Disclaimer: I don't own Highschool DxD.
You Should've Known Better
"Jo-taaaan! I'm bored," Someone whined next to him, but he kept his eyes firmly locked on his notebook. He also resolutely ignored the giggles from his other side. Maybe if he did that for long enough- "I'm just gonna continue~"
Damn it.
"And what do you want me to do to entertain you, Serafall?" He asked, resigning himself to his fate of not being able to work. As he closed his notebook, he took a moment to look at Kunou's work. She'd taken a break from magic training and was just trying to draw in an empty notebook he'd given her. 'Trying' was the operative word there.
Maybe having Serafall there wasn't such a bad thing. He expected that Kunou would have been complaining instead, about how hard it was to draw. Seriously, the girl really needed to learn to set lower expectations for herself.
"Let's play a game!" The Satan of Foreign Affairs announced, springing to life where she'd before been laying her face on the table. He just gave her the flattest of looks. "What?"
"Nothing," He said, not even bothering to sigh. "Say," He started, turning to the side, until he found the nearest youkai. "Would you-"
"It'll be no problem, Joshua-sama," She said, giving him a smile and a slight bow. "I'll be right back with a cup of tea."
He just blinked as he followed the woman with his eyes.
"What… just happened?"
"Honestly," Kunou said, huffing next to him. "You always ask for tea."
"I ask for other things too," He defended himself weakly.
"Like what? What have you asked for that wasn't a cup of tea?" The girl asked, turning to him and raising an eyebrow. Joshua, for his part, desperately looked for an answer, any answer.
"... What happened with Cute Kunou, I like her better," He said in the end, making the girl give him a smug look. That is, before she caught on to what he said and narrowed her eyes at him. Huffing again, she turned back to her notebook, adding a pout for good measure.
"Jo-tan~! Game~!" Serafall whined and he just gave her a bored look.
"And what game did you want to play?" He asked, tiredly massaging his eyes.
"I don't know~" The woman continued her whining undeterred by neither his antics, nor his 'enthusiasm' and nor Kunou's giggles. "Don't you have a game you like playing?" She asked, pouting at him.
"I like working with magic though," He replied blandly. It wasn't a lie per se, but he knew that- Yup, there she went, pouting even harder than before. He was surrounded by children, he swore.
"You are no fun at all, Jo-tan," She complained. "Girls don't like that, you know?" His eye twitched, but he didn't even deign that with an answer. Then he frowned as something crossed his mind.
"Now that I think about it, why are you even here?" He asked, tilting his head. The 'magical girl' blinked at him.
"You just thought about that?" She asked, almost looking completely baffled. There was still quite a bit of her little act in there though. "Jo-tan, you need to pay attention to your surroundings," She chided him before bonking him on the head with her 'magical staff'.
"Sorry," He apologized with a completely unapologetic tone. "Thank you," He said then, this time towards the youkai that had come back with a cup of tea. "You are a lifesaver, Fuyuko."
"So you continue saying, Joshua-sama."
"Jo-tan~ It's rude to flirt with other women when you are with one already, you know~?" Serafall whined, making him close his eyes and count down from three.
"Back to my question?" He asked, trying to curve the woman's… antics a little bit into normal territory. Maybe it was wishful thinking, but he had to try, at the very least.
"We are still dealing with the whole mess you caused, you know," She told him, as if it was his fault that Khaos Brigade had attacked him. At least, that's what he thought that was all about. He could hardly come up with any other thing that could be related to a 'mess' and him, really.
"How's that going then?" He asked, more because it felt like what he had to do than actual curiosity. He'd avoided making questions about that so far for a reason, after all. He'd much prefer to go back to the calm days when he just worked on magic and nothing else. Dealing with the terrorist group's bullshit certainly didn't fit that bill.
At least, for the moment.
"They emptied all their bases before we could get to them," Serafall pouted, crossing her arms. "Still, we got Dimension Lost thanks to you, so that's a nice enough blow to them, really."
"That's good to hear," He said, taking a sip from the tea. It was glorious, really. He could only dream of the one he made being that good sometime in the future. Then he sighed. 'Guess I can do some serious talk about this…' "What's going to happen to the guy?"
"That's the kind of information that's classified, Jo-tan," Serafall replied, with a 'serious' nod. And that was that, which suited him just- "But I'll tell you anyway," She added with a beaming smile. He just sighed again. "The Youkai are gonna keep him and the others for now. Although, they are talking with the Crows, from what I gathered. And not with us, the meanies."
"Crows, as in, the Fallen?" Joshua asked. That was interesting. Not for anything in particular though, except the fact that it involved the only one of the Bible factions that he'd yet to meet, if he didn't count… 'Akeno, was it?' Not that he was complaining.
"Yes." Serafall nodded. "But that's boring."
Joshua didn't even bother pointing out that he'd all but tried to leave that line of conversation before.
"So, what do you want to talk about then?" He asked, taking another sip from his drink.
"Well, for one, I'm having trouble finding a way to pay you for what you did for us," Serafall said, pouting at him like he was at fault for that. Which, for once, he supposed he kind of was. He had a habit of… not deciding what he wanted to be paid with. To be fair, half the time, he didn't even need the payment.
In this case though, it had been mostly that he'd accepted because he kind of had to. The situation didn't leave much wiggle room for him to not take the job and come out smelling like roses. And he'd only agreed to help out the Devils and the Church because he wanted to avoid political trouble as much as possible.
So, he hadn't really expected or wanted any payment from them, really. However, Joshua doubted that 'leave me alone' would go well, regardless of how he said it. Sad, but it was what it was.
"Well, I mean, I was going to see about getting some books on communication magic, sounds like they could be-"
"Easy," She interrupted, waving that off. "Not even worth much at all, anything else?"
"..." Joshua simply stared at her for a moment. It did make sense that she'd consider that almost nothing, but then again, why was she going to pay much for basically… What had he even done for her? He let her take him there, which didn't require anything from him. He'd put a good word for her, but he was basically a random magician more, really. He'd just been lucky with Georg, really. And…
That's it?
"Well, I was thinking about finding a place over here. You know, since I have a student now but-"
"You can keep that house I gave you. Honestly, for the trouble with Khaos Brigade, I'd give it to you for free," Serafall interrupted again, with yet another wave of her hand. Joshua narrowed his eyes then. 'That sounded like something happened with Khaos involving her or the Devils in particular,' He mused to himself before deciding that maybe he was better off without the headache… or trying to interrogate a Satan, for that matter.
"Well, uh… I don't know," He said with a helpless shrug as the woman pouted at him, just like Kunou would when he told her that she needed to take a break. At least before she'd taken up drawing, that is. "Wouldn't say no to more books on the supernatural. I don't have nearly enough inf-"
"But those are boring~" Serafal whined and Joshua felt his eyebrow twitch. "There has to be something fun you want."
Staring at her for a moment, he then turned to Kunou, who seemed to have decided she was much better just ignoring the two of them. Smart girl. That was probably the best decision she could make in that situation. Joshua would have been proud if it wasn't because she was basically throwing him to the wolves.
"I don't even want to know what a fun option would be for you," He said then, sighing for what felt like the hundredth time and giving his drink his full attention. At least until he realized that Serafall hadn't taken that opening and was instead just bouncing where she sat next to him, as if waiting for him to say something. "Really, I don't know what I could possibly ask-" Then he paused as something crossed his mind.
"Oh, did you think of something? Did you, Jo-tan?" Serafal asked then, seeing right through him.
"Phoenix Tears," He said then, earning himself slightly raised eyebrows from the Satan. He had to wonder what she had expected him to ask for, really.
Phoenix Tears had been something that interested him since… Well, since Sairaorg commented on them during one of their training sessions. He'd since researched on it a little and those potions were basically the only thing that could instantly heal someone and leave them as good as new. They even regenerated magic and stamina. Maybe even life energy, although that hadn't been mentioned in what he read.
It was the kind of thing that he really wanted to get his hands on.
Hell, they'd made him research potions for a bit. It sounded like something that would be fun and, more importantly, very useful. However, even then, he'd be very far from what Phoenix Tears could do. If he had a chance to get his hands on one or two vials, he'd take it.
"I can make that happen," Serafall replied. The smile on her face was very smug as if she'd won a battle or something instead of… convincing him to ask for more as payment. 'Devils are weird…' He thought, remembering a similar situation with Sairaorg. "Well, I think Yasaka will kick me out if I stay for too much longer, so I'll just go now."
"Oh, one more thing," Joshua said, drawing a tilt of Serafall's head and a surprised blink. "Could you have your people not randomly break through all my wards when you need to have a chat? It'd be nice to at least think my home is safe," He said smiling wryly.
"What? Who? Sairaorg would never and I've always at least asked through the flier," She asked, for once seemingly meaning business as she sat straight and frowned at him.
"Your fellow Satan, Ajuka, he just appeared in my living room one day. It was rather…" He struggled for a moment to find the right word before just giving up. "... something, I have to say."
There was silence for a long moment as he looked at Serafall's expression. For a moment, she just frowned, then she seemed almost confused. After that, her eyes widened slightly before she appeared to be… dismayed.
"Damn it all, Ajuka," She sighed, exasperated. "I just… I'm sorry about whatever it is he did, Joshua," She said, giving him a strained smile. "Ajuka is a genius regarding a lot of things, especially magic. People though are… not his strong point. We'd just told him to check how good a warder you were not to… Sirzechs and I thought he'd just check the wards you'd set, not invade your home," She explained, massaging her forehead.
It was his turn to blink at her.
"I'll… I'll talk to him. Sorry, again. I'll make it up to you, I promise," She continued, sounding almost tired. "If you can think of anything else you want, it'd be appreciated. It seems I owe you more than I thought I did."
"Ah… I'll see what I can come up with?" Joshua asked, still processing that. He'd thought Lucifer and her had sicked Beelzebub on him on purpose. Now though, it seemed that he'd misunderstood the situation completely.
'Good thing I didn't hold a grudge over that then,' He mused to himself.
"Well, it seems I have someone to deal with all of a sudden," Serafall said with a strained smile as she slowly donned her 'magical girl' act once more. "See you later, Jo-tan, Ku-tan!"
"Don't call me that!" Kunou protested instantly and vehemently.
"That's a lost battle, Kunou. Honestly, I think it's better if you just ignore her," Joshua told the girl with a sigh and taking another sip from his cup of tea. "I think half the reason she does it might be to see how people react," He added, making the girl turn thoughtful. Joshua wasn't too sure about that, but it sounded plausible enough.
"Still," She grumbled.
"How's that drawing going?" He asked then, turning to her notebook. "Someone's a fan of foxes, huh? I wonder why," He said teasingly as he looked at the rough drawing of a fox on the page. She'd been at it for a while and it wasn't that good, but it was distinguishable.
"Don't laugh at me," She mumbled, looking down.
"Kunou, I draw my own familiars all the time. I think I'm the last person that would laugh at you for drawing foxes," He told her with a shake of his head and placing his hand on her head. "It's a pretty good drawing, keep it up."
"Really?"
"Of course it is. Better than my first drawings, I think. Man, that's just not fair."
His grin widened as he heard the girl giggle. Especially when she took the notebook back and smiled down at the drawing. Now that was just adorable.
[}-o-{]
"Woah," Kunou mumbled as she looked around at the illusion he'd forged around them. Joshua had decided, for once, not to use cards. Mainly because he was tired from work and didn't feel like spending who knew how long drawing the circles. Especially one as complex as the one that he needed to use.
Thus, he just weaved the circle into existence with his magic. He'd more than raised his stat enough to use the Intermediate Mirage without just passing out, that was for sure. Considering that the spell had a minimum consumption of E and his Magic stat had broken into B- territory just the other day, he thought it a safe assumption that he would, indeed, be fine.
Sure enough, he was. Although, to be fair, he did feel like the drain for the little show he was making for Kunou was more than what he'd class as E. Then again, he was doing more than would be considered the bare minimum for the spell, so there was that.
[Intermediate Mirage has gone up a level.]
He ignored the notification in favor of continuing the little 3D movie he was making for Kunou. He'd taken one of the stories from his world and adapted it into real life instead of a screen. He thought he did a pretty good job, especially considering that the movie didn't even exist in this world and thus he only had memories from quite a while ago to go off of.
"I see you are having fun," Yasaka said from behind him, but Joshua concentrated on the illusion.
"Mum, come on, you have to see this. It's amazing!" Kuno exclaimed, standing up and walking up to her mother. "I mean… the story is pretty good," She stumbled for a moment, almost putting on the princess mask she seemed so attached to. Joshua couldn't have that though, and thus, he made a butterfly that flew up to the girl's face and landed on her nose, making her giggle.
The rest of the show was momentarily paused, since his audience was distracted.
"She needed a break, I needed a break, so I thought I'd show her what she'd have to work with in the future," Joshua explained, walking up to the mother and daughter duo. "Did you take notes, Kunou?" He asked, faking a serious tone and expression. Instantly, her face turned red as she stuttered some excuse about leaving the notes for later.
Then he just broke into a grin.
"You thought I'd do that to you? I'm under an oath not to hurt you, you know?" He joked, placing a hand over her head as she pouted at him.
"Meanie," She mumbled.
"That'd be a cruel and unusual punishment, really. Besides, it'd be a shame to ruin an exciting story with…" He trailed off and mock shuddered. "... studying."
"Aha! See!" Kunou exclaimed then, jumping and little and pointing at him while she looked at her mother. Joshua blinked at her. "I was right!"
"Uh… Did I miss something?" He asked, turning towards Yasaka, who was giggling behind her hand.
"It's nothing, just a little thing from back when Kunou was taking some classes that she… wasn't a fan of," The youkai leader explained.
"Your teachers weren't as good as me, huh? Understandable," Joshua mused, making it very clear that he was joking.
"Certainly not," Kunou nodded, playing along, even as her lips twitched into a grin. "Can we go back? I want to see if they can free his godfather."
"Sure we can," He agreed easily. "You want to join us, Yasaka?" He asked, turning towards the woman.
"I'd love to," She replied with a smile before she moved to take a seat next to her daughter. A moment later, he restarted the illusion show.
[}-o-{]
"She's spoiling her."
"She certainly is," Joshua agreed with a nod as he looked at Jeanne telling Kunou about all the places she'd seen. The child didn't care much for that, obviously, since they were stories of Kyoto and she'd grown up there. The younger girl was humoring the older though, mainly because she'd brought gifts for her.
"Should I be concerned about you two instead of Khaos Brigade trying to steal my daughter away?" Yasaka asked, raising an eyebrow and smiling at him.
"Oh no, we've been found out," He replied, not even bothering to hide the laughter in his voice or the grin on his face. "Whatever shall we do?"
"There's nowhere you can hide. You shall be punished," Yasaka told him, just as "seriously". "And that shall be done through more classes and more visits for Kunou."
"Oh no," He "despaired" with a deadpan. "Anything but that." Joshua could only hold the laughter back for barely a second before chuckling. "Good thing it seems I'll have a house around here then. It seems I'll need it to carry out my punishment."
"Oh?"
"Serafall didn't tell you? We talked. She's giving me the house… Well, the house I'm currently using, as payment."
"Is that so?" She mused, tilting her head.
"I hope it's not a problem. I know this is still your territory and all. So, if that's a bad idea or something, just let me know," He said quickly. He hadn't even thought about that at the time. He was an idiot.
"Don't worry," Yasaka replied, waving off his concerns and making him almost deflate in relief. "Honestly, I prefer you having a house here than the Devils, although they have a few more," She added, almost grimacing at the last part. "It's not a problem at all, don't worry," She repeated.
"Well then, it seems you'll have to put up with me more from now on. I'll try not to be too much of a bother," Joshua said, his eyes briefly turning towards the girls, who were now seemingly playing something with his familiars. Or was it just talking? Difficult to tell with just a glance.
"I'm sure you won't," Yasaka replied, shooting a fond smile in her daughter's direction.
"Joshua!" Jeanne shouted then, sounding positively scandalized. "What have you been telling Kunou?"
"Eh, lot's of things? We spend a good chunk of our day together, you know?" He answered, confused.
"About me practicing the Storage Spell," Jeanne clarified, narrowing her eyes at him while he blinked.
"Oh, you mean when you were sure you'd gotten the spell down and then-"
"Why did you tell her that?" Jeanne whined, partially to cover what he was going to say, he'd bet. Joshua simply stared at her for a moment, barely containing a smile. "Now I lost all my cool sister points!"
"Ah… my condolences," He replied. "It was a necessary sacrifice though. Kunou was sad."
"I wasn't sad!" Said girl protested, but her words went completely ignored.
"Hmph… I guess I can accept that," Jeanne muttered, clearly still not happy.
"I wasn't sad!" Kunou repeated, to no avail.
"If it makes you feel better, she thinks your swords and knives are cool," Joshua tried, getting his sister to perk up.
"Do you?" She asked, turning towards the younger girl with hopeful eyes.
"Some of them are really pretty," Kunou commented, sounding a little confused about the situation. She also looked like she wanted to keep arguing about the "lie" that she'd been sad.
"You've seen nothing yet. I'll show you some pretty swords. Any preferences?" Jeanne declared, seemingly very eager to show off her one strong point. At least when it came to showing off.
"They sure are lively," Yasaka commented as the two girls lost themselves in their own conversation again.
"Jeanne's been a lot happier since we came here. She loves seeing the world… I'll have to find time to go visit some other places, I think," Joshua commented. "Don't know where though, since there might be supernatural problems with certain places."
"Hm, I don't think you have to worry about that. With Shed, Serafall and me in your corner, I don't think anyone would cause too much trouble for you, Joshua," The youkai leader reassured.
He was a little surprised though. He hadn't expected her to offer support like that. Sure, they were friendly, friends even, he'd say. However, there was a difference between that and saying that she'd back him up with political matters and such. Serafall would probably need some payment of some kind, he guessed, although he did have that supposed favor for the Ajuka thing. And Shed… well, he knew nothing of the deity, really, or what he'd do regarding basically anything.
Joshua went to comment on that when he felt something. Something that had his back straightening and his eyes narrowing. One of his wards had triggered and he knew exactly which one.
"Joshua?" Yasaka asked, clearly noticing the obvious shift in his posture. Probably the one in his life energy too, he'd bet.
"The gall of these people," He all but growled, his lips pulling up into a snarl. The youkai leader next to him could only stare wide eyed as the girls and animals turned towards him. These latter ones having noticed due to Cheshire dashing towards him immediately.
"Did something happen?" Kunou asked curiously. "You look angry, Joshua," She commented, and the almost fear in her voice made him deflate where he sat.
"It's… Don't worry about it, ok, Kunou?" He told her, giving her a reassuring smile. Although, he was fairly sure he failed. Then, the man sighed, massaging his eyes before waving his hand in front of him.
An illusion formed, and it took Yasaka a second to realize that it was of his place and the area around it. Snapping his fingers, two red dots appeared some distance away from the house. He stared at it for a moment before pointing it out.
"Someone was checking my wards, apparently," He said, casting a glance towards Yasaka. "So, unless it's you or Serafall and you didn't tell me about that…"
The look on the youkai leader's face said it all.
"I'll have someone pick them up," She replied simply and he nodded, before turning towards Kunou.
"Good. They seem to be a magician and some kind of Sacred Gear construct. That last one has some similar readings to Jeanne's swords, at least. There are few, but considering that I can't quite place what that is at all, I'd bet on Sacred Gear stuff going on here," He said simply before taking a deep breath in. "How about an illusion show after I get some tea for myself, yeah? I need something to distract me right now," Joshua commented, getting an eager nod from Kunou, who'd been looking a little nervous there for a second. He tried his best to ignore Yasaka's searching look before she stood up to deal with the issue.
God, he was so done with Khaos Brigade already
[} 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/)