The Nekoshou's Wolf - NEW

by Curiosity44

Reborn into DxD Pre-Canon, Hei, orphaned at birth, must rise with his own will to the top, overcoming Devils, Angels, Fallen, Gods, a loli dragon, and most of all, the felines in his life as he spreads the name of the Legacy of Lupa, a legacy of assassins. All while a mysterious past hovers over his future. Come Join Hei on his journey as Lupus, the Nekoshou's Wolf.

13. Chapter 7: The Nekoshou Final Part

AN: And here we go! Phew, my eyes burn. Please drop some reviews and let me know what you think. After all the time writing/editing it, I would love to hear what you loved/hated about it.

Part 3 of 3.

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Chapter 7: The Nekoshou Final Part.

"Ladies! Let's hear a warm welcome for our new guest! He'll be around for a few years, so don't be shy and give a cheer for Hei!" A black-eyed Yoru raised her arm from the stage with a mug of ale in hand and was met with the roaring cheer of a hundred and fifty disturbingly beautiful felines who all had a mug of their own.

Except for the triplets, who were given grape juice.

Hei stood off to the side of the stage and tried to keep a straight face under the dozens of gazes being sent his way while avoiding looking at the crumbled remains of the single two-story building in the village he woke up in earlier that day.

Yoru didn't seem to mind and was entirely into the festive mood, but Hei felt that had something to do with the fact that Leone was nearby her, gagged and tied tight in chains and being sat on by a woman he hadn't seen before as she tried to reach out and bite at Yoru's shins.

A massive bonfire had been erected in front of the stage in the center of the village as the villagers found seats among the massive roots of the ancient trees, atop buildings, and in their own booths set up for games and food items the individuals personally caught in the forest.

'At least they use normal currency here.' He internally thanked that he didn't have to trade in goods for fear of bringing out anything else he had in storage. 'The beer alone almost made Leone fry me like a dragon seeing someone touch its horde, let alone the wine.'

Yoru flashed to his side after finishing her little speech and locked him in a headlock with a smile. "Boy! Come, let me introduce you to the others."

She all but yanked him off his feet toward Leone and the new woman while he debated struggling. "I can walk just fine, you know."

"Bah, you're too slow. I'll be old and gray by the time we get there."

"It was twenty feet away!"

Leone mumbled something from the ground as they approached, and the woman above her sighed. "Have you calmed down, Leone?"

The blond huffed but nodded all the same, and the Amazonian woman removed the gag with a chuckle.

Hei idly noticed the deep, heady sound of the woman's voice and repressed a flush as it sent a pleasant heat down his back. 'My god. Yoru's voice was already slightly deep, but she's got a more teasing sensual energy to her. This woman's voice is like jazz bass. What the hell is with this race and beauty standards?'

Leone got some leverage in her chains and snapped them like twigs one after the other as she gave Yoru the stink eye. "Don't bother with her, brat. She's annoyingly fast, even for the rest of us."

"Aw~, you're gonna make me blush, Leone."

"And you're going to share that wine, Yoru."

"It was a gift to me; it's in my rights to keep it."

"It was a gift to the village, bitch. Don't be greedy."

"Oh, as if you would do anything different if you got it first."

"I didn't get it first. That's the problem!"

Hei sweatdropped as he got semi-dragged into the verbal spat seeing as Yoru wasn't removing the lock on his head, and found himself next to the new woman who was eyeing him up.

He raised a hand in greeting. "Yo, names Hei."

"Ghislaine, call me Ghis." She responded and shook his hand calmly. "Need some help there?"

"It would be appreciated."

Ghis smirked and chopped Yoru's shoulder at a pressure point, making the woman wince and shoot Ghis a look before Leone dragged her back in, except without Hei attached.

He rubbed his neck and gave the woman a thankful nod. "I did not want to be in the middle of that. I broke enough ribs today."

Ghis hummed and looked at her heating up friends. "What are the two fighting about?"

"You don't know?" Hei shot her a weird look. "I saw you restraining Leone earlier."

Ghis shrugged casually. "If a week went by without something getting destroyed around here, it wouldn't be home."

"Huh." Hei rubbed his chin at the logic there. "Well, I brought some Silvervine Wine as a gift, and they're fighting over who gets it."

"Silvervine?" Ghis's tail started swaying magnetically, but otherwise, her expression remained calm. "An expensive gift."

"It's not that big a deal for me. I run a brand selling high-end products, had the wine in storage."

"Is that so?" Ghis asked with a raised brow. "I would have taken you for a warrior rather than a merchant."

"What makes you say that?" Hei inquired curiously.

The answer, however, made him blink. "You're fight with the adolescent Rock Snake was quite courageous. Sloppy, weak, and with a great deal of lacking experience, but courageous and victorious nonetheless."

Hei didn't know how to take that weirdly complimentary criticism. "Thank you? I think?"

"You're welcome." Ghis nodded like that was the end of it, but Hei wasn't done.

"Wait, wait, how did you see the fight with the snake? I had to flee the second its insanely sized parent showed up."

Ghislaine raised a brow and silently pointed a finger off to the side. Hei's eyes followed the line and landed on a group of women throwing a large grill over the fire alongside the massive head of the same exact serpent that sent him running for the hills.

"….Is that the…." He trailed off, and Ghis nodded.

"Yes. I was hunting it when it started hunting you."

"So that explosion that went off when I was fleeing…." He trailed off a second time, and Ghis filled in the blank again.

"Was me piercing it through the brain."

"You mean through the scales and skull?"

"How else do you hit the brain?"

Her question was calm and without mockery, full of honest confusion as she gazed at him with her sole eye, and yet it managed to hit Hei right in the pride. 'And I couldn't even pierce the scales of the snakes young kid.'

A feeling of comical depression clouded his thoughts, but a large hand clapping him on the back snapped him right out of it as Ghis raised his chin. "Do not feel frustrated at your weakness, young one. Weakness is not evil; it's the light that shows you where to improve yourself. Remain strong of heart and soul, and face all that comes, one step at a time." She smirked at him and looked off to the side where Leone and Yoru were gripping each other by the other's shirts with a sigh. "And it looks like I must play peacekeeper again. Enjoy the party, cub."

She sauntered off, and Hei watched her physically lift the two smaller women away from one another by the scruffs of their shirts in a daze. 'She's so cool….'

A cold shiver went down Hei's spine as he shook his head hard and looked around to ensure no one saw his little moment. 'I did not just fangirl….boy….whatever. I didn't do it. No one saw it. I didn't happen.'

A cough from behind had him freeze in a moment of dread as he turned his head to see the grinning, devilish face of the single creature that would haunt him for many long days.

Shi, one of the triplets, stood there at a frightening three foot two with a tooth-filled smug smile. "Heh."

Hei stood there silently for a moment staring at that face before calmly walking away at a steady pace.

'I need a drink.'

Away from his teacher for less than a day, and he was already beginning a drinking habit that would last his entire life.

And as Hei would soon come to find out, the old man wasn't even upset when Hei told him. He just patted Hei on the shoulder with a nod of understanding and invited him in for dinner.

00000

The banquet dragged on long into the night as Hei got a first-hand experience of how the cats partied.

They drank, ate, danced, fought, drank some more, and performed a strangely choreographed rendition of Eye of the Tiger.

Alongside the dancing flames of the bonfire, alien-like neon flowers and flora lit up throughout the village, centering on the grand Sakura tree glittering like crystals in the moonlight.

It was a scene out of a fantasy novel, with drums playing and dancing figures moving through the flames, creating joyous and jubilant shadows that whirled through the night.

And through it all, as the hours passed deeper into the night, Hei found himself enthralled by the sight. Sitting by his lonesome on the sidelines, drinking silently and enjoying the ambiance of the world he found himself in. 'This is why I wanted to be free, wasn't it?' He couldn't help but question as he took it all in. 'To see sights like this. To not have to live in fear as I traveled and searched for places like this one. Seeing things beyond my imagination with an unfettered heart.'

A weight settled down by his side, making him instinctively twitch toward his pistols before meeting Ghislaine's amused gaze as she sat beside him on the ledge. "Good instincts, cub."

Hei rolled his eyes and eased back while sipping his drink. "Something tells me I'll need better ones living here."

"Mn, it's good to always be on guard." Ghis commented calmly and looked down at the singing cats fondly. "But everyone needs a home where they can also let down that guard." She side-eyed him meaningfully while he tried to ignore how close to home those words hit.

Home was where the old man was, and that home had an expiration date.

Hei looked down at his reflection in his drink thoughtfully and mulled over things for a minute as his companion silently sat by him stoically.

"It must be nice, to live so much longer than humans as you all do."

"It can be." Ghis hummed. "But nothing is perfect. There are positives and negatives to every race, cub."

A snort left his lips before he could help himself. "Yeah, right; humans got the short end of the stick in everything."

"Not everything." The gray-haired feline said simply as she looked up at the night sky, artificially filled with stars. "Humans are the most populated and fertile. And their thoughts, emotions, faith, inventions, and creativity fuel most of the pantheons to greater heights." She pointed a finger up, drawing Hei's gaze to where she looked. "They are weak and fragile, but there is courage in them. And sometimes, just like a shooting star lights up the night, so too does the rare human, reaching heights so many of those older than them struggled to reach with multiples of their life span."

As she spoke, a shooting star shot across the sky, reflecting in the pools of Hei's eyes as her words sunk in. "So we grow quickly, is what you're saying?"

Ghis chuckled and lowered her hand with a nod. "Yes. With the right will, resources, and talents, no race can match you for growth speed. To us born with power, with lifespans measured in centuries or more, we are slow to change and grow. So while you had a disadvantaged start, take pride in your roots and never stop seeking a new peak, for the path to the top has no true end."

Her deep velvety voice only built on the feeling of personal experience behind her words, and Hei had to fight down a flush at how comforting it was to hear them.

'You just met the woman, Hei. Stop feeling like her words have the same weight as the old man's!' He internally berated himself while outwardly humming in acknowledgment.

Whether Ghis noticed his dilemma or not went unsaid as the woman leaned back on her palm and continued to watch her villagers be merry.

Soon their drinks came to an end, and the woman nudged him. "Not going to join the others?"

Hei looked over and saw Yoru and Leone arm wrestling over a table while a dozen felines cheered them on. Or egged them on. He couldn't tell from up there.

"I'll pass. I'm more comfortable up here."

She followed his gaze and chuckled. "Understandable."

That was the last thing she said to him that night as the two just sat on the ledge under the firelight, silently taking in the ambiance of the village in an easy-going companionship that needed no words.

To Hei, she was like a guardian lion lounging in the background, enjoying the air while her young charges played freely.

To Ghis, he was a cub she was feeling out, getting to know someone by senses beyond simple words.

And then she had to step away when a drunken Yoru and Leone began to get heated again for whatever reason, leaving with a slight friendly nod to him that he returned unknowingly before deciding to call it a night and slink off into the shadows.

But sleep didn't call for him yet, and he felt the desire to be productive fill him as he walked toward the area Leone pointed out to him earlier. 'Might as well go check out the area Leone mentioned and find a place to set the safehouse.'

The moonlight was his torch, bright and lighting up the path ahead as he moved through the still outer areas of the village, still hearing and feeling the distant drums of the banquet beginning to waver off.

He stepped through the borderline at the southwestern corner, and those distant drums vanished entirely as he entered a new world.

Whereas the village was intertwined with nature in a way that he could only marvel at, the forest beyond its border somehow soothed and called to his soul in a way he couldn't describe.

Soft, silent steps took him forward, uncaring of where he was going but feeling as if something was guiding him along.

His eyes closed as the feeling intensified, with the shadows of the night seeming to elongate to his form like small pieces of metal caught in a magnetic web.

Hei breathed deep into the night air, caught in a trance he couldn't describe, with only the wish of finding a safe place to rest his head in his mind, and when the feeling stopped, Hei could only blink and stare at his surroundings in confusion.

'How did I get here?'

A gently flowing stream of crystal clear water flowed beside him in a small clearing in the ancient looming forestry, alit with glowing green crystals jutting out of the tree roots as a ray of moonlight broke through a skylight in the branches to land on a smooth boulder not a few feet away from him.

Hei took it all in, walking up and running his palm over the smooth stone in uncertainty. 'What just happened?'

He had a desire, and the night guided him to where he wished.

And far, far away, a queen on her throne chuckled at the confused young wolf with a fond gleam in her eyes, saying words no one else would say, not even Hei himself. 'Happy birthday, my courageous grandson. Continue making us proud.'

The date had changed, and it was March 1st, the day Hei was born into the world, the day he turned twelve years old, and the day he began his life in the village of the Nekoshou.

00000

While Hei went off on his nature walk, caught in the allure of those who watched over him from so far away, the feast had finally petered off as the cats returned to their homes to rest, or were carried home by their friends and family if they couldn't manage to make it that far.

The fire dimmed and was put out, the drums were put down, and the only sounds to fill the village became the chirping of insects and the snores of the villagers.

But four souls weren't finding rest just yet.

In the center of the village, near the destroyed remains of Yoru's home and office where the ancient Sakura Tree stood, Ghislaine separated Yoru and Leone for the final time.

"Would you two quit it? This is getting ridiculous."

Her irritated tone reached her two friends' ears as they pawed at each other.

"Maybe if someone would just share, this could all be over, Yoru."

"Finders keepers, you know the rules, Leone."

Ghislaine sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose as she waved a hand at the branches. "Chloe, a little help?"

Wires glittered in the moonlight as they were pulled taught, trapping the half-intoxicated forms of Yoru and Leone together like a spring roll as their chests were pushed together strong enough to pop the buttons off their shirts.

"I liked that shirt!"

"Oi! Hands off the goods!"

"My hands are at my sides."

"Then what the hell is poking me? Are you cold or horny, Yoru?"

"Yes."

The two fell over in a bickering mess as Ghislaine looked up with a nod. "Thanks, Chloe."

"Anytime, Ghis~." A mischievous laugh sang into the night as a new figure materialized from the shadows of the tree, not bothering to come down from a thick branch that hung over the three below. "You know~, it's cheating that you can see me with that hidden eye under that eyepatch~."

The new figure poked her head out into the moonlight, revealing a petite young woman wrapped in a hoodie without sleeves that hung over her head, letting her feline ears poke through the fabric in small tents.

A pixie cut of black hair fell through her hood as glittering green emerald-like eyes glowed in the night with a wide Cheshire-like grin spreading across her cheeks.

The mischievous laugh that rang from her lips gained a hint of something more that would set the hackles rising on any man who heard it in the middle of the night, thinking an ex-girlfriend with a butcher knife was around a dark corner, but her friends were long since used to her eccentric ways and ignored their knee jerk reaction as Ghis shrugged. "Bother me later; I'm dealing with these two right now."

Chloe giggled and waved a gloved hand forward. "By all means~, I'll sit here and watch~."

"Oi! Chloe, get me out of this so I can beat this greedy bitches ass!"

"Beat my ass?! Girl, I could electrify you right this second."

"Do it, and I'll raid your secret stash. Don't think I don't know where it is!"

Chloe openly laughed as she kicked her legs playfully on her branch and cheered them on while Ghislaine got tired of the shit.

The amazonian stepped forward, unlinking the katana at her side menacingly as she hovered above the two arguing felines. "Enough."

The single word silenced the two as they looked up and paled under the demonic glow of Ghis glowing with Touki as her dragon fang sword glittered in the moonlight above them. "Yoru, you will share. Leone, you will use words. If not, I'll remove your privilege to teach the cub and do it myself. Do I make myself clear?"

"You can't take the brat! He's the holy grail of good booze!"

"Yeah! And I haven't even gotten to the fish yet!"

"I vote we steal him."

"Here, here!"

The drunken byplay was silenced by a katana resting on their necks. "I said: Do I make myself clear?"

Yoru and Leone's eyes swiveled to each other and back to Ghis as they nodded in compliance, satisfying the Amazonian woman's ire. "Good." Her sword moved faster than anyone below High-Class could perceive as the strings tying them up were cut and freed them.

Chloe clicked her tongue from the side at the show being taken away and pulled back her severed strings with a creepy chuckle. "Mama Ghis strikes again~."

Ghislaine's eye moved to her with a glare. "Would you like to take a camping trip with me, Chloe?"

The new feline's pale skin paled even further as she quickly shook a hand back and forth. "Nuh-uh, no thank you, you stamina freak. After dealing with you, I always have to replace all my spools and poisons. Do you even understand how annoying it is to make my reinforced wires?"

"No, nor do I care." Came the immediate response making Chloe droop as a comical cloud of depression appeared over her head.

"No one wants to ever listen to my crafting methods."

Leone snorted from where she pushed herself up on wobbly feet as she pulled on her birthright, letting the world's natural energy filter into her and push away the effects of the alcohol. "Maybe you would see more interest if your so-called methods were less bloody and/or disgusting."

"Oh, screw off muscle for brains."

"You want to go psycho bitch?!"

Ghislaine coughed loudly and silenced them as she shot Leone a look. "Finish one battle before jumping into another."

Leone knew she was being immature but still stuck her tongue out at the Amazonian before turning to Yoru, who had likewise followed her example to sober up. "I'd rather not fight for real. I have to start the brat's training in the morning."

Yoru got her feet under her and nodded back. "Same; the boy's mine after lunch."

"Agreed."

The two shook on it while Chloe tilted her head in confusion up in her branch. "What's all this talk of a kid, now?"

The three listening felines blinked and deadpanned at her.

"Chloe…."

"You skipped the start of the banquet again, didn't you?"

"What have I told you about being more social?"

Chloe pouted at the responses, and half turned away with a flush. "I don't like crowds; you all know that."

Her friends sighed in unison at their most antisocial friend and let it go as Yoru decided to answer her previous question. "Long story short, we'll be having a guest for a while. Leone owed a life debt and is paying it off by being a teacher to the boy, and I had some fun with him and decided to take him on as well. His names Hei."

"And he can be a bit angsty when sober." Leone helpfully added.

Chloe blinked at the story and looked like she just experienced culture shock, pointing a shaky finger at the two cats. "You….you two as teachers? To the same person?..." She trailed off and pinched herself. "Did I huff the wrong poisons this morning? I could have sworn I'm not doing hallucinogens this month."

Yoru and Leone twitched at their ability to teach being questioned.

"Hey, I can teach if I want to. And we seriously have to talk about you holing yourself up in your tree for so long."

"Yeah, girl, that's getting a bit too extreme. Share the hallucinogens next time." Leone commented with a peace sign and got slapped over the back of her head by Yoru.

"Not the point, Leone. Don't encourage her."

"Of come on, it sounds fun. She makes good shit."

"She's not a drug dealer."

"She's a poison and trap specialist; what's the difference?"

"The difference is…"

The two trailed off, and Ghislaine's ire rose again as her blade unsheathed.

A couple lumps and cuts later and Ghislaine took over the conversation. "The cub is here to learn and grow. And I don't trust these two fools to do the job right, so he'll be having three teachers from now on."

"What?!"

"You too?! Why is everyone taking my brat?"

Chloe choked on her spit at the declaration. "What the hell is wrong with you three? I get Leone being a dumbass and paying off a debt, but is the kid that big a deal that you two would join in as well?"

Yoru scratched her cheek. "I like the boy. He has the guts, will, and balls to handle physical forging, unlike the majority of pansies that crumble at a couple broken bones. I broke his limbs and ribs and pushed him to the brink of exhaustion, and yet he still kept fighting. And at the very end, he actually pushed back and began to improve rapidly before my eyes. The boys got instincts that would put a Nekomata to shame. And he got that far as a human of all things. It makes my hands itch to make a diamond out of coal."

"That seems oddly fitting for you." Yoru's answer had Chloe's intrigue rising as she turned to Ghislaine. "And you, Ghis? You always train up your underlings, but I've never seen you take a dedicated student before."

The Amazonian hummed. "I saw the cub hunt. He needs work and proper weapons, but he has the spirit of a warrior and faces death without fear." She glanced at Yoru with a nod. "His natural instincts are phenomenal, and his movements are without waste or flaw. His basic foundation has been trained and honed like an art form, but he lacks advanced skills."

She turned to Leone with her last line coming out as half a question, and Yoru understood and was likewise curious about the question. "Anything you want to share, Leone? I admit I got a bit excited after playing around with him and giving him a more thorough questioning in private, but I don't actually know anything about his background."

Leone crossed her arms as her tail twitched under the stares of the other three. "Look, I'm not gonna cross the brat's trust, I just barely got him to start talking to me earlier, and I'm not willing to jeopardize that."

"We're not asking you to share private information. We just want to get an idea of what we're dealing with here."

Yoru rubbed her chin and hummed in agreement with Ghislaine. "Yeah, a boy his age, with such experienced eyes and a foundation like his, not attached to any faction? That's beyond a needle in a haystack; that's almost impossible to find."

Chloe perked up there in interest, getting distracted from the wire she was playing with and turning into the shape of a bird. "How old are we talking?"

"Eleven."

"Eleven?" Chloe repeated dryly. "You're all getting worked up over a kid? Does he have a Longinus Sacred Gear or something?"

The other three matched gazes and shrugged in unison.

"He's got an older soul. Probably reincarnation or something. You know how it goes." Leone waved a hand airily.

"Yeah, I got the sense of that earlier. Reincarnators are rare but not that uncommon. It's like seeing an older soul and a young soul meshed together, not really an old person or a young person alone but a bit of both." Yoru added as Ghislaine nodded.

"Whoever he was doesn't matter. He is what he is now, and I feel the spirit of a warrior in him. He is seeking the peak and has the will to claw his way there."

Chloe hummed and let her wire bird creation fly through the air as if it was animated before wrapping her legs around the branch and swinging upside down with a giggle. "Reincarnators are fun and random, but what's this miracle kid's motivation, eh~?"

Chloe looked at Leone with her question, and the blond shrugged. "He said he wants freedom, but I didn't dig too much into it. Yoru?"

The village leader chose her words carefully as she answered. "Freedom to him is being strong enough to make the most of life without fear of having it taken away. He has no desire for conquest, greed, or hurting others; he just wants to be free." A smile grew on her face as she added in. "And it helps that he really enjoys growing, adapting, and fighting. I sense a kindred spirit in him."

Leone and Ghislaine matched that smile with nods.

"I felt it the first time I pounded him into the ground."

"I saw it when he fought an adolescent Stone Snake."

Chloe watched her three closest friends build the new kid up with curiosity. "How catlike of him~." She giggled creepily and continued with her arms waving in the air playfully. "So what's his story then? I get that he's talented, and you bitches like him, but I'd rather know I don't have a church exorcist dropout in my home."

Leone snorted at that. "As if you would actually be bothered. Your tree is booby-trapped enough that even we find it too much of a pain to come drag you out."

"That was the point~."

The others chuckled, and Leone got back to the point. "As for his background, I'm keeping the personal details to myself, but I can give you a bit of general information. You ever hear about the Legacy of Lupa?"

Yoru and Ghislaine shook their heads, but surprisingly, it was Chloe who got serious and dropped from her branch, landing in a crouch not on the ground but on a hidden wire inches off the ground with a balance that put even her fellow cats to shame. "I've read books about them, or well, books written by them." Chloe's mischievous tone vanished as she spoke severely. "Some of the older research notes on poison mixology I learned from were written by authors a millennia ago stamped with the name Lupa, and those were the notes they didn't care about being found. Made me curious enough to research them, and all I could find was that it was some ancient line of mercenaries or something."

Leone pointed a finger at her. "Chloe's got it. The Lupa line is old. Tracing back to Rome and the actual goddess Lupa. They only ever have one official 'Lupa' at a time until they raise an heir to replace them."

Her three listeners hissed at the mention of a goddess.

"A goddess legacy?"

"That could be good or bad."

"How well known is that little tidbit? Divine legacies often have prizes that make even other gods get involved. We don't need that kind of attention on us."

Yoru was the one to point out the main issue, but Leone was quick to wave a hand. "Relax, I only know that because the current Lupa told me. It's not written anywhere; frankly, it's been over a millennia and a half, and nothing ever came out of it. Even if the title 'Legacy of Lupa' is well known, it's considered nothing more than a human-made tale. I've actually checked through my sources, and no one cares about them besides recognizing how lethal they can be."

Her friends calmed at that, and Ghislaine was the one to ask next. "When you say lethal, what do you mean?"

"I mean lethal." Leone emphasized. "They are all human, or at least half human, and they often use the fact that no one bothers to take humans seriously to end targets. The brat got chosen at four years old and went through training that, if ramped up to supernatural standards of body conditioning, would make veterans pale at the idea of putting their own children through. You saw how fearless he is, right? He ignores pain more than I do." Leone admitted with a shake of her head. "The first time I met him, I broke half the bones in his body and indented him in a tree, and his response was to say 'ow' without losing consciousness. Whatever his teacher did, the brats got some scary mental fortitude."

Ghislaine nodded in admiration, but Yoru and Chloe frowned and matched eyes.

"Was he conditioned?"

"He could be a drone."

Leone hissed at the comments. "The brats no drone. Yoru, you saw for yourself."

Yoru hummed at that, thinking about her experiences with Hei before tossing away her concerns. "Yeah, stupid question. The boy retained his humanity just fine, and the pain seemed to only enhance his will. He respects his teacher enough to make sacrifices, but he's not fanatical."

Chloe didn't know Hei, so she didn't argue with the majority opinion. She eased back up and swung around on her wire. "Alright, you got my interest~. So what makes these 'Lupa's' so lethal?"

"Didn't you just get all serious on us and mention how you learned from their research notes on poison?" Yoru asked dryly while Chloe giggled.

"I did. But making and using poison are different things. Plenty of researchers are wimps~."

Leone couldn't deny that. "Well, Lupa's never really reached the upper tiers. They're humans through and through, but what makes them lethal is how skilled they are. It's like many of them abandon the common sense of pursuing raw power to train their pure skills to a level it can pierce the tier lines for a single extremely lethal strike that can't be avoided." Leone chuckled ruefully. "They are ghosts who can vanish, change faces, master body language, and blend into any environment to get their kill. All of us could probably kill one of them in a single strike individually, but they don't usually fight directly." Leone tried to think of how else to put things before recalling something. "Do any of you remember the Ipos devil family incident from a while ago?"

It took a moment before recognition of the name entered Yoru's eyes. "You mean that necromancer family?"

Ghislaine's face twisted into a sour look at the reminder. "Unnatural. The dead should remain dead. That family deserved to be wiped out."

Chloe took the longest to remember and dropped a fist into her palm. "Ohhhhh~, that family. Wow, it's been like fifteen years now, right? Time flies~. Didn't they go from like a dozen members to extinct overnight?"

"I recall the uproar it made. Thankfully, the incident was on the other side of Hell and away from us and any splash damage. Devils are a finicky race, always looking for a reason to kill, enslave, or conquer something." Yoru explained.

Leone nodded at all their comments. "Yup. Not all of them are bad; Serafall comes around now and then to hang out."

Chloe winced at the reminder of that woman. "Ugh, keep sparkles away from me."

Yoru heard her and chuckled at the thought of their eccentric friend. "She loves messing with you like a cat owner whose cat refuses to give her a hug. But back to the point, at least the new devil faction is trying to do better. Good leaders and a decent new generation are on the way, but the old fucks are still around meddling in things, so we still have to watch our backs."

"Mn. Being on guard within one's home is unnecessary, but to protect the home, everything else must be treated with caution." Ghislaine added while recalling her conversation with Hei earlier during the banquet.

"Can we get to the point here? I want to sleep sometime tonight, you know?" Chloe's complaint had the other three refocusing, and Leone picked back up where she left off.

"Right, well, I can't give you specifics, but that whole incident was because they were a branch of the Ipos Pillar clan. The last branch to exist, with all the main family line members gone. They weren't the strongest, and no one really liked them, but they were still the remnants of a Pillar Clan. And they vanished overnight because of the man currently holding the title 'Lupa.'"

Three pairs of eyes widened at that.

"It was him?"

"Wouldn't we have heard about him before now if that were the case?"

"A remarkable feat for a human."

Leone shrugged at the questions. "I don't know more than that, and I only know that much because of my connections. The entire incident was swept under the rug and kept quiet, but that old man was tight-lipped on the details even back when he wasn't an old man." She shook her head with a chuckle. "He was scary good in his prime, but after that incident, he regressed hard in mind and body. I don't know what happened to him, but he peaked, and a couple years after, he found me bleeding out after my…..stuff and helped me." She finished lamely, but none of the three listeners made any attempt to poke at old wounds.

Ghislaine was the one to break the short silence that followed. "He sounds impressive. And I assume this is the one the cub respects as his elder?"

Leone was used to Ghislaine's way of speaking and just nodded. "The two are close as father and son, even if neither will admit it. The old man put his heart and soul into training the brat, and well, you saw the results for yourself."

The others absorbed the information for a moment before Yoru clapped her hands. "Alright, I think that settles any concern about him being tied to a faction. Ladies, and other issues?"

Ghis and Leone were already on board, so the question was more toward Chloe, who shrugged. "I can't see an issue right now, but I'll do my own research while you all play with him. For now, though, I trust you guys and won't complain~." She sang and flipped back up onto the tree branch with an eerie giggle.

"Thank god for that." Leone muttered, but all of them caught it, and Chloe's good mood flipped as she spiked blood lust toward the blond and debated pouncing before Ghislaine talked over the ensuing violence.

"Good, things have become a tad monotonous lately. It will also be good for the village and us to shake things up."

Chloe switched her attitude in seconds back to relaxed as neither she nor the others could argue against that point, having all been getting bored as of late.

Yoru was the first to smile and break the tense atmosphere. "Now that the details are out of the way, I can get back to thinking about a training schedule. It's been far too long since I had fun, and with such a perfect punching bag…..I mean student."

"Of course you did." Leone chuckled. "I assume you're going to focus on Body Forging to prepare him for Touki?"

"For Touki?" Yoru blinked. "Oh, right. That too. We all know that the later you awaken it, the better the outcome, so I'll try to push him to Steel-Grade flesh or maybe even Titanium-Grade before he can awaken it. Could work on his hand-to-hand a bit as well."

The three listeners' sweat dropped, sending out a silent prayer for Hei in their minds, even Chloe.

"Right…" Leone trailed. "Well, I'll handle energy sensing and suppression. Ghis?"

The Amazonian woman hummed. "I'll let you two monopolize his time first, but I wish to take him on camping trips, eventually. He needs experience against wild magically enhanced beasts who don't think like humans. His first attempt, while courageous, was sloppy. He was only trained to fight humanoid opponents; I must correct that oversight. But until then, I want to work with him on drawing out his instincts and letting them guide him as well as discuss his weapons choice." She recalled the fight with the snake with a frown. "That will need some work."

Leone chimed in at Hei's defense there. "He didn't have his guns on him when he went on that little walk. The brats held back by the materials available to him, he's actually scary good with those things."

Yoru nodded in agreement there. "I agree. I took them away from him to see what else he had, but from the little I saw, he barely even blinked to get spot-on accuracy. And considering how fast those pieces of metal fly, it could be highly deadly with the right materials or spells."

Chloe took an interest in the topic and spoke up. "I don't know much about guns, but I can always respect an outlier to the usual cliché sword users. Sure, those at the top use simple weapons, but everyone knows what to expect~. Very few have experience fighting a trap and poison user, and fewer are used to fighting against human hot weapons. Nyahaha." A smile that wasn't a smile painted her lips as she played with her wires.

Ghislaine ignored the disturbed cat with an endless ball of yarn and took in the collective thoughts as she held her chin with a pondering expression. "Perhaps. I'll have to see it for myself and speak with him."

Yoru and Leone could only shrug at that before the three felines focused their gazes on Chloe, who shrunk under the stares. "What? Don't look at me, nya! I didn't agree to teach anyone anything." She hissed with an arched back as she backed up.

Her friends chuckled at the response and looked away, but they all knew the green-eyed feline was far more interested than she looked.

Leone hid a smirk and looked away at the night sky. 'She wouldn't have stuck around this long if she wasn't interested. I give her till the end of the first two weeks to cave. The brats just too fun of a toy to pass up on.' She took a measure of the moon and clapped her hands to get the other's attention. "Ok, so we good? I have to rebuild my house, again, and hopefully get some sleep."

"Here, here." Yoru stretched her arms over her head with a groan before something occurred to her, and she looked at her friends. "You know, we never joint-trained anyone before. Even the villagers were split up between us, and that was less being a teacher and more being a leader."

Yoru was the leader of the village for both domestic and inter-species affairs.

Ghislaine nodded with a stoic face and an excited tail. "Mn, this will be a first."

Ghislaine led the hunters and dealt with any dangerous magic beast beyond what the villagers could handle.

Leone smirked. "The brat's worth it."

Leone led the information network and spies while also dealing with any focused interest on Nekoshou to pop up on her radar.

Chloe giggled and swatted at a falling Sakura petal. "The kid will be a monster if he survives you three."

Chloe led the scouts, defensive trappers, and illusionists who watched the village's borders.

Ghislaine cracked a small smile at Chloe's line. "I believe Leone's story makes him out to be a wolf, no? Should I call him Cub, or Pup, I wonder?"

"A wolf trained by cats?" Leone commented with an amused raise of her brow.

An excited bloodlust spewed out of Yoru as she got lost in her imagination. "The wolf of Sakura Village? No, doesn't have a nice ring to it."

Chloe watched the three get worked up with a sweat drop but couldn't resist commenting. "How about 'The Nekoshou's Wolf'? Nya, It's more literal."

Her three friends blinked at that, matched eyes, and grinned in unison as their blood sang in their veins, answered in tune by over a hundred other cats who felt the bloodlust and roused from their slumbers, wondering what they were hunting.

That night, the wheels of fate turned, and a young wolf who had touched upon the first traces of his mysterious bloodline slept peacefully under the moonlight, momentarily shielded from the world and unaware of the hellish training coming his way from individuals who would slowly forge themselves into the very pillars of support that would one day raise him high enough to reach the heavens above and tear out the very walls of reality that stood in his way.

Pillars that would shape him to become the wolf whose howl was heard throughout the world.

Pillars of family.

Something he never even knew he wanted.

"Oh~, by the way~, anyone decide who's gonna get that wine? I wanna bum a bottle." Chloe's not-so-innocent question froze two out of three cats in place while the third turned a murderous eye on the green-eyed feline who knew exactly what she did and ran for the hills.

There was no rest for the wicked.

End.

AN: Thoughts? Lots of stuff happened throughout the three parts of chapter 7.

- The first taste of the village and triplets.

- The fight against Yoru.

- The talk with Yoru after waking up. Did I drop too much info? Or did you enjoy the addition of the body scale? I felt it was important for future reference in both training, as well how to measure ammunition against foes.

- The fight with the snake and intro of Ghislaine.

- The talk and drinking with Leone.

- The start of the banquet.

- The talk with Ghislaine.

- Wandering off with a birthday gift from Grandma.

- and the night time meeting with the 4 Neko leaders.

Lots of stuff, hope I did it all justice. Each of the 4 Neko leaders is meant to have real screen time.

Finally, as a dessert to this 3 course meal, I shall present you with a semi-canon Omake.