Exalted
Chapter 26, Your Number One Fan
I am so glad to reach 100k, finally. Woo!
Thank you all for the wonderful reviews!
I have a wicked, wicked plan for Lucifer, now that I have had time to expound the base of power. Quite a few fans of a certain manga will like the scenes I have planned.
Some guy paragon, I can neither confirm nor deny your statement. Maybe you're right. Maybe you're not.
I have plans for Asia and Bennia to gain familiars. I wanted Asia to get a different type of mini dragon while I have absolutely no clue for Bennia. Minato doesn't really need a familiar, I don't think, considering he can just summon quite a few different powerful beings. As a matter of fact, I need one for Xenovia as well! Give me some ideas you lovely people, you!
I do not own anything relating to either series. Seriously. What a shocker.
[EX]
"What do you need my help for, again?" Minato questioned while pulling his right earphone off of his ear, ignoring the annoyed face Rias was giving him at being completely unnoticed for the past five minutes.
"If you were actually listening, you would know." Rias grumbled lowly, crossing her arms over her chest before sighing heavily, "Look, my Bishop is a big fan of yours and operates a... fan site of yours. I agreed with him I would get you to meet with him if he promised to come out of his room and try to participate with my Peerage. Big Brother thinks its time to unseal him, and I can't just say no, despite how bad of an idea I think it is..."
"And you only tell me at the last moment?" Minato questioned with wry amusement upon seeing the blushing face of Rias as his response. She was busy with her brother and father hanging around for the past few days, and Minato felt that he would be having the same problems now that his own parent has decided to take residence in his home.
"It slipped my mind..." Rias grumbled out while digging her toes into the tiles a bit bashfully, "Issei has been a handful, and its hard keeping Irina and Akeno off of him long enough for me to enjoy time with him. Having my father and brother barge in..."
"I can understand an overbearing parent. I have a meeting in an hour with Sirzechs, so I have a bit of time."
"So you will help me?" Rias asked hopefully, prepared to break the seal on the door should he prove willing. "I can make it worth your time."
"I don't even want to know what you are going to offer me. Keep it." Minato was quick to turn down the offer of payment, knowing that the scheming look Rias was sending him meant him no good. "I will help, only because I am curious about this... fan site."
Rias snapped her fingers, and a crimson magic circle floated before the door before splitting in half then shattering, leaving the magic to linger in the air around the empty portion of the school.
"The seal is broken. Let's go inside." Rias tried to hurry along the meeting, as if she had other things to attend do for the day. Minato was not privy to her schedule, nor found himself caring, for that matter. He was only here because someone, somehow, was operating a fan site dedicated to him and he wanted to know where they got their information.
"Gasper, I brought him like I promised!" Rias called out into the dark, and a squeal that could have been from excitement or embarrassment rang out. "I'm going to turn on the lights now."
Rias did so, and Minato came face to face with a completely empty room, save for a box near a computer that seemed to quiver every so often.
"Your Bishop is a box?" Minato questioned, pointing to the object in some fascination and the other morbid curiosity, "And you claim this box is... running my fan site?"
"You... no, no he is not the box, he's IN the box." Rias groaned, causing Minato to let out a small 'Oh' before shrugging his shoulders.
"With the things I've seen, you can never be certain." Minato defended before striding forward to the quivering box and peeking inside. "Hello. Rias says you wished to meet me?"
"You... You're really here! I thought she was just messing with me! Wow!" The voice still hiding in the dark stuttered out, before letting out another cry of terror, "I-I-I..."
A wave of energy washed over the room, and Minato was greeted with the sight of a petite blond rising from the box and attempting to run away. "Hey, where are you going?" Minato questioned curiously as the blond stopped dead in their tracks to turn and slowly face him.
"You... you aren't frozen?" Gasper slowly questioned in wonder before he slowly began to approach Minato as if he would disappear, "My power... doesn't work on you?"
"You froze time?" Minato questioned incredulously as he looked over at Rias, who was covered in a purple aura while remaining completely still, no longer breathing. The room was also covered in the same type of aura, leaving only Minato and Gasper as the only two not effected by the Sacred Gear. "That is a very handy skill. I admit, I'm jealous." He admitted while poking Rias on the cheek a few times, finding that he could still cause her flesh to recede and return to normal, despite the fact that she was frozen.
This ability would have allowed him to avoid the ridiculous situations he found himself in. It was almost unfair, knowing that such a skill existed yet remained out of his reach.
"T-thank you! No... no one has ever... called my ability handy!" Gasper seemed like he was going to break down in tears, but Minato placed a hand on his shoulder and shook his head to stop the waterworks. "Do you mean it?"
"Of course I mean it. You wouldn't believe the types of situations I find myself in... you have a hard time controlling your power... correct? That is why you were sealed away?" Minato questioned as he walked to the computer that Gasper usually sat at, allowing his eyes to travel along the website being maintained by the young Dhamphir.
"Yes..." Gasper admitted while slowly following after Minato, "I keep freezing people, and... and..." He trailed off and once more looked like he was about to cry, something Minato was beginning to think he would do a lot.
"Well I am not frozen. Rias mentioned that you ran a website dedicated to me?" Minato did his best to deflect away from the questions that seemed to upset Gasper, instead steering the topic of discussion into less stormy waters.
"I do! I saw a grainy picture of your shadow form and it was like I was looking in a mirror, but you could control it! You are so... I... I never thought I would meet you!"
"Oh?" Minato was curious as to how he even knew of him, though he figured it was through his King, "I'm curious as to how you even know about me, honestly."
"How could I NOT know about you! You are all over the Devil-net! I'm, like-" Gasper seemed to forget his shyness for a moment and leaned over the back of the chair Minato was sitting in, easily clicking away at the keys of his computer for a moment before showing Minato the rest of the site he ran. "Your number one fan!"
There were videos of his fight with Pluto and Azrael from two different angles, as well as a video taken of... his karaoke night with the Devils. 'Bennia, Azazel and Issei did this...' Minato growled to himself, knowing that his Left Hand, 'old' friend and student were responsible for the different videos, though the karaoke video seemed to have been recorded by Aika and not the Grim Reaper. Regardless, those three were the only people who could leak the videos to the right people to get them put on the Devil-net. There were even quite a few photos taken of him, ranging from him in his school uniform, his attire for the victory celebration, his shadowed form and the full transformation he underwent during the fight with Azrael.
Minato wanted to cry upon seeing the chat rooms and forums dedicated to him, finding that apparently many, many Devils were following him from a nice, safe distance. Young Devil girls and even quite a few Devil men seemed to have started an extremely dedicated following, and more than once he saw what looked to be photos of tattoos of coffins a few more zealous followers have gotten in his name.
Messages he would not, could not, should not and shan't repeat were strewn across the boards and he blushed up a storm upon reading some of the stories being written about him. 'Forbidden love with a fellow Prince? Kiba and... why is this a thing? Tsubaki, huh...?'
The many letters he was forced to burn with Agi spells were making more and more sense as he scrolled through the site with Gasper excitedly talking about various different things he heard about Minato from sources in the underworld.
As much as Minato wanted to rip the computer from the desk and blast it with a full powered Thunder Reign, he stayed his hand and allowed Gasper to continue rambling excitedly, even offering input when asked direct questions ranging from favorite color to types of foods. The questions continued, some going as far as talking about ideals, dreams and things he didn't like.
'He is treating this like an interview...' Minato thought to himself unsurely as some of the questions continued well on through fifteen minutes. Rias was unfrozen after quite some time and seemed to shake her head at the sight of Minato sitting at the computer unsurely while Gasper leaned over his shoulders, scrolling through different web pages at a quick pace while talking about various topics.
"I... will leave you to it, then?" Rias called out unsurely, only to understand the dismissal as Minato thoughtlessly raised his hand to wave without removing his wide eyes from the computer screen.
'He looks disturbed.' Rias thought to herself with a nervous grin, backing out of the room while not taking her eyes off of the sight. 'Gasper, however, does not...'
[EX]
"Are... are you sure?" Gasper questioned almost sadly, like Minato was only joking, "You aren't just lying to get me to come out?"
"I promise. I will be back in a few hours, and I will bring my Servants as well." Minato assured the young Dhamphir before turning to leave through the door, "Are you going to do your best to follow Isseis instructions?"
"I will!" Gasper seemed almost fired up, if only for a second. He quickly dropped his hands and began to nervously wring them together, "I don't want to leave my room though..."
"We all have to show ourselves eventually. I give you my word, Gasper, nothing will happen. Just remember my advise and you'll do great." Minato called out as he sank into the floor slowly before finally disappearing, leaving Issei, Koneko and Irina in the room with the Dhamphir in his place.
"Gaspie... you aren't acting as shy." Koneko noted as she stepped forward, patting him on the shoulder in congratulations, only for him to shiver when he noticed the glint in her eyes. "Th-thanks?"
"Here, you need energy for this. Eat." The young Nekoshou held out a handful of garlic, causing the blond Devil to release a girly scream and attempt to freeze time, only to stop himself at the very last second upon realizing what he was doing.
"Get that away from meeee~!" Gasper cried out, his voice wavering as he began to run around the room, Koneko following behind him at an even pace before eventually leading the blond from the confines of the space.
'Thanks, Senpai.' Issei thought to himself as he and Irina followed behind quickly, large smiles on their faces upon seeing how easy it was to get the young Devil to leave his room. Something Minato must have said to him seemed to have motivated Gasper, though Issei couldn't help but wonder just what that could have been.
"I still can't believe he's a dude..." Issei complained to himself while Irina seemed most pleased with the look of dejection on his face, "Don't worry, sweetie! Like, I'm totally not a guy!"
"Y-yeah, I know, Irina..." Issei trailed off happily as Irina stepped closer to him, tracing her hands up his spine as she did so. "You don't want to piss Rias off again, d-do ya?"
Irina sighed before dropping her hands to her side, letting her head fall a bit in acknowledgment. "She needs to stop being so stingy!" Irina pouted, while Issei dumbly nodded his head in agreement.
[EX]
"Sorry I am late." Minato greeted as he rose from the shadows directly in front of the seat he would be occupying for the meeting, sitting down the moment he fully entered the room as if he had been there the entire time. Rias, Kiba and Akeno greeted him warmly while Sirzechs shot him a pleased smile before returning his attention back to the three Devils seated before him.
"As I was saying, I am going to have to ask you allow Azazel to take a look at your Sacred Gears, Rias, without complaint. He is quite the tinkerer, you see, and has been studying the objects for a very long time." Sirzechs trailed off for a moment, as if thinking about how to word the next part of his statement, "It was a long time ago when he became interested in studying the creations of the Biblical God and it has led to the creation of many different False Gears being created. We want to know if we can replicate the holy demonic weapon or even a portion of Boosted Gear for the upcoming War with Hades."
"War..." Rias was displeased with the word, and for good reason. She knew that the Devil race was barely keeping their heads above water, despite resurrecting Devils at a rather rapid pace. The Fallen were in just as bad of a position, not to mention the Angels. The idea behind the peace conference was something she had a hard time wrapping her mind around, finding the idea of peace between the Biblical Three an impossible concept.
Sirzechs apparently thought otherwise, as did Azazel and Minato. Rias learned from her brother that the blue haired being known as Death was also participating as a Leader of his own faction, and it was for that reason she was doing her best to get in his good graces. She knew he was easily as powerful as her brother, yet he was the most reserved being she could think of as far as Godly status went.
He acted as if he were just another student at school and went to each of his classes, studied and aced each test with diligence from what she found out from Sona. The Student Council President was highly impressed with his work ethic, and had commented on it on more than one occasion. Rias had the feeling that Sona was more interested in the person rather than just his test scores, and only spoke about him as a distant observer to continue her charade.
Rias looked up to Minato, though not quite in the same way as Issei, Kiba and Koneko seemed to. She saw him like she saw her older brother in the sense that they were measurements on where she wanted to stand in strength, where she wanted her Peerage to stand. If there was about to be a war, she wanted to be trained by the two that caused such feelings of inadequacy in her.
"Don't worry Rias. We aren't going to let it last long." Minato reassured the girl upon seeing the conflicted look upon her face. Kiba had a serious look on his face as he glanced down at the table while Akeno was hardly keeping her friendly mask in place. They were nervous, and they had every right to be. War had been avoided for quite some time, and the idea was not something any of them looked forward to.
"Hades isn't going to know what hit him!" Sirzechs agreed wholeheartedly with the sentiment Minato expressed and had to input his own.
Rias and the others seemed to relax upon hearing the two reassure them of their fears, the room growing a bit less moody in turn. "You promise he won't try and sabotage them?"
"Azazel is smarter than that." Sirzechs gave his sister an amused smile before he leaned back further in his chair. Two magic circles, one a light blue while the other was royal, appeared in the air on either side of Sirzechs. From the left seal stepped Sona and Saji, while a woman unfamiliar to Minato appeared from the other. She wore a magical girl outfit colored pink and white while carrying what he assumed was her magic stick. The black haired Devil had locks that cascaded down either side of her head in two long tails while her purple eyes twinkled randomly. Minato glanced around for a strong light source, but found none. He turned his attention back to the girl, only to find her in his face, her index fingers not even an inch from touching his nose.
"YOU!"
Minato glanced around once more before pointing his finger at himself with a dull look on his face. "Me?"
"Yes, YOU! HOW DARE YOU TRY AND STEAL MY SO-TAN FROM ME! I CHALLENGE YOU-"
"Sister, that is enough!" Sona firmly called out while stomping her foot on the ground in emphasis, commencing a stare down between the two before the apparent elder sister eventually relented.
"Mou~! No fair, So-tan! I can't stand it when you look at me like that!" The face the woman was making was as if someone had punched her in the stomach while handing her a lot of cash. Pleased and hurt at the same time, if Minato had to guess the origin of such confliction. "That doesn't mean I have to like him, though! I don't care if he DID beat you at chess, I don't want to lose you to him!"
"What?"
"Oh ho ho, what is this about Sona?" Rias seemed awfully pleased to hear the words, "Serafall says what?"
"Rias-tan, tell So-tan that I'm the only one she needs!" Serafall shouted while swinging her magic stick at Minato, who snatched it from her and tossed it behind him quickly. Two portals opened up, one directly behind him and one directly in front of Serafall.
The magic stick span from the portal that erupted in front of Serafall and smacked her on the head lightly, a 'Boop' sound effect ringing out as it did so, causing the large chested girl wearing the magical girl outfit to clutch her head and pout sadly.
"Owie~! That hurt, you big meanie!" Serafall complained while throwing her head back and sobbing, two trails of tears leaking from each of her eyes in a display of waterworks Minato had never seen before.
'What the hell am I getting myself into with this alliance?' Minato thought to himself grimly, knowing that should he go through with signing the paperwork, he would most likely have to deal with the immature being before him for quite some time. 'Is this... wise of me?'
"Sister, please..." Sona trailed off, her voice as pained as Minato felt on the inside at the moment, "I will take care of this myself, thank you."
"Fine! Do whatever, see what I care!" Serafall pouted while crossing her arms over her chest before sitting heavily into the chair next to Sirzechs, who seemed awfully amused by the whole situation. "Big D, you are putting the moves on Serafalls' precious little sister? I didn't know you wanted to secure the alliance in such a fashion! Glad to see you are taking this so seriously!"
"I'm not?" Minato questioned and stated at the same time before sending a look to Sona, who was pleading with her eyes for him to just drop it and talk with her about it later. "That I know of."
"We shall see..." Sirzechs was extremely pleased with the revealed information before turning to Serafall, "Alright, Sera-chan, did you find what you came for?"
"No! He is mean, and ugly, and I don't want my sister around him! Hmph!" Serafall was extremely displeased and teleported away from the room rather moodily, leaving the many confused and amused figures to stare at Minato in turn.
"I am not mean, and I am confused as to why she thinks I am trying to get together with her sister." Minato confessed, leaning back in his chair while crossing his left leg over his right and placing both hands, folded, over his knees. "Enlighten me, someone. Please. I am all ears."
[EX]
"You came back!" Came the elated voice of Gasper as Minato, Bennia, Asia and Xenovia made their way around to the back of the school where Issei, Koneko and Irina had been training the young Dhamphir while Minato attended the meeting with Sirzechs.
It had been a very enlightening meeting and he hoped the one scheduled with Sona later that night would prove to shed more light on the subject than she already had. The ashamed blush on her face as if she had been caught with her hands in the cookie jar let Minato know it was going to be interesting, if anything.
"Of course, I promised." Minato greeted lightly before beconning to those behind him. "These are Asia, my Right Hand, Bennia, my Left Hand and Xenovia, my Executioner. Girls, this is Gasper Vladi, Bishop piece of Rias' Peerage."
"Nice to meet you, Gasper!" Asia cheerfully greeted her fellow blond while stepping forward to shake his hand, which he numbly took and went through the motion. Bennia and Xenovia did the same, each exchanging pleasantries as they did so. "Death-Sama tells me you need help training?"
"Y-Yes! Issei, Koneko and Irina have been a big help, though! I did what you said, Death-Senpai!" Gasper seemed to have come out of his shell, exposing an excited child that just needed someone to guide him with patience, "I pictured them all in underwear and it wasn't so scary anymore!"
Issei didn't look amused while Koneko and Irina seemed slightly put off by the advise given by Minato to Gasper. "Why would that work?" Irina questioned, her brows furrowing slightly as she tried to think about it.
"He... has had it rough. Gasper just needed to have an equalizer, so to speak. He sees others as intimidating monsters, so if you make that monster less intimidating..." Minato reasoned, and Irina instantly understood what he was explaining.
"Hey, that's pretty smart!" Irina snapped her fingers before grinning, "Why didn't I think of that!"
"Because you're not smart." Koneko stated with a flat voice before turning to stare at the girl, daring her to disagree. Irina looked like she wanted to retort and instead just blew a raspberry at the girl while sticking her thumbs in her ears while waving her fingers around wildly. "And childish."
"I know you are but what am I?" Irina mocked in a small voice, causing Koneko to hold out her thumb like it was a shank, threatening to stick Irina in the ribs. The chestnut haired girl instinctively clenched and scooted a few steps back while shaking her head, not wanting for Koneko to get her again with her poke of doom in between her ribs.
"Gasper, how many spells did you have to cast before you could control Forbidden Balor View better?" Minato questioned while sitting next to the blond Dhamphir, ignoring the fact that he was once more sitting in a box.
"I think around twenty?" Gasper trailed off and tapped his finger to his lips before nodding, "Then it became pretty easy to only freeze one thing at a time! I was just putting too much energy into it, just like you said!"
"I'm proud." Minato complimented while ruffling the blonds hair, knowing that he responded well to positive encouragement. Eventually, he would no longer crave to hide in the darkness of his room and would be willing to face the world head on.
He knew that being shunned and having no one to relate to, human or otherwise, was something that would have broken even stronger men than Gasper, yet he tried his best to break out of his shell, if only slightly. "You did very well, Gasper. Are you ready to go?"
"Y-yes!" Gasper cried out while clutching one fist in the air while the other was held close to his chest, "Thank you for showing me your home!"
"No problem. Would any of you like to come as well?" Minato questioned the other three Devils, only one of which responded in the positive. Koneko stepped forward and stood closely to Minato before leaning into his leg almost like a cat would, wrapping both of her arms around his left arm while glaring at Bennia, who was affronted that her position had been taken.
Xenovia and Asia stifled their laughter as best as they could, amused that the competition between the Grim Reaper and the Devil was still underway. Soon the group was on their way after Issei and Irina dismissed themselves, claiming they were going to hang out with Motohama at the arcade for a few hours before it closed.
Rias watched from the second floor with a happy smile on her face upon seeing Gasper following their agreement. She was going to have to prepare something extra special for Minato, knowing that it would have been much more difficult to reach out to the young Dhamphir otherwise.
"So how was his training?" Sirzechs questioned from behind curiously as he popped a small cookie into his mouth, chewing lazily as he held his chin in his hand.
"Very good. I think it won't be long before he has it under control. I should have thought of that plan myself." Rias groused towards the end while sitting down heavily, resting her forehead against her fingertips. "Gasper just needed a bit of male bonding, I guess."
"That wasn't male bonding, trust me. That was more like... student and teacher bonding." Sirzechs stated flatly while eating another snack, "I didn't see a single pistol get drawn, nor any beer bottles being thrown."
"What kind of male bonding are you talking about? I said BONDING, not MAIMING." Rias murmured in confusion before reiterating her statement, only to receive a pleased laugh from her brother.
"You just haven't got to know Big D like Azazel and I have."
"Does Grayfia know about this, brother?"
"What are you- RIAS-TAN THAT'S NOT FUNNY!"
[EX]
"Sona, what were they talking about earlier?" Minato questioned tiredly as the two sat themselves down in his gallery, not wanting to sit in an office for the type of discussion he felt they were about to have. "Were there some sort of consequences to you losing that chess match?"
"I... yes. I was going to be subject to the same type of arrangement as Rias, not long ago actually. Instead of settling it with a rating game, however, I decided upon my fate with a chess match," Sona was maintaining her eye contact with him, something he took as a good sign, "I won. As a result, the status of my contract was left up in the air under the stipulation that I would only marry the person capable of beating me at my own game."
"Something I did." Minato murmured out, remembering the day that he met the exorcists and the chess match just prior. "I... was unaware of such stipulations to the game. I would have lost on purpose."
"I... didn't want you to lose. I wouldn't have approached you for a match, otherwise." Sona admitted while scooting a bit closer to him, breaking eye contact as she looked down at her lap, "I've been keeping a close eye on you during your stay, you know. You... are studious, and kind. You are compassionate, but not naive."
Sona looked like she wanted to stop there, but she took a deep breath and kept going, looking up to re-establish eye contact, "I am interested in you, Arisato Minato. I can't beat around the bush any longer. You have caught my interest, and I would very much like to get to know you better. I know I am not the only one, either."
'I... wasn't expecting this.' Minato thought to himself while giving the girl a considering look before nodding his head. She was certainly a good looking girl, and she was one of the most serious individuals he had met in this world. Sona was a breath of fresh air compared to the nonsense that surrounded him on a daily basis. "I would like that, Sona."
There was no way he could turn her down, not when his mother was mouthing her silent approval from the sideline, looming in the shadows. He had a feeling Nyx would have forced the issue, should he have not relented. He felt worse for Sona than himself, if he were honest. If she thought dealing with her sister was bad, she had no idea what she just got herself into.