I own nothing but my OC(s).

Chapter 6: A Fox and a Cat

Kyoto, Japan, Yasaka's Palace

After waking up and doing his normal morning routine, which meant eat something and then wash his face and teeth, he changed in his usual training clothes: workout loose black pants and a grey long sleeved t-shirt. His training and sparring made him sweat a lot so there was no need for a hoodie or whatever.

He got out and locked the door of his room. Before he could make his way towards the training grounds, he was met with Kunou who was waiting for him.

"Yo." He was the first to greet her, raising a hand as a salute.

"Good morning Keith-kun." She greeted him back. She was not that tense as last night, but he could feel that she was still nervous. "Hokori-sensei said that something very important came up so it will be only me, you and Kuroka-chan."

"Alright." He said and they both started walking together. Keith almost snorted when he saw Kunou glance at him every 10 seconds. She looked as if she wanted to ask him something.

'Jeez, she couldn't be more obvious.' He deadpanned.

"You know" He started. "if you have something to ask me, just ask."

She blinked for a few moments until she sheepishly rubbed her neck.

"Sorry." She said, then gained a serious expression. "May I know if something happened between you and mom yesterday?"

'That's blunt.' He was surprised she asked this out of the blue.

"What do you mean?" He was curious to what she was getting.

They both stopped walking as Kunou was looking him in the eyes.

"I…" She hesitated for a bit. "felt her scent all over you."

Keith widened his eyes.

"Uh…I talked with her." He said cryptically.

"About?" She raised an eyebrow at him. She was calmer now than last night, so that was good.

He sighed.

"She told me about her uhm, ex-significant other." He decided to be honest with her. What good would it come if he lied to Kunou after all?

The kitsune was surprised to hear this.

"So she told you about…father?" She said father with such animosity that startled Keith slightly.

"She did." He nodded.

"So?" Her anger quickly turned into fear. She began to play with one of her tails out of nervousness. "W-What do y-you think…of this?" She asked. "Of me?"

Keith merely tilted his head, then shrugged.

"I don't think anything." He said easily. "Anyone is free to do whatever they want to do." He then gave her a small smile. "Your father made his choice, so everything you and Yasaka have to do now is to live your lives." He put a hand on her shoulder. "As of what I think of you" He began. "is that you are a beautiful young woman who has a good head on her shoulders, you are kind and very powerful."

"Do you really mean that?" She asked him, a smile making its way on her lips, as well as a blush on her cheeks.

"I do." He nodded. "I have no reason to lie."

Before he could say or do anything else, Kunou clasped him tightly into an embrace, her tails deepening it.

"Thank you." She whispered tenderly. "I really appreciate it."

Keith for his part began to turn blue as his head was shoved into her ample bosom. He started to try and wiggle his head out of her tits, but only managed to make her moan.

"Ah! Not so r-rough Kei-kun!" She moaned, her blush becoming redder. "Oh, I think it's time for us to go and train Kei-kun, or else Kuroka-chan will whine all day." She didn't receive a response. When she looked down at him, she yelped seeing him unconscious and his hand twitching, then grabbed him by his shoulders and shook him gently.

"Kei-kun?" She asked slowly but he didn't say anything. She then gave him another shake, yet still nothing happened.

"KEI-KUUUUUUN!" Everyone on the same floor of the palace heard her scream.

"Nyahahaha!" Currently, a black haired Nekoshou was having the laugh of her life, rolling on the ground. "I can't believe you almost died from boobs, nya!"

"It's not funny." Came the voice of Keith whose eye was twitching, showing that he was becoming irritated.

"It surely is, nya!"

"I am sorry Kei-kun." Kunou apologised, though an amusing smile threatened to make its appearance on her face.

"It's fine." He sighed. "And Kei-kun?" He cocked an eyebrow at her.

"Mm! It sounds cuter!" She said beamingly. "Don't you think, Kuroka-chan?"

"Yup!" The Black Cat nodded. "You don't like it, nya?" She feigned sadness by lowering her ears.

"It doesn't matter if I like or not." He deadpanned at her. "You are going to call me that anyways, correct?"

"Mm!" Kunou nodded, a teasing smile forming on her lips. "Or would you prefer darling?~"

Keith just exhaled and shook his head.

"Now then, should we begin training?" He asked the two.

Kuroka nodded lazily while Kunou just smiled and grabbed his hand.

"Kuroka-chan here will create a barrier so we don't destroy anything." Kunou informed him. Keith nodded and looked at Kuroka working her magic. In an instant a transparent barrier surrounded a part of the training grounds, big enough to move without limitations.

Kuroka then snapped her fingers and all of a sudden, a forest spawned, Keith and the two Youkais finding themselves in the middle.

The young man gave the Nekoshou a confused expression, waiting for her to explain.

"Since Hokori-san let your training in our hands today, me and Kunou-chan decided to spar with you in a different setting, nya."

"And a forest helps because…?"

"Because it will challenge your sensing capabilities, as well as how fast can you react when something or someone attacks you without seeing them." Kunou answered him. "Plus it is funnier this way."

He shivered from the predatory looks the two were giving him.

"Why funnier?" Keith hesitantly asked.

"Let's just say that we waited to spar with you for some time now, nya." Kuroka told him, a fanged smile adorning on her face.

"Mm!" Kunou nodded. "Plus, I really wish to know how strong you have got."

Keith gulped, but nodded nonetheless. It wouldn't be that bad, right?

"Now, the first to spar with you will be Kunou-chan, nya." Kuroka said. She then snapped her fingers as a bench materialized out of thin air. She sat on it and lazily shooed them away.

"Right…" The Longinus wielder said dryly, then looked at the kitsune. He summoned forth the True Longinus, resting it on his shoulder. "Ready whenever-"

He held his Spear horizontally to block a pair of claws coming at him. Then the pair of claws grabbed the rod of the Holy Spear, holding it tightly.

"Impressive, Kei-kun." Kunou nodded approvingly, then she got him closer to her using the rod of the Spear. "But, I am merely starting." She winked at him and vanished.

Keith held his Spear tightly, his eyes focused and his senses sharp, trying to anticipate from wherever Kunou would strike.

He heard a rustle of leaves from his right side and sure enough, Kunou appeared suddenly, her claws long and sharp, ready to stab him in his side.

'She's fast as hell!' He mentally screamed as he barely managed to dodge her attack. Barely because she got to cut a piece of fabric from his grey long sleeved t-shirt, making a claw cut mark on it.

He already knew that the fox was fast, but it never failed to amaze him.

"Oi!" He yelled annoyed, seeing his cloth damaged. "I thought we were sparring, not killing each other!"

Kunou just smirked as she appeared a few meters away from him.

"We are, but I merely wanted to see how fast you could react." She said innocently, as she didn't almost cut him open seconds ago. Before he could say something else, she dashed forward, raising and stretching both her claws.

Keith would have been shish kebab if he didn't parry them with the Holy Spear. Kunou's smirk grew seeing him manage to defend himself against her attack, so she decided to raise it a notch.

She jumped back and willed a ball of fire to come to life.

Keith widened his eyes, knowing what it is to come, so he braced himself by holding the Spear tight, ready to act.

Kunou, seeing this, hummed and giggled.

"I forgot you already saw my fox-fire." She said. "It doesn't matter, however a small advice." She wasn't that sure he could manage that well against her fire, so she lowered the intensity and power of the flames so that he won't get hurt that badly. "Dodge it."

She then threw the ball of flames towards, which to Keith's surprise, split into three smaller balls.

Squinting his eyes in determination, he didn't move. He took in a breath and in three swift moves, he cut the balls of fire, making them disappear.

Kunou was pleasantly surprised by this, as she started clapping happily.

"Good, good, Kei-kun!" She exclaimed. "Hokori-san didn't bluff when he said that you could join us in missions."

"I am not ready yet." He said simply. "While I am honoured that he thinks so highly of me, I am not sure I may be of big help."

"Shush, Kei-kun." She vanished and appeared in front of him, surprising him, then bonking him on the head, eliciting a grunt from him. "If Hokori-san said that you are prepared, then he is not just saying it for the sake to be said."

"Right…" He said, massaging the spot Kunou bonked him. "Whatever, shall we continue?"

"Mm!" She then dashed towards him, conjuring flames in her own hands, creating the form of a shorter spear with a sharp tip. When her flame spear collided with the True Longinus, Keith grunted as he held his ground.

He then began to push against Kunou, making the fox smile at his resolve. She then began pushing as well, making him grit his teeth and adding more force.

Seeing that he was being overpowered, he vanished in a burst of speed and appeared on Kunou's left side. He thrust the Holy Lance with the intention to stab the kitsune, only to be met with nothing.

"Oh, so eager to hurt me already, Kei-kun?" Kunou asked jokingly.

"Well, Hokori-sensei said that one of the most important rules in fighting is to come at your enemy with the intention to hurt or kill them."

At first he was against the idea, but Hokori explained to him that if he were to do otherwise, it could get him killed. It was fine in a spar, but in a serious fight, he would die.

This made Keith think hard and finally accept what his sensei said as true.

Coming back to the current spar, Kunou gave him a smile and nodded.

"That is true, Kei-kun." Kunou agreed. "And if you were to come at me without the intention of hurting me, then you would have lost." She said.

"Yes." He bobbed his head in agreement. "It also shows that you respect your enemy."

She then vanished once again, this time significantly increasing her speed, and appearing before Keith who widened his eyes at her sudden emergence, unable to block her next attack. She threw a punch right in his stomach, launching him off his feet, right into a tree. When he collided with the ground, he began to cough and held his stomach as he slowly rose, staying on his knees. In all this time, his Spear flew through the air and stabbed itself in the ground a few meters away from him.

"T-That's a mean r-right." He groaned as he pushed himself up, standing straight once again.

"Why thank you!" Kunou exclaimed. She was a bit worried that she might've overdone it, but seeing as he was able to stand, it meant he was fine.

Keith held out his palm, calling the True Longinus back into his outstretched hand.

"Neat trick Kei-kun." Kunou whistled, but she quickly went on the defensive as Keith vanished from her view and was ready to hit her with the bladed part of the Spear as he swung it, if not for her very trained eyes. She crouched and jumped to the side, making some space between her and Keith.

"You recovered faster than I thought." Kunou admitted.

"Hokori-sensei trained me in my durability as well." He simply said as he dashed forward and unleashed a flurry of fast stabs and swings on her.

Kunou for her part, managed to dodge or parry his attempted attacks, but was more than amazed at how strong he has got. At his final thrust, she grabbed and used the True Longinus do jump over it, then she got close to Keith, using two of her tails to wrap his hands and another two to yank the Holy Lance out of his grip. She then hit him in his chest with the flat of her palm, throwing him on his back. Kunou then took the moment to marvel at the mighty Spear in her hand, ignoring the tingling which she felt in her right arm.

"N-Not f-fair." Keith groaned as he coughed and forced himself to get up back on his own two feet.

"Nothing is fair in battle Kei-kun." She chided half-serious half-playful.

"I know." He sighed and got his breathing under control.

Kunou let got of the Lance as it flew back into Keith's hand.

"Now." She smirked as her eyes became slightly slitted. "Shall we-"

"Wow, wow, time out, nya!" None other than Kuroka made her appearance in front of Kunou. "Your half an hour time sparring with Kei-kun ended, nya."

Kunou puffed her cheeks out. She wanted to show him her true form as a reward for holding his own against her!

"But Kuroka-chan-"

"No buts foxy-chan, nya." She wiggled her finger at her. "We promised."

Relenting, Kunou sighed and crossed her arms under her chest, making the fabric around it seem strained to hold it in.

"Fine."

"Good." Kuroka then looked at Keith teasingly. "It's time for me to have you all to myself for half an hour, lover boy, nya." Her lips formed a small pout when she didn't receive the reaction she was looking for. Keith merely nodded as he rested the Holy Lance on his shoulder once again.

"Now if you wouldn't mind, foxy-chan." She shooed Kunou away, who gave in return an annoyed look towards the cat Youkai, but smiled when she looked at Keith.

"Good luck, Kei-kun!" She exclaimed and disappeared.

"Well then lover boy, should we begin, nya?" Kuroka gave him a toothy grin as she coated her right arm with Senjutsu.

"Huh, so I don't even get a break?" He asked sarcastically as he readied himself in a stance, holding the True Longinus in his right arm, slightly behind his back, putting his left foot forward, while he held his weight on his right foot.

"In a real fight nobody gives you breaks, nya." She said, a knowing look in her eyes.

"I know-"

Before he could continue, Kuroka spoke.

"However, seeing how much Kunou-chan played with you, I will allow you to have a 10 minutes break, nya."

Keith was surprised, but thankful nonetheless. He could fight Kuroka right now, but it wouldn't take long before he would get too tired and unable to continue, so a break, even small, was more than welcome.

He willed the Holy Lance to disappear as he let himself fall on his back, letting out a contented sigh, until Kuroka's words registered in his brain, he rose and stayed in a sitting position.

"Wait…played?"

The Black Cat giggled as she sat near him.

"Yup!" She nodded. "Don't tell me that you believed she would go all out, right, nya?"

"Umm…h-how m-much power did she use?" Keith asked nervously. How strong were they?!

Kuroka rubbed her chin in thought.

"Not really sure, but all I can say is that if she wanted to end the spar fast, she would've, nya." Kuroka laughed when she saw his pale face.

"R-Right…then…how strong is she?" He was more than curious to hear what he fought.

"Yasaka-sama explained to you about how the Devils rank their power classes, right, nya?"

"She did." Keith nodded.

"Well then, in terms of overall power, I would say that Kunou-chan would be around the middle-end of an Ultimate-class Devil, nya." She said, making Keith widen his eyes. He fought a being that strong?! "But if she were to go in her true form, then I believe she would reach high-end Ultimate-class, nya."

The Spear wielder was out of words as he heard this. Kunou had a true form? The hell is that?

"Do you know what her true form is?" He regained his composure back.

"I do, nya." Kuroka said, but held up a hand to stop him from asking the obvious question. "You will see it when she wants you to see it, nya."

Little did she and Keith know that it would have been sooner than they thought, if a certain somebody didn't interrupt the kitsune.

Keith sighed, but nodded. The two fell in silence, until Kuroka decided to break it.

"Did you adjust to this life, nya?" She asked him.

"I did, or at least almost." A question came into his mind. "I forgot to ask Yasaka, but how strong is she?"

Kuroka gave him an amused smile.

"Don't faint, nya." She said playfully.

'Why would I faint?' He asked himself.

"She is close to Super-Devil class, and if she takes her true form, then she might as well be more than a challenge for those like Sirzechs Lucifer, nya."

Keith almost chocked on air upon hearing this piece of news.

Suddenly, he became very self-aware that he was surrounded by power-houses who could not only make him disappear in a blink of an eye, but could also demand whatever they wanted from him.

"Yasaka-sama and Kunou-chan would be sad to see the expression you have right now, nya." Kuroka said, her lips turned into a frown. "I believe you know that they wouldn't harm you in any way, Kei-kun, nya."

Keith closed his eyes and nodded.

"I do." He said. "I'm just very surprised."

"I know, nya."

"What about you?"

"Hm?"

"How powerful are you?"

Kuroka thought about it for a bit.

"I would say that I too am an Ultimate-class, however I am slightly weaker than Kunou-chan."

'Great.' He thought dryly. While he knew that everyone was stronger than him, he didn't expect them to be this strong.

"Very impressive." He said. "I am sure all of you trained hard to get here."

"I know I did at least, nya." Kuroka said. "I had to get stronger so I could protect my little…sister, nya." She said sadly as she remembered of a certain white-haired girl.

"Ah, sorry if I made you remember something painful." He said honestly.

Kuroka shook her head. "It's fine Kei-kun, nya." She then looked at the sky. "Perhaps some time in the future I will tell you about it, nya."

"Huh?" He didn't expect her to say that. "Why?"

Her hazel-gold eyes locked with his grey ones.

"I am not too sure myself, nya." She said with a small smile. "Anyway, your 10 minutes break is over, nya."

Keith groaned but got up on his feet and materialized the Holy Lance.

Kuroka jumped backwards and landed gracefully on her two feet.

"So eager, nya." She said, a seductive smile on her face. "Are you that eager to jump into one on one action in bed as well, nya?"

Keith didn't react much, he just gave her a flat stare which made Kuroka giggle. She would have pouted if she didn't expect it, but this was Keith she was teasing, so she ought to do more than this to embarrass him.

Without wasting any time, Keith jumped high and vanished mid-air, then he reappeared on Kuroka's right side and swung his Spear at her. When the Spear made contact with Kuroka, she disappeared, leaving a confused Keith looking at the ground.

"My, my, such a naughty boy, nya." Her voice resounded throughout the space they were in. She then giggled. "Let's see how good you are at sudden attacks, nya."

Keith had to jump on a tree branch in order to dodge an aura bullet of Senjutsu.

"Good, nya." Kuroka's voice resounded once again. "But you will have to do better than that, nya."

Keith widened his eyes when he watched Senjutsu bullets headed towards him from every direction. He had to move fast. He started to jump from branch to branch, managing to dodge most of them, until one almost hit him in his chest, almost, because he used the True Longinus to parry it.

"Impressive, Kei-kun!" Kuroka shouted delightfully. "Your speed is certainly going to be your main attribute."

Keith didn't say anything. He listened closely in order to pinpoint Kuroka's exact position.

"Oh, so you are trying to find me, nya?" Kuroka asked. "Let me make it easier for you then, nya."

Before Keith could say anything, three Kurokas appeared a few meters away from the tree on whose branch he was situation on.

"Now, guess, nya!" The three Kurokas dashed forward, so Keith didn't have time to think much about it. He grasped the Spear tightly and jumped forward, aiming for the one in the middle. When the tip of his Spear made contact with the middle Kuroka, it turned out he chose wrong, as it was a mere illusion.

"Wrong, nya~." He felt her breath against his right ear. Then with a powerful rounded kick, he was sent down to earth, creating a small crater, making him gasp for air.

"While your sensing abilities are much better than a regular human's, you still have much work to do, nya." She said.

Keith groaned as he got up, using the Holy Spear as support.

"I know." He said simply. But a small smirk appeared on his face as he dashed forward with high speed, swinging the True Longinus and attempting to slice her. He theorized that she wouldn't be that good at close combat like Kunou.

Kuroka's eyes widened slightly, but quickly regained her composure as she dodged his attack and jumped back, creating some distance between herself and Keith.

Seeing this, the young wielder followed her as fast as he could, not letting her get away.

"Smart, nya." Kuroka whispered, seeing what he was trying to do. He was attempting to keep her in close combat.

Kuroka then created some more illusions of herself which made Keith jump back, creating distance between them, exactly what Kuroka needed.

She willed the illusions to fade and coated her hands in Senjutsu, then shot out aura bullets of it towards Keith.

On his part, Keith held the True Longinus with both his hands and pointed it towards the upcoming attack. From its tip, holy energy came out and vaporized the Senjutsu in an instant.

"Oh, so you can use the Light Projection, nya." She dodged the blast by jumping over it, then she landed gracefully on her feet. "I am sure you are not going to die from this, Kei-kun!"

Keith started sweating when he heard her.

"W-What?!"

He widened his eyes when the mist he saw her use started to come out from around him.

"You don't have to worry, nya!" She said. "I was sure to make the mist less dangerous, so the worse you are going to experience are head pains, coughs and you will probably faint, nya!"

"Oi!" This sounded bad enough already! He immediately held his breath and covered his mouth and nose with his hand.

He managed to jump over it and stay on a tall tree's branch. He didn't inhale too much of it, so he was only experiencing slight head pains, which were annoying, but bearable.

"You are more resilient than I thought you would be Kei-kun, nya." Kuroka admitted. "However, I believe it is time we finish this, nya."

She snapped her fingers and countless balls of Senjutsu appeared behind her.

Keith was left speechless. How the fuck was he supposed to dodge or do anything against that?!

"This is so unfair." He mumbled. He readied himself. He would lose like a man!

Seeing his resolve, Kuroka smiled good-naturedly.

"Here it comes Kei-kun, nya!" She then sent the attack at him. Keith managed to dodge or destroy the most balls with his Sacred Gear, but ultimately, he was overwhelmed and sent into a tree hard enough to make him fall unconscious.

"You did surprisingly well, Kei-kun." Kuroka said, approaching him. "To think that you would be able to hold your own against me this much, nya." She sat down and placed his head on her thighs, caressing his hair gently.

"You truly are very exceptional, nya." She said softly. "I guess what they say is true: humans have an undying will, nya." She giggled. "You kept your cool and faced the impossible, nya.

She bent forward and whispered in his ear seductively.

"Very hot, nya."

She stifled a chuckle seeing him twitch.

After 10 minutes, Keith began to stir. He noticed that his head was sat on something soft. He didn't yet open up his eyes, so he decided to investigate the weird smooth material his head was feeling, by touching it with his hands.

He got up faster than anyone could see, stiff as a pole, when he heard a moan.

"Oh my, so touchy, nya." A sensual voice said. Keith was now fully awake as he looked at Kuroka's teasing smile.

He cursed when her smile widened, meaning that she could see his almost non-existent blush.

"Aha!" She pointed towards him. "So you can blush, nya."

"I never said I couldn't." He argued.

"True, nya." Kuroka giggled. "Well, how do you feel, nya?"

"Sore, tired, half-dead." He said blankly, making Kuroka laugh.

"It is to be expected, nya." She said. "You have fought not one, but two Ultimate-class beings, nya."

"Right."

"Anyway, seeing as you are standing now, it is safe to assume that you are ready to go back, nya?"

"Yeah, I am good enough." He nodded, stretching and sighing in satisfaction hearing his muscles cracking and popping.

"Good, then let's go, nya." She grabbed his hand and both of them disappeared.

When they reappeared, they were met with a beaming Kunou who was waiting patiently for the two of them.

Her smile however became twitchy when she saw Kuroka holding hands with Keith.

"Ah, you finally finished." She said, quickly renewing her smile. "How did it go?"

"Well, he managed to last the whole 30 minutes against me, nya." Kuroka praised. "He is definitely ready to start doing missions, nya."

"Mm!" Kunou agreed. "That is what I was thinking."

"Um, I don't think-"

"Shush you/Shush you, nya!" The two gorgeous women yelled at him.

Keith rose his hands in surrender, not wanting to aggravate them any further.

"I believe it is time for us to return to the palace." Kunou said. Kuroka nodded and snapped her fingers. The barrier disappeared and they were once again on the training grounds.

"Kei-kun, Yasaka-sama said that she has some important news to tell us, so she expects us in her meeting room in an hour, nya." Kuroka informed him.

"What news?" He asked curious.

"She didn't tell us either, which is a bit alarming." Kunou said.

"I see, then I will take a shower and eat something really quickly." Keith told them. "Then I will join you."

Before he could leave, Kuroka snaked her arms around him, pushing her soft and big breasts against his back.

"Oh, would you like me to join you, nya?" Kuroka asked teasingly. However, if he were to say 'yes', she would most likely didn't mind.

"Hey!" Kunou grabbed Keith and got him out of her embrace, only to hug him herself, squishing her breasts against his chest. "I am sure Kei-kun wouldn't like to have some horny cat accompany him in the bath!"

For his part, Keith fought his upcoming blush.

"Oh, then would you like to join, nya?" Kuroka's smile grew as she saw Kunou's cheeks become red.

Before Kunou could say something else, Keith magically disappeared out of her arms, gave them a bow and ran, as if he wasn't almost dead 10 minutes ago.

"My, my, so cute, nya." Kuroka said, looking at Kunou. "The Princess has a crush, nya~."

Kunou blushed deeply, but steeled herself.

"So what if I do, huh?!"

"Oh, nothing, it's something new, nya." Kuroka said. "It's very cute, nya."

Kunou started to splutter, but regained her composure.

"Y-You won't tell him, r-right?" She asked, giving Kuroka a pleading look.

"Hmm~, I don't know, nya~." She teasingly said, holding a finger to her chin.

Seeing Kunou's distressed reaction, Kuroka started to laugh.

"Don't worry Kunou-chan, I am not going to tell him, nya." She said.

Letting out a sigh, the fox relaxed.

"Thank you, Kuroka-chan."

"But you will have to act sooner or later, unless you want him being stolen from you, nya~." She spoke in a singsong.

"W-What do you mean?" Kunou's expression became fearful at the thought of her Keith being with some random bimbo! Wait…her Keith, where did that come from?!

"Oh, nothing, just saying, nya~." Kuroka giggled and left the kitsune to her own thoughts.

"I will tell him." Kunou told herself resolutely. "Soon."

She then went inside the palace to take a bath herself.

After Keith took a shower and ate something, he met up with Kunou and Kuroka and made their ways towards Yasaka's meeting room.

Kunou opened the door, not even bothering knocking, where the three were met with Yasaka's troubled face.

"Hey mom." Kunou greeted.

"Ah, hello you three." Yasaka said, her voice was soft.

"Is something wrong, Yasaka-sama?" Kuroka asked, worried by the strongest Youkai's face.

Yasaka sighed and massaged her temples.

"Apparently, the number of Stray Devils started to grow, at an alarming rate." She said. "In the last hours, there were reported 10 attacks, 20 Youkais died, however 1 out of the 10 Strays that attacked managed to escape."

Kuroka and Kunou frowned, Keith however kept an impassive expression.

No, it didn't mean that he didn't care, he was merely thinking.

"Did any of these Strays say anything?" Kunou asked.

Yasaka shook her head.

"Where were these attacks occur?" Keith asked, making the three women look at him.

Yasaka snapped her fingers and a map of the attacks appeared on the table.

Keith took it and squinted his eyes.

Most of the attacks didn't grab his attention, however four of them stood out: the Toji Temple, the Heian Shrine, the Fushimi Inari Shrine and lastly the Yasaka Shrine.

"Do these places have something in common, Yasaka?" He asked the kitsune.

"They are the most important places in Kyoto, as well where most humans go and pray." Yasaka told him, then she widened her eyes as she realized. "They are all dedicated to me by Amaterasu-sama."

"That's it." Keith said. "I believe I understand now."

"The one who brought the Strays into Kyoto chose to attack all the shrines that are mine, indirectly attacking me." Yasaka said, her voice soft. "The one who did this is after me."

"Perhaps…" Keith said, then glanced at Kunou, but quickly looked back at the map. "Or maybe he is after the Youkais as a whole."

"What do you mean, nya?" Kuroka asked.

"The one who did it could have simply just overwhelmed this place with Strays, but his efforts would have been futile given the fact that you three are very powerful."

"He seeks to draw our attention so he could attack here when most Youkais are out." Kunou said, narrowing her eyes. "But even so, he couldn't hope that he would be able to beat mom, right?"

"He believes he can, however I highly doubt it." Keith said.

"This is troublesome." Yasaka sighed. "We need to find out who this person is." She said. "And fast."

"Were there any human casualties?" Keith asked.

"No, only Youkais."

"Interesting." The young man rubbed his chin in thought.

"It is getting late." Yasaka said. "I want you all to rest, since starting with tomorrow you all will begin searching for clues."

She then eyed Keith.

"I want you to be extra careful Keith-kun." Yasaka told him. "While I've heard many good things about your development from Hokori-san, I ask, no I order you to come back unharmed." She said seriously.

He wanted to argue here. Logically, it wasn't possible for him to come unharmed, even if he wanted to.

"Are we clear?" She squinted her at him.

"Yes." He nodded.

"Good, well then that is all." She said. "You may spend the rest of your day however you like."

The tree bowed and left the room.

"We should stick together." Kunou said as soon as they left. "Me and Kuroka-chan can take care of ourselves, but I am worried about you Kei-kun."

Kuroka nodded in agreement.

"I will be fine, Kunou, Kuroka." He eyed them. "I won't do anything rash."

"While it pleases me hearing you say this, we should go together." Kunou insisted.

"Of course, no problem." Keith said. He could see she was worried, plus it is not like he could argue against the idea anyway, not that he wanted to.

"I have some connections that could probably help us, nya." Kuroka informed them. "I could ask around to see if anyone saw anything, nya."

"Good idea Kuroka-chan!" Kunou praised. Kuroka then disappeared in a magical circle, leaving the Kyuubi and the human alone.

"What do you wish to do, Kunou?" Keith asked her.

"I was thinking to talk with those who fought the Strays." She told him as she started to walk. "Maybe they could tell us some important information about them."

Keith nodded as he followed her.

He couldn't help but think that from tomorrow onwards, his life would become more and more interesting and eventful.

A/N: Hello people! Exiled here. Soooo, this chapter was a bit harder to write since I had to think on how to develop Keith's relationships with both Kunou and Kuroka. I probably should've taken it one by one, but eh. I have decided to work more on Kunou first, then we will see. Fret not however, since you will see more of both Kunou and Kuroka with the next chapter, and most likely Yasaka as well.

I am not sure how well I managed to write the scene with Kunou and Keith where she 'confronted' him about what happened with her mother, nor am I too sure how good I have written the fighting scenes, but I hope it was decent enough!

Anyway, let's move to the reviews.

GhostlyDrew: Thanks mate! Yeah, I can agree that I have rushed a bit Yasaka's sharing with Keith, but better now than never right? :P Thanks for reading!

Neo Infinity: I first thought too that the "Seven Treasures" were the True Longinus' Balance Breaker, but apparently not. So yeah, I have decided to create my own. Thanks for reading mate!

jharrell819: I didn't really say that it has YET to show A Balance Breaker, I only said that its Balance Breaker was never showed, I meant the actual BB, but I get your point. Also I already knew about the whole Truth Idea stuff, but thanks for telling me. I appreciate it! Also, thanks for reading!

Dante687: Thanks man! I am pleased to hear that you too like the True Longinus.

Kreceir: Thanks mate! I really appreciate that you like the story so far! Now, it's perfectly fine to hate Issei, or whoever. I personally don't hate him, nor do I absolutely like him. I am in a balanced state ya see. I don't really care that much about him. He is just a protagonist in a harem anime. Also worry not! This story will focus on Keith and his group. I will admit that I am going to add some canon at some point, BUT, I will try to change some of it here and there so to make it more…maybe interesting dunno, but nothing too major. I do not intend to make Issei some sort of second MC, so yeah, that's that. Thanks for reading!

Guest: I am sorry to hear that you lost interest. I was originally against making him too lazy and live his life on his own since it didn't really make much sense to me. How could an untrained human be able to survive on his own ya know, but I understand what you are saying, thank you for reading!

Oke, so that's that. Nothing much else to say…I am sorry if there are any grammatical or speeling mistakes, I do my best!

Oh and also, I decided to make Yasaka, Kunou and Kuroka that powerful because…why not? Nah kidding, I wanted Yasaka to be close in power to the other Faction Leaders, Kunou doesn't really have a power rank so I decided to simply make her an Ultimate-class, and about Kuroka it was stated by Koneno that her powers rivalled an Ultimate-class, so yeah. If I forgot anything, I will probably remember in the next A/N lol.

Stay safe & sound!