Disclaimer: I don't own Highschool DxD.
There'll Be Peace When You Are Done
"Don't think I don't know what you are doing, young man," Azazel told him one day when they were both, once again, trading notes. He'd just given him another report on his readings regarding Divine Dividing and its Balance Breaker after he'd made modifications to his Detection and Monitoring wards. Joshua simply gave the man a smirk.
"Oh?" He exclaimed, feigning ignorance. "Whatever could I be doing?"
"You are picking up this data for yourself," The Fallen Angel answered, ignoring his tone. "You are going to apply it to your wards."
"I am. I imagine a Draining Ward tinkered with information regarding Divine Dividing will make quite the powerful thing, wouldn't you say?" He admitted, grinning from ear to ear. What was the point in lying when he was with the person that probably could figure out how his mind worked the best?
"Now, that's something I wouldn't mind seeing," Azazel mumbled to himself, eyes unfocused as he imagined the scenario. "And I guess I can't quite complain about our deal, really. Turned out Vali and I didn't do anything besides standing here menacingly, so I guess it's fair that you get a little extra out of the deal."
"Good to see you are not angry," Joshua said with a chuckle. "I was half expecting to have to bribe you or something."
"You have something to bribe me with?" The Governor asked, sounding more curious than anything, even interested.
"Eh, not that I can think of right now. But I'm sure I could come up with something," Joshua mused as he considered the question. There was the Sacred Gear extraction artifact. He could probably offer data to help with that too. Maybe even more, if he really tried. He was reluctant to do that though.
A Sacred Gear was part of the holder's soul. Taking out the Gear was like tearing apart someone's being. As far as Joshua was concerned, there was no way to do something like that without consequences for the target. Even to people he hated, he was sure he'd never be fine doing something like that.
"Hm, you have something in mind," Azazel said, looking at him searchingly. "Something you don't want to do though. I wonder what that is," He added, although he didn't sound like he'd push, which Joshua was grateful for.
[Divide!] They heard then, and Joshua turned his attention towards the sight in front of them. Vali was dueling a guard from the youkai. One that was much better than the ones Joshua usually would train against, that was for sure. He couldn't even see the guy's stats and that was enough of a clue, really.
The human wasn't focused on that though. Instead, his attention was pulled towards a specific ward that he'd made almost on a whim. It was a little thing he'd made almost as a joke, really. He certainly hadn't expected it to pick up something.
But there it was, flaring up as it sensed something.
Joshua's eyes shot wide open.
"You picked up something there," Azazel said then, eyes boring holes into Joshua as if trying to read his mind. "Something big, what is it?"
"I think I picked up on Albion. On the-"
"Soul?" The fallen angel finished instantly, suddenly much more serious. "You have to tell me about that. That's way better than anything you've shared with me so far. The things I could do with that information-"
Joshua wasn't paying attention anymore though. Hanging from a belt loop, the Charm of Shed send him a "message" as it were. The thing wasn't very clear as a means of communication but in this instance it couldn't be misunderstood. 'No,' The thing screamed.
"Tch, I'd forgotten about that," Azazel grumbled, eyes moving towards the Charm. "Seems like Shed has your back," He added, a grin on his face. "I almost got my hopes up."
"I'm guess this is information that would require a separate deal, huh?" Joshua mused out loud, his eyes darting between the Charm and the fallen angel. That got him a positive answer from his sole connection with the Egyptian pantheon.
"Yes, it would seem so. I'll have to see what I can offer for that. I don't suppose you could have something you want, right?" Azazel asked, and Joshua had the answer of Sacred Gears at the tip of his tongue. However, he stopped himself.
As he'd been thinking before, extracting the things meant destroying someone's soul. Could he accept that as payment for his work? He thought he could, in all honesty. It wasn't like he was asking for someone's soul to be torn apart. Azazel probably already had some of those at hand that he could offer, however…
"I think I'll keep that information for now. Might need a bargaining chip in the future, one never knows," Joshua said, drawing a chuckle from the Governor.
"Well, for someone that dislikes politics, you sure know how to play when you need to," Azazel complimented. 'At least I think that's a compliment,' Joshua thought wryly. He wasn't sure how good he felt about being called a good politician.
"Joshua," A new voice called then. "Azazel, good afternoon to you both," Yasaka greeted as she stood behind them. "I was looking for you."
"You need something?" Joshua asked curiously as he turned to look at her.
"Not really. I was just going to speak with Azazel. I think we can terminate the deal you made for our protection."
"You think Khaos Brigade is gone for good? You don't think they'll come back the moment he leaves?" Joshua asked with a frown. "Because I really don't mind keeping this up, you know?"
"I certainly don't either," Azazel commented with a grin.
"I think we are safe and if Khaos returns, we should be fine with the defenses that we have," The youkai leader answered. "And you just want Joshua to give you more data," She added, giving the fallen angel an unimpressed expression.
"Guilty as charged," Azazel admitted shamelessly. "But I guess I'll need to find another way to pay for that information and those wards, because you can be sure I still want more of them," He added, giving Joshua a grin. "So, any idea for payment?"
Again, the idea of asking for Sacred Gears popped up in the human's mind. He pushed it aside, but not without resistance, that was for sure. He would have to think of other things though, because that wasn't going to be it. Joshua would much prefer not to have that in his conscience.
'What do I need?' Joshua wondered to himself. Books were the first thing that came to mind, but after Serafall's stunt, he wasn't even sure he'd ever be able to read all of them and still do other things. There was only so much reading he could do. He needed to study the texts, apply them, and experiment. He didn't have all the time in the world to just read through the veritable library that he'd been given.
He had many wardstones, but most of them were average or slightly above average. Some higher quality ones would do wonders for his defenses, which were already rather good, if he did say so himself. What could he do if he had better foci for them then? He really wanted to see that, after thinking about it.
Hex foci materials was something he could ask for too. However, he'd already had several talks with Yasaka about it. The woman had even suggested that she might give some to him before he was even done with the life energy illusion defense. Half payment for half the defense he promised, or so she'd said.
He could ask for equipment. However, he still had Setan Kober and he'd never needed to use it. Jeanne's daggers were doing the job well enough in conjunction with his wards. There was much ground to be covered in that aspect though. Maybe he could ask for armor or clothes?
Which in the end closed his options.
Wardstones or artifacts…
When he looked back at Azazel, it was to see the Governor looking at him interestedly. Obviously, the man had picked up on where his thoughts went. Same for Yasaka, who was looking curiously from the side.
"Well, I wouldn't say no to some artifacts," He mused out loud. "I already have weapons, but anything else could be interesting. If not, better quality wardstones would be welcome."
"I see," The man said, grinning widely. "No money?"
"What do I need money for? I already have more than I know what to do with," Joshua answered with a shrug.
"Well, I guess I have to look for a payment method thanks to someone," The fallen said, looking towards the youkai leader, who simply rolled her eyes at him. As if none of them knew he didn't even mean that. "See you around and keep being interesting, Joshua Davis."
"Am I interesting?" He asked, turning towards Yasaka.
The woman simply gave him an amused smile without answering.
[}-o-{]
"Ah, hello," Joshua greeted in his front door one day. "I'd wondered when you'd come for a visit, Satan Lucifer. Joshua Davis, a pleasure to meet you," He introduced himself unnecessarily, extending his arm forward.
"The pleasure is all mine," The man replied, taking the offered hand and smiling like he was amused by something. "I've wanted to meet you for a while already. Serafall has a lot to say about you."
"I'm sure not everything was good," The human said casually with a smirk.
"She does complain about you in regards to payments, I have to admit," Sirzechs replied, drawing a chuckle from Joshua.
"Well, come in, I'm sure you have things you want to talk about. It might be better if we take a seat and have something to drink and eat. Anything I can offer you?" Joshua said, letting the man in. Maybe he was being a little too casual, but between his knowledge of the series and the fact that most of his devil relationships were good, he wasn't too worried.
"Coffee would be nice and anything you'll have to eat, I'm sure I'll like," Sirzechs said, still smiling like was very entertained by something.
"Sure, how do you like your coffee?"
A few minutes later, they were both sitting in the living room. Cheshire was in her cat form curled up on Joshua's lap and Morag was peeking over his shoulder at the red haired devil. The man didn't seem to be in a rush, that was for sure, as he took sips from his drink.
"First of all," Sirzechs started then, giving him a grateful smile. "Thank you for helping my sister. I know you did it more for Sairaorg and to earn my favor than for her, but I still appreciate it."
"You are welcome, I guess," Joshua told him, waving the whole thing off. He was sure the man hadn't come just for that, but he decided to humor him. "I was already working on that project, it was all just a happy coincidence, really. I'd started before I even knew of Rias's situation, because the Phenex refused to give me Tears to use."
"Hm, I'd heard about that from Serafall," Sirzechs replied with a nod. "I've also heard that you are a troublesome man to pay, as I said before. Which makes me wonder, how could I pay you for helping my sister?"
"I don't suppose I can get an IOU, can I?" Joshua asked with a wry smile. Because having the current Satan Lucifer indebted to him would be a great card to have available.
"I'm sure you can guess that's not something I can offer lightly," The man replied, looking almost reluctant to say that, which was interesting. Maybe the man didn't really mind and it was other things that stopped him from settling for that? Joshua supposed that was possible.
That got the human thinking though. He had the same options as with Azazel, but while the fallen had Sacred Gears added to it, which he couldn't accept… Maybe the devils had something special they could offer too?
There was being turned into a devil, of course. That is, if he could skip the servitude step and go straight to being a high class devil. However, that was unlikely, even for what he was doing. Also, he liked being a human, and while his lifespan was a problem, there were paths he could take for sure, if he really wanted to live longer. And that wouldn't be a worry for a few years anyway. There was no rush.
What else did the devils have to offer?
Joshua couldn't think of anything…
Although, maybe he was thinking in too direct a way. An idea popped in his mind then and he looked at Cheshire, who meowed at him. He wasn't sure she read his mind or anything, but she probably could follow his train of thought somewhat through their connection.
"Well, there's one thing, but I don't know how possible it is," Joshua said slowly as he processed the idea himself. "I've read some things about the bloodlines of devils."
"Oh?" That certainly had Sirzechs' attention, it seemed.
"I read that some of them have affinities for creatures, animals and monsters alike," Joshua explained, and he could see the Satan's eyes dart towards Cheshire, likely connecting dots. "Would it be possible for me to get some information regarding magical creatures and the like?"
"I'm sure there must be such information in the books that Serafall said she'd gotten for you," The man pointed out, which had Joshua nodding.
"Yes, there are. But I was thinking more along the lines of caring for creatures instead of just general information," He clarified, making Sierzechs acknowledge the statement and frown slightly.
"I'd have to check with some people but it should be doable. I'm guessing you want to focus on creatures like your familiars or similar?" The Satan asked, not more evidently looking towards Cheshire.
"Yes, anything feline, for example, would be very welcome."
"Hm, nothing else?" Sirzechs asked, tilting his head. "It's possible that there won't be that much information in what I can get. Is there anything I could use to make up for it in that case?"
"Well, good quality wardstones and artifacts are always nice," Joshua offered with a smirk.
[}-o-{]
'This is not much to go off of,' Joshua mused as he read over the file Sairaorg had passed to him. It contained all that the devil had managed to gather on Khaos Brigade through every encounter his peerage had with the group. As stated, it wasn't much, not that he'd been expecting to have very detailed information to begin with. Sairaorg had already warned him about getting his hopes up, after all.
Still, it was information and all information was useful. He just needed to find a way to use it. He went over it again. There were some points that had promise though, which he was grateful for. 'Now, how do I go about this?'
"Joshua?" Jeanne called, snapping him from his thoughts as she took the seat in front of him at the table. Her eyes found the file and she gave him a smile that held no happiness behind it. "So, what are you going to do with that, Josh?" She asked, although there was something weird in her tone. Something that he could guess and he didn't like.
"I have a feeling you know," He said, grinning wryly at her.
"You want to hunt them, Khaos Brigade," She nodded, and he grimaced. So, he was likely right, which sucked. He really, really didn't want to have this conversation with his sister.
"I do," He admitted, because even if he didn't like where the conversation was going to go, he liked even less the idea of lying to his sister. "And I'm guessing you want in," He said then, laying the file on the table as he deflated on his seat.
"Of course I do," Jeanne told him, as if it were obvious. Which it was, but that didn't mean he had to like it.
"What do the voices say?" He asked, hoping against hope that he'd have some allies in this conversation.
"They agree that it's likely dangerous," Jeanne said, and Joshua could almost see a light at the end of the tunnel. That light died a quick death with his sister's next words. "They also agree that you are family and thus, I should help you."
"Of course," He sighed, bringing a hand up to massage his eyelids. All of a sudden, he felt exhausted, as if hearing Jeanne say that had sapped all the energy from him. He looked at the files. He almost wanted to give up, leaving Khaos Brigade alone for the moment.
He couldn't do that.
He didn't want to do that.
Joshua knew what they would do in the future, with his recovered knowledge. He also knew there was a non-zero chance that things would go even worse than they had in canon, because of the changes that were already present in the world and those that he'd caused himself. There was more danger on that than there was on Jeanne helping him with his plans, that was for sure.
Besides, Khaos Brigade had targeted him several times. They had endangered the lives of those he cared about more than once too. He wouldn't sit and let that be, forget about it as if it had never happened. He didn't like violence, and that was that. Joshua just wasn't that kind of person. However, if someone wanted to use violence against him, they better be ready for retaliation.
Cheshire growled next to him, lying on the floor in her tiger form.
Nagini hissed from behind him, curled up in a corner of the room.
Joshua sighed.
"Fine, you can help," He agreed, against his better judgment. "You have to train though. You've been slacking off as of late. If you want to go about supernatural terrorists, you have to be at your best," He told her, straightening his back and looking at her, hoping he was conveying how seriously he meant that.
Judging by the way she mimicked his posture less than a second later, he did a good job at it.
"I will," She replied simply with a nod. "I'm not stupid, you know?" She asked, her expression turning to annoyance.
"Just need to make sure. These people aren't a joke, Jeanne," He explained, sighing again. "This won't be like the group we found in the forest that time. It'll be like the ones that attacked here and might I remind you that we only won because of my wards? We might find ourselves in a situation where we don't have the home advantage."
"I know that. I'll be ready," She said, resolutely. Her expression changed once more, and he had to wonder if that was because she was having internal conversations with the voices. "Besides, I've already visited most places here in Kyoto. Some more than once," She added with a slight smirk.
He shook his head.
"Well, what are you waiting for? Get started," He said, waving her off.
"Sir, yes, sir," She mockingly replied, giving an equally joking salute. He deflated on his seat as she left.
"I'm gonna regret that, I just know it," He mumbled as he watched the door she'd left from. He felt Cheshire and Nagini's reassurance at the same time that Margalo came flying, perching on his shoulder and signing to him. "Thanks, girls. What would I do without you?"
For some strange reason, he was pretty sure that his bond with Cheshire was telling him "You'd be a disaster". He couldn't say she was wrong, if that was the case. Groaning, he leaned forward, resting his head on his hands.
Pushing the files away, he focused on something else for the moment. After all, he had another holiday to prepare for and some things to investigate. With any luck, he wouldn't make a fool of himself.
Cheshire's amused snort wasn't very reassuring, he'd admit, but at least he had Margalo's support.
"That's why you and Morag are my favorites now, girl," He mumbled to the bird, gently rubbing a finger against her feathers.
[}-o-{]
[Kunou]
"I'm very grateful for this, Yasaka," Joshua said as they walked towards the shrine on the first of January. Apparently, he and Jeanne had heard about Hatsumode and had asked if that would be disrespectful or insulting for them to do. Silly Joshua, it was fine.
From there, Kunou's mother had offered them a more private shrine to visit, since most of the ones in the mundane side and even some of the supernatural ones would be crowded. It was a nice gesture to be sure, but the reason she'd been so overjoyed by it was because it was yet another thing she could do with Joshua, really. It was great to go for the first shrine visit of the year with her mother, Joshua, his familiars and Jeanne. 'Almost like we are a family,' She mused.
It was a bittersweet thought though.
She'd come to see Joshua more and more as a father figure as time passed and she'd admit it, if only in the privacy of her mind. He'd never acted like a teacher, detached and professional, so it wasn't very hard. However, that didn't change the fact that they weren't actually related in any way, which was always a sad realization whenever she thought about it.
Kunou would take what she could though.
'It's fine like this,' She thought to herself.
She watched, trying to get her mind off of things, how Joshua and the rest bowed at the Sanmon. Then they proceeded to cleanse their bodies at the Chozuya. He even asked if it was fine if he helped Nagini and Morag do so. Yasaka explained to him how to do it.
"It doesn't matter how much money you offer, Joshua," Her mother said when the man placed his saisen in the box after ringing the bell and burnt the incense. To that, Joshua simply smiled at her and continued.
After that came the actual praying.
Kunou wondered what he wished for his new year. She certainly knew what she asked for, even if she knew it was unlikely. That's what wishes were for though, at least in her mind.
After that, everything continued until they bowed once more at the Sanmon.
"Only a few things left, huh?" Joshua said, smiling as they walked away from the shrine. Kunou frowned though. That was all that was done for the first shrine visit, she'd know. What was he talking about? Turning towards her, he pulled a card from his pocket and a moment later an envelope appeared in his hand.
Then he offered it to her.
"A pochibukuro?" She asked, voice barely above a whisper as she took it carefully, as if it would disappear. It was a simple gift. An envelope with money inside that was given to children on New Year's.
"I came across this little tradition when I was researching this. Otoshidama, if I'm not mistaken," Joshua explained, sounding slightly nervous, probably afraid he'd gotten it wrong. He hadn't though.
"You aren't wrong," Yasaka reassured the man, placing a hand on Kunou's shoulder.
The girl kept her eyes locked on the envelope in her hands though. It was the right tradition, that was for sure. However, there was a little fact that Joshua might not have read about. Or maybe he had and this was some kind of message? Kunou could only hope so. After all…
Otoshidama was a custom where adult relatives gave children money.
"Thank you," She said, finding her voice at last and giving him a smile. She could only hope she didn't look like she was about to cry. She certainly felt like she would.
Maybe her wish wasn't so impossible.
[} 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/)