Volume 7 – Chapter 9 – Part 1 – A Day with the Hirawas

Fusae Hirawa's Soliloquy

— ○ ● ○ —

When you're an introvert and a quiet person, you tend to have fewer friends and interact with people less, or at least speak with certain people that are in your 'wavelength' to say, or, I guess, 'vibe' with; that's what they call it, right?

Maybe I'm just strangely traditional in that sense, but the longer I live, the more I find that the things I like doing and the things I believe in tend to be outdated. However, I've been trying to stay up-to-date on several things in my life now that I'm no longer alone.

Alone. Yes, I've been like that my whole life, but for me, it wasn't a lonely existence. For one, I love reading; I'll read anything, regardless of the genre, prose, or language. Although that last point has been remedied with magic and my recent…b-boyfriend gave me the ability to read any language I wish, including those in the supernatural.

I don't feel alone anymore because of my new life. In just the last few months, because of a certain individual who changed everything in our society, he's made it a lot more fun. The people I met, the new people I consider friends—I don't think I could ever thank him for it, although he isn't the type to ask for it.

Maybe he just affects those around him, but everyone is quite mindful of each other, even if they disagree at times. Even if they fight from time to time, at the end of the day, they would usually make up.

It's not complete harmony, but it's close enough to it that even in such a big household, we get along better than most and have fun while we're at it. But…

Looking at this letter in front of me, I was in a peculiar quandary. This letter was sent by my father, who a few months ago became involved in the supernatural, and after that event, he was permanently involved in it. Since becoming a magician, I didn't want my family to be involved in the supernatural, but I knew that at some point, they'd be forced into it, whether I or they liked it or not.

He sent me a letter, detailing that he wished to see me. It had been a few months since I last visited home, and he said he would like to see me. A few days ago, I sent him a text saying that I was in a relationship, and the first thing he asked was, 'Is it with that Middleman person?', which in hindsight shouldn't have surprised me.

My dad is the type to look into many things that pique his interest; the supernatural was the newest one. He had kept his promise to keep it a secret from the rest of the family, and Aaron had given them protection that day by having around one hundred shadow soldiers on standby in their shadows.

I made my dad aware of this, and he was quite excited, which was surprising to me. Although now that he has sent this letter, I shouldn't be. But in it, he requested that I bring my boyfriend, whom I've only been dating for a few days. To top it off, he had told the rest of the family, so…

"Why would he want to…?" I mumbled to myself.

"Indeed, your dad's a pretty fly person," said a voice behind me. Hastily turning around, I saw Aaron there. He held his hand up and said, "I came; you needed me for something? Well, I can guess for what after reading that…"

My face immediately heated up, and I felt myself blush. However, I couldn't deny it, and I nodded. "P-please accompany me to my home…"

He pulled up his non-existent sleeves and smiled at me. "Looks like I'm meeting the Hirawa family; time to put my game face on. So, when is it?"

Looking over the letter, dad didn't give a specific day, so I brought my phone out and texted him. He responded a few seconds later, to my surprise. Dad usually takes longer, but it seems he had free time today.

The text essentially said, 'Tomorrow, your mother and I have the day off.' Aaron saw this and chuckled.

"Tomorrow it is then; I'll inform the rest," he said, and we spoke for a little bit longer before he left my room.

Now that I think about it, this was his third time coming into my room. I sort of asked for him to come here after I received my letter from my dad, and when I looked around, it was a bit messy with books laid all over it. From the floor to my desk and shelves in a not-so-tidy order.

Usually, it's a lot tidier than this, but I was looking for a specific one a few days ago, and it became like this. I should have prioritized cleaning after I found it, but I let desire take over me, and I read it and completely forgot about it.

Before I knew it, I was rolling around on my room's floor, regretting everything about my life and being embarrassed about it. Even if I knew that he wouldn't care and would help me clean it if I asked. But if I did, it would feel like I was taking advantage of him. Am I overthinking it?

My thoughts were about to continue like that when I heard a knock on my door, so I quickly got up and opened it. To my surprise, Lavinia-senpai was there with Akeno, the devil I was in a pact with.

"Lavinia-senpai and Akeno-san? How can I help you?" I asked a bit flustered.

Lavinia-senpai giggled at me and said, "We are here to help you deal with the upcoming family meeting. Natsu and Nami (Kanami) are coming over in a little while."

"…H-how did it spread that fast…?" I asked, shocked. Aaron didn't seem to be the type to spread this, so I don't think he told everyone.

With a wry smile on her face, Akeno-san said, "Didn't you see the black cat on Aaron's shoulder? Kuroka was with him…"

...…Huh!? I swear I could hear a 'Nyhahahaha!' somewhere in the house just now. I should have been more diligent! I shouldn't have let my emotions run wild…! T-this was my fault entirely, although I should have also said that he should have come alone, but it's also his fault for just bringing her…! I can't be mad at anyone!!

"You didn't see her, did you?" Lavinia-senpai asked with a strained smile.

"N-no…I was too distracted…" I replied.

"Fufu, give me a second," Akeno-san said and walked away while muttering 'Here kitty, kitty~', and then, a few seconds later, we heard a thunderous roar along with a woman screaming.

"Nyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!! Owwwwwwwwwwwwww!! Akenoooo whyyyyy nyaaa!?"

The screams of Kuroka echoed throughout the house, yet no one did a thing, you could say this was a normal occurrence here.

"Shall we start without them then?" she asked while ushering me into my room.

"O-okay…?" I replied, still shocked by the events that just occurred.

W-will my visit to my parents be alright…?

— ○ ● ○ —

Raynare's Soliloquy

— ○ ● ○ —

In Grigori, today, Asia, Irina, and Xenovia came over to watch me work. I was working as an assistant in a daycare, and with permission from other cadre and executives, they were allowed to participate for the day. The only one I was worried was Xenovia since she could be a muscle-head brute at times, but it seems my worries were for naught.

As to why they came here…I have no idea; when I asked, they just said they felt like it, and so I accepted that answer.

"Irina-san, please be more gentle," said Asia, scolding her friend.

"O-o-okay…?" replied Irina.

She was the clumsiest out of all of us, and although her heart was in the right place, my entire being has been on edge since she started participating. There were too many incidents already that I kept an eye on her like a hawk. The most surprising was Xenovia…

"Hehe, do you like that?" Xenovia asked while giving the child a piggyback ride.

"Faster! Faster!" the little boy shouted while giggling uncontrollably.

I believe Xenovia will be a great mother in the future; even before this, she was very gentle with the children from the very start. Back in Aaron's home, a certain event happened that made me fear for children's lives when she was around them, but maybe I was wrong back then?

Xenovia was now very gentle with them, or perhaps Griselda was the one who corrected her? Though…she did change even more after Aaron and her visited the Saji family, that could have done something to her too.

In either case, she was someone I could trust around children; the same was true with Asia. Since she was a natural with them, they flocked to her in a way; it was almost like a 'motherly' presence. Even the main caretaker here was surprised by the children's reaction.

"Ow…Irina-nee-chan, you don't shove fingers into my nose…" a child muttered. Whipping my head around, I saw that the reincarnated angel had accidentally (?) shoved a finger into a young boy's nose.

How…? H-how the hell do you even manage that? Irina quickly pulled her finger out of his nose and looked flustered.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean too…!" she said, and she apologized profusely to him. It felt like I was watching a business or professional interaction rather than a teenager with a child…

As we continued to look after the children, two people walked into the place, which we recognized. Tobio Ikuse and Sae Ikuse with Hana Ikuse in her arms. This wasn't common since Sae-san was, at the moment, a stay-at-home mom, while Tobio Ikuse-san would occasionally go on solo missions.

I've heard from Aaron that he didn't need to do that since he helped them financially, and they could essentially do anything they wanted for ten years and would go through half of what he gave them. But I guess trouble tends to find Longinus wielders, so he can't stay away from life for too long. Especially with the recent attack on the new vampire faction.

The main caretaker went over and they greeted each other, but to my surprise, they looked at us, and she looked back at us before nodding and coming over here.

"Raynare, Asia-san, Irina-san, and Xenovia-san, it seems like the Governor wants you to meet him," she told us.

We looked at each other and said goodbye to the kids, much to their disappointment, but we promised that we would be back soon, so they were happy with that. And we got up to join the two Ikuses.

"Tobio-san, it hasn't been that long; do you know what this is about?" Asia asked as we joined them outside.

"Tooooooooooouuuu!!" a muscular man suddenly shouted as he rounded the corner. It was…Heracles.

"I'm taking over! Good luck!" he shouted and ran into the daycare. We weren't surprised by this and laughed; he would come here from time to time since he helps in these types of places all around the supernatural world.

We continued walking, and Tobio Ikuse said, "Well, we weren't told anything either, but from Gin's reaction, Jin is probably here since he only acts like this if Shin is here. It might involve another attack from the Khaos Order."

Xenovia frowned while shaking her head. "They only attacked the vampires a few days ago; why attack another place again so quickly?"

"They might not attack yet; maybe Aaron's just telling us about an upcoming attack? He knows things after all, and he probably got that information from his shadow soldiers all around the world, meaning…" I said, but Sae Ikuse finished for me.

"That we'll be ready again, although it seemed like Jin was prepared for the attack on the vampire faction; maybe that's why he brought us over there?" asked Sae.

We continued chatting to each other until we reached one of the meeting rooms. In there were Aaron, Azazel-sama, Avezza, Penemue, Baraqiel, several higher-ups, and numerous magic circles.

"Oh! Glad you could make it; sorry for taking you out of your job experience," Azazel-sama said, waving his hand at us.

"No, it's fine," I replied. "What's this about, Azazel-sama? So many important VIPs are here, so it has to be big, right?"

He nodded sagely. "Yes, yes, but first sit down," he instructed, and we did so.

Once we sat down, Aaron was the one to step forward. "Let's get started then; to put it bluntly, the Monkai Association of the Khaos Order is going to team up with Hitler and his small faction to attack four places in three or four days, depending on their own speed of preparations."

H-Hitler! He did mention that before! A few terrible people were resurrected prior to the war; we expected them to make a move back then, but they didn't. It looks like they're finally moving, huh?

"If it's Hitler, then is it safe to assume it's Germany? I mean, he must want to take control of the country again, right?" asked Irina.

Aaron nodded. "One would think that, so I don't blame you. However, you're only half right. Yes, he plans on taking over Germany as a whole, so we have the ones that are involved in the supernatural with us today; the others are the Greek Pantheon, Greece, and Asgard."

"With that said," Azazel-sama got up and summoned a magic circle. "We want to split everyone into four groups, which is pretty obvious at this point. A group in each pantheon and country, so Germany, Asgard, Greece, and the Greek Pantheon. We'll be fighting this on four fronts."

Avezza-san, who was sitting down, said, "We'll need two or more teams in each place, though. One that prioritizes the safety or evacuation of the citizens, and then the main team that will confront whoever attacks it. The Monkai Association has been silent for a while and has definitely been amassing an army."

"Whoever Black Alice is leading, they'll definitely go after the Greek Pantheon and Greece, so they'll be the hardest hit since they'll have more firepower," said Aaron. "Hitler and his group have been given Artificial Sacred Gears and they've learned magic, so they'll be difficult in their own way."

"It is as I fear," a voice said through one of the magic circles. "Black Alice is coming here. Shall we inform Typhon and his monsters? They may be attacked too."

It sounded like Zeus, the current Chief-God of the Greek Pantheon. He sounded quite stressed, but Aaron shook his head.

"No, it's fine, Zeus. I've already got an overabundance of shadow soldiers over there as well as one of my G.o.B, and one of my abilities showed me that they wouldn't attack," he told him.

"Then what about us?" the Chief-God Odin asked through the magic circle. "The Monkai Association is targeting Greece and the Greek Pantheon; why is Hitler attacking us? Our mythology in their culture comes from various sources, after all."

"Germany is one of them, or at least a Germanic tribe in the past. As for how? Well, it's connected to the disappearance of many warriors in Valhalla recently and another person," explained Aaron.

He didn't elaborate on it because it's a personal affair of that specific pantheon, but it seemed like Chief-God Odin understood what he meant and had gone silent.

"…I see, so it's time, is it?" he asked through the magic circle.

"Yes. Please prepare yourselves; they may involve more than just the main realm," warned Aaron.

After that, we spoke a bit more about the specifics of it and who would go where. They then said that they would inform the rest in the coming days, and that we should prepare too. In total, the meeting lasted around two hours, and once it was done, we left the room with Aaron and the other leaders staying to speak more.

"Sae, I'll participate in this too, but I'll leave you two at home, okay?" Tobio said to his soon-to-be wife.

She sighed and grabbed his face. "I can't stop you, can I? …Please be careful and come back to us, okay?"

He smiled reassuringly and said, "I will."

My group stepped away with a heavy atmosphere around us. It seemed like we had a lot of things to say, but we weren't sure how to bring them up without making it awkward.

"I'll just beat them up for involving innocent humans; as a former warrior of the Church, I can't let this slide," Xenovia declared, looking very angry.

"Right! No matter what reasons they have, trying to hurt others is never justified! W-well, there might be e-exceptions, but still! It usually isn't!" Irina agreed with her friend; however, Asia had a frown on her face as we walked back to the daycare.

Seeing this, Xenovia asked, "Is something bothering you, Asia?"

"Eh? Ah…w-well no, it's just that, I've looked at a lot of history after moving in with Aaron around a year ago, and Hitler was one of the most talked about because of World War 2, so I was just wondering if he wants to finish what he failed to do all those years ago, if he has a different reason," explained Asia a bit flustered.

"Kokabiel was alive during the second World War in the human realm, and he fought Vasco Strada back then and nearly died. We now know that Azrael was the one who helped him back then to escape; however, he only wanted to incite more violence and had no overall goal," I told them.

"What's known in history about Hitler is very accurate, and it's safe to assume that he wants some kind of revenge, or at least hurt some people. With the grudge and resentment that some people take to their graves, I wouldn't be surprised if he has his eyes set on some allies from way back then," I added.

They all stared at me for a bit, making me a bit uncomfortable, but then Irina asked, "…That reminds me, how old are you?"

"…Irina, we're friends, but I'd rather not answer that," I replied, feeling self-conscious about it. I've told Aaron in confidence, and he didn't care, so that was enough relief for me.

"Ah! I'm sorry!" she said and bowed.

"It's fine," I replied, and we continued walking back to the daycare while chatting about the upcoming operation.

— ○ ● ○ —

Aaron Toole's Soliloquy

— ○ ● ○ —

A few days have passed since my visit to Romania, and another day after I spoke to a few people about the upcoming attack, I didn't know if they were trying to get themselves killed, if they'd run out of patience, or if they'd finally finished their preparations, but their downfall is imminent.

You'd think they would extensively plan it out a bit more, but I guess they have been for the better part of a year or even longer since they've kept these grudges for that long.

However, today, we didn't bother with that since I was going somewhere else. Beside me was Fusae Hirawa, wearing a light blue line dress, light blue bow sandals, a bit of lipstick on her face, and a ribbon on her wrist.

I saw her earlier without her seeing me, but Lavinia saw me, so with her dragging me back into my room, she had me changed—essentially, I wore my, what I call, 'Middleman Outfit', since it seemed a lot more appropriate than just wearing a hoodie, sneaker, and jeans for this occasion.

My goal was to look casual as well as relatable to the rest of her family that wasn't part of the supernatural; that's a rational reason for wearing that, right? Well, that's what I think, but Lavinia had other ideas.

Fusae's family lived in Japan, in Mie Prefecture, in a little town called Tamaki.

Tamaki is an inland municipality located in the eastern Kii Peninsula, near the geographic center of Mie Prefecture. Springtime in Tamaki features cherry blossoms, rice fields, persimmon trees, nurseries, and vegetable fields growing daikon, cabbage, and more. There are many forests that have been designated as wildlife protection areas.

In other words, it's not a tourist attraction of any sort. Furthermore, Tamaki has four public elementary schools and one public middle school operated by the town government. The town does not have a high school. There is one special education school for the handicapped operated by the Mie Prefectural Board of Education.

So without Fusae telling me that, she must have had to go to a different town for high school, which makes me wonder how her family is doing in such a little town. Its community must be tight-knitted—well, as tight-knitted as a Japanese town can get. I don't think they're as open to each other as western places, but I've only lived here a year, and Kuoh is a unique place, so I'm not that well versed in the topic.

Looking back at Fusae, she had been fidgeting there and seemed even more nervous than a few seconds ago. I felt glares from the girls—maybe I shouldn't have just left her there without saying anything.

"Sorry about that; I was just thinking of ways to introduce myself to your family. The way I did it with the Minagawa's was…well, interesting," I explained. I lied and told the truth, and when I met Natsume and Kanami's family, it was an interesting experience.

"O-okay, u-um…"

I held her hand and asked, "Shall we get going then? You'll be the one guiding me once we get there."

"Yes, leave it to me!" she replied enthusiastically. Was she that excited to go back to her home town?

— ○ ● ○ —

Tamaki had a population of around 15,000, so there weren't too many people that lived here since most of the young adults moved out to the bigger cities. Not to mention the lack of certain buildings and facilities, it wasn't a great place to live. If I'm being honest, it might become a 'ghost town' in the future.

I'd like to avoid it since that's where Fusae's family lived, but that's just how things are. As I said, if I can do something about it in the future, I will. Perhaps adding certain shops to add more job opportunities here would be a start—so, my restaurant.

My restaurant is being built and integrated into Uwabami's Inn in the Shinto Pantheon. So once that is done, I'll focus on this place and several others to expand my business.

Fusae looked around the place, taking in the nostalgia. The place we teleported to wasn't that populated; hell, I could barely feel people around us, so this place was ultimately empty. After a few more seconds, Fusae began to pull me away. We stepped onto an empty road and began walking in a certain direction.

"Do you have many memories of this place?" I asked while looking around.

She shook her head. "Only up until middle school; after that, I told my parents that I got a scholarship in the United States, so with the help of Mephisto Pheles-san, I moved there. Of course, I still had an education, so it wasn't a lie."

"It was mostly related to the supernatural, right? A school for magicians, you could say. They taught some normal subjects, but for the most part, it was mostly topics relating to the supernatural as well as magic," explained Fusae.

We passed by old-style Japanese homes you would find in the country or small towns like this. There weren't too many updated things about them—perhaps a new wall or garden here and there, a new coat of paint, and things like that. Some of the roofs here looked like they had been here for generations, while the ones nearer to the 'center' of the town, quite a lot of them, were a bit more modern-looking.

There were a lot of trees here, rice fields, and vegetable fields. It's the typical countryside town that you would see in a lot of anime and manga. However, it wasn't as lavish as the one that was owned by the Minagawa sisters, since their grandparents were quite well off. The ones here, from a glance, were modest at best.

Fusae brought us up a hill and then through a sea of trees; some of them were Sakura trees, but they weren't blooming. Past them, we were on a small dirt road with a rice field to the right. We saw some people working on it; most were middle-aged, with a few older people helping too. Further ahead, we saw some children playing with sticks and toy figures while watching the adults work.

At the very top of this place was a big home. It wasn't the same size as Kanami and Natsume's grandparents, but it was still quite large. However, the closer we got to it, the more people stared at us, eyes wide in shock.

And then, when we arrived at the gate and Fusae pressed a button on the side, all she said was, "It's me…"

Seconds later, the door to the home slammed open, and out came a tall and tearful woman.

"Fusy-chan~!!" she bellowed before the gates opened, and she lunged towards Fusae.

…Fusy?

[Pus—]

'One more word, and I'll cut up your tail, [Welsh Dragon],' uttered Rudra.

[Hoho~? Bring it on, former Emperor!] replied Ddraig, before explosions started echoing in my head.

"I've missseeedd youuu~! How have you been? How was the USA? Is your work life okay now?" she asked, then looked at me. "Fusae, dear, is this your boyfriend!?"

Fusae's mother looked like her, but was older, had a larger chest, and seemed to be a lot more, I guess, extroverted than her daughter. She had silver hair like Fusae and purple eyes like Fusae, but her personality was far from her. She had your typical mother's clothes with an apron on top of them.

"I'm Jin Skyward; a pleasure to meet you, ma'am." I introduced myself, put my hand out for a handshake, and she shook it.

She also bowed and said, "I'm Haniko Hirawa; it's nice to meet you too. Please come in to our home."

Her mother, Haniko, let go of my hand and skipped back to her home, with both of us following her. However, Fusae herself was quite embarrassed by this interaction between us.

"I-I'm sorry, my mother is a bit eccentric; she's the opposite of dad; she's the one that approached him and started their relationship all those years ago," she explained in a quiet panic.

"It's fine; it's great having a family like this, although it may be a bit troubling for an introvert like you," I replied and chuckled. She seemed relieved in a way, so I held her hand as we entered her home.

The inside of her home was, well, normal. Like your typical home, the first place we were greeted was the entrance hallway; it was a bit larger than most, though. There were two tables beside the doorway with hanging racks to put coats on, and on the opposite side was a dedicated place for shoes, unlike the typical Japanese household where you would leave your shoes at the entrance.

Fusae saw me, looked at it, and said, "My family is a bit strange; they have a mix of Japanese and other countries cultural preferences in our home…"

"Oh, I like it," I replied, and we took our hoes off before going further inside, but as soon as we did that, two younger children came running out. Two girls, and behind them came out another one; she seemed just a few years younger than Fusae.

"Fuu-nee is heeeeeeeeereeeee!!" the one on the left shouted.

"Americaaaa!!" the one on the right shouted.

"Calm down, you two," she said, softly glaring at them. "Welcome back, Fusae-nee. I take it that he's your boyfriend?"

"Yes, he's Jin, Jin Skyward," replied Fusae.

In turn, I held my hand out. "The name's Jin; nice to meet you."

"Fumi Hirawa, nice to meet you, and please take care of my older sister," she said, shaking my hand. Just then we heard their mother calling them to what I assume was the kitchen or dining room, and they all ran away.

"…The twin on the left is Eeko, and the twin on the right is Ieko," she told me.

Eeko, like her mother, other twin, and older sister, looked like Fusae. Honestly, they looked like mini versions of her, and it felt a bit strange looking at them. The difference is that Eeko had golden-brown eyes, while Ieko had the same purple eyes as the rest. But Eeko had silver hair, while Ieko had black hair.

"Fusae, Jin!" a voice called out to us. From the doorway where those guys came out, a man stood there, gesturing for us to follow him. He had short black hair, and golden-brown eyes.

I see, so he's the father, since Eeko had his eyes and Ieko had his hair. With Fusae pulling my hand, we went over to him and entered the room. To put it simply, it was the living room, or perhaps just one of them. Their dad was around 5'8" and looked quite muscular, perhaps with all the work in the fields?

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Jin-kun. I'm Omezo Hirawa," he said, shaking my hand.

"Likewise, so…is there a reason why you wanted to meet me?" I asked.

Sheepishly he brought out a plushie of my [Boosted Gear] Scale Mail and asked, "C-can…I get it signed by you…?"

[He's a faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!!!]

Fusae let go of my hand and walked over to her father before grabbing his cheeks and pinching it. "…You called me home just for this…?"

"Fusae…w-wait, no, y-your mother wanted you home too, s-so I thought I may as well kill two birds with one stone, r-right?" he tried to explain himself, but Fusae was having none of it.

The normally calm, quiet, and collected Fusae was angrily squeezing and pulling his father's cheeks like toys. He had tears in his eyes as he kept holding out the plushie until I took it and summoned a pen before signing it.

'Who would have thought, huh?' I looked at the plushie for a few more seconds before Fusae let her father go, and I handed back his item to him.

"T-thank you, Jin-kun, and I'm sorry, Fusae, but what I said was true…" said her father while awkwardly rubbing his cheeks.

Fusae wasn't truly upset, but she felt a bit awkward about it. Although I can understand where she's coming from. She informed her father that she was in a relationship, and then he or they invited her and her boyfriend back to their home for a little meet-and-greet. But in a surprise turn of events, her father had his own reasons and wanted his autograph instead.

{He must have done quite a bit of research on you then,} said Albion.

'Most likely,' I replied. Looking at the two still bickering back and forth with each other.

"Iz lunch, mama said," Ieko said while coming into the room. "Oooh! Whazz that!?" she asked and pointed at the plushie in her dad's hands.

Both the eldest daughter and father froze, unable to find an answer. I crouched down, summoned another behind my back, and produced it in front of her. "It's from my company; we call him 'Welshy', and he's the first plushie that we made. I asked your dad if he could check it to see if other kids would like it; do you want one?" I asked.

Ieko enthusiastically nodded her head, and I gave it to her. She hugged it and said, "Thank you! …Lunch is ready!" she then ran out of the room.

{Pfft—ahahaha, 'Welshy'? Do you hear that, Ddraig!?}

[…]

"Shall we have lunch then? I-I assume you haven't eaten yet…" mumbled Omezo.

"No, we haven't; we thought it would be better to come here on an empty stomach," I replied. Happy with our answer, we walked out of the room and went into the dining room. Omezo took a small detour to hide the plushie.

The dining room was just across from the living room, so our journey there wasn't long. Once in there, as I suspected, both the dining room and kitchen were merged into one last room. In the middle of the room was a large table with numerous chopsticks, bowls, and plates of food.

"Ara? Welcome; please take a seat, and we can get started~" said Haniko while patting her apron off.

All of them sat on their designated seats, and I chose the seat beside Fusae. After getting comfortable, Fumi began giving everyone their portions, including me. The food she served was just the typical Japanese cuisine for lunch—things I was used to eating, especially if Rias requested it.

We all said, "Thanks for the food." Before we ate, everyone (minus me) chatted about countless things and caught up with Fusae. Once that was done, they turned to me.

"I heard you gave Ieko-chan a plushie? 'Welshy-kun'? was it?" asked Haniko.

"Yes. My business was originally going to be a restaurant, but it'll eventually change to something more than that. Welshy is just a product I made in advance to see the reception from children," I explained, going into a bit more detail.

Once my explanation was done, she looked at Fusae and said, "You told us a bit about him, but not about his restaurant, we should go there in the future!"

"W-well, we weren't really a thing back then…so I didn't—"

"Let's do it within the week!" Omezo added, interrupting Fusae. He was all in on this, and the others, including Fumi, the younger sister of Fusae, was excited.

Fusae herself awkwardly smiled through it all. She seemed to get along with her parents and siblings, but their extrovert aura seemed too much for her at times. This…made me question a lot of things, but how did she even deal with the girls at home? They were, at times, even more chaotic than this.

Once our short lunch finished, I noticed that Eeko had an envious look on her face the entire time that Ieko had her plushie of my [Boosted Gear] Scale Mail. So I walked over to her and crouched down.

"You know, Eeko-chan, I have a friend for Welshy; his name is Vanishy. I planned on waiting until it was better made, but…I think Welshy might be lonely without his friend; do you want him?" I asked.

[Bahahahaha! 'Vanishy'?! Do you hear that, Albion!?]

{…}

'I'm not going to hear, 'Rudry', right?' asked Rudra.

I did not answer him; I had no promises to do that. Eeko stared at me as I brought out another plushie of [Divine Dividing]'s Scale Mail. She reached out, and I handed it to her. A smile adorned her face as she hugged it.

"T-thank you, Onii-san!" she said before running towards Ieko and playing with her. They both seemed happy with their new toys.

'And you say you worry about being a father in the future. You'll be fine,' said Rudra.

Maybe I'm just overcompensating, but I'd like to think I'm being natural at this rather than forcing it. But only time will tell once I'm old enough and have my own children.

There were a few whispered conversations behind me, but I ignored them and turned around before walking to the sink. "Would you like help with this, Haniko-san?"

"Ara, ara, I'll take up that offer, Jin-kun," she said happily, and we started washing the dishes together while chatting about this and that.

— ○ ● ○ —

We were done after a few minutes, and when I turned back around, I found Fumi was the only one there. We could hear from a nearby room, presumably the living room, that the rest were in there having fun.

"Jin-kun."

"Yes?" I looked back at Haniko.

"Fusy has always been…a bit standoffish, so I'd like to ask…are you serious about her?" she asked seriously.

If I told her about how I felt, would I come off as too strong? I should give her an answer that's suitable for my age and somewhat realistic, right? But I had a strange feeling that Haniko would see through it.

"Fusae and I have been friends for the last few months, and we've certainly gotten close, but we've only started dating, but…yes, I am. Well, as serious as someone my age. Life happens and people change, so you never know what the future holds," I told her.

Though in my own opinion, and maybe this extended to my previous life, even if I only dated Aoife. And I'm aware that the current generation has a different viewpoint on dating, but I'll only go into relationships where I'm serious with them; I can't imagine myself going into one where 'we're not sure yet', or whatever, otherwise it would just seem fake to me…

I'd probably put less effort in and give less of a shit if that's how my partner saw it. But everyone has a different opinion, and that's how I feel.

Haniko stared at me for a few seconds before patting my head—well, she tried to, but instead just patted my face. She was around 5'4" and I was 6'3", I was way too tall for her to give me head pats.

"Um, can I take that as your approval?" I asked, making her giggle.

"Yes. Please take care of Fusy, Jin-kun. Buuut," she said and looked past me. "Fumi is also single if you're into that!"

"…Excuse me?" stunned—that's how I felt just now.

However, she continued. "Fusy didn't tell us much, but she did mention that you were called a certain word, so we did a little search on you and found out that you're quite famous in Kuoh—Harem King-sama," she said and smiled at me.

'Cúntóir—'

Cúntóir: Answer: After searching your name with 'Kuoh', it seems like you are famous there for being a womanizer, a person who owns a restaurant, and famous for your deeds in Kuoh Academy (High School Division) and (College Division), both for different yet similar reasons.

[Well—]

'Shut up.' I sighed and looked back at her. "I do have a harem; I won't deny that. Although Fusae knew about it going into this relationship," I told her.

"Pff—s-s-s-seriously?!" Fumi shouted, shocked beyond belief. "It's true!? Huh?! Why?!"

I shrugged. "I guess I want a big family? I can definitely afford it," I told her. Fumi got up from her chair and bolted into the living room.

"Fuu-neeeeeeeeeeee!!"

"F-Fumi!? W-what's wro—"

"Are you in a harem!?"

Turning to look at the mother, who was weirdly okay with this, I said, "You have a very energetic family, Haniko-san."

"Fufu, call me mother-in-law; I insist," she said while looking mischievously at me.

Fusae, are you really related to this family…? You are really nothing like them; well, maybe you're kind of like your dad.

— ○ ● ○ —

A few hours passed as I stayed with the Hirawas, and they were a fun family. The two introverts in the family were Omezo and Fusae, the father and daughter of the family, while the rest were mostly extroverted. It was very interesting to see that family dynamic, but they weirdly complimented each other. I can see how Omezo was caught by Haniko's grasps—that woman is smitten with her husband.

She shared their story from their school days, and to make it short, Haniko fell for him when he did something for her. She didn't go into specifics, but she did notice that Omezo was really introverted, so she said she knew that no one would go for him, so she took her sweet time making him fall in love with her.

As she told us this, Omezo was beet red the entire time but didn't deny it and even chimed in about details that he forgot about or skipped over. All in all, they were deeply in love, and still are, although I can see that through the number of children they have and how they act towards each other.

But I couldn't help but think, 'Will Fusae be like that one day? Will her inner extrovert/doting mother/wife side come out?', or something like that. I think…she's the perfect mix of Omezo and Haniko, introverted enough but still outgoing enough that she gets along with everyone else in my home. I mean, she made friends with Elmenhilde, that's probably not an easy task, especially all those months ago.

Right now, we are out in the fields helping with the work there. This meant we were going to mingle with the locals, and apparently Fusae was popular with all of them, to both our surprises.

"Fusae-chan, come here~" an old lady said, and Fusae trotted over to her. She was mostly hounded by them, while the middle-aged to older men mostly watched over me.

Initially, they weren't too friendly or were unsure of me, but after helping for an hour, they came to like me. Most of what they said was, 'Oh, he can lift that!' or 'He might become a good farmer!', so generally something along those lines. But in reality, I didn't do anything special; I just lifted heavy things and cut some stuff.

And to them, that was good enough for them to like me. I'm not complaining, though; I'd rather have them like me than hate me for some weird, arbitrary reason. Well, not all of them—the only 'youth' here kept glaring at me. It was obvious what was going on; I was having flashbacks to when Lavinia and I went to her home town in Italy.

[Love rival…]

{That Massimo fellow, right?}

'Yeah…he was easy to deal with; will this young man be too?' inquired Rudra.

Finally, like on cue, he marched up to me. There were still a few older men around me talking to me, but he interrupted all of us.

"You…you're Jin, right? What's up with you and Fusae-chan?" he asked.

One of the older men looked at him and sighed. "Come one now, Tadasu; don't be like that. He's a guest here."

Still glaring at me, he introduced himself. "Tadasu Ehara. I'm in love with Fusae-chan, and I plan on professing her love the next time she comes here, and today's that day. So, I ask you again, who are you and what's your relationship to Fusae-chan?"

[There it is!! Goddammit, I knew it!!] screamed Ddraig.

As I went to answer, I felt a pair of hands on my shoulder. When I glanced back, I found Haniko Hirawa, who had a bright smile on her face.

"Fufu, if you were a year early, you may have had a chance, Tada-kun~!" she said, confusing Tadasu.

"W-what do you—"

"My little Fusy-chan is dating Jin-kun here," she said with a wink. "And they're quite serious! Marriage is in the future!"

And again, like on cue, Fusae joined us. "Is something wrong? Why's everyone so…serious all of a sudden?"

"Fusae-chan, you're dating this young man!?" an older man asked keenly. In response, Fusae's face turned red, but she didn't deny it.

"Y-yes I am…"

Tadasu Ehara fell to his knees. "N-no way…I-I lost my chance already…?"

The young man with short black hair, a chiseled face, brown eyes, and an athletic build seemed to have lost his spirit. However, he surprised even me as he stood back up and declared, "I am Tadasu Ehara, and I like Fusae-chan! But I won't accept this, so in traditional samurai fashion, let us duel and have Fusae's love on the line!"

"Excuse me?"

Everyone else there was shocked by this young man's sudden declaration.

— ○ ● ○ —

Country folk are strange. They managed to create a mini boxing ring, and they also had all the equipment for it. Now, Tadasu and I were standing in this makeshift boxing ring, ready to fight each other. The young man in front of me seemed eager to do this; earlier, Fusae had no say in any of this, nor did I since Haniko wanted this weird drama to happen.

Omezo gave me a guilty look earlier and kept profusely bowing in my direction. It's not like I mind, but…why do people want to fight me for the weirdest things? From my avatar's memories in college to back when I attended the high school division, it's nearly always like this.

"Aaron…I'm sorry about this. I should have noticed Tadasu-kun's feelings for me back then," Fusae said tiredly.

I punched my gloves together and laughed. "It's fine; it's just a bit of fun; it's nothing too serious; a bit of entertainment for your little community. I promise I won't hurt him," I told her.

"…Thank you," she whispered, kissing my cheek. I looked back at her, surprised; she smiled at me while sporting a blush.

"Hey! No cheating with the grand prize!" an old man shouted, then laughed. Tadasu glared at me with the fury of a thousand suns; he was quite serious about this.

"I'm doing this for you, Fusae-chaaaaaaan!!" he bellowed before beating his chest four times. Fusae awkwardly smiled at him before walking away from the ring.

A middle-aged man walked up to the middle and said, "Honestly, I don't know how these work, but…whoever is knocked out first loses, so good luck!" he then walked back to a small table and struck a bell.

With significant speed, Tadasu charged towards me and sent a jab towards my face. With a slight movement, I avoided the jab. He continued this while mixing in a few uppercuts and strikes towards my chest, which all missed.

"Hooo? The city boy can't fight, huh?" a man asked, impressed by me avoiding the attacks.

…Also, what makes city people unable to do these things…!? Maybe it's just the mentality some people have here in the countryside? I mean, I lived in towns and cities all my life, including my previous life.

As these thoughts circulated in my mind, I kept avoiding Tadasu's attacks, and it increasingly made the young man frustrated. After another jab that missed, he backed away and asked, "Why aren't you attacking me back!?"

I could only awkwardly smile back at him. If I did, I would accidentally knock you out. My man, I can't do that. Or should I end this? They did take time to set this up, so I'd feel bad if they just had to take it all apart after just putting it together…

"Don't mock me!" he shouted, enraged, and ran towards me again, but this time he was less composed and more reckless.

His strikes used up all his power; every punch was meant to be the finish blow, and it was clear that he was using up his stamina very quickly. He started to sweat more, every time I dodged his punches, he could exhaust himself even further.

His own mental gymnastics were probably weighing him down too, so he was degrading faster than he should be. A balance of a healthy body and mind is what I usually recommend.

After he threw another wild haymaker at me, I dodged it again, pulling my arm back. I punched his chin, and he stumbled back and landed on his ass. He looked dazed and unsure of what was going on.

"Oh! He's down!" the men cheered.

Tadasu himself was confused but also became madder. He wobbly got up and stumbled his way forward before throwing another punch at me. Again, I dodged it and lightly tapped his back, and he fell on his face.

"…Shouldn't this be the end?" I asked, looking at Tadasu, who had his face planted on the ground. However, the young man defied the odds and stood back up.

"I…I won't give you Fusae-chan…!" he said while wobbling on the spot.

Erm, I'm technically already dating her, but I doubt that would get through his mind right now, so there's no point in saying it. Even when I looked at Fusae, she seemed troubled by all of this, and her mother was just fawning over the situation—that woman was definitely chaotic, good, or neutral.

{It would be wise to just end it; otherwise, that young man will just needlessly suffer,} advised Albion.

'Yeah, I might as well,' I replied.

Walking over to the young man, he got ready as best he could in his current state, and once I got close enough to him, he sent a powerful and speedy punch towards my face. I dodged it by moving my head and, with a single fluid motion, striking him with my right fist in the face, knocking him away. He crashed into the group of men, some even catching him.

Truthfully, I just lightly tapped him; instead, I used some sleeping magic on him, but to normal humans, it looked like I knocked him out with a single punch. Like I said, this was way too random, and I didn't want to hurt the guy. Hopefully, he'll settle for someone else, maybe even Fumi, Fusae's younger sister.

"I win, right?" I asked, standing there waiting for them to react.

"The city boy won! Haha, Tadasu was the strongest guy in this city, he even won against Hendrick over there," said an old man, pointing at a very buff and tall middle-aged man.

I had seen him earlier, and he was the stereotypical tall, buff, but very friendly person. It looked like he wouldn't hurt a soul, even when he had such a body on him. But Tadasu won against him? I wonder how he did it. Or perhaps if he wasn't emotionally disturbed, he was a good fighter? Or at least by human standards…

We hadn't changed into boxing gear, so we were just in our normal clothes. Well, I didn't; he, however, took his shirt off and showed off his six-pack, maybe trying to appeal to Fusae.

"He's out like a light, but yeah, the winner's Jin-boy!" said someone, and the men cheered before carrying the sleeping Tadasu away while laughing.

As they carried him away, Fusae's sister, Fumi, went with them. Our eyes met, and she blushed, knowing full well what I might think of that situation, but in the end, I shrugged it off. What a weird love…square? Tadasu likes Fusae, but Fusae is dating me, and Fumi likes Tadasu.

[The type of rom-com you don't want to be involved in; it can cause a lot of hurt feelings if not handled well.]

'Teenagers aren't the smartest in the world in that regard. They need more life experiences before truly understanding shit, and the world around them,' I replied. I finally took my gloves and other gear off before walking back to the Hirawa family.

"Well…I won? It's not like I wanted to fight Tadasu-kun in the first place though," I said while looking at Haniko, who in turn cutely stuck her tongue out at me.

Eeko and Ieko put their hands up along with their plushies of Vanishy and Welshy, and both shouted, "Onii-chan won again, Tada-nii!"

Eeko then asked, "Are you going to kiss him, Fuu-nee?"

"Reward! Kiss for a reward!" said Ieko.

The twins then giggled, making Fusae blush. She then lightly scolded the two as we went back to their home. The plan was just a day visit, but we may end up staying here for the entire day and night, so we'll definitely stay the night, though I doubt we'll be allowed to sleep in the same room unless Haniko says something about it.

— ○ ● ○ —

A few hours later, the sun was setting, the twins had fallen asleep, and I was helping cook dinner with Haniko. Fumi had come back and was speaking to Fusae about the situation earlier, and Omezo was in the dining room speaking to the both of us.

"Did you use magic earlier?" Haniko suddenly said, surprising both Omezo and me.

"Um…"

"H-honey, how do you—?"

She giggled, looked back at her husband, and said, "You're not that good with hiding things, dear. I saw a lot of your research on the supernatural internet and also saw the text between you and Fusae. I wanted to see it for myself—how the cool Middleman and Dual Dragon Emperor does things, especially against us normal humans."

[Damn, this woman is something else…]

"…I'm truly sorry, Jin-kun," said Omezo behind us.

I chuckled and shook my head. "It's fine; it was bound to come out. But to answer your question, I used sleeping magic on him. I didn't hit him that hard, but I used enough force with another type of magic to knock him away towards the older men and used sleeping magic. He should be sleeping until early next morning," I explained.

"Fufu, I'm glad Fusae will get a husband like you," she said, softly elbowing my side.

"It's too early to talk about that…but I would recommend you don't go any deeper about the supernatural if you don't want it knocking at your doorstep. Of course, I already have protection on your whole family, so you won't need to worry, but…"

Ignoring everything I said, she asked, "Can we watch the tournament games? That's ongoing, right?"

A tired sigh escaped my lips. "…Yes, I can help you with that, but since Fumi and the twins have no idea, please watch it in your bedroom. I can even create a TV in there for you."

"Done deal, future son-in-law! I can't wait to watch Fusy-chan's matches~" she sang and continued cooking. When I glanced back, Omezo was already bowing his head to me again.

— ○ ● ○ —

Dinner was interesting; Haniko kept making strange innuendos that she knew of Fusae's and mine's secrets, but either Fusae didn't catch on, or she was mentally checked out for the day and wasn't having any of her mom's crap.

Fumi was confused by her mother, but she noticed her father seemed stressed; the twins were oblivious to the whole thing, and I kept a stoic face throughout all of it. In a way, it went nowhere, and she said she would try talking to her about it another time.

Right now, I am in their large family bath. Haniko said she wouldn't mind grandkids soon, so she gave Fusae and me the okay to sleep together and bathe together. Fusae didn't give an answer, as she would just walk away while sighing.

I hadn't mentioned that her mother knew about the supernatural, but I do plan on doing it when we go to sleep. However, her father, Omezo, didn't say anything about not being allowed to sleep together. Did he also approve of it? Fumi also didn't make a fuss about it, so I'm unsure of their stances on this.

As I thought of these, the door to the bathroom opened, and in came Fusae, but behind her were the two twins.

"Jin-nii!" they both shouted before diving into the bath.

Fusae had a troubled smile on her face as she explained, "They insisted on coming; I'm sorry about that."

"It's fine," I replied. "Come on, you two; you have to let Fuu-nee-san scrub you down."

"Yeeees~" they replied before going back to her.

It was pretty surprising to see them still up. I know they're not toddlers, but being up this late is still…

They quickly cleaned themselves, washed, and then finally dove back into the bath. It was big enough that they could swim around because of their size; they even had small ducks with them. Fusae, who also finished, joined us too. I was already sitting there, so I made space for her, and she sat in front of me.

"Are they normally up this late?" I asked.

"When I used to live here, no, but that was a couple of years ago, so things may have changed. Fumi apparently bathes with them usually, but since we're here, they insisted on joining us," she explained.

Fusae came closer to me, and her ass touched my flaccid member. We watched the twins as they played around while giggling at each other; she then laid her body against mine and looked up at me.

"Would you like something for winning earlier?" she asked in a whisper.

"…Are you really offering?" I asked, and she giggled. One more glance towards the twins, and we saw that they were distracted, so I leaned down and kissed her. Fusae was receptacle as she kissed me back with the same intensity.

"Ooohh! They're kissing!" the twins shouted and then giggled. Fusae stopped our kiss as she looked back at them and tried to glare, but instead she was just pouting towards them, making them laugh even more, including me.

"We can continue later," I whispered to her, her face turning even brighter red. "Do you two want the duck version of Welshy and Vanishy?" I asked the twins.

'Heh, the legendary Heavenly Duck-ons are at it again,' mocked Rudra.

{[…]}

"Yes!" the twins said happily, so I pulled them out of my back and gave it to them. They happily played with them as I narrated a short but simple story about Ddraig and Albion being ducks.

— ○ ● ○ —

"Keep the noise down, you two, but I wouldn't mind having grandkids soon, so good night~" Haniko said before dragging her husband into their room.

A few more hours had passed, and we were going to sleep now. The twins were put to bed not too long after bathing with Fusae and me. Fumi had been looking at me strangely the entire time but was still friendly toward me. None of them were against me sleeping in Fusae's room, so…I'm sleeping there for the night, even though they had a guest bedroom.

These guys act like standard Japanese people at times, but on the other hand, they're completely different, and it's strange. I will admit, I like it, but it's still strange.

Fusae grabbed my arm before dragging me into her room. Just like her room in Kuoh, it was full of books, but it was a lot more subtle with her involvement with the supernatural. From where I stood (after closing the door), I saw some books hidden with illusion magic and others put in hard-to-spot areas with very little magic used on them.

"It's not that different," I mumbled while looking around her room. "Well, time for bed," I said, stripping down to my boxer shorts.

Fusae was already used to this, but perhaps being back in her own room with her parents and siblings so close by made her a bit more self-conscious about the situation? Either way, it didn't deter her from her usual habits, as she also changed into more comfortable clothing—blue-purple pajamas. She walked over to her bed, and like Lavinia, she tapped the spot beside her while hugging a pillow, silently asking me to join her.

Chuckling, I joined her on the bed, and she immediately made herself the little spoon. The lights were still on, so I turned them off using magic. Once the room became dark, we settled in a bit more.

"…By the way," I started. "Your mom knows about the supernatural and about you. If you want to blame anyone, that would be your dad."

Fusae sighed and turned around. We locked eyes, and she sighed again. "Dad's always been clumsy like that, so when he found out about the supernatural all those months ago, I wanted to ask you to erase his memory. I knew he would dig deeper, and eventually his searches would be found out by mom."

Reaching out, I pulled her closer to me, and she sighed. "I didn't want them involved; it's too dangerous. Well, maybe a lot less now because of many different reasons—one being you and your efforts, but still, there are still people out there that hate the idea and will go to any lengths to try to destroy it."

It was a normal thing to worry about. Anything you're involved with, and if family members find out about it, and if they have enough interest, some of them will go snooping. The fact that it's about the supernatural—ghosts, ghouls, devils, and things of that nature—makes the normal person—be they skeptics or believers—definitely search more into it if it were real; who wouldn't?

Haniko Hirawa, this woman—I worry for her. Maybe I should have Shuri and Mom go talk to her about it, or even Venelana and Göndul. If they hear from her about the realities of it, she may back off, but I can only hope since she seems to be the thrill-seeking type and wouldn't be deterred by this sort of warning.

"Ieko and Eeko, I don't want them to be hurt because of my involvement. Back then, I only wanted to get away from how stuffy this place was. As you saw today, I was nothing like my siblings or mother. The closest person I would relate to was dad, but even he's a bit more extroverted than me," she explained and clutched onto my shirt.

"I always felt out of place here, but everyone was so kind, welcoming, and accepting of me, even back then, and that didn't change today. I never thought they cared about me so much, and the thought that they might have…you know, during the war…it breaks my heart," she mumbled, shaking a little.

Youth will blind you from appreciating what you have or have had. You're in a part of your life where your emotions and hormones take precedence over most of your decision-making; it's one of the best yet worst times of being alive since you're confused about many things and experiencing many new things.

Youth: You only live it once, and you have to experience it the best way you can. I was lucky enough to be reborn and experience it again, even if my new life was a lot more chaotic and had more life-and-death situations. I don't regret it—hell, I loved it, even if I had to go through a lot of things.

"I'm sorry, that was entirely my fault; I was incompetent and was slow in finishing my trials," I told her. "But I won't let anything like that happen again. And hey, if your mom is so insistent on seeing the supernatural in the future, I can have her join the 'Mothers Association', and she should be fine in their care."

Luckily, this made her giggle, and she looked up at me with a certain look I couldn't describe. "I'm glad you came to Grauzauberer that day," she said, moving up closer to my face before kissing me. "And that following you to form a contract with Akeno-san was one of the best decisions of my life."

With a warm smile on her face, she added, "I always thought I would be alone—that I would live my life just like that, reading, getting stronger with magic, and then dying on a mission. But now I have so many friends and even you that…it's a bit strange, but I love it. I want to do—"

"Fuu-nee…" mumbled a tired little voice. When we shot up from bed, we saw the twins by the doorway, rubbing their eyes with the plushies I gave them earlier.

They didn't say anything else and just held their arms up to be picked up. I also got up and picked up Eeko as Fusae got Ieko, we just gave each other tired smiles before going back to her bed and plopping them down in the middle. I made the bed a bit bigger to accommodate all of us.

Checking the twins again, they had fallen asleep while hugging their toys. When I looked back at Fusae, she was blushing too. If you look at it like that, we seemed like a family, though I didn't say it out loud. I just gestured for her to go to sleep, and she did; she laid her head down and closed her eyes while putting her arm around both the twins.

I did the same thing and closed my eyes. That night, a powerful barrier shrouded Tamaki. I wouldn't let anything happen there while enjoying our day there.

— ○ ● ○ —

Ddraig's Soliloquy

— ○ ● ○ —

I never really understood it. Why does he want to hide when he trains? Does he think it's uncool? Even back when he first took his women into the [Pocket Dimension], he did his own training in secret. It only kept happening as the years went by, or months in the 'real' world.

Rudra and Albion were playing chess, Cúntóir watched over Aaron's 'training' even if he didn't need it. He gave me the excuse of 'Keeping active', when I asked him earlier when he came here.

He had a fun day with the Hirawas, but he seemed a bit tense or stressed about something. It must be whatever happens in a few days that involves both the Monkai Association and Hitler's group. Whatever they do, it must involve several parties; it makes me wonder how it'll play out, but he has asked Albion and me to participate since he'll be in one location while the rest are spread apart.

[I don't get it,] I mumbled again and scratched my head.

{If you think too hard, your brain will explode, so stop,} said Albion, and I smacked him on the side. He did the same thing to me.

"What is troubling you, Ddraig?" asked Rudra.

[The upcoming operation…let's go wild,] I told Albion.

{With moderation. We're supporting both the Gremory peerage and the [Brave Saints] in Germany, aren't we? Apophis and Crom Cruach will be fighting together too, it will be an interesting alliance.}

The two Heavenly Dragons and two out of the three alive Evil Dragons are fighting together to defend humans. If these words were spoken hundreds of years ago, people would think I'm crazy, but it's happening. The only way to make this perfect would be if Vritra were to join us, but he'll be in Greece with another team.

Partner—Aaron will be in Asgard; he'll also come to our locations once he settles the troubles over there. But he suddenly stopped, and something appeared in his hands along with a magic circle beside him. He and Cúntóir began to talk into it before it disappeared. They walked back over to us with a smile on his face.

[That's…]

"Apparently, Yanuyo has been refining it himself, and they gathered all the remaining seventeen and he combined them into this; since the previous one was called [Linaidite], he decided to name this [Estroderite]."

The medium-sized gem in Partner's hand glowed strangely; around it was an aura with multiple different colors, almost like the rainbow.

"It's not as powerful as the [Inreaos], but it has around half of its potential and power," he added, moving it around his hand.

[Wait, can't you replicate both?] I asked. If he did, wouldn't that be amazing? He planned on making the [Linaidite] a power source for humans to use, but if the [Estroderite] is better, then how will that affect things?

"Easily, but replicating the [Inreaos] would be a bad idea, but with the [Estroderite], it would be safer. Even after we reveal the supernatural to the humans, they can't leave this universe, so after finding out other ways of creation through magic and alchemy, it won't matter."

"That thing is also from a different universe, so I doubt the technology we have here today would make any difference. I also doubt they would advance too fast even in the future after you reveal everything," said Rudra.

{Why not put something on it to prevent replication from other sources?} suggested Albion.

Partner smirked. "Yeah, that was the plan. It would be bad if they started trying to replicate it to gain monetary value. My aim for the [Estroderite] is to provide a cheap and affordable energy source for everyone."

Will he be hated or loved then? Even after he reveals himself to be the main cause of the 2 billion people's disappearance, although he did say he would be 'Jin Skyward' for that and 'Aaron Toole' for the business thing. That's what he has himself named for everything when it comes to the business.

He'll use a different appearance when he announces himself as Jin, and his original for Aaron. I wonder if people will be fooled by it? Although humans have been fooled with much less, even from their own species, so this doesn't seem so unrealistic now that I think about it…

"Anyway, I'll get going, daylight is coming," he said, beginning to disappear.

[Hey, we can go all out during the operation, right?]

"Of course, barriers are set to deploy once everything starts; just get the humans out of there and into the space I have ready," he said and disappeared.

[Can't we leave that to the shadow soldiers?]

{I mean, that's what he probably has planned; we're just there to make sure it goes smoothly, then we can run loose.}

"Checkmate."

{Huh? …W-wait, what!?}

He left us in the dark about what was truly going to happen on those days. I doubt it'll be too destructive, but maybe it has to do more for people—if what he has alluded to becomes real, then Freyja, Asgard, Black Alice, the Greek Gods, and Hitler may stir up a storm.

— ○ ● ○ —

Aaron Toole's Soliloquy

— ○ ● ○ —

When opening my eyes, the first thing I saw were the twins still sleeping, but Fusae was already awake, stroking their heads. When she saw me awake, she put a finger to her lips, indicating that I stay silent.

"Huhuhu~ isn't that cute~?" a voice said. I looked up and saw her mother there, hand over mouth, giggle to herself. "It's like a family. I really am going to have grandchildren soon~"

After she said that, she closed the door, leaving a very flustered Fusae. We didn't do anything but sleep, so she's just teasing her. But one of the twins woke up, it was Ieko.

Once she did, she asked, very sleepily, "Awe da enwmys awttcking?" (Are the enemies attacking?)

…Enemies? What in the world were you dreaming about, Ieko?

Reaching out, I stroked her head. "The enemies have been defeated, Major Ieko; what are your next orders?"

"…Huggy…" she mumbled, and she hugged me. Eeko, who was still asleep, did the same thing to Fusae, and we both quietly laughed.

"We should take them to the living room since breakfast should be soon," she said, and I agreed. As we left the room while carrying the two, we saw Fumi furiously texting on her phone. She saw us and ran up to us.

"Fuu-nee, Jin-san, h-how do I deal with this!?" she asked, showing us her phone.

In it were texts between her and Tadasu. However, it seemed like the young man had woken up and was texting her questions about Fusae and me; eventually, it turned into questioning Fumi herself, and then his latest text was, 'Then you date me! That way, I can live the experience!' which seemed a bit messed up to me.

Fumi liked him, but isn't this just him spiraling or being in denial? Fumi also looked quite upset; she must be happy, but at the same time, not really since she's being used to replace her older sister.

"No blood, no bone, no ash," muttered Fusae menacingly.

K Project!? I didn't show them anime from different worlds yet, you know. How does she know that reference?

"U-um…what?" Fumi was even more confused by this reaction from her.

"Let's go speak with him after breakfast, Fumi. Aaron, please come with us," she said, and I just agreed. I haven't seen her like this before, so it would be better to comply and see it play out.

— ○ ● ○ —

"Fusy-chan is going to confront Tada-kun~? My, my, this is certainly getting intense~"

We were having breakfast when we arrived here earlier, and Haniko had finished making it, so I didn't have time to help her, but I did summon two dishes from other countries that they had for breakfast, so it evened out…I think?

"Just to make sure, he doesn't have siblings, right?" I asked. I didn't want to get into more fights since I have a bigger one in a few days, and it would be pretty pointless if they did try to attack me. If you look at it logically, I won in a fair fight, even if I didn't win fairly. It's pretty contradictory, but you get what I mean.

"He has two older and larger brothers, Jin-kun~" Haniko said gleefully.

'This woman is a devil…' I thought and awkwardly smiled at her. "Is that so? I hope they're—"

"They're delinquents~ Tada-kun is the only one that isn't in the family, but they all like and adore him because of his popularity in the community. So, you may gain their hate and fury when you show yourself over there~"

[Good luck to you, Partner.]

God dammit…

"Don't worry, Jin. I'll speak to them," Fusae told me, a look of righteous fury on her face. No one said anything to her, as it seemed they were intimidated by it, even Haniko, which was surprising.

"Well, I'd appreciate it, I want to avoid actually hurting someone…" I replied and continued eating.

"I give you my blessings, Jin-kun. Go beat them up~!"

…Yeah, this woman is a devil in disguise.

— ○ ● ○ —

Walking down to the town, we ended up near the shopping district. Fusae, Fumi, and I were being stared at. The two sisters were probably famous and known, while I was just…there, and maybe my win against Tadasu was spread by the rest of the guys that saw it, so they're probably staring at me for that reason too.

We eventually arrived at a large modern house that had a large front garden. In it were three guys, one of them was Tadasu, and the other was like him but larger and even more muscular. Once they were aware of us, they turned to stare at us.

"Fusae-chan! Are you here to—why is he here?" he asked, his face morphing into one full of dissatisfaction.

"Tadasu-kun, you're aware that my little sister Fumi likes you, right?"

The whole area fell silent after she said that. Fumi's face quickly turned red, and she grabbed her sister's arm before she shouted, "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!! Why would you say that!?"

"But I like you, Fusae-chan. Oh, are you here about what I texted in the morning? I admit that I did that out of reflex, but I'm very much still in love with you," he admitted and then looked at Fumi. "But if she says no, then I can settle for you."

Before I noticed it, my fist had slammed into Tadasu's face, and then he crashed into their house's door. Everyone around us was shocked by my sudden behavior. The two older brothers walked up to me, but releasing a bit of my aura made them freeze, and a look of horror appeared on their faces. They ran into their home while dragging Tadasu with them.

'I can settle for you' — that phrase pisses me off. It reminds me of my previous life and what that sperm donor said to my mom. The memories just flooded back in, and the sadness and despair of my mom flashed in my head, and I kind of reacted on reflex too.

Is…this how I felt when I went into those blind rages? I literally didn't remember those few seconds of me stepping forward and then punching him. I probably have some kind of anger management I need to work through; otherwise, this would be bad for everyone in the future…

Clenching my hand, I turned back to see both sisters still looking at me. "…I have no excuses, but hearing that phrase just annoyed me." I walked past them and started walking back to their home. They quickly followed me, and we stayed silent until we reached the dirt road that was straight towards their home.

"Fumi Hirawa. Take this from me, don't be the person that someone just 'settles' for; you're more than that. I know you like Tadasu, but if that guy was hiding his real colors like that, then you should move on from him. From the small interactions we had, you're a good girl, so don't settle for him either; you can find someone better," I told her without turning around.

[I take back the love rival thing; this guy isn't like Massimo at all! He's a secret douchebag.]

Ddraig didn't seem happy at all, although I can see where he's coming from. Compared to Massimo, Lavinia's childhood friend, this guy was just an asshole disguised as a decent person. But I won't be surprised if my reputation goes down because of what I did to the guy, but whatever, I don't care.

We eventually arrived back at the home, and Haniko looked at us before she asked, "Would you like a small snack to cool off?"

Yes, please," replied Fumi. She and Fusae entered their home before me, and Haniko looked at me.

"Tell me what happened, Jin-kun."

I nodded and told her about what happened, fuming while I did so, although by the end of it, I calmed down a bit. Of course, I looked to my side while telling her this, it seemed like there were workers out in the fields already.

When I looked back at Haniko, Fumi was there and handed me a small cup of shaved ice. I accepted it before she smiled, thanked me, and ran away.

"Well, it seems Fumi appreciated it, but…" she leaned in and whispered, "having both my daughters would be interesting, right~?"

"You really shouldn't give away your daughters so readily like that," I replied and sighed. She just giggled before trotting away. I glanced back at the fields one last time before joining them all in the living room.

— ○ ● ○ —

A few hours passed, and finally Fusae and I were ready to leave.

"Come back, that's an order," Haniko said with a wink. "Of course, with grandkids~!"

"…We'll try to come back again, mom. I can't guarantee the last point though," replied Fusae. She hugged everyone in her family, but the twins stood by my legs and grabbed my pants.

"Are you coming back, Jin-nii?" Eiko asked.

"Will we seem more of Vanishy and Welshy?" asked Ieko.

They looked like they were about to cry. So I crouched down and patted their heads. "I'll come back, and I'll let you meet both of them. How does that sound?"

"Really? We can meet them?" they asked, sounding excited.

"Yep, they're my friends, and they'll be happy to meet you." We made a pinky promise before we walked away from them.

[If it's for those two tykes, I'll do it.]

{…Agreed.}

I made both Heavenly Dragons into doting uncles. This is some sort of achievement, right?

As we arrived at a secluded part of Tamaki, Fusae tugged on my sleeve, and I looked at her. When I did, she kissed me. I kissed her back even after being surprised like this.

"Thank you, but also…are you trying to—"

"No, I'm not trying to get your sister…" I stopped her from asking me that; she just laughed at me before we teleported back to Kuoh.

— ○ ● ○ —

A few days have passed, and the operation was going to start soon. All the teams were in their respective locations, and everyone was just waiting for it to start. My group and I were in Asgard; all the sub-realms and islands were already alerted to this, but we were advised not to act like they did, otherwise it would give us away.

My group consisted of Lavinia, Suzaku, Raiko, Fusae, Latia, Raynare, Valerie, and Gabriel. The others that joined us were the Valkyrie Squad that was in [DxD], various other teams of [DxD], and the Norse Gods.

My group was stationed all around the realm, but the ones with me (Gabriel and Raiko) were on the dark elf's island, so we would be teaming up with them. Dark Elf Queen Freida would be leading the dark elves on Svartalfheim while her sister, Euanthe, would be on the island in the main realm helping us.

As Gabriel chatted with the dark elves, Raiko walked around the perimeter of the island while I looked in a certain direction. But a few seconds later, a loud rumble echoed throughout the realm. The previous happy chatter had halted as they listened to the loud rumble that eventually turned into drum beats.

From the skies of Asgard, a giant tear opened, and out came various warriors, monsters, and youkai. They were a mix of Divine Beasts, Cryptids and warriors that I assume were from Valhalla, along with valkyries?

From this line-up, four men stood out. Two of them gave off a strange aura, while the other two were just powerful.

[T-that's…Óðr, Freyja's husband, and my husband, Jorgeir,] said Göndul through the transceiver that I gave everyone.

The other two beside him were warriors named Snaemar and Hrtill. All of them were at least Satan-class in power, which was pretty formidable; they definitely had experiments done on them since their current power was beyond their potential, which is normally impossible.

Leave it up to Promestein to break rules like that; it makes me wonder how she would be if she were with us, just like Avezza. Should I try to force her to change sides? A talented person like her would be a waste to just kill or let rot in prison…

They looked around, and then Jorgeir and Óðr stared in my direction before Óðr lifted his hand up and created thousands of magic circles all across the realm, and from them came bat-like creatures that began screeching unholy sounds.

Everyone else was forced to cover their ears, but I remained still and kept staring at the two who were surprised by this. They spoke to each other as the bats kept screaming until I raised my arm and clicked my fingers, killing all of them, finally getting rid of the noise.

[I would have lost it if it kept screaming like that!] Helmwige complained through the transceivers.

[Let's start then,] I told them and aimed my index finger and middle finger towards the large group of enemies, but was stopped.

[There are some rogue valkyries with them. Some were pronounced MIA as far back as fifteen years ago; please don't kill them. We wish to capture them and then question them,] said Odin.

I brought my hand back after I heard that and sighed. "Gabriel, can I leave you to defend this island? Raiko, can you go to the other two in the south and east? I'll cover the main island, north and west."

"Okay!" the angel replied cheerily.

"Yes, leave it to me. There will be others there too; do you wish to capture anyone else?" she asked.

"Inform me of anyone significant if you see them, and we'll decide from there," I told her, and I flew away. I may as well join those on the main island first and go from there.

— ○ ● ○ —

Freyja's Soliloquy

— ○ ● ○ —

"It's started," said a woman called Aura.

She was apparently part of the [Goddess of Battle], which is a sub-group of the [Electa] from Jin's group, or growing faction. Auna and another woman called Elyscia came over here to help defend against the upcoming attack by the Khaos Order; unlike before, this time we were ready.

A few seconds ago, an eerie silence replaced the loud and happy scene of this realm. Although the people here were aware of it to some degree, they were still quite scared of things like this happening—a terrorist attack.

However, to some, especially those who remember what happened all those years ago—the attack by Black Alice—today would be a sort of recreation of it. I had only heard of it from Hestia and others, but it seemed that it devastated the realm at the time.

"Hmph. I'll go then," said Vali Lucifer while summoning his Sacred Gear's wings.

The people of [DxD] have come to help us; this included Vali Lucifer's team, [Team Moon Rabbits] from the tournament that were led by the two new goddesses Vera and Kurousagi, Aura and Elyscia, thousands of shadow soldiers commanded by Jin, and finally the gods and people of this realm.

Normally, it would be suicide to go against this, but the Khaos Order were insane enough to fight against it. Especially Black Alice.

A thunderous roar echoed through the realm, and various giant monsters and powerful youkai began to come out of magic circles all around the realm.

"That's…"

We turned to Hermes as he was relayed information from someone else. He looked uneasy as he glanced back at us—specifically, at me.

"Freyja-dono, it seems Óðr has shown back up in Asgard along with various other missing valkyries and warriors that went missing from Valhalla."

Óðr…? When I heard that name, I felt my entire body freeze. Why now?? Don't tell me he's part of them…?

— ○ ● ○ —