NMHA Ch. 47 - I Believe Introductions are in Order?
A/N - So I succumbed to peer pressure and picked up Elden Ring this past Thursday. It's fun, in an infuriating way. Fromsoft really mastered the art of making bosses that make you recognize your own fault when you get bodied. This is from a newcomer to the Souls-like franchise, even if I do have prior Monster Hunter experience.
Needless to say, it's been a time.
We've also crossed 700 favorites! That's incredible, and I'm so glad to have made it this far. Think we can cross the 1k mark? I certainly hope so!
While he expected to see the President of the Student Council in all her imperious glory, his visit to the Student Council had left Issei gawking, taken aback at the unexpected sight before him.
What he didn't expect was to see the black-haired girl and a familiar redhead - familiar insofar as she drew the eye of everyone in whatever room she was in - were currently butting heads, and he could practically feel the tension between the two. in his mind's eye, there were even sparks flashing between the two, glaring each other down with all the ferocity of two cats fighting over territory.
"Hah. So that's what this is."
'What?'
Tsubasa cleared her throat. "Kaichou, Rias-sama, I'm here with Hyoudou-san."
The dragon in Issei's mind breathed out a long breath. "Figure it out yourself."
Oh, so Ddraig was being stubborn. Fantastic.
Interestingly enough, Rias was the one to break off the clash with Sona, leaving the Student Council president unbalanced, forcing her to wheel her arms in place to regain her sense of balance from how quickly the redhead had pulled away.
Still, the fact that Ddraig commented on everything going on meant there was more than meets the eye. Question was... what was it?
Maybe he'd have figured it out if he'd gotten a good night of sleep, but thanks to that damned Fallen Angel keeping him up all night...
'...Fallen?'
That sent a thought through the brunet's mind. What if this was another faction? If he remembered correctly, the Fallen Angels and Heaven were separate entities... but wasn't there a third faction?
Immediately he stood up a little straighter, pouring his focus into keeping his eyes on his surroundings. If someone got behind him, he'd know, and he'd make a break for it.
Issei only had a basic understanding of the supernatural, but he had the sinking feeling that at least someone here was part of that world.
'...Considering how hot Rias-sama and Akeno-sama are, I wouldn't be surprised if they are.'
Was it a little pretentious? Perhaps. His gaze drifted from the two Princesses of Kuoh to the other girls in the room, taking note of their appearances, making sure to not let his gaze linger despite the fact that Akeno had crossed her arms beneath her bust, tilting her head and placing a hand on her downward-facing cheek- he tore his gaze away from that prodigious chest, much like he tore his thoughts away from their bounce.
'Though now that I think about it...'
All the girls here were model-esque in their own way, though the Princesses went cleanly above even that. Even now, he could imagine them all in varying pieces of lingerie, and though imagining them all in sexy underwear helped with his nervousness, that didn't mean he was any less uneasy.
Far from it, in fact.
...In more ways than one.
"Hyoudou-san, are you listening?"
He gulped, eyes flicking back to Sona, who stared at him expectantly.
"Sorry Kaichou. I wasn't able to sleep a wink last night." He winced. "It's... ah, difficult for me to focus on more than one thing at a time right now."
Sona's brow drew together, violet eyes boring into him as though trying to read his thoughts. "I heard that you wound up in an... altercation, while returning home. I can understand how you might lose sleep over a fight, though it looks like you handled yourself well."
'And how would she know that?' he wondered, nodding slowly in understanding all the same.
"I heal quickly," Issei responded, but immediately realized what a lame excuse that was. "...Most of the bruises I got are under my clothes anyway, and I can handle soreness pretty well."
That was better, and Sona nodded slowly, as though accepting the explanation. "Might I ask what has your thoughts occupied? I do hope that your glances aren't... perverse, in nature."
"Of course not. I'm more... surprised." His eyes glided over the room, then landed on Rias and Akeno once more. "I know I'm not technically in trouble, so I was expecting to just be told off for what happened yesterday. So... why are Rias-sama and Akeno-sama here? Or the rest of the Council, for that matter?"
"Please, do not mind us, Issei-kun," Akeno drawled, waving a hand. "Buchou and Kaichou here are having a... dispute, and it seems to have went on a bit longer than we expected."
'A dispute over what?' He shoved the thought away.
"...If you wanted to tell me off for my behavior, then Tsubasa-san coming up to me and delivering a warning would have sufficed," he reasoned. "There's something else going on here, isn't there?"
A slow smile spread across Akeno's face, turning into a beam. "My, you seem rather cagey Issei-kun. Is being in a room full of lovely young women such as us truly so alarming to you~?"
"Yes."
That broke Akeno out of her teasing with an expression of surprise, even as Sona and Rias appeared to exchange glances, the tension in the air rapidly thickening.
He couldn't tell what their glances said, but he knew that they'd just had a conversation in an instant, no words required.
'Did I just walk into a trap?'
Ddraig didn't reply verbally, instead just chuckling in such a way to send an ominous chill down Issei's spine.
Enough for him to shift his posture, pulling his hands out of his pockets and spreading his legs slightly.
'Ddraig, get ready. I might need the Boosted Gear to get out of here.'
"You're the one to command my power, whelp. You want to use it, manifest the Boosted Gear yourself."
"Please relax, Issei-san," Rias waved her hands in front of her, a peaceful gesture. "You're not in trouble, though the... discussion Sona and I were having does, well, involve you."
He recognized the lack of honorific that the redhead had used, regarding the Student Council president.
'They're close.'
Which meant no matter what, he was on his own here. Could he even fight off a group of Fallen, or Devils, or Youkai, or whatever?
'No.' He swallowed hard. 'I'm still just human. Even if I've got the Boosted Gear, I can only do so much.'
"Give it time and patience, and you will become strong."
Easy for the 'Dragon of Domination' to say.
"Issei-san? You spaced out again." The brunet blinked to see Rias close enough that her brilliant blue eyes practically took up his vision.
He could practically smell the faint scent of strawberries coming from her; combined with his fatigue and the gemstones Rias's eyes emulated he could almost feel his thoughts fogging up and his posture relaxing.
Maybe if he hadn't been so tensed up already, Issei wouldn't have minded such close proximity.
As it was, however, it only served to send his mind into overdrive upon realizing this.
'Danger...!'
"Back off, princess," Issei growled, taking a step backward himself. What was he saying? Why was he running his mouth at one of the Kuoh Princesses of all people? Why hadn't he made a break for the doors yet? He shot a glare over to Sona. "Enough dancing around the topic; why are you all here?"
Rias blinked, opening her mouth before nodding once, doing as Issei asked... though there was a glint of something behind her eyes that he couldn't quite make out.
"Ara ara, Issei-san, so direct," Akeno tittered, one hand covering her mouth, though the amusement in her own expression was all too clear. "What would your mother think?"
The adrenaline was racing now, and Issei was out of patience, choosing to ignore Akeno outright. "So? Why am I here, Kaichou? I have a class to get to, and my day was already off to a bad start."
"Issei-san." Tsubasa stepped between the brunet and her Student Council president. "Calm yourself; you are acting out of line."
'Out of line...?'
That comment finally turned the delinquent's sleep-deprived irritation and suspicion finally igniting into outright aggression. "Just get to the point, damn it!"
"Issei-" the redhead started, but was cut off by her svelte friend even as the other council members started glaring at him.
"Enough, Rias. It's clear that easing him into the idea is only alarming Hyoudou-san." Sona sent a glare over to the Kuoh Princess, bowing her head in a single nod. "Best that we rip the bandaid off now before this devolves any further. Tsubasa-san."
Tsubasa glanced backward at Sona when she mentioned that, then gave a single, slow nod in understanding, backing away.
The Student Council president's gaze shifted back to the brunet in question. "I believe we got off on the wrong foot. You are not in trouble, Hyoudou-san, and we simply wanted to offer you an alternative to the deal you made with Murayama-san."
An alternative? "How so?"
"It's Kuoh policy for every person attending to be part of an extracurricular club in one way or another." Sona glanced at Rias, and they both shared another nod. "Rias and I have been discussing a suitable alternative to cleaning up the Kendo club's dojo, and we believe we have come to a conclusion that would serve both as a way to... rehabilitate you, and fulfill that school requirement."
Issei's brow drew together. He wasn't quite sure he liked the way Sona put it. "And by that you mean..."
"Join the Student Council."
"Join the Occult Research Club."
Sona and Rias said each at that exact moment respectively, before shooting each other a glare.
That just made him more suspicious. Especially given the circumstances.
"Why?"
Rias broke off the glare, focusing much softer, friendlier eyes on the brunet. There was something about the way she swapped between those expressions that just felt... fake, to Issei.
"Even if your behavior yesterday was reprehensible, you did stand out compared to your... partners in crime." Issei wanted to argue the point but chose not to, letting Rias continue unabated. "It may have taken a friend to get you to apologize instead of run, but you did, and have made a promise to not do so again. While it's... early, to determine whether or not you'll stick to it, I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt."
"I agree with Rias. Though you are reprehensible, I do not see you as irredeemable." The bespectacled student council president picked up where her friend(?) left off, lifting a hand to her glasses to push them up. "While Kuoh has little patience for the sort of behavior you, Motohama-san, and Matsuda-san displayed yesterday, it is also well within our rights and duty to recognize when there is room for improvement. Where there is a will, there is a way. And even if you refuse to change who you are deep down, I see that you want to rise beyond the title that the students have seemed keen to place upon you, even if it means giving up an activity that indulges that darker side."
Was that a faint smile across Sona's face? No, it couldn't be, that must have just been Issei's imagination. "I can respect that, which is why I want to offer you a place on the Student Council as a probationary member. Desire for something cannot be taught, but discipline to reach a goal can be, and I see some potential in you to achieve it if you join us."
"Alternatively, the Occult Research Club can give you a... healthier way to express your interests." Akeno smiled coquettishly, as though divulging a secret. "Your deviant urges might even be a sign that you're possessed by a demon of lust, whose hunger will not be contained until it devours all us innocent maidens. Who knows~?"
Ddraig seemed to take vicious amusement from that. "Hah, as if. It's all you, whelp."
"Ribbing from my vice-president aside," Rias rolled her eyes, a faint huff of laughter escaping her as her eyes glittered with humor. "It takes a certain kind of individual to do well in the Student Council, and even if you do have what it takes, I can see that you're not the sort of person that likes making decisions about the paths of others."
She wasn't entirely wrong. He liked to do his own thing, and he respected that others liked to do their own.
"I've seen enough of the world to know that holding people to an arbitrary standard will fail a number of them," Issei half-explained, half-retorted.
"There's a major difference between 'arbitrary standards' and a level of quality and decency that could and should be upheld by everyone," Sona argued."Besides, I think the fact that I'm willing to accommodate a student who clearly wants to do better stands for something."
"And we're a group of people who, while they may be small, would give you an opportunity to connect with others despite your poor reputation," Rias picked up where Sona had defended her posture. "You should be proud Issei-san; I usually have to trawl through applications to join the Occult Research Club to find someone I think is a good fit."
'So it's less of a club and more like the most popular girl's... clique? Is that the word?' Issei looked between Rias and Akeno, mind racing despite his tiredness. 'Still, a small, exclusive club with Rias-sama... if I didn't know better I'd have already agreed.'
'But then there's also Sona-kaichou to think about too.' The young man's eyes flicked over to the woman in question, and the way she was glancing at Rias and Issei. 'Even if their reasons are... well, reasonable, I can't forget how they were butting heads. I want to know why... but I think I already do.'
They wanted him. Wanted him enough to clash with each other over it which, considering how he had just awakened his Boosted Gear the evening prior, made Issei's temper flare once more.
So, they wanted to try and drag him into whatever games they were playing?
Or worse... was he going to be their charity case?
Though the fact that the two most powerful girls in Kuoh Academy made his blood burn, the thought that they were acting like he was a charity case caused it to boil over entirely.
"No."
The single word brought silence to the room.
'Wait, dude, what are you doing? This is your in with Rias-sama and Akeno-sama!'
'I know, I know! Just... trust me.'
"And now my host's left and right brain are arguing with each other. I truly hope this is just your fatigue talking, and not the onset of madness."
"No? I was under the impression that you would jump at the opportunity," Akeno tilted her head, something else flashing across her eyes that darkened them momentarily, though Issei couldn't tell what.
"I should," he admitted, sliding his hands into the pockets of his school jacket. "A chance to spend time with the two Great Princesses of Kuoh? I'd be an idiot to not run for it with both hands."
Issei tilted his head to the side. "But, perhaps I am one, because this comes the day after I end up getting in a fight, and after I get in trouble with one of the other clubs?"
He shook his head, some of his fatigued frustration leaking into his tone.. "I don't like being pitied, Sona-kaichou, Rias-sama. Actually, pardon my French, but that pisses me off. If I'm gonna join either of your groups, I'm doing so on my terms. I might be a pervert with only one real friend, but I refuse to take handouts."
If pity really was the reason they were offering these... opportunities to him.
Issei turned around, stepping away. "I'm gonna stick true to my word and continue cleaning up after my mess, so don't worry about that either."
"And what about school requirements that you join a club?" Rias prodded.
"Well. Maybe I'll try joining Murayama-san's Kendo Club." He lifted his arms in a shrug. "I need to try and make up for getting swept into Motohama and Matsuda's antics anyway; why not join and do my best to be a worthwhile member?"
He reached the door, opening it slowly, and indeed, it swung open again. At least they didn't try to lock him in.
Issei turned back to the two presidents of their respective clubs, and grinned, though his eyes still burned with resentment.
He didn't want their 'pity'. He didn't need it.
"But if you'd like to get to know me a bit more as my own person, rather than as someone with a dusty old title, then I'd be happy to talk to you all on the same level."
"Ooh, got a bit of bite to that one, and if they are supernatural that title comment will have quite the punch to it as well. Hah, you have my approval for that one. And here I thought you were just an idiot."
'I meant- oh, right, I'm also known as the Red Dragon Emperor now that I have the Boosted Gear, aren't I?'
The dragon's amusement vanished like smoke on the wind. "Pah. Forget it."
As Issei stepped out of the Student Council, leaving a silent group of young women behind, he noticed two other people approaching.
"Are you two waiting for your turn talking to Sona-kaichou?" he asked, to which the taller of the two nodded. He lifted a thumb and pointed behind him. "I just got finished, so you're good to go."
Issei paused, however, as the girl spoke, tone dry as always.
"Did you accept?"
The brunet furrowed his brow. "You mean the offer that Sona-kaichou made? Hell no. I don't want a handout. I'll earn my own keep."
The white-haired girl gained the ghost of a smile. "Good."
'Good? Does she know too?'
"Ask no questions and you'll receive no lies."
'The hell is that supposed to mean?!'
"Is she going to ask the same thing of me, Koneko-chan?" the other one - Saji, if Issei remembered correctly - asked his guide to the meeting room, peering at the door almost as if in... anticipation?
"Perhaps." Right, Koneko wasn't one for talking much, was she?
"I suppose I'll have to see for myself." Saji muttered, shaking his head before he and Koneko entered the same room that Issei was leaving.
Issei just wondered what he'd gotten himself out of.
"You handled yourself well, Ise-kun."
"Really? I thought I was rather snappish, myself."
"You said you felt like you walked into a trap, right? Keeping a level head's super important when you feel like that, and you stood your ground. Tou-san and I wouldn't have been able to get out of some real sticky situations if he hadn't been able to do just that!"
"Personal experience then, huh?"
Asia giggled. "You get a lot of it traveling like I did. Now you know how I put up with your antics."
The brunet squawked, arms flailing on each side as he toppled backward off his seat, bolting back upright with a hand clutched to his chest. "My antics?! Why do you have to be so cruel?!"
"The truth is often harsh, Ise-kun." Her beam faded for a more solemn, wistful smile, staring off as if looking at something behind Issei.
Issei's own zaniness petered out when he recognized the look on his best friend's face, taking a seat again as he leaned in.
"Is something wrong, Asia-chan?"
She blinked, refocusing back on the young man who'd been a constant presence whenever she returned to Kuoh. "N-no, I'm fine."
"You sure? You've got a look on your face, like you're remembering something bad."
"Not bad, just more... concerning."
"What's got you worried?"
"Just..." Asia's faced scrunched up cutely. "...Mgh. It's hard to explain."
"We've got all lunch period."
She seemed to think about it, before shaking her head. "It might be a little... longer, to find the words. Do you think I could come back to you on that, when we clean up the dojo again?"
"Sure." He easily accepted, with a shrug of his shoulders. "Just let me know."
They fell into a companionable silence, eating their respective lunches as the trees around them gently swayed in the wind.
It was a beautiful late morning, Issei decided, as he watched the clouds float by.
He went to take the last bite of his meal, a small bag of sweets that someone snuck into his lunchbox - Issei had the distinct impression it was that Luna woman, given that the words on the bag were in English - when he noticed something rather alarming.
Had he already eaten most of the surprise snack?
His eyes slid back down and past Asia... to the white-haired girl currently munching on a small handful of gummy bears.
"Koneko-chan!" Issei yelped, eliciting an squeak from the blonde as she toppled from her seat much the same way Issei had. Unlike Issei, however, Asia's falling off was completely by accident. "How did you get there? And why do you have my snack!?"
"I walked," the stoic girl replied, glancing at the blonde now on the ground who was catching her breath with a hand to her chest, as though willing her heart to calm. "I was hungry."
"Y-you could have just asked for me to share, y'know..." Issei trailed off, staring at the bag and then the fistful of gummies that Koneko was putting away at rapid pace.
"I know."
"Then why-?"
"It was fun." Was that the makings of a smirk on Koneko's face?
"Uwaaaah... that was mean, Toujou-san..." Asia panted, climbing back onto the seat with a pout on her face. "You nearly killed me!"
"It was fun," the white-haired girl repeated herself, staring at the now-empty hand that had once held the gummy bears intently. "...Sorry. Not sorry for startling you."
The blonde sighed, accepting the half-apology for what it was. "...That... okay..."
'I think I know where this is going...'
Issei took one more, then held out the remainder of the bag to the white-haired girl, who accepted it with a speed that completely went at odds with the disinterested expression that appeared to be her resting face.
"Itadakimasu." And just like that, the bag was empty. "My apologies for startling you two."
'She turned around just like that?!'
"Mercenary..." Asia trailed off, grimacing as she glanced at the now-empty bag of candy that Issei offered to Koneko.
"I know what I like." The white-haired girl stood, and walked around to face the brunet directly. "So what do you plan to do?"
"Eh?" Issei blinked, pointing at himself a moment later. "You mean like, after school, or do you mean regarding Sona-kaichou and Rias-buchou?"
She shook her head. "No. With that Sacred Gear of yours."
Asia's eyes widened, and she immediately looked around to see if anyone else was listening. Thankfully, Issei's poor reputation seemed to be doing them all a favor, and other students were steering clear of the now-trio.
"You shouldn't just out and say that in public!" the former nun hissed, a bead of sweat rolling down the side of her face at the white-haired girl's audacity.
"I have good senses. I'd know if someone else was close by," Koneko explained, expression not changing one bit as her gaze turned to the blonde. "It's okay, Asia-san. I'm not reckless."
She faced Issei once more. "So?"
Issei frowned. "Why does it matter to you? We're classmates, nothing more."
A flicker of something passed behind Koneko's eyes, too fast for Issei to notice, but as quickly as it occurred, it was gone.
Asia noticed, though, and her brow lowered in faint confusion.
"You're entering a world you know little about." The smaller student explained. "You two might be able to help each other, but there is strength in numbers."
"You want to... join us?"
"I want to be friends."
"Because of my Sacred Gear?" Issei replied, eyes narrowing faintly.
Koneko's thin brows scrunched together. "Issei-san and Asia-san are good people. Good people deserve to be helped and have friends."
"Oh. Congratulations, you have your first hanger-on," Ddraig yawned.
'Don't act like this is all because I ended up being your damn host!'
"She never denied taking notice of you because of me," the dragon adroitly riposted. "Though I'm not saying that this arrangement lacks benefits. Just making sure that you recognize the cause."
'Tch. Arrogant, jaded lizard.'
"I see things as they are; there is a difference."
"Ise-kun?" Asia glanced his way. "What do you think?"
"I think... I'd like another friend." He closed his eyes, folding his arms along his chest. "But I'd like to hear it straight." Then, he reopened them, staring at the smaller girl intently. "Is the only reason you approached me today because you could tell I awakened my Sacred Gear?"
Koneko's amber eyes met Issei's. "I heard from Nee-san that you were attacked last night. I wanted to make sure you were okay. Your awakening a Sacred Gear is part of it, but it is not the entire reason."
Nee-san?
"Who told you about that?"
"My sister is a... close friend with the person who saved you. Nee-san heard it from Arunn-nee."
"Oh, you mean the brunette with the great body and awesome oppai!"
Koneko's expression went flat. "...Pervert."
Asia's face matched Koneko's. "Ise..."
"Ehehe..." He grinned sheepishly. "Yeah. I was. Thankfully, Arunn-san stepped in before that maniac could finish the job. It still feels surreal." Without noticing, his hand lifted to his arm and rubbed the spot where it had been disconnected from his body, Issei's sheepish smile falling away for a more contemplative expression. "Not sure what to make of it, if I'm being honest. Does that thing happen often?"
"The confusion or the attacks?"
Issei scratched his head. "...Both?"
"For the first question: you get used to it. For the second: an awakened Sacred Gear user draws attention. The stronger the Gear, the more attention they get."
Issei grimaced. He knew that already; Asia had told him that, after all, but hearing an outside source confirm it really drove the point home.
"...Well, then I suppose I'll have to train, and a lot at that."
"You will need to." Koneko nodded once. "I could kill you with my pinky if I wanted to. Right now you're that weak. But in the grand scheme of things, I could be wiped out with a thought."
Part of him wanted to snap back, but judging by the way Asia looked at him with concern, maybe Koneko had a point.
He hadn't even been able to scratch that Freed bastard. Koneko might be smaller than even Asia, but after hearing about Sacred Gears from Asia and how all sorts of supernatural species existed from Luna-san, Issei knew better than to judge a book by its cover.
"That's... rather harsh, Koneko-san..." the blonde in question trailed off.
"I don't like mincing words," Koneko replied simply. "And you know it's true."
Issei's friend looked like she wanted to argue the point, but sighed in resignation.
That, more than anything, drove home just how far behind he was.
"Is the blonde bastard - Isaiah-san, I mean - in on the whole supernatural thing as well?"
Something about his words yesterday had kept nagging at Issei.
The white-haired girl glanced at Issei for a long moment, and gave a single nod. "He is."
That answered a lot of the brunet's questions regarding Isaiah, at least.
"No wonder I got trounced then," he grumbled, shaking his head. "We agreed to train once a week, but I'll have to ask to move that up to once a day. I have to catch up if I want to get anywhere."
"I can help train you too." Koneko offered. "I have plenty of experience fighting."
"Uh... depends on what you do? We might not have compatible fighting styles." The wielder of the Boosted Gear was running on anime logic, but it made sense considering the world he was getting into.
"I punch things hard and take hits well."
Issei blinked, and stared at the petite form of the white-haired girl who joined them.
"It's true," Asia trailed off as the brunet's mildly bewildered gaze turned to her. She poked her fingers together sheepishly, pursing her lips. "I've seen Koneko-san rip up entire trees and... er, use them like clubs."
Issei worked his mouth for a long second, before deciding on a single comment that summed up his thoughts on the matter rather succinctly. "...Dear god."
Koneko winced, hand lifting briefly to her temple before stopping halfway. Issei noticed, though.
"Please don't use His name. It's... unpleasant."
The young man's eyes shifted over to his best friend, and she gave a tiny nod, confirming his suspicions.
"...You're a Devil, then?" the brunet asked, brow drawn together.
Koneko paused, before bowing her head. "You're quicker than I thought you'd be. I am, yes, at least in part."
That made three for three. The Church, the Fallen, and the Devils, all in one town? He could already tell that was not a good sign. Asia mentioned they got along like mentos and soda.
That is to say, contact between any two of them was usually... explosive.
It sounded like Asia and Koneko had met before in some sort of supernatural occurrence. That Asia confirmed Koneko's claims meant that they'd fought. Was it together? They didn't seem to hold any animosity toward the other.
Though, Issei had other concerns.
Considering that she mentioned she had plenty of fighting experience...
"Just how old are you exactly, Koneko-chan?"
Asia just gawked at Issei, nonplussed at his question. He had, after all, broken one of the primary tenets of talking to women.
"Rude." Koneko was unimpressed, staring at Issei blankly for several seconds before she finally replied. "Twenty-one."
The brunet blinked. When he heard Koneko was a Devil, he'd expected her to be way older. Or maybe younger than him, considering her... petite stature. He hadn't expected that sort of answer. "Wait... so you're graduating from Kuoh already?"
"No. Freshman. I couldn't go to school for years."
He wanted to pry, but there was a gleam in Koneko's eye that all but screamed for Issei to drop the subject. So he did.
"...Should I call you Koneko-senpai then?"
"Do me a favor and not," the now-confirmed Devil stated bluntly, "that just sounds wrong." She tilted her head. "Koneko-chan is fine for you both."
"Koneko-chan, then." Issei rubbed a hand behind his head. "I get that you're probably going to want to keep them anonymous, but do you know which other students are part of the supernatural?"
"The Student Council, the Occult Research Club, Isaiah-san, and you two." A brief pause. "Also, Amano-san."
Issei blinked, hand dropping back to his side. He'd had a feeling that Sona and Rias were part of the supernatural, but Koneko's blunt admission of the fact still threw him for a loop.
"Just like that?"
"I know you can keep a secret. You'd figure it out anyway."
"And... how many of them are just humans?"
"You and Asia-san. Maybe Isaiah-san too, but it's hard to tell." Koneko's lips tugged downward for a moment, as if expressing distaste that she couldn't confirm the blond swordsman's species.
'Grk!' Issei's throat caught, and he coughed. "S-seriously? Is Kuoh really a supernatural haven like that?"
"Strong Sacred Gear wielders attract a lot of attention. It's like gravity. And there's at least three in this academy alone; you two and Isaiah-san."
"How... do you know that, exactly?" Asia queried, tilting her head.
Koneko smiled almost cattishly, the first shift in her face that neared an actual expression. "I know a lot of things."
Issei mused, brow furrowing. 'Wasn't that the exact same thing Luna-san said?'
Ddraig seemed somewhat contemplative as well. "Is that mere coincidence, or are they aligned somehow?"
Issei wasn't sure. But Koneko's honesty and forthcomingness was... refreshing, nonetheless. And if she and Luna were allies, then it gave him more reason to spend time with the smaller student.
"Well, if you know a lot of things, then hopefully you'd be willing to share some of what you know?"
Asia glanced Issei's way, before her eyes slid shut and she nodded in understanding.
"This isn't a contract by the way," the other human additionally supplied. "We're asking from one individual to another, nothing more."
"You talk like you two are the same person." A faint smirk crossed Koneko's face briefly. "I'd buy that. You two are joined at the hip."
Asia and Issei briefly locked eyes, and both blushed faintly as the smaller girl sat down across from them, her own expression returning to stoic. "I can't share much of what I know. If I share too much, then it becomes worthless. Power in exclusivity."
"That's awfully inconvenient," Issei bluntly remarked, to which Koneko bowed her head.
"Unfortunately so," she agreed. "I can, however, share with you some ideas on how to improve yourself, get stronger. If you want it."
"That's the same thing L-Arunn-san said when she revealed to Asia and I about what my Sacred Gear was."
"So she did visit you two. I should have figured as much. Nee-san mentioned something about her... superior, visiting an old friend. I suppose I know who that friend is now."
There was a hint of disgust, alongside a hint of... something else, that crossed her face when she specified Luna's relation to her sister.
Asia nodded. "I think she was here to talk to tou-san about something. But she's the one who saved Issei from the rogue exorcist that attacked us."
"And he threw himself into the line of fire to make sure you could get away safely."
"Eh? How do you know that, Koneko-chan? Were you watching?" Issei's eyes narrowed.
"You're an idiot. But you're also a brave and kind idiot." The brief smirk returned. "It's not hard to put two and two together."
Ah. Apparently his suspicions were misplaced.
"So harsh, Koneko-chan..." Issei sulked, holding an arm over his eyes.
"She's not wrong though, Ise-kun."
"You too, Asia-chan!?" Now tears started streaming out from beneath his raised arm.
"We're not technically allies, even if Nee-san is aligned with... 'Arunn'-san," Koneko hummed. "But I do believe we are on the same page in knowing lots of things. If she believes she can help you, I do not doubt that she can. I can provide practice for what she teaches you. Offer input of my own, as well."
Asia tilted her head. "And you would offer this freely?"
"I don't want Issei-san to be hurt. Or worse, be exploited."
The blonde and the white-haired girl gazes locked, staring each other down before Asia slowly nodded, a smile breaking across her own expression.
"You're a kind person too, aren't you Koneko-chan?"
"I'm selfish."
"Selfishness and kindness aren't mutually exclusive." It appeared that Asia had come to some sort of recognition. She mumbled something about knowing, but even if Koneko's brow furrowed like she heard it, Issei didn't catch whatever it was that Asia said under her breath. "But, I'd also like to be friends."
Koneko's blinked slowly, before she met Asia's smile with a faint but growing one of my own. "I can accept that arrangement."
"...Am I missing something here?" Issei glanced between Asia and Koneko as he slowly lowered his arm from his face, feeling as though he were missing an entire part of the conversation.
"Nothing you need to know," they answered, almost simultaneously.
Synchronicity! Issei begged to differ, now!
Then Issei learned that Sona wanted to speak with him after class, despite being snubbed rather harshly not even a full day earlier. He wasn't sure whether to be nervous or impressed by her boldness.
For most people, meeting up with a girl after class would suggest romantic potential. The 'after-class make-out session', so to speak.
This wasn't one of those people.
Even if Issei wasn't aware that she was some sort of supernatural being, the invitation would be a daunting one given her reputation as a no-nonsense student council president, practically an old woman in the body of a young one.
Now he wondered if that actually was the case.
"Have you ever played Chess before, Issei-san?"
"I've... played it a couple times. I learned it from Asia-chan on one of the annual trips we take together with Masaomi-jii." He paused. "Her father, I mean. I suck at the game, though."
"Then would you care to indulge me in a match?" the bespectacled ravenette asked, gesturing to the set-up chessboard sitting on the side of the council room. Had Sona set it up in advance?
"I..." he trailed off, lifting a brow. Was this a trap of some sort? Was there some sort of undertone to the request?
"Only one way to find out."
"Yeah, alright, fine. I already told you I haven't slept at all last night though, right? I might just end up falling-" Issei broke into a yawn, as if to drive the point home, "-asleep. Even if I don't I'm still gonna be even worse."
"Think of it as an exercise in willpower then," Sona walked over to the board. "White or black?"
An exercise? Another test? "...Black."
The bespectacled president nodded, immediately moving a pawn forward. "As for why I asked you to speak with me: I wanted to apologize for Rias on her behalf."
Issei frowned, before taking a pawn of his own and shifting it himself. "I'd like to hear it from her."
"You might need patience then." Another piece moved, as violet eyes flicked up to Issei. "She... has a lot on her plate. An apology for her... ambitions, isn't a particularly poignant matter for her."
"Doesn't give her the right to use her friend as a proxy," Issei scowled, immediately putting a Bishop into play.
Sona quirked a brow. "So you did pick up on that. I had my suspicions that you noticed."
"You were competing for my participation in your respective clubs, but you weren't taking shots at each other. You two also go by a first name basis. A plus B equals C is a conclusion that even a person like me can easily come to."
Their pieces continued to move, and before long their pieces started to trade. It was a long couple minutes before the black-haired young woman spoke again.
"Perceptive." Was that a hint of approval in Sona's tone? Perish the thought. "A pity that you thought that our gestures were made out of pity."
"It was either out of pity or ambition." Issei lifted a piece, paused, then set it back before moving another. "I'm not sure which is worse."
"It's not wrong to want to move ahead with one's own life and dreams."
"By taking authority over some random person and framing it as an act of kindness?"
"You're not just some random person, Hyoudou-san. You are, after all, the-"
"-The Red Dragon Emperor. I know."
Sona paused, a Rook in hand as she met Issei's steady, wary gaze.
"So you do, apparently." Violet eyes closed for a long second as she sent her Rook forth. "Your friend whose father runs the church in town?"
Issei's thoughts briefly flashed to a woman with long brown hair and a Devil-may-care attitude.
"You could say that. Just like I could say that you two were trying to take advantage of a scared and exhausted student. To say nothing of having actually been attacked by some nutjob with a lightsaber last night." Issei blinked, and recognized that Sona was utterly crushing him. A few glances indicated she was just about to achieve checkmate, and Issei proceeded to tip his king over with a scowl. "But even so, I refuse to just be a pawn in whatever games you two are playing."
She blinked, brow furrowing. "We're playing Chess. Unless you're making some sort of allegory to the game we finished now, I'm unsure what you mean."
"Don't give me that bullshit, 'Kaichou'." Issei grit his teeth as he met Sona's 'innocent' gaze. "I don't know what you are, and I don't know what you're trying, but I know better than to just accept your words at face value."
Sona was silent, instead choosing to reset the pieces. When she reached for one of Issei's few remaining pieces on the board, his eyes narrowed and his hand snaked out in a flash, grabbing her wrist and stopping Sona's own hand in place.
"I'm serious. No more playing around, or playing nice, all this dancing around each other isn't doing you any favors. Be straight with me, Shitori-senpai, before I flip the damn table."
Silence, both in the largely empty Student Council room and in Issei's own head.
'What, no witty comment?'
"No witty comment needed, whelp. I'm quite pleased with how you're handling this. Also, wings."
'Wings-?'
Oh, those wings.
Sona tugged her hand away from the black king piece, breaking Issei's hold on it before folding them both behind her back, as two dark, batlike pinions extended from behind her navel, head tilted upward faintly.
"It's 'Sitri-senpai' to you, Hyoudou-san." Yet despite the tension, there was something bright flickering behind the stern gaze of the ravenette. "But if you're done playing, then I can oblige you and get down to brass tacks. I am Sona Sitri, sister of the Leviathan, aspirant King of Knowledge, and heiress-apparent of the house of Sitri, a Great Prince of the 72 Pillars of the Ars Goetia. Hyoudou Issei, I want to recruit you into my Peerage."
"Not happening."
Issei's unimpressed, flat-out refusal of the now-revealed high-ranked Devil nearly sent Sona into a face-fault. She managed to recover, but even so she stumbled with wide eyes and a very unprofessional squawk.
Ddraig was enjoying the turn of events at least. "Well now, you just went and mouthed off to royalty! Hah! There might be hope for you yet!"
"Y-you didn't even let me explain anything about it!" the Student Council President shouted.
"All I need to know is that if I agree I'll be turned into a Devil and made into your servant." Issei held a hand up in a fist. "So let me say it one more time, and maybe it'll finally sink in. I don't want your pity, I don't want your handouts, and I don't want to be a part of your damned collection!"
There was a brief flash as the blood-red gauntlet of the Boosted Gear manifested around his raised fist, taking a brief flash of satisfaction with the way Sona's eyes widened in alarm.
"I'll be part of the supernatural my way."
No, that wasn't enough.
"I'll achieve my dreams by reaching for them with both hands, my way!"
"...We both know those aforementioned dreams are about huge breasts galore."
'Shut up Ddraig, that's not the point.'
"And I'll climb out of this hole I'm in, make real friends, become strong, and live the best possible life I can, in the way that I choose!"
He let the declaration hang in the air for several seconds, to let Sona mull over them before he spoke again, lowering his hand from a raised fist to an extended hand, voice softening. "I'm not gonna join your Peerage, Sona-kaichou. But I'll offer that we have a... peer-to-peer relationship, instead. I don't really care about all that beef between Angels, Fallen, or Devils, or any of the stereotypes that they have, or anything like that. I just want to be the master of my own fate."
Issei tilted his head, breathing out a quiet, if firm, sigh. "Is that so hard to ask?"
Once more, silence reigned, the air between King and Emperor thick enough to cut with a knife.
Finally, Sona spoke, voice tight.
"Hyoudou-san... "
The brunet's eyes narrowed faintly, preparing himself for... some sort of conflict.
What were the Sitris known for again? Issei didn't really read up on his occultology.
He dearly regretted not doing so now; he was completely in the dark as to what Sona could do.
"...your pants need to be zipped up."
Issei blinked, looking down at his fly before his face went red. "Oh, come on!" he cried. "I finally got to say something cool, say it in a meaningful sense, and my zipper's down?! This is bullshit!"
As he went to zip the fly of his pants, the Boosted Gear vanished into thin air so he could better handle the small zipper, he thought he heard a brief giggle from in front of him. The thing was...
'Is that... Sona? No, it can't be.'
She certainly sounded amused, however. "So you did. You really don't know how bold of you it is to make that claim, but I can respect your determination if nothing else. You wear your dream on your sleeve, Hyoudou-san, but have I shared mine?"
"Eh?" the non-sequitur made Issei blink and look back up at the faintly smiling student council president.
"My dream, Hyoudou-san," she repeated herself, setting a hand on the table. "You aren't the only one with large, and some would say mad, aspirations."
"And that would be?"
Sona stared at him, voice as even as could be.
"To control the world."
Issei opened his mouth. Closed it. Blinked, unsure of what to say next.
"Excuse me?" he finally asked.
"To control the world," she repeated herself, the slight smile widening as Sona's hand lifted to start playing with the king piece on her side of the board. "You see, if I've learned one thing growing up as the daughter of a noble house, it's that even without strength, even without courage, there is a power in just knowing things. By knowing how to stitch a wound, you can swipe a person from the maw of death itself. By knowing how to make a building, you can create monuments that stand the test of time, that will outlive even the millennia-long lives of Devils."
'Holy shit, millennia? Hang on, how does that go into controlling the world, as she puts it?'
"Wait for it."
"By knowing how to teach..." Sona glanced at Issei now, the smile widening still. Now it was practically a beam. "You shape the lives of others, you permanently and irrevocably change the way they approach the world, and how they can affect it. By teaching others, you imprint on them pieces of yourself, of your own philosophies, of your own beliefs. Even if they themselves follow a path separate and opposed to your own, there's always the voice that whispers at the back of their mind. What if they made a different decision from those lessons? Would they be happier? Would they be more successful?"
Her fingers released the king, as Sona's arms joined her wings in extending to the side. "And for those that were on a different path that you do end up swaying? Whose lives they accept are changed because of your tutelage? Knowledge is power, and in this world of gods and Devils, the strongest rule."
"So you'd use your position as a... teacher," Issei hedged, "to gain strong allies and advance where your own strength would fail you in your quest for world domination?"
The Devil noble let out a huff, closing her eyes and crossing her arms, wings folding back out of sight. "I suppose that's my sister's influence talking through me. Though she'll never hear about it if I have any say." She shook her head and cleared her throat. "But that's aside from the point. When I state 'control the world', I don't mean literally conquer it. Do you know why the three biblical factions are always at each other's throats?"
Another non-sequitur, at least on the surface. But after Sona's little speech... "Because they're... taught, to be that way?"
Sona nodded slowly, her cheer intensifying as her violets met Issei's russets. "Exactly! Each generation of parents, each generation of teachers, passes on their dogma to their children, their students. Family first. Blood is more important than talent. God is great. Devils are cruel whoresons, Fallen are treacherous sluts, Angels are self-righteous bastards." The slurs slipped by Sona's lips not as a matter of actually cursing, but as recollection, even if she winced when she said the name of the biblical deity. "And those are just a few of the beliefs passed from one generation to the next. If knowledge is power, then belief is control. So if you convince the world to change what they believe..."
"Then you 'control' the world," Issei finished. "That's... I'm not sure if that's brilliant, or insidious."
The Student Council President's smile faded slightly. "A bit of one, a bit of the other. I'm not planning on forcing those lessons into the heads of everyone like I'm brainwashing them though; that's not what teaching is. To teach is to help others think critically, to see themselves and world from a point of view they might not otherwise ever experience, to gain perspective. To be an inspiration for others, to teach them how to live better lives than the ones before them... that is why I want to be a teacher."
An... oddly 'normal' choice of profession, especially for someone as formidable as Sona had shown she could be. The sister of Leviathan... if Sona was this intense, and admitted to having picked up some habits from someone with such a title, then what was the elder like?
Issei wanted to ask. But Issei was also very worried what the answer might be.
Sona shook her head, almost seeming... nervous? "Ideally, I'd be able to go even further beyond just another educator in another classroom, but... I'm still working out the details on that."
It also explained why she ran the Student Council, if Sona wanted to learn how to be a good teacher. Maybe her offer of helping Issei better himself was true, too.
He still wouldn't join her Peerage. But perhaps there was some genuine idealism behind that ambition-fueled offer.
Either that, or Sona was an incredible actor.
But he really didn't want to delve too deeply into that conspiratorial rabbit hole.
"I hope that explains... most, of why I, personally, have been so eager to recruit you, both into the Council and my Peerage." She looked away, a faint flush to her cheeks as she realized just how much she'd been gushing. "Having the Red Dragon Emperor directly support me and my dream to the point of joining me outright... that'd carry a lot of weight."
"Well... I didn't know. Just like I didn't know Shitori-senpai actually has a heart of gold behind all that ice!" Issei joked, to which he got a glare.
"I won't hesitate to expel you if you share any of this with anyone outside the Student Council," the bespectacled Devil warned.
Issei tilted his head, before nodding. "Uh... sure. I don't really get why that's such a bad thing, though."
"You... never you mind." she sighed, adjusting her glasses with a middle finger from a splayed hand. "So? What do you think? Quid quo pro?"
"I'm gonna guess that's something to do with scratching each other's backs," Issei trailed off when Sona glared at him. "But... I do think it's a good dream. I'd like to help if I can. But I want to remain true to myself too. And that means doing this as Hyoudou Issei, not... not the wielder of a Longinus, but as the guy who appreciates what you're putting down. I don't want handouts, and that includes the title that apparently every Boosted Gear user has."
The Devil frowned thoughtfully at that, thinking over the brunet's words momentarily before she responded.
"That... is acceptable." Sona gave a single, resolute nod before the slight smile returned. "I'll be sure to send you the papers you'd need to read in order to keep up with where I'm at in my plans."
Issei paled.
"Wait, there was nothing about paperwork in that dream of yours!"
"I'm planning on becoming a teacher even more well-known than Chiron of the Greeks, Confucius of the Chinese, or even Buddhism's namesake." Now the smile on the bespectacled young woman was positively malicious. "If a little paperwork is enough to stop me then I won't ever get anywhere."
"But what about me!?"
Her gaze met his.
She nodded once, speaking absolutely seriously once more.
"You get used to it. Until then, however, you have my condolences."
With that, Sona stepped by, patted Issei on the shoulder, and walked out of the room.
"You've nobody to blame but yourself."
'Shut up, you damn overgrown lizard.'
Then another thought occurred.
'She never even shared the reason why Rias-senpai is so intent on having me join her club, either, just her own!'
Ddraig only snickered. Issei very much wanted to smack him upside the head.
A bold young Devil, indeed.
A/N:
Okay, so Koneko and the Satan Sisters are making their move, and Issei is caught in the middle. Thankfully, he's not quite so much a bullheaded, reckless moron that he is in canon. He's still a bullheaded and reckless moron, mind you, but thanks to Asia's influence he's not nearly so desperate for acknowledgement and affection (yet hides it behind blatant perversion). Instead, he's someone who's brash, hotheaded, perverted, and stubborn, but also more capable of thinking things through instead of blindly rushing forward. And is a bit more cognizant of ulterior motives when someone reaches out to him specifically.
For those of you who might comment that Issei comes off as a little too angry this chapter, don't forget that he just got shoved into a world where he's supposedly some big name in the making and that every supernatural being and their mother will be running at him for one reason or another. Not to mention the thigh tease that Raynare gave him all night under the guise of using him as a body pillow. Issei's tired, he's frustrated, he's confused, he's suspicious, and he's overwhelmed; all of which mixes into a delightfully irritable cocktail. He'll mellow out once he starts getting used to the supernatural world and figures out who he can and can't trust. You can see it already, with how he interacts with Koneko and Sona.
Speaking of, Sona was actually pretty fun to write. Given the angle I'm going for with her, I hope the mild menace her words first give off - and the fact that she's going just a little chuuni in doing so - shows how Serafall's personal changes have reflected onto the younger Sitri sister.
yes, rossweisse and sona would get along famously here
Funnily enough, I feel like Sona would have made a better primary character in the DxD story than Rias. It comes down to motivation and goals, basically. While I don't have any issues with Rias in regards to her being a character, the primary issue I have with her is in her motivations. She was so compelling during the first acts of the story because there was always the shadow of an unfortunate event hanging over her head. First, it was the arranged marriage with Riser, which drives her to desperate measures, and then there's Kokabiel and the restarting of the Great War, which shows how she acts against overwhelming odds. We get to see her at both her worst and her best, and that gives us a compelling view of Rias in a wholesale sense. After that though, she falls by and large to the wayside as a character being developed - most of the time she's only there because her presence is integral to the progression of the story, even if she herself becomes more or less a secondary character to fawn over Issei. There is the nice undercurrent about her coming to terms with her feelings about Issei, enough to compromise on her own ideals to be with him, but even so it's not nearly that same sort of depth that Rias got at the very beginning.
Sona, on the other hand, has ambitions. She has a dream that flies in the face of the established norm, which is way more in line with the likes of believable protagonists in such a zany world like this one. DxD is a shounen-esque ecchi, after all. DBZ with tits. Additionally, it's not something that can be solved over the course of a single arc. Starting a school that doesn't discriminate based on class and race is laughable in the Underworld, and if I recall correctly it's even shown to be a ridiculous notion in DxD - it's just tossed to the wayside when Sairaorg comes out and says he's gunning for the title of 'strongest' despite completely lacking the Power of Destruction he should have inherited. Sona's just a stronger character in general, I feel, even if Rias tends to steal the attention. Or if not 'stronger', then she has more staying power throughout the story.
This is just an expansion of Sona's dream, really. That isn't to say that Rias won't have her own developments here - she absolutely will, and she'll get her moment. Sona just flowed too naturally for me here to not try and take advantage of her presence in the story, especially given her connections.
Also, to those of you who recognized that Tsubaki Shinra isn't in the Student Council, don't worry, she's still alive and very much exiled from her clan. There's a reason she isn't here.
P.S. It has come to my attention that the highest ranking in Heaven is actually the Seraphs, not the Archangels. I thought that was the case at first, but ended up convinced that archangels take up the top bracket until I went looking again. Damn it, Ishibumiiiiii!
