19 chapter 19

Castiel P.O.V.

"Soo... what was the mission again Cas?" Okuyasu asked while peeking his ear. Emily also seemed to be just as confused as I only said for her to come with me on a mission, she did make me promise to take her with me on my next one.

"The mission is simple, we are on an escort and protection mission for the daughter of a goddess from the Japanese pantheon. This pantheon is our ally for some time but some tension is rising as we are not too deeply connected to them, we do have many deals in trade of products and information but with a lack of any great shows of friendship, the alliance with them is getting unstable.

This mission may help alleviate this tension, I mean getting the heir of the Tower to go and help a member of the new generation of their side is a great show of goodwill on our side… or that is what Luvia told me. The real reason can be just that or something else entirely, who knows really? We just need to protect her and all is good." I finished my explanation.

"Fine, but why did we have to go through train instead of teleporting to Okinawa? I mean we could already be there and it would be much easier." Emily said while lying down on the chair and sitting her head on my lap.

"Because I wanted a couple get away with MY boyfriend, isn't that right Koro." Seryu said glaring daggers at Emily while hugging my arm.

On the cabin, we are there are only 5 people: me; Okuyasu; Emily; Seryu and one of the Sisters.

The Sister in question is eating one of my pudding I lost in a bet to her. I bet that a fight would break out in the first 5 minutes between the girls… the sister asked Seryu to accompany her to the toilet and after five minutes came back to take my pudding. The more I see her pleased expression the more I regret my decision.

"By the way, Okuyasu have you got any progress with your sacred gear yet?" I asked while ignoring the girls trying to kill each other with death glares, if there is one thing I learned after dating the girls (except Emily as we are not dating) is that in this sort of moments the best course is to pretend nothing is happening as long as they are not aiming at the vitals (and I do NOT mean when they ready their weapons as they may use it on ME if I move too soon).

"No, not really. I did understand the principle they are centered in but the way to improve is locked as far as I know. So no balance breaker at any close future."

"It may be because of the powers themselves. I mean, God made the gears but he would not be dumb enough to make one that can erase him of existence so he could have created the hands of the divine but to allow a balance breaker on it is unlikely. If it could get to that state it would be classifiable atop-tier Longinus immediately." I proposed an idea and he nodded after thinking for a second. "And in other aspects, any improvement?"

"Just on my ki really. I just passed to the next level last week after talking to Lancer-sensei about it."

"Hoh, and how did you get to that point?"

"Well…"

A week ago, while Castiel was being hun… trained by Illya

Okuyasu P.O.V.

"Brat, come here." A loud voice that I believe belongs to the man with a Hawaiian shirt with a scary (as in my teachers' level scary) killing intent.

"What is happening Okuyasu-san?" the sweat and angelic voice of Asia asked me. She is a real angel.

"Nothing is happening Asia-chan. It is just that Lancer guy from earlier that came here looking for me, I will be back soon enough."

After going out of the medical center and following to where the voice called (he must have used some magic as his voice is ridiculously loud), which happens to be on a room styled as a coliseum, I see the blue-haired man from before. However, this time he is dressing an honestly embarrassing bleu leotard with silver lines all over it.

"Boy, I heard of your gear and want to see it in action. I hope you can give me a good fight, now come on." And with that Lancer rushed in my direction. He was too fast, for what I see he is not trying to go all out but he still is at least 3 times faster than me.

CRASH

CRACK

The heck, I could barely even activate my Ki to strengthen my body before he hammered me on the wall.

"Tch, is this all kid? For someone that has such a good weapon you seem to either be too stupid to use it or too slow." He said with an irritated tone, but then he shrugged his shoulders and continued. "Don't matter, just show me what you got."

And 'show' I did use all I could think of from scraping space to get him closer to a better range to me, to simply going at him and actually taking the initiative in attacking using my Ki to reinforce myself… nothing worked.

No matter what I did he just got evaded or took the damage with no visible effects, it was like I was a child trying to fight a bear, a spandex wearing bear but a bear nonetheless.

Suddenly it was like he got tired and just disappeared in a burst of speed to reappear on my back giving me a swift punch.

"The heck man, and I got all hopeful for a good fight here. Why don't you use your power as it should be used, you know eliminating your enemies from existence?" He asks with an annoyed face and tone of voice.

"I won't use this power directly on ANYONE that is not an enemy. I promised this to my masters long ago when they started training me." I still remember that day.

I had just lost my parents' thanks to that devil bastard, my master said that he figured out that I got one thanks to the feeling he got from my Ki. When I managed to actually manifest it and discovered its abilities they asked me what I intended to do with it, I decided then and there that I would not use it to hurt those that do not deserve it.

My masters approved of the decision but decided that for my future protection they'd train me on the use of Ki.

"Heeeh, but then you are wasting your capacity. You should be more direct with your attacks. 'There is an enemy so I will defeat him', 'he is an ally so I will buy him a booze', that kind of feeling." He gave me a look saying 'I expect one latter', I know that look as I saw them a thousand times with Sakaki-shishou. "You also sucks at using Ki. I mean, I never used it myself, but I got to fight some dudes that used it and there is something in them that you lack way too much."

"W-what is it Lancer-sensei." I ended up calling him sensei by accident, after all, he is quite like some of my teachers and he is teaching me here… in his own way, that seems to include being punched in the guts.

"You lack certainty. It is like you deep inside doubt you can do whatever shit you are going to do. 'Is this punch going to connect?', 'Am I going to win?', 'How should I fight?', that is what you have been thinking during all this spar we had and it annoys me to no end. Be confident in yourself, 'I already won' or 'I am the stronger one', without this thought pattern you will never get strong."

Saying that he just turned around and left, leaving me here with more doubts than certainties on my mind.

Present

Castiel P.O.V.

"… basically he called me to a spar and gave me some pieces of advice. After that, I started thinking about it and after some time I just passed to the next level on my Ki without realizing." Okuyasu explained.

I can already picture what happened on the spar he was talking about; I would bet that Okuyasu got his ass handed to him by Lancer that latter decided to give some pieces of advice just for the heck of it (he does that every once in a while) … even though I would not bet on anything right now as the Sister is eating the last spoons of my pudding with a smug and delighted face, that was MY PUDDING!

SNIFF

SNIFF

No, hold it together Castiel. Do not think of how delicious that pudding is but on what you will do on this mission. You will have another pudding latter, so don't worry.

At that moment she ate the last spoon and even showed me how clean the pot is before throwing it away. Dammit, I will never bet with one of the sisters again.

At the same time, in a dressing room

3° person P.O.V.

"… and this is your schedule for the rest of the week. Now if you will excuse me Miku-sama."

Just moments after she left a purple haired girl with an amazing figured gave a tired sigh. To be an idol was her dream for quite some time but the work it entailed was not.

"Finally. Why is it that my schedule is going more and more crazy. *sigh* Now I will even have to deal with some new bodyguards because my original ones were all called back. I just hope that they are competent and there are cute girls, no boys are needed but cute girls would be so good." And with that, the girl Miku Izayoi relaxed a minute before continuing to apply some make-up.

The Japanese Pantheon

In one of the many temples of the pantheon, two women are having a discussion.

"Are you sure that was for the best Mikoto-sama?" the first one asked

"You worry too much Yasa-chan." The second one, the goddess of dawn, mirth, and revelry called Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto A.K.A. Mikoto-sama said to her companion the leader of the Yokai faction Yasaka, the nine-tailed fox.

"It is not that I worry too much, it's just that you are to unpreoccupied about all this." Yasaka responded. "We may be allies but putting the security of your daughter in the hands of the people of the Tower is absurd. If something were to happen it could lead to a war between us."

"I totally agree that it may be a sparkle of a war, especially since the one going for the protection is the heir of the Tower himself." Yasaka gasped when she heard that, it may truly be a disaster on the making. While the Tower is not necessarily strong enough to challenge them directly they are close allies with both Norse and Greek pantheons while also having a close relationship with at least the houses of Phoenix, Bael and a close relation with Ajuka Beelzebub from the devil clans. "But the main reason of this 'escort mission' never was protecting my daughter."

Tilting her head Yasaka could not help but ask

"If that is the case what do you intend by doing this? Don't tell me you intend on sacrificing your daughter to sparkle a war because if that is what you intend I will stop you right here and now." Yasaka said with a serious glare and liberating some of her own powers that were massive enough for her to not fear the goddess in front of her. Her husband, on the other hand, was a completely different matter.

That guy was a monster that was better let unprovoked.

"Don't be foolish. All I want is a fun life for me and my family, something that a war now would make an impossibility. I am in a secret agreement with the director of the Tower, that woman called Rin Tohsaka, about a possible way of closing the gap that was forming in our alliance." Mikoto explained

"And this possibility is?" Yasaka decided to ask.

"Isn't it obvious. The best way to do that is what an alliance of this kind should be firmed into, a marriage."

"WHAT? Do you both intend on forcing the youngsters on getting a forced marriage?" Yasaka asked being quite a bit irked with the idea. Marriage for those in the supernatural world was extremely serious business as the marriage lasted for possibly thousands of years.

Forcing a marriage is cruel and on Yasaka opinion a loveless matrimony is not a good thing for anyone.

"'force' is such a strong word. No, I will make a chance for them to meet during this time and if they do not like each other we will simply try other girls till we find someone that actually is of sufficiently high status and would like the connection. My daughter was the first just because I was the one that proposed this plan for Amaterasu-sama." The goddess explained. "Also my husband agreed to go for it as he does want our daughter to be happy, and if she is with someone that can protect her appropriately during this times he will be quite relieved."

Yasaka could understand what her old friend meant. It may be forceful but this union still is something worth considering. But then she could not help but notice a detail on what Mikoto-sama said.

"What do you mean by 'during this times'? Is there something going on that is threatening Miku-chan?"

"*sigh* It is that damn group of stray zealots from the church. They seem to have moved some of their troops to Japan and it is worrisome. We doubt they will aim at the Yokai but us gods and goddesses and our descendants are a different matter altogether. They were quite extreme in the belief that 'there can only be one true god' so an attack is quite possible. But don't worry, I sent extra help for the group of the Tower." Mikoto said with a smile, knowing that said help would come at a great time and would be a pain to deal with.

Getting him away from the Pantheon for some time was just a bonus.

On a train going to Okinawa

A man with long blue hair in a ponytail was eating a bow of soba noodles while enjoying the silence. He was a man that had a serious personality that disliked noise and noisy people.

"Soba is good. It is simple and with no frivolous flavors, it is simply soba." Saying that and nodding to himself said men was about to eat another spoon when he heard a sound from the cabin behind his.

"No, this one is my pudding. You go and buy one yourself."

"I want to make another bet them, Misaka says while planning on how to scam young master for more deserts."

"No, you go and buy one. I just got one from the service on board of this train and I could only afford this one here."

"Hey, if you could only afford this one why didn't you wait and bought two when we got to our destination. Everything here is overpriced."

"No can do Okuyasu. I needed at least one or I'd go nuts from this one teasing me with the ones she ate."

"And they were delicious, Misaka says to provoke young master."

"If I could move I'd beat you up."

"So it is good that you are a ladies man, Misaka says while trying to see the reaction of the young master while planning on how to steal young master's pudding."

And such conversations were continuing on the cart beside his own.

The man with blue hair could be considered quite patient (according to himself) but these people are just annoying him so much. It was only during the times to and from the missions that he could truly relax, but now during one of his few 'me moments', there are some punks that are talking just so loud.

He gets up and decides to go there too, in an educated manner, tell them to do a bit less sound.

OPEN THE DOOR

"Would you idiots shut up for one freaking moment, you useless waste of space and air." And so he said with all the patience he had remaining.

Looking at the room there was a brown-haired girl pouting, a man that looks like a casa-nova with two women reclining on him (he immediately did not like this one) and one man that hearing what he said got up and stood up to the man with blue hair. The one facing him had a punk style with even a pompadour for some reason.

"What did you said, you fucker." with that a wave of Ki came out of the pompadour guy without he realizing it.

The blue-haired man noticing that took a step forward and asked

"Who are you guys? Answer me now or you will face death. " And in that instant, he too liberated a wave of Ki no weaker than the pompadour man himself.

The casa-nova one, with two women laying on his body, looked at the situation and decided to talk.

"We are agents from Tohsaka Tower going for a mission. We do not intend on acting against you but will not shrink from the challenge if that is what you want." And so he too liberated a wave of power that, while weaker in intensity had a dangerous feel to it, doing it, in part as intimidation, but mostly because the girls that were sleeping were getting uncomfortable with all those hostile energies surrounding them so by covering them on his own energy they got much more relieved.

The man with blue hair hearing this got an even more annoyed face but receded his own powers.

"Tch. So this are the ones I will have to work with, huh?" the man 'tch'ed again and was ready to leave when-

"It is rude to ask about someone and not say anything about yourself in return, mister ponytail-san." Okuyasu said in defiance. He did not know why but seeing this bastard got him REALLY annoyed, it could be the fact that he was rude just now or that he was more handsome.

Who knows for certain, the only certainty was that Okuyasu did not like that bishounen.

"I am part of the Yu family, working directly under Mikoto-sama on a mission." He then left but not before saying "Be quiet or I will come back to kill every one of you, bean sprouts."

And with that, the first meeting between the bodyguards to Miku Izayoi ended.

On an undisclosed location

"So what is our next mission, priest?" a woman asked with a sweet and gentle voice, she had no more than 16 with sickly gray skin and purple hair using a strange mask and clothes covering most of her skin asked a man in priests clothing.

"You will go to Japan with Lugh and a select group to an assassination mission. The target is Miku Izayoi, a girl that has the gal of considering herself a goddess due to her heretic parents." The man had a long hair done in a ponytail. He was relatively tall but a bit skinny and even while wearing clothes of the church he did not have a shred of holiness on his person.

"Understood, also about our deal…"

"Do not worry. We will do all we can to help cleanse you after your work is done." The woman gave a nod and left the room.

Shortly after the man could not contain himself anymore and just started laughing maniacally. "Yeah, we will cleanse you, of all the taint that you are you poisonous being. Keep working, working for us, the holy soldiers of the lord. We, the Iscariots."