Armored Hero: Hagane

by Mikatsuki Augus

By now you know how it goes right? You die, reincarnate and somehow turn into some kind of op character in a differnt world, much like in any other Isekai, excepet it wasn't the same for me! I was literally born without powers in a world where everyone (almost) has them, even the most useless! Well, I had to merge brain to find an alternative path and become a Hero.

3. Typical business day Nearly

Yep, I'm still alive and so is this story, even if it's going very slow compared to the expectations I had at the beginning. WhiteDragonSky has been busy in the last few months so he couldn't translate, while I had a lot of family problems one after the other, and I got back to the story after more than two months of hiatus because my brain doesn't want to anymore. fuel ideas. Today I uploaded chapter 3, but I resumed writing 6 only two days ago, and I am moving forward very slowly because I cannot get my ideas in writing.

It doesn't help at all that I'm writing Rias. As much as it may have changed in the course of history from volume 1, until the invasion of the Underworld, I did not like his attitude at all. I know it's a fanfiction and that I can modify it for good or bad at will, but even so often when I try to write scenes between her and Raiden in intimacy I get stuck and can't continue with the chapter, and I don't know why. When I read about her and the MC in other stories it doesn't cause me particular disturbances or annoyances, but when I am the one to simply write her the words don't want to come.

So, sorry for my ramble, but this is the situation. Happy reading everyone, and leave some reviews to let me know what you think!

---

Three days later I found myself back at UA, waiting for Izumi to arrive. True to Nezu's words, on the morning of the third day both the workshop and materials were available, so I could immediately start working on the completed glove before the arrival of my new costumer.

Nezu had provided me with an entire workshop equipped with everything I needed, sparing no expense. By that, I mean literally. Then when I asked him how much he had spent on certain machines that I knew were incredibly expensive, or how he had procured such materials, he merely smiled at me before bursting out laughing maniacally for some reason.

The main floor of the building contains most of the basic living areas, including a large open atrium/living room and a kitchen, showers, and so on. Honestly, it is spacious enough to pass as a large garage with at least a dozen trucks.

In the first basement is the equally spacious laboratory, with a large hologram projection system that was operated through Prophet, my AI, allowing me to manipulate the digital projections to suit a variety of purposes, whether it's looking at documents across the Internet and protected databases, or projecting 3-D models or whatever else I'm making.

In the center of the spacious lab, there is a platform raised high enough to look like a stage. That circular platform can open up and go down to the second basement, where according to Nezu, I could store my armor or equipment that I would develop in the future.

There are also other things, such as a couple of holographic whiteboards designed by me, 3D pens to move and edit holograms, robotic arms to help me perform a number of tasks, drones to clean up, along with all the tools I might have needed.

These were tweaks that I had asked about so that the work would be easier while I was traveling on the train to Izumi's house, but I didn't think they would be able to pull it off in just 2 days. But then again, considering that I sent instructions to assemble everything, along with the fact that they have Power Loader and Cementoss as teachers at school, it's not so surprising. Their office probably did all the paperwork in no time.

Benkei 'briefed' me a bit about how matters work with the supernatural, on the devils who live in town (Rias and Sona), the non-aggression agreement that existed between the Shinto/Yokai faction in exchange for permission to dwell in Musutafu and do their business in town, along with all the basic information I would need to interact with them and not cause problems. Hopefully.

Which brings me to the question on how to improve. Benkei isn't sure whether my current state is my peak growth or a stall that I stumbled into two years ago, from which I have yet to budge. My practicality with senjutsu and touki is remarkably limited, but I can' t understand why. Even if it were a lack of talent, going into a impasse as it did at the time is really odd; it should have been a gradual process. Rather than struggling to become stronger, I simply stopped progressing one day.

According to him, the basis of learning and developing senjutsu is in some respects similar to breathing techniques. Part of the training to learn it lies in understanding oneself, others and the ki of nature. To do so, it is recommended to concentrate one's mind while in lotus position (zazen meditation), quietly releasing one's ki and perceiving the natural ki.

Although it seemed 'simple' it is by no means. At this point, I may have focused too much on getting the training done, but ... not how abstract the whole thing was. The morning after our late-night chat, this realization made me realize what my dilemma might be.

As someone who follows a logical and definite order when making something, I was not able to use breath techniques until I learned (unknowingly) how touki acts on the human body through a method that I could understand and see. From there on I began to get the hang of it and was able to trigger the mechanism that activated touki to empower me, but even then I was limited to some degree in its application.

Maybe it's because I could see the effects, but I still don't understand the mechanism that makes it all work? If I follow this line of thinking, then the 'lack of understanding' of me was impairing my development and use of senjutsu, and by extension also preventing me from learning and using the other branches, such as youjutsu, efficiently. To further the theory, the day after discovering that breathing techniques work with Touki, my overall performance when using kata during morning practice had increased noticeably, which was probably stemming from the fact that I am now partly aware of the reason for my abnormal abilities despite not being familiar with the mechanism.

Yet in spite of everything, I felt that ... something was holding me back.

Talking with Benkei, we found that while I am definitely lacking in some aspects, I easily make it up through others. One example of this is my enhanced eyesight. I thought that was the only reason I could follow the old fool during training, but again, he proved me wrong.

Boosting my vision with reinforcement, even with my level of control, would not have been enough to get me to the level of awareness or reaction times I have during the breath, nor would it have made me keep up with him. He never told me this before, but the way I control my body according to him is perfect. I don't have any wasted movement. How I apply my theoretical knowledge has no flaws, and this is because seeing the way every part of the human body reacts to even the smallest movement, with practice I have removed all unnecessary actions during application.

This is not to say that I am a perfect fighter. Even with knowledge, lack of experience greatly affects my performance, but I am still competent enough to hold my own against enemies more experienced than me.

In summary, it seems that I was constantly fighting against Benkei, even though I was never able to beat him, I was able to reach the 'transparent world,' the maximum state of concentration that a Touki user can reach practically on command. Most of the time. And even when I succeed, if I lose concentration for even a second I come out of that state.

He confirmed this by using illusions during our confrontations, but they never worked with me and I didn't know this until two days ago.

The strengthening of my eyes with reinforcement was just a trigger to get me into that state. As a side effect of the training, my perception with senjutsu increased to the point that I would be able to understand and locate anyone looking at me (like Kiba the other day), and I had become especially sensitive to danger. I could pinpoint with extreme accuracy any malicious intent directed toward me, or near me, as a trained bloodhound would do with drugs. Again, the wall I hit seemed to have limited my perception to the sensation of danger, thus limiting my detection capabilities. Not much consolation since a decent, not even experienced, senjutsu user could do much better...

In retrospect, if Benkei had told me everything from the beginning, instead of studying to the point of short-circuiting my brain almost every day, maybe I wouldn't have become so skeptical about the supernatural and would have actually mastered the styles he taught me rather than struggling to do so as I am doing now.

The discrepancy between body and mind is the problem, and it is derived from my analytical nature.

"Maybe not entirely" I mutter to myself "Does examining myself as I do with machines help identify my problems? "

Acknowledging that there is a problem is the first step to solving it, but here I think it will be a long time before I find a solution. If I can, that is.

The sound of a sliding door opening distracted me from my thoughts. I turned to see Nezu driving Recovery Girl, All Might in his deflated state, Izumi dressed in her green gym suit she used in the entrance exam, and to close the queue Inko dressed in semi formal clothes.

"Sakurajima-kun!" greets Izumi cheerfully, definitely on a high from the idea of training.

"Yo" I greet lazily, waving a hand.

"Well, Midoriya-san, this instead is the gymnasium where Sakurajima-kun will be testing his creations for the next three years" says Nezu, introducing the place. Did he give the mother-daughter duo a tour? "There are several gyms, but the school year is still going on, so the students of the various are still using them. Considering that Midoriya-kun still has to finish her last year of middle school, she wouldn't be able to arrange to come to practice every time she wants, so this was the most practical solution."

"It's-it's pretty incredible" the plump woman admitted groggily "But...is it okay to invest so much to help my daughter? Not that I'm not grateful, on the contrary! But-"

"Considering how reckless she is, I suppose teaching her to control the Quirk here will cost less than the medical care she will need without training" I let slip amused at Inko's disbelief.

Everyone stares at me.

"Well...that's part of the reason actually" Nezu admits, knowing full well why All Might chose her in the first place.

This, however, only made the mother worry more.

"Will it be safe for Izumi?" she asks looking at me worriedly.

"I won't sugarcoat the situation, it will be much less risky than having her start UA without any real training, but there is a fair chance that her limbs will end up like at the entrance exam even today" my words make Inko blanch, who almost faints where she stands. Izumi's mood has also softened considerably.

"It's not the best situation, but it's the best we can do for her now" Chiyo admits with a grimace. Being a doctor, knowing that a student has to hurt herself in order to get better is as bitter a pill as it is for Inko "If the pediatrician who was following her had realized that she had a Quirk, there would have been no need to take unnecessary risks since she would have been followed up with time, and she would not have had to take a crash course on how to use her Quirk before the new school year. So it is much better than letting Midoriya-chan figure out on her own how to use her Quirk, without risking any permanent damage"

On second thought, perhaps he is in a bad mood because knowing about All for One, he knows full well that he is dumping shit on an unsuspecting doctor who had made a correct diagnosis. Although unaware that the bastard in question works for All for One. Not that I can tell him anyway...

"I guess" Inko reluctantly admits.

"Anyway!" Toshinori claps his hands to distract the two women from the worst-case scenarios "Sakurajima-shonen, how are you going to help Midoriya-shojo?"

Seizing the opportunity presented by All Might, Nezu makes a premise that calms Inko.

"Sakurajima-kun has created a glove capable of withstanding the full power of Midoriya-kun's Quirk, so using it while wearing it will not injure you" explains Nezu "Just to clarify, you will only rely on those gloves to get used to using it and adjusting it, I will not allow you to become dependent on it. You will have a supply of them for emergencies should you need them, but I expect that they will precisely be used exclusively for those situations."

All Might raises an eyebrow.

"Well...but where is the glove?" asks the curious blond, looking around the huge gymnasium after agreeing to Nezu's directives.

Besides the moving targets, there were only us, my armor, a table with PCs, notes and a few other things. I took the bracelet and approached Midoriya.

"Lift your sleeve and extend your arm" she carries out my orders without hesitation. Her arm is not too skinny as in the photos I have seen of her at home; on the contrary, in addition to having a good shape it also has a hint of well-defined muscles. I wrapped the silver bracelet around her wrist and pressed the button on the back to activate it. From the bracelet, nanomachines spread like liquid over the limb and wrapped almost the entirety of the girl's arm. "Your Quirk transforms the accumulated kinetic energy and manifests it in the form of physical enhancement, however, since you cannot yet control the output, the excess energy destroys your body from within and prevents you from using it properly. This bracelet contains nanomachines that will form the glove. Because of the artificial muscle bands and suppressors it contains, the excess energy will be discharged safely without injury, in theory. Since I analyzed your Quirk in passing and superficially this is the best I could come up with. It should hold at least two or three full power shots without breaking, maybe one more if all goes well, but I would avoid trying my luck without good reason."

The girl stares in wonder at the bulky bright silver long glove; while All Might from the side looks first at me, then at a sneering Nezu, and then back at the glove, shocked at the technological progress there had been from his generation to ours.

Inko is in a similar state of amazement. She does not seem to have understood exactly what is involved in creating such a support object, but everyone present besides her knows exactly how powerful One for All is.

"Is it...will it work?" she asks worriedly, preventing herself from asking if it was safe given how many times it was said that the glove was experimental.

"As I said, it is a prototype based on an analysis done in a few seconds. If something breaks down we have Recovery Girl here on purpose" I reply, not calming Inko at all.

I might know how Ofa altered her DNA, but it is also true that I saw her in action only once, and without a number to solve the equation, I could not predict how the quirk would actually interact with the host body since it has not yet fully adapted to Izumi.

"I don't like it, but it's better than the alternative" the old nurse admits after overcoming the shock "So analyze what you need to make it safer next time."

---

Rias Gremory is very happy and curious from the unexpected turn of events.

Not only did she discover that her new, cute and awkward servant girl worth eight pawns, three of which mutated during reincarnation, had Booster Gear, but also a crazy powerful Quirk!

Toshinori Yagi, the middle-aged man who was in charge of Izumi's training before the UA entrance test, who is apparently also the secretary of All Might, had gotten her a reproduction of the test that took place at Ground Beta that left her stunned. Of course, dealing with the enraged Peace Symbol certainly set her back a few years from the scare, but once she had explained the situation he had calmed down and let them go with only the warning that he would keep an eye on them.

Seriously though, who would have guessed that the girl randomly found while hunting a stray devil was actually All Might's student of all people! Not to mention that she didn't even know about the booster gear or her quirk to begin with. Koneko had felt the dragon aura coming from her, so she decided to reincarnate her. After all, even if she had a twice critical, once the balance breaker was unlocked she would become Blazing Salamander, whose firepower is equal to that of a phoenix. And the flames of the phoenix could even easily burn the scales of dragons. It was common knowledge that any dragon-type sacred gear tends to evolve in exponentially more powerful ways than others, so it is always an extra weapon at her disposal to deal with her persecutor. Even a dragon-related quirk or legacy would have been fine, as they would have developed and evolved over time due to the race change and programs installed in the evil pieces.

Fortunately it was a longinus instead, so it got even better.

What's more, Izumi's quirk, which they should name, has made her so strong that she can enter a physical strength struggle with her cousin Sairaorg! Perhaps she could even reach the level of All Might when she becomes more powerful and learns to control her powers! Between this and the Gear Booster she has hit the jackpot! She feels confident that she can finally get rid of Riser!

Granted, she still cannot use her Quirk and has just begun to figure out how to summon her sacred gear, but with serious training she will quickly become the piece that will pave the way to her freedom.

But in addition to the news that made her enormously happy, there is also a possible new servant she could recruit-Sakurajima Raiden.

He does not seem to have had any connection with the supernatural until a few days before, despite being descended from a family that was part of the Demon Slayer Corp, but his technical skills and intelligence are nothing to scoff at. He graduated at the top of his class at only 10 years of age from Tokyo's most prestigious university, and has worked as a freelancer until now in the field of support tools. From what she discovered while investigating, he is actually incredibly skilled at what he does, having even three of the heroes in the top 10 in Japan as clients!

Moreover, as if that were not enough, he participated in the entrance exam with a suit of armor he built which in some ways vaguely resembles the one of Iron Man from the Avengers. She was not attracted to this particular one because he looks like an incredibly handsome samurai mech, despite what Akeno says! She is merely fascinated by his prowess in the field, that's all!

She traced many of his expenditures and brevets made in the years after graduation and was genuinely impressed. He had started from nothing and had come far. Unfortunately, she could not find any data on his armor other than the name, but that is understandable-all she was looking for was information that could be found around, good or bad, in a legal way. She was not so optimistic about the possibility of finding information about his secret plans, although she would have liked to know more, in case she could construct items that might assist her in breaking free from the arranged marriage.

The only thing that made her frown was the similarity between Raiden's situation and her cousin's. This might make it difficult to convince him to join her.

The biggest surprise of the last week came that very morning, however. It turns out, Musutafu's genius had built a glove that could contain Izumi's power and allow her to use her insane Quirk without injuring herself, to some extent! Three 100% punches according to her is a start for a prototype built in one day.

There is also a problem, however: Koneko is absolutely terrified of him. She had sent Kiba because he was the least conspicuous, but according to the little nekoshou he is a user of senjutsu, yet according to her knight he was unaware of the supernatural. Which leaves her with conflicting thoughts on the matter.

On the one hand, Koneko experienced a panic attack while in class when she sensed it, and almost had a heart attack when she heard about it. Fortunately, after the sudden fright she only had recurring nightmares about her past. She does not know how her rook will react if a senjutsu user joins their little family, but she hopes that Koneko's fear of senjutsu and her older sister will not affect her to the point of trying to engage the possible recruit.

And while it is true that on the one hand Koneko's reaction worries her in no small part, Raiden's abilities with senjutsu, even if they were not too advanced, would have been an invaluable asset, and she knew that very well. Striking a devil's life force also disrupts his demonic power, and without demonic power a Phoenix cannot regenerate.

She had done a lot of research to counter Riser, even after coming to the human world, but with her father and Lord Phoenix pushing for marriage she was running out of time. Her father did not want to break the contract, so he greatly limited her options by cutting off funds and connections, knowing that because of a clause imposed by her brother years earlier she could try to break free with a raiting game. A feigned escape route to put her hopes to rest, but with no means in the underworld, she moved to Musutafu to seek out possible members for her peerage, trying to increase her chances as much as possible in anticipation of the clash to come. Again, the good fortune for which the Gremory clan is famous helped a great deal, as her brother and Serafall Leviathan had managed to come to an agreement with the Shinto faction several times before that bastard Riser started nagging her to anticipate the wedding.

Never had that word disgusted her so much as in the past two weeks.

Akeno and Koneko had the means to guarantee her victory, but because of their past traumas they refused to use them, and despite everything, she could not force herself to ask the two girls to do something that would surely hurt them.

They wanted to force her into marriage to the point that they made a deal with the Sitri to make sure that Sona could not be in the way, even indirectly, so the initial plan they had planned in the case of the raiting game, which involved handing over her friend's pieces to her peerage, even if only temporarily, had gone out the window. Since she could not even help her train because of the numerous stipulations imposed by the agreement between their families, the only thing the other heir could do was to turn a blind eye and let her make the first move in enlisting promising members for her peerage, and try to recruit them herself only after they refused her offer or she could not convince them to join her outright.

The only ones who had caught her attention besides the two new freshmen for now were the Big 3, who unfortunately, had categorically refused to become devils. Togata Mirio wanted to become a hero and save as many people as he could, so being tied to a faction specifically limited his options when he has to move to other parts of Japan or the world; Hado Nejire was too free-spirited and had been discarded by Sona, but she had refused to serve anyone because she did not find it 'fun,' no matter how many incentives it gave her. She simply had no desire to deal with devil politics. Amajiki Tamaki was terrified of them instead, to the point that no matter how much she and Sona tried to explain to him they were not going after his soul, or that they did not want to screw him over (this was true depending on one's point of view), he did not want to hear any stories. This left her with only one possible recruit: Raiden.

That is why she decided to visit Izumi's new crush at school even though the weekend had just begun. Once the tests were over, after being treated by Recovery Girl and visiting Inko who had fainted at the sight of Izumi's arm breaking, Toshinori Yagi offered to finish the tour started by the principal, while the latter left to finish some outstanding work of his own.

---

I observed on the school cafeteria tablet the new design of the full gauntlet version 2.0. The reason I stopped here is that UA is mostly empty on weekends, thus a good place to continue working in peace during lunchtime.

The first one was almost two and a half times as thick as Izumi's arm, and in its folded form it was still a bulky bracelet. That was fine, given its disposable nature only for testing and data collection, which as intended had held up effectively to those three intended blows, but when the girl wished to try her luck it shattered on the fourth. I had warned her of the possibility but she went ahead and tried anyway because she felt close to a breakthrough, but with no success. She was getting used with recalling One for All quickly, but still lacked the familiarity with the Quirk to understand how to lower the percentage of power she uses. It was an improvement. Not outstanding, but better than nothing at least, considering she had only activated it five times so far.

At one point I was reminded of Melissa Shield, probably the only interesting thing in the "two heroes" movie besides clips from All Might's past, as I thought about how I could help Izumi with her problem. I didn't know how to recreate her glove, since the daughter of the world's most famous scientist had been inspired by her surrogate uncle to create it. I took a cue from this idea and tried to recreate it. To begin with, considering the size of the plates seen during the deployment of the glove, I doubted that it was really composed entirely of nanomachines, perhaps a blend of them for some of the inner parts as well as some of the foldable outer plates. Useful, but unlikely to be upgraded more than its current state. I don't think Melissa would have been able to further develop other advanced whole gloves with a mixed structure of exoskeleton and nanomachines, at least not without someone able to push them to the limit and supply them with data. Even so, it is still surprising that she was able to build one without anyone to test it. The film and the special chapter devoted to the blonde released at the time of the film's release made it clear that All Might had not seen Melissa in at least a decade, which shows how extraordinary she really is at what she does.

So while All Might was taking Izumi to finish the tour for the school, once she was healed from Recovery Girl of course, Nezu brought me up to speed on One for All, how Toshinori got his side wound and the reason he came to UA. He would use his 'new occupation' as a teacher to hide the ever-shortening time limit and how limited he was now in his hero activity, as on the forums, most fans seemed to realize and speculate that All Might was beginning to appear less during the last few years.

Of course, everything had been told to me with the consent of the two people involved.

If I did not know Nezu better, however, I would think that he is asking me to find a way to stretch his time a little longer. Actually, scratch that, he probably knows that I hide more than I would like to give away; so he made this silent request. What a demanding principal I have...

I was not given details of the battle with All for One, or of its existence though. Just some basic short clips leading up to his injury. Did they not think he was important because they thought he was dead, or did they just not want me to find out about his existence?

"I am here, with lunch!"

I blinked a little surprised when a deflated All Might placed a tray with ramen and a small bottle of water in front of me as I absent-mindedly tweaked the design for the glove.

"Thank you" I say putting aside the work.

"S-sorry for the intrusion" murmured Izumi, who was now wearing her middle school uniform, embarrassed. Is she still uncomfortable with the idea of talking to me?

Inko is not with her now, so I think she is gone. If I am not mistaken she is a nurse rather than a housewife in this world?

The real surprise was the redhead next to Izumi though.

She is a beautiful young woman with a very voluptuous body indeed with a perfect hourglass figure, white skin, blue eyes. Her most distinctive feature is her long, beautiful crimson hair that reaches to her thighs, with an ahoge sprouting from the top of her head. Her hair also has loose bangs that cover her forehead and a side fringe that frames her face. She wears the UA uniform even though the jacket is open.

Yep it is her indeed and not just a figment of my imagination, but I want to know now, why is Rias Gremory even here? I struggled a little to look away from her and refocus, which she surely noticed given the amused smirk plastered on her face.

"We've never met before, but-"

"Rias Gremory, first year, high-class devil and I assume Midoriya's master, right?" I ask almost robotically as I try to shake off the charm effect. Damn sexy devils.

She blinks surprised by the interruption.

"Yes, that's me, nice to meet you" she says recovering quickly "You, on the other hand, are Sakurajima Raiden, right? May I call you Rai-kun?"

I raised an eyebrow at the very friendly nickname. Izumi seems shocked by the naturalness with which she made the request. Almost betrayed I would say.

"A little quick to start off with the nicknames already don't you think?" I ask slightly amused by the way Izumi begins to get nervous on the spot, trying futilely to say something, but evidently her voice doesn't want to come out. A pity.

"Do you know about the supernatural, Sakurajima-shonen?" asks All Might, diverting attention from an uncomfortable topic for his protégé.

"Well, I wasn't quite aware of that until a few days ago" I say rather sincerely, confusing those present.

"In what sense?" asks Rias curiously, as she also sits beside Izumi.

"I knew there was something wrong with my body as a child, since the intensive training regimen I practice allowed me to unlock my touki despite not being aware of it, in the same way that I knew there were anomalies in Izumi and Kiba's DNA not recorded anywhere, but I wasn't privy to the supernatural" I clarify while splitting the disposable chopsticks "My grandfather was a Shinto exorcist as well as a professional hero before he retired, and he told me pretty much the way things are, clearing up pretty much all my doubts about the current state of the world"

Having said my piece I begin to eat the ramen, and oh boy, it is the tastiest I have ever had! This meat is so tender and seems to melt in your mouth, and the broth is so flavorsome! Is it due to Lunch Rush's Quirk?

Rias' mood takes on a slightly irritated edge, but she tries not to give it too much away.

"So are you part of the Shinto faction?" she asks cautiously. She is not overly on guard, but she will be careful not to talk too much from now, probably.

"Relax, I have no interest in taking anyone's side - nor do I intend to reincarnate as a devil" I finally add with a grimace.

Actually, I was not too opposed to the idea. Rias' reincarnation would have granted me a significant amount of resources and connections to the supernatural through the Gremory clan, which I could have used to build increasingly advanced prototypes and armor. I would also have had demonic magic at my disposal, which, while based on imagination rather than upon something more concrete, I could still have made it work since I knew exactly what I was going to use it for. Of course, I would have had much stricter limits to its use, unlike a regular devil, because ... well, I am what I am, but even so I would have had a better body, and potentially unlimited chances for growth, and more. No laughing matter, in short.

However (because, of course, there had to be something to keep me from making my life easier), Benkei warned me that doing so would create a not insignificant possibility of souring relations between the Shinto/Yokai faction and the devils. Amaterasu is apparently quite possessive and protective of the descendants of the demon slayers who have long served her to bring down Muzan, beside they are aware of secret techniques that belonged to the Demon Slayer Corps long ago "lost," yet I am still unable to use them properly.

So yes, because to the world, the Demon Slayer Corps had been almost completely annihilated (and that was more or less true, since it had lost almost 90 percent of its members during the final battle) on the last day of the war. It had actually been disbanded, and documents from that period were still in the possession of the surviving families, but they only covered the most important things like the breathing techniques.

However, it had happened before and had caused quite a few problems from the very few insights Benkei told me about. His usually stoic face was scrunched up in nervousness, and that said a lot about how pissed off the sun goddess must have been. People like Kokabiel would surely have tried to take advantage of this to try to reignite the fuse for a new great war, and that is the last thing I want. Of course, in centuries or even millennia past, stealing each other's troops was nothing new, but after the death of the Ancient One things had apparently calmed down, since one of the top 10, along with a remarkable number of mages, had fallen behind so quickly without warning, despite standing among the strongest groups. Even now the various sanctorums have been rebuilt and, rather hidden from the public, many of the leaders are actually working on a different barrier to prevent attacks on our dimension, as Dormammu had done a few months earlier. All factions, although hostile activities had mostly stopped, were very tense.

Over all, having me reincarnated now, while currently worth next to nothing, would be a dick move because of my family background, which has not yet provided me with any advantages other than techniques that have not made me particularly powerful taking into account the amount of ass-kicking enemies in DxD.

On a separate note, where on earth did Benkei get the information about the barrier and all that? Exactly how important was it during his time as an exorcist?

In any case, my answer apparently affected Rias more than she wants to give it away. Did she really come to try to recruit me? Why? I know about Riser's problem, whether it is the same, but I don't know how useful I might be to him at the moment. Not without a comparison to see how tough I am compared to a devil, even if they are weak as a chicken at first. Besides, even though she was too spoiled before she changed, she should know perfectly well what kind of problems it would cause.

Then again, we're talking about the same person who in DxD thought she didn't need her brother's help against a foe like Kokabiel, so I don't know how reliable she actually is...

All Might, surely noticing this, gives the redhead a rather serious look.

A rather awkward silence fell at the table as I continue to eat, so the green-haired cinnamon roll tried to continue the conversation.

"H-so...what were you working on, Sakurajima-kun? "the girl asks curiously, seeing the 3D reproduction of the full gauntlet.

"A new version of your glove" I reply, surprising both the girl and the hero pro.

"Already? But didn't the tests end just a few hours ago?" the peace symbol asks puzzled.

"The most difficult work was creating the base from the little information I had. But now? I've seen it at work and my AI has analyzed more deeply how her body reacts to the Quirk, so it was relatively easy to update it once I understand what I'm working on." "I turned the tablet in their direction to show them the design, and the three of them looked curiously at the new glove. "This time, instead of using a lot of bulky muscle fibers, I'm going to use fewer and thinner interlaced muscle fibers to reduce mass and increase arm mobility, while maintaining a marked improvement in strength and speed of deployment. I was also able to insert smaller suppressors into the joint structure to better absorb shock, decrease discomfort, and make movements smoother. In case of breakage, they will avoid damaging the cartilage between the joints and reduce the possibility of paralysis if the arm damage exceeds a certain threshold with frequency. Now we need to see if it can be built and if it works in practice. From there we will start with modifications and improvements according to how Midoriya is doing and what I need to fix if it doesn't work."

The glove is now just over 8 centimeters thick, perfectly smooth and made in one piece. Because it is composed solely of nanomachines, it needs no joints, as the artificial muscles are designed to follow Izumi's arm movements. This model is a long glove that stops just below the armpit.

"This...is impressive. They weren't so advanced in my day these things" mutters All Might in amazement as he glances at the full guantlet pattern.

"There have been significant improvements in recent years in the field, but a lot of the credit goes to the inventor in this case" Nezu comments abruptly as he approaches the table, followed by a staff member with a tray holding his lunch and a pillow under one arm.

"principal?"

We watch him rather surprised as he sits on his cushion on top of the chair at our table and begins to slice his steak. Rias in particular looks like she wants to bang her head against a wall now.

"I came to have a snack, today has been an eventful day for me as well" he says taking a bite of his lunch "Do not be fearful of my presence. However Gremory-kun, I must warn you not to try to enlist Sakurajima-kun again."

Rias, despite her renowned composure, actually shows discomfort when Nezu's piercing gaze stops for a few moments on her eyes. Unlike her, Izumi visibly winces at the mutated animal's words when she realizes what he is referring to.

"If you don't mind me asking, how do you know?" she asks, regaining some composure.

"Oh, it's not a big deal, I've known about it for a long time" Nezu replied as if nothing had happened "Although my first official interaction with someone really important from the Underworld was with Sirzech-kun when we actually talked business. He asked me to open the junior high section and allow you to study here while he made arrangements with the Shinto faction. In exchange for numerous funds to prepare the facilities, staff and everything else of course" he ends with a smile from someone who knows he has bled another person dry without an ounce of remorse.

The mention of her brother makes Rias wince, who has failed to maintain a neutral expression. Izumi seemed very curious, but seeing the flash of embarrassment mixed with frustration in the red-haired devil's eyes, she decided not to ask, giving me a sidelong glance.

I just nodded to let her know that I would explain later.

"I...see" she says after a short pause "If I may ask, how come you never interfered in my or Sona's recruitment attempts before?"

"Gremory-kun, you know perfectly well why" Nezu admonishes her in his calm tone "Your brother has taken the throne of Lucifer and can cover for you if you do something reckless in a hurry, however he also has boundaries he cannot cross because as one of the Leaders of the devil race there is a limit to how far he can put your care before that of your kind. Trying to recruit Sakurajima-kun you know how much trouble you would get into, right?"

Okay, it looks like I won't have to explain much really. Also, does Nezu also know the background of my family? How? When did he learn about the supernatural? And most importantly, why the fuck am I the only one who didn't know about my heritage!

Rias bit her lip slightly upon hearing the painful reminder.

"I understand" she says simply.

"Good. I'd hate to have to say goodbye before time to promising students" he says before returning to his meal.

"Changing the subject" I quickly try to change the topic because the air in the air is rather heavy "I can build some prototypes after getting the green light from the design office. Yuuei's office is first class, so the request will come within two or three days at most."

"E-eh? Ah. Um, when can I come back to do more testing then?" asks Izumi, jumping on the chance to drop the subject.

"Possibly, in four or five days" I inform her "Do you want me to make you a costume as well? Usually the support class people take care of that for practice, but since I'm following you for now, I might as well indulge and make something more than just a few bracelets."

Izumi needed a moment to take in my question before a bright smile almost blinded those present. Becoming a heroine has always been her dream, so the idea of going to UA and having her first costume must have made her really beaming with joy.

This time, however, I was prepared, and while All Might and Rias had to look away at the almost angelic smile of the freckled girl blinded them, Nezu and I put on sunglasses to keep our retinas from suffering too much.

"S-that would be great!" she immediately replies, definitely looking forward to it.

"Principal?" I quickly ask the mouse/dog/bear who hums a few moments before answering.

"Well, as you said, we normally let first- and second-year students handle it depending on the difficulty, but given the...special circumstances regarding Midoriya-kun, I think I can make an exception, since she needs more professional help" concedes the quirk-mutated animal.

"Do you have an idea for the design? Or do you want me to do it?" I ask as she begins to mull it over "Ah, but I must warn you, before I make the costume I will do more tests on your Quirk to determine the choice of materials and supporting gadgets."

"W-well" she quickly agrees, "P-for the costume I already have sketches to use, if possible. Is-is it okay if I send you a picture later?"

"Okay, I'll pass you my contact information" I say, pulling my phone out of my pocket. Izumi freezes for a moment before starting to blush "What's wrong?"

"N-nothing...it's just..." she mumbles something, but I can't hear her very well since she has started to shrink back in her chair, trying to disappear.

"What is it?" seriously what's bothering her?

"I've...never given a guy a number...before..." she repeats louder as the blush deepens.

Crap I remember what the issue is now. Izumi is a teenager with zero social life until she joined the ORC, put in even worse shape than I was before my death (which says a lot), and despite all the excitement a few moments earlier, she may not have realized that in order to agree on costume specifications we have to keep in touch and spend time together to test and fine-tune it.

'It's kind of endearing...' I couldn't help repressing an amused smirk as I watched her fidget in her chair, red as a tomato.

While Nezu watches the scene with an unreadable expression, All Might looks at his protégé with a mixture of amusement and exasperation when she is back to being a stammering mess after holding a decent conversation for a while.

Rias, on the other hand, despite her bad mood over the ruined recruitment, could not refrain from taking pictures of the poor girl, giggling as if she were filming a puppy taking its first steps.

I watched her fret over Rias as I ate, but the more I thought of something I had not yet asked.

"Now that I think about it Yagi-san, what training did Midoriya go through to unlock her quirk?" I ask the blond man curiously.

Izumi is a girl in this world, so she couldn't have followed the same and identical training as Izuku, she would have run the risk of irreparably damaging the girl's growth, especially since from the photos Inko showed me a few nights ago, the freckled girl was even more puny than her male counterpart despite her similar build. And she was definitely flatter before she got into shape; she was practically maybe half her current size. She refused to show me pictures of her in costume for a comparison of before and after. All Might, regardless of how unintelligent he may seem, cannot be so stupid as to make such a mistake.

"Umm? I had her clean up Dagoba municipal beach. That place had become an illegal dump, but now it's back to being a beautiful beach" Toshinori replied, puffing up his chest a little proudly.

Well, I suppose as a test to see how much commitment and will Izumi had in following her dream it could have fit, although there are an infinite number of better ways to do it. Many people have ambitions but fail or lack the drive to follow them, after all.

"And then what?" I ask curious as to what he did.

"Nothing. She cleaned the beach in the 10 months before the exam" he says proudly "She even cleaned the areas I didn't designate!"

Nezu stopped eating, while Rias stopped taking pictures of Izumi. I paused for a moment, baffled from what I heard. Did I misunderstand the Mha episode three or the scenes from the manga's eponymous chapter? I thought Izuku's collapse from overwork was a way to show how determined he was, but did All Might really trust a teenager that much? Izumi of all people! Of the same little girl who threw herself at a villan so ambiguous and forgettable that she was not even remembered, while she had no quirk and didn't even know how to throw a straight punch?! HER!

"Did you fall head over heels as a child by any chance?" i asked still rather shocked by the revelation "You're seriously telling me that you left Izumi to train alone in a dump, knowing full well that she is so irresponsible that she threw herself at a villan when she thought she was quirkless, without thinking that she could do shit like train herself to the point of collapse without supervision?! Are you for real!"

Izumi seems both embarrassed and a little offended by my question, while Rias is visibly a little worried hearing how irresponsible her supposed supervisor was. Nezu, on the other hand, has a clear frown on his usually always deceptively cheerful face.

Toshinori, initially confused by the question, began to shift a little uncomfortably when he realized where my thoughts were going.

"I...suppose I was a little too trusting at first" he admits, massaging his neck awkwardly.

"You suppose?! Do you feel even as you say it! Even assuming she wasn't stupid enough to push herself like that-" "He-hey!" "-do you really think that leaving a 15-year-old girl who has never lifted a handlebar in her life, alone, in a fucking dump of all places, was a good idea! What if something had fallen on her mind you weren't there! She could have been crushed there or debilitatingly injured, you idiot!"

I gasped a little after I finished ranting at the No. 1 hero, as Toshinori grew smaller and smaller in his chair under my furious gaze after every word that came out of my mouth. Izumi and Rias backed away slightly seeing how I was screaming indemoniously at the blond man.

All Might despite having to train a successor, he is still the symbol of peace and a pro hero, so he cannot reasonably spend all his time keeping an eye on Izumi because he also has to work. This fact does not excuse him though! After he finished his patrol hours he could very well have gone to check on her! The fact that it took him months before he realized this is rather indicative of how poorly he did his job as an instructor! How the fuck did this idiot become a teacher!

"W-was it good training and volunteering at the same time?"

The pathetic excuse used by All Might to try to justify himself only fueled my outrage though. I'm pretty sure veins on my head have contracted.

"Do you have the training regimen that Midoriya followed with you?" I ask frostily, shifting my gaze between the two interested parties, who shudder at the arctic voice I used.

"Q-here. L-I brought it in case you need it" Izumi says rather tensely, seeing the decidedly unhappy look Nezu and I were giving her mentor.

I took the stack of papers and went through them quickly, but I did not need to read all 25 pages to reach the conclusion.

"You timed it right between training, rest, and time to devote to school" All Might and Izumi's expressions relaxed a bit when I acknowledged this fact "Except for the small detail that this training regimen was designed for a 170-centimeter tall boy (5'6) with an approximate weight of 70 kilos, not for an underweight, 150-centimeter tall girl (4'11)who at that time weighed 40 kilos at best!"

"N-it's not his fault! I was the one who decided on my own to train more than I should..."

"No, Midoriya-kun, it's definitely his fault" Nezu scolds her rather seriously, making the two ofa users flinch "An educator's duty is to make sure their student's education continues smoothly. I heard about you from Yagi-san months ago, I saw the progression of your results, and the fact that your height in one year increased by less than 10 centimeters despite the fact that you are in the middle of puberty and your body developed profusely during a growth spurt says a lot about how wrong training affected your development. No matter how irresponsible you are, it was his duty to monitor and guide you during training."

"Especially since you were still human at that time" Rias adds with a worried expression "I can heal open wounds with demonic power, but not the damage already done to your body by wrong growth."

At this point, All Might's pride was deader than its ancestors, and the shoulders of the two one fo all users are slumped as they realize they have screwed up.

"You could have trained her enough for her body to actually support her quirk, and you still would have had a couple of months left over to teach her how to use it if you had gone to a professional in the field. Or just sent her to the gym" I pinched my nose as it became increasingly obvious how too similar those two were in the wrong way "Did you at least give her some useful advice on how to use a quirk at least?"

"..."

"Yagi-san"

"..."

"Okay, are you kidding me?" I ask honestly horrified by the blond's complete lack of preparation. I could perfectly understand why Nighteye started training Mirio on his own initiative now "Exactly how did you think that a girl who until a few weeks ago could not even consciously activate it would have any chance of passing the exam if she did not inadvertently use it when the Zero pointer arrived?"

"...I was confident?" replied Toshinori weakly.

I know that All Might did everything in good faith, trying to help his successor prepare by believing he was doing something right, despite all his responsibilities.

Unfortunately for him, it still didn't stop me from trying to strangle him for his stupidity.

"S-sakurajima-kun no!"

"Rai-kun, calm down!"

Nezu did not intervene to stop me; he stood by and watched All Might with a frown as I tried to break the peace symbol's neck, almost succeeding, somehow.

---

"I can't believe you actually tried to kill All Might" Izumi says, still quite shaken, as she walked beside me.

"...'Tighten your butt cheeks and scream in your heart smash!'..." I repeated to her again, still not believing what I had heard.

Seeing it on the screen with the music and all was pretty belo at the time, but now that I am aware that there is no Izuku plot armor I can't get my head around how someone could be so stupid. Gran Torino's insults when he said he was all muscle and no brains were suddenly very apt and less funny, seeing Toshinori Yagi's stupidity in person. Did he even inform himself before doing anything!

"H-He tried..."

"Trying wasn't enough, you could end up really bad" I remind her with a frown.

If the dummy had suddenly found himself without the main character it would have been bitter mess in the future. Especially since when I had died the Mha manga was not yet finished. I had almost reached the time when they were supposed to show who the traitor was.

I have never cursed myself so much for stopping to wait for at least a dozen chapters to come out to have more than a measly dozen pages to read. I had decided to wait a couple more days and read them all at once on the train, dammit! Honestly, how was I supposed to know I was going to die and I was going to need that information now!

Not to mention what would happen to the DxD storyline without the sekiryuutei, since Rias' pawn is Izumi and not Issei, who has been deceased in this world for more than a hundred and fifty years. This leaves me to think that she is the one with booster gear, or at least a powerful sacred gear in addition to ofa, although I was skeptical about that part. I don't know how events will unfold in this world, I don't know when, and I also don't know how much time I will have for the Gremory peerage to prepare for them as best they can, since they are the group that is in virtually every mess in the supernatural world since the canon begins, and I would like to avoid finding myself in front of Thirexia. I value my life a little too much for that. If I can push them to train in the first place.

"Eheh..."

I looked at Izumi with a raised eyebrow when I heard her faint chuckle.

"Why are you laughing?" I ask puzzled.

"Emh...it's not..." she blushes slightly and starts twiddling her thumbs, suddenly uncomfortable "Only Aika got mad about me before, so...the fact that you're doing this makes me happy...oh god, it sounds so-ouch!" she holds her head in sudden pain.

"Devils feel pain when they hear or utter the name of Big G" I remind impassively.

Then I noticed something. We are almost shoulder to shoulder when I was clearly further behind and away from her after we got going. Actually, it's quite sad that her lack of affection led her to get so attached to me despite the fact that we barely know each other. Izumi's interest in me was quite obvious, and honestly I would almost feel like going after each person who made her life hell one by one and killing them in the most violent ways possible. I would need stealth armor though. Maybe I'll use the Mirage Colloid designs...no, wait, I'm trying to become a hero, so unnecessary killing is not allowed! That sucks...

However, it is now evening and we are on our way to the ORC. The club-related extracurricular activities are on the middle school campus, since the main UA campus is entirely devoted to high school classes. And it is evening. I suppose Rias will try to convince me to join her peerage again despite warnings, or convince me to build things for her if necessary, otherwise I don't understand why she asked me to meet her at the club late in the evening when they are technically supposed to be doing their devils work with contracts. I wonder what she will come up with this time.

I asked Izumi to take me there because I didn't know where it was, having never been to the smaller campus, but also because then I would be more confident that he wouldn't try to pull any surprises with the new-pedestrian there. I hope.

The clubhouse is a three-story building, with the third serving as a clock tower. It has been painted white with a black roof with vines creeping up to the second floor.

Nothing exceptional on the outside, but it is themed both inside and out. Then we went inside, went upstairs, and Izumi knocked on the door where they do the 'activities' of the club.

"Next"

"Buchou, we are entering" the reincarnated devil warns her.

So we walked in. The place is quite in keeping with its name, although I prefer more familiar places like my workshop. The interior of the club room is a wood-paneled room with Victorian-style sofas and chairs along the walls. Upon entering, I noticed that on the right side of the wall is a door, probably to the bathroom, and also on the right is a red magic circle on the floor, with the Gremory crest on it. I think.

Closing the door behind me, I saw Rias at the desk and Kiba drinking tea on a sofa, but the queen beside the king and the rook in front of the knight are also present.

Koneko is as small and cute as I remember her. Not even 140 cm (138) tall (4'7), sitting on the sofa, she is eating a chocolate cake. Her hair is snow white, the front of her hair is longer than the back, which are cut short, and reaches past her shoulders. She wears two black cat clips on either side of her head and a middle school UA uniform.

It's a good thing I don't have a cat's tail and ears outside, otherwise I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have been able to stop myself from petting them.

Even in this life I love cats. Before my reincarnation, my father started bringing home and distributing a flood of strays (which for goodness sake, helping abandoned or wild animals in need is always a good thing), before it became a huge source of constant stress to deal with five cats, two dogs and three hamsters, I really enjoyed their company. Even now, but I was too busy with...everything to properly care for a pet, so as much as I wanted to, rather than adopting cats I go to neko-cafes to relax.

Returning to Koneko, a 'good' in many quotation marks, if I didn't know her history, that is.

'Yaoyoruzu' Akeno is, as I remembered, also a beautiful young woman, with a voluptuous body comparable to Rias's (unreal). Her very long hair is tied in a high ponytail tied with an orange ribbon, reaching down to her calves. Her violet eyes stare at me with a hint of curiosity.

I say 'Yaoyoruzu' and not 'Himejima' because she was actually adopted by Momo's family. When I found out about DxD I did some quick research on the formerly human members reincarnated by the Gremory and Sitri, all of which I was able to find through legal channels of course. As it turns out, Momo's great-grandparents were exiled members of the Himejima clan, and they took custody of Akeno after her mother died and her father was removed.

According to reports, on the day of the attack Shuri and her attackers attacked while Baraqiel was not at home, and the little half-fallen girl had escaped only because her mother, however rusty from years of isolated living and lack of training, had managed to kill almost all of the attackers, but she still eventually died of her wounds before arriving at the hospital. The battered Akeno had escaped, wounded not too seriously by the first surprise attack on the house that had been blown up, but one of the Himejima clan assassins tasked with erecting the barrier around the house had survived and pursued her, but was stopped by a hero pro who was patrolling around the shrine. Since they were the only 'living relatives,' they adopted her a couple of months later, when Baraqiel not wanting to traumatize his daughter more than he had already done by not being there that day, decided to leave her in the care of relatives to keep her away from the supernatural (I suppose).

I can therefore assume that Baraqiel severely underestimated Akeno's hatred of her fallen side, and that she became the queen during one of Sizerchs' visits to Japan, while making arrangements for her sister to study in Musutafu when she was with her. Her devilish side is as ingrained and stable as Koneko's and Kiba's, after all, so it is certainly not recent.

I am surprised, however, when the inclusion of the Quirks allowed Shuri Himejima to hold her own, which i found no information about. She was a member of the Himejima clan and was blessed by the Shinto gods, so it was logical to assume that she had exorcist training at some point, along with serious training with her quirk, otherwise I don't think how she could have fought off all the attackers, given from what emerged from the reports of the incident that night, in addition to the Himejima clan killers there were also 'known opponents' of the agency Baraqiel is affiliated with who wanted them dead.

The report did not say 'fallen angels' but it is quite subtle since the case was followed by the human police.

"You have arrived at the right time, a call came in just now from the underworld, we were ordered to put down a stray devil" Rias informs us.

Strays. A part I really dislike about this world. In this case, the devils label as strays all those who become criminals among the reincarnates. Already the singular choice of term says a lot about how pureblood and pillar devils view reincarnates. If that were not clear enough: as slaves or pets. Low-class devils have no rights, and until they reach high class rank (in most cases, since with in politics some loophole they always find to screw people over) the masters can do whatever they want with them, without any consequences.

I can't help but frown thinking about the case of Kuroka and that bastard Naberius. Who knows if I can get the black cat's criminal record cleaned up?

"But first introductions!" says the ORC president "Rai-kun, you have already met Yuuto, my knight; these two are Yaoyoruzu Akeno, my queen; and Toujou Koneko, my rook. Girls, this is Sakurajima Raiden, a student who from next year will be part of the UA hero class. He is taking care of Izumi-chan and her quirk."

"Ara, nice to meet you Kohai-kun" Yamato Nadeshiko greets cordially "Is it okay if I call you Rai-kun too? After all, I would like to get to know better someone who is helping one of my kohai."

There was...something odd in her sentence. The way Rias looked at Akeno probably indicated that she did not understand the almost intimidating tone used by the queen either.

"How do you do, senpai" Koneko instead was brief and concise.

"Nice to meet you" I reply lazily to the two, completely ignoring the queen's falsely sweet look.

"Sorry to have you come so suddenly, but I got a call from the underworld and apparently another stray devil appeared in town yesterday. It seems he has already killed a dozen people" Rias's deadly serious voice and the sudden news made Izumi gasp.

"Again?" I ask with a raised eyebrow "Wasn't the last one less than two weeks ago?"

"Unfortunately, it's one of those times of the year when cases increase" Akeno explains to me with a frown "This one went crazy after running away from his king."

I nodded, knowing how the evil pieces work, but Izumi looks confused.

"Haven't you explained everything she needs to know about devils?" I ask puzzledly of the redhead, who looks vaguely embarrassed.

"We haven't had a chance. The pawns I've been using are still adapting, so I decided to explain how her pieces work at the first useful opportunity once she's actually able to use the power in them, rather than do it now and confuse her more" explains Rias "Even though they're taking longer than expected to set up."

I don't know exactly how the evil pieces and their schedule work, but seeing how Izumi's DNA has mutated, I can only assume that they are having a hard time adapting to One for All because in the 'quirk factor' the anime of previous users are also present, so it has to adapt not only Izumi's, but also 8 others. Or 7? How does the All Might fragment count in this situation? In the canon, since Toshinori did not have a quirk before One for All, his soul at the point of singularity was ghostly and could only 'vaguely perceive' what was going on inside it, unlike the other 7 who were perfectly defined and conscious.

Issei needed a patch to his pawns from Ajuka and a tune-up from Ophis before he was okay, because his abnormal affinity for booster gear made him grow so fast that his soul and evil pieces could not keep up with him. The only reason he did not suffer earlier because of his instability is thanks to Koneko who stabilized his life force daily, preventing him from getting out of control after his second death with senjutsu.

Considering the enormous amount of extra power Izumi has thanks to ofa, it actually should not be such a big surprise that the mutation has stopped. Can she even use the promotion now?

"All right, crash course on the more technical aspects of evil pieces before we leave" I say as I look at Izumi "Evil pieces are linked to the king's demonic power, and once used to reincarnate someone, the reincarnate acquires the power linked to the piece used. In your case the pawn. The more unstable the evil piece and the demonic power of the reincarnated devil, the greater the likelihood that it will spiral out of control if the king dies or goes too far away, resulting in its transformation into a monster. There are exceptions to the rule or if the reincarnated non-devil native has good control of the demonic power, but this is not the case apparently"

Everyone present, some more, some less, looks at me blinking and eyelids like owls, for one reason or another.

"It's...correct," Rias confirmed, squinting her eyes "How did you know though? The basic traits of evil pieces are not unknown to most, but I never said Izumi was a pawn."

All the ORC members tense up, while I remain relaxed, ignoring the tension as if it were the most normal thing in the world.

"It's actually pretty easy: it's the only piece you didn't mention" I actually reply somewhat amused by the situation. On a side note, I should seriously be more careful about what I say, especially if I meet Sona, or someone sharper and smarter in the future "I know that the evil pieces give the user abilities based on the piece used in addition to the physical enhancement of race change and demonic power: the rook boosts a person's physical parameters by several times; the knight dramatically increases speed; the bishop increases magic/demonic power and spell power; while the queen has the attributes of all three pieces. Pawn and bishop are the only two you did not mention, and compared to Yaoyoruzu it almost seems like Izumi has no demonic power at all. Even if your queen had far above-average reserves, she still has less demonic power than Kiba and Koneko, who have no magic boost at all," I reply with a shrug as they continue to observe me, though less tense than before "If you really want to take away any doubts, her demonic power is lower than even my magic power, and I'm only slightly above the human average in reserves. In fact, she has so little of it that I'm pretty sure she couldn't even use a magic circle. By elimination, the only piece available for her is the pawn."

"You are...very sharp" Rias admits a little surprised after a few moments.

Yes, a nice speech that makes logical sense, but having scanned her I knew for days that she was her only pawn. Not that she needed to know that.

"Reading between the lines is something I've had to learn since childhood" I snort a little annoyed at why I was forced to start out prejudiced about anything, even more so than in my previous life. "Because of some discriminatory laws against the quirkless, learning not to leave openings has become a necessity. To prevent bastards like the current head of Tokyo Academy from kicking me out of school for tarnishing their image, despite the fact that I was the best in every course I took with honors; or not to get screwed over when I worked under contract with agencies during some seasons" I spit with venom "The only reason I was able to graduate is because the previous dean decided to stay on for three more years before retiring, to allow me to finish my studies, since most of the faculty wanted to kick me out."

In my previous life, I was just a pessimist with a distrust of humanity in general born out of the jinx I carried with me even in this world. Now? That annoyance has become real anger, as not being a naive child I fully realized that for years everyone I met was trying to exploit me or screw me over, sometimes both. Japanese society is probably among the most competitive in the human world and indoctrinates children to think about their careers right from kindergarten. The conditioning gets progressively stronger as the years go by, and the enormous stress caused by excessive competitiveness in a toxic school environment results in bullying and suicide. Both of these have an incredibly high rate here in Japan, and while I have, in spite of everything, had the patience to deal with it well all things considered (sending a slew of people to the hospital with broken bones and more than a few concussions celebrating), the same could not be said of Izumi. And of the blatantly false record made by her school to discredit her and make Bakugo look like a saint (when he was involved), when saintly he really didn't have shit.

In college it was no different. At that school, besides not having a quirk, 90 percent of the students hated me for being the best at everything I did and being completely out of their league. Same thing for the teachers. What are the odds that a 10-year-old with no quirk would be so out of their league that they would have nothing left to teach them in their second year, leaving them free for the remaining three? Nearly 0, and the fact that I existed and was too good for them annoyed them to no end, and it only got worse over time given all their attempts to sabotage me, one way or another (which usually ended with them being fired or admonished because Prophet kept an eye on even a misplaced breath, or bullies/henchmen in a coma at the hospital when they sent them against me). The only reason I made it all five years was because my grandparents wanted me to try to enjoy my school time as a normal preteen, impossible as that was.

The few people I could have civil conversations with were the only ones who didn't have an ego the size of a fucking mountain for cosmic nothingness. That amounted to about ... 1 percent of the school. Those who weren't too busy gnawing their guts out with envy tended to ignore me, or at least be neutral when they necessarily had to interact with me.

My remark soured Izumi's mood, probably because she knew perfectly well what I was referring to, and surprisingly Akeno's as well, who actually couldn't help making an almost indignant grimace. Kiba and Rias looked at me with some sympathy but did not comment, while Koneko remained quietly eating her sweets, but gave glances at me and the pedestrian when she thought I was not looking.

"I see" the redhead simply says with a grimace "Anyway, do you want to come with us?"

The sudden request makes me raise an eyebrow again.

"How so?" I ask puzzled, beginning to see where this was going.

"I had invited you so that we could get to know each other better when the call came in about the stray" Rias informs me "Even though a hunt wasn't really the way I was planning to spend the evening, we can still get to know each other a little and get to know each other better."

'She's surely going to try to 'impress' me while they're fighting the stray isn't she?" "Well, other than sleeping I didn't really have anything else to do, I guess."

"Perfect!" she claps her hands happily before getting up "The magic circle we have here is designed to let only the Gremorys and our affiliates pass through on the move or to respond to contracts, but if you give me half an hour I can get a pass to let you through."

"No, too much time" I immediately reject the idea "Midoriya has my number, have her send the location where we need to meet. I don't have my armor behind me, but calling it will still take me less than five minutes at worst to get there by flying, even if I have to go to the other side of town at moderate speed. The sooner we eliminate the stray, the less likely it is to claim more victims."

Rias blinks surprised by my words, but recovers quickly.

"I...yes, you are right" she agrees.

"Well, I'll see you there."

I walk out the door and hurry out of the building. Prophet, my AI, through my earpiece had heard everything and was already equipping the Astrey's weapons. He would arrive in less than a minute from my house, despite being on the other side of town from UA. After all, there was no traffic in the air, and with the Aile pack he could reach mk3 speeds if needed.

---

The Gremory's magic circle flashes on the grass, causing the ORC members to emerge from it before disappearing, into a forest behind Musutafu.

"Akeno, what got into you earlier?" asked Rias, now that they had some privacy and she was sure he wasn't listening.

"Ara, I don't know what you are referring to Buchou" replied the queen while maintaining her onee-sama persona.

"Akeno" the redhead's warning tone, far from in the mood for jokes, almost made her friend wince.

"...the look he was giving Koneko-chan and me was strange, I didn't like it" Akeno admitted after a moment, momentarily losing the playful look.

"Was it perverse?" asks the little rook with a frown, not having noticed it before.

"No, it was...something else" Akeno corrects with a frown "He checked us out, yes, and at first I thought so too since he briefly stared first at Koneko-chan's head and lower back. I almost thought he was a lolicon...but when he looked at me his gaze lingered too long on the left side of my body, and he wasn't looking longingly at my breasts..."

Hearing this, Kiba and Rias stiffen, while Koneko freezes, much to Izumi's confusion.

"Is...a bad thing?" asks Izumi hesitantly "I mean, Sakurajima-kun is a boy in our age group despite already being a college graduate, and you are very attractive-"

"No, it's not that Izumi-chan" Rias replied after a moment, definitely taken aback by the queen's statement "it's a bit of a sensitive topic for Koneko-chan and Akeno, so I'm not going to talk about it now, sorry."

This did not bother Izumi at all, who uneasily waved her hands in front of her, somewhat surprised by the sudden somber mood.

"N-no! N-no problem!" she hastens to say "In fact, sorry if I asked an inappropriate question!"

Akeno and Rias looked with amused and relieved smiles at the girl, who quickly apologized, leaning over several times to highlight how sorry she was for touching a sensitive subject.

"It's not a problem Izumi-chan, you couldn't have known" Akeno reassured her, preventing the younger girl from bending over again by placing a hand on her shoulder "However, considering that Rai-kun is a user of Senjutsu, he might have noticed..."

Everyone looked at Koneko, who had not said a word. The little girl's expression usually had chilled in terror at the mention of senjutsu, and she turned as pale as a sheet. The tremor that shook her small size was noticeably visible.

Rias embraces her, burying her face between her chest and stroking her hair comfortingly. While all present look a little worriedly at the rook who seemed on the verge of a panic attack.

A rather loud buzzing sound attracts the attention of the devils, who see a familiar (to Rias and Izumi) black, white, and red armor descending from the sky at a remarkable speed.

Raiden's gaze if shifted to the re-towered duo still embracing.

"What happened?"

---

In the end, I wasn't told a word about what transpired; we headed toward an abandoned building in relatively poor condition, in a somewhat uncomfortable silence. Koneko was decidedly pale and did her best to stay away from me inconspicuously. Akeno would occasionally cast a glance at me and then at Koneko. Izumi was incredibly uneasy, to the point that I was forced to cast a glance at Kiba, who reciprocated with an apologetic expression. Through it all, Rias was walking next to her rook at the head of the group and had not yet given us details about the stray in question, much to my disappointment.

Did they make arrangements before I came, and did something happen?

Eventually, however, Izumi trying to divert everyone's attention to something other than the uncomfortable and heavy atmosphere pushed to start a conversation.

"So...what should we do with the stray?" the new pawn asks, trying to sound as little nervous as possible.

"We take it down" Kiba replies unceremoniously.

"Take it down?! L-we're going to kill her?! " asks Izumi shocked, with a hint of panic and nausea.

"Unfortunately, there is still no way to return stray devils to their original state" Akeno warned her, probably thinking that the newcomer would look for another way to stop the stray that does not require lethal means "This stray after escaping from its owner has devoured 13 people here in Musutafu. We can't let it run loose."

"..." Izumi's expression was a little heartbroken when she was told in no uncertain terms that killing him was the only solution as we stop in front of the building where the stray is hiding.

I put a hand on Izumi's shoulder when I see her clenching her fists and she looks at me hesitantly.

Rias at that point makes up her mind to speak.

"Izumi, I know it's hard for you with the unspoken rule that the hero must not kill, but there are times when we can't do otherwise, and this is one of them" the redhead warns her, "That stray has made her choices and now she has to pay the consequences. If we don't kill her now, she will go out again and kill innocent people who have nothing to do with the supernatural. Could you live with yourself, knowing that people died when we could have prevented it?"

The green-haired girl bites her lip, looking at Rias and then at me a few times.

It is not an overly bad way to reason with her since Rias is right; however, leveraging guilt and her morality to force Izumi to do something did not sit well with me, even though I knew she had to learn how different things are in the supernatural as soon as possible.

"Midoriya, while there are certainly cases where a reincarnate killed their master or ran away because the alternative was worse than death, in this case it did not happen. That stray wanted power, and to get it she killed and devoured all the people who came within her reach. She must be put down" my words do not make her feel any better "But if you still have doubts, talk to her and let her explain why she did it."

"Wait, what?" says Rias confused, thinking I was backing her up.

"Even though I met her not even a week ago, I know perfectly well how stubborn she is, and surely you do too" I reply to the high-class devil and her peerage "Do you really think she will kill just because you ask her nicely? You're not going to convince her that way, and it's better that she bangs her snout against this wall right now while we're keeping an eye on her than on another occasion where she might get really killed."

Rias stared at me with a frown, but gave in rather quickly knowing that I was right on this point. The green-haired pawn is too kind to do that, and now she has to learn to put that kindness aside during battle lest it get in the way when she needs it.

"Sigh, sometimes I wonder if I spoil you too much" grumbles the redhead with a sigh "All right. If you can convince her to turn herself in, then we won't kill it. If she shows repentance she is more likely to be put in prison than on a gallows for execution."

I was very, very doubtful that such a thing would actually happen, but seeing Izumi's eyes light up, I decided to keep quiet. Even though the coming 'but' was evident. For the vast majority of the older devils and the old Maou faction, 'purity of blood' was something of a mantra, which is why when Kuroka killed a the heir of the Naberius lineage she had been hunted down to the point that when they failed to capture her they tried to kill her sister out of spite, even though Koneko in addition to being innocent was not even a reincarnated devil but a Yokai, so she couldn't really have attacked her without instigating Yasaka and perhaps the Shinto faction. If the king in question was a reincarnate it is possible that he would be spared execution for his 'treachery,' but it was just as likely that that stray would later be used for laboratory experiments. I am not so inclined to believe that they leave them alive often otherwise.

"Thank you Buchou-!"

"But!" Izumi's excitement subsides "If she proves hostile and actively tries to kill you or us, we will take her down without hesitation."

"I-I understand, thank you very much Buchou" she did not try to complain, knowing that she would not get a better deal.

It is with that, we finally entered the abandoned building.

Or rather, Rias blew up the facade of the abandoned building and entered unceremoniously through the hole where the entrance once was.

My eyebrow twitches as I see how the king had just thrown away her chance to catch the stray or give her subordinates a chance to lurk, simply to make a grand entrance.

"I smell bad" a sweet and sensual but distorted voice booms in the lobby "But I also smell good. Will it be sweet? Or bitter?"

From one of the main columns protrudes the upper torso of a woman - naked, with large breasts.

"W-Why is she naked?!" asks Izumi shocked, covering her eyes in embarrassment.

No one really gave an answer, considering that everyone but her noticed the rather large shadow moving in the night behind her.

"Stray devil Viser, you ran away from your king to please your own desires and killed innocents" Rias begins as she quietly walks toward the center of the room "Normally, in the name of Duke Gremory I would kill you, but since my pawn asked for it, I will give you a chance to turn yourself in."

The stray mocked.

"What an insolent little girl" scoffs the stray amusedly "I'll tear your body to pieces and dye it red, just like your hair!"

She started for some reason groping her breasts while laughing haughtily.

Izumi's blushes disappeared and were replaced by shock mixed with disgust as the columns suddenly exploded. I grabbed Izumi and jumped backward to keep the concrete from hitting her as the rest of her body emerged from the dust. From the waist up she looked like a beautiful woman with a curvaceous body and a little too much exhibitionism, but from the waist down? A distorted abomination that looked like something out of Bloodborn almost, though decidedly less beautiful and with little impact. And that's when things start to get weird. The body is bipedal but crouching. The 'torso' underneath the 'human' part looks like that of a minotaur judging by the musculature, but its arms are visibly female; while the 'legs' are a mixture of those of a quadrupedal animal that I cannot identify, covered with a crustacean form and apparently able to stand on two legs. Rounding out that...undefined thing was the snake-like tail.

Should this be a chimera?

Without warning, the nipples on human breasts stretch unnaturally, and after a magic circle appears on them, it sprays a yellowish liquid, which I still avoided by holding Izumi under my arm because it was disgusting. The liquid turned out to be acidic when after touching the cement it dissolves it.

"...I'm not even going to waste time trying to figure out how" I comment distractedly "I'm not so much in the mood for vivisection today."

The girl I am carrying was also speechless. She seems quite shaken by the stray's attack, considering that she didn't even have time to talk to try to convince her.

Now I remember, aren't these the events of episode 3? So Asia is already in the city?

"Yuuto"

Hearing his king calling him, the knight obeyed the silent command. He created a European sword with Sword Birth and charged the monster without any hesitation. When it was in range, Viser tried to crush it with her giant arms, unsuccessfully, however. The knight was faster than it-Or her? Honestly, I'm confused by its gender-and severed the limbs.

He walked away as Koneko impassively approached the stray, now somewhat recovered from whatever had come before him.

"Die!" Infuriated by her injuries, Viser's face deforms into a more demonic one as it charges the small tower and the monstrous belly opens, revealing a vertical mouth full of teeth with which the stray swallows the Nekoshou.

This seems to bring Izumi to life.

"Koneko-chan!" cries the pawn worriedly when she sees her kohai not moving a muscle to avoid getting hit.

"It's okay" Rias reassures her rather relaxed, ignoring how the stray devil chuckles smugly "Koneko is a her adorable appearance, she is both incredibly strong and durable."

To prove her words, the albino girl unceremoniously opens the jaws of the stray. She's not hurt, but her clothes are loose, much to Koneko's annoyance, so she's left with rags on her back that allowed me to see the yellow underwear. On her panties is a cat print above her left thigh.

She effortlessly snapped the chimera's teeth to get out of its mouth, and then hit it so hard that she threw it across the building, causing it to smash through walls and columns as if they were made of glass.

"Aken-"

Rias really didn't have time to finish calling her friend since she didn't notice in time the arm that Kiba had cut had moved, trying to grab her.

I sighed seeing the show they tried to put on, and grabbing the rifle I had attached to my belt while not using it, I fired at the arm.

Type 71 Beam Rifle. A simple plasma rifle that uses a method similar to the repulsors in Tony Stark's armor to eject plasma from his palms. The Astrey didn't really need stabilizers since I put the thrusters on the soles of my feet, calves, back, and after numerous attempts, I was even able to develop in-flight balance assist programs. The rifle has a much longer range than a normal repulsor and variable power. It is nothing so incredible, since I did not need who knows what weapon for a pest like Viser.

The arm mostly melts because of the incredibly high heat, while ORC members were already moving to protect Rias. They freeze when they see they don't need to because I had the threat removed before they could do anything.

Ignoring them, I pointed my rifle at Viser and fired without waiting, exploding the devil's head, which falls to the ground dead.

"Really...you guys put on a pitiful show"