Good Evening All,
Hope that you are all in good spirits and doing well. Not a whole lot to say up here, will clarify a few points at the end as per usual so please do double check those before making any knee jerk comments. If you enjoyed something or just have a positive observation please drop a review, its always appreciated.
As always, please do enjoy yourself.
Sasuke awoke from the lotus position with a grunt of pain, mentally cataloguing his injuries before the floor rushed up to meet him. Weakness that he hadn't felt since the end of his previous life assaulted him as he lay there in a puddle of his own blood, gasping for air. Mentally shaking himself from his prone position on the floor, Sasuke made note of his surroundings as his experienced mind went into trauma mode. Judging by the burn of the candles he had been gone a few hours, so it was likely around four in the morning here in Kuoh Town. Sasuke tested his muscles as he felt them groan in weary response, utterly spent but still barely serviceable given their nearly flawless daily maintenance. As Sasuke began to drag his broken body to the burner phone by his bedside, he noticed an unfamiliar weight shift itself around his neck.
Could this be-?
"Father, it appears that your inferior human body is shutting down. I would suggest you summon aid immediately from your servants."
Sasuke merely raised an eyebrow at the voice in his head as he slowly looked down to regard the creature occupying the space around his neck and shoulders.
As a snake summoner and apprentice to Orochimaru, Sasuke had seen many snakes in his time. None, however, approached the beauty of the one before him. Her scales shone a blood red luster as if lit from within by an inner fire, even as lightning occasionally arced down her form to ground at her tail. Her head was in the typical diamond shape of the most deadly snakes, the adder family. She (for the voice was definitely female) wriggled in pleasure at his awed inspection.
"Father, while I know that my divine form is glorious to look upon, I must insist that you summon aid at once for your failing body to be tended."
As Sasuke was about to question her further, he hacked up blood and decided that conversation could wait until his injuries were treated. Finishing his painstaking journey to the burner phone, Sasuke immediately called Asia's number. It went to voicemail without ringing, causing Sasuke to frown in exasperation. He realized the hour was quite unusual, but he would need to have a talk with her about keeping the line open at all times in case of situations such as this. On a hunch, Sasuke dialed Kiba's phone and waited as it rang multiple times. On the fifth ring, a slightly out of breath Kiba answered.
"Sasuke-san! What-"
"Is Asia-chan there?"
There was a pause on the other side of the line as multiple falsehoods were considered and discarded at the speed of light. A feminine voice in the background began to interject itself forcefully as Kiba quietly whisper argued while trying to cover up the receiver.
"Yes she's here-"
"Saint-sama, is something wrong?"
Sasuke amusedly gave his utterly battered, bloody body a once over.
"I am injured, and in need of healing as soon as possible."
There was stunned silence on the other end of the phone for a second before a flurry of activity came through the receiver as clothes were literally thrown on.
"Where are you Saint-sama?! I'll be there as soon as I can ready the teleportation circle!"
Sasuke raised an eyebrow; it appears that his favor with Sona was well spent. A peerless healer with magical abilities that included teleportation was a priceless gift that couldn't be replicated, in this or his previous world.
"No need to teleport to me, I am in my apartment beside my bed."
A crashing sound set the guardian hell hounds stationed behind the fence outside to barking even as Asia's apartment door was flung open with impressive haste. Sasuke smirked as he heard a frantic scrabbling from outside his reinforced door, Asia obviously fumbling with the keys necessary to unlock his apartment. The door burst open as Asia rushed in wearing her comically overdone nightclothes, a shirtless Kiba right behind her clad only in boxers as he scanned the area for threats.
Asia shrieked as she pointed to Tsarmina, causing Kiba to immediately summon a pair of ice swords.
"STOP!"
The whole room froze as the obviously worse for wear Sasuke exerted his remaining strength to loose a chakra enforced shout that cracked the ceiling slightly.
Asia continued pointing at Tsarmina wordlessly as Kiba assumed the guard position in shock.
"Do not harm her; she is my familiar and I just went though a lot to summon her to me. I would appreciate it if all my work was not in vain."
Tsarmina hissed in affection as she rubbed her coils lovingly around Sasuke's neck. Sasuke breathed easier as Asia immediately held her glowing palm to his many injuries, beginning the healing process as Kiba dismissed his swords.
"My name is Tsarmina, Father. I would appreciate you using my true name when introducing me to others."
Sasuke eyed Tsarmina as her voice sounded in his head directly; it would take some time to get used to the way she flippantly used telepathy.
"Can you not speak to them directly with your mind?"
Tsarmina hissed in laughter as her eyes shone like coals.
"I could Father, but I know you better than any other, given that I was formed from part of your soul. Knowing your mind as I do, you will not want to tell others what I truly am as it will lead to more questions than is appropriate. As you lay unconscious, Lord Andromalius and Lord Brutus conveyed a few truths to me..."
Sasuke listened intently as she explained the very brief conversation that had transpired. Just as Tsarmina was finishing the retelling, Asia collapsed into Kiba's waiting arms, where he eyed her with concern.
"Are you alright Asia?"
The former church maiden rubbed his arm fondly.
"Of course; I am merely weary from both our exertion before and treating Saint-sama's extensive injuries."
A red tinge entered Kiba's features as Asia remained blissfully unaware, too exhausted to fully register what she had said as she lay feebly in Kiba's arms.
Sasuke rose to his feet, once more whole even if his exhaustion was still a throbbing pain in itself.
"Kiba; take Asia home and make sure she recovers. I believe that between the two of us we have completely wiped her out this evening."
Kiba's face flamed even as he cracked a grin and let out a rueful chuckle.
"Of course Sasuke-san, I will look after her. Will you be alright now? Perhaps more importantly, should we expect some rogue god to descend upon Kuoh Town at any moment to finish you off? I can't imagine what it would take to damage you of all people to that extent."
Sasuke chuckled ruefully.
"Results of a ritual gone awry; as you can see though I was not entirely unsuccessful in my efforts."
Sasuke scratched the top of Tsarmina's head as she hissed in annoyance.
"DON'T do that Father, I am not a pet canine or one of your ridiculous summons."
Kiba examined her in utter fascination.
"She is a familiar then? I have never heard of one looking quite so distinguished."
Tsarmina hissed in appreciation.
"This one I like, even if he is merely one of your servants."
Sasuke rolled his eyes at her presumptive arrogance as he thumped her with a chakra infused finger, causing her to hiss at him.
"You will keep a civil tongue in your head young lady; if I am your Father then you will receive no mercy from me. Unless I say otherwise, my associates are friends or coworkers and not merely servants for you to look down upon."
Hissing sullenly, Tsarmina disappeared from around his neck as she melded onto his right forearm as a distinctively Yakuza style tattoo.
Kiba's eyes bulged out of his head.
"She's a shapeshifter too! That's an extremely rare ability for a familiar to have; I have never even heard of one that could shapeshift on to your body like that."
Sasuke waved it away dismissively.
"I will give you both more details when I present her and Tobio Ikuse to the group later this week. For now, please take Asia back home so I can wash off this filth."
Bowing his head briefly, Kiba headed towards the door before pausing at the entry way.
"Sasuke-san?"
Sasuke raised an eyebrow in his direction.
"I have spoken with Rias-san and decided to accept your offer; I will lead your military forces as often as my other duties permit. Provided, of course, that the matter of payment is settled before I start."
Sasuke smiled at Kiba thinly.
"Have no worries on that front; your payment will be provided before the end of the month, even if I have to retrieve it personally."
Kiba loosed a dark grin before bowing his head once more and exiting with the exhausted Asia, closing the heavily reinforced door behind him.
Sighing in exhaustion, Sasuke shuffled to his oversized shower and began rinsing off all the gore as Tsarmina remained silent, sulking in her "room" on his arm while Sasuke completed his shower and went to bed.
He was asleep before his head even touched the pillow.
The next day Sasuke rose later than usual, bone deep weariness still plaguing him as he rose from his comfortable bed and dressed. Tsarmina was still sulking, though she did occasionally move around his body in her tattoo form out of boredom. He allowed her the sulking for now; until he decided how best to deal with her it was perhaps best for her to remain in her inconspicuous form until he could formally introduce her to the group. As Sasuke finished making his morning coffee, a knock at the door made his eye twitch. Checking his security cameras, Sasuke saw Xenovia fidgeting impatiently by the door in her travel gear, obviously here to receive the instructions for the mission. Rolling his eyes grumpily, Sasuke shuffled to the door and opened it.
"Good Morning Master! Why do you look so tired, were you up all night?"
Sasuke grunted as he gestured to the couch while retrieving his coffee cup. Taking his silent mood in stride, Xenovia sat and waited attentively for her master to speak as he sipped his coffee and began making breakfast. Minutes went by as Sasuke made enough for two, and surprisingly Xenovia remained patiently waiting on the indicated couch as he continued his labors. Interesting; her former master must have regularly tested her this way as well. Sasuke brought over both plates and dug in without addressing her, taking his time as she plowed through the first plate and wordlessly begged for seconds. Snorting in amusement, Sasuke passed over his picked over plate as he returned to his coffee. He would likely be ravenous later today once his body demanded fuel for all the additional healing, but hunger had not set in as of yet. Sasuke finished his coffee and eyed Xenovia contemplatively.
"So, you are still resolved to this mission despite your reservations?"
Xenovia proceeded to answer around her attempts to hose down the food as fast as possible.
"Yesh, I hab decidad to-"
Sasuke raised a hand, wordlessly motioning her to finish eating first. In less than two minutes, the plate was as spotless as if it had been washed. Sasuke shook his head as he eyed her nonexistent waistline and overgrown assets; the devils he understood but for the church to condone such blatant sorcery...shameless.
Clearing his throat briefly, Sasuke motioned for her to continue.
"Yes Master; despite my initial reservations I feel it is the right thing to do. If the church apprehends Valper, there is every possibility that he will be put through an elaborate trial that will give him countless opportunities to escape custody. In this instance, justice is more important than the church's satisfaction."
Sasuke nodded, internally quite pleased that she was already showing signs of dissent with the church. On a more sophisticated person, he might suspect pandering to further cement their role as his charge while secretly still remaining fully loyal to the church. Xenovia though was a blessing in that regard; she had no skills at deception whatsoever and regularly said exactly what she was thinking.
"Very good; in that case please take this dossier I have had put together at some expense."
Xenovia pored through the documents as Sasuke internally chuckled at his understatement. In truth, the information had been highway robbery; if he wasn't rolling in money from his Yakuza ventures it would have crippled him financially. Thankfully though, he had received a significant discount since he was affiliated with one of the larger and lately more successful Yakuza branches in Japan. As they say though; you get what you pay for. The information broker was so expensive most couldn't afford their services, but for those that could the information was guaranteed to be both accurate and timely. Included in the packet Xenovia had received was an exact GPS location of where Valper had been holed up for the last month, along with schematics of the facility in question. Xenovia finished reading the documents and stored them carefully in her pack.
"If you can provide transportation to this location, I can have him within the week."
Sasuke nodded, impressed with her estimate. If she was able to perform as promised, he just might have some use for her in the coming days.
"Would you prefer a team, or would you rather work alone?"
Xenovia gave it serious consideration before shaking her head.
"I will perform the mission alone. The one person I would trust to accompany me is currently employed with the church and would be honor bound to return Valper to them upon his capture."
Sasuke nodded gravely.
"Very well. Should you fail in the mission or be discovered, break this token and I will retrieve you personally."
Sasuke handed her a modified alarm token he had purchased from the underworld; while expensive it was quite useful in the right circumstance.
Xenovia took the token reverently and placed it around her neck.
"I will not fail you master."
Sasuke smirked at her.
"See that you do not; I would rather not have to retrieve you if I can help it."
With another bow, Xenovia stood up and readied her pack.
"You can receive transportation from Sona; just tell her I sent you and she will not ask any questions."
Xenovia nodded solemnly and took her leave, firmly closing the oversized door on her way out.
Sasuke stretched, taking out his burner phone and checking the messages. Nothing urgent, just updates from his Yakuza lieutenants on business matters, along with an update from Kiba on Asia's improved status this morning. Grimacing, he cleaned and put away the dishes as the someone knocked on the door yet again. Muttering to himself, Sasuke opened the door once he confirmed that the visitor was a non-hostile.
"Good Morning Lord Andromalius, I hope that I am not disturbing you."
Technically, he was, but Sasuke never turned away a polite guest.
"Not at all Tobio, please come in. I'm surprised to see you without Vali; has he tired of your company already?"
Tobio grimaced.
"After our merciless yet bloodless slaughter of the Yakuza miscreants with frozen paintballs, Vali became bored and went wandering around for something to do. Eventually he found an arcade that he is currently 'battling to the death', and I saw it as a good time to present myself for further duties."
Sasuke made a dismissive gesture even as a smug Tsarmina chose that moment to reappear in corporeal form on Sasuke's neck.
"Hmmm, no servants yet here is a young man that comes to you seeking orders. What else is he if not a servant?"
Sasuke eyed her in reproach.
"You ended your sulking at last. I assumed that you would continue for days, as any spoilt human child often does."
Tsarmina hissed.
"Take it back! I am immensely superior to you humans! I am a divine beast!"
Sasuke thumped her head with a chakra empowered finger.
"Feel free to return to your room if you cannot speak civilly to me about my guests."
Grumbling to herself, Tsarmina quieted down and resumed her perch on Sasuke's neck. Tobio waited politely for Sasuke to address him, a slight widening of his eyes the only sign he was unnerved by Tsarmina's sudden appearance.
"This is my familiar, Tsarmina. I am planning to introduce both of you at the next Occult meeting; in the meantime I would appreciate your discretion."
Tobio bowed low.
"It would be my honor to hold your confidence; I will endeavor to never break it."
Sasuke made a pleased sound as he considered Tobio.
"As far as what I wish you to do when Vali is otherwise occupied, I would appreciate it if you kept an eye on one of my trouble students, one Issei Hyoudou."
Tobio nodded his head in thought.
"Would you like me to gain his confidence or merely watch over him from afar?"
"Regularly watching him would take time away from your primary duties of grounding Vali, so I would rather you just spend time with him. Join him in training, see if you can tease out what Vali has failed to thus far."
A competitive gleam burned in Tobio's eye as he nodded fervently.
"I shall begin at once!"
Sasuke chortled as Tobio immediately dissapeared to begin his duties, obviously thrilled at the prospect of one upping his brother in arms Vali.
Finally alone, Sasuke cancelled all the events on his calendar and went back to bed. His body needed rest after all the trauma that had accumulated, and Asia was too spent for him to ask her to heal his exhaustion. The occult club meeting wasn't until tomorrow, and most of the urgent tasks had been completed for today what with Xenovia and Tobio being sorted accordingly. Sasuke's head hit the pillow as he once again fell asleep almost instantly, his exhausted body once again seeking to recharge itself from its extreme trauma.
A bit of an anticlimactic ending to the chapter, but with Asia temporarily tapped Sasuke has to recuperate the old fashioned way. Tsarmina may come across as bratty when we first meet her, but that is fully intentional. Have no fear, Sasuke will eventually reign her in as he does all the other loose cannons in his life (Vali definitely included), even if it takes a while. Their good natured sniping will likely continue though, because that's what families do. Just in case anybody is overly sensitive about the "flicking" and "thumping" since she is his pseudo daughter (at least in her mind), it is purely for effect and doesn't hurt her at all. Her scales absorb all the impact and it's just an annoyance, which is Sasuke's full intention when she is misbehaving.