"Hey Red, you and I need to have a talk real quick."
"What is it now, Shiki?" Rias asked, not look up or away from what she was reading. She was already used to this from him, and used to him calling her "Red". It was less an affection nickname and more of a way for him to further distance himself from Rias and the rest of the ORC by not using her name. The one time she tried to stop him from calling her "Red" he switched to "Exhibitionist" instead, then "Nudist". All things considered, "Red" wasn't the worst choice.
Shiki waltzed up and put a hand on her desk to get her attention, "I'll tell you what it is. What it is is that these jobs are all shit! I've been busting my ass all night for the past week passing out flyers and fulfilling contracts for every kind of nutjob, from otaku to parents to-"
"And you've been doing quite well, all of your clients said you were easy to get along with and that you fulfilled everything they asked of you to the best of your abilities. I almost had to double-check to make sure they were talking about you." Rias joked, setting down her paper and looking up at the boy with a smile. Despite his less than pleasant demeanor at times, or any time he wasn't in class or working on a contract really, he was working hard. Despite their rocky start it made her happy to see him giving it his best effort. Now if only she could work out the kinks in his attitude.
"The hell's that supposed to mean? Of course I did a good job, the only way to stop having to do this low-level crap is to do it right the first time. I get along with those people because I know how to lie through my teeth. Now as I was saying, these jobs suck. My last job had a crossdresser that wanted to be a Mahou Shoujo! Who, speaking of which, had more muscles than professional bodybuilders! Do you know how long it took to convince him to change his wish to something else that I could actually do?" Shiki suppressed a shudder as he thought of one of his previous contracts. Men, especially ones that looked like "Mil-tan", should not wear skirts, preferably ever. ""Devil-san, I want to be a Mahou Shoujo", "Devil-san, watch my kids for me", "Hang out with me, Devil-san", "Devil-san, please do my homework!", blah, blah, fucking blah, it goes on and on. You promised that I'd be fighting people and the closest I've gotten to a fight was with the damn crossdresser!"
"Shiki, I've already explained this to you. The Three Factions are in a cold war right now, being promoted for military deeds is practically impossible at the current moment. As for a Rating Game I'm-"
Shiki cut her off, "Yeah, yeah I already know, you can't do 'em yet. That doesn't help me. You don't let me go out and pick a fight like I used to because it's too "dangerous" for a Devil to fight a human, I can't go track down that bitch that killed me, you can't challenge someone to a Rating Game, what the hell am I supposed to do for fun?"
"Pick up a new hobby?" Rias suggested, suppressing a laugh at the deadpan expression on his face.
"This is not the time for jokes, Red. I'm getting antsy. I almost swung on a stranger yesterday for asking directions! What I'm getting at is there's gotta be someone you can have me fight. I don't care who, just anyone. At this rate it's going to start affecting my contracts." Shiki didn't beg anyone for anything, that wasn't his style. But damn was he getting close. So he pulled the "it'll affect my work" card, hoping Rias would buy into it.
Rias sighed. There really wasn't much she could do for him, her hands were tied. Though, thinking about it, there was one thing that might be able to sate him. At least for a little while. "Alright, how about I set up a spar then? Would that make you happy and get you focusing back on your assignments?"
If Shiki was the type to jump for joy he would have. Instead he just smirked, "Hell yeah, that's what I'm talking about. Who ya got?"
"Seriously?"
"What's the issue?"
"The issue is I was expecting more than Prince over there!" Shiki exclaimed, displeased by the opponent standing across the school's gymnasium. Rias had chosen the location due to its availability and because it would be "inconvenient" if a human being were to stumble on them. "What's next, you gonna have me fight Shorty after this?" He asked, gesturing to the diminutive white-haired girl currently sitting in the stands and snacking on dango with her normal bored expression, though she did adopt an annoyed look at the nickname Shiki had decided to give her.
"Don't be like that, Yukimura-kun. I assure you that I can more than hold my own." Kiba assured him, Kendo shinai in hand. He approached Shiki with a smile, raising the sword. "Let's have a good fight."
"Whatever you say, man." the brown haired boy replied dismissively. This wouldn't be much of a fight for him. Opponent had superior range thanks to that sword. Close in, disarm him, then knock him around for a while until he called for the match to end. Easy stuff, nothing he hadn't dealt with before. He'd fought people wielding weapons way more dangerous than a stick, this would be cake. "Call it whenever, Red."
Rias just shook her head at her servant's attitude. This would be a good lesson for him. "Alright. The match stops when one of you says "Stop" or when I say for it to end. Are you both ready?" She looked at Kiba and saw him adopt a serious expression before nodding. Then she turned to Shiki and received a bored nod from him as well. "Begin!"
Shiki wasted no time charging in, not even adopting anything resembling a fighting stance. That wasn't his "style". Hit hard, hit fast, hit unpredictability, and hit the opponent where it would hurt the most. No style, no finesse, just violence. A wild and unorthodox way of fighting that relied on neither style nor training, just his sharp reflexes, raw power, and incredible speed. That was what carried Yukimura Shiki through all of his real fights and it would be the same for this. Overwhelm the enemy with punches thrown at any and every conceivable angle. This spar would be no different.
Shiki closed in before Kiba could prepare himself, moving into a range where he wouldn't be able to swing his sword. 'Done already.' He thought victoriously, sure that this would be his win. Kiba didn't look the type to be able to take many punches, he'd set the pace with this opening shot and lay into him until Rias ended it. His right fist swung forward in an uppercut to knock the blonde haired prince out in one shot. His fist sliced through the air on a path towards Kiba's head.
And came up with nothing.
Kiba had just up and disappeared before the punch landed. "What the fu-" He felt something hitting him in the back and turned on reflex. There was Kiba, standing a few feet away from his original position, calm smile back in place as if nothing had happened. Not only had Shiki missed, Kiba had gotten in a blow of his own and then retreated, falling back into the same position he had started in. That burned him. Not that he missed, not even that Kiba countered his attack, it was the fact that he didn't press the advantage. Kiba had him dead to rights and he didn't even take the opportunity. "Fast little shit!" He growled out before charging in once more. He never once stopped to truly process the fact that Kiba was so fast he literally vanished right before his eyes, the only thing that mattered to him was knocking that damn grin off his face.
Punch after punch, swing after swing, all aimed at Kiba's head, all missing their target. One second Shiki would be perfectly within range, throwing a punch he was sure would land and the next he was just punching the air. Nothing was hitting and it was starting to infuriate him. Even when he finally gave up on head hunting and aimed for body blows to try and slow him down it didn't work. Nothing worked. Just one punch, just one good shot was all he needed and he couldn't get it! Worse yet, every swing of Kiba's bamboo sword was starting to make itself known. Not at first, if anything he ignored it in the beginning, not feeling much if any pain from the first few strikes thanks to the adrenaline. Now that he was starting to cool down and his frustration was building he could feel bruises starting to form at the points of contact. He was sure if he were to check underneath his uniform his upper body would be a mess of angry red welts. On top of that his stamina was plummeting. He wasn't used to fights going this long, but then again he wasn't used to fighting people with literal superhuman levels of speed and agility either.
'It's like I'm getting stung to death by a fucking swarm of bees.' Shiki thought angrily, panting from exertion. This wasn't how he had expected the fight to go at all. This was supposed to be a quick KO victory in his favor and yet he hadn't landed a single punch. He set himself up to charge again when he heard a loud clap from the stands.
"Alright, that's enough."
Oh no, no, no, she was not going to end it like this. "What the fuck are you talking about?! I can still go!" Shiki yelled to Rias, turning his glare from Kiba to her. Sure things were looking unfavorable but what did that matter when he could turn the tide in a single hit? He was set to argue his point when Rias replied.
"Shiki, its been 20 minutes since you two started and you haven't landed a single hit."
20 minutes?! She must have been exaggerating, it couldn't have been that long. Regardless of whether she was or wasn't it looked like Kiba was satisfied with the result as he was striding over to him, not a hair out of place. Didn't even look winded. Shiki would have loved nothing more than to curse him out in that moment but he wasn't sure he had the energy. "Let's just call it a draw." Kiba said as he offered a handshake, trying to lessen the blow to the boy's pride out of kindness.
"Don't give me that. If I lost have the decency to treat me like a man and say I lost. I don't need you to coddle me, you prince bastard." Shiki snapped back at him, refusing to shake his hand. He wasn't a child, even if he knew he was acting like one at that moment, and he refused be treated as such. Spar or not, there was winning and there was losing. He lost and, as much as it rankled him to admit it, that's all there was to it. Kiba's smile wavered a bit before nodding, lowering his hand. 'The closest I come to changing his expression and it's by being a dick. Fucking hell.' he thought with bitterness. "We done here or what?" he asked, calling out to Rias once more. He was exhausted, in no state for another opponent but he'd be damned if he admitted as much in front of any of them.
"Unless you'd like to spar with Koneko next, yes."
That made him pause as he took in what Rias proposed. Then he laughed. He laughed long and hard. "Are you serious? Are you really serious right now? You know, Prince I could understand at least on some level. Around the same age, in the same grade, almost the same height, it makes sense to have us fight but now you're going to really suggest having me fight someone that can't even come up to my chin?" Shiki was so preoccupied in his incredulity at what Rias suggested that he didn't notice Koneko's face change to one of annoyance again. "I mean come on, she's a little girl." She was getting up now and he still hadn't noticed. "You've said some crazy shit to me before but this one really-"
"Senpai."
He turned to finally look at the petite girl. Toujou Koneko, small girl, somewhere around 4 and a half feet, not even tall enough to reach his shoulders. White hair in a bob cut style, two bangs on the side long enough to reach her shoulders. Wore a cat-shaped hair clip. Held the title of "unofficial school mascot" due to how cute she was, which in all fairness was well earned. Wore the female uniform without that weird shoulder cape Rias and Akeno had. Had a real quiet personality too, never saying much to him any time he was in the club room, which wasn't often as he made it a point to never hang around the Occult Research Club for too long.
He opened his mouth to ask her what she wanted and quickly felt a pain only second to when he had been speared through by Yuuma as Koneko planted her fist right into his solar plexus. A punch with little held back, and he certainly felt it as his diaphragm contracted from the blow and his eyes went wide. The air was knocked out of his lungs and he doubled over, his head dropping just within Koneko's reach. A second punch, this time to the jaw, and he was out.
Shiki awoke with a groan, opening his eyes and immediately closing them as the bright gym lights blinded him. He idly noted that he was laying down, his body must have been moved from when he was unconscious as he could feel his back resting against the hard wood of the gym bleachers rather than pressed vinyl of the gym floor, and his head was resting on something soft as his hands came up to massage his jaw. Thankfully not broken.
"So, did you learn anything?" He groaned again as Rias' voice reached his ears. Cracking open his eyes once more just enough to see, he was greeted by the sight of Rias looming over him. He quickly judged by his position that his head was in her lap and tried to rise. "Easy, easy. It's only been a few minutes. Just relax."
"Where's Prince and Shorty?" Shiki asked, reluctantly laying back down and ignoring Rias' question. He was wincing at the pain shooting through his lower jaw with every word. Two ass-beatings back to back, one from someone that literally could not reach his face if he stood with his back straight. He felt like shit, probably looked even worse and his pride had taken a real hit.
"I let Yuuto and Koneko leave while you were unconscious. You're lucky Koneko caught you, if you had hit your head on the floor it could have been much worse. She's the one that carried you too."
"I'll be sure to thank her for the courtesy of making sure I didn't crack my skull open on the ground after she knocked me out." Shiki replied back sarcastically. "You mind explaining to me how that happened? Or how I lost to Prince?"
"You underestimated both of them." Rias said plainly. "You thought because of your history of fighting all the time that Yuuto would be an easy opponent, one that hadn't been in as many fights as you. In reality, he's more experienced than you are by a wide margin." Shiki couldn't do anything other than raise an eyebrow. He didn't know Kiba had it in him, Shiki had always taken him as one of those "delicate" types. "For a lot of his life he's been fighting, in one way or another. Koneko as well. You didn't take her seriously because of her size. Their Pieces also had something to do with the way they defeated you."
"Pieces, right. The whole "Evil Piece" thing you told me about. Prince is a Knight, Shorty's a Rook. Speed and strength." He finally felt like he had the strength to rise to a sitting position and did so, eager to put some distance between himself and Rias. He may have been able to be somewhat cordial to her despite everything but they weren't friends and he had no intention on changing that any time soon. He kept things at a barely cordial work relationship between employer and employee and employers don't give their employees lap pillows. "Didn't think it would have such a huge effect."
"They do. However," she smiled at him reassuringly, "I have no doubt you'll catch up to them soon enough. You have a lot of potential. You did take all 8 of my Pawn Pieces after all."
"What you mean is that I have a Sacred Gear." Shiki answered back. "One that I still can't summon." Rias had explained to him what she knew of Sacred Gears on his first day and it had taken him for a ride. Weapons that could possibly threaten Devils, Angels and Fallen Angels and they were handed out randomly at birth by the universe to human beings. Completely damn insane. He had something that ridiculous inside of him and he just couldn't access it no matter what he did. "One I don't even know what the hell it is or what it does."
"I wasn't referring to just your Sacred Gear. You, despite rarely, if ever, training yourself, had an incredible amount of strength for a human. Your reflexes are top notch and your fighting instincts are sharp. You have all the tools of a natural born fighter." He grimaced as he took in everything Rias said. Even if she was complimenting him it didn't change the fact that she knew all of this because she had spied on him. It was still a sore spot for him, having his privacy being invaded on such a level. Those feelings mixed with the pride he felt at being acknowledged for his strength left him feeling off. "Even without your Sacred Gear you are something special. It's just a matter of building you up."
He shrugged off her attempt at reaching out to him and stood, almost toppling over. Koneko had really done a number on him, his brain was still scrambled pretty badly. He righted himself before Rias could offer her help and spoke. "Thanks for the attempt at a pep talk, Red." He mumbled. "I'm going home. Gonna sleep this off and try to wake up without brain damage. Later." He gave a half-hearted wave before walking out of the gym and leaving school premises, doing his best not to limp or stumble.
'Special, huh?' He thought as left the school campus. She hadn't been wrong in her analysis of him. When he was a human he didn't do any real physical conditioning. What was the point? Nobody he went up against could touch him. He'd step inside any concrete jungle and walk out after having beaten the biggest, baddest, and strongest they had to offer. His training was the fight itself, he hadn't needed anything else and thus never put forth the effort. Looked like that wasn't going to cut it anymore, not if he wanted to win. 'Devil life is such a pain in the ass.'
"Was there any real reason to bring me along on this?" Shiki asked, bored as he watched Akeno, labeled the "ultimate sadist" by Rias, electrocute the Stray Devil they were sent to hunt down with Lightning Magic. Viz-something, he hadn't been paying much attention on this little club field trip, partly because Rias hadn't let him actually do anything. He was there just to spectate, see and experience firsthand some of the responsibilities they had as Devils, which included hunting down monsters apparently. 'And frying them.' he noted dryly.
He had the small suspicion in the back of his head that for as "educational" this trip was supposed to be it was also a warning being issued. "Do not become a Stray Devil or you'll be hunted down and killed.", something along those lines. That was just fine, he had discarded the idea of becoming a Stray Devil almost as quickly as he had considered it when Rias explained the concept. Devils who killed their Masters and went wild, mutating into horrific beasts because they couldn't regulate their power. He could maybe deal with the extra appendages if he had to but being hunted like an animal for the rest of his life wasn't something he was interested in and the possibility that his family might be put in harm's way or used as bait to lure him out put him off it entirely.
Even putting those issues aside, he didn't have it in him to kill Rias. She had irrevocably and irreversibly changed his life, for the better or worse he hadn't decided yet, and it had angered him to no end to be made a slave but to go so far as to kill her for it? He couldn't. He wasn't a murderer, some monster that just killed people because it would be more convenient for him. If that meant working under her for a while until he was promoted to High Class and on his own then so be it.
"I mean, it's fun and all to watch S-san cook something that shoots magic lasers from her nipples but I'm bored now. Can I leave?" Shiki requested. If he wasn't there to fight then he wasn't interested anymore, he could have been at home catching up on his sleep. Being out all night handling contracts was starting to wear him out and it didn't help that he was still in that pesky "sunlight will make you incredibly exhausted" early stage of his Devil lifetime. Rias had told him that his body would adjust until sunlight was a non-issue and he was still waiting on that to kick in. Then there was the fact that he had actually started to try working out and he was really burning the candle at both ends.
"Ara ara, Yukimura-kun's given me such an interesting nickname." Akeno laughed, finally ending her shock treatment on the Stray Devil when Rias told her it was enough. She looked over to Shiki with half-lidded eyes, smiling with a blush on her cheeks. She began walking over to him, a slight sway to her hips to tease him and the teen quickly backed away.
"Oi, don't even think about it. I don't have a problem with you being some crazy sadist that gets off on making people extra crispy but you sure as hell won't be doing it to me." the fledgling Devil warned. It was an empty threat and he knew it. He couldn't even take on Kiba or Koneko, what chance would he have against the Queen? Probably less than 0 but that didn't mean he wouldn't go down swinging. If a Pawn could kill a King then it oughta be able to scuff up a Queen if it came down to it, right?
Akeno just smiled wider, "If you protest like that it just makes me want to tease you more. Don't worry, I promise to be gentle." Shiki's eyes darted to Rias, looking for some kind of assistance.
"That's enough, Akeno. We didn't come here to mess around." At Rias' reprimand Akeno stopped and apologized. She didn't lose the teasing look in her eyes which didn't put Shiki at ease but she made no further pushes, thankfully. Rias stepped forward, walking over to the charred but still breathing Stray. "Any last words, Stray Devil Viser?" Shiki heard the battered, broken mess of a monster ask for death and Rias was quick to grant it. A red and black mass of demonic power shot from the magic circle appearing before Rias' outstretched hand and vaporized Viser on the spot, leaving not even a speck of blood. "Checkmate."
Shiki couldn't stop himself from giving a small laugh. ""Checkmate."? Really? Aren't you supposed to say your super cool badass one-liner before you deal the finishing blow and not after so they can actually hear it?" He laughed again when Rias looked at him with annoyance for ruining the moment. "Sorry, would you have preferred a "Wow Buchou you're so cool!"? Is that better?" Shiki asked rhetorically in a fake, high-pitched voice. To her credit Rias didn't rise to take his bait, simply striding out of the building with the rest of the group. Koneko had the same neutral expression as always while Kiba and Akeno looked at him with amusement. At least somebody was appreciating his jokes.
"Everyone is dismissed for today." Shiki heard Rias say as they exited. "Meet in the club room when classes end tomorrow, the same as usual. And actually go to class this time, Shiki. I can't keep covering for your absences." He'd been ditching class to work out lately, trying to make up for years of going without. In his old life he'd have never considered it because ditching class would have drawn unwanted attention but what did it matter now? The whole damn school wouldn't shut up about his walking to school with Rias almost two weeks ago, everyone was already looking at him oddly, and he had become a Devil, his life was already a mess. Might as well make the most out of his time and put it towards something more productive than book-learning. He gave Rias a non-committal grunt as he walked off, acknowledging that he heard her but not making any promises.
He could feel it in his bones, eyes drilling holes into his back, a chill creeping up his spine as he walked home. This sort of killing intent was pretty intense, whoever it was really wanted to take him out. It was almost enough to make him tremble in anticipation. Whoever this was, he hoped they would put up a good fight. He stopped walking and called out to his observer, "So you gonna watch me all night or do you feel like coming down here and doing something?" And then he heard it behind him. The sound of wings beating through the air, the same as that night that felt so long ago, coming from behind him. His teeth clenched in anger. 'Back to try and finish the job, bitch?'
"How unfortunate for you." A deep voice answered him. "I was out on a walk to calm myself and what do I find but one of your kind. It must be my lucky day." Shiki spun to face the source of the voice and was greeted by the sight of a man with black wings descending to the ground. He appeared middle-aged with short black hair and piercing blue eyes, dressed in a pale gray trench coat, black pants and a fedora. Definitely not Yuuma. Damn. "I'll commend you on not trying to flee. Tell me, boy, who is your Master? Answer quickly or I may just mistake you for a Stray."
"You're not as lucky as you think, geezer." Shiki fired back. "No Strays here. Actually no, there was one about an hour ago. Real ugly looking bitch too, all claws and fangs, screaming about how we smelled delicious. My boss killed her in one shot. You might know her, last name's Gremory? That name ringing any bells in your head or has middle age done too much damage to your brain?"
"Watch your tongue or I'll have it out, boy." The older man snapped. "Gremory, huh? How disappointing, I can't just kill you without causing issues. Very well then, I'll allow you to go free. Tell your Master to be more careful with her playthings. If she leaves them to roam unattended someone like me may decide to kill them." His wings expanded and he took to the sky once more. "My name is Dohnaseek, boy. Pray that we never meet again."
"Ditto, old man." the Devil replied, stressing the last two words. "If I ever see you again I might just lose my cool and tear out those filthy wings of yours." With one last glare at the young man that he couldn't kill without facing backlash, the now dubbed Dohnaseek flew off into the night, presumably looking for something to vent his frustrations on. And with that minor disruption over with, Shiki continued on his walk home, almost wishing that the Fallen Angel had tried attacking him so he'd have a reason to fight. He resigned himself to a late night workout when he got home instead, hoping that would work off the anxiety he was feeling at being denied yet another brawl.
"Whoever thought the Sun was a good idea should be shot." Shiki grumbled under his breath as he walked to school. Another day, same exhaustion. It wouldn't be so bad if the Sun didn't sap all of his energy every damn day. Between that and all of his Devil work he was burning out fast, then add training on top of that and it felt like a miracle that he even had the strength to get out of bed. He had been tempted to skip school today, just take a day for himself and spend it however he liked. He decided it wasn't really worth it, Rias would just give him grief, then Shitori would lecture his ear off, and he finally didn't have anything to do other than sleep and exercise. Maybe he really did need a new hobby...
"Hawaau!"
'The fuck was that?' was the first thought in Shiki's mind upon hearing a shout from behind him accompanied by the sound of something falling to the ground. 'Why the hell is it always something behind me? So much for always keeping my guard up.' Turning his head in the direction the sound was coming from and choked at the sight that greeted him. Some girl, he hoped it was a girl at least, had fallen in such a way that her dress had flipped up, putting her white panty-clad ass on display as she laid face down on the ground. 'How do you even fall like that? No, this isn't my problem, just walk away.' He heard the poor girl whimper in pain on the ground as she tried to rise off the asphalt.
"Oi, girl. You gonna be okay?"
Damn it all.
"Y-yes, I'll be fine." a soft voice called back to him. She clearly wouldn't be considering she was still on the ground, so with an exasperated sigh Shiki walked over to her. Grabbing her by the arm, he yanked her up to her feet, holding her so she wouldn't topple over again, he finally took note of her outfit and froze up.
'A nun. I ran into a nun, I can't freaking believe this.' the brown haired boy laughed in his head at the chances. Of all the possible types of people he could encounter on a walk to school it had to be someone from the Church. A gust of wind blew the veil right off the girl's head but didn't make it far, Shiki's hand moving quickly to grab it out of the air before it could fly away. It did give him a glimpse at what was previously hidden and he took in her entire appearance.
Golden blonde hair with incredible green eyes that seemed to shine, a dangerous combo. Tall enough to come up to his chin, he put her somewhere around five feet tall. Dark teal nun outfit that didn't do much to hide the girl's nice figure, brown satchel on her right hip and plain brown shoes, with a silver cross necklace hanging in front of her chest. Just looking at the cross gave him a bad feeling, like it'd jump off of the girl and attack him for being an unholy being. He ignored it and his eyes flicked back to her face.
'Correction, I ran into a cute nun.' He offered the veil back to her, receiving a thank you in return to which he gave a nod before walking away. He had done his good deed for the day, time to split.
"U-um, excuse me, sir?"
Or not. He looked over his shoulder, "Yeah, what is it?"
"I was looking for the local Church. I'm new to this country and I was wondering if you could give me directions? I can't speak Japanese very well and can't really understand what people are saying so I got lost..." the blonde haired, green-eyed nun shyly said, hopeful he could provide some assistance.
Well this put him on the spot, didn't it? Help someone affiliated with the Church, aka one of the sworn enemies of Devils, or continue on his merry way to a mind-numbingly boring day at school. Not to mention helping out a nun would piss off Rias something fierce on two levels because he'd definitely be late at this rate. Late to school because he decided to help a nun find a Church. Yep, his decision was already made.
"Sure, I know the place. It's on the outer part of town. I'll take you to it."
Naturally he'd choose the option that would anger the red-haired King the most.
"R-really, you will? Thank you! To have met someone as kind as you, it must be thanks to God!" she exclaimed happily, hands clasped in front of her chest. Shiki bit back a laugh at that comment and the irony of it. "Oh, I'm being rude, I still haven't introduced myself. My name is Asia Argento, it's nice to meet you!"
Author's Note: Quick and small author's note. This chapter was rushed in that I'm eager to get all the character introductions for the major players out of the way. I'm more comfortable writing interactions when the characters know and can play off one another but I can't do that when they're strangers so I'm pushing forward a bit faster than usual. Speaking of which, to preemptively answer any questions as to why Shiki is acting so casually around the ORC, he isn't. He makes jokes at their expense, he's rude, cocky, brash, basically a complete cock to all of them. The way he sees it, they can't get rid of him and he can't get rid of them so he might as well just say whatever comes to mind without any sort of filter. It's only "casual" in that he doesn't care what he says to them or what they say to him, it's not a relationship built on any actual friendship or camaraderie on his end at this point.
Also you may noticed the fight scene was a bit lackluster. I'm not good at them. I'm trying to work at that. For a better visual idea of how Shiki fights, think of something similar to Naseem Hamed (the boxer) and Bryan Hawk (from Hajime no Ippo, based on Naseem). Those are the two biggest inspirations for his style, or rather lack thereof.
Anyway, read, review, send questions too if you feel like it. I still need a beta for this thing so if you've got extensive DxD knowledge and/or experience with the series, too much free time and feel like volunteering then hit up my PMs.
