Took a break for most of December, didn't really plan it and it was right after I'd updated Pawn. Next chapter definitely won't take four or so months to get out.

In the end, Yuuji spent the whole night by his sister's side.

And when Kazuki woke up in time with the rising sun, she sat up in bed while carefully looking him up and down.

"I've convinced myself that you're real, but I'm still tired and would like to sleep some more," she said in a matter-of-fact tone. "Of course I don't mind if you'd like to stay, but don't feel obligated."

"I'll grab a few things and leave you to it, then. See you when you wake up." Yuuji decided.

"Oh yes, this is your room, isn't it?" Kazuki said, looking around with interest.

"Yeah." Neither of them felt the need to say anything more- the silence was strange, but not uncomfortable.

The two agreeing to briefly part ways, and Kazuki convincing her hand to release Yuuji's hand, happened at two distinctly separate times, however.

They bumped into each other on the second floor landing, and she switched directions to accompany Yuuji, taking ownership of one of his arms as if it were only natural.

Her raven-black hair glistened faintly in the dim light, and the fresh warmth clinging to her soft skin was clearly transmitted through the thin, tight tank top she was wearing.

"I'll join you in the bath," she smiled, all but wrapped around the arm she'd nestled between her breasts, yet somehow not making walking difficult for either of them.

"Didn't you just finish having one?"

"Yes, but what does that have to do with anything?" Akeno asked, so innocently curious that Yuuji almost felt silly for having said anything.

"Well, having company does sound nice," he admitted. Not like he had the slightest intention of turning down whatever she asked of him.

Though the fighting was more or less over, he was going to be busier than ever. Kazuki wasn't the only one he needed to make up for lost time with.

As she quietly reveled in being arm in arm with a body that was almost cold to the touch yet made her feel so delightfully warm, Akeno reflected, not for the first time, that she was kind of easy for a woman with a lot of issues.

Putting aside sharing with the others, she could make Yuuji indulge her for weeks and it wouldn't be unfair, given what he'd put her through.

And yet here she was, wholly satisfied by being able to walk down the stairs with him, arm in arm.

… That didn't mean she was going to pass up on the chance to take a bath with Yuuji, though.

Her emotions were satisfied, not dead.

They didn't share a word until they were undressed and in the bathroom, Yuuji following Akeno's wordless direction to sit on the stool so they could rinse off before getting into the bath.

She couldn't quite seem to decide where playful lust ended and the concern began, but Yuuji didn't mind. Really, not a lot of reason to complain when a naked beauty was seemingly doing her best to memorize his body by touch.

When she was done, her head dipped from view- or rather, her reflection was blocked as she pressed her forehead against the small of his back, a soundless sigh tickling against his skin.

"A little cooler to the touch than I remember, but… no new scars." She said in a low and clear voice. "How bad was it really?"

"You sure you want to ask that?"

"I don't want to ask, and I'm better off not knowing," Akeno frankly returned. "But I'll never get anywhere if I keep running from the knowledge I'm afraid of."

"Hela remade half my body," Yuuji said after a moment, his tone just as frank. "Scars and all."

The sharp intake of breath, and the slow release was felt, not heard, but when Akeno lifted her head to meet his gaze in the mirror, there was a lopsided smile on her lips as her arms slowly wrapped around him, fingers splaying against his chest.

"She's working hard to give reasons to like her, isn't she?" Akeno said in a mild tone. "I'm strangely grateful she left the scars behind."

It wasn't something Akeno needed to explain, because Yuuji was grateful for the same reason.

They'd both finally accepted that the past was something to rise above, not wash away.

"I don't mind where you go, as long as you come back," Akeno began, her voice dropping to a slow whisper. "But warn me next time, okay?"

"I'm not planning on there being a next time," Yuuji admitted.

"That's good too," Akeno agreed with a little laugh, snuggling in close. "Now, I imagine you're about to be washing a lot of backs, so you might as well get mine out of the way."

Yuuji gave a sage nod, and dumped a full bucket of warm water over his shoulder and onto her head.

Akeno spluttered and laughed, flashing a mischievous glare.

"Oh, you've done it now, mister!"

… When Rias and several other women entered the bath, some minutes later, they found Akeno and Yuuji naked on the floor, the former pinned beneath the latter and smiling innocently up at her King.

"Ara, I was wondering when the rest of you would show up."

"How did you two not even make it to the bath yet?" Rias sighed.

She felt another sigh coming on as Akeno's smile turned impish.

"Oh my, I'm already so wet that it slipped my mind~"

"That was bad and you should feel bad."

"Speaking of wet, though…" Akeno's eyes dipped upwards meaningfully.

Rias had just registered that the bath looked just a little low on water when Raynare looked up and giggled.

Akeno had very carefully waited until they were all in the room with herself and Yuuji.

Within the room, and beneath the several dozen liters of warm water she'd kept hovering against the ceiling.

The rueful sigh Rias had been holding in escaped as Akeno's smile widened, and the water fell.

Akeno, Rias, Xenovia, Asia, Raynare, and Kuroka.

Even sharing the bath with five girls (after the water-fight) wasn't crowded in the least…

In theory.

Six people to a single bench in said bath was pushing it a little, but given that being cramped was kind of the point, Yuuji had no complaints.

"Surprised Kala isn't with you and Asia," Yuuji mentioned casually to Raynare.

"Nursing JB's hangover over at her place, they had their 'biggest women's night out' yet and JB is the only one without supernatural alcohol tolerance." Which didn't mean that JB couldn't hold her drink, she just didn't have the quote 'bullshit hangover resistance' as she put it. "Rose was hungover too, but there's a Goddess nursing her." With surprising cheer.

Rossweisse was supposed to have that 'supernatural tolerance to alcohol'… and was also a Norse divinity, but no one had ever told her liver that, it seemed.

"All my bosses except Rias drinking in one place, scary."

"Would it be less or more scary if I was there too?" Rias couldn't help but question with an amused glare.

"No comment."

"Who else was there, if that night out was the biggest gathering yet?" Xenovia curiously asked, smiling a bit as Rias stuck her tongue out at the smirking Yuuji.

"In total it was Kala, JB, Grayfia, Rose, Megami-san, and the busty Dragon," Raynare counted off on her fingers.

"Tiamat?" Xenovia tilted her head, listing off the only female Dragon she sort of knew. She hadn't met Tiamat's daughter… 'Basmu' or something, directly after all.

"They invited Roygun-san too, but she was too tired and Yumiko is underaged." Raynare shrugged. She herself was only 'underage' because she only counted her age as a Fallen, she had technically been alive longer than both JB and Rossweisse.

"Oh right, Roygun and Yumiko…" Xenovia trailed off, looking at Yuuji expectantly, just as everyone else in the room did.

Yuuji began his 'explanation' without missing a beat.

"I beat Yumiko in a fight, faked her death, then she assumedly rescued that Roygun lady I'd never met until yesterday, escaping the floating fortress before it blew up."

All the others knew was that they viewed Yuuji as their savior, and his explanation…

"Oh, so that's why me and Kala immediately felt like we should be best friends with them," Raynare nodded, crossing her arms. For Raynare, Yuuji saving Kalawarner meant more than Yuuji saving herself, and vice versa for Kalawarner.

If Roygun and Yumiko were the same, and Raynare was confident that they were, then it was no surprise at all that Yuuji was currently the centerpoint of their thoughts and feelings.

"Harem additions aside, you all done cleaning up after your little detour, Playboy-kun?" Kuroka asked, her expression relaxed but her golden eyes sharp.

The offer was unspoken, yet crystal clear.

"All the important stuff is at the bottom of the ocean," Yuuji explained, "but Asako and the Arsenal Spirits are out cleaning up the dregs of Oslo's empire."

For several long minutes, there was no sound but the quiet dripping of water.

But even still, the women in the room would have sworn that there was a single name echoing throughout the room.

The silence was broken by a long-suffering sigh.

"... Yuuji," the suddenly exhausted Rias began. "I understand that asking you to stop dropping verbal bombs in mid-conversation is asking too much, but could you consider… pacing yourself just a little?"

Innocent confusion clear on his otherwise expressionless face, Yuuji tilted his head to one side.

Asia, who had mostly been silent because of the embarrassment of sitting naked on Yuuji's bare knee, flushed even more as he inadvertently pressed the top of his head against her chest.

A pillow over her face to block out the light, Julia heard the sound of her bedroom door opening, and soft footsteps across the carpet.

A less hungover Julia would have felt a little embarrassed to get mothered by a woman whose (assumed) age matched hers, but Kala liked that kind of stuff and Julia's headache agreed not to complain.

There was the sound of a tray being put on the nightstand, and then Julia twitched a bit in surprise as the covers were pulled aside, a curvy body getting in bed beside her. Laying on their side she assumed, given the cleavage pushed lightly against her arm.

Though she didn't really mind, Julia's eyebrow was arched as she removed the pillow to take a glance at her impromptu bedmate.

Blue hair, check.

Big tits, check.

Shit-eating grin… check?

"Still can't handle your booze, huh?" Kusakabe Asako grinned.

JB responded with a shrill scream and a stiff jab.

JB and Asako had been on Yuuji's mind for a while.

It wasn't like he could just not tell JB that he could basically summon Asako from the dead… even if even the Goddess of the Dead didn't quite understand what Asako 'actually was'.

She wasn't quite an Arsenal Spirit, wasn't quite a figment of Yuuji's demonic magic, knew things Yuuji didn't know, but had no idea whether or not they were actual memories of when she was alive or not.

And it was possible that JB could confirm some of that, but… how to broach the topic?

Both he and JB had moved on in varying degrees, processed their grief with varying degrees of success, and there was no way for Yuuji to know how 'successful' JB had been. In fact, it was entirely possible that JB herself didn't know how well she'd 'moved on'.

Unfortunately, he and Asako hadn't exactly had a lot of chances to talk it over, either.

And one thing that Asako had in common with her living counterpart was an extremely selective patience.

… Which she was sure had gotten her punched in the mouth before.

In unrelated news, JB's room looked just as neat and tidy when looked at upside down.

A little 'oof' escaped her a moment later, as JB gave her legs a shove so she could finish falling out of bed properly.

Huh, the carpet was pretty comfy too, wasn't it?

"... How long have you been skulking around in his Sacred Gear?"

"A while," Asako admitted from the floor. "But we only 'met' recently when I needed to kick his ass over something."

"And how'd that go?" JB's tone was mild.

"Score's tied, plotting revenge as we speak."

"Hmph," there was an edge of grudging amusement there.

Asako un-flopped herself from the floor, twisting around to sit cross-legged and look at JB, who had propped herself up on one arm.

"Well?" JB asked, arching her eyebrow. "Should I consider myself haunted?"

"Something like that," Asako laughed. "But you guys probably gave me a pretty good send-off, huh?"

Those bright blue eyes widened, then sharpened like knives.

Faced with such a nostalgic expression, Asako couldn't help but feel a pang from within a chest with no heartbeat.

"... You're not supposed to be an Arsenal Spirit," JB said seconds later. "Unless you're telling me 9029 and Kusakabe Asako counted as different people?"

"Maybe?" Asako shrugged. "I'm at least partially made up of Devil bullshit, but no one could find a manual."

"In other words, even you don't know how much of you is real and how much of you is fake."

Asako winced a little, before scratching the back of her head with a rueful laugh.

"Yep, that about sums it up!" It wasn't like she'd actually waltzed into the room with a plan or anything.

No point trying to think things through when nothing made sense.

JB's unimpressed glare suggested she'd been seen through, but Asako was left blinking when the blonde gave an annoyed sigh and opened up the covers.

"Get back in here."

Bemused but maybe just a little bit hopeful, Asako quietly did just that.

When they were both beneath the covers, JB plopped her head down on Asako's shoulder with enough force to make it an awkward headbutt.

Asako opened her mouth to ask-

"Shut your mouth, shut your face, and be quiet. Also, shut up," JB grumbled low as she pressed in close. "I'm not thinking about this until my hangover is gone."

When Yuuji got out of the bath, there was a text from JB waiting for him.

Or rather, a text and a selfie taken by Asako- her other arm wrapped gently around the peaceful slumbering JB, nestled up against her side.

[I think we're okay]

As the screen went dark with the push of a button, reflected back at him was a smile Yuuji hadn't realized he was wearing.

They'd really been patient enough, waiting the whole night without saying a word, so he didn't want to keep them hanging any longer than he had to.

As luck would have it, they'd started their morning early as well- their skin, and his, still flushed from the heat of the bath as Yuuji slipped out ahead of Akeno and the others.

Giving them the once-over without any outward sign of doing so, Yuuji was glad to take note that they seemed to have actually slept properly- Roygun wasn't forcing herself to sit upright in her wheelchair, and the handles of said chair weren't surreptitiously supporting any of Yumiko's weight.

But they were frozen in place, and he wasn't, so he took the initiative.

"Good morning," Yuuji said, a wry hint of a smile coloring his usual blank expression.

"... It is a good morning, isn't it?" Roygun replied, recovering smoothly, but speaking with a note of wonder in her voice.

Yumiko's eyes were a little wide as she matched her King's polite bow, more from reflex than anything else.

Though the hint of a smile faded, Yuuji's gaze softened as he watched the two share a look. 'Good morning' was a phrase that could mean nothing or everything, language was complicated that way.

"My room is a little occupied, but I can meet you up in the guest room in a little bit?" Yuuji offered.

"Ah, yes please," Roygun answered.

Nodding, Yuuji stepped past them, heading for the staircase a few steps past.

With his hand on the door knob, he glanced back over his shoulder, voice carrying easily in the quiet, spacious hallway.

"You know I wasn't really trying to help either of you, right?" He hadn't really been able to consider other people. In fact, he didn't remember the faces of most of the people he'd killed on Tartarus, and Yuuji always remembered the faces of the people he'd killed.

So if anything, sparing Yumiko had been a defiance of his brother's wish to watch him kill her.

From the turn of their heads, to the confused expression on their faces, everything was in perfect sync as Rogyun spoke for them both once more.

"Yes, and what of it?"

After a slow blink, Yuuji gave a brief snort and opened the door.

"Nothing, I was just thinking we have more in common than I thought."

He left the hallway with soft smiles and appraising eyes at his back.

Akeno and Rias had taken charge of breakfast duties, so everyone else had more or less gone their separate ways- Asia and Raynare to go check on Kalawarner, Kuroka spending time with her sister, and Xenovia with Irina.

The second floor hallway was all but silent, the only noise to be heard was Yuuji's brief knock on the door.

A pair of sharp violet eyes immediately lost their edge as Yumiko opened the door, giving Yuuji a good look at her while she was in normal clothes and not a leather catsuit.

A white dress and rope belt suited the black-haired beauty much better, in Yuuji's opinion- an interesting choice of attire given that Yumiko was nearly identical to Raynare in build, and Raynare had worn a similar outfit on their first real date.

That was about where the similarities ended- with Yumiko it was much easier to tell that she had her guard up against everyone, though it might have been because Raynare had more practice than Yumiko had.

"I hope we didn't keep you waiting long," Roygun gently raised her voice in greeting. Seated on the velvet divan beneath the windowsill with the windows and curtains wide open, Pure-Blood Devil sat gently illuminated by the soft morning light.

The light subtly sharpened the edges of her pale beige horns, contrasting the gentle luster of her cherry blossom hair in a long, low braid, tucked forward over one shoulder.

Twisting away from the window, she turned to face Yuuji while motioning to the bed with one hand, watching him with keen interest in her pale amber eyes.

As Yumiko leaned against the wall by the closed door, and Yuuji seated himself quietly at the door, Roygun slowly crossed her legs, flashing long lengths of milky white skin due to the clinging, slitted black dress she wore. Judging by her seated profile, Roygun was probably his height if he counted the horns.

… Did the horns count? Yuuji had a feeling the answer would be no if he asked a woman with horns.

He'd decided not to notice how crossing her legs took just a little effort on her part, but noted that her outward physical condition seemed fine. Could be a Pure-Blood thing, given that Roygun was one of the curviest invalids Yuuji had ever laid eyes on.

Well, there was no discounting that Asia had been working hard, while he'd been at Kazuki's side.

Roygun and Yumiko shared a glance, the mood rapidly turning somber. When Yumiko winced, Roygun took a shallow breath, and turned her gaze back to Yuuji.

"I suppose you're probably wondering why a pair of Devils ended up on a man-made fortress as… 'assets'?"

If Yuuji was being truthful, he hadn't been wondering about that at all- his interest in Oslo's empire had ended when his primary base of operations was swallowed up by the ocean. But he recognized when someone had a story they needed to tell, and if they wanted him to be the one to hear it, that he could accept.

"As good a place to start as any," is what he said after a moment.

"After my exile, no one remained by my side but Yumiko," Roygun began. Somehow, she wasn't surprised at all when Yuuji let a sentence laden with meaning pass by without reaction.

As if punctuating her sentence, a soft creak was heard as Yumiko clenched her fists, a frustrated scowl on her lips. In total contrast, the glance Roygun sent Yumiko's way was endlessly fond.

"Stripped of everything, there was little recourse but to start from the ground up," Roygun began, turning back to Yuuji. "And for a Devil, there's no better, safer way to do so than answering requests. Of course, no longer being able to do so under the name of Belphegor was tricky, but… we got by."

It had been the closest Roygun ever approached to 'poverty'.

"Or rather, Yumiko made sure we got by," Roygun gave a toneless little laugh. "I was rather useless at first."

Yumiko's protest was forestalled, not by Roygun's raised hand, but by the expression on her King's face.

"I was… so proud of myself for finally succeeding in landing a suitable contract, so overjoyed to finally make a meaningful contribution to our lives," Roygun's smile was twisted with bitterness. "I appeared upon the summoning circle with my head held high, and…" the snap of her finger echoed off the silent walls.

"Trapping a Devil isn't all that hard, you know," Roygun laughed again, crossing her arms in a way that made it seem more like she was hugging herself. "Trapping a Devil like me, though, well… that's not supposed to be something any old human can pull off," it wasn't arrogance, but self-mockery that colored her tone. "At least, that would have been true were I still an Ultimate-Class Devil."

Again, a hint that most would have jumped on, didn't earn so much as a blink from her audience.

… Roygun had yet to figure out why the lack of reaction felt so pleasant to her.

"Well, I suppose you can guess the rest," Roygun was surprised to find a hint of her old flippancy bleeding into her tone. "Not another free moment for me, and with that, I…"

Roygun bit her lip, gaze flying towards the only person in her life who hadn't abandoned her.

The ugly words died in her throat as her vision was met with unyielding violet.

"And I don't regret a thing," Yumiko said, voice firm and clear. "You were… the only person to ever reach out her hand to me without asking for anything in return. The only person who didn't want me for my last name."

There was a business tycoon by the name of Sakaki Michiaki, influential enough to make even Ichigaya move if he so wished. A man with supposedly no living immediate relatives, surviving both his wife and daughter.

He hadn't had the leeway to think about it back then, but Yuuji hadn't needed to do any digging to know exactly who Sakaki Yumiko was.

But, come to think of it, a coroner's report would be painfully easy for a Devil to fake, wouldn't it?

"I spent my time on Tartarus Island chained to a bulkhead wall, hooked up to so many tubes that I couldn't tell where the tubes ended and I began," Roygun spoke as if talking about someone else. "The 'secret ingredient' for the drug called 'Hellfire', siphoned from my veins drip by drip."

"Meanwhile, I was Heath Oslo's Devil on a leash," it was Yumiko's turn for self-mockery as the gleaming silver of Carnwennan caught the sunlight. "A dagger supposedly belonging to King Arthur himself, reduced to ensuring the success of petty betrayals between international crime lords."

From start to finish, it had been a shoddy explanation.

It had taken them until now to realize it, but how could they be prepared to talk about what they'd been through, when they'd never imagined they'd get the chance?

Roygun had been entirely honest with JB and Rias when she told them that they'd had no plan, just a desperate need to confirm with their own eyes that their savior was alive…

… No, even more than that.

They'd been desperate to confirm with their own eyes that their savior was even real.

… And he was.

He… they…

"... We really were saved by you, weren't we?" There was something child-like and pure in Roygun's near whisper.

"And like I said, it wasn't on purpose," Yuuji felt the inexplicable need to remind.

The two women shared a glance, and looked back to him with matching grins and matching words.

""Yes, and what of it?""

The second time he heard that line, it earned a moment of genuine laughter from Yuuji.

It hadn't been pre-planned.

Nor even passed on by word of mouth.

It just… happened. Even Rossweisse, Kalawarner and Grayfia, who had just returned, joined the gathering without a word, though the gathering happening in the common room may have had something to do with that.

All of Yuuji's lovers, sitting in one place, more or less side-by-side…

Faced with Yuuji's only living blood relative.

The sister he adored even if he'd probably never say it that way; Kazami Kazuki.

The shortest woman in the room, surpassed in height (if only slightly) by even Asia, yet they all could have sworn she was towering over them all.

"So," she cut the silence in a calm, clear voice.

Without even meaning to, they were hanging on her every word.

"So," Kazuki said again, bouncing her crossed leg lightly.

"How many of you are expecting?"

"... Expecting?" Asia repeated.

Kazuki's instant clarification made everyone present think that bluntness must run in the family.

"How many of you are carrying Yuuji's children?"

For some baffling reason, Kazuki found herself met with nothing but silence.

… They were so alike, weren't they?

Even that innocent head tilt when they said something outrageous as if it were normal, only to be greeted with silence.

"You would think that any elder sister would have the same question, finding her brother surrounded by so many women?" Kazuki pointed out.

Noting the reactions of those around her (and who seemed to be especially taken with the topic), Akeno spoke up for the group, as was her right.

"We've been taking precautions," she said, meeting her sister-in-law's gaze. "and in case you weren't aware, it isn't easy for supernatural races like us to get pregnant in the first place."

Kazuki's eyes narrowed thoughtfully as she placed a hand to her chin.

"Of course it wouldn't be," she mused. "Devils can supposedly surpass the lifespan of a human one hundred times over," a brief glance JB's way was almost imperceptible, "there's no way a comparable birth rate would be sustainable."

The next time Kazuki looked up at those gathered, her gaze had not so much narrowed as sharpened.

"All three Biblical factions struggle with birth rates, don't they?" She didn't seem to need an answer, she pressed the back of her hand to her head, swaying lightly in her seat. "Despite how painfully obvious it might be, having confirmation is an entirely different matter."

And though her expression scarcely changed, Kazuki uncrossed her arms and clenched both fists, radiating a clear and relentless will.

"Don't worry Yuuji, your sister's a genius, I can fix this!"

There were choking noises from the audience she'd momentarily forgotten, as Kazuki made her resolution. Perhaps because it was Yuuji's sister, everyone gathered had immediately assumed that she meant to solve one of the greatest problems of three species, not for them specifically, but in general.

"... Y-Yuuji said you hate being called a genius," Akeno managed weakly, a little wide-eyed.

"Not when being a genius is useful," Kazuki replied with a dismissive wave of her hand. "But let's put that on hold- none of you are planning to be mothers any time soon."

That she said it with total surety passed by without remark- Kazuki had taken complete control of the conversation.

"More immediately, I wish to know," and there she was, the woman who had enslaved an Evil Dragon through supernatural lobotomy. "How many of you are truly, genuinely in love with my brother?"

… And just like that, the tension in the room evaporated as if it had never been there.

It was Kazuki's turn to fall behind as she was greeted by not one, but several sighs of relief.

"Phew, I thought you were gonna ask a really hard question after all that!" Raynare gave a little laugh.

Kazuki raised an eyebrow.

"More than one of us owe him more than we can ever repay," Kuroka said softly, meeting her eyes. "But even if that wasn't true… yeah, no doubt about it…"

Every head turned in her direction, and all she did was smile.

"We'd all still be in love with Yuuji," Akeno spoke for them all in a voice soft yet clear.

One by one, Kazuki's sharp red eyes met the gaze of those gathered, and they returned her gaze without waver.

When she was done, Kazuki sighed… and showed a proper smile for the first time.

"I was worried for nothing, it would seem… what a pleasant problem to have," she said with a hint of amusement in her voice, so faint they might not have picked it out if they weren't so accustomed to her brother.

Well, with that out of the way," Kazuki began without any sort of preamble. "I suppose this is as good a time as any to segue into the main topic."

"... The main topic?" Rias repeated slowly.

"Indeed," Kazuki said. "This is the part where I thank you all… for being there for him when I couldn't."

Ah, there it was again, the dizzying shift of tone and topic that made the Kazami siblings impossible to keep up with for long.

Akeno had imagined and prepared for countless directions the conversation might have gone. It was her duty, she felt, as the head of the harem to find common ground with Yuuji's only living family.

… And not a single one of the dozen or so scenarios she'd envisioned had involved Kazuki bowing her head.

"... There really are two of them, aren't there?" Akeno wasn't sure who'd said that, but she was certain that they were voicing what everyone was thinking.

Truthfully, she would have preferred to discuss more pleasant topics with their dark-eyed savior, but…

There were yet more 'circumstances' Roygun wished for him to hear from her own mouth first, though the 'confession' was frightful in its own right. The former 2nd-ranker of the Rating Games had become a good deal more fragile, in the two years since she was stripped of the King Piece and exiled.

It had all gone wrong when Diehauser Belial, the undisputed champion of the Rating Games, used his Worthless to its fullest extent against Bedeze Abbadon (the former Rank 3) in the middle of a match.

'Worthless' was an ability that could render any 'effect' Diehauser understood to be worthless- null and void. Bedeze's magic, Bedeze's King Piece… and the retirement system that would have saved Bedeze's life were all rendered 'worthless' in a single instant.

In the next instant, Diehauser stuck his hand inside Bedeze's ribcage, confiscating both the King Piece and the heart of the Rank 3 challenger.

Diehauser had been investigating the King Pieces in secret, it turned out, following the trail of his deceased cousin, Cleria Belial. And it just so happened that the one to have 'silenced' Cleria had been Bedeze.

Things happened quickly after that- the King Pieces were confiscated, control of the Rating Games placed firmly under Ajuka's control with Diehauser's support… and the 'guilty' stripped of their ranks.

And in the aftermath, the Belphegor's disowned the head of the family to prove that she had been acting of her own accord, washing their hands of the incident with such haste, that it slipped under the radar that they'd kept a great deal of the capital Roygun had earned on their behalf.

She didn't intend to avoid her own guilt, but it still rankled that the family she had elevated to Ultimate-Class had laid the blame for their demotion solely at her feet as well.

"… Even though I'd been acting with their blessing all along," the whisper was bitter, almost petulant, and Roygun immediately found herself wishing she could take those words back.

"... I didn't even know cheating in a Rating Game was possible." Was what Yuuji said, as the silence threatened to stretch on.

"That's what I said!" Yumiko burst out, pushing herself from the wall. To the two former humans, the idea that creatures of hell didn't applaud cheating was still strange on some level.

Roygun let out a little laugh, though inwardly, she was mostly just relieved that she had yet to be met with scorn.

"So let me get this straight," Yuuji said. "Your 'sponsors' gave you something called a King Piece, which gave you the power to fight against… other people they were sponsoring?"

Roygun gave a slow blink, and a nod just as slow. She hadn't told him the second part at all, but his assumption was right on the money.

The Old Devils had utilized the King Pieces to keep the top ranks of the Rating Game fixed to a degree for decades- though the order of the top ten had shifted constantly, aside from the first place position, who had been in the top 10 never changed.

Looking back, when was the last time she'd fought against someone not of the top ten?

"Maybe I'd have something to say if you were using that King Piece to murder the opposition," Yuuji mused, "but none of what happened really has much to do with me. And none of it means you deserved any of what came after." Roygun flinched, and Yumiko flinched with her.

It wasn't up to Yuuji to decide whether she'd been punished fairly for her 'misdeeds' in the Rating Games, but what amounted to duplicity in professional sports sure as hell didn't warrant having her body used as a terrorist drug supply.

In other words…

"So if you're worried about this changing anything, don't be."

Yumiko's soft sigh of relief was the only noise in the room for some time, and the two people of similar age pretended not to notice as Roygun wiped away a single, solitary tear.

"Thank you," Roygun said softly, after a moment. "That is a load off my mind."

"As for where I fit into this," Yumiko spoke up, "I'd… prefer not to share too much of what happened before my King took me in, but suffice to say, I slid under the radar somewhat. I was the only member of the peerage not able to compete in Rating Games, at least not at the appropriate level, so I wasn't penalized in any way."

"She's also the only member of my peerage who didn't demand a transfer," Roygun chimed in, "so she's the servant I'm most happy to have given an Evil Piece to."

Yumiko mumbled something under her breath, but averted her gaze in embarrassment as her King beamed at her. And though the expression shown by the horned beauty was in no way fake, it also led to the opening Roygun was looking for.

"So," she put her hands together as she turned Yuuji's way. "As for what comes next, our methods of repaying you are rather lackluster at the moment, so I suppose we'll just have to give you us."

"Thanks, I love it." Yuuji said without blinking (or emoting) in any way.

"Oh my~" clearly, neither woman expected the instant response, but while Roygun seemed delighted, Yumiko spluttered, her blush deepening. However, despite her fluster, it was readily apparent that she wasn't disagreeing.

"I expected at least some negotiation would be needed," Roygun crossed her legs again, artfully flashing a bit of the lace hidden under her dress, "and though I'm certainly not complaining, however did you make your mind up so quickly?"

Yumiko seemed just as curious, though she couldn't quite handle eye contact at that moment.

Yuuji crossed his arms, leaning back a bit before speaking.

"If you say I saved you, then I'll take responsibility for saving you." Saving someone properly was a responsibility. He'd learned from his time with Raynare and Kalawarner, as the one who had saved them- the completion of the lesson that had begun when Asako, and later Rias, had saved him. "The two of you staying by my side just makes my job easier, so really, you're doing me a favor."

"Is… is it… really okay?" Yumiko wasn't looking at anyone as the words slipped free. "For us to…"

"Yeah, I cleared it with Rias yesterday," neither of them knew that they weren't actually in a 'guestroom' at present.

"That wasn't what I meant," Yumiko shook her head, still not looking his way. "Are you… I… we might be nothing but a burden, you know?"

It had stung to admit that, but to her surprise, Yuuji just waved his hand dismissively.

"Should someone who hasn't fully recovered worry about being a burden?"

"You sure know where to poke where it hurts, don't you?"

But Yuuji just shrugged, saying "it's okay to take things slow."

They didn't know it at the time, but that phrase would be repeated, word-for-word, when Roygun spoke to Rias later.

"After all," Rias had gone on to say as the bemused silence stretched on. "We live in the same house now, don't we? We'll be seeing plenty of one another. Now, for the more immediate future, school will be back in session soon now that the 'gas leaks' have been dealt with," Rias continued. "Shall I add one more student to the list of transfers? And while I'm at that, Roygun, how do you feel about teaching?"

… They hadn't told Rias they'd accepted Yuuji's invitation, and nor had he, but it turned out, they didn't need to.

Instead, Roygun and Yumiko were left with just a bit more of an understanding as to why Rias was Yuuji's King.

Left unsupervised for only a few short hours, it seemed her brother had drawn even more women into his life.

While she was somewhat concerned about how he'd find the time to manage all those relationships, she had it on good authority that he'd been managing well so far, so there wasn't any need for her to stick her nose in.

Perhaps a normal big sister would balk at the idea of her younger brother courting over a dozen women at once, but truthfully, Kazuki didn't mind.

Dizzying though it was to think of, it seemed Yuuji could handle himself just fine in regards to the opposite sex.

And most importantly of all, the true reason why Kazuki had resolved to accept Yuuji's relationship status. Even should something happen to her, the odds of her precious brother ever being left feeling lonely or neglected were as close to zero as they could possibly be.

It truly was that simple, in her mind.

Though she wasn't fond of exercise, it actually wasn't the first time Kuroka had joined Yuuji on his morning runs. Really, it was mostly just surprising that she dressed the part- Yuuji would have never guessed that Kuroka owned sneakers… or a sports bra.

… Or any kind of bra, really.

And though Yuuji had noticed that most of Kuroka's exercise attire seemed rather new, she had managed to conceal from him the fact that she'd only bought the stuff for another way to spend time with him.

Kuroka didn't have any trouble keeping up, being quite the athlete when she wanted to be, though most runs ended (and sometimes started) with Yuuji carrying her on his back once she got bored.

Yuuji didn't expect he was to be carrying her that day, though- Kuroka always acted less shamelessly in front of her sister, and it wasn't just Koneko tagging along.

"I'm still kind of surprised I have cardio," Gasper admitted, "but running is kinda fun!"

"... Corrupted." Koneko didn't enjoy running much more than her sister did, but Gasper was having fun so she was happy enough, despite her words.

Their energetic but peaceful morning lasted until they made it back to their street, and found an old man standing in the middle of the road while taking up the whole block.

As one, the sisters skidded to a halt, and as one, grabbed their significant other and shoved them behind themselves. Kuroka did that while angling so that she was in front of her sister, as well.

Golden eyes wide, feline ears pinned to their skulls as their tails pointed stiffly towards the sky, fur on end.

Sensing no explanation forthcoming, Yuuji kept his eyes on the man, giving nothing away.

"Gasper, what do you smell?"

"... S-something ancient… something wild."

Yeah, that sounded about right.

It wasn't every day that a predator with a presence to rival Fenrir showed up in the middle of the street. There wasn't any hostility, but all kinds of predators killed all kinds of prey without needing to be malicious about it.

Sighing softly, Yuuji placed a calming hand on Kuroka's shivering shoulder…and pulled her behind him.

She caught his wrist on reflex as he stepped past, but Yuuji flashed a small smile, gently pushing her hand away.

"Need directions?" Yuuji asked casually.

The muscular geezer scratched his beard of white and black hair, looking almost sheepish for a moment.

His attire was something like an open-chested martial arts attire, similar to that of a Shaolin monk, but paired with a broad leather belt and a mantle of animal fur.

Like the final boss of a group of monks-turned-bandits from a martial arts movie, with a presence to match. And though he was very large and very muscular, there was nothing bulky or ponderous about his build.

He projected a sense of what Yuuji could only describe as 'graceful enormity'.

"Eh, pardon the surprise youngsters, but I swear on the West Point that I come in peace." The mass of lean muscle rumbled.

Yuuji could guess that it had something to do with the fact that the black and white of the old man's hair and beard was actually white hair with black stripes.

"... Why… why do you… smell like us?" Koneko's soft voice trembled out.

"Who are you, and why are you here?" Kuroka's words were clear, but the emotions contained within were anything but.

Fur as white as moonlight and stripes as black as midnight, as if the night sky itself had descended from above in the shape of an enormous beast.

Overlapping with the brawny figure of the old man before them was that of a tiger like no other. The apex of all felines, natural or otherwise.

The bestial silhouettes of Kurok and Koneko's Ki had manifested behind the two motionless girls… and were crouched meekly behind said girls, even though the apparition before them was a third of their size.

So how could they possibly know that the biggest shock was yet to come?

"You grew up well, didn't you?" The old man stroked his beard. "As expected of my great-granddaughters."

… Like the good boyfriends they were, Yuuji and Gasper caught the Nekoshou sisters as they nearly fainted on the spot.

The White Tiger of the West, one of Japan's Four Guardian Beasts. A living testament to where the lines between 'God' and 'Yokai' blurred.

Byakko himself was in their living room.

The greatest tiger of all was in their living room, and…

"Bah, let's not complicate things, you two can just call me Ojichan."

… Had declared himself to be the great-grandfather (with Satan knows how many 'greats' attached) of Koneko and Kuroka.

Rias was tempted to ask if Grayfia had something stronger than tea.

The two siblings were in a total daze, glancing back and forth between their laps, each other, and the tiger sitting across from them without really seeming to see any of it.

Holding hands tightly with each other, Yuuji, and Gasper respectively.

Gasper was being fretful but very brave (they grew up so fast, didn't they?), while Yuuji wasn't showing anything but silent support, but Rias knew him well enough to know he hadn't decided if Byakko was a threat or not.

Unbeknownst to Rias, the thoughts of the Tiger were very much similar.

The little shadow-bat was focused mainly on the smaller cub, and though he was a bit of a timid thing, Byakko noted with clear approval that any timidity wouldn't slow him down when it mattered.

The army with pitch-black eyes was a cut above, and not just in comparison to the Dhampir. Without even the faintest whiff of bloodlust, he had quite seriously considered whether killing the source of the elder cub's distress was appropriate.

The Tiger could tell just fine that the army hadn't made up his mind, a show of excellent judgment if he'd ever seen one.

Though he'd come in peace, he was not a tame tiger. There was no such thing as a tame tiger, no matter what humans deluded themselves to think.

The crimson star in the room was impressive in her own right- certainly not on the level of the maid who was watching his every move despite not being in the room with them, but she'd only scratched the surface of her potential.

In conclusion, his great-granddaughters had found a fine family.

"If I may, how did you learn of Koneko and Kuroka?" Rias began, her tone formal. "Or rather, your connection to them?" It wasn't as if their location was a secret, nor that they were Nekoshou. But Kuroka was, to the best of her knowledge, the sole source of what that heritage meant.

"Hm? Oh, I just heard them making a racket," Byakko shrugged carelessly. The simple gesture called to mind mountains heaving in an earthquake. "My guess is, you girls have never used my power at the same time?"

"Y-your?" Kuroka gave a start. She had known their power was inherited from Byakko- or rather, she'd had no choice but to learn when her Ki went wild, but ancestral memory only went so far. But the way he said it, it was almost like-

"Your Ki smells like my daughter's" the Tiger said bluntly. "Tigers in all but body."

"Your Nekoshou daughter?" Yuuji asked quietly, receiving an immediate nod in the way of a reply.

"... Does that mean… you didn't know?"

It was only because the head of Byakko turned sharply that Rias was able to tell the source of the voice.

"A-a-about… about Nee-sama… and me?" Koneko's voice was little more than a whisper, and every syllable made the sudden ache in Rias' heart grow all the more fierce. She couldn't see Kuroka's face, but that her feline ears were drooping was hint enough that she was feeling much the same.

The features of a beast in the shape of a man turned gentle, almost shocking so, as he pushed off the couch and got to one knee, the motion almost impossibly fluid.

A big, scarred hand carefully placed itself atop the joined hands of the sisters, covering both with room to spare.

"No," the big man admitted quietly. "No, no I didn't. It isn't much of an excuse, I know that, but it's been generations since any Nekoshou carried hints of my bloodline. Didn't think there were any left."

The last Nekoshou descendant that he knew of succumbed to illness somewhere in the middle of the… Meiji Era? Dangerous time for yokai of all stripes (and even for those of no stripes).

".. A-are.. Are we really… family?" Even someone who didn't know Koneko at all could tell how much courage that question took.

For the first time since he'd gotten down to one knee, Byakko's eyes left Koneko's face. Just long enough to look Kuroka in the eye, to communicate beyond all doubt that he was speaking to them both.

"If you'd like us to be."

A hushed silence followed where not a soul was willing to move and speak until the two were ready to do so.

Slowly, Koneko and Kuroka looked to each other, then to that big hand covering their own, then to the young men at their side, before lastly, a trio of golden eyes were all interlocked.

And then their hands slipped out from beneath that of their great-grandfather's… just long enough so that they could place their hands on top of his.

"We'll be in your care then," Kuroka averted her gaze, a fierce blush blooming on her cheeks.

Koneko ducked her head, letting her bangs shield her eyes. "... O-Ojichan."

The Tiger was silent for a moment as he formulated his response.

That response took the form of a beaming smile that split his grizzled face in two.

Content there was nothing to worry about, they left the newly found family to catch-up in peace.

Yuuji snaked his arm around Rias' waist, and patted Gasper on the head as they wiped away happy tears, though Rias was a good deal more surreptitious about doing so.

But in spite of her blurry eyes, Rias didn't fail to capture the perfect opportunity and immortalize it on her cellphone (as her wallpaper).

It was the image of a grizzled old man laughing like a fool with one of his 'cute little granddaughters' on each knee, both girls looking embarrassed to death yet somehow not unhappy in the least. The sheer imbalance in size meant that it didn't look even the tiniest bit out of place that one of those 'cubs' was in fact a woman old enough to be attending college.

Probably because even in human form, Byakko's legs were nearly as thick as Kuroka's waist.

It was strange but happy proof of what they'd known all along, and just hoped the Nekoshou sisters were starting to see-

That even tigers could be gentle, when they wanted to be.

Though sometimes noisy, and often chaotic, the days in the wake of Yuuji's return and Kazuki's rescue were peaceful days.

The situation with Asako had been somewhat placed aside- or rather, Asako had bailed to go back to hunting Qliphoth, giving Julia time to get her feelings sorted in a clumsy show of consideration.

She was used to it.

Being the one left behind, being the one sending others out into danger.

She was used to it, but that didn't mean she had to like it.

But… it was different, this time, Julia would reflect.

This time, she wouldn't be left wondering whether or not Yuuji or Asako would return to her.

The certainty was as strange as it was welcome, and lasted all the way up until Yuuji was kidnapped off her front porch.

Bit of a dirty cliffhanger, but it'll be a while before we return to rough waters, so take of that what you will.

Koneko and Kuroka get a surprise meeting with their surviving family member- it wasn't as if they didn't know Byakko was alive, but he's a mythic figure, so far removed from them that it didn't really click that he was family on a personal level.

Or that Byakko himself might have some thoughts on the matter.

Kazuki's 'meet the harem' moment might have seemed tame, but she's keenly aware that they've established themselves as vital parts of Yuuji's life. She's not going to rock the boat without very, very good reason, though that doesn't mean she's not going to meddle, she's Kazuki.

We set the grounds for some important developments there.

As for Roygun and Yumiko, kept their backstory segment deliberately brief- Roygun's canon exile piece is kind of a mess that seems to have created a huge amount of details that don't really flesh the character out in a congruent way.

Yumiko's pre-Devil backstory is… somewhat irrelevant to Yuuji, because she's already been 'saved' by Roygun.

But we've got a few significant plot points to tie up, some of which will be next chapter, and it's gonna get a little spicy, so we should have fun