chapter 22

While on the bike, Ace noticed Kurumi's condition with his Doctor skill. With how high it currently was it was rather easy to see all that was wrong with her clearly. Thinking carefully about it Ace went to the mansion as fast as possible.

After a short while, they arrived home, but Ace did not dismount the bike.

"You guys go inside and protect yourselves, I will take Kurumi with me to get treatment." Ace said and was about to go when Maria protested.

"We have a lot of stuff here already and even a few Phoenix Tears here, just take her inside."

As Maria said that Ace thought for a moment before nodding and going in with the others. He was not fully sure how useful those tears would be considering what Ace could see, but it was worth a shot and, if necessary, Ace could still take her to his secret base to treat her.

As they entered the house they were greeted by Yuki who, upon seeing Kurumi, froze in place before darting to her sister.

"What happened? Is Kurumi okay?" Yuki asked and Mio went to explain as Ace just moved along, he had more to do than looking after Yuki right now.

Getting into the room where they kept all the medical supplies Ace frowned. This place was far from what he would call an idea with far too few medicinal herbs for his liking and instead a larger amount of Phenix Tears. He could only assume that a devil of higher standing only focused on this 'cure-all' medicine instead of properly researching and expanding their capabilities.

Regardless, Ace gave her a dose of Phenex Tears and waited as the wounds of Kurumi's body closed soon after but she still did not wake up.

Furrowing his brows he began to wonder what reasoning could there be for this. He examined her again and again but could not find anything wrong with her body.

"It is her energy." Yuki said from the doorway. She had seen Ace tending to her sister and stayed to observe, she had seen many doctors working throughout her life before so she could tell what Ace was doing right away. "Me and my sister, when we use too much of our energy it takes a while to get it back properly. She must have exhausted herself during this fight, if only I was there." Yuki said the last part with some anger and resentment, her hands closed so tight her knuckles got white.

Ace, hearing what Yuki said, just sighed and spoke.

"Quick question, if I pray right now would it be for you?"

"Huh?" Yuki retorted.

"Just answer me, if I pray right now would it be for you?"

"Of course now, if you pray then it is for a God." Yuki said and Ace nodded.

"Exactly, only an omnipresent God could hope to know what is happening everywhere at every hour. You are not a God so don't go blaming yourself for not being somewhere when you didn't even know what was going on." Ace said and looked at her quickly. "Don't blame yourself, it is not your fault."

That, despite being to help Yuki, had the exact opposite effect as her eyes shrank to pin needles before returning to normal and becoming almost entirely empty.

"I see, you of all people telling me that it is not my fault, to not blame myself. I see." She says before turning around and leaving the room. In her neck, the mark of the Master-Servant contract was clear to see and shining very brightly but Yuki seemed to not mind it in the slightest.

Unfortunately Ace didn't see that as he had turned back to Kurumi. If the problem was lack of energy then the solution was simple enough.

If it was just that all he had to do was stimulate her body and mind on how to recover their energy. Thankfully, amongst the many, many herbs he had collected there were some that should help. He wanted to be prepared for anything and everything, as such herbs that could stimulate the faster recovery of energy was a must.

Going out he went straight to his bike to quickly arrive at the base where he was cultivating the herb. As the place was not overly fair from his home and the streets were not full he could get to the base and back in a little under half an hour. Getting back to the house Ace went directly to the room where Kurumi was located.

Checking her temperature he saw it was a bit high but nothing too big. Moving quickly he mixed the herbs into a paste and made her drink it.

COUGH COUGH

She started to cough as the medicinal paste entered her mouth, the medicine tasted terrible but it was for the best.

"Bitter." She said as if for instinct, she seemed out of it but she was still able to say that this thing tasted terrible.

"Stop being picky, it is medicine and is good for you so don't go getting all picky like this. Good medicine is supposed to be bitter." Ace said as he went to give her the medicine again but she turned her head to the side and closed her mouth tightly shut.

Groaning in frustration Ace placed his hand under her jaw, turning her to him he forced her to open her mouth and forced it down her throat.

She buckled a bit at that more than a bit uncomfortable situation, but Ace didn't care. He proceeded to finish giving her the medicine and she opened her eyes, glaring at him.

"What did you do to me? What is going on?" She asked while still glaring at Ace, the terribly bitter taste in her mouth making her even more uncomfortable.

"First, everyone is fine. You were the most beaten up of the lot for sure. I sent the idiot who thinks too much of himself packing and, after that, we all took you here. I was just giving you some medicine and you didn't want to take it at all, something about it being too bitter." Ace said slightly teasing her in the end there and she flushed as she said.

"T-There is no need for medicine or anything. I am just tired and I should recover in a day at most even without you using medicine in me." Kurumi said and Ace nodded.

"Yes, yes, you are a strong independent woman who doesn't need no man to help you in your hour of need. Think of me as a meddler or something if you want, I don't care." Ace said and Kurumi looked at him for another moment before using the covers of the bed and trying to hide her face under it.

Not resisting the desire to tease the girl Ace continued.

"But, for such a strong independent woman who doesn't need no man, you do have childish tastes. Not drinking medicine because it is bitter, tch, tch, tch." Ace said and Kurumi's eyes leveled at him with a fierce glare.

"T-This and that are not related at all. I just don't like bitter things, that doesn't make me childish!" She screeched at him with him nodding.

"True, true, and if anyone can say you are not child-like, I suppose it should be me." Ace said and instantly Kurumi's face got red and her eyes widened before, in a moment of panic and embarrassment born from remembering the Master-Servant contract ritual, she took her pillow and started hitting Ace with it. Seeing this he just laughed and playfully said. "Okay, okay, I get it. I am leaving. Sheesh, talk about not being able to take some light teasing."

After Ace said that he left the room that housed a very beat red and embarrassed Kurumi who, after Ace left, laid down again and showed a slightly triumphant smile. If it was because she managed to 'banish' Ace away or for the confirmation that Ace DID see her as a proper woman, no one could tell.

+ 10 Affection with Kurumi Nonaka, for seeing her as a proper girl and taking care of her (X+10/100)

///---///

Later at night Ace went to Kurumi, he prepared a special meal just for her and she ate it with gusto. Ace put a lot of effort into making a good meal and it was a nice distraction after what happened earlier that day so, for him, it was all good.

He did the meal thinking not only of Kurumi but also of Mio and Maria who were also quite tired after the previous ordeal. Thankfully his cook skill was considerably high, it not only helped him cook better but gave him greater creativity and 'instincts' over what to do in the kitchen to obtain certain results.

As such the meals he put actual efforts in were always extra delicious and had an extra push for what he desired. In this case, it made everyone energized, or, in Mashiro's case, sleepy as he made sure to give her a drink that reversed the effect of the food just so she would go to sleep. Everyone loved the meal, well, almost everyone.

Yuki did not go down to eat with the others.

"Zest, did you call Yuki to come and eat?" Ace asked after Mio and Maria went to do the dishes and Zest nodded in affirmation at his question.

"Yes, I did. She said she is not hungry so she would abstain from it." Zest said and Ace furrowed his brows at this. He was of the firm opinion that mealtime should not be ignored except if it would interfere with something else you were already doing or if you were feeling sick.

"I see, I will take it to her room later then." Ace said dismissively but Zest was quick to interject.

"Ace-sama, such a thing, please let me do it instead. You must be tired from earlier today, you should rest." Zest said and Ace sighed at this.

"Zest, you remember our cooking lessons?"

Zest looked at him confused but nodded her head.

"Yes, of course I do."

"Then answer me this, do you get tired after putting a chicken on fire?" Ace said and Zest looked confused but a snort of laughter could be heard in the table.

Looking at the one who laughed Ace saw Lars trying to hide the mirth on his face.

"Sorry, I just never thought of hearing someone comparing a high-class noble devil with a chicken in the oven before. The image was just funny." Lars said and the mirth in his voice was undeniable.

"Well, that is how I see it at least. I mean, against me he was completely useless and, from what I gather, he and his entire peerage would have lost at least 8 times if not for abusing their Phenex Tears. Also, with the way he was dressed he looked more like a peacock than anything else, but seeing as he could create fire I think flaming chicken fits him better than his name. It represents him better." Ace said and Lars looked at him for a moment before nodding.

"I agree, he was always a bit of a jerk. I mean, from the few times we've met he was always full of himself when he barely had any actual powers to speak off." Lars said and that made Ace confused.

"You've met him before?" Ace asked and Lars grunted.

"Yeah, not the most pleasant times I assure you."

"How did you met him? I mean, you either are connected with someone high up or something for you to meet that guy, either that or he tried to do what he did to Mio with someone you kne-"

Ace stopped there seeing the angry frown on Lars' face.

"Let's end this conversation here, there are many things about my past I don't wish to divulge with someone who is simply a colleague from work." Lars said. "Besides, my story would be too complicated and, if you knew, it might lead to a whole lot of problems."

Ace nodded after a moment before confirming something.

"Very well, but just so you know, if I sense that you are a danger to me or those close to me I won't hesitate to stop and, if necessary, kill you." Ace said. "This is a working relationship, we are doing the same job and that is it."

Lars nodded and left after speaking.

"Right back to you, Acecchi." Lars said as he waved off while going back to his room.

Ace just shook his head, since meeting the guy he was absolutely impossible to read. He would change his actions at a drop of the hat every few moments and it was super annoying.

Zest, beside Ace, looked at where Lars went and spoke.

"Ace-sama, would you want me to eliminate him?" She said in all seriousness while tensing up, ready to move if given the order. Ace, however, shook his head.

"There is no need for that, Zest. It was just some banter, besides, it was me that pushed him just now. I believe that as long as neither tries anything stupid then we would all be alright." Ace said and Zest nodded, relaxing on her chair again.

Seeing this Ace went to the kitchen and readied two plates of food. One for each of the Nonaka sisters.

He first went to Kurumi who was in the infirmary of sorts in this place. She was quite better now compared to before, evidenced by how she was sleeping soundly. She had, however, pushed her covers down a bit so Ace adjusted them before putting the plate of food on the nightstand beside her.

Seeing that his work here was done he went to Yuki's room. Knocking on the door he didn't hear an answer for a moment before a weak response came.

"What?"

"Open the door, it is time to eat." Ace said.

"I am not hungry." Yuki said.

"I don't care, the time to eat is the time you must eat. Don't go ignoring your body's needs like that." Ace said as he took out from his system a simple set of tools he got from it.

Looking at the simple set in his hands he felt like crying, that set only had some screws and tools that in any store would cost at most 50 dollars, but he spent one thousand to buy them.

'Seriously, this system has a crap gacha.' Ace thought to himself as he went to work, quickly disassembling and opening the door.

However, he did not expect the scene in front of him when he opened the door. He did not expect it at all.

He would have closed the door and left, but before he could he was pulled inside and pressed against the wall, in front of him was Yuki and he could not help but notice the lust in her eyes but also, even above that, the desperation in them.

"D-Do you really don't remember?" She whispered as Ace looked at her, her body in almost full display as she was drenched in sweat as she only had her panties on, her small but firm breasts standing tall and pressed against him while some droll had flown down the side of her mouth as she stared at him, but all Ace could think as her words hang out was.

'Remember what?'

///---///

In the Phenex House's main mansion, chaos reigned.

This happened due to Riser Phenex, the third son of the current Lord Phenex, who had gone to the human world without warning, and ended up returning home with serious burns on his face.

Obviously, the first instincts of the head of the clan were to use Phenex Tears. They poured multiple doses of it on Riser, but it simply did not work. It was as if their legendary Phenex Tears were now simple water, their healing properties completely lost when faced with this burn.

"How? How did this happen?!" Lord Phenex shouted in anger, the temperature of the entire mansion rising several degrees due to his rage and some of the servants having heat strokes from it.

Beside lord Phenex was his wife, she looked intensely at her son but did not show the same anger her husband was displaying. No, she was far more interested in the injuries themselves.

As someone who has lived for one thousand years, she knew there were several ways to injure a Phenex. Holy energy was the easiest to think about, being the cause of many deaths of their clansmen over the years including the man who should have been her husband. With the death of her original betrothal, she had to take the next best thing, which just so happened to be the far less attractive and intelligent current partner than the original model.

Especially less intelligent, not being able to think clearly and jumping to conclusions way too quickly.

With a shake of the head, she concentrated on thinking about what else could cause injuries like those.

Besides holy element there were also cursed items or magics that could create injuries that would not heal, they were a special sort of nasty but they always let out a disgusting type energy around the energy that even ordinary humans with no training could sense somewhat. There was no such energy in Riser's injuries.

The next option would be a God of Fire, but that too was hard to believe. First, Gods of Fire usually would not just make a scar, they would outright incinerate Riser without a doubt, but all Gods also leave a certain power on the areas they attack and they are all highly watched. If a God of Fire visited the human world there was no doubt someone would come to know of it, especially if it was on devil's territory.

That leaves one option, one which she honestly did not believe was possible but was the only possible explanation that made any actual sense.

A phoenix.

That thought made her feel excited more than anything else. True, her third son was injured and she would do all she could to heal him back up, but the news that there was still at least one phoenix around was news that made her almost ignore her son from the sheer excitement.

As someone who was groomed to be the wife of the head of House Phenex since very young as well as learned how to manage and care for the household's interests, Layla Phenex knew a lot of things. Most importantly, she knew how important the matter of actual phoenixes was to her family.

House Phenex was not like the other houses of the 72 pillars. They originally did not have any special ability whatsoever and was just a low-class devil family that lived under the boots of higher class devils.

That changed, however, after two events. The first was when one of their members managed to have children with an actual phoenix. These kids all had the skills of a natural phoenix mixed with the powers of a devil. With this, they quickly started rising in ranks and prestige, culminating in the second event when one of their members joined the one human who could be called as the supreme being of the time. The strongest human to ever live, King Solomon.

Solomon created the contract with 72 devils with unique abilities and helped them to create the 72 pillars of Solomon. House Phenex was one of the said 72, to this day this fact still brings great honor to the entire family.

And this all started with one of their members having children with a Phoenix.

However, a problem arose. With each new generation, their phoenix bloodline thinned bit by bit due to being mixed with other devils. That made them inevitably weaker with each passing generation and even when they practiced marriage between cousins or brother and sister, it was not an actual solution.

It was so bad that her eldest son has had a daughter a few years back but she did not inherit any of the Phenex's house powers, she was just a normal devil. And Ruval, the girl's father, had the best bloodline between all his siblings. If he couldn't pass on the powers then the others certainly wouldn't be able to. That worried Layla immensely as she feared that other future generations would all be like young Ais, the phoenix blood fully dried out.

They needed a solution no matter what, and they needed it fast. Originally house Phenex was putting a lot of pressure into the marriage between Riser and Rias as a way to ensure the two houses got closer. With the support of house Gremory, the House Phenex wouldn't need to fear their progressive weakening as much and could take their time searching for a solution.

However, in the end, the best possible solution was the most obvious one.

They needed to add more Phoenix blood into their family. If they could do that, why would they bother with tying themselves with the Gremory house that closely? They would become strong and secure even without their support. Even a future where one of the Satans be a Phenex by blood was not impossible, stories about the might of those of the first generation of the Phenex family is something that still could make Layla more than a bit excited.

It was a dream come true for their family. No matter what they had to manage to create a new generation with the mixed blood of a true phoenix.

Seeing her husband's actions caused Layla to snort inside. There was no need to worry so much about just some scars, Riser was still alive and even if he couldn't be healed they could easily obtain the absolute best doctors to fix Riser's face as if there was never an injury. She had seen many such cases of people doing such things and the results were usually quite positive.

Riser was still alive and he was not crippled or anything like that, as such she would rather focus on what just might be the future of their clan instead of wailing about like that.

Going to the room beside the one Riser was using Layla saw her son's entire peerage. They were all disheveled and tired, but as the matriarch of the family entered the room every single one of them stood in attention. Layla gazed over each one of them and wanted to shake her head, her son learned all the bad habits of her husband if his preference in surrounding himself with girls of questionable background and low potential with their only advantage being the fact they were all quite weak.

These girls were all just pretty decorations for her son, that is what she decided as she observed each of them, noting that one was missing but not carrying about that. If the girl couldn't even properly set up a teleportation circle to teleport back to the Underworld alone then she might as well not return in Layla's mind. She wanted her family to grow strong, and that included their servants of course.

It was a well-known fact that, in the Phenex house, the one that truly leads the house was Lady Phenex. Her husband was ultimately just someone she married to conceive children with as pure phoenix bloodline as possible, he was only worth for that and to do whatever his wife ordered. As such there was no one in this house that did not respect and, in the case of 99% of the people that lived here, was terrified of her.

As the lady looked over them she spoke.

"So, care to explain in detail what happened? I need to know everything, especially who was the one that did that to my son." The lady said imperiously.

As she said so every girl scrambled over themselves to tell what happened. It was a bit of a mess of an explanation but in the end, all the information was passed on well enough and lady Phenex understood the entire situation.

Outside she looked completely detached with a blank expression, but inside she was almost cheering loudly in pure ecstasy and joy. Yes, this was just perfect.

A phoenix, an actual phoenix!

That would make the world of difference for their family if they can generate offspring with this person.

It took all of lady Phenex's control to not have a shit-eating grin on her face and do a little victory dance after hearing the news.

Her mind started processing this information at a fast speed. In the clan, there were only three females that could potentially work.

First was herself, which was troublesome due to being married already but, if needed, she wouldn't mind as long as it resulted in a new generation to enhance the family. She has more than proven her fertility considering she has had four kids already and she was certainly beautiful enough having breasts at least as large as Yasaka's and a figure to match the sexiness of it all (and she knew how to use everything very well thanks to the many years of experience) Besides, she thought to herself in private, it was not like either herself or her husband were particularly loyal to each other or truly monogamous. She has had several 'friends' over the years and her husband has made an entire peerage of girls for his personal harem. Both knew of each other's doings and they all agreed that, as long as no children were produced and it was not something that could be turned into a scandal, then there was no problem. But, for the clan, she wouldn't really mind the act and her husband would accept, and even if he didn't, he would accept (he was the textbook picture of a wiped man).

The second option was her own daughter, the likely best and easiest option. If she and this phoenix produced heirs then they would probably have an even purer phoenix bloodline than the first generation of the family, their potential would be astounding for sure. This, however, had its own problems. Her dear Ravel was, ultimately, just not used to males yet. She was completely inexperienced and while some men liked that it could also be a turn-off, it didn't help that she grew up too pampered by her father and was a tad spoiled. Layla would have to ensure that her daughter knew just what to do and to curve away all the bad habits she has as of right now.

And the final option was Ais. The girl was actually really similar to that man, Sairaorg Bael, in that she did not take the fact she was not born with the clan's family trait as an excuse to stay weak. She trained vigorously and was an excellent swordswoman and was also very cute in Layla's eyes, even if her stoicism was a bit much most times. She was also extremely dedicated to the clan, if she knew of this chance then Layla did not doubt she would probably take the chance without a shadow of hesitation. Her father could complain a bit about it, but one glare from Layla should be enough for the foolish boy to stop it entirely, he has learned well to listen to his mother's orders.

In truth, Layla would prefer a few more, as many as possible as a way to ensure as many offspring for the clan as possible, however, that was not to be as of right now.

With her decision set she started to move, she had to investigate in detail who exactly this phoenix was and think about how to approach the said person. Thoughts regarding the wedding of her son being thrown to the back of her mind and later, when she remembers about it, would no longer be pushed forward. Even if the marriage was to occur there would be a need for plastic surgery beforehand and the process was not that fast anyway. She would not let others mock her house due to her son's current appearance, as such she would put him unofficially under house arrest as a way to not let him walk around and be seen with those scars. The fewer people thought that the Phenex house was weak, the better.

What she failed to notice was the eyes of Riser. The hatred shining brightly on them as he thought of what happened, that and fear about what went down considering everything that happened during the combat.

///---///

In another place, one could see a man looking pensive.

Aizen Sosuke was a genius, he planed several dozen steps before anyone else had the chance to even realize his first move, but most importantly, he was a scientist.

A few days back Aizen had sent out some weaker hollows to capture and turn the soul of the brother of one of Ichigo's friends. His intentions were to force an engagement with a weak hollow and, using this, investigate exactly how capable he currently was.

Ichigo was an extremely unique case being a natural mix of all three spiritual races, Shinigami, Quincy, and Hollow. As such he was extremely interesting for Aizen who wanted to break all the barriers between spiritual races as well as the one separating the spiritual races with those of the supernatural.

He laid down several plans to progressively ensure that Ichigo faced stronger and stronger opponents, stimulate his potential and study how it worked precisely so as to try and imitate it later on others and finally on himself.

However, despite his plans, there was a problem in that the hollows he sent out were all exterminated. He had sent out a small machine to watch over the operation, as was to expect, but what he saw picked his interest. He had since stopped his plans regarding Ichigo and focused on this new variable who was certainly quite interesting.

Especially so when he created the homies, those creations made Aizen almost spit the coffee he was drinking when he saw it (that Gin, who was beside him, got drenched in coffee had nothing to do with Aizen, of course, no matter what Gin might say otherwise). That power that Ace showed, it was something that showed many similarities to the powers he has heard the Quincy king, Yhwatch, had. The power to divide his soul and infuse it on others.

His mind has been going since at fast speed about what that might be able to do and if he would create a fourth spiritual race. Aizen felt a desire to dissect Ace, but most importantly he wanted to properly investigate him and what he could do in as many details as possible.

Reclining on his chair he changed expressions as his lieutenant, Hinamori Momo, entered the room. The innocent girl, Aizen almost felt like chuckling when he thought about making that all those under the effects of his Kyoka Suigetsu would see, when looking at the dictionary for the meaning of the world Fangirl, the picture of Momo.

Ignoring this tantalizing thought Aizen proceeded to act in the way of always to the fangirl. She was just so simple to manipulate that it was pathetic.

After giving her almost all the paperwork of Squad 5 to complete in exchange for going on a 'date' with her, she left almost skipping all the way. Of course, Aizen would not really go and instead, she would just be with an illusion, but he did not care. He had more to do than do paperwork or carrying about the needs of a girl who didn't even qualify as a pawn in his plans.

Now he had to think, how to be able to push this boy to his limits. He needed to observe him until the point of breaking as to observe all he can do. After a little while, a small smirk surged on his face. Yes, there was a way to do just that, and it would ensure that Aizen could observe as much as he wanted of the boy.

"Now, let us see how you will survive what is coming, Ace-kun." Aizen said as he proceeded to message Tousen about going to Hueco Mundo to start the preparations for this plan.

///---///

AN:

So, this happened. What will go down moving forward? Stay tuned to find out.

Regarding Layla, do remember that in devil society harems are normal, but that doesn't mean that only males can have them and I doubt the women in there, especially those with hundreds, if not thousands of years of marriage would only have fun with their husbands. They are devils, creatures of sin who enjoy breaking taboos quite a bit and I don't see it being upheld that strongly amongst devils (just look at Grayfia in the shower scene, she clearly wanted the D there).

About Yuki, next chapter I will explore her character some more and I hope you all will like it. Also, likely either limes or an outright lemon in the next chapter XD.

And, in case anyone is wondering, the Ais that I mentioned was the one from Danmachi. She is the only daughter of Ruval Phenex, the heir of house Phenex and one of the Top 10 of the Rating Games.

Anyway, review and tell me what you guys think.

Oh, and one last thing. If it wasn't obvious Ravel is NOT on Riser's Peerage (how else would Riser have one vacant Bishop Piece?). She will probably have her own peerage in time, it will likely be cool.