Hey, there! Not time no see! ready for some dxd craxzies from this author? I hope so.
To be fair, I never expected to get attached to this fic at all. It was only a parody to make fun of the series and the people who thought this was going to be some kind of full-flected story... But I got attached to it and became one of it'sas readers. So, anyway, new chapter, new development, new characters and plots, and PLOTs IYKWIM and a lot of gags. I hope you all enjoy this fic and thank you for your interest up until now!
as always, dxd doesnt belong me!
And guess who's back...
... Into the world of the Boosted Gear?
Looking at the blank ceiling from my seat in my own mental place, I was in my thinking pose. I think I should be happy, Gremory is back to us, to me, and Miyama Rei and his little harem were defeated by ours truly, thus, for now, my only worries are probably the remaining seven Wonders of Kuoh academy(three down, four to go.), the Vampire-Devil conference and the Hakuryuukou. Yet, those shouldn't be considered minor problems. After all, such events might attract bad and worse things one after another; and in the end, more is yet to come. Something tells me that as long as I live as the sekiryuutei, problems shall follow suit, just like Nemesis-san says. Dragons are... Troublemakers and trouble-magnets...
"Don't be too harsh on yourself, Ichijou. Life is full of ups and downs. You look only at the moon, you'll miss the stars." And to snap myself out of my stupor, there she is, the resident redheaded spirit inside my Boosted Get besides the welsh dragon Ddraig, Yagura. To my surprise, however, I could see that she was carrying with herself a crimson bouquet of roses. What the hell~...? "Be happy, at least for now, mr. Grumpy bear. You have your girlfriend back, the Miyamas are down and under custody, and only a few weeks separates you from finding your other girlfriend. So cheer up."
"Shut up. Gremory... Is not my girlfriend, much less Annie. They're... My friends." I said with a little of uneasiness oozing out of my mouth. I don't know what to say now, I'm so confused and even a little scared. Not for that, but for the fact that Yagura is carrying such a pretty bouquet. I scratched the back of my head, sighed and pointed at it. "Huh~... What is this?"
"Oh, so mr. Denser-than-black-matter noticed. Good to know that your head is still kind of intact even after Rina's revelation." She gave me a cocky grin, tilting her head to a side and sticking her tongue out, while I rolled my eyes and sighed a pitiful one. Gimme a break, will ya? In the end, however, she lightly blushed as she walked towards me, in a madam's walk no less, and extended that bunch of flowers to me. My eyes went wide for a second. Eeeeeh~?! What the hell?! "But, huuuh~, anyway... Congratulations for surviving the dragon trials. First Akio, then Yuno, Nashiro and the Quarta twins, and then Aria's last trial. I'm kinda proud of you for surviving them like that. Maybe father would be proud of you."
"Hey, speaking of which, there's something I want to know, Yagura." I said, picking that bouquet and placing it on my lap, as I supported myself on my seat and looked at her straight in the eyes. Okay, this time, since there's no urgent matters to worry about and my head is in the right place, I'm gonna ask. I dunno why, I dunno how, but she's to be something more than a pixie fairy in my head giving the directions. Not to mention, her hair is in a very bright red, not unlike the Gremories', so unless she's a previous Mixed-blood Gremory-human Boosted Gear-user, I got another theory for that. "I meant to ask this earlier, but due to some... Unfortunate events and the fact that my head is probably a trouble magnet, I didn't."
"Yeah, I understand. So...?"
"Yagura... Who are you? You can't be just the Navi floating around my head or simply a random spirit that just didn't want to sacrifice herself to save senpai. So, who are you? What are you?" I said with a serious face, as serious as I could anyway, while she blinked once, twice, and crossed her arms in front of her chest. She hummed a song, and looked at me again, as I mimicked her bored look.
"How you wanna do that?" She asked, still staring at me with a bored tone, as I blinked in surprise. Now what? Don't tell me she's giving another archetypical choice, like when we did when we first met! "I can be as blunt as possible, or passive as possible. I can be all mysterious and say a bunch of sentences that don't make much sense initially, until you simply snap and say 'don't tell me...!' Or something, for me to then give you the final answer. 'It's always like that', like you said when we first met, remember?"
"Huh~... 'Well, aren't you a savvy one. Smartass, this isn't a shounen light novel, y'know!'... Or something like that. Remember? It was the first thing you said to me." I paraphrased her with a click of my tongue. She frowned, I frowned, but in the end, we shared a laugh. Hahahah! We're such idiots, her specially(in a good way, of course.). In the end, she clapped her hands a few times, and huffed a puff of smoke, her hands on her hips.
"Okay, okay. You want to know how I am, I shall tell you." She said with a smirk, flipping her hair a little and sighing a relieved one. "My full name is Yagura Gremory, the second child of Issei Hyoudou, with his wife Rias Gremory, and the residing spirit inside the Boosted Gear."
"..." My predictions were on spot, she is descendant of a Gremory, but... Senpai's daughter inside the Boosted Gear?! What the hell?! I could feel blood running down my mouth as I almost chopped off my own tongue! Calm down, calm down, she can't read your mind once you're here. Just pretend it's nothing. "Senpai's... Daughter. What a surprise. And with Lady Rias, too, with all that it worthy. But you said 'Second Child'..."
"Yep. Himejima Kurenai was his fist child." Oh, so his first was with Akeno-sama, can't blame him. She chuckled, then looked at me with a serious-mocking glare. "However, being the descendant of Bael, Gremory and the Hero of the underworld, himself with both the strongest identities sealed inside, I was the one most fitting to be sealed inside the Boosted Gear."
"Seal inside? So you sealed yourself inside my Sacred Gear? But why?" I asked her. The daughter of senpai and Lady Rias, possibly the strongest of her generation, and she looks so young too. Why would she turn down the opportunity to live freely? My left hand clenched a little on reflex. Yagura made a shrug, and turned her eyes away from me.
"Would you believe me if I say it was purely out of curiosity? Old man Ddraig, old man Albion, mr. Barlor, all sealed inside sacred gears and quite enjoying it?" My frown said everything, grunting a little with Yagura returning her gaze towards me. Tch, seriously? No, she can't be that stupid. "Nah, of course not. You and I are smarter than that. To be true... I wanted to protect whoever would inherit the Boosted Gear."
"..." I said nothing, but nodded. I'm now understanding from where she's coming to. The hero of the underworld, whose fame was only possible thanks initially to his Sacred Gear, not to mention that the Longinus-tier themselves have the power to destroy the world. However. "But protect who, and how? Protect me from my Boosted Gear... Or protect others from me, who has the Boosted Gear?"
"..." Like me, she said nothing.
That's the kind of question that is really hard to answer. Who knows how many years or decades she spent dormant inside the Boosted Gear, the time The Ouroboros Dragon Ophis and Great Red were reconstructing the universe and the Human World after the Great Apocalypse and the Singularity was putting order in the Sacred Gear system. With Ddraig also in a comatose state, I dunno if she wanted to guide whoever would inherit this gauntlet, or stop that same person from rampaging like a madman. She already proved that she can stop me whenever she want, but that didn't stop her from almost killing during out first encounter. So that's the answer I want. If she sealed herself in here, she wanted to protect me... Or from me.
"Ichijou..." She softly said, as I lifted my eyes to meet hers, only to flip my nose. Ouch! What the hell? Before I could protest in any way, she went ahead and hugged me, burying me on her flat chest. A Gremory with a flat chest, it's kinda funny. "What do you think?"
"Huh...?"
"If you want an answer, then give me yours. What do you think? For you, am I a loving and cool tutor, or just a judge, an emergency self-destruction button?" She said, as her cheeky tone didn't taint the motherly feeling in my chest. I don't know anymore. I really want to believe she's the one to guide me and help me discover more about my Boosted Gear, but at the same time... I don't know what if she is genuine or just using me. Can I trust her? "So...? Any answers, you little shit?"
"Shut up. That's not fair at all, Yagura." I whined. Fine, whatever. She's nice, she's good, so I'll... I'll trust her. She's Senpai's daughter, and the spirit on my Boosted Gear, so I'll have to live with her, regardless. But I... Like her. A lot. I'd be lying if I say I don't enjoy her, even if our relationship is shallower than I think. Hahah... Just like Gremory and Yoko, and everybody else. "Fine, I'll have to live with you, anyway, you liking it or not, so it's no use any of that."
"Right back at you, Ichijou." She said, her voice now softer and rubbing the back of my head. That's nice, no wonder she's a Gremory: this cozy, warm feeling of fraternal love. Kinda makes sense since I'm spiritually part of her father... Or something. "Well, whatever you think of me, regardless What you think of me, I can say that I'm very proud of you. Congratulations, Ichijou. I love you."
"Now, now, you're going way too far, Yagura." I shot her an half-assed smile, and she did the same. Huh, it has been a while since I'm so calm like that. Like I said, it's very nice.
"Yeah! Yeah! Master has raised another flag on his harem! Congratulations!"
"What the...?!" With that sudden screaming, Yagura and I broke our embrace and scanned around to search for that new, yet well-known voice and clapping that echoed inside my own mind. Soon enough, we landed our eyes at the same time on a loli with blond hair, blue eyes and wearing a shrine maiden outfit. There she is! "Sally-chan?! What are you doing here?!"
"Wow, so that's your little harem apprentice? I'm impressed." Yagura said nonchalantly, as my little... Apprentice, jumped down from her seat on one of the tables and walked towards us, while I was freaking out about how in the world she was able to pull that one off! "Hey, there, little girl. So, you're this onii-chan's apprentice on harems? Nice to meet you."
"Yep! The name's Salvatina Veritas, rank-B exorcist and harem extraordinaire, apprentice of the one and only Sekiryuutei!" The little girl said so excitingly, I sighed in misery and face-palmed. I don't care if Yagura just called me 'onii-chan'(it felt kinda nice, actually. I think it's because I've always been the otouto.), this whole 'harem teacher' ordeal it's just wrong! "Since it has been a while since the last lesson, I decided to use my Part-Succubus powers to invade master's dreams and learn even more!"
"Part-Succubus...?" Yagura said, turning to me.
"Apparently, her grandfather was also a harem King, and he scored big with some supernatural creatures. Ren said she has potential to senjutsu and whatnot." I sighed, feeling disgusted and dirty just by saying those things about a Shinto priest. I dunno how those kind of things work, and actually, I don't want to. Yagura gave me and amuse grin, and turned back to Sally-chan.
"Oh, what a big surprise. Guess what, Sally-chan: my father was also a hotshot. Maybe I can teach you a thing or two I learned from him!"
"I'd be honored!"
"Oh, hell no!" I broke those two apart putting myself in the middle of them. No, I already have to deal with the girls on the real world, I don't need that here as well! Sally-chan pouted a little, and Yagura chuckled under her breath. I turned to the little miracle and patted her on the head. "Sally-chan, I'm very tired right now, and you know how much stamina is important to maintain a harem, right? So... Uh... Carry on and we meet at Kuoh, okay?"
"Stamina is important to maintain a harem... Got it!" She said returning to smile, as she picked a block of notes and wrote down just that. Sigh. She bat me a little salute, and I did the same, as well as Yagura. "Okay! Rest nicely, master! Until we meet again, and nice to meet you too, master Yagura!"
"Hahah! Yeah! Nice to meet you too!" And with that last goodbye, thankfully, Sally-chan disappeared in a small ball of light, while I could finally break this facade and grunt under my breath. Sheesh, I was right, I can't escape my position even when I'm sleeping. Sigh. At least some of those I can control. Suddenly, yagura's arms held me in a lock, and she grinned, resting her chin on my shoulder. Now I know from where she got that clinginess. "You're right, maybe you do have a weirdness magnet on your left arm. An apprentice, eh? I think Millicas would be proud of you."
"I don't think grandmaster would be proud of me for... Nevermind." Reason hit me once again, I'm talking about a devil here, so everything is possible. I want to meet the Grandmaster one day, since Yagura and him are related(let me see... Cousins.) We broke our embrace and I walked towards the exit, picking the bouquet of flowers and stretching myself a little. I guess it's time to go back to the real world and wake up. I got my answers and a pretty souvenir, anyway. "I'm going now. See ya later, Yagura Gremory."
"Okay, see you later, Ichijou." And with that, I slide-opened the door of my center mind classroom and walked into the light. My hands still holding that pretty bouquet with dancing petals flying all over the place.
After all, I still have some unfinished business in the real world as well...
.
~~x~~
.
The first thing I did once I woke up was to stretch myself, yawning a little and scratching my nose. I keep forgetting that just because I'm sleeping, doesn't mean I won't suffer some fatigue for spending some time inside my Boosted Gear world instead of resting. Something something mind must also rest something something. But I am getting used to it, surprisingly.
The alarm-clock began to ring, announcing my time to wake up despite the fact I just did that. I yawned one more time, realizing that I still have school today, and turned around to reach and turn that damn thing off, my wandering hand trying my hardest to find something since my eyes were still getting used to the sudden clarity...
*FOM!*
"Uwah~...!"
Soft, cute, erotic. I remember this soft and fluffy sensation from somewhere, somewhere very nostalgic, but instead of good memories, I can only twitch one eye in build-up frustration. I fully opened my eyes, and the thing I noticed was someone else in my bed: there she is, my King Berolina Gremory, wearing nothing but black lingerie, which were only covering the most important parts with frills and transparent cloths, while everything was exposed, her long, milky legs snuggling on my own. Like I predicted, I was groping one of her breasts, but by the look on her eyes, she wasn't bothered by it. It seemed she was actually enjoying it...
"Good morning, my queen~." She sing-sang with that sweet and suave voice and those big bedroom eyes with long eyelashes. We stared each other for a while, and she approached herself from me, as my hand sank even further into her bosom. "I hope you had a good night."
...
...
"Yeah. Morning, Rina." I said with a yawn, as I stood up from my bed and began to pick my things on a nearby chair I used as a temporary supporter. I heard a confused and disappointed hum, Gremory putting herself sitting on W on my bed and looking at me with a confused and sad expression. I stopped myself and turned to her, as she looked at me.
"Areeeeh~...? What's with that reaction, Ichijou?" She asked, leaning a little forward to show me a nice view of her cleavage and flashing a convincing, yet trembling and awkward seductress smile. One of her hands began to wonder around her own body, making everything bounce, some confidence building on her smile. "I mean, waking up besides a cute, hot lass such as myself, wearing such scandalous and sexy outfit and whispering words inside your ear like that, doesn't make your heart skip a beat?"
"..." This is a joke, right? It has to be a joke, since it's Gremory we're talking about. I have to be honest, I'd be a lie if I say this isn't a massive turn on. But, all in all, I'm not really that surprised: "Well, sorry to disappoint you, Rina, but I've already seen you naked so many times, it kinda lost part of it's novelty."
*STAB! STAB!*
"Ugh, Ichijou's light of judgement was just too blunt and aggressive for me to handle. My pride... It has been shattered..." She said like she just got stabbed by two arrows of reason and shame, looking like a abuse victim, twitching on my bed. Oh, man. The status quo shall be maintained. I sighed, picking my clothes to change myself while picking her own that were neatly folded on my desk.
"Good luck next time, Rina. Now, change." I said with a sigh patting her on the head and putting her clothes on the bed for her, her eyes shining a little and a smile creeping up her pretty face. Wait, did I just say that she can try this again? Ugh, maybe I should get more sleep.
She nodded, and with a final yawn, I left my room, expectations for another one of those days filling my head a little. After all that shit I've been through the pass weeks, however, something tells me that everything else will be a breeze. And I just jinxed it, didn't I? Sigh, I'm thinking too much unnecessarily, maybe a shower will clear my sleepiness awa-...
*BAM!*
"I knew it! I just knew that you're nothing but a perverted molester, brother of mine!" Came the voice of my deeeeear sister Minatsu as suddenly a bottle of shampoo came down flying in my direction! It almost sank my nose back to my skull, and quickly enough I was showered with several other bathing utensils, all of them hitting me on the right/wrong spots! Finally, I was ejected away from the bathroom out cold, as the mixed-blooded half-sister closed the door with a bam! Soon enough, my other sisters came, and walked towards the bathroom, totally ignoring my current status to stomp on me like I was a carpet...
"Ichijou, your lunchbox is on the table. Also, don't forget to give Yoko-chan some headache pills." My oldest, Tsukino Satsuki, said as she stomped me with her typical social shoes, entering the shower room.
"Good morning, Ikkun. Have a nice day." Said the falsetto of my second eldest, Shion, stepping and almost piercing me with her hostess high-heels.
"Just die, damn pervert." And finally, my fully older sister Futaba, walking on me like the clumsy elephant she is with her sport snickers. In the end, all of my sisters were now on the shower room, while here I am, pretending to be the smashed cockroach, filled with grief and pain, mostly pain, and footprints all over.
Just another day on the Tsukino household...
"Morning, Tsukino-chin." Looking up from my miserable state, I saw two young and pretty ladies now wearing a school uniform of Kuoh and... A suit. One of them was my fellow Bishop Tasha Campbell and the other, my fellow rook Ryuubi Gentoku(Liu Bei, who was wearing the suit.) eating a piece of toast and looking back at me.
"As always, every morning in the Tsukino household is so full of life!" Said the Chinese brawler, bending herself to reach my level and extending one of her hands to help me get up. I actually am surprised how well they're adapting themselves to my house, knowing that they'll only stay around for at least until the Devil-Vampire meeting. "Here, let me help you, Hong Long."
"Thanks, Ryuub-..."
"Hey Ichijou, where do you put your laundry?"
"...?!"
"Eh...?" But before I could stand up on my feet again, Ryuubi simply dismissed my hand and, in a flash, stomped me hard with her tons worth of muscles to use me as a support for her to jump! I can feel my bones being crushed again! "Yeeeeeow...!"
"Berolina-dono!" I heard from behind me, turning my head around and now looking at the Historical General hugging my King with her strong arms. "You came back to us! I thought we would never see you again! I apologize for being so weak during our first Rating Game and putting you in such disgraceful and melancholic state! Please, forgive me!"
"Right, Liu Bei! I forgive you! It's so good to be bac-...!" Soon enough, the smile on Gremory's face began to grow paler and paler, as well as her hair, since there wasn't any blood bumping into her head. Ryuubi was completely clueless about all of that, and continued to smash the redhead's bones. "Liu... Bei... Air... Please...!"
"Oh, apologies." And after a while, the pinkerette let go of our King, who stood on her two feet to grasp some air and bump her blood back to normal. I stood up as well with Tasha's help and gathered around the rest of them. Yep, almost all of our group is here, now. Ryuubi was now being a cutie and dried her tears up. "But regardless, I'm so, so relieved to see you again, Lady Berolina. It's like a dream come true. I was thinking a of you this whole time!"
"Tch..."
"Tsukino-chin missed Rina-chin, too. Family."
"Oi...! Tasha!" I said with the feeling of my cheeks heating up. Sheesh! What the hell! This is so embarrassing! I frowned at Gremory so that she wouldn't get the wrong idea, but it was too late now, she was blushing as well. Sigh...
"Well, how about we all celebrate this reunion with a bath? Let's all bond over again!" The princess of the Three kingdoms said, gathering us together in a hug. Tasha and Gremory nodded to that, but everything I could think of was to sigh.
"Yeah, I don't think so, Ryuubi. My sisters are using it now, so unless you want us to be late for school, we better forget it for today." I said.
"No worries, Ichijou. We just need to use the bathroom from another floor!" Said the redhead with a bright smile, as suddenly she pushed a button on a wall and soon enough, an elevator signed it's arrival, opening it's door for show and showing a small silver room.
"Oh, okay." I shrug, entering the elevator with my group, as Gremory pressed another button and made the doors close. It's kinda crumpled here, but this one is large enough for us to have some space. It's not lik-...
...
...
...
Wait...
"Uuuuuh~... Gremory-san, where are we, right now?"
"The elevator? I mean, we can use the stairs, but the other bathing room is three floors downwards, now that will slow us down."
"Okay, and uh, where were we originally?"
"The fifth floor."
"Oh, right. Now, can I ask you one more thing?"
"Sure."
"WHAT IN THE FLYING FUUUUUUUUUUUUC-...!"
.
~~x~~
.
And when I thought my day couldn't get any typical, Gremory went ahead and reformed all of my house overnight, without any of us noticing. Now, what used to be a typical humble home ended up as a five-store mansion in the middle of the neighborhood, standing out like a sore thumb. The rooms, the bathing center, the kitchen and others, my house looks more like a four-star hotel now. And, of course, this is too much for me to handle, I went grumpy to school with my group, minus Yoko, who had a headache and is now resting back home...
"Uh... I know that I shouldn't expect a normal reaction from you from time to time, but don't you think you're a little too grumpy for the new house? I put my heart on the request." Said Gremory. No, I'm not mad at her, and the house is really neat, one of those you can't complain about it unless it's a very specific nitpick. But believe it or not, this one nitpick is what I'm aiming for.
"It's not like that, Rina. It's just... Imagine all the cleaning, and drying, and wiping me and Go-nee will have to do. Fu-nee won't help at all, and everyone have work to do, so it's either mom or me will have to take care of everything, and the bugs eating the house away in summer and... Sigh." I sighed. Oh boy, everyone wants a mansion, but no one wants to do the cleaning. All the expenses we'll have to pay for just on soap, bleach, cleaners, the electric bill, bill and Bill. I know I might sound melodramatic, but I'm the one in charge of cleaning and cooking and stuff besides Go-nee and mum when they're out on work. Gremory pouted a little.
"Don't worry, Hong Long, we can help you take care of the mansion by ourselves. Maybe I should do the cooking." Ryuubi said with a smile, adjusting the tie on her suit. You might be wondering why she's going to Kuoh with us, despite the fact that she isn't wearing an uniform. I also thought she might end up as a student from collegial division, but no. Ryuubi is now a teacher in Kuoh academy. Yep, I complained about Tasha being my senpai, and now this. "If my position as an educator allows it as such, of course. I can't believe Lady Nemesis approved my request!"
"I can't believe she chose you as a teacher." I said, giving a quick look at her bouncing breasts that were trying to jump away from her blazer's collar. Something tells me some college senpais will have a hard time concentrating. "Not doubting your abilities, Ryuubi-chan. What subjects are you teaching, anyway?"
"Math and geography."
Goddamnit, Nemesis-san...
"Liu Bei-chin. Already school's Madonna." Tasha said with an green look, eyeing the ever-bouncing and bigger Chest of our pink-haired rook. I guess that she's becoming self-aware again. What do you think? We finally reached Kuoh academy, and like always, eyes began to fall on us, drawing too much attention due to the massive chain of mountains around me...
'Waaaah~! Look! It's Gremory-sama!'
'Tasha-chan's tits are big as always!'
'Who's that pink-haired goddess? She's pretty as hell!'
'Wow, the brunette one is also kinda cute. I wonder if she has a boyfriend.'
"I am a guy!" I shouted against no one to make a point, only to all of them turn their eyes away in embarrassment, as I did the same with my bangs. Ugh, so much work-out, and people still say I'm too girly. Better not to think too much about it and go on with my day. I turned back to them. "So, Ryuubi, did you need any help to go to the Teachers' office?"
"Do not worry about it, Hong Long. I can feel from here Nemesis-dono's scent, but thanks for worrying about me." She said as she came closer and tried to kiss me on the cheek. But something pulled me away, it was Gremory. It was Tasha who she kissed instead. "Oh, surprising, but not Unwelcome. I must say, Lady Berolina's full of surprises since her arrival."
"Rina, what's the matter?" I asked my redhead queen, and she just pouted at Ryuubi, coming way too close to my face. Okay, now she's jealous of me, never thought she would be like that. I poked her forehead with a finger, and locked the bandaged fingers of her right hand with my own, sighing. "Look, whatever it is, I'll be seeing you after class, okay? So don't worry."
"Moooh~... Okay!" She blinked once, twice, and then smiled, a bright one at that. We shared a group hug, Gremory being a lot more clingy onto me, and we finally broke apart to go to our respective classes. I don't know if I'll like this new Gremory, but it's good to have her back regardless.
Soon enough, there I was, the seat Kiruko-san used to sit, next to my crush Kamiyama Shiori-san, whose appearance today was fresher than ever now that she was wearing her Summer's uniform. Taking a quick scan around, I also took a noticing on Kyouka-san, right by the other side of the class. Maybe she noticed me, maybe not. Huh... Hey, Kyouka-san, good morning to you.
'S'up, Izuki. Fresh as before, right?'
I smiled, and just thought that so she could 'hear' me mentally, which she responded with a thumb up. I sat on my seat and turned to Kamiyama-san, who was now eating her morning sandwich.
"Morning, Ichijou-kun." She greeted me with a smile, passing another sandwich to me and tapping my bandaged hand in a soft way. "Good to see you recovering so fast. I was worried, you know."
"A-Ah... Ahahahah. Thank you... I guess." I gave her an awkward smile, but in a good change of winds, we ended up locking hands, and even with the bandages, I could feel how warm she is. Out of instinct, my hand jumped away from her grasp, my face heating up. "Ah! Sorry... Sorry about it."
"No, don't sweat about it. It felt nice." She said, also with a quick blush on her face, reaching for my hand and fingers with it again. Waaaah~! Kamiyama is holding hands with me! Her hand is so soft and warm! "Just don't try to kill yourself again. Just kidding."
"Sure." Yeah, I'll keep that in mind. Hahah, she has no idea how difficult this actually is. But I'll try, not just for her, of course. Huh, how strange. Oh, right. I remember buying something for her for her own jeweled bracelet, so I picked from inside my pocket and give it to her, a small pink fluffy one. "Hey, Kamiyama... Here, I brought it for you. I know it's nothing compared to your own, but I hope you like it."
"Woah, thank you." She said, her bright red eyes now shinning brighter than ever, putting the bracelet on her left arm and showing it to me. That's so... Cute! "Look, now we're matching. Just kidding. Thank you for the gift."
A smile spread across my blushing face, as she smiled as well, touching her left arm with my own. Oh man, I can't believe our relationship is evolving so fast! Are we a couple yet?! I don't think we're a couple yet, but I think we're becoming a couple! Why am I saying 'couple' so much? Heheh, this is so embarrassing, but I like it!
Soon the teacher came to our class, and we parted our sights away, turning our attention to the class. Huh, maybe everything is turning for the best this time, and despite my wounds and bruises, all I could feel was the warmth Kamiyama left on my hand. Fortunately, she didn't see her own broken gift hidden under Himejima-sama's ribbon. I clenched my hands a few times, and sighed in relief knowing that my wounds are healing just fine. I can grasp on my pencil, write the lessons down, and still feel some sensitivity on it, so much for my battle last week. Nice, that's nice, if this continues, I'll be all nice and clean for the Vampire-Devil meeting, and I won't shatter my fist when I break Annie's legs and drag her home.
Come to think of it, I still need to know how Haruka-sama is like. Maybe Lord Cohen won't be there, but the Leviathan Satan instead, and since Lord Desmond is the so called Prime-minister of the Vampiric empire, he'll play an important part in this. Now, Annie's mom, the leader of the Hanzō ninja village and probably a very skilled ninja akin to an Ultimate-class Devil. Ugh, it'll be such an mess to figure this all out, and no side will apparently help me in this. On the worst hypothesis, we both are gonna die... No, I need to be strong, and at least maintain my head on the game. Both parents of the said terrorist will be there, so if I'm lucky, they'll stop her and let her live, and with Gremory's influence, maybe, just maybe... We'll all get out of there alive.
I need to stay alive...
As always, classes ended as soon as I could blink, and thanks to both Ryuubi's lectures and Yoko's help, I can now partly understand what's going on and put my homework on schedule... Hahah, and all of this was possible because I don't have any clubs to attend... It's so tragic, it's funny.
'You sick in the head, you know that?'
Shut up, Kyouka-san...
An announcement ran across the corridors, and like I was expecting, Headmistress Morimoto, or Nemesis Gremory as I know her, called for my name, but surprisingly, she also called Gremory, Tasha and even Ryuubi. Wow, that's new, calling all of our peerage like that. People started to stare, so I picked my things and walked towards the exit, but not before taking a bite out of Kamiyama's sandwich. Huh, chicken...
"So, any reason for you to accompany me to Nemesis-san's office?" I said walking to said room, with the esper girl by my said, eating part of her own lunch. It was when I was about to leave the classroom, she came down running after me, and now this. You know that Kuoh used to be an All-girl school, right? If they catch us up like that, they might think we're a couple.
'And the problem being...? Relax, Izuki. It's not that hard to alter memories with my powers. Everyone will forget that in an instant.' She assured me with a thumb up, and I couldn't do much besides mirror her own gesture. 'About that... You can say it's morbid curiosity. I mean, Nemesis-san almost melted away last time I saw her, and as such, I wanted to see how well she's doing. I heard that she got even a scar for that.'
"..." And I took a deep breath for that and said nothing. Yep, Nemesis-san probably got the worst of all of us during the last trial, the final battle against the Miyamas, having her back melted by that Miyama bastard and almost dying to save her little sister and me. Aria-San said that if it wasn't for the True Longinus-user, we'd have to vote for a new headmistress. All of that is already giving me the chills. I calmed down once Kyouka-san landed a hand on my shoulder and a pat on my head.
'Don't go sweating for it again, Izuki. What happened, happened, and headmistress is back to us, in some way or another.' She said as she pulled me closer to hook her arm around my neck. Forceful, but for some reason, I'm okay with this. 'Ya see, you need to know how to relax a little. Go ask Kamiyama on a date, something tells me you an only let your guard down with her around.'
"Yeah... I mean, whatever." I said. She now knows my crush on Kamiyama. Jus don't go around telling people, it would be so embarrassing.
'Hahah. Aren't you a little hopeless romantic lad? No wonder people keep sayin you have a harem...'
Shut up, Kyouka-san...
"Ichijou..." I turned forward to see my har-... Peerage walking towards me like a posse, attracting all the attention for themselves and stopping right in front of the said office. Gremory looks like she just woke up from a nap, while Tasha was eating her Frankfurt and Ryuubi...-sensei? Was adjusting her glasses, that for some reason she's wearing those now. "So I wasn't hearing things, sis did call for us...*YAWN*, sorry about it, the sleepiness caught up with me mid-class..."
'Maybe if she didn't try that sexy lingerie for you at 3am or something...'
"Stop reading my mind! That's harassment!" I screamed towards Kyouka-san, who was just flashing me her troll smile without a worry in the world. My sudden outburst, again, brought confused looks from our bishop and rook, while Gremory could only grunt. Oh yeah, they've shared some acquaintances during her Bael phase. Memories. "Oh, right. Ryuubi-chan, Tasha-san, this is a classmate of mine, Kyoka Mizuki. She's an esper."
"Kyouka... Mizuki...?"
"Yes, Ryuubi. She gets that allot." I responded for the psychic, who smiled oh so sweetly and pinched my cheek in a gesture of affection. Tasha rolled her eyes and smiled, probably thinking her ero-stuffs, while the pinkerette teacher came closer and began assaulting the blonde with more and more questions, all while chatting via mental link. In between that mess, Gremory came closer and pulled my sleeve.
"Hey, are you really okay hanging around with her? She's dangerous, I know that by... Experience." She said with a grimace that said everything. Well, despite her not being Ludger anymore, maybe she does remember the heel mark on her ass. I shrugged and landed a hand on her shoulder, sighing and nodding in order to give her a safe aura.
"Don't worry, worrywart. Kyouka-san just attacked us because I was causing her some headache(I dunno why, though.). She's a friend, so we're safe." Besides, she's soft-hearted, she wouldn't hurt us mindlessly or too much, rather, she'd take us to Hawaii or something. Thinking that, Kyouka-san lifted a hand and gave me a thumb up. Yeah, she's a nice girl. Turned back to the redhead. "But anyway, do you have any idea of what Nemesis-san might have for us? I mean, you've been visiting her office everyday. Might got some idea what she's holding for us."
"Huuuh~... To be honest, I'm just as clueless as you are, Ichijou." She said, pouting and putting herself in a thinking pose, one hand supporting her chin while the other was supporting the elbow of the further, tight-closed eyes. I left myself go adrift a little too to think about it. What can nemesis-san be preparing for us, calling all of Gremory's peerage here, during lunchbreak? Suddenly, something came to me, such thought actually making me shine ever brighter... Wait, don't tell me...!
"Tsukino-chin, Rina-chin, brainstorming?" Tasha startled us by giving the ninja-scare between us. She turned both of us towards the said door, and nodded. "Don't make headmistress wait. She hates waiting."
"Oh, right..." We were so absorbed in discovering the reason why we're here, we just forgot that easiest way to do that is just go inside. Ryuubi also came closer and walked to beside us, with Kyouka-san by her side. Well, this is it. I have a pretty good idea what might happen when we open the door, but we better do that quickly or else Nemesis-san might change her mind. Let's go...
*OPEN!*
"Headmistress Morimoto...? We're her-...!"
*POP!* *POP!* *POP!*
"Hyah...!" However, betraying my expectations, what it came instead of Nemesis-san's usual stance were a bunch of young ladies and a guy popping paper crackers in our directions, covering us with confetti and colorful paperstrips. After that little jump-scare, I opened my eyes and I saw Nemesis-san and the rest of the DxD children plus Sally-chan and kaichou smiling. What now? "Err... Okay~...?"
"Congratulations for your new club, Ichijou-nii-chan! Rina-nee-chan! Campbell-San and Ryuubi-San!" The white-haired nekomata, Nashiro-san, said with her usual cat smile, jumping up and down in excitement. Sally-chan hugged my stomach and said exactly that. Wait, 'new club'?
"It's not much, but it's the intention what matters, right?" Xion-san said with her typical stoic face while coming closer to congratulate both Ryuubi and Tasha with her brother Basara. "Besides, Nemis would be embarrassed for attracting so much attention."
"It's not like my king is any different from Lord Grandmaster, her honorable grandfather, after all. The fear of showing affection, on the other hand, is pretty pathetic and, dare I to say, is what brought such detriments between the Gremory sisters." The always-acid Akio-san said with an sardonic grin towards her said King, but it was Aria-san who came closer and pinched one of her cheeks. Akio-san being descendant of the Queen of thunder and lightning however, could only moan and blush for that.
"Congratulations for surviving the trials, master! Lady Gremory said it's very proud of you all!" Said the pipsqueak exorcist hugging my waist, whose comment made the so-intimidating Nemesis-san blush a little and be consoled by her blond queen, my own master of a sorts. Gremory, who was being shaken by her blue-haired 'childhood friend', dismissed all of the festivities and turned to her older sister. Oh, man, here it comes.
"Wait, wait... Sis, what's going on?" Said the younger Gremory. For the first time, Nemesis-san put herself on the defensive, looking away a little and rolling her eyes to different directions that weren't on her sister. After a while and lot of pressure from all the parties present, she sighed and looked at Gremory directly. "When they said new club, do you mean...?"
"Rina, you know very well that everything I did so far was for you to grow, right? Saving your Evil Pieces, lecturing you to no end, pinching your ears, refusing to let you start a New Occult Research Club, I did everything of this so that you could avoid doing mistakes, mistakes that you could possibly avoid on your own if not for your childish mentality. Maybe I were too harsh on that regard as well." Both sisters continued to stare at each other, no sound from all the parties now, with the exception of Sally-chan climbing on me to have a piggyback. Rina's eyes began to glow, as her sister's face softened on a serene smile, now patting the youngest's hair lovely and toying with the black highlight in there. "But, after all we've been through the past weeks, Ludger, the Miyama's, the incident from back them that marked both of us... I can say for sure that you're mature enough."
"Nemesis..." Sighed the Younger Gremory, drying up her own tears and nodding. Suddenly, she snapped and turned back to Nemesis-san, eyes brighter than ever and her smile creeping wider than I thought it was possible. "Wait...! You don't mean...!"
"Yes, Rina. Here, it's all yours." And then, Nemesis turned around and placed on Gremory's hand... A wooden box.
...
...
"Eh...?"
"Here it is, Rina. You're now responsible for Kuoh's suggestion box." It was a simple, light-brown wooden box, a line-shaped hole on top of it, with a upper opening locked with a silver lock and with a note glued to one side written 'Suggestion Box'. Nothing more, nothing less. Everyone clapped in excitement, while my peerage was... I dunno, what's a word for 'feeling everything, doing nothing', if there's any? "From now on, your peerage is in change for Kuoh's educational and student affairs, helping as a branch of the Student council. While Serena Sitri will take care of the supernatural portion of Kuoh, you will take care of more diplomatic matters, such as students' satisfaction and suggestions. Congratulations."
"..."
"Rina...?" And Akio-san smiled, a proud smile seeing her king break her dear little sister with nothing but correctly-put words. Gremory's head went overdrive, and as expected, she turned pale as a ghost, while returning stopped on their tracks and claps to see the broken redhead. I turned to my peerage, and they were at least facing this with dignity. As for me... Eh, it's something, I guess?
"Suggestion box? It's something." Tasha said, blinking a few times and sighing next to me. She clapped her hands a few times, and smile. I guess that's the euphoria after that storm. Ryuubi also came by and nodded with also a grin.
"Well, isn't that the start of a great Underdog tale? Ir doesn't actually matters if we need to start from the bottom if this help us in our journey." Said the pinky warlady, caressing the blond hair of my apprentice. "Besides, maybe this will be a great way to keep in touch with my students."
"You did say sometimes being original is good for your health, right master?" Sally-chan said with a smile, and I responded the same way. Yep, why maintain this echoing mentality when we be as original as we want?(not that much, but still.) Maybe this will help Gremory further? I know I'm okay with it.
"Hey Rina, everybody is okay with this. Let's start from the bottom and one day we'll get our own Occult Research club, okay?" I said coming closer of our broken leader. I can't say much since I was the one who refused victory last time, but we're past that, right? I touched her shoulder, and her gave her a light shake to wake her up. "C'mon now, you're better than this, right? Don't make Nemesis-san feel worse than she already had to feel."
"..."
"Rina, pleas-..."
"WOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAH...! I HAVE BEEN REVIVED!" And suddenly, explosion! Gremory's fiery red aura exploded right in front of our own very eyes, as she up in from her miserable state and shining purple eyes illuminating the whole damn place! Gremory then picked the said suggestion box and lifted it above her head, like some kind of treasure chest! "SO WHAT IF EVERYTHING I GOT WAS THIS SUGGESTION BOX?! SO WHAT IF MY GROUP IS STILL NOT MATURE ENOUGH FOR A REAL ORC?! I'LL TAKE THIS SUGGESTION BOX AND BE THE BEST MANAGER OF STUDENTS AFFAIRS THERE IS!"
"Oh..."
"24/7, 365 DAYS A WEEK FOR ALL OF MY HIGHSCHOOL AND COLLEGE YEARS, RINA'S VERY OWN SUGGESTION BOX IS NOW... OPEN!"
"..."
"...!"
...
"Pfff... Ahahahah...! Ahahahahahah...!" And I couldn't take it anymore, all of this show, all of this display, everything is just... Just... Stupid! So stupid and tragic, is funny! Oh, I can't maintain my straight face like that! This is gold, more golden than last time! Ahahahah! My king is an idiot! "C'mon now, Rina! Nemesis-san gave us her approval! Don't go around shouting like a brat! You'll kill me!"
"Stop laughing, Ichijou! I'm very serious! Stop... Stop laughing!" And she began to cry, cry while pouting until her rage gauge filled and she began to smack her unoffensive fists against me! Even Sally-chan is laughing! "You jerk! Stop laughing! Stop laughing!"
"Ahahahah! You suck, Rina!"
"You suck, Sekiryuutei!"
We continued to make a fool out of ourselves with no worries in the world, and while everyone stopped just to see me laughing and Gremory rampaging over me, they soon also broke down laughing at our little display of comedy, our peerage, the DxD children and the others coming closer to hug the distressed Gremory and a laughing myself. I like this, I like this feeling, this warmth, this companionship...
Everything... Is awesome!
.
~~x~~
.
"And that's that! Not bad for a recent club, is it?" Gremory said as she finally put the suggestion box in the middle of an unused classroom, which was now the reunion room of the Suggestion box club(lame, I know.), the management-teacher being Ryuubi herself. I gotta say, something tells me Nemesis-san was planning this all along considering how neatly put this room is. Easily access for both students and teachers and seats for at least ten people, almost the double of our current members.
"I can't complain." I said with a shrug. It's simple as that, and makes me feel important, so that's cool by me. All the others nodded with a smile, so I pulled a chair to look at our precious wooden box. So... Our club has finally started. No big clubs like we expected, but that's something, it's an indication that I'm not just a kid who thinks is an adult. "So, we just need to see the suggestions put in this box and try to correct the problems as soon as possible. After all of that shit we've been through, this is the least I can think of."
"First one." Tasha extended one of her hands and put a small folded paper to inside the box. Typical, however, Tasha lifted a finger a smiled towards the said witch.
"I'm sorry, Campbell-dono, but as a member of the Suggestion Box affairs, you cannot put your own thoughts into the box." She said in a lecturing voice, as Tasha pouted and crossed her arms, upset. I would pity her for that, but then I remember that she can be pretty perverted when she has the change, so the only thing I did was to touch her shoulder. Nice try, better luck next time. "Now, since the suggestion box will open tomorrow, and none of us has any other clubs to attend to, let's go home and put our homework as scheduled."
"It's not my fault I didn't attend Kuoh for a while!" Rina said, also crossing her arms and tapping her foot on the floor. Uh, it kinda is, she's the one who wanted to become Ludger in the first place, at least. Still, that's no excuse, and by the look on Ryuubi... -sensei's eyes, I think she thinks that as well. "But you're right. I'll catch up with my homework. At least now I have an upperclassmate and a teacher to help me out!"
"Yay, I'm important." Cheered nonchalantly the purple witch, Gremory summoning a magic rune and saying for us to step in and she'll take us back home. However, I tibink I'll stay a little bit more.
"Eh...? Ichijou, aren't you coming with us?" Asked the redheaded King. I shook my head and gave her a sign.
"Not now, I'll have to go to the supermarket and buy some groceries and meat for the week. You go ahead, I'll stay a little longer. I promise I won't take too long." I said.
"Lonely time with your hand? You can always use us."
"Tasha!"
"Lady Rina...!"
"Okay, okay. Have it your way. See ya soon!"
And before I could smack the hat out of her purple hair, the witch hid behind Gremory and soon she shrugged and teleported away from here, leaving me alone. Oh boy, now to go to the supermarket. But before I do that, I took another scan on the box in front on me, and then opened it up, seeing the lonely paper there.
Huuuuh~... I know it's just one of Tasha's perverted jokes, but I'm curious now. Damn it. Okay, just one quick look, and then I'll burn this paper up before it can corrupt me. It's so neatly folded, it didn't take long for me to open it. Okay, one quick look just for a quick laugh. Let's see...
'Please bring Annie back.' - Tasha.
...
...
Sigh.
I folded that paper and put it in my pocket. Okay, that's one request I'll try my hardest to fulfill. Those kind of things keeps reminding me that Tasha did say she loves Annie, anyway. Or maybe I'm just going astray again...
Well, Ren is nowhere to be seen(Nemesis-san said he went on a quick quest to find Annie.), Sally-chan is back on the Amamiya shrine and Kaichou is too busy with her own work as the president of the student council
to come here to try to assault me. All in all, I guess I'm good for today. Stretching myself on the chair one more time, I sighed and picked my wallet and the keys to this room to close it for another day. It's already noon, so I better get on work and pick the biggest sales while I can...
Exiting Kuoh, I could still see the mansion my house has become from here, sticking like a sore thumb in the middle of that peaceful and normal neighborhood. How mum's gonna deal with this? I can already feel the chills down my spine and her voice reaching the heavens before Gremory can do her special magic thingy on her. At least I won't have to wait an eternity to take my baths or have my moment on the toilet anymore. Something tells me Alice-san also has a finger on this. I just want to know if she planned the expenses on bleach, soap, cleaners and whatnots with this, otherwise I don't care if she's married to our demon Lord Lucifer or daughter of the grandmaster, I'll-...
*T-TUM!*
"Ugh...!" Suddenly, I felt a sting on my left arm, different from anything I felt before. It was so sudden and violent, I think I almost opened some scars on it. What was that about?! Something tells me it's the Boosted Gear reacting to something, but what? If not even with Miyama and Aria-san it reacted like that, this can only mean...!
"Oh, so this is Kuoh academy, where Nii-chan's rival studied. It's quite big and impressive, but not much for my taste." And walking down the way to Kuoh's gate, I saw a girl about my age and height, if not older and taller on those regards, wearing a black mini-jacket on a V-collared white shirt and black jeans, combing her long, wild bluish-grey hair without a worry in the world, toying with a stick in between her teeth. She's not an student from here, and the closer she gets from me, the worse this pain gets! She landed her blue eyes on me, and tilted her head to a side, grinning soon after. "Hey there, cutie pie. Mind telling me your name?"
"Who... Who wants to know?" I frowned, hiding my left arm behind my back and shaking my head to get the dizziness and the sweat off me. There's something fishy about this girl. Suddenly, *ZOOM!*, in a blink of an eye, I could feel the taste of strawberries in my mouth, as a finger was pointing in my direction, that girl smiling without the stick on her mouth! Is that... A lollipop in my mouth?! I jumped away to get some distance, growing even more worried. "Tch! Identify yourself! Don't make me... Don't make me repeat myself!"
"Kah, Kah! Sorry! Sorry! Didn't want to startle you, my bad! Joykiller~!" She lifted both her arms in a defensive and innocent stance, which didn't fool me in the slightest. In the end, putting both hands on her hips, she grinned with one eye closed, and spoke again in a tone that made me shiver. "But I guess you can call me 'Seto'."
"Seto...?" I repeated, somewhat curious. Suddenly, on the orange noon sky, two bright dragon wings emerged from her back, sparkling small light particles around and shocking me so much I froze in place. This aura, this atmosphere, it's way too different from anything I ever faced so far! And for that, I just had one hunch, that it turned of to be true!
"Yes. Now, meet my Blue-eyed white dragon."
This is her! The hostess of the Divine Dividing, the Light wings of the White Dragon emperor, and the English vanishing heavenly White Dragon emperor Albion...
The Hakuryuukou!
...
...
...
"Actually, my name is Elizabeth, Lisa for short,but you get it, don't you? 'Seto' as in Kaiba Seto from that manga, who has three Blue-eyed-...!"
"Yes, I get it!" Way to ruin an introduction scene!
Some things never change...
And they clashed! The sekiryuu and the hakuryuu, at last they meet! What's gonna happen next time? Find you next chapter. Hahah, but in all sriouness, I guess I made ichijou a little too moe after his so-called character development. I think this is cool, a cute pie once in a while, just like lux arcadia, or arata kasuga... Anyway, stay golden, y'all, thanks for the support and have a nice day.
and before you ask, yes, Liu Bei and tasha will have character arcs. Everyone will have a character arc. 'Even Ren and Nero?' Specially Ren and Nero! The harem cannot stop!
lighter times it is for now, because they deserve it.