The Esper Devil ( Esper OC X Highschool DxD )

by Esper-from-beyond

The era of heroes is over, with the hero association almost extinct and espers now living in secrecy, the talented son of a legendary esper couple starts attending a school which is under the control of devils. Raised with the mentality that all demons and evil spirits are enemies and carrying an enormous power that is still unknown to most devils, how will he fit in this new life?

36. A (very) hot girl

Nightime.

It's the time when evil creatures crawl out of their holes.

Demons, youkais, fallen angels, evil spirits, monsters, you name it.

Most wouldn't die if they went out in the sun, but evil seems to like the cover of darkness. So that means it's the time we espers usually work

But fortunately, for me at least, today is not one of those days!

"Ahhh!"

I breath out while sinking into my bed

After several days of fighting evil spirits, monsters and youkais nonstop, I'm finally able to relax a little before going to Kuoh town and see Tachan

His voice was pretty serious last time we talked...

I'm excited, but the things he said have been troubling me for a while

'Do not attack any inhumans once you are here'

What did he meant by that?

RING RING

As I'm thinking about it, my device rings

I answer it

"Red Flame?"

Recognizing the voice on the other side of the line, I promptly answer while sitting up on my bed

"Yes, Mirabel-sensei!"

The latin accent and serious tone of my commander and teacher talks again

"I heard you just finished the last assignment we had prepared for you, did everything went well?"

I nod my head even though I'm speaking through the device in phone mode

"Yes, it wasn't so easy, but I'm completely fine"

"That's good to hear, because we need you to do one more mission before you go"

Hearing this, my expression immediately drops and I let out an exclamation

"Eeeh? Why? I thought yesterday's was the last one!"

Right when I thought I could relax for a while? C'mon!

"I'm sorry about it, but this is an emergency situation, we need you to head to the coordinates I've sent you"

A buzz comes from my device and the location of the place they want me to head to appears

"T-this far? Isn't there anyone closer to it?"

This is in another town, even if I fly, it'll take a while to get there

"There are, but none of them are high level espers like you, I was the one who recommended you for this mission"

"E-eh? Really?"

For sensei herself to recommend me...

"What situation is it?"

Sensei answers me with a stern voice

"A monster situation with hostages, several people have been missing from the region and we finally managed to track it down. The town's government asked us to deal with it as swiftly and secretely as possible, that's why we can't be careless"

My eyes wide at her answer, so that's why it's so urgent

"I-I see..."

If it's like this, then my personal feelings don't matter

"Do you know how many monsters and hostages?" - I inquire

"Three hostages were reported and only one monster, demon level at least, but be careful, you'll be alone in this one"

If it's only demon level then I can easily take it down

"Thanks for your worry, but I'll be fine. Later, Mirabel sensei"

Before I can hang up, sensei talks to me one last time

"I trust your skills, Ayumu, you have show us time and again that you can do it, but I still wish you good luck"

"T-thank you, sensei"

I reply emotional at my sensei's words

After ending the call and preparing to leave, I check the location one last time

"Alright! Time do dive head on!"

Part 2

In a shanty area of the town, filled with rubble and ruined buildings taken over by graffiti

There stands the place where the monster has taken hideout, an abandoned theater

"I have reached point bravo, I'll enter the area right now"

I give the report through the device, just a formality to inform that I'm already on the job

Right when I approach the entrance of the building, I feel a disgusting gaze over my body

"I see... so it's already it's territory"

I say with a sarcastic smile as flames envelop my body and I send a jet of fire to burn the door down

"Excuse me~"

I enter the building, since it's night and this place is abandoned I have to rely on my flames for lighting

"Hey Mr Monster, show me your ugly face!"

I shout and hear my voice eccho through the empty halls, it's kinda funny

...

No answer, that's expected

As an esper, I can use my awareness to sense where an evil energy is located anyway, I was going to give it a chance to show up on it's own, but nothing I can do if it wants the hard way

"My instinct is telling it's coming from... there!"

My flames cut through the ceiling and I fly straight to the second floor where I've sensed it's energy

In a normal situation I could have sent my flames straight at the place I sensed it, but since there are hostages, I can't take any risks

I pass through the hole dug with fire and narrow my eyes as I enhance my flames to see further

There is a huge stage in the front and many seats neatly organized even though everything is old and covered in dust, this must have been the place where the shows took place

The place I dug a hole was part of the line of seats so they have been reduced to dust along with the floor, sorry to whoever owns this theater

"Uhm..."

I hear a faint sound coming from one of the lines of seats

This energy, it's the energy of humans!

I go towards the line of seats where I've sensed the aura and am greeted by two loud shrieks

"Gah!"

"Kyaah!"

A man and a woman who shout the moment they see me, it seems that they were taking cover here from whatever monster is living in this place.

"Please, don't hurt us!"

The man shouts as he covers the woman with his body

"H-hey, I'm here to help!"

I say, confused as to why they are so scared of me

Untill it hits me

"Oh yeah, the mask!"

I take off my mask to let them see my real face for a moment before putting it back

"See? Human just like you two, I'm here to help"

After I show my face, the couple's faces light up and they give me hopeful looks

"R-really? Thank you so much!"

The woman says standing up, the man also rushes to stand up and grabs my hand

"Please, you have to help our friend too! That creature took him to the back of the stage!"

He says with a panicked look, so that's where the other one is...

"We escaped and hid here, but Taki's still in there!"

They say pointing to the stage that is emanating a dangerous aura

I stare at the dark stage that has no signs of any movement on it

"You two wait here and don't move from this place"

I warn them and make my way to the stage

It's abandoned and covered in dust just like the rest of the building and the lack of light only adds to the creepy atmosphere of this place

[So, someone has come to take me down, I was already expecting it]

A deep voice comes from the stage

Though I'm using my flames to light the place up, I can't see the creature

I can sense it but I cannot see it.

This must be this monster's ability

Invisibility? Yeah, like it's ever this easy...

[But... a devil? Why has the underworld sent a devil after me?]

"No, I'm not a demon"

I say knocking on my mask to show it's not my real face. I decided to keep the conversation going in order to get a better grasp of it's ability

[A mask? So you are not a devil and not from the church either, who the hell are you?]

I snirk

"Does my origin really matter?"

The monster give a quick laugh

[Eh, guess not, since you'll be dead anyway]

"Dead? Oh no, I have no plans of dying here"

[So you are serious about killing me, is that what these flames are for?]

So he can see my flames and my mask, but couldn't tell the difference between the mask and a real demon face, that means he's close and watching, but not too close. I need to buy more time.

"I wouldn't underestimate my flames if I we-"

SLASH

A gust of wind comes from behind me and I instantly dodge to the side

When I look at it, the place that I was at had been destroyed by what seems to be a chain with a hook at the end

[So you are not just talk!]

The chain seems to have come out from some sort of black hole, this must be where he's hiding at! So much for buying time...

"Ahhh!"

I lash out my flames towards, but it disappears inside the hole, quickly avoiding the attack. I try to get a glimpse of the creature inside, but I only see chains.

[Did you like my ability?]

"An alternate dimension..."

What a tricky skill he has

[By hiding myself inside this space, I can see what's going on around me, but you cannot see me!]

Chains come out of several holes and come at me while shifting directions and angles

"That's a good skill you have there, but if you need to touch me, then it's as good as nothing!"

It's obvious he's trying to reach for my blind angles, but I won't be caught like that!

I easily dodge his chains by stepping and jumping around the theater, it's chains are able to follow me everywhere, despite not hitting, it seems they can stretch almost endlessly

"Disappear!"

I shout as my flames engulf his chains and burn them to ashes

[You are quite impressive, for my chains to be burned so easily...]

I smirk

"If that's all you got then you might as well give up now"

The monster give an angered sneer

[Tsk, you are quite something, but for a special opponent like yourself, I have something special of my own!]

I put my guard up, another trick?

The hole opens again for a moment, what appears inside are different types of monsters!

[Take her down!]

Some of the monsters that jumped out of it have beast like features. Wolves, spiders and bats, however, there are some with humanoid figures, including their faces

I unleash my flames and they destroy several of the monsters around, some dodge, including the humanoid ones, but by making my flames change direction I manage to hit all of them

A group of humanoids stands up with their bodies burned, they and the beasts charge to attack one more time

"Guahh!"

They jump against me making grotesque noises, I charge my flames about to attack, but a voice comes from the audience seats

"Taki? Is that you?"

The couple from before is standing up with a terrified expression on their faces

"Taki?!"

Instead of attacking, I dodge the attacks and stop at a safe distance to look at the couple again

They have panicked expressions on their faces and the woman asks with wide eyes

"T-Taki, is that really you?"

I look at the monsters in front of me

Their eyes are blooshot, their teeth and nails are sharp, skin pale like paper and mouth foaming in anger, there is no denying that these are full fledged monsters

But from what these two said and from what Mirabel-sensei told me, the conclusion is obvious

"So these are the people who are missing, you turned them into monsters..."

Certain types of creatures are able to replicate each other by contaminating other living organisms, including humans...

"That can't be... it can't be Taki"

The man says in disbelieve

[Hahaha! So what you think? Can you kill someone who was once one of your own? HAHAHA!]

The monster laughs histerically as the humans turned monsters run charging at me

I dodge their attacks swiftly and unleash my flames against them

"What a low tatic, to use former humans to attack me..."

My flames surround their bodies and the monsters all screech in agony

[W-what are you doing?!] - The main monster asks from inside his space

"But do you really thought this would deter me?"

"GUEEEEEEHH! AHHHHHH!"

The creatures leaves out grotesque screams as their bodies begin to be reduced to charcoal

[W-what?]

"I think you got things wrong, Mr Monster..."

I say calmly as I watch the former man referred to as Taki and all the other ex-humans be burned along the other beastly minions that came from the space

"I don't give a half crap about what someone was..."

VOOSH

"AAAAAHHHHH!"

My flames intesify as the rests of their bodies are reduced to ashes

"Once someone throws their humanity away they become lower than trash, killing these monsters is a favour I'm doing to all of them"

I walk up towards them and lower my head to look in the eyes of one of the humanoids, it's arms try to attack me even though it's hands have been almost completely destroyed

"Rest in peace"

I say as an inferno is unleashed on the stage and a moment later disappears, not even ashes are left of the monstrosities who once were at this stage

"W-what have you done..."

"T-Taki..."

I hear the shocked voices of his friends from the set of chairs

"Why did you do this to him?!" - The man shouts

I decide to ignore them, nothing I say or do will make any difference now.

"Are you hearing me? You crazy woman!"

The man lost reason and is yelling at me for killing what used to be his friend, but at least he is still sane enough to not come after me leaving the relatively safe line of chairs

After recovering from the shock from seeing it's streategy demolished, the monster speaks again in a mocking tone

[Kekekekeke, such determination in your eyes, you clearly feel no remorse over what you did, killing someone who was human just a few hours ago, are you even human?]

It's not the first time someone asks me that, but it doesn't really matter to me, if I can use my powers to make this world a better place, a safer place, then it's okay.

"I am more human than scum like you coud ever dream to be, now I'll be disposing of you right away"

[And how do you plan to do this, huh?! You can't touch me inside my dimension! I'm invincible here! I'll just keep sending more and more of my minions untill you can't fight anymore!]

The creature answers mocking me and I merely shrug

"You'll notice soon enough"

After I say this a laugh echoes from nowhere

[Are you by any chance trying to buy yourself some time? I won't let you! Get ready to be- huh?]

So it noticed

"I really didn't expect your ability to be this troublesome, but you also looked down on me"

Standing up, I point at him

Yes, even inside it's dimension, I can clearly tell where it is now!

"This is my skill! My fire has a mind of itself and is connected to me, it'll follow my orders and destroy you even if I can't see you!"

[W-WHAAAAAT!?]

The monster screams with despair in his voice

"The second time you attacked me with your chains I had them travel through ever so slightly that you wouldn't notice! Now you will burn untill there's nothing left!"

I concentrate and feel my flames intensify, yes, they are definitely burning something!

[I-impossible! It's a lie! I'm invincible inside my dimension! You can't do thissss!]

"My flames tell me where you are, now your safe space will burn with you!"

He screams as I feel my flames intensify and start to destroy his body

"UWAAAAAAH! FUCK YOU!"

In it's despair, the creature leaves the hole, releasing it's chains and more beasts as it charges forward

There are many more monsters than before, including more former humans, this must be the whole army it managed to gather so far.

But most importantly, now I understand the thing I saw in the hole

This monster does not control chains

It is the chains!

A creature made entirely of chains with weapons at their ends and eyes all over it's "body" stood before me swinging it's metalic weaponry all around and shifting height and size as it pleased

It's incredibly fast and seems to be able to regenerate even the sects which were already burnt. And it can also turn humans and animals into monsters! Isn't this thing closer to a dragon level?

The other creatures charge me with claws, acid and spikes which are all destroyed by my flames along with their bodies

The monster seems to be getting more and more desperate as it's minions are easily reduced to ashes and my flames keep intensifiying all around it's body

"HAAAA! I'll kill you by myself if I have to!"

It's chains fly towards me

"This won't work on me!"

I create several lines of fire that trap them together and burn them down

Even if he's powerful, out of his hole he's an easy target

"Just give up and let my flames take you to the afterlife"

The creature's eyes wide and I can tell that if it had a mouth, it would be foaming in anger

"N-no, I won't stop!"

Covered in flames, the monster extends it's chain arms beyond the line of chairs and grabs the man from the couple, so this one can create chains even as I burn them. I really can't take this lightly

"Wo-woah!"

It lifts the man by the head and screams with a triumphant smile

"Surprised? Even as you burn me I can create more chain within my body! What are you gonna do now? If you keep burning me, you'll end up hurting him too! KAKAKAKA!"

"Patethic..."

So that's all what he's trying to do?

The smile on the monster's face fades away and a look of desperation emerges

"What are you doing?! Stop it now or I'll crush him even before your flames have the chance to-"

I lift my hand and my flames engulf the chains it was using in an instant, destroying it in a split second

THUD

"U-Uh?"

The sound of the man falling on the floor echoes through the theater

"Regeneration means nothing if I just burn you faster than you can recover. I'll gladly erase you link by link"

Looking at it's own body slowly being reduced to nothing the monster yells

"Y-you burned a human! You crazy bitch! What the hell are you?!"

I shake my head in disappointment

"Burned? What are you talking about?"

The monster looks in the direction I'm pointing and it's eyes go wide to see the man completely unscathed being held by the woman

"Are you okay?"- She asks

"Y-yes, I think I'm fine"

He answers while checking himself in disbelief that not even his clothes were damaged

"I-imposible, you are lying..."

With the weapons who were linked to it's body destroyed and the metal of his chains melting like ice cream, the monster falls to it's knees

"How did you?"

I approach him as my flames slowly devour his body

"Have you ever read the bible?"

The monster looks at me confused, or at least that's what it looks like with half of his head already burnt by the flames

"I'm not very religious, but I particularly like the part about the furnace..."

I make a pause and create flames within my hand

"Like I told you, my flames have a mind of their own, when I couldn't control them, they caused me a lot of trouble... but now that I'm mastering them, I can do this!"

The fireball created pierces a perfect round hole at his body and also leaves the rest of the teather intact

"Just like the furnace didn't kill Meshach, Shadrach and Abednego, my flames will only burn those who are guilty at my command!"

The monster looks at the hole on it's chest

"I see... so this battle was settled from the very beginning"

The face filled with terror and pain turned into a comformed smile and with half of it's "body" already gone, the monster lowers it's head

"Before I'm gone for good, could you at least tell me your name, warrior?"

I tilt my head and take a deep breath

"No"

"E-eh?"

"You're annoying me, so just die already"

With this last reply, I make my flames engulf his entire body and the monster disappears leaving not even ashes behind

"There's no reason to give my name to an inhuman, much less an inhuman who's about to die"

After confirming that there are no other monsters around, I go check on the couple who's crouched down on the floor

"Are you two alright?"

I offer them a hand but none of them take it, instead they both stand up on their own and the man looks at me with anger in his eyes

"Why did you kill Taki?"

Taki, the friend of them that was turned into a monster along with many others, it seems they didn't want me to harm him, but that was impossible

"There was no helping it, he was already gone"

"My ass there was no helping it!"

He grabs me by the necktie of my kimono and looks at me directly through the mask, his eyes reflecting his anger

"Taki was a good guy, he didn't deserve this! How do you know there was no other way around?! What the hell are you?"

"Stop! You'll get hurt!"

The woman yells with a scared look on her face

Scared for the life of her friend, scared of me

These two pairs of eyes

These angry eyes, these fearful eyes

I've seen them before...

I reply nothing and the man lets go off my clothes

"Are you... really human?"

I don't answer anything and simply point out my device

"Don't worry, you won't remember this"

I activate the sleep function and both of them pass out

"Ah, what a day..."

Still, I need to call the association

As I prepare to send the report of my mission through the device, I feel a stinging pain on my lower back.

As I reach for it I feel a damp feeling on my hand and bring it to my face

"Fresh blood..."

So it did managed to get a hit on me

...And I didn't even noticed

Really, I still got ways to go

I sigh to myself, if it was Tachan or another higher level, he could have dealt with it much faster, maybe if-

"Ah! Get a damn grip!"

Interrupting my own depressive thoughts by slapping myself in the face, I make the call and report the results of my mission

"Red Flame here, the monster has been terminated, two hostages have been rescued and are currently on sleep mode, unfortunately, one of the hostages was contaminated along with several other people I assume were the ones who had gone missing, I had to take them all out. No other casualties to report"

An operator's voice answers from the other side

"Good job Red Flame, any need for assistance?"

"Yes, I'll need a brainwasher for the two hostages who survived, they've seen a lot. Also, I'm gonna need a healer, the creature got a hit on me"

"Are you alright?"

"Yes, I can cauterize it with my flames, but I want to make sure I wasn't poisoned or anything like it"

"Understood, we are sending them right away. Also, Red Flame, before you leave for K-town, your presence has been requested in one of our labs, the Mad Scientist wants to see you, says he has some upgrades"

Eh? That guy wants to see me?

"U-upgrades?"

"Yes, said he got some new gear and wants to give it to you before you go"

I answer still surprised at the request

"Understood, I'll be going there then"

I end the call and look at the passed out couple

"This is going to be a long night..."

Part 3

"Hey, Yatsushiro-chan, long time no see"

The man in the guardpost in front of the cave talks to me

It looks like a normal guardpost to keep people away from the cave, but it's true purpose is to keep people away from what's in the underground of this cave

"Hi, longe time indeed, I came here to see the Mad Sc- I mean, Doctor Kusuke"

I say handing a bag with a bagel inside

"Ah, you know what makes this old man happy, kekeke. Go ahead, he's waiting for you"

"Thank you."

He lifts the cancel for me to pass and I walk to the cave

This entire mountain is owned by the company of Kusuo-san's older brother, AKA: The Mad Scientist (unofficial nickname)

He's one of the people responsible for testing the young espers that join the ranks of our community, he also makes gears and equipments for us, he's the one that designed my clothes and the mask I'm using, so even if I lose control of my flames, I won't end up buck naked.

I met with him when the community took me in, my first impression of him was odd to say the least

I stop in front of a tunnel where there's various signs warning against trespassing, I ignore them and follow through untill I reach a dead end with an old looking elevator that's closed shut, on it there's an object that seems to be a digital scanner

"Kusuke-san really takes security seriously..."

I place my hand on the scanner and a robotic voice speaks

[ID confirmed: Ayumu Yatsushiro, AKA: Red Flame]

The door of the old looking elevator opens and reveals an interior completely different from the outside

A large and well illuminated metal elevator, similar to one of those high-tech labs

After I step in the doors shut automatically and my descend on the cave begins

[Welcome to the Kusuke LTDA lab]

A screen pops up in the elevator and the same robotic voice from before starts speaking

"W-what?"

[This company was founded by the amazing inventor, scientist and world renowed genius, Kusuke Saiki]

"Oh god, please no..."

[Strive for scientific development working together with the supernatural is the main objective of our beloved mentor and superb mind]

A picture of Kusuke-san receiving a Nobel prize appears on the screen as the voice continues to explain the story of the company and ass-kiss him every chance it gets

Please end my life...

---

[And that was the incredible story of our company and it's amazing genius and inventive creator, welcome to Kusuke LTDA, enjoy your stay]

After what felt like an eternity of hearing the history of the company and Kusuke-san's "incredible accomplishments", the elevator opens up and I dash outside as quickly as possible

"Huff, huff, goddamn Mad Scientist..."

I curse under my breath as I try to make sense of where I am

"Did this place got bigger since last time?"

It's a huge facility similar to a generic sci-fi lab, easy to get lost and since there's no one else here I have no idea where to go to.

"Is there a map somewh-"

[Hello, Yatsushiro-san]

"Kyaah!"

I yelp as I turn around to see who called my name

[I am Unit W47H, I will guide you through the facilities to Kusuke-sama]

It's a round, flying metal object with something similar to a camera on it.

After I make sense of it, the robot turns around

[Please, follow me]

"A-alright then..."

Serious, couldn't this guy just call normal people to work for him? And what's up with 'Kusuke-sama'?

I follow the little flying robot to a double-door room where intense machinery noises can be heard from the inside

[Kusuke-sama is working here, you may please go inside]

The robot says and then flies away through the hallways back to god knows where it came from

I consider knocking on the door, but by the sounds coming from the inside, he wouldn't hear

Besides, the robot said it was okay to go in, right?

I push the doors open

"Wow..."

The room is large and filled to the brim with technological parafernalia which I don't understand

BZZZZZZT

The sound of a saw echoes through the room and I look to the side where it's coming from

"HAHAHAHAHA! This is coming out wonderfully!"

Kusuke-san is using a backpack with six mechanical arms coming out of it, he seems to be building a robot? Or is it an armor?

"Kusuke-san?"

I call his attention, but he keeps on laughing and is now using an arm that seems to have a blowtorch attached to it

"Only a little more and it'll be complete!"

"Kusuke-san!"

I shout but he's still not paying any attention

"Now for the final ingredient..."

"KUSUKE-SAN!"

I stomp on the ground and release my flames around to call his attention, the room shakes with the release of my aura and Kusuke-san almost falls backwards

"Wo-woah!"

He stands forward and grabs the pieces that were about to fall with his robot arms

After recomposing himself, he looks at me and removes his safety mask

"Ah, Red Flame! Why you didn't told me you were here?"

"I've been doing it ever since I arrived!"

Kusuke-san waves his hand

"Ah, sorry, I've just been so focused on my inventions lately that I have barely paid attention to anything else! Hahaha!"

He gives a gleeful laughter despite the completely unhealthy remark

His appearance is not much different from what it used to be, his labcoat seems as clean as it always is, probably because of some invention, but there are circles around his eyes so big that he could be cosplaying a panda.

"Kusuke-san, have you been getting any sleep?"

This guy is definitely the type that would neglect his health over his inventions, maybe that's the reason why he's this way...

"HAHAHAHAHA! Don't worry, I took a nap on sunday!"

He answers with a gleeful voice as he removes his backpack and motions over to another table filled with different pieces and bolts

"But today is friday..."

He looks at me with a surprised look on his face

"Oh, really? I didn't noticed it at all! Time flies when you are dedicated to science, hahahahaha!"

"Please look after your health! You have a family you know!"

Even if he's like this, Kusuo-san would definitely feel bad if something happened to him

"Don't worry, Red Flame, I've been kept awake with my newest inventions"

He points to the antenna he uses on his head

"I've configured it to give me shocks that stimulate my brain and muscles so I can stay awake and also..."

He takes a syringe out of his pocket filled with a strange liquid substance

"I developed a new stimulant that keeps me awake and running all day long, HAHAHAHA!"

"Isn't that a drug?!"

"Technically not, since I invented it the government doesn't know about it, so it's not illegal!"

"That's not the problem here!"

Ignoring my words he turns around and lifts a finger

"Anyway, did they told the reason why I called you here, Red Flame?"

I nod

"Yes, they said something about an upgrade"

Kusuke-san claps his hands

"That's correct! Feast your eyes with this amazing new gear that's going to be your combat mode from now on!"

Kusuke-san picks up a large metallic briefcase with a number on it and opens to me

"This is your new battlesuit!"

I try to say something, but I simply stare bewildered at the shining outfit that's in front of me

"..."

Kusuke-san strikes a pose as he holds the briefcase open

"Speechless, right? I knew you would be! This is one of the very first third generation ESP Gears that were developed with recently acquired technology from undisclosed sources!"

I stare with my eyes wide and manage to force a word out of my mouth

"You..."

"Huh? I can't hear it, are you so impressed that you can't even talk?"

I clutch my fists and throw a fireball at a nearby wall

"YOU CRAZY PERVERT!"

I point at the open briefcase

"What the hell is up with this suit?!"

Aside from the mechanical look of the clothing, it seems that'll barely cover my body, my midriff and legs would be completely exposed on that!

Kusuke-san picks the top of the armor up and shows it to me

"How dare you say that about my newest brilliant invention! I'll let you know that this was made specifically to match your fire powers, no one else would be able to synchronize with it except you!"

"But still, why the hell is it all made of metal? It looks painful as heck to use!"

Aside from a long cloth at the bottom part, everything seems to be made of gears and metal, there's even jewelry on some parts

"Don't worry, the inside is comfy, it's going to feel like you are wearing nothing at all!"

"That's the problem, you crazy mad scientist! And why is the design so freaking complicated?!"

Seriously, compared to the usual kimono I use in battle, this thing is all over the place, there's even pieces of engine hanging from the top of the bottom part

"As I said, this is one of the first models, you can't expect it to look all prim and proper, as long as it works! Stop complaning and try it on already!"

Kusuke-san throws the briefcase to me

"Mou, and where am I supposed to change?"

I ask and he shakes his head

"That's not a problem, you see the big red jewel in the center?"

There's a particular red stone that looks like a ruby carefully crafted in the chestplate.

"This one here?"

He nods

"Just focus your aura in the stone and it should synchronize with you"

"Eh? So simple?"

I point my finger to the stone and release my aura

"Hold on a minute!"

Kusuke-san presses a button that drops a steel plate large enough to cover his body

"Now it's alright!" - He says lifting a thumbs up from behind it

"What the hell are you doing?!"

"Oh, don't worry, this is just a safe procedure, I'm sure nothing bad will happen... probably"

That's not reassuring at all!

"Ah, whatever, let's do this!"

I gulp down and release my aura towards the jewel

After a while it becomes bright red and starts glowing

"I-is it working?"

Kusuke-san puts a palm of his head outside the plate and yells

"Yes! It's working!"

The suit leaves the case and begins floating around me

"Wo-woah!"

Attaching itself around my body, the armor starts feeling hot and two knifes appear on my hands

Once it has finished, I feel my body become lighter and the hot feeling from before cooling down

"Wo-wow..."

The design of the armor makes me look like an armored belly dancer, but I can't deny that it's...

"It's cute, right?"

"Ahhh!"

I feel Kusuke-san's hand on my shoulder and I turn around to see... Myself?

"C'mon, I also put a little thought in the design, you were always complaning that you aren't girly enough, so how does this look like? The red clothes and jewelry match your hair, girls like that, right?"

He's holding a mirror towards me and I stop for a moment to look

Despite the weird as hell design, it's probably one of the most feminine things I've wore in my life...

"So, what do you think?"

"W-well, it's good, but the jewels..."

I say putting my hand over the big red jewel on my chest, there are others scattered across the armor and now that they've "synched" with me I can sense that they are not just garnishments

"Oh, so you've noticed it! Well, these jewels are special after all, they withhold a lot of power in them, that means you'll be better at controlling your flames and focusing your power on specific targets"

"I understand, but... where did you get it?"

It's not the first time I see this, people who mess with the occult tend to carry stones like this one, even... devils.

"This is magic jewelry, right?"

Kusuke-san nods his head

"Yes, they are indeed, you didn't like it? I thought girls liked jewelry"

"That's not it! I mean, how did you get that? Did someone in the esper community gave it to you?"

Espers tend to keep a safe distance from things related to magic and the occult because it requires magical knowledge or instruction from someone with magic or demonic abilities about how to operate them, two things we don't have. But if Kusuke-san managed to make them work...

Oh no, please don't be what I'm thinking

"You didn't learned to use magic, did you?"

This terrible thought crosses my mind, since Kusuke-san is not an esper perhaps he learned how to use magic? I don't wanna live in a world where a guy like him has this sort of power!

"Of course not~ Who needs magic when you have science on your side? I simply got a contact who can use magical powers, I gave her something and she gave me something, fair exchange"

I shake my head in disbelief

"What!? You made contact with a magic user? Who in the world is it?"

Who would be crazy enough to make a deal with this mad scientist?

"No, no, I already told you it's an undisclosed source, to keep their safety and mine as well, the trade must remain anonymous"

Trying to squeeze any info out of this guy will be useless, if anything it will just wear me out, so I decide to ask about more important things

"I don't like the idea of having to use something that magicians and devils use... Are you sure this will make me stronger?"

Kusuke-san nods fiercely

"Ten billion percent sure! Take these daggers for example"

He points at the two weapons that appeared in my hand

"I can just use my fire to cut through things if I just shape my flames, why would I need them?"

Kusuke-san strikes a weird pose and points at them

"Of course you can, but, but, but! These daggers are made out of special material just like the rest of your clothing. Combined with your flames, even if you are fighting against magical armor you'll cut through it like it's butter!"

I look at the dagger on one of my hands and give it a squeeze with a bit of my strength, the blade instantly becomes red hot and I can feel the heat emanating from it

"Pretty cool, huh?"

I nod, still impressed by the capacity of these weapons

"But this clothes won't leave me exposed?"

Compared to the kimono I usually wear this 'armour' leaves way too much skin exposed, isn't it dangerous?

"Ha! Did you already forgot that they match your aura? While you are wearing this armor-"

Kusuke-san approaches me and I hear a metallic sound

*CLINK*

"Your hot aura will block attacks even in the areas seemingly unprotected"

He then shows me a broken bisturi, wait, was that the source of the mettalic sound?

"You tried to stab me?!"

He shrugs

"Yup, bet you didn't even felt it, impressive right?

"Don't try to stab me without warning just to prove your point!"

This lunatic just tried to stab me!

"You nag way too much..."

He says with a pout expression

"Don't act like I'm in the wrong here!"

He shrugs again and makes a serious expression

"Also, I didn't received so much material from my contact to have the luxury of excessive expendure, so I'm trying to save as much of it as possible..."

He looks at me and puts a hand under his chin

"Of course I could have made it cover more areas with the usual material, but that would create soft spots in the armor and obviously it would have sacrificed this amazing sexy design"

Even after saying such a creepy thing he keeps up a serious expression!

"And what problem would there be on it?!"

I shout at him feeling my face getting red

Kusuke-san shakes his head

"Frankly, you are way too innocent, Red Flame. You said that your next mission will be in Kuoh town with Tornado of Terror's son, right?"

"Yeah, so what about it?"

"From my records I see you two have been together for a while, so..."

He gives me a thumbs up

"When he sees you in that he won't be able to take his hands off of you!"

I feel the blood rush to my cheeks so fast that I must be redder than my flames right now!

"W-w-we are not like that! You idiot! Batshit pervert scientist!"

He runs for cover behind the steel wall again as I my flames fly at him

"Hey, easy there! Don't wreck my lab!"

I take a deep breath after blowing my steam and shout at him

"As if I could show Tachan this clothing!"

I didn't thought about it before he spoke, but I'll die of embarassment if Tachan sees me like this!

"Why? Even if you are not like that yet, it could change"

"W-what are you saying?"

Kusuke-san makes a confused expression and answers

"I mean it's obvious that you like him, based on your facial expression, body language and voice whenever I mention his name, so why not just go for it?"

"Stop analyzing me as if you were a detective!"

Talking to him is even worse than talking to my friends! This is way beyond just teasing me!

"Besides, why do you care?"

I'm surprised he even bothered to mention my relationship with Tachan, I didn't thought he even knew about the two of us

Kusuke-san gives a smug smile and throws his hair back in a weird manner

"Oh, my dear Red Flame, again you are underestimating me..."

He then jumps across the room and opens up a cabinet filled with papers

"The reason why I want to see you and the son of Tornado together is because of... THIS!"

He then spreads around a desk several papers with pictures of people on it

I pick up the papers, in each of them is the photo of two people, a man and a woman

There's also text on it, detailing things like name, ethinicity and powers, so these people are espers? But why do th-

"Wait a minute, I recognize these two..."

I say picking up a paper that caught my attention

They are an older esper couple who had recently joined the esper community. Didn't they got married last year?

"Oh ho, so you know them? Have you heard that they are expecting?"

My eyes wide

"Really?! I had no idea!"

They are alredy expecting after just one year of marriage? Man, that's kinda fast.

But hold on...

"W-why are you showing me this? What does it have to do with me and Tachan?"

He shakes his head disappointed

"Are you serious, Red Flame? The reason is clear to see, I need you two to get together because!"

He throws another pose and starts shaking his hips, what is he doing?!

"I want to see how your babies are going to turn out! Obviously!"

WHAT?

I freeze in shock at his statement and watch as Kusuke-san keeps going with not even a hint of embarassment

"With the help of other scientists and medical staff of the international esper community, I've been keeping tabs on the marriages and births of as many espers as I can!"

Kusuke-san then shoves several files in front of my face

"See? Genetic trees, mutations, combination, this is gold! No, this is platinum, it's diamonds! With this I can tell which couples will give birth to the strongest espers or the ones with more elaborate skills and such!"

He's treating us like breeding pokemon!

"The Plague Doctor boy inherited powers from both of his parents and you, Red Flame, was born with amazing pirokinetic abilities despite having totally normal parents! I wanna see how you two mate and what kind of family you would constitute!"

He then approaches me and takes both of my hands in a pleading gesture

"That's why, please try to use your female charm for once in your life and give me plenty of children to analyze in my research! This is for the benefit of all the espers in the world!"

I immediately pull my hands away from him

"All the espers in the world my ass!"

I yell, finally able to say something

"Do you even realize what you are saying? You should go to jail for saying that me and Tachan should have children! We are not even 18 yet!"

Kusuke-san shrugs again

"Seventeen, eighteen, what's the difference? It's not illegal to have babies at this age and it would only be born when you two are eighteen anyway"

"Don't say it like it's no big deal! Is your brain even in the right place?!"

I know I'm getting repetitive, but this guy is insane, crazy, delusional! How can someone so smart be so disturbed?!

"Of course it is, this is not only for the benefit of the esper community, but yours too. After all..."

Kusuke-san throws his back at me and says while shrugging

"He's in another town, in a school that used to be girls-only, who knows what kind of ladies he will meet there~"

"E-eh?!"

I know the type of academy Tachan was going, hell, I even teased him for it when he told me it was girls-only untill a few years ago, but hearing this guy say it is different somehow!

"T-Tachan wouldn't do it!" - I retort him

"Well, maybe not yet, but I bet there's no shortage of girls there, even a scary guy might find a girl or two that like him, one day you might call and your dear Tachan will say something about a new girl in his life~"

"He would not do that! Tachan is... he is..."

I try to say it, but the words don't come out

"Huh?"

Kusuke-san turns around with a smile on his face

"Yours? You were going to say that he's yours, right? Huh? Huh? Weren't you?"

I feel my face getting even redder and shake my head

"No! I wasn't! If you're just going to spout crazy things then I'm leaving!"

I turn back to leave, expecting him to say some other crazy thing in order to keep messing with me.

Then I remember something...

"Hey, Kusuke-san... where did my normal clothes went?"

Before equipping this thing, I was wearing my regular clothes, so where the hell did they go?!

"Uh? They were teleported somewhere... I think"

You think!?

"Don't say that! I don't wanna go naked here!"

I grab Kusuke-san by his labcoat and he answers with a troubled smile

"Easy, easy, it's a magical item, so your clothes should return to you normally if you transform back, like a Mahou Shoujo"

"R-really?"

"Well, it's programmed to do so, it's magic so I don't know really well how to explain"

"A-alright, but turn around! Don't look this way!"

Kusuke-san turns his back to me

"Don't worry, it's not me the one you should show your body to"

"S-shut up!"

Does he always manage to say something embarassing?

I turn around one last time, but Kusuke-san already seems absorbed on something else on the table

I touch the red stone on my chestplate and close my eyes

Please, please, come back!

When I open my eyes again, the armor disappeared and my clothes are back!

"Yes! Thank goodness!"

I put my hands up in relieve and look around to see if the armor got back to the suitcase

"W-where did it went?"

Even though my normal clothes returned, the only thing left of the armour I was using is a necklace around my neck with the red jewel that sat in the center of the armour

"I told you, it's a magical stuff, now that it has synched with you, it'll stay within that stone untill you call it forward again."

"I-I see..."

Even if it's something I'm not good with, I can't deny how awesome magic can be. And if this will help me become stronger...

"I-I'll be leaving then, thanks Kusuke-san"

As I'm about to leave, he calls me one more time

"Hey, Red Flame, one last thing."

I turn back, preparing myself to receive another weird question or remark from this crazy scientist

"How have you been?"

"Huh?"

But instead, Kusuke-san throws me this completely normal question while putting his weird gadget back on the table, making me wide my eyes in surprise

"W-what do you mean?"

He shakes his head

"I just want to know if you are fine, it's been some time since I've last saw you, so I just want to know if everyone's treating you well and if you managed to adapt"

It takes me a moment to shake off the surprise of seing Kusuke-san finally acting serious

"Y-yes, I'm doing really good here, everyone's nice to me, thanks..."

He then nods his head

"Good, good, listen... you didn't happened hear any news regarding my niece, Kuriko, have you?"

Kuriko-san? Why's he suddenly talking about her?

"N-no, I mean, some time ago she asked me to call Tachan so she could have a weird conversation with him, I think that was the last time either of us saw her."

Kusuke-san gives a sigh

"I understand... that's all then, thanks and take care of yourself"

He normally waves me goodbye

"G-goodbye..."

I silently make my way out of the room, but before closing the door I watch Kusuke-san going back to whatever invention he was working at before I arrived

Talking about his family, asking about how I am...

He almost looks like a normal and caring person like this

That's what I think before he equips a weird tentacle machine and starts using the blowtorch again laughing just like he was when I came in

"HAHAHAHA!"

...And he's back to normal

I walk out of the room and the same robot from before guides me to the elevator, fortunately that ass-kissing video doesn't play again and I can think straight on my way up

"Anonymous source..."

I look at the jewel on my necklace and remember the new shameless outfit I'm supposed to wear in combat now

Aside from embarassment, I also feel very curious about it

It's giving off no aura at all right now, but when it was equipped, this thing interacted with my powers

I touch it with my finger, careful not to let my aura go off

"Who in the world made this?"

---

Afterword: Finally! I'm sorry for taking so damn long to post this chapter, I'm busy with study and going back home every weekend as well, but I'll do my best to keep updating this story as often as possible.

Also, there was one comment on my fanfic . net version asking if I would use characters from the To Aru series in this fanfic, since they have "espers" as well. I couldn't reply it in private since it was an anonymous comment, so I'll answer it here.

To be honest, I wasn't planning to, I only watched the first season of this anime so I would have a lot of catch up to do in order to understand the universe, it's mechanics and how to make it interact with what I already have. I do believe that I could make something out of it, the Esper levels (0-5) could be an interest replacement for the hero classification system (C to S-class), the fact that magic also exists in the DxD universe would help to make it work and I wonder how a possible daughter of Accelerator would be like. But I'm not writting this for myself only, everyone reading this is my audience and I would like to know your thoughts about it, specially if you have knowledge about the To Aru series, do you think I could add another universe to this story? Or maybe it would be too much/too dificult to do so?