AN: Just to clarify, I never watched beyond season 1 of DxD. I love the world, but did not enjoy the show. So IF Mephisto showed up eventually, I have no idea what he would act like. To me, Mephisto will always be represented by the character who portrayed him in Blue Exorcist. That guy was a troll and I love it.
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Enjoy
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Chapter 9 Part 2: A Wolf's Howl.
In the Nekoshou village. In a particular rebuilt home of Leone's.
A unique box handed to her many years past in case the worst happened, sitting calmly on a shelf she never allowed herself to damage, even in her drunken stunts, had finally activated and opened with a puff.
But Leone wasn't home. She was out drinking with the girls, proudly raving about the latest prank she pulled on her little brother and entirely unaware of his current turmoil.
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The afternoon sun illuminated the world, casting its glow down upon the earth and shining gently against the smooth surface of a new tombstone and the simple words carved into it.
{In loving memory of a Teacher, a Father, a Friend, a Husband, and a True Warrior to the end.
Amon Lupa, the 29th
May he be reunited with his love.}
A carving of the fierce wolf adorning Mr. Lupa's old cane headpiece was carved into the tombstone beneath the writing, forever branding him as one of a legacy that stretched for generations. A Lupa was not forgotten in death. Their gifts simply passed onto the next, hoping to create something greater than they ever were.
Hei stayed numbly locked onto the stone, his arms cut up and filthy from digging the grave by hand. It had been twenty-four hours since he arrived home, since he stood at that exact spot with his teacher, standing before a sole tombstone that now finally had its other half.
His gaze shifted his bloodshot, dull-red eyes to the older stone. An entirely blank tombstone aside from a name and a beautifully carved symbol of a carnation flower. Mr. Lupa had said it was her favorite. His tales told of attempts to playfully drown his lover in them, wanting to see that smile adorn her face for years to come.
The happy tale rang in his ears like static, recalling the laughter the two shared that already felt so long ago.
Hei stood there, staring at them, drained and empty after crying his heart out, seeing things beyond the sight before him.
He had never known what a father was before Mr. Lupa. Never knew the love of a parent outside a single decisive moment. The man was blunt and brutal, calm and guiding, imparting lessons and teachings down with a hand that did not force but demanded excellence from a willing student. When he struggled, the man was there. When he was frustrated, a healthy outlet was given. When he reached his limits time and again, it was Mr. Lupa who helped him break them.
The concept of a father was beyond Hei, yet he couldn't help but feel like Mr. Lupa was his.
He placed a hand against the smooth stone and whispered a final prayer between parched lips.
'Rest in peace, Teacher, I hope you find her again.' The smallest of smiles quirked on his lips. 'Thank you. For everything.'
He took a final look and turned, the smile dying a frosty death as he stepped out of the sunlit graves into the shadowed woods and didn't look back.
Every step away only increasing the ringing in his ears, the pain in his chest, the longing in his soul, yet he pushed on numbly anyway.
A part of him broke digging that grave, and that piece wasn't recovered by the time he was done.
Joy was waiting for him at the property gate, quickly wrapping him in a warm hug that did nothing to penetrate the chill he felt encompassing his body.
"Thank you, Joy." A trace of warmth entered his voice as he patted her arm. "Watch the place for me, alright?"
She growled lowly and nodded before leaving with a final pat on the head, returning to the home with an aura of grief.
Hei watched her go before the cold snuffed out the last trace of warmth. He looked up at the falling snow that hadn't abated through the morning and wondered if even the heavens above were weeping for his loss.
He felt empty. Alone. Yet he had a mission. He had a goal.
'I need to attain Ruby.' It was his teacher's final request and his sole guidepost in the dark ocean he felt himself floating in.
Reaching into his cloak, he pulled out a mask. The mask his teacher's cane had transformed into when he passed. An entirely blank white mask adorned only shadowed eyeholes. Yet as he placed it on his face, it wavered like a pool of water as twin trails of red fell from the eyes.
With steady, hollow steps, he walked on, pushing all that he was to the back of his mind to focus on the hunt ahead.
It was time for work.
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Leone woke with a pounding head. "Ugh, I'm gonna be sick."
"That's your own fault." Ghislaine's calm voice rang out nearby as she got up with a groan.
Leone looked up to see herself and Yoru sprawled on Hei's bed. A blurry memory of them raiding Hei's stash, which he adorably thought he could hide from them, came to the front of her mind before the rest of the night got hazy.
Ghislaine was already up and drinking tea in the kitchen. Yoru was still out cold. And Chloe was nowhere to be seen.
"What happened?"
Ghislaine cradled her cup and waved toward the door. "Yoru egged you on to a drinking game. Chloe and I bet on who would win; I lost." With those parting words, she left as if it were just a typical day.
"Wonderful." Leone rolled her eyes and stretched wide with a yawn, luxuriating in the silky softness of Hei's bed. 'If the brat won't tell me how he makes his bed this comfy, I'm obligated to steal it.'
Shaking off her top, she lounged into the bathroom to clean up and change before heading out, leaving Yoru curled up in the sheets.
The sun's piercing rays dug into her eyes with a wince as she noticed the time of day. 'Noon already? Sheesh, I got to take it easy.'
She passed through the village, waving greetings and casually pawing away the flying tackles of the mischievous triplets.
"Leone!"
"Where's big bro?"
"He shall fear the mighty knee shatterer this day!"
Leone snorted in humor and kept them away with gentle swipes. "He left yesterday; he'll be back in two weeks."
"Wha…"
"Already?"
"Nooo!"
Three pairs of ears drooped in sadness, much to Leone's amusement. "None of that; he goes home every two weeks."
Ni growled at that. "Why? This is his home, isn't it?"
"Yeah! He should just stay here forever!" Li chirped in agreement.
"Then he wouldn't be able to escape my terrifying claws." Shi swung around her tiny claws to make her point.
Leone could only sweat drop at the last of the three. 'Definitely gonna stick her with Chloe in a few years.' She shook her head and addressed the others. "His home is on Earth, girls."
"So this isn't his home?"
"I didn't say that…" Leone mumbled and scratched her head. "Look, he has to work, ok? He needs to make money to buy you all those snacks."
"Oh!"
"She's right!"
"I am the devourer of snack time!"
"Girls!" The triplet's mother called from a distance. "Leave Leone alone and come help me."
"""Yes Mama~!""" They turned and scampered off, with Leone waving off their mother's apologetic smile.
'Little brats.' She chuckled fondly and continued on home. 'Of course this is his home. What kind of stupid question is that?'
If one were to have asked her that question half a year ago, she wouldn't have said more than Hei being a temporary guest due to a life debt she owed, yet as time moved on, her adopted little brother wormed his way into being an honorary member of their little village. He was liked by everyone and was a student to all four leaders.
Hell, for all the top-dollar goods he keeps bringing, the village would likely go to war to protect him. That thought alone made Leone snort in humor. 'Only gone a day, and I'm already thinking of the brat. I need a new hobby.'
She pushed her front door open and tossed her dirty clothes into a basket. "Ugh, I need to clean up in here."
Her place wasn't big; she never bothered with how often she recked it, but she had mastered how to make something small comfy by now. She kicked over a few scattered bottles and passed by a certain shelf with half a mind.
Only to pause mid-step with her foot in the air and slowly backtrack.
Her gaze turned robotically to the one actual fixture of her home, where she found an innocent metallic box cracked open, a box that could take a full-powered blow from her and come out unscathed.
A box that would only open under one circumstance. A box that would contain a mask and a letter with detailed instructions if the old wolf couldn't pass down his legacy successfully.
Her face paled rapidly as she understood what had happened. "Oh no…." Her energy surged to life in a flare without any attempt to hide her signature as she formed a teleportation circle, causing three pairs of ears to twitch throughout the village.
Ghislaine turned with a raised brow from where she was about to leave for a hunt. Chloe cursed as she messed up a delicate concoction of poisons and almost blew herself up. And Yoru's sleep bubble popped as her eyes narrowed in Leone's direction, feeling the flare from the wards.
Yet Leone didn't think of any of that as she rushed her teleportation and came out at Mr. Lupa's home. "Hei!"
She called out as her energy spread in the blink of an eye to find his signature, but there was no answer. Hei wasn't in her range.
A low whine from the porch caught her attention, and she found one of Hei's scary panda maids looking her way.
"Joy! Where's Hei?! Is Mr. Lupa…." She trailed off as Joy looked down sadly, pointing a paw towards the woods behind the house.
Leone took off in the blink of an eye, only to skid to a halt beside a freshly dug grave. Her eyes watered as she read the writing and looked down. "Oh, Hei…"
Two indents in the dirt from where Hei must have been kneeling told enough of a story for Leone to understand.
A silent tear slid down her cheek as she bowed her head and gave her wishes to the old man who once saved her life when her idiotic choices led her down a self-destructive path. Mr. Lupa didn't have many friends, but he was a man worthy of respect to the few who knew him.
A flare of mana back from where she had arrived got her attention, and she sprinted back. "Hei!" Yet stepping out were not her little brother but Ghislaine and Chloe, alert and at the ready.
"Leone, what's going on? We felt your flare; Yoru sent us to scout since she can't leave the wards unattended." Ghislaine calmed without a noticeable threat in sight, but Chloe was still looking around.
"This is the kid's home, isn't it?"
The two eyed up the Joy panda and shivered for differing reasons before focusing back on a grim-faced Leone.
"Hei's gone. His teacher died; I just found the grave. We need to find Hei before he does something stupid."
"Why would the Cub act rashly? He is not one to lose his cool." Ghislaine questioned and got an urgent shake of the head from Leone.
"You don't understand; that old man was Hei's whole world. That old wolf raised him for seven years; Hei would cut off his own arm for him. If I knew he was so close to going out, I wouldn't have let Hei be alone through his passing." She was flexing her claws in worry, unable to control her impulse to hit something. "I need to find him."
Ghislaine's larger hand closed over Leone's own reassuringly. "We will." She met Leone's unsteady gaze and got her to take a calming breath as Chloe sniffed the area.
"Hei's scent is all around the place, but none of it leads anywhere in specific. This place is practically soaked in his blood, none of it recent though." She narrowed her emerald eyes as she traced the scent deeper. "He was here a few hours ago."
"Good." Ghislaine focused on Leone. "Where would he go?"
"I don't know. Hei has safe houses around the world." She turned to the panda. "Joy?"
The lovable maid just whined softly and pointed at the gate Hei left through.
"Shit, let's try the nearest Mercenary Guild branch."
Ghislaine grunted. "Lead the way."
"There's no point in Ghislaine and me going. I'll head back and pull on some of my strings, see if I can get a sighting." Chloe shrugged casually, but the lack of her usual teasing tone told the other two she wasn't playing around.
The three nodded and split up to begin the search with a will. With trackers like them, how far could a single human get?
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Sadly for the worried felines, they would soon learn that for all the skills Hei had yet to master, his ability to vanish with the help of his Sacred Gear was unparalleled.
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One week later, on the streets of Paris.
Three members of the Garmont family, an aristocratic line that ran a pillar of crime throughout France, were running for their lives through dark alleys.
"Shit! That monster tore apart the entire warehouse!"
"I recognized that mask. What's the Lupus of Spain doing all the way over here?!"
"Forget the why! That fucker just challenged the Garmont family; we have to report and hunt the bastard down."
Each of them was frantic and wide-eyed, running scared from the slaughter of the warehouse they were in charge of protecting. Unfortunately for them, there would be no escape that night.
Twin gunshots rang out, and two bodies fell to the earth with holes in their heads.
The last of the trio, the one who identified the mask of their attacker, tripped over one of the bodies and fell in a panic, getting a clear sight of the cloaked, masked man in black stepping out of the dark.
"No…no….Mercy! Please! Lupus, I'll tell you whatever you wa-." The man slumped against the wall in shock as a final gunshot cut him off, falling to the cold ground in disbelief and unwillingness.
Yet Hei didn't even pause in his steps, walking past the fallen man without a second glance, stepping through the growing puddle of blood without thought, and pulling out his phone to make a call with his scrambled voice. "Job complete. Issue the funds within one hour or expect a visit."
"How dare y-!"
He didn't wait for an answer and hung up before the Frenchman could get worked up; if he didn't pay, he would become his next target. That was all.
Pulling up the file of his next job, Hei studied the location and vanished into the night.
Two hours later, a blond woman dropped into the alleyway and ignored the carnage with indifferent eyes. She honed in on a footprint in the blood and growled. "Damn it, brat! Stay still for two fucking seconds!"
Ghis, crouching atop a nearby building, sighed and turned to find Chloe appear behind her, cleaning her knives with a cloth. "Anything?"
"Nope~." Chloe rolled her tongue. "He overlooked a few rats for me to play with~, but otherwise, he left no trace." She ended on a sour note.
Leone jumped up to meet them, looking far more frazzled than the two with how frantically she had been searching. "His tracks stopped a few blocks away; we might need to split up to catch him."
Ghis raised a brow, but Chloe beat her to the punch.
"Nya. You want three of the world's best tracking experts to split up to hunt down one target with less mana than a Mid-Class?" Her incredulous tone wasn't missed, and Leone didn't have to answer as Ghislaine did.
"She's right." The Amazonian woman stood from her crouch with a narrowed gaze. "Human cities are the Cub's natural habitat. Arrogance will not serve us when we know how skilled the student we are training is. He is as much a natural in the night as us, perhaps more."
Chloe's look faded as she considered Hei's strangeness and twirled on her spot. "Fine~. He can't go on forever."
"And when he stops, one of us will be there." Leone added, and the three split once more.
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Two weeks after the death of Amon Lupa, on the edge of a skyscraper in NYC, a cloaked figure watched dispassionately from the edge of a skyscraper as the city that never slept cheered their hearts out for the coming new year.
Empty eyes watched from beneath his mask as the streets were filled for the turn of the 2nd millennium, all eagerly waiting for the iconic balls to drop, including Hei's target sitting on the balcony of the 22nd floor of the building he stood atop of.
Surrounded in a fort of security, protected from above, below, and from the inside, one of the West Coast's most prominent drug pins drank happily, surrounded by women, knowing he was untouchable as long as he never left.
The wind roared in Hei's ears as the city came alive to count down the seconds.
"5!"
He crossed his arms and stepped off the ledge, head down.
"4!"
He aimed his gun.
"3."
He pulled the trigger.
"2!"
His target's head rocked back.
"1!"
The city's cheers drowned out the screams above as Hei's levitation stones came to life, and he vanished without a trace.
An hour and a half later, an annoyed Chloe clicked her tongue atop the skyscraper Hei stood on previously. "Getting closer~."
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Three weeks after Amon Lupa's passing, a high-speed envoy blitzed through the streets of Moscow, escorting a Bishop and a high-ranking member of the Ruska Roma mafia. The two were speaking happily with one another inside their bulletproof limo, smoking expensive cigars and sipping top-dollar spirits while being entirely unaware of the predator watching them.
The white of a mask was all that stood out from a crouched figure in the dark looking down the scope of a sniper rifle through an abandoned apartment window.
Red smoke trailed from the end of a cigarette with only the words 'Devil's Delight' printed on its slowly burning wrapping, idly spinning in the frigid air as Hei watched and waited.
The second the convoy crossed his strike zone; he flicked a switch. The world shook as explosions ripped up the street, flipping his target's car and giving him a clear shot through the open sunroof they were using while smoking, sticking an incendiary round right through his target's chest before turning the interior into an oven.
An hour later, an Amazonian woman watched the chaos outside from the abandoned apartment window. 'Good kill, Cub.' She turned with a will, knowing she was getting closer.
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Six weeks after Amon Lupa's passing, a cloaked figure slumped against an alley wall in the silent streets of Berlin, his head sagging as his body twitched and muttered in a seemingly endless nightmare, seeing phantoms of his enemies, targets, and regrets clawing at him.
"Meow."
The figure flinched at the sound and had the barrel of his pistol aimed before even truly seeing what he was aiming at.
"Meow."
The gentle sound rang out again, and Hei blinked his blurry eyes to see a stray brown tabby cat looking at him curiously. It matched his gaze beneath his mask and walked forward unworriedly, rubbing up against his leg with a purr.
Hei watched it numbly before lowering his weapon and lifting the feline by its scruff. It meowed a third time and pawed at his mask innocently.
Almost unconsciously, he pulled it into his lap and slowly pet it with experienced hands until it was purring in bliss, falling asleep without a care in the world.
Drops fell from the sky above as Hei looked up, hiding the wetness beneath his mask. He silently hugged the small creature to his chest. 'I want to go home.'
A second later, Mr. Lupa's smiling face came to mind, and that thought vanished beneath the icy grip of his grief.
Just under an hour later, a sleep-deprived and very annoyed Leone dropped into the alley, where she smelled Hei's blood. Yet she only found a peacefully sleeping tabby cat wrapped in Hei's cloak with an open container of fresh food next to it.
Her stern look softened as she approached, petting the small thing and waking it up. It yawned and stretched before happily noticing the food and attacking it without hesitation.
Leone's lips couldn't help but twitch as she recognized Hei had used Bluefin tuna to feed a stray. "Hey buddy, where did he go?"
The tabby cat looked up, prepared to protect its precious food, before it seemingly felt the desperation in her gaze and pointed its tail the way it had seen the human who smelled good leave. Leone looked that way and almost left before the cat chirped her way in a way only a feline could understand.
Leone smiled and scratched its ears. "I'll help him, I promise."
The tabby cat meowed a final time and returned to its meal as Leone rushed off. 'Come on, Hei. Just give me an opening.'
0000
The human underworld was in flux as a young wolf howled.
The high table soon became aware Lupus had gone international, and chessboards were being rearranged. Mixed responses came from all corners, but all knew it was an inevitable result of the changing eras.
In Barcelona, Carlos raised a glass in salute to the old while gazing at the extensive list of jobs Lupus was accomplishing at a speed set to stun any professional mercenary. 'Your legacy is in good hands, old friend.'
In Japan, Shimazu, the leader of the Continental under the Yakuza, listened to the reports from his spies with eyes like an undisturbed pond. 'So, the cycle begins again. What code shall this young wolf follow?'
In Italy, Gianna D'Antonio, next in line of the Camorra family, watched as her father blew out smoke between aged and cracked lips. He ashed his cigar and turned to her. "Find the wolf. He will deal with the Cretino."
In France, Vincent Garmont threw the contents of his table to the ground and roared at his subordinates. "FIND THAT PUTAIN! I WANT HIS HEAD ON MY WALL!"
In Russia, the Rusko Roma were ready to skin the wolf for disrupting their backroom deals with the church. Yet, Lupus was the least of their worries as a specific buff Cardinal was very interested in why a bishop was found with the Russian mob.
And it wasn't only the human factions that noticed the wolf's rise.
0000
"Father." A tall blond-haired man bowed before the desk of an older carbon copy of him reading through reports.
"Hm? Oh, Ruval, is something the matter?" The older man looked up with a curious gaze. "I don't believe it's time for dinner yet."
"No, father." Ruval smiled and held up a report. "Our agents are reporting in. It seems the Notr family has been eliminated."
Lord Phenex blinked at that. "Is that so? Shame. They were a lucrative client. What happened?"
"It seems a human mercenary took them out. Someone named Lupus."
"Oh." Lord Phenex lost interest at that. "Send one of our subordinates to investigate then."
"Why don't we send Riser? He could use the experience."
"Wonderful idea."
0000
Kokabiel frowned at the report on his desk. "Why was the Kregor family taken out? I thought I explicitly ordered them to be kept out of the spotlight of our enemies."
"Sir!" A two-winged fallen angel sweated nervously before him. "We kept things strictly human-based as you ordered, obscuring any supernatural sights on them. It seems a regular human mercenary took them out on a bounty set by a rival gang."
"Humans." Kokabiel scoffed and turned the page, stopping on the given name of the mercenary. 'Lupus….another one of those annoying flies flaunting that pagan bitches name. If I didn't know she fell in the war, I'd have taken out that legacy centuries ago.' He set the file aflame and tossed it aside. 'Those humans were funneling me resources I need to restart the war in a few years.' He growled and pointed at his terrified subordinate. "Find who put out the bounty and end them. I want replacements funneling in those resources yesterday. And so help me, if anyone notices, I'll gut you all myself."
"Yes, sir!" The man turned to leave and paused. "What about the mercenary?"
"Have someone start building a file." Kokabiel ordered. 'The last wolf started that brief, chaotic period years ago. If this one is half the assassin the last one was, I might have some use of them.'
"Anyone in particular, sir?"
"Dohnaseek."
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"Hahahaha! Good! Good!" From the desk of the leader of Grauzauberer, one of the top magician organizations of the supernatural world, Mephisto Pheles laughed openly from atop a floating chair. "The rise of the 30th Lupa has begun! What a grand day!"
A floating tea set by his side poured him a cup of tea as the devil tossed aside a request from a German mob family requesting magical protections on their warehouses from the Grey Wizards.
"Ah~, how long has it been?" Mephisto took his cup with a nostalgic ring to his tone, eyeing up one of many pictures on his wall. "Frank Lupa, dear 18th, it must have been centuries since your reign. Oh, how wonderful those turbulent times were." He nearly shed a tear for the utter chaos his friend had unleashed. "Your legacy has been dreadfully quiet in the years to come." He spun in his chair and threw his arms out wide. "Yet now a new player has entered the grand stage! Oh, I can't wait to see what this one will become. Will he rise to your heights, old friend? Burn in a grand momentary display of delightful chaos like the last one? Or fade into the background seeking a life in the shadows?"
The devil's eyes flared with magic as a divination spell he attempted failed, only stretching his lips into a sharp smile. "How exciting~."
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"Yasaka-Sama, there has been another sighting of the human mercenary." A Tengu bowed from the waist to the leader of the western Yokai faction sitting behind her desk, nearly buried in paperwork.
"Again?" The exhausted voice of the nine-tailed fox, Yasaka, priestess to Amaterasu, rang out with a sigh. "Be a dear and send it through to Sakura village, Souei."
"Right away." The Tengu vanished, leaving Yasaka alone with her thoughts as she idly pulled up the file on the masked mercenary she had ordered her spies to keep an eye out for. 'What has Yoru so worked up about this one?' A sharpened finger traced the image as she stared at the strange white mask. 'And why does that seem familiar?'
A distant memory tugged at her, but she couldn't recall its source, so she let it go with a shrug. 'Oh well, at least I finally got that concession through to those stubborn cats. I can finally tell the Naberius Clan they can send over their delegation.' She snorted at the thought. 'One little Nekomata marries one of their scientists, and they suddenly get interested in their species.' Her tails waved behind her in agitation. 'I don't like their interest, but I can't deny recruitment offers as part of the peace agreement.'
She pulled out a different file and opened it to a picture of a white-haired nekomata with two smaller forms hugging her legs. The sight alone softened the fox's eyes as she considered her own bundle of joy. 'It's been years since I last saw those two. It will be good for them to be among kin instead of those devils.'
Yasaka had nothing good to say about anyone from the Abrahamic factions, but she was a leader and needed to adhere to the wording of her peace agreements. This meant she couldn't pull two obviously young yokai away from their mother despite being in hostile territory if the woman didn't want to leave.
For good reasons, Sakura village was strictly isolationist, and they were not willing to risk opening their wards to an obvious security risk like Fujimai Tojo. Yet, with Yoru's request to access their information network, Yasaka was able to force her to agree to a visit. 'Although, that doesn't help if the information supplied isn't accurate.' She growled lowly and tossed aside the human mercenaries file that had been plaguing her desk for weeks. 'Why is it so hard to pin down one little human?'
0000
The world was abuzz with the wolf on the loose, yet the waves quickly settled as only human factions were being hit. Only the most curious, bored, or investigative individuals dug deeper to find out more.
Lupus rose through the ranks of the Mercenary Guild like a shooting star, breaking past Silver rank into Gold and yet still climbing without stopping as he cemented himself as one of the top 1% the Guild had to offer.
With a completion rate of 98%, commissions came flying in one after the other as interested parties sought his presence. Many of them for his skill set, others to eliminate a thorn, and a few looking to recruit.
No one could pin him down. No one could stop him. Once a job was taken, it was finished in hours before he vanished all over again.
He accepted jobs no matter the difficulty, taking on Gold rank bounties and jobs that had been gathering dust and completing what others deemed impossible for themselves.
The arms race practically tripled over the months as the status quo in the human underworld was shattered. Lupus's actions had butterfly effects, as gangs, mobs, mafias, cartels, aristocrats, age-old families, clans, and everyone in between saw the rising chaos as an opportunity to seize power.
Many praised him, many cursed him, many were awed by him, and to a particular group of felines, many were incredibly worried about him.
Lupus never paused. He never stopped. Rest was meaningless, and with each job completed, he fell further into a pit of his own making, becoming ever more numb and aimless.
Yet, for all that he was, for all that those older and wiser had made him, Lupus was still Hei beneath the mask, and Hei couldn't go on forever.
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Spell Card #11: Water of Life – Washes a single target in healing water of life. Heals all minor to medium injuries in seconds but does not cure illnesses, curses, or missing organs/limbs.
Nine weeks after Amon Lupa's death, Hei reached for a spell card that was no longer there. Blurry red eyes blinked in confusion at his floating grimoire before realization set in.
'I'm out.'
Sitting with his back to the railing of a four-story building in the streets of Amsterdam, Hei sighed and leaned his head back, taking in the condition of his battered body. He was bleeding from dozens of minor cuts in his left arm, his right a bright red from burns, and he had a wound in his thigh from a shotgun spray that luckily missed any vital areas. All resulting from an errant grenade that set off explosives in an unlabeled crate while he was eliminating his target.
He should have been faster. He should have sensed the danger earlier. He should have been able to get to cover. He should have had the tools to escape the injuries unharmed.
'I've been going for a while now, haven't I?' The mistakes had been piling up, more slip up with every consecutive day he pushed on without rest.
Reaching into a pocket, he pulled out a pack of Devil's Delight and shifted his mask to allow the corner of his lips through. He lit the energizing stick and inhaled the spicy scent that gave his ever-so-cold body a trace of warmth.
Sitting there, in the light of day, with a thin trail of red smoke drifting off his form, with blood dripping from wounds that he should have been able to take care of with a few hour's dip in one of his many hot springs, Hei couldn't find the motivation to do anything.
He felt wrung out yet still couldn't find the will to remove the mask. 'I'm almost at Emerald rank, just a little longer, teacher.'
Beneath the mask, he could keep lying to himself. He could believe his teacher was waiting for him to complete his final tasks. Sitting in his favorite rocking chair on his porch with steaming tea, waiting for him to come and report his progress.
But that would never happen again. The chaotic mana running through Hei's veins was proof enough of that.
Before that day, Hei was in the lower rungs of Tier 2. Yet now, his raw mana had shot straight to the limits of Tier 3, pushing the boundaries of Mid-Class with all the grace of a bull in a China shop. The process for an average human should have taken years. Hell, it should have killed him, yet Yoru's ruthless body forging had prepped his physical body to the edge of Iron-rank, allowing him to barely survive, albeit with great pain.
Since the day of the transfer, Hei had felt acid burning through his mana channels as they were forcefully expanded and burned raw before healing in an endless loop of welcoming pain. Pain that kept him awake and alert, pain that didn't let him rest, pain that distracted him from reality.
Pain that eventually faded with time, leaving him dull and empty inside as his fatigue finally caught up with him, leaving him helpless to the pursuit of those that were never far from his trail.
Leone touched down on the roof nearly silently, only the faintest tremors telling Hei someone was there. His eyes rolled beneath his mask, locking onto a pair of golden irises full of conflicting emotions.
There were hundreds of things she wanted to say that built up during the chase, but all of them faded when she finally caught up.
Red smoke blew from his lips as a dry voice from disuse followed. "Leone."
She walked up to him, blocking out the sun as she scanned him, narrowing her eyes at whatever she saw. Hei prepared for her anger, he expected it, yet the first words out of her mouth hit him harder than her wrath ever could.
"I'm here, Hei." He tried to avert his gaze, but she crouched and gently pulled his head forward to rest on her shoulder. "Sorry it took so long."
Sudden pressure built in Hei's chest, and for the first time since he kneeled before his teacher's grave, he was unable to push down the emotions that wanted to come out. "Leone…I'm sorry."
She just patted the back of his head soothingly as the bloodstained mask was removed. "Shh, it's alright."
0000
"You look like shit, brat." Leone tightened a final bandage around Hei's thigh, having just finished applying first aid to his various wounds.
The pain and 'gentle' care of the blond woman managed to drudge up a token of emotion from Hei's cold body as he chuckled roughly in reply. "Look in a mirror lately?"
Leone grunted in annoyance. In the weeks of her chase, she hadn't stopped for more than short cat naps, leaving her looking like she had gone through a storm. "Cheeky." She flicked his forehead, yet the gentleness of the action told him how fragile he must look to her.
"Ow."
"I haven't even started with you yet, brat." Leone growled and shifted to sit against the railing at his side, throwing an arm around him and pulling him close. "How dare you run from me for so long? I can't tell if I should hit you for all the worry you caused me or be proud of you for how well you applied all of our lessons."
A cough bubbled up as Hei tried to suppress a laugh. "My Sacred Gear made it easier."
"Of course it did." Leone scoffed before eyeing him in concern and handing over a water bottle. "When's the last time you ate a decent meal, Hei?"
"Rations." He answered simply and drank. "They have all the nutrients I needed."
"That's not what I meant, and you know it." Leone knocked him on the head lightly. "What am I supposed to do with you?"
He felt drained of even the attempt to remain sad, and somehow Garfield was the first thing to come to mind at her question. "Love me, feed me, never leave me."
"…"
There was a pause before Leone laughed lightly and tightened her grip, the gesture bleeding warmth into Hei's cold core as his voice lightly cracked on the last three words.
"Hei, you need to stop."
"I'm grieving."
"You're killing yourself."
"I'm fulfilling my promise to the old man."
"There's no way he asked you to commit suicide."
"He told me to reach Ruby rank."
"And how long did he give you to accomplish it?"
"….a few years."
"Oh, Hei." Leone sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Enough of this, come home."
"My home's gone." He reached into his pocket for another Devil's Delight, only for Leone to snatch it away. "Oi."
"Since when do you smoke?"
"I used to do it between jobs; the old man didn't like it."
"It's a filthy habit."
"Smell it before you berate me."
Leone quirked a brow and took a sniff. "Cinnamon? No, it's more spicy than that. What is this?"
"It's one of my products." Hei snatched it back and pulled one out. "Has calming effects similar to herbal mixes."
"Your Sacred Gear is so weird." Leone shook her head, and Hei could only shrug as he lit another one.
"I'm not complaining."
"I bet." She took one for herself to try and smiled at the spicy flavor. "Kinda nice, actually."
Hei hummed, and the two descended into a comfortable silence. Red smoke drifting in the wind as Leone ran her hand through Hei's hair.
Her voice was just above a whisper the next time she spoke. "The old wolf wouldn't want to see you this way."
"He can't see anything anymore." Hei sighed. "He's gone, Leone. He's gone, and I couldn't even reach Gold before he passed." His hands trembled. "I wasted months training when I could have been progressing in my career. And now it's too late."
"Wasted?" Hei's collar was grabbed faster than he could blink, and he was forced to face the cold fury in Leone's eyes. "You think you wasted your time? You think the four most powerful Nekoshou in the world wasted their time with you?"
"I could have advanced my rank farther if I hadn't."
"And where would that have left you? You think you would be nearly as skilled as you are right now without us?"
"No." Hei admitted dully. He would've died the second he accepted Mr. Lupa's mana. "But I would have had more to show the old man."
"Goddamn it, Hei!" Leone shook him roughly. "He wouldn't have wanted that! Don't you get it?! He wanted you to live and be happy!"
"Don't you think I know that?!" Hei's eyes blazed with the first trace of real anger. "I heard his final requests loud and clear! I know what he wanted!"
"Then why are you trying to kill yourself!" Leone nearly smashed her forehead against his. "Why are you running?!"
"Because I don't know what else to do!" Hei finally admitted before the anger bled out of him like a popped balloon, continuing in a lower tone. "I…I don't know what to do." Leone's grip slackened at the crack in his mask, letting him sag back against the railing as he continued in a broken voice. "It just… it hurts, Leone. It hurts, and I don't know how to make it stop." He tried to curl in on himself, but Leone quickly grabbed his head and pulled him into an embrace.
She soothingly ran her hands through his hair. "Why are you running, Hei?"
"Because…I don't want to face the truth." He couldn't find the energy to move his head from her chest, mumbling his words, yet Leone still heard him clearly. "Because behind the mask, I can pretend I'm just on another job, and….and when I finally took it off, he would be there, waiting to see me surpass him." Leone felt her chest grow wet. "I wanted to make him proud of me."
Leone shushed him softly. "You did make him proud, Hei." She felt him try to pull away and tightened her hold, willing him to hear her. "You made him prouder than any parent ever could have been. He should have passed years ago, yet he stuck around just to have another day with you. You were his pride and joy."
"How would you know that?"
"Because he threatened me."
"What?"
Leone let him pull back, this time to look up at her smirking face. "I've known that old wolf for decades, and you know what word I'd use to describe him?"
"What?"
"Precise." She shook her head in amusement. "Everything he did, every action he took, was all with the sake of efficiency in mind. He knew I was stronger than him in his injured state and never once threatened me. Hell, he barely even spoke to me. I could count the number of seconds he collectively spoke to me in all the years we knew each other. Yet, the day I met you, he spent practically an hour praising you before threatening me if anything serious happened to you. And you want to know the funniest part?"
She didn't even wait for Hei to ask and looked him in the eye as she answered. "I believed him. Me, someone who has the confidence to sneak into damn near any faction HQ, believed an old, crippled, and mana-drained assassin could actually severely injure me at the very least." She nearly scoffed at the memory. "What does that tell you?"
"That he could be scary when he wants to be?"
Leone enjoyed the twitch of Hei's lips as he fought a smile. "Damn straight." She raised a hand to wipe a wet trail on his cheek. "He loved you, Hei. Never doubt that."
Hei turned his face away to hide his flush. "Since when did you get good with all this emotional stuff."
"I've always been good at it!" Leone chuckled and stuffed his head back into her chest. "Get it all out, brat. Your big sister is here to make it all better~."
"Shut up, Leone."
"Call me big sis, or I'll steal all your porn."
"I don't have any porn."
"And which one of us do you think people will believe?"
"…" Hei grumbled. "Shut up, sis."
"Close enough." Leone smirked and held him close, thankfully choosing not to comment on the tremors running through his body.
Laying there in Leone's warm embrace, with the familiar banter coming so naturally to him, Hei finally felt the cold start to fade from his insides. The blond Nekoshou's body heat, affection, and what Hei easily recognized as her senjutsu reached out to him, piercing through the last remnants of his will and making him face the months of exhaustion catching up to him all at once.
His eyes dipped against his control as his grip on Leone tightened. "Leone."
"Hm?"
"I want to go home." His voice was barely above a whisper, yet Leone smiled in understanding.
"Let's go home, Hei."
A small part of Hei tried to rebel, but it was long since exhausted, and he finally gave in as the face of his smiling teacher's final smile flashed through his mind. "Mn."
He slipped into unconsciousness and went limp in Leone's arms as the woman affectionately rested her chin on his head. "What a troublesome little brother."
"Would you want him any other way?" Ghislaine's smooth, baritone voice asked from the side.
"He'd be boring if he was too obedient~." Chloe's chaotic tone added in from below the railing on Leone's other side.
Leone rolled her eyes at the two. "Couldn't you have let me enjoy the moment a little longer?"
Ghislaine didn't bother responding, coming over and gently touching Hei's head. She closed her eye and focused for a moment. "His body is long past the breaking point. He overused his Sacred Gear's healing abilities. If we put him in his hot springs, he will go into shock."
Chloe cackled. "Nyaha~, everyone thinks you can just magic away a boo-boo every time. No one considers the biological limitations~."
"We know, Chloe." Leone shot back in annoyance. "You're not helping."
The black-haired feline raised her hands in mock surrender. "Now, now~. I can whip up something to speed up his recovery, although I'll make sure he won't want my help a second time~."
Leone clicked her tongue. "And that's just so much better."
"Enough." Ghislaine shook her head at the two and carefully lifted Hei from Leone's arms. "This hunt is over. The Cub needs help, and we will provide as his teachers."
"No." Leone stood and shook her head slightly, eyes locked onto Hei's resting face. "As his family."
Ghislaine blinked before a small smile grew uponher lips in agreement, and Chloe, choosing to remain silent, said enough from her end.
A magic circle came to life, and the young wolf's howl finally came to an end within the safe arms of the Nekoshou.
For he was their wolf, and they would never let him forget it again.
Chapter end.
AN: : )
I was semi-tempted to add a Jojo style Vin Diesel meme when Leone said 'As his family' but that would ruin the moment.
Response to Reviews:
Runelt99 – The Devil family was destroyed by Amon, only the progenitor of the family is sealed.
Santivh – Thank you!
Seruvius – I aim to please lol. Glad you enjoyed it.
Noahbadoah – Thanks! I struggled a lot with emotional stuff but I finally made it work to the best of my ability. I'm also excited to eventually reach that arc lol.
And thanks, I 100% agree.
Guest – Yeah, a target makes things much more focused.