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 72: Common Interest

After spending the last night in Kyoto in quite the embarrassing way, our trip back to Kuoh Town proved to be fairly uneventful and lifting my hopes of having a full day to recover from the little period of rest I had in Yasaka's mansion.

Kunou was leaning by Kuroka's side as the Nekoshou softly petted her head, the younger girl's eyes were closed and she seemed ready for a quick nap. The woman hardly seemed winded by the trip and I was feeling just a little tired and bored by how slow things had been until now.

So, when I opened the front door of my house and I found myself being greeted by Issei, I felt a certain degree of… confusion. Sure, it was still early in the morning but he should have been going for school right now.

"Senpai." The brunet voiced happily, to which I nodded with a small smile.

"Ise, it's good to see you," I replied, while Kuroka smiled and nodded once to him while the kitsune yawned and seemingly ignored the Red Dragon Emperor.. "But can I ask why you aren't making your way to the Academy, right now?" I asked with some curiosity, making him look a little nervous.

The brunet opened his mouth but before he could explain why he was there, someone else appeared from the living room and interrupted him.

"It has to do with what happened with the recent attack," The new individual answered with a neutral tone and then he stopped to stare right at me. "Hoitsu."

I lifted a surprised eyebrow as I found myself looking at Vali, the silver-haired Devil Hybrid appearing just a little stronger than the last time we had spared some words and… cooperated against a particularly-strong enemy.

"I see that you didn't stop training, Vali." I pointed out with a small smile, the young man snorting but nodding at my compliment. "And 'recent attack'?" I inquired quietly, getting a sigh from him as he gestured us to get to the living room, Issei following him behind with an irked frown.

Just as I stepped inside, I realized that the situation had to be one of the most serious ones, with Akeno, Azazel, Baraqiel, and… the entire Slash Dog Team.

I paused in surprise, slightly overwhelmed by the unexpected presence of the squad led by Tobio. The bartender smiled and nodded my way, Suzaku actually waved me with a pleased smile while the rest followed the example set by their chief… all except one of them.

My eyes narrowed a little over the seemingly-new addition to the group, the individual wearing a cloak with its hood up and a… red-colored familiar mask. It was similar to the one I used to have as Hekishoku, but it… seemed to give a completely different emotion with its blood-like shade compared to the dark-green one I still had on me.

A possible fan?

He would be trying to speak to me right now.

A shy one?

Still… there is something wrong about him.

I was pretty sure that it was a man, his physical frame hardly matching a feminine one and there was something odd about his energy pattern. It was low, incredibly so, but I could still perceive glimpses that were being held back by… something.

Did he have his power sealed?

My smile was close to falter at looking at this strangely curious individual, but then I noticed Azazel's smirk and teasing look as he stared both me and Kuroka down.

"So… the 'deed' was truly done?"

Cue the sudden blush for the two of us while I felt the beginning of that little need of mine to punish a perverted idiot like him.

Akeno's smile widened with an elated accentuation as she let out a collective but quiet 'Ara, Ara' with her cousin. From this mere interaction and the lack of surprise at this combined reaction, I could only guess that they did have enough time to bond already.

Tobio was shaking his head while trying to pass at me some sympathetic glances as the rest of his team mirthfully accepted this little embarrassing development.

Issei looked at me in awe, possibly because he now had an undeniable proof that 'following my teachings' had been the best thing to do, yet his reaction was somewhat reduced by the presence of Asia, the girl giggling a little as she gave him a quick kiss on his cheek, silencing the boy from rupturing the moment.

Kunou was… sleeping. The kitsune had long gone for some rest on Kuroka's lap as the situation unfolded, unable to keep up with the tiring effects of the trip.

Baraqiel sighed and nodded. "Congratulations, Hoitsu and Kuroka," He praised much to our discomfort, but then he seemed to adopt a more serious tone. "Still, we aren't here for a visit of courtesy, rather this is an important meeting about what has happened by the doors of Takamahagara mere hours ago." He explained with a grim look and I frowned darkly at this gloomy predicament.

"Vali mentioned an attack." I said while glancing momentarily at the young man. "But I didn't hear anything about it from Kyoto-"

"Because this isn't something known to the entire world." Azazel finally spoke, his smile deflating. "Not only is recent, but we are trying to avoid causing some uproar with the other Pantheons."

And I nodded at him without hesitation. Why shouldn't I, considering that the situation was indeed bad?

Takamahagara, or Takama no Hara, were the dwelling grounds for the Shinto deities, the place where the Gods of the Japanese Pantheon were known to be spending most of their times in and… why would they even try to go after someplace like that? The Heavenly Plains held little of importance to actually attack-

"The forced opening of the doors would have created a magical instability through Japan." Baraqiel continued to explain. "Natural phenomenons that would normally happen in the Home Islands would increase to a dangerous level, forcing us to deploy an impressive amount of effort to balance out the karmic effects."

"And that wouldn't be even the worst thing." Azazel interjected, sighing. "By mobilizing this much manpower, we would have had little to spare to stop an eventual full-frontal offensive from them."

I blinked in surprise as I didn't expect the opening of the Heavenly Gates to be this catastrophic.

"Still, I… I don't understand why this is of importance to me." I pointed out bluntly, quickly dignifying this curt reply. "While the situation is indeed dire, I don't see why I'm somehow important to the matter-"

"That's actually very simple, brat." The Governor-General interrupted once again, this time his stare moving right onto… the mysterious new member of Slash Dog.

The caped man didn't deign the glance at first but then he turned his head to look back at the Fallen Angel.

"By my order, as a superior to Ikuse-kun, you are to reveal your real identity at once, Tarasu."

I blinked in shock at the sudden wave of seriousness dripping from the voice of the leader of Grigori, but my attention was soon taken by the curious name.

Murder?

Assassination, kill, dead- you know, this truly fits the Emo-ish attitude the dude is sporting right now and-

The man stood up from his seat in the couch, slowly and carefully as several eyes were on him, some staring at him with curiosity while others were wary of him.

I tensed up a little as his hands went to his mask and… he pulled it away from his face, the hood falling and revealing his hair-

My mind blanked out as I found myself staring at-

What am I looking a-at?

…

'Interesting.'

Bandages were covering part of his face and hiding his left eye, his brown hair were stained with red locks and what should have been dark-brown eye… were now a vibrant red with golden slits.

"I'm Hoitsu Sakakibara." He stated calmly and with a surprisingly neutral tone. "And I'm the only one remaining from the erasure of my original dimension." His lone eye fixed on me and… he blinked. "And I don't wish to cause anyone harm-"

"Except Azrael and Lucifer." Azazel interrupted mirthfully. "That you looked rather eager to go for when the crazy angel tried to help the Hero Faction." He chuckled as he concluded that one bit of information.

But my brain had yet to recover to what I was looking at. At what happened to me.

This- No, it couldn't be- but- Okay, what the fuck is going on here?! Is this some prank or-

"But I forfeited this name when I wake up here," He continued with his dull tone. "For my purpose is just one." His voice steeled a little and… I nodded.

"You seek vengeance." I guessed quietly. "Only vengeance. You don't have a reason to exist after this situation is done for good." I blinked at his nod and then I sighed. "What about-"

"NIICHAN~!"

Before I could ask for more serious answers about his current situation, I was interrupted by the 'battlecry' of a certain young girl.

Lith blitzed from the entrance of the room to the couches, jumping towards… Tarasu. He blinked in shock at the sudden appearance of the pony-tailed girl, his body tensing up and preparing to move away but…

The girl giggled as she proved to be faster than him, tackling him up and pushing him down. His eyes widened in terror, as if he was afraid of the smiling girl sitting on his chest as she drove right by his chin and… nuzzled him.

Moments of quiet passed as Tarasu continued to appear incredibly tense, but doing anything else rather than staring in visible surprise at the dragonic chibi.

"Who is that?" A soft feminine tone called out from… behind me?

I turned around and felt relief at seeing Ophis staring at the scene herself, confusion surprisingly painted on her face.

"Another version of… me." I replied bluntly, my sight returning on the bandaged man. "From another dimension."

The goth chibi hummed and nodded at the answer, but still she didn't approach him, preferring to stare at the scene from afar.

She could be have been weirded out by the situation. It is quite the unnatural sight for sure.

Maybe, but what about-

I felt someone yanking at my shoulder and I stared at… Vali? The young man looked annoyed, his stare alternating between me and the now distracted Tarasu.

"We need to talk." The silver-haired boy stated calmly, getting a frown but also a slow nod from me.

I slowly stood out from my seat and followed him to the kitchen. Everyone was taken by the scene and thus I avoided being caught moving away from the room and I was quite curious to understand what The Lucifer wanted to talk about now of all times.

It's been a while since we shared a serious discussion and I was partly intrigued by what the young man would want to talk about with me.

He stopped and turn, his eyes closed as he looked… angry. "Do you believe him?" He asked with some irritation plastered on his face. "I don't think that this faker should be-"

"Lith and Ophis think he is genuine," I replied calmly, interrupting him as I now was somehow aware why he was angry. "And I can support their perception by saying that his energy is similar to mine."

Barely. There is just so much wrong in his magic that we should really understand what happened to him.

Do you think he has something inside him that could hurt us all?

Maybe, probably. But I will refrain from making quick decisions without proper evidence and with the seals on him, I don't think it will happen anytime soon.

"He could have been created by Azrael." The young man pushed back with a frown. "If he has everyone's souls, then it shouldn't be difficult to-"

"He wouldn't do it." I interjected without hesitation, drawing a confused stare from the Lucifer. "He thinks that I'm Lucifer and if I know something about fanatics is that they would never think of 'cloning' their inspiration." Humming, I took a seat by one of the stools by the table. "There is something unholy about the concept that make it abhorred by them."

He huffed, following my example and taking a seat. "I guess I can accept it and..." His features softened and sported now a tired glint. "I also need your help." He said determinedly.

I blinked once, then twice.

What?

What?

"What?" I finally asked and Vali merely nodded, his stare fixed at the table.

"There is this… nuisance that has started to stalk me around." He started to explain with a dull tone. "It all started from having her removed from the holds of a drunk hobo that wanted to steal her money and..." He stopped and I sighed tiredly.

"Vali, do you have a female stalker? An admirer?" I almost yawned, feeling little from that seemingly harmless tone. "I don't think that should be difficult to deal with-"

"She learned where I live, what path I usually walk by and she has a penchant of trying to guess the color of my underwear."

Now that sounds like someone very devoted to the Stalk God, Yuno is possibly feeling glad of having a servant-

It's not a Yandere we are talking about.

Are you serious? And why you said that with so much certainty?

Because you missed the last bit of her descriptions. The underwear bit.

What about it- Oh. Oh no… but also Oh yes~!

Without wasting more time thinking about it, I felt a teasing smile creeping on my face.

"I think I know the person you are depicting here and…" I put a hand on his shoulder and patted it. "I will certainly not endanger myself with her of all people."

He blinked and then he frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"It's Aika Kiryuu, spectacle-wearing girl with light-brown hair and-" He nodded and I stopped listing her known details. "Well, she is known as the 'Ultimate Perverted Girl' at Kuoh Academy. For good reasons too… and I've always avoided to personally deal with her because of that."

"You mean that you can't help me with her?" He seemed incredibly annoyed by this but not that much angry at my refusal.

"It's more like I can't help you directly," I admitted calmly. "But I think you can try to endure the 'wave' and hope for her to shift her attention elsewhere."

… "Like a cat or something like that?" He asked with a frown.

"A perverted kind of cat, one that could perfectly give you the measurements about your- nevermind." I shook my head and-

Bleach. I need bottles of bleach to deal with the horrifying sight that just flashed from the girl's perverted statements I've heard her say while facing the combined front formed by Sona and Tsubaki.

Moments of silence passed and I let the young man take in the fact that his situation was truly a hopeless one… at best.

Then, I remembered something I had to say to Vali but I had never had the chance to truly confirm.

"By the way, his your team still in Kuoh Town?" I asked quietly, the silver-haired boy nodding at the statement, his mind slowly leaving the 'horrifying' prospects of having to live with the whole 'stalker issue' for a longer time than planned.

"Arthur and Le Fey are mostly staying indoors at the 'headquarters'," He finally described. "Bikou spends most of his time by the park, either meditating, training or pranking bystanders around."

...Could it be that Bikou is the 'Monkey-boy' that has been terrorizing the park for weeks now?

Probably yes.

"So there is a chance to do a… group session of training?" I proposed quietly, causing him to frown back at me.

"What?"

I sighed. "We are working on a very tight schedule, with the Hero Faction and Azrael cooperating… we need to step up our game even more." I said with a confident tone. "That is why I think we should start to… train together."

…

"Would that mean that-"

"We would spar frequently, yes." I interrupted him quickly. "And I wish to explore the possibility of making use of a technique that requires two people to truly work."

He blinked. "How powerful is it?"

"My power plus yours, all multiplied by ten."

Vali's eyes widened at the small but impressive formula as the result would be… something beyond mere training.

"I… I think something can be planned." He admitted calmly.

"Then I guess we will speak tomorrow about it." I pressed him much to his chagrin. "C'mon, it will be… like old times?"

"When I got mauled by Tobio and you jumped in?" He asked cautiously, groaning only after seeing me nod. "You might be a good person, Hoitsu, someone that is interesting to have around, but I would be lying in saying that I don't hate you."

I merely smiled, standing up and leading him back to the living room as things had calmed down and… plans were being made.

Things sure were going to turn fun very soon…

Sirzechs wasn't having fun.

Groaning and having some minor trouble standing after sustaining this much damage so quickly, he would have expected that his lovely wife would have at least called off the spar.

The maid was standing just outside the large area where the battle was happening, her red eyes staring at both him and… his opponent.

Smiling giddily as her body was coated in her own magic, Rias Gremory looked like she was having a blast in completely obliterating her big brother. Her tracksuit was partly ruined with small cuts and lacerations all over the fabric, her cheek sporting just a tiny cut despite the intense training session they had gone through.

It had all began from the day Hoitsu had come to visit and 'pep-talk' his sister to finally do something else rather than merely play with her PC for most of the daylight. The girl had come out from her 'cave' a few hours after the young man had left, her interest being… going for a run around the mansion.

A surprising decision, but one that the man praised happily as he regarded it as the first sign that she could have recovered from that period of isolation. If only he had thought more about the odd request…

The first day out was spent running. Only running.

She made around a hundred of laps around the building, her Devilish physique helping her to complete the normally-absurd exercise without any major strain to her body.

The second and third day was spent training her magic alone, something that was a little worrying to hear about but Rias still managed to go through the hours-long session without any major issues. He had thought of his concerns as mere brotherly worry, but soon things stepped up to a… strange level.

The laps around the mansion doubled, tripled and then quadrupled, her Core increasing and improving under the careful duress it was put onto and then… she developed an odd quirk.

It was a bizarre day when Sirzechs was called by his own mother to see what her daughter was doing in that very moment. There was no worry nor concern in Venelana's tone, thus he had been fairly unaware of the scary activity his sister was soon going to call a 'hobby' of hers.

He had appeared by the courtyard, his parents standing several meters away from the circle that took him there, and they were all staring at… a giggly Rias carefully climbing the eaves above the main front doors.

There was proper equipment, there was also a tutor specialized in urban climbing and parkour slowly giving her some advice on how to proceed with the activity and… the unofficial leader of the Four Satans was forced to take a seat and reflect about what was going on with his sister.

This training… had at first sounded so senseless and quite childish, knowing very well that the girl was strong enough for someone her age and then the spar was offered.

A simple query given with a honeyed tone that only spurned him to accept as a good brother… only for his smiling face to be matched by a quick jab at his chin.

Differently from the last time he had 'played' around with Rias, the younger redhead had started to use a more direct approach than merely throw a barrage of condensed magical power.

This change wasn't for nothing, as Sirzechs realized something that he should have noticed before this humiliating session could have even began. While his magical prowess was still unmatched, his close-quarters was rusty and terribly out-classed by the hard-working sibling, her speed and physical strength being shockingly higher than his own.

He had tried to keep her away from him by backing quickly out from the confrontations but any attempt about that was easily dealt with a rush of numerous low-powered explosive spells thrown at him. Distracting too much proved to be a mistake as she would then capitalize to resume the close encounters and… deal some considerable damage on his unfocused guard.

Her hits were stinging and soon he was forced to bring out some more of his untapped energy. A wave of Destruction energy coaxed around his sore self.

"I-I think it's time to surrender, Rias-tan." Sirzechs was grinning while saying this, confident that his sister wouldn't have gone against him with some of his truer strength out. "You can't handle the-"

He stopped as he saw Rias grinning eye to eye, almost expecting him… to go that far.

She wouldn't have dared to, and yet-

The girl took a deep breath and then she muttered familiar words. Words that she wasn't supposed to know about and yet… she was going to use it.

"Kaioken!"

Her power doubled, outshining his own boost in mere moments as she made use of her stronger state to rush for a quick taste of its unique potential. All punches went through his defense, much to his chagrin and pain, and the final kick sent him flying back to the ground.

He groaned, feeling quite irritated of being beaten so easily by his younger sibling (His cute Rias!).

That was unacceptable and he will now show her his true power-

"Rias wins." Grayfia's voice echoed in the damaged battlefield, causing the two redheads to stop in shock at that proclamation. "Sirzechs is out-of-bounds." She explained curtly, pointing out that he was indeed sitting several meters away from the arena's special floor.

His head sagged for a moment in crushing defeat, his sister throwing her hands up in the sky as she let go of the technique. "Yatta!"

...Part of him would have wanted to contest the judgment of his lovely wife, but even then the mere moment of celebration from his cute little sister was more than enough to get him out from the post-spar gloomy mood. In fact, he cracked a small twitchy smile at her as he walked towards the two women.

"T-That was impressive, Rias-tan-"

"'It is time to surrender'?" The girl interjected with a mocking tone. "'I cannot handle the pressure'?" She ended with a minor snort, shaking her head. "Forgive me, Niisan, but it seems like you handed yourself this defeat."

He facepalmed and groaned, it didn't help that his wife was actually smiling at that caricature of him. "I-I was trying to-" He sighed, knowing that it wouldn't matter at the clearly excited girl. Still, he decided to ask about a concern of his. "By the way, Rias-tan, how did you develop the 'Kaioken'?" His inquiry was met with a blink, then two.

"It was actually from cousin Sairaorg." The girl said with a confused tone. "Don't you remember? He was the one mentioning it when he returned from the Phenex invitation to lunch." She let out some anger at the mentioning of that family, her irritation directed at Raiser still there.

In that moment, Sirzechs did remember that the young man had been quite lengthy about his explanation of the technique, a clear sign that he had been intrigued by it and that he was possibly going to integrate it in his own arsenal… like usual.

But despite receiving minor attention from Zeoticus and Sirzechs, Venelana and Rias did listen to his narration and, while his mother did this for family's sake, the younger redhead did that to… acquire such a terribly powerful boost.

"I-If I remember correctly, wouldn't that need some major training other than-"

"Meditation was easy to do in my room." Rias interjected with an annoyed look. "Also, I had to build some muscles." She rolled up one of her sleeves and… yes, her arm was a little more toned that he had last seen it. She was also a little taller and her bust-

"Niisan, stop staring at my chest." She huffed angrily, her reaction followed by the more subtle, but promising 'a terrible night of tortures, coming from his wife. The maid looked irritated, but she had herself noticed that the former heiress had grown a little more than before.

It was in the Devil's biology, the capacity to adapt their growth to their convenience until there was a proper dedication of the Devil itself to absorb nutrients and steadily train.

Rias had done so and she had improved a lot from that.

It was shocking but, the maid would be compelled to say that the girl was almost as strong as she was… without the Kaioken.

But just as they were about to leave the training room within the mansion, they all stopped and turned at the sound of someone clapping at them.

Smiling happily and slowly advancing towards them, Zekram Bael seemed to be in a good mood from the way his entire stance was… so relaxed.

"A perfect display of ruthlessness and power, grandniece." The man praised the girl, his clapping stopping as he was finally close enough to speak. "But I can only guess that this little spar hardly got you to use your full power, correct?"

The young Gremory blinked but… nodded at him, knowing that she could hardly refuse his questions.

His smile widened at the information.

"That's good to hear." He admitted with genuine interest. "Almost makes me wish to put you against your cousin but…" He paused with a sigh, noticing the brief spark of fear at facing the stronger opponent. "I think it would be a waste to have something so barbaric, among family."

He blinked, his smile assuming an endeared tone. "But what if it wasn't family? What if it was… a chance for redemption-"

"Her punishment can't be swayed, Elder Bael." Sirzechs jumped at this, his face steeling in a serious look. "The judgment can't be overruled-"

"But that isn't my plan, Lord Lucifer." The old man replied with a cold tone. "In fact, I was thinking about testing her resolve in facing someone that can offer her a full pardon if he thinks she is ready."

"W-What?" The girl blurted in shock.

What was he talking about? No one could-

"If the major offended side feels that the culprit has paid more than enough with their penance, then they can fully pardon the culprit." Zekram explained curtly, getting a snort from the leader of the Satans.

"That is a rule that is applied if there is a case of war-"

"And forgive me then, Sirzechs." The Bael interrupted with a scowl. "Do you think that with a group of silly 'heroes' and war-craving deities trying proclaiming war against us, this is still peace for Hell?" He shook his head. "And to think I was the one that vouched for you to be the 'Lucifer' of the council-"

"Enough, Elder Bael." The man finally snapped with cold fury. "Your presence is no longer accepted and it's preferred that you avoid being around me and my family."

"But isn't young Rias my own family too?" The elder stated blankly as he turned around and started to walk away. "Such a pity..."

And while the former Lord of the Bael clan retreated out of the room, Rias's mind started to face a terrible series of conflicts.

Many regarding the situation of her punishment, her improvement and… what if she could truly be pardoned?

It wasn't like she would return to her usual routine now that she found interesting training in her free time… but she would be lying if she said that she didn't miss Kuoh Academy and her peerage.

She sighed and remembered that Hoitsu was going to have to fight with Sairaorg, the date imminent by now and… then maybe, when the event would happen, her mind would be prepared to have something to say and do for the occasion.

Whatever it is asking for true forgiveness… or maybe seeking praise about her humble growth.

AN

It's been… a while?

I mean, I've been doing stuff for the story, but I don't think many have noticed 'the changes' I've been bringing to the plot.

If you go to chapter 26 to 30, you will see that some mistakes have been removed, some sections have been expanded and I plan to change some bits of the plot when my holiday break from updating begins.

Yes, I will not be updating anything of the regular schedule from December 23 to 30, and I will focus on the newer projects, fixing some of the mistakes left in the last… 40 chapters or so and I will add some Oneshots to this fanfic. What about?

I can already say the first one will be a pilot that will Xover with… another pilot. Not many pilots nowadays so… I leave you to guess which one I'm talking about.

Also, I would love to hear some more feedback from ya'll because if I want to change things, may it be grammar or 'things that have to go', I would like to hear 'proper' criticism. What is that? Well, it's when you don't go moderated (or not too cynical, but also not too kind about the review).

And lastly, I've a Cofi (but with the K) account. I've seen that many have some trouble with the monthly donation thingie, thus I decided that this new one (which is single donations) could be a little easy to… go around.

Future milestone 1: 1000 Followers and Favorite.

P a treon . com (slash) socialistbukharin

k o-fi . com (slash) justbukharin

REVIEW Q&A!

Wacko12: Difficult but possible.