10 Chapter 9

I woke up the next morning to a very naked cat girl clinging to my side.

So, the best way to wake up, of course!

What made it even better was that she was purring at the same time, with the most adorable grin across her face.

With a small chuckle, I extract myself from her grasp, my body crying in grief at the loss of her softness.

Turns out I'm not the only one suffering inside as Kuroka slowly frowns at my absence.

Her purring suddenly ceases, only to be replaced by a quiet whine as she reaches out and snatches up the pillows.

With an amused chuckle, I reach out and pet her head, "I'm going to go get breakfast started, alright? Shouldn't be long."

She snuggled up against my hand, and gave up a hum of what I'm fairly certain is a hum in agreement.

Pretty sure, what else could, "Hmmmfghnn." mean?

Regardless, after throwing on a fresh new yukata, I'm up and out of my room shortly after.

It takes me walking about halfway to the kitchen to realize something.

"Oh yeah. I got a maid to do all this for me!"

And with that jubilant exclamation, I turn and make my way to Uzume's room instead.

And promptly kick down the door when I make it there.

"Raise and shine! It's breakfast time!" I say whilst walking in, stopping halfway to her bed.

She's sprawled out half-naked.

Course she is.

"Maid!" I call out, "Wake the fuck up!"

"Mnnn…" she mumbles, and pulls the covers over her face, "five more minutes, please Goshujin-sama~...?" she gives her ass a little shake.

Bitch you trying to bribe me?

I answer in the only fashion appropriate to this disobedience.

By taking a few steps back, then bomb-rushing her down, and leaping.

I dropkick her off the bed.

"GHAA!?" she screeches and hits the wall with a pathetic flop, she isn't down for long though, scampering up right before she starts whining, "N-Nori-kun-!"

"Nope!" I cut her off, "Don't start! I wanna see if you can cook, so get that ass in uniform and get moving! Also," I narrow my eyes, "that's Goshujin-sama to you unless you need another reminder?"

"Mmmm!" she squirms, holding her head, "Too hungover for this!"

With a snort, I walk over to her and lift her to her feet, "Yeah, well, it won't be an issue anymore. No more drinking for you."

Her eyes widen into saucers as she looks at me, blanching, "Wah!?"

I give her a casual nod, "Mhmm, and before I forget!"

She flinches as I bring up my hand once more, only to give a confused blink once I bring it down and only pat her head.

I go right up to her ear, and whisper, "So I noticed you didn't leave a mess outside my door the other night, good job! Have some head pats! Also," I turn my tone much softer, "head pats for taking care of the Dojo all this time. You earned that much, at least."

Confusion slowly morphs into a small smile as she leans into my touch.

Ah. I'm gonna turn her into a head pat slut over the years, aren't I?

That small smile quickly becomes a look of realization as she turns and eyes me, "W-wait, are you paying me in head pats?"

"Yes." I reply simply.

"Wah!?" she sputtered in response, once more.

"Be glad I'm paying you at all," I continued before she could say something stupid, "now!" I rear back my other hand and deliver a big meaty slap to her rear while she wasn't looking.

The flush on her face and the squeal she let out was the cherry on top of the cake of the sheer look of betrayal on her face.

"Get this ass in a uniform, and let's see how well you can cook!" I command.

After a brief moment of composing herself, she let out, "H-Hai! Goshujin-sama!" and scurried off to do just that. I think.

Regardless, I set down for the living room myself, where my jacket was haphazardly thrown to the ground before…well, I guess you could call it a type of training?

Bedroom Method training. Ki training. That type of thing!

Also, another thing to add to the list of shit I gotta train.

Joy.

Moving on, my jacket has the summoning slips in its pockets, both Sitri and Gremory.

With a huff, I find said jacket and take those slips out before chucking the thing onto the destroyed couch's armrest.

Ah well. Just another thing for the maid to clean up, no?

Speaking of cleaning, I really oughta have her do that while I make a 'deal' or two.

I lay the summoning slips out on the table, and take a seat, looking over the two small fliers while I wait.

Now, who should I summon first?

A responsible person might summon Sona's posse first, but I'm feeling rather, hmm…I dunno, lazy today?

Not that I don't wanna train, I will later, but I know I've got some gaming system lying around here.

A whole emulator and all, actually, with a shit ton of different games.

And if I recall correctly, Shirone takes requests for gaming with her clients.

Now, as loath as I am to summon a Devil to play games with them, it's like the equivalent of a more pathetic Rent-A-Girlfriend in my mind, I'm not doing this to make friends.

This is part of the plan to get Shirone comfortable enough around me, and hopefully, a Kuroka in cat form, so that the reveal of her sister doesn't make her die from a heart attack or something.

Huh. You know, I just had a thought. I don't think I told Uzume or Kuroka what happened last nigh—

"Goshujin-sama!" Oh shit. "It's do—" at that moment, Uzume came walking into the kitchen with way too much food to be done already.

Like. What the fuck. How do you already make waffles!? It's been like a few minutes, tops!

Also, she paused because she was staring dead set at the summoning slips in front of me.

"You cheated and used your divine powers, didn't you?" I suddenly say, without missing a beat.

Uzume blinked. "Huh?"

"With the food, Uzume, there's no way in hell you made all that already!" I elaborate.

"B-Beh!?" she stutters, dumbfounded whilst putting it all on the table, "So what if I did!?"

I shrug, and smirk, "Nothing. I just felt like pointing it out."

As long as it's good, I don't care.

Uzume pointed at me, her face pouting, "You! Y-You! Gha! That's not the point!" she slams her hands down on the table, "Nori. Where did you get those fliers from?"

"Bunch of Devil familiars." I respond casually.

Another slam, as Uzume's head hits the table.

Slowly, she lets out a low whining groan.

"Why, why are there still Devils in Kuoh!?" she cries out into the table.

Huh.

"Is there not supposed to be?" I ask with a raised eyebrow.

Uzume raises her head slightly, "No! Well…I don't think so?" she clicks her tongue and stands back up straight, "Remember how I mentioned that meeting your mother had after your Dad died?" she asked, her face stony.

Oh…I think I see where this is going.

"Yeah?" I confirm, "Let me guess, Mom wanted them all out of Japan?"

Uzume nodded, "Yup. Although that's what she wanted, that doesn't mean she got it." Uzume crosses her arms and starts rapidly tapping her foot against the ground, "Without help, Ama can't enforce anything on Earth, since she doesn't technically rule it directly anymore."

With a sigh, Uzume continues, "That responsibility was handed down to her grandson and was supposed to be in the hands of the Imperial Family and Five Clans today."

Pointedly, Uzume looks at me, "Your father was the closest to consolidating Japan, you know? He had Ama's blessing, and he was the Crown Prince, if he had lived…" she trails off, melancholic.

I, meanwhile, blinked.

"Uzume," I say, blankly, "you don't just casually drop that kind of bombshell, you know!?"

I mean, I always expected it considering his name and mentions of an inheritance, but damn girl, could at least lean into it rather than slap me in the face with it!

"E-Eh? O-Oh!" her eyes widen and she gives an awkward laugh, "Right, right! Sorry! I jus—"

"Uzume." I say, pointedly, "Just move on."

"R-Right, right…" Uzume cleared her throat, "where was I? Uh, right! The Imperial Family with their Bureau can't fight the Devils, the Clans are too busy throwing their members out to deal with it, so…yeah."

"And the Earthly Kami?" I ask though I get the feeling I know the answer.

"Too weak, too divided, or locked up in shrines," Uzume answers, "the only two who could fight the Devils are Inari, but she's too busy, and my husband, but he hasn't left the bridge in centuries." she lets out a tired discontent sigh.

"I'm not shocked the Devils continued with business as normal, they probably expected Ama to forget or not take up her mirror again, but…" Uzume mutters in slight horror, and…astonishment? "she really is like her siblings, to some extent."

"That turns you on, doesn't it." I more so state, accusingly.

"Yes."

A beat passes.

"W-Wait, I—"

"Nope!" I smile good-naturedly at the suddenly very embarrassed maid goddess that refuses to look me in the eyes, "That's going to stay a core memory for the rest of my life, I just want you to know."

While Uzume squirms under my teasing gaze, I reel, mentally.

All that I just heard? I don't like it one bit.

I already knew the Five Principle Clans were kind of shit, more concerned with tradition and other stupidity rather than the state of the world.

And the less said about the Bureau and Imperial Family, the better. They likely can't do much on the supernatural side due to a lack of power.

So, Japan, my new home here, is kinda screwed isn't it?

If the Devils aren't supposed to be in Kuoh but are anyway, then that means the Fallen probably are as well.

Transgression after transgression.

And that's just the outside problems, what about internal ones? Are there any Shinto or Buddhist Gods to worry about, the Yokai?

Hold up.

Why am I getting so worked up over this?

Internally, anyway.

Dad tried to fix all this, but he got killed, no?

Well. Yeah…but he was just Human. I'm not. I could do more, couldn't I?

That sounds disrespectful.

I…need more time to think about this.

Externally, I let out a frown and sighed, prompting Uzume to finally look at me, "Regardless. Devils in Kuoh, alright? Not much to do about it right now. Besides, I met one of their Peerages—"

Slam.

Uzume just smashed her head into the table.

"Uh," I blink, holding a hand out to her head, "Uzume, you okay…?"

I flinch back as she suddenly throws her head back up and stares me down.

"Are you okay? Did they hurt you!? Did they offer to make you into one of their slaves!?" she asked, rapidly, Holy Spirit Power flickering around her into sparks of dawn-like light.

Okay. Damn. Probably should have seen that reaction coming.

"Eh," I wave off, "the King of the Peerage, she wanted me to answer some of her questions, I said no…unless she fought me."

Slam.

I grimace and continue, "So I fought her Queen, hit her with a fire dragon and all, and told her I'd text her later using one of these!" I tap the Sitri slip.

Slam. Slam. Slam.

"Nori." Uzume grumbles into the table.

"Yes…?"

"Why are you like this?" she asked with a pained breath.

"Because it's funny." I answered amused, prompting a groan from the maid, "Also, I wanted a good fight, strays are rare in Kuoh, and I wanted a proper challenge for once?"

It was at that moment, a certain someone entered the room.

And almost immediately started stretching out provocatively, because of course she had to come down here for that, no?

"Mmnnyaaahh~!" Kuroka practically moaned as she stretched out the tension in her body.

Well. At least she's wearing…something.

Thin tank top and panties are still clothes. Mostly.

"What's all the noise about down here, nya~?" she rubs her droopy eyes with the back of her hand, "It sounded like someone was trying to break in!"

Before I could say anything, Uzume shot up and looked at Kuroka with gods on high tears in her eyes.

"Kuroka-chan!" she pointed at me, "Nori-kun went out, met a Devil Peerage, and challenged their Queen to a fight!"

Oi. Are you telling on me to my cat girl?

Well hah! Jokes on you! I ain't whipped!

Also, spankings later. Cheeky shit.

I sent a baleful glare at Uzume that caused her to squeak and back up slightly.

Meanwhile, Kuroka blinked and tilted her head. "So that's why you were so out of it when you came home last night, nya~?" she struts over to me and suddenly sits on my lap, and wraps her arms around my neck, "As to be expected of my mate, nya~! Did you kick their ass?"

"Yup." I smirk, and mirror the 'fuck me' eyes Kuroka is suddenly sending me right back at her, deriving high sadistic joy in the way Uzume squirms off to the side.

I'm like, fairly sure she's doing this just fuck with Uzume. Fairly.

Could also be that she's horny again.

Or both. It's probably both.

Wait a minute.

I pause briefly, considering what she just said fully. "Mate?" I parrot back to her, "Is that a Yokai thing? And since when was I your mate?"

"Since you fucked me into your bed and declared it 'breeding training'~" she replied with a sly grin, Uzume had the nerve to gasp at that, "also, yes, it is a Yokai thing, nya~!"

It really is that simple with her, huh?

Also, I didn't notice it until right now, but Kuroka is ever so slowly grinding herself against my hips.

Oh yeah, it's both.

"Careful kitty~," I warn her hotly, reaching around to take big handfuls of her ass, "or we'll continue off directly from last night~..."

She shivers and mewls at that, grinding against me harder with a sly lewd smirk plastered across her face.

Hmm. Uzume is a future head pat slut, Kuroka? She's a slut slut.

Guess that's what happens when you go from slutty virgin to not so virgin anymore in a single long night.

My bad!

Unfortunately for Kuroka, as much as I'd love to fuck her into the table, there is work to be done and food to eat!

With that thought, I bonk her on the head.

"Nya~!?" she flinches, grabbing her head and gapping at me, "Nori-kuuun~!"

"Not now, kitty! Breakfast is right behind you, and we've got a very present audience." I remind her.

And then all horny is lost, practically with a snap of the fingers, as she whirls around and eyes the bacon with sparkling eyes.

Cats, everyone.

Also, more of her ass is pushing into my crotch.

Task failed successfully?

I then look at a flushed, yet snickering, Uzume.

Well, that won't do.

"Oi. Voyeur Maid." I call out blandly, and she freezes, "What are you snickering about, go clean the living room!"

"V-Voyeur!?" she blanched in response, "I'm not…! You two…! You! Hnnnghhh!" she groans and shuffles away, presumably before she can say something stupid.

Look at her, she's learning!

"Ah, Nori-kun?" Kuroka spoke suddenly, though slightly muffled and much more softly due to the bacon stuffing her mouth.

Also, the fact she finally noticed the summoning slips and is staring dead at the Gremory one might have something to do with it.

"Are these…?" she trails off, and I just chuckle, wrapping my arms around her waist and pulling her in for a hug.

"Correct." I confirm for her, "I presume you recognize the sigil on one of these, yeah?"

She nods, absentmindedly, "The Gremory Clan…Shirone…" she says longingly.

"Well then," I kiss her on the back of the neck, "let's eat, and figure out how we're going to go about this!"

Operation, reunite the cat sisters in a way that doesn't further destroy their relationship is a go!

~ A New Sun ~

The plan was simple.

I would summon Shirone, or Koneko as is now, and make a contract with her.

It doesn't matter what exactly, it could be playing games, training, whatever.

The point is, I make a pact with her.

Next part?

Be a decent, non-perverted, normal human(?) being

Yup, it's that simple.

If I recall correctly, Koneko's contractors are generally losers who make her do weird shit.

Like that one guy, who had her dress up as anime characters and carry him around like a baby.

Yup. Not exactly envious of that job.

In the end, be myself, and make friends with smol cat girl.

While all that's going on, Kuroka is going to pose as my completely normal pet cat, that wanders around doing cat things.

When Koneko opens up, hopefully with her version of the sisters' backstory, then Kuroka can finally reveal herself.

But, well…

"Let me just go around and check the wards again, okay, nya?" my cat girl who now actually looks like a cat asks. Again. For the seventeenth time in the last thirty minutes. "It'll be quick, nya! I promise, nya!"

I've learned a few new things about Kuroka today.

One?

[spoiler=Kat.][/spoiler]

She looks really cute in her Yokai form. Just a black cat with two tails, though she's currently using transformation magic to hide her second tail.

Two. When she's nervous or stressed, her verbal tick is constant.

And three.

I grab her before she can run off again and check the damn wards like she's been doing all day, setting her on my lap. "No." I affirm, "We're doing this, now."

"But…! But! Nyan!" she fluffs out and puts her paws over her head as she whimpers, "...can we not just kidnap her instead, nya!?"

She tries to make really stupid fucking decisions when she's stressed.

My eyes darted down to look at her, "Do you want me to go get the chair leg again!?" I glared, heat in my eyes.

Kuroka instantly cowered, "N-No Master, n-nya!"

When I gave her my plan originally, she suggested we did what she did in canon during the Youth Devils Tournament.

I objected by tearing off a chair leg and bonking her over the head with it.

Honestly? I don't think it's the chair leg itself that knocked some sense into her over that, it was the sheer vitriol in my reaction that did.

Still, none of that's stopped her from trying to delay my summoning her by doing silly shit like setting up and checking wards over and over.

I only let her do it, because Kuroka thinks Shirone practices or utilizes Senjutsu, and would thus be able to sense her without wards.

I had no reason to object there since I wouldn't realistically know otherwise.

Poor Kuroka, she's gonna be in for one hell of a surprise when Shirone finally shows up, huh?

In any case, I have Sitri Devils to summon and bulli later tonight, preferably right before daybreak for maximum fuck you energy.

"Kuroka," I called out to her, my gaze softening as she looked at me, "we're burning nighttime, we gotta do this now." I state with finality.

Kuroka's ears pinned to the back of her head, and she shuffled up against me closer, before muttering out a barely audible, "O-Okay…"

With that, I picked up the Gremory summoning slip that sat next to us on the couch.

Uzume, being the good little head pat voyeur maid she is, cleaned the living room and even moved some of the furniture out so there'd be enough room for the summoning circle.

The little slip simply said something about granting your wish.

Hmm, my wish huh?

I wish Kuroka and her sister would make up.

Aiming that desire towards the slip, the Gremory Clan sigil on it suddenly glowed a bright crimson red.

I reached down on instinct, running my fingers through my cat's back fur as she flinched at the sudden lights, "Here she comes, kitty."

It didn't take long after that for a full-on magic circle to appear right in the middle of my living room.

And with it?

Exactly who I wanted to see.

To none of my surprise, the cat under my hand froze like a deer caught in the headlights at her appearance.

Meanwhile, the cat now standing before me just gave the black cat in my lap a simple once over, before leveling her eerily passive and emotionless gaze on me directly.

Despite the gaze, she is pretty darn cute. Long sleeved white shirt under a brown sleeveless blazer, short jean skirt, and cute little dark brown boots.

Glad I managed to catch her a time she wasn't wearing the damn school uniform.

"You are the one that summoned a Devil, yes?" she asks simply, and I merely nod, "I am Koneko Toujou, what is your wish?"

Well, damn. She's every bit as stoic as I recall her being.

Somehow, that doesn't make her less cute.

I put a hand to my chest, "Well, Toujou-san, my name is Noriaki Kusanagi. And this here is Chomusuke!" I pat disguised Kuroka on the head.

Who properly turns, and gives me a scathing glare.

My bright beaming smile never wavers.

Sucks no one would get that reference here beyond the chuuni as fuck sounding name.

But I think Koneko got the spirit of the reference by the way her lips twitched slightly.

I huff out a sigh, "And honestly? I'm actually a tad bit unsure as to what my wish should be."

Koneko raises an eyebrow slightly, "Unsure…?"

"Mhmm," I hum and continue, "It's like, I'm quite lonely here—" her eyes narrow, "not like that!" I quickly interjected.

"Then what." she asks coldly.

Christ, cat. Chill for a second.

"Like, okay, look." I lean back into the couch, "I'll give you the simple less personal version of sad anime backstory," another twitch of the lips, I continue as normal, "my maid majorly fucked up upbringing. So I don't have any friends. Or social skills, mostly. I got over it. But you see, because of that, I don't have any friends to do fun stuff with." I promptly whip out one of my controllers from between the couch cushions!

"Like play video games with!" my eyebrow twitches at that, hell that sounded so pathetic!

Koneko's narrowed eyes give me that same feeling, just with a healthy dose of pity atop that, "...you could have just led with that."

Fuck it. Enough cringe.

I chuckle, "Maybe, huh? But, well, like I said it's a hard choice…" I slowly stand up, my motion giving enough time for Kuroka Chomusuke to jump off my lap. "I'm unsure, see because while that's all fun and dandy, I've also got something else in mind."

This is a shonen anime world, after all…

I walk over to her, her eyes narrowing as she looks up at me, "Tell me," I ask, "how good are you at throwing a punch?"

She blinked at that, "I'm pretty good. Why?"

My smile may as well be blinding, "Spar with me?" I ask simply.

She furrowed her eyebrows at me, "That's…probably not a good idea."

"I can take a hit, or two, or three," I assure her, "besides, it'll be fun, I think. Never know until you try it?"

Koneko stares at me impassively, then shrugs, "It'll be your funeral, I guess."

Hah! Dub Koneko! Yes! Best timeline!

"I'll be fine, Toujou-san!" I said faking hurt, "Really, you haven't even seen me in action yet, don't judge a book by its cover you know?"

The stare Koneko sent me could bring about the next Ice Age.

"...I suppose." she dully replies, before pulling out a tablet like device, "Now, about payment..."

Ugh. Paperwork. Miss me with that shit and let's get to the good stuff already!

~ A New Sun ~

Koneko didn't know what to think exactly of this potential client of hers.

He was different from her standard clientele, that much was for sure.

In that, he didn't appear to be a pathetic, degenerate loser who wanted her to do weird shit.

She could get behind that.

Also, his claim of being able to handle himself in a fight, although at first just sounded like he was low-key digging at her small frame, might hold some merit.

The devices that Devils use to calculate prices for wishes and contracts are generally based on the worth of the person making the wish.

So, when she pointed the device at him, imagine her internal shock when it found that he was considered a potentially exceedingly high-value client.

Like, several times the value of all her current clients, combined.

It's a level of value in a client that someone like her President should have gotten, but instead, the summoning determined his wish and desire was best granted by her.

Curious.

After signing the digital paperwork, he asked her to follow him over to his dojo, which she obliged to.

On the way, Koneko was trying to figure out exactly why he was considered such a high-value client

Looking around his full-on estate, she gets the feeling it could be the money…but, no.

Akeno-senpai and Yuuto-senpai, get rich clientele all the time, but their worth isn't nearly that much more substantial.

As for the young man himself? Well, he doesn't seem particularly special.

Hell, she can't even smell him.

Wait.

He smells like...nothing?

That's unusual. And slightly worrisome.

As they enter the dojo, her fists tense slightly at just how eerie the place looks.

Though, the guy, Kusanagi, just waves it off. "Yeah, I know. I think it looks cool, especially at night, but I can see how it looks to others."

Koneko gave a stiff nod to that.

It did, in fact, actually look incredibly edgy, at least in her eyes. But she wasn't about to say that out loud.

Maybe. She's thinking about it.

Eventually, they reached a longer, more traditional looking training hall, and Kusanagi took up the other end of it.

With a bright, very punchable smile, he turns and looks at her, "Ready when you are, Toujou-chan!"

Her eyebrow twitched at that. This guy…

Regardless, she takes up her position and raises her fists in a boxer's stance. "Hai, Kusanagi-san." she stresses coldly.

His smile just gets wider.

Then, he starts pulling off the top of his yukata.

She blinks.

…okay. She changes her evaluation. He's very much not like the worthless degenerate losers who probably never left their homes a day in their lives before.

This guy is ripped. Mildly, he isn't a bodybuilder, but more like a swimmer.

Maybe his confidence in fighting her isn't too unfounded, after all?

Also, that tattoo on his collarbone.

Yakuza, perhaps?

"Sorry sorry, Toujou-chan," she was, admittedly, too busy staring thinking to correct him again, "it's just, I'd rather not destroy another one of my robes again you know?"

She gets that sentiment. She always scuffs her clothes in fights too.

Wait. Again?

Then he moved.

Koneko had to strain her eyes to see him coming, and even then, she barely had time to bring up her guard to stop his fist from connecting with her nose.

Her arms shook as she absorbed the blow, and she was sent sliding several feet back from her original position.

She blinked and looked at him incredulously.

Why? Well.

"Damn, girl!" he whined, shaking the arm that he struck at her with, "You've got the durability of a Queen!" his smile shifted slightly, "Nice."

Why does the way he said make her wanna call him a pervert?

"Come on then, Toujou-chan!" he enters an…interesting looking stance, breathing deep before his eyes focus on her intensely, "Test me."

She doesn't know what exactly this is, but this has to be a type of perversion, right?

Regardless, she isn't one to not give as good as she got.

Besides, his face is very punchable.

Rushing forwards at a not inconsiderable speed, she delivers a right hook, straight to his jaw.

To her shock and slight horror, he tanks it, shifts his body, and punches her straight in the jaw right back.

The force nearly sends her airborne, it was stronger than his first punch after all, but she's quick enough to grab the hem of his robe and stay her ground.

"Ey!" with a kiai, she lifts him up and promptly throws him across the hall in response.

He twists midair, spinning to land on his feet, hitting the wall before springboarding off it and right back at her.

Their fists collide as soon as he makes it to her, staggering both and stopping his flight.

As soon as he lands on the ground, however, he's upon her once more.

A jab to the left side of her face that she's forced to take and let slide as she punches at his center of mass.

Only for him to come up with his free hand and redirect it away.

She steps into his personal space, and spins on her feet, lashing out with a kick that connects to his center.

He grunts as his breath temporarily leaves him, and she dashes forward to press pressure upon him.

A right hook from her is dodged, she backflips away from his retaliatory left chop, then dashes forwards to shoulder tackle him.

He steps forward, his own shoulder out, stopping her advance with barely a flinch back.

She frowns, right into his smiling face as they locked eyes.

He's the one to disengage, trying to trip her up and knee her center, but she catches his knee easily and pushes him.

Following up, she begins an absolutely brutal assault, advancing on him with constant jabs and strikes aimed at his stomach.

He easily pushes her attacks away, redirecting them several times with his superior reach and the palm of his hands, all whilst backpedaling to force her to expend more and more energy trying to keep up.

It was incredibly annoying.

"Tch!" she huffed, and suddenly lashed out, grabbing his arm as he redirected another one of her jabs.

"Ho?" he raised an eyebrow, then his eyes widened comically as she flipped him over her shoulder and jumped on his back, wrapping her arms around his throat and legs around his waist.

"Ah," he noted, with strain, "well aren't you cute, giving a hug to a guy you just met!"

What.

He then promptly jumped into the air and slammed her straight into the floor upon coming back down.

He grabs onto one of her arms, holding it whilst pinning her in place under his weight as he starts elbowing her over and over again with his free arm, straight into her side.

"You gonna let go?" he calls out, muffled and choked.

"Nope." she responds with a pained wince.

"Alright then!"

Suddenly, he hops to his feet.

He blasts forwards, jumps, and flips, and slams both of them right into the far wall with enough force to make the entire building creek.

The two sputter to the ground shortly after, herself dislodged from his back.

With a groan, she gets up slowly, looking at the young man who's rubbing his throat, wincing as he does so.

"Damn, I didn't even consider that as a weakness," he idly notes, then looks at her with appreciation, "thanks for that!"

She has no fucking clue what he's talking about.

He stands up, seemingly not much worse for wear, "Also, damn, you fight rough huh?"

She snorts, "You as well." she goes to brush off her clothes, but…ah.

Chunks of cloth are missing here and there, though thankfully her underwear remains. Somehow.

Lovely.

She immediately eyes him again, "Look and I'll kill you."

He eyes her right back, momentarily stunning her, "Oho? You can fuck me with your eyes but I can't do the same? Double standards much, Toujou-chan?"

Her eyebrows twitched as she huffed out, "Pervert."

"Pervert." he shot right on back with a stupid smile.

She blushed, slightly.

He chuckles, "Don't mind your ruined clothes. I'll give you something you can wear after, alright?"

"...fine." she concedes, "If it's skimpy, I'll murder you in your sleep."

"It's just a shirt," he looks at her much more intently, "seriously, are you okay? Do you deal with perverts that often that even the slightest hint in that direction makes you flip?"

Well. No. But considering how her normal clientele usually are…

She shrugs at him, "It's just better to keep an eye out."

And also keeps herself far away from her personality.

He looks at her, then reluctantly shrugs, "Alright. But you tell me if my teasing goes too far, alright Toujou-san? I don't wanna make you feel uncomfortable."

She blinks at that.

How shockingly considerate…

Wait. Teasing?

Before she can reach the proper train of thought to strangle him again, he's suddenly holding a bottle of water.

"Water?" he holds it up to her, she nods, and he tosses it over to her. "Ready for Round 2 when you are!"

He practically skips over to where he was standing before, and Koneko narrows her eyes at him as he goes.

She downs the entire bottle in a single chug, smashes it, and throws it aside before mirroring his position.

She isn't usually into fighting all that much, but she feels the need to prove something here.

And also break his nose for nearly breaking her jaw earlier.

"Hai." she enters her stance, glaring at him as he does.

"Let's begin, round 2!" and with that, he rushes at her once more.

~ A New Sun ~

Well. My everything hurts.

Fighting a cat girl who can rival a Queen like Sona's in raw physical strength and durability with pure martial arts all night tends to have that effect.

Speaking of…

"Like the shirt I got you?" I eye her cheekily.

"I will destroy you." she replied coldly, sitting there on the floor with a glare that promised death.

Though the small flush on her face kind of took away from it.

Hmm, wonder why she's so mad? I kept my promise! The oversized white shirt with a cute little kitty face on it covers her perfectly, doesn't show anything at all!

Heeheehee~!

I smirk, and raise my arm slowly from my prone position on my back to give a thumbs up, "Ah, like you did during our fights? Why, go on ahead! I could use the cardio!"

Her eye twitches at that.

No, but like, seriously? This girl broke my nose seven times.

Don't think she noticed though, I heal fast.

We fought at least a dozen or so rounds, with breaks thrown about every few so she could catch her breath.

When she noticed I didn't get tired mid-fight, it just made her try and break me harder.

Honestly? Love the spirit! You go kitty!

Truly, this type of training is waaay better than raw physical exercise. Breaking my body on a petite cat girl's fist and with my martial arts, is always superior.

…I think I may have issues.

A tablet-looking device nearly soars past me, I catch it casually before it does.

"Whatever," she huffs, "just fill that out so we can be done already."

I chuckle and idly begin doing so, "You have fun, Toujou-san?" I ask offhandedly.

I get a grumbling hum in response.

"For what it's worth, you did break my nose like, seven times." I remark.

I'm fairly certain she snaps her gaze towards me, as I can feel her incredulous gaze bore into the side of my head.

"How…?" she asks, still disbelieving.

Hmm. Should I reveal who or what I am? Really?

Let's see. I'm only fucking with Sona and her Peerage out of spite, purely because Sona made our first interaction intentionally as awkward and painful as fuck.

Also, her Queen called me names, so I threw a dragon at her.

Koneko broke my nose several times, but I asked for it, and I like her quite a bit.

Eh. What the hell? If my luck with Sona was any indication, Rias and Co would eventually find out anyway.

"I'm not human," I state casually, "fully anyway. I'm half, I think."

"You think?" she asks, still unbelieving.

I shrug, then look up from the tablet to eye her, "Yup, half human, and…" I let the floodgates that is my Holy Spirit Power open, and surge out across the dojo, "half-god."

Her reaction was instantaneous, the moment I opened the valve so to speak, Koneko paled, shivered, and began to sweat. Her eyes widened comically and started shaking.

And then I reeled it all back in like it wasn't even there.

"Or at least I think so, anyways? Shinto myth doesn't have demigods in the Western terms, but, eh…" I rub the back of my head, "It works for now, so that's what I've been running with."

After several brief seconds of Koneko catching her breath, she replied with a heated glare, "Don't do that again without warning, or I'll kill you."

Jeez. So quick to threaten death.

"Don't doubt what I say, or I'll give you head pats!" I respond in kind.

Koneko gives me a blank stare at that.

I simply chuckled, moving my eyes back to the screen, ah…review huh…how would I rate Koneko's job?

"Hmm, you know, you're really tough," I say aloud, basically what I'm writing down, "about as tough as the Sitri's Queen I fought the other day, in terms of pure physical ability."

"You fought…huh." she blinks out, "Why?"

I shrug, "The Sitri King earlier that day made getting my uniform at my new school awkward as hell. So, when night rolled around, they caught me hunting strays for training, and she asked questions? Well," I smile positively devilishly, "I made 'em work for it in a duel."

Koneko stared at me for a good, long moment. "You didn't give them answers, did you, Kusanagi-san?"

"Nope~!" I confirm cheerily, "I'm supposed to summon a Sitri Devil tonight, give them answers then, but…eh." I wave off, "Don't know if I'm feeling it tonight either. I'll likely just be coy about it all."

To my slight surprise, Koneko nodded vigorously at that, "Good. That bitch deserves it."

Damn, Koneko. Did someone from her Peerage or the Student Council steal your snacks?

…that's probably exactly what happened, isn't it?

Still. My people!

After a brief moment of thinking further, Koneko perks up, "Wait. You mentioned a new school?" she asks simply.

"Yeah," I confirm, "Kuoh Academy, I'll be starting my Third Year of high school there soon."

And by that, I mean I'm making clones do it.

"Huh. Small world, I guess." Koneko mutters, before suddenly standing up.

Holding the hem of her shirt, she bows deeply to me.

"Then allow me to introduce myself once more, I am Koneko Toujou, and I'll be starting my First Year of high school there shortly." I can tell she's straining slightly to say this last bit properly, "Please take care of me, Kusanagi-senpai."

Ah. Japanese and manners. Always nice.

I walk over to her nonchalantly, and suddenly pat her on the head, causing her to freeze ramrod straight under my touch.

"Honestly, with how tough and cute you are little kouhai? I think you'll be just fine." I beam my smile down at her, "Just give 'em the same left hook you did me, that'd do anyone else in! Heh!"

It's cute, the way she bows deeper to try and hide the growing flush I can see growing on her face.

Very cute. Heh.

I hold the tablet out to her as I move my hand off her head, "I'm all done, Toujou-chan."

She takes it gingerly, rising slightly up, but still refuses to meet my gaze, "Right, Kusanagi-san."

"Say, you wouldn't mind if I wished for you again, no?" I ask suddenly, "It would be nice to continue where we left off. Hell. Maybe I could even break out of those games at some point?"

Koneko blinked, then she replied stone-faced, "That's up to you, Kusanagi-san," a beat passes, "but I…would not be opposed, I suppose." she tacts on, quietly.

Progress!

I nod happily, and kneel to her, "See you next time then?"

She nods, and hums, "Mhmm," then just as she turns to leave, "...hmm?" she stops and looks down.

Where Kuroka Chomusuke stood, right next to her legs, just…standing there staring up at her.

I instantly tense up.

Kuroka. You fucking cat. I swear if you try anything.

Chomusuke rubs against Koneko's leg, "Meowr?" and looks up at her, swaying her tail back and forth.

Koneko continues to stare down at her.

Until, well.

Suddenly, she reaches down and pets her right on the head, a small smile on her face.

Chomusuke immediately freezes, before slowly rubbing into her hand more and more, purring loudly.

Then Koneko pulls away, and I can see the sheer longing in her eyes begging her to not go just yet.

She nods at me, and I nod back. "Have a wonderful day, my new cute little kouhai!" I call out as she walks, a devil magic circle appearing in front of her.

As she steps into it, she flips me off and disappears.

Leaving me giggling softly, and a very desperate black cat eyeing where she left.

I walk over to Kuroka, and pick her up, "Don't worry kitty, she'll be back, alright?"

Her digging her head into my chest and whimpering is all I get as a response.

With a sigh, I gently pet her back.

All finish this night off by playing coy with Sona's Peerage.

Ah, I hope I summon thigh highs. She acted like the delinquent type, those are always fun no matter what!

After that, I have to snuggle my cat for the day, to make her feel better.

Beyond that, the grind well and truly begins! I've got shadow clones to make, a white cat girl to train and make friends with, and everything else to train as well.

The grind, be it for power or people, is well and truly eternal it would seem.