Chapter 13 - Leg Day

Ahri walked through the gates of Kuoh Academy earlier than most students. On the acceptance letter, it wrote that it was required of her on her first day to arrive an hour before the first class began so she can get her documents double-checked and get set up for the rest of the year.

The grounds were mostly empty except for sparrows pecking at the ground and a handful of students who came early to get some work done before the school day starts, or had club activities to complete. She took her time while strolling to the main building entrance and as she neared the glass door, she glanced at her reflection and noticed that her whisker marks were still visible.

"Oh, I seemed to have forgotten about them," she murmured, then simply snapped her fingers and the thin red lines on her cheeks disappeared. Now, the fox girl looked like a normal human girl, well, if normal also meant incredibly beautiful that is.

Ahri nodded to herself and entered the building. Thankfully there were signs at quite literally every corner so navigating her way to the headmaster's office wasn't troublesome at all. Soon, after traveling to the top floor and a short walk down the hall, Ahri found herself in front of a tall wooden door with a small golden plaque in the middle, with the word [ Headmaster ] etched in it. The golden-eyed girl knocked on the door then stood back. No answer, so she tried again. And then again.

She clicked her tongue and looked down at the folded letter of acceptance in her hand. Ahri opened it and scanned through the contents again to check if she had gotten the meeting time right.

"Where is he?" she whispered with slight agitation. She had waited for nearly fifteen minutes and there was not a single sign of life. Just as Ahri was about to leave and try again later, she heard footsteps approaching in the distance along with a calm, collected voice.

"Good morning, you are the new transfer student, correct?"

Ahri glanced to her side and saw a sophisticated-looking, bespectacled, female student with ebony hair in a bob-cut style.

The disguised fox girl bobbed her head, "Yes, I am,"

"It's good to meet you. My name is Shitori Sona, the Student Council President," said Sona, pushing up her glasses, "Unfortunately the Headmaster is out of town for a teacher's conference in Tokyo, but he has assigned me the task of finalizing your documents to confirm your admission. Would you please come with me to the Student Council Headquarters,"

Ahri complied and the two of them began a short trek to the other side of the building where the headquarters were located. Sona pushed open the door to the room, inside two of her peerage and fellow council members were present, her Queen Tsubaki and her Bishop, a white-haired, green-eyed young woman named Hanakai Momo. Both were sorting through a pile of paperwork and greeted their master when she walked in. Sona nodded to the both of them and they continued with their work, but not before casting a glance to the fox-girl in disguise.

Sona sat down at her desk and gestured for Ahri to take a seat opposite of her.

"Your acceptance letter please," requested Sona as she pulled out a folder from a cabinet beside her.

The fox girl placed the letter on the desk without a word, and the silence remained as Sona started to work. She pulled out three pieces of paper documents from the folder and placed them neatly beside the acceptance letter, her sharp eyes scanned through each one before she turned around to start tapping away at the computer.

Ahri yawned as she waited for the process to be over. The sooner they finish, the sooner she can begin her investigation. The investigation on the boy Dan Mori who shared an uncanny resemblance to an old friend presumed dead many centuries ago. Yasaka had been kind enough to approve her wish of moving to Kuoh temporarily, as at the time the fox queen sensed the importance and urgency radiating from Ahri's request. Although at first the queen was hit with a ripple of suspicion but agreed when she realized that if it was something to do with the golden-eyed girl's past that was somehow connected to the mysterious boy Mori, then she couldn't stop her from leaving, and even if she did, knowing Ahri, the girl would've found a way to disappear regardless.

Hearing Sona calling her name shook her from her thoughts.

"Just to confirm that it was you who applied for this Academy, I'm going to ask you some questions you would have answered during the admission," the bespectacled girl told her, "If your answers now are ninety-five percent and over similar, then we'll be finished with the confirmation process. If not then we'll have to escort you off our grounds, understood?"

"Yes," Ahri replied simply.

"Full Name?" Sona started.

"Cho Ah-Ri,"

"Birthdate and place,"

"December 14th 20XX, Incheon, South Korea,"

"Gender,"

"...Really?"

The Sitri heiress shot the fox-girl a look with her signature stone face.

"Fine," Ahri huffed and folded her arms under her chest, deliberately pushing her assets up slightly while responding with, "Female,"

Sona felt one of her eyes twitch at Ahri's action. Although the insinuation behind it was petty and should have been ignored by a High-Class Devil such as herself. Sona couldn't help but feel vexed by it, nevertheless, she cleared her throat and continued.

"Place of Residence,"

"131 XXXX Street, Park District,"

"Final question, the full name of your legal guardian?"

"...Sayaka, Tsune Sayaka,"

After receiving the answer, Sona turned to the computer, speedily typing something before turning back to Ahri and handed her a pen and confirmation document.

"Please sign here,"

The fox girl scribbled down her name and handed it back to the Sitri heiress, who took it and slipped it into a folder before placing it in the corner of her desk.

"All done, you have been assigned to Class 2-A," said Sona with a smile while standing from her seat, "Welcome to Kuoh Academy, Cho Ah-Ri,"

"Thank you for having me, it's an honor to be here," Ahri replied, also getting to her feet.

Sona nodded and handed her a small slip of paper, "After you leave remember to visit the library to pick up your textbooks, the directions to the library and your class are written on this. One last thing, since you are joining the academy close to the exam period, you won't be doing them with the rest of your class, instead, you will be taking make-up exams after the summer holidays, are you okay with that?"

"Yeah I'm fine with that," the fox-girl nodded as she fiddled with the piece of paper in her hand.

"Very well, I recommend you go get your books now then come back to the staffroom on this floor to introduce yourself to 2-A's homeroom teacher. He is already expecting your arrival today and will assign a classmate to show you around the academy grounds," Sona informed her, "If you have any further questions throughout the day, feel free to come to the Student Council and ask any one of us,"

Ahri nodded once more, "I understand, thank you,"

When she left the Student Council Room she followed the Sitri heiress's suggestion and followed the surprisingly detailed map drawn on the small piece of paper, heading for the library. As she passed by the windows, Ahri looked outside as she walked and quickly noticed two people strolling through the school gates. A certain white-haired loli and a young woman with long raven hair tied up in a ponytail.

On instinct, Ahri sensed their life energy, known to her and her kind as 'Chi', and her lips curved up into a mischievous smirk.

"First Sitri and now Gremory. Looks like Kuoh Town really is run by Devils," she chuckled, "Well, at least it won't be boring here,"

"Good morning everybody, My name is Cho Ah-Ri, pleased to meet you all,"

The room was so silent that a single water drop could sound like a gunshot. Then the silence was shattered by several timely, nervous gulps that echoed from random parts of the room. To two loudest ones came from the two human members of the Perverted Trio.

'I FUCKING LOVE THIS CLASS!' Motohama screamed in his mind, as his expression was still frozen.

'THIS SCHOOL IS THE BEST!' Matsuda similarly cried mentally.

If this happened three months ago, Issei would've had the same reaction. However, after some time living life as a devil, the third member of the infamous trio handled the situation better as Issei had built up a minor immunity to beautiful women due to being around them every single day and recently started living with two. Those being Rias and Asia, the former moving in after their victory over the Phenex, and the latter after the incident with Yuuma's group.

But even so, the Pawn subtly clasped his hands together and raised them to cover his mouth and nose to hide his reddening face.

'Wha...What kind of school is this? Why does it seem like all of Kuoh's hottest girls come here? First, there's Buchou and Akeno-san, who are obviously still the best. Then there's the Student Council President and her group. Koneko and Asia too. The Kendo Club girls aren't bad either, and so are the Swimming and Track Clubs. And now there's this new transfer!'

For a second, Issei's brown eyes darted over to Asia who was seated at the desk beside him and his eyes widened when he saw his blonde housemate mouthing the word, 'Pretty'.

The Pawn's gaze flicked back towards the front, staring straight forward at the chair of the person seated in front of him.

'Even our cute innocent Asia has been bewitched by the new student. This reminds me of when Mori first arrived, speaking of which, I wonder how he's taking this. Should I turn around? No! That's too suspicious and conspicuous, I'll probably just ask him later, yeah that's it, that's what I'm gonna do,'

[ Hey Partner ]

'Ddraig?' responded Issei. Truthfully he was thankful to his symbiotic dragon for taking his mind off the current situation. A luxury his classmates didn't have access to. 'What's up?'

[ There's something strange about that 'Cho Ah-Ri' ]

'Really? How so?'

[ I'm picking up on some weird energy signals radiating from her ]

'Weird energy signals?' echoed Issei.

[ Yes. Whatever it is, it's been cloaked pretty well, I didn't even notice it until she entered this room. It feels familiar, I just can't put my claws on it… And that worries me ]

'Then...Then should I do something about it? Tell Buchou or something?'

[ No, there's a chance it could be nothing major. We don't want to cause a scene and attract the attention of 'Him' while you're still this weak. For now, just keep a distance, but keep your eyes peeled ]

'R-Right got it,'

A loud smacking sound from the teacher clapping his hands together broke the students out of their trance, reverting their focus back onto the middle-aged man. He cleared his throat as his eyes swept across the room

"You've transferred at a peculiar time of the year so I was worrying if we had any seats left, but luckily we still have one available," the teacher said to Ahri, gesturing to a desk at the back of the classroom, "The Headmaster also left me a note informing me that he has assigned someone to show you around the school grounds,"

"Okay," Ahri replied.

"Dan-kun, please raise your hand,"

Mori, who had been absentmindedly sketching pictures of food across his notebook, jolted and poked his head up and out when he heard his name being called, "Hm? What?"

The teacher irritatedly huffed in response to Mori not paying attention to his announcement, "Dan-kun, the Headmaster has selected you to give our newest student a tour of Kuoh Academy, are you alright with that, or should I send a request to find someone else?"

Raising his hand shaped in an 'OK' gesture, Mori replied, "No I can do it, don't worry sensei,"

"Excellent," the teacher then looked back towards Ahri, "Like you, Dan-kun, there is also a transfer student. But he has been at the academy long enough to know the grounds well so if you have any further questions, you may ask him,"

"I understand," the girl replied.

"Very well, please get seated, class will begin shortly,"

Ahri gave a polite bow before walking over to her new desk and placed her bag under it after taking out the books she acquired from the library earlier.

As she was getting settled and as class officially started, Mori's dark eyes found themselves flickering toward the girl on his left several times.

'Seriously, where have I seen her before?' the blue-haired teen wondered while scribbling down notes, 'It feels like I know who she is but it's been so long that I would've naturally forgotten anyway. Like a childhood friend that left and suddenly reappeared...not that I would know what that's like though. It's like the answer to who she is, shifts between the tip of my tongue, to the back of my mind, and into my subconscious and back again at a crazy fast pace… Ugh… This memory loss thing sure is exhausting sometimes,'

As usual, the lessons seemed to roll by quickly and the school day had finished. The drumming of hundreds of footsteps along with the indistinguishable chatter in the hallway could be heard clearly from inside the classroom.

"Hey Mori," Issei started, leaning back on his seat to face his friend, "The Clubroom is going through some renovations for these couple of days so Buchou told us to meet at my place,"

Standing up from his seat Mori replied, "As much as I want to see everyone again, I can't today. I gotta show the new girl around, remember?"

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that," admitted Issei before he continued, "But if you finish up early…,"

"...I know where to find you guys," Mori nodded and shot him a thumbs-up

"Speaking of the new girl," Mori turned to his left, and his brows furrowed as he looked around the room, "Wait, where'd she go?"

At some point, after class came to a close, Ahri had found a chance to slip out without leaving behind a trace. Her desk was empty and neat as if she had never been here in the first place.

Issei shrugged as he got up as well, "Maybe she had something more important to do and left straight after the bell rang?"

"Or maybe she's shy and nervous about being in a new place for the first time?" Asia added as she stood at the Pawn's side, "I know I would have if Issei-san hadn't been there to help me,"

"Aww, It's no big deal Asia," Issei replied sheepishly at the comment, rubbing the back of his head while his cheeks were dusted with pink, "All you have to do is say my name and I'll be there,"

The Bishop chirped an "Okay," with a large grin on her face.

"Well," Mori slipped his arms through the straps of his backpack and faced his two friends with his signature cheerful smile, "Looks like I can see the others today after all,"

The trio strolled down together from their current location on the third floor, down to the first and out the doors of the Main Building towards the school gates. As they left and chatted amongst themselves, all around them they could hear the murmuring gossip from the other students about their newest classmate. Some were talking about her looks, others were wondering about her skills, a couple of them voiced their discontent on "Why is it always Class 2-A?", and finally whispers were floating around that there was already a Fanclub brewing for the new transfer. It hadn't even been twelve hours and Ahri had already made an impact on the entire academy.

"Hey, I heard that it was raining pretty hard here recently," said Mori, continuing their chain of small talk.

Issei nodded and hummed a confirmation, "Yeah, when Buchou and I got back the first thing we heard was just the crashing of rain on the roof, and when we looked out the window, we couldn't see any further than, at the most, two meters ahead. According to Asia, it started a couple of seconds after I left to the Underworld,"

"It was sudden and very loud too," Asia added, "It only stopped around dinnertime yesterday,"

"Nearly twenty-four hours," the Pawn commented.

Mori tilted his head slightly towards the sky, as he started to recall the paths he took to reach his home the previous night, "Now that I think about it the ground was wet in some areas, but I couldn't see it properly since it was dark,"

"I just hope that it doesn't happen again anytime soon," said Asia, "The atmosphere felt very gloomy,"

Issei simply patted her head in response, smiling down at the bishop who returned it with her own.

"I'm a bit sad I missed it though," Mori admitted with a light chuckle, "I like thunderstorms,"

"It helps with getting to sleep doesn't it?" said a new and abrupt voice.

"GAH / KYA / WHA!" the trio yelled in unison and surprise as they jumped to the side.

They quickly recovered from their brief moment of shock and looked towards the source of the new voice. Leaning against the brick wall connected to the main gate, Ahri had her arms folded over her chest with her book bag strung across one shoulder. Her golden eyes fixed upon the trio.

"Sorry if I startled you," she said with a giggle, "But it's true, isn't it? Rain is nature's most soothing sound, it can cure insomnia in a heartbeat,"

"...I guess that is true," replied Mori.

"Dan Mori-san, right?"

The boy nodded, "You can drop the honorifics though, I don't like them that much,"

"Of course," Ahri responded before stepping away from the wall, "So shall we get this tour started?"

"Oh right," realized Mori, for a moment he felt as if he was the new student and she was the more experienced transfer, "I thought you headed home so I almost forgot about that,"

Mori turned to his two friends "Guess I can't go to the club meeting today, say hi to the others for me,"

"You betcha', but try to come if you can," replied Issei as he and Asia waved goodbye while they headed off towards the Pawn's house, "See you later or tomorrow Mori,"

Mori watched them walk a little further before turning back to focus on his current task at hand.

"Right so, where should we start?" he asked Ahri.

"From the beginning?" Ahri responded with a raised brow.

"Got it...from the beginning..." Mori looked around while rubbing his chin with his hand.

'I've never given anyone a tour of the school before… What is the beginning? What counts as the beginning? Is it like the door to the Main Building or is it like the gate or is it the bus station over there or is it the subway a few blocks that way? Is it this piece of concrete I'm standing on? Or is it that piece? Argh, this is so hard...HOLD ON MORI! You're overthinking this...it's simple, beginning equals entrance right? So we start there, at the entrance'

Mori cleared his throat and faced Ahri.

Then with a straight face, he pointed towards the large, steel-hinged barrier used to open and close a wide gap in between the school's brick wall outline.

"This is the Front Gate,"

…

…

…

'Good job me' the boy inwardly applauded.

.Ahri could only stare at him, clenching her jaw tightly to resist the urge to laugh. She blinked a couple of times before responding.

"I see, it looks very...metallic?" Unfortunately for her, it was the best response in mind at the time.

"Haha, course it is, that's what's it's made of after all," Mori replied with a laugh then started walking through the gates, "C'mon let's keep going,"

Ahri lightly sighed before curving her lips up to smile and trailed behind him, "Sure,"

"This is the Main Path, everyone must walk this path if they want to enter the campus," Mori announced as he pointed down with both arms at the long line of pavement they were walking on, "Sometimes there are worms and other bugs that pop up between the lines and you'll see sparrows pecking on them if you come to school early enough,"

As Mori continued his explanations on everything within sight, Ahri nodded to his words, but her mind was somewhere else.

'...So this is what he's become...? It's kind of strange now to see him like this, as a regular high school student, all happy and easy-going, looking as if he's enjoying the little things in life with a little aura of mischief cloaking him. The last time we talked, heck last time he talked to any of us was back during the last couple of years of the Warring Century. Back then, he only cared about himself. He would lie, saying that he was fighting for us but that turned out to be a lie. He was bloodthirsty, power-hungry. Unlike the other Kings, he didn't bother searching for brides to create heirs. Since he already had a bride, he was married to the adrenaline of combat. Even when Huaguo, our home, was being scorched to the ground he never cared, his sight was set on the sky where the battles were happening. He left us, his army, to defend it.'

'And now, after somehow arriving in this universe. He's changed. Is it because of the journey here or the journey to the west? Or was it something in-between those two times? He hasn't reacted to my appearance either, does he not remember me? Or is he choosing to ignore me? Is it because I've lost more than half of my power since coming to this world?'

Ahri watched as Mori continued to ramble on about the Academy, as the teen had started to get the hang of the whole 'tour' assignment.

'Wukong has changed. But you know, that might not be a bad thing. And change might not be the best word for this either…how about 'reverted?'. Yeah, that sounds better. Wukong has reverted. Reverted to his younger self, from the time before all the fighting began. Back to the first few years of training under Subhuti. To when he ruled the mountain fairly and nothing but laughter rang through the mountain every hour of the day. To the time before he became king.'

"...i…..ri...hri...Ahri,"

Mori waved his hands rapidly in front of the fox girl's face, snapping her away from her thoughts.

"Huh? What? Did something happen?" she exclaimed as she looked around as if scouting for danger.

"Oh so you are awake," Mori chuckled, then pointed towards the building located behind several rows of trees, "I was just saying, that's the Old School Building, no one really goes there anymore except for the club I'm in,"

"You're a part of a club?"

Mori nodded, his azure hair bouncing slightly, "Yeah, the Occult Research Club,"

"Occult Research?" Ahri tilted her head, "What? Do you study the supernatural phenomena of the world and go on expeditions to find the Loch Ness Monster or something?"

"Nah, it's more like...it's more like," Mori's gaze traveled up as he tried to find an answer. He had never really thought about it before now but, how would he describe the club to a normal person?

"It's like a...it's actually a place to hang out with friends and do homework after school but don't tell the teachers please,"

"Okay," replied Ahri.

"Thank you, you should find yourself a club too, I'm sure a lot of people will welcome you with open arms," said Mori before turning his sights on another building, it was the gym on the other side of the school, "Right, now, moving on,"

The tour went on for another hour and a half before it came to a close.

By the end, the sky had become a pastel shade of blue while the clouds turned a pale pink hue. Mori and Ahri went their separate ways after leaving the school gates.

After checking the time on his phone, Mori saw that there was still enough time to make it to Issei's house so he started walking in that direction. He strolled through the streets and tight alleyways, crossed roads and bridges, and contemplated whether or not he should go for a quick snack break every time he saw a convenience store. But when he passed by the entrance to the park, he found his steps slowing down until he came to a complete halt.

His gaze shifted several times between the park and the path that led to the Pawn's abode.

"Should I go and train today instead? I haven't trained in three days but it feels like it's been three months," he murmured and looked back down the street, "But then again, I want to see the others again too,"

His dark eyes and golden pupils made their way back towards the entrance of the lively, evening scenery of the park. Children were playing around the fountain as their parents watched while chatting with each other from the benches close by. Pigeons pecked at the crumbs an old couple was scattering for them. Several young couples were strolling on the footpath, enjoying each other's company. The same path that circled the park was also shared with people who were jogging or cycling or just simply taking a meditative walk, some of them had dogs with them that made Mori's nose twitch.

Mori never realized he was staring at the curtains of the fountain as his mind started to zone out. The soft drumming of the water hitting water slowly elevated into the loud crashing of a large waterfall.

…

…

"My king,"

…

…

"Huh?" Mori blinked as he seemingly regained his senses and found himself directly in front of the water-spouting mechanism, the tip of his shoes pressed against its stone base. Even weirder, one of his hands was outstretched with his fingers mere inches away from touching the thin veil of water. He immediately retracted his hand back to his side.

"Are you alright, Your Majesty?"

"Wha?" Mori's head whipped around to the source of the voice.

Standing next to him with a worried expression on his face was a brown-furred primate wearing an office worker's outfit, and he was holding hands with a monkey-faced child wearing an elementary school uniform.

The azure-haired boy was about to answer when something in the corner of his eye caught his attention. His eyes widened with bewilderment and his jaws parted. Every person he had seen in the park only moments ago had furry bodies of different earthy colors, some of their faces had morphed too with their mouths and nose lengthening and merging slightly to become a muzzle. Some of them even had tails waving around behind them but they all wore human clothing.

"What the-?" he could only mutter.

"My King, are you okay?" the child beside him chirped.

"U-um…,"

Mori rubbed his face vigorously before slapping his cheeks with both hands several times.

"Mister?"

He slid his hands off his face and looked down towards the child, only to find that it was a little girl holding onto the hands of her father.

"Are you feeling alright young man?" the father asked, "You looked as if your mind wasn't in tune with your body just now,"

"Yeah, you looked like you were a zombie when walking over here," the girl added.

Mori's eyes quickly swept over the park one more time and saw that everything was back to the way it was before.

"I-I'm fine," he replied, giving them a reassuring smile, "Just a bit tired that's all, exams are coming up and assignments are due, thanks for asking though,"

"Ah, yes, I suppose it is nearing the exam weeks of school now with summer only around the corner," the office worker chuckled, "But you should take better care of your health young man, and don't stay up too late every night to study. Take it from me, education is important, but your health physically and mentally are even more so,"

Mori nodded, "Of course, I'll take that into consideration,"

"Well, I must be off, it's almost dinner time after all, good luck with your exams," the man said as he and his daughter began to walk away.

"Bye mister," the little girl shouted as she waved goodbye which Mori returned.

When they were gone, Mori let out a long exhale, "That was weird, when was the last time something like that happened? A few weeks ago now at least,"

"Well, I'm already here, might as well go and train at the meadow," he decided and he pushed himself off the fountain to head into the park's small forest.

Near the edge of the park, surrounded by thick foliage and devoid of all people, he spotted the maple tree which acted as a sort of gate between here and the meadow. He said his instructor's name aloud three times when he passed it.

Normally after he did so, the bushes would part, revealing a small opening and a path of pebbles would lead him to the training meadow. But this time nothing happened, and so he tried again. Just as before, it didn't work. Mori even tried circling the maple tree three times while saying his instructor's name but even then, the entrance wouldn't open.

Leaving the boy to scratch his head, "Is he not here or something? Did he run out of rent?"

Then a light-bulb pinged in his mind as he had another thought, "What if he's here, but he's transformed into something just so he can prank me by jumping out at any time to scare me,"

As soon as that thought registered, Mori began scouring around for anything that looked even the slightest out of place.

"Gunseng?" he said as he poked a piece of fungi growing on a tree with a stick.

Then he did the same with the only decently-sized rock in the area, "Is that you?"

When that didn't work he noticed a spider web in between several branches. Mori snatched the spider out of its web and whispered to it, "Is this you?"

He received no response and put it back on its web. At the same time, he spotted a snail slowly making its way across a small log and Mori pounced, pulling the little mollusk off the log as he stared into its elongated tentacle eyes.

"I found you,"

The snail responded by shrinking back into its shell and so Mori placed it back onto the log. Just then, a leaf fell onto Mori's head, who reacted instantly, catching the leaf and holding it in the air triumphantly.

"Gunseng is that you?"

The leaf split in half in his hands.

"Guess not," Mori deadpanned as he threw the two pieces of the leaf over his shoulder.

Suddenly, he heard the sound of a thousand grains of sand hitting something thin, and the murmuring of a voice along with the scraping of dirt.

A smirk grew on Mori's face when he found the source. A small, brown and caramel-colored furry creature was burrowing under the roots of a large tree with its waving tail end facing Mori.

"I found you," the boy grinned mischievously and dove towards it.

The animal stiffened as if it had sensed the impending impact of Mori. No more than two seconds later, the boy's hands were grasped around the small animal's body and he yoinked it out of the hole beneath the roots.

"Hah! You thought you could hide from me by going underground!?" Mori cackled triumphantly while holding the flailing animal by the armpits in the air, "You were wrong, Gunseng!"

"W-W-W-What's going on -nuki?" the creature sputtered as its head whipped from left to right in a panic.

Mori raised an eyebrow, "It's me, Mori,"

He spun the creature around to face him, "See?"

"Who on earth are you -nuki?" the animal asked with wide eyes.

"Do you not remember me?" Mori looked on, slightly puzzled, "You can stop playing now, I know it's you,"

"What are you saying -nuki?"

"...You're not Gunseng are you?" Mori realized at last.

"Stop speaking nonsense and put me down -nuki," the creature demanded.

Mori complied without a word and released his grip, allowing the furry animal to drop onto the undergrowth.

"Now, tell me who you are and what you're doing on my territory -nuki," the animal declared as it sat upright on its hind legs.

"My name is Mori, but I've already said that," the boy replied, "And I'm here to enter the training meadow that opens here,"

"What -nuki?" The creature cocked its head, its long snout twitching.

Mori released a light snort of frustration as he had to repeat himself, "My name is Mori,"

"I'm sorry can you repeat that -nuki?"

"My. Name. Is. Mo - Ri," he said slowly and clearly.

…

…

"Can you stop speaking in weird tones -nuki," the furry animal requested as it folded its arms, "I really don't understand what your saying -nuki,"

"How can you not understand?! We're speaking the same…wait..."

Mori cleared his throat, "Do you understand me now...-nuki?"

The animal's face brightened, "Ah! So you do know how to speak -nuki,"

'Isn't that offensive to other languages?' Mori wondered.

"Well, who are you and what are you doing here -nuki?"

"My name is Mori -nuki," the boy responded, "I've come because there used to be an opening here that lead to this clearing full of grass where I'd train -nuki,"

"Ohh, that place -nuki. I know that place -nuki,"

"So who are you anyway and where's Gunseng -nuki?"

"The monk -nuki? Oh said he's going away for a while, but as for me -nuki," the animal puffed out its chest, "My name is Cookie the Tanuki, I am the main spirit that watches over this plot of land -nuki,"

"Nice to meet you -nuki,"

"Likewise -nuki,"

The Tanuki's eyes widened as he remembered something while looking up at Mori, "Blue hair, gold pupils, squishy-looking face -nuki. That monk told me that someone like that might be coming by, you must be him -nuki. That monk gave me a piece of paper to give you -nuki,"

"He did -nuki?"

Cookie dug his paws into his fur and ruffled around. Bits of food scraps and other pieces of small debris fell out of his pelt until he pulled out a crumpled piece of paper.

"Here it is -nuki," said Cookie, raising his hand to give it to Mori.

"Thank you -nuki," The boy took the paper and unrolled it. He tried smoothing it out a bit more by rubbing it against his shirt then started to read it.

[ Mori,

If you have received this from that Racoon Dog then that means I haven't returned yet. I'm on a mission for my boss, I don't know how long it'll take but it's pretty important. If you're here then that must mean you want to go train in the normal place. Good. But due to rules and regulations, I've had to change the password to enter the training clearing. It is now - "Staff goes SWOOSH." No, I'm not trying to prank you, this is the actual password, I'm sure that not many beings will be able to guess it so it's a safe one.

You'll be training by yourself for quite some time I imagine, but as I said before: "Self-Training is still training." No excuses Mori, I don't want to come back and see that you've forgotten everything I taught you. Speaking of which, you don't have a staff anymore, that's fine for now, we'll get you a new one later. For the time being, focus on that kicking style you did during your match with Reiz, it looks interesting and I'll be lying to myself if I said I don't want to spar against it. But if you're dying to spin a staff around you can always use a broom or a mop without the brushy end, or a piece of bamboo or something. Hey, while you're at it, try entering that form you had during that fight too. Good luck, have fun.

Gunseng :D. ]

Mori looked towards the maple tree, staring at it for a few moments before uttering.

"Staff goes Swoosh -nuki,"

…

…

…

Mori shook his head rapidly when he realized that he spoke in the wrong 'language'.

"Wait, I mean… Staff goes Swoosh,"

Suddenly, a closeby thicket started to move sounding out with the crackling of branches and rustling of leaves. The dirt shifted as the roots also seemed to be moving as well.

As Mori looked at the opening to the training ground with wide eyes before slowly turning back to the piece of paper in his hands.

"It does work," he said with a grin on his face.

He looked down at the Tanuki by his feet and while sliding the note into his pocket, he told him, "I'll be going now -nuki. Thanks for this -nuki,"

"Not a problem friend -nuki. Goodbye -nuki," Cookie barked with a wave of his paw and dashed back into the roots of the tree he was digging at before Mori interrupted.

The boy dashed into the opening between the thicket and after a couple of seconds, he leaped into the large circular meadow of lush green grass.

When he made it to the center, Mori closed his eyes and took in a deep, long, breath. Inhaling the aroma of fresh dew and grass, and emptying his mind of the day's events to now focus only on one thing.

"Right," he opened his eyes, "Let's begin,"

[ RE - BAEKDU ]

Mori flew forward with one knee, then twisted his body in midair.

[ RE - RISING BACK KICK ]

With his chest facing the ground, Mori slightly peeked over his shoulder, spotting his invisible target, and lashed out one leg.

By following the momentum gained from his kick, Mori whipped his body around once again in the direction of his attack and landed on the grass on his kicking leg. Immediately after touching down, Mori dropped to the ground as he snapped his body around while whipping out the same leg as before.

[ RE - LOWEST HWECHOOK ]

After performing the sweep and subsequently drawing a large circle in the grass, Mori popped up into the air.

[ RE - SCISSORS ]

He focused his gaze on a specific point and kicked with one leg as his other dropped behind it to avoid a collision of his legs. While still looking at his invisible target, Mori's leg flies over in an arc, and his non-kicking leg bends to ease the rotation. As he takes his eyes off the target, the teen lands on one leg.

[ RE - BAEKNOK ]

Mori kicked high into the air like a foot uppercut, striking with his heel until he was standing in a perfect split. Without wasting another second, Mori pivoted his supporting foot as he chambered his leg up to his chest.

[ RE - GORYEO ]

Akin to lightning, Mori shot his foot out twice, aimed for the chest and head.

Once his foot touched down on the grass, Mori pivoted his foot once again and lashed out his opposite leg in a wide spinning hook kick.

[ RE - REVERSE HWECHOOK ]

The sheer force behind the strike sent waves of wind crashing down across the meadow. Every strand of grass fell flat to the gust and loose strands flew wildly into the air.

Until the winds died down, Mori held his leg in the air and once the meadow was silent again, he slowly lowered his foot to the ground without making a sound.

Mori released a small exhale as he relaxed his muscles, "Phew~,"

He stretched his arms upward before plopping onto the soft terrain to stretch his legs. While doing so, he looked around absentmindedly, and when he glanced up at the sky, he was reminded that the moon had already risen several hours ago.

"Looks like I've been here for a while now," he said to himself quietly, "I should probably leave soon, gotta balance training and schoolwork...come back tomorrow morning,"

*GRAAAAW*

"...And I'm hungry," he muttered as he slumped forward and his forehead bumped his knee.

"But before I go," Mori hauled himself back onto his feet, "I should try to enter that state I used during the fight with Reiz...only problem is…I don't know how…,"

The boy put a hand to his chin as he started to ponder, "If I remember correctly, I was quite angry at the time wasn't I? ...So is that 'state' similar to...Super Saiyan?"

Mori shrugged, "Eh, wouldn't hurt to find out,"

He widened his stance until he was standing further than shoulder-width apart and bent his knees into a full right angle. Clenching his fists tightly, Mori hunched over in a primal fashion and grit his teeth. He emptied his mind and began to search for anything in his head that was at the very least, somewhat rage-inducing. Then the clearest one in the back of his mind came flying forward. A dream from last night.

"D-Damn you Issei… WHY!? WHY DID YOU EAT! ALL! MY! PEACHES!" Mori threw his torso back as he roared towards the sky, "G-G-G…..GRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"

…

…

…

"...*cough - cough*... My throat hurts…," he murmured and he relaxed his frame before he began to wonder again, "Maybe I gotta do it like those Universe 6 Saiyans, find the tingling feeling down my spine,"

Mori straightened his body and focused all his attention on trying to sense for anything in his cervical spine. After what felt like an hour, there was nothing and so he stopped.

"...Honestly," he sighed and swayed his arms hopelessly, "I'm outta ideas, maybe that 'state' only activates when I'm fighting. Anyway guess I'll go home for today and try again later,"

With that, along with a yawn, Mori turned and exited the training grounds

A large nocturnal cloud blocked out the light of the moon, casting a giant shadow over the dense undergrowth of a pine forest. The thick vegetation that was already darkened by the night now became nearly unseeable. The symphony of crickets echoed throughout the forest, as other nocturnal animals such as owls, bats, and wild cats roamed the woodland.

Standing in the middle of a small grove was a tall man in black robes with a tall, pointed collar and purple and gold streaks. Long ebony hair fell down his shoulder. His skin was paler than snow, his face was long, his ears were pointed and his eyes were blood red. The man looked as if he were a vampire, but he was not, and instead, he hated that race as he believed that his species was superior. Superior to not only vampires but also Devils, Angels, Youkai, perhaps even Gods. And this man strived to prove his point.

In his long, pale fingers, he was impatiently spinning a small pencil-sized spear of golden light. By his feet was a steel chest, the line of the hinge and lock were melded together by an external source of heat, effectively sealing off whatever was inside from the world.

Suddenly a voice called out from behind him.

"Kokabiel,"

Kokabiel immediately stopped spinning the stick of light and flicked around his shoulder towards the source of the voice.

In turn, a dark blue index finger flicked it away and the stick of light made contact with a nearby pine tree. The tree instantly exploded the second the light touched its trunk, sending wood and leaf debris flying across the grove. But the two figures were unbothered.

When the forest settled, Kokabiel turned around to face the newcomer.

"Xakar," he grinned, showing off his sharp teeth.

A tall, bulky, blue-skinned man with clear defined muscles walked out from the shadows of the forest. He had long, messy, white hair and pupilless silver eyes. He wore thick white fur around his waist, covering his private areas, and equipped himself with dark steel and leather wristbands and boots. A giant, serrated, bone greatsword was strapped to his back. In his hands, he held a large cloth sack that appeared to have some things in it.

"I trust that you have the items I requested?" Kokabiel continued.

In response, Xakar simply tossed the sack towards the Fallen Angel, who easily caught it. The sound of clinking metal could be heard as the Fallen Angel opened the sack to take a look inside. He reached in and pulled out the hilt of a sword, Kokabiel smirked before releasing his grip on the hilt, allowing it to fall back into the sack and clanging with the other item inside.

"As per our agreement," said the Fallen Angel as he waved his hand and the safe by his feet floated into the air. It began to hover towards Xakar, but the blue-skinned man simply put out his hand, signaling for the other man to stop.

"I do not have the authority to touch the content inside," he told him, "The Commander will come to pick it up later and he wishes for you to keep hold of it for now,"

"Oh?" Kokabiel raised an eyebrow but didn't question it any further, "Alright then, but I expect further payment as a late pickup fee,"

"The Commander knew you would say something like this," Xakar calmly replied, "Therefore he wants to tell you through me, that he will be paying now, with this,"

Xakar reached behind and from his belt, pulled off a small cloth sack containing something round. Once again he tossed the item towards Kokabiel who snatched it out of the air.

The Fallen Angel pulled the string tying the sack together and flipped it upside down over his palm.

Out dropped a fuzzy pink fruit.

"...A Peach?" Kokabiel questioned with a snort of disbelief, "Your Commander wants to repay me with a fucking Peach?"

Xakar kept his cold, calm expression "That Peach is more valuable than any treasures in multiple realms. You'd do well to respect the Commander's gift of thanks,"

Kokabiel snickered, "So what do I do with it? Eat it when I'm stressed?"

"No, not when you're stressed. Keep it with you at all times as it will help you out immensely," Xakar explained, "If you are planning to restart the Tri-Faction War, you will need all the power that you can get,"

With that, Xakar sunk back into the shadows and vanished.

Kokabiel stared down at the fruit in his hand for a few moments longer before deciding to hold onto it for now and dropped it back into its small cloth sack, tying it back together. Perhaps he can get one of his henchmen to do some research on it later. He picked up the larger sack and flung it over his shoulder. He placed a foot on the metal safe and snapped his fingers. A shiny yellow magic circle appeared under him and shot up, teleporting him away.

Chapter 13 - Finish

What's good everyone! It's been what? Nearly two months since the last update. Yeah, that wasn't meant to happen. I had several weeks of no inspiration or motivation to finish off this chapter. However I DO know what I want to do with the future chapters so hopefully, that means I can fire off more chapters in the near future… (Ignore this if you're either re-reading or for new audiences if this story is over 17+ chapters long).

By the way, I've always wanted to ask my readers, do you guys enjoy longer chapters (8000-10,000 words) or shorter ones (5000 - 8000 words)? If you want, you can PM me your answer or please add it to the end of a review if you're writing one.

Review Segment:

Multiple Users who mentioned Ahri: I won't be revealing Ahri's full backstory for a while. The only thing we know is that she was at least allied with Wukong for a long time and even trained under Subhuti with him. But I can reveal that she will be fighting soon enough and we'll get to see her abilities then… I bet most of you won't be able to guess who her opponent is, hehe~ (wO).

Kensei-1085: I think I PM'd you this answer.

Ant (Guest): ...Typhlosion...I haven't heard that name in 3000 years. I almost forgot about the Johto starters and so has Gamefreak.

fruitspunchsamurai-987: It's the looks that count with Charizard. But the Infernape vs Charizard thing is going to be more of a running joke than an actual trend.

Nameless Godless: To answer why Mori won't be getting Touki. That's because Touki is a DXD exclusive ability. Since Mori's body and soul aren't native to that universe, he cannot gain access to that ability. It's the same for beings originally from the DxDverse, e.g. Gods and Demons from DxD don't have access to the Phase Transformations that their GoH counterparts have. Also because Mori already has two things that fill in the Touki-less void and do pretty much the same thing (and possibly to a much more powerful extent), that being his Origin Form and Huaguo Monkey Rage Boost.

Journey to the End: Oh yeah, for sure I'm gonna be focusing on other Pantheons, and I agree that many DxD stories focus too much on Devils and only making them stronger, but it is DxD so I understand. Yeah, we'll definitely be seeing more from the Chinese Pantheon, or as I like to call it, the Jade Pantheon. Speaking of which, (idk if this counts as spoilers but). We will be seeing the Jade Emperor of this Universe soon...chronologically soon that is.

Shiroyasha Rises: Recoilless will be coming… Eventually.

DaDragon562: ...Wait...Who's Shirou?

Rhyn3: I'll PM you the answers cuz I have a feeling that it's going to be a lengthy one.

That's all for Chapter 12! Once again hope you enjoyed it, leave a review, and all that good stuff.

Thank You For Reading, and Goodbye!