Author's note: As many of you might have noticed, the name Sona 'Sitiri' is used instead of 'Shitori', unlike in the original. This change was intentional. One of the reasons is because using her real last name which was an unusual one like Gremory would give Issei a possible reason to further suspect her despite not seeing her aura in the last chapter. It just wouldn't make sense to further suspect her just because she and Izo appeared as close as Kiba and Rias. That would be a bit like the non-sensical anime protagonist intuition we see sometimes. Anyway, onto the story…
...
Sona Sitiri was alone in the clubroom.
Hyoudou Issei had just left after defeating her.
"…"
The culprit for killing the fallen angel wasn't most likely Hyoudou Issei due to what happened this morning in the southwest junction. Rias had confirmed that Hyoudou Issei hadn't left his room at all last night. Whoever had left the message was challenging the prideful supernatural. Sona Sitiri and Rias Gremory both had their hands full with what happened this morning. Hyoudou Issei was almost out of the list of possible suspects when suddenly…
… About an hour ago…
I had just finished a bunch of calls. I thought I would be able to relax for a bit during lunch-break (I planned to skip lunch anyway), but these people probably do not seem to have any intention of preventing me from dying from overwork.
I let out a tired sigh.
Phew… Finally. A few minutes of break-
*DOOR BURSTS OPEN*
"KAICHOU!"
… Fuck my life.
I steadied myself in front of the uninvited guest who had just barged through the door without knocking.
My eyes naturally narrowed. He was a third year but not just any third year. He is one of the guys from Hiro Satoru's gang. That pain in the ass guy… I wanted to deal with him without any help from my family but his family influence was much greater than I expected. I could have handed him over to my sister to make short work of him seeing how much trouble he caused for the underclassmen… But my pride wouldn't allow it. Also, there are some uncertainties around his family background.
Since the previous Student council president was supportive of him, people don't trust the student council. If only someone could bravely come forward against him… Anyway, what trouble did he cause this time?... Judging from this guy's expression… it seems to be very serious.
"… next time you enter, remember to-" I started.
"HYOUDOU ISSEI FROM THE SECOND YEAR ATTACKED HIRO SATORU!"
… What…?
"We were talking to him in the cafeteria when…"
He started babbling the details in a hurry.
"… So please expel him Kaichou!" He finished.
"…"
… Hyoudou Issei... The quiet kid suddenly revealed his hidden weapon...? What is going on? I heard Hiro Satoru had a crush on Rias (poor girl) so I expected him to harass Hyoudou Issei. But for him to be K.O Hiro like that… Did I really miss something from Hyoudou Issei's report? His MMA career wasn't successful so… how? How can he win against a national-level junior boxing athlete who was known to be a prodigy in his age category? Maybe... his skill has just improved to that point over the years? Or… did he suddenly gain power overnight that made him confident enough to face Hiro? … In that case, isn't he once again a possible suspect? We already had suspicions about the stealthy nature of the killer… But he was under Rias' watch the whole night… Of course, with stealth, it might… My brain isn't braining anymore at this point.
"… I will see what I can do."
I can't tell him that the CCTV in the cafeteria is to be repaired tomorrow. Otherwise, Hiro's gang will pressure students to come forward and say whatever twisted truth they want them to say and try to expel him that way. There is no way the school board will ignore many students saying the same thing (especially when it is in favor of Hiro Satoru).
"After we check the CCTV-" I continued.
"What is there to check?!" He interrupted impatiently, "Hiro is now being sent to hospital-"
"Don't interrupt," I said coldly, "And this is your first and final warning, knock before coming in from now on."
He flinched but kept a defiant face.
I sighed and followed him to the cafeteria.
... Downstairs at the cafeteria...
… It was a clean hit. Hiro Satoru still hasn't come to his senses. To avoid trouble with his family, the teaching faculty had arranged a transport to send Hiro to a hospital that his family owns.
The teaching faculty was asking the kitchen staff as to who made him like this. Hiro's lackeys seem to have scattered to different places… Maybe to rile up the third years? Another huge trouble incoming… The last thing I want now is a second years vs third years scenario...
...
I just raised a flag, didn't I?
Judging from their expressions the staff surely know who is behind it. I can hear some students whispering in the corner about Hyoudou Issei (cuz I have super hearing)… So it is true after all?
But, it is unfortunate, since the CCTV isn't working if the staff states in favor of Hiro's gang then-
"I d-didn't see anything. I-I heard a loud noise, came looking, and saw him unconscious."
… …
… for real? Are they seriously rebelling right now?! I had heard that Hiro exhibits bad behavior even toward the non-teaching staff…
The man who was currently speaking had balled fists which were shaking.
… Just how far did Hiro go, to make even a kitchen staff rebel against him like this?
The other kitchen staff looked anxious hearing his statement. They started matching their stories. None of the staff members saw anything as to what happened to Hiro Satoru.
The guy who came with me was furious. He made threatening faces which they pretended not to see.
Even some of the teachers seemed secretly happy. Maybe… they are supporting Hyoudou Issei because he did something they always wanted to do. (I don't know anymore...). And even though it is temporary, they want to repay him by showing support. But… it's really temporary… Everything will be over once Hiro's parents get involved in this.
…
I called him, Hyoudou Issei, into my office. I hid my aura as a precaution. It's a good thing that others are out (because of the message on the street).
I must say that in person, up close he looks pretty average compared to Izo. Maybe it's his blank face that takes the beauty out of it… It is so blank that I cannot read it.
I told him the consequences of his actions. However, his sudden mentioning that he fought for Rias made me almost laugh out loud (I will tease her about it later). But for now, I need to make sure that by any chance he isn't actually the culprit behind the spray-painted message from this morning ( he is dead if he is, for making me go through all that work).
I need to distract him with a game. Perhaps a chess match? I can question him during the game.
'What could possibly go wrong?'
I should have known I raised a flag the moment I thought of those words…
... Present...
Not in her wildest dreams did she imagine such an unexpected defeat at the hands of a human.
She felt conflicted for many reasons.
Just like how Issei found out; she is indeed a high-class devil. In case you didn't know, they are basically like nobles among devils.
And there are some usual tropes associated with a noble family; like the 'the daughter of a noble being super arrogant/haughty' and of course the age-old 'fiancé trope'.
It is the trope where the noble lady is engaged to some trashy, arrogant bastard of a noble, for some reasons like family connections (most common) and it is up to the MC to save her from this bleak destiny (which results in her falling for him and… you guessed it, she joins his harem and together they set out to defeat the demon king and... *mumble* *mumble*).
This trope that has repeated throughout history has once again manifested right before your eyes, folks. But in a very different way than you would expect. You see, Sona Sitiri is someone who actually broke the engagement by defeating her fiancé in a chess match (which sometimes leads to the 'the guy who was defeated comes back years later as a Chad trope but unfortunately for him, he isn't the mc of Twilight). She then declared that she would not marry someone smarter than herself. The condition is, of course, defeating her at chess.
Looking at things in a positive light, Hyoudou Issei just saved Sona Sitiri from the possible curse of marrying one of the countless men, who seek her hand just to make connections with her family, by defeating her in a chess game himself. In fact, Hyoudou Issei is a stranger to the supernatural world hence he certainly did not covet her status or wealth.
Oh? Is this finally the chance for a true love for our lonely protagonist? Something that will melt his poker heart? Has the true heroine finally revealed herself to be this beauty in glasses?!
Unfortunately, our heroine doesn't think that way. In fact, at this very moment, she is praying to all her ancestors and Satan for Issei to not be a part of the supernatural world.
She pressed her hand against her forehead.
"I can't believe I…" Sona said, "It's okay since he isn't part of the supernatural world but if he turns out like Izo said then…"
That was the moment Sona Sitiri decided to do everything in her arsenal to make sure Hyoudou Issei didn't even come remotely close to being part of the supernatural world in the future. And that's how Hyoudou Issei got engaged (?) to Sona Sitiri without him knowing it.
"Still… 'there are more than just two kings on the battlefield', huh?"
She laughed a bit shakily.
"… Reminds me of a certain peerage set..."
...
… It turns out I can't turn off my super-sensing abilities. If this was a game that ability should have gone up a few levels due to the constant use factor.
Everyone is whispering and taking glances at me. Even the teacher from yesterday, to whom the entire portion is extremely important and is 'sure-to-come-for-exam', was not paying much attention to the students. He was teaching absent-mindedly.
But if there is something I am somewhat happy about, it is the fact that in less than a day, I had beaten my fake girlfriend and jumped to rank #1 on the popularity rank chart of Kuoh Academy (who the hell made it anyway?). Yay...
The Kuoh Academy forum wasn't anything official. But anything that happened in school was sure to be up here first. The number one news website for Kuoh Academy-related news. Rias Gremory has always been the top trending search term for two straight years and that's the spot I have just taken. She was actually #3 (#2 was Hiro). I was there, at the top, with my blank face (the photo from last year). #1 Hyoudou Issei.
I… … … don't know what to say. It is certainly not something I can put on my resume (surpassed Rias Gremory on Kuoh popularity rankings on XX XX 20XX).
But this change in rankings is literally advertising that I hit Hiro. I hope none of the school directors watches the forum.
If all these headaches weren't bad enough, two more devils came into our class. Katase and Murayama… They were back from their leave (they went to a tournament I think). They had brought another tournament victory for the school so we welcomed them with a huge round of applause. That's all fair and all. At this point, them being devils didn't really bother me much (I really do not like the fact that I am getting used to these things).
But the problem is that these two girls are staring- no, glaring at me…
Uh… Why? Did they hear that I beat up Hiro? Is that something to glare about? Maybe they secretly wanted to finish him off instead because he was after their beloved 'Onee' sama (Rias)- AHHHH!
I see now… They weren't present during the whole 'fake girlfriend' drama I had with Rias (can't believe it was only four days ago when I asked her out). So the one they probably want to finish off is me.
Makes sense and yeah that means they are probably part of Rias' peerage too. These two are the only guys to my knowledge who have a double club membership. One is the Kendo Club and the other is the Occult Research Club (ORC)…
Does this mean everyone in the ORC is a devil? Who are the rest of the members again?
…
Thoughts filled my mind again and again.
…..
The bell rang. I packed my things up.
Katase and Murayama were approaching my table. I just noticed that they have something silver in their auras. I wonder what that is.
Just when they reached me, a familiar voice stopped them.
"Katase-san, Murayama-san."
It was Kiba.
"Buchou is calling for us."
The two of them glared at me once again (seriously, stop people), and turned to leave with him.
"Hyoudou Issei-kun," Kiba said.
He bowed his head.
"… I am sorry. I failed to keep my promise to you."
… That came out of nowhere… and the two behind him looked anything but sorry. If anything, they seemed to want to kill me… More importantly, what is this guy talking about-
"I promised that I wouldn't let any harm befall you, just yesterday. Despite that, I wasn't there when you needed help. I am ashamed."
Ah, he is talking about our small convo yesterday. I thought it was a joke when he said "We'll take care of that", but to think he was serious about it. There is something silver in his aura too... Wait is that a... blade?
I am not seriously liking the looks everyone is giving me due to his poor choice of words right now. Especially that girl over there, from the manga club (which reads only BL and writes only BL).
"It's fine…" I said.
Uhm... should I ask his help to ensure I am not expelled or suspended? Maybe Rias' family can handle Hiro's family (because they are probably the overpowered supernatural family).
"The least we can do is to ensure you aren't suspended from school," said Kiba.
Now that makes things easier. I didn't even have to say it.
He bid me farewell and left with the other two (who were glaring at me till the end).
…
The stares were intense till I left the school gate. I half expected a limo kidnapping me or thugs trying to beat me up because of Hiro's family hiring them.
Fortunately, nothing of that sort happened on my way to the house.
No one seems to be here at Hyoudou's residence.
I went into my room. This time, nothing was watching over me and it suddenly made me feel relaxed and free.
It hit me like a truck that it has been a day since I received supernatural powers and I haven't even played around with it much.
Ophis seems to be out now. She said she feels constantly sleepy inside me and takes power naps from time to time.
I used my super sensing.
No one here… I pulled the curtains and turned on the lights.
So, with max stealth, how about I test my powers out?
First of all, my version of 'instant transmission'.
I positioned myself near the bedroom door, checked the clock, and tried to take a step toward my study table while picturing the instant transmission technique.
*whoosh*
I quickly looked at the clock. It's about 1.2 seconds, subtracting my delay at looking.
Wait... is it possible for me to travel to Tokyo right now with this technique? That would be… mind-blowing.
Turns out. I can't. The max range is about 10 meters which is still cool to be honest.
Since this is using shadows maybe I can't call this instant transmission…
A suitable name would be… 'Shadow Step'. I think it is an assassin move from Guild Wars 2.
Next, I tried shadow cloning.
It was like looking at a mirror, no it's more than that because there is no lateral inversion like a mirror. It doesn't seem to be able to speak, resulting in one of the most awkward silence in my life. Also, it looks like I can't make more than one clone at a time
Since Ophis is still sleeping… I don't have a clue as to what else I can do with these powers. She is like my instruction manual.
But we don't always rely on instruction manuals, do we? Time to wing it.
So I tried the classic morphing energy-into-a-ball thing, which didn't turn out to be good. The only place I can effectively gather this energy is below my feet, before doing Shadow Step.
I looked down at my feet in my attempt to try 'something new'. Kuro (my dark energy) was all over my leg.
I lowered the amount of Kuro going beneath my friend which made the excess energy swirl around my feet.
I tried to wave the energy off my leg. As soon as I put my foot down-
"Eh?"
It felt slippery... Is the energy reducing the friction between my feet and the ground?
I balanced myself and tried to move forward a bit…
*SLIDE*
"Holy…"
I was able to slide...
*A few minutes of sliding later*
I can do a moonwalk without actually moving my feet (at that point it wasn't moon'walk' anymore). I can go in any direction I want with the same foot position. I don't need to 'walk' at all. Even if my feet are pointing toward the north, I can go East without turning them in that direction. It is just… weird… but also wicked cool.
I did a Spiderman pose on the ground and without even moving my body myself, I could move all over the bedroom floor in that same pose, like a mini car, just drifting towards just about anywhere.
At first, I wanted to name it 'Moonwalk' but since you know, there really any 'walking' happening here… I decided to name it, MoonSlide.
Man, my naming sense is legendary.
Now it was time for me to do some serious digging.
I went downstairs and found out that the wifi cable was now repaired. I turned my phone on (because I don't trust my PC right now) and activated VPN.
Then into the Tor browser with the Duckduckgo search engine. I searched for 'Kiseki Shinsei no Sentosha' (K.S.S).
...
Nothing…
There is no such martial arts gym here on the records.
I had some inkling doubts seeing how that guy was able to detect that I wasn't following up on the chant in the flashbacks I saw just before I killed Raynare… I believe this 'K.S.S' thing might be related to the supernatural world.
Does that mean… I used to be part of the supernatural world before?
Considering how everyone else in this house is, I wouldn't be too surprised. Ophis mentioned my memory was sealed… Maybe she has a clue as to what this K.S.S. actually is?
[I don't know]
Oh, she's awake now and yeah she doesn't know…
I sighed and stood up. I just realized that I was still in my school uniform (which was drenched in sweat after all that walking and playing around). I took off my shirt and the T-shirt underneath and stared into my mirror. All the answers I need to find probably lie within me.
The first one I need to understand is myself.
[Are these scars related to your sealed memory?] Ophis asked
… I would be lying if I said I wasn't caught off guard by the question.
...
... My body is riddled with scars to the point that it resembles Frankenstein's body. I didn't want to bring attention to it by mentioning it. The reason for the extraordinary reflexes I displayed in my battle against the crow, the reason I have the fighting sense that can one-hit K.O. Hiro is not because I work out a bit. The reason I was confident against Hiro and wanted him to come after me, the reason I managed to defeat the crow, the reason I always wear full sleeve, and the reason why I am studying in the same year as my younger brother who is a year younger than me is all because of the what I did; 3 years ago… during my last year of middle school…
"…"
I didn't answer Ophis' question. Thankfully, she didn't pry further either. She was surprisingly considerate.
Apart from the fact that my body is scarred, it is actually…
[… It is much more muscular than it looks from the outside] she said.
[It's called a sleeper build] I said with a snicker and threw my clothes over the mirror.
...
*GASP*
Hiro Satoru was finally awake, after being out for about five hours. A guard who was standing nearby called the doctor immediately.
Hiro sat there with a blank stare as the doctor diagnosed him.
Hyoudou Issei's eyes and his kick kept flashing over his mind. But what bothered him was the location at which it happened. How many people saw him knocked down? The reputation he had built over the years… That one kick seemed to break it all. Hiro only had one thing that he didn't inherit from his family. The only thing that he felt actually belonged to him. His natural gift for fighting. He found a suitable master who wasn't much older than him but seemed undefeatable. Under his guidance, Hiro rose to become a junior national-level athlete.
*Whooooosshhh- BOOOM*
Hiro tilted his throbbing head to his side as he remembered Issei's kick again.
A figure suddenly entered the room while the doctor was conversing with Hiro's guard.
"And you said there won't be any visitors for the next couple of hours?" the doctor asked the guard surprised.
It was a Kuoh Academy College Student.
Hiro flinched at the newcomer's arrival.
"… Looks like there is a change of schedule doctor."
"What- Hey!" the doctor protested as he was rudely grabbed by the guard. Both of them left the room leaving Hiro and the newcomer alone.
"…"
*step*
*step*
Hiro was shivering like a scared animal, unable to look up.
"… Hiro Satoru…" The man named Loup Garou spoke with a voice as cold as ice.
Garou has the appearance of a foreign young man in his late teens with grey hair with long bangs that cover his yellow eyes. He was strikingly handsome with a massive build.
"M-master, I-" Hiro choked.
The air became colder and Hiro shut his mouth.
"… you did the very thing I warned you not to… Hiro Satoru… what were you trying to accomplish by doing this?"
"I-it wasn't me! He was the one who struck me first!"
"… You are telling me that you did nothing to provoke that strike?"
"I… uh…"
Hiro simply sat there trembling under Garou's presence.
Garou turned Hiro's head to the side by grabbing his chin.
"… A clean right hook kick to the left side of the head…" Garou murmured.
He turned away and left the room without speaking another word to Hiro.
He walked down the hall, onto a balcony and watched the setting sun.
...
"… I am positive it's that. Though the power seems to have diminished greatly… To think I would see it once more…"
His lips formed a small smirk as the image of a certain figure executing a hook kick with a sweeping arc, passed through his mind.
"… Hyakuban no Golden Arc."
(The Golden Arc of Number #100)
...
Author's note: So that's it for today, my dear readers. If you liked this chapter don't forget to share your thoughts. That's all, see you in the next one. Have a great day!