Chapter 7

Once Ddraig had fully calmed down from his experience, Junichiro decided it was time to move on with more work for the night. He summoned his Incursio armor and removed the Ice and Portal gems from the gauntlet on it. As he did Ddraig spoke up, 'What are those? I sense a fair amount of power from them.'

"Well, I don't really know how to actually cast any spells. As far as I am aware, as a human, I have to use the same kind of calculation-based magic other humans use. I don't want to waste the time and effort learning that when I plan to become a devil and gain their imagination-based magic. So I made these. The light blue one allows me to cast powerful ice magic. It can freeze things to absolute zero and, with enough power, even freeze time!"

'Impressive.'

"Indeed. The purple one is slightly less impressive but still useful. It lets me use all kinds of teleportation and portal-creation magic. With enough power, it can even create and transport me, and others, to an alternate dimension just slightly removed from this one. As long as I'm in it I'm safe from anything anyone can throw at me... Well, except maybe Dimension Lost."

'Also impressive.'

Junichiro nodded while he set the gems off to the side. He dismissed his armor and pulled off the amulet that the armor became when not in use, "This is the armor I mentioned before. I want you to absorb it and integrate it into yourself. With it, we'll eventually gain immunity to anything that could hurt us. I'll set some stuff up to train said immunities soon."

He was imagining using something to automatically fire his Caster Gun at himself to build immunity to certain types of energies. It would be faster and safer than waiting for an enemy to do it. He made a note to himself to create some HOLY BEAM shells. Until then, he summoned up the Boosted Gear in its evolved form and held the amulet up to it. The gauntlet on his left arm seemed to come to life as a small dragon head formed and chomped on the amulet, eating it in a single bite.

'It will take a while to assimilate the armor, Partner.'

"That's fine, I need to make the replacement anyway. Not that your balance breaker wouldn't be awesome armor, but I can't wear that at all times."

Ddraig snorted in amusement, 'True enough.'

Junichiro dropped an entire engine block out of his storage ring onto his floor. He could use his replicators to make any amount of any material he desired, and he would as soon as he emptied the scrap he had in his ring. No reason to waste stuff he paid for, after all.

He knelt next to the large hunk of metal and focused on using The Workshop. Magical power rushed out of him in a large wave that ignited the green glow and red sparks of his original sacred gear. The engine block began to crumble into a fine dust as it was rapidly converted into nano-machines so small that large amounts of them actually looked like a liquid, it could easily be mistaken for mercury. He broke down the entire engine to generate a large puddle of nano-machines.

With the work done, he stepped into the middle of the puddle and activated the billions of little machines with a thought. The liquid-like metal flowed up his body covering him from head to toe and making him look like a liquid metal terminator. The machines seemed to slowly fade from view leaving Junichiro in his normal school uniform.

Everything looked normal but nothing was. All of his clothing had been destroyed and replaced with microscopic machines. The whole point was to make a suit of armor he could wear all the time so the machines could replicate any of his clothing or even anything he imagined. Like his previous armor, the new armor could even evolve and grow stronger over time. If it was ever damaged it could take any material from nearby and use it for repairs. Lastly, the nano-machines were connected directly to not only his own mana core but the infinite mana generator as well.

Basically, he had a more powerful magically enhanced version of Iron Man's nanite armor with infinite energy being provided to it. Flight, concussive blasts, and replication of any weapon he could imagine all with infinite ammo and power provided to them. Not to mention the replication of any kind of clothing he felt like wearing while maintaining its defensive power. His only vulnerable places would be the ones not covered with clothing.

Junichiro sighed and sat down to relax for a little while. His head was starting to throb after all the work he did. It might not seem like he did much to the outside observer but the body he made for Ddraig was probably the single most complicated item he'd made to date. Everything else was pretty specialized, even if powerful, whereas the body was far more complex.

Tomorrow was the beginning of the weekend again and he planned to work with Ddraig to get some practice with the Boosted Gear now that it was finished draining power from him. He didn't want the first time he used it to be in the middle of battle. To that end, he'd also spent about an hour every night using his holohome to train with a projected sensei that was teaching him boxing at the moment. After that, he used a projected firing range and his ice magic gem for target practice. Ranged fighting would be his preferred method of battle, but he wasn't going to expect that to always be an available option. Sometimes you just had to deck a dick in the face.

Junichiro had just sat down for his Saturday lunch after a long morning of training with his virtual sensei, to warm up for his training with Ddraig in the afternoon, when his doorbell rang. He frowned and looked in the direction of the door, he wasn't expecting anyone to come by. He'd barely made acquaintances with his classmates and hadn't told any of them where he lived. No one should be bothering him.

His frown of confusion turned into a sigh of resignation when he looked through the peephole in his door and saw no one. He'd only interacted with a single person that short and instantly knew what they wanted.

"Computer, double my lunch order and place it in the fridge."

As soon as his order was made, he opened the door to reveal a young woman of fifteen that could still pass for a middle school student. She was the mascot of Kuoh High, the ever-adorable, ever-stoic, Koneko Tojou. Koneko was a petite young woman with pure white hair cut into a bob with two longer lengths on either side of her face. She was a first-year student he'd run into on his second day of school and she'd been a constant presence since then. It was both adorable and annoying to Junichiro and he couldn't help reminiscing over how they'd met.

Last Tuesday, lunch...

Junichiro sat outside with his homemade bento, it was literally made by his home. While the school food hadn't been terrible yesterday, he'd decided that the food made by his replicator was simply better by a large margin. So, logically, he'd had the system make him lunch. He'd told it to make a randomized, but balanced, mix of Japanese and American meals. He honestly had no idea what was currently in his lunch as he'd kept it closed to keep it a surprise.

He lifted the lid and was immediately hit with a heavenly scent. It looked like today was a Japanese-style meal consisting of karaage (marinated fried chicken) as the protein, tamagoyaki (rolled egg), white rice, and two fish-shaped taiyaki with unknown fillings. Though there weren't many different items there was a large amount of each. With Ddraig stealing his mana constantly, he found his hunger had increased a fair amount. He'd eaten enough for three people at breakfast.

He grabbed his chopsticks and quickly dug into the marinated and deep-fried chicken thighs. It took all of his willpower not to moan at the taste. Thanks to the way it was made, his karaage was the absolute pinnacle of what karaage could be. He tried the rice next, he was pretty sure it was jasmine rice but he could have been wrong. The rice was cooked to perfection leaving it just slightly chewy with a hint of butter and salt. It didn't need anything else to be delicious. The other items were similarly perfect in preparation and flavor. He left the taiyaki alone though, that was for desert.

When he was about halfway through his lunch, he felt someone sit next to him without asking permission, any warning, or even a greeting. He stopped with a piece of karaage held just in front of his mouth by his chopsticks and glanced to the side. He froze when he spotted the petite young woman with white hair staring directly at him with her golden eyes. He briefly panicked at having one of Rias Gremory's peerage members so suddenly approaching him, but then he noticed something.

Koneko Tojou wasn't even paying attention to him. At first, he thought she was staring at him but when he moved the food away from his mouth, her eyes followed it like a cat on the hunt. Her posture and face remained stoic as he moved the piece of meat around and watched her eyes follow its every movement. He knew Koneko had a sweet tooth but it looked like she might be a gourmand as well. He started to feel like he was teasing a pet with a treat given how she was following the food as he continued to move it. He finally gave in, he was sure that was her plan!

"Would you like some?"

Koneko didn't answer verbally, she was known to not talk much and usually only in short concise statements. Instead, a pair of chopsticks seemed to appear in her hands from out of nowhere and a piece of his karaage quickly vanished into her mouth. It was only for a brief moment, a blink of the eye, but he would swear that he heard her give a little moan, smile, blush a bit, and look at him with stars in her eyes. He couldn't even contemplate what he'd seen before another piece of his chicken disappeared.

The two ate his lunch in silence which was only slightly awkward. It got a little more awkward when he spotted Koneko reaching for one of the taiyaki. He caught her hand and shook his head, "Desert is only for after the meal is done."

Koneko gave him her best version of puppy dog eyes, or would that be kitten eyes in her case? Either way, Junichiro was unaffected and held firm. Koneko only pouted for a moment before becoming cheerful again, in her own stoic way. She might not have gotten the taiyaki, but the rest of the food was still the most delicious she'd ever eaten and she was more than willing to eat more of it until it was time for the desert.

Once the rest of the meal was eaten, he offered Koneko one of the taiyaki and kept the other to himself. The both of them bit into the fish-shaped cakes filled with sweet bean paste simultaneously. They both also let out near-silent moans of delight as the flavor hit their tongues. It was sweet but not too sweet and even had a light hint of salt to enhance the underlying flavors even further so the sweet bean paste didn't overpower the surrounding cake.

Once the taiyaki had been consumed to the last crumb, Koneko stared up into his eyes and spoke for the first time since she sat down. Her voice was soft and had a slightly plaintive tone to it, "More?"

Junichiro closed his bento box and made sure he cleaned up any mess he might have made, "Not until tomorrow."

He knew it was pretty much inevitable that Koneko would stalk him at lunch from now on. He could chase her off, refuse to share with her, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. Just the thought made him feel like a bastard that would happily kick a kitten. He just didn't have it in himself to deal with her pouting so adorably at him if he refused. Aside from that, it would help him out later since he wanted to be recruited by her King anyway.

Having heard his reply, Koneko hopped to her feet and left the area. It was only after she was gone and he stopped focusing on her so much that he realized the pair of them had an audience. The few boys in the courtyard were looking at him in either hatred or with a warning in their eyes. The women were all looking at him in a way that almost seemed hungry. When he caught one of them mentioning how he would make a good father, he decided that was enough and left.

Junichiro shook his head a little at the memory. Every day since then, Koneko had joined him for lunch. He made his lunches even bigger from that day on. It left him with enough for himself and gave Koneko a good amount. He doubted it was enough for her to feel full, then again she always seemed to be willing to eat. He probably shouldn't have been surprised that she had shown up at his home at lunchtime.

He stepped to the side and waved his arm to welcome Koneko into his apartment. He was pretty certain she'd gotten his address from Rias, possibly Sona, because he sure hadn't given it to her. He wasn't really worried about letting her into his home, there wasn't really anything visible that could be thought of as odd. The closest thing would be the small dragon body for Ddraig but the dragon knew not to use it with anyone over. He may not have access to Junichiro's memories, but they'd discussed all his plans together.

Once she was inside, he directed her to the table while he fetched her lunch from the fridge, his was already at the table. He made sure to snag some chopsticks for her and set everything in front of her. She didn't even wait for him to sit down before he pulled the lid off to see what was for lunch. Her eyes widened in surprise and he could swear they were sparkling. When he looked at her food, he understood why. Inside the bento box had to be the most delicious and expensive-looking selection of sushi he'd ever seen.

After she got over the shock of the sushi, she could smell the freshness and could tell just how expensive some of the fish used would be, she looked directly at Junichiro. There was still delight but he could see a slight bit of suspicion. He could understand why as well. His school lunches, while delicious, were common foods and not very expensive. He didn't restrict the food that could be made for himself at home, why would he? The Bluefin Tuna in their bentos easily ran two hundred thousand yen a pound. Each of their boxes had at least three-quarters of a pound each, three hundred thousand yen worth of tuna, at least. It was obvious he should not have been able to even remotely afford the food in front of them.

He could clearly see the question in Koneko's eyes but he chose to ignore it and instead began to eat his own lunch. If she didn't verbally ask about it, he wasn't going to say anything. It's not like her little bit of suspicion about him was a bad thing. Come Monday morning he planned to begin emitting some magical power to draw a little attention from the devils anyway. Shortly after that, he planned to begin emitting a draconic scent as well. Really amp up their interest and make them assume he had a dragon-type sacred gear just beginning to awaken.

Koneko continued to stare at him but eventually succumbed to the call of the delicious meal in front of her. With a somewhat annoyed grunt aimed in his direction, she selected her first piece of sushi and popped it into her mouth. In the few days he'd known the small woman, he'd hardly seen any real expressions on her face. Just the occasional small smile when she really liked something he gave her. So, it was with some surprise, that he saw a full-blown joyous smile spread across her face.

Even more surprising, he, just for a brief moment, saw white-furred cat ears appear on the top of her head. They only existed for the blink of an eye before they were gone once more. Anyone else might have thought it was an illusion or trick of their own mind but he knew that for that one moment, Koneko lost control. She was a nekoshou, a rare subspecies of nekomata, a type of cat yokai. He knew she not only had cat ears but a tail as well. He also knew that she did her absolute best to not let them out due to some trauma from her past.

That being the case, he kept his mouth shut and acted as if he hadn't noticed her slip in the least. Rather, he focused on eating his meal. He relished the delicious fish and rice combination. The meal came with various rolls, nigiri, and sashimi, all perfection. Her little hums of delight let him know that Koneko was enjoying the meal even more than he was. She seemed rather sad when their food was gone and nothing was left.

Despite her cute silent pleas for more, he escorted her back to his door, "I'll see you tomorrow for lunch Koneko."

Koneko gave him one last final pleading pout before giving up and heading to wherever she needed to be. He closed the door to his apartment with a sigh, "Well, that's likely to cut into my free time on the weekends from now on."

Ddraig just laughed at his host's plight.

AN

I really want to do as few of these as possible but some things were said in reviews that I wanted to publicly address. Specifically comments about Junichiro joining Rias peerage. It's going to happen. Sorry if this is upsetting to some or makes my story 'lame' or 'crap' or whatever else people will say. There are both character-driven reasons as well as my own for this choice.

In the case of character-driven, Junichiro was a normal man who lived a normal life and casually enjoyed the things I do. He could easily have been me. A guy near his 40's who lived a pretty average life and did nothing special. Never even been in a fistfight. There is literally nothing special or outstanding about him from his previous life. Just some adult experience in life. His life as a teenager was just as plain and basic as his previous life. He has no special training or extraordinary understanding. You could even say his knowledge of what he's doing is extremely shallow. Yes, he has massive potential and massive power he could create for himself that could make him into a divine being within weeks or months, probably. An average guy suddenly being given a lot of potential power is going to make a lot of mistakes, some of which will be driven by fear.

As for my reasons as a writer, one reviewer pointed out how joining Rias's peerage was the 'easy' way to write the story. Damn right it is! That's part of why I wish to do so. This little project is something I'm doing not just for fun, but to get back into the habit of writing so I can work on something original again. The first thing I ever published publicly was an original work posted on Royal Road titled 'Age of Gods: A VRMMO Story'. Then life happened and I was forced to stop for quite some time now. I want to get my mojo back and get back to writing original works. To that end, I picked a small fandom that I enjoyed for what it was and have some fun in a prebuilt playground.

This story will not be a huge massive rewrite where cannon is completely blown apart from the very beginning. If I was going to write something like that, I'd write an original work. Cannon will, eventually, fall off the rails and I will work with what I made by that point, but until then I'll use the beats of the original cannon to help guide where I plan to go. So yes, expect Riser and Kokobiel to at least make an appearance similar to cannon with some minor tweaks due to Junichiro being around. After that, things might be blown up enough to forge a new path. We'll see.

So, hope that all helps give some insight into my thinking.