Chapter 20 of Life of a Warrior! Enjoy!

Takamagahara – Tatsuya POV

I wonder what Baa-chan wants with me… thought Tatsuya as he sat there in seiza position, waiting for his grandmother with a sleepy yawn. He was suddenly called in the morning by his grandmother to come to talk to her at Takamagahara without giving him a proper reason. He sighed slightly as he rubbed the back of his head as the sun shined through the window of the teahouse. He glanced to his side as he watched the beauty of the tea garden.

The trees were shaking with the wind as the vivid green leaves rustled past each other while small birds chirped in the trees, calling for each other. In some trees, multiple chirps were heard as Tatsuya smiled at the newborn hatchlings. Nearby, a small river was rushing towards a shishi-odoshi. The water pushes the bamboo rocker down as it hits a rock below it with a large thud. The water then continued to flow towards a small pond where huge koi swam peacefully as if nothing happened, their mouths gaping outward as they took in some water. Rocks littered the garden, all of them covered by a light green moss that looks like a spiders web. Numerous different types of trees also littered the garden from cherry blossoms, Japanese red pines, Japanese maple and bamboos.

Tatsuya moves his attention from the garden to the interior of the room. The room was a spacious tatami floored room with a small hearth located in the middle of the room. One side of the room was a sliding door that allowed people to enter and exit the room. The windows were all covered with shouji, which allowed the natural light of the sun to enter the room. The walls were all colored in white with not much decoration in the room however there was a tokonoma where a scroll of calligraphy hangs from the ceiling with two pots of ikebana located on both side of the scroll.

Suddenly the sliding door opens as Tatsuya shifts his attention as he recognizes his grandmother, Amaterasu walking into the room wearing her red kimono with two maiko following behind her. The two girls notice him and bow respectively as Tatsuya does the same with a small smile. Both blush slightly when Amaterasu motions them to prepare the tea. They bow their heads at the order and quickly leave the room to grab the tea set but not before squealing slightly in delight from Tatsuya's bow. Tatsuya sighs and rubs his forehead in annoyance when he notices his grandmother watching him with a smile or to him, a smirk.

"What's with the smirk, Baa-chan?"

"Oh nothing… I'm just happy to see that my grandson is pretty popular with the girls."

"Hah… You do know that this hair and these eyes attract a lot of attention right Baa-chan?" Tatsuya commented as he pointed at his hair and eyes while Amaterasu giggled slightly at Tatsuya in agreement when the two girls returned into the room with a bow. After their bow, they began preparing the tea and laying the teacups out.

"How's the relation between the Shinto Faction and the Three Factions Baa-chan?" asked Tatsuya as Amaterasu narrowed her eyes slightly with seriousness of her words began to ring in the room.

"Stable. It was neutral to begin with anyway so not much has changed. The only thing that really changed was the Three Factions have banded together to fight against the Khaos Brigade and the Father's Children."

"Any movement from those two factions towards the Shinto Faction that I should know?"

"At the current state, there has been no movement from both factions. No attacks and no threats against our rule. I already had Kouki send some spies to check out areas where there were reports of Khaos Brigade activity. I have sent letters to all shrines and onmyouji to be on the lookout for suspicious activity. I have also sent a letter to Yasaka-san about the Khaos Brigade." explained Amaterasu as Tatsuya nodded his head as he placed his hand on his chin as he went into deep thought.

As expected both factions are taking their time to make their moves. Tch… It's going to be difficult to track them down.

[It was something we had expected Tatsuya. Both factions aren't foolish. They won't charge into battles unless they have a strategic plan in fighting whatever fighters we put out]

Hmm… That's true… Looks like all we have to do is wait for them to strike first and go on the offensive from there. thought Tatsuya as he stared down at the floor in deep thought.

"I heard you caused a fuss in the Underworld again…"

Tatsuya snapped out of deep thought as glanced up back at Amaterasu who was looking at him with a cocked eye and her arms folded in front of her. She had an expression that seemed to ask Tatsuya for an explanation. Tatsuya scratched his cheeks sheepishly as he looked away from her gaze.

"Well I kind of… I guess… They were asking for it. All I did was reveal to them that their 'Hero' was also the Leader of the Cero." explained Tatsuya as Amaterasu face palmed and shook her head at his silliness.

"You need to be more careful Tatsuya…"

"Hai, hai Baa-chan. I'm sorry." apologized Tatsuya as the girls began to pour tea into his cup. He thanks them with a smile as he turns the cup three times before lifting it up to his mouth and sips the green tea slowly. The warm liquid hits his throat as the bitter taste flowed down to his stomach. He put the cup down as he shivered slightly from the taste. It had been some time since he had last tasted tea and he had a hard time getting used to it. He shifted his attention back to Amaterasu who was sipping the tea elegantly as she smiled at the taste of the tea. She turned to the girls and began praising them for the good tea as the two girls bow happily at her kind words.

[As expected of the Leader of the Shinto Faction. She knows how to drink her tea and is a charismatic and kind leader. Kukuku… You should learn something from her]

Am I not a kind a charismatic leader, Isreel?

[Kukuku. I was only joking Tatsuya. Don't worry. You are a good leader]

Tatsuya smiled slightly to himself at Isreel's praise as he continued to watch his grandmother talk with the two girls. He takes another sip of the tea when he realizes something as he opens his mouth to speak.

"That reminds me, Baa-chan. What was it that you wanted to talk about?" asked Tatsuya as Amaterasu finished her sentence before turning to him with a smile on her face.

"Hmm? Ah… That's right. I haven't told you the details about this meeting." she said as she lightly hits her left hand with her right hand as if she remembered something while Tatsuya sighed and shook his head.

"Well, we are going to be discussing-"

Just as Amaterasu was about to speak, the sliding door suddenly explodes with bits of wood flew towards them. Tatsuya clicks his tongue as he quickly palms the ground with his left hand as a magic circle appears. The circle then quickly begins to form barriers around the girls while Tatsuya summons a dagger on his right hand as he blocks and parries all the incoming wood heading towards him. Tatsuya glances at the girls who were shivering in fear inside the magic circle while Amaterasu lowered her magic circle and kept her eyes on the door. Tatsuya slowly shifted his attention to the place where the door once stood with his dagger at the ready.

"Gahaha! Looks like we arrived… early…" spoke a man who appeared from the broken door as he stopped moving when he noticed Amaterasu sitting there with her eyes narrowed and Tatsuya with his dagger drawn. The man was wearing a simple brown yukata with a sword strapped to his waist as his long wavy black hair was in a ponytail behind his head.

"Susanoo… What are you doing?" asked Amaterasu with anger in her voice as Susanoo gulped some spit as he slowly lifted his hand up.

"Y-Yo Nee-chan… I was just-! Itai! Nee-chan!"

Before Susanoo could explain his actions, Amaterasu appeared in front of him and smacked his head with a giant harisen. Susanoo dropped down to the ground as he held his head in pain. Amaterasu proceeded to pull his ear as he squealed and wiggled in pain. Tatsuya sighed as he teleported his dagger away and watched the sight folding in front of him. The two girls looked at the scene in front of them with confusion when Amaterasu waved at them to prepare two more cups of tea. They bowed respectfully before quickly preparing the tea.

"Itai, Itai! Nee-chan! My ear! Itai!"

"Susanoo… Try to be careful next time. Someone could have gotten injured"

"Hai! I got it! Can you stop now Nee-chan! Itai! Don't increase your strength, you gorilla sister!"

"WHAT DID YOU SAY!?" yelled Amaterasu with a blush as she increased her power as he began to wiggle more wildly in pain.

"ITAI! Tatsuya! Stop sitting there and stop your grandmother! ITAI!"

"Sorry Susanoo-sama… No can do. You brought this on yourself anyway" Tatsuya said as he shrugged his shoulders and continued to watch him squeal in pain. After a couple of minutes, Amaterasu lets go of his ear and sighed at her little brother. Although they used to be in bad terms a long time ago, they now have gotten closer to each other as they would fight less often but still argue about the smallest things.

"Mataku… Why are you always giving me trouble…" sighed Amaterasu as Susanoo sat on the ground, sulking while holding his big, red left ear with slight tears in his eyes. Tatsuya watched him with sweat drop as he muttered words with a displeased look on his face at Amaterasu.

"That reminds me… Susanoo-sama, why are you here?" asked Tatsuya as Susanoo stopped sulking and turned his attention to him with disbelief expression. Tatsuya twitched in annoyance at his expression as he began to open his mouth to speak.

"Huh? Isn't it obvious? We are here to-"

"Otou-sama! What did you do!?" interrupted a cute voice as everyone turned their attention to the destroyed sliding door. A girl with her blonde hair tied by red ribbon was standing there wearing a dark blue kimono.

"You finally came, Uka! Man you are really slow…"

"Otou-sama! Please don't say that!" Uka said with embarrassment when she finally noticed two pairs of eyes watching her. She looked up to see Amaterasu watching her with a smile. She quickly bowed at her respectfully as Amaterasu bowed back at her. She then turned to the other set of eyes when she widened her eyes to see Tatsuya sitting there. He smiled and waved at her as she waved back with a small blush on her face.

"Looks like everyone is here" announced Amaterasu as she motioned to Uka to sit next to Tatsuya. Uka hesitantly made her way to Tatsuya while Tatsuya stared blankly in front of him with his right hand over his mouth. The two girls gave both Susanoo and Uka their teacups before leaving the room with a bow.

A meeting that involves Uka and Susanoo? What could that be-… Oh you have got to be…

[Kukuku. You notice this now Tatsuya? Man you are slow]

"Baa-chan… Don't tell me this is about the marriage between Uka and I…"

"Jeez… You finally got it… That is exactly what we are going to talk about." said Susanoo with a smirk as Tatsuya widened his eyes in surprise.

"Otou-sama! Why didn't you tell me!?" protested Uka as Tatsuya glanced at her. From the look of her expression, he could tell that she also didn't know about this meeting.

"If I told you, then it would ruin the surprise" whistled Susanoo as Uka pouted slightly at him. Tatsuya, see her cuteness, chuckled slightly which caused her to blush again at Tatsuya. Amaterasu cleared her throat as their attentions shifted to her.

"Uka-chan calm down… We aren't going to force you into a marriage with Tatsuya if you don't want to. Same goes to you Tatsuya." Amaterasu explained carefully. Tatsuya looked at her then glanced at Uka to see her looking down slightly.

"Oh come on Nee-chan! I think these two should get married. These two will look cute together!"

"Susanoo… You can't just decided something without their mutual consent." retorted Amaterasu as Susanoo puffed his cheeks and looked away. Amaterasu sighed at her little brother as she shifted her attention to Uka.

"Uka-chan. I want to hear your honest opinion of Tatsuya and if you desire to marry him." asked Amaterasu as Uka looked up at Amaterasu and then glanced at Tatsuya who was looking at her with a curious expression. Uka took a deep breath as she put on a serious expression as if she had made her resolve.

"A-Amaterasu-sama… If I had a choice, I would like to marry Tatsu-chan."

Tatsuya widened his eyes as he looked at Uka while Amaterasu cocked her eyebrows slightly.

"Why?"

"W-Well, Tatsu-chan was always there for me when I was in trouble. He always made my day better when I was really sad. He was kind and caring towards me and treated me for who I really am. Tatsu-chan is always getting into fights and battles now so I want to be there for him and support him with the best of my ability." explained Uka seriously. Amaterasu nodded her head in understanding as she turned her attention to Tatsuya who was staring at Uka with wide eyes.

"Tatsuya. What about you?" asked Amaterasu as Tatsuya shifted his attention to his grandmother. Tatsuya looked at her for a second and noticed that she was being serious about this. He sighed once before rubbing the back of his head.

"Well… It's too early for me to make a decision if I want to get married but I didn't mind getting married to Uka if she doesn't mind getting married to me." Tatsuya answered honestly as he glanced at Uka who was smiling happily with a huge blush on her face. Tatsuya smiled internally as he noticed Amaterasu and Susanoo both nodding their heads in agreement.

[Kukuku. She looks happy that you accepted her Tatsuya. Though now you have to marry all the girls who like you]

Shut it Isreel! And by the way, thats around 20 something girls! thought Tatsuya as he twitched his eyes in annoyance at Isreel's words.

[Kukukukuku. You are pretty popular huh]

Isreel laughed as Tatsuya twitched his eyes at his comment before internally sighing.

"I see… Well you two can go and leave now. Susanoo and I will be discussing about this right now and see what will happen." explained Amaterasu as Uka and Tatsuya nodded their heads as they stood up and made their way out of the room. Silence surrounded the two of them, as both of them were too shy to speak out. Tatsuya was about to turn away and walk back to his room; he felt his sleeves being grabbed. He turns around to see Uka looking up at him with a huge blush on her face.

"Tatsu-chan… I… Umm…"

"You didn't need to say anything, Uka-chan. I know." Tatsuya said as he brought her towards him as he hugged her. Uka yelped in surprise but slowly felt tears of happiness form around her eyes as she felt his warmth seeping into her. She was happy to be hugged by his arms as they stood there for a couple more seconds. They broke the hug but their eyes were fixed on each other as Tatsuya smiled lightly at her while she blushed greatly while smiling back at him. The two of them slowly moved closer to each other as their eyelids slowly began to close. Their lips were millimeters apart when suddenly both of them felt two dark, angry auras that were directed at them. They decided to ignore the aura when suddenly a voice rang out.

"…Tatsu-kun… What are you doing?"

Uka and Tatsuya froze as they recognized the voice. Both of them fearfully turned their heads to the direction of the voice and widened their eyes when they noticed their friends, Inari, Kuraokami and Toyouke-Oomikami glaring at them.

"I-Inari… Kura-chan… To-Toyo-chan…" Tatsuya said fearfully as he gulped down some spit. Uka watched them fearfully as she waited for them to say something. Suddenly Toyouke-Oomikami began cracking her knuckles as she grinned evilly as Inari summoned her foxfire and Kuraokami created an ice sword as she swung it around without changing her expression.

"… Looks like Tatsuya is asking for a death wish…"

"…Agreed"

"…Tatsu-kun… Bye bye"

"Shit! Gotta run! See ya!" shouted Tatsuya as he quickly gave a peck on Uka's cheek before bolting off.

"Ah! Mate!" shouted the three girls as they ran after him with their weapons swinging over their heads while Uka was frozen in place with her right hand touching her cheek. The girls zoomed past her as she snapped out her trance.

"Hey! Wait up! You guys!" Uka shouted as she began to chase after them.

Hour later - Underworld

"Hah… hah… I… made it… out… alive…" Tatsuya was panting heavily as he stepped out of the magic circle with his clothes ripped and burnt in different places. For the last hour or so, he was running around Takamagahara, being chased by three angry girls. Of course the girls were unable to catch him as he tried his hardest to stay one step ahead of them since he wouldn't survive any of their attacks if he were caught. He sighed as a wiped the sweat that was formed on his forehead with the back of his right hand. He looked down at his clothes and saw the need to change out from it. Tatsuya snapped his left finger as a magic circle appeared below him as he changed into his 'Cero' uniform.

[Kukuku. Well that was fun]

"Fun!? I was being chased around for the last hour while you were laughing at me like it was some kind of comedy skit!"

[Well it looked like one so that's why I was laughing. Kukuku. The look on your face is priceless]

"Damn you stupid Dragon… I will get back at you for this." muttered Tatsuya as the Dragon chuckled slightly at his words. Tatsuya sighs and decides to ignore Isreel as he looked around the huge hall.

When he made his escape, he had the magic circle set at Lilith, the capital of the Underworld and the Maou territory. Of this magnificent city, he was currently in the building where the Maou's would meet up to discuss about the Underworld. Tatsuya sighed as he pulled out his phone to check the time. He noticed that he still had some time to kill before the start of the meeting. Hearing his stomach grumble, he decided he would go grab something to eat.

"Ta-tan!"

Suddenly a voice resonated in the room when Tatsuya was suddenly hugged from behind. Tatsuya fearfully turned his head around to find Sera staring up at him with a cute smile and a small blush as her slender arms were wrapped around his waist. Normally his first reaction would be to try to get out of her grip and bolt away but because he was running for the last hour, he was tired and couldn't care less. He slumped down his shoulders as he opened his mouth to speak.

"Hah… Hey Sera…"

"Mou~ you don't seem happy to see me~!" Sera cutely pouted as she kept her arms around him. Suddenly his stomach began to growl and rumble. Sera giggled slightly as she finally let go of him.

"Ta-tan, are you hungry?"

"Well I didn't have anything to eat this morning so…" said Tatsuya as he proceeded to slowly walk away from her to try to find something to eat when suddenly he was pulled the other way by Sera as she wrapped her arm around his and begins to lead him to the small garden outside the building. Tatsuya couldn't be bothered to resist so he allowed himself to be pulled by her.

After some twists and turns, they soon came out of the building to a small garden. Trees lined the fence to prevent anyone looking into the garden from the outside and small flowerbeds littered different areas of the garden. A couple of benches were placed in different places, all of them some distance away from each other. Sera dragged Tatsuya and both of them sat down on the nearest bench. Tatsuya looked at her with a curious expression when she snapped her fingers as a basket suddenly appeared in front of her. Tatsuya widened his eyes as she began to take out different containers from the basket.

In each container were different foods like sandwiches and fruits. They were also tamagoyaki, mini sausages that were cut into octopus shape, rice balls and chicken karaage. He turns to look at her when she looked down in embarrassment as she fidgeted slightly.

"I was intending to have lunch with you so I made it…" Sera replied shyly when she felt Tatsuya rubbing her head. She looked up to see him smiling as he grabbed a chopstick.

"Thanks Sera… Itadakimasu!"

Using his chopsticks, he picked a tamagoyaki and threw it into his mouth as he chewed it and swallowed it down quickly. He grabbed a rice ball and bite down on it quickly until it all went down into his stomach. Sera smiled at how much he was eating as she grabbed her chopstick and picked up a karaage.

"Man this is tasty!"

"Arigatou Ta-tan! Here! Open wide~" said Sera as she moved a karaage up to his mouth. Tatsuya looked at the karaage, as he was busy chewing a sandwich when Isreel's voice boomed in his head.

[Tatsuya. You are being rude. You better eat that karaage as she is trying to feed you, got it?]

Hai, hai. I know… Tatsuya replied in his mind as he gulped down the sandwich as he opened his mouth wide as Sera cheerfully moved the chopstick into his mouth. He closed his mouth and bite down on it. He chewed it down and smiled brightly, signifying to her that it is tasty. She smiled with blush on her face as she continued to feed him while he ferociously ate all her food. After several minutes Tatsuya sat there, rubbing his stomach that was stuffed with food.

"Man… That was tasty. Thanks for the food Sera"

"Really!? Yay! I'm happy that you liked it!" said Sera when she noticed a bit of rice on his cheeks.

"Ta-tan, you have a bit of rice on your cheeks"

"Huh? Really? Whe-!?"

Before Tatsuya could finish his sentence, Sera shifted towards him and kissed his cheeks. He could feel her tongue scooping up the rice as she moved way with a cute smile. Tatsuya stared at her with disbelief and surprise at her action while she looked at him cutely and innocently like nothing just happened.

"Ta-tan? Is something wrong?"

"N-Nothing!" exclaimed Tatsuya as he looked away with a small blush on his face. Suddenly Tatsuya felt something rest on his shoulder. He turns around to see Sera leaning on him with a small blush on her face and she was breathing heavily as if she was nervous. Sera notices his gaze on her, looks up into his eyes. AS if magic was pulling them closer together, Sera slowly begins to move closer to him with one of her hands on his cheeks while Tatsuya slowly begins to lean towards her. Their eyelids were slowly beginning to close as their noses were touching when suddenly a violent ring resonated in their ears as both of them jolted back slightly in pain. They looked to see a small communication magic circle in front of them. Tatsuya looks at Sera before reaching out to it as he lightly hit it. Suddenly Sirzechs face popped out of the circle with his usual smile directed at them.

"Ah Tatsuya! There you are! Where… are… you…" Sirzechs slows his words as if he noticed something wrong. Tatsuya curiously looks at him as he tilted his head slightly to the side. Suddenly Sirzechs begins to chuckle with a small smile written on his face.

"I see… It seems I interrupted a moment…" mused Sirzechs as he pointed to his left side. Tatsuya turns to see him Sera close to each other with her arms wrapped around his left arm. Sera looks to her right and sees Tatsuya, finally understanding what Sirzechs meant. Both of them blush with embarrassment as they shifted away from each other with Tatsuya scratched his cheeks while Sera fidgeted with her cheeks flushing bright red like a cherry. Sirzechs chuckle at the two of them.

"W-What do you want Sirzechs"

"Haha. You two do know that you guys are late for the meeting right?"

" "WAIT WHAT!?" "

Both of them exclaimed as Tatsuya pulled out of his phone to check the time. Tatsuya paled as he cursed himself before shoving the phone back into his pocket.

"Crap! We are late! Grayfia is going to kill me!"

"Ah! Ta-tan! Wait for me!" Sera cutely called out as the two of them bolted towards the meeting room with Sirzechs giggling like a little child at the two of them running in panic.

[You are so screwed Tatsuya]

"Shut up, you baka Dragon!"

Here is the next chapter of the story! This is the last of the three short story chapters on what happened during the summer break. This is chapter is a small moment with Uka and Sera.

No changes in the Harem:

Tatsuya: Raynare, Kalawarner, Mittelt, Gabriel, Tomoe Meguri, Serafall Leviathan, Kuroka, Xuelan, Karlamine, Mira, Yasaka, Murayama, Katase, Yubelluna, Ravel, Xenovia, Kunou, Inari, Kuraokami, Uka, OC's (WIP)

Issei: Rias, Akeno, Asia, Koneko, Irina, Ophis, Isabela, Tsubasa Yura, Le Fay (WIP)

I hope you all enjoyed this and please review if you have ideas or suggestions. Next chapter we will go forward with the series. I will update Existence next so see you all soon :)