Story 8: The Redhead System
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Chapter 5: Of Mice and Men
- Flinn -
"This stuff is hard." I opened my eyes to see the person complaining.
Kuroka was trying to form her own Domain and was failing. This much was obvious. Anyone with a Domain Expansion is known as the top level of the Jujutsu world.
It was obviously not going to be easy to master it.
She was teaching me Senjutsu while I was teaching her Jujutsu.
Both techniques were completely opposite as well as complementary.
In Senjutsu, we had to overcome the negativity in the atmosphere while in Jujutsu we had to use the negativity to power our spells.
This was like being able to turn both your hands in different directions. Difficult but not impossible.
Okay, it was a bit more difficult than that.
Alright alright, a lot more difficult than that.
But once one mastered this, they could use almost unlimited Curse Energy and Nature Energy reserves, limited only by their stamina and control.
This was relatively easy for me due to the Rinnegan but Kuroka was still finding difficulty with this.
"Well you can take some rest for today. It's not good to practise this with a tired mind. Take some rest and we will do it again tomorrow."
"Tomorrow? Don't you have a date with Shuri tomorrow?" She asked while getting up and stretching, causing several parts of her body to jiggle and shake.
I do in fact have a date with Shuri. She was feeling that she was not spending much time with me recently so I decided to take everyone on a date. Onee-chan was busy with teaching Valerie and preparing for the meeting while Griselda was getting back into training with Holy Swords and we spent lots of time together due to this, so the only ones left were Shuri and Grayfia. I decided to take Shuri first.
"Yes. Know of any places where we could go?" I asked, getting up myself. Kuroka was very open with these types of discussions. She was more of a bro than Yuuto. Actually, Yuuto was somehow autistic when it came to such matters. I need to drag him out sometimes.
"Hmm, knowing her she would like to do some Shrine Maiden activities rather than go out on conventional dates."
"Shrine Maiden activities?"
"You know, social activities, helping old people, feeding orphan children and stuff. I mean she was a Shrine Maiden, wasn't she?"
"Really? How is that a date?" I asked, confused.
She merely shrugged her shoulders, "Don't you want to spend tomorrow doing something to make her happy? Try that later on. She will be happy."
"You sure?"
"Hmm. You could always take her for dinner later on and then…." She smirked.
My lips twitched. "One day I am going to hang you upside down from the tree outside if you peek at me."
"Oh please. It's not like that maid of yours didn't enjoy the audience. You used that too. Don't act like I was only the one getting everything."
"That's not the point, dammit."
"Nyahahahaha" She laughed and jumped away.
So what to do? I will ask others and see.
And I did just that but the problem was Grayfia didn't know. Griselda had no idea either. Valerie was not expected to know and Onee-chan thought Kuroka's idea was good so….whatever.
_x_
"This shirt looks good on you." Rias picked up a shirt and put it on me. "Yes. And this colour will go well with it. Alright, we are done."
I apparently didn't have the best of Dressing Senses according to those around me. Onee-chan and the others were busy with the school's preparation for the PTA meeting so I couldn't ask them for it. The only ones left were the Occult Research Club members and Rias was ready to help me with it.
"So, what's all this dressing up for?" She asked me, for the fifteenth time.
"Hmm, just something." I shrugged it off. Really, how do I tell her that I am going on a date with a School Teacher?
"You look great, Nagato-kun. No need to worry about it." She reassured me. I looked at myself and damn, I did look cool.
Onee-chan always had a great taste in clothes.
"Thanks Rias." I thanked her and left the club house.
- Akeno -
Kurumi-sensei looked very happy today. She was humming every once in a while.
Akeno observed that she was dressed better than normal and even had lipstick on. Normally, she didn't use those.
Thinking of all those, she came to the obvious conclusion.
It was a man.
"You look quite happy today, Sensei. Is there something special today?"
"Hmm. Maybe." She smiled, not giving her a straight answer.
"Oh, is it a man?"
"Ufufufufu interested in men already, Akeno-chan? I guess you are at that age." Sensei laughed but didn't give her a straight answer.
Over the entire break, she tried to find out who the man was but her sensei always deflected the subject.
She went back to the clubhouse when the classes were over, deciding to ask for a day off today to find out more about this man.
Kurumi-Sensei could have been tricked by someone.
Yes. There was no shortage of cheating, backstabbing men in the world. A face came to her mind, souring her mood instantly.
Shaking her thoughts away, she walked into the club house to see an odd atmosphere in the room. "What is going on here?"
Rias, who was in suspicious attire, a long coat with a detective hat, looked back to face her while Koneko just sighed and shook her head.
"Akeno, we have a task to do." She jumped up as soon as she saw her. "We need to go and investigate something."
"I'm sorry Rias but I need to do something important today. I was about to ask for a day off."
"Oh… alright. Then it will just be Koneko and me."
Koneko looked resigned but didn't complain and Akeno took this opportunity to leave lest she gets dragged into whatever it was. Rias can be very persuasive when she is one of these moods.
Her familiar was already following Kurumi-Sensei and she was going towards a park near the shrine.
Knowing her location already, she teleported to a location, a bit away from the place with a clear view of the nearby park.
Sensei reached the park and waited in hiding.
Minutes passed. Sensei was waiting there for twenty minutes now.
She knew it.
It was some kind of cheat. What kind of man makes a girl wait for so long?
Just as she was thinking about these, a look of excitement appeared on Sensei's face as she looked in a certain direction. Akeno followed her gaze and found her mouth open at the scene.
- Rias -
That hussy!
She found herself gritting teeth when she saw that cradle robbing hussy grabbing Nagato-kun's arm between her breasts and walking together.
No.
They could just be going shopping.
Both of them lived together and it was normal to go shopping. She reassured herself because when she thought of him going on a date, she found her mood soured for some reason and had a terrible urge to punch the face of the woman.
But, this was Kurumi-sensei. She was someone Akeno liked a lot. So, she was probably not a bad person.
Then, why was he dressed so well for a normal shopping trip?
She quietly followed both of them from a distance until she bumped into someone.
Looking around she found Akeno, who had fallen on the ground.
"Akeno!"
"Rias?"
"What are you doing here?"
"Eh, I was…"
"Stalking." Koneko replied.
"I wasn't stalkin… Anyways, what are you doing here?"
"Me? I was just nearby."
"Anyways, we don't have much time or we will lose them."
"Who?" She asked, already suspecting the answer.
"Nagato-kun and Kurumi-sensei. Don't get me wrong. This is not stalking. I am just keeping an eye on our potential new member."
Thankfully, Akeno was distracted and didn't question anything.
All three of them followed the pair from a distance and saw them going into a shopping mall.
Following them inside, they went to the clothing store for kids.
Kids!
They didn't… A teacher - student relationship!
She looked at Akeno and saw her face already frozen. She had known the girl long enough to not interrupt her during these times. But since they had already witnessed all these, it was time to go all in.
The pair were taking their time in the store while thousands of thoughts were going on in her mind.
How long has it been?
Did someone know of it already?
Who started it… oh, wasn't it obvious, it was that hussy!
Nagato-kun was still a first year highschool student. How would he know about… those things?
But then again, boys could be curious. And she must have taken advantage of it.
Yes. That's probably how it was.
They came out of the store and she and others hid and observed them. Next they went on to the toy store and then got a ton of stuff there.
It really was something like that.
Both of them then came out of the store, carrying all the stuff and walked in a different direction.
She followed them and suddenly realised the direction they were going in.
"Wasn't this where the… Love Hotels were?" She whispered and by now Akeno was almost releasing demonic energy.
Could it be that they were?
She followed them to know for sure and the tension in the group increased as they approached the Love Hotel.
They were really…
All of them watched with bated breath, waiting to catch them before any harm could be done.
They walked to the gates of the Love Hotel and she got ready to interrupt them… only for them to walk past the gates and into the distance.
She let out a sigh of relief.
Over the next hour, they followed the pair everywhere they went. Each location increased their blood pressure rise at times only to be a false alarm.
What kind of place had a sex toy shop, lingerie shop, boob club, and several other stupid places on the route?
Finally, as they were getting mentally tired, both of them stopped in front of a building and looked around carefully before walking inside.
She exchanged only one look with Akeno to know that she was thinking the same and both of them followed.
The building was quite run down but still clean and she went inside to find… a bunch of children gathered around Kurumi-Sensei and Nagato-kun.
Koneko tugged on her sleeve and pointed to a board on the side.
Rising Sun Orphanage.
- Flinn -
"You really are a bully, Flinn-kun." Shuri laughed beside me.
"They were asking for it." I replied. She just shook her head.
I sensed them following me the moment they first started.
She really was Onee-chan's younger self. Even this habit.
So, I had to do something to get back at them and my way to do so was to drag them through the completely unnecessary path and to this orphanage.
"Next time, let's go to a different country on our next date."
"Ufufufufu I like this date though. It's quite exciting. It's like we are doing something forbidden, hiding from everyone, secretly."
….
"Oh." It was all I could say. This woman didn't abide by normal logic. "Your wish then."
We did get them off our backs. It didn't take much. Just a slight turn, two transformed Shadow Clones and my trusty Kamui and we were free for our date once more.
Finally, at night, we sat near a shrine and watched the moon. It was peaceful.
"Hey Flinn-kun."
"Hmm."
"Will you do something for me?"
"What?"
"Will you sing the lullaby you sang for Rias?"
"... she told you, didn't she?"
"More like she bragged. She never told me what it was, though."
"Onee-chan would probably kill you if she finds it out. That song is our little secret."
"Ufufufufu I would like to see the look on her face."
But I wouldn't.
Especially after knowing her story, I realised how much that song would have meant to her the first time.
And I too liked the secret between the two of us.
"How about I sing you another song instead? A song just for the two of us?"
"Oh." She asked, looking up at me from my lap.
I thought of a song and began singing.
The Dango Song from Clannad After Story was a song from the first set of memories I received.
It was a beautiful song, just as much as the story itself.
She laughed and then she became quiet and I continued on singing.
The first date with Shuri was… quite memorable.
_x_
The next day, both Rias and Akeno couldn't meet my eyes as I entered the club, probably embarrassed about yesterday's events.
Tomorrow is the day for the PTA and Onee-chan is going to reveal everything to them. I was a bit nervous about their reaction.
School and club activities went as normal.
I left for my home a bit later than normal. The rest were busy with some work or at least they were supposed to be. I found Grayfia in the living room. She was dressed in a blue and white maid uniform, like she used to in the last world.
And I gotta say, the uniform did have a unique charm to it.
Was this something new she was trying?
I remember Shuri saying that she had some kind of surprise for me with Grayfia, was this it?
She looked at me with a completely different look, as if looking at someone at a lower position than her. The haughty maid look.
But… as sexy as the look was, it made me want to bully her even more, so I walked up to her and before she could realise, gripped her hair and pulled her in for a kiss.
Strawberry lipstick.
I saw her eyes widen but in the next instant something happened which took me by surprise. My instincts screamed at me. Observation Haki was spread and I saw the place I was standing freeze over in my future sight.
And sure enough, I felt her power churn. The amount of power she was mobilising was enough to freeze the entire city block.
What the fuck?
In the fraction of a second, I took a note of her details and realised a few changes.
First, she was weaker. She was still quite strong but not as strong as I knew her to be. Normally, the time she took to mobilise the power would have been enough for her to already throw in a few spells. Not to mention, her form was not at all what she normally used.
Second, her Telos Karma was missing according to my senses.
Thinking about these and understanding the implications, I could only utter one word. "Fuck."
My thoughts didn't stray though. I was still thinking about how to take care of this situation and the first thing which came to my head was to bring her away from this place. If a fight took place here, several things would go wrong.
I jumped back and avoided her attack first and raised my hands. "Would you believe me if I say this was a misunderstanding?"
The look on her face grew colder.
"Yeah. Thought so."
My eyes turned into the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan directly and I created a shadow clone without handsigns behind one of the couches.
She grew cautious but she had no idea what my eyes could do and made the heavy mistake of gazing into my eyes. I took the opportunity to put her into a Genjutsu and directly threw her into my Kamui dimension.
Putting some Demonic Power restriction seals on her, I sent my Shadow Clone to inform Onee-chan about my fuckup.
She regained her consciousness soon and looked around and saw me sitting in the distance. I was pretty sure that I had sealed her Demonic Power and yet her glare seemed to make things around us colder somehow.
Could my Grayfia do this too? I'll have to try that.
But right now I am annoyed with the whole situation. Onee-chan is going to be mad because this woman doesn't understand the concept of privacy.
"Do you…."
"Be quiet." I interrupted her before she could say anything. "Do you know how annoying all this mess is? What the hell were you thinking entering someone's house without permission? And now Onee-chan is going to be stressed. Didn't she send a message that she wanted to talk tomorrow?" I took a deep breath and calmed myself down.
She was taken aback by the sudden outburst but regained her composure soon enough and tried to speak again but I made her quiet.
"No. I am not in the mood for any nonsense. Onee-chan will come and explain the matter to you. Understand that whatever happened today was your own fault. Now be quiet for a while." I said and took another deep breath.
- Grayfia Lucifuge -
She looked as the boy looked at her with an annoyed gaze. The situation was completely out of her comprehension.
First she comes to tell them about the meeting with Sirzechs only for the boy to come to her and take advantage of her. And in the last moment, when he touched her, she felt the demonic power in his body. A Devil.
He was a devil, hiding so close to Rias and others for so long and not even Souji could see through him. This matter alone raised alarms in her mind. What were his intentions? What about his so-called Onee-chan?
She couldn't resist a single moment against those red eyes of his and lost consciousness. Was his sister stronger than him and if so then why were they here. She hadn't heard of any such devil. The boy himself didn't look old.
When she doesn't return or report for a while, Sirzechs will investigate. She just needed to wait till then and if possible find out about the intentions of these people. The boy hadn't shown any intention of harming her except for his annoyance. She decided to push and see what she could get.
She composed herself before asking. "Who are you people? What are your intentions? Why did you approach Rias? Do you intend to harm her?"
The boy didn't even look at her for the first three questions but turned his head when she asked the last part and the look on his face made Grayfia feel extremely angry.
He was looking at her as if she had a mental disease of some sort.
"If you don't want me to shove a dirty sock in your mouth to shut you up, be quiet. Everything will be explained when Onee-chan comes. If you are worried that I will hurt you, don't be."
"Very reassuring when I am tied like this." She snarked, realising that the boy didn't actually intend to attack. Maybe they intended to ask for ransom?
"Then you shouldn't have snuck into my house and tried to kill me."
"You forced yourself on me."
"Shush, shush." he waved his hand. "I am not happy about it either dammit. I kissed someone's wife. That's a line even I didn't want to cross. NTR is a trash fetish. My Onee-chan has taught me better."
She didn't know if it was his words or his mildly disgusted look which made her more furious.
Before she could say anything, he got up. "She's here."
Grayfia observed as the boy's eyes changed and space in front of her was torn apart. He walked out, returning a few moments later with a crimson haired woman.
The woman looked at her with shock and then looked at the boy with exasperation.
"It was her fault." He directly pointed a finger at her while the woman just shook her head.
The woman faced her again and spoke. "I really wanted to meet and talk about everything tomorrow to not attract any unwanted attention but alas, not everything can go according to the plan. Let's go. Since matters have come to this point, I will go and meet Sirzechs today."
Grayfia looked at the woman with a suspicious gaze. There was something very familiar about her but she couldn't pinpoint it exactly. She was no doubt a Devil just like the boy and must be a very strong one at that if the boy was acting like that.
The woman just walked to her and opened the restrictions. "If possible, it would be better to inform Lady and Lord Gremory as well as Ajuka Beelzebub about the meeting too. It would be much easier for us to clear things out."
Grayfia quickly made a distance from both of them and the boy's eyes turned red again as he walked in front of the woman who looked completely unbothered.
The woman just tugged him back by his collar. "You go and bring the others along. You will be staying with Souji while I go and meet them." Then confirmed it, turning to her. "You don't mind this arrangement, do you?"
She thought for a moment and shook her head.
"What! No way. I am not letting you go there alone." The boy shouted.
"They will not do anything to me." The woman reassured and by now even Grayfia had to guess just what was the source of her confidence.
"But we never know…."
"Flinn." She spoke sternly and the boy looked aggrieved. "Trust me."
The boy looked frustrated before looking at Grayfia. "If anything happens to my sister, I will burn the whole underworld down…. And no one will be able to stop me."
For the first time since this whole thing started, Grayfia felt danger. A shiver ran down her spine as every instinct in her body screamed at her to run away or she would die. It was a similar feeling to when she faced Sirzechs' true form but much more controlled.
It was as if challenging her to say anything else and she would drop dead at the same moment.
"Flinn, behave." The woman raised her voice and the feeling of dread vanished. The boy pouted but didn't do anything and just tore a hole in space as he walked out.
The woman followed and Grayfia too did the same.
It was certainly a weird day for Grafyia.
- Rias (Future) -
She waited in the room which was currently surrounded from all sides by the peerage members of her brother.
Grayfia had reacted just as she had expected her to.
Even now she could sense Mathers and Surtr throwing barriers around the place to isolate the area in case a battle happened. She must really have been freaked by Flinn's threat.
Then again it was understandable. Grayfia hadn't been on the wrong side of any Super Devil till now. The first experience is always the most terrifying.
She didn't interrupt either. This was better as no one will be able to spy on the meeting. The one she was worried about the most was Flinn. Her brother could be very jumpy when things came to her. She found it adorable but in this case, things might just go even worse.
As she was thinking about these things, she saw the door opening and some people entered the room.
Sirzechs, her parents, Grayfia, Ajuka Beelzebub and Serafall Leviathan.
She suppressed the urge to go and hug her family. They needed to verify things first.
The Satans had serious looks on their faces and they took their seats while her parents were confused at best.
"Kushina Uzumaki? But I guess your name is a fake." Sirzechs started the conversation.
"It is."
"Then we should begin with introductions first. Who are you?"
She didn't answer him and turned to Ajuka. "I invoke Protocol number 389."
As she said those words, she remembered how she had laughed at the same idea when she was first told about it. To think she would be the one using it.
Ajuka Beelzebub was a genius. Everyone knew this. What people don't realise is just how much this guy prepares in advance to face any kind of situation no matter how absurd.
As expected, Sirzechs looked at her and then at him with a strange expression on his face. "I thought you made those as a joke."
The man in question however just stared at her. "Is that why you are using a disguise? Anyways, we can find out everything after verification. The password."
She went on to recite the password which was basically a series of numbers and letters.
The whole process was smooth and finally Ajuka asked a question. "Just for the sake of formalities, your name and the timeline."
"Rias Gremory, from Year 2070."
….
….
….
….
"WHAT!"
She didn't want to leave any kind of suspicions behind so she summoned her Gremory House Magic circle and produced a sphere of the Power of Destruction on her palm as well as let the Transformation technique fall.
Ajuka was probably the only one who was sitting quietly but knowing the guy, he was just the fastest to come to terms with this whole thing. He checked something and spoke.
"The password matches your identity and time. It's basically a code which tells me your identity. The codes are changed every week and I use the date of your birth as the basis to decode the password. I personally design the passwords which I give out. That magic of yours just puts a confirmation on things. So, welcome to the past. Now, the question is, why are you here and for so long? Normally any time travellers would return to their original timeline to avoid changing things. Not to mention, you stayed in the vicinity of your younger self, something which must not be done." He asked.
Scenes flashed in front of her eyes. "I didn't go back because there was nothing left to go back to." She spoke and then went on to relay her entire story.
When she finished, the whole room was quiet.
Her mother just walked up to her and embraced her. Father and Sirzechs followed and after over a decade, she let herself cry.
All this time, she had held back. Flinn's support didn't let her break but still, meeting her family again, especially after all those events of that future, she couldn't hold her tears.
Grayfia had a very complicated expression on her face.
Finally, both her parents sat on both her sides and the meeting continued. She needed to make things clear for everyone to prevent such a future from repeating ever again.
"A time jump and a parallel world jump. Gods from a different planet. World's end… that's quite a disturbing future. I take it that you could avoid causing problems due to your soul merging with another version of yourself."
"Gasper theorised that if we go back in time using this method, instead of creating time distortions which might erase everyone, we will just create a new timeline. It was still a theory but we didn't exactly have the privilege of verifying it. The spell was flawed and I was sent to the body of a different Rias in a parallel world." She explained.
"So the people with you are…"
She nodded. "From the parallel world. The world was very different from the one we know of. People had drastically different characters than what we know of. I took the opportunity to recruit a few people to help me with the spell needed to cross the dimensions."
By now Sirzechs had regained his composure too. "Who are they? Someone we know?"
"The first is Shuri Himejima."
She saw the look of realisation dawn on his face and explained the circumstances of Shuri.
"Second is Griselda Quarta."
"The exorcist?" Serafall asked. She did know more about other factions, being in charge of the Foreign Affairs.
"She was being persecuted by the church." She explained Griselda's situation too.
"The third is," She looked at Grayfia and the woman seemed to have realised something. "Grayfia Lucifuge. Let's say that the Sirzechs Lucifer in that dimension was not the best kind of person." The look on everyone's face was that of pure shock as they heard of Grayfia's situation. She turned to the woman who stood there, frozen in shock. "So when Flinn said, it was your fault, it really was."
"Flinn?" Sirzechs asked.
A smile formed on her face. "Umm, Flinn Gremory, my adorable younger brother."
The gobsmacked looks on everyone's faces were worth watching. She wished she had a camera for this occasion but alas.
"What! What younger brother?" Sirzechs asked, her parents looked at her with a questioning gaze and she explained the situation about Flinn, about how she met a little boy who sang her a lullaby to stop her from crying, the first time they met. She did keep some things like the mutation and soul absorption thing a secret. They had already discussed this before and thought of a good enough story for it.
"Flinn's mother was an experimental subject for creating a Super Devil. She however didn't give the required results. Lord Gremory took her as a concubine and she died while giving birth. Flinn however was born with an entirely new bloodline and extremely high intelligence. It's just that he was often left to himself at the start and as a result was quite distant to other members of the family and never really showed anyone his powers. He was mostly raised by me. That's why, when he found out about me, he made it his goal to bring me to this world, my home and left everything behind to come with me. He was the one who, using Gasper and Valerie's formula as a basis, developed the spell to jump through dimensions."
"Oh! How old is he?" Ajuka asked, being interested.
"Sixteen. He had worked on the spell for over seven years and the only reason we could even make such a jump was mostly due to his bloodline."
"Those crimson eyes?" Grayfia asked and she nodded.
Her mother pulled her in for a hug. "Half brother or full brother, he is still a son of the Gremory House and thus family."
Father nodded too and as for Sirzechs, the look on his face already said it all. He was already enthralled at the idea of having a new sibling.
"Yes." She whispered.
Finally, she looked at Grayfia. "The Grayfia from that world was Flinn's teacher and he was the one who saved her from her situation. She is currently his girlfriend."
Grayfia found her mouth open slightly at the reveal while Serafall giggled. "Looks like the Gremory boys have similar taste." Earning laughs from everyone in the room, finally easing the tense situation.
"Actually, Flinn is more like Father than Sirzechs. Grayfia isn't the only one." She laughed. "On that note, I should call him and inform him that everything is fine or he might really invade the Underworld."
"Hahahaha, actually how about we all go and meet him together." Father suggested and she agreed.
Sirzechs got up as well. "I will call and inform Souji about the situation."
- Flinn -
My worries grew with each passing minute.
Every pair of eyes in the room stared at me. My peerage members waiting for any orders and the other with complicated emotions.
The Occult Research Club members were looking at us with different kinds of expressions.
Koneko was emotionless.
Akeno's eyes hadn't left Shuri. They screamed a look of betrayal as she looked at her.
Yuuto was looking at me with a complicated emotion.
Souji was constantly on guard along with three other people. Beowulf and Behemoth, Serafall's Rook.
It was the last person whose gaze hurt.
Rias was looking at me with a look of pain and hurt. She had tried asking me for anything but I didn't speak.
At this time, Souji received a message and dropped his guard. He looked up at me. "My lord said that everything has been cleared out. They are coming here personally. You all are not under any kind of suspicion." He still stared at me but I was at least a bit relieved.
"What about my sister?"
"Everyone will arrive here in a while."
"Okay."
The other people in the room look relieved too and Rias finally couldn't hold things anymore.
"Okay, can anyone tell us what is going on? Why are they being held like this?" She questioned Souji.
"I am not aware of any details either. I was just informed that everyone of them were actually devils in disguise and were thus kept here until his elder sister cleared the matter with my Lord and the other Satans. We need to wait for my Lord to arrive."
She looked at me but I just looked down. All this while I had been keeping my Observation Haki at full strength to detect any movements and react to them in time.
The wait ended soon when the door to the room opened and revealed several figures.
My Observation Haki already found that Onee-chan was fine and I finally relaxed.
Somehow the faces of the people made the situation awkward, especially when coupled with their behaviour.
I had never seen Father smile except for his business smile. The same was true for Venelana. As for Sirzechs, I hadn't seen him smile at all.
The only ones who felt similar were the Magical Girl Menace and Ajuka.
"Mother, Father, Onii-sama!" Rias got up from her seat and went forward to greet them. "What is going on here?"
"Hush Rias. You will know everything soon. Now, let me see. You must be Flinn. Can you drop your transformation? I don't want my first meeting with my son to be under a disguise." Venelana stepped towards me and asked.
….
….
….
….
"WHAT!" Rias shouted.
I looked at Onee-chan and saw her giving me a nod and let out a sigh, lifting my transformation.
- Rias -
She watched as Nagato's or rather Flinn's form changed. His reddish hair gained a darker shade similar to her own and his face changed slightly. His eyes changed colour from purple to blue similar to hers and Demonic Power radiated from his form.
"Oh my, he does look like you, Zeo." Mother said and she noticed it too. He did look very similar to her father.
But this was just the start of the surprises. Over the next hour, she became numb as she was hit by one surprise after the other.
The future version of her currently sitting in front of her was the biggest example. Not to mention a brother from a different dimension.
She had often wondered how they got along so well.
Although, someone else was just as shocked as her. Akeno had been frozen in shock since the identity of Kurumi Sensei was revealed.
The woman practically looked like Akeno with a different eye colour.
Last but not the least was Grayfia who was facing a mirror image of her.
Sirzechs was beside her. And in front of the shocked crowd, he bowed. "I know, me bowing here won't change anything but I still apologise for what happened to you."
The details of the situation were not yet revealed. She didn't know what happened to them that they had to come to this world but it wouldn't be anything good.
That Grayfia didn't say anything but just nodded.
She took another look at her future self and then at Flinn who was looking blankly into space while in her mother's arms.
To think that she was the Onee-chan he always talked about.
At this moment, Lady Serafall walked up to Flinn. "So you are the one who has been bullying my So-tan?"
"I did? When?"
She had the urge to laugh at the innocent look on his face.
"It's because of you that my So-tan cannot sleep at night. How is that not bullying?"
"Please rephrase your words Lady Leviathan or people might misunderstand things. Sona-Senpai has not been sleeping because she has gotten addicted to playing video games. Truly, Video Games are a power only a select few can control and not fall. As for everything else, I made fair and square deals and gave good arguments to get my way. Are you saying I should have thrown my games against her?"
"I am not saying that. I was talking about you beating her in chess. Do you know what that means?"
"Oh, is this about that stupid engagement thing? I didn't know about it and I am not interested either."
Ouch. Thank Satans, Sona was not here or she would have been incensed.
"What! How can you? What's wrong with my adorable So-tan?"
"Umm, it's not like there is something wrong with her. We just don't have compatible personalities. In simple words, she is not my type."
….
And to say that to Lady Serafall's face.
"Heh! Then what kind of girl is your type?"
"Obviously girls like my Onee-chan." He answered without any hesitation.
Most of the people in the room laughed. Oh, she was talking about her future self. The woman who looked like a grown up version of her but still, a slight blush lighted her cheeks.
The woman in question giggled at the proclamation.
"Hmph, my So-tan is too good for you anyways." Lady Serafall pouted.
"What do you mean 'too good for my Flinn'? It's obvious that my brother is far more adorable." Older Her got up.
"Hahahaha you must be tired from the meeting Rias, obviously my So-tan is the most adorable sibling there is."
"Oh?!"
What came next was an argument about who was cuter. Onii-sama looked like he was about to jump in but was held back by Grayfia.
Personally she voted for Flinn.
Sona was her friend but this was her little brother dammit… from another dimension but, still.
The most shocking part was the amount of Demonic Power they were throwing around. Future her was matching one of the four Satans in power output.
The matter was cooled down by Ajuka-sama intervening to discuss other matters.
"As fun as it is to see you two quibble, we have more important matters to discuss. The future of the world is at stake."
The reminder of the end of the world brought everyone back to their senses.
"First things first. Since Rias and the rest are going to be revealing themselves, we need a good story about why they appeared out of nowhere. Except Flinn, all of them have a well established identity. Our enemies cannot get any news about time travel or we might be in danger. We need a good enough story for this."
"I have a plan which will help fulfil another one of my goals as well as cover for our identities."
"What plan?"
"Blame the Naberius."
- Flinn -
An odd look appeared on the faces of everyone present and Onee-chan explained her reason.
"The Naberius house has been trying to create Super Devils for decades now. They have conducted several experiments on various species… including Youkai." She walked up to Kokeno and hugged her before saying anything. "Can I take your hairpin, Koneko? The Black Cat Hairpin."
The girl was confused and a bit afraid but still brought out her hairpin.
"Kuroka hadn't gone mad." The cat girl froze at the reveal of the name but Onee-chan was already hugging her. "They were experimenting on her. When they stopped getting results, they were going to experiment on… another subject. Kuroka realised who they were targeting and killed her master. She was hurt very badly and ran away leaving Kokeno behind because she didn't want to implicate her in case she was caught. She never expected that they would target and try to get her executed in fear of having their secrets revealed."
"Do you have any proof of it?" Ajuka asked and she nodded and passed the hairpin to him.
"This pin contains a data chip about the details of the experiments conducted. All of it."
Ajuka took the hairpin and removed the data pin and returned the pin. The chip's data was verified and Ajuka directly sealed the chip away. "I assume you are already in contact with Kuroka?"
"I am." She answered without any hesitation, eliciting surprise from several people in the room, most of all the girl in her arms.
"What is your plan?"
"Since they are trying to make Super Devils, we can make it so that they tried to clone strong Devils as well as people from other factions and we were the results."
"Cloning people like us is not easy."
"Not if the Sephiroth Graal was used."
"Graal? Valerie Tepes? There hasn't been much news from the Vampires since their civil war started. I think their prince started the rebellion and disappeared since then."
I looked awkwardly to the other side when all four girls stared at me, causing the rest to look at me too.
"About that… Marius Tepes is dead. He was conducting experiments on Valerie to the extent that she was merely a shell of herself from the overuse of Graal. I needed to clean after myself so…"
"So?" Ajuka asked.
"I killed Marius and his guards, disguised as him and brought Valerie out of her prison and finally to make it so that Marius and Valerie's disappearances are not suspicious, I attacked a few higher ups from the Tepes Faction before leaving, making it seem like Marius Tepes rebelled." I explained the details of the whole mission.
- Serafall -
She looked at the boy who was acting innocent after causing a civil war among two mid-sized factions in just a night. The scariest part was that he did all of that on the go and was not discovered.
Recalling the warning he had given Grayfia, she felt a slight chill run down her spine. Someone of his capabilities could do a lot of damage to any faction if he wanted to.
And that was not even considering his intelligence. Thank the Satans he was on their side. Well at least till the grown up Rias was.
But then again, with the challenges they were going to face in the future, someone like this would definitely be a reliable ally.
Sirzechs might be the biggest deterrent of their race but he was too noble for his own good. Ajuka, although he prepared for everything, barely stepped out of his lab. The less said about Falbium the better. They needed someone who didn't hesitate to get their hands dirty.
Not that she would suggest this or the entire Gremory family will jump on her. Especially his Onee-chan. The feeling she gave was something she had only felt from her fellow Satans. This Rias was strong, probably as strong or even stronger than her.
And she had a Longinus.
Well, all of them had Longinuses. She really did rob the last world quite nicely.
The plan formed bit by bit. Naberius, from the information Rias provided them, was a hidden danger, especially with their connection with the Khaos Brigade and the Old Satan faction. With this one move, they can remove such a threat and add several extremely strong people to their side without complaints.
Obviously the council will be a bit of a bitch about forgiving Kuroka but if there was one thing they hated more than compromising in such a situation, it was seeing some other house surpass them.
A danger like this to the status quo would force them to stay back. Not to mention, with the dangers in the future, Ajuka and Sirzechs will not play fair.
Finally, it was decided that with some conclusive evidence, the Satans raided the Naberius House and found evidence of experiments to create Super Devils which included the DNA samples and clones of the Satans and their family members as well as members of few other factions. The enemies resisted and perished in the battle.
"We will need someone strong to cause the damage to create a scene of battle."
"Leave that to me. I can take care of that easily." The chibi Gremory raised his hands enthusiastically with a smile on his face.
She was actually starting to like the kid more and more.
- Flinn -
We were brought back to the Underworld.
Venelana didn't want us to stay there without having the opportunity to get to know us better. Onee-chan also wanted to spend some time with her parents so I agreed.
These people, they were so different from the ones I knew that it was almost like a dream. I knew what to expect. I had heard about them hundreds of times from Onee-chan and yet, it felt so weird.
She actually encouraged me to call her mother and Zeoticus Gremory father. To be honest, the second part was easier as I used to do so in the last world. But I never really had any mother figure. The closest would be Onee-chan. It just felt weird. Not bad, just weird.
Rias and the rest came along as well to catch up.
We sent a message to move Valerie and Kuroka to the Gremory House.
The sisters were left to each other while Valerie was sent to Gasper's room. The Hikikomori Trap Vampire who was totally not a Dio Brando knock off cried tears of happiness.
But not all reunions were tears of happiness.
Some were full of confusion and regret too.
Like Shuri and Akeno, who hadn't said a word since our identities were revealed.
Onee-chan decided to leave them in the same room for the night to sort things out.
The second was Grayfia.
She had been abnormally quiet since we revealed ourselves.
I walked beside her as we walked into the Gremory Mansion, a familiar yet strange house. Many of the maids were also the same faces as I remembered. The one who took us by surprise was the little figure who rushed out to greet everyone.
"Rias Onee-sama, you are back?" The kid greeted us at the door. Crimson hair from his father, red eyes and face from his mother, this was Milicas Gremory, the son of Sirzechs and Grayfia of this world.
I felt Grayfia stiffen beside me and held her hand, softly caressing the back of her palm with my fingers to calm her down.
The boy looked at us confused but before anyone could say anything, Onee-chan walked up to him and hugged him tightly.
Losing her nephew had been one of the biggest regrets to her as he was someone she had seen grown up since childhood, like a little brother to her because of their ages.
He looked confused at the new faces and Sirzechs went and crouched near him. "They are your new uncles and aunts. Go and greet them, Milicas."
The boy, still confused, nodded and greeted everyone, one by one with a bow. When he came to us, I felt Grayfia's hand grip mine harder.
"Umm, you look like my Okaa-sama. Are you related to her?" He asked.
His mother put a hand on his head and nodded. "She is my sister and your aunt, Milicas."
She could only manage a light nod and I looked at them and shook my head.
Getting my message, Venelana interfered. "They are tired from the journey, Milicas. They will meet you tomorrow. Let them rest for now."
He nodded and stepped back and we went ahead.
Onee-chan was staying the night with Venelana and Rias. Griselda gave Grayfia and I some alone time.
Her exact words were, 'She needs it more now.'
And I too agreed with what she said. Grayfia was at a very delicate point right now and she needed every bit of my support.
We got to our room and I observed her. She didn't cry. She didn't even react. It was like she had gone back to her state from two months ago.
She was not the type to show her tears to anyone.
She was just too proud, too stubborn to do so, I thought of something.
"Come, take a bath with me."
This time I helped her get out of her dress and brought her under the shower before turning it on and then hugged her back. "It's fine to let it out."
Her body shivered a little. I didn't say anything more, just caressed her back. I felt her body tremble slightly soon enough. I just stood there until she was done.
An hour later, I brought her back to our room and lay on the bed. I hugged her from behind.
We hadn't spoken any words. In these situations, sometimes, silence could convey more than any words could.
Two hours later she turned back, facing me. I was still awake.
I was actually surprised looking at her face. She was looking directly into my eyes and this time, there were emotions, much more than before and not just the aggrieved ones from when I bullied her. These eyes had warmth, they were vulnerable.
She half closed her eyes and brought her face nearer and my eyes widened realising what was happening.
I didn't hesitate anymore either and leaned in forward, claiming her lips for myself.
This kiss was nothing like the ones before. It was calm, short but yet contained more feelings than everything we had done before.
We separated and she looked at me. "I don't mind what you do or how many women you have in your life but remember this, if you betray me, I will kill you. So, if you want to back out, do it now. You could always go back to how we were before."
"Have you seen me back down from challenges?"
"More times than I can count. Five whole years against the Sitri heiress, in the exhibition matches, whenever you were not interested, yes, I have seen you back out a lot." She deadpanned.
… did she get a sense of humour?
"Touché." I smiled, liking the Grayfia 2.0 better already. "In that case, I promise you that I won't ever leave you alone, even if you try to get rid of me. I can be worse than chewing gum in someone's hair. Ah, that example doesn't sound good."
"I think the example is very apt. You are just as annoying and stubborn as chewing gum in someone's hair." For the first time in my whole life, I saw her smile.
This time I leaned in and she closed her eyes, bringing her lips to mine. We got into our second kiss.
Much more passionate than the last one.
This time around, she took the opportunity and got on top, her hand gripped my hair, pulling me in as our kiss got heated up.
We separated with a thin strand of saliva making a bridge between our tongues. She straddled me and slowly grinded her smouldering hot core over my length as I took the scene in.
Her silver hair flowed in the wind from the window as her red eyes lit up in the soft moonlight. She looked nothing short of enchanting.
I didn't back down either. My hands reached for her breasts and took a good hard squeeze before reaching for her nipples. Her grinding increased as the wetness on my length increased.
Her clit rubbed against the head of my cock every time she pushed forward.
I pinched hard on her nipples, pushing her over the edge as she trembled and fell over my body.
I caressed her silver locks softly before she lifted her hips lightly and positioned my tip on her entrance and looked at me right in the eye. "Last chance."
I put my hands on her hips and pushed up, directly into her melting cave. A moan escaped her mouth. "You know, I am starting to like your sass but underestimating me so much, do you want to be punished, dear Grayfia?"
"My apologies. Let me make it up to you." And make it up she did by moving her hips while I ravaged her mouth with my tongue. I reached my peak soon but didn't stop. Phenex rejuvenated me continuing on to the next round.
We didn't separate till the light of morning came through the windows.
She kept up with me quite well but there is only so much you can do when the other side can keep on healing to the peak condition. As such, now she laid on my chest, breathing peacefully, asleep.
- Shuri -
To say it was awkward would be like saying the sun was warm.
"I…" She tried to break the awkward atmosphere.
But Akeno began before she could. "What should I call you?"
"Eh?" She was taken aback by the sudden question.
"What should I call you?" She repeated.
Shuri calmed down, understanding that she was just trying to break the ice too. "I have heard from Rias about your mother from this world and I wouldn't even dream of taking her place. It would be insulting to her sacrifice but if you want you can consider me as your family. A big sister maybe?"
A period of silence returned to the room again.
"What was it like… I mean in your world. You left that world to come here, why?" She asked hesitantly.
A faraway look came to her eyes. "Because I had nothing left in that world." She let out a sigh, remembering the incidents of the past.
"What happened?"
She took a deep breath and continued. "I took pity and saved a guy I found on the doors of my shrine. He was charming at first, a bit shy and yet courteous. He visited me even after he was healed. I developed feelings for him and we got close. And finally, I had a daughter. And then everything turned for the worse."
She paused and let out a breath and continued. "My family considered me polluted and a traitor, exiled me and broke all connections with me. The guy took our daughter and left back for Grigori because he didn't want to cause any friction with my family. I was left all alone to fend for myself."
A feeling of resentment grew in her mind but she shoved those away as she remembered her current living situation.
"I tried everything I could to get in contact with my daughter but was not allowed. Even the other exiles of my clan considered me a plaque and I couldn't find any way to get to the underworld. Around a decade or so later, I found that they had returned to Japan for something and approached but… they denied any kind of meeting. Even my daughter didn't want to meet me. And why would she, I was practically a stranger to her."
"Since then, I almost gave up on living or trusting anyone. It was during this time I met two people, two devils to be precise, Rias and Flinn. I obviously ignored them when they wanted to recruit me. But they kept on coming back for over a year before I finally talked to them… and that's how we are here. Rias offered me a chance and I gave it a try. Not to mention, Flinn kept hitting on me, trying to make me laugh." She giggled remembering his antics.
"You are actually in a relationship with him? So you were really on a date that day?" Akeno exclaimed.
"Ufufufufu yes. Although you and Rias, following us was already felt by us. Flinn decided to prank you all by taking the long winded route to the orphanage."
"B-b-but he is…."
"Young? True. But Flinn is someone who didn't give up on me. Even when I had given up on myself. Never once was he disrespectful to me. Even when I threw myself on him, never took advantage of me and waited for me to get comfortable. Boys his age would have done very different things. He might act like a bully sometimes but he is very thoughtful when it comes to his loved ones. I mean, can you imagine someone leaving the whole world for his sister? Anyone would be a fool to let this kind of man go away."
"But isn't he with Grayfia?"
"Oh Grayfia came last. Flinn-kun is also with Griselda and his Onee-chan."
"What?!"
She giggled at the shocked look on her face and began to tell the story of the siblings.
- Rias(Future) -
She laughed as she watched her past self turn crimson at the reveal. Her mother, as she had expected, had just laughed at the news.
"Flinn is your brother, right? Then how can…"
"Oh calm down Rias. Can't you trust yourself?" Her mother calmed her down.
"I don't remember such relations being a taboo in the Underworld. Technically, both Lilith and Lucifer were created by the same person and called him Father. What does that make them? Not to mention the first few generations of the Pillar Devils."
"B-b-but still…"
"Rias… oh, we need to get new names or this becomes very confusing. Anyways, I… lost everything in my future. And by the end, my relationship with my husband was less than ideal. Safe to say that I wanted nothing to do with a man who ran around looking for girls while all our loved ones died."
"Was it Riser?" She asked, a disgusted look on her face.
Yes. She used to hate Riser's guts back in the day. But then she would realise that there were far worse fates.
"No. It was someone I chose. A bad choice. Riser on the other hand became quite a good friend of mine in the later days. My son was in a relationship with Yubelana's and his daughter. We were very likely to become in-laws in the future and Father was actually getting his dream." She took a deep breath and pushed those thoughts away from her mind. They would just make her sad right now. "The thing is, Riser improved after a good beatdown. I might not have any romantic feelings for him but I can definitely say that he was one of the most brilliant people on the battlefield. He just needed a good smack to the head to realise this."
Her younger self became quiet, thinking about the situation.
"Anyways, this was how I found Flinn for the first time, all broken and alone. And he, a four year old, did everything he could to console me, without even knowing why I was sad. Since then, he has been an unshakable part of my life. Someone who decided to leave his entire world behind for me, just to make me happy, someone who broke through the barriers of the world to get me home, tell me, why should I let him go just because he is my brother?"
The younger Rias just looked at her with an open mouth.
"My brother means the world to me and I mean the same to him. And don't tell me otherwise. It's not like you haven't been throwing him the same looks too."
"Whaaa… I-I didn't."
"Really? I am you, you know. I know you better than you know yourself."
Her younger self spluttered, looking for words.
At this time, her mother laughed. "Now I wonder which daughter of mine will give me grandchildren first. At least they will have the crimson hair of the Gremory for sure. I always liked the crimson colour."
"Mother!"
And just like that, both she and her mother teased her younger self all night, until they went to sleep.
"Rias."
She heard her mother's voice as she was about to fall asleep.
"Hmm."
"Welcome home."
"Umm."
Yes. She was finally home.
_x_x_
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Author's Note:
A lot of things happened in this chapter.
Some things went according to the plan and some things didn't but at the end of the day, everything settled down for the better.
Got the maid waifu finally.
Next chapter, we will see Flinn causing some destruction.
Basically a show of power.
Enjoy the new chapter.
Good Day, Peace Out.