Game of Monsters

Disclaimer: I don't own Highschool DxD.

The Glow of the Fire-

"Sirzechs," Joshua greeted with a smile and a nod. "Lord Gremory."

"Joshua."

"Mister Davis," the older Gremory replied, grinning as he held a camera in his hands. "So good to see you," Lord Gremory – Joshua had forgotten his name, but then again, they had never actually met – looked genuinely excited to meet him. "We've never been formally introduced, have we? I'm Zeoticus Gremory. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Joshua Davis and I could say the same, sir," he replied, taking the hand the man offered to shake.

"None of that. After what you've done for my family? You can call me Zeoticus, or just Zeo," the devil told him, shaking his head emphatically. "Oh, classes are starting!" the man exclaimed then. "If you'll-"

"Go ahead, Zeoticus. Don't let me stop you," Joshua replied with a half-smile that only widened when the Lord Gremory dashed away to see Rias in her class.

"He doesn't get to see Rias nearly as much after she came to the human world. None of us do, but it's what she wants and she's happy," Sirzechs explained, remaining where he was even as he gazed in the direction of his sister's class.

"You can go too, you know? I'm sure we can chat some other time. Jeanne and Asia's class will start soon too," Joshua reassured the Satan. 'When did such a thing become normal enough for me not to think about it that much?' he wondered idly.

"I see my sister quite a bit more now. Especially since I'm a little freer without having to deal with the Phenex as much," Sirzechs said. "Something that I wanted to thank you for, by the way."

"Fairly sure you are paying for that favor. And besides, you've also already thanked me," Joshua commented, glancing down the hall where his sister and Asia's class was located. He saw the two of them a whole lot though, so there wasn't any rush, really. Parents Day was… interesting though. Fun, at the very least, he guessed.

"Still, don't think I'm not aware about how you usually are with debts and favors. You have a reputation already, Joshua," Sirzechs commented with a smile and a shake of his head. "Regardless, do let me know if there's anything I can do to help you."

"Well, not that I'm pulling my favor for this, but about Kuroka…?"

"Ah, tricky that," Sirzechs said, his expression falling a little bit and taking a more annoyed tinge. "We are gathering information on that to support her side, but the pillars won't be happy about it once we start trying to do something about it. Which we have to, if only so that nobody else gets ideas as dangerous as Naberius did."

"Well, if I can do something to help-"

"You don't think we owe you enough?" Sirzechs asked, looking more amused than anything. "I'll keep that in mind though."

"I'm the one housing the criminal, you know? It'd be nice to have some reassurance that no devil will come to attack my place," Joshua replied with a shrug. If he was going to bring Koneko into the mix though, he also wanted some reassurances on that front. Last thing he wanted was to give the girl her sister back only for it all to go up in flames in front of her.

"I'll keep you up to date," Sirzechs said before taking a deep breath in. "For now, I'd rather focus on my family than business if it's all the same to you."

"I feel the same way, don't worry. Don't be a stranger, yeah?"

"Same, Joshua. Any friend of Serafall's is a friend of mine, after all," the man told him with a wink. 'Well, that's… not really surprising,' Joshua thought, turning to look at his devil partner who was very excitedly gushing about her sister some distance away. He could only imagine how mortifying that was for poor Sona.

As it was, he'd had enough of that for a while since they'd come together to the school. He likely would listen a lot about Serafall's observations during the day, but for the moment, he had a break. Thus, he moved to check on the people he was there for.

Reaching Jeanne's class, he actually looked at a number of people. Jeanne primarily, of course, but Asia was a very close second. If it weren't for the Church and the mess it could bring, he'd have asked if the girl wanted to be adopted, honestly. As it was, she was basically a sister in all but name, and that had nothing to do with her status as a nun. She'd been with them for a while, and there was no denying that Jeanne and him loved her dearly. She was just too good not to, really.

He also checked on Issei and Aika though, since they were… apprentices of sorts, he guessed. He didn't think they actually counted, since he basically just gave them nudges in what he thought was the right direction. He wasn't training them as much as he imagined would be needed for the title to count. They were nice kids though, good friends for Jeanne and, especially, Asia. He'd grown fond of them, there was no denying that, especially Issei.

The least he could do was watch out for them.

'To think I'd grow fond of freaking Issei Hyoudou,' Joshua thought with a smile and a shake of his head.

His attention was then taken when Jeanne turned towards him and waved, a gesture that he returned. His expression twitched a second later when the girl sitting next to his sister caught that and blushed beet red. 'Please don't,' he thought to himself, turning his expression to a glare when Jeanne started giggling quietly where she sat.

Asia seemed to notice the interaction between them, turning to beam at him and waving excitedly. That, however, seemed to be too much for the teacher, who narrowed her eyes at the girl. After she chastised Asia, Joshua grinned guiltily. Maybe he could make it up to her later with one of her favorite meals.

[}-o-{]

"Are you gonna glare at me through the whole meal?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at Serafall as the woman sipped from the straw of her drink, pouting at him with her eyes narrowed. She'd been doing that pretty much since they left Kuoh. Hell, she'd been doing that since before then. "That woman wasn't staring at me anyway."

"Was," his girlfriend replied simply. He still wasn't sure if that was the right word for it but they'd never really put a label on things. He also guessed it wasn't really necessary. Things were fine without complicating things and his awkward ass sure as hell wasn't going to bring the topic up.

Back to the conversation though, Joshua sighed.

"Even if she was, what's there to be angry about?" he asked, bringing his hand up to massage his forehead. "I'm with you and Yasaka. Believe me, I'm perfectly happy with just that. I already feel like I'm struggling and worrying I'll screw up half the time. I'm fine with things as they are."

"We are happy too," she said, her previous anger seemingly vanishing into thin air. That is, before she frowned at him. "You don't have anything to worry about though. Did I do something?"

"No, no, nothing at all. It's just… my non-existent social skills that worry me. I don't want to mess anything up," he explained, making her beam at him in a way that had him smiling almost against his will. That was one of the reasons he liked Serafall. She just… projected happiness, for lack of a better word. It was difficult to feel bad around her.

"Silly Josh. You are fine. We knew what we were getting into anyway, and you've been doing great anyway," she reassured, actually managing to push his worries back. They likely would come back later, but for the moment he felt better. "You are maybe too fine though," she added, making him blink in confusion. "No wonder that poor mother couldn't keep her eyes to herself."

Joshua groaned then.

"What?! You can't hate me for telling the truth."

"Whatever," he grumbled, bringing his cup of tea to his lips. "Can we not talk about her?"

"I'm fine with that~" Serafall replied, looking like a happy camper once more. Besides the… incident with the aforementioned mother at Kuoh, she had looked fairly content throughout the day. It was no surprise though. She loved Sona about as much as Joshua loved Jeanne, maybe even more.

"Had a good time, huh?" he asked, getting a happy hum as she continued drinking her disgustingly sweet beverage… if it could be called that. He felt a little sick just remembering the stuff the thing had in it.

"A great time," she answered, grinning widely like a child on Christmas. That is, before her expression… It didn't drop, not really, but it did soften and turn into something more… melancholic, he supposed. "She's the best thing that has ever happened to me," she said, catching him off guard a little. "I know Sirzechs feels the same way about Rias. After the civil war… it finally felt like it had all been worth it when they were born."

"I can't say I understand completely, but I guess it's similar to how I felt with my familiars and Jeanne," he replied leaning forward looking to the side thoughtfully. "It wasn't nearly as bad, of course, but you know what happened to my parents, I'm sure."

"First of all, it doesn't matter that you don't understand completely, or at all. As far as I'm concerned, that's a good thing," Serafall told him with a slight frown on her face. "Second of all… Yes, I know."

"Thank you," he replied with a hint of a smile. "And…I wasn't in a good place for quite a while. I am… a coward, I guess," he continued, glancing down as he let the illusions on his wrists fall and revealed the scars underneath. He didn't look at them often, admittedly. He didn't like doing so, didn't like remembering what they represented and what they meant about him. "But then I found them, one by one, and they gave me a purpose, made life more… just more," he finished, placing the illusion on it once more.

"I don't think you are or were a coward, Joshua," Serafall told him, extending a hand and placing it over one of his. "I've done things I'm not proud of in moments like that too. Sometimes, it can be too much, even for the strongest of people," she reassured him.

"I feel like I made things about me," he commented, smiling self-deprecatingly. "All I wanted to say is that I understand, if only a bit."

"I think it's more than a bit, and don't worry. I make things about me enough as is," Serafall told him, smiling softly at him. "I kind of feel bad sometimes, selfish, about how much I make others go along with my antics."

"Well, you don't have to worry about that with me, I can tell you that. It's nice to have some cheer and innocent fun around," he replied.

"Innocent, huh?" she said then and he felt dread forming in him. He didn't like that glint in her eyes. Not at all. "So, the way your eyes stray when I hop around in my costume is completely-"

"Oh, shut up, Sera," he interrupted, taking a napkin and throwing it at her face. He glared halfheartedly at her while the woman giggled. "Way to ruin the moment."

"... I'm glad to hear that though," she told him once she'd calmed down. "But that's enough of the heavy stuff, how were the kids in Jeanne's class?" she asked, to which he chuckled and leaned back, bringing his cup of tea to his lips.

"Well, the girls are doing fine and Hyouodou is doing surprisingly well too…" he started answering.

[}-o-{]

Joshua grabbed Koneko's fist, grimacing as he felt the sting of the force behind it on his palm. Life Strengthening was great and all, but he clearly was a little behind in growth speed when compared to a Nekoshou. System or not, he wasn't quite that broken, at least in regards to Senjutsu. 'Maybe if I took advantage of the Professor title by teaching Senjutsu to others,' he thought with a wry grin as he continued sparring with the white-haired girl.

Even if she was growing faster, he was keeping up decently well. Sure, maybe he was cheating a bit by using his training arrays and such to even things out, but, in his defense, he was fighting Koneko using her main style with what was, at best, his… third battle approach?

He was a magician, not a Senjutsu fighter. He used his spells, wards, hexes and boons. At a stretch one could count his neutral and illusion magics. After that came his daggers, even if that'd offend Setan Kober and Carnwennan to no end. Then, one could argue that the next part of his repertoire were his familiars, but if one didn't count them then it's when Senjutsu came in.

'Maybe I should stop making excuses,' he thought as he parried a kick with his arm.

"You've been training less," Koneko pointed out with that emotionless tone of hers. "You slowed down."

"You are not wrong. I've been a little busy," he replied, grateful for the pause on the spar. He wasn't even lying. It just seemed that he always had more things to work on. Project Awakening, Project Ascension, improving his arrays, training with his other skills, spending time with his family, with Yasaka and Serafall, teaching classes, working at the cafe on occasion. 'I need longer days,' he thought with a sigh.

"You are always busy," she pointed out.

"Again, you are not wrong," he agreed with a weary chuckle. Then he cracked his neck and looked at Koneko. "A little more and then a break?" he asked, making the girl blink and tilt her head.

"With snacks?"

"Always," he confirmed, drawing a slight smile from her. Maybe it was because of how rare such expressions were on her, but he thought she looked very cute when she smiled. He didn't have much time to appreciate such an uncommon sight, however.

No, he was too busy trying not to get his ass kicked by a little girl.

Some time after that, both of them were sitting off to the side of the training area, watching the rest of her peerage sparring with the Fallen and occasionally his familiars. Between them, there was a tray full of snacks, two glasses and a jug. He'd sent a message to Asia to see if she wanted to join them, but apparently she was taking care of a particularly tricky plant. He had offered to help, but the girl seemed very into it and wanted to do it herself.

Considering this was her hobby, he decided to just let her be. God knew he would be a little upset if someone got in the middle of his tinkering. Especially if they didn't really have much of an idea of how it went. He could appreciate help, but sometimes it just wasn't necessary. Especially when he was doing it just for himself instead of for something that had a time limit or something like that.

"... You want to tell me something," Koneko mumbled, making him blink and turn towards her.

"Sort of," he admitted, because he didn't want to lie to her. The poor girl had enough lies in her life already, even if she didn't know the half of it. "I'm kind of waiting for a good moment to bring it up. I'm also wondering if it's a good idea at all."

She hummed then, but didn't say much else after that. While she munched on some cookies, he considered what she'd brought up. He'd said he would try to talk to her about Kuroka and he'd meant it, but he had never given a hard time frame for that. On the other hand, it felt a little shitty of him to just put it off for an extended period of time.

"Is that why you mask your scent?" Koneko asked, giving him pause once more. "The illusion is good, but not great."

"... In my defense, I don't have a good frame of reference for scent illusions. My nose isn't that good," he said with a wry smile. 'Although, maybe I should try channeling a deity that can help with that,' he mused. He was a bit hesitant to just call on the Egyptian gods for training and stuff that wasn't all that serious, but maybe he was worrying too much?

Either way, none of them felt the need to reassure him or answer those doubts for him, the assholes.

"... What is it?" Koneko asked, keeping her eyes on the training people all the while, like she had so far in the conversation. Joshua took a deep breath in, gathering his thoughts for a moment.

"Your sister is here," he answered softly. The girl stiffened where she sat, but otherwise didn't move. Cheshire was keeping an eye on her, just like he was with his spells. Even with that, Joshua would be hard pressed to guess what she was feeling.

"... I thought that might be it," Koneko whispered surprisingly. "So… is she a very bad or a very good person?" she asked, making him blink. Well, this conversation had a lot more surprises than he'd expected, and that was saying something. "You once told me you thought she could be either… because she might have done it for me?"

"I did say something along those lines," Joshua remembered then, nodding slowly. "I think she was… a good person. Maybe not the best nor the worst, but she did it for you… And I think that should count for something," he explained as best he could.

Koneko nodded slowly.

"Can I think it over?"

"You can do whatever you want, Koneko. If you never want to talk or see her again, that's what's going to happen," he told her softly. "You don't need to do anything in regards to this. Regardless of what happened back then, your sister made some… questionable decisions. She's a criminal and as one she has to pay for what she did. She's been making progress in that regard, but it's a slow thing."

"Do you think things could be… fine?"

"Maybe with time. Things have been going well."

"I see… Thank you."

"For what?" he asked, a little confused. He didn't think he'd done anything worth being thanked for. If anything, he'd been ready for things to be a bit… rough, but the conversation had gone surprisingly smoothly. Maybe too smoothly, actually.

"Just, thank you."

"You are welcome, I guess."

[}-o-{]

"She said that?" Kuroka asked and the desperation on her expression really got to him. Joshua could understand that, after all. He imagined he would look much the same if he was told he could have a chance at being with his family, the one he'd lost. If nothing else, he could very easily empathize with that.

"She did," he confirmed with a nod, glancing to the side where the Fallen were dutifully assaulting another Hexennacht base. This one looked a little bigger, better stocked than usual, but that was on purpose. He'd targeted one of those instead of the usually small one, since that'd probably catch them off guard.

Granted, it had a chance of backfiring on him, but…

That was part of his plan too, so it was a win-win situation, really. If things went well, then nothing would happen and he'd likely get even more resources he could trade or use himself. If things went less well, then he'd get someone actually strong from the association to finally show up. Joshua actually wasn't too sure if that wasn't better than the alternative, really.

After all, that would be quite a hit to them once he beat them. 'Although, maybe I shouldn't be overconfident,' he mused. Then again, he was prepared. He had information, from his metaknowledge as much as from his raids. He hadn't come into this blind and that meant he had an automatic advantage since his raid array was prepared for basically everything he knew about.

"Thank you," Kuroka told him. He went to say something, but she continued before he could. "I know you aren't doing this for me, not really, but thank you anyway. I really appreciate it."

"Don't mention it," he replied, taking a deep breath in. "Just don't do anything stupid, because your sister has been through enough as is. If you make things worse, I swear, I'll find a way to make things worse for you than you already think they would be," he threatened, letting some Bloodlust slip through.

The Nekoshou gulped, giving him a stiff nod.

"Go along then, this base won't attack itself," he commented, relaxing a little and drawing a grin from the woman. She still felt nervous, from what he could pick up, but at least she wasn't acting so out of character it made things weird in all sorts of ways. She didn't say much else before doing as she was told while Joshua watched.

His daggers whispered to him, as they usually did when there was a battle going on. Setan Kober in particular was just begging for a battle, but he did his best to settle them down. An easy win wouldn't satisfy them, after all. No, he had plans for a fight, and he was sure that it'd come eventually.

Khaos Brigade wouldn't just stay quiet while the alliance of factions worked against them. They'd do something eventually, he was sure of that. Joshua was just waiting for them to strike, at that point, all the while trying to weaken them as best he could. Maybe he was more or less successful but he couldn't do much else for the moment.

As he watched his group go about their business as usual, he felt something different.

'Finally caught up, huh?' he thought, turning to the side. Tilting his head, he flexed his control on his spells to shift most of the power to the lockdown and the defensive parts. Nobody was allowed to get out, but, more importantly…

Nobody was allowed to get in either.

"Hurry up," he said, using a simple communication spell to deliver the message to everyone. None of them needed more motivation than that, giving it their all to deal with every magician they could find as fast as possible. With a deep breath in, he pulled Setan Kober and Carnwennan from a Storage Spell and twirled them in his hands.

They were eager, that was for sure, and very happy as he informed them of what was coming. 'Let's see how well my preparations work on this,' Joshua thought, a little excited himself as a smile formed on his face. Maybe he was a little crazy for reacting like that to what was coming his way, but…

Well, the world was getting to him. Or maybe it was the influence of his familiars. Maybe it was even his closer connection to the Egyptian Pantheon. Who was to know?

Regardless of it all, he reached through the aforementioned connection and channeled the first god that offered them support, which was Shed. By then familiar lines and designs appeared on his skin as he felt the power course through him and hone his senses. The daggers in his hands felt like they were extensions of his own body as he prepared and he got a much better feel of how his familiars were doing.

They weren't done, nor were the Fallen nor Kuroka, but it was what it was. His spells couldn't hold up much longer as the power was literally burned out of them. 'Time to face the music,' he thought, grin still in place. 'This is what I was looking for, after all.'

A hole appeared in his array then and the whole thing started falling apart. He wasn't too worried though. He had kind of expected this to happen. He was prepared for that.

"So you are the one that has been a thorn on my side for this long," the shape that appeared in the middle of purple flames said. Soon, a woman walked out of the fire, an annoyed expression on her face. "I know you. You are Agnes' new pet project."

"Good to finally meet you, whoever you are," Joshua replied, readying himself. This probably wouldn't be an easy fight, even with his preparations… but that only made it better, as far as his weapons were concerned. If worse came to worst, he had a team ready to back him up. "This is my fight for now," he told them though, mainly because he didn't want his familiars or Jeanne anywhere near this mad woman.

"My name," the new arrival hissed, the purple fire behind her flaring up. "is Walburga, leader of Hexennacht," she told him, glaring at him. "Now… burn!"

And so Joshua faced the Incinerate Anthem wielder with a smile on his face.

[} 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/. Also, Happy Chinese New Year!)