Chapter 02: Becoming a Papa

It's three p.m. and Chengxue still sat on the Kyoto Library, reading a book about 72 pillars in Underworld. He felt glad that he might find that book. He believed that it might help him understanding more about the devil race and its power.

"So, each devil clans have their own exclusive power. It's interesting." Chengxue muttered very quietly to himself as he read the book.

Chengxue spent his times today to learn about the devil exclusive powers, such as Bael's Power of Destruction, Sitri's Water Demonic Power, et cetera. He wanted to learn more about the devil's ability, so he who was already adopted into devil might improve his demonic ability properly and quickly.

While he was busy with his reading activity, he felt that his pocket vibrated because there was an incoming call on his cell phone. He checked it up and found that it was Yasaka who tried to contact him. So, he returned the book to the bookshelf and accept the call after he went out from the library.

"Hello, Chengxue-san. Where are you now?"

"Hello, Yasaka-san. I'm on my way back to the mansion now."

"Good then. I need your help to prepare the documents that are needed for our meeting. Toki still accompanies Kunou to buy the school equipments."

"Alright. If it was the case, then I'll be home quickly."

"Be careful then."

Chengxue ended the call and continued his trip to the Yasaka Mansion. He felt grateful for meeting a nice figure like Yasaka who let him to stay on her mansion. He himself had considered the place as his home and Yasaka and her family members as his friends. Arriving at her house, Chengxue directly went to Yasaka's room to meet her.

"You've arrived, Chengxue-san."

"Of course. You say that you need my help, so I come here now."

"Thank you. Now, please help me summarizing these reports into a brief document for my presentation."

"Alright. You can count on me."

Within an hour, he managed to finish his job. He felt that his ability to understand something increased, so he could summarize 7 reports into a brief document to be presented by Yasaka on the meeting. He then handed the document to her and she approved it since she found that it was excellent.

[Be proud of me, Chengxue. It is me that enhance your intelligence, making you be able to summarize those reports quickly]

Again, Chengxue heard a voice from nowhere. He knew that it was the voice of his predecessor. However, it wasn't the voice of Aharon that he came to his hearing this time. Otherwise, it was the voice of a woman.

'Thank you then. You must be Lynna Sitri, am I right?'

[You're welcome, Chengxue. I know that you are a clever man. But, I honestly doubt that you can finish the presentation quickly and properly, so I help you then.]

'So, you doubt my intelligence?'

[Uhm some kind of that maybe? I want to ensure that you as the successor of Sitri Clan can deal with the thing that is related with intelligence. Anyway, let's talk further on our next chance. You should prepare yourself to attend the arranged meeting along with Yasaka now]

'Alright. See you, Lynna.'

Chengxue ended his inner conversation with Lynna and prepared himself for attending the upcoming meeting. He along with Yasaka went to the Kyoto Meeting Hall after both of them were ready. At there, the other youkai had waited for Chengxue and Yasaka. As soon as they arrived, the meeting began.

Yasaka then presented about Chengxue as the potential hope for Kyoto Youkai Faction to combat Boryoku that was supported with Hero Faction. The presentation went well, as well as reaped the positive respond from the youkai. They believed that their leader had already observed him before she allied with him, so they followed her decision without any hesitation.

After the meeting ended Chengxue was about to go home along with Yasaka. However, before he did that, Aharon told him to go to the nearby forest to meet his two predecessor

[Go to the nearby forest and meet us, Chengxue]

'Okay. I'll be there.'

"Yasaka-san. I'm sorry that I can't go home with you. I want to explore this city, so I'll probably be at home on evening. I hope that you don't mind."

"It's okay, Chengxue-san. Do you need a companion? If yes, I may accompany you."

"You needn't. You are tired of arranging everything for this meeting. You should take a rest."

"Alright then. Please don't come home late. I'll be waiting for you."

"Don't worry. I won't be late. Anyway, I have something for you."

Chengxue gave Yasaka a chocolate bar and a bottle of milk. Yasaka smiled and felt so confident as she thought that it was the sign that he was attracted to her.

"Owh...It's chocolate. Say, Chengxue-san, are you trying to date me?" Yasaka happily accepted the gift from Chengxue as she tried to flirt with him.

Chengxue sighed as he thought that Yasaka misunderstood the case. "It's not like that, Yasaka-san. We just meet two days ago. I want to give you a chocolate and a bottle of milk because I think that snacks may help to decrease your stress."

"Okay then, Chengxue-san. I guess that we should know each other deeper before we plunge ourselves into a further relation."

Again, Yasaka brought her face closer to Chengxue's. This act was clearly her intentional deed to flirt with him. Same like before, Chengxue kept Yasaka away from himself as he felt awkward for being flirted by a woman that he just met.

"I will go now, Yasaka-san. Please be careful on your way to go home."

"You too, Chengxue-san."

Chengxue and Yasaka parted ways as they wanted to go to the different places. She wanted to go home, while he wanted to go the nearby forest to meet his predecessors.

After Chengxue reached the nearby forest, he directly sought for the quiet spot and concentrate his mind to meet Aharon and Lynna inside his mind. A few seconds later, he managed to meet his predecessors.

"You come." Aharon welcomed Chengxue.

"Of course. It is you that ask me to get here, right?"

"Yes, I am. I want to explain you the exclusive powers of Bael and Sitri Clan, as well as to train you using those powers. As our successor, you should know about this."

"Alright. So, what should I do now?"

"Try to perform the Power of Destruction! I want to see you using it."

Chengxue did as it was instructed by Aharon. He imagined that he was about to launch an inner energy like some characters of Xianxia novel did. So, he focused his demonic energy on his palms. He managed to create a crimson-colored sphere.

"Good job, Chengxue. It is Power of Destruction. Now, try to use it!" Aharon instructed Chengxue to hit a rock that was near them.

"No, it will be harmful towards our surrounding."

Aharon chuckled as he heard Chengxue's words.

"It's okay. We're not on the real world. We are on the realm of mind."

Chengxue began to look around himself. He saw that his surrounding was similar to the real world. It had various color, ground to stand on, and three-dimensional space. The difference was the absence of living creature except him and his two predecessors. The only things that existed on there were rocks.

"R-Realm of mind?" Chengxue looked confused.

"Yes, mind is the place where the physical thing of real world can be in contact with the supranatural thing. I'll give you the further explanation later. Now, do as I instruct before."

Chengxue threw his power of destruction to the nearby rock. Instead of getting destroyed, it only got cracked.

"You have been able to use the Power of Destruction, Chengxue. However, the power of your technique isn't strong enough. You are supposed to be able to destroy that rock."

"I understand. That is my first try."

"Again!"

Aharon instructed Chengxue to do numerous attempts to destroy any nearby rock by using his power of destruction. However, Chengxue hadn't been able to meet Aharon's expectation. None of the rocks that were hit by Chengxue got destroyed, indicating that his power of destruction was still weak.

Seeing that, Aharon instructed Chengxue to stop. The Bael Devil knew that he should boost up the power of his successor's power of destruction through training.

"Enough for today, Chengxue. You are already good in terms of manipulating the power of destruction. Next time, I will train you to make it being more powerful."

"Alright. So, I may go home now?"

"Yes, we've been training for 2 hours and now, it is 7 p.m. already. Your girlfriend will be angry if we train more than this."

"Girlfriend? I don't have it yet."

"C'mon. Yasaka must be your girlfriend, right? I mean look at the numerous flirtartious deeds that she've addressed to you."

"Hah...numerous you say? She just do it two times."

"Two times for now. It could be multiple in the future or even, it can be further than just flirting."

Chengxue looked at Aharon with an annoyed gaze as his predecessor tried to tease him. A strong desire to punch him on the face grew inside Chengxue's heart. As if there was someone that knew and realized his desire, Lynna approached Aharon and pinched his ear.

"Awww Awwww...Stop it, Lynna! What have you done?!" Aharon screamed in pain.

"Stop teasing him! He need to go home now."

Lynna pinched Aharon's ear so hard, turning it into red. He directly rubbed his ear right after she stop pinching him. Watching this scene, Chengxue couldn't help but chuckle as he remembered his father who would do prank him in order to entertain him, and then his mother would come to rebuke his father for not doing that.

Ignoring Aharon who contemplated her action, Lynna turned her attention to Chengxue. She saw some bruises on Chengxue's hands. She quickly held his hands and prepared to heal the bruises.

"Gosh...you train too hard, so your hands were damaged your power of destruction."

Lynna started to cover Chengxue's hands with her healing water technique. This was the rare technique that Lynna had. Of course, it wasn't the holy from the Church. Like the other devil's technique, it was perfomed by manipulating the demonic power. Within the short time, the bruises might be cured.

"I understand that you want to train yourself to become stronger. But, you should also know your limitation. Don't force yourself until you get hurt. Remember, your safety is as important as your self-development. Do you understand, Chengxue?"

"I understand, Lynna. Thank you for your advice."

"Hmm...You're welcome. Anyway, when will I be able to practice the Sitri Clan water magic?"

"Next time, Chengxue. I promise that I teach you how to use my clan exclusive magic. Now, it is better if you go home. You haven't eaten anything yet and it is 7 p.m. already. Don't make your friends worried."

"Alright then. Thank your for your care today. I'll meet you again tomorrow."

"I'll be waiting for you. See you tomorrow."

"See you."

Chengxue went back to the real world and gradually opened his eyes. He saw that it was evening already, almost night. Not wanting to make Yasaka and the others worried of him, he went back to the Yasaka Mansion in a rush, ignoring the crowd and the sparkling night on Kyoto. After he reached Yasaka Mansion, he opened the door and said a greeting to everyone on there.

"I've came home, Everyone."

"Welcome home, Chengxue!"

Kunou ran to Chengxue and hugged him tightly as if it was the last chance for her to do that. Yasaka and Toki also approached him, welcoming him for coming back home.

"Where have you been, Papa? I miss you."

Chengxue felt a bit uncomfort for being called as 'Papa.' He thought that she wasn't suppossed to call him by that word as he didn't have any relationship with her and her mother, Yasaka. He was about to reprimand her about that, only to be stopped by Yasaka.

"Pssst, Chengxue. Toki told me that Kunou always likens you as his father. When she talked with Toki, she always likens you with him, my husband that has passed away."

"Oh...sorry for your loss. Please accept my condolences."

"Thank you, Chengxue-san. I really appreaciate it."

Knowing Kunou's thought of him, Chengxue crouched in order to equalize himself with Kunou's height. He gently stroked Kunou's hair as well as kissed her forehead, trying to comfort her. Even though he didn't know how to be a good father yet, he did his best to show his care to her. She directly smiled as she felt the care that he gave to her.

"Please don't go away without notifying me, Papa."

"I'm sorry. I promise that I won't do that again, Kunou."

"Pinky promise?" Kunou gave her pinky, giving the hint to Chengxue for doing pinky promise.

"Ya...pinky promise." Chengxue made the pinky promise to Kunou as he looked her golden yellow eyes earnestly. He knew well what it did feel for losing parents. He was ever forcefully separated from his parents. Therefore, he didn't want her to feel sad, so he decided to be willing to become the father figure for her.

Yasaka smiled happily as she saw the interaction between Chengxue and her daughter. She couldn't help but feel happy. However, she realized that it was the time for her and the others to have their dinner. Therefore, she interrupted their interaction and invited them to join the dinner.

"Kunou-chan. I'm glad that you can find another father figure for you. But now, you shouldn't forget that it is the time for dinner."

"Uhm...Papa will also have dinner together with us."

Kunou enthusiastically held Chengxue hand and took him to the dining room. He let himself being taken by her. Yasaka felt very happy for watching the interraction between them. At first, she was worried about her daughter's condition when her husband passed away. At that time, Kunou was continuously depressed until she didn't want to go out from her room and do her activities.

Now, Yasaka found that Kunou was cheerful again. Tears came out of Yasaka's eyes. However, she quickly wiped them and joined Chengxue and Kunou to the dining table, followed by her younger brother, Toki.

All of the people who gathered on the dining room began to the foods and beverages that were available. The nuance of the dining room was very cheerful this night. It was because Kunou who continuously told everyone about herself that was saved by Chengxue.

Chengxue himself felt a bit awkward because it hadn't been praised by someone for a long time. When he was an assassin, people obviously feared him instead of complemented what he did. The last time he achieved a compliment was when he lived with his parents. Watching Chengxue acted awkward, Yasaka nudged Chengxue's arm by using her elbow, hinting him to communicate with her.

"What's the matter, Yasaka-san?" Chengxue realized that Yasaka wanted to talk with him.

"It's nothing. I just want to talk with you, Chengxue-san."

"Talk about what?"

"About everything, but not here." Yasaka brought her lips closer to Chengxue's ear and then she whispered, "Come to my room after this. It was next to the toilet beside your room. We'll have a lot of talk there. Just two of us."

Chengxue sighed as he thought that he couldn't reject Yasaka's invitation. He had imagined that the talk with her might be far away from the word of 'talk' if he and Yasaka were alone in her room.

It didn't mean that he didn't have desire towards women, especially a voluptuous woman like Yasaka. He was attracted with her, but he thought that the relationship should be done step by step, so he would date with her after he lived together with her much longer.

On the other side, he felt that it would be inappropriate if he denied Yasaka's invitation. After all, she said that she wanted to have a talk with him. Probably, there was something serious that she wanted to share with him. She trusted him, so it would be rude if he denied her. Therefore, he decided to accept the invitation.

"I have a lot of time to talk with you. I'll come to your room." Chengxue whispered as he didn't want that his words were heard by Toki or Kunou.

"I'll be waiting for you." Yasaka briefly smiled to him and then left him to take everyone's dishes and washed them.

Chengxue waited for Yasaka to finish washing the dishes. He was given a glass of orange juice by Kunou. He felt confused because he thought that the glass was still full. He knew that it was Kunou that asked Yasaka to make the orange juice for her and now, the child didn't drink it at all.

He looked at her and intended to ask her why she didn't drink the orange juice that was made by her mother. But, before he could do that, Kunou delivered her reason earlier on as if she could read his mind.

"I feel so full, so I give the orange juice to Papa. Papa will help me to drink it."

Chengxue agreed to drink Kunou's orange juice. After that, he gave an advice to her. He knew that he was nobody here, but he thought an advice could be delivered to someone regardless of status and relationship.

"Next time, don't ask for additional foods or beverages if you can't consume all of them."

"Papa scolds Kunou...does Papa hate Kunou now?"

"It's not the case, Kunou. I love you so much as my daughter. Therefore, I'll advise you if you do something wrong. Not taking responsibility for something that you ask is a bad thing. It is very very bad to be done. You may get mocked by the other people if you let that become a habit."

"So, Papa doesn't hate me?"

"Of course not. You are my daughter and I love you so much. Not taking responsibility for something that you ask could be harmful towards the other people. I don't want you to be treated badly by the other people because of that. Therefore, I will advise you not to let that become a habit, so you won't be treated badly by the others. Remember, if you treat the others well, then you will receive the same thing from them and vice versa."

Giving the advise in a friendly manner was the thing that he remembered from his parents. When he was a child, his parents never snapped at him or hit him with something if he did a mistake. Instead of doing the useless thing like that, they would only advise him not to repeat his mistake and then they gave a punishment that was makes sense. That was the thing that he did to Kunou now.

He didn't want to hurt Kunou like what some parents did with the excuse 'to discipline their children.' Instead of that, he trying to make Kunou understood her mistake, so he hoped that she wouldn't let that to become a habit which would cause her to reap the bad fruit.

"Yeaay! Papa still loves me!" Kunou's expression suddenly changed from sad to happy. It was such a drastic change.

"Of course, Kunou. I will always love you. Anyway, have you checked your schedule?"

"Yes. I've done it before I have my dinner."

"Do you have homework or quiz?"

"I have two quizes tomorrow. I have studied half of the materials."

"Very good. Now, you should finish your study. Be a good student!"

"Aye, Papa! I understand your advice. Now, I will continue studying, so see you tomorrow."

Kunou briefly kissed Chengxue's cheek and was about to go to her room. However, Chengxue suddenly sensed a danger led to Kunou, so he pulled her back. Right after he did it, a spear pierced the ceiling and jabbed on the spot where Kunou was about to step on. If he was late to pull her back for a second, she would surely die.

An unknown man broke into the house through the window. No one know who he was. He wore a hoddie, pants, and a mask on his face, making him being unrecognizable. He then snapped his fingers, creating a room covered the whole mansion.

Yasaka and Toki were about to attack the intruder by using their senjutsu. However, they found that they weren't able do that. The intruder than laughed at them with a mocking tone.

"This is the power that suppress senjutsu energy. You, the youkai will not be able to fight me."

The intruder took out two battle knives and proceed to kill Yasaka and the others. He rushed to them as he brandished his knives, only to be kicked on chest by Chengxue. The intruder looked at Chengxue with a furious gaze, but Chengxue only gazed his back with a flat expression as he put up a fighting stance.

"You will pay for the thing that you've done."