Game of Monsters - 144 (Patreon)

Disclaimer: I don’t own Highschool DxD.

All I Dream Of Is Waking to You

“Sometimes I get the impression that I spoil you,” Joshua commented idly.

“It’s just you, dad,” Kunou commented, happily skipping beside him and humming while taking licks off of her ice cream cone. “I don’t know what you are talking about.”

“Sure you don’t,” he commented dryly as they kept walking. There were some looks thrown their way, but nobody was paying too much attention. Joshua guessed that it’d be a lot worse if they could see her ears and tails. Good thing his illusions took care of that. “You could at least admit it.”

“Would that help?” she asked cheekily, making him shake his head.

“Probably not, but at least it’d be the truth,” he answered with a chuckle.

“Then yeah, you spoil me,” she replied, unashamed. “I love it though,” she added, as if it weren’t clear enough. He rolled his eyes and pondered that for a moment. He really should probably be a little less… Well, like he was. It was just so difficult…

“I guess that counts for something,” Joshua commented, planting his hand on top of her head, ruffling her hair. She didn’t like it, but tough luck. If she was going to abuse his emotions to get her way more often than not, she could deal with him being annoying sometimes.

“Dad~.” That didn’t stop her from whining, but that was half the fun anyway. She looked adorable when she pouted, so there was that too. Joshua wondered if she’d ever realize that she was just tempting him to keep going.

Noticing that she wasn’t really achieving anything, Kunou huffed and turned to the side.

“The ice cream’s gonna melt,” he pointed out, earning a squeak from his daughter as she started eating her treat once more. “You get distracted entirely too easily,” he commented, more than a little amused. “Of all things you could inherit from me, it had to be that?”

“And illusions,” she commented, continuing to lick away at her ice cream. “And… tinkering?”

“I guess those aren’t too bad,” he mused out loud. “I should be grateful that you got most of your… everything from your mother, really. I’m enough of a mess for the entire family.”

“Bad dad,” she grumbled, giving him a kick to his shin. “You are good,” she chided him, which was fairly humorous, considering what she said.

“Sorry,” he replied with a smile. “Won’t happen again.”

“Yes, it will,” she mumbled, turning her head forward again to look at their path and scowling.

“Yes, it probably will,” he confessed, not even really trying. He heard his daughter grumble some, but he just chuckled and continued walking. What could he say? He was a creature of habit.

Turning back to the present, Joshua noted once more that it was a fairly calm day, as it turned out. That was perfect, honestly, because it allowed them their little outing. It was just a shame that Yasaka was busy with some stuff that he just couldn’t help with. Maybe if it had been regarding Khaos Brigade or the like he’d have been able to do something. Alas, it was just regular politics and he had absolutely no idea about those, so… He’d just decided that he’d at least take care of Kunou while Yasaka was otherwise preoccupied.

Still, it was nice to just walk around with his daughter and just talk.

“I see it. That’s it, right?” Kunou asked excitedly, when they eventually made it to their destination. She’d finished her treat and discarded the napkin that came with her ice cream cone already. So, she was able to hold onto his hand with one of hers and with the other she pointed forward. She’d evidently failed to use the napkin appropriately though, considering that her fingers were sticky.

“Yep, that’s it,” he answered anyway, a smile plastered on his face. “You ready?”

“As I’ll ever be,” she declared, puffing her chest as if they were on some super important mission.

“Ok, try not to be too adorable, yeah?” he commented, earning a huff while he smiled. It was an honest request though, because he imagined things could get… troublesome if she was adorable. Or, at the very least, uncomfortable, for him. “I’m serious. I really don’t know how these people will react.”

“How bad could it b-?” Kunou stated, only to get interrupted by someone before she could finish jinxing them. Good thing, that. Joshua made a mental note to thank whoever it was that cut her off.

Then again, looking at them…

“Joshua!” a friendly voice called and he turned to see a woman a little older than him waving towards him. “So good to see you!” she said, as she – or maybe some other person, depending on the way – would usually do.

“Aki, I could say the same,” he greeted with a smile that made her return the gesture, but even wider. “I didn’t arrive late this time,” he added, referencing the last time they’d met.

“You didn’t, if only just barely,” Aki replied, giggling. Then she turned to look at Kunou. “And who do we have here? Did you have another sister you didn’t introduce us to? That’s awful of you, Joshua. Especially when she’s this cute. Hello, little one. I’m Aki Takeshita.”

“Kunou,” his daughter mumbled, shuffling to position herself behind him. “And I’m not his sister. Joshua is my dad,” she added, and he didn’t need to look at her to know that she was glaring at Aki. As he heard her speak, Joshua was torn between rolling his eyes or being amused. In the end, he settled for the latter.

“Oh?” Aki mumbled, visibly confused. If Joshua had to guess, she was trying to do the math in her head with their apparent ages. After all, the numbers didn’t quite add up, really.

“I’m in a relationship with her mother,” he explained simply. Predictably, Aki’s eyes widened a little at the realization. “She’s been calling me her dad for about as long as Yasaka and I have been together,” he added, leaving aside the fact that she’d been calling him dad longer than he’d been in a relationship with Yasaka. That was just bound to make things more complicated than they needed to be.

“I see,” Aki replied, taking a moment to process that. “So many of the others will be terribly disappointed to know that you are taken, you know?”

“Too bad,” Kunou grumbled, earning a laugh from Aki.

“Well, someone’s possessive,” the woman commented, looking at the blond girl.

“You have no idea,” Joshua replied wryly.

[}-o-{]

Metal clashed with metal.

Setan Kober and Carnwennan sang in his hands as he slashed, blocked and parried.

Sure, the weapons of legend weren’t quite overjoyed with the situation, but it was good enough for them. Joshua was pretty sure they were resigning themselves to their fate. After all, his battle style – if it could even be called that – wasn’t at all physically oriented. Sure, he trained with the daggers and even hand to hand combat, but he would always rely on his magic at the end of the day. He was a magician before he was anything else.

So, his legendary weapons would just need to get used to getting their supply of action from spars, most of all.

If nothing else, the two daggers were happy to be facing someone new. After so long sparring with the usual people, from Jeanne all the way to Issei and everyone else in between, the weapons welcomed the chance to at least practice with someone they didn’t know… combatantly speaking, that is. Joshua was pretty sure he’d either get slapped or be on the receiving end of a pout if he were to actually say he didn’t know the spar partner he was facing at that moment.

And he wasn’t sure which was worse, really.

Blocking a sword that came for his neck, Joshua wondered if he was letting his mind go on tangents a little too much… again. It was probably the case, but the spar was going fairly well, all things considered. Even if he did mess up, he had healing spells and many other things ready just in case things got… actually dangerous.

After all, holding back in a practice battle sounded like a silly thing to him when they could go all out. What was the point of training if you weren’t going to go all the way? Sure, if there was no alternative, then taking it easy was the logical step. However, for him? He could go all out and he was pretty sure he could shrug off anything short of getting his brain damaged in some way.

He hadn’t placed Phoenix Spells around that area, but he’d done the next best thing, really. The only difference was that it was less flashy and it was also a fair bit slower. A small price to pay in order to be safe and have no worries while sparring.

And also to make sure the Phenex didn’t get-

“Woah,” he breathed out, crossing Setan Kober and Carnwennan under the sword that was falling down on him. “That was close,” he mumbled, trapping the sword and redirecting it to the side. A second later, he had Setan Kober to his opponent’s throat. “It cost you though.”

“Yes, I can see that, Professor Davis,” Meredith replied, her head tilted back so the blade wasn’t pressed against her neck. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“You are very good, I have to say,” he commented, pulling his weapon away, much to its disappointment. Seriously, his daggers needed to chill. “You’ve been training for a while, huh?”

“Since I learned how to make swords with my Sacred Gear,” she answered, making her weapon disappear and bringing a hand up to rub her neck absently. “Obviously not enough,” she added, somewhat ruefully.

“I don’t think I’m the bar you wanna compare yourself to,” he told her, giving her a pat on the head and a smile. “And besides, I’m the mentor here, aren’t I? I’m supposed to be better than you. That’s the whole point.”

“I know, I just…” Meredith mumbled, looking aside and amusingly not moving at all as he patted her head. Still, considering the embarrassed blush across her cheeks, Joshua decided that was enough. He didn’t think she’d have said anything even if she was against that, so… Maybe he should be more mindful of such gestures. She just kind of reminded him of Jeanne, he supposed, back when she’d been less independent and more starved for attention and affection. “I thought I’d at least have this going for me.”

“A lesson in life is that there’s always going to be someone better than you. That doesn’t mean you are any less good,” he told her, running his fingers through his hair. “I know sayings like that are much easier said than done, but it’s the principle of the matter. You’ll get better with practice.”

“... Does that mean we can do this again some other time?” Meredith asked, her voice low but easily heard with how close he was. “I know you said you couldn’t be a proper mentor but…”

“I’ll do my best to make time,” he replied with a smile. “For now, how about a break,” he told her, signaling to step aside from the training space that House of Water had provided. “Anything you need help with in regards to magic?” he asked before picking up a towel from a bench and drying himself a little. Then he took a bottle of water and took a gulp off of it.

“Well, there’s that project-”

“Anything that’s not homework?” he commented, raising an eyebrow at her. Because really. He did pretty much all he could in his classes. He was more asking for anything that he might not have covered in his classes or maybe from another of her classes.

“Well, I’ve been trying to start testing out Ward Magic after all the classes, some simple ones to get started,” she mumbled then, fidgeting with her hands. That didn’t really tell Joshua much though. She was one of his stars. If she wanted to start casting the spells he taught, then she didn’t need to ask for permission, really. “I don’t have… um, wardstones though.”

“Oh, that’s all?” he asked, blinking at her and earning a blink back. “Just ask House of Water. They owe me so much I don’t even know what to ask of them. If you need anything, go for it. I might not have that much time to train or teach you, but I can offer you resources no problem.”

“That’s… that might be a little much, Professor Davis,” she mumbled, looking a little overwhelmed.

“Nonsense,” he replied with a roll of his eyes and waving her off. “Ravel!” he called, making the blond devil that had been sitting off to the side and scribbling away in her notebook perk up. “Meredith here might need to ask House of Water for some resources. Can you keep track of that? If it’s even important enough to keep track of.”

“Resources like what, Mr. Davis,” the devil asked, already looking thoughtful and passing a few pages on her notebook.

“Wardstones, for one, besides that…” he answered, giving his apprentice a questioning look.

“I think that’s it? I might… I might ask for foci for hexes once we are advanced enough in that class?” she asked hesitantly, to which he just nodded when his secretary turned towards him for confirmation.

“Probably books, probably more classes than the ones I teach if she’s not taking more already, probably some string pulling for jobs,” he added, because it was obvious to him that Meredith just didn’t feel comfortable asking him for things. So, he took matters into his own hands. “And before you complain,” he continued, when it looked like the girl would do just that. “I’ll remind you of this,” he pointed out, gesturing towards her communication earrings. “There’s a reason I gave you those and believe me, if I do end up contacting you through those, you should already know by now that it’ll be more than worth all that I’ve done and might do for you.”

“If you say so…” Meredith mumbled, clearly not convinced.

It made him roll his eyes.

“Anyway, you just run any request you have through Ravel, that way she can tell you if you are somehow asking for too much, although I very much doubt you would. If anything I think you won’t ask for enough things,” he explained to her with a smile as he placed his towel over his shoulders. “Anyway, that’ll make sure she can also keep track of everything for me, because I really could care-”

“Ahem, what he means is that he’s busy with things and doesn’t have the time to keep track of everything,” Ravel interrupted, making him roll his eyes.

“Sure, let’s go with that,” he said, giving his apprentice an amused half-smile that she returned with a timid grin of her own. “Now, back to training or is there anything else magic related that you need help with?”

“... Training sounds good?”

“Training it is.”

[}-o-{]

[Sairaorg Bael]

“We really haven’t been meeting all that much for training lately, have we?” Joshua asked him, going over his notes and plans for the day on his notebook. He didn’t look up when he spoke, for which Sairaorg was grateful, really. That way, his friend wouldn’t see his uncomfortable expression, even if Serafall did.

“Everyone’s busy as of late, I guess,” he replied, lying through his teeth.

Sure, his peerage and him were busy, but nowhere near enough not to train and if they could train, they could do it with Joshua. However, the times had changed since they’d first met the human magician. He was no longer someone around their level, strong but unimportant in the grand scheme of things.

No, now he was someone and, as such, he had to deal with a lot more things than they did.

Hell, Joshua had replicated the Phenex’s Power of Immortality of all things. Furthermore, he was also doing a bunch of other things, projects that Sairaorg would hear a bit about every time they met. The human was just on another level of having a full schedule. Sometime’s Sairaorg would ask Serafall how things were going for Joshua and her answers had him pitying his friend quite a bit.

And yet, the man still found the time to work on healing Sairaorg’s mother.

Now that he knew Lord Sitri was fine, it became all the more meaningful that Joshua just kept going. Because it was one thing if he was dedicating his time to improving his standing with a Lord of a House and the father of someone he was in a relationship with, nevermind the fact that she was also a Satan. It was another entirely for him to continue going through with his Sleep Disease research and cure project now that the only true target was Sairaorg’s mother who was…Not that important in the grand scheme of things either, even if it left a bitter taste in his mouth to admit.

Sure, there were other Sleep Disease victims, but Sairaorg couldn’t see Joshua going for it just for the clout and favor of Houses he didn’t care for. The magician wasn’t above playing the game, he’d shown that, but Sairaorg knew the man wouldn’t go out of his way for that. He’d only do that if he had a reason, and he couldn’t think of one, really.

So, surprising as it was, Sairaorg was sure the magician was doing all that he was because of him.

To him, his mother might have been everything, but to Joshua? She was no one. They didn’t know each other besides his friend monitoring her and testing his spells on her. Joshua was going through all that trouble, trying to achieve the impossible again, just because Sairaorg was his friend. It was…

Very humbling, if he was completely honest.

“Hm, that must be it,” Joshua said absently and Sairaorg resolutely ignored the sad smile Serafall sent his way.

With all that in mind, how was he going to take even more of Joshua’s time with training? It might be something that Sairaorg would never stop doing, pursuing his dream and to prove himself to the Underworld. However, he knew that would be just taking from Joshua already very limited time.

To hear Serafall tell it, even when Joshua was training he was also doing a bunch of other things. His friend was either mastering the art of multitasking or spiraling quickly and recklessly to a collapse. Sairaorg refused to be part of what pushed his own friend to the latter. That was why he never asked for visits for his mother and why he never really asked for much in terms of progress checks and such.

It was important to him, nothing was more important.

However, he knew that Joshua was doing his best. He knew that his friend was working himself into the ground trying to make progress while also balancing a bunch of other plates that were probably equally as important if not more. As it was, he already felt terrible enough as is, having placed his own friend in such a position while Sairaorg himself just… went about his days without a single worry in his mind.

All he had to do was wait for the cure to be made and train in order to further his ambitions.

Meanwhile, Joshua was pushing against Khaos Brigade, making a name for himself in the world, having a family, saving Sairaorg’s cousin and saving Sairaorg’s mother, among a bunch of other things. He wasn’t even sure all that Joshua was doing, which made him feel like a terrible friend by itself. All that just cemented his decision to leave his friend alone, for the most part.

The last thing he wanted was to make things more difficult than they already were for Joshua.

“I guess there’s nothing to do about that,” Joshua commented, sighing and letting his shoulders drop before closing his notebook. “Everyone’s got their things to worry about,” he mused out loud. If Sairaorg hadn’t known any better, he’d have thought that his friend was purposely trying to make him feel bad.

“Sorry,” he said with a grimace.

“Don’t worry about it. I understand. I’m plenty busy myself,” Joshua added, only making Sairaorg feel worse. “Well, I think I’m ready,” his friend continued, standing up and running his fingers through his hair.

He always looked nervous when it came time to start casting spells to help his mother, even when they were just monitoring spells. When Sairaorg had asked about that, his answer had been that Joshua worried even the smallest mistake could make things infinitely worse than they already were. There was always a non-zero chance that the Sleep Disease would just react unpredictably and do something… drastic.

Ultimately, just like always, Joshua got to it, placing spell after spell down on the empty space in the big room his mother had been set ever since they started their… experiments, bad as it sounded to use that word. Not like Joshua could place all the spells he wanted in a small hospital room, after all. Sairaorg watched, feeling helpless and nervous, as circle after circle shone under Joshua’s hand every second or so.

He trusted Joshua. Of course he did. However, it didn’t make not understanding what was going on any less overwhelming. Sairaorg knew powerlessness, but he’d seldom experienced it in a level such as the one he did at those moments. Because there was literally nothing he could do. All his strength couldn’t help him do anything in regards to what Joshua was doing. He couldn’t help the man and he couldn’t support him if things went badly.

Sairaorg was strong, but, at that moment, there was nothing he could do but trust Joshua.

However, his confidence wasn’t misplaced.

Spell after spell, his friend proved to him that he was the man for the job. Everything went well, even if every successful spell simultaneously and contradictorily made him feel more nervous and relaxed at the same time. Because every well placed spell meant less chance of something going badly, but it also left him wondering if the next one would be the one to mess everything up.

“Ok,” Joshua mumbled, pulling himself into a straight standing position from where he had been leaning down to place spell after spell on the floor. His human friend took a deep breath in, letting his head fall back and facing the ceiling. Then he let the air in his lungs out. “Final cluster,” he announced then and Sairaorg stiffened.

‘This could be it,’ he thought to himself, as he had many times already and as he would many other times in the future. He just couldn't help the jolt of anticipation that shot through him every time. ‘This could be it.’

He didn’t even know if it was dread or hope that he felt.

This could be the moment where everything got worse.

This could be the moment where everything got better.

Cutting through his thoughts, Joshua started casting once more. Spell after spell shone and Sairaorg felt himself more and more tense by the second. His eyes darted from his mother, to his friend, to Serafall and back again. ‘I need to get a grip,’ he thought to himself and yet he couldn’t bring himself to do anything other than standing there and not move a single muscle.

“That’s… that’s the last one,” Joshua said, and Sairaorg could hear the exhaustion in his voice. However, the man didn’t move, didn’t relax. He stood over the work of art that was the spell array, with its many wardstones and other foci. Sairaorg could see his eyes darting this or that way and his hands twitching as if trying to do something when there was nothing to do.

He wondered if he was feeling anything from his spells or if-

Joshua stiffened, his back straightening and his expression unreadable.

It made Sairaorg heart sink before-

“... Sairaorg… My dear Sairaorg…” a voice said and his eyes widened. Instantly, he was already by his mothers side and, sure enough, her eyes were open. “My dreams… they were real… I really… saw you grow…” his mother said and he had to make a conscious effort not to break then and there.

“Mother… mom,” he replied, voice thick with so many emotions that he couldn't even pinpoint them. “I love you, mom,” was the first thing he told her, because he couldn't live with himself if he didn’t tell her.

“I… love you… too… my dear Sairaorg,” she whispered, sounding so very weak that her voice could have gotten lost in silence and yet it was the loudest sound Sairaorg had ever heard. Because he’d never thought he’d hear it and now, now he refused not to hear it. “You have become such a… splendid person… I’m so… proud of you… my dear Sai…”

“Mom?” he asked, feeling panicked. Because that wasn’t a nickname there at the end. No, that was her voice losing what miniscule strength it possessed a second ago as her purple eyes were once again hidden from him. “Mom!”

“Sairaorg,” someone said before a small yet strong hand held his arm. He realized, with that interruption, that he’d been about to shake his mother trying to keep her awake or wake her up and that wouldn’t have helped at all. “I’m sorry.”

“No… No, she… She was awake,” he said, turning towards Joshua, who looked at him with a pained expression.

“I’m sorry. I… don’t think it’s gotten worse, but it just… slipped through my fingers,” the man started explaining frustration and the smallest tinge of desperation in his voice. “I can make it better though. I promise you, Sairaorg. I just need-”

He didn’t let him finish, moving as fast as he could and wrapping his arms around Joshua.

“Thank you,” he said, feeling a knot in his throat and tears threatening to fall from his eyes. “Thank you, Joshua.”

Then he felt his friend’s arm return his hug.

“Don’t mention it, Sairaorg,” he replied. “That’s what friends are for.”

[} Chapter End {]

Hey guys! How’s it going?

He tried so hard and got so far, but in the end-

Ahem, er…

Um…

Anyway, Joshua’s close to done with Project Awakening, it seems. People beware, because that just means he’ll have more time soon. And that means he’ll have more time to pull of more ridiculous stunts. The DxD world’s logic (my DxD world’s logic, at least, because we all know canon DxD world doesn’t have that) better be prepared, because Joshua Davis isn’t done yet, not by a long shot.

Still not there though, but soon…

Just 50 more chapters at most, I promise.

Just in case it’s not clear, that’s a joke, but it could take me a few more chapters. After all, he’s not there yet, and any change he makes to his spells takes time and all.

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter.

Discord Link: discord.gg/UTDransjJZ

Random Question: What did you expect when you first started to read GoM? Is it what you thought it’d be or is it different? Bad different or good different? Why? (Long complex set of questions but I wanna know… Pretty please?)

See you.