…And that's how it went.
Right before our New Year's shrine visit, I suffered a horrible fate.
I somehow managed to wrestle the gun away and turn back into a guy… but I'm sealing that thing away in the deepest vault I can find.
I can't trust the girls in this house.
They were all openly disappointed when I changed back.
"Would it kill you to be my 'Onee-chan' once in a while?"
"…Miyu, please, anything but that."
Even Miyu was totally into it…
Does she really want an older sister that badly?
"But you're just so cute!"
Exactly the same thing Rias said.
We invited Azazel-sensei, Kuroka and the others too, but Sensei has a leaders' summit and couldn't make it.
Kuroka, Le Fay, Tia, and Diarmuid are completely melted into Sensei's custom kotatsu back home.
They're probably gorging on mikans and mochi right about now.
(Le Fay is supposedly the babysitter of the group.)
…Never in a million years did I expect Tia to fall to the kotatsu like that.
Kunou tugs on my hand.
"Ise, when can we meet again?"
"Whoa, we literally just met! Isn't it a little early to be planning the next one?"
"Mmm… True, but I hear Ise is super busy. It makes me sad when I can't play with you…"
Ahahaha…
She's totally attached to me now.
Well, kids her age love attention from older people, and I guess I'm the target.
"By the way, is Fis not here?"
Kunou looks around at our group.
"Fis" is the alias we gave Ophis.
Kunou once came over to the Hyoudou house to play.
That time we were talking about building a little shrine to the Dragon God of Infinity in our yard, so we had her visit.
She and Ophis hit it off, but since we can't reveal Ophis's true identity, we introduced her as "Fis, the dragon girl."
"Fis is staying home today. She caught a bit of a cold. Tia's looking after her. She really wanted to see you, Kunou."
A white lie.
We obviously can't let Ophis out in public.
The parts about Tia taking care of her and Ophis wanting to see Kunou are true, though.
Kunou looks disappointed for a moment but quickly perks up.
"Dragon colds are nasty, I hear! Wait right there—I'll go grab some special Kyoto youkai medicine!"
With a flap of her hidden tails, she dashes off toward the inner shrine.
She's gone to fetch medicine from home, worried about her friend.
Watching Kunou and the others makes me want to let Ophis go outside freely someday.
Yasaka-san watches the scene with a warm smile.
"Hohoho, it seems the Sekiryuutei has become quite close with my Kunou."
"Yeah. My kid loves playing with her too. Kunou's a good, honest girl."
I answer while gazing in the direction Kunou ran.
Then—
Yasaka-san leans in close with a seductive smile, her breath tickling my ear!
The mature, sweet fragrance of an adult woman assaults my brain!
"Sekiryuutei-dono… could you wait just a little longer until Kunou grows up? If you cannot wait, this one would gladly keep you company~ Hohoho… Kunou has been begging for little brothers and sisters, you know. And it has been far too long since I've tasted a young man's skin…"
Her pale, slender fingers trace my cheek!
Sh-she's talking about giving Kunou siblings!
That means—!
Her sultry voice and words make me swallow hard.
But—!
"Mother! That joke has gone too far! I have dibs!"
Kunou comes sprinting back and clings to my leg, glaring cutely at her mother.
"Hohoho, such a possessive child. Already acting like a proper woman at her age. She might take after me~"
Yasaka-san watches her daughter with an amused, relaxed smile.
Beside me, Miyu is…
"Hmm, hmm… So Yasaka-san and Kunou-chan too…"
…and furiously taking notes!
And next to her, Ignis (who materialized at some point) gives a big thumbs-up.
"Mother-daughter bowl!"
Don't say "mother-daughter bowl"!
It sounds way too tempting, but there's a small child present!
"Kunou-chan will be ripe in about ten years!"
"Don't talk about 'ripeness'!"
"Ripe? Ise, what are we eating?"
"That would be—"
"Shut it, ero-goddess!"
This useless goddess is terrible for children's education!
If she sticks around, kids will ace health class before puberty!
"No worries! Once puberty hits, they'll automatically max out health class! Right, Kunou-chan? Yo—"
"Silence!"
I slap duct tape over her mouth before she can finish.
While I'm sealing the idiot goddess, Rias and Yasaka-san are talking about something.
"Princess Rias, about that matter—is it truly all right?"
"Yes, we have no reason to refuse."
I ask the smiling Rias,
"What's up?"
"Oh, Kunou is transferring into Kuoh Academy's elementary division starting next school year. We're making the arrangements."
"For real?!"
Wow, when did that get decided?
Kunou puffs out her chest proudly.
"Fufun! It is time I studied life in the human world. And if possible, I wanted a school where youkai can blend in without issue!"
So starting this spring, Kunou will be in Kuoh Town too.
Well, our school already has devils, angels, fallen angels, onmyouji, monster tamers, ex-Valkyries, werewolves, and even a shinigami.
…Wait, does that mean Kunou will live with us?
Uh… oh boy…
We'd need all kinds of countermeasures…
Our house is definitely not child-friendly…
Especially the office—no way.
It's basically an R-18 zone.
The "Break Room" and "Love Room" are absolutely off-limits!
What am I gonna do…?
While I'm panicking internally, we run into some familiar faces.
"My, Rias and company finally arrived."
It's the Sitri group, led by Sona!
All the girls except Bennia (in her jacket) are in gorgeous furisode too!
"Sona. I heard you were coming to Kyoto, but you're here too."
"Yes. We arrived about ten minutes ago."
The childhood friends chat casually.
Saji greets me.
"Yo, Hyoudou. Happy New Year."
"Hey, Saji. Happy New Year. You guys doing hatsumōde too?"
"Pretty much. This is our fourth shrine. Two more and we're heading back. Thanks to the alliance, some of us devils can actually visit shrines now—nice perk."
By "some of us devils," he means the DxD members and our close allies.
Certain tourist spots in Kyoto are open to designated personnel only.
It really is a nice bonus.
But the Sitri crew is doing full-on Kyoto sightseeing from New Year's Day.
We're just heading home to relax after this.
First I gotta free Tia from the kotatsu's dark magic…
"Praying for vice-president victory?"
"Yep. But I'm not the only one."
Saji glances sideways.
I follow his gaze—Xenovia and the Sitri "Monk," Hanakai, are radiating intense battle aura.
They lock eyes, silently throwing sparks.
These two are rivals for the next student council president seat.
"I have no intention of losing, Xenovia-san."
"Same here, Momiji. When I fight, I fight to win—no matter what."
They shake hands firmly.
Perfect rival energy.
They're burning so hot the winter cold doesn't even faze them.
Saji shrugs.
"As you can see, I'm not the only one praying for election victory."
Right—several Sitri members besides Saji and Hanakai are running for student council too.
We chat a bit more, then the Sitri group heads down the mountain.
Just as we're about to climb to the summit shrine—
Irina loops her arm through my right.
"Ufufu~ A New Year's visit to Kyoto is so refined. Right, Darling♪"
…
Ever since winter break—no, ever since that night—Irina has been calling me "Darling."
Skinship has skyrocketed. She barges into the bath to wash my back, and her midnight bed invasions have doubled.
It all started the day the office got its new "Love Room."
Irina happened to visit that exact day…
She learned what the room was for and… well, we ended up christening it.
Anyway, lately she's even started studying cooking.
I sigh.
"…Please don't call me that at school, okay? Honey."
"Ehh, no way?"
"Nope."
"Stingy Darling."
"Be a good girl or you'll get punished, Honey."
That's our recent back-and-forth.
I'd prefer she drop the "Darling," but if she likes it… fine. I've half given up.
As Irina and I banter, someone latches onto my left arm.
"My my~ Then perhaps I should start calling you 'Dear Husband' as well?"
A beaming Akeno.
She's in an equally fantastic mood.
"That's unfair, Akeno! I want to call Ise—"
Rias jumps in and grabs my arm too!
Now Akeno and Rias are fighting over my left arm!
"First come, first served♪"
"If we're talking first, that would be me. Right, Ise? My husb—"
"Rias?! Not here! There are normal people around!"
We're surrounded by regular shrine visitors!
You can't just say stuff like that out loud!
While Rias and Akeno wrestle over my left arm, the church trio assembles on my right.
"Irina, shouldn't we share with all three of us?"
"Yes! I want to be with Ise-san too—"
"Asia-chan, stooop!"
A scream from the depths of my soul.
Left arm: Rias & Akeno.
Right arm: Church Trio.
Before I know it, Koneko-chan is in front, and Reyna & Ravel have my back.
Being surrounded by beautiful girls is nice and all, but…
I can barely walk, and we're attracting every eye in the place.
Behind me, Kunou (fox ears and tail hidden) looks troubled.
"Hmm… how do I get in there…?"
"Kunou-chan, in times like these—you get a piggyback ride."
"Miyu-chan, that's physically impossible…"
Alice's objection is completely valid.
If we add a piggyback to this formation, I'll become some kind of mobile fortress.
"I… I'll hold back…"
Rossweisse's restraint is honestly appreciated.
▽
After all that, we finally reach the summit shrine and clasp our hands in prayer.
My wish is simple: I hope everyone stays safe and healthy.
I'd love a peaceful year if possible.
And, well… I hope I can keep enjoying lots of lewd times with everyone!
Next to me, the others are chatting while praying.
"When you make a wish, you're supposed to silently tell the god your name and address too. Did you know that, Gasper-kun?"
"Eh?! Really, Koneko-chan?! I have to do it again!"
"Also, different shrines specialize in different things. Since this is an Inari shrine, business and commerce prayers work best. We'll be back here for the school trip in autumn anyway, so we could save some wishes for then."
"I can't wait for the school trip! Winter Kyoto is lovely, but I want to see autumn Kyoto too!"
Ravel's eyes sparkle as she breathes white puffs into the cold air.
Koneko-chan, Gasper, and Ravel will be second-years starting this spring, so they'll have their Kyoto school trip in autumn.
Probably the same route we took.
I hope there's no terrorist attack this time…
Well, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.
Azazel-sensei will probably tag along as a chaperone, and the rest of us can rush in as backup if needed.
"I prayed for Fafnir-san to recover soon."
Asia says softly.
Fafnir pushed his broken body to the limit protecting Asia from Rizevim.
He's currently in a temporary hibernation after exhausting his power…
Take all the time you need.
Come back and show Asia your healthy self, Fafnir.
There's a girl right here waiting for you.
Beside me, Xenovia is praying intensely.
"What'd you wish for?"
"…That this year, finally, I'll have Ise's baby."
"Hey! This shrine doesn't grant fertility blessings! And we agreed—after graduation!"
"I know, I know. You promised, so I'm keeping it to practice only for now."
"You don't have to say that part out loud!"
Just practice… this girl…
Xenovia laughs mischievously.
"Fufufu. Joking aside, I prayed to pass the election. Not sure if this god listens to devils, though."
"But you want to win fair and square with your own strength, right?"
"Of course. Victory only means something if you seize it yourself!"
Xenovia flashes a fearless grin.
Running into her rival earlier must have fired her up even more.
She's going all-out for the student council election from day one of the new year.
Classic bold, fearless Xenovia.
While everyone finishes their prayers, Miyu and Alice are still going strong.
"Miyu? Alice? We're heading out soon… still praying?"
They open their eyes and turn to me with bright smiles.
Miyu answers,
"That we can all spend another lively year together."
"Yeah."
With this crew, not just this year—next year and the year after will be lively too.
Miyu just wants more fun, peaceful days with everyone.
Alice follows up.
"That paperwork doesn't pile up. That Ise takes all the annoying jobs for me."
"You idiot blonde! What kind of wish is that?!"
Yep. This year is gonna be lively too.
-------------------------------
I've already uploaded over 30 chapters of this story on Patreon.
If you're enjoying it and want to read ahead, feel free to check them out here:
[patreon.com/Greyhounds]
Thanks a lot for your support, it really helps me keep going.