For the sake of the story, I'm going to have Sona somewhere along the 155-160 cms, and Faust is somewhere around 165. Because 166 cms is actually quite tall here, she's got more height than I thought.
Faust's eyelids felt like lead, heavy and thus, better unopened. Actually, his whole head was feeling very, very comfortable, and warm, further dulling his will to even consider being a productive human being. His pillow had often been successful at tempting him, but its tenacity today was particularly high, with how it latched to him.
" Oh, how nice... Guess I'm in for another round then~"
" Ara, rather bold, aren't we? If only you're always like this."
Pillows don't talk, no matter how comfortable they were. Even with his cognitive function heavily impaired from bliss, he wasn't that far gone.
Yet, at least.
Lazily opening his eyes, he realized his head was resting in front of a pink bud. The gears in his brains started rolling, trying to recognize what situation the body was in.
It was a little hard with the second head being awake as well.
Fortunately, the hands that robbed his freedom last night relented and let him raise his upper head. He grunted, moaned, and finally sat upright. His brain was still booting up as he rubbed his eyes, yawned, and nodded off a few times. Finally, after 2-3 minutes of booting phase, Faust's brain had enough in it to register the surroundings, but not before popping several stubborn joints.
" You must be very stiff."
" It's actually less than usual, you know.'
Two blue-green orbs stared at him teasingly, reminding him of what transpired last night. Knowing this devil, Faust was somewhat worried that she'd create a scandal with her expertise in dubious wording. But, her reputation was far more precious than his, and if anything, those claims would only boost his reputation instead.
After all, none would be able to claim to have bedded THE Great Onee-sama herself, and the very princess of Underworld.
What he worried about was the increasing voodoo proficiency of male population in Kuoh, which would be focused on him once word got out. Now that supernatural was proven, that sort of threat became apparent as well. He didn't want to wake up with stomach full of nails or boils all over his body.
He glanced at his bed, where the femme fatale was laying without a shred of cloth on. Again, acting bashful would only become a sign of weakness, thus looking down casually was best. Rather than shame, he was more averse to showing the heat creeping up his face. Who knows how much teasing she and her Queen would pile up on him. Even though as a male, hewasa really tempted to open his eyes wide and gawk at the naked Great Onee-sama.
" Rias-senpai, it's rather early, and my parents won't be awake until a bit later. Would you like to take a bath first?"
She stopped hugging his pillow, and pulled herself up with a rather long yawn.
" Thank you, Faust. Alright then, don't mind if I do."
" Take your time."
Averting his eyes from his pillow and the 'pillows' mashing against it, he went to his wardrobe and fetched a new towel. She gratefully accepted it and went downstairs quietly, thinking what kind of setup she could make as an alibi if she were found out. She wore her underwear, then her opened uniform top.. As the door closed, Faust let out a long sigh, praising his magnitude of control and concentration.
Any lesser man would've assaulted her then and there. Rias and Akeno had that kind of seductive charm not present in normal humans.
"Come to think of it, Sona-senpai had that kind of charm as well, but hers was normally curbed by her strictness and overbearing intelligence. Rias, on the other hand..."
" Well, it's good she doesn't strut to the bathroom completely naked, though."
" Perhaps a very cold bath is in order, master. Would you like a recording of last night? Superb setup, I should say."
" It wasn't intentional."
" Promptly deleting..."
Faust chuckled. His 'friend' really knew its creator well.
" Go ahead. I don't think I'll be able to after I see it."
" Consider it done."
He yawned and fell back to his bed. The time wasn't good enough for a satisfying reading session. Leaving a book on its fun part was abhorrent for him. That option gone, he was left with laying around until Rias was done. Since he was finally alone in a room, he could let up a bit, turning somewhat pink from recollecting what had transpired last night.
A wild head-shaking was necessary to get rid of intruding images. It would be absolutely horrible to walk awkwardly to the bathroom if he allowed himself to be affected too much. Just thinking of her giggling as he hunched his way... big F right there.
His decision proved to be correct, as the door creaked open, revealing a refreshed and happy Rias clad in nothing but a towel. That flimsy object did nothing to conceal her outrageous proportions, instead emphasizing her creamy white skin, a little wet and rosy from a warm shower. Her shapely thighs and a generous amount of cleavage were revealed in all their glory.
" I'm done."
" Couldn't you have changed inside the bathroom?"
Faust stood up and grabbed his own towel before going outside. It was still 5.30, and his family wouldn't wake up until around 7. There was more than enough time for a long, cold shower. He was a little too warm right now, anyway.
Rias giggled while taking care of her damp hair.
" Really..."
His bed caved a little from her weight.
" What a cute child."
After leaving a note to his family, Faust grabbed his bag and approached the waiting red-head.
" Maybe I should sleep with you from now on. You look more alive than ever."
His lack of reaction made him so different than his close friend. Issei would most probably nod so eagerly to the point of risking brain damage if she offered the same suggestion. Here he just raised one brow, and stared at her like she was a person wearing full set of armor in scalding heat.
" Thank you for the offer, Rias-senpai."
" But no?"
" Unfortunately."
" Why, though? Do you still feel threatened by all this supernatural stuff?"
He was silent, seemingly uneasy to answer. There was a battle ensued within, between giving a joke answer or a more serious one. Well, actually it wasn't that serious, but it would be quite a killjoy.
" What's a good way to saying I get tired being with people all the time, anyway?"
As his brain was working, Rias huffed lightly at his lack of response.
" There's no need to mull it over that much, Faust-kun."
" Oh, right. I guess in a way, yes. Voodoo is a real threat now that supernatural world actually exists."
" Then I should definitely..."
" No."
He replied flatly, before she could coax him somehow to accepting. Even now, she often barged into his house, and (forcefully) slept on the same bed. He didn't want to cry over his dead alone time if he ever agreed. Moreover, his self-control had been waning lately. He heard what happened to Issei's ex, and he didn't want his crotch to meet the same fate.
Needless to say, her pout was particularly impressive. Luckily, or rather, unluckily, the school was already in sight. Even though it was far less crowded compared to weekdays, but Rias was still the main attraction. Of course, there were females who sighed after witnessing her impeccable appearance, but Faust's concerns were the males' gritting teeth and glares.
" DAMN IIITTTT!"
" OUR EMPRESS, RIAS-SAMAAA~"
" WHY THAT GUY?"
" DEMON! BE SATISFIED WITH KIBA'S ASS, AND LEAVE HER ASS ALONE!"
Said person was promptly executed by the prince's fan club. The other guys recoiled in fear seeing the brutal demise of their compatriot.
" Heh."
.
.
.
" YOOUUUUU!"
Faust's mischievous smirk caused the male population to erupt in accusations. Normally, he'd rather pay no mind, but after that comment about him having such... questionable relation, even buddha would get mad. As those hormonal males raged, he scoffed at the guy who was currently under the Kiba fans' mercy.
" Faust-kun, what happened to being afraid of voodoo?"
" Being accused as Kiba's butt friend far, far outweighs that. I like females, thank you very much."
His smile contorted to a rather scary one for humans, but a funny one for devils, as proven with Rias' giggles when he was gleefully but silently cheering for that guy's destruction. His smile grew wider when the faint 'yes, hit him in the nuts, right there!' or 'serves you right' wandered near them.
" Let's go, Rias-senpai."
" Mm-hmm."
They left the brawl scene, and went to the new school building.
" Where will you wait, Faust-kun? You can hang out in the ORC room if you want, I think Koneko's there. Akeno and I will come after classes are over."
" Sounds good."
After what the student president revealed last night, it was a little hard to visit the STC room. He definitely wasn't averse to the members; his numerous detentions made him rather well-known there, and they weren't the worst company. But the induction of the newest member changed a lot of things. Here, first and second years had Saturdays off, while the third years had the extra day to prepare for exams. Of course, that didn't include clubs. However, third years' attendance wasn't mandatory, it's just extra class. By all rights, Saturday should've been a rather chill time for this school.
Almost unluckily, he ran to one of the members, a braided brown-haired, droopy eyed second year Reya Kusaka.
" Busy day, Kusaka-senpai?"
" Like always, Faust-san. Perks of overseeing the entire school. Oh, my apologies."
" Don't mention it."
She was carrying a stack of folders tall enough to cover her own face. Her reincarnation as a devil bishop offered very little addition to muscle power, which she didn't have that much in the first place. Thus, he took off some off her hands before a disaster could happen.
Having that high of carefully sorted stack of documents scattered would cause even devils to fall into despair. He didn't want to see an acquaintance kneeling on the floor, tearfully collecting them one by one while holding back sobs and shivers. That was far too sad of a fate for anyone, except perhaps people bad enough like the guy he recently defaced.
" Or Hitler. Or that psycho Kokabiel."
The trip to the STC room wasn't very long. Before Faust could offer himself to open the door, Reya Kusaka had no hesitation to use her knee to clear the way. Both of them went inside, only to meet the stares of the rest of the STC members for this dramatic entrance. Immediately, two other girls went ahead and relieved some of her burden.
" Good work, Reya-senpai! Faust-kun, thanks a lot for your help!"
Another brunette, this time with with pigtails and lots of energy befitting her hairstyle, beamed a big smile. The rest of the members quickly went back to their own work, as the rush was real in this period of time. It was crunch time for club reports submission, and they all properly waited until the last second before submitting.
It was one of the most stressful times for the Student Council, and far be it from him to impose during such difficult time. Thus, Faust quietly bid adieu and exited the room.
" Good morning, Faust-senpai."
" Morning."
Like Rias said, the ORC was only occupied by the cat-like Rook. As always, she had her hands (paws?) on treats. How she didn't get diabetes with the amount of sugar she dumped in was beyond him. Faust put the tome he'd finished reading on Rias' table, and squatted near the shelf behind her luxurious desk.
Even though he wasn't shameless enough to take away the book without the owner's permission, just looking at the titles should be fine. Why not look now and borrow later when she returned? That was his thought.
" That, that, and this. Alright."
After noting the titles, he went to the sofa across the petite mascot. It was honestly starting to get somewhat unsettling, with how her yellow eyes lock in on him ever since he entered. Her hands didn't stop scooping treats, though, and she chewed quietly, but that didn't help alleviate his uneasiness.
However, Koneko seemed to decide on something, and searched her bag. From there, she pulled out a laptop. Then, she walked to Rias' desk and opened one of the compartments. From there, she produced two consoles.
Of course, both had cat paw patterns on them. She started setting up the whole thing very quickly, and before he knew it, her hand was offering one of the controllers.
" Faust-senpai, do you want to play?"
He accepted the rather cute console, and played with it a little.
" Well, you'll have to teach me, Koneko. This is my first time playing with this."
Her eyes widened hearing that, but she gave a small smile and patted the spot next to her. Faust stood up, and plopped down on her side. She booted the game, which was a very bloody fighting game that involved punching off heads and stuff like that. Its name was the reflection of its nature, citing the fleeting nature of life in conflict.
Koneko spared no effort to teach him. Surprisingly, when it came to games, the kitty mascot forsook her usual taciturn nature and actually talked a whole lot. Faust, on the other hand, was starting to analyze the game like a math problem.
" Interesting... Just with very subtle differences, different characters with varying playstyle can be made, huh? Alright, let's—"
Koneko lightly pinched his arm before he could lose his way.
" Faust-senpai, there's no need to analyze everything. Just play and enjoy."
She pinched him again before he could ponder. Grumbling about how it couldn't be helped that INTJJs overthink, he watched Koneko demonstrate some moves while explaining combos and mechanics and other things. Shortly later, Koneko was on her 35th win streak by punching his character's head off.
" Your hands are too stiff, Faust-senpai."
" Mm-hmm."
As expected, Faust had an idea on how to play, and knew when to come in or take chances, but Koneko's nimble hands mashed the controller with speed enough to make pro players get inferiority complex. On the other hand, his moves wouldn't even come out. Or he'd do stupid stuff due to pressing the wrong buttons.
Luckily, unlike most people, Faust didn't curse or smash the console to the laptop when he ate a full air combo followed by a magnificent finisher.
" Well, this sucks."
" Actually, not bad for a beginner."
" Say that to his head."
He pointed at his character's head, obviously not attached to the body anymore. Koneko giggled briefly, but she returned to her usual stoic self before he could react. Surprisingly, the gaming time wasn't that long, exactly one hour. After that, she put down her console.
" One hour of gaming a day."
" I see."
He also put down his console. Picking up the cue, Koneko shut down the laptop. Faust tidied the consoles, the cable neatly coiled around the body. She placed it back to its original place. He wondered if this girl played so much that Rias had to store them there, or if the ORC played as a group sometimes.
Koneko made her way back to the sofa, but she stopped right in front of him. Her golden, feline-like eyes stared curiously to him.
" Hmm..."
If Faust were uncomfortable with her actions, he did a very good job not showing so. The guy just leaned back, and comfortably stared back. Soon after, she pointed a finger at him and spoke one word.
" Weird."
" How?"
For the first time, Faust completely realized that Koneko was truly not human. Well, she was a devil, yes, and he did see her wings and tail, but he certainly never saw two cat ears, cutely twitching from time to time, on a girl. Those little mounds on her head were actually ears folded to her hair.
" Adorable."
Still shocked from sudden spike in cute-o-meter, he missed her going closer and sniffing him briefly. Of course, like any sane male would, Faust grabbed her shoulders and pushed her back with wry expression on. No matter how calm or chill or robotic or whatever else people thought about him, having a girl that looked like a grade-schooler sniffing around his body was embarassing.
Luckily, she didn't resist and obediently get pushed away. She nodded, as if affirming her suspicion.
" Yes, weird."
Koneko Toujou left the room with those words, leaving him questioning the cat girl's sanity, and his body odor. Would the FBI believe him if he said she was the instigator? Thus, left with nothing else to do, Faust waited around before drifting off to sleep on the soft sofa. Even with last night's rather fulfilling sleep, he was still very much in need for more quality nap.
Akeno Himejima walked down the hallway, her ever-perfect, yamato nadeshiko smile glued to her lovely features as she waved to scores upon scores of students calling her Akeno-sama. Thankful as she was to her appealing appearance, the attention could get overwhelming at times. It was a very real case of suffering from success, she thought.
Perhaps that was why beautiful people come together, to look for compatriots or at least some people that wouldn't gawk or leer at them like a fine piece of meat. She quickened her pace, wanting to get to the comfortable club room as soon as possible. While Rias was a splendid socialite, she was actually rather subdued, thus her yamato nadeshiko alias. One would never expect that she was an astute believer of S&M with how she acted usually.
" Ara, Yuuto, Koneko-chan."
Just before she entered the old school building, she encountered her fellow devils. Koneko was carrying an unhealthy amount of sweets that she or Rias had to take away sometimes to prevent her teeth from decaying. She shook her head disapprovingly at her futile attempt to hide them. Kiba was actually exempt from school today, just like Faust. He only came to fulfill contracts with the transport circle in the clubroom.
"Good afternoon, vice-prez."
Koneko only nodded, a lolly was already inside her mouth. She wasn't one to entrust her sweets to someone else, thus Akeno didn't offer her help despite her state of arms.
The club room was the same as usual. The only difference was their recent addition peacefully sleeping on the sofa. He was sitting, albeit a little sloppy. His head tilted a little for more comfort. Thankfully, he wasn't snoring.
The sound of door creaking open seemed to rouse him. Faust sat a bit more upright and popped his neck, without even opening his eyes. Then, he proceeded to pop his shoulders and waist. Of course, with the posture he slept in, how couldn't he?
Akeno let out her trademark giggle, and went away. The tea wasn't going to brew itself, after all.
" Coffee?"
Koneko offered a mocha-flavored candy, which finally spurred an actual reaction from him. Scorn filled his eyes, causing the girl with high felinity (HA!) to flinch a little. He stared at her hand like it owed him money. Their interaction earned a chuckle from Kiba, and a classic Akeno-style ara-ara from the Queen herself.
" Koneko-chan, this Faust-kun here loathes, I quote, bean juice. And from his reaction, any form it takes."
The cup of tea she settled in front of him eased the knot on his face a bit. Faust sent an apologetic look, and shook his head. It seemed his hatred for coffee got the better of him and his face let her know how much. She popped the candy in her mouth instead, and sat beside him.
However, he finally noticed something weird.
" Akeno-senpai, did you prepare these beforehand?"
The person in question sent him a puzzled look.
" I mean, you were just there a moment ago, and you came out 1 minute later with tea ready... That's just not possible, right?"
Everyone aside from him snickered at his newbie question. With most of their life in this side of the world, they knew the word 'impossible' covered less things than most humans apply it for. The explanation was only one word, magic. Such was the explanation Akeno Himejima used to answer.
Not very explanation-like, though.
For once, though, Faust nodded. It was just the difference in culture, one he was still unable to cope with. He felt very idiotic at that moment.
" I usually use the normal way. But with all of you here, spending time tending to a pot of tea sounds less appealing. So why not, right?"
Her hand had found itself on his hair, stroking lightly. Ever since that defacing stunt and moment of vulnerability, his senpai had been more and more affectionate with him. It was weird, unusual, and unprecedented. People would normally—
" Oh, right. Devils."
For once, he was somewhat glad these people he was talking about were of different biological taxonomy... or were they? A research on that sounded very exciting to him. After a brief shake of his head, his hair was released. She sat across him and sipped her own cup like nothing happened.
About 3 hours until the competition between two devils groups, one that had been greatly marketed all around Kuoh. Luckily, the campaign had started that day or Saturday would be no different from weekday.
Because all top 4 beauties in Kuoh would duke it out in an all-out tennis match.
Who wouldn't want to watch? Even if their game was trash, their looks alone would guarantee quick viral on youtube and instagram. Devils had this charm that added another dimension to their already remarkable beauty, and normal humans... Well, more like, unknowing humans would get roped in easily.
" So, Faust-kun. Have you any more interesting ideas about swords?"
Everyone present was taken aback. Kiba usually focused on polishing his sword skills rather than thinking of technicalities of his Sacred Gear. Faust shrugged at the others' reaction and put it at the back of his mind for now. A chance to tinker with a willing test subject was always welcome to him.
The very, very eager look on his face would make it hard to refuse.
" I've got a date with holy swords and knives and guns, so nope!"
That very thought was swallowed back as his mind sent explosive warnings of the possible repercussions. Saying that in front of Kiba would cause swords to be tested against him.
This particular devil had been rather close with him after the party. Faust would often find himself peppered with questions and requests to look for more hidden potentials in his Sacred Gear. Thus, he shelved the idea to look for something more from those holy weapons. Kiba's ability was more interesting anyway.
" Alright then."
For Rias Gremory, the day was quite tiring already. Her status as the head of ORC granted her and her club members a plethora of benefits. However, the responsibility for that, and to her devil studies were no slouch either. Her position as King of a peerage also included more paperwork that she had to settle with Sona too.
" Well I did watch two whole seasons non-stop this week..."
Imagine her surprise when she saw swords of various sizes and designs, cleaved their way out of the opulent door of her beloved club room (which kind of doubled as her own room, sometimes) and whizzed out to the corridors of the antique building.
And imagine her further shock when her Knight also moved past her, completely undoing her unique hairdo with a blast of wind from his speed. Of course, Kiba could achieve that kind of speed easily.
But, that was not possible without him touching the ground.
She almost thought her Knight evolved like a pokemon.
" Oh, buchou. Good afternoon."
" Why in tarnation did Yuuto run off on a hail of swords?!"
Her usual older sister aura disappeared, and replaced by lots and lots of irritation. Akeno avoided the fire by busying herself fixing the door. Koneko was too cute to get angry to. Thus, she directed her attention to the last member.
" Err, he was experimenting with remote controlled swords."
" And?"
Her glare only got him to raise one eyebrow. In truth, she just wanted to sigh really hard at the newly discovered antics of her underling.
" They got out of control, and Kiba jumped on his only successful sword and chased the rest."
Now, though, her eyes twitched in annoyance.
" Akeno."
" Yes, buchou?"
The crimson King cracked her fingers menacingly.
" Remind me to spank Yuuto. At least two hundred times."
" Of course buchou~"
With her hobbies being tickled, the super Queen had graced her King with attention finally. She shook her head, a little exasperated at how easy it was to deal with her. Usually, she'd end up becoming the one flustered with her extremities. One of the perks of being childhood friends, she thought.
The door's repair was finished quite quickly, and the clubroom's state was returned to its usual flawless self. Soon, Rias sat down, a cup of tea in hand, with significantly reduced irritation and headache. In front of her was a bookworm doing his job. He was doing very well in, err, worming the book he borrowed from her collection.
The time for the battle between two student bodies was fast approaching, and the brief rest would do wonders for her performance later. Technically, they'd both be equal, as Sona was also tired with all the school matters.
Saturday, 3 P.M.
Faust POV
Kuoh Academy was unusually noisy today. By noisy, I meant eardrum-busting kind of noisy. It is said that sound, with enough decibels, could invoke a black hole. Interesting as it was, being in very close vicinity to ground zero was absolutely NOT ideal. Luckily, I reckoned I wouldn't be able to hear anything already if that kind of sound appeared. As my ears were still fine, there should be no black hole popping out here and wipe out life on earth.
"Should" as in unlikely, as it was getting harder and harder setting the border of "impossible" nowadays.
I was watching the reason why the crowd's cheer turned up several notches. It was suffocating being in a crowd, and my height wouldn't allow me unobstructed view anyway, thus I was watching from the nearby school building. Too far to get 'close-and-personal' view of the spectacle, and also far enough from the crowd and noise.
Four seniors entered the field, with only one of them sported petite build. The rest of them were wearing legally illegal uniforms, what with the supposedly athletic uniforms causing mass bio uprising. Those three really had outrageous proportions expected of temptresses. Kuoh's male population would definitely obliterate their throats today, with how their voice was reaching all th way here.
" Rias-samaaaa~, Akeno-samaa~. Please look hereee~"
" Vice-preeeezzz!"
" Step on me, president!"
The last two were spoken with English laced very palpable glee and heavy breathing. It must be those insane guys who went 'haa, haa' whenever they got summoned. After a while, Sona simply stared at them, built up their expectations, and sent them off. The utter disappointment prevented them from purposely getting summoned ever again. The word 'cockblock' would never be the same again after that.
Well, of course, the resident cultured connoisseurs specialized in the most prominent of mammals' characteristics were the most excited. But enough of that, the game was starting.
...
They're freaking madlads.
Those devils were anything but sane, that's for sure.
What was played down there... that was anything but tennis.
*boom*
Ah, that's their fifth already. Even pro players don't bust that many balls in one game! They must be using magic to reinforce the rackets. Even so, they were wearing out very quickly, to the point where the strings were bent and loosened.
The ball was hardly visible anymore, but it was definitely glowing red, blue, or golden depending on whose racket just smacked it. Sona sent out balls that drew impossible angles, sometimes even outright dodged the enemy's racket. Rias' red bolts had enough power to blow the rackets off or, like just now, punched a hole through the strings. The Queens were less flashy, but Akeno's ball carried enough voltage to paralyze a bull and Tsubaki was somehow able to return Rias' strikes with even more power.
If it's like this, there will be only one result.
...
...
...
" That was excessive."
Our resident midget raised two utterly wrecked rackets while shaking her head. The rest of the club bar the president laughed at the display. The game was forced to end in a draw, thus the former players were discussing on how to properly decide everything.
" Faust."
" Hm, what's the matter, Issei?"
The corner of his mouth pulled to a cheeky smirk as he plopped down to the sofa, almost getting a fist from a surprised catgirl.
" I wonder what kinda man that war empress would fancy. Pfft, maybe he'll be like you said? A medieval knight?"
" With a lance and My Little Pony."
I broke to a grin while Issei was wheezing already. Even Koneko had a small grin. The rest of the club, which was his lonesome anyway, directed their attention to him, who was already on his knees. Ah, so that's why people laughing on their own were treated as weirdos.
What a fruitful exchange that was.
" Everyone, we've decided how to settle things between us and Sona's peerage!"
Rias and Akeno barged in with big smiles on their faces. The Queen closed the door behind them and claimed her place beside her King.
" Dodgeball."
Kiba, Koneko, and Akeno were away to work on their clients. It made perfect sense for devils to work at night, and it served as perfect alibi to cover their school life too. Perhaps there were some more of cases like this around the world, supernatural creatures masquerading as humans, walking among us...
Huh, that was less scary than I thought. Was I biased? Most likely. But if devils weren't so bad, maybe the other, more docile types would be even more amiable, right? Yes, drawing conclusion from superstitions, how illogical. What the heck is my brain doing, making a suggestion only to shut it down immediately like it's completely normal? Oh, yeah, it's actually not abnormal, and actually—
" Oi, Faust!"
I was dragged out from my train of thought, only to see Issei standing up with his bag slung. He chuckled while shaking his head.
" Dude, leave the daydreaming for later. Even you won't want to sleep on Susan's armor, right?"
" Yeah, alright. Do we go to her apartment first or straight to the park?"
A pop on the shoulder here, neck, and hips then.
" We'll teleport to her place first."
" A'ight. Where's Rias-senpai, by the way?"
Right, his next line is : 'Ehehe, she's showering in the next room~'.
" Ehehe~, she's still showering in the next room. Man, no matter how I look at them, they're still as wonderful as ever, those boobs~"
I underestimated him. His lust for those milk glands were overwhelmingly high, and grew exponentially overtime, if at all possible. Yes, that was unheard of, but look at him. Come on, his manifestation of power appeared as blowing a fallen angel's clothes away.
Only her clothes.
" Putting that aside, look, buchou's out already."
Clad in her school uniform, no one could even think that she'd just participated in the most intense tennis match Kuoh Academy had ever held. She walked to the magic circle carved at the center of the room and hovered her hands over it. Soon it began to flash bright red, and crimson disk with exact same patterns as the circle rose a tiny bit from the floor.
" Let's go, Faust, Issei."
" Yes, buchou!"
I nodded and followed my fellow clubmates into the now familiar red circle and saw how the world glowed red before changing to Susan's room. The Japanese enthusiast was waiting, still fully armored as she always did.
" E-everyone, you've come!"
" Of course, Susan. Are you ready?"
She touched her fingers together shyly, and was she wiggling? The image of that fierce red mask attached to someone acting so feminine was surreal. Yes, the whole image of warring generals had been utterly ruined with this. I could never, ever, see samurais the same again.
" About that..."
It was already 5.45, and we were all ready. Banners were up. Screens, and war horn were ready as well. Susan was sitting on a stool, in front of big, big calligraphy of 'justice' inscribed to a screen.
Rias, Issei and I were standing on her sides.
" I-I'm nervous..."
If you were nervous, stop gripping that katana, please. This serial barber was too dangerous up close. There were some bald spots still on Issei's head, a reminder of the terror he experienced not long ago.
Thus, I took enough distance from the sword. Besides, if it somehow still reached, Issei's gonna get hit first. Sorry man, it's better if only one of us had impromptu haircut. Well, we were lucky her threshold wasn't reached for the whole 30 minutes.
" I bet ramen he's gonna be like her, bit odd and all."
" Accepted."
We shook hands, thus the deal was sealed in whispers. Not long after, there was a silhouette approaching from a distance. On its head, there was something sticking out. Ah damn, it seemed like this bet was doomed right after it started.
Oh, well, I've got an excuse to eat good stuff now.
...
Robin hood.
My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined.
Wait, that's not a feather. That's an arrow. What in this dark and depressing world?
There were more than one people coming. Hm, this could be a bigger problem. Well, Rias-senpai was here, so I doubted anything could spiral too far. Any common thugs would find themselves insta-killed for sure.
" She's not stepping in. I see, this IS Issei's contract."
One of them was an admittedly good-looking, to the point he could pull of that Old Shatterhand look properly. There was even an authentic arrow piercing through his hat, almost like he just escaped harsh battle against the Indians. The rest's faces were... well, let's just say they had papers with 'mob A, mob B, etc, etc.' right there.
Troublesome bunch. Issei might, no definitely, need to play knight in shining armor here, or in this case, a noble samurai with shining top.
" You, Susan Goldstein?"
" Y-Yes!"
His glower and intimidating stature prompted her to answer in rather loud and nervous voice. As the nice guy he was, Issei was ready to step in the moment this guy had one pinky over the fine line.
The guy pushed Issei aside and stood very uncomfortably close to Susan. Even with her being armored and her impressive height of 180 cms as a foreigner, he was still taller. This guy must be in some sort of sports circle or something.
" What the hell do you mean with this, haa?"
" I-It's a letter... Err, may I inquire thy response to—"
That girl, was about to say 'yours truly'. Really, what an absolute madlad. But that dramatic response only served to make the opposition snort disdainfully.
" I-It's a letter... she said!"
" A wetter~"
The crowd behind him laughed also. Against a shy and withdrawn person like her, it would surely cause a lot of damage. Hell, I winced from here, even though I wasn't the intended. With cold and rightful justice filling me, my brain was already planning several ways to ki-no, stop them.
As I was reaching the fifteenth iteration, a hand stopped my advance.
" Rias-senpai..."
She shook her head.
" Faust, it's no good if you kill them."
" It's not like death is the worst that can happen."
That laughter echoed inside my mind, fueling the fire like methane. But I still pulled on the reins and stopped myself from clobbering them in real life. The fact that they also stopped that tasteless laugh also helped.
" A-Anyway! You ruined my dad's antique hat here! What are you gonna do about that?!"
Issei put his body between them immediately before things could devolve to a brawl or a scream-fest. The distance was already too small for samurai-san's tolerance, thus the threat of her sword going 'sring, sring' was apparent.
" Now, now, let's calm down a bit, okay?"
His pacifist posture, or perhaps they saw that this guy was no threat, caused them to get even more riled up. Instead of retreating, the leader pushed his advantage by striking forward. Yes, it was a distance very inappropriate for two straight males.
Huh, but you know, those mafia-themed shows often gave those scenes of two males standing really, uncomfortably close to each other. It was supposed to intimidate, and that person looked like he got inspiration from one of those.
Issei looked like he wanted to headbutt the bastard's nose, and was very damn close to doing that. He couldn't though, because he was shoved aside roughly for the mob boss to come truly face-to-face with the perpetrator.
" Well, freak? How are you gonna take responsibility for this?"
Now I had to be the one stopping Rias-senpai from pressing delete button on their existence. I wasn't really sure how it looked to other people, but there certainly was blazing crimson aura emanating from her whole body. Not to mention her eyes turning red from her previous turqoise... if left alone, he'd really be obliterated. Hmm, but that would allow me to witness the so-called Power of Destruction...
Should I?
Unfortunately, before I could sic her on the test subject, she already calmed down. The loss of such opportunity was a loss for science. However, it was quite nice that another opportunity came to light with those people spotting her and giving her several winks. Well, that was pretty useless with how her attention was focused on the conflict.
" Faust?"
" Hm, should we interfere now? Take them to an alley and blast them to death?"
" You look awfully happy with that suggestion..."
" Who, me?"
She gave me a joking elbow to the ribs for that transgression.
" Still, this is worse that I thought. I didn't expect her to like such a normal bas-person."
" Just say bastard. Be sure to whisper, though."
She stared at me like I was crazy, and everyone else stared at me like I was crazy too. Well of course. I might or might not have intentionally said it with loud voice after all. Ooh, they're approaching. Was this the time for the eternal meme between a vampire and edgy highschooler? Hoo~ Hoo~
" Faust-kun..."
Rias-senpai shook her head both in disbelief and exasperation. Yeah, well, with how I usually acted, it was obvious that I'd stab them in the back and laugh rather than directly confronting them like this.
Would Rias-senpai use her magic and obliterate them without a trace? This curiosity of mine had only gone up ever since I heard about the Bael signature magic and not finding one freaking detail about it. "Absolute power to destroy everything it touches", couldn't you add how that happened? Well, for family power, excessive public info would only be detrimental to them. But add more details please!
But how should I say this... Now that I really thought about it, I felt kind of bad. Not to mention this person was technically Susan's acquaintance in campus.
Was it right to give trouble to others for a reason like this?
There was no time to contemplate, though, as the mob person had been in front of me already with a stare he assumed could intimidate. Eyes looking down, lips turning to a snarl, or was supposed so, at least... What a joke. Speaking from experience, the real deal would just smile and the pressure would be there. More time-effective, and honestly, more horrifying.
Ah, damn. Bad memories popped out.
Like a pacifist he was, Issei slipped between me and the mob.
" Now, now, I'm sure he doesn't mean it..."
I was already eyeing their behavior and tendencies, just in case they resorted to less amicable way of negotiating since the beginning. Well, it seemed my caution would be making great profits now. Yes, because Issei was once again shoved away. It seemed like this guy got underestimated, even though he could definitely turn him to a stain on the road.
Hm.
Embarassingly enough, he's too tall for me to see face to face properly. My neck hurt. Around 190 something I guess? This person was a whole head taller than me, actually, a bit more since I could only reach his shoulder.
" Can you prove that it's truly precious?"
Mob-san's face experienced rapid change, from pale, to a bit ashen. I mean, it was a very reasonable question. He came here almost like intending to do some heavy extortion instead of asking for reimbursement. Not to mention those bunches behind, too sus.
" You can't. Then we're done."
Issei quickly took to Susan and offered her some comforting words while guiding her to her stool. The shock of being called freak by her crush must be breaking her right now, not to mention being surrounded by thugs.
I sighed. Those people weren't worth the effort. Besides, these props weren't gonna tidy themselves. Better pack this up, comfort the broken-hearted samurai, and have a nice sleep at home after one or fifty more pages of grimoire.
Rias-senpai sighed, and realized this wasn't the best, but nonetheless as good as could be with these circumstances. Well, it couldn't be helped. Real life had its own share of bad endings too, more than anyone would like. Looking at Susan, I once again realized that fact.
Life wasn't a fairytale, as much as people wished it to be.
We moved to pack up the props, reducing the wannabe antagonists to background characters with letters pasted to their faces. It showed how unimportant they were in our perspective.
" OI!"
With one of them grabbing my shoulder, of course my work would be stopped. I sighed and turn around.
" What, mob A-san?"
" Mob—Bastard—"
I put down the folded banner, and took down the erected pole. This guy's whining was annoying about as much as mosquitos buzzing. And like wisemen said...
Buzzing mosquitos die. World better.
" Scram."
" Bloody mosquito..."
Whoops.
That was my mistake.
Oh well~ Murder it is~
" YOU—"
" What?"
"...Nothing. Oi, guys! We're leaving!"
I could hear him gritting his teeth and clicking his tongue. Even though avoiding physical confrontation was a good outcome, for some reason I felt it was a shame. It seemed I'd been quite violent lately, which was quite disturbing really.
It's good they didn't pursue this any further.
There's something strange going on... I was never this accepting to violence, at least physical one. Mental destruction was a more refined way to break someone with little to no risk, at least compared to direct physical confrontation.
But, I'd defaced a person, well, not really, but still, and almost engaged in physical confrontation with several college students in less than a week. Not to mention leading all those people to mutilation, and half-killing that... thing in priest robes.
What's happening to me?
I mean, I know those were necessary actions, but hmm...
Those thoughts made me forget that we'd finished packing up. The props were properly assorted and ready to go. It was already quite dark too. But Susan's eyes were still like dead fish behind her helmet.
" Why did it have to go this way..."
Gripping her knees tightly, that one action showed us a glimpse of her frustration. This was the authentic scene of heartbreak, live. Yeah, must be very painful. But it's better now than getting played by that no-good tosser and then getting worse heartbreak later.
" What's so wrong about liking samurais, swords? Not like it hurt anybody... Ha, I guess I really am a freak, aren't I..."
Something's not right here.
" You can certainly do better than a scum male who called you freak, Susan. There's nothing wrong with—"
Hearing that one word seemed to trigger something, as her armored fist struck Issei at the chest, and went to her blade.
" Get down!"
I tackled Rias immediately before she could get decapitated by the something-something sword. Yes, unfortunately, history was something I wasn't passionate about. Sue me. Rias-senpai was out of words, and Issei was coughing hard from getting his chest bashed. That strength was not natural.
" Thank you, Faust-kun."
" Issei, get outta there!"
However, instead of heeding my warning, that guy gritted his teeth and tackled her before she could slash down. Rias also recovered, her eyes glowing bright red for a moment. Seconds after, she exclaimed.
" That's... That's a cursed artifact!"
What the hell was with this development. I'd much rather have this armor activate when those thugs were still here. More meat—ehem, human resource. Anyway, devils and angels existed, so things like possessed items must be too, huh? Very interesting.
So that armor got ticked after Susan got rejected, huh? According to legends, negative emotion could feed the vengeful spirits residing in items. Or blood. Whichever they preferred, really.
" Rias-senpai, can you blast just the armor?"
" Unfortunately, my magic isn't very precise."
As we conversed, the samurai wannabe had turned to a real, and very mad one.
{Boost!}
Issei started boosting while pinning her down.
" Susan-san, please wake up!"
Of course, Susan-san was not listening. She overpowered him, threw him aside, and slashed. The blade clashed against Issei's dragonified limb.
" Get outta there, Issei!"
He scrambled away right before she broke free. Hm, now that I was more sensitive to mana and natural energy, my eyes could see some sort of black smoke oozing out from her figure. Rias clicked her tongue.
" Issei, Faust, be careful. That armor... I think it's some sort of relic from war. Currently, Susan is possessed by malevolent spirits inside that armor."
" What? Then how has she been fine until now?"
Her eyes glowed red again.
" Evil spirits can't do more than what you allow them to. They're usually weak, but with Susan's mental state, they were fed enough to enable possession."
My shrunken cane sword was in my pocket, ready anytime. Just unsheathing it would return it to its original size, and would best work as surprise element.
" So, how do we undo that?"
" Best way is to use exorcism spell, but I'm a devil, so..."
" So I stab her?"
" Make sure it's not on vital parts, so I can heal her."
Issei suddenly broke our discussion.
" Oi, oi. Prez, Faust, how can you be so relaxed about stabbing her? Surely there must be another way!"
" What, you wanna talk-no-jutsu her out of it?"
Yes, I was sarcastic. Yes, that was a bit rude. But time was against us here. It wasn't like she was gonna stay passive forever. Rias formed two magic circles on her hands.
" I'm going to immobilize her. Issei, keep her attention on you."
"..."
" Don't worry. I'm gonna avoid the vitals."
Easier said than done. Piercing an armor huh... Damn, that's not gonna be easy. But with Rias-senpai imprisoning her, it should be fine.
" Alright, explosion!"
{EXPLOSION!}
A burst of green aura burst forth, and Issei's physical strength skyrocketed. How did I know, you ask? Well, if I said Issei's dash could break stone paving, would you believe it? One tackle and she was pinned down the ground already.
" Faust, Rias-senpai!"
Four magic circles quickly bound all her limbs. Just right behind Issei, I unsheathed my blade and stabbed right on the chink of her armor. Finally, the blade sank to her right shoulder. She suddenly spasmed and squirmed as if she got electrified.
After about 30 seconds, she stopped and the armor lost its ominous luster. Rias marched forward and quickly healed her wounds.
" It's all good. There won't even be a scar left. A scar is a disaster for girls, after all."
" Let's teleport to her house. Faust, Issei, would you bring the goods here?"
We laid the props near Susan's unconscious body. Rias-senpai clasped her hands together and touched the ground. A red runic circle appeared, and engulfed all of us. The surrounding shifted from the park to Susan's room.
She was still unconscious from the possession, but it was good that there was no permanent damage. Rias put a hand on her head to seemingly do something. Susan's eyes fluttered open as her consciousness returned.
" Eh, where am I? Rias-san?"
" Susan-san, this is important. Please take off the armor now."
" Eh-EEEHHH?!"
Of course, that abrupt demand caused an uproar inside her mind, even though Rias-senpai was the one who said it. As a person who could read atmosphere properly, I dragged Issei out and closed the door behind me.
5 minutes passed by pretty slowly, especially with Issei complaining to me about getting dragged away. Soon, he was launching to a whole presentation as to why having harem was great and definitely beneficial for humanity.
" Even in some religions, polygamy isn't frowned upon..."
The door clicked open, and Rias-senpai told us to go in. Well, that was well-timed, even though I wouldn't complain if she were faster.
Inside, there were Rias-senpai, of course, and Susan stripped from her usual attire. Huh, so she really was a foreigner.
" Su-Su-Su-Susan... san?"
Ah. had stopped working.
Blonde woman with big breasts was Issei's favorite genre, after all, not to mention foreigner. Not to mention beautiful foreigner. Not to mention gap moe from her usual appearance, etc, etc.
It couldn't be helped.
" Sorry, Rias-senpai, Susan-san. He gets like this sometimes."
" Issei-san, are you okay?"
After acclimating to the initial shock, Issei was relatively calm now. Still, an innocent big breasted blonde... Yeah, dude's not gonna last long. Just looking at how he fawned over Asia made me realize that this girl was basically big-breasted Asia, well, not really, but generally yes I suppose.
Issei would strangle me, then place curse on my corpse if I were to say that.
At least Asia didn't give people impromptu barber service.
Then, unexpectedly, Susan bowed very deeply. It was splendid, what with fingers touching the ground and head nearly but not touching the ground. A perfect example of Japanese's gesture of utmost respect.
" Gremory-san, Hyoudou-san, Kuroki-san, thank you very much for what you've done. And my deepest apologies for my shameful conduct."
" Errr..."
" Hmm..."
" There's no need for apologies, Susan-san. You couldn't have known to be in possession of a cursed item."
None of us dared to breach that utter destruction that was the confession. The guy he liked turned out to be a total douche, and wanted to extort money from her. Rias-senpai stepped forward and inquired about the cursed item in her possession.
According to Susan, that armor was something she got from a cultural bazaar not long after she got here. It was cheap, and in good condition. Such item was too big of a temptation to her, so she immediately bought it.
" About a year ago, I started hearing some sort of voice in my mind, telling me to put it on. I wasn't worried, and was thinking of doing that anyway. So I did. After a while, it got very... difficult to part with it."
Issei was intrigued by the story. Heck, even I did. This was our first time being in a supernatural incident, from the supernatural side. This made me feel like I was truly being a part of Occult Research Club.
" Unable, as in you can't or you don't want to?"
" A mixture of both. I couldn't take it off, but it didn't feel like a big deal."
How interesting. So those sorts of haunted items could manipulate minds like those horror movies, huh? Now I'd really like to experiment with them. Rias-senpai nodded and thought about it for a while, adding more suspense to all of us.
Then, she touched the armor and concentrated for a bit.
" As expected, this here was an armor of a former soldier who died in a war. The will itself was not very powerful to be noticed, but it fed on human desires, thus it grew strong enough to possess you, Susan-san."
The foreigner nodded at her explanation.
" So that's why I've been feeling off these past few months..."
" Yes. This kind of artifact is fueled mostly by its user's life force."
Susan's face paled, her expression downcast from the realization that she might not have that long anymore. Well, not having that long to live was a very scary revelation for pretty much anyone, and she just got bombed like that.
" Wait, wait. It's not that you shaved your life that much, Susan-san. The life force I was talking about wasn't the vital force needed for living. Of course, you'll feel tired for a few weeks, but after that, there shouldn't be any side effects."
Rias quickly amended her statement. Issei smiled brightly and also sighed in relief alongside his client. It didn't feel as weird as my first time, but hearing these surreal things sure was exciting, in various ways.
Susan sweetly smiled at Issei, appreciating his visible relief. For someone who just got so brutally demeaned, his concern must've triggered lots of flags. I also returned her smile and nodded approvingly.
" Now, for the more... serious topic."
The heavy atmosphere bolstered our seriousness, thus the discussion went quite smoothly. As for the results, Susan said she had no attachment to the armor. She didn't mind giving up the armor that could've sucked her dry if given more time.
Of course, an antique Japanese cursed armor for a contract payment was profit for her. But, she left the sword to her.
" Well then, with that, the contract is concluded. Please do contact us if you want to request our service in the future."
Rias gave an elegant smile plus a slight bow at Susan who responded with a beautiful 90 degrees one. Issei and I followed suit.
" Susan-san, please don't be too discouraged. That douche lost big from rejecting you, and he's gonna know that soon."
The romcom God had favored that statement and granted him a flag. Susan Goldstein, the barber samurai, had rosy cheeks from Issei's words. This guy... that was so smooth the friction coefficient was zero. Mad respect. Waving goodbye to the blushing foreigner, the surrounding changed from a Japanese-style room to a Victorian one.
" Buchou, Faust, I'm going home first."
" Issei, we're still going to train in the morning."
He sighed, but still agreed. Not like he could do anything to refuse anyway, since here was his King.
Issei waved us goodbye, citing the anime he'd been waiting for airing soon. I was a bit envious actually, since I almost never watched TV. All the fun I had mostly came from youtube and books, well, you could watch anime there, of course, but they're two different things.
I also had to go home soon, as it was quite late already. If I went home beyond my parents' tolerance, being locked outside was not impossible. Well, that's fine actually, but I'd prefer not getting yelled at after going home the next day.
" Well, Rias-senpai. See you tomorrow then."
" I have things to discuss with you, so let's walk together."
Of course, why not? She locked the clubroom and we walked out of the school side by side. The night air was nice for calming down the nerves, making me feel calm and clear. We walked with no conversation at all, just enjoying the cool air.
Until a damned car drove really close to the sidewalk.
" Huh..."
I sighed with my whole left side wet. Worse yet, it was dirty water and mud.
" Rias-senpai, did the water reach you?"
" Nope, but you—"
" That's good then. Let's keep on walking. The station's very near already."
I picked tissues from my bag and wiped some of the grime and water away. They didn't help much, but that's fine. At least they did a bit. The train trip didn't feel long, but I could feel Rias-senpai staring at me for some reason.
Err, but that's not very rare nowadays, is it?
Normally, getting the attention of such girl would mean earning bragging rights roughly equal to her prestige. I couldn't comprehend being happy with popularity from bagging a girl, along with death threats coming from every direction, but oh well. Criticizing such thing was a waste of time and energy. The males looked at me either like I killed their parents or like I was royalty.
At long last, the house. I opened the door. We got in, and I closed the door behind us.
" Oi, bro. Where have you been? Mum's been—"
My sister greeted from the sofa, but stopped immediately.
" I left a message that I was gonna be out late today, though. Besides, it's not that late."
" Well, you know her. Better show your face. Just so you know, the door was locked."
I frowned a bit, knowing it'd end up in an unreasonable argument. When that happened, there was nothing to do aside from stand up and grit. Even then, I'd get chewed out for being silent.
" You—"
My mother entered the living room, and like my sister, turned to a goldfish once this senpai of mine entered her field of vision.
Ah, there we go. My mom's PR face. Kind of sickening really.
" Hello, are you Faust's friend? My, that boy didn't tell he had such beautiful girl like you."
Greetings, Rias-senpai PR mode. Glad to meet you.
" Hello, Mrs. Kuroki. I am Rias Gremory. Faust-san has been taking good care of me."
" Really? That's good then. He turns out quite well, doesn't he? I'm lucky to have such a good son."
Ah, Rias-senpai's eyes turned dead.
" Sorry, mom. We've got something to talk about, so I'll take her upstairs. She can't go home too late, after all."
Pushing a devil princess who slept naked several times with me to my own room was something I thought I'd never do. That just proved that life was so damn unpredictable. She looked like she was about to cause permanent mental damage to her.
By all means, if I wouldn't be the one to bear the brunt afterwards.
" That... That... if you think you're lucky, shouldn't you treat your own son better? Not yell 'useless' all the time?!"
I shrugged. It was good that I'd laid a noise suppression magic once I could, but it seemed I did it a bit too late. Huh, it seemed devils didn't really approve mom's daily treatment... Well, even if it could be lie, that's good to know.
" I'm used to it, Rias-senpai. More importantly, what is the important thing you said we needed to discuss?"
Albeit still hung up about the previous event, she chose to change the subject.
" It's about Dohnaseek."
" Hm? Did he escape? I saw him today, still inside his cell, though."
She shook her head.
" What are we gonna do about him?"
Ah yeah. Keeping someone alive was a rough job. Still, I'd really like to somehow use him to either throw Kokabiel off my trail or smooth over the communication with Azazel. But how, that's the question.