Hello there, I am back! Sorry for those who expected me to update Bloody Ashikabi, I've ran into a little block recently, so I decided to write something else for a while, but I promise you'll get another chapter soon! I should update around next Saturday or Sunday, so please be patient!
I've changed my style a little (now there are breaks between parts), since I have realized recently (yes, only recently, I know, I'm rather slow in the head, sorry) that it was probably confusing since uploading my chapters apparently messed up the presentation of my work and made it a little hard to follow my stories.
Now, I hope you'll enjoy this story, I'm not too confident in how it's gotten out, since I'm not that good at writing romance (yeah, man thing, emotional range of a teaspoon and all that), so I hope you like it. I plan to write an omake or two for this story, but I really don't know when, so don't expect them to be out soon (and if they are out soon, well it'll be a good surprise for everyone).
Now, on with the story!
-I don't own Harry Potter or Highschool DxD-
Mismatched wings
Harry Potter, Savior of the Wizardry World, sighed as he walked down the streets of an anonymous Japanese city. He was enjoying his extended vacation in the country of the Rising Sun, as here at least people understood the concept of personal space and politeness, unlike the masses he had to deal with in Britain, who mobbed him each time he tried to go outside. It had gotten to the point where he had to use spells to scan for intruders in his house after he had found two women naked in his bed after coming back from work one day. While he was a straight male, and as such could appreciate the sight of a nude female body, he also had a deep respect for women, and didn't like the idea of people he had never met trying to bed him simply because of his fame. The worse was that not only were the masses far too clingy for his tastes, but his own friends were trying to use him! Ginny Weasley, whom he had been in a relationship with during his seventh year, had all but asked his hand in marriage the week after the Battle of Hogwarts, saying that it was their fate, their destiny to be together. Considering how his life had turned since Fate had decided he was the one who should beat Voldemort, he had told her that he'd rather marry Draco Malfoy than someone who thought that they should be together because it was their fate, and for no other reason than that. Then there had been Ron, who had been using the fact that he was his "best mate" to get girls, and had been spreading exaggerated rumors about his supposed exploits with Harry, when most of the time he had been nowhere to be seen when there was danger. Finally, Hermione, his sister in all but blood, had been using his name to push forward laws, saying that his fame should be used to better the Wizardry World. While he could agree that wizards ought to get out of the nineteenth century if they wanted to avoid been discovered by muggles in the next decade, that didn't mean he liked one of his friends using his fame for her benefit without even asking him first.
While this had been rather good reasons to leave the Wizardry World clean its messes itself, the reason he had left was far more sinister in nature, and could have had devastating consequences should the wrong people learn about it. He had discovered, albeit accidentally, that he had become the Master of Death, and that the title was more than a fancy title he could wave around (plus he already had quite a few of them). While he still didn't know exactly what that meant for him or what it entailed, he was at least sure he couldn't die anymore, courtesy of a "reformed" Lucius Malfoy, who had tried to kill him after he had asked for a private meeting. A Killing Curse later, and he was in front of the most beautiful and scary woman he had ever seen. Her presence had been suffocating, and he had had no doubt that the being in front of him could have squashed him like a bug had she wished so.
She had had dark raven hair that fell down to her feet and deep grey eyes, full red lips and curves that would have made Veela sell their families to gain them, and had been wearing a black dress under a tattered black cloak. He had learnt that she was Death, and that he was now her Master, though she had made it clear just how much she had liked the idea. Apparently, the idea of having to be bound to him for the remainder of eternity didn't sleep too well with her. At least he had been able to show her that unlike what she had expected, he didn't intend to abuse his position and power, which seemed to make her warm up to him, ever so slightly.
He had then been thrust back into his body, just in time to blast the traitorous blonde to pieces with a well-aimed Reducto. However, that had been the last straw. Being constantly mobbed, asked to collaborate with the Ministry as some kind of poster boy, being used by his friends and stabbed in the back by the people he had protected was just too much, and after arrangements with the Goblins, he had left Britain. It had been one of his dearest wishes to discover the world once he was free of Voldemort's threat, and now he could finally fulfill it.
He was now twenty-one, and had stopped aging completely, one of the effects of his status as the Master of Death. He was in Japan as he was curious about the culture, which unlike England, was far more centered around accepting the supernatural, in fact since the beginning of his stay he had witnessed several supernatural beings that "openly" interacted with Muggles, though there seemed to be a rule about not showing themselves or divulging too much.
As he walked down the street, he saw a girl around ten years old, with clothes that looked like they had seen better days, running while looking behind her to what seemed to be a priest who was chasing her. As she wasn't looking where she was going, she tripped and ended up falling, making him spring into action.
-Break-
Akeno was terrified. With her mother dead, killed by her father's enemies, she had gone to live with her mother's family, the Himejimas, hoping that they would accept her despite her being half-Fallen Angel through her father's blood. How wrong she had been! She hadn't spent a week at the Himejima Estate, as she had been kicked out due to her "impure" blood. Now she had nobody to rely on, and she had taken to use what her mother had taught her to purify evil spirits just to get enough food to survive. Since she couldn't claim to come from a renowned clan, as the Himejimas had forbidden her from using their name, she usually got enough money to last a week or two at most, since she lived on the streets.
However, her latest exorcism hadn't gone as expected, since the family had called another person to deal with the spirit, figuring more people meant more chances to succeed. Unfortunately for the family, the man was a cheat, and had done absolutely nothing, while she had barely been able to banish the spirit. The things had turned sour when the man had asked for more money than what had been agreed on, and that she had pointed out he was a cheat. In retrospect, calling an adult man a liar was a bad idea, seeing that as soon as she had left the house, he had tried to steal her money, all the while shouting that she couldn't possibly know how to exorcise evil spirits. Now she was fleeing as he was after her, threatening to beat her if she didn't give him back the money he had earned.
As she ran, she tried looking behind her, and saw that her pursuer was approaching fast, his adult body being far faster than her own. However, in doing so, she missed the hole in the road, and as her feet slipped into it, she fell forwards with a scream of surprise, her eyes closing in anticipation to the pain she would feel upon hitting the hard, unforgiving asphalt.
However, instead of the hard ground, she felt something soft, as the scent of a man's cologne washed over her, though unlike some men she had met on the streets, it was not overpowering, but rather just strong enough to be smelled, but not enough that it was too much. Looking up, she met the deepest, most beautiful green eyes she had ever seen, and, what surprised her was that they were filled with the same kindness she had seen in her mother's eyes.
As she stared, mesmerized, into the two emerald orbs that were looking at her, her pursuer finally managed to reach her, panting like a wild bull. He was bald, though knowing if it was natural of if he simply shaved his head was anyone's guess, and he wore what looked like a Shinto priest's robes. He could be either thirty or fifty, as his face was of the ones that didn't betray the age of their owner.
"Ah, thanks man, you caught her! Little pest stole my money and tried to get away with it!"
Akeno scowled at the blatant lie, and was about to retort, but the man who had caught her simply held her shoulder and shook his head, and with a wink turned towards the fake priest.
"Really? She stole your money? Are you sure you aren't mistaken?" he asked pleasantly, though with an odd accent.
Akeno simply scowled. Surely he didn't think it would be so easy? Though, much to her shock, the fake priest simply looked at her, his eyes glassy, before shrugging.
"Yeah, must've been someone else. Sorry 'bout that, man."
With that, he left, leaving Akeno with the man who had saved her from a possible severe beating, and perhaps something even less pleasant than that, it was hard to tell since life on the streets had both bad people with morals and good people without morals.
"Are you alright, ojou-chan?"
With a start, she realized that the man who had saved her was now crouching in front of her, giving her a clear view of his face. He had a rather thin face, clearly not Asian in its shape, framed by long, raven hair, and he was probably one of the most beautiful men she had seen in her admittedly short life. His features, despite being aristocratic, spoke of a rude life, of the life of someone who had fought more than once, and though he had sometimes lost, ultimately managed to stay alive. He had a faded scar in the shape of a lightning bolt on his forehead, that gave him a rather roguish look. His most striking feature, though, was his eyes, for they were of the deepest green she had ever seen, and they expressed only concern for her, so much like her mother's.
Wiping the few tears that threatened to spill from her eyes at the thought of her mother, she managed to smile and bow politely, just how her mother had taught her. After all, this man had just saved her, the least she could do was answer his questions politely.
"Yes, thank you ojii-san.
-Now, now, no "oji-san" with me, you're going to make me feel like an old man. My name is Potter James Harry, but please call me Harry, I'm not really for the formality.
-Ah, I am Himejima Akeno, pleased to meet you, Potter-san." she said, bowing again. However, in doing so, her empty stomach made itself known with a loud growling, causing her to blush and curse inwardly as the man simply smiled, before extending his hand to her.
"Hungry? I was just going to eat, want to come with me?"
Usually, such a proposition would be met either with nervousness or with suspicion, since most parents warned their children time after time not to follow strange men, and that Akeno was rightly suspicious of strangers. In this case, however, she had been alone for almost two months without anyone to help her, and she was close to breaking down. What's more, this man, whoever "Potter James Harry" was, exuded a feeling of safety and warmth, making her feel like the young girl she was, instead of the desperate street child she had been forced to become.
Slowly, carefully, she put her small hand in his extended one, marveling at how warm he was. With a small stroke, he gave her a warm smile, causing her to blush and look away, earning herself a small chuckle. As she walked with him, Akeno couldn't help but feel better than she had been in weeks.
-Break-
Harry watched as Akeno devoured hamburger after hamburger, the poor girl taking in as much food she could, since it was obvious she didn't eat every day, something that made him angry, as it reminded him a bit too much of his childhood with the Dursleys. The similarities were uncanny, truth to be told. She looked slightly underweight for a girl her age, and she just radiated loneliness, sadness and despair, emotions he was quite familiar with when growing up, at least until he went to Hogwarts.
With a sigh, Harry thought about how he was going to say this. While he barely knew the girl, he just couldn't leave her like this. Despite the war being over, his "saving people thing" as Hermione would have called it, had not disappeared, though now he mostly helped people that dealt with troubles in their personal life, and Akeno fell right in that category. Besides, he had a soft spot for children and especially young girls, as they were usually calmer than their male counterparts.
As it was, he didn't really have much to do with his life anyway, since there was no way he was going to go back to Britain anytime soon, and seeing as he was apparently immortal, he figured he could as well help people, it was what he did best. Besides, here at least people were grateful when you took the time to help them, they didn't expect you to solve their problems for them, they worked towards that end, and they were thankful when he helped.
"Thank you, Potter-san. May I ask why you helped me?" asked Akeno, as she carefully wiped her mouth clean.
"Akeno-chan, do I really need a reason to help those that need it? You were hungry, so was I, so I just bought food for the both of us, it's no big deal. And as for the man trying to rob you, well I could tell he was lying, I've always got rather good instincts for that. Though I'm surprised, why didn't you ask your parents for help?"
At that, he saw the young girl slump visibly, her eyes suddenly moist.
"My mother is dead. She died not long ago."
Closing his eyes in a silent prayer for the woman and cursing for his lack of tact, he opened them to look at the young girl.
"I am sorry for your loss. However, what about your father? Couldn't he have helped you?"
He was surprised to see Akeno tighten her hands into fists, anger radiating from her.
"He was the reason my mother was killed, I will never ask that man anything! If he had been there, mother would still be alive!"
Understanding that her father was a rather bad topic, he quickly diverted the conversation. Though he made a note to seek out the man for answers.
"Then, who are you staying with?"
The question seemed to startle Akeno, as she seemed ready to lie, to make up a story about her living with a relative, but he put a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"Akeno-chan, I want to help you, I swear it. But if I want to help you, you need to tell me the truth, okay?"
-Break-
She didn't know if she could trust this man, this stranger, that had just barged into her life out of nowhere, but she couldn't help but want to trust him. He was nice, as in, genuinely nice, not like some of the people she had met when living on the streets, that were only nice because they wanted to lure her in a false sense of security. She had rather good instincts now, and from what she could get from them, Harry seemed to be someone she could trust and perhaps even rely on, something she sorely missed these days. Though she couldn't tell him about the supernatural side of the world, as he was just a normal, if nice, man, and that would put him in danger. She didn't know if that man's enemies were still trying to find her, but if they were, then she, and everyone she associated with, was in danger.
However, as she gazed into the beautiful green eyes that were filled with concern on her behalf, she felt that she had to tell him the truth, well at least an edited truth. Swallowing, she carefully chose her words, trying to explain her situation, while at the same time hiding most of it.
"I...After my mother...died"-she choked a sob, as she felt Harry rubbing soothing circles on her back-", I went to her family's place, but they kicked me out. My...father...was a foreigner, and as a traditional family, they didn't want a half-breed to sully their name. So I've been living on the streets."
There was silence, and she wondered if Harry would hate her now, though she was surprised when he hugged her tightly, earning himself pointed fingers from the other customers, and, though he couldn't see it, a rather large blush from herself, as she felt his strong arms around her, as if he would protect her from the entire world if need be. She tentatively returned the embrace, feeling her eyes moisten as for the first time in months, someone was actually nice to her. For the first time in a long while, she felt at peace.
-Break-
Harry smiled as Akeno looked around his flat, her eyes wide in wonder. Truth to be told, he owned the place, as he had more than enough gold in his vaults to buy a country and have enough to live for the remainder of his life without working, which, considering he was immortal, was really saying something. Unlike what most would imagine, despite being rich, he didn't like flaunting his money unnecessarily, which is why there wasn't much decoration, everything being simple and functional, with a few plants and souvenirs here and there.
After learning more about the Japanese lifestyle, he had adopted some of the country's customs, such as sleeping in a futon instead of inside a bed, since it didn't take much place and could be folded away. It also allowed him to move around in his sleep, something he did quite often as despite it being several years since the war was finished, he still had nightmares regularly. After all, for seven years, he had been in life-threatening sensations, each time of peace simply being an respite before he was targeted again. So it was no wonder that even after four years of respite, he still couldn't help but be paranoid and remember the war.
Smiling, he gently pulled Akeno towards the guests' room, since it was the only room beside his own in the flat. That, and considering that he hadn't really tidied up, several books about magic were just lying around, and he didn't want her to find them. Seeing how the girl seemed to be too stunned to say anything at the moment, he also thought it was best that he gave her some space, since he knew from experience that someone that had been on their own for a long time (and several months was more than enough time) tended to be rather independent, and dislike having people barging in their life and telling them how to run it. It was how he had felt after Molly Weasley had begun acting like his mother, thinking she could decide what he could and couldn't do, while he had saved her own daughter's life when he was barely twelve.
As he let her inside the room, he told her:
"Make yourself at home. Since it's late, we can't do it now, but tomorrow, we'll go shopping to get you a few more clothes. Before that, though, you'll take a good bath and head to bed, you need some sleep."
He could see that Akeno was most likely shocked, after all who wouldn't be after having their entire world turn upside down in the span of a few hours? He knew that she would have trouble accepting his help, at least at first, but if he wanted to make her comfortable, he had no choice but to be a little forceful, the key word being little. While he would have to make sure that she understood that he could easily afford whatever necessities she needed, he had to make sure to not be too forceful with her, and leave her some space.
He was about to leave when he felt a small tug, and turning around, he saw Akeno looking up at him with watery eyes and a big smile. Despite holding his shirt in a vice grip, he could see that she was fidgeting, probably uncomfortable. He could understand the feeling, after all he had felt the same when the Weasleys had originally accepted him in their home for the summers. The main difference was that he was rich to the point of having no idea of what he should do with his money, and that unlike the overbearing Molly Weasley, he fully intended to let Akeno adapt at her own pace. Molly, for all her kindness, had a habit of ordering everyone around as if she was in her home, something she had done even when they had been semi-permanent residents at Square Grimmauld and that she was merely a guest. He had no intention of telling Akeno how to behave, at least not forcefully, he would still tell her when she did something he didn't agree with, but he didn't think he would need to do it often. From what he had seen, the girl was very well-behaved for a child her age, polite with people, though he had only known her for a few hours, so he couldn't really make an accurate judgment.
"Yes, Akeno-chan?" he asked, his voice soothing. If there was one thing he had learnt after helping people for so long, was that they usually reacted better when there were in the presence of something or someone that made them feel safe, which meant he had learnt to speak to distraught, scared or confused people.
He could see that she was blushing a little, probably embarrassed, not that he was unused to flustered females, after all back home he just had to go in public to be mobbed by swooning females of all ages, from housewives to girls that weren't even old enough to attend Hogwarts. However, Akeno had something about her that was different from these females, she was embarrassed because of his actions towards her, and not because he was famous.
He heard her mumble something, before she ran off in the direction of the bathroom, which he had shown her on their way to the room. Smiling at how innocent she was, he went to fetch some of his clothes to use a pajamas for her, at least until they had bought her some.
-Break-
A half-awake Akeno stumbled into the living room, yawning cutely, one of Harry's old shirts covering her torso, while he had given her some of his own pajama pants to use, after the discreet use of magic to make them more appropriately sized (not that she knew it). She looked around, her nose recognizing the scent of food being cooked, and her stomach made a low rumbling noise, telling her she was hungry.
However, that was not what was her main concern at the moment. She had had nightmares again, about her mother being killed in front of her eyes, and she had woken up crying and screaming, only to find Harry hugging her, rubbing soothing circles on her back and whispering calming words into her ear. After that, she had eventually fallen asleep again, still in his arms, and basking in his scent, that made her feel so safe. For the first time in a long while, she had been able to sleep without having to see her mother being murdered, she had been able to get some true rest, and she felt better, far better than usual.
As she finally made it to the kitchen, she stopped dead in her tracks, as she stared at the sight before her. Humming cheerfully, Harry was cooking with an ease that baffled her and spoke of a long experience, thought that was not what had made her pause. What had made her pause was the magnificent snowy owl perched on his shoulder, which was easily the most beautiful bird she had ever laid eyes on. Said owl had pure white feathers, and as if it had heard her, it turned its head to look at her, amber eyes looking at her with more intelligence than she would have expected of a bird. For a moment, the owl stared at her, before giving her what she could only describe as an acknowledging nod, before turning back to look at what Harry was cooking, leaving her shocked and confused to stare at the scene and try to process what had just happened.
"Good morning, Akeno-chan." said Harry, as he continued cooking. "Breakfast is almost ready, though you'll have to forgive me, I don't know what you like, so I made several dishes, so that you could choose what you want. I hope you were able to sleep a little better, after...those nightmares woke you up. You know that I'm here if you need anything, right?"
With that, he started putting the food he had prepared on the table, and she marveled at how skilled he was, she could recognize traditional Japanese food, mixed with English dishes, and some she didn't even know. Now fully awake, she hurried to the table and sat down, waiting for Harry to do the same, as she owed him too much to not at least show some common courtesy in his own house.
She watched as he put three plates on the table, and loaded one of them with what looked like bacon, though she couldn't be sure, as she had never had any before. She was about to ask who it was for, when the owl hopped on the table and settled before the plate, looking at Akeno's shocked expression with what seemed to be amusement in its amber eyes. Seeing this, Harry chuckled as he sat down.
" Akeno-chan, allow me to introduce you to Hedwig, my owl and best friend."
At that, the owl gave a loud bark and preened, ruffling its feathers in pride, surprising Akeno as it seemed to understand the conversation.
With a smile, Harry then explained to Hedwig, as he gestured towards her:
"Hedwig, this is Akeno, and she'll be living with us from now on. Please, say hello."
At that, the owl turned to look at her, and she shrunk under the sheer intensity of the bird's gaze. After a few seconds, there was a loud bark and Hedwig bobbed her head, seemingly acknowledging her.
"Well, Akeno-chan, looks like Hedwig likes you, most of the time she tends to bite new people's fingers to play."
Seeing that she was still looking at the magnificent bird in awe, he chuckled. It was easy to guess what she wanted, and seeing that Hedwig seemed to like her enough to not harm her, that is so long as Akeno was careful, and he trusted her to be, he didn't think it would do any bad.
"Go on, if you want to touch her, you can. Just be gentle and make sure to not ruffle her feathers, okay? She doesn't like it."
With a dumb nod, Akeno reached for Hedwig, slowly, carefully, as if the bird would vanish under her touch. As her fingers brushed the feathers, she marveled at how soft they were under her touch, and before long, she was gently petting Hedwig, who was hooting in pleasure.
"She's so beautiful!" she gushed, causing the snowy owl to preen in pride and Harry to smirk at his familiar's vanity. He watched as the girl got a wide smile on her face as she petted the owl, and inwardly had a little dance of victory, she needed to get back some semblance of normalcy in her life, and he was glad to see that she could still act like a child and have fun like this.
-Break-
Harry smiled as Akeno ran a little ahead, looking every bit the ten-years old she was and should have been had her mother not been killed in front of her. He was glad that meeting Hedwig and shopping had been enough to make her forget about her bad experiences in the last couple of months. Truth to be told, he rather liked taking care of her, though it was only a first impression since he had been doing so for less than a day. It made him happy to be able to help her, and also helped him heal a bit of his shattered trust in humanity. It was for children and people like the sweet girl in front of him that he had saved the Wizardry World, not for those idiotic, conceited and arrogant Purebloods that had demanded it of him, saying it was his duty, when they hadn't even believed him at the end of his fourth year when he had told those that had listened that Voldemort was back.
He was already thinking about how things needed to be done from then on. Akeno still needed to go to school, though considering she had missed a few months already it was probably better to tutor her in the subjects he could teach and hire someone to teach her the rest, at least until the beginning of the next school year. He would need to have the local Ministry draw up papers for him, but even if Japan wasn't Britain and he wasn't swarmed by fans, his name still held a lot of power, and he was sure that he'd be able to pull it off. Heh, I'm thinking like a politician now. Never thought it would happen.
As he reached the place where Akeno had been standing, he saw that she had been staring at an ice cream vendor with something akin to envy and sadness. It wasn't hard to guess that it had probably something to do with memories of her mother, after all her death was still fresh in her young mind, and the slightest push could bring forth memories of a time where her mother was still alive.
That didn't mean that he was going to let her get depressed over this, and with a grin, he grabbed her hand and dragged her to the vendor, causing her to yelp in surprise.
-Break-
Akeno was not stupid, she knew very well that Harry had bought her ice cream because he had somehow known that seeing children with their parents had made her remember when she had done the same with her mother, pouting cutely and asking for ice cream until she convinced her reluctant parent to abide by her wishes.
In fact, as they now sat on a bench, the shopping bags with her new clothes and necessities on the ground next to the English man, she realized that for those that didn't know them (which was basically everyone around), they could very well be related, not as in father and daughter, since Harry was too young to have a daughter her age, but it wouldn't be too far-fetched for him to be her older brother, or older cousin, something among those lines. And he certainly acted the part, since that morning she had had loads of fun, playing with Hedwig and shopping (though he had left a female vendor get her some underwear), he certainly tried his best to take care of her, and she was certainly happy for it.
Despite not knowing him all that well, she really liked him, he was fun, handsome, and took great care of her. He had been there for her when she had had nightmares, and when she had thanked him for it during their shopping trip, he had waved it off and told her that he would always be there for her when she had nightmares, so long as she was living under his roof. When he had told her that, his face had been serious, and she had felt her heart skip a beat at the sight of his handsome face settled in determination, and at the knowledge that he had truly meant his words.
"-keno-chan? Akeno-chan?"
With a start, she realized that she had been lost in thought, and Harry was looking at her with concern in his eyes. She could see his green eyes narrowed in worry, and he seemed ready to shake her out of the stupor she had been in.
"Ah...Sorry, Potter-...
-Akeno-chan, I told you to call me Harry.
-Hai, Harry-san."
At that, she frowned. Calling him Harry-san made it feel as if their relation was more distant, and she didn't like that, she liked how close she had gotten to him. With a frown of her face, she tried to think of another way to address him, something that stayed at the forefront of her mind for the remainder of the day.
-Break-
Harry was ready quietly in his room when he heard Akeno scream. The next thing he knew, he was already halfway down the corridor, and opened the door to her room to see her violently trashing around while she half-screamed, half-sobbed. He could make out a few words in the gibberish she was shouting, like "mother", "sorry" and "don't leave me", so it wasn't exactly hard to guess what she was dreaming about.
With a ease coming from habit, mostly because after the war he had dealt with similar issues himself and helped others, like Neville for instance, get over the horrors they had witnessed, he made his way to her side and gently shook her awake. He could have pinned her on her bed before waking her, but that would be a very bad idea. Waking up from a nightmare to see yourself pinned on your bed with someone looming over you was perhaps the worst way to wake up in these circumstances. Not only would it make her scared out of her mind, but she might harm herself in trying to free herself, which meant that would simply shake her awake, and hope that she was not too out of it to realize it had only been a bad dream.
"Akeno. Akeno! It's only a dream! Wake up!"
Fortunately, she seemed to wake up and looked around with fear in her eyes, that is until her gaze fell on him, then she had a reaction which while not unexpected, was still surprising to Harry himself, as she crawled over to him and hugged him for all she was worth, tears pouring out as she sobbed.
Returning the hug, he began to hum a soothing tone, not really bothering to come up with a definite song, and more interested in calming his little charge down. He also made sure to rub her back and whisper comforting words every now and then in her ear.
-Break-
As she finally calmed down, Akeno finally realized how she wanted to call Harry, what she should call him, how their relation was now.
As she drifted back to sleep in the strong arms of the man who had made her feel safe and protected, she whispered.
"Thank you, Harry-niisama."
-Break-
Timeskip: 2 months later
Akeno hummed as she walked back home, she had gotten out to buy a few ingredients so that Harry could teach her how to cook English dishes, as he had told her that first she should familiarize with food from her own country before attempting more complicated dishes. Since it had been two months since he had begun teaching her how to cook, and that he was satisfied with the results she was getting, he had told her that she should pick a recipe she wanted to learn, so long as it wasn't too complicated, and he would teach her how to do it.
Since she had begun living with her niisama, he had been the perfect English gentleman, kind and compassionate, listening to her worries and counseling her when she needed it. He had told her that she needed to go back to school at the beginning of the next school year, which had made her pout cutely, though she was happy to go back to school and hoped to make some friends. Until then, he would be tutoring her in the subjects he was proficient in, and had hired a tutor to teach her what he couldn't. She had found that he was a very good teacher, patient and understanding, gently pointing out her mistakes in a way that was easy to understand and taking the time to explain things when she had trouble grasping a concept. In fact, she had learnt most of what she should have seen during the current school years in the last two months, and while she wasn't yet able to grasp everything, she had certainly learnt very quickly, though she attributed it mostly to the fact that she had a very good teacher.
She smiled at the thought of her niisama, he was certainly the prince most girls her age dreamed of, handsome, kind, compassionate and caring, he was intelligent and knew how to manage a household. She giggled as she imagined him with a silver crown and dressed as royalty, he certainly filled the bill quite well, though she blushed a bit at how handsome he was as she pictured him. Since they lived together, she had grown quite close to him, and regularly slept in the same bed as him if she ever got nightmares, as she never got any when sleeping in his arms. While he didn't seem to mind, he had told her that it was only for a little while, and that when she didn't get any more nightmares, she'd have to sleep in her own bed.
As she hummed, she took notice of the smell of something burnt, as well as smoke coming from the direction of her niisama's flat. Her good mood immediately vanished, and feat gripped her heart. She had a very bad feeling about this, so she started running towards her home, silently praying to all the Gods she knew of that her feeling was wrong.
-Break-
Coughing up blood, Harry glared at the three figures standing in front of him, though he was grateful that Akeno wasn't home, as he didn't want her to witness what was happening. Even if he couldn't die, that didn't mean that she couldn't be traumatized by the sight of her "niisama" as she had taken to call him, impaled by some spear of light wielded by a weird man.
He didn't even know how it had happened, one moment he was looking into how to become an English teacher, since Akeno kept praising his teaching aptitudes and that he thought it would be a good idea to have a mundane job, if only because he didn't want her to start asking questions about what he did for a job. He couldn't tell her about magic, since she wasn't a witch, though if he adopted her he may have been able to, but he didn't want to cause her trouble. If he adopted her, she, as his adopted daughter, would become a target for both the media and his enemies, and he refused to take away her newly found peace.
The next thing he had known, three people had blown his door open, and the man in front of him had impaled him through the gut with a spear made of light that had materialized out of nowhere. Seeing that they were faster than any human he had ever seen, he knew they had to be some species that were human in appearance but had abilities beyond the reach of either mundane humans or wizards. Veela were an example of such a species, werewolf and vampires two others. However, he had never heard of a species creating spears of light before.
"Where is the half-breed, human?" asked the man in front of him, with a sneer that could rival Snape's.
Glaring at the man, or whatever he was, he obstinately kept his mouth shut. Apparently irritated by his silence, the only woman in the trio created another spear of light and drove it into his leg, causing him to bite his lower lip to avoid crying out in pain. He was used to pain, but these spears, whatever they were made of, seemed to be poisoning him, as he was slowly losing the feelings of the areas where he had been stabbed.
"Oh? You're courageous for such an inferior being." mocked the man, before turning towards his subordinates.
"Spread out and search the area. She can't be too far. We've confirmed that she lives here, all that is left is to find her."
While he didn't understand much of what was happening, Harry refused to let them harm Akeno, as it was painfully obvious that she was the one they were looking for. Knowing that at the moment there was nobody else in the building, he knew what he had to do.
Pointing his finger at the trio, he gathered as much magic as he could, while the two men and one woman looked at him, apparently surprised to see him moving.
"You can still move after being impaled by two spears of light? Impressive. Sadly, there is nothing you can do to stop us. Inferior beings cannot hope to match us."
With a slightly insane grin, he pointed his finger towards the leader, wondering if Death was going to be angry that she saw him again so soon after their last encounter. Oh well, he would see soon anyway, no point in worrying.
"Well, let's see if superior beings like being roasted alive. Fiendfyre!"
Despite not having used his wand to cast, a torrent of cursed, black flames erupted from his finger, torching the three...whatever they were and causing them to scream in shock and pain as their skin blistered and burned.
The leader, however, seemed to still be able to move, and much to Harry's shock, two pairs of black feathery wings burst from his back, as he jumped out of the window, trying to get away from the inferno that the flat had become, his body burning with black flames. With a grin, Harry slumped to the ground. Whatever the man was, he knew he wouldn't go far, Fiendfyre kept burning until nothing it touched was left.
Gathering what little magic and strength he had left, he managed to impose one last order on the cursed, intelligent fire. Only burn this flat and the people inside, do not touch anything else.
And with one last smile, he waited to be consumed by the fire. At least neither Akeno nor Hedwig are here.
-Break-
The bag of groceries slowly slipped from her fingers, causing the ingredients inside to scatter on the ground, not that Akeno noticed anything, her eyes were glued on the fire burning down the flat she had been living in, that the firefighters were desperately trying to extinguish, to no avail.
"DAMN IT! WHY ISN'T IT RECEDING?!"
"ANYONE IN THERE?!
-ACCORDING TO WITNESSES, ONE MAN IN HIS TWENTIES, SIR!
-FUCK! WE'LL NEVER BE ABLE TO GET INSIDE THERE IN TIME!"
Listening to the panicked screams of the firefighters, Akeno felt her world shatter and crumble.
"NIISAMAAAA!"
-Break-
Timeskip: Seven years later
Akeno gave the students her eternal kind smile as she walked towards her classroom, causing many girls to squeal as one of Kuoh's "Two Great Ladies" greeted them, while the few male students stared at her body openly. It was no secret that she, along with her best friend, Rias Gremory, had not only bodies that were beyond what most women could ever hope for, but personalities that matched. Of course, only a select few knew that Akeno was everything but the Yamato Nadeshiko everyone pictured, and those that knew her true personality called her "the Ultimate Sadist", a rather ominous, but well-deserved title.
As she slipped inside her classroom, her eyes fell on her best friend, Rias Gremory, a girl her age with long, crimson hair, and a body more suited for a woman than a girl that wasn't even eighteen yet, not that she could speak, since she too had a lot of curves. She was probably Akeno's closest friend, as she had been there to take care of her when she had been taken in by the Gremory household, and was one of the few that knew of her circumstances. But she was the absolute only one to know about her niisama, the only one she had told of the man that had taken her in, that had cared for her as a big brother, that had become, in the span of the two short months they had lived together, the center of her world, and the most important person in her life. True, she had loved her mother very much, but the love she had felt for Harry James Potter had been far beyond that, she had loved him as an older brother, as a parental figure, but also as the man he was, and he was probably her first and only crush. To say that she had been devastated by his death was an understatement, she had all but lost hope after that, and had even considered ending her cursed existence a couple of times before she had been taken in by the Gremorys and given a purpose, something to fill the void he had left.
But now she a family, the Gremorys, she had Rias, Koneko, her cute little kouhai, she had Kiba, Kuoh's "Prince", she had Issei, her perverted but courageous kouhai, she had Asia, the former nun, who was just too innocent for her own good, and she had Gasper, though seeing as he didn't set a foot outside of his basement if he could help it, she didn't see him that much. Each and every one of them were a member of her new family, a part of the reason she kept living.
Her family had grown even closer now that Issei had managed to defeat Riser Phenex and made sure that Rias didn't have to marry the chauvinistic pig her family had betrothed her to, and that he had claimed, rather boldly, and in front of an assembly of Devils with Rias' own brother no less, that her virginity was his. It was funny to see that despite his rather perverted nature, Issei had already gained the affection of at least two of the female members of the Occult Club, Rias herself and Asia. For the first time in years, her friend was free, and didn't have to worry about an impending wedding with a man that would treat her as a mere trophy.
As she sat down, she smiled at seeing how happy Rias seemed to be, ever since the crashed wedding ceremony she had been ecstatic, and had even moved in with Issei to spend more time with him.
The bell signaling the beginning of class having rung, the other students quickly filled in and sat down, waiting for their teacher to show up. English was one of her favorite classes, not that she had any difficulty speaking it, since all Devils had the gift to understand and speak any language they wished. However, it didn't allow them to read said language, they had to learn it like everyone else. Since Harry had taught her English, she was one of the best in her grade.
As the door slid open, their teacher, Mrs. Kurayama, an old but kind lady with graying hair wearing her usual dress, a long but well-kept skirt and a white blouse, entered. Immediately the last remnants of conversations died down as the students stood up and bowed to the teacher, before sitting back down.
"Thank you, everyone. Now, I have an announcement to make before we begin, this will be my last week of teaching."
Hushed whispers broke out as the students wondered who they would have next, as Mrs. Kurayama was one of their favorite teachers, for she was patient and understanding, though she didn't tolerate people slacking off. They just hoped that whoever taught in her place was as good as her, but there were doubts.
Waiting a moment for the conversation to subside, the teacher continued:
"I will be retiring after this week, but I would like you to know that I have already met my colleague, and that I have full confidence in his ability to teach you the subtleties of the English language. I would like to introduce your new English teacher, please do come in."
At that, the door slid open, and a man stepped inside the room, causing excited whispers to break out.
-Break-
Rias watched as their new English teacher entered the room. He was a rather young man in his early twenties, with mid-long, raven hair that was tied in an elegant ponytail, and he wore black pants and a white long sleeved shirt. He was rather handsome, with aristocratic features that gave him a slightly roguish look, and it was clear that he was not of Asian descent, unlike Mrs. Kurayama. But the most startling feature of their new teacher was without a single doubt his eyes, which were twin emerald-colored pools, so deep that you could drown in them. He was rather tall compared to normal Japanese men, but for someone as used as she was to be around people with more Occidental features, she could see that he wasn't overly tall, and was even rather small compared to some other men.
"Allow me to introduce your new teacher starting from next week, Black James Harry!"
Many female students squealed at how handsome the man was, but what gathered everyone's attention was the sound of a chair being brutally pushed back. Looking next to her, Rias was surprised to see Akeno standing, her hands gripping her desk so hard cracking sounds could be heard, with an expression of absolute shock plastered on her face, and her eyes growing moist as she stared at the man.
"Himejima-san? Is something wrong?" asked Mrs. Kurayama, obviously startled by the rather out of character interruption of one of her favorite pupils. She was not the only one, as all present students were staring at the raven-haired Devil with either confusion or curiosity in their eyes, wondering what could have caused such behavior from the usually composed young woman.
However, as soon as her friend's family name left the teacher's lips, the man's head took a sharp turn as he stared at Akeno with as much intensity that she was staring at himself, as if he was looking for something.
"Akeno-chan?" he whispered after a moment, his voice so low that only Rias and Akeno were likely to have heard him thanks to their enhanced hearing. However, what happened next surprised everyone in the room as Himejima Akeno, one of Kuoh's Two Great Ladies, almost ran towards the man and tackled him in a bear hug, tears falling from her eyes.
"Harry-niisama!"
There was a pregnant silence, and then a collective shout that made the windows shake:
"WHHAAATTT?!"
-Break-
To say that Harry was shocked was an understatement. After dying seven years ago, it had taken Death nearly a month to rebuild him a body, and he had been on the end of a tongue-lashing that had left his ears ringing for several hours afterwards. Apparently his behavior had earned him a soft spot from Death, as he treated her like an equal and did not abuse his power, preferring to leave her to her devices, which she appreciated greatly. The fact that he had always taken time to talk with her when she requested it may have also helped, after all she had to be rather lonely.
During that month, he had learnt about the Three Great Factions, the Angels, the Fallen Angels and the Devils, and their history and characteristics, courtesy of Death, who had told him in no uncertain terms that she wouldn't tolerate him dying again against such "weak" opponents. As it turned out, wizards were rather weak compared to some other humans, like Mages, and while they didn't know about them, that didn't mean they weren't known in the supernatural world, though most seemed to consider them as a good joke, not that he could particularly disagree. After all, most wizards and witches believed themselves to be the ultimate power on Earth, while most of them weren't even able to match Low-class Devils.
He had also been told from Death that as her Master, he was an existence that was beyond even the Maous and Gods, since he was one of three beings that the notion of "death" couldn't apply to, the other two being Ophis, the Infinite Dragon God, and Great Red, the True Red Dragon God Emperor. As such, he had the potential to be as strong as those two beings, though his own powers would likely have strong ties to Death.
So, after coming back to Earth, and while searching for any traces he could of Akeno, he had trained, and trained again. In fact, only his rather peculiar life had allowed him to take the training, as he was driven into the ground by Death and the instructors she picked for him, beings such as the original Lucifer, God of the Bible (who was dead, who would have thought?), and other immensely powerful mythological figures, all of whom were dead. After seven years of training, Death still wasn't satisfied and kept pushing him further and further, while of her own admission he was now without a doubt stronger than most Gods.
However, unlike his training which had gone rather smoothly after he got over the fact that he was driven into the ground every day, his search for Akeno hadn't gone nearly as well. He had looked everywhere, used spells to try and track her, which were all unsuccessful as something seemed to block them. He had even gone to the Himejimas, who had told him, rather bluntly, that didn't know nor cared of where she was. In the end, he had to get more discreet, as apparently someone rather high-up in the hierarchy of the Fallen Angels didn't take too well to people trying to locate her. It had taken Death to introduce Akeno's mother to him to learn why, and why the Fallens who had killed him had called her a half-breed. Akeno was half-human half-Fallen, as her mother was a Japanese Miko that had fallen in love with the Fallen Angel Baraquiel, one of the leaders of the Fallen Angels. Shuri Himejima had told him, rather bluntly, that if he ever harmed her daughter, even the fact that he was the Master of Death wouldn't stop her from making wish he could die.
In the end, after managing to get from a Fallen who owed him a favor that he might be able to learn more at Kuoh's Academy, he had taken the post of English teacher, since Akeno had always told him he was rather good at teaching his native language.
To say that he was utterly shocked to see Akeno would be an understatement. Gone was the shy, little girl, she had grown into an incredibly beautiful young woman. Her black hair was now tied in a ponytail that reached her feet, while her face had taken a rather striking resemblance to the one of Shuri, though it was still different thanks to Baraquiel's blood in her veins. Her curves were also quite different from the typical Japanese female body type, as she had the body of a seductress, much to his appreciation, though he would be lying in saying that it didn't unsettle him a little. Apparently even part-Fallen females had bodies of seductresses, though he was quite sure that Akeno was one of the most beautiful ones, hands down.
He only had a moment to stare at her as she ran towards him, engulfing him in a bone-breaking hug not unlike the ones he had sometimes received from Molly Weasley.
"Harry-niisama!"
Surprisingly, the second after the words left her mouth, there was an absolute silence, before pandemonium erupted.
"WHHAAATTT?!"
-Break-
To say that there had been an uproar after what had happened during the English class that morning would be an understatement, especially after Harry had explained why Akeno had reacted like that to his presence. He had slightly tweaked the story, saying that thugs had stabbed him and set fire to his flat, causing Akeno to think he was dead and disappear during the time he had spent in an hospital recovering. That had caused many female students to squeal in delight at how "romantic" it was for them meet each other again like this. While he could agree that it seemed a bit farfetched to be a coincidence they had met again (though calling it Fate made him uneasy), he didn't see what there was of "romantic" in getting stabbed and spending time in an hospital.
Now it was lunch time, and seeing as the weather was rather sunny and warm, he had gotten outside to eat his lunch, though he had been surprised to see how many students pointed at him and whispered on his way out. It was like he was back during his school years, though this time the whispers weren't full of scorn and suspicion, but rather of admiration and envy.
He was sitting outside, under a tree with his bento box (that he had made himself, he had had time to practice in seven years in the country), when he heard someone sitting next to him, and was unsurprised to see it was Akeno. He was a bit more surprised to see a beautiful redhead, Rias Gremory if he remembered well, sitting with them as well.
Shrugging, as it was clearly not his place to ask her if she wanted to join them since Akeno seemed to be her friend, he was about to take a bite from his lunch when the raven-haired beauty spoke up.
"Harry-niisama, aaaahhh."
He dropped his chopsticks in shock at seeing a girl he had known when she was ten-years old, now a unearthly beauty, trying to feed him. Seeing as he was a teacher, getting too close to a student was considered a bad thing, but they could cut him some slack, right?
Deciding that once was fine, he relented and opened his mouth, as she put a piece of meat inside, before he tasted it.
With a smile, he looked at Akeno:
"Thank you, Akeno-chan. It was delicious, it seems you've learnt well. You'll make your husband happy with your food, that I can guarantee."
-Break-
Rias could only smile at how happy her Queen and best friend was, this was the first time she had seen Akeno act so unlike her Yamato Nadeshiko persona during school time, and she was obviously delighted to be reunited with her beloved Harry-niisama. Rias could tell that Akeno harbored strong feelings for the man, for she would not have reacted like she did when she had seen him otherwise, nor would she have gone to eat with him.
She had to say that so far, Akeno's description had been rather accurate, Harry James Black (Potter, Akeno had told her, and neither knew why he had changed his name) was a perfect gentleman, caring and patient with his students, since she had seen him help some students that had trouble with Mrs. Kurayama's class, and all of them seemed to grasp what they didn't understand fairly quickly once he had explained what they were doing wrong to them. She herself had asked him a few things, though what she had asked was beyond what was taught in their grade. Yet he had answered her, and had even complimented her on the fact that she was studying ahead. Yes, he was definitely a good man and a good teacher.
"Thank you, Akeno-chan. It was delicious, it seems you've learnt well. You'll make your husband happy with your food, that I can guarantee."
She had to bite back a laugh at how shy Akeno was acting, fidgeting after a simple compliment from their teacher, it was deliriously funny to see the usual composed and calm girl act all shy. Akeno, you have it bad for this man, she thought. Not that she complained, she herself couldn't have been more happy with Issei, and she wanted her friend to experience the same kind of happiness, even if it was with a man several years older than her. After all, as Devils, their lifespan was so long that even two decades of difference between their respective ages wouldn't matter much.
-Break-
Harry looked around the room, which was well-furbished, though old. Apparently this was the Occult Club's clubroom, and Akeno had insisted that she had to introduce him to her friends, not that he minded of course, he wanted to thank them for taking care of her.
"Everyone, allow me to introduce our new English Teacher, Black James Harry, who is also Akeno's niisama." said Rias, as she gestured towards him.
The reactions he got were various, to say the least. Issei Hyoudou, a rather average-looking boy with brown hair was glaring at him, though he had no idea why, while Asia Argento, who was a blonde, Italian girl, just seemed delighted for Akeno, which made him classify her as the type to be happy when others where happy. Yuuto Kiba, a rather handsome blond student gave him a curt nod, though he too looked happy for Akeno, while the last member of the club, and the youngest, Koneko Toujou, just stared at him impassively, though he thought he could see a very slight pink tinge on her cheeks.
"Hello, it's a pleasure to meet Akeno-chan's friends. Thank you for taking care of her." he said, sincerely, as he bowed.
When he looked up though, he could see that Asia had a rather large blush on her face, Koneko was looking away with slightly redder cheeks than before, Kiba was giving him a winning smile, Rias was smiling too, while Issei...Well Issei was glaring at him.
"Hyoudou-kun? Have I done something to upset you, by any chance?
-GGAAAHH! All bishounen should die! You steal the all the beauties for yourselves! How can I become a Harem King when dudes like Kiba and you exist?!" yelled the boy, causing Harry to blink, unsure of if he had heard correctly.
However, before he could ask, Issei fell to the ground, writhing as if he had been electrocuted. Confused, he turned to look at Akeno, who had a scowl on her face, a scowl that disappeared as soon as he looked at her, a perfectly innocent smile replacing it.
"Ara, ara. Looks like Issei-kun didn't think before talking, ufufu.
-...I apologize for his perversion." said Koneko, bowing, as she sent a loathing look at Issei.
Deciding that he was better off not knowing exactly what had happened, he took out a bag of cookies and handed them to Koneko, causing her to look at him questioningly.
"Akeno-chan told me you liked sweets, so I made you a few cookies during my spare time today. I don't know if they're good, so I hope you'll like them.
-...Thank you, Black-sensei." she said, as she took one of the cookies and bit into it, before freezing for a moment.
"Koneko-chan? " asked Rias, who seemed puzzled by her underclassman's reaction.
Walking closer to the tiny white-haired girl, Harry was surprised when he heard a faint noise coming from her. Is she...purring?
"...so good..."
Ah, apparently she had been in shock from how good his cookies were? Talk about a boost to his ego.
"Well, since it's a happy occasion, let's celebrate!" said Rias, as she clapped her hands together.
As he went to reach for the tea service, Akeno gently pushed him into the sofa.
"No, niisama, relax and let us take care of you."
He was about to retort, when Koneko dropped on his lap, a cookie in her hands as she took small bites of it. He could feel her body trembling as she purred, something that puzzled him. Is she some kind of giant cat?
-Break-
The next day, Harry woke up early, as usual, since he mainly trained in the mornings now, though instead of training, it was more about keeping fit and in shape, since for now Death had agreed that he could take a break. As he stretched, however, he noticed that something was amiss. Why was there a weight on his chest?
As he looked under the sheets, his found himself at a loss of words as he stared at a completely nude Akeno, who was sleeping on him, her generous forms pressed against his chest, much to his appreciation and shock. However, he had dealt with stranger things than beautiful women sneaking in bed with him, so he did what every gentleman would do: he carefully got out of the bed while making sure he hadn't woken the sleeping beauty up, and covered her with the sheets as he went to do his morning routine and afterwards prepare breakfast.
-Break-
Akeno blinked as she tried to wake up, her eyes looking around the unfamiliar room she had sneaked in, taking in its features. It was a simple, Japanese-styled room, though it was fairly bigger than what most could afford these days. The decoration was kept to a minimum, though there were a few photos on the nightstand. Surprisingly, most seemed to be of her when she had been living with him, and only a scant few others were of other people.
Smiling at the proof that the time they had spent together had meant as much to him that it had to her, she went to get dressed, though she only had the time to take three steps before there was a knock on the door, and a muffled voice asked:
"Akeno-chan? Are you awake and decent?"
Smiling, she decided to tease her niisama a bit, after all he was rather innocent last time she had checked...seven years ago.
"You can come in, niisama", she said, and she watched as the door opened to let Harry in, as he carried a tray holding several different dishes that smelled delicious, though he barely had time to grab the tray before he let it fell, as his eyes were glued to her nude body. She was satisfied to see that he had turned beet red, and quickly averted his eyes as he put the tray down, looking away from her.
"Akeno-chan, I asked you if you were decent before entering, why did you tell me to enter if you weren't even dressed?"
She gave him a cute pout.
"Mou, can't a girl want to show off her body? Besides, I don't mind if it's you, niisama.
-But I do mind. You should only show yourself like this to a man you love, Akeno, not to me. You're past the age where you can stay nude in the same room than an older man with no consequences, you know that. And we'll need to have a few words about how you entered my room and slept inside my bed without me knowing it."
Without any more words, he left the room, closing the door quietly, not looking behind. Had he done so, he would have seen the tears in Akeno's eyes.
-Break-
Rias was sitting next to Akeno, and she could easily tell that something was wrong with her friend. While the day before she had been ecstatic, now she seemed to be on the verge of crying, not that many would be able to see it under her public mask, but she certainly did. They were alone, thankfully, as Black-sensei had been requested to help the Student Council for a few papers.
"What's wrong, Akeno?
-Ara? Nothing is wrong, everything is fine." she said, smiling pleasantly.
"Akeno, don't lie to me, please. We've been friends for seven years, I would be a rather poor friend if I wasn't able to tell something is wrong."
The raven-haired Devil sighed, and allowed the smile to fade from her face, showing Rias a girl that looked heartbroken, a far cry from her usual composed persona.
"It's about Black-sensei, isn't it?" she asked her friend, already knowing the answer. It had been easy to guess where her friend had spent the night since she hadn't been in her usual bedroom in the old school building. "Did he do something wrong?"
Akeno simply let out a depressed chuckle.
" Of course not, he wouldn't even know how to even if he wanted to. No, it's...different. I just...don't know what to do anymore, everything is so confusing.
-You love him, don't you?" Rias asked soothingly, though she already knew the answer, but she wanted her friend to tell her herself.
"How couldn't I? Rias, he found me when I was alone, he gave me a house, he gave me hope, a reason to live! He was there when I had nightmares, he taught me how to cook, he took care of me as if I was his own daughter! I was just a nobody, a girl he had just met, but he took me to the restaurant, and he never asked for anything! When he disappeared, it was as if someone had just torn my very soul in half! Do you even know how many times I have dreamt that he would come back to help me when I needed it?
Even this morning, when I woke up, it was to find that he had made sure to not disturb me, when it would have been normal for him to ask me what I was doing there! Instead, he had gone to cook and let me have a breakfast in bed, when I was trespassing!
-...But?
-But when he saw me nude, he turned away and told me that I should only show myself to a man I love! It's as if...
-As if he still saw you as a little girl? The same little girl he had known seven years ago? Akeno, you can't blame him, you only met again yesterday, it's not as if he has had the time to grasp the fact that you aren't so little anymore.
-It's not only that, Rias. Even...Even if I managed to tell him, then what? Do you think he'd accept someone like me?"
Rias frowned as she heard the self-depreciative tone her friend was using. She knew that Akeno hated the fact that she was related to Fallen Angels, beings that she loathed, and whom her own father belonged to. Even know, after being reincarnated as a Devil, one of her wings was still the one of a Fallen Angel, something that Akeno took as a sign that she was a despicable existence. She believed herself undeserving of happiness, as what had happened to her mother and Harry had brought her to believe that she brought misery to those that she loved, something that Rias had spent years to convince her was wrong.
"Akeno, you know him enough to know that he probably wouldn't care. Even I can tell that he would never look at you differently because of something so simple as you being a Devil.
-And then what? I'll be living for thousands of years, when he'll be lucky to get past a century!
-Well, I still have a few Evil Pieces left, don't I?"
Akeno stopped and stared at her friend with wide eyes, as if refusing to believe what she was saying. Rias just smiled.
"What? Did you think I'd let my best friend miss her own chance to happiness? All of us have seen how happy you are now that he's here. He's good for you, Akeno. Not only that, but so far he seems a good man, and I'm sure you'll be happy with him."
She could see that Akeno was about to reply, but the magical circle appearing inside the room cut the conversation short.
-Break-
Akeno snarled as she watched Kokabiel standing in front of them. While she hated Fallen Angels with a passion, she was at least lucid enough to know that not all of them were bad, but the Cadre flying above them was definitely one of the most loathsome of them all, wanting to start another Great War only for his own sick enjoyment.
However, even she had to recognize that the Occult Club and the remaining Holy Sword Wielder were severely outclassed, even with Issei using Boosted Gear to increase the power of Rias' Power Of Destruction, as he was only barely burnt on his hand, when the attack could have leveled a part of the city by its sheer power. Even the entirety of the club fighting against him simultaneously wasn't enough to faze him, and he even looked slightly bored.
What was shocking, though, was to learn that the God of the Bible, the almighty being that all Christians revered, was in fact dead. The shock that news had caused had been enough to cause Asia to faint, the poor girl having her world shattered, while Xenovia, the exorcist, was barely doing any better. While they were trying to come to term with the horrifying news, Kokabiel was laughing, enjoying their suffering.
"That is enough, scum. Leave my students alone." growled a cold voice, causing the members of the Occult Club to turn around and freeze as they watched Harry James Black, their English teacher, walking towards them with a scowl on his face.
"Sensei?!
-...Sensei?
-Black-sensei?
-Nii-sama?"
With a mocking laugh, Kokabiel then looked at the young man with scorn in his eyes.
"How disappointing. I was expecting someone interesting to butt in, but it seems that it's only a lowly human.
-You know, Kokabiel, the last Fallens to call me inferior got burnt to the bone. I didn't take very well to them trying to harm an innocent young girl." said Harry, as he walked past the downed members of the Occult Club, quickly checking the state they were in, before standing in front of the group, arms crossed and glaring at the powerful Fallen.
"So now, please leave, or I'll have to repay the kindness you showed my students, and I assure you that it will be anything but pleasant for you."
That caused the Fallen to laugh, an insane cackle that sent shivers down the spine of the people present. Despite that, they could only admire their teacher's confidence, for an human who probably didn't know what was happening, he was certainly courageous. And even if he did know what was happening, there was no way he was anywhere near strong enough to beat the monster they were facing.
"Leave? LEAVE?! A lowly trash like you thinks he can order me around?! It doesn't matter, you will be a nice appetizer before I crush Sirzech's little sister! DIE!
With an insane smile, Kokabiel then sent a spear of light easily thrice the size of those he had used so far towards Harry, who stood his ground, simply extending his hand.
"Sensei!
-NIISAMA!" screamed Akeno, as she could only watch the monstrous conglomerate of light magic sail towards Harry.
"Rot." The word was spoken softly, but all those present heard it. As the spear came dangerously close to hitting the young teacher, a black wave erupted from his extended hand, hurling towards the spear, despite it being not even half its size. However, as soon as it made contact with the light, the weapon dissolved, swallowed by the black wave that then disappeared into nothingness.
The members of the Occult Club could only stare in shock at their teacher, a man that all of them assumed was perfectly normal, since even Koneko, with her Ki-sensing abilities, could not detect anything even remotely supernatural in him. No Sacred Gears, no magic, nothing. Yet here he was, standing up to a Fallen recorded in the Bible.
"What is this?! What trick did you use, human?! Answer me!" snarled Kokabiel, readying another spear of light, this time the size of a truck.
"That will definitely do some damage if it hits...Better be safe." mumbled the raven-haired teacher, as he snapped his fingers. They felt a strong barrier, way stronger than the one the Student Council had created, spring up and cover the entire scholl.
"Good. Now Gremory-san, I want you to erect the strongest barrier you can and hold it for as long as possible. Can you do that?" he asked the crimson-haired Devil, who was staring at her teacher in shock, as were the others.
"Can you do that?" he repeated as he was not given an answer.
"Ah! Yes! Asia, Issei, bring Koneko here." asked the young woman, though it was obvious that she was too shocked to do anything but follow meekly the orders she was given.
Soon, the only one left who hadn't moved behind Rias was Akeno herself, who was staring at Harry, her emotions running wild. Seeing that, Kokabiel laughed.
"Well, if it isn't touching! Baraquiel's daughter falling for an human! Don't worry, you'll join him soon...In DEATH!" he snarled, as he hurled the gigantic mass of light towards the two of them, as the members of the Occult Club club screamed.
Akeno herself could only stand as she watched the weapon of light moving her way, as she was too tired, beaten and shocked to react properly. There were so many thoughts warring in her head that she didn't even try to move, which would have amounted to a suicide had Harry not intercepted the weapon yet again, much to the people's present shock.
"That all, Kokabiel? I was expecting more from you.
-What are you?! You do not use a Sacred Gear, and no mere human would be able to stand against me without one!" demanded the Fallen.
"You are right. I am not a human, or, more precisely, I no longer qualify as one."
Akeno looked around to stare in shock at the man whom she loved. Why had she never heard of this? Was this something recent? If so, then why had none of them sensed anything from Harry?
By now, everyone was staring at the enigmatic teacher standing in the middle of the school grounds, not batting an eye as he stood up to one of the most powerful Fallen Angels that existed. The sound of running could be heard, and several seconds later the full Student Council was standing next to the Occult Club, though they seemed to be rather surprised to see Harry as well.
"Sensei? What are you doing here?" asked Sona Sitri, a seventeen-years old girl with mid-long hair, glasses, and a severe look.
"Ah, Sitri-san, perfect timing. I couldn't help but notice that your barrier was quite strong, would you mind creating another one to protect yourselves?
-ANSWER ME, TRASH!" growled Kokabiel, lifting his hand to summon yet another spear of light.
-Break-
Harry just smirked as Kokabiel bellowed in anger, it wasn't as if he had anything to fear from the warmonger, he was far from his peak, despite how powerful he was, since his madness had robbed him of a substantial part of his battle prowess. However, that didn't mean it was the same for everyone present, so he grabbed Akeno and teleported her behind Rias, just as the Fallen sent the spear hurling towards him. This time, he didn't use his powers, and with a growl, he shattered it barehanded. He had seen worse from some of the other Fallens during his training, after all.
"What are you?! You are not an Angel, yet you aren't a Devil either, I would know about someone as strong as you!
-I don't have to answer to you, scum. You took pleasure in harming people that couldn't hope to defend themselves against you, and you dared harm one of the very few people I care for in this world. For this, you will pay."
The last word was spoken with an echoing quality to it, as he extended his hand, mimicking the way he would be holding a spear, before pure darkness coalesced into the form of a pitch black halberd that he then pointed towards the tall Fallen, and with a cold smile, launched himself towards him with speed that far exceeded even Yuuto's, despite his Knight boost in that domain.
Kokabiel, however, had a lifetime of experiences in times of war, and parried the blow that had been coming with his wings, though he jumped back when he felt something very wrong, while Harry didn't follow him, and merely smirked, already knowing what was happening.
He watched as Kokabiel shifted his wings so that he could look at them, and was pleased to see the shock of his opponent as he realized that where he had parried the blow, his feathers were being eaten away by an invisible force, that was spreading quite quickly, as already a quarter of his wings were nothing more than dust.
"WHAT IS THIS TRICKERY, TRASH?! WHAT DID YOU DO?!
-Hey, don't go all self-righteous on me when you're the one who attacked people who couldn't hope to win against you. Anyway, the simplest way to say this, is that you are dying. This blade, even if blocked, will cause what it touched to rot and die. That was the basic function, now I added a little bonus to it, it can feed on a person's power to become stronger, so in your case, well I'd say that you'll be lucky to last another thirty seconds."
He could see the Fallen widen his eyes in disbelief, but the fact was that now, the wings on his left side were almost gone, and the rotting had picked up speed. It was perhaps one of his most dangerous powers, as he could literally manipulate every aspect of Death, even Time so long as it was used to age someone. The simple fact of touching him or one of his weapons was enough for him to cause their death, as they, and even him, were tied to Death itself (despite looking like a woman, Death was indeed genderless), bypassing any kind of magical and mystical protection. Only Ophis and Great Red were immune to it, as their existences didn't have the concept of death in them. That meant that while if he was forced to, he could fight either of them, he would be at a severe disadvantage. The irony was that Ophis didn't even know that she couldn't kill Great Red, she simply assumed she had to try hard enough and that she would be rid of him.
He had expected Kokabiel to scream, to attack him out of fury and to prove his power, but he was surprised when the Fallen simply stood there, staring at his slowly disappearing body. As the rotting picked up even more speed, he simply gave one last glance towards Harry, before spreading what remained of his arms wide and vanishing.
Looking at the place the Fallen had stood seconds before, he frowned before understanding dawned on him and he gave a small smile. Well, at least now you're no longer a threat. Seriously, doing all that because you wanted to join God in death...
He then turned towards the Devils, who were staring at him in shock, not that he could blame them for that, after all he had taken down one of the most powerful Fallens alive with but a touch of his weapon, while Rias' Gremory entire peerage had been toyed with without even managing to seriously injure Kokabiel.
However, there was one person that truly mattered to him, and while she looked as surprised as others, she seemed more relieved that he was still alive than anything else. With a sigh, he nervously rubbed his neck. Well, looks like I've got some explaining to do.
-Break-
In the end, he had let the Student Council and the Occult Club to his flat, since he had a stock of potions that might help ease the pain of the wounds a little. Asia's Twilight Healing was powerful, but it couldn't do much for the pain. He couldn't help but smirk when the teenagers looked around, apparently impressed by how large his flat was, since it took an entire floor of the building, that he had remodeled entirely for his use.
Since the cat was now out of the bag, he didn't have any qualms about using magic, so he conjured a few sofas and armchairs to accommodate his guests. After the initial surprise, Sona and her peerage took the seats, though they were still obviously nervous as they were dealing with an unknown powerful enough to deal with Kokabiel. He himself sat down on one of the armchairs, waiting for one of the people present to ask what they wanted to know, as he himself didn't know where to begin.
Just as Rias opened her mouth to speak, there was a loud bark and Hedwig entered the room, circling around the people present before landing on Akeno's shoulder, nuzzling her head as she hooted. Harry smiled, Hedwig, being his familiar, had developed the same immortality than him, meaning that he would never be alone, and the owl had certainly missed Akeno. He smirked as most of the girls present cooed at how pretty she was, causing her to preen while her Devil support giggled, knowing full well that she was quite proud.
Even Koneko gave a small smile and reached to touch her, and unlike what people might have expected from her, Hedwig leaned over to allow the loli Rook to touch her, despite the fact that she probably knew that Koneko was a Nekoshou, a "catgirl".
"...Soft." muttered the white-haired girl, with a small smile.
"Indeed." said Rias, who had also petted the owl a few times, before turning back to look at him.
Sensing that the mood was getting serious again, Hedwig flew over to his side and settled on his shoulder, offering her moral support.
"Sensei, first I would like to thank you for what you did, stopping Kokabiel and preventing another Great War from starting." said Sona, as she stood up and bowed deeply, followed by her peerage, though the one boy in it seemed to be definitively unhappy with it. "However, I believe that explanations are in order. Since this is Devil territory, I am obligated to ask you who you are and what you are doing here in Kuoh.
-To the point, aren't you, Sitri-san? Well, it's not like I have much to hide. First, I came to Kuoh because one of my contacts in the Grigori told me that I might be able to find intel about where to find Himejima Akeno. Of course, I didn't expect to end up teaching her English, since my position was merely a cover."
Sona blinked a few times, while Rias gave Akeno a knowing glance, as said Devil had blushed heavily.
"You...came to Kuoh because you were looking for Himejima-san?" asked the Student Council President, apparently unsure of what to make of his answer.
Sighing, Harry decided it was better to tell them the truth, it wasn't as if he had any bad intentions towards the people in the room.
"Let's start from the beginning, maybe it'll be easier for you to understand. Have you ever heard of the Wizards?" he asked.
He could see from the reactions he got that most of the people present, save the Exorcist, a tall girl that was Sona's Vice-President and Sona herself, didn't have a clue about what he was talking about.
"Wizards?" asked Rias, who seemed curious. Akeno too leant forwards, listening intently.
"They are humans born able to use magic. However, unlike Mages, they aren't aware of most of the supernatural world, as their society is stuck in the eighteenth century and too self-centered to know of much. Unlike most who can use magic without any kind of tool, they rely heavily on wands, and in recent years, it seems that most are unable to use magic without them. They also fly brooms as the stereotypical wizards and witches from stories, though it is apparently more for sport than actual travel." explained Sona, looking at Harry for confirmation.
"Perfect, Sitri-san, I see you are quite knowledgeable. I was actually born a wizard, though I had no idea about it until my eleventh birthday." he started to explain, before frowning, and deciding that he could trust the people present.
"You know what? Perhaps it would be better if I showed you.
-Show us? How?" asked a girl from the Student Council.
"I have a...device, that allows me to show my memories. HOWEVER," he started, stopping the surprised exclamations, " I will warn you right now: my life isn't pretty. I advise those of you that are weak of heart to avoid the experience, you would probably not like it very much."
-Break-
Akeno didn't consider herself a weak person. She had endured more than most people did in their entire lives in her seventeen years of life. She had thought that she was strong. She was wrong. She was oh so wrong. After witnessing Harry's life, she had come to the conclusion that he was stronger that she would ever be, by a large margin. To know that someone whose life had been but a series of abuse, insults and life-threatening situations had managed to become someone like the man she had come to love was a reminder that there were people that were indeed that pure and strong-willed. She had been, and the others who witnessed the memories as well, shocked to the bone to learn that their teacher, the rather calm, handsome and kind person they knew, was in fact one of the most powerful beings in existence, and that one day, he would be in the leagues of Ophis and Great Red.
Akeno, however, was rather glad for it, as it meant that he was basically immortal and would thus live even longer than her. There was also the fact that had he not become the Master of Death, he would have been, without a doubt, be approached by the Angels to join their ranks.
Looking around as they witnessed the last of the memories, she noticed that more than a few girls had red eyes as they had cried at one moment or another. Even Koneko seemed rather affected, despite her usual cool attitude, she had a pink tint to her face, and Akeno inwardly giggled as it was rather obvious that the young Nekoshou had a crush on Harry.
Finally, the memory ended, and they were back to the flat. Looking around, she spotted Harry who was reading a book, seated on the sofa, while Hedwig was perched next to the opened window. Bolstering her courage, she walked determinedly towards Harry, despite the surprised exclamations from the other Devils present.
As the teacher finally looked up, she grabbed his face and crushed her lips on his, kissing him passionately as she tried to transmit just how much she loved him, how she wanted to be with him forever, to grow old and die with him next to her. She wanted to love him, and him to love her. She didn't care about his status, his fame in 'that' world, or even his money. He was everything she wanted in a man, he was absurdly strong, he was kind and compassionate, but could be quite a sadist when needed, he was handsome, and above all, he accepted others for who they were, no matter the race, the appearance or the status.
As she finally released him, she smirked as she had felt him answer rather strongly to her kiss, and looked t him deep in the eyes. Satisfied with what she saw, she gave him a smile and walked back to her friends, though there was an unmistakable sway in her hips, causing both Issei and Saji, Sona's Pawn, to gulp and look with envy at Harry.
"I'll see you tomorrow, Se-n-s-e-i." she all but purred, just before she teleported away.
-Break-
Harry sighed, as he walked up the stairs leading towards the abandoned Shinto temple Akeno lived in. Since she had kissed him, and, that to his shame he had responded quite eagerly despite her being almost ten years younger than him, he had been trying to figure out what he should do. There was no mistaking the fact that Akeno was interested in him, even someone a lost as he was when it came to sentimental matters could tell as much after she had kissed him. However, did he have the right to enter a relationship with her, did he want to? Sure, Akeno was a beautiful young woman now, and no longer a child, as she had made it abundantly clear by taking the initiative and kissing him, but despite his fame, he had no experience in relationships, and he didn't want to hurt her.
There was also the fact that a fair bit of the female Devils who had seen his memories now seemed unable to look at him in the eye without blushing and looking away, which was another matter he had to deal with. He did know that Devils encouraged polygamy since it allowed for a faster recovery rate of their population, but he hadn't been raised like that, and the idea was foreign to him, despite his mind telling him that he had deserved a bit of happiness for all that he had lived through.
As he stepped on the platform with the temple, he came to a decision: first, he would clear things up with Akeno, and he would see what he should do after that only when that matter had been settled.
-Break-
Harry sipped his tea, as he watched Akeno sit down next to him, her miko uniform emphasizing her generous forms (seriously, even Susan Bones didn't have that much curves!), and gave him a soft smile.
Finally finishing his tea, he put his cup down and looked at Akeno.
"Akeno...Why did you kiss me yesterday?
-Ara, ara. I thought it was obvious, ufufufu." she said pleasantly, before her features softened and she gave him a loving smile. "I love you, Harry. I love you so much that it frightens even me, I want you to love me, to make love to me until I can no longer walk, until there isn't a shadow of doubt on the fact that I am pregnant with your child."
Harry almost choked at the rather blunt way she had phrased it, yet he couldn't deny that Akeno was serious. Rias had told him that she was always rather teasing in her relations with others, and the fact that she was serious for once just made it clear that she meant every word of what she said, down to the letter.
"Err...Look, Akeno-chan...
-Akeno." she corrected him with a smile.
"Eh?
-I am no longer the little girl you took off the streets, Harry. I want you to see me as a woman, your woman. I want you to know that I am yours, body, mind and soul, that I will always be waiting for you, even if you reject me. So I want you to call me only by my name."
He was surprised as she stood up and started undoing her robes, before she let her wings burst free. He was surprised to see that one was the wing of a Devil, while the other was the wing of a Fallen Angel. While both were black, they probably meant a lot to those that saw them, as Devils and Fallens had battled against each other for millennia. She would obviously be scorned by other Devils if they ever saw them, since the hatred most held against Fallens ran deep, and even if Akeno was a Devil, she would certainly be considered "tainted" and ostracized despite not having chosen to be born a half-Fallen.
"These wings...before I knew you were alive, I cursed them, cursed the fact that it would always be obvious that I was an abomination, a being not meant to be. I thought that they meant I was destined to be alone and bring misery to those I loved.
-That's not true!" he screamed, firmly against such a way of thinking, though he was surprised when Akeno smiled at him with tears in her eyes.
"I know you don't think like that Harry. I've seen your life, and I know that you do not discriminate based on species. I know that even if Fallens did cause your death, that you don't hate them because of the actions of a few.
It's thanks to you that I realized that despite being a part-Fallen, I should simply accept it instead of hating that fact, as it is something I have no control over. I am me, no matter what species I belong to, no matter what people might say, and no matter what relatives I have. All thanks to you."
Leaning towards him, she grasped his cheeks and kissed him, though this time it wasn't a hungry, passionate kiss like the day before, but a soft, loving kiss. She was now all but straddling him, her loosened clothes allowing him to see a fair bit of cleavage and skin, not that she seemed to mind.
After a while, her hands started roaming his body, and it was quite obvious what was going to happen next. Gently stopping her hands, he looked at her in the eyes.
"Are you sure about this?
-I've never been so sure about anything in my life. Please, Harry, make love to me."
What ensued was the best night in both their lives, as each other knew that they had finally found someone that would love them to their dying breath. It had been a bit awkward, as Akeno, despite her rather outrageous body, was still a virgin, and while Harry was not, he didn't have that much experience in the matter either. Nonetheless, as the morning sun started rising, both of them fell asleep next to each other, curled together.
-Break-
Rias smiled at how happy Akeno was, her best friend had never looked this happy, giggling every now and then and literally beaming with happiness. It wasn't hard to guess why neither Harry or her had shown up for school in the aftermath of Kokabiel's defeat, the two of them were just too cute together, and many a girl in the know had gone all "Awww" when they saw them together holding hands or leaning on each other.
There was also the fact that despite their relationship being official amongst the Devils in Kuoh, quite a few of the girls seemed to want to pursue Harry, not that she could blame them. While she was happy with Issei, had she not loved him dearly she would probably have gone after him as well. Harry was just too much of a catch to ignore, and she was fairly sure that in the future, there would be many women after him, from many races. Amongst said girls were surprisingly Koneko, who took every opportunity to sit in Harry's lap, Xenovia, the Exorcist that was now her second Knight, those she could say she was sure were interested in Harry. From Sona's peerage, she was fairly sure that Sona herself was interested, though it was obvious that she didn't want to intrude on the two lovers and so kept at bay, and her Vice-President seemed mildly interested as well.
Akeno had noticed this, and while she didn't seem to mind, she made it abundantly clear that she was his official girlfriend, not that either Xenovia or Koneko seemed to mind. The first was now looking rather interested in "giving birth to strong babies", whatever that meant, while Koneko seemed fine with the idea of having to share her crush, since she was happy so long as she knew she was loved, and if Harry ever got in a relationship with her, she knew she would.
It was a shame that Akeno couldn't enjoy much time with Harry, the meeting between the Three Great Factions was due in but a few days, and there was a lot of preparations to make. She was quite curious about how things would go, after all nobody save for her own and Sona's peerage knew how they had managed to defeat Kokabiel, and Harry had asked her to not tell anyone, that he'd explain things himself at the conference.
-Break-
Harry blinked as he watched the people in the back of the classroom, watching his lesson. While Akeno had described the Four Satans as "unique", he hadn't understood just how unique they were until he had two of them making a fuss in his class. Sirzechs Lucifer, Rias' older brother, was filming his sister and visibly making her uncomfortable, but at least he wasn't going overboard. That was not the case of Serafall Leviathan, who not only looked like a child with an enormous bust, but was also wearing a magical girl outfit and was encouraging Sona with screams of "Go! Go! Sona-tan!" that were beginning to disrupt his class.
With a sigh, he picked two chalks and flicked them towards the two nuisances, who seemed to be surprised by the action but discreetly erected barriers to deflect the incoming projectiles, though to their shock it didn't work, as he had put cancelling magic on them, and by the time they realized what had happened, they had both been hit.
"I will not tolerate you disturbing my students. This was your first, and only warning. If you disturb my class again, I will throw the two of you out myself, is that understood?" he asked coldly, leaking a bit of his power and focusing it on the two culprits that froze, before paling slightly and nodding vigorously, much to Grayfia (a grey-haired maid, who was also Sirzechs' wife) appreciation, as she gave him an acknowledging nod.
He then resumed his lesson, though he could hear Akeno giggle and feel the thankful stares from both Rias and Sona on his back.
-Break-
Akeno watched as Harry released his powers to wipe out the Magicians attacking the meeting, and she couldn't help but shiver in pleasure at how powerful he was. There were hundreds of Magicians, yet he was tearing through them as if he was crushing ants, and even the leaders were looking at him in shock, as their own powers didn't allow them such finesse, since if they went at it seriously, they would destroy the town at the very least.
Katerea Leviathan, the descendant of the original Leviathan that had been leading the attack was staring at him in shock, as she had never expected an unknown to tear through her forces as if they were merely bugs.
"WHAT ARE YOU?! WHY ARE YOU STANDING AGAINST ME?!" she screamed in a shrill voice as Harry calmly floated towards her. "GET AWAY, GET AWAY!
-You, are noisy." said an emotionless voice, causing the people who were present to look at where it had come from, only to see a teenage girl in a gothic lolita outfit.
"Ophis?! What are you doing here?!"
Many stiffened, Akeno included, when they realized that before them was standing the Infinite Dragon God, the strongest being in existence. However, said being ignored them, and instead focused on Harry, looking at him with dead eyes.
"Harry.
-Ophis." was Harry's curt reply, though Akeno could almost swear he was trying not to smirk.
"I, want doughnuts and cookies." was all that she said, causing the people present to face fault.
Harry just smiled, and conjured a notepad, like a waiter waiting for an order.
"Sure, which ones?
-I, want apple cookies, strawberry cookies, chocolate cookies, blueberry cookies.
-No chocolate cake?" Harry asked innocently, though even as she was shocked, Akeno could tell that he was having fun.
Ophis slightly narrowed her eyes, before nodding.
"I, would also like chocolate cake.
-Sure thing. Just let me some time to wipe out the remaining attackers, and then I'll start cooking right away.
-That, is unacceptable. I, shall help you finish them. Then, you will make me cookies."
The people present then witnessed the strongest being in existence wipe the floor with the remaining Magicians, Katerea Leviathan and Vali (who turned out to be a descendant of the original Lucifer) as Harry just laughed like a hyena in the background.
-Break-
Harry was incredibly nervous, as he stood before the entire Occult Club and Student Council. He had requested that all members gather in the Occult Club's clubroom. He had come to a decision in the last few days, and while he knew it was the good one, he couldn't help but feel afraid that things would go bad, but in the end, countless people had gone through this before him, so it should be fine...right?
"So, Sensei, why did you ask us to come here?" asked Rias, who was probably curious, since his request was unusual enough to strike her interest.
Turning to look at Akeno, he made a gesture to ask her to come forth, and she did so, though she was obviously puzzled, while Sona seemed to try and understand what was going on, before her eyes widened and she looked at him in shock.
"Right, so, I asked you all to gather here, because there's something I'm about to ask, and I feel it would be better if you were all here."
Then, grabbing the box inside his pocket, he got on one knee, causing many of the females present to squeal as they finally understood what was happening, and presented its content to Akeno. Inside was a ring made of silver, intricately graved with two stones embedded into it, one amethyst and one emerald. It was beautiful, an unique piece he had asked the Goblins to make, and that had cost him more than most people made in a lifetime, but in his opinion, Akeno deserved as much and even more.
"I ask you, Himejima Akeno. Will you make me a happy man and accept to marry me?"
There was a moment of silence, as the beautiful Devil stood there, staring at him in shock, and then he was tackled and thrown to the ground by a crying Akeno who was kissing him for all he was worth as most of the people present were applauding him.
"Yes! Yes, yes, YES! I'll marry you, Harry!" she cried in her happiness.
"Congratulations, Akeno, Harry-sensei." said Rias, as she hugged the couple, happy for her friend.
While some of the other girls seemed a bit jealous, they were still given heartfelt congratulations by all of those present, though Issei and Saji seemed definitively jealous of him, not that he cared, after all the reason they weren't popular with girls was because one of them was an absolute pervert that was too honest for his own good, while the second was a little too big-headed for someone who was as weak as he was.
The part afterwards was memorable, as he had cooked a lot for everyone, and kept everything under preservation charms. It was late at night when the Occult Club and the Student Council left, though Akeno stayed behind, not that the others seemed to mind.
As he got changed to go to bed, the sound of soft footsteps made him look up and pause. There, in the doorway, was his soon-to-be wife, wearing nothing but very sexy lingerie, and who had a very...inviting look in her eyes as she closed the door behind her.
His last coherent thought before he was lost to passion was: Damn, I'm one lucky man.
-Epilogue-
The wedding ceremony was glorious, as many high-ranking figures from the Three Great Factions, and even Ophis (who was probably just there for the food, since the cakes had been made by Harry and that she spent most of the time staring at them) attended. Archangel Michael, his sister Gabriel for the Angels, Azazel and Baraquiel (who had managed to reconcile with his daughter thanks in no small part to Harry) for the Fallens, Sirzechs, Grayfia and Serafall for the Devils amongst others. Rias, Koneko, Sona and Asia were Akeno's bridesmaids, while Harry had chosen his (deceased) godfather and his best friend Remus Lupin(who was also dead) as Best Men. The fact that his parents, Akeno's mother, and several other people were in fact dead but had been allowed to attend by Death herself (who was there too, though she was given a wide berth by the people present, save for a few that Harry had told of the fact that she was rather lonely) seemed to unsettle a few, but after a little while things seemed to get better.
Akeno was wearing a beautiful kimono and her hair had been put in a complicated hairstyle maintained by a few hairpins, but she was beautiful beyond words, and even a few of the married men present were looking her up (though their wives soon reminded them of the fact that they were married...Painfully). Harry himself was wearing a black tuxedo, his black hair tied in an elegant ponytail and he too gathered a lot of attention, this time from the female part of the audience.
The one officiating the ceremony was Death herself, as both Harry and Akeno didn't want their wedding to have any political repercussions, and Death couldn't be more neutral. That was fine with the leaders of the Three Factions, as they had signed peace and didn't want the fragile ceasefire to be destroyed by bickering over who would be presiding a wedding.
"...I do."
Once the two of them had spoken the magic words, they kissed, and the temple where the ceremony was held almost collapsed under the cheers.
Later that night, as they danced, Harry decided to ask his girl...wife, God that was a notion he had trouble realizing, something that had been bugging him for a while.
"Akeno?
-Yes, my husband?" she asked, purring husband in his ear as she pressed her chest against his. She was a rather...demanding wife, to say the least, though he had started to get into her fetishes now.
"Errr...We are married now, right?
-Of course.
-Then, why were Xenovia and Koneko speaking about sharing me with you?" he asked, after all hearing the two girls talk of sharing him only a week before his wedding had been awkward.
"Ara, ara. I merely told them that as long as I was your wife, I didn't mind them sharing you with them, ufufufufu." she answered, giving him a smile that sent shivers down his spine.
Gulping, he continued his dance with his wife, though he did send a glance towards the two girls, Koneko who was talking quietly with Ophis about sweets, and Xenovia who was taking the chance to talk to Gabriel. Both were beautiful in their own way, and he could almost see Issei accusing him of getting a bigger harem than his.
Well, I'll cross that bridge when it comes to that. For now, let's enjoy my wedding night.
Now, a few clarifications:
-isn't Harry a bit too powerful? Yeah, probably, but remember, Death had him trained by Lucifer and God as harshly as they could, and he has always shown he was rather good in fights. The fact that his powers also stem from Death itself also make it logical that he would be very dangerous, so long as he has them mastered (which is the reason he got "killed" by the three Fallens, he had no clue about their existence before and as such thought he was already pretty damn powerful).
-don't Wizards know about the supernatural world? actually, the other factions consider them a good joke as they aren't that powerful when compared to Low-Class Devils, Fallens or Angels, and magic apparently prevents them from getting Sacred Gears, or at least from manifesting them, which is why neither faction saw them as worthy of interest.
-Harry knows Ophis? Is that surprising? Since he had become rather powerful, it would be obvious that Ophis would try to recruit him for Khaos Brigade, which is when she learnt she couldn't kill Great Red, though Harry told her that he could always create her a pocket dimension with "Silence", since she seemed interested only in being alone. That, along with the fact that he offered her cookies (since she looks like a teenage girl, he tries to treat her as one), which are one of the few things she likes, means that he is probably one of the few people she genuinely likes and wants to be around (so that she can enjoy his food).
Well, hope you liked this, so review please, even if you didn't, so that I can improve what needs to be. (and please point out WHAT needs to be improved, I got once "This is awful and I'm too tired to point out why", well, that's not very helpful, you might as well not review when you write things like that).
See you soon for the next chapter of "Bloody Ashikabi"!