Kuroka

'What bullshit favor, this is clearly a threat!'

Azazel thought with cold sweat running down his back along with the side of his forehead.

The fallen angel had tried to overestimate Zero's capabilities as much as he could after seeing his speed; turned out he was still underestimating the guy.

Although the young man only showed a split second of his prowess, Azazel clearly felt he was standing in front of a full-powered Sirzechs.

The twelve-winged angel wondered if it was the correct choice to come here in the first place. He had only wanted some ramen, not to seek death.

Azazel silently cursed his bad luck before recalling those cold green eyes that flashed for a brief moment and…the hair? Did the guy's hair turn golden for a split second there or was he just seeing things?

The Grigori leader let his thoughts wander for a while before Zero's voice cut in.

"As someone known for his intelligence, I trust that you understood my meaning?"

Azazel smiled bitterly as heard the saiyan speak. He truly understood what the young man meant without the guy saying anything; just the sheer power Zero possessed alone let the fallen angel know that he couldn't make an enemy out of the saiyan.

The Grigori leader sighed in relief though as Zero only wanted to send a point across and didn't want to make an enemy out of him and his faction; an intention he sensed from the young man's aura and actions.

Zero could've humiliated him then and there but chose not to, indicating that the saiyan wasn't really hostile to the fallen angels.

"Don't worry, I was never planning on doing that in the first place."

The twelve-winged angel stated helplessly with his hands still in a surrender position. Zero had already taken back his aura yet the fallen angel could still feel the oppression present within the air; it was uncomfortable to say the least.

To the three of them, being Gaia, himself and the cat, the Governor-General appeared really comical at the moment.

Meanwhile, the black cat was staring at Zero's back with curiosity in it's shining eyes. As the saiyan only focused his aura on Azazel, the cat wasn't able to get a general perception of how powerful he was. What exactly did the Grigori leader experience to be reduced into this situation?

"Good, I hope you keep your word."

Zero nodded. He had revealed enough to let Azazel take him seriously so the guy shouldn't try anything funny.

Although the saiyan knew from the anime and light novels that the fallen angel was someone who was easy to get along with, they were still strangers at the moment and this was reality so he shouldn't just assume things.

Azazel sighed in relief, putting his hands down as the invisible pressure finally disappeared. The young man proceeded to give the fallen angel a glance before deciding to speak up again.

"Anyway, enough of that. Since the issue surrounding my family cat's whereabouts has been solved, I'll give you a chance to ask what you want to know. I'm sure you still have questions?"

"Well?"

Azazel raised an eyebrow, he certainly didn't expect this to happen. When did the guy become so generous?

The saiyan just shrugged and answered the man's doubts.

"In any case, you're after all a faction leader so I should at least give you that right, though just so you know, I won't be answering any questions which I deem too personal. Anything other than that is fine though. Well, come grab a seat will ya?"

Stated Zero as he motioned towards the seats at the counter.

The fallen angel's eyes lit up. At least the saiyan was someone reasonable and didn't seem as hard to talk to as the Grigori leader initially thought.

The pressure Azazel felt back then had indeed given him a big shock. He also came to a realization that the person in front of him was someone powerful enough to enter the list of the top 10 strongest beings in this world. How had this guy remained unknown until now?

Something which confused the angel though was the fact that he could truly feel the Zero's power-level at only the ultimate-class earlier, and that was clearly the young man not hiding his aura. How could it just suddenly jump to super-class?

The angel then recalled the golden hair and greenish-blue eyes again for the second time of the night. Perhaps it was some kind of transformation?

Azazel had heard of Yasaka whose strength was on par with a satan in her Nine-Tail fox form. He was also a witness to many different wielders of [Sacred Gears] within his lifetime who could boost their power-level up a notch after undergoing some kind of metamorphosis.

But never had he experienced a transformation as ridiculous as this.

The angel compared the first time he saw Zero to the aura he felt during the oppression and was able to notice a power up of approximately fifty times! What kind of concept was that?

Anyway, Zero knew that the fallen angel would definitely go back to investigate him and end up finding nothing. So instead of leaving the guy in doubts, he may as well satisfy some of his curiosity.

It was better than creating an annoying fly for himself who would pester him for information every now and then or maybe use spies to do it instead.

Of course, the saiyan could just kill the guy… but then that would lead to even more problems.

Other factions would become alert and while they wouldn't know who caused Azazel's death at first, they would find out eventually since there were quite a few supernaturals who had mysterious techniques which could either look back in time or had the ability to calculate who had triggered the event in the first place.

What Zero didn't know was that those techniques wouldn't work on him as the System would automatically shield him from them.

He was the successor of the Dimension God and no one within this dimension would be able to spy or observe him through time as he was a unique existence separate from the original timeline itself, also meaning that no one could predict his future; It was a hidden perk that the saiyan had received upon merging with the System.

"Well then, if you don't mind me asking, what exactly is your goal? I mean, you're currently residing in Devil Territory so you must have some sort of purpose, right? And also, if you're not part of the Devil Faction, with whom are you affiliated with?"

Azazel quickly barraged Zero with a couple of questions as the both of them sat down at the seats before the counter.

The fallen angel had already figured out that Zero wasn't part of the Devil Faction due to the saiyan's willingness to house an SS-Class Stray Devil.

He was just curious if the young man belonged to any other and if not, there might be a chance to win the guy over. And if that doesn't work, then making a friend wouldn't be too bad of an option either.

Having strong connections in the supernatural world was important, and the one in front of Azazel was someone at the forefront!

On the other hand, the twin-tailed cat stayed seated at the sofa whilst looking at the duo from time to time, perking her ears up to listen in on the conversation. Who knows, maybe she could find out more about her savior.

"Goal? Hmm, not sure if I have a goal, but for the moment and possibly until I'm satisfied… I want to become stronger. And as for being affiliated with any faction, no I'm not. Me living within Devil Territory on the other hand means nothing. I just needed a place to stay; can't exactly stay homeless now can I?"

Zero shook his head while grabbing two glasses of water, handing the other one over to his guest after filling it up, which earned him a nod of thanks in return.

The situation of him being the Dimension God's successor came too fast and then came his sudden desire to get stronger, leaving him almost no time to think of his actual goals in this new life of his. Though the saiyan didn't worry too much as goals will come eventually; it was just a matter of wanting to achieve something; something that haven't appeared yet, at least for him anyway.

"I guess that makes sense…"

Azazel deadpanned, why didn't he think of that in the first place. The fallen angel just assumed that Zero had a goal in mind when choosing to live here since it was natural to think that way in the supernatural world; there were just too many people who planned in the shadows after all.

He continued speaking after thinking back to what Zero had mentioned earlier.

"You want to become stronger? Although that's a pretty common goal that most people have… but you're already so strong, why do you want to become even stronger? Is it to defeat someone? Perhaps you want to challenge Great Red?"

Azazel wondered as he took a sip of water, feeling refreshed. He honestly preferred beer but what could he do when Zero only gave him water. Anyways, the last question he asked because he suddenly recalled a little silver-haired kid at home who kept shouting all day that he wanted to challenge the Apocalypse Dragon whenever he got strong enough.

The nekoshou seated at the sofa also showed a curious glint in her feline eyes.

Gaia, who was floating invisibly by Zero's side and watching everything that happened so far in silence chuckled to herself sweetly. Challenge Great Red? Her Master didn't need to do that.

"Uh… no, although I can't guarantee I won't have a fight with the True Dragon in the future… but that doesn't mean I want to get stronger just so I could challenge him."

Stated Zero.

"Then why?"

Azazel asked again.

"Well, the answer's pretty simple actually. It's because I can."

"Huh?"

The twelve-winged angel sounded confused this time.

"I want to get stronger, just because I can. I want to test to see where my limits are, to see how strong I could get. After all, I can assure you that in just a few years time, the True Dragon and Infinite Dragon wouldn't be my opponents. So rather than pursuing strength in order to challenge someone, I'm getting stronger for myself."

Zero explained lightly, yet full of confidence.

He didn't mind letting the fallen angel know this simple fact. It's not like what he said was believable, especially to the people of this world who already had the concept of Great Red and Ophis being the strongest existences engraved into their souls.

And what he expected turned out to be right. Azazel didn't believe him whatsoever and it was shown through his disbelieving expression, mixed with a bit of contempt though the saiyan didn't pay it to mind and just calmly shrugged it off in return.

Little did Zero realize that the black cat, who had been watching him the whole time became even more curious about him as the intensity in her eyes when she stared at him increased significantly.

She was someone who used Senjutsu so she was able to vaguely sense that the young man in front of her wasn't lying.

The nekoshou even doubted her ability at one point since becoming stronger than Great Red, in only a few years at that, sounded like a pipe dream.

But upon noticing the unwavering calm eyes that never changed since the start of this conversation, the absolute confidence the guy had when talking earlier and factoring in her Senjutsu's ability to detect lies, she couldn't help but receive her doubts and actually start to believe in what her savior had said.

"Well then, I wish you good luck on your path young man."

Azazel gave Zero a brilliant smile, showing off his two rows of shiny teeth.

"Yeah; yeah, whatever dude."

Zero rolled his eyes at this. Even Gaia and the nekoshou rolled their eyes. What was this guy smiling so brightly for? The guy didn't even believe a single word the saiyan said.

"Anyways, I've been wanting to ask you for a while now. What is someone like you, who is one of the leaders of Grigori, doing within the Devil territory? I mean, aren't you guys supposed to be enemies or something? You coming here would be considered trespassing, no?"

Zero asked suddenly.

"Well, I'm pretty sure I already mentioned it to you; I came here to try some ramen. Who would've thought I'd run into a monster like you..."

The twelve-winged angel emphasized the word 'monster' through his teeth.

To him, Zero was an abnormally that he wouldn't want as an enemy and the main reason was that he couldn't exactly see through the young man; Who knew if the guy was holding other things up his sleeve?

"... And while you're correct about Devils and Fallen angels being hostile to each other, it's not like they could find me if I intruded on their territory. And let's say they did, what could they even do to me? Unless the Satans themselves come to the human world, which they are probably too busy to do, I'm free to do whatever I wish."

Azazel finished with a shrug; what he said was true.

"Ah, the classic law of the jungle I suppose."

Zero nodded as he thought aloud.

"Yeah, this is a world where strength is authority after all; the weak are prey to the strong; might makes right; whatever you want to call it. In any case, when it comes to invading others' domains, it's not like we fallen angels don't have any spies within other faction territories. So what does it matter if I come here myself?"

"Should you even be telling me this information?"

"Nah, it doesn't matter, it's an open secret between every faction anyway. Which faction wouldn't contain spies anyway?"

"True."

And so, the two continued their conversation for a couple of hours until Azazel left, though what actually happened was the angel getting kicked out by our protagonist as the guy was starting to get annoying with all the random questions and dry jokes that kept spewing out of his mouth once the conversation had taken a more comfortable turn.

In any case, the Grigori leader was definitely satisfied with the information he got. The guy could even say that he made a friend, and a very powerful one at that.

<< Later >>

"Ah, what a weird guy."

Zero thought aloud after Azazel left.

It was just like how he imagined the fallen angel leader to be. Once you get to know the guy, he was pretty easy to get along with, though the saiyan really wanted to slap the angel a few times due to the guy purposely trying to troll him with those shitty jokes that were too cringeworthy for his liking, especially those dirty ones.

What, Santa Claus having a big sack because he only 'comes' once a year? Fuck off.

Did Azazel honestly think that he didn't know what he was trying to do? In any case, Zero made a note to pay the angel back for it later. After all, if the saiyan didn't quickly activate <Protection of the Mind>, his expression wouldn't have been a good sight to look at; It probably would've been a cross between someone crying and laughing at the same time; truly an awkward situation.

[Mn. Gaia agrees too.]

Gaia nodded from atop of her Master's head. She was tired of floating the whole time so she decided to sit on her favorite spot at some point whilst Zero and Azazel were still conversing with each other.

"Meow."

'And it looks like our little nekoshou over there thinks the same.'

The saiyan said mentally to his system fairy as he turned towards the sofa where a black cat lay leisurely whilst licking its paws, though the casual posture didn't last long when the nekoshou sensed Zero's gaze on it.

"Come with me."

Zero sighed as he saw this and just beckoned the twin-tailed cat with his hand after getting up to close the entrance of his shop.

The saiyan then proceeded to walk upstairs to the second floor where his residence was located with the black cat following behind him cautiously.

As they kept walking, a hesitant expression appeared on the cat's face from time to time whilst looking at Zero's back, all the way until they reached his bedroom.

The nekoshou, who was following blindly and not noticing they had arrived at their destination, was just about to speak after making a long and hard decision when Zero's voice rang in her ears, being the first one of the two to start talking.

"Alright, now that there's no one around to distract us, we can finally have a nice, decent conversation."

The saiyan spoke as his coal-colored eyes stared at the little figure standing lost at the entrance of his bedroom. Zero was currently sitting on the bed holding his glass refilled with water as he looked down at the black cat who had just entered the room.

"Well? Are you still not going to change into your true appearance, my little nekoshou? Or do you want to talk to me while staying in that form? Now although I wouldn't mind, but talking to you like this always feels kind of strange. It is even more so now that you're aware I'm part of the supernatural world. So, what's it going to be..."

Deliberately pausing while a smirk appeared on his face, Zero finally called the cat by it's name for the first time, making the neko tremble in response.

.

.

.

"...Kuroka."

<< Meanwhile, with Azazel >>

The fallen angel was walking down the empty streets of Kuoh after literally getting his ass kicked out of the restaurant entrance. He was currently deep in thought and thinking about all the information he had gotten out of this trip.

Azazel then froze on the spot as he finally recalled something of utmost importance which he had forgotten to ask for earlier.

"Ah shit! I forgot to ask Zero for a serving of ramen! Noooooo, every one of my subordinates who's been there keeps boasting how delicious it is, so I've been dying to try it for a while now."

That's right, Azazel wasn't the first supernatural to visit Zero's restaurant. There were many others, but the saiyan and nekoshou had always hidden their aura, acting like a normal person and cat. Even the cat's second tail was hidden from customers' view using her specialized illusion magic. Azazel's case only happened to be an accident as the saiyan and cat wasn't exactly expecting someone of the fallen angel's caliber to greet them.

"Oh well, whatever. I can just make it as an excuse to visit him next time. Hahah!"

The fallen angel leader laughed out loud as he remembered Zero's twitching, or rather, almost distorted expression as he told him all those lame jokes.

Obviously, the sly angel had done it on purpose!

Little did he know that Zero had already seen through this and poor Azazel would probably also get his face distorted the next time they meet, through external means that is.

His laughter, which echoed throughout the night had stopped abruptly as a heavy duty alarm clock hit him square on the side of his head when he wasn't paying attention.

"Hey! Could you please fucking shut up! It's only 3am in the morning!"

An old lady's string of curses was heard coming down from an adjacent apartment.

"Haha… my bad; my bad. I'll keep it down, sorry."

Azazel bowed down a couple of times to the grumpy old lady while scratching the back of his head, which now had blood coming out of it, rather awkwardly. Where was the demeanor of a fallen angel leader?

As he quickly walked away from the barrage of unrefined language, someone nearby would be able to hear the fallen angel mutter some things about how someone so old could land such an accurate hit from far away.

It was true; the lady was at least 70 years of age for fuck's sake. Having the strength to throw the clock was one thing, let alone being accurate enough to hit it.

"Fuck, karma's being bitch today."

Azazel swore. Why did fortune never favor him?