Yep. I helped myself and decided to write and post this chapter in order to compensate the delay from the last. It might be on the short side of things, but this is the part on which the story starts to pick up! I feel excited to start this new arc, and the posibilities too! It might not please everybody, but I will still do my best... Despite the broken keyboard. So anyway, a nice read, R&R as always and please have a nice evening!
Disclaimer: DxD belongs to Ichiei Ishibumi and its respective magazines. OCs and events are mine, tho.
'Surprise, surprise! Kurokami is asleep again...'
'Is everything he ever did for the past year, sleeping during lectures, all alone. No matter how many time passes, it is still creepy...'
'It's a shame, too. He certainly is cute.'
'Ew~, don't say that. He might hear you and want to talk to you...'
'Creepy~...'
""
'
Ah, shut up~. It's not like I don't want to have friends, but this fame for being Yuki's boyfriend plus my little entourage as Lady Tamamo's toy dragged my reputation to the mud for the whole year. Besides, if you guys have time to talk like that behind my back, then come here and talk to me, damnit.
It has been almost a year and a half since I transferred here in Kuoh Academy, and yet I have no friends to speak to, nor any professors seems to like me all that much, and my popularity as the 'new guy' already vanished, and I end up just as the freaky boy who sleeps during classes and almost went postal. Not that I care much for that, but being talk about in whispers piss me off a bit, specially by girls. I should already have gotten used to it, but still… Ugh...
But no matter, no matter. The lesser they know about me, the better. I already have my fair share of problems to deal with, things they wouldn't even consider in their normal lives. I just need to play this persona for one more year, and then I'll deal with them without the system holding me back. But come to think of it, this school, this particular school, I notice that particular scent I have feeling ever since I enrolled here have been getting stronger and stronger. Something like... Scorch, or maybe something burning. I wonder why, though…
But whatever, it's not my problem, I haven't been for over a year, so it won't be my problem now. I have been hanging low since that accident back in the Himejima temple, so this is what I'm doing for the past year. I'm kinda tired anyway, so I won't bother as for now. Just gonna hang low, take a nap, look at the passing time and hear the mean whispers coming from my classmates. This is my life now, and I couldn't ask for anything differen-...
*BAM!*
"Gh...!"
"Good afternoon, Kokkun." And I spoke too soon. When I was about to take my daily nap on the lap of my seat, there she comes again, storming inside my classroom and pulling a chair for herself to sit in front of me, the sound of her lunchbox hitting right next to me. Is it already lunchtime already? Without even taking my cheek off the chair, I toss my stare upwards, and there she is: Long and smooth black hair, equally dark eyes and a ghastly pale skin that it looks like it shines. It looks like an angel, but it is just my 'girlfriend' Shirayuki Shirogane, who couldn't be further from an angel but a devil itself, figuratively just to be sure. Just my luck. She sits in front of me, unwrapping her lunchbox. "I see that you have been sleeping during classes yet again. How shameful, to think my boyfriend would behave so rebelliously, it's almost laughable, I must say. But of course, I wouldn't laugh at you."
"Uhh~... Leave me alone, Yuki. Can't I just be your boyfriend when there are people around you?" You heard me right, despite all the times we've been together as for now, even celebrating Christmas and new year's eve together at my house, we're still in fact NOT in a relationship.
"What are you talking about, Kokkun? I am your girlfriend; therefore, you are my boyfriend, 24/7. To think you would say such a cruel thing hurts me beyond humanly possible." She says this as she pulls her straightest face as ever, and just saying that, I could feel all the male gazes upon me grow colder. She says she's hurt, yet she didn't even flinch or took her eyes away from her dish. All that time, and she didn't learn to be convincingly hurt at all. She cleans her mouth a little with a napkin, and sighs. "Fortunately, I'm used to your brutal treatment on me as by now. Be grateful for such, Kokkun."
"Yeah, yeah; whatever." I said with another bite on my fried egg, feeling something like a sign being burned on my back from the sheer stares I'm receiving right now. What a pain, I should really just drop the façade already and throw her into the dogs so that she leaves me alone… But alas, I can't because… Again, she's really pretty, and has nice tits. Pretending or not, I'm not unhappy to have her as a not!girlfriend, and Ive already made some pretty good memories with her, aside from all of the threats and bullying I've been receiving right now on the daily basis. She passes me a piece of sushi, and I eat it. Huh, isn't that Foie Gras? Tch, the same rich, spoiled girl. I munched on that lovely delicious piece of avian suffering and pain, feeling the flavor of tears and blood until I swallow it. Nice, good indeed. I pass her a small piece of grilled fish so we just can call it even now. "Here's one for you too."
"Appreciated." She picks said piece and munch on it. She takes a bite, and then her face turns purple and her expression, sour; she coughs, she turns the other side, and picks a napkin and puts her mouth on it, making sounds. Still no good for Ms. Perfection, is it? "It was… Good."
"Please don't lie to me." I say. She turns her stare to me with a dark aura.
"It was… Pleasant."
"Thank you." At least she knows now how to at least be subtle.
And just how it started, the conversation ended abruptly, and we continue to eat our lunch in peace, no other word muttered by the other party at all. All that time and she's not my real girlfriend yet, and everything about her is rotten to the core still. I still don't like her very much, and vice-versa, but she treats me with those expensive goods and trips to other parts of Japan, and out compatibility has been increasing over time, so I can't say that our little fake relationship hasn't gone nowhere for now. I finish my lunchbox at the same time she finishes hers, and so, nothing else, we're just facing each other sharing a single desk, no words spoken while everybody eyes us with certain envy and wrath, mostly at me, courtesy of the boys. I couldn't care less about it, but at least I can definitely say that I stand a step above those good-for-nothing virgin classmates(Even though I'm a virgin myself. Surprisingly enough, Yuki doesn't want to cross that line just yet).
End of classes, end of my turn as a normal student. Since I already finished my duties as the new guy and Yuki doesn't feel like going on a date again, I guess I'll just storm back in that cute little bakery to buy some sweets for her and then straight back home. I wonder if this month's allowance will be enough for both that and to buy this week's Jump. Mom is busy on her business trip at Monaco yet again, she even forgot to transfer my allowance today, but no matter, I still have enough for that, those, and maybe some extras for cake and Jump. I passed around the perverted duo of idiots still hung up on the school's flag, Hyoudou being absent from their shenanigans for a while now, completely ignoring their pleas for help and curses against me, and headed to the bakery shop. Nothing much here, besides the cakes, me and the cutie attendant who's around my age. I buy the cheapest chocolate strawberry shortcake they have around and, after trying to stare too much into the attendant's bosom and being shooed out of the store by her father, I guess that's enough for today's money. Cake on one hand, and my broken school material by the other, fortunately all of that training paid off, so I can carry those without much problem.
"Even so, it'd be nice to have someone helping me for all of that…" I lament to myself. I say all of those pompous things, yet carrying all of that are a pain. Honestly, at least this is all I have to do today, and all of my problems would be over now.
I was wrong. I was dead wrong on that, and to be honest, I am glad I was, because ever since that incident at the Himejima state, I am sure I just got blacklisted in the supernatural world as the new Demon Lord of the Sixth Heaven since no other supernatural creature dared to confront me ever since. I mean, until now…
The moment I opened the door to get inside my own house and eat dinner and then bury my face on the books so that I could get into the university part of my school life in Kuoh academy, I was greeted not by my cat Sacred Gear or my cheerful dear mother who was supposed to be on Monaco on business, but by a new figure sitting on my couch and doing a pose that I can only describe as someone who has been waiting me for quite a while. I turn on the light to discover said figure of silver-white hair, purple eyes, fair skin and wearing a purple trenchcoat over a black vest, and we look stares, his showing a mix of fascination and boredom, while I share the same feeling…
"Good evening, Kokuto Kurokami. Do you know who I am?" He asks in a polite yet firm tone of voice, and for that, I can only sigh in defeat. I have the feeling that I was supposed to know who this fella is, yet I don't, not at all. He can be so many things and I could still be entirely wrong, so I shouldn't bother much unless it's for politeness. I take my way to the living room where he sits, dropping my stuff on the nearby table and closing the door behind me.
"With all due respect, my dear guest, I do not. You are not the first person who noses into my life, enters my house without an invitation and drops some kind of bomb in any or both of them. Like I said for the first person who did that, I should call the cops on you because what you did, regardless of what supernatural faction you belongs to, is still house-invading. But like happened last time, it's not like you care for puny human rules, right? So I won't bother this time either." I declare much for his subtle surprise, a fascinated brow arched no less. Once I sat down on the opposing seat to him, I reach for the liquid dispenser on the table, served some tea and passed the porcelain cup to him, still steaming. "Tea?"
"Appreciated." He reciprocates my little show of hospitality by picking said cup and taking a quick sip from it, steam oozing now from his mouth as he sighs to cool off his insides. Yep, nothing beats a good tea after a day of work, that's a habit I've picked after the events of last year. He puts the cup down as I snatch one for myself, and turns his attention back to me. "But now I think I should present myself to you, Kokuto Kurokami. My name is Shemhazai, and I am the Governor General of the Fallen Angels and their organization, the Grigori."
"Ah…" I snap one from my mouth which mixes both surprise and boredom, if that makes any sense. I knew from the get-go that he wasn't a human, but to find myself in that same situation again with one of their leaders to top it off is… Disconcerting, to say the least. I wonder why someone as important as apparently him would even bother. "Interesting, very interesting. Fallen angel, that's new. So you're 100% of what I am in 50%, that's nice."
"I knew your father too."
"Everybody does, Lord Shemhazai. Everybody does because every time I find one of you supernatural beings, they're always like: 'Son of the Watcher' this, 'Azazel's spawn' that. Of course you get used to it, but it's a bit weird at the start." I said while crossing my legs on the sofa and taking another sip from my tea. He seems a bit intrigued and upset about my lack of interest in the whole conversation, and while I didn't invite him in the first place, it is very rude for me as a guest to leave him hanging and with a bad taste in his mouth. I put my own cup down and stared back at him. "Look, Lord Shemhazai, I know that you probably don't want to be here, and to talk to me and make a new friend is not in one of your intentions for invading my house, so I would deeply appreciate if you could just state your business so I can decline and you can leave my residence without much troubl-…"
"Kokuto Kurokami, I am here to tell you that your father is dead."
…
… Oh.
Wait, what?
"Excuse… Me…?" I slurred a bit after that load of information just hits me like a truck. Wait, what? Azazel, the fallen angel everybody talks about all the time and who is in fact my father is… Dead? Whoa, that's a bit too much to take in in one go. I mean, I didn't know him all that much, but that's shocking nonetheless. Ah, why is my vision becoming blurry out of the sudden? There must be something in my eyes or something. Lord Shemhazai notices my unquietness, and takes a deep breath.
"Well, not dead exactly, but his current situation prevents him fromcontacting us directly, and regarding what he is doing right now, it might take more than eternity before he can come back." I feel like something colossal was taken away from my shoulders the moment Lord Shemhazai declared that Azazel is not quite dead, but… Sealed? On another dimension? Doesn't matter, such statement made me take a small sigh of relief. I would say a good few ones on his face so that he wouldn't be saying such harsh things before blabbering the whole truth just after, but from here I can see that he's as much shocked as I am, and hes the one giving me such news. They mustve been close or something. After all, they are fallen angel leaders…
"Okay… But still, what brings you here, Lord Shemhazai? If you want to give me condolences, well, I didn't know him at all, but I deeply appreciate your considerations. I would also really like if you've brought the news that I was in his testament or something plus his inheritance. Just kidding…" I wave off as a joke to his small scowl for my halfhearted but sincere thanks for his consideration. Still, if the fact that the supernatural has ever since bugger off my personal life for this whole time, something quite big is about to happen if he has interest in me now. But since I don't know best, better feign ignorance as for now. "Well then, if you don't have anything else to say, I deeply appreciate your visit and I offer my condolences as well, Lord Shemhazai. If you personally came here to talk about my father, I have all the reasons to believe you two were quite close and stuff. Now, I have school tomorrow, but if you want you can wait a few seconds so that I can go to the flower store not very far from here and buy some flowers for you to take to his grave or whatever in my place or something. In the meantime, make yourself at home, drink some tea or whatever. Just don't touch my PS4, I had to almost kill someone to get that…"
"Kokuto Kurokami, as you must have guessed, I'm not paying you a visit for the sole purpose of talking about a figure that I know has little to no meaning to you." He says standing up on his seat before I could do the same. With his eyes aimed directly at me, so intensely I thought we were going full yaoi-scenario now, he sighs, lowers his head and turns his stare back at me. "We both know very well that you don't have the slightest interest in the supernatural affairs of our world. Not only you rejected our invitation through our mediator Tobio Ikuse, we also took notice of your… Problematic interludes regarding other factions, including jeopardizing the Himejima state and the other four of the five great families, letting go of a supernatural criminal, cross arms with the heir of a devil clan and last but not least, confrontation with one of our top men, now vice-general governor of our race, and the resurrection of the evil spirit with the capacity put the balance of our entire existence on the Edge, Tamamo-no-Mae."
"Heheh…" I sheepishly scratch the side of my cheek. Even if I don't wanna, I did make a name for myself in the supernatural world, no? But that's what you get for messing with someone whose luck always sides with. But still, I bet this is not the whole reason for him to be here.
"As such, we have given up on your case considering your lack of interest regarding us, and instead decided to turn our attention to more urgent and agreeable matters, especially the affairs regarding the welsh red dragon and the English white dragon, the peace conference between the three factions, the Khaos Brigade, Qlippoth, etc. etc. etc. ." Right, that makes sense: kick the spoiled and troublesome brat so it can make space for others who really want their help and guidance. I should feel bad for myself and a bit angry considering that it means Azazel, the man I was said it was my father, had no interest in me as his son but as an experiment of his own, but I am not, not at all. I am not a child to have this kind of reaction, even if it hurts a little. He's going astray with this, this is also not the reason why he came here; to spat on my face. Lord Shemhazai looks at me once again. "However, I'm here today to ask a favor for you: Please, help us in this time of need. Despite your actions against other factions, your strength and resolve were admirable, that's why we left you alone, because we, he knew you could take care of yourself regardless of adversity. But now, something big has emerged, something that, if left unchecked, can unleash a horror and destruction we hitherto undreamt of."
"Hey, only I can say pretentious and complicated stuff like 'hitherto undreamt of'. Please don't take that from me." I chirped under my breath, but soon adopted a more serious approach to this mess. "But, say, you did say you were going to leave me alone since I know how to take care of myself, so why now? What gives? Why don't you guys send one of those so-urgent and agreeable matters you were so focused on? Like the welsh dragon or the white dragon? Or even better, more of those angels and devils you are so friends with now?"
"Because, Kokuto Kurokami, both of them already went there in the said mission. Or rather, one was already missing, the white one, and the red one has come to his aid, and we didn't get a signal from him ever since." Suddenly, the air around the room grew cold, colder than even the North Pole, as his expression and mood turns somber, dark. I couldn't help but to draw an uneasy line with my lips with the sudden change of mood, Lord Shemhazai looking down on the floor and sitting back on the sofa with a thinking pose. "And not just them: some of our best agents, the best high-class devils, the most powerful angels and even some gods already entered the realms of said place, but the moment their enter there, all the connections to the outer world are cut, and none of them have come back since. It has been almost a week, and no one has come back…"
"Creepy." I said with a disgusted expression, like a child hearing about reproduction would. It's both scary and really creepy to hear that, its more like a plot of an horror movie if anything else, but he seems a lot concerned about the whereabouts of those big-shots. Not that I remember, I noticed that neither the president of the student council or the previous president or the other Madonnas of Kuoh academy were around the whole week, and I do remember that idiot Saji revealing that they were devils and stuff. So that's that, I guess. Even so. "But Lord Shemhazai, if all those big-shots went there and none of them have come back ever since, what makes you think I'll make any difference there? I lack the light element all of your kin has, and while I admit I'm a beast when I want to be, and a marvelous and stylish beast to top it off, I don't think I have what it takes to succeed on such. After all, I'm just me, despite being the son of a fallen angel."
"…" He says nothing, but only looks back at me with a frown. I thought for a second that he would really nag a piece of me with some of his light weapons-thingy, but then Lord Shemhazai reached for inside his trench coat and from there, picked a small, brown leather book and tossed to me across the table. As I could see, there was a golden worn-out 'A' on the cover. A book? How thoughtful, when did he know that I like some good reading? "You are… 'The man who always has luck by his side', are you not? Before he sealed himself with the beast of the Apocalypse, your father wanted me to give this to you in case this day ever comes. Turns out, according to him, you with this book will become our last resort regarding this whole affair. He didn't specify, but he says this is his trump card."
"Cute, this is such a gap moe for what I heard about him. I bet this is only a practical joke or something…" I said with a laugh, reaching for said book with a hand and opening it to take a small read on it, expecting porn or some form of niche of his. I first snapped the small golden string holding the covers tight shut, the started to peruse through the pages, all nigh-yellow and worn-out, like this is a really old book, almost a relic. Let's see, I am expecting almost a laugh from this book…
…
…
Oh…
…
Oh my God.
…
Well…
Shit.
"Huh… Lord Shemzahai, does… Does anyone else know about this book? Have you taken a read on it or anybody else…?" I questioned him with a hand sign. I mean, wow, this book is not a memoir or an epic by Azazel, but what is written here is… Important, really important. To trust me with such, there must some kind of mistake. Lord Shemzahai, however, shakes his head negatively.
"No, not at all. This is… One of his oldest books, one which I would always see him writing on. According to him, this is a… Research book, and now, it is yours." He simply replies, holding his head a bit low in order to weight the responsibilities he's giving me with the passing of this book. I honestly can't blame him, because if what is written here is true, then he might have a clue of what is going on, even if not in the extend of this book. He let ouit a small snicker at the thought. "Funny. I always thought this as his little funny books of wonders, in which he'd write about some of his fantasies or maybe some quotes he would write to himself in order to look cool to others, and now, apparently, this book is our trump card to stop a true catastrophe to come forth. Talk about an error in judgement…"
"Yeah…" I murmur to myself, looking down on what is written throughout the pages of his little opus and feeling the cold sweat running down my head. Talk about a book of jokes, but this one is not funny at all, not funny at all. I take a look at one particular paragraph, and turn to the guest. "Lord Shamhazai, you said that the… Red Dragon and the White Dragon were already there. Say, do you think that… They might find each other in there? Worse, did they find each other already?"
"Like I said, Kokuto Kurokami, we lost signal from them the moment they enter that place, so I am not sure about their current whereabouts. But knowing how strong both of them are, I have no doubt that they already found each other inside." He turns to me with a puzzled and confused look, like I just exploded with no reason, and with that new information, I just might as well do just that. Another chill runs down my spine, this means that we're running out of time before that happens. I knew that after all this time of peace, something of this caliber would show up soon or later. Just my luck. Lord Shemhazai sighs again. "I know this might be frightening, and I would venture in such myself if I could, but this event is already disrupting the balance of this world just by existing, and even with the combined forces of me, Lord Ajuka and the remaining Gods, we can barely contain the power that lies within. We lost our best men to it, including Ikuse himself, and to reach for you is… A desperate attempt. Accept it, Kokuto Kurokami, and we'll be grateful enough to never ever approach you ever again, no matter what you might act as in the future. If you don't… Then there won't be a world for you to venture any longer."
"Tch. I accept it. I got no choice, anyway." I said, closing the book then putting inside my jacket as I adjust the flower on my head, the ring on my hand and the small sword-shaped necklace on my throat. Lord Shemhazai looks up to me with a surprised yet doubtful expression, and blinks once, twice, also standing up next to me. Im not doing this for the kindness of my heart, of course, but what is written on this book… No, in this Necronomicon, I can only call it a cursed knowledge. Fallen angels, Azazel specially, have been living for a hell of a long life to know something like that. I pick my small briefcase still filled with holy swords and guns and bullets and turned to lord Shemzahai. "I am not doing this from the kindness of my heart, Lord Shemhazai. I just feel like in debt with the man that was Azazel, and if he asks for me to do something, I shall do it. I am not… An ungrateful child, nor am I a spoiled guy. Do not think I am going to join this Grigori or something."
"…" He looks at me with a discerning look, only to sigh and put up a faint and tired smile. I didn't like that at all, he looks he's looking down on me or something. He stands tall for once ever since he visited, and turns to a random direction, giving me a view of his slender, tall back. "You don't look even remotely close to your father, by face or spirit, but I am not uncertain that you carry his blood within you."
"And whats that suppose to mean?" I inquire with a curious eyebrow.
"Nothing. It nothing but a jest of mine." And I can sense that his sense of humour suddenly vanishes as, out of the sudden, he points his fingers forward, and from it, in front of him, appears a bright, emerald-coloured magical circle, which illuminates my entire room without a single shadow. He turns to me one last time, and his parting words before getting swallowed by the circle were: "When you feel prepared, take the first step inside the portal. I shall be waiting you by the other side… Kokuto Kurokami."
And then he vanishes by the other side. Is this a challenge or something? He really is looking down on me, typical fallen angel if what Saji said back there was true. Well, I should be hesitant to do something of this caliber, that not even someone like him and the highest grades of gods and supernatural creatures could take care of, but if what is written in this book is true, than I have no choice but to go on, and waiting to something to fix this, even with luck, will only make things worse. With nothing else in my, I grip the handle of my briefcase tightly, summon Tama by my side, and jump right into the portal, ready to face anything that should come by the other side…
Except what exactly stood in my way: The moment I passed through the portal, I was greeted by the visage of a wrecked, deserted small town which turned to ruins, not a single soul around except by the bugs and decomposing skeletons on the streets, all of them with their expressions contorted into faces of horror. The sky, painted on a sick tone of grey, didn't showcase signs of either weather or pollution, but rather an ominous herald of bad things that had and will come. However, what caught my attention the most what the ominous tower at the heart of said city, which extended from the floor all the way to the unreachable heavens, fire and brimstones coming from the otherwise dark and obscure walls of the construction, like a place coming from the bowels of hell itself. I was so shocked, I looked for something, anything, to anchor me to reality, and when I noticed, there he was, Lord Shemhazai, looking at the unreachable top of the tower, hands bleeding from gripping his hands too hard. So this is the place, right?
"This is the place, Kokuto Kurokami…" He murmurs to himself, his voice carrying all the pain and despair of something who just all hope just by staring at the tower coated in stoicism as the only way to coup with the inevitable darkness ahead. "The pathway the previous Lord of the Underworld carved in his wakening, the endless suffering of the damned, now reaching for the heavens in order to destroy the balance of this world. The way to the depths of despair and suffering, the tower of the Demon Lord: Inferno."
"Inferno…" I repeated, looking at the tower in front of us, gritting my teeth.
I was hoping that was just a false alarm and that Azazel ought be wrong, but this is no mistake: This is the exact tower that is written on the book, and if the red and white dragons are already inside, worse, if they already at the top, then it might be already too late. Tch, sure, that is a hell of a parting gift card you left me with…
Father.