Chapter 11

Junichiro sat back in his supremely comfortable desk chair and hummed over what he'd just seen. An image of Rias speaking with Koneko inside of the ORC building was paused on his computer screen. One of the many things he'd made during the week had been a legion of spy drones. They had three hundred and sixty-degree vision, were completely silent, and had cloaking. They were impossible to find by normal means and he had spread them all over Kuoh. He made new ones on a daily basis to expand his spy network.

Along with the drones he'd made a second VI, because the idea of a real AI scared the crap out of him, to monitor the drones and give him important information. Things like the meeting with Rias conspiring to get him within her clutches. There was also the constant information feed coming from the abandoned church where the three surviving fallen angels each had their own drones following them.

The fallen hadn't done much and just seemed to be pulling more and more excommunicated exorcists to them. They had about fifty at the moment, but the main one he was keeping an eye out for from Freed Selzen. That psychopath needed to die slowly and painfully. Just another one of the church's many horrific and inhuman experiments. None of the three factions were 'clean' by any meaning of the word, but the church of this world really was a bottom-feeding pit of scumbags and monsters. Junichiro was certain that if God had lived, he'd destroy the church for what it had become. Or at least most of it, there were some genuine believers and nice individuals, like Irina Shidou and Asia Argento. Aside from the true believers, the rest were pure scum in his opinion. The worst would have to be the ones in positions gained politically. Politicians could rarely, if ever, be trusted.

Of course, the devils and fallen angels weren't really better, maybe by the smallest of minuscule margins. Their only redeeming factor was that their leaders wanted to try and make things better. Even if they were fucking terrible at it and probably made things worse instead of better. Things like Sirzechs Lucifer and the other three Satans not slaughtering the Old Satan Faction to the last man. That was a mistake that would come back to bite them in the ass. Junichiro didn't plan to let any of his enemies live if he could help it. A living enemy was one that could return stronger later. A dead enemy was one that you need not worry about anymore.

He was planning to kill a LOT of people before he was done. But that could wait until he actually located and met his targets.

Junichiro made his way to the school courtyard with the pair of lunches he'd brought to school today. He had a small smile on his face as he anticipated the meeting he was about to have with Rias. He'd thought about how he wanted to handle things, and with some advice from Ddraig, had a solid plan of action for today.

He made his way to the usual bench that he shared with Koneko and, as expected, did not find her there waiting for him. She usually beat him to the bench, but not always so not seeing her there wouldn't be a shock if he was unaware. He did what he would normally do when he arrived before her, sat down, and prepared to enjoy his lunch. It was as he was munching on a deliciously seasoned deep-fried potato wedge that Rias finally made her way over to him.

For his part, Junichrio did the same thing he did every time he'd seen Rias since the school year had started, he ignored her. It wasn't until she stood in front of him and cleared her throat, rather loudly, that he even bothered to look up at her. As he did there were several things he noticed simultaneously. First, the area had descended into dead silence as everyone nearby watched the two of them to see what was happening. Second, Rias was even more beautiful up close and in person. He'd seen her from afar and knew she was attractive, but her beauty really shone through up close. Her long crimson hair, blue eyes, and voluptuous figure all combined with a complete look that almost screamed 'girl next door' to his sense. She also solved the mystery of what writers meant by 'milky white skin' with how flawless and smooth her white skin was.

He was also cursing his teenage hormones as her very presence seemed to ignite them in a way he hadn't personally felt in decades. He was, currently, only seventeen physically and while that put him on the far side of the worst of teenage hormones, puberty, he hadn't completely cleared the hurdle. Rias seeming to excite his hormones was a tad bit annoying. If he didn't have his old memories to fall back on then it was likely just her being in such close proximity would turn him into a stuttering horny mess. Fortunately, he was just stuck with mildly aroused.

Seeing that she had his full attention, Rias finally spoke, "Good afternoon Arai-san. I was hoping you would join me at the ORC clubroom for lunch. Koneko-chan is there waiting for you to join us."

Junichiro let out a deep sigh that conveyed just how put-out he felt by the situation. In his absolute best 'put upon' voice, he said, "I can see that you won't stop bothering me until I accept. Fine. However, I expect you to leave me alone after today. As I told Yuuto-san, I have no interest in the occult."

Shortly after Rias had spoken, the gathered students around the courtyard had broken into whispers. Junichiro's reply had turned the noise from whispers into low chattering. He expected there to be a dozen rumors flying around the school at the speed of light within the next few moments. Rias, ignoring the sounds around them, smiled brightly at him but made no comment about not sending further invites.

Junichiro packed his lunch back up and followed Rias to the old school building that housed the Occult Research Club. They arrived in the main room of the club, on the second floor, where Junichiro took in the interior. It was a wooden paneled room with Victorian-style furniture. One side of the room was clearly set up as a bath with a shower, while off on another side, he could plainly see a large magic circle. If he wasn't mistaken, that circle was a Gremory one used to teleport to and from clients.

He ignored all of that, as well as almost everyone else in the room, to make his way over to Koneko and the couch she was sitting on alone. He sat next to her and silently handed over the lunch he brought for her. Once she accepted it, he informed her, "It's American today. There's silverware inside for you to use."

Koneko gave a happy nod and quickly dug into the food. He could hear several people sniffing the air as the scent of her lunch permeated the room. Junichiro looked around to take note of who was present. Aside from Rias and Koneko, he could see the last two visible members of the club, Kiba and Akeno. Akeno Himejima, much like Rias, was a voluptuous young woman. However, she embodied the Japanese ideal of a Yamato Nadeshiko with her long black hair done up in a perfect ponytail. The only deviations would be her purple-colored eyes rather than the expected black, like his own, along with her rather massive bust. Most real Japanese women did not have chests that large.

Akeno was giving him what he supposed was supposed to be a sultry smile, so he promptly ignored her. As gorgeous as Akeno was, he wanted nothing to do with her in a romantic manner. He'd never been one for the S&M or BDSM scene so her sadism and masochism were actually a rather large turn-off for him. Besides, he felt Akeno, much like Sona, was one of the dumber people around here.

He opened his lunch and happily returned to eating it in silence right next to Koneko. He could feel an awkward atmosphere beginning to build as he remained silent. He didn't let it bother him even as he could hear Rias, Akeno, and Kiba squirming a little in discomfort. There was no way he was going to make the first move. He didn't really enjoy these power games where whoever spoke first 'lost.' It was stupid. That didn't mean he didn't know how to play the game and win at it.

Rias eventually couldn't take it anymore. She cleared her throat and addressed Junichiro directly, "Tell me Arai-san, do you believe in the supernatural?"

Junichiro let out a scoff that sounded like doubt and just when it looked like Rias was going to speak again he cut her off, "Of course I do. Why do you think I want nothing to do with your club?"

Shocked silence filled the room, though he ignored it and ate another delicious potato wedge. Even Koneko was looking at him in surprise at his answer. Rias recovered and quickly asked, "Then, you're aware that we're all devils?"

Now was the time that Junichiro had to put his acting skill to the test. He coughed out the partially chewed potato in apparent shock, "Devils? What?! NO! I just meant anyone who messes with the occult is clearly looking for a horrible way to die! What the hell do you mean you're all devils?!"

While Junichiro would consider himself a fair actor, though no Oscar winner, there was something he couldn't control. His body. That's where his little precious nanites came in. With a nice neural interface, he was able to get them to control the hormones, scents, and other little things he was producing for a while. Thanks to them he was giving off all the physiological signs of shock and a bit of fear. He couldn't control his hormones for very long or it could do damage to his body. Natural hormones were a part of life after all and controlling them completely seemed like a terrible idea. Short term though? It made lying to the sensitive nose of a nekoshou a lot easier.

Everyone in the room was shocked into silence. Rias had accidentally given the game away in her surprise and sprung their big secret on Junichiro. She'd wanted to ease him into that knowledge as she'd assumed he knew nothing of the supernatural. When that proved to be false, the shock had her jumping to the conclusion that he knew they were devils and thus wanted to avoid them. Though, now that she had a moment to think about it, that didn't make sense since he spent so much time with Koneko, even letting her in his home.

Rias let out a groan and covered her face with her hands. Akeno let out an 'ufufu' laugh at Rias's expense. Kiba just had a small smile on his face while shaking his head in consternation. Koneko simply went back to munching on her lunch. Junichiro glanced down at Koneko and gave her a questioning look, "I figured you more for a cat than a devil, it's even in your name. You sure don't look like a devil. Lack of horns, pale skin instead of red, no pitchfork."

That last one got a snort out of Kiba while Akeno covered her mouth and continued to giggle at her king's expense. Rias just groaned as Junichiro listed off terrible cliches. While Rias groaned, Junichiro reached over and placed a comforting hand on Koneko's shoulder, a look of realization on his face, "I understand Tojou-san."

When he was sure all four members of the ORC were looking at him in confusion, he landed his finishing blow, "It must be hard being in a club with a chuuni president."

Kiba and Akeno quickly looked away, though their shaking shoulders showed their amusement at Rias's plight. Koneko just stared blankly at Junichiro, entirely unsure how she should act. She quickly decided to ignore it and return to her food. Meanwhile, Rias's face slammed into her hands giving herself a legendary double facepalm along with a groan of embarrassed pain. It only got worse when Junichiro added an afterthought, "I hope you three at least keep her reigned in. Messing with the occult is pretty dangerous, even for people who know what they're doing. I'd hate for any of you to lose your souls to a bad deal with a demon or evil spirit."

Rias thought it might be over but it suddenly got worse as Junichiro spoke once again, "Wait... Gremory." His gaze turned to Rias and became penetrating, "I should have realized the first time I heard your name." When Rias looked confused and the other three looked curious, he went on, "From the Ars Goetia, Gremory is one of the seventy-two demon houses." His look turned disappointed, like a parent scolding their child, "I don't know how you did it, but having your name changed to Gremory is just in poor taste. Not to mention what would happen if you ran into a real Gremory demon. They might take offense!"

Akeno, bless her heart, tried at least a little to hide her amusement as Junichiro scolded Rias but she couldn't take it. As he delivered his latest blow as if he was scolding a little child, she simply couldn't hold it in anymore and a very unladylike snort was ripped from her.

The three that knew Akeno best stared at her in shock at the sound she made. Koneko recovered first and actually gave Junichiro a look of wonder for making the woman lose her cool like that. Rias, despite Akeno's distraction, was absolutely mortified at the apparent opinion that Junichiro had of her, even feeling slightly guilty as he scolded her, as if she really did have a fake name. That feeling of guilt snapped her out of it and made her slightly angry. She quickly slapped the table, "Enough!"

Somehow the disappointed look that he leveled at her made Rias, once again, feel like a kid disappointing an adult. She quickly shook it off and scowled at him, "I did not change my name and I am not a chuuni. My name is Rias Gremory, daughter of Zeoticus and Venelana Gremory, next in line for the head of one of the seventy-two pillars of the underworld."

To provide proof of her words, Rias stood from her seat behind her desk and let her wings unfurl behind her. Akeno stood from her spot on one of the couches and unfurled her wings. Kiba pushed off of the wall he'd been leaning on and did the same as the two women. Koneko... stayed sitting and continued to munch on her lunch. Junichiro doing the same next to her while looking between the three devils. He hummed but didn't say anything further. The ball was in Rias's court.

The three people with wings out all retracted them and returned to their previous positions. Rias set her elbows on her desk and steepled her fingers, "Tell me, do you know anything about Sacred Gears Arai-san?"

Junichiro nodded, "A bit, mines called The Workshop."

He didn't miss the brief look of surprise at the volunteered information. Though it was rapidly followed by a moment of disappointment and lastly confusion, "But, that's not a dragon-type sacred gear."

He snorted, "No, it's not."

Even though he designed it, Junichiro still felt that The Workshop using Santa Claus as a power source was actually pretty fucked up. Then again, God literally ripping apart the dragon soul powering the Vritra sacred gears was also pretty fucked up. Something about Vritra must have scared God for him to do that to Vritra, who was only a dragon king. All the while he did nothing to the souls of Ddraig and Albion, the heavenly dragons.

Rias looked confused and looked at Koneko. The petite white-haired girl shrugged her shoulders at the questioning look. Rias focused back on Junichiro, "Koneko has a sensitive nose and said you and your apartment smelled like a dragon."

Junichiro just smirked but didn't reply. Rias waited silently until she realized he wouldn't answer the implied question. She really wanted to know what was going on but forced down her curiosity, for the moment, and moved on, "Well, although The Workshop is similar to Kiba's own Sword Birth, it does have the advantage of being able to make armor along with swords."

Junichiro snorted then began laughing, "That's all you think it can do?"

He set down his fork and held up his hands. Everyone could see that he was wearing several bracelets of differing colors and metals. A matching pair he wore on each wrist suddenly began to glow. Lines of energy shot from the glowing points of the bracelets to the palms of his open hands. The lines near instantly traced out the shape of something that looked like an odd sort of pistol. In the next second the lines seemed to blur like pixels on a screen and finally solidified into two matching Caster-style pistols held in his hands.

While the four devils tried to recover from the surprise, the bracelets flashed again as he flicked a switch on the side of each gun. The backs of the weapons folded open and revealed their breaches. Meanwhile, the bracelets traced two shells directly into the breaches. Once they finished, taking less than a second, he flipped the same switch and closed the breaches. Once closed both guns began to hum with restrained magical energy that all four devils could feel. Junichiro held the weapons in a loose grip with a cocky grin on his face, "Swords and Armor? Please. It's the twenty-first century now."

Everyone's eyes widened as they saw the twin guns in Junichiro's hands. They could all feel the magical power they were emitting as the multiple turbines along the barrel spun and began to light up. Rias was the first to come to her senses though as she let out a happy fangirl squeal of delight, "Are those CASTERS?!"

Junichiro smirked, he'd looked and there was a version of Outlaw Star in this reality. It was slightly different, but the main concept of a Caster Gun was the same so they were easy for an otaku like Rias to recognize. He nodded his head, "Damn right they are. They even shoot magic, though I modified what the shells can do. Instead of boring beams from all of them, they're elemental shots. Of course, I have some beam shells just because beams are awesome!"

Rias practically had stars in her eyes as she excitedly exclaimed, "Join my peerage!"

AN

For those of you expecting Junichiro to bash Rias as he did Sona, sorry to disappoint. There's a pretty big difference between the two after all. Sona's fuck up was pretty public and everyone knew about it, though no one seemed to call her on it, ever. Rias though, her issues are more private and affect fewer people, those being the members of her peerage before Issei joined in canon.

Rias, along with others, will get a verbal smackdown eventually. It's just that Junichiro has no logical reason for knowing the issues with Rias and her peerage members at this point in time. That means ripping Rias a new one over it would expose just how much he knows about the private matters of her and her peerage members.

Lastly, for those who are interested. I have a pat-reon account that I used to use for my original story. I've since repurposed it and added some of the work I've been recently doing to it. If you're interested in supporting me, feel free to join it. If not, no worries, everything I write there will eventually be here. I've just got my 'raw' chapters up there, the ones I haven't gone over a dozen times to fix mistakes or rewrite sections I don't like. I've currently got the next 3 chapters of Fabricator up, along with the next chapter of Birth of a Legend.

If supporting me in my work interests you pat-reon slash thomasdarkrose

Just be sure to double-check which tier you sign up for, I still have the old ones for my previous work up. Thanks and I look forward to the reviews on this chapter!