DxD: Fusion

Chapter 66: Reincarnated

The shoji door opened, revealing a youkai attendant and Toshio right behind him. The new alliance member walked into the massive bedroom.

Yasaka was pleased that Toshio accepted the invite. She had invited him into her room shortly after the meeting to, discuss, some things with her savior. Kunou was nearby, having refused to leave her mother’s side.

The youkai queen was lounging in a reading chair in an alcove of her bedroom, opposite her large bed. When Toshio walked in, Kunou jumped up from the floor.

"Toshio!" she bolted toward the ’human’, crashing into him in an attempt to hug him. He caught her smoothly, returning the hug. Yasaka playfully smirked at the interaction. He was even good with kids, it seemed.

Kunou’s golden hair whipped across her face as she launched herself into Toshio, clinging to his waist with all the force her little arms could muster. "You’re really okay," she said, her voice muffled by the fabric of his shihakushō. "I saw you die, you know. Everyone said you were dead!" She glared at him, as if the situation were his personal failing.

Toshio kneeled, returning the embrace with a measured squeeze. "I’m sorry for making you worry," he said, his tone gentle and grave at once. "But I promised I wouldn’t abandon my friends, didn’t I?" A faint smile flickered on his lips.

Kunou scowled, then gripped him tighter for a moment before stepping back, arms folded in feigned indignation. Yasaka watched the exchange with a warmth she had long ago trained herself to conceal in public, but here, in her private sanctuary, she allowed the feeling to rise in her chest.

She beckoned Toshio over with a simple gesture. He crossed the tatami, Kunou in step with him.

Yasaka’s hands rested lightly on the arms of her chair, the long sleeves of her kimono spilling over the lacquered wood. She regarded Toshio with a slow, appraising look—different from the way she’d measured men in her court, whether politicians or foreign dignitaries. This was analytical, almost hungry: the gaze of someone who saw not just a man, but a phenomenon whose boundaries had yet to be mapped.

"Thank you for coming," she said. Her voice was low, shaped to fill the room and exclude the world beyond its walls. "I know you must be tired—exhausted, even, after what you’ve done. But I wanted to see you personally, and to let Kunou see you before she spent all night fretting at the door."

Kunou bristled. "I don’t fret." Pouting slightly, her tails twitched in protest.

Yasaka covered her mouth to hide a smile. "Of course not, my little kitsune." She rose, crossing to Toshio in three unhurried steps, and placed her hands on Toshio’s shoulders. "You saved me. You saved my child. You saved Kyoto." She looked him in the eye, her gold irises bright and unblinking. "There is no debt greater than that."

Toshio shifted his weight, his posture stiffening as if uncertain how to respond to gratitude so baldly offered. "I only did what anyone would do," he said. The words felt thin in the air. "And I certainly didn’t do it alone. Gratitude belongs to everyone involved, not just me." Toshio humbly proclaimed.

Yasaka’s laugh was a warm ripple, quick to rise and linger. "You see, Kunou? Even the greatest of heroes are embarrassed by praise. Remember that lesson." She leaned forward, her hands sliding from his shoulders to Toshio’s forearms, and pulled him fractionally closer. The motion pressed her generous chest against his. He was quite tall for his age.

She continued to press into him until her mouth was near his ear.

"Is there anything you desire?" she asked, her breath just above his ear. "Anything you wish for? A thousand years of prosperity? A treasury of gold? Or—" she pulled back, and her eyes flicked down, then back up, hooded and sly. "—perhaps something more immediate, something of the flesh?"

Her kimono slipped, the neckline opening wider than before, a calculated invitation. It was now only being held up by the pressure of her chest and his, revealing much. Her hands remained light on his arms, yet the sensation burned through the fabric.

Kunou recoiled with a sound halfway between outrage and horror. "Mother!" she squeaked. "You can’t just—he’s—"

Toshio, remarkably, kept his eyes trained on Yasaka’s face. "Thank you, Yasaka-sama. But you already know what I want most: that you and your people are safe." He bowed his head, an apology and an assertion at once. Though she did notice he hadn’t closed his eyes, obviously getting an eyeful.

"There’s no greater reward than the knowledge that I could help protect you both."

Yasaka’s heart squeezed. She felt a strange disappointment, a longing she hadn’t expected. She let it show—just for an instant, the edges of her mouth curling in a pout that would have been undignified in any other setting. Her ears drooped. "You are quite noble, and stubborn," she said. "But I respect that."

Kunou’s face was still flushed. Her tails lashed, betraying her agitation, but then she sidled up to Toshio and hugged him again, almost as if to shield him from her mother’s lecherous designs. "I’m glad you’re not dead," the little fox girl said. "And that you’re not... weird now." Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Are you sure you’re not weird still?"

Toshio smiled and ruffled her hair. "Only as much as I was before."

Yasaka laughed again, and the air in the bedroom seemed to lighten. She let her hands settle casually at her sides, stepping back from the man in front of her, smoothly fixing her yukata with a delicate shrug, revealing nothing more than she had already.

"You are quite the treasure, Toshio Amano. I hope you understand that, even if you do not yet accept it." She let the words hang between them, then added, "But the offer stands, should you ever change your mind."

"Thank you, Yasaka-sama," he said, and turned to leave. But he hesitated at the threshold. "There’s one thing you can do for me." He glanced back, steel-blue eyes catching hers. "Prepare the youkai. And most importantly, be happy. Both of you."

The sincerity in the request caught her off-guard. She inclined her head, her own smile softening into something less performative, almost shy. "We will try. And should you need any more wives in the future, let me know~." Her hand rested on Kunou’s shoulder, the implication obvious.

"Mom!!" Kunou yelled out, her face completely red with embarrassment. Toshio merely smiled and nodded once.

"I certainly will, Yasaka-sama. See you, Kunou." He parted with a small wave.

The door slid shut behind him, and for a moment Yasaka stood very still, listening to the echo of his footsteps receding down the corridor.

Kunou looked up at her, the embarrassment fading. "You really like him, don’t you?"

Yasaka considered the question as she returned to her reading chair, the ache in her chest slow to fade. "I do," she said. "He is... different." She watched the sunlight move across the bamboo floorboards, thinking about the aura she’d felt from Toshio, the way it had shuddered the very boundaries of her world and then receded, leaving everything sharper and more fragile in its wake. And not to mention what it did to her body. Luckily, she had magic to remove the evidence from the seat after she got up.

"Do you think he’ll come back to visit?" Kunou’s voice was laced with curiosity and eagerness.

Yasaka breathed out slowly after she took another sip of her tea, relishing the taste as well as the lingering sensation on her chest. She cupped Kunou’s face with a practiced motion.

"He will, my little kitsune. You heard him say we were his friends after all." Yasaka giggled regally.

XXX

Toshio POV

Was power really so alluring? Did I stumble into the main character charisma that comes with the role of a protagonist?

I couldn’t help but shake my head as I returned to my room. The offer was extraordinarily tempting. I knew exactly what Yasaka was implying. But I had Akeno and, technically, Kuroka. Hopefully Rias in the future. I didn’t need to complicate things further.

I placed a hand on my chest. So soft.

They were bigger than Akeno’s even.

"Toshi?" I nearly stumbled, looking over to see Akeno and Rias walking together. "What did Yasaka want?" Akeno had a knowing grin. Rias looked genuinely curious.

"She wanted to thank me with Kunou personally. She tried to offer more rewards, but I turned them down." I stopped in front of the two.

"Oh? Just what kind of rewards~?" Akeno teased. Rias caught on shortly after, scoffing at Akeno but blushing nonetheless.

"Use your imagination; I’m sure it would be more entertaining for you," I teased back, smirking at her.

"Hmph. No fun." The raven-haired girl playfully pouted. Rias cleared her throat.

"Toshio, are you ready to go back? The rest of the student body went back a couple of days ago. We only stayed to wait for you and Yasaka-sama to recover," she explained. They were probably all missing class. It was Tuesday after all.

"I think so. I’m feeling pretty great, so no need to delay on my part." I was ready to be home again. Traditional bedrolls were not comfortable to sleep on. Then I heard a door burst open behind me.

"TOSHI-TAN!" Then a force slammed into my back, arms wrapping around me. "You weren’t thinking of leaving without saying bye to me, were you?!" Akeno giggled, while Rias sighed at the girls’ antics. The arms let go, and I turned around, revealing none other than Serafall Leviathan. She really was like a little sister, despite her being millennia older than me.

Unable to help myself, I placed my hand on top of her head. I’m pretty sure I grew taller during my transformation.

"Of course not, Levia-tan." Normally I’d offer the proper respect to people of her position, but I knew she enjoyed it, so why not? The extremely powerful, continent-destroying being nuzzled into my hand.

"Headpats too!? Toshi-tan, you better be careful!" She looked around me at Akeno. "Or Akeno, you may have competition in the future!" Akeno just giggled into her hand again.

"I certainly wouldn’t mind, Serafall-sama." Serafall’s face ignited into a grin with flames in her eyes. She really liked to emulate anime, down to her expressions.

"Good! That way I don’t have to use my silly Satan title to get what I want!" I chuckled a bit awkwardly.

"Toshi-tan! You’re the first person to give me a precious head pat since becoming one!" she said, raising her finger into the air above her head. "Despite me begging Sona-tan to do it," she mumbled loud enough for us to hear.

Using her extended finger, she slashed her arm down until she was pointing at me, her finger almost touching my nose.

"Who said love has to be war!?" she proclaimed, laughing maniacally. I’m pretty sure Kaguya-sama did.

"Anyway, I’ve got lots to do, so I’ll see you all later! Bye Toshi-tan! Bye Akeno-tan! Bye Rias-tan!" Then as quick as she appeared, a teleportation circle lit up, consuming her in a pink glow. Wasn’t her sigil supposed to be blue?

"Uh oh~. No longer human and now you’re attracting all kinds of attention, Mr. Popular~," Akeno teased. I turned to face her, noticing Rias had her arms crossed, clearly unamused.

"I don’t think I can compete with one of our Satans, after all." She giggled again. I took her hand and pulled her into my arms, kissing her.

"Who said anything about competing?" I smiled.

"Oh Toshi you bad boy~," she said playfully, lightly smacking my chest. I probably needed to stop. It was difficult to stop a riled-up Akeno. Rias cleared her throat, even less amused than before.

"Can we go now?" She leveled a glare at me and Akeno.

"Of course Rias, don’t let us stop you," Akeno teased her king. She huffed, then activated her magic circle, teleporting us to the ORC. So much more convenient than trains and planes.

The meeting room flashed in the red glow of the Gremory sigil. I was surprised to see Koneko, Kiba, Sona, and Tsubaki waiting for us. Sona pushed her glasses up with an irritated expression.

"About time. We’ve been waiting," she huffed out, clearly irritated at the inconvenience.

"Sorry about that, Sona. Toshio got held up by a few people," Rias said casually. As we settled into the room, I noticed two other people standing nearby, two people I knew quite well.

"Hey Toshio-sensei." They said in unison.

"Murayama? Katase? What are you both doing here?" I was confused but then got a better read on their energy presence. My eyes widened slightly in surprise.

"Part of the reason why we’re here, actually," Sona informed us.

Sona closed the distance between her and Rias, inclining her head to the taller girl, and then focused on me.

"I’ll be brief," she said, before Rias could do more than open her mouth. "You all know there was an incident at the small leyline shrine while the rest of you were still in Kyoto. Debriefing every detail at the Kyoto meeting would have been inappropriate, as the details were irrelevant outside of the shrine attacks themselves."

She gestured to Murayama and Katase, who stood at attention with the poise that only comes from militant training. "You might notice something different about them," Sona said, and for a beat no one responded.

Murayama stepped forward and faced me, bowing at a 90° angle. "Forgive the abruptness, Toshio-sensei. We—Katase and I—owe you an explanation."

She righted herself, jaw squared. "There was a demon at the shrine. It killed us. Or, it killed us as we were. Sona-sama saved us. We’re devils now."

Katase nodded, the movement a small echo of her friend’s conviction. "Sona-sama reincarnated us into her peerage. I’m a pawn; Murayama’s a knight. It’s... still new."

"Wait, you died? How?" I asked in mild alarm. Why were they near the shrine to begin with?

"We were going to take care of the shine my family looks after," Katase said, stepping in line with Murayama. They both looked down, clearly haunted by the memory.

"There was so much blood..." Katase murmured. Murayama put her hand on her shoulder, though she clearly needed comfort as well.

"That must have been traumatic. I’m sorry you both had to go through that," Rias said, with a sincerity that would have landed better if not for the faint twitch in her jaw when she glanced at Sona. She was likely annoyed that Sona’s peerage was getting even stronger while hers stagnated.

"It was," Murayama said quietly. "But this is better than the alternative." She looked at me, and I saw what she didn’t say: that dying had stripped away everything and left only the core of her loyalty, which now belonged, with bone-deep clarity, to Sona Sitri.

The somber mood of the room was interrupted by Koneko shifting on her seat and voicing a question. "What demon?" she asked, her voice flat as always.

Sona pushed up her glasses again. "I’m not entirely sure. Though it left webbing and looked female, based on the battlefield and descriptions from those two." Sona inclined her head to the duo.

"Battlefield?" Rias raised an eyebrow.

"Cydaea. One of Lucion’s demon lieutenants. She would have been very strong." I interrupted, remembering who it was based on the description.

"You didn’t fight her did you?" I asked. There was no way they fought and won. Sona was strong, but nowhere near that level.

"No, we just saw the aftermath. Her opponent was there when we got there. The wanted criminal and stray devil, Kuroka."

The room was silenced. Koneko’s eyes widened, the news causing her to stand to her feet.

"Kuroka?!" the small girl exclaimed. Probably the loudest I had heard her speak.

"Koneko, though I know that’s alarming news, please sit so Sona can finish," Rias gently commanded, walking over and gently stroking her head. She was clearly shaken up, eyes wide in what looked like both surprise and fear.

"At first, we thought that Kuroka was the one attacking the shrine and who killed these two, but the diminishing remains of the demon were proof enough," Sona continued.

"Yeah that woman saved me, or at least prevented the finishing blow," Murayama started loudly, ending her statement meekly. Sona nodded her head once.

"She appeared slightly regretful for not having made it in time but was probably just wanting a good fight." I couldn’t help but disagree with that in my mind. That woman was as lazy as can be. If she didn’t want to, she absolutely wouldn’t. It probably helped that I asked her to watch over the town while we were all gone.

News of her involvement didn’t surprise me that much for that reason.

I’ll have to ask her about it more when I get home, I thought.

"She seemed barely out of breath, and the landscape was, reformed." Sona emphasized her point by placing photos on the table in the middle of the couches. The damage was quite extensive.

"If this demon was as strong as you say, then Kuroka must be extremely powerful. No wonder she’s the only SS-ranked criminal in the underworld," Sona stated, hand on her chin.

"But why was she here, in our territory?" Rias asked no one in particular, her expression grave.

"Apparently because she ’was in the neighborhood,’" Sona responded. "Or so she claimed."

"The same town that—," Rias hesitated, briefly looking at Koneko. "That our peerage is stationed?" Apparently, them being sisters isn’t common knowledge. Sona didn’t acknowledge the lapse in cadence.

"I know. I find it difficult to believe as well." Sona pushed her glasses up again. She really needed to find better-fitting glasses. She certainly had enough resources for them.

"Maybe she really did just happen to be around and feel out that demon for a fight. Or, while we were out of town, she was scouting around," I offered. Obviously, I knew what Kuroka’s intentions were. They were my intentions after all.

"Precisely. A criminal like her couldn’t have anything good up her sleeve," Rias replied. This wasn’t going the direction I hoped. At the same time, I wasn’t sure what to say without revealing too much.

"Baseless speculation will get us nowhere. We must report this. We are ill-equipped to deal with the likes of her," Sona stated.

"Wait on that. Let me see if I can find her first. I’m pretty good at sensing people now." Sona looked at me skeptically.

"Toshio, I know you’re strong and all, but surely you don’t think you can contend with someone like Kuroka?" Sona said with mild sarcasm.

"I dealt with Lucion, didn’t I?" Normally I’m not one for boasting, but I couldn’t let Sona make that report just yet.

"Yes, and from the sounds of it, you can’t transform into that, thing, again can you?"

"Well, no, but—" I tried to respond.

"Then that’s all I need to know. She’s above you, Toshio. Don’t be so reckless." Sona leveled a glare at me. Glancing at Rias, I noticed she was momentarily surprised but nodded in agreement.

"She didn’t attack you, did she? She won’t be likely to attack me either. Just give me a few days to see if I can even find her. Once I confirm she’s no longer here in town or if I find her, you can make that report." I hoped my reasoning was enough. The room was silent for a moment.

Sona finally sighed. "Fine. But if the worst happens, it’s your fault." She turned to Rias. "And since he’s your friend, you can handle the fallout from our faction’s leadership." Rias narrowed her eyes.

"This territory is shared between us, you know," Rias stated, annoyed. Sona didn’t respond, annoying her further. She really did wear her emotions on her sleeve.

"Anyway, I have matters to attend to. Let’s go Tsubaki. Murayama, Katase..." Sona glanced my way. "You may stay. I’m sure there are things you’d like to discuss." I was surprised at Sona’s courtesy.

"Yes, Sona-sama," they replied in unison. Once they were gone, Rias sighed, sitting next to Koneko.

"Are you alright, Koneko?" she embraced the small neko with a side hug. Koneko’s eyes remained unfocused, staring holes into the floor.

"We’ll continue this later. I’m sure you all would like to get home," Rias urged us to leave politely. "Akeno, can you prepare some tea and sweets please?"

"Of course, Rias," she replied.

Once we were out of the ORC, Murayama and Katase were walking on either side of me.

I could feel the energy radiating off both girls, their new devil signatures so unfamiliar they kept tripping my instincts.

For a while, Murayama and Katase just walked in silence. Our footfalls scraped out a rhythm on the campus sidewalk.

"I still can’t believe it," Katase said finally, her voice pitched low. "That we’re... you know. Devils." She said the word like it might bite her. "It feels weird."

Murayama snorted. "You say that, but you were the one who kept stroking your wings in the mirror this morning." She nudged her friend with an elbow.

Katase blushed, but it faded quickly. "That’s because they’re so soft!" She turned to me, almost pleading for confirmation. "Is it supposed to be this weird?"

I considered the question, picking at the edge of it like a math problem in a language I half understood. "Well, you’re both alive. That’s the main thing. The rest is just biology with extra steps."

Katase giggled, but it wobbled at the end. "I guess you would know, huh? Oh... are you a devil too, Toshio-sensei?" Her eyes were wide, guileless and oddly hopeful. She searched my face for a tell.

I shook my head. "No. Human, last I checked." I let the lie settle on my tongue. "Just a human who picked up some strange side effects." I didn’t want to get into the rest of it just yet. They were too new to all of this and I was an anomaly that was difficult for Azazel to understand.

"But you Sona-sama said you fought those monsters," Murayama said, her voice suddenly intense. "You beat them. Regular humans don’t do that." She looked at me, waiting for the part of the story where I admitted the secret. Murayama always did try calling my bluffs, even though they never were.

"Well, I didn’t say I was a regular human," I said with a smirk. "I’m technically a magician, not a devil. I just... didn’t have the normal limits."

Murayama seemed like she wanted to press, but she let it go. She looked away, her jaw tight with leftover adrenaline.

We walked on.

The street was empty, save for a slow-moving taxi and two retirees walking their dogs. The world had not changed to reflect the earth-shattering events of the last week. It never did, and that always struck me as unjust.

Katase kicked a pebble off the curb and watched it tumble into a storm drain. "Sona-sama says we have to train every day now. Is it going to be like kendo practice?" Her tone was half dread, half anticipation.

"Probably," I said. "But she’s good at what she does. If you lean into it, you’ll get stronger. Way stronger."

Murayama’s eyes flicked to mine. "Strong enough to fight things like those demons?"

"If you put in the work," I said, "yeah. You’ll be able to protect yourselves. Even protect the others in your peerage."

Murayama nodded, the line of her jaw relaxing a little. "That’s what I want. This time I want to be the one who saves people." There was a hollowed-out quality to her voice, but also a new hunger. I wondered if Sona had picked up on it, or if only I could hear it.

"Good news is, you have me as a sensei. And now that you no longer have human limits, I can be a bit, rougher, with your training." They both gave audible gulps. Little did they know, that what I currently had them doing would be easy for them. They needed a difficult spike if they truly wanted to get stronger.

"I would focus on strengthening your magic and demonic power. Find ways to incorporate it into you’re sword styles," I suggested.

"Yeah sounds so much easier when you say it like that," Katase said sarcastically. I snorted in amusement.

"Just like with Kendo, keep at it. Results don’t come overnight."

"Yeah unless you name rhymes with poshio," Murayama joked, causing Katase and herself to laugh. I was an anomaly after all.

We walked the rest of the way to the main avenue, where the streetlights were just beginning to pulse on. There, the three of us paused at the intersection—the one where so long ago, we’d parted ways after the first kendo dojo meetup. It felt like a lifetime ago, a different world. In a way, it was for them.

"Guess this is the new normal," Katase said, looking up at the sky. The setting sun reflected oranges and reds, clouds smeared across the horizon in long, tired bands. "Training, contracts, fighting monsters..."

Murayama grinned. "Could be worse."

"Yeah," I said. "Could be worse."

We let the moment stretch. Then Murayama squared her shoulders and nodded at me. "Thanks for walking us," she said, and for a second I thought she was going to bow, but instead she just gave me a solid, unblinking look. "And for always helping us." Her cheeks colored slightly with a pink hue.

"Anytime," I said, meaning it. "Text if you need anything," I hesitated. "Seriously. This is a whole new world for you both after all."

Katase waved, and then they turned as one and walked off, their strides perfectly in sync. I watched them go, wondering how long it would take for them to adapt to the supernatural world. I was glad they were still alive. I would have to thank Sona later for using two of her evil pieces on humans with no sacred gears. I hoped their tenacity would make up for it.

I turned toward my house, walking with a leisurely pace, thinking about everything that had happened over the course of the Kyoto trip. My mind couldn’t help but drift to all of the youkai that died in that short war. It was a shame. I gripped Shinjūka’s hilt, her steady presence always by my side.

I was so different now. Despite dying, I got so much stronger. I was eager to train and test out my newfound abilities. How did a fused human and spirit work exactly? Many questions and theories went through my mind. Before I knew it, I was at my front door. My mind was settled on one thought.

I was looking forward to seeing Kuroka. I’d missed the cute little ball of fur. And sometimes curves.