Chapter 37

Disclaimer: I do not own High school DxD or Fairy Tail they are property of Ichiei Ishibumi and Hiro Masima respectively.

-With Natsu and Kuroka-

'No he won't help, he's just trying to get me to let my guard down before he strikes,' Kuroka thought. The past few years were hard on her and the only people who haven't tried to kill her within a few days of meeting her was the Khaos Brigade.

The last time she tried to trust someone who had connections with devils they attempted to murder her in her sleep after only two days.

Kuroka narrowed her eyes at the demon in front of her and began lighting her hands in a purple aura and prepared herself to fight her way out if necessary.

"I will not fall for your words, as soon as I let my guard down you will strike, luckily for me I already dealt with people like you, manipulative bastards," Kuroka said with venom in her voice.

"There will be no need to fight me Kuroka. I only wish to know the true story, but I can understand why you will not trust me. You can leave if that is what you want, but something tells me that you want to be with your sister but you just can't forgive yourself for something," Natsu said as he took a seat on the ground and leaned his back against a tree.

'Of course, I want my sister back, but the reason that she is not with me isn't that I am afraid. It is because she was brainwashed or something. Right?' Kuroka thought to herself, but the confidence that she had up until now seemed to wane.

"Siblings should always support one another, but seeing the other's point of view is necessary for you to understand one another," Natsu said as he thought back to the time with his brother.

"What do you know about things like this?" Kuroka asked with venom. How dare this man imply that he knows how it feels to have to abandon your beloved sister only because staying with her would result in her not being able to enjoy life.

"It would surprise you just how much I know about it." Natsu let out a sad chuckle but a smile made its way to his face as he reminisced the past.

"How can you possibly know the pain of abandoning the one person who means the most to you?" Kuroka shouted in anger. This man was getting under her skin and she didn't even realise it.

"You at least have the opportunity to reconcile," Natsu whispered with a voice filled with sadness. Kuroka wasn't able to hear what he said, only that his tone of voice held a lot of pain.

'Just what is up with this guy? I can't sense any attempt at deceit from him and his heartbeat is as calm. Could he be telling the truth?' Kuroka thought to herself. This man was an enigma, none of his actions truly made sense to her.

First, he arrives and tells her to fight Koneko, even though he apparently knew she would lose. Then he removes her poison and somehow gives Shirone power, and then he prevents her from finishing the fight only to send Shirone away and having this conversation with her where he doesn't seem to realise he was in the presence of an enemy. That or he thought of her ass too weak to even possibly be a threat.

"What is your goal here?" Kuroka asked, her anger giving way to confusion.

"My goal for being here is quite simple, I have seen the trouble Koneko has with who and what she is. And I can relate to a degree. That is one of the reasons. You can help me reach my goal rather quickly, that is if you tell me the real reason you killed your previous master," Natsu said while he looked Kuroka in the eyes.

As Kuroka looked into his black eyes she felt something she hadn't felt before. She wasn't able to describe it but something was telling her that she could trust this man. Going with her gut she let out a sigh.

"You really only want to know my past, you won't attack me once my guard is down?" Kuroka asked in a soft voice as she looked into Natsu's eyes.

Natsu saw something in her eyes that he could only describe as pleading. 'She must have had a hard life if she is basically pleading with me to hear her out, even though she was so against talking at first,' Natsu thought as he felt sorry for the proud Nekoshou.

"I truly want to hear your story, and to be honest I now want to hear it for more than just to help Koneko. And do you think I would need to wait for your guard to be down to defeat you?" Natsu said seriously before chuckling at the last part to lighten the mood.

"I guess that is true," Kuroka replied with a chuckle. She appreciated Natsu's attempt to lighten up the mood and putting her at ease. She had to admit that he didn't need her to drop her guard judging from what he did to Bikou he could probably have easily captured her if he wanted to.

Kuroka took a deep breath and gained a sombre expression.

-With the Satans-

The four Satans were sitting around a table with Odin and Azazel. They were just about to discuss Loki since they had managed to calm everyone down who attended the Young Devil Gathering Party and tended to those who were injured during the fight.

"The most pressing matter right now is Loki. He will be able to break the seal within the next day or two, of that I'm sure," Ajuka said opening the meeting.

"I will take full responsibility for his actions today as the All-Father of the Norse and as his chief deity," Odin said in an apologetic tone.

"The biggest problem is that we would play right into his hands if we took him out ourselves," Sirzechs said with a troubled look on his face.

"That and the Khaos Brigade will revel in the chaos that will arise from another war that will erupt if we are to fight him," Azazel said with a troubled look.

"A battle between us gathered here and Loki must be avoided at all cost otherwise the peace will falter," Serafall agreed in a serious tone, very different from her usual cheerful and childlike self.

"So what we need to determine is our course of action concerning Loki," Ajuka said, getting nods of agreement from everyone at the table.

-With Natsu and Kuroka-

"Our parents died when we were still young. The early years of our lives were hard and we had to fight for survival from day to day, but I was determined to see that my sister live a happy life. That is why, when that bastard came we happily joined his peerage," Kuroka began telling her tale with anger, bordering on rage, coming into her voice when she talked about the devil that took them in and she stopped talking.

Natsu took note of her rise in anger and saw a purple aura forming around her. He stood up and placed a calming hand on her shoulder and looked her in the eyes with a compassionate look. His hand on her shoulder served as a much-needed distraction that allowed her to get her anger under control. She gave Natsu a thankful smile before continuing.

"At the start, everything was going fine, but that quickly changed when my own power grew substantially. My power quickly surpassed that bastard's and that was when things started to change," Kuroka said with disgust in her voice at remembering her time with her previous master.

"So this is when according to the devils you went drunk on power?" Natsu asked.

"I did not go drunk on power," Kuroka yelled with anger.

"And I believe you, trust me. But I just want to get the timeline correct," Natsu calmly replied.

"Sorry, but no this is still before that lie," Kuroka said with a sigh and closing her eyes at the first part before saying the last part with venom back in her voice.

"No need to worry, please continue," Natsu replied calmly.

"With my increase in power that bastard started taking interest in me as a test subject. He wanted to create a Super Devil. He managed to convince me that his research was beneficial for the world and I foolishly accepted it, all he wanted was power. I pushed through with Shirone being the only one to keep me sane in all honesty. Then the bastard thought he could get even more results by experimenting with Shirone as well. That was when I saw his power-hungry nature for what it was and I finally saw through his lies," Kuroka said with her voice getting thick with negative emotions as she remembered the day she regrets the most, yet she would do it again without a single thought as long as her sister could be spared from the torturous experimentation.

Tears began forming in Kuroka's eyes while her face contorted in anger. The emotions she felt now were all the emotions she kept bottled up for all those years. She squeezed her eyes shut tight hoping to regain control of her emotions, but it was a battle that she was destined to lose.

Kuroka's eyes snapped open when she felt two strong arms pulling her into a warm embrace.

"There is nothing to fear anymore, your sister is in a safe place with people who love her and will never betray her. I will protect her from the horrors of the world and I will be a pillar for you to lean against as well. So let your emotions flow, let the burden you have carried for so long be released," Natsu's voice reverberated in Kuroka's ears.

Hearing someone tell her that they were there for her and will support her in this time of need was all she needed to release the flood gates. All the tears that she didn't shed the past few years came flowing out as she pushed her face into Natsu's chest.

Natsu calmly stroked her hair and waited patiently for her to let it all out. Deep within him, a rage began to boil. Thousands of years ago when his brother's demons still roamed the world there were those who experimented on victims to attempt to gain power equal or greater than that of a demon of the books of Zeref. Zeref's one wish for his demons was to kill him and release him from his immortal life. His greatest regret was when the demons rampaged.

The rampaging demons were the reason Zeref postponed his own death when Natsu gained enough power to be able to overcome his immortality. Zeref loved life, but the demos destroyed all around them. But that wasn't the worst for Natsu's late brother. The worst part was that others took to experimentation on innocent people in an attempt to recreate the rampaging demons for their own benefit.

So it was no that Natsu had a deep hatred for the devil who is the late master of Kuroka and Koneko.

Natsu held Kuroka in his warm embrace for the next thirty minutes before she regained her composure.

"Thank you for being so patient," Kuroka thanked Natsu, she wanted to thank him for listening as well but her story wasn't finished just yet.

"I told you that I will be a pillar to support you," Natsu replied with a smile.

"Well back to what I was saying. After that bastard wanted to experiment on Shirone I raised my concerns and tried to persuade him not to do it, but he was too caught up in his quest for power to listen. That was when I only saw one option left. I killed the bastard. After that, when the devils found out, I ran away from my own sister. I wanted to protect her, but with me she would be on the run, constantly looking over her shoulder, waiting for the net assassin. That is not a life I wanted for her," Kuroka said, still in Natsu's warm embrace.

"She found a home that did her good. Now all that is left is to regain her family,' Natsu said in a soft kind voice.

"That is my history, do you believe me?" Kuroka asked and Natsu could hear her pleading tone. She didn't know why she asked that or why her tone was so desperate for him to believe her, but something forced her to. She guessed it was due to all the previous times that she was always accused of cold-blooded murder because she became drunk on her own power.

"I know that what you just told me is the truth, there is no way someone can fake the hurt you felt. And no one can hide the truth from a dragon," Natsu said in the same calm and kind voice he was using since she started her tale.

"Thank you so much for believing me," Kuroka said as she shed some tears of happiness. The Khaos Brigade never asked her about her past and they didn't care what she did, but this was the first time someone took the time to listen to her side of the story. And now he also believes her.

"Wait did you say no one can hide the truth from a dragon?" Kuroka asked as she registered what Natsu said last. She was released from the embrace Natsu had her in and backed up before looking up at Natsu with shock in her eyes.

"Yes I did," Natsu said with a smile.

"And wat you are saying with that is that you are a dragon?" Kuroka asked with her voice shaking a bit.

"You are correct on that one as well, but I'm not just any dragon. But that is a tale for another time. I have to get back, I don't want to miss the meeting those devils are having since it might be amusing," Natsu said with a chuckle.

"Wait, please don't leave," Kuroka said with a bit of urgency mixed with sadness.

"Kuroka, we will meet again, and I will help you reconcile with your sister. I just don't want to put you in danger by taking you with me now, seeing as there are quite a lot of devils there and I would rather avoid a genocide," Natsu said with another chuckle.

"You promise?" Kuroka asked. She was surprised how desperate she was to be with Natsu, but then again he was the first person who believed her.

"On my honour as a Dragon," Natsu said before turning to leave. He was interrupted by two slender arms wrapping around him from behind. Natsu stood still for a moment before he felt Kuroka's grip loosening.

"I'll see you later," Natsu said as he disappeared into the woods.

"He was warm," Kuroka said with a thoughtful expression. She shivered as the cold of the night reached her. This made her quickly retreat back to base.

-With the Satans-

The leaders at the meeting were still locked in the discussion, but sadly no feasible solution could be found without drastic consequences.

"Excuse me, if I may I think I have a solution," Rias made her presence known.

Chapter 37 is done. My exams are done and I passed everything, so that means I can upload a lot more frequently again. So for this chapter, I focused on Natsu and Kuroka, please let me know what you thought about their interactions. So with this Loki will be the next big threat that will be faced. Leave a review with your thoughts, or if you have some suggestions feel free to message me. See ya next time.