Chapter 15 : Friendly bat-people.
Days came and went after Joyeuse got included into our daily sparring sessions, the week quickly ending without fanfare as the Devils kept their distances from me.
I managed to complete my Shave training on Saturday, finally getting a hang of the 'trick' to it, only to realize that Senketsu was throwing off my tempo during my spar with Ddraig that day. Turns out? Suddenly getting way stronger when pumped full of Enhancement Magic does make your movement technique janky as hell when you're not used to it. As the tree I literally crashed through can attest to it!
At least it made Ddraig laugh, silver linings and all that.
In a fit of bruised ego, I then spent the entirety of Sunday getting the hang of Shave while boosted up the wazoo by my sentient uniform, because by this point I was done with this bullshit and wanted to get back to the good part of my training - i.e. Ddraig and I beating on each other with a smile on our respective faces.
… I may be turning into a battle-junkie myself and I don't really know how to deal with that.
After finally succeeding on mastering my two different kinds of Shave and earning myself a very begrudging congratulation from a miffed - on physics' account after those got properly bent over in multiple fun ways - Red Plushie Emperor, I was understandably in a stellar mood when the new week rolled by, even if I was already dreading the Razor training that would happen later in the evening.
Messing up the tempo of my stomps while hovering mid-air as I attempted to combine Shave and Moonwalk together in a cohesive movement technique sounded the very opposite of fun and entertaining, if you asked me.
So imagine my surprise when I ended up asspulling it on the very first try for some god forsaken reason!
"MA MA MA MA!" I laugh aloud like a cracked hyena while dashing - in the air! - after Ddraig, pulling my arm back as I ready a swing.
Up, down, to the right, to the left. The only reason I can even follow my own movements, however erratic they are, is entirely because I'm leaning almost exclusively on my Observation to filter through the unnecessary data as the surroundings blurs all around me, up being down one moment, then left the next.
I kind of get why the technique itself is named Razor, now. I don't really 'move' through the air conventionally, no, I cut through it like a jagged blade with no rhymes or reasons in the most unpredictable way possible in the Red Plushie Emperor's pursuit.
Said Welsh Dragon has been very vocal about how my latest insanity was absolute bullshit and how it made me look like a 'whelp drunk on Dragonwhine for the first time', yet-
Bottle-green button-eyes widen as I catch the world's deadliest plushie off guard, my mind singing in green, my blade lashing out.
-for all his critics, simply spamming Razor like a toddler on a sugar high has been surprisingly effective in throwing Ddraig's balance off so far.
"Taste my burn, you curr!" Joyeuse happily bellows, a wave of bright orange flame spilling out of her edge, washing over my sparring partner in spite of him having dodged the 'true hit' by the narrowest of margins.
"MA MA MA MA!" I cackle like a witch, once more.
"THIS IS BULLSHIT! THIS HAS TO BE CHEATING!" The Welsh Dragon squeak-growls while flying out of the inferno, a scowl firmly planted on his muzzle.
"IS NOT!" I roar back enthusiastically while zigzagging on his tail - eh - "YOU'RE JUST NOT TRYING HARD ENOUGH!"
"Oh, really?" Ddraig's eyes narrow as he looks over his shoulder, and I feel my grin falter a little as he corkscrew under another swing, trailing actinic lights in its wake.
My mind screams black at me, and my head snaps downward, only for my eyes to land on the grinning plushie, his cheeks puffed up as he flies under me.
"[PENETRATE]!"
"FILS DE-"MOTHER-
The next thing I know, I am swallowed by a bright, white flash.
Needless to say, me attaining three-dimensional mobility only made our spars more spirited afterward, to the enjoyment of mostly everyone involved.
I mean, Ddraig was ecstatic to have some true, old-fashioned aerial battle, Joyeuse was happy no matter what we did, and I personally enjoyed it. Only Senketsu remained on guard at all times and apparently didn't quite enjoy the fact that the Red Plushie Emperor was starting to pull the big guns out 'now that I could take it, like a true Dragon can', whatever that meant.
Like that, two other days passed, until a call on Kuoh High's speakers brought a swift end to my idle routine.
"Linlin Marie-Charrotte, could you come to the Student Council at your earliest convenience? Thank you in advance." The call through the speakers echoes through corridors and classes both, pulling me out of my daydream as the Math teacher drones on about trigonometry.
I pause, putting my pen down as I register the words, mentally snickering over the fact that my name is hell for the Japanese and their ability to confuse 'L' and 'R' - the whole reason why my two friends still call me by my surname - and that the Gift of Tongues apparently don't entirely cure the locally-sourced reincarnated Devils from that particular ailment.
Or maybe they do it to keep the act? Who knows.
"Ano… Linlin-san?" Momo hesitantly asks from the seat next to me, a finger on her cheek and her head tilted, "Do you know what this is?"
"Non."No. I answer while shaking my head in the negative, storing my school's supplies and putting them away in my backpack, giving a very minute nod to Ddraig to tell him I'm bringing him with me, "But I'm sure it's nothing bad."
"Ano…" The brunette trails off.
"Relax, Momo-chan." Yuki interjects from behind her friend, one hand propping her head while her fingers dance across her phone, "Linlin-san will be fine."
"If you say so…" Momo not-quite sulks.
I giggle, before standing up while discreetly telling the duo I'll be back, my backpack slung over one my shoulder.
Though it's pretty telling that the Math teacher doesn't bat an eye when I politely excuse myself out of the classroom to make my way toward Sona's lair.
It doesn't take long before I face the door to the StuCo, knocking three short beats on it.
A muffled 'enter' gets heard, and I open the door without the need for more prompting-
-only to get greeted by a put-upon looking Sona who's visibly nursing a headache if the fact she's rubbing her temples is any indication.
So of course I'm going to do everything I can to worsen her day!
"You wanted to see me, Sona-chan?" I 'pepilly' asks with the brightest smile I can manage firmly planted on my face.
Her eyebrow twitches, and I mentally pat myself on the back for a job well started.
"I'm already regretting agreeing with this." She mumbles under her breath while pinching the bridge of her nose, "You need to come with me. Some… Newcomers just arrived in town, and you need to be introduced to them. They should already be waiting for us at the ORC, with the rest of Rias and I's peerages."
I 'perk up' while mentally going over who exactly I'd need to be introduced to.
"Oh?" I probe even as the Sitri heiress makes her way toward the door, gesturing for me to follow in her wake, "Nouveaux arrivants?Newcomers? What are they like?"
"They are-"
"Are they also like you? Friendly bat-people?" I cut her off, obnoxiously stepping into her personal space.
"No." She answers emphatically while throwing me a glare as she steps to the side, "Quite the opposite, in fact-"
"Oh! Are they like me, then?! Fellow Magical Girls!" I gush, clapping my hands excitedly in front of myself like a child who has been told Christmas has come early, "I just knew I wasn't the only one!"
"No!" She barks out, her glare turning harsher, "Will you stop interrupting me already?"
So I react in the only appropriate way possible to make her the most uncomfortable.
I start tearing up.
"But- But-" I 'mumble', big fat tears in the corner of my eyes.
She takes in my wobbly lip and visibly saddened expression before exhaling harshly with her eyes closed as we resume our walk, with me trailing 'anxiously' behind her.
"... I apologize for my outburst." She grits out and it audibly costs her, "The day has been stressful so far with this unscheduled arrival and the complications it brought."
"Awww, I forgive you, Sona-chan!" My outward mood makes a one-eighty even as I start getting a better picture of the situation right as we step outside in the direction of the old school building.
"But you still haven't told me who those newcomers are!" I get our talks back on track.
The dark haired girl glances at me through the corner of her eyes, visibly pondering how she could explain the situation to what she thinks is a half-crazed human with way too much power on her hands.
"They are… Exorcists." She admits through pursed lips.
"Oh!" I clap my hands while doing a couple of bunny hops alongside her, "Like the baddies I beat two weeks ago? Are we sure they don't belong to the Forces of Evul? Those were especially nasty!"
I catch the heiress cringe a little at my Magical Girl act and I inwardly snicker even as I finally got the confirmation I needed.
"No, they are nothing alike." Sona elaborates while mechanically hiking up her glasses, a tick I noticed she tends to do each time she's going to start an explanation, "The one you've… beat were rogue exorcists, excommunicated from the Church, and honestly quite subpar. The two you are about to meet are still members of the Church, with the support that it entails and the training to match with being sent here on a two-woman team on a mission in a foreign country."
I hum in the back of my throat consideringly as we finally reach the Occult Research Club's building.
"... So you're certain they're not baddies?" I insist, earning for myself another eyebrow twitch, "And how do they usually interact with you bat-people?"
"In this case, I am tentatively certain we aren't in conflict." She answers after a beat, opening the door for us to step further in the building, the sounds of distant voices - quite loud, I may add - already reaching us as we climb the stairs in the direction of the main room, "As for our relationships-"
Suddenly, the door a few meters in front of us flies open, a fuming and livid Kiba Yuuto stomping out of the room with murder in his eyes, the blonde Knight not even acknowledging our presence as he rapidly walks down the stairs two steps at a time.
"Issei-kun! How could you!" A rather shrill voice screeches, making Sona and I wince in concert.
The Sitri heiress gives me an exasperated look.
"-I'd say they're usually not that great." She admits a bit sheepishly as we cross the threshold and land amid what I can only call a shitshow.
The term standoff instantly comes to my mind as I lay eyes on the scene in front of me.
The two peerages are obviously here, either standing or seated in a loose half-circle to face who can only be Irina Shidou and Xenovia Quarta, easily recognizable for me by their… let's say avant-garde outfits, as well as their hair colors and styles.
I mean, I could always be wrong about the twin tailed chestnut haired girl's identity, but I'm fairly confident that the bluette with a lone green streak of hair and her rather impressive resting bitch face is Xenovia.
Though I do feel like frowning about two details in particular even as Rias apparently tries her best to cool everyone's temper after her Knight 'theatrical' exit.
One, Irina is looking striken as she stares in horror at Issei, which is making the Pawn incredibly uncomfortable.
Two, Asia Argento is in the room, huddled nearby said Pawn, appearing to be both quite lost as to what is happening - which would track since I don't think her Japanese is good enough to follow what everyone is saying as of this moment - and even more uncomfortable than Issei if that is even possible.
"And you, witch!" Xenovia apparently takes my inner musings as her cue to whirl on the poor nun, "Have you anything to say for yourself?"
… Which fails to trigger a reaction besides some confused blinking from the blonde, since she doesn't pan one lick of the prickly exorcists' diatribe.
What it does, though, is making me rather determinate in throwing a wrench in this whole situation-
A squeaky, amused chuckles echo from behind me, as the Red Plushie Emperor apparently finds the show to his liking, slithering out of my backpack to better climb on my shoulders.
"Ah, bats and choir-boys. Always a treat to see you get into each other's faces for the silliest purposes." The Welsh Dragon makes his opinion very clearly known as he leans his reptilian head on his forelimbs while curled around the back of my neck.
-but if the dragon in the room wants to take the initiative by throwing everyone off their rhythms, who am I to say no, really?
My mood instantly perks up as I take the role Ddraig inadvertently gave me.
"Allons, allons,Now, now, that's not very nice to say those kinds of things, Ddraig-chu!" I 'chide' him 'sternly' as everyone besides Sona suddenly whirl on us after the world's deadliest plushie made his opinion very publicly known.
His only answer is to give me a lazy, half-lidded stare, before snorting contemptuously while looking away.
"The skies are vast, the sun warms my scales, and the bats and dove-fanatics can't stand each other. Everything is as it should be." He drawls while pointedly looking at his claws in disinterest.
A pause.
"What is the meaning of this?" Xenovia growls, taking a couple steps in my direction, Sona having face-palmed at some point and groaning under her breath, begging for 'Lucifer to give her strength' if I got her mumbles right, "Another heretic?!"
"Moi?Me? No, no, I'm just a humble Magical Girl, fighting against the Forces of Evul for the freedom of all!" I passionately declare, a hand on my chest and another pointed skyward.
I can feel the cringe threatening to overtake me, but it is severely dampened by the schadenfreude I feel at watching the gamut of confused-cum-bewildered expressions directed my way.
And I have to admit that those of the two exorcists take the cake!
Both of them seemingly cannot compute, their eyes darting toward the Devils in the room to see if this is a long con or something along those lines.
It is, but the Devils sure as hell - eh - ain't responsible for it.
"Nonsense!" Xenovia eventually settles on not taking me on my word, which I would admittedly command her upon if her hand wasn't clutching the pommel of the still sheathed Excalibur Destruction over her shoulder, "Quiet your familiar, witch! Or I'll do it myself!"
This time, my eyebrow twitches.
I keep my bright smile firmly in place on my face, even as I suddenly Shave right into her face-
-one hand clamping around the wrist reaching for her Holy Sword, while the other does the same for her free arm.
A rush of air follows my abrupt motion, as well as a muted 'crack' - oops, put a tad too much force here, Rias will have to fix the parquet - and a stream of curses and startled yelps echoes in the surroundings.
I pay it no mind.
What I do, though, is completely stop the bint from moving her arms, even as she struggles against my grip.
For all that she's a physical powerhouse, I'm stronger by far.
"Linlin-san!" Rias calls, imploringly.
I keep smiling sweetly toward the red-in-the-face exorcist.
"I'd suggest watching your tone, exorcist." I tell her, politely, "I don't take kindly to people speaking badly of my partner."
The bluette snarls.
Ddraig chuckles.
Needless to say, this meeting is off to a great start!
[AN: Nothing much to say beyond that writing Xenovia and Irina pre-'God is ded' mindbreak is a fucking chore. I can't really stand zealots.
Hope you enjoy, xoxo!]