Azazel looked at the happy family and gradually, the image distorted to show the same scene but with Azazel, Cleria, and their lovely daughter with long white hair.
[Am I…falling?]
.
|DxD|
.
Having hugged her father long enough, Akeno popped her head up with a smile.
“Daddy! Where’s Igor?”
“He’s asleep upstairs, my daughter. Don’t bother him for now.”
“Okay~”
Like an energetic little minx, Akeno got off his lap and ran to the living room. It wasn’t until a few moments later that the sounds of cartoons started to sound from the television. While Shuri hugged his head, Baraquiel had a content smile on his face.
Soon enough, Shuri gave him a quick kiss on the forehead before turning to leave.
“Let me get started on cooking. Knowing Dimori-kun, I’ll need the extra time.”
It was at this point that Azazel found an opportunity to speak.
“You might want to prepare more than usual, Shuri-chan. Igor was very hungry after the fight so he’ll need a LOT more food, much more than usual.”
Shuri merely gave a nod before leaving the room.
.
|DxD|
.
With five hours having passed since three in the afternoon, it was already nighttime. With Azazel having left, Baraquiel was standing outside the house with Akeno on his shoulders. Both father and daughter were staring at the stars in silence. Although the breeze that came with the night was cold, neither of them felt cold due to their enhanced physique.
While Baraquiel enjoyed the silence, he decided to ask his daughter a question.
“Akeno.”
Akeno leaned over her father’s head to get a look at his eyes.
“Yes, papa?” *
Baraquiel was quiet for a while, as if he was in contemplation.
“Papa?”
But roused by his daughter’s call, he sighed before speaking.
“My daughter. Do you want to become strong?”
It was a thought he had during his talk with Azazel. Faced with the blonde’s ever-increasing strength, the will to train was reignited in him. He also had the thought of training his daughter. But while he did hold the desire, he didn’t want to force her.
As for Akeno, she was confused by her father’s sudden question.
“Become strong? Why?”
“Just curious, my child.”
“Hmmmm…”
Akeno pondered the question with the classic ‘fist to chin’ gesture.
“I don’t know…”
Baraquiel weakly smiled. He knew that when she said she doesn’t know, it usually meant she didn’t want to do it but was afraid of directly declining.
So choosing to drop the issue here, he chuckled.
“Heh~. Do not worry my daughter. Your answer isn’t needed now. Any time you want to get stronger, you can look for me…or your big brother.”
And just like a switch had been flipped, Akeno ranted.
“Stinky Igor is not my brother! He always bullies me! Hmph!”
“That’s because you call him by name.”
“But why must I call him older brother when I’m older than him?”
“Because he is older than you.”
Akeno was shocked.
“Whaaa?”
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Akeno was right to be confused. Just a year ago, she had been told that she was older. Now, it was the reverse.
But Baraquiel couldn’t be bothered to explain the complicated specifics to a six year old.
“It was a mistake. Igor is a lot older than you. So you have to rightfully refer to him as ‘brother’ from now on. If you’re going to say his name, add ‘brother’ before it.”
While Akeno did want to argue, she feared the consequences of blatantly disobeying her father’s orders. His hands weren’t that big for nothing.
“Yes…papa.”
Baraquiel simply ruffled her hair to cheer her up.
“Don’t worry so much, my daughter. Calling him ‘brother’ is just a sign of respect. Although you may not believe it, Igor is older than your school teachers.”
There was a reason why Baraquiel suddenly brought this up. While the blonde never acted his age, he always established his seniority as the older brother. If Akeno didn’t listen or forgot, a quick pinch to the gut or a twist of the ear would remind her.
But another reason was also because he wanted his daughter to establish good relations with Igor. If the blonde genuinely considered her his little sister, he could be more assured of having a second line of defence for his family.
Having received an answer, Baraquiel went back into the house with Akeno. It was also coincidentally when Shuri came out with a bowl of rice and chicken curry.
“Akeno-chan. Why don’t you go upstairs and give this to Dimori-kun?”
Although it was a question, Akeno knew it was an order. So letting her father bring her down, she took the bowl….
“Yes, mama.”
…before walking up the stairs. Reaching the top, she rounded the corner before opening the door into the room where Igor slept. Compared to three days ago, the blonde was now cleaned of blood and dirt that clung to his body. His straw mat, books, and upper clothing were all neatly placed next to him on the floor.
Akeno walked forward, the delicious scent of the food wafting through the room.
“Brother Igor?”
She held the bowl in one hand while gently nudging the blonde with the other.
“Brother Igor?”
She continued to shake him but the blonde wasn’t waking up.
“Brother Igor!”
There was still no response. Knowing that it was pointless to try any further, Akeno was about to give up and leave when a suddenly devious thought entered her head.
“Hehehe~.”
Taking a drumstick from the bowl, she first let the soup and oil drip into the bowl first before slowly bringing it over to Igor’s nose.
“If you don’t wake up soon, I’ll eat it myself.”
Ten seconds passed and yet, there was still no reaction from the blonde. Akeno was growing increasingly impatient already.
“Hmph. Then I’ll eat this nice juicy thigh.”
Bringing it close to her mouth, she never quite expected for Igor to suddenly kick the covers and pounce on her like a lion does with its prey.
“?!”
The blonde rocketed towards the chicken drumstick that was already nearing her mouth with laser-like precision. His mouth was already wide open while his left hand went for the bowl of soup she was about to drop. Displaying splendid skills of multi-tasking, Igor grabbed the chicken thigh from Akeno’s hand with his teeth while he successfully secured the bowl with his hand.
Not wasting any more time, he quickly devoured the chicken thigh whole along with the bones before furiously digging into the bowl of stew.
Hearing the clanging of ceramic against spoon, Akeno stood there dazed for a moment. Her finger traced the part of her lips where Igor briefly made contact.
Her eyes turned watery for a moment before she ran out crying.
“Papa! Igor is going to turn me into a frog!”
But she wasn’t fast enough. Igor had already devoured the contents of the bowl, not sparing even the soup on the sides. The blonde could smell the scent of delicious food from downstairs. So, he ran. He exited the room before turning the corner and dashing downstairs. He vaulted over Akeno with a side-flip before he stuck the landing at the bottom of the stairs. Placing the bowl and spoon on the side of the table in the kitchen, Igor unceremoniously began digging into the typical Japanese cuisine.
Although the blonde didn’t have a fondness for any other meat besides Chicken, Beef, Mutton, or Pork, his starving stomach didn’t care for any distinctions at that moment. Food was food and all it wanted was food. Whether it was raw or cooked was of no concern at the moment for Igor.
But Shuri did have concerns. While Baraquiel remained sitting with a smile, Shuri was on the verge of panicking.
She had never seen someone eat so voraciously before.
“D-Dimori-kun! I had already prepared food for you.”
She ran towards the stove before removing the lid of a pot filled with chicken stew. The effect was instant. Igor lifted his head from the bowl he was digging into and stared at the pot. Thanks to having something in his belly, he had regained some lucidity or else he would’ve rushed forward like a madman.
Seeing that Igor’s attention was on her, Shuri spoke.
“Let me fix a bowl for you-”
“No! I mean…no need, aunty. Just…”
He swallowed a mouthful of saliva before continuing.
“I’m sorry, aunty. But I’m really hungry right now. Please just…”
Realising that he was overstepping his boundaries, Igor froze for a bit. Baraquiel laughed at the blonde’s actions before speaking with Shuri.
“Give the brat the whole pot, Shuri. Only the gods know what he’ll do to you in the next ten seconds if you don’t.”
Shuri looked at the blonde. She could see his pupils begin to dilate while the little Adam’s apple on his throat began to move up and down.
“Fufufu~”
In the end, she couldn’t help but laugh at how desperate the blonde appeared.
“Okay, Dimori-kun~.”
Bringing the pot over to him, she nudged away the bowl of Akeno’s half-eaten food from Igor before placing the pot on top of a cloth.
“Eat slowly~.”
As if the walls of Jericho had fallen, Igor stormed the pot with both hands. His hand speed proved his bachelor status as he shoved drumstick and thigh into his mouth. His powerful jaws crushed the bones to pieces.
While the blonde would usually eat like a normal person when he was in Baraquiel’s home, he took no care this time to ponder how the sounds of bones being crushed would loudly reverberate throughout the room.
At this time, Akeno who was frozen on the stairs decisively took this moment to run around the table towards Baraquiel.
“Papa! Igor kissed me and now I’m gonna turn into a frog!”
“Oh…”
*Takes a second to process the words*
*Smile slowly disappears*
*Holy music stops*
“WHAT?!?!?!?!”
.
AN
My perfectly good reason for uploading later than usual is that we had no power since 03:00. We only got it back around 21:00. Here I am at 23:30 and I’m drunk on sleep.
As usual, you can go to my patreon to read ahead. Just uploaded chapter 31 over there.
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