Chapter 18- Cure for the Itch

I didn't have to wait too long and I'm gonna be honest, I startled her.

The moment she walked through the doorway and saw me sitting there, she jumped.

It hurts to see the impression I left on her.

The bruises I left on her were worst.

For a moment, I saw it. I saw all the possibilities and I didn't like any of them. It all resulted with either me telling her to sit down and talk to me or her heading upstairs before I could say anything. That was not acceptable for me. I was wrong and all I did was stand there. I couldn't see what happened after, and I will not pretend to know what the future holds down those timelines.

Acting before she could look away, I quickly slid out of my seat, turning towards her and falling onto my knees and I forehead-plant on the ground. "I'm sorry." I didn't yell or make a bigger spectacle of it, outside of the kneeling, my words were soft, but I'm sure she heard it. The only reason I say this, is because she patted me once on the shoulder before heading back upstairs. Though I'm sure she's forgiven me a bit, I couldn't help be still feel guilty. But I guess I'll deal with that another da-

"FAAAAAAAAAATE!"

I sprinted up those steps at the speed one would only reserve for their souls as it was sucked into heaven by the grace of God. Following the shrieks I found myself kicking in the doors to the meeting room. I got treated to one of those 'how do I get into these situation?' images. In the middle of the room was the two cat girls from earlier, pinning Mitsuru to the ground switching between nuzzling her and licking her in various places. Clothes are still on you pervs!

"STOP WATCHING AND HELP ME DAR-" She go interrupted when when the snow leopard one stuck her tongue into Mitsuru's mouth.

I really wish I had my duster on me right now... Oh well. Shaking out my left hand and letting the bracelet rattle, I take one step into the room and immediately the two cat girls notice. And by notice, I mean, they hop right off Mitsuru and slid into a kneeling position in front of me. I was not expecting that.

Yeah... the glassy-eye doll stares... kinda creeping me out. They weren't jumping me or anything, just kneeling there.

Blushing and fidgeting.

A lot.

Mentally facepalming, I take a deep whiff of my arms. Despite the sour smell of sweat, the smell of sake was still there. Glancing back at the two felines, I could feel a sense of dread building. The general fidgeting slowly became isolated to their butts and the way they were licking their mouths... "LUCIFER!"

"I'm right here, kiddo. No need to yell." A hand appears from behind one of the couches. Yawning loudly, a rather sleepy looking Lucifer appears. Gracefully hopping over the couch, he takes a spot just a bit off-side of me, but not quite between me and the horny catgirls. "Welcome back, kiddo. Now, what's with the ruckus?"

"Is there any chance, that I can get by today without the risk of sodomy?"

"Give yourself a nice long shower." Before I can let out a sigh of relief, Lucifer quickly points to them, "Them as well."

Oh, if only I could put the 'wtf face' I had on at that moment into words. We'd all have a laugh. So. According to Lucifer, since they both had a taste of my lifeforce/chi (blood), all I had to do was consummate the contract by cleaning the excess blood off of them as well as restore them to a sound state of mind. Lucifer also quickly added, what with my hands wrapped tightly around his neck, that I did not need to have sex with them, just a cold shower with me and a kind action would do it. I do feel kinda bad of trying to strangle Lucifer, since at this close proximity, I could see the claw marks on him.

But I'm never going to tell him that aloud.

This feels like a good time to take a break and explain the dorm's bathroom. It's about as big our dorm rooms and tile covered. No toilets, but there is a sink. The floor is on a slight slope towards the center where a drain is located. There's a bathtub in one corner and a standing faucet-nozzle combo thing opposite of it. I really don't understand the cleansing customs in Japan, so I just spend most of my time sitting under the nozzle as cold water rains down on me. Oh, there's a slightly sectioned off area near the door for clothes and towels. There's also a sink and mirror opposite of that.

Anyways, I find myself quietly sitting under the nozzle, like I normally do, but I'm wearing a small towel around my waist with my boxers underneath. Felicia has her head bobbing in the tub like a happy alligator while monk-cat is actively trying to get closer to our general area while actively dodging the running water on the floor and Felicia's occasional splashing.

As amusing as it was for me, I realized that it was only time before she slips and either hurts herself, me, or fall into the tub. Flipping the switch so the water went from the nozzle to the faucet, I pulled up a small stood in front of me before giving it a tap.

And that's how I spent about five minutes in awkward silence using a wet washcloth to clean up the monk-cat's arm, tail, and back.

This got awkward all the same. It started when I began wiping down her back and she moaned. She fidgeted in her seat before turning around to face me in her full nekkid glory. Not gonna lie, they were impressive. After being ogled for a bit, she blushed and slowly began to spread her legs. Before it could spread much further, I placed the washcloth on her head and nope'd the fuck right out of there.

{Lilim: Aww. You shy boy. You totally missed-}

"Gate: Lilim." Grinning at her surprised face as she poof-ed into my world, "You get the privilege of properly cleaning them off and drying them. Have~ fun~!"

{Lilim: "No! Master, don't do thi-!"}

And with a click, I closed the door behind me.

Grabbing a nice sugary drink, I did feel kinda like I neglected someone, "Gate, angel.". Slightly unbalanced, she quickly regains her bearings and gave me a disapproving look. At least I think it was. Pretty sure her brows are furled. Holding up the can towards her, "Sippy?" Crossing her arms, she just huffs at me. Shrugging, I just continue drinking.

{Angel: "Well?"}

Looking at her with an innocent look on my face. Can't help but feel like it's a waste, but c'est la vi. " 'Well?' what?"

{Angel: "How can you do that to lilim? And don't say, 'Do what?' You know exactly what I mean."}

"Look, you can't tell me you weren't tired of all her flirting. Time to see if she's all talk or not."

{Angel: "But she's a virigi-."}

"I know." And that's where she just stared at me, mouth agape and all that. Finishing my drink, I crumple it up and got another. Cracking it open, "I know she's a virgin. Not just her, the whole lot of you. ... So long as mutual masturbation still counts as 'not doing it'. Otherwise the Felicia-looking chick and I...yeah... Point being, I get a feeling that nothing too drastic will happen. Some feeling, nuzzling, maybe even licking- Why the fuck am I out here and not peeping?" Sighing and shaking my head, "Point being. I have a feeling that tells me, that her virtue will remain intact."

{Angel: "How can you know something like that?!"}

Holding up my hand and placing my index finger to my lips and looking over to the bathroom doors. Neither of us had to wait long. A click and a slow creak later, Felicia pretty much bounces out fully dressed with a towel in her mouth. Judging from the way the clothes were sticking to her, not completely dried... Behind her was Seni, hat on with a towel wrapped around her, but otherwise naked. Pulling up the rear was a very drenched and very miserable looking lilim. I was tempted to say something snarky, instead, I just held out my can of soda as a reward. Taking up the soda and placing a dry towel in its place, I tap my foot in front of me. Kneeling with her back towards me, I carefully and gently begin drying her hair. Oh. And angel was hovering over yonder beside me with her mouth open.

Properly drying everyone, the lot of us head back to the meeting room. The whole way, angel is just pestering me, {Angel: "How could you have possible known that was going to happen? You have no way to see the future. Do you? No one but our Father could have foreseen that, so how did you?"} Grumbling and letting out a huff, "Really? Is it that hard to believe that a simple mortal can have a form of foresight?"

{Angel: "It is not so much that you could foresee that worries me, but with foresight comes with a loss of hope."}

"... No, I do not possess foresight. Ultimately it comes down to two things. One, I'm pretty good at reading people and you demons aren't that much different. Two. '...something something... walk by faith, not by sight.' Or however that verse goes."

{Angel: 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 7: For we walk by faith, not by sight-"}

"Sounds about right. Let's get going."

A short hop back upstairs, I find the rest of the SEES has returned and is, or was briefed by Mitsuru. Starting to feel a bit paranoid, but I'll crack on for now. These are my friends and teammates, gotta trust them. Pointing my thumb behind me, I show the two kitties are cleaned. Lucifer gives me a good pat on the shoulder with promise of my next summon by the time the Dark Hour hits before poof-ing off. Before I could take a seat and begin explaining myself, Felicia, as I am now prone to calling her, glomped onto my back. Dancing around a bit to regain my balance, I could feel her nuzzling me while her tail tickles the underside of my chin. Giggling a bit, "Thank you for taking me in Master. I promise to do my best for you!" Feeling her peck me on the cheek, she reaches past me and grabs onto my bracelet and vanishes.

Not gonna lie, it's a bit strange to be getting all this... physical attention. A bit overwhelming in fact. Shaking my head a bit to clear out some... rather dirty thoughts, I try to regain some sense of composure and was almost successful when a hand grabbed my shoulders and turned me around. Shocked, I locked eye-contact with Siri, who, after a moment, gave me the business end of her mouth and tongue. I kinda expected it to taste kinda like meat or seafood of some sort, stupid and cliche, I know, but really, it tasted more of berries and fruit-sweetness. We stood there, kissing, when I felt something pulled from me and something put back in its place. I'm not really sure how to explain the feeling. Kinda like, when you lose something and then spend the next few waking moments desperately searching and then finally finding it. That's about close, I think. After the exchange, I guess it could be called, Siri broke away first and just looked at me. Nodding, she spoke to me in Cantonese, "I am now your yew jing and you are my owner." Kneeling, she takes my hand and kisses the beads before a poof.

Standing there in a daze I just mumble out, "Did I just take on some concubines? Because I feel like a misogynistic pig who just started up a harem."

Junpei, by virtue of being Junpei, wrapped his arms around my shoulders, "I have no clue what you're complaining about man. You are surrounded by babes that would totally do anything for you at a drop of a hat!"

Wrapping my own arm around Junpei and giving him a pat on the shoulder, I really tried to explain this part as slowly as I could to him, "Junpei. Old buddy. If I take advantage of these women. In any way, shape, or form. I will mostly likely be murdered by our own dorm mates. At which point, my soul will go directly to a special layer of Hell. A layer designed for men who take advantage of women in their care and those that talk in a theater. So. How about, instead of trying to get me killed by our friends, you take a seat and I'll tell you what happened to me last night?"

I told them only what I thought they needed to know. I completely skipped over the other persona user, how I nearly got grenade-d, about the team attack, or Undertaker shrinking down. But other than those few small things, I honestly told them about everything else. I also left out the Cai's and my new gun. I'm not dragging them in on that. I think a few of them think the story has some holes, but they just aren't saying anything about that.

Mitsuru was there massaging the bridge of her nose before looking at me, "Let me get this straight, Fate-kun. After you left the dorm, you apparently had a lapse in memory."

"Dissociative fugue is the condition, I believe." Added in a somewhat helpful manner by me.

"Sure. We'll go with that. After the fugue, you picked a fight with a gang in the back of an alleyway, at which point the Dark Hour hit about mid-fight? And you somehow managed to fight through more Shadows than we've ever even seen. To date. Without so much as a scratch on you?"

Looking over towards Junpei and Minato who, thankfully, got the clue, "That's not entirely true Mitsuru-san. Junpei and I had to carry him from school all the way back to the dorms."

"Yeah. Dude, had this nasty gash going from his butt down to his knee by the looks of it."

I couldn't help myself. I really couldn't. I want everyone to know that I really, really, really tried. Smirking at Junpei, "Oh, I'm sure you had a good look at the... gash. Wink."

"Wha-wha... Come on, dude! You know ex-exactly what I meant!."

"Of course I do. I can I never mistaken your actions Junpei. The way you were so gentle as you carried me back. The comforting words you whispered to me." Placing my hand over my heart, I had that 'you-touched-my-soul' look at Junpei, who was so flustered that he couldn't even defend himself from all the accusing stares. No longer able to hold it in, I had to wrap my arms around my ribs as I cackled loudly just to stop the pain and to keep breathing.

Junpei, being less than please, was struggling to get pass everyone to try and strangle me. Growling in frustration, "Come on! Let me at 'im! Just one hit! Come on! He'll survive it anyways!" To Junpei's credit, it was taking the efforts of the entire dorm to hold him back.

With that bit of fun over and done with, we headed to The Tower as soon as the Dark Hour hit. Really, how strange it's become. I've now started to call it Dark Hour and I'm rather enjoying my time here in Japan instead of seeing it as a distraction. I should really start keeping a journal, I think my shrink once told me to do something like that to the darkness at bay. And it's not like I have much to do- Taking out a dart, I effortlessly flick it at a maya that was sneaking up behind Minato. It's loud screech instantly notified him and he squatted down and slashed right across its mask. Minako, having heard a screech behind her brother used her naginata to pole vault over her squatting brother and finishes it off.

{Amy: "Darky?"} Feeling a gentle pat on my cheek, I was startled out of whatever I was thinking of. Smiling, I tapped my index finger on my lips, only when Amy nodded did I gently rub her head. Heading towards my group as soon as they finished off the last shadow and collected their loot, "Alright guys! Did a flawless job back there. So proud of all of you. As usual, a few small critiques. Swat and shoot: Yukari, you need to stop hesitating. Take the shot. Junpei's a big boy, he can take a hit. Worse-comes-to-worst, I'll redirect angel to start patching him up. If you can't do that because you're worried, start making cover shots, make your enemies hesitate or stumble so Junpei can capitalize. Junpei, once again, it's a katana, not a blunt weapon. You need to use the push-pull motion for it to do significant damage. Either that, or I'll go buy you a two-by-four with nails hammered in instead. Lilim, good job backing them up. Terror twins: Slow the feck down. You're making your other team look bad. And take some hits, otherwise angel will start to lag behind as a healer. And angel, you're doing a great job despite the fact that these two refuse to get hit."

"Dude, when are we going to move past these floors? All we get is chump change down here."

Scratching the back of my head uncomfortably, "Junpei... Look, we don't get to train often and I just don't want us getting in over our heads."

"Aww, come on Phatiamon-san~! Don't you trust our skill?" Minako was doing that pout-y sad puppy eyes thing.

Leaning my head back and groaning, "No fair! Alright, alright! Let me do a quick check." Closing my eyes, Hey Orobas, how are my summons coming along?

{Orobas: "Well, since Amy's persona card is linked to her, she's furthest along, having just learned her last spell. Lilim and Angel have yet to find their cards and therefore cannot learn new spells. You haven't used any of the she-cats and therefore they are untrained. Orpheus's training has lagged a bit but he does have a fire spell at least. Same for Apsaras. Your fellow party members have their third spells. With this level of preparation, you should have little trouble with what lies ahead.")

Nodding my head with a smile, Thanks buddy. "Alrighty, I think we can press on." Their immediate cheer kinda put a damper on my mood, but thus was the under-appreciated life of a commanding officer.

"Whoa! This place is huge!" Craning her neck, Minako just stared, mouth wide open, at the sheer height of the of this floor. While everyone else followed suit, I was honestly worried about not being able to see a ceiling. Looking back at the others, "Stop acting like some bloody tourist and move. I don't want us getting caught with our pants down."

The hallway was relatively short and free of enemy, which put us all on edge. It wasn't until we ended up in a massive room of nothing but open space and still no visible roof that the sense of foreboding reached a head. Each of my friends were doing various little tics: idle plucking, rattling the sword in the sheathe, hell, I saw Minato drumming away on the face of his blade. Telling Amy to stay behind with the others, to better watch my back, I quickly found the hallway that lead out... hopefully. But the moment I took a step towards the doorway, well, I imagine what I felt was the same as being clipped by a shotgun blast of flechette rounds. The only warning I had was a loud screeching squawk and a slight fwooshing noise.

Having been caught off-guard, I was knocked flat on my ass!

But there was some good news. I could see them now. Five of them flapping and circling above us.

Almost as soon as I spotted them, but before I could warn my team, the bird-like shadows stop circling and flap in place.

And now they are dive bombing at us.

Author's note: Finally done with the chapter! Holy crap! So many hours at work and no days off. But that's over and done with. Now to something important. I feel stupid for having only thought this up. Big shout out to the following: uub, KafeiDetour, True-Oblivion, InfernoPhenex, Story Reader 97, Skeleturd, BLACK FLAME09, and Geme ookami for putting me on story alert. Another shout out to KafeiDetour, True-Oblivion, InfernoPhenex, SomeRandomBoredGuy, Skeleturd, BLACK FLAME09, Geme ookami, MysteryofOrigin, and DamonMaddox for adding my story to their favorite. And my last shout out is a big thank you to everyone reading this. Despite my spotty and rather random updates, I never thought I would ever get 2, 700+ views.

Thank you.

Regarding the next chapter, I'm hoping to finish the Venus Eagle guardians and then the priestess full moon battle. Here's hoping I can finish in a timely manner!