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Chapter 51: Guests and Youthful Determination
It was early in the morning and I was already facing some issues in what was supposed to be my unquestionable reign.
The kitchen was and still is my absolute domain and while I did expect to end up having problems with Grayfia regarding house chores, I didn't certainly expect walking up to find the silver-haired maid already on the loose in that specific room.
It all started when Sirzechs asked if it was possible for me to house him and his family for the night, mentioning that he had something to do in Kuoh Town for the day after and that he wished to be somewhere were other issues would sprung on his face.
He wanted to spend time with his family without the usual hounding from other people, either fans or followers of some kind.
Of course, since I could say no to Millicas nor decline the presence of my surrogate older sister, I accepted the offer and gave them some of the remaining guest rooms in the house.
Yet I had something to deal right now and that was… the very surrogate older sister I had been so kind to house for the night.
The woman barely registered my presence and she certainly missed the minor scowl plastered on my face. I was pretty sure that after a while, she should have caught up with the fact I was there giving her a tiny but noticeable glare.
Four full minutes passed before she suddenly stopped to greet me with a nod before going back to her work.
"Good morning." She said calmly, flashing a brief smile before resuming with 'her duties'.
She seems pretty confident about what she is trying to do right now.
I think that is the basis of being the head-maid for the Gremory Clan for… centuries now. But I think she is missing something important about 'our' share of the breakfast.
Indeed, Grayfia was unaware that breakfast in my house was simpler than anything she had ever done. Without missing a beat and pulling up a blank mask up, I started to interact with the kitchen myself, picking cups for me and the others while also preparing some coffee to add at the resulting beverages.
It was right as I started to heat up the milk by the stove that I felt red eyes staring intensively right at me. My ears caught her slow approach towards me and then I felt her looming over me.
"There is no need, I was going to prepare something for the rest-"
"I actually will do that, Oneechan." I interjected with the same calm tone she adopted, gaining a frown from the maid.
"Otouto, I find myself insisting that-"
"A shame that is my kitchen, Oneechan." I sighed, placing a spoon of honey for each mug. "Maybe next time."
Initially she didn't budge, showing no reaction to my placid comment. Then she sported a deep frown, realizing what I was referring too.
The woman nodded curtly but before she returned to her side of the room, Grayfia decided to proclaim something… irritating. "Then may the best of us win."
...I don't think we agreed to-
I shall show her how to do a proper breakfast!
I spoke too soon, why are we doing this?
This is my kitchen, this is my home. If I'm bested in something like this… how I'm supposed to look at Kunou if I reveal myself that weak!?
How you usually do: pointing your eyes at her.
I ignored the sassy remark, my attention fully focused on the arduous task of picking more mugs and putting on the fire more milk. If war the former Lucifuge wanted, then war she would get!
Tension was palpable as we both picked up a higher pace than usual, our minds devoted to the perfect completion of our respective works. Minutes passed and we were going out of the kitchen while bringing the two different menus to the table.
People were confused and were giving confused looks both at me and at the maid.
"We decided to host a competition to see which breakfast is the best. Please choose fairly and with impartiality." Grayfia explained, bowing respectfully at those at the table.
"You will be given a share of the two menus each, testing individually the product and giving points from 0 to 5 about the quality of the dishes. The winner get a non-lewd favor from the loser."
I looked away just in time as I felt death itself staring my way. Yet the maid didn't protest vocally the winning prize and thus the competition began.
Of course some were 'compelled by the Greater Good' to grade top-marks the work depending to which contestant they were close to.
Sirzechs was 'glad' to grade excellently his wife's hard-work, while Kunou was eager to praise my side.
In the end, I stared in shock as Kuroka and Koneko voted for Grayfia's waffles with a layer of sweet chocolate over them, but the woman took a hit when little Millicas approved of the milkshake even asking for his mother if she could try to do it sometime too much to my 'enemy's chagrin.
Xenovia preferred the maid's baked good while Irina picked the beverage. It was kind of a pity that Issei and Asia had decided to go back to the boy's home to spend the night, something about Mr. and Mrs. Hyoudou wishing to spend some time with the two teens.
Thus we ended up dealing with a draw scenario and the alternative picked to settle the score without any major issue was… a self-judge.
We were given the opposite challenger's breakfast and convinced to swear a magical oath to avoid some foul and senseless judgments. I blinked while staring at the texture of the baked good coated in melted chocolate.
My nose sniffed at the delightful fragrance before taking a small bite and… drowning in something perfectly sweet. The sweet taste wasn't overly-accentuated and the chocolate wasn't too much hot for my mouth to accept.
My eyes widened at the surprisingly well-calibrated breakfast and prepared to take just another bite when-
"C-Can I have a-another mug of this?" Grayfia's voice asked softly.
Everyone froze at the plea coming from the twitching maid, I frowned and turned to ask if she was alright when I was suddenly turned around, the silver-haired woman giving a closeup with wide red eyes staring right at mine. "How did you manage to create something this good?!"
"Uh?"
"The perfect combination of milk, honey and coffee. This… this is a simple but flawless work." She praised with absolute certainty.
I blinked. "R-Really? I mean, yours was well-prepared too. The chocolate, a good blend that was perfectly melted and- and I think the waffle was home-made?"
She nodded, a small smile plastered in her face. "I admit it was difficult because the dough wasn't the usual I used back to the Gremory mansion, but I managed to find some balanced way to heat it up and get it to leaven up."
"So… this is once more a draw?" I mused quietly and her smile lost some of its intensity. "How about we settle for a prize for both?"
The woman tensed a little, a confused glance directed at me as I… gestured for a hug. "What about a-"
I didn't even get the time to finish that proposition that I was pulled in embrace by Grayfia. She didn't spoke, merely patting my tense back to relax a little as I slowly returned the sudden hug.
I was surprised at the forwardness the maid was showing but I was glad that it didn't turn awkward. I rested my head on her shoulder and she sighed. "I'm still annoyed that you came close to dangerous harm twice in the last week." The woman muttered quietly.
"I swear I wasn't trying to face any trouble just for the sake of it." I rebuked half-whispered. "It's just… that I had to take some drastic steps to make sure people were alright."
"While ending up getting yourself endangered in the process." She huffed tiredly. "I can remember the pacing of the Great War and… there were good men and women that perished by trying to protect large numbers of civilians. I don't wish to add you to that list."
I flinched as she pulled away, sporting a small scowl. "You might expect others to not question your prideful heroism, but I will certainly bash your head really hard if you try anything like that once more." Her eyes narrowed. "Do you understand?"
Nodding quickly, I was let go as a pleased smile appeared on her face. "Good, then let's get the plates and have those cleaned." She ordered calmly, starting to focus on the empty dishes. "After all… this is your house, Otouto."
I snorted but I complied with the orders and started to round up the various plates on the table. As I was about to pick Sirzechs' the man decided to speak up. "Actually, Hoitsu-kun, I wished to ask if you could spare some time to speak about something in private after you finished with the chores."
Blinking in surprise, I managed just a nod. "I've time to spare, I hope it's nothing bad-"
He flinched a little much to my confused self and the reply wasn't something that helped me much...
"Not… entirely. Let's just say it's about family."
...but why do I feel like I was going to yell a lot very soon?
Millicas smiled a little as the young redhead finally got glimpse of the training ground his Oniisan and Kunou-chan used to spar.
In one of the corners, Koneko was training with her older sister, the dark-haired Nekoshou having decided to spend some effort to improve the combat style the younger girl had, an attempt to perfectly master the few flaws that remained.
Meanwhile the kitsune was merely testing her magical capacity much to the boy's glee. While he would never go around to tell about this, flashy attacks were his favorite.
To see the girl she felt 'something' about show him some cool moves just left him in the best of moods.
There was hardly anything that could break him out from that zenith of positiveness.
"Milli-kun, do you want to try it too?"
Or at least until the blonde decided to bring in to the fold. The youngest Gremory blinked in surprise at the request, secretly interested in trying such an activity but… inexperienced.
It wasn't that he didn't know how to do spells nor how to properly put them in practice. It was that he was far from the 'level' he wished to attain.
A strong and flexible peerage was still his main target, but curiosity of expand his own abilities was still something that lingered in his mind. To be as strong as his Papa and Mama, maybe even more so that he could protect them.
"C'mon! I will be there to help you if you need some." She pleaded and Millicas blinked, his heart picking up a little more at the… look in her face.
The words from his Mama, the ones reminding him to be a kind gentlemen around women steeled him to a decisive nod.
"I-I will try." He replied, the smile he was rewarded with the one of the most precious gifts he had ever received!
He stood up from his small spot and shyly made his way beside the girl, his face reddening at how close he was to her, but the boy's attention was taken by the floating target waiting for him to attack.
A blink, then two as he realized he was thinking too much about the situation and that he needed to show his abilities before the girl thought less of him. H-He needed to show how good he was!
So he fell in a focused state, his small palms channeling some energy as he took aim at the silly dummy between him and another smile from the cute kitsune. His drive, his ambition to prove his worth…
The blast blitzed, a red light rushing at the harmless target and then exploding upon contact with its chest. The explosion was partly expected by Millicas, just not as loud nor as big as it turned out to be.
The aftershock was enough to make his legs wobble a little before he started to lose his footing. He was falling backwards, he could already taste some humiliation at having tripped like that after performing a masterful spell.
His Magical Core was whining a little at the overuse of magic, but the boy remembered how his father did say that it was a good thing until he felt serious stress onto all over his body.
Yet it didn't spare him from the dreadful scenarios that would follow once he reached the ground. Would Kunou-chan giggle at his ill-luck? Would she still consider him 'cool'?
His mind was spinning- no, it wasn't his mind that was really turning that quickly.
The young Gremory had just enough time to realize that he was being lift up by the very girl he did impress and… he was pulled closer.
His face pressed on her shoulder, a blush spreading all over his head as he realized that he had been pull in a hug.
"That was super-good." The blonde praised happily. "I didn't expect you to be this strong, Milli-kun."
Sadly, 'Milli-kun' couldn't answer the flattering words from the girl 'he was taken by' as he found his mind constricted by the reality he had been luckily placed upon.
Having proven his worth without issues? That was a good victory.
Getting a hug while risking to fall to his own humiliation? Today, the boy learned about Absolute Victories in life and how good those felt.
His mind was sharp in keeping him from getting out from the hug, letting him bask from the contact while also enjoying the giggles coming from the very girl that was hugging him.
But there was something that needed some improvement and that was his technique. Training, he mused strongly within his head, he needed to put more effort in his already-limited training sessions.
Asking for more hours to spend training his magic from his Mama wasn't a possibility, knowing full well how the woman would react rather… negatively to such a strange switch of preferences.
He was still a studious 'young man' after all and he hardly needed to be scolded for trying to do something too childish for something very du-
At that point Kunou-chan started to nuzzle her cheek on top of his head and… his mind rebooted.
Training, he needed to train until he could beat her and… befriend her properly!
Getting her in his peerage? That idea felt offensive for good reasons, mostly because he knew that his Oniichan didn't want to be part of any and wouldn't appreciate if Kunou-chan was taken in one.
A companion? A partner? Why he felt like he was failing to grasp the proper terms here? He was sure that he knew well-enough about the dictionary but… he shrugged inwardly and decided to leave these thoughts for later.
The hug would suffice for now.
Just as he blissfully accepted the reward gifted to him, the moment was broken as loud voices reached the training grounds, briefly interrupting the embrace and stopping the brawl between the two Nekoshou sisters.
The voices were familiar, Millicas could recognize his Papa's and Oniichan's but he was confused as to how those reached so far in the house.
Weren't they discussing about something by the kitchen?
The mystery deepened as Hoitsu did walk in the massive room a few moments, his face sporting a troubled expression. A mix of annoyance and tiredness.
"Niichan!" Kunou-chan greeted loudly and happily. "Do you want to spar with me?"
The young man paused to glance their way, his look softening as he pulled a smile and nodded.
"Sure, Ku-chan." His tone was a cheerful one but… even Millicas knew that something was off. The edge was… sadder than it would look like to a stranger.
Blinking, the boy returned back to his previous spot and patiently waited for the two surrogate siblings to reach for their positions and…
Then they rushed to each other!
If only the young redhead knew how much flashy this was going to turn…
Sirzechs is a moron to think that we will even get close to 'her' of all people.
It's been just a month. I'm certainly not going to 'visit' Rias.
Especially with how our visit would also sent some dangerous ripples through the Underworld… and beyond.
We would be able to- Uh?
I thought I was going to spent the rest of the spar in my thoughts, knowing that Kunou wasn't strong enough to land some damage through my defenses and… I was proved wrong when one of her punches bypassed my guard and almost hit me right on my face.
Blinking, I slowly noticed how faster and stronger the kitsune was compared to… just yesterday.
"K-Ku-chan?"
She grinned and continued with her aggressive offensive, forcing me to adopt a faster pace.
Blow was caught by blow, kick with kick and… soon a heated exchange of attacks ensued.
I was surprised, positively so, but my awe turned in confusion as the girl didn't certainly show any sign of backing down from the challenge, quite the opposite.
Her power and speed increased at once, matching if not going beyond my current limits in my base state. A kick finally slammed on my chest and I felt some energy behind it, eyes widening suddenly as I recognized it at the touch.
It was natural energy but… I couldn't sense it in a way that would allude to a Senjutsu form. No, the energy was all being captured within Kunou's body, replenishing her reserves and boosting them during the fight.
A new form? I was shocked at that possibility, immediately ditching the idea it was the work of one of Ophis' snakes as there was nothing of the Infinity Dragon's energy coming from the blonde.
The girl looked giddy, proud that she was pushing me to the ropes without problems. I decided to step up my game as my Senjutsu mode was quickly turned on and… I still was forced to deal with a stalemate.
The bubbly excitement coming from my giggling little sister deterred me from taking this seriously and thus I found that my issues were soon to start.
Ditching close fighting, Kunou started to throw Fox Fire my way. The intensity of the flames were stronger than usual, the heat causing me to sweat just by being a little close to them.
Silver Linings quickly formed to stall the girl from moving, wrapping around her arms as I rushed forward to resume a physical brawl. The kitsune grinned as she snapped the strings right as I was ready to deliver the first punch.
My eyes widened and I brought my guard up just in time to tank a kick dropping from Kunou. I was pushed back, surprise vanishing quickly as the brutal exchange of blows returned to dent on my arms and legs.
She wasn't holding anything back in that spar and I felt… excited to see this much power displayed by the blonde.
Huffing, the kitsune started to increase once more the pacing but I did notice that she was starting to get winded by the rapid action.
I needed to hold out a little longer, she was getting tired. Still, the girl was landing blows after blows through my defense and I was forced to take a few steps away to recover a little.
She is bringing the heat. Kunou has grown a lot in the last month.
Determination and a strong will, she is going to become one of the strongest beings of this world for sure given more time.
"Niichan! I'm going to beat you!" The kitsune proclaimed loudly as I felt her power rising once more.
I unleashed the first level of the Kaioken, knowing that going for the Twilight Joker form would have been too much of an overkill for her.
The boost gave me some relieve, the blonde dropping more Fox Fire but I was dodging every single attack dropped my way.
She was sweating, it wasn't the heat of her own spells as her breathing was getting ragged and I could recognize the signs of fatigue.
She blinked, surprise plastered in her face as I returned to the assault and actually started to turn the tide. Panic surged, her arms covering in flames and forcing me to back away once more as she pouted right at me.
"T-This is my final move. It will- It will work." Her announcement was following by a… familiar posture.
Her hands were brought back, forming two opposite arcs as she started to chant.
"Kaaa...meee..."
I froze, my eyes widening in surprise as Kunou was… emulating me emulating someone else.
A blue orb was forming slowly and softly as I stared in shock as this all unfolded.
She is not going to complete it.
W-What?
Look at her legs. She is wobbling and ready to go for some nap-time. Stop her, for fuck's sake!
I didn't need to be told twice as I blitzed quickly to interrupt the chanting. The girl was surprised by my swift interception, but didn't pose any opposition at being scooped up in a hug.
"Enough. This is your limit." I replied curtly, one of my hands picking absently a bottle of Phoenix's Tears and offering it to the blonde.
The kitsune blinked at the vial but accepted it nonetheless, drinking it quickly but still… resting on her head on my chest. "I… I think I still need some rest." She said with a yawn.
"That form has to be rather draining if you got that strong in little time." I admitted, patting her head softly.
"I-It was something Mama once told me." She explained with a drowsy tone. "I-It was just an idea, one that Kuroka-san was kind enough to give some… advice about."
I nodded, glancing at a sheepish-looking Nekoshou and I sighed. "Do you want to be taken to bed?"
She hummed positively, finally starting to snore much to my relief and own tiredness.
Hitting the bed now doesn't sound that bad.
But we have guests and… we have to deal about that 'Rias' issue.
I groaned inwardly as I slowly turned around and started to walk the path back to my room.
Let's get this adorable furball tucked in first…
...Then I will have to deal with this nightmare of a topic.
AN
It's done! This chapter was… draining. But I did it!
Thankfully I will go to sleep early today as… tomorrow is going to be tiring.
The main schedule is back… partially. Some stories will be updated, while others will not.
A new version of the schedule will be uploaded very soon.
But now!? LESLEEP!
Future milestone 1: 845 Followers and Favorites.
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Scrumblenut: This 'version' I proposed of Azrael is Original. I know others made use of the character, but then again even DXD Lucifer is original compared to Sin: Nanatsu no Taizai (which isn't the one with Meliodas but the one with the Seven Deadly Sins being women with super-Oppais).
Mike699: I will try to get the chapters checked once I'm done with this, having some corrections done and… thank you for the kind words!