Chapter 10: Saving the Himejima Family

Akeno Himejima POV

"Honey, are you sure you must go?" I heard Okaa-san ask Otou-san in a worried tone. I felt myself tremble at her words. A little fear took root inside my heart as I kept myself from showing dissatisfaction, it didn't work. 

Does Otou-san really have to go now? Isn't it nighttime? They usually tuck me in at night, but with Otou-san gone, it won't be the same.

"I'm sorry, Shuri. This seems to be urgent, we risk exposing ourselves to some enemies that have taken root inside Grigori. I will return as fast as possible. Don't worry. I will be back before you know it." He tried to sound confident, but it seems he himself doesn't believe he'll return soon. I can't help but pout in annoyance over how unfair this is. 

"Nee, Otou-san. Do you really have to go? Can't you stay with us?" I ask with puffed-out cheeks trying to display my displeasure in Otou-san leaving. 

He only ruffled my head, much to my annoyance, and said, "I'll be back soon sweetheart. My work will be done in a jiffy, so stay with your mother okay?"

"Hmph…"

He only lets out a sigh before kissing Mom and leaving. I stare at his back in sadness. Does he not care about us? No, of course, he does. He's strong, he'll be done and then come running to us. 

I try to cheer myself up, but I can feel my eyes blurry. What if something bad happens now that he's gone? I've heard Okaa-san and Otou-san discussing some shady guys lurking around our shrine late at night when they thought I was asleep. 

Even Okaa-san sounded worried, especially now that he had called in for work late at night. He hasn't left our side these past weeks, so why now? My tears threaten to spill as soon as that thought crosses my mind.

"My little Akeno, don't cry. Okaa-san is here together with you okay? We just have to wait for a while before your Otou-san comes back home and it will be fine." She encourages me while embracing me, but it doesn't help in any way. I can feel her shaking and that deepens my worry. I could only tighten my hold around Okaa-san, never wanting to let go.

".... good….. Waited… until…. gone…" I heard a distant voice when I was in Okaa-san's embrace and they seemed to be getting closer to our front door. 

"Shuri Himejima! We know you're there! Listen to me, it's your Uncle Suoh. It's best if you comply now hand over your daughter and return to the Himejima Clan House at once! We'll spare your life if only you give us that evil spawn of a fallen angel! We will only ask this once!"

"Hand her over!"

"We're better off killing the disgrace now, rather than asking!"

"State your answer already!"

I was trembling, fighting back the tears over what they called me. Is it my fault that the clan is chasing Okaa-san and making our lives difficult? Should I disappear…? I don't want Okaa-san to be sad, I catch her reminiscing over the clan sometimes. It's my fault…

As those scary thoughts began to swirl in my head, I heard the clear voice of Okaa-san answer the men outside. She tightened her hold on me and angrily shouted with all her might, "I will never hand over my daughter! She is my pride and joy, even if it means going against the Himejima Clan and being exiled for good!"

Tears that were gathering up in the corner of my eyes burst out when my Okaa-san said that. She threw it away for me… I'm sorry I caused this Okaa-san… I'm sorry…

"Suoh-sama warned you, you bitch!"

"It seems we will have to purge the both of you. I am glad we took the tip from those spies, now that that fallen abomination is gone we could kill them both. Prepare yourself Shuri and you evil spawn! Be grateful, we are about to cleanse you in the name of our Shinto Gods!"

"Come Akeno-chan! We don't have any time to lose!" Okaa-san said in a hurried tone before dragging me deeper into our home towards the long hallway leading to our bedrooms. But before we even made it to our rooms the front door burst open, and standing there was a bald man with a terrifying expression on his face. I turn pale, but my Okaa-san stands in front of me while pushing me behind her. 

"Don't even think of resisting Shuri, we both know you aren't strong enough to go against us all." 

Okaa-san just snorts and says, "You'll have to kill me before you get to my precious daughter, Suoh." I could only tremble in helplessness while my Okaa-san stood tall protecting me. Where's Otou-san!? Why isn't he here protecting us, he promised! He promised he'd be back… Where is he? Please…

The old man called, Suoh, only begins to laugh while angrily shouting, "So be it! Attack!"

My Okaa-san stood firm as I tightened my grip around her waist, wanting this to be over already, wanting this to be a bad dream, wanting someone to save us… I shut my eyes tightly, but all I heard were gasps from everyone, including Okaa-san… Why? What happened? While I was wondering that, I heard a clear, firm but angry voice that made my heart beat rapidly while the small amount of hope inside of me started to burn brighter because of what he said.

"You were really planning to kill your grand niece and niece huh? How revolting. Family is meant to be protected. I won't let them die, not on my watch. You hear me Suoh Himehima!? How is this innocent and precious girl an evil spawn? I'm sure her wings will be beautiful in the future! It will always be a part of who she is and you have no right to deny her that! She should proudly show herself to the world! And I will make sure she will! The only evil here is you and your clan members targeting innocent people who just want happiness! I'm saving them now, but mark my words they will come back stronger, so for now just do me a favor and go to sleep!"

Once I opened my eyes and turned towards the voice, I was astounded. His green eyes glimmered as a neon-like light waved in the air like an illusion in the lighting from the fire the clan members conjured, while his short dark blue hair with a single crimson lock on the left side of his face perfectly accentuated his cute yet angry face. The ahoge on top of his head was curled up perhaps out of sheer anger, as if it was ready to pounce on those who wronged someone special to him. He looked the same age as me, and yet he looked far more mature when confronting the people who were about to kill us. 

He appears to be taller too! I just stare at him in a daze while inwardly thinking how much he looks like a real hero. 

Ryu Ichijou POV

Phew, I had to knock that bastard out no matter how much I wanted to kill him for almost killing them. He is the former head, after all, they might go crazy if I killed him. Can't have that when I gotta make peace. Wonder what mischief I can sow with these clowns. 

Now, let's take a look at their souls shall we? Hmm, half of them are irredeemable… We can't have that now can we, they won't miss a few right? It's not like they'll remember my face at most they'll just remember that they failed their little assassination because of false tips. Hmm but what to do? Ah!

With a burst some glimmering stars manifest around me, slowly circling me as I compressed them together, using a bit of control from my aura a telekinetic force washes upon them, manipulating their gravity so the fools are lighter. Once in the sky, I chuck them outside for now. 

"Phew, I'll go there in a bit," I said out loud while wiping away the imaginary sweat. I then turn towards the two ladies who are dazedly staring at me.

The older sister-looking woman has a well-endowed body with long flowing black hair tied up in a ponytail with a violet ribbon which leaves some tufts of hair off to the sides of her face and her left bangs. And a pair of light brown eyes twinkling in astonishment and relief. The young girl tightly gripping the clothes of her mother looks exactly the same except instead of light brown eyes I see a pair of teary violet eyes and an orange ribbon holding up her medium-length hair with two strands sticking out from the top sloping backward.

 I gently smile at them before I say, "Now, Shuri-onee-san and Akeno-chan stay here while I deal with them. You might have questions now but it's going to be okay. There is no need to worry. And I know the consequences if I go too far, I'll be okay. I'm more worried about you two, so in a few minutes, my companion will appear here and protect you until this is all over. You're safe now." 

As those words sink in, Akeno-chan's cute face scrunches up until she's bawling in her mother's arms while saying, "Thank you, thank you," over and over. Meanwhile, Shuri-onee-chan is tightly hugging her daughter while crying silently and giving me a heartfelt smile in gratitude. 

I go to them and start patting their heads-much to Shuri's surprise- until they calm down. Once they do, I smile in reassurance before heading back out to deal with the annoyances. 

(Master, I have the bat. I took the liberty to transfer it into my ring, but having the corpses of the other two and now this one is irritating me. They are desecrating the proposal ring you gave me!)

I could only smile wryly at the telepathic message Jibril sent me, so I went ahead and responded.

(Make sure you head over and protect them Jibril. I'll take them off your ring if you want when we get back, don't worry. Have you finished your research?)

(You're the best! And yes! The energy they manipulate is intriguing, far less pure than mine and yours but, strangely imaginative, though the potential is wasted…)

I raise my eyebrow in response to her words. Now that's interesting. The purity is not much of a surprise but she is still praising the possible potential of the demonic energy. Perhaps she'll be able to use it for something? I shake my head and chuckle a bit before finally stopping in front of the clan members. Instead of speaking I go ahead and form the disintegration beam on my hands and fire at the ones I marked. Most of the people here have already been affected by my aura, lulling them to sleep, so they have no idea about the massacre. Tough Fight? It could have been with the devil, but the element of surprise is a wonderful thing and it's best to keep things simple to not risk the safety of innocents. 

I finish disposing of the ones who are irredeemable, willing the bile rising from my throat back down until I finally store them inside my inventory. I take long deep breaths. 'They're irredeemable… corruption is best nipped in the bud… They're irredeemable.' I continued to chant those words to calm my beating heart as I turned and made my way back to the shrine. 

It wasn't as bloody, but knowing they could not fight back didn't help my conscious one bit. Disassociating from it did help but I'm still far closer than I thought I would be. 

(Your draconic bloodline is the cause most likely. You are a dragon, Ryu. Your humanity remains intact, however, probably for the best if you keep that uncomfortableness for killing inside you though. Doesn't look like hesitation will be a problem for you though, might be the aggressiveness of being a dragon.)

The booming voice ends up soothing me and with those words echoing in my head, it does wonders for my aching heart. I won't truly ever love the idea of killing, but it is a necessary evil for those on the path to strength, far more accurate to call it survival though.

Mentally thanking my friend, I make my way inside, where I find the ever-smiling Jibril just floating there, while Shuri-onee-san is looking over at her warily and Akeno-chan is staring at her in wonder and amazement. Probably because she's just floating there and not flapping her wings at all. 

"I'm back! Before we get into the details let's leave the scene. It'll be dangerous if we continue staying here." It looked like they wanted to say something but they only nodded and waited patiently. 

I gave a nod to Jibril after telling them to hold onto her skirt tightly and we were off. 

With the teleportation over, I woke the mother-daughter pair from their daze but I made sure to change in the restroom before that. I also made sure to transfer the dead/unconscious bodies present inside Jibril's ring into my inventory.

"We are now inside my room, so it's okay no one will disturb us here," I spoke in the most gentle way possible to calm them down.

They blinked their eyes a couple of times before exhaling the breath they may have unconsciously held in during the transport. They were doing fine now, but I could still notice the shaking of their bodies, so I released a soothing wave of Pheromones, to let the sweet smell calm them down.

The effects were immediate, their breathing became slower until they reached normal levels, and their heart rates slowed down while they stopped shaking uncontrollably. 

They might still be shaken about the whole thing so I then spread out my Aura of Infinity to teleport some water from the fridge into my hand- I made sure no one was there mind you.

They were surprised but as soon as they got ahold of them they drank it all. 

With a wry smile on my face, I said, "Go ahead and make yourselves comfortable, I'm sure you wish to ask me many things." They nodded while taking a seat on the seat cushions in the middle of the room where the table was.

Shuri took a deep breath before looking at me seriously as she said, "Are you Ryu Ichijou, the Heir to the Shuei-Gumi clan, the nine-year-old son of the Draconic Berserker? The most feared human man in the underworld, Issei Ichijou?" 

She was looking at me intently as if to detect any lies, so I stared back at her and said in a firm tone, "Yes. That's me." While totally ignoring the chuuni title of my dad, which I heard for the second time. I then tilted my head in curiosity, "But you know my dad and me?"

Shuri nodded seriously. "Legends and gossip from the grapevine, my husband is also a talker about those he acknowledges and are good friends with Azazel." She then kept staring at me while Akeno just fidgeted while taking the occasional glance at me, but I ignored her for now since Shuri needed it to be serious. She then finally broke eye contact by closing her eyes and sighing deeply. 

She then looked at me warmly and worryingly as she said, "I see. Ryu-kun, you have my sincere thanks for saving not only my life but my precious daughter's life. I was fully expecting to die, I was even ready to accept it because I would do anything for her if that meant she got to live and enjoy what life had to offer. But I now realize how that would have affected my little Akeno-chan, how cruel it would've been to live being only ten years old. Being weak is not going to help us, it will only expose us to more danger so what do you propose, I'm sure you have something planned considering you intentionally left some clan members alive right?"

She's a pretty incredible and perceptive housewife, not too surprising considering she married a fallen angel even when she knew the complications following that. 

I sigh, as I reply to Shuri, "You really don't have to thank me, I wanted to do this. My companion here was the one who noticed the movements of the clan members and fallen angels. I didn't want to alert them by just being there with you beforehand so I had to wait until they attacked on their own to make negotiations easier." 

I smile apologetically. "In fact, I'm sorry you had to go through that experience when I could've just rescued you before you had to take all those curses. But you're right, Shuri-onee-san. I intentionally kept some members because it would cause unnecessary hate and make the complex situation even more complicated. I have a plan for them, I just need to make a call..."

Before I could go on any further, Shuri raised herself from her sitting position and shouted out, "What do you mean fallen angels?! Does that mean they colluded with one another?! So it wasn't a coincidence that my husband…"

"Shuri-onee-san! I know you are agitated because of the information but now isn't the time to talk about that, considering what you Both went through. We must talk about your future situation."

"You're right, I'm sorry for the outburst, Ryu-kun. I may still be in shock… but carry on. This will be important for my daughter after all."

"Before I go on, I have to ask Akeno-chan. I can't be the one to decide for her after all." When I turn my attention to her, I see her flinch slightly, perhaps not expecting to be included in this hard-to-follow adult talk. 

"Ah… me?!"

"Yes, it's something important to ensure your safety and your mother's." As soon as she heard the safety of her mother, she looked at me with a serious gaze, that totally looked cute.

"If it means helping Okaa-san in any way I'll do it!"

"Hold your horses, you gotta hear me out first. I wanted to ask if you wanted to be reincarnated as a devil and join the peerage of my friend. Or stay with me here. I'll make sure to tell you why in a moment Shuri-onee-san, but Akeno-chan, in this way you can have a backing and plenty of ways to train since what is important right now is gaining strength to protect yourself. You don't have to worry about not seeing your mother or me because you'll be able to teleport here whenever you want. Ah, but make sure to keep it a secret, for me please."

"Hmm...? Your friend?"

"Huh? Oh, yes, I'm sure you'll get along great! She could be pretty spoiled, but she's a sweet girl," I said while a soft smile graced my lips.

Akeno's eyebrow twitched noticeably, but I saw it…."So, your friend… is a girl? And you want me to join her to get stronger to protect myself and my mother while also being able to stand at your side?"

"Uhhh, I think you included something there that I didn't say but yes you'll be able to get stronger," I replied with a strained smile.

"Then I agree! I gotta take a look at my rival after all! Hehe, I bet her meeting with you wasn't as romantic as our own when you bravely saved my mother and me, like a hero!"

I don't respond because she's off in her little world while smugly grinning like she's won, so I just turn my attention to the gently smiling Shuri and wait for her questions. 

"Is it really necessary to have my daughter reincarnated as a devil, why can't she stay with you, Ryu-kun, while I go, in her place."

Expecting her question I answer back smoothly, "The devil I am talking about is part of the Gremory Household, the one connected to Sirzechs Lucifer. I happened to meet Rias Gremory yesterday when she was lost so when Grayfia-nee-san told me she wanted to repay me I responded with a 'favor' which was accepted earlier today by Lucifer. I plan to casually bring up the part of letting one of my friends join Rias's peerage because 'she has nowhere to go and needs shelter since she's part of the supernatural and it might cause unwanted attention to me and that is not something you want right Lucifer?' And it's true, I could theoretically change her appearance in order for her to stay with me but if she does she won't be able to make friends and you know it won't help in the long run, she might start thinking negatively about herself and that is not something I want when I was the one who said I will make sure to show her off to the world." 

I took in a breath and continued, "I'm sure it's part of the reason why she accepted even if she accepted it a little too quickly. With her joining the peerage, she'll be able to meet someone her age and befriend them and I'm serious about the teleporting, she can visit anytime but she has to make sure to actively grow stronger and I'm positive she knows that since the images of people trying to kill her won't go away just like that. She will have a backing and I know it's hard considering what you both went through but you said it yourself remaining weak will only cause problems. You won't remain weak, I can promise you that. So this may be abrupt, but I wanted to ask if you wanted to become my servant of sorts, you won't have to care about people finding out your identity since I could take care of that and I'm sure you don't mind remaining hidden while you get stronger, right? I'm suggesting this because it will be easier to remain somewhere safe where you can meet your daughter while taking some time to think and some time for yourself, you have a lot on your mind right?" 

I waited for her to answer, but after what I said it seems she blanked out. It was getting rather late so I opted for the option of them getting some sleep.

I got up and started preparing some futons and some clothes while waking up Akeno-chan from her daze and letting her know she should take a rest. They both need some time to process everything, while also getting some much-needed rest after the whole incident. 

In order to give them some privacy, I made some proper curtains that were attached to the walls so I could section off a piece of my room to them. Once that was done, I took one last look at them joining together in their futons until I eventually crawled onto the bed where Jibril was waiting for me snuggled close to her, and… immediately fell asleep as I wished her goodnight. 

The only response I got was, "Good work, Master, now sleep well okay?"