Okay everyone, with the prologue behind us it's time for the main story to roll so grab a drink, your favorite snack and sit tight as we dive into the next arc!
*Disclaimer: I own nothing, all credits go to Ichiei Ishibumi*
Chapter 9: A Girlfriend!? A Pervert's Dream Come True!
*BOOM*
*CRASH*
As an explosion shattered the side of an old Chinese building, several people were sent flying because of the shockwave. Several more explosions made themselves known as more fire started to cover the once peaceful village located in the Asian country.
"Chun!" A young man shouted as he ran to a woman that was caught in the explosion, her pristine white dress was now dirt by debris and dirt. The girl coughed as she tried to get up. "Chun! Are you alright?"
"Chang…" The woman recognized the man as she accepted his hand to get back up. "Where is Jie? We need to get him out of here!"
Another explosion shook the ground below both of them, Chun closed her eyes as she tried to not pay attention to all of the people screaming in pain around them.
"He is safe." Chang responded. "I have a boat prepared, we need to find Bihan and get out of here!"
At the mention of Bihan, Chun lowered her head as she started to sob uncontrollably. "He's gone." She finally confessed as she bit her lip. "Bihan stayed behind with the rest to try and stop the ones responsible for this."
"No…" Chang gritted his teeth as he clenched his fists. Closing his eyes, the young man took a deep breath to control his impulse to try and avenge his friend. "Chun, we need to get out of here now."
As Chang grabbed Chun by her shoulder to help her walk, the house next to them exploded. Fire erupted from the ceiling as debris scattered throughout their surroundings.
"They're here." Chang cursed their luck as he stood in front of the girl, extending his left arm in an attempt to prevent the culprits responsible for this disaster from reaching her.
As fire consumed the house, a figure started to walk out of it. Chang could feel the powerful magic the perpetrator possessed was from a foreign land to them.
The figure chuckled as he started to approach the pair. "Now, tell me."
"Where is he?"
"I hate Mondays." A boy complained as he yawned.
As the sun shines to mark the beginning of a new day, Shinji Kouki walks to Kuoh Academy to attend class. It has been two weeks since the stray devil Perse disaster, ever since then the black haired teen's life has changed drastically.
After the Greek monster finally fell, Shinji decided to join the student council as a helper for two days every week. He didn't do it because Sona, the student council president, asked him; the boy joined them because he felt guilty that Momo got captured by the stray devil before and now he at least wants to be there for her, even if it's just just for two days.
After all, how hard can it be? Sure Shinji expected some paperwork or the usual stuff the student council does. He'll probably fill up some papers or clean something and be done with it.
He never imagined how strict Sona could be and worse, all the things she makes her peerage do.
Before he joined Kuoh Academy the student council was your everyday council: raising funds for school projects, social activities or just being there for the student body in general.
That all changed when Kuoh went co-ed. With the increasing number of boys starting to join the school, there were reports of peeping toms or just boys creeping on the girls from time to time. This all changed when Sona finally became the student council president.
So Sona, being the strict stickler to rules she is, decided to add more responsibilities to her peerage and began to reprehend this behavior, sending the ones getting caught to the principal's office to wait for their punishment.
Obviously both her peerage and the principal didn't like the amount of work they were forced to do now. But it seems to have worked as the several reports of misbehavior were starting to go down.
Of course the infamous Perverted Trio was still a hot topic for girls, demanding their expulsion and all, but Sona still believes they can change once they mature or get punished enough. At least Shinji was thankful she still tries for them to change instead of just expelling his friend.
So Shinji was packed with more work than he had imagined, when he's not helping with paperwork or just serving tea for some odd reason, the boy's patrolling the school to see if he can catch any student with funny ideas or just breaking the rules.
If he had known this, the boy would have never brought up the idea in the first place. 'Should've asked Momo what they do there.' Shinji complained as he tucked his hands in his pockets.
"The armband's cool though." The black haired teen thought out loud as he raised his left hand a little to see the distinct black band the student council members use.
"There he is!"
"That bastard Kouki!"
"You're lucky to be wearing that armband, you asshole!"
"Be grateful we can't kick your teeth in!"
As the boy approached Kuoh Academy, Shinji heard the usual insults thrown at him lately.
Ah yes, his new reputation as the 'Idols Casanova'.
After the boy joined the student council, news spread like wildfire about the same random guy that joined the most exclusive club in school who was now part of the student council.
Yes, by now everyone knew about Shinji Kouki, the friend of one of the Perverted Trio and who was now spending his days with the four most popular girls in school. It wasn't rare for the black haired teen to hear the entire male student body and a large part of girls shouting a barrage of insults or just people ready to fight him for daring to breathe the same air as both Rias and Sona.
The situation got so bad that Sona demanded Shinji to wear his armband every time he wore his school uniform in a way to show he was under her watchful eyes.
"Well well, if it isn't the luckiest boy on Earth." Shinji turned to see a girl approach him, she adjusted her glasses as she turned to see a group of boys ready to stomp the black haired teen. "Looks like your popularity is as vivid as ever, eh?"
"Can it, Kiryuu. I'm not in the mood for that." Shinji sighed as he greeted his new company. Kiryuu just giggled as she got under the teenager's skin with her joke.
Aika knew how bothered Shinji is by how he is now Kuoh Academy's number one villain, there's not a single person in the entire school that doesn't hate the boy or just sees him in a bad light because of his luck.
"You know, some people got mad at how you joined the Occult Club out of nowhere but then you just had to join the Student Council as well? Kouki-kun, you kind of asked for it." The boy grumbled at the girl's remark. "Have to give you credit though, this might be the first time I see all the popular girls clubs unite to pick on someone."
Yes, the four most popular girls, that being Rias, Akeno, Sona and Tsubaki each had their respective fan clubs in school. They are a mix of both boys and girls and they just stand there and idolize their favorite girl as she passes next to them.
These clubs never agree on one thing, who's the most beautiful one. For every member each girl had something unique to them: be it Rias with her 'unreachable' status, Akeno's mature charisma, Sona's strict but caring attitude or Tsubaki's quiet and mature air. They get into heated arguments from time to time and just agree to disagree.
But that all changed when a certain boy just casually started to hang out with all of them.
This boy was average looking, didn't have anything special going on for him and just out of nowhere he's talking to all of them at once! All the students were furious! How could it be that the same guy that's a friend with a leech like Issei got himself into such a paradise full of women!?
No male student would let that pass by. Hell, not even the girls were happy with this.
So Shinji's life changed for the worst, everyone throwing him stuff like cans or rocks, insulting him whenever they spotted the boy or just trying to get their frustration out by trying to beat him up. The last one was primarily done by a third year delinquent that had a big crush on Sona.
Of course it never happened, the first time he tried Shinji just threw him into a trash can with the help of his devil strength and when the delinquent tried again he was scolded by Sona and sent to the principal's office.
"I miss the times when no one gave a damn about me." Shinji sighed as he remembered how peaceful it was before.
"Aww c'mon, you can't tell me it's not funny." Kiryuu giggled as Shinji rubbed his forehead. "Yeah, for you that's not dealing with this on a daily basis." Came the black haired teen's response.
Kiryuu shrugged as the pair went through Kuoh Academy's gate. "Eh, just give it a few more days and it'll die down."
"Yeah, you've been saying that since last week." The black haired teen sighed as more insults were thrown at him.
"Could be worse, at least you're not paired with the Trio yet." Kiryuu added as she turned to enter Kuoh Academy's gates.
Shinji once again sighed as he remembered his friend's iconic group name in school. "At this point I think I'm hated even more than them." Kiryuu giggled as a form of agreeing with his point.
Ever since his idea of joining the student council, Shinji's relation with his friend, Issei, has been strained to say the least.
After gossip spread around school, the black haired teen was on his way to the ORC before he got grabbed by the collar and thrown into an empty classroom. The authors of this were none other than Matsuda, Motohama and Issei, the infamous Perverted Trio.
Before Shinji could even ask what was going on Issei demanded the black haired teen answers of how he got himself into another exclusive place full of women.
"You bastard! I leave you be for a while and you got yourself your own harem!?" Shinji still remembers how angry the Trio was and how they wanted to hear how the black haired teen even managed to pull that off.
'In the end, Issei's mad at me and hasn't spoken to me since last week.' The black haired teen thought as he scratched his ear. As the pair entered the school's main building, Kiryuu got a little ahead of Shinji. "C'mon, grumps. Let's go to our classroom."
"Yeah, yeah." The black haired devil responded as they turned to their classroom. 'At least they don't follow me to the student council room to threaten me.' Shinji thought.
"So, just like this?"
"Yeah! Try holding it harder."
As the day went on and classes ended, Shinji Kouki started his new routine as part of the student council. After going through the usual never ending piles of paperwork he has to do now, the black haired teen gets a short break to rest a little. The boy decided to use this time to just hang out with his friend, Momo, and try to get along with the rest of the group.
Shinji first thought the student council would be like Sona or Momo in regards to seriousness, but they were mostly talking like an average group of girls: joking about hairstyles, commenting on who was the hottest guy on their favorite music group and so on. They acted like this was just their place to hang out and relax as high school students.
But of course that wasn't the case. The entire student council was full of devils after all, they were part of Sona's peerage. After their paperwork is done, Sona sends her peerage to fulfill their various contracts around the city just like Rias do.
Before this of course their work was already done and school was closed, Shinji would also leave and head to the ORC to see what Rias needed of him.
"Woah, he's actually doing it!"
One of the things the raven haired teen asked his friend is to help with his new devil powers. Knowing Momo is a Bishop piece and, by what Kiba once told him, Shinji knew the white haired girl would be the best suited to teach him magic.
So now the boy was learning the basics whenever he had free time in the student council, small steps at a time but he believes he can get to Momo's level eventually.
"No no! Don't pour that much mana!"
Or so he thought.
Grabbing a rubber ball, Shinji was trying to learn how to channel his devil powers the same way his friend does. As his level is mediocre at best, both Sona and Momo came up with the idea of making him use an object to learn how to do it.
"Just do it slowly." Momo was sitting next to the raven haired teen as he was concentrating on the object in front of him. "Don't rush it."
As the girl was concentrated on the boy's training, they were accompanied by two other girls from the student council. "300 yen he breaks this one as well." One of the girls commented.
"Ohoho~" The one resting on the desk next to them laughed. "Make that 300 and an Oi Ocha tea and we have a deal."
"Girls!" Momo turned to face the two betting against her friend. Shinji was so busy trying to actually pull this through he didn't pay any attention to his surroundings whatsoever.
The one starting the bet scratched her blue hair as she chuckled. "Sorry, Momo-chan." This girl is Tsubasa Yura, she's a girl with blue eyes and matching color shoulder-length hair.
She's known for having a tomboyish personality, loving anything that involved physical activity or using her muscles. The fact that she was reincarnated as Sona's Rook was a bonus added for her as she now has enhanced strength.
The one next to her is Reya Kusaka, Shinji later learned that she's also part of Sona's peerage. Just like Momo, she's been reincarnated as a Bishop.
As Shinji furrowed his eyes, he started to see a small glow coming out of the ball. "Woah, something's happening!" This quickly caught the attention of the three girls as they turned to check out the ball the teenager was holding.
Clear enough, a dim blue glow was starting to emit from the rubber ball. "No way!" Tsubasa was preoccupied as she was going to lose her own bet.
Shaking.
Slowly but surely, the ball started to shake a little as if it was vibrating, the bluish glow was getting clearer to see.
The three girls started to get closer to the ball, neither of them could believe their eyes as the boy was finally making progress after one week of trying the same thing.
Shinji was solely concentrated on the ball. 'C'mon, c'mon..!' Sweat started to drip down his forehead. 'I can do this!'
"He…he did it!" Reya excitedly cheered as she was already tasting the bottled tea from her bet.
Crack.
A small crack appeared on one side of the ball.
Momo's face paled as she could see some sort of air coming out of a crack, then she saw another one.
And another one.
And another one.
As the ball quickly started to shake, the glow got brighter each second.
*POP*
"Kyaa!" The girls suddenly jumped back.
As the ball exploded, it sent pieces of rubber everywhere. Shinji remained still, blinking a few times to see if he wasn't hallucinating.
Nothing.
The raven haired boy closed his hands to open them once again and see if his ball would magically reappear. Soon after he sighed. "Man, not again."
"Haha!" Tsubasa puffed her chest proudly as she turned to Reya. "I'll be waiting for my tea tomorrow, thank you."
"Tch." Reya cursed as she left to grab her wallet to pay the bet.
As Shinji dropped his head, he felt someone put a hand on his shoulder. Turning to see who it was, he saw Momo next to him. "How many balls does this make?"
"Eight." Tsubasa commented as she grabbed Reya's money. "Nine if we count the stick Momo used first."
Ah, the famous wooden stick Momo used to make Shinji learn magic first. As Shinji was charging it with magic in a way to make it bend, it overcharged the same way the ball did.
The result? The stick exploded and pieces of wood flew everywhere with such force that they pierced the walls. Sona prohibited them from using something other than rubber from that point forward.
"I suck at magic." Shinji admitted as reclined on his chair. Tsubasa chuckled as she sat on top of a desk. "Hey, can't say you didn't try at least."
"Hey, don't say that." Shinji turned to see Momo putting a hand atop his'. "You almost got it this time, next time we'll make progress for sure!"
"Eh, I'd say it's pointless." As the pair turned to face the one speaking, they saw the other only male in the room. "I mean, he doesn't even have wings! I doubt magic is his thing."
"Now Genshirou, that's not a nice thing to say." Sona quickly reprimanded the boy as she was reading something on her desk.
Shinji just sighed as he saw the other boy chuckle. He is Genshirou Saji, he's the only male apart from Shinji in the student council as well as the only boy in Sona's peerage serving as her Pawn piece. He's a boy the same age as Shinji with short blond hair and green eyes, his most distinctive part is his schools' shirt sleeves that are rolled up whenever he's not using the blazer.
Easy to say, he gets under Shinji's skin whenever he adds a comment like that. 'Ahh…! Next time a ball is about to burst I'll throw it at you, you little-'
"Okay, let's see…" As Shinji got caught off from his thoughts, Momo turned to check on her desk for another ball. Sadly, she didn't find any. "Ah, I don't have any more."
As the raven haired boy got an idea, he turned to grab his bag and put a hand on its front pocket. Pulling out a small plastic bag of sorts, he showed it to the girl. "Would this work?"
Momo turned to what Shinji was showing her, then her eyes got wide. "W-What are you doing bringing firecrackers to school!?" Tusbasa and another girl turned to see what the ruckus was all about.
"Hey, relax." Shinji raised both his hands in an attempt to calm down the girl. "These are just some poppers a guy on the street sold me today." As he pulled one out of the bag, the boy put the small object in Momo's hand. "See? Completely harmless."
"Ohh, I haven't seen one of these in ages!" Tsubasa grabbed one out of Shinji's bag. "I used to play with them all the time."
"You shouldn't bring this type of things to school, Kouki-kun." The raven haired boy turned to see a new person approaching their little group. Adjusting her glasses, she raised a lecturing hand to the newly reincarnated devil. "These things are forbidden here."
"Ahahaha." Shinji laughed a little as he scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, my bad I guess Shinra-san." He smiled a little at the girl.
At the mention of her name, Tsubaki coughed a little as she quickly turned around. "A-Anyway, just don't pull that stuff in here before someone gets hurt."
Shinji just scratched his cheek while the vice president left the trio alone. "Don't know how you get hurt with these things."
"So, let's try it with this thing." Shinji pulled one of the poppers out and put it on top of his hands. "You sure?" Tsubasa asked as she was curious about the boy's idea.
"Yeah, why not? Worst case scenario it'll just pop." The raven haired boy chuckled, then he turned to his friend. "C'mon Momo, I'll be pulling shields like you in no time!"
"Try pulling your wings out first." Genshirou commented under his breath but loud enough for Shinji to hear.
As the blond boy was chuckling, Shinji was about to throw a handful of his poppers at Sona's pawn face just before being stopped by the president of the student council. "Kouki-kun, I need a favor from you."
'Tch, lucky bastard.' Shinji stood and headed to Sona's desk. On his way he could see how Saji was resting his head on his right hand without paying much attention, as he got closer he pushed his right arm just a little.
The result? Saji slammed his head against the desk since he was caught off guard. Reya witnessed the whole situation since she's sitting next to the boy, putting a hand on his mouth to avoid laughing out loud and turning away from the blond boy.
As Saji raised his head from his desk, he slammed his hands on top of it while staring straight at the raven haired boy. "Why you-"
"Is there a problem, Genshirou-kun?" Sona raised her head as she could see the blond boy raising his voice. The latter just coughed on his hand and decided to sit down again. "Nothing Kaichou, don't worry about it."
"Is there a problem, Sitri-san?" Shinji asked as he reached Sona's desk. "Kaichou." Was the only response he got.
Shinji laughed a little at her remark. "C'mon, I don't think that's nece-"
"Kaichou." Once again, Sona told him without raising her head the papers she's reading.
"Technically, I don't have to-"
"Kaichou."
"C'mon Sitri-san, just tell me-"
"Kaichou."
The raven haired teen sighed, rubbing his forehead he decided to play along. "Is there a problem, Kaichou?"
At that, Sona raised her head. "Why, thanks for coming, Kouki-kun."
Shinji just dropped his head in defeat, Tsubasa and Momo shared a small giggle at Sona's antics. "No problem." The raven haired teen responded.
The Sitri's heir coughed on her hand as she stopped writing on the paper in front of her. "As you see, Kouki-kun, we have a lot of paperwork yet to do here." She extended her hand to the two piles of papers left on an empty desk.
'Please don't tell me that's what you want from me…' The teenager sweat dropped after remembering how long it took him last time he did her paperwork.
"So I want you to check on the school." Sona raised her finger. "Try checking in on the clubs and if they need anything or if the teachers need some help."
"Want me to help him with that, Kaichou?" Tsubasa raised her hand to try and get the student council president's attention. "Nono, you'll have to work on these papers today." She pointed at the desk.
"What!?" Tsubasa switched between looking at Sona and the desk with two stacks of papers waiting. 'But….But that'll take the whole day!' The blue haired girl cursed her luck as she dropped her head.
"So anyway, Kouki-kun." Once again Sona turned to the boy next to him. "I'm counting on you."
As Shinji felt an entire weight off his shoulders from not having to do paperwork, he gladly took the job. "Don't worry, I'll take care of everything Sitri-sa-"
"Kaichou." Once again the student council president corrected him.
Shinji already feels this is something he'll never get used to.
"Ah, I love this." A boy commented as he was happily walking through Kuoh Academy's corridors.
For the most part, part of Shinji's work on the student council was helping with the never ending paperwork Sona puts her peerage to do. But sometimes she'll have some members of the council roam around the school to check on everything.
The raven haired boy offered himself since he was just a 'helper' and didn't have anything to do outside of some specific chores. Luckily for him, Sona accepted to use him the vast majority of times.
'No paperwork, no Sona breathing down my neck.' Shinji extended his hand as he felt some inner peace. 'Just me and the empty halls of this school.'
Ah, to find the best way to be lazy is not a gift most people have.
"Maybe I'll go buy some tea from the vending machine and just chill around there." Shinji thought out loud as he already planned his 'patrolling'.
"Perverts!"
Why of course his plan wouldn't last long.
As the raven haired teen turned around, he could see a pencil case slamming against a wall after being thrown. Several other objects followed its path.
Turning around from a corridor at full speed, Shinji could see none other than Issei's perverted friends, Matsuda and Motohama.
"Shinji!" Both male students cried out of fear as they reached the boy, quickly hiding behind his back. "Save us!" Motohama pleaded.
"Kouki!" One of the girls chasing the boys pointed her finger at the reincarnated devil. "Out of the way, this has nothing to do with you!"
Shinji just sighed, his peaceful day was already ruined. "Harada-san, you know I can't let you do that." The raven haired boy tried to explain his posture.
The girl in front of Shinji is Aki Harada, she's the president of the arts club.
"That armband doesn't mean squat to me!" Aki responded. "These leeches tried to creep on two of my girls!"
"W-We were just asking them if they knew where the history teacher was!" Matsuda tried to explain his part of the story. "They misunderstood everything!"
"You think we'll believe you, you pervert!?" One of the girls behind Aki shouted.
Shinji started to curse his luck as he always seems to find trouble everywhere he goes. "You know I can't let you just beat these guys up. Sitri-san will nag me after it."
Aki just crossed her arms after hearing the boy. "And? I'd rather deal with an angry Sona than these pariahs."
"Let's make a deal then." Shinji tried reasoning with the girl. "We'll go to the headmaster's office and he'll punish them. We all win there, right?"
"We don't!" Both male students covering behind the raven haired boy shouted.
"Oh no no." Aki shook her head as she quickly dismissed Shinji's idea. "These two have been causing a lot of trouble lately. This asks for punishment!"
At that, all the girls behind Aki shouted to show their support to the girl, the black haired teen sighed. 'One peaceful day is all I ask.' Shinji thought.
"Shinji!" Turning his head a bit, Shinji could see Motohama reaching near his right ear to whisper something. "C'mon man, get us out of this one! Remember all our times together!"
'We don't have much of those, you know?' Shinji thought as he felt someone else getting close to his left ear, this time it was Matsuda. "You gotta help us out, man!"
Once again, Shinji sighed. 'I mean, I can't leave them like this.' The boy scratched his chin as he made a pensive expression. 'They're Issei's friends and also Sona won't let me hear the end of it if they get beaten up.'
"Alright, alright." Shinji raised his hands, turning his head a bit to see the pair of boys behind him. "You owe me big for this."
At that, both boys' faces light up. "We won't forget this!"
"C'mon Harada-san, try to reason with me here." Shinji started his negotiation phase, one he learned after watching Momo to see how she defuses volatile situations in school.
Also, if they beat them up he'll have to do more paperwork and listen to another of Sona's lectures.
"You beat them up, they don't learn their lesson and we both end up having to deal with an hour of the headmaster and Sona talking down on us." The boy got closer to art's club president.
"Hmm, you got a point." Aki scratched her chin as she thought about what Shinji said. "But that doesn't mean I won't leave without them facing consequences!"
"C'mon Harada-san, there's no need to do that now." Shinji sweat dropped as the girl was fired up once again to beat up the two boys behind him. 'At least do it when I'm somewhere else.' He thought.
"Let's make a deal then." Shinji raised a finger as he got the girl's attention. "Let's just pretend nothing happened here and I'll have them talk with the headmaster."
"But!-" The raven haired boy quickly added before Aki could interrupt him, "-If they pull another stunt with your club I'll turn a blind eye to whatever you want to do with them."
Aki put a hand on her chin as she thought about Shinji's proposal. "You won't say anything to Sona or the headmaster if the art club is interrupted by your 'friends' behind you again?"
Shinji just shook his head in response. "Nope, I'll just so happen to be somewhere else and I didn't see anything."
"So, what do you say?" Shinji extended his hand to Aki. "We got a deal? I mean, we all win here."
"We don't!" The pair once again made their presence known by shouting their discontent with Shinji's plan. "We don't approve of this nonsense!"
At that, Aki chuckled. "Oh, Kouki-kun. I think we'll get along just fine." The girl extended her hand and shook Shinji's. "I'll hold onto your promise if they ever come close to my girls again."
"P-president! You can't leave them like this!" One of the girls behind Aki demanded the duo meet their punishment, the boys just hid further behind Shinji.
Ah, one more point in favor of Shinji's negotiating perk. The raven haired boy mentally congratulated himself as he was able to defuse another volatile situation. 'I'm already getting the hang of this.' He thought.
"Let's just leave for now girls, no point in going further." Aki turned around to leave the trio alone. "And you!-" The girl turned around and pointed a finger at the perverted duo, "-Try getting closer to the art's club again and I'll make sure to cover you up in paint that won't disappear for months!"
As Aki and her group left, both Matsuda and Motohama hugged Shinji tightly. "Our savior!" They both exclaimed.
"Yeah yeah." The raven haired teen pushed the duo away to get some space. "Try not getting yourself killed next time."
The trio started to walk opposite of where the girls left, Shinji tucked his hands in his pockets as they passed next to a group of girls.
"That bastard Kouki!"
"He's not only going for the Onee-samas! He's protecting the Perverted Trio as well!"
As murmurs started to go around the group of girls, it soon turned into a storm of insults directed at the raven haired teen. Once again, the 'Idols Casanova' had his daily dose of death threats. 'For goodness sake…' The boy sighed.
"You're not the most likable guy in school now, eh Shinji." Motohama commented as he walked faster to avoid more trouble.
"Yeah, well, I still remember both of you starting everything with that Kiba rumor." Shinji turned his head a little to look at the boy with glasses, the latter scratched the back of his head. "L-Let bygones be bygones, right friend?"
"Y-Yeah! The past is in the past." Matsuda also tried covering up for their involvement with the infamous rumor that started to spread about Shinji and Kiba secretly dating.
"Say, have you seen Issei today?" Motohama asked as they left the corridor with the angry girls. "He was supposed to meet with us like five minutes ago or so."
"Not really." Shinji simply responded. Even if he wanted to say he knew where his friend was, he honestly didn't know. After their 'problem' because of the raven haired boy joining the ORC and then the student council, Issei kind of got a bit mad and stopped talking to him for the most part.
They still walk sometimes to school together but it always ends up with Issei cursing the newly reincarnated devil's luck.
"Weird." Matsuda put a hand on his chin as he thought about the problem. "We were going to watch this new movie I got."
"He probably left by now, you know. School's over so only club members stay here." Shinji shrugged as he came up with the most obvious solution. "Knowing him he's probably at his home playing games right now."
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Motohama scratched the back of his head.
The trio remained silent as they walked to the school's gate, Shinji would leave the pair there in a way to escort them safely outside and then return to buy a drink at the vending machine.
"Say Shinji." Motohama suddenly opened his mouth. "Hm?" Turning to see the boy better, the raven haired teen could see a small smirk on the other boy's face. "Why don't you help us in joining the ORC?"
Shinji sighed as the accursed subject resurfaced again. "I already told you a hundred times I can't do that."
For the past few days, the Perverted Trio asked if not outright demanded Shinji help them join Rias' club or at least vouch for them with Sona to have them at the student council.
Of course the raven haired teen said he couldn't do that because Rias is extremely picky on who joins her club since she uses it for her peerage to hangout and putting the trio with the student council would make Momo want to murder him.
"C'mon! Just one day is all I ask!" Matsuda tried pleading with the boy. "Oh to have Gremory-senpai close to me, even talking to me would be nothing short of a miracle!"
'I don't think talking to a devil would be something I call a 'miracle', Matsuda.' Shinji thought as he scratched his ear.
"You still want them all to yourself!" Motohama pointed his finger at Shinji. "If I was in your shoes I would help you with the girls, you know!"
"C'mon, even you know that's a lie." The newly reincarnated devil chuckled as they reached the school's gate. "Anyway, try not to anger any more girls in the future. This armband won't work forever."
"After seeing how you're still alive because of that armband, I'd say it'll work for a while." Matsuda joked as the pair turned to leave the school.
Turning to return to the school, Shinji looked at the sky. "Hmm, I think I'll go to the ORC and kill some time there." The boy thought out loud as he got bored already doing patrol.
"I hate Tuesdays." A boy once again complained as he yawned.
Dragging himself out of his bed, Shinji Kouki cursed as he stayed up late because of one of his contracts. 'Damn, why can't I catch a break from trouble?'
It was a new person that used a contract for help with his new bar's security. As Kiba was already busy with one of his clients and Rias thought that dealing with aggressive drunks wasn't a ladies job, Shinji got the job.
It was pretty peaceful at first, then it went south really fast as a drunk guy from a bike gang threw a bottle at someone else from a rival gang. Before Shinji knew he was caught up in the middle of a massive fist fight throwing hooks left and right while trying to kick every troublemaker out of the pub.
The raven haired boy got smashed with countless bottles, a chair, two pool cues, slammed against a table and almost stabbed with a fork. If it wasn't because of his body being augmented by his devil traits Shinji would be hospitalized by now.
And then after all that he offered to help the owner with cleaning up the mess. At least Shinji got to eat a big plate of delicious food as a token of appreciation for the help.
So now Shinji Kouki was tired because of sleeping two hours, his body which is still recovering from Perse's battle is even more battered and because of oversleeping he missed his breakfast so he could arrive in time to school.
Overall not the best way to start a day.
Turning to one of the vending machines near the park, Shinji cursed as he forgot his wallet at home. "Oh, c'mon!" He slammed his fist against the machine in anger.
The boy looked both ways to check no one was near, then he crouched a little and looked below the machine. 'C'mon, I know there must be a few coins laying around.' As Shinji started to feel a familiar shape, he smiled. "Yeah! Let's go!"
Checking his hand he started to count the small change he got. "70….90…" Shinji mentally prayed to every god in existence to just get enough, his smile grew wider as it happened. 'Hell yeah!'
Putting the coins in the machine, he picked his favorite tea to drink. As the vending machine selected it, it started to roll the spring to let it fall.
Then it suddenly stopped. Before it could drop, the bottle got stuck on the last part of the spring. "Are you kidding me!?" Once again Shinji cursed his luck.
So Shinji proceeded to use the Ol' Reliable, kick the machine so the bottle drops. Once he slammed the machine with his feet, the familiar sound of a bottle dropping caught his attention. "Thank you!" He complained.
Grabbing the bottle, he checked the flavor he picked. 'Can't go wrong with black tea.' Shinji thought. If he had to pick his favorite drinks from the vending machines, the raven haired teen would put black tea at the top.
Contrary to Momo or Issei, Shinji enjoyed the bitter taste it had. He also preferred that it gave him more energy than green tea since the latter usually calms him down after drinking it.
Opening up and taking a sip, the boy tasted the familiar beverage. "Ahhh, I needed this." He decided to rest a bit while looking at the park in front of him.
It was the usual scenario, kids playing before going to school, some elder sharing a bench and talking, Issei presenting a girl to his friends-
.
.
.
"Wait."
Shinji rubbed his eyes, then he narrowed them to confirm what he's seeing.
Issei was presenting a girl to his friends.
"Pfft!" Shinji spit his drink, coughing a bit while once again looking at the unbelievable scenario in front of him. "What!?" Was the first thing that came out of his mouth, him suddenly shouting startled the couple walking next to the boy.
Issei Hyoudou, the famously renowned member of the Perverted Trio, the one known for his lecherous thoughts was in front of him next to a girl.
'H-How?' Was Shinji's only thought. Looking at the mysterious girl, the raven haired teen got even more questions. "How did he even get a girl like that!?"
Next to Issei was a stunning girl. By the uniform she was wearing Shinji could deduce she was attending another school, but the most stunning part was her appearance.
A stunning figure that could compete against Rias or Akenos', a pristine black hair that reached her waist and her exotic violet eyes that radiated beauty and mystery.
'When? No, scratch that. How the hell did Issei manage to score a girl like that!?' A thousand thoughts with the same question were storming inside Shinji's head.
His friend was cursing his rotten luck with women and now he's next to a supermodel!? Impossible!
Well, Shinji honestly thinks his friend is not a bad looking guy but he's completely average! How did he even manage to pull such a hottie without anyone else knowing about it!?
As if he somehow managed to hear the boy's thoughts, Issei turned his head to see Shinji staring at him; the latter coughed on his hand and tried to make it seem he was looking somewhere else while drinking his tea.
"O-Oi! Shinji!" Issei waved his hand as he started to walk to where Shinji was. "Good morning!"
"A-Ah." Faking it, Shinji turned with a surprised expression to greet his friend. "M-Morning Issei, how're you?"
"Great, excellent even!" Issei puffed his chest as he turned to the girl next to him. "I want you to meet someone new!"
"A-And who might that be?" Shinji was still at a loss for words but was trying his hardest to play along.
Extending his hands as if showing his biggest achievement, Issei pointed at the girl next to him. "This is Yuuma-chan! My girlfriend!"
Shinji squeezed the bottle harder than expected, making most of the content drop to the floor. 'HOOOOW!?' Was his only thought.
In front of him was none other than a girl beautiful enough to get confused with an undercover model. Checking her closer, Shinji could see her western looks were just as exotic as Rias', if not more.
'Holy shit.' Shinji thought. 'What. The. Fuck.'
"H-Hello, Yuuma. I-I'm Shinji Kouki." The boy managed to get out of his shock enough to greet the girl with a small bow.
As the raven haired teen was at a loss for words, he could see the girl in front of him staring at him in disbelief; her face getting pale realizing how close they were now.
"A-Ah, yes! I-I'm Yuuma Amano, nice meeting you!" Issei's girlfriend returned the bow.
Narrowing his eyes, Shinji put a hand on his chin. "Hmmm, do I know you from somewhere?" The boy got closer to the girl.
Yuuma's face paled as she felt the raven haired boy trying to make out her face from somewhere else. "I-I don't believe we met before, no." She tried to deny his idea.
"Hmm…" Scratching his chin, Shinji was still trying to make out why she looked so familiar. "You sure? I just know I met you somewhere else. Yuuma, right?"
Then it dawned on her, the raven haired girl's eyes widened at her lack of attention.
In front of Shinji was none other than Yuuma, not the one Issei was presenting him but the one the reincarnated devil knew from before.
Her true name is Raynare, a fallen angel. 'Yuuma' is just a cover up she came up with for this mission she has, the task of finding the possessor of a Sacred Gear in Kuoh.
For the past weeks Raynare believed Shinji was the one emitting the particular aura Sacred Gear possessors have, unluckily for her he was already reincarnated as a devil. Using her charms and the fact that he still was new to the supernatural world, the fallen angel girl took advantage of the contracts devils do to get closer to the boy and confirm her suspicion.
She felt it, as dim as it was, Raynare felt that unique aura.
Raynare cursed after that particular event; she knew she failed to recruit that possessor just as her leader, Azazel, assigned her to do.
Just when the raven haired girl and the team assigned with her were about to leave Kuoh and call the mission a failure, Raynare got an idea.
There was a stray devil at the time causing havoc around, the one named Perse. A weak one for the most part with the unique augmentation the Greek monsters have. Such an excellent opportunity was enough to make the girl plan ahead to confirm they failed, she would manipulate the boy into facing the stray and see for herself the Sacred Gear awakened.
It didn't happen, Shinji never used a Sacred Gear and relied only on luck and his ability to withstand Perse's attacks.
Raynare was at a loss for words. 'What's going on?' She thought as she witnessed the conflict inside the factory.
Was it a fluke? She didn't pay attention and mistook him with someone else?
Just as Raynare was pondering what to do, one of her teammate's, Mittelt, gave her the shocking news. That Shinji Kouki wasn't the one emitting the aura of a Gear, it was his friend, the brown haired boy known as Issei Hyoudou.
Raynare cursed, she was wrong. She, who worked hard enough to ascend the ladder in the Grigori and finally got assigned as captain of a team with a job by Azazel himself, couldn't differentiate between one kid with a Sacred Gear from another that was empty.
She was furious, her pride completely shattered and her mind already making scenarios of Azazel and Shemhazai ridiculing her.
So Raynare made a plan. Once again sending Mittelt to confirm Issei was the one with a Gear, she decided to finish this mission once and for all and prevent the devils residing in Kuoh to get the Sacred Gear into their ranks as a member of their peerage.
Her plan was set into motion but, in the heat of the moment and because of her famous way of rushing things without thinking with a cool head, she made a grave mistake.
Raynare used a persona while taking contracts with Shinji, a made up name she quickly thought back then.
Yuuma Amano.
That same name is the one she used with Issei, presenting herself as Yuuma Amano to him.
Now, her heart skipped several beats as she was witnessing Shinji looking straight at her. Raynare cursed herself, how could she be so stupid to not think about that tiny detail!?
Her body was completely different though. Using her magic, Raynare was able to transform her body to that of a regular school girl; she also transformed her clothes to match that of another school in the city.
"Are you sure we never met?" Shinji's face was only a few centimeters away from Raynare's, the fallen angel was mentally preparing herself to summon a weapon and fight if her cover was blown.
"Y-Yes, most definitely!" The girl responded. 'All this preparation just to fail this because of my stupidity!'
Shinji sighed as he moved back a few steps. "Ah well, must be my imagination I guess." He shrugged it off while having his signature smile.
'Thank God he's an idiot!' Raynare thanked the heavens as her heart returned to its normal pace.
"Anyway-" Suddenly Issei grabbed Yuuma's hand, "-We need to go, right Yuuma-chan?"
"A-Ah, yes." Before leaving, the girl turned to face Shinji once again. "A pleasure to meet you, Kouki-kun." She made a small bow as Issei dragged her along, an ecstatic smile never leaving his face.
As the pair walked out of the park, Shinji was left speechless. Half of his tea spilled to the ground when he squeezed the bottle and his brain was still taking its time to process what just happened.
Issei got a girlfriend, and an incredibly hot one too.
"Huh, I need a new pair of glasses." Suddenly a girl stopped next to the boy. Grabbing her glasses, she started to clean them with her skirt. "No way this is real."
"Oh believe me, it is." Shinji didn't even turn to see how was with him now, he recognized her voice and was still in shock with the sudden news.
Aika once again put her glasses on and narrowed her eyes to get a better picture of the pair in front of her. "Holy, it is!"
"How!?" Aika turned to face the raven haired boy, the latter shrugged. "I…I don't know."
"What do you mean you don't know!?" Aika pointed at the happy pair walking out of the park. "That's impossible!"
"C'mon Kiryuu, it's a good thing he got a girlfriend." Shinji chuckled as he turned to face the girl. "Don't be mean."
"There's a bigger chance in the universe of you getting a decent note than Issei scoring that type of chick!" Aika sighed as she rubbed her forehead. "Ahhhh… I lost a bet."
Shinji didn't know how to react to the girl confessing he's an idiot and his friend imposible to get a girl, so he sighed. "C'mon man, I'm getting better with my studies. And what do you mean you lost a bet?"
Aika chuckled as she scratched the back of her head. "Let's just say I and a group of girls made a small bet about which of the boys from class would get a girlfriend first."
"And you bet against Issei?" Shinji pointed at Aika. "C'mon Kiryuu, at least he got bigger chances than Matsuda or Motohama!"
"Yeah, well, that is debatable." The girl raised a finger. "I mean, for goodness sake, they are the Perverted Trio! I wasn't expecting any of them to bag a girl before graduation!"
"And you!" Aika pointed at the boy. "I put good money on you! Why didn't you go out with Momo yet!?"
"Hah!?" Shinji almost felt backwards because of Aika's sudden declaration, his face red as a tomato. "W-What's Momo have to do with this? She's just a friend!"
"Tch." Aika crossed her arms as she turned away from the boy. "Dense as a mountain, and a stupid one to top it off too."
"Hey!" Now it was Shinji the one on the offensive.
Aika sighed as she started to walk to school. "Moral of the story is don't put money on you." Then she turned to the boy once again. "And so you know, for all this you owe me a tea bottle."
"Wha-" Shinji tilted his head. "Screw that, buy it yourself." He also started to walk to school. 'And for your information I don't have money, I had to check below the vending machine just now, dammit!' He thought.
As the pair started to leave the park, Shinji's stomach growled. "A-Ah." The boy was caught off guard.
"Missed breakfast?" Aika chuckled as the boy covered his stomach out of embarrassment.
"Yeah well, can't say I had the prettiest of mornings." The boy sighed as he dropped his head. 'No breakfast, no money and half the tea bottle I bought is on the floor….'
'I just hope I'll last until I get to eat Akenos' treats later.' Shinji mentally prayed to the heavens for his body to last until later in the day to at least get some grub.
And so, as the pair reached Kuoh Academy's gates and Shinji had to suffer the daily barrage of insults thrown at him, he cursed his luck as his friend laughed at his expense.
(Author's Note)
We're finally beginning the main story! So excited to try new stuff and give spotlight to some characters in a new way.
So, as you've seen by now, I'll go with the usual trope of the student council representing the school's police in a way. It'll give more funny situations to write and think about with Shinji taking part in them.
So as always guys, read and review to your heart's content.
See you soon!