Dungeons and Devils 2 (Chapter 4) (Patreon)

Pov: elsewhere

An elderly man walks through a peaceful little garden, pink Sakura trees gently rain their petals on the stone walkway.

The past month has been absolutely horrid.

Some fools decided to raid the armory and hunt down some filthy youkai with weapons they shouldn't have been touching.

That has in turn caused the Youkai factions to become... difficult...

The north, west, and eastern youkai factions at the very least. The southern youkai faction seems to have been left out of the loop... for good reason. Even among the youkai they are viewed as savages.

Its says a lot when a monstrous race decides you are too monstrous for them.

He freezes, the hairs on the back of his neck raising.

With a noise akin to someone tearing a piece of fabric in half, a large rift appears in the air before him the inside is dark and wispy, dozens of red eyes lock onto his form as a woman appears in the gap, she has long blonde hair and deep purple eyes, wearing a deep purple dress, a pale pink mob cap with a thin red ribbon tired around the rim, smaller ribbons are tied liberally on her accessories and the tips of her hair. In her hand, she wields a lacy pink parasol and a paper fan.

"My My, I heard that your little clan was causing oh so many issues, but I never expected that the taint would be so deeply rooted within the clan." She begins as she opens her fan, using it to cover her mouth as her eyes stray over the elder clan patriarch. "To think, you, as the head of the Kushihashi clan would be so indifferent to the hardships you cause my people. So encouraging of them..."

"BEGONE YOUKAI!" The man snarls. "YOU ARE NOT WELCOME IN THESE LANDS."

"Oh, I believe that I am." The woman smiles.

People rush into the garden, toting sealing sigils and swords.

The Youkai casts a slow glance around the area, mentally noting that none of these weapons have a particular abhorrence to Youkai.

"You continue to drag your feet in paying recompense... so I have decided to come here myself to... urge... you to hurry this along. If something of this magnitude, continues to be unresolved, well... I may just decide to take the initiative and claim something that I believe would be of equal value."

"You will do no such thing." The elderly man states.

A smile grows behind the woman's fan. "Oh? And who decides this? You misunderstand one simple thing... the Youkai factions did not become peaceful out of fear of the five principal clans... we became peaceful because that is the next logical step. To have great strength, and to not use it oppress and kill those who are far weaker than yourself, is what separates civilized people from beasts within the animal kingdom... it is something that even humans cannot seem to understand."

Her smile grows as she steps back through the rip in reality. "One week. You all have one week to decide if you will turn over the prisoners that are being held by the devils, to us, or if you will continue to futilely proclaim that you will take care of their punishment yourself."

**Linebreak**

Pov: elsewhere.

Within a ceaseless void, the sound of a clock ticking can be heard, a sole figure is sitting alone in this void atop a small island. in between her hands is the source of the noise in question.

Divine power radiates from the small figure as she flexes her control over the clock in between her hands, the ticking noticeably slows.

"Chronoa."

the pink skinned girl with pointy elf-like ears glances behind her, to see her mother slowly approaching. "Yes mother? What is it?"

"You are needed to mediate a conflict between the Youkai factions and the five principal clans." The black haired woman replies, she wears a loose-fitting purple kimono, her orange eyes burn like miniature stars.

"Oh no." The smaller girl gasps. "What has happened?"

"The principal clans apparently did something that caused that difficult woman to begin acting out again." The older woman sighs as she rubs her forehead tiredly. "She really likes being lazy, so perhaps the clans truly are in the wrong here."

"W-Who?" The younger woman blinks slowly.

"Yukari Yakumo. The strongest Youkai."

"O-Oh. The one who caused a bit of an issue with the devils a few years ago after she abruptly kidnapped a few entire clans?!" The Shinto goddess of time exclaims.

"The very same." The other god nods once.

"A-and I have to deal with her?" Chronoa whispers.

"Do not worry, Chronoa." The girl's mother smiles. "She will not cause any harm to you. It wouldn't be in her best interest. Nor does she have any reason to."

"A-Alright."

**Linebreak**

Pov: Returned

I stretch my arms above my head as I yawn, glancing around my kitchen.

Ah cooking. A simple joy that is only slightly dampened by my arm.

Of course, it becomes less obnoxious when nobody is watching, as I can conjure myself up a ghost hand to help crack eggs and other stuff, but otherwise? Gotta do it one handed which has certainly improved my hand-eye coordination quite a bit.

I scoop the sunny-side up egg out of the pan and place it on a plate next to two pieces of toast.

A quest has been received:

Survive the Gap Youkai's Shenanigans.

I feel and see nothing, but...

I look around the room cautiously. "Is anyone there?"

"…"

*Riiiiip*

"My my. It's not often someone catches me when I am actively trying to sneak around~" a mature sounding voice echoes throughout my apartment.

I quickly look around, spying nothing out of the ordinary.

I slowly look up to see a rift in reality, the two ends of this rend in space are tied up with two little red ribbons. A dark expanse greets my view as it stares back, numerous red slightly blood shot eyes lock onto my body.

A stunningly beautiful woman sits atop the rift, lounging upon it as if it were a simple chair.

She appears to be highly amused at my slightly cautious gaze.

Abruptly she leans back, falling into the rift in reality.

Her top half reappears in front of me, leaning through another rift as she observes me, taking my face in both hands, her thumb trails across the edge of my eyepatch as a small smile crosses her lips. "Well now... aren't you a cutie?"

She pats my head, frowning at my eyepatch. "You would probably be cuter without the crippling dismemberments."

"Who... are you exactly?" I mutter.

"Oh? Isn't it rude to ask questions you already know the answer to~" she hums as she pulls herself back through the portal and dismounts off the first, gently landing on the floor as she covers her mouth with a paper fan.

"I know you are a Youkai, yes... and that you are... horrifyingly powerful... but that's about... it?" I weakly reply.

"My name is Yukari Yakumo. I am one of the three leaders of the northern Youkai faction which resides in Tokyo, or rather, the extradimensional space tied to Tokyo, Gensokyo." The woman explains.

"Ok." I nod once.

"And you, boy, have certainly caused us no shortage of headaches." The woman continues.

"Oh, well I'm sorry that me being brutally attacked and having my life irreversibly changed was inconvenient for you." I scoff as I roll my eyes.

The woman seems genuinely surprised at my tone.

"You know, not many would blatantly disrespect me as you are right now."

"Well, the way I see it, is that you either kill me... or you don't. I'm not going to let myself be pushed around because some random extremely powerful youkai leader waltzed into my house, proclaiming how difficult I am- despite the fact that I have done absolutely nothing but wish to be left alone by society at large-"

I look back to the plate in front of me, noting the fact that it is now empty. "And is now eating my breakfast."

I glance back to the woman who is gently stuffing a diagonally sliced piece of toast into her mouth. "In short... I would rather die on my feet than live life on my knees."

A smile slowly crosses Yukari's face. "I like you. You remind me of a certain shrine maiden who manages part of the western youkai faction."

"I just wanted to see the one who gave us ample reason to increase the scrutiny of the five principal clans." The woman smiles as I watch her wipe her hands upon a summoned handkerchief.

"For future reference. I prefer my eggs over easy... you cooked those for too long." The woman states as she slowly stands, smiling at my half lidded stare. "Oh, and I take it you want to be a part of the proceedings overseen by a Shinto goddess?"

"What? No. I have school in..."

I look to the clock on the wall. "Thirty minutes."

"I see... I see... in which case you won't be able to get anything out of this, I hope you realize." The woman points out, she seems to be trying to gauge my personality. Am I the type to do something out of greed? Or am I the type to do something because it is right.

"I don't want anything... I just want to be left alone." I sigh as I frown down at the floor.

"I feel our case would be far more impactful if we had the person who was truly affected by this tragedy there in person... if more sanctions do not fall upon the five principal clans, what else may they do? Will they attack and potentially kill other peaceful youkai? Will they murder another simple mother whose only crime was falling in love with someone they didn't approve? Will they shun and abuse sacred gear wielders purely for being born? Kill them perhaps? How much longer will their crimes go unpunished?"

"So... you're manipulating me into doing what you want now?" I observe with a half-lidded stare.

"…"

"But you're right." I point out with a quiet tired sigh that causes the woman's smile to grow as she seems to see something in me that she likes. "I don't know what goes on in the clans, but if a bunch of mouth breathing imbeciles with a collective IQ that is barely room temperature managed to steal not one, not two, but eight Youkai slaying weaponry, even if by all means they were fairly weak weapons, makes me idly wonder just what other items they falsely claimed to have destroyed."

The woman offers me a satisfied nod as she closes her eyes. "Those are my thoughts as well."

A large void opens behind her as she nods once. "Come now, let us be off."

The gap lunges forwards, quickly passing over both of us, then in the next moment, we are elsewhere.

"You can wait here for a moment." The woman states as she turns and disappears through another rift.

I look around slowly, my new surroundings appear to be some sort of living room.

There's a large dent in the drywall to the left and a Tv which has a small gash-like hole that goes completely through it.

I stare at the tv for a long moment.

'Where the fuck am I?'

"Yukarin, I have compiled my observations of the clan armories-"

A blonde woman pauses behind me, she stands in a doorway that lacks a door, a replacement leaned up against the wall beside her, she stares blankly at me for a moment, eyes straying to my eyepatch and down to my blackened plastic right hand.

Realization seems to cross her features as I fully take in her appearance.

She wears a white dress with purple cuffs and collar, an indigo tabard with a white print, white and blue footwear, and a light pink two-tailed hat with many tassels upon the tips.

She has short blonde hair, is fairly tall and has eight large fluffy tails behind her back.

"Are you... the one this is about?" She slowly asks.

"I... guess?" I shrug as I look around the room.

"I see. It is an incredible tragedy what happened to you... especially at such a young age, but you aren't the first Youkai to lose a limb to blades like this. Nor the first to lose an eye."

I look around the room again, seeing as how I haven't been pulled anywhere else quite yet, it appears that Yukari doesn't need me yet for whatever she wants

I take a seat on the couch.

"So... when all of this is over... how do I get home?" I question the eight tailed woman standings beside the couch, a packet of papers clutched within her grasp upon a clip board.

"I will get Yukarin to take you home once this is all over." The woman nods.

I sit by the older kitsune woman for about an hour, boredly skimming through the shop as I wait.

There are so many fun 'special qualities' I can purchase here.

They are basically house rules for me.

From what I can tell, these changes can do pretty much anything. Grant you class features of a class without taking levels in it, changing how a certain spell or feat works, granting powers that don't seem entirely based within dungeons and dragons, then more.

*Rip*

A gap opens up behind me, two arms wrap around my torso and pull me through.

I glance around blearily as I am placed within a chair.

My new location seems to be within some form of shrine, there are two distinctive sides here, firstly, the side I am sat on has Yukari sat just to my left, beyond her, is a woman who wears an orange tabard that goes down into a green dress, she has long blonde hair, much like Yukari, yellow eyes, and has a three-point hat atop her head.

She is sat in a wheelchair, her hands steepled in front of her face she is silently glaring across the shrine towards another group, all of whom appearing to be human.

To my right is a woman with long purple hair that slowly turns into a golden brown as it continues downwards, she has a necklace made of large green beads and wears a kasa hat atop her head, her purple eyes look over me, a concerned frown on her face.

The final person at the table is a white haired woman wearing red and blue with a nurse's cap atop her head her eyes seem to scan my wounds briefly, causing her to let out a quiet sigh as she looks forwards again.

I glance to the other side of the shrine to the humans, I assume them to be the leaders of the five principal clans, as there are five of them.

They all look as if they had just eaten a lemon and are not so subtly glaring at us.

From the rip in reality behind me, the eight tailed Kitsune woman steps through.

Yukari smiles as she reaches out and takes the packet, flicking through the first couple of pages as she seems to skim the text within. "Thank you, Ran."

Her smile is wiped away in an instant as she seemingly spies something.

My eyes are drawn to the only other person here, a fairly tall woman sat up on a throne wearing a pink kimono that barely contains a sizable bust, perhaps around Serafall's level.

she has elf-like ears and short pinkish orange hair, her coal black eyes stray to me, a ghost of a frown appearing on her face as her eyes stray back to the principal clans.

"Is this him?" She questions quietly.

Yukari waves her hand idly causing my ears and tails to pop out. "It is indeed. In addition, I would like to bring something to your attention, Lady Chronoa."

"Oh?"

A rip in reality appears as Yukari shoves her hand- and the papers she was holding- into it.

The time goddess takes the papers and flicks through them slowly.

"YOU ARE TELLING ME THAT ALL THIS IS OVER A SIMPLE TWO TAILED NOBODY?!"

"Oh?" Yukari smiles menacingly as the multicolored monk woman to my right glares hatefully at the men.

"Is this an invitation to have Youkai return to consuming humans because, after all, they are simply 'non-supernatural nobodies'?" The gap youkai continues.

"Do not." Chronoa demands as she suddenly looks up from the packet.

"I can certainly see why you are angry." She sits the papers aside, glancing towards the principal clans. "Numerous promises have gone unfulfilled. Your list of demands are... reasonable. I have spoken with a few of the gods in the Shinto pantheon, and they have agreed as well."

"The five principal clans have brutally assaulted and maimed a peaceful Youkai who, up until that point, used to have great potential, permanently altering his life for the worst, in addition, they have broken a promise made several hundred years ago... this generation may not be aware of it, yet nearly eight hundred and fifty years ago, the youkai factions struck a deal with the clans. Three youkai leaders were sealed away by the clans... yet the youkai factions didn't retaliate and free these three..."

"The reason is quite simple. The deal struck between the youkai and the factions was that, in exchange for them not attempting to free these three Daiyoukai, and plunging Japan into a violent and chaotic war, the five principal clans promised to get rid of the weapons that specifically target youkai and destroy them with the notable exception of blades of legend or weapons of great importance... this promise has been kept by the youkai factions, yet not by you. I have seen the weapon that has caused harm to this boy here, and it is a sickening weapon... it was far too weak to have any effect upon a youkai who is combat inclined. The only youkai who would be slain by the blade are children and defenseless youkai who have not learned how to fight... across your five clans, tucked away in your armories... you have over two thousand blades of exactly the same strength and quality"

"The Shinto pantheon does not wish war on Japan." The woman frowns, glaring at the humans. "This is a direct order. Destroy those two thousand weapons."

"M-My lady, this is far too much to ask for-" one of the men speak up.

"I was not finished speaking." The pink skinned woman booms, causing a suffocating energy to pour from her body.

The shake to my hand abruptly stops as I feel a warm and tingly sensation, the monk beside me breaking the divine wrath of the time god with her own aura of quiet serenity.

She is clearly doing it for my own benefit. None of the other youkai even blinked when the elf-like woman shouted.

I let out a slow calming breath as Chronoa continues.

"As I was saying. In addition to the destruction of these blades. The six remaining participants of this crime shall be handed over to the youkai factions to do with as they wish... in addition the freedom of one of the sealed Daiyoukai shall be granted... Tamamo-no-Mae."

"RIDICULOUS!" One of the men shouts as he stands. "M-My lady you are asking too much of us-"

"No. I'm not. The Shinto pantheon has already decided... Tamamo was the least destructive and most reasonable of the three, thus they have agreed with the request and has deemed that she is the one who shall return."

"P-Perhaps we could negotiate for something else?" One of the men weakly suggest. "P-Perhaps you wish to claim one of the Tenka-Goken? Or m-maybe one of the three great spears? T-the tide jewels?"

"No." Yukari smiles.

"Tama's good." The lavender haired woman to my right nods.

"I do not have time for another round of negotiation." The white-haired woman nods.

"Whatever causes you five to squirm more." The other blonde smiles.

Yukari's eyes stray to me. "Now... thank you for your assistance. I will take you home now."

She snaps her fingers causing a gap to open beneath me, I fall through it and land on my bed, looking up just has the rip in reality shuts behind me.

A quest has been completed!

"…"

I will my tails to disappear as I flop backwards, kicking my shoes off as I allow myself to lay motionlessly in the bed.

'Well, that was mentally draining... despite the fact I didn't do anything...'

I guess it's just a side effect of being within the Gap Hag's presence.

Survive the Gap Youkai's Shenanigans:
Not many can claim to say they have looked upon this elusive Youkai, even fewer can say that they have caught her interest. What was a simple suggestion to an overdeity for you was quite a big deal for her... Yukari Yakumo doesn't... like... people. The fact that she finds herself drawn to you has made you all the more interesting.

Objective:
Survive: [x]

Bonus Objectives:
Impress the strongest 'Youkai Sage': [x]
Go with her to the meeting between the youkai faction and the five principal clans overseen by a Shinto goddess: [x]
Impress Chronoa: [-]
Impress Okina Matara: [-]
Impress Eirin Yagokoro: [-]  
Impress Byakuren Hijiri: [-]

Rewards: 150 Electrum, 1 free Skill Point

Well... admittedly that was a pretty easy quest.

One hundred and fifty electrum is extremely reasonable for like an hour of my time.

My stomach growls causing me to let out a quiet groan.

"fuuuuck I don't feel like cooking again." I whine as I slowly get out of bed.

I'll just make a bowl of cup noodles.

"NAGUUUURE! I WAS SO WORRIED!" Serafall cries as she lunges through the air, knocking me back onto the bed as she hugs me. "WHERE DID YOU GO?! WHO TOOK YOU!? TELL ME!"

I let out a low wheeze of slight annoyance, the wind knocked out of my lungs

**Linebreak**

"Excuse me... Nagure was it?" I hear a feminine voice to my left questions.

I glance over to see a girl with long red hair standing above my desk, a black haired girl with her hair tied up in a pony tail stands just behind her.

"Yeah?" I question boredly.

"My name is Rias Gremory, and this is Akeno Himejima." The red haired girl begins.

"Ok." I blandly state.

"We are a part of the Occult Research Club. But there's a small problem in that a club can only remain if there are four members in it, we have all the members we need currently, but... some of our members are going to leave next year. I was wanting to know if you would like to-"

"Pass. I'm a fan of the 'going home' club. Besides, that supernatural crap is a bunch of nonsense for chuunibyou and the mentally deranged."

"…"

Rias blinks slowly, seemingly surprised at how I just blatantly and unapologetically insulted her.

"Now, if you will excuse me. I live alone and I need to cook my own meals... and considering..."

"This." I shake my prosthetic hand. "It takes a fair bit longer than it would for anyone else"

"Later~" I wave as I grab my backpack and abruptly walk away.

I am gone before they can even fully comprehend what just happened.

**Linebreak**

Rias has been getting a little annoying in her attempts to talk to me recently.

It has been about a month since I originally blew her off and she seems to have taken it as a challenge, constantly pestering me.

All in all, it has been about maybe eight months since I came to this world. The school year is going to come to a close soon, and Rias' Occult Research Club- Excluding Sona and Tsubaki who are merely biding their time to leave and join the student council- REALLY wants a piece of me.

I don't get what has attracted her to me.

Maybe it's some sort of bratty desire to get a toy she can't have? Maybe she is genuinely attracted to me? Who knows. She's a devil. Those that I know are about as mentally unstable as they come.

Well, I mean, Serafall is.

Neo's actually pretty sweet if a bit shy and insecure.

I open the door to my apartment.

"But I am a werewolf of a different pack. Our love is not meant to be."

I let out a quiet sigh as I hear the sound of the Tv.

The moocher is back. Again.

I walk inside, ignoring the blonde laying on my couch in nothing more than a nightgown.

Her eyes trail after me as I quickly walk across her vision, heading to the kitchen.

"Nagure~" she breathes, groaning slightly as she stretches her arms above her head. "What are we having for dinner?"

"Whatever I feel like cooking." I answer the youkai leader lounging on my couch, causing a smile to cross her face.

I sit my backpack on the kitchen table, right in front of the black haired girl quietly eating one of my birthday cake ice cream cups.

I don't mind it too much. She always buys replacements if she ever eats the last one, so it's sort of like having a roommate.

"Hey Neo."

She waves, a smile on her face.

This is my life now, Yukari drops by abruptly, randomly, completely and totally unannounced, Neo is here fairly often and so is Serafall, but they all magically disappear whenever Rias' familiar pokes around my house.

It's like a game to them.

Speaking of Rias, that whole 'hide from the supernatural' thing is going really well. So is the arm quest, actually.

Hidden among the supernatural:

Objective:
Appear to be 'Non Supernatural' for 1 day [x]

Bonus Objectives:
Total Number of days without Rias or Sona discovering you: 226 (Ongoing Objective)
Remain undetected for 7 days: [x]
Remain undetected for 1 month: [x]
Remain undetected for 6 months: [x]
Remain undetected for 1 year: [ ]
Remain undetected until 'Canon' starts: [ ]

Rewards: 3760 Electrum, one (or more) magic item(s) worth up to 16,000 GP, one free randomized 'special quality' under 10,000 Electrum that goes with your build.

Crippled:

Objective:
Last 1 Day with the loss of your arm and eye [x]

Bonus Objectives:  
Total Number of days without regenerating your crippled limb or eye: 241 (Ongoing Objective)
Refuse regeneration for 7 days: [x]
Refuse regeneration for 1 month: [x]
Refuse regeneration for 6 months: [x]
Refuse regeneration for 1 year: [ ]
Refuse regeneration until 'Canon' starts: [ ]

Rewards: 1955 Electrum, 1 Free Feat, 2 free stat points to place wherever you wish.

My lazing about has given me quite a lot to work with, firstly I gained a special quality, which, while this one appears to be quite inexpensive in the grand scheme, has interesting implications in the future.

Tail Warrior:
Kitsune have tons of tails! Why would they only be proficient in using ONE of them?! This special quality grants you the benefit of the 'Grasping Tail', 'Lashing Tail' and 'Mischievous Tail' feats allowing you to manipulate objects with your tail, and granting you the ability to strike things violently with your tails, dealing 1d6 points of damage plus your strength modifier. However, unlike the original feats, instead of merely being able to do one of these things at a time, you may now do as many as you have tails. If you have three tails, you can make three tail attacks, steal three items, or do three other things which you may be able to do with your hands. In addition, you are treated as having the 'Enlarge Tail' spell cast upon you, increasing the reach of your tails by 5 feet, granting you a +1 to hit with tail attacks, and +2 to damage.

Two tails aren't much now, but eventually? Nine separate appendages that I can manipulate as if they are hands?

That sounds pretty good.

It also doesn't say that I can't manipulate weapons with my tails. Grasping tails does, but... this isn't grasping tails, is it?

My potential peak form is wielding eleven swords.

Take that Khaos Brigade dickhead. I'm going to eventually beat your record by FIVE!

Speaking of five, I have also leveled up to level five with my electrum, gaining a new feat which I used to give myself Touki, and let me just say, Touki is indeed something that was required for my continued existence in the world of Dxd.

I feel soooo much better about my safety now.

The me of today is like day and night when you compare it to the person I was when I came here.

Merely by getting Touki, I could have taken on every single one of those clan nobodies who came after me.

Touki:
Prerequisite: 30 in all physical stats (Or Yokai, Level 5, with Senjutsu Feat.)
Benefit: Users of touki gain a Ki Pool equal to 1/6th their level (minimum 1) they may spend a point of this Ki pool to activate their Touki, gaining massively improved physical abilities. Touki remains activated for 1 minute for every ki point you spend, increasing your Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution by 2, +2 for every 6 levels that you have. In addition, you are granted spell resistance equal to twice your level that stacks with any potential Spell Resistance you may have. Finally, you are granted damage reduction equal to your level, this damage reduction isn't overcome by anything, and it also stacks with whatever natural damage reduction you may have.

Special: If you are a Yokai selecting this feat, it makes use of your natural Senjutsu pool of ki, in addition this feat counts as 'Extra Ki' feat, increasing your maximum Ki pool by 2. Touki is one of the few Senjutsu abilities that can be used within your 'Human' form without revealing your yokai traits, however, if you do make use of touki while in your true form, the effects are improved by 1.5 times (Rounded up)

That is game changing. Completely and utterly broken! What the fuck?! Eventually I'll be able to give myself a plus twelve to all of my physical stats in an instant! Hell, why stop at level eighteen's base plus eight? It doesn't imply a cap. So it'll be fifteen total at level twenty four.

That's more than twice as powerful as some of the greatest magical stat enhancements pathfinder has to offer.

Oh, not to mention, this ability stacks with my little 'adrenaline boost' I can do with Senjtutsu, increasing my power massively for six seconds.

I'm feeling hella powerful!

Which probably means I'm barely considered medium class in this world to be completely honest.

"So, Neo." I begin as I walk over to the fridge and pull out a large two-liter bottle of grape soda. "There's actually something I have been wanting to make for a while now, and I was hoping I could get your opinion on it once I finished."

I sit a large wooden bucket-like device on the counter after removing it from under the sink.

She stares at it for a long moment, eyes widening.

She signs two words. "Ice cream?"

"Yep. That's right. Grape soda ice cream. It's pretty good from what I remember, but I wanted a true connoisseur of ice cream flavors like yourself to see what you think of it. Have you had it before?"

The girl slowly shakes her head and gives me her signed reply. "The supermarkets and ice cream parlors don't sell grape ice cream. It sounds... strange..."

"Oh, it certainly doesn't sound like it'll work, but it works."

My hand moves almost on autopilot as I prepare the ice cream machine.

'I wonder how this'll turn out... I've never tried to make ice cream before... I've got the rock salt, sweetened condensed milk and the soda... am I forgetting anything? No. I don't think I am.

I glance over my shoulder to see a large hole in reality. Yukari is inside, she has simply laid down, allowing her head to fall back so she can stare at me upside down, her long blonde hair trailing downwards under the effects of gravity.

"Yes, I am making ice cream, what of it?"

"I want some." She declares.

"…"

"Okay." I shrug as I go back to what I was originally doing.