Part 1
"Good morning, Aya-chan"
"Good morning mas- Tatseyo-san!"
I smile at Aya-chan's reaction, guess it will take a while untill she can address me normally by the name
"I'm making breakfast, want some?"
I ask showing her the rice and toasts I've prepared
"Yes! Thank you"
Aya-chan steps into the kitchen, pulling one of the chairs to sit down
"Today I'm going to take the papers to the administration and talk about your situation with Rias-senpai"
"Who is Rias?"
Aya asks as she takes a bite on a toast
"She and Sona Sitri-kaichou are kinda like the 'leaders' of the school, to everyone else they are just students, but just like Liliana-san, they are actually pure devils with their own teams. Kuoh academy was founded by their families and they are the 'de facto' shot-callers in there, if you are going to enroll, their permission is more important than the administration's"
Aya stops eating and looks at me with eyes filled with unease
"Wow, they sound important... do you think they'll let me in?"
Seeing the nervous expression on her face, I reach my hand to hers and hold it
"Don't worry, they are nice people"
She looks surprised at my sudden action, but returns the gesture and squeezes my hand back
"Thank you... Tatseyo-san"
I let her hand go and we continue eating, I've been thinking about taking Aya-chan directly to them so she could explain her story to Sona and Rias, after all, everyone in their peerages seems to have a sad story somehow, so I think they would have sympathy to her and be unable to refuse. But I decided against it, having Aya-chan talk in front of strangers about everything she's been through seems like a very cruel thing to do
"Is it good?"
I ask Aya-chan and she nods while swallowing her rice
"So good! It's mild and bland, just like the food that father cooked!"
I feel a rock falling on my head at the energetic, cheerful and at the same time offensive words of the little youkai girl
"I-I see... well, as long as you like it..."
She doesn't seem to have said it sarcastically as she takes another bite with a happy expression on her face, so my food tastes like shrine food, huh?
We continue having breakfast, I take this opportunity to explain to Aya-chan what I am.
"Esper?"
She asks and I nod
"Yes, you see, we..."
I explain to her about me, my family and our powers as well as what we do, Aya becomes impressed by our duty
After finishing it, I get ready to go to school and say goodbye to Aya before leaving
"Tatseyo-san! Wait!"
"Huh? What is it?"
Aya comes to me in a hurry with a box wrapped in a sheet
"You forgot your lunch!"
"Ah, thanks"
With all of these things happening around me I almost forgot to take my lunch box with me
I take it from Aya-chan, but I notice that it's different from the one I usually carry, the bundle is more neatly arranged and it seems to be heavier than usual
"Did you do something to it? "
I ask while analyzing the pretty arrangement wrapping the box
Aya-chan nods
"Y-yes, I wanted to do something for you too so I cooked some more food and wrapped it again, I hope you don't mind"
"Not all, thank you"
I say as I pet her head, Aya smiles and her tail wiggles, she seems to really enjoy when I do this, does it have something to do with her being a dog youkai?
"Alright, I'll see you in a few hours then, you stay here and protect the house, okay? If anything happens, you have my phone number"
As a Koma Inu, I think she'll be comfortable guarding the house, it's not like I'll be away for long anyway, but just to make sure I've left my cellphone number with her and of course the house still has seals on it, Aya is a youkai that guards sacred places, so she's not affected by it.
"Goodbye, Tatseyo-san!"
She waves me goodbye and I walk out of the door, there's something incredibly refreshing about having a cute girl seeing you off! I didn't even payed attention to the stares and comments I receive from the other students that I meet on the way to school!
The first thing I do after arriving at Kuoh Academy is look for Rias and her servants, they usually walk together, well, it's not like they are hard to find anyway...
"""'"Ohhhh"""""
Said and done, not much longer after thinking about it, the expressions of awe from the students tell me exactly where to find that waving crimson hair and the entourage of devils that follows behind it.
"Rias-senpai, everyone, good morning!"
I greet the ORC members, the first time I saw them it was only Kiba, Issei and Rias walking together, but now it seems that they are all here. Do they all live in the same street or something?
"Kageyama-kun, good morning"
The red-haired girl greets me and her servants look at me with curiosity on their eyes, probably wondering why I approached them
I can also hear faint voices from afar
(Eh? What is Kageyama doing with Rias-senpai, Akeno-san and the others?)
I twitch my eyebrows in anger, here we go again...
(Does he have a problem with her?)
(I heard he already had a beef with Xenovia, maybe he's going after the members of the ORC?)
What?! Did the rumour spread this far already?
(Oh no! Well, I wouldn't mind if Hyoudou got hurt though...)
What's up with that!?
I give a sigh and ask her quickly before more rumours are born from this situation
"I need to talk to you and Sona-kaichou about a serious thing that happened yesterday, it has to do with the Khaos Brigade, can I meet you at the Student Council on lunchtime?"
Rias and her servants expressions change to a serious one upon hearing Khaos Brigade's name
"Did something bad happened to Liliana-san and the others?"
I shake my head
"No, but I'm going to need your help to untangle a problem they've caused, but it's a bit complicated, so I'll explain everything there"
Rias tilts her head in confusion, but nods afterwards
"Understood, we'll be waiting there then"
"Thanks, see you later"
I wave goodbye to the ORC members and go to classroom
After this, I meet with my trio of friends, sit down and class goes on as normal, when lunchtime arrives however, I say that I will not be able to eat with them.
"Eh? Why not?"
Kanae asks surprised
I bow my head slightly
"Sorry, but I really need to talk with Sona-kaichou in the student council, there is something I need to solve with the school"
The trio wides their eyes and Koji approaches me
"Ta-Tatseyo... did something happened?"
Koji asks with a concerned voice
Eizo then approaches and takes one of my hands
"What have you done?!"
Kanae rushes too and takes my other hand
"If you are in trouble you can tell us!"
All the students that are still in the room are looking at us, what are you guys doing!
"I haven't done anything! It's just that... damnit, come over here!"
I sign for them to follow me and we walk out of the classroom, after we are out of ear range I say in a low voice
"Look, a relative of mine is coming to Kuoh Academy, so I have to sort things out for her, that's why I need to speak with Sona-kaichou, that's all!"
After I explain it to them, the concerned looks on their faces turns to curiosity
"Eh? You have a relative around your age, Tatseyo?"
"Who is it?"
I scratch the back of my head, I ended up saying that Aya-chan is my relative, well, that was the original plan anyway
"She is a... cousin, third degree stuff, you know?"
I made it all up on the spot, there's no way I can say she's directly related to me, no one would buy it
"She? you mean it's a girl?!"
Kanae says in a stunned expression
"Yeah, she's living with me now and..."
I try to keep talking, but they seem absorbed in their own thoughts
"Tatseyo's girl relative... scary..."
"Will it be one of those deliquent looking girls?"
"If she looks like him it will be a problem..."
I'm right here you know!
"Shut up! She doesn't look like me at all, you guys are going to like her"
I slap my hand against my face
"Oh, so that means she's cute?"
Eizo asks
I spread my fingers on the hand covering my face and leave only my eyes staring directly at him
"What did you said?"
He jumps back at the very moment I look at him, noticing the big mistake he did
"N-not that I would hit on her or anything... she's your relative after all... hehehe"
"Anyway..."
I say turning my back to leave
"Please don't tell anyone about it, I don't want any rumours going around about her before she even arrives"
"O-okay! We won't tell anyone, good luck with Sona-kaichou"
Kanae says and I wave them goodbye
"Thanks, see ya"
I depart from my friends towards the Student Council room
When I arrive, Rias, Akeno, Issei, Kiba, Xenovia, Asia, Irina, Hanakai, Sona and Shinra were waiting for me inside the neatly arranged room
"Huh? The others didn't came?"
Sona nods her head
"They couldn't be here, but we'll pass the information to them, so..."
She moves her hand towards a chair in the room as a sign for me to sit down
"What you wanted to talk to us?"
"Well, it's complicated, let me start from the beginning"
I explain the things that happened the other night, about the stray demon, the youkais he had kidnapped and Aya's current situation, at the end of it, all of them have surprised and angered expressions
"Those assholes..."
"To think they would do something like this..."
The reactions I get from them after explaining what happened are all the same I had, disgust with the Khaos Brigade.
"That's why I'm keeping guard of Aya-chan for now and I think she would be safer if she attends the same school as me."
Rias nods
"I understand, if she has been targeted by the Khaos Brigade, then this is a good place to hide her"
"Yes, I'll deliver this form to the school's administration so she can start attending"
Sona then reaches her hand out
"Give it to me"
"Uhm? But I have to..."
"Leave it to me, if you want, Aya can start to attend school right away"
Wow, so fast!
"Re-really? Thank you very much!"
Rias smiles
"You're welcome, but in exchange would you mind introducing us to Aya-chan?"
"Are you curious about her Buchou?"
Akeno-san asks
"Yes, I've already read about Koma Inus before but I've never seem one personally, I really would like to see one"
"I'm curious too, when I worked at the church I never got the chance to meet one"
Even Xenovia seems to be looking forward to meeting her, hey, Aya-chan it seems you are already popular even though you never even went to school.
"Koma Inus are protectors of sacred places after all, as devils, it's difficult to have contact with them..."
Sona says this, makes sense, just like they have good relations with espers and exorcists, they must have a bad relationship with devils.
"I see, but that won't be a problem, Aya-chan doesn't care about things like that... actually, I wonder if you all could help her in getting used to school? She never attented one before, so I'm afraid she might have problem adjusting to it"
Sona and Rias nod their heads
"Don't worry, we in the Student Council will do our best to help her get by"
"The ORC will also help, so be at ease"
I breath relieved
"Ah, thank you very much, I've never taken care of anyone in my entire life so I'm worried about what can happen to her"
"Don't worry, we'll do our best to help her"
Issei answers me.
"Thanks, I'll make sure to introduce Aya-chan to all of you"
The people in the ORC and SC are really nice, I feel bad about the way I acted with them when we first met.
The food that Aya-chan prepared was great, she really has a way with cooking. I wonder if it would be too much if I asked her to cook for us
The rest of the day goes by as usual, except for the casual questions I get from my trio of friends about Aya-chan, frankly, I really hope they don't talk about this with anyone...
Part 2
"Aya-chan, I'm home"
I say as I open the door
...
But I don't hear anything
Did something happen?
"Aya-chan?"
I'm starting to get worried, but suddenly a loud yell makes me jump
"You picked the wrong house, fool!"
"What the hell?!"
The green haired girl comes out by suprise swinging a broom at me, I put my arms forward in a position to defend myself
"Aya, it's me! Chill, chill!"
Her eyes wide in surprise and she drops the broom on the floor
"Ah, Tatseyo-san? I'm sorry!"
"What was that for?"
I ask pointing at the broom with my heart still jumping at the sudden scare, Aya puts her hands together in an apologetic gesture
"I'm so sorry! I'm not used to be on guard duty so I was nervous when I heard the door opening and I jumped at you right away, sorry!"
Aya-chan is still a child, so it's no surprise that the protection of whatever temple she lived in wasn't trusted to her
I pat her shoulder
"No, it's okay, I'm sorry for putting such a burden on you, but don't worry so much okay? I don't think somebody will try to break in, but I'm glad you were trying to protect the house"
She nods and smiles at me then picks up the broom again
"Look, look, I cleaned the house up"
Aya-chan walks with me around the house, she cleaned it really well! I'm impressed, it looks like it was done by a professional
"Woah, you really did great Aya-chan but you know you didn't had to"
She shakes her head
"It's alright, I'm a freeloader at this house and I wouldn't feel well if I didn't contributed at least this much, I'm used to cleaning at the temple, so this is nothing for me"
Compared to cleaning a temple, this house sure must be easy, still this is a very good job.
"You did great Aya-chan, thanks"
I pet her head and she looks really happy
"Liliana-ane was here earlier, she said we should head there as soon as possible"
"Oh, okay... wait, she was here? In this house?"
Aya nods
"Yes, she said there was something she needed to do, we installed it in the basement"
I'm really confused right now, what could they have installed in my house and what did she meant by "basement"? But before anything else...
"Did you took the seals off?"
Liliana shouldn't be able to walk inside my house with the seals I've put at it, she's a devil after all, but Aya answers with a "no"
"The workers that were with her weren't able to come in, so I told Liliana-ane about the seals, she asked me to take her to where they were and deactivated then herself"
She deactivated my seals herself?! She shouldn't be able to get close to my house, much less walk in and remove them! And what did she meant by "workers"?
"H-how did she do it?"
"I don't know, she shouldn't be able to do it since she's a devil, but there's more important things right now! Here, let's go to the basement!"
Aya-chan grabs my hand and starts pulling me
"But there's no basement in here, you meant the attic?"
This house has an attic that can be accesed through the corridor, but to my surprise Aya-chan shook her head
"No, Liliana-ane also brought a few men with her to build it, she said something this important should be hidden from other people"
I stay quiet for a moment trying to imagine what Liliana could possibly have instaled in my house. But before I can ask Aya, she extends her hand
"Come, we should get there now"
We walk towards my bedroom and Aya touches one of the shelves summoning a magic circle that spins untill a metalic sound can be heard, the shelf moves and reveals a secret passage.
"What the..."
Aya-chan signs for me to follow her
"Come with me"
When we walk in, Aya summons another magic circle and spins it again
"These circles are made to recognize only my magic and Tatseyo-san's aura, unless you have the code, you can't enter without being trapped"
What the fuck? What Liliana did to my house?
"I-I get it..."
I follow her untill we reach a steel door, Aya presses a button and it opens revealing an elevator, when we get in I see only two buttons with symbols I don't recognize.
"Are these demonic symbols?"
She nods
"This button means up, it's where we are, the other means down, it's where we are going"
As we start to go down I can feel demonic energy and magic trace increasing, with that I finally decide to ask
"Where are we going?"
She smiles and answers
"To the basement"
"No, I mean, what's in there?"
She thinks for a while before answering
"Hummm, there is a lot of stuff, Liliana-ane said it would be needed for our work, I think it's easier if you see it for yourself"
I nod, this doesn't make sense at all, how the fuck Liliana built this thing in less than a day?!
"O-okay"
The trip downwards takes almost a minute, she wasn't kidding about it being hidden
When the elevator stops she declares
"Ah, we arrived!"
The doors open and I walk out
"What the..."
I declare astonished, the place we arrived is a big room filled with bookshelves, tables, chairs, a couch and even a big and fancy office desk with a computer on top of it, like in the occult research club, there are several pentagrams in the walls that give off demonic energy
"Did you liked it? Liliana-ane said you would like, I loved it!"
Aya declares energeticaly, I answer while still in shock
"Ye-yes, I guess... but what is all of this?"
I say as I grab one of the books, it's written in the demonic alphabet, which I don't understand at all
"Liliana-ane said we would need it to work with them, there are many books and documents we'll need to read to work with the underworld. But leave it aside for now, come here, I helped with this one!"
Aya-chan takes me to a big pentagram at the end of the room, it has the Caim's symbol on it
"Liliana-ane said this is a teleportation circle. We can use it to go from our house to her base"
Uhm, I see, it's weird, but I can understand the praticality of it. It's not like I can keep using leaflets or Mayumi to teleport there forever.
"Nice, so how does it work?"
Aya puts herself in the middle of the circle and starts making equations appear on her hand
"It's really easy, I've never used teleportation magic before, but Liliana-ane and Mayumi-san showed me"
Aya is a Koma Inu after all, they are talented in Senjutsu, Yojutsu and other types magic, even if she's too young to use her full potential, it's not a surprise that she can do this.
"That's impressive Aya-chan, good job!"
I say petting her head, she seems to really like this
"Thank you, I'm doing my best"
Then she walks into the circle
"Give me your hand"
"Uhm?"
I give my hand to Aya and she grabs it, a few symbols appear on my palm as the pentagram starts glowing
"There, I've registered you in the circle, now we can make the jump together"
"Ah, I get it"
So it required registration? Magic is a weird thing
"Let's go now"
"Wait, right now?"
I still wanted to explore more this new room that Liliana built for us, but Aya-chan pouts
"Yes, right now! Liliana-ane will be mad if we are late!"
I give up and get in the circle with Aya
"Okay, so how does it work?"
Aya-chan answers with a smile
"It's easy, like this"
She extends her hand and a circle with several equations appears on her palm, we are surrounded by light for a moment
...
And just like that, we arrive in the same room in Liliana's casino
"Tatseyo! Aya! You came right on time!"
Energic as always, she's wearing another type of dress, white just like the other one and as usual, she has her jewelry on, ever since I met Liliana, there hasn't been a single time that I have saw her without these jewels, I know she's a high-class girl, but does she never takes them off?
"Liliana-ane!"
Aya happily greets Liliana and hugs her
"Hi Liliana, good to see you again"
"Tatseyo!"
"-!"
After hugging Aya, Liliana comes to me and hugs me too!
I can feel her breasts rubbing against my chest and since she's only a bit shorter, her hair is almost directly on my nose, it smells fantastic!
"It's so good to see you two!" - She says, I feel awkward, so I do what I think I should do and hug her back
I can feel her skin in the palm of my hand, this was a bad decission! Liliana is incredibly soft!
"Uhm... Tatseyo..."
Liliana says with an embarassed expression
"You are being a bit rough..."
"Ah! I'm sorry!"
I immediately pull my hands away from her, were I really holding her so tight?
But she starts laughing right after it
"Fufufu, just kidding!"
Liliana says with an impish smile
"Your embarassed face is so cute! Fufufu"
She was teasing me! I knew it!
"D-don't tease me like that!"
Liliana starts laughing again walking over her desk
"Sorry, sorry, fufufufu. So, what did you think of the renovations we made?"
She's talking about the new room
"Yeah, it was quite a surprise, you said we gonna need it to work with you?"
Liliana nods
"Yes, I wasn't sure about how much you know regarding our world, but after we talked I saw you know fairly little, so I brought to you those books, also, do you know the demonic alphabet?"
I shake my head
"Never got interested on learning it"
My job was just to kill demons, learning their alphabet was not necessary to it, so I never thought I would learn it one day. There are however, espers who know about it and some that even wrote books about it.
"I see, well it can't be like this then, aside from your training you'll have classes with me as well"
"I can help too!"
Aya says
Well, I'm used to study about the other world, at least this seems to be simple
"Alright, thanks you two"
But there's another thing I meant to ask
"Uhm, Liliana..."
"What is it?"
"What kind of training will we be doing?"
Liliana smiles
"Ah, I've been thinking about this Tatseyo, tell me, have you ever trained in your entire life?"
I shake my head awkwardly
"No, I mean, there were times when they did tests to measure my abilities, it happened like twice a year and they said it was increasingly steadily as I grew up, so it's been a while since I've taken one."
She nods
"And the unknown percentage, have you reached it?"
I freeze at the mention of those words, so she even knows about that
"No, father said he achieved it in times of great peril when 100% wasn't enough, but I was never caught in such a situation, there was once a conversation about deliberately putting me into a life or death situation, but father and mother denied it, they said it was too dangerous"
"The unknown percentage surely sounds scary..."
Aya-chan says and all I can do is nod
The plan was to use either Kuriko's or Saitama sensei's power to bring out the ?%, but it was deemed too dangerous, since it's almost certain that it would be even worse than father's
Liliana throws me a curious glance
"Has Kageyama-san mastered it?"
I think for a while before answering, he never said to me that he mastered it, but he did said something about it
"Well, I don't know, he said he made a... compromise with it"
She furrows her eyebrows at my words
"A compromise?"
I nod
"Yeah, he told me it didn't bothered him anymore, but I've never seen him use it again though"
Liliana thinks for a while
"Well, I don't think a compromisse with your powers is what you would need, it might be useful, but we need you to master it."
Master it?
"Are you going to throw me into some sort of dangerous 'life or death' situation so I can achieve it?"
I say it half-jokingly, but I'm sincerely worried that Liliana will answer with a yes
"No, of course not"
I breath out in relieve
"Eh, what was with that breath of relieve you just gave? You thought that I would do something like that? You think I'm some kind of monster?"
Liliana has a pouty face and hands on her hips, she's kinda cute even when mad...
I shake my head
"No, no, I'm sorry it's just that I didn't know what you would do so I got worried for a second, but I totally trust you"
Hearing my words she smirks
"Good... also, who do you think you are attempting to master the unknown percentage when you didn't even mastered the 100%?"
"Eh?!"
I yell out in surprise, so she knows even that? Right now I depend on my emotions to use 100% of my power, I must be feeling something really strong to unleash everything I have, in the fight with Gremory and Sitri I was consumed by anger so I went all out.
Liliana smiles
"Yes, I know. Before you even think about mastering the unknown percentage you must first control your 100% without relying on strong emotions anymore"
I sigh
"To think that you know so much about me... that's kinda creepy you know?"
Liliana just smirks and says
"Hehe, most boys would be happy if a girl showed so much interest on them"
This is not "interest"! It's like you are my stalker!
"I don't think this is that kind of situation..."
Ignoring my words Liliana talks with a pondering expression
"But you know... I don't know everything about you, in fact, there's a vital piece that I can't find anywhere"
I sigh and ask
"What is it?"
I expected some sort of teasing out of her, but the thing she asks throws me off and makes me unsure of how to answer
"Your skill, I can't find information about it anywhere"
Taken by surprise, I look at the floor in silence, so that's it...
"H-hey, Tatseyo? What happened?"
"Tatseyo-san? Is something the matter?"
I lift my head and answer looking away from Liliana and Aya
"I-I... I don't have a skill, I've tried to find it for a long time, but I couldn't find it, so I probably don't have one"
Liliana looks completely taken by surprise and Aya makes a confused expression
"What is a skill?"
Aya asks
"Oh, that's right, I didn't explain it to you, did I? Well, most espers have some sort of [skill], an irregular power that is particular to one esper or, in rare cases, to a bloodline. With father, it's the ability to absorb other people's emotions, with mom, is the ability to manipulate another's person's chi in order to bind them with their own life force."
(Author's note: I'm not making this up, in MP 100 and OPM these are real powers that only Mob and Tatsumaki have, all I did was create the [Skill] label)
"Wow, that's amazing!"
Aya says in a happy voice
I then scratch my head
"Yes, but... I don't have any exclusive skill."
Telekinesis, ergokinesis, clairsentience, hiding my presence, exorcism, curse laying and removal, astral projection, aura detection and manipulation, these are all powers that I have and can take to extreme levels, but these are also powers that you can find in many other espers around the world, even if it's on a much lower level. I don't have any [skill] that hasn't been found on anyone else.
Liliana seems at a loss of words over what I said
"Re-really?"
She asks astonished
"I am... sorry, I thought that you would have one at least similiar to Kageyama-san... are you really sure you don't have one?"
I shake my head
"Sorry to disapoint you, but me, my parents and teachers have been looking for it ever since I was a kid and we had no luck on that..."
I take a pause and look out of the window, I really don't like to talk about it...
Aya-chan looks at me with a concerned expression
"But is that so important? You are powerful already, I don't think Tatseyo-san needs a skill"
At her words I remember the words of Ayumu and that instructor, and a smile comes to my face along with a sigh
"You are right, Aya-chan, it never made any difference to me, I'm powerful, so what I have is more than enough"
I pet her head ans she seem happy again
"Hehe, Tatseyo-san is good as he is"
Liliana also gives a gentle smile to me, but a determined look suddenly errupts on her face soon after
"That's it, I've decided! We're going to find your skill!"
Eh? What?
"Liliana, were you even listening to me? I've been trying to find it with the help of experts for years! What do you think will change now?"
Liliana takes a step towards me and declares
"Simply, before then you didn't had me, huhuhu!"
I feel my face getting red, what's up with her?
"And what are you gonna do? A miracle or something?"
She then grabs mine and Aya's hand and starts pulling me out of the room
"No matter what, I'll help you find your skill! Right, Aya-chan?"
Aya looks confused, but soon understands the situation and gives a confident smile
"Yes!"
Liliana then turns her head and smiles at me
"Okay?"
The only thing I do is give a meek nod
"Y-yeah..."
"So let's go!"
We keep following Liliana, we take an elevator and arrive at a lab-like facility
"Where are we?"
"This is Manaki's lab, where usually conduct our researches"
So there is a facility like that here, I assume their researches must be about ESP
"And you brought us here to see if you can find my skill?"
Liliana gives a small jump forward as the automatic doors open
"Yup! Now come"
We go right behind her not only because she's leading the way, but also to not get lost, seriously, this facility is huge! There are even some equipments that I have never seen before
"Wow, what is that?"
Aya asks pointing at a complex looking machine
"I have no idea..."
I ask as I try to make sense of what that machine could possibly be for
"Please don't touch anything"
A monotone voice brings me out of my trance, a girl with long blue hair and a pair of red eyes behind her glasses said this, by her side is a tall woman with white hair and toned body.
"W-we weren't going to"
"Sorry then, some of these equipments are not to be handled by novices"
She says without averting her gaze from the screen, Manaki Ishida, Liliana's [Knight] is a stoic girl who seems to be wearing a steel mask devoid of expressions
"Manaki-chan, Diz-chan!"
Liliana greets both of her servants as if they were her school friends
"Eh, Liliana-sama? What are you, that boy and Aya doing here?"
Diz points at us
"I didn't expect to see you and Kageyama here"
Manaki keeps typing on the computer
"I know, it's just that I wanted you to use your psychometry on Tatseyo so we could find something about him"
Manaki can absorb information about things at the mere touch, so that's what Liliana was planning!
"Right, about this..."
Manaki says as she reaches for a drawer and pulls a file out of it
"I already did"
"W-what?!"
I stare at the file in her hand
"When did you do it?"
Despite my nervousness, Liliana remains calm and hits her palm with one of her hands
"Oh! It was when you first met, right?"
Manaki nods at her affirmation
[I'm Manaki Ishida, you are the son of Lady Tatsumaki and Kageyama-san, right? I'm looking forward to work with you]
"That time when she shook my hand?"
I ask confused and Manaki gives a meek nod
"Correct, I took that opportunity to analyze you"
Analyze me? What the hell?
"You did that at the very beginning? Why?!"
I'm shocked, surprised and a little angry, it feels like she deceived me somehow
But Manaki simply tilts her head as if she doesn't get what I'm talking about
"Did I do something wrong? I assumed that Liliana-sama would want me to do it and I simply decided to speed up the process"
It's like she doesn't really understand what's the problem here!
"Ha! That's just like our Manaki!"
The amazon girl declares, that's not funny!
Watching the scene, Liliana sighs and puts a hand over my shoulder, speaking directly in my ear
(Sorry Tatseyo, Manaki is kinda bad with understanding things like this, she's very loyal to me, but sometimes she goes a bit overboard, could you please forgive her?)
She says with an apologizing look, ah whatever, it's not like any damage was done anyway
"Alright, just ask my permission before you do something like that again, okay?"
Manaki still has a interrogation on her head but nods
"Understood"
At least she agreed, even though I don't think she realized what the problem was...
"So Manaki-chan, what is it that you've found?"
The blue haired girl starts reading the file
"I actually obtained a good amount of intel, but unfortunately, Kageyama-kun is so impressive that something blocked me before I could find out what his skill was."
The same that happened to Kuriko happened with her...
"Eh? Really? What do you mean by blocking?" - Liliana asks intrigued
Manaki looks pensative for a while before answering
"If I had to describe, then it would be something like a firewall in human form, it blocked me from going further, but I don't know what it was."
"Hey, Manaki, are you sure that something really blocked you? Maybe I just don't have a skill at all?"
At my question, both Manaki and Diz look surprised
"What do you mean by that? You do have a skill, right?"
The white haired girl asks and I shake my head embarassed
"N-no, I actually never found my skill, I don't think I have one"
"N-no skill? But, you are the son of Tatsumaki and Kageyama, how come you don't have one?"
She looks very confused at what I said
"It's true that this is intriguing, but many espers around the world don't have a skill and can live fine with that, but I don't think that's the case here, do you, Manaki?"
Liliana asks and the glasses girl shakes her head
"I made no mistakes, when I analyzed Kageyama-kun I managed to get almost every information I usually get, look for yourself"
She hands to me the file and I start looking through it
"Y-you managed to see al of this?"
Height and weight calculated down to the last digit, a summary about my powers, hair and eye colours, blood type and shoe size, it's everything here! Almost like a criminal record!
"Yes, aside from psychological aspects and things like memories or thoughts, I can basically know everything about a person by touching them"
That's a bit more limited than Kuriko, since she can also access your memories if she touches you, I didn't think about that at the time, but did Kuriko read my memories when she touched me? Ah, guess it's too late for that now...
"But I can't tell if you have a skill or not because, just like I said, there was something blocking me"
Manaki seems unusually pushy now, does she get offended when people doubt her?
"I believe in you, Manaki-chan, actually, Kuriko told me the same thing when I asked her to do it"
"Oh, you mean Kuriko Saiki?"
"So you know her too?"
It takes me by surprise because Kuriko is not the type to have friends
"Well, a bit, I'm more familiar with her parents though, Kuriko usually doesn't talk to me very much"
"I see, well that's just like her though, sorry about that"
Kuriko won't even talk to a High-class devil, how proud is that girl?
"No worries, her parents are nice people, so I get along with them"
Well it's true that they are different from Kuriko, guess they wouldn't have problem talking to a devil
"Who is Kuriko?"
Aya-chan asks
"Oh, she's the daughter of another powerful esper couple, I asked her to do a reading to check if she could see my [skill] with her psychometry, but she also couldn't see because of the same thing Manaki is telling us"
"Oh, I see..."
I feel a bit bad for Aya-chan, she had to learn a ton of things today, I'm sorry Aya-chan, hang in there and try to learn everything
"But, that's a good thing, right? That means you can have a skill, but it could be hiden by this 'firewall' that Manaki just told us"
Diz says while reading the file along with me
Liliana brigthens up and exclamates
"That's right! Tatseyo's skill must be dormant somewhere, all we gotta do is find it!"
"And how do you plan to do that?"
Liliana raises her fist with confidence
"I don't know!"
*CLASH*
We all fall backwards at her declaration
"How the hell you don't know!?"
She sticks her tongue out and says
"Well, we gotta start from somewhere, how about we start here?"
I look quizzically at her as she turns to Manaki
"You were about to do Diz-chan's checkup, right?"
"Checkup?"
Manaki is the one to answer
"I understand"
I don't understand what this words mean, but Diz-chan seems mad
"Eeeeeh!? Why do I have to do my checkup with him?!"
I don't know why she seems so upset, it's just a checkup, what's the matter on doing it with me? Does she dislike me that much?
Manaki merely adjusts her glasses before talking
"As Tatseyo's first checkup, it would be good for him to see how yours is made, after all Diz-chan, you are my greatest experiment"
She says while emotionessly giving a thumbs up, but there's a certain glow in her eyes...
"Don't say it like I'm you Frankstein! Idiot!"
Liliana interrupts them
"Sorry Diz, but I think Manaki is right, it's also good for Tatseyo to learn more about our team"
Diz still looks displeased but gives in
"Tsk, fine"
Liliana celebrates
"Yay, good luck you three! Aya-chan you come with me, I'll teach you a bit about magic and demonic powers as well"
"Ye-yes! Thank you Liliana-ane!"
Ah, that's a pity, I wanted to learn more about magic and the sort as well, maybe in another opportunity then...
Before parting ways, Liliana whispers in my ear
(Try not to get too excited, I don't think Manaki would care, but Diz-chan... be careful ok? Fufufufufu)
"W-what?"
She leaves before I can ask her anything about what she just said, why do I have a bad feeling about this?
Part 3
What's up with this situation?
"If you try to peep, I'll kill you..."
"I won't!"
A thin curtain currently separates me and Diz, Liliana's [Rook], she doesn't seem too fond of me but that wouldn't be a problem if it wasn't...
"Hurry up Diz-chan! The sooner you get your clothes off the sooner we can start!"
If it wasn't for the fact that she's undressing behind the curtain!
I can hear Manaki talking to Diz at the other side
"Hey, stop! Don't pull my shirt!"
"You're taking too long so I'm helping you out, don't struggle"
"As if! I'm taking this long because you took that damn idiot with us! Also, couldn't you have used another curtain?"
The curtain separating us is the type that still lets you see the silhouete behind it, I'm trying not to comment on it, but this just makes the situation even more embarassing!
"Why are you covering yourself? It's not like he can see you"
"It's almost as bad!"
Suddenly Manaki pops her head out from the curtains
"It's ready, come and see it"
"What? Why do I have to watch it?"
"Stop whining, just come"
She grabs my arm and pulls me to the other side of the curtain
"Wait, wait isn't Diz-chan nake..."
I go to the other side but Diz is wearing a hospital gown
"Did you really thought she would be naked? Pervert..."
""Shut up!""
Me and Diz say at the same time
"Okay, Diz-chan, let's start your check-up"
I expect Manaki to use some sort of tool on Diz but she simply touches Diz-chan's cheek and strokes it for a very uncomfortable moment
"All right, you seem to be fine, but I'm still running the visual procedure, go to the machine"
"Okay..."
Diz-says as she stands up and goes inside a heavy looking piece of machinery
"Couldn't you do this sort of check with your power?"
I ask and Manaki sighs
"I'm not perfect, so even my analisys could leave a few things uncheked, specially regarding something as complex as a living body, so to be 100% sure, I use this machine made with demonic technology, it's precision is far better than human machines"
I see, well it does ressemble a medical facility equipment, if it wasn't for the weird design and creepy symbols carved into it
"Hey you two! Are you going to keep talking or are you going to run this checkup already?"
Diz-chan says it from inside the machine
"Sorry Diz-chan, come with me Tatseyo"
She walks over to a computer and the machine Diz is inside starts lighting up, in the screen it appears Diz-chan's brain, bone structure, muscles, veins, all sorts of scans
"Diz-chan needs to keep her body in top shape and I make sure of it"
Diz relies a lot on strength so it's a given that she needs to be on the best condition as possible.
"Will I have to do this as well?"
"You only need it this time, we'll do it again if something new occurs, but currently, Diz is the only one who needs this checkups on a routine"
"Is it really necessary do this on a routine?"
Manaki adjusts her glasses and answers without looking away from the screen
"Diz is an intensification type, the stronger she is, the stronger she can powerup. So in order to bring out her full potential, we made some modifications on her"
That doesn't sound so good...
"Modifications?"
She nods
"Muscles, bones, respiratory system, circulatory sistem, there isn't a single point on Diz-chan's sexy body that does not have my brand on it!"
She declares proudly, I don't think she knows how wrong what she just said sounds...
"Stop talking about my body like that!"
Diz shouts at us from inside the machine, I'm so sorry...
"Eh, alright... so she's like a cyborg?"
"Tsk, don't compare my work with simple technology implants, Diz' body is 100% her own, you would be amazed at what magic and demon tech can do"
Guess I would be, even so this is weird...
"Well, everything seems fine with you, Diz-chan. It's your turn now Tatseyo"
"Okay, I'm supposed to go inside the same machine?"
Manaki nods
"Yes, please go inside"
I change clothes, lay on the machine and the lights inside it shine
"Alright, I'm going to scan your body and brain right now, so I'll make a few questions to see how your brain responds to them"
Manaki says to me
"A-alright"
After a brief pause she asks
"Is your name Tatseyo Kageyama?"
A simple, standard question
"Yes"
"What planet are we in?"
"Earth"
"Are we in January?"
"No"
"Good"
I hear Manaki's voice and after a brief pause she continues
"Are you an esper?"
"Yes"
"Are your parents Shigeo Kageyama and Tatsumaki?"
"Yes"
"Do you have a girlfriend or sexual partner?"
"N-"
...
WHAT?!
"What the hell are you asking?"
I yell at her, what is this now?!
"Hahahaha! That's clearly a 'no'! Hahaha!"
I hear Diz' laughter, what the hell are you laughing about, you giantess?
"Do you have feelings for Liliana-sama?"
"Stop with this stupid questions!"
Did they asked me to get into this machine just so they could interrogate me?
"Huh, inconclusive..."
"Heh, so he's one of those indecisive guys?"
"Are you stupid? Of course it's inconclusive! I barely know her!"
There's no way I can have feelings for someone I know for such a short time!
"Huh... so let me try this way..."
Manaki cleans her throat before making the question
"Do you see Liliana-sama in a sexual way?"
Wah?
"It'll definitely light up, he's totally a pervert!"
Damnit, this is bad! I had enough!
"Let me go!"
I push myself out of the machine and run towards both of them
"Aww, he got out before I could get the result..."
"Does it make any difference? Getting out of the machine was like pleading guilty!"
Even when I get out they are still talking about it!
"What's the big idea? I thought you were going to examine me, was this all a prank?"
I slam my hand against the desk as I say this
"Oh, c'mon, you gotta admit it was funny"
Diz says with a big grin on her face
"The hell it was!"
"What's the problem, afraid we were going to see you are a pervert?"
She says while stroking her white disheveled hair
"I'm not a pervert! Who do you think I am, you giantess?"
The grin on her face disappears and anger takes over
"Oi, what the fuck did you called me?"
The mood in the room starts to get filled with animosity, but then a hand holding a sheet gets between us
"Stop that you two, if you wanna fight then you can do it in your training, just don't do it here"
Manaki says this while handing me the sheet
"Eh? Is this the training regimen?"
She nods her head
"Yeah, the machine helped me analyze you more thoroughly and this was what I arrived at, it isn't much different from what I had originally planned though"
So this wasn't a complete prank?
"Diz-chan, if you are so jumpy to fight against him why don't you take him to the training grounds and be the first one to train him?"
"Eeeh? Why do I have to train him?"
Diz says with a disapointed expression, it's not like I'm dieying to have you as a coach either!
"Kageyama-kun's greatest weak spot is his lack of natural physical abilities, which is exactly your strong point, Liliana-sama wants us to make him stronger, are you saying you won't follow her wish?"
Diz groans and looks at me
"Alright, just don't expect me to be easy on you! Go change your clothes!"
After I put my clothes back on, Diz grabs me by the arm and starts dragging me out of the lab
"Wait, where are we going?"
"To the training grounds of course!"
As we distance ourselves I hear Manaki's voice
"Good luck, Kageyama-kun, try not do die"
What kind of farewell is that?!