[Chapter:9][A tale of two kitties(2)]

"You, Shirone, and your sister, Kuroka, might very well be the only surviving Nekoshou left. I don't know why the Nekoshou went extinct, but it doesn't matter right now. What matters is why what happened to you two, happened."

"Your mother married a Devil from the branch family of the Naberius family, one of the 72 pillars of the Underworld. And this particular branch family has been researching a way to strengthen Devils far beyond even the four Satans within a short period of time. And the subject of their experiments is…"

Rias-chan didn't finish her sentences as Koneko-chan, whose eyes became unfocused as though she were recalling a person she barely remembered, an important her forgotten person, finished it for her.

"My mother."

"Yes, till she died as a consequence of those experiments."

Koneko-chan flinched.

"The experiment was a failure, but the research was not stopped. And there were two little Nekoshou that the previous failure had left behind. So what do you think happened?"

"…no…"

Koneko-chan's eyes widened in horror as she came to the rather obvious conclusion.

Based on the anime, Kuroka hid her pain and suffering from her little sister, choosing to bear it all by herself as she sought to protect her little sister in her own way. Even to the end. Stupid in many ways, but it's what she chose.

"Your sister Kuroka was the next obvious choice, and for better or for worse, she wasn't a complete failure. She was reincarnated as some Devil's Bishop, and through repeated experiments, experiments which cause her pain I cannot even imagine, injecting her with things with names I probably can't even pronounce, she somehow reached Ultimate Class in power. Yet she had reached her ceiling. Her body had become contaminated, and no matter what she did, no matter what they did to her, she would no longer be able to grow stronger. Although not a complete failure, she wasn't a success either."

"…then…I…"

At this point, Koneko-chan's body began to tremble lightly. Looking at her, I glanced around but realised there's no 'motherly figure' here who could console her. Something to note in case I ever get to invite other girls to the Group.

"I don't know how she learned of it, but they were going to dispose of her and turn to you. At the very beginning, when she agreed to become their test subject, the only reason for her to continue beating all hat pain and suffering is because they had given her their promise that they wouldn't involve you in it. But now that they were about to break the very reason she probably didn't take her own life…"

Although Rias-chan exaggerated a little at the end, the effect was clear as tears streamed down Koneko-chan's face. Looking at Rias-chan who stood there without moving, I sighed before dragging her over and pushing her towards the crying little cutie.

"Wha-!?"

My sudden action didn't give her the chance to react till she was right before Koneko-chan, at which point she looked at me with a confused expression on her face.

"…"

I felt my lips twitch as it mage a hugging gesture and mouthed, 'Console her you dumb woman.'

She seemed to have gotten the message as she glared at me, not really intimidating considering she also poured cutely, before focusing on her Rook.

"Don't cry, Koneko, everything alright now. Aren't you alright here? Happy, with us? With me?"

"As for your sister, although I can't do anything to help her right now, once we become stronger, we can start looking for evidence. Your sister is fine, Koneko, and she loves you dearly. As long as we can clear her crimes, and you are willing to forgive her, I'm sure she would leave everything in the world that could possibly matter to her and come running to give you a hug."

"Don't cry…shh…it's alright…"

I looked at the emotional scene as I lied back down on the sofa, ready to go back to sleep.

"Good job, Admin-san. I honestly didn't expect that from you."

I replied to Kaguya-chan's voice as I closed my eyes and got into a more comfortable posture.

"Seeing a girl cry would disturb the quality of my sleep."

I saw her blink before a smile appeared on her beautiful face.

But that's all I saw as sleep claimed me, and once again, I journeyed to the land of dreams…

. . . . . .

. . . . . .

"Thank you, Irene-san."

Rias-chan bowed deeply to Irene-chan, who only smiled at her.

"It was just a little trick, nothing much."

"Still, if it wasn't for you, Koneko wouldn't have been able to listen to my words calmly."

Indeed, compared to the anime, Koneko-chan's response was very mild and calm when she learned the truth. And the truth soon got out as it turns out, Irene-chan had used a simple magic that calms the target's mind, making them less agitated and more receptive to other's words.

"It's something I learned to take care of my own mind, keep myself from going mad…though, I guess, it didn't work as well as I expected it to at the end."

A helpless smile appeared on Irene-chan's face. She recalled her ending, committing suicide using her own daughter, no doubt.

But now that she's a part of the Group, such a stupid ending obviously wouldn't happen.

Even if we met for less than a full day, I doubt anyone here would be willing to let another suffer such a fate.

"Ara, thank you, Admin-san."

I blinked at Irene-chan's words.

"Ah, did I say that out loud?"

"Yes you did.", she smiled, as did the rest of the girls.

Then, our gazes turned to Koneko-chan, who had cried herself to sleep, and Akeno-chan, who was taking care of her.

As for Kiba-kun, he was sitting there far away from all of us while observing us with a worried and thoughtful expression. Looks like he's also recalling his own traumatic experience.

Unfortunately, unlike in Koneko-chan's case, there wasn't much an outsider can do for Kiba-kun. As I thought, revenge is truly poisonous, both for the one on whom the revenge is being directed, and for the avenger themselves.