Disclaimer: I don't own Highschool DxD.
Are Getting Closer To The Door
"So, are you ready?" Yasaka asked, looking at him with an impassive expression, something he wasn't too used to. After all, the leader smiled a whole lot when around her daughter and Kunou was usually around him for classes or just to use her illusion cards. Regardless, that fact was one of the few that drew home how important this moment was.
"I am," Joshua confirmed with a nod. He was nervous – How could he not? –, but it was something he had and wanted to do. It didn't mean he was less afraid of things going wrong though. After all, this was the first time he was dabbling in magic that didn't depend solely on himself. 'At least I depend on Yasaka now, so there's that,' he mused.
They had known each other for barely two weeks, true, but they'd interacted a whole lot during that time. Not only because she was his boss, but also due to Kunou. Besides, Shed knew what was going on. Serafall knew where he was. Surely the Youkai leader wouldn't screw him over with those things hanging over her head, right?
'Man, I'm turning a little too paranoid,' Joshua thought with a sigh. His eyes turned to Yasaka's hand that was extended towards him while the woman waited patiently. 'Let's go,' he told himself as he took the hand and started speaking.
"I swear, upon my magic," He started simply.
Oath's weren't based on fancy words, after all. It was based on something deeper. Sometimes life energy, sometimes magic, sometimes world energy, sometimes souls or whatever other source people managed to find and swear upon. In this case, Joshua felt his magic energy react when he reached for it. It seemed to almost come alive as it rushed around before it realized what was going on.
He knew magic was almost sentient, from long ago when he started reaching deeper into magic. From the vein like ley lines throughout the world to the way magic shaped animals into monsters to how it often seemed to influence the world itself to keep the supernatural world hidden from those disconnected from it. At that moment though, it seemed to connect with Yasaka's magic as both, for lack of a better term, listened to him.
"That I'll never do anything to intentionally harm Kunou," Joshua continued. The way his words suddenly held more weight behind them than his tone would have had one think almost caught him off guard, but he spoke nevertheless. The two sources of magic twisted and turned against themselves, halfway between a dance and a fight, or so he thought. Eventually, they separated, settling back where they had come from.
"Thank you, Joshua," Yasaka told him, a warm smile that he was much more used to settling on her face. He gave her one of his own, although it probably came out weary and hesitant.
The Oath was simple, and the intention behind it was clear enough for both him and Yasaka. Harming Kunou might sound vague, and some might say that it could prevent or make him do things he wouldn't otherwise do, but that was because they didn't understand the nature of Oaths. Yasaka and him knew and agreed on what 'harm' meant, otherwise the Oath wouldn't have worked in the first place.
"Does that mean I can continue working on magic and you can't do anything to stop me?" Kunou asked, batting her eyes innocently at him when Joshua and her mother stood up from where they had knelt in front of each other. He simply raised an eyebrow at her and looked towards Yasaka, who gave him the smallest of nods. Taking that for the permission it was, Joshua planted a hand over Kunou's head and ruffled her hair, drawing a whine from the girl.
"Nope," he told her with a grin. "Speaking of, have you tried doing the spells on your own?" He asked, eager to get his own mind away from what had just happened. Joshua knew he wouldn't be able to avoid overthinking the Oath, so it was better to just move on.
"I did," she replied, looking away, relenting on her efforts to get his hand away from her hair. That was what prompted him to take it off, actually, before she continued talking. "I actually did better than usual."
"Now you believe me? You worry too much about how people see you," Joshua told her with a slight shake of his head as she pouted. "So, how did it actually go?"
"I got the circles to appear… well… one of them, for a bit… maybe?" The girl explained hesitantly.
"Well, that's much better than other attempts. We can work from there, no worries," He reassured with a nod and a smile. "Just needed you to see that it's mostly yourself that's getting in the way. Not like Jeanne, who just can't do magic to save her life," He added, a little louder when he saw his sister approaching with his familiars. They had all wanted to be there when he swore the Oath.
"Ha-ha," The teenager 'laughed' flatly, giving him an unimpressed expression. "Don't worry, he's not as much of an idiot as he looks like," She then proceeded to reassure the little girl, who looked like she was containing a grin.
"You sure?" She asked innocently then, making Joshua narrow his eyes at them.
"Oh, so that's how it is, huh?" He asked, looking between them.
"Eh… he has his moments," Jeanne replied, completely ignoring him.
"They are all so mean, Margalo," The man mumbled as said bird landed on his shoulder. "You are on my side, right?" He asked, receiving a reassuring chirping in response. "I knew you were my favorite for a reason."
That wasn't the right thing to say, apparently, because he felt something touch his hand then and there. Looking down, he saw Morag, who had apparently jumped on him. Then, the spider crawled her way up his arm towards his unoccupied shoulder.
"Oh, suddenly you aren't bullying me anymore, huh?" Joshua asked, smiling at his arachnid familiar, who rubbed the side of his neck with one of her legs. "Guess I can give you another chance."
"Like you wouldn't give them a thousand of those," Jeanne commented with a grin that Joshua dutifully ignored, returning the favor while he was at it.
[}-o-{]
"You know, your hair is really long," Kunou commented casually.
"You don't say," Was Joshua's sarcastic response as he continued looking down at his notebook and working. He was focusing mostly on the Switching circle for the moment. He'd do as much research as possible before tackling the Illusions, really.
Considering that Yasaka and her people had decided to let him try to learn Senjutsu, he thought it was fair assuming that it'd take him a while. 'Have to wonder though, how that will affect Shed's Quest Rewards,' He mused idly as he considered a particularly difficult part of the circle he was working on. 'Will he add something or did I shoot myself in the foot?'
"Why is that?" Kunou asked then, apparently ignoring his response's tone.
"Honestly?" He replied with a slight shrug. "Because I'm too lazy to have it cut. Does it look bad?" He shot back then, not really caring much. Looks wasn't something he put that much thought into, be it his or others'.
"Hmhm," The girl hummed, as if that were an answer of any kind. Which it kind of was, since he could almost see her shaking her head. Difficult to confirm that though, since she was standing behind him. "You don't mind if I braid it, do you?"
"A little late to ask that, don't you think?" He told her, unimpressed. After all, the girl had been going at it for a while already. 'Wonder if I look like a viking already,' He thought to himself with a slight grin.
"That's not a no," The girl said, and he could almost hear the smile on her face.
"Eh, does it matter? Go ahead and have fun," He told her with a shrug that apparently messed up her work, if her grumble was any indication. "You gotta undo it later though."
"Ookaaaay," She replied, in a very unconvincing way that had him sighing.
"Do you think it'd look decent tied back?" He asked then, curious. Joshua had actually been considering that for a while already. More often than not, his hair would get in the way when working on a circle or something. While he didn't particularly mind the long hair, that was still annoying.
"Hm, maybe? We can try that, if you want," The girl offered then, sounding almost excited.
"Sure, go ahead," He agreed easily with a lazy smile. "Say, how are the circles going?" Joshua asked absently as he noted a slight mistake in his circle design and corrected it. "You didn't even try to do something today," He pointed out curiously as Kunou started working on her new project.
"... It didn't go well last night," He barely heard her mumble. "Didn't want to try today."
"Hm, that can happen, I guess," He mumbled, taking his mind off his work for a moment. "Don't worry about it. I'm sure you'll get it soon enough. So, you wanna give it a try now? There's no need to feel bad if it doesn't go well. The thing is to keep trying."
"Hm… Maybe when I'm done here," Kunou replied in a whisper that he almost missed.
"That works for me," He told her with a smile that she didn't see as he started working again.
[}-o-{]
"Just close your eyes," Kunou said, sounding supremely smug. "Take deep breaths and relax. Forget about everything else," she instructed. Her tone probably came from the fact that he'd often told her similar things when trying to get her to let go of her frustration.
That didn't mean Joshua wasn't doing as she said though. After all, she was helping him learn Senjutsu. Something about teaching him to pay him back for teaching her. Yasaka had found it adorable, and Joshua had to admit that she was quite right.
"Now, look inside you. There's your magic, yes, but there should be more," Kunou told him, sounding quite serious, which was a little amusing. Especially considering that he'd already been told that, several times at that.
"Got it," He replied with a slight smile. Still, he searched.
There was his magic, of course, just like Kunou had said. The energy swirled, now familiar, filling his entire body and almost itching to go outside. He wasn't sure how to describe it more than that, really. It wasn't like seeing, or hearing, or smelling, or anything like that. He just… felt the energy, just like that. Like a current of electricity moving through his body, snapping around waiting for a chance to shoot out.
It was… distracting, at least at the moment. It called to Joshua's attention, taking his focus away from what he was looking for. Like a little child grabbing at his hand and dragging him away from where he wanted to go.
"It's not like your other senses, not even like the feeling of your magic," He heard Yasaka tell him. She did that, sometimes, trying to find a different way to explain to him how the life force was supposed to feel like. Apparently, it was different for everyone, so they'd have to work until he got a feeling of it.
It made him wonder though, how would it be to make an illusion for something that everyone felt different? Then again, Yasaka had said that magic was different for everyone and he was fairly sure that he knew how to work that into an illusion… 'Focus, Joshua,' He told himself as his eye twitched.
He dived back into his own energy, doing his best to ignore his snappy magic. There had to be something, but what? Something more. Something that he couldn't see, nor hear. Maybe something that he couldn't even feel? He kept his mind as open as possible, feeling like he was moving through a pitch black room, arms flailing trying to find something.
"Don't worry if you don't get it," Kunou said, not for the first time. Joshua was sure she was enjoying throwing his own words back at him. Not that he minded much, he'd meant them when he told her that, so they worked for him too. He had time, and if he couldn't work that out, well, he could just have Yasaka release him from his Oath, just to clear that worry from his conscience.
He'd have to stop soon, Joshua knew. He was growing frustrated, and much like with Kunou, it wouldn't help at all if he continued after that. No, he needed to keep his head clear to increase his chances of feeling, whatever he was supposed to feel.
So far, he'd had no luck though. Only thing he got was his magic, his skin and his muscles. Hell, he could almost feel his blood flowing and the heat of his own body temperature. Maybe he was imagining that though. After all…
After all…
'Wait,' Joshua paused. That warmth… He felt more of it than just in his body though. He felt some next to him. It was like there was a campfire right next to him, bathing him in its heat. And then he felt even more, like there was a sun on his other side, the rays hitting him directly. 'That's where Kunou is and the other is where Yasaka is…' Joshua realized before he lost the feeling as Magic Sense distracted him again.
He opened his eyes.
[Skill Unlocked: Life Sense]
'Not Senjutsu, huh?' He mused as he looked at the screen. He almost called for the skill's screen, except that another one appeared right then and there, catching him off guard.
[Skill Updated: Meditation]
His eyes widened then, surprised.
[Meditation - Lvl 42/100
Determines the user's ability to connect with his inner energies.
Increases stamina, health, magic and life energy regeneration by 42% while actively meditating.
Increases stamina, health, magic and life energy regeneration by 4.2% passively.]
'Life energy was added to the regeneration effects… What does that mean? I can be young forever regenerating life energy?... That sounds a little too OP for how my powers have worked so far…' Joshua mused as he looked at the screen for a long moment, before deciding to check his new skill for the moment.
[Life Sense - Lvl 1/100
Determines the user's ability to sense life energy.
Precision is determined by Skill Level.
Increases the range of Life Sense by 3%.]
'The same as Magic Sense, basically,' He noted then, before he was distracted by a hand waving in front of his face. Turning towards Kunou, he gave her a curious expression.
"You were staring at nothing," She said then, settling down. "Also, you can't just stop because you are bored," She accused with narrowed eyes.
"He sensed it," Yasaka told her daughter, getting a wide-eyed look from the little girl.
"I did… Apparently," Joshua nodded slowly. He'd have wondered how Yasaka knew, but… "You were projecting your life energy," He realized, looking at the Youkai leader, who gave him a slight smile. "Helping me have a better feel of it, right?"
"I might have been," Yasaka admitted, her lips pulling up a little more. "It worked too, it seems."
"I get easily distracted, it seems, but I can work on that. I know what to look for now," He mused out loud, closing his eyes for a moment, as if that were enough to find that energy once more. It wasn't, but he could try. "Once I get better, I should be able to start working on the illusion… if that idea even works, but optimism and glasses half-full, right?" He asked, earning a nod from the woman.
"What?" Kunou asked, confused and Joshua blinked. 'Oh, she doesn't know that phrase?... Guess that would make some sense.'
"Just that I need to keep a positive outlook," Joshua explained before pausing. "Actually," He started then, in Japanese this time. "How about I explain that to you, huh? Then we can work on your illusions, how does that sound?"
"Sounds nice," She agreed easily.
"Well, I guess I'll leave you two to that. I have work that needs doing," Yasaka told them two of them. "If you need help, Joshua, just call. And if you need anything, Kunou, you know what to do."
"Bye, Oka-san!"
"See you later, Yasaka-sama."
"I've told you, just Yasaka is fine," She admonished him, making him give a grimace of a smile. He guessed he could do that. It was basically what he did with everyone when telling them to call him just Joshua. It's just that it felt… wrong, he supposed. However, if he could do that with Serafall, he guessed he could do that here too.
"So, what was that about glasses?"
[}-o-{]
"Now a fox!" Kunou exclaimed excitedly, looking with bright eyes at the pictures drawn by Morag with her webbing. The two had hit it off, apparently, and the spider was all too eager to indulge the little girl's whims for her art, it seemed.
It suited him just fine, really. Joshua could use that time to work on his circles, which were coming along fine, fortunately. He hadn't done any testing for his life energy illusions just yet, but everything else had been tried and had worked fine so far. With any luck, he'd keep that streak for the remaining details to work through.
Yasaka had been kind enough to help him work out the magic energy illusion though, which had been… almost easy, really. Still, it had been a relief to work that out, honestly. After all, the life energy version shouldn't be too much harder… right?
He hoped so, at least.
Cheshire pressed against his side, demanding more pets, which he absently provided, his eyes focusing on the pages in front of him.
Lots of work to do still, unfortunately.
[}-o-{]
[Jeanne Davis]
"All I'm saying is that you could put a little more enthusiasm in this, Josh," She complained. Why was her brother so… stupid?! They were in Kyoto, for crying out loud! The city was considered the cultural capital of Japan, it was one of the biggest touristic spots in the country, maybe the world! And Joshua was acting like they were in just any city.
"The wonders of the world should be appreciated," The voices agreed.
"Jeanne, you like this stuff, I get it. I like it too," He said with a lazy smile that he wore more and more. He seemed more relaxed since they'd come here, she noticed. At least he wasn't completely blowing off the chance. Or maybe it was because he didn't have to worry about his cafe job anymore. Still, she didn't believe a word he was saying, that much Jeanne knew. "Seriously," He started then, with a roll of his eyes at her incredulous expression. "I take pictures, I read the info, I look at the sights. Just because I'm not obsessing over that, doesn't mean I don't think it's cool."
"Why not though?" She most certainly didn't whine that question, and whoever said otherwise was a liar.
"Jeanne, I enjoy spellcrafting, do you?" Joshua asked then, staring at her with a deadpan. "Exactly," He shot then, at her grimace. "Different people, different preferences, just deal with it," He said then, with another roll of his eyes.
"I just… we don't really like the same things," She mumbled then.
That's what families did, right? They had similar likes. That's why fathers went out to play or watch sports with their sons. Or why mothers helped their daughters with their shopping sometimes. That was how it worked, right?
"Jeanne," Joshua started again, giving her a somewhat sad smile that he turned away immediately afterwards. She knew that expression. It was the one that told her he was thinking about his family. And sure enough, his next words confirmed that. "My father loved sports, football in particular, or soccer, whatever you wanna call it. I didn't think there was all that, honestly. More often than not I was bored watching it, maybe even annoyed," He explained calmly, a fond smile on his face despite his words. "And let's not talk about playing it, yeah? I sucked at it."
She couldn't see that. After all, Jeanne had seen Joshua sparring with daggers against a number of her sword dummies. Surely a sport was much easier compared to that, right? Then again, her brother liked saying that he'd been a relatively normal person not so long ago, so maybe he wasn't lying?
"And my mother… We didn't do much together. We were completely different people. I could pretend to like sports for my father, sometimes even fool myself into it… But my mother was a social person," He told her and Jeanne immediately got that.
Joshua was a lot of things, and he was good at almost anything he set his mind on. However, he was certainly not a social butterfly, anybody that had met the man could tell that much. He really struggled connecting to people. Hell, most, if not all, of his social circle had been practically forced on him rather than normally approached.
"Exactly," Joshua said, seeing in her expression that she understood. "So… we didn't connect, really. That doesn't mean we weren't family though. She was there when I needed her and I did my best to be there when she needed me. So, what I'm trying to say is… We don't have to like the same things. You are my sister, and that's that."
Jeanne's heart squeezed at that, a watery smile on her face.
"He speaks truth," The voices supplied softly.
"Thanks, Josh."
"What are brother's for, right?" He asked with a grin of his own. "Now, why don't you tell me where else you want to go, huh?"
Jeanne knew what he was doing. Pretending that he liked what she did, like he'd done with his father. Maybe some people would think she should be annoyed with him for that. However, how could she, really? Maybe that was part of being a family, she supposed. And if not, who cared? She hadn't had a normal family before in her life, why would this new one be any different. At least it was the good kind of strange, she decided.
'Maybe I can pretend I like wards?' She thought, almost laughing at that idea. 'As if. Sorry, Josh, no chance of that,' She apologized in her mind as she started telling him about the next place in her list of spots to visit.
She could tell that he was only half-listening, but she didn't feel like smacking him for that anymore. At least Nagini was following along with interest and Margalo too, but the little bird didn't have the best attention span. As for Morag and Cheshire, well, they took more after Joshua, sadly.
"Do you feel like talking non-stop or do you have time for a cup of tea somewhere in your schedule?" Joshua asked once they entered the house they were staying at. Instead of answering, she just pouted at him, earning a chuckle. "I'll get to that then."
"If you have a moment though," Someone said, making them both tense up. That wasn't a voice Jeanne recognized, and judging by Joshua's reaction, neither did he.
"Maybe the time for calm is over," The voices told her ominously.
Turning slowly, they saw a young man sitting in the living room, he had spiky black hair and a pair of glasses. He didn't seem very strong, but that was deceiving in the supernatural world, she knew. Besides that, the only detail of note on him was that he appeared to be wearing some kind of uniform, although she didn't know where that came from.
"Sorry, do we know you?" Joshua asked, his voice growing cold.
"You wouldn't, but you might know who I work for," The man replied with a slight smile as he turned to them. "I'm Georg, by the way."
Jeanne saw it then, as the man kept talking, saying who he worked for, the shift in her brother. Her brother, who usually spaced out at the slightest chance to think of a spell or ward, seemed dead focused on this person. Her brother, who usually wore a lazy smile on his face, even when training was difficult, was now all but snarling at the man. Joshua, who she'd seen happily making illusions to entertain little Kunou, now had two circles activated on his hands reading to attack this man.
"I'm part of the Hero Faction of Khaos Brigade, pleasure to make your acquaintance."
"And the storm has come."
[} Chapter End {]
(AN:Please remember that this story is not mine and will never be mine. Make sure to give thanks to the original author on fanfiction.net https://m.fanfiction.net/u/11459794/)