Chapter 62: Natsuru turns over a new leaf! More Unexpected additions and Hot developments happen at the Hanamura Residence! Pt. 1
About a week had passed since the incident with the Magic Circle crisis. As soon as everyone returned home, they encountered Azazel along the way. Michael was kind of surprised by the way the Governor-General's sudden appearance and how he looked dead serious, but quickly regretted it once the older man poked fun at his declining IQ. Once Azazel got a look at Natsuru, the cause for all of this chaos, he instantly he went along with Shirou to get some questions out of her and her remaining chimera subordinate.
The Devils and the Fallen Angels were able to retrieve their stolen data on the artificial sacred gears and the devil's secret information. Luckily, nothing was taken from the Grigori's database that couldn't be recovered. Virtually, everything that was being taken was placed back without a single megabit of information lost which caught the organization's suspicion.
Taken in for her crimes, Natsuru and Anzu were taken in by Shirou to his master, Seekvaira Agares for questioning and judgement for her past offenses. Her situation would have been really dire had Shirou not spoken out for her with the influence of someone influential enough to sway the mind of the Agares family's Archduke. Though it may have been a steep price to pay, she willingly relied on Shirou to keep her race under good protection.
Not to mention that Azazel, who also had a say in her defense and wanted to be left in charge of her punishment since he is the only active leader residing in Kuoh Town. Including the fact that she would need to be kept under heavy watch after all of the things she had done and after hearing her response to his questions. Now her true punishment was up for him to deal out.
As for the Nekomata Village, each and every denizen was currently being transferred out of the island that Natsuru provided for them. There were still so many of them, and Shirou's benefactor had some issues with a few that tried to hide upon suspicion, yet things were running smoothly as they were safely being cared for.
At night in Kyoto, amongst the bright dazzling buildings was a tall building and within it was a well-organized and decorated office with tons of bookshelves and a very feudal Japanese décor. Standing near a desk was a tall, handsome young man with mid-length, pale-white-colored hair, pale skin, and two different-colored eyes: his left gold, the right blue. His attire was conservative as he wore a black suit, gray under-shirt, and maroon tie.
"So how close are we with transporting the rest of them here?" The handsome man talked through the phone,
"That long? Then things must be progressing faster than I thought." He paused after a moment to hear the other line's response, "Good, I don't want them to be afraid. I want them to know that we're there to help. A few might be shrewd and try to hide, so make sure to sense them first before calmly approaching them. In their eyes, we may still seem imposing to them."
Another pause came and he asked, "If you can, could you tell me how many you were able to find?" He smiled warmly once received his answer, "A majority of over 250? That's wonderful! Once I heard about the Great Nekomata Purge from Magari-san, I thought that running into a single nekomata would be a rare encounter. Now we can bring to them their much needed prosperity and the peace they, so desperately deserved. It's clear to see that listening to my nephew and sticking my nose into the Alliance's affairs was well wor-!"
"Ahem! I'll be taking that!"
"W-Wha!? Kai!" The white haired man gasped once his phone was snatched away by Kai, who unexpectedly appeared from out of nowhere, wearing a jade green, long sleeved tangzhuang shirt and black pants with sandals.
"Ssshhhhhh!"
Plopping down on a couch, Kai shushed the man and began to speak in the phone, "I would like to butt in on this conversation by saying that most of the credit should go to me and only me before anyone decided to put in their two cents."
"Kai, what are you doin-!"
"Shush! Shush! Can't you see that I'm talking on the phone…gosh! Now as I was saying." Kai resumed talking to the other line, "Yes, it was such an amazing plan to transfer the nekomata and restore their race, but the credit should fall upon me. You wanna know why? Well its because it was my student, who was the one who got kidnapped by the young lady responsible for gathering them up in the first place."
"That's irrelevant Shirou was also-!"
"Hm? Oh, no that wasn't Jirou. It was just this rude guy, who can't see that I'm on phone. Ignore him, so back to how it was mostly my contribution in all of this. You remember how I'm the adviser to Sirzechs Lucifer, and the husband to my beloved Sera-chan? You see because of my relations with them, I was able to create a bridge of peace between the youkai and devils acting as somewhat of a representative for it."
Kai gloated and saw the unimpressed look on Jirou's face.
"Kai…" Jirou began.
"And being the representative, who built the bridge it was only because of me that Jirou was able to get involved with that case involving the Kitsune and Nekomata hybrid girl. Making me the main benefactor for all of this." Kai finished with a smile.
"Are you done yet?" Jirou groaned.
"Wait…am I done yet?" Kai spoke through the phone and after a long pause he nodded and handed back the phone, "Yes, I'm done."
"Now before I was interrupted. You'll have to check in with me about the progress lat-" Jirou pinched his temples.
"The line's cut. I ended the call once I took the phone." Kai snickered and lazily laid back against the couch.
Inhaling sharply, Jirou dropped the phone on his desk and groaned, "What do you want, Kai? What reason do you have for breaking in all of a sudden."
"What? Do I need something every time I come to see my best friend, and I'm shocked that you would even think that I would break in! I would never do that!"
"You've already done this months ago, you barged through the entire place without warning anyone about your arrival! You destroyed almost half of the guards here!"
"Ah, wait right there. They were looking for a fight, and I warned them to stop." Kai said.
"No, they warned you to stop, but you responded to their warning by throwing the first punch!" Jirou shouted as Kai shrugged.
"Well, I apologized to them when they were taken to the hospital, so it's not really right to bring up stuff in the past. Besides this time, I decided that it was really rude to just barge in unannounced, so I just notified someone that worked here of my eventual visit." Kai shrugged.
"But I wasn't told of any visit." Jirou raised his eyebrow, "Who did you contact?"
"Oh, I made sure to keep it a secret between me and Walburga-san." Kai smiled.
Jirou grimaced as he glared at Kai.
"Something the matter?" Kai laughed.
"What did you do?"
"Oh, nothing, Foxy!" Kai shrugged then whispered loud enough for Jirou to hear, "Something."
"Then tell me what you did right now because she's really loyal, and would tell me anything unless you told her something really degrading about me." Jirou narrowed his eyes.
"Come on, Snowflake!"
"Kai, how many times have I told you! Don't call me that!" Jirou's once calm demeanor was falling apart once Kai pushed his buttons.
"I didn't tell her anything degrading about you, remember, I'm best friend so have a little confidence in me, okay?" Kai sounded dignified then whispered, "Don't let her get too close to your fox ears."
"I mean, I only told her about the types of wine and fine liquor that you love for dinner." Kai said then whispered, "Don't drink any liquor or liquids that she serves you."
"She allowed me to enter because I asked her to." Kai said truthfully then whispered, "No, she didn't. She wanted some advice about lowering your guard so she could have her way with you."
"Dear god… Why must you make things so hard for me. Yasaka already has an issue with me accepting one mistress. Now she's on me for accepting another and having two at the same time. I'm still getting an earful from her for doing that." Jirou held his cheek in pain after a frightening memory of his past scolding flashed through his mind.
"Whipped…" Kai made a cracking noise.
"I don't know what you mean, and aren't you in the same boat?" Jirou said.
"Of course, but not as much as you." Kai teased,
"You know, Walburga-san really mellowed out after you put a stop to her and her magician faction, the Hexennacht. She's not as dangerous as she was led to be when she attempted to attack Kyoto head on, but you seemed to have handled her pretty well after that fiasco. The Purple-Flamed Witch of the Hexennacht has finally been vanquished."
Rubbing his forehead, Jirou sweatdropped, "She's not as vile as she was before, yes, but it still didn't improve anything dealing with her sadomasochism problem. I didn't expect for her to turn out like this, but things ended up this way once I decimated her forces and placed a heavy penance of serving me and Kyoto to own up for her crimes."
"Hey, you brought this on yourself. If you wanted to save yourself the trouble, you could have downright imprisoned her or do what most of your predecessors did. Kill the threat that could have destroyed Kyoto."
"I can't be like you and see things so simple. If I had killed Walburga, then it would have made her a martyr to her mage subordinates. Rallying them to attempt again and again to bring down Kyoto. Only more bloodshed and violence would ensue, it wouldn't matter if one side won, more lives would be lost. So taking this route seemed to be very beneficial, sentencing her to act as my servant and another protector of Kyoto brought out more good than bad. Her forces, well, at least the few who were truly loyal towards her, actually joined once she happily submitted herself to me."
Walking back to his desk and sitting in his seat, Jirou looked straight at Kai, "Most of those mages have made wonderful families within my kingdom, so dealing with Walburga's tendencies is a fine price to pay for all of this peace."
"The job of a Fox King is never one to be trifled with. Always thinking ahead for the future is something no ordinary person would be able to conceive. Chi! But you're the only one giving yourself a hard time, y'know."
"Coming from the lazy and mischievous Monkey King, I don't want to hear that from you of all people. My position as a Youkai King actually gives me something you can't fathom. Responsibility. I have to take on the burdens of not only my family, but also be the great support beam to the Youkai race." Jirou said as he crossed his arms and leaned back on his seat.
"Responsibility? You are right, it doesn't sound like me at all. Its stressful and it holds you back from moving as freely as you want. Being Fox King may have its perks, but the work and stress you go through really is a real pain." Kai laid back and started to scratch his nose, "Being Sera-chan's Queen has its perks. As a Maou adviser, I get to basically put in my own opinion and support the Devil King that I work with. Anything more than that is up to me, I get the most freedom I want."
"If you're not responsible then how come you have two kids that you barely see as much?" Jirou caught Kai's curious glance and sighed, "Katerea-san told me so that I can try to smack some sense into you should I run into you."
Sitting up, Kai smiled, "When I have either Shura or Agnes with me, I'm very responsible and cautious with them around. They're my offspring, so I try to be as gentle as I can with them." Kai explained, "I just can't watch over them as much as the others want me to. I'm too busy."
"Busy? This coming from the man who told me that he gets the most freedom than any other devil in the underworld." Jirou tapped his fingers on the desk.
"I may be doing what I want, but it's still me being busy. It may be selfish of me, but I am a devil. I want to fulfill all of my desires, no, right now it should be considered a dream. What I seek for isn't at arm's length, I still have a long way to go." Kai looked at the palm of his arm with a battle maniac crazed smile.
"The old devil excuse… Before it just used to be you using over the top excuses, but now you've actually found a permanent excuse while you're like this." Jirou shook his head in disappointment.
"I know right!"
"Ugh, and what do you mean long way to go? We've already reached this higher standing in power and yet, you want to go beyond that? Wasn't killing the Jade Emperor enough for you anymore?" Jirou sweatdropped.
"That was centuries ago. If I ever became satisfied with that, then I wouldn't know what to do with myself. After fighting a once in a lifetime fight against a high caliber God, I figured out that afterwards, any other beings wouldn't amount to that struggle I felt during that fight. The hardship. The stakes." Kai said with a reminiscent tone.
"Of course there were high stakes, the Jade Emperor led the Chinese Gods to influence the world after the Christian God had died, and tried take over it." Jirou brought up the wretched battle, right after the biblical God died many mythologies had tried to worm their way into being the top power, and the first ones to do that was the Chinese mythology led by the Jade Emperor and a legion of Eastern Gods.
"Exactly. Those kind of fights really exhilarated me, but now when another God brave enough to try that pops out, the feeling just isn't the same anymore, which is why I'm 'busy' hoping to attain what I seek most." Kai said and whirled his staff around, "Now you know exactly why I can't always watch my lovely kids. It's because of my responsibility it has two sides that I always like to use at times."
"Two sided responsibility, eh? Then explain to me why you've started to observe your little brother." Jirou brought along another topic to discuss.
"Half-brother." Kai corrected.
"You both share the same blood, so I see no difference. So how is he? He must have really grown over the years, you haven't really been filling me in since the first time you revealed him to me. Let's see… You told me that his name was Aeron; I presume?"
"His new name is Michael Hanamura and he's currently 17 years old. I've been teaching him as his Martial Arts Master." Kai stopped to wipe his staff clean, "I mostly leave him to figure things out for himself after I just showed him the basics. He'll learn faster that way."
"So how did Sirzechs-san and the others take the news when you finally had to reveal it to them?" Jirou asked.
"Well, besides you and the Old Crow knowing the truth before the others. Everyone was really surprised at first. They didn't know how to take the news, but they've come to accept it." Kai shrugged, "Shura and Agnes are the only ones, who don't really know the full truth yet, so keep it a secret as always."
"You have a plan for explaining their secret uncle to them in the future?"
"Of course, but it's too early for that. I'll wait until the time is right for that." Kai said.
"Care to explain why you're keeping your distance from him even though you're related by blood?"
Kai scratched his head and sighed, "Michael-san is old enough to figure things out for himself, he doesn't need me to hold his hand, my role is to simply observe him with a neutral standing. Rather than coddle him like a child, my role as his master takes full precedence, he has to see and learn about the world through his own views, not my own."
Jirou looked at Kai completely gobsmacked and gasped, "Responsibility? Who are you and what did you do to Kai? He's never this serious about anything!"
Sitting up and wearing an annoying smile, Kai laughed, "Very funny, Snowflake. Now let's stop with my own personal life and get back to the original topic at hand. Do you remember the younger sister from that pair of nekomata, who were turned into devils?"
"Yes, I believe you took in the young poor thing after the older sister killed their master." Jirou rubbed his chin, "A while after that, you requested to give her to Sirzechs' younger sister, Rias Gremory."
"Bingo! The very same one. A couple of days ago, I just received word that she finally used senjutsu."
"That's wonderful. Her scars are starting to finally heal, but…" Jirou paused.
"If something were to cut the already healing wound then it would leave a bigger scar too hard to heal, right? This wouldn't be an issue if the sister had stayed then go on the run, I could have handled the crime she committed, but running off just made things worse. Now she's an A-Class Criminal who can't be so easily forgiven." Kai shrugged nonchalantly like he didn't care anymore.
"That is troublesome, but she hasn't been caught yet. So we can only assume that she's either laying low in the real world, or it could be heavily implied that she's joined up with a group that accepts criminals into their rankings." Jirou deduced.
"Oh, please. Tell me a single person, who wouldn't a Sage Art wielding cat into their team. It's basically like saying every team never needs a White Mage to be their support." Kai tapped his staff against his shoulder, "Either way, we don't know and we shouldn't care until she's actually shown any activity. Besides, I'm more interested in that Kitsune and Nekomata girl it looks like you gave the Old Crow custody of her punishment, why?"
Leaning back in his chair, Jirou exhaled hoarsely and said, "She was in the Kuoh Town vicinity when all of this trouble started, so it seemed right for them to handle things the way they want. My nephew requested that she stay, and I would personally jump at the chance of having my own people in an area that I can safely guard them in, but her crimes are too steep to ignore. She does have to pay for them and I don't condone such heinous acts of felonies."
"I see…" Kai thought hard and long about it before and idea came to his head as he smirked, "So she'll be staying in Kuoh town then…fascinating."
"What are you hatching in that terrifying brain of yours?" Jirou glared at the Half-monkey youkai.
"Nothing~!" Kai excitedly stood up, "I did come here for a reason while I take a break from my mission."
"Oh, no…what is it you want?" Jirou groaned.
"Actually it's a request, but I want you to do a few things for me." Kai held up 3 fingers.
"Oh my god…" Jirou dreaded the outcomes, but the sound of knocking broke their conversation, "Yes, come in."
Pushing open the two large doors was a beautiful young lady who looked to be in her early 20's. Her skin was fair and had a light porcelain touch to it, short and luxuriously blonde hair adorned with black ribbons, her eyes were a deep shade of violet which failed to hide that 'dangerous' look they had. Her body was lithe and curvaceous in an appealing figure along with her moderate bust which was really extenuated in her gothic maid dress with a matching headpiece.
"Why hello there, Walburga-san." Kai waved to her.
"Good evening, Jirou-sama and Kai-sama." She carted in a variety of wines and foods near Jirou's desk.
"Walburga, what is this?" Jirou asked suspiciously, he already knew of the ploy Kai set up with her and approached her cautiously.
"It's quite close to dinner and I didn't want to keep you waiting so I had the chefs make you your dinner quite early, Jirou-sama." Walburga's beautiful smile hid an obvious scary intention behind it.
"A-Actually, Walburga, I-I-!" Jirou began.
"Are you displeased with this Jirou-sama? I can come back with something that will probably suit your tastes better." At that moment, Jirou noticed the terrifying glint in her eyes. She already knew of his awareness of her current ploy to lower his guard and wasn't going to give up until he tripped up.
Seeing no other way around it, Jirou said, "No, thank you. The palette that you brought me looks quite delicious. You may go now."
"As you wish, Jirou-sama." Walburga bowed her head and a small sadistic smile crept on her face before she turned to leave. But as she passed right by Kai she winked at him as he gave a her a subtle thumbs up in response.
When the door closes, Jirou began to take a plate of food.
"You're not really going to eat it are you?" Kai asked.
"Hell no." Jirou began throwing the food away, "It's such a waste, but I can't eat this stuff now that she's aware of all of my weak points. Probably have to deal with this until I actually put my foot down. By the way thanks for all of this." Jirou said, sarcastically.
"You're welcome." Kai cheerfully laughed as Jirou groaned.
"Slipping up will screw me over, so I'll have to be vigilant." Jirou said, "If I do get swept up in her pace, then it will be all over for me."
"So it will be terrible if she takes advantage of you?"
"No, it will actually feel good." Jirou said with a complex expression, "All I know is that Yasaka will kill me if I admitted that to her."
"Then you actually enjoy it?" Kai raised an eyebrow.
"Of course, Walburga may have her quirks, but she still is a beautiful young lady that I would enjoy to be with, too." Jirou confessed.
"Ohohohoho!" Kai gave a hearty laugh.
"What?" Jirou questioned.
"Nothing, just surprised that you didn't see this coming…" Kai pulled out a tape recorder and watched in delight when Jirou's eyes bugged out.
"And they call you the "Smartest Man in the world." Kai pressed a few buttons and played the recorder.
[Its…such a waste, but…Walburga…is a beautiful young lady that I would enjoy to…screw…over.]
Jirou's face paled up as Kai joyfully shook the recorder, "It would be a shame if Yasaka heard this direct confession. Probably be cooked to a crisp by her fox fire. It was nice knowing you~!"
"No…! Erase that!" Jirou said with a strained toned and reached for the recorder, but Kai pulled it away from his reach.
"Now Jirou, we've been through this old song and dance many times in the past. So why don't you just agree to my requests before I state them to you." Kai smirked as he was flat out blackmailing his friend.
"You're insane!"
"Actually I'm a devil but same thing." Kai shrugged.
"Those terms are absolutely horri-!"
[Walburga…is...a…very…delicious…beautiful young lady…that…I would…eat.]
"Okay! Okay, I'll agree to the requests! Just be cool!" Jirou panicked.
"Good. My first request is that you have to train this kid that I personally recommended to you, he's very bright, but lacks the necessary skills to use his smarts effectively. My second request involves Shirou, he's your nephew and now he owes you for helping that Nekomata/Kitsune hybrid girl. Take him along with you to help train the kid, Shirou's experienced with his Dragon-type sacred gear will cause an exponential growth shown within the kid."
Looking surprised then pissed, Jirou growled, "Is that it? Are you fucking serious!?"
"Whoa! Language…" Kai wagged his finger at Jirou.
"Why even bother to black mail me! I would have agreed to those terms without it being held against my will! Right now you're basically playing with my life, you bastard!"
"Now I could take the easy route and say that it was more funnier that way, but…the actual reason I'm doing this is because." Flicking a card between two fingers, Kai shows a picture of his half angel and half youkai hybrid daughter, Agnes holding a beach ball while looking over her shoulder.
"I want you to say that my daughter is cuter than yours."
"*HACK!* *COUGH!*" Jirou spewed a mouthful of blood on the spot and starting biting his lip in frustration, "You bastard, you'd stoop so low?"
"I'm not hearing a yes~!" Kai shook the recorder.
"Never! I would never betray my trust in my favorite girl in the world!" Jirou proclaimed.
"So Yasaka isn't your favorite girl then?" Kai arched an eyebrow.
"Not the point! Kunou is my darling little fox princess! I can never allow myself to call your daughter cuter than her because Kunou trumps Agnes in terms of adorableness!"
"Adorableness!? Are you frigging kidding! Look at her and look at these!" Kai decided to put away the tape recorder and pull out his wallet where he kept a multitude of Agnes pictures for Jirou to see, "How can Kunou compete with this. My little angel can beat your daughter any day especially in a fight!"
"Pfft! Why would my precious little dumpling need to do that? Her sheer innocence would help her win any fight!" Slamming down on his desk, Jirou pulled out a large portrait of young girl with golden, blonde hair tied in a ponytail and matching eyes, she also has nine golden fox tails and matching ears. Her attire consisted of a cute pink yukata as she held within her arms a giant teddy bear.
"Do you not see my cute Agnes? She is the pinnacle of innocence, for Maou's sake, she is a literal angel!"
"Half of one, and the other half is sadly you, Kai."
"Oh, you do not want to go there with me, Snowflake! At least for Agnes, I can tell I actually put in half of the work with making her. Kunou may be your daughter, but the only person I see when I look at her is just Yasaka-san not you. Probably her genes being so powerful that they forcibly turn yours recessive!" Kai had a good laugh at Jirou.
"That's it, I'll kill you with cuteness by using all of Kunou's baby pictures to prove she's cuter!"
"Not if Agnes' adorable and innocent charm kills me from all of her excess cuteness first!"
Both men pulled out baby pictures from out the woodwork without any end in sight as they were covered in the flames only known to be emitted by High class Doing Fathers. Their battle would last about 9 hours before Kai tape recorded and rearranged Jirou's words to fit his need making it his total victory as the loser wept in the corner while bleeding from his ears after hearing those forbidden words.
XXX
"Will that be all?" Grabbing two menus, Kiba who wore a waiter's uniform stood between Michael and Rias' table.
"Yes, thank you."
"Yeah."
Both Michael and Rias nodded as Kiba bowed to them respectfully.
"Wait one moment. I shall return with your drinks." Kiba gracefully left inside the kitchen and
"Now this is a delightful change of pace, isn't it?" Rias comfortably smiled on her side of the table of two with Michael.
"Definitely, it's a whole lot better than getting attacked by cat monsters." Michael reclined back in his seat and crossed his arms, "And a whole lot homelier, too."
Doing their first date over after what transpired in the last weeks, they found that taking their date to a more comfortable environment in the Hanamura Residence would be a safer solution with less interruptions. The idea of going through a second 'first' date was the idea of their friends, who even volunteered to help, so that they could focus more on enjoying themselves.
"It was sure nice of everyone to help recreate this moment for us. It's refreshing." Ria propped her head up with her hand, "Plus, it washes out the bad taste the first try had."
"Well, the kidnappings and the monsters aside. I don't think it was a total bust, I still had fun with you there and you looked to have a great time, too. At least up until the Ferris wheel part." Michael's joking around earned a small laugh from Rias, "Besides, like you said, just being with you, my girlfriend, is just enough for me to really enjoy myself."
Remembering the saddening sight of Michael being taken from her, Rias solemnly said, "Michael, forgive me for being too weak."
Scratching his head and tiredly groaning, Michael looked a little bothered by the apology, "Rias, look, you don't have to keep apologize to me. You've been doing it these past few days, its fine. Everything is back to normal."
'Or as normal as things will ever get for devils that is.' Michael sweatdropped.
"Everything may be fine now, but the frustration of losing you because of my weakness to do nothing to prevent it was just so heavy to bear. I was pathetic while trying to recover…I'm supposed to be a King but such a crippling loss broke my spirit." Rias' hand began to shake on the table until the warmth of Michael's hand gently touched it.
"Don't sell yourself short. You may have lost, but you stood back up and came to rescue us like I knew you would. I never doubted you. Even if you did lose, I knew you wouldn't allow just anyone to take your friends away and the way you came in all confident to help really lifted my spirits."
Michael wrapped his hand around her's and smiled, "And look on the bright side, you turned out the same, but only stronger than before. Still being the strong and confident, Rias that I love."
A slight blush grew on her cheeks, Rias was a little speechless when Michael said that from out of the blue. It gave her a quite delighted feeling but the shock was still pretty much apparent. Even he was a little embarrassed by how he acted, and tried coughing to fix his composure,
"So don't apologize anymore, you returning to your normal self is just enough for me." Michael continued coughing, but it didn't help his flustering in the slightest.
Rias smiled joyfully as she grasped onto Michael's hand even tighter, "Okay then, thank you, Michael. You've really fixed my mood."
Perking up, he looked her in the eyes and quietly chuckles, "Anytime."
The two just continued to enjoy their companionable silence as they kept their eyes on one another without looking away. Just a single glance was enough for them to communicate with each other.
"Excuse me~!" A sweet, but dangerous voice sang disturbing their passionate silence.
'I sense a disturbance in the force…' Michael was startled by the towering appearance of Raynare, who wore the cutest of smiles which belied the devilish aura that flowed from out her body. Like the others, she was helping with their date so she wore a café maid dress to fit the setting for their date, but through subtle hints it was obvious that she wasn't too thrilled about it.
"I hope you two have been enjoying yourselves. Here!" Raynare placed to bowls of ice cream for each of them with different colors of syrup written in words for each of them, "Something sweet to whet your appetites."
"Why thank you." Rias looked at her ice cream and read what was written, "The Kanji is written in red and it says 'Great Fortune' that's really nice."
"That means your luck might start getting better. It may not be accurate but it may work on rare occasions." Raynare clapped her hands and explained to Rias.
"That's so sweet! I wonder what mine says!" Michael's smile slowly drops when he saw the black syrupy words on his ice cream. It was disturbing as it said 'Hex' and 'Grand Misfortune'.
Slowly looking at Raynare, Michael looked disturbed and rubbed his neck, "I suddenly don't feel hungry anymore."
"Now why so scared, Michael-sama, I really poured great effort into writing all of that for you. So why don't you eat it first before you judge it." Raynare approached him with her cute smile slowly becoming forced.
"I know, but I kind of want to save my hunger for the meal, y'know." Michael looked away in fright.
Taking the spoon and slowly mixing the syrup into the ice cream, Raynare's cold eyes looked deeply into Michael's, "But why don't you at least try one bite? It's all I'm asking for."
"Sure, but maybe I can try it out later?"
"No. Eat. It. NOW." Raynare forced the words out rather coldly as she gave the spoon to Michael.
"O-Okay…" Slowly breaking down, Michael took a spoonful of it into his mouth before swallowing it, the flavor was too good, but the bad omen it gave really plagued his mind as he continued to shamefully eat the cursed ice cream.
"So how is it, Michael-sama?" Raynare watched from his side with her growing smirk.
"I-It's delicious…" Michael mumbled through his tears.
"Michael, are you crying?" Rias asked with a concerned frown.
"Don't you worry about a thing, Rias-san. Michael-sama just can't get over how sweet the ice cream tastes. It's overwhelming him to tears isn't that right, Michael-sama?"
"Ye-hess…!" Michael cried as he felt the strong pressure Raynare's thumb had on his cheek.
"See? I'll be taking my leave now. Enjoy your desserts." Raynare bowed and walked back into the kitchen. In secret, she licked the tears that she wiped off Michael's cheek.
'I can tell she's still a little hung up about this…' Michael slowly ate the ice cream out of fear, 'I should probably do something to cheer her up later.'
"If you don't like the taste of that one, you can have mine."
Seeing the sullen boy eat the ice cream, Rias pushed her own dessert forward and offered it to Michael. His eyes widening, Michael saw he pattern that his sulking was initiating. Giving Rias the cursed ice cream was way worse than him eating it himself.
"Don't worry about it, Rias. I don't want to take your ice cream from you so enjoy." Michael declined the offer with a loud gulp.
"But I can't really enjoy myself if you look that unsatisfied. So, if you don't want to have it, maybe you'd like to share it with me. If that's what you want?"
Looking at the offer and his own bowl of cursed ice cream, Michael made the obvious choice, "Thank you…"
It wasn't that hard to put aside his own bowl to have some of Rias' with her. It really excited him since he would get to share a dessert with Rias again. Taking a spoonful of the ice cream in his mouth had him doubling over in satisfaction, the taste and even the flavor was light and unpredictably sweet with no hints of distasteful curses of ill intent.
"Uooooh! This tastes so GOOD!" The taste was so good that he just continued shoveling more of the frozen treat into his mouth. Catching sight of how much he was eating at once, Rias stopped eating her share and sweatdropped,
"I'm glad you like it, but if you eat so much at once won't you get a-?"
"Gagh!" After taking one more bite, Michael dropped his spoon and clutched his head in pain, "Brain freeze! Agh! Why can't I escape this torture!" Putting a finger to his temple the cold panging of the ice cream induced brain freeze. One way or another it wasn't Michael's day at all.
"Eating too much of a good thing can end up being bad for you." Rias bitterly smiled as she watched Michael squirm around in pain.
After his unsettling ice cream headache subsided, both were met with more help from their friends. Michael was at first a little unsettled, but relieved when the three that came out were less bitter than Raynare.
"Here are your drinks."
"Enjoy."
Xenovia and Asia placed their cups down on the table and bowed. They were dressed up in their own cute, café maid uniforms just like Raynare.
"How nice, thanks you two." Rias gave them her thanks as both girls bowed their heads.
"Your meals will be arriving shortly." Asia graciously bowed her head.
"I hope you enjoy yourselves tonight." Xenovia bowed her head too, but with a little difficult when trying to copy Asia's more graceful bow.
"I can't wait to eat, I'm starving!" Michael held his stomach in hunger before he noticed someone coming towards the table, "Huh?"
"Koneko?" Walking past both Xenovia and Asia, Koneko, who was in her own café maid uniform placed a plate of cake on Michael's side of the table. A little surprised by this, Michael smiled, "Cake, too? Thanks, Koneko-chan…wait, what are you…"
"Excuse me…"
Michael hesitated to grab the cake once Koneko climbed onto him and sat on his lap. She reached out to grab a fork and then began to eat her piece of cake while everyone had their eyes on her. Rias was a little shocked, but simply sighed as Xenovia simply observed and looked a little intrigued by Koneko's forwardness while Asia was watching with envy as Koneko comfortably sat on Michael's lap.
As for Michael, his reaction to this was, "You want to sit on my lap again and eat your cake, Koneko-chan?"
The quiet girl looked back and nodded.
"Okay, sure, unless, its okay with you, Rias." It was their date and having Koneko join would obviously change the original pace the date was going on.
Michael honestly didn't mind Koneko's presence at all. After the incident, Koneko had become much more affectionate towards him. Sure, she would do her usual jabs and insults, but they weren't as harsh anymore unless he really did something stupid. She began to show emotions and a new soft side of herself when around Michael such as claiming his lap as her new favorite seat and asking Michael to spoil her more by praising her and patting her head more.
Thanks to knowing the full truth about her originally being a Nekomata, Michael could actually see how she would almost resemble a cat with the way she's been showing so much affection towards him lately.
Rias was a little hesitant but after noticing the current change in Koneko's behavior as of lately she sighed and wore a bitter smile, "I don't really mind."
"Are you sure?"
"Positive, the extra company could really lighten the mood." Rias smiled.
"Welp it looks like it's okay this time, Koneko-chan." Michael chuckled and felt that things would get easier from there, frankly it wasn't.
"Auuu…"
"Huh?"
'Oh, shoot that's right…' Michael sweatdropped when he looked at Asia whose past resolve to be helping their date slowly crumbled away after seeing Koneko take her place upon his lap.
"I-I want to sit on Michael-san's lap, too." Asia cried.
"Don't be sad, Asia. H-Hey, how about I let you sit on my lap any time you want to?" Michael quickly tried to do some damage control before.
*PULL!*
"Ow! Ouch! Why!?" Michael cried at Koneko who pinched his thigh in annoyance.
"…This is MY favorite seat. Only I and sometimes Buchou may sit upon this place. It's the only seat where I can find true sanctuary." Like a cat protecting her territory, Koneko wore the most serious of expressions that really meant business.
'Why are things getting intense, it's just my lap... I know I'm great and all, but I don't see the point about why she's so serious about it.' Michael sweatdropped then turned to Asia who was now pouting, 'And now things are going to get violent…'
"T-That's no fair, Koneko-san. I want to sit on Michael's lap, too. It's not fair to hog it all to yourself…" Asia's eyes began to get all teary as she cried, things would have escalated if it weren't for Xenovia finally speaking up.
"Asia, wait."
"Xenovia-san?" Asia was slowly led a couple of feet away by Xenovia who began to talk softly so that no one else would heal.
"We should just continue to wait and watch until a free opening shows itself, we can't be too careless to try anything with so few advantages." Xenovia crossed her arms under chest, the way she talked was that of a strategist watching the moves of her opponents quite closely.
"I really want to give Michael-san and Buchou a better date than before, b-but…" Asia takes a few regretful looks back at Michael with Koneko on his lap, "It's becoming too much to endure."
"I understand what you're getting at, but with this chance to just watch the others, we're learning more about possible chances. By staying to the side for a while, we learned that there are some ways to get closer to Michael when Buchou's with him. Making the time, we have to steadily raise our opportunities." Xenovia cleverly laid out her plan for Asia.
"Amazing, Xenovia-san, you were able to catch something incredible like that?" Asia's eyes shimmered out of amazement as Xenovia started o relay more of her plan to Asia.
"Yeah. It's tough, but staying low like this can give us the chance we need to know more about our adversaries and the ways they leave themselves open, so we can go in and deal a powerful blow that will put us at a higher playing field than them."
"I understand, then let's continue to wait them."
"Patience is a virtue. We'll bide our time when the time is right."
Huddled together both Xenovia and Asia nodded in agreement as they further discussed their plans through. Too bad they were whispering a little too loud to not keep it away from the ears of those around them.
"So you could think of an elaborate plan like that, but you can't use any attacks that aren't just power based?" Michael groaned.
"Oi! You two better be careful! Hey! Hey! Stop running!" A grumpy voice hollered behind the kitchen doors.
Pushing open the doors that lead to the kitchen were two carts holding various dishes. Pushing those carts were both Gasper and surprisingly Makoto who were dressed in their own waiter attire. The two were engaged in a race to make it towards the table first before the other. Everyone prepped themselves for the worst as both 1st year students skidded to a stop before they could hit the table and introduced tonight's meal.
Both were out of breath but still tried to present the meal as they tiredly posed, "Y-Your *WHEEZE!* dishes are ready...*COUGH!* *SIGH!*"
"Nice hustle you two, I never thought that either of you could run that fast." Michael complimented the boys and saw their face brighten up at the praise, "Now we can eat."
"W-Wait," Gasper cried out before Michael grab their meals.
"What's up?"
"W-Which one of u-us brought your meals to you first?" Makoto nervously exclaimed as he and Gasper glanced at one another with serious stare before focusing back on Michael.
"I don't know, you two were going pretty fast. I didn't know I had to supervise a race. So, can't you just let it go as a tie this time?" Michael shrugged.
"N-No!" Gasper's scream caught Michael off guard, "Michael-nii, I won't stand for a tie this time."
Michael wanted to give the same answer over again but Makoto interrupted him,
"Gasper-kun's right, Michael-senpai. I want to know who's the better one among us this time."
Getting forced to answer, Michael looked to the others for help, but they just gave him bitter smiles in return. They were getting used to Gasper and Makoto's competitive nature after things smoothed over. Unlike Natsuru, Makoto wasn't part of her scheme and remained innocent. After the final verdict for Natsuru was decided, he was joyous to see his sister finally back to stay with him. His mood was also cheery than before and he's been a frequent visitor to the Hanamura Residence, but that's where the competitive nature stems from. Because of Makoto hanging out more frequently with Michael, he's been hogging some of the time that Gasper usually does stuff with Michael like playing video games or watching internet videos.
So being more forceful in his approach, Gasper grabbed Michael's attention away from Makoto, who felt the same way like Gasper did before. Soon enough they were vying for the attention of their senior for every little thing through tests of contests while Michael was forced to decide a winner despite the boys basically being on par with one another.
'They aren't budging, so who do I pick?' Michael thought with Koneko getting off his lap to get the plates, 'Lately it's been a hassle. I'm glad that Gasper and Makoto are getting along, but this is starting to look ridiculous. Screw it, I'll just make a guess.'
"I guess the winner I saw was…"
"…I win." Koneko finished setting up the dishes and bowed to both Michael and Rias.
"Eh!?"
"W-Why you?"
"Thank Maou! I mean Koneko is the winner!" Michael cheered.
The looks on both boy's faces turned shocked.
"The winner would be the person who brought their meals to them. Just like you said, Gya-kun." Koneko sneakily claimed her victory.
"B-But you didn't race us, Koneko-san?" Makoto whimpered.
"I brought the food to the table, first. I win, deal with it." Koneko went back to sitting on Michael's lap like a boss.
"She is technically right." Rias said proudly after seeing her clever Rook bend the rules which gladly caused less strain on Michael.
"B-But…Michael-senpai…"
"Michael-nii…"
Both 1st years expectantly looked to Michael.
"Wow! Would you look at this spread, let's eat!" Michael began eating his plate of food while both boys dropped their heads in defeat while Koneko simply continued to eat her cake while giving them the peace sign to yet again glorify her victory over her agemates.
Everyone waited patiently while they watched Michael and Rias enjoy the meal and their time together. It was a little awkward because of Koneko sitting on Michael's lap the whole, but it still was a fun date. The food was beyond compare as they tried two dishes at once before finishing it.
"That was a wonderful meal." Rias said in delight.
"I know it was really good and filling too. I wonder if I can get seconds for myself later." Michael patted his stomach.
*SLAM!*
"No secon-bugh!"
*SLAM!*
Kicking open the kitchen door, Shirou was met with the door slamming back in his face before pushing it open the correct way to growl, "Forget you saw that!"
"…No." Koneko said.
"No one gets their seconds until we finally decide something!" Shirou angrily marches towards the table.
The first thing Michael noticed and talked about was the hat that Shirou was wearing, "Is that a chef's hat?"
"Yeah, I like to wear it while I cook? What about it?" Shirou asked.
"Can I wear it?"
"No, now you guys know that me and-!"
"Why can't I wear it?" Michael raised his hand.
"Because I said so."
"So…can I wear it now?"
"No…" Shirou groaned.
"Why?"
"Because I said SO."
"So I can wear it?" Michael looked hopeful.
"No!"
"But why?"
"Because! Ugh! You wanna know why, then I'll tell you why! Because this hat is for chefs and I am a master cooker therefore by that logic I'm a chef. Are you a chef?"
"…" Michael opened his mouth to answer.
"Don't answer that!" Michael slowly closed his mouth.
"As a chef, I'm the only one who can wear this hat! Me! Not you! Me! Do you get it now? You can NEVER wear this hat!" Shirou angrily flicked Michael's head.
Tilting his head to the side, Michael grinned, "Why?"
"Gaaaaargh!" Shirou was about to strangle Michael until Akeno stepped into the room.
"Ufufu, now lets not get ahead of ourselves. We still have this matter to decide after all, Shirou-kun." Akeno giggled, walking in and wearing an apron.
"Fine…" Shirou growled and looked away.
"Hah! You got scolded by Akeno-senp-!"
*SMACK!*
"Ouch! The heck was that for?"
"Because…I felt like it…" Shirou walked over to Akeno's side to face the table.
"Now what are your thoughts about the dishes that we made for you two?" Shirou sighed.
"They were delicious."
"To be honest, I'd go back in time and kill my past self, so that I can eat the meal for a second time. I mean unless we're allowed to get seconds. In which case, this was a very good meal." Michael sounded deadly serious before giving a thumbs up.
"Good to head. Good to hear." Shirou nodded while he and Akeno gave serious glances at one another.
"Did you two notice the numbers on the dishes we labeled?"
"Oh, yeah…a One and a two." Rias checked both the dishes.
"Exactly and each number signifies our individual dishes. I'm number one." Shirou said.
"And my number is number two which is just used to mark my dish not my ranking as a chef." Akeno made a snide remark which earned Shirou's ire,
"Don't go thinking you've won yet, Akeno. This is a new day and a new chance for your cooking to get tossed aside for mine."
"I'm quite confident that my cooking will get me far better results than last time."
"Only if your results were better than mine that is." Shirou growled.
Both [Queens] were interlocked in a fierce battle of wills as their furious auras clashed.
"Akeno-senpai looks deadly serious." Michael gulped.
"Well, of course, she is Shirou's rival Queen after all." Rias smiled.
"Rival?" Michael never imagined that Akeno was in a competitive streak with Shirou.
"That's right. Shirou's a top chef, one of the finest that the Seekvaira has in her peerage. Along with Akeno's top notch cooking they were destined to be rivals in the culinary arts." Michael was almost taken by how Rias dramatically announced that.
"A food wars rivalry…how epic…" Michael said to himself, "But at first, I found it strange that Shirou could cook because it was so…"
"Unexpected?" Rias giggled.
"That's the word." Michael chuckled.
Finally turning their attention towards their judges, Shirou eagerly asked, "To get to the point, we're just curious about settling this argument. Which cooking is better, her's or mine?"
"Can we have some time to decide this?" Rias asked.
"Sure, take as much time as you need." Shirou nodded.
"Thank you."
Scooting their seats closer, Michael and Rias began whispering each other for a couple seconds before turning back to face the pair of chefs,
"Okay, we've made a decision." Michael said.
"Good. Now be honest and tell us what your favorite dish was. Don't worry this is a criticism free zone." Shirou calmly admitted.
"I liked dish two better than dish one." Michael grinned.
"One point for me~!" Akeno giggled and held up one finger.
"Well, your opinion is shit! Michael's FORBIDDEN from casting a vote!" Shirou growled.
"What the hell? I thought you said this was a criticism free zone?" Michael gasped.
"Your opinion is biased! You're probably mad that I'm not letting you wear my chef's hat." Shirou pointed at the hat, "Now Rias-sama. Tell us which dish is the better o-!"
"Dish two." Rias nonchalantly answered.
"What the bleeding hell!? No! Not you, too, why?" Shirou screamed in rage as he covered his face with his hands.
"My point is the same one Michael made while we discussed it. Akeno's dish suited both of our personal standards. Your dish was finely made and delicious, but it still lacked our own preferences." Rias gestured to Michael.
"Wait, you were serious? Is that the reason?" Shirou turned to Michael, who looked miffed.
"Dude, I'm honored that you thought I was pulling a fast one on you, but: A) I'm shocked that you think I'd let you catch on to one of my schemes to mess you up, and B) That I'd lie about the types of food that I like!" Michael breathed heavily after letting all of that off his chest.
"How the hell was I supposed to know both of your preferences for a meal? It's not fair, Akeno lives with you, so of course, she'll know, but what about me?"" Shirou looked mortified as he looked at the couple give him blank stares.
"You could have asked us?"
\They're right you know?/
Shirou slowly looked away with a neutral expression that masked his self-loathing and the built-up anger that came from Akeno's sudden smile popping up in front of his face.
"I guess you made the wrong decision in how to handle the battlefield of your opponent to your advantage. But don't worry since I'm already at the top, I have nowhere else to go so keep trying to climb up to my level and I'd be glad to challenge you again, Second Place-kun."
Those words literally started the engine that was Shirou's rage.
"Hey, Mike. Do you still want this hat?" Shirou took of the hat and gave it to Michael, strangely in a calm fashion.
"Wow, I thought you were going to spiral out of control and destroy the place, but I guess you're being the big man. Thanks, Shi-rou." Michael made a quick jab at Shirou before putting the chef hat on, "Yes…another item almost crossed off my bucket list. Now all I need is a spatula and a grill."
"Yeah, oh my gosh. Michael, do you want to know what I want in return?" Shirou gasped.
"What?"
*SMACK!*
"*GASP!* Chef Hat! Miho!"
Shirou slapped the hat off Michael's head and shouted in his face, "Seeing how you feel when your expectations are crushed right in front of your eyes!"
"NOOOOO! Someone protect the hat!" Michael screamed in panic, but it was too late. Shirou was already stomping the hat, ruining its shape and dirtying it with his shoes.
"WHYYY!?" Michael literally cried once Shirou finished desecrating the hat.
"Ahem!" Shirou's coughing caught everyone's attention once he walked towards the table.
*SMACK!* *SMACK!* *BANG!* *THUD!*
Tapping his elbow, Shirou drove it into the table and split it in half before walking off angrily and saying, "I'm gonna go pack my things, enjoy the rest of your date. I'm serious, enjoy yourself, Rias-sama, you deserve it even…this punk." Shirou said sincerely as he walked towards the exit.
"Thank you, Shirou. Give Seekvaira my regards when you return." Rias ignored the broken table and waved goodbye.
"Whatever." Shirou grunted.
"Oh, are you leaving already, goodbye, Shirou-kun." Emerging from the kitchen, Kiba waved the teen goodbye.
"Fuck off." Was Shirou's only reply before he slammed the doors shut.
Carrying Koneko off his lap, he slowly crawled towards the chef hat and slowly began to cry as he embraced the ruined hat.
"Chef hat... *SNIFF!* I barely knew you…" Michael cried into the hat before spitting out the dirt he accidentally tasted.
"It's okay, Michael. We can always buy you another one." Rias patted Michael's shoulder.
"But it's not the same! Who'd buy a chef hat if they can't even cook with it on? This one was free! FREE! *SOB!* *SOB!* It's Michael Jr. all over again!" Michael wailed.
"Who?" Xenovia placed a hand on her hip.
"It was the Cerberus that you killed during that battle with Kokabiel, Xenovia-san." Asia reminded.
"Really?" Xenovia gasped.
"Michael-sama attempted to contract it as his familiar before you killed it and turned it to dust." Raynare explained.
"I see..." Xenovia sweatdropped when she saw the anguish that Michael was going through.
"Michael Jr., no!" Michael cried out at the top of his lungs as his voice echoed off of the house's to reach the ears of a few fellow residents who weren't downstairs during their remake of their date. Leaning against the wall while picking at his ear, Azazel tried to get the ringing in his ear to stop,
"Man does that brat know how to scream or what? Things seem pretty lively as usual."
Azazel leaned back against his side of the wall opposite to Natsuru, who kept her head down and wore a vacant expression.
"I take it that you've been adjusting well to this mad house?" Azazel prodded to get some reaction out of the girl.
"Yes. It was a little difficult moving in, per your instructions before you left. It's been challenge just to fit in with the ordinary lifestyle that goes on around here." Natsuru crossed her arms as she breathed freely while wearing a homely attire. Getting used to her new living space took a while considering that she would be living under the same roof with people that she once tried to kill. She resided in her own separate room right beside Kiyome's. During her time living in the Hanamura Residence, she still did receive some suspicious stares from the ORC club for a while as only a few (Akeno, Raynare, and Koneko) took what she did to Rias and Michael, really personal and didn't hesitate to show her any signs of contempt.
"But you don't seem too out of place. Meaning something or should I say someone smoothed things out for you, didn't they?" Azazel guessed right once he saw Natsuru slowly crack a smile.
Though she may have felt a little uncomfortable at first, she did receive the support of not only her siblings, but Michael as well, he did his best to make sure that she was comfortable as possible with her new living arrangements. Out of everyone in the residence, he was the only one who wasn't troubled with her and was the only house member to have helped her move in, no questions asked.
"Maybe." Natsuru allowed her happiness to linger only for a while as a thought came to mind, "But I know you aren't here just to hear about my well-being. You can already tell me the rest of my punishment already." Natsuru resigned herself to take on the punishment headfirst.
"So eager to get your punishment and be done with it, eh? I get it, but…" Azazel looked up at the ceiling with a serious look in his eyes, "Its not going to be that easy to shrug off, in fact, this punishment may have no end in sight for you. Anything less than this is truly heresy for the heinous deeds of your actions. Were it not for Michael's decision to help you in the first place, then Seekvaira's [Queen] wouldn't have decided to chip in and pull some strings for you. You can see where I'm going with this, right, you'd have probably been locked away for a long time. If not imprisonment, then it would have been something way worse."
"I understand." Natsuru looked solemn and nodded.
"Good. Just try not to do anymore reckless acts like you did before, or else I'll get chewed out since I also spoke out for you." Azazel explained, "Now let's move on to the part that you've been waiting to hear. You're punishment, well… I've been given responsibility over you, so I'm going to hand that baton over to someone else."
Guessing, who he meant, Natsuru gasped, "You mean?"
"Natsuru Abe, you are hereby bound to Michael Hanamura, he holds responsibility over you and you must do everything in your power to support him, no matter how ridiculous the task is. Sorry, you'll probably go through a lot of ridiculous things with that kid. Just make sure not to disappoint." Azazel yawned as he began to make his leave.
"Wait! Is that it?"
Azazel stopped to look back at the shocked girl and raised his hand, "What did you expect something more?"
"Y-Yes…I mean why would you assign a task like this for me?" Natsuru frowned, she wanted to at least take a punishment worth her wrong doings.
"Don't take it the wrong way, you are getting punished."
"I am?"
"Of course. Now that you're going to be around Michael most of the time, I and a few others in the alliance will keep a tight watch over you. You won't be doing anything in secret on your own anymore, but that's not all. The punishment is a one-time deal, no take backs. You are to do anything in your power for Michael's sake whenever there is a time he needs actual help. Use your regret for your wrong deeds to do empower you with the strength to make up for the crimes you've caused." Azazel scratched his head.
"Geez…how to go about this…ah! Take Raynare for example, she's basically by Michael's side after trying to take his life, she's doing everything in her power to make up for her ill intent now you'll just have to do the same."
'Make up for my crimes. It's not something that can be forgiven so easily or ever, but if it means I can somehow help, Michael-kun after he's done so much for me then I'll gladly do this.' Natsuru resolved herself and nodded.
"If that is what I must do, then so be it. I'll accept this punishment and act as support for Michael-kun should he ever need it." Natsuru's posture was tall and resolute along with her words matching her determination.
Azazel shrugs her off with a small laugh and says, "If you have no complaints, then good luck. Being roped into Michael's strange life is a good enough penalty. Also, I almost forgot to ask this crucial thing that you may have answered during our past interrogation of you."
Azazel kept his back to Natsuru and said, "Your accomplice, the woman who provided you with the necessary items to carry out you plan. Are you sure you don't know much of her identity?" Azazel asked, his hand balled up into a fist in secret.
Her face scrounging up in disgust, Natsuru said, "I don't know much about her, and I planned not to know anything at all. Everything about her gave me all the signs I needed to avoid making any kind of relationship with that woman. She just wasn't well, the way she spoke, the way she acted. Any common signs of a rational living being couldn't be found in her, all I could feel from her presence was pure madness."
"Seems about right. Still such a…" Azazel muttered quietly.
"Yes?"
Natsuru managed to hear him, but Azazel played it cool and shrugged it off. He began walking downstairs while exclaiming, "No, it's nothing. Remember, be Michael's support, don't try this elaborate ruse again, yada yada yada… Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to kick the brat while he's already down."
"O-Okay?" Natsuru simply watched the man leave as his thought system confused her, "I can never tell what that guy is thinking either. The Governor-General sor is another case that I don't quite know about, but somewhat interests me."
Natsuru rubbed her chin, being curious about the man's relationship with Michael was something she'll have to consider afterwards. When she actually has spare time that isn't being surveilled by everyone that is.
"Please stay out of trouble for a while. You're not exactly off the hook, yet." Tiredly groaning and rounding about the corner of the hallway was Kiyome who had suspected Natsuru of trying to pull something over everyone's eyes.
"Oh, Kiyo-chan! Me engage in any funny business, why, oh why would you think that? Have some faith in your big sister, nya~!" Natsuru playfully purred.
"Acting cute won't work Natsu-nee." Kiyome looked unimpressed with her eyes turning beady.
"Awww~! You think I'm cute how flattering, Kiyo-chan, but aren't you engaged to someone else? It would be a shame if you started falling for me, but I'm not one to complain."
Natsuru's sly remark was able to get a cute little blush from Kiyome.
"T-That's not what I mean! Please! Would you take this seriously? I am… You can't be doing things in secret anymore, and if someone suspects you of anything, I won't be able to help you," Kiyome said doubtfully, the Abe family was no longer in custody of Natsuru once she was taken in by the Three Factions. It may have seemed unfair, but was justifiable since her family has been indirectly supporting Natsuru's plans without further exploring her intentions.
"So no more extra lives for me, eh? I guess I might have to scrounge up my remaining 9 lives to help me get by. Not to mention sacrifice each of my nine tails should the situation steepens, ey~! Fox joke~!" Natsuru prodded at Kiyome with her mischievous cat smile, but the worried look on Kiyome's face changed her demeanor,
"Kiyo-chan, you have nothing to worry about. Betraying the trust that you and Michael-kun have in me is something I would never think of. I'm grateful to just be here having fun with you and Makoto-chan, so I'll behave for everyone's sake." Natsuru said with a sincere smile.
"Thank you." Kiyome let out a sigh in relief.
"But…"
*MUNYUUU!*
"Eek! What?" Kiyome screamed.
Natsuru's eyes gleamed as she lunged her hands into fondling Kiyome's breasts, "A little of this is about enough to reward me if I behave myself long enough, right~!?"
"As if I'd let that be your reward! You know I can't handle things like this…" Kiyome smacked Natsuru away and turned away from her.
"Really now? Then whatever will you do when Michael-kun does this to you?" Natsuru said with an unamused tone, she was fine with her shrugging it off when she did it, but considering Kiyome's arrangement with Michael it's going to happen eventually and she needed to realize that.
"W-Well, I…" Kiyome poked her fingers together as her face grew redder than a tomato, "It doesn't matter right now, okay? I may be engaged to him by father's standards, but in the end, Rias-san is the one in the lead, so what chance do I possibly have?"
*SPANK!*
"Natsu-nee!"
"Enough quitter's talk! You're giving up already? No sister of mine is going to back down when faced with a battle for love. It doesn't matter about whose first or not. The only thing you have to do is act aggressive and take any openings given to you."
Rubbing her spanked bottom, Kiyome slowly changed her mind, "That's just it I'm still new here and I still can't seem to figure out when to spot one."
"Huhuhuhu…" Natsuru laughed in mischief as she leaned in, "That's why it's good to have allies assisting you, Kiyo-tan. I've already memorized the way things work around here, and today is a great day for you to take the initiative and get yourself alone with Michael-kun."
"Really!? *COUGH!* I mean, what do you have in mind?" Kiyome coughed to clear her quick outburst, it was obvious to Natsuru that the younger girl wasn't intending to give up, but to just lay low until it was time to make a move. Now that's she is handed a chance so early she's a little hesitant and excited.
"That's my little sister!"
*SPANK!*
"Natsu-nee!" Kiyome shirked away from Natsuru, blushing.
"What?" Natsuru blinked.
"Quit doing that!"
"Sorry, but to be fair, you do have a very spankable ass. You know what, as an apology you can do it to me, I don't mind if you want to take a shot at it." Natsuru turned around in order to give Kiyome a clear shot at her heart shaped ass.
"No thanks, I'll pass. Now about what you were proposing?" Kiyome's eyebrow twitched in annoyance.
"Phooey~! I wanted to see you get aggressive for once." Natsuru sighed and wore a wide smirk, "But at least I know who'll be the aggressive one between you two while your alone."
"Plan! Tell me. NOW!" Kiyome's face was red as she hissed at her through her clenched teeth.
"Fine, fine. So this is what you have to do." Natsuru and Kiyome walked down the hallway with Natsuru trying to sling her arm over her sister's shoulder.
"Hands where I can see them!" Kiyome groaned.
"You're really no fun, Kiyo-tan~!" Natsuru let out a cry of frustration.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone