag this out for the entire morning, I kept the events fairly brief.

Kuroka already knew about Baraqiel's, but Uzume was still out like a light then, so talking about those events was really for her benefit.

When I finished giving a general overview of that event, Kuroka chuckled, as she had yet to hear about how I handled him.

Uzume had a markedly different reaction, shivering after all was said and done.

"So it's already begun, huh?" She worryingly states, "Still, to think one of the upper echelons of the former Grigori would do something like this at all"

"He was an idiot, and a coward looking to die early," I state simply back, "I hope, wherever he is now, he realizes that and tries to live for something now."

"We can only hope." Uzume replies in kind, though she doesn't exactly sound hopeful.

"Did you get a picture after you headbutted his nose in?" Kuroka interjects with the important questions.

I facepalm, "Damn! Knew I forgot something!"

Kuroka sighed sadly, while Uzume shook her head in exasperation.

After a short chuckle, I continued.

Describing the events of my talk with Suzaku, my idea for peace, and the upcoming Night Parade.

"Nyah~? My my, Nori-kun, getting a girl's phone number on the first meeting? How bold~!" Kuroka exclaimed, wrapping her arms around my neck and leaning into my side.

Of course, that's what she focuses on.

Sometimes, we do share the same wavelength.

I snort and smack her on the ass, prompting a yelp from her.

"Not like that, you."

"Mhmm~!" Kuroka hums out, "But for how long, I wonder, nya~?"

I blink. Lowkey expecting I'll get a harem, huh?

Uzume, meanwhile, didn't look nearly as embarrassed as she usually is when we got up to our stuff.

Instead, she looked twitchy, worried, fumbling with her fingers.

"Hyakki Yagy, huh?" She murmurs, "It's been a long, long time since I last heard of one of those happening. Not since the original Daiyokai, I think." She shivers, and turns to me, "Nori."

"Hmm?" I look at her, meeting her gaze.

The slight fear pricking her voice draws my complete attention and makes Kuroka halt her horny. For now.

"I think, if you really want this peace idea to get going, you might have to visit at least one of the Yokai Factions before the Night Parade starts." She begins urgently.

I raise my eyebrow, "Let me guess, the parade is more than just a meeting, isn't it?"

She nods, solemnly, "Originally, it was used as a warcry. When the original Three Daiyokai wanted to cause chaos and kill lots of people, they called for a Night Parade. And the timing, so soon after your existence came out?"

I blink, a thought playing through my head.

They all may expect me to come trying to do what my father did.

Ah. Fuck.

"So this is a reaction to me then, you think?" I ask, and Uzume nods slowly.

"It seems most likely, I can't think of any other reason they'd suddenly do this." She elaborates further.

"II see."

Well. That changes things.

Bursting in on that kind of party sounds like a quick way to get killed, then. Even though I was just kind of thinking of sending a clone.

"We've still got a few days until it well and truly begins," I huff out a tired sigh, "I think, I'll take a visit to the West Yokai Faction before everything hits the fan then."

Uzume nods, approvingly, "The West would probably be the most accommodating to you, yes. They're generally the most peaceful of the Yokai Factions, and their leader prefers peaceful negotiation over conflict."

I give a slight hum, before turning back to Kuroka, "Kitty, would you like to come with me?"

Kuroka blinked at that, "Really, nya?"

I chuckle, "Well, yeah? They already know you're here, I bet. And they don't seem to care overtly about your wanted status, judging by the fact they haven't tried anything or told the Devils. So why not?"

"Huh," Kuroka stared at me for a moment, before a pretty smile spread across her face, "alright then, nya~! It's a date! I've never been to Urakyoto before!"

I chuckle at that, "Not even sure there's date stuff to do over there, but I guess we can see."

"Yaaayyy~!" Kuroka snuggles into my side, purring all the while as I pat her on the back.

Uzume merely sighs, "You two" she intones dully.

I pat her on the back too, just to be a good sport.

Ah. An idea forms.

"You know, we've got a bit of free time before we have to go." I start with a sigh, "I think it's about time we get a little something done before then."

I look to Kuroka, who's still snuggling into my side.

"I doubt this will take the whole day, we can even do this today. Kuroka?" I grab her attention lightly, causing her ears to perk.

"I think it's finally time for you to have a little talk with Shirone."

The way she stilled like a deer caught in the headlights would have made for the perfect picture if only the reason behind it wasn't so damn sad.

Chapter 19

"Hmm. Well. Can't say I expected that reaction." I state, plainly, while staring up at the ceiling.

Uzume, still sitting in my lap, deadpans at me as she replies, "You don't say?"

The reaction?

Kuroka, having flung herself up and onto the ceiling, clinging to it upside down.

Somehow. Probably magic. Because I know she doesn't have real claws!

Her hair stands on end and her pupils are dilated, she lets out a low, terrified hiss down at us as her ears pin to the back of her head.

"Kuroka." I call up, blandly, "Kitty. Get down from there."

She hisses at me, not an angry hiss, but like a threatened hiss. Scared.

I frown. "I will come up there you, don't make me!"

"You know, besides the Mating Season," Uzume muses aloud, "Nekomata and Nekoshou don't take behavioral patterns from normal cats otherwise."

"So she's faking it." I simplify.

"Yeeeep~!" She pops out cheerily.

Kuroka blinks, and points at Uzume, "You bitch, nya~!"

As Uzume fakes a dramatic gasp, I call out once more, this time a touch more firmly.

"Kuroka. Down girl."

"No!" She fires back, clinging to the ceiling tighter, "I don't wanna! You can't just spring that on me like this, I'm not ready!"

"Bullshit," I spat out right back, "you just want the free, dramaless cuddles from your sister to continue, Chom-chan!"

"So what if I do!?" She fired back, "It's been years, okay!? I miss her! At least like that, I can be around her! Get affection from her! Hug her" she trailed off brokenly, "I don't want that to end."

I sigh, patting Uzume on the back to grab her attention before pointing to the kitchen.

Giving a curt nod, Uzume hopped off my lap and lightly jogged off.

I stand up from my seat, staring at her firmly, "That's part of why we need to get this out of the way, so you don't become attached to seeing her like that, so you don't start thinking that is the only way to see her."

Slowly, I start floating up to her.

Kuroka avoids my gaze, her tails swaying weakly.

"But what if it is." She mutters quietly.

"It isn't." I state succinctly.

"But we have other stuff to do." She tries again, straining slightly.

"It can wait." I state once more, "The Yokau called something over for me, that'll happen in a few days. We can't stop that, and the West Yokai aren't going to become violent overnight."

I finally reach her, putting a hand on her head.

"We have time, and I'd rather use it to, firstly, get this over with before we end up pushing it back because something happens," I huff out, "and second, prepare for when that something does happen."

"With training?" Kuroka adds, almost amused.

I nod sagely, "So she learns. Don't forget the copious amounts of sex too!"

And at that, she rolls her eyes, and a phantom of a smile thinly forms as she leans into my hand more.

Only for it to slowly fade once more into a broken, sad frown.

"Nori-kun," she turns to me, eyes misting over rapidly, "please don't make meif she doesn't believe meI don't know what I'd do" she pleads through slowly forming tears.

Which I reach up and slowly wipe away, with a soft smile.

"Then I guess you better be very convincing and show her just how sorry you are, right?" I gently respond to her, cupping her cheek with my hand, "Kuroka. You can't keep doing this forever. Hiding away, not saying anything. It's not good for you. And it's especially not good for Shirone. She needs to know."

I reach up, gently pulling her off the ceiling and into my arms, "You need to at least try." I finish softly into her ear.

Kuroka wraps her arms around me, barring her face into my chest as she clings onto me, almost desperately.

"I know." She mutters against me, barely audible, "Please don't make me."

"If I don't, kitty, you'll eventually come up with some hair-brained scheme," I gently pat her back with a playful smirk, "like, say, oh I dunno. A plan to ambush and kidnap your sister and force her to be a family again because talking sucks and is hard?"

She balls her fist before bringing it down upon my chest with absolutely no strength whatsoever.

"Shut u-up, you stupid man!" she cries indignantly, "That was one time, one time!"

"Ho?" I snorted, "Pretty sure the chair leg I ripped off to smack you with when you suggested it way back would say otherwise."

A buzz signaling pain strikes and sticks to my chest.

Blinking, I slowly look down.

Only to find Kuroka has sunk her fangs into the space between my pectorals like some sort of heaven-damned vampire!

I stare down at her, positively offended.

She doesn't have time to react, I don't give it to her, as I grab her arms, a confused yelp emanating from her as I pull her up.

And return the favor, chomping down on her shoulder in much the same manner.

"Nyyyaahhh~!?"

The mewling shriek, half indignant, half lewd, was glorious.

"You! Y-You! Norrriii!" She cries out, even as I let go of her shoulder.

"Yes. I am indeed Noriaki." I confirm blandly.

Just as she's about to make the mistake of biting me, again, Uzume's head pokes out from the kitchen.

"Alright, you two, how does breakfast sound?" She calls up, unsure.

I turn and smile back down at her, "Sounds lovely, Uzume, thank you!" I call back down, upbeat.

With a nod, Uzume pulls her head back in.

It's not long before the familiar scents of breakfast, such as bacon, eggs, pancakes, and such begin to waft up to us.

I watch as Kuroka shifts against me, her pupils dilating as the scent reaches her, and I simply chuckle.

Patting her on the back, I catch her chin with my finger and look down into her eyes.

"How about this? We eat as we discuss how we are going to go about doing this?" I offer simply.

"That" she swallows thickly, "sounds lovely, and alsofamiliar?" she affirms, confused.

"It's much easier to talk shop over a good, hearty meal. It calms you down, relaxes you," I kiss her on the forehead and run my hand soothingly in her circles around her back, "helps you think, rather than freak, turns out."

She blushes mildly, before mumbling out a soft, sweet, and simple.

"Yeah."

And going straight back to holding onto me.

Albeit, now it's like a tight hug rather than a desperate cling.

Much better than before.

"You'll get through this Kuroka," I speak softly into her ear as I descend back to the floor slowly, "I know you can do it."

Kuroka's ears perk and she snuggles against me harder, but otherwise, neither confirms nor denies my words.

But I know for certain.

It's only a matter of time.

~ A New Sun ~

It's mid-afternoon now.

After breakfast and our little planning session, we took a small cat nap until the afternoon, then set out to put The Plan into motion.

First things first? Buying stuff for a picnic!

That's right, the plan is a picnic!

See, food always smooths things over, but beyond that, there's the environment of all this taking place that's important.

I don't want to summon Koneko in my room, and the first thing she sees is Kuroka just sitting there.

That sounds like a great way to have the cat girl jump to conclusions.

Beyond that, the room being rather closed off doesn't help either, and would only help along the 'oh shit, I'm trapped' mentality.

Thus, a picnic.

A nice little picnic outdoors in Maruyama Park, to be precise.

The place is the foremost site for hanami, or flower viewing, in Kyoto.

Specifically cherry blossom viewing!

The time frame could be a bit better, admittedly, as the park is a tad more packed than I'd prefer.

Doesn't help that it's a weekend, either.

Still, finding a place somewhat private and away from everyone else wasn't the hardest thing in the world.

The most difficult part was setting up the picnic without Kuroka trying to stress eat all the food.

Pretty sure I spent more time holding Kuroka back from eating the pastries than actually getting anything set out.

I didn't have Uzume make anything for us this time around, instead, we went around picking out stuff from good stands and stores.

Ended up leaving Uzume home to rest, I practically ordered her to go back to bed since the moment she woke up, she jumped right back into work earlier.

This damn culture, I swear.

Moving on, the stage is finally set.

Now, it's all up to Kuroka to talk properly.

I sit, cross-legged on our picnic blanket, idly messing with my phone, waiting for Koneko to respond to my text.

Of course, I already contacted the little white cat after breakfast, and she was all for it.

I even told her there was someone I wanted her to meet, albeit I didn't specify who.

Still, she's expecting someone, and that's all that matters.

Beside me, Kuroka lay on her side, her head resting on one of my legs. She's unnervingly still, but it's easy to tell she's only like that because she is nervous.

I reach down and scratch her head absentmindedly, as we are in public somewhat, Kuroka has her tails and ears put away for right now.

With a hum, I suddenly ask, "You ready?"

"No." Is her almost instant reply, followed by a sigh as she sits up on her knees, "ButI don't have a choice anymore, do I?"

"Nope~!" I pop the word out cheerily and lean over to kiss her on the cheek, "Just remember what I told you, Kuroka. Don't fake anything, don't put on a mask, don't hide anymore." I say so incredibly softly, "Just state the truth, say what happened, honestly, and admit to it. She may not be happy to hear you're as big of an idiot as me, but I think it'll be mellowed somewhat by finding out her sister isn't a violent psychopath."

Kuroka pouts a little, crossing her arms and looking away.

"No one is as stupid as you, you stupid man, nya." She murmurs, I can practically hear the blush even though I can't see her face.

My phone dings and Kuroka's breath hitches as her body goes completely still.

I stare down at the screen, reading the message from the lock screen with ease.

After all, Koneko doesn't say all that much in a text.

"She's ready." I state aloud, giving Kuroka one last pat on the head, before pulling out Koneko's summoning slip, "Deep breaths, kitty. I promise this won't take too long, okay?"

Slowly, Kuroka finds it in herself to move. Stiffly, she turns to me and nods, swallowing thickly.

Pushing down the nervousness building in my stomach, I take a moment to breathe deeply, before tossing the slip out.

~ A New Sun ~

Koneko has decided she's never telling the others when she goes out.

Ever. Again.

As soon as she had told her President earlier this morning that Noriaki asked her out for a picnic, she regretted it.

Why?

Because, for the last several hours since morning, her redheaded bimbo of a King thought it was a great idea to get her to try on several different outfits.

All for her date.

Very fucking clearly, it wasn't a date. Judging by how he had indicated he wanted her to meet someone.

Koneko may not be the mostinformed, about romance.

But she's fairly certain that doesn't happen on dates.

Yet, no matter how many bloody times she told her that, she just wouldn't let up.

It got worse when the perverted black-haired bimbo caught word and joined in!

All in all, she decided that by the start of next week, going stray is worth it.

Now, how to go about slipping holy water into those two's tea

Oh. Don't forget to kick that useless smiling oaf of a Knight in the knob on the way out.

He just sat there, nodding along, always giving a thumbs-up the whole time, watching her suffer!

Although looking in the mirror now?

She wore a small pink hat and matching one piece blouse and skirt set, with a tanned yellow jacket over it. Long black and white striped socks for her legs, a pair of cute pink and white flats for her feet.

She guesses, begrudgingly, that the final outfit they settled on was kind of cute.

Kind of.

Not like she'd say that out loud.

The damn skirt is still too short for her tastes, but guess who's fault that is!?

Sighing, she looks down at her phone, seeing that Noriaki has yet to see her message.

At around the same time she told him she was ready, she also texted the rest telling her she was leaving.

Now, she's silently praying to any god that would listen to her that he summons her before the peerage inevitably tries to 'send her off' before then.

Which sounded like a great way to make her think straying now would be a good idea.

It was a close thing, though, as out in the hall she heard the running towards her room, instantly putting her on edge.

Then, just in the nick of time, she felt that familiar tug, and she let herself get pulled away, the summoning circle she haphazardly drew beneath her glowing to life as she did.

Her door flung itself open at exactly that moment, and the red-headed bimbo whined loudly as she was enveloped by that sweet, freeing light.

Of course, she also made sure to flip her off as she vanished.

She would have also told her to 'get fucked' as well, but it kind of slipped her mind at the moment.

Oh well, she'll do it later, then blame all her language on Noriaki being a bad influence.

Once the light around her faded, and she blinked the resulting spots out of her eyes, she was momentarily bedazzled to see just where exactly they were.

Sat atop a healthily flushed green plain, slightly elevated compared to the rest of the park.

From here, she could look out and see all the cherry blossom trees, see the blurred people gathered around and walking amongst the small veritable forest of them.

To say it was beautiful would be an understatement.

So, this is someplace in Kyoto, huh? Noriaki had told her he had come out here, though he didn't say why, and she didn't care either for the reason enough to ask.

Normally, she'd have to wait another year before going on the annual second-year field trip here.

She almost feels bad for the rest of her first-year peers.

Almost. They can suck it right now.

Turning to finally face her summoner, she finds him, sitting there leaning against a normal tree, a small smile on his face.

The rather large blanket and numerous food baskets sit underneath said tree, perfectly in the shade.

Ah, and there's someone else

Golden eyes meet golden eyes.

Koneko freezes.

And simplystares.

As does she. She doesn't know what she sees in those eyes.

Idly, Koneko spreads her senses out, as fast as she possibly can.

There are no barriers, no wards trapping her in here. Merely an illusion in place to keep the mundane from looking or heading this way.

She could run, if she wanted to.

But, the way Noriaki just sat there, slightly more tense now sure, but rather unperturbed

So he's not a hostage then? This isn't a trick by her then!?

Whatwhat is this?

Neither of the girls would speak, not even move, so Noriaki seemed to take that as his cue, beckoning her over.

With a simple wave of his hand, her attention snaps to him, yet her eyes don't leave her, "Hey there, Koneko-chan~!" He says in his usual, stupid, cheerful voice, "Please, take a seat?"

After a moment, she stiffly obliged, walking over to the blanket, and sitting right at the edge, nearly on the grass.

Noriaki chuckled half-heartedly, and rubbed the back of his head, while her gaze merely turned a degree more pained, something she recognized, finally.

Good.

Noriaki fake coughed, before clapping his hands together, "Well. This is certainlygoing, I think?" He starts, unsure, "At least the first thing to happen wasn't violence." He stresses.

"Senpai," Koneko began, it was automatic at this point, "the fuck?"

Both of them flinched at that.

Truly, it was. Why does every single time they see each other, he does something that makes her think he wishes for death by cat girl?

Truly, out of all things, this probably takes the cake though.

Wisely, Noriaki decided to keep his fucking mouth shut and waved to her.

Her sister.

The source of, at least as far as she can remember, everything first going wrong.

Hesitantly, her eyes flicker between them before she meekly starts, "S-Shirone, I"

"And you," she spat out, interrupting her with ease, prompting her to flinch violently, "what the hell are you doing here?"

Honestly, it's surprising to her, just how little fear she feels right now.

It's not like it's completely gone or anything, it's still there, biting at the back of her mind.

But really, the one thing she feels right now at the forefront?

Overwhelming, sheer spite and hatred.

For the 'sister' who killed their master, their kind master who took them in, then abandoned her to die at the hands of the devil government.

Maybe it's because Noriaki is here. Maybe it's because, for some reason, she just can't see the woman she saw that day across from her right now.

She still remembers it, her sister, coated in the blood of the household and other peerage members, turning to her with that sly bloodthirsty grin.

She didn't say anything before she left, not that she could remember, all she could tell besides her was the sheer amount of blood.

Compared to that image, the black-haired, golden-eyed woman right across from her might as well be a different person altogether.

She merely stared at her once more after her question, her lip quivering, eyes positively shaking.

She was about to call her out, say exactly what she saw at the moment, a very pathetic woman who really should leave.

But then she moved.

Koneko's eyes widened into disks, as her sister practically leaped for her.

Noriaki's eyes widened all the same, and he quickly moved to get up, but he wouldn't make it in time.

All at once, all of Koneko's hatred, her anger, her spite, erupted and turned into fear.

Truthfully, she thought it was over.

It was all a trick. She's done.

But instead of more blood like that night from so long ago coating her vision, softness impacted her face.

Koneko snapped back to reality, pushing past her emotions as she found her face smooshed into her sister's chest, her arms wrapped tightly around her small back, clinging onto her desperately.

But then she began to speak.

"I-I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry"

All she could do was sit there, staring vacantly into her sister's chest as her broken mumbling filtered through her head.

At first, it was apologies. Constant and what felt like unending.

But eventually, after what felt like far too long, she started talking about something else.

"The experiments, Shironehe w-was going to try and experiment on you, and I just"

Huh?

It felt like a waterfall was crashing down upon and around her.

And she's not thinking that because her sister is practically crying and sobbing a waterfall's worth of tears.

Those words, like freezing water, doused her emotions still.

What the hell is she going on about? Their former master? Experimenting on her? That's not

Somehow, somewhere, Koneko found some strength and managed to reach up to grab her sister right back, halting her constant stream of word vomit.

"That's not true!" She managed to croak out and fire back, "He took us in, he wouldn't have done that!"

Her sister flinched as if struck, her face shifting between pain, sadness, and anger.

"Shironehow much do you remember of h-him?" She bit back out, through gritted teeth, her composure barely contained.

She instantly opened her mouth to speak, only to find whatever she was about to say died before it could truly take shape.

Her earliest memories are of living in their King's Estate, but, most of that time was spent in a room, with her sister.

She doesn't remember much about him, hell, they barely talked, and what little they did interact he treated her with polite distance.

He was always so busy, something about his work.

A pang of deja vu hit Koneko hard in the chest, yet she couldn't get why that just happened.

"He was never interested in taking us in out of the kindness of his heart," her sister spat out, "in the end, all he cared about was completing the research our parents started." She let out a choked sob, "A-And I didn't figure that out until it was far too late."

Their parents?

She doesn't remember her parents, she was far too young.

Still, that doesn't help anything! And, besides!

It was Koneko's turn to grit her teeth, as the next thing to come to her mind spilled unbidden.

"So what if you did," she cried out in cold fury, tears for some reason pricking the corner of her eyes, "if that's so true, why did you abandon me!? You left me there to nearly die!"

She knew she shouldn't feel so good about the sheer pain those words etched into her sister's face, but she did.

"After I killed them all, Shirone, I knew I was going to be h-hunted down like some rabid animal, and I didn't want that life for you" she explained, brokenly, solemnly, "I didn't think they'd try and make you pay for my crimes, I'm s-sorry" she trails off repeating, over and over again.

Koneko merely sat there, her mouth half open, gaping up at her in sheershe doesn't know anymore.

Because that sounds reasonable, yet, still!

She didn't want to think anymore, she didn't want to feel anymore. This day has been annoying since the sun rose, and now this!?

How the hell is she supposed to deal with this? Think of this? Make of any of this!?

She wants to call her sister a liar. Write it all off, and go right back to hating her.

Yet. Thinking about it, even for a second, it makes sense.

And Noriaki, senpai, he's not objecting to any of this.

That has to mean something, right? At the very least, she isn't insane, bloodthirsty over her power, trying to kill everyone in the park.

She's just broken. Sad. A little pathetic right now.

Honestly, she doesn't know which personality she'd prefer more right now.

Both sisters suddenly pause momentarily as a pair of arms wrap firmly around the both of them.

"It's alright, you two, this is a long time coming," Noriaki says softly and soothingly down between the two, "so I know it may be hard for either of you to think right now. But, it's okay to just cry it out, you know?"

Her sister already had a head start in that department.

Yet, Koneko found that she didn't need to.

Right? Why would she?

It's just her big sister, her big sister who left her several years ago, and she hasn't seen her since.

Her big sister, who was the only one actively taking care of her from her earliest memories.

Who would curl up around her when she was scared at night when she'd have trouble sleeping. Who was always there when she was hurt, or sad, or hungry, oror

Why is she shaking?

Why are there tears suddenly streaming down her cheeks?

Why can't she let go!?

Needless to say, Noriaki was soon patting and rubbing the backs of them both, as the sisters' crying synced up and resonated with each other.

~ A New Sun ~

Well, that happened.

As I hold two crying cat girls in my arms, I can't believe it went mostly non-violent.

I expected Koneko to be terrified and attack at first or something, but she just went right in on the offensive fearlessly, huh?

I sigh internally at it all.

I wish this could been made simple, what with Koneko's artificial Super Devil research hairpin.

Showing her that would have proved what Kuroka was talking about instantly.

But I can't know about that, and it's not like she wears that same hairpin around all the time anyway!

I distinctly remember how the hairpin her mother gave her was stored away for safekeeping, and how Rias made replicas for her.

Considering how often Koneko's clothes get blown off during a fight, it was probably for the best.

Granted, that doesn't solve everything, there are still abandonment issues and the fact that she nearly got killed because of Kuroka's actions.

But it would have been a start.

I don't know how long it was exactly I just sat there, holding the two.

But eventually, around the same time, the two finally ran out of tears.

And for a long, eerily tense moment, the two didn't say anything to each other, or even move.

Then Koneko drove her fist into Kuroka's gut.

Ah. There's the violence.

Kuroka gasped and keeled over slightly, the punch wasn't all that fast, so I knew Kuroka saw it all coming.

She didn't seem surprised, just resigned.

"Ideserved that." Kuroka admitted tersely.

"You deserve more than that," Koneko bit back, "but nothing I do will truly hurt you, so it'll have to do, for now."

Kuroka blinked at that, "For n-now? Shirone, does that mean"

"Don't get your hopes up." Koneko interrupted curtly, as she gently reached up, and started pushing Kuroka off her.

I quickly let go of both of them and after a moment of intense hesitation, Kuroka let go of Koneko as well.

"Also," she huffs, continuing, "don't touch me without permission, got it?

Kuroka gave a pained nod at that and started muttering apologies again.

Only to get a small sigh from Koneko as she pinches the bridge of her nose, and looks up at the sky.

"Yeah. I don't know what to think or do about this situation." Then she turns to me.

I already knew what was coming.

My head snapped backward as her small fist impacted my nose, cracking it instantly.

"That's for putting me in this situation, idiot senpai. And probably other things I'm not thinking of at the moment." She explained rather curtly as she cracked her knuckles.

I grimace, then nod to that, as my nose cracks again upon fixing itself.

She then turns her head back to Kuroka, staring dead at her, "Idon't know if I can forgive you, big sister."

Kuroka's eyes started watering again at that, but before she could do anything, Koneko continued.

"But, at the very least, you don't seem like a bloodthirsty psychopath, sothere's that at least." She adds plainly, "In fact, you seem kinda pathetic right now."

Damn, Koneko. Even I winced at that. Kuroka just seemed stunned.

"ButI am willingto see how it goesseeing you again" Koneko said slowly, painfully, "And we'll see how it goes from there, alright?"

Kuroka's forehead practically hit the floor immediately after Koneko finished speaking.

"Thank you." On mumbling repeat, was all Kuroka could muster after that, I think.

Koneko gave her sister a pained look, before sighing and looking at the picnic baskets, "Food sounds nice right about now."

"That it does." I agree easily, sliding back over to my spot and leaning against the tree.

I prepared myself for the most awkward picnic of a lifetime before coming here, but damn I don't think I prepared enough.

I certainly wasn't prepared for Koneko to get up, and follow me, before plopping down right in my lap.

Kuroka just stared off to the side, a sly yet tired cat-like grin crossing her face for a split second.

Then Koneko shot her a glare, basically saying, 'Come on, tease me bitch, you won't.'

In the end, the small white cat won, and Kuroka aptly decided not to try anything.

For now, I bet. Just wait until she gets more comfortable.

I, meanwhile, looked down at the cat in my lap stunned, before Koneko tilted her head back slightly and looked up at me.

"Feed me." She commanded rather simply

I chuckled, "Fine fine, Princess, whatcha want?"

Koneko gave a short sniff to the air, her eyes narrowing slightly before stating, "The chicken."

"Ho? Got a craving?" I ask as I reach over for its basket.

Koneko glares off into the distance, "You could say that."

I chuckle as I bring it back, opening it up, I begin, "So, Koneko? You wanna hear about the stupid shit your sister has been up to ever since I met her?"

Kuroka, who was halfway through opening a basket of her own, no doubt to begin stress eating the sweets finally, suddenly stopped and shot me the greatest look of betrayal I've ever seen.

Rule number whatever when it comes to making something less awkward?

Insults, jokes, and shit-talking. Great way to break the ice.

Koneko's lips twitched between a steady frown and a stupid smile, "That's rich, coming from you, senpai."

See? Koneko gets it!

"But sure, why not?" She eventually decides, to a grief-stricken Kuroka rapidly eating off to the side.

Hmm, where to begin then? Should probably leave out all the copious amounts of sex and stuff

Suddenly, Koneko leans herself up against me, and I hear a soft, "Thank you, senpai."

It was so quiet, I thought I was hearing things, only when I looked down and saw Koneko gazing off at the cherry trees in the distance, a small blush on her face, I know she had said it.

With a small smile, and holding a piece of chicken up to her, I begin to regale the tale of Kuroka, and the broken off chair leg.

Much to the subject of stories dismay.

~ A New Sun ~

It wasn't quite dark by the time we arrived back home via teleportation, but it was most certainly a few hours.

Almost as soon as we were inside, Kuroka whirled on me, leaped onto me with enough force to nearly knock me down, and held onto me for dear life as she startedmaking several different kinds of noises.

How does one describe a cat being depressed, hopeful, and horny all at once? That noise. Whatever that sounds like.

As for why she's like this? Well.

Koneko, after I regaled her with the tales of Kuroka continuing to make dumb decisions, seemed to 'take pity' on her sister, and let her have her phone number.

I grabbed Kuroka's waist, holding her still as she was practically rubbing all up against me.

"Well," I start simply, "what do you think, Kuroka? About all that?"

"I think it went way better than I thought it was going to go!" Kuroka started, a big grin across her face, "You were right, and since you were right, I want you to fuck me into a coma tonight, got it nya~?"

I simply stare at her.

Ah, sex does always help when one doesn't want to deal with emotions, huh?

"Also! We need to pick up the pace, after all, it's pretty clear Shirone has a thing for you, you know?" She rubs my chest as she continues, her grin turning lewder by the second, "And I don't plan on losing out you know?"

"Oh?" I lower my grip, grabbing her ass as I bring her over to the wall, and pin her against it, drawing a shocked lewd mew from her, "Losing out on what?" I start, huskily into her ear, "You think I'm going to take Shirone eventually as well?"

Kuroka shivers, "All strong beings in the supernatural world have harems, Nori-kun~...it's only a matter of time for you~..."

"Hmm, you know. If you told me you didn't want me to have one, I would be fine with that, right?" I say right on back.

Kuroka blinked, and softly breathed out, before giving me a genuine smile, "That's nice of you, Nori-kun~, butI want you to have one."

"For your sister?" I guess aloud, "You wanna be sister wives?"

Kuroka shivers at that, as her smile grows.

Yeah, that figures.

"That's part of it," she confirms, "otherwise, I just don't care, as long as you don't stop loving me of course, and I trust you know your limits, Nori-kun~..." she starts kissing my cheeks softly, slowly going down to my neck.

So, don't pull an Issei, and I'll be fine?

Also, the lewd cat just said something sweet without prompting, holy shit.

I reach up with one hand, cupping her cheek and pulling her into a kiss proper.

Idly, as I began pulling off her clothes, I remembered that there was something else I was supposed to do this morning, but didn't as I got caught up in everything else.

Ah. My clone at Kuoh.

Eh. It'll be fine, I'll dispel it later, doubt I'm missing anything truly important anyhow.

After all, I have something far more important in my arms to deal with right now.

Interlude 4

I stand within a cramped, lightless, broom closet.

Now, it wouldn't be so cramped, if only the voluptuous redhead who dragged me in here wasn't so damn voluptuous in the first place.

Rias Gremory stands right in front of me, hands firmly holding the sides of my shoulders where she grabbed me mere moments ago to drag me in here.

As her body is practically glued against mine to accommodate the space, I can feel her as she heaves slow, deep, breaths, as if she just ran a marathon to get here.

Her blue stare, pleadingly, up into my golden ones as I stare back dryly.

On one hand? I didn't exactly sign up for this when I was made.

On the other hand? This does seem like the start of a hentai.

Heh. Prime Noriaki is going to get a big kick out of this~!

Ah, but first.

"Rias," I start, incredulously, throwing all of Japan's social norms into hell, "the fuck."

"E-Eh! Shushshushshush!" Rias scrambles out and quickly removes her hands from my shoulders, slapping them over my mouth with enough force to nearly make me poof.

"She's coming." She whispers in pure unadulterated terror.

Huh? The fuck?

Outside, I hear footsteps walking by. Short, curt, footsteps.

They pass by without any fanfare, but it's only when the footsteps vanish completely that Rias relaxes against me slightly and removes her hands from my mouth.

With a sigh, she slumps slightly, lowering her gaze to my chest, "S-Sorry, about that, andall this." She waves belatedly to the closet around us.

I continue my dry stare, "Okay," I respond curtly, then reiterate, "the fuck is all this about then!?" I hiss out with a bit more force.

Rias flinches slightly, "R-Right, right! I've been meaning to talk to you, you know? Call you down to the old school building, but well, ever since school started back up again, things have beendifferent?" She tries with a grimace.

"Different, how?" I ask with a raised eyebrow.

"Iuh" she slumps down even more, likely trying to hide her flush of embarrassment that I can rather clearly see regardless, "Ihave a minder now?" She sighs and bites her lip.

I blink at that.

"Huh." I muse aloud, "Neat?"

"Huh!?" She perks up, and suddenly looks at me again, "N-No! Not neat! It's infuriating! For the past week, that demon has been scheduling and clocking everything me and my Peerage do, and I'm sick of it!" She starts full-on ranting, indignant.

Damn, Rias. Chill.

"Like, with the weekend coming up, I thought we'd have a break, but nope!" She continues, growing louder, "She's started scheduling my anime watch times! Can you believe it!? Two hours of anime on the weekend, max! What else am I supposed to do!?"

"Touch grass?" I chime in.

Rias looks at me, before slowly looking away, her face flushing rapidly, "I'm not that bad" She defends herself, weakly.

"Mhmm." I hum, looking around, "Yeah, you didn't kidnap me just to rant about your anime watch time being limited then?"

"N-No?" She tries with a wince, then just sighs, "Okay, yes, that did feel good to get off my chest. But, beyond that, I need your help."

I merely stare at her.

"Ifeel like I'm going to need actual details. Like, how this happened, who's doing this, how could I possibly help?" I state plainly.

Her eyes light up slightly with hope, "Right! So, about a week ago, my parents sent over my fiance and his Peerage."

I raise an eyebrow at that, she sighs, "Yeah, marriage contract, I didn't choose to marry him, everyone knows I don't want to marry him, yet they sent him over anyway." She looked down with an annoyed frown, gritted her teeth, and clenched her fists slightly.

"Ah," I hum in faux understanding, "Devil politics?"

Rias seems to snap out of her little funk there, looking back at me and nodding with a displeased sigh, "Correct, unfortunately. So, when he got here, I told him I didn't want anything to do with him, and, well" she trails off, her voice getting smaller and smaller once she continues, "heuh, left? And put his little sister in charge?"

I stare at her, for a good long moment.

Then I snort, which quickly evolves into a chuckle as she pouts, her cheeks puffing out as she looks away as much as she can.

"And, ah, who's his sister?" I ask, amused, though I already knew of course.

"Ravel Phenex." She answers curtly.

"Year?" I follow up.

Rias winced, then answered slowly, "...First."

I couldn't help it anymore, I full-on laughed.

"H-Hey" Rias starts, weakly, giving me the side eye, "It's not that funny."

"Oh! Oh, Gremory-san"

"Rias." She interrupted with a pout.

My train of thought stops, "Huh?"

"Rias. Call me, Rias." She says again, "You already practically saved our lives, including mine, you should be allowed as much. Besides," she points at me, "you already called me my name, no takebacks!"

I deadpanned at her, "I did that for a different reason."

"Hmm? Oh really now? What for?" She asks, curious.

I shrug, "Thought I was in a hentai there for a moment, so saying your first name would just be hotter."

She blinks.

Then looks at her chest all squished against me, at just how close she is in general.

At the very tight broom closet, which, coincidentally does provide just enough room for me to thrust properly if we did go at it.

She looks up at me, right in the eye, and for a second I see the gears turning in her head before she suddenly blushes as red as her hair.

"Oh." She replies dumbly.

I shake my head disappointed, "And I heard from my adorable little kouhai that you're supposed to be a weeb," I click my tongue, "for shame, Rias, for shame. Not recognizing the tropes as you do them."

"Shut up" She whines lowly as I merely chuckle.

Then I stop, clear my throat, and go back to when I was rudely interrupted.

"Anyhow, Rias, it is very funny!" I start explaining, to an increasingly distraught Riss, "See, you're getting bossed around by a little girl two years your junior, when you could have dealt with your fiance, who while he might be a jerk, probably isn't a hyper manager. See the funny?" I ask with a raised eyebrow.

"Please, just, stop" she whines further, "I get it, alright? I've been dealing with her for a week. I get it" she trails off, rather pathetically.

I bite my tongue, and sigh, before reaching over and patting her on the head a bit.

She stops and blinks, befuddled.

"Yeah, alright. I hear you. Sorry, being pulled around like this just makes me irritable." I add, my tone softening, "I was already in a sour mood before you ran into me, Sitri called me to the Student Council Office right before lunch started." I finish with a sigh.

Rias blinks at that, "Oh, uh, my bad, then?"

I snort, "Nah, I'd prefer this," I pointedly look down at her chest, "thanwhatever is waiting for me up there."

Rias gives a small smile at that.

I followed up shortly after with, "Also, you gave me the perfect excuse to show up there late, so thanks!" I give her a thumbs up, and she chuckles.

But that eventually slowly trails off nervously, as she starts talking again, "So. Like I said, I'd like your help?"

I nod, "That you did, although, I don't see how I could here?" I ask, quizzically.

Seriously. I don't think I have anything that could

"Could you use your eyes to hypnotize her into stopping?" She says all at once.

I simply give my smallest smile towards her.

Then, I turn for the door.

"Nooopppee~!" I call out as I reach for the handle, only for my hand to be grabbed, and yanked back.

"Please!" She pleads, practically begging at this point, "I'll let you take me, right here, right now, as payment!"

I stop.

And slowly tilt my head toward her, mouth slightly agape like a dumb fish.

Before she can say another word, I flick her on the nose, prompting her to yelp.

"Yeah. Right. Don't say shit like that." I chastise her, "Especially when you don't mean it."

Of course, I say that out loud.

But inward, a tiny part of me suspected otherwise.

After all, this girl did jump on Issei's dick to try and get out of her marriage with Riser.

Say. Now that I think about it, if I were to pound her right here, wouldn't that help take care of two of her problems right now?

Rias, slowly, begins unbuttoning the top of her shirt, and with the most determined look I've seen yet today, she says, "I'm dead serious."

Fucking. Murphy.

By the time she's finished talking, half of her cleavage is exposed.

I flick her on the nose again, prompting her to yelp once more and cease.

"H-Hey!" She whines, grabbing her nose, "Stop that!"

"I will once you stop trying to get some guy that you barely know to fuck you to convince him to hypnotize some first-year girl!" I say, exacerbated, grabbing her shoulders, "Do you not see how fucked that is?!"

Rias blinks, and raises a finger, "But the girl is that demon, so it's fine?"

I sigh. Deeply.

Fuck this shit, I'd rather deal with Sitri than a crazed, anime withdrawal-laden Rias.

I huff, then start an idea I just thought about, "How about this? I summon you, via Devil summoning slip, either separately or with Koneko next time contract time comes, I presume she has a time slot for that?"

Rias nods along with a raised eyebrow, "Yes, most of the night is time for Devil jobs, why?"

I nod, "Good. So, I summon you, and you can watch anime all you want with me. That'll be your contract with me. How's that sound?"

Rias blinks, once more, I see the gears turning once more, and then her eyes start sparkling.

Like. Sparkling with Demonic Power, red and black as she smiles widely.

"Noriaki-kun. I could kiss you right now." She says almost like in a daze.

You know. I don't think I permitted her to call me by my first name, but at this point, I don't care.

I just really want out of this damn closet.

"So, sounds like a plan, tonight?" I ask with a raised eyebrow.

"Mhmm~!" She hums, nodding dreamily.

"Great!" I let go of her, then turn, grab the door handle, and fling it open, "See you later then, Rias!" I call behind me as I power walk out of there.

Honestly. I'm shocked it took this long for some bullshit like that to happen.

~ A New Sun ~

I stand now in an airy, well-lit, office room.

Behind the desk across from me, thankfully not pressed up against me, are Sona and Tsubaki.

Sona, who has bags for bags under her eyes, and seems so tired she can't even muster a professional expression.

Instead, she levels a rather deadpan glare my way.

To my surprise, Tsubaki, standing off to Sona's right, isn't glaring at me with hatred or some such.

Instead, she looks terrified, the poor girl looks like she's barely keeping herself from shaking.

Well. The last time we officially met, I did hit her with a fire dragon.

And she has been avoiding me ever since.

"Kusanagi-san," Sona begins curtly, "what took you so long?"

I mirror her deadpan stare with my own, and simply reply, "Rias."

She blinks at that, before sighing and asking, "I see. I presume she asked you for help regarding herproblem?"

"Yup." I confirm easily, "And I gave her a solution that didn't involve me hypnotizing little girls or using her body as payment, so all is well. I think."

Don't quote me on that, Murphy you little bitch.

Sona leans back in her chair and groans with exacerbation.

"Damnit, Rias" she murmured, then leaned back forward, slumping slightly, "Well, regardless, it's been settled. I hope. Now as for why I called you here" she slowly looked to her right, at Tsubaki.

Who instantly bows so quickly and so deeply that she almost slams her head into the side of the desk.

Wait. The fuck?

"I'm very sorry for how I acted in our first meeting!" She calls out, loudly.

I merely blink at her, and give a curt, "Okay? Uh. Thanks, I guess?"

I watch her strain herself to bow deeper, her body shaking, "I compared your conduct to some unsavory people from my past, and let my emotions get the better of me, I am well and truly sorry!" She continued, sounding increasingly distressed.

Hmm. So I was right back then, huh?

I should probably stop her before she flies off the handle, though.

I hold my hands, placatingly, though she won't yet see them, "Shinra-san, please, raise your head before all your blood runs to it." I command softly.

Tentatively, she raises her head back up.

"You're forgiven, alright? Calm it down a peg, your King looks like she could use you, properly, right about now." I idly note, pointing at Sona.

Tsubaki turns her head, her eyes widening slightly as she sees Sona resting her head in her hand, her eyelids half closed.

"Ah, it would appear so, Kusanagi-san," Tsubaki notes, shuffling around the desk to another nearby door, opening it to reveal a closet, "she has been getting increasingly drained dealing with her 'minder' as of late, I suppose."

"Sitri too, huh?" I murmur to the room, prompting a nod as Tsubaki comes out with a blanket, "Is she gonna be alright?"

After all, continuing our game while she's like this wouldn't be very fun.

Tsubaki gives a small smile as she throws it over Sona, "She will be, she just needs rest is all."

She reaches into a drawer and pulls out a sheet of paper, setting it on the table, she beckons me over.

"The reason you were called her, officially, is because of this," she taps the paper, "your, ah, club is getting a new teacher sponsor." She grimaces as she finishes.

I hum, looking over it with a raised eyebrow.

Hmm. Teacher's name?

Sera Shitori.

Gee. I wonder who that could be!?

I slowly look back up at her, and Tsubaki gives me a helpless shrug.

"You did bring this upon yourself." She oh so helpfully points out.

I sigh, picking up the paper, "Fair." I concede, "When will I see her?"

"Next week, no doubt." Tsubaki sighs in turn, "It's lucky, due to her existing responsibilities, she won't be here all the, but when she does" she trails off, slowly looking over at Sona.

I wince at that.

Damn, what is this? Feeling bad for Sona?

Shit, I'm going soft.

I hum, "Well. Damn. If you don't mind, I'd like to enjoy what little chaos-free time I have left, then. Got barely any time for lunch left now" I trail off, looking pointedly at Tsubaki.

She perks up, nodding, "Right, right. You're excused, Kusanagi-san."

I bow slightly, more like a nod, before turning myself and stepping out.

Making my way to the school roof where all the cool anime characters go, I can't help but crave the time Prime Noriaki calls me back.

Let him deal with this shit, I don't wanna!

Surely, he won't miss the recall this one time.

Right?

Right!?

Chapter 20

A few days rolled past in what felt like moments.

After waking up the next day, finally dispersing my poor clone, and seeing all that, we jumped right into the grind.

And by that I mean, Kuroka somehow managed to convince Koneko to come on over when she could, so the two of them could use me as cat toys.

Not in a sexy way, either.

So, I spent the next few days specifically training against a peak ultimate class Kuroka, and Koneko who's finally learning Senjutsu.

Now, leaving the fact that Kuroka herself matches Vali in his Balance Breaker, let me just say, Koneko is bullshit at Senjutsu.

Like. According to Kuroka? She has better potential with it than even her.

Which fits, considering how fast Koneko got her third tail.

And this Koneko is jumping right into learning Senjutsu from her sister, albeit hesitantly and purely to beat me up better.

Not like I didn't try to make them work for it, but hey, only so much you can do in like three days.

At least Koneko and Kuroka got sister bonding time.

In a way.

Yeah. That's good.

My days were spent being a cat toy, and my nights were spent chugging along with Rias in multiple anime marathons.

I'm so glad I don't require sleep to function.

But! All 'good' things must come to an end, and now it's time to head out and visit the Yokai.

Specifically, the West Yokai Faction under Yasaka.

Now. I would like to wax on about the Faction's current deal and stances, but. Well.

I've got a maid and or secretary fussing over my attire right now.

"Uzume," I say suddenly, sternly, as the purple-haired kami is rapidly patting down my dress clothes as if they're filled with wrinkles or folds, "It's fine, you can stop now."

They are, I swear, she's been at this for half an hour.

She jumps at my voice, and stops to look me in the eyes, "Noriaki, Goshujin-sama," she said just as sternly back, "with all due respect, this meeting is important and thus you must dress your best!" She boops me on the nose, causing me to flinch briefly, stunned, "This isn't like the Clans where you can walk up in a bathrobe and they'll throw themselves at your feet! You must pay proper respect!"

"I know that!" I retort, muttering through rubbing my poor nose, "But you're worrying a bit much, don't you think? I look fine!"

Dare I say, dapper even.

Turning my head to the side, to look at myself in the full-body mirror, I see a young man clad in a white suit jacket over a crimson red dress shirt, with the outer robe of a black kimono, embodied with red and white flowers, falling upon my shoulders. Night black pants, and matching dress shoes finish the look.

Damn, I look fine.

And this was all Uzume's idea, truth be told.

I was planning a basic bitch formal kimono, but it was Uzume who insisted upon a mix of modern and traditional.

Although, I will admit, having the dress shirt upon to expose my mark, and having my sword slung across my back, also kind of makes me look like some yakuza boss.

Still, very good-looking, very cool.

"Nyaah~? You better watch out Nori-kun~, the maid is calling you master!" Kuroka gives an amused chuckle where she lies, sprawled out across the couch, "You better listen to her, nya~! That's how you know maids are getting serious!"

I deadpan back at her, "You know, I didn't drag the couch back into the living room just so you can be cheeky and mess up your outfit, you know?"

"Hmm? Messing it up, nya~?" She sits up, leaning forward slightly as she smirks, her red, black, and gold formal kimono nearly falling over her chest as she moves, "You sure about that~?"

My eyebrow twitches, "I'm going to spank you when we get home, I hope you know."

Kuroka hums, leaning back and raising one of her legs, revealing that she is wearing underwear for once, "Looking forward to it, nya~!" She winks.

"Hmm. A six-out-of-ten tease. Should have worn lace rather than plain black." I state plainly.

Kuroka flinches, "Nyyaaahh~!? A six!? Nori-kun!" She cries out indignantly.

I turn back to Uzume, promptly ignoring the cat.

That's what you get when you don't wear underwear for so long, you forget what sexy underwear looks like.

"Can we leave yet, Uzume?" I ask her with a huff.

Uzume stares back at me for a moment, before relenting with a sigh, "Okayfine" she reaches out, patting my suit a couple more times absentmindedly, "just, be safe, alright? Don't do anything stupid. When your Father visited, he left Urakyoto as the only place he didn't have to fight to get people to agree to his demands. But who's to say they haven't changed their minds since?"

I reach out, giving her a small smile as I pat her on the head a couple of times, "You don't need to worry so much, alright? We can handle ourselves just fine, and if something happens, we'll book it, okay?"

Uzume doesn't meet my smile, a slight frown on her face, "...promise?" she asks tentatively.

I smile wider, "Promise." I affirm.

A small smile slowly crosses her face, as she steps back, and bows slightly, "Then I will await your return, Goshujin-sama."

Damn. Who taught her to be a maid?

I nod at her, before walking over to Kuroka and holding out my arm, "Ready?"

She smiles prettily right back, before taking my arm as she stands up, "For a night on the town, yes! But, not so much for the politicking, nya." She sighs.

I chuckle at that, "Well, if all goes well, maybe we can come back again, none of that second part included?"

"That sounds lovely, nya~..." she snuggles into my arm as we head on out.

It took her a bit, admittedly, for her to finally ask the question I've been waiting for her to realize she should probably ask.

We were halfway to walking to our destination like a lovey-dovey couple by the time she finally asked.

"Hmm~...say, darling~?" Kuroka murmured in realization, "How are we supposed to meet Yasaka and her Faction, in the first place? We don't know where the entrance is, and it's not like you have an official channel with them, nya~?"

I merely smile a truly face-splitting grin, right back at her.

"I've got an idea or two."

~ A New Sun ~

Sitting in between three separate shrines is a rather small lake, or perhaps a pond.

Specifically, the Inari Taisha, Takakura-okami, and Kumataka Shrine.

Pretty significant shrines, if I do say so myself. Of course, you've got one dedicated to Inari, the primary one, but a minor one to my Mother as well?

Seems like a perfect place to make a phone call.

As we left late in the evening, there were bound to be very few people around this time of night.

Well, mundane people, anyhow.

See, the Yokai in this city are very peculiar.

Turns out, Yasaka isn't on the Devil's side, or anything of the sort. She merely has a history of playing peacemaker and negotiator, using Kyoto as a sort of neutral ground to facilitate interaction across various groups for Japan.

Therefore, all the Devil businesses.

There are likely several other supernatural-backed businesses from all sorts of factions across the world here, it's just that simply wouldn't have been able to catch them, not knowing what to look for all.

But, that leads to why the Yokai here are odd.

Due to Yasaka's stance, the Kami, more specifically Inari, actually has some form of working relationship.

That merely being guarding the shrines in Kyoto, those not manned personally by the Clans, anyway.

Which leads to now!

Me and Kuroka, floating above the pond between the shrines, as I prepare my call.

A little ball of sparking Holy Spirit Power sitting on the tip of my finger.

Kuroka floats there in front of me, deadpanning at me and my little firecracker orb.

"Nori-kun." She starts, blandly.

"Yesss?" I drone out, focusing intently so the orb doesn't burst prematurely.

"This is your master plan, nya?"

"Yesss."

She sighs, "And you say I'm terrible at plans, nya!"

"Well, hey! It was either this or walk straight up to the Inari Shrine itself!" I point my finger up, "And grab their attention with something that doesn't induce good first impressions!"

"Like threatening to set the forest on fire, nya?"

I blink, "Eheh...no?"

Kuroka facepalms.

Okay. To be honest, I kind of procrastinated this, so this isn't the most well thought out plan.

But I'm only really doing this because I have heavy doubts they'd just come out if I asked them, the first time around with the ice cream seemed like a joke, truly.

I need to get their attention.

This should do it.

I launch the orb straight into the sky, sending it whizzing up into the late sunset like a rocket.

As it climbs further and further, its structure destabilizes rapidly, sputtering out before popping like a firework.

A bright, golden, crackling firework. With my Holy Spirit Power as the boom.

There we go, a non-threatening way of getting certain people's attention.

I twitch a bit, as my Holy Spirit Power bursts out, and a good distance away the power within the Takakura-Okami seems to fluctuate slightly.

Or, to put it bluntly, I think my mother felt that.

Oh well.

Kuroka sighs, before floating over to my side, "Well, you got a fair few people's attention with that one. All Yokai, ones vastly stronger than the rest, get ready, nya!"

Hmm? Vastly? Perhaps a higher-ranked Yokai then, like a commander?

It doesn't take long until I get my answer, as we are quickly not so much surrounded by Yokai, but more like confronted.

Mostly by Karasu-Tengu, bird people with big black feathered wings, like a Fallen, with the head of a crow.

Pretty much all of them wore typical mountain hermit attire and wielded thin staffs for weapons.

Well, sans the few slightly fancier-looking guys wielding scepters around whom Kuroka claimed to be vastly stronger than the rest.

It's not a Tengu and not someone I expected to meet so soon, that's for sure.

"You there!" Their clear leader pointed, right at me, her golden eyes narrowing as her nine-tails swished behind her in irritation, "You were here the other day, weren't you? Don't you know it's rude to let out your powers like that!?" She immediately starts chastising us, as the guard around her point their very small sticks at us.

Hmm. Okay. So, thing to note.

This is Kunou. Definitely.

But uh, she's...well.

A tad older. As in, if I had to guess, Koneko's age.

The thing is she sure as hell looks like she grew into it as well.

Her Shrine Maiden outfit looks a tad too small for her, straining against her thin yet curvaceous form, especially against her chest.

Although it's nowhere near the size of her mother's, it's going for it.

Still smaller than, say, Kuroka or Rias, but probably bigger than the Church Girls, I'd say.

So. Basically, fluffy-tailed shortstack Kunou.

Is the universe trying to tell me something here?

"Well!? What do you have to say for yourself!" She crossed her arms suddenly and glared at me, expectantly, in an almost pouty manner.

Shit. Did she keep going? Whoops! Wasn't paying attention, too busy processing allthat.

Now, Nori. Here's the thing, she looks very bulliable.

Don't do it. I know you're thinking about it, but don't.

I point up to the sky, where my makeshift firework went off, and give a happy-go-lucky smile, "You know, technically, as long as it's not explosive, fireworks are allowed in Japan, right?"

Damnit.

"Bha!?" She exclaimed and flinched, her mouth gaping in confusion at me for a second before she returned to glaring, "T-That has nothing to do with what I was just talking about!? Were you even paying attention just now!?"

I hum, non-committal, "You sure? What else could you be talking about? There isn't a rule against the Kami letting out their power here, could there be? After all, all the shrines are doing it, why can't I?"

Kunou blinked at that, looking legitimately bewildered, "T-That's notthat's not the point!" She suddenly decides, and if I had to bet, she'd probably stomp her feet if we were standing on solid ground right now.

She points at me again, "It's rude! Doing that all of a sudden! Every Yokai on the mountain felt and saw it!"

"You know it's also rude to point at someone, right?" I respond easily back.

"E-Eh?" She weakly stutters, her finger slouching, before deciding to ignore me and keep up the pointing, her finger shaking as her face flushes in a small amount of anger, her pout returning full force, "You!"

So. Fucking. Cute.

Although I think I may have broken her.

Ah well~!

I should probably wrap this up before the girl decides to order an attack on me or something.

I chuckle, waving off her words as I float slightly forward, bowing slightly to the congregation before me.

The action causes the Kyuubi Princess to once more cease, staring at me in sheer confusion.

"Ah, but I forget my manners, before I tease you more, I should state my name and purpose, no?" I begin, formally and regally.

"Ah!? Teasing!? So all that was on purpose!" She cries out indignantly.

I ignore her, of course, and carry on, "My name is Noriaki Kusanagi, Arahitogami, Son of Amaterasu and Kunihito. I have come looking to talk with your Mother, Princess," I look straight at her, "supposedly she should be expecting me, but I don't quite know where exactly to go to find Urakyoto myself."

I smile simply, "Figured flagging the people put in charge by Lady Yasaka to guard the shrines and asking would be a pretty good way to remedy that."

Kunou blanches at my words, but only slightly, "The Omikami? So that's why it felt so" she mutters, trailing off, before shaking her head and narrowing her eyes at me, "I am aware of who you are, Lord Kusanagi, but not of your intentions. Why should I show you where our home is? Where Mother is?" She crosses her arms and glares at me.

I deadpan at her, "You act as though your mother wouldn't just squish me to death if I tried anything. I am strong, but your mother is vastly above me and my companion in terms of power."

Kunou gave a satisfied smirk and nodded smugly at that, "Very true indeed. But that brings up another point, yourcompanion" she strained the word out, "is a known criminal. That doesn't paint a pretty picture for you by association, you know?"

"On the Devil's side," I argue with ease, "do the Yokai here have a problem with her? Is she wanted in the West?"

Kunou blinked at that, narrowing her eyes in thought for a moment, "Iguess not" she started slowly, before clicking her tongue and huffing, "Hmph. Okay. Fine. I'll concede that, but this is still incredibly suspicious. Mother never told me anything about suspecting you"

I hum, before stating, "Parents don't often tell their children everything."

"I know that!" She snaps back, "But this seems important enough that she should have least mentioned it!"

I smile, widely, at that, "Important, huh?"

She freezes at that.

Then huffs and looks away.

So she does know who I am, and that I likely wouldn't try anything, or at least believes that I won't.

Then, logically, she's only holding out on us because

I shrug, "Well, I suppose then we can float here all night, Princess, and I can continue to tease you." I smirk as her expression grows incredulous, "Certainly wouldn't be a waste of the night, would it Kuroka?"

"Nope, nya~!" Kuroka purrs out in affirmation.

Kunou's eyebrow twitches, before she gives a long, defeated, sigh.

"Everyone." She suddenly speaks, all the Tengu parking up at her address, "Please return to your duties at the shrine. I'll escort our guests to Urakyoto personally."

"Yes, Lady Kunou!" All the Tengu shout as one.

And at her command, they scatter to the wind.

Slowly, Kunou floats up to me, her arms still crossed as she glares right at me.

I give her a stupid smile as Kuroka floats to my side, "We will follow your lead then, Princess."

Her eyebrow twitches at that.

"I am Lady Kunou. Daughter of Lady Yasaka of the Kyoto Yokai." She speaks plainly, "Don't call me Princess."

I nod, "Got it."

She sighs in relief.

"Princess."

Her sigh strains as the last whisps leave her mouth, and she scowls at me.

"You're just a rude man in general aren't you?" She huffs out, disgruntled.

"No no," I deny rather easily, "see, I only tease cute Princesses, that makes you special!"

"Eh?" Her face blanks out for a moment as she processes what I just said, "C-Cute!?" She suddenly stammers, her face flushing as she looks away from me once more.

It takes another good moment, but eventually, she composes herself and huffs, still looking away, "Cute? I'm far more than that. I am my mother's daughter after all! There is none more beautiful than us." She states as if fact.

I want to pat her head.

I want to do it, so fucking bad.

I want to scratch behind those cute little fox ears and call her a good girl.

But I do have some self-control, you don't touch a girl you just met like that.

Hell, you don't touch anyone you just met like that.

So. I'll wait.

For now.

I chuckle at that, "Fine then, Princess. You're more than cute" I smirk as I see her eyebrow raise at that, just barely, "you're adorable."

She tries to look away further, but can't, so I'm treated to a full side view of one of her cheeks flushing full before she finally decides to turn around, breathing out an annoyed sigh.

She flicks her tails at us, not looking back as she says, "Follow me, you two. Let's make this quick."

She starts floating away, rather quickly, but we easily keep pace.

Kuroka leans in, and mutters into my ear, "I kinda wanna keep her, nya~!"

"Same~!" I whisper right back with a chuckle.

Kunou's ears twitch at that, and she speeds up just a tad more.

Hmm. Well. It seems like the operation, 'don't bulli the fluffy-tailed shortstack' has failed successfully!

Now to make sure Kuroka doesn't actually try to kidnap the girl, the damn cat has less impulse control than I do.

Off to Urakyoto, we go!

~ A New Sun ~

Kunou just about slammed the doors to her home closed as soon as she stepped inside.

It was a close thing, as right before she did, she stopped the doors and closed them gently, not wanting to be scolded by her mother over something so trivial.

Then she stood there, right at the entrance, reeled back her head, and let out a frustrated scream.

The fox Yokai guarding the doors flinched at that, looking on at their young Princess with worry.

Meanwhile, Kunou herself was, for lack of a better term, seething.

As soon as they reached the city, those two jerks gazed at the place in awe.

Good. That made her feel all proud and smug. Her mother's city is the greatest gathering of Yokai in Japan, after all!

Then, the big jerk - because she refuses to acknowledge his status as long as he teases her like that - simply asked her if she could inform her mother of their presence.

He stressed that she shouldn't be pressed to see them too quickly, as they did just kind of show up unannounced.

Instead, as they waited to see her, they wished to use that time to explore the city for a bit.

Well. At least they knew their place there.

Understanding that her mother is far too important to just drop everything at a moment's notice for them earned some respect.

Then they went and wasted it by calling her Princess again and saying they'd see her late.

It took everything in her power not to blow the two up with foxfire.

Not like it would probably affect the big jerk at all, judging by who he is, but it's the thought that counts!

Taking a long, deep breath, Kunou rubbed the bridge between her eyes and shivered as the frothing boiling rage left her, replaced by an endearing determination to get back at them.

Somehow. Also mostly the big jerk, his accessory cat girl just nodded along and played off whatever he said the whole time.

She bristled slightly as she started walking, remembering what that cat girl said the moment they started their little trip.

Keep her? She is not some pet, damnit! She's the Princess of the Kyoto Yokai! Daughter of Yasaka!

His agreement didn't make that statement any better!

Especially coming from him!

That train of thought prompted her to blush profusely and scowl.

Wording it like that leads to ideas she'd rather not think about.

Bah! Puberty. At least she isn't like those cat yokai with their Mating Seasons.

Especially like his hanger-on cat. You'd think she's perpetually on her Mating Season the way she clung to him.

But it's further exacerbated since she's already seen him under most of those clothes.

To be fair, who hasn't at this point? It's all over the internet, but still.

That doesn't help. At all.

Stop thinking about that!

Stop thinking about how he called you cute, while you're at it as well!

He's a teasing jerk who should explode!

She didn't even realize she had made it to her mother's room until she had, on autopilot, swung open the doors.

Sitting at a desk in the far corner room, the only occupant perked up as the doors slid open, her ears fox ears twitching and nine-tails swishing as she looked up from some book and saw her.

The warm smile her mother sent her as soon as she laid her eyes upon her burned away any tumultuous emotions she had left.

Kunou smiled back, as Yasaka stood up from behind her desk, closing her book as she moved, giving her daughter her full attention.

"Kunou, dear?" She began, walking over to her and patting her on the head, "Aren't you supposed to be watching over the Fushimi Inari Shrine? Did something happen, or," her smile turned much more sly, "did you perhaps forget your pass, again?"

"Eh!?" Kunou blinked, "No, no! Mother! Nothing like that! Besides! It was one time! One!" She exclaimed in response.

Really! After the first time, she made sure to never forget it again.

Holy Spirit Power, as it turns out, is very corrosive to Yokai. She was lucky being hit with it only made her extremely sick and weak for a month, rather than turning her to ash.

Well, luck, and she is a Kyuubi, a nine-tailed fox! Something like that wouldn't kill her outright!

Her mother merely chuckled down at her, giving a pleasant hum, "So then, something happened?"

Kunou cleared her throat, before nodding and explaining in detail what had occurred thus far this evening.

By that point, Yasaka had sat down on her bed, with Kunou right beside her.

By the end of her explanation, her mother was humming thoughtfully, tails swaying side to side.

"Hmm, that man's son is here? Curious." Her mother mused, "I figured we would see him eventually, but most likely a while after the Parade, not right before." She suddenly starts chuckling, holding a hand to her face, "Still, like father, like son, I suppose, hmm?"

Kunou tilted her head in confusion, "Both of them couldn't just knock politely and ask to enter normally?"

"I suppose not." Yasaka smiles with mirth, "Though I will say, although both may have hadunorthodox methods of entrance, I vastly prefer the son's way over the father's."

"Huh." Kunou blinked, "How did his father get in, then?"

Because, personally, in Kunou's opinion, she can't think of anything worse than what she just had to deal with!

Yasaka grimaced, but still held her smile as she explained, "He found the pocket dimension Urakyoto resided in, and cut a path in with his sword."

What.

Kunou's eyes widened into saucers, "H-How!? That doesn't make any sense!" She exclaimed, jumping back to her feet and gaping at her mother.

"Oh dear," Yasaka reaches out, patting her gently and soothingly on the head, "there are few things those blessed by, or those of the Gods, Kami, and Buddha can't accomplish. That, I get the feeling you will be learning quite soon with your own eyes."

With a hum, Yasaka stood up herself, "Speaking ofKunou, dear?"

Kunou perks up at that, "Yes, mother?"

"You should go change, perhaps into that pretty pink kimono we had made for you for more formal meetings?" Yasaka smiled slyly, "You'll be joining me for talks with him after all."

Kunou clicked her tongue, crossing her arms and looking down, "...Do I have to?"

"Kunou, this meeting is important" Yasaka walks over to her desk, pulling open a drawer or two and rummaging through them, "this one especially. And as my daughter and heir, this makes it even more important for you to be there as well."

"B-ButMmmm" Kunou shifted from side to side as she gave a nervous hum.

Yasaka looked over to her, eyebrow raised, "Is something the matter dear?"

"Mmmgh!" Kunou huffed, throwing her arms up, "But he's a big jerk! I don't want him to see me looking likelike that!"

Yasaka stilled.

"Oh?" Her voice had an unusually cold edge to it all of a sudden, "A jerk, hmm? How so? What did he say?"

Kunou blushed profusely, "H-Hehe called me cute! And he outright admitted to teasing me because of it!"

Even though she couldn't see her mother, she could feel her gaze boring into her back.

Then her dear mother started giggling.

A small, soft thing, before it eventually evolved into a chuckle, then a truly pretty laugh.

Well. If it wasn't directed at her.

"Mother!" Kunou half cried half whined back, turning to see said mother covering her mouth with a dainty hand as her laughing trailed off.

"Oh, Kunou, dear. It'll be fine," she walks back over, grabbing her little cheek, much to Kunou's indignation, "he's right after all! My daughter is very cute!"

Kunou blanched at that, "M-M-Mother! Stoooppp!"

~ A New Sun ~

Today has been a good night so far.

Even if Yasaka denies seeing us, or is evil now or some shit, I can confidently say all this was worth it regardless.

Urakyoto isstunning.

A traditional Japanese city, straight out of olden times, but lit up and brought to life by the supernatural inhabitants.

Despite everything feeling old, it also feels alive.

And considering how varied the Yokai are as a species, I wouldn't be shocked if some of the buildings here were just straight-up Yokai.

Just walking around, we saw shit like a literal living thundercloud, a naked lady intertwined with a wheel, and a flying head!

It may be because of the Night Parade coming up, but we also saw a lot of Nekomata, which Kuroka noted is unusual around here, along with Oni, Kamaitachi, and more.

Also more than likely due to the Night Parade, the city had stores and vendors set up in droves, with all sorts of Yokai foods.

Kuroka just about bought out the Nekomata food vendor, poor guy.

She's said it's been years since she's had proper Nekomata food, although, to me, all of it just looked like normal stereotypical stuff cats like.

Eh. Who am I to judge?

Another shocking thing is that we haven't been bothered, at all.

Well, more specifically I haven't. Kuroka is fine since she lets her ears and tails out and fits right in.

But I certainly don't look, nor feel, like a Yokai.

I could maybe see Kuroka masking my power with her own, she has been clinging to me all night after all, but it's still a shock I haven't been accosted, not even given real funny looks.

Well. Besides the Oni. But they seem perpetually angry no matter what, so eh.

We're also being followed, but I'm not exactly shocked. Be kind of dumb to leave outside guests alone to wander the city.

All in all, a very lovely night.

As we walk through the crowd of Yokai, Kuroka happily holding my arm and clinging to my side, I feel someone brush against the other side, as a small, feminine whisper enters my ear.

"Lady Yasaka will see you now."

I almost jump, I barely have time to turn my head to see a fox yokai, a small kitsune girl in a shrine maiden's outfit, as she walks off, vanishing into the crowd.

I didn't even sense her, holy fuck.

And judging by Kuroka still being all lovey-dovey right next to her, she didn't either.

Well. That was a message with a subtle double meaning if I ever saw one.

Still a great night though, heh!

I tilt my head down to Kuroka, briefly telling her what just happened, she seemed startled and apologized that she didn't sense the girl at all.

I just kissed her and told her to not blame herself, before we headed up to the Palace.

If the city was alive, then the Palace, a traditional Japanese castle manor, looked positively haunted.

In a good way. As it was glowing a soothing blue light.

We were met at the doors by a pair of Kitsune, not guards, more likely attendants as they didn't carry weapons, who led us throughout the Palace, straight to where I could feel the absurdly monstrous power of who I assumed to be Yasaka.

When the attendants opened the final door, I expected some sort of throne room.

What I didn't expect was a fairly modest tatami room, with a few zabuton cushions laying out, four in total.

Two of which were already occupied.

Okay. So look.

I knew what to expect, and I was still floored.

Yasaka is, of course, gorgeous.

But how in the fuck does she see her feet with those watermelons in the way!?

Her specialized shrine maiden attire straight from canon was sure as shit not helping keep those in and up, either!

Hell, even Kuroka looked floored, not even jealous of her chest, just like, confused?

Ain't no amount of Senjutsu and Youjutsu should physically help with that, especially when she sleeps.

Sitting right next to Yasaka in her own little cushion, was Kunou, with a bit of an outfit change.

A pretty pink kimono, with a flowery yellow sash and cute red ribbon, now adorned her form.

As soon as we entered, Yasaka gave us an inviting smile.

While Kunou pouted, puffing out her cheeks and looking away.

Fuck it. I can't.

I look straight at Kunou, give her a silly smile, and a thumbs up, "Very cute now, Princess!"

Kuroka, bless her heart, nodded along with me, humming in agreement.

Kunou blinked.

Yasaka blinked.

Then, she slowly smiled slyly.

Kunou, meanwhile

"Ughhh!" Threw her arms into the air, and groaned in absolute seething anger, "See, see Mother!" She points at me, over and over, "He's a jerk! A very big jerk!"

Yasaka hums to that, "I don't know, dear, he does have a pointyou are very cute like that!"

Kunou cried out once more.

And promptly burst into blue, fox fire, becoming practically a roaring bonfire within seconds.

Much to Yasaka chuckling.

You know what? I think this is going to go just fine~!

Chapter 21 (R-18)

I'm honestly surprised Kunou hasn't jumped me yet.

Kuroka and I took our seats across from the two Kyuubi, and one of them was still simmering while the other looked on with a sly smile.

I get the feeling Kunou would love nothing more than to pack all that fire up into a ball and punch me in the face with it.

Yet I also get the striking feeling that Yasaka wouldn't let that happen.

Pretty sure Kunou knows that.

So, I wave at the bonfire princess, and simply state, "Toasty."

Kunou snarls at me, or at least I think it was supposed to be a snarl.

Honestly, it sounded more like a soft whine, but eh, I got the intention.

I turned back to Yasaka, bowing slightly to her, "I thank you, Lady Yasaka, for welcoming us into your home. And for allowing our brief time here to be so comfortable." I give Kunou the side eye as I say that.

She gets the message, huffing indignantly as she snuffs out the foxfire around her.

Yasaka's smile never wavers, even as she waved my words off, "It's no big deal, Lord Kusanagi, we aim to please. Isn't that right, dear?" She turns her gaze to her daughter slightly, her smile curving up even more so.

Kunou scowls and grumbles something like an affirmative.

Think I heard something about 'even for big jerks' there.

Cute.

Yasaka giggles lightly before turning back to me, "Now then," and then her look sharpens, and despite not even being the victim of the gaze, both Kunou and Kuroka seem to instinctively straighten their postures, "for what reason do we owe the pleasure of seeing you here today, Lord Kusanagi?"

Ah. No more playtime then? Damn

Well. For now anyways.

For my part, my posture remains relaxed, an easy smile on my face as I meet the older foxes' gaze.

No point in letting this drag out longer than need be, and besides, with Yasaka I might be able to confirm Uzume's suspicions about the cause of the Night Parade.

"I'm not going to continue where my father left off." I start simply.

Much to Kunou looking at me in sheer confusion, and Yasaka looking suddenly positively blindsided.

Blinking the look off her face, Yasaka eyes me curiously, "Isee. Is that all you came here to say, then?"

I shake my head, "No, if it was that simple I never would have showed up at all."

"Truly?" Yasaka hummed out, "Then since you showed up at all, I presume it's because you have a different idea?"

Now at that, I nod and give her a grin, "Yeah, I do. And I think it is one you personally would be most agreeable towards."

"Is it now?" Yasaka practically purred out, "Well, I was certainly curious before, now I'm interested. Your father's attempt at a kingdom, an all-new united Faction for Japan didn't stick, although it was fine for as long as it lasted. What do you propose to replace it with?"

"Peace," I state, "for the whole of Japan."

Yasaka merely stares at me. "I'm going to need a tad bit more than that, Lord Kusanagi." She responds curtly.

To which I hummed, thinking of the best way to articulate my current plans.

See. Unlike in canon, the Three Factions Peace Conference? The Kuoh Treaty? I have severe doubts that anything like it will happen soon.

This means I don't have a point of comparison to draw on when I pitch this, beyond maybe the Yokai's 'peace' treaties with the Clans.

Those treaties that the Clans already broke with the East Yokai.

Good job, morons.

Pretty sure they would have broken the treaties with the West too if they didn't all live in the same city.

Internally, I sigh.

Outwardly, I start with, "The Peace Treaties between the Yokai and Five Clans are like the half-measured version of the premise I speak of," I raise my hands, spreading them out as I continue, "peace, not in a mere 'we won't attack each other' sense. But in a form where all the supernaturals of Japan can get along together, help and support each other unbidden from conflict from each other."

I take a deep steady breath, "No more should the Clans hunt Yokai for sport, no more should the Yokai hunt humans for sport. My father tried to bring everyone together via force, and you saw what happened. As soon as he left, everything went back to as it was. But, if everyone came together willingly, then" I trail off, eyeing the Kyuubi before me.

"Something might finally stick." Yasaka finished my speech with a murmur, "I see what you meant, this sounds made to appeal to me specifically, Lord Kusanagi. A pleasant dream, if nothing else~..." she trails off with a giggle.

Ah, a dream?

"Is it truly just a dream when one of the Five Heads already supports my idea?" I ask rather plainly.

Yasaka stops giggling, her eyes widening slightly at me.

"Which one?" She asks, almost urgently.

"The Himejima." I state simply.

Yasaka's breath hitches at that.

The Himejima, after all, is known for being the most die-hard traditionalist of the Five Clans, even to this day.

"I am rather certain I can convince the rest to come on board with the idea," I continue, "either with words, status, or sword, I will." I intone.

I highly suspect I'm going to have to wave my sword around threateningly and quite possibly kill a lot more old men.

That thought really should make me feel something besides cold indifference, yet I know full well that nothing of value will be lost.

"That of course, leaves the Kami themselves, and the Yokai." I continue unbidden, "I have an idea or two for the Kami, but, as for the Yokai? Well"

"If you can do as you claim," Yasaka interjects firmly, "then you have I, and the Wests, full support."

I blink at that, absolutely stunned, "...Just like that?"

"Just like that." She nodded with a small smile, and then her face fell as she sighed, "For the longest time, I have been trying to do something like you have described, albeit, not so connected as you are pushing for. But the Clans, always the Clans, kept pushing back on it. If you could handle them, then things might change for once."

Huh. I probably shouldn't be so surprised, out of all the Yokai, Yasaka is the most peaceful and cooperative by far.

Yet that sentence. Out of all the Yokai.

"And what of the other Yokai, the other factions?" I ask wearily. "What would they say to all this?"

At that, Yasaka grimaces, "The East can be convinced, but the others" she trails off thoughtfully.

Ah yes. Others.

The Yokai situation in Japan is much less orderly than with the Clans.

Or I suppose to be more on par with the Yokai, I'll say humans instead.

With the human side of supernatural Japan, you've mainly got the Five Clans controlling everything, then beneath that there are the smaller exorcist families, beast keepers, Shinto artifact retainers, such as Holy Spirit Swords, and the like.

The only real outlier to all the above is the Bureau of Onmy, who heed only the Imperial Family, but both strictly stay out of supernatural matters.

Otherwise, the Clans control pretty much everything. The lesser families heed them, and all goes on.

With the Yokai, however? Well

Generally speaking, the Daiyokai, or Great Yokai, are meant to be the 'rulers' of the Yokai.

What instead ends up happening is several dozen different Yokai Factions spring up, all across the country, all claiming independence from the big Yokai Factions, while also all claiming to represent the entire species or group of Yokai they are made up of.

Needless to say, it's all a massive cluster fuck.

Leaders of these various groups change at the drop of a hat. Their ideology, goals, allies, and enemies change along with them.

And this isn't even taking into account the various smaller groups of Yokai, outright hidden villages and such, spread across the country.

The reason this happens is due to Yokai being so intrinsically different from humans.

They're more like Kami in that regard. Fleeting spirits of nature that stick to their roots. The human emotions, natural phenomena, or other various ways the first Yokai were created.

Some Yokai are perpetually tricksters. Some are forever horny. Some straight up need human flesh to live.

And everything I say right now isn't even wholly confined to these lesser groups, not even the big Yokai Factions are safe from this.

For instance, the East is a relatively new creation that came out of several smaller factions banding together.

There used to be a North and South Yokai Faction, but the South got Murica'd and scattered, while the North fell to fighting with some native mythology called the Ainu up on the northernmost island.

It's a testament to the stability the West has that Yasaka, its leader, went and raised a child in Kunou.

Some might even call it a miracle.

Yet, no amount of miracles will likely ever get one true Yokai Faction created. And it certainly wouldn't let such a thing ever stick.

In the end, the best that I could probably ask for is a good majority of the bigger factions being for it, and willing to join up.

Then, maybe, with cooperation, those Yokai who can't join due to extreme circumstances such as requiring humans for food, or their almost alien or fey-like thought processes, can eventually be included.

But that's so very far off from the here and now, isn't it?

For now, focus on the now.

"The upcoming Night Parade." I interrupt the fox's thought process as I speak up, "Am I correct in guessing that my reveal to the world was the cause? That these other Yokai called for it in response?"

Yasaka gave a solemn frown to that, "I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case. I can think of a few who might resent your father enough that it slid off onto you." She gave a tired sigh, "The one who originally called for it, Daiyokai Ibaraki Doujou, the Fierce God of the Oni, I could see him easily being one. He didn't take the beating your father gave him well, I heard," she chuckles lightly, "and the Oni especially are notorious for their pride and temperament."

I narrow my eyes slightly.

That name. I don't recognize it from canon.

And he's a Daiyokai too? Which means around Dragon King level at least?

In summary, Kuroka and I are fucked if we run into him.

Of course, she didn't outright say that this guy wanted me dead, but calling for an event that is historically known to be the Yokai equivalent of a crusade doesn't make me think this guy is open to talking.

Well. I might have a chance if the sun is up, but at least here in Urakyoto, there isn't even a sun to begin with.

Also, It's night by now, so I'd be fucked regardless.

I gave a weary sigh to that, "I would be very thankful if you could tell me who else might be interested in trying to kill me. For future reference, of course."

"It would be my pleasure, Lord Kusanagi." Yasaka nodded with a light smile.

Hmm, you know what? Just to confirm it.

I follow up rather blandly, "I'm probably going to have to beat back and kill quite a few Yokai if I want to see my idea through to completion, aren't I?"

"Most likely." She instantly confirms with an amused grin.

Joy.

Also, oi. Don't look at me like that. I don't find this fun at all.

Mostly. Besides the Daiyokai fight, maybe.

If I don't die instantly, which has a very high probability of occurring.

"Of course, defeating an opponent of significant strength, such as the Fierce God, would likely force the rest into submission." Yasaka adds on with a hum, "So it might not be so bad, who's to say?"

I deadpan at the fox milf for that, and she sends me a cheeky grin right back.

Slowly, Yasaka suddenly rises from her seat, taking everyone in the room by surprise.

Yet she still had that cheeky smile on her face, and her movement lacked any sort of urgency.

Kunou especially seemed surprised, though admittedly I wasn't following her expression before this so I couldn't say anything before now.

"Mother?" She trails off inquisitively, almost, worryingly.

Yasaka waves her off for now and continues looking down at me intently.

"Well, it's been a long night, hasn't it Lord Kusanagi? I wouldn't call it heavy, but important talks like this certainly can't happen over one night, no?" Yasaka starts lightly.

Kunou, behind her, seems to be getting increasingly more pale and worried.

"Which is why I think it would be a good idea to pack it up for the night, perhaps continue tomorrow?" Her eyes narrow, beaming a smile with both her eyes and mouth down upon me, "And of course, I wouldn't be a proper host if I didn't invite you to spend the night!"

Ah. Back to playtime!

Kunou promptly gaped at her mother's back, fox ears pinned to her head, body shaking slightly.

I grinned, slowly shifting my body over slightly so I could look at her, right in the eyes.

She stops shaking, staring back at me pleadingly.

Sorry fluffy tails, no mercy.

I shift back into place, looking up at our most generous host, and nod to her curtly.

"And I wouldn't be a proper guest If I didn't graciously accept your kind offer, Lady Yasaka."

A low, whining cry emanates from behind her.

We, of course, ignored it.

"M-Mother" Kunou picked up her voice again, "does this mean the m-meeting is officially over?" She stammered out, hope laced in her tone.

"HmmI suppose it does, dear." Yasaka affirmed after a second of thought.

Her smile turned rather amused, as her daughter poofed into a small nine-tailed fox and promptly booked it out the door in a blur.

Behind me, I could hear Kuroka's light chortling at the scene, and I chuckled a fair bit myself as I rose to my feet to stand before Yasaka myself.

"You did all that on purpose, didn't you?" I accused her with a stupid smile on my face.

"I have no idea what you mean," Yasaka denied easily, "I was just being courteous, that is all."

That smile on her face soon broke into a small fit of giggles herself.

Her meager attempt at covering her mouth with her hand did nothing to stop us from seeing her laugh.

"Ah~..." Yasaka gave us a content sigh, "It's been so long since I had something to tease my adorable little girl with, and then you came along. Truly, aren't you the gift that just keeps on giving?"

She reaches over and pats me on the head, a pleasant smile etched on her face all the while.

It's during this time that I notice something I'm shocked I didn't see sooner.

Yasaka is about as tall as me, I'd say a hair shorter or so.

And in my old world's freedom units? I'm about six feet tall.

Everyone in this world is short. Damn.

Can't believe I just realized that.

It takes a second, but I find the words to respond to the woman before me, "Eh, don't think anything of it." I wave her off her words, not her hand though, it feels nice, "It was instinct to tease the fox princess."

Yasaka hums pleasantly at that before removing her hand from my head, much to my sadness, and clapping twice.

Suddenly. A small childlike kitsune girl just appeared next to us.

"Yes, my Lady?" She asks softly, barely above a whisper.

Hey. Wait a minute. Isn't this the same girl from earlier? That informed me that Yasaka was ready for a meeting?

Yasaka waves towards the two of us, "Please, show these two to a guest room won't you?"

The little kitsune bows deeply, "As you command, my Lady. It'll be done."

Yasaka patted her on the head, before turning to us once more, "I should probably go find my daughter before she gets into the kitchen in her Yokai form againlast time she did, she ate all the sweets in the pantry!" She recalls out loud.

Damn. Now she's just giving us free material. Aren't you supposed to be on your daughter's side? At least a little?

"If you need me, merely ask a servant for me," Yasaka's smile turns sly as she trails off, "although I doubt you'll need me tonight, hmm~?" Her gaze shifts between Kuroka and me.

I swear to fuck. If any of these perverted foxes try to catch a glimpse of us tonight I willprobably not try anything, because I likely wouldn't even know who did it.

If they ever did.

Fuck.

Although, for a split second, I did consider flirting back. See if I couldn't get Kuroka and Yasaka in my bed tonight.

Why?

'Hey Kunou, guess who railed your mom silly last night!'

Ultimately, I decided not to. As one, an impromptu threesome after a date night without Kuroka being involved in the decision is kind of a dick move.

And two, those jokes are basic as fuck. Completely unoriginal. I can do better than that!

I nod and give her a simple smile right back, "I think we'll manage, yeah."

Yasaka almost pouted at that, I could see it, like a reflex that she suppressed almost immediately.

Almost.

So that's where Kunou got it from, hmm?

"Very well you two," Yasaka nodded back, "try not to be too loud, okay~? Have a good night!" She waved off at us as she walked off in the direction Kunou bolted off in.

As soon as she left, the small kitsune turned to us and gave us an impassive stare.

"Follow along. I shall show you to your room." She stated barely above a whisper.

And as soon as she finished, she turned and strutted off unperturbed, deceptively fast for her size.

Leaving us to have to quickly dash forward to keep up with her, Kuroka quickly clung to my arm once more, a smirk across her face as she eyed me expectantly.

~ A New Sun ~

Huh. Well. This didn't take long at all.

"Nyah~...you really should have tried to get her to join us, you know~? Mmmm~!" Kuroka moaned into my neck.

I merely deadpan down at her, driving my fingers into her needy folds with spiteful vigor.

"Somehow, I'm not surprised you'd say that~! Horny cat~!" I held back a low grunt as Kuroka mewled lewdly against me, one of her glowing dainty hands wrapped around and stroking my shaft with just as much vigor, merely lustful instead.

I would love to describe the room we were lent for the night, but beyond the big bed, I can't honestly say I've seen much else.

As soon as we got in and the door closed behind us, Kuroka dropped her kimono and jumped on me.

And so, here we are. Kuroka plastered to my side, face against my neck, and her ample bust smashed into my chest.

Unfortunately, I didn't want to pound her into the bedsheets because Kuroka has a thing for being loud. Even if I covered her mouth.

Fortunately, Kuroka had the solution.

Her glowing hand signifies her use of Demonic Power. I don't know what specifically she's doing, but it's making her hand very soft, very slick, and very warm.

Of course, seeing this, I instantly stole it and copied it.

Using my Holy Spirit Power to make my hand hot, it was very easy to simply reach down behind her, find the lips of her womanhood, and return the favor.

Mostly because Kuroka is very short. I have nearly a foot over her.

Almost a shortstack. So very close!

"Myah~!" Kuroka sticks her tongue out, breathing hotly against me as she shivers, "Not, horny, just curious~! Mmmh~! Weren't you? Just a little, nyah~?" She gives my neck a nice slow lick, prompting me to shiver as well.

"You know, curiosity killed the cat~..." I reply gruffly, reaching over with my free hand to cup and play with one of her plush breasts.

Kuroka moaned softly into my neck, "Mhmm~...but come on, Nori-kun~...weren't you wondering~? Just how does that fox keep those big juicy melons up all the time~?" Slowly, she goes up to my ear, her handle on my length quickening, "You can't lie and say you weren't~, nyyaahh~!"

In response, I roughed up her insides just a little bit harder, cursing my inability to make my fingers just vibrate.

Now that would really mess her up.

"Kuroka~...!" I groan out from a disheveled breath.

"C~Come on, think about it~!" Kuroka continues unperturbed with a lewd smirk, "Getting to inspect those things, right up close~! You know she wasn't wearing a bra, just like me~! Then just to m~make sure, you could shove your nice fat cock, right up between those mounds~..." she practically moans that into my ear.

"K~Kuroka~...!"

"Have her squish them together," she continues softly, almost in a pleading-like manner, her hand no longer pretending like it's trying not to milk me, "and let you pound away into them, just to make sure they aren't illusions or anything of course~!"

"F~Fuck~!"

I tilt my head toward her and capture her lips with my own. A low, yet very loud groan passes through my throat at just that moment as Kuroka gets what she seems to want, my cum.

Unfortunately, unlike my groan which I used Kuroka herself to muffle, my seed shoots out of my rod unbidden, like a water fountain or hose, yet nowhere near as voluminous.

At the same time, Kuroka's body quivers into her own climax and she moans loudly in response to my fingers finding purchase in her deepest parts.

Slowly, I pull back from her lips and look her right in the eyes, "And here I was, thinking after a night like that you'd appreciate some alone time, hmm~? Then you have to go and suggest that~..." I give a fake dramatic sigh.

Kuroka winks at me and continues lightly stroking my hard-on, which of course refuses to go soft. With a small flex of her power, the little mess around her hand and my lower abdomen vanishes.

She gives my cheek a small peck, "I appreciate the thought, nya~! But still~!" She whispered sultry, "It is rather hot, isn't it~?"

My member responded for me, twitching and heating up in her hand, prompting Kuroka to let out a lewd giggle as she continued to try and rub another one out of me.

"Besides~!" Kuroka continued with a purr, "The past three days, with training from sunrise to sunset, and your nights being taken up by the redhead, I figured I could use a bit of help to relieve your backup, nyah~!"

"Hmm~?" I reach over, petting her head, scratching behind her ears, "Well now~, someone's trying to earn the title of good kitty~..."

"Earn it~!?" Kuroka whined in indignation, even as she leaned further into my touch, purring sensually, "I already am a good kitty~! No~! Best kitty~!"

I huff, "No, Shirone is the best kitty, you're a naughty kitty." I refute her easily.

Kuroka stops and blinks, before smiling softly, "That's not fair, using Shirone like that!" She faux whines, "I'll have no choice but to concede that, nya~!" Then she slowly smirks, sitting up to move down my body, dragging her mounds down my chest, my abdomenbefore finally settling at my cock.

Wherein, she wraps them around my length, her bosom squishing around my hardness like marshmallows.

"...And show you just why I'm naughty kitty, nya~!" Slowly and methodically, Kuroka starts bouncing her chest up and down, squeezing them together around my shaft as she does.

With a wink, her tongue flicks out, licking the tip of my rod, before eventually, her entire mouth comes down upon its head, gobbling it up.

I don't even respond to her beyond a low grunt, just letting her do one of the things she does best.

Originally, I wanted to talk with Kuroka about the day. I noticed that during the talk with Yasaka, Kuroka didn't say or do anything, and I wanted to ask what she thought of all this.

But now I realize something.

I seriously doubt Kuroka herself cares about any of that stuff enough to have legitimate thoughts beyond how cute Kunou is, or how ridiculous Yasaka's chest is.

Also, she's right, I am a tad backed up right now.

The talk went fine, it was a tad on the short side, but that's fine considering how late we showed.

Don't know how Yasaka plans on giving her support, but we can hash it out tomorrow.

For right now? This is a good way to end the night.

Yeah, I don't think anything can ruin this, things are going just fine.

~ A New Sun ~

We awoke to the Palace shaking.

I sat up, ramrod straight, in an instant.

After Kuroka practically drained me dry, I decided to sleep with her properly, cuddle, and all that. Cute couple shit.

What the hell is going on!?

Kuroka groggily gets up beside me, rubbing her eyes as she does so, "Hmm? Nori-kun~? What's the matte"

Kuroka stops suddenly, her face rapidly going pale.

It takes a second until I feel it, but when I do, I join her.

A thick, malevolent spirit, nearing Yasaka's own in power yet completely opposite in nature, crashes through the palace like a bloody tidal wave.

And with it, a singular roaring voice, that shook the palace once more with its sheer hatred and wrath.

"Where is he!?"

Somehow, I get the feeling he's talking about me.

But holy fuck do I hope he's not!

Suddenly, the doors busted open, and I just about grabbed my blade and started slashing until I saw who it was.

Kunou?

Huh. White pajamas. Cute.

Damnit Nori! Not now!

As soon as she saw us, whatever she was about to say died in her throat as her mouth, which was open, suddenly clicked shut.

She stared at us dumbly, her face beginning to glow red.

Ah. Right. We're still both very naked.

After a brief moment, Kunou found her voice, kind of "W-Why are you naked!?"

Albeit, it came out as some sort of low squeak rather than an actual question. Still, at least it was understandable.

"Why aren't you?" Kuroka answered dryly.

I snorted at that, as Kunou yipped indignantly.

Then the palace shook again, this time violent enough to throw objects to the ground, and nearly made Kunou herself hit the floors.

I shake my head to them both, "We don't have time for this." I state solemnly, getting up on my feet and grabbing my sword, which was propped neatly against my side of the bed.

I walk over to Kunou, who quickly covers her very flushed face as I do.

"I presume you're here to lead us out of here, right? Some sort of secret passage or some such?" I ask her plainly, to which Kunou nods her head rapidly.

"Neat. Take it yourself, and get out of here."

With that said, I turn, and prepare to head on out.

I see Kuroka blink at that off to my side, bewildered.

A moment later, I hear a squeaking, "W-What!?" behind me, before something grabs my sword.

Truly, it was nowhere near physically strong enough to stop me, but I halted so I didn't drag the poor girl with me.

I turned, looking dead at her, just as she began speaking.

Shockingly, she managed to look me in the eyes, even though her face resembled a tomato over flesh.

"Are you crazy!?" She starts, "This is the same guy Mother mentioned earlier, and although Mother is the strongest, the Fierce God is still strong! You'll be pasted before you can draw your sword!"

"Ok? And?" I bite back.

Kunou flinched at that, a scowl crossing her face, "W-What do you mean 'and' you stupid jerk, you'll die!"

"So what?" I repeat like a mantra, "This guy, he came here for me, right!?"

Those Oni that were just walking around the city. The same Oni that looked at me all pissed off, they told him about me, didn't they?

Fuck!

"W-Well, yeah?" Kunou stammered out.

"So I'm just supposed to run away? Let someone else fight my battles for me!?" I practically snarl out.

Right before Kunou could start yelling something back, a plush and soft body gently pushed into my side.

"Yes," Kuroka muttered, taking my free hand, my gaze snapped to her, but before I could even say anything a finger went to my lips, "you'll die, darling. Not even I would be able to save you. If you don't come willingly, I will drag you out of here myself."

I click my tongue and grit my teeth.

"Besides," she boops me on the nose, "didn't you promise Uzume we'd run if something like this happened?"

My eyebrow twitches, and I give a deep, long sigh.

"Fine." I turn back to Kunou, "Let's move."

Slowly, Kunou lets go of my sword sheath, "I-If it makes you feel any better, my Mother is the strongest!" She states resolutely, "She'll be fine, the city will be fine, this isn't the first time he's come here and gottenuhmrowdy."

I hum absentmindedly to that, slinging my sword over my shoulder.

Then I reached over with my now free hand, and patted her on the head, prompting her to freeze completely at my touch.

"Thanks, it does," I confirm slowly, "at least a little bit."

Kunou blinks up at me dumbly, her eyes slowly moving down my form, before shooting back up to look at my face as she starts batting the absolute hell out of my hand.

"Stop! That! And put on! Some clothes!" She quickly cries out after each bat.

I snort, turning to Kuroka, "Clothes us, and let's get moving."

With a quick application of her magic, our clothes are thrown haphazardly onto us, and still very red Kunou leads us away.

Kuroka clings to my back like some sort of super horny backpack, this time she confirmed that she is indeed masking my power with her own.

Kunou led us out of the back of the palace, and all the way there, the place seemed eerily empty.

Out back, there is a secret entrance and exit from the city, used exclusively by the East's leadership, her servants, guard, and so forth.

A swirling portal of deep purple and black energy, or Youki as both Kunou and Kuroka called it, hidden in the haunted and empty-looking traditional Japanese outback.

But of course, as if leaving can ever be so simple.

Just as we reached the portal, the entire courtyard shook, and behind usseemingly coming from right out front of the palace, a massive column of black and red power erupted into the sky.

Within it, a figure.

Or, no, it's more apt to say the column of power was the figure, coalescing into one.

A mountain of a man, bigger than the castle-like structure of the palace itself, he towered over it.

Crimson red skin, five bony horns crowning his head, and angry golden eyes, burning with ferocious power.

He looked over the palace, no, the whole fucking estate, a low growl on his lips.

Until he saw me.

And I knew he saw me, because the moment he did, the moment those eyes landed on me

It felt like the world slammed down onto my back.

As if the very world wanted me dead, wanted to crush me like a can beneath its foot.

I heard voices, I think, to my sides. But they were muddled, I couldn't make out who was who.

I could only stare up at those eyes that promised death, that wanted me dead.

And yet, I smiled. My legs started to buckle, the metaphorical weight physically crushing me.

Yet I smiled with glee.

"F-Fuck you, you molding tomato bastard," I bit out through clenched teeth, I could feel sweat forming across my brow, "taking it all out on me because my dad was too much for youhow pathetic is that."

The talking around me ceased.

The Oni's eyes narrowed.

Maybe he's good at reading lips, or maybe he got the spirit of what I said.

Doesn't matter. The point is, he got it. I know he did.

A purple aura seeped from his skin, but before it could do anything, a fiery blue explosion blossomed right in front of him.

The weight lifted from my shoulders, and I gasped for breath I didn't know I so desperately needed as I fell to my knees.

The next thing I know, I'm being pulled into the portal, watching on as a giant nine-tailed fox forms from the fire, longer in width but smaller in height, and promptly pimp slaps the Oni in the face with its paw.

And so begins the Yokai Kaiju battle.

Shame I won't be there to see it.

Now.

How the fuck am I supposed to kill that thing!?

Chapter 22

"He's after you!?" My maid screeched in abject horror after the situation was explained to her, prompting me to wince.

Getting back to our apartment in Kyoto after leaving that interdimensional city was a breeze with teleportation.

Kuroka made sure to teleport multiple times across the city before finally heading back here, just in case the Oni had a way to track such things.

Regardless, we made it back just fine. Although I'm still a tad dazed from my little stare-down with the molding tomato.

Of course, our entrance awoke Uzume, who we got right into telling her what happened, and now