Koneko & I

(I'm not a fan of oversexualized animes, but this is a series I've had a lot of fun watching. It is written in a RomCom novel style. Koneko has always stood out to me, so she's my first fanfic ever. Enjoy!)

Chapter 1

Silver threads. Eyes that almost glimmered of gold. Skin beautiful as the flesh of porcelain with strength that shook the earth following the snarls of my worst nightmares. It was certain now. The time to run had run out and the deadline to face this fear of my unknown predator was nigh. I watched and stepped towards my temporary freedom with utmost caution, desperately searching for somewhere more open. My eyes darted around with vigilance as my heart began to race. My pacification could breed no longer. I had reached a point in my life where I had to be, both, the doctor of indifference and the wolf inside. I've come too far to look back into the midst of my history. All I could see now is a metaphorical Devil's Pass flooded by a fog of regretful choices and a karma hankering in my mind, goading me on to make a stand.

This was it.

As I reached the playgrounds for the young, I spun around- a few fingers of my right hand digging into the dirt as I slid back anchoring my distance- terror seeping into my heart, adrenaline irrigating my brain and goosebumps spreading like a dark pandemic across my body. I clenched my teeth simultaneously with my fists. I knew that I couldn't win this- I didn't stand a ghost of a chance, even after dancing with multiple devils, recently- but there's one thing that I did have; regardless of the petty elements in its make-up- I had soul and a will to live. If I spoke in honesty, I didn't pride myself on my desire to live very often because I was exhausted. Even for the short amount of my existence, I have, many a time, prayed for the acquisition of my dissolution.

But this was not one of those times.

This was the new origin of my convalescence. This was the time to make my fears falter; to dig my feet in the ground and confront my accrued consequences. I hardened myself, and as she sprung from the nearby bushes with skirt flailing in her own turbulence into full exposure, I charged in- holding my breath and revolting against my good sense- with roars erupting from my chest. I sailed like ammunition from an industrial slingshot and as we closed the distance, my arm swung and flew at her indiscriminately.

***XXX***

"What!?" The room clamored in disbelief. The flabbergasted looks on their faces were priceless and sincere.

"So, let me get this straight," Akeno retorted. "You're saying he walked up to you in front of the whole room, everyone watching and asked you out." She really was getting it straight- this was less of a question and more of an observation feeling for the walls in the dark. The room was filled with an uncomfortable awe as Koneko slightly winced in chagrin, but nodded in affirmation. Although provided with an abundance of potential suitors and admirers, no one had ever been this direct with an approach towards her. Rias scrutinized the room, but her particular interest- for the lack of better terms- was Koneko, front and center.

"My, my... Koneko, this is so exciting," Akeno squealed. "I was secretly worrying about your sexuality, and here you were behind our backs turning into a full woman." Akeno stuck out a tongue and winked teasingly at the now-flustered rook.

"W-Well, what did you say? Did you accept?" Issei stumbled.

"Baek asked if I was interested, and before I got the chance to respond, he suggested that I contact my master for permission." Koneko's eyes shifted to Rias' who narrowed her glare as if she was contemplating, That's respectful, but who is this Baek? What does he want from her? How does he obviously know about our house's front? "So I told him that I would when I could and that I would need some time to think about it." Rias remained in a thoughtful pose while the gang bombarded Koneko in questions. The club room was lively once more, but there lingered a feeling within the master that wasn't so much jealousy as it was a sense of threat.

On any other occasion, Koneko would have instantly rejected any man who pursued her at the drop of a hat, but in this case, she didn't even allow herself to respond; she only marched back to disclose the details. She had this expression on her face, but it was not one of worry or discontent, it was buoyant and weightless- an expression thought to be predominantly lost to her. For the most part, her eyes remained fixated on Rias awaiting her reply.

"Koneko," Rias said firmly. "You... can do whatever you want, but at least do me a favor." Koneko nodded in acknowledgement. "Be careful. Don't let your heart grip the reigns on your head. The heart is powerful regardless of the degree of attraction and can blind your judgement easily. We don't know this Baek," Rias held up a preemptive two fingers for Issei's silence when he tried to protest, "so I'm a little bit against it, but in the end, my decisions on your love life doesn't automatically dictate the best decisions for you. Only you can do that."

With a satisfied smile, Koneko gestured her gratitude and began to leave.

"Where are you going, Koneko?" Rias asked. Her stomach churned slightly and her breath started getting short, but she maintained a marvelous pokerface, as always.

"To meet with Baek. I thought it'd take me some time to ready an answer, but thanks to you, I think I know how I want to respond."

Her gentle footsteps made way to the corridors of the old building in a different sector of Kuoh Academy. She took a final breath- inhaling through the nose and exhaling out the mouth- shoved the doors to the outside world with vigor and stepped through with confidence, excitement and ready for a new adventure on a different scale. Little did she know, love was a powerful emotion crafted of pain, sorrow, happiness, frustration and in the worst case scenario, hatred, altogether. Little did she know, but little did she care to know.

***XXX***

Issei rushed to my desk and caught me off-guard when he shouted like a psychotic ex-girlfriend, "YOU'RE DATING KONEKO NOW!?"

My eyes widened at his knowledge and my brain- even for a second- completely flat-lined. I know that I asked her out in public, but I didn't brand it into everyone like a brainwashed cult message. All that was left were basic instincts. So with that, I subconsciously swung my arm into him for a jaw-check and knocked him into a row of desks before I facepalmed. But that didn't stop the murmurs. I was already known as a delinquent, not as a ladies man. The girls in all of their glory happily chatted away. Rumors. Insults. Predictions. It was degrading and hurtful.

"I heard he forced her to date him by blackmailing her!"

"She's too good for him. He's nowhere in her league. What a spaz!"

"Don't worry, it won't be long before she realizes what a mistake he is and leaves him to the wolves."

"What if he becomes a crazy, psycho stalker and..."

I dashed to Issei's side and grabbed him by his collar. "Rooftop. Now. Don't make me drag you." He had this bona fide look of fear in his eyes that said something along the lines of, "Oh shit, I screwed up bad, and he looks pissed!"

***XXX***

As I kicked open the door to the rooftop, I threw Issei through the frame causing him to barrel roll in the air and on the ground. I slammed the door shut so hard, the tiny window in the top-middle completely cracked. My bipolarity was already difficult enough to control without this loud-mouthed pervert giving me more attention and butane.

"You have one chance, Issei Hyoudou. What the hell was that?" It was more of a calm angry.

"I KNOW, I KNOW! I'M SO SORRY! I just got REALLY EXCITED because it's the FIRST TIME I'VE SEEN KONEKO HAVE A DATE!" I finally exploded for the first time in 2 months.

"SHUT. THE FUCK. UP! We're on the roof! Not a soundproof studio! You dumbass." I could only think in fragments. Keep it simple with the basics, right? "Let's get some things straight, Issei. First off, we are not friends. We aren't enemies, but hanging out 3 times in the course of a year- in school and not- does not constitute friendship." He tried to speak but I was outraging at this point. "Which brings me to the second issue: You had no right to try to talk to me about my love-life. I don't even trust my mom with that shit, you think I'm gonna trust you? Who the hell are you fooling?"

That's all it took. A look of being hurt in his body language. That's all it took, and all of the bipolarity began to dissipate. This was Issei. He began being used to being liked because of his recent popularity, and he always had good intentions but he was just far too hyper for me to enjoy as a regular friend. I sighed and inhaled through my nose before I lit up a cigarette.

"And the last issue? We aren't dating. All I did was talk to her for a minute, ask her to go out with me when it felt right and told her to ask Rias if it was okay. She nodded, took a bite of the doughnut she was carrying and basically said okay. I didn't get a response just yet, and honestly, I don't really have high hopes for one."

"Can I ask you something, Baek?" He actually sounded serious.

"Uhh, sure," I hesitated. "What's on your mind?"

"Why Koneko? Out of all the girls in the school... Why her?"

"Well, I guess it's because-"

"Is it because you have a fetish for lolis and you've converted to the dark side?" Issei gushed like a gossiping housewife from my neighborhood.

"What? No! It's because-"

"Because she's so tiny that you could just thrash her all around in the bedroom? Oooh!"

"It's about to be because I wanted to give you a reason to come up to the roof with me so I could throw you off!" Another puff on the cancer stick followed by a deep sigh. "It's because I don't like any of the girls here." He steeled up. "The girls who go here are... toxic, man, to say the least."

"Wait- what? What do you mean?"

"Are you joking? As soon as you bullhorned the message to homeroom, seven of the girls began to gossip on how I'm blackmailing the girl I like just to get her to go out with me! A few of them are already waiting for our break-up just to see if I'm gonna become either a psycho stalker or a rapist."

"I mean... That's just them, that's not-"

"Issei. I'm known as a delinquent at this school, and just to add salt to the wounds, I'm cool with every guy here, and that's including Kiba- you know, the guy who looks like he'd be a total sadist to every other guy because he treats the girls' population as a scoreboard?" Issei slapped his hand to his face and began to stifle his laughter.

"Look, it's not a joke to me. It's someone legit that I'd genuinely like to have someday. She's... different. She's not like every other girl here. I don't know if you've noticed, but it's to each his own, and I feel like we're in a school that's dedicated to anti-modesty on an extreme scale." I took a last puff before I flicked the cigarette off the rooftop of the school.

"That's all I got, man. That's all I got... so, I'm going back to class now before I'm tardy, and I would so-appreciate-it if you left this between us and if the next time you find something juicy about my life, you ask me about it alone instead of with a homeroom full of desperate housewives."

***SPIN-OFF***

The Teacher's Lounge

Azazel

The flicked cigarette rocketed into the air before making its descent down the 3 story building, but even before it hit the ground, a slight breeze shot it into an open window. That open window happened to be the Teacher's Lounge where Azazel decided to take it easy for a while. He began to smell something burning.

Sniff. Sniff-sniff. "Huh? What? What is that?"

That cigarette began to start a small fire by burning some very important field-trip forms.

"Oh no! The field trip forms! I've gotta put this out!"

Looking around the room, Azazel searched for something to put the growing fire out with. Something... Something. That's when his eye had caught his model drinking bird. He swiped the cup and dumped it on the forms. This made the bird drop on the desk and break apart.

"NO! Ruben! Your death won't go in vain. I'll give you a proper funeral. At least the fire is out," he sighed as he kicked his feet back onto the desk, coyly using one of his legs to slowly sweep it into the trash on the side.

Give it a minute.

"NO! THE FIELD TRIP FORMS! Now not only are they burned, they're soaked and the ink is all runny! Gotta think quick. How do I fix this?"

The school PA system came on.

"Attention all students. This is your chemistry teacher and I would like to regretfully announce that due to a careless mistake caused by another faculty member- not going to mention who," his fake coughs surrounded the words 'Your Civics Teacher', "I need to reissue your field trip forms for next week. That is all."

***THE END***

(Thanks for reading!)

Rossweisse

"That drunken bastard."