Rias was reflecting on what she had said earlier, she meant what she said, how she was going to nurture my power and make sure I grew surrounded by people who love me, to the normal person this sounded very virtuous but to a person of more perception it sounded like she was going to slowly but surely assimilate me into her household. After all... Having TWO dragons in her household could make her team unstoppable, impossible to beat especially with the bond that Issei and I had.
Xenovia and I entered the house as we were greeted by Issei's parents, "seems you've got a lot of friends too Hiro!" His mother cheerily said, granted it may have been part in due to Rias's magic that they didn't flinch because of Xenovia.
As we walked upstairs the first thing that I felt was the softness of well.. Boobs as I looked up to see black hair and purple eyes, practically staring into my soul.
"Welcome home my Hiro~"
Akeno softly spoke in my ear as my face flushed again, "I could feel that power all the way from the club, surely you've got some you could fill me up with don't you?"
Sex, she was talking about sex.. Granted this wasn't anything new for Akeno, after all she literally sucked the power from Issei's finger when he used too much in the fight with Riser.
I let out a quiet laugh which only made Akeno smile more, though it wasn't a lewd smile, she was happy that I was getting more used to people, like her theory was right.. That I wouldn't give in to hatred.
"Hey!" Merith pressed her boobs against the back of my head, practically sandwiching me as Merith stared into Akeno's eyes, "if anyone is gonna lewd mah boi first it's me!" Merith wasn't angry at Akeno but she definitely felt some sort of jealousy as they stared at each other, a bit of lightning between them as I tried to do my best to defuse the situation.
Xenovia saved me from the ever growing tighter boob sandwich and held me to her own boobs, "as long as I get my child I'm happy so how about this? When Hiro is ready and he understands more about sex and baby making we'll all take turns, that sound fair? Until then we'll teach him what we know."
Merith and Akeno parted from each other as Akeno began to chuckle, "very well.. I see your point, while he does have quite a mouth on him when he's mad he's still mostly innocent, which means that he'll taste amazing~"
Merith nodded and grinned, getting a great idea for something that we could do later on, "ooh this is gonna be fun! When we next have some time I'm gonna educate mah boi in the art of lewding!"
"But for now we should sleep." I suggested as the three of them nodded, once again they agreed on something as Akeno pulled me down onto her lap, Merith leaped onto my lap and laid there like a kitten and Xenovia took her place laying on my chest and wrapping her arms around me as the night ended.
The next day it was back to normal, attend classes, train like mad and eat a ton, I might have had the most trouble on the school work but I had the help of Merith and Xenovia who were really smart, Irina chuckling as she helped Issei as she stared at me.
"She's really taking this whole 'his sword' thing seriously." Irina smiled, she wasn't as obsessed with me as Xenovia was but she definitely felt indebted to me for saving her life, a debt that she would soon repay.
Issei nodded and also looked at me, a smile on his face. "He's really progressing, it was only a couple months ago that he was a near skeleton and afraid of everyone. Now look at him, he's albeit a lot bigger then he was before and he's being social with everyone." Issei felt happy, because he was the first person who set me down on this path, his kindness shaped me into what I was now.
After the day had ended I was walking home with Merith, Xenovia and Akeno. Koneko was with me for a moment before she left for her own home, strange.. I wonder who her parents are.
"Hiro." Rias called out, the surprising thing I noticed was that there was no hostility in her voice or suspicion, she just called my name as I turned around to face her. "Could you three go on ahead please? There's something I need to talk to him about."
Akeno and Xenovia nodded but Merith stared for a moment, her hand clenched, she was one of the few who could see through anything she said, so she would be the judge if anything hostile was said by Rias. But she nodded slowly and walked up ahead with Xenovia and Merith.
"What's up?" I said quietly as Rias took my hand for a moment, "I wanted.. To apologize for the threats I made, I didn't make them out of hatred for you. I made them in fear for the safety of my friends, I hope you can understand."
I nodded slowly as I looked to the side, I remembered Shinji always talked like that, whenever he made a threat. Sure he was serious about said threats but he only made them in response to protecting me or Emi.
"Just know that I too plan to protect you, same with Issei." She wrapped her arms around my head and pulled me in, right close to her chest. "I'll protect you as if you were my own."
I'm not gonna lie.. The hug felt... Nice. Rias was finally fulfilling the promise she made, and for once I could sense no alterior motive, no suspicion, no hatred. Just love, the familial type of love, not the kind of love she felt for Issei though.
Rias released me from the hug before walking away, she wore a smile on her face as I caught up with Akeno, Xenovia and Merith. Akeno had a smile on her face, "it seems she's adopted you in a sense, how cute." Xenovia was silent as she didn't understand any of what Rias was saying, she wasn't here the past two months so it made sense. Merith on the other hand still felt a little suspicious as Rias's sudden mood change but relented to pursue said suspiciouns. After all, if I was happy she was happy, and I was definitely happy.
The night quickly rolled around as we were all sitting in the guest room, and I mean everyone. Kiba, Rias, Asia and Issei had joined us, they were talking about their club and contracts but the one single difference I felt was that there was no stares at me, only soft glances, and Rias was smiling at me. For once I felt like I wasn't being treated like such a bastard.
Then.. It happened, fear washed over me as I turned pale, my teeth began to chatter and my whole body felt cold, my eyes dropped as everyone felt and saw the sudden change in my demeanor.
"Hiro? What's wrong?" Rias was the first to ask.. No response.
"Is he dead?" Koneko said in a half joking manner, she really hoped that wasn't the case.
Akeno placed her hand on my chest and shook her head, "he's still breathing.. But it's slow."
Breathing... Slow? I could barely hear what she was talking about, not even I knew why I was so scared, I just knew that my body wouldn't move.. It was almost like.. When Freed scared me, no tears, no anger... Just fear.
'Hey! Kid! Snap outta it!' Ryuuk tried his best to get me to speak, to respond with anything.. A hand movement, a look, anything.
"He's not hurt is he?" Asia raised her hands and placed them over my head, her hands glowing for a minute before fading. "He's perfectly healthy..."
"Hiro!? The hell's happening man!?" Issei had the most verbal concern in his voice as he started trying to shake me, still no response.
"Hiro, please say something." Kiba and Xenovia said calmly, they were the ones to act all calm and stoic but you could tell there was some emotion in their voice.
"Hiro!? Please.. Answer us.. Answer me!" Merith pleaded as she gripped my shirt, i couldn't even feel it as I opened my mouth, everyone tuning in to hear what I had to say.
"He's here." The moment those two words left my mouth the room was blasted open, a hand grabbing me by my throat and pulling me through the small hole in the wall which created a bigger hole.
"Hiro!" Everyone shouted as they ran through the hole, thank goodness Issei's parents were out of town for a few weeks.
"You get the fuck back here bastard!" Merith shouted out, her lance in hand. She knew exactly who had grabbed me.
"It took a while, but I finally found your ass." That voice... The voice threw me as I landed on my knees, my eyes wide, for some reason in that moment.. All fear was gone from my body.. In its place.. Was cold, hard rage.
"Vernal...!" I murmured as I rose to my feet, the name was right, it was Vernal, who wore a grin on his face as well as not wearing his typical labcoat anymore, he was wearing a muscle shirt and he had discarded his glasses. His body was giving off... Some type of heat, it felt like my own only stronger.
"Hiro!" The rest of the group burst through the foliage of the forest, that's how far Vernal had dragged me as they all stared at Vernal, displaying many emotions.
Merith clenched her fists tightly, if anything the rage and hatred that she was feeling at this moment was on par with what I was feeling, she felt the need to intervene but then remembered, she knew how important this was to me so she decided against acting, for now.
Akeno felt some display of rage but she never showed it, only expressing a smile, "what made you think that the right choice was to interrupt our meeting? And take Hiro?"
Vernal looked at her with a displeased look, "shut it wench."
That comment make Akeno snap slightly as lightning rained down onto Vernal, who just waved his hand and sent the magic attack away.
"Wha!?" Akeno was shocked.. Everyone was shocked, she was the strongest mage they had.
"Can we really not do anything!? Damn it!" Issei was furious, he wanted to do something but Rias intervened.
"We have bigger problems, look." Rias was scared, and she had a reason to be. She was pointing at me as that same heat came off of me.
"Vernal.. For the past few months I've been waiting... Begging... For this day!" My teeth were once again clenched so hard it felt like they were going to shatter. A fire in my eyes but not the one that a typical hero would have, not the urge to protect others.. The urge to kill. "When I'm done with you.. I'm gonna take your body... And smash your skull so many... FUCKING times.. That people can see your brain."
'So this is the guy eh? The one who put you through all of this torture and pain?' Ryuuk asked as I just nodded, he grunted and grinned. 'Well then let's tear this fucker a new one! Dragon's honor!'
The both of us were severely underestimating his power, we were consumed with rage, and hatred, we didn't care.. We just wanted him dead.
"If you want to fight so badly." Vernal got into a stance, light and darkness coming off of his hands and body. "Then come."
I let out a scream, an animalistic scream as my aura exploded and I wore that armor again, I charged at Vernal with pure.. Malicious and murderous intent.