Part 8

  May 5th, 2008Kyoto Station06:00 AM

  After my small adventure in Ura-Kyoto, I found myself being taken care of by Yasaka's tengu guards. Yasaka had the surviving fallen interrogated, and we discovered that he and his friend were hired by someone to kidnap me. Grigori wasn't involved it seemed, but some other third party seemed to really want me.

  This was getting annoying, everyone was starting to want a piece of me as if I were some kind of prize. If I didn't have Witchbde to calm me down I would be going on a murder spree. But I am better than this, I won't let them turn me into something that I abhor.

  Why would people want to be famous if it's what it gets you? Bad attention from entitled supernatural entities who will stop at nothing to possess and use you. Anyway, it was time to go back home, though it was difficult when Kunou was crying as she and Yasaka accompanied me to the train station.

  The blonde little fox was holding onto me as if her life depended on it and sobbed as she said, “Don't leave, Iori!”

  Click.

  All that snot was staining my dress, but I let Kunou have her moment. I kneeled before her while patting her back. “Kunou, don't worry, we will see each other soon, and you have my phone number, right?”

  Click. Click.

  Yasaka gave her girl a phone just for that, after all. Kunou clung to me harder as she said, “Y-yes.” With her big, teary eyes.

  Click. Click. Click.

  My heart was breaking as I saw her in this state; it was unfair and a trial to leave Kyoto because of her. I whispered in her right ear, “And you know… soon I will be able to teleport and come see you often.”

  Click.

  “Really?!” Kunou's fox ears perked up as she listened to me; I saw Lady Yasaka smile at the two of us while Talya was taking pictures of us with her phone.

  I chuckled. “Really.”

  Kunou used the long sleeve of her kimono to wipe her tears. “Sniff. You promise, Iori?”

  Reflexively, I held my pinky finger to her. “Pinky swear.”

  The smile appearing on her face was more dazzling than the sun, even more so when she put her small pinky around mine. “O-okay.”

  Click. Click. Click. Click. Click.

  I gred at Talya and said, “Could you stop? You're ruining the moment.”

  The tanuki girl continued to take our pictures… and she changed from her phone to a professional looking camera; she had the decency to not use the fsh.

  “No, I must immortalize your cuteness! THIS IS ART!” Talya refused to stop, and she showed me her tongue.

  I sighed, Talya could be too much sometimes… and now I have my suspicion about why Yasaka decided to use her as a liaison between me and her. She wanted to get rid of Talya, obviously.

  The nine-tails still stared at us with a warm smile as she said, “Talya.”

  “Yes, Yasaka-sama?” The tanuki girl wore a white keyhole front ribbed top with a flowing pleated red skirt and knee-high boots. I liked her style, but she was too energetic for me.

  The nine-tails said, “Take good care of Iori-san and send me copies of the photos you took.”

  Talya made a military salute with a big happy smile. “Yes, Yasaka-sama!”

  An announcement arm rang in the air and the voice of a dy said, “Ladies and Gentlemen, bullet-train number 5 for Kyoto-Tokyo departs in fifteen minutes.”

  I looked at the small kitsune. “It's time for me to go. See you ter, my Lady, Kunou.”

  With a kiss on her forehead, I stood up; she let go of the bit of my leather jacket that she still held on. “Sniff. I will text you the whole way.”

  I winked at her and then took the handle of my suitcase and rolled it toward the station. I turned again and saw Kunou wave back at me, I really like the little fox. Too bad that whoever that ROB that sent me here wouldn't let me live in peace here.

  # # #

  (Hyoudou Issei)

  Today is the day! Iori was returning to Kuoh… being without her was simply lonely. He also missed her cooking. Iori-san always brought him something to eat when she could. Though there was no way that Iori-san could compete with his mom's cooking, though she was getting here.

  He was doing handstand pushups to burn the horny out of his thoughts when he heard a phone notification.

  Ding! Issei nded on his haunches and grabbed his smartphone on the bed, unlocked the screen and watched the message he just received on Line.

  RedRabbit: I'm on the way ＼(￣▽￣)／

  The brown haired boy was eted that Iori-san immediately contacted him! He started answering with a simple:

  AkaiRyuu: Yes! (????)?

  He liked this girl, he would do anything for Iori-san. One day, he will find the courage to ask her out and…

  “Hyoudou-san, women like decisive, strong, and kickass guys nowadays, not white knights. Do I look like I need saving?” The voice of Iori-san rang into his mind as if she was next to him and it stopped Issei from turning into something he would regret.

  Issei wiped his forehead. Phew. “I almost fell into the simp abyss, Iori-san is right, I must… focus.”

  “Issei, come help me in the kitchen!” The voice of his mother calling for him from downstairs.

  “Coming, mom!” The boy sprang up toward the door of his bedroom.

  # # #

  11:04 AMKuoh TownUsagiyama residence

  I was finally back home! The trip on the train was rather dull and listening to Talya snore away the whole time was irritating. The tanuki girl was like fungus, she grew on you… because I decided to let her be. As the train brought me closer to my home I thought about my holiday with Kunou and Yasaka.

  It has been rather fruitful, I gained new allies and new shiny doodads that I intend to train to master.

  Standing next to me was Talya, who looked around the warehouse, which had been converted into a house, and I knew that she would have some time to bring about the magical defenses that I wished to put around the property.

  “So… what do you think? Can you work with this?” I asked Talya tentatively.

  Talya turned to me and made a sheepish expression. “It looks cozy here, but… I don't think it's defensible.”

  I frowned. “What do you mean?”

  With honesty, the older girl said, “It feels too exposed; the walls are too thin. Just a fireball would set the pce abze. I think you should rebuild the pce entirely, Iori-chan, and bake in the magical defenses into the walls and nd.”

  {The yokai girl is right.} Witchbde added his two cents.

  The walls were indeed thin despite the two yers of insution they had for the winter. Then I thought about the low and high css devils who could wreck entire city blocks if they wanted with devil magic… “Fine. It should be possible, I have the money for it…”

  I have enough money to build myself a walled, simple traditional manor or a modern Japanese vil. Talya looked sorry about the review she gave my house; I wasn't mad, I wanted to be able to live comfortably and in safety. If the expert magician said my house was no good, I believed her.

  “You could still use this pce as a guest house.” Talya continued to say.

  Looking around, I decided that she might be right. The entirety of the nd and the forest outside the warehouse belonged to me, there was enough space to build around it and wall the property, “I guess…”

  I might need to do some ‘jobs’ to fund the magical defenses that I wanted anyway. Talya pulled me out of my thoughts by saying in an encouraging tone, “Fortunately, I know a bunch of yokai builders who would love to build you a new home.”

  That was a good idea, to outsource the work to people used to building magical houses. “Mhm, I will leave it to you, come, I will give you the guest room.”

  I walked toward the hallway leading to the guest room. Talya, with her shorter legs, followed after me. “Wait for me, Iori-chan!”

  # # #

  (Selene)

  “The princess is home, my King.” Selene said over their magical communication link.

  The reincarnated devil peered at the quaint converted warehouse with disdain as she heard the voice of her King. “Exceeellent.”

  She smiled as he made that goofy voice that she liked. She was brought out of her train of thought as Selene saw the girl, Usagiyama, exercising in her garden under a garden shelter and was surprised to see her bench press a barbell at least five hundred kilograms as if it was a small weight of 20 kg.

  Selene gulped, no wonder her punches turned the head of that fallen mercenary into mist… the girl was a monster. The more she looked at Usagiyama, the more inhuman she seemed.

  “Move our assets in pce.” She heard her King order.

  By assets he meant the two other members of his peerage, Menie and Sveta. Like Selene, those two women have the power of High Css devils.

  Selene still had that bad feeling she felt since her King had decided to proceed into acquiring this new girl. They discovered her property, it was undefended, there were no barriers, no maze-like enchantment or a defense mechanism which would shunt the house into another dimension.

  It must be because the girl had never thought that she would be discovered, or she was that confident about her strength. Selene's familiar casing Usagiyama's house showed her that the girl has a hanger-on, a yokai. A complication and a clear link to the Western Yokai faction.

  Selene watched as she pced some odd talisman on the trees surrounding the property. The devil quickly recalled her familiar before it could be detected. “Sir, there's a yokai securing the house with some basic defenses outside the princess’s house.”

  “What is one of those beasts doing here?” Selene heard the sneer in her King's voice.

  The reincarnated devil sighed. “Did you forget, my King? The girl is an ally of Yasaka, the nine-tails guarding over the dragon veins in Kyoto.”

  Her King clicked his tongue. “Tsk, I almost forgot. We will need to be careful in our approach.”

  Selene will be careful, she didn't want to die; that girl was ruthless; her preparations should be enough to take her down though.

  # # #

  Back with Iori…May 6th, 2008Kuoh park04:40 PM

  I finished parking my motorcycle and locked it. Helmet in hand, I looked around me and searched for my friend. Usually, he waits for me at the parking lot, but he seemed to have gone ahead inside the park. I pced my helmet in the bag and walked toward the pyground where I would surely meet him.

  I avoided the passersby; some people had kids with them or were exercising. Then, I noticed a familiar head of brown hair. The boy stood tall, speaking to another girl with brown hair as well.

  Running at a jog, I yelled, “Hyoudou-kun!”

  The boy turned toward me, eyes shining and a huge smile on his face. “Iori-san!”

  When I arrived near him, I hugged him and in sync we said, ““I missed you!””

  Once again Issei battled with his nature to prolong the hug I was giving him. He reluctantly stepped away from me; that was when I heard a cough next to us that I turned to the other girl. She was wearing purple and pink sportswear with green sneakers.

  She looked like Issei, and why the hell was she gring at me? I asked the boy, “Um, who is she?”

  Issei scratched behind his head sheepishly. “That’s my sister, Nanami.”

  Ah. So that's the add-on; she was beautiful, but… the RBF expression on her face was quite a turn-off from her beauty. I slightly bowed and introduced myself. “Hello, I'm Usagiyama Iori. A friend of your brother.”

  She nodded and said, “Good evening, I am Hyoudou Nanami.”

  I poked Issei’s arm. “So why is she here?” Looking at Nanami's body, I said, “Does she want to exercise with us? She already looks quite toned, I don't think she needs it.”

  The girl blushed as I said that. Issei had a skeptical expression on his face as he said, “I think Nanami came because she wanted to meet you, Iori-san.”

  Raising an eyebrow, I asked, “Oh, what for?”

  The boy shrugged. “Who knows? I stopped trying to understand her a long time ago.”

  There was a bitter tone when he said that, which made Nanami flinch. There was guilt on her face, which quickly changed to anger. “Hey, I'm right here.”

  ““We know.”” Issei and I said in sync again.

  The brunette and I looked at each other again, then we ughed at the same time. With a reddening face, the girl stomped her foot and folded her arms under her breasts. “What are your intentions toward my brother?”

  What did she mean by that? “Huh? Issei is my friend.”

  Issei nodded as he said with a blush. “Yes, friend. For now.”

  I didn't quite hear what Issei said in the end, but he was weird like that sometimes. Nanami's eyes bzed with resentment as she looked at us, but her gaze settled on me and she asked, “Can I speak to you privately, Usagiyama-san?”

  I looked at Issei who had tensed when he heard his sister asking to speak to me alone. Why did he tense up?

  “Uh, sure.” I said as I put a reassuring hand on Issei’s shoulder. “Don't worry, she wants to know more about me or something.”

  I looked at Nanami, who said, “Huh, yeah!”

  So I took her behind the self-cleaning toilet building next to the pyground for privacy. I turned to Nanami and said, “What do you want-”

  I felt touki flowing from the girl's hand, as she tried to punch me in the face. Pow! But I used a tai-chi move to evade Nanami's fist, who punched the air, causing a small air bst behind my head. A normal person would have died under such a punch.

  With a victorious smirk the female brunette said, “I knew it, you're not human!”

  I was already not liking that girl much. “I assure you, Hyoudou-san, that I am as human as you.”

  She imperiously pointed a finger at me. “No way! You're too beautiful! And your strength gives you away. You must be one of those fallen or devils!”

  My face immediately went dark as I thought about the fallen I've met who tried to kidnap me. “Don't compare me to those low lives.”

  Nanami stepped back at the intensity of my voice, the smile on her face completely disappearing. “A-at least you know of them.”

  As if she had an audience listening to her, the girl revealed, “And just like them, you want Issei's sacred gear.”

  I wasn't sure if this was a universe where Issei was a sacred gear holder; when he has a sibling like Nanami, in the fanfics I've read, there's a risk that it is the twin sibling, who is the wielder of the Boosted Gear. With honest surprise, I asked, “Wait, he has one? I just accosted him because he seemed troubled.”

  Nanami lost momentum when I revealed that I didn't approach her brother for the reason she quoted; it was obvious that she was some sort of reincarnator who knew the plot of DxD at this point. “A-as if you didn't know? No woman would approach that pervert for anything else.”

  She seemed to have the same disdain for Issei that those who watched the Anime or read the Light Novels seemed to have for the poor guy as a main character. Issei wasn't a bad guy, and this was real life; Issei’s future wasn't written in stone, and I doubt that he will become his canon self at this point. I derailed that shit already by meeting him.

  I gred at the girl. “I don't like your accusations. Does Issei have no redeeming quality or importance beyond that trinket that you profess to be in his soul?”

  Nanami ughed at me and said dismissively. “He is just a damn pervert, but he is my brother and I won't let a floozy like you-.”

  I’ve heard enough. “You don't seem to respect Issei, nor trust him. You're a terrible sister.”

  It seemed that I hit a nerve as she immediately attacked me. “Don't judge me!”

  She chambered a touki-charged punch that I dodged, then I turned this attack into an impromptu training session. Reading the flow of Nanami’s touki, I tried to anticipate her movements. It seemed to work as I dodged and redirected the strikes with my forearms and hands; the girl was certainly fast, but… she cked power. To rile her up, I said, “And you're weak despite having your touki unlocked, your martial arts are sub-par.”

  When I said that, she switched stance immediately from a recognizable Karate stance to a style I experienced in my past life. Nanami lunged toward, targeting my face, sternum, and sor plexus in quick succession, that I blocked. Nanami threw a low and middle kick which sent me flying but I performed a backflip and nded on my hands, spun on myself and kicked two times the girl who had charged in again.

  I stood back up, watching Nanami nd on the ground, not once did I use touki to imbue my attacks. Proving that my base strength was superior to Issei’s sister.

  “Mhm, Karate and Wing chun? Interesting.” I said as I walked toward her.

  Nanami acrobatically stood back up from her downed position and charged at me with a fist charge with enough touki to blow up my head. I breathed in and rexed, quickly reaching inner peace and caught Nanami's fist in my hand, guiding the energy as we two spun on the ground thanks to me matching her footwork and when the touki dissipated I went behind her back and firmly held her arm behind her and made her fall face first on the ground.

  The girl struggled as I said, “Do you yield?”

  “No!” She screamed, and then yelped when I tightened the hold.

  The two of us were surprised when we heard the cracking of a branch and a gasp. When I looked up, I saw that it was Issei who looked at the two of us.

  “Iori-san, Nanami… what are you doing?”

  A/N: Heya guys! The devils are readying for Iori, will it be enough?

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