(DxD: Black) Ch. ???: A place to call

"Hum~..."

"..."

"Hum~...?"

"...!"

**\*BITE!\***

"Ah...!"

**\*PICK!\***

"I win."

"Goddamnit! I'm the old maid again!" And Zenjirou tossed the last lonely joker on his hand on the table, screaming in agony as the rest of our group laughed, except Whis-san, who jumped behind the sofa! Kahahah~, I don't know if he knows, but he's so easy to read. I wonder how his lips are not sore for all of that biting!

Currently, we're now on the Gremory family's special dimensional train, taking us through the Dimensional Gap to the underworld; all of us comfortably lazing around in the main wagon, playing Old maid and throwing talk around. Too bad Yoko and Iris couldn't come since: 1- His sisters would get suspicious and; 2- She's not affiliate directly to the Allocers, so she couldn't possibly use this. Too bad for her, she's losing this show: This is Zenjirou's fourth loss, and I think he might be getting sick of it.

Like I said back in the epilogue, he has zero luck with anything~!

"You guys are not using magic to mess with me, are you?! This would be a real dick move from you!" He crossed his arms and supported himself on the leather seat. I couldn't help but to laugh behind my hand at his pettiness.

"Zenjirou-san, if it's not rude for me to tell you, you bite your lips when you're in a pinch." Whis-san lifted one of her tiny ghost hands and pointed out his flawed habit, which he soon covered with one of his hands, hiding his mouth and grunting under his breath. Tasha was sweet enough to pat him in the back for comfort while Liu Bei shuffled the cards again.

"Deception, quick-thinking and exploration of one's weakness is the key for victory! With that said, we're all having fun, so we're all winners." Said the Chinese lord, ending her shuffle and distributing the cards for each one of us. Whis-san is also quite easy to read since by the beam of her smile, she wasn't the old maid. "Ahah... I got the fateful card! What a start for yours truly."

"You're not suppose to tell us, Ryuubi-sensei." Said the heretic plague dragon with a sigh and tossing his own set of pairs. Before any of us could say anything else, **\*BAM!\***, a crimson rod descend upon and hit him in the middle of his head! The saw stars and Suns for a few seconds before sharpening his eyes and turning around to see the one who gave him that head bump. "Oe, what the hell are you doing, Kan'u?!"

"You mind your words when you speak to my mistress, Brass Dragon!" The other general of the three kingdoms said with her weapon at hands, pointing fingers at my Queen and almost causing sparks to go off from the states they're giving each other. Hahahah, I dunno if I should be honored or scared, but now I have two hysterical figures in my peerage. After that incident, I couldn't believe that miss Guan Yu would bend on her knees and be for her to become one of my Evil Pieces, so that she could join her mistress Liu Bei and her little sister, but unfortunately, I had used my other knight piece our new purple-headed half-ashura Miyuu Ichinose, though, she did say she will stay with her mistress, and by default, our group. While Zenjirou apparently agreed with that deal, since she promised she wouldn't murder anyone anymore(what~...?), Dai Liu and Liu Bei themselves seemed kinda uneasy by the proposal, but said nothing. Now I have a two(unoffical) new Knights and a new Bishop!

Of course, I had to push the 'Mistress Liu Bei' button so that Guan Yu would accept her place as a substitute Knight and not a Rook like her 'dear mistress'. Was I like that before my character development? And now the two were trying to murder each other, Guan Yu locking Zenjirou in a very tight headlock!

"Die for once, Lousy Evil Brass Dragon! It was because of you that my mistress and her younger sister decided to leave the Jade Palace in the first place!"

"Between you and Rina, Anybody with a functional brain would chose be part of a peerage, you bitchy General! Go ahead and drown like a good Chinese girl!"

"Ah~! ah~! Please stop fighting~! This is no good between Team members! We're a peerage, a group, please!" Whis-san tried to separate the two dragons in a lock, but unfortunately they turned all of their rage on her in a grunt that simply spelled 'murder', and my new Bishop whined away and hid under the carton box she brought for this ride. "Hiiiih~! I'm sorry~!"

"Please part ways, you two~! This is not the right moment for a conflict~!" Said our teacher in a incredibly nervous and quiet tone, waving both her hands for the duo fighting. Hearing that, miss Guan Yu halted her assault and kneeled before her 'mistress', while the latter laughed nervously.

"Anything for you, my mistress and General! My loyalty towards yours truly will accompany you to thy grave!" She said, and I swear, a massive amount of sweat drops fell from all of our heads. What a loud servant...

"Precisely what yours truly fears..."

"Come again, my mistress?"

"Nothing at all, Guan Yu..."

"Let's resume our game; shall we?" I picked my own set of cards, and began to toss my pairs like everyone else, until there was only one pair each, and someone has the Old Widow. Devils planning a card game, how ironic... I'm sure this won't be a major plot point later on. Nu-uh, not at all!

"So... This is the Dimensional Gap. The Place where the Dragon of Dragons live." After a while into our match, Zenjirou pointed out, looking outside to the Kaleidoscope environment that was surrounding the Gremory train. For a moment, there was a small greenish glow on the back of his left hand, and then it disappeared. Oh, is he talking with his dragon~? How exciting! But in the end, he sighed. "Pwah, shit. According to Amurokros, I can't pinpoint the DxD even with my Sacred Gear or the boosted gear jewel. Do you think if I try hard enough, I can find him?"

"No possible way." Hah! That was too dry and direct, Tasha! The witch simply said without a single drop of remorse, and Zenjirou almost felt on his seat! I know she's right, but that's way too cruel~! "Things like casualty, probability or notion of physics don't apply to the Dimensional Gap, the link between realities. Who knows, maybe DxD is right besides us, yet there's a full clash of casualties preventing us to see or detect him."

"Haaah~? What are you talking about?" Questioned the dragon, picking again another card from Whis-san's hand and biting his lips, while the grim reaper nodded apologetically. Oh, so he's the old maid now. "Besides, I forgot to ask, why we need this train to travel to the underworld, anyway? Last time, I used a magic circle and went to Kuoh just fine."

"Because it was just you. Even more than that, Zenjirou, Kuoh academy is a Gremory and Allocer territory, so there's already a link between my house, Gremory house and it." A small sting pierced my heart a little. 'My house', my home... I wonder how mother and... Father will face my return. This is already making me nervous. "This train has a special function to find and transport a lot of people to the underworld. Think of the Dimensional Gap as a HUB world, the only difference is that we die if we try to stay too long here."

"Oh, I get it, now." Said the Brass dragon snapping his fingers. He picked another card from Dai Liu's amount and tossed his pair into the mount on the middle of the table. He sighed one more time. "That's a pity. I really want to see the DxD... Or maybe Ophis."

"Dragons are dragged to one another, Zenjirou-san. I have the feeling that you'll find either of them very soon! Just... Have faith!" Whis-san said with a nod and a smile, picking her last card and tossing her last pair, just like the rest of us except Zenjirou and Guan Yu. The gloom atmosphere around him suddenly disappeared. Yay~! He's all fine again. Can't say 'happy', but at least my queen isn't on the blues anymore!

"While you're at it, you can let yourself be killed by the DxD, for what I care, Brass Dragon." Hyah! Guan Yu is being mean again, and the optimism in his eyes then turned into rage! Zenjirou huddled his anger away and turned his hand towards the other last player, the lancer herself, who again was eyeing him so disdainfully. "Don't forget, luck and pluck won't get you anywhere very far, our match proving this by a mile. If you're ready to face the DxD, just remember that he easily dwarves your current strength. You're still too weak."

"The word here is 'still', mr. Sensitive-breasts. I'll still get stronger, and find the DxD. Can't say anything else before I try." And I won't even comment on his first observation that left the lancer blushing and in shock, he's willing to get stronger! That's good, that's fine! I'll also try to get stronger! Everybody else but Guan Yu began to smile and nod for his words, as my newest Knight, Miyuu reached for the last pair of cards on Zenjirou's hand. She stopped in one hand, and immediately he bit his lips again! Recovering from the shock, Guan Yu sighed a laugh.

"Strength without purpose is meaningless, and weakness is not just measured by one's physical approach, but also by intelligence and wit." And her slender fingers picked the card Zenjirou bit his lips for; a grin creeping on hers own as she already picked both cards from his and her hand to toss them on the mount on the table. "And now, for both our matches, I've show you that you're indeed wea-... Hah?!"

"Huh...?" We all turned for her surprised face, but before any of us could say anything, Zenjirou rapidly snapped the sole card on her own hand and in a sonorous **\*PAFT!\***, tossed the final pair on the table.

"Bam! I won! Suck it, Kan'u!" Everything went so fast, but he was right, he had a pair! Miss Guan Yu, who for the moment was so confident, suddenly went white from all the movement, and a small gust of air then blew the card that as hanging from her assaulting hand, landing right on top of the mount: it was the joker card. She was the old maid. "Guess what? I can bite my lips whenever I want. Ever thought of that?"

"Whenever... You want?" Those words hanged from her mouth, as her red eyes turned directly to the cards that were beneath her joker. I tossed my gaze there as well, and it sure was a pair! Hah! So Zenjirou...! "You... You fooled me..."

"Yep."

"Wah~, Zenjirou-san won his first time! He's smart!" Whis-san said clapping her hands, while Dai Liu, Liu Bei and Tasha were blushing a little, a smile decorating the former's face. Me? I was laughing under my breath!

"Hyahahah~! So Zenjirou-kun knows how to use a lead to trick his opponents! So at least on that you're somehow savvy!" I said that of loud, but at the same time I'm blushing. That was cool, that was very cool, so much that I'm kinda getting hot from that aura he's emanating. Still, he's way too dense sometimes, can not let him forget that! "Too bad you can direct that to something better, like people-reading!"

"Hahah~, very funny, Rina. Since when you started to crack those snarks?" He asked as he shuffled the cards with that smirk of his. Really, I can't pinpoint clearly, but he seems healthier since the last time we've met. He began to distribute the cards around, and gave a nasty grin towards the lancer general when it was her turn. "Although I also kinda got a hold in cracking some things, to-...!"

**\*BAM!\***

"Gyaaaaaaah~~!" And then as before, a flash of light crossed between us, and now my 'third' knight and my queen were locked on the floor, rolling around and now hitting each other! "Okay, now I'm pissed! I'll give you a piece of my mind, you scatterbrained shitty general!"

"Don't you dare speak like that to me, you good-for-nothing Brass Dragon! I shall break your neck for talking to me like that! Receive thy punishment!"

"Wah~! Wah~! Stop fighting, you two, please!" The grim reaper girl again began to try to put the two pieces apart, as well all sighed at that, Dai Liu, Shoda and Miyuu laughing, Liu Bei hiding her pretty face from embarrassment and shame, while Tasha sighed and began to continue to shuffle the cards. I don't want to get involved in those affairs, besides, it has been a while since I saw Zenjirou this pissed off. However, something began to happen: Whis-san, out of nowhere, oozed this strange energy, and in the end, she opened her mouth to the point of dislocation, and screamed!: "please... **STOOOOOOOOP~!**"

**\*WHOOOOOOOH~!\***

"Huh...?"

"A-Ah... G-Gah..."

"U-Umuh..." It was again too sudden for words, but just like Nero-nii-sama, Whis-san produced a wavelength with her voice so strong that stunned Zenjirou and Guan Yu at the same time. They paled and their hairs were tinted with grey, popped veins showing as they said nothing before falling on the ground like a pair of statues. Oh, so that's the special ability Sally-chan was talking about. Neat!

"A-ah...! I did it again~!" And when she returned for herself, my newest bishop began to fumble on her words, seeing the two paralyzed teammates by her feet. However, soon something else happen: Whis-san gulped down, and tried to frown. Failing and instead showing a swallowed pouty face! Cute. "I-I mean... This is for... This is for ruining our peace, Zenjirou-san; miss Guan Yu! I-I hope you can learn from that... And please don't hate me~!"

"Ah, don't worry, Whis-san. They're made of iron! Probably the least thing you'll see is either of them dead." I joked, but she took it the wrong way and jumped hearing the word 'death'. Eeeh~, at least we got some peace now. Liu Bei, however, turned to me and apologized with a bow.

"I'm sorry for my protege, lady Allocer." She said in a uncharacteristic sullen and gloomy way, still trying to smile. I laughed a little, so little miss perfect is not always what it seems.

"Ohohoh~! No worries, at least now we can play!" I said, as Tasha finished to shuffle the cards and distributed them for the rest of us, while the pair on the ground was twitching a little, but no longer signs of life. Sorry, Ichijou-kun, I'll help you next time and give you a reward for your effort in controlling Guan Yu. I promise! "Let's play."

"..." She still looked sullen enough, but with my little spirit liftup and the fact that her protege is out of commission, a genuine smile shines on her lips! Yeah! I did it! We all picked our decks, and she was the first to toss her pairs. "Umuh! That's what I'm aiming for, Lady Allocer!"

"Allocer-chin is getting better..."

"Teehee~!" And so our game resumed, as the announcer on the ride said we're getting closer to the underworld...

And closer... To home.

.

~~x~~

.

"I'm home."

"Welcome back, Akiyama."

"Oroh? You're already home, Rei? I thought you would stay the whole evening in the Host club." I questioned my younger sister who was playing video-games on our plasma tv, splattered all over the sofa, hanging my white coat and getting rid of those pesky heels. Sweet release.

"It turns out, Gou-nee, the president said we're free from club activities until a new establishment is build." Oh, is that so? Or is she just trying to snitch her way away from me and her club activities? "According to her, a dragon-shaped Lightning struck the building during the rain and destroy the whole place. So no hostess service from Sasamoto Rei for now, so it seems. What a pity, really~."

"All right, then. Doesn't mean you're free from your home activities." I snagged my place on the sofa, and picked myself a bag of chips. Hohoh, lazy moments like this are also good. "How about Minatsu, Futaba and Zenjirou? What are they doing? If your answer is 'lazing around', tell me where I can find them?"

"Mii-chan and Fuu-chan are cleaning the bathrooms, while Zenji is out for now. He cleaned the springs before leaving, though. Said something about going on a trip" and she defeated the boss of that level, and snagged herself some chips from my bag. Wait, what?

"Zenjirou went on a trip? Why? With who? And to where?" I asked her.

"Dunno, with Rina-chan and the others and I don't have the slightest idea. Don't care much either." She so nonchalantly said. **\*SMACK!\***, I by her from the back of her head, making her almost drop the controller in a pivotal encounter, and grunted. Stupid Rei, momma will kill us if anything happens to that little idiot. "Ah-ah! Violence is a no-no, Gou-nee. Besides, do you think that, with Rina-chan around, he'll have any fun?"

"Still, the old lady might break our bones again if she finds out he ran for his death again." I grimaced, face-palming and sighing. Huuuh~, how the hell this house becomes a mess when either Zenjirou or I aren't around? Things are getting complicated back in the clinic, too. That little shit better be prepared for a beatdown once he gets home. After a while in lazing around, I stood up, stretched myself a little and put things to work. "I'll go ahead and make dinner. Since none of you knows how to cook."

"Now, that's mean, Gou-nee. I can make ice, remember?" Rei said with a pouty face, which soon turned into a mischievous grin. Ahahah... I elbowed her right in the middle of her nose for that! "Owowow~! And that's even meaner!"

"Thank goodness that piece of shit dad taught us at least that." I pulled and folded my bloodied sleeve so that it won't be in the way for cooking, and headed for the kitchen to prepare some meals for those lazy-ass sisters. Calm down, Akiyama, they're your younger sisters, although from different mothers, so be tough, but not mean. Sigh, I failed. At least dad's self-defense lessons were for something. "If you know how to make ice, than prepare a bag for that nose of yours. Today's meal will be noodles, by the way."

"Owow~... Thank God the host club is destroyed, or else I'd have to take a break for that broken nose..." She moaned in pain while holding her bleeding nostrils and running towards the kitchen. I followed her soon after, and when I was about to pick some noodles from the closet, Rei called for me. "Oh-oh! Sister, if you need some assistance...!"

"Do you want a dislocated arm too, Rei?"

"None of that! None of that! But! Yoko-chan and Iris-chan is around! And Yoko-chan knows how to cook. Maybe she can help you with it." Oh, that actually seems helpful. I turned my gaze for the dark-haired woman that was washing her bleeding nose, and picked some bandages and cotton balls for her. Without even batting an eye on me, she picked those and stuffed on her nostrils. "Thanks, Gou-nee. Maybe one day you'll be the kind of sister that will help me before putting me into shit."

"Say it yourself, troublemaker." And with that, I decided to take the elevator and maybe ask for Yoko-chan's help. For some reason, she has been so cold towards us and protective to Zenjirou.

Are they a thing now? I hope so, because I won't have any more problems with him getting out of control. As they gonna get married and have kids? I wonder, I wonder. Here I am, being delusional again since I just broke up with my latest boyfriend. Fortunately, the Sasamoto genes work wonders when the thing is attracting the opposite gender, the main problem, of course, is keeping them, exemplified by my piece of shit father, his three wives and an affair. I shook my head getting rid of the thoughts of the brother that with us is no more(Zeji- don't say like I'm dead or something.), I entered the elevator and waited for it to reach to the fifth floor...

We have the rooms and guest rooms in the fifth floor, a whole dojo and library on the fourth, the changing floor and main closet in the third, the bathing center on the second, the living room, storage and kitchen in the first and an underground hot spring. How on earth the government or the taxers aren't suing our asses for spatial violation is beyond me. Not to mention, the bills are pretty low for a house like this. Which begs the question, why am I questioning myself that if I've been living here since forever? Maybe the clinic is really taking a toll out of me, I need a vacation...

I finally reached for the room floor, and so quietly reached for the doors, where a small plate with the number 9 was hanging from one of them. There it is, Yoko-chan's room. Iris is probably talking a bath and Minatsu and Futaba are probably cleaning the bathroom downstairs, since I can't hear anything around. I sighed, and was ready to reach my hand to give a knock on the door when suddenly...

"Ah~... Ah~... Zenjirou~, not there~...!" My eldest daughter ears caught a sound. And not just any sound, but the sound of someone sexing around! My whole body, including my hand, stopped completely, and so calm and quietly, I sneaked around this floor, hearing a voice echoing. "Aaaaah~, this is... Hyah~, don't tease me like this, you meanie...!"

That voice... Is Yoko-chan's! So apparently either Rei lied to me to try to cover them, or he simply is doing one last time with one of the girls! Wait, wait! Calm down, Akiyama, you can't jump into conclusions again. There's another girl involved, so her testament is as valuable as yours. Instead, I reached myself for Zenjirou's room, where I was hearing those indecent moans, and leaned closer to the door. And again, Yoko-chan moaned!

"A-Ah~, stop it~! I'm f-feeling funny~! K-Kyah~, stop... Not like t-thaaaaaw~! M-My body... Can't control this hotness, Zenjirou...!" Oh! Oooh! Oooooooooh~! They're really at it! Oh my God, my brother graduated from his virginity, and he's still a highschooler! Damn you, Sasamoto genes, you ended up creating another Hajime! We tried so hard to make him fear women, but now, this whole ordeal was pointless, fruitless, useless! He'll go around assaulting all the girls around and making children with them like a madman! I gulped down hard, and tried to hear anything else. And they're still at it! "Mmmmph~! This pose is so embarrassing... Mmmmph~! And this smell is driving me insane~! Mmmph~, make me your slave, your whore and cumcubine~! Oh no, I'm... I'm...!"

Oh, the hell you're gonna do anything anymore, you little shit!

**\*BAM!\***

**"ATOP RIGHT THERE, YOU HORNY TEENAG-**... Oh!"

"Ah...!" And I kicked the door so those horny teens could stop whatever they were doing to look dead at me, and was ready to jump and give a roundhouse kick on Zenjirou and save Yoko-chan, but the actual scenario made me stop on my tracks: there was only Yoko-chan in the room, stripped from anything aside from her panties, snuggling and burying her nose on Zenjirou's covers and pillows and with one of her hands pinching one of her nipples while the other was inside her panties and oooooooh~!, her little butt pointing at the sky. Oh... So doing the sole player. She stopped dead on her doings; letting a small string of ooooh~! Ran from her panties, and looked at me. We were both frozen in time. "A-Ah...! Sister Akiyama...! I thought... I thought you were...!"

"Yoko-chan..." I gulped down hard, and soon enough, regained my calm to from at me. Before she could say anything else, I kicked the door behind me to close it in a loud **\*BAM!\***,and crossed my arms. Gotta stay calm, so that she can stay calm. I looked at her dead in the eyes, and she moved so that she could sit properly and hide her exposed breasts with her arms. I took a deep breath. "I won't tell anyone, but I want you to explain Yourself. I'll give you seven words!"

"U-Uhuh...!" She gulped hard, another stream of sweat running down her forehead, and her little orange eye not covered by the loose eye-patch going everywhere. She's lost, and like a fish, she opened, and closed her mouth. "*I-It... It is not what it looks lik-...*!"

"Try again! Seven words! One more chance!" I stomped on the ground. She jumped from my sudden movement, but in the end, she gulped down one more time, and said it.

"*I touch myself thinking about your brothe*r." She said with a heavy sigh. With that sincere and calmer explanation, I sighed, crossed my arms again, and sighed.

"Okay, next question: do you want to talk about anything?" I asked, calmer this time although the feeling of wanting to do violence with her is far from tiny. She picked her clothes on the floor, and turned her eyes for me, with a sharper line this time. Is she confrontational.

"Only if you're willing to talk to me, Sasamoto Akiyama." She said in a challenging way. "And it's about you, your sisters and my Zenjirou."

Ohohoh, bold, aren't we? She's clearly something else. Let's see what she got!

.

~~x~~

.

"Okay! I'm leaving now, mom! Dad! Ichirou! Jirou! Saburou! Shirou! Gorou!"

"Have a nice day, Mukuro!" And with a final wave, I bid farewell to my family, walking away from home up to Gekkuokan highschool, but not before take a good look in the middle, and adjust my spiky dark-blue hair in a high ponytail, so that only a few strings were falling on my fair face and brown eyes, the scars cutting my eyes vertically not standing out too much now. That's good...

My name is **Miyamoto Mukuro**, and aside from being the only female child of six, I have... Nothing to stand out. Despite my name, I have no Royal lineage, no dark secret or tragic past. I'm just your average first-year student from Gekkoukan highschool trying to live the spring of her life, which would be more fitting if summer wasn't just around the corner and those freaking clouds weren't in the way! Seriously, what the hell is wrong with this weather!

Well, I kinda like the cloudy atmosphere, so that's my only complaint for now. Aside from that, I was just walking around to reach my destination that was Gekkougan high, with my friends **Nakoshi Ichigo** and **Hanamura Momo**, when in the middle of nowhere, in the forest-crossing that is near the cliff which my house is, I sensed a presence filled with ill-intent, and jumped away a few meters. As I was expecting, a dark, mysterious figure wrapped in a black cloak landed there, and turned it's hidden face(I guess it's a face. Is the only part of the cloak that wasn't covered.) to me and my friends only to say...

"You, Miyamoto Mukuro, Nakoshi Ichigo, Hanamura Momo! Would you like to be my bodyguards?"

"..."

"...?"

...

"What?" Yeah, as in, what the hell? That thing is asking me and my friends to becomes it's bodyguards? I mean, like in that classic movie, or those who just are there to die by the end? I'm confused. The cloaked figure lifted it's head for me, and I could see a golden orb looking directly at my soul. Brrr~, creepy as hell.

"Yes. I was looking for people like you." The figure, assuming it's a chick by the feminine voice, said to me in a clear tone of mockery, as I made an '~' with my eyebrows. Isn't that romantic?

"I'm sorry whoever you are, but if you're a girl, I don't swing that way." I said waving my hand in dismiss. She only laughed.

"Hahah, clever, but I'm not here because of that, lass" the cloaked figure said. "Miyamoto Mukuro, the sixth child of the Miyamoto house and the only girl in there. 'Were the captain of the kendo team in middle school, and now is trying to be part of the highschool team. It also says that, when you were 6 years-old... You were attacked by a werewolf. And since then developed lycanthropic powers." She then pointed to Ichigo. "Nakoshi Ichigo, a homunculus named Strangelovian created by the protestant church, using the students of the Nephilim institute created Fallen angels and it also says the core of the legendary golem Gogmagog." Then to Momo. "Hanamura Momo, or Momotarou Momo, descendent of the japanese hero Momotarou, and the daughter of the creator of Ichigo, who aided in Ichigo and four other homunculi's escape. It says you also have a Dog, Pheasant and Monkey familiars."

"...!"

"...!"

"...!"

"Ohohoh... Y'know what, you kinda reminds me of an old friend of mine." I don't know how the hell she knows so much about yours truly and my friends, but the way she's doing it is pissing me off. Royally. I dismissed my bag, and sharpened my eyes, looking back at the golden orb hidden in mystery, as Ichigo morphed his arm into a blade.

"Cut the crap already, however you are. What do you want from us?" I said, stomping both my feet on the ground and readying myself for a possible clash. Again, that cloaked figure chuckled under it's mystery and looked back at me. "Answer me, otherwise I'll cut you into pieces!"

"Relax, will ya? I'm just here to make a proposal." I heard a loud **\*CRACK!\*** from her, and I thought it would be something else, but in the end, it was just her cracking her fingers. "There are not many lycanthropes around here, nor his Homunculi, and one of each is already part of a group of Devils. I'm here to say this: There's gonna be a meeting between Devils and vampires near Kuoh town, and if you help me with them, I can give you a big reward."

"As in... Cash?" I said. Now we're talking: there's no such thing as too much money. The cloaked figure nodded, and I lowered my pose a little. A little. "Very well, it doesn't seem like an easy job, though. Why exactly are you recruiting us?"

"Lycanthropes are deadly against vampires, if you don't know. Besides, I just want someone who's also pretty sharp to help me bypass some securities. Plus a homunculus that can exorcise vampires and a girl with scouting familiars would also be helpful." Ohoh, never thought that attack from ten years ago would come in handy in this time. "If My plan is successful, I'll become the Vampire King, and have enough treasures to reward you. How about it, huh? Sounds promising?"

"Indeed it is." I smiled, thinking how much meat I'll be able to buy with that! However, whoever is under the cloth, she's pretty stupid. She's small and fragile-looking. If she wants to take down an empire... Well, they'll take her down first, that's for sure. "But there's a big flaw in your plan."

"Huh? And what it is?"

"This plan is stupid." And I passed around her like it was nothing. I mean, yeah, having a werewolf such as yours truly sounds like a wonderful plan, but here's the thing: she said it's gonna be just the two of us. That's downright suicidal! Like hell I'll agree with that, no matter how many bucks are in. "Like, just the four of us against, what you said?, an entire empire? This is stupid. I'm out of here."

"What if I can say... I have a plan?" And before I could do anything, I blinked and that same cloaked figure was right in front of me, again the **\*CRACK!\*** sound echoing in the silent forest! So fast, I jumped away, and turned around. Yes, she was there before, and to move in such speed like that... She's strong. "Do you really think I wouldn't have a plan for that? You guys are just a small part of the plan I have stored. So don't worry, it's not as suicidal as you think. But I'll need you, miss werewolf."

"..." Man, when she put it like that, even I'm feeling a little pumped-up for that. But still, who the hell cloaks itself from someone they want trust from. Sounds fishy. "I dunno... I have exams to do... And seriously? I'm not putting too much trust in you."

"Of course. So there's only one way to show you that I'm serious." And sudden, for some reason, I felt the smell of blood, my accurate senses going overdrive for that foul smell. I looked back at her, and there was a thin Crimson mist surrounding her. What was that? Is that her power? Shit, she's up for a fight! "I challenge you to a duel, Miyamoto Mukuro. I shall show you my power... And my will to become the one and only vampire King!"

"Is that so? Okay, guess I have no choice." I said with a sigh, and sharpened my eyes against her, seeing Ichigo form is arms into cannons and Momo summon her dog and bird. I don't give two cents about her objective, but when someone threatens me, it's on! "[Sword Birth]!"

And with just that command, several strange swords sprouted from the ground. I have this ability since I was a kid, and everyone says it's pretty neat. The ability to create swords, isn't that kind of ironic? So much it's annoying, it's like fate itself thinks I'm related to Miyamoto Musashi or something...

"Oh-hoh? So you have a sacred gear as well? This is perfect." The cloaked thing said, pulling the hood of her cloak as well, showing a doll-like girl with short green hair and golden eyes, but for some reason she was wearing an eyepatch. From one of her sleeves, she also pulled a ninja knife on her bandaged hand. "Don't mind my appearance, those are just collateral effects from a defection. I can still kick ass. I'm a ninja, after all."

"So this thing is called a Sacred Gear... Neat." I said in response, finally knowing what to call this besides the name that echoes in my head every time I use it. Without losing any more time, I picked two swords on the ground and charged at her. "Okay then, En GARDE!"

"Gladly!" And she charged at me, until we finally clashed blades.

Like I said, I'm just a normal highschool student trying to live the spring of her life... Not!

Next; {{Unnamed}}.

Previous; I rather have friends.