15

It has been a few hours since Haou had dealt with Hades. The Supreme King had returned to Kouh by now and was scolded a little by Sona for missing a couple of classes. Haou couldn't help but notice the nervous tone in her voice, but he thought that he really shouldn't be surprised now that the Sitri heiress knows who he really is.

As for now, Haou, or Judai, was walking towards the Occult Research Club room with the four brothers. Yuri seems to finally be fully awake, while Yuya and Yugo seem to have finally regained most of their sanity back from their experience in 'the room'.

Walking towards the club room, Judai opened the door and got inside. "Hey, everyone," he greeted.

"Lord Haou!" Rias called out as she and her Peerage stood from their seats in respect. "What are you doing here?" she asked nervously.

The Supreme King gave her a deadpan look. "Geez, what's with all the formality all of a sudden?" his question received confused looks from around.

The Gremory heiress couldn't stop from tilting her head in confusion. "Uhmm… well, you ARE the Supreme King," she said as if reminding him who he was.

"Well, duh, I know that," Judai chuckled crossing his arms. "But right now, I'm your fellow student, so there's no reason for stuff like that," what he said almost caused the entire room to do an anime face fall.

They couldn't understand why he was acting like that. At first, they thought that he acted like that before because he was keeping his identity a secret, and thought that he would stay serious after his talk with Sirzechs and Serafall.

"Some king you are," Koneko teased with a rare smirk. "You can't even catch a cat that took your lunch," a metaphorical arrow seemingly pierced Judai's chest as the rest of the Gremory Peerage looked at the white-haired girl stunned.

"Hey! Cats are very nimble creatures!" the Supreme King said in his defense before pointing an accusing finger at the Gremory Rook. "Besides, you've been taking from my launch, too! I haven't been able to get a full dessert in days!" he added, but the only response Koneko gave was smugly turning her head away with a smile.

"So… Uhmm, what are you… doing here?" Asia managed to gather up her courage and ask. After the discovery of who Judai and the four brothers really were, it's safe to say that she was nervous in their presence.

"What? can't we come here for a visit?" Judai asked as he sat down on the couch. "I mean, you are okay with us being here, right?" his question was directed at Rias since she's the club president.

"O-Of course you can stay," while he sounded genuine in his question, that still didn't stop the Gremory heiress from stuttering, fearing that the four brothers would come at her for it.

"You know, there's no reason to be so nervous," Yuya said as he sat down beside the Supreme King on the couch. Normally, he wouldn't dare to sit beside Haou, but he knew Judai wouldn't mind. "We're still friends, despite who we are… except for you," he added pointing at Issei.

Issei was taken back and pointed at himself. "Are you talking about me or Ddraig?" he asked since he really couldn't tell at this point.

"The latter," Yuto confirmed as he leaned on the wall while crossing his arms. The Dark Rebellion dragon then remembered something and looked at his green-haired brother. "Speaking of friends, didn't you promise Yuzu to call her?" he asked.

For a second, Yuya panicked. "Oh, right!" he started frantically searching his pockets before pulling out his phone. "Come on, come on," he dialed a number and put the phone on his ear.

After a few seconds, the other side answered. "Took your sweet time," Yuzu complained from the other side. The obvious irritation in her voice caused the Odd-Eyes dragon to flinch.

"Sorry," Yuya apologized scratching his head. "I got held up."

A sigh was heard from the other side of the line. "Not really surprising, since you were in trouble with Lord Haou," Yuzu knew that the green-haired teen definitely got a punishment of sorts. "So, now that you're finally calling, how are you doing there?" her tone took a more friendly one.

Hearing the change of tone caused Yuya to smile. "We've been doing good, a little bored but good," he sighed which caused Yuzu to giggle on the other side. She knew that most Dragons were battle maniacs, even Yuya to some extent, despite being the most peaceful between his brothers, so going to school wasn't very exciting for them. "Anyway, how's your magic training?"

Yuzu might be one of the humans that live in Haou's kingdom, but there was no such thing as 'normal' in the world of Duel Monsters. Yuzu, along with her sisters, were all in training in magical arts, nature magic to be exact.

"It's going great," the girl's tone was oozing with happiness and pride. "Ray thinks we're all improving. She said that, pretty soon, we'll be able to get familiars."

"You're already at that level?" Yuya couldn't help but smile in genuine happiness at his friend. Normally, a Devil would get their familiar in an early age, but humans take more time. "That's wonderful. I'm sure you will all get something amazing."

"Thank you," Yuzu replied in a bashful tone.

"Yuzu! Come on!" another feminine voice yelled out from the other side.

"Coming, Ruri!" Yuzu yelled out to who is most likely Ruri. "I have to go. Take care okay. Oh, and Rin says to tell Yugo to stay out of trouble, and Serena… says… hi to Yuri."

The Starve Venom Dragon raised a skeptical eyebrow at hearing the conversation through his dragon senses. "That's not what I said!" a tomboy-ish voice yelled out in rage. "I said, 'Tell Yuri to go f*ck himself!'. Don't lie next time!"

The pink-haired teen chuckled, finding what he heard to be far more believable than what Yuzu said. "Right…" Yuzu couldn't help but chuckle nervously. "Anyway, take care."

"You, too," Yuya said back before hanging up. The Odd-eyes Dragon sighed as he slumped on the couch. That had gone a whole lot better than he imagined, which included him being hit with a large paper fan.

"So, how did it go?" Judai asked. He had a pretty good idea since he was sitting beside the Yuya the whole time, but he still wanted to make sure.

"It went well," the green-haired teen replied shrugging his shoulders. "I guess she was in a good mood, but either way I'm glad she's happy," he then turned towards Yugo who was sitting on the wall. "By the way, Rin said to tell you to stay out of trouble."

"Hey!" the Clearwing dragon looked offended. "I don't need her to remind me to stay out of trouble! I can do that anytime I want," not a single person in the room looked convinced. Not the Gremory Peerage, not his brothers, and definitely not Judai.

"Sure you can," the Supreme King said while shaking his head, sarcasm dripping from his voice and making people wonder which side of him they were currently speaking to.

"Lovely tea as always, Akeno," Yuri complimented after the dark haired girl offered him a cup.

"Why thank you," Akeno replied before raising an eyebrow. "By the way, who was that girl that talked about you?" she asked in mild curiosity, and something else that she didn't know what was exactly.

The pink-haired teen waved his hand with a smirk. "Just someone I know from the world of Duel Monsters," his reply might have answered her curiosity, but the Gremory Queen still felt a certain tightness in her chest.

"Actually, having you here is perfect," Rias said catching everyone's attention. "It's about time to introduce the newest member to my Peerage," everyone looked confused as she looked at the door. "You can come in now."

The doors opened to reveal none other than Xenovia Quarta wearing the Kuoh Academy uniform. "Xenovia!" Issei cried out.

"We meet again, Red Dragon Emperor," the blue-haired girl greeted.

"You become a Devil?" Yugo asked. As a response, Xenovia let out a pair of Devil wings, which was answer enough. "That's a twist. I didn't expect it out of you."

"They banished you from the church for knowing the truth about God, didn't they," Yuto stated rather than asked, already knowing the answer.

Xenovia looked at the ground in sadness. "That's right. It was shocking how their looks suddenly changed. So, I gave the Excalibur pieces to Irina and she took them back to the church," she explained.

"How did she take it?" Yugo asked knowing that the goodbye between those two couldn't have been peaceful.

The hurt in Xenovia's eyes became more apparent. "She… didn't take it well. She doesn't know why I was banished, or why I became a Devil. I simply couldn't tell her about God's death and give her the same fate."

"You did the right thing," when everyone saw Judai's eyes turn gold they knew that Haou was the one currently talking. "Her faith was too strong for her own good, it would not have ended well should she have found out the truth from you," the Supreme King saw strong believers like Irina learn the truth the harsh way before. The best thing that could have happened to her was to go into denial and the worst… well, it would have been far more mentally damaging.

Those words might not have lifted the pain from her chest, but it did help to ease Xenovia's conscience a little. "Thank you," she said in gratitude before turning towards Asia. "And, Asia Argentino, I would like to apologize," Xenovia bowed slightly. "With God dead, the redemption I sought wasn't there, and that means that I threatened your life for nothing. You may hit me if you desire, and I won't do anything back."

The blonde Bishop looked taken back before she quickly shook her head. "Oh, please don't do that. I'm quite happy with my new life," she said before glancing at Issei. "I get to make many friends. And live happily with Issei," the Red Emperor blushed at her words and looked away while scratching his head. "President says that a Peerage is like family, and you're part of this family now. So, if you have anything to ask, please don't hesitate to come to me."

Xenovia was truly surprised by the kindness that Asia was currently offering to her. She had been prepared for any kind of verbal or physical abuse that the blonde girl would have dished out, mainly because she believed that she deserves it. But, Asia did the opposite. Even Haou and the four brothers were impressed with how innocent Asia's soul was.

In fact, Haou didn't doubt for a second that if God… that if Yhwch was still alive, he would have been nothing short of proud of Asia, and turned her to a seraphim right then and there… that old man was always kind, and loved such kindness… and Haou knew that for a fact.

"Yeah! That's the idea!" seeing the brown eyes replace the golden ones, they knew it was Judai speaking. "We should really just be friends! There's no reason to fight!"

After a couple of seconds to finally get her bearings back, Xenovia smiled at Asia. "Then, perhaps you don't mind showing me around the academy?" she asked hopefully.

Asia's smile widened if possible. "Of course, we could do it whenever you want," The others smiled at seeing how Asia seemed to just keep shining with more innocence.

The smile on Xenovia became more cheerful. She then looked at the other Gremory Knight. "Kiba Yuuto, I would be glad to test my Durandal against your holy demonic sword."

Kiba responded with a challenging smirk. "I would be happy to accept a duel against you anytime," in the past, his reply would have been far more harsh. However, upon getting his revenge on Valper, and seeing the Souls of his comrades, he went back to his usual friendly self.

However, Judai then spoke. "Hey, I have a question," everyone looked at the Supreme King. "Why did you call the church instead of just going there and talking to them?" he asked Xenovia, who flinched slightly. "Does it have to do with Griselda being mad at you?"

The blue-haired girl quietly swallowed a lump in her throat. "T-That has nothing to do with it. I just thought it would be more comfortable to call instead of going there and then travel back here," despite the reasonable reply, everyone managed to pick up the nervousness in her tone.

Judai, especially, didn't look convinced as he suddenly looked at the door, smiled, and waved his hand. "Oh, hi, Griselda. What are you doing here?"

In an instant, Xenovia vanished from her spot, her new Knight speed boosting her movement as she appeared behind Yugo, kneeling down with her hands covering her head. "Please don't hurt me!" the swordswoman cried out as she shook like a whimpering puppy.

Judai's laughter rang out through the room. Koneko was also smiling, while Yuri himself was laughing but in a more orderly fashion. Xenovia, upon understanding the prank, stood up from behind Yugo, who had a guilty smile on his face, trying to stop himself from laughing at the blue-haired girl, who was glaring at Judai with an embarrassed blush on her cheeks.

"Honestly," Rias shook her head in a mixture of disappointment and disbelief. "You'd never figure out his the Supreme King," honestly, no one can blame her. Judai and Haou were like ice and lava.

"How do you think we felt when we saw him like that?" Yuya asked shrugging his shoulders.

As Judai got his breathing back in control, a golden magical circle suddenly appeared beside his ear. "Oh, someone's calling me," he said answering the magical circle. "Hel-"

"HAOU, WHAT THE F*CK DID YOU DO!?!" Someone yelled from the other side so loudly that Judai's head actually shook from the loud voice. The four brothers recognized two things about the voice. One: it was Yubel. Two: she was majorly pissed off.

After finally getting his senses straight from the yelling, Judai asked, "Yubel, what's wrong?"

"Don't pull that crap with me now!" His long time friend yelled out from the other side again. "The office is drowning in paperwork! All from the Greek pantheon! Zeus wants to know why you not only killed Hades but also completely destroyed their territory in the underworld!" when Yubel agreed to fill in for Haou for Paperwork, she definitely didn't expect a small mountain of it. In fact, she can't even see Zarc anymore, just hear his muffled pleas at digging him out from all the papers.

"Hey, Hey, calm down!" Judai immediately started trying to defuse the situation. "I sort of had to, okay. He overstepped his boundaries and all that," truth to be told, it was really amusing for everyone to look at Judai desperately trying to calm his friend down, especially for Koneko, who was recording this on her phone.

"You almost caused a war with the Greek Pantheon!" Yubel cried out from the other side. Usually, she truly wanted to see the Supreme King acting more like Judai from time to time, but now, she wanted the always serious and stoic Haou. "Zeus is demanding a PERSONAL meeting with you to talk about what happened! And he won't settle for anything less!" Judai groaned, but he knew that this meeting was pretty much inevitable. "Also, I just sent ALL of the paperwork from the Greek pantheon to your room in Kuoh."

A look of panic was plastered on the brown-haired teen's face. "W-Wait a second! Didn't you say I was on vacation and that I should avoid work?!"

"Being on vacation doesn't mean that others will clean your mess for you," anyone who can hear Yubel can almost feel the devious smirk on her lips from her voice. "Oh, and most of the paperwork needs to be signed today. It seems the conflict between the Fairy type and Fiend type is rising."

"Again!?" Judai immediately shot up from his seat. This was definitely not the first time that this case had been brought up, and it was always followed by a hefty amount of paperwork. "Oh, man! I got to get going!" Everyone watched as Judai turned off the magical circle on his ear before from running out the door.

Those left in the room watched as a comical cloud of dust trailed off behind the running Supreme King. "We're not going to see him for a while, aren't we," what Akeno said was a fact, not a question, and everyone can tell.

At that moment, Xenovia remembered something and turned to Yugo. "Excuse me," the Clearwing dragon looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Is your offer of help still available?" she asked referring to what Yugo had told her the last time they met. His smile was the only answer she needed.

…

Later on that day, the four brothers and Xenovia were standing in front of the Supreme King's house in Kuoh. "Are you sure Lord Haou will not mind?" the former exorcist asked. She had asked Yugo for a place to stay in town, and he offered their house. Rias had offered to arrange that, but Xenovia had said that Yugo offered first.

Yugo nodded. "Don't worry about it. We have the extra room. Plus, I don't think he'll mind as long as you don't cause problems," he explained his second reason for believing Haou won't mind. The main reason he believes the Supreme King wouldn't mind is that Yugo didn't think Haou would let Griselda's daughter sleep on the streets.

When they got in, they went to the living room… and found it completely filled with papers. There were piles of paper almost as tall as a person all over the place. Judai himself was sitting on the couch with a patch of paper on the coffee table in front of him.

The Supreme King looked up from the paperwork and looked as if he hasn't slept for days. An aura of depression was covering him as he looked up at them. "Oh, hey, what's up?" Judai asked, hoping that they would give him something to distract him from the constant amounts of paperwork.

"I see you've been keeping yourself busy," Yuri noted as he took up a paper from one of the piles that littered the room and looked it over. "Yubel really didn't hold back, did she?" he chuckled looking around.

"No kidding," Judai groaned, feeling as if he could fall asleep any moment, the coffee table in front of him looking very comfortable. "So, is there something you need?" he asked looking at Xenovia.

The blue-haired girl tensed slightly. She understood that the Supreme King was asking her as Judai, who is kinder than Haou, but she still felt hesitant. She knew that the first impression she gave was nothing short of disastrous.

But, luckily for her, Yugo stepped forward. "You see, I told her I'd help if she needs anything, and she needs a place to stay. So, I was wondering if you can let her stay with us?" he requested on Xenovia's behalf.

The Supreme King hummed in thought and looked at Xenovia, who stiffed under his gaze. The eye contact remained for a few seconds, which the former exorcist spent running scenarios of rejection through her head, but much to her relief, Judai smiled. "Sure, no problem. As long as she cleans up after herself. I already have enough problems cleaning up after you four."

The four brothers felt a metaphorical arrow pierce them. They knew that the Supreme King didn't mean cleaning up after them literally, and they themselves would be the first that admits that they have a tendency to get into trouble, so they couldn't even think of any comeback.

Meanwhile, Xenovia felt a great sense of relief as she bowed to Judai in gratitude. "Thank you, Lord Haou. I won't let you down."

"Don't worry about it," Judai waved it off as if it was nothing. "Why don't you guys go and show her one of the guest rooms. I still have work to do," he said to the four brothers, explaining why he can't join them.

"We can see that," Yuri enjoyed seeing suffering of all kinds, which includes labor work. So, it was obvious that he was enjoying the brown-haired teen's predicament, not that he would ever say it to anyone, let alone Haou himself. "Well, don't get lost in the paperwork."

The four brothers nodded and took Xenovia out of the living room to show her around. When only the Supreme King was left, Judai's brown eyes were replaced by Haou's golden ones. Waving his hand, a small magical circle appeared in front of him on the table.

After a few moments of silence, the magical circle revealed the holographic form of Griselda Quarta. "This had better be important, Haou," she said in unusual coldness.

The Supreme King knew that she must have heard about Xenovia being kicked out, and didn't blame her for her behavior. "It's about your daughter," Griselda's eyes sparkled in interest immediately.

After a few moments, Haou had explained about Xenovia being in the Gremory Peerage now, and that she was in his care. "I see… so, she became a Devil," despite her usual professional tone, anyone can hear how disheartened Griselda was.

The Supreme King knew that her position allowed her to know the truth about God, so she also knew why her daughter was kicked out. "Do you hate her, now?" he asked.

The strongest swordswoman in the church shook her head. "No, I can never hate her. I just…" she trailed off, not knowing how to put how she feels into words.

"You wish she had better choices given to her," Griselda nodded at Haou's words, finding them to be true. "It wasn't your fault, Griselda," the Supreme King said knowing that she obviously blamed herself for Xenovia's fate.

"I should have prepared her for this," Griselda said back to Haou, believing that it is actually her fault.

"You couldn't have prepared her for this even if you knew it would happen," Haou responded sternly looking at her. "Heaven's system is a strict one. If she as much as started to suspect about God's death, she would have still been exiled. Don't blame yourself for something that was out of your control."

Griselda simply remained quiet, looking at the ground in sadness. She knew he was right, yet her motherly instincts were still telling her that she should have helped Xenovia more. "Haou… please, look after her," desperation can be heard in her voice.

Haou nodded. "I promise you, I'll take care of her," Griselda smiled at his promise before the hologram vanished. The Supreme King was left alone in the living room with just his paperwork to finish. "Yubel, you will be the death of me," he sighed as he continued doing his work.

(A/N: Thank you for reading this.

First, I'm sure you noticed that Rin and Serena were also here. The votes for adding them were a lot actually, so I hope you weren't disappointed.

Second, as you can see, Haou mentioned Yhwch, and yes, there is something between them, but it doesn't have anything to do with Haou's grudge against Heaven, that will remain a mystery.

Third, about the bracelet girls learning magic. Well, it would be boring if they were just normal humans with magic bracelets, so might as well give them something special. I picked nature magic because, in the series, their bracelets contain nature power.

Fourth, some of you have asked about if Haou and Judai are split personalities. No, they aren't. Yubel already implied on what's between Haou and Judai, and I'm surprised no one figured it out.

Fifth, it seems I'm in a predicament. Now with Serena and Rin being here, I'm not sure if they'll be paired with Yugo and Yuri. I already was planning on who to pair them with(plus can you actually imagine Serena and Yuri together? I don't think so.) so I'm asking if you think it's okay for Yuri to be paired only with Akeno, and for Rin to be either like an older sister to Yugo or to also be a love interest since Dragons have multiple mates and all that.

And lastly, not many have voted on Koneko either being part of the Harem or staying as a little sister figure. I personally like both, just waiting for your thoughts.

Again, thank you for reading this. Please comment, review, and give me your thoughts on my story.)

P.s. I know the chapter before this one wasn't my best, so I hope this one made up for it.