10 Fox Games and a Meeting

The darkness pulsed in time with the flow of lifeforce as Balor failed for the sixth time actually being hit by a real fireball this time. Three lost legs earlier in the day and the persistent taste of grass in his mouth did little to improve his mood. Ironically, embracing the darkness made his thinking clearer and therefore helped him sense Ki better. It was a small difference that did little to help him as Yasaka readied twenty more glowing white flames. At least there were fewer of them now that he was handicapped.

The goal of this game was to freeze the one real flame and then hit the barrier placed across the field. It used to be a simple task, but the problem was, that without Yasaka's blood Balor could only vaguely make out that the fast-moving fires had Ki in them without focusing. Unfortunately, If he studied one for too long, he would lose another one of his ten attempts this day when a fireball caught him unguarded. He couldn't even freeze them all to go for the hit, because she would just resummon them if he stopped an illusion.

Dodging another possible illusion, Balor let out a curse. He hadn't had enough time to determine if the one he was looking at was the right one. At least if he was allowed to use his shadow, he could simple block the illusions while finding the real one. That was forbidden now. After he had won the first ten or so games, Yasaka told him he couldn't use it since he was supposed to be learning how to use Senjutsu. This stupid game felt near impossible now.

"I wonder, how many years will it take for my little boy to reach my height? Your mothers' bed is quite lonely," Yasaka said jokingly as she sent two separate flames at Balor. Diving forward into an ungraceful roll he avoided the attacks from above and the side. She always taunted him while making suggestive poses and if it distracted him, she would mercilessly exploit the opening. It was like she didn't want him to grow any faster.

That thought fed into Balor's darkness as their kind often did. Fear, frustration, jealousy and even lust. Any negative emotion could awaken his vicious side. The lack of control and increased aggressiveness was frightening, but he probably wouldn't hurt anyone that didn't deserve it. Unless they were a kid smitten with Valerie. Then it was up in the air.

"It won't take even one and after that your body is mine! I'll make sure to take my payment out of it for this treatment over the course of the rest of your life!" Balor said with false bravado as the flames began moving faster. After the fifth win, the speed they flew around would slowly ramp up if he took too long. Randomly choosing flames he cycled through 50 more, even though there was only 20 of them, before he finally found the correct one. While freezing it he staggered forward nearly caught unaware by an unseen fire. That was close.

Pulling at his pool of Ki, Balor manifested a black flame similar to those Yasaka summoned and sent it flying at the shield. Moments later a fireball sent him to his butt when it nearly slammed into his face. Sweat ran down his back as a grin that showed fangs adorned his face. Despite the close call, his black flame hit the shield and clung harmlessly to it. When he lost more times than he won, victory tasted as sweet as blood. Especially since he expected to lose this time with his inexperience using his own life force weighing him down.

"How cute. Are you that excited to get bigger?" Yasaka said while sitting down and opening her arms to beckoning Balor. Did she really have to ask? He thought it was quite obvious by now. Pulling him down into her tightly wrapped chest she made a dissatisfied face. Removing her shirt and smothering him in her chest, she added, "That's better. The proper way for mother and child to bond is through skinship."

"I can't stand all your teasing," Balor said, the sound muffled by his current circumstances. The darkness made him briefly consider attacking her before he chided himself. The last time he given into that urge, his body had been burnt all over and she had refused to talk to him for the rest of the day. That didn't mean he would just let this injustice lie.

Yasaka had denied Balor food during the exhausting training and the lifeforce infusion did nothing to satisfy his angry stomach, so he resorted to his common way to airing grievances. Biting down hard on her chest there was a brief taste of salty sweat before the tangy heat of her blood filled his mouth. Nothing soothed the darkness more than an 'enemy's' blood.

As Balor took his pound of flesh, Yasaka's hand moved to the small of his back to give him his real reward. Every time he won the game after they had trained in Senjutsu and studied Youjutsu, she would help him grow a tiny bit faster. Although it was a small amount varying somewhere between one and two centimeters in height, each one filled him with joy.

Now at least partially mollified by the blood Balor turned his attention inward. When Yasaka had helped him grow prior to this, the technique she was using had been completely invisible to him, even with her blood, because she was manipulating something in him that he couldn't see. What he saw now crushed the little hope he had that he would be able to replicate it and cheat a little.

With more finesse than Balor had ever even approached using, Yasaka was subtlety increasing the amount of lifeforce in his body until it was slightly too much for the channels it flowed through and then she let them slowly crack while she was healing them. Again, and again, she repeated the process until his head ached at the level of control needed to accomplish such a feat.

"All done. Because it was your first time being able to use your own Ki, I rewarded you a little more than usual," Yasaka whispering to him as she stroked Balor's head. "Shouldn't you thank your mother for being so kind?"

"Thank you mother. I appreciate your kindness. Once I get as tall as you, I will show you a little leniency," Balor acquiesced darkly after removing his fangs from Yasaka's white skin. It made his stomach feel funny when he thought about the fact, he was calling a woman who was pregnant with his child mother. Would that make his child his brother or sister? Just thinking about it hurt, but he wouldn't give up on having his way with her. He had suffered too much to back out now.

Standing up, Balor nearly fell as he imagined having his way with Yasaka. Steadying himself with his hands on her shoulders he waited for the sense of vertigo to pass. The little growth sessions he had before had never caused him to lose his balance like this. She looked at him with a smirk before standing up and nearly sending him toppling to the floor.

"If you really want to thank me, I hope you won't show any," Yasaka said with a giggle.

"No mercy. Got it." Balor said absentmindedly as Yasaka stretched causing her breasts, that he was now eye level with, to jiggle enticingly. It was like she was using magic to draw his attention. His eyes stayed glued to her body while her hips swayed as she made her way over to where Valerie had been continuing to study Youjutsu. While scratching his head at the frown on her face, a small laugh escaped his mouth. He couldn't help staring.

With slow steps Balor arrived at his clothes with a grimace. He didn't plan on wearing them over all the mud and blood so he might as well get it over with. Coating himself in shadows, the familiar taste of blood and dirt lingered in his mouth as he put on his clothing. The miko uniform and wooden getta sandals he had been given were now his standard wardrobe. Everything he and Valerie had brought from the Castle minus her doll had been thrown away.

The new clothes were quite a bit softer than his old ones, and honestly, the whole Japanese anime look was growing on Balor. Maybe he could get a sword somewhere and dye the clothes black. He was almost certain he could do a Getsuga Tenshou with Ki. The fantasy dissipated as he put the pants on and submerged himself in his shadow to prevent any accidental discharges. Maybe he would act on the idea later.

Now that Balor was partial submerged in shadows, his perception range increased to the point that he noticed movement at the edge of the field. That half-oni stalker was here again. A couple weeks ago the child had come up to Valerie while they were eating dango and asked her on a date. It instantly soured Balor's mood, but he repeated the question begrudgingly when Valerie asked him to. Her response made him choke on his food as she placed a hand on her stomach and said the words married and baby in bad Japanese. The boy had blushed deeply, bowed and apologized before running away with tears in his eyes. He almost felt bad for the kid. Almost.

Valerie tugging at Balor's sleeve drew his attention away from his thoughts. Leaning up to his ear, because he was now taller than her, she whispered, "I want you to look at me like you look at Yasaka." Looking down, he saw that she had a sad downcast face.

I can't look at you like I look at Yasaka." Balor said as Valerie's face fell then added, "You're my one and only Valerie. You are the irreplaceable person who dragged me out of darkness. How could I treat you like her when you both are so important to me?" The shadow covering her face disappeared as she buried her blush into his uniform.

Valerie said while rubbing her face against Balor in embarrassment, "Balor is the best. That's why I told Yasaka that you were way better than my last father."

"Last father? Why are you comparing me to that man?" Balor said gloomily at the thought of the man. Any person who whipped their child for running in the hallways was a monster. He wanted to strangle the man and rip the body into pieces.

"Because Yasaka said that once you marry her you will become my dad. I still wish I could grow older faster. It isn't fair that she gets to act like your wife first even though I fell in love with you first. As the legal wife, I want to quickly have your babies as well before you get any more wives." Each of Valerie's words caused Balor's mouth to drop a little more until he was sure it would hit the floor. Her lines were so embarrassing for him it physically hurt. Yasaka was teaching this girl too many strange things!

"Don't be in such a hurry to grow up," Balor said with a slightly red face. He knew he was being hypocritical, but she had already lost a good portion of her childhood to the cruel treatment. What little was left of it, he wanted her to enjoy.

Valerie puffed up her cheeks at the statement, so Balor added, "Please be patient. Once you are old enough, I will help you have as many children as you want. You are my wife after all." The look of blind devotion that she gave him after that was scary in its intensity. It was a look that promised to never betray him and absolute faith in what he said. If he asked her to kill someone, he could imagine her doing it with a smile. If this was the way every follower looked at their god, he could easily imagine the feeling of superiority that it would engender.

Balor wrapped his hands around Valerie and hugged her tightly. He would do whatever it took to make her happy and keep her safe. Her arms returned the gesture as she sighed in contentment. This is what family was. Feeling watched, he sheepishly looked up and saw Yasaka looking down on them with a gentle smile which he embarrassedly returned. She must have silently been listening to everything they said. With a shift at the edge of his perception, he was snagged away from the tender moment as the shadow of a fox attendant walking briskly towards them appeared edge of the field.

One of the servants from the manner, a male Kitsune Hinata, gave a small bow before saying in clipped tones, "Yasaka-sama, members of the Grigori have arrived. As you have instructed, they are now in the waiting room." Even with the mostly positive reception Balor had since he came here, the thinly vieled look of disgust the man sported was a prime example that not everyone thought his presence was a good thing.

"Thank you. You can inform our guests that I will be on my way shortly." Yasaka said as she finished putting on her crown. The man gave a stiff bow and went to the edge of the field where he disappeared in a puff of fire. Balor couldn't wait until he could do that. Turning to him and Valerie, Yasaka added, "After nearly four months the fallen angels have finally responded. Hopefully you'll get more than a 'I'll inform our leadership' this time."

"That would be good," Balor said as she grabbed their hands and led them to the edge of the field. The devils had been the first to respond after Yasaka had sent messages to their people in town with a desire to meet their leadership. The seedy looking man they had met back then, with his beady eyes and perpetual frown, had done little more than assure them that he would inform their leadership.

Balor mused that he might have gotten a better result if he had said 'god is dead' or 'the rating game is corrupted because of the king piece' but those things would probably have gotten him put on more than one hit list. So he made a gamble on messages like 'One of your inventions is problematic. I need to discuss the brave saints system you created' to Ajuka, 'I have always been a fan of Magical girl Levia-tan. please meet me' to Serafall and 'Your sister seems to like Japanese culture, so maybe we could work out a way for her to study here' to Sirzechs. Hopefully one of them was intrigued enough by his messages to come over, otherwise, the obscene amount of money Yasaka spent to send them would be wasted.

At the edge of the field Yasaka enveloped them in harmless flames and they were whisked away to the entrance of the shrine they now called home. Like at Castle Vladi, direct teleportation into the manor was impossible but Balor had learned that you could freely teleport out of it. It was quite convenient as was the fact that him slipping out with his shadow did not cause any alarms to trigger. Maybe vampires were more paranoid of infighting so that was why the restricted travel both ways. It was either that or their magic was inferior.

Opening the door to the waiting room Balor was stunned by the people he saw within and not because of the sheer power he felt from them. Yasaka had already drove home the feeling of power creep this world had. This was a way better meeting than with the devils and they hadn't even talked yet. Time to put all those lessons she put him through to use. When everyone was seated, he gave the three a formal bow and said, "Good morning Governor General Azazel and Fellow leader of the Grigori Baraqiel. My name is Balor and I am grateful that you responded to our request for a meeting."

Azazel was a tall man, perhaps taller than Balor would ever be, in a black yukata. He had a mature looking face with a black goatee and purple eyes that's image was ruined by the way his hair was blond at the front bangs and black everywhere else. Seeing him in real life, Balor thought he looked kind of like an anime delinquent sitting there cross legged at a supposedly important meeting.

Baraqiel on the other hand juxtaposed Azazel in every way. With short black hair and a meticulously trimmed beard, he sat there straight backed in a formal seiza. Balor could easily see him as a veteran soldier who had survived countless bloody battles against the forces of heaven and hell. If he didn't know the man was a doting father and an extreme closet masochist, he might have been afraid of him.

"And my name is Yasaka, Leader of the Yokai in Kyoto." Yasaka said pinching Balor's side. He shot her an aggrieved look. His bow had been absolutely perfect, so why was she looking at him like she was annoyed? He must have stumble on some obscure rule. Etiquette was such a pain in the ass. "I invited you here to discuss the possibility of an alliance."

"Don't worry about it. I'm not a stickler for formalities," Azazel said while leaning back in a casual manner and then added nonchalantly, "and just being able to meet the possessor of Sephiroth Graal has made this trip worth it," causing Valerie to grab Balor's arm. Baraqiel merely nodded his head to his leader's words and remained silent.

"Sephiroth Graal, a Longinus?" the silver haired boy who had sat indifferently at the side of Azazel asked with interest as he stared at Balor. "Are you sure? His aura has a weird sticky feeling but isn't very powerful." Balor had to admit Vali Lucifer, wearing an impossible long scarf, looked like a chunibuyo but it was half-baked. He didn't even have an evil eye!

Balor looked at Yasaka to make sure he wasn't stepping all over her toes again and said, "I do not possess a Longinus yet, Vali Lucifer. My-" he fumbled for the right word, "fiancée Valerie is the current holder of the holy grail." Valerie's dimpled smile was enough of a reward.

"Another Longinus?" Azazel leaned forward focusing all his attention on Balor and asked, "If I am not mistaken you only possess the Forbidden Balor's View, from which I guess you chose your namesake. Are you hiding another one of the thirteen?" The way Azazel showed interest was exactly the same as Vali just had.

"I do possess that sacred gear but it's not like I'm hiding another one. Longinus don't exactly grow on trees. I plan to make my sacred gear into a new Longinus."

"You sound pretty confident that you can do it."

"I am one hundred percent certain all three factions will agree my sacred gear is a Longinus once I have achieved balance break. I have watched the future unfold after all," Balor said showing a toothy grin.

"Oh really, what does the future have in store then?" Azazel stated in a tone that made it difficult for Balor to be certain if he was believed or not. It looked like the man was listening to his words seriously though.

"Well for starters-" Balor stared pointedly at Baraqiel causing the man to gaze back, "I wanted to inform you Baraqiel that the Himejima clan will attack your wife and daughter sometime in the future, and if it isn't prevented, Shuri will die and Akeno will go through a lot of suffering. I would recommend moving."

"Even if that was the case, why would you inform us? What do you have to gain?" Baraqiel said threateningly. Apparently hearing that his wife and daughter were in danger had put him on edge.

"Because it is the right thing to do? It would also help in establishing peace between the factions." Balor said and then added jokingly when Baraqiel made a disbelieving face, "If you can't accept that I would gladly take your daughter's hand in marriage as payment for services rendered." The way the man's face went from stunned to angry and back again made the prank worth it. He couldn't help snickering internally. It felt good to finally not be the butt of the joke for once. Yasaka was rubbing off on him but she was also pinching him hard. Maybe joking about marriage wasn't the best thing to do in front of your fiancée.

Azazel laughed at the speechless Baraqiel as he said, "A vampire trying to do the right thing? The world really is changing, but peace huh." He stroked his beard in thought and said wistfully, "It isn't like I haven't thought of the idea, but how would you convince the other sides to give up their enmity? It will take more than good will to get some people to give up their grudges."

Balor contemplated just saying it outright but stopped. If he revealed that he knew god was dead, would it put Yasaka and Valerie in danger? Azazel was unpredictable but he wasn't particularly fond of fighting. It would probably be alright. He opened his mouth only to close it when Yasaka began speaking.

"We all want what's best for our people, and unless the bible factions can make a united front, eventually the fact that god is dead will bring your enemies crashing down on you. The biblical god was not one to make friends with other religions," Yasaka replied taking the decision out of Balor's hands.

The bomb that was dropped froze the other side of the room. Azazel had an uncharacteristically serious face and Baraqiel hands in his lap turned into fists. It was amazing that Yasaka was managing to keep the same placid smile without showing any cracks. Just the feeling of danger Balor was getting from Azazel was enough to make him sweat. The only person in the room to not show complete attention to the current serious situation was Vali. The boy simply sat off to the side muttering 'god is dead' in a stunned manner while looking questioningly at the leader of the Grigori.

"You got me there!" Azazel said with a hearty laugh defusing the tense atmosphere. Perhaps the pressure in the room fading was why a maid chose that time to open the door. With a nod from Yasaka, the woman left after whispering in her ear.

"It seems that we can actually work towards peace right now. Three leaders of the devils have come here and are now currently waiting in another room. Balor said that out of the three factions' leaders you wanted peace the most Azazel. Do you feel up for some preliminary peace talks?" Yasaka said with the same gentle smile she had nearly started a fight with earlier.