Chapter 44: Housewarming

Chapter 44:

"___" - Speech

(___) - Thoughts

(___) - Internal Voice(s)

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"You know, I was expecting something a lot worse." Jin muttered to himself as he stood outside the confines of his new home. "Still a bit too fancy for my taste, but I'll make do." Their trip through the snow laden territory had gone virtually undisturbed, Jin had noticed a few presences latching onto himself and Raon every now and then. But no attempts at making direct contact had taken place. 

"Are there sandwiches inside?" The hatchling eagerly queried. 

"Probably, if not I'll just whip a few of them up in a bit." 

"Very well." He affirmed contently. 

The house itself was in essence a plain, white-colored two story villa. Though the exterior looked normal enough, Jin shuddered to imagine the sorts of god-forbidden gizmos Azazel had instilled within its interior. 

(I better keep an eye out for hidden cameras.) The Governor could be an annoyingly capable stalker when he wanted to be, and with how things had left off between the two, Jin wouldn't be surprised if he happened to be in the stalky mood. 

"I guess it's not too much of an eyesore." Its coating, alongside the mountain of snow that had gathered around its roofing helped it blend in with its powdery surroundings. 

Rumble! 

Jin chuckled as Raon's ears pushed backwards in embarrassment. "Don't worry, I won't dawdle any longer." Upon stepping through the doorway, Jin was met with the stress-inducing sight of a near endless sea of unopened cardboard boxes, each containing the majority of his belongings from his old home. 

"Ah, I forgot about that." He set Raon aside as the latter quickly hopped towards the fridge located in the right side of the living room, smelling the contents he yearned for from inside. 

"Hurry!" He ordered, scratching at the fridge as if he were a cat. 

"I suppose the unpacking can wait." He shrugged, walking over towards him and opening up the metallic door. "Huh?" But upon looking inside, he noticed a few premade sandwiches carefully wrapped in plastic. 

"It looks like we've been given a gift." His nose immediately recognized the smell, the sandwiches were the handicraft of none other than Lady Gremory herself. "If this is an attempt to curry favor with me," Jin hesitated as he pulled two of them out. "It worked." 

"Give!" Raon bolted up Jin's leg, attempting to snatch one of them out of his hand. 

"Pipe down a little!" Jin stretched his arm out so as to keep the goods out of his reach. "At least let me warm it up first!" Raon reluctantly stood down as Jin only popped one of them into the microwave, preferring to eat his own cold. 

Which was pretty disgusting, at least to everyone but him and Adaloth. 

.

.

"Phew, that should be the last of them." Jin wiped the nonexistent sweat off his forehead as he placed a few remaining family photos in his bedroom. Which he would very soon completely coat in a blanket of snow. 

He walked back downstairs, entering the living room and smiling at the sight of Raon sound asleep in what was essentially a cat tree made for Dragons. "Cute." He murmured. "I might as well cash in on some relaxation for myself." 

Jin plopped himself onto the couch, grabbing the remote for his awfully pricy looking flat screen. "I wonder what shows the Underworld has?" The very second he clicked the remote, he was forced to lean forwards and squint his eyes as he looked at the screen. 

"Is that?" He looked closer, watching what seemed to be an odd replica of a Mahou Shoujo show. "No, must be an actor or something, having magic does make it a lot easier to look like someone." He could've sworn he was seeing Serafall on screen, but there's no way a Satan of all people would subject themselves to such silliness. "Now that I think of it, they probably needed her permission at the very least to make something like this? Oh well, no point in deliberating." He shrugged, leaning back into his couch, deciding to watch the whole thing through out of intrigue. 

"Haha! You did well to uncover my plan Levi-tan! But even so you won't stand a chance against my sheer might!" 

"WHAT!?" Jin spat out his drink, looking at the screen with widened eyes as his mouth was left agape. "No, I must be seeing things." He rubbed his eyes in disbelief, but reality hadn't altered in the slightest. 

An awfully cliche sounding villain had appeared on scene, wearing an undeniably chuunibyou infused all-black outfit with silver spikes running down its fabric. "I can't believe this…" He breathed in pure shock, the character was a man with spiky brown hair, purple eyes, and an all too familiar face. 

"Hmph! We'll see about that Silver Menace! ☆" 

"SILVER WHAT?" His screaming woke up Raon from his slumber, who shot an annoyed look his way as he slowly flew over to the couch. "This has to be breaking some kind of identity law! And how the hell did they get my voice? This is a crime! A crime!" He bellowed, his hands rested on his head as he prayed with every fiber that this was all a bad dream. 

"Stop shouting! I'm trying to sleep!" Raon smacked Jin repeatedly on the head with his paw, the latter simply being too gob smacked by the television in front of him to muster a response. 

(Count your days Serafall! Even if you're a Satan this is too far! Too far I say!) 

He didn't waste another second switching channels, beyond desperate to avert his eyes from the abomination that was unfolding before him. "Oh? You're awake?" Finally, he noticed the hatchling staring daggers at him as he pushed his anguish to the back of his mind. 

"Forget it!" Raon huffed, stomping away to his miniature bed as Jin scratched his chin in confusion. 

(Maybe he's still hungry or something.) 

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! 

"Huh?" He blurted aloud, unsure why there seemed to be a visitor at his front door. Let alone the fact that someone had actually come to this region to visit in the first place. "Did Tannin let someone else in?" Naturally, the knocking wouldn't come from one of the Blizzard Dragons, if they ever decided to approach him in the first place. 

"Wait a minute," Jin stopped in his tracks, the corners of his mouth dipping before he could reach the door. "On second thought, it was probably just my imagination." He sensed an extremely recognizable aura coming from outside, and had decided that it just wasn't worth the trouble. 

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! 

"Man, I must be pretty tired to be hearing things at this hour." He spoke to himself, sitting back down on the couch as he watched the Underworld equivalent of football. "I'll hit the hay after this game." He cracked open a cold can of beer, blissfully ignoring whomever was out there. 

"I KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE! OPEN THE DOOR DAMNIT!" Jin continued to pretend not to notice, ignoring the confused stare Raon was shooting his way. 

"Aren't you going to get that?" 

"Get what?" 

Click! 

The door ended up opening anyways, causing Jin's mood to immediately plummet as he steeled himself for what was to come. 

(Of course he has a key for himself.) He chided internally. 

Stepping foot into his house was an obsidian-haired man with blond streaks wearing a suit and tie, accompanied by a significantly younger one with spiky chestnut colored hair — currently shivering as if he were on the brink of hypothermia. 

"You couldn't even give me a day to myself could you?" Jin turned his neck whilst sat on his couch, looking at the Governor with the intent to punt him into oblivion. "I quite literally just moved in a few hours ago." Azazel's presence obviously meant that he was about to be sent on some fifty year long side quest. 

"What are you being so dramatic about?" 

Jin smoldered, looking at the youth stood next to his pain-in-the-wings boss. "Why is he here?" He almost hesitated to ask. 

"So you know how there's still a month left in his summer vacation?"

"Uh-huh." Jin replied, completely unamused. 

"Well, I don't want him to waste the rest of it doing nothing so I thought it best to let Hyoudou continue his training. You never know what might pop up once he returns to Kuoh after all." He smiled. 

"And I'm involved in this how exactly?" 

"Isn't it obvious? I need you to train hi—" 

"No." He replied sternly. "Do it yourself." 

"Uh, c-c-can I get a b-b-blanket over here?" Issei interjected, still shivering like there was no tomorrow. Which was understandable seeing as had it been any other member of the Gremory peerage they'd most likely have frozen to death by now. 

"Unfortunately I'm still occupied with mentoring Oron—" To Issei's dismay, it seemed he was being ignored.

"Then ask Sairaorg." 

"He'd be ideal, but he has a peerage of his own he needs to take care of right now—" 

"Then ask anyone else, I don't see why I have to be the one to train him." Jin took another sip from his can. "Besides, wasn't he reincarnated before me? That makes him my senior which means if anything he should be training me." 

"You know it's not that cut and dry." 

His [Gold General] shrugged plainly, returning his attention to the football game as he propped his feet up on the table. 

"Anyways, I'll just be leaving him here." Azazel declared out of the blue. "You're both Dragon hosts anyways, I'm sure you'll be just fine."

"The hell you are—" By the time Jin had turned around, the aloof Governor had already disappeared. Leaving him with a shivering 16 year old in his house. 

"Seriously though, could I get like a heater or something Jin-senpai?" He beckoned, Jin simply waving him off with an indifferent gesture. 

(You've got to be kidding me.) 

(I refuse to train that wretched creature.) 

(Doesn't seem like I've got much of a choice, but don't worry, I won't rope you into it.) Even though he had a few rebuttals up his sleeve, right now he was just far too exhausted to argue with her.

(That would be wise.) 

"There's no heaters here, just activate your Sacred Gear." He said with an exasperated groan.

"Oh, right." Once the [Boosted Gear] came out, Issei's body was immediately relieved of its toe-biting lack of warmth. "Sorry to intrude like this, he just kinda scooped me up without warning." 

"Sounds like him," Jin chugged down the last of his drink, hoping that it would at least alleviate a bit of the stress he was experiencing right now. "Wait a minute, did he tell Tannin that you'd be here?" 

"Tannin? I'm not sure, he didn't mention anything about him." 

(How the hell am I going to justify having what they'll think is a full on Red Dragon here? Even if they realize he's part Devil I doubt that'll make them any happier.) It really was just one thing after the other. 

"Well that's just perfect." 

"I'm guessing that's going to be a problem?" 

"Most definitely, but just let me worry about that for now." Knowing that Issei wasn't at fault for his current predicament, Jin didn't think it was all that fair to dump everything on him. "You want a beer or something?" He waved around another can in his hand. 

"Jin-senpai." 

"Yeah?"

"I'm underage." 

"Oh, my bad." Jin scratched his head, not knowing how exactly he was supposed to proceed from here on out. "By the way, you don't need to call me Senpai anymore." 

"Why not?" He wondered. 

"I'm not a part of Kuoh anymore," He motioned to his newfound home. "As you can see, I've relocated from the human world." 

"Seriously?" 

"Seriously." Jin affirmed, silence ensuing between the two as Issei appeared to need a minute to let the revelation soak in. "Like you just witnessed, I'm already employed now, though I'm starting to hate my job more and more, it's still a job at the end of the day." 

Jin turned off his T.V, hauling himself to his feet as he stretched his arms out whilst yawning. "We can start your training tomorrow, for now I could really use some sleep. I think he put a guest room somewhere on the second floor so you can go ahead and make yourself comfortable."