DISCLAIMER

The following is a fan-based

FICTION

High School DxD, New, BorN, Hero and other products related to the DxD Series are all owned by Ichiei Ishibumi, Miyama-Zero, Fujimi Shobo and TNK.

Please support the official release.

Chapter 32: Deals and Bickering

Akua Shuzen was confused by the current situation.

The vampire had initially planned to spend her afternoon trying to further learn how to use the computer on her own, her limited knowledge proving to be even more problematic as the day before she was forced to ask for help in dealing with few viruses she had unconsciously let inside the PC.

The youngest of the two Nekoshou sisters, Koneko, had been quick to help and silent during her whole intervention. The minor embarrassment born from being helped by someone younger than her, which had been a surprise for the oldest Shuzen too, was somewhat lessened by the lack of comments regarding her blatant inability to make use of such common device.

It was a slow process, Akua reckoned, but she was starting to see the bountiful rewards of having such contraption in her room. She had also asked about the main purpose of the 'consoles' to the silver-haired girl, a shrug and 'amusement' were the only answers given at first but then she went on to explain curtly how those worked.

Nothing important or essential to have, but something entertaining to explore on a later date once she had the whole 'computer' thing dealt with.

Just as she finished learning how Microsoft Word fully worked, Akua heard someone knocking by her open door. Red eyes slowly moving to glance at the doorstep and she was greeted by the sight of Kuroka Toujou.

She knew little about the oldest of the two Nekoshou siblings part of the Omega Initiative, only that her younger sister seemed to have a negative opinion about her and that she seemed particularly interested in the current leader of the organization.

Hoitsu Sakakibara was a curious human, very resourceful and quite adept in the situations that fell on his lap. He was cautious to not be greedy but neither he was the most generous individual she had ever met.

He wasn't urged by materialistic needs as much as she had initially thought and his sheer interest in keeping everyone in the group he was leading safe and sound was somewhat… refreshing.

It was quite nostalgic, but not much close to what she had experienced back when Akasha Bloodriver had taken her in as her step-daughter. There was just a major difference regarding the tones and the approaches, possibly because the former head of the Dark Lords preferred to have a mother-daughter relationship rather than a friendly one.

There was also that strange 'embarrassment' that she would spot on him every time he would get particularly close to either her or the dark-haired Yokai. It wouldn't happen around Koneko and Kunou, neither with Kahlua, and that left the Shuzen with a perplexing note over the matter.

It certainly didn't help that the times she was the one close to him, she would feel quite… bashful, as if she knew that she was certainly doing something 'wrong' or behaving 'indecently'. She could remember little fragments of lessons from Akasha regarding womanly desires and how to act on them, but those were fuzzy pictures at best and she was unsure that this was truly the case with Hoitsu.

She wasn't certainly feeling 'lightened' by being around the young man, nor she felt her knee going weak. She was just glad to have someone that wasn't trying to kill nor backstab her after so much time.

This confusion was quickly met with the perfect resolution: Moka would surely know more on the matter and asking for advice would certainly prove to be a good decision from hers, especially since she learned that her relationship with Aono was beyond mere friendship.

That very detail was annoying, infuriating even for someone like Akua that loved and cherished the girl the most, as a good sister should. Something she had tried to refuse after the Alucard debacle, and yet it still was there to painfully remind her of her lack of reciprocity with her lovely sister.

"Kuroka-san?" She finally addressed, her mind shifting back to reality as the vampire noticed a curious glint within the golden orbs of the incredibly carefree Yokai.

"Forgive me if I am disturbing you with whatever you're doing, Akua-san." The Cat-girl replied with a simple and apologetic tone, then her whole demeanor turned back to her initial, mirthful glance. "But I wanted to ask if you would like to spar with me."

The Shuzen blinked. "A spar?" She repeated. "Any particular reason why?"

Kuroka shrugged. "Just felt like trying to gauge your skills." She explained curtly, the smile still there. "I wanted to know how strong you were and… maybe bond?"

An interesting proposition, the vampire agreed almost quickly, but then she found her mind sticking around the second section of her explanation, the uncertain reasoning leaving her perplexed for a moment.

Bonding?

The idea was good and all, but it seemed like something was missing about it as if the bonding was supposed to be on a more defined level. Could it be that she wanted to share a bond regarding their care for their siblings?

Difficult but possible, she ended up assessing.

Turning down the computer, she nodded towards the Nekoshou and the two left the room, directed at the training floor.

The area was vacant, an hour earlier being used by Baki alone with his Shadow-Fighting technique to train on his own and the young man had retired to his room. Kunou and Koneko were in the living room trying to keep up with the homework Hoitsu had started to leave for them to do after lunch, an attempt to have them still studying even though they were officially out of the school they previously studied in.

The two girls took the proper positions and waited a moment for each other to be truly ready for the fight.

"May the better fighter win~!" The Nekoshou said loudly before assuming her stance.

That sounded incredibly… strange.

Why would Kuroka proclaim that Akua was going to win this fight so eagerly?

And then… they charged against each other, an explosive clash ensuing.

"S-Sakakibara-san, surely I heard wrong but- did you just say that you are a Magician?" Kaneki Ken asked, lone eye wide open as the other was safely hidden behind his usual eyepatch.

Sitting in one of the few couches offered by the manager of the Anteiku, I found myself explaining a little bit of everything to the group of Ghouls assembled and standing in front of me.

While it was only Yoshimura, his daughter, Arata Kirishima, Kaneki and Touka that were in that room, I saw some other people coming at the destroyed front of the cafe. I saw Irimi Kaya, Enji Kouma, Yomo Renji and… Rio Shikorae?

The main protagonist of Tokyo Ghoul: Jail looked particularly normal, possibly shy at being the subject of some staring from me but I was quick to return my attention to the group as a whole.

There was no need to cast senseless suspicions as of now that the situation required utter caution and tact.

They were all seeking answers about what just happened and why I decided to visit today.

"You heard me right, Kaneki-san." I replied with a small smile. "I'm a 'Freelancer' Magician, a magic-user that didn't study by the Mage Council's rules and currently works for some important factions."

"Forgive me if I sound too much blunt but..." Touka started, her tone showing some doubt about my credibility. "You don't look much different than a normal human, Sakakibara-san."

"I mean, 'a normal human' wouldn't have been able to kill Jason and the Bin Brothers." I pointed out, getting a brief embarrassed blush out of her. "But yes, I suppose I don't 'look different' from another innocent bystander-"

I lifted my open palm for them to see the small electric sparks visibly running around my fingers. There was some awe, some minor surprise but… the best reaction was possibly Eto's.

The girl blinked, eyes going wide, then she stood up and rushed to one of the corners of the room, crouching a moment to pick something from the floor and then walking in front of me.

"Can you hold this for a moment?" She held one of the ends of a phone charger up to me, causing me to frown before just accepting the small section of the wire.

She held her phone, eyes almost fixed on the display as- DING -the sound of the phone charging up notified it was truly working. A gasp rushed out of her throat, her eyes giving a dreamy look.

"Y-You are a living battery!" She exclaimed, then froze and… bowed down to the ground.

"Please teach me how to make that amazing stuff, Oh glorious being of Cool!" She begged loudly and I was floored by her… memestic personality.

"E-Eto-san, magic isn't certainly something you can learn out easily and… you don't have an affinity for electrokinesis." I think I heard the sound of something shattering as the girl rolled over to lie completely on the floor as she stared up to the ceiling.

"This… this is made today a bad one." She commented gloomily and I smirked at her eccentric reactions. I have to admit, that is the kind of relief that I don't think I will ever get bored of.

"You know, Eto-san, you are the weirdest and funniest individual I've ever met." I said with a sure tone. She blinked, eyes narrowing on me before she giggled.

"Really? That is the first time someone called me that." She said with a genuine smile. "I mean 'Funniest'. Weirdest is kind of a common word to hear when people talk about me."

I nodded and returned my attention once more to the group. "As I was saying, the reason why I decided to reach out for Anteiku is..." I looked right at the manager. "Because I know you have a good grasp of Tokyo, sir, and I need the help of Ghouls to kill an important target."

"I no longer deal with this kind of things-" He started to reply, clearly annoyed at these bits of his past resurfacing.

"Because you are retired. I know that, sir, and that is why I just need to know whom to contact to have this job done." I interrupted, getting a brief glare from the elder before resuming with my explanation. "I can pay with some important information. Information that I think you will find very useful."

Kuzen frowned. "There is hardly anything that could be 'useful' information for me, young man-"

"They are still alive," I interjected once more, keeping a cryptic tone as I wished only for him to know about what I was talking about. "And I know where they are hiding."

"A friend of mine and I make sure they were gone forever-"

"And yet you and your friend missed a small but incredibly damning detail about them. They had a backer, someone supporting them from behind the scene." I quickly said, stopping him in his tracks. He gave me a confused look and I sighed.

I knew that if I wasn't careful in getting something out of him before giving him that truth bomb, I was going to get screwed somehow.

"But first I need the name of someone that could do the job." I reminded and he sighed.

"Depends on the kind of job and the danger level." He replied, giving me a careful look as I decided to give the full extension of the mission.

"Kill a former Church scientist and bring back some of the material in his laboratory." I started to explain. "He is guarded by some members from Aogiri Tree and his death is of the utmost importance."

"What did this man exactly do to warrant his assassination?" He finally asked and I found myself contemplating which details I should offer and which not.

"He was the lead figure to a project of the Church to rebuild an old, powerful relic which required specific requirements from the user to be wielded. One of these was that the user had to have a massive amount of light energy and… that meant sacrificing someone for the young age of the various candidates."

He closed his eyes as he realized what I was talking about. "Enough. I… I will be able to get in contact with someone by the end of the day after tomorrow."

I nodded, standing up from my seat. "Then I will be visiting at that time."

Koneko blinked tiredly as she woke up right where she had fallen asleep. The long couch both she and Kunou had used to have a proper nap after finishing today's homework was one of the comfiest ever, maybe close to her bed in terms of softness.

Her kohai was still snoring on her chest, fox ears and tails in full display as she cutely snuggled closer to the warmth coming off from her. It was an adorable sight for sure, but they both had things to do before Hoitsu-nii returned.

Yawning again, her golden eyes moved around the place, just to make sure that the young man hadn't returned yet and… she stopped right at the sight of a familiar tanned vampire smiling at her.

Kahlua Shuzen was someone that unnerved and intrigued the silver-haired Nekoshou at the same time. The girl was cheerful, even now her smile looked quite genuine and trustworthy… but Hoitsu-nii had been rather serious about being careful around her.

The blonde vampire lacked control over herself during fights, one of the worst traits one could deal with especially since the tanned female was much stronger than she was in every stats.

"Hi." Kahlua finally spoke, her tone soft and mindful of the still-sleeping Kunou. Maybe Koneko should have gotten her Kohai to wake up, maybe she should have been careful to not end up in this predicament at all.

"H-Hello." The silver-haired girl replied, causing the older female's smile to widen a little more.

There were a few moments of silence, then the older girl spoke. "Can I ask you a favor?"

A chill went down her spine at hearing this kind of words, her breathing manually forced to not hyper-ventilate as the Nekoshou evaluated her chances of running away from this encounter with Kunou straddling on her chest.

It was a suicidal plan, one that she didn't want to try to use as she knew that the kitsune would be hurt somehow if she failed.

Thus Koneko decided to nod calmly. "S-Sure."

Kahlua tilted her head on the side, almost childishly. Then she asked.

"Can… I pet you?"

… "W-What?" Her face paled a little at the request. She was well-aware of the Wealth of Power vampires were able to use, to twist their limbs and turn those in dangerous weapons. If she was too close to that kind of danger, nothing would stop the naive Shuzen from stabbing the cat-girl right in her head.

The blonde noticed the panicked look in Koneko's face and suddenly deflated, the smile dropped and her eyelids half-closing. "Sorry." She whispered. "D-Didn't mean to sound too… scary."

She looked away, red eyes showing uncertainty and distress. "I… I just wanted to see if it was like petting a cat or not and..." She sighed. "I- I promised Papa and Akua-nee that I wouldn't have hurt anyone anymore."

The young girl frowned at those words. "You mean that you… are putting an effort? I mean, to not hurt people."

And her eyes were back on the girl, mirthfulness replaced by sadness as she nodded. "I-I'm sorry for having been naughty with M-Moka-nee and her friends a-and I didn't want to- to-"

"C-Could you come a little closer?" Koneko asked calmly, causing the blonde to look surprised at the request but still complying as she was curious about what was going on. Then she crouched a little as the silver-haired cat-girl gestured her to do so and…

"U-Uh?"

At first, her mind failed to register the pair of soft arms wrapping around her, red eyes going wide in shock at the sudden embrace but… she sniffled and returned the kind action.

A few tears fell, her sadness slowly subsiding as she heard the distinct sound of purring coming from the younger female, causing the vampire to crack another genuine smile.

The warmth was nice and both enjoyed the hug until it came to an end. "I-I will try to be more mindful around you, K-Kahlua...-nee."

There was some silence, the happiness that was deprived from her was now blooming once more at the way she was addressed by the cute girl.

"T-Thank you, Koneko-chan."

Her hands were careful as the Nekoshou allowed her to caress her feline ears, eyes widening in awe at how soft and positively strange the texture of her ears was. It was like a cat, like that cat.

She paused a moment, the sad memory preventing her to continue. The brief hesitation was quickly caught by Koneko, the girl frowning in confusion.

"Something wrong, Kahlua-nee?" The question quickly brought her back from that sad part of her past as she shook her head.

"N-Nothing, just thinking..."

But the younger girl wasn't done with her questions. "So… you had a kitty, Kahlua-nee? You said that… you had one in the past?"

The blonde scolded the lack of tact with her own words but decided that a quick and curt reply would be enough.

"A little one with black fur with some white spots. But- But I kept him only for a week as he was sick and..."

Koneko nodded. "It's alright, Kahlua-nee. You don't have to hurt yourself by remembering that."

The kind words warmed her heart and she returned the nod with one of her owns. "T-Thank you."

"W-Would you like one?" The Nekoshou blurted quickly, causing the vampire to pause once more, this time in confusion.

"What?"

Golden eyes turned to stare at her. "A kitty. Would you like one now?"

Her mind turned black at that question. Having a new kitty now? Sure, she would accept it without hesitation and yet…

She could still remember her mother's words after she killed the little kitty before her.

"Weaklings shouldn't be cared for. They can't offer you anything and you would just waste time and resources for nothing in return."

And thus, instead of giving a positive response, Kahlua lowered her head and shook a negative.

"I-I don't want to waste people's time and-"

"You wouldn't waste time if you want a pet." Koneko interrupted with a frown. "I bet Hoitsu-nii would say 'yes' if you asked him."

Her eyes widened in surprise and curiosity. "Would he?" She asked at the younger girl.

The silver-haired girl nodded and the tanned vampire smiled widely. "T-Then I will have to see if it's true and..." She stopped there, her mind offering multiple good scenarios where she could get a little kitty. All the little plans she had when she was a mere child were now flashing back to her from her brain, things like responsibility and being kind just as Mama had told her.

Yes, that could work-

Ka-BOOM!

The sudden noise of an explosion woke up Kunou and made the two already awake girls jump in surprise.

"W-What was that?" Kunou asked, her tone wobbly and a little scared.

"I-I think it came from the training floor." Koneko replied, helping the kitsune out of her hold and to stand up from the couch.

Kahlia looked uncertain for a moment, then she nodded. "I-I will see what is going on." She said determinedly, walking towards the staircase and ready to deal with any intruder that wanted to attack the nice people here.

The two Yokais followed closely, keeping a safe distance as they let the tanned girl lead the way.

Soon they found themselves in the training room and… were given a confusing sight.

The return back to the apartment was once more uneventful and yet I found myself disappointed a little how things had turned out to be.

Hopefully, the man Yoshimura promised to contact will be able to deal with Valper and his bodyguards.

He will offer someone strong enough to make the trip and survive it and who knows who will get the role. Still, I'm surprised to see so much divergence from Tokyo Ghoul's canon.

Still, it's a better setting than the one we were expecting… except for Aogiri Tree. Now we know that Eto isn't leading it but we are completely clueless who exactly is controlling it and it could be someone far worse than her.

Whoever they are, they are going to get quite the issues if Valper dies in their custody. Kokabiel would raise some hell about it and they would end up weakened.

True enough.

Before entering inside, I did remember that once I had changed in something a little more comfortable I had to send Akeno a message with the info for tomorrow's meeting and I was silently praying that it wouldn't end up being a reason for the girl to rekindle her pursuit.

I was too pissed about her attitude regarding Asia's situation to let her prioritize that before her genuine apology. I knew she was trying to do something good there, but I could allow her to keep playing around the problem like that.

Closing the door behind me, I turned to see Kunou poking her head from the living room. "Niichan! You need to go to the training room, it's serious!"

Uh?

Confusion rising at that worried edge in the kitsune's tone, I was quickly making my way to the staircase. As I was going up to the third floor, I could hear the noises of a quick-paced fight ongoing and then, the moment I walked inside the training room, I found myself staring at the strangest of sights.

Kuroka and Akua were breathing laboriously, sporting cuts both in their clothes and on their faces.

The zone around them was devastated with holes and craters, the various Youjutsu circles forming in front of the Nekoshou and dropping several explosive spells were responsible for such destructive power.

Are you sure that Kuroka is truly a Nekoshou and not a member of the Crimson Demon Clan?

I noticed Baki, Koneko, Kunou, and Kahlua all staring at the match, the Hanma glancing my way with an uneasy smile. I approached them first. "Ok, what is going on with them?"

"Baka-nee and Akua-san were fighting when we arrived there." Koneko replied quickly, still looking at the fierce fighting.

"And I tried to intervene..." The young man pointed at the burning spot on his shirt. "The ladies didn't appreciate my presence during their quarrel."

I frowned. "A quarrel?"

"It's in their viciousness." The Hanma explained. "If you look closely, they both are trying to hurt the other… without going overboard."

My eyes narrowed at the scene and I did see that both were somehow holding back in that furious sparring: Akua used her Jigen-Tou to become intangible while attacking Kuroka and the cat-girl was aiming precisely a little bit away from the Black Deva as to just push her out of her patterns.

"Does anyone know how long has this been going?"

Baki hummed. "I think for three hours now." He said with some doubts. "It's a guess, but I did saw Kuroka-san passing near the training room three hours ago and I did end up around that time."

"Well, whatever reasons got them both this much angry at each other, I think it's time to end it at once."

I snapped in my Senjutsu form and rushed right onto the two girls. They stopped a moment, tensing and turning to look at me as they felt my energy spiking. They gave both a wide-eyed look and I proceeded to use this occasion to make use of Silver Lining.

Strings of light appeared and started to restrain them from continuing 'bickering' around. They tried to fight back but a few moments later they were all tied up.

"So, which one of you two is going to explain to me what is going on here?"

They didn't look my way and kept quiet, causing me to sigh. "Look, I'm not angry but I want to know what is going on with your aggressive fighting and-"

"Kuroka-san used a foul word against me." The Shuzen interjected quickly, causing the Nekoshou to look angry once more.

"You said that I was behaving like a harlot with Hoitsu-kun, you bitch!"

Akua tried to move her hand to point at her. "There! See!"

Meanwhile, I was shaking my head utterly disappointed. "I'm dealing with two brats."

Of course, the ever-attentive dark-haired Yokai heard of it and smiled. "Oh? Is this a promise of something- Uh?" She stopped as I turned to glare at her.

"Never pull anything like that and… both of you will be punished in a very easy but just way for this very situation." I let out a smile and the two looked confused at what I could be talking about.

"S-Sure Hoitsu-kun- by the way, c-could you give us already the Phoenix's Tears and..."

I continued to smile sweetly and silence reigned for a while.

"Y-You aren't going to give us the Tears, aren't you?" Akua softly guessed and I nodded, causing her to deflate.

"That's correct. You both decided it was nice and fun to fight so childishly and so you will be treated as kids… by your very siblings." I turned to the group of spectators and at the surprised girls in particular. "Koneko-chan will take care of Kuroka while Kahlua with the help of Kunou will nurse Akua."

Both tried to protest but the other girls were on the move and I started to walk away.

Just as I was about to say that I was going to get some rest back in my room, I felt someone tugging at one of my sleeves and causing me to stop.

I turned around and saw Kahlua looking particularly shy and nervous for some reason. "Is there something you need, Kahlua-san?"

She nodded and, a few moments of silence later, she spoke. "I-I wanted to know if- if I could get a kitty."

I blinked. "A kitty?" I hummed, a little surprised by the request but then I nodded. "If your sister is alright, then I see no problem for you to get one. Still, it will be your responsibility and I expect that you will take care of it well."

She nodded, a wide smile appearing on her face before she gave me a bone-crushing hug.

"Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!" She let go and then rushed towards her sister, giggling childishly while I stared at her with a confused look.

What did just happen?!

AN

Next chapter, Akeno's date and maybe another Omake.

I will not stretch too much the AN, but I will say that I've now plans for Kahlua, Koneko and Serafall pairings. Someone will be incredibly surprise and shocked by some decisions but I can say that the individuals I picked match oddly well with them.

Future milestone 1: 696 Followers and Favorites.

P a treon . com (slash) socialistbukharin

REVIEW Q&A!

AbyssRhythme: Thanks and, I bet you will like who will be the real villain. I will not spoiler it here, but I can safely say that this individual didn't appear in Dxd… but it's from that dimension.

Zacarara: Not my first language, but I do have a C2 English certificate that prove I can do stuff. I tried seeing if there were problems by passing the chapter to some good FF writers and they confirmed it was fine. I think you may have read something else, but still thank you for trying!

Sydanus0900: Because the Infinity Stones wouldn't be on Earth. The Stones wouldn't be reachable and there is no Thanos in this universe. No big grape-man to make wrong math once more.

Darkmaster10000000: I've some unexpected surprises with Eto. Some might end up disliking them but… leshrug.

Evyplayz121: He was subjected to it, but no, he didn't 'receive' it. The reason for such action will become clearer very soon.

NexusPrime42: Would be interesting but clashes with the DxD lore as… Miu is the Queen of Devils and DxD has the Four Satans and the Bael clan to rule over the Underworld.

Scumblenut: Lightsaber will receive some upgrades, yes. But no, SW for… several reasons.

Acolyte of Don: I've seen the Legal Eagle take on that deleted scene and I've to say that I understand why it became a meme. Possibly a cameo?