I own nothing but my OC(s).
Chapter 10: More Problems
Kyoto, Japan, Yasaka's Palace
After everything that transpired so far, Keith was more than happy to take it a bit easier in the past days after he woke up since he felt sore all over his body, as well as tired most of the time. Yasaka told him it was a consequence of him using the incomplete Balance Breaker of the True Longinus which he wasn't exactly ready to use yet. Of course, the time of relaxation has come to an end soon enough as today was the day he resumed his training.
With a sigh, he made his way towards the usual training grounds as he was reflecting on what Yasaka told him about Balance Breakers: they are unlocked by intense emotions, as well as constant training. That is why Hokori told him that the moment he can move around, they will start training again. Keith was thankful for the training he has done so far, because it helped his body recuperate faster than it would have normally.
When he reached the training grounds, he saw not only Hokori waiting for him, but also Kunou and Kuroka.
"Yo." He said as he rose a hand in salute.
"Good morning, Kei-kun!" Kunou greeted bubbly. "I hope you had a great night's rest."
"I did." He nodded.
"Oh, were you having naughty dreams, nya?" Kuroka teased. "More specifically, naughty dreams about a fox, nya?"
Kunou's cheeks immediately turned pink as she looked at the black haired woman.
"Kuroka-chan!" She exclaimed incredulously. "What are you saying?!"
"Hm? What? I only said 'a fox', it could be anybody, nya." Kuroka said, then looked at Kunou with an amusing grin. "Now, I wonder, why did you become so flustered about it, nya?"
"N-No reason." The young Kyuubi averted her gaze away from the Black Cat.
"Ufufu, did you think I was talking about you, nya?"
"What?!" Kunou screeched. Keith was looking at the two bickering with one another, well rather Kunou was the one who was bickering, Kuroka had a delighted grin on her face as if she was proud of herself about something.
"Ahem!" Hokori coughed loudly in his fist. "If you two are finished with your squabbling, I believe it is time for us to begin."
He looked at Keith.
"In the past month, I trained you only how to use the True Longinus as well as the most basic abilities it has, like the light projection and how it can extend itself, but from today onwards, we will step up your training." The wolf said.
Keith nodded. "What does this mean?"
"It means that we will work on perfecting your speed even more." Hokori said. "As you are right now, you may fight on par with a Low-Class and maybe even a Middle-Class being, however if you were to go against a High-Class, you would lose."
"From what I remember, you held your own against a six winged Fallen Angel, but hadn't it been for the White Dragon Emperor, you would have died." He continued.
Keith tightened his hands into fists as he remembered his duel with Tariel.
"While it will be harder for you to catch up with other races in terms of speed and strength, that doesn't mean it is impossible." Hokori grabbed him by his shoulder. "I know it may be frustrating to be weaker than others, but through devotion and perseverance, you will become strong soon enough."
"How do you know that?" Keith asked.
"I have met many humans in my life, Keith." Hokori said. "One, in particular, remained engraved in my memory. His name is Vasco Strada."
"Who is he?" The young man asked curiously.
"He is a Cardinal Priest working for the Vatican." Hokori answered. "I met him once on a mission which I was sent on by Yasaka-sama to investigate about some stray exorcists." The wolf said. "I thought at first he was one of them so imagine my surprise when a human was able to deflect Gae Buidhe using nothing more than his fist."
"Woah." Keith exclaimed.
"From what I remember, he is known as one of the most, if not strongest human to date." Kunou chimed in.
"I heard Devils speaking of his amazing strength when I used to live in the Underworld, nya." Kuroka added. "Many couldn't believe that he was human."
"And you think I can reach that?" Keith looked at Hokori incredulously.
"With time, yes." The wolf nodded. "From our very first spar, I could see that you had talent for the spear. All you have to do is to keep up with the training and, of course, to gain experience from real battles."
"I will try my best." Keith said, determination glinting in his eyes.
"That's what I wanted to hear." The wolf Youkai let a small smile to grace his face. "Well then, as a start, I want you to spar against Kunou-sama, using nothing else but your speed." Hokori said. "She will attack you and you will dodge, but nothing else, got it?"
"Yeah." He nodded as Kunou moved in front of him, a few meters away.
"Good. Begin!"
After he shouted, the young fox didn't waste a single moment. She dashed forward and threw an unexpected punch at him which sent him backwards.
"Expect the unexpected!" Hokori yelled from the side-lines.
With a nod, Keith shook of the pain he felt in the stomach.
"Okay, I am fine." He told Kunou.
"Sorry if I hit you too hard." The fox had an apologetic look.
"No, it's fine. No pain, no gain right?" He let out a short chuckle.
"Again!" The wolf yelled one more time.
This time Keith had to lean backwards as Kunou performed a high kick which would have hit his head. He then moved his head to the sides to dodge a series of straight punches.
"Not bad." Kunou complimented. She then low punched at him, making Keith jump backwards.
He had to dodge to right and left as the Kyuubi followed after him and threw a series of punches at him. He ultimately needed to dash out of the way of a front kick.
Kunou then threw a fake punch at him, then went for a knee kick. Keith would have dodged the punch, but he failed to see the unexpected, thus was hit in the stomach, making him stagger backwards.
"Okay, enough!" Hokori said as he looked at the panting human. "Decent speed, however, you need to work on your reaction time more."
"I know." Keith nodded. "What am I to do?"
"For now, the best option for you is to keep sparring with us until it will become similar to a sixth sense."
"Of course it is." The young man sighed. Considering the supernatural exists, you'd expect for a spell or something to help him out with that.
"Don't worry, Kei-kun! You will become better in not time!" Kunou said cheerily. "Believe it or not, we all started from the bottom."
"She's right, you know, nya." Kuroka chimed in. "Not everyone is born with immense powers and strength, nya." Her face then scrunched in disgust. "Take my old master for example, he was a High-Class Devil, but I managed to kill him without breaking a sweat, nya."
Keith choked on spit when he heard what she said.
"Wait a minute…you killed your own master?"
"Yup!" Kuroka nonchalantly said. "The bastard had it coming anyway, nya."
The young man didn't say anything else. Sure he was curious, but he could see that it was a sensitive topic for Kuroka, so he didn't ask anything else.
The Black Cat sighed upon seeing his curious gaze, but appreciated he didn't pry any further. She knew that she would have to tell him sooner or later, they were…friends right? Ever since he came a month ago, she found him very tolerable. He didn't ask any more questions when the topic of something unpleasant came up, he didn't pretend to be something else than he really was, he wasn't a control freak and he didn't behave like a know-it-all. So in her book, he was a good person.
After that, the training session continued smoothly, with Hokori instructing Keith how to use the True Longinus more defensively, other than just to block attacks.
He learned that he could use the spear's light to shortly stun enemies, giving him time to reposition or to sneak in a quick hit. Of course this tactic would work differently depending on how powerful the enemy is and how quickly they would recover.
Then Hokori showed him how he could channel his magical power directly into the spear and create new abilities.
"What do you mean, new abilities?" Keith asked confused.
"By pouring your magic power into the spear, it will make the holy energy from within the spear react." Hokori said. "Let me show you." He outstretched his hand and in a moment, Gae Buidhe appeared in it.
The wolf then poured some of his magic power in the cursed spear. The weapon instantly began to shine an ominous dark aura.
He stabbed the spear into the ground and immediately, vines made out of cursed energy burst out of the ground with the intention to root anyone daft enough to come near them.
"This is an ability I have created myself." The wolf said proudly. "Now, it's your turn."
With a nod, Keith clasped the True Longinus tightly in his hands and concentrated. The Holy Spear's bladed tip began to glow in a faint light.
"Good, now think what would you like to do with it." Hokori instructed further.
Keith closed his eyes and thought deeply.
Hokori, Kunou and Kuroka started at him curiously to see what will he do.
Then, he suddenly opened his eyes and hit the ground with the butt of the spear, and in an instant six spears made out of holy energy resembling the True Longinus manifested themselves around a tree and impaled it in various places.
Keith was more than pleased to see it worked, showing it through a smile. Sure, it wasn't much, but it was a start. A very welcoming start.
Instantly, he felt his head being squished between a pair of soft pillows.
"You did it Kei-kun!" Kunou exclaimed happily. "I am so proud of you!" The only response she got was the young man flailing his arms around and moving his head to the left and right, eliciting a moan from her.
"You may want to let got of him, Kunou-chan, unless you want him to die of asphyxiation, nya." Kuroka said, then a teasing smile formed on her lips. "Or do you enjoy the sensation of someone being trapped hopelessly between your breasts, nya?"
The young fox immediately let go of Keith and looked at Kuroka with a big blush on her face.
"K-Kuroka-chan!" She cried out.
Keith was inhaling air greedily, a small blush was plastered on his cheeks.
'Oh man, I thought I was going to die!' He shivered. 'They were really soft though.' He wasn't ashamed of thinking that, it was the truth.
"Good job, Keith." Hokori praised. "Keep it up and you will have some abilities to work with soon enough."
After he finished training, Keith was more than pleased with how it turned out. He learned a new trick he could do with the True Longinus and he managed to create his first very own magical attack.
"Where are you going?" Kunou asked him before he could leave the palace.
"I wanted to check on Tanaka-san." He told her.
"Who?" The fox woman tilted her head, giving her an adorable and cute look.
"The boss of the place I worked at before I was attacked by that Stray."
Kunou rubbed her chin in thought, until she remembered.
"Ah! The man you sent here when you were attacked by the Fallen Angel."
He nodded. He was sure that Daiki was more than fine, but he wanted to make sure. Yasaka told him that she erased his memories of that day and that she sent him to his house after she sought its location in his mind.
"Yeah. I just want to see how is he." Keith said.
"You won't mind if I were to accompany you, right?" She asked with puppy dog eyes.
"Of course not. You are welcome to tag along." He told her with a forced smile. What kind of overpowered weapon was that?! And why did she used it in the first place? He would have agreed for her to come with him without thinking twice. He then started to walk, Kunou hid her tails and ears, happily following after him.
The two were strolling through Kyoto, enjoying the beauty of the city and making small talk, with one asking questions and the other answering, or vice versa.
"So, what made you work there?" Kunou asked curiously.
"Hmm. Well, the need of money and that I always liked baking." He shrugged. "I always enjoyed watching mom bake cakes whenever she had the time." He had a nostalgic expression on his face.
"Ah, sorry. I didn't mean to make you remember something sad." Kunou apologised, believing she resurfaced something unpleasant.
"It's fine." He reassured her. "You have nothing to apologize to me for Kunou."
She didn't look too convinced.
"It just made me remember of the time before my mother died, that's all." He said.
"I…see." She still was having a frown on her face, but it quickly turned into a pleasant smile as she thought of something. "Would you bake me some of your cakes when you have the time?"
"Sure." He grinned at her. "It would be an honour to bake for the Princess of Kyoto." He jokingly bowed.
"Of course it would be." She puffer her chest in pride. "Be grateful that a woman of my calibre even thought of talking to you!"
Both of them chuckled at their own silly "role play".
When they reached their destination, Kunou finally saw the place where Keith worked at: a small bakery, no bigger than a bungalow, meaning that it had only one storey. The building itself was nothing special, but this didn't mean that it was a dump. The walls were made out of concrete and painted in white, from the upper front were hanging vases with all kinds of flowers in them, giving it a more natural look. It had a welcoming feeling to it and Kunou could see people walking out of it with pleasant smiles on their faces.
"It looks nice." Kunou commented. "And cosy."
Keith nodded. "Let's go."
When they entered, Keith was relieved to see that Daiki was the same as he was when he left. Running through the tables and taking orders from customers. There was enough space to allow tables to be placed inside.
"Ah Keith, good to see you." Daiki greeted as he offered him a hand.
"Likewise, Tanaka-san." The dark haired young man grabbed the offered appendage and shook it. "I see you are busy as always."
"Indeed!" He laughed, then turned his attention to Kunou. "Who is this beautiful lady?" He mock gasped. "Does the man of few words finally have a girlfriend?"
Kunou immediately blushed at the insinuation, only for her mind to create dreamy fantasies with her and Keith being together, her eyes became glazed and she began to giggle.
"No." Keith deadpanned, instantly shattering Kunou's mental images and returning her to reality. "She is a…colleague of mine in the place I currently work at." He half lied, then yelped when he felt someone pinching his side. Turning to the right, he saw Kunou who didn't look at all pleased about something and she was adorably pouting.
"Um…is something wrong?" He asked though gritted teeth as she pinched harder. He breathed out however when she let go, 'hmphed' and turned away, crossing her arms beneath her already more than gifted chest, making the men in the bakery have bleeding noses in an instant. Those who had girlfriends or were married were instantly scolded by their partners, some worse than others.
Keith sweatdropped when he saw a guy being pinched by his ear so hard that he began to cry, making his wife grin diabolically.
'Sadist.' He shivered.
"Oh, and here I was thinking that she managed to break through your cold heart." Daiki laughed.
"Oi." Keith looked dryly at the old man, not hearing Kunou whisper 'Not yet'.
"Anyway, what brings you here?"
"I just wanted to come and see how you are." The young man shrugged. Daiki didn't remember he met Keith in the park a few days ago since Yasaka erased his memories.
"I am good, thanks." The old man informed. "The business still works fine and people still like to come here."
He then turned to Kunou again.
"May I know the name of the gorgeous madam?"
"You may. "She giggled. "My name is Kunou Kiiro." This made Keith cock an eyebrow at the family name.
"Well Kiiro-san, a pleasure to meet you." He grabbed her hand and kissed it, eliciting another giggle from the under disguise Youkai.
"Please, just 'Kunou' is fine and likewise"
"Very well. Now it was good to see you again Keith, but I need to return to my customers."
He and Kunou bid the old man goodbye and left.
The two were walking in a comfortable silence, until Kunou broke it.
"He was nice." She said with a smile. "One could clearly see he loved what he was doing."
"Yeah. Daiki always did his best whenever it came to the bakery." Keith nodded in agreement.
Suddenly, Kunou stopped walking and narrowed her eyes.
"I smell the scent of a Devil." She said. "Not a Stray."
"Should we investigate?"
"They are in Youkai and Shinto territory unannounced, so be cautious." She warned. "They are not far away from here."
"HELP!" The scream of a female resounded. The two looked at each other and immediately began to run towards it.
"This doesn't make sense." Kunou said as they were approaching a church. The church was of Shintoism belief but it would hurt a Devil all the same.
"PLEASE LET ME GO!" The female voice screeched.
"It sounds from behind the church." Keith noted as he and Kunou quickly made their way there.
Prior to five minutes, a young girl with long blonde hair and blue eyes was calmly waiting in the front an abandoned church. She was dressed in a white nun outfit with a matching veil over her head. She was looking at the desolate holy building with sad eyes, silently praying to God, asking for his forgiveness towards those who let it become like this, even if the church wasn't meant for Christians.
"Excuse me, are you the one who came to help me?" A polite voice said. The nun turned to her left and saw a gentle-looking, handsome young man with dark green hair. He wore a simple grey t-shirt and blue pants. He was currently covering a deep cut on his side.
"What happened?" The nun asked worriedly, quickly coming to his aid, only to stop before she could do anything.
She looked at the young man with wide eyes and began to tremble. Visions of her helping him and then him kidnapping her clouded her mind.
"Hm? Is there something wrong?" She took a step backwards.
"P-Please don't h-hurt me." She said with a shaky voice.
"Hurt you?" The young man tilted his head. "Why would I hurt you?"
The visions then became more violent, showing her broken, in pain and despair. She took more steps backwards as she gulped.
"P-Please, l-leave m-me a-alone." She stuttered.
She saw him come forward and instantly attempted to run away, only for her legs to not move. When she looked at her feet, they were trapped by a binding spell.
"Ah, I don't know how you were able to see through me." The young man's voice lost its gentle tone, being replaced by a creepy and sinister one. "Doesn't matter. It won't stop me from turning you into my toy." He gave her a wide sadistic smile.
"HELP!" She screamed.
"Oh yes, I love it when they scream." He licked his lips. "Let me see you better." He started to approach her as he used the same binding spell to trap her arms.
"Ah such fun will we have together." He caressed her cheek.
"PLEASE LET ME GO!" Tears began to run down her cheeks, trying to futilely move. She couldn't do anything to run away!
'Please Farther, help me!' She prayed in her mind. 'Please, I beg of you!'
"Get away from her, Greeny Boy."
As if her prayers were answered, before the lecherous teen could do anything to her, he had to jump away when a blue spear impaled itself into the ground.
Keith and Kunou arrived on time to save the young nun. The Longinus wielder recalled the spear back into his hand.
Without saying anything, Kunou immediately appeared before the now unconscious nun. She quickly broke the spell and caught her in her arms.
"You are safe now." She whispered gently into her ear. "He can't do anything to you."
"Now, who are you, Vegetable Head?" Keith asked as he rested the spear on his shoulder. "From what I know, Devils aren't exactly that welcomed here."
"Shut your mouth, filthy human." The Devil snarled as in a flash of light his clothes changed. From the humble clothes he was wearing, now he was cladded in expensive garment befit for nobles. "You are but a mere piece of trash which is not even worthy to be stepped on by the likes of me."
"Woah, someone got a superiority complex huh?" He looked at Kunou as he made his way to her and the sleeping nun.
"What is a High-Class Devil like you doing here?" Her eyes were narrowed, boring into him.
"That is none of your concern, animal." He spat. "Don't think that creatures like you can talk to me like we're equal."
"Is that so?" She asked as she disappeared and in an instant she hit the boy flat out in the stomach with her Touki coated punch, sending him on his back, a few meters away.
He groaned as he got up and hatefully glared at Kunou.
"You dare touch me! The heir of the esteemed Astaroth Clan!" He was surrounded by a green aura which quickly dissipated when Kunou flared her own, making him step back in fear.
"I couldn't care less whose family heir you are, Devil." She coldly stated. "If you do not leave Kyoto this instant, you will meet Shinigami-sama."
Gritting his teeth, the Devil pointed at them in anger and frustration.
"Diodora Astaroth, remember this name mongrels, for it will be the last you will hear when you die!" He then disappeared in a green magic circle.
"Quite the mouth of him, huh?" Keith joked, trying to light up the atmosphere.
"We need to find out what's the deal with him." Kunou said as she picked up the unconscious nun. "Let's talk with mother."
"Problems after problems." The young man mumbled as the two disappeared via a magic circle.
A/N: Hello guys! Exiled here. So, I originally planed to post the chapter on Friday buuuut, I needed to rewrite it entirely because I didn't like it lol. At first I wrote Keith relaxing and then, going out on an unofficial date with Kunou, but scraped the idea because I didn't really like how it turned out. Then I came up with this. What do you think? Like it? Hate it? Let me know in the reviews! I also tried to name Keith ability….but nothing came out so I decided not to…I hope you do not mind if I do not name abilities…others than well those which appear in the Anime, like Dragon shot, Sword Birth and whatever.
Without further ado, let's see the reviews!
Keyblademaster 21177: Hmm, while yeah it is true that Keith holds the most powerful Sacred Gear, I do not wish to make him THAT overpowered, also the ability to make miracles happen is already present through Truth Idea. Thanks for reading!
Trueopulence: Hmm, I don't really know if other people deal with incomplete BB. For example Tobio Ikuse managed to unlock his BB the moment he was born, so that's that.
GhostlyDrew: Yeah I know the Balance Breaker is somewhat familiar with Issei and Vali's, but my decision to give him an armour was that it would protect him and make his fights with the supernatural a bit more…easier I suppose. So uh…about the power level, could you be a bit more precise in what exactly do you need to be refreshed? Thanks for reading and I appreciate that you liked the new version better.
ZepphireOS: I understand what you're saying and I agree that a person's BB is their moment to shine, so maybe I didn't really think that 100% through. What I had in mind was not exactly for Keith to show off or something, but to rather introduce the BB. I chose to use Tsukuyomi here because without him, the idea of the BB would've been a bit pointless in my opinion, had I chosen to use only Hitoshi since he was weaker than Yasaka. That was why I chose to put Yasaka and Keith against Tsukuyomi and don't worry, the BB will return soon, of course until then, I play to work on Keith's growth, starting with the next chapter. I hope what I said here makes sense, if not write me a DM and I will try to be clearer. Thanks for reading!
Dante687: Initially I didn't think about Keith learning Touki, but now that you've mentioned it, he definitely will, so thanks for that. About Senjutsu, I don't think I will add Senjutsu since I see it as somewhat exclusive to Youkais (I know it isn't the case since Akeno apparently was able to learn it). Thanks for reading!
BJJPanda: I understand what you're saying and thank you for pointing out these flaws. Also I chose Yasaka to teach him about supernatural stuff because in my mind, even if she is a faction leader, I always saw the Youkais as a peaceful bunch, compared to other factions of course. So I thought that she, in comparison with the other leaders (like the Satans, the Archangels and Azazel etc) would have some more free time. Thank you for reading!
I apologize if there are any grammatical or spelling mistakes.
And as I already stated in the last chapter, I have read the reviews which were posted before I rewrote the chapter, but won't answer to them because it would be confusing for others to see it I guess lol, dunno.
Also something which I should have mentioned from the very beginning…don't shy away from writing me DM's if you have any questions(of course no spoilers), advice or whatever! I will answer as fast as I can.
Regarding Keith's ability. I was thinking at first to give him one of the Draupnir spear's ability from God of War Ragnarok, like the one when you can throw spears and then explode them ( I hope it makes sense, I don't know how to word it).
All in all, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Also I am sorry it took me a bit longer than usual to update…it took me a bit to come up with this lol. Oh, and one more thing! If you have any ideas on how I could develop Keith and Yasaka's relationship, do let me know as I don't have an idea for the moment.
As always, if I forgot something, I will probably remember it in the next A/N.
Stay safe & sound!