This is mostly a filler chapter. You've been warned.
"Midoriya-san, how is your training going along?" Milia asked. Class had ended a few minutes earlier and most of their classmates had already gone home.
"Oh, it's going great… I've managed to increase my limit by a couple of minutes," Izuku's voice trailed off as he held his chin, eyes focused on the ground in front of him. "But there's still a lot about my Sacred Gear I don't know about. Buchou told me that I might be able to transfer the stored up power to someone or something else now. That has plenty of uses, but there's still so much about the Boosted Gear I don't know. Like who's voice I heard when fighting Chuuya. Still, if I can transfer the power to someone like Ibara-san, then her Twilight Healing can heal wounds more easily. Maybe I should train with her today, but… no, no, I should hold off on that until after I can use the transfer without fail. One thing at a time after all. Buchou keeps insisting for me to not overwhelm myself whenever I train…"
"There he goes again…" Milia sighed in amusement as she watched Izuku mumble. It was now mid-December. About a month had passed since the fight with the Port Mafia, and only about two months were left before the U.A. Entrance Exam. She hadn't seen him or Ibara around the school as often as she used to. They were likely training whenever they could before they did their duties as Rias's servants. Speaking of…
"By the way, how's Uraraka-san doing?"
"Oh, uh, she's doing great. Buchou reincarnated her last week. She's still getting used to her new strength, though." Izuku chuckled, recalling how Ochako accidentally crushed a doorknob not long after reincarnating. "It takes a little while to get used to being a devil, huh?" He said, recalling how he felt after Rias reincarnated him.
"I suppose so, but I would never know. I was born a devil."
Izuku did a double-take. "You were always a devil?!"
Milia rubbed her head, "I guess I never told you. See, my dad's Japanese, but my mom's a devil. She was a succubus, a sub-race of all-female devils, which technically means so am I."
"Succubus?" When he realized what that meant, Izuku's pupils shrank, his face suddenly becoming red.
"N-No! No! I-I'm not like that!" Milia exclaimed, blushing herself. "Though I do understand why you would think that…"
"I's kay…" Izuku garbled out a response as he cooled down. Then something else that Milia said caught his attention. "Wait… Your mother 'was' a succubus?"
Milia's head began to hang low. "…She and my dad were killed about a year ago."
Izuku gasped, flashbacks to when he met Freed coming to his mind. The two continued to walk in silence toward the school gate. Ibara and Yuuto were already there, waiting for Izuku. "I need to get going now," Izuku said to Milia. "I'm sorry about your parents, Takamaki-san. If there's anything I can do to help, I-"
Milia smiled at him. "You already did more than enough, Midoriya-san," Izuku wondered what she meant by that. "I need to get going myself. See you tomorrow."
"Right. See you tomorrow, Takamaki-san."
Milia watched as Izuku met up with Yuuto and Ibara. A small amount of jealousy boiled within her when she saw how close Ibara was to Izuku as they walked, but she also felt determination. 'I won't lose to any of them,' she mentally reassured herself, mostly referring to Ochako and Ibara. 'If they're going to U.A. with Midoriya-san, then I'll do the same!'
Later, the Occult Research Club, otherwise known as the Gremory group, were all gathered as usual. The school day was already over and the devils were now preparing to do their 'devil work'.
Koneko had already left and Kiba was preparing to leave. Momo was serving Rias some tea and Ibara had just come back. "I'm kinda nervous," Ochako admitted. "My debut as a devil. I don't even know if I can do this."
"I'm sure you'll do great, Ochako-san," Izuku reassured. "If you want I can come with you."
Ochako blushed. "Uh, sure. I'd like that."
They failed to notice the slight glare Ibara gave.
Ochako then asked Izuku. "What was your first job like?"
"…I'd rather not talk about it."
Rias then taught Ochako how to use a magic circle to transport her to where the client was. Ochako, accompanied by Izuku stepped into the circle. They were enveloped by the light of the teleportation circle, disappearing a moment later.
When the light dimmed down, they opened their eyes, revealing themselves to the environment. It looked like the courtyard of an old shrine, one with a view that overlooked the city. It looked like it had been abandoned for a while, otherwise, the two of them wouldn't have been able to enter. Yet there were boxes and crates surrounding the entrance. It looked like someone was in the middle of moving into the shrine. But who?
"Where are we?" Ochako asked.
"My place."
The two turned, seeing a familiar face that the familiar voice belongs to.
"Mizu-oneechan!"
Ochako ran to the older woman and hugged her.
"Ow! Be careful, Chako! My arm still hurts!"
"Ah! Sorry!" Ochako let go in an instant. "But why are you still here? I thought you wet back to Katmandu?"
"Good question," Mizu smiled. "See, not long after the Port Mafia returned the relics, it was decided to create a new Sanctum here in Japan, with me as the master."
"So this is… all yours?" Izuku asked, looking over the shrine.
"Yep. This place was abandoned by it's god several years ago. After some negotiations, Kamar-Taj now owns this shrine, our new Sanctum." Mizu then looked over the tons of boxes and crates. "Course I need help setting it all up, so I figured I ask my devil apprentice to help."
Ochako looked over the many boxes. This was going to take a few hours at least. "Any chance this is part of my training?"
"Nope. This isn't Karate Kid."
Sure enough, it took at least two and a half hours to get all the boxes and crates inside. Once that was done their contents were to be removed and place throughout the shrine. Overall this part wasn't as bad. Mizu had already set up several display cases, hooks, and empty book selfs throughout the shrine. All they had to do was place the relics where they would work.
Izuku brought one of the smaller boxes into a room Mizu was going to use as a study. There he noticed that something was already there. It was a coffin made of silver. Chains of various sizes were wrapped around it, some of which were bolted to the floor. On the lid was an upside-down cross. Below the cross was an inscription written in English.
The Bird of Hermes is my name
Eating my wings to make me tame
"Izu-kun, you in here?" Ochako asked as she entered. "I just finished with the first room. How are things… What is that?"
"I don't know. I just found it." Izuku took a second glance at the coffin. He didn't know why, but something about this coffin seriously unnerved him. "Let's go find Mizu-san."
Several hours after helping with the move-in, Ochako and Izuku returned to the clubroom. "We're back!" Ochako called out. Though the only one there was Rias, sitting at her desk doing paperwork. Everyone else must still be out on jobs.
"Welcome back," Rias replied. "How was your first job?"
"It went pretty great!" Ochako beamed. "It was great to see Mizu-oneechan again. She even gave me this." Ochako showed her master a wooden staff. It was the same height as Ochako and had a red gem surrounded by the wood at the tip.
"A witches staff? That is certainly a rare artifact. There aren't many of those left in the world."
"She said that it's both my payment and a gift. Apparently, it's a Kamar-Taj tradition that the person who recruits a new member is responsible for their well being, so they often hand down a belonging to symbolize that. That was how she got the Yukinoha. And why didn't you tell me she was the one who sent that request?"
"She wanted it to be a surprise," Rias answered. "No complaints, either. I say you'll do fine as a devil, Ochako-chan."
Ochako blushed lightly at Rias' compliment. "It's no big deal? But I gotta ask: Are all devil jobs that easy?"
"They usually are," Rias smirked. "Unless you're Izu-kun. The entire time he's been with us he's only completed a handful of contracts."
"Buchou!"
"Really? …Wait, really?!" Ochako looked at Izuku. "How come?"
Izuku laughed nervously. "Well, it's not like the jobs I get are hard… it's just that most of my clients are… kinda weird. With impossible requests. Like Morisawa-san. He's one of Koneko-chan's clients, but he sometimes requests me to talk about manga and the like. Then there's Mil-tan, who wants to become a magical girl-"
"That doesn't sound so bad."
"He's also a male bodybuilder who likes to cosplay as a magical girl."
"…I take it back."
"Then how about we come along?" Rias suggested. "I just received a request from a new client. It be a good way to end the day, don't you think?"
From the looks of it, it was a room in an apartment. When Izuku looked around the room, he noticed the abundance of objects related to Sengoku. There was a sword in a sheath mounted on the wall and many posters of Japanese castles. There was also a scroll that said "Fuurin-Kazan". There was even a helm of the "bushou" from the Sengoku Era on the shelf. The room was dark, but there were lights on the lamps.
"Wow… this is really cool." Izuku muttered.
"Wah!"
Ochako let out a sudden voice and almost fell back. She was apparently spooked by the armor sitting right in front of them. It looked ominous because of how dark it was in the room. Looking around, there didn't seem to anyone else in the room besides them. That is… until the armor moved.
"Uwaah!"
"Um….ummmm… Ar…are you people devils…?"
The armor was talking. No, rather, there was a person speaking from inside of it. And from the sound of the voice, it was a woman.
"Yes, we are." Rias calmly answered.
"I'm really shocked… Devils do exist… My name is Susan. Just like you can see, my hobby is to collect things related to the Sengoku Era… I'm sorry for dressing up like this… It's dangerous at night, so I protect myself like this by wearing this armor…"
'I'm not sure you have much to worry about dressed like that.' Izuku mentally said.
Rias stepped in front of the group, taking the foremost position. She started with a nod. "My name is Rias Gremory. This here is Midoriya Izuku, the Devil you summoned. Me and Ochako are just here to see how well he does."
"I see… I'm glad that the ones who came out were kind looking devil-san. If it was a scary devil-san, I would have drawn out this katana, Kijin-marukuni-shige…"
Susan said that while holding a Japanese sword in a sheath in her hand. Due to the blatant ridiculousness of the situation, Izuku's and Ochako's faces somehow ended up getting stuck with deadpan expressions.
"…Are your clients normally like this, Izu-kun?" Ochako whispered.
"…Pretty much." Izuku whispered back. Clearing his thought, he stepped forward. "So, Susan-san, what was the reason you summoned me? You called us because you wanted us to fulfill your wish right?"
When Izuku asked, the armored foreign woman began to cry.
"…Sob…Sob… Please come with me to the University I am attending as an exchange student… the University at night is really scary…"
Upon hearing that request, Izuku and Ochako sweat-dropped. "Eh?"
"You're joking, right?" Ochako asked.
"B-But, but…! I left my notebook there… the university at night is too scary, I can't go alone… Uuu…"
Izuku sighed, having gotten used to these odd requests. "Where is the university?"
About a half-hour later, the three devils and armored woman returned to her apartment, notebook in hand. It was… rather odd. Susan was a total scaredy-cat, swinging her katana around at the slightest sign of something scary. Though, Izuku silently admitted that the university did look creepy at night.
Izuku had already received his payment. It wasn't a big wish so he didn't mind doing it for free, but she insisted she would pay a price. The payment he received was a small scale Japanese castle. For some reason, Rias took a deep interest in it and decided that they would keep it in the clubroom.
Rias had started to cast the magic equation connected to the magic circle in the clubroom, made for returning to the clubroom after confirming the job is completed.
"Okay. We will be going back now."
"Um… excuse me…" Susan walked up to Izuku shyly. "…It might be a bit rude… If it isn't rude, there is one more wish I want to be fulfilled…"
"Uh…" Izuku looked to his master. "Is this okay?"
Rias nodded. "I don't see why not."
"To tell you the truth… I'm thinking of going forward to someone… who goes to the same University as me… and tell him about my feelings."
"Feelings?" Ochako immediately realized what she meant. "You're planning to confess to someone?!"
Susan started shaking like a maiden when Ochako said that. "Umm… umm, there is a man that I like… I'm slow at these things, but I want to tell him my feelings…"
Rias gained a smile after hearing that and nodded. "It's a wonderful wish. Okay. I will listen to your wish."
"You will? I'm glad! Devil-san are good people!" Susan began to do a step dance after hearing Rias's answer.
"So what do you want us to do?" Izuku asked. "I'm not that great at these sort of things, so I'm not sure I'll be of much help."
"If it's possible I want to go out with him by telling my feelings… But it's my first time doing something like this… I'm not sure where to start." Susan admitted. In other words, she wants to win a man's heart by natural means, but since she doesn't know much about it, she's asking for assistance from the devils.
"It would be the quickest if you confess your feelings directly."
Susan shook her head violently at Rias's suggestion. "It's impossible for me! I'm too embarrassed!" Being the scaredy cat she is, it did seem implausible for someone like Susan to confess so directly. Especially if she was gonna end up doing it inside that armor.
"Then… how about you write him a letter?" Ochako suggested.
Rias nodded at Ochako's suggestion. "Yes, I think a love letter is also good. I think it's wonderful to show your feelings in a letter as well."
"I understand! I will write it!"
Susan went into a corner of the room and started to search for something. She then took out a calligraphy set. She got a blank page for the calligraphy and put it down. She then dipped the brush in the ink, preparing to write something on the paper. But then she stopped.
"…"
And her body started shaking.
"…Uuu, I don't know what to write…" She sounded like she wanted to start crying again.
Gently, Rias placed a hand on Susan's armored shoulder. "Just write what you feel."
"…W-What I feel?"
As Rias and Susan discussed on what to write, Ochako began to think. 'Maybe I should take my own advice,' she looked to Izuku, who was once again admiring Susan's Sengoku Era collection.
"Something on your mind?"
Ochako squeaked in surprise at Rias's voice, which drew Izuku's attention. "No! Nothing! Everything's fine!"
"If you say so," Rias chuckled as she sat down next to them.
"How's the letter coming along?" Izuku asked.
"It honestly sounds like an official address," Ochako noted, overhearing Susan as she read aloud what she wrote.
"It's alright," Rias said. "It's the feeling that matter, not the form. Not the form…"
For a moment, Izuku saw a somber look in Rias's face when she said that. She looked almost… sad. "Buchou…?"
"I'm done!"
Looking up, the devils saw that Susan was done. And she had apparently grabbed a bow and arrow, folded the letter to the arrow and was beginning to fire.
'THAT'S HOW SHE'S SENDING THE LETTER?!'
After a few days, Izuku, Ochako, and Rias had reunited with Susan in a random park. And Susan had… gone all out. In front of them was a base, various flags with a certain symbol on it everywhere. And at the center of it, the armored Musha sat on a chair.
With the help of Rias a few days ago, she finished writing her love-letter safely and safely delivered it to the person she likes. Well, as safely an arrow can take it without injuring anyone. What mattered was that she successfully delivered her letter. And now the man she was crushing on will be coming to the park today to give Susan a reply to her confession.
Izuku, Rias, and Ochako stood on the sidelines while Susan, on the other hand, was shaking a bit in her armor. She seemed nervous, but it honestly looked creepy. A bizarre sight for any bystanders witness to it.
"Looks like he's here."
When the group looked in the same direction as Rias, there was a figure in the distance, gradually getting closer… Wearing western armor. A knight's armor. He held a cone-shaped lance in his right hand and a shield on the left. His head is covered with a helm that also covers his whole face so his face cannot be seen.
Just like with Susan, he seemed to be another culturally fanatical person.
"Aaah, it's amazing. It's a collaboration of a Musha and a Knight."
Rias said it with some sort of wonderment in her eyes. If one was to look carefully, an arrow could be seen piercing the helm of the knight.
"…I hope he wasn't wearing that helmet when Susan-san set her letter…" Izuku muttered nervously.
Then, finally, the knight drew closer to Susan. He came into Susan's base while making sounds of metal colliding. No matter how you look at it, it looks like a battle was about to start.
The Knight stood in front of Susan. Susan also stood from her place. There was an abnormal atmosphere around them. The knight then pierces the ground with his lance violently and brings something out. It's a letter.
"…This letter. I have read it…"
"Yes…"
Susan's body was shaking nervously.
"…It was a wonderful arrow-letter. For me to let my guard down and get shot… It was a good arrow-letter…"
"I… I was just thinking about shooting the bow… Horii-kun."
"If it's me, I would be glad to go out with you…"
Luckily for Susan, she ended up receiving the answer she was hoping for.
"Ho…Horii-kun…Sob…I'm glad…sob…"
Susan had a tearful voice. It was difficult to tell because she was wearing a helm, but it certainly sounded like she was crying.
"Susan…"
The western knight, Horii, hugs Susan gently. They hugged each other while wearing armor so the sound of metal colliding was present. It was an especially bizarre scene, as innocent as it really was.
"Let's talk about The Book of Five Rings you wrote about in this letter."
"Yes. I wanted to talk about Miyamato Musashi's Niten Ichi-ryuu with you Horii-kun…"
The Musha and the Knight then took each other's hand and walked away.
"Thank you very much!"
Susan waves her hand at the young devils. The three responded with smiles and applause. In the end, it was considered a "happy ending of sorts".
"Is that how your jobs normally end, Izuku-san?" Ibara asked. Not long after Ochako, Rias, and Izuku returned to the clubroom Izuku received a text. A picture from Susan of her and Horii. Wearing their armor at a restaurant. This was bound to be on the news soon.
"To be honest, it was a little different in the end," Izuku admitted. As the three walked home, talking about how their jobs went, a thought occurred to Izuku. When she saw the picture of Susan and Horii, he noticed that she looked sad, almost longing. "By the way, did Buchou look… sad to you?"
"Sad?"
"What do you mean?"
Ibara and Ochako asked.
"I'm not sure. During the job she seemed… off." As Izuku thought about it, a strange feeling gripped him. He didn't know why, but he didn't like seeing Rias so sad.