Author's Note: It's time for another filler event with Rito. This time, Issei assigns Rito to take on one of his summoning requests. I was originally going to make Rito babysit children while the mother went to a concert but there wouldn't be much to write. The final version here is taken out of a visual novel I am currently playing. Can you guess which one it is?

Published 1/7/2016

Chapter 16:

Life as a Devil II

It has been a few weeks since Rito visited the Underworld for the first time. After another school day, Rito returns to his dorm room at night and sees a big box of summoning cards. He thinks Issei wants him to hand out another stack of summoning cards. As he reaches for the box, Issei quickly turns around.

"Rito! Don't worry about these anymore."

"What about my devil duties?" Rito asks Issei.

"These cards are for my familiar. As for you Rito, congratulations, you have just graduated from handing out summoning cards."

"Graduated? What does that mean?"

Issei moves the boxes away from Rito. "Summoning cards are usually handed out by our companions called 'familiars'. They help us with trivial duties while we focus on more complicated tasks. That's how we effectively serve our customers and earn pacts. Familiars can be anything ranging from a bat to a mouse. Take a look out the window."

Rito looks out the window and sees a large flying ship hovering in front of him. Rito continues. "This flying ship is my familiar. It's a living boat that can transport anything. It is extremely useful in combat since it provides an escape path for all those innocent people."

Issei opens the window and loads stacks of summoning cards onto the ship. He also fires up the summoning card shooter at the bow of the ship. "Alright, you're set. Don't forget to cover the manor district."

After the ship departs, Rito questions Issei. "Why did you make me hand out those summoning cards then? I feel like my efforts went to waste."

"Nonsense Rito," Issei laughs for a bit. "All the work you've done is part of your training to become a high-class devil. For a newly reincarnated devil like you, you need to start with the basic which is to hand these summoning cards out. Now that you have this under your belt, it's time that you try something more challenging."

"What is it going to be?" Rito asks Issei.

Issei shows Rito his devil tablet. "For a summoning card to be effective, the recipient needs to summon us with these cards. These bright red stars indicate summoning requests. We use our 'Jump' teleportation to move over there. After we identify the client, we ask them what they want and use our powers and abilities to fulfill their wishes. As payment, we ask them for a pact equal to the amount of service we have given to them. Remember that the value of the pact is how we are evaluated as devils."

"What is a pact? It sounds so confusing." Issei keep mentioning that word without explaining it.

"Pacts are anything with some kind of value. Take a look at some of the pacts I made." Issei points Rito to a corner with lots of miscellaneous items. Rito sees a baseball, trading cards, and a painting of the Floral Club girls. Rito then veers left and finds pencils, erasers, comic books, and candy wrappers.

"Are those pacts too?" Rito points at the other items.

"Well… Umm… Those aren't pacts." Issei quickly covers it up as he continues talking. "Anyways, your job tonight is to answer one of these requests. It may be tricky at first but you'll eventually get the hang of it. We can go to the forest and choose a familiar for you once break time comes around."

Issei clicks on one of the stars on the tablet. "Here's a good one for you. It looks like this request is coming from a desperate high school female student. This student looks like she is from an extremely wealthy family so her request shouldn't be too hard or dangerous for you. I'll give you the transport details right now."

Issei gives Rito the details and creates a magic circle in front of him. "Alright Rito, good luck. Don't forget to return with a pact."

"Wait! I'm not ready yet!" Before Rito could voice his concern, the magic circle activates, sending Rito to his destination. After the magic circle disappears, Issei gives a big sigh.

"Ugh… I completely forgot about those candy wrappers. It's going to be hard to explain to Rias why a high-class devil got candy wrappers as a pact for helping them clean up their room. I hope Rias doesn't mind."

Rito arrives safely at the client's home. At first, the room appears deserted despite having lots of luxury amenities such as carved wooden furniture, velvet upholstery, and plush carpeting. Rito continues to look around until he hears a voice.

"Hello… Are you the spirit that will grant my wish?" Rito sees a black-haired girl peeking from the partially-opened closet.

"Umm… Yes…" The girl hears Rito's response and comes out.

"So, what can I do for you tonight?" Rito continues.

"Umm… You know, I getting married to someone in three days." The girl nervously answers Rito.

"Getting married?" Rito thinks to himself. "Hey Issei, what kind of assignment is this? This doesn't sound devil-like at all."

Rito replies. "It's great that you're getting married. That should be an exciting event. Is there something wrong about this marriage?"

"You see…" the girl continues. "It's more complicated than that. My fiancée isn't someone that I love. He was chosen by mother who is also the headmistress of this school."

"What don't you like about your fiancée?" Rito is curious about the situation. This problem reminds him of Lala and her fiancée candidate meetings.

"He's arrogant. He always likes talking about his status and labels other people as worms. He also decides what I am allowed to wear and always makes me get dressed in skimpy clothes. I also have to agree with all the choices he makes. He only cares about what is best for his image and has an unrealistic expectation of his future wife. I feel like I have no freedom under him. The only reason my mother chose him is because he is the son of a powerful family who owns The Mortiso Corporation, a famous and successful business. My mother is hoping that bondage between us will invite them to support our troubled school with generous donations."

Rito is confused. "What is wrong about the school? Everything in this school looks nice. Even this room is more luxurious than most hotel rooms."

The girl gives a sigh before continuing. "It's true that our school is luxurious, prestigious, and famous for producing prominent female figures. However, it is also suffering financially. This private academy is built for girls from rich and wealthy families. We sometimes accept girls from normal families if there is space available and the girl has academic qualities that match the current students here. To keep this school refreshed, updated, and fitting for these wealthy daughters, we recently spent so much money renovating all of the classroom buildings and the student dormitories. We thought this would also attract more wealthy families to send their daughters here. Instead, enrollment decreased dramatically these past years. Fewer enrollments also mean less donations, resulting in our current financial situation. After intense discussions on what to do, a 2nd Year student proposed a solution by integrating with boys and brought in a model boy as an experiment. However, many people are against it especially my mother."

"That doesn't sound like a wise investment on your mother. I don't see anything wrong with trying out new ideas. At least, it is a better choice than setting up an arranged candidate." Rito finds the headmistress's logic strange.

"My mother values the traditions of this school and wants to keep it girls-only. The idea of coed enrages her. Because of that, my mother always treats that boy with hostility even though he did nothing wrong. During his time here, she is always trying to find excuses to kick him out. She also labels him as a lowlife trash because of his history. He came from a poor family whose father is always running from the debt collectors."

The girl then looks down on the bed with tears. "However, this boy is nothing like his dad. After seeing how much he has done to help everyone including my sister, I kind of felt warm when I am with him. He helped rescue my sister from kidnapping as well. I was happy when he asked me out for date that one time."

"Do you love him?" Rito asks the girl. The girl nods.

"I went out with him despite my mother's orders. I even snuck out of my fiancée meetings. Then, he suddenly disappeared. My mother made a public announcement this afternoon that he has decided to quit the experiment and transfer to another school. There is no way that could be true. Even though his room looked clean, I found traces of dirty footsteps. This has to be some kind of lie!"

"Your mother's announcement sounds very suspicious. It feels like a cover up."

"Really? You see it too? My mother just told me that I would have my wedding ceremony in three days. I don't want to get married to that guy which I why I went to you. Please help me spirit-san."

"Well, I don't know how much I can help you. Three days is a very short time span to work with and there isn't much evidence or clue we have towards solving this mystery. We can start by looking into his room first if that's fine by you."

"Oh please do! Anything to help me get out of this marriage would be wonderful."

"OK." Rito and the girl both walk toward the boy's room. As they quietly walk down the hallway, Rito thinks to himself. "Issei, what's with this assignment? This isn't easy; I do poorly as a detective and I don't feel comfortable dealing with relationships."

Issei walks into the boy's room and finds a strange odor in the room. The odor carries an alcohol and tobacco scent, something unusual in an all-girls academy. The girl then shows Rito all of the footprints she found in the room. Rito takes a look at the footprints and realizes that they're actually shoeprints.

"It does look like someone came in and took your boy away. Why would anyone walk behind the dressers and into the closet with their shoes on? Even though this confirms our suspicions, we will need more clues to locate the suspect."

The girl is initially depressed at Rito's response but suddenly comes up with idea. "I know; my older sister can help. She's been through similar experiences. She probably has an idea who might have kidnapped the boy too. I'll call her up." Rito agrees and finds the big sister waiting inside her little sister's room. The big sister takes a look at Rito and then smiles at him.

"Ah, so you're the detective my sister hired? Ehehe… It just shows that my sister truly loves this person."

"Oh… Yeah… Umm… Hey…" Rito feels nervous talking to her. Her physical body can easily attract any male.

"Oh yeah? You think I look cute and sexy? You're just like that boy my sister loves." The big sister teases Rito, making Rito blush.

The big sister continues. "Based on all of the events that have happened so far, it obviously has to be a kidnapping. There's no way he would voluntarily drop out of the experiment. We have been helping him a lot despite our mother's push against integration with boys at this school. The chairwoman has warned the headmistress not to abuse her authority so she is definitely thinking of some clever way to get that boy out of our school. With him gone, she can convince the student body to vote 'No' in the Integration Vote which will take place after the ceremony. The Integration Vote is the vote that decides once and for all if this school shall be coed."

Rito repeats his words at the big sister. "I would like to help you girls, but it's hard to solve this mystery without any clues."

"Don't worry, I'll help you. After all, I love seeing my sister smile." Given the big sister's frequent shopping trips around the city, she suspects that the kidnappers must be the same ones that kidnapped her before. These are the only unruly people she has met with throughout the city. She hands Rito all the information she remembers about her kidnappers and a list of places in the city the big sister and everyone else often visit.

"Please help us. This wedding ceremony was randomly planned by my mother and we can't let her get away with it."

Rito takes a look at the list and begins his search throughout the city. On the first night, Rito does not make any breakthrough. On the second night, Rito finds some suspicious people at a restaurant. This group seems to sit far away from other tables at the restaurant. Rito continues to observe them until a taxi cab picks them up.

"I can't handle this anymore. What am I supposed to do? An incomplete request is worse than a request without a pact. Maybe I should give up." Rito makes second thoughts about his assignment.

Then, the final day came. It's now the morning of the wedding ceremony. The little girl is worried Rito will not find the boy she loves in time. She is preparing for the worst outcome by coming up with ways to reject the arranged candidate and not upset her mother. Her plan is to accept the marriage right now and divorce him a few days after the ceremony. Rito desperately looks for clues hoping for a last minute breakthrough. Just when the clock hits 11:00 AM, he spots another suspicious person. Not only this person partially matches the description given by the big sister, he is also wearing lots of clothing enough to hide most of the body from exposure. He also talks in a strange voice masking his actual voice.

"Hmm… That guy really seems strange. It looks like he is trying to hide his face from something. The way he talks to the cashier doesn't seem normal either. Is he the kidnapper?"

The suspicious man quickly runs out of the restaurant and down the street at a fast pace. Thanks to Rito's devil powers, Rito is able to keep a short distance between the suspicious man and him. The big sister, also participating in the last-minute search, struggles to keep up.

"Wait for me spirit-san! I'm not athletic!"

Rito stops at the central plaza and sees the suspicious man walk behind an abandoned apartment complex. Rito quietly walks towards the complex confident that he found the location of the boy. At first, Rito only hears the wind blowing. Suddenly, a loud thump from one of the buildings catches Rito's attention.

"Let me out! Let me go!"

"Quit your yapping. There's no way you are getting out until 1 pm."

"Why are you doing this? Is it because of that lady? Snap out of it!"

"Shaddup! It's none of your business." Rito hears more thumping sounds and steps in. He gets noticed.

"What the hell are you doing here? This is a private property!" The suspicious man and his accomplice confront Rito.

"I heard some unusual noise so I came to check it out." Rito replies.

"GET OUT NOW!" The two men rush forward and throw a series of punches and kicks at Rito. One of the men also tries to whip Rito with a leather belt. Rito is scared at first but realizes that none of the attacks are hurting him. Rito then pushes the men out of way and heads for the door that they were guarding. Then two men charge towards Rito, but Rito manages to sneak behind the men. He pushes the men towards the door, causing it to fall apart. Someone walks out from the broken door looking ragged.

"Is that the boy?" Rito is unsure if he found the right target. Suddenly, he hears the big sister calling out to him.

"Mother will hold a wedding ceremony for her in 30 minutes. Take my taxi. Hurry up and get to the school's cathedral."

"I'm on it." The boy rushes into the taxi and heads off to school. He shows up at the doorsteps of the cathedral right when the girl was about to give her vow, shocking everyone.

"GET OUT OF HERE! YOU'VE ALREADY RUINED THIS SCHOOL!" The headmistress blocks the boy from moving forward to the altar.

"Help me!" Everyone could hear the girl calling the boy to rescue her. The headmistress tries to call security and force everyone to ignore the commotion. However, the chairwoman steps in.

"Madam Headmistress. What's this about? Why would he storm here and dress up like this if he dropped out?"

"Uhh… it was because he..." The headmistress could not justify what just happened. The chairwoman takes the headmistress away for a private talk, allowing the boy to take back the girl and cancel the wedding.

"Sorry sir, but she is already taken," says the boy to the fiancée. The confused fiancée has no choice but to accept it.

A few days later, Rito is called to the headmistress's office. Here, he sees the headmistress apologizing to everyone. The chairwoman has agreed not to report the headmistress if she accepts her daughter's current relationship. The kidnappers were also arrested on an unrelated offense.

"What do you have to say mother?" the big sister asks.

"I'm sorry; I admit defeat. For many years, our school has been successful as an all-girls school. All of the faculty members and administrative staff here are former students of this school and respect this tradition. I love this school too and strived to preserve it for future generations. It hurts to realize that my grandkids won't be attending the same school that supported our family. I thought my actions ensured the best for my daughter."

"I know that you care a lot about my future. However, I also want to have the freedom to make my choices," says the little girl.

"I apologize." The headmistress then turns to the boy. "But… As my future son-in-law, don't expect me to be lenient on you."

"I understand. I will work hard." The boy agrees.

After everyone is dismissed from the office, the boy thanks Rito and the big sister for the help.

"I had no idea that devils are gentle," says the boy.

"Yeah… It's just like what my master said. The devils that everyone pictures and reads are outdated. I represent one of the new devils. Ahahaha…"

"Thanks spirit-san… maybe we should call you again in the future. If you also didn't know, this school has decided to adopt gender integration. It will take a year for all the preparations to be completed." The girl also thanks Rito.

"Yeah, take this if you ever need me again." Rito hands out three summoning cards, one for each person.

"Thank you. I'll keep this in a safe place." Everyone waves goodbye to Rito as he leaves the school grounds. As Rito prepares to return to Sainan University, he looks at the thank-you card he received.

"I guess a thank-you card works as a pact. There are feelings and thoughts inside this card so it should be acceptable."

On the way back, Rito stops at a vending machine and buys a soda from it. As he sits down at a nearby bench and takes a refreshing drink, he hears a familiar voice calling for him.

"Rito-san. Long time no see. Uhuhu..."