CH 75: Meeting Kuroka

Noah sent a message to Rias, asking for permission to teleport to her, and received her approval.

He found her, as well as Akeno, Gasper, Koneko and Yuuto in her garden. Judging by their outfits, they had been training. They only had two weeks left before the rating game.

"Hey, Noah. Did you come to help us train? I'd have expected you to 'catch up' with Kaede until night." grinned Akeno.

"I don't have quite that kind of endurance." grinned Noah.

"No, I came for something else entirely. Koneko-chan, would you like to meet your sister right now?"

"Noah-senpai?" said Koneko as she flinched slightly.

"I think I am strong enough to at least defend myself, so, what do you think? I'm fine waiting if you want for more time to prepare yourself."

Koneko looked conflicted for an instant, then mustered her resolve.

"Noah-senpai, please let me meet her today."

Noah nodded and looked at Rias?

"Are you fine with it, Rias? I can bring you with us, if you wish."

"I was wondering if you were going to ask. Of course, I'm ok with it. And as her King, I should definitely come as well. Just give us a bit of time to shower and change." nodded Rias.

"Sure."

Noah smiled as he watched them go, then turned his attention to Gasper, who flinched and hid behind Yuuto.

It was the first time Noah saw him out of his cardboard box.

Gasper was a platinum blonde-haired boy with delicate features, slightly pointy ears and red eyes, dressed in in a female school uniform. When he was younger, the half-vampire, half-human kid had been treated as a living doll by his only childhood friend, a girl named Valerie, and had developed a cross-dressing habit as a result.

For a while, Yuuto and Noah discussed about sword techniques and footwork, as Noah waited for Gasper to become more used to him being around. Then he looked at Gasper directly.

"Gasper, I could do something similar with you, you know? Lilith showed me a few things. You have a childhood friend somewhere you'd like to meet, her name is Valerie, if I remember correctly..."

Gasper gasped at the mention of her name, and he forgot his shyness for a moment.

"This… Noah-senpai… could you really help me find her?" he finally asked with hopeful eyes.

"I wouldn't suggest it if I could not. I don't joke about those matters. But, do you want to meet with her as you are now? Wouldn't it be better if you grew strong first, so you can save her yourself?"

"I… You're right, I should… Can you help me become stronger?"

"I'll have to check with Rias, but I think I can." replied Noah confidently. The cowardly dhampir would have no choice but toughen up if Noah forced him to fight hollows in Hueco Mundo.

"Then please, help me, Noah-senpai." said Gasper. His voice was wavering, but Noah didn't really mind.

"I will. You will hate me, once I start training you, but it's too late to back off now." Noah grinned at Gasper, who flinched, suddenly wondering if he hadn't made a terrible mistake.

"N-Noah-senpai, what are you…" started Gasper, but he stopped as a ringtone started coming from Noah's phone.

"Please excuse me a moment." said Noah as he walked a bit away and took his smartphone. It was Lizel.

"Hi, Lizel."

"Hi, Noah. How are you doing?"

"It's been a great day so far, and you?"

"I'm doing well, too. I called you for two things. Yuuto-kun had been contacted by the Lovers Arcana. He'll be going to Ginsei Academy Monday."

"And here I was hoping you called because you missed me. I'll wait for Yuuto at the school's entrance, to make sure no one else gets to him first. And it will be easier to make him surrender if he doesn't have time to find any female partner."

"Thank you, Noah."

"I'm only keeping my word. And it's not like I'm acting selflessly, since I gain three truly exceptional young women out of our agreement."

"My, you do have a honey tongue, don't you?" laughed Lizel.

"Just being honest. And the other thing?"

"Are you okay with setting up the duel with Stella and Neith Wednesday at 22:00?"

"I'm fine with it. Got to go, see you Monday morning at the gates." said Noah as he saw Koneko and Rias coming back.

"Maybe a little sooner than that. Bye, Noah." softly laughed Lizel.

Noah blinked, and wanted to ask what she meant, but she had already hung up.

"Noah-senpai, we're ready." said Koneko. She was almost quivering with anticipation.

Noah nodded and extended his hands to Rias and Koneko.

"We will suddenly appear near Kuroka, and she might not be alone. There is also a chance someone will react violently by reflex, so you both need to be prepared to defend yourselves." warned Noah.

They both nodded, and Noah closed his eyes for an instant, focusing on his mental image of Kuroka.

He activated his teleportation and quickly opened his eyes, releasing Rias's and Koneko's hands.

"Wha?" a startled young woman jumped away, instantly adopting a fighting stance, but froze as she stared with wide eyes.

"Nee-sama!" called out Koneko.

Noah quickly glanced around, searching for threats. Kuroka wasn't alone, as two other people who had been sitting around a nearby table were scrambling to their feet. One was a cute girl with shoulder-length golden hairs and blue eyes, wearing a wide blue witch hat, beige school uniform with pleated skirt, and a blue cape over her shoulders, the other a tall man with short silver hairs, golden eyes and dressed in black pants, white shirt and dark gray leather coat.

"…Shirone?" asked Kuroka, referring to Koneko's real name.

"Yes, It's me, nee-sama." replied Koneko, her voice heavy with emotion.

"Please pardon the intrusion. We couldn't exactly call in advance. We didn't come here to fight." quickly said Noah to forestall any hostility, looking in turn at Kuroka, and the other too. He knew from their appearances that the girl was named Le Fay Pendragon, a descendant of the English king Arthur Pendragon, and was a potent magician. And the man was Vali Lucifer, the host of the Divine Dividing sacred Gear, Albion, Ddraig's counterpart and arch-rival, the second of the Heavenly Dragons.

"Who are you people?" asked Le Fay.

"Shirone!" cried Kuroka as she and Koneko hugged each other.

"Nee-sama, I wanted to see you so much." said Koneko as her eyes started tearing up.

"Ahem. This is Rias Gremory, and I am Noah Enfield. Shirone doesn't need introductions, I think. It is nice to meet you all. We came to meet Kuroka."

"I'm Vali Lucifer, and this is le Fay Pendragon. What do you want with her?"

"Nee-sama, you aren't a stray devil anymore!"

"I'm, not?" asked Kuroka, confused.

"Noah here discovered evidence of your father's and previous master's crimes, and the reason you attacked your previous master. We managed to convince the Great Satans to revoke your status as a stray devil." said Rias, smiling.

"Yes. You'll be able to come visit your sister whenever you wish, now. And we have a favor to ask you." said Noah.

"We have?" asked Rias as she looked at him.

Kuroka stared at him over Koneko's head, likely wondering what price she would have to pay for having her stray devil status revoked.

Noah looked at Rias and shrugged.

"We have our first rating game in two weeks, and what better teacher for Koneko than her big sister? It will be safer for her if Kuroka is guiding her. Although I might ask Hisui if Kuroka isn't willing."

"Ah. I should have thought about it. Is that why you wanted to meet her now?"

"It was a consideration, yes."

Kuroka looked at her sister, who made a small nod.

"Please, nee-sama. Let's live together again."

"…I'll accept, but you must let me decide the pace of Shirone's training. Senjutsu isn't something that can be rushed."

"Of course. I'd rather lose that game than seeing your sister hurt because of me." said Rias.

"Ahem. I'm glad for Kuroka, but how did you come to this place? How did you go through my barrier without me noticing? And why was there no magic circle before you guys appeared." asked Le Fay. She was a little vexed that a magic spell she took pride in proved useless.

"I teleported us using an ability provided to me by a goddess, not demonic magic."

"…I see. I'll have to improve my barrier." muttered Le fay, her eyes losing focus. She was likely already starting to consider possibilities to achieve it.

Noah looked at Vali. Vali was staring at Rias, frowning. It was likely that Albion was sensing something. And Rias was staring back at him, too.

"Long time no see, my rival." came a deep voice from the red gauntlet that suddenly appeared on Rias's right arm.

"Likewise." answered the white and silver gauntlet materializing on Vali's arm as well.

"So that's why…" muttered Rias, looking warily at Vali. She hadn't expected to meet so soon the owner of the Divine Dividing, and she didn't feel ready to fight him. She could feel from his aura that he was quite strong, and with the Divine Dividing's ability to repeatedly halve the opponent's power, ever Grayfia or her mother might have trouble against Vali.

"It seems like I'll have to wait for you to grow before we can have a decent fight." sighed Vali. "But aren't you a pure-blooded devil? Why do you have a sacred gear?"

"I can extract sacred gears without killing their hosts. I procured the Booster Gear and gave it to her, since I already have a sacred gear. Anyway, Le Fay, Vali, can you give me a phone number to call so I can warn you before I teleport like this?"

"Eh? You'll need gain my favor first if you want this girl's number, mister." replied Le Fay with a smile, indicating she wasn't offended.

"I don't mind." said Vali. "Mine is 805-3512."

"Thank you. I'll make sure to call next time."

Noah looked at Rias, silently asking if she had anything to add before they left. She looked at Kuroka.

"Kuroka, do you wish to come with us right away? I'm sure Noah can help if you have things you want to carry with you."

"Give me a few minutes to pack some clothes, and I'll be ready."

"Is Kuroka going to live to your house, then?" asked Le Fay as she looked at Rias.

"If she wishes to. I do not intend to restrict her freedom. But her little sister is part of my peerage, and she will have to respect that."

Koneko nodded, as she would never willingly leave Rias, even for her sister.

Rias fully intended to add Kuroka to her peerage, but she would surely be rejected if she asked right away.

Vali, slightly disappointed by the fact that Rias clearly wasn't strong enough to offer him a good fight, and looked carefully at Noah.

"I do not feel anything from you. Are you strong?"

Noah shrugged. "Strength is relative. Am I strong enough to fight you? I do not know yet."

"How about a spar, then?" hopefully asked Vali.

Le Fay facepalmed with a groan.

"Here he goes again, this battle freak…"

"Thanks, but no thanks. I'm not in the mood, and I have to do something important tonight, so getting exhausted now would be bad. There will be plenty of occasions later, and I could introduce you to other battle junkies, if you want. Like the Commander of the Anti-Demon Corps. Although, that might not be a great idea."

"Is she strong? She must be, to have that position."

"If I judge by auras alone, she must be at least three times as strong as you. You won't be able to defeat her without using Albion's power. And you don't want her to find you interesting. She might force you to become her butler or something."

"Puhi!" laughed Le Fay, imagining Vali in a butler uniform.

Vali only snorted. "I'm not going to lose."

"Famous last words… anyway, you should train hard, Vali, because I will eventually go after that shitty grandfather of yours. I know you want to kill him yourself, but I'm not going to wait for you."

"What do you know about him? Do you know where he is?"

"I can teleport to him just like I teleported to Kuroka. And I know he has that weird immunity to sacred gears, too. Once I grow strong enough, I'll go to him, and he'll die. Tell you what, I'll call you when the time comes, if you want to tag along. It doesn't matter to me who kills him, as long as he is taken out."

"…I see. Your ability to find him, wherever he hides, will certainly be useful to me." nodded Vali.

Kuroka came back holding a large bag.

"Hey, Noah." said Le Fay. "Can you give me your number after all? I'm thinking I'd like to visit Kuroka from times to times."

Noah nodded and gave her his phone number.

"Ready?" asked Noah to Kuroka.

"Yes."

"I'll teleport us away, then. Physical contact is necessary." He said as he extended a hand to Kuroka, and she took it. Rias and Koneko were already holding on to him.

"Well, it's been a pleasure to meet you guys, and I do not doubt we'll see each other again in the future. Farewell."

With a final nod, Noah teleported away.

…

After staying for a while with Rias and her peerage, and speaking a little with Kuroka, Noah returned to his home.

He found Hisui, Alice, Claire and Rui in the media room. All four were playing a cart racing game.

"I'm back."

"Welcome back, Master." replied the girls with varying degrees of enthusiasm.

"Who's winning?"

"It's Claire." said Rui. "She's damn good at video games."

Claire kept her eyes on the screen, but they could see her smile at the praise.

Noah lounged on a nearby sofa and watched them play quietly. He decided to give himself a few hours of quiet. He would have a busy week once the weekend was over, devoting most of his time to Kyouka. The two of them would likely go after the Horned One the instant she unlocked her share of Noah's abilities.

"I'm surprised not to see Suzu and Kaede around." said Claire after winning a round.

"They're still celebrating their reunion, I think. They'll be back on time to participate in tonight's little operation."

"You told us was something about punishing a bad guy, but didn't give us many details." said Alice

"Yeah. A scum who used orphan kids to perform experiments. Experiments that only Yuuto survived. So I used a common acquaintance to lure him in, and Yuuto will have his revenge. There's also a rogue exorcist and another unidentified guy, and maybe more.

"Can we assist you?" asked Alice.

Noah smirked for a second. Hearing the tone of her voice and seeing her expression, he didn't need to ask to know that the possibility to spend a few hours outside, where she wouldn't be teased by the belt, was a factor in her thinking. But she had been embarrassed enough for the day, so he pretended not to notice.

"Between Rias's peerage, Kaede, and the three other church members that chased after him, I doubt your help will be required, but why not? Plus, you'll be able to meet Koneko's big sister and a few others."

"Her sister? Wasn't she in hiding?" asked Hisui.

"Yes, but I just teleported to her with Rias and Koneko. Kuroka agreed to help train Koneko and will likely live with them from now on. Until they all come live here with us, if I have my way. But I wouldn't be too surprised if she were to visit here at times. I think she's quite curious about me."

"You have received 100 Yang points."

Noah blinked at the notification that suddenly appeared and opened his status. A new slave was listed. Raynare. It seemed whatever Suzu and Kaede were doing had pushed the fallen angel past the point of no return, and she had given up on Azazel and accepted her place as being Noah's slave.

And thinking about the leader of the fallen angels, he wondered if he should he contact him, then decided to wait after the business with Kokabiel was done.

"Do you want to take my place, Master? I'm about done with it." said Rui.

"Why not? It's been years since I touched a game controller." smiled Noah. He stood from the sofa and sat with the girls, accepted the joypad from Rui.