This one turned out longer than I'd expected. At one point, I actually considered splitting it like I did with chapter 4 and 5, but I decided against it. I'm fairly sure I can keep chapters below 15k from now on, at the least, because I wanna make sure they're short while still getting everything I want to get across.
There's some more stuff in the AN at the end, so enjoy.
Disclaimer: Godzilla and all related trademarks are owned and licensed by Toho Co., Ltd, Legendary Entertainment, and Warner Bros. Pictures. High School DxD is owned and licensed by Ichiei Ishibumi and Fujimi Shobo. I own neither series, please support official releases.
"...Alright, why are you all down in the dumps?" Issei asked after a few minutes.
My head rose from my bed as I gave him a broken look. "You'll never believe what my new nickname is."
"...I'll bite. What's your new nickname?"
"They're calling me…the 'Pickup Line Predator'," I said with a shudder.
"...Ah. That doesn't sound good," Issei mused.
"Ha! Yeah, it's absolutely terrible!" I said, a mad laugh escaping my lips. "They're acting like I'm a total creep! I haven't even peeped a day in my life! Why couldn't they call me an idiot instead?! Hahahahah!"
"Trust me, being called an idiot isn't all it's chalked up to be," my brother sighed. "Now come on, we've gotta get ready. School starts in an hour, remember?"
"Yeah, yeah, I'm getting up. Just give me a sec…"
Nearly an hour later, the two of us had gotten ready and were walking to school. Despite everything, Issei seemed pretty happy. Enough that he was getting snippy with me over the fact that I was depressed.
"Seriously, why don't you just…stop giving girls pickup lines?"
"Because it's my brand now, Nii-san! I can't just 'not' do it!" I growled. "Would you ever stop peeping?"
"Hell no!" Issei said hotly. "Like I'd ever give up the chance to take a peek at some nice sweater puppies! You can never make me give that up!"
"Exactly! So, no way in hell am I gonna give up shooting pickup lines at girls," I sighed tiredly while inclining my head. "I just wish I could find whoever came up with that damn nickname. I mean, 'Pickup Line Predator'? That sounds skeevy! If a girl says no, I leave 'em alone. I'm not being creepy about it. Or at least, I don't think I am…"
"It was probably one of those guys who wanted to get with that Tamane girl. They wanted to get back at you somehow, right?" my brother shrugged. "What better way than to make you seem like a creep?"
"Man, fuck those guys! Not my fault that Tamane rejected them-hell, she practically rejected me too. Why are they getting up my ass?"
"You managed something they couldn't. They must see it as a personal attack," Issei mused. "I'm still surprised too, actually. Tamane is supposed to have the biggest rack in the school, y'know? Every guy has been trying to get with her."
"...Just because she has a nice set of tits? Issei, if you got with her, would it only be because of her breasts?"
While my brother had a dopey look on his face first, it quickly switched to a small frown. "Well, no, actually. I mean, her oppai are nice~!" Despite Issei seemingly drooling, he didn't seem to have much heart to it. "I…I actually don't think I could be with a girl just because of her oppai. I want to fall in love with her too, not just her boobs. Otherwise, I'd just feel like a shallow jerk who only loves her for her body, and not her heart too."
"Exactly! Those guys are probably only after her for her body…although, I'm probably no better. And I kinda feel a bit shitty about it too," I tilted my head in thought. "I didn't even know her name until last week, and I only hit on her because I wanted to show you three idiots that you didn't need to be scared of talking to 'g-girls', as you like to call them. I didn't wanna take advantage of her or anything…"
"Hey, how 'bout next time you see her, just tell her the truth and apologize?" Issei said cheerfully.
"...Heh, easier said than done," I mumbled.
"Oh yeah, because she just plain disappears and all," my brother mused.
"N-Not what I was referring to," I mumbled.
What if apologizing only made it worse? I mean, I'd gone to my local shrine with some sushi, some sake and rice, and a little home carved fox statue as offerings. I thought I'd seen one kitsune near the shrine, and they might've heard my pleas, but who knows? Hopefully, the worst I have to look forward to is a few mean-spirited pranks in the future.
…If not, then I've got one backup plan. And that's going balls to the wall and waking up my plus-one in hopes that I can convince him to cover my ass. Doesn't matter if she's a nine-tailed fox, my tenant is supposed to be 'the monster' throughout the entire multiverse. She'll probably try to run to another country just to get away.
"Hey, quit being a downer! Do you know what day it is, Nii-san?!" Issei said excitedly.
"Uh, no, what? Enlighten me."
My brother smirked cheerfully. "It's…the Kuoh Academy High School Division's club recruitment day! Do you know what that means?!"
"...The various clubs and sports teams will set up a bunch of stands to draw more students in, hoping for more members and a higher budget as a result," I noted, tilting my head thoughtfully. "But of course, I can guess. You're interested in one thing, huh?"
"What do you think all the athletic clubs will be wearing?" Issei giggled.
"Hmm? If I had to hazard a guess, then they'll most likely be wearing scanty sports clothes. Bloomers and tight-fitting shirts that show off all their curves~! Or maybe swimsuits that, no matter how conservative they are, leave nothing to the imagination?"
"Hell yeah! It's gonna be hooter heaven out there! I bet the girls in the Tennis Team are gonna have real short shorts! I can't wait to see it all!"
"Hehe, fuck yes, this is gonna be awesome! Seeing all that might be the icing on the cake!"
"Ha! Yes, it will be!" Issei cheered tearfully.
"Plus, I'll finally get a good fight!"
"No! No you will not!" Issei cried tearfully.
"But you said 'club recruitment day'! That means Martial Arts Club! I wanna fight somebody!" I whined petulantly. "I wanna!"
"Can you not drag us to the Martial Arts Club right away?! I wanna see some oppai first!" Isse whined back, while pulling me into a headlock.
"You monster! Don't you dare hold me back from my hobbies! I will not be caged like an animal!"
"You guys already heard about it, right?!"
"Hell yeah, we did! Club recruitment day, here we come!"
By the time we'd gotten to homeroom, it was all Matsuda and Motohama were talking about. The two of them were huddled together with Issei and giggling pervertedly as their imaginations ran wild.
"Can you just imagine it? Their tight clothes hugging everything just right as they pant and huff from all their activities?" Motohama sighed breathily. "The sweat running down their bodies and highlighting their curves in all the best ways?"
"Man, I can't wait to see it! I wonder if the Swimming Team will let us participate in 'open demonstrations'?" Matsuda chuckled dumbly as a dopey look spread across his face. "I bet they'll try to give us the basic initiation test. Lots of skin-on-skin there, y'know?"
"Oh man! I'm already imagining it~!" Issei sighed.
"...The swimming, right?" I chuckled.
"Yeah, sure, that too!" my brother muttered.
"Ara~! You four are quite rambunctious, huh?" a girl's voice chuckled.
"Ah! Shit, no!" the bespectacled boy hissed.
"Ah, why?! Why'd it have to be her?!" the bald boy whined.
"Eh? The hell is going on?" Issei asked.
I just shrugged as I leaned up from my seat. "Beats me! Let me guess, you're not thrilled with our…" I blinked when I saw who was speaking. "Eh? What's this?"
The schoolgirl before me wasn't half-bad in the looks department. She had a cute face and a nice figure, messy brown hair done into braids, and golden eyes hidden behind glasses not unlike Motohama's. She was also giving the four of us a positively predatory grin.
I turned to the other two idiots and tilted my head. "Alright, I'll bite. What's the deal with you guys? Didn't I have this conversation with you a week ago?"
"She's completely different! She's a monster! A monster in human skin!" Matsuda whined.
"You guys weren't here for it! You couldn't have known!" Motohama cried.
"...She's a cute brunette in glasses. Bro, what are you on right now?" I balked at him.
"Ufufufu? You think I'm cute? How generous~!" the brunette in question said. "As for who I am, well, my name is Kiryuu Aika. I heard your declaration a few months ago, and I was positively amused. It's only recently that I've decided to intervene."
Suddenly, there were gleeful whispers throughout the class. Girls and boys alike were staring at us, giving us varying expressions. The boys were pitying us, while the girls seemed smug and self-assured.
"They're done for! They had a good run!"
"Man, I wish I had their confidence…"
"They're finally gonna get what's coming to them!"
"I hope they suffer!"
"...Uh-huh. So, what can we do for you, Kiryuu?" I asked.
"Wait, don't! Do you have any idea what she'll do?!" the bespectacled boy said worriedly.
"Ehehehe! Well, I'd simply like to lay down the law. You see, I'm something of a pervert myself!" Kiryuu smiled viciously as she leaned forward. "In fact, much like your bespectacled friend there, I, too, have a unique power. It's much like his own, except it's tailored for men instead!"
"...You can measure my three sizes?" I asked.
Kiryuu's smile dropped, and she tilted her head in confusion. "E-Eh? Wait, what?"
"Hey, I kinda wanna know how much has changed. Been a while since I've worn a dress!" I mused.
At the girl's shocked look, Issei sighed dejectedly. "It was a bet with our childhood friend when we were seven. We lost…"
"And I still wore it better than you," I grinned
"Fuck you, no you didn't!"
"You looked terrible!"
"And you looked better?"
"I was like Cloud when they had to infiltrate Don Corneo's mansion. You looked like Joseph Joestar if he was about to ask me if I wanted tequila!"
The entire time we were arguing, Kiryuu's head was turning to each of us in wonder. The rest of the class were leaning forward curiously, the girls suddenly having wide, covetous eyes. The guys, on the other hand, were laughing their asses off.
"Oh yeah! You think you looked better? Why don't we prove it?!"
"The only one who had pictures is about three whole continents and two oceans away. Just accept that I wore it better, and we can move on!"
"Fuck you!"
"Ahem! As much as I'd love to hear more-really, I would. This is juicy! But, I was, um, talking about my power?" Kiryuu offered.
"Oh, yeah, go ahead and measure my three sizes," I said offhandedly.
"I can't do that," Kiryuu deadpanned.
"...Well, that's just false advertising!" I pouted.
"I never said I could measure your three sizes," Kiryuu said in annoyance.
"You said you could do what Motohama does," I accused.
"Yes, but for men!" the girl hissed.
"So…"
"I'm not talking about your three sizes!" Kiryuu said exasperatedly.
"Then what are you talking about?" I asked, giving her a weird look.
"Your dick!" she cried out. "Your anaconda! Your beef bayonet! Your bologna pony! Your bull's-eye! Your Indiana Bones! Your one-eyed wonder weasel!" Kiryuu let out an exasperated breath. "I can measure a guy's junk like your friend can measure a girl's breasts, waists, and hips!"
"...You could've just said that outright?" I offered.
Kiryuu's right eye began to twitch violently. "Ah, you think so? Well, since I made a minor oversight…would you like to volunteer?"
"...To…get my dick measured?" I tilted my head in confusion. "Aren't we supposed to do that with other guys? They're usually asking for a fight first."
The bespectacled girl fought back a small snort before shaking her head. "No, I mean, would you allow me to use my…power on you?"
"...Eh, sure! Why the hell not?" I shrugged.
"What?!" Matsuda and Motohama cried out.
"Nii-san?! What the fuck are you doing?!" Issei hissed. "Do you have any idea what this is? You'll be ruined!"
"Measure my brother, too~!" I said teasingly.
"Dude, what the fuck?!" said brother cried out.
"Too late now, nii-san~! Buckle up and get ready!" I chuckled.
"No way! That guy's actually gonna let her size him up?"
"Dude, how fucked is he?!"
"He must be pretty confident if he thinks he can be up to her standards!"
"You don't know? Haven't you heard about him? They call him the 'Pickup Line Predator'!"
"That's kinda creepy!"
"Yeah, but he doesn't do more than shoot you a pickup line. And…I heard they were pretty good."
"For real?!"
I felt my left eye twitch slightly at the use of my new nickname and held a hand up. "Hey, before you start…"
"Oh? Is something the matter?" Kiryuu asked playfully, a smug grin tugging at her lips. "Or maybe you're having second thoughts?"
"No, not that! I just figured it'd be rude to not introduce myself, since you already did the same." I tilted my head, gave her a smoldering look, and winked playfully. "Hi there! My name is Isashi! But you can call me tonight, or tomorrow~!"
Kiryuu's jaw dropped, along with everybody else in class. There was a hushed gasp washing over the rest of the crowd as everybody stared at me. Then Kiryuu adjusted her glasses and leaned forward.
*CRACK*
"Hah?! S-Sugoi?!"
The right lenses on her glasses nearly shattered, completely covered in a spiderweb of cracks. Kiryuu jolted back in shock, eyes wide and face red as she looked me up and down. Then she turned to Issei and once again adjusted her glasses.
*CRACK*
The same thing happened to her left lenses, leaving her glasses completely unusable. The brunette quickly removed her specs and sighed.
"Ah! What they say about twins is true!" the girl tittered. "Amazing~!"
"No fucking way!"
"Her glasses cracked?! Holy fucking shit!"
"Damn it! He managed to flirt with Tamane-chan, and now this too? Damn him!"
"Dude, what the fuck does he eat?!"
"Wait, she said something about twins? You don't think-"
"We're not fucking going there!"
"I wanna go there! That's twice the fun, right?"
Issei and I suddenly froze and shared a look. A single look that could only be shared by twin brothers who knew exactly what kind of problem was facing us. We quickly turned back to the lustful gazes of many of our female classmates with deadpan expressions.
"We don't do threesomes!" the two of us said in unison.
"Awwwwww!"
I was only slightly annoyed that two whole thirds of the class cried that out…
"Hah! This is the best thing ever!" Matsuda cried out as we entered the area where club recruitment was happening.
"Do you guys see the girls? Their outfits are skimpy as hell! We really have reached heaven!" Motohama moaned ecstatically. "We just need one final step!"
Matsuda and Motohama just chuckled pervertedly, dopey grins tugging at their lips. Around us, club recruitment was already in full swing. The different clubs had set up stands across the courtyards and adjacent auditorium and were crying out their sales pitches. And yes, some of them were even giving demonstrations.
"Would you two cut it out? We're getting stares!" I said tiredly. "If we actually want to join the clubs and sports teams, we need to behave. You lot need to quit perving out for the day!"
"You say that, but you're still ogling the girls too, Nii-san~!" my brother chuckled.
"...Well, yeah, do you see their skirts? Like, holy shit, these girls have nice thighs!" I giggled. "You know the saying? Thick thighs save lives!"
"Hell yeah!" my friends cheered.
"But that doesn't mean I wanna get kicked out on arrival! Now…which do we check out first?" I held my hand up tiredly as the three of them began shouting over each other to be heard. "We should only choose one if we're all gonna stick together. Otherwise, we go for one per person!"
"We should go for the Swimming Team!" Matsuda and Motohama both cheered.
"Hell yeah! I bet it'll be amazing~!" my brother giggled.
"Eh? Well, if you just wanna check out girls, we could go whenever!" I muttered. "I was thinking about actually checking some of the practical clubs out. We could go to the Cooking Club."
Issei quickly snapped his fingers. "Do you know whether they have their own ingredients or not?"
"Probably? I mean, it's not like we were supposed to bring our own," I mused.
"Aww, hell yeah! If we go for the cooking club, we could bring out some of our secret recipes!" my brother smiled cheekily. "We're a sure-in to get accepted! Girls love domestic house husbands!"
"For real? But why? We'd totally have the chance to check out babes if we go to the sports clubs!" Motohama whined.
"Yeah, but we have a better chance of getting girlfriends if we check out stuff like the cooking club," I pointed out.
"...Holy shit!" Matsuda gasped.
I smirked at him while pointing. "Exactly! Now let's go!"
The leader of the Robotics Club was a young, well-dressed boy with black hair and dark eyes. He was wearing an impressive two-piece suit, fancy shoes, and dark gloves. He also had an incredibly intimidating aura about him.
"...I'm afraid I must apologize, but this stand was made without my knowledge," he glared at the other member of his club. "Miyune-san seems to have misunderstood that. We're currently not accepting members."
I looked at the other club member. She was a very cute schoolgirl with long dark hair in a hime cut, and glasses that hid wide brown eyes. She was also fairly endowed, with a generous bust, a trim waist, a nice hipline, and lovely thighs.
"Um…m-my name is Saegusa Miyune! I'm very sorry, but our club is very exclusive," the girl bowed apologetically. "We're looking for specific qualities in our members, so we'd like to be selective!"
"Uh-huh? And what are these qualities? I mean, if we don't have 'em, we don't have 'em," I shrugged. "But maybe I know a guy or something?"
Saegusa leaned towards me curiously, eyes seeming to flash-
*Gruuuuuuuuh?*
I blinked at that. My plus-one rarely roused from his sleep, but when he did, he was constantly pissed. The sound he'd just made was completely different from what I'd heard, to the point that I wondered if I was going crazy.
He sounded confused, but almost pleased. In fact, something about this girl felt warm and familiar to me. Maybe it was my tenant affecting me, but I felt an unusual sense of ease just by being near this girl.
"Ah! I'm sorry, but I'm not sure that you meet our qualifications," Saegusa bowed apologetically to me. "I'm very sorry!"
"Eh, no problem. Just one more thing!" I gave the cute girl a finger gun and winked. "Are you a shower? Because I can see myself slipping into you, then crying uncontrollably~!"
"EEEP!"
The leader of the Robotics Club made a noise that sounded like a held back snort. "Aha, that's very nice. Please be on your way!"
"I'm gonna be honest, we're here because the Manga Research Club was being secretive and all that," I said frankly.
"Yeah, they have a good reason for doing that," the leader of the Cosplay Club sighed. "We're a bit exclusive too, but you guys can at least check out our work. But I'm warning you, we're only looking for people who are actually serious about joining."
I tilted my head in awe. "Yeah, I can tell!"
The leader of the cosplay club was a short girl with short dark blue hair and bright green eyes. She also had an above average figure, with a nice bust, pleasing hips, and lovely thighs. More than that, her costume hugged her curves in all the right places.
Oh, also her costume was just wild. It was a magical girl costume that almost reminded me of a skimpy wedding dress. It was white with pink and blue accents, and it had a small corset that accentuated her breasts, with a heart-shaped cleavage window on the dress-shirt beneath. Her bluish-white skirt was short, but not ridiculously short, and it had notes of pink at the edges.
At her shoulders were sleeves with pastel blue bridal gauntlets that covered both arms, while her white thigh-highs led to sapphire colored flat heels. The outfit was topped off with a white wand tipped by a pink heart with a pale blue gem sat within it.
"Yeah, nah, you guys are clearly next level. That looks amazing~!" I cheered.
The club leader's smile was gleefully smug, but in a weird 'I know something that you don't' kind of way. She looked to the rest of her club members, who also shared similar grins while folding their arms or holding them to their hips.
The other girls had somewhat similar costumes but with different colors, some with the addition of bows and gem-adorned pigtails or ponytails. Two of them had longer skirts and showed less cleavage, instead having more armored chests. Some of the girls completely ditched the wedding outfit and went to a more 'sailor fuku lite' look with some magic-looking additions.
"Yeah! I mean, you guys are totally hot!" Matsuda cheered, much to their dismay. "But disregarding that, those costumes look incredible! Did the materials cost much? I was at a convention once, and I talked to this guy who spent over a hundred thousand yen to get everything for his Guile cosplay right."
"They didn't cost nearly that much. We actually made a lot of the fabric ourselves," one girl who looked like a generic chestnut-haired tsundere chuckled. "We even colored the gems. It took a lot of special techniques to get that stuff right, to be honest…"
"Yeah, Imma be honest, I could never pull this off. You guys are crazy-in a good way, your fit is incredible!" I held up my hands placatingly. "But I could never go through all the work."
"Shame~! Say, you said you hit up the Manga Research Club before us, right?" one girl with blonde hair asked curiously. "You wouldn't happen to know why they kicked you out, would you? I'm still a bit sour that they didn't give me a chance."
Motohama waved his hand unsuredly. "Eh, we have no idea, actually. They just looked at the four of us, took some notes, and then kicked us out." The bespectacled boy inclined his head thoughtfully. "Actually, they said we had 'satisfied their curiosity' after all the note-taking. And then they kicked us out."
"Oh dear~!" the club leader muttered.
"What? What?! What's wrong?!" I asked worriedly.
"Well…I'm not saying that there are several possible series of yaoi manga being distributed by the Manga Research Club," then the leader of the club winked while giving us a wide, open-mouthed grin. "Because that would be illegal, and the Student Council cracks down on that hard."
"Why is your eye doing that?" the bald boy asked worriedly. "Is…is there something wrong with your eye?"
"No, no, nothing's wrong," the girl said cheerfully. "Just pointing out that the Manga Research Club can't possibly be making their own yaoi series. Because, as I just stated, that would be illegal," the girl once again winked, "and there's no way they'd get away with it. Because the Student Council would totally put a stop to it."
I just stared at the girls blankly. "Please don't tell me-"
"They're gonna have an entire ass yaoi manga of you four out by the end of the week," the chestnut-haired girl deadpanned. "Sorry…"
"Oh no!" Matsuda whined.
"Why us?!" Motohama cried out.
"We're doomed!" Issei sobbed.
"Well, thank you for the warning. And your cosplays look incredible," I waved to them with somewhat muted cheerfulness. "Tell us when the next show is, would love to see it. You'll find us somewhere around, probably bemoaning the fact that people will only think of us as boylovers for the rest of our school lives!"
"Wait! Hold on!" a cute girl with braided hair walked forward and gave the bald boy a puppy-dog eyed look. "My name is Hase! Do you…r-remember me, Matsuda-kun?"
"...Should I?!"
I don't know why the poor girl looked and acted like she wanted to die. I was only thankful that I hadn't caused it.
"Ugralska is evil! They're currently utilizing the bio-tech companies they've been acquiring to transform their troops into super-soldiers," the leader of the Conspiracy Club cried out while pointing to a board covered in pictures and tacks connected by strings. "They plan to make a giant robot that can devastate countries with single attacks. Make no mistake, Ugralska plans to rule the world!"
"The world governments are run by badger-people! Not lizard-people or mole-people!" another member of the club said quickly. "Lizard-people wouldn't actually be able to hide that long no matter what technology they used, because reptilian brains can't actually properly mimic the behaviors of mammals, and mole-people, by virtue of their blindness, could never get into human politics. See, badger-people are mammalian enough that they can mimic humans, but just animalistic enough that they slip up! It's in the evidence, people!"
"Everything bad happening to Japan is because of a 2000-year-old curse cast by the ancient indigenous peoples of the country. That curse has caused everything from the 'Great Kanto Earthquake', all the way to the bubble pop only a couple of decades ago," one member of the club said seriously. "The only way this curse will stop is if the emperor and his bloodline dies, and Japan is left in ruin. As this is basically impossible, we're forever doomed by the actions of our ancestors."
"The school is run by shape-shifting vampires! I don't think they're evil, but they're definitely stealing the blood of virgins for their own amusement!" one girl shouted loudly. "And they're not doing it in the fun way either. Which, ironically, probably does make them evil, just not really evil enough to be a serious problem."
"God is dead! God is actually dead! He died fighting the Beast of the Apocalypse, and the prayers of the unworthy are barely holding Heaven together!" another conspiracy theorist cried desperately while running around the room. "The more the facade cracks, the more demons enter our world. Soon we'll be overrun by the denizens of hell, and there's nothing we can do to stop it!"
"There's an evil terrorist organization that's preparing to take over the world. They have control over multiple word governments! With their army of mutants, they'll kill us all!"
"Deep in the multiverse, there is a nightmarish monster who consumes entire galaxies, one planet at a time, one solar system at a time! This creature can enter new universes via tearing holes into reality!" one of the club members sobbed. "This nightmare beast will find us one day! The moment the sky turns to gold and starts screaming with endless storms, we're all doomed!"
"There is a Hollow Earth, and it is ruled by a society of giant gorilla people! As time goes on, their plan to invade the surface grows ever closer to being realized!"
"There is an omnipresent, extradimensional entity peering into our universe. It views space and time simultaneously, and has worked to radically alter the history of our entire universe to satisfy its amusement!" one boy said darkly. "The entity's goals are mysterious, only that it seems to treat reality as a game! This being is watching us, and it is laughing! Be afraid~!"
The four of us just watched as the entire Conspiracy Club went off. The longer they went on, the more insane all of them sounded. For a few moments, I actually thought they might start foaming at the mouth.
"...I think we need to make our escape as subtly as we can," I whispered to the other three boys.
"Best option is to nod our heads and say 'that's nice' when prompted," the bespectacled boy said nervously. "The entire time, we need to back away. Very slowly, mind you. If you move too fast, they'll pick up on it. Their vision is definitely based on movement."
"Don't talk too fast, either. That'll get them worked up," the bald boy whispered. "No loud noises, no sudden moves. Just get away as quietly as possible…"
"Finally, we get to check out the sports clubs!" Issei whined. "Going to the Karaoke Club was humiliating. And I still think they were too harsh on us…"
"You guys sang a song about infidelity!" Matsuda cried out.
"And you guys were any better? Plus, we were killing it! You guys sucked!" my brother spat back.
"Yeah, I bet you can't even do the dance!" I chided them. "Maybe you shouldn't have sung 'The Bad Touch'. That's just asking for it!"
"S-Shush! Besides, now we finally get to reach heaven!" Motohama sighed exuberantly.
"Hell yeah! We're finally gonna check out the Swimming Club!" the bald boy giggled.
"For the swimming, right?" I asked. At the goofy smiles the three of them gave me, I sighed in annoyance. "You guys aren't gonna join for the sake of swimming. I shouldn't even be asking that."
"Why would you even ask? We already do MMA anyway," the bespectacled boy huffed.
"MMA isn't gonna help you when you're drowning," I pointed out.
"Drowning in babes!" Issei cheered.
"And think about it! If they're doing demonstrations, they'll have to get…hands on~!" Matsuda giggled. "You guys know what that means?"
"It'll be the only time you've felt the touch of a woman?" I jeered.
"Fuck off! Getting into at least one sports club is the chance of a lifetime!" Motohama said hotly.
"We might actually get girlfriends!" the bald boy sighed dreamily.
"I could finally start building my very own harem!" my brother cheered.
"...I could finally start the mission given by the Prime Minister!" I whispered.
"Hell yeah!" Matsuda cried happily. "Now come on! We can't lose out on this-"
"Oi!" a voice called out. "Matsuda? Get over here, you punk!"
"...Eh? Wait a second, I recognize that voice," the bald boy blinked before pointing. "Bee-san?!"
This 'Bee' was a punk-looking schoolboy with messy hair and rolled-up sleeves. He also had a bright grin tugging at his lips. He was casually posing with his hands on his hips while giving Matsuda a near feral look.
I tilted my head curiously as the boy walked towards us. "You know this guy, Matsuda?"
"Does he know me? Hah, he knows me!" the punk kid chuckled. "We talk to each other all the time when his cousin Takeshi is racing! I was actually planning on scouting you, man!"
"...R-Racing? Wait, wait, you have a cousin who's a race car driver?" I asked Matsuda.
"Oh, no, Takeshi is a motorcycle racer. I also do that, but it's more like a hobby," the bald boy inclined his head. "I'm nowhere near as fast as Takeshi. He's a speed demon!"
"Man, that's quitter talk! Come down to the Racing Club one of these days, ya perv!" Bee chuckled happily. "We'd love to have ya', we might actually win some competitions if you join."
"For real? How good of a bike racer are you?" I asked Matsuda.
"...I once tied with my cousin for ten mock races straight. And the only reason that happened was because he was recovering from an injury!"
"Holy shit! Dude, you should join the racing club," I grabbed the bald boy and put him into a headlock. "I mean, come on! You could actually attract girls like that! Do you know what a 'Race Queen' is?"
"Oi, get off me you-wait, what's a Race Queen?"
"Oh god, he doesn't know!" I cried out.
"Agh! Give me a few minutes, I'll look it up," Matsuda growled while pushing me away. "Oi, Bee! I'll think about it, but don't expect me to be a racing god like Takeshi! I was gonna shoot for the photography club."
"Buddy, you have the potential to surpass that dude. Trust me!" the smiling boy clicked his teeth gleefully. "But hey, if you wanna join the photography club, I'll leave ya' be. But…you and I both know I'll be seeing you on a racetrack in the near future. You can't stay away~!"
The bald boy groaned as the punk kid left. "I really wish I had a retort to that. But, like…I'd be lying."
"Seriously, I had no idea you were a motorbike racer," I mused.
"It's a hobby. I don't really do it often, only when my older cousin ropes me into it," Matsuda groaned. "Now are we gonna head to the Swimming Team's stand? Because I wanna see some girls getting wet~!"
"Shame you'll never see that anywhere else!" I jeered.
"Yeah, well…screw you!"
I let out a barking laugh at that. "Ha! Okay, sure, we can check out the Swim Team, maybe the Tennis Club. But!" I pointed to the two of them with a wild grin. "We go to the Martial Arts Club after that! You hear me?!"
"...Isashi, please don't start a rivalry with any members of the Martial Arts Club," Motohama pleaded quietly.
"Eh? What's that? Start a rivalry with members of the Martial Arts Club? Don't mind if I do~!" I laughed wildly.
"That's the opposite of what I said and you know it!" the bespectacled boy whined.
"Guys! Give it a rest, you're not gonna stop his ass," Issei said dejectedly. "All we can do is watch the trainwreck happen in front of us."
"Do you think he'll get a worse reputation than us? Everybody's gonna know he's crazy about fighting after this," the bald boy hissed worriedly. "People really will think he's a delinquent!"
"You guys realize you're not being quiet enough, right?" I teased.
"Dude, think about it from another angle! What if you get your ass kicked?" Motohama swallowed nervously at my confused look. "By a…g-g-girl!"
"And? You guys get your asses kicked by girls regularly?"
"Okay, first of all, hurtful! Second, this is different!" the bespectacled boy hissed.
"Yeah, because at least I'll actually have fun while getting beaten up…not counting you, Nii-san," I nodded to Issei.
"I'm not a masochist, damn it! I swear, that better not be spreading!" my brother whined.
"Quit your whining. And quit trying to talk me outta this!" I gave them my most battle-hungry grin as I turned to them. "I'm going to check out the martial arts club. None of you goons are gonna stop me~!"
"Hot damn, the Swimming Team was something else~!" Issei sighed dreamily.
"Yup! They put the 'breast' in 'breast stroke'~!" Motohama chuckled.
"We got some great shots of them. Same with the Tennis Team!" Matsuda giggled.
"Hell, any of the sports teams were going off! Sporty girls are great!" I chuckled.
"We're sure to get accepted into the Photography Club!" the bald boy smiled cheerfully. "There's no way they'll refuse us when we've got such great shots like this! I even got a few panty-shots!"
"Hey, how are you guys even gonna get into the photography club? Will they even let you in?" I asked.
"Oh, dear Isashi, don't you realize? The photography club…is full of like-minded, cultured individuals!" the bespectacled boy cheered. "Every guy who wants to see a good pair of breasts, or get a nice shot of some panties, joins the photography club!"
"Ah, yeah, of course you'd want to be among your people," I deadpanned. "Nobody else would ever take you in."
"Shut it! We didn't even care about their opinions anyway!" the bald boy said defensively. "No, we've got our eyes set on the photography club. It's the perfect cover for our activities!"
"...The peeping, or the black market porn business?" I asked.
"Yes!" Matsuda said without missing a beat.
"Right, I'm just not gonna ask for further clarification…" I deadpanned while walking forward. "Well, you guys better not get too hopeful. Because we've got one stop before we head to your pervert club!"
"Oh no!" the other three boys whined, one at a time.
I simply gave them a smirk. "Oh yeah~!"
"...Why'd you say it like that?" my brother asked. "Your voice sounded all gravelly-"
"I was trying to do the Koolaid Man's voice," I said flatly. "Ah, I guess I need to run through a brick wall first, huh?"
A few minutes later, the four of us were standing in front of the Martial Arts Club's stand. There were a lot of guys excitedly asking for pamphlets and talking about demonstrations. The few club members at the stand were all girls and wearing regular uniforms, and they were trying to gently placate all the boys.
…The girls were also all Yokai. I wasn't expecting that specifically, seeing as I'd only seen a handful of yokai throughout each of my classes. Part of me worried about that, but only because there's no way they'd all be-
"Oi! Quit running your mouths! You wanna join, you'll wait in line like everybody else!" a girl in a gi angrily called out as she stalked out of the hastily set up ring behind the stand. "If you're signing up, you gotta pass the 'test'. I bet none of you even know shit about actually fighting!"
The girl who was growling and snapping at every guy was a cute and short girl with short reddish-brown hair and amber-colored eyes. She had very pleasant curves too, with a decently large bust, a trim waist, and some nice hips. But sitting atop her head were fluffy, rounded ears, and trailing behind her was a long, swishing tail.
An Itachi-not a Kamaitachi, that's a different Yokai from the normal Itachi. For normal Itachi, supposedly they're the best shape-changers of any yokai, able to take on even the forms of other demons for their pranks, though they're usually turning into small children to steal alcohol. Obaachan said that Itachi are fond of bewitching people, often hypnotizing them to leave food out or do some other thing for their benefit.
…That first one was probably just people not wanting to admit they were pulled in by normal weasels being cute, which isn't understandable. Like, at least own up to the fact that a noodle bear pulled at your heartstrings, nobody will judge you for it. But the second one was a lot more worrying, because that meant if this girl wanted, she could easily hypnotize multiple people.
Actually, why wasn't she?
"Enough out of you idiots! You wanna join? Read the damn pamphlets properly and sign the fucking forms!" the weasel girl growled angrily. "Quit trying to flirt! We're not here for that, damn it!"
I cracked my neck and strode forward. "Oi! You mind handing me a pamphlet and form?"
There was a sudden amount of hushed whispers as both the girls at the stand, and the crowd of guys around them, turned to stare at me. The weasel girl turned, giving me a flat look that conveyed just how done she was with the day. I had to fight the urge to look at her inhuman features, instead zeroing in on her chest and hips intermittently.
"Hey, you're them super perverts, right?" the yokai girl hissed. "Just what the hell are you here for?!"
"...I wanted to sign up for the club?" I offered, quickly having second thoughts.
"Hah! You? Why the hell would we let you in?"
"I mean, I'm sure you can give me lots of reasons not to let me in. But I'm well-trained in MMA, and I like fighting. I figured those are pretty good reasons to join."
The weasel girl clicked her teeth in amusement. "Heh! You think that doing a month of fucking yoga in a mcdojo means you have what it takes? That's funny!"
"Mcdojo?!" the other three members of my group cried out.
"Oh, hell no! Them's fightin' words!" Matsuda growled while stepping forward.
I held a hand up to stop the bald boy, all while sending the yokai a vicious grin. "Hah! You really like to run your mouth, huh? Why don't you and I have a bout?" I tilted my head at the girl's snarl. "I'll show you just what I learned from my 'mcdojo'!"
The weasel girl's snarl shifted into a smug grin. "Sorry, fuckface! If you wanna sign up, I'm not gonna be the one you're fighting."
"Really? Shame I don't have a form or pamphlet," I mused. "Guess you're scared I'll win, huh?"
"...Oi! Hand me that shit!" the yokai growled to the other demons running the stand.
"Eh? Morika, are you sure-"
"Just hand me the damn form!" the Itachi growled. When she got it, she all but slammed it into my hands. "Sign that, and we'll set everything up."
"What?! But you didn't give us a form or a pamphlet?!" one of the guys in the crowd cried out.
"Because you dumbasses weren't trying to join! You were chatting up our girls like they didn't have other fucking priorities!" the angry bakemono growled. "Now clear the fucking space or I'll handle you myself!"
I turned away from her and sat next to a nearby table while running through the form. Next to me, my brother and our two friends were seething.
"Mcdojo? That fuckin' bitch?! Fuck it, we better join! We gotta protect Kai-sensei and Syu-sensei's honor!" the bald boy growled.
"But we could get totally humiliated!" Motohama hissed.
"Who the fuck cares at this point? We can't let this slide!"
"Which is why Nii-san should be the one to do it," Issei said.
"What, but we can totally-"
"Oh, sure, yeah, except we don't know what any of these girls can do. They might not be all that good, or they might be almost as strong as, say, Sousei," Issei nodded at the shudder that ran through the other two. "If we just walk into this without knowing, we could actually have some serious trouble. But Isashi can do it-"
"But I've-"
"Never beaten him!" Issei interrupted the bald boy teasingly. "I mean, neither have I, and I've caught him slipping plenty of times. Nii-san is…eh, what is it called?"
"Built differently?" the bespectacled boy offered.
"That, yeah!"
"There's actually one issue…" I said darkly while showing them the paper.
"Wait…does that say what I think it says?" Motohama asked worriedly.
"You can only use one style?!" Matsuda growled.
"They probably wanna weed out the people who know martial arts from the people that don't," the bespectacled boy hummed. "But the way they've worded it…they're basically discounting MMA and hybrid styles."
"...Doesn't fucking matter. Just gotta use one of the styles I'm comfortable with," I hummed while quickly jotting down everything. "Something that I also know well enough on its own to separate from everything else in my own style. That way, I won't break their precious little rule…"
"So, let me guess?"
"Muay Thai," was my simple response to Motohama. "It's my only real option, other than Bajiquan and Judo. And I don't wanna pull that out just yet, anyway. Aside from Baji being my ace in the hole, I'm supposed to be focusing on fixing my other stuff first."
"Yeah, you still got sloppy at Karate and BJJ, even if your Wing Chun is getting better. And we've got nearly…two months?" the bespectacled boy hummed when the other two nodded a bit and made noncommittal noises. "Yeah, just under two months before Kai-sensei has to close the dojo for renovations. You might get them back to level in time if you constantly train, but it'd need to be done 24/7."
"Or I could join the Martial Arts Club-oh, wait!" I snorted at their deadpan expressions. "Yeah, so if I'm not in by the end of the next two months, I'm on my own for training. If I can't get in today, I'll just keep trying again…"
"Oh great, you're doing that thing where you get all stubborn and determined to get something done!" Motohama whined.
"He's doing the same thing with the pickup lines, though, isn't he?" Matsuda asked.
"Well, yeah, but that's funny and stupid. For this, his inner battle junkie is gonna go wild," the bespectacled boy sighed. "We've seen that enough times. Remember how crazy he gets training for tournaments?"
"Hahah! You think he's bad in the dojo?!" Issei laughed madly. "You guys don't have to live with him!"
A few minutes later, I'd handed my application form in, and I was walking into their 'ring'. It was a small space just behind the club's stand that they were initially doing demonstrations in. The club had quickly cleared it out and set things up to prepare for a match.
I'd changed into the bare minimum of gear. A pair of boxing gloves and leg guards each, which were 'generously' loaned by the club, as the Itachi had put it. They also didn't have much in the way of any general sports clothing, other than some shoes and a pair of shorts. So I was, of course, only wearing the above.
Issei and our two friends were hanging around the ring along with some members of the martial arts club. Unsurprisingly, they weren't the only ones. Plenty of other students, even the ones who hadn't come to check out the club, were gathering around the ring to see this. I recognized a couple of familiar faces, actually.
"Isashi!" Protagonist cried out. "Tell me they didn't actually call Kai-sensei's school a fucking mcdojo!"
"They did," I said simply.
"Kick their asses!" Aichi growled. "Don't pull your fucking punches like you usually do, either! Beat their shit in!"
"Gonna be hard to do that. You guys should take a look at the form they had me sign," I said in annoyance.
"The hell are you going on about? Wait, are you only doing a Thai stance?" Protagonist leaned forward worriedly. "What the hell is going on here?"
"Motohama! Tell Kazuto the 'T'!" I barked.
"He's using my real name? Motohama, what the fuck happened?"
The bespectacled boy sighed. "You might wanna sit down for this. You won't believe what's going on."
Nearby, I heard some of the other students whispering and gawking. A few of the guys from the sport clubs were giving me looks of approval, while some were looking at me in jealousy. Surprisingly, there were a few that seemed to blush at the fact that I was shirtless-hey, to each their own, and I appreciated the sentiment.
But, of course, I was more pleased by the reactions from the girls.
"Holy shit! Is that one of the mega pervs?"
"Yeah, but like…look at him~!"
"I've never seen him like this!"
"I'd like to see more of him like this~!"
"I wanna bite them!"
"Down girl! Remember, he's a total perv!"
"Yeah, but…is that a bad thing?"
"Doesn't he have a twin brother? I wonder what he's like?"
"They're talking about training at the same dojo over there, right? I wonder…"
I smirked while giving Issei a nod. "I hope you're paying attention, man. This is definitely a good thing!"
"Yeah, analyzing a part of your fighting style will definitely help me kick your ass!" my brother cheered.
"...Not quite what I was getting at. But that also sounds good!" I chuckled.
"Hah! You actually decided to go through with this?" I turned to see the weasel yokai-Morika, I remembered-sauntering over. "You coulda chickened out, saved yourself the trouble! How does it feel to be a glorified kickboxer?"
I felt my right eye twitch at that. "You are very good at pushing buttons, I'll give you that. You stepping in the ring, or what?"
"How 'bout 'or what'?" the Itachi clicked her teeth before turning away. "Oi, Za-chan?! You ready yet?!"
"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming! Give me a sec!" a voice like a breezy, high-pitched bellow echoed from the other side of the room. "You coulda just fought him yourself if you wanted to see him laid out so quickly…"
The girl that entered the ring was, to put it bluntly, rather unattractive. Thing is, it was almost like she was exaggeratedly unattractive-like, even if this were some dumb anime, no person could be that gonkish. My main theory was a disguised yokai playing a joke of some kind, because there's no way that was her real appearance and it would track right with everything around me.
She was a bit taller than me and wore the same gi as the weasel girl, as well as some boxing gloves and leg gear. Her hair was done up in a loose bun that caused her long bangs to frame her face, one side falling in a way that hid her left eye slightly. Her eyes were a steely grayish blue, and they seemed to glow just a bit as the light hit them.
Those were the most normal things about her, at the least. Her figure wasn't 'wide' or 'big', rather it was fairly muscular and gave the effect of making her look bigger than she really was. But her face was somewhat chubby, her nose was oversized, and her brows were extremely pronounced.
"Agh! It's a fucking gorilla!" I heard Motohama cry out.
"It's not a gorilla! I thought those glasses were supposed to make your eyesight better!" I teased the boy.
"Fuck you! Take a fucking look at her! She's a fucking monster!"
"Aww, thanks!" the girl in question said cheerfully, an almost cheeky grin tugging at her lips. "I try my hardest, really!"
"So, let me guess? You're my opponent?" I tilted my head curiously.
The girl just smirked gleefully. "Hell yeah! My name is Morizako Kinuko! Let's get along!"
"Mori! You're not supposed to act nice!" the weasel girl hissed.
"Eh? But he's not being mean or anything?" the taller girl shrugged.
"Heh! Morizako, huh? I'm gonna remember that," I nodded while giving her a battle-hungry but still mostly kind smile. "My name is Hyoudou Isashi! I'm looking forward to this!"
There was a sudden hush among the crowd as somebody else stepped into the ring. I tilted my head, jaw dropping when I saw who it was.
Anne Monette strode into the ring while wearing a martial arts gi. You wouldn't believe it, but-actually, you probably would believe that it was sexy as hell, like holy shit, damn. But I wasn't paying attention to her simply because she was a jaw-droppingly gorgeous foreigner walking towards me.
For a single moment, her unhidden eye met mine. That blue orb once again shifted to a brilliant ruby red.
The ocean rumbled. The waters churned as the sea trembled.
"-Reeeeeeeoooooonnnnnnnnnnkggggggg…"
It felt like the blood in my veins had frozen when I heard that sound. It was…it was so damningly familiar; I felt like I was going to have a heart attack from it. I let out a quick gasp of air as I stared blankly at the floor in confusion.
"Hyoudou-san?" a soft voice just a few feet away from me called.
I looked towards the blonde curiously, noting to myself that her eyes turned back to their blue color. She was looking at me in both curiosity and worry, head tilted towards me as she leaned forward.
"Are you alright?" she asked kindly.
"Yeah, sorry, I just needed to clear my head. I'm good!" I said quickly.
"Good, good!" Anne stood up straight and turned towards both Morizako and the rest of the crowd. "This match will follow a similar ruleset to basic point sparring and knockdown sparring. The two fighters will each receive a point when they've knocked their opponent to the ground. The first one to receive three points wins," the blonde nodded to us. "Are you two both ready?"
"Yeah, sure thing, boss!" Morizako chuckled.
"I'm ready to start," I nodded.
Anne nodded her head and motioned towards us, then motioned towards the weasel girl and another Yokai, a tanuki girl, to step into the ring, both carrying a flag. The blonde then raised her hand. Morizako and I bowed towards each other for a few moments before standing up and shifting to our stances. I hid a small frown when I saw the girl's stance. It had a very long guard, kind of like a Tai Chi stance, but it wasn't quite what I'd seen from normal Tai Chi.
The blonde's hand came down and her eyes narrowed. "Start!"
My arms immediately came up when Morizako flew forward, throwing a flurry of blows towards my face. They weren't powerful, that was certain, but there were a lot of them coming at once, though there was an odd amount of time in between each punch. Trying to duck and weave out of them would just lead me into a clinch or a knockdown.
My answer was a Teep, or a push kick. I bounced on the back of my feet slightly before slamming my left foot towards the girl's stomach, pushing her back and giving me some space. When she got back into her long-guarded stance, I slowly stalked around while keeping my eyes on her.
Morizako rocketed forward again. This time I could tell she was preparing to put more power into her punches. The problem with that was that she was overextending slightly, giving me the perfect way to counter her.
My response was a lunging knee strike. I ducked under her guard and jumped forward knee-first, slamming it straight into her gut. I capitalized on this with several punches to her chest and face before crashing my elbow straight into her torso. I could hear her let out a wheezing gasp at that.
Before she could bring her guard up, I brought my right leg up to hit her with a knee strike. She floundered a bit trying to dodge that, so my follow-up was to sweep my left foot towards her legs. There was a small 'thump' in the air, and a low 'oof' came from her as she hit the ground.
"P-Point! Hyoudou!" the tanuki girl called out while raising her flag.
"No way! He actually knocked her down?"
"Dude, did you see his moves? That was crazy!"
"How did he get her, though? She's moving so fast!"
"Did you hear about how he knocked around some upperclassmen a few months ago?"
"Damn! I totally believe that now…"
"Hah! That was something!" Morizako chuckled as she rose to her feet.
"Mori! Are you alright to continue?" Anne asked.
"Yeah, boss! I'm good!" the taller girl huffed as she returned to her stance.
The blonde nodded before holding her hand up, signaling for us to continue. My elbows went back up, and I raised my right foot, a wild grin tugging at my lips.
Morizako lunged forward again to close the distance. I responded by stomping my right foot back onto the ground and pivoting my hips while bringing my left leg up, rotating my entire body as I slammed my foot into the girl's stomach right before she could reach me. While she didn't fall, she was clearly winded by the blow.
I quickly lunged forward, slamming a few crosses and hooks into her while intermittently crashing elbow strikes into her face and chest. When the girl threw another flurry of punches, I quickly ducked and weaved beneath them before throwing several of my own. Here and there, I would throw in quick elbow strikes to knock her back. One particularly fierce strike knocked her back, causing her to fall.
"Point! Hyoudou!" the tanuki girl called again while raising her flag up.
"Dude, this is insane!"
"She looks kinda screwed, huh?"
"One more point, and he wins!"
"I dunno. The fight's not over yet!"
Morizako rose to her feet with a cheerful grin, but a vicious look in her eyes. "Heh! Well, guess now I've gotta stop playin' around…" the tall girl nodded to Anne before smiling at me. "You ready?"
"Never been more ready in my life!" I laughed as I took my stance again.
The blonde signaled for us to continue, and suddenly, I was being pushed back by a flurry of blows. I ducked and weaved through them with a smirk, because I knew that she was likely letting her emotions lead her pace. And if I let that happen, it'd be an easy win once she tired herself out.
At least, that was my plan before she suddenly jumped up and did a sharp spin kick. I leaned back just a bit, only for her to suddenly hit me with a push kick of her own. Barely half a second later she was throwing a right, which I moved to block-except it was a feint, which allowed her to nearly throw me down with a side kick.
Before I could even reorient myself, Morizako swung her leg in an ax kick. I barely realized I was on the ground until I felt my cheek hit the mat.
"Point! Morizako!" the weasel girl cheered.
"Ouch! Damn, that looks rough!"
"Girl's got some moves. Still, he made her work for it!"
"He's still pretty far ahead! It's not over yet!"
"Yeah, but she had him on the defensive that time. He's probably losing steam!"
"Heh! Me, losing steam? As if…" I said while bouncing to my feet to face my opponent. "This ain't over yet!"
"Hah! I like that!" Morizako chuckled as she retook her stance.
As Anne once again raised her hand, my own arms raised. There was one way I could win this; if I could get Morizako into a clinch, I could try to sweep her onto the ground. So I'd have to catch her at the right moment, meaning I needed to weather whatever she tried next.
The blonde's hand came down, and Morizako was throwing kicks at me again. I ducked and dodged them, even pushing some of them away if I could. At one point she even tried to do a spinning back fist, but it whiffed. The next few punches she made were somewhat telegraphed by the way she moved her legs, and it was confusing that she wasted so much time between some of them.
During her next flurry of kicks, I batted her foot away and lunged, grabbing her as quickly as I could. I heard her letting out a small grunt of confusion as I pulled her in and practically put her in a headlock.
"What the hell? Is…is he hugging her?"
"Dude, what's going on?"
"I thought they were supposed to be punching and kicking?"
"Ha! He's got her in a clinch!" I heard Protagonist cry out.
"The fuck is a clinch?!"
"I swear I've heard that before?"
"It's a close-quarters grapple!" I heard Issei explaining. "It means that neither of them will be able to use their whole limbs for their blows. Since she won't be able to punch or use wide kicks, she's kinda screwed!"
I felt a smirk tugging at my lips when I heard Issei speak. Then I heard Morizako growl as she strained against my hold. I responded by slamming knee strikes towards her stomach as quickly as I could.
In between strikes, I started pushing as hard as I could. If I could wind her a bit, it would let me surprise her with a full-body sweep. I practically had her on the back foot by now.
Then she did something that surprised me. If you've ever played tug-of-war, one way to knock your opponent back is to let them pull as hard as they can before letting go of the rope and letting them fall back naturally. What Morizako did was the same thing, basically; she loosened her grip on the ground just enough that she didn't fall, but that my own force ended up working against me by making me fall forward.
And then I was the one caught up in a full body sweep by her when she took advantage of my slackened hold. I felt a gasp escaping my lips when I landed on the mat, a small cough tickling my throat as I shifted in place.
"Point! Morizako!" Morika once again cheered.
"Agh! That was a bad call…" I grumbled while standing to my feet.
"They're even now?!"
"This is intense!"
"So this next one decides who wins, right? It's all over then!"
"We should be rooting for her, right?"
"Yeah, but I kinda wanna root for Hyoudou. Do you see him?"
"Fuck that, he's a perv! Kick his ass!"
"You okay to go?" Morizako chuckled when I raised my arms. "Then let's do this!"
Anne eyed the two of us curiously before nodding and raising her hand. "Right, then…go!"
The blonde's hand came down once again, and I was quickly stalking towards the tall girl. The next few moments were nothing short of chaos.
I started by throwing several quick jabs before firing a lead hook to break her guard. Morizako managed to duck past most of my jabs, but ate the hook before countering with a flurry of blows of her own. I was forced to weather most of the punches before having to lean back to dodge another spin kick.
I countered with some light jabs before once again raising my arms to guard when she began raining blows down. Then she threw a quick snap kick that I batted away offhandedly and duck under.
That was my first mistake. When I ducked beneath her kick, she lunged forward and slammed a fist into my stomach, barely missing my liver by an inch. I still felt the force, and I was knocked back-not down, thankfully, but I felt my breathing coming out in ragged gasps. I raised my arms to keep guarding, weaving through the next set of strikes as best as I could.
Right when she readied another kick, I threw a check-hook, slamming my left fist into the side of her head and knocking her aside-though not down, unfortunately. I followed this up with another push kick, keeping her a good few feet away to give myself some space.
When I made a small lunging feint, I made my second mistake. My feint went a bit wide, and Morizako quickly capitalized by pushing me back with a kick before lunging forward herself and slamming several strikes towards my upper body.
Right when I guarded against most of her strikes and break away, she surprised me by throwing a weird shovel hook, hitting me with an odd-angled uppercut that slammed into my face. I'd barely backed away before she was throwing another oddly timed flurry of blows straight to my upper body before knocking me down with a roundhouse kick.
"Point! Morizako!" the weasel girl cried out triumphantly.
Most of the crowd was going wild at this. Plenty of the girls were jeering and laughing at my misfortune-not that I didn't expect that, so it wasn't too bad. But there were some guys were jeering and laughing, saying things along the lines of how I 'got what's coming to him' or something along those lines.
I shrugged and rose to my feet, clutching my head tiredly.
"Hyoudou-san? Are you alright?"
I turned to Anne with a blithe expression. "Yeah, I'm fine. No need to worry. I've had way worse than that!" I lifted a tuft of hair to show off my scar before letting it drop. "I just need time to catch my breath."
The blonde looked me up, and down, giving a small but pleased hum. "Feel free to take all the time you need, Hyoudou-san…"
I would have smirked at the fact that one of the so-called 'Great Onee-samas' was eyeing me up if I didn't have other things on my mind. Earlier, when she looked at me and her eye turned red, I'd heard it.
If that was my plus one, it…sounded so much like…
"Nah…nah, it can't be," I muttered worriedly, trying to gaslight myself. "Just going back to a bad memory. Or maybe it's some bad juju forcing it back up."
My main suspect was, of course, Anne the gorgeous foreigner. Whatever she was, whatever she could do, it was causing that. I should be avoiding her, I should just ignore any potential encounters with her.
"Heh! That wasn't half-bad, man!" I heard Morizako cheering from the other side of the makeshift ring. "Too bad you lost. Would've been fun to go a few more rounds!"
"...Che! Yeah, it would have," I smirked while pointing my gloved hand at her. "Next time, I'm gonna win!"
The tall girl blinked. "E-Eh?! What do ya mean 'next time'?!"
"I mean the next time I challenge you!" I said cheerfully as I turned away and walked back to the changing rooms. "You think I'm just gonna give up like that? Nah~! Next time, I'm gonna beat you!"
"E-EH?!"
"Damn it! Nii-san, why?!" I heard Issei cry out.
…Maybe this was a bad decision. But I honestly didn't care, even if it bit me in the ass. I was already waiting for a crazy powerful yokai to kill me anyway.
Might as well have fun before I go, right?
"...That was interesting," Andora mused to herself as she leaned back in her seat. "I wish he hadn't left so soon. I would've loved to extend an invitation on principle!"
"Hah! Well, he lost, so thems the breaks!" Morika chuckled next to her. "Plus, we don't need any pervs in the club. Kami knows he'd just peep on us while we're changing."
Andora eyed the Itachi curiously. The girl had come from Kanto months ago with Kinuko, but unlike the taller girl, the weasel yokai had more trouble entering her newer life as a student. As a result, the Itachi was reckless, disrespectful to many other students and even some teachers, and acted all around unpleasant.
The Paimon heiress knew why, of course-the poor girl had told her, after all. But she was starting to think that she should ask Kinuko to help set her straight. Perhaps the weasel yokai would listen to her friends.
The train of thought shifted when Andora replayed the fight in her head. Of course, certain moments stood out-she'd be lying if she didn't say she was enjoying the view Hyoudou had given her. But the issue was less with his outfit and more with his fighting style.
"I thought he was a mixed martial artist?" the disguised albino mused.
"E-Eh? What was that, Andora-sama?" Morika balked.
"Hyoudou. I read over his files, and I could've sworn he trained at an MMA gym," Andora hummed. "Which is why I was confused that he was only using Muay Thai. It doesn't really make sense."
"Ah? Wait, really? Why were you reading over his files?"
"...Rias is planning on recruiting at least one Sacred Gear user. If she leaves any of the others alone, Sona and I can extend an offer to them," the Paimon heiress tilted her head thoughtfully. "Both of the Hyoudou twins have Sacred Gears. Isashi is…intriguing enough that I'd want to pursue him. Not just for his sacred gear, but for his experience in combat."
"Ah, so you're wondering what his deal was?" the weasel girl chuckled. "Heh! I've got no idea! I guess he wasn't as confident with his normal style, so he limited himself. Shame, he might've beaten Kinuko if he wasn't doing that~!"
Andora narrowed her unhidden eye in suspicion. "Yes, it is a shame. I suppose it can't be helped."
"Yup! W-Well, I've gotta go and sort out some more idiots, ya dig?" the Itachi said quickly while standing to her feet. "Gotta make sure we keep our space exclusive to just our girls!"
The disguised albino hummed. "Yes, of course. And don't forget about later. Sona and Rias might actually be interested this time, so get the girls ready."
"Ah, sure thing, Andora-sama!" the weasel girl said cheerfully.
When the girl left, the devil frowned. "She's hiding something from me."
"Eh, probably," Kinuko said while taking the Itachi's former seat. "But I wouldn't read too much into it. Morika can be relied on-it's how I'm here, right?"
Andora nodded. "I'm glad for that. The two of you were so…" the devil heiress swallowed nervously as she remembered the state she found the two in. "Still, I feel like I need to remind her of some ground rules. She's supposed to be assimilating and hiding."
The taller girl flinched at that. "I'll see if I can talk to her. She's not that reckless. She's just trying to work hard. I think she doesn't wanna be thrown away again…"
The Paimon heiress nodded at that before tilting her head. "So, what did you think? Of Hyoudou, that is?"
"...He could've beaten me," Kinuko said quietly. "I swear, there were multiple points in those last two rounds where he could've knocked me flat. You really want him with us?"
"If Rias doesn't make a decision, I will try to snap him up. I'll give her a 'sorry not sorry' for it," the disguised albino chuckled. "But he's impressed me enough that I'm seriously considering it. More than that…you saw it too, right?"
"I felt it, boss!" the taller girl whispered nervously. "I felt like a terrible beast was in front of me, and it was stirring in its sleep. And if I didn't get away, it'd crush me. Not out of anger or to see what would happen…it'd crush me like a bug, and I just happened to be there annoying it."
"Ironic, considering the circumstances," Andora chuckled slightly. "But yes, I felt it as well. When his eyes glowed, I knew what I was looking at…or at least, I had a good hunch."
The Paimon heiress hummed to herself when she remembered it. The sound of the ocean waves crashing echoed in the back of her head, the water splitting apart as something massive breached the surface. The chilling sound that, even though she could barely hear it, shook her soul.
"A sea creature, huh?" the disguised albino smirked. "I think I'll be keeping a close eye on him…"
Kinuko snorted. "You just wanna see him without his shirt again!"
"...N-No!" the devil said quietly while fighting back a blush. "That's totally not the reason!"
The taller girl smiled at her King teasingly. "Sure boss! I believe ya~!"
"S-Shush!"
So, there were a bunch of scenes that I'd planned, but I didn't put in. For example, the quartet were supposed to take part in the Cooking Club's entry test, and only Issei and Isashi pass while Matsuda and Motohama failed for literally burning water-that's basically happened 'offscreen', but they just chose not to join the Cooking Club. I scrapped the scene, along with a scene for the Karaoke Club and Swimming Team each, with the latter being too long and not interesting enough for me to include it, and the former I didn't think was funny enough (which is saying a lot, because I made Issei sing the Macarena in that scene).
The Robotics Club might not seem important, but they'll be fairly prominent. For starters, there's Miki Saegusa's AU doppelganger (Miyune, she looks like Yumeko from Kakegurui, but with Tareme eyes and way less Yandere looks), who's a possible haremette-if anything, she'll be able to sense Godzilla. But the Robotics Club as a whole also factors into Protagonist's/Kazuto's backstory-I might only make that a SB exclusive, since it involves a bunch of original content.
Same thing going on with the Cosplay Club, they'll be important for similar reasons. Also, Hase isn't an OC, she's the girl Matsuda canonically gets with, hence why she tried to confront him.
'Bee' is a call forward for some things, it doesn't seem like anybody on SB got it, but it's important. If anybody cobbles onto it, I'll just state it flat out, but I'd prefer to keep the mystery behind it.
The only club that is a joke is the Conspiracy Theory Club, and a bunch of the stuff I put in that section were from when I was shooting shit in a discord call. A bit of it is something that I'm sure somebody was saying while tripping, and the rest is either jokes about DxD's plot, or hints to the fic's plot.
Now then, onto the reviews.
Riverflow2020: I'm gonna be honest, your last reviews made me think about how I was doing the reason MC becomes a devil, and I realized I needed to rework it a bit-or at least, the reasons why, because again, I've still planned it, and I'm not sure I wanna stray away. In this interlude chapter I planned, I was gonna state the reasons, but I actually went back to the drawing board for that to maybe at least fix it. I'm not sure whether it'll satisfy everybody, but when I started remaking it I realized what I wanted to do. As for your suggestion for finding a translated version of the LN...yeah, that worked, huh? Neat, more source material~!
Saurian96: I've got plans for Matsuda and Motohama, or at least how they'll turn out. Don't worry, they'll be fine~! I mean...maybe not exactly, but they'll be alive. As for Isashi, he's on a one-way path towards the plot, simply because he can't not fight somebody. The only good thing coming out of that is that he'll at least learn his pickup lines weren't entirely useless.
Zet4: The idea is that he's a snarky, fight-loving pervert on the outside, but sooner rather than later, he'll be hit hard with Cerberus Syndrome courtesy of the Big G-he's stepfording a whole lot rn, is what the general gist of it is. I'm probably gonna step up his snark and battle-hunger a bit, since I haven't expressed that well, though it is pretty early in the fic, so I've got time. For the Devil thing...okay, I'm gonna say something that is gonna be mindblowing, and you better sit down and listen.
-As a forward, Devils are pretty prevalent in DxD, the series focuses on them first, and everything else comes second. I'm gonna try to show off a lot of different portions of Japanese mythology, and even some others, but only because the former is fairly important to the fic. But as a DxD fic, as per the standards of the original source material, it's gonna be fairly devil-centric.
-Now, onto what I'm gonna tell you. Devils are not inheritenly evil, and I keep seeing constant amounts of fics that do that. And you know what I found out, per comments on Space Battles? A lot of DxD fanfic writers, and even some readers (I've seen them in my reviews), are literally Euclid. Think about it? They wanna steal the Boosted Gear from Issei, they think that Devils are inherently evil and subsist off of sin, they totally simp for descendants of Lucifer because 'oW, tHe EdGe~!', and (this one is the kicker here that really hits home) they wanna go after married or spoken for women, and cuck their significant others. Literally just Euclid. I found this out from somebody on Space Battles, it has lived rent free in my head since early May, and I can never unsee this knowledge, and now, neither can any of you. Enjoy~!
Some1call4MR-E: I'm gonna be honest, I'm probably gonna write Rias as a weeb with a serious case of closet horny. The whole 'spoiled rich girl' is something that other people see-hence her entire motivation was not being seen as 'Heiress of Gremory' or 'spoiled rich girl', and being seen as Rias. Only Issei is the one who can look past that and see a horny weeb, and still love her for being a horny weeb. Now, onto some other points-I'm basically gonna have MC figure out how broken the Boosted Gear is. One example I read on Reddit basically said that Issei could transfer boosts to a ball to boost its speed, and after four mins of boosting it would be travelling faster than light. That's not even getting into the fact that, if Issei was smart, he could boost concepts, I.E he could literally give himself a functional 'XP multiplier', or a way to boost the development of his skills. He literally has a cheat item attached to his soul and strapped to his arm. Isashi will only be as broken because Godzilla, by his very nature, is broken as his default.
For anybody whose interested, you can check out my P a treon. Unfortunately, FF. Net doesn't do the links well, so you'll have to close the spaces below/rewrite it slightly on your browser.
P a treon. com(slash) Locksoli
As always, please leave any thoughts, questions, and constructive criticism in your reviews. And thank you for reading.
