Chapter 19: House Gremory vs. House Sitri
After Rias' and Adrians' embrace, everyone began to make their way home, and rest in their beds. Adrian was about to lay down in his own bed, but a voice from his doorway made him stop,
"Adrian?" The Devil Virus turned to see Asia in the doorway, clutching at her nightgown.
"What's wrong Asia?" She was quiet at first, choosing her words carefully,
"...Is it true you care for me as much as Rias?!" She blurted out. Adrian took a moment to process what she just said, and turned to face her.
"I do."
"Well..." she paused, blushing, "...can you prove it?!" Adrian approached her,
"Depends on how."
"...Kiss me." Adrian paused,
"You sure you want me to go through with that?" Asia blushed even more than before,
"If Rias is okay with you not choosing between me and her, then I'm okay with it too!" She then wrapped her arms around his neck, about to make the first move, but her nervousness took hold last second, making her hesitate. Adrian noticed this, and slowly, gently took her face in both hands, and lowered his lips to hers. Her nervousness dissappeared, and they both melted together, almost letting hands roam, until Adrian stopped both her and himself.
"Okay, before we do anything drastic, I think we should get some sleep, what do you say?" Asia, now full of confidence, beamed at Adrian,
"If you say so Adrian!" She then released him, and began to head to her room, shooting him a smile as she went, "Goodnight!"
"Goodnight Asia," said Adrian, and he closed the door to his room.
The following morning...
Asia had just finished packing her bag, ready to hand out flyers with Issei,
"Okie dokie, I'm all set!" She said.
"Hold on," said Rias, folding her hands under her chin, "I think you'll be glad to know your flyer days are over." Issei looked concerned for a moment, while Adrian, Calvin, Katrina and Wesker looked on curiously. "Relax it's not a punishment, you've both done great work, but normally the hassle of running around handing out flyers is the job of a familiar." Adrian and his friends grew more curious, wondering if they would be part of what Issei and Asia were about to be part of.
"Is this like a promotion?" Issei asked.
"Yeah I guess you could look at it that way," Rias said with a smile, "but first things first, we got to find you guys some familiars."
Soon the ORC was in the main room once again, this time with the older members showing off their familiars, starting with Rias, who made a cartoonish pink and brown bat appear out of a small puff of smoke,
"This is my familiar, Adrian, but I believe you two have met once before," said Rias. Adrian raised an eyebrow, not recognizing the small furry creature.
"We have?" The bat then dissappeared into another puff of smoke, and was now replaced by a familiar girl, with hair spiked only on the sides, resembling bat wings. Adrians eyes snapped open, "The flyer girl!" He briefly thought back to the day he recieved the flyer, allowing himself to save Issei's life. She returned to her bat form, and vanished from sight,
"And I've got one too, of course," said Akeno, pointing to the floor, making a yellow and blue magic symbol on the floor, summoning a little green imp,
"This is Shira," Koneko spoke up, getting everyones attention as she played with a small white kitten in her hands, a golden bell attached to its collar.
"Awe," said Damon, "I know what I'm looking for in a familiar!" He said, tickling Shiras' belly while he leaned over Konekos shoulder, drawing another blush from her.
"Mines badass!" Said Kiba, wanting to show off.
"I don't care about your tiny dancer!" Issei said, waving his hand dismissively, earning glares from some of his club members.
"Don't be rude to Kiba when he's nothing but nice towards you," said Katrina.
"Yeah, why you gotta hate, man?" Asked Kiba.
"Don't be jealous Issei, you'll get one," said Rias, "Familiars are a major part of being a devil. When you're in need, they're always there to back you up."
"That's great," said Asia, "only problem is we have no idea how we're supposed to get one."
"That's the next step," said Rias, but before she could say more, there was a knock on the door,
"Come in!" Said Akeno, and both doors were opened as several students filed into the room, led by a pink eyed girl with short hair above her shoulders and dark magenta rimmed glasses, a second girl with teal rimmed half glasses, and a blonde haired boy with gray eyes.
"Sorry to interrupt," said the girl in the center.
"Whoa! What the heck is she doing here?" Asked Issei, drawing the attention of the newer members.
"You know her?" Adrian asked him in a low whisper.
"The one in the middle is Sona Shitori, the student body president," said Issei, "the girl with the glasses behind her is Subaki Shira. And it looks like they brought the rest of the council with them."
"Hello Sona," said Rias politely, "what can I do for you?"
"Nothing," answered Sona, "I just wanted to congratulate you on increasing the number of your servants." The newer members, save for Wesker, were stunned,
"She knows?" Asked Calvin, to which Adrian used his hunter sense, and just as he suspected, all of the student council were devils.
"I can answer that," said Wesker, referring to Calvins question, "her real name is Sona Sitri, and she's not just the student body president, she's the next head of the House of Sitri, a rather large, upstanding devil family if I say so myself." He slid his sunglasses down just enough to make eye contact with Sona, and she cleared her throat so she could break the eye contact.
"Another devil family?" Adrian looked over the Sitri House again, "Who knew?"
"Rias, I'm hurt to find out you didn't tell your boyfriend about us," said the blonde haired boy, already forcing Adrian to not like him due to his stuck up attitude, "but I suppose if you don't trust him with inside info, then he must not be worth much to you, huh?" Adrian clenched his fist as the boy looked to Sona, wanting to see her reaction,
"It's considered bad form to get involved with the affairs of other households Sagi," said Sona, turning the boys arrogant smirk to a look of foolishness.
"Hey, I know you!" Said Issei, "You're that guy from 2C who was just voted student council clerk...I think I voted for this guy."
"Sagi Genshuro, my pawn," introduced Sona.
"These are MY pawns," introduced Rias, "Issei Hyoudou, Adrian Michaels, Calvin Hicks, Katrina Lagos, Damon, Allen Wesker, and finally my bishop, Asia Argento."
"Whoa, so you're a pawn too?" Asked Issei. "Then that totally means we're twinsies!"
"Issei," said Adrian, trying to warn him, but was too late. Sagi scoffed arrogantly,
"Can it, D-Bag, you bozos and that gaggle of slutty sluts don't deserve to be in the same room as a group of distinguished devils like the Sitris." Adrian then stepped forward, followed by Katrina, Calvin, and finally Wesker and Damon, each of them lining up in between the rest of House Gremory and House Sitri, all eyes on Sagi.
"You want to run that by us again?" Asked Adrian, ready to unleash his blade and Gear, and he knew his friends that lined up with him are ready to fight as well...or at least beat down Sagi.
"Awe, he's mad," taunted Sagi, "Not even gay prince charming over there can protect you from me." He then held up four fingers, "I took up four pawn pieces bro." Damon scoffed,
"Overcompensating for something?" Asked Damon, which only Sagi paid mind to, as his smile faded, and he lowered his fingers.
"What does THAT matter?" Asked Adrian. "Most of us have been kicking ass before we were even devils!" He said, almost having had enough of Sagi and his nonsense.
"Despite his wording of it, he's not inaccurate," said Sona. "Damon was a highly respected devil hunter from his world, where devils were a fair bit different. Wesker was formally a high ranking fallen angel, now serving devils for whatever his reason may be, and Katrina, Calvin and Adrian were all holding their own against, and in some accounts even KILLING fallen angels, before any of them had a single pawn piece." Sagi was now stupefied,
"You're frigging kidding me, right?!"
"It's always better to check your facts before you make a complete fool of yourself," said Wesker, to which Sona chuckled,
"My thoughts exactly."
"How did these lame-asses, including the butt munch up in front," he briefly gestured to Adrian, "manage that?"
"Call it pure skill," said Damon, "and I wouldn't call the head pawn a butt munch either, considering that butt most likely belongs to Rias, that'd be more compliment than insult." Adrian, and a few other heads in the room, turned towards Damon, not believing what keeps coming out of the former devil hunters mouth.
"You have to forgive him," Wesker said to Sona, an almost invisible bead of sweat appearing on his brow, "He has a habit of running his trash talk faster than he runs his brain."
"I heard that, ya tool!" Shouted Damon.
"You were supposed to, you idiot," retorted Wesker. Sona giggled,
"My apologies as well. He's young, I hope you forgive him and his youthful naiveté. Newbies don't always appreciate the finer points of civility. Do they?" She turned her attention to Sagi, who now wore a sheepish expression.
"Uh, right," he said, and reluctantly offered his hand out, "My pleasure." To Adrians surprise, Asia is the one who accepted the handshake,
"No the pleasure is all mine!" She said, being polite. Sagi then saw an opportunity to work his charm, and bent down to Asias eye level,
"Hey! You sure you're not an angel? Because I'm pretty sure you just fell down from heaven!" He flirted, causing Adrian to shake, and he replaced Asia's hand with his own,
"Sagi, right? Well, as great as it is to meet you, I feel I should tell you now," Adrian crushed Sagis hand with a death grip, making him yelp, "If you flirt with Asia or any of the women in the Gremory House like that again, I will tear you apart limb by limb." Sagi tried to return the same force to Adrians hand, only for Adrian to raise an eyebrow at the Sitri pawn,
"Oh, you think you got that shit on lockdown? Well, you ain't the only bull in this rodeo anymore, dickface!" He growled, only for Adrian to put full pressure on Sagis hand, making him yelp like a hurt pup, and kneel to the floor, trying to retrieve his hurting hand.
"This is embarrassing," said Rias.
"I know, isn't it?" Said Sona. Sagi was still trying to wrestle back his hand, and not having much luck, so he tries to taunt Adrian once again,
"How's flyer duty treating you, Captain Whack-It? I don't do that lame shit because I'm an actual member of the team! Getting a familiar and everything, freak!" Sagi instantly regretted that last word, as Adrian turned from competitive to vicious in a heartbeat. He quickly threw Sagi on the floor, and locked him in an armbar.
"Poor bastard," said Wesker, sliding his sunglasses further up the bridge of his nose, "If he had just kept his mouth shut, or at least left out that specific 'F' word, I would have told him that the only ones that did flyer duty was Issei and Asia, and those days are officially over since we're now going to get familiars of our own."
"Oh! Is that your plan Rias?" Asked Sona, visually surprised.
"Yes, I was thinking of going next week actually," she informed.
"Well that's a bit of a problem for us," said Sona, "As he only takes people once a month..."
"In that case," began Rias with a playful smirk, "why don't we have a friendly little contest to sort this whole thing out." Sonas' eyes briefly widened,
"A contest?!"
"Whoever wins earns the right to make their request first." Sonas eyes returned to normal, but her expression was plenty serious,
"Surely you're not talking about a rating game?" Rias giggled, and smiled,
"Oh no, we'd never get permission to do something like that." Sona returned the smile,
"Yes, you're right," she agreed, "besides, this isn't the time to call attention to yourself, now is it?" Rias stiffened, and now she turned serious,
"Don't go there," she dead panned, getting the attention of her house, even causing Adrian to lose concentration on keeping Sagi in the armbar, and accidentally released him, making him slug himself in the face before crawling back to Sona. "I know," said Rias, her smile returning, "we should settle this the good old fashioned high school way, with sports!"
Not two hours later, Rias, Akeno, Sona and Subaki were dressed and ready for two on two tennis in the courts.
"Let's go Rias!" Shouted Issei, "Lets show these uptight losers who's boss!"
"C'mon Sona!" Shouted Sagi, "Stick it to those jackwagons!"
"Five bucks says Rias takes it home," said Damon.
"Placing my ten on Sona," said Wesker.
"Twenty says it will end in a draw due to magical reasons," said Katrina, joining the two on their gambling.
"Are you guys seriously betting on them right now?" Asked Calvin, not believing his girlfriend and club mates. "And where's Adrian? He should be here supporting Rias and Akeno." Katrina simply pointed, and Calvin saw Adrian about to strangle Matsuda and Motohama for bringing binoculars to the front row seats, with no intention of watching the game. "Well let's hope he gets his ass back over here soon," said Calvin, "so we can enjoy a magic free, non violent tennis match."
One magic filled violent tennis match later...
"Too bad it was a draw," said Koneko, holding up two broken rackets, "Since nobody won, they're suggesting we all compete in a team match." The ORC, minus Rias and Akeno, were waiting in the clubhouse to await what would happen next.
"Are you serious?" Asked Issei.
"Serious as a heart attack my friend," said Kiba, "They're all out there right now deciding what we should play."
"We should see if we could get twister thrown in there," joked Damon, "So then Wesker could get up close and personal with Sona." Weskers cheeks turned a light shade of pink as he readjusted his sunglasses. "Yeah I saw the way you were checking her out on the tennis court," Damon continued, lightly elbowing Weskers ribs, who kept silent. "He's not denying it either!" Damon yelled, throwing his hands up laughing.
"You know what else he's not denying?" Asked Katrina, tapping her foot, "Two certain someones owing me twenty dollars, each." Wesker finally pulled two twenties out of his pocket, handing them to Katrina, "Thank you." Damon gave Wesker an eyebrow,
"You actually paid my half of the bet for me?"
"Only because I know you have no money to gamble with," said Wesker, "So you can simply add that to your ever increasing debt." Damon then sank down into the couch, muttering about paying debts with feet up asses. The doors then opened, and in strode Rias and Akeno.
"We've chosen dodge ball as the game to play," Rias announced. "We meet the Sitris tomorrow night in the gym. So...let's win this!"
"Right!" Said the rest of the club in unison. Asia then turned to Koneko and Kiba, as did Issei and the rest of the club,
"Thanks for playing for us guys!"
"Yeah, for real!" Said Issei.
"We really appreciate it," said Katrina.
"Amen to that," said Calvin. Adrian smiled, showing his gratitude, while Wesker nodded, and Damon gave Koneko a wink, making the girl blush.
The following night...
The ORC all met in the gym like they were supposed to, all doing various stretches and small exercises to prepare themselves.
Rias was dressed in her magenta and white track suit, while the other girls were dressed in their gym clothes, consisting of white tee shirts and blue shorts, and the men wore grey and white track suits, varying in styles; Adrians had a hood, Calvin had holes in the sleeves to poke his thumbs through, Wesker had his sleeves rolled up, and Damon was topless altogether save for a pair of sweatbands on his wrists.
"Damon why the hell aren't you wearing a shirt?" Asked Adrian, not wanting to do this game with him shirtless, clearly trying to showoff his abs. Damon struck a pose,
"Because, the girls on the other team might get distracted, which helps us some!" He said. Adrian simply rolled his eyes,
"So Rias, we have more people than the Sitri House, so how are we going to divide up the players?"
"I told Sona that we would discuss it more once she's here," she said, tossing a ball between herself and Kiba.
"I'm like the worst at sports!" Complained Issei. "I don't know if I remember how to play!" Damon gave Issei a skeptic glance,
"Seriously motherfucker? Just grab a ball, find a Sitri, and hit them in the face with it! Or the balls if you're aiming at Sagi."
"For once, we are in agreement," said Adrian. Both of them turned when they heard Asia scream,
"My legs are on fire!" She cried. Akeno, who was helping her do her stretching, eased her on,
"Stretch it a little farther! I know you can do it!" Asia cried as she tried, and that's when Adrian noticed Issei staring, a trail of drool starting to well from his mouth. Adrian popped a vein, and he looked up above him to see Koneko, who was helping him do HIS stretching. Damon looked at what Issei was staring, and laughed,
"Issei you dirty dirty motherfucker," he laughed. Koneko, practically reading Isseis' mind, glared down at him, then looked up at Adrian, who held a thumbs up, slowly turned it down, and she pushed down on Issei, popping bone in the process, and he screamed louder than Asia.
Issei was then seated at the sidelines, cradling his injured back, while Adrian convinced Asia to not heal him until after the game. But before he was truly seated, Issei handed a set of headbands to the club. They were white in color, and all had "Occult Research Club" sewn in red letter across the top. The club instantly began giving Issei their sounds of approval.
"Fucking nice!" Said Damon, tying his around his forehead, "Do I look like Rambo now or what?"
"We are going to look totally badass in these!" Said Akeno.
"Thanks guys," said Issei. "I stayed up all night making them."
"You didn't sleep?" Asked Rias, concerned.
"I just wanted to make something cool as a way of saying thank you for everything you guys are doing for us," said Issei, "I'm lucky to have friends as awesome as you." Adrian smiled, knowing for sure, now more than ever, that there was more to him than a simple pervert. "Plus I suck at sports, so I that way I would know NOT to throw the ball at my own team...if I was playing that is." Issei noticed that no one was saying anything, "What's wrong? Are they lame?" He asked insecurely, "Maybe I should have gone with tee shirts instead..."
"Issei," Damon began, placing a firm hand on his shoulder, "there are two things you should probably know. One, ninety two percent of rape starts with a hand on the shoulder," both of them look at Damons hand on Isseis shoulder, then went back to making eye contact, "and two, if I thought it was lame, I wouldn't be wearing it. This headband," he points up to the headband he now wore, "I'm keeping it. If you made tee shirts, not only would I not wear it, but I would cram it down your throat." Issei let a drop of sweat flow,
"Nice to know, on both parts," said Issei, "but can you move your hand now?" Damon gladly did so as Rias took her turn to speak,
"I think they're perfect Issei," she said kindly, "It was nice of you to do that." Issei rubbed the back of his head bashfully,
"I don't know, it's not a big deal or anything." Koneko even took a turn to give Issei a nod and a small smile,
"You're a pervert, but you're sweet."
"Let's put these on, go out there and do our best to kick some Sitri butt!" Rias said, trying to motivate her team. All but Issei cheered as he was still clutching his back.
"Ready to rock and roll?" All eyes of the ORC turned to see all of House Sitri were now in thr gym, dressed and ready for a dodge ball game.
Issei was then officially benched as the other members of both houses decided how to play. It ultimately came down to the decision that Wesker, Calvin and Issei would be the referees, while all the other members played. Soon the game began, and the first spike sailed right towards Koneko, who tried to bend backwards to dodge, but it still slid acorss her belly, and past her left breast. Koneko was called out, and Adrian dropped a magic circle over her, repairing her damaged clothes,
"I need a drink anyway," she said bluntly, and made her way to the bench. Before long the entire gym was filled with a rainbow of magic energies as the game raged on, the gym shaking as players were eliminated, and even a window shattering as the ball was hurled out of bounds,
"I am not replacing that!" Shouted Damon.
"I had no idea that dodge ball would be so terrifying!" Whimpered Asia.
"This isn't dodge ball anymore," said Katrina, "This is war...and I love it!" She happily caught a ball soaring for her head, and threw it back with ease, eliminating one of the Sitri team members.
"Want me to take out Rias' boy toy?" Sagi asked Sona.
"No, I've got it," she said, encasing the ball in a blue aura, and sent it flying at Adrian, who casually stepped out of the way only for the ball to curve in the middle of the air and fly back towards him. Adrian clenched his teeth, and began to dash around the room, the ball chasing him like a heat seeking missle. He skanned the room trying to find a way to get the ball away from himself, and came up with an insane idea. He dashed right for Sagi, slammed his heels into the floor, and back flipped away from him, arching over the speeding ball, and allowed it to hit Sagi square in the crotch. Adrian landed on his feet, and all eyes were frozen on Sagi as he sank to the floor, clutching his injured organs.
"Just want this to go on record, I did NOT intend for that to happen," said Adrian, being honest. Although, it didn't help that Damon was now rolling on the ground, laughing like a lunatic over the situation. Soon it was down to Rias, Adrian, Damon, Katrina and Asia vs. Sona.
"C'mon, lets end this Sitri, right here and now!" Adrian tossed the ball behind himself, and it landed in Asias' hands. The former nun looked at Adrian with horror,
"What are you-?!"
"Don't worry Asia," said Adrian reassuringly, "all you have to do is throw the ball upward, you don't even have to aim it at anyone. Just throw it straight up into the air!" Asia looked pale, but she nodded her head, squeezed her eyes shut, and threw the ball straight into the air. Adrian leapt up after it, spun around once, and landed the bridge of his foot on the ball, making it rocket towards Sona. The future head of Sitri House grinned,
"Too easy!" She held out her hand, ready to catch, only for Katrina to appear and land a double overhead strike on the ball, sending it downward toward Damon. Then HE took the opportunity to give the ball a straight punch, sending it back to Sitri with more force than before. Sona grew confused as to what their plan was, but her confusion turned to surprise as Rias formed a red rune, with the ball passing through, encasing it in red energy, and the ball shot at Sona at an alarming speed, and nailed her right in the stomach, launching her back into the far wall, burning her clothes off her body from the impact, and to everyones shock, straight towards the large glass windows. Adrian was about to act, until he saw a shadow bolt for Sona, coming between her and the glass, and the windows shattered on impact. All that could still move made a dash for the doors, only for them to slowly open, revealing a worn out Sona in a black trench coat, and a cut and slightly bloodied Wesker, his back showing where the glass hit.
"I think that one counts as a winning point for house Gremory," he said, casting a magic circle above Sona, and regenerating her clothes, taking back his trench coat in the process. Adrian turned to Asia,
"Go help them, please," he told her, and she ran to the pair.
"Heal her first," said Wesker, "I'll be alright." Damon smirked, and began to mouth a song at Wesker,
Wesker and Sitri, sitting in a tree! F-U-C-K-I-N-G! He laughed to himself while Wesker raised an eyebrow at the white haired boy. Whistles were blown, and the game was officially over, with the Sitri House leaving in defeat.
"A deals a deal Sona," said Rias, "Since we beat you, we get first pick of the familiars."
"As much as I hate to lose," said Sona, "I have to admit that was still a whole lot of fun." She then faced the Gremory House, "Although had this been a rating game and not just us fooling around there's no way you could have beaten me."
"You really think so?" Asked Rias rhetorically. "Well I guess we won't know for sure until we actually play the game. BUT it'll be a while before we have to worry about that."
"Don't be so sure Rias," Sona warned with a smile, "You never know what's coming up," and she began to walk away, until Wesker ran up to her,
"Sona..." he paused, trying to choose his words carefully, but after a long enough pause, he awkwardly held out his hand,
"Good game..." he said nervously. Sona smirked, accepted the handshake, and leaned up and kissed him on the cheek,
"That's for protecting me," she said, and kissed his other cheek, "That is for being a gentleman about my nudity while I was soaring, and this..." she pressed her lips to his, and after a short but sweet moment they parted, "...is for being the most polite FORMALLY fallen angel I've ever met." She then made her way out of the gym doors, leaving a smiling Wesker in her wake.
Sometime later...
"Victory!" The ORC was celebrating their win against the Sitri House with sparkling fruit juice (spiked fruit juice in Damons case), and Rias began to give the club a victory speech,
"I want you to know I'm thankful to each and every one of you for going out there and doing what needed to be done to beat those devils. I hope you all feel very proud."
"Hell," said Issei, "all I did was sit on the sidelines with a busted back." Kiba turned to Issei,
"Sure you had to sit out," he said, "But you also made these headbands! They're pretty rad man!"
"Yeah!" Agreed Damon, still wearing his, "I feel like wearing this for a while longer even." Issei then grabbed Kibas' hands, and pulled him uncomfortably close,
"Thanks bro!" Issei practically cried "I don't want to sound gay or anything but if you were a hot chick I'd totally make out with you right now!"
"That's sounds gay no matter how you say it!" Said Damon, raising his glass to Issei. "And hey Adrian, nice job on taking out Sagi."
"Yeah, that was great," said Adrian, "but for fucks sake would you put your damn shirt back on already?" Damon had since refused to put a shirt back on since returning to the clubhouse.
"Does seeing me shirtless bother you that much? Or maybe you secretly like what you see?" Teased Damon, already annoying Adrian.
"I hate to break up the celebration," said Rias, quickly trying to change the subject, "But I think it's time we got you all some familiars." Akeno began to prepare a teleportation rune,
"Wait!" Said Asia, "You mean we're getting them right now?!"
"Full moon tonight," explained Rias, "this is our best shot to see him."
"See who?" Asked Adrian. Rias smiled,
"The familiar master."