Good Evening All!
Apologies for the long delay, the holiday season makes it harder to keep consistent. There will be a few notes at the bottom in reference to some things, so please read the notes at the end of the chapter before you review. And please do take a few seconds to write a kind word if possible, it does make it much easier to get in writing mode when people seem eager for the story (with that being said, a big thank you for those that did review last chapter, it helps keep me going).
Onward!Forward!Etc!
As always, please do enjoy yourself.
Time seemed to slow as the two figures circled each other; Sasuke's sharingan spun like a Kaleidoscope as he loosened up his sword arm. Cao Cao smirked as he spun the ornate spear in an intricate pattern.
"Chatsuka Ratana!"
Sasuke's eye twitched in irritation as his priceless Katana was shattered into small pieces.
"Bansho Ten'in!"
Cao Cao slammed his spear into the ground to anchor himself even as Sasuke's Rinnegan technique began to overpower him. Gritting his teeth in frustration as he felt his grip weakening, Cao Cao suddenly grinned and teleported directly behind Sasuke.
"Atsusa Ratana!"
"Shinra Tensei!"
Cao Cao was sent flying into a nearby building as Sasuke's jutsu hit him like an overcharged cannonball. Sasuke calmly waited for Cao Cao to extricate himself, watching dispassionately as Cao Cao emerged from the remnants of the Yakuza branch building. Cao Cao wiped a thin line of blood from his mouth and smirked at Sasuke.
"Did I strike a nerve by destroying your sword? If i'm not mistaken that was a Japanese National treasure; better that it be destroyed than used by a traitor such as yourself."
Sasuke cocked his head at Cao Cao before responding.
"Oh, I see. You think you've accomplished something by breaking my sword. I never have needed a sword to take the trash out each day; I doubt today will prove itself to be different."
Cao Cao sneered before teleporting to Sasuke once more, stabbing at his abdomen.
"Atsusa Ratana!"
"Susanoo!"
The towering demonic figure arose around Sasuke as Cao Cao retreated, eyes slightly wide as the hulking figure caught him off guard. Licking his lips in unconscious anxiety, Cao Cao raised his spear to the heavens.
"Balinayaka Ratana!"
The holy spear began to glow bright as the sun, even as Cao Cao took a second to gather power for what looked to be a devastating attack. Sasuke took that same time to increase the armor on Susanoo and form a shield, much as Itachi had been able to do in their battle so many years ago.
Cao Cao hurled the blindingly bright spear directly at Susanoo, causing many of the other combatants to pause in their respective fights as the massively empowered spear hurtled through the air towards its target.
BONG!
A deafeningly loud explosion issued forth as Susanoo met the attack with Sasuke's full force of will and chakra empowering the projection, stopping the attack dead in its tracks.
Sasuke went down to one knee as Cao Cao smirked in triumph, recalling his spear.
"One strong attack and you're already done; this will be less interesting than I thought."
Sasuke leveled his full killing intent on the cocky boy.
"You are a fool. You speak of protecting humans, but do you have any idea what would have happened if I had merely stepped aside and allowed your empowered spear into the city? Hundreds would have died instantly from your recklessness."
An look of shock flickered through Cao Cao's features before he instantly resumed his usual look of smug indifference.
"A few hundred people dying to stop a traitor to humanity? Seems like a fair trade to me. Besides, its only right those rabble sacrifice as well after all that we have done to protect them over the years."
Even as Sasuke made to reply, a dead silence came over the entire town as everything took on a greyish hue. Sasuke looked around in confusion as he saw his students frozen in their perspective battles; Cao Cao was similarly frozen with a smug look on his face.
Sasuke began to feel something huge headed his way, something incredibly old and powerful. Old fight or flight instincts he hadn't felt since becoming a genin began to kick in as he mercilessly crushed the feelings with his iron will.
Suddenly a young girl with a blank look on her face appeared in front of him.
"No."
Sasuke was both perturbed and confused as to what the incredibly powerful being meant before she let out a sigh.
"It's not time yet."
Before Sasuke could even ask her a single question, the young girl dissapeared and time started back normally. Looking around in puzzlement, Sasuke immediately noticed that both Cao Cao and his human followers were all gone, leaving only Kokabiel as he fought a losing battle with Vali. Asia was rushing over to a wounded Xenovia as the young woman leaned against a nearby building, panting from her fight with the blond swordswoman from the other side.
Sasuke joined the two young women after seeing that Vali had things well in hand.
Xenovia beamed as she saw Sasuke approach.
"That was incredible master! I didn't know that you had powers over time and space as well."
Asia seemed awestruck as well.
"Did you send them away Saint-sama?"
Sasuke looked into the distance as Asia continued to heal Xenovia.
"I have no powers over time; it was not I that removed them from the battlefield."
"If not you master, then who?"
Sasuke grimaced.
"I don't know; whatever it was assumed the guise of a young girl, but I seriously doubt that is its true form. The presence I felt was incredibly ancient and powerful; we should be cautious until we understand its true motives."
Asia frowned.
"But Saint-sama, didn't the girl do us a favor by removing the people that were attacking us?"
"Not necessarily. It is more likely that the entity is somehow allied to the so called Hero faction and rescued them from this battle, knowing that they would lose. Their caster was already out of commission, Kokabiel is losing badly and Cao Cao was making no progress in his battle with me."
"In that case though master, why allow them to get this far in their plan? Couldn't this girl have stopped them before they came seeking you out?"
Sasuke shook his head irritably.
"I have no more answers then you do; there could be literally hundreds of reasons as to why events transpired as they did. I will bring this matter up at the next Occult meeting and see if Rias or Sona have any insight."
There was a loud crash as a disheveled and bloody Kokabiel was shoved to the ground at Sasuke's feet.
"What do you want to do with Ole Cokey here King? He can't play anymore so I'm done with him."
Sasuke gave Vali an annoyed look.
"Don't drop your used up toys in my lap; feel free to take him to your former employer. I believe Azazel mentioned wanting to have a long overdue chat with his subordinate over the chain of command, among other less pleasant topics."
Kokabiel let out a pitiful groan as he was hoisted over Vali's shoulder, all the ego having been literally beaten out of him.
Giving Sasuke a nod, Vali immediately created a magical portal to Azazel's headquarters. As was customary, the portal was held up by the wards surrounding the fortress until they were personally approved by Azazel. As if on cue, a grouchy voice came from the other side of the connection.
"I hope you appreciate the travesty you just committed by interrupting my weekly orgy Vali. This had better be important."
Vali let loose a predatory grin.
"Well I WAS going to take the time to drop off old Cokey to you, but if you would rather finish your orgy instead..."
There was a fumbling on the other side of the connection as the portal crashed open and the voice did a complete 180.
"Of course Vali! My dear boy, please do come in and bring Kokabiel with you, we have SO much to talk about."
Kokabiel let out a pathetic whimper as Vali winked at him and stepped through the portal.
Before it closed, the perturbed audience was able to hear the voice muttering to itself.
"I know the torture tools were around here somewhere; aha! No no, those are the fun time tools..."
Rolling his eyes, Sasuke was grateful when the portal completely closed.
The next few days were mostly spent overseeing administration duties for the local Yakuza as the reconstruction of the local buildings began and the dead were tallied. Thankfully, Sasuke was able to pawn most of it off on Asia as the angelic girl dutifully waded through mountains of paperwork. In truth, Sasuke planned to gradually ease her into a command position at the Yakuza in the years to come; it would be good to temper her incredibly naïve and giving nature through managing the dark grey of the local branch. Most of their ventures these days were legitimate anyways; there was more money and long term stability in above board operations than there was in peddling hard drugs or similarly murky enterprises.
Vali had elected to spend a few days with Azazel after receiving permission from Sasuke. The way Sasuke saw it, there was no reason not to give a good dog a few treats every now and then. One day Vali might become more useful to Sasuke and earn less of a dehumanizing moniker, but for now he was just a mad dog on a leash that conveniently allowed Sasuke to not get bitten.
Once the cleanup was well in hand and the construction crew had been hired (all human unfortunately; people would definitely notice if all the buildings destroyed in the "simultaneous gas explosions" suddenly reappeared overnight), Sasuke threw himself into training. The new SS course was finally completed, and was giving him quite the challenge. He always left his Sharingan off so that the illusions would serve their purpose; it was useful to "train blind" when possible just in case he was forced to do battle in his Devil Lord form or something similar.
Sasuke sighed in simple pleasure as he stretched and began running the literal course from hell (the underworld crews were quite proud of their creation). As he dodged obstacles that would instantly vaporize him, his thoughts turned to the most recent occult meeting the previous day.
Unfortunately, there was little that Rias or Sona could tell him regarding the mysterious girl that had rescued the Hero Faction. There were rumors of ancient beings with powers that transcended the gods, but nothing had been heard from them in millennia. With that dissatisfying opener, they had progressed to the recent events in Kuoh Town, including the ongoing reconstruction of the Yakuza branches. In the middle of the meeting Sasuke finally remembered to speak with Rias about Xenovia, and had asked both Rias and Sona to stay after everyone else had left for the day.
Once all the other Occult members had said their farewells, the only remaining people in the room were Sasuke, Rias, Sona and Xenovia.
Sasuke, as usual, cut right to the point.
"Rias, Sona, what are the typical devil customs when it comes to having other relations during betrothals? I know that eventual polygamy is encouraged by most of devil society in order to recover the population, but what of your families specifically?"
Sona took a deep breath and glanced out of the corner of her eye to see Rias looking extremely calm.
"Generally Sasuke-san, this would be a conversation to have with your fiancé in private. I'm not sure if mine or especially Xenovia's presence is appropriate."
Rias shook her head.
"No, I'm sure you were invited because of your experience with our customs Sona. Xenovia I assume is here because she is the reason you are asking these questions."
"Yes, you are correct on both counts."
Sona seemed to watch Rias like one would a ticking bomb as the silence stretched. After thirty seconds passed, Sona sighed and intervened.
"Sasuke-san; as someone who has known Rias her whole life, I can tell you that she is very possessive and it would take a good deal of time before she opened up to the possibility of sharing her husband. While polygamy is common practice among devils, her family is one of the few that has often practiced monogamy."
Rias made a small noise of protest.
"That is mostly true Sona, except for the arrangement that we have discussed."
For the first time since he had known her, Sasuke saw Sona lightly blush.
"For obvious reasons that is an exception to the case, unless you are saying i'm wrong?"
"No; as always Sona you know me better than I know myself."
Xenovia took this moment to pipe up.
"My agreement with master means that I sleep with him in exchange for training, and we have been doing a lot of training the past few months."
Rias raised an eyebrow.
"Oh? And have the two of you been holding up the rest of the bargain?"
Xenovia frowned.
"Not nearly as often as I would like."
Sasuke wisely took this time to derail the train before it hit the station.
"To avoid any misunderstandings Rias, I have been circumventing the original agreement with Xenovia by only sleeping with her. She has been sleeping in my bed beside me the past few weeks, but nothing else has been going on. As my current fiancé, I wanted to check with you before any other activity occurred to avoid misunderstandings."
Rias peered at Sasuke sharply for a few seconds before shaking her head in wonder.
"Sometimes you baffle me Sasuke; you approach relationships with both clinical detachment and the experience of a much older man. It's almost as if you are 16 going on 60; you have almost no libido driving your actions."
Sasuke chuckled.
"I'm sure it's frustrating to someone who has regularly exploited that weakness in men for years."
A smirk pulled at her mouth.
"You really have no idea..."
Sona cleared her throat pointedly.
"Back to the matter at hand; I am curious as to why you would accept a contract with her in the first place Sasuke-san. Not to be rude Xenovia-san, but you have little to offer Sasuke-san."
Xenovia looked ready to fire back before Sasuke raised a hand.
"She is right Xenovia; if you remember you said much of the same to me when you pitched the idea in the first place."
Sasuke turned back to Sona as Xenovia sulked silently.
"You ask why I accepted her offer Sona; it is a complicated answer and it may not be what either of you want to hear. But I will tell you anyways to establish trust, which is important to any relationship."
Rias and Sona both nodded as Sasuke collected his thoughts; Xenovia looked on with interest as to her master's explanation behind her acceptance.
"Part of the reason I accepted Xenovia's offer was to create a tie with the third faction. I assume that they will use her to spy on me for some time, but I can control what they learn this way. If they have a spy right next to me, they will not bother with more invasive information gathering methods that may tell them things I would rather they not hear."
Xenovia had a slightly panicked look on her face as if she expected Sasuke to behead her at any moment.
"Relax Xenovia; I realize you had little choice in this matter. Please continue reporting to your subordinates as you have been, though obviously you will want to leave this little explanation out of it so they do not decide further measures are necessary. Just be aware that if I suddenly see an increase in surveillance, your usefulness to me will be at an end."
Xenovia lost all the color in her face as she nodded woodenly.
"Excellent; now on to the second reason. I wish to eventually have at least a few children, ideally with the greatest possibility for them to inherit enough power to keep them safe. Obviously this would not be a problem with you Rias; any children we had would be incredibly powerful. Xenovia would similarly lead to powerful children that would likely inherit many of our human abilities."
Rias blushed.
"While i'm flattered that you would like to have children with me Sasuke, isn't it a little soon to be talking about that? Sona and I are technically 23 in your human years, but most Devils wait until they are much older before having children."
Sasuke nodded firmly.
"As I have said in the past Rias, I will always respect your bedroom preferences and your wishes with regards to having children. However, if you would not like to have children in the long term it is likely I would seek at least one other partner for that purpose."
"That's certainly reasonable; I wouldn't have a problem with you being with another woman if it was solely for that purpose and it was after we had been together for a while. With that being said though, I do plan to have your children, perhaps just not immediately after our marriage."
Sona cleared her throat once more.
"If you don't mind Rias, I believe I will excuse myself now. It appears that any use I may have had with regards to our customs is moot at this point and I feel uncomfortable being here."
Rias laughed.
"Oh Sona, always so formal! I think we were done here anyways."
Sasuke nodded in agreement.
"Very well, for now at least we will continue with the current arrangement and not go any further. Should you decide not to have children after our marriage, we can speak of this again."
Rias nodded in agreement as Sasuke turned to Xenovia.
"Nothing changes on our front Xenovia; the training, sleeping arrangement and your reports to the church will all remain as they have been the past few weeks. Clear?"
"Yes master!"
Returning to the present, Sasuke grimaced as a glob of acid splashed up and ate part of his pants leg. He regained his focus as his thoughts turned to upcoming events, namely the arena fights. The first one was scheduled for next week, though Vali was already getting impatient. Sasuke felt genuine sympathy for anyone dumb enough to willingly get into the ring with that young man.
After three more hours of training, Sasuke called it quits and returned back to his apartment. Shaking his head at Vali as he saw the silver haired devil gleefully chasing another screaming victim with his paintball gun, Sasuke entered his apartment and got the shower running. He had just soaped up when he felt a familiar presence enter the room, eyebrows raising as he saw a beautiful mane of red hair enter the room.
It appeared that he had a visitor.
Chapter Notes:
You may have noticed Cao Cao throwing around quite a few techniques early on; these are not made up. If you want to know more about them, check out the official page : wiki/True_Longinus
Yes, Sasuke did threaten Xenovia. However, as is his way he let her assume that he meant "eliminate" when what he said was "Your usefulness to me will be at an end." This would likely just mean him terminating the contract with her and sending her back to the church, but if she assumes the worst he isn't going to correct her just yet. Remember, all Sasuke knows about Xenovia at this point is that she sought a position with him in order to spy for the third faction and that she has tried to bribe him with her body.
Once again, I drove home the point that technically Rias and Sona are 23 since time moves differently in the Underworld. I do this because implied sex is likely to occur at some point and it is kind of squicky when they are underaged. Literally the entire anime is based around teasing innuendos, which is kind of impressive when you realize how many seasons the author just had them madly flirting with each other without anything actually happening.
