Rias growled under her breath as she hung up her phone. Despite calling three times, she'd been unable to get through to Ryuko. On the one hand, not being able to reach a member of her Peerage was most upsetting, both due to matters of respect and concern for their well being. On the other hand, Satsuki had added something to Rias' phone so that if she called Ryuko and Ryuko didn't pick up, she would immediately get a ping of Ryuko and Senketsu's vitals as reported to Iori, and those both read as perfectly healthy. As much as she wanted Ryuko there to deal with the Rogue Devil they'd been ordered to terminate that night, she had handled such creatures without Ryuko before and her entire group was much stronger now due to the training they'd received from Satsuki's group. Ryuko had gone to attempt to make a contract, so perhaps it was taking a while. Asia's first contract had taken an overnight trip, after all...
Sighing, she put her phone away. "That girl..." she grumbled, more to say something than out of any actual feelings of pique.
"Is Ryuko-sempai not coming?" Koneko asked curiously, idly futzing with the neckerchief she now always wore, the one made from Ira Gamagoori's pocket handkerchief.
"Doesn't look like it," Rias explained with a sigh. "I've left a message of where we are, so she might show up later..." Shaking her head, she steeled her resolve. She shifted her glance from the abandoned factory to her team. Akeno, Yuuto, Koneko, and Asia were all lined up ready to fight. However... "Asia, keep your distance and support from range," she instructed firmly. "We don't know how strong this thing will be, only that it is dangerous enough that we have to eliminate it immediately."
"Understood, President," Asia replied immediately, having adopted the form of address from the others.
"Akeno and I will wait outside with Asia," she continued firmly. "Yuuto, Koneko, flush it out here if you can."
"Yes, Rias-sama," Koneko allowed softly, though her tone indicated she was somewhat upset with the instructions.
"Don't try to finish it off yourselves," Rias added, recognizing from the way Koneko was shifting her clenched fists that she was a little too eager for the coming fight. Once Koneko relaxed, she turned her attention to the one who hadn't responded. "Yuuto!"
Kiba blinked, snapping briefly out of whatever funk he was in. "Y-yes, ma'am," he stammered.
Rias rubbed her forehead worriedly as the pair went inside. She hoped this would work out...
Koneko walked warily into the factory. Much to her surprise, she'd already immediately located the Rogue Devil relative to her location, and determined the insectoid nature of its transformation. Ever since accepting the nature of her spiritual powers and embracing them under Ira's instruction, she'd discovered one of the major advantages they granted her was greatly enhanced senses. As she stopped her approach to glare at where the creature was, she felt her hands already curling into claws, only to quickly clench them into fists. One of Ira's most important lessons was when not to use her power, specifically because of how closely it was tied to her instincts. Until she had full mastery of her more beastly self, she risked losing control to some extent every time she drew on her more animalistic aspect. As such, she only allowed herself to do so while with Ira, as she knew he would not hesitate to kill her if she lost control.
...odd how an ever present threat one's life could make one feel safe and loved...
She was broken out of her brief wool-gathering as the Rogue Devil showed itself. At first glance it appeared to be a young albino woman, but as soon as it sensed danger it metamorphosed, its body twisting on itself and reshaping as a half-human half-fly monster. It immediately took to the air, flying around faster than Koneko could move. "Yuuto-sempai," she called out, seeking to coach her companion into striking. To her surprise, he did not move. "Yuu-" Her words cut off as the fly spat acid at her. She quickly lifted her gauntlet, letting her white fire spark within the silvery metal on the back to neutralize the acid before it could hurt her. "Kiba!" she snapped out.
Yuuto jerked out of whatever fugue he'd been in, seeming to realize the situation all at once. "R-right," he stammered before blurring into motion, slashing one limb off the bug-beast...and slamming face first into the side wall of the factory.
Koneko couldn't stop the sweatdrop as she stared at her normally cool and in control companion succeeding only in making a complete fool of himself. As the bug creature swooped towards him, Koneko seized hold of it by one limb and poured fire into its body through the grip, keeping the full revelation of her embraced nature hidden until it was truly needed...or she was in full control of it. As the beast screamed in pain, Koneko sunk her claws into its flesh to drag it outside while dragging Kiba out by a grip on his ear.
Rias-sama would not be happy about this...
Rias stared as Koneko calmly dragged out a somewhat toasted - and unmoving - Devil and a protesting Kiba. "What happened?" she asked worriedly.
"Yuuto-sempai was woolgathering," Koneko stated flatly before tossing the beast forward to be destroyed. "He ran into a wall."
Rias could only stare in shock. "Seriously-"
Before she could finish, something slammed into the bug devil creature from above, causing it to burst into flames and dark energy...and as it faded, a familiar voice was singing.
"I don't know where ya been, but I see ye won first prize!" A loud belch denoted the end of Ryuko's song as she let the energy of the destroyed beast flow into her before staggering around, a bottle in one hand and the painting strapped to her back. "Hey Rias!" she called out drunkenly. "I gots a contract! Made booze to celebrate!" She held up the bottle, which could now be seen to contain liquefied magic distilled into an intoxicating substance, likely to either be too intoxicating for human consumption if not flat out poisonous even to Devils.
"Did...did you get drunk to celebrate your first contract?" Rias demanded, her voice warring between shock and outrage.
"Nah!" Ryuko waved off. "Oji-bouzu wanted a drinkin' buddy! I just wanted to toast with ya!"
Rias did her best not to lose her temper in reaction to all this even as Yuuto, Asia, and Koneko stared in shock while Akeno smothered a giggle. "Ryuko...you..." She struggled to find words.
Ryuko, for her part, promptly decided to ignore Rias as she turned to Koneko...and started scratching her behind her ears. "Whosa pretty kitty..." she drawled as her eyes spun in different directions. "Yes ou is, yeshu is..."
"Ryuko...senpai..." Koneko whimpered softly, plainly somewhat uncomfortable...even as a soft purr could be heard in her voice.
Ryuko then spun to Akeno and blinked in surprise. "Hey...ye got black feathers!" she said in surprise as her eyes briefly shifted to draconic of their own accord. As Akeno stared in stunned shock, Ryuko laughed. "Ye should show 'em more often! Yours are *hic* real pretty!"
Rias' eyes widened in shock...though whether at Ryuko being able to see Akeno's hidden heritage or at her approach to it, she was no longer certain. However, before she could react, Ryuko had turned to Yuuto.
Ryuko blinked at him for a time, then dragged him into a headlock as she let herself fall to the ground. "Know that face...it's my old face! Give it back!"
"W-what?" Yuuto demanded in shock.
"Lone venger made sense for me!" Ryuko slurred back. "I wus lone! You gots us all, so don't be stupid! Ya think we won't help if ya ask, ken-bouzu?"
Rias blinked in surprise. She knew what that had to be referencing. She'd learned some details about Yuuto's past in talking with him, though not much. Just enough to know he only survived long enough to reach her and be reincarnated as a Devil because many of his friends sacrificed themselves to buy him time. She didn't know fully what he'd been running from, though. Had he found a link to that past? That would explain his woolgathering, and if he were planning vengeance...
"I'm not going to put all of you in danger for my quest!" Yuuto managed to get out past Ryuko's choke hold.
"Oh, and waitin' round fer ya ta come back - if ya do - is soooo much better, Ken-baka!" Ryuko slurred, now giving him a rather vicious noogie.
"Ryuko-san..." Asia began uncertainly.
"Asia-chan!" Ryuko suddenly cried out, tossing Yuuto aside into Rias' grasp before leaping up to pull Asia into a tight hug. "Wut're ya doin' here?"
"We were...hunting a-" Asia began.
"Bored now, takin' yer clothes!" Ryuko interrupted with a drunken giggle.
"Uh-ueh?!" Asia gasped in surprise.
"NUDIST BEACH!" Ryuko drunkenly declared as she tossed Senketsu off along with Asia's school uniform, making her shriek in surprise.
"Uh...isn't this going a little far?" Ddraig asked Senketsu uncertainly as Ryuko turned towards the others, their expressions all moving towards shocked or mortified...save Akeno who looked to be enjoying it despite herself.
"No," Senketsu replied calmly. "This is normal."
"Her randomly deciding to strip her friends is normal?" Ddraig demanded, stunned.
"Nudist Beach was the name of the group she fought with against the Life Fibers," Senketsu explained ruefully. "Against *evil clothing*."
"...oh..." Ddraig fell silent, struggling to find a new definition for 'normal' he could apply to Ryuko. As she proceeded to strip her fellow Peerage members and Devil Master, he decided that would probably take a while...