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The following is a fan-based

FICTION

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Chapter 39: Null Waiting and Heated Development

The throne room of the large castle was a shadow of its former self. Regal drapes and paintings of important family members had been either shredded or burned by the devastating battle that preceded this horrible desolation.

Numerous craters littered the once pristine floor, bleeding limbs and armored torsos were scattered all over as the grand group of guards deployed to deal with the intruders proved to be useless in the end.

Mihai Tepes, the Fourth King of the Tepes Faction, breathed tiredly as he tried to get up from the pool of his own blood. His arms shredded with wounds and cuts, his legs scorched and his face completely bruised as he tried to make a last stand against the smiling Devil in front of him.

Rizevim Lucifer's smile was an empty one, something that resembled the current situation the old vampire was facing. So hopeless and humiliation.

"I'm kind of disappointed." The spawn of Lucifer mourned with a bored tone. "I was expecting a little more of a fight… or that you would have been smart enough to give us your daughter and spare yourself this silly and deadly encounter."

The Vampiric King snarled at those words. "Y-You think you could truly order me to do such a thing?! I'm the head of this proud family and-"

"Your heir betrayed you." Another individual interrupted, standing close to the still-smiling Rizevim. "It's a shame that this once-glorious clan is forced to give up its freedom and survival for two useless fools."

"S-Spare me your politene-ness, L-Lucifuge." Mihai spat vehemently. "I-I wonder if you a-are still sore for your sister's betra-GUH!"

A raging scowl flashed in Euclid Lucifuge's face, his hands glowed red as a scarlet string appeared and wrapped around the fallen vampire's neck, starting to pressure his throat.

"You seem to be forgetting that you are below us, blood sucker." The younger man pressed with some annoyance. "While Lord Rizevim has allowed you to speak until now he-"

"Oh please! We both know that the reason you are chiding him is because you are what you are." The Super Devil reasoned with some amusement. "And that is a Siscon."

"M-My lord, I beg you to at least restrain these comments while we aren't dealing with anyone of this man's ilk." The Lucifuge replied, blushing profusely at the way his Lord called the love he still proved for his sister Grayfia.

Wasn't it the duty of a brother to be so caring and genuinely in love with their sister? Especially with someone so gorgeous, so intelligent and so sinfully se-

"Euclid! Stop with your perverted thinking, I can see you blushing and grinning like a pervert there." The Lucifer snapped with a whine. "And people say that I'm sick in the mind..." He concluded while shaking his head in disappointment.

"T-Thousands of apologies, milord! I will see to have this cur dealt with swiftly!" Without hesitation, the strings tightened even more and the once-proud leader of the of the Tepes Clan was decapitated before their eyes.

Moments of silence passed and… "This is surprisingly more boring than I was expecting." Rizevim mused loudly enough for his loyal follower to sigh.

"We have to wait for young Marius to return. It was your order to have him recover the missing holder of the Sephiroth Graal." The Lucifuge answered, getting a sheepish look from his lord.

"Yeah… about that..." The oldest of the two looked particularly nervous so suddenly. "You remember the Belmont brat that followed us here… right?"

Euclid blinked and then nodded. "The mongrel has to have perished before even entering at this point-"

"Technically he is still alive." Rivezim interjected with some embarrassment. "But I'm sure the currently non-existing energy pattern that is Marius will deal with our intruder, which is currently in the proximity of a powerful individual, and return with his sister."

…

"Lord Rizevim, did you just say non-existing-"

"I don't know how a 'proud and strong' vampire was unable to kill an idiot with some explosive whip." The man admitted bluntly. "Nor do I know how that brat got killed in the process."

"Maybe the Belmont was much stronger than we initially thought-"

"Or maybe the vampire tripped on some blood and… landed on some swords." Rizevim blinked thoughtfully, noticing the strange look the Lucifuge was giving him just instants after proposing that idea. "What? The Internet taught me to be expecting even the unexpected. Or maybe ruined my sanity even more but…" He shrugged calmly. "Who knows, maybe it is a sillier situation."

Euclid shook his head, his mind mostly accustomed with the brand of madness the Lucifer's spawn was known for and decided to ask the important question. "Then why are we not going to capture the girl ourselves? Is the 'powerful entity' stronger than even you-"

"Oh no!" The man waved his hands negatively at that suggestion. "He is stronger than you, but he pales compared to me. It's just that… I'm waiting for something, or better, someone-"

"If you mean the young man that you say resembles your father, I fail to see why he would ever come here." The former leader of Nilrem remarked with an odd tone.

"Hope is the last thing to die and..." A smug look appeared on his boss' face. "Pray tell, are you perhaps still miffed about his 'closeness' with your sister?"

Euclid scoffed. "Grayfia has to have done it to establish a connection, to spy upon him and-"

"I think that is how you motivated her relationship with Sirzechs Gremory. I also remember that's how she ended up married and-"

"Milord!" The loyal minion pressed with some annoyance. "C-Could we avoid this delicate and senseless topics."

The smile adorning the Lucifer's lips widened but the man nodded. "Sure but… we are still waiting for him to come."

"And what if he doesn't-"

"Then we will take the girl and return back to the HQ. No pressure or anything, I can assure you."

The Lucifuge nodded and they proceeded to wait for something to happen and… nothing really did.

In the end, Rizevim decided to pass the following half an hour by poking fun at his 'simple' weakness, mocking his rightful love for his sister and his intention of dealing with that disgusting Gremory that stole her from him!

Finding an unscathed room in this maze of hallways proved to be an irritating task for Alucard, the Castle having suffered much from the attack led by Rizevim Lucifer and the monsters banding behind him and sparing just few small rooms to the onslaught.

The little bedroom contained just a bed and a small window that led to the back-side of the humongous building. Placing both youths on the bed, the Dhampir contemplated the whole situation, from the reasons behind the attack on the family's castle to the presence of a Belmont that wasn't Julius in this event.

While the reasoning could be easily found in the secret power hidden well-within the young woman softly snoring near the sleeping human, the fact those that led this assault had yet to sent against him any dangerous threat was proof that there was much more than the Sephiroth Graal little Valerie had.

His knowledge of his distant family started to expand by the time he had finished to deal with Magnus and his attempts to turn him to the side of Evil. After dealing personally with his father, the need to make sure that there was no mean to bring him back to life once again made him encounter a section of the Tepes family he was completely unaware of. While Dracula loved only two women in his life, he did provide grand rewards to his staunchest supporters, awarding them a place within his closer family.

The Tepes Faction in Transylvania was initially formed by these loyal servants of the Count, then expanding and creating the core family that owned this castle. A reference to Dracula's moving home, but smaller and… less domineering.

The first contact was brief but left a hopeful chance of connecting with the group. Then Alucard learned about how the vampire's society in the region had changed drastically, to the point where new families had joined the Tepes and formed the faction the former minions of Dracula led even now.

But to think that this attack would happen without notice, to think that the young woman that was softly shivering in her sleep and calming down just by being in the proximity of the young Belmont was actually a victim of abuse?

He was careful to attach himself to people, but to see part of his 'kin' hurt to this degree made his blood boil in hatred. Deep memories of his past, of wise words from his mother as she told him of the lack of kindness she experienced during her childhood.

Blood red eyes closed, the Dhampir spent some moments to recover from that moment of pure fury as to avoid waking up the two youths. The Belmont required rest, his Magical core suffering from minor magical exhaustion and slight physical tiredness.

He was surprisingly young, younger than Trevor, Richter or Julius. Far too young to have been sent to deal with this disturbance and the presence of some tear-lines still fresh on his face proved that something had to have forced the young man to take the task at hand.

Wielding the whip Trevor used to help Alucard in his crusade against his father, he was skeptical he knew how to make use of it. The weapon drawn upon the user's magical energy, a further strain that Trevor managed to deal with thanks to Sylva's help centuries ago.

He was a Belmont, there was no doubt about it, but the discovery of a branch of the Vampire Slaying family that he was unaware until now proved how detached he was with Julius. Both men shared a sense of camaraderie, but it wasn't as strong or genuine as the one he shared with his first human companions. They fought in the Demon Castle War, united by the need to destroy Dracula once and for all, but they then grew apart after the end of the battle.

Julius became a simple monster hunter, traveling mostly through the United States, while Alucard preferred to wander in Easter Europe and Japan, the later place receiving major importance as the place where the Count's castle was sealed within.

To think that the Belmont clan was now as big as it was centuries ago… proved how his lack of attachment to humanity has led him away from important details about the world. He nodded to himself that in this occasion he would have at least tried to know more about this young man, not because of the possibility itself, but by the fact he was incredibly younger than anyone taking on the mantle of Dracula's bane.

It was right in that moment that the boy shifted in his sleep, the sudden action in his slumber caused by the umpteenth shivering of the girl nearby. He turned silently and his arms wrapped around her and bringing her closer, the blonde stiffening just a moment at the embrace but moments later accepting almost too delightfully the invitation and planting her face on his ruined shirt.

The sight was intriguing as nostalgic, bringing back a lone moment of his childhood where his father decided to skip the usual paperwork the castle required, spending the day with his wife back to their bedroom.

Silent glances, quiet words and pure comfort from being together in that precious moment. It was awing, it was intriguing and-

Adrian shook his head, his face adopting a grimace at being reminded of those precious times when life was optimal and when he could still trust his family.

A little chance, a minor hope to bridge the gap of the two families, to correct the mistakes of one Mathias Conqvist and make up with the descendants of Leon Belmont.

It was the dream his mother would cherish for, an attempt to end the hostilities, to conclude that painful chapter for both families and… finish the foolish plan of a young and suffering idiot.

The hope of permanently remove from the world the only thing left of Dracula. His dark presence in his enemies' minds.

I proceeded to yawn as I glanced at the newest set of homework Koneko was trying to finish before lunch. Kunou was already done with it and had taken an early leave for the bathroom.

The others were… nowhere near the kitchen. While I was the leader of this growing group I certainly wasn't all-knowing of their general locations without being told or notice it beforehand. Thus I was there, with the silver-haired Nekoshou as she struggled a little with more difficult exercises of Math.

She was improving quickly, but she was far from mastering the new topic of the subject. I think the strangest detail was the fact the girl decided to take a seat on my lap. Nothing remotely lewd or perverted, but quite… cute.

Her ears tickled my chin, twitching happily the times she managed to get some exercises done correctly but going flat the moment I had to correct some of her mistakes. The purring and the vibration that followed were somewhat amusing and her tail slapping softly on my chest reminded me how much happy she was at the moment.

It was a nice moment that we were spending after so much time has passed ever since we left Kuoh Town.

I was quite distracted by some corrections when the first signs that something was wrong with her started to manifest.

Her tail started to waggle faster, her purring slowly intensifying as her ears twitched with more emotion. Her face was starting to get red for some reason and her warmth increased.

Then I noticed her stopping, initially thinking that she was trying to elaborate something in her head before doing anything and then… she placed her pen on the table, slowly turned to glance around.

Her golden eyes fixed on my chest, my shirt as she pressed her nose and sniffed for few moments, her breathing itching on my skin as four familiar and dreadful words left her trembling lips.

"Y-Your scent..." Koneko straddled on the shirt. "S-So good!"

Fuck, it's happening again!

Nuclear alarms boomed within my brain and I was suddenly trying to stand up. She pressed her butt down, trying to force me to sit but… I was stronger and managed to stand up.

While the girl had her hands tightly holding onto my shirt, she was quick to lose her balance and forced to take a standing over the table, desperation flashing through her features. "N-Nii, j-just once! I-I need this!"

"Y-You don't, Koneko-chan." I started to try and wrestle myself away from her hands, finding my life rendered difficult by her strength. "W-We can go to the training room and-"

"N-No! I wan- want to do that a-and I trust you."

"It's not a matter of trust, sweetie!" I finally managed to get out of her hold and I focused on rushing away from the area and back to my room. The door's lock should be strong enough to keep her out.

"P-Please, d-don't leave me!" My heart clenched at those words, reminding me far too much when she was positively scared I was going to abandon her when I had to go and save Asia, but I still persisted as I knew the context in this case was far different.

The chase was a long one, the path through the stairs difficult as the girl's boosted speed was perfectly synchronized with her reaction time, giving her several opportunities to get close to catch me. I ran swiftly through the hallway and had my eyes fixed on my room and- I found myself pushed inside by the silver-haired missile.

Slamming face-first on my head, Koneko scrambled to try and position herself on a comfortable place but I was quick to turn around and put her in a forced embrace. "P-Please! Just once."

Of all times this could have happened… wasn't her heat supposed to happen much later?

I think it has to do with the fact she awakened her Nekoshou form much earlier. I think her instincts returned quicker than in Canon.

"I-I can't do that with you, sweetheart." I struggled a little to keep her from breaking away and return to her 'attack'. Moments of active resistance passed but then she stopped moving at once.

Her face was pressing on my chest and I felt my shirt wetting up a little because of tears, she was trembling and then she started to sob loudly. Gone was the fire that moments before was driving her to demand 'that' kind of attention. The emotion settling down as sadness took over in that heart-aching display.

"I-I'm sorry!" She bawled in my chest and I sighed tiredly at the scene, hand moving to softly pat her head.

"Shh, everything will be alright." The Nekoshou straddled tightly onto me but didn't do anything else but cry.

We are lucky enough her mood swing got her in a more acceptable predicament, but I think we need to do something before the next one get us in trouble.

I nodded to myself and decided to try something. "Koneko-chan, look up." I ordered softly.

The girl hesitated to follow the command, but moments later she was staring up, puffy eyes staring at mine, my heart clenching once more at the sorrowful sight.

"I want you to try and achieve your Senjutsu form right now. I know that it generally require help but-" I didn't get to finish my sentence as I felt natural energy reaching for Koneko, the silver-haired girl initiating this without hesitation and far too eagerly.

The input was impressive, showing that she has been working on this situation for a while now and the results were as intriguing as worrisome. Eyes closing, she started to focus on keeping the energy from taking over her sanity and perception, to let the toxicity that was attached to the natural energy out of her body and mind.

My own Magical coils flared as I joined the efforts to stabilize the form and reduce her burden. The result was… awing.

The girl's eyes opened slowly but I could see a confident smile in her face. "Hoi-nii, this is so… nice~!"

Her head softly rested on my chest, cheek pressed on the shirt as she gave a delighted smile. "C-Can you pet me?"

I blinked in surprise at the request but complied, her head suddenly accepting eagerly the warm head-patting.

"I-I can see your energy a-and it's so amazing." Her amazed tone took me by surprise and I nodded.

"It's quite an interesting sight, to see everyone's energy so closely and-" I stopped as I felt her press even more on my chest.

It was in that moving that I felt the presence of something that wasn't there before. The first thing that preceded the ultimate proof was the presence of two tails instead of one and… then I saw how tight her simple shirt was.

Her bust was bigger than before and it took me just a moment to realize that, even through I was mostly focusing on the Senjutsu part, Koneko had somehow integrated Touki in her form. I remember perceiving some of it few weeks ago when she tried to stop me from going home but…

Her smile widened, content at being bestowed by the caring petting, while basking in the power coming from her Shirone form.

An older Koneko, a stronger Koneko and… a Koneko more carefree than usual. It was an odd sight for sure but… my plan was working.

I could feel the excesses of her core consumed by the form as it was slowly draining her and she finally fell asleep two minutes later. Her content smile was still there as she returned back to normal but she also kept latching on my chest.

Sighing tiredly and knowing that lunch was nigh, I decided that just for today some minor help was allowed.

Most of the people by the table blinked in surprise at the sight of me holding Koneko in my arms, some merely confused and fine with the legitimate explanation given, some showing some looked perplexed like Akua, Teru and Sho, while the small group that remained was completely fine with it.

In this last group I counted few 'strange' members, Kuroka and her smug look weirdly enough dread-inducing. It was at the sight of a familiar device in her lap as she ate that I knew what was going on.

I could recognize a camera from that short distance and my eyes narrowed at the Nekoshou. "Why?" I asked with a serious tone.

"Blackmail." She cited calmly. "Some family memory and… you both look so cute~!"

I sighed tiredly and nodded. "It would seem like your stash will be burned today."

Her fork fell off her hold, her face paling in shock at my words. "W-What?"

I merely smiled, deflecting the questioning from the dark-haired Yokai with silence.

So, this is my new peace now?

AN

"You better not give him the chance to-"

Y-You know that I can't control him-

"Then give me a Lemon already!"

But you have yet to-

Pulls Author up and glares Him right in the eyes.

"Either you preserve the status quo or I will get my strong kittens." Pulls mouth close to Author's ear. "One way or another."

S-Sure thing then! I will see for him to stop razing you stash, lovely Kuroka.

"Sexy Kuroka-chan, don't forget the proper adjectives~!"

Walks away with a relieved smile.

Authors look at readers.

This is escalating way too quickly…

But let us focus on serious matters!

The Tepes Arc continues and we have yet to see Azazel. First impressions for Euclid and Rizevim? I think I made the latter a little less Canon because of some pseudo-memey attitude while also pointing out Euclid's obsession for Grayfia much more than in Canon.

Koneko's heat is canon but this one is far more violent than Kunou's. Why? Kunou has her emotions showing almost everywhere, staying with Hoitsu making her more relaxed and more socially-adept with people around her. Koneko has been bottling up her feelings for years and… that is the explosive result. Shirone form too early? Technically no as this isn't yet achieved by her efforts alone. Hoitsu had to intervene to allow it to happen and… yeah, her Shirone form is also wiser than her usual self, the sudden growth isn't only physical.

Future milestone 1: 777 Followers and Favorites.

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REVIEW Q&A!

jalalfof5: Maybe, I don't know. It depends on the fact if I should respect his whole 'on my own' creed or not.

RedBurningDragon: Right now in this timeline Dracula's castle is sealed away in the epilogue of the Demon Castle War (it happened 40 years before Aria of Sorrow) and the only place to access it is the Hakuba Shrine in Japan.