When David came downstairs, he ran up to the couch where Marin was sitting and hugged her from behind.
"Heheh~, it's barely been 30 minutes, did you miss me that much~?"
David nodded and rested his chin on her shoulder, sniffing her neck.
"Suuu... Haaa... I did indeed miss you. You smell wonderful, wifey."
Marin just smiled and closed her eyes, enjoying David's affection.
"It's getting late so let's get the girls to their rooms and go to sleep, yeah?"
"Mm, sounds good~."
David released Marin and stood up straight, clearing his throat and bringing his attention to Rangiku and Isane.
"Ahem... You two, follow me. I'll show you to your rooms while you're staying here."
He waved a hand and started walking up the stairs again.
Rangiku and Isane just looked at each other briefly before standing up and following David upstairs while Marin picked up Yoruichi and held her in her arms, following behind the rest.
At the top of the stairs, David stopped in front of and pointed at two doors that were right next to each other.
"These two rooms are empty and ready to be used. It doesn't matter who uses what room, just don't destroy anything. My room is at the end of the hall, my office is the room next to it, and a locked room is next to that. Don't try entering the locked room, it won't work. My office is where I'll be spending the next few days until school starts so if anyone needs anything, you'll be able to find me there."
David then pointed to the empty room next to Isane and Rangiku's rooms.
"That room will be used by someone soon so don't mess with it either. Do any of you two have anything to ask at all?"
He wasn't trying to be rude, but he missed Marin and just wanted to cuddle with her already.
Rangiku raised her hand and said, "Marin and us decided we'd be going out tomorrow for some fun. Is that alright with you?"
David raised an eyebrow. "Why wouldn't it be? Marin can do whatever she wants, you know? I don't control her or what she does, she should know that."
Marin smiled and nodded, but didn't say anything.
"Great! Then we'll be taking her along with us tomorrow~! One last question, why are you going to be staying in your office? Don't you wanna spend time with beautiful women like us~?" Rangiku asked flirtatiously.
⟪ I'd keep you women here and enjoy your company forever if you'd let me, but that's that and this is this. ⟫
"I feel like I'll just run into trouble if I leave the penthouse. Plus, I need to start working on my next project so our family in the future will be able to sustain itself without me in case anything happens."
Marin squeezed Yoruichi a little tight, uncomfortable with David's words.
"Don't say that. Nothing will ever happen to you," Marin said solemnly.
"Haha, it's just a precaution. Plus, I enjoy working on my projects. It's nice and relaxing."
Isane tilted her head. "What projects are you working on?"
David just waved his hand. "Eh, just creating some video games. I don't think you'd be interested in them. Anyway, if that's all, we'll be taking our leave now!"
He hurriedly pulled Marin away and brought her into his bedroom.
Isane and Rangiku just looked at each other and blushed.
When David and Marin (and Yoruichi) entered the bedroom, David manipulated the air to shut the door behind him while he grabbed Marin from behind and jumped onto the bed with her, hugging her from behind and planting his face in her neck.
"Haaa, I missed you so much!"
Despite knowing David went on a Dimensional Quest and was gone for a couple weeks, Marin had to pretend like she didn't.
"Heheh~, what're you talkin' about? You weren't upstairs for that long! But still, I missed you, too!"
[Yoruichi] 'I feel like I'm eating dog food... Can't you two be less lovey-dovey? I swear, it's just a bunch of puppy love...'
⟪ I think now is a fine time to tell Marin about the Dimensional Quests. Otherwise, how could I explain the Sovereign's Cradle and everyone there? ⟫
"Actually... I was gone for about two weeks. One of my powers is the ability to go to other worlds while the time in this world freezes, that way nobody here will notice I'm gone. I had to save an orc tribe, cure two girls from their curses, and punish a villainous hero. I even brainwashed a goddess, heheh. They're called Dimensional Quests and I've gotta say, they're not that bad."
While Marin knew he was gone, she didn't know what exactly it entailed. Thus, she was extremely shocked and excited to hear about what he did.
"Ohhh~, tell me everything!" Marin said as she threw Yoruichi away from her and quickly turned around to look at David with stars in her eyes.
"Haha, alright. It's like this..."
David spent the next two hours detailing all of the major events that took place, who he met, who his new wives were, and how his personal dimension has been progressing.
"Whoa... Can I meet Tomoe and Mio?! And Komoe, I wanna meet her, too! I always thought I'd be the first one to have your kid, but I'm not mad about it... I want to finish high school before having kids if that's okay?"
David rubbed Marin's head. "Of course, I don't want you to feel pressured about anything, okay? Just do whatever you want and if there's anything you need, just ask me and I'll get it for you."
He moved his hand down and wrapped his arms around her.
"Anyway, you can meet them all and come to the Cradle in the morning, okay? I'm pretty tired and missed you."
Marin snuggled into David's chest and reverted to her kitsune form.
"Heheh~, well you're here now. And okay, I can wait until then."
David nodded with a smile on his face, then he paused for a moment.
⟪ Wait, why'd Marin bring Yoruichi into the room? I wasn't planning on having sex with her tonight and just wanted to snuggle, but if I were planning on having sex with her, I'm sure Yoruichi wouldn't feel comfortable being in the same room, right? ⟫
[Yoruichi] 'Right, I would prefer not to see that...'
Marin smirked.
[Marin] 'Heheh, that's exactly what I wanted to show Yoruichi... If she saw my hubby's naked body, she'd surely fall in love right away~.'
⟪ Meh, oh well. It's not like Marin knows that Yoruichi's a sexy woman, right? I'm sure Yoruichi will show herself to me soon so I won't have to worry about Marin taking her to bed with us in the future. Anyway, it's almost 3:00 AM, I need to sleep now... ⟫
With Marin in his arms and her tails wrapped around his body, David quickly fell asleep.
As he was sleeping, Marin opened the Empress Chat to see if Tomoe and Mio had become members.
She went into the "# franchises" channel and noticed that aside from her own franchise's nested channel, there was now one called "# tsukimichi-moonlit-fantasy"
She wanted to check it out, but she noticed that the "# my-dress-up-darling" channel had a new notification.
Marin quickly browsed to it and went to the "Anime - Season 1" thread that had two new messages.
『 Tomoe (Feudal Fangirl): The young master is better than anyone else. You've got good eyes to see that nobody else can compare. 』
『 Mio (Hungry Masochist): Husband is indeed the best! 』
[Marin] 'Ehhh? They already sent messages?'
Even though it was late and she wanted to fall asleep with David, her curiosity got the better of her.
『 Marin Kitagawa (Foxy Otaku): @Tomoe (Feudal Fangirl), @Mio (Hungry Masochist), Hello~! David just told me about everything he did on his Dimensional Quest! 』
...
In the Cradle, Tomoe and Mio were relaxing in David's bedroom inside the manor when they got a notification from the Empress Chat due to being pinged.
"Mio, did you get that notification?"
Mio nodded and opened up the Empress Chat.
『 Mio (Hungry Masochist): Good evening, Marin. We have heard him talk about Dimensional Quests before, but are unaware of the specifics. 』
『 Marin Kitagawa (Foxy Otaku): Ohhh~, I see~. Well, if he hasn't told you yet, he may not want me to tell you either, heheh~. Okay, I just wanted to say hi, but now I'll be going to sleep with David. Have a good night~! 』
"..."
"..."
Tomoe and Mio looked at each other, unsure of what to say.
"That girl... She was bragging, right?" Tomoe asked.
"Yes, it appears so...," Mio said, unfolding her fan and lightly fanning herself.
"Should we leave the Cradle and sneak into the young master's bed?"
Mio shook her head. "No, he would've called for us if he wanted us to accompany him. Besides, the Cradle is still syncing with his world's time. It's not yet midnight here so we're still a little behind husband's time so I'm not tired enough to sleep yet."
"Hm, I see... I'll stay here, but tomorrow, I'm definitely going to sleep with the young master!"
...
Soul Society, Seireitei -- Second Division Barracks, Captain's Quarters
Retsu Unohana was sitting across from Soi Fon as they drank tea the latter had prepared for them.
"Alright, Unohana. Now, tell me why you wanted to speak with me so late at night."
Unohana gracefully set down her teacup and looked up at Soi Fon with her trademark gentle smile.
"David Star," she said.
Soi Fon's eyebrow twitched, but she kept her composure.
"I'm sorry, but I'm not sure I'm familiar with that name. Is that a new recruit in the 4th Division or something?"
Unohana didn't lose her smile and just said, "Marin Kitagawa... Ruri Gokou... Kaede... Yuna... Dimensional Quests... Any of these sound familiar?"
While Unohana knew other names, these names were the freshest in her memory and she felt that Soi Fon would also remember them quicker this way.
Soi Fon visibly reacted each time Unohana said a new name, but when she heard "Dimensional Quests," she immediately understood.
She shot up from her seat and checked the entire room and its direct vicinity, making sure nobody was around, before she came back to her seat.
"I take it you can hear the voice in your head, too?" Soi Fon asked hopefully.
Unohana just picked up her teacup and took another sip.
"I can, but that's not why I'm here. I'm here because I know how close you were to Yoruichi, and yet she's now with this David Star fellow. From what I've heard, I believe there's no reason for David to lie. Thus, I'm taking his accusations against Aizen seriously and would like your help investigating. I quite liked Yoruichi and Urahara both, but with what was presented to us, I couldn't disregard it and had to treat Urahara as a criminal. Yoruichi assisting his escape didn't help their images either, but I understand the situation if it is as David says it is."
When Unohana mentioned Yoruichi, Soi Fon became serious and listened intently.
The first time Soi Fon heard David mention Yoruichi's situation and how she became a criminal to help her friend who was framed, it gave her a spark of hope, but also filled her with a murderous rage.
Even before Unohana had said anything, Soi Fon was preparing to investigate Aizen and find out the truth.
"I was planning on investigating this anyway, as well as everything else David has talked about. From what I gather, we are a part of a fictional story from David's past life and he knows it all from beginning to end. It seems that the story from our... franchise?"
Unohana nodded, "Yes, 'franchise' is indeed the term he uses."
"Then it seems that the story from our franchise has yet to begin, thus we should still have time before Aizen's betrayal. I was planning on going down to the Human World and disguising myself as a normal human, then find a way to talk to David about Aizen and the troubles Soul Society will face in the future."
Soi Fon spoke sincerely while Unohana continued smiling and sitting elegantly.
"I had the same idea. However, it seems David didn't need an introduction to Rangiku and Isane to be able to identify who they were. I believe your disguise would immediately be seen through, therefore we should wait for a few more days before trying to make contact with him. Rangiku and Isane are already down there and judging by their reactions lately, I find it highly likely that those two can also hear David's inner voice."
Soi Fon was surprised. "Really? It's not just us?"
Unohana shook her head. "No, in fact, judging by reactions alone, I believe Nanao and Nemu can also hear it. Who knows how many others can hear it? I think that Rangiku and Isane will be trying to get information about Aizen out of David while they're down there, thus we need not make any overlapping efforts and just focus on our side's investigation."
Soi Fon thought for a moment, thinking of what her first move against Aizen will be and wondering how she'll be able to find out anything from him.
"Alright, I'll contact Rangiku through the DenCom and subtly inform her about our actions. I don't trust that Mayuri won't be monitoring communications, so I won't mention anything specific."
Unohana just nodded and enjoyed her tea.
Soi Fon took out a device that looked like a smartphone and activated it.
A few moments later, she brought it to her ear and waited.
...
Isane and Rangiku were together in the room Rangiku chose as hers to talk about their plans before going to sleep.
"How are we going to get David to talk about what Aizen will do or has done? We need him to at least give us some information that could help us find proof," Isane said.
"Hmm~... I dunno, but we can't be too obvious about it. We can just try to slip in mentions of some members of the Gotei 13 in anecdotes or something. I have a feeling it'll just be stressful if we solely focus on trying to trigger his inner voice rather than just letting it come naturally. I prefer--."
ring ring ring
Rangiku was cut off by her DenCom going off.
She raised an eyebrow and pulled a smartphone-like device out from her cleavage.
"Huh, Captain Soi Fon is contacting me... Weird..."
Isane furrowed her brow in confusion, but motioned for Rangiku to answer the call.
Rangiku hit the 'accept call' button and lifted the DenCom to her ear.
"Captain Soi Fon? Why are you contacting me so late at night?"
Soi Fon's voice came from the other end. "Rangiku, let Isane know that Unohana and I will be looking into the situation that led the cat to where she is. We want you two to continue monitoring the target and try to... guide his thoughts..."
Rangiku was confused at first, but then she quickly understood.
"You can hear--."
"That'll be all, Rangiku," Soi Fon said, hanging up the call right after.
Rangiku pulled the DenCom away and stared at it for a few seconds before lifting her gaze to Isane.
"Uh... It seems Captain Soi Fon can hear David, too. From what she said, it sounds like Captain Unohana is also aware. Judging by her words, I think those two are investigating Aizen and the events behind Captain Yoruichi's current situation."
Isane widened her eyes. "No way! That's great! With those two, things should go much smoother! Hahaha, this is great!"
She was very excited because not only will they be getting help from two strong captains, but this would also mean that Unohana knows about her impending death!
[Isane] 'Why does it seem like only women can hear David's inner voice?'
Isane was rather curious about how David's inner voice works, but decided not to think about it too much.
[Isane] 'Oh well, it doesn't matter. As long as we can find proof and solve any problems before they occur, I'll be content.'
Isane and Rangiku discussed what they would do for a little while longer before Isane went to her own room.
They had a plan and now they just needed to go to sleep and wait for whatever would happen.
...
David didn't wake up at his usual time. Instead, he woke up at 8:00 AM and saw his beautiful wife snuggled in his arms.
He noticed that Yoruichi was casually snoozing on one of the pillows about five feet away from him and Marin.
'Chaos-chan, daily draw, please.'
[...You drew today's lottery already before you left for your Dimensional Quest.]
'Eh? But I drew more in that world, isn't it the next day from that world's perspective?'
[Yes, but now you're in this world.]
'...Sounds like a rip-off to me.'
[Oh please, you just want more strawberry milk.]
'Yes, yes I do. You got a problem with that?'
[No, I just think you shouldn't be lazy. Go to the damn store and buy some yourself. You still have a ton of money, you can easily buy some milk.]
'Ehhh... Fine...'
David stealthily crawled out of bed and noticed that he was still wearing his clothes from the previous day.
He quickly threw off his clothes and incinerated them.
⟪ Why keep normal clothes when I can just create my own clothes that are stronger than diamonds? ⟫
Standing in front of his bed while naked, David used his Threadborne Crafting ability and spent about 3 minutes creating a simple set of clothes for himself.
He now had his usual black t-shirt, grey sweatpants, black stretchy boxer briefs, and white socks.
⟪ Heheh, this outfit may look normal, but it could withstand a nuclear explosion. I should make clothes for my wives, too. Now that I think of it, I could create Marin's cosplay with this ability, too. I feel bad for buying all those materials for it, but she'll like the outfit created with my ability better, I'm sure. ⟫
David put on his clothes, took his slides out of his inventory, and slipped them on his feet.
'Alright, let's go to 7-Eleven and buy some strawberry milk.'
David leaned over the bed and gave Marin a gentle kiss on the forehead, causing her to smile, before he left the room and headed downstairs.
He quickly scanned his penthouse suite and noticed that everybody was still asleep.
'Huh, I guess it's too early for people to be awake on a Friday... No, that doesn't make sense... Meh, whatever.'
Not wanting to make any noise with the front door, he teleported directly outside of his suite.
"Ara ara~, someone doesn't seem to care if his powers get seen, huh?"
David jerked his head to the side to see a black-haired beauty standing in the doorway to suite PH-02.
⟪ Shit, one of the people I didn't want to meet until school started... ⟫
The black-haired beauty pretended like she didn't just hear what David said and entered the hallway, closing the door behind her.
She smiled and looked at David with his hands folded in front of her, standing only a few feet away from him.
"You must be the new resident in suite 1. My name is Akeno Himejima, I live in suite 2 with some friends. It's a pleasure to meet you, Mister...?"
David looked at Akeno and couldn't help but find her to be incredibly beautiful.
Her violet eyes looked captivating, her long black hair tied in a ponytail looked extremely soft, and her figure was extremely erotic, especially her J-cup breasts.
"My name is David Star, you can just call me David and I'll call you Akeno. I just moved in um... two... days ago?"
⟪ Has it been two days in this world's time? Dammit, time being frozen in this world is definitely going to throw me off in the future. ⟫
Akeno covered her mouth with her hand and laughed. "Fufu~, are you asking me when you moved in?"
"Ah, no, sorry. I've been busy so I forgot when I moved in, but I believe it was two days ago. Anyway, it's nice to meet you, Akeno, but I've got places to be so I'll be on my way."
⟪ Ignore me and pretend you saw nothing. I'm just a normal guy as far as the High School DxD franchise is concerned. I have the Bleach franchise to deal with and don't want to get tangled up with Rias' problems... Akeno sure is beautiful though, damn... What the hell are they doing living here though? Akeno should be living in the clubroom with Rias, but it sounds like they both live here. There are already quite a few nameplates that belong to other girls from various franchises, but why did one of the more troublesome ones have to appear now? I just want to buy milk! ⟫
David thought all of this as he calmly walked to the elevator, but he kept his senses on Akeno.
Unfortunately for him, Akeno had no intention of listening to him and followed behind him, quickly entering the elevator right behind him.
When the elevator doors closed, they stood there in silence as Akeno kept staring at David.
[Akeno] 'David is ridiculously sexy, oh my~.'
"So, David... You just casually use your powers in public? That's not good, you know~? Some normal person might have seen you and panicked. You sure are lucky it was me that saw it~."
David kept his eyes on the display showing which floor the elevator was on, wondering why the elevator seemed to be moving slower today than previously.
"I didn't expect anyone else to be awake at this time, that's all. If you'd like, I could wipe your memory of it ever happening?"
Akeno stepped closer to David and looked up at him with a coquettish smile.
"Ara~, you'd play with a beautiful woman's mind like that, David~?"
⟪ Aish... ⟫
David shook his head and smiled. "No, but I wouldn't mind doing so if I had to. Do you plan on telling anyone about me, Akeno?"
He looked down at her and raised his hand, his fingers glowing with a cold blue light.
'Showing her a simple light and ice spell would scare her, right?'
Akeno widened her eyes and reached out, grabbing David's hand gently. The light wrapped around Akeno's hand and gave her a chill.
"Wow, it's so cold... Are you sure this is supposed to do anything to my memory and not just look cool and cold~?"
David's smile froze on his face.
⟪ She's not following the script, dammit... ⟫
Akeno stifled her laughter and just looked into David's eyes, giving a flirtatious and teasing smile.
David retracted the spell and pulled his hand out of Akeno's grip.
"Ahem, it's dangerous to touch something like that, you should be more careful."
"Fufu~, I'll keep that in mind. Anyway, you don't need to worry, I won't tell anyone. It'll be our... little... secret~."
Akeno moved her face closer to David with her last few words.
⟪ I know Akeno likes to flirt, but she ought to be careful. I'll take her straight back to my suite and eat her up if she's not careful. ⟫
[Akeno] 'Heheh~, he's much more fun in person.'
The elevator dinged and finally arrived at the first floor.
David didn't say anything else to Akeno and just walked out of the elevator.
"Wait up!" Akeno called out.
David kept on walking, quickly making his way to the front door.
When he walked outside, he noticed Akeno catching up with him and walking right beside him.
"Can I help you?" He asked.
"Nope~, I'm just heading to the store for some pastries."
"...Which store?"
"Fufu~, whichever one you're going to."
David looked at Akeno out of the corner of his eye and saw her smiling happily, clearly enjoying the situation.
"I'm going to the 7-Eleven to buy some strawberry milk."
"Then that's where I'm going!"
"Haaa... Do as you please."
"Ara~, does David not like being accompanied by a beautiful woman such as myself?"
David shook his head with a smirk. "Not at all, I'm just worried you'll fall in love with a big bad wolf. You just met me, yet you're flirting like this. My girlfriend might get the wrong idea, you know?"
"It's fine~, it's not like I'm kissing you or having sex with you, right? No need to worry~!"
"Heh."
David just chuckled and continued walking.
Akeno didn't continue teasing David and only followed alongside him.
[Akeno] 'Ah~, it's fun being around him. Rias is still sleeping so she shouldn't know I'm with him right now, right? I just want to keep him to myself for a bit~.'
They finally arrived at the 7-Eleven and split up to get their own things. David grabbed a basket and filled it with nothing but strawberry milk while Akeno just got a mix of melon pan, chocolate croissants, and cream puffs.
⟪ Alright, plenty of strawberry milk... Wait, now that I think about it, didn't I buy a bunch before I left for the quest...? Shit... ⟫
Shaking those thoughts out of his head, David arrived at the counter to pay for his milk and hopefully leave Akeno behind.
When he got to the counter, he unloaded all of his milk and waited for the girl to scan them.
It took a moment for him to notice, but he recognized the girl working behind the counter.
⟪ Ah... Megumi is still working, huh? I'd say meeting her twice like this is fate, but it's only obvious that I'd meet her if I go buy the same shit twice in such a short span of time... Hope she doesn't think I'm a weirdo that buys a shit ton of milk... ⟫
[Megumi] '...He was gone for weeks according to him, it only makes sense that he would forget. I won't judge you, don't worry, David.'
If David heard what Megumi was thinking, he would cry tears of joy and say, "As expected of Saint Megumi!"
Hiding his embarrassment, David quickly paid for his milk and left the store, making his way back home.
...
When Akeno was done with her shopping, she arrived at the counter and started placing her things down.
"You don't seem to make many expressions, huh?" She asked.
Megumi looked up at Akeno, blinked slowly, and tilted her head slightly. "Oh... I see. I guess that's true... But if I smiled too much, it might take away the attention from others, right?"
Akeno covered her mouth. "Ufufu~, I suppose it might. I bet if you smiled at that boy earlier, he would've fallen in love with you immediately."
Megumi continued scanning the items and shrugged. "He already has a girlfriend, he wouldn't pay attention to me."
"Ara~? How do you know he has a girlfriend?"
Megumi didn't let her thoughts show and calmly responded, "David is a handsome boy, it wouldn't surprise me to know that he already has a lover or two."
"Now how did you know his name was David?"
"..."
Megumi froze for a moment, but then finished scanning the items.
"Your total will be ¥328."
Akeno swiped her card while still smiling at Megumi.
She picked up her snacks and said, "I can hear it, too, you know~? You should know he would absolutely pay attention to you, fufu~."
Without waiting for a response from the now wide-eyed Megumi, Akeno left the store and headed back home.
[Megumi] 'How did she know I could hear it? I didn't make any obvious expressions, right?'
Akeno didn't actually know Megumi could hear David's inner voice, but she had a guess. Based on the fact that her and Rias could hear it, she knew they wouldn't be the only ones.
That along with the fact that Megumi mentioned a couple of things she wouldn't normally be able to know made Akeno think that Megumi was one of the others that could hear it.
[Akeno] 'I wonder who else can hear his inner voice? Ufufu~, I'll have to pay attention to people's reactions once school starts back up~."
---
(A/N: Sorry for the slower-than-usual updates. Dealing with more of the house-burning/relocation stuff so it'll be a bit before I can go back to how things were. I'm looking forward to what I have planned so it'd be nice if I could get more written...
Anyway, as always, thanks for reading this junk.)