Chapter 17: Volume 2 – Chapter 1 – Part 1 – Flashbacks: Upgrades, Asgard and Shirone

Japan, Kuoh

Jin Skyward

Akeno, Ingvild, and I were slowly making our way toward Kuoh Academy, today marks the start of the school year, it's also our last year here. I was thinking of having In register as a second-year but she insisted on being in the same year as me, so I relented.

I wanted her to experience youth a little more, she would have an extra year as a student in High School, and make more friends. But she argued that she could just do that in the college division, supernatural and his harem.

So, I had to relent. I didn't want to force her if she didn't want to. I could feel Akeno happily hugging my right arm as she was humming a tune to herself. Ingvild was to my left walking beside me, looking at the town around her.

Even though she's nearly been here a month, she hasn't really seen much of it. I should ask the girls to take her around, maybe I'll do it, I don't know.

[What do you expect out of this year, Partner? You've made a lot of changes to the world already.]

{You have fast-forwarded the peace between the three factions, as well as Asgard and West Youkai.}

I don't think I did too much, all I did was…well…okay maybe, but as I said, no major threats have popped up, apart from Azrael, and maybe Ghidorah.

[The world is also a lot different, more individuals appearing, certain beings having more power…]

Yeah, I'm fine, I don't think I'll come across anyone that will be a challenge…unless another Outer God appears, then I have no idea how that will turn out.

{That would be the class of the century, many will perish unless you teleport to a different subspace.}

Yeah, but I'll deal with it when the time comes, I have plans on making some Omniversal guards soon…

The two cut the link and I'm brought out of my conversation with them, I look forward and see we're getting closer and closer to the school. I turn to Akeno, the girl still happily humming away with her eyes closed.

"Akeno, you should probably go ahead with Ingvild, if you're seen with me, it'll race some suspicion with Rias."

She turns to me and puffs her cheeks, not liking the idea I just suggested.

"Haah…I guess."

She sighs, goes over to Ingvild, and starts to drag her away.

"Let's go Ingvild."

Ingvild a bit startled looks at me for help, I just gave her a wry smile.

"Traitor!"

She shouted at me but Akeno kept pulling her away. A few students started to converge and they see Akeno walking with a now calm Ingvild. They pass through the gates and all eyes were on them, many of the guys staring at the two girls in love-struck awe, the girls doing the same. They probably were captivated by their beauty.

"Holy crap! Is she new?! Is she single?!"

A male student commented.

"Akeno-senpai! Marry me!"

Another male adds.

"Are they single? I wanna tap that."

A smacking sound resonated as a girl looked angrily at the boy.

"We're in a relationship, asshole!"

She was mad, and the guy was cowering from his girlfriend.

"Tits! Tits! Tits!"

I would assume that it was Matsuda and Motohama since they're the most vocal about their perversion. I inwardly sigh.

Rias shouldn't bother In as much since she's been informed who she is, the same with Sona. So, In can rest easy in that front.

"We can graduate from being virgins! Hooray!!"

They both cheered.

"You guys are way too desperate, and who said they'd give you the time of day?"

A female quipped back, clearly annoying the two.

My turn then. I finally reach the gate and step through it, I get a few glances my way but it is not much which I was thankful for.

"Hmm? Oh, is that a new student?"

"Oh~ he looks well built; my pecs are ready."

An overly feminine male voice comments, making me shiver.

"Dude, calm down, your raging hormones just made the guy visibly cringe."

His friend reprimanded him.

"Potential boyfriend spotted."

A female says, a few girls then giggle.

"He's average, girl, you have better chances with someone else."

Another adds and they giggle more. Jesus Christ, what the hell is wrong with the students in this place? I shake my head. Well, whatever, after the date with Reni I expected this much of a reaction. Average at best, I'm fine with that.

I already have the supernatural to deal with, I'd rather avoid the normal human eyes and attention. But I guess I'll be in the spotlight since I might check out the clubs during lunch…

…

I entered the school building and made my way to the Student Council room; I already got the directions from Akeno. When I turn a corner and walk to the room, I see Ingvild and Akeno leaving the room.

Akeno winks at me and Ingvild gives me a small smile, I return the gesture and smile at them. We walk past each other, not wanting to let the other students know of our relationship.

I knock on the door and hear someone telling me to enter. I push the doors open and see Sona and her Queen Tsubaki Shinra. Sona looks up from her paperwork and see me, I could also feel Tsubaki's gaze on me.

"Hello, Jin, nice to finally speak with you in a more…controlled environment."

Sona greets me and Tsubaki looked at her King in shock.

"Sup, So-tan, how have you been?"

Sona was clearly annoyed by the name, the girl beside her becoming even more shocked.

"So-tan? President does he…?"

Tsubaki trails off as she turns to ask her King, only for her to give her a nod.

"Yes, he does. I met him in my home in the Sitri territory, with Ingvild-san from earlier. He's quite close with my sister—a Satan, which was pretty surprising."

"Ingvild-san as well…?"

Tsubaki was beginning to malfunction as she heard more news. Sona looks back at me.

"May I?"

She asked for my permission which was a bit surprising and I nod giving her approval.

"Jin Skyward, the recently appointed middleman of the three factions and Red Dragon Emperor…he's also training Rias's peerage."

Sona explained to her Queen.

"Middleman and Red Dragon Emperor?"

She mutters to herself and then turns to me

"Who else is aware of this information?"

"A few people, but the ones you know are Akeno, Ingvild, and Sh—Koneko, and that's about it."

She nods and I stand in front of Sona's desk as she hands me my class schedule.

"Thank you, So-tan."

I tell her and start to leave.

"Jin, wait."

She calls out to me and I turn my attention back to her.

"What's up?"

"There's still time before school starts, how about a game of chess?"

She fixes her glasses as she asks me this. I chuckle and shake my head

"No thanks. I already know the whole deal about that."

She's a bit shocked by this, why though? I'm close with your sister…though I already knew about it.

"Did Onee-sama tell you?"

"Yeah, something like that."

"You're that confident that you'll beat me?"

she squints her eyes at me and I shrug.

"Who knows? No matter how many times we play—I'll win, maybe…"

"…"

Sona falls silent and stares blankly at me.

"Then, how about a game—or games without those stakes? Meet me back here after school."

"Hmm, if I have time, then sure I don't mind. You better keep your word, So-tan."

I turn back again, wave to them, and leave the room.

…

Third Person Point of View

With Sona and Tsubaki

"President…are you sure that's okay to do?"

Tsubaki wasn't sure on how to feel about the whole thing.

"It's fine, my parents won't know, right?"

She looks at her Queen and she reluctantly nods.

"Then, it's fine. Jin and I are playing without those stakes since he's already aware of my sister."

She fixes her glasses and looks at the door.

"I also want to know if he can keep his word on winning them all."

"…President, who's Ingvild?"

She was curious as to who the girl was, Jin did just mention her.

"I cannot tell you unless I get permission from my sister, Lucifer, or Jin himself. You can ask about it after school when and if he shows up."

Tsubaki didn't have a choice but to nod, very curious about the two new students in their year and class.

…

Jin Skyward

I take a look at my schedule after leaving the Student Council room. I'm glad that Akeno—maybe even Sirzechs had some influence…Zeoticus? Well, regardless of who it was. I was definitely in both heiresses' classes, the same with In.

I look out a window. Time to check out the school for a little bit before classes start then…I put my schedule in my pocket and walk around the school, I take note of the room names and where everything is located at. I also see the all too familiar Occult Research Club room in the distance.

A lot of gyms and facilities, as expected of rich devils…baseball, basketball, volleyball, kendo, manga research club, photo, tennis, and a swimming club. A lot of clubs to choose from, there are probably smaller ones that are present. Some clubs that aren't even official or introduced yet since some individuals aren't here yet…

I look at the basketball and volleyball clubs, I have a slight interest in them…I'll give one of them a shot when I have time during lunch.

Hmm…looks like some students are already in their clubs… I could see some playing with a volleyball and a few with a basketball.

Cúntóir: Answer: The bell is going to ring soon. I suggest you make your way to your homeroom.

Duly noted. I was pulled out of my observation by Cúntóir and heeded her advice. I make my way back through the school and find my classroom, I also see Ingvild outside waiting. A few students gave us glances as they made their way into their assigned rooms.

We make eye contact and I wave to her; she does the same. I get to her and we stand side by side.

"You're quite early."

"You're just late…"

"I was just checking out the school, the clubs and all. There's quite a few of them."

"Mmm…I—I was already confessed to by a junior…"

Ingvild had a complicated expression on her as she recalled the sudden confession.

"Wait—already? the school day hasn't even started…"

How desperate are these people?

"I obviously rejected him…but it was unexpected."

She sighed; I could tell that this would be a reoccurring thing for her.

"It's fine…Akeno already told me to be ready with that kind of thing, it's a regular for her after all…"

She explained and I nodded sagely.

"I see, at least you got some advance warning, so you can deal with them a lot easier."

Slide!

"You two are the new students, correct?"

A female teacher pops her head out of the classroom, and we both nod.

"Good, come in."

We do so, I let Ingvild go in first, and I followed after. When I glance to my side I could see the classroom populace, Akeno already smiling at the both of us.

"Alright you lot, we got two new students. Treat them well. Go ahead, introduce yourselves." She gives a go-ahead and we look at each other, Ingvild steps forward.

"My name is Ingvild Kyrie, I'm 17…I like cooking, singing, and dancing."

She bows

"Please treat me well."

The guy's cheer and the teacher tells them to shut up.

"Alright, any questions?"

A lot of hands shot up. She picks a random male student.

"Are you single?!"

Se blurts out making some of the girl's facepalm.

"Yes."

She answered and another round of cheers from them.

"Will you be my girlfriend?!"

"No, I'm sorry."

Ingvild gave me a strained smile making the boy slump and become depressed. The teacher facepalmed.

"Takeshi-kun, why did you have to do this now?"

Apparently, the guy's name was Takeshi. The class then laughs at him. A girl raises her hand.

"Are you interested in someone?"

Ingvild was a bit surprised by the question.

"Y-Yes…"

She answered shyly while blushing, earning wails of despair from the guys…What in all living fuck is happening?

"Alright, alright, shut up."

She turns to me

"Alright, your turn."

I nod and step forward

"Uh, sup, I'm Jin Skyward, 17, came from Ireland…I like cooking, reading, sports and sleeping. Nice to meet cha, let's get along for the year, aight?"

A few guys glared at me for some reason. What? Why?  I didn't even do anything yet. The same round of questioning came my way until a girl asked a different one.

"Are you in a relationship?"

The guys strangely focused when they heard this.

"Yes, yes I am."

The class erupts into whispers, a few girls deflating and I chuckled at it all. Another hand shoots up

"Are you a pervert?"

…? What kind of question is that? Do they honestly think a normal person would honestly answer? Who am I kidding, this world is already weird, they probably might?

"Er—I personally think everyone is a pervert. But if you're asking me if I'm an open pervert, then no. It just takes restraint on not being that open. That's just my personal opinion."

Apparently, they all gained some sort of enlightenment from this and they started to question themselves.

"Alright, end of questions. Go take those two seats at the back."

The teacher quickly ushers us to our seats. Ingvild quickly makes her way to a seat, I take my time and make eye contact with Rias, as she smiles at me. I return the gesture.

My seat, as cliché as it is…is the back seat—the protagonist seat. I couldn't help but laugh on the inside. Ingvild was beside me, Akeno in front of me, and the other devils around me. Rias or Sona definitely set this up. Talk about being extra…

Homeroom starts and I stare out of the window. A lot of things happened during the two weeks…I thought back at all the things that happened.

…

Flashback

Random day

Jin Skyward

I was lazing around, as everyone had things to do so I was bored at home. Akeno had gone to the field near the Occult Research Club in order to train more, I offered to help her but she declined. Ingvild and Reni went out to shop for something, they didn't tell me what though. But she was blushing up a storm the entire time before they left.

Grayfia straight up left after breakfast I didn't even get a chance to ask her why, I could only assume it was to the Underworld, maybe Zechs? Or even the Gremory household.

"Jin nya!"

Kuroka pounced on me.

"Oof…hey Kuroka, what up? I thought you had to go somewhere."

I wasn't expecting her to come home so soon, it was only around eleven in the morning.

"I thought I did, but when I went back to Khaos Brigade Vali was pissed off about something, I'm guessing something to do with you nya."

"Me?"

I haven't done anything to the guy as of late, so I didn't know why he'd be pissed at me.

"Well, you moved Reni out. That would be a good start nya."

"Oh, that. I didn't kidnap her…haah…whatever, I can deal with that another time."

"Yes nya, anyway, I was talking with Shirone on the way back, she wants to meet up with you in the coming week nya."

Kuroka had already informed me about this and I had no problems with it.

"I already said I wouldn't mind, just tell me when."

"Thank you nya, I'll go and tell her."

She got off me and trotted upstairs.

…

Cúntóir: Answer: Jin.

Hmm? What's up?

Cúntóir: Answer: I recommend on upgrading your Sacred Gears, changing the potential of your harem, and perhaps upgrading the ones with Sacred Gears.

Huh? why? This came out of nowhere…Cúntóir wouldn't suggest something unless it would help or benefit me in one way or another.

Cúntóir: Answer: Please take my word for it.

Alright fine. Go ahead and Upgrade Boosted Gear and Divine dividing. It's a free boost in power, even though I wouldn't need to use them…

{[Fuck you too!]}

'You guys are taking this way too personally.' I guess it's fine, I'm not part of the Evil Piece system anyway, so I couldn't achieve half the shit Issei did with the Boosted Gear…it would probably go with how Vali got his, Balance Breaker, Juggernaut Drive, Empireo Juggernaut Overdrive and finally Diabolos Dragon.

Cúntóir: Answer: Upgrading Boosted Gear and Divine Dividing…remove past host grudges and anomalies…

Cúntóir: Answer: Action complete, Boosted Gear and Diving Dividing fully upgraded.

Cúntóir: Answer: Boosted Gear has gained the following benefits:

Boosted Gear:

Illegal Move Triaina Unlocked

The available forms for the Illegal Move Triaina are:

Welsh Sonic Boost Knight - Knight Form

Welsh Draconic Rook - Rook Form

Welsh Blaster Bishop - Bishop Form

???? ???? – Queen Form

Other forms unlocked:

Diabolos Dragon God - OxD

Outer God's Apocalyptic Arms

?????

…

Cúntóir: Answer: Divine Dividing gained the following benefits:

Divine Dividing:

Empireo Juggernaut Overdrive

Diabolos Dragon God – OxL

?????

…

'I'm an Outer God and have access to any kind of power… which means I can use Infinity and Dreams. I don't need Ophis nor Gr—Irene's powers and flesh, correct?'

Cúntóir: Answer: Yes, that is indeed correct.

[POWER!!!!!!!!!!]

{Hmm, I do in fact feel much more powerful.}

Is…is there more I can achieve? I was a bit surprised by the Outer God Arms thing, also the Diabolos Dragon Lucifer changed to something else…and the question marks at the end of the two Sacred Gears…

Cúntóir: Answer: We will find out once you evolve into a new species.

'Right…' I should upgrade Lavinia's and Ingvild's then…what about Independent Sacred Gears like the Four Fiends? Will Shigune gain more control of Poh? I only changed a few things about Absolute Demise…what would a full upgrade do?

The same thing can be said for Natsume and Griffon…what would happen to Heaven's system? Would it freak out? Wait

Cúntóir: Answer: Your [Boosted Gear] and [Divine Dividing] do not belong to this world, so they will not be affected by Heaven's system nor will they cause bugs to occur.

What about Reni, Ingvild, Shigune and Natsume's?

Cúntóir: Answer: Unknown

God dammit. I'll try in the future…maybe In's Sacred Gear since it's currently still undiscovered.

I open my inventory and look at one item I've left there without checking it out. Yexal… what the hell is it? I've been a bit too preoccupied to check it out, but it's finally the time to do it.

'Cúntóir, what's that Yexal thing?' I decided to ask Cúntóir before taking it out.

Cúntóir: Answer: [Yexal]: The Tool of Jin (Outer God). This tool can shape/mold itself to be anything the wielder desires, it will take on custom functions set by the wielder, the only limitation is the wielder's imagination.

Soul bound: Jin Skyward (????/????)

…I was speechless, I should have used this damn this earlier. I inwardly sigh. What are those question marks beside my name?

Cúntóir: Answer: Unknown

…Right, anyway, would the Outer God part be there if I took it out earlier, or would it be a bunch of question marks?

Cúntóir: Answer: No, it would have been question marks as you weren't ready for the evolution.

I see…I won't get answers from Cúntóir that includes my past.  I decided to take the item out of my inventory, and to my surprise, it was in a shape of a pen. Better change it then…but to what?

"Oh! That will work…"

I decided to change it into a silver ring, the gemstone is the same one as Lavinia's. I can add the other girls over time when I give them theirs…I put the ring on my left hands ring finger.

Right…can anyone else use this thing? I look at Yexal.

Cúntóir: Answer: No, since its soul bound to you, only you can use it.

I nod, that makes sense, I don't need to put functions on this thing yet, I have Cúntóir for that…

Cúntóir: Answer: Hmph!

A triumphant hmph from the AI, making me chuckle.

…

Later that night

Everyone had come home after a long day, I had just slept the rest of the day as I had nothing to do, I also didn't dream…which was disappointing, if I could go back to it, I would try a little harder, Irene was a surprise last time so we just went a lot of it talking.

I was the one who made dinner tonight, I decided to try making pizza, I had sent a text out to the girls for their preferences and made an entire pizza for each of them. The internet was there, as well as Cúntóir so It was easy enough to make, magic was also a factor in quickening the creation of all of them.

I didn't make them too big, otherwise, it would have been impossible for everyone to finish…well, I glance at Kuroka who was happily eating it all, I made hers a little bigger and she was all than happier.

"Jin nythis ish tahshty nhya."

She tried to talk with her mouth full, making me laugh more than I thought I would.

"Kuroka, do not talk with your mouth full."

Grayfia reprimanded the cat girl, she ignored her and kept eating.

"I'm glad you like it; I did make yours a little bit bigger than the rest since I know you have an appetite."

I see Ingvild eyeing the ring I have on my finger as well as Akeno, I was wondering when they'd notice it.

"Jin? What is that?"

She finally asks making everyone stop and look at my ring. I could see Reni slowly put her left hand down trying not to start chaos at the table.

"It's a powerful tool that can change to whatever I want. I just decided to make it into a ring for easier access."

I change it into a sword, the ring glows briefly before flying off my finger as it transforms into a sword and floats in front of me. I grab it and swing it above me before changing it back.

"See? Well, I do have its gemstone the same as Reni's."

I grab her left hand and show it to everyone. All their eyes widen at the ring on her finger. She's obviously embarrassed as she pulls her hand back and covers her face.

"YOU PROPOSED TO HER ALREADY?!"

Kuroka screamed, making Akeno jump as she was sitting beside her.

"Err—no, that's just a promise ring. We had a talk while all of you were passed out."

I grab her hand again and point the rings towards them.

"They're the same color…I'll give you guys rings in the future and have their colors on my ring too so—"

"Give me one now nya/ Jin give me a ring!"

Kuroka and Akeno demanded on the spot, stunning Grayfia and Ingvild. Ophis was the outlier as she didn't know what to do in this situation.

"Huh? uh sure, let's just finish having dinner first…"

I kind of expected this to happen but didn't expect that reaction. The two of them immediately start to scoff their food down, but it backfired as they began to choke and cough. I gave them both a glass of water and they immediately chugged them down.

"Those rings won't run away, just eat normally, jeez."

Grayfia just shook her head disappointedly at them, the two were clearly embarrassed and started to eat normally again.

…

After cleaning the dishes with Fia we were all in the living room, Akeno and Kuroka were in a seiza as they waited patiently for me to make the ring.

"You two are being a bit too dramatic about this…"

They didn't answer me but just sat there waiting with an intense focus on them. I shake my head and decided to get this over with.

I first make Kuroka's, I made the ring silver, and I made the gemstone as a Schorl Tourmaline, with the center having a hazel-gold color to complement Kuroka's eye color. I step towards the cat girl, take her hand, and put the ring in the same place as Reni's.

She brings her hand up in front of her and stares at the ring in fascination.

"I tried to base the gemstone on how you look, black for your hair and the hazel-gold in the middle for your eyes."

I explained but it looked like she wasn't even listening anymore and just nodded along to the noise in my direction.

Akeno was slightly puffing her cheeks as she waited her turn, I pat her on the head and made hers. The ring was as always silver, the gemstone I use is the Purple Sapphire with streaks of yellow on the edges, a nod to her Holy Lightning. I do the same thing to her and put the ring on her left hand's ring finger.

"It's still a promise ring, and I know I said I'd do it a little bit more romantically, so make do with this for now."

She nodded—happily staring at the ring she just got. I got up and look at the other girls staring at the scene

"You'll get yours in the future, Fia."

My comment apparently makes the maid blush as she slowly nodded. Ophis looked at the two, curious, then back at me—more specifically at the necklace I had.

"I, have one too."

She states and points at the necklace, a rare smile on her face. Lavinia walks over to Ophis and hugs her from behind

"Mmm-mmm! You sure do Ophy-chan!"

the Dragon God did not mind the skin ship and let it happen. She's slowly understanding her own emotions…God, I feel like a parent right now. I pat the dragon girl on the head.

"Yeah, you do. But here is also home, Ophis."

She looks around and sees everyone staring with warm smiles.

"Yes, home."

"I'll add both of your colors to mine too."

I did just that, along with Reni's blue, Kuroka's black with hazel-gold and Akeno's Purple Sapphire appeared on my gemstone.

"I also added a regeneration function on those rings. It will regenerate your energy—in both your cases demonic energy by an extra fifty percent."

"Thank you nya! /Thank you, Jin!"

The two-bear hug me, Kuroka licking my cheek for some reason, I couldn't help but laugh. I could see from the corner of my eyes that Ingvild and Grayfia were smiling at us. I'll definitely get those two theirs in the future.

"As I said earlier, I'll get you one soon Fia, you too In."

Grayfia smiles and nods, Ingvild blushes and looks away.

This'll get hectic soon enough haha.

[Where's my gem, partner?!]

Ddraig snorts and starts cackling.

{Can you not?!}

Albion scolded the dragon and proceeded to go off on a tirade.

Yeah, just another night in this household…

…

Another day

Ring! Ring!

"Ugh…what?"

I heard my phone ring as I was enjoying a lap pillow from Ingvild. Grayfia, Kuroka, and Akeno were in the kitchen. The two asked the maid for some tips and training in cooking. When she asked them why they just looked at me, and she understood.

"They're planning on poisoning me; I can feel it in my bones."

This made Ingvild laugh and lightly slap me on my forehead.

"They just want to cook for you, silly."

She was watching videos on DeviTube on her phone, not on her laptop, which was a rare sight to see while at home. I summon my phone and answer it

"Ah no, the voices are back!"

"Why do you always answer my calls in such a weird way?"

Serafall pouts as she answers me back.

"Haha, sorry I can't help myself. So, what's up?"

"Mmm! Odin-sama actually sent a request in, you should give them your number or a way to contact you. Your house has some many defenses it's practically the safest place in this world!"

"Ahh yeah…when does he want me to go? I'll make sure to give them a phone number then. Thanks, Sera."

I didn't think I put too many defenses on my house…I mean people that I trust can get in and out…

[That is very few people as of now, Partner.]

{Your harem and yourself, Grayfia, Ingvild, and Ophis. The rest are only allowed magic circles or phone calls.}

Duly noted.

"Odin-sama said today, he said it isn't a difficult request and you should be done in a few hours."

"I see, well I'll get going then. Thanks again Sera."

"Mmm! Praise me more!"

"Yeah, yeah, I'll see you around Levi-tan."

With that, I end the call. I look up at In, she was listening to my phone call.

"Asgard again, huh?"

"Yep, gotta get going."

I turn around and bury my face into her thighs, making her yelp. Soft…thighs…

"Jin!"

She embarrassingly scolds me, making me laugh.

"Sorry, sorry."

I finally get up and stretch my body

"I'll go tell the others…"

I better text Reni too…she was called in by Azazel for something. I make my way to the kitchen and see the two girls hard at work, Grayfia overseeing their progress.

"Hey girls, I just got a request, going to be gone for a few hours."

"From who?"

They stop what they were doing and Akeno asks.

"Odin, it's apparently a simple enough request, I'll be in and out, a few hours tops."

They give me kisses on the cheek and wish me luck as they go back to whatever they were doing. Grayfia bows and I teleport away.

…

Nine Realms

Asgard

I had teleported to the same spot as the first time I had arrived in Asgard. I look over the void 'I still can't get used to that.' I turn my attention back to the entrance and make my way up the stairs.

When the Valkyrie guards see me, they greet me.

"Ah, Jin, how can we be of assistance?"

"Hey, Odin sent a request for me?"

They both nodded and let me through. I make my way through the streets of Asgard again, many of its locals recognizing me and greeting me. I still can't get used to being a minor celebrity. I also hope that the simple request isn't fighting something…I'm a bit too lazy right now.

"Hey, hey Middleman!"

A voice calls out to me, I stop and turn to see who was calling me. I see a…kangaroo-man?

"Hey there man, how can I help you?"

I greet him. He hops over to me and starts to nudge me into the direction of his little shop.

"Bro, I gotta be honest with you, the commotion you caused not too long ago has been the talk of Asgard. So, I was wondering if you could…sign some of these?"

He gestures to some cheaply made plastic toys of me and a few posters. Am…am I striking a JoJo pose? What the hell…

"I—I don't mind but I'm in a hurry right now…"

"Alright! Before you leave then, help a brother out, please?"

He sounded desperate, is he poor by chance?

"Haah, if I have time then sure I'll come and stop by again, is that fine with you?"

He jumps up and pumps his fists.

"Yes! Thanks, bro!"

I nod and leave again. I guess everyone has to make a living somehow…He didn't look poor, or is it because Asgard's living situation is a bit higher than some human countries? I shake my head; I'll leave that problem before I leave.

I quicken my pace as I was held up by that kangaroo-man, once I reach the palace steps again the guards greet me and let me through, I get to the giant door and push them open. When I did, I was greeted to a pleasant surprise of Rossweisse waiting there.

She notices the door open and looks up, our eyes meet and we smile.

"Hey there, Rose."

"R-Rose?"

Her eyes widen a bit surprised by the nickname.

"Not good? I can call you Rossweisse again if you want."

She shakes her head furiously.

"N-No, I don't mind, I was just a bit surprised that's all…anyway, please follow me. Odin-sama is expecting you."

I nod and follow the Valkyrie.

"How have you been? I trust that Odin has been the usual?"

"I have been well, and if you mean Odin-sama has been a pervert as usual, then yes he has."

The Valkyrie's smile became strained and her eye twitched when she looked back at the past.

"The number of women's butts he touches when I accompany him in the streets of Asgard is staggering, the majority do not complain as he's our leader…I even see some relish it."

Rossweisse slowly became more and more irritated as she told me more of what happened.

"He also said that my butt isn't worth much so he doesn't bother with mine…I'm not sure if I should be relieved or insulted…haah…"

I'm not entirely sure on how to respond, on one hand, I'm glad she's not being sexually harassed by the old God, on the other she's quite a looker so I don't see where Odin is coming from.

"Don't mind it too much Rose, you're fine the way you are. Hey, at least he's not sexually harassing you, no?"

"I guess so…"

Still sighing defeatedly not entirely sure how to process all of it.

…

After a few minutes of walking, this absurdly and unnecessarily large castle-house-thing, we make it to the same door where I met Odin for the first time. Rose pushed the doors open and Odin was sitting there with a few books around him.

I didn't think the old man was into reading…I closely look at what he was reading…Never mind, it's an erotic novel. I thought he was reading—well I don't know, something important?

"Oh? Jin! You're here my boy, welcome back!"

He hears the door opening and puts the book down as he greets us.

"Hey there old man, how ya been?"

Odin grinned at me amused by the nickname.

"Old man? Hah! Yes, I have been well, and you?"

He starts to stroke his own beard as he waits for my answer, why is he acting like a sage all of a sudden?

"I've been good, slacking off here and there, helping my harem grow stronger, enjoying life. School is starting for me soon, so there's that I guess."

I shrug, I live a normal life—with the added supernatural, but a normal one.

"Good to hear lad! Now, would you like to know the request?"

He asks with a shit-eating grin. Oh boy, here we go. I could he the drum roll inside my head….Hmm? I could see Albion smashing Ddraig's head into the ground… that wasn't a drum roll, what the hell happened between them?

"Sure thing, hit me."

"Help train and oversee the new Valkyrie recruits!"

"…"

Crickets, if this was a movie—then cricket sounds would be played right now.

"That's it?"

"Yes, that's it."

"Well, a request is a request. I'll do it."

I sigh , I mean I did say I would do any.

"Worry not lad, this is but a small test…I have a real request coming your way soon."

Odin loses his silly tone and was replaced with a serious one—more fitting of a leader. I cock a brow, now I'm interested. So, a simple one to start and then give me a real one. Like an RPG game, jeez old man.

"A serious one?"

"Yes, if the problem I have right now isn't resolved or stops by itself I shall request for your assistance in the future."

Seeing as how he won't divulge any more hints or accept questions I just agree with this request.

"Alright, Odin. I'll get going then."

"Rossweisse, accompany him."

He orders the woman.

"But Odin-sam—"

She starts but is cut off.

"Unless you want to stand behind me reading erotic literature for the next few hours, then you're more than welcomed to, or go with Jin."

He smirked as Rossweisse's mouth twitched.

"Very well."

You are reading story Winds of Change (DxD) at novel35.com

Rossweisse replies as she grabs my hand and drags me away.

"Let's go, Jin."

Eh—?

…

When we finally got out of the big ass palace, I stood by Rossweisse as she finally calmed down, she was still holding my hand though. She hasn't noticed, but the guards near the entrance did and start snickering at her.

She followed their gaze and saw she was holding onto my hand, she immediately turned red and let go of it.

"I'm sorry!"

She started to apologize and the Valkyrie guards burst into laughter.

"It's fine, Rose. Lead the way to the request, if you don't mind."

She nods and starts to power walk away; I shake my head at her innocence.

…

"Huh, I've been here before."

The place that she brought me to was the same one that Brynhildr brought me to, the training hall.

"Eh? When did you come here?"

Rossweisse is also surprised by this.

"I was being hounded by a lot of people, so I stuck with Brynhildr since she had the natural aura to repel people from her as she's quite strict. She brought me to this place for training or whatever…"

"That reminds me, did you guys fix the crystal thing that I broke?"

Rossweisse's eyes widen when she heard me ask that question.

"It was you!"

She bellowed out and pointed at me.

"Haha, yeah, guilty as charged."

I put my hands up as she rubbed her temples.

"Yes…we did get it fixed, however, that causes quite a commotion at the time. Even Odin-sama and his sons came by to check what all the fuss was about."

"Once they found out what happened, he couldn't stop laughing at it."

She looked at me sadly.

"You also have piqued both Vidar and Baldur's interests even more."

I shouldn't have done that…can't take back what happened now.

"Well, I guess I have to deal with the consequences then."

We finally enter the place and it was filled to the brim with Valkyries training or sparring. A few heads turn to look at us and some freeze.

"It's the middleman!"

One of them screams, again drawing attention to us, some of them looked at Rossweisse strangely, but it doesn't affect her, probably because she's used to this kind of thing.

They don't swarm us though, which I'm thankful for, Rossweisse nods and brings us to a different room, while many of the girl's gazes are directed at me. I can tell they want to start asking questions but hold themselves back.

"Jin? Rossweisse?"

I turn to another familiar voice, and it's the woman herself, Brynhildr. She looks at us strangely.

"What are you doing here?"

"Old man Odin sent a request for me, gotta help train or watch over some new recruits."

I explain to her as she clearly looked annoyed by the way I called her God.

"Rose is just here to help me."

"I see."

She turns to Rossweisse and eyes her.

"Rose, huh?"

That was the first time I have seen her smirk, Rossweisse blushes at her superior reaction. The Valkyries that Brynhildr was training had stopped to watch our interaction until the strict woman noticed and turned back at them with a glare.

"Who said you could stop? Get back to it!"

She told them in an authoritative tone, a few of them flinch and start doing their training again.

"Sheesh, Bryn a bit harsh don't you think?"

"You are too relaxed."

She deadpanned, making me chuckle.

"I won't deny that any way we should get going, I don't want to make those new recruits wait for too long."

She nods and lets us go, as we walk away, I hear someone scream my name but I don't turn back. Sounded like Helmwige, I'll greet her later if she's still around, or if she comes around to us.

"You seem to get along with Brynhildr-san."

Rossweisse says as she leads us to our destination.

"Get along? If you consider that interaction as us getting along, then sure why not. I feel like I annoy her more than necessary, even back when I first came here."

"It's just in her nature, don't think badly of her…"

Rossweisse cares for her senpai and fellow Valkyries, I don't hate anyone—well as of yet.

"I don't hate her, I think she's quite entertaining to be around, she just needs to loosen up a little and she'll be fine."

"I see…"

…

We finally arrive in a large room, a few girls waiting there patiently, once they saw us walk in their eyes became wide as saucers. Rossweisse signals them to gather around as we stood at the center of the room.

"This is Jin, many of you may know of him."

All of them nod.

"He along with myself will be overseeing your training today, if you need any advice or questions feel free to ask us."

They nod excitedly. Rossweisse looks at me to continue.

"Alright, as you know I'm Jin. Now, the way I do things might be a little different and Rose, feel free to correct me if you see fit."

I glance at her and she nods.

"First, show me the type of magic you're the most confident in."

They looked a bit confused but comply. The magic they used ranged from ice, lightning, explosion, darkness, fire, and water magic. A few add in that they can use multiple types and I nod.

"Now, some of you may be wondering why I asked you to show me the magic you're most confident in."

I see a few of them nod.

"I believe completely mastering one type of magic first before you go onto the next is the right choice, now I know some of you may disagree."

"For one, as you're all new, the majority of your mana pool right now is low, that can be increased so don't worry. Persistent training will show results eventually."

I pause and look at them, they are listening and looking at me intently.

"One of the women in my harem specializes in Lightning magic, while her control and power output of it when I first met her was quite good. It wasn't good enough."

"So, I suggested to her to train her Lightning magic and focus on nothing else but that. So, she did and after nearly one month of training, she has reached new heights of it. Being able to mold it to her will."

"However, she didn't ignore her other magics and elements, while she mainly focused on magic, she also knew that certain situations will need a different use of magic. So, she also practiced her other elements."

"I would like to use a quote that a human I knew once said."

I take a deep breath and then exhale.

"I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times."

"In other words, perfect that one craft—that one piece of magic or element you're most confident in and you can take it to new heights, perhaps even evolve it into something else entirely."

I hold out my hand and summon a normal fireball

"This is just a normal fireball from fire magic, yes?"

They nod I increase its intensity and shape to it, and the fireball slowly morphs into a fire dragon that snakes and slithers around my body, while also radiating a much more intense heat.

"If you master it enough, you can change some of its shape, maybe even its properties, like such. I am not using my Sacred Gear; I have just shaped the fireball into a dragon."

I then change the fire dragon into a gun.

"You can even do something like this."

They stare in awe, excited to try it out.

"So, go ahead, train and experiment to your heart's content."

They happily nod and begin to train the magic they showed me earlier. I turn to Rossweisse.

"I'm not that confident in being a teacher or instructor, how was it?"

I feel like I've given a lot of advice in my past life—another one of those gut feeling, but I'm not one hundred percent sure. Rose turns and smiles at me.

"It was a fine attempt; I saw nothing wrong with it."

"Phew!"

I wipe the fake sweat from my forehead making her giggle at my childish behavior.

"But seriously though, these new recruits have good potential."

I could see a few High Satan Class and peak Ultimate class in their batch. If they seriously train, then they'll reach those potentials in the future.

"Yes, they're good people."

…

Over the course of a few hours, the girls would sometimes stop to ask us questions, I would give them general advice, Rossweisse was the one who gave them the more detailed advice as she's a fellow Valkyrie and their magic system is the same. Mine is vague, like really vague, it runs along more the lines of the devils, where imagination plays a lot into it.

I also saw that these new recruits didn't have any prejudiced opinions on Rossweisse, maybe it's because they're new? Or because over the few hours and my presence made them look at her in a new light and not just the boyfriend-less Valkyrie that she's all too famous for.

"Rossweisse-senpai!"

One of the new recruits calls for her and she happily goes over to teach or give them advice. The rest of the request ends without any problems.

…

"Thank you very much!"

They bow to us in gratitude, in that short amount of time they made quite a lot of improvements which even surprised me. They leave as their training session was over. We both start to leave when come across Brynhildr and Helmwige.

"Hey there, everything good on your end?"

I wave to the two and Helmwige waves back.

"Hi, Hi Jin! Yep! Training new recruits is a walk in the park."

Helmwige happily answers, unlike Brynhildr.

"Yes, it went according to plan, their powers increased quite significantly."

She fixed her glasses while saying so.

"It appears things went well on your end."

She gestures to a happy Rossweisse—a smile still present on her face.

"Ehh? Ahh, Brynhildr-senpai! Yes, it went well!"

"I see, that's good, Rossweisse."

She nods and starts to walk away.

"I'm quite busy, so till we meet again Jin, come Helmwige."

"Boo!"

Helmwige complains but still goes with her.

…

Rossweisse and I decided to eat at a nearby restaurant, when we entered the place, I was immediately swarmed and asked a bunch of questions.

"Oi! The middleman is here to eat! Not be hounded by you lot, so give him space already!"

The owner walks out looking rather annoyed making the crowd scatter.

"Sorry bout that lad, you and yer misses here for lunch?"

A gruff looking man about 5'7 in height, bushy beard smoking a pipe apologies to us.

"Yeah, we're here to have lunch, and thanks for that…?"

I could see Rossweisse blush at being called my misses making me chuckle on the inside.

"Andvari, thas me name, lad."

He puffs his chest proudly making me grin.

"Then, thank you again Andvari."

"Aye, take a table yee two."

He gestures to an open table and we go and take a seat there. After we took our seats, he hands us both menus.

"Just yell fer me name, aye lad?"

"Yeah, will do."

I turn to Rossweisse.

"He sure feels really homely, you know?"

She nods along while looking at the menu. I also look down to see what they have to my surprise they accept any currency from the human world.

"Rose, why—why is Asgard accepting human currency?"

I would have thought they would have their own. Now that I think about it, I nearly just went in here expecting to pay said currency without thinking that they might use something else.

[You could have just created the currency if needed, Partner.]

I know, but I kinda just went in here without thinking about it, I've been way too relaxed today.

{Rest is essential, Jin. Always being alert or tense is not good for one's health.}

Yeah, I guess so.

"It was due to Odin-sama's request as he…well—as you have seen earlier today, is interested in many luxuries the human world possess, he also frequents…certain shops and businesses…"

Rossweisse looked slightly disgusted by what she was trying to elude at.

"I see, I guess that makes sense, the guy is a horn dog."

I laugh but she just shook her head disappointedly.

"Anyway, order what you want, I can pay for it."

She looks at me surprised.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm quite well off, so go ahead and splurge for the day."

"Thank you, Jin."

She smiles and thanks me. Not too long after Andvari comes back.

"Ye made your orders, lad?"

We both nod and order what's on the menu, I chose the daily recommendation since I didn't really know what the food was like. I trust Rossweisse wouldn't try killing me this late into the game…

"This is place feels like a tavern of sorts, like, I don't know—dwarfs run the place or something."

When I said this Rossweisse giggled, confusing me.

"Well, that's because Andvari is a dwarf, he's a lot taller than you would expect, right"

I nod a bit surprised by the fact that the relatively tall and buff man was a dwarf.

"Never thought I would see a dwarf with that kind of height."

"Mmm, it is quite rare, but not impossible. However, Andvari is quite famous around the area, Odin-sama also frequents this place…usually without me, since he puts me into obscure jobs."

Again, Rossweisse sounded bitter about her job. I can understand where she's coming from, being able to work for her faction leader, and a very old powerful God. One would have some kind of expectations, but I guess that was shattered when she found out he was just a plain old pervert.

Andvari eventually came back with our food.

"Enjoy yer meal!"

He says as he placed them down and walk away. I stare at the food in front of me, now that I look at it, a lot of it is like normal human food…well,the bear and onion soup is a bit much… Fish and chips, shepherd's pie, roast mutton, and a scotch egg.

Rossweisse also ordered a slightly different meal from mine, she had a berry pie and some roasted chicken legs. Is…is she a glutton like Kuroka? I know Shigune is…if I didn't have the power to literally summon food at times or even money, my food bill would be through the roof.

"Hmm? Is something wrong, Jin?"

Rossweisse stopped eating as she noticed me staring at her.

"Hmm? Oh no, just wondering if you normally eat this much, I know two girls, one that's a part of my harem that's a real glutton."

"N-N-No! y-you said to splurge a bit so I did!"

She got a bit flustered and glared at me.

"Pfft—sorry, yeah I did say that."

I apologized and started to eat my own meal, I could feel a few eyes on us, though thanks to Andvari they didn't say or try doing anything. So Rossweisse and I had a pleasant lunch without interruptions.

…

We had gone up to the counter as Andvari was sitting there reading a newspaper while smoking his pipe, he noticed us and put his paper down.

"Enjoy yer meal?"

"Yeah, food was great, might try replicating a few when I get back home."

He laughed at me and shook his head.

"I wish ya, luck lad, it'll take quite a bit of practice to make it like that. Anyway, that'll be €60 for the entire meal."

That's a bit expensive, but nothing that I couldn't pay for. I hand over the exact amount and he happily whistles.

"Nice doing business with ya lad, come by when yer round the place again."

He gives me a thumbs up and I nod.

"Sure thing, I like the place, feels very homey."

"Aye, I try me best to make it like that."

He nodded sagely.

"Now shoo! I need more space for new customers!"

He started to shoo us out and we comply. Once outside I could see Rossweisse was blushing

"Rose? What's wrong?"

I was quite curious as to why she was like this.

"I…I did the math and at least €40 of that was from my meal. I'm sorry!"

So, I paid €20 for my meal then. I shake my head, no big deal.

"Nah it's fine, I did say to splurge. I think it was appropriate enough with how delicious the food was."

She still looked uncertain

"Just…the next time we go out, we'll split it, how about it?"

"…Okay."

She was blushing even more, why? Ah! I said when we go out again, well whatever.

"Well, since the request is over how about we go to old man Odin then?"

She smiles and agrees, we slowly made out way back to the palace chatting about—well Rossweisse was mostly complaining about Odin, I didn't mind. A lot of the things she said was amusing, getting a little bit more glimpses into the old Norse God.

…

"Oh? Done with the request, lad?"

Odin was still reading erotic novels; I'd assume it was a different one…unless other obstacles got in his way.

"Yeah, I'm done with it. Those new recruits have a lot of potential, can't wait to see how far they'll get in the future."

"Good! Good! Now, what do you want for payment? Brynhildr's three sizes? Helmwige's?"

Odin looks at Rossweisse and smirks

"Or, your Rose's three sizes?"

"Odin-sama!"

Rossweisse looked mortified at the thought, or did she think Odin didn't know her three sizes?

"Er—no I'm good, just a bit of money will do."

While I was slightly interested in them, I won't ask for them. I mean Jesus Christ, dude.

[You can always find that out yourself, Partner.]

{You can just tell from a glance after all.}

Cúntóir: Answer: Jin, is a closet pervert, after all, you did put your finger in Akeno's—

Okay! Stop stop stop! I get it! I didn't think they'd try ganging up on me, have these three been talking without my knowledge?

"You sure lad?"

He asked a bit surprised and I just nod.

"I don't have any info I want to know from you yet, so asking for some now would be a waste…also I doubt you'd tell me about the more serious request."

He grinned at me.

"Heh, a lot more perceptive than I thought, Jin. Well done, and yes, I wouldn't have told you that…I need to be certain of it, just before I send it to you."

"Right, anyway."

I summon two pieces of paper with my number on them, I then sent one of them to Odin and hand the other to Rossweisse.

"That's my number, just call or text me next time so you won't need to go through Sera to get to me."

"This is convenient, thank you, Jin."

Odin looks at Rossweisse and a shit-eating grin appears on his face.

"Good for you Rossweisse, you finally got a number from a man."

Rossweisse didn't reply as she just glared at Odin, after doing that for a few seconds, she turns to me.

"Thank you, Jin."

I wave her off it isn't anything to write home about, also makes it easier to contact others without the use of magic or whatever.

"Don't worry about it, anyway. I should get going. I'll see you guys around!"

"Yes, see you soon lad."

"Bye, Jin!"

Did I forget about something? I shook it off Nah…probably not…I teleported home.

…

Third Person Point of View

"He'll be here soon…I hope he didn't forget…"

A certain kangaroo-man was hopeful that the middleman would keep his word.

…

Another day

Jin Skyward

"Jin nya!"

Kuroka jumps on me and straddles me. I was just relaxing on the couch reading. That time I was reincarnated as a walrus I have to admit, it's good, it's nearly one for one of Tensura, but…well the protagonist as a walrus of all things.

"Hey, Kuroka, what's up?"

I put my book down on my chest and stare at the cat girl on top of me.

Everyone was gone, again. Lavinia had gone back to Grigori to start helping Shigune on magic, even though I had told her to text or call me, I'm guessing she became a bit nervous…I'll check up on them soon.

Grayfia was out shopping and Akeno had accompanied her as she wanted to help with cooking for tonight, Ophis was nowhere to be seen as she had been in the necklace for a few days, only asking for me to give her sweets.

Maybe she's reading even more? That's the only logical answer I can come up with. Ingvild was in her room again, I asked her about it and all she said was it involved her song. I didn't bother prying further into it as she didn't look like she'd tell me anything else.

I've gotten a few texts from Rossweisse as of late, well only a few hellos here and there, how are you's and just general chatter. She also complained to me about Odin but also said that her reputation was a lot better since the day we helped the new recruits.

I was happy for her, at least she'll get the respect she deserves, she is a hard worker after all.

"Shirone is coming today, a little bit later though—around the afternoon?"

I see, so it's that time, huh?

"Sure thing, I'll be ready for her when the time comes then."

"Yes nya."

She gave me a few pecks on the lips.

"I'm going to go and wait for her, maybe help with her contracts? She decided to do some today…even though they're not really required to do much nya."

"Anyway, I'll be back with her soon!"

Kuroka got off me and she then teleported away.

Ting!

"It's one thing after another…"

I groaned and summoned my phone, it was Reni.

|Jin?|

|What's up, Reni?|

|Just updating you on Shigune's progress! She might be a natural at this…she got a hang of it quite easily.|

|Heeh? Really? I'll come by and have a look then.|

|Mmm! I took the advice you said to Akeno before, master one element at a time, right? So Shigune is focusing on fire magic right now.|

|Also, please come here I want to know your opinion on her.|

|Aight, bet, I'll teleport now.|

I threw my phone into my [Inventory] and got dressed, I wasn't exactly in appropriate attire. I just put on a red hoodie with black jeans with black converse sneakers. I then teleported to Grigori.

…

Grigori

"Sup y'all."

I greet team Slash/Dog as I had teleported into the lobby where a lot of fallen and other beings converge at. They were there for some reason.

"Oh, hey Jin. Why are you here?"

Tobio looked up from petting Gin.

"Just here to visit and check up on Shigune's progress."

He nodded and went back to petting Gin.

"I see, Lavinia has been helping her with magic lately, was that your idea?"

"Yeah, I did say she could ask me or Reni, guess she went with the more comfortable option for her, they have known each other longer than I have."

"Hey! And why wasn't I offered this?"

Natsume lightly glared at me, earning a chuckle from Tobio.

"Can old birds even learn new tricks?"

Kouki asked with a snort, Natsume sent a kick towards him and he jumped away.

"Try harder next time!"

"Tch, keep your mouth shut, cat."

She turned back to me with a 'Well? Care to explain' look.

"I mean, you and Griffon are already in good sync with each other and you have experience with a gun. But if you want me to help, I wouldn't mind."

"Mmm! Now that's what I'm talking about."

Natsume crossed her arms, proud…about something.

"Anyway, I'll go and find them. See you guys around, and just text or call me Natsume—for when you want my help."

As I walk away, I hear Natsume shout 'will do!'

…

When I entered the training room, I saw Shigune focusing intently on creating a magic circle on her palm, slowly a fireball formed—she then aimed the fireball towards a training dummy made of ice, I would assume Reni made and fired.

Fwoosh!

The fireball hit the ice dummy and it dealt a small amount of damage to it. Not bad, it hasn't been that long since she started. But when I turned my attention back on Shigune she was slightly sweating. Guess it takes a bit out of her for the time being.

Reni turned around to see me standing there observing Shigune, I notice her and she waves me over. I walk over and stand beside her.

"She's around Middle Class in power right now, her mana pool is a bit small since she only started using magic regularly, but she seems to be doing well."

"Mmm, Shigune-chan is doing well ~"

Reni looked like a proud big sister watching over her little sister get better at something she's already a master at.

I wonder how Poh will be in the future once Shigune gets even stronger. Her Sacred Gear is already strong on their own, but if the wielder gets stronger…it'll only amplify their Sacred Gear, leaving out one's desire as well since that's a whole other thing to cover…

Shigune repeats the process a few more times as we both watch her, she slowly gets faster at doing so, practice makes perfect, right? She finally stops and takes a breath, turning her gaze our way—she's a bit surprised to see me. She walks over to us.

"Jin, I didn't notice you were here, sorry…"

She sheepishly apologizes to me and I wave her off.

"Nah, it's fine, you were focused on your training. Anyway, I'm impressed by your growth in such a short time, perhaps you're a genius like Reni?"

I praise her and then pat Reni on the head, earning a small smile from the blonde magician.

"You're exaggerating, Jin. I'm nowhere near that good at magic like Lavinia-san…but I appreciate the compliment."

"Have you shown her what I showed you back in that place?"

I ask Reni and she shakes her head.

"I was thinking about it…but I can't shape mine into the living yet, also she's still a beginner so I didn't see a reason to show her advanced attacks yet…"

"True, but seeing what the future might hold may motivate some people."

I turn to Shigune.

"Here I'll show you."

I summoned a gun made out of fire.

"You already saw Reni do this with ice, and she recently came up with a new gun. It's quite destructive."

I then turn the gun into a hawk much like Griffon.

"I can also shape the fire magic into living beings"

The fire hawk flies around above me before landing on my shoulder and disappearing.

"The sky's the limit when you get better control with your fire magic, starting out simple is a good idea, perfect that fireball attack you've been doing. Once you're confident in it, try other ways,"

Shigune nods looking determined.

"I'll do it."

She runs back in front of the ice dummy and forms another fireball and shoots it, she managed to do it a lot quicker and even made it bigger.

"Looks like a little incentive 'fired' her up. Oh, Shigune!"

I call her back and she comes back.

"I forgot to mention, do you want to try using a weapon?"

She seemed a bit surprised but nods.

"Lavinia-san has a staff and her elemental guns, Natsu has her light gun, Kouki his spear with Byakusa, and Tobio with Gin. I've been wanting to try to get my hands on a weapon that would define myself, I rely on Poh a bit too much…and when I'm on my own I'm defenseless."

"Alright, then take your pick."

I understand her frustrations, so I summoned a number of wooden weapons around her. Swords, spears, axes, fans, nun chucks, and other weapons. Shigune over the next few minutes picked up different weapons and tried them out, she was good with some, horrible with others—but she looked most comfortable with a certain one.

…

"Alright, I think it's a bit obvious which one you're the most comfortable with."

She nods and picks up the whip. Shigune starts to do attacks with it, while she isn't that physically fit yet, the energy and force that transfers over with the whip is a lot less straining for her and the weapon fit her like a glove.

"Yes, I feel like this fits me well."

She smiled as she brought back the weapon.

"Yeah, give me a few days, I'll try to design one that will suit your needs. I'll teleport back here to give it to you."

"Yes, thank you, Jin."

"Maybe I'll make it into a Sacred Gear…"

When I said that the two looked at me with surprise, I bet they weren't expecting that.

"H-Huh? what do you mean by that?"

Shigune stuttered out confused by what I said.

"Hmm? Haha don't think too much into it, I just said it in passing."

This prompted Reni to lightly start smacking my chest.

"Jin! Honesty is the best policy!"

She stops hitting me and pouts.

I pull her into a hug as she still huffed.

"This won't work on me all the time, mister!"

She says but doesn't try to get out of it—heck she seemed to melt into it.

"Your actions and words contradict each other, Reni."

I chuckled at her, making her pout again. I could see that Shigune was standing there awkwardly fiddling with her fingers, not entirely sure on what to do.

"Anyway, I'll stop interrupting your training session, I'm meeting Kuroka's sister today…"

I trail off and pull my phone out to check the time.

"And it looks like they'll be back soon, so I really should get going."

"Nooo ~"

Reni pouts even harder as she started to rub her face against my chest "I want to meet her little sister ~"

"Ahahaha…"

Shigune didn't know how to act when Lavinia—who was older than her started to act like this. I kiss her on the forehead

"You'll have more chances to meet her in the future, she might become a regular visitor, after all."

This calms the girl down and she nods, satisfied.

"Alright, I'll see you soon, Shigune."

"Bye, Jin."

She waves me off and I teleport away.

…

Japan, Kuoh

Skyward household

Just as I got back to my house, I got a text from Kuroka saying she's teleporting now with Shirone. I quickly put my mask on and sit down on the couch. I notice that even when I was gone for so long In was still in her room.

Not a Neet she says… I couldn't help but muse.

Shing!

Guess my timing was impeccable. I watch as both Kuroka and Shirone teleport into the living room. Once they did, the white-haired cat girl starts to look around, curious to see on what kind of home I had. She finally notices me sitting on the couch and nods.

Kuroka takes her hand and leads her towards me, she sits beside me and Shirone stands there waiting.

"Ahem…why do you have your mask on?"

Kuroka seemed unamused by my actions.

"Pfft—sorry I just wanted to— make it more…suspense?"

I took the mask off and revealed myself to Shirone, her eyes become wide as saucers.

"J-Jin-senpai?!"

I wave to her.

"Hey, hey Shirone. Surprised to see me?"

I grinned at her as she slowly nodded her head.

"I…I didn't expect this…"

She was still dumbfounded by the reveal.

"Yeah, it's Jin nya…hey, where did Ingvild go?"

"She's still in her room, I have no idea what that girl is doing."

"Hmmm, maybe she's doing final touch-ups for her song? I've heard her humming it more and more nya."

Shirone was listening into our conversation, I'm sure she's aware of who Ingvild is, Akeno did mention that they were told my Grayfia not too long ago.

"Now…that I think about it…Akeno-senpai acting all weird once you moved into the town…it made sense, you should be the masked person."

Shirone finally speaks up and comes to a certain conclusion.

"Haha, yeah, please keep this a secret from Rias for now, please? I'll reveal myself to her when a certain thing happens…it shouldn't be too long from now."

Shirone was a bit reluctant but nods in the end. I seal the deal by summoning a bag of sweets and giving it to her.

"Okay…! Thank you…senpai…"

She took up residency on the other side of me. She begins to eat the sweets as she starts to ask me the same questions, as when I knew of the supernatural, why I moved here, and all that good stuff.

"Jin's also the Red Dragon Emperor nya!"

She told her and I lightly chopped her head

"Why nya?!"

"I already told you not to say that part willy-nilly, jeez."

"You're also the Red Dragon Emperor?"

"Yeah, also keep this a secret, I'll give you more sweets." 

A bit shocked but Shirone readily agrees since sweets were involved. She then asks me when I awakened my gear, I also gave her the same fake story as I did with everyone else. Suddenly my necklace glowed and Ophis appeared on my lap.

"Jin, sweets."

She puts her hand out and I summoned another bag for her. Shirone was a bit stunned when a new girl appeared out of nowhere, she slowly looked up at me with a face of slight disgust.

"Shirone wait nya!"

Kuroka seeing how it might play out shouts and points to Ophis.

"She's a Dragon God! One of the strongest beings of our world."

When Shirone heard that she flinches and slowly backs away, a bit scared of the being in front of her. She couldn't believe that the little girl that was in front of her was that powerful.

The two stare at each other, Ophis shifting her weight and moving down from my lap and onto the couch. Both slowly reach into each other's bag, pull out a sweet, and pop it into their mouths. Ophis then crawled back onto my lap and Shirone came back closer to me. They both nodded and then returned back to normal.

You can't just do that and act like nothing happened?! Did…did I just witness a friendship form through sweets?!

[Their love and comradery for sweets transcend common sense, Partner.]

{Seems like it, give up trying to understand their reasoning, Jin.}

We had a pleasant conversation afterward, talking about myself, Shirone, and about their past. Ophis started to refer to Kuroka as Black Cat and Shirone as White Cat, or just calling both sisters Cats.

…

"Jin-senpai, thank you for helping us."

After a small silence as she ate her sweets, Kuroka sleeping beside me, and Ophis now reading a book.

"Hmm? Oh, don't worry. I'm glad that you guys were reunited."

I brushed her off, I already heard a lot of it from Kuroka, I didn't need Shirone to be repeating her sisters' words, while I appreciate it, it can get repetitive. Shirone giggles.

"Mmm, I'm sure you did…but still, I want to thank you…"

"No problem…"

I instinctively start petting her head, surprising her a little but doesn't stop me. She also lets out her cat ears and tail while this happened, I gave her ears a little scratch like what I do with Kuroka, earning a little purring from her.

I hear someone snicker beside me, Kuroka had woken up and seen her sister enjoying her pets.

"Looks like someone likes those just as much as I do."

When Shirone heard Kuroka comment her eyes shot open as she had closed them and quickly swiped my hand away.

"Awww ~ little Shirone is embarrassed."

"Ugh…Nee-sama…"

She complained as she was blushing, she had retracted her cat features out of embarrassment. I then feel the Dragon God tug at my hand, so I started to pet her instead.

The rest of her visit was pleasant, but she had to leave and unluckily for Reni, she didn't get to see Shirone for the day, so I had to consult a sulking magician for the rest of the night.

That's how my friendship with Shirone—or Koneko Toujou started.

…

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