Relaxation

(A few days after the conference between three factions.)

Mike's confession affected a lot of people in many ways. It affected the people who completely know about Mike in one way. And the ones who don't know completely know about him are affected in another way. And one of the people who don't know completely about Mike is Rias Gremory, the devil who became friends with Mike when he's an exorcist.

After they exchanged contacts in Italy during the Holy Sword Project incident, Rias and Mike talked with each other occasionally when Rias is on earth and Mike is available. Well, to be honest, most parts of their conversations are about their hobbies and the normal things they did recently and there is also the part about Rias complaining about the pressure on her because of noble society and the things she is doing to avoid her marriage. Mike advises her about that a few times too. In other words, she reveals her true side only to Mike whom she considers her best friend because unfortunately, she doesn't have a lot of friends and Akeno is not her queen in this world and she can't carelessly tell about these things to her friends in the noble society like Sona Sitri.

Rias was in the underworld when Mike quit the church but the news spread out fast and the contents of his speech were delivered everywhere. So, she also got to know the details of Mike's confession. And she felt ashamed for not knowing about this sooner. She felt guilty for not asking him more about what bothers him. She realized that all this time, she was the only one who's complaining about her situation but Mike had troubles too. When she came to know about how Mike feels guilty about killing a good couple because of his mission, she wanted to punch herself for not asking him more about his past. Friends talk to each other about these things but their relationship was just one-way till now. Well, the problem here is Mike doesn't feel guilty about anything because he saved the couple but Rias doesn't know it. So, her worries are actually pointless... But hey, it helped her grow a little. That's all that matters, right?

So, Rias tried to get back to earth as soon as possible to contact Mike. But given the situation, the underworld is in chaos. So, it was tough for her to get permission to go to earth. After struggling a lot, she managed to get permission to leave the underworld today. So, she quickly went to the residence in Japan, made sure that there is no one around to hear her conversations and immediately called Mike hoping that he would pick up. And fortunately, the call was picked from the other side.

"Hello! Mike, where are you? Are you okay?!" Rias asked with a panicked expression. And she finally heard his voice.

(( It looks like I got a call, I have to get my phone. So, stop rubbing your boobs on me and also stop hugging me with your naked body. And the rest of you girls put on something! Come on, don't make it hard. We have already done this a lot of times till now. ))

Rias only had one question after hearing that. 'What the hell is he doing out there?!!!'

*****************************

(A few moments ago)

"Haa... This will always be the best way to relax..." said Mike while soaking in an onsen. Yep, the place where he is hiding is in the residence of Kyoto's yokai faction leader. Mike loves relaxing in hot springs. He already came here once after the Nekoshou incident. He promised to Yasaka to come every once in a while after all.

Due to Mike's confession about the church, he became a wanted person for all three factions. Mike obviously can't go back to heaven for a while. He also decided to not stay in Kuoh until the situation settled down. He still talks to the Hyoudous on phone but he can't even contact Michael and Gabriel with the current situation. Mike wanted to meet Raynare as fast as he can and take care of the future events but it's not a good time for them to meet. So, he chose to wait a while for that and relax in Kyoto hot springs.

To be honest, he's not really fond of the memories of his previous visit. Well, Mike would call it a disaster. Yasaka welcomed him with open arms during the visit but forgot to tell him about the Nekoshou simp army that formed for him. So, he was a little bit careless and relaxed in the open-air hot springs only for a bunch of Nekoshou to sneak out in there and find out his appearance. In normal cases, he would sense their presence but he came here to relax and relaxed a bit too much for the sake of the plot.

Unlike the previous time, the catgirls didn't try to assault him. They just sneaked out to see what his face is like and were really excited when they saw his face. Mike questioned Yasaka about the situation and only glared at Fujimai for turning them like this. Mike tried to make them understand that he has a girlfriend and they should find someone else but the catgirls never accepted. The Nekoshou told that they won't force him to have sex with them but will take every measure to seduce him and make him pounce on them himself.

They also promised to keep Mike's appearance a secret instead of using that information to blackmail him. Well, Mike would have taken measures if they decided to blackmail him though. Anyway, the situation was still a problem for Mike because they won't back down no matter how hard Mike tries to convince them. Yasaka just enjoyed Mike's struggles though. She likes to tease him a lot.

Well, another important thing that happened during that visit is that Kunou called Mike 'Papa'. You got no one other than Yasaka to blame for that. Kunou can already say simple things like 'Ma', 'Pa', 'Da' at that point. Yasaka always teased Mike by telling Kunou that he is her Papa. Mike would always argue that he's not but unfortunately, it was fixed in Kunou's mind that she has to address him as 'Papa'. Mike still chose Kyoto to relax because he likes hot springs and the yokai faction is not involved in the mess with the other three factions.

"Ara~ don't you think you are taking too much time in the onsen, Papa?" Yasaka entered without permission. Well, she's the owner so, doesn't really need permission. She was covered with a towel and was holding a naked Kunou. "Papa!!" Kunou's face brightened up seeing Mike.

Mike sighed. "Kunou, it's not Papa. Call me Nii-nii. Say it, 'Nii'"

"Nii?" Kunou put a 'question mark' expression on her baby face.

"Yes. Say it, Nii-nii" Mike repeated.

"Papa!!" Kunou said with a bright smile. Mike let out a defeated sigh. Yasaka just giggled and made a smug face.

"Anyway, Yasaka-san, it's rude to enter the bath when someone else is there," Mike said.

"Ara~ But Mike-chan is still a child. So, it's fine. And also, can you help me in bathing Kunou? She doesn't really like soap but she likes to stay with her Papa and won't cry while bathing if you did it." Yasaka asked with a teasing smile.

"Haa... alright." Mike easily agreed because he likes Kunou. So, he won't mind making her take a bath while watching her play with a cute smile. Anyway, Mike got out of the hot spring. Needless to say, his lower part is covered with a towel. Yasaka giggled, "Fufufu... Agreeing that easily to wash your daughter... What a father figure you are... even though your figure is not that of a father."

"Haha... Very funny." Mike let out a sarcastic laugh and took Kunou from her. "Well, there is still a fact that she doesn't like soap and might cry even if it's me. We need something to distract her. Oh, I know, my phone." Mike took out his phone and gave it to Kunou so that she could play with her pressing the buttons on it. "Why did you bring your phone to the bath?" Yasaka asked.

"Well, my family gets upset if I don't immediately pick their call these days. So, it pretty much stays with me most of the time except the times I have to go to the restroom. By the way, it's waterproof and I also covered it in plastic to be extra safe. Magical devices are very convenient these days." Mike explained. Well, he built that thing. So, he added as many features as he can.

Mike started washing Kunou. He applied soap on Kunou, and just at that moment, he felt someone applying soap on his back. "Umm... Yasaka-san, I already washed my body with soap before soaking in the onsen. You don't need to do it again."

"Well, you can't wash your back properly with those small hands. So, let me do it again." Yasaka naturally didn't care. By the way, Mike is going along with all of this because there were too many perverts around him and at some point, he just stopped caring.

'Well, this can't get any worse', Mike thought and raised the flag to make things worse. The Nekoshou gang sneaked into the bath without anything to cover their bodies.

"Why are you girls here too?" Mike asked without caring.

"We are obviously here to seduce you, Mike-sama! Mother said that naked catgirls are a popular trend these days. I don't understand why just wearing cat ears and tails would make guys hard when it's still the same person but we still decided to try it anyway." Kuroka shot a thumbs-up. Mike really wanted to punch Fujimai at this point but he controlled himself.

He turned to Yasaka, "Why are you even allowing the catgirls in this onsen?"

"Well, it's a mixed open-air onsen and everyone is allowed here. Fufufu..." As usual, she just enjoys teasing Mike. Mike thinks that Yasaka has a high potential to become a sadist. Well, Yasaka indeed enjoys this but she is also allowing this because the cat-girls are just following their heart and Yasaka thinks that she should not interfere in their attempts to get Mike's affection.

Mike doesn't like the situation though, "Alright, I am getting out of here. Wash Kunou yourself, Yasaka-san" Mike decided to leave but Kunou shouted "Papa!" and also one of Yasaka's tails coiled around him. "Fufufu... Not before both you and Kunou are thoroughly washed." Yasaka pulled him back.

Mike sighed. He thought of using brute force and getting away but stayed back for Kunou. She looked like she will really cry if Mike went away. Mike went and sat between them again. Kunou smiled brightly and went back to playing with Mike's phone. Mike went back to washing her. "Alright, let's get this done fast." He said.

Yasaka said "Okay" and the next moment, Yasaka hugged him from back and Mike felt something soft pressing against his back. "Yasaka-san, what are you doing?" Mike asked.

Yasaka laughed, "Ara~ Isn't this what you wanted? You wanted to get this done faster. So, I am using my breasts to wash since they cover more 'area' than my hands. Fufufu..."

Mike sighed again. It was getting really tiresome for him and just at this moment, his phone rang and Kunou conveniently pressed the button to pick up the call. "It looks like I got a call, I have to get my phone. So, stop rubbing your boobs on me and also stop hugging me with your naked body." Mike said to Yasaka and then, he turned to the Nekoshou, "And the rest of you girls put on something! Come on, don't make it hard. We have already done this a lot of times till now."

Yasaka left Mike and Mike took the phone from Kunou. She was about to cry, so he gestured Yasaka to bear with it for a while. He went away from the onsen and found that the call is from Rias. "Oh hey Rias, It's been some time since we talked, isn't it?" Mike made a natural greeting.

(( Wha... Wha...What the hell are you doing out there, you... you pervert! Just because you quit the church doesn't mean you should indulge yourself in lust!! )) Rias's face was bright red on the other side.

"Umm... What you might be talking about? There is some misunderstanding, Rias." Mike stated.

(( Are you surrounded by girls? ))

"Yes."

(( Are they naked? ))

"Yes"

(( Are they... soaked? ))

"Yes"

(( Kono Hentai!! (You Pervert!!) And to think I was even worried about you!! )) Rias acted like a typical harem rom-com heroine.

"Rias..."

(( What?!! ))

"I am not still at an age where my penis can ejaculate."

(( Wha... What are you even telling to a girl?!! Did you completely lose it after quitting the church?! ))

"I am just trying to explain the misunderstanding here. Nothing that you think happened here. Anyway, isn't the situation a mess in the underworld? How did they allow you to come to the earth?" Mike casually answered and changed the topic.

(( Ah right, about that, I tried my best to convince my family. I convinced Nii-sama first and he helped me convince the others. )) Rias was having a smug expression not knowing that Sirzechs already knows her secret.

"Ah, I see." Mike understood that there will be a call from Sirzechs soon.

(( And Mike, I have to say something. I am really sorry. ))

"For what?"

(( For not trying to know about you more. Friendship should go both ways, right? But I was the only one who complained throughout our relationship. About the forbidden couple case, you must have felt a lot guilty about it, right? Although it's a bit late... You can talk about it with me. ))

"Ah right... about that... Yes, that was the case that changed my thought process completely. I feel a lot guilty for killing them with my own hands. Every time I killed a devil, they would come into my mind." Mike tried to go along with the story.

(( It's been hard, isn't it? ))

"Yeah... The guilt felt like it's eating me alive." Mike now feels guilty for everything Rias has to go through because of his lies. "But I am fine now, Rias. After the confession, it was like a weight was lifted off my chest. Thank you for listening to me."

(( It's okay. So, we became friends because you wanted to prove a devil and an exorcist can be friends. You are not an exorcist anymore. So, we can still be friends, right? ))

"Yeah. obviously. But I am just Mike now. Nice to meet you, Rias Gremory."

Rias smiled on the other side. (( Thank you, Mike. And you are also a wanted person now. You can hide at my residence. I can keep you safe. ))

"You?"

(( Hey, I am pretty good at keeping secrets!! Let alone my brother, no one else knows our relationship on my side. )) Rias again said with a smug expression not knowing that Sirzech already knows about her secret.

Mike didn't understand if he should laugh or feel guilty about Rias but he obviously rejected the offer. "Sorry, Rias, I don't want to drag you into this. Besides, my location is already safe. Rest assured."

(( Well, if that's what you think. Hmph! Just enjoy hiding among naked girls! I will call you later, Bye!! )) Rias ended the call with a pout.

And a few moments after Rias ended her call, Mike got a call from Sirzechs. "Just how much of a sis-con is he?" Saying this, Mike mercilessly cut the call and went back to the hot spring to take care of the crying Kunou.

***************************

(About a month later)

As things calmed down a little, Mike decided to start his tasks again. And the first thing he did is obviously contact Raynare. So, they decided to meet each other. Mike went to the location and found that Raynare was already there. So, he greeted her. "Long time no see, Raynare."

"Hey, Mike. Hope you enjoyed your vacation. I was bored as hell." She greeted him back.

"Well, my vacation was... tiring... Anyway, I think you know why I am here. Tell me everything you know about this DxD." Mike wanted to know more about the fictional world.

"You know what? Just make a list of people you care about and give it to me. I will tell you if there are any important plot points with them." Raynare said.

"Just tell me completely about DxD," Mike replied.

"Hmm... What if I decided not to?" Raynare asked with a bored face.

"May I know the reason." Mike understood that Raynare is unwilling to tell him. He didn't really understand the sudden change in her.

"Nothing. I just don't feel like it. DxD is a big story. I don't want to explain about every character." Raynare didn't reveal her real reasons.

"What do you want? Raynare, Why can't you give me complete information about this DxD world?" Mike asked.

"Does it really matter? The peace treaty will happen even if you didn't do anything. You are probably enough to defeat both Khaos Brigade and ExE Gods with how OP you are. I already told you to give a list of everyone you care about so that you could avoid them getting into trouble if they have one in the future. I don't really see the reason for me to give you the whole information I have about DxD" Raynare explained.

"Raynare, if you think that I will throw you away once you tell me everything, Then, rest assured, I definitely..."

"You won't do that, Mike. You will never abandon the people you think are good. You are just too kind for that. You would rather risk everything to save them instead." Raynare said with a smile. But she was internally thinking, 'Why Kei-kun? You became smarter, you aren't as dense as you were in the previous world, you are a lot powerful, you have a good family now. A lot of things about you changed but why is it that your kindness won't change no matter what? Why can't you at least look away from the people in need? Why do you have to be so kind?' Raynare couldn't ask that out loud.

"Then, you also understand why I am asking you this, right? Five innocent girls lost their lives in that incident. Diodora destroyed their lives. If I knew about Diodora from the start, I could have saved them!" Mike thought about the girls that killed themselves. He doesn't want any more victims like that.

"And how would you save them? I am pretty sure that they are Diodora's slaves even before both of us met each other. What would you have done if you knew about it faster? They were already at a point where you can't save them, Mike. Their reason to live was God at first. But God is dead and they think he abandoned them. Diodora deceived them and made them his loyal slaves. Diodora became their sole reason to live after that, Mike. Once he is gone, they would kill themselves. Some people can't live anymore if their reason to live is lost, Mike. You don't have anything to feel guilty about." Raynare explained while thinking 'I mean, I killed myself the moment you died, after all.'

"What do you want to prove by telling me all of that?" Mike asked.

"That there are things that you can't change, no matter what, Mike!!" Raynare shouted.

"But I can still try," Mike claimed. "There might be things that I can't change but I won't know unless I try."

"Why should you even try, Mike? These people who are about to suffer are just strangers to you. So, just leave it at that. Why do you want to save some strangers? If they somehow turned out to be the people you care about, I will tell you if you just gave me a list of the people you care about and I will tell you their plot points." Raynare proposed.

"But what about the others who would be in trouble? Someone needs to save them, Raynare. They don't deserve that fate." Mike argued.

"If you try to get something more than what you could handle, you might even lose the things that are important to you, Mike!!" Raynare shouted with the thought, 'Don't do the same mistake I did, Kei-kun, please...'

"I will make sure something like that won't happen," Mike assured.

"Oh yeah? Then what did you do these days? You wanted to change the church's policy so that there won't be more victims like these 5 girls. What did it cost? You had to hide like a criminal, You can't meet your family in heaven for a lot of time. Aren't you sacrificing too much for some unknown people, Mike?" Raynare asked.

"So, you are doing all of this out of concern for me..." Mike smiled. "For a person who decided to portray as a selfish character who only cares about herself, don't you think you are doing a bad job, Raynare?" He asked her.

"I mean, we are friends, right? Isn't it natural for me to care about my friends?" Raynare realized that she showed her true emotions for a while and tried to cover for them using the 'friendship' card.

Mike laughed. "Hahaha... friends huh... Raynare, I need to tell you something. You are a great actress. Azazel still can't figure out your thoughts even though you have been that guy's subordinate for a long time. But when it comes to the people you actually care about, your acting is just plain bad. You easily show your real expressions when the person involved is someone you care about. I always tried to figure out why you care about me. I can get only one answer every time. You know what, I believe that you have a previous world, Raynare. So tell me, what am I to you in your previous world?" Mike asked the question Raynare is most afraid of.

******************************

(Author's Note: And you get a cliff. But since my release rate is really low, I will tell you this. Their past won't be revealed in the next chapter too. And it will take a lot of chapters for the past to be revealed. Just thought of telling you so that you won't get frustrated reading the next chapter expecting something and get no answers. Well, that is also unless you drop this book before the next chapter release, lol.)