Becoming a Badass (High School DxD - Sacred Gearless Issei Hyoudou SI Chapter 7)

"Miko! Use your inner strength!" I cupped my hands around my mouth and shouted.

"What the hell is that!?" Miko shouted back.

She was really athletic as she had been moving at full sprint all the time the past couple of minutes, as she jumped, weaved, dodged and avoided the constant sun beams.

"Get pissed off! Use your inner rage to break your human limits!" I tried another angle.

"I'm already pissed off!" She shouted back. Huh, she does look pissed.

"Okay, this is not working." I said to myself as I thought about this some more. "Try and motivate yourself with your tragic backstory!"

"I don't have that!" She said back.

"Go Miko-chan!"

"You can do it, Miko!"

I looked across the stadium to the other side to see two people, a man and a woman, that kinda looked like Miko cheering her on. Ah, I guess those are her parents. One of them even has the same hair color as Miko.

"Mister and Missus Yamada! Your daughter is awesome!" I shouted to the other side of the stadium, praising Miko to her parents.

"Thank you, bo-chan!" Shouted back Miko's dad.

"Get a childhood crush on Miko and grow up rich so she'll finally have a boyfriend!" Miko's mom said back.

"MOM!" Miko was so shocked that she trip falling face first into the ground cracking it.

But funny enough, managed to evade a sun beam unintentionally from doing so. Even Ayame actually paused upon seeing that dynamic, looking visible thrown off at how chaotic all of this seemed. This gave Miko enough time to get up and regain some of her energy.

I laughed out loud. Okay, you know what I actually Miko's family. First impression 10/10.

"What? You need something to do in your life than training or eating." Miko's mom was shameless.

"He's a kid!"

"And by the time he grows up, you'll be a spinster. You need a back-up plan if being a shrine maiden didn't pan out."

I need to breath.

"A-hem!" Ayame got tired of being ignored.

Miko looked around to see the ice crystals have surrounded her.

"Oh shit!"

"The entertainment is over." Ayame said decisively as she swung her fan, as the sun beams began firing at Miko from multiple directions.

"Ooof! Shit! Crap! Too close!" Miko showed how very limber she was. "WOAH!" One laser came too close as Miko bent back to dodge it, then bent back further to dodge another one from the side, that came close to her boobs.

"Holy shit, she pulled a Neo!" I couldn't help but be amazed.

"Oooh, that is bad for our back if you're not prepared." The goddess said with sympathy.

That turns out to be true as Miko falls down then began to roll around at the lasers followed after her.

Man, this situation was getting more tense.

Okay, okay I need to calm down and think on which next to trope to imply.

"Hot dogs! Get your hot dogs, popcorn and snacks!"

And then I was greeted by the most hilarious scene that made me forget about any strategy.

"C-Chiyo-sama!" Mimiko cried out in disbelief.

Indeed. It was the old miko herself that was walking one chair row down calling holding up one of those snack trays that had a belt to be worm on a person's neck to hold them up.

"Yeah, hey! Can I have a hot dog, one pepsi, a water, a snickers, a bag of maltsters and a bag of popcorn?" Naturally I just played along with the situation.

"What are you doing!?" Mimiko cried out. I'm not sure if she was saying that to me or to the elder shrine maiden.

"Well," Chiyo began with a big sigh. "When one's disciple blunder, such as bringing in outsiders to a sacred tournament," she looked pointedly at me. I smiled innocently back. "Their teacher also has to carry the responsibility of that." She finished as she handed me the stuff. "Fricking Saeki. For someone so old she can be so childish." She said under her breath.

"Out..." Mimiko said with wide-eyes as she looked at me. "Y-you're an outsider?"

"I don't have the context for that." I said to Mimiko.

"You're, um, a mundane person? When did you learn of the mystic side of things?" She questioned in a panic.

"Hmm? When did I learn about magic being real? Like, an hour ago." I replied.

Mimiko looked more thrown off. "Th-then?" She hesitatingly pointed at her car ears while looking at me in surprise.

"You... have nice ears?" I mean, sure, catgirl. Cool and all, but the internet exists.

Before Mimiko could respond I turned to the goddess in the curtain box. "What me to get you some popcorn?" I asked. "I would have offered to share mine, but I like mix up maltsters with it."

Chiyo and Mimiko's jaw dropped at what I just said.

"Wow." The goddess said with a lot of amusement. "So generous." Her tone sounded dry, but I could hear the smile in her voice.

"Yeah, my mom gave be a big allowance since I was going to spend all day at the Inner Shrine." I grinned back.

For a moment there was silence. Then the goddess replied with approval ending the feeling of trepidation in the air.

"Very well. Come sit closer. Let's see this delicacy of mixing sweet and salted treats." The goddess said and I moved two seats closer.

Chiyo and Mimiko looked like they really wanted to object, say anything, but their goddess was the one who agreed so they couldn't say anything.

"Am-" Chiyo looked like she wanted to say something, before something held her back. "Your Ladyship, are you sure you wouldn't like other food?"

"Yes, yes." Amaterasu waved her off-Looks like she told others not to say her name in front of me, but it was kinda obvious. "I'm sure. Now, little Chiyo, I believe you still have your duties to get back to." The goddess said with a lot of mirth in her tone.

"Y-Yeah." Chiyo continued her walk along the stadium. "Seriously, isn't this too much favor?" She muttered before shaking her head. "Hot dogs! Popcorn! Get your food and snacks!" She walked away.

Mimiko stared at me and the goddess jaw dropped all the while.

A elegant arm, with skin so white and smooth it seemed to shine in the sun light, extended out of the curtain box. I held the popcorn back (with maltsters) between us as we watched Miko try and go on the offensive.

Miko was now managing to keep up with Ayame somewhat by releasing bursts of sun blasts from her feet the moment she pushed off the ground to give herself a temporary burst of speed.

Miko came close one time to Ayame and went for a kick, only for Ayame to bring up an ice crystal stopping the kick in place. Miko jumped back, to gain distance, and maybe circle around, only for the same ice crystal to shoot a surprise sun beam without charging up.

Yet the attack, while weak still slammed into Miko's stomach.

"Ooooh!" I hissed in sympathy at the cheap shot, the goddess actually mirroring me in the sentiment. "She should have kept up on the attack, rather than retreat." I said.

"Definitely shouldn't have hesitated on going for that uppercut." The goddess agreed.

Thankfully Miko while a little pained, seemed to push through it to keep moving.

We watched a while more as I had my lunch as the goddess and I commented on the match like it was a WWE sport.

"Okay, there she should have dodged back." I pointed out.

"Overcorrection is always a mistake people fall into." Amaterasu shook her head.

"Wait, did she just?" I asked with some plesant surprise as Miko used the ice crystals themselves as a platform to jump off of, to dodge out of the laser circle.

"Indeed!"

"How?"

"How do you think?" The goddess asked me.

"Hmm..." I gave it some thought. Both are mikos of Amaterasu so... "She can also sense sunlight energy, so she finally figured out which crystals have sunlight energy charges and which ones don't!"

"Exactly! Now the match is started to move in her favor again, if she can capitalize on it." Amaterasu nodded in agreement. "Also, shouldn't you be cheering her on?"

"Oh, right!" I put the popcorn bag down, only for it to disappear into the goddess's hand, which she pulled back into her curtain box. I'll pretend I didn't see that. "Miko!" I called out.

"What?" Miko shouted back.

"Use a Kamehamaha!" I joked.

And the surprisingly both Miko and Ayame shouted back at me.

""Everyone knows how to block a Kamehameha!"" The both said.

"Wait, really?" I turned to Amaterasu.

"Of course." She scoffed. "They're traditional, not uncultured."

"Huh." I nodded in respect of that.All hail Amaterasu indeed.

"Hehe." The goddess preened next to me.

"Try using psychology! Like saying you're going to punch her, when you're actually planning to kick her." This time I offered an actual strategy. Sort of. Magical Girl with a chainsaw had something going for it.

"This isn't a play ground! That doesn't work!"

"Throw you opponent off by bringing up their embarrassing memories!" I suggested.

"I don't know her that well!" Miko dodged, cracked one of the crystals, and jumped off another to dodge the sun beams.

Seriously? "Some rival! How can you not know her mental weaknesses?"

"You're the one who kept saying she's my rival!" She shouted back.

"Oh my. I'm shocked at the deception." Ayame suddenly said in a deadpan tone. She then spread her arms out, and the ice crystals stopped being mostly stationary. They spread out now placed at the edge of the arena and began to fly around the whole platform in a wife circle. "Truly, I'm heartbroken." She said as she made an ice platform and stood on it, along with ice mirrors around her.

"Heh." Miko smirked. "So Miss Perfect Ice Queen has some sass." Now with the area clear of any ice crystals except for six ice mirrors acting as a cube around Ayame.

"Even I can derive amusement when my opponents give me the chance to build up my spells." She said before casting a large ice dome that covered the arena and even the flying ice crystals. "Ori no Nezumi." She declared.

The tornado of ice crystals went crazy as they shot any sun beam without aim.

"Woah! Shit! The hell!?" Miko couldn't pause for even a second, as now the beams didn't seem to have a specific direction, coming from everywhere. Even Ayame herself was a target for her spells' range. Yet her ice mirror cube served as a deflection to reflect away any sun beam that came at her.

Miko was literally a mouse trapped in a laser cage at this point.

"Miko!" I cried out.

"What? Do you have any actual advice?" She shouted back.

"Pray harder to Amaterasu!" I gave her my ultimate advice.

Miko almost tripped.

"The hell do you think I've been doing!?" I shouted back.

"No, not standard prayer! Simp level prayer!"

The goddess snorted and nearly choked on my popcorn.

"HUH!?" Miko said back.

Even Ayame was looking at me with confusion.

"Imagine Amaterasu is your senpai at school that everyone idolizes. The boys all have a crush on her, and the girl all fawn over her, and trying to act that they're not also having yuri thoughts about her, even though they tell themselves they're straight."

There was no noise in the stadium anymore. All the shrine maidens, priests, families and clan members were looking gob smacked at me, not able to comprehend my brilliance. Even Ayame's spell paused from how shocked she was.

The only sound was some wheezing from the curtain box, as the goddess tried not to howl in laughter out loud.

"Where the hell did you learn that?"

"Anime!"

"What fricking anime!"

"Shoujo anime!"

"Why did you watch that?"

"I was bored!"

"Enough!" Ayame shouted, her face now showing anger. "This circus is now over! And child, you should be ready for a through scolding for that disrespectful speech."

"Oi!" Miko said back with a serious look, no longer panicking or acting humorous. "Issei isn't your responsibility to deal with. Don't talk to him like that."

"Maybe if you had taught him better, but then he seems like some unmannered mutt you picked up." She said back.

"Oh please, I bet you never played with a puppy growing up." I rolled my eyes.

"Child, be qui-!"

"Miko! Now she's distracted!" I called out, and Miko was already in motion.

"Cheap tricks!" Ayame started her spell again.

Miko kept running, dodging, weaving, jumping, but she was getting closer.

BAM!

Another punch at Ayame's ice cube cracked. Ayame began to fix it, but Miko using her sensing skill that were getting better and better, was dodging the random sun beams more skillfully, while attacking the ice cube from different sidez.

Cracks built up again and again, and now Ayame was feeling the strain of keep up the whole spell while fixing her mirrors.

"This is the last one!"

"No! Don't say it out loud!"

Miko's sun aura broke. Her spell shattered, which is surprising that she kept it up for so long. Maybe all the small bits of sun beam hits she tanked were chipping away at her spell.

"Amaterasu-Omikami, Goddess of the Sun, Bringer of the Morning Light," Miko started her chant for her spell again. Miko tried to dodge, but she speed shot down. Thankfully her reactions were still up, guess that was all her. "Please grant me vitality of the body and spirit for this day. To face the tasks ahead-Shit!"

Miko saw the sun beams that were coming from all direction, even one from the cube. The sun beams that hit the cube, under Ayame's will, she directed at Miko, rather than letting them be random and save energy. Guess she was at her limit too.

My mind went back to what Mimiko told me about the Five Elemental Shield. I thought about how Ayame's spell might work and started counting on my finger. I looked at the area to see all the scorch marks from when the sun beam hit. The burns were too spread out on the ground from when beam hit, rather than focused. It was a gamble but...

"Mimiko!" I quickly turned to the catgirl.

"Y-Yes?"

"The five elemental shield, it's fire, water, earth, wind and what? What the fifth one?!" Thankfully my urgency made her answer quickly.

"Heaven!" Mimiko said.

"Miko!" I turned to Miko and called out.

"Not now!"

"Ice! Heaven! Ice! Double fire!" I shouted.

Miko was thankfully only confused for a moment, before her eyes widened. Ayame's head spanned in my direction, as she looked at me in shock.

"Godai Genso Kekkai!" Miko cried out. Her barrier was hit by the sun beam directly... and washed over it.

"You...!" Ayame gritted her teeth.

"Thanks, Issei!" Miko shouted back.

"What? How?" Mimiko said.

"Honestly it was a fifty-fifty. I could figure out, she first made ice, then collected sunlight, that's heaven. Then she sent it between the ice crystals again, which is ice again, but at the last bit, it felt like her beams were too intense. So I thought maybe plasma and that she was adding fire in the charging before firing to give it an extra oomph. At least I hoped that was the case, and not the sun beams being too strong then." I explained.

"But... you only learned about the mystic today!" Mimiko said in surprise.

I turned to her and simply replied, "I watch anime."

Now the fight was more even, as Miko could move around a bit easier to conserve her strength-

The barrier shattered after taking one last hit. Miko's eyes widened.

"A barrier like that! I can just overpower it!" Ayame shouted.

The sun beams seemed to move less randomly, as Ayame focused their direction more and more. Miko dodged and dashed from side to side again, before another sun beam round were aim at her from all sides.

Miko reacted on instinct as the beams were aimed at her torso and legs, and jumped up. Her eyes widened as she realized she was an open target in the air, and there was nothing for her to bounce off of.

"This is the end." Ayame declared.

Miko was high in the air, right above the cube.

She tried to restart her chant as she was falling down. Ayame focused all the sun beams at her cube, and then charged the top mirror aiming at Miko.

"MIKO!" I shouted at the climax was here. "THERE'S NO TIME! JUST CAST THE SPELL!"

"I HAVE TO CHANT THE PRAYER!" She shouted back.

"PRAYER IS FROM THE HEART!" I screamed as she looked uncertain. "DON'T THINK! JUST SIMP!"

"AAAAAH! FUCK IT!" Miko pulled her fist back.

She fell down to the glowing laser point.

Ayame narrowed her eyes at the reckless act of Miko.

"Foolishness." She said, and fired the sun beam.

I looked at the whole situation, then at Amaterasu in the curtain box. It might be cheating, probably, but fuck it! No time to lose.

Oh shiny Amaterasu, bringer of life giving light, please, please, please, please, please let Miko win!

I clamped my hands together and prayed.

The goddess's lips twitched into a smile.

The falling shrine maiden's fist shined.

Miko punch forward.

"AMATERASU PUNCH!"

Her fist glowed white, the aura erupting from her hand at the point of contact with the glowing laser point. The shockwaves shattered all the ice in the arena, and even pushed Ayame down, slamming her into the ground.

The shining light of Miko's fist blinded everyone.

But when it returned, Miko was standing above Ayame.

Ayame's head was turned, as she looked at Miko from the side with wide frightful eyes.

Miko's fist was an inch away from Ayame's face. The glow of sunlight was going, but it was obvious that Ayame had no more moved.

"Gotcha." Miko smirked.

There was silence as no one moved. No one dared interrupt this conclusion.

Ayame gritted her teeth. She clenched her fist, while glaring at Miko, before closing her eyes, taking a breath and sigh.

"I yield." Ayame said.

Another shockwave of silence hit the stadium.

"Last match, Yamada Miko versus Takahashi Ayame." Head Priestess Saeki spoke up. "Winner, Miko." She called out.

And then Miko's parents and I shouted and cheered.

""MIKO WOOOOON!""