Of Foxfire and Cultivation Ch.9 (Patreon)

One week later (Onari age:16 ~one year before canon)

“Hohohoho!” Yu Wu laughed her young mistress laugh.

She was currently perched atop the entrance gate to a school. Onari stood off to the side a little ways away with an impish smirk on his face. The pair of Dao Companions had officially started their tour of Japan, and their first stop was Kuoh. More specifically, Kuoh Academy to visit the devil heiresses that went to school there.

They had arrived at the school early, and watched the sun come up together. They knew they had to be diligent if they wanted a chance at beating their target’s daily schedule. Over the years they had been doing the tour, this act had evolved into one of their most treasured traditions: messing with the devil heiress known as Sona Sitri.

“Please get down from there, Yu Wu-san…” an exasperated Sona said, barely holding herself back from facepalming.

“Of course! It is only right for this young mistress to meet her rival on equal ground!” Yu Wu declared, stepping down from the gate and striding up to Sona.

Two of Sona’s peerage members, Tomoe Meguri and Ruruko Nimura, muffled their giggles with their hands. Sona’s queen, Tsubaki Shinra, shot them a scathing look. Onari also made himself known, walking up to Yu Wu’s side and giving Sona and her peerage a casual wave.

“Yo,” he said. “It’s been a while.”

Sona sighed, “Indeed it has, Onari-san. I see that neither of you have changed at all in the past year.”

Yu Wu scoffed, “Change!? This young mistress says perish the very thought! If this young mistress was not true to herself, then she would never be capable of matching her rival, the great devil heiress Sona Sitri!”

Sona sighed again, “Please… Please don’t call me that…”

“I don’t know, I think that title suits a lady of your station~” Onari teased, smirking.

Sona went to reply, but Tsubaki interrupted her before she could speak by clearing her throat, “Apologies, my king, but maybe the two of you should continue this discussion in private…”

Sona looked around. It was early enough that not many people were roaming the streets of Kuoh, but the ones that were occasionally shot curious glances at the small group that had gathered in front of the school.

“... Yes… Quite…” Sona conceded. The only visible hint of her embarrassment was the almost unnoticeable coloring of her cheeks. Onari and Yu Wu shot each other quick, satisfied looks at the inconspicuous evidence of their teasings’ success and fist bumped over their bond.

The pair were led into the school by Sona and her peerage. The only sounds that echoed through the hallways as they made their way to the student council room were the group's footsteps. The soft taps of multiple pairs of shoes impacting the linoleum floor marked their journey.

They eventually reached their destination. Sona let everyone in, and Tsubaki immediately set about making tea for their guests. Sona took her place behind the student council president’s desk, sighing as she settled into the comfortable and familiar seat.

She always found dealing with these two people to be trying on her mental state. Whenever they visited, she had to find little ways to deal with the hassle they caused her.

It wasn’t to say that she hated either of them. In fact, Sona quite liked Yu Wu’s boisterous, positive nature and the one-sided rivalry the young mistress seemed to have with her. And Onari was always easy on the eyes. The almost constant, teasing smirk that seemed to say that he knew more than she did never failed to send shivers of desire down Sona’s spine.

“Ahem,” Sona cleared her throat, shaking off that naughty thought. “Well… It seems that we have some time before my partner in ownership shows up for the day. Would either of you care to join me for a game of chess?”

“Of course! Another of our classic games of wit, skill, and mental quickness! I will not lose this time, my rival!” Yu Wu exclaimed.

Sona, knowing that Yu Wu would immediately accept her challenge, had already started laying out the board and pieces. She chose black, allowing Yu Wu to make the first move. Yu Wu gazed at the board, pretending to consider her options intensely.

“~Help me!!!” she whined at Onari through their bond. “You know how bad I am at this stupid game…”

Onari managed to keep his chuckle at Yu Wu’s antics from showing to the outside world, and directed her move. Sona instantly answered back with her own move. And so the game progressed. Onari would feed Yu Wu a move, and Sona would consider her options and reply.

Onari was well versed in the world of strategic games. Much of his past life had been spent obsessing over various boards and games. It was one of the only ways he could feel that he had power. It was one of the only ways he could feel the rush of a well-earned victory.

Testing his skills against Sona through Yu Wu was, in a strange way, nostalgic. It brought him back to his roots. It brought him back to the days when he would battle with his brother with only his mind. Every decision mattered, every possibility had to be accounted for, and Onari felt that he could just let his mind melt into the trance of the game.

Yu Wu contributed to the game with her own consistent interjections to make it look like she was actually playing. A constant stream of “Hohohoho!”, “Hmm!”, “Aha!”, and “Of course!” filled the silence of the room. Tsubaki served the tea, but otherwise, the rest of Sona’s peerage stayed quiet in the background.

In the end, Sona had to announce Yu Wu’s victory. Yu Wu was so engrossed with her act of playing the game that she didn’t even realize she had won.

Sona was struck almost speechless, “... That’s… Checkmate…”

“Hoho-... What?” Yu Wu said, sputtering to a stop in the middle of one of her exclamations. “O-Of course! ‘Tis only natural! This young mistress has spent an entire year sharpening her skills after all!”

“Y-Yes, q-quite…” Sona said, reeling from her first ever loss. “... I suppose congratulations are in order. You played a very good game. It was interesting to the very end.”

“Bah! Where’s your fire, my rival!? Yes, you have been beaten, but that does not mean you can not come back stronger!”

Onari and Yu Wu stared in awe as Sona started to chuckle. It was the first time either of them had seen the stoic heiress laugh at all. And neither of them had thought her laughter to sound so unexpectedly adorable.

Sona sighed as her giggles came to an end, “Haaa… You’re right. When you come back next year, I’ll give our match my all.”

Yu Wu flashed Sona a genuine smile, “I look forward to it, my rival.”

By this time, school was about to start. The window of the student council room overlooked the entrance to the school, and Onari could see that the academy grounds had steadily filled up with students. Sona sent Tsubasa Yura, her rook, as a runner to fetch Rias and her peerage from the ORC.

Tsubasa soon returned with the other devil heiress of Kuoh in tow. The first thing through the doors to the student council room was a little white blur, reminiscent of Kunou, that streaked toward Onari. Rias and her peerage entered the room, seeing the now familiar scene of Koneko buried in Onari’s chest and inhaling his scent as he patted her head.

Onari quietly greeted the devil-Youkai hybrid, “Hey, little kitten. It’s been a while, but I’m back like I promised. I even brought news on a special black cat who’s been lurking around Kyoto…”

Koneko stiffened slightly at Onari’s mention of her sister, but ultimately nodded into his chest. A year ago, Onari had become Kuroka and Koneko’s only source of contact. It had taken Onari a lot of reassurance and bribes of sweets to even get Koneko to listen to what her sister had to say to her, but Onari thought it was worth it if he could help bring a family together again.

Kuroka had originally shown up at Yasaka's door when Onari was 14. She had begged for asylum, and Yasaka had granted her the protection of the Youkai faction and a place to live. She ended up only occasionally living in the castle, but during her stays, she and Onari had hit it off.

When Kuroka discovered that Onari was going to be making regular visits to Kuoh, she had begged him to deliver a message to her sister. That first message was only somewhat well received by Koneko. In it, Kuroka had explained the truth of the situation that ended with the sisters separated.

With Onari vouching for her, Koneko had reluctantly accepted the honesty behind Kuroka’s words. It helped that the messenger, Onari, was a Youkai himself. To Koneko’s sensitive nose, he just smelled right. That was the only way she was able to describe the reason he was so easy to accept and trust for her.

And so, even though Koneko was basically the same age as him, Onari had gained another little sister figure in the little white cat. When he visited, she clung to him like she was trying to mark him with her scent. He was also the only one Koneko would reveal her ears and tail around.

Rias and Kiba gave Onari fond smiles as they walked into the room. His relationship with Koneko had given Onari a bunch of brownie points with the crimson-haired heiress and her peerage. Well… mostly.

Akeno gave him a polite but slightly distant smile and nod. Akeno and Onari’s relationship was complicated. So far, she had refused all of his offers to get her in contact with her estranged family. Even mentioning Suzaku and how much she missed Akeno hadn’t shaken her steadfast refusal by much.

Onari thought it was a shame, but there wasn’t much he could do other than make it known that he wanted to help. Akeno was obviously hurt by her family’s abandonment of her, and she had good reason to be. Onari wasn’t actually in favor of having her return to the family, or even having her communicate with anyone but Suzaku. He just thought that reuniting the cousins would be good for both of them.

He still kept Suzaku up to date with how Akeno was doing when he visited. He’d also given Suzaku’s number to Akeno so that she could call when she was ready, but he left it up to her to reach out.

“What’s Nee-chan been doing?” Koneko asked, pulling Onari out of his musing.

“Well, she seems to be doing well. She still only occasionally drops by Kyoto and the castle, but recently she stopped coming. When I asked her about what she was getting up to, she told me she had joined a team.”

“Mm…”

“She still associates herself with the Youkai faction, but she told me she doesn’t want to make things complicated. There’s probably some politics involved with her new allies. In fact, she told me that the team’s leader is a half-devil named Vali Lucifer. Apparently, he ran away from home at a young age, and was taken in by the Grigori when he awakened his Sacred Gear: Divine Dividing.”

“Excuse me?” Sona interrupted. “The newest White Dragon Emperor is a descendant of Lucifer? And he’s also associated with the Grigori?”

Onari nodded, “That’s what Kuroka told me. Honestly, I didn’t pay much mind to anything other than learning what’s been up with Kuroka for Koneko… It sounds like Three Faction politics, and I try my best to stay out of those.”

“That’s… understandable. Still, this is valuable knowledge. Do you mind if I inform my sister of this?” Sona asked.

Onari shrugged, “Go ahead. All I ask is that you try and keep me and mine out of the crossfire. Even if the higher ups in your faction know that Kuroka has been unofficially pardoned, she’s still technically classified as a stray devil. I don’t want the Youkai faction and my mother to come under fire for harboring a ‘fugitive’.”

“Certainly. I’ll make sure my sister treats this sensitive information with the care it deserves.”

“Great!” Onari said, pulling Koneko fully into his lap. “Now that that’s settled, we can get down to business. How have things been in Kuoh over this past year?”

Rias spoke first, taking a seat beside Onari and Yu Wu, “Things have been normal for the most part. There has been a slight uptick in strays in and around town, but nothing the two of us can’t handle.”

Sona took over for Rias, “There was an incident about a week ago that we attributed to Youkai activity though. We believe the perpetrator was an Oni of some kind, but they moved on before we could positively identify them. Luckily the damages were rather light. Just a raided alcohol warehouse and rumors about some of the town’s homeless residents going missing around the same time.”

“Stealing alcohol?! How uncouth!” Yu Wu interjected.

Onari hummed, “Your description of events certainly fits the Oni stereotype, but we can’t say for sure what it was without more evidence. Stray Oni tend to be much more blatant with their actions as well… I’ll ask around about stray Onis and other Youkai, but if it has already moved on, it’s unlikely that we can do much.”

“As I suspected,” Sona said, nodding. “Still, it’s a shame that whatever it was got away.”

“If it would make you feel better, Yu Wu and I could take a quick look around the area surrounding the town?” Onari offered.

Yu Wu puffed herself up proudly, “Of course! This young mistress’ tracking and investigation skills are unmatched! It will be child’s play for this one to pick up the Oni-demon’s trail.”

“That would be reassuring. Neither Rias or I can afford to leave our post to go on a potential wild goose chase.”

Onari nodded, “We’ll spend some time searching before we leave.”

“Then I believe that is all that we have to report.”

“As always, you two have been a pleasure to have as supernatural neighbors. I know all of you have school to get to, so Yu Wu and I will get out of your hair.”

“Un… Stay…” Koneko said from Onari’s lap, gripping one of his sleeves.

“Sorry, little kitten. We have to go for now. How about this? I’ll come back once school lets out, and we can hang out some more then. We can spare a few hours before we start our search. Yu Wu and I will entertain ourselves around town while we wait.”

Koneko reluctantly nodded. Onari picked her up from his lap and set her on her feet. He ruffled her hair, making her pout and cutely try to straighten it, and they said their goodbyes to the rest of the devils in the room.

“What do you want to do until Koneko’s classes let out?” Onari asked as he and Yu Wu walked out of Kuoh Academy and onto the streets.

Yu Wu’s lips stretched in a mischievous grin. She grabbed her Dao Companion’s hand and started pulling him rapidly through the streets of Kuoh. Onari let out a fondly exasperated sigh when he realized where she was taking them.

The pair soon came to a stop in front of an infamous street of Kuoh. Lining either side of the street were numerous love hotels decorated with neon lights, hearts, and lovey-dovey people coming and going. Onari turned to look at Yu Wu with wryly amused eyes.

Yu Wu looked somewhat sheepish, but didn’t back down or change her mind, “Dual Cultivation?...”