Like I Can Rise Above It All

"Dad, look! The garden is so pretty!" Kunou called excitedly as they walked around the Church base he'd worked on last. Little one seemed to be enjoying herself, but Joshua didn't really blame her. Not only did she not get out much due to who she was, but the place was beautiful. One could say whatever they wanted about the Church, but they had some majestic architecture, craft and art.

Like the aforementioned garden, which was beautifully divided in islands of green and other more vibrant colors. All of those were separated by stone paths and sometimes even a bench high edge all around the plants. The flowers, bushes and more were mostly mundane, but the way the entire place was structured, maintained and over all shaped made it all seem more magical than even Asia's garden.

Still though…

"Well, Asia will be sad now," he commented idly, making Kunou freeze.

"Aunt Asia's plants are the best though! It's just… This is…" He interrupted the little one's backpedaling with a hand on top of her head, ruffling her hair. "Dad!"

"It's fine. I know what you meant," he reassured her. She was saying the garden was great, which was true. Asia's care had brought the best of each plant they had, but the placing and all around structure of the garden they had at home left something to be desired, especially when compared to the sight around them. "Maybe we can work on something to improve things on our side," he commented idly.

"Do you think so?"

"If not, we can just get a new place and do a better job," he added with a shrug. It was a little amusing for him to think like that but… 'If you have cash, you can do whatever you want,' he thought, remembering something his family and him used to say all the time. They'd usually applied it to other people though, since they hadn't been that well off.

Now he could really do almost whatever he wanted when it came to money, or so it felt.

"Really?" Kunou asked, eyes wide.

"We'll have to see. Your mother and Serafall have the last word. I feel like that might be too thoughtless," he answered honestly, making the girl deflate a little. "Come on. I'm sure we can visit plenty of places as good as this one. You have a great garden at home too, I remember."

"But I've seen that one since forever ago," Kunou mumbled with a pout. "Mom tries to change it up at times, but it's not the same, you know?" she added, kicking the edge of one of the garden "islands".

"Yeah, I think I get what you mean," he replied, smiling softly. "Well, all the more reason to enjoy this, right? And like I said, we can look for other chances to travel and see new places. Maybe something other than gardens and cathedrals."

"You mean it?" Kunou asked, eyes wide.

"Promise," he answered with a chuckle. If he had to burn the growing favor Ravel loved to comment on, then so be it. Not like he had something better to do with those at the moment or in general. It felt like he couldn't make that "wallet" empty even if he tried.

"Yay~" Kunou cheered , skipping forward to look around the gardens some more.

"She's an energetic one," Gabriel commented from beside him and Joshua stiffened ever so slightly. It would be a lie to say that it wasn't a little awkward to be around her now that he was aware of things. The change from friend/client to possible love interest was a jarring one for his socially awkward ass, evidently. Pushing through though, he chuckled.

"You've got no idea. Even when she's sitting down doing her homework she'll find a way to be like that," he replied with a grin. "I quite envy her that. Wish I had that much energy," he added, pushing away the feeling that he was old. He was in his twenties, damnit.

Alas, his schedule, packed to the brim as it was, didn't really help matters.

"... They finally got around telling you, huh?" Gabriel said, a little out of nowhere. It didn't take a genius to figure out what she meant though. It also wasn't at all surprising that she noticed either. Just like Serafall, the angel was the best in her entire faction when it came to foreign affairs and that meant that she needed to be good at reading people.

He stood no chance and he hadn't even really so much as hoped that he could get away with things.

"Yep," he replied, trying to sound casual and probably sounding awkward as fuck. That worked out though. At least that way Gabriel would know better what she was getting into with him.

Didn't mean he didn't die a little inside, but such was his life.

"I'd tell you that you don't have to worry or change the way you act at all, but that probably won't help, will it?" the angel asked him, and he could almost hear the smile on her face. Alas, he didn't dare look. Instead, he kept his eyes firmly locked on Kunou in the distance.

Otherwise, he didn't know how he'd deal with the conversation.

"Probably not," he admitted with a nervous grin.

"It's fine. You came, so I don't think I'm being rejected. I'm happy with that much," she told him and he blinked. Well, talk about being perceptive, he supposed. He really shouldn't be surprised, but he still somehow was. "We don't have to talk about it if you are uncomfortable. I can be patient."

"I'm sure," he replied. Patience was a Virtue, after all. "I feel like that'd be disrespectful of me," he added, however. "You deserve better than that. I might be out of my depth in this area, but I just need to… think less," he mused out loud, remembering the words Jeanne had for him. She wasn't wrong that he might be in his head too much.

A relationship was less rational and more emotional, or so he imagined.

"I appreciate you trying," Gabriel told him and, after taking a deep breath in, Joshua turned to look at her. He returned her soft smile with a somewhat awkward, stiff one. That was the most he could offer her at that very moment.

Turning off his brain was easier said than done, after all.

"So…"

"So," she repeated when he trailed off. 'Great, she's teasing me already,' he thought wryly. However, it was somewhat reassuring. This was Gabriel, one of the – if not the, period – kindest people he knew. The worst that could happen was that things didn't work out, but he very much doubted she'd hold a grudge against him or anything. She was also one of the smartest people Joshua knew, at least when it involved people.

If she didn't know what she was getting into, then he didn't know what a ward was.

"Make things difficult for me, why don't you?" he fake-grumbled, glancing towards Kunou to check that she was properly entertained. Not that they could keep things hidden from her for long, but still. "Serafall and Yasaka didn't give me many details regarding what you three talked, but I imagined I don't have to concern myself with the how of this… of this," he finished, failing to find the right words and deciding to leave it at that.

"It's unconventional, at least for us, but not unheard of nor a matter of contention," Gabriel mused and Joshua wondered if that was another DxD thing or if he was just very ignorant in matters of the Bible. Hell, it could even be both, really. "If anything, it's more of a problem that you three are part of different factions and… Well, one of you is a devil," the angel said and Joshua had to hold back a snort.

'This world is insane,' he thought, bringing a hand up to massage his eyelids.

"And yet…"

"And yet I'm choosing to go forward," Gabriel finished with a confident nod that he returned. Well, that cleared one of the biggest doubts. It was incredibly weird and his mind kept screaming at him that nothing made sense and that there had to be a problem somewhere. It wasn't wrong. It was just that the problem was in him rather than in anything else. He seemed to be the weird one in the situation.

"I'm almost positive I know the answer to this next question," he started with, just to try and avoid offending Gabriel. The angel wasn't looking very nervous though, or really… anything at all. She kept her calm outward appearance, with a permanently soft smile on her face. It was just making him more nervous, if he was honest. However, it was somewhat reassuring, even if it sounded contradictory. "But this isn't just a political thing, is it?"

"Not at all," the angel replied, her smile widening a little, as if she found the question amusing. Joshua counted himself lucky that she wasn't angry, if he were honest. "Heaven has never lowered itself to such practices. Over all virtues we put on love-"

"-Which binds everyone together in perfect unity," he finished for her with a wry smile. To her slightly widened eyes, he chuckled. "I won't take credit for that one. Asia," he explained simply, to which the angel giggled behind her hand. "... I imagined as much."

"But you had to make sure. I find that commendable, not at all aggravating," Gabriel told him, showing that yeah, he hadn't been nearly as subtle as he would have wanted. No surprises there though. He was no politician. "Any other question?" she encouraged him, to which he gave her a bitter half-smile.

"Way to put me on the spot for my interrogation," he grumbled.

"You said it yourself. You are out of your depth," she said, which didn't really help. "It's somewhat endearing to see you so unsure, so careful. It shows that, above all else, you are kind. Many others would question things a lot less, they would be overjoyed and that would blind them to the problems this might bring to their lovers and, in my case, potential lover. If you weren't this considerate, I wouldn't like you, Joshua." Well, there went most of whatever composure he managed to put together, he supposed.

How was he supposed to take such praise from Gabriel of all people and not feel at least a little bashful?

"So, feel free to ask to your heart's content, Joshua," she finished, making him take a deep breath in and then letting it out in a chuckle. "Did I say something funny?"

"Sort of," he answered, running his fingers through his hair. "It just that you answered my last question rather thoroughly without knowing," he told her, making the angel blink.

"Ah."

"Indeed," he confirmed with a nod, laughter still in his voice. "Thanks for… well, being patient with me," he said, turning to look at Kunou now that most of the heavy conversation was over. He needed to get his mind together once more, it seemed. "I guess that's part of what makes me… How did you put it, overjoyed with this. That kindness, that patience… Those Virtues. I envy you, but I also admire you for them. You are an incredible person, Gabriel, and I think that bears mentioning, despite being obvious."

"I'm glad you think that," she told him, and when he turned he saw her smiling… in a completely different way from most other times. It was soft, yes, but it wasn't that distant kindness that was prevalent in her. This was a more… emotional one, if that made any sense. She looked truly happy instead of just… smiling.

It was a difficult expression to explain, or maybe he was just bad at describing it.

"So…" she urged him, to which he chuckled again.

"So…" he started, turning to look directly at her once more. No other way to say what he was about to, after all. "What I'm getting at is that I'd be happy to be with you, Gabriel, if you'll have me."

"I'd love to," she replied. Her smile didn't change this time, but something else did and that was her cheeks, which gained a slight blush that made her look exceedingly cute-

"Dad!"

"... I love her to bits," he commented, his expression turning flat. "But sometimes her timing is… something."

"Indeed," Gabriel said, giggling behind her hand.

And if the angel walked a little closer to him as they continued on their way behind the excited child, neither of them mentioned it.

[}-o-{]

[Aika Kiryuu]

"Unfortunately, I can't teach you how to read the visions the spells provide you," her teacher explained, eyes closed, like she almost always did. Aika was half-convinced she only did that to appear cool and mysterious, considering she wasn't blind, but she let her get away with it. Especially because she was a certified master of the branch of magic she was interested in and also because she was good at teaching.

A handful of classes and Aika already felt much more confident in her magic.

Not to say that she was making huge progress, but it was nice to be making progress at all. Despite all the books Joshua had provided and all the general magic tips he gave her, Aika hadn't been doing so well in practice. The spells worked and she somehow understood, but it wasn't often that she got any kind of clear picture from any of her attempts. She played it off well, but it had been frustrating.

It was one of the reasons she'd pushed for more help, selfish and greedy as that made her feel.

"The spells provide you with a vision that you can understand. You and nobody else," her teacher continued, breaking Aika from her musings and she continued taking notes. It was somewhat frustrating to know that nobody would give her the magic equivalent of a dictionary to understand Divination magic better, but alas… No shortcuts in life, it seemed.

At least, no more than she'd already gotten, by the sounds of it.

Because Joshua might not be a Divination magician novice, or master, or any other kind, but he had an outlook on magic in general that just… Opened her eyes, in a way. She hadn't realized until after having Levi and now her teacher speak of things, but Joshua had a radically different view of magic. It was that same view, the one that afforded her an edge, less restricted, less stiff.

Not that she was anywhere close to being the freak of nature that Joshua seemed to be, but Aika seemed to have benefitted quite a lot from having magic introduced to her by the man.

"So, my advice is to approach things little by little. Use spells that are simpler, test the visions and get used to interpreting them. Preferably with spells that you can easily verify, of course," her teacher told her and Aika nodded, noting that down too. Sounded like a logical enough step. "We can go over that for the next few classes while I help you learn some useful spells, from the very basics to some must-haves."

"Of course. Thank you," she said, as always, because she wanted to be properly polite with the magicians she came across. From her teacher to Director Agnes and everyone in between. Aika wouldn't admit it, but she was kind of terrified of them all. They were, after all, people that had been part of that world for years, if not their whole lives.

In comparison, what was she, with barely any time at all learning magic?

There was also the fact that many of them didn't like her, by the looks of it. Whenever she had to move through the halls of the association, be it to get to her classes, the library or one of the practice rooms, she'd see, from the corner of her eyes, how people watched her, some even glaring. Whispers would follow after her when she moved through the place and it was not only worrying her, but also scaring her a little.

She didn't have the power to deal with any of them, she knew.

The only thing keeping her safe was House of Water itself and her association with Joshua, if she had to bet. After all, the staff was always polite to the point where they looked as scared as her, most of the time. She didn't know the specifics, but it was evident that the association was neck deep in debt with Joshua, and she was benefiting from that.

Still though, that wasn't stopping most people that weren't part of the association nor some of the more bitter members of it, evidently.

She was honestly wondering if she should bring it up with House of Water or Joshua. The latter though, she was a little reluctant to involve in that. He was always working on something, to the point that it was a little concerning. And that was coming from her, who didn't get to see the man all that much. On top of that, she'd received entirely too big a blessing as it was, with all that the man had done for her.

Levi had made sure that she understood how the supernatural world worked in broad strokes, after all, and one thing he emphasized was that debts had to be paid. The world seemed to have a weird equivalent exchange culture going, where if you received something, you had to pay it back. That is, unless you didn't mind being seen as ungrateful, a disgrace, a betrayer. How bad you'd look ignoring your debts kind of depended on how big what you owed was, really.

As for House of Water… Well, they were already doing what they could. Short of putting someone at her beck and call and surrounding her with bodyguards, they were treating Aika like she was some kind of royalty. Everytime she said anything, they seemed to bend over backwards to accommodate or provide. It was actually kind of awkward, reassuring and unnerving at the same time, which was certainly an odd combination.

"No idea why the Professor bothers." Aika held back a flinch as one of the harsher, louder whispers reached her ears. "Divination, honestly… Maybe I should show them," the person hissed and she almost stiffened. The chuckles that followed reassured her little, but she decided to get out of there as quickly as-

"Hey there!" a louder, more open voice called from entirely too close for comfort. Before Aika could react though, an arm had been thrown around her shoulders. "Aika Kiryuu, right?" a girl asked her and she turned warily, taking note of the fair complexion, auburn hair and blue eyes. She also seemed about her age, if she had to guess, maybe a little older. None of that was familiar to her, so she prepared herself for something unpleasant.

It had been a while since she'd been bullied and she really wasn't looking forward to it.

"I'm Meredith Ordinton. A fellow Davis apprentice," the girl introduced herself and Aika almost relaxed. Almost, but not quite. She could be lying, after all. "The official one, if you will."

"Official one?" she asked somewhat curtly, warily.

"No need to be so nervous! I'm the one that everyone knows is his apprentice. Gave him a little boost in reputation, which he seemed to need, for whatever reason. Not to brag, but I'm his best student… When you don't count theory alone, at least," Meredith answered happily, although there was a bit of a grumble there at the end. "Among other things, that is, but none of those are important. Where are you going, by the way?"

"... To the practice grounds," Aika answered reluctantly. She pondered on the idea of not telling her, but she didn't know how that would help any. She'd just have to put up with it. She was going to the practice grounds and there was always someone from House of Water there, so she'd be safe.

"Great. I'll take you there," Meredith declared more than asked. "Also, you can look for me if you ever need anything," the girl continued, finally letting go of Aika's shoulder and letting her walk normally. "People around here aren't fans of us, after all, so we gotta stick together. I'll introduce you to the Stars too, they'll help you out if you need it."

"Like Levi?" Aika asked, finally catching something that she actually knew about.

"Like Levi," Meredith answered with a nod. "Although, no offense to him, he can only really help with theory. The best in the field though. If you need help with anything else, like casting or scaring away idiots-" the girl continued, waving her hand to signal their surroundings at the last part. "-then just get anyone else. Most of us have enough power to scare away most students or magicians around the place."

"That so?" Aika replied simply. She wasn't sure how to deal with this new situation and person. Meredith sounded trustworthy enough, but she was too on guard, considering how most others seemed to react to her. Maybe this was a trap of some kind?

"They got to you already, huh?" Meredith asked, a sad smile on her face. "Doesn't matter. We'll just have to help you along. Ask Joshua about us, if you have doubts. I'm sure he can show you an illusion of how we look so that you can be sure. No one that's not a higher up can disguise themselves in House of Water bases."

That was good to know… if it was true. And Aika would definitely ask Joshua about both the students and that feature of the bases. Nothing Meredith was saying would be taken at face value, she decided. If she was actually nice, then it'd leave her feeling a little awkward, but that was better than if she wasn't nice and Aika trusted her.

"Nobody's bothering you, right?" Meredith asked, looking around as if she could find out the answer herself like that. "I know people are jealous of me, so I imagine it's not much better for you. That's why I came looking for you. If someone's causing you trouble, let me know, either now or later, yeah? I might not look it, but I can kick ass."

"I'll take your word for it," Aika replied blandly. She didn't know how else to, really. She didn't want to outright antagonize Meredith, especially if she could "kick ass", but she also didn't want to be too open. It left her in an odd spot, but she'd have to manage. "I appreciate the offer."

"Don't mention it," Meredith said, waving her off. "So, is your magic branch really Divination? There's bets going on around here, but nobody really knows or can find out. House of Water is really keeping a close eye on you."

"... It is," she replied, because she didn't see the point in not doing so. She almost wanted that to be a mistake, if only to reveal if Meredith was someone to stay away from. Her nerves were getting frayed and she wasn't a fan.

"Huh? Well, I don't think anyone actually thought that was it, but it's cool," the girl commented, showing not a care other than some surprise and curiosity. "I use Protection magic, by the way. Well, that and Wards and Hexes, after taking Joshua's classes," she added with a friendly smile.

Aika would be lying if she said she wasn't getting convinced.

If she was acting, then Meredith was good.

"Well, here we are," the auburn-haired girl said. 'When did we walk all the way over here?' Aika wondered, blinking at the entrance ahead of them. "Have fun with your practice, yeah? I'll look for someone to spar against somewhere else. This is more of a chill practice room."

"Have fun too," she replied, barely managing not to make it sound like a question. "And see you around."

"Don't be a stranger!" Meredith called from behind her as she moved in through the door.

Well, it seemed she might not be lying… and Aika was really glad that there were some more people in her corner, she had to admit..

[} Chapter End {]

Hey guys! How's it going?

Is the first part of this chapter as awkward as I think it is? Hopefully not. Then again, I guess it being awkward would work well, considering Joshua should be awkwardly moving through that conversation… Great, now I'm worried it might not be awkward enough…

Fuck my life, I guess.

Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter though.

As always, if you can't wait until next week for next chapter, there's up to three new chapters in my Pa tre on:

P a treon . com (slash) AdrianKing

Discord Link: discord .gg/UTDransjJZ

Random Question: Thinking is hard right now. What are your thoughts about the chapter?

See you.