Chapter 94- Taking Time, Just One Step Forward

Disclaimer: I don't own Highschool DxD.

Taking Time, Just One Step Forward

"Sometimes I wonder if Kunou is the only child here," Yasaka mused out loud, drawing a chuckle out of Joshua. She couldn't fool him, after all, especially not with the smile on her face. Besides, she couldn't have made him feel bad no matter what, not with Kunou giggling happily in the air above him.

As it turned out, he'd been talking about one of his experiments with Neutral Rope, one of the few spells he knew from the Neutral branch, with both Kunou and Yasaka. What he'd been trying to do as of late was use the spell to retrieve his thrown daggers. If he could achieve that, then he could pull the weapons back to him and he wouldn't have to worry about throwing either Setan Kober or Carnwennan.

His attempts at doing that had gone pretty well during his training sessions with either the devils or the fallen angels.

Somehow, however, that conversation had ended up as they were now. Joshua laid on the ground facing up, his arms extended towards the ceiling and gesturing this or that way while he grinned widely. Yasaka sat primly at the table with a cup of tea in her hands and a beautiful smile on her face. As for their daughter, Kunou was at the moment floating on the air, held up by Neutral Rope as if she were flying around the room.

"Eh, being childish is more fun," Joshua replied, making Kunou do a loop. "Isn't it?"

"Yeah! Again!" the girl demanded, giggling even more than before.

"Should I come back later?" a new voice asked from the door and Joshua turned slightly to look at Fuyuko.

"I think I'm a little occupied now, maybe you can bring me a refill later?" he answered, smile still in place as he kept an eye out for Kunou. "I'm busy with very serious matters right now, as you can see."

"Indeed," the servant agreed, watching Kunou squeal as he made her do a little twirl in the air. "Yasaka-sama?"

"It's fine. You can come back later, Fuyuko. I think these two will be busy for a while yet," the youkai leader mused, hiding any sign of amusement, even though her face gave her away.

"Dad, I have an idea!" Kunou cried out when the servant left the room and it was just the three of them once more. Joshua was fairly sure the servants already knew how things stood anyway. Kunou wasn't doing a great job at acting her part, even if she usually remembered to call him Joshua in front of others. Not that he was one to talk, really. Hell, he wasn't even sure if the girl hadn't slipped a time or two.

"I'm listening, Kunou."

"Make mom fly too!"

"... What?" Yasaka asked after a stunned moment. "I'm sorry, Kunou, but I think I'll- Joshua!" the woman yelped as a handful of magic threads wrapped around her and pulled her up. "Let me down, right now! Joshua!"

"Come on, mom, we are flying!" Kunou squealed as he made the two of them float around the room together. All the while, Joshua resolutely ignored the glare the youkai leader was sending him. 'Worth it,' he thought, focusing on the beaming expression on his daughter instead.

[}-o-{]

[Akeno Himejima]

Their peerage had just arrived at Davis' place. Jeanne had warned them as to what they'd find, more for Akeno's sake than anything else, she knew. After all, she was the one that had a real problem with Fallen Angels. Ironic, some people would say, considering she was half-Fallen herself.

Those people didn't understand, of course.

As it was, Akeno had a hard time keeping her calm around a person she knew was an ally to the people she despised. Davis was good for Rias, however. The magician was helping her King – and all of them, really – get stronger so she could face her fiance in order to break off her engagement. The peerage would readily help her with that, and so would Akeno, even if she had nothing but contempt for the Fallen and to a lesser extent for those that were allied with them.

Now though, it seemed that Davis was determined to push her buttons. He had, after all, gone a step further and brought Fallen to his place, and they'd train together, it seemed. Akeno had half a mind to blast the guy with thunder. It was a shame that it was unlikely to be very effective, really.

She felt Rias' concerned gaze on her, but Akeno resolutely ignored her. She could do this. It was no problem. She could ignore Davis and the other Fallen. It was for her best friend's sake. It was even for her own sake, since the whole peerage was very aware of what Rias' engagement with Riser could – and likely would – mean for all of them.

She could put up with them, even if she'd hate every second of it.

As they walked into the training area though, she was met with something unexpected. The sight of Davis smacking around three Fallen. The very first thing her eyes saw, actually, was a blue-haired one being punched into the ground so hard that she coughed out blood. As far as Akeno had seen in training, the man never quite went that hard, unless he hit someone with one of his knives. Even then, more often than not, that kind of thing took the person out so that Asia could treat them.

Not for this fallen, nor the others though, apparently. All three of them looked like they'd been fighting for who knew how long, covered in bruises and cuts. They looked a breath away from falling apart, as Davis continued fighting them, pushing them harder than he'd ever pushed anyone in Rias' peerage or even Sairaorg's. Furthermore, he didn't even look like he cared the smallest bit about how injured the Fallen were.

That was a contrast too, since he usually grimaced when he injured one of his sparring partners. He paused, giving them a moment of rest if not outright taking them out so they could be tended to. Even to her, who had been more than a little unfriendly towards him, Davis offered just the same consideration as he did everyone else.

That courtesy wasn't extended to those Fallen, it seemed.

Discreetly, Akeno glanced towards Jeanne and she noticed no concern or unease in the girl's face. If anything, she seemed darkly amused by the scene in front of them. Looking around, she noticed that she wasn't the only one surprised by the sight before them. The rest of her peerage seemed to have been caught off guard too.

"Is… something the matter?" she heard Rias ask hesitantly.

"No, why?" Jeanne replied, but despite the cluelessness of her question, she seemed to be well aware of what they were asking. "Oh, you mean Joshua's… more harsh approach? You don't have to worry about that," she reassured them, which really didn't answer their actual question though. "Let's just say that Joshua's… angry with them, that's all."

"Angry?"

"These three attacked his uncle and cousins," Jeanne said, her expression darkening. "They are the reason Joshua has no more family actually related to him," she explained, glaring a hole in the three Fallen.

"I… see," Akeno replied, somewhat surprising Jeanne, if the look the blonde gave her was any indication. That was fair, she often remained mostly silent during their visits in order to keep her temper under control. She wasn't focusing on that then and there though. Instead, she just watched Davis kick the blue-haired Fallen away before pulling her back towards him for another hit with a magic rope of some kind. "Didn't know Joshua had a side like this," she pointed out, unsure of how to feel.

One the one hand, it was nice to know that someone could understand what she'd gone through, partly at least. On the other… She still didn't understand why the man kept them around. Then again, from what she knew, Davis made it a point to thoroughly confuse people around him.

"It's difficult to annoy him, but everyone has a limit," Jeanne informed them.

"Indeed," Akeno mumbled as Davis finally seemed to knock the two unconscious. A smile tugged at her lips then. It was certainly a nice sight to see Fallen Angels getting what they deserved, she'd admit.

Maybe Davis wasn't so bad.

[}-o-{]

[Koneko Toujou]

Everyone was resting after training, like usual.

Everyone but Joshua and Koneko herself. The two of them were trading some light blows between each other, more of a pseudo-kata training rather than actual sparring. Both of them were using Senjutsu though, even if Koneko was fairly sure that it barely counted. Instead of the rush of power that it was supposed to bring, both of them were barely nudging their life energy. It was a closer thing to Life Concentration rather than Life Strengthening.

Despite that, it certainly felt like a big deal to Koneko though. This was, after all, the first time she used Senjutsu since… Since her sister did what she did. She'd have said since her sister went mad due to the art, but Koneko was growing less and less sure about that fact. Joshua had explained things as best he could and Koneko hadn't noticed a single instance of deception in his life energies. Life energy sensing was the one part of Senjutsu she had trained extensively with, after all, since it didn't involve actually messing with the power.

So, unless the man was severely wrong about a lot of things, which he didn't seem to be, then… Then she'd been wrong about Senjutsu. Evidently, she'd had the wrong information regarding what had happened with her sister, and she didn't know how to feel about that. In light of that, she… focused on other things.

One such thing was practicing Senjutsu. She'd been reticent, even with her new insight onto things, but once she'd gotten started that day… It was like she'd been crawling her whole life and finally decided to stand up and walk. Like she'd been doing things wrong since forever, and she could finally do things right. Koneko felt so much more… relaxed, at ease.

Apparently, she felt so good that her control slipped a little, sending more power into a punch than she intended. Joshua caught it with his hand, immediately grimacing as he felt the pain course through his arm. She noticed it both on his face as much as in his energies. As the man pulled his hand back and shook it in the air as if trying to shake off the pain, Koneko went to apologize.

He beat her to it with a somewhat pained chuckle.

"Well, that hurt," he commented, laughing lightly. "Man, it's unfair that you are so good at this. You have any idea how hard it's for me to get the hang of Life Strengthening?" he grumbled, grinning all the while.

"... I'm sorry," she mumbled, looking down a bit.

"Don't worry about it," he said then, waving her off. "It's nice to see you so relaxed now. I told you Senjutsu wasn't as bad as you thought," he told her, smiling softly despite the pain and despite… Everything else. "Must be difficult, after what happened to you."

She hadn't quite told him all that had happened, but she'd told him enough. Koneko wondered how much he'd pieced together and how much he might have asked of others. How much did he know? And, more importantly, did it matter?

If Koneko knew one thing about Joshua Davis, after all, it was that he was good. It was for several reasons that she was so sure of that. For one, he'd been helping Rias with her problems, helped her King feel a lot better despite the difficult situation the Gremory heiress had been placed in. He'd also helped them all, asking for basically nothing and with nothing to gain for himself for the whole thing.

On top of that, she could feel his bonds with his familiars, and the sheer… goodness that flowed through them at all times, but especially when they were close to each other. There was no way anyone that knew anything about Senjutsu wouldn't know that Joshua was nice. It was basically written all over him, in neon signs made of life energy.

"Thank you," Koneko mumbled this time, and she was saying that for a number of reasons. Reasons that Joshua might never know, but she felt like she needed to do it anyway.

"Don't mention it," he told her, smiling brightly at her. "So, you feel like continuing?"

"Hm," she hummed with a nod, getting ready to continue. As they continued their light training, Koneko was reminded of better times with her sister. And, for once, the memories didn't hurt.

[}-o-{]

[Jeanne Davis]

She knew what was coming. Joshua, for once, hadn't tried to stop her. She was grateful for that, if nothing else. Sure, she understood where her brother was coming from. She understood that he was concerned and wanted to shield her from the uglier side of the world they were both part of…

However, she didn't want that. She wanted to walk that path with him. It was the least she could do for him. It was the least she could do to repay some of the things he'd given her.

Joshua had, after all, given her a loving family that she'd craved for most of her life. She'd taken her under his wing and given her everything she'd always hoped for and more. Jeanne, that at the time had been just a random homeless girl as far as he was concerned. He hadn't cared about that though, he just took her in, offered a helping hand and gave her everything she needed and more.

Jeanne would never be able to repay what Joshua had done for her and she knew it. She knew that Joshua was fine with that and to an extent so was she. However, that didn't mean she didn't want to do something in regards to that. The least she could do was offer him the same kindness he'd offered her. A helping hand on the things he needed, just like how he'd helped her.

As far as she was concerned, that was her duty as a sister.

So, as she stood in the middle of their training area, Jeanne concentrated on that. She focused on her desire to help her brother. She focused on the anger that the people that hard hurt him inspired in her. They deserved to be punished for what they had done. Joshua had lost part of his family to them, he'd been hurt because of them, he'd suffered because of them.

Jeanne remembered how he'd arrived after the fact. She remembered the helplessness of realizing what her brother had faced without her. She hadn't been there, and for that, she felt like she'd failed.

So, she wouldn't fail a second time. She'd be there the next time, that much she swore. And she'd deliver judgment onto those that had wronged her brother, her family.

In her hand, a new sword formed, not unlike Healing Gratitude, but with a completely different purpose. No, where one was born of her desire to repay Joshua's kindness, this one was born from her desire to return the animosity that Khaos Brigade had shown her family. And thus, Jeanne knew just what he'd name this particular sword.

[}-o-{]

[Joshua Davis]

He sat on a couch, looking over files that he'd read and re-read a number of times already. He'd studied the content of those documents to the point that he more or less knew everything they said, but he couldn't quite stop doing so again and again. They'd lead to something that he wanted to be ready for. Things needed to go well, after all. There was no room for half-assing things.

Cheshire climbed on his lap, pushing on the files. Joshua couldn't bring himself to be angry about that, however. Instead, he set the papers to the side and petted the cat on top of her head. He got the message loud and clear, especially when Margalo landed on his shoulder and Morag pulled affectionately at his hair from the back of the couch. He shared a fond look with Nagini, who was curled up on the seat next to him.

Then, Joshua looked to the other side, where the three Fallen stood, almost at attention. They were stiff, afraid, nervous… As well they should. He had no lost love for them, especially Kalawarna. Mittelt and Raynare might have been given a measure of good will from him, but he had no delusions of how they were. They were not nice. The only reason they were listening to him was because he had all the power, literally and metaphorically.

If they could have gotten away with stabbing him in the back, they would have. Well, Kalawarna would have. Mittelt might have given it some thought, he was pretty sure. After all, he was giving her the chance to get revenge on those that had thrown her to the wolves. Raynare… was somewhere in the middle of those two, if he was reading things well, which was a bit surprising.

Regardless though, he didn't trust any of them, at all. He'd have as many eyes on them as he could possibly have. He had also prepared a number of plans in case they got any ideas too. No, he was giving them as much trust as they deserved, which meant none at all.

Still, he found himself slightly amused as he looked at them. He felt them grow more and more impatient while they waited, but none would voice their thoughts. They were too scared of his power and the power he'd been given by their higher ups to ever actually say anything to him. No, instead, they'd content themselves cursing him in the privacy of their minds, he was sure.

With a sigh, he went to stand up, Cheshire jumping down to walk beside him, now in lynx form. Morag, for her part, jumped on his back. His sudden movement seemed to make all three Fallen stand up straighter, which was more than a little amusing. Joshua looked at them for a long moment before speaking.

"I hope you are ready," he said, receiving nothing but a tight nod from all three of them. That was fine, he didn't have them around for their conversation capabilities, after all. "Come along," he said, nodding for them to follow as he made his way towards the teleportation circle he'd set up for the occasion.

"We are finally going then?" Jeanne asked, falling into step as they moved through the house. He'd have preferred not to have her going with them but… It wouldn't precisely be fair on her, really. She was as pissed with Khaos Brigade as he was, after all, and he didn't want to take her revenge away from her.

Coddling her would only be harmful anyway, he was sure. It was better for her to get experience, preferably where he could keep his eyes on her. It wasn't an ideal situation, but then again, when did he ever get an ideal situation regarding anything? The supernatural world wasn't that kind, he knew, and he needed to accept that.

As he walked, he picked up the notebook he'd prepared for the night, filled with circle drawings, wardstones and hex foci. It had taken some time to set it up as necessary, with all the ward and hex circles ready to appear fully in place. Their foci would work much the same, all of them falling into place. Furthermore, he'd tinkered with the thing until he'd found the set up that he could cast in a matter of seconds.

It would take a bit for it to power up, but that was fine. He'd accounted for anything that could go wrong, even the most unlikely of things. That was what he was good at, covering all the bases. All possibilities had been taken into account, for the safety of his sister and his familiars. The Fallen he could care less about, but it wouldn't do for them to die just yet. No, they had to kick Kokabiel's ass first, if only because he knew that'd hit extra hard, possibly even harder than him doing that himself.

He was definitely petty enough to do that.

The fucking bastard deserved that and worse. If Joshua could get away with it, the Fallen would suffer a whole lot more than a very humiliating defeat by the hand of those he considered inferior. Kalawarna might have escaped his experiments, but Kokabiel? That bastard would suffer, if Joshua had anything to say on the matter.

The Fallen trio might have been there to kill his family, but Kokabiel had done the same and almost succeded. That meant something, as far as Joshua was concerned. On top of that, while the three might not have cared for their subordinates, they hadn't backstabbed them like the Cadre had. All because of his sick, warmongering ways. If he'd had half a decent reason for his bullshit, Joshua might have considered giving him a chance too…

As it was, the trio of Fallen Angels had been given a chance simply because he didn't know much about them. He didn't remember their reasons, if they had ever been explained. He wasn't aware of anything regarding them. So… he'd find out.

Besides, in regards to the Fallen group behind him, all he'd done was give them a chance…

A chance he was sure they'd fail at…

"I hope everyone's ready," he said once they were all standing on top of the teleportation circle. He didn't wait for a voiced answer, picking up on those before they were even spoken. His sensing was getting better, and that was without even taking into account the many wards and hexes he had placed around his home.

With a snap of his fingers, the spell activated and they disappeared and appeared somewhere else entirely.

In front of them was their destination, but Joshua didn't dwell on that. Instead, he immediately cast the storage spell on his notebook to make the drawn circles appear on the ground in front of him. That was followed by a second one that set up the foci. With no pause whatsoever, he moved around. He'd practiced for the whole thing to take merely seconds before the spells were cast, even if he needed to spend most of his magic so that the key spells were fully functional right off the bat.

Their targets had noticed, of course, but that didn't matter. It was already too late for them. There was literally nothing they could do to get away after that was done, except maybe kill them all.

Which they wouldn't be able to do.

With his wards and hexes cast, Joshua walked forward, summoning Setan Kober and Carnwennan from their storage spell. Both weapons eagerly appeared in his hands, feeling to him like giddy children hopping on their feet waiting for candy. It was an amusing sight, especially to see both be completely in agreement. However, that would have been a much more humorous thing if he weren't more focused on what was about to happen.

Jeanne walked to his right, summoning a sword that gave him pause. She seemed to notice, because she gave him a smile that managed to be both proud and sad. Giving the sword a slight swing, she regarded him again.

"Relentless Justice," she said simply and he looked at her for a long moment before giving her a tight smile in return. Both of them nodded, continuing to walk as his familiars moved around. Behind the two, all three of the Fallen took flight, their black wings batting away and creating a breeze that seemed to push them forward.

"Fitting," he said then, as the first of the magicians came out of their base. "Guess I'm not the only one that prepared some new tricks for this," he mused idly as he continued walking.

"You came to the wrong place!" a foolish idiot exclaimed from the crowd that gathered in front of them. They raised their hands, staffs, wands and so on. Circles appeared, threatening them, some with a surprisingly high amount of power. Joshua was unconcerned though, and thus so were his familiars and Jeanne. The Fallen grew slightly nervous, but these magicians – humans, most of them – were considered beneath them, so they refrained from showing any apprehension.

The attacks finally snapped forward. There was a bit of everything in the mix. There was fire, water, ice, lightning, neutral, and so many other magics. In the face of all that, Joshua only raised his hand.

And then he snapped his fingers.

In a bright flash of light, his latest project, Project Law, showed its might.

In a split second, the attacks went from flying at him to flying away from him. All of them seemed to twist in place, instead going back towards their casters. After all, they were all within his wards, and within his wards, Joshua was the strongest. Certainly stronger than those magicians, and he'd make sure they all found out about that.

These magicians.

Hexennacht.

Khaos Brigade.

All of them would know, soon enough.

[} 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/)