1/2
{Tara's POV same time as the Omake}
Before the big crash, I wasn't a 'spend hours at the mall' kind of girl... But after it, I totally was. I liked looking for nice clothes, clothes that my dragon instincts approved of, which were mainly the ones made by Grandma, but I did own stuff she didn't make, but it wasn't alot. I also like looking for jewellery, the nicer and shinier the better. We dragons loved shiny shit, just like crows and other birds.
Anyway, since I was now firmly in the 'shopping' camp, me, Rias and Akeno all had the time of our lives as we went through all the stores we could. We'd stopped by a Victoria's Secret, where I almost had a conniption due to Akeno teasing the hell out of me in the type of lingerie that you wear before you FUCK, all capitals there because there were different kinds of fucking, though Rias saved me by telling Akeno she'd rather not think of her sister and bestfriend fucking... Though the slight blush she had when she said that let us both know she understood it'd be hot, cause it would be, Akeno and I were baddest of the bad bitches, and we all knew that. I snagged myself some lingerie of my own, and we moved onto other shops.
We went around alot, but at one point, Akeno dragged us into a... 'Toy' shop... We all bought one thing at the least, and moved on. I wasn't going to speak of it, ever, but Rias and Akeno didn't stop teasing me about my purchase the whole time we shopped.
Thankfully, a distraction popped up during one of their combined teasing sessions. [Tara, we have a situation.]
I blinked mid step, and took that in for a moment. When I recognized what she just said, I responded, and couldn't keep the grin out of my mental voice. {Hmm? Did Ms. Don't get into a fight, Tara, do something?} Everyone kept warning me not to do anything, but my straitlaced sister got into trouble? Oh that was fucking great!
[Not another word Tara.] She must've felt how amused I was, and decided to just plow straight ahead. [We've come across an injured child, one who was pursued by some form of Ent creatures.] This time, I stopped. I idly noticed my shopping companions noticed something was up, but mentally focused on the link with Martha.
Kids were a big 'don't' button for us, so I knew this was serious. {Meet up at the hotel?}
[We've already returned, and are waiting for the rest of you to return.]
I nodded at that. {See you in a few minutes.} I felt my sister's acceptance at that, and turned to Rias and Akeno, who realized what I was doing, and were waiting for the news. "The giga brains ran into some issues, and got a kid for their troubles."
Akeno and Rias blinked for a moment, and it was Akeno who couldn't resist the opportunity. "Hoh?~ So the 'responsible' members of our little group were the ones to find some fun? How deviant." Rias and I snorted at that.
We all knew 'deviant' and any of the giga brains being in the same sentence wasn't exactly normal. "I'm sure Sona would HATE hearing that... Make sure to remember it after we're sure everything's fine." Akeno grinned at her King, while I huffed in amusement. "Anyway, guess the shopping and the trip to a shrine will have to wait." That brought our attention back to the situation. "Bathroom and teleport?" Nods from Akeno and I were all she needed, and we went off to do just that.
Porting back to our room in the hotel, we brought out and put all of our purchases, all but the 'risque' stuff, onto the beds. We'd sort them out later.
We walked out of our room, and made our way to Sona's room, which opened the moment we were outside the door. Tsubaki ushered us in, kind of like sheep, and we met up with the rest of the braniacs. Tsubaki was closing the door, Sona was looking around for something, while Martha was sitting besides one of the beds, which was occupied by the kid she mentioned. Said kid made the old bells in the back of my mind ring for a second, but after 1, nearing 16 years in this world, they were rusty, and didn't work anymore. So all I knew was that she was from something I'd seen... And that was all.
Seeing the girl, Rias and Akeno nearly 'squeed' in unison at how adorable she was, I was almost going to do it too, but with a wave of my twin's hand, they were silenced before they could wake the dead with their squeals. With them silenced, Martha looked over to them, and did the universal sign for 'quiet.' They got the message, and quietly moved over to the edge of one of the empty beds, but while they did that, I raised a brow at my twin, and asked an obvious question. {Why not just silence the bed?}
I knew something was up when the immediate reaction was a slight spike in her amusement, and a twitch of her lips. [Who says I haven't?]
I damn near snorted, but settled for for smirking. My twin had a wicked sense of humor when she decided to use it. It was funnier when I noticed neither the Fallen Queen, or the Redhead of Ruin noticed the kid's breathing wasn't audible. Though, that could've just been because my hearing was better then theirs. (Eh, it's whatever.) That thought, I jumped over to an empty bed, and landed on it belly first after a few bounces from my momentum. "Anywaaay, what happened?"
Tsubaki and Martha shared a look, my sister just lazily waved at the bi color eyed Devil, and the Queen nodded. So, taking a seat at the edge of one of the unoccupied beds, Tsubaki spun the relatively short tale of what they encountered. After hearing that, Rias and Akeno, who were still silenced, frowned, while I just looked at the unconscious girl. She smelled a little weird, like fire and rabbit... The latter was easy because she had the ears, but the former surprised me. (How fucking strong is her affinity if I can SMELL it?) That was a question that interested the hell out of me.
Though, before I could ask, Sona finished looking for whatever the mystery item was... And pulled out a big piece of paper? I wasn't the only one confused, my younger sister and her Queen were just as confused, so Sona explained. "We need to see if the girl has any relatives. To do so, we need a map of the area, which we can make with a combination of spells and enchantments." Made sense...
Except... "Why didn't you just magic up some paper? Or turn a pillow into a map?"
Sona and Tsubaki blinked at that, and we all watched as they recognized that that was an option. My group was amused at the facepalm Sona did, and the look she sent to Martha, who smirked back at her. "Martha, may I ask why you didn't assist me?"
I felt my twin's amusement, so I already had an idea about her answer. "I wanted to see how long it would take for you to come up with the idea."
Both members of the Student Council gaped at my twin, while Rias and Akeno silently giggled. ""You knew!?""
Martha snorted. "Of course I did. Watching you rummage around for paper however was quite amusing though." That did it. Rias soundlessly cackled, while Akeno was doing her 'fufufu' laugh, which WAS audible, so she probably dispelled the spell Martha put on her. I just laughed at the whole thing.
The Student Council Devil's shared a brief look of exasperation, then sighed. "Sona, we may need to get reacquainted with common sense."
"... Duly noted." That just set us off more. Even Martha, who was keeping her face set in an amused smirk, was chuckling over our link.
After we were done laughing, Sona set the paper by the bed my twin was sitting next too, and gave her a slightly annoyed look, which she rolled her eyes too before looking away, and gently poked the kid's arm. Her nail pierced the skin, and we watched her draw her nail back, a thin trail of blood connected to it like a puppet and its strings. Using her free hand, she snipped the 'string', closed the small wound with her Verdant Light, and turned to the paper as the blood was molded into a droplet of blood. "*Scour the lands, reveal our query, show us our mark.*" I didn't recognize the language, but that didn't matter, since the droplet of blood glowed blue, then fell to the paper.
The moment it hit the paper, it rippled like a stone hitting a pond, and we all saw as lines started appearing all over. After the lines stopped appearing, a glowing red dot showed up, and Martha frowned. "Now that is... Unfortunate." I felt a small bit of worry in the back of our link, and recognized what that spell must've done. I wasn't a genius, but I wasn't stupid either.
The rest of the Devils also recognized what it meant, frowning as no other dots appeared. "Would being hidden under Wards interfere with the spell?" That was a good question from Sona.
Though, given the small shake of Martha's head, the answer wasn't a good one. "Even if they were specifically under Anti Scrying or Divination Wards, there'd still be a marker appearing on the edge of the map in their general direction." Welp... That sucked.
We were all frowning now, none of us seemed sure what to do no...- The girl stirred, and we all snapped towards her. I felt the silencing spell dissipate, both around the bed and the one on Rias, but my focus was on the kid. "Mumumuuu..." I was pretty sure we all shared a collective 'adorable' moment, but none of us were going to mention it yet. After her little grumbling was over, she turned a bit, cracked open a sleepy eye, and immediately locked onto Martha, who was both the closest, and the one she was facing. My sister kept a soft look on her face as the kid stared at her, but that face froze when the kid grew a megawatt smile, and launched herself at my twin. "Mama!" Martha caught her reflexively, and practically froze as the rabbit girl snuggled into her.
Safe to say, we were all shocked at this, but it was the surge of protectiveness and confusion that came from Martha that kept me quiet. The confusion didn't last long, her eyes widened a moment later, and was replaced by the familiar feeling of her thoughts racing down a train of thought at full speed. I liked to think I was the expert at deciphering her thoughts and emotions, so I used that, plus context clues, to figure out what she did... And it was surprisingly easy. (Tsubaki said Martha healed a nasty head wound, and Martha was the first person she saw... But do Yokai imprint on people?) I had no idea, but it seemed like something Martha would know. (If they do, then that'd explain the whole 'Mama' thing.) That seemed to be her thought too, since her thoughts went back to normal speed, and she hugged the girl back. Feeling the determination, and warmth coming from her, I didn't need to wonder what we were going to do with the little one... Though... {How do we smuggle a child out of Tokyo?}
Martha's only outward response was a quick look to me from the corner of her eye. [I'll handle it.] And that was that. The rest of the Devils finally caught up to what was going on, but before they could all squeal, except Sona since she didn't squeal, they were all silenced again by my twin. Rias sighed at still being silenced, while Akeno rolled her eyes. Tsubaki didn't seem to care about it, while Sona was amused. I was too, but I knew better to outwardly show it when Martha was in 'mommy mode.' She gently moved the girl back, which made the kid look up to her, confused. "What's your name little one?"
The kid just blinked at her, and tilted her head in a way that hit us for super effective damage. "Dunno!" And there went all the good vibes... Which was crazy because we were swooning one second, and sad the next. Emotional whiplash was one hell of a drug.
Martha didn't outwardly react, but I felt a pang of sadness from her. What she did do though was take an arm back, and gently run her fingers through the rabbit girl's hair, which made said girl close her eyes, lean into Martha's hand, and practically melt into my sister. "Would you like me to give you one?" The kid didn't even bother to verbally respond, and just settled for a cute 'un', as she prioritized feeling nice over a name. My twin hummed a bit, looking at her for a bit, then nodded. "How does Cynthia sound? Sakura Cynthia."
The Devils and I shared a look, obviously getting the reference, but we didn't point out how she took the easy route with a moon name... Which also doubled as a flower name... (Okay, maybe she should get extra points for that.) It was a smart move, two birds one stone and all that.
The girl opened her ruby eyes, which were locked onto Martha's amber ones, and smiled again. "Cynthia sounds pretty! Cynthia likes it!" Wait a motherfucking second here... "Cynthia loves it mommy!" Oh fuck.
All of us, excluding Martha but including Sona, collectively suffered from a pang of diabetes. A 3rd person speaking albino rabbit Yokai girl was too much for our hearts. Even Martha, the usually stoic and collected woman, had a surge of affection practically radiate from her as her newly attained daughter hugged and aimed that big ol smile at her. Seeing that, I smiled. {Well, looks like I can be the fun aunt sooner then I thought.}
The smug amusement, as well as the exasperated fondness was instantaneous. [Just means you'll have the experience in the event she gets siblings.] My lips twitched at that, and I couldn't help but wonder how long that'd take.
That also made me think of my own daughter, and how she was doing.
{A few hours later, Illiya's POV}
As soon as the final bell rang, I let out a sigh of relief, and sagged in place. I'd been a P.E teacher for a while, but annoying brats would still manage to get on my nerves. (It doesn't help that I teach hormonal boys and girl looking like I do.) Even before I was a Devil, I was, without sounding egotistical or narcissistic, drop dead gorgeous. The transformation into a Devil just guaranteed that I'd keep my peak looks, while also subtly removing any imperfections, and lightly improving small things that you really had to stare at to notice. There was also that thing about shaping my body to my desires, but I didn't suddenly get super bimbo tits, so I didn't really get it... Or care for that matter.
"Nee, Obachan." I wasn't surprised when Koneko materialized by my side, bag slung over her shoulder, and her cat smile on her face. "Can we get some ice cream?"
I hummed at that, then shrugged. "Eh, sure." Her eyes sparkled at that, and I was sure her tail would be wagging if it was out. "Though," She paused. "Want to pick up Issei while we do, or want to have some you and me time?"
My granddaughter blinked, and started thinking on it. She didn't have a problem with Issei, he was basically a good friend to all of the Devil's, and the only male friend Kiba had for a few years. "Just us. I don't spend alot of time with Obachan, I want some." That was good enough for me.
Nodding to that, I went to my office, got my stuff, and met back up with Koneko. "Off for some creamy goodness we go!"
"Nyaaa!" I snorted.
{10 minutes later}
Happily snacking on our ice creams, Koneko and I were making our way home, making small talk as we did. "So, you decide on coming with us next summer?" We wanted to try introducing Futaba to some newer people, she'd talked to Koneko, both over text and on FaceTime, but we wanted to see if she could handle people aside from us outside her door.
The former Yokai hummed, then nodded, her nose almost touching the her ice cream. "I'll go. Futaba is fun, and I get her references. Kaasan would probably like it too, so it's a win-win." I practically perked up at that.
Koneko loved Tara, and Tara loved Koneko. Those statements were the same as saying 'the sky is blue.' "Just to be sure, you want to do it too, not just to make Tara happy, right?" She gave me a nod, and went back to licking her snack. "That's good. Oh, and you're not allowed to have any of Soji's coffee." She turned to give me a 'why?' Look, so I answered. "Coffee could stunt your growth. You want to grow as big and strong as we are, right?"
Koneko's eyes drifted to my breasts after I said that, and I almost burst out laughing at her dazed reply. "Big... Yes, I wanna be big." Manipulating children was easy to me now. We were pretty sure caffeine wouldn't stunt her growth, but none of us wanted a hyperactive Koneko on our hands, especially now that she was becoming a little trickster.
Anyway, the only reason I didn't laugh at my granddaughter's obvious wish to be as blessed as my girls and I was because we somehow, in the middle of our trek back home, were pulled into a Bounded Field. I frowned at how sudden it was, then scowled at how strong this field felt. "Hoh? little Shirone wants to be big and bouncy Nya?" The sudden whisper in the winds was slightly unsettling, but the message that came from it made me go on full alert. There were a handful of people that knew Koneko's original name, and outside of those of us that lived in Kuoh, the leader of the Yokai, and the Satans, the only other person that knew would be...
A black haired beauty walked out from behind a tree across from us, cat features out, a kimono that looked like it'd fall off with the slightest of movements, with a sultry smile on her face as she looked over to us, but more specifically, Koneko. "Onee-sama..." My granddaughter shook as she stared at her estranged sister, and I stepped in front of her, shielding her from the woman's gaze.
Said gaze turned annoyed as she looked at me, but I just kept my own gaze firm. "Toujou Kuroka. You've got alot of nerve showing up now of all times. Let me guess, now that everyone's out, you're going to try and take Koneko back." It was obvious really. (If she say's it's a coincidence, I'll eat my boots!)
The Femme Fatal blinked, and raised an amused brow as she leaned against the tree. "And how'd nya get to that conclusion?"
I was interested in her reaction, so I'd let this little tidbit out. "We've known you were here for months." Her eyes widened at that, but I wasn't done. "We've been wanting to talk to you for a while, but you stopped stalking around before any of us could get to you."
By the way her eyes narrowed, I was guessing I worded that wrong. Oops. "And just why would you want to talk to little old me?"
(Alright Illiya, now's the moment for the big sell. Try not to fuck it up.) Looking her in the eyes, I went with my girl's gamble. "We know the whole 'mad on power' excuse is bullshit, and want to know the real reason. If it's a good one, we can call Serafall or Sirzechs to help you."
It was quiet for a bit, she obviously didn't expect for this confrontation to turn out this way, and was thinking about what to say. As she did, I took a moment to check how Koneko was doing, and felt my heart wilt at the fear and worry in her eyes. So, I wrapped an arm around her, but stayed focused on Kuroka. Seeing me hug her sister made her frown, but when she noticed how scared Koneko was, and that fear slowly drained away from her as I held her, the 'Strays' eyes softened. She gave me a long look after that, but I didn't back down. If there was a chance for this to not escalate into a fight, I was going to take it.
I wasn't worried about losing, my defenses and physical prowess as a Rook gave me an advantage, coupled with my speed from my Lightning Style Renewal Taekwondo, I had the overall edge in physical attributes. Her magic or other Yokai techniques would be a problem, adding in was the fact I didn't know how she fought, then she could probably pull something that I wouldn't be prepared for. I'd like to give myself a 50/50 shot of winning, but I didn't want to test it with Koneko not only here, but being on the line should I lose. (I'd rather not have a pissed off Tara go on a rampage if I told her I managed to get her daughter taken.)
After what felt like an hour, she slowly nodded. "I'm only doing this for Shirone. If you're lying to me, or trying to trap me, I'm going to hurt you, badly Nya."
That was good enough for me. "Good thing I'm not then." After reassuring a still weary Koneko that things were going to be ok, I turned to the direction our house was in, and gestured for the older cat girl to follow, despite her undoubtedly knowing where we lived. (Now I have to start thinking about how to explain to everyone that one of in not THE most wanted 'Stray' is going to be crashing at our home.) That was going to take a while to explain.
{Tara's POV the next day}
"Tara-nee, I need some charge." I didn't even look at Rias, and just shot a relatively low voltage spark in her direction. "Thanks!" I idly nodded, and went back to watching my twin dote on her new daughter. At the moment, the little rabbit girl was sitting in Martha's lap, happily drinking in the attention she was getting, and kicking her feet as Martha brushed her hair. My younger sister was recording the whole thing, while the rest of us watched on or engaged the two in conversation. Martha looked and felt relaxed as she brushed Cynthia's hair, and that made me feel nice, like I was listening to some lofi music on a rainy day.
It was especially nice to see the rest of the group accept the girl without a fuss. The initial reactions were funny to say the least.
Tomoe instantly loved the little tyke, gushing about how adorable she was.
Tsubasa looked at her, and had what we dubbed as a Tsundere moment, which was hilarious to see from the tall blue haired bruiser.
Reya gained a glint in her eyes, one I didn't get to decipher before it was replaced by a happy and amused smile.
Kiba just took a look at Cynthia and Martha, nodded, then went somewhere. A minute later, he came back with carrots, and offered them to the little rabbit. Martha gave him an approving look while Cynthia happily munched on the offered snacks. It also earned him some affectionate looks from Tsubaki and Tomoe, not that he noticed.
I wanted to be the fun aunt, but I doubted the Yokai who owned Tokyo would appreciate it if a dragon just suddenly appeared, and started doing an air show with one of their people on my back.
Anyway, Cynthia stayed with us, and after some hypnosis on the faculty and our fellow classmates, no one questioned the child shaped concentration of sunshine and sugar. Rias and I slept in the same bed, even when she had her own she still preferred to use me as a body pillow, so Cynthia would've had her own bed anyway... But apparently, at some point in the night, she plopped herself onto Martha's bed, and glomped onto her in her sleep. When we woke up, Akeno woke up first, and had nearly woken the rest of us with the muffled squeal she unleashed.
Thanks to my senses, it woke me up, and before I launched a pillow at the heathen that woke me up before I naturally woke up, I saw what made her squeal, and gave her a pass since it was adorable. That led to me nudging Rias awake, since we didn't know how long it'd be till Martha woke, and neither of us wanted the last member of our group to miss this. Rias had nearly the same reaction as Akeno, but I muffled her better, so neither Martha nor Cynthia woke up after the squeal. After that, my younger sister started recording the still sleeping pair, and only stopped when they woke up, which was 10 minutes later when Sona and Tsubaki knocked on our door.
After some 'annoyed' grumbling from Martha, a shared moment of giggling at the pictures and videos Rias took, and taking a bath/getting clothed, room service wasn't called since we decided to eat at Kuoh, we got ready to go back. The buses would be bringing our classmates back to Kuoh, but we'd be teleporting back, since even though we COULD smuggle my niece out via bus, no one liked the idea of forcing her to stay asleep, and if she were awake, we'd have issues keeping her from exposing herself to the regular folk. So, Martha and the Devils were just going to hypnotize the normies into believing we went back with them, when in reality, we didn't.
The only thing we were waiting on was the all cle...- Sona clapped, getting everyone's attention. "Preparations have been completed, and we are ready to leave. Before we do so, does anyone have anything they need to do at the last moment?" No one rai...- "Yes, Cynthia?"
We all looked at the bubbly Yokai, interested in what she wanted. "Can Cynthia get some more carrots?"
(Ah, the single minded focus of a kid.) I was pretty sure we all had a thought similar to that. Martha though, let out a small chuckle as she tapped her bracelet... And brought out a bag of carrots? (Wait, when the fuck did she get that?) I wasn't the only one confused at the sudden appearance of the vegetables, but the happy cheer from my niece kept us from verbally responding... That didn't stop me from doing it mentally though. {Uhh, when did you have the time to get those?}
[Last night. It wasn't that difficult to teleport from the bathroom to the convenience store by Uncle's cafe.] Huh... I was impressed at the fact I didn't feel her leave, but she came up with impressive shit all the time, so it wasn't that much of a surprise.
With the munchkin preoccupied with snacking on carrots, seeing her cheeks swell like a bit like a gerbil was adorable, no one else had anything to add. So, everyone started gathering at the teleportation circle Martha set up while Cynthia was brushing her teeth. It was like a stereotypical magic circle, bunch of lines and Runes and shit, and in the middle of the room. When Sona's Peerage was in, they gave us a nod, then activated the circle, porting back home. "Wah! Mommy, the circle ate the nice ladies!" That reaction made Rias snicker, Akeno choke on a laugh, Kiba chuckle, and Martha and I to grin.
After Martha convinced her daughter that no, the TP circle DIDN'T eat Sona and her Peerage, we piled into it, and got ready to head home. Martha and Cynthia weren't part of this group though, the former was going to get rid of the circle after we used it, and the latter didn't wanna leaver her mommy, which was just awww.
Anyway, we were ready, and after we injected some mana into the circle, we were gone.
Reappearing in the TP room, we all moved away from the circle, and waited for my twin and niece to step through. The circle flashed a bright amber, and suddenly, they were here. Cynthia was curiously looking around, big ruby eyes taking in everything around her as she held her mother's hand.
With everyone here, we made our way out of the TP room, and started heading upstairs, the TP room was made underneath the house, and entered the house proper...
Only to pause alongside Sona's Peerage as we looked into the livingroom, and saw mom, alongside Koneko, playing Smash with a black haired busty cat girl. Mom met all of our confused looks with a smile, and had the nerve to wave at us. "Hey kids, what's up?"
... (What the fuck did we just walk into?)
[Omake - I can deal with this. Kuroka's POV last night]
Sighing to myself, I let the big ol bubbles and nice hot bath water relax me as I sunk into it. Today hadn't gone to plan... At all. The idea was to go in, separate the Devil from Shirone with a fight, confuse her with illusion clones, then yoink Shirone when the time was right. But nooo, she had ta TALK to me, and everythin went downhill from there... Well... (It's not really downhill when I'm takin a nice comfy bath... But I know what I mean!) Shakin that off, I thought over the mini pow wow we had, and hummed at the new choice open ta me. Gettin my name cleared would be perfect, I wouldn't hafta sneak everywhere all the time, and I could stay with Shirone without some bozo comin outta nowhere to bother me.
Though, there was the fear that I was being punked... I knew the Satans visited from time to time, I bugged out when the Leviathan had just fuckin appeared outta nowhere, and nearly shit myself when she did. Thanks to that though, I knew she wasn't just blowin hot air. But the other side of that coin was that they could get me locked up if they just called up one of the Satans to come take me in... (Isa big gamble here... But is it worth it?) I frowned at that, but when I felt the familiar signature of Shirone pass by the bath. She'd been doing that for a few minutes now... And I didn't know how ta feel about it.
On one hand, Shirone was close, and was trying to be near me. But on the other hand, she was terrified of me... Which hurt. I didn't think about it before, but maybe leaving her the way that I did wasn't the best way to do it. I could've maybe left her a note or somethin, but if Shirone tried to get people to believe I was innocent, then bad things coulda happened to her... (And cause I couldn't figure out SOMETHING, she's scared of me... Dammit.) I was used to people bein scared of me, came with the rep I got, but I had no idea what to do when it was my own little sister that was scared of me...
(But they do...) I huffed at that thought, but didn't deny it. Those Devils, and the Sakuras, had made Shirone feel at home... (Though whoever named her Koneko is a fuckin idiot. I mean, 'White Cat', seriously?)
Back in Kyoto, Rias sneezed violently.
Shaking that off, I sighed, and just soaked in the bath. (I gotta lot to figure out, but that's a tomorrow Kuroka problem. Today Kuroka is gonna maybe sleep in this bath, then go sleep some more.) That was a good plan in my opinion.
