Here I am with Chapter 2! This has about 4.3k words, so that's more than last time. I'm impressed that I can write this much to be honest. Writing is just a side hobby. The reason this story may seem generic is because I want to write something that I enjoy myself, while others can just follow along with ease and enjoy the fun as well! Please feel free to leave a review!
10 Days Later
Rias POV
I was pacing around waiting for the Rating Game against Riser and his peerage to start. I was nervous, who wouldn't be? My freedom was on the line and I will be damned if I have to marry that man. There's no telling what he will do! I kept pacing until Issei put a reassuring hand on my shoulder.
"Buchou! It's going to be ok. We will beat this shit out of that asshole and protect you!" He said with determination in his eyes.
I started calming down a bit, his determination rubbing off on me. "Yes, let's do this Ise."
He flashed me his signature smile and I looked around at the rest of my peerage. They were all smiling at the sight, except for Koneko, but I could see a small smirk tugging at her lips.
"Ok, we're going to win this. Is everyone ready?"
"Hai Buchou!" Came a collective affirmation.
"Good, let's do this!" I smiled.
Katsumoto POV
In my house, I had access to devil channels. I had magically altered the circuits of my cable some time ago so I could have access to the news in the Underworld. I was flipping around until I came across an Underworld broadcast. I watched for a little bit and then I remembered that today was the day Rias was having her Rating Game against Riser. I was about to stay and watch until I checked the time.
"I suppose I'll have to watch it later. School's going to start soon, and the last thing I need to do is get on Sona's bad side." I told Arcas.
"Personally, I think you should get to know them instead of watching from a distance. I mean they seem nice enough, and some of the student council girls are trying to befriend you. Momo and Tomoe have started warming up to you."
"I did say that I wanted a normal life, so maybe you're right." I picked my bag up and walked out the door to start the day. It was pretty warm, with a few clouds scattered throughout the sky. As I was walking, I rounded a corner and bumped into someone. I saw a book falling, and reacted extremely fast and caught it before it hit the ground. I looked up to see Tomoe Meguri rubbing her forehead, staring at me.
"Oww~" She pouted cutely. I couldn't help it, sometimes she was just too adorable. She quickly noticed it was me and a smile of joy washed over her face. "Katsu-kun!" She bounded toward me and wrapped an arm around my neck.
I froze for a second, wondering if she had seen me increase my speed, but she seemed to not have noticed. I chuckled at her usual antics, and returned the smile. "Good morning Tomoe-chan, you're as bright and energetic as ever I see."
"Well someone has to be, or else they'd be all quiet and mopey looking like you were 2 seconds ago." She teased.
"It is pretty early, give me a break. I'm trying to get used to this schedule." I said. She gave me a confused look.
"Are you not used to waking up for school?" She asked me. I immediately knew that she was playing it smarter then she had let on. Even though I genuinely think she wants to be friends, she still has a duty to provide for her peerage.
"I used to work a lot, and my schedule was different." I played it off. I know they're going to find me out sooner or later, but staying on the outside for a bit longer is nice, because once I get involved, everything will change.
"Oooh, okay!~" She replied cheerily. We continued our walk to school and parted ways during class.
As I was sitting in class, I decided to have a conversation with Arcas to pass the time by. "So, as much as I know about Sona, I think I should play her in chess." I chuckled internally.
"You know what would come of that if you won. I think that you are evenly matched intellectually, so it might not go over well if you win." Responded Arcas thoughtfully.
"I know what would happen, but give her some credit. She's the smartest of her generation of young devils. Sairoarg might be strong, but he's not as smart as her. On top of that, for all the shit I've put myself through for the devils, I'd be really surprised if they held me to that arrangement." I hummed.
"Perhaps you're right, partner." He was cut off by the door opening. I look over to see Momo standing in the doorway looking at me with a smile.
"I'm sorry for interrupting, but I need Katagiri-san in the Student Council office." She said to the teacher.
"Oh don't worry about it, Katsumoto-san please go with Hanakai-san to the Student Council office."
I grabbed my things and stood up. "As you wish." I said with a smile as I followed Momo out the door.
"You seemed lost in thought when I first got there. Mind sharing?" She poked my cheek as we were walking down the halls.
"It was nothing, just thinking is all." I responded as I flicked her forehead. She pouted as she held the spot I thumped and we entered the Student Council room.
"Hello Katsumoto-san, how are you?" Sona asked as she was writing something down. Busy as always. I thought to myself.
"I'm doing fine, how about you, Sitri-san?"
"I'm doing good. How about yourself? Tied up in your work I see." I laughed as she sighed in annoyance. In the last 10 days, I have become quite close with the Student Council. It started with me helping Tsubaki in the library one day when she couldn't reach a certain book on the top shelf, then Momo and Tomoe just became friends with me at lunch. Saji was kind of a douchebag but now we're pretty cool. Everything just sort of happened, as if our personalities meshed. "Is there any reason you called me in here today?"
"Well, from what I know, you seem to daydream in class and not pay attention. So I figured it would be more stimulating if you came into here and played a game with me." She smirked as she pushed her glasses up, giving that anime-like reflection.
"Might this game be chess?" I asked as I motioned toward the board. I saw her visibly light up as she moved over to the table and motioned for me to follow.
"Do you know how to play?" She inquired.
"Well I consider myself to be a fairly classy kind of guy, so of course I know how to play." I joked as I sat on the black side. I gave her a challenging smile and she made her first move.
The game was very interesting as both sides went back and forth, some turns even taking between 5-10 minutes to figure out. Sona was putting her all into this game, and I respected it. I caught what she was doing though. She wasn't fooling me. I knew that she was testing me. She was testing my knowledge. If I was to win, she might even spring some questions on me about the supernatural. I played my best in the game though, for the sake of respect.
The game finally came to an end, after about an hour, and Sona was declared victorious. I looked at the board and sighed a bit. I think looked up at her and she seemed to be studying me a bit. She was a little lost in thought so I had to bring her back to reality. "Like what you see?" I teased.
Her cheeks were dusted with pink as she realized that she was staring at me. She coughed to contain herself, and then proceeded with what she was going to say. "Don't be upset, you played incredibly well. That's the first time in a long time that I've had to try that hard to win."
"Well I'll take that as a compliment. I've heard from other students about how smart you are, and I have to say that I'm quite impressed." I complimented her.
"That was kick-ass dude! I thought you had her for sure!" Saji said as he came over and clasped a hand on my shoulder. Sona shot him a look of disapproval for his outburst, but he just brushed it off.
I stood up from the board and laughed a bit. "I appreciate that. Your turn buddy." I patted him on his shoulder and his face dropped and he slightly paled at the thought of playing chess against Sona. I looked over to see the girls stifling their giggles as I joked with Saji.
"Ha ha… maybe next time." Saji said rubbing the back of his neck. We all started laughing a bit as the bell rang. It was time for lunch, but I didn't have any more classes since it was a Friday.
"I'm going to head home, since I have free periods for the rest of the day. Is that alright?" I asked Sona. I usually didn't ask her for permission, but most of the time I didn't really think about asking anyway. She folded her arms and raised an eyebrow.
"I suppose you can leave just this once." She said sternly. I wasn't going to tell her that this wasn't the first time I had done this. She would've wanted me to stay and study or something most likely. I bid them all farewell as I left the building. As I got past the gates and turned the corner, I walked through a teleportation circle I created instantly, and appeared elsewhere.
I was standing inside of a stadium like area. There were tons of people there, but I was up a bit farther away from the rest. I look out to see explosions on top of explosions happening in an instant. I leaned back against the wall and folded my arms together.
"How are things going so far?" I asked. As soon as I finished my sentence, I felt something cold against my neck, like a blade. It wasn't a blade though, it was actually ice. I move my head to my left to see a silver haired maid standing there with a straight face. As I made eye contact with her, her eyes widened as she realized who I was.
"Oh my Maou, I didn't realize it was you." She apologized.
"It's ok. I'm sure Sirzechs here knew who I was, right?" I looked over toward the crimson haired satan as he kept his eyes on the battle. He let out a hearty laugh and responded.
"Yes I knew it was you. I'm surprised Grayfia wasn't on you faster than that. I assume your senjutsu is becoming stronger if you could hide your presence that well."
"Well I had to make sure no other devils would sense me, and since this area is secluded, I figured it'd be a good time to talk."
Sirzechs turned to me with a serious look on his face. "Things aren't going as I had hoped. I knew it would be a long shot for them to win this, but Rias' peerage seems to be falling behind. Riser and his peerage are just too strong for them."
I knew why they were losing. Sirzechs was just sugar coating it. "They're weak." I stated simply. Sirzechs visibly frowned at my comment. "It may be harsh, but it's the truth. Ever since I got involved with the factions, you told me about this. She should've been getting stronger this whole time instead of waiting on a miracle to happen."
"Reluctantly, I agree. I have one more option if this doesn't work out." He stated.
"What might that be?"
"Well my boy, you'll have to wait and see." He said, and I swear I could hear him smirking while standing behind him.
"Well I'm going to head out. Let me know how this goes. I'll be doing some private work in the meantime." I said, as I willed myself away.
I was back at my house, in front of the entrance. I walked inside and my mom was sitting on the couch watching T.V. "Hey Okaa-san. How was your day?" I asked.
She smiled at me and got up to give me a hug. "It was fine Sochi, how was your day, aren't you home a little later than usual on Friday's?
"I got caught up talking to the Student Council." I told her. She oddly stiffened for a split second before relaxing. I decided to brush it off and not worry about it.
"Oh yeah? Are you interested in any of them by chance?" She asked while raising her eyebrows and poking an elbow in my gut. I facepalmed at her teasing and rolled my eyes.
"No. Even if I was I wouldn't come home gossiping to you about it. That's just weird." I deadpanned. My mom moved to the corner and cried anime tears as I walked toward my room.
"Do you have any plans for tonight?" She asked me as I was walking away.
"Since I have quite some time before curfew, I figured I'd change and ride over to Kyoto. Since we settled down, I haven't done much sightseeing." I responded as I walked upstairs and changed into something more casual. I went back toward the garage and grabbed my keys off the keyring. Since my dad made quite a bit of money, he decided to buy me a nice car as a gift. We had moved around so much since I was a kid. I drove a 2017 Challenger SRT Hellcat. It was blacked out and had a turbo kit installed on it at one point. I hopped in the car and sped down the road on my way to Kyoto.
I made it to Kyoto and parked my car at a nearby park and made my way over to the main temple of Kyoto. As I was on my way, someone bumped into me running out of an alley. They didn't even take the time to recover as they hid behind me. It was a small girl with blonde hair.
"Please help me! These men are after me!" She squealed as she hid behind me. I look up and see smug looking guys walking up to us.
"Hey buddy, just hand over the girl. We don't want to involve you." Says one of the guys, flashing a pistol at me from his side.
"Take it easy buddy, you don't want to do something you'll regret." I said calmly. It's just my luck I would get stuck in this situation. Nobody was around, so it was perfect for these guys to just blow a hole in my face at point blank. Just as I thought the one with the gun raised his hand to pull the trigger.
POW!
A loud gunshot rang off. As soon as he pulled the trigger to the gun, I blasted forward at blinding speeds. I liked to call it "ghosting" because there was a small trail of air that followed behind me when I did it. I reinforced my legs with touki and channeled my aura into my feet to increase my speed. I crashed my fist into his face sending him back into one of his goons, instantly knocking him out. The other one rushed me with a blade to which I parried with a touki covered fist, letting it graze off my hand, as I spun around and slammed my foot into his stomach, causing him to collapse, gasping for air. There was one thing I noticed since I moved to Kuoh. I hadn't had a real fight in a long time. I might have to change that eventually. I turned to the girl to see her staring wide-eyed at me.
I started chuckling a bit as I ruffled her hair. "You can't fool me, young kitsune-chan~" She blushed as she swatted my hand away.
"My name is Kunou, and what gave me away?" She asked as she popped her ears and tail out. It took everything I had not to pull her into a big hug. I couldn't help that I loved cute things.
"I've trained practically my whole life in the art of senjutsu, and other forms of nature energy, and you think someone as young as you could shield your aura from me?" I asked with a quirked eyebrow. She stuck out her lip and folded her arms at my insult. I brushed it off and continued. "Why are you out here all alone?" I asked.
"Well… I wanted to get away from the temple because I wanted to have fun and my mom keeps me locked up there to study and not go outside. She's afraid I can't protect myself." She pouted.
I stared at her for a second, and then a lightbulb clicked. "Your mother wouldn't happen to be Yasaka would it?" I asked. Her eyes widened and her ears twitched a bit.
"You know Okaa-san?" She asked in wonder.
"Yes, she took care of me for a while when I was younger. I figured I'd stop by and pay her a visit since I had some free time." I responded while smiling at her. "I'm on my way there now, would you like me to take you there?" She nodded eagerly as I walked back with her by my side.
We approached the doors and the guards were at us in an instant.
"State your business." The guard said sternly.
"I'm here to see Yasaka-sama. I also have a present for her." I smirked while urging the small kitsune forward. The guards misinterpreted my sentence and raised their weapons.
"Did you kidnap the leaders daughter?" They asked sharply.
"No! You have it all wrong! He saved my life from these evil men who tried to kidnap me!" Shouted Kunou fairly loud. The guards lowered their weapons and bowed their heads.
"We apologize, we didn't know what the situation was." They apologized respectfully.
"It's quite alright, maybe I worded that wrong." I chuckled as I rubbed my neck sheepishly. As we were standing there, the doors opened and two beautiful women came out. One of them I recognized immediately. It was Yasaka, and she still looked as young as the day I met her. Of course I was young too, but I still thought she was beautiful. The other woman was one I didn't recognize.
"Kunou! I have been worried sick about you! Where have yo-" Yaska stopped. She looked at me and her eyes grew exponentially. She walked up to me and cupped my face gently.
"Katsu-kun?" She whispered. I grabbed her hand softly and squeezed it a bit.
"Hello, Yasaka. It's been quite a while hasn't it?" I smiled warmly. She pulled me into a back breaking hug and I just laughed as I returned it.
"Please. Come in and have some tea. It would be great to speak with you again." She hurried me along the stairs and we came back into contact with the other woman.
"This here is Amaterasu-sama. She was just over here for some political arrangements." Informed Yasaka. I dropped to one knee and respectfully bowed my head.
"It is an honor to meet you." I humbly said.
"Raise your head young one. You obviously mean very much to Yasaka-sama, so you are alright in my book." She said with a heavenly voice.
I stood back up and sent a small smile in her direction. "Will you be joining us for tea?" I asked.
"As much as I would like to stay, I have lots of work to do. Until next time." She waved as she disappeared where she stood. Yasaka and I walked inside and we sat down while Yasaka brewed us some tea. Kunou ran off somewhere, probably hiding from the teachers, and Yasaka brought the tea over to me. I took a sip and it tasted exactly how I remembered. Amazing.
"This really is the best tea I've ever had." I said as I took another sip. She blushed a bit and put her drink down
"I appreciate that. But more importantly… where have you been?" She asked sorrowfully. I guess she deserves an explanation as to why I ran off.
"Back then, I was afraid of what I could do. I couldn't control my energy, and I didn't want to hurt anyone. I went off for a while and learned to control my power more, with your aid at the start, and now I have perfect control of my power. I went back to my real parents and lived with them. I chalked it up as me running away and told them I didn't want to talk about it." I responded. I felt so bad, because I never even came back.
"I want to thank you, Yasaka. You helped me so much, and all I did was run away in the end." I said as I looked down shamefully. I felt a hand on my chin as she raised my head up. I looked into her eyes and they were starting to tear up.
"It's ok, Katsu. I forgive you. You're back and that's all that matters. Let's get onto more pressing issues. How have you been? What are you doing these days? Do you have a girlfriend?" She asked as she 180'd the topic into a flurry of questions.
I starting laughing as I answered them in order. "After I left, I went and trained with a few people, and then started doing something akin to mercenary work for the 3 main factions. Nothing that would tilt the scales, but if I deemed the request worthy, I would usually take out a target. There are things that I regret doing… but now I am someone that I think my parents would be proud of if they knew about the supernatural. These days I just attend school. I have received an assignment from the Maou's and they want me to watch over their respective siblings. That's all that has really happened. I also do a bit of music on the side, since it's always been a passion. As for the last question, no I don't have a girlfriend." I could've sworn I saw her relax more when I answered the last question.
"It's nice that you have a hobby. Sometimes I would hear you humming random things all the time. But as for your work, you need to be careful. You could get hurt doing things for the factions. If you get involved too much, you'll get roped into their political arguments." She stated as she took another sip of tea.
"Yeah I'm aware of that, so I keep a low profile for the most part." I said as I drank some more tea as well. We talked for about another hour until I got a call from Sirzechs through a magic circle.
"Excuse me for a moment." I told Yasaka as I stepped aside to answer the call. "Yes Zechy?" I asked with a chuckle.
"We may be close, but remember who's more powerful." He said with pride. I shrunk a bit, because he was leagues ahead of me.
"Seriously though, I'm kind of busy. What can I do for you?" I asked.
He was quiet for a minute before he continued. "Well, Rias lost the match against Riser. The wedding will be held tomorrow evening. There is going to be a… big event." He said, pausing toward the end.
I scratched my chin a bit. "Well I wish you the best of luck. It may sound harsh, but I still get paid for this whether Rias wins or loses. Of course I wish her the best of luck though, she's going to need it."
"Yes I suppose that is true. Well I will call you back when the situation changes." He stated.
"Well, until then." I said as I hung up. I turned back to Yasaka and she was cleaning up the dishes from our tea. I walked up behind her and poked her sides, causing her to squeal and jump a bit.
"Katsu! I hate it when you do that!" She laughed with a tint of red on her face. I hugged her from behind and rested my head on her shoulders.
"I'm sorry I left…" I whispered and she rubbed my head affectionately.
"It's ok, I understand."
I released myself from her and turned toward the door. "I believe it's time I head out though, it's getting pretty late." I said. As we were exchanging goodbyes, Kunou ran up to me and tugged on my shirt.
"Will you be back?" She asked as she stared at the ground quietly.
I rubbed her ears, causing her to purr lightly. "Yes, I will come back again kitsune-chan~" I teased her. I turned to the door and walked out and made my way to my car. I got into the driver's seat and sat there for a minute.
"Not that I'm offended, but you didn't refer to me at all. I remember those times, even though you had no control of me. Don't you think she deserves to know?" Inquired Arcas. He had been pretty quiet today.
"Well, I figured all things come in due time. I'll wait a bit before I reveal you. I feel like it will tilt the way the factions view me at the moment. I'm a first generation gear user, and your gear is very well the strength of a top tier Longinus. We'll see what happens in the future." I responded as I put the car in drive and began cruising. A lot has happened recently, and it's only about to get more interesting as time goes on.
Here we are, at the bottom! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I mentioned earlier in this that Katsumoto's side hobby was music, and that's going to play a role in the next chapter, so get ready for that! As for his harem, I don't know if I want Yasaka in it or not. She is like a mother figure to him, but also a POTENTIAL love interest.
Get hype for the next chapter, and if you have any suggestions, harem additions, story additions, or anything of that sort, feel free to leave a review or PM me!
