After everything he had gone through the past year, Thomas was more than happy to go home and for once relax. Yes, he would miss Hermione, Daphne, and the others, but just like last year, he could visit them unless something sudden happened.
Surprisingly enough, when the train arrived at the station, Thomas didn't find his parents waiting for him nor were his grandparents, instead, to his horror he saw Leif and Freja, both wearing forced smiles on their faces when they saw him walking towards them after bidding farewell to his friends.
As soon as he was close enough to them, Freja rushed to hug Thomas, wrapping her arms around his neck and lifting him off the ground. She missed the little boy she had trained a year ago, and she was eager to see how much he had grown. "Tom, you're back! I'm so happy to see you!" She exclaimed, kissing his cheek, to Leif's amusement.
He would lie if he were to say that he didn't miss her too, but at the same time, he was also confused and alarmed by her and Leif's presence here. He looked over her shoulder and saw Leif standing behind her, holding a sign that said: "Welcome home, Thomas". Leif smirked at him knowing damn well that Thomas was embarrassed by this before waving at the boy.
"Uh, hi, Freja. Hi, Uncle Leif. What are you doing here?" Thomas asked, trying to sound not to sound embarrassed. God forbid, Leif finds out about that.
After a second, Leif cleared his throat and explained, "Well, you see, Thomas, we're here to pick you up and take you to the underworld. Sirzechs, one of the Satans, and the older brother of your friend, has sent your parents and grandparents on a holiday for reasons unknown to anyone, not even Lady Serafall knows why, but rest assured, she made sure her friend would not harm or use your family against you. As for why he chose us… I…"
Before he could continue, Freja, who was still holding Thomas in her arms interrupted him.
"Latia forced her father to be the one who picked you, otherwise, Lord Lucifer would have sent one of his peerage members or worse, his wife after you. Besides, we coming here to pick you up, means that you will spend some time with Latia and me, or have you forgotten about us already?"
Thomas was caught off guard by her tease and felt his face heat up. He tried to free himself, but she only tightened her hug around him, pushing him further into her bosom. He could feel her heartbeat and her breath on his ear, making him even more flustered.
Leif rolled his eyes at the scene and sighed. He knew Freja was fond of Thomas, but he also knew that she was just messing with him. She had a playful personality and liked to tease people, especially those she cared about. In the end, he decided to intervene and save Thomas from her clutches.
"Alright, alright, Freja, that's enough. Let the poor boy breathe. We have a long way to go and we don't want to attract too much attention here." He said, pulling Freja away from Thomas gently.
Freja pouted and gave Thomas a wink. "Fine, fine, Leif. I'll let him go for now. But don't think you can escape me that easily, Tom. I have a lot of things to show you and do with you in the underworld."
Thomas felt a shiver run down his spine and wondered what she had in mind, making him look at Leif for help, but when he looked at him, Thomas saw him shrugged and smiled apologetically, almost as if he didn't want to be involved in this.
"Sorry, Thomas, but you'll have to deal with her yourself. She's too much for me to handle. Besides, I think my daughter and my wife will be happy to see you too. Latia has been asking about you a lot lately." He said, leading them to a remote corner of the station.
At the same time, in the underworld, seated in the living room of the Gremory's mansion there were six children divided into three groups. The first one of which consisted of two girls, one with red hair and the other with black one. Both girls were facing each other in a game of chess while their peerages were watching or waiting in silence, something that only Sona seemed to have noticed.
While their kings were playing, Tsubaki and Akeno were glaring at each other thanks to a comment that Tsubaki had made a few minutes earlier. For some reason, when she heard that Rias's brother had sent someone to get Thomas, she quickly dashed towards her room and dressed into a beautiful white flowery dress, which looked anything but proper per Tsubaki's opinion. Because of that the two girls ended up in a stare contest, one that neither of them was willing to lose.
On the couch next to the two queens, was Koneko munching on some pretty big cookies. Contrary to Akeno and Rias, Koneko acted somewhat indifferent about Thomas's visit, but inwardly, she too was excited to see the boy after an entire year.
"Ano, Koneko… who is this Thomas that Akeno-san, Tsubaki-san, Sona-sama and Rias-sama are so excited to see again?"
Looking to her right at the newest member of their peerage, Koneko decided to explain to Kiba Yuuto, who Thomas was.
"Thomas is … a special case, Kiba-san," Koneko answered with a somewhat excited face.
"Special case?" Kiba asked, not understanding why Koneko made that face.
"A year ago, Serafall-sama brought him to her home and had her family's best healers save him…"
"That's how Sona-sama and Tsubaki-san met him, no?"
Koneko nodded her head before continuing. "After they got to know each other, Sona-sama invited Thomas to her home and then the three of them visited the capital, that's where we met him. He was… strong, for a human, and if what Tsubaki-san and Sona-sama told us about his battle prowess is true…"
She didn't continue, but that was more than enough for Kiba to realize that he might actually be able to befriend a boy his age, and not be surrounded by girls all the time. And if he was actually strong enough to impress Rias-sama … then maybe just maybe he would be willing to spar with him.
"Sona, how long until Thomas arrives? I can't wait to see him again!" Rias asked, looking at the chessboard with frustration. She had lost another game to Sona, who seemed to be in a good mood.
"Checkmate," Sona said, before raising her glasses. "Considering that Sirzichs-sama had Lief-san and Freja-san go and pick Thomas, I'd say that soon, since if I remember correctly, Hogwarts Express had stopped at the station three hours ago."
Rias nodded, feeling quite excited. She hadn't seen Thomas since he left for Hogwarts and she missed him a lot. Besides, she was equally curious about his school life and what he had done and learned, after all, there are not a lot of wizards and witches roaming in the underworld.
She looked at Sona, who was smiling softly. She knew that just like she, Sona too couldn't wait to see him again. As for their peerages… Akeno and Tsubaki were still arguing over a dress, Koneko acted indifferent and while she knew that wasn't the case, she couldn't bring herself to destroy the façade Koneko put. As for her newest knight… Kiba was … for a lack of better words, a ticking bomb, especially when he would meet Thomas, something that Sona had brought to her before this day.
Hopefully, Thomas would be able to defuse any tension Kiba might create when he sees the cross on his neck, the ring on his finger, or the small amount of holy magic around him.
Before Rias could delve deeper into her thoughts, a magic circle appeared on the floor in the corner of the room. As it rose, three people, a handsome man in his thirties, Leif Astaroth, a younger handsome blonde boy, who smiled as soon as he saw his friends, and a girl with almond eyes with long blond hair with blue hair tips who had holding onto Thomas's hand.
Looking around the room, Thomas took note of the situation in the room. Akeno and Tsubaki had been arguing judging by their red faces. Rias and Sona sitting on opposite sides of a chess board, both looking excited to see him, Koneko eating a large cookie, something that he would also want, and finally an unfamiliar blonde boy, who looked shocked to see him. After looking around the room, Thomas smiled before walking towards Rias and Sona, who stood up and hugged him warmly.
"Rias, Sona, it's so good to see you again! I missed you both so much!"
"We missed you too, Tommy! How was Hogwarts? Did you have fun? Did you learn anything new?" Rias asked, jumping up and down in excitement.
"Hogwarts was amazing! I had a lot of fun and I learned a lot of things. I'll tell you all about it later." Thomas said as he smiled at her.
Sona on the other hand didn't react like Rias, but Thomas knew better and so he decided to humor her curiosity too.
"Sona, I missed you too. Do you remember what you asked me about ghosts? Well, I think I found out how they appear."
"It's good to see you too, I'll wait for that. I'm glad you're back, Tom."
Still wearing his smile, Thomas turned towards Akeno and Tsubaki but just as he was about to greet them, a bullet in Akeno's shape tackled him to the ground, snuggling on his chest cutely.
Thomas, while appreciating Akeno's sudden show of affection, still helped her back to her feet after a few seconds. "Hey, Akeno. You are still as energetic as I remember. I'm happy to see you too."
Akeno giggled and hugged him again before kissing him on the cheek to Rias's horror. "Tom, you have been working on your skills," She said while nodding sagely." I'm glad you're back."
Not wanting to let her see him blush, Thomas looked at Tsubaki, who was standing next to Akeno.
"Hello, Tom. Welcome back. You look well."
"Hey, Tsubaki. It's good to be back. You look well too."
He hugged her as well, and she hugged him back. "I'm sorry for Akeno's behavior. While improper," Akeno stuck her tongue out at her, making Thomas smile wider. "She's been missing you a lot."
"It's okay. I don't mind. I've been missing her too." He then added, "And you too, of course."
Enjoying the shocked expression on her face, Thomas turned and walked beside Koneko, who to her merit, acted like she didn't care at all until he was beside her and he hugged her.
To everyone's surprise, Koneko accepted the hug and hugged him back. She then took one of her large cookies and handed it to Thomas who took it with a smile and thanked her. He knew that Koneko liked cookies a lot and that she was sharing them with him as a sign of friendship. Not to mention that Koneko was not good at expressing her emotions, but he could feel her warmth and sincerity.
"This is delicious, Koneko. You have good taste."
And finally, he turned towards the blonde boy who still looked shocked, for reasons unknown to him.
"Thomas Grayson, a pleasure meeting you," Thomas said extending his hand.
Somewhat shakily, Kiba took his hand and shook it. "Kiba Yuuto, Rias-sama new knight."
Seeing the smirk on his face, Thomas didn't know what to make of this boy. Moreover, when he looked at him like he was some sort of monster. Before he could even say anything, Kiba's eyes went wide open when he saw the rosary on his neck, and in the next second, he found himself parrying a sword.
< Just change "3" with "e" Patr3on Link : https://patr3on.com/meatbunkun>