Yahoo! two chapters in one month ?! Yes, I am surprised too and for this I thank Darklord331 who has decided to help while WhiteDragonSky is busy. I've been told there are minor errors in the translation, but that's okay, when I load chapter 5 chapter 4 will be reloaded with corrections. I was planning to upload this chapter next week, but I decided to do it now and correct it later, so you don't have to wait too long.
Let's move on to the reviews:
-ArguableReader: Honestly, I don't understand if your comment is an argument or a general critique of how people view Rias.
-Zet4: starting from one of your last statements: in Mha vigilant several mutant quirks were shown that with the trigger changed the person's appearance into a more monstrous one. That type of drug was thought to have been eradicated until the time the canon began. Loss of sanity is also one of the side effects of using it. When I wrote the chapter I was thinking about this fact and I thought it was a plausible excuse for the fact that many heroes did not know about the supernatural. The idea that the devils tampered with some details or information during the investigation, even checking the media a bit to make everything seem more 'normal' didn't exactly seem like a bad idea.
For Koneko: Rias could trade him for Sona after the raiting game. The version of Riser I'm going to do will be a little different than usual, but I don't want to spoil and reveal anything ahead of time, as it will appear in a few chapters. The piece I had thought of for him was a tower or a knight to make the exchange possible;
No, there is no interference from Sizerchs. Raynare & Co were sent for the same reasons as the canon to Musutafu, and I remind you that in the novel Rias and Sona did nothing for them until Freed killed some of their clients and attacked Issei. Only then did Rias check what they were doing in their territory. The only differences in Izumi's reincarnation versus Issei's is that Rias was literally going through those parts instead of being summoned with a flyer. Coincidences? Not really, it was already known that Rias's luck is bullshit, and in mythology the Gremories control luck. I intend to make it the unique ability of the clan;
For humans: it is precisely the sorcerers of Kamartaj who are respected, not humans in general. In DxD the sources of respect that are valid for almost everyone are the power of the individual, the influence, for some even the descent and the purity of the blood. In this world the kamartaj existed before the religions of the human world, which is why they are respected or feared. Humans who are unaware of the supernatural and have no power are hardly calculated, and in my fiction it's no different. Here too, you'll see better as the story continues;
For Izumi: He will be a devil and I immediately feel that his abilities will be different from those of Issei;
To finish: in this fiction I want to try to bring her closer to her MC, with all the tribulations and problems that Raiden has thinking about her. I hope I can do some decent character growth.
Okay, I think I've been pretty thorough with the answers, so enjoy reading and hopefully leave a review to tell me what you think about my work.
(AN2 -03/10/22: This is not an update but a correction of all the errors found by the translation, which unfortunately did not arrive as expected. WhiteDragonSky had more unexpected popping up than she thought, so it took her longer to correct chapter 4 and not has still started on 5, which is why I am looking for a beta reader that does it for him while I finish chapter 6, which is now almost ready)
"Excuse me!?"
Obviously, Rias doesn't react well to the insult to her and her nobility, but honestly I couldn't care less. I put down an Izumi still quite groggy from everything that had happened in a couple of minutes, and I turn to the hereditary Gremory with a frown, even if she could not see it because of the helmet.
"You heard me, you are pitiful." I repeat, making sure to spell the word well, even if it was not needed because the redhead and the rest of her peerage had heard very well. The pawn had also recovered and looked at me with a bit of shame "First, Kiba, why didn't you eliminate the stray right away?"
"What?" asks the confused blond.
"Rather than wasting time cutting off her arms, you could have beheaded the head right away and finished the fight even before it began, given the slowness of the stray and the fact that its reflexes of an eighty-year-old alcoholic after a hangover." specifically disappointed by the knight's lack of reflexes "Also, when your king was attacked, despite the fact that you were the fastest member of the group, you weren't even able to react in time because you thought your part was over and you were with your guard completely down."
My remark visibly makes the knight jump, who immediately realizes the implications of my words. This time it went well for him because the stray was weaker, but if this had been an enemy even a little more dangerous and with a brain, Rias would not have made just a few cuts with that havoc of an 'attack'. In a raiting game such a thing would probably have had them eliminated, resulting in the defeat of the team.
"Do not dare to insult my knight for-"
"For what? For making a mistake? Or for the fact that he was carrying out the instructions you had given him to put on this little theater?" I ask sarcastically, almost making Rias stop.
"Ok, I was trying to impress you, but I don't allow anyone to insult my nobility, much less you!" she sibyls, as her body begins to exude demonic power.
And that just made me laugh actually.
"Hah, 'insult'? Is it an insult if it is the truth? Or maybe it's the fact that it's the truth that bothers you so much, Gremory?" I taunt her. She was about to fight back, but I didn't give her time, "I've already said what was wrong with your knight, but what about others? Koneko could have killed the stray right away, but she needlessly got her clothes caught and untied instead of finishing the job in one fell swoop. And your queen? She was literally behind, but she didn't move in time either, and she had to be the first to move since she was just watching the scene from a chair in the front row. They were following your instructions, but that says a lot about your lack of training, as well as the fact that until now you have been given assignments that you could handle without problems, and that's definitely why."
"Are you saying we are weak?" asks Rias coldly.
"Incompetent would be more appropriate" I correct her equally icy.
"Get out of here" she hisses, who seemed to be fighting herself to avoid lashing out at me here and now.
"And finally Izumi" I continue disregarding her "Now that you have seen what happens in the real world, don't be so naive anymore to think everything can be solved with mere words or compassion. Today was the perfect example of what would have happened if you had hesitated in the field because you thought you could persuade someone, when said person was bent on killing you by any means" the pawn's mortified expression made me hesitate to add the last bit, as I pointed to her king with a thumb, feigning boredom with a little disappointment, even though I didn't want to add the two cents she needed to hear "If this had been a real emergency, your gullibility would have killed the person you were supposed to protect"
The mortified expression turned into a horrified one when I spoke the raw, hard truth to her. I didn't put it exactly in words, but I made it clear to her that if in a real situation she stalls as she did today, then there is no place for her in the business of...heroes (even after years, it feels strange to call it that). She understood that, which is why she seemed on the verge of throwing up now.
A reddish-black shot passes me by and pierces the wall, leaving a hole the size of a bowling ball in the wall.
"Get out! Now!" yells the redhead in anger.
"Hah, what a temper. Is that how you thought you'd convince me to join you?" I taunt her one last time, before leaving her and a disturbed group behind me as I fly away.
Assoon as the boy in armor leaves, the halo of the power of destruction around Rias disappears and she emits a heavy sigh.
'Just great...' she thinks as the redhead tries to calm the boiling spirits.
Sakurajima Raiden had done two things she absolutely does not tolerate: he insulted her family and looked down on them, taunting them as if they did not deserve to stand in front of him. Now, although she also needed his help with her problem with Riser, she was really reluctant to try to recruit him despite the consequences that would come soon after it became public.
"Sorry Buchou."
Izumi, after a few minutes breaks the uncomfortable silence that had formed in the place where Raiden had killed the stray, getting up and bowing her head, in a perfect arc at 90 degrees, with her voice full of mortification.
"It's not your fault Izumi-chan-"
"It is!" she interrupts, her voice cracking slightly "I...as soon as the stray attacked I froze. Any talk and plans to try to persuade or catch it disappeared, and I couldn't think or do anything, letting Sakurajima-kun protect me the whole time!" her adorable pawn's frustration was practically palpable, which was gnawing at Rias's guts, but she didn't stop her. She couldn't even if she wanted to, realizing that trying to console her now would only have the opposite effect, so she let her vent "Even when you were attacked, I couldn't move...like all the other times..."
Like when she was first attacked by the muddy villan, when she was killed by Raynare, or when she was attacked by the first bot she encountered in the entrance exam... every time she had to do something meaningful, she froze and someone else had to bail her out. The shame was double, because even to try to persuade Rias she had to get help from Raiden, only to petrify when she had to speak, failing as badly as the other times.
"It wasn't your fault, Izumi-chan, this was the first time you witnessed a fight with a stray. You're not the first one in a real fight to get stuck like this" Rias reassured her as he approached the neo-devil, forcing her to straighten up. The freckled girl's frustrated expression made her frown.
"It's our fault" Akeno's voice turned both of them toward the queen, who had a guilty look on her face.
"No, Akeno-"
"With all due respect Buchou, Sakurajima-kun is right, it was our fault" Kiba immediately contradicts her, clenching his fists, also noticeably frustrated "I...could have finished the stray right away, but even if I had to leave them alive long enough for Koneko-chan and Akeno-san to show what they were capable of, that doesn't justify me letting my guard down. If the stray had a partner we knew nothing about rather than the ability to move severed limbs, I would not have moved in time to protect you. As a knight, it is my duty to protect the king, and I failed miserably in my duty tonight-"
"I'm sorry, Buchou..." even Koneko apologizes for the bad impression she made, and for not moving to protect her mistress when she was attacked in a moment of distraction.
The redhead looks silently for a moment at her servants with their spirits decidedly down, before sighing.
"I let my temper get the best of me, huh?" she complains, "If that's the case, it's my fault too. I shouldn't have let my guard down like that and made you worry like that, I'm sorry guys."
"It seems we should think a little more about our new Kohai's words..." admits Akeno with a frown, definitely not happy with the way she was scolded, especially since she knows Raiden had every reason to berate them like that earlier.
"I think it's a good idea" Rias admits, as she uses the PoD to destroy the stray's corpse, along with the detached limbs lying around "Come on, let's go back to the club and finish the requests we had pending so we can go to sleep. I think we all need it tonight."
"Buchou, can I try to make contracts too?" asks Izumi hesitantly.
"Are you sure?" asks the Gremory clan heir with a raised eyebrow, a bit hesitant to let her continue working after the events of earlier "You can go home and try tomorrow if you want. I was planning to get you started later in the week anyway."
"No!" Izumi responds immediately and a little too firmly. She flinches a little uncomfortably when she notices though "I...have to get stronger, and I can't do that by always relying on others...this is another way for a devil to accumulate power over time, right?"
The determination in her emerald eyes made Rias falter, who, not too determined, nods.
"All right" she reluctantly agreed, "Two requests had come in for Koneko, but I'll give one to you tonight."
"Thank you very much!"
Izumi's smile prompted Rias to think that it would be worth it to give her that assignment.
Later she would bitterly regret doing so, when a huge headache would come with all the consequences._
The next morning, after finishing the usual routine, I thought I would go to the UA to start working on my new armor to use for the beginning of the school year, but at eight in the morning instead I found myself a dozen missed calls and about twenty messages from Izumi in the voicemail, who was practically begging me to see her to talk about some urgent problems. None of them was written even a hint of what she needed, but I realized that she was in trouble when she finally sent her position without giving me any other information.
And the only time her counterpart did this was when he had to save Tenya's useless ass from Stain.
Thus I blew off whatever plans I had, and immediately rushed to the Kuoh mall with the Astrey just out of the shower as soon as I saw the messages. I delayed leaving a couple of minutes to hurriedly get dressed in the first things that came to hand (black sweatpants, with a long-sleeved black turtleneck shirt).
The initial concern quickly gave way to a lot of confusion when I saw Izumi having breakfast with another girl, sitting without a care in the world in front of one of the cafes near the main entrance.
The stranger wears glasses, has gold-colored eyes and slightly messy brown hair tied in braids on each side. She wears the uniform of Aldera Junior High.
It took me a few moments to recognize her as Aika Kiryuu, if I remember correctly, the one who shared the nickname of 'kinky glasses' with...Issei's friend whose details I don't remember at all, other than the fact that she would die of envy whenever a new girl joined the ORC. I remembered Aika only because she is the one who usually pushes the church trio into scenarios that usually end with at least Xenovia and Asia almost naked trying to convince Issei to have sex with them. Situations that Irina runs into to stop them or join in, depending on her mood.
"Ah, Sakurajima-kun, over here!" Izumi sees me and calls me, trying to get my attention into the crowd, swinging her arm.
Following the line of sight of the young sekiryuutei, Aika looks at me, stopping too long on my groin, which made me a little uncomfortable. Normally I would be indifferent, but perhaps the fact that she was almost drooling and undressing me with her eyes was a legitimate reason to fear my safety.
I approached confused seeing the scene, while the green-haired girl beckons me with her hand to sit next to her, then notices that my hair is still damp and a bit messy.
"Emh, did I call you at a bad time?" she asks a little hesitantly.
"I was in the shower when Prophet informed me that you were trying to call me in a panic" I reply, trying to remain unfazed, although I couldn't help but be a little annoyed once the adrenaline was draining from my system when I was sure she was okay "So, what's going on? You didn't really say what you needed besides asking me to come here...nor did you tell me we were going to have company" I point out as I sit down.
"Wow, you didn't tell me your boyfriend was so hot, or that he had such a big package," purrs the bespectacled girl, who gives Izumi a thumbs-up "Nice catch girl!"
"K-Kiryuu-san!?" whispers/shouts the freckled girl interjectedly, her face crimson.
"What? Aren't you curious about his measurements?" she asks as if it's the most normal thing in the world, with a little blood coming out of her nose "Honestly, I'm a little worried about him breaking you in two when-"
"I don't want to hear it!" she shouts covering her ears, trying to cover her crimson face at the same time.
"We can talk about my dick later, but first can you tell me what's going on?" I ask completely unconcerned about the matter.
"Wow, you're taking the conversation like a real stud" she speaks again, trying to keep the conversation with a playful and lewd tone "How about you and I continue our...conversation, later? I'm very interested in getting to know you better" she asks raising her eyebrows suggestively to highlight her intentions more "My name is Kiryuu Aika by the way, but you can call me Aika if you want" she finishes by winking at me.
"I didn't call Sakurajima-kun here so you could try to get him into bed, but to convince him to help us!" hisses Izumi, in a mixture of irritation and embarrassment. I could see her head literally smoking, so high was the blood pressure going to her head.
"Sorry, sorry, I was just joking" Kiryuu raised her hands, chuckling at Izumi's reactions "So where do we start?"
"I guess you know this by now, but I'm Sakurajima Raiden" I introduce myself for the sake of conversation "Well...how about we start at the beginning? I don't even know what who knows or why we're here in the first place" I point out wanting some clarity on the current situation.
I mean, I literally don't know what the fuck is going on here. Izumi wouldn't have called me so persistently if it wasn't something important, so I'm sure she didn't call me here to introduce me to her friend. I don't know if Asia has already arrived or will arrive in the first place, since Kuoh and Musutafu are two cities located in two different places from Japan. And that detail is honestly cause for concern.
"Well...where to begin?" asks Izumi, not too sure how to explain the situation.
"How about from the start?" says Aika, losing her defiant attitude._
Izumi, pedaling with the bicycle borrowed from the club, followed the route to the customer's home indicated on the GPS attached to the handlebars. Since Koneko is busy with another customer, Buchou entrusted her to her after her request. In fact, the destination was only 10 kilometers from the UA. Normally she would have tired much more, but having trained for ten months in view of the UA exam she had a lot of resistance to burn. Reincarnating into a devil increased her physical performance to 'timidly above the human physique at its peak,' but the desire to improve to make sure that flasks like the one a few hours earlier never again occurred compensated for any lack of endurance she might have. Contracting with humans was a way to increase a devil's power, even though it would take years, maybe decades, before the results were noticed, but eventually it all adds up and hopes it will help her at some point, as her aim is to become Japan's No. 1 heroine.
She really had to hurry up and learn how to control her quirk to really make a difference and not be a dead weight, again.
However, someone had other plans.
"Izumi? Hey, here!"
Braking, the pawn stops her run upon hearing a familiar voice from across the street.
"Kiryuu-san?" the freckled girl asks, seeing her classmate quickly crossing the deserted street, "What are you doing here?"
It was strange to see her on the road leading to UA when it was after 10 p.m., dressed in casual clothes.
"I've been looking for you, what else if not?" says the bespectacled pervert a bit scurvy "You haven't been in touch for almost a week, you always disappear after school, you don't answer texts and calls, you suddenly join a UA club full of sex bombs I didn't know about, I never know where you are, and now I find you late at night riding around on a bike. YES what the hell is your problem!"
"S-sorry!" gasps Izumi apologetically, when Aika finishes yelling at her.
"To know what the hell was going on with you I had to call your mother, and do you know how awkward the conversation was!" gasps Kiryuu, when she finishes her outburst.
It wasn't exactly a secret that Inko hadn't exactly taken a liking to Aika Kiryuu. She was scared to death that she would turn her daughter into some kind of male predator or succubus. The only reason she tolerated her was because she was the only girl of Izumi's age who never in any way abandoned her even after finding out that she did not have a quirk, and was friends with her for years without ever taking advantage of her.
Inko never stopped Izumi from getting out, stay at her place, or doing anything else that two friends would do together, as long as it didn't result in the vulgar, but it was an unspoken rule not to let her interact too much if not the bare necessities (to know if Izumi had gotten herself into trouble somehow usually).
"I-I can explain-!"
"And it's better for you that it is so-!"
It was at that moment that the pawn felt a strange sensation in her stomach, as if someone was tying it in knots. She stopped listening to her friend venting all her feelings against her because of the attitude she had from her reincarnation into a devil to look around. It was a feeling she had felt many times before some schoolmate came to beat her up or humiliate her in some way, or...just before she was killed by the fallen angel the week before.
"How strange" the voice of an unfamiliar woman, followed by the sound of footsteps in the empty street caught the attention of the two girls "I don't feel like I have the wrong person, after all, I, Kalawarna have orders to erase all traces."
Speaking haughtily, as if what she proclaimed was absolute truth, was a tall, shapely woman with brown eyes and long navy blue hair that obscured her right eye.
Her attire consisted of a burgundy trench coat-like top with a wide collar sorpa an equally low-cut white blouse, a matching miniskirt, and black heeled shoes. The trench top is open at the chest, giving a remarkable view of her breasts and cleavage. She also wears a gold necklace around her neck.
It was at that point that Izumi realized why she felt that strange sense of danger. A barrier was erected around the area where she and Kiryuu were discussing, a fact accentuated by the pink-colored moon.
"A fallen...?"
"This is definitely strange," the woman comments again, looking down at her, definitely annoyed by her presence.
Izumi gets off the bicycle, confusing her friend, who still did not understand what was going on.
"Izumi...?" calls Kiryuu uneasily, seeing the sekiryuutei's determined and nervous look.
"Why are you still alive?" asks Kalawarna haughtily, as two black feathery wings sprout from her back.
[Boost!]
As soon as the spear of light appears in the hand of the fallen, the booster gear appears on Izumi's left arm.
'Don't hesitate!' she thinks decisively, despite the nerves that were making her sweat cold 'This time you don't have to hesitate!'
"C-what stuff is it?!" jolts Kiryuu seeing her friend's sacred gear appear "And who the hell is she?! What's going on here?!"
Izumi, remembering that she was not alone and was on the sidewalk of a strangely empty back street, glances at Kiryuu who was panicking.
"She killed you!" she says, throwing the spear of light at the two teenage girls.
[Boost!]
"Kyaah?!"
Without wasting time on pleasantries, Izumi grabs her friend and jumps away, landing across the street as the enemy attack bisects the service bike she was using.
"A sacred gear?" asks the fallen woman in surprise, "I understand, you are the one that Dohnaseek mistook for a stray. Who would have imagined that you had woken up your sacred gear in the meantime?"
[Boost!] [Explosion]
Using the power uncovered a couple of days earlier while she was trying to figure out how to use booster gear, Izumi's body strengthens radically and she takes advantage of the spike in power to hurl herself at her enemy.
The ground beneath the sekiryuutei's feet breaks as she charges, too fast for a low-grade fallen angel to react. She managed to cut the distance short before Kalawarna could move the arm with which she wielded her weapon and seek to stab her. The only thing she could do was a pathetic attempt to parry the incoming punch.
"Smash!"
With her battle cry, Izumi's fist comes into contact with the spear, which shatters as if it were made of glass and lands on the winged woman's arm.
*CRACK!*
The sekiryutei shudders when she feels the bones of Kalawarna's arm break as she is thrown away.
"GYAAAAAAAH?!" she flies a couple of dozen meters and crashes into a pole, breaking it in half and causing it to fall on the asphalt.
"I-Izumi, seriously what the fuck is going on here?!" screams Kiryuu frightened several meters away, hidden behind a light pole as if it were the safest place in the world.
"Sorry if I say the obvious, but it didn't cross your mind that if something happens to you that makes you behave strangely and then you avoid for a week or so your only friend, maybe, and I say maybe, she will notice that something is wrong and will try to confront you on the matter?" I said pinching the bridge of my nose for the way Izumi got caught as soon as her double life began.
"I...I admit that it wasn't my brightest moment, but come on, how was I supposed to know that Kiryuu-san would come looking for me on the very day that a fallen angel would attack me!?" she asks in bewilderment.
"You were killed by a fallen angel, reincarnated the same day and attacked the next day by one of their companions who mistook you for a stray. The fact that another one appeared later was a fairly large indicator that the woman who killed you was not alone, and that whatever they are doing here is far from official or legal since Gremory otherwise should have known about their presence, as Musutafu's caretaker." I respond impassively to the pathetic excuse used, making her gasp a little when she realizes how reckless she has been lately "Anyway, continue."
"Well, in summary: she was chewed out by the redhead for engaging in a fight alone with a civilian around, not contacting them while being approached by that psychotic bitch; then there was a moving talk about how much it had worried her and how she wouldn't forgive herself if something happened to her while she wasn't around" Aika summed up with a grimace "After a general explanation about the supernatural, they promised me that they wouldn't erase my memory as long as I didn't reveal to anyone about the supernatural, or anything that happened last night, then they sent us home and we went to sleep at my place. The rest is Izumi freaking out as she told me everything going on that I had missed."
This... she said everything and nothing. Why would she call me so quickly if it was just to tell me what had happened with one of the fallen and Aika? I appreciate that I was the first person she asked for help, that meant she trusts me, but I don't think the only reason she did it was that she needed to talk to someone about it.
"So, what's the real reason you called me here?" I ask after a few seconds of reflection, looking first at Izumi who was getting more nervous and then Aika who looks at me surprised.
"Mnn, sexy and smart, what a rare combination nowadays" Aika purrs in satisfaction.
I guess I'm going to have to deal with a sixteen-year-old Midnight. Simply amazing.
"After I got back to the club room, Buchou asked me for an explanation before I told her what had happened which was that someone had killed the customer who had called Koneko-chan prior to my arriving at the location indicated by the GPS," Izumi replied with a frown, "The news warned everyone that a possible serial killer was in town since there have been about 20 murders so far. Apparently they have nothing in any case between them, except that they were all clients of the devils at UA or sacred gear bearers, like me."
Oh? So she had gotten there after all. Then again, she's one of the most intelligent and analytical characters in Mha at the end, so it shouldn't have been a surprise.
"So you called me here to ask me to take care of them" I state looking at the heir ofa with genuine curiosity.
"Yes..." she admits, looking down at her clenched fists in her lap.
Izumi's position on the issue is...complicated, that much was rather obvious. She has a bleeding heart that wants nothing more than to help anyone who needs aid, regardless of race or faction; however, she is a low-class devil now, so as such she has virtually no say in any decision regarding her life, nor can she enforce her will for anything, since in devil society she is only a couple of steps above a slave. This factor is the reason why I was undecided at first whether or not to have someone reincarnate me, and while this is not the case with the heir ofa thanks to the fact that Rias lets her peerage rather freely, the truth remains that until her master says she has the green light she cannot do anything, because if she is caught causing trouble she would get into trouble, not only with her king but also with the government if her interference with the fallen causes a scandal of some kind.
This fact was subtly pointed out at the beginning of Volume 14, when Elmenhilde Karnstein met with members of the DxD group in Kuoh. Despite his popularity, growing influence, and the fact that Issei was powerful enough to erase her without the slightest effort, he was ridiculed and looked down upon by the vampire simply for being a reincarnated, middle-class devil.
That brief initial interaction made it quite clear how discriminated against and poorly protected reincarnated devils were, along with many other details scattered throughout the story here and there.
I still don't know all the laws in the underworld beyond what I could guess from what I remember from the novel, because I don't know where to go to see them, but I know perfectly well that anyone who is part of the old satan faction is waiting for nothing more than such an opportunity to undermine the new government. And let's face it, the last thing I want is for Izumi to get in trouble for trying to have helped someone by coming into conflict with a team from an 'enemy' faction that Musutafu's two supervisors know nothing about.
In DxD it was quite clear that Raynare&co were not operating under Azazel's orders, because he would never order murders of sacred gear bearers, especially those unaware of the supernatural like Izumi or good people like Asia. At first I didn't think much about it after reading it because the story was still in its infancy and didn't really have anything spectacular about it, but reliving the events firsthand it becomes quite clear that this is the case, especially when the fallen ones (traitors or deceived, it didn't really matter in the end) engaged in battle against the Gremory despite the repercussions that could have been there if things ended badly for the devils.
So, I am pretty sure that this is Kokabiel's doing, or some of his followers not properly vetted, helped him in his self-imposed mission to rekindle the fuse of the great war sent them posing as him. I don't think there's anyone stupid enough to forge Azazel's signature to cause trouble in an area under the watch of two Maou's little sisters, and even if the lazy idiot in charge of the Grigori wouldn't have noticed, I highly doubt that no one in high places would have checked suspicious movements ordered by 'Azazel' against those with sacred gear, especially when it's known that he was collecting them for the purpose of research. Surely this would not have escaped the notice of Shemhazai or Baraqiel who were closest to the governor in the hierarchical scale, or Peneume who is the chief secretary who passes orders once official documents are checked. Heck, I'm pretty sure none of the researchers working closely with him would have found the orders strange, especially if there was a possibility that the sacred gear in question might turn out to be mutants or unrecorded variants.
But there is also the possibility that this whole situation is much less logical and that Raynare is really so stupid as to think that she would impress him with her actions.
I won't rule out that possibility, but I think Kokabiel is still behind this annoying problem. Azazel had already shown a modicum of foresight having been a leader until the year after the alliance between the factions, as he had been following Kokabiel's moves since before his story arc and with the excuse of observing the sekiryuutei he had infiltrated Kuoh to observe the situation. He did not intervene until the last moment because he wanted to create a situation in which representatives of biblical factions stopped 'together' a warmonger who had escaped his faction, with the intention of laying the foundations for the meeting held shortly after that incident. Putting the two celestial dragons in the same room to show how serious the leaders were, was definitely one of the moves he set in advance to emphasize the point, without it seeming that he was bragging about having Vali with him when information about his ancestry and the fact that he is the current Hakuryuuko would inevitably come out.
Or it was me who was giving him too much credit, with him you can never be sure of anything.
"What a pain in the ass politics..." I grumble, leaning against the back of the chair.
"Politics? What does that have to do with anything?" asks Aika confusedly.
"It's the whole reason why Izumi can't 'officially' stop the fallen, so she has to do it indirectly and not traceable to her in an overly obvious way" I reply with a grimace "No one would do anything to her if she passed the information under the table to a neutral party, since it would no longer be her business what I would then do with the fallen ones since I am not currently affiliated with the devils, as long as it is beneficial to the faction as a whole if events do not backfire and deprive the Grigori of new sacred gears."
Kokabiel would not press on the issue since it was a human who eliminated them, and the old faction of Satan will have no grip on getting to the current rulers. Not that they would have ousted them anyway, but better safe than sorry.
"Yes... Buchou said I could cause problems for her and the devil faction if I tried to stop them on my own, but... I can't sit on my hands while someone needs help!" she says with a decidedly contrasting look. She was divided by her desire to help others and not make a mess like Rias had told her "I don't know why they are doing what they are doing, and I don't even care, I can't let them continue to hurt anyone just because they are somehow connected to the supernatural!"
I smiled, a little amused by the fact that his reincarnation had not diverted his reason for wanting to help people, partly because she trusted me enough to entrust me with such a task.
"I... I know I shouldn't involve you in my problems, but-"
"I will do it." I interrupt her before she could try to convince me as if it were the most normal thing in the world.
"Huh?" says Izumi, blinking confused by my interruption.
"What?" I say with a puff, almost offended by how skeptical she was, "Do you seriously think I wouldn't help you just because it's a bit risky? Do I have to remind you that I also enrolled in the hero course, and that risk is a part of the job?"
At first she looks at me surprised without saying anything but then smiles radiantly at the news.
"Thank you very much, Sakurajima-kun!" she thanks me by bowing her head for a few seconds.
I admit that I almost had a nosebleed at how innocent that smile was.
"If you're going to start making out, get a room" Aika comments sourly, squinting at the sudden bark, ruining the relaxing atmosphere that had been created.
"Kiryuu-san!" hisses Izumi, blushing at the implication of the two of us alone in a private room doing things.
"I don't really care, but I don't think Izumi will allow you to join later if you're not in from the start" I point out, earning me two incredulous looks from the girls "And if I remember correctly, you were the one who wanted to taste a piece of me, right?"
"Sakurajima-kun!?"
"Shit, that's right! Izumi, let's share!"
"Kiryuu-san?!"
That evening...
Wearing the Astray, I climbed the staircase leading to musutafu's only abandoned church.
The city was never a very religious place, even the influence of the Shinto and Yokai factions were what they were. There are not many ley lines that pass on the place, the influence of the supernatural on the city was very low, to the point of being more a place where pensioners go to live to isolate themselves a little from the rest of the world.
This is the only reason why at first it was cohesive between the church and the devils, but all the agreements were skipped during the early 80s and early 2000s due to the appearance of quirks. Then, at the end of the dark period and the subsequent creation of the AU the issue came back to the surface, but Sirzechs managed to win an agreement with the two factions, since the territory in the meantime had become important for Japan due to the presence of the nation's most important school of heroes. Here the heirs of the Gremory and Sitri pillars will be able to remain until the end of the studies of the kings and the members of their peerage, but in the end they will have to leave and cease all the activities they have carried out on the territory during their stay.
The fact is that given the unauthorized presence of the fallen and the lack of devils' actions in this regard, when they started killing civilians, I could get rid of them without repercussions. There were several other stipulations, but nothing I needed to know for now, at least according to Benkei.
One interesting thing I learned, however, was that Masaomi Yaegaki and Cleria Belial apparently had not died at the same time. I had looked up information about the exorcist, who had apparently died of old age at the age of 85, but I knew nothing about Cleria other than that she had been killed in a not-very-clear incident. It had created a bit of a stir that the Raiting game champion's cousin had died under mysterious circumstances, but I wasn't sure if it was because she had found out about the king's piece or not since in the DxD canon that was what had gotten her killed. Masaomi's 'death by old age' in 2065 was also strange since while there are dates, I couldn't find any records of any autopsy or anything, so I don't know if it's true or an orchestrated cover-up between the church and Zekram Bael to cover up the relationship between the retired exorcist and the devil. They could have also been lost since it has been more than a century and a half since it happened, as well as a lot of turmoil because of the appearance of super powers in the world, but still...
"Sir, I note a human presence on the first floor and numerous others in the basement of the church, along with four unidentified biological organisms. Are they the fallen angels he was looking for?" asks for Prophet's inorganic voice, distracting me from my thoughts.
I hadn't noticed that I had arrived in front of the door.
"Well, since I have to eliminate them all with extreme prejudice, so let's get a move on" I mutter to myself.
This is my first experience in the field...
I kicked the doors of the church, which were ripped off the walls as if they were made of paper. The wooden doors flew across the foyer, crashing into the wall farthest from the entrance. I absentmindedly noticed that the church once decently maintained by believers was quite ruined. Paintings and frescoes had been scraped away, the altar destroyed, the sculptures demolished, and the windows had been soiled.
Having attended art school in my previous life, despite the fact that I was not religious at all and definitely did not feel any interest in religiously motivated works, I could not help but be irritated to see the various works of the artists ruined in that way.
"Oi oi, who the fuck are you shitty scrap?!" shouts a voice I seemed to know.
To insult me was a young man with short white hair and red eyes in his twenties. He is wearing clerical clothes and was currently looking at me with anger and confusion.
"Your executioner." I answer frosty, with a metallic voice, distorted by the vocal modulated to make it unrecognizable.
"AH?! I will break you in-Gyah?!"
I didn't give him time to finish talking. I pulled the HF blade out of the scabbard and tried to decapitate him immediately, using the thrusters to give me a boost. Unfortunately, Freed actually had some great reflexes, or an animalistic instinct that saved him, it's not very important in the end, and he managed to get away just enough to avoid dying on the spot. The blade left a cut on his forehead that bleeds profusely. I didn't give him time to walk away though, because then I hit him with a kick hard enough to break his ribs and throw him against the ceiling. He vomits a considerable amount of blood while molding against the roof of the church and remains up there for a few moments, before gravity runs its course and his body falls downwards, followed by some debris due to the damage suffered.
Putting the katana back, I walk to the stage where I know of the presence of the secret passage, ignoring how Freed smashes to the ground, and tear the altar from the wooden floor. There are stairs leading to the lower floor.
I went down, and at the end of the flight of stairs there is a small clearing that was divided into several corridors, but I ignored it and headed to where there were more sources of heat than humanoid forms. I knocked down the door and found myself in front of about fifty people covered in black priests' clothes, anonymously masked, as well as four fallen angels.
The first, at the head of the group that was evidently commanding the gathering, is an attractive young woman with purple eyes and a slender body, long black and silky hair up to the hips and has two feathered black wings folded on her back. Her 'dresses' consist of leather straps around and under her breasts, a thong-like piece held around her hips by three thin straps, gloves running down her arms with small chains hanging from them, shoulder-like objects on her shoulders with three large spikes sticking out of her right shoulder, and black boots with high heels up to her thigh.
The second is a little girl with blonde hair styled in two tails and blue eyes. She wears Gothic Lolita clothing: a black Lolita dress with white flounces, a large black bow on the front and a green jewel set on the collar, white socks and black shoes. She also wears a large black bow over her hair to complete the outfit.
The last is a middle-aged man with short black hair and dark blue eyes. His clothing consists of a light gray trench coat over a white shirt with a matching ascot, black pants and shoes, a pair of black gloves and a black fedora.
I recognized Raynare and the woman behind her that Izumi described to me, Kalawarna.
"Who the hell are you?" growls the woman who still didn't know she was going to die soon.
"I warn you now, since I have no desire to work unnecessarily to make sure I don't kill you tonight, unless you all surrender now, the first one who surrenders or the last one who survives I will take with me for interrogation." this was the only warning I gave.
And with that the massacre began. They took out their weapons, full of murderous instinct, but I did not give anyone time to shoot or unsheath swords. I fired with the CIWS on the head of the Astray without any hesitation, starting to reap the lives of stray exorcists, with the precise purpose of leaving no one. The 75-millimeter bullets pierced the bodies of humans with almost no resistance, causing blood, bones and slaughtered flesh to fly everywhere. Unlike exorcists, the fallen were lucky enough to have better reflexes, and were able to erect magic circles to protect themselves.
I was a little surprised that none of them had defenses against common firearms, even though the CIWS were of rather high caliber by non-supernatural standards. I don't think they would work against literally someone with a minimum of reflexes (literally anyone after Raiser, and the latter with his peerage are in doubt).
The sounds of bullets bursting, piercing air and flesh resonates in the ritual chamber to which a very thick black cross is planted on the ground. Blood dyes the floor and walls red. Some splashes of blood and bullets bounce off the magic circles of the fallen. They looked like they were bouncing off the metal.
After almost a minute, I stop shooting and a disturbing silence falls, when the last semi-dismembered body falls to the ground.
"Die!" shouts Izumi's killer, throwing a pinkish spear at me.
I lazily watched the spear approach really slowly. It was almost funny to think that to the eye and cross the speed of that spear was only a few notches above the bullets of the fastest guns, I would say to the eye and cross has a speed of just over 700 m / s, around 750 perhaps.
I moved my hand and grabbed the incoming spear. It remained in my hand. I looked at her curiously.
"Prophet" I call my AI, giving it a silent order.
"I'm already looking at it" he informs me.
I curiously observed the spear, not being able to help but raise an eyebrow when the scan revealed that among the various components there were gamma rays, UVC, UVB, hydrogen and helium. This thing seems to emit solar radiation, but there are also elements that I do not recognize that allow the aforementioned elements to remain in its current and tangible form.
Observing the components of the spear of light raised a question: when we talk about creatures akin to light and darkness, was it meant in the most literal sense of the term? The reason why devils and the like are considered, symbolism aside, is due to the fact that they lived in a place where there is no sun, so they do not have all the defenses and natural affinity to create these spears? Because from what I saw from Izumi's body, although different, the DNA of his part mutated by evil pieces still seemed extremely similar to human DNA. Is that why reincarnation with evil pieces about humans was so effective? Were the original angels, and by extension the fallen, created on the basis of the human body? It is well known that religious texts such as the Bible are not scientifically reliable, given the technological difference between that time and our current one, not to mention that there is evidence of the evolution of life from the birth of the earth until now...
So many questions, so few answers. Every time I come across something supernatural my researcher/scientist disposition vibrates with excitement at the idea of discovering new things to experiment with, just for the sake of it!
"You are full of openings!"
The voice of the only man among the fallen screams behind my back.
"Ah, right, I was taking care of you..." I murmur bored and with considerable disappointment when the spear I had in my hand disappears, interrupting the analysis of Prophet, who consequently failed to study the foreign elements in the weapon made of light.
I feel something hit A stray's back and break. I take a look at the spear in the hands of the shocked fallen man who was dissolving.
I raised an eyebrow as I turned to face it, and my confusion disappears as quickly as it comes, as the soft patina of the nanolaminate armor in addition to deflecting lasers and bullets was completely impermeable to radiation. I had made sure that it was shielded in case I had to go into space to prevent Thanos' lackeys from putting their paws on the gems of time and mind. Admitted and not granted that they are still where they should be understood.
Ultimately, since my armor is resistant to almost all the elements in their spears, no matter how hard they tried to hit me with them, they wouldn't even scratch the Astray.
I hit the fallen man with all the force the exoskeleton is capable of and, surprisingly, his body explodes in a geyser of blood, bones and guts.
"Dohnaseek?!" screams the blonde horrified, seeing the lower part of the body of the dismembered fallen falling on the floor with a wet 'splat.'
"I expected a bit of resistance honestly" I admit, surprised by how fragile the body of that fallen man was.
One thing that puzzled me though was the complete lack of reaction on my part to the massacre I had just committed. I don't know what I expected, but I thought I would have at least one reaction to this, instead I was completely indifferent to it and I couldn't even explain why.
Was it because I knew they would die anyway, so wasn't I really bothering to spare them? Or because I knew they were completely unrecoverable and had to be eliminated given their favorite activities? Or was I just more messed up than I thought? It was not the first time that I was close to death in general, god only knows how many times something in the laboratory exploded in my face, almost killing me in the process, or how many times I found myself dealing with quirks that made the lives of the people who had to help a real hell, but it is a bit alarming the complete lack of any emotion about the current situation.
A dozen pink and blue spears collide with me, leaving me completely unharmed.
I activated the thrusters and threw myself at them. They raise magic circles, so I feel something I've been thinking about since I discovered the supernatural. I unsheathed the katana and tried to cut the magic circles, and while the first two tore in half a cut that was anything but clean, the last one only chipped. It felt like cutting titanium.
Possible, but because of its high cut resistance very difficult to do. If mine had been a simple katana it would have broken because it would not have been able to separate the atoms of the magic wall.
I didn't really wait and cut in half just a second after the chipped circle along with Raynare.
"EEEEEK?!"
While the blonde screams frightened when half of Raynare falls near her, splashing blood on her, Kala... what was her name? It was so strange that it crossed my mind. Ah, yes, Kalawarna. Eh, having hyperthymic syndrome is really useful, since I was reborn I remember almost every single thing I studied as if I had just read them. Even useless details like the name of the blue-haired dude, or what I ate 10 years ago for breakfast on New Year's Day.
However, Kalawarna flies away, moving away as fast as she could, sweating cold.
"Mittelt get away!" she shouts, as panic begins to become apparent when I look at her partner, ignoring how she was loading another spear.
"WE'RE GIVING UP!" she screams in terror as I moved my arm to kill her too.
"Mn?"
"What the hell are you saying Mittelt?!" shouts the comrade, shocked by her words.
"I said I would spare the first one who surrendered or the last survivor, not both." I remind them indifferently.
"I-I'm not your enemy, so the last survivor is Kalawarna!" replies the blonde loli, trembling like a leaf as I continue to stare at her "A-Azazel-sama ordered me to re-track down groups he had deserted and started u-killing sacred gear p-possessors, and that's why I joined them! N-I have nothing to do with any of the o-operations that have-been carried out without authorization! I swear, please spare us!" she implores, trying to make herself smaller in the place where she had fallen from her ass, raising her arms in front of her to protect herself from a possible blow coming when I took a step forward.
"Damn you, are you betraying us?!" the distraught Kalawarna accused her by throwing the spear of light at her.
I caught it in midair and crushed it in my hand. I threw myself at the blue-haired woman faster than she could react, grabbed her by the face and slammed her to the ground so hard that she broke the floor and left her unconscious.
"Explain, now" I order without batting an eyelid, turning to the blonde from scratch. I was curious to hear what she actually had to say, although I will not hesitate to eliminate her in case they turn out to be bullshit.
From what I remember, you didn't say any of this in the canon of DxD, so something had to be changed.
"A-Azazel-sama found out that someone was giving orders pretending to be p-for him, q-so he sent me and some other so-subordinates to verify the assigned missions" she stammers frightened on the alert, but I decided to stop her report right away.
"Why would he send someone as weak as you? From what I know he has much more powerful people working under and with him. Like his favorite pupil or Slash Dog." I point out to her impassively.
Her eyes open wide when I name that group and Vali.
"S-have you gone crazy?! Vali would never be able to infiltrate low-profile operations like these, and Tobio Isuke and his team are too powerful and known within the organization to do so!" she immediately replies, frightened by the possibility that I would get rid of her right away because I pointed out my doubts "H-he made sure that we were not corrupt or traitors, then he sent us. M-Many of those known who defected had only two or four wings, with a few six wings, but none too strong, so he sent someone to mix with the mass, like me!"
"Assuming and not granting that what you are saying is true, how do I know that you are in fact not one of the traitors and are lying to me?" I ask, tilting the blade of the katana once I have approached her again.
She swallows seeing her reflection on the flat side of the blade.
Honestly, I was seeing through her organs to check if she was lying or not, but I wasn't finding any signs. The brain is in a state of alert, her pupils are dilated, breathing is accelerated. Looking through her body I see her heart rate, pressure and blood flow increase. The glucose level to the muscles is several times higher than normal, sweating is increased, while non-viable organs, such as the gastrointestinal system, is in a state of reduced activity; so there are all the signs that indicate that she is really terrified.
By scanning her brain I was not finding impulses indicating that she was acting, I forced her to prove that she was telling the truth just to be 100% sure that the reactions of the body of a fallen person to fear were similar to those of a human being, so as to be sure that I had not missed any signal that could have unmasked her.
"H-I have a p-way to contact him, in case someone had created problems... like this," she says weakly, quickly pulling a smartphone out of her pocket.
Trembling, she unlocked it and typed in a number. On the screen a yellow ocher magic circle appears that I did not recognize and began to ring, hands-free.
"Hello?" someone replies after a few moments "Mittelt, why are you calling from an emergency channel?"
I recognized Azazel's Japanese voice.
"There have been...a bit of unforeseen incidents?" the drill-haired blonde replies, not quite sure how to frame me.
"Unless some idiot has caused some incident that might start a riot-"
"For now, nothing like that" I speak in a voice still distorted by the vocal modulation.
"This is the unforeseen?" the governor-general of the fallen asks with a hint of curiosity "It doesn't seem hostile to me."
"It won't be if I convince him that you're not an impostor and I'm not lying" she admits in a somewhat trembling voice.
"I'm talking hands-free from a reserved cove of the grigori network, isn't that enough?" he asks with his quiet voice, making me snort. Action that makes a new flash of fear flow in the fall loli.
"I have no way of knowing if it's true, as I can't know if you're using a voice modulator to pass yourself off as Azazel in case you're a fake" I point out indifferently.
Since something has changed, I can't know if what I'm talking to is a fake, since when Prophet tried to track down the call, no location appeared on earth. If he had been in a town somewhere I could have tried to see if there were cameras in his vicinity, just to have at least a visual confirmation that those who are talking to me were at least visible, but nothing.
"Fair enough" he agrees bored by the rather tense conversation "So metal boy, what should I do to convince you not to take out my subordinate?"
"Answer a question of mine about a sacred gear" I say throwing the condition on the table.
"Ohoh? It's not really a secret that I collect and study sacred gear, so are you questioning me about my field of expertise?" he asks resuming interest in the conversation.
Mittelt seemed to want to yell something at me, but she kept her mouth shut.
"Not on any sacred gear, but on what you are building" specific, bringing down an embarrassing silence.
"…"
The fallen angel with two wings begins to alternate the gaze frantically from the silent mobile phone and me, confused and agitated because of her uncertain fate.
"I know you made a deal with Fafnir, and in exchange for some of the treasures in your collection, he had himself sealed in a core that you are using to create an artificial sacred gear. I also know that the most he should be able to do is stay in a state similar to a forced balance breaker for a few minutes before breaking."
"Do you want the information I gathered about sacred gear in exchange for my subordinate's life?" he asks a little irritated.
"No" I answer dryly.
"Wait what?"
I admit that I almost laughed hearing the palpable confusion in the voice of the fallen.
"I admit that such information is tempting, however, I would have no way of knowing whether or not the data you will give me is reliable since I don't have the equipment to verify it. Granted and not guaranteed that you are Azazel and have that data in the first place. Not to mention that I would have no way to use it anyway" I reluctantly reply "I know you have a list of names for that sacred gear, and I know some of them. Tell me which one is the most likely."
"Take away a curiosity: what makes you think I know or that I won't lie to you?" asks Azazel (?) curiously.
"I'm pretty sure the only ones who know about that dagger are your closest associates who have to get you out of your lab to get the work you usually dump on others, and Vali. Now the name, and I warn you, I know if you're lying " I reply unmoved.
"...Fallen Spear."
I swung the katana and cut horizontally a few millimeters above ka Mittelt's head, tearing her ribbon into pieces.
"EEEEK-?!"
I picked up the phone on the fly, when the blonde drops it to instinctively hold her head in fright.
"I know one of the names that dagger is called by is 'Fallen Dragon's Slash Spear', but I have a distinct feeling that you did it this time, so you only have one bonus attempt. But then her head will roll on the floor" I warn him, completely indifferent to the scream of the gothic lolita.
"I could try to joke again, but I think it's better to avoid" Azazel snorts amusedly, so much to Mittelt's relief.
"Why the hell are you messing with my life in the first place?!" screams the blonde shockedly, but is promptly ignored.
"Down Fall Dragon Spear" the governor general replied..
So it's him. Good to know.
"Well, I would say that with this we are done" I get up, making the blonde loli on the defense stand up.
I put the katana back on her and throw her phone, which she takes on the fly in an awkward way, since she did not expect it. So I walk down the road home.
"Are you leaving like this?" asks Mittelt warily, making me stop.
"I told you that if Azazel was really your boss then I would spare you, and that's what I'm doing" I answer casually.
"Just out of curiosity: how did you find out the information about my work?" asks Azazel quizzically "I don't hide it, but I don't advertise it either."
"Knowing things is my job" I answer cryptically as I leave.
Or so I thought. Because Freed's body was not in place when I got back up, and I had no trail to follow to track him down.
"All right. Day March 5, 5 p.m., first test of the full guantlet 2.0" I speak to the robotic arm slinging a camera, pointed at Izumi, who meanwhile gazes in wonder at the emerald green long glove elegantly covering her right arm.
After getting rid of the fallen ones, I had finally finished the prototypes to test on Izumi to help her control One for All.
"Oooh, it's pretty cool. It looked liquid until a few moments ago..." commented Aika in amazement, looking at her friend's arm.
"The nanomachines form all the muscle fibers, circuits and the outer layer, that's why it looks so smooth and uniform," I explain briefly, without going into too much detail so as not to create unnecessary confusion "What's it like? Can you move your arm?"
Izumi flexes her arm, moves her fingers, wrist, and makes movements to see how it feels.
"Mnn, it's a little tight," she replies, looking at the glove and then at me, a little uncertain.
"Okay, before I fix it, is there anything else I need to recalibrate?" I ask to see if there is any other adjustment to be made.
"Mnn...maybe it's a little tight? I know it has to be snug to work, but I can feel the blood struggling to circulate in the arm..." replies Izumi uncomfortably.
I frown as I hear her " Maybe I should have made it slightly more elastic to make the muscles contract better. Well, this is quick to correct as well. Is there anything else?"
She ponders for a moment, before shaking her head and folding the full guantlet.
I picked it up and put it on the container to change the parameters of the nano glove. The container is nothing that special, since it is only for quick changes to the preset structure of the guantlet. Seen from the outside, it just looks like a plexiglass box with a black metal bottom and lid.
"Recalibration complete" Prophet informs me, not even thirty seconds later.
"Wait, already?" asks Aika confusedly, hearing my AI.
"The glove just needed to be made more elastic inside to make not even an inch of space. Although it looks like metal, this little guy actually contains the equivalent of our muscles, I just needed to soften it up a bit," I explain by handing the cuff back to Izumi who puts it on again "Anyway, before we start testing, I have a question for you Midoriya: what trigger do you display when you activate your quirk and strike?"
"Trigger?" she asks confused.
"An image, emotion, thought, phrase, prayer, or whatever you think of before you activate your quirk," I explain further "I noticed that you always do some kind of pose before you strike, so I was wondering what kind of mental support you use to trigger it since it's not 'natural' to you yet and you have to actively focus on the quirk to use it. I suppose it has to do with All Might since you yell 'Smash!' every time during rehearsal," I say imitating the movement with little energy, making her blush in embarrassment.
"Is...is that how I look?" she asks in a low voice, trying to disappear while we're looking at her.
"Eh, the resulting image is a little prettier, but yeah, that's kind of how it comes out," I reply, trying to remain as neutral as possible, watching her expression, which is a mixture between shocked and mortified having spasms.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH-" she yells with a face that was practically smoking as she crouches down, burying her face in her lap "N-I can't believe everyone saw me do that!"
"What did you expect?" Aika asks impassively, when it became obvious that amidst the euphoria of getting a chance to train with her new quirk she had completely forgotten about the spectators, and, apparently, about the show she had put on.
"Getting back to the main topic, what mental image do you use besides your obvious imitation of All Might?" I ask amused, seeing Izumi looking at me like a kicked puppy.
"An egg in the microwave..."
"Isn't that a bit corny?" asks Aika, slumping her friend's shoulders.
I returned home around 7 p.m., after Izumi had destroyed the bracelets I had prepared. Today she was particularly annoyed, because despite being close to figuring out how not to break her bones using One for All, the realization continued to elude her just as she was about to get there.
Like the previous time, I gave her tips without making obvious spoilers to get her there on her own anyway, but making the process faster, I hope.
I open the front door, and, surprisingly, find Benkei in the hall dressed nicely.
"You're here. Get changed, we're going out to dinner."
I blink in confusion at his words.