DxD: I'm Surrounded by Big Sister Devils!

After another night of deep yet somehow "innocent" exchanges, dawn broke on a new day.

At precisely 7:20 a.m., the familiar morning scene played out in the living room. At the dining table, Fukuki and Kuroka sat side by side, breakfast laid out before them: steak, pasta, and fried eggs.

Despite being born and raised in Kyoto—a city famed for its traditional Japanese cuisine—and hailing from a family of renowned onmyōji, Fukuki had always leaned toward more diverse culinary preferences. Western and Chinese dishes suited his taste far more than traditional Japanese fare, which he often dismissed as "bland."

"Sluuuurp~ Why are we up so early again today?" Kuroka complained, her mouth full of tomato pasta. Half-asleep, she leaned lazily against Fukuki, clearly not yet awake.

Scratch that—she wasn't "not yet awake"; she was simply not awake.

After all, last night, Fukuki had originally planned to reheat their dinner, connect their new television and gaming console, and relax with some light gaming before calling it a night.

As a certain cat-eared girl witnessed the scene, she couldn't behave herself again. Ignoring the lingering fatigue from earlier in the bathroom, she rubbed closer and closer, trying all sorts of ways to block his view and stop him from playing properly.

Naturally, her actions led to predictable consequences. She got what she asked for, with Fukuki initiating a siege mode right there and then, taking her to the "Youth Center" for high-intensity raids from night until the server completely crashed in the early hours of the morning.

Including the time spent showering again afterward, by the time they finally got to bed, it was almost 2 a.m.

"Sleeping at two, waking up at seven—King Yama praises my great health.JPG."

"Well, nothing can be done about it. School starts at eight," Fukuki said, not showing a trace of tiredness on his face.

"School, huh... school."

Kuroka glanced sideways, pouting with her mouth covered in tomato sauce.

Though she always grumbled about Fukuki insisting on attending that worthless school, deep down, she knew the truth.

And that was—80% of their current household income came from a certain Lady Rias Gremory. Every job she commissioned was well-paid, straightforward, and didn't require constant revisions. There were no ridiculous demands for "colorful black¹," nor did she ever make excuses to dock payments. She was practically the perfect client.

By comparison, while Fukuki also took on assignments from the forum set up by Jujutsu High, most of the users there were ordinary occult enthusiasts. For them, visiting the forum was just for fun. Genuine requests for help were rare, and serious bounty posts even rarer.

Of course, the main reason for their connection to Lady Rias was that her dear younger sister was currently one of Rias Gremory's subordinate.

Although, from all indications, Lady Rias wasn't the type to boss around her subordinates, considering the dangerous tasks Fukuki had undertaken since collaborating with her, Kuroka still felt it was better to have someone keeping an eye out for him.

Sure, personally stepping in would be the better option, but... well, chances are that foolishly sentimental guy didn't want to see her right now.

At least, not yet.

As she thought about this, Kuroka's movements slowed, her gaze lowering as she stared at the steak and spaghetti on her plate in a daze.

It was at this moment that a muffled voice came from beside her, unclear due to the noodles in his mouth.

"What's wrong? Fell asleep while eating?"

"Wha—of course not! How could that even happen?!"

Caught off guard by how easily her lapse was noticed, the cat-eared girl snapped back to her senses, her cheeks flushing slightly as she grew annoyed. She raised her leg under the table and gently pressed her soft, smooth foot against his.

"I was just thinking—since school will be on break in a couple of days, how about we go out and do something together?"

"Oh, the weekend, huh? I haven't thought about it yet" Fukuki shook his head after swallowing his food.

It's the same old story. In Japan, if you're not aiming for a prestigious university, high school isn't too stressful. Two days on the weekend is plenty of time to go out and enjoy youth.

But for Fukuki, staying home was always preferable to going out.

After all, at home, there's food, drinks, air conditioning, and video games. In contrast, when you're outside, even finding a bathroom requires pulling out your phone and following navigation for half an hour.

"Haven't decided, huh..."

Kuroka tapped her mouth with her index finger, pondering for a moment before her eyes suddenly lit up.

"Then how about Kyoto? I've never been there before. Besides, isn't your hometown in Kyoto? We could treat it as a family visit and check in on your parents~"

"Nope. You could've suggested Hokkaido, but not Kyoto. Hard pass." Fukuki refused decisively.

"Why not?"

"Can you imagine a crowd of aunts swarming you, pointing and gossiping? And worse, some people your age talking like those very same aunts?"

"Ugh… I can't."

Kuroka tried to picture it but gave up almost immediately. She had no such aunts, after all.

It seems that humans—or cats, for that matter—can't imagine what they've never experienced.

"Besides, my mom texted me a few days ago, saying she'd be visiting the Hero's Village soon, so she won't even be in Kyoto for a while." Fukuki shrugged.

"And..."

His words trailed off suddenly, as if recalling something peculiar from the past. A faint "ah" escaped his lips.

Noticing the change, the cat-eared girl immediately leaned closer, her eyes narrowing suspiciously as she scrutinized him.

"Why'd you stop? Thinking about another woman?"

"Ah... if you insist on putting it that way, sure."

Fukuki returned to his meal, shaking off his thoughts.

"It's still about the matter with the Jujutsu Society yesterday. They'll probably contact me again in the next couple of days, so I can't say for sure if I'll be free this weekend."

"Oh~ and it's definitely not because you're pining for that upperclassman?"

"Why would I be pining for that upperclassman? Besides, isn't that Jujutsu Society always busy trying to seal Sukuna's fingers? If I could just destroy them all, it'd save everyone the trouble. And if I take this chance to wring some money out of them, maybe I could even achieve financial freedom... Hmm, the more I think about it, the more appealing it sounds."

"Hmph..."

Kuroka expressed skepticism, half-believing his words.

"But Fuki~, if all you do is work and stay cooped up at home, you're going to end up with no friends, you know?"

"Who said that? I had plenty of friends when I was a kid."

Fukuki casually replied, tilting his head back to dump the last bit of pasta from his plate into his mouth. Then, he stood, picked up his used plate and utensils, walked into the kitchen to leave them in the sink, and headed straight for the entryway.

"I'm off. See you tonight."

"Tonight… see you?"

The entire process happened so quickly that by the time the cat-eared girl sitting at the table realized what was happening, Fukuki had already put on his shoes and walked out the door.

What was that about 'I had plenty of friends when I was a kid'?!

Shouldn't this be the moment when he says, 'It's okay, as long as I have you'? He's making it seem like she actually wanted him to have lots of "friends"!

So infuriating.

On the other hand, Fukuki had just stepped out of the apartment building and onto the sidewalk when a startled cry sounded from a short distance behind him.

"Ah!"

It was followed by a light collision.

When Fukuki turned around, a white headscarf fluttered through the air like a butterfly, and sitting on the ground was… a blonde nun?

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1. "There were no ridiculous demands for 'colorful black'" means there weren't any unrealistic or impossible requests at work.