Chapter 37-Raise Above The Rest

Disclaimer: I don't own Highschool DxD.

Raise Above The Rest

"Mooom!" Kunou whined, which almost made Joshua laugh. He managed to hold that down, sure that it wouldn't go well with the child. "I don't need more of this, they are just…" She trailed off then, looking at the plant still growing and twisting, a small bud forming to then open into a white flower. It was beautiful, if Joshua did say so himself.

"That so? Then I guess we can return them to Joshua?" Yasaka asked, which instantly drew wide eyes from the little girl. This time Joshua did chuckle.

"She can keep them," He said, giving her a handful of his cards. "They are things I made while I was practicing with illusions. I've kept them around, but I'm fine giving them to her. If Kunou wants them, at least."

"Uh… Hm!" The girl hummed in agreement, apparently too embarrassed to say that she wanted them. Joshua just smiled at her before passing her a handful of his illusion cards.

"They are very good tricks," The magician from the association - 'Golden Dawn, was it?' Joshua tried to remember - pointed out. The younger man didn't miss the mocking undertone of his words, that was for sure. "But if I could interest you in our talk for the defense of your home, Lady Yasaka?" The man all but urged the Youkai leader, which Joshua thought was pretty brave of him. Must have been someone pretty high up… or someone very brave, maybe.

"Ah, yes, Doyle-san was telling us about his plan to place several layers of defensive and detection spells, Joshua," Yasaka started then, turning back to him. "Do you have an opinion on that?"

"Lady Yasaka, this young man looks to be quite new to these processes. While I'm sure he could have some ideas-"

"I think it sounds stupid," Joshua interrupted, growing tired of the man already. Judging by the beaming smile Serafall was giving him, he hadn't screwed anything up just yet.

"Oh, and why is that?" Yasaka asked as she looked curiously between the two magicians. Doyle, or whatever his name was, had turned red in the face as he visibly tried to keep appearances and failed miserably.

"Well… this is Dimension Lost we are trying to stop," Joshua started, opening the file to check his facts before speaking. "Maybe it's because I'm young and inexperienced," He added, side-eyeing the man next to him. "But I wouldn't even try to go against that in any way. So, I think it's best to find an alternate way to protect people inside the wards. So, as I was showing Kunou," He waved at the girl, who was smiling down at a 'snow globe' illusion that took out the actual globe from the equation. "I'd try to either move what I'm trying to protect somewhere else or hide it with illusions."

"Hm," The woman hummed as she looked at him through narrowed eyes.

"Excuse me," Goyle, or whatever he was called, interjected before anything else could be said. "But what association do you come from, young man?" He asked, looking down his nose at Joshua.

The young man himself regarded his fellow magician for a moment. 'Is this anime logic at work?' He mused, because surely something had to be up with this man, right? People weren't like that in real life… right? Or was it maybe something related to something related to the supernatural world? Maybe being a magician had skewed the man's perception?...

Or maybe he was just that much of an idiot. Anything could be, he supposed.

"I'm self-taught," Joshua replied, giving the man a smile.

"I see," The magician mumbled, clearly unimpressed. "Lady Yasaka, surely you can see that leaving this in the hands of Golden Dawn is the right call."

"What do you think of Joshua's ideas, Mr. Doyle?" The Youkai leader asked instead of replying to the man. She also reminded Joshua of the magician's name. 'Should probably try to remember,' He thought, not very dedicated to the idea.

"While they might have some merit behind them, I think it'd be better to leave these defenses to people with more experience and knowledge on the subject, don't you, Lady Yasaka?" Doyle explained to which Joshua had to reluctantly agree. He might have good ideas, but magicians backed and taught by a whole association likely could do a better job at it than he could.

"Serafall, if I could get your opinion on this?" Yasaka asked, making the addressed woman blink for a second. A second in which Joshua saw Doyle look at the magical girl in confusion before the expression of realization settled instead. It was most amusing to see his face pale, he would admit.

"Jo-tan is the best for this job, I can tell you that," The Satan pipped then, after having stayed silent for a good while. "Ajuka himself vouches for him," She added, which was something Joshua himself was unaware of. What had the man said about him? "Give him time and loooots of books and Jo-tan will do a great job, for sure," Serafall concluded with a 'serious' nod.

It was then that the Charm of Shed sent a pulse of… something. It meant absolutely nothing to Joshua, but it seemed to catch the two leaders' attention. Then, Yasaka nodded and waved a hand.

"Lady Yasaka?" Doyle asked, apparently just as lost as Joshua himself, which was a small comfort.

"Joshua, if you would follow this servant? I have finished my business over here," The Youkai leader told him as another person with a crow head and black wings appeared next to them. It wasn't the same that had given him the file though, he noticed judging by the clothes. "Now, Mr. Doyle, if we could continue this chat. I'm sure Serafall is most interested."

Which she wasn't, if her betrayed expression was anything to go by.

"If you'd follow me, sir," The crow-person told him, to which Joshua nodded.

Maybe he'd finally get to start working on the wards… Or maybe he was just being sent away… either way, he'd get to work on wards, which was nice. That was more his speed, honestly. Furthermore, Joshua was already excited at the prospect of making a Longinus proof ward array, for Yasaka or just for himself. He wanted to sit down and get to it already.

Besides, God knew he wasn't made for social interactions, let alone politics.

[}-o-{]

Apparently, he wasn't being sent home, which was nice.

'Thank God that I decided to bring my books,' Joshua mused as he settled in a room with several tables. The table where he had to sit on the ground to use was… interesting, but at least there were cushions, so that was nice. He wasn't complaining, honestly, but that could just as well be because his mind was too immersed on his ward planning.

He'd barely managed to get a message out to Jeanne explaining how things were going. Apparently, they had all decided to stay in the place Serafall had gotten them for the day, to get used to the place. Joshua was fairly sure that his sister wanted to wait so that they could go together for the first touristic outing.

With that out of the way, he'd gotten his books out of his Storage cards and started going through stuff while taking notes on a blank notebook. There were Youkai around, keeping an eye on him, but he pushed them out of his mind. Well, except for the one that brought tea, that was very much appreciated.

'Ok, the switch spell should be doable, same for the teleport… I think switching might be better though,' He mused. Yes, teleport would be great for getting Yasaka, Kunou or whoever else out, but why stop at that? Switching could help drop a nasty surprise on the attackers, and that was much better in his opinion. What would need to be determined, probably by the Youkai. He had some ideas, but ultimately, they would choose what would be a suitable in-the-moment punishment.

Illusions… would be tricky. Joshua had appearance, sound and smell down already after much work. However, if he wanted to make an effective illusion, he would need to fool more than just those senses. The sense of touch was one, but he needed more. He needed to fool Magic Sense, maybe even Senjutsu. His books didn't detail anything for the latter and very little for the former though.

'Guess I'll have to work that out myself. Ask for more books… Serafall should be able to provide me with some more, even if temporarily. She's already getting a much better deal than the Church, so that should be fine, right?' Joshua mused with a frown as he noted something on a new page.

He was mostly making plans for now. The actual ward crafting would come after he talked all his plans with Yasaka and whoever else he had to check with. For the moment, he needed to brainstorm.

'What else could I use in here?' He mused, tapping the tip of his pensil on a corner of the page.

"Davis-sama," Someone said and Joshua looked up and blinked. A crow-person passed him a file. 'I gotta look for Youkai type names and actually try to remember them.'

"I was already given one though," He mumbled as he looked at the thing, it looked about the same as the one he'd been given. Opening it showed nothing new. 'Looks thicker though, doesn't it?' He noticed, glancing at the one he'd left on the table off to the side.

"This one is more complete and detailed, Davis-sama," The woman - it was a woman, apparently, which was difficult to tell between the robes and the crow head thing - informed him which made his eyebrows rise. Skimming over the information, he confirmed what she said. There were many wards that hadn't been noted in the previous file. Together with many details that he'd considered asking for. After all, he'd have to take into account existing defenses into his wards and for that he needed precise information.

"Thank you," He mumbled absently. "And call me Joshua. I don't like being called Davis," He added a little more firmly but with his eyes locked on the file.

"Of course, Joshua-sama," The Youkai said before leaving.

'Should have told them to stop with the -sama too… something for later,' Joshua mused, quickly pushing the thought aside. He had more info to process and take into account. Then he'd have to check that with the ideas that he already had and see if he came up with anything new. After that he'd have to…

He paused.

He looked to the side.

He stared.

"Um… I… don't know how to use the cards," Kunou asked from where she sat next to him, trying and failing to look uninterested… or whatever it was that she was attempting to do. Honestly, he was a little confused by that whole thing.

'Right, I was the one activating her cards,' He realized, clicking his tongue. That seemed to make the girl tense up, her expression emptying.

"Ok then," He muttered, clearing the space in front of Kunou and himself. "Let's see how talented you are with magic, yeah? Do you know how to use it in the first place?"

"Um… Youkai use Senjutsu and Youjutsu mainly," She told him, to which he nodded. He knew that already, but he had to check. He sighed. "I apologize for disappointing."

"No, it's fine," He waved off as he considered that. 'With any luck, she won't be as hopeless as Jeanne is with magic,' He thought to himself. Otherwise, he would have to set up a way for non-magicians to use his cards which… should be doable, yeah, but it would be difficult and require lots of spell modification. He had other things to focus on at the moment. "Let's start simple, yeah?"

The girl hummed and Joshua had to hold back on telling her just how adorable she looked. He had a feeling that wouldn't go well with her.

"So, can you feel your own magic?" He asked, trying to find where he needed to actually start.

"I can," She answered instantly and with complete seriousness, as if she wasn't here doing this to play with illusion cards.

"Have you used it for anything?" He continued.

"I… haven't," She admitted then, as if that was something to be ashamed of.

"You are young, don't worry," Joshua reassured. When that didn't seem to help - rather the contrary, actually - he decided to continue. "Besides, you've been focusing on different things, as a Youkai, right?" She nodded at that, which he took as a win. "That's fine. So, I think we can start with…" Then he trailed off as something occurred to him. "Also, if you need me to speak in Japanese just let me know, yeah?"

"Um," She hummed with a small smile. "Mum made sure I was taught to speak English though so… I shouldn't have problems with it."

"Well, teaching you in it might be stretching it," He replied with a smile. "But we'll see. Just keep it in mind. I'm no Japanese expert but maybe we can try to sort it out, yes?"

She nodded.

"Ok then, let's get started with this."

[}-o-{]

[Serafall Leviathan]

Joshua Davis was a gift, she was sure.

Maybe she didn't know where he came from, but he had to be. Maybe she could get into contact with the Egyptian Pantheon to find out. From what they knew, Joshua shouldn't have had any contact with them, but maybe it was something in his past? Unlikely, since they had found nothing supernatural at all in his background besides when he seemingly joined their side of the world less than a year before.

Regardless of his past though, Joshua had done her a massive favor. If Serafall hadn't known any better, she'd have thought he did it on purpose. First, his familiar gave him a great first impression through Yasaka's daughter. 'Which reminds me, I need to do something nice for that cat too,' Serafall noted to herself.

Joshua had made a good first impression regardless. Serafall knew that his short dealings with Khaos Brigade would help a little, but things had gone much better than she expected. Even without that, Joshua going out of his way to learn Japanese and their etiquette was something she hadn't expected. That was sure to earn him some points.

Especially with a bad candidate to compare with him such as Alastor Doyle. Serafall would have given the man a piece of her mind when he interrupted their chat with Yasaka, however, the man was actually helping them. After all, with his conceited attitude alone he'd made Joshua look good. On top of that, the man made Joshua's efforts to learn from the culture and his more calm, humble personality look all the better.

Serafall was almost tempted to search for Doyle and thank him.

Almost.

Then there had been the whole illusion show that both entertained little Kunou and presented his ideas to Yasaka. Again, if Serafall hadn't known any better, she'd thought Joshua had set that up. She did though, and thus she knew that it was probably just that Joshua had wanted to entertain the child.

"I'm almost glad that you are here," Yasaka said next to her, which made Serafall beam excitedly at her.

"That so? I knew you'd like for me to visit, Yasaka!" Serafall cheered.

"I said almost," The Youkai leader said massaging her temple even as a tired smile formed on her face. "It seems that there's no one else that would do," She mused out loud, even if it seemed to be something done mostly to herself.

"Not curious about how your daughter is doing?" Serafall asked, she hadn't seen the child for a while already though. Maybe someone had picked her up or she'd just left.

"She's in good hands, I'm sure," Yasaka said, giving her a smile that told Serafall that Kyubi knew something she didn't. The Satan pouted. There was no need to be mean and rub it in her face.

"Are we gonna look for her? I want to see the cutie again already," She asked childishly. It was curious, she couldn't feel the child anywhere close so, either Yasaka had hidden her presence or she'd been taken away from the place entirely. Probably the former. Serafall couldn't see the Youkai leader sending her child away from herself anytime soon with what had happened.

"We are, indeed," Yasaka replied with a nod. "It seems that I may have to thank you for bringing Joshua. He seems to be the most promising of the people that showed up, which is surprising."

"Are you being a meanie to Jo-tan now?" She asked through narrowed eyes, prompting a laugh from Yasaka.

"Nothing of the sort," She waved off instantly. "But his background doesn't lend to high expectations, from what I've heard so far. It speaks of his talent though, that he is here."

"Anyway~" Serafall started then, skipping a bit in her steps. "I can't take credit for Joshua being here. Shed took that right out of my hands, it seems."

"Hm, be that as it may, you brought him here. Even if Shed wouldn't have, the church would, but instead it was you. Not many humans would take the help of the Devils over that of the Church. Especially if they aren't directly on your side," She reasoned out loud casually.

"Hm, I guess that could be," Serafall replied dismissively. Truly it had been a blessing that despite Joshua already being contracted, he hadn't had means or information for the job. A little too convenient in Serafall's opinion, but she hadn't seen how that could be a bad thing for her and her people, honestly.

"Furthermore, I know Shed," Yasaka continued, this time fully getting Serafall's attention. She'd found very little regarding the Egyptian god, or very little that she could use, at least. "He's elusive. Hasn't shown up for much for as long as I've lived. What I've been told is that he spends much of his time dwelling in the energies of the world more than living in it."

That was interesting, not that unusual but certainly enough to be curious. Gods were connected to the energies, the concepts that made everything. Especially those from their personal domains. A god that looked into that side of the world more than normal picking up on Joshua specifically… There was something going on there. It also reminded Serafall of her previous line of thought. Was it coincidence that Joshua hadn't been given anything for this contract or was it intentional?

"Does that mean you aren't angry with us anymore?" Serafall asked, putting on her best 'puppy dog eyes'. Yasaka simply raised an eyebrow at her.

"The Devils and the Church have some nerve, expecting to be forgiven so easily for making a mess in our territory, after having the gall to call it yours," Yasaka all but growled. "Kuoh is part of my territory, no matter what delusions your two sides have about it. The Belial House might have made a deal to get some control over it, but ultimately, it's still ours."

Yeah, Serafall guessed as much. That had been a point of contention with the Youkai and, less directly, with the Shintou Pantheon. The Cleria Belial incident had only made things worse, really.

"I had to try," Serafall replied wryly. "If you need anything for this, just say the word," She added, now more seriously, as she looked around the now almost empty garden that had previously contained all the magicians that had shown up.

"I'll keep it in mind," Yasaka said simply, but not dismissively. That was a victory as far as Serafall was concerned. At least, it was until she saw the Youkai all but freeze where she stood. "Shimizu?" She asked, looking at one of the other Youkai outside the building behind the garden. "Where is Kunou?"

"Oh, Yasaka-sama," The woman replied with a beaming smile, contrasting the now worried leader. "Kunou-sama is ok, don't worry. We've been keeping an eye on her from a distance. We didn't think she would appreciate us interrupting. I'm sorry if we were wrong."

"Interrupting?" Yasaka asked, now confused before her eyes widened slightly. Now Serafall was getting more and more curious by the second, if she was honest. Especially because she couldn't sense the little girl. As she followed the Youkai leader, she soon understood what was going on.

"This is difficult," Little Kunou complained, pouting at Joshua who was sitting next to her.

"It is," He agreed with her. "I had to work a lot to make those cards. I actually made them as practice, you see. So, you could say I was working on illusions even while making those."

"I won't be able to do this, will I?" The dejected girl asked, looking down at the cards in her hands.

"Of course you will. It'll just take some time," Joshua reassured with a soft smile. "Besides, you only have to learn how to make it work, not how to make them. It shouldn't take too long to do that much, I promise."

"You promise?" The girl asked sharply, as if giving his word were a magical oath. Although, considering who she was, Serafall supposed for someone like her, who was being raised to be a leader like her mother, it would be just about the same.

"Sure. I'll be around here for a while," The man replied with a nod, as he noted something on his notebook absently before giving his attention back to Kunou. "I can spare some time to teach you no problem. You have to get permission from your mother though."

"She certainly won't mind," Yasaka commented, finally making their presence known.

"Mom, weren't you…?" Little Kunou started before trailing off as she saw the room they were in, now with several magicians inside. Apparently, the girl hadn't noticed anything but her 'class'.

"Oh, you are so cute," Serafall exclaimed, barely containing herself from hugging the Youkai princess. That might not have gone so well.

"She really is," Joshua agreed with a smirk as the girl pouted.

"Isn't she?" Yasaka agreed, beaming proudly at them.

The girl in question, for her part, pouted even more and looked down at her cards.

"Say, Kunou, why don't you show your mother what I was teaching you?" Joshua asked then, drawing a worried look from the child. "Don't worry. It's been a very short time. Nobody's expecting you to know everything. But you've already made progress, right?"

"I… but…"

"Don't worry about it," He reassured as he saw her hesitating. "It's just an idea. We can leave it for later, if you want," He told her with a smile.

"You are really good with children, Jo-tan," Serafall commented then, looking at him with an exaggerated, impressed expression.

"They are simpler than adults. At least I don't have to worry about politics with them," He commented with a grimace of a smile. "No offense," He added as she pouted.

"Too true," Yasaka agreed with a grimace of her own. Then she blinked and looked intently at Kunou, making the other two turn too.

In the girl's hand, a card was being stared by the Youkai princess. After a moment of nothing happening, a slight shine appeared over the circle drawn on it. Then, almost as soon as it appeared, it fizzled out of existence.

"I couldn't do it," Kunou mumbled dejectedly.

"That was pretty good," Joshua commented. "It was!" He defended when the girl looked at him incredulously. "You wouldn't believe how long it took my sister to get that much and she's a lot older than you are," He explained. Serafall wasn't sure how much Jeanne would appreciate the comment regarding her age, but she'd keep quiet about it… for the time being. Really, Joshua should know better already.

"Really?" Kunou asked shyly. "You are not just saying that?"

"Of course not, I'll have you crafting your own illusions in no time, you'll see," He boasted confidently, drawing a giggle from the girl. "Now, how about you tell me what you did and we can see where you need to improve or what you need to do differently, yes?"

The girl hummed happily before starting to describe the process of the magic. Meanwhile, Serafall shared a look with Yasaka. Yes, Joshua seemed to have a rather focused mind, for better or worse. In this case though, she was fairly sure it was for the better.

Especially so when one took into account the smile on the Youkai leader's face as she looked at her daughter learning magic.

[} Chapter End {]

(AN:Please remember that this story is not mine and will never be mine. Make sure to give thanks to the original author on fanfiction.net https://m.fanfiction.net/u/11459794/)