Chapter 57 : Tempus Fugit - Happy Valentines
Sakura ended up being the only one to be left absolutely unfazed by the onslaught of questions the journalists were asking the five of us, which was entirely expected if I have to be honest.
In contrast, I was merely putting on a good front, while my three teammates were two seconds away from pissing themselves despite having won the competition, so I ended up broadcasting a low level of Serenity in a short radius around myself to soothe their nerves.
It also helped me tremendously that I could skim the emotions of those interviewing us and knew more or less how to answer their inquiries in a satisfying manner, which coincidentally made it so, despite me being the youngest, I spoke the most after our team leader, if only to save my less debate savvy teammates.
Understandably so, I was positively exhausted once everything was said and done and the celebrations properly started. Don't ask me why, but it was apparently custom for the newly christened champions to meet and greet with the movers and shakers of the Japanese sports scenes at the end of those one-in-a-year kind of events.
My best guess? The business sharks hidden behind affable smiles and polite attitudes were here because they knew they could strike a sponsorship with the up-and-comers while they were still riding their high of winning, striking while the iron was still hot and the adrenaline hadn't completely abated.
Hence why I instantly vetoed us separating from each other once I caught a whiff of the ambient Greed, tainted with even more loathable emotions that I will not mention. Koryu-Buchou, probably used to those kinds of antics due to her father's popularity and job as a politician, blessedly shared my opinion.
Which lands us here and now, the five of us sort-of huddled with each other near the buffet, fruity, non-alcoholic drinks in hands, talking quietly among ourselves as we keep politely fending the recruiters after exchanging contact informations with them, Japanese-style -I must have at least fifteen different cards in my purse by now.
"How come this is somehow worse than the competition?" Kirigura-senpai quietly hisses next to me, her fingers playing a nervous tempo against her forearm, a half-finished glass of orange juice in her hand as her eyes rhythmically pans around the assembled crowd.
Despite my best effort, the girl is still radiating Distress in the Immaterium like it is going out of fashion. Which I find sort-of odd, considering how much of a social butterfly she usually is, but I'm chalking it up to her not being accustomed to being the center of the adults attention.
Different expectations than with your parents or other teenagers, you see?
"Because it is a competition, of a kind we're not prepared for, contrary to them." Sakura answers, her voice pitched low, her pose impeccable in her Kuoh High uniform, a rather plastic smile plastered on her face.
I distractedly nod, masking my own anxiety behind an aloof mien I fear is only passable to the more observant members of the crowd, occasionally giving a sweep of my mind-eye through the vicinity because I kept expecting the other shoe to drop at some point.
I mean, it's only logical to expect some kind of supernatural entity -especially the bat-winged ones- to be present to those events.
It's not like there are a multitude of ways to poach a good fighter in this day and age to 'contribute to the war effort' or something equally inane. Consequently, I'm fully expecting unaffiliated skilled martial artists to be a hot commodity for the Devils looking to flush their peerage.
And, if I'm not mistaken-
"Ah, today's heroines, at long last!" Someone boisterously says, arms up in the air, a wide smile etched on his face, as he crosses the last few meters separating our team from the meat of the crowd gracefully.
Instantly, I'm on my guard, my eyes narrow.
I had a feeling that this guy's soul was a little brighter than the rest of the gathering, but, now that I'm seeing him properly, it is blindingly obvious that a Devil just walked straight for us.
A sharp jaw, slicked back moss green hair, red eyes and an aquiline nose amid slightly hollowed out cheeks, his ears a bit pointier than a human and his teeth gleaming white, the whole package in a black, fitted suit with a red tie, the atemporal look of a guy in his thirties.
For someone like me, who routinely talks with a peerage full of unconventional beauties and oftentimes tangentially deals with another, sniffing out his origins through a cursory glance to his exotic, a bit 'too good' looks is honestly child's play.
As soon as I realize what he is, I don't faff around.
Serenity vanishes from my aura even as feelings of Awe and Lust seem to overtake my heterosexual teammates, and I channel the black of Fear, aiming it straight for the guy.
The effect is instantaneous, as Mister Good-Looking's step halts for a beat, before he seemingly shakes it off to plant himself in front of Sakura.
I inwardly bristle, while outwardly stepping a little closer to her and mentally ramping up the effect another notch.
"Joshua Mammon," He introduces himself with a slightly forced smile, his eyes darting around the vicinity quicker than humanly possible as he extends his hand to shake my lover's, "Recruiter for Exchequer Team. I must admit that your performance astounded me. Why, it was positively delightful to watch."
"Koryu Sakura, well met." The brunette answers, her expression as polite as ever as she shakes his hand, once.
"I have a business proposal for you, one which is literally to die for." He carries on bombastically, not dropping Sakura's hand.
My annoyance reaches a sort-of boiling point, and I channel even more Fear in the asshole's direction.
His traits go a little taut, and he finally drops Sakura's hand.
"I'm afraid that I will have to come back to you at a later date, but I will be looking out for your proposal." My lover apologizes, and I feel to my unfettered horror her own Desire rising, which should be, for obvious reasons, impossible, and I sort-of see Red for the third time since I've been dropped in his death trap of a world.
Mister Good-Looking gives her a winning smile, before opening his mouth-
-and, in my anger, I slam him with the full brunt of my Fear and Horror, one I have been cultivating since I woke up in this body all those months ago.
Here again, the phenomenon is instantaneous, and I'm on the ball of my feet, ready to jump into action, consequences be damned, as his pupils turns into little pinpricks as he freezes, his own fight-or-flight instinct misfiring, the slowing Glee, Arousal and Victory permeating his thoughts dying a swift death in favor of Dread and Cowardice.
He instantly takes a step back, which is admittedly a better outcome than him lashing out, and he frantically pans his eyes around, looking for a culprit.
With his concentration disturbed by my bootleg mindspike, the unnatural emotions rising in my teammates and lover both snap back to something more usual, and I feel extremely vindicated and gleeful at having foiled his plot.
When he turns around after asserting that his immediate surroundings were absent from a foe, a scowl flickers across his face as he realizes that he messed up.
"Enjoy the festivities, you girls deserve it." He smoothly bows out, despite his growing Frustration.
Once he has vanished back into the crowd, my hand darts toward his card, still clutched in Sakura's hand, and I mercilessly shred it, earning myself an eyebrow quirked in askance from my lover and a clamor of exclamations from the rest of the team.
"The guy was bad news." I bluntly tell them, conveying as much seriousness as I can through both my eyes and my aura.
Sakura's eyes narrow minutely.
"Now that you're saying it," She slowly says, "I've never heard of his team in my life before."
"Me neither." I nod seriously, to a chorus of dramatic, if muted, gasps of our three companions, "All I've got from him was 'comically evil idol manager' vibes. None of you should speak with the guy ever again."
"Don't you think that's a little harsh?" Kirigura asks, looking at me oddly, "I mean-"
"I trust Hanako-san's judgment on this implicitly." Sakura cuts her off as she stares at me, looking for an answer I cannot give her, "Besides, I did find him a bit slimy."
It's all I can do to stop myself from sighing in relief as the discussion comes to a close and we go back to quietly talk among ourselves while occasionally fending off more mundane, if equally aggressive, recruitment attempts.
I can't help but giggle like an idiot as Sakura 'discreetly' marches the both of us to her own hotel room, the two of us having finally managed to excuse ourselves from the celebrations in our honor after two long, drawn out hours of this farce.
Granted, for her, her not-so distant future is on the line, but mine certainly isn't, hence why I was even willing to put up with this whole circus for this long.
And it's not like our teammates didn't manage to bow out of it either, though they elected to go for a stroll into Tokyo instead of coming back to the hotel.
I now knew why they chose to do so, and I had an inkling Sakura did too.
The door clicks shut behind the both of us, and she directs a slightly anxious look my way, wringing her hand a little, a question on her lips.
I roll my eyes even as one of my digits shush her, like I did at the beginning of our relationship.
"It was a surprise for me too," I answer before she can gather the fortitude to ask properly, and her Anxiety bloats in the Immaterium even as I press my body against hers, "But they both support us and understand that we want to keep it to ourselves."
A myriad of emotions fight in her head for a moment, chief among them Surprise, Befuddlement, Happiness and her ever-present Anxiety, until she opts on simply sighing in half-believed Relief, her forehead pressed against mine and her eyes shut.
"...How certain are you of that fact?" She asks softly, timidly.
"One hundred percent." I answer instantly, backed by my absolute knowledge of their emotions when they confronted me about it earlier today, my arms coming to hug her closer in her moment of vulnerability.
"In fact, most of them knew about your previous relationship, and they said nothing at the time too." I point out, making her jolt in surprise, before looking away sheepishly.
"... Those girls…" She trails off, before sighing softly, "I don't deserve them."
"Nonsense." I tut, before smiling impishly back at her when she looks back at me, "You deserve all of that, and more."
Her own smile is a bit wobbly for a moment, her emotions finally smoothing themselves out to settle back on the Lust and Giddiness of moments prior, and her lips crash against my own.
I moan happily through the kiss, and let myself herded to the bed as her fingers unclasp my bra through my blouse.
For once, I'm not entirely tuckered out when my lover finally stops subjecting me to her very thorough ministrations, and she's the one who lets herself pampered in a way too rare occasion as I sit with my back against the bed head while gently combing her long lock of hairs with her head in my lap.
Sakura positively radiates Contentment in the local Warp, her eyes half-lidded as Morpheus lul her after a couple hours of celebratory sex, and the silence between the two of us is as comfortable as it can ever be.
Until, that is, she suddenly breaks it.
"Say, Prima." She begins, half-sleepily.
I hum a nonanswer while my fingers keep their back and forth through her luscious mane.
"Do you know what will happen to the club once I'm gone?" She aks, tilting her head a little to lock eyes with me through half-lidded eyes.
I pause.
"I don't know." I settle on answering after a beat spent thinking about it. My answer being true on so many levels it isn't even funny, since all I knew about the canon state of the Kendo Club was its comedic role in Issei's story at best, "Why do you ask, love?"
Little goosebump of endearment runs along her body at me using the term of endearment, before she wets her lips with her tongue, a feeling of Determination overtaking her.
"Because I want you to succeed me as the club president." She drops.
Once again, I pause, hard.
"... Talk about nepotism, uh." I joke, not quite knowing how I should break the news that I'm trying to leave town as soon as the year ends.
I even sent a very carefully worded out letter to ask to be put in another school to my supposed 'handler' earlier this month!
Sakura huffs, her hot breath against my naked belly making me shiver in delight, before straightening a little in my lap to look at me fully.
"I'm serious, Prima." She says, and I feel my heart twist in a knot in my chest, "I know I can trust you to bring the best out of the girls out if you're in charge. You have this… Charisma, this way to command the room when you speak. That, plus the way you handle a blade? I know you can do it."
That's because I am turning into a pseudo-Primarch! I want to yell out, not because I'm even remotely good at monopolizing people's attention, that's your shtick!
But I don't say that.
Instead, as I wet my own lips in turn, I chose to prevaricate rather than hurting her feelings.
"I'll think about it."
If Joshua Mammon ever found out the uppity Youkai responsible for him fumbling his spell when he had his target in front of him earlier today, he was going to skin them alive.
It had already been a chore and a half for him to smuggle himself in the Japanese's Pantheon governed territory, but alas, needs must, and one of his Knights had recently shown herself to be performing… Less than adequately, let's say.
He had been forced to terminate her contract expeditiously, to his annoyance, right before the new Rating Game season would begin.
That was before one of his acquaintances informed him of a little tidbit of knowledge, one which had made him positively giddy.
In his luck, it was just the right time to go fetch some prime stock in the human world, because the Young Feminine Japanese National Kendo Cup was on the cusp of ending!
And what a vintage it is this year!
It was absolutely serendipitous for him that the winner of the solo fight was also the captain of the winning team in the five versus five team matches! A peerless swordswoman and a teamplayer, a right shoe in any peerage!
Hence why he had made use of the ever useful Magic Suppression formula his peers and him used when taking slightly enthusiastic walks in Pantheon controlled territory to hide his aura to remain inconspicuous until he had dug his hook into his prize, only for some no-name Youkai who didn't have the decency to offer him a straight fight to make him fumble his Charm and make him a fool of himself amid humans of all thing at the last moment!
It had taken all of his self-control not to lash out and mar his future subject's beauty in fright! And the less said about the time he had to spend tracking her back to her momentary place of residency, the better!
Because of course she lived in the two Satan sibling's town, which meant that his window of opportunity was closing very fast and he had to move posthaste!
It was one thing to antagonize the paper tiger that was the Japanese Pantheon, but it was entirely another to poach a resource out of the Gremory and Sitri shared pocket!
But, at long last, he was here, in front of his target's door, an Unlocking Spell on his lips, a handful of minutes away from claiming his prize before it moved out of his reach.
The door clicks open, and a self-satisfied smirk blossom on his lips-
-only to turn into an ugly scowl at the spectacle he is made to witness.
His target lays asleep, her head in the lap of one of her teammates -admittedly the second most interesting swordswoman he saw today- her arms possessively snaking around her midriff.
He can't help the little sniff of disdain that escapes him at the scene.
Even if the girl with a side-shave and rather bold tattoos certainly cuts an impressive figure -and he is almost certain the duality showed on each of her shoulders would have both heaven and the less progressive devils in a tizzy- he can't help himself but disdaining her, for women were made to service their better, and certainly not their peer.
No matter. He will easily reeducate her at length about the error of her ways once she is in his service.
Throwing a last glance to his target's naked form and judging her sound asleep too, Joshua fishes out his Knight Piece out of his pocket while starting to weave another Charm in the ether-
-only for the eyes of the seemingly asleep inked girl he didn't bother to learn the name off to snap open-
His own eyes widen in surprise.
-glowing an eerie blue-purplish glow, trailing a magenta, actinic lightning, and her free hand, the one not on his target's head, to snap in his direction, faster than any human has any right to be.
Joshua, not being born yesterday, instantly understand that he is in trouble, and rushes to silence the unknown magus-
-only to realize, to his dismay, that he cannot move.
An angel passes, the two staring at each other for a moment that stretches like an eternity, the silence in the room barely disturbed by the quiet breath of his target.
The unknown magus eyes narrow, a thunderous expression blossoming on her face, and, try as he might, Joshua can't just Charm her and be done with it, the spellwork washing over her with absolutely no effects.
He tries to open his mouth to speak, but, yet again, something forces him to remain immobile, as if frozen in amber like an insect, and his anxiety leaves in profit of something he thought he had forgotten until today.
Fear.
The extended hand collapses in a fist-
-and Joshua's bones give, his arms and legs both going 'snap-snap-snap', the only thing stopping him from screaming in absolute agony being the fact that he cannot open his mouth, even as a whine of pain and humiliation gurgles in his throat.
The agony is tortuous, infinite, something he is almost certain a Phenex wouldn't be able to shrug off, and he is barely able to hear it when the magus, no, the monster hisses a lone, single word in the silence of the room.
"Mine."
As he tries to muster the willpower to teleport himself out of this deathtrap, he locks eyes with the monster once more-
-only for his head to suddenly turn at one-eighty degree, his neck making a wet, meaty cracking sound.
Oh, Joshua thinks a bit dumbly.
And he soon knows no more.
My mood is most thunderous as I vanish the remains of the Devil who thought he could play silly buggers with me and my lover in a controlled burst of Soul Fire, the yellow of the Hunger in my belly one for retribution this time around, even if I technically already had it.
I knew it was the smartest course of action to forgo sleeping in favor of meditating the night away, yet I still had been unpleasantly surprised to have Mister Good-Looking strut into our room.
No matter, what's done is done now, and I will worry about the consequences of offing the guy at a latter date-
"...Not sleeping…" Sakura mumbles, and I jolt a little as my hand drops back alongside me.
I trade a look with my lover, even if her eyes remain closed, before faking a chuckle.
"I guess I'm still a bit too hyper." I prevaricate for the second time tonight, my hand atop her head starting to comb her locks once more.
She grumbles something that can only generously be called words, before rising herself on her elbows to look at me blearily.
I throw an apologetic smile her way, internally extremely glad that I managed to contain the smell of blood, offal and charred meat inside of my telekinetic grasp this time around.
"... Won't do." She says, a bit more clearly, just as her lips curl in a devious smile.
"Uh?" I answer intelligently.
Her hands leave the small of my back to find purchase on my generous bottom side assets, and Sakura yanks me toward her, making me slide alongside the bed head with a yelp.
"It won't do." She repeats more intelligibly, "You did good today, and a good girl…"
My whole body shivers at her words, and I can't help but bitting my lower lip as she trails little kisses on my belly.
"... Should be rewarded." She explains matter-of-factly while slowly spreading my legs open.
I go to answer, only for my breath to hitch as she kisses my little nub, before slowly rolling her tongue over it.
"Happy Valentines." She tells me, eyes locked into mine while hiking one of my legs over her shoulder, her mouth still flush with my nether, her breath and lips vibrating against my private parts most exquisitely.
Her tongue darts outside of her mouth as I go to answer, cutting me off again, and I can only fist my hand through her hair as my lover starts a late night round two with me.
I only feel slightly guilty from being aroused after executing a no-name devil, to my greatest shame.
[AN: "Mine."
Not sure about the music on this one, but I was listening to it on repeat while writing this chapter.
Hope you enjoy, xoxo!]