Chapter Eight

The first opportunity to begin endearing Rossweisse to him was sent almost like divine providence. As they were cleaning and putting the room back to order at the end of the day, four slightly older girls came bustling and giggling through the door. What he assumed was the ringleader was the one to step forward and talk, dismissively ignoring Rossweisse out of hand.

"Little Fox! How would you like to come play some games with your big sisters?"

Daichi was already internally twisting those words into something completely different. Dirty interpretations of playing games instantly sprung to mind… if only they were all several years older. Reluctantly letting go of opportunities, Daichi addressed the group.

"I don't mind, but I need to help Rossweisse finish cleaning the room we used first."

The girls exchanged glances and a few quick glares passed over to the girl in question.

"I'm sure she can handle it by herself. Can't you, Rossy?" The threatening undertone was subtle, but still present behind the saccharine phrasing of the question.

"Please don't call me that. You can go, its fine." Rossweisse turned away from both the group and Daichi and pretended to make herself busy. The young leader had a victorious grin spread across her face as she began to gesture for Daichi.

"That wouldn't be fair to you, Rossweisse. I used the room too, so it's my responsibility to help." The leader's smile fell slightly. "If you'll tell me what room, I'll meet you there after we finish." The now slightly strained smile seemed to finally accept his words.

"Okay, we'll be in the music room. See you in a few minutes!" The group turned and left as one while Daichi made himself busy once more.

"You didn't have to stay." Rossweisse finally spoke. Daichi shrugged in response.

"I wanted to. I don't actually want to go play games with them. I'd rather sit in here and read with you until Freyja comes to get me, but I could tell they'd cause you trouble if I told them no, and I'm not yet ready to begin my campaign of terror." His last words caused her to look up in confusion.

"Campaign of terror?" Her confused tone was adorable. Daichi nodded in enthusiasm.

"Yep! I'm planning out pranks to play on the school! Since it's only my first day, I've only been acquiring priority targets. I didn't intend to start my plans for the first two weeks so I could endear myself to the teachers and find the best places to set traps and hide." Daichi put on a look of contemplation. "I could start early though. I hate bullies, so dumping some mild itching powder in their panties while in the locker room could work as a quickly improvised hit." Rossweisse looked at him as if he'd grown a second head. Phrasing. His Yako side snerked.

"That's mean, why would you do that?"

Daichi peered at her as if he was just as confused.

"They were mean first. Mean to you, my first friend here. Plus, that's not mean. That's slightly inconvenient for them. If I wanted to be mean, I'd coat them in Icy Hot." His Little Rose actually shuddered in discomfort at that thought before the full sentence caught up to her.

"First friend? We're friends?"

Daichi looked at her like she was dumb.

"Of course, we are. You're helping me, and you're the first person to actually try to talk to me instead of only fondling my ears or tails. The rest of them only want me for my body." He gave an overly melodramatic sigh, pretending to wipe tears from the corner of his eye. A glance and a smirk drew the first emotion he'd seen from his little Rose that day, a small smile rose slightly on her lips.

"You're weird."

"Maybe, Little Rose. I'm me. Now, let's finish up so those brats aren't even more annoying later."


"One dried rose, strip the bud, pull the hip. A little bit of slice, a little bit of dice. Water voodoo magic. Smoosh, smoosh, smoosh, scrape, voila!" Daichi held up a tiny baggy of fine white powder. He hummed to himself in thought.

"This… looks really bad." He stared at the packet a moment longer, then shrugged. As long as the adults didn't see it, it'd probably be fine. Rossweisse simply looking on with a strange expression of confusion.

"What?"

"What?" Daichi mirrored her. She pouted.

She'd become remarkably more expressive over the couple hours they'd been playing together after he fulfilled his social mascot obligations. Once she realized he legitimately wanted to be her friend, she opened up considerably. He'd basically kidnapped her with Freyja's consent and dragged her off to a corner of the goddess' personal gardens. A single rose, a small plastic baggy, a knife, a spoon, a mortar and pestle, almost all of which was acquired from the kitchen. Put together with a bit of his Rose's magic later, along with a careful hand, Daichi had a small amount of relatively harmless itching powder.

"It's not voodoo magic. All I did was use a low powered paired rune of water combined with remove, and then another one for heat. You'll be able to do something similar in a couple weeks."

Daichi sighed in bliss. Magic made pranks so convenient. This little bit of preparation should have taken hours, if not a couple days depending on the sunlight and heat, but only ended up taking about thirty minutes instead. He could barely wait until he was able to begin. Even the simplest of runes had any number of possible uses.

It had taken a little convincing to get Rossweisse on board, but once he assured her it would only be slightly inconvenient for the girls, she had been more enthusiastic about getting a little payback for her mistreatment at their hands. Despite saying about sticks and stones, words do indeed hurt. One Google search later and he had the process for a simple powder. Magic was incredible, but so was the internet.

"Just like what you did wasn't voodoo magic, what I just did was equally as simple. This little bit of plain looking powder will have their butts itching for around half an hour during morning class." Daichi gave off an unintentional mischievous chuckle thinking of the bullies squirming uncomfortably in their seats. Rossweisse gave a small smile while watching him dork out over the results of their project. The pair made a few more plans to make sure she had an alibi for the morning, then she had to leave, her grandmother coming to pick her up.

The next morning, Daichi followed the same course as his first day. It was a quick run to the grove, followed by retracing the path through the woods. He couldn't help his creeping to the altar, though it was done with a bit more confidence that he wasn't about to be eaten by the presence today. His meditation was much more easily obtained with the prior experience of not dying. An hour later, he exited the woods and made the run back to the school, taking his place among the crowds for their morning exercise.

At the end of morning drills, the pair surreptitiously exchanged glances across the migrating group. Rossweisse stayed behind to help the instructors pick up some of the equipment, and Daichi disappeared amongst a gaggle of tittering girls. Keeping an eye on his marks as everyone disrobed, he discovered their lockers. He'd have to be a bit forceful this morning to make sure he was released from the clutches of the older girls with time to spare, but he'd make it up to them tomorrow. He was quickly cleaned, with minimal cuddling, and dried by an obliging shot of magic.

He quickly dressed, followed by casually ensuring no witnesses were in the area. Daichi operated as quickly as he could, popping their lockers open. A few taps to the side of the baggy dropped a light sprinkle into the back portion of the girls' panties, and then he was gone, on his way to Freyja's office to begin the academic testing out process. He wouldn't know the results of his escapades until the rumor mill reached his ears at the end of the day.

The remainder of his second day at school passed by in a bored blur. Exam after exam was presented to him. He started with Mathematics, taking the exams for each year's subject sequentially at his request. Language arts was next in both English, since it was his preferred first language, and Japanese, knowledge of which was a gift from his father. He demonstrated necessary skill in both reading and writing for each grade level. He managed to work his way through half of the total elementary level exams that first day, all of the math and language arts tests were finished, his pencil flying across tests and answer sheets. Science, and history of the mortal world would follow the next day, taking him the longest to finish simply by virtue of the amount of information he would have to read within each test.

Despite the simplistic content, he was feeling mentally drained by the end of his eight hours of near constant testing. It was a good thing that the moment he met up with his Little Rose she gave him a big smile, which by itself was enough to buoy his energy slightly, but the giggles that followed as she reported on the girls during morning classes truly lifted his spirits. They shared several long minutes in giggle fits from her descriptions of their faces once the itching took hold, their butts constantly being scratched and picked at until the four of them were finally dismissed to the nurse's office.

They'd no doubt be embarrassed for a few days as word got around, but with magic as such a readily available commodity, a little itching powder would be cleaned up and the girls set to rights in seconds, which was exactly what occurred. The girls returned shortly after being dismissed, faces down and burning red as they retook their seats.

Daichi also wasn't asked to hang out after school that day either, the girls choosing to escape to their homes as fast as they could. He chalked that up as another plus, breaking out a book to read while Rossweisse hummed to herself and practiced some upper level runic magic.

Freyja would be by in a little bit to take him home after finishing up some paperwork, as would Gondul for Rose since she wouldn't be playing at his house that evening. They'd set up a day for that weekend where Rossweisse would visit to make sure he was practicing correctly. While they did plan to do some studying, it was mostly code for a play day that was instantly seen through by the adults if the glances and smirks exchanged were any indication.

Gondul was the first to arrive that day, his friend waving goodbye with an approving elder Valkyrie smiling as they walked away.

Daichi returned to the room and propped his book up.

Now that he was finally alone, it was time.

He wouldn't be able to strike again so quickly, but he could draft plans in preparation for the future.

The supply closet held all sorts of things. Mops, buckets, toilet paper, heavy duty tape, cleaning chemicals, the list of potentially useful items was immense, their applications equally so.

The storage shed housed sports equipment of all types, balls of all shapes and sizes, various martial practice weapons; if it could be used in exercise, they had it. Perks of being a school for mythological beings.

The locker room was the home of easily accessed personal belongings, hygiene products, shower heads, slippery tile, and young developing bodies. Bad Yako instincts! That's not useful! …for now!

The teachers' lounge held a fridge, bathroom, microwave, sink, and some storage space. While that seemed rather sparse, there was plenty of opportunity for chaos, discomfort, and inconvenience.

That left the actual classrooms and Freyja's office. Most classes used whiteboards and varying levels of technology. He may not have any current desire for the more typical applications of porn, but that was far from their only use.

With the internet at his fingertips and his own ingenuity paired with his prior background in engineering, the possibilities open to him were endless, and the campus like a sweet ripe berry ready to be devoured.

A/N:

Allhailthesith – I see your points and raise you this counterpoint: as magical beings, do they need to lift weights to gain strength in the first place? Of all those examples you listed, it can be argued that almost none of them did any strength training anyway, they simply attained more Mana, or Ki, or whatever it is, which then amplified their abilities. If that's the case, then wouldn't flexibility and cardio be the priority when bodily strength is simply a matter of improving your chosen metaphysical energy?

Bruce Wayne Batman, according to the DC fandom wiki, began his training at 18 after learning his parents' deaths held no greater meaning, so he was an adult.

The one true human of your examples where training was done young in a universe where forms of energy exist, Krillin, ended up as a midget. Just saying.

Now, to be fair, I'm pretty sure I implied something along the lines of no strength training somewhere in past chapters, but I'll be happy to make this discussion canon for my story in a future chapter to give a solid foundation for why strength training is pointless for more-than-human beings, so thank you for bringing it up. It seems relevant to Touki, so maybe then? If you have any other good arguments for certain plot points, definitely point them out so I can make sure to cover any plotholes!

Guest-Questioner – I think I see what you mean, so here's why Daichi feels the way he does about Devil Magic. He was previously human, so he has that perspective of limitless imagination, but as a Yokai has to continue working hard for the power Devils have the potential to very easily achieve if they put forth the effort. He's just a bit envious, and irritated at the wastefulness, that's all.

Yukilumi – That was a fantastic breakdown of what you like so far, so thank you for that! I'm glad you're enjoying Daichi's character!

Everything I wrote about Kitsune has some kind of basis in actual myth, though I did twist some of it to suit my story needs. I pulled a lot from the wiki pages I could find, and there's a lot more available that I simplified into the details I put into the story. Expect more of that spread throughout chapters, I love putting stuff like that into my writing and do a lot of research to make sure I'm mostly accurate.

I'll have to go back through to reread his Freyja conversations. A lot of the time my writing gets away from me when the muse hits hard, and then I end up with word vomit of the scenes as they play through my head and miss stuff when I go back to revise.

I'd definitely say it's somewhat AU, but I always viewed Sera and Gabriel as having a much better relationship than they're portrayed as. They always seemed like they were actually pretty good friends. Maybe it's just personal head canon. It also seemed like most of the mythologies, at least at the top level, were already on decent enough terms, even before the peace pact between the Christianity factions (who also weren't really all that antagonistic at the upper levels… though the church was kind of a cunt).

Daichi won't be a student at Kuoh. Normally I try not to give plot stuff away, but that would literally be pointless with how I've set the story so far, so I'm not really ruining anything. I hate reading stories where it's just canon events with a new character. If I wanted the canon story, I'd go watch or read the original content, so I have all my characters kick the canon tower over pretty much immediately if I can swing it to be logically feasible for the story. There will be canon character interactions, but he definitely won't be sticking around Kuoh for extended periods.

TehStorm – I think I'll put a power comparison in when we get to discussing Touki a few chapters from now. Thanks for bringing that up, it's an important detail! I'm keeping the full harem members on lockdown. I have THE LIST already compiled with general plot points to justify their relationships, but I'm definitely open to suggestions, especially for side characters or those that don't see a lot of screen time that I may have forgotten.

I think I hit all the major stuff from reviews so far. Thank you, everyone, for being so enthusiastic about the story, I'm looking forward to more thoughts on future chapters!