Disclaimer: I don't own Highschool DxD.
I Know What I'm Fighting For
"Best thing about coming here so far," Joshua commented, picking up a fry from in front of him and taking a bite of it.
"Boys," Corianna mumbled, rolling her eyes at him as she leaned back and crossed her arms. "If you were going to complain the whole time, you could just have, you know, not come."
"Yeah, I should have done that, huh?" He said, pointedly looking at Jeanne whose eyes were focusing on anything but him. He sighed. "Thank G-" He stopped then, blinking and grimacing. "Storage Spells are a blessing I haven't been thankful enough for," He finished then, giving Corianna and Kuisha an apologetic smile. Fortunately, they didn't seem to care about the near slip. If anything, they seemed pleased that he'd avoided it at all.
"They are, aren't they?" Kuisha agreed with a grin, picking up a fry for herself from her own carton.
"Makes me wonder why someone decided to drag me here," Joshua added, receiving an elbow to the ribs from his sister. He dutifully ignored her.
"Well, we do need a man's opinion from time to time," Corianna supplied with a smile that almost seemed to mock him. It made his eye twitch in annoyance, but he refrained from otherwise reacting. "And the others know to run for the hills already."
"So, it's just because I'm an idiot," Joshua muttered, picking up another fry. "Noted."
"We do appreciate the help though," Kuisha offered with an apologetic smile that he waved off.
"Don't worry about it. I guess there had to be drawbacks from being Jeanne's brother," Joshua said before sighing. "Besides the cooking, that is."
"What's that supposed to mean. I've gotten better!" The aforementioned girl protested immediately, drawing scoffs from her two female friends.
"Believe it or not, she has," Joshua supplied in her support. Both devils regarded him with wide, shocked eyes. "I know, right?"
"What's that supposed to mean?!" Jeanne asked, looking at them all with her best scandalized look.
"You have my condolences," Corianna offered for him, with a very apologetic smile, a contrast to her previous one. "What you must have suffered, you poor, poor thing."
"Did I tell you about the time she burnt-"
"Josh!" Jeanne interrupted, narrowing her eyes at him. In turn, he picked another fry, put it in his mouth and grinned unrepentantly at her. That's what she got for dragging him there in the first place.
"You complain a lot, but why did you want to come to this mall in particular?" Corianna asked, raising an eyebrow and getting the other two to focus intently on him. They'd certainly been intrigued when he'd asked to go to that specific place.
Instead of answering, his expression cleared and he took a sip from his soda. His eyes, however, moved off to the side. There was nothing there though. Or nothing that the girls could catch when they followed his gaze. After all, it wasn't there, but further in that direction.
'Why did I ask to come here?' Joshua wondered to himself, silently picking up another fry and eating it. Neither of the three girls said anything then, no questions were asked. In the end, after what must have been a very long minute, he sighed.
"Guess I should get it over with, huh?" He mumbled, mostly to himself.
"Josh?" Jeanne asked as he stood up.
"You girls stay here, yeah? I have something to do," He told them with a smile he hoped didn't look as fake as he knew it was. "I'll come back and we'll finish this, yeah? I'll even promise not to complain."
"Hm… Sure?" Jeanne replied, unsure.
With that said, he started walking. At several points, he felt like stopping. What was the point? Why was he there at all? Why'd he even feel like going there? What was he going to do or say? What were they going to do or say? Cheshire pressed against his leg as he continued walking, skillfully avoiding getting in the way.
He squared his shoulders, as if he were walking into a battlefield, and pushed open the glass door of a store.
"Welcome, what can I do for you?" The man behind the counter asked as he turned to regard him. 'Do I look that different?' Joshua wondered as he realized that the man had not, in fact, recognized him.
"Hey, Phil, long time no see," He greeted, doing his best to keep the awkwardness out of his voice. "How are the twins doing?"
"... J-Joshua?" The man asked, barely above a whisper as his eyes widened and his mouth fell open.
"In the flesh," He replied, grinning as he brought a hand to scratch his neck. This wasn't exactly how he'd envisioned this meeting, but he also didn't know what he'd expected in the first place.
"You look… You look well," Phil said as he started walking around the counter and towards him. Before he knew it, Joshua was pulled into a hug. "Nobody could get a hold of you after… Where have you been, Josh?"
"I was… Pulling myself together, I guess," He answered truthfully. "I'm sorry for disappearing."
"Josh, you don't have to apologize for that," Phil said, pulling back and looking him straight in the eyes. "I… It couldn't have been easy for you. We all knew how you were, I can't say that I blame you for what you did. I just… We were worried you'd do something…"
He left it at that, but Joshua was very aware of the scars on his wrists that he'd long since hidden behind illusions.
"I… Sarah-" Phil started then.
"I met her already," Joshua interrupted with a half smile that reassured his uncle. Ex-uncle, actually, but his parents had never quite cared about that and neither had he. "I've already dealt with her."
"Is… that so?" Phil said, blinking at him as if he'd suddenly shifted into something else all of a sudden. "You've changed."
"I guess I have," Joshua nodded. "So, about the twins?"
[}-o-{]
Joshua groaned, setting down the scroll of parchment in front of him and reaching for the tea cup that Fuyuko had left for him a minute ago. Taking a sip, he massaged his forehead as he tried to ease up his annoyance and frustration. He had to remind himself that progress was being made, slow as it was.
"You know you could have someone translate that, right, dad?" Kunou pointed out and his lips pulled into a smile. One that she returned. That twinge of happiness that happened whenever she called him that wasn't going away, it seemed. "It'd make learning from that much easier, wouldn't it?"
"I could and it would," He agreed with a nod and another sigh. "But I have an ally in Shed and I hope the Egyptian pantheon can be one with time, maybe. That means I should make an effort to learn about their language… or at least the written form. There are translation spells for actual speech, thankfully."
"Hm, if you say so…" The little girl agreed, even if she didn't seem too convinced. Joshua simply shook his head and took another sip from his drink.
"Think about it this way. Weren't you surprised when you found out that I knew Japanese?" Joshua tried, this time with a different approach. When she nodded, he continued. "It's like that. I didn't need to do that and you weren't expecting me to, but finding that out pleased you, right? It shows that I care and that I put in the effort to learn your language. It's a sign of respect, in a way. Or so I think, at least."
"I guess that makes sense," Kunou replied, humming as she considered that. "Well, you'll just have to get through that then," She added, beaming innocently at him. He knew, however, that she was entirely too pleased to see him struggle with something as she'd been with Illusion Magic ever since he started teaching her.
"It's not cute to enjoy others' suffering, Kunou," He told her, mock chastising her as he planted a hand on her head and ruffled her hair.
"You still think I'm cute though," She shot back, making him chuckle.
"Well, you aren't wrong about that," He admitted with a shake of his head. "Now, back to studying with you," He told her, grinning widely at her following whine. "If I have to suffer, so do you, young lady."
"I know, old man," She said, sticking out her tongue at him.
"And remember not to have the illusion fla-"
"Will you shut up about that!" The little girl protested, whining even louder than before. "I make one mistake one time and-"
"To be fair, it was quite the spectacular mistake," Joshua interrupted, still smiling at her, rather amused all of a sudden. "I don't think the servants are likely to forget about it."
"You won't let me live it down," She finished, glowering at him while she was at it. "Stop being mean, dad, or I'll change my mind about that."
"Ha, as if!" He barked out a laugh. "Besides, it was a permanent thing, you know? You are stuck with me now, deal with it."
"Idiot," She grumbled, even though she was failing miserably at keeping down a smile of her own.
"Ah, no respect from my own daughter," He lamented, drawing a giggle from the girl as she leaned against his side. "I wasn't joking, you gotta go back to work or your mother will think I spoil you."
"You already do though," Kunou pointed out, making him grin.
"Yeah, but she doesn't need to know that."
"Bold of you to assume I don't," They both heard, tensing at being caught red handed. Joshua then turned slowly to face Yasaka, who was raising an eyebrow at him. "Something to say?"
"Your daughter is entirely too adorable. It's not my fault," Joshua argued instantly, with Kunou shooting her mother the baby kit eyes for good measure.
"Oh? I see then," Yasaka mused, walking towards the table and taking a seat. "I guess I should do something so that you can't spoil her so much then."
"Ah, I think that'd make her hate you."
"And we can't have that, can we?"
"I mean, I know I can't have that," Joshua said with a shrug, even though he was still grinning. "My guess is that you'll just have to put up with it. I promise I'll keep the spoiling to a… Well, I'll keep it from going too far."
"Not to a minimum."
Joshua's silence was enough of a response, he felt. However, he really couldn't be faulted for that. Anyone that could not spoil Kunou when she was giving them her baby kit eyes was a monster and he refused to believe otherwise. It was how it was and that was that.
"No chance whatsoever that you can be the disciplinarian, huh?"
"If that's what you wanted, you should have known better," Joshua told Yasaka with an apologetic smile.
"You'll turn my own daughter against me at this rate, you know?" The faction leader lamented, even though both of them could tell she was still joking. "At this rate she'll like you more than she likes me."
"I'm sure that's not the case, is it, Kunou?" He asked, turning to the blond child as he spoke.
"I love you, mom," Said child told her mother as she moved to pull the woman into a hug.
"I guess everything's fine then," Yasaka said, returning the gesture instantly and smiling widely. "So, how are things going for you two?"
"Well, she's trying her best to get away from doing her homework," Joshua ratted out instantly, drawing a dirty look from the little girl. "But I'm doing the same, so I can't really blame her, honestly."
"Ah, still struggling with Ancient Egyptian, huh?" Yasaka asked, drawing a grimace from him.
"Struggling is one word for it, I guess," He muttered under his breath, aware that they probably heard him anyway. His eyes moved to the side, momentarily calling for a screen.
[Ancient Egyptian - Lvl 5/50
Determines the user's ability to understand Ancient Egyptian.]
"I'm sure you'll get it eventually."
"I mean, I have to. I'm half convinced Shed sent me the reward like this on purpose," Joshua replied before sighing. "Not sure why, but that had to be on purpose. Although, it could just as well be a prank," He added. Because if what he remembered about Faction leaders was even remotely accurate, doing this kind of thing as a joke would be something a god would totally do. "Regardless, learning a language is never a waste, that's for sure."
"Hm, if only someone thought the same way."
"But languages are hard," Kunou whined, very aware that the comment had been directed at her. It hadn't been exactly subtle, after all. Besides, they were the only ones in the room, so that made it even harder to miss the actual meaning of the statement. "And I'm already learning a bunch. And Joshua is helping with my English," She mumbled, her voice losing volume with each word.
"And she's doing amazingly at that," Joshua offered, drawing a beaming smile from the little girl.
"And about your side project?" Yasaka asked then and he could see the shift that had happened there.
"Oh, side project?" Kunou prodded then.
"This is one I can't tell you about, little one," Joshua told her with an apologetic expression. "Sorry, but you'll have to continue working while we talk about this, ok?"
"Ah, Sound Dampening Ward?" Kunou asked, deflating slightly.
"Yes," He confirmed with a nod. "It'll just be a moment, then we can continue procrastinating together. I think we can work on Project Strategy a bit, don't you? But only after you finish with your homework."
"Ok!" Kunou exclaimed, scampering off to do just that. Then Joshua turned to regard Yasaka after pulling up the aforementioned wards to give the two of them some privacy.
"Maybe I don't have as much to worry about as I previously thought," The woman commented, giving him and Kunou a smile she usually used whenever he was acting particularly fatherly with the child. Joshua would admit that it still made him somewhat uncomfortable to act that way, especially once it was pointed out or he realized what he did. It was a relief to know that he was doing a decent enough job at it though, he supposed.
"I try," He replied, rubbing the back of his neck self-consciously. "So, about my 'side project'. It's… going. No other traps were triggered, but I've been setting up more of them, now that I have a better idea of where it's a good place to put them around. It took a while when it was just outside Sairaorg's territory, but chances should go up as time goes on. At least before they realize what's happening."
"And the Church?"
"Nothing," He answered with a grimace. "Guess I'll have to act on that information myself if they don't. At least I can probably get away with it. Not like I can pass you the information and let you deal with it. It's in Church territory, after all. With any luck, they'll see sense."
"And if not, Azazel, Serafall and myself will have your back if the Church causes you any trouble for doing their job for them," Yasaka reassured, which made him sigh and deflate. "We do want to get rid of Khaos Brigade too, Joshua."
"Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one that wants that," He grumbled to himself before sighing once more. He was doing a lot of that, it seemed. "Stupid politics."
"They can be annoying, yes, but it's how the world works," Yasaka told him, with a sympathetic expression. "Even if we don't like it."
"You can say that again," Joshua muttered.
[}-o-{]
[Jeanne Davis]
Joining Kuoh Academy was… surprisingly easy, she found. Then again, it was a school that housed two devil peerages, so Jeanne guessed she shouldn't be overly surprised. Considering how often the two heiresses probably had to spell everyone into believing this or that, they most likely had practice making things that would stand out go unnoticed.
Thus, when she started attending the school as a transfer student, few people seemed to find it strange or anything. It did draw attention to her, but more due to the foreign looks she sported than anything else. Nobody seemed to question the fact that she transferred out of nowhere at all.
Jeanne was fine with that. It was much better than what she'd been expecting, that was for sure. What she wasn't so fine with was the perverts that were around. The trio of degenerates were likely to get a sword put through them, if she was honest. Or a dagger, if Joshua got to them first, that is. Rias and Sona had profusely apologized for them and told her the reasoning behind the light punishments they had.
Jeanne hadn't been impressed though and she'd wasted no time at all telling the two that Joshua would be very displeased if he were to hear about the trio causing her trouble. The look on both devils had said it all and Jeanne almost wanted to know what had happened after that. Almost, but she didn't care enough about those three to put more effort than she needed to behind that. She was perfectly fine just forgetting they existed.
It was nice though, to know that she had the support of her family in regard to such matters. Before Joshua, she'd never have dreamed of her parents even caring if she was uncomfortable with something at school. Now though, she knew her brother would likely go to the very Satans themselves and threaten them into taking care of the problem if he had to, for her.
Her life had certainly taken a turn, ever since she followed the voices away from home and ultimately found Joshua.
"Life takes interesting turns at the most unexpected of times," A voice told her. She agreed, of course, but the words made her remember how different her life was in regards to that now. She wasn't the weird girl that spaced out all the time and did strange things out of nowhere anymore.
It had something to do with the fact that her life was much better now than it'd been before, she was sure. She had less things to worry about, which meant that the voices had less reasons to speak to her in a way that drew her focus away from the present. She also learned to accept them too, which made all the difference.
She was aware of them before, and Jeanne had always listened to them because she trusted them. However, she had never been as accepting of them as she was now. She'd always wanted for them to stop being there, even if they were helpful. Jeanne had craved to be normal like everyone else and the voices had always been a reminder that she wasn't. Now, however, she didn't care for that.
It made listening to them much easier, she found.
"Ready to keep going?" Kiba asked and Jeanne had to fight to keep herself from swooning like one of those silly girls from school. She couldn't criticize them too badly though, considering that she was hardly any different. She just had better control.
"Ah, young love," Another voice said and Jeanne's eye twitched. This seemed to be the one subject they were useless about. Overall not bad but still very annoying.
"Yeah," She agreed simply, standing up and pulling her sword with her as she went to stand in front of Kiba in the circle that was drawn on the space behind their home. Before they started though, the referee, Rias, seemed to have something to say though.
"Please tell Joshua that we are very grateful that he's allowing us to train here," The redhead said in a way that left Jeanne with no doubt that the girl would very much like to express said gratitude. It seemed that helping her had put Joshua in the girl's sights. Unsurprising, really, and slightly amusing, Jeanne would admit.
It was very, very funny to be witness of how her brother seemed to pull the attention of females left and right. It was extra entertaining because he didn't even seem to be aware of it. Entertaining but understandable, since Joshua was basically useless in regards to social interactions.
There was Yasaka, who seemed like the most likely 'candidate' as it were. She'd started off looking like the opposite of that, but little Kunou had changed things. Jeanne didn't have anything concrete to back her theory, but she was sure the girl was looking for a way to turn her unofficial dad into an official one.
Then there was Serafall… who Jeanne wasn't very sure about. However, she had the inkling that something was going on there. Jeanne knew Joshua was very talented and was drawing a lot of attention from high up people, but surely that didn't guarantee that many visits from a Satan, right? Hell, some of them hadn't even been for business or anything. Then again, maybe she was seeing things there.
There was Kuisha, who was struggling a whole lot to get into Joshua's radar, the poor thing. Jeanne's friend just didn't have the right excuses to get close to her brother, sadly. Most of the time it ended up being in friendly meetings between her peerage and Jeanne's family, which was all fine, but it didn't really help the devil. The mall outing had gone pretty well though, before Joshua had wandered off to visit his relative. Jeanne just wished he'd told her about that, so that she could have helped Kuisha a bit more or just so she could have prepared for that.
There was the Church lady too, Griselda, who Jeanne was… She had reservations regarding that, for sure. Then again, that was the one Jeanne was most sure it was just her seeing things. Surely not, right? Especially with how tense things between Joshua and the Church had been since… forever, really.
And last but not least…
There was Rias and maybe Sona. 'Life is never boring around Joshua that's for certain,' Jeanne thought to herself as she regarded Rias for a moment.
"I've already told him, but I can do it again," She replied simply, holding back a smirk as the redhead beamed at her. Jeanne wasn't sure how likely it was that Rias would get close to her brother though. Hero worship was all well and good, but if that was all there was to it… It was kind of meh, in her opinion.
"A shaky foundation will see a relationship fall apart, eventually," The voices told her, almost too serious for the subject matter.
'Sona has more chances, strangely enough,' Jeanne considered as Rias called for the start of the spar and her sword clashed against Kiba's. The fight didn't allow for much thinking from there, but that was fine. As much as Joshua's relationships were looking more and more like a drama story or something of the sort, she didn't want to dwell on that too much.
She might be doing a bit of supporting in regards to Kuisha, but overall, Jeanne didn't want to get involved too much. Her brother didn't seem like a person that paid too much attention to that kind of thing. Jeanne would go as far as saying that the entire topic seemed to fly over his head more often than not. It just seemed like he didn't even acknowledge romance existed and was a possibility.
She paused, which almost had her head being cut by Kiba's current demonic creation.
"A likely conclusion," The voices told her and she frowned as she continued the spar. It seemed she'd have to think over some things and maybe have a talk with Joshua. If she was right, he needed one and soon. She hoped not, but considering what she knew… Well, it was as the voices said.
'Something for later,' She told herself as she focused on the training she was going through. Besides, she had her own romance to deal with too.
[} Chapter End {]
Hey anyone interested in harry potter fanfiction should check out the new story I am posting (also not my story)
(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/)