Chapter 4 - Meeting Unfamiliar Yet Familiar People

"3997....3998....3999....4000....haaa~" I finished my daily light exercise and stood up before a towel was pushed into my face.

"Here you go, Takuya!" I looked over at the happy eyes looking at me. I smiled and accepted the towel, wiping the buckets off sweat off of my body. My body had developed even more and definite lines of muscle spanned across my body, despite its obvious immaturity.

It had been 2 years since I first went to Elementary School and met Irina. Over the two years, I'd been training hard, pushing the limits of my body even further than I imagined would be possible for my age.

By this point, I could easily take on a few groups of Special Ops soldiers with ease, and though that wasn't much of a problem for most people in the DxD Universe, I knew for a fact that I was only being limited by my age. Once I reached puberty, my power would explode forward.

That's why other than keeping my body fit with heavy bodyweight training and light weight training (wrist and ankle weights), I tried to refine my technique to the highest point while my body was weak enough that technique actually mattered. For this purpose, I'd been learning Martial Arts from the local Dojo that was situated near my house.

Obviously, the things I could learn there were limited but nonetheless, it gave me a good enough grasp for a few martial arts. I'd gained pretty high attainments in Jujutsu, Karate, and Kickboxing, my talent surprised both the teachers there and even I myself. After multiple tests and by the fact my blood boiled during a fight, I deduced that being a Werewolf made me a Natural-Born Warrior and all the perks that came along with it.

Imagine a Saiyan but without the tail and weirdly styled hair that never grows.

And I had the added benefit of not being an idiot and I knew how to do things outside of fighting. This could be attributed to the fact that my mom supported my training but also wanted me to study, so I did. What can I say, I'm a filial son.

'But I really am annoyed that I'm limited by my age to such an extent...At least I have Kiriha~' thinking this, I couldn't help but smirk as I teasingly nudged the spirit in my mind.

[Leave me alone, you little brat! I'm trying to recover from that stupid stunt you pulled off last night!] the voice was annoyed, overwhelmingly harsh and quite domineering but below that facade, I could feel the joy in her voice. I had shown her the potential the both of us gave one another, so it was only natural that the self-assured Kiriha would be happy.

Still, at the admonishing tone she used, I could only sweatdrop at her, and I couldn't help but feel slightly indignant. When I went to complain, I saw a picture of her annoyed face appear in my mind.

She looked to be about my age but the mature aura she gave off made others think she was definitely older. She had light blue hair which was let loose, falling down her back like a waterfall. The exception being two partings on either side of her face which came down and rested on the front of her shoulders/chest. The partings were tied at the top with burgundy fabric which looked quite high in quality.

She was wearing a flower patterned kimono with an obi and tabi (socks used with sandals) with sandals. But what was most unique about her was the pointed ears she had and the red eyes which seemed like a deep red wine.

Her pretty visage was currently ruined by the hands on hips and closed eyes while she thought about I did last night with her powers. The air around her was quite...well, dark and annoyed. And despite her not truly meaning it, she was very annoyed with me.

'But Kiriha...I had to see the limits...it's not my fault you couldn't keep up...--' as soon as I said this, I froze knowing what I'd just done.

[Hmm?! Me? Not being able to keep up? Who do you think you're talking to, brat?!] her annoyance seemed to go up in intensity and magnitude and I could only try to ignore her as she screamed about me having to get her a mountain of pudding if I wanted her to forgive me.

It was good that I was ignoring her as well as I was beginning to run out of spots to wipe sweat from and Irina was getting restless.

If you wanna know why, well that's because--

"Takuya, hurry up! You said you were gonna go with me to the park today!!" Irina charged up to me and struck an image just like Kiriha in my mind - Hands on hips and an annoyed pout on her face.

Not wanting to anger the only other girl in my life, I quickly put my hands up in defeat, "Okay okay, I just need to wash myself off in the shower and then we can go..." my voice was strained as I heard Kiriha going off in my head again.

[You're doing what that brat says, so why can't you listen to me every now and then?! Is it her cuteness? Am I not cute enough?! 100 hundred more pudding cups have been added to the debt! Hmph!] hearing her voice, I sweatdropped at her. Her reasoning was...unique to say the least.

Ignoring the domineering girls, I ran into the house and up to the shower. I stripped and got in it, thoroughly scrubbing myself down. I spoke with Kiriha while I was in the shower, promising her that I'd summon her humanoid form later tonight and give her all the pudding cups in my house. This seemed to placate her slightly but she still seemed a bit annoyed at something.

I shrugged it off, for now, figuring I could ask her tonight when I had some time and had given her pudding cups.

Soon, I was out of the shower, dried and in some fresh clothes. Then I was downstairs to tell my mom Irina and I were going out to the park.

All I got in response was my mother looking at me with a hand on her cheek, "Ahh? Going out for your first date~? Have fun, sweetie~!" her tone was exceedingly teasing and I felt my cheeks heat up despite my mental maturity. I wanted to refute her but knew it would only dig a hole for myself, so all I could do was nod before walking off thinking about how scary powerful moms could be when they tease their children.

I walked out to the front of my house and saw Irina sitting there with a small basket on her lap. When she heard the door open, she turned around, and when she saw it was me, she shot up and smiled at me while holding the basket behind her back.

'You realize I saw the basket when I came out, right? Sometimes you're a real airhead, Irina...' despite my thoughts, a genuine smile spread across my face as I looked at her excited red cheeks and shining violet eyes. Over the past years, I'd really grown attached to Irina, so much so that I was glad she hadn't moved to England when she was supposed to. While I was glad about this, I started to wonder about a few things...

'How come Serafall and Sirzechs were so young when I met them? Is this some sort of alternate universe or something? Maybe...--!' my thoughts brought me to a stunning conclusion but I quickly stuffed it down to the back of my mind as I needed to focus on Irina today. No distractions.

"So, should we go, Irina?" I smiled at her, my yellow eyes glittering with a weird giddiness that was quite unfitting for my (mental) age. She nodded her head and grabbed my hand before dragging me along, no longer trying to hide the basket.

Of course I let her drag me, otherwise, I wouldn't have moved at all. The reason for that was quite a weird one...It seems that Werewolves, or at least the ones I'm modeled after, are very heavy...

Even as a 9-year-old I was easily 50kg, maybe even more. I don't know why this was but if I had a guess I'd say it's because of the density of my muscles, bones and overall body. But it made sense. As something gets physically stronger it gains muscle, right? But why is it that in most anime, even though a character can destroy a skyscraper with a punch through pure muscle power, they still weigh the same amount as a normal human? Where do all that muscle and the weight that comes along with it go?

I guess that it has something to do with power-to-weight ratio and also supernatural means but the former can only go so far and the latter doesn't apply to me. The fact I wasn't a supernatural creature was a bit hard to swallow at first, seeing as I was a Werewolf, but after an info drop from The Morrighan most of my confusion was cleared up.

Basically, creatures like Devils, Angels, and Fallen Angels were made through some form of magical means, the same goes for Vampires. But Werewolves were like Humans - they evolved to where they were, instead of being made.

And while I wasn't born a Werewolf, I was modeled after one, so I guess that means I'm more a Biological Creature than a Supernatural one. Well, at least whatever version of Werewolf I represent.

(Author Note - Again, think of it like this; Saiyans biologically gained their strength through many, many years of evolution. The same goes for the Yato Tribe from Gintama. They're not magical creatures. This is my way of separating the MC and the werewolves of this world who are magical/supernatural creatures.)

Anyway, back to Irina and I walking to the park.

I was curiously looking at the basket in her hands, 'Isn't she nine? Why is she treating this like a date? Do kids really mature this quickly these days?' shaking my head in slight disbelief, I carried on following her.

But as I was admiring her cheerfulness, Kiriha spoke in my head.

[Brat, there are two immeasurable powerful Devils approaching you, prepare yourself..!!] hearing the seriousness in her voice, I instantly froze, stopping myself and Irina in our tracks. Irina looked back at me with a worried expression as she saw my serious face.

But I couldn't let myself be distracted as my senses finally picked up on the slow footsteps walking toward me from the alleyway beside us. I pulled Irina behind me, slowly dropping into a stance even though I knew I couldn't stand up to the Devils who would exit the alleyway, I would at least try my best to give Irina some time to run. Thinking this, I turned to Irina, "Irina...when you see a chance to, run--!" before I could finish, a pinkish blur appeared from the alley and rushed at me.

The speed was unbelievable and even with my naturally strong reflexes and keen senses, all I could see was...a magical girl costume?

"Ta-chan! You still look so cute~!" a figure hugged me, pulling - and then crushing - my head into her soft chest. I struggled to look up at my assailant and felt a vein throb on my head.

'So I was right...Sirzechs you idiot...' as I thought this, I heard a calm chuckle behind the person burying me in herself. I struggled even further to look over the shoulder of the person clad in a magical girl costume.

I saw a tall man with crimson hair, blue eyes, and a handsome face. He had a dignified aura and an air of royalty flowed from his body but even so, he still seemed friendly and approachable. But despite this, I felt the vein on my head getting even more strained.

"So, Serafall, Sirzechs, do you want to explain why you two look so old???" perhaps because she could hear the anger in my voice, Serafall let me go and backed up a little with a lowered head. Sirzechs stepped forward a little and nervously chuckled as my sharp eyes bore into him.

His face looked a bit awkward as he started speaking, "Well, you see...I may have messed up with the Space Laws on that Talisman..." the voice trailed off as his shoulders slumped a little.

My eye twitched. The Lucifer Satan was an idiot, as I had discovered recently.