game of monster

If I Didn't Have You-

"Dad?" Kunou asked one morning while he walked in, yawning and blinking blearily. It was one of those mornings. Mornings in which he was more tired than when he went to bed and he felt like he'd gone through a workout… The best kind of workout though, of course, which was why even with how he felt, he had a slight smile on his face.

"Yeah?" he replied, watching Friday prepare him a cup of tea and he didn't even need to tell her to do it, or correct her… much. The spell was, much like Margalo, a very kind… creature? He still wasn't sure if she counted as such, but it felt bad to call even his other familiars that. She was very kind, that was the gist of it. She liked to help, which was why she often topped up his magic reserves from the ward arrays' own reservoir, or she'd hand him stuff when he needed them, like pencils or notebooks.

She was adorable, like a kid trying to help her father at work.

"Why are you more tired in the mornings sometimes?" Kunou asked and he was grateful that his tea wasn't ready or he'd have spat it out mid sip, he was sure. Yasaka, sitting beside the girl, wasn't quite that lucky. Even though she did choke on her own tea, she didn't let it show. She was impressive that way at keeping appearances.

"Well… your mother kicks in her sleep sometimes," he decided to go with, thinking fast. He could have said something else, he supposed, but seeing the Youkai leader's scandalized face let him know he'd made the right choice. "So, sometimes it's a little hard to sleep well. And Serafall can be a little too clingy while asleep," he added, and by then Jeanne was snickering like a little shit.

He didn't blame her much for that though.

Joshua was doing the same, although he had the decency to do so in the privacy of his own mind.

"I do not!" Yasaka protested when she finally recovered, half glaring and half pouting, with her face turning a little red. It was always a huge victory in Joshua's books when he could get reactions like that from her. Or from Serafall or Gabriel, for that matter.

"Sure do, the proof is written all over my face, apparently," he commented with a grin. Because, what was she going to do? Give the actual answer? Yeah, he didn't think so.

Thus, he grinned wider when he saw her realize this and turn even more red.

Whether that was in embarrassment or in anger or both, Joshua wasn't sure, but what he was sure about was that he'd pay for that later. He thought it was very much worth it though, if he did say so himself. The fact that his familiars and Jeanne were all laughing at them probably only added to his future punishment and that was a little less appreciated, but oh well…

It wasn't even like he was lying. Yasaka did kick in her sleep occasionally and Serafall was clingy. It was just that neither of those things were the reason for his morning weariness.

"Mom! Dad's tired enough already!" Kunou exclaimed, adorably angry on his behalf and concerned for him. He smiled warmly, now much more awake and off to a great start of his day.

"Don't worry about it, kiddo. I happen to think it's cute," he said with a grin, ruffling the girl's hair and drawing a protesting whine from her. Tellingly though, she didn't actually try to stop him. "So, anything of note in your day?" he asked, taking the tea cup that Friday floated in front of him and sitting next to Kunou.

Resolutely, he ignored the pointed stare that Yasaka was sending his way and the giggling of Jeanne. Asia, for her part, seemed a little unsure of what to do or say. The rest of the family seemed to be having fun, which was great. An already good day would start even better, by the looks of-

He blinked when thunder reached his ears and he looked out the window to see that a storm was overhead. 'It'll rain? Nice,' he thought with a slight smile. He'd always been a fan of the rain, actually. Somehow, it always worked wonders to quiet his ever working brain. Not very good for getting stuff done, but he liked it all the same.

"Classes," Kunou mumbled, suddenly whatever good mood she had evaporated as she deflated on her chair. He rolled his eyes at her, a gesture that he'd normally share with Yasaka but… Yeah… "But maybe we can do something afterwards? Or are you busy?"

"For you? Never," he told her, but apparently that wasn't a good answer. Why? Because Kunou narrowed her eyes at him, very much showing that she was her mother's daughter. "What's the matter?"

"Are you busy or not?" she asked, suspicion coloring her voice.

"Not really. I'd have to check with Ravel, but I'm pretty sure I have nothing but spell tinkering after I'm done teaching my classes," he said, blinking and looking off to the side as he wondered if he was remembering well. Either he was worse at keeping track of his schedule than he thought or he was coming to rely on the Phenex girl more than he'd thought when she'd initially been "hired", if it could be called that.

"That's great," Kunou replied, finally showing that happy reaction he'd expected from the very beginning. "I don't… I don't want to make you miss stuff if you need to go somewhere," she added in a mumble, looking down at a pastry that she'd been eating with her breakfast. Adorable as it was that she was concerned, considering her previous history with Yasaka, he was a little concerned.

"If I have something important to do, then I'll try to reschedule, alright?" he told her with a smile. "Most things I have to do can be moved around anyway. If it can't-" he continued when she went to protest. "-then I'll make it up to you, alright?"

"Promise?"

"Promise," he answered with a smile that Kunou returned with a beaming one of her own. Then he went to continue with his breakfast… and caught the look in Yasaka's face. Apparently, he might have escaped his punishment for later… or at least lessened it.

The day just kept getting better and better.

[}-o-{]​

"Mr. Davis," Ravel insisted and Joshua had to hold back the urge to sigh.

The devil girl was great, truly going above and beyond what was expected of her role. She was also great at what she did. She was, by all means, a great employee. The problem was that she was too good, if that made any sense.

Which he was sure it didn't to anyone that wasn't him.

"Going to this event will mean a lot to you-" Ravel continued and he stopped what he was doing to look up at her and raise an eyebrow. "-and to your allies," she added, realizing her mistake. After all, he really couldn't care less for whatever this meeting or party or whatever was supposed to do for his reputation. "You won't even have to do much, Elizabeth and Agnes would take care of most of the talking. At most, you'll have to indulge a few magicians' questions and you seem to like that, right?" she continued, gaining some steam as she went on.

Joshua got the impression that he was being talked to like one would try to hype up a child to do something they really would rather not. He had to admit though, what Ravel was saying was rather appealing. Much as he'd rather stay at home and spend time with his family and such, gaining stuff for free or while having a good time was nice. It was just that "favor" or "reputation" was… rather meaningless for him, really.

He didn't much care to appeal to strangers when he could be having a good time with one of his partners or with Kunou or with his sisters or with his familiars. However, he did have plans that hinged on some things being pushed forward and for that he'd need more favor, the right kind of favor. So far, most of what he gained wasn't quite as much as he'd need or he got too much of useless "resources". Now, if he could get what he actually wanted…

"Fine, I'll go," he said, deflating where he sat and running his fingers through his hair. Despite his very unenthusiastic response, Ravel beamed at him all the same. "But," he continued and the Phenex tamped down on her excitement to hear him out. She couldn't quite contain herself though, which was odd, considering this wasn't that big a deal, from what he knew. "I have a mission for you," he added and that only seemed to please her further.

"Leave it to me," she said determinedly, even though he hadn't even told her what it was. Joshua rolled his eyes at her. "Before that though, maybe you'd like to prepare for going to House of Water? You'll have to arrive early if you want more time with Kunou, Mr. Davis," she told him, suddenly going back to checking stuff with her trusty notepad.

Joshua sighed and had Friday store all his stuff in spells. The living piece of magic really liked when he had stuff for her to do, so he tried to have her do as much as possible. Besides, it seemed to help her learning progress too, to actually be able to interact with stuff instead of just being told what things were. Besides, it wasn't like it was bad to have a hand or ten available for help.

"Right," he muttered, standing up and stretching a little. "Speaking of, you wanna stick around for that? I think I'll do an illusion show for Kunou," he commented, chancing a glance at the girl and seeing her perk up before her extra cheer disappeared together with some of her previous one. "Something the matter?"

"I don't think Kunou will appreciate me interrupting her father-daughter bonding, sir," she mumbled, fidgeting with her notepad and not looking at him. The fact that she called him "sir" instead of "Mr. Davis" was just as telling as her body language too. "But I appreciate the offer all the sa-"

"Hm, I guess inviting you without telling her would be bad," he agreed with a tilt of his head while she looked down even further. "I'll check with her and let you know what she says. Might as well invite Koneko too," he added, the last part making the Phenex's eye twitch. He wasn't sure what was up with that dislike of the reincarnated nekoshou, but oh well. He was likely to already have to deal with that attitude from Kunou towards her, might as well make it a three for three.

Maybe he could help them bond a little so that they'd stop being at each other's throats.

"A show should have an audience and that makes me think of several people. Wouldn't you agree?" he asked, knowing that she'd either give him a non-answer or what she thought was the correct answer.

"An audience can be of just one person, sir," Ravel said, just as he'd predicted.

"Sure it can. Doesn't mean I can't make it be more people," he replied with a grin on his face. "I'm gonna call Kunou now, we can discuss your mission for the House of Water event thingy afterwards," he told her then, cracking his neck.

She didn't appreciate the careless way in which he was talking about that, but the excitement for her assignment seemed to help smooth over her annoyance. That and she was still a little hung up on the Kunou thing. Silly Ravel, Kunou would enthusiastically agree to it, he was sure… after Joshua bribed her with ice cream.

Sometimes it wasn't necessary to focus on such small details though.

[}-o-{]​

"I hate that guy," Kunou declared with all the loathing that her young self could muster, pout in full force and scowl in place. It was a shame that the whole effort was ruined by how cute she was, but Joshua wasn't going to be the one to tell her that. "He's a meanie."

"He is," Koneko agreed, succinct as usual.

"He makes most Wrath devils that I know look the picture of Patience," Ravel said, looking deeply offended. Joshua wondered if that was in some part due to the fact that… Well, the character of his new illusion display was showing up her species, somewhat… Although, it was probably because he was a nightmare for someone as neat and… political as her. Even more so than someone like Joshua himself.

"Pomeranian," Koneko announced intently and both of the other girls snorted before giggling while the nekoshou's lip twitched up into a smile. Joshua himself had to hold back a stronger reaction to that coincidence.

"The main character isn't much better, to be honest," Ravel commented, somehow looking even more upset about that. "Who gets that much power handed to them and continue to be… like that. And it's almost like he's supposed to be smart but he's… not."

"You're not wrong, I guess," Joshua replied. He didn't necessarily disagree with her on that, after all. On the contrary, really.

It was a relief that he never really showed Kunou – or anyone else that might be there for his shows – stuff that was fully original. Sure, he took some creative liberties here and there, but… Well, he didn't think he could take the kind of criticism that his latest show was getting.

"Well, I think we can take a break before continuing, yeah?" he said, cracking his knuckles and wondering if he should start making some serious changes to the story already. It wasn't a bad story, even if he wasn't a great fan. That's why he'd decided he might as well share it and see how it was received. He wasn't keen on forcing Kunou through a show she didn't like just on the off chance she might change her mind though, so…

'Well, editing a little might not be enough for this…' Something to think about, he supposed. And for that he needed time. Time that he could easily buy, even if it'd take some help to make sure it went smoothly. 'Margalo, can you…?' he started asking before his bird familiar interrupted him with a chirp, flying and settling on Kunou's shoulder. 'Thanks.'

"I'm gonna make some snacks while I consider our options, yeah? You girls can play with the cards in the meantime," he told them and immediately the mood changed to something much more… competitive. Expected, but that was why he had asked Margalo for help.

She was great at keeping the peace. Her songs were just that calming, after all. Worse came to worst, she could get them under control as an extension of his authority… And failing that, she could get her fellow familiars to help her wrestle the girls into behaving.

Not that he expected it to come to that. The three girls might not be fans of each other, but they were all relatively well behaved for the most part. He expected it to be an odd day when they escalated a situation in such a fashion, especially after it was pointed out to them that they were doing it.

The heat of the moment could be strong, but they wouldn't be that blind, he was sure.

So, Joshua moved confidently to the kitchen and started working. Idly, and to give Friday something to do other than watch him and the girls, he sent her to check on his cafe. Asia was having a nice night out with friends, Jeanne included. Shy as she still was, the nun was getting better and he was pleased to see that.

Issei was working a shift once more and he was… still Issei, of course, but it still baffled Joshua whenever he took a moment to consider how different the boy was from his canon self. He was really hoping that he hadn't screwed everyone over by changing the protagonist and the story so much, but he thought the entire thing was turning out a lot better. He wondered what the boy himself would think though.

On the one hand, he'd gotten a girlfriend much faster, so there was that, but he wasn't getting his harem… so far. It might still happen, considering the whole dragon thing. Hell, it might be happening for all Joshua knew. It wasn't like he paid special attention to Kuoh beyond checking on the people he knew and that nothing was wrong.

"Dad! Tell Ravel to stop cheating!" he heard Kunou cry out, her voice muffled by the distance, the walls and such. Taking a deep breath in, he held the air in before letting it out. Of course. On a good day, Kunou wasn't a good sport. Against Koneko and Ravel? If she didn't win at least one game relatively early…

Well, case in point, he supposed.

"Kunou, stop lying," he said, using some magic to help his voice carry over without needing to shout. He could almost see his daughter pouting in the other room, but it was what it was. It helped that he couldn't literally see her, or he might have caved somehow. At least he wouldn't have taken it out on Ravel though, he knew that much.

He wasn't that much of a pushover.

With a sigh, he moved as fast as he could to prevent more troubles after that.

"Can you change the story, dad?" Kunou asked him when he got back and she was still pouting. At least she wasn't playing anymore to continue making the issue worse, he supposed. Instead, it was Ravel against Koneko when he got there. "I don't like it," Kunou said and he grimaced. But he'd come up with an idea in his time away, so it wasn't all that bad.

He was already plagiarizing original stories from his old world, right?

Why not… plagiarize fanfics too?

"Okay, same world but I'll be adding a different character to the mix and changing some things. First of all, we're following this new character instead of the old protagonist," he explained, waving his hands and making the new set up appear, much to the shared interest of the three girls.

So, he set it up, the almost empty room, dull table with two metal chairs and a boy, sitting, waiting.

A pale boy with white hair and red eyes with black sclera.

[}-o-{]​

The house was quiet already, late in the night.

Everyone had either gone home or gone to sleep or both. Joshua was the only one left, even Yasaka had said goodnight a while before then. It wasn't her night though, so she'd take the chance to sleep a little extra – her words, not his, but he was glad that she was taking care of herself – and he'd stayed back with a cup of tea and his trusty notes. Being home meant that there was literally no way for him to get bored too, so that was great, because someone was making him wait a whole lot.

Alas, at that moment, he was doing something very different. His tea had probably gotten cold already – which wasn't really a problem for him, he liked it cold too – and his notes had been forgotten for long enough that he didn't even know what they were about. He hadn't actually touched them since taking them out. It was a miracle that Yasaka hadn't noticed something was off and confronted him about it…

Although, she probably had gone off so that Kunou would go to sleep without issues. The girl had been with him the longest after his mind acted up, so she had definitely started to suspect something. Thus, if he wasn't overestimating Yasaka – unlikely – then the youkai probably planned to let someone else help him and make it easier for the two of them by taking everyone else away.

'I have to remember to thank her,' he decided, taking a sip from his already – now confirmed – cold tea.

"Sorryyyy~! I'm late!" Serafall cried out as she teleported in. Normally, one wouldn't be so loud in a house so full of people so late and with children sleeping… but the great thing about magic was that it could take care of a great deal of small little annoyances like that. "I'm so sorry~"

"It's fine," he told her with a smile. Immediately, the woman stopped and stared at him for a solid few seconds. Yeah, he was definitely that obvious, which confirmed his suspicions that Yasaka knew. "The stuffy people were more annoying than usual?"

"Yes," was the simple answer he got instead of a long, drawn out and dramatic narration of events. Serafall was all business, evidently. "Did something happen?" she asked, concerned, but not overly so. If something truly bad had happened, then she'd have been called or something else would be going on and she knew it.

"Just… thinking."

"So it's a day that ends in Y?" she asked with some humor in her voice as she moved to take the seat next to him. She was far from her usual self though, so he wasn't going to be getting off the hook just ignoring the issue, he supposed. Not that he wanted to, but… he'd have appreciated it. "Joshua?"

"The year is ending," he commented, leaning back on his chair and taking another sip from his cup. When nothing else was said, he continued, a sad smile on his face. "I was casting the show for Kunou, Koneko and Ravel and I just… reminded myself of something and it went from there."

"Do you need a hug, or a kiss, or…?" Serafall asked, her voice all softness and understanding despite her words and the smile on her face. "Anything I can do? Anything we can do?"

"I'm fine," Joshua told her, but he knew he couldn't leave it at that. "I'm sad and it… hurts, but… Well, I guess it'll always hurt. But I'm fine anyway. Does that make any sense?"

"It's weird, but yes, I do think it makes sense," Serafall told him, leaning on him and resting her head on his shoulder. "Do you want to talk about it or do you want to talk about anything else? I know I'm late, but I'm sure we can still go out and have that date."

"It's probably not that late somewhere in the world," he commented with a slight smile.

"That's the spirit," she told him and he could hear the smile on her face. The thought of it alone helped him feel better. "So…"

"A date sounds nice."

"Say no more. Do you want regular Levia-tan or do you want a special edition?" she asked him, all cheer once more as she hopped off her seat and twirled around like she was Kunou's age and not several… Better not to even think about it. "You were thinking something mean," she accused with narrowed eyes.

"I was almost thinking something mean," he clarified, which didn't really help, but oh well. Thankfully, he imagined what he wanted to say would get that attention away from him. Not that it was why he was doing it, but it was a welcome side-effect. "Would you go with me?"

Once more, Serafall stood there instead of Levia-tan.

"Of course, Joshua… We are all going, I assume?" she asked, moving to lean on the table and looking at him curiously.

"Yeah, we are," he confirmed with a slight smile. Because he couldn't think of any other way to go about it this time. And besides… "My mother would come all the way from wherever she is to have my head if I didn't introduce you all," he added with a chuckle, weak and low, but honest.

[} Chapter End {]​

Hey guys! How's it going?

Well, somewhat of a calm day, huh? A bit of good fluffy fun, then some business with good fluffy fun, then regular fluffy fun and we finish off with some… sad fluff? Is that a thing? I don't think this counts as angst or anything like that, but I don't know.

What do you think?

It didn't take a genius to notice that Joshua's partners were difficult to read. It came with the territory of being with important politicians, he supposed. Yasaka had always held this unmovable aura around her, like nothing could ever disturb her calm. Serafall seemed similarly collected, if in an erratic, somewhat childish way. Gabriel, for her part, was also similar – he was starting to think he might have a bit of a type –, but in the sense that she always seemed at peace with things, content.

All the same though, he was also noticing that they were getting more and more expressive around him as time passed.

Why was he thinking about that?

Because Yasaka was brooding.

Joshua would almost go as far as saying she was pouting. She'd been sitting there, a slight wrinkle between her eyebrows as she frowned and her lips barely noticeably pursed. There was also a stiffness to her that showed even more when she moved her arm to reach for the cup of tea by her side. She also took much longer than usual to go through the paperwork arranged in front of her at the kitchen island.

It wasn't a good thing for her to be like that, but Joshua would always be the smallest bit happy when he realized that his partners were more open with him. Because he couldn't fathom another setting in which Yasaka would be so open with her emotions. So, he took it as a personal compliment.

Now, if only she weren't upset. It wasn't that he didn't understand though, he did. It was probably part of the reason why he was struggling to find the words to comfort her. Not only was he not really feeling all that good himself, but he was also looking for the right words to say, which was proving to be a bit of a struggle.

'Might need to get on with it though,' he thought when Yasaka looked down and closed her eyes, her expression twisting even more.

"I'm really sorry, Joshua," the woman told him, letting go of some of the tension in her body with a sigh. Then she opened her eyes again and looked up at him. She looked miserable and, despite feeling much the same himself – if for different reasons –, he couldn't let that be.

"It's not your fault," he reassured, waving her off weakly. "I know you'd come if you could. That's enough for me," he told her, but he knew it wouldn't help. After all…

"It's not enough for me," she said, clearly upset with herself. "Everyone else is going."

"I can tell them to stay, we've talked about this. I wouldn't have invited-"

"No. I'm not selfish enough to make everyone wait for me. Especially since…" Yasaka interrupted, letting out a frustrated breath that sounded like it wanted to be a whine or a groan. "I'm just… sorry."

"You shouldn't be," he told her, softly but also firmly. "Yasaka," he called, because she was doing her best to appear as if she were looking at him but not doing so. When she finally properly met his eyes, he smiled at her. "You're probably the main reason I'm dealing as well with… this as I am. You're the one that helped me get on the path to recovering."

"... Thank you," she said, smiling softly, and he almost laughed. How was it that she was the one thanking him for saying that? He was the one that should be grateful. He was, actually, and he'd told her as much several times already. It wasn't the time to get into that discussion though. She was feeling better and that's what mattered. "It's just…"

"I know," he replied before she even finished, reaching for her hand and giving it a slight squeeze. "I know, alright? And for what it's worth, I'm really sad that you can't come too."

"That just makes me feel worse," she told him, but she was smiling a wet smile and squeezing his fingers back, so he took that as a minor victory. "Tell them I'm sorry too, alright?"

"You got it," he answered, grinning at her, even if there was still a touch of sadness to it. "Don't sit here moping all day, alright?"

"I'm not moping!" she protested weakly, glaring at him in what almost looked like a pout to him. He didn't point that out though. He had a feeling she wouldn't appreciate that. "Shut up."

"I didn't say anything," he replied, holding back a chuckle.

"You were thinking something dumb," she muttered under her breath. If there ever was a moment where she was just like Kunou, it was then. She looked so adorable he almost could forget what was going on. "I'll be waiting here, Joshua," she added then, her expression dropping once more and squeezing his hand a little extra. "I've cleared my schedule for the whole day."

"You didn't have to do that," he told her, but he knew it was no use. He could almost hear what she'd say before the words left her lips. After all, he was sure she'd-

"I did."

-say that.

"We're not going to be here for a while. You could have done something else in that time, you know?" he said, smiling fondly at her all the same. "I wouldn't have minded."

"But I would have. You think I could just have a normal day while you're there?" Yasaka asked him and the look on her face told him that he'd better not give the answer he'd been going to. Instead, he took a deep breath in and chuckled.

"You're amazing, have I ever told you that?" was what came out of his mouth in the end.

"You could stand to say it more often," she replied playfully.

"I know," was his response, grinning widely, and being incredibly thankful to her yet again. He'd started off feeling just as bad as her and now… Well, he wasn't feeling great, but he was feeling better. He wondered if he'd helped her the same way or if she'd just done that for herself. He hoped it was the former. It'd be nice if he could do that. All the same… "Next year, Yasaka," he told her then and she squeezed his hand much harder this time, her eyes widening noticeably. "I promise."

"... Thank you."

"No, thank you."

[}-o-{]​

"Do you think she'll be here again, Josh?" Jeanne asked as they walked. Interestingly, the teen was looking very awkward for some reason, as if she didn't know what to do with herself. Maybe that's why she wanted to talk about something, he supposed.

At her words though, there were a few reactions before he could answer. Cheshire shifted into a bigger form and growled. Nagini pulled back as if shocked and hissed. Morag clicked her mandibles to herself noticeably fast. Then there was Kunou and Gabriel, who seemed like they were trying to figure out what Jeanne was talking about that earned such responses.

"Aunt Sarah? Probably not," he replied and Serafall, who had been hanging onto his arm, grabbed his hand in silent support. "It's been two years now. She can get away with excuses by now, so I expect she won't ever come here again."

"Not a great loss," Jeanne commented, to which he nodded in agreement. It wasn't a cheerful thing to talk about, but there was no way to have a cheerful conversation then and there anyway, he supposed. "I almost want to pay her a visit."

"She probably would close the door on your face," he told her with a chuckle.

"I bet it'd annoy her though," Jeanne grumbled. "How much did Sairaorg do to her, by the way?"

"Not that much. I was angry at the moment but… Well, I didn't want that in my conscience. She's not worth even that much," he answered, before a smile that held no joy appeared on his face. "Although, the shit job that she has now is probably a lot worse than other things we could have done. She always loved lording her money over everyone else. I very much doubt that her friends are ever going to let her forget that."

"Sounds like she didn't have very good friends," Jeanne pointed out.

"Birds of a feather…" he commented, drawing a snort from his sister.

"What are you talking about, dad? Aunt Sarah?" Kunou asked, clearly trying to understand what was going on and failing. He didn't blame her. He probably had never mentioned the woman to her, with good reason too though. That was one relative he couldn't care less about.

"My aunt, to be specific," he said, taking a deep breath in. "We didn't get along very well. Jeanne met her, somewhat, the last time we were here. It was… something."

"That's the polite way of saying she was a bitch," Jeanne added, uncaring of her language in front of Kunou. He didn't appreciate that much, but Joshua could see that his sister's mind had gone off a tangent. She was angry. Perhaps understandably so, but it was a bad enough day already without adding anger to the mix.

"She was never very nice, no," he agreed tentatively before deciding to shift the conversation topic. "Most of my family wasn't very nice, admittedly. That's why I don't ever visit… or talk about them," he confessed with a slight, bitter smile. 'Except Phil and the twins,' he thought, holding back a grimace.

"But you're awesome!" Kunou said, as if that meant that his whole family should be "awesome" too. He chuckled a little, reaching for her and ruffling her hair. "Daaad!"

"You could say we were the white sheep in a family of black sheeps," he replied, fixing her hair a little as he looked at her. His mind wasn't quite on it though, even though he did his best. All he could think about was…

"We're here," Gabriel announced and he turned to look forward. Margalo had gotten ahead, it seemed, and she'd perched herself near their destination. The rest of his familiars – sans Friday, who was connected to and following him – separated from them a little to join her.

Slowing down, Joshua watched as Jeanne, Asia and Kunou continued walking at the same pace. The sight of them all, with Serafall on his arm and Gabriel taking the spot that Kunou had before at his other side, helped soothe the hurt inside him the smallest bit. No offense to his familiars and Jeanne, but it felt very different than how his last visit had.

He saw Gabriel step forward when they got closer, setting down the flowers she'd brought. He heard her whisper something too, but it was too low for him to understand the words. It might have been a greeting as well as it could have been a prayer or maybe even something else entirely. He didn't feel like asking her though. If she'd wanted to tell him, she'd have spoken louder, he guessed. Not that he expected she would refuse to tell him, but he could respect that wish of hers.

Serafall, by his side, gave his arm a last squeeze before letting go and shuffling forward. With a deep breath in, he followed, trying to stand straight as his father always told him to. Then he smiled his best smile, for his mother.

"Hey mom, dad," he greeted, stepping in between the gathering of his new family and sitting in front of the graves. "It's been a bit, huh?" he added, looking at the engraved words like they were his parent's faces. "A lot has happened, as you can probably tell," he told them, chuckling weakly and glancing to look at everyone around and then back at the graves. He felt strength that he didn't have at that moment course through him anyway at the sight of their faces, supportive, empathetic. "I have some people I want to introduce you to."

He could almost picture his father blinking at him, glancing between him and the absolutely gorgeous women that he'd brought with him this time. Joshua wondered if the man would have commented something in regards to that or if he'd just congratulate him or both. Then there was his mother, who would have probably been giggling without control, or squealing, or talking a mile a minute… or all of the above, somehow.

"First of all," he said and somehow joy overpowered sadness for a moment. His lips pulled up into a smile as he extended his arm to wave one of them closer. "This is Kunou," he introduced, beaming at his parents as the girl stood beside him. "She's my daughter."

"It's nice to meet you both," the girl said, her voice soft and her expression serene… But Joshua wasn't fooled. She was tense, uneasy and not because of where they were and why. At least, for the reasons one might expect.

"Do you want to sit here or on my lap?" he asked her, smile still in place as he patted the ground beside him. She didn't move though, her body stiffening even further. "Kunou, they'd love you," he reassured softly, reaching to take her hand and help her sit down. "I can see it. Mom would pull you into a hug and never let go if it wasn't to spoil you. And dad… Dad would be more discreet, but you'd have him wrapped around your little finger even more than mom in no time."

"Like you then?" she mumbled, a shy smile pulling at her lips.

"Isn't she nice?" he asked sarcastically, turning towards the gravestones. Suddenly though, he wasn't feeling quite so somber, so cold. It hurt, a small part inside him ached with the hole the loss of his parents had left in him, but… Somehow, he felt things were alright despite that. "I can let her talk your ears off later though-"

"Hey!"

"-, but for now, how about I introduce you to a few more people," he continued, closing his eyes and communicating with Friday what was happening, what the gravestones symbolized and what it meant for him. It didn't take more than a second or two, but it felt like an entire conversation all the same.

And then, strangely, the spell went silent. She was there and she was looking, but she didn't seem to communicate much for some reason. He wondered about that, for a moment, before deciding that maybe it was better to leave her to it. If anything was wrong, he'd be right there and so would his other familiars.

"There's Asia, the kindest girl in the world," he said, ignoring Kunou's "what about me?" and looking at the blushing nun. "Hope you didn't want just the one daughter, because I kind of adopted her as a sister too," he commented, but he knew they'd love her. It was impossible not to love Asia, after all.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Davis, Mrs. Davis," the girl mumbled, her hands clasped together and she looked like she'd start praying any second. "Your son is a gift from the Lord, you should know that," she added and Joshua's expression softened, imagining his parents agreeing with her.

"It was like God himself had given you to us, to solve everything and make our lives brighter," he remembered his mother saying once more. He pushed that to the side though. It brought thoughts to his mind that weren't at all necessary at that moment.

"And then… it might be… unconventional, but these are Serafall and Gabriel," he said then, feeling as awkward as he imagined he'd be if his parents were alive for him to talk to. "They are… I guess my girlfriends would be the simplest way to say it. Doesn't feel right though. And there's Yasaka too, but she can't come, because… Well, she can't come. She wishes she could though and she told me to tell you-"

"Josh," Serafall told him, stepping behind him and placing a hand on his shoulder. She squeezed the smallest bit and he felt his muscles relax. "You're rambling."

"I… Yeah…" he mumbled, taking a deep breath in and smiling nervously. "I'm dating all three of them. Somehow, I managed to pull that off, believe it or not. Don't ask me how," he said half-joking. He could almost hear the two women behind him rolling their eyes, but he kept going.

Idly, he wondered if DxD logic would extend to the DxD version of his parents. It was a very odd thought to entertain. Everything he'd checked in regards to his alternate life had been exactly the same as he remembered up to the accident. But then again, would that kind of thing have appeared in his information gathering efforts?

"They… They make my life so much better, you should know," he continued, smiling at the pieces of rock laid before him. "I've been doing great in general and… Yeah, things are going well."

Idly, for a moment, he thought about how things might be going for his real parents. What had changed in those years? Were things different from how they'd been the last time he visited? He had no way of knowing, but he couldn't help pondering that all the same. Maybe one day, he'd be able to tinker something about that.

It sounded like something incomprehensibly hard to do, even when compared to the things he'd already done, but maybe…

It was useless to dwell on that, he decided, at least at that moment.

"And yes, mom, before you ask," he said, pretending once more that he was talking to his parents. "I did let them know. Followed dad's example to the letter, just like you said," he added with a wide smile. That was when he heard the rustling of clothes and then saw Gabriel sit primly beside him.

"If you'd let us in on this, Joshua?" she half-asked and half-urged.

"Someone is going to love you and they'll change your life," he said, paraphrasing a little to get the point across better as he looked at his mother's gravestone. "You're not the best with words or gestures, but let them know. Maybe you can do as your father did. He gave me iris flowers, red ones."

"So, that's where that came from, huh?" Serafall whispered behind him, still with her hand on his shoulder, squeezing a little. "Thank you."

"Not sure what you're thanking me for. I feel like I should thank you," Joshua commented, not looking away from his parents.

"No, it's definitely us that should be thanking you," Gabriel disagreed.

[}-o-{]​

Eventually, much like it had happened the previous year, he'd more or less been done talking. He had also needed a moment to get his shit together, so there was that. Thus, he'd stood up and walked away to gather his thoughts and get rid of the knot in his throat.

His familiars had accompanied him, together with Kunou. Jeanne, Asia, Gabriel and Serafall had stayed there though and he could see and hear them talking, much like he had before. He didn't try to eavesdrop though, but he was tempted, he'd admit.

Instead, he focused his hearing on Margalo and the soft tune she was trilling. It wasn't quite what he'd call sad or somber, but it was something close. It felt to him similarly to the rain that had hit them not so long before, or the sound of wind through leaves, or the coolness of an air conditioned room in the summer, or a nice cup of tea in the winter. It was soothing, for lack of better words, peaceful, and it allowed him to focus his mind in something other than memories of a life that was no more and what-ifs.

"Are you feeling better, dad?" Kunou – sweet, wonderful Kunou – asked him, looking up at him with her bright eyes. He could only smile down at her, not quite feeling great, but nevertheless comforted by the concern alone.

"I'm fine," he told her, pushing a lock of blond hair off her face gingerly. "You don't need to worry about me. I just needed a moment," he reassured her, leaning down to kiss her forehead.

"Hm, I'm glad," she mumbled, looking down. She shuffled on her feet and seemed to try and glance at him, failing to manage every time. She wanted to ask something and she was hesitating. He knew her too well not to pick up on it. "Do you mind if I…?" she started, trailing off as she glanced towards the graves. "I want to tell them… something."

"Go for it. I'll survive a few minutes with just this lot," he told her, smiling a little wider as he looked around at his familiars. Idly, he noticed that Friday was fussing, trying to find a way to make him feel better, so he sent some reassuring thoughts her way too. The rest of his familiars though, didn't appreciate being talked about like that.

"I'll be right back then," Kunou said quickly, pulling away and running off, as if trying to be quicker so she could get back to him as fast as possible. It was adorable.

Looking at her, he chuckled weakly to himself before turning and reaching to scratch Nagini under her jaw. That seemed to calm down the snake a little, at least. Morag, for her part, took the opening she was offered and jumped on his chest, but she didn't stay still for long. Instead, she started crawling around him, poking his body as if she were trying to find something.

"You don't have anything to tell them?" he asked none of them in particular. Through the bond though, the most vocal was Cheshire, who had simply sat, in her biggest form for some reason, in front of him and stared straight at him. All of them told him that they were there for him and everything else came second. It was… very moving, truly. Especially to him, who had had no one until he had them. Now, he had so much more, but if all else failed, he knew he could count on this group of four- five, he corrected, smiling as Friday did the magic equivalent of poking him and pouting. "You are all the best," he commented, and both Cheshire and Nagini huffed, as if telling him that was obvious.

He guessed they weren't wrong.

Their sort of one-sided conversation was interrupted when Cheshire turned sharply and she was flooded with fondness directed at Kunou. Evidently, his daughter had done something adorable and deserving of ice cream, he supposed. It'd be a terrible sacrifice to accompany her to get that, but Joshua had a feeling that he'd manage.

He resolutely ignored the way his familiars – with the exception of Friday – rolled their eyes at him.

'You're my new favorite, Friday,' he thought to the living spell, smiling a little at the way she seemed to do the magic presence equivalent of a happy wiggle. She could be oddly expressive even though she didn't even have a body. She was also getting even more so as time passed. Pondering that, he did his best to ignore the way his familiars were glaring at him.

"Something to share with the rest of us?" Gabriel asked and he turned to see that all five of the people that had accompanied him there were apparently done. The angel in question seemed a little happy for some reason, but he'd save the questions for later. "We said what we needed to," she added, smiling a little wider at him, which caused him to smile right back at her.

"Okay," he replied simply, glancing past them all towards the gravestones. "Do you guys mind if I-?"

"Go ahead," Serafall interrupted, moving beside him and giving him the nudge he needed.

In a moment, he was already standing right there, reading his parent's names as if the engravings were their faces. He didn't say anything for a long few seconds though, instead just… thinking. He mused, like he did every so often, about what life could have been like if he were different before, or if the accident hadn't happened.

Like it happened often those days though, he felt conflicted. Because he'd give almost anything to have his parents back, but… He also wouldn't give up the family that he'd formed for himself in that world ever since waking up in that hotel. It was a difficult thought to have, really.

However, then and there…

"I miss you a lot," he said, crouching and reaching to caress the top of the gravestones. "I hope you're happy, wherever you are right now," he mumbled, taking a deep breath in and smiling. "Because I'm happy over here too, even if I wish you were here to share all this with me," he added, taking his hand back and pushing himself to a standing position again. "See you next year. I love you both."

[} Chapter End {]​

Hey guys! How's it going?

A bit of a sad chapter, even a bit of an angsty one, I guess, for some people. Personally, I don't see it that way, but I could be wrong. For this reason, I can almost see some people complaining about the chapter. I think there was – very recently – a comment in FFN about how they couldn't stand the angst over the parents and such.

I don't agree, and I believe there'll be people that are of the same opinion as much. However, I'm sure there'll be more than just one person with this reviewer's opinion. Alas, at this point you know I'll just write whatever I – and the Muse, of course – feel like writing.

I hope you enjoyed the chapter.