Chapter 4 - Feelings of Warmth
Kuoh Academy - Highschool DxD World - The next day after the end of the previous chapter / 1 Month, Three weeks, and one day before the start of canon
(Rias Gremory's P.O.V)
I sigh as I find myself twiddling my pencil between my fingers, having already finished the maths problem we were supposed to solve today and because of that, my mind has been looking back on the interaction with Izayoi I had yesterday…
I won't lie, I found the entire conversation with her I had yesterday quite pleasant and feel inclined to actually make good on my word to Izayoi regarding our agreement to talk again, as I do hope that she'll deal with the Perverted Duo before long when lunch rolls around.
My worry is that if I tie myself too closely to Izayoi so early, I may end up causing her to be hunted down much sooner. But it's a minor worry for two reasons if I'm being completely honest…
The first reason is basically the fact I can reincarnate her if something does happen, although that would result in my hopes of training down the cost of her reincarnation. However, if it comes down to that, then I am admittedly ok with it so long as Izayoi is ok…
The second reason is that admittedly I am growing stronger since my awakening and If the memories of my past life are anything to go by, I won't be facing anything above Riser's level for some time.
Although those same memories do warn of stuff like the butterfly effect and relying too heavily on knowledge of the future, meaning I should still keep an eye out for anything to suddenly be thrown my way.
Still, I suppose I shouldn't be overly cautious just yet as, while it does sting at my pride to admit, I'm nowhere near the level of power like say, my brother for instance. However, having said that though, I am growing stronger a lot faster than I would have had I been without the memories of my past life as well as the company abilities I've gained since my full awakening.
As my thoughts soon begin to drift off toward more minor things such as whether or not I should make more cake later on since Koneko among the rest of my adorable servants, in particular, enjoyed the Chocolate cake I made earlier.
It was quite the amusing moment when she got a slice of the cake, she practically devoured the entire thing within the span of a few seconds. I suppose I really shouldn't underestimate Koneko's Sweet Tooth in the end, because she quite bluntly asked for seconds, much to both my own and Akeno's amusement.
It's right as I am about my thoughts away from that particular memory, the lunch bell rings and I smirk, beginning the mental count-down before the Inevitable happens. I get up from my seat and hand over my paper to the teacher before grabbing my bag and leaving to see if I can find Izayoi.
Luckily for me, I think I know exactly where the Perverted Duo are probably trying to peep on the Kendo club getting changed again. It's only a matter of walking over to a spot close by so I can quickly slide myself over to where Izayoi will be after the inevitable beating of the Perverted Duo.
However, much to my own surprise and delight….
"YEOWCH!"
"OWWW!"
I find myself giggling in amusement as I walk outside to see both of the Perverted Duo clutching their crotch while rolling on the ground in pain. You see when either of Izayoi's friends Murayama or Kasate encounter the Duo first before Izayoi, they merely beat them up before Izayoi soon joins them…
Izayoi on the other hand, if she gets to them first, tends to be quite precise with her Shinai and has a very choice spot for where she aims. Although how the hell these two fools don't learn after the first time they did this, I have no clue but it seems that despite this risk they keep peeping regardless…
You'd think that after the multiple times she's done this to the two, they'd take the hint and stop peeping but it seems that they are nothing if not tenacious despite the sheer pain that comes with potentially getting caught by Izayoi first.
Although how exactly Izayoi hasn't done serious damage to their reproductive system by this point is beyond me, maybe some hidden sex-related talent that goes beyond their current oddities that are charged by their abnormal libido is aiding them.
I am, however, in no rush to find out, especially since I have someone else to focus my attention on right now as I walk up to Izayoi with a smile. Izayoi looks up from the two members of the Perverted Duo writhing in groin pain from her method of revenge and looks surprised to see me...
"G-gremory-Senpai, I didn't expect to s-see you so soon…" Izayoi says, blushing faintly in embarrassment as she hadn't expected to see me come up to her while she was busy seeing to the Duo's punishment.
While I can already hear the gossipers wondering where she and I had met before since we never interacted in school until now, I give her a calm smile and soon respond by saying… "It's fine Hyoudou-san, I was hoping to continue our talk yesterday as if I recall, you have yet to tell me about the latest Manga series you're currently reading…"
Izayoi smiles and nods before I gesture for her to follow me away from the crowd that has gathered, seeing the rest of the Kendo club soon coming up and spotting the Duo. As both I and Izayoi leave for a far less crowded spot, I glance back at the gathered girls of the Kendo club with their Shinais ready…
Looks like the pain of the Perverted Duo today is about to be compounded…
Kuoh Academy - 10 Minutes later
(Rias Gremory's P.O.V)
"...And it was revealed that Eren was the abnormal titan this whole time!" Izayoi says, having spent the last few minutes talking about Shingeki no Kyojin or rather, Attack on Titan as it turns out the Manga only recently came out in my world.
Izayoi seems quite Invested in the character of Eren Yeager here, although I can't help but worry how she'll feel about him as time goes on to eventually go beyond the walls. Knowing what I do because of my past life regarding that particular series, I decided to not say anything but instead, just allow Izayoi to enjoy the series on her own terms.
"Heh, It must have been quite a shock to learn of that Hyoudou-San…" I say, taking some manner of enjoyment in Izayoi's excitement over the events happening in the latest issue of the Manga.
"Yea, but it really has me interested to see where the story goes next, especially if Eren can turn himself into that thing at will!" Izayoi says as she has an excited grin, before long the topic of conversation goes from the manga we have both read in our spare time to simple things such as our homework…
As time passes and our conversation soon turns to comfortable silence, the silence itself is soon broken by the school bell letting us know that our lunch break is over and it's time to get back to class again…
"Huh, time really does fly when you're enjoying yourself…" I say with an amused smile, one that Izayoi shares as we both get off the bench we were sitting on and begin to walk together toward the school building.
"Say Hyoudou-san, I would really like to continue having these talks if that is ok with you…" I say to Izayoi, who looks surprised but quickly has a rather happy smile and nods before smirking and saying…
"I would be more than happy to continue having these lunchtime talks Gremory-san…" After that, we say our brief goodbyes as we head to our respective classrooms for the day. As I ponder what the conversation between me and Izayoi means in regard to potentially seeing other Manga and Anime from my past life, I decide that it would be best to check overtime if various fandoms exist in this world.
After all, while having a perfect memory due to the Everlasting Talent Perk has proven to be quite handy, I do want to try to check if certain games exist in this world both to just have the chance to physically enjoy them in this life and have a direct reference for various techniques I may come up with…
Kuoh Academy, Occult Club Building - After School ends
(Rias Gremory's P.O.V)
There is a certain sense of restlessness that I feel right now, mostly due to the fact I don't exactly know what to do since my homework is done, no contracts to fulfill currently and both Yumi and Akeno are busy focusing on their contracts.
As for Koneko, she's currently resting in her room right now, so I'm currently alone and admittedly rather bored. While I am tempted to just go into my shower to alleviate my stress that way, today I want to do something a tad bit more productive.
I sigh before rubbing the bridge of my nose, struggling to come up with an idea before I suddenly remember how yesterday, I wasn't burned by the extremely hot oven Iron when I touched it with my bare hands.
This reminds me that I haven't really done much to properly experiment with my shroud of power itself, something I believe I should work to rectify right now. With that in mind, I decided to get up and walk out of the Occult Club Building with that exact goal in mind, eager to see the extent of the shroud's fiery capabilities…
But before I leave the building, I decide to check up on Koneko to see if she's alright, walking slowly so as to not disturb her with the door ajar. As I reach the door, I gently push it open to see Koneko napping soundly, making me smile as I slowly close the door as I don't want to wake her up.
After that, I leave the Occut Club Building and start making my way toward a more secluded part of the forest near the Academy, intending to not only see if my earlier training regarding my Power of Destruction was investigated at all or if I can still use that spot.
The Woods not far from Kuoh Academy - 5 Minutes later
(Rias Gremory's P.O.V)
Looking over the training spot, I can see that no one has come here since I blasted that tree to pieces testing the Null Star technique. Still, I decided to once more summon my bat familiar to keep an eye out for anyone I don't know who might stumble upon me testing the shroud.
Once my bat familiar is on overwatch in the sky, I decide to manifest the shroud of power with it immediately forming around me in a burst of flames as rushes forth to create a shroud made from nothing but flames with said flames manifesting from my very being, the color of the flames taking on the same red color as the power of destruction.
With the Shroud of Power now formed, I can feel the innate connection to the shroud, it is as if the Shroud of Power isn't merely an extension of my will but part of my very being, just like the description of the Deep Weave Perk said it would.
Through that innate connection, comes an understanding of the meaning of flame. The destruction it can bring, the warmth it can carry, and in a strange way, I can see why the whole Prometheus story comes to mind when one considers fire being a gift to humanity.
A strange thing to understand as a Pureblood Devil myself, but it brings a smile to my face nonetheless. I can only hazard a guess that a similar level of understanding regarding other elements can occur with the other elements as well, making me quite curious as to how that would feel.
Raising a hand toward the ground, I feel the flames within me surge forward and before long, crimson flames burst forth like a damn breaking, a stream of quite literally red hot flames igniting from the palm of my hands and slamming against the soil…
Using the memories of my past life for reference, it would look akin to how Phoenix King Sozai from the Avatar Series had created a great river of flame under the influence of Sozin's comet, albeit on a much smaller scale.
What makes this even more remarkable is that I can tell that my power of destruction is actively mixing with the flame, which is resulting in the soil forest floor beneath me being completely incinerated instead of just being charred black.
Eventually, I stop expelling the flames and look at the point of impact carefully, finding myself amazed at how hot the flames were. It's enough to make me burst out laughing at the Irony of it all…
My Father wanted to have a Gremory with the power of the Phenex, well in a way he got his wish without that damned marriage ever going through it seems~
After calming down from the laughter, I shake my head and faintly smell smoke, which makes me turn my head to the right to see a burning bush that must have ignited at some point during my test.
However, this gives me an idea for another test as I walk up to the burning bush and hold out my hand as if to blast it with flames again. This time though, instead of blasting the burning bush with flames, I instead draw on the fire that is burning said bush and feel the orange-colored flames turn to streams of orange energy that flow into me through my palm.
I feel strangely revitalized from the absorption of the flames, which makes me recall another fact of the Deep Weave Perk that I can absorb manifestations of my element that I didn't create myself to heal or recharge my reserves.
While I did cause the fire on this bush, I didn't exactly create the fires within the blush itself, a loophole that may come in handy later down the line I suspect. As for the potential to restore myself in various ways, I am in no rush to test out the potential healing that can be done unless I have no choice…
However, I decided to see what else my flames can do, thinking carefully about what I should test next using my past life's memories for context. The issue I find myself quickly dealing with, unfortunately, is the fact that this spot is too public for the sort of testing I want to perform as trying to use anything more flashy may attract unwanted attention.
Unfortunately for me, that may already be too late, as I soon hear someone approaching and before I can dispel my shroud of flame in time, I spot Koneko having found me in this spot as well as her looking at me with eyes wide.
There is an awkward silence as neither of us is able to really say anything for several seconds, eventually, however, I do finally manage to come up with something to explain myself as I soon end up saying….
"U-uh, h-hey K-koneko, I t-thought you would s-still be napping…" Koneko slowly goes from her surprised expression to a frown as I can't help but feel like a kid with their hand in a cookie jar as Koneko flatly says…
"I got woken up by the smell of fire, so I rushed over to see if some idiot decided to light a fire-cracker in the forest….didn't think it'd be you using some….strange…fire spell Rias…" While I find myself giving a relaxed smile, internally I can't help but groan at the fact I forgot Koneko's senses would have probably detected such an intense burst of fire from earlier…
"Well, this is something I've been experimenting with for a while actually Koneko, something I hope will give me the edge against Riser when the day finally arrives to deal with him…" I say, giving a confident smile that has Koneko raising an eyebrow in curiosity, examining how the flames seem to cover and protect me rather than burn me to ash.
"...Please do not tell me you saw this in one of your manga and thought it would be a good idea to try and recreate…" Koneko says with a deadpan expression, making me visibly sweatdrop as Koneko knows me perhaps a tad bit too well regarding my habits but her words also give me a decent excuse for now as I sigh and give a slow nod.
Koneko shakes her head as she slowly walks over before simply asking me to bend down as she wants to tell me something, making me curious as to what she wants to say. When I do bend down though, she gives me an annoyed hard flick against my forehead, making me jolt back and rub my now sore forehead as Koneko says…
"Don't be reckless again Rias, I don't want to lose you to any hair-brained ideas you may have…" Koneko says, showing a look of concern for me with genuinely makes me feel happy that I have such caring, adorably cute servants~
"I won't Koneko, by the way, I did try to infuse a bit of this same new magic of mine into Akeno a few days back and it seemed to have Improved her lightning magic, wanna see what it can do for you…?" I ask Koneko, who gives me a non-too-impressed look at the fact I was reckless enough to try and infuse this new magic of mine into Akeno without anyone to keep an eye on us two before she sighs and says…
"Only if you bake another cake like you did before please Rias…." I can't help but giggle at her condition and find myself nodding with a smile on my face, seems that Akeno's hunch regarding Koneko's sweet tooth being the way to entice her was correct.
"Very well then Koneko, I'll make you a cake right after the infusion process is complete as it is admittedly intense…" I say, walking over with a calm, confident smile on my face as I place a hand on Koneko's shoulder…
"How intense is it exactly Rias..?" Koneko asks, the slight wariness making me chuckle as I pat her head before returning that hand to her shoulder as I can feel the shroud of flame ready itself to completely cocoon Koneko…
"Let's just say, Akeno very much enjoyed the process…"
WARNING - LEMON AHEAD - YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED
(P.O.V Shift - General P.O.V)
Right after Rias says that the fiery shroud of power leaps out at Koneko, catching her off guard for long enough to get completely cocooned in under 5 seconds. The Cocoon of Fire briefly frightens Koneko before she realizes that the flames and what looks to be magma isn't hurting her.
However, the relief is short-lived as orange magma-like tentacles sprout out from the flames and rush into her mouth, and slides past her panties to reach into her pussy and ass, making the short, white-haired young woman blush as she tries to instinctively resist.
In the back of Koneko's mind, she can feel something being infused within her, increasing the more the magma-like tentacles molest and fuck her pussy, mouth, and ass. As time goes by, she can feel the magma-like tentacles begin to grow warmer and warmer, increasing her pleasure as her confusion and wariness disappear in a haze of pleasure.
As Koneko continues to squirm in a haze of pleasure and lust from the Magma-like tentacles, she lets out cute, muffled moans as her body begins to heat up further, although whether that's the fiery cocoon around her restrained form or her own lust isn't exactly something she's sure about…
Before long though, she orgasms hard, spasming about in The Cocoon of Fire as the Magma-like tentacles continue to relentlessly fuck her mouth, ass, and pussy. However, despite her orgasm, the tentacles don't seem to be stopping…
"Just a bit longer Koneko, you're doing great~" Koneko hears Rias say from outside of the cocoon. If Koneko weren't so enthralled by her own pleasure, she'd hear Rias's labored breathing as she tries to not touch herself, doing her damn best to keep herself calm and not join Koneko in the haze of pleasure right in the middle of Forest.
It surprises her that Rias would feel lust from the moans of another woman, although the knowledge that a short, petite girl like her is making someone like Rias become hornier from her moans alone is a strangely ego-boosting and arousing experience for her.
Although how much of that is the pleasure of the tentacles fucking her playing with her horny, lust-hazed mind is uncertain to Koneko, it's enough to finally push her over the edge once more, and at long last she feels as if something snaps into place within her being and everything goes white for a brief moment…
LEMON END - YOU CAN COME OUT OF YOUR BUNKERS NOW
(P.O.V Shift - Rias Gremory P.O.V)
As I am panting and blushing from lust, I can only hope that the binding succeeds soon as I am starting to wonder if I shouldn't just toss caution to the wind and begin to tend to my own needs. Thankfully, however, the cocoon removes itself from Koneko, the shroud of power finally receding back into my being and integrating with my Kuoh Academy Uniform. Koneko has a pleasured, exhausted expression that exemplifies what she just went through as I slowly and carefully touch her shoulder…
"Koneko, are you ok…?" I ask, trying to make sure she's not totally out of her mind from the pleasure. Thankfully my gentle touch to her shoulder and my words snap her out of her daze as she has a dark blush on her face that greatly contracts the quickly forming deadpan expression on her face.
"Two cakes, not one Rias…" Koneko demands, making me burst out laughing as I find myself nodding my head in agreement, although the laughter does seem to annoy Koneko slightly, she doesn't say anything I end up soon replying by saying…
"Of course Koneko.." I say with a soft smile as I hug her gently, feeling the red fabric of Koneko's new shroud of power around her petite form, Koneko herself is briefly surprised by the gesture but finds herself just nuzzling into me, her head resting against my breasts as I smile down at her…
After several moments of comfortable silence, I look up and see that the sky is starting to get dark so I turn my head toward the Occut Club Building's direction and say… "Come on Koneko, let's head back….it's getting late.."
Koneko is silent for a moment or two before getting up, looking at the long red shroud covering her body before looking up at me with a blank look and asking… "Will this shroud I have fuck me like yours did..?"
I find myself giggling in amusement at the question before shaking my head, getting up as I soon respond by saying… "No Koneko, although you should be able to integrate it into your Uniform to hide it…"
Koneko merely raises a single eyebrow in curiosity before she closes her eyes, focusing before she manages to instinctively integrate her shroud into her uniform. After she does, she inspects her Uniform for any sign of the shroud before shrugging her shoulders and looking up at me…
"Well then, shall we head back then Koneko~?" I ask with an amused smile, the petite young woman nodding slowly as we begin to walk back. However, as we were both about to walk back to the Occult Club building, Koneko softly asks a surprising question…
"My sister never actually got corrupted by her Senjutsu, did she….?" I whirl around to look at Koneko who seems to be struggling not to break out into tears as it seems that the Company has likely downloaded certain skills into her and the knowledge that brings her likely made her make connections she couldn't before…
"Koneko…" I say softly before I hug her gently, I can feel Koneko start to tear up as with her newly downloaded skills she knows that the possibility of her sister being corrupted by Senjutsu all those years ago is incredibly low…
"I…why then….why did she do all that….why did she leave…..why did she kill him…?" Koneko says as she begins to cry, buried feelings of her past coming up as all this new company knowledge has thrown her entire comprehension of what happened to her sister on its head.
"Tell me Koneko…did your sister seem the sort of person to kill a person in cold blood…?" I ask, sensing an opportunity that the company unintentionally gave me here to help Koneko. Meanwhile, Koneko shakes her head as she begins to remember the better times with her elder sister…
"N-no….B-but Senjutsu….t-then why….I don't get it….why?!" Koneko says as the knowledge she gained from the binding clashes hard with the official story of what her Elder Sister, Kuroka, did that eventually landed Koneko in my care…
"Do you know what I think happened in that case Koneko…?" I ask, Koneko sniffling as she looks up at me with tear-stained eyes. I smile fondly as I recall how my brother always tried to protect me, always tried to be there for me, and thought the world of me so much….
"Elder siblings like ours always do their best to protect their younger siblings…" I say, with Koneko looking confused momentarily before what I am saying registers in her mind as she begins to tear up again once more…
"T-then she….I….why….?" Koneko asks, looking incredibly vulnerable as she struggles to figure out why she would need protecting. While innately I know what went on thanks to my past life's memories, I lack the proof need to properly exonerate Kuroka right now, so instead I give a different solution…
"How about this then, if we ever encounter your sister at one point, I'll bind her so we can get some answers…" I say, making Koneko look up at me before slowly nodding, believing that even if Kuroka truly was corrupted, the binding should help with that…hopefully…
"...Ok…" Koneko says as she buries her face in my Kuoh Academy Uniform, she really doesn't know what to think anymore. I smile and let her relax for a while before we finally start making our way back to the Occult Club Building…
However, internally I find myself making a promise to Koneko to try and prove Kuroka Innocent, both for her sake and Kuroka's as well. With this in mind, I have yet another reason to not lose to Riser, for if I do end up losing I will be unable to give Koneko the closure that she needs now that her mind is at least open to the possibility of Kuroka being innocent…
So in the long run, I find the price of baking my dear, adorable Koneko two whole chocolate cakes for herself to be a bargain price in exchange for being able to not only bind her but start the path leading to the truth…
Although if my big brother ever learns I said all that about him, he'd probably be quick to act like the siscon that he is…
He's my brother after all~!
Author's Notes
And with that, we have our second capture, Koneko Toujou
And boy does her Binding come with an opening of an unexpected can of worms.
Right, let's get down to the Plot Discussions!
Rias and Izayoi's school encounter
Here we got a bit more characterization as well as get a rough idea of the greater mundane world as If I recall, there is barely much focus on events happening in the human world that specifically revolves around the non-supernaturally aware.
Surprisingly, Attack on Titain's first Manga Release is a year before the release of the manga, so I figured that it would be best to reference that at the very least in order to help get a rough idea of the year.
Whether or not it will be relevant though, I have no plans for that….yet
Experimentation with the Shroud of Power
This is to help build off of the earlier minor development shown in the baking scene last chapter, but also demonstrate the benefits of both an Elemental Shroud as well as the full benefits of Deep Weave minus the Flight benefit.
Interestingly, with fire being one of the most common elements in fictional magic, Rias is more or less impervious to a large majority of commonly used magic. Of course that doesn't mean Rias is unable to be damaged in the first place, but using fire against her is quite pointless at this point.
Capture of Koneko Toujou
Ok, the lemon aside, this one is gonna be a bit of a doozy to explain, so here we go.
When a Captured companion is bound, if they are early bindings they tend to get skills they don't have downloaded into them, with certain things like say a certain Red Dragon Emperor getting their dragon body is more of a framework to get it than actually getting the body post-capture.
So when Koneko got captured, she was hit with a greater understanding of how Senjutsu works as well as now being capable of using it like her future self, something that she believed her elder sister went mad from.
With that greater understanding, she is able to draw connections where she wasn't able to prior to realizing that the whole Kuroka going mad from Senjutsu story just doesn't add up anymore with how careful Kuroka would have been, especially with the downloaded knowledge adding context she was unaware of being untrained as she is.
This sudden uprooting of what she believed was true about her sister now has her questioning what is the truth, the comprehension she now has from her company-provided skill downloads or the official story…
This leads me to make an additional plot point discussion to answer a question that may come up now as a result.
Koneko's Binding VS Akeno's Binding
To explain why Koneko's skill download led to her breaking down while Akeno seemed fine is the difference in trauma source for both of the two.
Koneko has been under the assumption that Senjutsu is what drove her sister made to kill their previous master, as a result, she rejected that side of herself so as to not risk Rias should she ever get corrupted like her sister.
Akeno firmly rejects her fallen angel side due to her hatred of her father for presumably leaving her and her mother to die. In the downloaded skills she would have gotten, it would just be more still to reject rather than have it conflict with her mind like Koneko's skills would.
This doesn't mean that either of the two women's trauma is dealt with yet at all, for Koneko she can at least be set on the path to learning the truth now while Akeno firmly denies her Fallen Angel Heritage and will need extra work to coax it out of her.
Now then, next time on Devilflare Princess: Simple Highschool Days, Spending time with Sona and a certain Big Sister arrives on the scene!
Take care all, see you all soon!