Disclaimer: I don't own Highschool DxD.
I'm Not Wasting My Time
Kunou fidgeted under his stare, looking all meek and ashamed. Joshua would admit, in the privacy of his mind, that he almost caved to that look. He knew, however, that he needed to be strong. It wouldn't do to let her get away with things. She needed to learn.
"What did I tell you?" he asked, and the girl flinched a little, looking away from him.
"I said I was sorry," she mumbled.
"What… did I tell you?" he repeated, his voice calm but no less firm. He didn't want to scare her, just make her listen.
"To be careful while drinking with work around," the girl repeated his words to the letter, her voice even lower than before. It was almost a whisper, but he was close enough to catch it.
"And why is that?" he continued with.
"Because I can knock it over and spill it on the sheets and ruin the work," Kunou said, her lips trembling and making her voice come out almost like a sob. It was heart wrenching, but Joshua needed to be strong, just for a little bit longer.
"So, what'll you do next time?"
"Be careful while drinking with work around," she repeated, looking down at her feet, pouting. Deflating, Joshua sighed, deciding that was enough sternness. It just wasn't for him, to act like that, he supposed. The action didn't reassure Kunou though, if anything, she flinched harder than before.
"Do you know why I'm angry?" he asked, his voice softer than before.
"Because I ruined all my homework and exercises?" Kunou answered hesitantly.
"It's not for that."
"Because I didn't listen to you?" she tried then and he sighed again.
"Kunou, you aren't a soldier only supposed to listen to orders," he told her with a grimace. "If I tell you something, or your mother does for that matter, it's because we have a reason for that. You have to try and understand those reasons. Ok?"
"Ok," she mumbled, although she at least looked slightly better than a second before.
"Why did I tell you that?" Joshua asked.
"Because I could knock it over and mess everything up," she paraphrased from before.
"Close enough. It doesn't matter all that much right now, but in the future, it could be important documents that get ruined… I'm angry, but not really at you, I guess," he told her, sighing again and moving to a seat. "I guess I'm angry at myself. Maybe if I'd explained things better or kept a better eye on you, that wouldn't have happened."
"But it was my fault!" Kunou protested then.
"And you are my responsibility, which makes me at least partly responsible," Joshua told her with a smile. "But it doesn't matter. It's just a little spilled tea and some ruined pages. That's fine. There was nothing truly important there, right?" When she shook her head slowly, he continued. "We'll just have to re-do that, but it's not the end of the world."
"I'm sorry," Kunou mumbled, taking the seat next to him. Smiling, he picked her up and sat her on his lap.
"I know you are," he reassured her. "And it's fine," he told her while pulling out a few things from his Storage Spell. A second later he set up a cleaning ward to deal with the mess on the table and on the floor. When that was done, he dispelled the ward and stored the things back up. "A servant would have had to clean that if I weren't here, you know? Would you have apologized for the mess?"
"Yes?" she said, probably trying to sound a lot more sure than she did.
"Make sure to remember that, ok?" he told her simply, lightly resting his chin on the top of her head.
"I'm sorry."
"Are you trying to make me feel bad?" he asked her, only half joking. She was really doing her best to squeeze his heart for all it was worth, it seemed. He was trying to be the responsible adult here, couldn't she go easy on him?
"Is it working?" the little rascal had the gall to ask.
"Do I have to call your mother?"
"No, I'll be good," she answered instantly, half panicked.
"Guess I have no future as a disciplinarian. Might need to leave that to Yasaka, it seems," Joshua mused out loud to himself. He'd admit to being partially amused by the way Kunou stiffened in his grasp.
"You did a pretty good job though," she tried. A for effort, in his opinion, but no dice.
"I guess I'm too soft," he continued, faking a slightly depressed tone.
"You were fine," Kunou told him, growing increasingly nervous. "I understand and I feel bad. I was just trying to be a bit funny so we wouldn't stay upset."
"I made you feel bad? I'm worse than I thought," he asked before lamenting.
"Joshuaa, stop being mean!" Kunou whined then, realizing that he'd only been teasing her. "Idiot."
"Is that any way to talk to your father?" he asked, raising an eyebrow even if she wasn't looking at him.
"Yes, because you are being an idiot."
"I guess that's fair," Joshua agreed with a chuckle. "... You alright?" he asked after a moment, because at times it looked like she was more affected than she should be during the whole ordeal.
"Yeah."
"Kunou, talk to me, please," Joshua pressed lightly. "And if you won't, at least tell me you'll talk to your mother."
"... I just… I don't want you to be mad at me," she mumbled after a moment of silence.
"Kunou, I could never be mad at you," he told her softly, rubbing her head with his chin. "A little angry, maybe, or even annoyed, but never mad. I know I made my parents want to tear their hair out more than a few times, but that's fine. It's what children do."
She hummed at that, but didn't really reply with words.
"I won't stop being your father just because you mess up a time or two, Kunou," he continued then. "So, don't worry about that. You are stuck with me now."
"You promise?"
"I promise."
[}-o-{]
Joshua had delayed things long enough, he felt. It was time to stop stalling and actually get some things done. He had no excuses anymore. He had the materials and he had studied the subject well enough. There was no reason to continue pushing it for later other than his own reluctance to add more to his plate. 'Adding more defenses can't be anything but good though,' he thought to himself.
It was time to delve into Hex Magic for real.
First of all though, he'd be doing a test run away from any territory, his places included. Thus, he'd gone to one of the places he'd trapped against Khaos Brigade and got everything set up. The circle was placed and the focus material was already in place. He'd chosen to start with the essence of a magical plant that had the effect of hiding its presence from weak willed people.
It wasn't the best material he had, that was for sure, but it was a good enough focus for an Obscuring Hex, the equivalent of the Concealing Ward. Or, at least, for a test run of it, that is. He'd use much more powerful foci for the Hexes he'd place around his houses. Yasaka's first material delivery had been much better than he expected, but then again, maybe he'd underestimated her determination to not underpay or his own work. Maybe both? Who knew?
Joshua had decided to be by himself, a decision that hadn't gone well with either his sister nor his familiars. In the end, they settled on Cheshire accompanying him. He didn't think the spell would go wrong, but he was trying a new branch and one that was called Hex Magic. He thought he was justifiably nervous about the whole thing. Which he guessed made their protests against letting him go alone justifiable too.
"Maybe I should just get on with it, right?" he asked with a wry smile, getting a meow and a feeling through his bond that told him "You think?" from his feline familiar. He chuckled to himself. At least he could count on Cheshire to tell him things as they were. "Ok so… Here we go."
And thus, the circle lit up under the plant as the spell was cast. There was nothing really all that different from casting other spells, Joshua supposed. It had a different feeling from Ward Magic, but that was to be expected. All the different branches he'd used so far felt different from one another. Even if Hexes and Wards were considered to be pretty similar, they weren't the same, a fact that Joshua did his best to remind himself of often.
"Well, nothing exploded, which is good, right?" he asked, receiving a huff in response from Cheshire. Chuckling, he got a feel of the Hex with his wards and with Magic Sensing. Everything seemed to be in order, according to what he'd studied. Still, he remained there for a few minutes, keeping a close eye on how the Hex worked, looking for any fluctuation on the energy or shift on the effect. "Yeah, it works well."
Nodding, he dispelled the magic and stored everything back in his Storage Spell.
"Back to the house we go, girl," Joshua decided, taking a moment to look around the area. His mind wasn't on that though. Instead, his thoughts were occupied with ideas for Hexes and how to better have them work in tandem with his Wards. Both branches together could have potential. They could also work terribly together, but he chose to believe.
Time would tell.
Before he could get too distracted, Cheshire pushed against him with her head in her tiger form. He could feel how unimpressed she was that it'd taken him less than a few seconds to drift off. Chuckling nervously, he rubbed the back of his neck and stood up. The feline jumped at him, a sight that would surely scare most normal people. Joshua simply extended his arms forwards and caught his familiar as it shifted to cat form midair.
Nodding, he pulled out a card that held the teleportation circle back home. A flash of light and some seconds later saw him appearing in his living room. Jeanne, upon seeing him, immediately sighed in relief. Nagini, for her part, extended her tail to poke at him, physically making sure he was fine while doing so through the bond too. As for Morag, the spider jumped on his back on a sort-of piggyback ride. Margalo simply hopped on the table to get closer while twisting her head this way or the other to get a better look at them.
"Hex Magic might have a nasty name, but it was fine. No problems whatsoever," he reassured them all.
"Good to know," Jeanne told him with a relieved smile. "So, you'll be tinkering with that for the foreseeable future, I'm guessing."
"And you guess right," Joshua agreed with a grin. "I need to get some tests done to see how to better have wards and hexes work together," he explained, mentally adding that he needed to level up the magic and the spells. "After that, I'll set up the defenses again, hopefully better than they already are."
"... You'll keep him somewhat focused, won't you?" Jeanne asked his familiars, to which he pouted immaturely. He wasn't that bad! The way all of them agreed instantly was even more insulting.
"You all suck," he grumbled. "I'm not that bad."
The silence that followed spoke more than any words the unlikely group could utter. Joshua glared indignantly at all of them. How dare they? After all he'd done for them!
"Betrayed by my own family," he lamented, looking up at the ceiling. "the nerve of some people."
Cheshire approached him then, back in her tiger form, palming his leg comfortingly.
It wasn't very comforting though.
[}-o-{]
Joshua felt… oddly calm as he walked through the House of Water building that he'd teach at. He had a semblance of a plan, but he'd see how things went with his students first. He didn't have a a very… thorough plan, after all. Since he didn't have a very clear idea of how good a foundation his students would have and they likely would have varying levels of their own, it was better not to plan too much. Or so he assumed, at least.
With that in mind, he'd come up with a few vague ideas of what to do. Depending on how it went, he'd proceed accordingly. It also meant that if something unexpected happened, he wouldn't be too caught off guard, hopefully. Plans rarely went perfectly well, after all.
"Thanks for helping me get here," Joshua told his guide, who was the same guy from before. Regrettably, he still didn't remember his name. Fortunately for Joshua, the issue hadn't come up. He could bet that would be terribly embarrassing if it ever did.
"Don't mention it, Mr.- Er, Joshua," the guy replied, twitching at his mistake. Joshua could already tell that if this guy was having trouble with that, his students would be worse. He hoped it wouldn't be the case, but he didn't think that ideal situation would happen.
"Be honest with me," he started, looking wryly at the door. "How difficult would it be to get them to call me by my name?" The nervous expression on his face said it all, which made him sigh. "Don't worry about it. Friendly advice? If House of Water wants to deal with me, they should get someone that can address me as just Joshua. It's what I prefer."
"I'll, uh, pass the message," the guide said, gulping.
"Nothing against you, man. You've been great, but… yeah," Joshua reassured, because besides that small detail, he'd actually been rather helpful. It was a shame that being called by his surname upset him so. 'How am I going to get through a class of people calling me Davis?' he wondered to himself, feeling dread start to build up in him.
It was a good thing that he'd brought Cheshire with him once more. She'd be nice support, as the reassuring feeling he got through the bond demonstrated. With some luck, he wouldn't let it get to him and if he did, his familiar would be there to prevent anything drastic from happening.
"Well, I guess I better not keep them waiting," Joshua said, his previous calmness leaving him as new concerns appeared right then and there, at the worst possible time and place. It was what it was though, and he was sort of used to dealing with unexpected shit being thrown his way. "Let's get this show on the road," he mumbled to himself as he opened the door and stepped inside the classroom.
He didn't say anything immediately afterwards, letting his eyes take in the class instead while he walked towards the desk. Once there, he stood in front of it instead of sitting behind, leaning against the thing but remaining mostly standing. The room was filled entirely, it seemed, some people even seemed to have squeezed into the desks. Where it seemed like they were designed to have two students behind, there were more often than not three of them.
Nobody said a single word as he took the scene in.
"Did people have to miss this because of a lack of space?" Joshua asked no one in particular. Not an ideal way to start a class, he knew. He should have introduced himself, he guessed, despite the fact that they probably already knew who he was. Maybe just get to the point and start teaching. However, his curiosity got the better of him and he'd never been accused of being a socially capable person to begin with.
When nobody answered, he sighed.
"You, can you answer?" he asked, pointing at a student at random. The poor guy almost jumped where he sat. His back straightened and a pleased expression. Why he reacted that way to such a simple question, Joshua couldn't begin to guess.
"Ah, Professor Davis, I'm Alabaster-"
"You, can you answer?" Joshua interrupted, pointing at another student. The girl, in contrast to the other guy, Alabaster, seemed to shrink in her seat. Regardless, she did speak, fortunately. He did note to himself that they seemed to already know his name, although that wasn't too surprising. It'd save him the introduction, he guessed.
"Ah, yes, sir," she answered shyly. "The staff didn't want us to be too cramped in here, so they had to tell other students that there wasn't enough space and that they wouldn't be able to attend."
"Thank you," he said, nodding towards her and considering that. It was… a little sad that some people wouldn't be able to attend. Maybe he could organize something for the others? He hadn't been exactly eager to teach here, but if he was going to do it, he wanted to do it right. Besides, he still didn't know exactly what Shed's deal was with the whole thing, so he wanted to do as well as possible.
Yeah, he'd probably do that. Although, to be fair, maybe he needed to actually teach a bit before deciding that. If he really didn't like the whole thing, it'd be better not to get saddled with more hours of it. He didn't think he could force himself to do something he hated even for Shed.
"First of all," he said, and he could tell the way everyone's attention instantly focused on him. "Don't bother telling me your names unless I ask. I'm unlikely to remember anyway. I'm terrible with that. Sorry if that offends anyone."
The first student he'd questioned – 'Alastor?' – was definitely offended, but that was more his problem than Joshua's. He already had trouble remembering names on a good day, nevermind when it came to a classroom full of new people. If he remembered one name out of the lot by the time the course ended it would be a surprise.
"With that out of the way, I want to ask something really quick. This course is about modifying spells, primarily," Joshua started then and he saw some people already taking notes. What about, he had no idea, since he hadn't even started yet. Maybe they were writing a title or something? "I want to know though, has anyone here tried to modify a spell before?"
Nobody answered that, some even looked at him like he was crazy.
'This might be more complicated than I thought,' Joshua mused, resisting the urge to purse his lips.
"Has anyone theorized about how to go about doing that?" He asked then. Surely some of them had wondered, right? But nobody spoke and he frowned. Why were they in a class about modifying spells if they had never even remotely considered the idea?
Then he remembered classes of his own, when teachers would ask questions and nobody would answer. Joshua himself had remained silent more than once even when he had answers to give. Maybe something similar was going on here? 'Supernatural or mundane, maybe classes are always the same.'
So, he decided to do something drastic. Cheshire's amusement through the bond told him that he had support for his idea. It might not be a smart one, but it was what he had. He refused to just give a lecture while everyone remained silent, unengaged. If he was going to put the effort into teaching them, the least they could do was put the effort in learning. They were the ones that decided to join, after all, and it wasn't like he was doing it for the pay.
Thus, Joshua remained where he was, lazily leaning against the desk. He silently looked around the classroom. Social settings might make him uncomfortable, but remaining silent and letting things grow awkward? That he was good at. He'd made an art of the shit and his students would learn that, if nothing else.
"... Ah, Professor Davis?" a boy off to the side called, and Joshua turned towards him. "Aren't you… going to start the class?" he asked, and Joshua could see the guy that shared a desk with him silently urging the guy to say his question. He was altogether unimpressed with both of them.
"I mean, why should I teach spell modification to a group of people that aren't interested?" Joshua asked, tilting his head and giving the guy an expression as if he were particularly dumb. Maybe it wasn't the teacherly thing to do, to mock his students, but cut him some slack, he'd never even considered teaching before House of Water had asked him to do so.
"But we are interested, sir," the girl that had answered his question before did so once more. She still looked like she might be afraid even of her own shadow, but he'd give her credit for speaking anyway. That was more than could be said for everyone else.
Hell, there were people that looked twice Joshua's age in there, and it was the girl that looked around Jeanne's age the one that spoke? What was wrong with these people? He so wanted to groan and complain, but he settled for doing so in the privacy of his mind.
"Well, you seem to have never even considered modifying a spell," Joshua pointed out, feigning confusion. "You obviously aren't that interested."
There was another moment of silence, but it was quickly… Well, sort of broken when someone brought their hands up. A girl with reddish-brown hair and a grin on her face waved her arm to the sides as she called for his attention. It was a contrast to the solemn silence and nervous gazes the rest of the class had fallen into once more.
"Yes?"
"I have thought about modifying spells before," the girl replied and left it at that. Joshua blinked, thought about it for a second and then chuckled. Well, she'd answered his question, at least.
"And what did you think about doing?" he asked then, nodding for the girl to explain further.
"Well, I use mainly Protection Magic," she told him then, letting her hand fall and moving on her seat with a restlessness that reminded Joshua of Serafall. "So, I've thought about how I'd like to be able to tune some spells to affect somethings more directly or to tweak them to have a slightly different effect. That sort of thing."
He wasn't very familiar with the branch, but Joshua was fairly sure that Protection Magic was all about basically placing a protection on someone against something. Sort of like Shield Magic, but in the form of a buff more than a barrier. That was what he recalled reading somewhere, at least, when he'd been researching for his own defensive wards.
"And did you try to do it?" he continued questioning.
"I did some theorizing and tried to draw the changed circle, but I never tried. I wasn't very confident that it wouldn't explode on me or whatever or whoever I cast it on," the girl answered, her confident, even childish attitude vanishing for a moment. Instead, it was replaced with a slightly shy, nervous look.
"I admit that I'm not familiar with Protection Magic, but do you mind telling me how you tried doing it?" Joshua asked. If she was going to be the only one to engage him in the class, then he'd treat the whole thing like he did when he taught Kunou one on one. If anyone else wanted to participate, they were free to do so. So far nobody looked interested in doing so though.
"I… Well, when I tried to have them affect a narrower spectrum, I just… Well, I changed the equation for the filter so that it only took in what I wanted to focus on," the girl told him, shrugging.
"That was all you did, I take it?" Joshua asked, trying not to sound judgemental or mocking.
"Yes?"
"Well then, it's a good thing you didn't try to cast it. It'd likely not have gone well," he told her, drawing a chuckle from someone. Instantly, Joshua turned his head to look at who it was. A man that looked older than Joshua himself. "Just to be clear, if you aren't brave enough to speak up when I ask a question, then you should keep your mouth shut entirely." That made the man lean back on his seat and pale slightly. "Anyway, can anyone guess why what she did wasn't the right approach? If you are sure, that's fine, but a guess is alright."
Joshua was pleased to see that someone other than the girl raised their hands at that. 'Maybe this teaching thing won't be all that bad,' he mused with a smile.
[} 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/)