Caretakers (DxD Side)

Since the day that Ophis appeared in front of Serafall, the Infinite Dragon God would visit her for the chocolates once a day and even if the other leaders asked what was going on, Serafall would just feign ignorance, to the frustration of the others.

Also during this time, Serafall tried to slowly push a narrative that Kisuke Urahara was just victim of a bigger plot of some other supernatural faction against the Devils and the Alliance at large. However, even with her voice as one of the Devil Kings and the leader of the Foreign Ministry, it just resulted in a backlash. Serafall severely underestimated the hatred the Devils had against Kisuke.

She, of course, felt baffled about it because this was just a recent event and shouldn't have sunk into the masses yet. Serafall tried to investigate it and found that several Devil Houses, all of which were victims of the 'Blood Sacrifice Incident', were spreading rumors about Kisuke which resulted in unreasonable hatred.

But just as she was about to make a move to respond to that, a directive came from the higher-ups that Serafall Leviathan was to be temporarily relieved of her duties as a Devil King, the reason being that she was creating unnecessary infighting amongst the Devils, which might result in another Civil War if not stopped.

Since all evidence points against Kisuke and Serafall tried to defend him, the lower Devil Houses immediately petitioned for her to be held accountable for creating and assisting the disturbance of peace within the Underworld.

Although Serafall didn't really commit any crimes, the ruling body of the Underworld had to take the growing dissatisfaction of some Houses regarding Serafall's actions and, as a result of her being relieved of her post, she was to be banished to the Human World and would not return until further notice.

Of course, there were some people who protested against this decision and the one leading them was the Sitri House. However, Serafall herself asked them to stop as she realized that going this way wouldn't actually do any good for her, her sister, and Kisuke, and she just accepted her banishment because she figured out that she would be able to move easier that way.

Her parents tried to dissuade her against this decision but they stopped after a few tries and just expressed their willingness to assist her in her endeavor. They could understand that she was doing this for Sona and they were willing to do the same, however, they don't really understand why she would always take this Kisuke Urahara into consideration and could only think of him as a son-in-law who gave them a very big headache. But since Serafall believed in him, they chose to do the same.

Serafall was thankful for their actions but decided against accepting their assistance as they were in the spotlight now. The House's enemies might use this chance to attack them and she didn't want that to happen now that she wasn't in position to help them.

After a few preparations, with her luggage on hand, Serafall departed to the Human World immediately after saying her goodbyes to her parents. She already had a destination in mind and didn't hesitate to teleport to Kuoh Town as she appeared in front of a certain building with a large sign on the front of it, 'Urahara Shouten'.

However, just as she was about to open the doors, Serafall suddenly stopped and frowned, 'There's someone inside?'

Serafall's aura instantly became cold as she slowly opened the door and stepped inside. The sound of the door opening was pretty loud so the person inside should have heard it and Serafall chose to just wait for this individual.

A minute later, someone indeed came out and this person wasn't anyone Serafall was expecting, "Akeno-chan?"

Akeno came out after she heard the door's noise, "Serafall-sama? What are you doing here?"

"That should be my question. What are you doing here?" Serafall inspected Rias Gremory's Queen and tried to guess what was the purpose of her presence in the shop.

Akeno froze, not knowing how to answer her question. Although she was just here to take care of the cleaning and anything else, she didn't really know if that answer would be acceptable as her actions were technically illegal trespassing.

While she was struggling to find an answer, a gothic lolita suddenly came out from the interior of the store and gave Serafall the stare.

"Ophis-chan?!" Serafall exclaimed after seeing her, "What are you doing here?!"

"Y-you know her, Serafall-sama?" Akeno became guarded after seeing her reaction. If she could call Ophis by her name, then she likely knew of her real identity, and that included her being the leader of the terrorist group that threatened the Alliance. If Serafall reacted badly, she would have no choice but to escape as she would surely be branded as a terrorist too.

A few seconds after seeing Serafall, Ophis slowly walked her, "W-wait!" Akeno tried to stop her but she didn't dare make any sudden movement when she still knew nothing of what Serafall was thinking.

Reaching the spot in front of Serafall, Ophis suddenly made a gesture of asking for something which puzzled Akeno greatly.

Witnessing this, Serafall could only sigh as she took out a chocolate bar from her independent space and passed it to Ophis, "This is the last one, alright?"

Ophis nodded slightly, but Serafall could see a slight pout on her face and patted her head, "It's alright. Even though it's not from Ki-tan, I can still get you some sweets."

Ophis looked into her eyes and the slightly pouting lips already returned to normal. She then went back inside the shop without minding the two Devils.

"W-what's going on?" Akeno asked in a surprised tone.

Easing her aura, Serafall closed the door of the shop and smiled at Akeno, "It seems that Akeno-chan is taking good care of Ophis-chan these days~."

Although still not sure of how the two of them knew each other and how Serafall apparently gave Ophis a chocolate bar that came from Kisuke, Akeno became filled with hope that the Devil King knew Kisuke's location and wanted to talk to her about it, "Please come inside, Serafall-sama. I'll prepare some tea."

Serafall nodded and went inside, "Good. I also wanted to hear your story and why you're here."

As the two of them came to the living space of the shop, they both saw Ophis sitting on the couch and silently watching a television show about animal documentaries.

"By the way, Akeno-chan, I plan to start living here for the time being." Serafall said suddenly, thinking that it really was the correct choice to come here.

Akeno was startled but she immediately nodded after taking a peek at the luggage she was carrying, "Alright. Please follow me. I'll lead you to a spare room."

"Thanks~."

Editors:

28th00

Alexander

Ashe Candy

Alternative Title: The Real Protagonist Appears Again (28th00)