Disclaimer: I don't own Highschool DxD.
But Still We Laugh
Joshua sat on a couch, his elbows resting on his knees as he fidgeted with a card in his hand. It was something he'd gotten from his latest deal with Sairaorg, on top of a few other things. In exchange, he'd be adding a few Averting and Shield wards, "to add a little more variety and unpredictability," he'd said. Joshua had been quite interested in the man's idea to implement that for a training zone, that was for sure.
They'd probably trade notes on that once everything was dealt with. After all, cards weren't the only thing he'd asked for, even if they weren't simple cards. No, he'd asked for metal cards and the equipment to carve circles in them… And help getting his family's things back.
He'd sent a few messages, contacted more family besides his Aunt. They weren't all assholes but his relatives weren't what one would call nice either. He was going to get everything that had been his and his parents' back, because none of them deserved to get a single thing.
'Thank God for the devils' reach,' Joshua thought to himself, a half-smile forming on his face at the irony. He absently looked at one of the sides of the cards, the one that would be the back, which he planned on engraving a simple symbol on later. It'd be a fan of cards, he'd already decided. They'd been something he always had with him, more than the daggers or any other thing. He'd have made it his familiars, but adding all of them seemed a bit much and using a single one would have felt insulting…
So cards it was.
"Everything should be done soon enough," Sairaorg commented as he walked back in the living room Joshua was sitting in. "The house was easy enough, as you know," The devil said, signaling around them, to which the human gave him a grateful smile. "The smaller things though, those might take some time tracking."
"I just want them back, Sairaorg," Joshua replied, looking at the now bare walls where there had once been photographs. Pictures he was fairly sure had been thrown away already, maybe even burned, destroyed. He might have been wrong, and they were in a box somewhere, but he didn't dare hope too much. "I don't care how long it takes. If I have to do more to pay you I-"
"Don't worry about it, Joshua," The devil waved away, chuckling to himself. "Honestly, for the wards you are offering to set up, I'm sort of underpaying you, but if this is what you want, I'll make sure to recover every little thing."
"Isn't it too much work?" Joshua asked, nervously.
"I'm not looking for them myself, if that's what you wanted to know. Neither is my peerage. No, I contacted someone that's more… equipped to do this kind of thing. Is what we do, most of the time. Intermediate to get people what they want," Sairaorg explained and Joshua supposed that made sense. Sort of like how Shed and the rest had contacted him to do a job for Yasaka, he supposed, even if that example didn't work all that well.
"Well, I appreciate the help anyway," Joshua said with a nod. "If you ever need help with anything-"
"I'll come to you. Don't worry, I will," Sairaorg told him, barking out a laugh as if that was a given. "I don't know if you've noticed yet, but I'm a devil. I'm not that noble."
"That's good, actually," Joshua replied, with a slight smirk. He couldn't put too much feeling into it at the moment though. That's when he caught a hesitant look on the devils face. "Have something in mind already?" He asked, curious. Maybe it wasn't the time to talk more business but… He'd already thought about his losses too much. He wanted to focus back in the present, focus on what he did have, if only for a moment.
"... There is something you could do for me," The devil said after a moment of silence and his expression changed. He looked… Joshua wasn't sure nervous was the right word, but it was the closest thing he could think of. "You see, my cousin… she's in a bit of a… situation, you could say."
"How can I help?" Joshua asked, eyes narrowing. He meant Rias, right? He didn't remember if he had any other cousins around. Besides, the redhead had the whole "situation" with Phenex, after all, right?
"I wish it were simpler," Sairaorg started, stalling, which meant that it wasn't as simple as putting up training wards for her. Joshua had wondered why they'd never actually called him to set those up. "But to help her you'd have to… become her contracted magician," He finished then, bringing a hand up to scratch the back of his head.
'Oh, that…' Joshua thought, frowning. 'Why'd it need that? What does that change?'
"Why?"
"Because… she has a marriage contract in place with someone she'd rather… not marry. To get out of that, she has to beat him in a Rating Game. You know about those, right?" Sairaorg asked, to which Joshua nodded easily. He'd actually caught some of those in devil television since it had been installed for him, so he actually had an excuse. "If someone outside of her direct people helps, it'll be seen as either her family or her brother pulling strings, which would be… bad."
"So I need to either be in her peerage or be her contracted magician?" Joshua finished then, getting a stiff nod from Sairaorg. That sort of explained things a little. It didn't make an entire lot of sense, but that was part for the course with the supernatural world, he supposed. "I see…"
"You don't have to decide right now, of course, but… she doesn't have that much time."
"How much?" Joshua asked, even though he had a fairly good idea.
"A year, we think," Sairaorg answered, which was a fairly long time. Except, that he knew it wouldn't be that long. The wedding would be sped up and if his rough guesses were right, he had around half of that time, maybe even less.
But it was enough.
"I'll think it over," Joshua told him, which was about as much as he could tell the man. He liked Rias well enough, and he wanted to help, but he also wanted to remain free. Becoming her contracted magician would't be as binding as being in her peerage, but it was something he'd rather not do. "I'll have to read about it. Pretty sure you've given me a book on that at some point."
"I did," Sairorg confirmed with a grin. "Just for considering it, thank you. I know you don't like this type of thing."
Sairaorg had no way of knowing that he trusted devils a whole lot more after the whole memory thing, but… Even if that weren't the case, Joshua looked around at the house that his devil friend had recovered in a matter of hours. Just after a call, without actually talking specifics about a deal or anything…
"Don't mention it," He waved off.
[}-o-{]
"Anything you want to do, Josh?" Jeanne asked once they teleported back to the house at Kyoto. He'd have stayed in his parents' house, at least for that day, but seeing it empty hurt. 'Maybe next year,' He decided with a slight grimace.
"Drinking some tea would be nice," He commented, giving his sister a slight smile that she returned. It soon vanished though, his eyes following Jeanne as she left for the kitchen. "Am I supposed to feel a certain way?" He asked Cheshire as he moved to the sofa to sit. The feline followed him, this time in her lynx form.
Nagini slithered her way to it after he took his seat, draping herself all over the left side of the piece of furniture and resting her head on his left leg while Cheshire took the right. Margalo and Morag did as they usually did, riding on his shoulders. His hands almost by themselves moved to the heads of his serpent and feline familiars, smiling weakly at them as he felt their support through the still somewhat new Bond.
"I don't even know how I'm feeling," He told them, although he expected no answers. "I'm sad, because of what I lost. I'm happy, because of how far I've come. I'm confused, because of both of those things. I'm… I don't even know…"
Margalo chose that moment to chirp… No, sign something, it seemed. Her little chirps coming one right after the other in a tune that only she knew. Joshua closed his eyes to hear her for a moment, if only to push his confusing emotions to the side.
That is, until he felt a spark of curiosity from Cheshire. Opening his eyes again, he saw the feline looking straight at the bird. With his attention drawn now, Joshua turned to Margalo before using Appraisal.
[Margalo
Title: Familiar of Joshua Davis
Race: Familiar Bird
Gender: Female
Strength: E+
Speed: D
Dexterity: D
Vitality: E+
Perception: D-
Magic: F
Perks: 1
Skills: 3]
'Hm… Oh, new skill?' He noted, curiously. With his eyes moving from the screen back to the bird, he felt like he could guess what it was, actually.
[Sing – Lvl 1
Defines the user's ability to produce musical sounds with their voice.]
'Weird that she got that just now though. I'm fairly sure she sang before,' Hemused, bringing a hand up to rub the underside of her head. 'Maybe it's a thing of effort? Or maybe it didn't even reach level 1 before now? Strange…'
"Thanks, girl," He mumbled as the bird stopped singing for a bit, receiving a nuzzle in response. "Guess I'll just have to… keep moving, huh? Maybe things will make a little more sense then, right?" He whispered.
"Sorry for the delay," Jeanne said as she came back with a tray, and it reminded Joshua of how she'd be back when they were working at the cafe. Which in turn made him think of how things would be once they could go back to working in one if they felt like it. Then again, he'd liked doing that more than she did, so maybe she wouldn't even bother.
"You didn't set the water aflame again, right?" He asked with a slight smirk.
"That only happened once!" She whined, slumping down on an armchair. "Why won't you forget about it."
"It was quite unforgettable, you gotta admit," He pointed out a slight chuckle.
"Idiot," She grumbled with pout.
There was a moment of silence then as his eyes fell to Cheshire and Nagini on his lap.
"When we get the cafe running, are you gonna work there too?" He asked, somewhat out of the blue for her, he supposed. He leaned forward then, taking his cup.
"I want to, yeah," She answered, which was somewhat surprising but not as much as the next part. "Full time, probably."
"Oh?"
"Joshua, I basically do nothing most of the time. It's great and all, but I don't wanna be a burden," Jeanne explained. "After all that you've done… I know you like spoiling me, but I don't wanna take advantage of you even if you don't feel like I am."
"I guess I can understand that," He said, looking down. How many times had he had similar thoughts regarding his parents? He hated that he had never acted on them until they'd been gone. Just another way he'd failed, he supposed.
Cheshire pulled up to rub her head against his side.
'Another way I can be better,' He thought to himself, smiling at his familiar as he petted her head.
"Who knows, maybe I can manage the whole place someday," Jeanne commented, making him chuckle.
"Yeah, well, Sona will probably find someone to do that for us," Joshua replied with a slight smirk. "But yeah, if you study, we can have you take over in the future," He added, his expression turning into a soft smile. "Or maybe you'll find something else you want to do."
"If nothing else comes up, I quite liked the cafe myself," She told him with a smile of her own. "Maybe it's a family thing," She said then, and he could tell that she wasn't sure saying that was a good idea at the moment. Silly Jeanne.
"Maybe," He replied with a nod and a soft smile.
[}-o-{]
"What do you think she'll do with Margalo?" Jeanne asked, from next to him, a bucket with popcorn sitting between them. She had Morag and Margalo on her shoulders, while Cheshire had chosen to lay across his lap in her cat form. Nagini, for her part, had been disinterested enough to just go to the corner of the room and curl up there.
"I don't know, honestly. I don't think I wanna try too hard to see what goes on in Serafall's mind," He commented with a half-smile. "I'm guessing maybe she'll make her a friend of the characters or something? Maybe change her role if she evolves?"
"She could end up being Levia-tan's "familiar", wouldn't that be fun?" Jeanne pointed out, earning herself a chuckle from Joshua and indignant chirping from the bird herself. "Not a fan of that, huh? We might have to tell Serafall that."
"Yeah, guess we'll have to rem-" He paused as someone knocked on the door. "-ember."
"Do you think we summoned Serafall talking about her?" Jeanne asked curiously.
"Nah," Joshua replied with a shake of his head. "It's not her."
"Who is it then?" Jeanne questioned as he stood up and started making his way to the door. "Josh?" She called after him.
"Hello there," He greeted as he opened the door. Further words were interrupted though, when he was immediately wrapped in a pair of tiny arms. "Well, that's certainly a warm greeting," He commented, patting Kunou's head as she let go.
"Mum said you'd be happy if we visited," She commented, smiling shyly up at him. "Are you?"
"I'm always happy to see you, silly," He told her, making the girl beam at him. She was just entirely too adorable sometimes. Before he even realized, he was grinning back at her. "Thanks for coming."
"I thought you could use some extra company," Yasaka replied, waving his thanks off. "Besides, Kunou was sulking around and pouting, we can't have that."
"Certainly not."
"I wasn't pouting!"
"But you were sulking?" Joshua asked, making Kunou pout at him in outrage. "Come on, we were just watching Serafall's show and eating popcorn. Yasaka, do you want anything else? I can prepare something."
"Don't worry about it, Joshua," The woman reassured him. "You don't have to bother, especially today."
"It's not a bother at all-"
"Can we prepare something together?" Kunou asked then, giving him her best kit fox eyes. He just grinned at her and rolled her eyes.
"Kunou-"
"It's fine," He interrupted Yasaka before she could tell her daughter no. "Let's make something, yeah? What did you have in mind?"
"You humor her too much," The youkai leader pointed out with a smile as they all walked back towards the living room. The little girl followed almost absently as she gave the question he'd asked with all the seriousness she could manage, which was sort of funny.
"How about you think that over while we watch the show, yeah?" He asked the little one. "And I don't see you complaining, despite how much you point that out," He added towards Yasaka.
"I guess I don't," She replied, and she looked like she wanted to ask something else. Joshua simply smiled at her, even if it was tinged with sadness now.
"I'm fine," He told her as she sat on the armchair on his side of the sofa and Kunou took the one on Jeanne's as her attention started to be drawn to the show.
"What's got you thinking so hard, eh?" His sister asked the little girl, probably noticing that he'd be having a conversation with Yasaka that was better of just being the two of them. She could be smart like that… Or maybe the voices had told her, difficult to tell, those days.
"I'm just…" He continued, his eyes looking towards the television, even if he wasn't actually watching. "I guess I'm trying to figure out how I'm feeling, actually."
As he finished, he sent a grateful smile towards Yasaka as he felt her senjutsu washing over him.
"You gotta teach me how to do that," He commented absently.
"Well, I just might," She said, smiling softly back at him. "And there's nothing wrong with being confused," She added. "Feelings usually are like that, even if we don't realize."
"I guess that's true," He nodded.
"Did something happen?" She asked then, making him blink. "Jeanne sent me a message saying that you were more upset than expected," She explained, making him raise an eyebrow towards his sister. Evidently, the teenager had been eavesdropping because she sent a sheepish expression his way even as she continued chatting with Kunou.
"I just came across one of my relatives," He answered, his expression falling once more. "I'd forgotten how… they were," He said simply, not in the mood to throw insults around. Especially with Kunou probably listening in, even if she tried to act like she wasn't. Honestly, those two…
"Family doesn't always turn out as we hope," Yasaka told him then, in that wise tone that she usually had when they had this kind of talk. "Just like life. But we can still try to make the most out of both, however. Take matters in our hands."
And there, looking at his familiars around, at Jeanne, at Kunou, at Yasaka. Joshua could only compare the scene to some of the family reunions he'd had to attend and how he'd seen them even as almost an outsider. This was nothing like that, and he could only be happy for it.
"I guess you are right, as usual."
"You should get used to that," She told him, hiding a giggle behind her hand.
[}-o-{]
[Serafall Leviathan]
She waited patiently after knocking this time. That wasn't a day to be childish, she knew. Or, at least, not too much. Especially considering…
The door opened before she could finish the thought.
"Hey there," Joshua greeted with a slight smile, even smaller than his normally were. "Didn't expect you to come by today," He commented before making space for her to walk in. "Come in, I was just about to sit down with a cup of tea and chill for a bit before going to sleep."
"Hello, I'm sorry to bother you today," She greeted with a wave and gave him a supporting smile. She'd have said one of the typical phrases, but she knew Joshua wasn't one to care for those. Words could be hollow in such instances. She knew that very well… "I won't be here for long if I'm bothering you."
"You are never a bother," Joshua waved off. "Honestly, I don't mind at all. If you wanna stay for a bit, go ahead. Do you want tea, snacks, something else?" He offered then and she beamed at him.
"I could never say no to some tea and snacks. Yours are really good, Joshua," She said, getting him to smile just the smallest bit wider as he walked towards the kitchen. Meanwhile, she turned to see his familiars spread around the living room with Jeanne sitting on an armchair with a book in her hands. The television was on in some devil channel that evidently they weren't actually watching. "Gin-tan, everyone, hello!"
"Hello, Serafall," The girl greeted, for once not grimacing or otherwise reacting to the nickname. Clearly, she had other things in her mind. "I'm glad you are here."
"And I'm glad to be here," She replied, beaming.
"And you are yourself, which is even better," The girl commented with a slight grin. "He'll like that."
"Of course he will. How could he not, with the magical Levia-tan around?" Serafall asked, even though she wasn't actually in her magical girl outfit. Judging by the look Jeanne was giving her, she found it a little weird, which was fair. She was fond of her magical outfit.
"Just… thank you for coming," Jeanne told her with a soft smile.
"Don't mention it," Serafall replied, returning the expression.
"Well, that's that," Joshua announced as he set a tray in front of her. Cheshire almost immediately joined her master as he took a seat on the sofa, curling up on his lap. "Things are going well in the show, huh? We saw the latest chapter just a few hours ago," The man said, grinning very falsely as he spoke.
So, he didn't want to talk about the main issue of the day, it seemed.
Serafall could only hope she was making the right move right now.
"I know you want to talk about other things," She started, making his smile slip away instantly. "But I got informed of your… deal with Sairaorg Bael," She told him, and his eyes focused intensely on her own. "I may have pulled a few strings to speed it up a little."
"Thank you," He said, and even if the words hadn't, his tone would have told her he was grateful by themselves. "But really-"
"There was a little something that got the trackers' attention really quick too," Serafall continued, before he could try to wave the whole thing off. Then, from a Storage Spell of her own, she pulled the object out.
His eyes zeroed on the silver necklace with a round shaped locket and Joshua remained silent for a long moment. His expression shifted from uncomfortable and sad to completely neutral. Slowly, his eyes moved towards her as he stood and took the necklace from between her fingers.
"Where was it?"
"In a pawn shop," Serafall replied without delay.
Instantly, she felt the shift in Joshua even if neither his stance nor his expression changed. The atmosphere was enough by itself, as she felt killing intent wash over her. It was shocking, especially from a collected man like Joshua and if Jeanne's expression was anything to go by, this was new even for her.
With a twitch of his thumb, the accessory opened. Serafall already knew there was nothing inside, where there should have been pictures. Evidently, the object, or the missing photos perhaps, meant quite a lot to Joshua, which made sense. The trackers she'd put to the case had found it the quickest because it was important for his parents.
"A pawn shop," Joshua repeated, his voice barely a whisper. "I'm gonna kill her…"
"Josh?" Jeanne asked, making him snap out of his thoughts. The killing intent died a quick death a second later even if Serafall could see the thunder in his eyes very much alive.
"Sorry, I got… Sorry," He mumbled, looking back at the accessory. Then, he closed the locket, his fingers curled around it as he took a deep breath in. "Thank you for bringing it, Serafall."
"Don't mention it. You'd have gotten it either way," She waved off. She could have milked that, gotten some favor from him for getting what was obviously some kind of family heirloom or maybe just something his parents really treasured. That… That would have been wrong though. Serafall didn't need any of that to get Joshua to work with her. She didn't need the sneaky ways she usually did.
He was a straightforward guy and she could be straightforward with him.
Besides, he was kind of a friend too, she'd admit.
"Still, thank you," He repeated with a small, sad smile.
"Now about the show," Serafall started, beaming at him like she wasn't totally changing the subject. "I can't tell you what'll happen next… but I totally will if you say please."
"... Never change, Serafall, never change," Joshua commented, shaking his head. Then he chuckled and leaned back against the couch. "I liked the new villain you introduced. He looks competent, which is nice, I gotta say."
"I know right? I had to tell some meanies that it'd be nice to have one of those instead of generic villain number 5!"
[} 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/)