2/2


{Martha's POV a few hours later}

Alot of things happened very quickly after we returned home. Firstly, mother met her new granddaughter, and I found myself on the receiving end of a highly enthusiastic interrogation about my daughter. (My daughter...) I knew I'd become attached to the young Yokai rather quickly, but considering her circumstances, as well as my own history as a mother, it was atleast somewhat understandable. Though, despite claiming her as my own, I'd need to do some more tests, just to ensure no one could come along and lay familial claim to her. As well as to find a method to restore her memories.

That aside, mother and Cynthia got along rather well, the immediate comment that mother was 'a pretty lady', may have been a big factor in why, but it was whatever. My daughter was seemingly a rather simple child, give her food, and she will love you... I'd need to work on that, it'd be far too easy to kidnap her should hypothetical kidnapper know her weakness to food and candy. (Gods forbid they approach her with a chocolate carrot, she just may decide to become their minion for life.) It was a somewhat plausible scenario... As strange as that was.

Koneko got along well with my daughter, and had yet to return to the livingroom after Koneko led Cynthia to Tara's room, though I believed it was because she was using the situation as a way to distract herself from the scenario we'd returned to. As it was, I had no doubt the two would bond in a familial manner, whether as cousins or siblings, I didn't know, but only time would tell.

But both of those could take a back seat to the main event we'd found ourselves in. Koneko's sister had returned with the intent to spirit my niece away... Only to be talked out of it by mother. Rias and Tara had gaped and muttered about 'Talk-no-Jutsu', which had made the older Nekoshu chortle. It surprised me that Tara didn't thrash the Yokai, but feeling her irritation and a flare of anger let me know she most likely would have if the attempt went further then pulling Koneko and mother into a Bounded Field.

From there, we'd talked about her situation, and especially about what had happened when she killed her King. I had been recording that conversation, without alerting the Nekoshu woman, and sent that information to Serafall. My relationship with the Satan was quite close, aside from immediate family, and Azalea, she was my best female friend. Her childish act had been a slight irritation, but when I understood it was a form of coping she'd just gotten accustomed too, I learned how to accept and see past it. (... Though, she's learned how to get to me even with my ability to see her for who she is.) It was a hassle, but Serafall was worth it. Both because she was worth it as a person, as well as for the political power she could wield.

After sending the information to Serafall, she ended up dropping by to personally inform Kuroka that the process to get her Stray status lifted had begun, and would most likely be finished by the end of the month. It was a massive surprise to the woman, but a welcome one. In return, she rightfully believed that a boon such as that deserved to be repaid in kind, she informed us of something... Troubling. "There were these bozos that tried recruitin me Nya. Some pretty boy that called emself Cao Cao. Jumped up lil shit had THE fuckin Longinus." That had surprised the Satan, but there had been more. "He had some butt buddies too. A big burly boi by ta name of Heracles, another blondie by ta name of Jeanne, and even more blondies by ta name of Arthur Pendragon and a Le Fay Pendragon. They were part of some whackos in this thing called the 'Khaos Brigade', weird as it is. I turned tail and ran fer it after cow boy let his pretty boy facade slip, an I felt his intentions."

Serafall hadn't been the only one worried about that information. It didn't take a genius to understand where this was going. A terror organization was building in the shadows, one that seemed to have factions within itself if 'Cao Cao' was to be believed. (There's also the fact he had Hero Descendants as well as Reincarnations of heroes of old by his side... So the question of 'What else does this Khaos Brigade have in store for us?' Makes itself known.) Serafall had come in with good news, and left with information that would need to be shared with the other Satans.

With that event over, things moved onto a more comfortable pace. Cynthia eventually returned with Koneko, or who she suddenly called 'Kitty Nee', which highly amused all of us, especially Koneko and Kuroka. It didn't take long for her to call Kuroka 'Bigger Kitty Nee', an address that pleased the older Yokai to no end. It DID surprise me how quickly everyone was accepting Kuroka, but it may have had something to do with how she introduced herself, as well as her circumstances. She had murdered everyone that could've hurt her sister, even though she left said sister as she escaped. That latter point subtracted from her image a bit, but the fact she did her best to watch over Koneko for years, and it was years, she'd found us three years ago and while she had been planning to take Koneko, she hadn't outright attacked anyone in all that time. That added points back.

We spent the rest of the day getting to know her, as well as introducing Cynthia to Kuoh. I'd placed a glamor on her and her hat as we did, so no one saw my child as anything aside from an excitable 8 year old. Though, after I did so, I had a brief flash of memory that confirmed her identity to me. Cynthia was apparently this world's version of Klee from that damnable game Genshin Impact... I didn't exactly know how to feel about adopting a game character, especially one from the game my son used to spend an outrageous amount of money on, but I'd just prioritize Cynthia herself, and just get the game out of my mind.

It was around 4PM when Tara decided to do something, coincidentally after Sona's Peerage, as well as Kiba and Akeno had left. {Can I steal you for a few minutes?} Looking over to my sister, who had her daughter in her lap, giving her scratches as she ate, I raised a brow, not even asking anything.

She read my look, and subtly looked to Kuroka, who was eating a fish dish I'd prepared for her. Seeing the look, I understood. [Very well. Should I bring her some spare clothes?]

It surprised me when Tara sent over a negative. {Nah. Despite how much I want to throttle her for having the audacity to try taking my daughter, I don't think Koneko would appreciate it if I pummeled her sister.} She had a point.

Our short conversation went unnoticed by all, so when I made to leave our home, it went unnoticed/uncared for by nearly all. The only exception was Cynthia. She saw me heading towards the door, and bounded towards me. "Wait for Cynthia mama!"

I paused, and turned towards my daughter, watching as she came towards me. I mentally hummed at her approach, and locked eyes with my sister. We didn't even need to use our link for the question to be transmitted to her. 'Should I leave her at home?' Tara thought about it for a few moments, then shrugged, leaving it up to me... Annoying bitch.

Looking at my daughter, and seeing her bright ruby eyes giving me the look all children under the age of 13 are inherently proficient at, which was even further enhanced by the drooping of her ears, my choice was made for me. (Godsdammit.) Crouching down, I held an arm out, and she instantly jumped over to me. Catching her was a simple affair, shifting her so she was comfortable, was not. Cynthia kept kicking her feet, vibrating in my grasp, or just doing excitable child things as we tried to find the best position for her.

It got to the point that I just willed my magic to strap her in as made a bracer on both my shoulders so she wouldn't fall off. "Aww. Cynthia was having fun." I looked up to her at that, and locked eyes with the excitable rabbit.

She attempted to give me the eyes, while also drooping her ears again, but I knew what I heard. (So she knew what she was doing... Haaah, I foresee alot of coffee in my future.) Shaking that thought away, I gave one of my daughter's ears a soft flick, then poked her nose. "Are you comfortable honey?"

Cynthia brightened up faster then the eye could blink, and gave me a bright smile. "Yeah! Cynthia's tall now too!" That got a smile out of me, and I stood up.

Giving Tara a short look, rolling my eyes when I saw the smirk on her face, I walked out of the front door, and made my way to the training grounds, my daughter happily kicking her feet and babbling about whatever caught her eye at the moment.

It was a nice walk.


{Tara's POV a few minutes later}

[Silencing and Masking Wards are up. You are free to come over.] I mentally hummed at that, and sent my thanks to my sister.

Without looking over to the elder Nekoshu, who was sitting next to me, I whispered low enough so only she would hear, since Koneko was over in the kitchen getting more snacks. "Follow me." She had a whole body shudder as I said that, and I thought it was probably because of the small grown that came with it... Which wasn't my fault!

Intellectually, I was... Okay with what she intended to do, because I understood it... Kinda... Sorta... Eh. I knew why she wanted to do it, that was as good as it was going to get.

My draconic side though? It was like a fucking Stand, metaphysically rearing up ready and willing to slam Kuroka beneath my paws and turn her to an extra crispy corpse beneath my paws. I deserved ALL the awards for wrangling my instincts down to the 'highly annoyed and kinda pissed' levels they were at now. (Being a dragon is sorta a hassle.)

My inner monologue done with, I stood up, made an effort to stretch out my joints and stuff, and called out to my daughter. "I'm going to head over to the grounds, want me to get you anything when I come back?"

Koneko was quiet for a moment, then responded. "Soft chocolate cake?"

I felt my lips twitch at that, she'd literally eaten a teenage football(American) player's weight in candy, and now she wanted cake? (Might need to push out another conversation about eating right again. Maybe remind her that good eating could help her grow as a woman.) I wasn't sure if it was going to stick, it hadn't when I tried before, but I'd figure out someway to permanently motivate her. "Okay." I'd just need to figure out how to say no first.

"Hmm, somethin tasty sounds good right about now, Nya." I looked back to Kuroka at that, and nodded when she hopped out of her chair, which did some nice things to her breasts, and made her way over to me. It amused me how much I towered over her, she was a short stack and a half, but it would be weird for both me and Koneko if I dated her sister, so I just chucked the attraction I felt off to some unused part of my mind.

Anyway, with Kuroka in tow, we walked out of the house.

As soon as we did, I wrapped my tail around the cat girl, getting a surprised 'Nya?!' From her, and activated my Thunder Body, turning the both of us into lightning as I Flashed us towards the grounds.


It took a few seconds to reach the grounds Rias owned, but when we did, I dropped the Thunder Body, turning us both back to normal. Though, when I did, Kuroka all but collapsed onto the ground, hugging it for all it was worth. "Oh sweet sweet dirt, sweet life and body of mineee! I'll nyeva take ya fer granted ever again!"

I just stared at the cat girl, a mix of deadpan and slightly amused. (No one's ever reacted THAT badly before... Eh, whatever.) Ignoring her for now, I looked over to the compound, and saw my sister with her kid by her side, watching Kuroka make a fool of herself with amused looks on their faces. It amused the hell out of me that the few owls in the area were also watching Kuroka, and hooting in laughter.

The older Yokai seemed to realize those hoots were actually aimed at her, and whipped her head to the source, a tree with half a dozen owls. "Shutcha traps ya feathered rats before I do it fer ya, Nya!" They sopped for all of two seconds, then started laughing again as they flew away, most likely to avoid her revenge. "Ya little bas...-"

She was cut off by a sudden Silencing Spell from Martha, one that was dispelled as soon as she noticed it was applied. My sister met her indignant look with a stoic one of her own, which was somewhat less effective considering she had her hands on Cynthia's ears... Which didn't look comfortable... At all. "Be mindful of your language, lest I conjure a bar of soap." It was a weird day when I could envision my twin sister, someone growing into a perfect copy of Irene Belserion, physically shoving a bar of soap into a cat girls' mouth...

That aside, Kuroka blinked owlishly, which I could tell Martha noticed by the trickle of amusement in her mind, then nodded. "Fair... I think..?"

The two stared at each other for a bit, Cynthia was looking at me, a look of 'I don't know what's going on' on her face, and I felt for her. "Good enough." Saying that, she took her hands off her daughter's ears, and removed a spell she put on her that I hadn't noticed was there... Wait... Wha?

I focused on the feel of the magic, which was dissipating real fuckin fast, and blinked when I recognized it as the Silencing Spell she used on the bed back at Kyoto, instead of the personal one she used on Kuroka, or me from time to time.

"Sooo..." I turned my attention back to Kuroka, who was giving me a curious look. "This the part where we fight? Have a lil showdown like cowboys or sum like that, Nya?" She tensed at the end of that, looking ready for a fight if it came.

Though, that got a snort from Martha, a 'What's a cowboy' from Cynthia, and a raised brow from me. "Reminder, I'm of the fairer sex." Kuroka laughed at that, but I wasn't done. "So instead, I'm just going to do a little grandstanding." That got her to stop, and give me a quizzical look. "You know what I am, right?"

A slow nod, her eyes dilating a bit, and a bristling of her tail was the immediate response. "Nya. It ain't everyday I find out little Shirone under a dragon's wing, literally 'n metaphorically. It's why I waited so long to make a move." Smart.

"Dragon?!" I mentally grinned at my niece's outburst, but didn't address it.

Instead, my gaze was locked on her own, and I Shifted, deliberately going slowly so she could watch , and so my niece could see me looking cool as shit. The excited squeal that came from the side as my wings grew, and my tail thrashed out, told me I was earning massive points from the little rabbit. For the cherry on top, I did the dragon thing, wings unfurling, tail slamming against the ground, neck fully stretched, and roared. "~GRAOOOOOOOOO!~" It was always a slightly intoxicating feeling when I roared, one that just reinforced the fact that I was THE Apex predator.

When my roar ended, I looked down to Kuroka, whose tail was all puffy, ears flat to her skull, and had the same instinctual reaction I did when I first met Serafall. It was interesting really, since we were sort of relative in strength, I was all power with my own skills and techniques, but she had the versatility and craftiness that would make a fight between us hard to discern the winner of. Though none of that mattered when it came to sudden instinctual fear. If I made her freeze up at the wrong moment, I would win via dragon enhanced physique making her defenses useless. I'd managed to train myself to not freeze when Serafall suddenly appears to hug me, but Kuroka didn't have years worth of experience with a pair of Satans, so it was natural for her to be scare shitless when a dragon, even a young one like me, suddenly appears without any inhibitor.

Idly wondering about the other Yokai in the area, I spared my sister and niece a glance, and saw the former keeping the latter in an iron tight grip as the little rabbit looked just about ready to blitz over to me and hop on my back. She was cute, but I had to focus on Kuroka for now.

Turning my eyes back to Kuroka, I spoke. "I don't have any issues with you, the attempt for MY daughter amounted to nothing, but as her mother I'm obligated to do this, even if you ARE her sister. So burn this into your memory, Kuroka." Raising my head up, and facing a portion of the woods that led to nowhere special, I opened my maw. "Lightning Dragon's...-"

"SHIT!" I ignored that, as well as the surge of mana that came from my sister.

"...- ROAR!" The first vocal Roar I let off was different from my non vocal Roars, and a part of me wondered if that was because I was in my dragon form, or because it was vocalized. The rest of me was focused on the solid gold beam of lightning firing from my maw, and the massive clap of thunder that followed. I didn't keep it up for long, a few seconds at most, but when it was over, the sheer devastation surprised me. A quick mental calc put the width of that Roar at 30ft/10ms at the very least, and seemingly wiped out everything in that direction for a few miles. My Non Vocal Roar, when I was in my base 'human' form, was 1/10th of that. (... Well damn... I need to hit something with that, see if they get atomized.)

Shunting that thought away, I looked at the intended target of my dominance play, and hummed when I saw her still as a statue, eyes as small as pins. If it weren't for the fact I could hear her heart beating like a drum, I'd think she was dead. Though, it picked up in pace when she realized I was looking at her, and she mechanically turned her head up to meat my eyes. "That would be the quickest way you would've died had you taken Koneko. Thankfully, you were smart, and now, anyone threatening you will get that instead." The first half just seemed the scare the shit out of her more, but that second half helped her relax a bit, which was the point. So now she'd maybe spend 5 minutes in existential fear instead of 10 or something.

Turning away from her, I Shifted back into my 'human' body, and rolled my shoulder just because I could. "Anyway, I'm going to go get some cake for my daughter, see ya later." And with that, I used my Thunder Body and left. Kuroka would be fine eventually, and I didn't want to be physically there for my twin to tan my hide. I'd not only gone for a Vocal Roar, but made her curse in front of her own daughter, while blasting her spells and Reinforced Wards apart. I knew she'd do it mentally, but I could take that.

There was no mental chancla to be used against me with our link, and even as a badass dragon, the almighty chancla still terrifies me.


{Tara's General Narration}

After that, things went well. Sure, Martha ranted and raved at me for a while, and I'd learned that staying in Dogeza for over an hour actually affected me more then I thought it would, but things were fine!

I may also have given her daughter a thing for 'cool lasers and explosions', but it was just a phase. It'd pass...

Atleast that's what I kept telling myself. She was an adorable little cutie, but there are only so many times one can be asked to blow up a mountain before one starts actually considering it just so it could stop being asked of me.

On another note though, my niece liked playing with my horns and tail, so it was normal now to see me with my horns out when we were at home. It took a bit for me to get used to the weights on my head, and to stop poking holes in the walls and doors, but I got used to it for my niece.

Things with Kuroka also went well... After she got used to being in the same house with a dragon that showed that she could and would atomize her if she threatened family. We ended up getting along really well. Though, her bestfriends were mom and Akeno... The three got along like a Serial Arsonist and an infinite fuel flame thrower. It wasn't uncommon to find a passed out and bleeding from the nose Issei, with both seductresses cackling in mutual madness over the poor boy while mom was in the background, recording the situations. The younger of the sadistic trio seemed to be building feelings for him, both because strength appealed to both of them, and Issei was a genuinely good boy. He accepted the two for who they were without a second thought, and despite him being with Irina, my original little sister figure was somewhat open to the idea of being in a harem... It boggled the mind, but atleast she said she wanted to get to know them more before she fully gave into the idea...

And given who Akeno and Kuroka were, we all knew that was only a matter of time... It was crazy to me that I was seeing this shit grow before my very eyes, and I was confused on whether I should be proud or not. On one hand, I'd practically raised that boy to not be a little shithead... But on the other hand, I was protective of Irina. So it was a weird place I'd found myself in. I knew I could beat the shit out of Issei, so long as he didn't reach 7 Boosts before I kicked his teeth in, then I'd start taking damage, and that wasn't even factoring in his Balance Breaker, but I didn't exactly want to do it because then Irina would get mad at me.

My relationship with the elder cat girl was good too, she was too old for us to be fine with the daughter level, but she was fine with being close friends/family. Koneko was ecstatic to not only have her sister back in her life, but for the both of us to be getting along as well as we did. It helped that Kuroka also got along with Futaba, so it wasn't that uncommon to hear her voice come from my daughter's phone whenever they were on call of FT. Mom, Martha and I were a little worried though, Kuroka was Rated R/M for Mature incarnate, so her corrupting Futaba was a valid worry... It took one conversation about tentacles for us to decide that it was already a lost cause, and we prayed for Uncle Ro's sanity.

The new dynamic grew more stable the more time passed, and after a few months, Kuroka's presence and inclusion into the family was normal now. Coincidentally, her name was also cleared after two months, it would've been sooner but Serafall told us the 'old fogies with their heads stuck up each others assess' were kicking up a fuss so it took a bit longer. The information she provided helped drop it to only two months, and not the half year they expected.

With her name cleared, Kuroka was free to walk the streets, and travel with us openly. That helped for when we went out and about, but mostly to Tokyo to visit Uncle Ro and Futaba. And speaking of the lovable gremlin, she'd began her campaign as Medjed, and turned into a worldwide menace of unseen proportions. Martha had known this was coming, but I think she underestimated Futaba, since I'd walked into the livingroom one day, and saw her jaw all the way open as she watched a report about Medjed hacking into some super secure site or something.

It was hilarious to be honest.

Aside from that, Cynthia had pretty much fit into our family like she was always there. Martha loved her, mom adored dotting on her, Koneko and Kuroka happily entered the elder sister roles, and Rias was pretty much in love with the little gremlin after she was called 'Aunty Rose', after she saw her family crest. I was the fun aunt, and the one she went too when she wanted to see me blow stuff up, which was often. The little tyke loved explosions and lasers after seeing my Roar, and she was turning into a little pyromaniac after she figured out magic, and how to use it. It was no surprise when she started making things out of fire, and ended up with a signature attack in the shape of fire bombs in the shapes of bunnies.,, It was adorable, but also very bad for the forest's and the animals continued survival.

Introducing her to our Grandparents was a fun experience though. Grandma and Grandpa had met Koneko before, and just like it happened with her, Grandma absolutely adored the little Yokai. I didn't want to accuse her of favoritism, but I was pretty sure she loved Cynthia more then Koneko, which did NOT make me pout, no matter who said I did! They were lying liers who lied!

Atleast Grandad favored Koneko, though that might've been his bias since we were teaching her Renewal Taekwondo.

Anyway, months went on, new developments with our training happened, Futaba got better with magic, and used to talking to people, even if she still was 'confined' to her room.

Koneko started Senjutsu training with Kuroka, a practice which Martha and I joined in, my sister because it was a new means of power to explore, and me because I wanted to see if I could do it. Surprisingly, I COULD do it, but I had issues with it because my nature demanded me to make the natural energy of the world to submit, and that was counter intuitive to the practice, Senjutsu was all about letting the energy flow and becoming one with nature and other hippie things, so I would have to work twice if not thrice as hard to learn and master Senjutsu... So I ended up just saying 'fuck it', and stopped working on it.

Sona and her Peerage worked on their stuff with Martha, though Tsubasa joined me and Koneko in our Martial Arts training. I didn't know what they were working on, aside from future planning for Sona's school but that was a given, and I didn't feel like asking. If it was important, then Martha would share it with me.

Meanwhile, Rias and her Peerage were doing stuff I DID know about. Kiba was working on making all kinds of swords, and was taking alot of inspiration from FATE, Archer specifically. Gasper was working on coming out of his shell, and was making some progress since he was atleast able to leave his box now that he had control of his Sacred Gear. Though, a somewhat decent jumpscare will make him scamper off to his box screaming like a little girl all the while... It was both funny, and a little disappointing at the same time. Akeno though was working on making her Holy Lightning something fierce, and started mixing demonic energy with it, which was resulting in less and less explosions when it went wrong. She couldn't get it down all the time, but she was getting there. Mom just improved her martial arts as well as her Lightning Style, and called it a day.

As for Rias, she was taking her Power of Destruction to new heights, and was actually turning into a monster in terms of how she could use it. She'd made a technique she called 'Ruinous Rain', which did what it said on the tin. She would shoot off either a pair of massive spheres of Destruction, or dozens of smaller ones that would start 'leaking' high in the sky, making needles sized strands of Destruction rain down on the area from the sky. It was fuckin terrifying to go up against, because those needles ate through any defense that could be put up, and just generally made for a bad day.

My training was going... It was going. I spent atleast a few hours entering and exiting Dragon Force over and over, stimulating my Dragon Core as much as I could, but even after months, there still wasn't much progress on awakening my Dragon Core. I also made new spells that I could use in all three forms, which was difficult given how my magic worked. In the series, Dragon Slayer's were taught and trained in ways to imitate the dragons they fought, so trying to imitate something I already was, was sort of a double edged sword. I could make spells like my Tail Slam easily because I had a tail, but if I wanted to try it without using said tail, I'd hardly have a clue where to start. The same thing with defensive variants, since I already had scales to use, it was difficult, but not entirely impossible.

With the supernatural side of our lives keeping us from being bored, our days rolled by, turning into weeks, and months, and eventually, a year.

Futaba had gone dark with her Medjed persona, having found a lead on what her mother was working on before she died, and was sitting on it until she knew just where to go from there. We freely offered our support in the event she needed it, and she accepted that, while telling us she'd let us know if she wanted to nuke someone.

Cynthia didn't remember when her birthday was, so Martha ended up cannibalizing some Blood Spells to make one that'd figure that out for us. Finding out she was born on the 4th of July tickled the former American in me, and made me snort when someone whispered 'so THAT'S why she likes explosions.' With her birthday known, we threw her one, and got her presents and a cake to make up for missing her last one. The little bunny loved it, and was our own energizer bunny for the rest of the day.

As for us, were in our final year as Kuoh students, Issei, Kiba, and a few from Sona's Peerage were in their 2nd year, while Koneko, and Gasper if he was a normal person, started their 1st year.

Though, the month leading up to our first day of Senior Year was... Troubling.

Thanks to the book Martha found in Tokyo, the golem spy network watched Kuoh 24/7, and captured footage of trespassers that we weren't exactly sure what to think about. Some Stray Exorcists were filtering in, which wouldn't be much of a big deal since we'd just off them and move on, but they were with a squad of Fallen Angels... A squad of weak Fallen that everyone aside from Cynthia, unless she just bombed them from afar, could take on our own. The issue was we didn't know if they were here with permission from the big cheese of their faction or not. If they were, and we offed them, we could end up restarting The Great War, which no one wanted. If they weren't, then we were all good.

Now normally, we could just ask Serafall or Sirzechs, but the both of them were busy with something related to the Khaos Brigade and The Old Satan Faction, so were on our own here. Not even Azalea could help, she worked at a completely different branch, and didn't have a mainline to Azazel. She surprisingly hadn't told her boss about us, so that route was closed off to us too.

So now, we were just watching them, and letting the Ravens compile footage on their everyday moves, waiting for justification to either kick em out, or kill em. It was frustrating, knowing there were people that could be threats to my family, and being unable to do anything about it. Martha and I couldn't do anything because mom was Rias' Rook, and we were connected to her by association for that, so I couldn't just fire off a Roar at the church and be done with it. Martha could probably magic up some aerosol poison spell or something, but again, we had no idea if they were here on Azazel's orders.

Now, we could ASK them, but that could expose Rias and Sona, and the Underworld didn't seem to know they were here, so if we did that, and it was found out that they were here, then that could open a can of worms we couldn't close... So yeah, stuck in between a rock and a hard place.

Though, that'd all change on the 1st day of class.


[Omake - I need milk... Lots and lots of milk. Kuroka's POV after Tara left]

(... I thought I could take THAT?! Sweet fuckin mama mercy!) Staring at the sheer devastation the elder Sakura twin unleashed, I was thankin my lucky stars I hadn't tried anything when she was around. I knew she was a dragon, her life force was far too robust to be anything else, and her scent just confirmed it, but I hadn't known just how dangerous she could be. (Well now I know betta... Fuck...) I was used ta being top bitch wherever I went, and really, I had every right ta think that given how dangerous I was ta almost everything else given how close to being Low-Ultimate Class. A dragon as young as Sakura Tara shouldn't have been much to me, though I hadn't fought a dragon before, so I didn't try to test my luck and mess up retrieving Shirone... And that might've been the smartest thing I'd ever done.

Now, seeing the mile wide valley she'd made with a roar, I couldn't help imagining bein on the other side of that... (Ion think 9 lives woulda been enough.) I did my best ta banish those negative thoughts, and tried ta focus on the bright side. (I'd like to see that moo moo mother fucker try to take THAT! Stupid xenophobic pretty boy and his big pointy stick ain't livin through a beam of 'fuck off' lightning.) I was a bit on the fence about the Pendragon kids though, but I ain't know em so maybe they deserved a fuck off beam of their own.

Shaking that off, I turned around to look at the younger but more mature twin, and blinked when I saw her adopted spawn looking at the destruction with stars in her eyes... And were there little flames dancing around her feet? (Uhhh... What?) Looking at the twin herself, I noticed the exasperated annoyance practically radiatin off her.

We shared a look, and with some unknown understanding, we decided to just not say anythin about it.