4/4

{Tara's POV a week later}

Checking over my stuff, I hummed at the collection of manga and merch I'd picked up. I ended up with a nice haul of stuff I enjoyed from my last life, and stuff Futaba put me on that I found that I liked. One of those was this Manga 'May I Please Ask You Just One Last Thing?' Or my preferred translation, 'Mad Dog Princess.' The MC was a woman after my own heart who, in the 1st chapter, got 'dumped' by this prince asshole for some random bitch, in front of a whole host of noble dicks, and she responded by punching the hoe, and beating the dogshit out of everyone that she didn't like...

It was safe to say I fucking loved it!

There were other manga, but I liked that series the most so far... Mainly because it was the only one I'd been reading at the moment, but I'd get to the others eventually! I would!

Anyway, I wasn't the only one that got a bunch stuff from our vacation. Martha ended up with a total of 20 new books, not counting the ones she found initially, and all of them were old as dirt. I mean, sure, the book on herbs and stuff was useful since we learned about Moon Petals, which would help Issei, Futaba, Sona, Momo, Akeno, and Martha herself with their magic, but that was still more magic books I expected her to find. I also wasn't counting the one from the Onmiyoji, and the book Azalea had given her when Martha told her we were heading back home. That book was a general overview of what the Fallen could do, which she was naturally interested in.

Mom, objectively, got the least out of this trip. Sure, she met up with the Onmiyoji guy, just to ask him about stuff, but she didn't really buy anything. Though, she spent alot of time with Uncle Ro, and Futaba, so she was fine with that. To be fair, Martha and I were too, Futaba was excellent little sister material, and we all loved her. Though, we were all pretty sure Martha adopted the 'stern but good aunt' for the redheaded NEET.

With that all said, all of our stuff was packed away, and ready to be stored. Doing just that, the three of us shared a look, and made our way out. We had uncle and a sister/niece to say bye to.

{5 minutes later}

Porting over to the nearest and usually empty alley, we came out of it and walked up to Leblanc. As it usually was, it was open, and we could see some of the oldies that were becoming regulars. Mom, Martha and I shared a look, trying to decide which one of us would lead in for our last day here, and eventually, mom won out.

She reached out to the door, and essentially swung it open, and almost off its hinges. "The best Sakura's, sound off!"

Martha and I mentally snorted at that, but went with it. ""Tara Sakura here!/Once again, I will remind you I am no Pokemon, but I will indulge you. Martha Sakura, reporting in.""

Uncle Ro barked out a laugh, then gave us a welcoming smile. "Morning Lia," Mom gave him a cheeky wave. "Girls." Martha nodded at him, while I grinned at him. "So, today's the day, huh?" Sitting at our usual spots, he went to work making our cups.

"Yeah, though this time, you won't be allowed to drop off the face of the earth. I'll call you every once in a while, make sure you're a good boy and all that." I snickered at that, while Martha's lip curled up a bit in amusement.

"Uh huh." Given the exaggerated eye roll, he was just as amused as we were. "You just want me to save you a spot so you can mooch off my wonderful coffee and curry."

Mom snorted. "Soji, I'm richer then you are. Who's mooching off who?"

He blinked, and tilted his head for a moment. After said moment passed, he grinned at her"... Eh, still you."

"Oh you mot...-" A light jab from Martha made her stop, and recognize that there was an audience, even if we didn't care about the old people. The redheaded MILF huffed, and ignored the snicker coming from Uncle Ro. "Yeah yeah, eat it up you balding old asshole."

"I'll have you know my hair is just fine the way it is."

Mom raised a brow at him for that, and blatantly looked at his hairline. "Just keep telling yourself that Soji, maybe if you say it enough it'll come true." Daaamn!

It was like they were preemptively making up for the months we wouldn't be here for. {Should've brought popcorn.}

[Agreed.]

We both watched on as mom and Uncle Ro sniped at each other for a while, highly amused at the free show we had front row seats to.

Sadly, they eventually had enough of banter, and decided to be respectable adults... Which was lame. I was hoping for another few minutes at the very least, but it was whatever. From there, we talked a bit, the old barista did his duty of giving us our coffee, and serving his customers, and we just enjoyed the atmosphere.

We eventually reached the end point of the conversation, where Uncle Ro came out from behind the counter, and hugged mom. "See ya next break?"

Mom brought him back, and smirked at him. "Bet your ass old boy."

He smiled at her, and after a nod, broke off the hug, and raised his arms to Martha and I. We shared a look, and after mentally agreeing, we both got up, and hugged him. It was amusing that we were the same height, despite physically being 1/3rd his age. {Annoying twin speak for the end?}

There was a second of deliberation, then she replied. [I'm fine with this.] Yes!

So, with a big ol grin on my face, I started us off. "We'll miss you Uncle Ro, but don't worry..."

"We'll call you and visit you when we get the opportunity, and maybe..."

"Whenever we feel like it, so look forward to..."

""A surprise visit from your favorite twins."" Uncle Ro moved back by the end, and was giving us a deadpan that was so worth it. But, we weren't done yet. ""You know you love us."" The matching grins on our faces always did massive damage to anyone we aimed our twin speak at.

Seeing said grins, our uncle sighed, broke off the hug, then started pinching his brow. "One day, you'll drive me insane with that."

"But what..."

"A way to go."

Mom cackled at us, and was eventually joined by Uncle Ro. My sister and I just grinned the whole time. {We do good work.}

[That we do Tara, that we do]

After we were done saying bye to our uncle, we all made our way to his house, so we could say our goodbyes to Futaba.

Entering and heading to her room hardly took any time, and we were greeted by a happy NEET when we got there. "Hey guys!"

"""Hey Futaba!/Hello Futaba./Hi hun.""" It wasn't exactly difficult to figure out who said what.

"So I know you're all here to say bye and all that wholesome mushy stuff, but I did magic last night!" We all blinked, and I had no doubt in my mind that we were all surprised. Though, the little gremlin didn't wait for us to get over said surprise, and chugged on. "I know I'm good with the debuff type of magic, which is sorta lame since I wanna toss fireballs at people, but I managed to get off a debuff spell, and it was actually awesome! Sure, I fell on my face because my legs were kinda like jelly, bit it worked!" Huh...

We all knew her affinities leaned towards Chaos and Dark magic, I was pretty sure that was because of her Persona being Necronomicon, but none of us expected her to be able to use magic yet. Human style magic took months of study to properly use. So for her to work out how to use a spell in under a month without proper tutelage was crazy. (Just goes to show, even as a 13 year old, Futaba is scarily smart.) I remembered how she also ended up being the best hacker in Japan later, she hadn't started her campaign as Medjed yet, and that just reaffirmed my prior thought. (Scarily smart indeed.)

While I thought that, I saw my sister smile proudly at the door. "Wonderful dear! That even leads in nicely to something I wished to bring up." Ughhh, fancy speak! I ignored the quick look she shot me as I thought that, and she moved on without doing anything about it. "I have a small pack of gifts for you that I will be leaving outsi...-"

"Free stuff?!" That shout was followed by the patter of Futaba's feet hitting the floor... And her tripping on said floor if the loud 'THUMP' was anything to go by. Again, the three of us shared another collective blink, and didn't know whether to be worried, or exasperated at the fact Futaba tripped alot because her room was so messy. "I'm fine!" A collective sweatdrop was our response. Though, that response went away when, surprisingly, her door unlocked. She didn't open it, just cracked it open enough for us to get a small glimpse of her room passed the glint of her glasses, and a waterfall of red, nearly sunset orange hair. Out of all of us, she had the most mellow shade of hair, which was a weird way to describe it, but it was what it was. Rias had the brightest cherry colored hair, followed by my scarlet, then mom and her darker shade, and lastly was Martha's, who was the darkest of all of us.

We were all surprised at this, even Futaba, who was hidden behind the door, was surprised. So there we were, four redheads staring at each other, not prepared for the action of the youngest among us. (... Not sure why that sounded so wise, but eh.)

As always, it was Martha who got it together first. Her formerly frozen grin grew, and she directed her proud look directly at Futaba. "Well, that removes the need to leave it outside your door." A tap to her bracelet, and the box we bought for Futaba, just a bit bigger then , appeared in her hand. It was wrapped in some nice black and green wrapping paper... It sort of looked like a Christmas present though. "Here you go."

Nearly faster then I could blink, Futaba's door opened, her arms shot out, she grabbed the present, then her door went back to being cracked open all in the span of a single moment... (What the fuck? How?! What the fuck is this anime logic?!) Because there was no way that wasn't anime logic. I almost missed that entire event, and I was a fucking Lightning Dragon, I WAS speed! (Fucking unbelievable.)

The sound of the wrapping being torn to shreds brought me out of my dumbfounded thoughts, and the high pitched squeal brought Martha and mom out of theirs. "'An Introductory to Magical Theory and Spell Usage...' By Martha Sakura and Sona Sitri! You wrote a Grimoire?!"

That got my sister two looks of surprise, since apparently mom didn't know either. Martha met our looks with a calm smirk, and nodded. "Yes, yes I did. For the last year or so, Sona, Momo, Tsubaki, Reya, Akeno surprisingly, and myself, have been working on it. The majority of the research was done by Sona and I, but also backed up by my experiences with different methods of training. Our findings were then shared with the other magically inclined of us. At the moment, that is more of a rough draft, one that is subject to change depending on any new information you gleam from its use. The spell list is also subject to change should the tomes I've found supply us with more spells or other magical affects that can be recreated as spells." Well damn... That sounded cool.

I probably wouldn't be able to do shit with it, mom would probably be just as lost as I was, but for Futaba? The little gremlin was going to be a menace the next time we dropped in. "Whoa... That's AWESOME!"

Clearing my throat, I ignored the smug smirk on my sister's face, and spoke. "My gift should be in there somewhere. You'll know it's mine when you see it."

"Huh? Uhhh, yeah, lemme ju..." Going by the way she went silent, I was assuming she found it. And hearing the tearing of more wrapping, because I was extra and wrapped my gift up in another wrapped gift, I knew she did. "... No way..." Yup, she did. "Is this? Is it?"

I grinned, even though she couldn't see it. "Yup. A month or something like that ago, Martha broke off a big bit off one of my horns," I gave said sister the side eye. "Which I'm still annoyed at by the way." Martha had the nerve to make a satisfied hum at me, bitch. "They regrow fine and fast enough, but it was still a big chunk. Normally, we give stuff like that to Grandma to use, but since we knew we were coming by, we decided to save it. After we met and got to know you, I decided to get someone to carve it into your present. Guy I gave it too ended up charging me extra since his tools got chipped a bunch." Which wasn't my fault, but I accepted since my horns were hard, even though I was young.

Anyway, Futaba's present was a golden bracer, one in the form of a Eastern Dragon that wound around her arm, and would end with the head, which looked like mine, resting on her shoulder, while the tail wold rest on her knuckles. It was enchanted to be 'unbreakable', but that just meant it would take someone stronger then Martha to break it, resizable so Futaba wouldn't outgrow it, 'lifelike' so it could slither around Futaba's arm to get on or off, a source of passively refilling backup mana she could pull from, and given the ability to use that mana to shoot out a bolt of lightning from its mouth just a few volts higher then a taser in case she needed it... It could also shoot an actual lightning bolt, but then it'd need a week or two to recharge... I was protective of her, ok?!

I heard the rustling of her clothes moving, so she was probably putting it on. And when I felt a small pulse of mana, I knew it was on and active. "Oou, tingly." I snorted. "Eep!" That was it moving. After another few seconds, and a 'cooool' later, she spoke. "... What else does it do?" And so I explained it. By the end of it, she was silent for a bit, then reacted. "Sweet almighty Helix, that's OP!" Yes, yes it was. "... I'm never taking it off!" Uhhh...

"You should probably take it off when you shower, I doubt water would fuck...-"

""Language!""

Ignoring that. "With it, but uhhh, just to be careful."

"Hmm, kay." That was good. "... Wonder if I can snipe someone with this?" I sweat dropped at that. Of course her first thought was violence.

A cough from mom brought the focus to her. "I expect you to be responsible with that young lady."

"Yeees aunty." Her tone was hilarious, and amused me greatly.

Mom just stared at the door for a bit, then nodded. "Eh, good enough." Martha and I snorted. "Next should be Rias' gift, I think she put her families emblem on it?"

"Ou, I see it!" This one was going to be a surprise to us all, since none of us actually knew what Rias bought her. She just popped up, dropped it on the nearest table, the ported back to Kuoh without so much as a 'by your leave', or whatever the Brit saying was. The sound of a box opening up, because yes Rias put a present going inside a box, inside another box. "OHMYGOD!" That shout surprised us all, and we had no time to prepare for the next words she said. "A SIGNED EDITION OF THE 1ST ONE PIECE MANGA?!"

... Well damn. (I thought that was a one time thing?) I remembered my last birthday when Rias gifted me the same thing, but for Bleach, and I practically crushed her in a hug. I didn't expect her to give something like that to Futaba so soon after meeting her, but they DID hit it off, so eh.

While Futaba was probably drooling like one of Pavlov's dogs, mom took the time to get her bearings, and clear her throat, getting Futaba's attention."You might want to look at my gift too, that'll be helpful for you and your new most prized possession." Futaba chortled her 'mwahaha' laugh, and went to do just that. A moment later, and she let out a confused 'huh?' Knowing what she was looking at, mom went on. "Martha shrunk it for me, and it'll un-shrink after you put it down and say a phrase. When you do, you'll have a nice big display case for your books, manga, figures, or whatever else you might want to put in there."(This'll replace the table her Phoenix Ranger figures are in canon.)

"...Mama is happy, mama is content! Thank you auntie!" Mom and I snickered at that, while Martha's lips twitched. "Wait... What's that?" Ah, she found it. "Is... Is this?" Her voice trembled a bit, and we could practically see her shake.

None of us liked seeing that, but I beat the other two first. "Yep. One Sakura family locket, enchanted and everything."

"Just like Uncle's, its Wards and Enchantments are up to date, and just as strong."

"You heard this already hun, but you're hearing it again now. You might not have been born a Sakura, but you'll be treated as one."

There was silence after the three of us spoke, and as it stretched on, I was starting to get worried... But then we heard her sniffle, and knew what was going on. "I... I don't... I can't..." She sniffled some more, and I thought I heard a tear hit one of those clippings she left on the ground.

"You're family hun, no matter what, we take care of family." Mom's words did it, and we could hear her cry.

We didn't go into her room, since that'd be pushing her boundaries, but no one objected when I sat on the floor, let my tail come out, and slither into her room. Futaba herself grabbed my tail, which was 9ft/3ms long, and hugged it. We stayed there for a while, and let her get it all out. "T-Thank you."

And to that, we all had the same response. """You're welcome Futaba."""

It'd be a minute or two later that we'd leave, teleporting back to our home in Kuoh when we reached an empty alleyway.

{Futaba's POV}

At the start of the day, which for me, would've normally been around noon, but was actually 8:30AM since the Sakura's wanted my sleep schedule to not be shit, I was kinda sad. The redheads were the nicest and coolest people I'd ever met, and I was sad that they'd be gone for a while. They wormed their way through my defenses, and became people that I genuinely wanted to be around.

Tara would happily talk to me about anime and manga, about stuff like what it was like to be a dragon, and even told me some stuff about that that I didn't expect. I didn't expect to learn that dragon's had teeth that worked like a sharks, which was good for her since she got alot of teeth broken over the years. There was also the whole thing with her senses, apparently she could smell if someone was horny, and the scent annoyed the hell out of her... Which was funny, but I didn't openly say that.

Rias was just as fun as Tara, an otaku that knew just as much about anime and manga as Tara and I did, and happily went on and on when she was given the chance. Hearing about Devil's, and what in the Bible was real, and what was a load of shit, was interesting. Learning that Hell was actually a sorta cozy spot to be, just gave me mixed signals. Like... It was Hell... But at the same time, there were multiple maps where it wasn't Hell... I just decided to think about things like that later, and focus on how Devil magic was op and deserved all the nerfs. Like, imagination based magic given to a weeb like Rias? That was just asking to be copyrighted when she made a Chidori, or Shadow Clones. (The fact Devil's aren't supreme rulers of the over world is crazy. Have they not watched No Game No Life? Sora made a fucking nuke, they could do the same and win.) Them being lazy and just not doing that was super disappointing... Not that I wanted them too, just missed opportunities and all that.

Martha was the most intellectually stimulating of the Sakura teens, I knew Rias wasn't related but she called Illiya Sakura mom, so it didn't really matter. Anyway, we talked about the fun stuff, Arithmetic, which was helpful in magic, psychology and other subject at the highschool and college level, and Magic! We could go on for hours about either the mundane, or the magical, but I preferred the latter, because Magic! Finding out I was more of a debuffer was kinda disheartening, because that'd relegate me to more of a healer role, but at the same time, I could mess with people and turn the tides of a fight, which was cool. Besides, it didn't lock me out of using offensive magic, Dark magic was actually good for that, but I'd just need to work harder to pull of anything big like Natsu or Gray could. (Trying to remake Ice Make magic could be fun, but at the same time, brrr.)

Then there was Illiya Sakura... She was just as great as the other three in my opinion. She didn't try to mother me, didn't degrade me by treating me like a child, didn't do anything wrong. She was the fun aunt, the one that would encourage me to do something stupid, but make sure I was ok at the end of it. I wasn't sure how to talk to her at some points though, which was me just being stupid when she radiated 'mom' energy.

I hated the fact I couldn't just open my door and walk outside to talk to them face to face, but I couldn't help the feeling of imminent doom at the thought of going outside. Just cracking open the door was as much as I could do without that feeling crashing into me. But it was still there, even just cracking open the door almost gave me a panic attack... Which I hid thanks to the fact they couldn't see all of me, and because there were presents.

And the presents!

The presents were awesome, no two ways about it.

The first gift, a literal Grimoire, one with 465 pages, that would help me get better at magic! Who needed some deathtrap in Scotland when your cousin but not cousin but still cousin just gives you something like that?! (Just gotta remember to not bash Hogwarts or Harry Potter where she can hear me.) It sounded simple enough, but I could always shove my foot in my mouth at some point in time.

Then there was the bracer. When it first started slithering up my arm, I was a little worried. It felt smooth, and I knew slithering smooth appendages were a big danger sign! Thankfully, I wasn't about to star in an impromptu hentai video, and watched fascinated as the eastern dragon wound up my arm, and rested its head on my shoulder, fierce and slightly glowing eyes looking out for me. It was nice and soft to the touch, but firm enough that I wasn't worried I'd smack it on something and break it. Hearing about the effects on it nearly had my jaw hit the ground. (Dragon horn dragon bracer... Badass isn't enough for this baby.) And it really wasn't. I had a lightning bolt on my shoulder! I could Shazam a motherfucker from my room!

Rias' gift was something I would've probably sold my 1st and 2nd borns for, because holy fucking shitballs! I thought I'd never get something like this in my life, then BOOM! Rias just gifts me a signed copy of the 1st edition of the One Piece manga, like HELLO?! If there was a poll for favorite cousin, I'd have the three of them tied with all the UR goodies they dropped into my lap.

Following up on it was auntie's gift, which admittingly, wasn't as cool... But it was VERY appreciated and useful. I wanted to get one for myself, but Sojiro had bought me so much, that I was worried I was taking advantage of him. (But not with this! Now I just need to fill er up!) I had this brand spanking new manga, that still had the new book smell, probably due to magic shenanigans, a bunch of books to put in it, which would hopefully make my room better to move in, and make me falling on my face a thing of the past. (I also need figures. Can't have a beauty like this lying around with JUST books in it.)

Then there was the locket. I knew it was a Sakura only thing, which was another reason I saw Rias as a Sakura, so I didn't expect one. I mean, sure, I had the last name of Sakura thanks to Sojiro adopting me, but I wasn't really a Sakura... And even though they told me they'd treat me as one, I didn't really believe it... Then I saw the locket, and heard what they said... And it just hit me with all the power of a Orbed Sheer Force Nidoking landing a crit. They would be my family, even when I thought I didn't deserve one, they would accept me.

I had three of the most badass cousins in the world, an aunt that wasn't far behind them in anyway shape or form, and an... A Sojiro, who would all support me if I needed it... It was just too much at the moment, and I just cried.

Though, while I was holding Tara's tail, I didn't notice the weird looking girl that looked like me, giving me a soft smile... Before scrunching her face up in pain, and vanishing into the shadows with a soundless scream. (Spoooooooky~)

{Martha's POV}

Returning home was a simple affair, teleportation was such a useful bit of magic, one I was slightly miffed at how quickly our mother obtained and could use to the level she could. It took me months to work the Arithmetic to provide myself with a viable method of teleportation. It was just the slightest bit unfair to me... But I recreated it in the end, so it was fine.

Anyway, after unloading our new possessions, Tara sent a text in the group chat that we'd returned. It wasn't long before the feeling of people keyed into the Wards entered the property. "Mooom! Tara-nee! Martha-Oba!" I just sighed at Rias' shouts, and ignored the snicker that came from Tara.

Looking towards the front door, the three of us were in the livingroom at this point, we saw both Peerages enter. Issei and his family were currently in Europe, visiting Irina, because the two of them were actually attempting to have a relationship, and it was adorable. Tara and mother smiled at the Devils, while I gave Sona and her Peerage a nod, which Sona and her Peerage returned... Well, Tomoe smiled and waved at me, but she was always rather chipper.

From there, everyone took their usual places on the couches or the chairs, and we began talking about our stay in Tokyo. We'd been keeping them up to date on most things, Uncle being in the know, mother meeting the Onmiyoji, not my meeting of Azalea, that was to wait, Tara's encounters with the Berith child, and a few other things. Sona and the other magically inclined of us were highly interested in the books I'd found, and we were about to set up a timetable to begin on our projects, when Rias cleared her throat.

Since we weren't expecting that, she earned our attention. Seeing that, the girl I'd essentially labeled as my niece, looked at us, and grinned. "Sooo, you may be wondering what we were planning while you three were away." We were, and all nodded to that statement. Our nods made Rias gain a Cheshire grin, while everyone else smiled... Everyone sans Koneko, who seemed... Embarrassed? "Well then, it's time to show you! Come on girls!" As if a switch had been flipped, Akeno, Momo, and surprisingly, Tsubaki, gained an unholy gleam in their eyes as they turned to look at Koneko.

Meanwhile, the cat girl turned Devil slumped into Tara's lap, which was her claimed spot, and was suddenly taken away from her. Those of us not in the know just blinked, and watched as Koneko hung like a limp cat as the trio of girls took her into the hallway, into the bathroom, and away from our eyes. Mother, Tara and I shared a look at this development, while also hearing the snickering coming from the bathroom, and were wondering just what was going on.

The answer didn't take long as the bathroom door opened, and the three of them walked back in, keeping Koneko from view. They blatantly grinned at Tara, and then slowly stood aside as they revealed Koneko... And the sight of her made my well aged heart nearly crash due to a cuteness overload.

Koneko's former outfit was replaced by an adorable onesie, made of Tara's old scales, some soft and puffy silk like material, there was a hood that she had on that had space for her Nekoshu ears, and it even had some tiny wings on the back. Add all that with her petite frame, her tail lazily waving behind her, and the adorable blush on her face, Koneko was diabetes incarnate. (Gods... That's one of the most adorable things I've ever seen.) I would've thought more on that, but a sudden spike in Tara's emotions hit me like a tsunami made purely of affection and possessiveness, and nearly made me miss the window shattering squeal that emanated from my sister... That was a lie, I would've needed to be deaf to miss that.

I DID miss her suddenly materializing in front of Koneko, which meant she had consciously, or unconsciously, used her Lightning Body technique to go from point A to point B. What I didn't miss was Tara wrapping Koneko up in her arms, and bringing her up to rub her cheeks with her own. What made the scene even more surprising was how her tail wrapped around herself and the cat girl, leaving only her head exposed for us to see as the rest was smothered by Tara's taller frame. "Oh you're just adorable! The cutest fucking thing in the world! Who's the most precious little thing in the world? You are, that's who! My adorable kitten! My pretty baby!" While I, and everyone else, was smiling at the majority of Tara's spontaneous coddling of Koneko, those last two statements had made my, mothers, and Rias' eyes widen.

We knew how Tara saw Koneko, her daughter in all but blood, but she'd yet to actively say it. But here she was, treating Koneko like a plushy or body pillow, which the younger former Yokai was eating up, and happily purring. She looked like a stereotypical dotting anime mother, and it was heartwarming. Though, when the other girls cooed at the cute scene, Tara gave them a draconic side eye, making them all look away, and whistle nonchalantly.

That didn't stop Rias from recording the whole event. She was family at this point, and also understood how Tara saw Koneko, she just didn't understand why she hadn't taken the plunge and admitted it to the girl. (We'll address that later. .. However, now that a situation like this has arisen, I have an opportunity to get Akeno's issues out of the way.) Mentally humming to myself at that, I turned and gave Akeno a look, and upon seeing it, she jerked in place, flashing me a surprised one of her own. I nodded towards the stairs, and after a moment to blink, she nodded back. Good.

Watching my sister dote on her daughter for a bit more, and embracing the sheer sea of affection radiating from her side of our link, I eventually decided it was time, and got up. My movement didn't grab that much attention, but Rias, mother, and Sona all noticed. As did Akeno, but she had prior notice, so it was obvious that she would.

I gave them all a nod, and went upstairs, not looking to see if they returned it or not. I had another possibly traumatized child on my hands, and I'd need to focus.

Akeno spared no time in joining me in the library, and after taking a seat across from me at the table, I began. "Back in Tokyo, I became acquainted with a half Fallen." Seeing the way she tensed, and a look of loathing and anger flashed through her eyes at the word 'Fallen', I knew there was a story here. "I will ask you this now Akeno, what is your issue with The Fallen?" Her lips curled down into a grimace at that, and the anger once again flashed through her eyes.

I watched as she debated with herself, the anger and loathing warring with the logical and somewhat analytical side of herself, before eventually, she spoke. She spoke, and I listened. I listened as she told me about her family, her mother from a clan of misogynistic bigots, her father being a high ranking Fallen, her life before everything went wrong.

And when she reached the point of where it went wrong, I kept listening, not interrupting as I gathered as much information she was providing me with. Though, as I did, I had a thought. (Whose bright fucking idea was it to not get these children a therapist? Kiba and Akeno have similar, if not the same, issues. Fucking time bombs the both of them. The hell was Sirzechs thinking not getting traumatized children some help, especially those that were tied to his sister. Was he expecting a 10-14 year old to somehow treat their issues on her own?) I normally was more composed, but this was just ridiculous! I was even begging to wonder if I should get a Psychology degree just for these children!

My mounting annoyance at Rias' brother aside, I did my best to piece as much of a picture of Akeno's story as I could, and ignoring her tainted views. It was around the end of backstory, that I had another thought. (So... She hates her father for not being able to save her mother, and has extended her hatred to ALL Fallen, even herself, but is perfectly fine with Humans, and feels just a bit better about her clan, despite them attempting to murder her as well... What in the fuck am I getting involved in?) I could practically feel a headache forming. I could also feel a growing curiosity from Tara's side of our link, but I just shooed her inquisitive touch aside. [Later. Busy.] Her presence went back to a passive state after that.

Putting my focus back onto Akeno, I tapped the table with my nail as I put all the information together. I knew I didn't have all the information, but what I did was enough for me to come to a relatively simple but plausible conclusion. "Akeno." The raven haired miko gave off a dissatisfied hum, but was paying attention. "In the time leading up to the incident, how many times were you attacked by Fallen, or anyone who hated your father?"

She blinked, confused at the answer. "I... I don't think..." Frowning, she went silent as she began thinking it over. I didn't rush her, considering this answer was one that I needed to ensure I was right. After a minute of thinking, Akeno answered the question, though a bit wearily as she did. "Not once... Why?"

(That gives my hypothesis more ground to stand on.) Nodding to myself, I tapped the table some more, and asked the next question. "Now, prior to the incident, how many times were you attacked by members of your clan? Your misogynistic and xenophobic clan."

I watched as Akeno's body went stiff, and her eyes widen as that question and motives registered, and when I saw a flash of understanding run through her eyes, I knew she understood what I was telling her. Akeno, for as much as she acts the teasing seductress, was not stupid. She was an adept when it came to magical theory and application. She was also a Queen, one that would be the right hand to the sister of a Maou. Being stupid was not something she could afford to be. "Okaasan told me... He, stopped some 'bad men' from our clan a while before... It, happened..." She was making the connection, but I could tell she was holding herself back from accepting it.

That was something I would not allow. "So, prior to the attack on your family, you were unbothered by other Fallen, or enemies of your father, correct." Slowly, Akeno nodded. "But, after your father repels an attack from your former clansmen, enemies with a grudge against your father suddenly come when he is not there? I know you do not need me to spell this out for you, Akeno. So tell me, what can you gleam from this new outlook instead of your tainted one?"

Akeno bit her lip, and looked away after I said that, but I could tell she had understood. "It... It was on purpose..." I didn't say anything, I just let her speak it out. "They knew he wouldn't be there... They TOLD them..." Her eyes started glistening with tears, and I mentally sighed to myself. Getting up, I walked over to the blossoming beauty, and sat beside her, pulling her into a hug as I did. That did it, and her tears started crying into my shoulder as she desperately hugged me for all I was worth. "Those... Those BASTARDS sold us out!" I hummed an approving tone, happy she understood what the point was.

I held her for a while, letting her think about the facts given to her, and let her process them... However, when she made a comment about her father, with some malice in her voice, I had to set her straight. "Akeno, look at me." She didn't move from my shoulder, so I gently nudged her to look up. When she did, I asked her another question. "Did he know?"

Akeno looked like she bit a lemon at that, and I raised a brow at her. "I... I don't know... I haven't seen him ever since Okaasan died..." Oh dear.

Sighing aloud, I conjured a napkin for her to wipe her tears, and mascara away. "I understand directing anger at the most convenient source, but you should hear his side of it as well Akeno. You lost your mother, but he has lost his wife, and for 4 years, his daughter. If he knew it was going to happen, let him stew in the pot of Gu and rot, but if he was innocent..." I let that hang, and comforted Akeno as her tears began falling anew. I kept my hold on her, and let her get it out. (Note to self, get a PhD in Psychology in the event Rias finds more traumatized children... Gods I hope she doesn't find any more traumatized children.) I could only hope.

I knew it would take time for Akeno to fully readjust her hatred and loathing, but the foundation had now been laid, and that was what I wished to do.

{Tara's POV an hour later}

After I was brought out of my instinct fueled dotting session on Koneko, I was embarrassed as fuck. I was never the 'baby babble' or cooing at babies type, but seeing myself do it on video probably made me go as red as my hair. It didn't help that I couldn't threaten them to delete the video, because it was already saved in the cloud, but also because I actually liked it. Koneko stirred all my maternal instincts, hit all the buttons, and just made me forget why I hadn't told her how I felt towards her in the first place.

It really made me think afterwards, which was the reason that the two of us were out and about now, walking in the park as my surrogate daughter happily clung to my back like a koala. I was still thinking about how to start the conversation about the whole thing, when Koneko moved her head, which was resting on my own, and seemed to look at something, sniffing as she did. "Kaasan, ice cream."

A bolt of something way stronger then lightning ran down my body, and I almost tripped at the sudden address. I craned my head up, and looked at Koneko, who hadn't noticed right away, but when she did, her amber orbs locked onto mine. I spent the most time with the young Yokai, so I could read her the best, even when she couldn't be bothered to express herself, though she hid herself less and less over the years. So it was easy to see the sliver of worry in her eyes, worry that I knew was whether I'd accept her or not.

That was when I realized I really was being a dumb bitch. It might've been unintentional, but I'd already staked my claim on her with my outburst. Koneko had instincts almost as intrusive and driving as mine were, but while her instincts were saying one thing, her heart was worried about the other. So, seeing her worried, I didn't need my instincts to kick me in the ass this time to soothe her. Giving Koneko a soft smile, I looked towards where she had been looking, and stepped forward. "Ya know kitten, I don't actually know if that's considered ice cream."

I felt my daughter relax, and practically sink into me when I called her baby, I'd figure out a better term for her later, acknowledging I saw her as mine. Her chin went back onto my head, and I smiled as I felt her lowly purring in satisfaction. "Then what is it?"

I shrugged, since I didn't really know. I recognized the cart as one of the carts you'd see in the summer, the one where the guy or woman had those little cups they'd put whatever flavor you wanted, and they had, in them. I never really cared about what they were called, I just cared that they had cold and tasty goodness. "Dunno, but does it matter?"

Koneko hummed against my scalp, then shrugged. "No. Icy and sweet food is good food."

I would've said amen, but that'd hurt her, so I just settled for chuckling. (Man, I was a stupid bitch for not doing this sooner.) I ignored the feeling my instincts were seconding the 'stupid bitch' part of that, and just went to get my daughter and I a snack.

[Omake - Where to go from here? Rias' POV 10 hours later]

Laying in our bed with my older sister, whose wing was draped over me like a blanket, I thought about the day. The return of mom, auntie and my sister was nice, even though the feelings of missing their presence were pretty much gone when I visited them, it was good to have them back. Tara-nee had been my body pillow for over a year now, so suddenly going back to a normal anime one was kind of saddening. There was just nothing like the soft and safe presence of my older sister... (This is starting to sound like a bad Yuri experience... Not sure how many times I've thought of that... Oh well.) I'd gotten used to random Yuri thoughts, sleeping besides a naked woman that had the figure my sister, one that was reluctant to try sleeping naked like I was but gave in after months of badgering and begging her to try, had was obviously going to spark some thoughts like that, I WAS a Devil after all, but it was easy to ignore them when I reminded myself what Tara-nee meant to me... (Why am I so easily distracted?) I blamed my brother for that.

Anyway, now that they were back, the established routines we had were back on track. Though, with a few additions.

Additions that I was genuinely happy about, like Futaba!

I honestly loved Futaba. She was like a younger me, but with Sona or auntie level smarts, which was just awesome. I loved her to bits, and was happy to get a new cousin I could share my passion with. I wanted to help her get better just as much as the rest of my redheaded family, but we had to take our time. Pushing her further then she was ready would end up hurting her, and none of us wanted that.

Another change to our routine would be the change in relationship between Tara-nee and Koneko. (Who knew following The Red Dragon Emperor's advice would actually work?) None of us were going to tell her for atleast a year, but the idea came from Ddraig. While I was on the phone with Issei and Irina, we'd somehow ended up on the topic of Tara-nee and Koneko, and the legendary dragon had decided to chip in. His advice was to appeal to her draconic nature, and dress Koneko in Tara-nee's scales, or a outfit with her scales in it. That wasn't exactly difficult, but we wanted to ensure she addressed how she saw Koneko, so we went all out, and called Grandma to get her opinion. She ended up helping us design the outfit, and sent over the materials we needed.

The results spoke for themselves. (And now I've got a video of said results.) That thought made me grin as I looked at my sleeping sister's face, as well as the head of white hair nestled into her side, head resting on her breast like a pillow, most likely sleeping to the sound of Tara-nee's heartbeat. It was such an adorable sight seeing both her wing, and arm wrapped around the small Nekoshu, protecting her even as they slept. (Making the outfit was sooo worth it.)

The last change though was something I was a bit worried about. After her talk with Martha-Oba, Akeno had been oddly pensive and melancholic, her weird state lasted the whole day. I wasn't sure what to do, but after asking Martha-Oba about it, she just told me to give Akeno time, but if it looked like she was retreating into herself, I had permission to ask her about it. I knew what the topic of the talk was about, but I didn't expect this kind of reaction, so even though I knew hot to broach it, I wasn't sure how to do so when/if the time to do it came up.

Feeling my sister's other arm lightly tighten against my side, I decided to just leave it be, and snuggle into her side, leaving the topic for later.

[EXTRA Omake - Azalea's gift. Azalea's POV hours after the Sakura's left]

Walking into my flat, I damn near flopped down onto the fluffy rug, which was charmed to be as comfy as a water bed. (Why do I bother with that tosser again? Who the hell decides it's a good idea to just dump a cabinets worth of paperwork on a person cause their too damned lazy to do it themselves?) I groaned as I made my way to the couch... And paused as I noticed something on my table.

Confused, because I knew my flat was Warded against random things being brought inside, I aimed a few diagnostic spells at the suspiciously big box, and blinked when the black wrapping paper unraveled, and changed into a letter... Because magic allowed strange shite like that. From where I was, I could see the name on the letter... Martha Sakura... (That crafty bitch.) Knowing who it was from now, and getting clears from my diagnostics, I walked towards the box, and started with the letter.

- Dear Azalea, this letter would appear when you cast any form of diagnostic spells on the gift box.

Yes 'when' and not 'if', since I would like to believe you would know better then just going up to and opening a suspicious package, but if you never see this letter, then shame on you, stupid. -

I felt my eye twitch at that line, and restrained the urge to go find the smartass and kick her arse for that remark. That aside, I kept reading.

- If you do get the letter, then good on you. -

(... I'm going to choke a bitch... A redheaded bitch.)

- Anyway, we're leaving today, but since you were working, I decided to just put your gift in your home. You'll understand how after you open your gift. Which you may do so now. -

That was the last bit of writing, but I had no doubt more was meant to appear when I opened the box... (Eh, might as well.) So, doing what I was told, I opened the box, and just STARED at the 'gift.'

I just... I didn't... Staring back at me was an owl... A snowy white owl... A snowy white owl I was sure was some form of golem, enchanted to high Heaven... But otherwise looked like a normal owl. "Hoot." And hooted like one too... Except for the fact I understood that as "Hello." Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed more writing appear on the letter.

- Yes, she is a golem. Yes, she is enchanted. Yes, she is Hedwig.

Have fun with her.

A list of her enchantments is on the back.

Love

Martha Sakura. -

"Hoot." Or in other words, "Feed me two legger."

.

..

...

I was going to kill the smug and stupidly talented bitch for this!